This has been begging to be written all day! Just had to write it for you all! I hope you enjoy the rest of Harry's sleepover!
"That wasn't funny, Sam," Harry glared at his friend, crossing his arms as he stepped away from his father.
: Perhaps not from your perspective, Sam jumped off the chair and trotted over to the kids, who came out from behind Severus. But I was only playing along with Hermione's story.
"Playing along?" Hermione questioned. "You brought the story to life!"
: It was all in your heads, Sam trotted past the kids and to the dining table, jumping up to grab a wrapped box and walking back over to Harry.
"I though fox illusions were dangerous," Harry said.
: Tricks on the eyes and brain are harmless, Sam said, still holding the box as he tilted his head. And they are easy to break and see right through if you're expecting it. Illusions where I invade your dreams are dangerous, since they invade the mind and have the potential to break your spirit, causing life-long insanity or even a life-long coma if I wished to trap you inside your dreams forever. It's those illusions that render you weak enough for a kitsune to kill you. Here, for you. Happy birthday.
Harry accepted the box from Sam and unwrapped it as everyone gathered around him to see, Draco quietly hoping that it was a weapon of some sort. Harry opened the box and pulled out a strange wooden object. It was a stick with a point at the end, two cups on either side near the point, a cup at the bottom, and a ball with a hole in one end attached to a long string. Harry frowned and looked at Sam.
: It's a kendama, Sam clarified. A popular Japanese toy that needs good hand-eye coordination, balance, reflex, and a lot of creativity. I can show you some basics later if you wish.
"That would be great!" Harry smiled. He still had no idea what the kendama was, but Sam did make it sound fun and challenging.
"I was hoping you'd get him a sword," Draco admitted, taking the kendama and studying it, swinging the ball slightly.
"Or a knife," Ron said, peering over Draco's shoulder to see the strange toy up close.
: Your uncle threatened to turn me into a fur coat, Sam smirked at Draco, though I don't believe Harry is quite ready for a weapon. More practice until he finds one that feels natural to him.
"Which won't be until much later in the future," Severus interrupted.
"This toy is weird," Draco said, handing it to Ron to look at.
: It's weird because you've never seen one. This kendama is fun – all you do is find different ways to catch the ball in one of the three cups or spike it with the point. Once you have the hang of it, you'll be addicted.
"Thanks, Sam," Harry said. "It's really cool!"
: Your welcome. And I can't wait to show off some tricks.
"Alright, everyone," Severus said, grabbing the kids' attention. "Why don't you put that away and then everyone get ready for bed. It's getting late."
"Yes, sir," the kids chanted, Hermione handing the toy to Harry and everyone running up the stairs.
Hermione ran to the guest room and the boys ran to Harry's room where they dressed into their pajamas and found their toothbrushes. After changing and taking turns washing their faces, everyone brushed their teeth together, though that quickly turned into splashing water at each other and all over the bathroom. Once they were finished, Severus used a spell that caused Harry's bed to lift and stand up against the wall, giving more room for the boys to set up their sleeping bags.
Harry laid his sleeping bag out between Ron's and Draco's, and Neville set his up next to Ron. They sat up on their bags while Hermione entered the room with a blanket, which she laid out in front of where the boys were, and sat down on top, her pink floral pajamas contrasting greatly with the boys' dark colored pajamas.
"You five have fifteen minutes before lights out," Severus informed. "I suggest a quiet game until then."
With that, Severus left the room.
Harry went to his closet and pulled out a ball that had words written all over it.
"I guess it won't hurt to play Toss N Talk," Harry decided. "I got this from Nathan, a friend from town."
"Let me guess," Draco sneered at the ball, "he's a muggle."
"He is. And this is a fun game. I throw the ball and whoever catches it has to read the phrase their right thumb touches and answer it. Then you throw it to the next person."
"Sounds boring," Draco decided.
"Sounds like a good quiet game before lights out," Hermione argued.
"I'm in for it," Neville said, rearranging himself so he was more angular to Harry. "I'll go first."
Neville opened his hands to catch the ball and Harry tossed it to him.
"Can you touch your nose with your tongue?" read Neville. He promptly stuck his tongue out and reached for his nose. After a minute of really trying to touch his nose, Neville gave up. "Nope, can't reach it. Here you go, Malfoy."
