a/n- Okay guys, here is the next chapter. I know its somewhat shorter than your used to, but this is a transition and some much needed character development. Hope you like it!

Chapter Four: Celebration

Before anyone knew what was happening October was nearly over. School was in full swing leaving Harry very little time to spend with Ginny now that she was also busy with the kids. They did all they could to get together for an a hour or two every night after dinner and they spent every Saturday night out on the town together.

Lily and Jack had been back to work for a while and things had seemed to quiet down for the moment at least. Jack was now thinking of what he was going to do for Lily's seventeenth birthday which would take place on the 22nd of the month. In the wee hours of one morning his questions were answered when someone woke him up by poking his shoulder.

"Mr. Weasley," the voice responsible for the poking said timidly.

He looked down and saw Lily still was asleep on his chest. He then turned his head to face the intruder. It was a house elf he had never seen before. "What is it?" he asked grumpily.

"Professor Potter would like to see you, Sir," the elf said in a very stately tone of voice. This house elf seemed educated and didn't talk like any house elf he had ever heard before, a fact which would please his mother tremendously.

"He doesn't want to see Lily too?" Jack asked clearly sounding confused.

"No Sir, he said he only wants to see you."

"Well I can't get up without waking her and then she'll want to know where I'm going," he said knowing it was the truth.

"I have already taken care of that, Sir. I put a deep sleep charm on her so that she will not wake. The professor made it very clear that he did not want his daughter to know you had come to see him."

"You put a spell on my girlfriend?" Jack said horrified. Lily will be furious if she ever found out about this.

"Nothing that will hurt her, Sir. I will stay with her until you return and then lift the spell," the elf said defensively, "But you had better get going. Mr. Potter is waiting."

Jack got out of bed and covered Lily up with an extra blanket before putting on a shirt and a robe over his boxers. He wondered in the back on his mind how Harry knew that he and Lily were sleeping in the same bed. As much as he liked Harry he wasn't exactly ready for him to know that he was sleeping with his daughter. His mind dwelt on these thoughts as he made his way to Harry's quarters. It was nearly two in the morning and the castle was deserted. Tomorrow was a Saturday and the students would most likely sleep in late the following day. Lily however would need to get up in a few hours to be at the hospital on time.

He approached Harry's room and found the door already ajar for him. He took a step inside and found Harry sitting by the fire. "What's up Harry?" he asked taking a seat in the chair across from him.

"Is Lily asleep?" he asked cheerfully.

"Yeah," Jack replied blushing.

"I brought you over here to talk about her birthday coming up. I want to do something special since it's the first time I've actually been able to spend her birthday with her. I'm going to need your help."

Jack signed in relief that Harry let the subject of his sleeping arrangements drop. "Sure, what have you got in mind?"

"I want to throw her a surprise party next Saturday."

"That sounds like a good start," he said contemplatively, "Where do you want to have it?"

"I was hoping you'd have an idea about that," Harry said sitting back in his chair and putting his feet up on the coffee table in front of him.

Jack thought for a moment and then realized where the perfect place would be, "The Gryffindor common room! She's always saying how much she misses it and that's where most of our friends are!"

"That could work. I haven't been there in ages!"

The two of them sat up until five talking about plans for the party. Jack only left at five because it was time for Lily to get up and get ready to go to the hospital. He didn't want her to be late. He made his way back across the castle to his room and told the elf to lift the spell.

The week went by with no mention of Lily's upcoming birthday on Saturday. Jack had told everyone to pretend that they had forgotten about it all together. He knew she would be mad initially but it would be a better surprise in the end.

Lily woke Jack up on Saturday morning just before she left for the hospital. She was already wearing her white healer robes and ready to walk out the door. "Jack, are you awake," she asked placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I am now," he said sounding groggy, turning over, and pulling her back into bed playfully.

"Hey. I have to get going," she said struggling a little bit but was unable to free herself from his tight grasp. She gave up and rested her head on his chest. "A friend of mine asked me to work half her shift tonight," there was something in her voice this time that suggested she wanted him to tell her not to stay at the hospital later.

"Sure, that sounds fine. What time will you be back then?" he asked trying not to smile. She was going to be so surprised tonight when she comes home to find that no one had forgotten what day it was.

"Late," she said simply getting up and grabbing her purse, "I'll see you later." She paused at the door momentarily, and when Jack didn't say anything in response to her farewell, she closed the door behind her.

He felt bad because he knew she was sad that he did not wish her a good day at work or a happy birthday. He put those thoughts out of his head however and got up to get ready for the day.

Lily returned to the castle at around seven that night. She was completely exhausted that she walked right into the chest of someone as she turned the corner heading to her dormitory.

