Chapter 12
"Happy birthday, Harry."
Harry was lost in thought remembering the events of the attack. Malfoy died within minutes and Snape had died the next morning. Harry recalled that Hermione had hit him with a pretty solid reducto charm to the shoulder, but the healers had arrived immediately after. Harry had questioned how serious the man's injuries really were. He didn't think that Snape had been mortally wounded, but about 9:00 AM he died. When Harry inquired, Moody had quickly suggested that Narcissa was probably behind the attack.
Harry kept wondering to himself, 'Why did Snape die?' Unfortunately, the one person who might know was the one person who Harry trusted least at the moment.
"Harry?" Emma gave him a quizzical look.
"Sorry," he replied. "I was just thinking about something. What can I help with today?"
"Harry, Dan and I have morning appointments at the surgery. I'll be back to take you and Hermione to Diagon Alley for a few hours then we'll have dinner. Are you sure you want to stay in tonight and barbecue? We'd be glad to take you out for dinner."
Harry met her eyes, saw her smile and he said, "What ever would be easiest for you. I don't want to be a bother."
She gave his arm a friendly squeeze and said, "That's so sweet. You're never a bother, Harry. We'll have dinner in. I'll be home by noon. Keep Hermione company. OK?"
Harry nodded and replied, "I'm happy to help. Bye."
Harry went in and found Hermione curled up on a sofa in the family room reading a book on arithmancy. He sat down by her and said, "There's an angel reading in the family room. I should get a camera, and take a photo."
Hermione stood up and gave Harry a hug and kiss. "Happy birthday, Mr. Potter. Can I keep you company today?"
Harry couldn't remember receiving a better birthday greeting. He kissed her back, and said, "That would make this a perfect day. Thank you."
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There was a gentle knock on the door. Hermione opened the door and invited Professor Dumbledore into the family room. He greeted her in a friendly manor, "Hello Miss Granger. Is Harry available?"
Harry walked out of the kitchen with three butterbeers. "Hello Professor." I was just thinking about you.
"Kindly, I hope," said Dumbledore, smiling.
"Mostly, sir," replied Harry, smiling back.
"I'll get some glasses," said Hermione, wanting to give the two a few moments to converse in private.
When she had left, Harry quietly asked, "Professor, what happened to Snape? He wasn't mortally wounded, yet he died a little after nine the next morning."
Dumbledore surveyed Harry for a moment, considering whether to try legilimency on him, provide an evasive answer, or tell him of the oath that Snape had taken wishing to avoid being sent to Azkaban. Instead, he tried an old policeman technique. He asked a question and didn't say anything, to let Harry fill the silence. "I'm not positive Harry. I wasn't at St. Mungo's. What do you think happened to him?"
Harry considered his words carefully then replied, "I think someone helped him along." Dumbledore remained silent, and Harry filled the silence by saying, "I don't think it was a Death Eater, because it was too clean." He hadn't accused Dumbledore of anything, but there was no ambiguity in the young man's words either.
Dumbledore remained silent. His relationship with Harry was at a crossroads. He could tell Harry the truth, or tell him the whole truth, or provide an evasive answer. He settled for a truth. "I believe that Severus was spared serving a life term in Azkaban for his participation in the murder of Michael Wood. Several years ago, he had made a request that any reasonable means be used to avoid his having him sent to Azkaban in the event that he was arrested. He certainly would have been convicted, whether he directly murdered Michael or not." Dumbledore didn't indicate whether Snape's wizard's pact was made with the Order or Voldemort.
Harry nodded darkly. "Would you be willing to say as much to Hermione, or does she need to go through her life believing that she killed a man?"
Dumbledore saw Hermione coming back and quietly replied, "We can finish this conversation another day. I will abide by your guidance." Somewhat louder he said, "I stopped by to wish you a very happy birthday, and to bring you something that I hope you will find useful." He produced a rather large, carefully wrapped package and handed it to Harry.
