Chapter 2: The Surprise
"There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved."
Charles Morgan
Harry watched Hedwig as she flew away, carrying the last letter from the fourteen-year-old boy he still was. But only for two more hours, because at midnight the first day would start on which he counted fifteen! He went to lie on the bed, expecting a sleepless night as always before his birthday. Yet as he tried to think of what would happen the next day, of the letters and presents he would receive, his mind drifted off to Ginny. He just couldn't stop thinking about her. He imagined her, sleeping in her bedroom, her soft, creamy face resting on a pillow; the moonlight forming a silver veil on her round arms and copper freckles; her hair of auburn gold spreading on the white of her sheets; her adorable nose and... Harry felt his thoughts quieting, as a wave of appeasement lulled him into sleep.
***
A tiny square of light coming from the window played on the now fifteen- year-old boy's face. He turned around to evade it, but then, as if this bit of English morning sunlight was burning his neck, he jumped out of bed and hurriedly dressed up.
Today was his birthday. He was extremely excited, although he knew nothing special was going to happen -especially coming from the Dursleys. He really wanted the letters to arrive, so he was a bit disappointed when he noticed that Hedwig hadn't flown in yet and that neither owls nor birthday cards were in sight.
Harry sighed, hoping there was some explanation to this delay -perhaps the Death Eaters had hijacked owls in order to make him feel neglected... Probably not, he thought, silently laughing: who would go to such trouble just to annoy him? He preferred not to think of the answer and headed downstairs.
As usual, his arrival in the kitchen went unnoticed by his relatives who were engulfing their breakfast. He cooked himself something to eat, glad that the Dursleys had abandoned the idea of making him cook their breakfast when they had learned Sirius Black was friends with their beloved nephew. I hope Padfoot is all right, Harry thought while staring stupidly at the white of his frying eggs. They were as white as his godfather's face when he had first met him... Wow, that's a charming comparison, Harry couldn't help but notice. Still, thinking of his godfather always made him feel happier.
He finally sat down and began eating silently. Uncle Vernon's gluttonous grunts were barely equaled by the chewing noise coming from Dudley, and even Aunt Petunia's face showed a hint of disgust. This was the usual breakfast for Harry, so he found it absolutely normal and justified to be in a hurry, as he was eager to leave the table. Suddenly, Vernon put the newspaper down -nearly knocking his wife's glass of orange juice- and, putting his greasy hands under his triple chin, he addressed Harry in an almost nice tone, something he thought was absolutely impossible. He immediately thought of it as a present, and did so even more after he heard what Uncle Vernon had to say.
"Harry, your aunt, cousin and I have some very important business to attend to."
And, how would that affect me?
"Since we can't leave you here by yourself..."
What, you're afraid I'm going to run away with the furniture?
"...we decided we had to find another solution."
Brilliant deduction...
"So, we will drop you off at Mrs. Figg's house on our way to London, and you will stay there until we come to pick you up."
No kidding?
Although Harry had never adored Mrs. Figg, he was so glad to be out of his miserable den and at least a mile away from his adoptive family during his birthday that he nearly jumped out of his seat to do cartwheels all over the house.
Oh wait, I don't know how to do cartwheels, he remembered. However, since he knew thanking his Aunt and Uncle was useless, he tried to seem interested. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"I, um..." Uncle Vernon stared blankly at his wife, but she seemed as dumbfounded as he was.
I guess it runs in the family, Harry thought, as he noticed Dudley's open mouth and stupid eyes.
"Well, er- we are going... That's none of your business, nope, it is none of your business, boy!" Vernon finally roared in a mounting crescendo.
"Oh, Okay. Well, I hope you enjoy it," Harry added, trying to be convincing in his caring attitude.
He couldn't care less about what they were going to do, as long as they would leave him alone; and he knew his aunt and uncle weren't fooled either. Besides, why would he try to be nice to them when they had spent their lives making his own as painful and miserable as possible? It wasn't like he actually had asked to go and live with them anyway... Never mind, it's your birthday, Harry reminded himself. Speaking of birthday... He quickly put his plate in the dishwasher, waved goodbye to Dudley, who sent him a grimace of incomprehension in response, and ran to his room.
"DON'T RUN IN THE H..."
The words were cut off by the violent slam of the door. Harry emerged into his tiny, messy, but mostly, empty bedroom - empty of any indication of his birthday, that was. There were absolutely no letters whatsoever, nothing that could have indicated that today was his birthday. Shit, he thought. They can't have forgotten... Not Ginny, not Sirius, not Hagrid! He understood that Hermione and Ron might be too caught up in their love affair, but forgetting his birthday? All of them? Harry didn't have a clue what was happening. This just didn't make any sense. He began straying in the bedroom as if he were lost, bumping into the piles of his books and Dudley's old toys -computers, cars, play stations and TV's. He sent a Super Nintendo flying with a powerful kick. Too powerful.
How did I do that? Surely my legs can't be that strong. My foot doesn't even hurt!
By the time Uncle Vernon came to fetch him, Harry was still walking back and forth in the bedroom, tripping at nearly every step he took. He grabbed his jacket, just in case Mrs. Figg might want him to stay outside of the house as long as possible... He doubted this, but he liked having something to protect him from that horrible feline smell -even if it didn't act as such a powerful screen, the charm he had put on the coat supposedly repelled animals. Yeah right, he had thought as he cast the spell. But then again, it doesn't cost anything to try.
The car ride was silent. The Dursleys actually took the car to drop Harry off a few yards down the street, probably because they didn't want to let him go by himself but didn't feel like meeting Mrs. Figg either. Harry shot murderous glances toward the car that abandoned him in front of the neighbor's door. He was in a horrible mood: no letters whatsoever had arrived, no presents, no sign of them, no nothing! He could have killed someone. Well, probably not, but he enjoyed telling himself he was in the mood to do so.
Harry stood in the middle of the road, feeding on his own anger, and he felt the rage flowing in his blood, beating against his temple, rushing at the tips of his fingers, screaming to get out... A low and grave noise came up from under the cement, like the hungry stomach of an ogre. Suddenly, the ground began to shake slightly. In a soft, strangely silent motion, a fissure opened in the road and spread from one end to another.
Harry blinked, then ran to Mrs. Figg's door: he certainly didn't want to be caught right over a gigantic crack in the middle of the street, did he? He knocked violently, quite shocked by what he had just done, and still enraged. Maybe he should have continued splitting the Earth, because it felt so good to rip something apart and feel like you were one with the earth. Okay, now I'm talking to myself. He had been a lot, lately, and realized this when Mrs. Figg opened the door.
She peered at Harry from behind her thin, rectangular glasses. Her small, gray eyes scrutinized Harry, or something else perhaps -Harry couldn't decide- as the old woman's eyes were partly hidden by her white hair, which, frankly, was a mess. You can barely tell if it was her cats' hair or her own, Harry thought evil-mindedly.
She seemed to sense his angry disposition, so she simply said, "Sit down on the couch, Nora's birthday cake is burning..."
That said, she left him alone. Nora was a Persian cat with a green eye and a blue one. Splendid, Harry thought, I'm born on the same day as her ugly monster. He shooed three hairy kittens that had been sitting on the couch and sat there, trying to get rid of the pestilence of cat food. Hordes of felines came purring against his legs, and some even dared to try and sit on him. Harry nearly kicked one of them, and was glaring at the animals when he noticed a black dog, peacefully standing amongst them. She has a passion for dogs now? Just my luck!
But then it crossed his mind. Black dog? Black dog?!? What did Sirius think he was doing? Harry jumped from the couch and hurried toward the dog, who trotted away happily. Harry followed him, wondering what this meant. He emerged in the kitchen, gasping, and nearly tripped on the threshold when he saw who was waiting for him inside.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!"
As he had guessed, Sirius was there. He was clean-shaven, save for a thin mustache and a line of beard, and his hair was held back in a ponytail. He seemed to be in pretty good health and great mood. Indeed, he gave Harry a dashing white smile that contrasted with the caramel tone of his skin -he had obviously been to a sunny place for hiding. Next to him stood Remus, his robes as shabby as ever and his brown eyes twinkling. He seemed to have aged since the last time Harry saw him, and it had nothing to do with his salt-and-pepper hair. Something in Remus' eyes made him look tired and anxious, but Harry just couldn't figure out what it was. I'll ask him later, he promised himself.
And last, but not least since he outgrew the two men by three or four inches, stood Ron. He beamed at Harry, who was incredibly happy to see his bright orange haired friend after such a long time. Such a pang of color nearly blinded Harry, who couldn't believe his eyes anyhow: they hadn't forgotten! They were there for him! It came as a complete surprise to him, after he had thought for so long that they had abandoned him. You idiot, he murmured to himself, for doubting their friendship.
"You idiot," he repeated louder to Ron, who patted him on the back, still laughing at his friend's dumbfounded face.
Behind them, a pan in her hand, stood Mrs. Figg. Only she didn't look like an old hag anymore; rather she resembled some sort of aristocrat, a refined lady. Her hair was now very neatly arranged in a bun, from which emerged a cascade of white hair, pouring on her shoulders. Her gray, sparkling eyes seemed thoughtful, but the smile she bore on her pale face indicated she was touched by this reunion. She stepped toward Harry, and explained everything, answering the questions he was about to formulate.
"Harry, I was James' godmother. When your parents were killed, I wasn't allowed to take you with me, as that would have made us a much too obvious target for Voldemort. However, I managed to get permission from higher authorities to keep a close watch on you. I am truly sorry I imposed such a terrifying and cat-full regime on you, but it was in order to make sure you would not attach yourself to me and eventually find out about me being a witch. And so I had to watch you grow up from afar. But you reminded me so much of your father that sometimes it was very painful to keep this from you."
She had a low, soothing voice, that calmed Harry's mind as he thought of objections to raise. It was hard to believe that she had kept all this hidden from him: his father's godmother! What was it that made her house less safe than that of the Dursleys? At least she was a witch! Harry could hardly understand, even after Mrs. Figg's explanation. But of course, if Dumbledore (Harry was pretty sure the "higher authorities" was Dumbledore) had decided that Harry would stay with his aunt, he must have had a good reason. Besides, there was nothing Harry could do about it now. All the anger he had felt before vanished, at least for the time being. He smiled, and as a childish glee replaced his past anger, he felt as though he wouldn't be able to stop smiling if he tried. Ron took over the explanation excitedly.
"The birthday surprise was her idea. She was tired of lying to you, you know? So she contacted all of us, asking us not to send you letters or give you your presents, and to come today to her house. So we came and she put a spell on your uncle, aunt and cousin to make them go away and leave you here with her. And then you came up and you were looking furious, but you should have seen your face when you saw us! It was hilarious!"
Ron began laughing again. Remus and Sirius laughed as well, so Mrs. Figg gently shooed them away from the kitchen.
"Although it's not Nora's birthday, I still have a cake to bake," she explained with a cheeky wink.
Sirius led them through another door in the kitchen that Harry had never seen and they entered a room entirely decorated for the occasion. All four men sat down and began talking excitedly, glad to be reunited.
***
Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Ron tried to restrain himself from jumping from the sofa and running throughout the house, but he gave up trying to hide his excitement and succumbed to his impulse. Harry arrived in the living room right after Ron, just as he opened the door. The sunlight entered the room in a bright flash and Hermione appeared like an angel. Her tanned face glowed with delight at the sight of her two friends. She gave them both a warm, perfectly white smile and threw herself in Ron's arms.
I guess they're not angry at each other any more, Harry thought with a knowing smile.
He just stood there, happy for his friends, as she began telling him how delighted she was to see them
...or rather, him.
She wore a white dress, whose uneven cut created a diagonal on her tanned, perfect legs. The smooth hazelnut brown of her eyes was filled with tears - Aren't we getting a little carried away, wondered Harry- and her sun-kissed curls were completely wild, especially in Ron's face.
