* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART THREE
The Eighth Year
Chapter 25: Happy Birthday
The days following the eventful bonfire night passed quickly and happily for almost everyone involved. Harry hadn't been as happy as he was now since the carefree weeks he had spent with Ginny in his sixth year, and Daphne was glad to break free of the chains she had shackled for herself by being afraid to fall in love.
What was interesting was what happened in Divination on Friday afternoon. After Seamus's sudden departure, a new student had joined them; Gabrielle.
Trelawney's predictions had been accurate so far, for once. No one had died in her standard start of year prediction, but maybe that was just because she was happier now that Voldemort was gone.
However, Seamus had left, and Gabrielle had joined them. So who was going to be injured? Probably him, Harry thought to himself. He was unlucky, especially in Quidditch matches, and he wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in the hospital wing at least one more time this year.
The class had just gotten into the room and settled down when Trelawney started her usual dramatics. She threw her hands up into the air and looked around the room with her huge bug eyes, "Ah! I sense something!" she walked around the room, stopping nearby Harry and Daphne. She pointed at the new couple and smiled, it was a strange sight, but it looked like a genuine smile, "My dears, you have found young love! Wonderful!" she floated away again, leaving Harry a little embarrassed and the rest of the class, Daphne included, in fits of laughter.
At the weekend, the rest of the eighth years threw a party for Daphne and Harry to celebrate the fact they had finally gotten together. Harry suspected that it had very little to do with himself and Daphne and that it was just an elaborate excuse for a party. All the same, Harry didn't mind. Neville had snuck to Hogsmeade for butterbeer and snacks from Honeydukes, and this time Draco had indulged the others by going into his super expensive firewhiskey stash. Of course, it was ultra-expensive; it was his.
The party had ended up on the roof as it tended to, even though it was still only November and it was freezing.
McGonagall had turned up to tell them to shut up, but they had only moved from the roof to the common room, so she couldn't hear them.
Sunday had been fun because a lot of the eighth years had gone out for a friendly Quidditch game to brush up on their skills. It always helped playing with the opposition. Neither Slytherin nor Gryffindor had matches soon, but Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw did.
Harry and Draco joined forces to be joint seekers and created the 'Slythindor' team, and Ernie and Terry did the same with the 'Ravenpuff' team. Daphne, Sadie and Tracey were the chasers for Slythindor. The keeper was Dean, and Neville and Theo were the beaters. On the Ravenpuff team, the chasers were Justin, Lilly, and Michael. The beaters were Hannah and Susan, and the keeper was Zacharias Smith. It was a fun game (mainly because Ron decided to referee it), and it was surprisingly close.
It allowed the opposition to assess the faults and strengths of the other players for the upcoming games. It put them on a bit more of a level playing field, and Harry was surprised by how good the Hufflepuff team was. The game was at 140-160 to the Ravenpuff team when Harry caught the snitch and won victory for the Slythindor team.
The week after that flew by. Harry and Daphne got more comfortable with each other as they finally managed to sneak off and get some time alone. They loved their friends, but it was hard to break away from the group at times, and as a young new couple, they needed time alone. The others understood, and although they spent less time as a large group, their friendship did not suffer in any way.
On Monday, Harry and Daphne got split up in Transfiguration when Harry got distracted and transformed his squirrel into a large piece of chipped wood instead of a chipmunk. He was sent to sit next to Neville, and Hannah was moved away from Neville to Harry's old seat next to Daphne.
When Harry grumpily sat down next to Neville, his fellow Gryffindor smirked, "I didn't think I was that bad."
Harry chuckled and said, "Sorry for getting Hannah moved away," but Neville only shook his head and said it was fine.
They got back to work on their transfiguration, and by the end of the lesson, Harry had managed to produce a creature with the head of a squirrel and the body of a chipmunk. McGonagall shook her head, trying to hold in a smile, "Mr Potter, thank goodness you only need an A in Transfiguration to be accepted into the Auror programme."
When Friday the 14th of November came around, Harry wasn't as happy as usual. In fact, he was feeling exceptionally down, and it had everything to do with the date. If Sirius had been alive today, he would have been 40 years old and that depressed Harry. He hadn't said anything about it to Daphne, but he knew he would have to at some point. She could see right through him, and she would know that something was wrong.
