Disclaimer: In case you were wondering, I don't own Harry Potter. Though I wish I did.
Chapter Seven Rude Awakenings and Canoodling
Ginny was walking towards him, her face glowing with sunlight. They were in the sky, the clouds swirling around them. Was this heaven? "I've always had a crush on you, Harry," she said, looking more beautiful and angelic than he had ever seen her. "But now I know that I'm in love with you." Yes, it was heaven.
Without thinking, Harry replied, "I love you too!"
Then, as quickly as the dream had started, Ginny's beautiful face turned into Ron's furious one. "YOU DO?!"
"I do?" Harry mumbled in his sleep. He was about to drift back to Ginny-filled dreams when his slumber was interrupted by several loud voices.
"Wake up!!! Happy Birthday!!!" Harry recognized the voices that were yelling down at him. He opened his eyes and put on his glasses. He was looking at—Ron! He let out a quick yell, still thinking that he was in his dream.
"Calm down mate, we just wanted to wish you a happy birthday," Ron said. Harry looked around to see who was in his room. Ron, Hermione, the twins, and Ginny had all come to wake him up with not only their hollering, but also a wide variety of fireworks (all from Fred and George's shop) that were all now whizzing around the room and exploding.
"Can't a guy get any sleep around here?" Harry mumbled as he put on his robe. He was also inwardly happy that he had worn a t-shirt and pajama pants to bed, and not just boxers. Despite the fact that he was now 16, he was still hopelessly skinny and had as much muscle definition as Snape had shampoo. He certainly didn't want his best friends (okay, Ginny) to see him in nothing but his underwear. And it didn't help that he had the worst case of bed head imaginable and he turned beet red when he saw that the object of his dream was standing right in front of him, looking as fresh as a daisy and very pretty, as usual, despite the fact that it was eight o'clock on a Saturday morning.
Harry cleared his throat. "Er, well, thanks for the…" He searched for the right word. "Celebration."
"Oh, this is the least of it!" said Ron excitedly.
Ginny elbowed him sharply in the ribs, and then put on a sunny smile. "Come on down to breakfast Harry, Mum's making loads of food." She smiled at him again, making his heart flip over in his chest, and then went out the door. Hermione quickly followed, glancing at Ron and blushing on her way.
Once the girls had left, Harry started getting dressed. The three youngest Weasley boys stood looking at him innocently as a firecracker still whizzed around the room.
"So, Harry," said Fred airily, "Who were you marrying in your dream?"
"What?" Harry said quickly, his face turning very red.
"You were saying 'I do, I do' in your sleep," explained George. "Who were you dreaming about?"
Harry's face went from beet red to pale white. If they found out he had been dreaming about Ginny, they would beat him up right on the spot, he knew it. "Er… I dunno," Harry said shortly. "I can't remember." The twins nodded suspiciously and then went downstairs for breakfast, and he got the distinct feeling that they didn't believe him.
"Anyway, Harry," Ron said, looking skeptically at the twin's retreating backs, "I thought we'd go to Diagon Alley today, to celebrate, you know…."
"Sure, I guess," Harry said. Then another thought struck him. "But do you think it'll be—you know—safe for us to be alone in Diagon Alley?"
"Oh, don't worry about that. Bill's taking us," Ron said.
"You've got this all planned out, haven't you…." Harry looked at him warily. Ron had said something once about Ginny and Hermione throwing him a party, but then hadn't said anything else about it.
"I just thought that we'd do something fun for your sixteenth birthday, that's all…" Ron trailed off vaguely. "Anyway, see you downstairs at breakfast." He quickly left. Harry shrugged and got dressed.
When Ginny said 'loads of food', she meant loads of food. There were huge stacks of pancakes, toast, and waffles; piles of sausages, bacon, and eggs; and a delicious smell wafted through the whole house. Ron and the twins were already stuffing themselves with food, while Ginny and Hermione sat politely waiting for Harry. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who were bustling about the kitchen, insisted on shouting, "Happy Birthday Harry!" another time.
Mrs. Weasley pushed Harry into the nearest chair, which to his embarrassment, was next to Ginny. She smiled widely at him when he sat, and then started to carefully butter her toast. Harry shook himself awake again, and started to eat his breakfast.
A half an hour later, the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione, were all full to bursting. Clutching his full stomach, Harry said, "If this is what you've got cooked up for breakfast, Mrs. Weasley, I can't wait for dinner." When he said this, everyone in the room shared a look. "What?" said Harry, noticing them.
"Nothing," said Mrs. Weasley quickly. "Fred, George, don't you think it's about time for you to be heading off to work?"
"Oh, yes, Mum. Thank you for reminding us," George said.
"Yes, we've got places to go and Wheezes to sell," added George. They disappeared from the kitchen with a loud crack.
"Well Harry, we have to be ready to meet Bill in the Leaky Cauldron in a few minutes," Ron said, standing up.
When Hermione and Ginny didn't get up, Harry said, "Aren't you two coming?"
"No, I think we're going to stay here today," Hermione said.
"Yeah, we've got a lot to do," Ginny added, earning a glare from Hermione.
