[Fic]: Hermione Granger and the Exceptionally Good Birthday, part one of two (11,300 total)
Hermione Granger and the Exceptionally Good Birthday: Harry's Meeting
A Harry Potter fanfic
(In which Harry meets Hermione's study group, Hermione learns the truth about House Elves, Ron learns the truth about Lavender, a birthday is celebrated, and a good time is had by all.)
By Andrew yclept Aelfwine
Rating: PG. 11,300 words total. Fourth Year AU Warning. Luna Being Luna Warning. Friendly Millicent Warning. Supportive Ginny Warning. Handy Susan Warning. Fannish Hermione Warning. Yours Truly Warning.
Harry/Hermione, with slight hints of possible future Harry/Hermione/other girls. Ron/Lavender. Dobby/Winky.
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The characters and situations of the Harry Potter series are copyright J.K. Rowling. They may not be used or reproduced commercially without permission. The use of these characters and situations is not to be construed as challenge to said copyright. They are merely borrowed for this work of non-commercial fanfiction, from which the author derives no financial benefit.
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So, this is the Hermione's birthday fic that I unfortunately didn't think of until it was already Hermione's birthday. And then it took me a fortnight to write it. Oh well.
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"I still can't believe they've cancelled Quidditch, Harry. Tri-Wizard Tournament or no Tri-Wizard Tournament, don't they realise it's the most important thing we do? I mean, if they had to cancel something, why not Potions class?"
Hermione, sitting in a chair to Harry's left with a book in her lap, rolled her eyes. Harry rolled his eyes, then hastily glanced at Ron, who was concentrating on the chessboard and wouldn't have noticed if Harry had just grown horns and wings, at least as long as he didn't fly away before Ron got him in checkmate. He flicked his gaze back to Hermione. The two friends shared a little smile and a wink.
It was nearly the third week of school. Something was nagging at Harry's mind. Wasn't there something significant coming up? Not a test or a paper due, but a date that meant something. He glanced up at Hermione again. The afternoon sunlight was slanting through the window, giving her skin the colour of old ivory and making her hair shine like polished brown oak. She had little freckles round the corner of one eye and a mole on her cheekbone. It was funny how one could know somebody for years and still be noticing something like that, wasn't it?
And that was it. Hermione's birthday was on the nineteenth. He should do something more this year than simply wishing her a happy birthday in the morning and making a card out of parchment. Perhaps he could owl order a gift for her? He wasn't sure if there were any books he'd ever heard of that Hermione hadn't read already, but a quill case or a nice brass bookmark or a box of sweets might go over well. Especially if he could think of a kind of sweet that Ron didn't particularly like, so Hermione wouldn't have half of them eaten by somebody else ten minutes after she'd opened the box.
It was at that very moment that a little piece of paper, folded into the shape of a cat, came climbing up his leg. Paper was unusual in the Wizarding world, and folded bits of it that moved on their own were even more so. That's called origami, or something like, isn't it? Or at least the Muggle version is.
The little cat stretched out on his thigh and showed him the message written on its belly. "Potter--Please meet us in the Library at a quarter past five, at the third table from the north window. Come alone. This concerns matters of critical import. Consider this a gathering under Right of Parley." The person who'd written it put little hearts over her i's, much as Lavender did, but other than that their handwriting had nothing in common with Lavender's, being larger and not as loopy. The mysterious person had also sketched a little smiling face after the bit about Right of Parley, which was something Harry only had heard of because Hermione had lent him a novel about his own ancestor Hathorne Potter who'd ridden with the Royalist cavalry during the first battles of the Civil War before he almost single-handedly negotiated the compromises that took away all Wizarding support for the Parliamentarian cause.
Harry assumed that the smile meant he shouldn't take the invocation of Parley with complete seriousness, which was good because in the book characters always began Parley by stacking their swords and pistols together before they crossed their wands and vowed to do each other no harm for the duration of the meeting. It was a nice image, but Harry didn't think the Headmaster would let him borrow the Sword of Gryffindor for a meeting in the Library.
"Checkmate! Good game, Harry, but you really should've been paying more attention towards the end there. You missed a chance to castle, and with that done you could've taken out my bishop, and then it would've been at least another five moves before I could get you in mate."
"Thanks, Ron. Listen, I just realised I need to check something out in the Library before dinner."
"It's not even three weeks into term, Harry, and we've nothing due tomorrow. Surely it can wait?"
Hermione rolled her eyes again. "I'd be tempted to join you, Harry, but I do need to finish this reading for Runes. See you at dinner?"
"That's fine, Hermione, thanks. I'll see you there."
Ron immediately began trying to convince Dean to play a game with him, despite the fact that Dean was clearly busy with his Care of Magical Creatures homework. Harry picked up his satchel and headed out.
A few yards down the corridor, he realised somebody was walking with him. "Hello, Ginny."
She smiled at him. He still didn't feel that he knew Ron's younger sister very well, but at least she'd stopped squeaking and not meeting his eyes. "Hey, Harry. Headed for the Library?"