Neville tossed the ball over to Draco.
"This is stupid," Draco mumbled, looking at where his right thumb was touching. "This game is for babies."
"Last I knew," said Hermione, "babies can't play games that involve precision when throwing and advanced communication."
"Who asked for your opinion?"
"Just play the game and quit complaining."
"If you could rule the world for a day, state something that you'd ban," Draco looked at Hermione. "Know-it-all brats," he said, throwing the ball to Hermione.
"Haha," Hermione scowled before reading hers. "What irritates you the most? Spoiled boys who think they're princes."
Hermione threw the ball back at Draco, who glared at her.
"I am far better than a prince." Draco threw the ball back. "And I already went."
"Then go again." Hermione threw it back.
"You go again!" Draco tossed it back at Hermione.
"C'mon guys, share it!" Harry interrupted, slapping the ball out of Hermione's hand. It flew over to Ron, who fell over to catch it.
"Be hairy all over or completely bald? Hmm," Ron touched his hair, then his chin and arms. "I think I'd rather be bald than hairy all over."
"Are you sure, Weasley," Draco asked. "I think being hairy all over might improve your looks."
Ron threw the ball at Draco with force and it bounced off the boy's arm and rolled over to Harry. Harry picked it up and looked at where his thumb was.
"Be invisible or be able to read minds? I'd rather do both, like Sam."
"You have to pick one or the other," Hermione reminded.
"Well, if I was invisible, I could prank everyone without them ever knowing it was me," Harry smiled. "But if I could read minds, I'd always know what everyone is thinking and could predict what they're going to say and do . . . I'll have to go with read minds."
Harry threw the ball to Hermione.
"What is the naughtiest thing you have done in school?" Hermione paused to think.
"Oh, c'mon, Granger," Draco rolled his eyes. "What naughty thing could you have possibly done in school – that didn't involve anything we did as a group!?"
"I've lied to a teacher," Hermione supplied. "Remember the troll incident?"
"I guess we weren't really a group then, yet," Ron added.
Hermione tossed the ball to Ron.
"If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Umm, I would have the superpower of . . . shooting lasers from my eyes! That way, I could really make people explode when I glare at them! Like you, Malfoy."
"Are you sure it's not so you can kill spiders from far away?" Draco smirked.
Ron threw the ball at Draco again and the blonde caught it.
"If you had a million dollars, what would you do?"
"Worst question you could get!" Harry exclaimed.
"It's not," Draco said. "I'd just be a million dollars richer. Your turn, Longbottom."
Draco threw the ball to Neville.
"What is the weirdest thing you have eaten? Something your brothers gave me." Neville looked at Ron. "I don't remember what it was, but it made me breathe fire! Actual fire!"
Everyone laughed and Neville shook his head and tossed it to Harry.
"You wouldn't be caught dead where? My dad's lab without his permission."
"If you weren't dead already, you'd be dead!" Draco laughed.
"Indeed," came Severus's voice from the doorway, where he was leaning causally against the frame, smirking. "I like your answer, son."
"I'm sure you do!" Harry threw the ball at Severus, who caught it with ease. He twirled the ball in his hands as he entered the room.
"It's been twenty minutes," Severus informed. "Time for bed. Miss Granger, back to your guest room, please."
"Yes, sir," Hermione obediently rose. "Goodnight everyone."
Severus put the ball back in Harry's closet and waited until Hermione had left and the boy's were in their sleeping bags before turning the light off.
"Goodnight, boys."
Severus shut the door.
Ten minutes passed as the four boys laid in the dark room. Then, Harry crawled to his closet and opened the door, pulling out a lantern and filling the room with some light. The other three sat up and watched him crawl deeper into the closet and drag things out from under a blanket.
"Check this out!" Harry revealed a large stack of candy, muggle and wizard alike, and two 24 packs of mini 7.5-ounce coke cans. "Sam helped me gather all of this last night."
"Wow!" Ron scurried over to the candy and crabbed a cauldron cake. "Can I borrow your fox some time?"
"How did you hide all this from Uncle Sev?" Draco asked, crawling over to join Harry and Ron, Neville following.
"I think Sam stole them all from the muggle corner store nearby. I supplied the wizard candy. Sam brought everything through my bedroom window and we just hid everything under this blanket in the closet for tonight."
