Ch. 2 Birthday Surprises
Harry turned to find a tall wizard standing behind them. The wizard had long grey hair and beard. He wore a dark charcoal cloak, which clearly could use a good cleaning. His face was battered to match his grumpy voice. Then Harry realized that he had seen this man before.
"You're the bartender at the Hogshead Bar in Hogsmeade. I saw you two years ago," Harry said.
"Quite correct Potter," Aberforth answered back. "I, like I said earlier, am Aberforth Dumbledore. Welcome to my house. Why don't we head off the dining room? I bet you are hungry. I'll be able to explain everything there."
"We'll go and be on our way," said Lupin. He, Tonks, and Moody said their good byes and headed off through one of the other halls. Harry then followed Aberforth to the dining room. The house was magnificent. The hall leading to the dining room was beautifully decorated. The pictures were again filled with wizards running to each frame trying to get a good look at Harry.
"Alright Potter," Aberforth said coming to the end of the hall, "the door on the left leads to the kitchens. Now go ahead to the door on the right that will take us to the dining room." Harry turned right and headed through the door. In the middle of the room was a huge table. Harry thought that it could easily sit fifty people. The table also had food on it. There was everything from turkey, to pork, to pudding, to fruit. Across the hall was a fireplace in which three Hagrids could fit. Thousands of candles floating near the ceiling reminded Harry of Hogwarts.
"Come and have a seat Harry," Aberforth pointed to a seat near him. "Feel free to start eating when you want." Harry sat down and started to quickly pack some food onto his plate, more because of politeness then because of hunger.
"I'm guessing you are a bit awestruck by this whole situation," Aberforth said. "Perhaps it'll be best if I explain a few things. For the past couple of years I have been secretly working for the Order. My brother needed someone to keep a look out at what's been going on underground, so he sent me to work at Hogshead. It was me who told him about your little meetings there," he added.
"But it was Mundungus who saw us there. He was hidden, and he over heard us," Harry told him, finally finding his voice.
"Mundungus Fletcher?" asked Aberforth. "He's lucky I didn't know he was there. Filthy little bloke," he said grumpily. "Well, if that's so, I also told Albus that you had paid me a little visit with a group of your friends."
"How long have you've been there?" asked Harry suddenly realizing something. Aberforth seemed to have received the same gift of Occulemency that his brother had.
"I too was the one who caught Snape that night," Aberforth added with a look of loathsome. "I never trusted him, from the first second I saw him." Harry started to feel angry again. "But Albus always did, so I went along with it. If I would have known what was to come, I would have killed him on the spot." Harry was taken aback by this last sentence. Aberforth sure seemed different from his brother. The other Dumbledore would never say anything about killing anyone else, but Harry didn't seem to mind Aberforth's feelings towards Snape either. "When I found out about Albus…and Snape…I couldn't believe it. I knew though, that the time had come for me to reveal myself. This leads me to tonight." Harry was so intent in listening that he didn't even notice that he was eating.
"Since my brother's death, this has become the new headquarters for the Order. This place is the safest place for you to be at the moment. While your stay here, you will be taught some things before you head off back to school," Aberforth explained to Harry.
"Back to school!" Harry interrupted. "I'm not going back to Hogwarts. There are some things that I need to do, and I just can't go back."
"Relax," Aberforth said. His voice sounded awkward. Harry had the feeling that Aberforth wasn't used to calming down teenagers. "Listen, for right now you are to stay here for a while. Your Apparition test will be in two days, and there is the Weasley's wedding to that veela girl. There are also some things that Albus wanted me to show you." Harry was about to interrupt when Aberforth said, "I can't answer your questions right now Harry. If you are finished, then I will show you your room."
Harry sadly got up without another word. What could Aberforth need to show him? Did it have to do with the Horcruxes? Silently they went up the stairs in the main corridor. They passed a couple of doors and finally Aberforth signaled to a door on his right.
"This will be your room. Ron is in the next room up, and Hermione is across from you," he added pointing to the door on the left. "They'll talk to you in the morning I suppose. Well, I'll leave you now. Your things are already in there for you. Good night Potter."
"Good night," Harry called back. He opened the door and was greeted by a comfortable sized room. There was a nice, warm-looking bed, and on the other side another fire place. There was a desk and a large bookshelf opposite him, and a large couch placed in front of the fireplace. His things were put to one side of the room, and Hedwig was perched on top of the dresser, fast asleep. Harry felt tired himself and decided that he would unpack later. He quickly changed into some pajamas and got in bed. He laid in bed thinking about what occurred in the past hours. The way Aunt Petunia acted, and the things Aberforth needed to show him.
Maybe Ron and Hermione will know, he thought to himself. With that, he fell asleep.
Darkness engulfed Harry. He was standing in the Department of Mysteries alone; his hands stained with blood. He himself was barely standing. His heart beating fast and a painful feeling right below his throat. Then he heard a painful scream behind one of the doors. He quickly ran through to find the source of the scream, and his heart sank at the sight. A Death Eater was torturing Ginny.
