"Ready." George responded.
Fred silently opened the door and entered. George followed. They got to the foot of Harry's cot and prepared.
Fred and George were in rare form. They knew Harry was not used to anyone making a big deal about his birthday, and today the Weasleys were going to change that in so many ways. First, there was the surprise birthday party, then there was the mountain of gifts hidden in Mr. Weasley's shed and the biggest cake since Percy was made Head Boy.
At this very moment in time, Fred and George were going to wake up the birthday boy. They were moving silently up the stairs to Ron's bedroom.
"Ready?" George asked.
At Fred's nod, they lifted the kazoos to their lips and blew, hard. A loud "ZZZZZZZZZ" could be heard throughout the room. Ron and Harry jumped straight up in a panic.
Fred and George began to sing, (off key):
There once was a boy from Privet Drive
Got a letter, and learned he's a wizard
One day, he'll have a witch for a wife
Till then he settles for a yank on his lizard!
George and Fred fell over guffawing at their own little joke, while Ron and Harry turned as red as a cardinal on a snowy winter day.
Eventually, George was able to choke out "Happy Birthday Harry!"
So began the Boy-Who-Lived's 17th Birthday.
Ron and Harry went downstairs, followed by George and Fred, to find Ginny and Mrs. Weasley setting the table for breakfast. It was amazing to Harry, who was used to nothing special for his birthday, because the entire table reflected the fact it was his birthday.
Everything was decorated in red and gold. There were animated snitches flying around the room dropping confetti everywhere. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny had even made mounds of pancakes, but not normal pancakes. No, these pancakes were the spitting image of Harry's face down to the lightening shaped scar on his face.
Harry looked up in confusion. Mrs. Weasley smiled.
"Yes Harry, it IS magic." she said with a wink.
All of a sudden, Harry understood where the Weasley twins had gotten their love of mischief. He winked back and smiled.
Soon, the kitchen was full of the Weasley family and their two "adopted" children.
The kitchen was loud, but inviting. Harry felt like he finally had a family to call his own.
Ginny watched the boy she had loved for so many years and thought about her current situation. She kept the outward appearance of having the time of her life, but inside she was dying. This scene may play out over the years repeatedly, but never with her at Harry's side. No, she would be with a blonde Slytherin who had made her life hell. Joy!
The day passed quickly for everyone. Ron and the twins had taken Harry to the meadow to play Quidditch; while Ginny, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley were working on the goodies for the surprise birthday party.
The afternoon concluded with Mrs. Weasley putting a shrinking charm on all the decorations and presents so that Harry would not see them before the party began that evening.
Ron, Harry and the twins returned to the house shortly before the party was to begin and went upstairs to get ready for "dinner." Mr. Weasley and Percy apparated from work, Bill and Charlie portkeyed in from their current locations and other friends of Harry arrived via the floo network.
Ginny had taken special care with her appearance this evening for two reasons: Harry and Draco. Harry, well because, he was Harry; and Draco because she felt like she had not given him a chance, even if she didn't have a choice in this scenario. Besides, had she not promised herself to be a new, more vivacious Ginny Weasley?
She had put on her best summer dress. It was olive green with small straps and fell to just above the knee. It brought out the earth tones of her copper curls and warm nutmeg eyes. She added a light dusting of coffee colored blush on her cheeks and topped off with an almond glaze lip-gloss for her lips.
Mrs. Weasley helped her with her hair by placing it on top of her head with tendrils of curls framing her heart-shaped face. Her earrings were small, gold hoops, nice and simple; oddly enough, a gift for her sixteenth birthday from Harry.
"He'll like it." Mrs. Weasley said.
To be honest, Ginny was not sure which of the two guys she was referring to, Harry or Draco. However, she was sure that she did NOT want to know. Some things were better left unsaid.
Ginny and Mrs. Weasley quickly got downstairs to receive incoming guests and to un-shrink all their hard work. Hermione was waiting for them in the kitchen.
She, too, was wearing a summer dress, her's a cornflower blue. It suited her very cool, pale skin. It seemed she was also trying to catch someone's attention tonight.
Ginny smirked to herself at the thought of this. When would those two just admit their feelings for each other?
Lavender Brown, Padma and Parvati Patil, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, and Professor Dumbledore had already arrived and were making conversation amongst themselves.
As they were talking (Hermione had joined them), Mrs. Weasley undid her shrinking charm and the decorations and presents reappeared in earnest. The theme for the party was obviously Quidditch.
Just like at breakfast, there were flying snitches dropping red and gold confetti all over. In addition, magical mini-bludgers exploded and spewed candy when bouncing off people. Hermione had given the idea to Mrs. Weasley earlier in the day when telling them about a muggle device called a piñata.
The cake, in the shape of a lion wearing a Gryffindor quidditch robe, had been charmed to roar loudly if anyone tried to sneak a bite before Mrs. Weasley was ready to serve it. Unfortunately, that seemed to be happening quite a lot, much to Dumbledore's amusement and instigation.
There was a slight noise at the fireplace and everyone turned towards it. There stood Draco Malfoy in all his blonde Adonis glory.
The earlier conversation had now completely stopped. All eyes were staring at Draco, some in surprise, some in hatred but only one in friendly determination.
Draco locked eyes with Ginny. He walked over to her and her mother.
"Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, good to see you again."
"You too, Draco." Mrs. Weasley responded.
"Hi Draco. You look handsome this evening." Ginny said. She had already made up her mind to make this a pleasant evening for them both.
"Thanks. I must say, YOU are simply breathtaking this evening." At this, Ginny blushed, Mrs. Weasley smiled and everyone else in the room went into shock.