The Best Birthday
When the fireplace spat him out at the other end, Harry was covered in soot, but he managed to stay on his feet.
"I think you're finally getting the hang of that," said a welcomely familiar voice.
"Cheers Ron," said Harry brushing himself down and repositioning his glasses. When he looked up, his jaw dropped.
"Surprise!"
The Weasly's kitchen was lavishly decorated with magic, colour changing balloons, ticker tape falling from the ceiling and a huge banner ran along the length of the far wall reading, "Happy Birthday Harry!" The kitchen was also crammed full of people. The whole of the Weasly family was there, and right at the front stood Ron, Hemione, and to Harry's surprise Lupin, with Sirius at his side.
Harry began to laugh, "Wow! All this for me?" Mrs Weasly nodded,
"Do you like it Harry Dear?"
"Yeah! It's."
But before anything more could be said Dumbledore appeared next to Harry with a muffled 'pop'.
"My my, this is quite a gathering."
His eyes twinkled and his beard twitched into an unmistakeable smile.
"Some cake headmaster?" asked Percy eager to impress.
"Oh, I think we should follow tradition and let Harry cut the first slice."
This was met with a cheer of approval.
"Wait wait!" said Fred
"I think we need a quick round of Happy Birthday!"
Harry turned quite red as the entire party, including Dumbledore, began a raucous rendition of Happy Birthday. Harry shared an embarrassed glance with Ron and Hermione, who were both smiling as they sang. The song ended with Fred and George drawing out the last note, in over dramatic opera style, which caused a few giggles, before setting off a few Filibuster fireworks, which showered the room in sparks. There was another cheer and a round of applause.
Just then Mrs Weasly wheeled in the biggest cake Harry had ever seen. On two levels, smothered in delicious looking red icing, with "Happy Birthday Harry" written in green. Around the edge were 15 golden candles, each emitting a small purple flame, which changed smoothly into blue, then red, and then back to purple again.
"Go on Harry; blow them out, "instructed Hermione.
Harry took in a deep breath, and blew out all the candles with one strong puff. Mr Weasly handed Harry a knife to cut the cake with.
"Here we go," he said, plunging the knife into the centre of the cake. He managed, with difficulty, to remove the slice without it falling over and put it on a plate.
"Well then, who wants the first slice?"
"Oh, no Harry the birthday boy always gets the first slice," said George in a voice that made Harry suspicious, "go on eat a bit." Harry gave him a sly look, but agreed. He took a bite of the cake, it tasted wonderful, it was still slightly warm from being baked, the sponge was sweet and moist. But as Harry swallowed, he felt a slight tingling, starting at his finger tips, spreading across his body. He had time to ask, "What have you done to this cake you two?" before he became surrounded by a giant box. From inside the box he heard an explosion of laughter.
"Can you let me out please someone?"
The box was opened by an amused looking Lupin, who gave him a hand.
"Thanks Remus."
As Harry climbed awkwardly out the box he saw that he had been surrounded by a huge box, wrapped in birthday paper and ribbon.
"Our latest invention," explained Fred, Birthday Cake Surprise. It's charmed so that the person to eat the first slice gets put in a present."
"Thanks for trying that one out on me guys."
"No problem."
"Present time!" announced Mr Weasly.
Harry was dragged into a seat at the table, still feeling overwhelmed. Hermione was first to hand over her present.
"Viktor helped me pick it out," she explained. Harry ripped open the wrapping paper to find a full set of Bulgaria quidditch robes with his name emblazoned on the back in gold.
"Wow, Hermione, they're great!" She smiled and said "Your welcome"
Ron was next, he handed over a lumpy looking package, "Hope you like it." It turned out to be a huge bag of Honeydukes best sweets and a set of Chudley Cannon figurines that flew around, and gave you the name of the moves they did. "Wow! Thanks Ron!"
Mrs Weasly came over next and handed Harry a tiny, rectangular box, tied with a piece of red ribbon.
"This is from all of us."
Harry opened the box, to see a small, brass clock hand. Engraved along its length was, "Harry."
"It's for our clock, because you're part of the family now." She bent down and gave him a hug.
"I, don't know what to say..Thank you." Harry was grinning from ear to ear, he had long felt part of the Weasly family, but now it felt official. This was Harry's favourite present yet, although he didn't say anything.
Finally Lupin came across and handed Harry another small, square shaped box.
