Birthday Surprise

[Reuben Pendleton]

Reuben had visited Saveli in her English house numerous times, but he never really grew tired of just being in England. It was a beautiful country - or the part of it Saveli lived in was, anyway. The houses in her neighbourhood had all been built nearly a century ago - not just built for purpose, or practicality, but built for the eyes, sculpted into impressive statues that dominated the countryside for miles around. Reuben's house, which was actually just a renovated barn, wasn't really anything spectacular to look at either outside or in; but he supposed it was practical, and always warm, which was more than could be said for many.

The Thunderbird shivered, a fist emerging from inside his sleeve to knock at the door of Saveli's house. That was one thing he missed about New Zealand. Christmas in the summer! He'd just grown used to the luxury when he'd transferred to Ilvermorny, where Christmas was traditionally snowy. Much as he enjoyed eating and opening presents by firelight, he'd rather have been basking on the great lawn, watching daylight shrink reluctantly in the sky around about ten o'clock, when he would retire to bed with similar resistance. And his birthdays had always been longer, too. There was something about the sun going down at four o'clock in the afternoon that made birthdays a little less exciting, somehow.

Today, however, Reuben's excitement could not have been dampened by torrential thunderstorms and a sunset at noon. He was seventeen - an adult at last - and better yet, he was spending the evening with Saveli. Professor Pendleton (Reuben couldn't ever get used to calling him Monty) was staying the night at a friend's, which meant the two young adults had the entire house to themselves. Reuben's stomach did a little flip for every thought of what they might do: cuddle up by the fire, play a game, watch one of those Muggle films, press another flower for their collections (Reuben had started his own). Really, though, he didn't care what they did, because as long as Saveli was there with him, it was going to be the best birthday ever. Merlin, he did not think she could possibly have missed him and much as he had missed her.

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli thought perhaps instead of a potions master she should become a party planner, as she was so sure this party for two was going to be amazing. Everything down to the last detail was planned, and executed. Monty was out of the house which made life easier for the young girl. She had set up a buffet of sweets, hard candies and candy flowers. There were house crest (thunderbird now that he'd moved schools) shaped cookies, decorated to match. She'd really decided that Reuben's seventeenth birthday should be his best, and considered he'd spent the actual day away from her this had to be even bigger. After all an evening wasn't nearly enough time.

The blonde straightened her sweater cursong the sleeves that extended past her fingers. She wanted to tell Viv that a cropped sweater was pointless to wear outside, but spending time inside it was perfect for. Pairing it with leggings Saveli took a moment to feed her own ego, convincing herself that she looked alright and that he would think so as well. The knock couldn't have come at a better time, and the blonde scampered toward the door, adjusting her ponytail one last time before opening the door and saying loudly. "Happy birthday!" To her boyfriend.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

How long had it been since Reuben had seen Saveli? Only three or four months, but those months had stretched out practically into eternity; and at the sight of her, he started as if they were meeting for the very first time. Yep, that was another type of beauty Reuben would never get used to. His face softened into a smile, and then split into a grin. "Thanks," he said, stepping into the house, which always had a sort of old-furniture smell about it, but which today was almost completely overwhelmed by the smell of cookies! Cookies and cakes. Saveli had been baking, it would seem. Reuben took off his shoes and hung up his coat, leaving him in a plain sweater, shirt, and jeans. He didn't look anywhere near as great as Saveli, and was immediately conscious about it.

The other thing he was conscious about was that he hadn't made any grand gesture upon seeing her again, like kissing her, or sweeping her up off her feet, like Rudolf might have done for Phoebe. It wasn't that he didn't want to kiss Saveli - far from it - but that he had so little confidence in himself that he hardly believed she would like to kiss him back. On top of that, he was so completely and perpetually shocked that she was actually his girlfriend that whenever he came within one hundred feet of her, every last word in his vocabulary disapparated from his mind, rendering him useless except to smile and stare. "You look - you look really amazing," he said, nodding as if in agreement with himself. "Like - wow. Um. Yeah. So, thanks for inviting me over. Have you been baking? 'Cause it smells awesome in here. Wow. It's been ages, right? I missed you, like, so much." There was no way he deserved a girl like Sav.

