"Well, now that all of the mushy stuff is over with, I wonder when we're going to eat dinner," Ron said as he put his hand over his stomach.
"Oh yeah! I forgot all about that," Hermione said with a glance at Ron and Ginny, "Let me go see if the meeting is over yet, it should be by now."
As Hermione left the room, he wondered when she suddenly was so eager for dinner. It was very usual for Ron to be hungry, but Hermione never usually cares when meals are.
"So, um, Ginny, Dean didn't do anything mean to you, did he? He never actually cheated on you, right?" Ron asked, as his face formed a bit of a scowl.
"No Ron, and it's none of your concern really, I can handle boyfriends quite fine without any brotherly protection," Ginny snapped back.
"Fine, but he wasn't right for you anyway," Ron said.
"Oh yeah... well then Mr. Know-it-all who IS right for me?" Ginny asked.
"Well, um," Ron looked down as he began to blush, "Well's he's here, I mean over there, I mean, out there... I mean, you'll find him," Ron finished, hoping no one realized who he truly wanted Ginny to date. Meanwhile, Harry couldn't help noticed that Ginny had called RON a know-it-all, taking Hermione's title.
The three of them talked casually for a few minutes before Hermione finally came back into the room. She poked her head in the door and with a grin from ear to ear said, "Ok, dinner's ready!" and then left.
Ron and Ginny both seemed to leap off their seats and at the door, Harry had barely even stood up before he heard their footsteps thumping all the way down the stairs.
Geez, Harry thought, I'm definitely going to need to question those three on why they're acting so strangely. Have they been starved all summer? Right as he was thinking of possibilities for why they're so hungry, Harry heard a loud crash from the kitchen. He pushed open the door to the kitchen quickly, thinking of the worst, of Voldemort, even though it would be very unlikely for Harry to find Voldemort in the kitchen.
As the door was opening, all he could notice was the silence, which was extremely unusual for a household filled with Weasleys.
There were no lights on in the kitchen; there wasn't even a single speck of light coming in through the window.
"Lumos," Harry muttered as he simultaneously whipped out his wand.
Harry found himself face to face with a floating cake, as he was trying to decipher the writing on it all of the lights came on in the room.
"SURPRISE!"
About 25 people were scattered around the kitchen and dining room all staring at Harry looking extremely pleased. Harry didn't even know what to do. Why were all these people here? What is this surprise about?
"W...w... Why's everyone here?" Harry finally stuttered out.
"Harry, don't tell me you forgot about your birthday!" Hermione hollered from his left.
"My birthday?" Harry asked himself quietly, "I can't believe I didn't remember!" Harry said as he hit himself on the forehead.
"Oh, then Happy Birthday, Mate!" Ron said, emitting a chuckle from everyone in the crowd.
"Er... thanks," Harry replied, finally smiling. He couldn't believe he was thrown a birthday party, and a surprise one at that. He looked around the room to find just about everyone he was friends with. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Dean, Seamus, Fred, George, Lee Jordan, Angela Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Lupin, Tonks, Dumbledore, and many members from the Order.
"Come on, Harry! Stop staring," George yelled stepping forward
"Yeah, I don't know about you, but I want to eat some cake," Fred said as he reached for the cake floating in the air.
"Let's go everyone, to the living room so we can cut this cake and get the party going!" George exclaimed following his twin.
"But what was that crash I heard? We're not under attack, are we?" Harry asked, still not believing that this was all happening.
"Oh...no, that was just me," Tonks said sheepishly, "I knocked over a couple plates getting into my hiding place."
As the wave of people moved in the considerably larger living room, Harry noticed the changes Sirius had apparently made there too. It had been re-floored, with new furniture, new curtains, and new paint. It seemed like someone had enchanted the room to accommodate more people, and there was a dance floor in the center of the room, along with a long table of food along one of the walls. There were a few tables with chairs around them so people could sit and eat. Banners were hanging along all walls saying 'Happy 16th Birthday Harry'
"I think music would be appropriate," Dumbledore said and with a flick of his wand music was playing throughout the room that Harry vaguely recognized as the popular band The Weird Sisters.
"So, Harry, what do you think?" Hermione asked as she approached him with Ron.
"Well I can't believe someone organized this. By the way, who thought of this?" Harry asked.
"It was Ginny's idea really, she told me and Ron about it at the very end of last year, and the three of us and Mrs. Weasley have helped put it together." Hermione replied. Harry around and spotted Ginny standing next to Neville 10 feet away pretending to listen to him. He gave her a genuine smile and mouthed the word 'thanks', she knew why he was smiling and give him back a slight grin with a shrug as she blushed a little.
"So you wanna get some cake?" Ron asked Harry, breaking his train of thought.
