A/N: Why has this one taken so long? I really don't know, after the last chapter, this one looked like the proverbial "piece of cake" . Thanks go to the friend who always encourages me, and tells me I can do things, for the boost, the coffee bean and the other thing. I'd still be stuck on sentence four, otherwise. It seems long to me, and yes, A-babe, it does kinda stop sudddenly. But the next part and the last are already started.Now, want to read some nice fanfics? Check out the Eleventh Follower by Chris, and the page for Tes-Sama. Oh, they're good!
Disclaimer: All the things I write began with the marvelous J.K. Rowling. I sure hope she hurries up with Book V! Meanwhile, I just finished Book II again, and I still have questions.
Paris 8 "Harry Has A Birthday"
Harry woke up the morning of July 31 to find Hermione sitting on the end of his bed. She didn't at first realize
he was awake, and for a moment he lay there looking at her through eyes barely open.She had a huge book open on
her lap, and for a moment, he thought it must be Hogwarts:A History. Did she EVER get tired of reading that book, and was that going to be her birthday greeting?
More little known facts? He'd put that thought from her mind right away! As quickly as he could , Harry leapt from
the bed , landing just where he'd planned to, his arms sliding neatly around Hermione. (after all, if he could
catch a walnut- sized ball, a small girl ought to be easy.)
"So, more facts about Hogwarts?" he asked her with a grin.She turned, kissed him on the cheek and replied,
"Good Morning to you too. No, we'll save the information for another day. I wanted to give you this while
no one was here." She stood up and as she put the book on Harry's lap, he could now see that it resembled
the book Hagrid had given him at the end of his first year at Hogwarts. This book was also leather bound, in shining
blue and covered with stars that Hermione had enchanted to twinkle as if they were real.
"It's beautiful, Hermione. I'm almost afraid to open it though. Is something going to jump out?" he said
teasingly. He couldn't resist though, and opened the cover carefully. There he saw a picture of himself, Ron and
Hermione, waving sheepishly and looking almost embarrassingly young. Under the picture was written Year One at Hogwarts. Turning the pages, he found pictures from all
four years the three of them had been at Hogwarts. "Where did all of l these come from, I don't remember us
having pictures taken?" Harry shook his head, amazed at what he saw. This was a complete record, the good
times and the bad, since there was even a picture of the End of Year Feast, when they had all been so sad about
Cedric's death.
" MacGonagall accidentally let it slip that the school takes pictures magically. It's some tradition that
started back when times were more dangerous, so families would always have pictures of their children." She
shivered a little, apparently thinking of the possibilities of the dangers. " Most of the pictures are from
the Hogwarts files, but a few are from Colin Creevy, a few from Ginny and a few Gred and Forge got from Filch's
file cabinets. Seems you're the only current student, besides them, who has his own drawer. I did cheat a bit though,
it isn't just Hogwarts. I've added a section that can be removed with pictures from this summer."
"I like that kind of cheating!" Harry replied, giving her an enthusiastic thank you hug and kiss. "I'd
like to see that section grow a lot!"They stayed there, looking through the pictures, laughing, complaining
and mimicking on some pages (Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy had been unavoidably included in the pictures) until
Ivy came to Harry's door to let them know breakfast had arrived.
"So, Hermione couldn't wait any longer? Harry, she has been so excited about that book." Ivy said, laughing
too as she peered over his shoulder, happening to find the picture of Hermione setting fire to Snape's robes. "
The biggest miracle, I'd say, is that you three have managed to avoid being expelled.."
"I think all of us have been sure it was going to happen any moment, a lot of times." Harry thought there
had probably been at least four or five times a year, every year, but he didn't think Hermione would especially
care to have that detail shared with her mother. Anyway, Ivy had other things on her mind.
" The Weasleys are going to be arriving in an hour or so. ALL of them, even Bill, Charlie and Percy. We should
probably move along a little more quickly, I want to be sure the hotel has everything prepared for them.."
she told Harry and Hermione. In spite of his excitement at the thoughts of seeing the family that was like his
own, Harry couldn't help but worry. He knew the Weasleys didn't have money to spare , and a trip to Paris couldn't
have been cheap. Besides he knew they were coming for his birthday!
