A/N: Yay! Chapter four of my beautiful edited version is completed. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: Nope, nope, nope :: hillbilly accent :: Don't own nuffin', I don'.
~_Chapter Four: The Surprise_~
They stayed up a bit longer and played in the gameroom until Remus announced that it was time to go to bed. Sirius and Remus accompanied Harry and Cho up to their rooms and everyone traded their goodnights.
Harry smiled to himself as he listened to Cho's soft breathing in the other room next to his. She must already be asleep, he thought to himself, and then started to drift off himself.
"Remus!" Sirius whispered urgently as Remus closed the door to Cho's bedroom. "Remus, come here!"
"Sirius, get away from there, how would Harry react if he woke up and saw you watching him sleep?"
"I can't help it, Moony," said Sirius, pulling the innocent looking face that he knew did not work on his friend. "He looks so peaceful and cute when he's asleep, come on, look at him, you can't tell me he doesn't look cute." Sirius gestured towards Harry with a wave of his hand.
Remus shook his head and peeked into Harry's bedroom then smiled. "You're right, Padfoot. But still, we need to get some sleep ourselves, c'mon."
Sirius nodded and reluctantly shut the door then he and Remus walked to their own bedrooms. Sirius paused in front of his door then turned to his friend, "Moony?"
Remus turned, his hand on the knob, "Yes?"
"Thanks... for letting me stay here. And for letting Harry come, it means a lot to me to be able to see him without having to meet secretly."
Remus smiled softly, "Anytime, old friend."
Sirius smiled back and they both went into their rooms.
(A/N: Even though I said it in the original and most of you have probably read it, I have to say it again for those of you who hadn't. I know at least one of you is thinking slash; stop that! I firmly believe the Marauders were not homosexuals.)
Harry, though at first peaceful, became troubled in his sleep and he woke up early in the morning, biting his lip and sweating. Curse those bloody nightmares! he thought furiously.
Sighing, he laid back against the pillows, inwardly scolding himself for his stupidity in talking Cedric into taking the Triwizard Cup with him, but then he remembered all that Cho had said to him that day on the phone, and he calmed down considerably and eventually fell back to sleep.
What seemed like, to Harry, about five minutes after his second bout of unconsciousness, he was roughly awoken.
"Harry... Harry, wake up. C'mon, kiddo, breakfast is ready downstairs and we're all waiting for you," said Sirius's voice from what seemed to be a long distance away though Harry could feel him shaking his shoulders.
"Eat without me..." he muttered sleepily, removing himself from Sirius's grasp and falling back onto the bed.
"Harry! Blast, you're harder to get out of bed than James was, and I thought we were trying to wake the dead then..." Sirius muttered, shaking his head and walking out. "MOONY!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, hanging over the stairwell.
When Remus didn't appear within the next half a second, Sirius called out again, "MOONY!"
"SIRIUS, WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN! I'M COMING!" came the reply and Sirius heard rapid footsteps coming up the stairs and soon his friend came into view.
"Alright, alright, I'm here, what is it?" said Remus.
"Harry," said Sirius shortly. "Hold him down, will you?"
Remus grinned and they both walked into Harry's bedroom. Remus took hold of Harry's wrists and Sirius started tickling his sides. The room was soon filled with the sound of Harry's laughter.
"Sirius!" he gasped. "Stop, stop, stop, I'm awake already!"
Sirius grinned and stopped, standing up straight again and Remus let go of Harry's wrists. "Morning, sleepyhead," greeted Sirius. "Now hurry up, get dressed and come down for breakfast."
Harry nodded and as the two laughing adults left the room, he got up and got dressed.
He half-walked, half-stumbled down the stairs then went into the kitchen, where the shout of "SURPRISE!" from thirteen people greeted him.
"Happy Birthday, Harry!" chorused the nine Weasleys, Hermione, Cho, Sirius, and Remus.
