Harry Potter and the Star of Adara

Harry Potter and the Star of Adara

Chapter 3- A Very Happy Birthday

"No! You shall not pass! You shall not take the Star!"

"Get out my way, girl!"

Deep laughter, electric blue light, pitiful screams...

"Take Harry and go Lily! I'll hold him off!"

"No James! I can't leave you...please!"

"I SAID GO!"

High-pitched laughter, bright green light...

Harry awoke with a yell the next morning. He opened his eyes to find the blurred shapes of Mrs Weasley, Fred, George and Ron leaning over him. Harry put his glasses on and tried to sit up, but the excruciating pain in his scar sent him flying back onto his pillow.

"Harry dear?" Mrs Weasley's voice floated through his brain, "Are you alright?" Harry felt her hand rest gently on his burning forehead.

"You were talking in your sleep all night mate," muttered Ron with worry etched all over his face.

"I'm fine, honestly!" said Harry thickly, trying hard not to show his agony.

"Well, If you're sure..." began Mrs Weasley,

Harry nodded earnestly. "Well...Breakfast's ready." Mrs Weasley muttered as she turned reluctantly away, ushering Fred and George with her. Ron moved closer.

"Harry..." he began anxiously,

"Let's go down to breakfast," said Harry quickly, preferring not to linger on the subject.

Harry reached the kitchen to find Mrs Weasley pouring milk into a large copper pot with her wand, and Mr Weasley sitting at the kitchen table, reading the Hogwarts item list for the year and shaking his head sadly. When he saw Harry, however, he cheered up instantly.

"Happy Birthday, my boy!" he said jovially. Harry grinned at him. He was just about to sit down, when two figures emerged from the doorway to his left. One of them had the vivid Weasley hair. This was Ginny, who made a frightened squeak and ran back up the stairs. The other figure had long, straight, shining brown hair, deep brown eyes, and a perfectly even, pearly white smile. But it couldn't be...

"Hermione?" gasped Harry

"Harry!" she squeaked, running up and flinging her arms round his neck. He gladly returned her embrace, glad to see her again.

"Happy birthday!" she whispered in his ear, kissing him gently on the cheek and placing a small, brightly wrapped parcel into his hand. Harry's face felt like it was about to burst into flames.

As they ate, Ron asked Hermione,

"So, what happened to your hair?"

Hermione smiled mischievously at them all. "Well, it took a lot of persuasion, but in the end my parents allowed me to use a permanent hair-straightening charm that I found in Spellbinding Beauty Made Easy !"

Harry quickly turned his snort of laughter into a hacking cough as Ron rolled his eyes in disbelief over the table. Hermione scowled.

"Oh...it looks really nice!" he said quickly

Hermione's face softened and she stared down at her plate. Harry could feel himself going red again, and he fumbled awkwardly with his spoon. Ron looked from one to the other, expression souring as he folded his arms.

"We need to go to Diagon Alley to get our stuff for this year, Harry." He mumbled

Harry jerked back to life at the sound of his name.

"What...? Sorry Ron, I was miles away,"

"So I noticed," Ron grumbled.

Through all this, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Fred and George had been staring in amazement at the trio.

"You three, Fred, George and Ginny can go today then." muttered Mrs Weasley finally, getting up and clearing away the dishes with a sweep of her wand.

"I'll take you on the ca..." began Mr Weasley, only to be stopped by Fred's frantic hand gestures and head shaking from behind Mrs Weasley's back. Mrs Weasley glared suspiciously at the pair of them.

"Well, whatever it was that you were thinking of taking, you can't. Take the Floo Powder instead,"

Harry's face fell at these words. He'd had some bad experience with Floo Powder. Only three years ago, as he had choked on some ash form the fire, he had ended up in the forbidden Knockturn Alley, only to be saved by his good friend and Hogwarts game keeper, Rubeus Hagrid.

"Don't worry Harry, if anything, we want to get lost this year!" laughed George, indicating himself and Fred, then quailing under Mrs Weasley's furious stare, as she went to fetch the Floo Powder.

"Right, I've got a lot to do," she said, opening the flower pot full of green powder, "One pinch each, don't forget to speak clearly, and have a good time!" she babbled, seemingly trying to get rid of them in a hurry.

