Chapter 4: The Birthday Gift
"Harry, Harry, whatsamatta?" Ron asked groggily as Harry shouted, his hands clutched on his burning forehead.
"Wha- what do you mean?" He knew what Ron meant, but it being six in the morning, he wasn't to keen.
"You're screaming, Harry." Ron said blankly
Harry suddenly heard a rustle of footsteps as Fred, George, Ginny, and Hermione came running into the room.
"Oi, hold on a minute," Ron said as they barged in his room, closely followed by Mrs. and Mr. Weasley.
Ron scooted under his covers, as he and Harry were only in shorts and undershirts.
"What's wrong Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked poking her head through the space between Fred and Ginny's .
Harry felt his scar with one finger, it felt quite normal now, though he felt very uncomfortable with everyone staring at him in his underwear. Especially Ginny, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley.
He covered himself with his sleeping bag, like Ron, and felt his scar once more. Then replied.
"My, scar hurt, that's all. Nothing big, just go back to bed all right?"
"Are you sure you're fine?" Mr. Weasley asked suspiciously
"Yes." Harry said firmly.
He motioned for Hermione to stay, he wanted to tell both her and Ron about the dream, and the letter.
"What Harry?" Hermione asked sitting down and grabbing one of Ron's blankets to wrap around herself, as she was wearing a very small nightshirt.
"I have to tell you guys about two weird things that happened to me today. One, I was cleaning the Dursley's yard when a owl fell on my head."
Harry cut off because Ron started to laugh.
"And......" Harry said cottoning on "It had a letter, and I was weird, you know, well, why don't I show you."
Harry got up, and dragged his dirty pair of jeans closer to the sleeping bag.
He searched the pockets, finding the bit of crumpled up parchment, flatting it out and handing it to Hermione.
Hermione read it her mouth slightly open.
"Harry, you ripped it, what did it say?" she said handing it to Ron, who read it bewildered
"It was ripped off when I got it, that's what makes it strange."
"We have more in common than you think," Ron said blankly "Across the Atlantic? What is he? An American?"
"Or she." Hermione said off hand, staring at the letter in Ron's hands
"And I have a funny feeling that this note has something to do with the dream I just had."
Harry told them about the dream, about Voldemort, about the merman dying. The mermaid, dying and the little girl..... the little girl fighting Voldemort, and getting a scar on her cheek.
He looked up. Ron had his head in his hands, and Hermione was looking at him, her mouth open.
"Well, I know that Ocean merpeople look like normal people, but Harry. Oh, Harry." she mouthed soundlessly at him, seeming to have forgotten how to speak.
Ron looked up, staring at Harry, his mouth open too.
"Why do you think the dream and the letter are combined?"
"I don't know, I just do."
They all stared at each other, until Ron broke the silence by suggesting that they should get dressed and go downstairs.
Hermione left, and they met her downstairs, sitting at the table, in conversation with Percy.
Percy was the third eldest brother in the Weasley bunch. Very smart, and strict Percy was once Head Boy in Hogwarts, now working for the Ministry of Magic in the Department of International Corporation.
"Hello Percy." Harry said catching Percy's eye for the first time since he'd been here (yesterday Percy was off at work all day).
"Hello, Harry." Percy said pompously.
Harry looked at Percy for a little longer than usual, because the now 20-year-old Percy, usually clean-shaven, had a small red mustache. Harry thought it made him look a lot like Mr. Weasley.
"Harry," Mrs. Weasley said looking anxious, as Harry sat down, "on behalf of all the Weasley's and Hermione......"
She looked around at those words, at all her children, Hermione and her husband.
"We present you with this gift." she paused, and moved out of the doorway as Mr. Weasley, Ron, Fred and George pushed a trunk into the kitchen.
Harry was speechless knowing that the Weasley's weren't the richest people in the world, and of course the kindest, but having known that they went to all this trouble..... Harry couldn't explain it.
"You didn't have to....... really" Harry said, looking open mouthed at the trunk lying in front of him.
"Yes, we did. Harry open it." Mr. Weasley said
"Oh, wait!" Hermione said, handing Harry a skeleton key to open the trunk.
"Hurry up Harry! Even we don't know what's in it!!" Fred said excitedly
Harry took the key, and placed it in the lock, and turned. It clicked.
Harry grasped the sides of the trunk's lid, and opened it.
