Happy Birthday
Her fingers ran across the smooth wooden box in her lap. Even if it had been empty, it still would have been one of the nicest things she had ever owned. The different colored glass bottles nestled neatly inside screamed money in the simplest way. Hermione had never considered bathing to be something to be luxurious, especially with her most recent abhorrence to water submersion, but Theo’s gift had her tempted to try it again. Ultimately, she would most likely transfigure them into showering gels or shampoos.
She smiled up at Theo and thanked him while carefully placing the lid back on the box. She must have missed something that he had said but she didn’t miss the severe looks Malfoy and Theo were throwing at each other nor the humor coloring Blaise’s face.
She couldn’t help but feel like the sudden animosity between them was because of her somehow. This. This is what she had hoped to avoid when it came to her birthday. Being made to feel even more out of place than usual or like she had upset people.
Pansy tore the box off her lap and Hermione went to protest, hating that the beautiful box was treated with such carelessness, and settling back when Blaise’s safe hands recovered it after noticing her distress and set it gently at her feet next to the bag holding the lingerie from Ginny. She blushed again thinking about wearing it and how she had opened it in front of everyone.
Of course she had always wanted to own something scandalous like the other girls her age had but it wasn’t exactly practical while on the run and she would never actually purchase anything like that for herself. Not like she had anyone to wear it for anyways…
Daphne walked out of the dorm, scowled at her, and proceeded to leave the common room without a word. Well not any that she could fully hear but Hermione could probably guess what she had mumbled under her breath. She smiled and shook her head. At least someone treated her the same and didn’t expect anything from her on her birthday.
Her unexpected mirth was short-lived as her hands were suddenly filled again. It was a rather large package, wrapped in a shimmering white paper around all the sides but the top was left open showing the edges of what looked to be a collection of picture frames.
“Since you gave me absolutely zero notice, which is something we’ll discuss later as birthdays are extremely important to me and I can’t believe you would keep that to yourself-“
“Pansy.” Malfoy warned quietly from his chair, still wearing a small scowl from whatever transpired between him and Theo.
“Right,” the girl beside her chirped, “I hope you like them.” She finished somewhat shyly.
Hermione slid the first frame out and almost dropped it when her hand flew to her mouth. It was a portrait of her parents standing in front of a house that she had never seen, smiling back at her as if she had posed them to take a picture, it was of them in their new life without her.
“Pansy how did you…?” Her voice thick from tears that were no doubt about to fall down her face.
“Blaise, he uh, he’s good at finding things.” Her new friend said quietly.
Hermione’s eyes trailed up from the colored image that Pansy had poured herself into and looked between the two of them. Blaise smiled and nodded gently while Pans bit her lip anxiously. She dropped her eyes again. She hadn’t seen her parents in over two years, not they had been a super close family when she was a child, but that didn’t change how much she had cared about them and how much it had hurt to erase their memories of her.
Her finger traced over the edge of her mother's face. “But you said you didn’t know about my birthday… how did you…when did you…”
“It’s better if you don’t ask questions, Hermione.” Blaise rumbled and rubbed the back of his neck as he quickly glanced over at Draco. “As for the painting, Pansy stayed up all night.”
“Thank you.” She whispered, giving the picture one more smile before sliding it back into the box. She would admire it more in private another time. “Both of you.”
She pulled out the rest of the frames in order, her smile growing more with each one. They were all of her. Her reading in her nook, her laughing with Theo and Ginny. Her and Blaise in the library, a stern look on the boy’s face as she looked to be talking wildly with her hands. One of her and Pansy walking arm in arm across the courtyard from behind.
More tears danced down her cheeks. She looked happy in all of them. She looked like she belonged.
“Pansy, they’re beautiful.”
Hermione leaned to the side in an attempt to hug the girl beside her.
“Draco, is that for Hermione?” Pansy sang, seeming to be uncomfortable with the emotional praise and loving physical contact.
Every pair of eyes swung toward him, he squirmed in his chair and fumbled with the thin package in his hands.
