Chapter 8: Birthday Bash
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!" was all Harry heard before an enormous amount of weight fell onto him.
"Ooof!" he groaned as he reached for his glasses. When he put them on he saw his friends on top of him. The dog pile from top to bottom was Tonks, Lupin, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione all on top of Harry. "Am I not allowed to wake up normally anymore?" he joked as he tried to push his friends off of him, failing.
"Of course not, nothing is normal in this house!" Hermione laughed as they all began to tickle Harry. He was in tears before he managed to make them all get off of him. Ginny stuck out her tongue out at him before following her companions out of Harry's bedroom and down the stairs. Harry ran as fast as he could before he came to an abrupt stop. The kitchen table was covered with gifts wrapped in dazzling colors.
After gaping for a while, he took note of everyone in the room. Lupin, Tonks, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Luna Lovegood all smiled up at him (in one way or another.) Luna was a little less spaced out than usual, it seemed. Her eyes sparkled as she stole glances at Ron, Harry noticed. "Happy Birthday, Harry!" she said, grinning at him.
Tonks looked a the clock and said, "Better go get dressed, Harry." Harry looked at her with a confused expression. She laughed and Hermione took over.
"If you want your present from Dumbledore, then you better get dressed!" She said, pushing him up the stairs. Harry had no chance to look back as Hermione forced him up to his room.
"Will you be coming with us, Ronald?" Luna asked with a flip of her hair towards him.
"Er, uh, what for?" he asked, blushing slightly.
Ginny rolled her eyes at the two. "I suppose Dumbledore wouldn't mind…"
"Ok, I'll go get ready!" Ron said, rushing up the stairs. Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Tonks, and Remus ate some toast while waiting for the others.
"So, will you be coming, Remus?" Harry asked, walking down the stairs in a faded T-shirt and loose, almost baggy jeans. He saw a look of disgust on Ginny's face, as she looked him over. Ron came down a second later wearing a sweater and unmatched jeans. Ginny looked as though she was about to explode.
"I will unfortunately be unable to accompany you today, Harry. I do hope you will make it out alive," Lupin answered, trying to hide his smile with his hand.
"Accompany us? Where are we going? What is this present of Dumbledore's?" Harry asked. Ginny, Luna, Tonks, and Hermione all appeared before him and smiled wickedly.
"We are," Hermione said with a large grin.
"Well that answers the question of what to give the boy-who-lived-who-has-everything," Ron smirked. Ginny smacked him upside of his head, rather hard.
"We are to get Harry a new wardrobe consisting of things that are fashionable and that actually fit him," Tonks said matter-of-factly. Then she looked Ron up and down. "I think he could use some clothing as well. Some that aren't, well, ugly." She smiled. Ron looked offended as they all walked out of the house.
Harry let out a loud moan as they left the tenth store of Muggle London He and Ron had many bags on their arms, and the girls just skipped ahead of them, one small bag with necklaces for each of them. "You didn't even let me have anything to eat for breakfast, and it's now," he checked his watch, "Two in the afternoon!"
"Ugh!" Hermione turned and faced Harry, pointing a finger. "Suck it up! We have at least another five stores to go! You've played longer Quidditch games…" she muttered the last part. Then she joined Tonks, Ginny, and Luna to talk about where to go next.
"I always told you she was mental. Brilliant, but mental," Ron laughed as he strained against the weight of his bags.
"Boys, we're going to get something to eat so you'll stop whining!" Hermione said harshly as they crossed the street.
"If you go behind that alley, then I'm sure Dobby would be happy to take those heavy bags back to the house!" Tonks shouted as she pointed to an alley and threw her bag at Harry. He glared at her while the girls went into a strange restaurant called McDonald's. He and Ron made their way over to the alley. Dobby was more than happy to oblige and Harry and Ron went to get a table in the courtyard-area in front of McDonald's.
"So what's this with you and Luna?" Harry asked out of the blue while they waited for the girls. Ron choked on an imaginary drink.
"Luna? And me?" he squeaked out. Harry nodded. "Nothing, nothing's going on with me and Looney." Harry saw it all happen in his mind before his eyes saw it. Luna Lovegood came up behind Ron and poured her milkshake on his head. Ron was in shock and didn't respond. When he finally managed to say something, it was 'Wha…what?"