"Thank you, Professor," replied Harry. They sat down on the sofa next to Hermione. Harry carefully opened the package. It was solicitor's pensive, light gray with a dozen small runes surrounding the rim. While not as ornately decorated as Dumbledore's, it was still quite beautiful in its own right. Harry was stunned by the wonderful gift and could only exclaim "Wow! Thank you, Professor. This is great!"
Hermione looked at it curiously, having never seen one before. "What is it?" she asked.
Dumbledore replied, "It is a pensive, specifically a solicitor's pensive. Someone can place a memory in the dish like so. Dumbledore placed his wand to his temple and withdrew a long silver thread and placed it into the bowl. He tapped the bowl with his wand and an image of the great hall appeared much like a 3D hologram. They watched for a minute as an eleven year old Lilly Evens was sorted into Gryffindor.
Tears welled in Harry's eyes. "Thank you, Professor. The only other time that I can remember hearing my mum speak wasn't so pleasant." Dumbledore nodded, withdrew another strand and placed it in the bowl. Again he gave it a little tap. The three of them watched in silence for ten minutes as the image of James and Lilly appeared exchanging wedding vows.
Hermione gave Dumbledore a hug. "Thank you, Professor. This is the best gift that you could have given Harry." Dumbledore smiled and pulled two last threads and placed them into the bowl. Again he tapped it. An image appeared of a seventh year James Potter being presented and holding up the Quidditch cup. The other image showed a nineteen year old Sirius Black riding on his motorcycle.
Dumbledore got up to leave. He said, "You can replay the memories as often as you wish. Unlike my own pensive, placing your memory in this one does not remove it from your memory, rather takes a copy so you can share it with others. This scroll will explain how to use it. Enjoy your day, both of you."
Harry was almost speechless. At the last moment, he stood and said, "Thank you very much, Professor. Thank you." Any anger that he may have had toward Dumbledore vanished that morning. He'd come as close as he could to giving Harry his parents back.
Dumbledore smiled, opened up the back door, walked to the edge of the hedge and disappeared. He was clearly pleased with himself. He had answered Harry's question without implicating Moody and left him with happier memories of his parents and Sirius.
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After they had watched the memories a second time, Hermione asked Harry if he would like to go swimming. She had a sly grin on her face and said, "I'll wear my white bikini, and hopefully create another happy memory for you." She had a very good idea of the impact that it had on Harry.
He smiled back and said, "I'd like that very much." Any thoughts of Snape had completely left Harry's conscious. She returned a few minutes later wearing the little white string bikini. She turned around lifted up her hair, and asked Harry if he would mind retying the top for her. Harry's hands trembled slightly as he unloosened the top knot and carefully redid the bow for her.
She turned around, kissed him on the cheek, saying "Breathe Harry. You're so sweet." She kissed him again on the cheek. Harry shivered as he felt the soft cloth brush against his chest.
An hour later they were still having fun splashing and swimming back and forth. Harry had become a good swimmer in the month that he had spent at the Grangers.
They made a salad and put it back in the refrigerator until Emma came home for lunch. She arrived with a very large package of steaks, and other things for the evening meal.
After lunch, they drove into Diagon Alley. Harry had business at Gringotts. Hermione and Emma volunteered to go to the vault with him. Harry exchanged a thousand galleons for French currency for the trip. Hermione took Harry to the bookstore where they purchased their schoolbooks and a half dozen extra books each. Hermione had found some books on healing while Harry selected books on invisibility, occlumency, legilimency and streetfighting.
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Newly installed Director Connie Hammer was very good at reading mixed signals. Minister of Magic Amelia Bones had given her clear instruction to proceed with the investigation of the mysterious death of Severus Snape. In reality, the department of magical law enforcement had a dotted line reporting relationship to Minister Bones and a dotted line to the Wizengamot. The Wizengamot was responsible for the confirmation of the appointment of the head of the department, while the Minister of Magic had the final approval of the department budgets. Hammer couldn't afford to alienate either.
