Many Surprises
Harry was dreaming about his parents again. But this time it was so horrible it wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare. It was a flashback of Voldemort killing his parents again. He had heard and seen some of this before when dementors got to close but this time everything was clear. He caught every word. The picture was so clear it was like it was happening again. His mother begging Voldemort to spare Harry and take her instead. His father trying to fight him down while his mother could run for it only to be killed instantly. And then something very strange happened. He knew this part well. He would turn to Harry curse him but the curse would rebound upon him, and he would flee for his life. But that didn't happen. This was different. Baby Harry was crying and Voldemort cursed him. Instead of getting a scar on his forehead he crumpled to the floor.
Harry woke with a start in Ron's bedroom gasping for breath. He was surprised and frightened to see Ron standing over him with a look of pure horror on his face like he had seen a ghost. "Harry! Harry! What happened? I woke up and saw you rolling around on the mattress and muttering strange things!"
Harry didn't know what to say. Could he tell Ron? Of course he could but should he? "I don't know what happened," Harry lied quickly. Ron just nodded and went back to bed.
He felt so terrible about lying to Ron that he couldn't sleep the rest of the night. He listened to Mr. Weasley get up and go to work with Percy and heard Mrs. Weasley come into Ron's room to wake him and Ron up. He shut his eyes quickly pretending to be asleep.
"Harry, dear," she whispered softly. She sounded like a mother. Harry remembered his dream. He was going to tell Ron after breakfast what happened. He sat up trying to look sleepy but was having a hard time. Mrs. Weasley went to wake Ron and they went downstairs together.
Harry and Ron didn't say anything that morning at breakfast. Harry couldn't stop thinking about his dream and he noticed that Ron kept stealing looks at him. He and Ron finished and Harry motioned him to follow upstairs.
"We have to talk about last night," Harry said as Ron closed the door behind him. To Harry's surprise Ron looked relieved.
"I've been waiting to hear you say that all morning," he said. Harry understood. He guessed that Ron knew that he had lied to him last night. "You do know what happened right?" he said.
"Yes. It was a bad time to talk last night, and we really need to talk about this. It would be better if Hermione were here too but it can't wait." Ron nodded but at that moment Fred and George came in the room.
"What's up?" said George seeing the looks on Harry and Ron's faces.
"Nothing," said Ron quickly. Harry knew that there was no way that either twin believed that. A look of puzzlement crossed both twins' face.
"Okay," they said in unison. They gave each other that evil grin they were famous for and left.
"They're right outside the door," Ron whispered to Harry.
"I figured they'd do that," Harry replied. Then he winked at Ron. "So you really think that letter from Hogwart's is real? That one about the twins being kicked off the Qudditch team if their behavior didn't improve?" Harry said to Ron loudly. Ron caught on instantly.
"Oh, yeah! It was real. Mum'll be so mad when she finds out. I still can't believe that owl came through my window. I'm going to tell Mum tonight. She'll be furious," Ron said grinning at Harry as Fred and George came bursting in the door.
They saw the looks on Harry and Ron's faces and attacked them. It was fun until Mrs. Weasley came in and shouted at them. Harry and Ron laughed at the twins.
Harry and Ron played chess, Exploding Snap, and Qudditch all day until it was time for dinner. They were about to go downstairs when Hedwig flew through the window. Ron snatched up the letter as fast as he could which made Hedwig angry.
Dear Ron and Harry,
So what if i'm visiting Viktor? I didn't think you'd care, Ron! I'm going to be back in England soon. I've only been here four days. It's nice but kind of boring. He wanted me to stay a month but I told him that I needed to come back and be with my friends!
Harry thought he heard Ron sigh but he kept on reading.
I promise I'll be back soon. Ron, are we still on for the surprise? Tell Ginny hi for me and I'll see both of you soon.
Harry was glad that Herimone was coming back soon. Then he could tell her and Ron about his dream at the same time. Then he remembered something in the letter that he didn't understand. "What surprise is she talking about?" he asked Ron. "You mentioned a surprise in your letter, too. What's going on?"