Harry got up earlier than usual and had a look through the photographs he had found at Grimmauld Place, the ones of his godfather with his dad and Remus. If Peter had been in the photos, Harry had cut him out. He didn't deserve a place in those happy memories after what he had done. They ranged from pictures of 12-year-old boys to 20-year-old men because their friendship had lasted that long and had been that special.
After trying extremely hard not to cry, Harry put the photographs away, pulled himself together, got dressed and went down to the common room. It was still earlier than most people got up, so it was empty.
Harry walked down to the great hall, sighing as he looked around the school. He wondered how Sirius would feel seeing it now. If Sirius could see how it had changed, what would he think? Slytherins and Gryffindors were friends, dating even. He'd probably have hated it; would he have been angry at Harry for dating Daphne, or would he have accepted it? In his heart, Harry knew that his godfather would have been happy as long as Harry was.
When Harry reached the great hall, there was a small spattering of students, but it was early on a Friday morning, so he hadn't expected it to be busy. Harry was about to sit down at the empty eighth-year table when Hagrid motioned for him to come over.
"Harry, I've got summat ter show yer," Hagrid said. He looked excited. He stood up and motioned for Harry to follow him. Harry was confused but curious, so he grabbed some toast off of the eighth year table and followed Hagrid out of the hall. He took such long strides that Harry wasn't walking alongside him until they got out of great oak doors and into the grounds.
Harry hadn't put his cloak on, and it was freezing outside, the ground had started to ice over, and when he breathed, it made impressions in the air. Harry shivered, "Hagrid, what is it?" he asked.
"It's a secret," Hagrid said, winking at Harry, "It's a present from Sirius."
Harry frowned; he was even more confused. Had Sirius left him something? Wouldn't he have gotten it when he got everything else that Sirius left for him in his will after his death? Why now on what would have been Sirius's 40th birthday?
Harry had to jog to keep up with Hagrid as they made their way through the grounds towards Hagrid's hut, he was kind of glad because it kept him warm, but he was curious about what Sirius had left for him and why it had Hagrid so excited. After what felt like an age, the giant and the Gryffindor reached the hut, and Hagrid finally stopped. He turned to Harry and grinned through his beard, "Sirius told me if he didn't make it I was ter give it ter yeh on his 40th birthday when yeh were mature enough ter use it properly. Come on; it's round the back."
Harry's heart was beating out of his chest as he walked around the hut to the area where the pumpkin patch was.
Then he saw it…gleaming in the early morning sunlight next to the pumpkin patch…
"Wow," Harry said, entranced as he made his way over to the amazing machine, "Sirius's motorbike."
Hagrid nodded, "I've had my fair use o' it. It's yers now."
Harry grinned. This was so cool. Hagrid seemed to revel in Harry's reaction to the bike, "Do yeh want to try it out?"
"Yes!" Harry responded immediately, and he quickly climbed up onto the huge bike.
Hagrid stepped forward, "This here is yer accelerator an' this is yer brake. Yeh press this button here ter start the engine, and this one ter fly it. Jus' tilt the handles ter steer, alright?"
Harry nodded, and Hagrid stepped back as Harry pressed the start button; the engine roared into life, and Harry assumed it was the same as a plane, so he started to pick up speed on the ground before pressing the flight button.
The bike instantly raised off the ground and got higher until Harry managed to steady it out.
"Woohoo!" He yelled as he flew the bike around the grounds in circles. A small crowd had gathered outside the great oak doors to the school, and Harry could see faces pressed against windows. He flew around the school, passing the Gryffindor common room where Ginny was grinning out of the window. Then he passed the eighth year common room where Draco and Neville looked on enviously. Daphne was gaping in complete shock as she watched her boyfriend on his flying motorbike. Harry flew the bike back around and landed by Hagrid's hut. The giant clapped with his dustbin sized hands, "Yer a natural Harry!" he praised as Harry jumped off of the bike and ran a hand through his windswept hair.
"Can I keep it?" Harry asked, causing Hagrid to laugh, "Course yeh can, I'll keep it tethered up by the pumpkins fer yeh."
Harry grinned broadly and thanked Hagrid with a large bear hug before making his way back to the school for some more breakfast.
