Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N: Thanks so much for reading and many, many thanks to those who review. I read them all and take them to heart. You guys are awesome! And a great big thank you goes out to romulus lupin for putting this fic on the recommendations thread in Portkey's H/Hr forum-you have no idea how happy that made me feel along with your kind words!

Chapter Eighteen

Lighted torches now illuminated the Weasley's back yard, their flames dancing along with the much smaller ones from the candles on Harry's cake. He smiled as he listened to the group singing to him. For so long, it had been only his voice he had heard singing that song on his birthday. When they finished, he closed his eyes, made a wish, and blew out the candles. Everyone clapped for him and he grinned.

Harry was in the middle of opening his presents when he heard a loud Crack! and looked up to see Dobby standing a few feet away.

"Happy birthday, Harry Potter!" Dobby said grinning as he walked over to add a misshapen package to the pile.

"Hey, Dobby! Glad you could make it."

"Dobby is sorry to be late. I was at Hogwarts trying to get Winky to come to the party, but she would not." Dobby shook his head sadly.

"Maybe she'll come another time, Dobby," Hermione patted Dobby softly on the back.

Harry finished opening his presents. He had received a throw blanket knitted by Mrs. Weasley that was deep red with a golden griffin design in the middle, some books about protective spells and Quidditch, and a new pair of socks from Dobby. The right one was yellow with red lions whose mouths opened in silent roars and the left one was bright blue and on it were golden lightning bolts similar to his scar.

Harry opened a small box from the twins and found a snitch inside ("Cool, thanks!"). Ron and Ginny had given him a large bag of trick sweets from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Luna gave him a bottle of magical ink that would disappear within a few seconds of using it and could only be read by the person whose name had been spoken by the writer. From Neville, he received a set of Gobstones.

Harry picked up Hermione's present, which was on the large side and felt heavy. He looked at her questioningly but she just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. He opened it to find a polished dark wooden box with a gold placard on the lid engraved with his initials. A small golden key was affixed to the front with some temporary adhesive. Harry detached the key, turned it in the lock and lifted the lid. The interior of the box was padded and lined with dark blue velvet. There were a few pockets in the material on the sides and in the lid.

"It's for your photo album or anything else you want to keep safe," Hermione said softly.

"It's perfect…thanks, Hermione," Harry smiled at her and reached to clasp her hand briefly.

There were two boxes left-a large one and a very small one-that Harry hadn't seen yet.

"Open the larger one first," Remus said. That one's from Professor Dumbledore and me.

Harry unwrapped the present and lifted the lid. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he lifted out a dragonskin jacket, gloves, boots and a helmet, all black.

"Er…thanks, Remus, Professor Dumbledore…these are really great," Harry said trying not to sound as though he thought they were mad. Remus grinned back with a chuckle and Dumbledore smilingly looked to Hagrid.

"Now open th' smalles' one. Tha' one's from me," Hagrid was trying to control his grin.

Harry unwrapped the plain brown package and found a gold lion's head key chain with a single key hanging from it.

"Thanks, Hagrid, but I don't understand…" Harry looked at the three men.

"Come wi' me, then, and bring th' key," Hagrid motioned for Harry to follow him around the side of the house. He and everyone else trooped after Hagrid with Harry in the lead. Harry followed Hagrid around the corner of the house and for the second time that night, stopped in his tracks. There were several gasps behind him.

Harry swallowed and looked at Hagrid. "Is that what I think it is?"

Hagrid nodded tentatively.

Harry's breathing shallowed as he walked over to hesitantly touch the motorbike that had been Sirius'. The motorbike that Hagrid had flown to rescue him from the nearly demolished shell of his home in Godric's Hollow. The motorbike that had delivered him to his fate at the Dursley's some fifteen years ago. The motorbike that had appeared in his dreams as he grew up. It was shiny and had obviously been well taken care of.

"Been keepin' it fer yeh," Hagrid said quietly. "Sirius asked me teh jes' hold on ter it last year when I asked `im if he wanted it back. I know he'd wan' yeh teh have it."

Harry looked at Hagrid. "Thank you," he whispered, blinking back tears and wrapped his arms around the half-giant. "Thank you." Harry thought he heard several people in the background sniffling a bit.

"Well," Hagrid cleared his throat a bit and mopped at his eyes with the back of his hand. "How `bout a ride, then?"

Harry hitched up a smile and nodded.