“Erm,” he started.
The room was deathly quiet while opened his mouth and then closed it in a frown.
“Here, Granger. I heard you liked coffee so I owled my mother to send the finest coffee I know of. Italian of course.” Blaise cut in placing a packet of coffee bags in her lap wrapped in a simple string bow. “And I suppose we should make our way down to the pitch before Ginny has all our heads for missing her match.”
Hermione suddenly noticed that her friend was no longer in the room with them. She must’ve snuck out while she had been engrossed in Pansy’s artwork.
Grateful for the attention to be off of him, Draco hurried off to his room.
“Yes, Blaise, you’re right. Thank you all again. Truly, you didn’t have to.” She said while carefully levitating all of her gifts in front of her before walking them into her bedroom and storing them beneath her bed.
The rest of the day went smoothly, as far as she was concerned, it might have been the best birthday she had ever had. Not once did she have to pretend to be something she wasn’t. The gifts she had received were ones that actually made her happy. She was celebrated and seen but not in a way that made her uncomfortable. She had even forgotten about the strange stare off between Theo and Draco that had occurred that morning.
Ginny won the quidditch match and was in a great mood at dinner, bouncing between their normal table and the Gryffindor table as she participated in at least four different conversations at once. Theo had been obnoxiously flirting with Susan Bones which everyone seemed to get a kick out of, especially when she glared at him and then whispered something so quietly in his ear that shut up him very quickly. Blaise, Ginny, Pansy, and even Malfoy had poked fun at him while she laughed until her stomach hurt.
They hung around the roaring fire in their common room enjoying their normal nightly activities. The boys sat in their spots, sometimes talking quietly with amber liquid in their glasses. Pansy and her on the bench drawing and reading. Susan’s fingers floated across the keys of her piano playing a beautifully quiet tune while Luna swung on her swing with Neville’s head resting in her lap. The two other Slytherins remained thankfully absent until they returned to go to sleep. After giving Daphne an adequate amount of time to fall asleep, she yawned somewhat loudly and then bid everyone goodnight, thanking them one last time for the gifts and for the enjoyable day.
It had been so dark in the room she had almost missed the small black velvet packet waiting for her on her pillow. She cast a quick Lumos, pulled at the black silk bow, gently unfolding the wrapping and placing it on her bedding as she turned the previously encased book over.
A pristine and rare copy of Pride and Prejudice stared back her. Her fingers ran over the original script that marked it as a first edition. Hermione swallowed, thinking of much it must have cost and how delicate the binding must be, as she opened the cover. A small slip of paper slithered out floating to the floor but all she could see was the faded author’s signature in the bottom corner. She was touching a book, her favorite book, that had also been touched by the Jane Austen. Someone who was long dead yet had changed her life many many years ago. Her hands shook.
Hermione reached for the paper that had fallen out. It held only two words written in a sharp black scrawl.
Happy Birthday.
The note had no signature, but she knew who it was from. Even if she hadn’t seen him carrying it earlier, she knew he would be the only one who would spend that amount of money on such an obscure item. What she didn’t know was why he did or how he knew it was her favorite. She admired a few moments longer, flipping through the pages carefully, before placing a protection charm on it and tucking it in to her trunk.
She had planned to read more of the werewolf romance novel in bed, she learned her lesson about reading it in the common room but found herself laying down and drifting off to a peaceful contented sleep. A rare sleep that had no dreams or nightmares.
Hermione awoke to the scent of coffee and sat up gingerly to accept the cup floating beside her. Pansy must have made some for her while starting her Sunday morning ritual of reading fashion magazines and sipping from her own mug as the others still slept around them. After having a taste of the coffee, she immediately recognized the difference in quality and knew that they were drinking from one of the packets Blaise had gifted her. A blissful hum tumbled out of her.
“He’s been holding out on me.” Pansy whispered, “I’ve known the bloke for years and he’s never given me coffee this good. I shall have to punish him somehow.”
