A/N:Sorry but the party must be in two parts, I got overly enthusiastic about this part. Here you have the descriptions and most of the guests. We'll get some action and romance next time.
Paris 12 "And the Celebration Begins"
As the cars drove up and stopped at what looked like a very old house, Harry wondered what the evening had in store
for them. Hermione was holding his hand and as the door of the car opened, the light fell on her. Harry thought
he had never seen her look so pretty or smile so happily. Her hair, dress and skin all seemed to shine. As they
got out, he looked up to see a small sign hanging unobtrusively over the door. It read 'Auberge Nicolas "Flamel"!
Harry turned quickly and looked at Hermione and Ivy, who nodded.
"Yes, Harry, this is the former home of Nicholas Flamel. It's also said to be the oldest home in Paris. Because it looks small and quiet from the outside, we found it the perfect spot to celebrate." Ivy told him, looking pleased at his wide eyed reaction.
Hermione squeezed Harry's arm and whispered,"Wait till you see how we've fixed it up. Of course Dumbledore was able to get permission for us to use it. Mom said she thinks he's more excited about tonight than we are!"
The Grangers and Harry moved to join the Weasleys, who were getting out of another two cars, and they all entered the house together. Molly was visibly moved and Harry could see happy tears in her eyes
"Arthur and I visited Paris on
our honeymoon, so many years ago," she told Harry sheepishly. "TWe've wanted to come back so many times.
But we had all the years when You Know Who made all of our lives full of terror, then Arthur has been so busy with
the Ministry and the children were young. It seemed we'd never get back. And now here we are, ready to celebrate
with you. It's a happy night, Harry, and Arthur and I love you like one of our own children."
Harry felt himself go at least ten shades of red, but he felt really pleased and happy too.
As they moved through the doors, they could see the house was really a restaurant. The front room was long with a fireplace at each end and comfortable looking couches and armchairs in groups. Further on, through a large arched opening was a much larger room. When they walked in, Harry looked around in amazement. There were several dozen round tables, covered with silver tablecloths. Off to the side of a white dance floor was a large wooden screen with carvings of unicorns. Music that sounded like flutes, violins and a harp drifted out. Obviously there would be more than one type of music though, since Harry could see guitars and drums set up beyond the dance floor.
"Wow, Hermione, this is cool!" Ron said loudly behind them. " What are you doing for MY birthday?"
Ginny punched Ron and retorted before Hermione could speak, " You idiot, she's not doing anything. Get your own girlfriend to host a party!"
"But I don't have....." Ron
began, but stopped as he saw Adrian and Danielle come through the arched doorway with Danielle's mom and dad. "Mmm,
excuse me," he said, and disappeared across the floor toward them. Ginny, Harry and Hermione had a quiet laugh
as they saw Ron stride up and begin talking to the group, his eyes never leaving Danielle. Well, he could see why,
thought Harry. Besides looking really pretty in the white dress, with tiny touches of gold, Danielle's eyes had
lit up when she saw Ron, in a way that he knew must have made his best friend feel like someone had handed him
a sack of galleons.
.
"Nice," Harry whispered to Hermione." I reckon I'd be a jealous git if I hadn't seen you look at
me that way a few times. But Hermione, this place looks beautiful. The colors and decorations are perfect!"
The colors were great he thought, and so was the happy look Hermione gave him. The walls of the room were translucent
cobalt blue, and silver clouds traced across, moving since they had been enchanted. The ceiling was a deeper, more
opaque cobalt streaked with deep purple and covered with what looked like a million stars of varying brightness.
A huge silver and bone white moon seemed to smile down on the scene.
Harry spotted several sets of French doors on one side of the room, just as Adrian walked up and greeted them.
" So what's outside?" he asked Hermione.
"Oh, no, " she replied. "That's another surprise, but it's for later in the evening. And don't bother
trying to look, because you won't see anything. Mom will open the doors after she's done the spell, and we'll.....
well, never mind. It's something you'll love."
" I love it all, and it's.... " Harry began, when he saw a group come into the room. There were the rest
of the Weasleys. Percy with Penelope, and Charlie with a girl who looked as accustomed to being outdoors as Charlie.
She had very dark hair in a thick braid that didn't hide its curl and bright blue-green eyes in a deeply tanned
face. Behind them were Bill and Fleur, Fleur obviously speaking in very rapid French to Bill, who seemed to be
only partly listening. This had to be because a tall wizard was also speaking to him from the other side, and Harry
was surprised to see Oliver Wood.
