Sorry this chapter is so short, but I needed an appropriate set-up for the next part of the story.

Again, thanks to everyone for their reviews! It's great for my ego, and it helps the chapters go up that much faster!


Sirius entered the library just in time to see Hermione stepping lightly out of Harry's friendly embrace. He was happy to see his godson looking so well considering how worried everyone had been about the young man after the final battle. He had handled the events leading to that fateful day with stoic determination, but when it was over and he stood victorious, a deep sense of loss seemed to have sunken in and it had taken months for the deep hollow shadows to fade from his eyes.

His quick recovery had been primarily due to the tireless efforts of young Ginny Weasley. Even when Harry had shied away from everyone who cared about him, Ginny had refused to leave his side. The young witch had proven to everyone just how prevailing the power of love could be. It was no surprise to everyone that less than a year later the young couple had announced their engagement. Their wedding had been a small but intimate affair and ever since then, Harry seemed to walk around in a pervasive cloud of unrestrained bliss. It was heartening to see how quickly his life had changed from one of undue sorrow and responsibility to such carefree joy.

"To what do we owe the pleasure," Remus asked, clasping Harry's hand in his and shaking it heartily.

"I have come bearing good news," Harry grinned, "And I have a small favor to ask of you."

"Why don't you tell us the good news first, and then we can discuss the favor," Sirius suggested, giving his godson a wry look.

"Right," Harry chuckled lightly. "The good news is that Ron will be home for his birthday this year. The first of March is on a Saturday and he has that whole weekend off."

"Oh, Harry! That's wonderful news," Hermione gushed. The trio hadn't been able to properly celebrate Ron's birthday two years ago because they had been too preoccupied questing for horcruxes and hiding from Death Eaters and the corrupted ministry for such frivolity, and last year Ron had been tied down with Quidditch training and was unable to visit anyone until early summer. She knew that he missed being with his family and friends for holidays and special occasions, but playing professional Quidditch was what he had always wanted and he accepted that the amount of free time he would get would be greatly diminished. The nice thing was that he had turned out to be an exemplary keeper and his efforts had greatly improved the Cannon's reputation and their game winning average, so no one could really fault him for spending so much time away.

"Is that all?" Sirius said evenly, giving his godson a searching look. "I know you and Hermione have missed him, but you seem far too cheerful for that to be it."

"There is more," Harry confessed, his grin widening with pride. "Ginny is pregnant."

Hermione screamed,making the men jump in alarm, and she leapt jubilantly back into Harry's arms. "Oh, my God!" she shrieked, hugging him so tightly that he squeaked piteously and struggled to breathe, "That is fantastic! How far along is she? When is her due date? Is she feeling okay? Oh, you should have brought her! I can't wait to congratulate her!"

"Slow down, Hermione," he gasped as he attempted to free himself from her hysterical iron-like grip. "She can't know I've told anyone. No one else knows."

"Why on Earth not?" she demanded, finally releasing him, and fixing him with a wary, disappointed look.

"She wants to tell everyone at the same time," Harry explained quickly, not wanting to incur any sort of wrath from his disheartened friend. "Which brings me to the favor bit. We were wondering if we could have Ron's party here. That way we can invite all of our friends and Ginny and I could make our announcement to everyone at once."

"Here?" Sirius repeated dubiously. "I mean, obviously your place is too small, but why not have it at the Burrow? Surely Molly and Arthur wouldn't mind. He is their son after all."

Harry sighed and shook his head. "We thought about that, but you know Molly; she would figure it out long before hand and she'd never be able to keep it a secret. Plus, she'd take over the whole thing and we wouldn't be allowed to have the kind of fun we could here."

"How are you keeping her from finding out?" Hermione asked. "She's likely to take one look at Ginny and know something is up. I'm surprised she hasn't already."

Harry rolled his eyes. "We've been avoiding her since we found out a month ago, and believe me it hasn't been easy. We've about run out of excuses for visiting and we have to be very careful not to say that Ginny is too tired or doesn't feel well, or she might become suspicious and spoil everything."

"You've known for a month and we're just now learning about it?" Hermione frowned, obviously hurt. "You know you we wouldn't tell anyone if you didn't want us to."

"We both know that," Harry assured her gently. "But, Ginny felt it would be best to wait until her second trimester, just in case anything went wrong with the pregnancy, and then Ron told us he was coming home and we figured that would be the best time to break the news."

Hermione gasped at that bit of information. "She's already in her second trimester? But you said you just found out last month?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "We didn't notice anything unusual for a while. She was just really tired and since we're still newlyweds we assumed that it was simply due to…lack of sleep."

Sirius grinned widely and strode over to slap Harry on the back. "James would be proud to hear that!" he laughed raucously, which made Harry blush and duck his head in embarrassment.

"Anyway," Harry continued when Sirius laughter finally died down. "When she started getting sick we went to Saint Mungos and they told us she was about eight weeks along. We figure she got pregnant back in early December. Actually, I think I might know the exact night it happened." He admitted, blushing again.

"Really?" Sirius coaxed, his eyebrow raised, and his devilish half-smirk in place. "Do tell."

"The night we came here for dinner. When we got home she just…" He trailed off, smiling secretly at the memory. "Ah, well. Let's just say that it took extra time for us to recover from that night."

Sirius burst out laughing again and even Remus chuckled at the expression on the young man's face as he finished speaking, but Hermione's brow was furrowed in thought.

"You mean the dinner with Bill and Fluer?" she clarified. When Harry nodded she frowned. Surely it couldn't have had anything to do with… No, she thought, shaking her head at her own ridiculous conclusion. It must just be a coincidence.

"So, what do you say," Harry said, interrupting her thoughts. "Can we have the party here?"

Sirius sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "How many people are we talking?"

Harry shrugged lightly, but his expression was both awkward and entreating. "Not too many. Just some friends from school and maybe some of the Order."

"How many, Harry?" Sirius demanded, seeing through his godson's pathetic obscurity.

"Maybe sixty or so…"

"Sixty!" Sirius shouted. "Merlin, Harry! How will we fit everyone? Do you expect us to supply all of the food and drink for sixty people!"

"No, no!" Harry assured. "I'll take care of the refreshments and such, and I figured that Hermione could find a way to magically enlarge the sitting room or something. She great at that kind of stuff. After all , what use is it being the brightest witch of our age if she lets herself get all rusty."

"Gee, thanks for the complement, Harry," she said dryly and he shot her a teasing grin.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair and looked between his two housemates. "Well, what do you think? Should we go along with this madness?"

Remus shrugged. "It might be fun."

"Hermione?" Sirius asked, seeing the undecided look on her face. It was obvious that she, like he, wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of having to deal with a house full of people.

She glanced up at Harry's beseeching face and her disapproval wavered. "Oh, fine," she caved, and Harry brightened instantly. "But understand that you are responsible for everything and everyone. I don't want to find this place trashed the next day with a bunch of drunk people passed out everywhere."

"Don't worry," Harry assured her, smiling. "I'll take care of everything."

"Sure," Hermione grumbled darkly. If there was anything Harry Potter was known for, it was his well-thought out, foolproof plans and decision making skills. Yeah, right. Hermione could feel the beginning of a pounding headache coming on, and somehow she knew it wouldn't let up until after this whole happy event was over.