Disclaimer Potter belongs to another; though I wish he was mine, all that money…

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One Hundred and Forty going on twelve

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Chapter twenty one.

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Gryffindor Manor

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Harry moved around the room very quietly as he made a pot of tea, not wanting to wake Hermione so early in the morning. He decided he would go for a walk, so with a mug of tea in hand he left their quarters then Gryffindor tower heading for the main entrance, he intended to take a walk down by the lake.

The scene that greeted him as he left the castle was one of early morning beauty, a low mist rolled gently off the lake into the surrounding valley, a bright red and gold sunrise lit the mountain scenery casting long dark shadows and brilliant swathes of orange and gold tinted light that spread the suns warming fingers slowly across the castle lawns.

Harry reached his favourite spot down by the lake and sat down on a fallen tree trunk the cool mist swirled about his feet, while the rays of the sun warmed his back. He wondered what it had been that had wakened him, he knew he had dreamt of some thing but just could not recall what it had been. Shuffling around so that he could lift his feet out of the cool mist he felt something hard in his pocket dig into him, feeling in his pocket he found the golden key he had removed from his vault at Gringotts. He sat examining the key for a while twisting it between his fingers, reading the inscription along its length he wondered aloud where Gryffindor Manor could be, with a yawn he asked the question aloud as though asking the ducks swimming nearby.

"How do I find Gryffindor manor, if I don't know where to look for it?"

As the words left his mouth Harry saw the mist a hundred metres to his right begin to swirl and thin then from out of the mist a huge building, a cross between a small castle and a roman like villa began to appear. Curious Harry stared at the building that had appeared, smoke rose from some of the many chimneys slowly drifting upward in the still morning air. It took him just a few minutes to walk to the great door of the ancient building, it did not take a great inspiration for him to realise that it was Gryffindor Manor. Slowly he placed the golden key into the lock of the door, the stiff lock slowly turned then with a click the door opened.

Harry entered the manor and found himself walking into a piece of history, the manor was exactly how it had been when Godric himself lived there a thousand years ago, a huge mosaic floor in the entrance lay before him. Harry had seen pictures of the ancient roman villas but those pictures did not do justice to the sight that lay before him. Huge painted murals and thick tapestries adorned the walls around him; he turned slowly taking in the grandeur of the entrance hall, in front of him a wide staircase almost the size of the one in Hogwarts led to the upper floors. He was surprised by how warm it was, and as he looked around he realised that the place was spotless, there was no dust, not a single cobweb to be seen. Standing in the middle of the mosaic floor of the entrance hall Harry suddenly realised he was not alone; he had been joined by a house elf.

"Er, hello," Harry said as he looked down on two bright light brown eyes.

"Welcome home Master," the elf said sounding awed and happy at the same time.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter," Harry declared a little quickly.

"Welcome home master Gryffindor, would the master like some breakfast?" the little elf asked as he followed Harry into the main hall.

Harry's breath caught as he looked at the main hall, in the centre of the great mosaic floor stood a huge round table, surrounded by large comfortable chairs, 'King Arthur and the round table' he thought as he stared at the scene before him.

"Master… master…" the little elf said trying to get Harry's attention.

Harry suddenly shook his head "Sorry, no, no breakfast, what is your name?"

"Odisius Pfilipius," the little elf answered eagerly.

"Odisius fill… blimey that's a mouthful, is it alright if I just call you Phil?" Harry asked.

The little elf nodded "If that is what the master wishes."

"So this is Gryffindor Manor?" Harry asked.

"Yes master Gryffindor," the little creature answered looking around "I hope the master is pleased."

"Pleased?" Harry asked not grasping what the elf meant.

"We elves has been without the master for many, many lives now, we do's the work handed down by our fathers, is the master pleased with our work?"

Harry looked down into the odd little face of the elf "It looks brilliant, you have done a great job. Er how many of you are there?"

"Odisius Pfilipius will fetch the others for the master," the little elf declared before vanishing.

"He'll be gone a while," a voice said from Harry's right.

Harry spun around wondering who had spoken; his mouth fell open when he saw a life size portrait of Godric Gryffindor smiling down at him.

"Tis good to have wizard to talk to after so long a time," Godric said as Harry stepped closer.

"Godric? Godric Gryffindor?" Harry said when he eventually found his voice.

"In person sir, well almost," Godric said chuckling "Did you expect someone else?"

Harry stared at the portrait, it could well have been a portrait of his father except for the clothes and hair, the man in the portrait had sandy coloured hair. Five minutes later Harry was being introduced to a small army of elves, he tried to count them and figured there must be around fifty of them, after he had thanked them all for taking such good care of his ancestral home, he told them all that they had done an excellent job and he was pleased with all that they and their ancestors had done, they then went back to what ever job they had been doing before his arrival.

Harry dragged up a chair and sat talking to Godric, bringing his ancestor up to date on what was happening in the world, "My wife Hermione will be able to fill in the history details, I always seemed to fail when it comes to that subject," Harry said as his stomach began to rumble.

"Well Godric, I had best get back to the castle, Hermione has woken up and is wondering where I am, I'll talk to you later," Harry said standing up.

"Bring that wife of yours when you return Harry, I would like to meet her," Godric said as Harry said goodbye.

"Oh you can rely on it," Harry said as he made his way from the main hall.

Harry was half way back to the castle when he realised what had disturbed his sleep, it was Saturday but more importantly it was Hermione's birthday, he had only taken a few steps after he had remembered when he clapped his hand to his forehead,

"Oh shit, I forgot Hermione's birthday, bloody, bloody, bloody poo," he whispered as he walked toward the main entrance.

