"So, what do you wanna do for your birthday?" Lily asked. I shrugged.

"I don't really care, I just want to be with you guys," I said, smiling. Lily, Marlene, Alice, and Jinxy all shook their heads.

"You gotta do something!" Alice said.

"Go out to dinner."

"Dye your hair."

"Get a tattoo." My eyes widened.

"What about all three?" I suggested. Jinxy's mouth fell open.

"I was kidding about the tattoo thing, but alright," Jinxy said.

"Let's start with the hair dyeing?" Lily suggested.

"I'll pay!" Marlene exclaimed excitedly.

"What colour are you going to dye it?" Alice asked me.

"I was thinking dark brown," I replied. The hair dresser standing above me gasped.

"And ruin you're beautiful red? No, I don't think so," She said. I chuckled.

"You're entire family has brown hair already. Brown is boring," Alice said, mindlessly twirling her hair in her fingers.

"I think brown's a pretty colour. I guess I could do electric blue?" I said. The hair dresser gasped again.

"Bad idea?"

"No! That's perfect! And I have that exact colour!" She hustled off excitedly, and returned with a blue coloured bottle. I bit my lip, not knowing what to expect.

"Don't worry, hon, it'll look beautiful," the hairdresser reassured me. I sent her an unsure smile.

The next thing I knew, parts of my hair were electric blue. I grinned as I ran my fingers through it.
"It looks great!" Alice squealed. I laughed and shook my head.
"Thank you so much," I said to the hairdresser, who shrugged with a smile on her lips.
"I can tell you're going through a rough time. It was nothing," she said. My smile fell for half a second.
"Thanks again!" Lily called as we left.
"And now, we find a tattoo parlor," Marlene said.
"Do you know what you want?" Jinxy asked. I nodded.
"I think I do."

"Lils, how do you use this thing?" I asked, holding onto the pheletone...ah...telephone. Lily sighed.
"Who do you want to call?" I handed her the Bookshop's number. She grinned. She punched in the numbers.
"Lottie? Hi! It's Lily- Yeah, Serana's here- It's her birthday today.- Of corse you knew that, I was just wondering if you'd like to meet up with us.- Yes, it was Serana's idea, but she has no idea how to use a telephone.- I know! It's so funny.- Oh! Yeah, we're going to the tattoo parlor on..." Lily rattled off some names which I didn't catch due to the fact that I stopped listening. Lily hung up the telephone.
"She'll meet us there, she just has to close down shop," Lily said. The other four of us nodded.
"Are you guys getting something?"
"No!" Alice and Lily exclaimed unanimously.
"Maybe?" Jinxy's voice peaked, making her squeak. I laughed at her.
"Hell yes," Marlene said. I laughed at her too.
Charlie actually beat us to the parlor.
"Hey guys!" Charlie exclaimed.
"Lottie!" They called back. I scowled. Since when did they call her Lottie?
"Hey, Charlie," I said, hugging my muggle friend.
"Happy Birthday, Ana," Charlie said back. "You nervous?"
"Not really. I'll only scream a little as long as someone hold my hand," I teased. We walked inside. It was dark, smelly, and really humid, but it was also really warm and felt like a nice place to hang out.
"Are all of you getting tattoos?" The woman asked.
"No. It's just us three." I pointed to myself, Marlene, and Jinxy.
"No backing out now," Marlene whispered to Jinxy, who smiled awkwardly.
"Good luck!" Lily called. I smiled. The three of us were separated. I was out in a small room with a small woman. She looked about 22. She was as tall as I was with tattoos all along her long arms.
"You know what you want?"
"Yeah."
I told her. She nodded.
"It's gonna sting, but your placed shouldn't hurt too much," she said. I nodded.
As she put the ink on my body, I squeezed my hand shut. I hurt, a lot, and I didn't have a hand to hold, so I pretended to hold Sirius'. It comforted me.
"Who's hand are you holding?" The tattoo artist asked.
"Oh, my boyfriend's...I guess. How did you know-"
"Sweetie, people come in here all the time. Most of 'em hold a fake person's hand," the woman said. She had a very strong American accent.
"You're from America?"
"Born and raised," the woman said. We didn't talk the rest of the time.
"It hurts so much," I groaned, rubbing my shoulder blade. Jinxy nodded, cradling her ankle to her chest.
Marlene had her hand against her chest, slightly pale.
"When we get home, you three have to show us all your tattoos," Lily said.
"We will," Jinxy replied.
"Oh, yes, we will."

