Mother Knows Best

Chapter 5

The Greatest Birthday Ever

Harry and Ron descended down to the kitchen to find Mrs. Weasley having a row with Fred and George yet again.

"What's going on?" Harry asked Ginny, who was watching the argument.

"I told mum about the new broom, and now mum's mad at Fred and George."

"Mum's still mad about them quitting school to start a joke shop," Ron explained, "she won't accept any money from them; says it's tainted."

"It's a birthday present!" George protested to his mother.

"Can't we buy our own sister a gift?" Fred added.

Fred, George and Mrs. Weasley fought all through the evening, only stopping when Mr. Weasley and Bill came home from work. As soon as the newcomers heard the ongoing argument, they quickly changed the subject to Harry's party. Soon enough, the ethics of Ginny's new broom were forgotten, and everyone was tossing around ideas for Harry's party.

"I'd like to invite Fleur, if that's ok with you, Harry," Bill mentioned. Harry had gathered from the rest of the Weasley children that Bill and Fleur Delacour were becoming very close.

Harry just nodded in assent. Fleur had been friendly towards Harry ever since he had received a penalty and point loss for rescuing her younger sister in one of the Triwizard Cup challenges the year before last, but it had been over a year since he had seen her last.

After everyone had finished supper, Harry handed his guest list over to Mr. Weasley, who said he'd use his connections at the Ministry to get everyone's invitations sent off safely. Discussions had run so late that everyone went straight to bed after supper. Hedwig was back, and so Harry asked her to watch over him that night, though he doubted it was necessary, and told her as much. Hedwig hooted in assent.

During the next few days, Harry fell into an odd sort of routine. Every morning, he'd get up, go downstairs, have breakfast and listen to Mrs. Weasley, Fred and George Having a row about something or other. Every third day, he'd go to his bereavement support group sessions. Harry had to admit that they were helping (even though he had to fib about Voldemort, and explain that he was the leader of a cult who made human sacrifices, in order to make his story believable to the Muggles that his support group was comprised of). He spent most of his free time in the local Muggle library, surfing the web for snake species. He'd kept his word and checked venomous species first, and, not to his surprise, did not find Grassleaf's species among them. It actually took Harry several days to check through all the species of venomous snakes; there really wasn't any way to search only by size and colour, and since Harry had no idea what part of the world Grassleaf was from, or even what class of snake he belonged to, Harry had no choice but to search through all the snake species one by one. He didn't think it a good idea to ask Hermione about snakes; first because he suspected she wouldn't react much differently from Ron, and second, he wasn't sure it was a good idea to ask questions about snakes and send the questions by owl. So Harry just flipped through books, encyclopaedias and online zoo catalogues page by page.

Harry spent nearly all of his remaining time practising Quidditch with Ron, Fred, George and Ginny. It seemed that Fred and George had assured Ginny that they would get her a broom, but on the condition that she had to keep quiet about it, especially around Mrs. Weasley. Ginny tried hard, but would occasionally let slip a comment or two such as, "oh, I hope I have enough time to practise on my new broom before Quidditch tryouts; it will be so different from riding this old Shooting Star." She rarely got an answer, of course, and was shushed quiet.

"For Heavens' sakes, Ginny!" George hissed at her after the umpteenth time Ginny let slip about the broom.

"I swear, one more word about that ruddy broom, and you can forget the whole affair!" Fred threatened, but Ginny gave them both such a wounded look that they soon rescinded.

For the first time in his life, Harry was actually excited about his birthday; and he was crossing off the days until July the 31^st on his calendar, rather than his usual September the first date. Mr. Weasley had in fact used various members of the Order to deliver out Harry's party invitations in a discrete manner. When the 31^st finally came, Harry's excitement reached a level he'd never experienced before. He couldn't wait for all his friends to arrive. Hermione came first, of course. No one had to tell her (she would have come early, even if no one had wanted her to, anyway), and helped out with setting up for the evening party.

