Tic. Tic. Tic.

The muggle clock Allannah had hidden in her closet echoed through her bedroom. It wasn’t very late, but Al knew it was after midnight, and she knew what after midnight meant. After midnight meant it was her birthday. As she stared at the ceiling, everything felt weird. It was her birthday and she wasn’t going to be shopping for school supplies the next day like the previous years. Instead she’d be working, being wished a happy birthday by colleagues and not classmates. She thought she had gotten over Hogwarts closing, but apparently not. 

She sat up, and debated sneaking out. She could apparate, if she wanted to. She could find Greta and Birdy and wash down copious amounts of cake with firewhiskey like they had done the previous year. It felt pointless, though, celebrating something like a birthday when a war was on the horizon. She wanted to be excited about her birthday, but even a party didn't sound as swell as it once had. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she knew what Davey would say. We can’t just stop living because hard stuff is going on, Ali. After a few more moments of sitting in the dark she sighed and stood, grabbing her robe from the edge of her bed and her wand from her desk. 

Al stopped to take a bottle of wine from her father’s study before making her way down the stairs and out the garden door. She walked around for a while until she reached the beginning of the gate that surrounded the manor. She glanced down at the bottle in her hand and proceeded Accio’d a chair and a glass. She looked over her flowers and plants and smiled slightly, knowing that her fellow Hufflepuffs would be proud of such a lovely garden. She closed her eyes, picturing her house mates’ voices for what seemed like the millionth time. She glanced at the sky and soon sat down.