Harry stared at them, then saw a large stack of presents accompanied by the largest cake he'd ever seen in his life. Mr. Weasley took a picture of him and claimed that he would not develop it so that it would move, just so he could always keep that expression on Harry's face. Mrs. Weasley took several more pictures, but assured Harry that he would be moving in them.
"C'mon, cake and presents, cake and presents!" said Sirius impatiently.
"Cake for breakfast?" said Harry incredulously. Sirius nodded, and since not even Remus or Mrs. Weasley seemed to mind, he shrugged and joined them at the table. Sirius cut him out a large piece and placed it on the plate in front of him, then served himself a slightly smaller piece that was eaten in approximately 1.000001 seconds.
When everyone had finished eating, Harry started on his presents. The first one was from Hermione. It was a book (surprise, surprise) entitled The Quidditch Teams of Hogwarts. Harry flipped through the pages, pausing as he saw one of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team quite a few years ago... and there was his father in it, along with Sirius, both holding broomsticks high in the air with silly grins on their faces. He looked up at Hermione and smiled wide. "Thank you, Hermione."
"You're welcome, Harry," replied Hermione, smiling back.
Picking out another present, he read the card and saw it was from Cho. He shredded the paper and found an attachment for his Firebolt that made the tail end even sleeker and it increased the speed by ten or so miles per hour. "Wicked! Thanks, Cho!"
Cho winked at him, "Just be sure to leave it off when you're playing against me. A Firebolt is formidable enough, maybe you should reserve it for games against Slytherin."
She grinned and Harry laughed. "Maybe... we'll see, Cho," he replied, winking back then picking out another present.
It was from Ron. A personalized set of Quidditch balls. "Wicked..." Harry whispered. He thanked Ron then picked out yet another present.
When all the presents were gone, he noticed he hadn't gotten one from Remus. He looked up at him, frowning with confusion but Remus just smiled. "Follow me, Harry."
Remus walked off and Harry followed him curiously. Stopping beside what looked like a wall, Remus pushed it open and ushered Harry inside. Harry walked in and gasped. Lining the walls were pictures of him and his friends, and of his parents and their friends while they were at Hogwarts.
Walking around the room he looked at all of the pictures, all of the faces of younger Sirius, Remus, and Peter, and his parents smiling down and waving at him. And he smiled as he reached the few of him and his friends and saw his picture self waving at him.
He turned around and saw Remus waiting his opinion. "I love it. It's wonderful."
Remus's face broke into a smile, "Thought you might like it..." he muttered modestly.
"C'mon, let's go rejoin the others downstairs," he said, and he and Harry walked out.
Downstairs, Sirius was causing as much noise as possible, setting off Filibuster's Firecrackers that whizzed and whirled around the room and popping in and out of dog form, barking loudly whenever he turned into Padfoot and running into Percy's legs. Dogs really can sense evil. (A/N: Sorry, Percy-lovers, I couldn't resist.)
Harry laughed as Percy fell down for the umpteenth time, and he was glad, for the second time in his life, that it was his birthday.
Harry, Ron, Cho, Fred, George, Sirius, Remus, and Charlie decided to play some Quidditch. One Seeker, one Chaser, one Beater, and one Keeper to a team. Harry was Seeker for his team, which consisted of him, Ron, Cho, and Fred (Ron-Chaser, Cho-Keeper, and Fred-Beater); Charlie was Seeker for his team, with Sirius as the Keeper (he learned not to let Remus be Keeper), Remus as Chaser, and George as Beater. And so the game began.
Bringing out his Quidditch set from Ron, Harry laid it on the ground, mounted his broom, and then kicked it open. Eight brooms shot into the air and Harry and Charlie both flew higher than the others, in search for the Snitch.
Ron grabbed the Quaffle and shot towards Sirius. A Bludger came his way but just as he started to duck, Fred came and batted it away and Ron's path was clear except for Sirius. He threw the Quaffle hard but Sirius caught it and threw it to Remus.
The same Bludger that had almost hit Ron came Remus's way, and since George was on the other side, batting away the other Bludger from Cho, he had to dodge it, and in his lapse of concentration, Ron stole the Quaffle from him and this time, he got past Sirius and scored.
