Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch

Chapter One, Happy Birthday

"Please father, I don't want to, please don't make me!" a teenage girl with long blond hair said, kneeling cupping her hands over her face sobbing.

The man shook his head, and pointing a long bony finger he said, "You're my last hope, now GO! Oh yes, and take this, and don't you ever call me father again!" The girl looked up at the man, eyes blood shot red, and tears flowing freely down her face, but yet her spirit, blue and green, eyes stood out. She took what the man was holding out for her, nodded, got up and walked off.

Harry awoke suddenly with pain that was searing over his forehead more greatly than all that year. "Damn, same dream again! Arg!" he yelled rubbing his forehead. "I hate this bloody scar, I hate my bloody life, and most of all I hate living here--even if Dumbledore says it's good for me--" Harry lay back down and looked over at his clock. "Hmm, sixteen. Don't feel sixteen. I can't believe it, no presents from my friends yet and it's all ready 3 in the morning. Well, I can't sleep, might as well write to Sir--." Harry's face fell as he remembered Sirius was dead. Harry got up and sat down at his desk looking out the window in hopes of seeing Hedwig back from hunting.

He stared at a green umbrella that was in a bottle of Butterbeer that sat on his desk. Harry looked back out the window and was shocked by what he saw... "Mrs. Norris!" Harry exclaimed jumping up from his seat.

Reluctantly, he unlatched the window and the feline gracefully came inside. Mrs. Norris turned to face Harry; he had a very lost look on his face. She shook her head and then all of a sudden morphed into a human form. Harry's eyes got as big as golf balls as he stared at a woman he had never met before. "AHHH!" he screamed at the sight of this odd woman.

She smiled shaking her head then said, "Ahh, Filch hasn't let me do that in forever." She stretched her arms rolling her neck around. "I'm sorry, you don't even know who I am and I'm over here making myself comfortable. Well, you've probably heard of me from Filch but, of course, you don't recognize me, simply because you've never seen me. Okay, you've seen me but not in human form." Now Harry was confused and his head was spinning.

"W-w-who are you?"

"I'm Norris, Norris Filch." She noticed the confused looked on his face, "Haven't you ever heard him talk about his wife before?" Harry shook his head. In all the years he had known Filch, he had never known that he was married. "Hmm, odd, he told me that everyone knew; especially you. He also gave me strict orders to keep an eye out for you and your gang; I figured it was for your safety."

"Did you know that we came very close to kicking you?" Harry asked.

"Well, I am thankful that you didn't."

"We won't even think about it anymore!"

Norris smiled and sat down on Harry's bed. "You wouldn't mind if I lay down would you? It's quite a long journey from Hogwarts to here."

"Umm, yeah, sure," Harry said slightly confused.

Norris got on all fours on his bed and started to puff up the blankets, when she noticed that Harry was giving her odd looks she stopped and curled up. "Terribly sorry, I've been in the form of a cat for the past fifteen years. Filch said it was to 'keep me safe', I just think it was because he's always wanted a cat." She smiled and drifted off to sleep purring every once and a while.

Harry just smiled and went back to waiting for Hedwig, it was nearly five in the morning by the time he spotted her; but she wasn't alone. There were two other owls and a very beautiful phoenix, Harry smiled brightly as he opened his window once more to allow the four birds in. "Hey there, did you catch yourself breakfast?" Hedwig hooted happily as Harry gave her an owl treat. "Hello Fawkes, starting to make special delivery's now?" Fawkes sang taking a long drink from Hedwig's water dish and took off through the window again. Hedwig wasn't very happy that the creature had drunken out of her water bowl and was even less happy about having a little, annoying, screeching owl fluttering around the room.

The other brown owl dropped off the package it had, took a drink of water as well and then took off. Hedwig was now thoroughly pissed; she hooted loudly at Pig and went into her cage to eat her catch. "Aww Hedwig, you don't have to be so territorial!" Harry said as he grabbed the letter and package that Pig had for him, he shooed Pig out the window closing it. "Okay we've got Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore and Hagrid; that sums up everyone!"

