Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling deserves all credit
When Nightmares Are A Good Thing
Chapter 15: Whose Birthday?
Harry's head whipped around with stunning speed, taking in the gaudy streamers of multicolor hanging from the ceiling, marking the table and framing the door. Everyone that was taking up residence at Headquarters for the summer was present and most, excluding Mrs. Weasley, were wearing a party hat of some oddly selected style. Fred and George had seemingly taken the day off from their store in Diagon alley as well as Bill, and Charley from their jobs. Also, his Grandparents (as he had began thinking of them mentally- though he had no idea when it had began) and Professor Snape when in attendance. Snape looked like he was struggling against invisible bonds in the chair he was sitting in to get away from this wretched place. Harry wondered why he was there to celebrate a party that appeared to be for someone's birthday. Come to think of it, Harry had a blank mind as to why there was a party being held. Why hadn't he been told? The table held presents and a two-tower cake. In the floor was a tremendous burlap sack that Harry was very curious as to what it held.
He shook his head, bringing himself back to reality and back to his wondering thoughts at why a surprise birthday party was being held without his knowledge as to who it was for or that it would be taking place.
Harry glanced over at his friends that had walked into the room along with him. They were all beaming at him brightly. Harry briefly wondered why. The room had shouted surprise when the four of them entered so the person with the birthday had to be either Ron, Hermione, or Ginny. Racking his brain, Harry scrunched his face up in concentration. He pointed a finger at Hermione as if he were about to determine her the birthday person, but then, remembering her sixteenth birthday would in September, he quickly moved his finger over at Ron. But no, that couldn't be right. Ron's birthday was in April. Harry brought his finger back and scratched his head with it, clearly befuddled. Then it struck him. Ginny! The party had to be for her! Of course, all the Weasley's would want to be there for it's youngest member's fifteenth birthday and Snape hated all of the Red-haired clan.
Having solved the entire puzzle, save why he hadn't been told? Harry smiled at Ginny who beamed back at him.
"Why didn't you guys tell me we were doing this?"
The room's excited chatter died down as they, one by one, stared at him as if the answer were obvious. Harry's left eyebrow rose in confusion and frustration at not having grasped the total idea. He turned to look at Hermione to see if perhaps she could whisper what he was blatantly missing in his ear, but she and Ron were staring at him much like they had when he'd told them about the time that Dudley had called him fat. When they continued to look at him as if he were a grossly distorted version of flobberworm, Harry jerked his gaze to Ginny who was sharing the same look as Ron and Hermione. He had clearly been wrong about whose birthday it was. The rest of the room was now sharing pointed glances with the person next to them.
Finally, Harry gave up trying to solve the mystery and said in a slightly annoyed voice, " Look, I give up. I am sorry whosever's birthday it is, but I have no clue. Happy birthday whomever. If I had been notified perhaps I would-Why are you laughing?"
Ron had promptly collapsed onto the floor, roaring with laughter and beating his fist raw on the stone floor of the basement kitchen. Hermione was leaning heavily on Ginny, both were giggling uncontrollably. Harry whirled about to see that the Twins, Bill, Charley, Tonks, were all laughing just as hard. Remus and Mr. Weasley were chuckling softly and Dumbledore's mouth was upturned in a small smile, his eyes twinkling madly. Snape, who was still sitting as if there were something slimy down the collar of his robes, was wearing the largest smirk he'd seen on his face since the last time he'd been given him reason to procure a rather nasty detention pickling Toad bladders. The only ones in the room not laughing themselves stupid were Mrs. Weasley, McGonagall, and Mad Eye. The latter was looking him over with his magical eye, a look of extreme distaste present. Harry squirmed a little as he studied the looks upon the two eldest women in the room. They both appeared have a look of pure concern and worry directed towards himself.