Harry and Hermione barely had time to greet this group before more people appeared, among them Lee Jordan, Katie
Bell, Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson, closely followed by some of his friends from their own year."How
did all of you manage to come over?" Harry asked, after enthusiastically greeting Dean, Seamus, Lavendar and
Pavarti. "Are your families here too?"
"Oh no," replied Dean. "We traveled to Seamus' house by floo powder then by portkey the rest of
the way. Quite an experience, wasn't it girls?" He looked teasingly at Lavendar and Pavarti, who were still
attempting to smooth their hair and dresses. and trying not to stare at Ginny and Hermione. Since they were not
making much progress with their dresses or their hair, and their eyes had that wide as dinner plates look, Hermione
said, in a voice that barely hid her amusement,"Ginny, why don't we take Lavendar and Pavarti upstairs so
they can, er, straighten themselves. And I believe we have a bit of catching up to do."
Lavendar and Pavarti's eyes widened even more as Hermione turned to kiss Harry on the cheek and he hugged her and
whispered, not very softly,"Hurry back though. It's not fun without you." Ginny and Adrian exchanged
a few whispered words. then the girls left the room. As they went Harry could hear Lavendar saying," No FUN
without Hermione, the brain? I've got to hear about this!" He was really glad Hermione had taken the girls
away, because he knew Lavendar well enough to know she'd be full of questions about the new side of his and Hermione's
friendship. He was just glad Hermione had been brave enough to answer them, since he knew he'd stumble and stutter
over things and probably wind up making Hermione think he didn't care about her. It was one thing to tell Hermione
how he felt, but talking to Lavendar was another whole thing. Besides, telling Lavendar and Pavarti anything was
like ringing a fire alarm. By the time they got back to Hogwarts at the beginning of term, anything Hermione and
Ginny told them would be known by the whole school.
Beside him, Harry heard Seamus exclaim, "Oh, no! We've gotta do something about this!" and his eyes followed
Seamus finger as he pointed across the room. There standing by his formidable grandmother was Neville, and with
them was Professor MacGonagall, all talking to Ivy and Molly. He noticed Neville was looking even more nervous
than ever, but whether that was due to the stiffness of his collar, the presence of his grandmother or the prospect
of dancing with a girl, Harry didn't know. He and Seamus walked over and managed to drag Neville away after only
a few moments of birthday greetings and reminders from"Gran" about not eating too much or dancing too
fast
.The surprises weren't over though.
Harry heard a squeal of excitement from the room with the fireplaces and a moment later Professor Dumbledore appeared
with Lavendar and Pavarti on either side, looking as if they had mixed feelings about being escorted by their headmaster.
Behind them was- Harry could hardly believe his eyes! It was Remus Lupin with Hermione holding his arm and chattering
away happily. He felt a huge grin spread over his face. Not only was it great to see his favorite professor,but
he could see Monsieur Maas hadn't been exaggerating. He had never seen Professor Lupin look so healthy and happy.
Harry quickly made his way to where the new arrivals were and found himself in a hug and handshake from the Headmaster
and Professor Lupin while Hermione stood there beaming. .Pavarti and Lavendar, Harry noticed, had quickly made
their way back to the group of younger people and he was amused to see Pavarti trying, unsuccessfully , to distract
Adrian's attention from Ginny to herself. Now where was Ron? He knew his friend was going to be as happy as he
was to see Lupin. Ah, there he was, over beside the screen that hid the musicians, partly hidden by a large plant,
with his head very close to Danielle's. Harry watched, amused, as Danielle pulled her long hair to one side , exposing
her neck where he saw Ron immediately place several kisses. Danielle giggled and turned pink, looking very pleased.
Obviously Ron had quickly lost his uncertainty about girls, this one anyway!.
Looking over at Hermione, Harry decided Ron had the right idea, as he pulled her closer. These fancy muggle dresses
were really all right, he thought, sliding his hand slowly across Hermione's shoulders and feeling her shiver a
little and move into the circle of his arms. He was all prepared to suggest they find another large plant when
the music suddenly stopped.
Disclaimer:Nothing is mine except Danielle and Monsieur Maas, and the descriptions of things. The Auberge Nicolas
Flamel is really there, and you can visit their website at http://nicolasflamel.forez.com/default-uk.htm (Just
don't expect the cobalt walls and ceiling or the unicorn screen. You'll have to come to Circe's Place for those!
The party will continue with food and fun and mostly good surprises.