Chapter 7: Harry's Birthday
Harry was dreaming blissfully. It was so real! He could smell the sweet, flowery fragrance of Ginny's hair ... feel the soft skin of her small hands under his ... he loved how different his dreams were now. No more prophetic nightmares, but sweet dreams of the girl he loved. He felt her lean down and kiss his lips softly, and jerked awake.
She giggled, her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. She put a finger to her lips, and motioned to a sleeping Ron in the other bed. He blinked fast, sitting up in bed.
"Gin – ?"
"Happy Birthday!" She whispered, smiling.
He grinned, it wasn't every morning he got such a wake-up call. And he had completely forgotten about his birthday! He yawned impulsively.
"What time is it?" He asked her, reaching over to peer through the curtains. Pink rays of dawn sunlight softly illuminated the yard.
"Ginny!" She shushed him, moving to sit next to him, a guilty grin on her face. "It's early! Really early!"
"I know!" She whispered. "I have a surprise for you!"
"Seriously Gin, what time is it?"
"Six o'clock." She laughed at his expression. "It's your birthday! I wanted you to get as much celebration time as possible."
Ten minutes later Harry was dressed and rubbing his eyes as he joined Ginny just outside the Burrow. The horizon was illuminated with soft colours, the morning dew sparkling everywhere he looked. Ginny jumped up from her perch on a pile of old tires and beamed at him. Her red hair clashed startlingly with her green jumper and curled down to her elbows. She wasn't wearing any make-up, but Harry could swear that she had never been so beautiful, than at that moment in the soft morning light.
"Where are we going?"
"Who says were going anywhere?" She grinned cheekily.
"You'd better have a good reason for dragging me out here so early!" He chastised her mockingly.
"Oh seriously. What do you and Ron do upstairs? Hermione and I are awake at this time every morning!" She laughed at his expression. "Well, at any rate I'm still sixteen, so would you be so kind as to whip that wand out and summon our brooms?" She batted her long eyelashes. Harry wondered where they were going.
After a short but exhilarating flight (he hadn't flown in a while), they landed in a large, scenic clearing in a nearby forest. Ginny took a picnic basket out from behind a tree and laid out a blanket.
"Breakfast!" She said brightly, motioning him to sit beside her. He chuckled.
"Did Mrs Weasley make this for us?"
"Nope – I did. Happy Birthday!" She opened the basket, and Harry's stomach rumbled at the delicious smells emanating.
"Thankyou." He said, touched.
They were halfway through their breakfast when a whooshing through the trees alerted them to more brooms approaching. Harry jumped up instinctively, followed by Ginny, brushing her hands on her jeans.
"Ronald, what part of "Be up early tomorrow morning for Harry's birthday breakfast" do you not understand?" Her eyes narrowed at a dishevelled looking Ron climbing off his broom and a harassed looking Hermione touching down beside him.
"You said not to leave before you!" Ron complained.
"I tried Gin, it was like waking Sleeping Beauty." Hermione shot a disapproving annoyed look in Ron's direction.
"Leave out the beauty part." Ginny replied, not removing her Mrs Weasley-esque glare from Ron.
"I'm sorry! I'm up early, aren't I? We made it." He flopped down on the blanket beside Harry, clapping him on the shoulder. "Happy Birthday mate – can you pass me the toast? I'm starving."
Harry had settled down and grinned at the proceedings. He pulled the picnic basket towards Ron, who began to devour food like there was no tomorrow ignoring Hermione and Ginny's disapproving glares. They too, sat down.
"Happy Birthday Harry." Hermione smiled at him.
"This was supposed to be for all of us," Ginny said. "Mum wouldn't have let just us two go without stress." She grinned.
Shortly after, (for Ron was not a slow eater) only crumbs were left at the bottom of the basket. The sun had risen, and the grass was sprinkled with dappled rays of light filtering through the canopy of leaves overhead. It was already warm, the canopy provided protection from most of the heat, but with a noticeable lack of a breeze. Ginny had removed her jumper, and Harry was contently enjoying the sight of her laying back in a small white cami. She had scoped her long hair into a messy bun, leaving her shoulders bare. She noticed him looking and winked. He felt his face heat up as he grinned back. Rather abruptly, Ron yawned and jumped up.
"Game of Quidditch, anyone?"
After a chorus of consent from Harry and Ginny, and a considerably amount of complaining from Hermione, they had all mounted their brooms, and split into teams (Harry and Ron against Ginny and Hermione). They played a revised game, counting the goalposts as two trees close together on either side of the clearing, and the score a pair had to pass the quaffle between themselves six times before scoring between the trees.