Ron didn't say anything. He just smiled showing that it was a secret and he couldn't tell. They talked about Hermione and Krum until it was time or dinner.
When they went downstairs they saw another chair was added to the table. Harry just assumed that Bill, the oldest Weasley brother, would be joining them.
Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs to everyone to come down for dinner. Fred came down followed by George and Ginny. After Ginny came another girl. She had bushy brown hair. Harry recognized her immediately.
"Hermione!" said Harry at the same time as Ron.
"Hi guys," she said. Hermione had been Ron and Harry's other best friend since the middle of their 1st year.
"We just got your owl a little while ago. How'd you get here so fast?" said Ron.
"Oh, I sent that right before I left Viktor's mansion. I got here by floo powder. I bought just a little bit right before I left to visit him," she said sitting down next to Ginny who looked much happier now that Hermione was here. Harry was just waiting to hear Ron make fun of Hermione and Krum when he said-
"Mansion? He lives in a mansion?" said Ron his mouth hanging open.
"Well, yeah," said Hermione. Harry knew that as soon as Hermione had the words out of her mouth Ron was just going to start going on and on about Krum.
"Hermione, I don't want to talk about Krum but I have to ask you this one question," said Ron. Harry was shocked. Ron had never really understood why Krum had taking such a liking to Hermione. Hermione looked very relived, too.
"Anything," she said sighing.
"Are you Krum's girlfriend?"
"WHAT?!" Hermione shouted. "Are you crazy, Ron! Of course not! We are friends! To him maybe, but I do not like him like that. I can't believe you would say something like that!" she screamed and ran upstairs. Ginny gave Ron a very dirty look.
"Viktor asked her to be his girlfriend and she said no. He was very upset, and I just got her mind off of feeling sorry when you had to go and screw things up," she said and ran upstairs after Hermione. Ron and Harry just stood there for a while. Mrs. Weasley came in and said-
"Where did the girls go?" Harry and Ron ignored her.
"Oops," replied Ron quietly while Mrs. Weasley busied herself with finishing dinner. Fred and George came in the kitchen.
"What happened? We heard people yelling," said George. Harry and Ron just looked at each other. No on spoke until Mrs. Weasley came down the stairs with Ginny right behind her. Harry hadn't ever noticed that she left.
"Mother, please! She just wants to be alone," said Ginny. She threw Ron a very mean look. "Please let her stay upstairs," she continued begging. "Besides she would have to look at him!" She pointed to Ron. Mrs. Weasley looked very bewildered.
"What's going on here?" she demanded. Nobody spoke. She just shook her head and made everyone sit down. Percy and Mr. Weasley came in from work just as everyone was sitting down at the table, and joined them. Percy was the only one who really wanted to talk.
"Since the absence of Mr. Crouch we really haven't had a good boss. Just got the second one today. He should be out in a week at the least. Very disorganized unlike Mr. Crouch....." Percy said. No one was really listening.
How could he still be talking about Mr. Crouch after Voldemort and his own son killed him?! Harry thought angrily. Percy talked all through dinner. Harry and Ron ate their dinner silently until Ron motioned up to follow upstairs. They left the table and went up into Ron's room.
"Hermione didn't have to freak out like that," said Ron.
"Well, I can sort of see why she's mad. Some questions are just better off not being asked," said Harry. "I should know. I've done lots of things to push Snape over the edge." He recalled plenty of times when he had done nothing at all and Snape, the potions teacher, would try and give him a detention.
"Didn't you want to know?!" said Ron starting to get angry. Harry knew he needed to avoid it so he changed the subject.
"Yeah, well I still need to tell you both about my dream," said Harry. Ron nodded in agreement but didn't stand up when Harry moved toward the door to get Hermione.
"She won't talk to me. Maybe she will you," said Ron looking at the floor gloomily. Ron hated to be in fights with any of his friends. Harry nodded and went down the hall to Ginny's room. He knocked on the door.
"If it's you, Ron, then back off!" said Ginny. Harry had never seen this angry before.
"It's Harry," he said and the door opened a crack.