There were old clothes in it.
Harry looked up. What was this? All of these clothes were too big for him. Some of them were even girl's clothes.
There were three newspaper clippings. Harry picked them up. The first one read:
Potter - Hudon Wedding
James Potter and Lilly Hudon got married the thirteenth of April. The wedding consisted of the usual. Except that Albus Dumbledore gave the wedding speech. He said: "Lilly and James, some of the brightest students to come out of Hogwarts, and certainly the most noble, for we are living in a dark time, with dark wizards beyond the standard, and it's people like Lilly and James that will help us out of this dark era."
Sirius Black also had something to say, as he was James's best man. "To, James, a loyal person, a loyal friend, and now a loyal husband. Let him and Lilly live a long and happy life."
The ranks on this wedding was as follows:
Husband: James Dylan Potter
Wife: Lilly Meagan Hudon
Best Man: Sirius Black
Maid of Honor: Coral McKinnon
Harry stared down at the bit of parchment now shaking in his hands.
Tears were running down his cheeks, he hastily wiped them away looking up.
"Maybe you should look at the rest on your own." Mr. Weasley said concerned
"No, It's OK," Harry said, "I won't be able to read it alone."
"Harry,'' Hermione said wiping her eyes clean (for she was reading over his shoulder, and now was crying too)"Harry, you should read it alone, really."
"OK, but I want Ron and you to come too."
Ron and Hermione helped him haul the trunk up the stairs to Ron's room, Ron shut the door.
"Harry, are you OK?" Ron asked looking apprehensive
"Yes, Harry said looking down at the newspaper clipping in his hands.
There was a picture of his parents there, moving of course. His father was beaming up at him, his mother crying, though smiling, as they touched wand tips and were entwined in a ribbon from the ends it read: JUST MARRIED.
"Who's Coral McKinnon?" Harry asked staring down at the words.
"I don't know the name sounds familiar though." Ron said looking puzzled.
Harry reached in the box and extracted a wedding dress.
His mother's.
Under it was a stunning black robe that looked a lot like a tuxedo. Harry understood, his mum, being of muggle decent, had a muggle dress, but his father, being of wizard decent, had a robe.
Harry looked at the next bit of parchment, it was two papers, stapled together.
The Potter's son
Lilly Potter (wife of James Potter) gave birth to a baby boy, the 31 of July, at 2:13 in the morning. Harry James Potter was a very healthy boy, though two weeks early, he was quite small. Lilly being of muggle decent, insisted that she not be put under a spell to have Harry born the 13 of August as planned. Harry was 6 lb. 1 oz. and 13 inches long. Harry had no birth complications, and is living a healthy life.
Harry saw a picture of himself, his mother holding him. He was quite small indeed, though with no scar, the first time he'd ever seen himself without it.
This made him smile, seeing his mother look so exhausted holding him.
"Harry, you were so cute!!!" Hermione squealed
"Ya, what happened." Ron said joking, Harry gave him a poke in the ribs.
It was nice that they could laugh at the contents in the trunk now, as Harry turned the page, and saw his birth certificate.
He smiled at it. This was the best gift he had ever gotten in his whole life.
Harry looked down in the trunk, yet again and pulled out a little white suit, his christening suit.
He also took out a little clear glass ball that looked like a top with blue-green gas flowing around in it.
"Cool!" Ron said "A movie!!"
"What? A movie?!"
"Look!!"
Ron took the top and swirled the liquid-gas around it 10 times and put it on the tip and spun it.
It started to flash white light around the room, and all the lights went off.
A picture started to flash on the walls, until casting a solid screen.
A woman with long hair and green eyes was rolling around a baby with black messy hair and green eyes on the floor.
The little baby laughed, as the picture shook a bit as a voice sounded,
"Lilly, sit him up, sit him up. Harry, where's daddy?" James asked.
The little Harry started to crawl toward his father squealing.
"DA! DA! DAAAAAAAAA!" he said pointing and sitting in front of his dad, grabbing his wand and sending sparks into the air.
"James!! James!! His first sparks!!! His first sparks!!" she ran over to him and hugged Harry. Looking him in the eyes "And we caught it on videospy! This is amazing!!"
She leaned over and pecked Harry on the cheek and kissed her husband.
The picture flickered and then faded the lights came back on.
Harry wiped the tears out of his eyes, the first time ever, in his life that he could remember, he saw his parents.
