Disclaimer: As last time, I own nothing apart from Jem, Kitty, Roger, Penny, Rhys and Shannon. Many thanks to Stuart, Emma, Marina and Dan, all of whom gave me ideas for this chapter, apart from Dan, who proof read it.

Birthday surprises

Harry woke up, the sunlight shining down on his face. He started to turn over in bed, then realised what day it was. He stretched lazily and sat up...then saw the presents at the end of his bed. He sat there for a minute, just staring in wonder. He looked at his watch. 7:00! He got out of bed and plodded downstairs, where he found Ginny, Jem and Kitty all awake. "Morning girls. Happy birthday, you two," he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"How did..." Jem started to ask, then a look of comprehension came over her face. "Oh of course. Happy birthday Harry," she smiled at him, her blue eyes sparkling.

CRACK! Fred and George apparated into the kitchen. "Morning you three," they said in unison. "Happy Birthday! We've got your birthday presents saved for later, OK?" They smiled in a way that told Harry that they were most definitely up to something, but not being sure what, he left it for the moment.

Mrs. Weasley bustled in from the kitchen, carrying a huge plate of sausages, bacon, eggs, croissants and all other types of delicious smelling substances. Seeing Harry, she put the food down on the table and came over and gave him a hug. "Happy birthday, dear. I've invited a few people round for tea so you can celebrate your birthday properly," she said in a motherly tone. She bustled back into the kitchen, humming away to herself.

Harry was about to slip out the back door into the garden when he felt a hand on his sleeve. He turned round and saw Hermione, looking plea fully at him. He nodded silently and motioned for her to join him.

When they were safely out of earshot, Harry asked the inevitable question. "What's going on between you and Ron? You seem to be quieter around each other than usual," he smiled, one of his eyebrows raised questioningly.

Hermione looked up at him, a nervous smile on her face. "He said he wants to talk to me tonight during the party," she said. "Oh Harry, I'm nervous!"

"It's alright, Hermione," Harry said, smiling. "Everything will be fine. Seriously," he added. "Now, how were your results?"

"I got outstanding on all them," she replied.

"Well done! What choices are you taking next year?" Harry positively beamed at her.

"Well, I got thinking more seriously about S.P.E.W over the summer and I've decided I'm going to try and make it international. As such, I'm going to be doing basic Auror classes...like yourself?" She looked questioningly at Harry, who gave a brief nod. She rolled her eyes slightly and carried on. "In addition to that, I'll be doing Runes and astrology."

"Not muggle studies?" Harry teased, a small smile on his face.

"No. I decided to drop that," Hermione replied. "Shall we get back in? I'm starting to get hungry."

"Now that you mention it, so am I," Harry said as they wondered back into the house. The smell of cooked bacon and sausages hit their nose as soon as they walked in. Harry smiled. Life was good again.

After breakfast, Harry ran upstairs and grabbed his presents, bringing them down onto the table in two loads. The girls, who had been given presents by various friends, brought theirs down as well, though the piles were considerably smaller than Harry's. Fred and George came in at that point, carrying a pile of six presents.

"These are from us," Fred explained.

"Open these ones first," George said, putting three multicoloured boxes in front of them. They sparkled and shimmered a thousand colours in the light. Harry tentatively poked the box, knowing what Fred and George were like. The paper on the box crackled, and Harry smiled. As he pulled aside the coloured wrappings and opened the box, he beheld a simple silver watch, carefully crafted with small black dials, but of muggle make and not that of the wizarding world. He held it up to the light, seeing it glint. He tried it on, and it fitted perfectly. He was a little puzzled, as Fred and George both had conspiratorial grins on their faces, but thought nothing of it. He turned to see what the twins had given his sisters and was pleasantly surprised. Jem had on a necklace that made her look almost regal, and Kitty had on a ring that sparkled whenever it caught the sunlight. Harry turned to the twins and was just about to thank them, when the watch began to chime the hour. Simultaneously, a rather interesting transformation began to take place.

Harry's legs, which up till then had on a nice pair of brown trousers, started shrinking...and turning green. He opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a rather loud croak. His body turned to a vivid shade of green, and he kept on shrinking. His sisters were facing a similar predicament, as Kitty had started growing ginger paws, while Jem was hopping around, cawing frantically from a long black beak. The twins, along with Ginny, Hermione and Ron, were all in stitches, Ron even rolling around on the floor not trying to help at all. By the time they all calmed down, Harry was croaking at them reproachfully from inside a frog's body, Kitty was trying to claw herself up the table as a cat, and Jem was hopping around, cawing as loudly as a magpie could.

