Chapter 19

As they exited, Harry who was chatting with his old team mates, saw the crowd turn and start laughing loudly. He saw that the Weasley clan exited the house proudly and with out shame. Well, for the most part. Ron and Percy both looked a little ashamed and embarrassed. Ginny walked over to him and hooked her arm in his.

"Hey, guys," she said happily as if she wasn't a Medusa-incarnate. Harry chuckled and hissed at the snakes.

"SSSSee?" he hissed. The snakes ignored him and continued their hypnotic dance.

"What did you tell them, Harry?" asked Oliver. He remembered the whole Parseltongue thing and was amused, if not a little jealous.

"I can't speak snake any more. Not since Voldemort was killed. That, my old friend, was a playful hiss," Harry said. He smirked at Ginny who smiled serenely back at him.

"Oh, that kind of sucks. I think it would be cool to be able to talk to animals," Katie said.

"Nice prank by the way Harry. Why didn't they remove it before leaving the house though?" asked Angelina. She had never really gotten over Fred's death and a smile on her face was rare these days, though she had recently taken a job at WWW along with Alicia.

"Why thank you, I do pride myself on being the son of a Marauder. They didn't remove it because they can't. I made it with my signature, only I can remove it," he finished. He saw his parents and Sirius walking over to him, all had big grins on. "If you'll excuse me, some friends from while I was on the run showed up. I must greet them, thank you for coming guys, it was great seeing you. Maybe we can get together later for a game."

"Harry, mate, awesome prank. How did you get them to leave it on?" asked Stanley. Jack looked intrigued as well.

"Signature in the charm. Only I can remove them," Harry replied with pride. Lavender and Jack's jaws dropped.

"But that's…really advanced. Didn't you say you didn't even finish Hogwarts?" asked his mum.

"I may have not finished but I am fairly advanced. I could take my NEWTs right now in Defense, Transfiguration, and Charms and probably do okay on them. Potions and Herbology would take some extra studying. History and Astronomy would be no use, I just can't do well in them without a lot of studying and even still I'd probably fail. Besides, when the Minister of Magic himself gives you your dream job without NEWTs, you take him up on it. I will take my NEWTs just so I can prove to myself I can pass them, but for now, I've got a good job." Jack, Lavender, and Stanley stared at him.

"I'm so proud of you, Harry," Lavender whispered to him. Harry's head swelled. This was something he'd always wanted to hear.

Molly was coming closer and she heard the disguised Lily say what she did to Harry and the look in his eyes when he heard it. She knew Harry knew that the Weasley matron was proud of him, but she was so happy for him at that moment that he was hearing it from someone who loved him who also gave birth to him. If any kid deserved a second chance with his parents it was this one.

"Harry, may I ask how long this will last? Not that I'm too bothered by it, I just want to know if I'm going to shed my skin in bed tonight," she asked. Ginny, Harry's parents, and Sirius all laughed, while Harry smirked.

"When I take it off depends on certain factors I'll keep secret. But I'll assure you, you won't be sleeping in your new skin," he said calmly. She sighed in relief.

"Well, I don't blame you Harry dear. Just make sure no one gets hurt by those snakes in Ginny's hair. Minerva borrowed me a slew of elves to help cook while we were at Hogwarts this afternoon, so the food should be ready in about twenty minutes," she started to turn but Harry caught her arm.

"Molly, I am grateful to you for throwing me a party, the prank thing was just to refresh your memories that I don't like surprises. All you have to do is ask, I'll remove it. Just don't tell Ron or Hermione, this only applies to you and Arthur," he said in a quiet tone. Ginny heard him but she had no intention of asking right then. She knew that when Harry said Molly and Arthur, it didn't mean her.

"Maybe later Harry, I am actually kind of enjoying the attention," she chuckled back and winked at him. He laughed and patted her on the back.

"Alright, just make sure Arthur knows. Oh, and one more thing. All of these people didn't bring presents did they?" he asked doubtfully.

"Only the people you actually know. Hogwarts friends, and family. We specifically stated on the invitation no gifts please. Though there were a few who didn't listen. Ron also tells me that you have a mountain of mail at home." Harry groaned and looked at the sky.

"Thanks Molly," he said.

"A house elf took all the gifts to your house to open later. Now, I must dash and check on the cooking," she said and Harry let her leave.

"So what all is going to happen tonight, luv?" he asked Ginny.

"Well, Oliver really wants to have a Quidditch match, but the Cannons say that their contract won't allow them a pickup game so close to a match, their manager doesn't want them to accidentally get injured. It would have to be before dark, so soon, and probably Weasley vs. Alumni, with a few exceptions.

"Then, Bill said he and Charlie have a…er, a present for you," she twitched knowing she almost used the word dreaded 'S' word. "He said he wouldn't tell any of us, but he set aside a tent a few hours ago, and wouldn't let anyone in. I peeked when I had to come out to get everyone, and it's just filled with tall weird shaped boxes and objects. He said he'd open it up whenever you wanted him too. I think we should check that out before the Quidditch game. That way, others can use it if they don't want to play, or watch the match.