"This is from Sirius and me," he whispered.
Harry opened the box. Inside was a small, golden pocket watch. He picked it up to have a closer look, it was heavy, he turned it over, there was a name engraved on the back, "James Potter."
"It belonged to your father; he left it with me when he went into hiding." Harry was lost for words, realising this Lupin continued. "But it's not just a watch, see the face? You'll notice it's white at the moment. That's because you're in good company. If anyone untrustworthy is around, it will turn black. But what your dad really liked it for was sneaking around Hogwarts after dark," He looked at Dumbledore, "Sorry Professor."
"Oh, I am quite used to the idea of pupils sneaking around when they are supposed to be in bed, some of the worst offenders are in this room." This caused everyone to chuckle.
"Well as I was saying Harry; your dad liked it because it helped him sneak around. If you notice that at the top, just below where the chain joins on, there is a little button."
"Oh yeah, I see it." There was a small raised button that looked worn with use.
"Well if you press it, the dial disappears, and it shows a small map of the area just around you, not far, maybe just a few meters. And for every person there is a small red dot." Harry pushed the button and indeed the clock face disappeared, and a tiny diagram of the Weasly's dining room appeared, and there were fourteen small dots, one for each of the people in the room.
Lupin lowered his voice, and said, "It's partly where we got the idea for the Marauders Map."
"Thank you. Thanks everyone, this is the best birthday I've ever had!" Harry gave Sirius a pat on the head, as a way of saying thank you.
"Well I see Molly has laid on quite a feast! It'd be such a pity for it to go to waste," said Dumbledore, diverting the attention to the marvellous food Mrs Weasly had prepared.
Harry spent the rest of the day, having fun, laughing with his friends and eating excellent food. The party went on long into the night, with most people spilling out into the garden. Dumbledore was first to go, but he thanked the Weasly's for the food, and wished Harry happy birthday again. He also told all present who were still at Hogwarts, "I want to hear you've all been working hard at completing your homework." But he said it with a mischevious grin on his face. Lupin left next, he also thanked the Weaslys, and came over, with Sirius, and asked Harry for a word. They went inside.
"I thought you'd like to say goodbye to Sirius before we go, he's coming back to stay with me again."
Harry looked disappointed, but as Sirius transformed back into a man in the safety of the Weasly's living room he said, "Thanks for staying with me at the Dursley's, it was actually fun for once."
"No problem, anytime..you know if you ever need anything-"
"Stop fussing Sirius, I'm fine!"
"I know, you can take care of yourself. But I can't help it, I take my role as godfather very seriously don't you know," he said lightening up. Harry chuckled, "Off you go you loony."
"Harry,I'm offended," but just then they heard the noise of someone entering the house, and unsure as to who it was Sirius transformed back into a dog, so as not to alarm anyone. As it turned out it was Percy,
"Terribly sorry, have I interrupted something?"
"No not at all Percy, I was just leaving." Harry said a final goodbye to Lupin and Sirius before the two disapperated.
Harry went to bed that night feeling, warm, contented and full of food. The excitement of the party had made him forget about the troubles with Voldemort, if only for a few hours.
The next few days at the Weasly's were just as fun as the party. Hermione was also staying at the Weasly's while her family were visiting her Aunt and Uncle in Australia. Harry had the chance to try out his new quidditch robes, and practise snitches in the small clearing, by the Burrow.
But Harry had things on his mind, no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't clear his head. The events of the third task, and Cedric's memorial kept spinning round in his head. This obviously showed on his face, as Hermionie looked up from her book to ask:
"You OK Harry?"
"Mmm? Oh yeah, fine. .Actually.Can I talk to you, and Ron, in private?"
Ron looked up from mending an old book, and said, "Yeah Ok, do you want to go up to my room?" Harry nodded, the others were preoccupied doing things elsewhere, (occasional bangs could still be heard from Fred and George's room), so the three of them had the room to themselves. However, they made their way up to Ron's room to be sure that they would not be interrupted.
Hermione was last in and closed the door behind her, "What is it Harry?"
"I think it's time for me to tell you what happened on the night of the Third task." This was followed by a silence in which Ron and Hermione looked at each other uneasily.
"I don't know how much you know."
"Just that You-Know-Who, came back, and that Cedric.." Ron was unsure as to how to finish.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. But I think it's fair for you to know everything, so that you understand. But just don't interrupt 'til I'm finished. It's easier that way."
