"Bubble?" called out Harry, "Who should come up next?"
"Ernie and Hannah, " answered the bubble a nanosecond later.
Ernie and Hannah now walked up to Harry empty handed, although Hannah did seem to have something in her left hand pocket.
"Harry, " said Ernie matter of factly as he approached Harry, "Did you get my note this morning that I would not be bringing you a present but that I did want to present an idea?"
"No, " said Harry crisply, "I must've already left the house for here. But that's okay. I've gotten plenty of good presents already."
"The reason I didn't get you a present, " explained Ernie, "Is that I didn't decide until this morning that I was coming here. Neville Longbottom, who turned fourteen yesterday but who is holding his birthday party today because he wanted it to be on a Sunday, also invited me to his birthday party. I literally didn't decide until this morning which birthday party I would go to so I wouldn't have known who to shop for. I ultimately chose to come to your birthday party because Hannah wanted to come to this one, so I just decided to go to the same birthday party as my BFF."
"That makes sense, " replied Harry, who added in a bit of a stunned voice, "Neville is holding a birthday party today too?"
"Yes, " said Ernie clearly, "I suspect most of the people you invited here who didn't show up didn't come because they went to Neville's birthday party instead."
"Offhand, " said Harry slowly, "I would guess that apart from Neville himself, others invited here who didn't come because they chose Neville's birthday party over mine would include Seamus, Dean, Lavender, Justin, Cedric, and both Patils."
"That's probably right, " guessed Hermione.
"Add Leanne to that list, " piped up Katie, "Leanne and I decided that one of us would go to Harry's birthday party and the other would go to Neville's birthday party. As I have been a Quidditch teammate of Harry's for three years, we decided I'd come to Harry's birthday party."
"This is making sense now, " said Harry briskly.
"I wonder why Neville didn't invite Harry to his party though?" mused Ginny, "Harry obviously wasn't invited to Neville's party, as he is surprised that it even exists."
"That is easily answered, " replied Harry, "If Neville had already gotten my invitation to this party before planning his, he would've known I would be at my own birthday party today. So, there was no reason for him to invite me to or even tell me about his party."
"Anyway, " said Ernie in a crisp clear voice, "My idea is this. I assume everyone knows about the Room of Requirement?"
Everybody gave a quick "yes."
"Well then, " continued Ernie firmly, "I would like for us to form a Friendship Club. My idea is that we can all meet up in the Room of Requirement every Saturday morning once Hogwarts resumes. I would be the leader of the Friendship Club and already have ideas for games and actiivites that a large group of people could partake in. I think it would be awesome if we could have a large Friendship Club with members of all four houses included. This could promote not only inter house unity, but also friendship in general. "
"I love the idea, " said Hannah brightly, "But I'm not a morning girl. I hope you don't intend for us to meet at 6 A.M. on every Saturday."
"Hannah, I know you're not a morning person, said Ernie in a businesslike voice, "How could I not know when we've besties since we were babies? No, my plan is for the Friendship Club to meet in the Room of Requirement every Saturday morning when Hogwarts is in session from 10 A.M. to noon."
"That sounds pretty good, " grinned Hannah.
"Ernie, " said Harry warmly, "This is an absolutely wonderful idea. Honestly, I love the idea of being part of this club far better than any present you could have bought me. So, are you going invite us to be the first members?"
"Everyone here should consider himself or herself invited to be part of my new Friendship Club with the first meeting occurring on the first Saturday we are at Hogwarts at 10 A.M, "said Ernie cheerfully, "Please raise your hand if you plan to join my club."
Harry, Collin, Dennis, Fred, George, Lee, Tracey, Lily, Daphne, Astoria, Luna, Susan, Hannah, Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Hermione, and Ginny all put up their right hands.
"I've graduated so this isn't germane to me, " said Oliver simply.
"You're still welcome to come back to Hogwarts and join the club, " Ernie told Oliver fiercely, "If you can't make it every week, you can still come whenever you can."
"Thank you, Ernie, " said Oliver gratefully, "I'll have to see if joining this club is compatible with my Puddlemore United schedule, but if it is, I'll join."
"This a really awesome idea, " said Harry fondly.
"I want to encourage friendship and to provide the opportunity for it, " said Ernie proudly.
"You are sweet and kind, Ernie Macmillan, " piped up Lily.
"Tracey predicted that our circle was about to get large, " said Harry brightly, "She was right on the money and we will be better because of it."
"Harry, " said Ernie seriously, "I really am sorry about not bringing a present for you, but Hannah has one for you."
"No worries, Ernie, " said Harry clearly, "I understand the circumstances and being able to join your new club will be greater than any present you could have gotten me anyway."
Hannah now dug her left hand into her left pocket and retrieved a brilliant green wristwatch with large black digital numbers and placed it directly into Harry's right hand.
"It's a really beautiful watch, Hannah, " said Harry glowingly, "The brilliant green matches the exact shade of my eyes and the large black digital numbers are super easy to read. "
Harry removed his old watch from his right wrist and threw it aside and put on his beautiful new green watch.
"Hannah, this is absolutely perfect for me!" said Harry appreciatively.
"When I saw this watch at Wanda's Watch World, I KNEW it was the perfect watch for you. I saw during Herbology last year that your old watch was starting to show the effects of age and use so I took it on myself to get you a new one. I sought out a new watch for you and decided to go to Wanda's Watch World, a shop owned a witch whose name is also Wanda Watch, knowing she carried the most extensive selection of watches. As soon as my eyes saw this watch, my heart of hearts knew immediately that it was your watch and I made the purchase."
"You are sweet and kind, Hannah Abbott, " said Lily cheerfully.