Disclaimer: NOT MINE! NOTHING IS MINE EXCEPT FOR LOKI, THOR, VECTOR, LEO,
AKIRA, KAZUKI, AND RIN! AND OTHER OCS IN FUTURE CHAPTERS! THE HOUSE-ELVES
BELONGS TO ME TOO!
First time attempting to write a Harry Potter fic so be kind and R&R. And no one beta-ed this so don't mind my grammar mistakes.
Warning: This will be SLASH! Meaning 2 guys in THAT kind of relationship!
Spoilers: Books 1-4
Pairings: Main - Severus/Sirius Others - Reviewers choice! Voting ends July first!
Languages:
"blah blah blah" - English
'blah blah blah' - Japanese
------------------------------------------------------------------
7. All this for my birthday?
(Posted 05/30/03 - Friday)
(Revision #1 11/06/03 - Thursday)
------------------------------------------------------------------
'Here's the plan for tomorrow morning,' Loki said, lying on his stomach on Leo's bed and counting off his fingers. 'Jr. and I are going to decorate the living room, Kazuki's going to wrap the presents, and Leo will get the cake.'
'We know,' Leo said, replying to his e-mails. 'You're driving us crazy with the repetition.'
'This is the first surprise party he ever organized,' Kazuki said, sitting cross-legged on his bed, the lower bunk. 'We have to be supportive.'
'It has to be perfect,' said Loki. 'You saw how Lightning looked when Mr. Black told him he, Mr. Lupin, and Uncle has an Order meeting on his birthday.'
'Yea,' Leo said, rotating his chair a hundred and eighty degrees. 'Lightning Boy is a really lousy actor.'
'The polar opposite to Jr.'s acting but he can't hide behind his mask when it comes to us,' Loki said, pounding his fist heatedly on the pillow. 'I swear those so-called professors at Hogwarts are either blind and deaf or plain stupid. Excluding Uncle of course.'
'Of course,' Leo repeated lamely.
'Hey! I don't like that tone you're using mister,' Loki said jokingly. 'If my feet wasn't so busted from going to practically every gift shop in England I would knock you across the head.'
'Loki, you should work on your habit of turning to violence when you need to resolve something,' Kazuki said lightheartedly. 'Didn't Thor lecture you about that?'
'In fact he did,' answered Loki. 'Every single day.'
'Thor is one cool dude,' Leo said and then added, 'when he isn't overprotective and stuff.'
'I wish I had older siblings to watch out for me,' said Kazuki. 'Being the only child gets tiring.'
'I'm an only child half the time and an older brother the other half,' said Leo. 'I'm happy with that.'
'Ah! We're drifting off track,' Loki cried, rolling onto his back while clenching a pillow to his chest. 'The adults are leaving at nine, we begin Operation Lightning's Party at eleven - '
'Eleven?' said Kazuki. 'I thought it starts at ten.'
'The Dursleys have a list of chores for Lightning to do in the morning,' Loki said, pulling a face. 'So we're doing a lunch party instead of a morning one, but it did give me a reason to pre-order an ice cream cake.'
'I knew I should have went with you to pick out the cake,' Leo said, going back to his laptop. 'Kazuki, there's someone in our regular chat-room tarnishing your reputation. Che, he's new too. No history on his profile.'
'How dare he!' said Loki. 'Kazuki, go in that chat-room and yell at him!'
'Okay, okay,' Kazuki said, sliding his laptop from under the bed. 'But it's no big deal. I give other programmers advice and critical criticism all the time.'
'You should hurry and come in here fast,' said Leo, typing at an immeasurable speed. 'That guy switched topic and is bitching about the immoral acts hackers do for their own sick pleasures.'
'Find out who he is and send a virus to his computer!' Loki said as he threw the pillow to the head of the bed. 'I want to see what you're going to do.'
Kazuki took his laptop with him and sat down on Leo's bed. Loki crawled over to sit next to his friend. Their pajamas matched perfectly. Loki wore a black set with white buttons and Kazuki had on a white set with black buttons. It was their Christmas present from Rin. Leo and Akira received the same style pajamas, except in green and purple. Thor took a group snapshot of them after opening the boxes and was pasted on a photo album at home. A ping-pong sound emitted from both laptops.