A noise of abrupt wood against stone to his left proved to be one of the Twins, who had slid sideways in his seat and grabbed his brother to keep himself upright effectively dragging them both to the floor, joining the youngest Weasley son. About to walk out of the room that was laughing at him for some secret unknown to him, Harry turned on heel to find Ginny standing in the doorway, smiling softly. She placed one of her small hands on his forearm. The heat that had crept into the cheeks of Harry's flustered and clueless face seemed to fade into a slightly glazed over calmness. He looked into her brown eyes and saw that she wasn't laughing but smiling at him with something akin to caring kindness. With a sigh, Harry about faced once more to see that most of the occupants had slowed their laughing and were now watching Harry eager to see if he had figured it out yet.
"Harry, dear, do you happen to know today's date?" Mrs. Weasley asked. It seemed she was on edge to see if Harry was still had enough wits to know a simple date.
"Um, well yeah. Today is Saturday, July the, erm...31st!" Harry said in triumph that he had actually known the date despite the fact that he'd stopped paying close attention to the calendar since he'd been returned to Privet Drive.
Remus gave him an appraising look. "So then..." If he was expecting Harry to cotton on, he was disappointed.
Ron emerged from the floor looking very exhausted and clutching his sides. "Harry," Ron panted, "whose birthday is on July 31st?"
Suddenly it clicked. He had forgotten his own birthday. He rammed the palm of his hand onto his forehead that held the infamous lightening bolt scar.
Ron slapped him on the back in a playful manner and said, "I can't believe you forgot! I mean, it's your birthday isn't it? Why would you not remember something like that?"
Hermione who was a bit more tactful, pointed out the large crimson red banner that hung on the wall farthest from them, directly over the cake, depicting the phrase, 'Happy Sixteenth Birthday, Harry!'
Harry read the banner and simply leaned back till he touched the wall and sank down to the floor. He proceed to bang his head on the wall, thoroughly embarrassed at having not only forgotten his birthday but missing the large wording to tell him, and then trying to guess whose birthday it was.
"Honestly, mate! And this morning you tried to tell me I was slow!" Ron laughed.
"I could have told you that Potter was slow," Snape sneered. He was quickly silenced when the entire room turned and glared at him.
Once again Harry tipped his head forward and propelled it backward into the wall behind him. In an instant Hermione had had all she could stand of his self inflicted violence and was pulling him to his feet. She gave him a pitying look much like the ones that McGonagall and Mrs. Weasley had given him earlier. A small flicker of anger flicked inside Harry at being shown sympathy for not caring enough to remember that it was his birthday. He squashed it down quickly.
Most of the guests had now gathered around Harry and were each saying something, but could not understand them, as he was not listening. He supposed they were either laughing at his idiocy or trying to make him feel better about it. Perhaps if he weren't so embarrassed he would laugh too.
Tonks made her way to stand in front of him. Some of the chatter died down as she announced the procedure of "tradition". The snickers and chuckled were back again and Harry found himself wondering briefly what the "tradition" was when it happened. Tonks kissed him.
Harry, completely shocked, jerked away at the first touch of her lips. He took a step backward looking around at those with him as if to ask if this were a sick joke. Nobody seemed able to offer any information. Turning and twisting to find Hermione, Harry's eyebrow rose as she stepped forward.
"Harry," she whispered, " it's a wizarding tradition for a witch or wizard to get kissed at anytime on their sixteenth birthday by their guests or friends and family. It's sort of like a precaution. Seeing as the next birthday will be the one when you'll come of age and thus be released into the world, the kissing is like a way of ensuring the robbing of some of a teenager's innocence so that when you do become seventeen you won't be quite so vulnerable or completely pure. It all started ages ago when it became obvious that the reality of society was overwhelming the-"
"Thanks, Hermione," Harry had cut her off before she hit her groove and started telling the entire room of wizarding birthday tradition history. He wanted to believe that they were only joshing him, but they would never have gotten Hermione to cooperate in such a stunt.
"Should we try that again, then?" Tonks said brightly.