Harry quickly opened the letter from Hermione and read it:

Dear Harry,

I hope your sixteenth birthday is a good on! Ron wants to visit, and he is! He'll be over tomorrow; if you can find a way here you're welcome to come as well. Directions are on the back; I hope to see you soon!

Hermione

Harry tore into the package that came with her letter and smiled seeing it was a picture of them at Sirius' house cleaning it out. There was also a new pair of glasses, with green frames but were still round and circular, and some red socks that Hermione obviously had sewn herself. He then went to open Hagrid's letter to reveal the old, familiar, squiggly handwriting:

Harry,

I want to wish ya a happy birthday, and let you know that me brother can't wait to see you when the next year starts. He's learning his English and with the help of Dumbledore I ain't getting beat up anymore! This summer was great, Olympe gave me a visit; but she couldn't spend more than a week here, had important Beauxbatons business to attend to. I also got to check up on Norbert, he's quite big now and fierce too! Well Grawp is needing some attention so I best be going.

Hagrid

Harry opened Hagrid's present, it was a picture--that, clearly, was drawn by Grawp. He also saw a box of Hagrid's famous treats and a new cleaning kit for his broom, good thing too because he was running low on supplies. He then found Dumbledore's letter and present:

Dear Harry,

Happy sixteenth birthday, I hope that you've had a fairly decent summer and hope that the last few weeks are just as good. I have something of your mothers that I think that you should have, but you must be extremely careful with it. Good and bad things can come from this gift; I hope you use it wisely. There is also something from your father as well, it may help you and it may not. Sirius also wanted to give you something for your sixteenth birthday, but seeing as he is no longer with us, I have the burden to give it to you. It appears that every time I give you a gift it is usually from other people, but not this time, this time I have included a little something special for you from me and I hope you like it. Made it myself!

Dumbledore

P.S. Congratulations on making Prefect this year.

Harry opened the package and revealed several different items; an oval shaped locket, a torch, an odd looking key, and a pair of green socks. When he saw the green socks he laughed to himself.

"Is it your birthday?" Harry was startled; he had completely forgotten that Norris was there.

"Yeah."

"Well in that case, here." She handed Harry a small brown package with a little note:

Harry,

Happy Birthday.

Filch and Norris

"Not one for words is he?"

"Never has been!" she said laughing a bit. Harry opened the present; it was a red pocketknife with the Gryffindor crest.

"It's great!" Harry exclaimed, "I like it!"

"I suggested it, Filch didn't think a wise idea to be getting you a knife but I said to him 'He's sixteen, he should have one!' Well, he wasn't too thrilled about it, but oh well." She smiled brushing some of her hair out of her eyes. "Well I've done what I've came here to do, and thank you for letting me sleep here."

Harry smiled saying, "I'm sure it wasn't that much better than what Filch lets you sleep on, I mean doesn't he let you sleep with him?"

"No," she said simply and turned back into a cat jumping out of the window. Harry was actually beginning to feel bad for her; granted he felt bad for her in the first place being Filch's wife and all but now, now he felt really bad for her.

Harry eventually shrugged it off and decided to write everyone back thanking him or her.

Hagrid,

So nice to hear from you! I'm glad that Grawp is finally starting to learn English, and Olympe visited huh? I hope you had a good time; and I can't wait to see you in September!

Harry

He rolled up the parchment and tied a ribbon around it.

Dumbledore,

It's good to hear from you, thanks so much for the socks! Yeah, you are right that every time you give me a present it always seems that it's from someone else, that's funny! Can't wait until term starts.

Harry

He did the same, rolling up the parchment and tied a ribbon around it. He thought about Hermione's invitation and decided to ask the Dursleys if he could go.

Harry walked into the kitchen, to the smell of bacon cooking for Dudley, and cleared his throat; Vernon and Petunia stopped what they were doing and stared nervously at him. He cleared his throat again and continued, "I was wondering if I could go to a friends house for the rest of the summer? But I need a ride there."