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli hoped that maybe Reuben would take notice of her sweater, or hair, but wouldn't be let down if it wasn't the food he noticed for. As Reuben walked inside it was easily missed that Sav had leaned in just slightly as if to kiss him. She played it off as the way she moved to get the door shut - making her movements look as natural as possible. Saveli was slightly nervous about entertaining her boyfriend for the whole night, considering she thought herself boring and plain. She wasn't like her sisters - Prue after all had been hosting some rather large get togethers, and Lue was in school still studying. Even classes gave her more to talk about. Sav didn't know much though since she didn't often write that sister - they weren't as close. The blonde smiled at Roo before nodding. "Thank you, you're rather dashing as well." She leaned forward and plucked a dog hair from Reuben's shirt with a small chuckle.

"I know. I've missed you. Been dying to do this since you left." She commented before leaning forward and grabbing Reuben by the face, then pulling him in for a kiss. It lasted only a few seconds, but kissing rueben was always the best part of the day. He always made Saveli's heart flutter, and her lips tingle. She always felt light as a feather around the boy - man. She released Reuben when she was happy with the imaginary impression she'd left on his lips. "Would you like something to eat?" She inquired with a small laugh, cheeks red from the moments leading up to her question.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

As Saveli's face advanced towards his, Reuben closed his eyes, leaning gently into the kiss. His hands came up to rest on her waist, and when she let go, they lingered there for a moment before he finally pulled them away, grinning like an idiot. "Man I missed you," he said. He would never get over the softness of her lips, the sweetness of her skin. He felt almost as if she were a gift he had done nothing to receive, and that he could not repay, no matter how he tried. Why had she even decided he was worth keeping? It baffled him most every day.

"Yeah, I'd love that," he said, cursing himself for how cheesy he sounded and turning slightly pink under the orange lamp-light. Still, he wasn't quite yet as red as Saveli. She was so cute when she blushed! "Did you cook just for me? 'Cus seriously, you didn't have to do that. Like, I accidentally ate dog food one time, and I didn't even notice, so..." He shrugged sheepishly. "Yeah. Um. I probably shouldn't have mentioned that."

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli gave a nod of her head as he talked, walking him over to the refreshments where she had fizzy drinks and sweets galore. She wasn't going to drink alcohol tonight she'd decided, as she felt it was disrespectful to Monty for some reason. She poured herself a drink and was just sipping on it when Reuben mentioned having eaten dog food. Sav swallowed hard, holding a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter. "I am only going to serve you dog food from now on." She said with a laugh, handing him a second poured fizzy drink. "Anyways since I promised you after getting that broom no presents for five years, I decided maybe movies and junk food might be good? But I already picked the movie." The Slytherin alumni gave a sinister smile, hinting to exactly what kind of movie she was going to make Roo sit though. "Or would you just like to pig out before the blood fest?"

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Spying the table of refreshments, Reuben's eyes lit up. "Woah," he said. "No, please - this is like, a million times better than dog food. Wow. You know me better than I know myself." He grinned, pouring himself some soda and then reaching for a biscuit before deciding just to pick up the entire plate. No doubt they were moving to the sofa anyway, and he sure as heck wasn't making ten trips back over to the table. "Cool!" he said, nodding, though his enthusiasm wavered just slightly at Saveil's sinister look. "Aw, man. I thought this was supposed to be my birthday," he said, but he was laughing. "No, it's cool. I'll probably have finished these before the opening credits, anyway. Ooh! Can I watch you put the disc in? I love those player-things. Muggles have the coolest technology, right?" Technically, Professor Pendleton wasn't a muggle, but he lived enough like one for Reuben not to fix his mistake. "If this was my house, I'd just be, like, pressing buttons all the time. I have a thing about buttons. Like, they just look like they want to be pressed, you know?"

