Chapter 6: The Party

When the singing stopped, Harry smiled weakly. Ginny pulled him over to the table where he saw a large red and gold cake with sixteen candles on it. He looked nervously around and then back at the cake. He became entranced by the jumping flames, and soon his thoughts were drifting back to the Prophesy. The words echoed through his head.

And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.

He felt his head begin to pound and his heart began to race. His pulse beat loudly in his ear as he drew in a deep breath. He released it and watched as each candle was blown out. As each flame died, Harry thought about those who had been lost because of what the prophesy foretold. His parents, Cedric, Sirius, Bertha, and countless others.

Ginny could tell that Harry was having a hard time. She felt him tense up, and watched his expression grow distant as he looked at the candles on his cake. She gave his arm a reassuring squeeze, and moved over next to her mum and Tonks to help serve the cake.

The noise in the room grew steadily louder as everybody was talking and laughing and having a good time. Harry looked around and saw Tonks, Lupin and Ginny talking. Ginny looked over at him, and gave him a reassuring smile as she took another sip of her butter beer.

Harry walked over to the table and picked up a pumpkin cookie and took a bite out of it. It tasted far better than pumpkin pie, he thought, as he saw Ron, Hermione and Mr. Weasley talking with Professor Moody.

"Happy birthday Harry." said Mrs. Granger as she walked over to him.

Harry looked up at her and nodded absently. "Thanks." he said quietly.

"We really have to get going, but it was good to see you again Harry." said Mr. Granger as he held out his hand and shook Harry's.

"Yeah." said Harry.

Hermione walked over to her parents, as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley joined them and walked them to the door. They chatted for a few minutes, and finally after many waves and hugs, Hermione's parents left. Hermione stayed out on the porch for a minute as she watched them drive down the lane.

Once they were all back in the house, Hermione walked up to Harry and said "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." he replied shortly.

"Hey Harry!" called Fred.

"When are you going to open your presents?" asked George.

Harry just shrugged and walked over to an empty part of the room and crouched down and looked at everybody. They were all so happy. He watched as Hermione and Ron were arguing over something. He watched Fred pick some icing off of what was left of the cake. The final straw for Harry was when he watched Professor Lupin laugh heartily at something Tonks had said.

Harry stood up and folded his arms across his chest and stormed towards the stairs. Ginny immediately saw him leaving and hurried towards him, but she was blocked by Fred. "Hey Harry. Are you going to open your presents? George and I got you something really cool."

"Much better than the shrinking pajamas." added George with a laugh.

Harry turned and said "I really don't want any presents right now."

Harry turned back towards the stairs, and George said "Don't want any presents on your birthday? You feeling alright mate?"

Harry stopped in his tracks and turned slowly back around. He glared at the room and said loudly and deliberately "I'm feeling fine."

The room immediately quieted down as everybody watched Harry walk towards the stairs. Harry walked out of the room and up to his room, stomping loudly on each step as he went.

Ginny looked awkwardly around at those around her. Hermione got up to follow, but Ron grabbed her arm. She looked at him and he shook his head slightly. Hermione immediately relaxed, but her face still wore a look of deep concern.

Ginny sighed dramatically. Her shoulders fell as she hung her head and trudged off towards the stairs. She slowly made her way up them, thinking about what she was going to say. Before she knew it, she was outside Harry's closed door.

She stepped up to it and took a deep breath before knocking. "What?' called Harry in an agitated voice.

Ginny slowly opened the door. "Harry," she said calmly as she stood in the doorway with her hands high on the frame. The corners of her mouth rose slightly as she continued "You have a lot of people downstairs who care about you."

Harry just sat on the edge of his bed with his head lowered. His eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly. "I know, I just want to be alone." he said softly.

Ginny just stood there watching him. When he did not make any move, she said "Harry, you were acting really selfish."

"I couldn't help it." said Harry as he shook his head slightly.

Ginny frowned as she took her hands off of the doorway and took a step into the room. "Why not?" she asked.

Harry looked up at Ginny who was now standing with her back against the wall, and hastily said "You wouldn't understand."

"Why not?" she asked again.

"Do you have any idea what my birthday means to me?" he asked, with a hint of agitation building in his voice.

Ginny ignored his tone and thoughtfully responded "Yeah, it was the most miserable day of the year for you when you lived with the Dursley's"

Harry snorted and in a very sarcastic way, he said "Yeah, that's it."

Ginny watched as Harry put his hands behind his head and flung himself backwards onto his pillow. "Harry." Ginny snapped.

"What?" Harry retorted as he turned his head to look at her.

Ginny took a step towards the bed and folded her arms across her chest. "Would you stop acting like such a child and just talk to me?"

Harry stared at her as he said "Why?"

Ginny moved her hands to her pockets and swayed slightly as she crossed her legs.

"Because I want to know what's wrong."

Harry quickly turned his head away from her "No you don't. Trust me, you don't."

Ginny moved across the room and squatted down right next to the bed and said "Yes I do. I want to help."