Harry was only a little bit smug that Friday.
He had needed to fight through admiring crowds telling him how great he was and how cool he was, but Harry could handle that. He had needed to do that since his defeat of Voldemort.
When he finally got into the great hall, he had barely eaten two bites of his bacon and egg sandwich when the others burst in and shot question after question at him.
"Where the hell did you get a flying motorbike?" Draco drawled.
"What the hell is a motorbike?" Theo asked excitedly.
"Bloody hell Harry; is that Sirius's old bike?" Ron asked eagerly.
"How on earth could you fly that thing with no training? You could have crashed!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Can I have a ride?" Daphne smirked.
Harry stopped for a moment and addressed them all one by one, "Draco, it was my godfathers, so yes Ron, it is Sirius's old bike. And Theo; a motorbike is a Muggle way of getting around like a car."
"No wonder you got 'troll' in Muggle studies," Sadie mumbled, getting a glare from her boyfriend, "Oi, just cause you got straight O's in everything, geek."
"The only person to ever get an O in Muggle Studies," Tracey laughed, causing Hermione to blush and mutter that she got an O too.
"I didn't get straight O's anyway," Sadie piped up, defending herself, "I got an A in DADA and an E in Transfiguration."
Harry shook off the bickering couple and turned to Hermione, "Are you sure it's safe?" she asked anxiously.
"Hagrid showed me how to use it, but it's easy anyway," Harry said as he glanced at Daphne and added, "And of course you can have a ride, by the way."
Daphne smirked at this; she was such a thrill seeker.
"I'm so jealous, mate," Neville said, shaking his head, "I'd love a flying motorbike."
"Me too," Draco admitted with a look of longing in his eyes.
Theo made a face, "I wouldn't; it's just a rubbish Muggle version of a broomstick!"
"Are you kidding, Theo? I'd love a flying motorbike. It would be bloody wicked!" Ron exclaimed.
"Until you fell to your death, then it would just be bloody," Lilly said with a raised eyebrow.
"And Neville, you'd be a disaster on a flying bike!" Hannah exclaimed, "Look how much damage you did to yourself when you fell off a broom in first year!"
Draco snickered, and Hermione raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend, "I don't know why you're laughing, Draco. You know nothing about Muggles. How the hell do you think you would be able to ride one of those?"
"I could learn!" Draco objected.
Theo snorted, "I bet I could learn to ride one."
"You just said it was stupid," Sadie said in amusement.
"Yeah, well, it is compared to a broom, but it would look cool," Theo conceded.
Sadie rolled her eyes, "You'd kill yourself on one of those things, Theo," she said matter of factly.
Over breakfast, the others continued to pelt questions at him about the bike and what it could do and how Sirius had gotten it and why he had it now. Harry happily answered all of their questions, he had a plan brewing, but he couldn't implement it straight away. The day passed agonisingly slowly, but eventually, lunchtime came, and Harry snuck off; the others noticed that he wasn't around but didn't think too much of it. He appeared back at Hogwarts for Divination, but he was 5 minutes late. No more was said on the subject.
Friday came and went, and on Saturday morning, Ron was rudely awakened by Harry shaking him. He groaned and covered his face with a pillow.
"Come on, Ron, it's 10 am. I gave you plenty of sleep."
"What is it?" Ron mumbled, his voice muffled through the pillow.
"I want to show you my new bike; you can even have a ride if you want."
This got Ron moving, and Neville smirked at Harry, "You were right. That did wake him up."
Harry laughed. He had already woken Neville up for the same reason, "Told you," he grinned.
"Really?" Ron asked eagerly as he emerged from his bedsheets.
Harry nodded and grinned, "I'm going to go wake Draco, so get dressed."
Ron jumped out of bed at top speed, and Harry and Neville made their way out of the dorm room and up to the very top of the staircase to the room Draco shared with Theo and Blaise.
"Wait here, I'm going to go in and wake him up," Harry said in amusement to Neville.
"Good luck with that. Apparently, he sleeps with his wand under his pillow," Neville smirked.
Harry didn't seem concerned about this as he tiptoed across the room to Draco's bed and poked the boy in the ribs.
"What the...Harry!" Draco was startled when he saw the grinning Gryffindor standing over his bed, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.