"Yes. You?" He was tempted to ask if she knew anything about the mysterious note, but there wasn't any point in it. If she knew, he'd find out. If she didn't, she might tell Ron, and then Ron would have a fit about evil slimy Slytherins trying to lure Harry into a trap, which was daft because there were any number of better places to trap somebody than on their way to the Library on an afternoon when there were plenty of people in the corridors.
"Yes. My study group have a meeting before dinner."
They walked together in silence for most of the way, until at the bottom of the last staircase they met with a small blonde girl wearing a Ravenclaw tie. Harry had seen her once or twice before. He thought she was in Ginny's year. "Greetings and salutations, Ginevra. And to you as well, Ginevra's companion to whom I've not been introduced yet, although of course I recognise you. You're Hermione Granger's best friend, aren't you?" Harry nodded. He didn't know what else he could do.
"Hey, Luna! Harry, this is my friend and neighbour, Luna Lovegood. And Luna, this is Harry Potter."
"Hello, Luna. Pleased to meet you." Harry held out his hand, not knowing what else to do.
"Hello, Harry Potter. It's very good to meet you, and I do think you're much more appealing in person than you are in the Boy Who Lived books. Not that the books don't have a certain amount of charm, of course--Ginevra and I used to have wonderful times together reading them."
Ginny was blushing. Harry felt a bit sorry for her embarrassment, although he did notice that she was smiling rather wistfully, the way that Hermione would smile when she talked about places she'd gone to on holiday with her parents. Or at least the way she would smile until Ron said it was completely mad that Muggles did things like sitting on the sand by the sea until they were almost burnt, not to mention the whole business of travelling inside big metal flying things instead of having Portkeys, or alternately that French people had to be utterly mental because they ate bits of flaky crescent-shaped bread for breakfast instead of bacon and eggs.
"Oh, Ginevra... did I embarrass you?"
"It's fine, Luna."
"Still, I'm sorry." She threw her arms about Ginny and hugged her tight. It looked a very nice hug. Harry wouldn't have minded being hugged that way, himself. Of course, he wasn't exactly a connoisseur of hugs, having only ever been hugged by Hermione and Mrs. Weasley, except for his Godfather's back-pounding manly hugs, which probably didn't count. Of course, Mrs. Weasley's affectionate smothering might not have counted, either, once it was put that way.
"It's all right, Luna, really." Ginny patted her friend on the back. Finally Luna released her.
"And I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have talked about those silly books in front of you." Harry was worried that Luna might cry. He really didn't know what to do with crying girls. He might've been able to guess what Hermione would need, of course, but he didn't know Luna at all. And aside from the awkwardness, he didn't want to see the little Ravenclaw unhappy. He knew next to nothing about her, of course, but somehow he knew he didn't want her to be upset, even beyond the usual way that he didn't enjoy seeing anyone sad or disappointed, except maybe for Draco or Snape.
"It's okay, Luna."
"Thank you, Harry, but still, I should have thought about your feelings. May I hug you?"
"Err, well, you don't have to..."
"As you wish, but it is a traditional method of apologising."
"I wouldn't want you to feel forced."
"But I wouldn't. I'd feel honoured and delighted and all sorts of fine and pleasant things along those lines." She reached out, and before Harry knew it he was being hugged by Luna, and hugging her in return.
"Thank you, Luna." It didn't seem adequate, but it seemed as if he should say something once they'd let each other go, and that was the only thing he could think of saying.
"Thank you, Harry."
He glanced at his watch. It was almost ten past five. "I'm sorry, but I'm meeting somebody in the Library in a few minutes. It was good to meet you, Luna. Thanks for walking with me, Ginny. I'll see you both soon."
He reached the table just barely in time. There was nobody there. He wondered if the mysterious people he was supposed to meet were running even later than he was. He'd rather think that than wonder whether this was all some particularly obnoxious sort of prank.
Not wanting to stand around looking confused, he sat down at the table, in a chair that gave him a good view of anyone who might be coming into the library.
As soon as he sat down, a note appeared before him. “Good man, Potter. Please join us under Parley in the northwest corner of the stacks, behind the second shelf housing books on magical creatures.”
This was getting ridiculous. The only positive was that everyone knew Madam Pince would never tolerate spellfire in the Library. She had an ability to detect misuse of magic that would put an Auror to shame, and everyone above First Year remembered the duelling exhibition she'd put on with Professor Flitwick, in particular her fiendish application of spells meant for bookbinding and manuscript repair. Besides, neither Draco nor his pair of bodyguards were clever enough to think of a scheme this complicated.
With that in mind, Harry got up and headed into the stacks. When he reached the designated meeting point, no one was there. This was getting to be a bit much. Despite Madam Pince's vigilance, he unobtrusively slipped his wand into his hand as he looked about for another note.
“Harry?”
He almost leapt into the air. If he'd not recognised the voice, he might have sworn. “Ginny?” Why was her voice coming from a bookshelf?
“Come you in here, and quickly.” Her hand reached out to grasp his, and much to his surprise he found himself walking through five shelves of illusory books.