"Oh that's so like you Ron Weasley, always wanting to eat," Hermione said with a look of disgust.
"Hey, a man's gotta eat," Ron said with a grin. And he rushed over to the food table, followed by Hermione.
On the way to the table of food Harry was approached by many of the guests to wish him a happy birthday.
The first person to approach him was Lupin, who Harry immediately noticed was dressed a lot nicer than usual. It was an informal occasion, but he had on a nice, new looking pair of khaki pants and a collared shirt. Harry wondered if Lupin had gotten a job, despite his condition.
"Happy Birthday, Harry," Lupin said as he extended a hand to give Harry a firm handshake. He seemed very happy, and his eyes were seemed to be glossy with excitement. He was grinning genuinely, Harry had no idea his birthday made Lupin so excited.
"Thanks Professor Lupin," Harry said in response.
"Remus, Harry, Remus. I think 16 is old enough to stop with all the formalities, don't you?" Lupin asked, still smiling.
"Sure, I guess so," Harry said smiling, trying to match Lupin's mood, it was his birthday after all.
"Good, great," Lupin said, right before someone yelled "Hey Remus over here!" Harry looked over his shoulder to find Tonks on the dance floor waving Lupin over. "Well, Harry, I think we need some hazard control over on the dance floor, so I'd best be going, but if you're not busy tomorrow, I thought maybe we could hang out?"
"Yeah, of course," Harry said, starting to get a bit curious. Harry had started to notice that the Marauders always seemed to have ulterior motives up their sleeves.
"Have fun!" Lupin called as he was already walking towards Tonks. When Harry saw him start dancing, he wondered if Fred and George had slipped some Firewhiskey into the punch, he'd never seen Lupin so energetic, especially recently.
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan approached Harry next, surrounding him a bit on all sides.
"Harry, mate!" George said merrily.
"How are you doing?" Lee asked.
"Happy big 16," Fred continued.
"Hey Fred, George, Lee," Harry said, nodding to each of them.
"We know your lives been a little, well how do I say this..." Fred said.
"Dreadful," George said flatly
"So we decided to offer you a little spice, if you want it."
"So go drink some of the punch that's on the far left corner of the table."
"You'll notice it's got a bit of a kick to it."
"Its was expensive, and hard to pull off with mum always nosing around."
"But, you are worth it, you little business sponsor you..." Fred said, as he ruffled up Harry's hair, not that anyone would be able to notice anyway.
"Er..." Harry said, not sure what to say or even sure of exactly what they put in the punch.
"Boys, he's speechless, we better leave before he tears up," George said. And with that, the three trouble makers were gone.
Before he'd even taken one step, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet were upon him, almost literally. Each of the girls ran up to him giggling and gave him big hugs.
"Oh Harry, Happy Birthday," Katie Bell said during her hug.
"We're gonna miss you so much, not playing quidditch any more with you," Angelina said as she hugged Harry after Katie did.
"I can't believe our youngest quidditch player in a century is already 16," Alicia said during her hug, and everyone, including Harry laughed.
"Me neither, really, but then again I'm the one who forgot my birthday all together," Harry said.
"Oh girls, we're getting lonely over here!" Harry heard Fred yell from the dance floor as a slow song came on.
"Oh well, Harry, I suppose we have to go, but we'll need to talk again later tonight to plan another get together since we wont see you during the year," Katie said sadly.
"Yeah, that sounds good," Harry said.
Once the girls had found their respective guys to dance with, Harry was off, once again just trying to reach the food table.
"Pst, Harry, Pst, over here" Harry heard someone hiss at him.
He looked around a little and finally spotted Dean and Seamus calling him from over by the bunch bowl, the punch bowl. Harry walked over to the two; Dean had one arm on the table propping up his entire body, and Seamus had his elbow Dean's shoulder, trying to steady himself which was entirely unproductive because it was just making Dean more wobbly.
"Harry, we heard :hiccup: that the punch :hiccup: was spiked :hiccup:," Dean finally managed to get out.
"So we tried it, and look," the Irish boy, Seamus, said with a huge grin, "it is!"
"I know, it was Fred and George as their present for me," Harry told them.
"Oh yeah! Happy birthday! Happy Birthday to Harry! :hiccup:" Dean said in a singsong voice.
"Well then birthday boy, maybe you should have a cup, I mean, it is good, and, you could use to loosen up a bit," and in one surprisingly swift motion from Seamus, Harry had a full cup of red punch in his hand that he could smell from a foot away.
"Should I?" Harry asked more to himself than to the intoxicated boys.
"Why not!" Dean said with a large arm gesture that caused him to loose his balance and stumble forward a step, making Seamus stumble a bit with him.