After the spell in the jewellery wore off, Harry grabbed Fred and George by the back of the neck. "What on earth...???!!!" he exclaimed. In a lower tone he added, "I'm your backer, remember? You wouldn't want me to take all that money back, now would you?"

Fred and George gulped. "Sorry guys," they said in unison. Fred whispered in one ear, "though they might come in handy next year, don't you think?" George gave the other presents they had to them. "These are the real presents," they said, as the triplets opened the packages. Inside were three packs of Bertie Botts Every flavour Beans.

"Thanks guys," Harry smiled at the twins. In their ears, he whispered, "it makes a change from normal," a hint of laughter in his voice. He turned back to his presents and randomly picked one up. It was medium sized with magical wrapping paper, which swirled into different pictures as he looked at it. He put it to his ear and listened carefully. He could hear something but he wasn't sure what it was, so he carefully opened it. Inside, the sight he saw astounded him. Trotting around was a miniature Pegasus, beautifully coloured dappled grey. The girls had obviously been given one each as well, as Harry could hear them making cries of joy and amazement. The three of them rose into the air, Jem's black and Kitty's white. Ginny and Hermione were smiling, so Harry guessed easily that they were both in this together. Underneath was a thin object, which Harry guessed to be Hermione's present. Unwrapping it, he found it to be 'How to look after your Pegasus' by Dr. M.V. Dalvo. Smiling, he hugged the girls, asking them, "So who's idea was it?"

"Ginny's actually," Hermione replied, shoving her hands in her pockets. "She thought it would be a nice gesture, seeing you only have Hedwig, and we thought why not get your sisters one in the process. The book's from me and the Pegasi are from Ginny. And before you ask, she got the money from Fred and George. Hagrid's got you some food as soon as he heard. You do like them, don't you?" she asked nervously.

"Of course I do!" Harry exclaimed. "They're more than I could have ever dreamed of!" He looked at the three miniature horses, flying around above him and the girls, and smiled. He opened the package that was obviously Hagrid's. Inside was enough food to keep all three Pegasi well fed till term time. Harry only had 3 packages, one of which was from Ron and the other two he guessed were from Kitty and Jem. He let the girls open his present to them first, which was a heap of chocolate frogs for them both. "I couldn't think of anything really special, you see," he explained rather sheepishly. "I'll get you a better present for Christmas, I promise."

"That's alright, Harry. We understand completely," Jem replied. "After all, you haven't known we existed all that long. Now, we let Ron in on our present choice, and it's rather aptly themed. Open this one first," she said, pointing to a plain black box with no wrapping.

Harry opened it. Inside it was another watch, similar to the one Fred and George had given him, apart from one detail. Across the face of the watch was a shape like a lightning bolt. Harry blinked, rubbed his eyes, and blinked again, more to keep out the tears...and memories...that came flooding into his mind. He shook his head to clear it, then took the next box along. This one was wrapped in red paper, much like Kitty's hair. Harry opened this one carefully, having put the watch on his wrist. In this one was a plain black band with a bubble hanging on it. Looking in the bubble, Harry could again see the bolt of lightning, except that this one was moving. He put it on carefully and moved onto the last box. This was obviously from Ron, so Harry tore off the wrapping and looked inside. There he saw a ring, again with the same bubble and lightning bolt. He put it on and looked to the girls. They both had a necklace, a bracelet and a ring, except that Kitty's had a feather and Jem's had a live flame in each of the bubbles. "Thanks girls, thanks Ron." Harry smiled. "These are the best gifts of all. Now, what do you say we have some lunch? I for one am starving!"

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long! I intended on making this chapter longer, but there is sooooo much to fit in. Plus I thought I'd kept you waiting in suspense for long enough! I will try and get the next bit done as soon as I can, but it'll be at least 2 weeks. Sorry guys! Oh and for those who are wondering, yes, the Pegasi and the 'scar jewellery' are going to be important, as will Fred and George's joke presents, but you won't find out how until they all get to Hogwarts.

Please review this! I badly need constructive criticism. Thanks. Smudge.