"Remus, would yeh like ter do the honors?" Hagrid asked. "I don' think Harry an' I can both fit on there now seein' as he's grown a bit since th' las' time." He smiled as he looked down at Harry.

"Happy to," Remus stepped forward, handed Harry his new helmet and got on the bike, scooting up a bit to make room for Harry who got on behind him. "We're not going to go very high-don't want to be seen." He reached back, got the key from Harry and turned it in the ignition.

Remus kicked the motor into life. "Ready?"

"Yeah!" Harry called back over the roar of the engine.

Remus revved the motor a bit and let the clutch and brake go. Soon they were zooming around The Burrow just below treetop level. Harry couldn't help but laugh in happiness at this. Remus apparently heard him and threw a grin over his shoulder. Too soon they bumped back down to the ground and Remus idled the motor.

"So what'd you think?" Remus asked turning to see Harry's face.

"That was bloody fantastic!" Harry responded grinning but then asked, "Where will I keep this?"

"Dumbledore is going to send it to Grimmauld Place after the party," Remus' smile quirked a bit. "It's not exactly legal so we'll need to keep it under wraps as much as we can. There will probably be some times when you can ride it, though, after you learn how."

"That'll be great…thanks, Remus," Harry took off his helmet grinning. Seeing Ron's hopeful face, he got off the motorbike and asked, "Anyone else for a ride?"

Remus took several people around The Burrow. Hermione rode most of the way with her face buried in Remus' back. Even Dumbledore took a spin on the motorbike gathering up his robes so they wouldn't get caught in the spokes or running bits ("Oh, good heavens, Albus!" McGonagall protested, briefly closing her eyes as he took off.).

"Y'mean that was at Hogwarts the entire time?" Fred asked incredulously then looked at George. "And we never found it?"

Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes and put a hand to her chest. "Thank Merlin."

Mrs. Weasley closed her eyes briefly and nodded fervently.

~>^<~>^<~>^<~>^<~

It was getting late and people were starting to leave. Harry thanked everyone again for his gifts and tried to help clean up but was shooed away by Mrs. Weasley.

"Harry, you put that down and get away from there this minute! It's your birthday-you're not cleaning on your birthday." Molly quickly used a few spells and soon most everything was cleared away and back in its place.

Harry's presents were now in a neat stack on the table and Dumbledore sent them to Grimmauld Place with a flick of his wand. He turned to Remus and asked, "What room would be best for the motorbike?"

"Probably the dining room, don't you think?" Remus looked at Harry.

Harry nodded. "Sounds good."

Dumbledore walked over to the motorbike, waved his wand over it and the motorbike disappeared.

Harry went to Dumbledore and held out his hand. "Thanks, again, Professor. This was absolutely wonderful."

Dumbledore took Harry's hand warmly and smiled. "I'm glad you had a good time, Harry. Happy Birthday. I'll be seeing you in the next few days."

"Looking forward to it." Harry smiled back. "See you later, then."

Harry walked to the kitchen where the others were standing around the table deciding who should carry what when they flooed back to Grimmauld Place. Several bags were sitting over by the fireplace ready to be taken. Harry met Hermione's eyes and smiled. She returned his smile, her cheeks turning slightly pink.

Remus said, "Everyone ready, then? Okay, the four kids can go first with the smaller things and the adults will go after them."

They all flooed to Grimmauld Place and Arthur and Remus took all the bags upstairs to the bedrooms. Ginny was going to stay with Hermione and Harry had decided to sleep in the guest room with Ron like before. After everyone was situated, they sat in the drawing room with cups of hot chocolate and tea that Dobby had provided for them. The fire was crackling merrily in the low light of the room.

Harry couldn't have imagined a better birthday. He had scrunched down a bit in his seat so that he could look up at the stars. They shone brightly tonight but some clouds were beginning to wisp across, dimming a few along their way. Harry felt Hermione shift beside him so that she could tilt her face toward the ceiling as well. He heard her sigh softly and turned his head slightly to look at her. His breath caught in his throat as the thought that they belonged to each other melted over him. Then that lovely thought was muted a bit as he remembered what he had seen and heard in the kitchen between Ron and Luna. Remembered the words he was going to have to say to Ron. Harry's heart sank a bit as he stole a look at Ron who was sitting in one of the armchairs looking broodingly into his cup, seemingly lost in thought. Every now and then, Ron lifted his head to look at the fire but then dropped his gaze back to his hot chocolate.

Mrs. Weasley stood and said, "Well, it's been a lovely day but I'm done in…good night everyone." Mr. Weasley nodded in agreement and stood to accompany his wife. "See you in the morning. Happy birthday, Harry."