Several hours and not a few disputes later, they collapsed exhausted back on to the grass. The boys against girls had worked well, until Ginny decided to distract Harry in a variety of tantalizing and eye-catching ways. This allowed Hermione to steal the quaffle, and the girls to pull ahead. Switching teams, Harry and Hermione drew with Ron and Ginny, while Harry and Ginny decimated Ron and Hermione.
Harry found himself having one of the best days he'd ever had, and certainly the most fun since the battle. It was mid-afternoon before they began to head back.
They were almost at the Burrow when he noticed something was wrong. Flashing light glinted and a myriad of colours replaced the spot in the horizon where the garden should be. He groaned inwardly as a fluttering of colours were revealed to be a ginormous blown up '18' ballon. He heard Ginny giggle from somewhere to his right.
Bracing himself, he touched down to rapturous applause and was immediately engulfed by a wave of people. Several minutes later he distinguished Mrs Weasley's shrill voice through the cacophony of yells.
"Alright everybody! Let him though! Neville, Dean, stop that! Bill – give me a hand. Hagrid, would you ...?"
"All righ' Harry?" The crowd suddenly cleared and Hagrid stood beaming down at him. He reached down to muss his hair.
"Eighteen already." He sniffed, dragging his hand across his eyes. "An' I remember yer eleventh! Lil' broomstick of a boy, didn' know yer had a magic bone in yer! Gon' so fast ..."
"Oh, Hagrid," Harry didn't know what to say. He patted the half-giant's elbow, looking round for assistance when this made Hagrid bawl even harder. Hermione was at his side.
"Come on now, Hagrid." She said kindly, leading him off. "Let's get you a firewhiskey."
Harry looked around. So many people had turned out to wish him a happy birthday! Dean and Neville were there with Seamus, Lavender and Parvati hanging around them, Padma not far off with Anthony Goldstein, Luna and her father were chasing after a gnome in the distance, while McGonagall and Professor Trelawny were conversing with Telius Diggle. Trelawny looking quite fascinated, McGonagall wearing the long-suffering expression of someone who would rather be anywhere else. He recognised the Aurors, patrolling the circumference of the garden, looking tall and stern in their midnight blue robes, more Weasley's than he could count were scampering about the freshly mowed lawn. He spent the first few hours simply going around and greeting everyone, and adding to a quickly growing pile of gifts. Ron served as his 'present-carrier', though Harry suspected the glint in his eye had more to do with relishing the thought of 'helping' Harry to open them later, rather than being helpful. Ginny had been by his side up until they greeted Great Aunt Muriel to the party. She was now being admonished on every aspect of her appearance, from her long 'unruly' hair to her freckles and dress sense. She shot Harry crazed expression from the other side of the garden.
It was six o'clock before they were reunited again, when Mrs Weasley – looking harassed – called everyone to the tables she had set up for dinner. And in end, there was such a chaos with everyone attempting to sit besides the birthday boy that she ended up across the table from him (after having fought Romilda Vane – whom Harry wasn't quite sure why she was there – off with tooth and nail). Ron was to his right and Luna to his left. Everyone had given her a wide berth due to the rather futuristic looking assymetrical blue and white robes she had donned for the occasion.
Dinner was pleasant, and not uneventful. Dean and Shamus had secretly stashed some of Fred and George's old fireworks under one of the tables. When Harry's cake was brought out, they burst out nearly giving both Mrs Weasley and Professor McGonagall heart attacks, and set Telius Diggle's garish tophat on fire. George grinned next to Angelina Johnson.
Romilda had been giving Neville (who was seated besides Ron) the eye nearly as much as Harry, which Ron found greatly amusing, while Neville looked vaguely flummoxed. Hermione had been giving Harry strange looks from next to Ginny for a few minutes before she said "Harry – did you want something?" He hastily removed his foot from her ankle, muttering something about Ginny, who promptly burst out laughing over her pie. The two girls spent the next half an hour giggling and shooting covert looks at him, which he tried to ignore by joining Luna's conversation with a politely disinterested Parvati Patil.
"So you see, there is evidence that the Crumple-Horned Snorkack has recently been illegally imported into England. Daddy and I are going searching for it next week."
