The Eleventh Hour

After pulling herself together, Ginny hurried downstairs. Oliver Wood and his wife Alicia waved at her as they walked down the hallway and into the garden.

"Everything okay, Luna?" she asked.

Luna turned and smiled. "Oh yes, I'm blessing everyone with a welcoming ritual as they cross the threshold," she said.

Ginny craned her neck around her friend and saw a short queue of people waiting to be allowed entrance into the Potter's home. "Maybe the welcoming ritual could be hurried up a little," she suggested, wondering what the neighbours must be thinking.

"The blessings cannot be rushed or they lose their potency," said Luna sternly. She took hold of Dean Thomas's ears and began to recite some words. Dean, looking anxious, pushed his wife and son in through the door so that they could avoid Luna.

"Everything's in place," said Hermione, appearing at her elbow.

Out in the garden, the musicians struck up a lively jig, and the music wafted through the open house and out the front door.

"Thank goodness," Ginny said. "I honestly didn't think it would happen."

"Get off, it's me!" she heard Ron's disgruntled voice behind her.

"Ron!"

He shook his head before she could beg the question. "I'm sorry, I looked everywhere. I couldn't find him."

Ginny thought about crying, thought about screaming, then changed her mind and hugged her brother. "Thank you for trying," she said.

But Ron wasn't paying attention to her. He was looking over her shoulder to his wife. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I was out of order."

Hermione threw her arms round him. "I'll leave you alone then," Ginny said. "Parvati! Thank you for coming!"

"Thanks for having us!" Parvati smiled. "When is Harry due to arrive home?"

Ginny checked the clock in the hall. "Less than half an hour," she said.

"Hi, Mrs Potter," Amir said politely, after a surreptitious nudge from his mother. "Is James here?"

Ginny bit her lip, her forehead creasing up with concern.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked, having finally escaped Luna.

"Do you know where Clive Hopkins lives, Amir?" Ginny asked, avoiding the question. "He was having a party you and James were going to attend today. I'm surprised to see you here, actually."

Amir froze.

"You what?" said Parvati, giving her son a hard look.

"I don't know," Amir said. "I was never really going to go, of course." He smiled reassuringly at his parents.

"Enjoy yourselves," Ginny smiled, and the family walked through the house to the garden.

"Mum!"

'What now?' Ginny thought, turning to see Albus with a card clutched in his hand.

"Hagrid's invitation!" Albus said. "I just found it under the sofa! It must have gotten lost and we never sent it! Hagrid doesn't know about Dad's party!"

Ginny knew that Hagrid had to be there for Harry. They had been firm friends for almost thirty years now; it was imperative that Hagrid be there on Harry's special day.

"I'll take that!" said George, snatching the invitation out of his nephew's hand. "Gin, don't worry about it. You've got enough on your plate. I'll go and get him now and explain. There's nothing Hagrid can be doing right now that is more important than going to the saviour of the Wizarding world's 40th birthday party, and I know he'd want to be here."

"I'll help you," said Bill, appearing at the end of the hall.

"We will too," Neville said, and he and Hannah stepped forward.

"And I have nothing better to do," Hestia Jones volunteered.

"Wait! How are you going to get him back here?" asked Ginny. "He can't fit on a broom, not to mention through the fireplace. And there's no time to set up an emergency Portkey."

"Can I go?" said Albus.

"Definitely not," said Ginny firmly.

Albus looked disappointed and George ruffled his hair. "Next time, mate, okay?"

"We'll have to Apparate," said Bill.

"Hagrid can't use magic," Neville pointed out.

"Then it's a good thing there are five of us," said Bill, matter-of-factly. "We're going to need all the strength we can get for Side-Along Apparition with someone as large as Hagrid."

"Oh, I hope he's not angry," fretted Ginny. "It was a genuine mistake, we didn't forget about him."

"Merlin's beard, stop worry. It's all under control, little sister," said George, kissing the top of her head. "Ready, everyone?"

He led the small rescue party to Apparate at the front gate.

"Be back soon! Harry comes at five!" Ginny called after them.

They waved and Disapparated with a loud pop.