In a chance meeting with Professor Dumbledore several days after the attack, he had made a casual comment that Snape's death was unfortunate, but probably wasn't worth investing a lot of time looking into. At the time, Church had interpreted Dumbledore's comments based on his position as Hogwarts Headmaster. It certainly didn't enhance the school's reputation that the head of one of the houses was in fact a Death Eater who had been killed while attempting to murder the family of one of the school's most prominent students.
Hammer had read the reports regarding Snape's death. In summary they indicated that he had been hit with a reducto charm that had hit him below his left collarbone. The blast had effectively severed his arm at the shoulder. He had received five units of blood restorative potion at the scene. The mediwitches had cauterized the wound before transporting him to St. Mungo's.
No additional blood restorative potion had been administered while at St. Mungo's. At six AM, Snape was again examined and found to have a regular heartbeat. Even though he had not yet regained consciousness, he was believed to be in stable condition and resting comfortably. At seven, he was again checked with no change to his condition.
Hammer knew that half of patients given more than four units of blood restorative potion had their hearts stop within the first six hours. After six hours, the likelihood of complications began dropping. Snape had arrived at St. Mungo's shortly before one AM, thus it stood to reason that he would have developed complications by seven or eight if he were going to.
From what she knew and had read of the man, he had an abundance of enemies, almost no friends and very few supporters. She personally believed that he had succumbed to his injuries or had quietly been murdered by another Death Eater who did not want the information that he doubtless possessed to be made public.
Hammer knew that Bones had access to the same information. Determining that Snape had died as a result of wounds inflicted by the Granger girl, or by someone else wouldn't bring Michael back… 'But it might bring closure for the young witch.' Hammer realized that Bones was pressing the investigation in an attempt to make things right with the Grangers.
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"Obliviate."
Moody looked up at Dumbledore, gave him a strange look and asked, "What were we talking about?"
Dumbledore looked at Moody for a moment and replied, "We were talking about teaching candidates. You must have dozed off, old friend. Perhaps you were thinking about helping Kingsley with the defense instructor position. Did you want to give it another try?"
Moody replied, "Maybe. I might have something to offer the older students. I'll let you know tomorrow. Are you going to the dinner at the Grangers?"
"I stopped by earlier in the day. Enjoy your day, Alastor."
"You too, Dumbledore."
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"Surprise!"
In the blink of an eye, Harry had his wand out ready to fire. Instead of Death Eaters, he looked up and saw a very nervous looking Fred and Tonks standing in front of a group equally nervous young witches and wizards.
"I told you to just go with Happy Birthday, Fred. We could have all been blasted, but would you listen? Nooo. Cor, my hair turned blonde, and my shirt must have shrunk. Gods, he's fast." Embarrassed, she turned and said, "Happy birthday, Harry."
Harry glanced at her for a moment, suppressed an equally embarrassed smile, and replied, "Thank you, Tonks."
"Happy birthday, Harry," said Alicia, Katie and Angelina. They each gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for inviting us, Hermione. It's great to see you too. This is so nice,"
It looked like most of the previous term fifth, sixth, and seventh year Gryffindors had been invited, as well as Ginny, Molly, Arthur, Tonks, Remus, Moody, McGonagall, the house guard Aurors, Amelia and Susan Bones. Several members of the DA from other houses also came.
Harry was dumfounded. He'd never had a birthday party before, at least in his memory. Dan was grilling steaks, and had a big smile when Harry looked his way. There were several tubs of iced sodas and butterbeer around. Dan had set up a half dozen tables in the back garden. He must have been working on it all afternoon while they were in London.
Molly found Harry, and gave him one of her famous hugs. "It's good to see you. Harry. You look good."
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," replied Harry. "I've had a good holiday so far. I'm sorry that we haven't had much of an opportunity to visit yet this summer."
"Hi, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione.
Molly replied, "Hello, dear. Thank you for inviting us. We have so missed seeing Harry and you this holiday."