'Sacred Wind, your favorite nick,' said Leo. 'The raving dude's nick is Bytes R Us and he's pissing me off.'
'Where are you?' Kazuki said, scrolling down the list. 'Ah, there you are. Pro-Hacker.'
'Bytes R Us' real name is Sean Thomas,' said Kazuki. 'He's a Muggle student studying abroad in the States, originally from Europe somewhere. It's his first year in college. His major is computer engineering with a business administration as his minor.'
'That was quick,' said Loki.
'Good info,' said Leo. 'I'm going to dig deeper. He's using a Dell desktop, Windows XP, and his school's network is a T3 connection. Not bad but he's slow.'
'He would have to be if he hasn't caught two people sneaking past his firewall,' said Kazuki. 'He's new at this.'
'A rookie to the core,' said Leo. 'Should I send him the Trojan horse virus or something more lethal?'
"What are you guys talking about now?" Draco asked, coming out from the bathroom in his green satin pajamas. "I have to learn Japanese soon or I'll always be lost when you have these conversations."
"There's a stupid guy on an Internet chat-room cussing at Kazuki and hackers in general," said Leo. "We're trying to decide which virus to put in his computer."
"You can do that?" Draco said, sitting down. "Aren't computers non-living things?"
"He means a computer virus," said Loki. "You're still a beginner so don't worry about it."
"Whatever you say," said Draco. "So when can I try surfing the Internet again?"
"I thought you gave up on the Internet after accidentally going to that gothic site that scared you to hell and back," Loki said, grinning. "I wasn't surprised you had a nightmare."
"You were lucky Leo was still awake that night, checking his stocks again," said Kazuki. "Woke you up before the nightmare got worse."
"Don't want to talk about my nightmare anymore," said Draco.
"Oh yea, did you get Lightning a birthday present?" said Loki. "It's not everyday a boy turns fifteen."
"You know we're not exactly friends, right?" Draco said sarcastically. "Just because we've gotten along for the last two weeks or so doesn't amount to anything."
"You couldn't be more wrong," said Loki. "He treats you like a friend so you should be obliged to do the same."
"We're rivals - "
"From rival Houses," Leo finished. "Don't you get tired from saying that? Competition between Houses is natural but it's not that serious."
"Having different types of friends is fun," said Kazuki. "I'm in a different group in Sakura than Loki and Leo."
"Really?" said Draco.
"Yup!" said Loki. "Leo and I are in Blue Dragon, and Kazuki and Akira are in White Tiger."
"It's getting late," Kazuki said, noting the pondering look on Draco's face. "We should go to sleep."
"I second that," said Draco.
"Jr. needs his beauty sleep," Loki said, dunking an attack and leaping from the bed. "G'night all!"
Kazuki and Leo shut down their laptops, the latter express sent a few common viruses to Bytes R Us. Loki climbed to his top bunk like a monkey, that's why Thor gave him the pet name 'little monkey'. Draco burrowed himself in the blankets and lied back.
"Goodnight," Draco said sleepily.
"Sweet dreams," Kazuki said, returning his laptop under the bed and getting comfortable.
Leo joined Draco on the bed after closing the lights. "Night."
The four teenagers slept deeply. At six o'clock on the dot, the sun shone his bright rays through the low window. The light crept inch by inch until it touched Draco's face. He stirred and shifted his head. The air- conditioner was on high, making the room a bit chilly. Draco almost hugged Leo for body warmth when his eyes fluttered and opened.
"What time is it?" Leo asked groggily, waking from Draco's movement.
"Bloody hell," said Draco. "It's six-thirty in the morning."
"Damn," grumbled Leo. "I'm late."
"Late?" said Draco. "For what?"
"My daily jog," said Leo. "I get up at six, jog for an hour, come back, shower, and sleep some more."
"Ugh," said Draco. "Now I know why you're in such good shape."
"Thanks for the compliment," Leo said, going to the bathroom.
"Hey," Draco said quietly, walking into the bathroom also. "Can you not go back to sleep after your jog? I need to buy Potter a gift but I don't know Muggle London very well."