"Harry, Harry, whatsamatta?" Ron asked groggily as Harry shouted, his hands clutched on his burning forehead.
"Wha- what do you mean?" He knew what Ron meant, but it being six in the morning, he wasn't to keen.
"You're screaming, Harry." Ron said blankly
Harry suddenly heard a rustle of footsteps as Fred, George, Ginny, and Hermione came running into the room.
"Oi, hold on a minute," Ron said as they barged in his room, closely followed by Mrs. and Mr. Weasley.
Ron scooted under his covers, as he and Harry were only in shorts and undershirts.
"What's wrong Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked poking her head through the space between Fred and Ginny's .
Harry felt his scar with one finger, it felt quite normal now, though he felt very uncomfortable with everyone staring at him in his underwear. Especially Ginny, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley.
He covered himself with his sleeping bag, like Ron, and felt his scar once more. Then replied.
"My, scar hurt, that's all. Nothing big, just go back to bed all right?"
"Are you sure you're fine?" Mr. Weasley asked suspiciously
"Yes." Harry said firmly.
He motioned for Hermione to stay, he wanted to tell both her and Ron about the dream, and the letter.
"What Harry?" Hermione asked sitting down and grabbing one of Ron's blankets to wrap around herself, as she was wearing a very small nightshirt.
"I have to tell you guys about two weird things that happened to me today. One, I was cleaning the Dursley's yard when a owl fell on my head."
Harry cut off because Ron started to laugh.
"And......" Harry said cottoning on "It had a letter, and I was weird, you know, well, why don't I show you."
Harry got up, and dragged his dirty pair of jeans closer to the sleeping bag.
He searched the pockets, finding the bit of crumpled up parchment, flatting it out and handing it to Hermione.
Hermione read it her mouth slightly open.
"Harry, you ripped it, what did it say?" she said handing it to Ron, who read it bewildered
"It was ripped off when I got it, that's what makes it strange."
"We have more in common than you think," Ron said blankly "Across the Atlantic? What is he? An American?"
"Or she." Hermione said off hand, staring at the letter in Ron's hands
"And I have a funny feeling that this note has something to do with the dream I just had."
Harry told them about the dream, about Voldemort, about the merman dying. The mermaid, dying and the little girl..... the little girl fighting Voldemort, and getting a scar on her cheek.
He looked up. Ron had his head in his hands, and Hermione was looking at him, her mouth open.
"Well, I know that Ocean merpeople look like normal people, but Harry. Oh, Harry." she mouthed soundlessly at him, seeming to have forgotten how to speak.
Ron looked up, staring at Harry, his mouth open too.
"Why do you think the dream and the letter are combined?"
"I don't know, I just do."
They all stared at each other, until Ron broke the silence by suggesting that they should get dressed and go downstairs.
Hermione left, and they met her downstairs, sitting at the table, in conversation with Percy.
Percy was the third eldest brother in the Weasley bunch. Very smart, and strict Percy was once Head Boy in Hogwarts, now working for the Ministry of Magic in the Department of International Corporation.
"Hello Percy." Harry said catching Percy's eye for the first time since he'd been here (yesterday Percy was off at work all day).
"Hello, Harry." Percy said pompously.
Harry looked at Percy for a little longer than usual, because the now 20-year-old Percy, usually clean-shaven, had a small red mustache. Harry thought it made him look a lot like Mr. Weasley.
"Harry," Mrs. Weasley said looking anxious, as Harry sat down, "on behalf of all the Weasley's and Hermione......"
She looked around at those words, at all her children, Hermione and her husband.
"We present you with this gift." she paused, and moved out of the doorway as Mr. Weasley, Ron, Fred and George pushed a trunk into the kitchen.
Harry was speechless knowing that the Weasley's weren't the richest people in the world, and of course the kindest, but having known that they went to all this trouble..... Harry couldn't explain it.
"You didn't have to....... really" Harry said, looking open mouthed at the trunk lying in front of him.
"Yes, we did. Harry open it." Mr. Weasley said
"Oh, wait!" Hermione said, handing Harry a skeleton key to open the trunk.
"Hurry up Harry! Even we don't know what's in it!!" Fred said excitedly
Harry took the key, and placed it in the lock, and turned. It clicked.
Harry grasped the sides of the trunk's lid, and opened it.
There were old clothes in it.