After getting a few meaningful looks from Ron, Harry finally caught on, took Hermione aside and told her about Grassleaf. Hermione was, of course, more than happy to help. She said she'd start researching Parselmouth wizards as soon as she got home, to see if there were any good ones. Hermione had so many questions about where Grassleaf had lived, what he ate, etc...etc... that Harry finally gave up and let her unleash her barrage of questions directly on Grassleaf, with Harry acting as interpreter. Even after Hermione questioned Grassleaf to exhaustion, they were still at a loss as to what species of snake Grassleaf was, or even where he was from. Harry still felt better with Hermione on the case, though, and was confident they'd figure out where Grassleaf was from before the start of school, and Harry told Grassleaf as much. Hermione had established that Grassleaf lived in a temperate climate that required him to hibernate. She had also managed to figure out that Grassleaf was most certainly not venomous, as, she said; his fangs were designed to capture and hold onto prey; whereas a venomous snake's fangs would be designed to bite and release prey, so the snake could catch up with its prey after the venom had taken effect.

Mad Eye Moody had insisted on having a guard on duty for Harry's party, despite Mr. Weasley's complaints that it would make the party ten times more conspicuous. The Weasleys garden was evidently small enough for a Baffling Charm that would make it look empty to all but the party guests. So moody cast this, as well as an Imperturbable Charm. Then he, Bill, Tonks and Professor Lupin rotated guard duty, with 2 posted at any given time.

Shortly before tucking into Mrs. Weasleys excellent cooking, Harry was shocked, surprised and thoroughly embarrassed when every single guest presented him with a gift. He stammered, searching for words, and eventually managed to utter a barely-audible 'thank you very much; you really shouldn't have.' A lot of the gifts were really touching. Hagrid gave Harry a book on owl first-aid (Hagrid had been very upset when Harry had told him about how Hedwig had broken her wing to keep from being intercepted last year). Fleur Delacour gave him a thank-you picture drawn by her younger sister, and a book on learning French. Mad-Eve gave him a foe-glass, though Harry was worried he'd be seeing faces in it all too often. Fred and George gave Harry his very own Dragon-hide jacket, saying it was from all the Weasleys (though Mrs. Weasley gave them a few nasty looks). Hermione gave him a book -unsurprisingly. The title on it was 'Curses and their Long-Term Effects,' but Hermione whispered to Harry to open the cover, and he discovered it was actually called "The 50 Greatest Parslemouths of All Time." Harry thanked her for the gift as well as her discretion. The DA members gave him a whole range of anti- Dark Arts gadgets and books. They also encouraged Harry to contact them at the first sign of trouble, especially those who had telephones (owl was nowhere near as fast or secure as an ordinary telephone line). Luna Lovegood gave Harry a lifetime subscription to The Quibbler, courtesy of her father, and told him he was more than welcome to submit articles.

When Harry unwrapped his final present (a book of plants with curative powers to counteract curses, from Neville Longbottom), he suddenly got the very unpleasant feeling that his guests were grooming him for his destiny. Which, he supposed, was somewhat true, and he did, after all, want to become an Auror. Even so, he thought they were expecting a lot from him; he was only sixteen. Yet with every passing year, the wizarding community seemed to turn to him more and more in hopes that he would relieve them of Voldemort. Harry was suddenly very thankful that the wizarding community at large was not aware of the prophecy concerning him and Voldemort, as it would probably cause witches and wizards to throw Harry (hopefully proverbially, but possibly literally) at the dark wizard.

Harry was also suddenly thankful for the Weasleys, who just wanted Harry to be Harry, and who would probably be much happier if he wasn't famous at all. Harry, the Weasleys and all the party guests were now stuffed to bursting with Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking. One by one, the guests left, wishing Harry a very happy birthday once more, and thanking Mrs. Weasley for the lovely evening. The order members were the last to leave; Mad Eye wanted to make absolutely certain there was no sign of Death Eaters. After all the other guests had left, Professor Lupin approached Harry. He looked greyer and shabbier than ever, and there were now great circles under his eyes. "Harry, about my gift to you," he began.