They seemed to grin in unison, anxiously awaiting Tonk's second attempt to kiss the birthday boy. Before the qualms of, "I don't know HOW to kiss", 'What if I'm doing this wrong?" and "Do I have to do this in front of everyone?" could form in his head, Tonks had placed a hand on his shoulder and pressed her mouth to his. It took a second for Harry to realize that this wasn't nearly as horrible as the last time he'd been kissed. Of course, Tonks wasn't crying her eyes out so this kiss did not saturate his face as well as his lips. After a couple of seconds of standing stiffly, Harry relaxed slightly and began participating in the kiss. He brushed his lips against her, mimicking how he's kissed Cho. It seemed to Harry that they'd been kissing for at least a minute, but it was only about after ten seconds that Tonks pulled back, smiling broadly.
Clapping and cheers erupted from the small crowd. The Twins were even whistling out catcalls. Suddenly, Harry was very aware of the blush that had crept across his cheeks as Tonks announced that "Here was a boy would defiantly didn't need to be taught how to kiss". He could see the wink that Remus gave him as Hermione and Ginny shrieked at her statement.
Harry was urged forward to sit at the table by Ron, who told him that he needed to open his gifts now. He was seated in the middle of the table with Ron across from him with Hermione and Ginny to his sides. The rest were conjuring chairs and pulling up seats around the table and room so that they could see the unwrapping. Nothing happened for a moment until Ron handed his a present wrapped in tangerine orange. Relieved at not having to kiss someone in front of an entire room, Harry finally smiled as started to shed the paper.
When the paper was completely removed, Harry stared at a bundle of material that was surround a solid rectangular shape. The cloth was soft red silk that had animated snitches floating around it. Intrigued. Harry held it up in front of his face and was mortified to find that it was a pair of boxer shorts. He could feel the red creeping into his face as he hastily dropped them and glared at his best friend who was looking far too innocent. The younger crowd seemed to be trying hard not to laugh while the elders, except for Dumbledore, was appearing to be annoyed at the childishness of the first half of Ron's gift.
Harry was now trying his best to focus on the other object that Ron had given him. It was a book, to his surprise.
"Wronski feints, Slacker dives and more! Thanks Ron!" Harry said enthusiastically, momentarily forgetting that Ron had just embarrassed him in front of everyone by giving him underwear.
The were pages filled with colorful demonstrations of each stunt and had a history along with its record.
"Harry, maybe you should open the rest of your gifts," Hermione suggested in a slightly miffed voice that clearly revealed her views on boys and quidditch.
Ron handed the next gift to him. This one happened to be from Bill and Charlie. Inside the box was a length of leather in the exact same shade as the cardboard that contained in.
"It's a chameleon belt, Harry. All you have to do is wear it and it will automatically change to match your clothes," Bill offered. Harry hadn't worn a belt that morning so he donned it and watched in amazement as it morphed into the same shade of black that his dragon hide boots were.
"Thanks, Bill! Thanks, Charlie!" Harry said.
"Oh, I think we forgot to wrap part of it," Charlie told him, while throwing him a bundle of something black tinged with silver. Harry unfolded another pair of boxer shorts. This pair had a large silver dragon of whose face was on the front and behind was printed on the rear of the shorts. For what seemed the millionth, and he was not lucky enough for it to be the last, time that day his cheeks burnt crimson.
While everyone else was laughing at Harry's chagrin, Tonks handed him a gift that was wrapped in neon green tissue, with a bright pink bow.
Hoping to distract the rest of the gathered's laughing, Harry tore into the new gift only to find yet another pair of boxers. Red plaid, this time.
"Are you people merely using me to get your jollies today or are you trying to tell me something?" Harry demanded. A snort came from Snape as he prepared to make a comment but then held it make. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that McGonagall had stepped on his foot.
Most were laughing too hard to say anything. Hermione was leaning on Bill who was holding his side. Mr. Weasley looked like he wanted to laugh but Mrs. Weasley kept giving him pointed looks. Mad Eye was standing near the door looking paranoid and like he was bored. Dumbledore was twinkling brightly despite the fact the McGonagall was sitting next to him, lips pressed together.
Harry assumed that since the one's who had given him underwear wear too busy to answer and the ones not laughing probably had no clue as to what to say, Harry reached back in to Tonk's gift and pulled out a thick tome that was full of auror level defense spells and such. Harry beamed at her and thanked her for the book.