Ron and Hermione nodded and Harry began to tell the tale, for the second time, although this time it felt easier. Harry knew that once he had told Ron and Hermione it would make him fell better and he could feel it working already.
Hermione, gasped when Harry told her about having his blood taken from him, and looked like she was about to cry when he described how he had seen the echo of his parents. Harry just looked at the floor, it was easier not to see her face. Ron yelled, "That bloody git!" when Wormtail was mentioned, but was silenced by Hermione's glare. Once Harry had recounted the story in full, a heavy silence filled the air.
"It's Ok you know, you can speak if you want to," said Harry trying to relieve the tension. "Harry.you should have told us," said Hermione sympathetically. "I know, but I didn't want to worry you before, and besides, I didn't really feel like talking about it until now." Ron just looked at him in disbelief, "Wow Harry.."
**********
On the fourth morning of his stay, Hogwarts letters arrived for Fred, George, Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione. On Harry's list of new books were:
Standard book of Spells, Grade Five A guide to advanced transfiguration Unfoging the Future 2: Seeing further The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts Fantastic Beasts and where to Find them
"Looks like another trip to Diagon Alley for this lot," said Mr Weasly, "Come on you lot, we'll go after breakfast" Harry was looking forward to visiting Diagon Alley again, he couldn't wait to have a look in Quality Quidditch Supplies, he also needed some new robes.
After breakfast, the Weasly's Harry and Hermione, lined up around the fireplace, to take some floo powder from the flower pot on the mantle piece. Mr and Mrs Weasly went first, then Fred and George together, then Ginny and Ron, next and Hermione went before Harry. When Harry threw the powder into the flame, he made sure to speak clearly to avoid the fiasco of three years ago when he ended up in Knockturn Alley by mistake. It was not an experience he wished to repeat. Harry removed his glasses and tucked in his elbows, as he said clearly, "Diagon Alley"
He felt himself being swallowed by the flames and spinning madly, catching glimpses of houses and shops as he flashed past. Until, he stopped- and fell out in the Leaky Cauldron. It looked exactly the same, smokey, with the occasional hag seated at the bar. It looked fuller than usual, it had some wizards at a table discussing something apparently meaningful. Some witches were also crowded at another table, having what looked like a similarly deep discussion. Tom the barman was busy cleaning glasses with a cloth when he looked up to greet his guests. Then he saw Harry and stopped dead.
"Harry Potter!" the rest of the pub went silent, "I was hoping I'd see you in here before the summer was over!" Just then one of the witches stood up and began to slowly clap, a few others in the bar joined in, until a solemn clapping was resounding throughout the pub, everyone joining in. Harry was stunned, why were they applauding, giving a standing ovation? Tom rushed out from behind the bar, and shook Harry's hand.
"Well done my boy, so brave, the way you fought 'im off like that! Protectin' all them people." Tom was still shaking his head as people around him nodded in agreement.
"Er.um..thank you?" Harry was stunned by this odd and unexpected welcome.
It took Harry and the Weaslys a long time to get free of the Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Alley, as people kept coming up to Harry, to shake his hand and thank him.
"Well that was weird," Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione. They nodded and headed off down the street.
First stop was Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Harry again felt the surge of guilt when his ample fortune was revealed for all to see. He knew that the Weaslys, although they had very little, would never accept money from him.
Once evryone's pockets were full of gold, the first stop was naturally, Quality Quidditch supplies. Unfortunately there were no new brooms to ogle at this year. But Harry saw this as a good thing, his firebolt was still top of the range.
Harry went in followed by Ron and Hermione. Inside they met Seamus and Dean, fellow Gryffindor fifth years.
Dean came over to them and said "Hey! Thought I'd come in here and get some new Quidditch things. I wanna try out for Keeper, now that Wood's gone."
Strangely, it had never occurred to Harry that they would be needing a new Keeper this year. But now that he thought about it they would have to vote for a new captain too.
"Decided who you're going to make captain Harry?" inquired Seamus
"No I hadn't actually thought about it.maybe Alicia, she takes Quidditch quite seriously.."
"Hey Ron! Are you going to try out for keeper?"
Ron looked startled at the prospect, "Well, I.
"Yeah Ron you should! That's be so great, having you on the team!"
Ron grinned at the compliment, "Yeah, ok then, might give it a go"
"Excellent!" said Harry.
