Chapter 6

The Necklace and The Rock

The rest of the week crawled. Finally, Harry's alarm clock went off at 4:00 AM on the 21st. He put the necklace in the pocket of the invisibility cloak and got ready. Sally slithered in to the cloak pocket and back out again. Harry wore jeans and a black tee shirt with 'Bite Me' written in green. Sally wrapped around his neck really added to the effect.

Before he knew it they were coming up on Ron's house. Harry put the cloak on top of the roof this time, taking Ginny's present out and putting it in his pocket. He landed in front of the door and pushed the door bell. Once again, Mrs. Weasly threw the door open.

"Harry!" she stopped suddenly dead set and the sight of him. "Oh my, you look so grown up!"

"If you say so," he said shrugging. "That's not really what I was going for, but it'll work."

"Hermione and Ron are waiting for you upstairs."

"Thanks!" Harry took the steps two at a time. He got to Ron's door and knocked.

"Hi guys," they both stared and neither answered.

Hermoine swallowed. "Harry?"

"No, my name's Bob, pleased to meet you. Do I really look that different?"

"Wow, Harry man, that's cool."

"Your ear!" Hermione squealed.

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "Sally made me do it, and I made her pick it out. I guess it's okay."

"Breakfast!" came a shout from downstairs.

As they headed for the kitchen, on the 2nd floor Sally slid of Harry neck and down to the floor. Harry watched as she went through the door to Ginny's room. Everybody but Ginny was already at the table when they took the same seats as they had last time.

"'Lo everybody," Harry greeted them, but they didn't answer him this time, they all stared.

"Wow Harry," said Fred after some time. "You can hardly tell it's you!"

Harry smiled. "Thanks, that's what I was going for."

The chair next to him was empty but it had balloons tied to it. At that moment Ginny came down, Sally around her neck.

"Happy Birthday," Harry said as she sat down.

Ginny blushed and kept her eyes on her hands. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"Ginny, look what Harry did while he was gone," Hermoine urged her friend.

Ginny looked up and did her best to conceal her surprise. She bit her lip. "You look good." Sally silently cheered, it had taken guts for her to say that statement.

Harry felt the back of his neck turn red. "Thanks."

"So Harry, what inspired you to put a hole in your ear?"

Ginny's head jerked up again. "May I see?" She was on his right side, so he turned his head to let her see it.

"Actually Percy, you're asking the wrong guy. I didn't want it, Sal talked me into it. I'm actually afraid of needles."

"Oh so is Ginny! She screamed something awful when we took her to get her shots."

"Ron, you don't need to be telling people that." Mr. Weasley scolded.

Harry shrugged. "Everybody's afraid of something. If you're not afraid of anything, then that makes you something to be feared."

After breakfast Fred, George, Ron, and Harry flew around while Hermoine and Ginny talked on the ground.

They all went back in for lunch and when they were finished Mrs. Weasley brought out a cake and set it in front of Ginny. With her wand she lit 13 candles that blew small blue sparks. Ginny closed her eyes and made her wish, then blew them all out.

"What did you wish for Gin?" asked Hermoine.

"The same thing I've been wishing for since I was 7," she whispered.

"Let's open your presents Ginny." Mrs. Weasley said.

Ginny got a white dress from Mrs. and Mr. Weasley. Fred and George gave her candy. Ron gave her a poster of a band called Golden Stars, Navy Sky. The gift Hermoine gave her was in an envelope, and she didn't show it to anyone. She merely smiled, pocketed it, and thanked her.

Then Harry handed her the small black box that now had a little white bow on it. She looked up at him, surprised.

"What is it?"

"Open it." She pulled the box open. Then she smiled and Harry didn't know it was possible to turn that red. "Do you like it?"

"Harry, you didn't have to,"

"Yes I did, for more reasons then one. It's supposed to glow when the giver is near."

"Well are you going to show us?" Ron asked. Ginny passed him the box.

Sally said something to Harry, but he was so distracted he didn't catch it. "What?" he asked, but it had come out in English. "What?" he repeated, this time in Parseltongue. Sally said something very fast and they continued talking so quickly the Weasleys didn't think it was possible.

"Harry?" Ron asked. They were all looking at him. Harry held up his hand to silence him. They couldn't hear the conversation going on..

"Harry, I left Ginny'sss presssent in the cloak pocket!"

"What?"

"I left Ginny'sss presssent in the cloak pocket!"

"You got her a present?"

"I made it."

"What is it?"

"A rock, carved into a heart."

"When did you make it?"

"I went out at night okay? Jussst go get it pleassse!"

"But I'll have to tell them about the cloak."

"Jussst fly up and get it, they don't need to know where you went."

"They'll ask."

"Then don't tell them. Harry pleassse!"

"Sally, I don't know..."

"Pleassse, pleassse I worked ssso hard to get it done."

"Alright, fine." He stood, and without a word to the Weasly family who was looking on in wonder he walked out. He flew up to the roof and reached his hand in the pocket. He felt a bundle of paper. 5 seconds later he was back on the ground walking back in. He handed the small package to Sally who took it in her mouth. She slithered over and set in front of Ginny.

Ginny threw a questioning look at Harry who shrugged. She slowly took the paper off to reveal a heart shaped rock. "Did she make this?"

"Guess so." Sally started to talk to Harry.

"She says she wanted to put your name on it but she didn't know how to write it, and she didn't want to ask for my help."

"Could you, um, please tell her thank you for me?"

"She'sss welcome." Sally hissed before Harry had a chance.

"Thankfulness is an emotion isn't it?" Sally nodded. "Listen Sal, we need to talk about that later."

"Alright, fine."

"Oh, she says that you are very much welcome."

Ginny flushed again, but looked up at him none the less. "And thank you for the necklace." Her eyes went wide, and she gasped.

(A/N- Hey, sorry this took so long! I've been working on a story about Harry's mother, which is currently 16 pages in font size 10. Unfortunately I can't post it because it spoils the plot for this story. I actually finished this chapter a few days ago, but didn't realize it. I just kept on typing, so now half of chapter 7 is done. Chapter 7 is titled 'Tears and Secrets'. As you may have noticed, the Backstreet Boys were brought up a few chapters ago. This is because one of their songs inspired this whole story, so I feel I owe it to them to include them in this fic. If you are a BSB hater, then tell me about it in the reviews. If I get a lot of people telling me they hate BSB, I'll write two versions of the story. But keep in mind that it will take me even longer to post if I do that. To all who hate Harry's hair, don't worry, it goes back to the way it was. Love you all!

~Lily Rose)