"Neither do I," Leo said, splashing his face with water. "But I'll bring you to the mall. That's where I have to go for the cake."
"Thank you," Draco said and then went to sleep again.
At seven-thirty Leo completed his jog and returned to the house. Severus woke at that time and began cooking breakfast. The Potions Master demanded the hacker's help so he did, after his shower and change of clothing. Remus, Sirius, and Kazuki got up at eight.
"What are you youngsters doing today?" said Sirius. "It's Harry's birthday today. I hope you can get him far, far away from the Dursleys."
"It's been taken care of," Kazuki said, drinking his daily dose of orange juice. "He has chores this morning but he'll be free for the afternoon. I've already talked the Dursleys into letting Harry spend the night here."
"Did we forget to tell you?" Leo said, nursing his strong black coffee. "We're throwing Lightning Boy a surprise party."
"Yes, you've forgotten to tell us," said Remus. "It's a wonderful idea though. I don't think Harry has ever had a real birthday party before."
"Loki's idea?" Severus asked, drinking his morning tea. He doesn't usually eat breakfast, which explained his lean figure. He always wore layers of fabric, making it impossible to tell.
"Yea," said Leo. "Everything was prearranged by Loki."
"It's time for us to go," said Severus.
Loki and Draco dragged themselves from their soft beds and out the basement to say goodbye to Severus. After breakfast they broke into two groups and it differed from what Loki had planned last night. Draco and Leo left the house to buy a gift for Harry and to pick up the cake. Kazuki and Loki were left in the house to wrap the other presents and decorate the living room.
By a quarter to eleven, the place looked terrific and ready. Kazuki disguised as a girl and went over to number four Privet Drive. Harry was blinded-folded once he crossed the street.
"In you go," said Kazuki, guiding Harry into the living room. "You can remove the blindfold now."
"SURPRISE!" Loki screamed, tossing handfuls confetti at him as Draco and Leo sprayed him with party streamers.
Harry was overwhelmed. There was a banner hanging from the ceiling, with Happy Birthday in it, and colorful balloons were floating around. The ice cream cake, snacks, and drinks were on the coffee table where the cake had one big candle in the middle and five smaller ones surrounding it.
"This, for me, oh my, I can't believe it," Harry mumbled faintly. "All this, is all this for my birthday?"
"Yup," said Loki. "My idea."
Harry gave him a tight bear hug, his eyes moist with happy tears. Kazuki patted him on the arm to release Loki, who was turning blue from lack of air. Draco was touched at the strong emotion the Boy-Who-Lived was giving off and Leo felt pity that this was Harry's first real birthday celebration.
"You have to blow out the candles," said Kazuki. "Remember to make a wish and don't tell us no matter how much Loki begs."
"I won't do that," Loki protested, sitting on the floor. "At least not that long. I'll probably beg for a hour or two and then quit."
"It's the truth," said Leo.
"I'm hungry," Draco complained from his spot on the couch. "Blow out the candles Harry."
"I will~~~" said Harry, and then turned to the blonde. "Did you just call me Harry?"
"Err, slipped out of my mouth," said Draco. "If you don't want me calling you Harry, I'll just keep on calling you Potter."
"No, I would like having you call me Harry," said the birthday boy. "But on the condition that I can call you Draco. It's only fair."
"Whatever," Draco said, trying not to be look too pleased.
Harry closed his eyes, made his wish, and blew all the candles out in one breath. Everyone clapped and Kazuki gave him a cutting knife. Loki had a digital camera and was clicking like a lunatic. Leo was passing Harry the paper plates and Draco got off the couch to pour soda into the plastic cups.
"What kind of wish did you make?" asked Loki.
"I can't tell you and you know that," Harry said, grinning as he sliced the cake into pieces. "You'll have to quit right now because I won't break and tell you."
"While we eat, open your presents," said Draco. "I've been wondering what they got you."
"I got presents?" Harry said, his grin so radiant it made the others mentally tell themselves to always throw a party on his birthday in the future.
Leo brought the neatly wrapped presents from behind the couch and placed it in front of Harry.