"Morning, Draco," Harry said brightly.
Draco glanced at the time and asked, "What the hell are you doing in my room?"
"Waking you up. Ron, Nev and I are going to the grounds to have another look at my bike. I said they could have a go. You can too if you want to come."
Like Ron, these words seemed to magically awaken Draco, who was out of bed quicker than Harry could say, "Cool."
Harry made his way down to the common room, grinning like a Cheshire cat as he awaited his friends. It didn't take long for Ron and Draco to appear. When they did, Harry led them and Neville down to Hagrid's hut, where Fang was snoring loudly on the doorstep.
"Okay, now, I want you guys to know that you are my friends, so don't feel bad about this," Harry said, leading them around the hut to where not one, not two, not three, but four motorbikes were tethered up by the pumpkin patch.
"Holy Mother of Merlin..."
"Sweet Salazar..."
"Merlin's hairy bloody ball sack!"
Harry grinned as the three boys walked towards their new bikes in complete awe. Harry would have felt lonely without anyone to accompany him when he was out flying his new bike. Plus, he knew how much his friends wanted their own, and he was a teenage millionaire. If he ever ran short on cash, he just had to give an interview or let someone write a book about him.
The bike Harry had picked out for Ron was Gryffindor red with black wheels and a black seat. Neville's was very similar to Ron's, but it was red and white rather than red and black. Draco's was much more elaborate than the others, which were made for cruising, and long-distance rather than speed, but Harry felt it matched the Slytherins personality.
The smooth bike was black with hints of green when the light shone a certain way, even the black tires were tinted with Slytherin green, it was a racing bike, but Harry thought Draco would have fun with it. All of the bikes were modified in the classic style of Harrys, with a start button and a flight button. You locked your motorcycle by placing your wand in a small hole next to the start button; they were all set to the boy's wands; it was clever.
"I bloody love you, mate!" Ron grinned, "I mean, I actually bloody love you! This is the coolest thing ever! Mum is going to go bloody mental, though..."
"Harry, you are amazing. I can't believe we didn't become friends sooner. How did I not know how cool you are?" Draco asked, jumping on the bike to get a feel for it.
Neville was a little more reserved, "Harry, this must have cost so much...you shouldn't have."
Harry shook his head, "I wanted to, Nev, but if it bothers you that much, I'll take it back for you."
"No!" Neville blurted out, "I mean, uh, thanks, Harry," he climbed up onto the bike and, like Draco, got a feel for it.
Harry grinned and jumped on his bike, "So, where are we going?"
"First of all," Neville said, waving his wand a few times, "We make sure we're geared up."
Instantly the four boys were kitted out in biker jackets with pads at the shoulders and elbows. Amongst the 'gear' were pads for the knees and shins.
Harry said, "Oh, I almost forgot," he jumped off his bike and made his way over to a small box outside Hagrid's hut. He pulled out four biker helmets from it and handed them to his friends.
Ron and Neville's helmets were red like their bikes, Ron's had gold throughout it, and Neville's had white. Both also had a transparent visor. Next, Harry threw Draco his helmet, which was as smooth and elaborate as his bike. It had several different shades of green throughout. He put the helmet on reluctantly, complaining that he was a Malfoy and Malfoys didn't need protection.
Lastly, Harry placed his helmet on his head. In his opinion, he had the best one, it was black to match his bike, and it was so shiny it gleamed. Unlike the others, he had a black visor that he could see out of, but others couldn't see into.
Harry grinned and turned to the others as he climbed on the bike, "Let's test these babies out," he said, pulling his visor down and taking the lead. Once he was up in the air, he realised that Ron, Neville and Draco weren't far behind him.
Draco decided to try out the speed of his new racing bike and shot ahead of the others with a rather girlish scream. When Harry, Ron and Neville caught up with him, Draco had slowed down using the excuse that he 'didn't want to get too far ahead' of his friends. They spent a few hours flying around the grounds and the surrounding mountains, and when they got back to school around 1 pm, they were all starving.
"You bought all of them bikes, just like that?"
Harry rolled his eyes, "What's the pobwum Hamione? I can awword it."
Hermione made a face at her friend as he talked through a large mouthful of food, "That's not the point, Harry."
