~A/N: Please review! Tell me what you like. Tell me what you dislike. Praise and constructive criticism is welcome with welcome arms. I also know that a few people are a little upset with the rift going on right now, but how else is a teenager supposed to take dying inadvertently by something a friend they really liked did? It'll play out all right. Just give it a little time. A few more minutes in the easy bake oven. Thanks! Enjoy!~

Hermione thought she might be acting a little irrational, but better safe than sorry. She couldn't use magic and had nobody at her disposal to help her, so she had to do this herself. Upon figuring out that the envelope had the Black family crest on it, she quickly dropped it and made her way to the kitchen. A few minutes later, she came back to her room in Macgyver like garb. She had a pair of glasses style goggles on, handkerchiefs covering her face and hair, extra layers of clothing, an apron, her dragon hide gloves, tongs in her right hand, and a pot cover in her left hand. She remembered the hate mail she receieved in her forth year and didn't want to risk that again, especially with the Blacks. She held up the pot cover to shield her as she reached out with the tongs. She broke the seal on the envelope, anticipating some vile curse or other surprise to jump out at her. She jumped back with a shriek and fell on her backside as the envelope vomited out confetti and shouted a trumpet fanfare. This was exactly the opposite of what she expected.

She sat in that position for minutes, trying to comprehend what had just happened. When she finally overcame her shock, she tentatively crawled over to the now open letter. She still didn't trust it. She picked it up and held it arms length away and began to read.

House Potter and House Black

Hold the honor of celebrating

Harry James Potter's

16th birthday.

It would be with great pleasure

For all friends and allies

To attend this momentous occasion.

Please join us at Godric's Party Hall

In Godric's Hollow on

Wednesday, July 31 at 4:00 p.m.

Thank you!

Stunned, Hermione reread the invitation multiple times before she allowed herself to believe the words.

'Of course Sirius would make Harry the heir to the House of Black.' Hermione thought to herself. 'But why throw a huge birthday bash in such a formal fashion? Throwing out there that he was the head of two houses too?'

She also noticed that the invitation had no request for a RSVP. That either meant that it was an open invitation or that people were expected to come, therefore making it a request rather than an invitation. Either way, should she go? Could she go? Obviously she had the opportunity to go since she received an invitation, but could she make herself go? The answer was yes. She had to go. She couldn't let things frizzle out. Maybe things were looking up. Why else would she get an invitation? It was obviously a sign that this was the next step and she had to take it. She wasn't a Gryffindor because she was a coward! She had to try to make things right with him. The boy that she had caused to go off the deep end and feel so much trouble, pain, and even death. The boy who had the right to be upset with her.

The boy who had shown so much bravery at such a young age. The boy who used his great bravery to stop an evil man from taking something so dangerous in the wrong hands. The boy who never faltered under the whispers and rumors and continued on to fought a basilisk for all of the muggleborns, for all of the school really. The boy who looked for acceptance from the last, closest relations to his parents used his great sense of honor to save a man's life only to get his godfather snatched away from him when the true betrayer escaping. The boy who used his great sense tenacity to win the Triwizard Tournament. The boy who used his great sense of protectiveness to go on a suicide mission to save his godfather.

The man she could could not give up on again. The man she was still head over heels for. Harry.

Harry awoke when a piece of parchment slapped him in the face. He was about to yell at Ron for being a prat but had stopped when the familiar grunts and snores filled the room. He reached for the parchment from where it slid off onto the floor, letting the Daily Prophet on his chest slid to the floor. He grinned to himself as he caught sight of the article that covered his blow up he had with Fudge. They had kept it surprisingly accurate. Most likely due to the fact that Fudge was now on the outs and was no longer feeding them stories.

He picked up the note and read, 'Reveal is planned. Go along with it.' He hated being left in the dark; but knowing who wrote the note, he knew there would be something great planned. Looking at the clock, he noticed it was about time to get ready for breakfast. He quickly got up, gathered his clothes for the day and went to the bathroom to get ready, and to shred the note and flush it down the toilet. There was no way he was going to ruin any plans by not tying up loose ends.

As Harry came back to Ron's room, carrying his dirty clothes in one hand and drying his hair with a towel with the other, he noticed that Ron's thunderous snores were still permeating the room. Rolling his eyes, he dropped his clothes in the hamper and lightly shook Ron's shoulder, trying to wake his friend up. Ron moaned in his sleep and slurred something that sounded along the lines of 'five more minutes'. Getting tired of that, Harry had another bright idea. He ran downstairs, greeting all those he met. A few minutes later, Harry walked into Ron's room carrying a glass of water in his hand. Coming up to Ron's bed, Harry had to bite his lip to stop from laughing. He grabbed Ron's blanket with one hand and ripped it off, threw the water in Ron's face, and nudged Ron off the bed with a foot, while yelling, "WAKE UP, YOU GREAT LAZY GIT!" At the top of his lungs.