Harry looked up. What was this? All of these clothes were too big for him. Some of them were even girl's clothes.
There were three newspaper clippings. Harry picked them up. The first one read:
Potter - Hudon Wedding
James Potter and Lilly Hudon got married the thirteenth of April. The wedding consisted of the usual. Except that Albus Dumbledore gave the wedding speech. He said: "Lilly and James, some of the brightest students to come out of Hogwarts, and certainly the most noble, for we are living in a dark time, with dark wizards beyond the standard, and it's people like Lilly and James that will help us out of this dark era."
Sirius Black also had something to say, as he was James's best man. "To, James, a loyal person, a loyal friend, and now a loyal husband. Let him and Lilly live a long and happy life."
The ranks on this wedding was as follows:
Husband: James Dylan Potter
Wife: Lilly Meagan Hudon
Best Man: Sirius Black
Maid of Honor: Coral McKinnon
Harry stared down at the bit of parchment now shaking in his hands.
Tears were running down his cheeks, he hastily wiped them away looking up.
"Maybe you should look at the rest on your own." Mr. Weasley said concerned
"No, It's OK," Harry said, "I won't be able to read it alone."
"Harry,'' Hermione said wiping her eyes clean (for she was reading over his shoulder, and now was crying too)"Harry, you should read it alone, really."
"OK, but I want Ron and you to come too."
Ron and Hermione helped him haul the trunk up the stairs to Ron's room, Ron shut the door.
"Harry, are you OK?" Ron asked looking apprehensive
"Yes, Harry said looking down at the newspaper clipping in his hands.
There was a picture of his parents there, moving of course. His father was beaming up at him, his mother crying, though smiling, as they touched wand tips and were entwined in a ribbon from the ends it read: JUST MARRIED.
"Who's Coral McKinnon?" Harry asked staring down at the words.
"I don't know the name sounds familiar though." Ron said looking puzzled.
Harry reached in the box and extracted a wedding dress.
His mother's.
Under it was a stunning black robe that looked a lot like a tuxedo. Harry understood, his mum, being of muggle decent, had a muggle dress, but his father, being of wizard decent, had a robe.
Harry looked at the next bit of parchment, it was two papers, stapled together.
The Potter's son
Lilly Potter (wife of James Potter) gave birth to a baby boy, the 31 of July, at 2:13 in the morning. Harry James Potter was a very healthy boy, though two weeks early, he was quite small. Lilly being of muggle decent, insisted that she not be put under a spell to have Harry born the 13 of August as planned. Harry was 6 lb. 1 oz. and 13 inches long. Harry had no birth complications, and is living a healthy life.
Harry saw a picture of himself, his mother holding him. He was quite small indeed, though with no scar, the first time he'd ever seen himself without it.
This made him smile, seeing his mother look so exhausted holding him.
"Harry, you were so cute!!!" Hermione squealed
"Ya, what happened." Ron said joking, Harry gave him a poke in the ribs.
It was nice that they could laugh at the contents in the trunk now, as Harry turned the page, and saw his birth certificate.
He smiled at it. This was the best gift he had ever gotten in his whole life.
Harry looked down in the trunk, yet again and pulled out a little white suit, his christening suit.
He also took out a little clear glass ball that looked like a top with blue-green gas flowing around in it.
"Cool!" Ron said "A movie!!"
"What? A movie?!"
"Look!!"
Ron took the top and swirled the liquid-gas around it 10 times and put it on the tip and spun it.
It started to flash white light around the room, and all the lights went off.
A picture started to flash on the walls, until casting a solid screen.
A woman with long hair and green eyes was rolling around a baby with black messy hair and green eyes on the floor.
The little baby laughed, as the picture shook a bit as a voice sounded,
"Lilly, sit him up, sit him up. Harry, where's daddy?" James asked.
The little Harry started to crawl toward his father squealing.
"DA! DA! DAAAAAAAAA!" he said pointing and sitting in front of his dad, grabbing his wand and sending sparks into the air.
"James!! James!! His first sparks!!! His first sparks!!" she ran over to him and hugged Harry. Looking him in the eyes "And we caught it on videospy! This is amazing!!"
She leaned over and pecked Harry on the cheek and kissed her husband.
The picture flickered and then faded the lights came back on.
Harry wiped the tears out of his eyes, the first time ever, in his life that he could remember, he saw his parents.