Don't Ruin My Party, Please PV Invitees

Finnegan turned the letter over once more. When June had handed him the note after their regular charms practice, he'd been to scared to read it right away and stuffed it in his robes instead. Now that they had separated on their way back to their respective common rooms, he had found an alcove to retreat into next and traced the letters of his name written in dark-green ink on a bit of silver-lined parchment. Silver and green, he noted silently. That detail wasn't lost on him, though he wondered if she had picked her house colors for his letter specifically as a tease, or if she had made all of them that way.

That was the other thing he had noticed; she had carried a couple of similar-sized letters in her back, though he'd only really caught a glimpse of them.

Finnegan eyed the kit of dusty medieval armor next to him suspiciously. It's head hung low and the soft, hollow snoring noise emerging from the helmet ensured him that it was asleep. Careful not to tear it, he opened the letter and began to read.

You are invited to June Selwyn's 13th Birthday Party

Please join me on Saturday, June 24th from 12pm to 3 pm at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop in Hogsmeade to celebrate my official beginning of teenagehood.

If you want to bring a gift, books and liquorice wands are always appreciated, as is anything you personally find interesting.

Please RSVP when you're able.

He scanned the letter top-to-bottom two more times before he looked up and smiled stupidly at the ceiling. June had invited him to her birthday party! That meant she had to at least like him, right? It put him into a special class of close friend that he had hoped to obtain and eventually surpass. The fact that she had personally handed him the invitation made it all even better. But what to get her? While she had - in typical June-fashion - provided some suggestions, he was determined to make a bit of a splash. Normally he'd ask George for advice but ever since he'd learned that June and George knew each other too, he'd been careful not to mention her in conversation. If George ever discovered that he liked June, the whole school would probably know the next day.

A more pressing problem revealed itself on his third time through the letter. He'd been in Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop once before and had so far escaped detention when sneaking into Hogsmeade. Nevertheless, it remained a risky endeavor, one he hadn't imagined June of all people to ever ask of anyone. Maybe some of his recklessness had rubbed off on her, though it was just as likely that her friendship with George had inspired some rule-breaking. Whatever the case, Finnegan couldn't help but like her even more for the adventurous spirit of her invitation. He had a growing hunch that this birthday party was going to be rather special, regardless of whether it would cost him a detention or not.

The halls had turned dark and gloomy by the time he finally made it back to Gryffindor tower. The fat lady gave him a judgmental look and made a point of reminding him that he was only just arriving before curfew, but Finnegan didn't pay her much mind. He spent another half-hour in one of the chairs by the fire, mulling over his response. Eventually he settled on "I'll be there" with a big smiley face drawn next to it and had it sent back the next morning.