"What, no thanks for the other half?" Tonks asked playfully.
Her question was ignored as Harry picked up a random gift that was from the Twins.
He raised an eyebrow at them and slid it forward on the table so that it was at least a foot away from him.
"I'm warning you two, if it's a prank designed to turn me into a canary or ANYTHING I swear I will repossess the joke shop!" Harry said firmly.
Fred and George gulped. "Well, there IS a joke but it won't detonate or anything like that."
"Yeah, open it! It won't harm you"
Harry could have sworn he heard a "physically" muttered under their breath but decided to put caution to the wind and open it. There were aurors standing by, after all.
On top was a pair of white Y-fronts with red trim and was broomstick patterned. This pair, unlike the others, looked as if it would have fit him when he was seven.
He eyed Fred and George who were howling with laughter, yet again. Ginny reached around and snatched them from him. Before he could react she had held them up for the entire group to see. While the rest were lost in their mirth, Harry pulled out the actual gift inside the wrapping.
"What the?" Harry exclaimed in confusion.
Facing him was a plush doll that was about six inches high. It had black hair made out of licorice and was standing out from its head as if it were grass. It was wearing a black robe made out of a rock candy and had two green Bertie Botts every flavor beans for eyes. Around the bean-eyes were two circles drawn with icing that was connected by a small piece of chocolate making the glasses dominate it's face. On its forehead was a jagged icing line that took the shape of a bolt of lightning. In it's hand was a stick of chocolate that seemed to be an imitation of his wand.
Harry looked over at them waiting for them to explain. They grinned widely and began speaking in their twin language.
"Well, you see, my brother and I were thinking of things that students would want to buy,"
"And so we knew that you were it,"
"But we couldn't sell YOU so we decided to sell...well, YOU!"
"This is our version of Harry Potter! Say something to it"
One of them, Harry supposed it was George, leaned over and poked the miniature doll in it's back with his wand.
Harry watched in amazement as his little person shook his fist at the twin and said, "I'm NOT delicate!"
Ron edged up on his elbows and said "Harry, you've got to save the sorcerer's stone!"
The doll raised his wand up to fighting stance and said to Ron, "Stay here! I'm going to go and save the world. If I get hurt make sure you get yourself back safely, alright?"
"Good likeness, I think," said the twin Harry thought was Fred.
Secretly, Harry wondered if he really did sound like that. He suppressed a sigh and forced a wary smile to the twins. He said his thanks, but they weren't listening. They had just told mini Harry that he had to catch the snitch or Malfoy would be allowed to sleep in Gryffindor tower for a week. The Harry doll had a look of utmost disgust on his face and was pulling a chocolate broom with the words "My brooms better than Malfoy's" out of his pocket.
Hermione must have known that he was mulling how he across to people because she leant in to him and whispered in his ear, "I think they are only trying to exaggerate your bravery into humor. It's their way of saying they like your character traits."
Making a mental note to threaten the Twins into not selling the dolls to anyone, the green eyed sixteen year old only nodded his head and accepted the gift that Ginny pressed into his hands. She was smiling at him softly so he proceeded to open the rhiane green wrapped gift. On top of the actual gift was a pair of boxer shorts. Finally smiling with the humor that seemed to be contagious, Harry held up the pair of green silk shorts that had gold lightning bolts placed strategically over the soft material. Harry grinned over at Ginny and said that these were his favorite just to see her blush like old times when she had had a desperate crush on him.
He turned his attention back to the real present and discovered a deep red photo album that had a shiny gold spine. On the front "Harry Potter" was written in matching gold. The 'P' had a lightning bolt look to the tail. His mouth open in awe, Harry opened the album to find a brilliant picture of himself, Hermione, and Ron all with their arms around each other and laughing spiritedly. From the looks of them Harry guessed it was taken just before they left Hogwarts for summer holiday in first year.
Intrigued, he turned the page to find a picture of himself throwing up the snitch at his first quidditch match. Also on the same page was a picture of Ron and Hermione arguing in front of the fire in the common room. He looked up at Ginny with a raised eyebrow. She blushed again and started explaining.