"Its fine, professor, really." He hadn't given Harry a present, but Harry really didn't mind. "I didn't want any birthday presents at all, I just wanted to have a few friends over...things just got a bit overblown."

"I understand, but I still want to give you something."

"No, really, it's OK." Harry was now quite red.

Remus Lupin produced a pensieve. For a moment, Harry thought this was the gift, though he couldn't imagine what he'd do with it. But the former Defence against the Dark Arts teacher placed his wand against his head and pulled a silver strand out that Harry knew to be a thought. Lupin then offered the pensieve to Harry.

"I couldn't, that's your private memory," Harry had snooped in pensieves twice already. The first time, it had been professor Dumbledore's memories about the Death Eaters' trials following Voldemort's disappearance. Dumbledore had been as understanding as usual, and had even been kind enough to elaborate on the memories to Harry, not to mention explain what a pensieve was. The next time Harry looked into a pensieve, it had been Snape's memory. Harry had though it might be something about what he was doing for the Order of the Phoenix, but it turned out to be a memory of Harry's father, James Potter, bullying Snape in their school days. Snape had caught Harry, and had been absolutely furious with him. Harry, for his part, was thoroughly ashamed of his father's actions. The whole affair had left Harry loathe to attempt fresh prying into someone else's private thoughts.

"Go on Harry, I insist."

Harry hesitantly took up the pensieve, took a breath to screw his courage, and stuck his fake in the little silver puddle at the bottom of the pensieve.

He was transported to a place that was immediately familiar to him, though he couldn't say he recognised anything there. He soon realised it had been his home, back when he had lived with this parents. They were there, too, as were Lupin, Sirius and Wormtail. Lily Potter was holding a smiling baby, whom Harry recognised as himself, and before them was a large birthday cake with a candle that had a purple flame and "Happy first birthday, Harry!" written in icing on it. Everyone broke out into "Happy birthday to you," though someone was singing out of tune. Harry's mother then blew out his candle for him, then passed Harry to his father, and served everyone cake. Harry smeared his slice everywhere in the process of trying to eat it, but no one seemed to mind. Just then, an owl swooped in through the open window. Harry's mother opened the envelope the owl had dropped in her lap, and revealed a birthday card. "It's from Professor McGonagall," Lily announced. She stood up and placed the card on the mantelpiece, which was packed with cards already received. It didn't seem at all odd to James and Lily Potter that their son should get such an obscene number of birthday cards. "Come on, Harry, let's get you cleaned up so you can open your presents!" Lily said, picking up baby Harry and leaving the room.

Sirius placed a conspicuously broom-shaped package on the table. "Padfoot," James said, using his best friend's old school name, "I think Harry's a bit young to be riding a broom, even a toy one; he only learned to sit up two months ago."

Harry felt another stab of grief at seeing his late godfather, even though the handsome man in Lupin's memory was almost unrecognisable. The thin, gaunt Sirius Harry had known had little of this vital young man in him, but the mischievous grin was the same. "Just you wait and see, Prongs, that boy's a natural, just like his dad. He'll be riding that broom before his second birthday."

The vision of the memory was suddenly blurred, and Harry realised his face was wet. He pulled himself out of the pensieve and swiped furiously at the tears that wouldn't stop coming.

"Harry, are you all right?" Lupin sounded worried.

"S-Sirius-" Harry muttered, sniffling madly. He couldn't finish, but Lupin understood.

"Yes, I miss him, too." Lupin said sadly, "The other night, I dreamt it was all a mistake, and Sirius was there in front of me, alive and well." He sighed. "The mind can play such cruel tricks sometimes." Lupin' expression darkened. "I've lost my three dearest friends, but you, you've lost family. I can't make it better, but I promise you this," he clenched Harry's shoulder a bit too tightly, his jaw set, "they will be avenged. I swear it."

Harry nodded. "I won't let Voldemort win."