"I guess you're right," Harry said, taking a gulp of the beverage. Tastes more like poison than punch Harry thought. He figured that was enough, he didn't want to end up like Dean, hiccupping all night. He just wanted to loosen up, lift the burden for a few minutes.
Harry walked over to get some cake; it had his name on it after all. He took one of the largest pieces and walked over to sit at a table that Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville were at.
"Happy Birthday, Harry," Neville said.
"Yes, Harry, Happy 16th," Ginny said.
"Thanks,"
"Yah Happy big 16! Now you can go get your drivers license!" Hermione said, but only her and Harry laughed.
"What?" Ron asked, looking at the two of them as they laughed as if they had really gone insane.
"Don't worry about it, Ron, muggle talk," Harry said, still breathing irregularly from all his laughing.
"Well, you guys are boring me, anyone up for some dancing," Ginny said as she pushed away her plate with cake. Ron quickly picked it up and put it next to his and began eating the cake from it.
"Well I'm rubbish at dancing," Neville said looking regretful.
"I will," Harry said standing up, feeling more adventurous than usual, or more like feeling the boost from his 'punch'.
"Great!" Ginny said, taking Harry's hand and pulling him to the dance floor.
The dance floor was scattered with people, Harry noted the twins and Lee, with the quidditch girls, Lupin, Tonks, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and a few other members of the Order.
When Harry finally got out onto the floor, he realized what he'd gotten himself into. He didn't know how to dance! He'd slow danced, but that was pushing it for him. As he discovered with Cho last year, he wasn't the most... experienced with girls. And he wasn't too smooth either.
Ginny didn't seem to notice though; she was already moving all around dancing to the upbeat song that Harry didn't recognize. He suddenly felt so incredibly awkward standing there watching her dance, so he decided to at least sway to the beat a little. His movement must have gotten Ginny's attention, however, and she realized he wasn't really dancing.
"Oh come on, Harry. You have to dance, it's your party!" She said reaching for his hands, "Just move your arms like this and move your feet a little."
Harry was starting to get the hang of it, and he was actually enjoying himself. He liked that he could just relax. No one was trying to have serious discussions with him, there was no one he had to think about saving, and he was starting to feel more and more confident with his dance moves. He was watching Lupin out of the corner of his eyes, trying to copy Lupin's moves.
"Wow, Harry, you're really getting good!" Ginny said, amazed that he was already doing a different dance move.
"Thanks, you were a great teacher," Harry said instinctively.
Before Ginny could even say thanks, the song changed to the second slow song of the evening. It seemed to bring more people out on the dance floor, and Harry noticed Hermione and Ron start dancing together. Luna and Neville then got up and followed them out. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were also getting up to dance together.
"Harry? HARRY. HARRY!!" Ginny was saying to Harry who was in a zone, busy watching people around the room.
When she finally shook his shoulders he snapped out, "Huh? What, were you saying something?" Harry said.
"Yeah, I wanted to know if you wanted to dance." Ginny asked unusually shyly, looking down at the ground and moving her left foot in small circles.
"Oh, sure," Harry replied, a bit surprised.
Ginny moved closer to Harry and put her hands on his shoulders. Harry followed her lead and put his hands on her waist. They swayed easily back and forth to the beat, each glancing over each others shoulders, watching everyone else but rarely looking directly at each other. They fit together nicely; Ginny came up to about Harry's eyes and her arms were not reaching to meet his shoulders.
A very observant onlooker might have noticed them getting slowly closer, centimeter by centimeter. Luckily for Harry, who wanted anything but attention, there were no observant onlookers, except for a wise old Dumbledore, looking over the shoulder of Minerva McGonagall at the young pair.
By the end of the song, they were about an inch apart. Harry could feel Ginny's breathing on his neck; it was in perfect time with his.
Another fast song came on, and Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, Seamus and Dean all came over to dance. They were all dancing in a big circle, and everyone was having a great time. Seamus and Dean (a little recovered from before, but still on the tipsy side) would occasionally go in the center and do one of their crazy drunken dance moves. When ever Fred or George spotted Seamus or Dean in the center, they would quickly take out their wands and turn their hair blue, or make them sprout wings. It was the best time Harry could remember having in months.
Eventually people tired, and one by one everyone sat down at the tables again, unable to stand up from all their dancing. Hermione and Harry sat down together, the others of their group still finding the stamina to continue their boogying.
"So, Harry, have you had a good time?" Hermione asked as she crossed one leg over the other and rubbed her sore foot.
"Yeah, it was really great, I can't thank you guys enough," Harry said honestly.
"You deserved it, really," Hermione said back, "So it looked like you were having a good time with Ginny?" Hermione tried to say casually.
"Yeah, I didn't know I danced," Harry said with a chuckle.