"Does this have to do with Ron? Because he can come and apologize himself," said Ginny through the tiny crack.
"No, I need to talk to Hermione about something," said Harry. He knew he should add something about Ron but really didn't want to. He gave in quickly, though. "I need to talk to her and Ron both and it doesn't have to do with Krum," said Harry praying that that would work. It did. The door opened and Hermione came out. Her eyes looked slightly red and puffy. Harry knew that Hermione was very emotional.
"What is it?" she said trying to act as normal as possible. Harry pointed to Ron's room to show her that they couldn't talk in front of Ginny. Hermione didn't move at first but the slowly she followed behind.
Harry opened Ron's door and Hermione sat down on the floor next to the door which was as far away from Ron as she could get.
"First, you have to make up," said Harry hoping that Hermione wouldn't jump up and leave. But she didn't. In fact she didn't do anything. Neither did Ron. They both just stared at the floor. "Okay listen," said Harry. "Ron was wrong for asking about Krum," Ron looked up at him horrified, "and Hermione was wrong for getting upset." Harry hoped that they both wouldn't be mad at him now.
"I just wanted to know," said Ron. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or upset you, Hermione," he continued quietly.
"I'm sorry for getting mad at you. It's just that Viktor was really hurt that I said no and I felt bad about it. You just reminded me about it, and I overreacted." Neither one of them looked up. They just kept staring at the floor.
"Okay, then. Can we get on to the important stuff?" said Harry. Harry told Ron and Hermione all about his dream, and Ron told Hermione how Harry was acting when he woke up. Hermione looked horrified.
"That's terrible!" she said. Do you think it could be a sign?"
"I don't know how it could be," said Harry thoughtfully. "This was my past. But it was different that what really happened." They all sat silently for a little while until someone knocked on the door.
"What?" said Ron looking up. Ginny opened the door.
"Everything okay?" she said looking around at them all.
"Fine," said Hermione. "Just fine." Ginny nodded and closed the door. They heard her walk down the hallway and knew it was safe to talk again. Harry looked at his watch. It said 10:37. How could it be that late? Harry thought.
"Let's go to bed. It's late," said Ron yawning.
"Good idea," Hermione replied. "We can talk about this in the morning. Well, goodnight," she said closing the door behind her. Harry and Ron laid down. Harry instantly fell asleep, but he wished he hadn't.
It was the same all week. Harry kept having horrible nightmares. The next dream he had was about the first day of school in his 1st year. He stepped up to the Sorting Hat and was put into Slytherin! The next night Quirrell got the Sorcerer's Stone from Harry and killed him. Then he was killed but the basilik in his 2nd year. Then the Dementor's Kiss was performed on Sirius in his 3rd year and Ron, Harry, and Hermione didn't make it out alive. Then he was in the same graveyard he had been in last year after the Triwizard Tournament. Instead of Harry's and Voldemort's wand connecting, Voldemort killed Harry.
He couldn't take it anymore. He had big bags under his eyes and tried not to fall asleep at night only to have a more horrific and recent dream than the night before. Harry had been killed five times in six dreams. Hermione kept insisting that Harry write to Dumbledore while she read a bunch of books but Harry refused. Who cared about his dreams. They were only dreams!
Harry enjoyed the day after the last dream. In fact he didn't want it to ever end. What could possibly happen in his dream now? He really did not want to see his future. As he sleepily climbed up the stairs that night and got into bed Ron said-
"Tell me about your new dream tomorrow."
"You don't know I'm going to have another dream tonight! I've only had one every night
this week. This might change it all!" Harry said but then it sounded so stupid when he said it he just said, "Never mind," and fell asleep.
This new dream didn't seem to be bad. There was nothing terrible here but there was something familiar. Just then his mother's and father's shapes came into view. He recognized them immediately because of his last dream.
"I'm sorry you had to go through such pain, Harry," his mother said with a look of concern on her face. "We had to do it."
"What?" Harry said. He was surprised to find that he could hear his own voice. "What did you do? I haven't had any pain," he continued.
"You haven't slept all week, Harry," said his father. "That's considered as pain. At least you can sleep tonight."