"Those pictures I got from various older students in Gryffindor. The pictures from second year up I got from Collin."
"Collin?"
"Yeah, you're his main picture taking subject. You know that. I just well...in my first year I talked him into making me a double of any picture he ever took of you in exchange for some tutoring. I figured I would put them together to make you an album, though..." Ginny trailed off seeing that he flipping through the pages with Ron and Hermione now standing beside him exclaiming over the events in the pictures.
"Oh, Harry! That's after you and Ron saved me from the Toll."
"Yeah, remind me next time I start to make fun of you, that you'll end up locking yourself in a bathroom crying so that me and Harry have to rescue you," Ron muttered.
"Or you could just not make fun of me, Ron!"
"Hey, I didn't really look this bad after saving the sorcerer's stone did I" Harry asked partly to end the beginning of a feud and partly because he couldn't believe how roughed up he appeared. Also, it seemed Professor McGonagall had picked up that Hermione had lied about their motives with the Troll.
"Yes, Harry. Now maybe you'll realize why so many people worry about you all the time," Hermione exclaimed.
"Sorry, it's just...I look so small!"
"You still ARE!" This was Mrs. Weasley. She was eyeing him as if she had designs on force-feeding him that instant.
Harry gulped and turned the page and laughed at the image.
"This is the time Ron tried to curse Malfoy for calling Hermione a....erm...and then his wand backfired because it got snapped from the flying car and whomping willow incident! That's him belching up slugs!"
This time it was Ron who turned red.
"Yeah, well he shouldn't have said that about our Mione." He turned redder having announced possession over their best friend, but Harry nodded in agreement with him.
They shook their heads and continued to look through out the pages of their second year. When they reached the pictures of a depressed Harry being mocked in the hallways, Harry gently closed the picture book of his life saying they should look through the rest later. He set it down on the table and gave permission for Remus and Tonks to look at it. He turned to Ginny and said a very sincere "Thank You." She nodded in understanding.
Hermione's present turned out to be an ordinary pair of practical white boxers with blue pinstripes. He shook his head and lifted up a book that seemed to be the thickest one that Hermione could find.
"Hogwarts, A History? Hermione, we already know how to find the information that's in there. Ask you!" Ron said, clearly baffled at why she would give her best friend a book that he would most likely not read.
"Ron! I am not always around to recite information to you, that's why." Hermione claimed, warming up to the argument that she appeared to have expected.
"Ron, she's right. Remember what happened second year? She knew the answers but got petrified before she could relay any of it to us. It was lucky we were able to trick our way into the hospital wing and find the answers in her hand. She shouldn't have to be the one to do ALL of the learning for the three of us. Hermione," he said turning to her, "Thanks. I will attempt to read it before the end of the holidays. I'm no bookworm, but I think I can do it."
She beamed at him and pulled him in for an unexpected hug. After a considerable amount of time, she backed away slightly, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth to his. Once again, Harry was shocked. It was one thing for Tonks, but this was his best friend! He made no move to participate but Hermione kept her lips touching his. He supposed she wouldn't pull away till he kissed back, so he did. This kiss only went on for about five seconds. Finally, she ended the kiss and smiled at him.
"What?!" she asked innocently, "You didn't think I would go against traditional wizarding rules, did you?"
Harry snorted and removed his hands from her waist. The crowd was smiling at his embarrassment again.
"Are you sure that this tradition wasn't started as a way of entertaining party guests at sixteenth birthday parties?" Harry asked grumpily.
They laughed as he opened the rest of his gifts receiving the usual mince pies and package from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, a wand holster from Mad Eye- CONSTANT VIGILANCE-, another book on defense against the dark arts from Kingsley Shacklebolt who wasn't able to make it to the party, and Hogwarts, A History from Professor McGonagall. They all laughed at the similarity between the professor and Hermione. Harry offered to let Hermione take the copy she had given him back for herself but she said she had her own. Therefore, Ron, despite his protests, was presented his own Hogwarts, A History.