"Oh sorry," she said not ever glancing up to see who it was.

"You look pissed off," a male voice said. She looked up to find it was her friend Brad.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired is all. It's been a long day. Are you coming from my dorm? Was Jack there?"

"No he wasn't. He sent me to come get you," Brad said taking her arm and leading her back down the corridor.

"Look Brad, I'm really not in the mood for this. I just want to take a shower and go to bed," she said annoyed as he dragged her toward the Gryffindor common room.

"Oh come on don't be so grumpy. This'll be fun!"

They walked up the stairs and came to the Fat Lady's picture frame. Brad looked at Lily dumbfounded after the Fat Lady asked for the password.

"Well, don't look at me! I don't live here anymore," she said aggravated that he was making such a fuss.

"Come on, Potter! It's the Head Girl's job to know the password for all the houses! I know you know it," he said nudging her shoulder.

"Yeah, well I'm a lousy Head Girl then," she said crossing her arms across her chest and looking the other way.

"Just say it Potter because I really have forgotten it," he said through fits of laughter. She really had no idea what he was laughing about. All of her cheeky comments had been accompanied by cold stares.

"Flying Pixies," she said under her breath, "You never were good with the password, Garland."

Once the door opened it revealed a completely black common room. If Lily had never been in here before she may have thought they'd stumbled into a broom cupboard. There was not a single candle lit, and none of the fireplaces were lit either. She felt Brad let go of her arm as the room suddenly came to life with light and noise, "SURPRISE!" dozens of people yelled. The room was packed full of Gryffindors and teachers.

Lily stood there in amazement for several second and let the setting sit in. Jack and his entire immediate family were there, along with her father, Ginny, and all their friends. All the other teachers were there as well.

"I can't believe this," she mumbled to herself as everyone began making their way towards the birthday girl.

"Believe it, Potter," Jack said coming up behind her and giving her a large hug. She hugged him back and then hit him in the chest lightly.

"I thought you forgot!"

"Now, do you really think I'd forget your birthday," he said looking down at her seriously. "Besides it was your father's idea so you can blame him for any hard feelings!"

Lily turned and found her father standing with his arm around Ginny's waist beaming with happiness. She threw herself in his arms and gave him the largest hug he had ever received. "Thank you so much!"

"Happy Birthday sweetheart," he said to the top of her head as they embraced.

"Thanks Dad!"

"Happy birthday, Lily," Ginny said warmly when Harry released his daughter from his grasp.

"Thanks Ginny," Lily replied moving over to her and giving her an unexpected hug. Ginny seemed somewhat unsure but when she looked over at Harry she saw that he looked like he'd never seen a happier sight in his life. He smiled and nodded as Lily and Ginny ended their hug and began talking as if they were two old friends.

The party went on for hours and the group made quite a racket keeping the entire castle awake, and still no one made any moves to go to bed. Lily noticed that her father was no longer in the room at about a quarter to midnight. She walked over to Ron and Hermione who were standing next to the fireplace talking to Professor Longbottom.

"Did any of you see where my dad went?"

"He went out to the Qudditch pitch. He wanted you to join him. He wants to give you his present," Aunt Hermione told her.

"Okay, will you tell Jack where I've gone?"

"Sure," Uncle Ron said warmly.

She walked quickly through the castle not wanting to draw any attention to herself from Mr. Filch. She was Head Girl and didn't need a reason to be out of bed, but she did all she could to avoid him and his good for nothing animal.

The air outside held the sense of impeding winter. She pulled her thin white robes tighter around her shoulders and walked faster. She found Harry standing in the middle of the pitch staring up at the sky.

"You wanted to see me," she said causing him to turn around and face her.

"Yes I did," he said walking towards her and reaching into his pocket. "I wanted to give you your present away from everyone else." He handed her a long thin box.

"You really didn't have to do this," she said modestly.

"Of course I did. But this gift is really from your mother though. I'll give you mine in a moment," he said with a tinkle in his eye.

"From Mom?" she questioned looking at him strangely.

"It's something she used to wear all the time. It's been passed down between the women in her family for generations," he explained motioning for her to open it and see for herself.

She opened the box and peered inside to find a silver bracelet. The bracelet contained twelve different stones and gems encircling it. "It's beautiful," she said almost in tears. This was the first thing she had ever touched that had once belonged to her mother.

Harry stepped forward and helped her put in on her right wrist. "It will grow warm if you're in the arms of someone who loves you. It has ancient magic in the stones that also allow you to always know where your true love is or if he's in danger. Your mother never went a day without wearing it. I thought it was time it went to you."

"Thank you," she said in a cracking voice.

