Bad Idea

Part 6

I opened the door to my large bedroom at the manor to see a small box wrapped in shiny blue paper sitting on my bed. I walk over to see a small note taped to the top, and I rip it off.

Happy Birthday Ellie! I won't be home tonight but I wanted to make sure this got to you on your birthday. Make sure you and your brother eat something tonight, love you.

-Love, Mom.

It was October 11th, my birthday. Birthdays weren't really a big thing in my house, so I wasn't expecting much. I picked up the box and quickly ripped off the paper to reveal a small necklace -- a gold chain with five small stars hanging from it. I smiled to myself at the thoughtful gift, even though my mother wasn't even going to see me on my own birthday, she at least remembered to get me something. I took the chain out of the box and wrapped it around my neck before placing the box in my dresser drawer along with my other jewelry.

"Ellie!" I hear a yell from downstairs, "Are you hungry?" Draco continues to scream, louder than necessary.

"No!" I yell, placing the note from my mother in the garbage can next to my desk. I decided to go downstairs to get a glass of water. As soon as I got downstairs, Draco asked me where mom was.

"I don't know, she left me a note saying she wasn't going to be home tonight" I answered, filling up a tall glass with ice

"Wow, she left you a note and not me." he says, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, next to my birthday present that she didn't forget" I snapped back, knowing Draco had completely forgotten.

"Fuck" he muttered, looking at me. I gave him a sharp look before filling up my glass with water.

"Maybe you can make it up to me by cooking and washing the dishes tonight" I grin.

"That's not fair, El," he groans, dropping his head.

"I would say that sounds pretty fair to me" I say keeping the same sarcastic smirk on my face, "I should see dinner at the table in about... an hour and half." I add before walking back up to my room and hear him groan behind me. After I came back to my room, I decided to start the book that Pansy gave me as a present earlier in the day. Before I knew it, Draco was calling me downstairs.

There were two bowls sitting on the table, set across from each other with pasta piled in both of them. Draco stood by his bowl, with hands on his hips, looking proud.

"Look, I can cook!" he boasts

"Draco, it's noodles and red sauce, it's not that hard" I say coldly, attempting to bring down his ego,

"Goodness, you're mean sometimes" he stops. "Actually, all the time" I roll my eyes and decide to take a seat at the much too large table. After about five minutes of eating in awkward silence, he finally decides to say something.

"Look, I'm sorry about forgetting your birthday, but I ran to Hogsmede to get you something," He explains, pulling out a small purple notebook with a chocolate frog placed on top. "I'm pretty sure you still like writing?" he half says, half asks, sliding his gift across the table to me.

"Yeah," I answer, flipping through the pages, "Thanks." I'm surprised he remembered my passion for writing, I had always loved it since I was a child. I was always writing down things, it was a sense of control or to organize the constant thoughts running through my mind. Draco nodded and returned back to his plate. This was probably the most civil conversation we had in awhile, it actually felt quite nice, pretending that everything was normal again. No arguing or blaming each other, just regular conversation. That was before I started to talk about what happened in the Hospital Wing.