There were now only two gifts left on the table. Harry picked up the smallest one and discovered an old snitch. It was rather bad for the wear and seemed to have lost its ability to fly. It simply hovered above his hand. He looked up at Remus, who it hand been from, and saw him nod to his silent question. It had been the same snitch his father had nicked in fifth year. Though it brought back bad memories of what he had seen in Snape's pensieve, he bottled it for the sake of Remus. He looked up and gave him a small smile and retuned the nod as his thanks. Remus smiled back at him tiredly.
Now the only gift left was a large square box resting in the middle of the table. It was very heavy. He drug it to him and stared at the wrapping. It appeared to be a gift for a small child. There were teddy bears and clown littering the paper. There was no seems in the wrapping, only a colorful tab on the very top. He pulled it and laughed at the BANG of exploding confetti. Color paper mache fell into his messy black hair. There was music playing as well tot he tune of "Happy Birthday" substituting his name into the correct place in the chorus. He laughed in delight, despite himself. The adults were giving the Headmaster reproving looks as if to say, "Really, Albus!" Harry didn't mind though. It may have been wrapping paper for a small child, but it was still very fun to open. He had never opened a gift like that before, not that he'd had many gifts to open that is.
When the confetti died down Harry looked the box and lifted out a stone pensieve. It was slightly smaller than Dumbledore's but was big enough to hold many thoughts and memories. The edge was decorated with phoenixes, a Gryffin, a stag, a large dog, a wolf, and a flower that he thought was a Lily. The bottom of the pensieve had a large lightning bolt on it.
Harry looked Dumbledore straight in the eye and said a very warm "Thank you very much, sir." He knew once he learned to use it, the pensieve would become a very useful and needed tool to his life.
"You are very welcome, Harry, but there is one more part to it. He levitated a chocolate frog over to him. Curious, Harry plucked it out of midair. It appeared to be a normal chocolate frog. He looked up in question.
"Open it," was all he got. The rest of the crowd seemed just as anxious about seeing what it was. Picked up the chocolate and stared down at his own face. He hastily shoved the frog into Ron's hands for eating. He gazed at the card that held his picture. He was riding standing on the quidditch pitch, firebolt in hand and holding snitch up high for the crowd to see, beaming so wide he was radiating happiness. The wording beneath it read:
Harry Potter, also known as The-Boy-Who-Lived, is most famously known for his triumph over He Who Must Not Be Named at the age of fifteen months and his survival of the Killing Curse. His lesser known accomplishments include saving the Sorcerer's Stone, his discovery of the Chamber of Secrets, and for winning the Tri Wizard Tournament. Harry Potter was admitted into the Gryffindor quidditch team in his first year, making him the youngest player in a century, as seeker. Harry has lost only one game out of a great few and rumored to be the best flyer known for at least fifty years.
He looked, or rather glared, at Dumbledore who was smiling and twinkling son brightly that even a Snape stare wouldn't have fazed him. Ron had already finished off the chocolate and was now snatching the card from Harry's hands and reading it out loud. When finished, everyone was looking at him for his reaction. To be truthful, Harry was greatly annoyed and slightly angry.
"How did I come to be on...on THAT?" He demanded as calmly as he could.
Dumbledore twinkled serenely at him and answered. "I have a friend who is in association with the printing of the cards. When he heard that they planned to make a card of you, he came to see me."
"And you told him all of this stuff?" Harry huffed.
"Most certainly, my boy. Would have rather they printed lies?"
"I would rather they hadn't printed it at all," Harry muttered darkly.
Dumbledore simply chuckled at him.
"Would it be too much to ask for you to talk your friend into stopping them from creating these?"
Dumbledore stopped laughing but was still smiling when he said, "It is too late, Harry. Those are currently in stores now. I am so sorry, my dear boy."
"Sure you are," Harry couldn't stop himself from saying, "You're the only nutter I know who actually likes having a chocolate frog card of himself."
To his surprise, as well as everyone else's, Albus Dumbledore stuck his tongue out at him childishly. Harry mock glared at him before saying, "At least it wasn't underwear."