"What is this?" Neville asked pulling one of the coke cans apart from the package.
"It's soda," Harry said.
"What's soda?" Draco asked, taking a can as well. Ron picked one up and shook it.
"No!" Harry shouted before slapping a hand over his mouth. He waited a minute before whispering, "don't shake them, they'll explode all over the place."
Draco, Ron, and Neville dropped the cans and quickly back crawled away from them. Harry sighed and set the three cans aside to let them fizz down. How could he forget he was dealing with three purebloods? Though Draco visited Uncle Sev often, there usually was never muggle soda in the house. He grabbed three more and opened them, handing one to each boy.
"Try it. It's very good."
Ron sniffed his then braved a sip. He smacked his lips and said, "Mmm, this is good!"
Draco and Neville both took a hesitant sip as well.
"It's . . . different," Neville said.
"Hey," came a sharp whisper.
The boys spun around and looked back at Hermione, who was shutting the door behind her.
"So you are still up," Hermione observed, walking over to them with a pack of cards and spoons. "And you have snacks and drinks. Good! I brought this game from home we could play. Are those mini sodas? They're perfect, we could use those for our game."
"Have you ever tried one of these, Hermione?" Ron asked, holding up a can. "They're delicious!"
Hermione just stared at Ron with a look before looking at Harry, who shrugged his shoulders and offered her a can.
"Here's what I'm thinking," Hermione said, shuffling the cards. "We'll play Spoons and use those drinks for losers. To play the game, you must have enough spoons for everyone but one person, so we'll have four spoons. We'll set these here in the middle. I deal everyone five cards, like so. And then I start drawing from the deck and pass cards I don't want around. You have to come up with four-of-a-kind and then grab a spoon. If you see someone grab a spoon, then you have to grab a spoon too, whether you have four-of-a-kind or not. The person without a spoon, has to chug a whole can of soda."
"Well, good thing they're minis," Harry said.
"Does everyone get what to do?" Hermione asked.
The four boys had formed a circle around the four spoons on the floor.
"Yep," they said.
"Good," Hermione smirked. "Let's begin."
Hermione began flying through the deck, looking at cards and passing them on at unnatural speeds. Harry was a bit shocked at how fast Hermione could play but figured she'd probably played this game several times before. Harry tried to move as fast as her and look at the cards and pass them on, the other boys trying their best as well. Soon, Hermione snatched a spoon and with a second's hesitation, the boys reached for spoons as well. Neville was too slow in grabbing one.
"Chug away, Neville," Hermione said as Harry opened a new can and handed it to Neville.
Neville took a deep breath and threw the can back, drinking as fast as he could. When he finished, a loud burp escaped his throat and he covered his mouth, his face turning red. The other boys laughed while Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Let's go again," Draco said, preparing himself to grab cards and pass them.
"It's Harry's turn to deal," Hermione said, passing the cards to Harry.
"Okay," Harry said, dealing five cards to everyone. "But I won't be near as fast as you, Hermione."
Harry began looking at the cards and passing them, trying to be fast. He had two threes of diamonds and was trying to pick out more from the pile. He thought he may have just passed one to Hermione. He would have to be quicker and see things clearer. As he kept picking up and passing, looking for his final card, he could hear stifled giggling and shushing. He looked up and realized that all the spoons were taken. He laughed.
"I guess I lose," Harry picked up a can. "That's hard work, Hermione. I don't know how you did it."
Harry lifted the can and chugged down the soda as fast as he could. He couldn't help the burp that escaped his mouth.
And the rounds continued. At one point, both Harry and Ron grabbed a spoon at the same time, and they played Rock Paper Scissors to see who would get the spoon. Ron won two games and Harry chugged his fourth can of soda.
At another point, Hermione snatched a spoon and used her arm to fling all the other spoons across the floor. The boys scrambled after the spoons, falling over each other and wrestling for a spoon. Neville lost the battle and had to chug down a soda.
The game continues, the kids growing louder and Hermione and Harry shushing everyone occasionally. By the time they ended the game, Draco had downed seven sodas, Harry had eight, Hermione was in the lead with only five, Neville in second with six, and Ron had drunk ten cans of soda.
Ron was drinking his eleventh, and he let out a loud belch when he was done. Every laughed, even Hermione.