As the sun gradually disappeared beyond the horizon and the fireflies began the flit between the candles lighting the tables, the conversation dulled to a murmur. Groups began to leave, some to apparate home and some to dark corners of the garden. Leaning contentedly back in his chair, Harry thought he saw Neville disappearing off round the corner of the house with a slender dark-haired girl. Romilda Vane's seat was empty. He chuckled. Around ten o'clock, nearly everyone had left, and Mr and Mrs Weasley announced they were going to bed. Harry thanked them for a magnificent celebration, and promised that he wouldn't open their present to him until the next day when they could watch. As the temperature dropped, the young witches and wizards relocated to the comfy living room.
"I have an idea." Seamus said some time later, leaning forward conspiratorially.
"What?" said Ginny, raising her head from Harry's lap. Ron and Hermione were sprawled on the other sofa, while Seamus, Dean, Neville, Luna and Lavender were flopped on cushions.
"Let's play strip poker."
"HELL no." All the girls chorused in unison.
"Well if you want to take your clothes off, Seamus, I'm sure we wouldn't protest." Lavender joked.
He flushed, and sent her an appraising glance. Harry wondered what had become of their romance. If they weren't currently together, then he assumed it would happen very soon.
"Well, how about ... strip spin-the-bottle?" Ron suggested, a hopeful look in his eyes. Hermione elbowed him, and Ginny glared.
"What? Well obviously Ginny would go to bed." He said innocently.
"Ronald, you disgust me. Let's play truth or dare." Ginny said.
There was a general murmur of consent at this, and an appreciative whoop of approval when Dean revealed a bottle of firewhiskey. Everyone suddenly looked a lot more pert, the late hour forgotten.
The rules were laid down – a wand was spun, and the person selected had to choose either a truth of a dare. If for some reason they refused to answer the truth or attempt the dare, they had to take a swig of firewhiskey. Dean sent the bottle round once, just to get everyone in the mood. Hermione took a conservative sip, Ron a healthy gulp, and Luna sniffed interestedly at the bottle's aroma before tipping her head back.
The firewhiskey burned the back of Harry's throat and sent chills down his spine. He felt Ginny grimace and shudder as she took her swig.
The game began, the wand pointing towards Neville.
"Dare?" He said uncertainly.
Seamus leaned forward, a glint in his eyes. "Fleur's sleeping in Ginny's room. Go and bring back a strand of her hair." There was an outbreak of laughter at this, and Neville's face turned bright red.
"I can't – I couldn't!"
Ron pushed the bottle of firewhiskey towards him.
"Oh allright." He got up and tiptoed out of the room, looking for all the world like he wished he had chosen to tell a truth.
Two minutes later, he rushed back into the room, gulping.
"And ...?" Seamus prompted.
"I didn't! I couldn't. She nearly woke up!"
An hour later, and Neville was passed out on his cushion, having been unable to complete a single dare. Ginny, although completing almost every single one of hers, had a low alcohol tolerance, and was giggling much more than usual. Ron had failed most of his on purpose, and was currently attempting to persuade Hermione to drink some more. Luna was sitting by herself in a corner, having a full-blown conversation with someone – or something – she called Terry, and Lavender had disappeared some time ago with Seamus. Dean and Neville were taking it in turns to sing A Cauldron of Hot Love and Harry was feeling more than a little light-headed himself.
He looked down at a nudge from Ginny.
"I wanna give you your present now." She slurred.
"Gin, are you sure? You're not feeling too good, we can do this tomorrow –"
"No, no, I'm okay." She struggled to push herself up.
"All right." He helped her up and up the stairs.
"Happy Birthday, Harry." She smiled up at him, leaning against the banister.
She reached up and kissed him lightly, sweetly. "Wait here a sec." She stumbled into her bedroom and returned a moment later.
It took Harry a moment to process what he was seeing. It was an owl in a large, gilded cage, watching him with bright beady yellow eyes. It was the complete opposite of Hedwig, sleek and lovely with dark brown and black feathers.
"I – don't know what to say!"
She flushed. "I don't know if it's too soon, but I thought you could use an owl –"
"Thankyou, Gin. She's perfect."
"It's a boy."
"He's perfect."
She grinned. "Hope you had a good day, today."
"It was the best birthday I've had, thanks to you." He placed the cage aside and took her in his arms. She wobbled, unsteady through the haze of drink and tiredness.
"Now let's get you to bed." She didn't protest.
I'm so sooooooo sorry that it's taken me six months to update this! It's no excuse, but I have been crazily busy. Anyway, I'm not promising to update at any specific time, but I will not be abandoning this story. So bear with me! It won't be another six months ...
Also, to my previous readers, I have changed my penname from bellalunamortale. Just so you know.
I'm also having some writer's block – I know the general direction I want to go with this story, but if you have any idea's, of things you want to happen, suggestions are welcome!
Thank you xxx