"Well, I wouldn't want to freak out again." said Harry sarcastically as he turned his head back towards her.

"I'm really sorry about that Harry." said Ginny with genuine remorse. "I really am. I was scared…"

"Yeah well…" snapped Harry as he sat up.

Ginny waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, she was unable to hide the agitation in her voice as she said "Well what Harry? What's going on with you?"

"Oh you know, watching people die, then watching people be happy." he replied in the same sarcastic tone he had been using.

"You are going to have to let it go sooner or later Harry." Ginny said. "You know that don't you?" she added when she did not get any response from him.

"Well, I don't want to." said Harry as he looked away again.

Ginny was growing impatient. "Why not?" she asked.

Harry rounded on her. He just sat there staring at her for a second before answering. "A day hasn't gone by that I haven't thought about that night and how I almost got us all killed."

Ginny rolled her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "So we're going to go through this again are we?" she asked. She took a deep breath and let out an enormous sigh before continuing. "It wasn't your fault Harry, and every day you keep this up, you are pushing away people who care about you."

"Well, maybe people shouldn't care so much then!" Harry snapped as he got up off the bed to face Ginny.

"Harry come on you don't mean that." Ginny said as the last of her patience was wearing thin.

"Oh, then tell me Miss Weasly what do I mean?" sneered Harry, his voice dripping with sarcasm again. He threw his arms into the air, turned his back on her and walked across the room.

"You want people to care Harry." Ginny shouted.

He stopped and turned back towards her. Irritation filled his voice as he said loudly "Then why don't they?"

"WHAT?" yelled Ginny as her fists balled up and her arms shot to her side.

"Ginny…" he started to say as he looked up towards the ceiling.

"Molly, wait!" called Mr. Weasley. He watched as his wife stood up and started moving towards the stairs to stop the fight.

"Arthur, listen to them! We've got to stop this." said Mrs. Weasley with a concerned voice.

As Mrs. Weasley rushed towards the stairs, Remus Lupin caught her arm before she could go up. "Molly." He said in a calm voice.

"What Remus? They are going to kill each other." she pleaded as she pulled against his grip.

"No they won't Molly." he began as he let go of her. "They care very much about each other and I think this is something that needed to happen for quite some time. I've watched them together for a long time now, and I think that they need to work this out between them selves."

"But Remus…" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Molly. They need to do this. They are not little children any more. This is between them. Let them work it out." Remus said as he stared into Mrs. Weasley's eyes.

She looked around at those gathered around the room. No one said anything as the argument raged upstairs. She looked into Remus' eyes and saw the honesty and truth about what he believed. With a deep sigh she turned around and sat down.

Remus sat next to her. He could see the pain that the fight upstairs was causing her and he said softly "We just need to make sure we are there for them to help pick up the pieces."

Mr. Weasley walked up to his wife, and held out his hands and pulled her up from the chair into his embrace. She laid her head on his shoulder and started crying. "Are they really going to be Ok Arthur?" she asked.

"Our kids will be fine Molly. They will be just fine." he said reassuringly.

Harry lowered his eyes to look at her, but she just took a step backwards. Ginny's voice was trembling with suppressed rage as she raised a finger and pointed it directly at him. "No Harry, you listen to me. There is a room full of people down there who care about you." She pointed forcefully at the shirt she had given him that was lying crumpled in the corner. Not taking her eyes off of him, she continued "See that shirt crumpled over in the corner? I wanted to get you something I thought you'd like because I CARE Harry."

"Oh, is that what this is about? Your stupid shirt?" snapped Harry with an air of fake comprehension.

Ginny winced as his bitter words hit her. Trying not to show her hurt, she stared at him, shook her head and said in an exasperated voice "Oh, don't be stupid Harry."

"Then what's it about?" asked Harry impatiently.

Ignoring his question, Ginny continued "I had to work really hard to get that stupid shirt for you." She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts "And no, Harry, this is not about a shirt!"

"Then what's it about?" Harry asked again, much more loudly this time as he flung his hands out.

"It's about you acting like a child!" she yelled quickly as she pointed at him.

"I am not acting like a child." he replied defiantly

"Then quit being so childish!" she shouted.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Childish? Was I being childish in the ministry of magic?" he challenged.

"What?" she said with a confused look on her face.

Harry felt his temper flaring to the surface. "Yeah, that's right." he growled as he crossed the room towards her. "I didn't hear you complain much when I had to get us out of there."

Ginny flung her hands "We all made our own way out of there and it was The Order and Dumbledore who saved us, not you."

"Oh, so I didn't do anything?" he said bitterly.

Ginny's throat was dry and she gulped while shaking her head. "That's not what I said." she explained in a hoarse voice. "We all did our part Harry."

"Who was the one who had the part of watching Sirius go through the veil? Huh?" Harry shouted angrily. "You?"

Ginny coughed slightly before taking a step towards him. She pointed and him and flung her arm as she yelled "No, you and a whole lot of others who cared just as much about him as you did."

