As Harry's birthday in the bubble continued, Ginny said, "I believe Colin said he has some balloons he wants to bring out."
"Yes, " confirmed Colin, "The Fourth of July celebration that I attended with Dennis and our mom and dad gave away free packs of red, white and blue balloons to all patrons as we were leaving, Dennis and I decided we could use them for Harry's birthday party."
"So, what are we going to do with them?" asked Harry.
Next nanosecond, Dennis and Colin pulled the packs of red, white, and blue balloons out of their left hand pickets and dumped them out onto the lawn. Colin then used his wand to fill them all with water so that they became water balloons.
"We're going to have a naked water balloon fight, " said Colin eagerly.
At that, the bubble made a strange noise, and everyone felt his or her clothes come off him or her as the clothes settled themselves on the perimeter.
Harry, Colin, Dennis, Fred, George, Lee, Oliver, Ernie, Hannah, Susan, Luna, Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Astoria, Daphne, Tracey, Lily, Hermione and Ginny all were suddenly naked.
"Here's the deal, " explained Colin, "We're all going to have a naked water balloon fight just for fun. The bubble will keep score for us as we play and inform us of the winner once all the water balloons are gone. We're going to play by the simple rule that whoever hits opposing players the most times is the winner. The winner will then be allowed to present his or her birthday present to Harry first, Harry can make the choice if he wins. On your marks, get set, go!"
As it had almost reached a hundred degrees outside, Harry, Colin, Dennis, Fred, George, Lee, Oliver, Ernie, Hannah, Susan, Luna, Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Astoria, Daphne, Tracey, Lily, Hermione and Ginny were all quite enjoying being naked.
Harry, Colin, Dennis, Fred, George, Lee, Oliver, Ernie, Hannah, Susan, Luna, Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Astoria, Daphne, Tracey, Lily, Hermione and Ginny each picked up his or her first water balloon and the fight was on. They all seemed to play this game with the mindset of indiscriminate fun. Everyone kept firing their balloons, happy when they hit someone but able to enjoy being hit all the same. The phrase "just for fun" seemed to sum up how they were all approaching it. It was a wonderful and joyous event of friends having frivolous fun with friends without making it too competitive.
When the last water balloon was finally gone. A voice came across the bubble that announced, "The winner of the naked water balloon fight is Harry Potter, who hit his opponents a total of fourteen times."
"How appropriate for my fourteenth birthday!" grinned Harry, "But before we move on, I have a few questions. While I'm obviously grateful to be shot of the jealous glory hound, as a curiosity, does anyone know what's up with Ron?"
"As my dad previously told you, " explained Ginny, "Ron isn't staying at the Burrow this summer. Mom and dad decided as parents to send him to Aunt Muriel's for the summer?"
"Good, " said Harry firmly, "Ron doesn't deserve to stay at the Burrow. I take it his attitude still hasn't improved?"
"Not by a longshot, " said Ginny matter of factly, "He actually sent me a howler the other day blaming me for his not being allowed to come here today under the premise that I probably never suggested to you to invite him. Mom visited him after that and gave him her wrath."
"Molly Weasley is a nice lady if you respect her, " said Harry bluntly, "But I'd rather poke a sleeping dragon in the eye than anger Molly Weasley."
"Mom is legitimately fair though, even if she does have a temper issue, " added Ginny.
"Ron's never going to change, is he?" piped up Harry.
"It doesn't look like it, " confirmed Ginny, "He's still jealous of you and your fame, Harry, and he still won't admit that he had NO right to be angry at or upset with Hermione when he meanly shook bedsheets in her face and yelled at her in front of the whole common room. In fact, due to his continuing bad attitude, mom and dad are seriously considering not allowing Ron to return to Hogwarts this September."
"It's not as though he ever took being a student seriously, " said Harry clearly, "Being home schooled by Muriel may be what is needed to make lazy Ron actually pay attention to his studies."
"That's how mom and dad are thinking right now, " said Ginny bluntly, "I know Fred and George aren't known as great students, but at least they put the effort into doing well in the truly important subjects like Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"You know, " said Harry thoughtfully, "Wouldn't Fred and George have to be good at magic to be able to pull off their pranks successfully?"
"Exactly!" chorused Fred and George with grins.
"I'm torn, " said Harry uncomfortably, "If it's time for my presents, well, the thing is, I still don't want to choose between Hermione and Ginny. They're BOTH my BFFs and are so equally. I will NEVER choose between the two of you, Hermione and Ginny and that's a promise. Here's what's complicating things. I can have you both present your gifts to me at the same time and have you two be the first to do so. But, I'm not sure if I can open two presents at once."
"Actually, " piped up Luna Lovegood, "I think Hermione and Ginny should be the LAST two people to give you your presents, not the first two. As your BFFs, Hermione and Ginny are the most likely people here to have bought you truly meaningful gifts and receiving any gifts from them will mean more to you than receiving gifts from anyone else. The cake was different since it was only going to be presented to you once. Since everybody here has a gift for you, save the best and most meaningful gifts you will receive today for last."
"That's the Ravenclaw in you speaking, Luna, " said Harry thoughtfully, "You know what, rather than risk getting people's feelings hurt by making a choice, let me ask the bubble a question. Bubble, who finished second in our naked water balloon fight?"
"Lily Moon, with a total of thirteen successful hits of her opponents., " answered the bubble.
"WOW!" piped up Lily, "Harry and I were actually tied before Harry hit me with the very last water balloon there was?!"
"Yes, " confirmed the bubble.
"Come up here then, Lily!" said Harry warmly.
Before Lily made her way up to Harry, she said, ""Bubble, I need my gift to Harry now!"
And a square box wrapping in wrapping paper bearing the Hogwarts crest zoomed into Lily's hands and she then made her way up to Harry.
"Great game, Lily, " grinned Harry as Lily made her way up to him, "We were actually equals, I just was lucky enough to have the last water balloon."
"Even though I lost, I'm still glad you asked the bubble who got second place, " smiled Lily, "I'm really happy and proud to have gotten thirteen hits."
"You should be, " said Harry warmly, "By the way, I know we haven't been introduced before-"
"Harry, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for inviting me here. I know Tracey asked you to invite me because she didn't want me to be left out knowing she was coming. But it would have been easy for you to choose not to invite me under the premise that you didn't a stranger at your birthday party.'
"On some level, I chose to trust Tracey's judgement of you as a person after getting to meet her and know her a bit, " explained Harry, "But I also looked at the decision to go ahead and invite you here as an opportunity to make a new friend. "
"You are sweet and kind, Harry Potter, " said Lily cheerfully, "I reckon it's time that open your first present."
And Lily handed Harry the square box wrapped with Hogwarts crest wrapping paper.