The Dursleys thought about this and decided that the sooner he left, the better. "All right, we'll take you. How far anyway?"

"Well she sent me this map, it's the directions to her house."

"First of all, this friend is a she? And also I might tell you that her house is two hours away from here," Vernon spat.

Harry glared at the Dursleys, he could get to Hermione's house by the Night Bus, but that was a pain in the butt. "Fine! I don't need you to take me anyway!" Vernon raised an eyebrow. "I'll just go pack and be on my way!" Petunia and Vernon just stood there shocked as Harry walked out of the kitchen. 'I asked them for one little favor and they can't even do tha--'

SMACK! Harry's thoughts were interrupted as he walked into something squishy and big; and he immediately knew who it was, Dudley. "Watch it Pothead!" Harry glared at him and he knew that if he even so much as reached for his wand Dudley would be down on the floor in two seconds flat.

"Move it or lose it," Harry said standing his ground. He figured that if Dudley didn't move then he would go for his wand. "I said, MOVE!" Harry yelled out in frustration, reaching down towards his wand, Dudley whimpered falling to the ground and out of Harry's way. He hated having to threaten him over little things like that, but the stubborn git wouldn't budge; Dudley had forced him. Harry shook his head, 'I can't believe I'm trying to justify something I did to him!' he thought stubbornly.

He sent Hedwig off to Dumbledore and Hagrid and opened the gift from Ron with the note as well:

Harry,

I've had a great first month of summer. I'm going to Hermione's, and she tells me that she's invited you too! That's good and everything but could you not come on the first and on the second instead? THANKS! You'll see why when you get there.

Ron

Harry felt a little bad, but thought that Ron wouldn't have said that if it wasn't important to him. He opened up the brown package revealing another note and a mirror. His eyes widened as he read the note:

What you do is say my name into the mirror and we can talk to each other, it's just a little something that I saw at Zonko's Joke Shop.

Harry felt anger surge through him, but why? Ron didn't know that what Sirius had given him was a mirror devise like this one, 'It's not Ron's fault that I didn't tell him about it!' Harry thought trying to keep himself calm, but on the inside he felt like he was being ripped apart by everything that was going on these days. All he wanted to do was go to Hermione's, but Ron did ask him not to come until the second. Harry was so confused about what to do, 'Maybe I could go to Miss Figg's so I won't feel so dang lonely? She'll let me, and now that I know that she's a Squib then I don't mind her so much.'

He finished packing, seeing as how he didn't want to look stupid since he said that he was leaving, and dragged his trunk downstairs. "Bye everyone! See you next summer," Harry said dragging his trunk out the door.

Vernon and Dudley waved stupidly at him but Petunia looked a bit grim and walked over to Harry and this is what she said, "I've never really hated you or any of the Potters I was, I was jealous." And with that she turned back around walking into the house.

"Weird, why would she be jealous?" Harry thought out loud. He shrugged it off, and went to Miss Figg's. KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Hello? Who's there?" said a voice that could only be known as Miss Figg's.

"It's me, Harry," he said.

"Harry! What are you doing here? Did something happen to you?"

Harry shook his head and said, "They didn't kick me out, nothing happened; I just need to stay somewhere for two nights."

"Why?"

"Like I said long story, I really rather not talk about It." She nodded and let him inside. "So you don't mind then?"

"Of course not! You're always welcome in my house, I mean how many Squibs get to say 'Harry Potter himself slept in my house for two nights'? Of course I also get to say, 'I babysat that Harry Potter'." Harry laughed at the thought of him being "babysat" with him being sixteen now, those days seemed like they were long gone.

She fed him some Meatloaf and chocolate cake, and he fell asleep on her couch while trying to write his biographical sketch about Grodric Gryffindor. Miss Figg set Harry's books on the coffee table and gently placed a blanket on top of him. She had always wanted a child of her own.

* * * *

Two figures standing out side a restaurant; one down on their knee, the other standing in a long green strapless dress. The figure that was kneeling opened a box and uttered the words, "Will you marry me?"