Next to arrive was a tartan-robed Minerva McGonagall. She moved much more slowly than Ginny remembered from her childhood, but none of her stately Scottish dignity had been lost in retirement. Behind her was Justin Finch-Fletchley, Percy and his girls (Audrey was at home with the flu) and then Dennis Creevey with Demelza Robins. Guests were pouring in now, bearing armfuls of gifts, and the house and garden were filling up rapidly. The caterers were serving all manner of drinks now, from champagne to Butterbeer, and Firewhiskey to Bubble Juice.

It would have made Ginny smile to see so many of their old friends greeting each other, all excited for Harry's imminent arrival. But she had no time to smile. She was unbelievably anxious about James's whereabouts and she was still worried that Harry would come home early before everything was in place. The surprise she had been planning for so long would be ruined.

"Mum!" said Lily, running up to her. "People kept asking me where they should leave their presents for Dad, so I've put them all in the broom cupboard."

"They're not much use in there, Lil," said Ginny, running a hand through her hair.

She went to the cupboard and twisted the handle. "No, wait!" Lily shouted, a moment too late. A great pile of brightly-wrapped presents tumbled out of the cupboard and straight on top of Ginny, knocking her backwards into Ernie Macmillan, whose cup of mead flew out of his hand and soaked Katie Bell.

"Sorry, Mum," Lily grimaced.

"Are you hurt?!" gasped Hermione, running up to Ginny.

Ginny stood up. "No, I'm fine," she said. "Katie, your robes-"

But Katie was laughing. "That was the most refreshing shower I've ever had."

"I'm so sorry-!" Ginny sent Albus running for a towel to dry Katie's clothes.

"Lily, clear these up," said Hermione briskly. "Put them all on the coffee table in the front room. Teddy," she said, grabbing him as he was going past. "Can you help?"

"Sure," grinned the amiable Teddy. "Did you decide to take a bath, Katie?"

"Something like that!"

Ginny took her best friend aside. "Hermione, I really can't stand it any longer," she said. "I'm going out to find James and bring him home."

"No, you can't," said Hermione, grabbing her arm. "Harry'll be home soon whether James is here or not and you really shouldn't be gallivanting after James, who is goodness knows where."

"Hermione, don't you understand?" snapped Ginny, losing her patience. "I am going to look for my son."

"No! Stay here," implored Hermione. "You can send a search party out for him in an hour, maybe less, but this is about Harry now." She smiled. "There are at least some benefits of having such a big family."

Having been convinced by Hermione to at least wait a few more minutes, Ginny decided to take her mind off of things and mingle with the crowd of guests in the garden. It was all set to be a great party. There were already a few people, who had certainly not been wasting the free Firewhiskey, on the dancefloor. Kids were running around, causing chaos, and Ginny saw Albus carefully shutting his cat in the shed, out of harm's way.

"Are you alright, love?" Mr Weasley asked, catching his daughter just as Ginny swooped past his chair.

She sighed. "It's been a stressful day," she said.

"I'm sure Harry will appreciate your hard work," Mr Weasley smiled. "He's a good man."

"I know," said Ginny.

"Why don't you sit down for a moment and catch your breath?" her father suggested, and she listened, grateful for the excuse to rest. "I haven't seen James wandering around yet," Mr Weasley remarked. "Where is he?"

"We had an argument," admitted Ginny. "He left the house and I don't know where he is."

Mr Weasley nodded. It was nothing he hadn't heard a hundred times before. "Being a parent isn't as easy as it looks, is it?" he said.

"I don't know how you and Mum did it," Ginny smiled, hugging him.

Mr Weasley always managed to reassure her with his calming voice and gentle nature. He was old and white-haired now, but he had never lost his passion for Muggle paraphernalia, and he insisted upon carrying a Muggle torch on his person at all times. He was eccentric but well-loved in the wizarding community, having gained fame from his involvement in the War and close connection to the Order of the Phoenix. In the last few years, his family had noticed that he more quickly became confused and muddled his sentences more, but they loved him no less.

"It was never easy," said Mr Weasley, wisely. "Especially given the circumstances of your teen years. But it was always worth it. I mean, look at you now." He smiled softly as Hugo and a friend shot past them. "And grandchildren are a blessing."

"And, the way I hear it, you have a great-grandchild on the way," Ginny smiled.

Mr Weasley's face relaxed with a pure and peaceful delight. "Indeed." He patted Ginny's knee. "Don't worry about him, love," he advised. "Kids always come back home after the war." His eyes misted over, and Ginny saw him becoming confused as she lost him to a time long ago. "Although, Fred didn't." He sighed. "I wish Fred could be here." He said it at least once a month.