Then, they switched the game to spin the spoon. They lined up the worst of the muggle and wizard candy in a circle around a spoon. Then they each took turns spinning the spoon and they had to eat whatever it pointed to.
Draco went first and landed on muggle fireball candies. He picked one up and read the label.
"These don't catch on fire, do they?" he asked.
"Of course not," Hermione said. "They're just hot."
"Great," Draco said, slowly tearing the wrapper off. He gave the small candy a hesitant lick before popping it in his mouth. He frowned as he sucked for a couple seconds, everyone watching his face closely. His eyes suddenly widened and watered and his face gave scrunched up in dislike. He kept sucking on it, however, until he felt that his teeth could crunch it.
Hermione took her turn while Draco finished his fireball. She landed on gummy spiders and she took three from the bag and playfully wiggled them around and dropping them into her mouth while Draco, Ron, and Neville watched horrified. Harry laughed but didn't bother telling them that the spiders were like any other gummy and not real.
Neville took his turn and ended up with pop rocks. Everyone laughed at his many startled expressions as he ate the strange crackling candy.
Ron landed on a gummy bug tape candy.
"What!?" Ron said as he pulled on he gummy, unraveling it to reveal more bug gummies stuck to the gummy tape. "These are just gummies right?"
"Yes, Ron," Harry encouraged. "Just eat it."
Ron forced the end of the tape in his mouth and began chewing, puling more and more in. His expression changed from fearful to interested and he ate it faster.
"That was delicious!" he exclaimed. "I'll eat bugs any day!"
"How about these chocolate crickets?" Hermione challenged, holding up the box of them. "They're real."
"Eww!" Ron, Neville, and Draco said.
Hermione opened the box and dropped a whole cricket in her mouth, chewing loudly.
"That's revolting!" Draco said.
"You actually like real bugs?" Neville asked.
"I better not land on those," Ron mumbled.
"My turn," Harry said eagerly, spinning the spoon.
It pointed to pickle mints. Harry made a face as he picked up the candy. Everyone "ewwed" for him as he opened the package and poured a couple mints into his hand. The smell of a dill pickle drowned his nose and he threw the mints into his mouth. It was terrible! The taste of mints and pickles definitely did not go. Harry scrunched up his face in disgust as he chewed and made himself swallow.
And this game went on. They played more rounds, eating more fireballs, gummies, chocolate frogs, bacon gum balls, cowtails, dragon claws, taffy of all kinds, and skittles and M&Ms mixed together. They drank more cokes as well. Everyone was growing more excited with each round, though that could probably be blamed on the sugar.
As Harry's spoon landed on mentos and he popped a couple in his mouth, his bedrrom door opened and bright light flooded the room, blinding them all.
"What is going on in here?"
Severus could hear the laughter from his study. He decided to ignore it at first, thinking that the boys had engaged in a pillow fight before falling to sleep. It had grown quieter for a while, but then it was unmistakably loud. Growling, Severus stormed out of his study and up the stairs. He realized that the guest room door was open and he glanced inside. Hermione was not in the bed.
Furious, Severus opened his son's bedroom door and flicked the light switch.
The sight that met his eyes nearly made him step back and do a double take.
There were empty soda cans everywhere, as well as candy wrappers of all kind scattered all over the floor. The kids were sitting in a circle, though they all fell over when he turned the light on – clenching their eyes shut – but they had even more candy in a circle around a spoon. And Harry was currently the one eating something.
"What is going on in here?" he yelled.
"We're playing spin the spoon," Draco informed with a goofy smile. "Is that a problem?"
Everyone laughed. No one child seemed concerned with his anger, not even Neville.
"Want to play, Uncle Sev?"
Severus glared at Draco but turned his eyes on Harry.
"Harry," Severus scolded, "spit it out."
Harry leaned over an opened can of soda and dropped whatever was in his mouth into the can. Severus realized it must have been mentos when the soda began fizzing out of the can, spreading all over the floor. The kids fell over laughing while Severus seethed.
"Damn it, Harry," Severus snapped, pulling out his wand and banishing the mess.
Draco picked up another can of soda and opened it.
"Draco, no," Severus marched forward. "Give that to me, your done!"
