Birthday Surprises Chapter 54

Usual disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue. Please. Wish it were mine though. Ah, if only. Lolly, xxx.

Ok MegOfAllTrades, you have just completely confused me. You seem to completely hate my story, yet you say you like it. I appreciate a constructive criticism, but that was just downright befuddling! I am aware that my story lacks a lot of details such as OWL results and other such things, but it's already reaching a massive length. As for my writing style, writing this is probably as much about improving my writing as it is about giving you guys something to read. As for the huge amounts of conversation, I believe I may have already apologised for that. It's just the way I write. Having said all that, I'm glad you like this story (?) and hope you will keep reading. Here goes with another huge leap...

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Time was passing scarily fast, Ginny decided. It wouldn't be long until Christmas, and after Christmas, it would be even less time until Harry went to face Voldemort. He would want it over and done with once and for all. As time rushed by, the triplets grew and grew, getting cuter every day. They all had Harry's eyes and hair, but the freckles dotted across their nose had come from her. She could see herself in them sometimes, when she really looked for any resemblance. It was the way that Leah pouted when Harry wasn't there, and the way Andy and Sam wriggled in their sleep. Ginny couldn't imagine why she had been scared to be their mother at first, and was grateful that Harry had helped her see sense. Harry himself was always busy - he had received a reply from the shop in Diagon Alley, asking for a sample to be sent. Harry had obliged and the shop had been most eager to stock his invention. Now his time was split between his head boy duties, the Quidditch team, making more of his monitors, and of course the triplets. It wasn't difficult to see how much Harry loved his children, and Ginny wondered if his being an orphan had made him a much better father. Maybe he was just a naturally good parent, family or no. Either way, Ginny had begun to spend almost every spare minute in Harry's room, doing her homework beside the babies' cribs. She and Harry grew closer due to the amount of time they spent together, though Harry was usually too busy to hold a proper conversation. When they did talk properly, it usually ended in some friendly bickering and teasing. Occasionally Harry would be writing something in a small book when she came in, but it always seemed to go missing when she looked again, and she never once found it lying about.

***

As Christmas approached, Harry found himself buried under a mountain of work that needed to be done. The pressure was mounting, and he needed to keep up with everything. With the DA, schoolwork and everything else, he was finding very little time to even think, let alone plan for Voldemort. Eventually, he sat down in his room and didn't get up until he had finished his homework for that week. Then he put aside his plans for the monitors and started to write about what the meeting with Voldemort, planning for every scenario, every problem that he may come across, and every eventuality. Through everything, he knew he was being watched by not only his friends, but by the headmaster too. It had grown to be slightly infuriating, being watched for no reason, as though he was suspected of something. In his overcrowded mind, it was one more thing that caused stress. One that he could eliminate fairly easily, he thought.

***

So a few days before Christmas, Harry went quietly up to the headmaster's office, hoping that by the time he came out again, there would be one less thing stressing him. He didn't know that one stress might be completely replaced by another.

***

"Harry? Is something wrong?"

"Why are you watching me like a hawk?" Harry asked immediately. The headmaster seemed taken aback for a minute.

"Would you take a seat please, Harry?" Harry sat down in a chair opposite the headmaster.

"Why have you been watching me so closely, Sir?" He repeated.

"I suppose there are a few reasons." Dumbledore said, hoping to buy some time.

"First of all, you've been through a lot of changes recently, and I want to make sure that you're coping ok."

"I am. I'm under some pressure, but it's ok." Harry shrugged. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes. You are coping." He said.

"What's the other reason?" Harry asked. His eyebrows were a fraction higher than normal, and it was easy to see that the first reason given hadn't satisfied his curiosity.

"The other reason is more complicated." He said, looking intently at Harry, as if he was hoping to see into the back of Harry's mind. He saw only confusion and curiosity, with a little suspicion and trepidation.

"Go on."

"This isn't easy...I...you might not want to hear it." Now Harry was frowning, clearly wondering what the headmaster was talking about.

"I'm your great grandfather." He said quietly. Harry's eyes widened, and it might have been comical had there not been a spark of anger lit within them.

"I see. And...why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I wanted to. I really did."

"Then why didn't you?" Harry asked, in a voice of controlled calm.

"I suppose I was scared of your reaction. I was going to tell you in fifth year, but...after Sirius' death, I thought it was an inappropriate time. After that, I began to wonder what you would do when you found out."