"I was SURE we had agreed that you weren't to call me that anymore, Ronald!" Luna said evenly, sitting down next to Ron, Ginny on her other side.
"Wonder when that agreement was made…" Hermione whispered in Harry's ear before taking a seat next to him and smiling. She and Tonks handed out the food and everyone laughed at the fact that Ron had yet to clean up.
"FINALLY! SALVATION!" was what Harry and Ron yelled as they triumphantly made it into the house before collapsing. They had another full load of bags by now. Remus shot them an odd glance as they made a dramatic showing of kissing the ground.
"Boys…" Ginny whispered to Luna as she led her into the living room to sit down. No sooner after they sat down, they started giggling and laughing.
Tonks gave Lupin a quick smile before walking past him to go to her room, her hand quickly brushed his in the process and she winked at him. Lupin excused himself and followed Tonks.
Hermione frowned for a second before her eyes widened. She cleared her throat and addressed Harry. "If you go upstairs and clean up, I will begin on your birthday cake."
Harry raised an eyebrow at her before saying, "You? Cook?" Her glare was so frightening that he ran up the stairs.
"And dress nice for dinner!"
Harry came down the stairs slightly uncomfortable. He had an obscene amount of gel in his hair to get it to stay down. He was wearing a light tan colored button-down shirt that was tucked into dark gray slacks. He felt very overdressed for his own birthday dinner. He was messing with his top button when he heard a crowd bellow, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!"
He almost fell over with surprise. There were most of the members of the Order he had met, including Remus, Tonks, McGonagall, and Dumbledore. Also his friends Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna Lovegood were beaming at him. He also noticed the entire Weasley family, barring Percy, standing there in a sea of red hair. He also saw a copious amount of presents on a circular table behind his friends. Harry descended the stairs, beside himself. He had never had a real birthday before, yet alone a surprise birthday party.
When he reached the last of the stairs, all of the Order members came and shook his hand. Remus came to shake Harry's hand and pulled him into a tight hug. Mr. Weasley did the same, and his wife practically killed Harry with this particular hug. He shook the Weasleys' hands too, except for Fred and George, but who could blame him. Harry got hugs from Ginny, Luna, Tonks, and Hemrione as well. He received a bright smile from Dumbledore and a nod from Professor McGonagall.
They all assembled in the foyer, all of them conjuring up chairs or cushions of some sort. The presents were enchanted to come into Harry's lap without him getting up. The first one came and Harry announced who it was from (Kingsley Shacklebot.) It turned out to be a wand holster. Most of his gifts were chocolates and books. He received a Foe Glass from Mad-Eye, which Harry thanked him graciously for. And he got a sweater from Mrs. Weasley, and they all pitched in to buy him a dragonskin jacket. Harry suspected that Charlie had a large hand in this, along with the Twins. Tonks gave Harry a book on Metamorphagi. Hermione's gift had been by far the most surprising, though. She had given him a Penseive that fit in the palm of his hand. He practically ran to give her a hug. The book that Dumbledore gave Harry was blank, but a look in Dumbledore's eyes told him that its appearance was deceiving.
Harry now noticed Hermione's absence from the group. She came in a second later with a large cake with red icing and a Gryffindor lion on it. After a terrifying round of 'Happy Birthday to You,' everyone dug into their cake. "Mmm, Hermione you made this?" Harry questioned.
"Yes, gotta problem?" she responded. He acted like he was chocking and she tried to hide her grin. "That's it, give me back my present!" she said, reaching for it.
"Nonononono! It is a wonderful cake, Hermes," Harry smirked, knowing she hated that nickname.
"Ooh! I should just kill you now! Don't call me that!" she whined. The other people in the room watched the exchange between the two teenagers and shared a knowing glance with each other. An hour later, most of the people left after giving Harry another 'Happy Birthday' wish. Hermione waved good-bye to Moody, and leaned against the door, letting out a large sigh. Harry came from the kitchen and smiled at her. She made a face and said, "I'm tired!"
Harry walked over to her and gave her a great hug. "Thank you so much, Hermione!"
Thank you to everyone who reviewed my story so far and I am SOOO sorry this took so long. I promise on my beta's life (sory Aspen) that the next chapter will be more interesting. I don't want to give it away, but Ginny might be smashed.