After a few very touching and passionate moments in Ron's arms, Hermione hugged Harry. "Happy birthday!" she murmured in his ear, in a soft, smooth voice. He laughed and kissed her on the cheeks, as Ron became red and hit himself mentally-why hadn't he thought of that? Hermione finally greeted Remus and Sirius and went in the kitchen to see if Mrs. Figg needed help. She came back a few minutes later and went to sit with her friends.
"I always forget how magic can simplify everything," Hermione said. "She told me she'd be there in a second; apparently her cookbook was having some problems determining the proportions for so many people!"
"So many people? Who else is coming?" Harry asked.
"Aha, that's a surprise," Ron commented in a mysterious tone. "In fact, it's more a matter of quality than quantity..."
"I, for one, See quite a bunch of red flames. Since the Sun is in the third house and the Lover in the fifth, I predict that there will soon be a large group of auburn-haired people coming in. Probably some Weasleys, unless Saturn encounters Jupiter, which is quite unlikely," Hermione added in a very nebulous, Professor Trelawney-like voice.
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed as she and Ron roared with laughter.
It was good to be reunited again.
***
Harry felt extremely happy they were here. But somehow, seeing Ron and Hermione together (and judging by their faces, he guessed that an argument would arouse pretty soon), he felt like he was missing something or rather, someone. Remus and Sirius observed silently and nodded to one another: they knew this look, they had seen it so many times on James' face when Lily was nowhere to be seen. Harry's father wondered who the young woman was and he hoped they had invited her. Since there was only one additional girl invited, he wondered what the chances were that it would be her. However, as he was trying to figure out whom his godson could be waiting for, a green flame lit up in the chimney and the rest of the Weasley family began appearing.
Fred and George emerged laughing, which wasn't very surprising. They immediately wished Harry a happy birthday, even proposing him some sweets, which he wisely refused. Then they went to say hello to Sirius, Remus and Hermione. When they saw her, they stopped laughing: their eyes grew as wide as Ron's had, and they were utterly speechless -which, for the twins, was a first.
George tried a "Hi, Hermione", but Fred mouthed their thoughts: "Bloody Hell, Hermione, you're gorgeous!"
Apparently, the Weasley definition of gorgeous took smaller notice of the bushy hair than it did of the ample cleavage. Ron shot his brothers an evil and jealous glare, but Hermione kissed them both, laughing, a bright pink from the compliment. George spotted Sirius and he involuntarily stepped back, his face whitening from apprehension. Immediately, though, he managed to get a hold of himself. Fred observed as his twin went to shake hands with Sirius.
"Mum explained everything about you, Mister Black. It seems that Dad knew already -Dumbledore told him you were one of his operatives. I'm happy to learn that you are innocent." He then added, looking very business like, "Yes, I am indeed delighted."
Fred let out a cough that sounded oddly like, "Percy Junior."
"Call me Sirius. You make it sound like I'm your grandfather, or older yet, Moody. Pleased to meet you as well, Fred. Or is it George? I'll just settle for Weasley. "
"Mister Sirius Black, pleased to meet you. Absolutely marvellous. I am positively thrilled," said Fred as he enthusiastically shook hands with Harry's godfather. "Oh, and Harry, I am really sorry that Mum and Dad won't come: Dad has a seminar and he asked Mum to accompany him. Bill is still in Egypt. He's had a lot of work lately as well- sometimes, he works so much, I'm surprised he actually works for a bank."
"Yes, well, you would be surprised to see what your brother does," Sirius said. "Quite surprised indeed," he added somewhat mysteriously, but he did not bother to explain. Fred and George, understanding he was not about to enlighten them, went to have a seat on the sofa facing Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Five minutes later, Charlie Apparated in the room. His mouth curled into a mischievous smile and he explained the reason for his delay, "Fred and George put a spell on Percy's suitcase. When he tried to pick it up, the leather immediately transferred itself to his skin and he became a leather statue. Thank Merlin Ginny had the sense of looking in the twins' stuff to find the antidote. She's coming up right after me, just making sure Percy's all right," he said, giving the twins a scolding glance.
The twins could barely hold themselves up. "It worked!" they hiccuped between each wave of laughter.
Even Charlie couldn't pretend for much longer that this didn't amuse him. He said "Happy birthday!" to Harry. Grinning, he winked at Hermione, adding an appreciative glance that enraged Ron, and finally went to talk to Sirius and Remus, leaving Harry standing in front of the chimney. Hermione, Ron, Fred and George were too absorbed in their conversation to notice -the boys being even more absorbed by Hermione than by their chat-, but Sirius noticed Harry was waiting expectantly. He said something to Charlie, who, in turn revealed some quite amusing secret to Remus and Sirius, and all three laughed. Their mirth seemed exaggerated, but definitely liberating; it had something almost sickening to it, as if they were laughing to forget the horrors they had seen or would go through. Soon enough though, they got back to the serious business their laughs were trying to free them from. Their faces darkened as they adopted a lower tone, eyes burning with a mysterious glint.
Harry faced the chimney, staring blankly at the red bricks. He didn't feel like moving and his legs wouldn't have anyway. He didn't hear nor see Remus, Sirius or Charlie behind him, or he would have been alarmed by their state of restlessness. He didn't pay attention to hsi friends on the couch. No, his mind was elsewhere...
Merlin, I'm so stupid! I'm paralyzed at the idea of seeing Ginny again... Wow, what has happened to me?
He chuckled, but his laugh got stuck in his throat when green flames began swirling in the hearth. As Harry tried desperately to hide that he was choking, Ginny emerged from the fireplace. She slightly stumbled, her hand covering her eyes to protect her from the smoke, and frowned slightly when she saw her brothers on the couch. Then she saw Harry. Her hand went down from her face as a radiant smile spread across her face. A perfect row of white pearls shone just for Harry, kindling a little fire in his heart.
Harry couldn't decide if her ecstatic grin was the only cause for his chest feeling like if it was about to explode. He couldn't take his eyes off her vermilion lips and the burning red flames of her hair. And her freckles were ravishing, looking like gold on her slender arms and next to that...
Did her brothers actually know what she was going to wear?
Harry thought her black dress made her look devilishly sexy. It gently cupped the curves of her body -Since when does Ginny actually have curves?- and promoted the superb color of her curls. The youngest Weasley threw herself in Harry's arms.
"Harry! Happy birthday!" she exclaimed, kissing him boldly on the cheek. Harry thought he was going to melt and he was absolutely conscious of his face turning red. "I missed you," she continued, nearly whispering this time.
Her eyes searched for Harry's, which were desperately trying to avoid her look. But he couldn't hold his gaze away from her any longer: he glanced into her deep eyes and drowned. They were of that deep, sensuous warm chocolate color, tinted with amber and gold, that made him feel like the world was sweet and cozy. This was quite a new feeling for Harry, who had spent four years saving Hogwarts and who knew that the world wasn't sweet and cozy.
How could I never have noticed that she has such beautiful eyes? Do something, do something! his mind commanded him.
"How are you?" he managed to ask in a surprisingly stable voice. "I am so happy to see you here. It's really a great surprise!"
That was really brilliant. Do something ELSE!
Grasping his courage as firmly as possible, Harry put his arm around Ginny's waist, pulling her gently toward the couch where Ron was desperately trying to keep the twins off Hermione.
She's wearing a bare-backed dress. Keep your hands off... But her skin is so soft to touch...
Wow! STOP!
Harry managed to calm his mind when he noticed that Ginny wasn't making a big deal at all about his arm being around her waist. Besides, Charlie seemed to have noticed that his little sister had arrived and was keeping a close watch on both of them. But as all good moments must come to an end, Ginny focused her attention back to Fred and George. The twins rose to greet her, a curious smile playing on Fred's lips. She literally jumped on them like a mother tiger protecting her baby (in this case, Percy). Harry stood there, dazed, as she began hollering at her brothers who listened to her attentively in order to know how well their trick had worked.
Harry, Hermione and Ron watched the twins being yelled at by their smaller sister. Ron took advantage of his brothers' absence to sit next to Hermione on the couch, as Fred had squeezed himself between his brother and Hermione when he had arrived. Finally, Ginny stopped screaming and sat down between Harry and Hermione, noticing the furious glance Ron shot her when she tried sitting on the opposite side of Hermione. The red haired girl, looking around her, gave a delicious smile to the trio and, after nonchalantly adjusting a strand of her copper hair, she asked Hermione in a quite innocent-sounding tone, "So, Hermione, how did your vacation in Bulgaria go?"
Ron went red and his fists clenched silently, but he managed to keep quiet.
Harry, though, had understood what Ginny was up to and decided to follow her lead. "Yeah, Hermione, what did you do? I mean, you weren't very precise in your letters, but it sounded wonderful."
Hermione had immediately figured out what they were doing as well and played along.
"Oh, it was wonderful! And Viktor was amazing! From the first day, when I arrived by plane, Viktor came to get me. He carried my suitcases through the entire airport -and let me tell you, he's not used to airports! - and even offered me a gorgeous bouquet of Bulgarian flowers. Ginny, you would have adored them, they were so colorful and fresh and..."
"What's a plane?" Ron interrupted brutally.
"And an airport?" Fred added with a sheepish smile.
Hermione gave Harry a desperate glance: how could she explain that to a bunch of people who were wizards through and through?
"Ask your dad, he'll know," Harry offered, not so sure whether Arthur Weasley would give them the appropriate explanation or not.
"That is, if we ever manage to see him," observed George.
"With what happened last year, the Ministry is very busy. I mean, the Wizarding World is torn between those who acknowledge You Know Who's return," Fred explained.
"And those who don't," concluded George. "Plus with recent ev-"
Ginny gave her brother a not so discrete kick, Hermione looked down and Ron clenched his jaw.
"What? What happened?" Harry demanded, feeling somewhat excluded.
"Well... There have been several mysterious attacks across Europe, especially in countries with the highest ratio of Wizards to Muggles."
"What she's saying," translated Ron, "is that people have died because of Dark Magic in Great Britain, France, Italy... and Bulgaria," he added with a furious look to Hermione. Harry was wondering why Ron made such a point of tracing things back to Bulgaria -not to mention, Viktor Krum- but Hermione's words made it clear for Harry.
"We were er... having dinner with friends of Viktor's"-at this Hermione blushed- "when there was an explosion in the bar right next door. His friends Apparated back to their respective houses, but I can't Apparate, so Viktor and David stayed with me." She looked around at them all. "David is Viktor's best friend," Hermione added.
Harry was surprised to see the beginning of a smile light her face and her cheeks turn pink. This didn't seem like a funny nor agreable moment, Harry thought. Hermione's eyes avoided Ron's glance, but he was too preoccupied by the Hermione-Viktor issue to understand that this blush wasn't about Viktor.
"David and I focused all our energy on summoning two brooms, a single and a couple one -I was of course to share with one of them, since you all know I cannot stay on one for more than five minutes."
"I could teach you," Fred proposed gallantly.
"So could I," said George. His younger brother's hateful look dissuaded him. "Er, maybe not. I'll leave that to Fred. Er, I mean, Ron..."
"Anyway," Ginny interrupted as Ron directed his glare toward his other brother, "what happened after?"
"We got the brooms, and I was about to mount behind Viktor when David asked me to come on his broom."
The ecstatic smile that suddenly lit up Hermione's face confirmed Ginny's suspicions.
So it's about David, is it... Ginny thought. No wonder she kept repeating, 'Viktor and I are only friends.' That also explains her flirty attitude with the boys: she knows how things work now! At least she figured out how to enrage Ron. Not that it's a difficult task or anything... Ginny laughed silently, trying to concentrate on what Hermione was saying. She noticed the dumbfounded looks on the boys' faces. Ron was mouthing, "She's gone off her rocker" to Harry, as they both wondered why she was laughing by herself. Hermione didn't seem to care.
