Happy Birthday...Again!:
Andromeda sighed again as she realized the Cake could not possibly be enough for all the guests. She had overlooked Hagrid. Irritated yet to a certain extent composed she waved her wand to begin on the third perfect cake for her Teddy when the five year old rushed into the room with excited squeals of 'Its my birthday...'. He hugged his grandmother and demanded for his gifts- being under the impression that after five everyone had two birthdays with two sets of gifts, not being old enough to realize his first birthday party had been spoiled by the muggle incident and so this was the second. He had loved his first set of presents and was eagerly looking forward to a second set today. Uncle Harry, his godfather had given him a toy broomstick- his dearest posession- unfortunately confiscated as he had demolished the crystal ornaments in the living room- to which his grandmother had not taken to very kindly and had refused to use her wand -with which Teddy had seen her mend almost anything he broke, even his bones. His other gifts had included- a Child Book on Puzzles from Aunt Hermione- which he had solved and found them too simple, the tastiest fudge brownies and a jumper from Grandpa and Grandma Weasley, Some of the coolest fireworks from Uncle George and Uncle Lee, and his pet- Peevey, the Jarvey- from Uncle Hagrid his favourite- especially as Teddy enjoyed his grunting.
'Now Teddy dear...Just because you are having another party does not mean you can stop Granny from doing her work...You should read Aunt Hermy's book and try to do some of those muggle puzzles..." she found it difficult to pronounce the word not because she was unfamiliar with it but because her husband had loved them. " But i have done all of them Granny... they were stupid'. Andromeda smiled. Wizards were usually ten before they could do such puzzles, the boy had his grandad's brains for puzzles. "Teedo Teedo" Peevey bounded in and was immediately shooed away with a protesting Teddy behind.
This was his second birthday party in the month. His previous was on the verge of being a success before the silver lynx had ordered every wizard and witch to instantly disapparate and had asked Andromeda to dress in the most muggle was possible. Hagrid had rushed in or had been rushed in with Minerva McGonagall who was furiously muttering and occasionally throwing dark looks at Hagrid who was mumbling defensively 'Din know..' and 'just a few swipes'. Of course the incident had caused them to leave and Xenophilus had been good enough to rent them this cottage while he was on his yearly expedition to Hungary in quest for Blubbery Budwingles. There had been an enquiry and Dawlish who was to have obliviated the Muggle Policeman's memory but had failed to do so had been demoted yet again this time to the wand examinations office at the Ministry entrance which at present consisted of him and an elderly wizard who had called him six different names so far (None of them even remotely resembling Dawlish).
There was a sudden rushing sound, as she turned quite calmly to the fireplace which had turned green from its usual fiery orange. "Harry" she beamed as it was drowned by Teddy's squeals of "Uncle Harry...Uncle Harry" and the same in the hoarse voice by Peevey "Inkle Hairy Inkle Hairy'. Harry scooped Teddy into his arms and swung him about. "He even starts to sound like Peeves.." he told Andromeda as he pecked her cheek. He was carrying a bright red package which Teddy was hankering to get at ignoring Andromeda's "Manners Teddy" comments. Harry sported a huge grin as he handed over the package to his godson who ripped the covers apart and shrieked in delight at the sight of the ' Toy Dragon' which instantaneously transformed into a leprechaun and showered Teddy with Gold. Andromeda bade Harry to sit down and offered him the muggle drink martini which he accepted gratefully though with raised eyebrows until Andromeda told him 'I lived with Ted Tonks for Twenty Nine Years remember'. Harry hastily gulped the drink fearing a teary reminiscence of Ted especially today - on Teddy's birthday.
The Fireplace whooshed again and out tumbled a much dishevelled Arthur Weasley followed by Molly. "Hello Dear"- Molly exclaimed to Teddy's excited banter and gently lifted him off the ground. Andromeda and Molly had never been very close but the loss of their dear ones had brought them closer than ever, and the fact that they were neighbours just added to it. Fred, Remus and Dora were buried in the same cemetry and had their anniversaries on the same day. Molly bustled into the Kitchen, wand in hand to assist Andromeda as Arthur and Harry followed Teddy into the living room with a bounding peevey behind.
Just as Arthur had finished describing to Harry about the well being of the entire weasley clan, there were similar whooshing sounds- and out popped- Minerva Mcgonagall, George Weasley and with a terribly loud sound- Rubeus Hagrid. "This is much better!" Minerva exclaimed- "Better than wearing ill fitting muggle clothes and apparating in plain sight of muggles". She gave Hagrid a dark look causing him to turn pink. Young Teddy of course was already receiving his second presents- an unicorn horn from Hagrid (Teddy was slightly crestfallen, he had been expecting a second jarvey), a set of muggle story books from the Weasleys- which Harry was sure from the angry glances of Mrs Weasley- that Arthur had taken a peek at or maybe more, a set of new child robes from Minerva and a large bag of WWW products from George.