Once they had had a good look around, trying to restrain themselves from spending too much, they headed for Flourish and Blotts to get their new books. Harry had never failed to be amazed at the range of books on offer. This year the window display held tiny blue books that zoomed around the window, occasionally banging into each other. As they walked in Harry heard the assistant say, "And we thought we'd seen the worst with the Monster Book of Monsters! Those buggers have a nasty bite on them. Why would anyone write a book on Cornish Pixies anyway?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other and laughed, undoubtedly remembering Gilderoy Lockhart's attempt to teach them about Pixies. Which had ended up with Neville hanging from the ceiling and books all over the class room. The assistant looked over to the three of them,
"All needing Hogwarts books?" They nodded.
"Fifth year, here's our lists."
The man went to fetch them and they left laden with books. Harry needed new robes, but Ron and Hermione said their robes were fine, and so went to get ice cream instead. Upon entering Madame Malkins Harry saw Fred and George inspecting some dress robes. Fred was holding up a particularly hideous set, that was almost a luminous yellow.
"Nice, is the banana look in this year?" Harry asked the pair sarcastically
"Well, not for normal people, but then this is Ron we're talking about."
"Mind you that's an idea for Weaslys Wizard Wheezes, turning people into bananas." Harry laughed.
"I'll leave you to it, I need to get some school robes."
As Harry waited to be measured up he saw Fred and George hand over money for a nice set of midnight blue robes, with a silver trimming running around the edge. At least they hadn't chosen the yellow ones. Mind you, Harry thought, they'd probably still be better than the ones he has! Once Harry had his school robes he went to rejoin Ron and Hermione for ice cream. Now that the school shopping was over with they could just have a look around, drooling over things they couldn't afford.Several hours later, the party retuned to The Burrow, laden with bags filled with books, robes and potion ingredients.
As Harry settled into sleep that night on Ron's floor, he felt calm and rested, anxious to return to Hogwarts, his real home. Although he had to admit, The Burrow, was beginning to feel more and more like home. However his thoughts and peaceful sleep were to be rudely interrupted in a few hours, as he awoke, screaming in pain
A/N Sorry it was another long wait guys, but I got it out faster tan I thought, it was this side of Easter! LoL, please feel free to R&R as it really helps! Thanks!
When the fireplace spat him out at the other end, Harry was covered in soot, but he managed to stay on his feet.
"I think you're finally getting the hang of that," said a welcomely familiar voice.
"Cheers Ron," said Harry brushing himself down and repositioning his glasses. When he looked up, his jaw dropped.
"Surprise!"
The Weasly's kitchen was lavishly decorated with magic, colour changing balloons, ticker tape falling from the ceiling and a huge banner ran along the length of the far wall reading, "Happy Birthday Harry!" The kitchen was also crammed full of people. The whole of the Weasly family was there, and right at the front stood Ron, Hemione, and to Harry's surprise Lupin, with Sirius at his side.
Harry began to laugh, "Wow! All this for me?" Mrs Weasly nodded,
"Do you like it Harry Dear?"
"Yeah! It's."
But before anything more could be said Dumbledore appeared next to Harry with a muffled 'pop'.
"My my, this is quite a gathering."
His eyes twinkled and his beard twitched into an unmistakeable smile.
"Some cake headmaster?" asked Percy eager to impress.
"Oh, I think we should follow tradition and let Harry cut the first slice."
This was met with a cheer of approval.
"Wait wait!" said Fred
"I think we need a quick round of Happy Birthday!"
Harry turned quite red as the entire party, including Dumbledore, began a raucous rendition of Happy Birthday. Harry shared an embarrassed glance with Ron and Hermione, who were both smiling as they sang. The song ended with Fred and George drawing out the last note, in over dramatic opera style, which caused a few giggles, before setting off a few Filibuster fireworks, which showered the room in sparks. There was another cheer and a round of applause.
Just then Mrs Weasly wheeled in the biggest cake Harry had ever seen. On two levels, smothered in delicious looking red icing, with "Happy Birthday Harry" written in green. Around the edge were 15 golden candles, each emitting a small purple flame, which changed smoothly into blue, then red, and then back to purple again.
"Go on Harry; blow them out, "instructed Hermione.
Harry took in a deep breath, and blew out all the candles with one strong puff. Mr Weasly handed Harry a knife to cut the cake with.
"Here we go," he said, plunging the knife into the centre of the cake. He managed, with difficulty, to remove the slice without it falling over and put it on a plate.