Ivy noticed Harry's look of mingled happiness and concern immediately. "Don't worry, Harry, the ministry is
sending Arthur over on some business, and there's some other exciting news. I would have liked for them to have
told you this in person,, but you'll just have to pretend to be surprised. Ginny and Molly submitted a series of
articles and photographs to Witch Weekly, some of Molly's special recipes, illustrated with Ginny's photographs.
The magazine has paid them a sizable amount, and asked Molly to contribute to the magazine on a regular basis.
And Ginny's been invited to speak to the people who publish Teen Witch Weekly, to do some work for them. Arthur
and Molly felt the family should celebrate their good fortune, and being here for your birthday and a few days
beyond is how they all wanted to do it."
Harry felt a lump in his throat, and wasn't sure what had caused it the most, knowing the Weasleys cared for him
this much, or from knowing some good things had happened to the people he cared so much about. He felt a little
better when he heard a strangled sound from Hermione and saw her laughing, but with a couple of tears that she
was trying to wipe hastily away.
" So, we have LOTS to clebrate!" Hermione exclaimed. "Maybe Ginny will be able to help the magazine
present a more realistic picture of magical teenagers. All this good fortune for our friends, and Harry is a year
older. I guess you'll rub it in now, being fifteen and I'm still only fourteen.!"
"Yeah, for a whole, big month!" answered Harry. " And now, guess what- I think I'm even hungrier
at fifteen than I was at fourteen!" Hermione and Ivy laughed, and they all went in to join Chris for breakfast.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The day passed quickly, as all the days had since they had arrived in Paris. Harry and Hermione had been asked to make a trip to the fruit and flower stalls a few streets away, and they bought fresh fruit and flowers to take back for the Weasleys rooms. Ivy had insisted that Mr and Mrs. Weasley's room be the best and she wanted them to have an abundance of goodies. " Everyone will wind up in Arthur and Molly's room, and with all those boys, someone is bound to be hungry all the time. The hotel's room service won't be able to keep up!"
Harry had to agree. The Weasleys were accustomed to eating very frequently, and no one wanted Mrs. Weasley to have
to conjure an impromptu kitchen to feed them.. He also had to admit though, that he wouldn't mind having some of
her grits and eggs and sausages in the mornings. Well, maybe there'd be time for a visit to the Burrow before term
began. He wondered how the Grangers' and the Weasleys' moves to London and Hogwarts would go?
Harry was shaken out of these wonderings by Hermione saying "Hey, I know you're getting OLD but have you lost
your hearing completely? We need to head back to the hotel, things will be happening there, and Mom and Dad are
going to kill us." She shifted a huge box of pastries and candy onto her hip while trying to hang onto a bag
of fruit and Harry realized he wasn't carrying anything, except some flowers.
"Oh, right." he answered sheepishly. "Want to switch? Here, at least the fruit, because I think
we're getting some kind of drinks, aren't we? I'll take those, the flowers definitely would prefer you."
"Yes, Mom said we'd better have something there so George and Fred wouldn't have an excuse to sample the wine!
Can you imagine those two, drinking anything stronger than butterbeer? Think they'd play more or less jokes?"
"Probably more, but we'd finally get a chance to play a few back!" then he shuddered, and added, "
I don't like to imagine Mrs. Weasley though. You know her saber toothed tiger look? Now imagine it multiplied about
seventy-five times," Harry put his arm through Hermione's and they walked down the street a bit further, finding
a shop that sold juices and bottled water. The shopkeeper looked mystified when Harry asked for pumpkin juice,
and told them he'd never heard of such a thing. He hastily informed the man he'd meant grapefruit, but not before
he felt Hermione give him a sharp jab with her elbow.
Finally though, they were on their way back to the hotel, but on the block before they arrived, Hermione suddenly
pulled Harry into a small alcove, down three stone steps , put down her parcels and his, Then she looked at him
with a mixture of mischief and something he was still trying to figure out when he felt her arms slide around him.
His head was pulled down to hers and Hermione proceeded to kiss him in a way that could only be described as complete,
thorough, and made him feel he'd become more like seventeen than fifteen.. When she moved away from him a bit,
Harry involuntarily and almost painfully found himself sitting on the step closest to him while, Hermione stood
there, smiling at him smugly.
