Helena stepped back and admired her handiwork. The Ravenclaw common room was decked out with streamers, balloons, sparkles and one or two miniature quidditch players zooming around. At the back wall there was a large Royal blue banner which read 'Happy 17th Birthday Peyton' across it in silver letters. Another small silver quidditch player was zooming through the letters - a piece she had convinced some of the more artistically inclined Ravens to help her with. The furniture in the room had been moved to the side leaving a wide space in the middle for dancing or general mingling. There was entire table dedicated to sweets and junk food, along with a large birthday cake (which hopefully would not explode this time) the second table had several different punch bowls in a variety of flavours along with pyramids of glasses that were enchanted not to shatter when dropped. The final table was set up for presents, after all Peyton was now a man in the eyes of the wizarding world and deserved to be treated as such (even though she suspected most of them would be some form of watch as was customary on a Wizard's 17th birthday)

Helena had personally gone around to each and every Ravenclaw she had found over the past two weeks to tell them about the party she planned on surprising her big brother with (as well as asking any who as willing to pitch in for their help) She had roped Brittany Jensen - a bubbly gossiping fourth year whom she wasn't all that close with - to distract Peyton and get him out of the tower long enough for them all to set things up. She had no idea what the girl planned to do but as long as they came back to the tower on time she didn't much care.

She glanced at her own watch. It wouldn't be long before the birthday boy would arrive and the festivities would begin, "Okay everybody. They'll be here any moment now. Remember as soon as they come in just yell Surprise." The normally mousy and quiet girl was obviously nervous and acting as if none of them had ever been a part of a surprise party before.

Alex, perched comfortably on the furniture, rolled her eyes. "We aren't idiots, Helena," she pointed out, "I think that we're capable of yelling surprise at the appropriate moment without being reminded twelve times." Although aware that the bossiness was probably just due to nerves, there was still a limit. Honestly, they weren't hyperactive five year olds or socially incompetent fools- with the exception of Sasha, who would probably try to study throughout the party.

For all her sarcasm, Alex really did hope that the party was a success. Although generally not fond of people who could be described as nice, Peyton was a special case, and as this was his most important birthday, she thought it important that he enjoyed himself. A quidditch theme would at least make that more likely, considering Peyton's somewhat ridiculous obsession with the sport- not that she didn't like Quidditch, but Peyton's affection for the sport was astounding.

It had been that which had inspired her gift- an IOU for a ticket to a game of Peyton's choice. Compared to the other presents, her envelope looked very small indeed, but Peyton should like the present, which was the purpose. Watching the entrance to the common room with an intensity that betrayed her nervousness, Alex muttered, "When's Peyton going to get here anyway? I know that we sent out an advance guard to delay him, but this is ridiculous."

"I do love birthdays," Ligeia said of the mounting festivities. "A sign that you've kicked Death in the face."

Her gift was rather unusual, even for a party guest known for gift wrapping with spiderweb silk and black ribbon. Instead Peyton's gift was a balloon. Not really just a ballon but it was the means of delivering the gift. The card was tied to the bottom and the balloon itself was black withe jolly rouge on one side and an hourglass on the other. And there was....something inside the balloon, poking and stretching the skin but is was enchanted not to pop just yet.

Ligeia let it anchor to the gift table. "Of course deathdays can be just as interesting. Rotten cake instead of exploding ones." It was a boon that she had a private workspace in the Potions dungeons where she could store her solutions. She had the suspicion that some of her brews had been taken to try and spike the carrot at Sasha's welcome back party last year.

So, given his time Land of Scots, part of the Kingdom of the United, Mace had come to meet new people. If that was all he ever did in the tournament that was fine enough. One such friend was Peyton Wentworth, who he and Parker had met in a joke shop.[1] Peyton was a friendly sort and he was really into flying. Via broomstick events and general chats around classes, the two had compared broom sports.

Naturally, when Mace heard of Peyton's birthday, he had to figure out which tower exactly was the Ravenclaw one. It all looked so different from the ground, when you weren't above Hogwarts Castle on a dragodirigible.

Zooming about checking the interior of tower windows was difficult given the ball shaped package under his arm and the paper bag hanging off his broom handle. These two things couldn't meet quite yet. And he couldn't drop the ball. Just in case.

Then one window seemed to fit the requirements. Blue, bronze and silvery interior, common room atmosphere and party decorations. This must be it.

Easing up to the side of the window, Mace found himself staring into the steeling eyes of a vulture roosting higher up. "Evening guv," he said, adopting a local dialect though it made absolutely no sense given the time of day and the fact that he was talking to a bird, "meaning no harm, got a package here to deliver. Did you need to sign for it?"

The vulture clicked its hooked beak, stretching its downy grey neck at him.

"I'll just drop this off." Mace peered inside, recognizing Peyton's sister Helena as the timid girl from the shop. He rattled the window. With his hand that wasn't holding the ball.

1.	A Little Joke Goes A Long Way

Helena was quickly distracted from her nerves when she heard the window rattle. A large smile cracked her mousy face and she rushed over to let the American rebel inside, "Peyton will be so happy you came." He ushered him inside indicating where he should put his present, where to find refreshments and went over explicit details of what he needed to do when Peyton entered the common room.

~*~

Peyton chuckled and blushed not from embarrassment but from awkwardness. Britney Jensen had found him out in the courtyard reviewing the sign up sheet that had been filled out the day before. He had been making notes of how well returning players had performed and the potential of all the new recruits that had signed up, along with those that would be good in helping strategize. Professor Trishna was adamant about having every Ravenclaw involved and Peyton was behind it 110%.

The bubbly blonde who was latched onto his arm had pulled him away from his notes claiming she needed his expertise on something she was working on for History of Magic. Unless it involved Quidditch he doubted he could help but the dolled up fourth year insisted and so he had allowed himself to be dragged up to the Ravenclaw common room while enduring her boisterous flirtations. Peyton knew enough about the fourth year to know this was just who she was but he was beginning to think perhaps she hadn't gotten the memo about him.

Thankful that they had reached the entrance to the common room and the younger girl had let go of his arm Peyton had answered the riddle the Portrait had given and entered the room beyond, stopping dead just within.

"SURPRISE!!!!"