"It kind of is the point, Hermione," Draco said, smirking at Harry. Still, the smirk disappeared upon Hermione's glare, "Draco, I know you're used to getting everything handed to you on a silver platter, but you better think again. Life isn't always going to be that kind."
Draco made a face at his girlfriend, "I am not used to getting everything I want. You make me sound like a spoiled little brat."
There was an echo around the table of, "You are a spoiled brat."
Draco just rolled his eyes, "Whatever."
"If you get my boyfriend killed with that death machine, I expect life insurance for him to be paid to me," Lilly pitched in matter of factly.
"I think that's a fair deal," Harry joked.
Lilly grinned, "At a rate of ten galleons a day."
"Oi, is that all I'm worth?" Ron joked.
"It's the only way you'll get money out of Weasley, through his death," Draco retorted.
"Oh, shove off Malfoy," Ron complained half-heartedly.
"I do agree with Lilly, though," Hannah said quietly, "Not about the life insurance. I think that's a little excessive-"
Lilly laughed, "It was a joke, Hannah."
"Oh," Hannah realised with a blush, "Right well, the thing is Harry. I don't want this thing to get Neville killed."
"I'll be fine, Han," Neville assured her, "This isn't first-year me; this is eighth year me. I've beheaded snakes since then."
"It was only the one snake, actually," Lilly retorted.
Neville scoffed, "It was still pretty cool, though."
"Yes, but that doesn't actually mean you won't fall to your death on a flying motorbike," Lilly pointed out.
Dean grinned, "Yeah, I fail to see a connection between giant snakes and flying motorbikes, mate."
Harry snorted in amusement and said to the girls in their group, "But anyway, what are you girls doing today?"
"Library," They echoed.
Hannah elaborated, "We have that new project from McGonagall to finish by Monday."
The boys sniggered and were glared at by the girls in return. McGonagall had issued the girls with a task; they were to write up an essay all about motherhood's responsibilities to reduce the number of teen pregnancies. It was amusing to the boys because they didn't have to do it.
"You do realise you all have to do an essay next week about the responsibilities of fatherhood and the pitfalls of the contraception charm, right?" Hermione asked them with a raised eyebrow.
Their faces fell, "Really?" Draco asked in disbelief.
Daphne smirked, "Not so funny now, is it, boys?"
"Do you think we should do something tonight with the girls?" Neville asked, thinking about Hannah's reaction when she saw his new bike.
"Yeah, why not." Harry said, and Draco nodded his agreement, "Although I think we should keep it a surprise, otherwise Hermione would never agree to it."
"Deal."
"Daphne?"
"Yes, Harry?"
Harry was smirking, and that was never a good sign, "Do you want to sneak out? There's something we want to show you."
Draco, Ron and Neville were standing behind him, looking suspicious. Daphne stood up, her arms crossed, and her eyes narrowed, "What's going on?"
Hermione stood up and assumed the same pose from behind her, "Why do you lot look so shifty?"
"Yeah, have you murdered someone or something?" Lilly asked, popping up from nowhere.
Hannah appeared from the other side of Daphne, looking at them curiously, "Okay, is it a surprise?"
Neville grinned; Hannah loved surprises. He nodded, "It's a surprise, but we have to sneak out first."
"Harry, you have had a bad influence on him," Hermione said, she was amused, but she shook her head all the same.
"So, will you come?" Harry asked the four girls.
Daphne, of course, just shrugged and said, "Sure," and Lilly agreed readily.
Hannah reluctantly and cautiously said yes, but Hermione wasn't as easily convinced.
"Tell me what you're doing first," Hermione said.
Draco grinned, "But love, then it wouldn't be a surprise," he mocked.
Hermione scowled, and Harry said, "Oh come on, Hermione, I promise it will be fun."
Hermione sighed and then reluctantly said, "Oh, fine!"
Mission accomplished.
"Some of us should go under my invisibility cloak," Harry added in an undertone so that the rest of the people in the common room wouldn't hear, "I mean, we could probably fit three of us under there and three people sneaking out looks less suspicious than eight."
"I agree," Hermione said, "But who goes under the cloak?"
"I will, but you, Ron, and Neville shouldn't," Harry said, "Because if McGonagall saw us four together, she'd know something was up."