"Aww, Elle! That's so cute!" Charlie exclaimed. Jinxy had gotten a small tattoo, just on her ankle. It was the phrase 'Tiger loves wolf.' Not very many people would understand (we all knew that Charlie didn't) but we knew what it meant.
"Mar, you're next." Marlene took off her sweater and pulled down her shirt. Just above her bra to the left was a heart. Well, it was half of a heart. It was about the size of my hand.
"Who's got the other half?" Alice asked.
"I guess I'll have to find out," Marlene replied with a coy smile.
"Rani," Lily said, turning towards me.
I too took off my sweater I turned around and pulled up my shirt to show the backside of my right shoulder.
"Is that-"
"Yeah it is."
"What is it?"
"It's Sirius the Dog Constellation," I said. The room 'aww'd.
"What's it say underneath?" Marlene asked.
"Lioness," I told her.
"Oh! I get it! Cause you're in Gryffindor and Gryffindor is a lion and you're a girl lion, which makes you a lioness. You're so smart!" Marlene giggled. I chuckled and shook my head letting my shirt fall back down.
"So is dinner next?" Alice asked. I sighed.
"I was thinking I could stop by my house to see Frank and Jackie," I said. The room fell silent.
"Oh, come on! It can't be that bad!"

"Happy birthday, Riv," Frank said.
"Is Mother home?" I asked. Frank shook his head.
"Good."bi waltzed into my old house, all my friends following behind me.
"Hi Frank."
"Hi Alice."
"Riv?" A voice called from upstairs.
"Jackie!" Jackie ran downstairs and hugged me. My shoulder was still tender, but I didn't care.
"Did you do something to your hair?" He asked. I laughed.
"Yeah. Thought it'd be fun," I said.
"Well, it looks great," Jackie said. He went to talk to Charlie.
"What have you done?" Frank asked, "You want Mother to be even angrier with you?" I growled.
"Frank, it's my life. I'm 17 now, that means she doesn't control me anymore. I can dye my hair and get a tattoo all I want," I said. Frank seemed to be fuming.
"Do you want to get disowned?" He asked. I glared at him.
"It seems to me I already have been!" I replied, my voice just as sharp.
"Disowned?" Jackie's voice piped into our not-so-private conversation. "You said you were spending a few nights at Elle's." I sighed.
"I didn't want to throw you into this mess. It's got nothing to do with you-"
"River, you're my sister, if you were disowned, it's got everything to do with me!"
"Look, I'm sorry. I came her to have nice chat, maybe get some presents, and be on my way," I said. Everyone was silent.
"Here's your present from Mother." Frank threw a small rucksack at me. It was my school rucksack. I felt my eyes sting.
"So I'm not coming back until break," I said. Frank nodded solemnly.
"Here's my present and Frank's present," Jackie said, handing me two wrapped packages. I smiled and hugged him.
"I'm sorry, Jackie. I'll see you at school." Without another word from the near-teared Jackie or the still angry Frank.

"Man, I'm sorry Rani. That must have sucked," Marlene said. I shrugged.
"I just want to have a good dinner with my besties," I said, holding on to Marlene and Jinxy's hands. My friends smiled.

Laying awake after everything that day was terribly difficult. All the others were asleep, while I stared up at the ceiling.
Just as I thought I would die, a light fluttering sound came from the window. I looked up to see a regular barn owl. I frowned. The owl had three small packages tied to it's ankle. One from Remus, one from James, and one from Sirius.
Upon opening the presents, I had to cover my mouth to keep from waking the others. Remus had given me a small wolf bracelet, as he probably remembered my fascination with werewolves when I was younger. Now, I found them irksome. James got me broom polish, though I was still deciding on whether I should try-out for the team again. Finally, I opened Sirius' present. It was a small necklace. It was much like the first one he'd given me, but it was far more beautiful. It too smelled like lemons, which made me smile. I clipped the necklace around my neck and laid back down.
With the smell of lemons filling my nose, I was finally able to sleep.