Chapter 6: Birthday Surprises

The next week went exactly how that day had gone. Harry continued to ignore Ron and Hermione and spent most of his time with Ginny. They were beginning to become quite close and he was beginning to wonder if she was going to take Ron and Hermione place in his life. They still didn't understand that he was annoyed with the topic of him being the heir of Gryffindor and they didn't seem to be making any effort at finding out why Harry was avoiding them. Things had been really fun hanging out with Ginny but he didn't want to lose his oldest friends either. He really wanted to have them back and was going to take the initiative in the situation if they weren't going to. He got up from the couch he was sitting at while talking with Ginny.

"Where are you going?" she asked him with a startled look on her face.

"I need to talk to Ron and Hermione. I am tired of them acting like a couple of idiots. I miss them."

"Oh…Harry…just don't forget about me?" She looked sad that he was leaving her and let alone for this reason.

"I could never do that to you! You were here for me when nobody else was. How could I forget that?"

"It's just we weren't really friends before. We never really talked and I don't want to lose that now when they come back to you."

"Trust me, Gin. I am not going to forget you anytime soon. You are an amazing friend. I would have to be really dumb to not want to keep you around if you want me around. You are going to make some guy really lucky some day." Finally she smiled and Harry calmed down. He really didn't mean to upset or worry Ginny by him going to talk to Ron and Hermione.

"Thanks, Harry. Go talk to them now."

He left to go find them then with his mind full of thoughts. How could she think that he would dessert her after what she had done for him? These last couple of weeks had been bearable only because she had been there to talk to him. He now had more trust in her than even Ron and Hermione who had been the reason that he needed her. Then he thought of his last comment to her about making some guy lucky. For some reason that comment made him angry at himself. Did she still have a crush on him? Of course not! That had been around five years ago, she had to be over that by now. Did he want her to be over the crush though? He arrived outside of the girl's room and heard Ron and Hermione talking inside the door. He walked into the room, silencing both of them.

"Hey Harry! How are you?" said Hermione coming out of her reverie.

"Look, I only came in here to say one thing and then I am going to bed. Here it goes; you two have really pissed me off over the last couple weeks with your attitudes. All of you have talked about is what this missing link could be and you haven't bothered to pay attention to the fact that I don't want to think about it right now. It isn't going to do any good to think about it because we won't be able to figure it out anyway. I just want to enjoy this summer with my friends, not worry about things like that. I am just lucky that Ginny actually listened to me or I would have been miserable these last weeks."

"Why didn't you say something before now?" Ron asked.

"I did! I told you the first night when you found out. You two were just too big of asses to pay attention to what I was saying about it. Don't apologize, I don't need or want to here it. Just stop talking about it all of the time, please! Have you even thought about the fact that this could be our last summer together? I could be killed anytime and all you care about is what the missing link is." On that note he left them both in a stunned silence. He was so angry with them right now but he just wanted to forget it all and go back to how things were before this new prophecy. He fell asleep that night very quickly out of the happiness he felt for finally yelling at his friends for their behavior.

He slept well but was haunted by his dreams. He saw Voldemort killing all of his friends before turning his wand on Harry. He uttered the killing curse and just before the green bolt of light connected with him, Harry woke up. He had never watched his friends die before and now he understood the form that the boggart had taken for Mrs. Weasley the year before. He looked over and saw that Ron's bed was empty and became a little worried. He crossed the hall and opened the girl's door quietly to see that both of their beds were empty as well. He ran down the stairs in fear that somehow what he had dreamed was true. He came into the kitchen…

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

All of the Weasleys were there already and smiling at the look on his face. Ginny seemed to be the only one to see the look for what it really was.

"What's wrong Harry?" she asked.

"Nothing, I'm fine. I just had a bad dream. Thanks for this everyone." He broke into a wide grin at what they had done for him and the fact that his friends were perfectly safe. He had actually forgotten that it was his birthday with everything that had been going on and was completely surprised when he walked into the kitchen. Had he been at the Dursley's he may not have realized it was his birthday all day having nobody to remind him of it.

The day had been as perfect as any day that Harry could possibly think up himself. All of the Weasleys were treating him as they had before the second prophecy. Ron and Hermione were back at his side laughing and talking with him. The only difference between now and then was that Ginny was now by his side as well. After they ate lunch, they went into the family room to give Harry his presents. Fred and George had given him a bad full of very useful inventions of theirs. Some of which were; Instant Darkness Powder, some shield charmed hats and of course some pranks as well. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave him a spot on the Weasley clock. That meant more to him than he could possibly tell them. Ron gave him a huge a box full of his favorite candies from Honeydukes, Fred and George looked offended that their own brother would buy something from their competitor. Hermione finished things with a book about his newly discovered, many times over, great-grandfather, Godric Gryffindor.

He laid everything down in his trunk sat down on his bed to relax a little bit. Today had been almost perfect to his point. The exception was that he hadn't received a present from Ginny. He still hadn't worked out his feelings for her completely but he knew that the things he felt went further than just being friends with her. She was beautiful, funny, smart, and most of all an amazing friend. She was always there for him when he needed someone to talk to. He was interrupted by none other than Ginny, herself, walking into the room.

"Hey, Gin."

"Hi. I just wanted to talk to you. Are you doing ok after your dream?"

"Yeah, it was terrible. I watched all of you guys die and then Voldemort sent the curse at me but I woke up just before it hit me. I looked for you in your room but nobody was there and I got scared." She had look of sorrow on her face. How could one person get stuck with so much to deal with at this young of an age. She knew he didn't want her to feel bad for him, but she did anyway.

"Everything is going to be fine. I don't know why but I just have a feeling that everything will turn out ok in the end. Can I ask you something off topic though, Harry? It was the real reason I came in here." He nodded so she continued on. "Did you mean what you said about me getting married?"

"Of course, you would have to be blind to not see what a great girl you are."

"Harry, if you had a friend that you liked as more than a friend, do you think it would hurt their friendship to tell them how you feel about them?"

"Not if the friendship was a good one. They would be able to move past it." It was hurting him to think that she liked somebody else and only came to him for advice about what to do in the situation. He wanted to be the guy she liked.

"Thanks for your help. I just needed to know how you felt before I did this." She leaned up and kissed Harry on the lips putting him into shock. "Happy birthday, Harry." She turned and began walking out of the room.

"Ginny," he said catching her attention, "thanks. That was the best birthday present I have ever been given." He stepped towards her and then bent down and kissed her back.