"Come on Lightning," Loki said, about as excited as Harry and it wasn't even his own birthday party. "Open them. Open them. Open them."
"I'll open the ones from Professor Snape, Professor Green, and Remus first," said Harry. "Then yours."
Remus gave him two books; one was on wand-less magic and the other was a beginner's handbook to martial arts. Sirius got him a new supply kit for his broom and a fifty Galleons gift certificate from Quality Quidditch Supplies. Severus' was more practical. It was a Potions kit, similar to the supply kit, with tiny jars of ingredients, vials and test tubes, three kinds of knifes, and a book on dangerous potions.
"Trust Uncle to give something Potions-related," said Loki. "Now open ours."
"Eager, aren't you?" said Harry. "What did you get me?"
"You'll see when you open it," Loki said mysteriously. "It cost more than I had expected so Kazuki and I chipped in together."
"You shouldn't have," Harry said, taking the rectangular box with Loki and Kazuki's names on the wrapper. "It's heavy."
"The suspense is killing me," Draco said impatiently. "Open it."
Harry tore off the wrappings and was stunned at seeing the picture of his gift on the box cover.
"You got him a laptop?" Draco gaped while Harry said at the same time, "You got me a laptop?"
"Like it?" Loki asked impishly. "Kazuki picked the nicest and most reasonably priced one. I was going to get you something else but I didn't see anything that would be fun and useful. It's charmed to work at Hogwarts."
"Like it? I love it, but there's no charm that permits electronics to work at Hogwarts," said Harry. "My friend Hermione told me and it was from the book about the school."
"New spells get created and voila! Muggle electronics can work," said Loki. "It all thanks to the wizards from the States and my hometown Tokyo, Japan."
"Since you got a laptop, you should open mine next," said Leo.
Harry complied and stared in amazement. The box was filled with books on how to use computers and surf the Internet. Underneath them were tons of video games and a joypad.
"I didn't know what kind of games you liked so I bought the ones I knew were popular and appealing," Leo said, embarrassed at Harry's unadulterated look of delight aimed at him. "I didn't buy any ultra hard games since you've never played before."
"Thank you so much," said Harry. "All of you. This is the best birthday I had ever had."
"You forgot to open mine," Draco said, handing him a small jewelry box. "I got it this morning so I didn't have time to wrap it."
"You got me a gift?" Harry said, looking at the box and then Draco. "Thank you."
"Well," Draco said, blushing and clearing his throat. "We're friends, aren't we? It's normal for me to purchase something for your birthday."
"Friends," Harry repeated. "Yea, we're definitely friends."
Harry flipped the box open and lying on black velvet was a necklace. The chain was made of thin platinum and there were two charms hung from it. One was obviously a lion with small rubies for its eyes and the other was of a snake with an emerald as its eye.
"It's beautiful," Harry said, taking the necklace out of the box and putting it on. "I'll never take it off."
"I'm glad you like it," said Draco.
"MOVIE TIME!" said Loki. "We're going to lounge around the house and watch movies from day to night."
"We have a wide selection," said Kazuki. "Action, romance, horror, fantasy. It'll be a way to show what you've been missing all these years."
And then began their movie marathon. It lasted late into the night until exhaustion won and they fell asleep in the living room. Remus, Sirius, and Severus came home even later. What they saw reminded them of why they were risking their lives. Loki was curled up on the carpet with Harry next to him, Kazuki was on two armchairs pushed together, and Leo was on the couch with Draco lying on top of him.
"Should we wake them up?" asked Remus. "It would be more comfortable to let them sleep on beds. And we could tell them that Headmaster Dumbledore requested that Leo and Kazuki be transferred to Hogwarts as well."
Severus and Sirius shared a look.
"We should leave them be," said Sirius. "They look too peaceful to wake."
"We can tell them the news tomorrow," Severus said, conjuring some blankets and tucked them around the children.
"Can you two read each other's minds?" teased Remus.
"Go to sleep Lupin," said Severus.
The three cast another glance at the living room and went upstairs.