"Okay, whatever you say," Harry said, more suspicious than ever. He tromped up the stairs to grab his small sack of wizarding money and his jacket. When he came back down, Ron was already standing by the fireplace, the flowerpot of Floo Powder in his hand.
"C'mon, we're already late," Ron said. He glanced at Hermione before saying "Diagon Alley" clearly and disappearing into a burst of green flames. Harry stepped into the fireplace and did the same (only he quickly glanced at Ginny, not Hermione). The familiar unpleasant swirling sensation came to him again, and when he opened his eyes, he recognized the fuzzy lighting and strange folk inside the Leaky Cauldron.
The people standing in front of him were not strangers. He saw Ron first, who looked quite red in the face. Then he looked to his left and was greeted by another redhead—Bill. Harry exchanged a brotherly handshake with him, and then looked to see who Bill had his other arm around. He first noticed the bright, white-blonde hair that stood out in the dimness of the pub. Then he saw the friendly face that was speaking to him now.
"'Arry! Eeet ees so good to see you!" Fleur enveloped him a quick hug. "My my, you 'ave grown eento a man seence I last saw you!" Harry blushed.
"C'mon sweet, don't embarrass the poor guy!" Bill clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's have a drink, shall we?" The group sat down at an empty table. Bill had a tall glass of Firewhiskey, Fleur had a small gillywater with a little umbrella, and Harry and Ron both had Butterbeers. They lapsed into a polite conversation about Quidditch (Puddlemore United had beaten the Ballycastle Bats) and Fleur's time in England (she would be staying there for the rest of the year). Harry noticed that Ron only looked mildly embarrassed upon first seeing Fleur, but hardly did now. He would have thought that after making a fool of himself because of her, Ron would be mortified about seeing her again. But, as he told Harry later, Fleur had already stopped by the Burrow for dinner to meet Bill's parents (and must have had subsequently visited the Hot Spot).
When they were all done with their drinks and conversation was scarce, they stepped out of the pub into the bright sunshine of Diagon Alley. The first stop they made was to Gringotts, as Harry and Bill had little to no pocket change. Fleur squealed with excitement as they zoomed down the roller coaster-like trip underground. Harry's vault was first, and he hastily tried to cover up the piles of money that rested there. When they got to Bill's own vault though, Harry didn't feel so bad. The oldest Weasley son had quite a stash of gold considering he was only in his late twenties. Apparently, curse-breakers for Gringotts made quite a lot of money.
The four of them finally emerged from the bank, their pockets much heavier than before. They strolled down the street, Harry and Ron looking in the store windows, and Bill and Fleur holding hands and canoodling. When they reached the front of Quality Quidditch Supplies, Ron let out a yell. "Harry! Come look at this!" He ran over the front window of the store. "It's the new Icebolt!" Ron said, his voice full of awe. Harry's eyes widened, and he read the plaque that was in the center of the display.
"New and Improved: The Icebolt outflies all other brooms in the world! Turns on a sickle and is even faster than its predecessor, the Firebolt! Streamlined bristles, with a hand carved mahogany handle. See shopkeeper for price." They could only sit back and stare at it in awe. Even Bill and Fleur took enough time out of snuggling up against each other to come over and look at it. They were all speechless, and they stood there in awed silence until—
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Seamus Finnegan walked over to them with Dean and Neville right behind him. "I wanted to get one for meself, but me mam could never afford it."
"Puddlemore United ordered them for all their players," Neville added.
"Oliver too?" Harry said in amazement.
"Lucky bastard," muttered Ron.
"Anyway, Happy Birthday Harry," said Dean, cuffing his friend on the shoulder.
"Yeah, Happy Birthday mate," Seamus added.
"I didn't know that you guys even knew when my birthday was," Harry said, once again suspicious.
"'Course we do! We're your roommates, right?" Dean said. Harry nodded.
"Anyway, we'd better be going," Neville said. "We've got to get ready for—" He stopped after warning looks from his friends. "I mean, we've got to go… home." They all said their goodbyes and the three other boys scurried off.
"That was odd," said Harry. Ron just nodded, his ears pink.
Harry, Ron, and their chaperones spent the rest of the day strolling down Diagon Alley, stopping to go into the stores and for ice cream. For some reason, the others convinced Harry not to fill up on lunch. He supposed there was a big dinner ahead of him.
They also ran into the Patil twins, who were doing some shopping. And for some reason, they were hiding their shopping bags behind their backs. They were also very giggly. At first Harry thought it was because Bill was so good looking, but then he saw them whispering behind their hands and pointing at Ron. Why was it that Harry was always the last to know everything?
A little after six o'clock, they headed back towards the Leaky Cauldron. Ron went into the fireplace first. He said "The Burrow!" very loudly and clearly, and he disappeared into the fire. Harry was about to go in right after him, but Bill held him back.
"Why don't you wait a few moments so that Ron can… clear out of the way," he said. After a minute went by, he finally stepped into the fireplace. As he stood there, he finally realized exactly what was going on. With a grin, he said, "The Burrow!"
When he opened his eyes, rubbed his glasses clean and stepped out of the fireplace, a deafening sound met his ears.
"SURPRISE!!!!!!"