"Ladies first!" Mr Weasley beamed at Hermione, who grabbed a handful of powder and threw it into the fire, turning it eerie, ghostly green.

"Diagon Alley!" she said, rather louder than necessary, as she stepped through the fire, and was gone. Everyone else followed, one after the other, until they were all in Diagon Alley, Hermione rather shaken by the whole thing, and the twins not managing to get lost-to their great disappointment.

"First stop Gringotts, then we can get shopping!" said Mr Weasley gleefully, marching through the burnished bronze doors, the goblins bowing them through. They sped through the underground tunnels, stopping at their respective vaults, Harry and Hermione filling their pockets-the Weasleys scraping the bottom of theirs. Once they got back into the Alley, Fred and George headed for their favourite joke shop, Gambol and Japes. Ginny and Mr Weasley went to get her dress robes and Harry, Hermione and Ron strolled through the late afternoon sunshine to Flourish and Blotts to get their books for the year.

"I do hope I've done enough revision," muttered Hermione under her breath as she flicked through The Complete OWL Revision Guide For Charms.

"Relax!" groaned an exasperated Ron, "I haven't done any, and I'm not worrying!"

Hermione scowled at his back as he walked off. When they had their books, they all bought chocolate and strawberry sundaes, and watched the owls take flight as the sun sank below the crooked rooftops, and stars began to sparkle in the twilight. Fred and George arrived back, their pockets bulging with various joke items. They all made their way back too a seemingly empty Burrow with the Floo Powder. The lights in the house were all turned off so they all kept bumping into odd items of furniture.

"Molly?" called Mr Weasley, then proceeding to stub his toe on a chair leg, "Maybe she's gone out?" he muttered, hopping around and clutching his foot.

At that moment, the lights flickered back on to reveal a sight that made Harry's heart soar. Mrs Weasley was stood behind the kitchen table, on which stood a magnificent, white iced cake with blue writing, which read HAPPY 15^TH BIRTHDAY HARRY!

All around them were a dozen fairies singing a beautiful harmony.

"Happy Birthday, Harry dear!" smiled Mrs Weasley, moving forward and pulling him into a hug. Harry actually felt tears stinging the corners of his eyes, threatening to release themselves in a huge wave of emotion. He didn't think he'd ever been this happy, except with his parents. He finally felt like part of a family again. Harry buried his head into Mrs Weasley's shoulder and bit back his tears, wishing that the moment would never end.

And so, the rest of the evening was spent laughing and talking and eating cake. Harry didn't head up to bed until at least 2 am. He sat on the edge of his bed, listening to Ron's snores drifting across from the other side of the room. Harry then noticed that he was sat next to Hermione's brightly wrapped present. He picked it up and shook it. It didn't feel fragile... Harry ripped off the paper, and what he saw inside made him smile from ear to ear.

It was a moving photograph of him, Hermione and Ron, in a sparkling silver frame. Harry was in the middle, his arms around Ron's and Hermione's shoulders, and all of them grinning madly. Harry set it upon his bedside table, and went to open up the balcony coming from Ron's room, so that he could look at the sky before he slept. To his surprise, standing on the balcony next to him, coming from Ginny's room, was Hermione. She seemed to be deep in thought, gleaming eyes staring up at the stars. Harry edged closer to her.

"Careful, you might turn into a centaur!"

Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin, "Harry!" she hissed, her hand over her frantic heart. "You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry about that," said Harry, working his face furiously to suppress his smile. "so, what are you doing out here?"

"I was going to ask you the same question," said Hermione gently, as a cool breeze swept past them both. She turned to look at him, smiling.

"So, had a good birthday?"

"One of the best so far," he said, returning her smile, "especially since you're here..." he muttered under his breath.

"What?" said Hermione, startled,

"Umm...thanks for the present..." Harry changed the subject quickly

"I'm glad you liked it, " she replied, now looking determinedly away.

There was an awkward silence. Harry wanted to tell her everything- how beautiful she looked in the moonlight, how he couldn't stop thinking about her all summer... then he heard Ron's sleepy voice from his room,

"Harry? You coming in yet?"

Harry turned to the doorway

"Just a second!" he called, turning back to Hermione.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" he whispered

Hermione nodded, "'Night Harry,"

Harry turned and went back into Ron's room, flopping onto his bed, Inwardly cursing Ron's terrible timing.