------------------------------------------------------------------
A.N. - Hurray for me! Managed to post up Chapter 7 before the month ended. Not bad if I do say so myself. Seven chapters in one month is my personal record. Chapter 8 will have Severus and Sirius~~~home alone!
First time attempting to write a Harry Potter fic so be kind and R&R. And no one beta-ed this so don't mind my grammar mistakes.
Warning: This will be SLASH! Meaning 2 guys in THAT kind of relationship!
Spoilers: Books 1-4
Pairings: Main - Severus/Sirius Others - Reviewers choice! Voting ends July first!
Languages:
"blah blah blah" - English
'blah blah blah' - Japanese
------------------------------------------------------------------
7. All this for my birthday?
(Posted 05/30/03 - Friday)
(Revision #1 11/06/03 - Thursday)
------------------------------------------------------------------
'Here's the plan for tomorrow morning,' Loki said, lying on his stomach on Leo's bed and counting off his fingers. 'Jr. and I are going to decorate the living room, Kazuki's going to wrap the presents, and Leo will get the cake.'
'We know,' Leo said, replying to his e-mails. 'You're driving us crazy with the repetition.'
'This is the first surprise party he ever organized,' Kazuki said, sitting cross-legged on his bed, the lower bunk. 'We have to be supportive.'
'It has to be perfect,' said Loki. 'You saw how Lightning looked when Mr. Black told him he, Mr. Lupin, and Uncle has an Order meeting on his birthday.'
'Yea,' Leo said, rotating his chair a hundred and eighty degrees. 'Lightning Boy is a really lousy actor.'
'The polar opposite to Jr.'s acting but he can't hide behind his mask when it comes to us,' Loki said, pounding his fist heatedly on the pillow. 'I swear those so-called professors at Hogwarts are either blind and deaf or plain stupid. Excluding Uncle of course.'
'Of course,' Leo repeated lamely.
'Hey! I don't like that tone you're using mister,' Loki said jokingly. 'If my feet wasn't so busted from going to practically every gift shop in England I would knock you across the head.'
'Loki, you should work on your habit of turning to violence when you need to resolve something,' Kazuki said lightheartedly. 'Didn't Thor lecture you about that?'
'In fact he did,' answered Loki. 'Every single day.'
'Thor is one cool dude,' Leo said and then added, 'when he isn't overprotective and stuff.'
'I wish I had older siblings to watch out for me,' said Kazuki. 'Being the only child gets tiring.'
'I'm an only child half the time and an older brother the other half,' said Leo. 'I'm happy with that.'
'Ah! We're drifting off track,' Loki cried, rolling onto his back while clenching a pillow to his chest. 'The adults are leaving at nine, we begin Operation Lightning's Party at eleven - '
'Eleven?' said Kazuki. 'I thought it starts at ten.'
'The Dursleys have a list of chores for Lightning to do in the morning,' Loki said, pulling a face. 'So we're doing a lunch party instead of a morning one, but it did give me a reason to pre-order an ice cream cake.'
'I knew I should have went with you to pick out the cake,' Leo said, going back to his laptop. 'Kazuki, there's someone in our regular chat-room tarnishing your reputation. Che, he's new too. No history on his profile.'
'How dare he!' said Loki. 'Kazuki, go in that chat-room and yell at him!'
'Okay, okay,' Kazuki said, sliding his laptop from under the bed. 'But it's no big deal. I give other programmers advice and critical criticism all the time.'
'You should hurry and come in here fast,' said Leo, typing at an immeasurable speed. 'That guy switched topic and is bitching about the immoral acts hackers do for their own sick pleasures.'
'Find out who he is and send a virus to his computer!' Loki said as he threw the pillow to the head of the bed. 'I want to see what you're going to do.'
Kazuki took his laptop with him and sat down on Leo's bed. Loki crawled over to sit next to his friend. Their pajamas matched perfectly. Loki wore a black set with white buttons and Kazuki had on a white set with black buttons. It was their Christmas present from Rin. Leo and Akira received the same style pajamas, except in green and purple. Thor took a group snapshot of them after opening the boxes and was pasted on a photo album at home. A ping-pong sound emitted from both laptops.
