*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry bolted awake early, a foreign feeling of excitement curling through his stomach. For once in his life, he truly looked forward to celebrating his birthday. He rolled off his camp bed, careful not to disturb Ron and quietly crept out of the room.
Harry yelped as both his arms were suddenly seized and he was unceremoniously hoisted over Fred's shoulder. Harry couldn't see her, but he heard Ginny's voice suddenly pipe up from behind him followed by a squeaked protest as George snatched her up and tossed her back into her room.
They trooped down the stairs and out the door, heading quickly along the side of the house. Suddenly Harry realized where they were headed and struggled harder: The lily pond that sat to one side of the Burrow. His arms pin-wheeled frantically as he was hoisted into the air. He saw a momentary glimpse of his grinning redheaded captors just before landing with a huge *splash*!
Harry popped back up, gasping for air and disrupting a large bullfrog as he waded his way to the pond shore, hair and body streaming water like a young seal. "Happy Birthday, Harry!" The twins chorused. Harry glowered at them momentarily before breaking down and laughing with them. Fred and George were laughing so hard they swallowed a lot of pond water when Harry finally slogged his way over to them and pulled them into the pond.
Fred and George created a pair of spectacular splashes, taking Harry down with them once more before he popped up closer to the bank and started running. Harry was small and years of dodging Dudley lent him practice and speed as he flew across the yard, heading for the door, the twins right on his heels.
Harry dashed in the door mowing down the smaller form of Ginny, who was listening just on the other side of the door and hadn't moved quite quickly enough. For the second time that morning, Harry Potter found himself pin-wheeling through the air before a fairly soft landing. The only difference was that this time his soft landing was right on top of Ginny.
Ginny squeaked, scrambling to move and glowing bright red. Harry froze momentarily his mind going blank then also started scrambling to his feet. Their frantically embarrassed efforts succeeded in them whacking each other's foreheads together soundly, sending them back down in another tangle of arms and legs. Now they were embarrassed, tangled and had headaches.
A slight pop startled them both into action as Percy appeared in the kitchen. Harry moaned, wondering absently how much more would happen before breakfast. "Good morning, Harry." Percy greeted him distractedly, bustling around grabbing toast and tea and barely acknowledging them. He pulled up the sleeve of his neatly pressed robe to glance at his watch. "Well, must hurry. Can't stay long. Big day at the Ministry, you know. I dare say that . . . " He never finished for at that moment he glanced over and did a double take, taking in Harry who was leaning precariously over his sister and Ginny, who was clutching to the front of Harry's pajama top, her long nightdress ridden up on her thigh.
"HARRY!!!" He looked at his sister once more to identify the flushed redhead sprawled under Harry Potter. "GINNY!!! How could . . . How could you . . .?" He stopped, for once, at a loss for words. Then he did the only thing a boy could do when he didn't think he could handle a situation. "MOTHER!!! Get down here right now. You won't believe . . . OMPH!" Percy grunted as Fred and George came barreling in, tripped over the sprawled forms of Harry and Ginny and did a splendid double swan dive into Percy. The whole group skidded a bit, crashing into the old table that dominated the kitchen and pulling the tablecloth and slightly chipped tea set down over the top of them.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley rushed in and pulled up short, blinking several times at the carnage that lay before them. Between the various arms, legs, clothes and tablecloth, Harry, Percy, Ginny and the Twins were a completely tangled, dripping mess sprinkled liberally with broken china and bruises. Percy's horn-rimmed glasses hung precariously from the single teacup that had managed to survive and Harry's were across the room on the doorstep.
A loud, rumbling sound from the stairs heralded the arrival of Hermione and the rest of the Weasley clan who pulled up short at the bottom of the stairs and gawked at the human tangle on the floor.
"Mother, please!" Percy cried, trying to halt the hysterical laughter that was flowing over them. Even Hermione was having a difficult time staying upright and was leaning on Ron's shoulder with tears running down her face.