"We left promptly, just in time to see the restaurant where we were eating blown to pieces by hooded figures." Hermione shuddered. "I don't think there was anyone left in the restaurant, but thirteen people were killed in the bar... How can the Ministry even pretend the attackers weren't Death Eaters? The Dark Mark certainly did fly over the burning ruins a few minutes afterwards."
Harry stared into Hermione's eyes, and he imagined the Mark floating above the destroyed houses. Deep in the hazelnut brown of her eyes, he saw the black of the night, the green Mark, the fiery red and oranges of the flames.
So Hermione is haunted by that vision, just like I am. And it is quite possible that what I saw happened as well. But then, if there were so many attacks this summer, why did I only witness this one? Not that I'm sad of not having seen more people being killed, but still, I wonder why...
"Yeah, well, I told you Bulgaria was dangerous," Ron grunted. "Why did 'Vicky'..."
"Viktor," Hermione corrected almost absentmindedly.
"Why did 'Viktor'" -Ron fluttered his eyes, supposedly imitating Hermione- "not let you return home after that happened? I mean, it's not like you were safe with him or anything..."
"But she obviously was with David," Ginny teased. "Safe with him, that is," she added with a smile.
Ginny had hit too close to home this time. Hermione widened her eyes -would Ginny tell her brothers?- but then realized she could use her affair with David to her advantage- needless to say, make Ron jealous. Hermione gave the red haired girl a huge smile.
So Gin understood, Hermione thought. Well, it's not surprising, After all, girls are so much more perceptive than boys. Although now, I'm going to have to answer all her questions about David. I suppose it won't be my little secret anymore...
Her grin widened at the thought of David. Of course, they had gotten together a few days after the attack. David really was adorable, and she didn't feel as pressured with him as she felt with Viktor. Not that he was mean to her or anything.
Quite the contrary, Hermione thought bitterly. He always wanted a hug, a good morning kiss even if it was three in the afternoon, offering her presents every single day. Viktor had been destroyed when he had seen Hermione and David together. After not speaking to them for a day, Viktor had had a very unexpected reaction.
"Oh, and did I tell you Viktor had a girlfriend?" Hermione asked.
Ron choked.
There, I knew it, he thought. Now she's gonna admit that she lied to us all that time, and that she was indeed going out with him. What am I saying? She is STILL going out with him.
His cheeks turned the color of his hair, as his freckles disappeared in the bright red of his face.
"Yes, you told me!" Ginny added wickedly.
Traitor, she read in her brother's eyes.
Ron, you are so stupid, Ginny thought. It's not her she's talking about, since she was going out with David and not Viktor. But something tells me you wouldn't want me to announce this to you either.
"It's a girl from his school, right?"
"Well, not exactly... Her name is Lara. She's the daughter of Viktor's coach. She has been in love with him for years, but he never really paid attention to her. Until, one fine morning, I don't know what got into him." Yeah right I don't, Hermione thought. She continued, "He asked her out, and of course she agreed. But you see," she added pointedly, looking at Ron, "he didn't have to be my boyfriend to offer me flowers when he saw me after a long time."
"Well maybe if..." Ron blurted out furiously.
"Happy birthday to you," sang Arabella as she entered the room with a huge chocolate cake. "Happy birthday to you..."
Sirius, Remus and Charlie joined their deep voices to the song, and were immediately followed by Fred and George, as well as Hermione and Ginny's sopranos. Ron mumbled something about "bloody Krum offering flowers", but good-naturedly wished Harry a happy birthday. Harry wondered whether it was better to have Ron grumbling or singing, but he soon forgot about it: he was flushing happily and blushing as well, so he concentrated all his might on turning back to a natural color. The song finally ended, thus allowing Harry to regain his composure. Ginny took hold of the knife and began cutting the cake, a covetous glint in her charming eyes. Hermione handed out the plates while Arabella brought cups and juices. The cake was absolutely delicious.
After a few minutes of religious silence - chocolate is sacred - and the prompt disappearance of the cake, Harry opened his presents. He was extremely touched by what his friends had done for him, and had forgotten about his earlier bad mood. Once Harry had thanked everyone for the surprise party, cake, presents and presence, Sirius winked at Arabella. A swish of her wand brought a remote control to her hand. She manipulated it quickly, and suddenly the room was filled with music. Mrs. Figg smiled as she observed the blank look on all the Weasleys' faces.
"It's quite practical in the Muggle World, you know. They have some magic of their own," she explained.
"Bloody Hell, Dad would love that!" exclaimed Ron.
Sirius invited Arabella to dance, thinking of how she reminded him of his aunt, and she accepted with a smile. Harry was lost in a reverie, which was more of an excuse not to invite Ginny to dance than a true mind wandering. Ginny got Hermione to dance, though, and they were having lots of fun trying to imitate Muggle and wizard singers. Ron, Fred, George, and even Charlie -who tried to pretend he was staring somewhere else- observed Hermione quite insistently.
Harry only had eyes for Ginny, who really seemed not to care. In fact, neither girl cared and they enjoyed dancing so much. They were completely into the music. Who cared if the boys didn't have the nerve to come and invite them? Harry, Ron and the twins finally did join them, though. While Ginny and Hermione seemed perfectly comfortable, the boys found it so awkward to be so close to them -well, Harry and Ron at least- and so distant at the same time. It was as if they were in another world, lost in their thoughts.
Hermione's thoughts wandered back to Bulgaria. Last time I had so much fun was with David. We were dancing, and then he asked me out. That was absolutely wonderful, even though Viktor was staring furiously at us. It's just too bad Ron would never gather the courage to come up to me and do like David. If only I had met Ron during vacation or something, before we actually became friends. Maybe there would have been a chance of... But no, what am I thinking? Love? As if... Besides, it isn't a shared feeling or anything, quite obviously.
George's and Fred's thoughts were almost in sync, as so often. Hermione looks gorgeous. - Something has definitely happened to her this summer... - No wonder Ron likes her. - What would he do to me if I flirted with her, just for today?- And Fred's all over her too. - George, you should see yourself drooling over her! - Yeah, she's grown quite a bit. - I mean, look at her body. Merlin! - Bloody hell...
Harry's focus was on the other girl. She dances so well -compared to Padma at least... And that dress on her ... Damn! I don't remember how she looked before the summer, but if Quidditch did that to her body, I'll have to glorify whoever invented that sport. Why am I so obsessed with her body anyhow? I mean, it's not ONLY about her body. Oh bloody hell, I'm so caught up with her. But what about Cho? I still love her, don't I? Love? Yeah, I think so. Logically, that means I can't love Ginny. Okay, I sound like Hermione now, with all the mathematical reasoning. Concentrate on dancing properly, you moron. I probably look like I've got a broom stuck somewhere in my body.
Ron shared his brothers' subject of attention, while not their thoughts. Why is she laughing like that? She's probably thinking about stupid Krum. Argh ... I should have noticed before him how great Hermione is. No ... Well, I mean, not that I didn't but I should have told her FIRST. Now it's just too late for me. Great job, Ron. You blew it! Merlin, sometimes I just hate myself.
Ginny's thoughts were purely joy. Yeah! I love this! Wow, I wish mom would let me have one of those stereos. Herm should have told me about these Muggle singers, they are so great! I hope we get to study Muggle Music in Muggle Studies Class soon! Maybe I should invite Harry to dance; after all, it's his birthday, and yet he seems so ... nervous. Nah, he'll just think I'm guffawing over him ... Who knows, maybe I am!
Charlie thought, Harry ... You can keep an eye on my sister, but keep your hands off.
Sirius' thoughts drew parallels to a somber past. Well, well, well ... I believe we will have a new couple soon. Or two perhaps. But they look so much like James and Lily, it's amazing. I hope destiny has a better future in store for them than it had for me.
Arabella laughed silently as she switched the music to a languorous slow. Charlie, who was looking strangely at Harry dancing with Ginny, gave her a somewhat evil look that took her some time to figure out. She walked toward him, as if to go fetch something in the kitchen, but she murmured in his ear,"You're not her mother, you know. Besides, it's nothing serious, at their age. Don't worry, Harry won't take her away from you. Yet." She winked at the dragon keeper, who blushed, ashamed to be revealed so easily. But Arabella had already disappeared in the kitchen.
***
Life resumed its slow and monotonous pace at Privet Drive. Harry continued to work around the Dursley household for a ridiculously small pay, which somehow still managed to make him content and proud of his own labor. He was a bit behind schedule, since he was supposed to be planting flowers -according to his aunt's orders- but she had not properly evaluated the amount of work necessary to be rid of all those annoying, unwanted plants.
As he pulled the weeds that stubbornly resumed their invasion of the garden day after day after day, he often found himself wistfully thinking back to his birthday party. How wonderful it had been to see all his friends, his friends who hadn't forgotten about him, but who had been sneaking around to surprise him! How wonderful it had been to see Ginny... Harry remembered getting up the nerve to ask her dance again for the last dance; and as the soft, warm voice of Celestina Warbeck enveloped the dancing couple, Harry got lost in Ginny's soft, warm chocolate eyes.
"Ouch! Ssstupid humansss!"
Harry snapped out of his reverie at the sound of a high-pitched succession of insults. He looked down at his hands, and saw that he had been so deep in his daydream that he hadn't been pulling a weed. He was actually holding a long, green, leaf-like snake, which writhed violently between his fingers.
He dropped the serpent in surprise. It started slithering away, almost perfectly blending with the grass like a chameleon. Harry could still detect it though, as the moving of the grass and the rude comments about humans left a clear trace of the snake's position. He only caught bits of it:
"Ssstupid.... Carelesss.... No consssideration whatsssoever."
"Listen, I'm sorry if I hurt you but I seriously thought I was pulling a weed!" Harry whispered frantically to the snake -he didn't want the neighbors to hear him hissing!
Perhaps that wasn't the best way to go. "I thought you were a weed." Damn stupid of me. Now it's going to be hurt and offended. And it's furious enough as it is.
"Umm I mean, I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing and..."
He stopped as he saw the snake in question -or at least he thought it was the same one. Why is it that garden snakes all look alike?- at his feet, hanging on to his every words. How many snakes can there be in the garden, anyway? Chances are this is the right one.
"You can underssstand what I'm sssaying," it stated quite simply. "And talk to me in my language," it added as an afterthought.
"Ah yes, well, I'm a Parselmouth... so basically I can do that," Harry finished lamely.
"I have heard of a boa conssstrictor who talked to a boy one day, and wasss ssset free from the zzzoo."
"Ah yesss- er, I mean yes- that was me. He told me that he had never been to Brazil, but I-"
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? I'm NOT paying you to talk to a snake! Now get back to work!" Vernon roared from the kitchen window.
He quickly resumed reading the Sunday paper, but stopped suddenly when he realized what he had just seen. He stared into space, blinked hard a few times, as though making sure his eyes were working correctly, but then he remembered that it was his ears that he needed to clean out for better hearing. He slowly turned back to the garden, his mouth agape, and murmured in a strangely squeaky voice, "To talk with a... with a... with a snake?"
Harry, who had been watching his uncle with a mix of amusement and apprehension, felt his mouth curl up at the edges. He wondered if his uncle had perhaps breathed in a lot of helium, which of course made him want to laugh so hard that he thought he would burst a few internal organs from trying to prevent his erupting laughter.
Vernon Dursley did not like the glint of amusement he saw in his nephew's eyes. His face went from ghostly white to bright crimson in a matter of seconds, and during a fleeting moment Harry thought that he had performed accidental magic - surely his uncle's body couldn't bloat uncontrollably out of its own accord?
"DO NOT MOCK ME, BOY!" Vernon boomed. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS M- UTTER RUBBISH UNDER MY OWN ROOF?!?"
