Starman

14th of June 1972

All four girls were huddled outside the Great Hall, all of them on the verge of panic.

“I can’t do this. I can’t do this!” Mary whispered harshly, shaking her head so fast it was like she was trying to shake the thoughts out.

“Yes, you can,” Amalia said firmly, stepping in front of Mary and grabbing her by the shoulders to stop her frantic pacing. “You’ve been studying for weeks. You know this stuff better than anyone! Well, except maybe Lily—but no one knows more than Lily.”

Amalia tried to sound convincing, but the tight knot in her stomach wasn’t helping. She kept running through everything she’d revised the night before, but her brain felt like a jumbled mess. Past Ministers for Magic, what they did, why they mattered—it was all blending together.

Lily was sat on the floor, cross-legged in the middle of a small fortress of open books. She muttered facts under her breath, her bright red curls hanging in her face as she flipped frantically between pages. Every so often, she’d groan and tug at her hair, making it even messier than before.

Marlene wasn’t doing much better. She was crouched near the wall, hugging her knees as she rocked back and forth, whispering names and dates over and over like a chant.

Amalia glanced between them, her chest tightening. This is ridiculous, she thought, chewing on the edge of her thumb. It’s just a first-year exam. It’s not like it’s O.W.Ls or N.E.W.Ts or anything. But no matter how much she told herself it didn’t matter, her nerves weren’t listening.

“Alright, first years,” Professor Binns said, floating into the hall like he wasn’t about to ruin everyone’s day. “I’ll call your names alphabetically starting with your surname. When you hear yours, come inside, and I’ll direct you to your seat.”

One by one, the students shuffled into the Great Hall, most of them pale and wide-eyed.

“Stirling, Amalia,” the professor called.
Amalia froze for a split second, then took a deep breath. She forced her feet to move, heading through the doors and into the Hall.

•••

The four of them stumbled out an hour later, blinking at the sunlight like they hadn’t seen it in years.

“We did it!” Lily said, grinning so wide it looked like her face might split. “Our first exam is officially over!”

“Yeah,” Marlene groaned, dragging her feet as they walked. “And the next one’s on my birthday. Why does it have to be on my birthday?”

The others gave her sympathetic looks.
“It’s only a small part of the day,” Lily said brightly, looping an arm around Marlene’s shoulders. “Then we can celebrate properly. Cake, sweets, whatever you want.”

“Still,” Marlene muttered, pouting like a child far younger than someone with their twelfth birthday just around the corner.

Amalia smiled faintly, her heartbeat finally slowing down. One exam down, what felt like a lifetime of them to go.

16th of June 1972

Lily and Mary woke early, excitement buzzing between them as they tiptoed across the dormitory to Amalia’s bed. The dark-haired girl was fast asleep, her face buried in her pillow, but after a few gentle shakes, her eyes fluttered open.

“What’s going on?” Amalia mumbled groggily, rubbing her eyes.

“It’s Marlene’s birthday!” Mary whispered with a grin.

The three of them crept to Marlene’s bed, standing around the snoring girl. Lily held a finger to her lips, suppressing a giggle. They exchanged a quick nod, and all at once, they shouted:

“Happy Birthday!”

Marlene groaned and rolled over, pulling her blanket over her head as though she could block out the noise.

“Come on, sleepyhead, it’s your birthday!” Mary teased, bouncing slightly on the edge of Marlene’s bed. The mattress creaked under her weight, jostling the lump beneath the blanket.

Finally, with a loud yawn, Marlene sat bolt upright, her messy brown hair sticking up in all directions. “It’s my birthday!” she declared, her eyes lighting up with an energy none of them had ever seen from her in the morning.

The other girls burst into laughter as Marlene beamed at them. They climbed onto her bed, settling into a cosy circle.

“Presents!” Lily said, holding up a neatly wrapped parcel.

Amalia handed over hers first—a deck of Exploding Snap cards. “I thought you’d like these. Your other set’s a bit… well, destroyed.”

Marlene grinned, tearing the paper open. “Oh, brilliant! I’ve been meaning to get a new pack!”

Next was Lily, who passed her a small book. “I know you’ve been really into the Beatles lately, so I thought this would be perfect—it’s all about the them.”

Marlene’s face lit up. “The Beatles? I love them!” She flipped through the pages excitedly, her smile growing with every photo of the band.

Finally, Mary handed over her gift, a small, carefully wrapped box. Marlene opened it to reveal a shiny new camera.

“Wow,” Marlene breathed, holding it up reverently. “Thank you, Mary. This is amazing! I’ve been wanting one of these for ages!”

“Now you can take photos of us all and hang them in the dorm,” Mary said brightly, already imagining the walls of Marlene’s side of the room covered in memories.

“You guys are the best,” Marlene said, hugging each of them in turn. Her excitement was infectious, and the dorm was soon filled with giggles and chatter as they planned how to spend the rest of the day.

•••

Later that morning, after a rather stressful Potions exam, the group headed down to their usual spot by the lake. The June sun was high in the sky, warming their skin as they sprawled out on the grass. Their school robes were discarded in a heap nearby, leaving them in their shirts and skirts, sleeves rolled up to their elbows.

“I wasn’t sure about the bezoar question,” Mary admitted, leaning back on her hands.

“It’s from the stomach of a goat, right? I thought it might be a sheep for a second, but I went with goat.”

“No, you’re right—it’s a goat,” Amalia said confidently. “I just wish he hadn’t thrown in that trick question about the lacewing flies. What was that?”

Lily groaned, lying flat on her back. “Don’t even remind me. I spent half the exam trying to figure out if I’d been revising the wrong notes.”

Marlene, however, seemed completely unbothered. She had her Exploding Snap cards spread out in front of her and was shuffling them lazily. “It’s over now,” she said with a shrug. “No use worrying about it.”

The others couldn’t argue with that logic.

Soon, they were all engrossed in a heated game of Exploding Snap, the cards bursting into sparks every few turns. Laughter echoed across the lawn as the girls teased each other over their losses.

“You’re terrible at this, Lily!” Marlene cackled as another explosion sent Lily’s cards flying.

“Oi, I’m trying!” Lily said, snatching up the cards with mock indignation.

The boys joined them later, flopping down onto the grass with exaggerated groans about how awful the exam had been. It wasn’t long before they were all talking over each other, debating who had made the worst mistake.

As the sun dipped lower in the sky, turning the lake a golden orange, the group finally decided to pack up. They wandered back to the castle, shoulders brushing as they walked and their laughter still carrying on the warm breeze.

Dinner that evening was a celebration in itself. Marlene was treated to a rousing (and slightly off-key) rendition of “Happy Birthday” at the Gryffindor table, and by the time they returned to their dormitory, their stomachs were full of cake and pumpkin juice.

“Best birthday ever,” Marlene said sleepily as she climbed into bed. The others smiled, their own excitement finally giving way to exhaustion.

And with that, the day came to a close, leaving behind memories they wouldn’t soon forget.