Remus took the Quaffle and headed towards Cho, who held her broom steady, a determined look on her face. He threw the Quaffle and she dove for it, but it slipped through her grasp and the score became tied.
Just as Ron took the Quaffle again, something blurred shot past him, going straight down.
The wind whistled sharply in Harry's ears as he shot straight down with Charlie on his tail. At the very last moment, he pulled out of the dive and Charlie came to a screeching halt, nearly falling off his broom.
Whoa... the Wronski Feint... thought Charlie. That's amazing.
While Charlie was regaining his balance, Harry spotted the Snitch around the goalposts Sirius was guarding and he sped off, whirling around and grasping the Snitch firmly in his hand.
Cho, Ron, and Fred all cheered loudly and flew over to thump Harry on the back.
"Wicked awesome, mate!" yelled Fred.
"Well done!" shouted Ron.
"That was amazing!" exclaimed Cho, leaning over and kissing Harry on the cheek; Harry blushed scarlet.
They all landed and slung their brooms over their shoulders, except for Remus, who first used his to whack Sirius over the head with (not the he blamed Sirius for their loss that time, but it was fun and he wanted revenge.)
"Ow!" said Sirius, unshouldering his broom and slapping Remus back with it. Pretty soon it was one big broom-smacking contest between them as the other six watched amusedly.
After everyone else had gone home, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cho stayed up late talking to each other. Around 2 AM, Sirius came in and told them all to go to bed so they all swapped goodnights then Ron and Hermione went to two of the guestrooms while Harry and Cho went to theirs.
Harry fell asleep quickly and for the first time in a long time, he did not have a nightmare about Voldemort or Cedric.
~~~***~~~
Aubyn Lin: Only two... for now. ;) Thanks for your review.
Bon: That's okay, as long as you like it and keep reading, it's cool. ^.^
:: Gives a cookie to each reviewer :: Thank you guys both so much. Hope you liked this chapter! Press the purty button!
Disclaimer: Nope, nope, nope :: hillbilly accent :: Don't own nuffin', I don'.
~_Chapter Four: The Surprise_~
They stayed up a bit longer and played in the gameroom until Remus announced that it was time to go to bed. Sirius and Remus accompanied Harry and Cho up to their rooms and everyone traded their goodnights.
Harry smiled to himself as he listened to Cho's soft breathing in the other room next to his. She must already be asleep, he thought to himself, and then started to drift off himself.
"Remus!" Sirius whispered urgently as Remus closed the door to Cho's bedroom. "Remus, come here!"
"Sirius, get away from there, how would Harry react if he woke up and saw you watching him sleep?"
"I can't help it, Moony," said Sirius, pulling the innocent looking face that he knew did not work on his friend. "He looks so peaceful and cute when he's asleep, come on, look at him, you can't tell me he doesn't look cute." Sirius gestured towards Harry with a wave of his hand.
Remus shook his head and peeked into Harry's bedroom then smiled. "You're right, Padfoot. But still, we need to get some sleep ourselves, c'mon."
Sirius nodded and reluctantly shut the door then he and Remus walked to their own bedrooms. Sirius paused in front of his door then turned to his friend, "Moony?"
Remus turned, his hand on the knob, "Yes?"
"Thanks... for letting me stay here. And for letting Harry come, it means a lot to me to be able to see him without having to meet secretly."
Remus smiled softly, "Anytime, old friend."
Sirius smiled back and they both went into their rooms.
(A/N: Even though I said it in the original and most of you have probably read it, I have to say it again for those of you who hadn't. I know at least one of you is thinking slash; stop that! I firmly believe the Marauders were not homosexuals.)
Harry, though at first peaceful, became troubled in his sleep and he woke up early in the morning, biting his lip and sweating. Curse those bloody nightmares! he thought furiously.