Hermione snorted and reached for the small stack of letters sitting on her nightstand.
Molly and Harry had written to wish her well and happiness on her birthday. The daily prophet wanted an updated statement on her “Second Chance at Life.” And a small bookshop in Diagon Alley that occasionally carried muggle titles had written to notify her of some newly stocked books they think she might like. She had gotten very acquainted with the shop owner and his muggle wife on her sporadic excursions outside of the flat last summer. Nothing from Ron but she was not surprised by that.
The day passed by quickly and unremarkably. Theo had been suspiciously absent for most of it until Susan stomped out of the common room after dinner returning twenty minutes later with kiss-swollen lips and a pleased but tired looking Theo trailing her.
Ginny cackled when she saw them causing Susan to flee the room in embarrassment and Theo pointed at her threateningly.
“Not a word, Ginevra, or everyone will hear about your Wednesday night activity.”
Hermione had never seen her fiery friend look so ghostly.
“Oh, do share!” Pansy clapped.
Theo raised a brow in challenge.
“It’s nothing.” Ginny rushed.
“Clearly not.” Blaise chimed in, looking almost gleeful at the prospect of having dirt on her.
Ginny’s face changed from pale to pink with anger. “Easy, Zabini, you forget I know something about you that I can share.”
Blaise narrowed his eyes at her, becoming cold and calculating as he sat further back into the sofa.
“OOO, no one ever has secrets about him!”
No one said anything. Theo watched Ginny, who’s eyes bounced between giving nervous looks in Theo’s direction and glares in Blaise’s. Pansy looked at all three of them with expectant glee, Draco looked bored as if this mutual blackmailing dynamic was just another normal Sunday night for him, and Hermione was sitting there chewing her lip anxiously waiting for their newfound friendship to coming crashing down.
Pansy threw her hands up. “You lot are no fun! I’m going to bed.”
“Aw don’t feel left out Pans, we know loads about you that we can talk about instead. Draco, what was it that she liked to be called during-”
“GOODNIGHT!”
“Oi, wait a minute now Pansy we’ve talked loads about our kinks and you never said anything about…” Ginny’s voice tapered off as she practically chased their raven haired friend into the dorm.
Hermione exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
“You good, mate?” Draco asked Theo, earning only a nod in his direction. The fight that had been on his face and voice with Ginny was now gone and the exhaustion she had noticed when he entered the room had crept back in.
He strolled to the boy’s dorm. Draco and Blaise seemed to have a silent conversation with a few subtle headshakes and clenched jaws before they stood and followed Theo. The blonde haired boy glanced back at her, mumbled something about not staying up too late, and then disappeared behind the doorway.
She just assumed he hadn't been talking to her and had been talking to himself. To think otherwise would send her mind in a spiral and she didn't have the energy to dissect the inner workings of Draco Malfoy.
She enjoyed the quiet common room for a while after everyone had left. Closing her eyes and listening to the pops and hisses coming from the fire while getting lost in her own mind. Eventually she rose and went to collect the wooden box from underneath her bed. She wasn’t tired and yet and had decided to give Theo’s gift a go. She knew it probably wouldn’t go well but she had to try… had to at least make the attempt to conquer her fear. That’s what being a Gryffindor was after all.
Hermione pushed the heavy door to the prefect’s bathroom open, immediately coming to a halt two steps inside, the shower basket dangling from her fingers crashed to the floor. She probably would’ve jumped when the door shut rather loudly behind her but she was completely frozen.
Draco’s molten silver eyes held her captive as the muscles in his arm contracted in a languid but deliberate rhythm matching the ripples his hand was making beneath the water of his bath. Warmth blossomed in her cheeks and spread down her body settling low in the space between her legs once her brain finally put together what she had walked in on and was now actively watching. She should have turned and left, should have at least closed her eyes, but instead her mouth parted letting out a small gasp that sounded more like a whimper.
“Fuck.” Draco rasped right before his head fell back to rest on the lip of the in-ground bath and his body spasmed.