Everyone burst into laughter again and Mrs. Weasley insisted that they have some birthday cake. She lit the candles and they sang the Happy Birthday song to him.
When Hermione told him to "Make a wish" he subjected himself to more pity stares when he asked why. Hermione had replied that it was a worldwide thing to do when blowing out birthday candles. Harry hadn't known this as whenever Dudley was having his birthday cake, he'd been doing chores around the house so that he couldn't steal a piece of the cake.
Though his stomach had been burning non-stop, Harry forced himself to eat a small slice of cake. He told himself the pain was easier to deal with than all the questions not eating would bring. After cake, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny helped him carry his gifts up to his room while Mrs. Weasley cleaned up the kitchen.
When they came back downstairs, Tonks was fiddling with what looked to be a muggle stereo. It proved to be a difficult job, with Mr. Weasley hovering behind her asking questions. She eventually got it tuned in to a station that didn't crackle too much. The song was not fast but not slow. She turned to Harry and insisted that he dance with her. He tried to tell her that wasn't good at dancing and that he didn't know how but Tonks, would have none of it. She placed his arms on the side of her waist and put her own hands on his shoulders. She told him that all he had to do way sway side to side and put his foot down with the beat. It was stunningly simple now that she had revealed the secret.
The song ended and a faster waltz came on and she began enthusiastically dragging him around the room, teaching him how to dance to that one as well. For the most of it, Harry was impressed at her gracefulness. She only stumbled into something twice.
Ron was beat red as Hermione started teaching him how to waltz as well. Soon the song was over and Harry was able to sit down with his friends as Tonks adjusted the radio to a more modern station. She grabbed Remus this time and started slow dancing with him, for the song. Mr. Weasley smiled and offered his hand to his only daughter who was glad to be able to join in.
Hoping to just watch, Harry stood there by the wall next to the door. Mrs. Weasley entered the room and smiled as she watched the couples dancing.
"Harry, would you like to dance with me?"
He wasn't given a chance to answer. He found himself the middle of the floor, arms around Mrs. Weasley, swaying from side to side.
"Happy birthday, Harry"
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley. You know you didn't have to-"
"Yes we did. It was about time you had a proper birthday. By the way, you can call me Molly. I think it's to formal for you to continue calling me Mrs. Weasley all the time."
Harry couldn't bring himself to say anything so he merely nodded.
When the song ended Mrs. Weasley kissed his cheek and told him, "Tradition!" before walking over to the rest of the adults. The next song was another slow song. He saw Ginny across the room, laughing at Ron who was still dancing with Hermione. He took a deep breath and walked over to her.
"Hey, Gin, would you like a dance?" He felt as if his heart was going to be infected with the stinging pain of his stomach that had seemingly jumped up a foot the moment he got with speaking distance of her.
Her eyes widened and she nodded, smiling at him. Relief flooded him and he could feel his mouth grinning crookedly.
They walked over to where Ron and Hermione were dancing. Harry let his arms encircle her tiny waist as she wrapped her around his neck. As they began dancing Harry felt an urge to pull her closer. It was his birthday, wasn't it? He decided to go for it before he could lose his nerve. He gently pulled her body to his. There was no resistance. She even laid her head against his chest. When the song ended Harry held on to her until he realized that everyone else had left the "dance floor" and was looking at him curiously.
Ginny leaned back and looked up at him, smiling mischievously. Harry felt himself having a problem breathing as he watched her grin widen. One of the hands on his neck was moving up to entangle in his messy black hair. She gently pulled his mouth down to hers with the other hand on his cheek. The kiss was amazing. It seemed to be sinfully sweet and soft as the silk of the boxers she had given him. He found he had no problem participating in this kiss. His hands on her waist tightened as he pulled her back up against him. He brushed his own lips in between hers and nibbled gently on her bottom lip. He heard a noise barely loud enough for him to hear, from her. He took that to mean she liked it. He took his tongue and ran it across her lip. She immediately granted him permission and depend the kiss. The hand that she had on his cheek joined its mate behind his neck and was rubbing the skin on his neck.