Sighing, he laid back against the pillows, inwardly scolding himself for his stupidity in talking Cedric into taking the Triwizard Cup with him, but then he remembered all that Cho had said to him that day on the phone, and he calmed down considerably and eventually fell back to sleep.
What seemed like, to Harry, about five minutes after his second bout of unconsciousness, he was roughly awoken.
"Harry... Harry, wake up. C'mon, kiddo, breakfast is ready downstairs and we're all waiting for you," said Sirius's voice from what seemed to be a long distance away though Harry could feel him shaking his shoulders.
"Eat without me..." he muttered sleepily, removing himself from Sirius's grasp and falling back onto the bed.
"Harry! Blast, you're harder to get out of bed than James was, and I thought we were trying to wake the dead then..." Sirius muttered, shaking his head and walking out. "MOONY!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, hanging over the stairwell.
When Remus didn't appear within the next half a second, Sirius called out again, "MOONY!"
"SIRIUS, WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN! I'M COMING!" came the reply and Sirius heard rapid footsteps coming up the stairs and soon his friend came into view.
"Alright, alright, I'm here, what is it?" said Remus.
"Harry," said Sirius shortly. "Hold him down, will you?"
Remus grinned and they both walked into Harry's bedroom. Remus took hold of Harry's wrists and Sirius started tickling his sides. The room was soon filled with the sound of Harry's laughter.
"Sirius!" he gasped. "Stop, stop, stop, I'm awake already!"
Sirius grinned and stopped, standing up straight again and Remus let go of Harry's wrists. "Morning, sleepyhead," greeted Sirius. "Now hurry up, get dressed and come down for breakfast."
Harry nodded and as the two laughing adults left the room, he got up and got dressed.
He half-walked, half-stumbled down the stairs then went into the kitchen, where the shout of "SURPRISE!" from thirteen people greeted him.
"Happy Birthday, Harry!" chorused the nine Weasleys, Hermione, Cho, Sirius, and Remus.
Harry stared at them, then saw a large stack of presents accompanied by the largest cake he'd ever seen in his life. Mr. Weasley took a picture of him and claimed that he would not develop it so that it would move, just so he could always keep that expression on Harry's face. Mrs. Weasley took several more pictures, but assured Harry that he would be moving in them.
"C'mon, cake and presents, cake and presents!" said Sirius impatiently.
"Cake for breakfast?" said Harry incredulously. Sirius nodded, and since not even Remus or Mrs. Weasley seemed to mind, he shrugged and joined them at the table. Sirius cut him out a large piece and placed it on the plate in front of him, then served himself a slightly smaller piece that was eaten in approximately 1.000001 seconds.
When everyone had finished eating, Harry started on his presents. The first one was from Hermione. It was a book (surprise, surprise) entitled The Quidditch Teams of Hogwarts. Harry flipped through the pages, pausing as he saw one of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team quite a few years ago... and there was his father in it, along with Sirius, both holding broomsticks high in the air with silly grins on their faces. He looked up at Hermione and smiled wide. "Thank you, Hermione."
"You're welcome, Harry," replied Hermione, smiling back.
Picking out another present, he read the card and saw it was from Cho. He shredded the paper and found an attachment for his Firebolt that made the tail end even sleeker and it increased the speed by ten or so miles per hour. "Wicked! Thanks, Cho!"
Cho winked at him, "Just be sure to leave it off when you're playing against me. A Firebolt is formidable enough, maybe you should reserve it for games against Slytherin."
She grinned and Harry laughed. "Maybe... we'll see, Cho," he replied, winking back then picking out another present.
It was from Ron. A personalized set of Quidditch balls. "Wicked..." Harry whispered. He thanked Ron then picked out yet another present.
When all the presents were gone, he noticed he hadn't gotten one from Remus. He looked up at him, frowning with confusion but Remus just smiled. "Follow me, Harry."
Remus walked off and Harry followed him curiously. Stopping beside what looked like a wall, Remus pushed it open and ushered Harry inside. Harry walked in and gasped. Lining the walls were pictures of him and his friends, and of his parents and their friends while they were at Hogwarts.