Harry turned away from her and sat back down on the bed. "Yeah well," he began "we shouldn't have even been there in the first place."

Looking down at Harry, and meeting his gaze she said "No, we shouldn't have, but we followed you there because we believed in you."

The anger flared in Harry again as he stood up and said "So now this is all my fault?"

"I didn't say that." said Ginny

"You didn't have to." Harry said. He pointed at her and continued "aren't you the one who's always saying I shouldn't blame myself?"

Ginny put her hands on her hips. Irritation was in her voice as she said "Yeah, and you shouldn't, we all went together."

"Because I was acting childish and didn't think of anyone but myself?" Harry said sarcastically as he mockingly put his hands on his hips.

Ginny covered her face with her hands and let out a sigh "That's not what I am saying." she said through her hands.

Harry folded his arms and said "Then what are you saying?"

Ginny moved her hands from her face back to her hips. "I'm saying that all of us cared about Sirius and we all went to save him because we all thought he was in danger."

"Because I said he was?" Harry said nod. His face darkened as he spat "Well that was your first mistake then."

"No it wasn't a mistake Harry." said Ginny, trying to calm her voice a bit. "We all went because we thought he was in danger."

Harry just kept looking at her as he said "Because I dragged you all there?"

Ginny shook her head. "No! If there was a chance of saving him…"

"Because I almost got us all killed?" said Harry before Ginny had finished her last statement.

"Arrrggghhh" she screamed. "No Harry. Would you listen to me? Because we all cared about you!" she yelled as her anger threatened to boil over.

"Well, fine lot of good that did us. Why didn't you try to stop me?" yelled Harry.

Ginny's closed the distance between her and Harry. She got right up in his face and shouted "We did!"

Harry took a step back, shook his head and pointed an accusing finger at her and shouted "No! YOU didn't. YOU just pushed me right along."

Ginny leveled her eyes on Harry, and with a trembling but determined voice, she shouted coarsely "Don't go blaming me for this!"

"Well maybe if you had tried a bit harder to stop me Sirius wouldn't be dead right now!" spat Harry.

Ginny had tears of rage filling her eyes. "It wasn't my fault Harry. Don't you even dare blame his death on me!" she screamed.

"Why not? We were all in it together remember?" Harry yelled sarcastically.

Ginny's lost all control over her anger. "Why were we there again?" she screamed, her words filled with fury "Oh yeah…it was your arrogance that got us into that mess. You couldn't slow down for a minute to think could you? You just had to go and save the day didn't you? And look where it got us!"

With his hands on his hips, Harry shouted "It's not my fault you followed me. I didn't ask you to come." and jabbing a finger at her face he screamed "THAT was your fault!"

His words pierced her heart. She had gone with him because she cared. She had almost sacrificed her life for him, and with tears falling down her face, she drew her hand back and laid it across the side of Harry's face with the force of all her rage. Harry just stood there staring at her in stunned silence. He slowly moved his hand to the spot where she had hit him.

Ginny took a few quick breaths to calm herself. She met his gaze with cool eyes before she said "How dare you even think that! You really are an ass Harry."

"Just go Ginny." Harry said as he shook his head, turned away from her, and walked back towards the bed.

"Harry." Ginny said as she reached out a hand toward him.

Harry rounded on her and screamed "GET OUT!" as he pointed to the door

Ginny pulled her hand back and said "Why?"

Harry looked at her. "Leave me alone." he said in total exasperation as he sat back down on the corner of his bed.

"Why? So you can run away again?" she said as her anger flowed through her again.

Harry's head shot up and he glared at her. "Yeah, that's right. Listen Ginny…" he spat with venom in his voice.

Ginny did not give him a chance to finish his statement. She moved up to him so her face was inches from his. She locked his eyes in a cold stare and he visibly shuddered as she began "No, you listen to me Harry, you may not like it but that doesn't matter." She eased away from him as she continued "You have a whole lot of people counting on you. Not just the people down stairs." She swept her arm around as she said "Take a good look all around you Harry. You're their hero." She pointed at him and her voice got louder until she was screaming again. "You're the boy who lived, and like it or not, it's about time you grow up and start acting like it!"

She stood up straight and turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. She grabbed the door handle and pulled it shut with all the rage that still coursed through her. She heard things fall off the walls in the room as the door slammed.

She began to shake, and the tears began to flow freely from her eyes, streaking her face as she rushed down the stairs to her room. When she got there, she flew through the door and kicked it shut as she collapsed onto her bed in a fit of whole body weeping.

Harry just watched Ginny go, and he felt himself cringe as the door slammed. He heard several things that had once been hanging on the wall hit the floor. He just laid there and didn't bother looking over to see what had fallen. He had never seen her so angry, and never that angry with him, but right now, he didn't care.

He just rested on his bed for a long time thinking about what had just happened. His thoughts were so confused that he could not make any sense out of anything. His eyes were growing heavy under the strain he felt as he settled in for a tourtured night's sleep.