Draco chugged the drink down as fast as he could before letting out a loud belch, earning fits of laughter from the other kids, before giving the can to Severus who glared down at him. Then Severus saw Neville.
"Mr. Longbottom, put the candy down! No more!"
Neville, for the first time, didn't even tremble as he met Severus's eyes and popped the fizzing whizzbees into his mouth. He began to float a few inches off the ground. Everyone laughed and scrambled forward to get some of the candy, wanting to float as well. Severus flicked his wand and all the soda and candy disappeared to the kitchen where Severus could dispose of it all later.
"Aww!" Everyone groans.
Neville dropped back down to the ground, landing on wobbly feet.
"That is enough! To bed, all of you!"
"But we're not tired," Hermione said from where she sat on the floor. "Ten more minutes."
"Miss Granger, I expected more from you, young lady," Severus scolded.
"Everyone always does," the girl whined, falling over on her back with dramatic flair. "I'm not a role model, you know! I'm not anything! I just want ten more minutes."
"We can have a pillow fight in ten more minutes," Draco said, grabbing his pillow and smacking Harry with it and then Ron, who both fell to the floor to grab a pillow, Draco falling as well to keep beating on them. Neville grabbed a blanket and draped it over the three other boys, trapping them under it mid fight. The boys wrestled each other under the blanket while Hermione and Neville watched on laughing.
No one is listening, Severus thought angrily. Exasperated and a bit overwhelmed, Severus did the one thing that came to mind.
"Dormeo!" he shouted, swirling his wand the slightest.
The three boys under the blanket toppled over each other and went still. Neville collapsed to the ground and Severus quickly cast a cushioning charm before he hit the floor. Hermione simply fell asleep where she was on the ground. Reeling in his temper, Severus rubbed at his temples before banishing the empty cans and candy wrappers to the trash and recycling.
He rearranged the sleeping bags and put the boys one by one in their respective bags, tucking them each in, knowing they wouldn't wake up from the movements. His hand lingered in his son's hair for a moment. He smiled down at his mischievous boy and ruffled the hair, dragging his hand along Harry's cheek before standing.
He gathered Hermione in his arms and as he carried her back to the guest room, Sam's white mist flew to his side and solidified into the fox, who trotted at his side, smirking up at him.
: Entertaining night?
"I'm starting to regret this sleepover," Severus admitted as he laid Hermione on the bed and covered her with a blanket. "And I swear if you had anything to do with that stash in Harry's room . . ."
: Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you, Sam smirked, tilting his head, his ears flicking in amusement. He smiled at Hermione, using his nose to gently push her dangling hand up on to the bed. At least they're asleep now.
"Hopefully, they have no nightmares from all that sugar they consumed."
Severus turned off the light in the guest room and checked on the boy's one last time, smiling at Harry's peaceful sleeping face.
: I'm sure they're dreaming of all the fun they've had today.
Severus turned out the light and shut his son's bedroom door and let the kids sleep.
Harry smiled as he watched Sam, in human form, spin the ball on the kendama, the red ball circling around at the end of its string lightning fast, before Sam tugged and caught the ball in a cup on the side, then tossing it up and catching it in the cup at the base, tossing it again to drop the ball to hit against his foot and jump up to the point of the kendama, stabbing the ball where the hole was.
In human form, Sam wasn't very tall, about 5'8 to 5'9. However, Sam was well built and had tanned skin. His unchanged fox ears hid in his bushy red hair, but his yellow fox eyes were clear as day, and when he opened his mouth, his retracted fox teeth were still there, sharp and shiny.
Everyone clapped as Sam finished his tricks. The kitsune gave a deep bow playfully.
"Now you try, Harry," Sam said, holding out the wooden toy.
"Do that?"
"Of course not," Sam said, standing behind Harry and adjusting Harry's hold on the kendama. "We'll start with the basics. Bend your knees slightly – not that much, we're not skiing! There, now just move with the ball, pull it up to land in this cup here."
Harry yanked on the toy and the string pulled the ball up and Sam moved Harry forward slightly to catch the ball in the cup.
"Very good," Sam encouraged. "Just remember, where the ball goes, you follow. You don't want to hit yourself in the face, now do you?"
"No," Harry smiled as he tried the move again. And again. Until he no longer needed Sam's aid with the one move.
"Once you master the basics, you'll be able to create your own little tricks."