Walking around the room he looked at all of the pictures, all of the faces of younger Sirius, Remus, and Peter, and his parents smiling down and waving at him. And he smiled as he reached the few of him and his friends and saw his picture self waving at him.
He turned around and saw Remus waiting his opinion. "I love it. It's wonderful."
Remus's face broke into a smile, "Thought you might like it..." he muttered modestly.
"C'mon, let's go rejoin the others downstairs," he said, and he and Harry walked out.
Downstairs, Sirius was causing as much noise as possible, setting off Filibuster's Firecrackers that whizzed and whirled around the room and popping in and out of dog form, barking loudly whenever he turned into Padfoot and running into Percy's legs. Dogs really can sense evil. (A/N: Sorry, Percy-lovers, I couldn't resist.)
Harry laughed as Percy fell down for the umpteenth time, and he was glad, for the second time in his life, that it was his birthday.
Harry, Ron, Cho, Fred, George, Sirius, Remus, and Charlie decided to play some Quidditch. One Seeker, one Chaser, one Beater, and one Keeper to a team. Harry was Seeker for his team, which consisted of him, Ron, Cho, and Fred (Ron-Chaser, Cho-Keeper, and Fred-Beater); Charlie was Seeker for his team, with Sirius as the Keeper (he learned not to let Remus be Keeper), Remus as Chaser, and George as Beater. And so the game began.
Bringing out his Quidditch set from Ron, Harry laid it on the ground, mounted his broom, and then kicked it open. Eight brooms shot into the air and Harry and Charlie both flew higher than the others, in search for the Snitch.
Ron grabbed the Quaffle and shot towards Sirius. A Bludger came his way but just as he started to duck, Fred came and batted it away and Ron's path was clear except for Sirius. He threw the Quaffle hard but Sirius caught it and threw it to Remus.
The same Bludger that had almost hit Ron came Remus's way, and since George was on the other side, batting away the other Bludger from Cho, he had to dodge it, and in his lapse of concentration, Ron stole the Quaffle from him and this time, he got past Sirius and scored.
Remus took the Quaffle and headed towards Cho, who held her broom steady, a determined look on her face. He threw the Quaffle and she dove for it, but it slipped through her grasp and the score became tied.
Just as Ron took the Quaffle again, something blurred shot past him, going straight down.
The wind whistled sharply in Harry's ears as he shot straight down with Charlie on his tail. At the very last moment, he pulled out of the dive and Charlie came to a screeching halt, nearly falling off his broom.
Whoa... the Wronski Feint... thought Charlie. That's amazing.
While Charlie was regaining his balance, Harry spotted the Snitch around the goalposts Sirius was guarding and he sped off, whirling around and grasping the Snitch firmly in his hand.
Cho, Ron, and Fred all cheered loudly and flew over to thump Harry on the back.
"Wicked awesome, mate!" yelled Fred.
"Well done!" shouted Ron.
"That was amazing!" exclaimed Cho, leaning over and kissing Harry on the cheek; Harry blushed scarlet.
They all landed and slung their brooms over their shoulders, except for Remus, who first used his to whack Sirius over the head with (not the he blamed Sirius for their loss that time, but it was fun and he wanted revenge.)
"Ow!" said Sirius, unshouldering his broom and slapping Remus back with it. Pretty soon it was one big broom-smacking contest between them as the other six watched amusedly.
After everyone else had gone home, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cho stayed up late talking to each other. Around 2 AM, Sirius came in and told them all to go to bed so they all swapped goodnights then Ron and Hermione went to two of the guestrooms while Harry and Cho went to theirs.
Harry fell asleep quickly and for the first time in a long time, he did not have a nightmare about Voldemort or Cedric.
~~~***~~~
Aubyn Lin: Only two... for now. ;) Thanks for your review.
Bon: That's okay, as long as you like it and keep reading, it's cool. ^.^
:: Gives a cookie to each reviewer :: Thank you guys both so much. Hope you liked this chapter! Press the purty button!