Ron coughed and sputtered, trying to figure out where he was and what was happening. After a few moments, he looked over and saw Harry cackling like mad, holding his blanket in one hand and an empty glass in the other. He put two and two together and got up while saying, "I'm going to get you so bad!"

Still cackling, Harry dropped the blanket and bolted for the door with Ron hot on his heels. As Harry reached the dining table, he quickly took the empty seat right next to Mrs. Weasley, not meeting anybody's eyes and biting his lip to keep from laughing. As mad as Ron was, Harry knew he would never risk his mother wrath at this close of a range. Ron skidded into the room, glaring at Harry.

"Oh, good morning Ron… Why aren't you ready for the day?" Mrs. Weasley admonished her son, and with a touch of confusion added, "And why are you so wet?"

Ron just grumbled and walked back up stairs to get ready for the day. If having five older brothers taught Ron only one thing growing up, it was to never snitch. As Ron reached the stairs, Harry could have sworn he saw Mrs. Weasley give the slightest smiles and the smallest winks to him.

Ten minutes later, Ron came back down glaring and grumbling. Five minutes into everyone eating, six owls zoomed through the window. They circled the table a few times trying to distinguish which red haired person they were delivering to. Finally, they received their letters and the owls took off out the window. Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, Ron, and Ginny all looked at the letters in their laps for a few seconds before looking up at each other. Just then, two apparition cracks rented the air. Fred and George walked in inspecting similar envelopes.

"Hey, did…"

"Everyone else get…"

"Oh." They said together as they noticed everyone staring at each other's envelopes.

"Hey! Harry didn't get one!" Ginny said pointing to confused Harry.

"Ginny! Its rude to point!" Mrs. Weasley scolded her daughter, all the while checking to see if Ginny was telling the truth.

"Well before we open these up…" Mr. Weasley said as he waved his wand a few times. "Hmm, nothing dark… Still, be careful everyone."

There was a rustling of parchment as everyone held out their envelopes at an arm's length away, aiming the flaps containing the family crests away from their faces. All at once, there were plumes of confetti and blares of trumpet fanfares accompanied by yelps, screams, and shrieks.

As Mrs. Weasley was clutching her chest in surprise, Harry quickly read through the letter through the corner of his eye to get an idea of what was coming. His eyes widened in shock, so he concentrated on his breakfast to hide his face. As people started calming down and reading the invitation, their eyes also widened in shock. Harry braced himself for the onslaught.

"You're throwing a birthday part?"

"When'd you make the invitations?"

"When did you send the invitations?"

"How'd you get the party hall?"

"When did you start using family crests on your letters?"

"What kind of cake will there be?"

Everyone stopped to turn to give incredulous looks to Ron. Out of all the things that first came to mind about something so surprising, Ron's first thought was to worry about what sweets there would be at the part.

"What?" Ron asked sheepishly. "Cake can add or take a lot of points away from a party… Common knowledge…"

A majority of the family shook their heads and turned back to Harry, looking for answers.

"So are you guys coming or not?" Harry asked a tad bit shyly.

"YES! ANSWERS! NOW!" The family yelled back.

"Lets just say that I recently learned that I need to enjoy life a little more and leave it at that." Harry answered cryptically.

Satisfied with the answer, the boys of the family shrugged and went back to their breakfasts, Gred and Feorge grabbing plates for themselves to shovel down before heading back into work. Mr. Weasley looked at Harry over his glasses for a few moments, as though trying to get a read on him. Harry met the gaze until Mr. Weasley gave a slight nod, signifying that he would not push the subject, before shaking a Daily Prophet to straighten it out. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were still on a roll though. They both opened their mouths to begin questioning Harry again, but Arthur lowered his paper again to give the slightest of glares to the women of the house and shook his head, saying softly, "Not now."

Both women harrumphed sullenly before dropping the subject. Harry blew out a breath, wondering if he was truly out of the thick of the storm with the Weasley women. He furiously thought about what his parents and godfather were up to and what their plans held. Going over the invitation again in his mind, he wondered who else received invitations. Maybe many of his school mates who weren't dark. Hopefully Neville and Luna got invites. Then Harry wondered if she had gotten an invitation. The girl that had caused him to go off the deep end and feel so much trouble, pain, and even death. The girl he felt he should hate.

The girl who had stuck by his side for the past five years. The girl who used her great logic to help him save the stone. The girl who used her great researching to figure out about the basilisk and whom he sat next to everyday when she was petrified. The girl who used her time-turner and great sense of justice to help save his innocent godfather and an innocent animal. The girl who had shown her great loyalty to help Harry research and train to make it through the Triwizard Tournament. The girl who had used her great, quick mind to help save him the Cruciatus Curse from a crooked ministry official. The girl who he had a great crush on that he thought of as Voldemort tried to posses him.

The woman he could not hate. The woman he was still head over heels for. Hermione.