[Author's Note] First, off, a big THANK YOU to Alisas for helping me out with the Head Boy deal! Although I, too, have to apologize to her big-time for not replying to her email yet. I would do it right now, but I'm certainly not feeling well, and I need to get off the PC as soon as possible and get some sleep. I hope you understand!

Second, I'm really sorry for taking so long to update! I was practically stalling in uploading this chapter, cuz I was having doubts with the content of this one (which is really crazy and just weird, I'm telling you) and I was also confused on what to do with the Head Boy thing. And yet another reason was because I was thinking of changing this into a plain AU fifth year fic, not a version of the fifth book. Aside from the fact that the book will be out by June, I've been messing up the ideas right from the beginning. *guilty look*

And yes, I've decided to transform this into a plain AU fifth year fic (gee, now I'm back to where I came from), but I need a title. Any suggestions? If you do, you can always leave them in your review, or you can email me. Oh, and the Head Boy deal? You'll see what I've decided in a few chapters. Hopefully. ^___^;;

Thanks a lot, everyone!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

:: Chapter Four ::
A Decade and a Half


"Happy birthday, Harry!"

As he did every morning by reflex, Harry's hand flew to the bedside table, fumbling desperately for his eyeglasses. "Er... thank you, Arabella," he muttered while he continued to get a hold of his spectacles. When he finally found them and put them on, he gasped in surprise upon seeing what his godmother was holding.

She was carrying the largest birthday cake Harry had ever seen in his life.

"I-Is that... for me?" he croaked in complete disbelief as he sat up and blinked his eyes repeatedly, to ensure he wasn't dreaming.

Arabella beamed, flashing him one of her best smiles. "Why, of course, Harry! I made this especially for you, and I hope you like it!" she exclaimed as she sat down at the edge of Harry's bed, putting the cake with fifteen glowing candles close to the young wizard. "Now, Harry, I want you to close your eyes and make a wish --- don't tell me what it is --- and then, blow off the candles. All right?"

Suddenly, Harry felt nervous as Arabella's eyes fell on him, silently urging him to go on and do it.

Although he was rather reluctant, Harry closed his vibrant green orbs and thought of a wish... and discovered that he didn't know what. He squinted an eye open, to check if Arabella was still looking at him the way she had been the past moments, and she still was. His mind blank, Harry decided to plainly pretend that he made a wish --- after all, she said it herself that he didn't have to tell her. Opening his eyes fully, he blurted out as smugly as he can, "Done," before he bent down and blew the lights off the fifteen glowing candles.

Grinning broadly, Arabella put the cake aside and gestured to the table which she loaded near the door of Harry's room. "A few owls dropped by this morning, and I'm sure you're going to be surprised with some of the letters," she muttered, then she pointed to another pile of what Harry thought were a lot of presents. "And those... those are my presents for you. Fifteen years worth of presents. Go on, check them out!"

Harry nodded and he rushed over to the table, excitement surging through him. He had a lot of presents and a huge birthday cake for the first time ever in his life --- what more could be in store for him? His eyes rested on a small pile of presents and letters, and he was delighted to see that it wasn't from his best friend Ron Weasley alone... it was from the entire Weasley family. He took Ron's letter first and read what he had to say.

Dear Harry,

Happy birthday!

Bloody wicked, you're not with the Dursleys anymore?! Well it's about time somebody pulled you out of there! Now that you're out of that horrible place, I'm sure you're going to have one swell birthday! Fred, George and I wanted to drop by there for your birthday, but Mum won't let us. She said it's too dangerous to do so... but we've done even more dangerous things, haven't we?

Oh, and guess what? You wouldn't believe it --- I didn't believe it myself --- but Fred and George bought me NEW ROBES! I was really surprised when they handed me this parcel a few days after we got back from school... and it contained new robes! You should see the robes, Harry, they're really beautiful!

Anyway, I hope you like my present... it isn't much, but it's better than nothing, I reckon. Don't worry, I have a surprise for you when term starts that you'll really really like, that's a promise! Fred, George and I have been preparing for it since summer started! It's going to be so cool, Harry!

We'll be in London a week before term starts to get our books, any chance of meeting you there, and perhaps spend the rest of the week with us? Ask that Arabella person who's with you there, I'm sure she'll agree --- I mean, she's not like the Muggles, right? I hope to see you there!

Ron

PS. Hermione's in BULGARIA!

Harry chuckled as he read Ron's last words, imagining what his best friend's expression was when he wrote it down. Was he mad? Excited? Envious? He put the letter away and reached out for the next one --- and saw that there were four other letters from the Weasleys that he had to read. There was one from Bill, wishing him a happy birthday; one from Charlie, which was nearly similar; and one from the rest of the family --- Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Percy and Ginny.

The last one, however, was from the twins.

Dear Harry,

Happy birthday, buddy!

We did what you told us to do --- we got Ron new robes. He was very pleased with us, very pleased indeed... and we've been his heroes since then. But really, he deserved a break. He was so right when he said that it was unfair that Percy gets all the new stuff. The good thing now that we've given him those robes is that he includes us when he complains about how we are treated. You won't hear him say, 'But what about me, Mum?' anymore; it's, 'But what about Fred, George and I, Mum?'

Ah, the boy has grown fond of us.

Anyway, we're glad that you're out of that Muggle prison of yours. But if you needed us to rescue you, we would've been there, of course. We're happy beyond belief that a friend of ours is happy, safe and sound, all at the same time. Oh, and we're sure Ron said something about a surprise? It's awesome, Harry, we can't wait to show you!