"Finally, a dance with the Weird Sisters playing music." Harry gaped at her.

"Wait, I'm going to have live music, from a really popular band playing at my party? How did you guys work that out?" asked Harry.

"Well, it's kind of a long story," Hermione said as she walked up to them. "The short version is that one of the Cannons knows the mother of Kirly McCormack, the lead guitar player. They asked his mum to ask her son if he could ask the band to come and play. Some had other engagements, but the five main members showed up. You should go meet them and say thank you, Harry," Hermione said finished. Her wild electric green and orange hair clashed horribly with her red and white skin, but she held herself with grace.

"Er, okay I guess. Ginny want to join us?" he asked. Jack and Lavender had decided to find McGonagall and ask a few questions about Harry's grades for the last few years, and see if they could glean any idea of why so many teachers of Harry's had tried to kill him. They couldn't get past the slip up Harry had made earlier and they wanted to know the truth.

Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Stanley all wandered over to the Hairy group, as Harry had dubbed them in his head. Ron, Luna and Neville joined them as they walked.

He recognized the group from the Weird Sisters (who ironically were not female) from the Yule Ball from almost four years before.

The five men who were there, were wearing their traditional garb of artfully ripped and torn black robes and tall black platform shoes. Harry didn't know how they walked in them without falling, but he didn't say anything. A particularly hairy man said hello to Hermione and looked over at Harry.

"Hello, I'm Harry. Thanks for coming tonight. Hermione told me you were going to be playing later?" he asked the lead singer.

"Hey, I'm Kirly, it's nice to meet ya Harry. We are planning a short set, we 'ave a show comin' up and it's basically going to be a practice for us. So, some of the songs won't be perfect or anything. But ya will get to 'ear some new stuff. It's the only way our manager would let us do this for free," said the extremely hairy man.

"Free? Are you sure? I don't want you to have any problems or anything," Harry stuttered. He was usually really bad at meeting new people, mostly because they treated him like some kind of hero, but meeting someone else who was famous was definitely new for him. Hermione was chatting with Ron and Donaghan Tremlett, the bass player. Luna and Neville were talking with Heathcote Barbary, rhythm guitar, and Orsino Thruston, drums. While Sirius talked with Myron Wagtail the lead singer.

"I'm Stanley Bordmann," Sirius introduced himself.

"Stanley Bordmann…don't you mean Stubby Boardman?" Luna broke in as she looked over at Sirius. Harry had a moment of tenseness at Luna's recognition of the surname Harry had borrowed.

"No, you don't look like Stubby, he looked more like Sirius Black than you." She turned and continued with her conversation with the others, and left Sirius and Harry staring. Harry burst out laughing. Sirius looked more confused than ever.

"I'll tell you later, Stanley," he said.

"Ya aren't related to ol' Stubby are ya?" asked Kirly suspiciously.

"Er, no." Sirius did some quick thinking and came up with the response, "A common misconception with our first name so similar and our last names the same, but my last name is spelled B-O-R-D-M-A-N-N, while Stubby's is B-O-A-R-D-M-A-N," Sirius said making the spellings up on the spot.

"Oh, damn. Ol' Stubby owes me money. 'Bout fifty Galleons on the last World Cup, and 'e scarpered. Bloody bastard, thinks that just 'cause I'm famous and rich means I can afford to be screwed over. Just 'cause 'e ain't made it big, thinks 'e can take it out on others 'oo have," Kirly said thickly.

Harry and his friends spent the next ten minutes or so talking to the band and learning more about life as a musician. Kirly talked about his mother and sister being in the British Quidditch league and life on the read being a Sister. Soon the band was asked to set up the stage even thought they wouldn't be starting for another hour or two.

By this time, the food was done and about fifteen elves were carrying platter after platter out to a long table. People were to take a plate and load it up buffet style and conjure their own seating somewhere on the lawn.

a/n: I hate it when i'm reading a great story, loving it, plan on favoriting it and telling others about it...and then i find out, the bloody looser of an author hasn't updated in 2 years. And only 2 chapters in the last 4 years. Not only that, but his Yahoo group page says the story is finished and was in May 2008! AND he left it as a bloody friggin clifhanger! this is karma kicking me in the ass for what i've been doing to my readers i'm sure of it. i got way too much pleasure in doing that to you all...just know this, i will never abandon a story, especially on a cliffhanger. You all have my word on that. it was such a great story too... :(

anyways, What could be in the tent? Anyone have any ideas what Bill and Charlie's gifts are? I'll give you a hint, it's something Muggle and references a pop culture thing. What did you all think of Sirius's alias? humorus? I only posted this becuase i have reached 100 reveiws, thanks Becca for going back and reviewing all the past chapters you missed...i was kind of amused that someone was able to get around the no muti-review rule...wish i would have thought of that. Please review, i need something to pick up my spirits after being let down from that awesome start to a story, 29 chapters of Brilliance and then bam...disappointment. And now i have to go help with Math again...bad day for me...Please REVIEW!