"Thanks. Good night."

Remus stretched. "I think I'll call it a night, too, then."

"Have you taken your potion?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Took it before we left for the party, but thanks for asking." Remus answered and got up slowly. "G'night." He made his way out of the room.

Hermione caught Harry's eye and inclined her head slightly towards Ron. Harry met her gaze.

`I'll talk to him after you and Ginny go to bed.'

Hermione gave a small nod then stretched and said, "Ready to turn in, Ginny?"

Ginny nodded, "I'm tired-big day, huh?" she smiled at Harry.

"The best day." Harry nodded and smiled back. "Thanks."

The two girls stood and bidding the boys goodnight, walked across the hall to their room, Hermione having closed the drawing room door softly behind her.

Ron and Harry sat in silence for a moment then Harry asked, "Everything all right?"

Ron shifted uncomfortably in his chair glancing at Harry. "Just something that happened earlier…no big deal."

Harry quickly decided it would be best if Ron didn't know what he and Hermione had witnessed. "So what happened?"

"Well…Luna's been staying with us the past couple of days because her father's been out of town `til this morning." Ron's gaze went back to the fire. "She's…sort of let on that she fancies me…I'm not sure what to do about it."

"So how do you feel about her?"

"I-I don't know. I hadn't really thought of her in that way before. She certainly gave me something to think about." Ron met Harry's eyes. "But I've still got some things to sort out…"

Harry nodded then took a big breath, gathering his courage. "Actually, Ron, there's something I need to talk with you about."

"All right…nothing's wrong is it?"

Harry fervently hoped there wouldn't be. "No…" He paused for a moment-he didn't know how to say this to his friend so he just began, "Do you remember asking me if I fancied Hermione before you left a few weeks ago?"

Ron nodded and answered guardedly, "Yes."

Harry heard the wariness in Ron's reply but pressed on. "I told you `no' then, because I had honestly never thought of her in that way-at least not consciously." Harry paused for a moment trying to find the right words.

Ron leaned forward slightly, his gaze intensifying a bit. "Go on…"

Harry raked a hand through his hair and decided to just say it. "Last night, Hermione and I…well, we found out that we both have those feelings for each other."

Ron stared at Harry through narrowed eyes for a long moment then abruptly stood to his feet, shoved his hands in his pockets and strode over to stand in front of the window. After a moment's silence, "What do you mean `found out'?" he said, his back to Harry. "You didn't…"

"What…" Harry stood, confused but then Ron's meaning became clear. "No! We didn't…nothing like that…" He walked over to stand a few feet behind Ron and said quietly, "Look, you're our best friend and we hate the thought that we might hurt you in this…we've been really worried since it happened."

Ron leaned his forehead against the window, his sigh clouding the glass. After a long moment he turned around to face Harry, his gaze intent. "Do you love her?" He asked quietly.

"I-I don't know that yet, Ron. But I do know that I have feelings for her that are stronger than just friendship."

Ron lowered his gaze slightly and nodded. "I think I knew it."

Harry gaped at him. "What do you mean?"

Ron smiled wryly. "I guess I've known for awhile, now. Just didn't want to admit it. You really are a blind git, you know. Hermione's felt this way for some time-and so have you. I wondered why you hadn't done anything about it but then I figured out that you hadn't realized how you felt. I guess with everything else going on these past few years, your mind was too preoccupied to think in that direction."

"Do you love her?" Harry asked, holding his breath.

Ron met Harry's eyes and after a moment looked as though he had made a decision. "Yes…but as my best friend." He held out his hand. "Congratulations, Harry."

Harry grasped Ron's hand firmly but said hesitantly, "Thanks, Ron..."

Ron shook his head. "I'm not going to make the same mistake I made when your name was picked for the Tri-Wizard Championship. I've regretted that… Our friendship is more important than who gets what or anything else. I'm lucky to have you and Hermione for my best friends and I'm thankful for it."

Humbled, Harry said quietly, "No more lucky than I am…thanks again, Ron."

Ron nodded then said, "If you don't mind, I might just sit here by the fire for a bit and then come on up to bed."

Harry took the hint and said, "Er…sure, see you in a little while." And he turned to go.

When Harry had closed the drawing room door, Ron sank into a chair, sighed and let his head fall heavily back against the cushion as unwelcome tears prickled in his eyes.

Document created with wvWare/wvWare version 1.0.0

-->