"Now for my gift," he said turning around and picking up a cage that she had not noticed before. "I thought it was about time you had one of these."

She heard a hoot come from the cage bars and looked inside to find a snowy owl that must looked like it was barely old enough to fly. Harry opened up the cage and the owl flew over her and landed on her shoulder. She stroked its feathers affectionately.

"I got one that looked just like this when I turned eleven. Only mine was a female," Harry said smiling at the baby owl.

"It's a boy?" she asked not taking her eyes off the owl.

"Yeah, you'll have to give him a new name. I've been calling him Flash because he can fly faster than any snowy owl I've ever seen. But you should give it a name you like."

"No, I like the name Flash. It has a lot of character. Thank you so much…for everything," she said as she walked forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Don't mention it, kid," he said before glancing down at his watch. "Oh, I guess I'd better be sending you to Jack. When I left he asked me to tell you to meet him in your room after I was done. He wanted to give you your present from him in private as well. I'll say goodnight here since you most likely won't be returning to the party." He gave her a hug slightly hindered by the owl on her shoulder that now refused to move.

"Thanks again, Dad. I love the owl and I really have been needing to get one. Just think, now I can send you mail all the time when I'm away!"

"Well, you better not be planning on staying away for long," Harry joked as they walked back to the castle with the owl and its empty cage. He let Lily walk down the hallway leading to her room by herself but watched that she got safely inside the door.

Lily opened the door to her room and set the cage down on the table to right of the doorway. Flash left her shoulder and perched on top of the cage taking in its surroundings. "Jack," she called looking around the empty living room.

"In here," his voice called from his bedroom.

She walked across the room and entered the bedroom to find him sitting on the bed with four balls of fur crawling all over him. It took her few seconds to realize they were kittens. He looked up at her with a wide grin on his face.

She laughed and put her hands on her hips. "Where on earth did you get four kittens?"

"My mum found them in the cabinet of her classroom. She thinks their mother abandoned them. I told her we would look after them," he said scratching the ear of the black cat. "Hey, this one looks like you! She even has green eyes."

Lily walked over to the bed and sat down next to him picking up the cat he was referring to. "Oh it does!" She scratched the cats back and it purred and settled down in her lap. "That one looks like you," she said pointing to another cat with brown fur and strange crystal blue eyes, just like Jack's.

One of the other cats was ginger in color with black eyes, and the other had black and white spots with black eyes as well. "Oh, I wanted to give you something," Jack said jumping up from the bed and walking over to the dresser. He grabbed something and walked back towards the bed to find Lily sitting on the edge of it while the kittens curled up to sleep on the other side.

"You know the party was enough. You didn't have to do this too," she stated before opening the small rectangular box.

"Just open it, Potter," he said sarcastically as he took a seat beside her.

She did as she was told and looking inside the box to find a medium sized silver locket on a silver chain. In the middle of locket was a green stone that rivaled the green sparks in her eyes. She opened the locket up and saw a picture of the two of them with wide grins on their faces taken during their first year of school. She remembered the day the picture was taken as if it were yesterday. They had just played their first Gryffindor Qudditch match. Jack had his arm around her and their temples were touching.

"Jack-" she began to say but couldn't complete the thought. She took a few moments before trying again. "It's gorgeous. Thank you so much!"

"Turn it over," he told her. When she turned over the locket he pointed to an inscription on the back. The words read 'I loved you then and I'll love you forever.'

Lily put the necklace on and then slide off to her feet to stand in between his legs which hung off the side of the bed. She kissed him passionately as he hands roomed over her back pulling her closer. When she pulled away he looked rather breathless.

"I couldn't love anything more," she said. "Thank you for today. It was the best birthday I've ever had!"

"I sure had you mad this morning. I could tell you were about to slug me one," he said as his hands rested very low on her hips.

"I would have killed you if you hadn't remembered at all!"

"Did you like what your dad gave you? The owl and the bracelet," he asked looking at the bracelet around her wrist.

She suddenly remembered the bracelet and placed a finger on one of the stones to find it warm. "I love them! I've always wanted an owl and I've never had anything that belonged to my mother before."

"I'm glad you like them and I'm glad you had a good day. It was nice to have a little break every once in a while. Work has been getting kind of intense," he said leaning forward to nuzzle her neck. He felt her skin shiver beneath him and he held her closer kissing the nap of her neck hungrily.

"I know…but you really can't do that and talk about work," she said running her hands through his hair. He answered her comment by picking her up and placing his body over hers on his bed.

"I love you," he said looking down at her.

"I know, but it's always nice to hear," she answered cupping his face with her hands bringing it down to meet hers once more.

a/n- Now its your turn, tell me what you think! Remember, more feedback could mean faster updates.