"Still cannot think why the Ministry prevents connections to the Floo network in muggle areas"- Minerva looked questioningly at Arthur and Harry as though they had been responsible for the tight Floo regulations. Minerva had also been summoned to the hearing, conducted by new Wizengamot Judge Aurelius Botchkiss who had reprimanded her until he caught her stare and hastily pushed for aquisition. The conversation turned quickly to Quidditch and Harry felt the lead filling in his chest- an icy cold sensation creeping up to him. Ginevra or Ginny Weasley now a professional chaser with the Holyhead Harpies and the group were reviewing her performance of a hundred and six goals in a season and discussing if she could break the record. Harry,unable to bear it any longer, found an excuse to steer away from the group and stumbled around outside the house.
Ginny... he still ached for her as he remembered the week- the week when he had lost his best friend and so, the love of his life. Ron.. Harry still missed him and felt the pangs of guilt. Arthur, Molly and the rest of the Weasleys pretended to have gotten over Ron but not Harry. He went around to the Burrow every week and became a son to Arthur, had used every single contact at the Ministry to help track down the whereabouts of Ron and had failed and had made his own life miserable as if to punish himself for what had happened. His thoughts were momentarily distracted by Andromeda's summoning him for dinner. Harry observed a few more faces- Amos Diggory the retired wizard who had lost his son Cedric during the triwizard tournament and who was since obessed with finding the Hallows (Mainly thanks to Xenophilus's advise of course), Bill Weasley, Fleur and their daughter Victoire who was just a year old and was ignoring both Peevey and Teddy despite their best attempts at making an introduction and to Harry's surprise Narcissa Malfoy.
Two things struck Harry- first Narcissca. Narcissca had been a death eater's wife and had escaped Azkaban only because of Harry's testimony. Her husband Lucius on the other hand been sentenced to fifteen years and Draco, his son, to six years probation. To top it all- the Ministry had made seven raids on the Malfoy Manor and had conducted enquiries as to the source of the Malfoy wealth. Though nothing much had come off it, the Malfoy name was in mud and everyone knew this. The fact that Andromeda did not looked shocked or even surprised meant that Andromeda had known her sister would be arriving for the birthday.
The second thing was Hermione - Harry's closest friend had not yet come. She had insisted on making it and had never ever forgotten to attend something like this before. Maybe it was some House Elf emergency.. he surmised as the crowd waved to him.
Mounds of Melton Mowbray Pork Pies, Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Sour Cream, Large pieces of Ham and Cheese and Yorkshire puddings magically appeared on the plates of the guests and kept refilling - in Hagrids case nine times - as they began discussing everything from the old days to Minister Shacklebolt's proposals to give more power to the Goblins and his having awarded a posthumous Order of Merlin First Class to Severus Snape. They discussed the revival of Gilderoy Lockhart and his release from St Mungos though not fully cured of course, the unfortune or fortunate arrest of Dolores Umbridge and her incarceration at Azkaban, Professor Flitwick's death due to Dragon pox and of course of Madam Rosemerta's latest affair with a Ministry of Magic employee.
The spotlight during dessert was on Harry- as he described his job as an Auror and his team's attempts to capture the remaining dark wizards at large. He was quick and to the point as he hated being in the limelight. Just as Arthur was going to describe his team's capture of Mulciber and Harry's duel with the dark wizard, Harry sensing something and knowing Arthur too well - darted a quick question on Grawp to Hagrid and heaved a sigh of relief when Hagrid began to describe his, supposedly, civil Giant Brother who could talk and act human (Human- according to Hagrid, though Harry privately felt that Grawp could be just as human as Voldemort could have been expected to celebrate christmas).
Molly and Andromeda appeared holding Victoire and Teddy in their arms with Peevey following and large glasses, a bottle of mulled mead, a bottle of gillywater and a bottle of redcurrant rum suspended in the air. Narcissca Malfoy- Harry noticed had disappeared... leading him to wonder if he had seen her at all. The whole group was now in the living room and the noises were too loud to notice the whooshing sound in the fireplace. Harry whose years with the Dursleys and whose training had given him very sharp hearing - bounded over to it wand drawn out- ignoring Minerva who was informing everyone of her decision to retire next year and the exclamations from the group at this sudden announcement.
Out of the fireplace tumbled Hermione, looking as though she had aged a twenty years. In her hand was a piece of parchment and her face was streaked with tears. As she faced him - Harry, out of habit, turned and was relieved that no one else had seen her arriving. They were still busy protesting and requesting Minerva to stay on. He turned questioningly to Hermione - 'Had someone killed a house elf?' or 'Had she received a negative report'?. She was bowing her head and Harry was getting impatient. Just as he was about to snatch the parchment and have a look at it, she looked at him and handed him the parchment herself. "Its from Ron..." she said, and leant against the wall of the fireplace for support.
