sister of the wolf | s. snape

twenty-four | sixteen

"Happy birthday, El!" Willow's voice suddenly shouted, startling Elise awake and disturbing her even more when she began jumping up and down on the bed.

"Ugh, can my present be you letting me sleep until noon?" She groaned dramatically and buried her face into her pillow.

Elise was fortunate enough to have her birthday land on a Saturday this year and, of course, every one of her friends would want some time with her.

Not that she minded, obviously, as she did love her friends. However, Voldemort had been more and more talked about lately, with suspicions of the Slytherins growing each day. And she really did not want to hear her Gryffindor friends acting wary of Severus all day on her birthday and telling her to 'be careful.'

Their concern was appreciated and understood, but after Elise and Severus had their argument atop the Astronomy Tower recently, she felt her trust in him was unwavering.

He had said he loved her. And she whole heartedly believed him and felt the same way in return. How could she ever suspect him of being a Death Eater?

"Come on, girl," Willow said, yanking the pillow off of the tired girl and smacking her with it repeatedly. "You only turn sixteen once, let's get moving!"

Elise laughed, sitting up and stretching. "Fine, fine," she waved Willow off. "I'm up. Give me some time to get ready."

With that, Willow hopped off the bed with a victorious grin and went off to get dressed.

After a long shower and brushing her teeth, Elise used magic to dry her hair. Afterwards putting on her usual black eyeliner around her eyes and grabbing her favorite outfit to wear: yellow plaid flannel, gray t-shirt, and ripped black jeans.

Satisfied with her appearance, she finally allowed Willow to drag her out of the dorms and out of the castle.

Waiting just outside was all of the Marauders, Lily, Marlene, Freya, Evelyn, and even Severus, who was standing more off to the side awkwardly.

"Happy birthday, Elly!" Lily, Evelyn, and Marlene yelled as they tackled the girl in a hug.

Elise burst into laughter at nearly being knocked over by the girls. Freya came up to ruffle her hair, wishing her a happy birthday as well, before going over to her girlfriend's side.

Each of the Marauder boys took turns giving her hugs - Sirius picking her up and spinning around with her, much to the displeasure of Severus - before they all began walking together down to Hogsmeade.

Severus came to Elise's side as they walked, taking her hand in his and leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

"Happy birthday, love," he murmured in her ear, causing her to shiver and blush up at him.

"Thank you, Sev," she said quietly with a smile, which he returned, and they followed the big group of Gryffindors, with Willow, Evelyn, and Freya lagging along behind them.

The Marauders seemed even more energetic today than usual; if that were even possible. Elise wasn't sure if it was because they had a birthday to celebrate, the school year ending in a few weeks, or because it was such a lovely day outside. Perhaps all of the above.

It didn't take long for the big group to reach the village and went inside Hogsmeade first, where they all bought Elise her favorite sweets. They piled the candy into one big bag that they handed her with happy grins.

Elise laughed, accepting the gift and thanking them. Now they went to The Three Broomsticks and insisted that Elise get however much food and drink she wanted, that they would take care of it.