The Aftermath // Sebastian Sallow x MC

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐧𝐞: 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲

My alarm rang at 7am, as loud as ever. I opened one eye, and once I realised that it was still pretty dark outside, I huffed noisily before pulling my blanket over my head. I barely had the time to close my eyes and pretend I could continue to sleep before Natsai Onai slammed my door open and jumped into my bed, crawling under the covers with me.

"Happy birthday missy!", she whispered in my ear, wrapping me in her arms. Natty knew I was far from being a morning person, and mostly hated having to converse or to have contact with anyone within the first half-an-hour from my waking; I did appreciate her whispering, though. I hugged my friend back, as a small smile appeared on my sleepy face.

"Come on, Lizzie, time to shine" she said, louder this time, throwing my blanket at the end of the bed and turning my candles on with a slight finger motion. "You don't want to be late for work, do you?"

Ah, yes, work. It was a Thursday, after all. I lazily got up and dragged myself to the kitchen table, widening my eyes which, apparently, did not want to adjust to the first light of the morning.

"I would have made you a cake or something, but you know I'm disastrous at baking" Natty said, while rolling her finger in the air as bread, jam and butter floated outside of the kitchen cabinets, laying on the table in front of me. So many years later, I was still amazed at Natty's ability to control magic without her wand, which - as much as I thought myself to be a particularly gifted witch - I couldn't even do for the smallest things.

"I need coffee" I muttered, placing my forehead on the palms of my hands, elbows firmly planted on the wooden surface. It might have been my birthday, but for me it was just another morning and I still had to leave my warm bed for work.

After breakfast, I dragged myself back to my bedroom, where I found the clothes I had already laid on my desk chair the night before: a white shirt, my comfiest corset, a long velvety skirt, a pair of heavy tights and a wool sweater. It was late October, but London was already showing the first signs of winter cold, especially so early in the morning. I looked at my hair in the mirror, hopelessly wavy and puffy, and quickly decided I didn't have the strength to try and fix it before I left home. I decreed, finally, that I didn't even feel like wearing any makeup, so with a stroke of my wand I summoned my glasses, put on my coat and scarf, and left the house, not without giving a quick kiss on the cheek to Natty.

Natsai and I had found a small apartment on Charing Cross Road the previous year, which was particularly convenient to the both of us as it was very close to our job places. To get to Diagon Alley, as a matter of fact, all I had to do was walk for five minutes, which was very convenient considering the fact that I absolutely despised apparating.

I found it pretty nice to be able to walk a bit everyday: I was completely in love with London, and found comfort in taking my little daily walks. What was more interesting to me, was seeing how many people walked in Charing Cross Road every day, and wondering who was muggle and who was magic. As a muggle born, I was always wondering how to distinguish between magical and powerless people, especially in a metropolis where the two worlds collided so perfectly.

The eight hours of work at Flourish and Blotts had been endless, as always: I didn't mind working in a bookstore at all, but what I truly hated was having to deal with people. I found it boring, almost annoying, having to follow customers, helping them with even the most obvious and simple searches, yet I didn't have much of a choice.

At the end of my Hogwarts education, I had met Professor Weasley for a butterbeer, and had to explain to her how, although I always wanted to become an Auror - and had obtained the marks to qualify for the training - I was deeply concerned that the Ministry would find out about the ancient magic I inexplicably carried within me. The professor could not but agree with me, especially as we had decided to let the energy basin remain hidden under Hogwarts: no one should ever know, especially the Ministry.