"Yeah, and let's face it, me and you under that cloak these days is a struggle, ever since I had my growth spurt and you didn't," Ron teased.
Harry laughed, "That's true," he agreed as he glanced at Hermione, "So are you happy being out of the cloak too then?"
Hermione nodded, but she didn't look happy to be one of the ones to get caught if someone saw them. Neville didn't seem too bothered, and Hannah piped up, "I'll stay with Neville, Ron and Hermione."
Lilly nodded too, "And I'll stick with Ron."
"Well, it's settled then. I'll go under the cloak with Draco and Daph," Harry said, realising how awkward that could be considering how close you had to stand together with three under the cloak, and Draco was pretty tall. In reality, it would have made sense to put three of the four girls under the cloak, but if anyone saw a combination of Draco, Harry, Ron and Neville together, they would know for sure that they were sneaking out.
The group grabbed new clothes and put them in Hermione's magic bag to get changed into when they reached their destination, and then they made their way out of the common room and started to walk out of the castle.
Under the cloak, Daphne was sandwiched between Draco and Harry, who held one end of the Marauders Map. They had to detour twice, once to avoid Filch and Trelawney, who stumbled down the corridor together, Filch with a firewhiskey bottle in hand and Trelawney with a sherry bottle. The second time was to avoid Professor Sprout, who was on patrol duty that night. They got to the grounds with no issues, though, and they could take a breath of fresh air, literally.
Once on the grounds, the problems started. The gang stopped a little way from the front doors to regroup before making their way to Hagrid's hut. Unfortunately, while they were muttering to each other, nobody under the cloak saw McGonagall approaching them from behind on the map.
"Longbottom, Weasley! What is going on?"
Neville jumped and turned around, Hermione and Hannah were startled, and Hermione looked slightly terrified. Ron and Lilly didn't seem particularly scared at the prospect of being caught.
"Oh, Professor… well, this is awkward," Ron said slowly.
McGonagall narrowed her eyes at the trio, "Why is that Weasley?"
"Well, you know Lilly, and I are a couple, and so are Neville and Hannah. We were just enticing Hermione to join us for a wild night down at -"
McGonagall looked shocked, and her cheeks flushed pink, "I think I've heard enough Weasley! You are aware that Hogwarts students are not permitted to leave the grounds without permission; are you not?"
"Kind of," Neville cut in, "I mean the rule book states that students between first and seventh year are not permitted to leave the grounds without permission, but as we're eighth years, it doesn't apply to us, so we'll see you, tomorrow Professor," he smiled at McGonagall. He turned around, walking towards the gates with the rest of his friends (including the invisible ones). McGonagall stood still for a moment, then recovered from the shock and shook her head in exasperation as she made her way back into the castle.
As the exchange had been going on, Harry and Draco had been forced to stand extremely close to Daphne under the cloak, and when the coast was clear, Daphne said, "That better be your wand Draco."
Draco frowned and looked down, "Oh! It is," he pulled his wand out of his front pocket, and Harry snickered, "I wouldn't put it there unless you want to blow something off accidentally."
Draco looked horrified and put his wand in his jacket pocket, Daphne giggled, and with the coast relatively safe, they took the cloak off and hurried to catch up with the others who were waiting by Hagrid's hut.
"So, why are we out here?" Hermione asked as they all stood outside the hut.
"Oh, just a moonlight stroll," Harry said casually, causing the girls to give him strange looks.
"It's 6.30. It's not even dark yet," Hermione said with narrowed eyes.
"And why would we go on a moonlight stroll with two other couples?" Daphne asked her boyfriend.
Hermione sighed, "Harry, if you plan to take us somewhere on those bikes, you can think again, I am not getting on one of those death machines."
"You're such a muggle," Draco joked, which he got slapped for. He muttered, "Yeah, I probably deserved that."
Harry led the others around to where the bikes were, and the reactions were mixed. Daphne grinned, "Cool! I cannot wait to ride this thing!"
Hermione glared between Harry and Draco and said there was no way in hell she was getting on it. Hannah surprised them all by running over the bike and saying, "Wow! This is a Harley Davidson!"
"Yeah, you know bikes, Hannah?" Neville asked, completely shocked.