'Sacred Wind, your favorite nick,' said Leo. 'The raving dude's nick is Bytes R Us and he's pissing me off.'
'Where are you?' Kazuki said, scrolling down the list. 'Ah, there you are. Pro-Hacker.'
'Bytes R Us' real name is Sean Thomas,' said Kazuki. 'He's a Muggle student studying abroad in the States, originally from Europe somewhere. It's his first year in college. His major is computer engineering with a business administration as his minor.'
'That was quick,' said Loki.
'Good info,' said Leo. 'I'm going to dig deeper. He's using a Dell desktop, Windows XP, and his school's network is a T3 connection. Not bad but he's slow.'
'He would have to be if he hasn't caught two people sneaking past his firewall,' said Kazuki. 'He's new at this.'
'A rookie to the core,' said Leo. 'Should I send him the Trojan horse virus or something more lethal?'
"What are you guys talking about now?" Draco asked, coming out from the bathroom in his green satin pajamas. "I have to learn Japanese soon or I'll always be lost when you have these conversations."
"There's a stupid guy on an Internet chat-room cussing at Kazuki and hackers in general," said Leo. "We're trying to decide which virus to put in his computer."
"You can do that?" Draco said, sitting down. "Aren't computers non-living things?"
"He means a computer virus," said Loki. "You're still a beginner so don't worry about it."
"Whatever you say," said Draco. "So when can I try surfing the Internet again?"
"I thought you gave up on the Internet after accidentally going to that gothic site that scared you to hell and back," Loki said, grinning. "I wasn't surprised you had a nightmare."
"You were lucky Leo was still awake that night, checking his stocks again," said Kazuki. "Woke you up before the nightmare got worse."
"Don't want to talk about my nightmare anymore," said Draco.
"Oh yea, did you get Lightning a birthday present?" said Loki. "It's not everyday a boy turns fifteen."
"You know we're not exactly friends, right?" Draco said sarcastically. "Just because we've gotten along for the last two weeks or so doesn't amount to anything."
"You couldn't be more wrong," said Loki. "He treats you like a friend so you should be obliged to do the same."
"We're rivals - "
"From rival Houses," Leo finished. "Don't you get tired from saying that? Competition between Houses is natural but it's not that serious."
"Having different types of friends is fun," said Kazuki. "I'm in a different group in Sakura than Loki and Leo."
"Really?" said Draco.
"Yup!" said Loki. "Leo and I are in Blue Dragon, and Kazuki and Akira are in White Tiger."
"It's getting late," Kazuki said, noting the pondering look on Draco's face. "We should go to sleep."
"I second that," said Draco.
"Jr. needs his beauty sleep," Loki said, dunking an attack and leaping from the bed. "G'night all!"
Kazuki and Leo shut down their laptops, the latter express sent a few common viruses to Bytes R Us. Loki climbed to his top bunk like a monkey, that's why Thor gave him the pet name 'little monkey'. Draco burrowed himself in the blankets and lied back.
"Goodnight," Draco said sleepily.
"Sweet dreams," Kazuki said, returning his laptop under the bed and getting comfortable.
Leo joined Draco on the bed after closing the lights. "Night."
The four teenagers slept deeply. At six o'clock on the dot, the sun shone his bright rays through the low window. The light crept inch by inch until it touched Draco's face. He stirred and shifted his head. The air- conditioner was on high, making the room a bit chilly. Draco almost hugged Leo for body warmth when his eyes fluttered and opened.
"What time is it?" Leo asked groggily, waking from Draco's movement.
"Bloody hell," said Draco. "It's six-thirty in the morning."
"Damn," grumbled Leo. "I'm late."
"Late?" said Draco. "For what?"
"My daily jog," said Leo. "I get up at six, jog for an hour, come back, shower, and sleep some more."
"Ugh," said Draco. "Now I know why you're in such good shape."
"Thanks for the compliment," Leo said, going to the bathroom.
"Hey," Draco said quietly, walking into the bathroom also. "Can you not go back to sleep after your jog? I need to buy Potter a gift but I don't know Muggle London very well."
"Neither do I," Leo said, splashing his face with water. "But I'll bring you to the mall. That's where I have to go for the cake."