Mrs. Weasley finally calmed herself down to chuckles after Percy's wail. "All right, that's enough of that." She pointed at the stairwell with her wand. "I've got breakfast to prepare. Out all of you." She pointed at the stairwell. "Now." She snapped, cutting off Ron's protest.
"Thank you mother." Percy said, carefully extracting himself from the pile and rescuing his glasses. "At least no one else will see us in this undignified position."
At that moment Sirius Black and Remus Lupin appeared at the door.
"I'm not even going to ask." Remus held up his hands defensively as Percy glared at him warningly.
"Is that Harry under there?" Sirius asked, picking up the familiar set of glasses from the floor and trying to peer under the red hair and assorted nightwear. He grinned as he saw a thatch of black hair and a random hand wave at him.
"Come on, you lot, let's get you off the floor." Mrs. Weasley bustled in and started setting her kitchen to rights again and conjuring breakfast. Mr. Weasley, Sirius and Remus quickly jumped in to help untangle the now soggy pile of Weasleys and Harry.
Ginny finally extracted herself from underneath Harry and immediately rounded on her brothers. "What were you bloody thinking throwing Harry into the pond like that?" She demanded. Fred and George shrank back as their diminutive sibling glared balefully at them. Harry was sharply reminded of the miniature dragon figurine that sat in his trunk. For being such a small girl, Ginny did an impressive impersonation of a Hungarian Horntail. Though, with her smaller size and mane of red hair, she was more of a Chinese Fireball.
"Now Gin . . ." Percy started, attempting to make peace. Ginny's face snapped up to him and she growled very low for him to back off. "Right then." He nodded, edging his way carefully toward the door and freedom. "Carry on. I'd rather not be late for work. Pleasant day all." Percy escaped out the door.
"Ginny dear, perhaps you should change, you're all wet." Mrs. Weasley pointed out calmly before Ginny could resume her tirade. Ginny blinked, looked down at her white cotton nightdress and gasped, blushing to the roots before fleeing the kitchen.
*
Breakfast was a somewhat quieter ordeal; though Ginny - shy during her best times – stayed bright scarlet the entire time and now refused to even look at Harry which, for some odd reason, bothered him slightly. She was also the first to leave the table when Mrs. Weasley reminded them all to remember their lists for the trip to Diagon Alley that morning.
Since he couldn't very well join them in wandering down Diagon Alley, Sirius had agreed to help Mr. and Mrs. Weasley prepare for the party later that evening while Professor Lupin and Bill shepherded Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and the Twins.
The fact that now he was allowed to rejoin the wizarding world he was never out of sight of a trusted witch or wizard – and more often both - didn't escape Harry. However, he was hoping for a bit of freedom once they reached Diagon Alley. He checked to make sure he had everything he would need before grabbing his school list and pelting downstairs to join the others. Professor Lupin and Sirius stood, talking quietly.
"Wonder if we'll have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Ron mused, joining him and looking over their book lists for the upcoming term.
"Mad-eye's been reassigned, actually." Professor Lupin smiled, turning to them. "So you'll have to put up with me for a month or two first before Professor Myfanwy takes over." They all gasped happily at this news and Professor Lupin smiled before explaining. "Professor Snape is going to be gone on an errand for the first part of the term. Professor Dumbledore asked me to teach the class while Professor Myfanwy takes over Potions."
Sirius paled visibly. "Myfanwy?" He croaked. Lupin cuffed him on the shoulder.
"Don't scare them, Padfoot. She's not THAT bad!" He grinned as Harry and Ron's puzzled looks morphed into slight apprehension. Sirius didn't respond. He seemed preoccupied with the revelation and he wasn't completely sure, but Harry thought he heard Sirius mutter under his breath.
"I really think I'd rather deal with Snape."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Review. Review. Review. Review. Review. Review. Review. Review. Review. Review. Review. Review. Review. Review.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
For future reference: If you don't know what happens to white cotton when it gets wet . . . it basically goes transparent. I'm not saying any more.