Hannah nodded, "Yeah, my Dad was a biker," she said casually as she examined the bike, "But wow, his bike wasn't this cool. He had a Triumph like Harry's, but it was much older, and it always broke down."
They were all stunned into silence for a moment, and then Harry dived into the helmet box and brought out helmets for the four girls. He handed Hannah hers first; it was very similar to Neville's; the excited Hufflepuff put it on straight away. Next, Harry gave Hermione a helmet. She narrowed her eyes at him, "Protected or not, we're still flying. I hate flying."
Draco rolled his eyes, "Aw, come on, love, I'll buy you that new book you want, the one about the different uses of dragon blood."
"Draco, are you bribing me?" Hermione asked, more amused than annoyed now.
"Maybe a little," Draco admitted, "Come on, you'll enjoy it, I promise."
Hermione sighed in defeat and put the green helmet on. Harry grinned in amusement and handed a deep blue helmet to Lilly, who eagerly put it on and climbed up behind Ron on his bike.
Finally, Harry placed a black helmet on Daphne's head. When they had all mounted their bikes and had their girlfriends behind them with their arms wrapped around them, they were ready to go.
Hermione was the most hesitant. She came closer and closer to the bike, and eventually, she was close enough for Draco to grab her. He lifted her despite her protesting squeals. She gave in and wrapped her arms tightly around Draco, "I hate you," she whispered.
Draco just grinned, "I love you too," he said, adding, "So where are we actually going?"
"Edinburgh?" Harry suggested, glancing at the air and saying, "We could get there in an hour, maybe an hour and a half if it rains."
"Sounds good to me," Draco said.
Neville nodded, "Me too, but how are we going to get there?"
"A four-point spell?" Hannah suggested.
Harry nodded, looking thoughtful, "Or we could do it the muggle way and follow the train line?"
"Would that actually work?" Draco asked, sceptical of muggle technology as usual.
Harry nodded, looking at the time, "Well, Hogwarts is between Inverness and Aviemore, and the 6.45 pm train just left Inverness, so if we get lost, we can follow it to Edinburgh."
"How do you know so much about trains?" Daphne asked in confusion.
Hermione replied, "He got bored in the summer between fifth and sixth year, so he jumped on trains all around the UK."
Harry shrugged, not particularly embarrassed about this, "I know where the railway line is, and I know it will work. It was how Ron and I flew his dad's car to Hogwarts in second year."
"And look how well that went," Neville said in amusement.
"I seem to recall you crashing that car into the Whomping Willow," Draco smirked.
"Well, the landing didn't go to plan, but that wasn't our fault," Ron objected, "And I think that car is still wild in the forest, you know."
"I think the bloody thing is feral, let alone wild," Harry laughed.
"It was a good little car while it lasted," Ron reminisced fondly, and Harry snorted in amusement.
They got ready to leave after that. The guys told the girls to hold on tight for the take-off. They all started at the same time, gathering speed and then lifting off into the air. Hermione screamed and kept her eyes shut tight until they were flying at a steady speed and height. She opened them and took a deep breath.
"See! That wasn't so bad!" Draco shouted over the rush of the wind. Hermione didn't look convinced, but she stayed quiet.
They made their way through the Cairngorm Mountains until a railway line appeared, and surely enough, there was a train there, rumbling along beneath them. They overtook it, and Harry said they would be fine because he knew the line anyway. Occasionally they flew closer to the ground to check that they were on the right track. They passed Aviemore, then Kingussie, Newtonmore, Dalwhinnie, Blair Atholl, Pitlochry, Dunkeld and then reached Perth. Harry stopped, hovering in mid-air as the others caught up.
"What's up?" Ron shouted to his friend.
"The line splits here!" Harry yelled back, "One track will take us to Edinburgh and the other to Glasgow!"
"Which one do we follow?" Draco shouted.
"I'm not sure!" Harry said, "Hang on!" he flew to the ground, landing out of eyesight and rode the bike on the ground to the front of the station. He jumped off and ran inside. They couldn't see what was happening through the roof of the station, but Harry quickly reappeared, hopped on the bike, drove it away from the station and took off again. In seconds he was by their side in the air.
"What did you do?" Hannah asked loudly over the wind.