Hope to see you in London,
Fred and George

At that, Harry shoved the letters aside, and worked on opening the presents. He received three --- one from Ron, one from the twins, and one from the rest of the family. "They shouldn't have bothered," he muttered to himself, as he knew that the Weasleys were struggling financially.

He could not help but smile, however, upon seeing what his presents were. He got a sweater designed to look like the robes of the players in the Quidditch World Cup --- with the name of their house, his name, and his position in their Quidditch team in bright gold clashing beautifully against the scarlet --- which was knitted by none other than Mrs. Molly Weasley herself. He received a quill from Ron, which was the most beautifully colored one he had seen so far; and a bag of sweets care of the Weasley twins --- but of course, those were for mischief-making purposes only.

Next, he picked up the letter from his other close friend, Hermione Granger.

Dearest Harry,

A very happy birthday to you!

Bulgaria's amazing! There's so much to see here! When the holidays started I didn't want to go with Viktor here anymore, but I also didn't want to be rude, so I just accepted his invitation. And it's a good thing I did, because this place is just breathtaking! I wish you and Ron were here now, you'll really enjoy the sights!

There's something I need to tell you, Harry... Ron volunteered to break the news to you, but I told him that it would be best if I'd be the one. Well, it's just that... I'm a prefect now. I got the letter and the badge just last week. And do you know what that means? I will absolutely not allow you and Ron to sneak out of your dormitories at night, under your father's Invisibility Cloak! I'm going to keep a close eye on you, remember that.

And well... I hope you like your present! I bought it in a novelty shop, and Viktor helped in selecting it.

Ron told me he's going to be in London a week before term starts. Will you be there? I hope your aunt and uncle will allow you, it would really be nice for us to meet and have a little fun before we go down to serious business. Speaking of serious business, have you started preparing for our O.W.L.s? I bought a handful of books before I came here, as I didn't want my summer to be spent in vain, and I don't want to go back to Hogwarts unprepared.

I hope to see you in London!

Love from Hermione

"Looks like I've got some news to break to her, too," he said with a smile.

As Harry expected, Hermione's present was a book. But it was no ordinary book, as it was written and published in Bulgaria. He grinned as he rummaged through the pages, however, for the book mentioned a lot of handy hexes that would be essential for self-defense. "I reckon Hermione knows these by heart already," he told himself with a chuckle.

He prowled through the other letters and presents he received, and his eyes widened considerably in great surprise as he put the letter and present from Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts Gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher, aside. It was because two of the letters on the table were from the two other champions who participated the Triwizard Tournament, from Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, respectively --- Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour.

Harry,

Happy birthday to you. I was informed by Hermione about this, and I decided to send you a letter as soon as I could. It was a pleasure knowing you and competing with you. I hope to see you in the World Cup someday. You fly very well.

Sincerely,
Viktor Krum

The other read:

Dearest Harry,

It's Fleur --- I still can't thank you enough for saving my sister Gabrielle during the second task. You were very noble and heroic throughout the competition. Anyway, happy birthday, and may you have many more birthdays to come. I hope that we'll meet again soon.

Yours truly,
Fleur Delacour

"How did she know it's my birthday?" he asked himself, confusion etched in his eyes, but he pushed the thought away. The smile on his face seemed to reach past his ears as he put the two letters back on the table, for he had never received so many letters and presents in his life. He looked at the heap of gift-wrapped boxes at one side of the table, which were from Arabella, and he wanted to open them more than anything, so he proceeded to read the last two letters. He was sure one was from his godfather, Sirius, but who else would have sent him a birthday greeting?

An overjoyed expression swept his face as he saw who it was from.

Dear Harry,

Happy birthday!

I'm sorry if I don't have a present for you. You see... I'm saving for something very important, and money is very hard to come by without work. Anyway, I'd like to return something which rightfully belongs to you, and I'm sure you'll be able to figure out the rest from there.

Take care of yourself, and always be alert.

Remus Lupin

Harry took the piece of worn-out parchment which came with the letter, and gasped upon recognizing what it was. "The Marauder's Map!" he exclaimed happily as he ran his fingers through the surface of the map which had been of great help to him the past two years, and the map created by his father and his friends. Then, he realized something. "How did Professor Lupin get this, if this had been with Professor Moody... er... Barty Crouch, the past few months? Unless..." his voice trailed off as the answer clicked inside his mind. "Of course! He's back to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts! That's the only way he could have gotten hold of this once again, as Crouch was our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher last year! He has to be teaching again!"

There was only one letter left, and it was the one from Sirius. Excited what his godfather had to say, he grabbed the paper and opened it as fast as he could. But his face fell shortly after, for the large piece of paper which could hold so many words only contained two: Happy birthday.

"Happy birthday?! Only happy birthday?!" Harry exclaimed indignantly, turning towards his godmother. "That's all he had to say to me?! Happy birthday?!"

At that, Arabella laughed. "Now, now, Harry. Don't jump into conclusions. Maybe the rest of the letter is written in invisible ink --- you know Sirius, he's a prankster, and he always will be," she blurted out knowingly, although she could see that Harry did not believe her. Sirius was still hiding from the Ministry of Magic, how would he be able to get his hands on invisible ink? He couldn't even get decent food, how much more invisible ink?

Harry was unable to comment on what the other said, because Arabella then walked up to the door and smiled as she gripped the knob firmly. "Well, Harry, that's all Sirius had to say in that note because he wanted to say the rest of the message in person," she announced in a loud voice, saying each word with distinction, before she turned the knob and pulled the door open.

"Happy birthday, Harry!"