Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter or FF7. This is still my first serious attempt at a Harry Potter fanfic, so please be kind.

Author's note: Again, there will be a sequel to this. Please don't flame, I'm low on HP. Well, school's over (YEA!). I hope this is good. I'm not so sure. It's back to a kind of Vincent-centered HP fic, but I hope to do more chapters focusing on other characters. I do have extreme writer's block and too many new story ideas coming in, so please be patient with me. Also, there may be a lot of OOCness in this chapter. Just fair warning.

Convergence of Time

By Aurora M. Tepes

Chapter 6: Happy Birthday

Bahamaut drew in a great breath as Tifa hastily cast Barrier on the school and surrounding areas.

"You guys need to get the students out of here!" Cloud yelled to Dumbledore and the other 2 standing with the first years. "We'll take care of this!" Only Dumbledore seemed to hear Cloud's suggestion, so he herded the others away.

The guards braced themselves as the powerful beam of energy came raining down on them. It was their turn to fight back, then. They threw themselves into the long battle, using potions and materia right and left and praying that the dragon would stay away from the rest of the school. They were on the verge of releasing their limit breaks in a final attack when Bahamaut finally fell, disintegrating in a pile of blue flames.

The exhausted heroes breathed a little more easily as they leaned heavily against the support of the castle's walls.

"What day is it?" Tifa suddenly groaned.

"Why?" Yuffie asked.

"I just want to know if it's anywhere near the weekend." Red XIII pulled out a mini calendar and checked it.

"Yes. It's Friday," he answered. Tifa jumped for joy.

"What's the date?" Cloud asked.

"October 13th," Red answered swiftly. Vincent visibly stiffened. "Anything wrong, Vincent?" He shook his head and quickly left them.

"Wuzzup wit' tall dark and depressed?" Barret asked. Cid shrugged.

"How could we have forgotten!" Yuffie exclaimed in horror.

"What is it, Yuff?" Tifa asked.

"IT'S VINNIE'S B-DAY!" Yuffie screamed. They all stared at her a little strangely before glancing around.

"So why doesn't he like his birthday?" Tifa questioned.

"Beats me, but we gotta throw him a birthday bash!" Yuffie answered.

Everyone else just walked away. They wanted to keep their heads attached to their bodies, thank you very much. But, they did want to do something for the silent gunman.

The students were sent back to their dormitories, classes could not continue if a madman was on the loose inside of Hogwarts. But it was all the same to the guards. They had less little annoying brats to deal with than usual and the teachers could somewhat relax.

Cloud had gone in search of Vincent, but hadn't found any trace of the ex-Turk. He'd searched the towers, (all except for Trelawny's, they had all quickly learned to stay away from there), and the dungeons and the owlery and the classrooms and…everywhere else he could think of that Vincent might go, but he found nothing.

Meanwhile, Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting in the Gryffindor common room talking things over. No one knew what exactly had happened, but there were rumors that a dragon had attacked the school. They didn't know what to make of it, but were sure that that couldn't really happen.

---

There were only two sounds to be heard in the creaking house, the howling wind and his own labored breathing. It was Friday, October 13th. Many said that the day was the purest bad luck in the world, but no one really believed that…

But if it wasn't true, why did all the bad things happen on that day. Vincent realized that he had just barely escaped releasing Chaos on the swarm of unsuspecting students during the fight. October 13th…it was the day he couldn't control…the day he could never control…so he ran.

It was October 13th that his mother had left him, October 13th that his father had died, October 13th that he was assigned to Nibelheim, October 13th that he had been shot…the day Lucrecia left him. Vincent thought sardonically about all the terrible events in his life. Any other person could expect gifts and wonderful things on their birthdays…Vincent could expect death and destruction, a tear-down of any sort of life he would ever form.

Sometimes Vincent wondered if his existence was a mistake. All he ever caused was sorrow, and that was all he received in return. Of course, in his sorrowful musings he never once thought about the fact that October 13th was the day he met Lucrecia.

But he couldn't go back to the school, not until the next morning when Chaos, Galian, Hellmasker, and Gigas would be under control. Idly he wondered if any of the others knew about that day…no, probably not. They wouldn't care even if they did.

With that, he clutched the orb that allowed him to control his demons as pain surged through his body. He cried out and was silent.

---

"Professor," Tifa said as she approached Dumbledore. "What's that house on the hill by Hogsmead?" Dumbledore looked up.

"Hmm? Which house?" he asked absently.

"The one that looks like its falling apart."

"Oh? The Shrieking Shack?"

"I guess that's it. Is it abandoned?" Dumbledore nodded.

Tifa sighed. She knew where her dark companion was. Old, abandoned, and falling apart. It seemed like Vincent liked those kinds of surroundings. She left the office and found Cloud quickly.

"I think I know where the Birthday Boy is," she hissed, grinning. Cloud nodded and signaled to the others to bring him the…items.

"Okay, guys, here's the plan," he told them once they had all gathered. "Tifa and I will go get Vincent and you guys get everything set up in our common room." The others nodded.

Dumbledore had so kindly provided a group of rooms for them to share that were connected by a common room. Hence, they could gather in private when they needed to.

So they all hurried off to fulfill their prescribed duties.

It was a long walk out to the Shrieking Shack and Tifa had begun to curse the day that they found out it was Vincent's birthday. But they finally arrived, shivering and slightly annoyed.

Slowly, Tifa opened the door. It creaked, making the fist fighter jump.

"Vincent? You here?" she called. No answer.

"Tifa, you search down here and I'll search the second floor," Cloud said. Tifa nodded and began wandering around the small house. Cloud headed up the noisy stairs and into the few rooms above.

It wasn't long before he found the gunman, crouched in the corner, grasping some small orb with his human hand and…crying? Vincent was crying? Cloud tried to bend his mind around the thought, but it wouldn't work. So he just accepted the fact and crept closer to the gunman.

"Vincent?" he said softly. In a flash, Vincent was on his feet, backing away from his friend. "Hey. Is this where you've been all this time? We've been looking all over for you!" The gunman averted his piercing eyes.

"I…You shouldn't have come," he said firmly, his voice showing none of the tears that had just been shed. "It's dangerous."

"What are you talking about? C'mon, we're going back to the castle. You can't stay here." Vincent remained silent. "Tifa and Yuffie baked you a cake." Still nothing. "It's your birthday, Vincent. You should come back with us." Still nothing. "We're not leaving until you do."

"W…We're?" Vincent whispered. Cloud nodded.

"Tifa's here too. The others are waiting back at the castle. C'mon, you need to come."

Vincent was silent a moment, perhaps reflecting on what Cloud had said. But finally he looked into Cloud's slightly glowing eyes.

"You say all this as if we were friends," he observed softly.

"Aren't we?" Cloud responded.

"I…I never really thought…"

"That we cared? Look, just because you don't talk all that often, and okay, so you're a little creepy, but it doesn't mean we aren't your friends." Vincent stared silently at the young swordsman before nodding. They made their way down the stairs together and found Tifa.

As they were walking back to the castle, Vincent noticed that Tifa was shivering. Almost on impulse he removed his cloak and placed it around her thin shoulders. Both she and Cloud looked at him in astonishment and he looked away.

"Thanks," Tifa finally said, smiling.

"Oh, and Vincent," Cloud said suddenly. Vincent turned to the younger man. "Happy Birthday."

TBC…

Author's Note: How'd you like it? Again, please no flames. The next chapter should be better.