"Neither did Ron and I... I have question, you don't still like Cho do you?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
"Oh, no, definitely not, why?" Harry asked, starting to get curious.
"Well I really think you should consider dating..." Hermione said, but mid-sentence was cut off by Dumbledore, who was suddenly sitting in a chair he pulled up right next to the two of them.
"Pardon me, Ms. Granger, I do hope I wasn't interrupting anything important," He said with a twinkle in his brilliantly blue eyes.
"Oh, it can wait, Professor," Hermione replied.
"Have the two of you tried the lemon tart? Molly has simply outdone herself this time," Dumbledore asked in an airy voice.
"Yes, all of Mrs. Weasley's dishes are wonderful this evening," Hermione said happily.
"Yes, that they were," and at this Dumbledore paused for a moment, seeming to be thinking about the food. "Well, down to business," Dumbledore said with a cheerful clap of his hands, "Harry, I was just wondering if you would be able to meet with me the day after tomorrow, here at headquarters at around noon. There are just a few things I need to discuss with you, nothing to be concerned about however," Dumbledore asked.
"Sure, professor, I don't really have anything else to be doing," Harry replied meekly.
"Ah, well we can fix that," and with a twinkle and a touch to his pointy velvet purple hat, the old man was gone.
"Wonder what that last part was about," Hermione asked Harry.
"Dumbledore's up to something," Harry said suspiciously, knowing too well how his Headmaster works.
As Harry was finishing his comment, Ron, Ginny and the rest of their friends came over to sit with Harry and Hermione. No one was left on the dance floor, and in the corner of the room Mad-Eye Moody was sitting at a table asleep. Harry watched Kingsley Shacklebolt walk over to Moody and shake him awake, and then watched as the two of them approached Harry's table slowly; Shacklebolt walking along with Moody who hobbled over as his mad eye was spinning out of control.
"Alright there, Potter? Looking a little bit tired," Moody said giving him a little nudge.
"Yes, I'm fine," Harry replied with a little smile.
"Happy Birthday, Harry," Kingsley said, joining the conversation.
"Thanks, Kingsley," Harry said.
"A group of us got you a little something, but we can't give it to you quite yet," Kingsley said with a smirk.
"Ok, well then, thanks in advance. When do I get it?" Harry asked curiously.
"Oh you'll see soon enough," Kingsley replied with a glance at Moody.
"Come on, Shacklebolt, I think it's time we take all these kids home," Moody said to Kingsley, gesturing to Harry's friends.
"Right then. Neville, Luna, Dean, Seamus, you guys are coming with us so we can take you home," Kingsley said. The 4 friends said their goodbyes to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, wishing Harry one last happy birthday, and they exited the room.
"Oh yeah, how did you get them all here? That's a lot of people to know about Grimmauld Place, we probably shouldn't have given away the location of Head..." But Harry didn't even get in the last word before Hermione spoke up.
"Don't worry about it, Harry. They all agreed to get their memory fixed after they leave, they'll remember the night, just not the location," Hermione replied in the know-it-all voice.
"Oh, smart," Harry replied, seeming at ease again.
"Yes," Ron added, looking at Hermione.
When Harry looked around, he was surprised to see that many of the guests had left. He was shocked how many people had come, even people he had only met a few times. He supposed everyone just needed an excuse to have some fun, and he didn't mind that his birthday was the excuse. We are amidst very dark times, everyone needs some fun, Harry reminded himself.
Fred, George, Lee, Angela, Katie, and Alicia came up to Harry one last time, and with a flurry of hugs, pats, and birthday wishes, the group of recent graduates were gone.
The only people left in the large room were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Lupin, Tonks, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny.
"Well," Mr. Weasley began, standing up, "I think we can declare it a night."
"Yes, I think its time you dears when up to bed," Mrs. Weasley told them.
"Mrs. Weasley, would you like some help cleaning up?" Hermione said as she motioned towards all of the left over food and dirty dishes.
"It's been a tiring night, why don't we just leave it for the morning?" Mrs. Weasley said sounding exhausted herself.
"Yep, well, I should be off then, it's getting pretty late, got work tomorrow," Tonks said as she stood up and stretched her arms with a big yawn.
"I'll walk you to the door, goodnight guys, Happy Birthday again Harry,"
"Thanks, Remus," Harry said, still getting used to the name.
The friends watched Remus and Tonks exit, until a tired Mrs. Weasley ushered them out of the room and up the stairs.
"Well, happy birthday again, Harry," Hermione said before walking into her room.
"'Night Harry, hope you had a good birthday!" Ginny said and followed Hermione into their room.
Harry and Ron went next door into their room, so tired they were almost sleepwalking. With only a "G'night" to each other, they changed, climbed into bed, and fell asleep, Harry being more content than he could remember himself being for months.