Hermione said, "We'll try and visit for a day the last week in August. We miss you too." She tried to imply that they were a couple with her choice of words.
Emma was wandering around, taking photos of different groups of people. Hermione had rarely invited friends over after the age of nine or ten, and she intended to make the most of the occasion. Each of the witches and wizards took the time to introduce themselves to her and visit for a minute. The all seemed to be very polite.
Susan Bones walked up to Hermione, and gave her a hug. Softly she said, "Auntie finally told me the details about the attack. It must have been terrifying."
Tears welled in Hermione's eyes. "Susan, I was so scared. It was over in less than a minute. Oliver's brother, Michael had been so nice to us."
Susan gave her a sad smile and replied, "You and Harry saved your family. You did what you had to do." She gave Hermione another hug.
Hermione nodded and replied, "Thanks Susan."
The first batch of steaks was coming off the grill and people began to sit down to eat. Not surprisingly, Ron was first in line. The conversation at his table focused on Malfoy, Snape, Quidditch and speculation about who Dumbledore might get for potions and defense professors.
Remus came up and greeted Harry, who was standing keeping Dan company while the second batch of steaks was cooking. "Happy birthday, Harry. Professor Dumbledore said that he had given you a solicitor's pensive for your birthday gift. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to add a few happy memories to it."
"Thank you, Professor," said Hermione. She carefully set it on a vacant table. Remus extracted a dozen memories and placed them into the gray dish. When he was finished, he said, "Take a look at them later. I'm certain that they'll brighten your day."
"Thanks, Remus," said Harry.
"Are the two of you OK?" he asked cautiously.
Hermione nodded. "We're getting by. The Aurors have been really good to have around."
Remus nodded sadly, and replied, "Sometimes you just have to make the best of a bad situation. I have so much respect for both of you."
"Thanks," said Hermione. "Have some dinner now. I think Tonks has something for you. We'll talk more later."
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Amelia stood off to the side, visiting with Jamie Church. "How are they holding up?" she asked.
Jamie said, "Mr. Potter seems to have taken the whole thing in stride easier than Hermione. I've seen her several times outside late evenings, crying when she's alone."
Bones replied, "Maybe she's being healthier about it. Harry seems to keep everything bottled up. I hope they at least talk with each other. The Doctors seem to be very nurturing parents."
Jamie nodded in agreement. "They're leaving for southern France for three weeks on holiday tomorrow. They made arrangements to put Tonks and I up in large beachside villa with them."
Bones replied, "That's very accommodating." In reality, Emma had discussed the arrangements with her a few days earlier.
Jamie continued, "I think Dan is behind it. Either he views Harry as a possible future son-in-law, or sees him as the son that he never had. Either way, Harry seems to spend almost as much time with him as with Hermione. They play golf together twice a week."
Bones nodded and replied, "He has to be a healthier father figure than that terrible man that Harry was stuck with for fifteen years. His solution to most situations was to degrade Harry, or treat him like some sort of unwelcome house elf."
Harry walked up and greeted both women. "Hello Minister, Senior Auror Church."
"Hi Harry. Happy birthday," replied both women at once. "Did you have a good day?"
"Brilliant," replied Harry. "We went swimming in the morning, had lunch, then we went to Gringotts. Hermione and Emma seem to enjoy the cart rides a lot. We found some books at the bookstore, then arrived here. It's been a fun day, and I'm having a fantastic evening. I got a new pensive, and people are leaving me copies of happy memories."
Bones smiled at him and said, "Harry, that's wonderful. I'll make a contribution for you, too. It's good to finally see you in a social setting."
Harry smiled back and replied, "Thank you both for coming today. You both have done so much for me this summer. I can't begin to express my gratitude."
Church replied, "We should be the ones thanking you, dear. Your other guests are looking for you. Enjoy your evening."