"Well then, who wants the first slice?"
"Oh, no Harry the birthday boy always gets the first slice," said George in a voice that made Harry suspicious, "go on eat a bit." Harry gave him a sly look, but agreed. He took a bite of the cake, it tasted wonderful, it was still slightly warm from being baked, the sponge was sweet and moist. But as Harry swallowed, he felt a slight tingling, starting at his finger tips, spreading across his body. He had time to ask, "What have you done to this cake you two?" before he became surrounded by a giant box. From inside the box he heard an explosion of laughter.
"Can you let me out please someone?"
The box was opened by an amused looking Lupin, who gave him a hand.
"Thanks Remus."
As Harry climbed awkwardly out the box he saw that he had been surrounded by a huge box, wrapped in birthday paper and ribbon.
"Our latest invention," explained Fred, Birthday Cake Surprise. It's charmed so that the person to eat the first slice gets put in a present."
"Thanks for trying that one out on me guys."
"No problem."
"Present time!" announced Mr Weasly.
Harry was dragged into a seat at the table, still feeling overwhelmed. Hermione was first to hand over her present.
"Viktor helped me pick it out," she explained. Harry ripped open the wrapping paper to find a full set of Bulgaria quidditch robes with his name emblazoned on the back in gold.
"Wow, Hermione, they're great!" She smiled and said "Your welcome"
Ron was next, he handed over a lumpy looking package, "Hope you like it." It turned out to be a huge bag of Honeydukes best sweets and a set of Chudley Cannon figurines that flew around, and gave you the name of the moves they did. "Wow! Thanks Ron!"
Mrs Weasly came over next and handed Harry a tiny, rectangular box, tied with a piece of red ribbon.
"This is from all of us."
Harry opened the box, to see a small, brass clock hand. Engraved along its length was, "Harry."
"It's for our clock, because you're part of the family now." She bent down and gave him a hug.
"I, don't know what to say..Thank you." Harry was grinning from ear to ear, he had long felt part of the Weasly family, but now it felt official. This was Harry's favourite present yet, although he didn't say anything.
Finally Lupin came across and handed Harry another small, square shaped box.
"This is from Sirius and me," he whispered.
Harry opened the box. Inside was a small, golden pocket watch. He picked it up to have a closer look, it was heavy, he turned it over, there was a name engraved on the back, "James Potter."
"It belonged to your father; he left it with me when he went into hiding." Harry was lost for words, realising this Lupin continued. "But it's not just a watch, see the face? You'll notice it's white at the moment. That's because you're in good company. If anyone untrustworthy is around, it will turn black. But what your dad really liked it for was sneaking around Hogwarts after dark," He looked at Dumbledore, "Sorry Professor."
"Oh, I am quite used to the idea of pupils sneaking around when they are supposed to be in bed, some of the worst offenders are in this room." This caused everyone to chuckle.
"Well as I was saying Harry; your dad liked it because it helped him sneak around. If you notice that at the top, just below where the chain joins on, there is a little button."
"Oh yeah, I see it." There was a small raised button that looked worn with use.
"Well if you press it, the dial disappears, and it shows a small map of the area just around you, not far, maybe just a few meters. And for every person there is a small red dot." Harry pushed the button and indeed the clock face disappeared, and a tiny diagram of the Weasly's dining room appeared, and there were fourteen small dots, one for each of the people in the room.
Lupin lowered his voice, and said, "It's partly where we got the idea for the Marauders Map."
"Thank you. Thanks everyone, this is the best birthday I've ever had!" Harry gave Sirius a pat on the head, as a way of saying thank you.
"Well I see Molly has laid on quite a feast! It'd be such a pity for it to go to waste," said Dumbledore, diverting the attention to the marvellous food Mrs Weasly had prepared.
Harry spent the rest of the day, having fun, laughing with his friends and eating excellent food. The party went on long into the night, with most people spilling out into the garden. Dumbledore was first to go, but he thanked the Weasly's for the food, and wished Harry happy birthday again. He also told all present who were still at Hogwarts, "I want to hear you've all been working hard at completing your homework." But he said it with a mischevious grin on his face. Lupin left next, he also thanked the Weaslys, and came over, with Sirius, and asked Harry for a word. They went inside.
"I thought you'd like to say goodbye to Sirius before we go, he's coming back to stay with me again."