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli laughed. "That's my job as the best girlfriend in the world." Her false confidence nearly gave way to the real thing, though she supposed the fact that Rueben was more interesting in the food than her should have said soemthing from the start. Negative energy was not going to damage her tonight. She laughed and nodded at what he asked. "You can put it in if you'd like. I'll show you how to push all the buttons." She chuckled leading Rueben over and offering him the case to the movie they were going to watch. She held out the thin plastic case to her boyfriend, seeing if he would take it, or if he wanted her to walk him through how everything worked again. "Also, I did push a lot of buttons when I first came here. My birth parents didn't have a television." SAveli rarely shared anything about her birth family - everything seemed like new information she was giving.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Reuben put the biscuits and his drink down on the coffee table and followed Saveli across to the television. He took the case from her excitedly and knelt down in front of the player, extracting the disc and inserting it where he seemed to remember Saveli putting one before. The machine made a sort of whirring noise as it sucked the disc in, making Reuben grin. "So cool," he said. "This one, right?" He pointed to the button he thought he should press, and when it was confirmed to be the correct one, he pushed it with his thumb, sitting back with fascination as a new picture appeared on the screen. He smiled at Saveli, planting a kiss on her shoulder. "I missed you," he said, sincerely. And then he couldn't help but lean in to meet her lips again, his hand rising to touch her cheek, the title credits already beginning to play on the television beside them. He'd hardly even noticed. When he kissed Saveli, he hardly even felt like he was on earth.

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

The blonde watched Reuben with the most love one could manage, in her eyes. She admired his wild curiosity which was so different from her black and white outlook on the world. It was so true that opposites attracted to one another, and Saveli couldn't be happier. With a large amount of pent up passion Saveli kissed Reuben back, not afraid to bring him closer to her, wrapping her fingers with the hand that wasn't on her cheek. Saveli kissed Reuben for what seemed like an eternity until finally sound came onto the TV. Not just a small noise either. It was a gunshot from the movie, or a muggle car backfiring - and Saveli couldn't help but jump away from the TV and in consequence away from Reuben. "Merlin mother of dragons." She spoke in a frantic voice before laughing, looking to see how Roo had reacted to the jump scare.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Screw the movie - Reuben could just have kissed Saveli for the rest of the evening. He squeezed her fingers in his, turning fevered at the passion and the want in her kisses, responding eagerly to her pull. He'd almost entirely forgotten about the film when - bang! - something exploded right in his ear. He jumped backwards simultaneously with Saveli, literally clutching his chest with fright. "What was that?! he said. "I think I just got shot." He peeled his hand away from his chest and looked at it in mock horror, as if he were bleeding. Then he wiped it on Saveli's arm, grinning and pretending to push her. "You knew that was coming, didn't you? You're such an ass!"

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli could have died with laughter, chest rumbling as she cackled at Reuben's face. He was truly terrified she wished she'd had a camera hidden to get on film the way his face looked. "No!" She laughed, wiping off his imaginary blood. "If you've been shot you have to stay down!" Sav wasted no time, tackling Rueben. Though fairly petite in size Saveli had a lot of momentum behind her tackle and brought Reuben down onto his back easily, laughing all the while. The groans of Zombies in the background didn't phase her and she looked into Reuben's eyes. "I love you." She whispered, before leaning in and kissing Reuben on the neck. Saveli had never been more sure of her emotions, and through baking, and movies, and kisses she was going to be damned if she wasn't able to show them.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Reuben was laughing harder than he wanted to let himself, given that he was supposed to be cross with Saveli. He didn't believe for one minute she hadn't known it was coming! Caught off guard, he flew straight down onto his back, the wind practically knocked out of him. Still breathing heavily with fright, and with a stupid grin plastered all over his face, he looked up into Saveli's eyes. Merlin, she was beautiful. Like, not just on the outside, but all the way down into her soul, as well. He closed his eyes as she leaned down, expected to feel her lips on his, but shocked instead when they found the sensitive skin on his neck. He sighed softly, a sort of electricity spreading through his body - a feeling like none he'd ever felt. Saveli's body was warm against his, and though the movie was loud, pressed up against her on the carpet, he could have been a million miles away.

