An American at Hogwarts

A Birthday and Planning

Before I knew it, Marie's birthday came around. I woke up earlier than usual that morning to get everything ready, and, thankfully, she hadn't managed to predict that I would do so, something I was sort of worried would happen. She has a tendency to scare me a bit with how well she knows me. Maybe she had predicted it, and just decided to let me think I was going to surprise her? Regardless, I had decided to go all out this year. I had asked the house elves in the kitchens to make a cake for her again, which turned out even better than last year. I'd picked red velvet for the flavor, since her mom had made one of those over Christmas the year before, and Marie had loved it. Unfortunately, they had managed to deduce it was me who left the money on the floor this year, and insisted upon returning it to me. I, in turn, insisted upon helping them clean the kitchens over the weekend to repay them, telling them it would help me with a spell I was having trouble with. It wasn't exactly much, but it felt weird having them just make the cake for free, so I had to do something to repay them, even if it wasn't nearly enough in my opinion. I had gotten Flitwick to enchant a rather fancy birthday banner for her, with letters that burned with a bluish flame that didn't set the parchment alight and a glittering "13" to mark her age. It was all very nice, and perhaps even a bit too much, but I felt as if Marie deserved the very best I could give her. Once I'd got everything set up, I sat down on the couch, reading the book Dumbledore had given me the previous year. Most of it was still far more advanced than I was comfortable with, but there were bits here and there that had proved useful, so I wanted to at least read through everything in it once so I didn't miss anything I could use.

Soon enough, Marie made her way down the stairs from the girls rooms. She yawned slightly as she approached. "This all for me?"

I smirked a bit. "Maybe. Depends how much you like it. If it's too much, there is coincidentally a Ravenclaw I know who's birthday is tomorrow."

She pulled me into a tight kiss. "I love it, Y/N. I hope you didn't stay up all night to set it up, though."

I shook my head, shoving a pastry into her hands from a plate the kitchen elves had made for us. "Nah, just been up for like an hour or so. Promise!"

She simply smiled and took a bite.

"Well then!" I exclaimed, standing up, "I think it is high time I give you your present, no?"

With that, I pulled a small box out of the corner of the room, bringing it over to her.

"So I was thinking for the past couple weeks, what is a present fit for one of the best students I know? Well, the other day, I overheard you talking to McGonagall about the process to become an animagus, how you were interested in it and wanted her advice. I didn't quite catch her full reply but I heard her mention a couple books about the process, so I decided why not send off for a couple things?"

Marie gasped as she opened the box. Inside were several books, varying in size. All of them, however, were about the process of becoming an animagus, which was apparently quite intense and difficult.

"I know it's probably a good while off but..."

I was silence by Marie tackling me into a hug, nearly squeezing the life out of me with her deceptively strong arms.

"I hope that's a good sign?" I asked with a smirk, catching my breath between my words.

"THIS IS AMAZING! Y/N! YOU'RE THE BEST!"

I blushed a bit. "It's just some books, babe, I kinda..."

"Just some books? I've been interested in becoming an animagus for like a year now but I've never been able to find these? How'd you..."

"They're semi-regulated, apparently. I had to put my name on a list that the ministry has of students interested, and that was AFTER finding someone who sold them. It was a pain, honestly. You should probably put your name on that list as well, now that I think about it. I'd rather not have the ministry get all on top of you about it if they find out."

Marie gasped slightly. "Wait, do you mean..."

I smiled a bit. "If you want, yeah, I'll do it with you! It does seem rather interesting, even if I hadn't really thought about it all too much before the last month or so. Would you be alright with that?"

Marie beamed at me. "I'd love it! Frankly that was the main hang up I had, whether or not you'd approve. It's a really intense process, I didn't want to worry you or anything."

I pulled her into a tight hug. "Of course I approve, darling! I won't ever stop you from looking into anything, unless it's like morally dubious or something. And as far as I'm concerned, this is by no means such a situation. We should probably talk to McGonagall about it together, though. She knows more than either of us could ever hope to about it, so..."

Marie nodded happily. Other students were starting to make their way into the common room, so we each grabbed a slice of cake and made our way out, towards McGonagall's office. We eventually made our way to it, and I knocked softly on the door. McGonagall called through for us to enter.

"Marie! Y/N! To what do I owe the pleasure? Happy birthday, by the way, miss Yinsby!"

Marie smiled brightly. "Thank you professor! It's about what I asked you last week."

McGonagall nodded slowly. "As I said last time, I would be happy to help, but I must urge you to take your time with it. It is a process very few have gone through at your age, and I cannot say for certain whether you are ready."

Marie nodded. "I understand, professor. Y/N would like to join me, he got me some books on it for my birthday and said he'd like to go through it as well."

McGonagall chuckled softly. "Well, I suppose I ought to have expected Mr. L/N to jump at the opportunity to learn some new skill. I would be happy to teach you two, but it will be a long process, possibly several years. We ought to start slowly."

I nodded. "However you think is best, professor!"

"I will write you two when I find a time for us to meet. Run along now! You should enjoy your birthday, Marie!"

We thanked her profusely and made our way out, Marie talking excitedly about what form she thought we might take when the process was complete as we made our way back to the common room. Part of me was nervous: I'd heard how painful the process could be, but the other part of me knew that I would feel better about Marie going through it if I was by her side the whole time. Hopefully it wouldn't hurt too much, at least.