Chapter 6

August

The rhythm Harry had followed for the week prior to his birthday continued into August. Twice a week, he would go to his bereavement support group. He had follow-up sessions with Doctor Sykes every other week. After seeing Lupin, Harry couldn't help but think that his sessions were really helping him deal with his grief, and he'd told Lupinabout them, suggesting Lupin look for a group near him to join. Harry had related his birthday experience with this bereavement group, and to Harry's relief and dismay, the other members of the group told him that birthdays and holidays are always very hard, especially the first few years. He was glad to know he wasn't alone, but he wasn't looking forward to missing Sirius every Christmas from now on. Harry also realized that he sadly never knew when Sirius' birthday was. He made a mental note to ask Lupin next time he saw him.

Harry was now splitting the work on finding Grassleaf's home with Ron and Hermione, but they had yet to find out where Grassleafwas from, and Hermione insisted they get started on their homework, so they had very little time to spare for extracurricular research. Grassleafseemed to understand, though, and was content to sun himself on the makeshift habitat Harry had made for him while Harry did his homework, so long as Harry fed him a frog every few days. Harry was worried Grassleafwasn't eating enough, even though he said he was full. So Harry asked Hermione to check up on it, Hermione told Harry that reptiles eat a lot less than mammals, due to their much slower metabolisms. She assured him that his diet was perfectly normal, and that many snakes ate only once every two weeks, provided they could get large enough prey. Hermione also send Harry schematics for a carrier for Grassleaf, because it looked as if they wouldn't be finding Grassleaf's origins before school started, let alone figure out how to get him home.

Fred and George returned to Diagon Alley a few days after Harry's Birthday. As promised, they had gotten Ginny her new Nimbus 2003, which she now practiced on every chance she got. She was a bit disappointed to discover it didn't handle quite as well as Harry's Firebolt, but was still very pleased with it. Harry certainly felt Gryffindor'schances of keeping the Quidditch Cup in Professor McGonagall's office for a third year running were looking better than ever.

Harry had gotten an owl from Hogwarts while he was still at the Dursleys'. He had been moderately surprised to discover he had gotten most of his OWL's. He had even gotten his potions OWL, though how, he wasn't quite sure. Along with his OWL's, Harry had also received his usual school equipment list. The week before school began, Mrs. Weasley took Harry, Ron and Ginny to Diagon Alley to buy their school things. The moment Harry stepped into the Leaky Cauldron,he got a flashback of the first time he'd visited. He was swamped with people wanting to shake his hand, collectively congratulating him on exposing Voldemort's return, and saying things like "thank goodness we have you around," and "well done, old boy." Harry smiled and shook hands and said "well, better late than never," over and over again. He was totally insincere, but no one noticed. Harry couldn't help but think that if everyone had listened to him a year ago, Sirius would not only be alive, but a free man to boot. Considering that, Harry felt totally justified at being annoyed with all these witches and wizards scrambling to get on his good side.

They met Hermione there, once they'd come out of Gringott'swith funding to buy their new supplies. They even got to go and visit Fred and George, after swearing to Mrs. Weasley they wouldn't buy anything ("Why bother, when you can just owl Fred and George any time to get it for free?" Ginny whispered to Harry). Fred and George got into yet another row with their mother, this time because they wanted to buy Ron a new robe for school (he had outgrown his old one again). Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione took advantage of the argument to look around Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It was bustling with witches and wizards, mostly young people, and the crowds reminded Harry of Honey dukes back in Hogsmeade. A small group of boys managed to get one of their own to eat a Canary Cream, and they newly-transformed canary-boy was flying overhead, singing, much to the rest of the boys' delight. Harry saw a lot of Fred and George's old inventions, but also a lot of things he'd never seen before; it looked as though the twins had been busy. In light of this, Harry quickly escorted Mrs. Weasley out of the store on the premise of wanting her opinion on the quality of some potion ingredients as soon as her row with Fred and George wound down, lest she start up again over some of their more questionable merchandise.