"He asked the station guard!" Daphne called back, clearly amused by this.
Harry rolled his eyes, "Don't worry; I obliviated him after! And it's that line, by the way!" he informed them, pulling his visor back down and taking off. The others followed him, amused at their small pit stop.
They followed the line that Harry had said was the right one, and sure enough, they passed the right stops to know they were on their way to Edinburgh. They passed the towns of Ladybank, Markinch and Kirkcaldy. Then they were following the coast and passing small coastal towns and villages such as Kinghorn, Burntisland, Aberdour and Dalgety Bay.
"That's Edinburgh!" Harry said to the others after they had passed Inverkeithing, and the tracks turned into the iconic Forth rail bridge. They avoided the bridge, flying high not to be seen. They flew between the rail bridge and the road bridge. They followed the track again and decided to touch down near Haymarket station. They landed the bikes and got onto the road, driving the last part as not to arouse suspicion. Harry really needed to look into an invisibility booster.
They arrived in Edinburgh shortly after and parked their bikes as near to the Royal mile as they could. Once they were safely locked up, they found the nearest bathroom and changed into their 'party' clothes.
"Where now?" Hermione asked as they stood in a huddle on Princes Street.
"The underground wizarding club, obviously," Harry said, surprising the others. Draco knew about it, but he didn't know that Harry did. The others had no idea that there was such a thing. They followed Harry as he made his way along an alley and knocked three times on the door. Something scanned him, and then he was asked, "I fly, I dive, I catch things when the time is not right; who am I?"
"Viktor Krum," Harry replied, and the door opened, he walked in, and the others followed him.
"Harry! You're back!" A small Asian wizard said, looking at the group he'd brought with him.
Harry grinned, "Hey Kimball, this is my girlfriend Daphne and my friends Draco, Hermione, Neville, Hannah, Ron and Lilly."
The man smiled, "Friends of Harry Potter are friends of mine. Free entry!" he opened a door and motioned for them to go down the stairs beyond it. Harry led the way, and the others followed. They arrived in what appeared at first glance to be a standard club, but when you looked closer, you could see the tell-tale signs of wizards.
There were two men at a table using their wands to lift girl's skirts as they danced. There was a man at the bar talking to his pet meerkat, and it was talking back.
"This is awesome," Daphne said as she looked around.
Neville grinned, "I've got a feeling it's gonna be a good night."
"Tonight's gonna be a good, good night," Harry agreed with a smirk.
It was lunchtime on Sunday when the group of eight did the walk of shame into the castle. They were starving after their hour and a half flight home.
They had left the club in the early hours of the morning and crashed at Draco's Edinburgh penthouse, which no one had known anything about it until that night. In the usual Malfoy style, it was grand and luxurious with a large open plan kitchen, living area and dining area. There was even a wall entirely made of glass that looked out onto the city. He and Hermione had made their way into the bedroom, and the others had crashed on the sofas or the floor.
They were all exhausted as they landed, tethered the bikes up by the pumpkin patch and locked them. They trudged up to the castle and walked into the great hall just in time for lunch. They were hoping to blend in with the crowd so they wouldn't get in too much trouble. They had the sense to change out of last night's party clothes for travelling.
When the group walked through the large oak doors from the entrance hall into the great hall, they were relieved. McGonagall was absent from the head table. They had avoided being caught. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, but then disaster struck. Behind them, someone cleared their throat.
"Mr Potter, I see you had a good night."
Harry turned around slowly, wincing when he saw an extremely strict looking McGonagall standing there, "Oh, Professor we-" he was about to think up an elaborate lie when Draco cut in, "Yeah, we did, Professor!"
McGonagall turned her steely gaze to Draco, who swallowed and dropped his grin, "I trust you understand that this is not personal and has everything to do with the fact that as Headmistress of this school, I must enforce the rules. All eight of you, heroes or not, will spend every night this week in detention with Mr Filch, cleaning the entire castle."
McGonagall walked up to the head table, looking quite happy with herself as the others groaned and trudged over to the eighth year table to whistles and applause.
"It was worth the detention," Draco admitted as he tucked into bacon and eggs like a starving man.
Harry laughed, and Ron grinned in agreement, "Thanks for the bike, mate!"
* ~ TBC ~ *