Harry looked over by the pool and saw Ron visiting with Lavender. They seemed to be enjoying each other's company. Ron was now 6'2 and was making the most of the publicity that he had received from the battle at the Department of Mysteries. He seemed to have taken clear notice of Lavender's curves. Lavender seemed to be hanging onto his every word as well as to Ron himself. Both seemed happy with the arrangement.
Ginny seemed rather interested in Neville. Emma watched with Hermione as they came up and greeted Harry. Neville carried himself with more personal pride and self-confidence than the previous year. He showed Harry his new wand with obvious pride.
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Emma commented to Hermione, "You seem to have made a nice group of friends at school dear. I'm very happy for you."
"Thanks mum." Hermione knew that her mum was being sincere and gave her a hug. "I feel like I finally fit in." As an afterthought she added, "I really get along great with Harry."
Emma gave her daughter a squeeze on the shoulder and replied, "We love him too, dear. We're glad that the two of you are happy together."
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Harry and Hermione met up with Lee Jordan. Brushing his dreadlocks back Lee said, "We're sorry that you and Hermione were attacked, and we feel bad that you had to do terrible things to defend yourself, but we're not sorry to be rid of Malfoy and Snape. Everyone here feels the same way."
Harry looked around, noticed that almost everyone there was watching him, and they silently nodded at him. George added, "Putting whatever he may have done to help Dumbledore aside, Snape terrorized an entire generation of students at Hogwarts. Next term might be the best year that Neville will ever have at school."
Lee added, "Who knows how much information Malfoy passed on to the Death Eaters? We just wanted to let you know that we are behind you two and wanted to express our appreciation. Cheers mate," he said as the four of them chinked their butterbeer bottles together.
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Meanwhile Amelia found her way to Emma and asked, "How are you holding up Dr. Granger?"
Emma replied, "Things have finally quieted down since the attack. We're leaving on holiday to Nice tomorrow like we talked about. I'm so pleased that Harry has been staying with us for the summer. Having him with us has been very good for Hermione – for all of us, really. She's finally had her nose out of books a bit and has spent some time outside relaxing. Harry's had dinner on the table every evening when we get home from the surgery, and Dan isn't pestering me to play yet another round of golf with him. The two of them love it, but I think it's dreadful. I imagine that Harry has had a better life as well. I can't imagine how child protection services never got wind of the way that he was being treated all those years."
Amelia nodded and replied, "I'm glad to hear that the last few weeks have been better. People have been failing to protect Harry since he was fifteen months old. I hope that trend has been reversed of late."
Emma asked, "What happened to those men who were arrested a month ago?"
Amelia replied, "They have been charged with a dozen or more crimes each and are awaiting trial. We have made some staffing changes within the wizarding prison system recently. I have asked the goblins to assume responsibility for guarding the main prison. It will cost the community more to provide that service, but I believe it will provide a more secure environment. As such, Harry and Hermione will be asked to appear in court as witness sometime the last two weeks of August. We will try and schedule the hearing regarding the attack on your family at the same time."
Emma thought about her words for a moment and asked, "Do Hermione and Harry know about this? How will they get there?"
Amelia replied, "They will by the end of the evening. I'll provide a portkey to get them there and back. You and Dr. Granger will be invited to attend if you wish. The investigation regarding the death of Severus Snape has not been completed yet." She didn't volunteer any additional information on the matter, and Emma wasn't certain what to ask. She knew that the teens weren't being held responsible and that their actions were viewed purely as defensive, but didn't know what else the man might have been involved in, or that someone else may have been responsible for his death.
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Harry found Amelia again, and he asked her a question. "Minister Bones, have you ever heard of a wizard's oath made to keep someone from going to Azkaban?"
She thought about his question for a moment, decided to see where he was going with it and replied, "Yes. Go on."
Harry said, "It's pretty common knowledge that Snape was spying. You can draw your own conclusions as to who he was spying for, or maybe he was working for both sides at once. I suppose we'll never get a chance to have Riddle and Dumbledore sit down for tea and ask them properly. Neither one of them would have wanted to see Snape take the stand under veritaserum, or be sent to Azkaban. Maybe Snape was terrified about spending the rest of his years in Azkaban, or he didn't want to be kissed like Barty Crouch Jr."