Harry looked disappointed, but as Sirius transformed back into a man in the safety of the Weasly's living room he said, "Thanks for staying with me at the Dursley's, it was actually fun for once."
"No problem, anytime..you know if you ever need anything-"
"Stop fussing Sirius, I'm fine!"
"I know, you can take care of yourself. But I can't help it, I take my role as godfather very seriously don't you know," he said lightening up. Harry chuckled, "Off you go you loony."
"Harry,I'm offended," but just then they heard the noise of someone entering the house, and unsure as to who it was Sirius transformed back into a dog, so as not to alarm anyone. As it turned out it was Percy,
"Terribly sorry, have I interrupted something?"
"No not at all Percy, I was just leaving." Harry said a final goodbye to Lupin and Sirius before the two disapperated.
Harry went to bed that night feeling, warm, contented and full of food. The excitement of the party had made him forget about the troubles with Voldemort, if only for a few hours.
The next few days at the Weasly's were just as fun as the party. Hermione was also staying at the Weasly's while her family were visiting her Aunt and Uncle in Australia. Harry had the chance to try out his new quidditch robes, and practise snitches in the small clearing, by the Burrow.
But Harry had things on his mind, no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't clear his head. The events of the third task, and Cedric's memorial kept spinning round in his head. This obviously showed on his face, as Hermionie looked up from her book to ask:
"You OK Harry?"
"Mmm? Oh yeah, fine. .Actually.Can I talk to you, and Ron, in private?"
Ron looked up from mending an old book, and said, "Yeah Ok, do you want to go up to my room?" Harry nodded, the others were preoccupied doing things elsewhere, (occasional bangs could still be heard from Fred and George's room), so the three of them had the room to themselves. However, they made their way up to Ron's room to be sure that they would not be interrupted.
Hermione was last in and closed the door behind her, "What is it Harry?"
"I think it's time for me to tell you what happened on the night of the Third task." This was followed by a silence in which Ron and Hermione looked at each other uneasily.
"I don't know how much you know."
"Just that You-Know-Who, came back, and that Cedric.." Ron was unsure as to how to finish.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. But I think it's fair for you to know everything, so that you understand. But just don't interrupt 'til I'm finished. It's easier that way."
Ron and Hermione nodded and Harry began to tell the tale, for the second time, although this time it felt easier. Harry knew that once he had told Ron and Hermione it would make him fell better and he could feel it working already.
Hermione, gasped when Harry told her about having his blood taken from him, and looked like she was about to cry when he described how he had seen the echo of his parents. Harry just looked at the floor, it was easier not to see her face. Ron yelled, "That bloody git!" when Wormtail was mentioned, but was silenced by Hermione's glare. Once Harry had recounted the story in full, a heavy silence filled the air.
"It's Ok you know, you can speak if you want to," said Harry trying to relieve the tension. "Harry.you should have told us," said Hermione sympathetically. "I know, but I didn't want to worry you before, and besides, I didn't really feel like talking about it until now." Ron just looked at him in disbelief, "Wow Harry.."
**********
On the fourth morning of his stay, Hogwarts letters arrived for Fred, George, Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione. On Harry's list of new books were:
Standard book of Spells, Grade Five A guide to advanced transfiguration Unfoging the Future 2: Seeing further The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts Fantastic Beasts and where to Find them
"Looks like another trip to Diagon Alley for this lot," said Mr Weasly, "Come on you lot, we'll go after breakfast" Harry was looking forward to visiting Diagon Alley again, he couldn't wait to have a look in Quality Quidditch Supplies, he also needed some new robes.
After breakfast, the Weasly's Harry and Hermione, lined up around the fireplace, to take some floo powder from the flower pot on the mantle piece. Mr and Mrs Weasly went first, then Fred and George together, then Ginny and Ron, next and Hermione went before Harry. When Harry threw the powder into the flame, he made sure to speak clearly to avoid the fiasco of three years ago when he ended up in Knockturn Alley by mistake. It was not an experience he wished to repeat. Harry removed his glasses and tucked in his elbows, as he said clearly, "Diagon Alley"
He felt himself being swallowed by the flames and spinning madly, catching glimpses of houses and shops as he flashed past. Until, he stopped- and fell out in the Leaky Cauldron. It looked exactly the same, smokey, with the occasional hag seated at the bar. It looked fuller than usual, it had some wizards at a table discussing something apparently meaningful. Some witches were also crowded at another table, having what looked like a similarly deep discussion. Tom the barman was busy cleaning glasses with a cloth when he looked up to greet his guests. Then he saw Harry and stopped dead.