"I want to try! May I try? Please?" the other kids asked.
"Alright, alright, one at a time. Ladies first."
"How come it's always ladies first?" Draco pouted, crossing his arms and glaring at Hermione as she stepped over to Sam and accepted the kendama from Harry. "She's not even a lady."
"Then what am I?" Hermione snapped at Draco as she allowed Sam to guide her movements to control the red ball dangling towards the ground.
"A half-grown kid with an attitude," Draco answered.
Hermione simply gave Draco a look before trying the move without Sam's aid, smiling as she quickly mastered the basics.
Harry joined his father in the kitchen and stared down at the food on the fryer. He frowned.
"What are you making?"
"Scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast," Severus said, looking down at his son.
"Wait, I thought you were going to make chocolate chip pancakes with Nutella and whip?"
"I was," the man confirmed. "But I decided that the five of you had enough sugar last night to last you a lifetime."
Severus glared at Harry.
"I said I was sorry about that."
"You're not sorry about that. You're simply sorry that you were caught and that you're not getting a sugary breakfast. Go set the table."
Harry sighed and grabbed plates and silverware to set the table. He put cups out and set apple and orange juice in the middle of the table, along with butter and marmalade for the toast.
"Breakfast is ready!" Harry shouted.
Everyone came running from the living room to the dining room, but quickly slowed to a halt as Severus walked out from the kitchen, crossing his arms and glaring at the children. This was the first the other four kids had seen Severus that morning, and the events of last night rushed back to them, and they blushed and lowered their heads. Severus merely raised an eyebrow.
"We're sorry about last night, sir," Hermione began, taking the lead. "I meant no disrespect, I swear."
"Me too," Neville and Ron said.
"Yeah, me too," Draco added. "Sorry Uncle Sev."
"Thank you for your apologies," Severus said with a nod. "Sit down and start eating some healthy food."
Everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and sat at the large table and began serving themselves from the platters Severus set out on the table. Sam returned in fox form once more and Severus set a bowl of food (mostly sausage) down for the fox, who ate away immediately.
"Thanks for the breakfast, Professor," Hermione said, remembering her manners. Which was more than could be said for the boys, but they did nod in agreement.
"Your welcome," Severus said. "And as for last night, I will refrain from informing your parents as you were merely trying to have more fun. However, if you ever visit my house again and pull a stunt as such, you will find yourselves back home immediately with a report to your parents."
"Yes, sir," everyone chorused.
After breakfast, everyone packed their bags and Neville, Draco, and Ron left by floo and Hermione waited for her parents to arrive.
"Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Granger," Severus greeted at the door. "Please, come in."
"Thank you, Professor Snape," Mr. Granger said.
"It's a lovely home, you have here," Mrs. Granger said. "And again, I'm sorry we couldn't stay for the party yesterday, we would have loved to, but . . ."
Severus held up a hand politely, "It's nothing to be concerned about. I appreciate letting your daughter attend my son's sleepover."
"We were ecstatic when she received the invitation," Mrs. Granger continued. "She had such few friends growing up and now look at her! It's so wonderful to see. I was so worried for her going away to school but it seems she's fitting in nicely."
"And she is a brilliant young lady," Severus added.
The Grangers smiled proudly.
"It was a great sleepover, Harry," Hermione said. "I had a lot of fun. Thanks for inviting me."
"You're my best friend, Hermione. Of course I'd invite you."
Hermione quickly hugged Harry, who returned it, before gathering her bag and blanket and saying goodbye to Severus and thanking him one last time.
After everyone was gone, Harry hugged his father, smiling up at him.
"This was the best birthday ever!" Harry said. "I really enjoyed the sleepover and spending time with my friends."
"I'm glad," Severus said, resting a hand on Harry's head. "But if I ever find a hidden stash like the one you had last night, you'll be grounded from candy and soda for life."
"Okay, Dad," Harry chuckled. "Grounded for life. Got it."
If you don't know what a kendama is, I recommend going on youtube and typing in "kendama tricks." It'll give you the best idea and you'll see some cool tricks! I've yet to master anything as stylish.
Dormeo translates to "go to sleep" or "rest" or "do nothing" depending on the context.
I hope you enjoyed Harry's sleepover adventure! Please leave your thoughts!