Chris’s brilliant sixth-year friend was able to transform the boys back into boys without too much difficulty. They actually were taking the prank quite well. James was acting much better about it than Lily had expected. He thought it was funny, which disappointed Alex somewhat, but Lily was glad they hadn’t hurt the boys’ feelings too much. (Although she didn’t dare mention that to Alex.)
February melted into March and the snow melted along with it. March brought intensely blustery winds, sudden downpours of rain, and the occasional warm, sunny day. The lake overflowed and older boys spent a lot of time by the shore, hoping for the giant squid to wash up. (It never did.)
March also brought with it Alex’s birthday. As she reminded Lily and Cadrian every day, her birthday was on March the twenty-seventh. Lily had no idea what to buy her as a gift, or even where to find a gift. Cadrian suggested sneaking into Hogsmeade again, but Lily wouldn’t go. The twenty-seventh grew closer every day, and every time Lily thought about a gift for Alex, she came up short.
One Saturday morning, Lily and Cadrian were eating breakfast and discussing what to do for Alex’s birthday (Alex was still asleep) when James, alone for once, plopped down beside them. “Look,” he said bluntly, “I need your help.”
Lily and Cadrian exchanged confused glances. “Okay…” said Cadrian slowly. “What do you need?”
“Okay, before I say anything, let me just say that asking you guys is completely a last resort. I’ve asked every person I could possibly think of.”
“James, just tell us,” sighed Lily exasperatedly.
“Okay, okay. Sirius’s birthday is coming up, and I have no idea what to get him.”
“Sirius’s birthday is coming up?” Lily asked. “When is it?”
“On March twenty-seventh, which is only about two weeks away,” replied James. “I’m running out of time.”
Lily’s jaw dropped. “What?” she asked loudly. “The twenty-seventh? Are you sure?”
“Of course I am,” replied James. “What’s your problem?”
“The twenty-seventh--that’s Alex’s birthday!” blurted out Cadrian.
“What?” said James. “No, it’s not.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Yes it is, stupid,” she said. “Two people can have the same birthday. But…that’s so weird.”
“Wow,” said James. “That is strange. So anyway, what should I get for him?”
“Actually,” said Cadrian, “we were having the same problem with Alex. We don’t know what to get her.”
“Darn. I thought you guys were smarter than that,” remarked James. “Well, I’m off, then.”
“Wait!” said Lily. James looked startled.
“Did you just ask me to wait?” he asked.
“Oh, just sit down, James,” she huffed. Looking puzzled, he obeyed. Cadrian looked confused as well. She ignored their bewildered expressions and pressed on.
“Since their birthdays turn out to be on the same day,” she said, “why don’t we do something together for them? We could throw a surprise party for them, or something like that. It would be fun.”
“A party?” asked Cadrian. “Cool!”
James was skeptical. “It probably wouldn’t be very surprising,” he said. “Besides, where would we hold it? The common room would be too packed with other people. And anyway, that doesn’t solve our problems. We still have to get them presents.”
James’s reply had hurt Lily, but she wasn’t about to let him know that. “Okay,” she said, staring down at her food, willing her cheeks not to turn red. “It was just an idea.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Cadrian staunchly. “They would be surprised. They wouldn’t expect it, I don’t think. If you ask me, we should do it.”
James rolled his eyes. “But it’s not like they won’t be expecting something.”
“But maybe if they don’t know they have the same birthday,” started Cadrian, “then-”
“Hi guys! What’s going on?”
Cadrian jumped at the sudden sound of Alex’s voice. Her hand flew into the air and knocked her cup over. Her orange juice flew right onto James.
“Cadrian! What was that for?” James leapt to his feet, looking down at his shirt in disgust.
“Sorry!” Cadrian got up and reached across the table, knocking Lily’s cup over in the process. “Oops.”
Lily righted her cup. “That’s okay.”
“I’m going to go change,” James announced. “So Lily, Cadrian, I’ll talk to you guys later…okay?”
Cadrian nodded. “Yeah.” He stalked off.
“What was that all about?” Alex asked, helping herself to some sausages. “Talking to you two later?”
“Oh, nothing,” said Lily breezily. “Anyway! Quidditch match today! You guys want to go?”
Alex shrugged. “Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin, it won’t be much to see. Slytherin’s a lock to win.” She grinned. “Hey, did you guys know my birthday’s coming up?”
“Oh, I hadn’t heard.” Lily rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, Alex, we’re getting you the best present imaginable.”
“Really?”
“No,” cut in Cadrian, “we’re not getting you anything.”
“Oh.” Alex deflated rapidly. “Well. Don’t worry about it, it’s okay.”
Lily and Cadrian exchanged glances, and then burst out laughing. “Alex! Cheer up,” said Lily. “Of course we’re getting you a present.”
“The look on your face…” Cadrian collapsed in giggles again. “Here, have some bacon.”
“Uh, thanks.” Alex speared a slice of bacon for herself. “So, I’ve been thinking.”
“About?” Lily prompted.
“My birthday.” She took a bite of her bacon. “Do you think maybe McGonagall would let me pass on my homework as a birthday gift?”
Lily and Cadrian laughed. “Can you imagine what the look on her face would be like if you asked?” Cadrian giggled.
“Maybe I will ask,” Alex said. “So pay attention to her face on my birthday.”
The three friends took a second to picture what McGonagall’s expression would be like, then simultaneously burst out laughing.