Bones had similar thoughts and Harry was probably as safe a person to discuss them with as any. She flicked her wand and created a ring of silence around them. "So you're suggesting that Snape didn't succumb to the wounds from the night before or the effects of the blood restorative potion, rather that he was assisted out of the world by means of someone acting to fulfill a previously made pledge. Is that correct?"
Harry nodded and replied, "I'm not so much suggesting it, as asking if it is a realistic possibility?"
Bones replied, "At this point, I would say that it's the most likely scenario. Why are you asking me, rather than Director Hammer?"
Harry considered his words for a moment and replied, "I'm wondering if it would be better to let the matter drop. If it was one of Riddle's people who did it, the world is minus one Death Eater and there is one less Death Eater spying against the light side. If it was someone from the Order, do we really want to know about it?"
Bones said nothing for a moment to see if Harry was really finished.
Harry continued, "Hermione is living with the belief that she took a man's life, as I'm living with the knowledge that I did. Maybe she did. Maybe she didn't. There could be a pretty severe cost in finding out. That's why I'm having this conversation with you rather than Director Hammer. Does that make sense?"
Bones thought about what Harry said. The fact that he said it implied the likelihood that someone else may have had a similar conversation with him. She asked, "How is Hermione holding up?"
Harry thought for a moment and said, "One minute, we were skinny dipping in the pool being kids, and the next minute we were in a war fighting to save our family. Nothing is going to undo that. Malfoy and Snape killed a good man and changed lives forever. The dead got buried. The survivors get to fight another day."
Harry continued, "She cries about it, but not necessarily over Snape. We're not normal kids who get to think about shopping malls and video games. That's just the way it is. We'll be OK."
While she wasn't happy with the event, Amelia decided that Harry's words regarding Snape made sense. While she wasn't going to halt the investigation regarding why Snape was there attacking the Grangers in the first place, she agreed with Harry regarding his actual death – there was more to lose than gain. She patted his shoulder and replied, "Take good care of each other Harry. You and Hermione are good for each other. I hope you both have a great holiday. I'll contact you both in a week about court dates for the different Death Eater trials that you may need to serve as a witness with. I'll make you the necessary portkeys. Go gave fun with your friends, and thank you for everything. Your parents would be very proud of the person that you have come to be."
"Thank you Minister."
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Arthur and Dan were having a great time together. Dan seemed as every bit as interested in magical things as Arthur was in muggle things. They discussed telephones, broomsticks, the tubes, magically expanded trunks, careers in both worlds and their children. Dan had previously heard about Charlie the dragonkeeper, and the magic joke shop, but was equally interested in Bill's work as a curse-breaker. Arthur was spellbound as Dan showed him his video camera and brought the video tape back inside. A minute later they were watching a scene from the party. Arthur was amazed that anything could have both batteries and a plug. For him it was a dream come true. Both men appreciated the learning experience.
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Hermione spent a few minutes visiting with Neville. He carefully asked her if she had recovered both from her injuries from the DoM as well as a delicately worded inquiry regarding the attack at her home. She did her best to put him at ease for asking, but admitted to feeling different about school and her acceptance within the wizarding world since the attack.
Neville asked Hermione about her relationship with Harry, and admitted to having feelings about Ginny. Hermione have him a hug, and encouraged him to act on his feelings, assuring him that Ginny probably felt the same way about him.
"Thanks Hermione," replied Neville. "I always feel better after talking with you."
Hermione smiled at him and replied, "You're welcome Neville."
Neville smiled back and said, "I wanted to thank you and Harry for the swell wrist wand holder, and remembering my birthday. It fits my new wand perfectly."
Hermione replied, "That's good. Here's another butterbeer to bring to Ginny. It was good to visit with you again. We'll spend more time together in a few weeks."