"So, just in case there are any unexpected visitors today, that's just a SMALL reminder of what you have to
look forward to, Harry Potter!" Harry reached out and pulled her closer again, at least one of her, since
he found he was seeing two of everything. One more tug on her arm and Hermione was in his lap and he was doing
his most determined best to retuen the reminder and possibly even add to it. They had both nearly forgotten where
they were, what day it was, and were on the verge of forgetting their names, when Harry heard a muffled squeak
above him,. He looked up and groaned as he saw a group of at least seven small boys staring down at them. Hermione,
noticing a definite change in Harry's attention, looked up too, and apparently without thinking muttered "Cabonarum
expelliarmus" and one of the bottles of water opened, spraying the little boys and sending them off squealing.
Harry chuckled, and hugged Hermione , then said, reluctantly, "As far as I'm concerned, we could just stay
here and let this be my birthday celebration, but...."
" But we won't have a place TO go back to, if we don't move fast!" Hermione finshed for him, and they
grabbed up their parcels again.
--------------
As they arrived at the hotel, Harry looked up at the walls and said "They're here!"
"Oh?" asked Hermione. "How can you tell? I don't see any of them?"
"I can just tell. It looks different, and there seems to be sort of a hum in the air. Could it be all the
energy and static coming from the magic, or is it the tempers, and red hair?"
"Both, I'd say," she answered, trying to look wise but breaking into giggles as they hurried in to the
elevator. "I'll bet Mr. Weasley's eyes are popping out of his head, seeing all these muggle inventions. But
this elevator seems awfully slow to me"
"That's just because you haven't had a good, hard row with Ron in a while, and you're ready for one. I know
I'm a poor substitute, when it comes to arguments...." He grinned at her and added, "....but I'll bet
I can top him in any other way, when it comes to you!"
"Cocky git, aren't you? Unfortunately I'd have to agree with you on both counts. Ron and I DO enjoy our arguments,
and at the risk of turning you into a Big Head like Percy, yes, you do pretty much top them all."
They'd finally reached their floor, and turned toward their rooms , when each of them felt a grab at their elbow,
and turned to find Ginny and Ron, grinning at them. "Come on, down to our room, everyone wants to see you!"
Ginny said, her eyes glowing. " Oh, it's so beautiful here, I think I'd like to stay forever!!!!"
"Ah, Gin, how can you even think that? You'd leave the splendor of the Burrow for this? WHAT have our parents
raised, some Material Girl?" Ron tried to sound amused, but Harry could tell Ron was at least as excited as
Ginny, though he was , as usual, trying to conceal it. They went into the suite the Weasleys would be occupying,
and found Mrs. Weasley, as usual, telling Fred and George off for some prank. George was just replying, "But,
mom, we REALLY thought that girl had come in, just to visit with us. We didn't know she wanted to know about towels!"
"Didn't give her a chance, did you. All I do is walk down to the other rooms with Ivy and I walk back in to
find you two....oh, Hermione and Harry, so glad you've gotten back! How are you, dears? We've missed you so!"
She kissed and hugged both of them, then stepped back to beam at Harry. "Finally, a birthday we can celebrate
with you!"
"More celebrations, besides Harry's birthday" said a voice from the other side of the room, and Bill
Weasley stood up, and came forward to shake Harry's hand and hug Hermione. "Go ahead and tell them, Mom ,
Ginny!"
"Oh, it's really nothing, not from me anyway, Ginny did all the work." said Mrs. Weasley, looking embarrassed.
"I just had a bit of good luck. and your sister's talent made things happen."
"Come on Mom" Ron said impatiently." You're always bragging when any of us does the smallest thing!
Harry, Hermione, my mother and sister have entered the world of Wizarding Journalists. They're being published
in Witch Weekly!"
"And got a pile of galleons for it too. Bought us men a nice vacation." drawled Fred, as he leaned back
on the couch, eating an apple. "Nice to have talented women in the family, to provide the luxuries"
" Get those feet off the couch, young man, or you'll be back degnoming the garden before you can say floo
powder." growled Mrs. Weasley, then she looked proudly at Ginny. " It seems Ginny and I have been able
to put together some interesting articles on cooking and Ginny took some lovely photographs. The magazine has asked
for more, and we thought we'd try."