---

When Reuben woke, daylight was streaming in through Saveli's bedroom curtains. For a moment or two he lay still in bed, watching the rise and fall of Saveli's chest as she slept, playing with a strand of her golden hair. She was even beautiful while she was sleeping. He smiled to himself, just beginning to think that he'd never felt so relaxed before in all his life when suddenly a horrifying thought struck him.

He'd promised his mum he'd be home by eleven. Eleven o'clock last night. In England, it was currently seven-thirty in the morning, which meant he was two and a half hours late! "Crap," he muttered to himself, trying to peel the covers back carefully as not to wake Saveli. For all the good it did - at that moment, the phone downstairs began to ring, and he had to nudge her awake anyway. "Sav? I think someone's on the phone," he said, crouching down to gather up his clothes, which were sort of all over the room. Last night had been... wow! He remembered it clearly now, and, despite the amount of trouble he was going to be in, broke out in a fresh grin.

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

[adminapproval=#30331357]Saveli had literally never slept as good as she had the previous night in her whole life. There was nothing more comforting than being skin to skin with the man she loved. Even though he'd not replied to her saying she loved him she knew he did - otherwise last night wouldn't have happened right? The blonde stirred at the sound of the phone and saw him gathering his clothing. "Curfew?" She asked teasingly, moving from the bed and grabbing a large sweater off her wood floors, which covered all the way to her thighs. She handed Reuben a sock and headed down stairs to answer the phone. The blonde stretched before heading down the stairs, the phone kept down there. She assumed it was Monty.

"Shiloh?" She responded surprised at the voice on the other end, which while it said it was her Uncle, it sounded distant and different. The other end was breaking up. "Hey i can't really hear you that well can you speak up?" She inquired, before listening to what the man had to say. "What?" She asked, holding the phone close to her face, taking in a deep breath as she did so. "Y... yes. i.... I'll write Lue...." She spoke slowly, before choking back a tear. "Of course..." She spoke, and though Shiloh had hung up, Saveli still stood there, phone to her face.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Reuben threw the sock back at Saveli as she headed out, laughing. He pulled his trousers and shirt on hastily and ran a hand through his hair, finally retrieving the sock and slipping out of the room, across the landing, and down the stairs.

Saveli was on the phone, so he passed as quietly as he could, slipping on his shoes. Merlin, his mum was actually going to murder him. And Rudolf - Rudolf was going to be totally insufferable, asking questions he definitely wouldn't care to answer. The day Reuben moved out and got his own bedroom could not come quickly enough.

He grabbed his coat and shrugged it on, throwing Saveli a nervous glance. She looked... well, he couldn't quite place her expression. Something wasn't quite right, that much he could gather. But it could probably wait until the next time she wrote to him, right? He desperately wanted to stay - he'd have stayed all week if he could - but he was already going to be in so much trouble, he'd have been lucky not to be grounded for the rest of the year. "You OK?" he mouthed at her, thinking she was still on the line. Then he whispered, "I gotta go. Mum's mad. I'm so sorry. I love you." He rushed forward to plant a quick peck on her cheek before heading for the door. "I love you!" And then he was gone.