"What are you talking about?" he asked curiously. I haven't been sleeping this week because of..............dreams," he said.
"We had to prove..."
"You made me have those dreams?! Why?" he said.
"We had to make to make you see that you have a really good life," his mother said quickly. "It was the only way we could do anything."
"Why would I need to see that I have a great life," Harry said. He was surprised that he wasn't getting upset. Maybe it was because he was talking to his parents that he had never spoken to in the real world. But he wasn't speaking to them now was he? This was crazy!
"The time will come when you will know that," his father told him. "Remember what you stand for, son. Never give in to cruel power."
"I don't get it!" said Harry louder than he meant to. The next thing he knew he was being shaken awake by Ron.
"'S time to get up already?" he said groggily without thinking.
"No, Harry, you were talking in your sleep. What dream was it this time? Did you see the past? The future? What happened? What's going to happen to us?!"
"Wha'?" he said. "What're you on about?"
"The dream, Harry!" said Ron looking shocked. "What happened in the dream?" Ron looked at him eagerly.
"Nothing," he said truthfully. "I mean I saw my parents and they said I had all those dreams to prove how good my life was of something," he added quickly seeing the look of doubt on Ron's face.
"You were talking in your sleep," said Ron. "You were asking someone a bunch of questions, and then you were saying something about your life. I couldn't understand all of it because you were mumbling."
"I said all of that out loud?!" he said.
"Yeah, you woke me up talking," said Ron.
"Can we just talk about this in the morning? I'm too tired, and if I start talking again don't wake me up," Harry said. Ron looked a little hurt. "It only means that I'm having a dream," Ron just nodded and went back to bed.
Harry slept dreamlessly until morning. He got up feeling very refreshed. It was the first time he had actually slept good in almost a week. He thought about the dream he had which he remembered quite good, actually. He still couldn't figure out what his parents were talking about.
When Harry went downstairs, still lost in thought, everyone was acting weirdly. Ginny kept stealing looks at him all through breakfast, and when he caught her she would just blush and smile but look back away again quickly.
Later while Harry and Ron were up in his room Mrs. Weasley came in and asked if he needed anything. When he said no she replied-
"Harry, do you mind if I see your calendar? I don't have any idea what day it is." Then she winked at Ron and turned back to Harry. Harry looked at both of them curiously.
Ron heaved a huge sigh and said," Mum! Your being way to obvious!"
"Sorry, dear," she replied but didn't stop smiling.
Later that day when Harry and Ron went downstairs Fred and George were wrapping something up in paper. When they saw Harry they covered it up quickly. That was it!
"Will someone PLEASE tell me what's going on?!" he said angrily. Harry looked at them and they all....smiled.
"Why don't you find out for yourself?" said George.
"How?"
"Come on. Follow us." He followed the three into the kitchen where everyone including Charlie and Bill. It was decorated and there was a cake on the table......
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!" they all yelled. Harry felt so stupid at first. Forgetting his own birthday?! But then seeing everyone he smiled and sat down. They all ate cake and talked happily until it was time for Harry to open his presents.
He got joke stuff from Fred and George which Mrs. Weasley objected to but since all of
the stuff was from Zonko's she let him keep it. Charlie gave Harry a necklace witch a dragon tooth on it. He explained that it was supposed to bring good luck. Bill gave him a model of a tomb in Egypt, and Hermione had gotten him a book called The Best of Qudditch. Mrs. Weasley had knitted Harry another sweater. She always made him one at Christmas, too.
Harry was so happy finally having a birthday party. They all ate dinner and then cake until nearly 10:30. Harry and Ron went upstairs feeling very tired. They had talked, laughed, and played games all day.
"Tell me in the morning if you have some weird dream again, okay?" Ron said to him before getting into bed.
"Sure thing." Harry got into bed and drifted off to sleep almost instantly. He was partly hoping to have another dream so that he could, in a way, talk to his parents. But his dream was not of his parents. It was an ugly face. Very familiar, though. Flashing red eyes, with a slits for a nose like a snake....it was Lord Voldemort himself.