I'm not under your roof; I'm in the garden, you idiot.
"YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"
Harry looked around to try to say goodbye to the snake, but it seemed it had already fled. How I wish I could do the same right about now.
He rejoined his uncle as slowly as possible, knowing only too well that the punishment would be strong. Once Harry was back in the house, his Uncle Vernon looked somewhat calmer, as if he had placed Anti-Magic Locks all around his home and Harry could do him no harm there.
"I thought they had rules in this bloody school of yours against - doing what you people do- during the summer." Vernon said, squinting his eyes malevolently.
It was ridiculous what trouble the members of the Dursley household were ready to go through just to avoid saying the word "magic".
"Yes, but they can't detect this sort of m-"
"DON'T SAY IT!" Vernon shrieked, a very stricken look on his face. "You ungrateful little bastard! Maybe a few weeks in your old cupboard will humble you a bit, and make you realize how generous we've been to you all these years!"
Oh my, yes. Now that you mention it, I do want to get on my knees and thank you profusely for your old socks and the tissue you gave me for my birthday. Wait, that was last year...
"And while you're at it, maybe you can annihilate your abnormality!" his uncle added.
He grabbed Harry by the collar and gruffly dragged him to the cupboard. Harry knew that resistance was futile, but he didn't want to make his uncle's task too easy either. When they reached the door to Harry's tiny old dwelling, Vernon eyed him menacingly and said:
"Now you get in there, and STAY THERE! No more outdoor games for you, you- you... ruffian!"
He threw Harry in and locked the door- with three different locks, it seemed.
That might make it a tad more difficult for me to leave.
Harry winced at the pain in his arm, which he got from colliding against the wall, thanks to his uncle's surprisingly powerful shove. It seemed that his cupboard had shrunk considerably. Or perhaps he had grown. As he tried to get into a relatively comfortable position- as comfortable as he could get in here, which was not saying much- his thoughts drifted from Ginny, to the snake, to Ginny, to gardening.
I guess this is not going to be a paid holiday.
***
Harry was staring at the ceiling of the cupboard. A beam of light emanating from a small light bulb outlined a heavy ray of dust and Harry coughed softly.Great, he was back to the starting point, back to the cupboard that was now too small for him. He couldn't even extend his legs fully, let alone stand up.
Stupid snake, stupid conversation, stupid conversation with the snake. It wasn't even worth the punishment I got.
His trunk was resting in the opposite corner of the cupboard and was full of his Hogwarts possessions. Harry figured that this was the only bright side to his condition. Not that books were his favorite companions, but at least they reminded him of Hogwarts. Just then Harry's niche shook violently as though victim of a powerful earthquake. Tiny spiders fell out of their cracks. Dust flew everywhere, and the light bulb, Harry's only source of light, blinked. After a few seconds of fluttering agony, it died. Harry was frantically gasping for air when the shaking stopped and he heard Dudley wailing, "MOMMY! I'm stuck again! Come help me!" The pounding started again, this time less violently.
Of course... Harry's fat cousin was -once again- stuck in the stairs and desperately trying to extort himself from the grip the walls claimed over his huge body. Harry threw his head back in a fit of laughter and hit it against the very low ceiling of his cupboard. He could just imagine Dudley's evil piggy eyes and his wobbling chins in a frozen expression of distress. It was hilarious. Harry laughed until tears sprang from his eyes and leaked on his face. It was covered with the dust that had fallen from the ceiling, and the salty water left marks in the gray filth. Harry was still chuckling silently when light from the bulb filled the closet sized room again, revealing the damage created by the enlarged pig's frantic shaking. The spiders were slowly scuttling back to their original positions as all the dust trapped in the creases of the wood covered the entire cupboard with a gray veil.
As Harry wiped the dust off his face, he thought he saw something shining in a corner. He brought his face closer to the glinting object, even though four years at Hogwarts had taught him never to bring your face close to an unknown object, and kneeled to take a closer look. He could distinguish the shiny metallic object hidden in one of the wood cracks. Intrigued, he examined the surface. It looked like a key. He furiously tried to pry the wooden board apart, hoping that this flimsy piece of metal would lead to something worth the trouble. Harry's perseverance got the better of the task and he found himself clutching the cool metal of a bronze key. He tried to make out the inscriptions engraved when the door swung open. Uncle Vernon's ugly head poked into the room. Harry hadn't even heard the Vernon unlock the door.
" I need you to ... What are you holding?"
Uncle Vernon grabbed the key from Harry's hands and examined it. He then let out a roar of laughter. " I was looking all over for this. Oh Petunia!" he called out. " I found the second key to the cupboard!"
With that he started chuckling again, forgetting what exactly he needed Harry for. Vernon slammed the cupboard shut once more and left.
Bloody Hell! Harry thought. That was stupid! I should have known better. He punched his pillow fiercely, lashing out all his anger on the poor headrest. The fury he knew to be locked up inside him was somewhat unleashed as he kept hitting his bed. However, he understood that should he grow too irate, he might lose control of that fury and then terrible things might happen. He sighed at the thought that his last way out of Privet Drive had vanished into the porky, greasy hands of Uncle Vernon.
***
A starry, twinkling night enveloped Privet Drive. Harry could hear the Dursleys' snores as clearly as though they shared the same room. Thank God we don't share the same room... A small hoot from outside caught Harry's attention.
The owl clucked disapprovingly, much like Molly Weasley would when confronted with yet another of the twins' jokes. Harry's legs were starting to cramp up and he wanted more than anything to be outside, perhaps even on his Firebolt, splitting the airs of the night. The Dursleys had absolutely no right to lock him in this rotten cupboard for the rest of his life- it had already been at least two weeks! He felt anger surge and spread throughout his body once more. If only he had kept that bloody key. He watched the lock and focused all his will on that stupid obstacle that stood between him and the Wizarding World.
The door swung open violently, nearly jumping out of its hinges.
Wow! That was amazing.
He would definitely have to focus on his weird abilities later. Right now though, there were other things to be done and very little time to accomplish them. Harry knew what his plans were going to be tonight. He snatched the Invisibility Cloak from his trunk back in the cupboard before heading towards the kitchen. Harry gobbled up all the food that would fit in his stomach, knowing very well that he wouldn't have a decent meal for the next few days. Once he was full, he decided he would write to Ginny, Ron, and Hermione so that they wouldn't worry about him not answering their letters. Harry quickly summarized the Parseltongue incident and the punishment he had received for it when another one of Hedwig's incessant hoots caught his attention.
In his feverish rush he hadn't noticed that Hedwig had sneaked in by the open kitchen window to deliver her mail. He detached the letter carefully. Oddly enough, Hedwig was carrying a letter bearing the Hogwarts seal. It was from Dumbledore.
Dear Harry. My operatives have informed me that it is as we feared: Voldemort is gaining power. Although the Ministry of Magic refuses to publicly acknowledge the grave crisis in which we stand, the majority of the wizarding world has come to terms with the fact that the recent series of attacks signed by the Dark Mark are not the product of haphazard terrorists. Therefore, I must stress upon you once more that you will find no safer protection than Privet Drive. You will stay there until you return to Hogwarts. Please do not lose sleep over Voldemort's return; and do not try to get involved in any way. You shall remain under your Aunt and Uncle's care until August 31st, when the Grangers will come pick you up, as well as your belongings. They have told me that they would be delighted to take you and Hermione shopping for your school supplies. You shall spend the night at the Leaky Cauldron. I have already reserved room 3 for you and installed the necessary protections wards for your safety. I do not wish to startle you but these measures are, I am afraid, unavoidable. Yours sincerely, Albus Dumbledore
Harry sighed. How was it that Dumbledore always knew what went through his mind? Technically he wasn't planning to run away tonight, just getting ready for the very near future. He might as well do something about the snoring coming from Dudley's bedroom now that he was up and about - not to mention, invisible.
A sly grin swept across his face as he made his way up the stairs, automatically jumping the step that creaked. If he was going to spend every day locked in his cupboard hearing Dudley's insufferable shrieks, he might as well start making the big oaf afraid of "The Great Harry Potter"...
He made sure that the Invisibility Cloak covered the totality of his body and snuck into Dudley's bedroom. There he was, sucking on his fat thumb like an oversized cherub. Harry felt sharp pangs of jealousy as he observed the peaceful look on his cousin's face. Dudley had no dreams to torment his rest, no visions of his dead parents, no Dark Evil Overlord out to get his blood. How very lucky this serene sleeping teenager was. Even though Harry had come here to taunt his cousin, and eventually make him pay for all those times he had pushed scrawny, bespectacled Harry down the staircase, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. It would have been morally wrong and he knew it. Instead, Harry found himself closing the door softly and going down the stairs. Luckily for Dudley, Harry wasn't in Gryffindor for nothing.
As he reached the landing, Harry found himself inexplicably drawn towards the garden. A cool breeze played with his hair upon his arrival in the garden. It wasn't even remotely annoying, but smooth and soft and distinctive of summer nights. What a relief it was for Harry to be able to breathe in some fresh air, after staying cooped up in his cupboard for- how long has it been? Harry calculated quickly. Only 14 days? It seemed like a lot more.
The grass gently tickled his bare feet and he enjoyed simply being outside, staring in fascination at the twinkling stars and the bright, round moon. His eyes moved down to the flowerbeds. The once-beautiful flowers were now unkempt, and intertwined with numerous weeds that were threatening to overtake them at a moment's notice. In fact, one of the weeds, which seemed longer and shinier than the rest, was moving right now, crushing the petunias as it went along.
Hold up... Weeds don't move.
He squinted hard, all senses sharp and alert. The shape approached him at an alarming speed, and Harry's mind became foggy with weariness and crazy ideas about Ashwinders coming to set his house on fire.
Wait a second. Ashwinders are serpents. I know who this is!
"We meet again. Sssorry about that other time. I did not mean to leave in sssuch a hurry, but you seemed to be- otherwise occupied."
A turmoil of ridiculous thoughts rolled through Harry's confused and tired brain. The snake hardly seemed to mind that Harry had yet to respond to him. It was waiting patiently. In fact, it did not seem to be moving at all.
That's pretty creepy.
Just as this occurred to Harry, the snake started having wild convulsions, and it was rolling about as if it was being electrocuted.
The serpent is having a fit! It's epileptic! I have to call the ambulance!
And tell them what, that your snake is shaking?
He didn't even have to do that, because all of a sudden, the serpent stopped trembling. It was unusually bright, its color turning from bright green to pearl white. It was surrounded by a halo of light, as if glowing from within. Only it wasn't. The moon had, for some unfathomable reason -for Harry, that is- focused all its lighting power on that small snake. In fact, Harry could not take his eyes away from the iridescent animal. He felt completely mesmerized by this amazing display of -there was no other word for it- magic. He was but dimly aware of his surroundings, and they became more and more blurry as he unknowingly focused all his attention on the serpent.
Harry was feeling increasingly uncomfortable, yet fascinated, in front of this ensemble of particularly strange conditions. Before he could move an inch, however, the small snake started hissing in a very mechanical and metallic voice, "An old dream and new friend shall merge as one She from the land of the Prophecy Will unite with an enemy's son Your quest for knowledge shall make you see That earth, wind, fire and water Will be linked for the better."
Before Harry could completely process what was going on, it all stopped. The moon shone normally once again, the snake had disappeared and there was no sign of it anywhere. Perhaps he had dreamed it all.
But it seemed so real...
He decided to get back to his bed and let peaceful slumber be his counselor. Heading back to his cupboard, he passed in front of the kitchen clock, which indicated 12:02.
If it did happen, the prophecy -was it even a prophecy?- was probably issued at exactly midnight.
That's something to think about... Maybe I should ask Hermione. She'll know, were his last thoughts before he dropped off from exhaustion.