"Thank you," Draco said and then went to sleep again.
At seven-thirty Leo completed his jog and returned to the house. Severus woke at that time and began cooking breakfast. The Potions Master demanded the hacker's help so he did, after his shower and change of clothing. Remus, Sirius, and Kazuki got up at eight.
"What are you youngsters doing today?" said Sirius. "It's Harry's birthday today. I hope you can get him far, far away from the Dursleys."
"It's been taken care of," Kazuki said, drinking his daily dose of orange juice. "He has chores this morning but he'll be free for the afternoon. I've already talked the Dursleys into letting Harry spend the night here."
"Did we forget to tell you?" Leo said, nursing his strong black coffee. "We're throwing Lightning Boy a surprise party."
"Yes, you've forgotten to tell us," said Remus. "It's a wonderful idea though. I don't think Harry has ever had a real birthday party before."
"Loki's idea?" Severus asked, drinking his morning tea. He doesn't usually eat breakfast, which explained his lean figure. He always wore layers of fabric, making it impossible to tell.
"Yea," said Leo. "Everything was prearranged by Loki."
"It's time for us to go," said Severus.
Loki and Draco dragged themselves from their soft beds and out the basement to say goodbye to Severus. After breakfast they broke into two groups and it differed from what Loki had planned last night. Draco and Leo left the house to buy a gift for Harry and to pick up the cake. Kazuki and Loki were left in the house to wrap the other presents and decorate the living room.
By a quarter to eleven, the place looked terrific and ready. Kazuki disguised as a girl and went over to number four Privet Drive. Harry was blinded-folded once he crossed the street.
"In you go," said Kazuki, guiding Harry into the living room. "You can remove the blindfold now."
"SURPRISE!" Loki screamed, tossing handfuls confetti at him as Draco and Leo sprayed him with party streamers.
Harry was overwhelmed. There was a banner hanging from the ceiling, with Happy Birthday in it, and colorful balloons were floating around. The ice cream cake, snacks, and drinks were on the coffee table where the cake had one big candle in the middle and five smaller ones surrounding it.
"This, for me, oh my, I can't believe it," Harry mumbled faintly. "All this, is all this for my birthday?"
"Yup," said Loki. "My idea."
Harry gave him a tight bear hug, his eyes moist with happy tears. Kazuki patted him on the arm to release Loki, who was turning blue from lack of air. Draco was touched at the strong emotion the Boy-Who-Lived was giving off and Leo felt pity that this was Harry's first real birthday celebration.
"You have to blow out the candles," said Kazuki. "Remember to make a wish and don't tell us no matter how much Loki begs."
"I won't do that," Loki protested, sitting on the floor. "At least not that long. I'll probably beg for a hour or two and then quit."
"It's the truth," said Leo.
"I'm hungry," Draco complained from his spot on the couch. "Blow out the candles Harry."
"I will~~~" said Harry, and then turned to the blonde. "Did you just call me Harry?"
"Err, slipped out of my mouth," said Draco. "If you don't want me calling you Harry, I'll just keep on calling you Potter."
"No, I would like having you call me Harry," said the birthday boy. "But on the condition that I can call you Draco. It's only fair."
"Whatever," Draco said, trying not to be look too pleased.
Harry closed his eyes, made his wish, and blew all the candles out in one breath. Everyone clapped and Kazuki gave him a cutting knife. Loki had a digital camera and was clicking like a lunatic. Leo was passing Harry the paper plates and Draco got off the couch to pour soda into the plastic cups.
"What kind of wish did you make?" asked Loki.
"I can't tell you and you know that," Harry said, grinning as he sliced the cake into pieces. "You'll have to quit right now because I won't break and tell you."
"While we eat, open your presents," said Draco. "I've been wondering what they got you."
"I got presents?" Harry said, his grin so radiant it made the others mentally tell themselves to always throw a party on his birthday in the future.
Leo brought the neatly wrapped presents from behind the couch and placed it in front of Harry.
"Come on Lightning," Loki said, about as excited as Harry and it wasn't even his own birthday party. "Open them. Open them. Open them."