"All of these years I put up with the Dursleys - and I'm not just talking about the abuse. Have you ever felt completely alone, grandfather?" Harry said, his voice flat.

"Harry, listen to me..."

"No, it's my turn. I've put up with hell from the Dursleys, believing that they were my only relatives - now you're telling me that they aren't? How do you think that feels?"

"I don't know. I never will. I'm sorry." Harry stared at the headmaster through narrowed eyes - the familiar lined face looked older now, and more tired than ever.

"Why didn't you tell me before? I mean before Sirius died. You've had plenty of opportunities."

"I wasn't sure how you would react, not to mention the threat of Voldemort."

"Rubbish." Harry muttered. "Voldemort was never a problem - it's not as if it mattered to him who I was related to - I had survived, so he wanted to kill me. That's all. You being my grandfather had nothing to do with it." Harry said. A tear fell down the headmaster's face and Harry sighed in frustration - what was he supposed to do?

***

Ginny rubbed the bracelet, trying to understand why it was sending signals that the babies were upset when all three of them were fast asleep. Eventually, she went up to the headmaster's office to tell Harry about it. She knocked before walking in to find Harry leaning against a wall, staring at the headmaster.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"The headmaster had an...interesting...revelation." Harry said, his voice free of any emotion.

"Umm...can you tell me?" Ginny asked, remembering the last revelation from the headmaster.

"Yeah." Harry said, "Let's tell Ginny." He looked pointedly at the headmaster, who sighed wearily.

"I'm Harry's great grandfather." He said. Ginny's mouth fell open in surprise.

"And you never told him before now?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No." "Are you ok, Harry?" Ginny asked, turning her back on the headmaster.

"I'm fine. How are the triplets?"

"They're asleep - and don't tell me that you're fine. I wondered why my monitor was going off when the triplets were fine."

"I'm fine." Harry replied stubbornly. He looked from Ginny to Dumbledore and walked out of the room, slamming the door.

***

When Hermione and Ron heard, they seemed quite outraged as well. Harry had never seen Hermione quite so ready to go and yell at any teacher, but he saw it then, as she stomped from the common room, anger etched in her eyes. Ron sighed and sat with him in silence until Hermione and Ginny returned. That was around when Harry had enough and went to his room.

***

It was a surprise to Harry that sleep came easily that night. He had expected to be lying awake for hours, pondering the new information he had been given, but instead, he had slipped quickly into a deep sleep, not waking when Ginny crept in.

***

Ginny watched Harry sleeping for what seemed like an age. He didn't stir once, his breathing deep and steady, though he still looked a little annoyed. There was a tiny crease between his eyebrows, the only sign of the day's events. Ginny sat on the edge of the bed, feeling incredibly numb. She knew that Harry would be angry, and she could understand why, but that didn't mean he had to be rude to her. By the time she left, the numbness was gone, leaving in its place cold anger.

***

Harry awoke the next morning in a slightly better mood - he knew that the only way to sort things out with the headmaster was to talk to him - he wanted to understand why, to know the reasons behind the choices that he had made. He walked down to the common room to find Ginny sitting in one of the armchairs. She didn't acknowledge him as he sat down beside her, and made no move to show that she even knew he was there.

"Gin?" He asked.

"What is it?" Ginny asked, her voice cold and stiffly polite. Harry was taken aback for a moment, wondering what he had done. He remembered how he had snapped at her the previous night, and then walked out almost as soon as she walked into the common room.

"Look, I'm sorry for being rude to you last night, but I was slightly shocked."

"And that makes it ok, does it?" Ginny hissed, turning to look at him. "You really are quite a self-centred person aren't you? Does the world always have to revolve around you? Oh famous Harry Potter, he's had such a bad life, and now when something good happens, he can't take it. Oh no. So he lashes out at everyone just because he feels like it!" Harry stared at her, a cold feeling creeping into his stomach.

"I'm sorry you feel like that." He said, his voice was strangled as he fought to keep it under control. Then he left for breakfast without another word, or another look, in Ginny's direction.

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Uhh...well, that's that. Now you know what Dumbledore was hiding - grrr. Anyways, I know that this 'Harry's great grandfather/ grandfather' thing is kinda clichéd, but hey, it worked into the story pretty well, plus I decided that he needed some other family. For all of those who don't like it, I'm afraid I am not changing it, nor taking out of the story. Why should I?

Lolly.