"There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved."
Charles Morgan
Harry watched Hedwig as she flew away, carrying the last letter from the fourteen-year-old boy he still was. But only for two more hours, because at midnight the first day would start on which he counted fifteen! He went to lie on the bed, expecting a sleepless night as always before his birthday. Yet as he tried to think of what would happen the next day, of the letters and presents he would receive, his mind drifted off to Ginny. He just couldn't stop thinking about her. He imagined her, sleeping in her bedroom, her soft, creamy face resting on a pillow; the moonlight forming a silver veil on her round arms and copper freckles; her hair of auburn gold spreading on the white of her sheets; her adorable nose and... Harry felt his thoughts quieting, as a wave of appeasement lulled him into sleep.
***
A tiny square of light coming from the window played on the now fifteen- year-old boy's face. He turned around to evade it, but then, as if this bit of English morning sunlight was burning his neck, he jumped out of bed and hurriedly dressed up.
Today was his birthday. He was extremely excited, although he knew nothing special was going to happen -especially coming from the Dursleys. He really wanted the letters to arrive, so he was a bit disappointed when he noticed that Hedwig hadn't flown in yet and that neither owls nor birthday cards were in sight.
Harry sighed, hoping there was some explanation to this delay -perhaps the Death Eaters had hijacked owls in order to make him feel neglected... Probably not, he thought, silently laughing: who would go to such trouble just to annoy him? He preferred not to think of the answer and headed downstairs.
As usual, his arrival in the kitchen went unnoticed by his relatives who were engulfing their breakfast. He cooked himself something to eat, glad that the Dursleys had abandoned the idea of making him cook their breakfast when they had learned Sirius Black was friends with their beloved nephew. I hope Padfoot is all right, Harry thought while staring stupidly at the white of his frying eggs. They were as white as his godfather's face when he had first met him... Wow, that's a charming comparison, Harry couldn't help but notice. Still, thinking of his godfather always made him feel happier.
He finally sat down and began eating silently. Uncle Vernon's gluttonous grunts were barely equaled by the chewing noise coming from Dudley, and even Aunt Petunia's face showed a hint of disgust. This was the usual breakfast for Harry, so he found it absolutely normal and justified to be in a hurry, as he was eager to leave the table. Suddenly, Vernon put the newspaper down -nearly knocking his wife's glass of orange juice- and, putting his greasy hands under his triple chin, he addressed Harry in an almost nice tone, something he thought was absolutely impossible. He immediately thought of it as a present, and did so even more after he heard what Uncle Vernon had to say.
"Harry, your aunt, cousin and I have some very important business to attend to."
And, how would that affect me?
"Since we can't leave you here by yourself..."
What, you're afraid I'm going to run away with the furniture?
"...we decided we had to find another solution."
Brilliant deduction...
"So, we will drop you off at Mrs. Figg's house on our way to London, and you will stay there until we come to pick you up."
No kidding?
Although Harry had never adored Mrs. Figg, he was so glad to be out of his miserable den and at least a mile away from his adoptive family during his birthday that he nearly jumped out of his seat to do cartwheels all over the house.
Oh wait, I don't know how to do cartwheels, he remembered. However, since he knew thanking his Aunt and Uncle was useless, he tried to seem interested. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"I, um..." Uncle Vernon stared blankly at his wife, but she seemed as dumbfounded as he was.
I guess it runs in the family, Harry thought, as he noticed Dudley's open mouth and stupid eyes.
"Well, er- we are going... That's none of your business, nope, it is none of your business, boy!" Vernon finally roared in a mounting crescendo.
"Oh, Okay. Well, I hope you enjoy it," Harry added, trying to be convincing in his caring attitude.
He couldn't care less about what they were going to do, as long as they would leave him alone; and he knew his aunt and uncle weren't fooled either. Besides, why would he try to be nice to them when they had spent their lives making his own as painful and miserable as possible? It wasn't like he actually had asked to go and live with them anyway... Never mind, it's your birthday, Harry reminded himself. Speaking of birthday... He quickly put his plate in the dishwasher, waved goodbye to Dudley, who sent him a grimace of incomprehension in response, and ran to his room.
"DON'T RUN IN THE H..."
The words were cut off by the violent slam of the door. Harry emerged into his tiny, messy, but mostly, empty bedroom - empty of any indication of his birthday, that was. There were absolutely no letters whatsoever, nothing that could have indicated that today was his birthday. Shit, he thought. They can't have forgotten... Not Ginny, not Sirius, not Hagrid! He understood that Hermione and Ron might be too caught up in their love affair, but forgetting his birthday? All of them? Harry didn't have a clue what was happening. This just didn't make any sense. He began straying in the bedroom as if he were lost, bumping into the piles of his books and Dudley's old toys -computers, cars, play stations and TV's. He sent a Super Nintendo flying with a powerful kick. Too powerful.
How did I do that? Surely my legs can't be that strong. My foot doesn't even hurt!
By the time Uncle Vernon came to fetch him, Harry was still walking back and forth in the bedroom, tripping at nearly every step he took. He grabbed his jacket, just in case Mrs. Figg might want him to stay outside of the house as long as possible... He doubted this, but he liked having something to protect him from that horrible feline smell -even if it didn't act as such a powerful screen, the charm he had put on the coat supposedly repelled animals. Yeah right, he had thought as he cast the spell. But then again, it doesn't cost anything to try.
The car ride was silent. The Dursleys actually took the car to drop Harry off a few yards down the street, probably because they didn't want to let him go by himself but didn't feel like meeting Mrs. Figg either. Harry shot murderous glances toward the car that abandoned him in front of the neighbor's door. He was in a horrible mood: no letters whatsoever had arrived, no presents, no sign of them, no nothing! He could have killed someone. Well, probably not, but he enjoyed telling himself he was in the mood to do so.
Harry stood in the middle of the road, feeding on his own anger, and he felt the rage flowing in his blood, beating against his temple, rushing at the tips of his fingers, screaming to get out... A low and grave noise came up from under the cement, like the hungry stomach of an ogre. Suddenly, the ground began to shake slightly. In a soft, strangely silent motion, a fissure opened in the road and spread from one end to another.
Harry blinked, then ran to Mrs. Figg's door: he certainly didn't want to be caught right over a gigantic crack in the middle of the street, did he? He knocked violently, quite shocked by what he had just done, and still enraged. Maybe he should have continued splitting the Earth, because it felt so good to rip something apart and feel like you were one with the earth. Okay, now I'm talking to myself. He had been a lot, lately, and realized this when Mrs. Figg opened the door.
She peered at Harry from behind her thin, rectangular glasses. Her small, gray eyes scrutinized Harry, or something else perhaps -Harry couldn't decide- as the old woman's eyes were partly hidden by her white hair, which, frankly, was a mess. You can barely tell if it was her cats' hair or her own, Harry thought evil-mindedly.
She seemed to sense his angry disposition, so she simply said, "Sit down on the couch, Nora's birthday cake is burning..."
That said, she left him alone. Nora was a Persian cat with a green eye and a blue one. Splendid, Harry thought, I'm born on the same day as her ugly monster. He shooed three hairy kittens that had been sitting on the couch and sat there, trying to get rid of the pestilence of cat food. Hordes of felines came purring against his legs, and some even dared to try and sit on him. Harry nearly kicked one of them, and was glaring at the animals when he noticed a black dog, peacefully standing amongst them. She has a passion for dogs now? Just my luck!
But then it crossed his mind. Black dog? Black dog?!? What did Sirius think he was doing? Harry jumped from the couch and hurried toward the dog, who trotted away happily. Harry followed him, wondering what this meant. He emerged in the kitchen, gasping, and nearly tripped on the threshold when he saw who was waiting for him inside.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!"
As he had guessed, Sirius was there. He was clean-shaven, save for a thin mustache and a line of beard, and his hair was held back in a ponytail. He seemed to be in pretty good health and great mood. Indeed, he gave Harry a dashing white smile that contrasted with the caramel tone of his skin -he had obviously been to a sunny place for hiding. Next to him stood Remus, his robes as shabby as ever and his brown eyes twinkling. He seemed to have aged since the last time Harry saw him, and it had nothing to do with his salt-and-pepper hair. Something in Remus' eyes made him look tired and anxious, but Harry just couldn't figure out what it was. I'll ask him later, he promised himself.
And last, but not least since he outgrew the two men by three or four inches, stood Ron. He beamed at Harry, who was incredibly happy to see his bright orange haired friend after such a long time. Such a pang of color nearly blinded Harry, who couldn't believe his eyes anyhow: they hadn't forgotten! They were there for him! It came as a complete surprise to him, after he had thought for so long that they had abandoned him. You idiot, he murmured to himself, for doubting their friendship.
"You idiot," he repeated louder to Ron, who patted him on the back, still laughing at his friend's dumbfounded face.
Behind them, a pan in her hand, stood Mrs. Figg. Only she didn't look like an old hag anymore; rather she resembled some sort of aristocrat, a refined lady. Her hair was now very neatly arranged in a bun, from which emerged a cascade of white hair, pouring on her shoulders. Her gray, sparkling eyes seemed thoughtful, but the smile she bore on her pale face indicated she was touched by this reunion. She stepped toward Harry, and explained everything, answering the questions he was about to formulate.
"Harry, I was James' godmother. When your parents were killed, I wasn't allowed to take you with me, as that would have made us a much too obvious target for Voldemort. However, I managed to get permission from higher authorities to keep a close watch on you. I am truly sorry I imposed such a terrifying and cat-full regime on you, but it was in order to make sure you would not attach yourself to me and eventually find out about me being a witch. And so I had to watch you grow up from afar. But you reminded me so much of your father that sometimes it was very painful to keep this from you."
She had a low, soothing voice, that calmed Harry's mind as he thought of objections to raise. It was hard to believe that she had kept all this hidden from him: his father's godmother! What was it that made her house less safe than that of the Dursleys? At least she was a witch! Harry could hardly understand, even after Mrs. Figg's explanation. But of course, if Dumbledore (Harry was pretty sure the "higher authorities" was Dumbledore) had decided that Harry would stay with his aunt, he must have had a good reason. Besides, there was nothing Harry could do about it now. All the anger he had felt before vanished, at least for the time being. He smiled, and as a childish glee replaced his past anger, he felt as though he wouldn't be able to stop smiling if he tried. Ron took over the explanation excitedly.
"The birthday surprise was her idea. She was tired of lying to you, you know? So she contacted all of us, asking us not to send you letters or give you your presents, and to come today to her house. So we came and she put a spell on your uncle, aunt and cousin to make them go away and leave you here with her. And then you came up and you were looking furious, but you should have seen your face when you saw us! It was hilarious!"
Ron began laughing again. Remus and Sirius laughed as well, so Mrs. Figg gently shooed them away from the kitchen.
"Although it's not Nora's birthday, I still have a cake to bake," she explained with a cheeky wink.
Sirius led them through another door in the kitchen that Harry had never seen and they entered a room entirely decorated for the occasion. All four men sat down and began talking excitedly, glad to be reunited.
***
Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Ron tried to restrain himself from jumping from the sofa and running throughout the house, but he gave up trying to hide his excitement and succumbed to his impulse. Harry arrived in the living room right after Ron, just as he opened the door. The sunlight entered the room in a bright flash and Hermione appeared like an angel. Her tanned face glowed with delight at the sight of her two friends. She gave them both a warm, perfectly white smile and threw herself in Ron's arms.
I guess they're not angry at each other any more, Harry thought with a knowing smile.
He just stood there, happy for his friends, as she began telling him how delighted she was to see them
...or rather, him.
She wore a white dress, whose uneven cut created a diagonal on her tanned, perfect legs. The smooth hazelnut brown of her eyes was filled with tears - Aren't we getting a little carried away, wondered Harry- and her sun-kissed curls were completely wild, especially in Ron's face.