* * * * * * * * * * *
March the twenty-seventh was a Friday. The Alex/Sirius surprise party was set to be the next day, Saturday. Lily and Cadrian had spent a lot of time planning it along with James, Remus, and Peter. They were holding it in the empty Transfiguration classroom, though they had had to promise McGonagall profusely that not a speck of food would end up on the ground. The five of them were working very hard to keep Alex and Sirius from finding out about their birthdays being the same day, and they were fairly confident that neither of them knew.
But they were wrong.
The Tuesday before the party, as Alex was browsing the library, waiting for Lily and Cadrian to get back from the dormitory (although they were actually arranging for James to somehow get ahold of a birthday cake, not retrieving books, as they’d told Alex), Sirius appeared behind her.
“Hi, Sirius,” she said absent-mindedly, picking up a dusty old book.
“Hi.” He cut to the chase right away. “Have you noticed anything weird about your friends lately? You know, weirder than usual?”
Alex frowned and put the book back. “No…why? Have you?”
“Actually, I have.”
“Okay, so what do you think is going on?”
“I don’t know, but I think I have a pretty good idea. And it’s not just your friends, it’s mine, too.”
“Like what?”
Sirius shrugged. “I don’t know. A lot of whispering and stuff…and they told me to meet them in McGonagall’s classroom this weekend. I mean, what would we be doing in there?”
“Cadrian told me to go there, too!” gasped Alex. “What time did they tell you?”
“Two o’ clock.”
“Same here,” mused Alex. “But I just assumed it was something to do with my birthday.”
“Saturday’s your birthday?” asked Sirius.
“No, Friday,” said Alex. “But you know. Close enough.”
“Friday? Friday is my birthday!” exclaimed Sirius, his voice raising so loud that the librarian gave him a stern glare. Lowering his voice, he said, “I didn’t know we shared a birthday.”
“Weird,” said Alex. “You know, I bet that Lily, Cadrian, James, Peter, and Remus are throwing us a surprise party. I’d bet you anything!”
“You’re probably right,” said Sirius, a sly grin growing across his face. “And now that we know…”
“We have to pretend that we don’t,” finished Alex.
“That’s not what I was going to say.” Sirius rolled his eyes. “That would be boring. No, we’re going to have some fun with this.”
Alex grinned, too. “Ooh…like what?”
Sirius beckoned for her to come closer, and the two of them began plotting.
* * * * * * * * * *
Friday the twenty-seventh came and went. Lily and Cadrian woke Alex up early by dumping a bucket of water on her face and then yelling, “Happy Birthday!” Although Alex found it amusing, Danielle and Jeniece didn’t. As they grumbled about “immature roommates,” Alex rolled her eyes, refilled the bucket, and doused the two of them.
Then Lily and Cadrian assured Alex that her present was coming. They’d gotten her a present they were quite proud of from a mail-order wizarding catalogue: a pack of Sugar Quills and a small bag of velvet ribbons in assorted colors that said “Alex Parker” in gold letters on them. They were for tying letters onto an owl’s leg, and Lily thought they would make an excellent gift.
On Saturday, March twenty-eighth, Alex woke up giddy. She was looking forward to the prank she and Sirius would be pulling, and, of course, getting her gifts.
At 12:30 that afternoon, Alex and Sirius slipped into the Transfiguration classroom. It was empty: Lily, Cadrian, James, Peter, and Remus had been planning on coming in to set up at one. They got into a storage closet in the back of the room, then locked it. “Stay quiet,” Sirius cautioned. “Then if they try to hide in here, they’ll assume McGonagall just locked it.” Alex nodded.
Time passed. Before too long, Alex and Sirius heard their friends come in. “No! James! Stop licking the icing!” they heard Lily shriek. “And Peter, don’t open that present!”
They listened as Lily and Cadrian directed the boys with various tasks: “Put the butterbeer there.” “Blow up these balloons, Remus!” “Hang up the streamers.” “STOP LICKING THE ICING, JAMES!” And then more people started arriving: all of Alex’s siblings, Chris and a few of his friends, Danielle, Jeniece, Reilly, and more of their friends. Then Lily’s voice saying, “Everybody hide, they should be here soon!” It was all Alex could do not to burst out laughing.
The room grew quiet except for the occasional coughing and snickering. Sirius tapped Alex lightly. “Now,” he mouthed. Alex nodded, grinning. Sirius quietly edged the door open, and then the two of them popped out: “SURPRISE!”
The girls in attendance screamed at the sudden noise and the boys stared, dumbstruck. Then James started laughing and soon the whole room was laughing.
“How did you find out?” Lily asked Alex later, through a mouthful of cake.
“It was Sirius,” said Alex. “He figured out you guys were up to something and he planned this whole thing. We’ve been in that closet for an hour and a half!”
“It was funny, though,” giggled Cadrian. “Really funny.” She handed Alex her present. “Here, open it.”
Alex set down her cake and tore open the gift. “Sugar Quills! Awesome,” she said. “Ooooh, these ribbons are so pretty! Were they expensive? Wow, I’m going to write a letter to Adam right away! Thanks, guys!”
“You’re welcome,” they said together.
“Happy birthday, Alex,” Lily added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: SO SO SO SO SO sorry for the inexcusably long wait. But I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!!!
Lily, Blossoming by halfbloodprincess22
Chapter Notes: I know, it took forever, and I'm really sorry. And yes, it's short...but enjoy. :)