After everyone had finished their shopping, Harry treated them all to ice cream at Florean Fortescue's. Florean greeted Harry warmly, and gave them all ice cream sundaes on the house. Everyone sat down to enjoy their last day of summer holiday, and Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny reviewed their recent purchases. Harry couldn't help but notice that Fred and George had managed to slip a few new items into Ron and Ginny's purchases. It was a good thing, as both Ginny and Ron had gown several more inches over the last year, and were in need of new robes. Harry couldn't help but think that Fred and George's newfound wealth was getting to their heads a bit, but he was so happy to see the Weasleys finally get some of the gold they deserved, that he didn't let the twins' state of mind worry him. Hermione inevitably brought up the subject of next years' assignments, and Harry got lost in his thoughts during the usual skirmish that Ron and Hermione got into when it came to schoolwork being done whenever it wasn't absolutely necessary.

Harry thought about the strange dream he'd had his second night at the Weasleys'. He wondered why Mr. Malfoy was the only Death Eater he'd recognized. He also wondered if anything he had seen in his dream might help the Order catch more Death Eaters, or establish Voldemort's whereabouts. The more he thought about it, the more it sounded like a good idea, so he quietly asked Mrs. Weasleywhat she thought under the cover of Ron and Hermione's argument. Mrs. Weasley said she'd bring it up at the next meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry then suggested, much to everyone's surprise, thatthey all stay at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place that night, so as to be less pressed to catch the train tomorrow. Mrs. Weasley gauged Harry with a concerned look. "Are you sure you want to stay there, Harry?" Harry nodded, "it's the most sensible thing to do."

"I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron with my parents already, so I guess I'll see you at the station," Hermione told them, "anyway, I'd best meet up with my parents now, so I'll see you tomorrow." She bid goodbye to them all, and left.

"Well, if you're sure, Harry, dear," Harry nodded emphatically. "Then we'll go back to the Burrow so you can pack your trunks and then head back to London."

* * * * * *

Harry had a very difficult time trying to explain to Grassleafwhat he was doing, throwing all his books and clothes rather haphazardly into this school trunk. He had just as much trouble trying to convince Grassleaf to get into the carrier that Harry had made for Grassleaf and hide there until they got to Grimmauld Place.

"But how will I stay warm in such a dark place?" Grassleafasked.

"Oh, I'll heat up a rock for you, and wrap in it something to keep it warm." Harry had a hard time explaining to Mrs. Weasley why he was boiling a stone, he eventually convinced her it was because Hedwig had been getting foot cramps, and so he wanted it handy in case she turned up. It was worth fibbing to Mrs. Weasleyabout the stone, however, as Grassleaf was quite pleased with his makeshift heating pad, and curled up in his carrying case contentedly and slept while Harry finished packing.

It was dark by the time they reached Grimmauld Place. This was intentional, so as to minimize their chances of being noticed. No matter how much Harry had prepared him self for coming to Twelve Grimmauld Place, it was still difficult. He didn't let on to anyone how much he was suffering, but it just seemed wrong to Harry that Sirius wasn't here. It was as if Harry's Godfather had only just stepped out, and would come back any moment, and the house seemed so much emptier without him.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley related Harry's dream to the rest of the Order, and they were indeed very interested, so Harry gave them as many details about his dream as he could remember. This time, Harry related the dream in its entirety. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked a bit alarmed as Harry revealed facts he's censured in his earlier version, but they said nothing, so Harry assumed they understood why he'd done it. When he got to the part about forcing Bartley to feed the vampire woman, several eyebrows were cocked. Harry stopped, and looked at Dumbledore questioningly. "Matthew Bartley was killed by a vampire under rather mysterious circumstances twenty-eight years ago. You may have seen him during his last living hours." Dumbledore explained. Harry was less than thrilled with that concept. After questioning Harry a bit on details specific to the house and certain people, Dumbledore thanked Harry for his time,mentioned that Harry looked quite ragged, and suggested he go to bed. Harry was indeed exhausted, and even the lure of hearing about the Order of the Phoenix's operations wasn't alluring enough to keep him awake.