After a few very touching and passionate moments in Ron's arms, Hermione hugged Harry. "Happy birthday!" she murmured in his ear, in a soft, smooth voice. He laughed and kissed her on the cheeks, as Ron became red and hit himself mentally-why hadn't he thought of that? Hermione finally greeted Remus and Sirius and went in the kitchen to see if Mrs. Figg needed help. She came back a few minutes later and went to sit with her friends.
"I always forget how magic can simplify everything," Hermione said. "She told me she'd be there in a second; apparently her cookbook was having some problems determining the proportions for so many people!"
"So many people? Who else is coming?" Harry asked.
"Aha, that's a surprise," Ron commented in a mysterious tone. "In fact, it's more a matter of quality than quantity..."
"I, for one, See quite a bunch of red flames. Since the Sun is in the third house and the Lover in the fifth, I predict that there will soon be a large group of auburn-haired people coming in. Probably some Weasleys, unless Saturn encounters Jupiter, which is quite unlikely," Hermione added in a very nebulous, Professor Trelawney-like voice.
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed as she and Ron roared with laughter.
It was good to be reunited again.
***
Harry felt extremely happy they were here. But somehow, seeing Ron and Hermione together (and judging by their faces, he guessed that an argument would arouse pretty soon), he felt like he was missing something or rather, someone. Remus and Sirius observed silently and nodded to one another: they knew this look, they had seen it so many times on James' face when Lily was nowhere to be seen. Harry's father wondered who the young woman was and he hoped they had invited her. Since there was only one additional girl invited, he wondered what the chances were that it would be her. However, as he was trying to figure out whom his godson could be waiting for, a green flame lit up in the chimney and the rest of the Weasley family began appearing.
Fred and George emerged laughing, which wasn't very surprising. They immediately wished Harry a happy birthday, even proposing him some sweets, which he wisely refused. Then they went to say hello to Sirius, Remus and Hermione. When they saw her, they stopped laughing: their eyes grew as wide as Ron's had, and they were utterly speechless -which, for the twins, was a first.
George tried a "Hi, Hermione", but Fred mouthed their thoughts: "Bloody Hell, Hermione, you're gorgeous!"
Apparently, the Weasley definition of gorgeous took smaller notice of the bushy hair than it did of the ample cleavage. Ron shot his brothers an evil and jealous glare, but Hermione kissed them both, laughing, a bright pink from the compliment. George spotted Sirius and he involuntarily stepped back, his face whitening from apprehension. Immediately, though, he managed to get a hold of himself. Fred observed as his twin went to shake hands with Sirius.
"Mum explained everything about you, Mister Black. It seems that Dad knew already -Dumbledore told him you were one of his operatives. I'm happy to learn that you are innocent." He then added, looking very business like, "Yes, I am indeed delighted."
Fred let out a cough that sounded oddly like, "Percy Junior."
"Call me Sirius. You make it sound like I'm your grandfather, or older yet, Moody. Pleased to meet you as well, Fred. Or is it George? I'll just settle for Weasley. "
"Mister Sirius Black, pleased to meet you. Absolutely marvellous. I am positively thrilled," said Fred as he enthusiastically shook hands with Harry's godfather. "Oh, and Harry, I am really sorry that Mum and Dad won't come: Dad has a seminar and he asked Mum to accompany him. Bill is still in Egypt. He's had a lot of work lately as well- sometimes, he works so much, I'm surprised he actually works for a bank."
"Yes, well, you would be surprised to see what your brother does," Sirius said. "Quite surprised indeed," he added somewhat mysteriously, but he did not bother to explain. Fred and George, understanding he was not about to enlighten them, went to have a seat on the sofa facing Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Five minutes later, Charlie Apparated in the room. His mouth curled into a mischievous smile and he explained the reason for his delay, "Fred and George put a spell on Percy's suitcase. When he tried to pick it up, the leather immediately transferred itself to his skin and he became a leather statue. Thank Merlin Ginny had the sense of looking in the twins' stuff to find the antidote. She's coming up right after me, just making sure Percy's all right," he said, giving the twins a scolding glance.
The twins could barely hold themselves up. "It worked!" they hiccuped between each wave of laughter.
Even Charlie couldn't pretend for much longer that this didn't amuse him. He said "Happy birthday!" to Harry. Grinning, he winked at Hermione, adding an appreciative glance that enraged Ron, and finally went to talk to Sirius and Remus, leaving Harry standing in front of the chimney. Hermione, Ron, Fred and George were too absorbed in their conversation to notice -the boys being even more absorbed by Hermione than by their chat-, but Sirius noticed Harry was waiting expectantly. He said something to Charlie, who, in turn revealed some quite amusing secret to Remus and Sirius, and all three laughed. Their mirth seemed exaggerated, but definitely liberating; it had something almost sickening to it, as if they were laughing to forget the horrors they had seen or would go through. Soon enough though, they got back to the serious business their laughs were trying to free them from. Their faces darkened as they adopted a lower tone, eyes burning with a mysterious glint.
Harry faced the chimney, staring blankly at the red bricks. He didn't feel like moving and his legs wouldn't have anyway. He didn't hear nor see Remus, Sirius or Charlie behind him, or he would have been alarmed by their state of restlessness. He didn't pay attention to hsi friends on the couch. No, his mind was elsewhere...
Merlin, I'm so stupid! I'm paralyzed at the idea of seeing Ginny again... Wow, what has happened to me?
He chuckled, but his laugh got stuck in his throat when green flames began swirling in the hearth. As Harry tried desperately to hide that he was choking, Ginny emerged from the fireplace. She slightly stumbled, her hand covering her eyes to protect her from the smoke, and frowned slightly when she saw her brothers on the couch. Then she saw Harry. Her hand went down from her face as a radiant smile spread across her face. A perfect row of white pearls shone just for Harry, kindling a little fire in his heart.
Harry couldn't decide if her ecstatic grin was the only cause for his chest feeling like if it was about to explode. He couldn't take his eyes off her vermilion lips and the burning red flames of her hair. And her freckles were ravishing, looking like gold on her slender arms and next to that...
Did her brothers actually know what she was going to wear?
Harry thought her black dress made her look devilishly sexy. It gently cupped the curves of her body -Since when does Ginny actually have curves?- and promoted the superb color of her curls. The youngest Weasley threw herself in Harry's arms.
"Harry! Happy birthday!" she exclaimed, kissing him boldly on the cheek. Harry thought he was going to melt and he was absolutely conscious of his face turning red. "I missed you," she continued, nearly whispering this time.
Her eyes searched for Harry's, which were desperately trying to avoid her look. But he couldn't hold his gaze away from her any longer: he glanced into her deep eyes and drowned. They were of that deep, sensuous warm chocolate color, tinted with amber and gold, that made him feel like the world was sweet and cozy. This was quite a new feeling for Harry, who had spent four years saving Hogwarts and who knew that the world wasn't sweet and cozy.
How could I never have noticed that she has such beautiful eyes? Do something, do something! his mind commanded him.
"How are you?" he managed to ask in a surprisingly stable voice. "I am so happy to see you here. It's really a great surprise!"
That was really brilliant. Do something ELSE!
Grasping his courage as firmly as possible, Harry put his arm around Ginny's waist, pulling her gently toward the couch where Ron was desperately trying to keep the twins off Hermione.
She's wearing a bare-backed dress. Keep your hands off... But her skin is so soft to touch...
Wow! STOP!
Harry managed to calm his mind when he noticed that Ginny wasn't making a big deal at all about his arm being around her waist. Besides, Charlie seemed to have noticed that his little sister had arrived and was keeping a close watch on both of them. But as all good moments must come to an end, Ginny focused her attention back to Fred and George. The twins rose to greet her, a curious smile playing on Fred's lips. She literally jumped on them like a mother tiger protecting her baby (in this case, Percy). Harry stood there, dazed, as she began hollering at her brothers who listened to her attentively in order to know how well their trick had worked.
Harry, Hermione and Ron watched the twins being yelled at by their smaller sister. Ron took advantage of his brothers' absence to sit next to Hermione on the couch, as Fred had squeezed himself between his brother and Hermione when he had arrived. Finally, Ginny stopped screaming and sat down between Harry and Hermione, noticing the furious glance Ron shot her when she tried sitting on the opposite side of Hermione. The red haired girl, looking around her, gave a delicious smile to the trio and, after nonchalantly adjusting a strand of her copper hair, she asked Hermione in a quite innocent-sounding tone, "So, Hermione, how did your vacation in Bulgaria go?"
Ron went red and his fists clenched silently, but he managed to keep quiet.
Harry, though, had understood what Ginny was up to and decided to follow her lead. "Yeah, Hermione, what did you do? I mean, you weren't very precise in your letters, but it sounded wonderful."
Hermione had immediately figured out what they were doing as well and played along.
"Oh, it was wonderful! And Viktor was amazing! From the first day, when I arrived by plane, Viktor came to get me. He carried my suitcases through the entire airport -and let me tell you, he's not used to airports! - and even offered me a gorgeous bouquet of Bulgarian flowers. Ginny, you would have adored them, they were so colorful and fresh and..."
"What's a plane?" Ron interrupted brutally.
"And an airport?" Fred added with a sheepish smile.
Hermione gave Harry a desperate glance: how could she explain that to a bunch of people who were wizards through and through?
"Ask your dad, he'll know," Harry offered, not so sure whether Arthur Weasley would give them the appropriate explanation or not.
"That is, if we ever manage to see him," observed George.
"With what happened last year, the Ministry is very busy. I mean, the Wizarding World is torn between those who acknowledge You Know Who's return," Fred explained.
"And those who don't," concluded George. "Plus with recent ev-"
Ginny gave her brother a not so discrete kick, Hermione looked down and Ron clenched his jaw.
"What? What happened?" Harry demanded, feeling somewhat excluded.
"Well... There have been several mysterious attacks across Europe, especially in countries with the highest ratio of Wizards to Muggles."
"What she's saying," translated Ron, "is that people have died because of Dark Magic in Great Britain, France, Italy... and Bulgaria," he added with a furious look to Hermione. Harry was wondering why Ron made such a point of tracing things back to Bulgaria -not to mention, Viktor Krum- but Hermione's words made it clear for Harry.
"We were er... having dinner with friends of Viktor's"-at this Hermione blushed- "when there was an explosion in the bar right next door. His friends Apparated back to their respective houses, but I can't Apparate, so Viktor and David stayed with me." She looked around at them all. "David is Viktor's best friend," Hermione added.
Harry was surprised to see the beginning of a smile light her face and her cheeks turn pink. This didn't seem like a funny nor agreable moment, Harry thought. Hermione's eyes avoided Ron's glance, but he was too preoccupied by the Hermione-Viktor issue to understand that this blush wasn't about Viktor.
"David and I focused all our energy on summoning two brooms, a single and a couple one -I was of course to share with one of them, since you all know I cannot stay on one for more than five minutes."
"I could teach you," Fred proposed gallantly.
"So could I," said George. His younger brother's hateful look dissuaded him. "Er, maybe not. I'll leave that to Fred. Er, I mean, Ron..."
"Anyway," Ginny interrupted as Ron directed his glare toward his other brother, "what happened after?"
"We got the brooms, and I was about to mount behind Viktor when David asked me to come on his broom."
The ecstatic smile that suddenly lit up Hermione's face confirmed Ginny's suspicions.
So it's about David, is it... Ginny thought. No wonder she kept repeating, 'Viktor and I are only friends.' That also explains her flirty attitude with the boys: she knows how things work now! At least she figured out how to enrage Ron. Not that it's a difficult task or anything... Ginny laughed silently, trying to concentrate on what Hermione was saying. She noticed the dumbfounded looks on the boys' faces. Ron was mouthing, "She's gone off her rocker" to Harry, as they both wondered why she was laughing by herself. Hermione didn't seem to care.