Harry had no intention of ending the kiss as he had blocked out the room full of people. In his mind it Ginny and himself. But then a throat cleared reminding Harry of his surroundings. He reluctantly pulled away; let his lip leave Ginny's with a soft smack. He kept his eyes closed for a moment longer, savoring the taste. When he opened them he saw that Ginny was looking up at him with that same mischievous smile. He smiled as she patted his cheek a couple times like an aunt would to her nephew.
He watched her walk over to Ron and Hermione, leaving him standing in the middle of attention. He quickly came back to his sense and went over to his friends. Ron was very quick to ask him for a game of chess. Harry was sure it was because he didn't what to say about Harry kissing his sister because it was a tradition and was allowed. Not to mention that Hermione, the girl he liked, had kissed him earlier.
Chess was even harder to play than usual with Ginny and Hermione conversing nearby and giggling about what he assumed to be the kissing that had taken place earlier. When Ron beat him in seven moves Harry apologized to Ron for kissing Hermione. Ron accepted quickly, which was out of character for him, and punched him on the shoulder playfully saying not to expect anything more than a hand shake from him, despite it being his birthday.
Lunch was served a little later than usual that day but Harry felt he would die if he attempted to eat anything. He picked and pushed the small portions around on his plate. When Hermione asked him about it he explained that he was still full from breakfast and the cake. She didn't seem to buy it but since it was his birthday she let it go.
After lunch Harry stared around at all the people smiling and laughing. He wished Sirius could have been there. It just didn't seem right, carrying on as if he hadn't died. He, Harry, most of all shouldn't be having any fun seeing as it was his fault that he was gone. He sighed as he thought of his Godfather. The only way he was able to see Sirius was in his nightmares. Nightmares; Harry's reason for avoiding sleep. Truth be told, he was very tired having been up all night and not having slept more than a few hours at most each night for the past three and a half weeks. He could feel his eyes drooping as he failed to keep himself busy. Luckily, his two best friends came up asking him to go get Ginny's gift so that they could through it. Thankful for a task, Harry donned his happy mask and smiled at them before forcing his body to move up the stairs and into his room. He upped his appearance by remorphing to give his face more color and liveliness.
Harry, Hermione, and Ginny settled down in the sitting room with his new photo album. They had just recovered his first and second year when Professor McGonagall came in and kissed his cheek, as she was the only female that hadn't. Hermione invited her to look through the album with them. Harry reinforced her invitation, as he didn't want to be rude to his Grandmother who had no clue that he knew that she was related to him.
They flipped back to the beginning of the book for the third time and proceeded. When they got to the picture that was taken after the troll incident, Harry and Ron had a hard time not laughing as Hermione struggled to explain her reasoning as to why she had lied. They weren't laughing nearly as hard when it was their turn to explain why they lied in second year when they were caught outside the girl's bathroom without an escort. He couldn't help but thank Ginny once more for a wonderful gift. He didn't even have to fake the smile that was on his face when she said she was glad he'd liked it.
Later that day when dinner was served, Harry's stomach still had not stopped burning. In fact he felt absolutely awful. His body seemed to be far too heavy for him and shaky. He mechanically took bites if his food when being watched. Halfway through the meal the stinging became so sharp his head started swimming with dizziness. He excused himself from the table and walked to the door. Once out of it he sprinted as fast as he could, knocking into one wall and then the other, to the bathroom. He burst in and dropped to the floor. He heaved his stomachs contents into the toilet.
He was still heaving dry air when his brain registered hurried footsteps. Strong arms wrapped around him from behind and helped to hold him over the toilet. When his stomach stopped convulsing his tiredly looked over his shoulder to see that the person holding him in their lap with a very worried expression was Remus Lupin.
"Moony," he whispered with thoughts of telling him he was fine, but Harry was not fine. He felt his abdomen ripple with pain again, and simply feinted into the arms of the darkness that was holding him tightly, a faint voice of "Harry?!" echoing in his ears.