"Avada Kedavra!" Harry shot at the Death Eater. Instantly the Death Eater fell to the floor dead, and Harry ran towards Ginny.
"Ginny, are you okay? Please don't leave me Ginny," Harry said to her while cradling her dying body in his hands. "I don't want you to go. I need you." Tears started to fall from his eyes.
"Am I really the one you need, Harry?" Ginny calmly asked him. "Goodbye Harry." Then, before Harry could analyze what Ginny just said, Ron replaced Ginny as the dying person in Harry's arms.
"Ron!" Harry said as he stared at the new person in front of him. "Not you too! Hold on Ron! You'll make it through with me!" Now his tears were flowing uncontrollably.
"Hey mate," Ron said shakily. "I'm okay Harry. I chose to help you after all. We've been through so much. It's just my turn to be "checked mate". See you around Harry."
"No!" Harry screamed. "Ron, come back! You should have never tried to help me! This is all my fault!" He cried out. Then Ron's body faded away to reveal…
"Hermione! Oh, Hermione! You can't leave me! Please, please wake up!" He shouted at her. However, she did not wake up. Harry held her close and cried quietly to her. Then, out of nowhere, a hooded figure appeared and shot a spell at Harry. Harry flew backwards, and landed motionless on the floor. Complete blackness appeared in Harry's eyes. Then he felt someone's warm hands soothing his cold face. Then a bright white light started to shine through his eyelids as a soothing sensation crept over him.
"It's all right Harry. Everything is okay. You don't need to worry about anything," said a mysterious voice. The voice was calming and comforting. It sounded familiar, but Harry couldn't place a face to it. He pulled his hand up to his face and found the mysterious person's hand. It was then when he noticed it belonged to a girl. He placed his hand on top of her hand and inhaled deeply. A calming sensation over took his body.
"Who are you?" Harry asked. The other person laughed and continued to stroke his face.
"I'm just here to tell you that everything will be okay. I'm going to make sure that you survive Harry," the voice assured him.
"And will you be there with me?" Harry asked hopefully to the girl. A couple of moments passed, and Harry heard the girl starting to cry softly.
"I'll always be with you Harry." She bent down and kissed him on his forehead. Harry felt one of her hot tears land on his cheek. She continued to stoke his face, and next thing Harry knew, he awoke from his sleep to find no one by his side.
Harry sat up from the bed and put on his glasses. He took a quick scan of the room expecting to find someone with him, but he was wrong. There was no one. He looked up at a clock on the wall and noticed that it was already one o'clock in the afternoon. He got up from the bed and started to get dressed. He was quickly interrupted by two peoples' argument. Harry finished getting dressed and stuck his head out his door to find the source of the yelling. He quickly found out it was coming from Hermione's room. He crossed the hall and pressed his ear against her door. He became quickly aware that the two voices belonged to his best friends.
"I can't believe you Ron!" screamed Hermione. "Why are you so jealous of him? We are just friends! I can't believe I have to have this same conversation with you every time I talk to anyone other than you! You are so immature!"
"Oh, but I bet dear ol' Vicky is a mature man!" Ron spat at her. "I'm sure he's not jealous of anyone! I'm sure he's all happy now that we're not together anymore! After all, you seem to be doing fine without me!"
"How can you say something like that?" Hermione screamed at him.
"Well, usually when two people break up, one person usually doesn't like the other. That same person is usually happy the relationship is over. I'm sure Vicky can explain it to you later!" Ron answered back.
"I can't believe I ever thought I liked you!" Hermione screamed at Ron.
"I can't believe I wasted so much time with you. I thought Lavender was a waste of time!" Ron screamed at her. Harry couldn't believe that Ron would ever say that to Hermione. Deep down, Harry had the urge to break down the door and curse Ron to oblivion.
"Get out!" Hermione finally said her voice cracking. Harry heard Hermione starting to cry. Then, Harry heard footsteps coming closer to him, and he quickly ran to his room and closed the door. He pressed his ear against his door and heard Ron going down the hall, probably trying to get the furthest away from Hermione as possible. Harry stood by his door for a couple of minutes, debating whether he should go and beat up Ron, or go and talk to Hermione. His debating ended when he heard Hermione emerge from her room. She sniffled a bit, and then went the same way Ron had gone.
Harry waited a bit, and opened his room to leave. He walked towards the dining room, since he knew not of any other place in the house. He stopped in front of the kitchen doors where he heard Hermione saying something to Ron.
"Look," she said crossly. "Harry should be down any minute. We do not want him to find out what's been going on between us. It will just add more problems. I suggest that we just keep out each other's way and pretend nothing happened." The last sentence she said was a bit shaky. Harry knew that she was still upset and hurt by Ron's comments. He heard them coming towards the door so he quickly went into the dining room which was empty. Seconds later, the door opened, and Harry's two best friends walked in. Hermione was the first to greet him.