"Harry Potter!" the rest of the pub went silent, "I was hoping I'd see you in here before the summer was over!" Just then one of the witches stood up and began to slowly clap, a few others in the bar joined in, until a solemn clapping was resounding throughout the pub, everyone joining in. Harry was stunned, why were they applauding, giving a standing ovation? Tom rushed out from behind the bar, and shook Harry's hand.
"Well done my boy, so brave, the way you fought 'im off like that! Protectin' all them people." Tom was still shaking his head as people around him nodded in agreement.
"Er.um..thank you?" Harry was stunned by this odd and unexpected welcome.
It took Harry and the Weaslys a long time to get free of the Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Alley, as people kept coming up to Harry, to shake his hand and thank him.
"Well that was weird," Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione. They nodded and headed off down the street.
First stop was Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Harry again felt the surge of guilt when his ample fortune was revealed for all to see. He knew that the Weaslys, although they had very little, would never accept money from him.
Once evryone's pockets were full of gold, the first stop was naturally, Quality Quidditch supplies. Unfortunately there were no new brooms to ogle at this year. But Harry saw this as a good thing, his firebolt was still top of the range.
Harry went in followed by Ron and Hermione. Inside they met Seamus and Dean, fellow Gryffindor fifth years.
Dean came over to them and said "Hey! Thought I'd come in here and get some new Quidditch things. I wanna try out for Keeper, now that Wood's gone."
Strangely, it had never occurred to Harry that they would be needing a new Keeper this year. But now that he thought about it they would have to vote for a new captain too.
"Decided who you're going to make captain Harry?" inquired Seamus
"No I hadn't actually thought about it.maybe Alicia, she takes Quidditch quite seriously.."
"Hey Ron! Are you going to try out for keeper?"
Ron looked startled at the prospect, "Well, I.
"Yeah Ron you should! That's be so great, having you on the team!"
Ron grinned at the compliment, "Yeah, ok then, might give it a go"
"Excellent!" said Harry.
Once they had had a good look around, trying to restrain themselves from spending too much, they headed for Flourish and Blotts to get their new books. Harry had never failed to be amazed at the range of books on offer. This year the window display held tiny blue books that zoomed around the window, occasionally banging into each other. As they walked in Harry heard the assistant say, "And we thought we'd seen the worst with the Monster Book of Monsters! Those buggers have a nasty bite on them. Why would anyone write a book on Cornish Pixies anyway?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other and laughed, undoubtedly remembering Gilderoy Lockhart's attempt to teach them about Pixies. Which had ended up with Neville hanging from the ceiling and books all over the class room. The assistant looked over to the three of them,
"All needing Hogwarts books?" They nodded.
"Fifth year, here's our lists."
The man went to fetch them and they left laden with books. Harry needed new robes, but Ron and Hermione said their robes were fine, and so went to get ice cream instead. Upon entering Madame Malkins Harry saw Fred and George inspecting some dress robes. Fred was holding up a particularly hideous set, that was almost a luminous yellow.
"Nice, is the banana look in this year?" Harry asked the pair sarcastically
"Well, not for normal people, but then this is Ron we're talking about."
"Mind you that's an idea for Weaslys Wizard Wheezes, turning people into bananas." Harry laughed.
"I'll leave you to it, I need to get some school robes."
As Harry waited to be measured up he saw Fred and George hand over money for a nice set of midnight blue robes, with a silver trimming running around the edge. At least they hadn't chosen the yellow ones. Mind you, Harry thought, they'd probably still be better than the ones he has! Once Harry had his school robes he went to rejoin Ron and Hermione for ice cream. Now that the school shopping was over with they could just have a look around, drooling over things they couldn't afford.Several hours later, the party retuned to The Burrow, laden with bags filled with books, robes and potion ingredients.
As Harry settled into sleep that night on Ron's floor, he felt calm and rested, anxious to return to Hogwarts, his real home. Although he had to admit, The Burrow, was beginning to feel more and more like home. However his thoughts and peaceful sleep were to be rudely interrupted in a few hours, as he awoke, screaming in pain
A/N Sorry it was another long wait guys, but I got it out faster tan I thought, it was this side of Easter! LoL, please feel free to R&R as it really helps! Thanks!