"Oh, and Hermione, I know you think Teen Witch Weekly is silly,but I may do some work for them. I thought,
perhaps if you had time, you'd give me some help or read what I've written? I'd really appreciate it." Ginny
looked so sure Hermione would laugh and refuse, Harry felt he'd help her out if Hermione didn't care to. But, thankfully,
this wasn't necessary, because Hermione was hugging Ginny and they had already gone off into a corner, whispering
and giggling. He felt his face go red, and hoped they weren't going to be discussing any of their fun times in
Paris. Surely Hermione wouldn't....."
Before Harry had a chance to get comfortable and begin telling Ron, and the others about their holiday (he was
especially keen to tell them about Adrian Malfoy, and the possibiliity of him becoming a keeper for Gryffindor
)when the door opened, and Percy bustled in, the ususal look of self-importance on his face.
"Good, Harry, Hermione, you're back. Dad's waiting with the Grangers and we need to ask you some questions..
Come along now, we shouldn't waste time." he said, puffing out his chest. "Dad and I ARE here on official
business, at least partly."
"Aw, let out some of that hot air you're always carrying around." George snapped. " You know you
wanted to get over here and see old Penelope. Yes, we found out she's been working as an assistant at Beauxbatons!"
Seeing that Percy was about to deny this, Ron put in helpfully, "Yeah, Fleur told Bill all about it. Said
Penelope was a real bore when she first got there, but she's started to lighten up now."
Everyone except Mrs. Weasley dissolved in laughter, at Percy's horrified face. No one knew whether he was horrified
at the idea of being discussed by Bill and Fleur, or at the idea of his precious Penelope LIGHTENING UP!!!! However,
Mrs. Weasley looked at them all sternly, and said,"Now , stop your teasing. I'm sure Penelope is a lovely
girl, and it's been hard on your brother, missing his friend. Now go on, Hary and Hermione. Arthur does want to
talk to both of you, and I can promise you'll find what he says very interesting."
So Harry and Hermione left, hearing the sounds of Ron laughing, and Fred or George saying, mockingly," Ah,
has poor ickle Percy-wercy missed his ickle friend this year?" and the other saying"If we'd only known,
what a comfort we could have been! Alas!"we didn't investigate
thoroughly enough!"
And.from Bill "Won't make that mistake again, will we boys?"
- - - - -
After they had exchanged warm greetings with Mr. Weasley who, as they had expected, was distracted by the sight
of so many "muggle artifacts", Harry asked what they were to be questioned about. Ivy spoke up first.
"We wanted to ask you before, but felt we should speak to Arthur first and do some preliminary checking."
she began, but Hermione broke in excitedly.
"It's the pendant, isn't it? Did you talk to the man in the shop?" Hermione's eyes were shining, but
she also looked a bit guiltily at Harry. "I really wanted to
tell you, Harry, but until today, there wasn't much.
"Erm, call me slow if you like, but I'm missing something here. Sure, Hermione gave me this pendant, an early
hirthday gift. And it does seem to have some connection with my parents. But what does the man in ths shop have
to do with you,Mr. Weasley?" Harry had pulled the pendabt out from inside his shirt, where he had worn it
since the day Hermione bought it.It had surprised him,that he'd felt he had to keep it on, but with the pendant
being a gift from Hermione, and somehow a reminder of his parents, he'd stopped thinking about the whys.
Mr.Weasley's eyes widened at the sight of the blue pendant, then he said gently,"Harry, there's a chance,
and a fairly good one, that the combination of the pendant and what the man in the shop told Chris and Ivy, could
clear Sirius' name."
- - - - -
' K, we got a cliffie here, plus my resident critic has already raised the question"How does Arthur know about
Sirius?" (Actually, first she said"How does Arthur know about Circe turning into a dog?" (EXCUSE
me???) Anyway, at the end of GoF, Molly assured Dumbledore that she and Arthur would work to help his side, so
I'm going on the assumption that Arthur knows A LOT.