"We all do, Dad," she replied.

Their bubble was burst by a sudden commotion in the far corner of the garden. Ginny saw a great figure made entirely of hair appear out of nowhere, and three wizards and two witches fell over, landing at Hagrid's feet. Happily, the last to arrive, he had gotten to Godric's Hollow just as the clock struck five o' clock.

He beamed jovially around at the party, unaware that the people who had escorted him looked exhausted from transporting such a large person hundreds of miles across the country. Hannah looked very pale and, in stark contrast, Bill was flushed scarlet with exertion.

"Hagrid," said Ginny, hurrying up to him. "It's good to see you! I'm so sorry you didn't know about it sooner. There was a muddle with the invitations."

"Don' worry 'bout it, Ginny," Hagrid boomed, hugging her. He didn't seem to mind the least bit that he had almost been overlooked.

Ginny, with her face pressed up against coarse and wiry brown hair, couldn't help but notice that, despite the late hour, Hagrid had still found time to put on his ancient and horrible, hairy suit.

"I need several shots of Firewhiskey now," said George, wiping his brow and staggering over to the drinks table, with Neville close behind.

Jenkins from the Auror Office, who was in some sort of communication with someone back in the Ministry, hurried up to Ginny. "He's just left!" he said. "Harry's on his way!"

"Hide everyone!" Ginny shouted, and people scattered. "Hermione, can you get the caterers and musicians out of sight?" she asked as everyone ran in a million different directions, looking for the best place to hide. "Tell the musicians to strike up just as everyone leaps out at Harry!"

She heard giggling above her, and looked up to see Lily, Hugo, Lucy and Louis sitting in the branches of the tree. "Quick, quick!" she said, looking around to check that everyone was at least half-hidden. The only person who didn't seem to realise that the bush he was hiding behind only came up to his waist was Hagrid, but Ginny didn't think he could have done much better than that.

She stood behind the back door with Hermione, flattening herself against the wall and holding her breath in anticipation. At any moment, Harry would appear and hopefully be shocked out of his wits at all his friends and family jumping upon him.

"I hear movement!" said Hermione.

They could clearly hear someone moving around inside the house. "He's here!" hissed Ginny, making sure everyone was ready.

A figure appeared in the doorway, and the garden exploded. People jumped out from all over the place, and a great shout of "SURPRISE!" went up. But it wasn't Harry Ginny and Hermione saw when they jumped out from behind the door.

It was James, looking stunned and faintly alarmed at the amount of people and the volume of the shout.

"James!" said Ginny, throwing her arms around him in happiness. She found that there was no anger left in her, only relief. Like Mr Weasley had predicted, James had found his way back home. "What happened to you?"

"I went to the party," said James. "But I changed my mind. It wasn't that good and I felt guilty. I knew I should be there for Dad, and his party is sure to be so much better than Clive Hopkins'. I'm sorry I didn't help you out today. I know you'll ground me, but I promise I'll make it up to you."

"You're not grounded," said Ginny, hugging him again. "I'm so glad you came back. Go on, go and hide to surprise Dad."

James went and joined Amir, where they began a secretive, whispered conversation about what went wrong in their plans.

"See," smiled Hermione. "Everything worked itself out in the end. All's well that ends well."

"Ginny?" someone said behind them. "What's going on?"

Ginny whipped around to see Harry, still holding his briefcase, looking surprised and overwhelmed at all the people in his house. She just stood there, staring at him with her mouth slightly agape.

There were a lot of confused and disjointed shouts of "Surprise!" as everyone realised the guest of honour had suddenly arrived.

"Happy Birthday, Harry," said Ginny. It hadn't gone exactly to plan, but Harry didn't mind.

He beamed and pulled her close, fully appreciating the amount of work she must have done to organise this and make it all possible. As Harry and Ginny embraced, the guests recovered from their own surprise and burst into a very raucous and enthusiastic rendition of 'Happy Birthday'. The musicians pulled themselves together and joined in with great gusto.

Harry grinned and Ginny silently thanked her lucky stars that, although everything hadn't gone to plan, things had gone relatively smoothly. Harry was surprised and all their family and friends had come together to celebrate Harry's fortieth. That's all she had wanted.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. There's just one more chapter to come so let me know what your thoughts are by reviewing! Thank you!