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli didn't answer the question, as there was no emotion to describe what aching was happening in her heart. Everything was going so well, everything was finally going well. What was wrong with this sordid universe that she couldn't have one thing. As Reuben finally exited the tears started to flow freely, but not once did Saveli try to drop the phone, hoping perhaps next Shiloh would call and say he was mistaken, the news was not true, there was some kind of horrible, unforgivable prank. Finally Saveli placed her frail fingers on the dial and rang the cell Montgomery had recently bought. He wouldn't leave her home alone unless he had it - so as to keep her safe. When it was answer Sav did not give much explanation, and did not hide her sniffling. "I need you to come home as soon as possible dad." The news Saveli had been given was not phone call worthy, no it was something else. She needed him home in person.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty was never going to drink again. He thought that every Christmas holiday, of course, when he woke up on Arvo's sofa feeling like he'd been hit in the head by a bludger, but every year he repeated the same sorry mistake. In his defence, he'd really had something worth drinking to forget last night. It wasn't in his usual habit to drink his problems away (in fact, he hadn't done so in decades); that this yearly celebration should also happen to fall during a time of intense anxiety was purely a happy coincidence.

He blinked twice, wondering why a fire alarm was going off in his ear, until at last he realised his mobile was ringing. He removed it from his pocket and, seeing Saveli's name on the screen, brought it gingerly to his ear. "Hello?"

She didn't need to ask him twice. "OK. I'll be about ten minutes. Is everything OK?" Clearly not - Saveli knew it was nine-thirty in the morning in Finland, and that he would most certainly have woken with a hangover - but he felt it obligatory to ask. Sometimes, though, news was better delivered in person. He agreed with that.

After getting off the phone, he quickly freshened up, wrote Arvo a note to inform him of the situation (and to thank him and Kata for the previous evening), and headed to the fireplace to floo home. What he would find there, he neither knew nor wanted to worry about. He'd learned not to expend too much energy worrying about things before he really needed to; he could not change the outcome, after all, no matter how anxious he felt. Arriving in a flash at the small building at the end of his garden (he didn't like his floo system to be built where others could directly enter his home), he headed swiftly up the garden path and let himself in through the back door.

"I'm home," he called out through the hallway, venturing in to find her. "Sav?"

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli said okay quietly into the phone, but even after her father had hung up the blonde did not put down the phone. Something kept her glued to that spot, as if the world pulled her there. As if it said here you are Saveli this is where your body belongs, this is where it stays like a blade of grass rooted to the earth waiting to be plucked free and blown away. Her mind clattered with heavy thoughts like thick storm clouds and she felt though she was overwhelmed she was meant to be silent. Saveli stood with her back straight, back to the door and entry way, facing a wall of a color her eyes could no longer distinguish through free falling tears. Though Sav thought she was hurt when she and her exes had broken up, when Gabe had insulted her - nothing prepared the young woman for this loss.

When Monty entered Saveli's breath intook sharply as if she was now waking up, and the rasp in her lungs was the alarm to her brain begging her to say something. To say anything. "Uncle Shiloh called." The girl said and while Shiloh was not any uncle by blood he was Prue's caregiver once her family had passed and therefore might as well have been. "Uhm... He called this morning before i called you." The words Saveli needed to say rose up her throat only to trickle down like soft rainfall. Saveli turned to face Monty with a stare empty like the early morning Serengeti. As if she were the lone tree she only moved stiffly, still finding her mind. Finally after many moments of silence Saveli said what burned in her throat. "Prudence died."

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty had seen many expressions on his daughter's face, but never this one. This one was empty, bereft of any emotion, yet simultaneously full to the brim of pain. It was the sort of pain, he supposed, that expanded to fill a void, pushing its way into the corners like darkness through an empty room. He knew that kind of pain. It was called grief.

Stepping forward, he took the phone from Saveli's ear, placed it back in its cradle, and then wrapped his arms around her. He held her tightly, tighter than he'd held her before, wishing more than anything that the gesture could somehow keep her safe from the pains and losses of adulthood - that it could keep her and Prudence and everybody else she loved young and innocent forever. But it could not. He could not protect her from this. The world was a beautiful place, but it could also be a cruel one; and he knew that no matter how tightly he held her, the world would always find a way through his arms and into her heart.

But sometimes, he just had to try.