Neville smiled at the witch who had made his life within Gryffindor so much easier and had helped him with his schoolwork countless times. "Thanks Hermione. Do you think you and Harry will run the DA club again this next term?"
Hermione thought for a moment and said, "I'm not certain. I don't know if Harry has talked with Professor Dumbledore about it. I hope so. I think a lot of people learned a lot last term. I know I did."
Neville nodded in agreement and said, "Me too.
"I'll talk with him and let you know."
"Thanks again."
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Minerva met up with Harry after dinner. She had taken the time to observe the Grangers, Hermione, and Harry. He looked as healthy as she had ever seen him. He was obviously well fed, tanned, and most important in her mind, he had a smile on his face. She had so rarely seen Harry happy of late. The last time that came to mind was after the first task of the Tri-Wizard tournament. It was equally obvious that the Grangers were happy having him stay with them. The knowledge put a smile on her normally reserved face.
"Hello Professor. Thank you for coming this evening."
"Hello, Harry. I'm glad to see you looking so good."
"The last few weeks have been good. Hermione's Dad, Dan and I have been playing golf a few times. I like spending time with him. He's easy to talk with. Hermione taught me how to swim, and I've had fun taking Hermione's mum, Emma to Gringotts to see the dragons."
Minerva smiled. She'd never seen the fabled Gringotts dragons, let alone been given a tour of them. She realized that the rumors regarding Harry's wealth must be true. After the hideous year that he'd faced at Hogwarts, she couldn't be happier for him. "I am delighted that your holiday has been going better." A moment after saying it, she regretted her words. In reality, Harry had seen or been affected by six deaths in a month. "I meant to say…"
Harry felt her embarrassment and quickly let her off the hook. "I know. Thank you Professor."
"Harry, I wanted to talk with you about Quidditch. It has come to my attention that the new Director of Magical Games has…"
"Holly Bruce talked with me. Professor, but I don't think that I'll be playing Quidditch this term. I expect that I'll be taking other lessons instead. I think Ron would make an excellent team captain."
"Harry, are you certain?"
"Yes on both. I can't justify spending countless hours practicing quaffle passing with Riddle after me, and Ron has been living and breathing Quidditch strategy for years."
"I understand your reasoning, and I have to say that I agree. You did deserve the opportunity to make your own decision, and I respect it. On a different note, Remus mentioned that you had received a pensive. I have a very happy memory that I would be delighted to share with you."
"Thank you Professor. It's on the table, over by Dan Granger."
"Happy birthday, Harry."
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Harry and Hermione thanked Amelia again. She had made the arrangements to have the portkeys made as well as the exception permit so everyone could leave Harry with a happy memory for his pensive. She replied, "It was my pleasure Hermione and Harry. Susan and I want to thank you again for inviting us. It was great to get out of the house and just be able to relax for an evening. Dinner was excellent. I wish you all the best time on your holiday. I'll see you again in a few weeks."
After the guests had left, Harry and Hermione helped with the cleanup. Given that they could use magic, it took a surprisingly short amount of time. Harry thanked Dan, Emma and Hermione at least a dozen times each for arranging such a splendid party. Dan replied, "We're glad that we could help you celebrate Harry. We had just as much fun as anyone there. Did you get some clever gifts from people?"
"The best," replied Harry. "I received some things today that I never dreamed I would have."
Not knowing anything about pensives, Dan gave a puzzled look.
Seeing his confusion, Harry responded, "I met my parents today, if even for a bit."
Dan was bewildered at Harry's words and asked, "But how?"
Harry smiled at the man who had shown him so much kindness and simply replied, "Magic. Thanks again for a great party, Dan. I really appreciate it."
Dan patted the young wizard on the shoulder and replied, "I know. We have a busy day tomorrow. Goodnight Harry."
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A/N
How comfortable would Harry be with his wealth?
Paffy's Behind Blue Eyes 2095661 is an interesting story.