Ron's Birthday Wish

Chapter One... in which Harry Vomits out a Window

^O^

"Surprise! Happy Birthday!!"

His ears were deafened as he walked through the front door of his and his best friends' flat, and about 30 people jumped out from the darkness shouting their salutations. Ron forced a shocked expression on his face. He wondered whether he should clutch his heart, or if it would be a bit over-the-top.

It was his 21st birthday and Harry had organised a big surprise party for Ron. If Ron's acting skills were convincing enough, Harry still thought it was a surprise - Ron didn't have the heart to tell him he found Harry's plans weeks ago.

"Er. . . wow. . . I, er. . . what a surprise!" Ron had never been a good actor, but by the looks of things, his friends had been celebrating for awhile before he got there, and several were too drunk to stand unsupported, let alone notice his bad acting skills.

"Rooooon!" Harry stumbled over to Ron and embraced his best friend in a rather sloppy hug. "Are you surprised?"

"Absolutely," said Ron, patting Harry awkwardly on the back. "Er, are you drunk?"

Harry looked shocked.

"No! I haven't had anything all night." He swayed where he stood, then giggled like a girl. "Are *you* drunk? You look drunk. Your dancing is waaay off, mate."

"Harry - you know what? I think Ginny wants a dance with you! Go ask her!" Ron pushed Harry off in the general direction of his younger sister, and shook his head. Who the heck had given Harry alcohol? Bad idea. Very bad idea. But it could be entertaining later on - he'd better go find a camera.

"Happy Birthday, Ron."

Ron turned around and saw Hermione standing behind him, smiling.

"Er. . . are *you* drunk, too?"

"No, no. I managed to resist the temptation. . . I prefer watching everyone else make fools of themselves," she said, pointing towards Harry who was entertaining a rather tipsy Ginny with his imitation of Muggle break dancing. "Don't you wish you had your camera?"

"I was just thinking that."

"You weren't very surprised, were you, Ron?" Hermione looked him in the eye. Ron felt his face heat up and knew he had turned a rather betraying shade of beetroot red.

"How did you guess?"

"Woman's intuition. Don't worry, though - Harry's way too out of it to realise." Their eyes turned back to The Boy Who Lived, who was now crawling along the ground being The Boy Who Couldn't Find His Glasses. He made it to Ron and Hermione where he sat up on his knees (glasses on his face, where they had been the whole time) and held his goblet up for inspection.

"Look," said Harry, "Firewhisky! You drink it, and your mouth feels like it's on fire. . . but. . . IT'S NOT! Crazy huh?"

"Yep. Crazy stuff, Harry." Ron patted him on the head. Harry smiled serenely and passed out on the floor.

"So. . . the big 21, aye Ron? How does it feel?" Hermione asked him as they stepped over Harry's motionless body.

"Terribly. . . surprising," said Ron with a grin.

"I can imagine," Hermione laughed. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Sure. . . anything Harry hasn't tasted tonight." Ginny was currently applying make-up to the comatose Harry.

Ron and Hermione walked to the kitchen together to find Fred and George surrounded by various food items found in the cupboards, several types of alcohol, and the blender.

"G'day, Ron. When did you get here?" Fred beamed.

"Just now."

"We're the bartenders tonight -"

"What can we get you?"

"Ah, er. . . two butterbeers?"

"Butterbeer? We can make you something better than that. . . how about. . . tomato sauce -"

"egg -"

"baking soda -"

"Firewhiskey -"

"pumpkin juice -"

"Er, no. Butterbeer is fine."

"That's would be a great drink. We should call it -"

"Greforge Sunrise."

"Fegrege Surprise."

"Gorfred Supreme."

Hermione, realising that no sense would be got out of the twins that night (or let's face it - ever) and found two butterbeers in the fridge for herself and Ron.

"So, when are you going to open your presents?" she asked, handing Ron one of the cold bottles.

"They bought me presents? I thought they were just here to mess up my apartment and vomit in my pot-plants."

"Don't worry - Harry organised the party, he'll clean up."

"Damn straight he will." Harry was currently chucking up out the window, with Ginny rubbing his back, more thrilled that she was touching him than disgusted by what he was doing.

"Remind me never to walk outside in bare feet again," said Hermione, wrinkling her nose.

Ron looked at Hermione out of the corner of his eye. She still had bushy hair, never wore make-up and spent more time thinking about the library opening times than her wardrobe, but Ron thought she was beautiful. Not that he'd ever tell anyone that. It was his own secret. She was also the only sober friend at his birthday party. Normally he'd be getting inebriated with the best of them, but if it was a toss up between being drunk and spending quality time with Hermione, then it was a no-brainer for Ron.

"Truth or Dare!" Lavender Brown yelled out, and was swarmed by a group of giggling girls, dragging along a couple of reluctant males. They all sat around in a big circle in Ron and Harry's lounge and began to play. After awhile, the boys became tired of the incessant "who do you have a crush on?" type questions, and turned it into a drinking game. This resulted in more than one person using pot-plants and the window (among other toilet- substitutes) - not because of the alcohol as such, but because of what Fred and George had mixed with it. It wasn't a pretty sight, but Ron managed to snap many happy memories of his 21st on camera. They would be used for blackmail of course.

Everyone who was able to leave the party started stumbling home in the early hours of the morning. The rest of Ron's friends were apparently sleeping on the sofas. Or the kitchen bench. Or the bathroom floor. Basically wherever they fell. Ron reluctantly said goodbye to Hermione at around 2am. She felt bad leaving the mess behind, but promised Ron she would be back in the morning to help clean up - Harry didn't look as if he would make a very good helper - he was curled up in the corner hugging a delighted Ginny and sobbing about his various misfortunes.

Ron sighed as he climbed into his bed (after kicking Seamus and Lavender out). All in all it had been a good party, but not so much a good birthday. He hadn't needed to unwrap his gifts to know he hadn't got the one thing he truly wanted.