That night, unsurprisingly, Harry dreamed about Sirius. He dreamed that he was able to knock Bellatrix back behind the veil and save Sirius. Then together, they cornered all the Death Eaters and Voldemort, who all surrendered. Then the whole Ministry of Magic showed up and carried Harry and Sirius away on their shoulders, cheering, as Voldemortand the Death Eaters were taken away to Azkaban. Harry and Sirius both received the Order of Merlin, First Class, Sirius was cleared of all charges, and they both began their studies as Aurors. By comparison, the morning he faced the next day seemed very bleak.

Harry descended to the kitchen in the house's basement and ate his breakfast in silence. He talked Mrs. Weasley into heating up Grassleaf's basking rock again then spent the rest of the morning packing his trunk more neatly. They left for the train station at 10, accompanied by Moody, Tonks and Lupin(Moody insisted Harry have an "honourguard"). For the first time Harry could remember, he arrived at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters with half an hour to spare. Unfortunately, Malfoy had already arrived.

"Look, everyone! It's Famous Harry Potter! What's the matter, Potter, so famous you can't go anywhere without a bodyguard?" Malfoyyelled to everyone who could hear him.

"What, disappointed you can't get a good shot in?" Moody growled, clunking over to Malfoy. Mrs. Malfoyclutched her son close as Moody approached. Moody looked Malfoy over disdainfully. "Humph. I've got my eye on you, young Malfoy," Moody said, letting Malfoy get a good look at his magical eye, "and if you don't keep your nose clean, you can bet you'll soon be joining your father in Azkaban." Mrs. Malfoygave a horrified gasp and dragged her son away before the conversation could get any further.

"Now Harry," Moody said, returning to Harry and speaking in a somewhat friendlier growl, "I don't care what anyone says, if you get wind of any funny business while you're at school -and I mean ANYTHING, and you go straight to Dumbledore. I've left instructions with him to ensure you can come to him day or night."

Harry nodded. He wasn't about to go to Dumbledore the second anything strange happened, but he wasn't going to argue the point with Moody, either. Besides, strange things did have a way of happening to Harry, and it was good to know Harry could contact Dumbledore if ever the need arose (which it almost certainly would). Harry and Ron then met up with Hermione; they bade their goodbyes to everyone, and then went to find a compartment on the train.

Once they had found an empty compartment, Harry, Ron and Hermione carefully looked around for Malfoy, then went in and locked the door so that Harry could let Grassleaf out. Hedwig and Crookshanks were very incensed at having had to be looked up wile Grassleaf got free run of the compartment. The train frightened Grassleaf, it seemed that the rocking motion it made after leaving the station reminded Grassleaf a bit too much of the aeroplane he had been trapped in. Grassleaf settled down after being allowed to crawl around the compartment, but he complained when Harry went to put him back in carrying cage. So, Harry allowed Grassleaf to stay out, but only after making Grassleaf swear he'd keep still for the whole trip. Harry put Grassleaf up in the rack next to Hedwig's cage, then let Hedwig out. Hedwig hooted in an incensed sort of way, but took no further notice of Grassleaf. Hermione let Crookshanks out of his basket, and he seemed no more interested in Grassleaf than Hedwig was.

The ride to Hogwarts was pleasantly uneventful; be it because of Moody's lecture, or the fact that most of the DA had taken up all the compartments surrounding Harry, Malfoy didn't show his smug face once during the whole trip (a first; Malfoy had always made a point of harassing Harry on the train ride since their first year at Hogwarts). An incredible number of students stopped by to say hello to Harry and wish him well, to the point where Harry wondered if the Creeveybrothers' entire extended family had suddenly been accepted to Hogwarts.Harry whiled away the hours of the train ride by playing Exploding Snap and tending to Grassleaf's anxiety.

It was raining as they pulled into the Hogsmeadestation, though more lightly than usual. Harry gave the Thestralhitched to his carriage a friendly pat before getting in, then watched the First Year students cross the lake by boat as his carriage was pulled up to Hogwarts. Harry sighed as the castle loomed over his window, wondering what his sixth year at Hogwarts had in store for him.