Harry absentmindedly searched his pockets as though hoping to find something he could offer as a gift to his wife, "She is going to be so disappointed," he told himself as he walked up the steps to the door of the castle.

That was when his hand once more found the golden key, turning to look back at Gryffindor manor he saw it was no longer visible, everything looked just as it had when he had first left the castle, fingering the key he was suddenly filled with relief, he knew exactly what he was going to give Hermione for her birthday, he would simply give her a surprise.

'Harry love where are you?' Hermione's voice asked in his head.

'Just outside the great hall sweetheart' he answered smiling; he had a little plan forming in his mind.

'Ok, you go in for breakfast, I'll be down in a few minutes' Hermione told him sounding just a little disappointed.

Harry was almost finished eating when Hermione eventually arrived down for her breakfast, "Morning love," Harry said giving her cheek a quick peck before returning to his food.

"Morning Harry," Hermione said quietly as she placed some eggs on her plate.

As Hermione finished eating and placed her knife and fork on the now empty plate Harry leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek, "I have someone I want you to meet, would you mind if I asked McGonagall along, as she has been so good to us?"

Hermione turned to give him an odd look, on her birthday her husband wanted to go meet some one and take a professor with them, she wondered just what he was up to, he hadn't even wished her a happy birthday yet.

Shrugging her shoulders she answered a little glumly "Ok."

Harry stood and then walked up to the teachers table and after a few whispered words he and McGonagall walked to where Hermione was getting up from the Gryffindor table.

Albus Dumbledore looked on and wondered what was happening. Minerva McGonagall wondered the same thing, it seemed an odd request. Harry wanted her to accompany them while he gave Hermione her birthday present. All he had offered in explanation was that he wanted them both to meet someone.

Two rather puzzled females followed Harry down to the lakeside, when he stopped and said "We're here." Both of them looked at him as though he had gone mad. In front of them lay a large empty field; its only occupants were wild grasses.

Harry fumbled in his pocket for a minute before he offered the golden key to Hermione,

"Happy birthday Mrs Potter," he said then gave her a kiss "I didn't buy it, it's the ancestral home hope you like it."

Hermione cheered instantly as he said happy birthday, he had not forgotten, she looked down at the golden key in her hand "Its l… lovely," Hermione said as she looked at the key wondering what she was supposed to do with a key. Harry pointed at the engraving on the key, Hermione looked at it and read it out loud "Gryffindor Manor, how do I find Gryffindor Manor Harry?" she asked. Then to the surprise of herself and McGonagall the air in front of them began to shimmer and ripple as Gryffindor Manor slowly revealed itself to them.

"Happy birthday love, that's it, our ancestral home," Harry said as he gently pushed Hermione forward.

With looks of amazement both Hermione and McGonagall walked up to the huge door of the manor, Hermione placed the key in the lock and turned it, the door opened with a click. A huge smile was on Harry's face as he looked at the two females, they stood in the entrance hall, a little house elf greeting them, both of them stood with their mouths hanging wide open for a few seconds before Hermione managed to ask "Whats your name?"

The elf looked up at Hermione with an extremely happy face "Odisius Pfilipius," he replied, "would the mistress like breakfast?"

Hermione declined the offer as Harry told her he had decided to call the elf Phil, then he stepped between them taking the women both gently by an elbow he ushered them into the main hall.

"So what do you think of your present?" Harry asked a dumfounded Hermione who could only manage to move her mouth silently.

Harry walked away from the them and went over to the portrait of Godric Gryffindor, "Hello Godric, I'd like to introduce you to my wife Hermione, and our deputy headmistress Minerva McGonagall," Harry said as both he and Godric chuckled at the two amazed women.

"Professor I thought you might like to meet the founder whose house you are head of," Harry said as Minerva moved toward the portrait.

She was still amazed that she had been invited in to something that until just a few minutes ago had been nothing but a legend, and to be standing listening to Godric Gryffindor himself talking to her was beyond her wildest dreams.

Leaving Hermione and McGonagall in the main hall talking to Godric, Harry started to look around the house; he found room after room filled with amazing historic things. He found and looked at nearly thirty rooms before going in search of Hermione, who he found along with McGonagall still in conversation with Godric. They were telling Godric about Voldemort and how Harry had faced him three times already and how he had come out on top on each occasion.

By lunch time Harry with his stomach grumbling walked back to the castle once again. This time he walked with his arm around a very happy Hermione while she cuddled up close to him and thanked him for the most brilliant birthday gift, along side them walked a quiet but very happy deputy headmistress who was eager to tell Albus Dumbledore that she had just spent an entire morning talking to Godric Gryffindor. She knew the headmaster was going to be so jealous. She also knew that Dumbledore would pester both Harry and Hermione till he persuaded them to introduce him to the great wizard founder of Hogwarts.

That evening thanks to quite a bit of running around by Harry, Neville, and Ginny, a birthday party was held for Hermione and was a huge success, most all the Gryffindor students managed to join in. Several of them arrived bearing home made greeting cards, which Hermione was extremely grateful for.

It was later that night as she and Harry sat relaxing in their quarters that Hermione decided to thank Harry for his gift, sitting in his lap she wrapped her arms around his neck and began to kiss him. The kisses she gave him that night were enough to make his getting undressed for bed just a little more embarrassing for him than was normal.

Lying in bed Harry placed his arm around his wife and whispered in her ear that maybe they should go over to Gryffindor manor in the morning with their friends and stay there until classes began on Monday morning. Both of them fell asleep feeling it had been a very good day, they were both happy.