"Harry you're awake! It's so good to see you!" Hermione said as she went up to him and gave him a tight hug. "Happy Birthday!" she added giving him a huge smile. Harry could tell that her eyes were a bit blood shot from her crying. She also sounded a bit different, although she was clearly trying to hide it.
"Happy Birthday mate! Why are you in here by yourself?" Ron asked him after he shook Harry's hand.
Why do you think I'm in here you git? I overheard your conversations and then hid so you wouldn't find me, he thought to himself. Harry again had the urge of punching Ron in the face but thought it was better to play dumb.
"Thanks guys," Harry said to them. "It's good seeing you two. I was actually looking for something to eat. I'm famished!"
"Oh, well in that case take a seat mate," Ron said. "Mum's not in the kitchen. I think she's outside in the garden. Let me go get her." With a quick nervous glance at Hermione, he went out the door. Harry then sat down at the table, and Hermione sat down next to him. She kept glancing at him, but remained silent. Harry couldn't resist the temptation anymore.
"Hermione, is something wrong?" he asked her quietly.
"What?" she asked him nervously. "Of course not Harry, why would you think that?"
"It's just," Harry started looking straight into her eyes, "you've been acting different around me. Especially after last year, you seemed a bit quieter, as if you are hiding something from me. I could mostly tell by the letters you sent me. Is there something going on that I don't know about?" Hermione stared back into his eyes, and he noticed that big tears were forming in her eyes. Then, they heard footsteps nearing them from the hall.
"We'll talk later," Hermione answered back as she quickly dried up her eyes. Mrs. Weasley and Ron came in with a tray filled with food. They all gathered around Harry while he ate, and they filled Harry in with information about the house and Aberforth. They also informed Harry that Bill and Fleur were to wed in two weeks. Mrs. Weasley was thrilled about the wedding, and could not stop talking about how wonderful Fleur is. Ron later interrupted and suggested that they go flying for the rest of the afternoon and come back in later for Harry's birthday dinner.
"Flying? I'm not allowed to go anywhere," Harry told Ron.
"You are here," Ron explained. "There is no way you will be hurt here. Even if you are outside!" Although he was still mad at Ron, he accepted the invitation. Enthusiastically, Harry and Ron went outside and flew for hours- way after it was dark outside. At around seven o'clock, Mrs. Weasley demanded that they go indoors and take a shower. They headed up to their rooms, and after they took showers, they headed towards Harry's Birthday dinner. Right before they went into the dinner, Ron handed Harry his present. It was a huge package of Harry's favorite candies.
When they arrived at the dinner, the whole table was full of people. There were Members of the Order and some Aurors that Harry didn't know. Aberforth was seated next to Moody and Tonks. All the Weasley's were spread amongst the seats, with the exception of Percy. Ginny came running to Harry and wished him a Happy Birthday. She started to tell him something, but his attention turned to Hermione, who was seated quietly, clearly thinking of something. Harry walked towards her and sat down next to her. She gave him a smile and another `Happy Birthday' before the food appeared. Then everyone started to eat.
After a couple of hours of food and stories, Harry felt like he was ready for bed. Then, the table cleared and a huge cake was placed in front of Harry with seventeen candles lit. After everyone had finished singing, he made a wish and blew out the candles. An hour later, people started to say their good byes. Hermione also got up and went to bed. Lupin then sat in Hermione's vacant seat. He handed Harry a small rectangular box.
"This is from me," Lupin told him. Harry opened the box. A black pocketknife was inside. "This was actually mine while I was at Hogwarts. It's indestructible. I found it useful, I'm sure you will also." After Harry thanked Lupin, Aberforth asked Harry for a private word. They both left the loud dining room, and headed outside to the garden.
"I have a birthday present for you," Aberforth growled at Harry. "I bought it when I had a mission a long time ago. Figured I could give it to my son when he became of age. Since I don't have a son, I decided to go ahead and give it to you. After all, you were probably like a son to my brother."
He handed Harry a small red pouch. Harry opened it, and pulled out what turned out to be a necklace. In the middle of the necklace was a silver tiny ball, which resembled a miniature ball of yarn. The ball glittered in the moonlight. A black leather strap made up the chain of the necklace.
"Wow! Thanks!" Harry finally said.
"This necklace is very special Harry," Aberforth explained. "That little ball will eventually lose silver threads. This will probably happen every time you share some type of connection with someone. When it does, you put another necklace chain on it, and give it to that person. Then, you will be "connected" to that person, as long as they wear the necklace."
"What do you mean by "connected"?" Harry asked.
"You will share a kind of bond," Aberforth explained. "For example, if you are in danger, the other person will know you are." Harry again thanked Aberforth, and put on the necklace. Together, they went back into the dining room.
Harry waited another half and hour, and he and Ron went up to their rooms.
"Good night Harry," Ron said going to his room and closing the door. Once he knew Ron had gone in the room, Harry turned to Hermione's door, and started to wonder whether if he should go in. He then walked up to the door and grabbed the doorknob. Then Ron made a noise from his room, and Harry decided against it. He turned around, and headed into his room. He closed the door and faced his bed, where a tearful Hermione sat.
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