"We left promptly, just in time to see the restaurant where we were eating blown to pieces by hooded figures." Hermione shuddered. "I don't think there was anyone left in the restaurant, but thirteen people were killed in the bar... How can the Ministry even pretend the attackers weren't Death Eaters? The Dark Mark certainly did fly over the burning ruins a few minutes afterwards."
Harry stared into Hermione's eyes, and he imagined the Mark floating above the destroyed houses. Deep in the hazelnut brown of her eyes, he saw the black of the night, the green Mark, the fiery red and oranges of the flames.
So Hermione is haunted by that vision, just like I am. And it is quite possible that what I saw happened as well. But then, if there were so many attacks this summer, why did I only witness this one? Not that I'm sad of not having seen more people being killed, but still, I wonder why...
"Yeah, well, I told you Bulgaria was dangerous," Ron grunted. "Why did 'Vicky'..."
"Viktor," Hermione corrected almost absentmindedly.
"Why did 'Viktor'" -Ron fluttered his eyes, supposedly imitating Hermione- "not let you return home after that happened? I mean, it's not like you were safe with him or anything..."
"But she obviously was with David," Ginny teased. "Safe with him, that is," she added with a smile.
Ginny had hit too close to home this time. Hermione widened her eyes -would Ginny tell her brothers?- but then realized she could use her affair with David to her advantage- needless to say, make Ron jealous. Hermione gave the red haired girl a huge smile.
So Gin understood, Hermione thought. Well, it's not surprising, After all, girls are so much more perceptive than boys. Although now, I'm going to have to answer all her questions about David. I suppose it won't be my little secret anymore...
Her grin widened at the thought of David. Of course, they had gotten together a few days after the attack. David really was adorable, and she didn't feel as pressured with him as she felt with Viktor. Not that he was mean to her or anything.
Quite the contrary, Hermione thought bitterly. He always wanted a hug, a good morning kiss even if it was three in the afternoon, offering her presents every single day. Viktor had been destroyed when he had seen Hermione and David together. After not speaking to them for a day, Viktor had had a very unexpected reaction.
"Oh, and did I tell you Viktor had a girlfriend?" Hermione asked.
Ron choked.
There, I knew it, he thought. Now she's gonna admit that she lied to us all that time, and that she was indeed going out with him. What am I saying? She is STILL going out with him.
His cheeks turned the color of his hair, as his freckles disappeared in the bright red of his face.
"Yes, you told me!" Ginny added wickedly.
Traitor, she read in her brother's eyes.
Ron, you are so stupid, Ginny thought. It's not her she's talking about, since she was going out with David and not Viktor. But something tells me you wouldn't want me to announce this to you either.
"It's a girl from his school, right?"
"Well, not exactly... Her name is Lara. She's the daughter of Viktor's coach. She has been in love with him for years, but he never really paid attention to her. Until, one fine morning, I don't know what got into him." Yeah right I don't, Hermione thought. She continued, "He asked her out, and of course she agreed. But you see," she added pointedly, looking at Ron, "he didn't have to be my boyfriend to offer me flowers when he saw me after a long time."
"Well maybe if..." Ron blurted out furiously.
"Happy birthday to you," sang Arabella as she entered the room with a huge chocolate cake. "Happy birthday to you..."
Sirius, Remus and Charlie joined their deep voices to the song, and were immediately followed by Fred and George, as well as Hermione and Ginny's sopranos. Ron mumbled something about "bloody Krum offering flowers", but good-naturedly wished Harry a happy birthday. Harry wondered whether it was better to have Ron grumbling or singing, but he soon forgot about it: he was flushing happily and blushing as well, so he concentrated all his might on turning back to a natural color. The song finally ended, thus allowing Harry to regain his composure. Ginny took hold of the knife and began cutting the cake, a covetous glint in her charming eyes. Hermione handed out the plates while Arabella brought cups and juices. The cake was absolutely delicious.
After a few minutes of religious silence - chocolate is sacred - and the prompt disappearance of the cake, Harry opened his presents. He was extremely touched by what his friends had done for him, and had forgotten about his earlier bad mood. Once Harry had thanked everyone for the surprise party, cake, presents and presence, Sirius winked at Arabella. A swish of her wand brought a remote control to her hand. She manipulated it quickly, and suddenly the room was filled with music. Mrs. Figg smiled as she observed the blank look on all the Weasleys' faces.
"It's quite practical in the Muggle World, you know. They have some magic of their own," she explained.
"Bloody Hell, Dad would love that!" exclaimed Ron.
Sirius invited Arabella to dance, thinking of how she reminded him of his aunt, and she accepted with a smile. Harry was lost in a reverie, which was more of an excuse not to invite Ginny to dance than a true mind wandering. Ginny got Hermione to dance, though, and they were having lots of fun trying to imitate Muggle and wizard singers. Ron, Fred, George, and even Charlie -who tried to pretend he was staring somewhere else- observed Hermione quite insistently.
Harry only had eyes for Ginny, who really seemed not to care. In fact, neither girl cared and they enjoyed dancing so much. They were completely into the music. Who cared if the boys didn't have the nerve to come and invite them? Harry, Ron and the twins finally did join them, though. While Ginny and Hermione seemed perfectly comfortable, the boys found it so awkward to be so close to them -well, Harry and Ron at least- and so distant at the same time. It was as if they were in another world, lost in their thoughts.
Hermione's thoughts wandered back to Bulgaria. Last time I had so much fun was with David. We were dancing, and then he asked me out. That was absolutely wonderful, even though Viktor was staring furiously at us. It's just too bad Ron would never gather the courage to come up to me and do like David. If only I had met Ron during vacation or something, before we actually became friends. Maybe there would have been a chance of... But no, what am I thinking? Love? As if... Besides, it isn't a shared feeling or anything, quite obviously.
George's and Fred's thoughts were almost in sync, as so often. Hermione looks gorgeous. - Something has definitely happened to her this summer... - No wonder Ron likes her. - What would he do to me if I flirted with her, just for today?- And Fred's all over her too. - George, you should see yourself drooling over her! - Yeah, she's grown quite a bit. - I mean, look at her body. Merlin! - Bloody hell...
Harry's focus was on the other girl. She dances so well -compared to Padma at least... And that dress on her ... Damn! I don't remember how she looked before the summer, but if Quidditch did that to her body, I'll have to glorify whoever invented that sport. Why am I so obsessed with her body anyhow? I mean, it's not ONLY about her body. Oh bloody hell, I'm so caught up with her. But what about Cho? I still love her, don't I? Love? Yeah, I think so. Logically, that means I can't love Ginny. Okay, I sound like Hermione now, with all the mathematical reasoning. Concentrate on dancing properly, you moron. I probably look like I've got a broom stuck somewhere in my body.
Ron shared his brothers' subject of attention, while not their thoughts. Why is she laughing like that? She's probably thinking about stupid Krum. Argh ... I should have noticed before him how great Hermione is. No ... Well, I mean, not that I didn't but I should have told her FIRST. Now it's just too late for me. Great job, Ron. You blew it! Merlin, sometimes I just hate myself.
Ginny's thoughts were purely joy. Yeah! I love this! Wow, I wish mom would let me have one of those stereos. Herm should have told me about these Muggle singers, they are so great! I hope we get to study Muggle Music in Muggle Studies Class soon! Maybe I should invite Harry to dance; after all, it's his birthday, and yet he seems so ... nervous. Nah, he'll just think I'm guffawing over him ... Who knows, maybe I am!
Charlie thought, Harry ... You can keep an eye on my sister, but keep your hands off.
Sirius' thoughts drew parallels to a somber past. Well, well, well ... I believe we will have a new couple soon. Or two perhaps. But they look so much like James and Lily, it's amazing. I hope destiny has a better future in store for them than it had for me.
Arabella laughed silently as she switched the music to a languorous slow. Charlie, who was looking strangely at Harry dancing with Ginny, gave her a somewhat evil look that took her some time to figure out. She walked toward him, as if to go fetch something in the kitchen, but she murmured in his ear,"You're not her mother, you know. Besides, it's nothing serious, at their age. Don't worry, Harry won't take her away from you. Yet." She winked at the dragon keeper, who blushed, ashamed to be revealed so easily. But Arabella had already disappeared in the kitchen.
***
Life resumed its slow and monotonous pace at Privet Drive. Harry continued to work around the Dursley household for a ridiculously small pay, which somehow still managed to make him content and proud of his own labor. He was a bit behind schedule, since he was supposed to be planting flowers -according to his aunt's orders- but she had not properly evaluated the amount of work necessary to be rid of all those annoying, unwanted plants.
As he pulled the weeds that stubbornly resumed their invasion of the garden day after day after day, he often found himself wistfully thinking back to his birthday party. How wonderful it had been to see all his friends, his friends who hadn't forgotten about him, but who had been sneaking around to surprise him! How wonderful it had been to see Ginny... Harry remembered getting up the nerve to ask her dance again for the last dance; and as the soft, warm voice of Celestina Warbeck enveloped the dancing couple, Harry got lost in Ginny's soft, warm chocolate eyes.
"Ouch! Ssstupid humansss!"
Harry snapped out of his reverie at the sound of a high-pitched succession of insults. He looked down at his hands, and saw that he had been so deep in his daydream that he hadn't been pulling a weed. He was actually holding a long, green, leaf-like snake, which writhed violently between his fingers.
He dropped the serpent in surprise. It started slithering away, almost perfectly blending with the grass like a chameleon. Harry could still detect it though, as the moving of the grass and the rude comments about humans left a clear trace of the snake's position. He only caught bits of it:
"Ssstupid.... Carelesss.... No consssideration whatsssoever."
"Listen, I'm sorry if I hurt you but I seriously thought I was pulling a weed!" Harry whispered frantically to the snake -he didn't want the neighbors to hear him hissing!
Perhaps that wasn't the best way to go. "I thought you were a weed." Damn stupid of me. Now it's going to be hurt and offended. And it's furious enough as it is.
"Umm I mean, I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing and..."
He stopped as he saw the snake in question -or at least he thought it was the same one. Why is it that garden snakes all look alike?- at his feet, hanging on to his every words. How many snakes can there be in the garden, anyway? Chances are this is the right one.
"You can underssstand what I'm sssaying," it stated quite simply. "And talk to me in my language," it added as an afterthought.
"Ah yes, well, I'm a Parselmouth... so basically I can do that," Harry finished lamely.
"I have heard of a boa conssstrictor who talked to a boy one day, and wasss ssset free from the zzzoo."
"Ah yesss- er, I mean yes- that was me. He told me that he had never been to Brazil, but I-"
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? I'm NOT paying you to talk to a snake! Now get back to work!" Vernon roared from the kitchen window.
He quickly resumed reading the Sunday paper, but stopped suddenly when he realized what he had just seen. He stared into space, blinked hard a few times, as though making sure his eyes were working correctly, but then he remembered that it was his ears that he needed to clean out for better hearing. He slowly turned back to the garden, his mouth agape, and murmured in a strangely squeaky voice, "To talk with a... with a... with a snake?"
Harry, who had been watching his uncle with a mix of amusement and apprehension, felt his mouth curl up at the edges. He wondered if his uncle had perhaps breathed in a lot of helium, which of course made him want to laugh so hard that he thought he would burst a few internal organs from trying to prevent his erupting laughter.
Vernon Dursley did not like the glint of amusement he saw in his nephew's eyes. His face went from ghostly white to bright crimson in a matter of seconds, and during a fleeting moment Harry thought that he had performed accidental magic - surely his uncle's body couldn't bloat uncontrollably out of its own accord?
"DO NOT MOCK ME, BOY!" Vernon boomed. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS M- UTTER RUBBISH UNDER MY OWN ROOF?!?"