"I'll open the ones from Professor Snape, Professor Green, and Remus first," said Harry. "Then yours."
Remus gave him two books; one was on wand-less magic and the other was a beginner's handbook to martial arts. Sirius got him a new supply kit for his broom and a fifty Galleons gift certificate from Quality Quidditch Supplies. Severus' was more practical. It was a Potions kit, similar to the supply kit, with tiny jars of ingredients, vials and test tubes, three kinds of knifes, and a book on dangerous potions.
"Trust Uncle to give something Potions-related," said Loki. "Now open ours."
"Eager, aren't you?" said Harry. "What did you get me?"
"You'll see when you open it," Loki said mysteriously. "It cost more than I had expected so Kazuki and I chipped in together."
"You shouldn't have," Harry said, taking the rectangular box with Loki and Kazuki's names on the wrapper. "It's heavy."
"The suspense is killing me," Draco said impatiently. "Open it."
Harry tore off the wrappings and was stunned at seeing the picture of his gift on the box cover.
"You got him a laptop?" Draco gaped while Harry said at the same time, "You got me a laptop?"
"Like it?" Loki asked impishly. "Kazuki picked the nicest and most reasonably priced one. I was going to get you something else but I didn't see anything that would be fun and useful. It's charmed to work at Hogwarts."
"Like it? I love it, but there's no charm that permits electronics to work at Hogwarts," said Harry. "My friend Hermione told me and it was from the book about the school."
"New spells get created and voila! Muggle electronics can work," said Loki. "It all thanks to the wizards from the States and my hometown Tokyo, Japan."
"Since you got a laptop, you should open mine next," said Leo.
Harry complied and stared in amazement. The box was filled with books on how to use computers and surf the Internet. Underneath them were tons of video games and a joypad.
"I didn't know what kind of games you liked so I bought the ones I knew were popular and appealing," Leo said, embarrassed at Harry's unadulterated look of delight aimed at him. "I didn't buy any ultra hard games since you've never played before."
"Thank you so much," said Harry. "All of you. This is the best birthday I had ever had."
"You forgot to open mine," Draco said, handing him a small jewelry box. "I got it this morning so I didn't have time to wrap it."
"You got me a gift?" Harry said, looking at the box and then Draco. "Thank you."
"Well," Draco said, blushing and clearing his throat. "We're friends, aren't we? It's normal for me to purchase something for your birthday."
"Friends," Harry repeated. "Yea, we're definitely friends."
Harry flipped the box open and lying on black velvet was a necklace. The chain was made of thin platinum and there were two charms hung from it. One was obviously a lion with small rubies for its eyes and the other was of a snake with an emerald as its eye.
"It's beautiful," Harry said, taking the necklace out of the box and putting it on. "I'll never take it off."
"I'm glad you like it," said Draco.
"MOVIE TIME!" said Loki. "We're going to lounge around the house and watch movies from day to night."
"We have a wide selection," said Kazuki. "Action, romance, horror, fantasy. It'll be a way to show what you've been missing all these years."
And then began their movie marathon. It lasted late into the night until exhaustion won and they fell asleep in the living room. Remus, Sirius, and Severus came home even later. What they saw reminded them of why they were risking their lives. Loki was curled up on the carpet with Harry next to him, Kazuki was on two armchairs pushed together, and Leo was on the couch with Draco lying on top of him.
"Should we wake them up?" asked Remus. "It would be more comfortable to let them sleep on beds. And we could tell them that Headmaster Dumbledore requested that Leo and Kazuki be transferred to Hogwarts as well."
Severus and Sirius shared a look.
"We should leave them be," said Sirius. "They look too peaceful to wake."
"We can tell them the news tomorrow," Severus said, conjuring some blankets and tucked them around the children.
"Can you two read each other's minds?" teased Remus.
"Go to sleep Lupin," said Severus.
The three cast another glance at the living room and went upstairs.
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A.N. - Hurray for me! Managed to post up Chapter 7 before the month ended. Not bad if I do say so myself. Seven chapters in one month is my personal record. Chapter 8 will have Severus and Sirius~~~home alone!