I'm not under your roof; I'm in the garden, you idiot.
"YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"
Harry looked around to try to say goodbye to the snake, but it seemed it had already fled. How I wish I could do the same right about now.
He rejoined his uncle as slowly as possible, knowing only too well that the punishment would be strong. Once Harry was back in the house, his Uncle Vernon looked somewhat calmer, as if he had placed Anti-Magic Locks all around his home and Harry could do him no harm there.
"I thought they had rules in this bloody school of yours against - doing what you people do- during the summer." Vernon said, squinting his eyes malevolently.
It was ridiculous what trouble the members of the Dursley household were ready to go through just to avoid saying the word "magic".
"Yes, but they can't detect this sort of m-"
"DON'T SAY IT!" Vernon shrieked, a very stricken look on his face. "You ungrateful little bastard! Maybe a few weeks in your old cupboard will humble you a bit, and make you realize how generous we've been to you all these years!"
Oh my, yes. Now that you mention it, I do want to get on my knees and thank you profusely for your old socks and the tissue you gave me for my birthday. Wait, that was last year...
"And while you're at it, maybe you can annihilate your abnormality!" his uncle added.
He grabbed Harry by the collar and gruffly dragged him to the cupboard. Harry knew that resistance was futile, but he didn't want to make his uncle's task too easy either. When they reached the door to Harry's tiny old dwelling, Vernon eyed him menacingly and said:
"Now you get in there, and STAY THERE! No more outdoor games for you, you- you... ruffian!"
He threw Harry in and locked the door- with three different locks, it seemed.
That might make it a tad more difficult for me to leave.
Harry winced at the pain in his arm, which he got from colliding against the wall, thanks to his uncle's surprisingly powerful shove. It seemed that his cupboard had shrunk considerably. Or perhaps he had grown. As he tried to get into a relatively comfortable position- as comfortable as he could get in here, which was not saying much- his thoughts drifted from Ginny, to the snake, to Ginny, to gardening.
I guess this is not going to be a paid holiday.
***
Harry was staring at the ceiling of the cupboard. A beam of light emanating from a small light bulb outlined a heavy ray of dust and Harry coughed softly.Great, he was back to the starting point, back to the cupboard that was now too small for him. He couldn't even extend his legs fully, let alone stand up.
Stupid snake, stupid conversation, stupid conversation with the snake. It wasn't even worth the punishment I got.
His trunk was resting in the opposite corner of the cupboard and was full of his Hogwarts possessions. Harry figured that this was the only bright side to his condition. Not that books were his favorite companions, but at least they reminded him of Hogwarts. Just then Harry's niche shook violently as though victim of a powerful earthquake. Tiny spiders fell out of their cracks. Dust flew everywhere, and the light bulb, Harry's only source of light, blinked. After a few seconds of fluttering agony, it died. Harry was frantically gasping for air when the shaking stopped and he heard Dudley wailing, "MOMMY! I'm stuck again! Come help me!" The pounding started again, this time less violently.
Of course... Harry's fat cousin was -once again- stuck in the stairs and desperately trying to extort himself from the grip the walls claimed over his huge body. Harry threw his head back in a fit of laughter and hit it against the very low ceiling of his cupboard. He could just imagine Dudley's evil piggy eyes and his wobbling chins in a frozen expression of distress. It was hilarious. Harry laughed until tears sprang from his eyes and leaked on his face. It was covered with the dust that had fallen from the ceiling, and the salty water left marks in the gray filth. Harry was still chuckling silently when light from the bulb filled the closet sized room again, revealing the damage created by the enlarged pig's frantic shaking. The spiders were slowly scuttling back to their original positions as all the dust trapped in the creases of the wood covered the entire cupboard with a gray veil.
As Harry wiped the dust off his face, he thought he saw something shining in a corner. He brought his face closer to the glinting object, even though four years at Hogwarts had taught him never to bring your face close to an unknown object, and kneeled to take a closer look. He could distinguish the shiny metallic object hidden in one of the wood cracks. Intrigued, he examined the surface. It looked like a key. He furiously tried to pry the wooden board apart, hoping that this flimsy piece of metal would lead to something worth the trouble. Harry's perseverance got the better of the task and he found himself clutching the cool metal of a bronze key. He tried to make out the inscriptions engraved when the door swung open. Uncle Vernon's ugly head poked into the room. Harry hadn't even heard the Vernon unlock the door.
" I need you to ... What are you holding?"
Uncle Vernon grabbed the key from Harry's hands and examined it. He then let out a roar of laughter. " I was looking all over for this. Oh Petunia!" he called out. " I found the second key to the cupboard!"
With that he started chuckling again, forgetting what exactly he needed Harry for. Vernon slammed the cupboard shut once more and left.
Bloody Hell! Harry thought. That was stupid! I should have known better. He punched his pillow fiercely, lashing out all his anger on the poor headrest. The fury he knew to be locked up inside him was somewhat unleashed as he kept hitting his bed. However, he understood that should he grow too irate, he might lose control of that fury and then terrible things might happen. He sighed at the thought that his last way out of Privet Drive had vanished into the porky, greasy hands of Uncle Vernon.
***
A starry, twinkling night enveloped Privet Drive. Harry could hear the Dursleys' snores as clearly as though they shared the same room. Thank God we don't share the same room... A small hoot from outside caught Harry's attention.
The owl clucked disapprovingly, much like Molly Weasley would when confronted with yet another of the twins' jokes. Harry's legs were starting to cramp up and he wanted more than anything to be outside, perhaps even on his Firebolt, splitting the airs of the night. The Dursleys had absolutely no right to lock him in this rotten cupboard for the rest of his life- it had already been at least two weeks! He felt anger surge and spread throughout his body once more. If only he had kept that bloody key. He watched the lock and focused all his will on that stupid obstacle that stood between him and the Wizarding World.
The door swung open violently, nearly jumping out of its hinges.
Wow! That was amazing.
He would definitely have to focus on his weird abilities later. Right now though, there were other things to be done and very little time to accomplish them. Harry knew what his plans were going to be tonight. He snatched the Invisibility Cloak from his trunk back in the cupboard before heading towards the kitchen. Harry gobbled up all the food that would fit in his stomach, knowing very well that he wouldn't have a decent meal for the next few days. Once he was full, he decided he would write to Ginny, Ron, and Hermione so that they wouldn't worry about him not answering their letters. Harry quickly summarized the Parseltongue incident and the punishment he had received for it when another one of Hedwig's incessant hoots caught his attention.
In his feverish rush he hadn't noticed that Hedwig had sneaked in by the open kitchen window to deliver her mail. He detached the letter carefully. Oddly enough, Hedwig was carrying a letter bearing the Hogwarts seal. It was from Dumbledore.
Dear Harry. My operatives have informed me that it is as we feared: Voldemort is gaining power. Although the Ministry of Magic refuses to publicly acknowledge the grave crisis in which we stand, the majority of the wizarding world has come to terms with the fact that the recent series of attacks signed by the Dark Mark are not the product of haphazard terrorists. Therefore, I must stress upon you once more that you will find no safer protection than Privet Drive. You will stay there until you return to Hogwarts. Please do not lose sleep over Voldemort's return; and do not try to get involved in any way. You shall remain under your Aunt and Uncle's care until August 31st, when the Grangers will come pick you up, as well as your belongings. They have told me that they would be delighted to take you and Hermione shopping for your school supplies. You shall spend the night at the Leaky Cauldron. I have already reserved room 3 for you and installed the necessary protections wards for your safety. I do not wish to startle you but these measures are, I am afraid, unavoidable. Yours sincerely, Albus Dumbledore
Harry sighed. How was it that Dumbledore always knew what went through his mind? Technically he wasn't planning to run away tonight, just getting ready for the very near future. He might as well do something about the snoring coming from Dudley's bedroom now that he was up and about - not to mention, invisible.
A sly grin swept across his face as he made his way up the stairs, automatically jumping the step that creaked. If he was going to spend every day locked in his cupboard hearing Dudley's insufferable shrieks, he might as well start making the big oaf afraid of "The Great Harry Potter"...
He made sure that the Invisibility Cloak covered the totality of his body and snuck into Dudley's bedroom. There he was, sucking on his fat thumb like an oversized cherub. Harry felt sharp pangs of jealousy as he observed the peaceful look on his cousin's face. Dudley had no dreams to torment his rest, no visions of his dead parents, no Dark Evil Overlord out to get his blood. How very lucky this serene sleeping teenager was. Even though Harry had come here to taunt his cousin, and eventually make him pay for all those times he had pushed scrawny, bespectacled Harry down the staircase, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. It would have been morally wrong and he knew it. Instead, Harry found himself closing the door softly and going down the stairs. Luckily for Dudley, Harry wasn't in Gryffindor for nothing.
As he reached the landing, Harry found himself inexplicably drawn towards the garden. A cool breeze played with his hair upon his arrival in the garden. It wasn't even remotely annoying, but smooth and soft and distinctive of summer nights. What a relief it was for Harry to be able to breathe in some fresh air, after staying cooped up in his cupboard for- how long has it been? Harry calculated quickly. Only 14 days? It seemed like a lot more.
The grass gently tickled his bare feet and he enjoyed simply being outside, staring in fascination at the twinkling stars and the bright, round moon. His eyes moved down to the flowerbeds. The once-beautiful flowers were now unkempt, and intertwined with numerous weeds that were threatening to overtake them at a moment's notice. In fact, one of the weeds, which seemed longer and shinier than the rest, was moving right now, crushing the petunias as it went along.
Hold up... Weeds don't move.
He squinted hard, all senses sharp and alert. The shape approached him at an alarming speed, and Harry's mind became foggy with weariness and crazy ideas about Ashwinders coming to set his house on fire.
Wait a second. Ashwinders are serpents. I know who this is!
"We meet again. Sssorry about that other time. I did not mean to leave in sssuch a hurry, but you seemed to be- otherwise occupied."
A turmoil of ridiculous thoughts rolled through Harry's confused and tired brain. The snake hardly seemed to mind that Harry had yet to respond to him. It was waiting patiently. In fact, it did not seem to be moving at all.
That's pretty creepy.
Just as this occurred to Harry, the snake started having wild convulsions, and it was rolling about as if it was being electrocuted.
The serpent is having a fit! It's epileptic! I have to call the ambulance!
And tell them what, that your snake is shaking?
He didn't even have to do that, because all of a sudden, the serpent stopped trembling. It was unusually bright, its color turning from bright green to pearl white. It was surrounded by a halo of light, as if glowing from within. Only it wasn't. The moon had, for some unfathomable reason -for Harry, that is- focused all its lighting power on that small snake. In fact, Harry could not take his eyes away from the iridescent animal. He felt completely mesmerized by this amazing display of -there was no other word for it- magic. He was but dimly aware of his surroundings, and they became more and more blurry as he unknowingly focused all his attention on the serpent.
Harry was feeling increasingly uncomfortable, yet fascinated, in front of this ensemble of particularly strange conditions. Before he could move an inch, however, the small snake started hissing in a very mechanical and metallic voice, "An old dream and new friend shall merge as one She from the land of the Prophecy Will unite with an enemy's son Your quest for knowledge shall make you see That earth, wind, fire and water Will be linked for the better."
Before Harry could completely process what was going on, it all stopped. The moon shone normally once again, the snake had disappeared and there was no sign of it anywhere. Perhaps he had dreamed it all.
But it seemed so real...
He decided to get back to his bed and let peaceful slumber be his counselor. Heading back to his cupboard, he passed in front of the kitchen clock, which indicated 12:02.
If it did happen, the prophecy -was it even a prophecy?- was probably issued at exactly midnight.
That's something to think about... Maybe I should ask Hermione. She'll know, were his last thoughts before he dropped off from exhaustion.