“I could have sworn that some of the books Hermione and I used last year for Buckbeak's hearing were shelved right there,” was all he could think to say.
“That might be because they are shelved there, Harry,” Luna said. “Assuming, of course, that my surmise as to what books those would be is correct. I do find it hard to believe that Hermione Granger would use Hugh Gabbet-Fairfax's Season with the Smilodon and Truffles, Turnips, Tribbles, and Me to defend a Hippogriff. Not to say that either one might not have been useful, I have to say in hindsight. She's even more of a genius than she is gorgeous, and that's saying something, but she doesn't always understand that when working with Wizarding law one sometimes has to think backwards and sideways.”
“No, we didn't use either of those. But we did read Blackmore's Feathered Quadrupeds and the Principles of Autonomy, and I just saw Ginny's hand come out of the spine of it.”
“The shelf retracts into the floor when somebody needs to come through, but an illusion remains to keep the door hidden. There's also a distraction charm-if you'd been looking for one of those books, you'd have realised that you needed another book from another stack much more urgently.”
Harry looked about. He saw that he, Ginny, and Luna were standing in a pleasant little study room, with comfortable chairs, a couch, and a round table. There was even a teapot and a set of mugs. “Oh. Actually, I'm amazed Hermione doesn't know about this place, with all the time she spends in the library.”
Luna smiled. “Believe me, Harry, she does. But you have to understand that it's forbidden for a member of the study group to bring a boy here solely because of her own personal interests. Although do I think that rule was actually established to prevent girls bringing their boyfriends here for sexual activity.”
Harry was glad he wasn't drinking anything, because he suspected it would have come out his nose or at least gone down the wrong way if he had been. He didn't even know what to say. Ginny looked equally uncomfortable. “Um, Luna...” she said.
“Well, I can see why they would do, if it weren't for that rule, since after all it is much more comfortable and spacious than a broom closet, but I also don't see why it wouldn't be just fine to bring a boy here to work on something, especially one as nice as you, Harry. That said, you know how conscientious our Hermione is. She would see researching how to save Hagrid's Hippogriff in the company of her handsome best friend as a 'personal interest.' I tried to tell her it would be perfectly appropriate, but she wouldn't listen. In fact, she got all embarrassed about it.”
“Oh.” Harry was saved from having to say anything more than that when Susan Bones from Hufflepuff came through the portal.
“Sorry I'm late! One of the Firsties was having trouble getting her chisels and her drawknife as sharp as they need to be, and it took me longer to help her than I thought it would.” She was a wholesome-looking girl with a round face and strawberry-coloured plaits. Harry'd had classes with her as long as he'd been at Hogwarts, but he really hadn't ever got to know her well, although he did remember how in Second Year he'd overheard her talking with her housemates and arguing that he couldn't be the Heir of Slytherin.
“No problem, Susan. We were just chatting with Harry.”
Susan squeaked, almost the way Ginny had done in Harry's first days at the Burrow in the summer before Second Year. “Oh. Err, hi, Harry. Good to, err, to see you again and all of that.”
“Hi, Susan.” They'd seen each other in Transfiguration class that morning, but Harry didn't reckon it was necessary to remind her.
Luna fished something out of her robes that looked like a pocket watch, although when she opened it Harry saw a miniature Stonehenge in place of a face and hands. He wasn't sure what good that would do for telling time, but it must have been some use for doing something, because Luna said “Excellent. The fifth member of our party for today's conference will be joining us momentarily, and then we will be able to sit down and explain to our honoured guest just why we've asked him here to spend time in our company. And don't worry, Harry, we didn't ask you to come here for sex, although it does occur to me that it wouldn't be strictly personal interest if all of us were involved...”
Ginny sighed, rolled her eyes, and hugged Luna round the shoulders, mouthing “Sorry, Harry.”
Susan, on the other hand, burst out laughing. After a moment, however, she got an embarrassed look on her face. “Err, sorry, Harry.” She tried to meet his eyes, but couldn't seem to manage it.
“It's okay, Susan.”
“What's okay?” Someone else had come through the portal. Harry turned and saw one of the last people he would've expected to see here: Millicent Bulstrode.
“Oh... nothing, Millie,” Susan said.
Millicent raised an eyebrow. Harry really didn't know what to say. The most significant memory he had of her was from Second Year's abortive duelling club meeting, when she'd put Hermione in a headlock. She wasn't one of Malfoy's regular sycophants and hangers-on, but he still would've made sure his wand was ready if he'd found himself alone in a corridor with her.
She was over six foot tall, and had a nose like an owl's beak and a chin that might've been called 'ruggedly handsome' on a man. Some of the other Gryffindor boys called her “Bull's Arse,” and one time when they were talking in the dormitory after lights out Ron had said that Millicent was so fat she outweighed everybody at Hogwarts other than Hagrid and the Giant Squid. Séamus had replied that if any of them should ever have sex with her said brave bloke ought to write up the story afterwards and send it not to Penthouse Forum but to Without Fear or Hesitation: the Magazine of Wizardly Exploits Against Wild Beasts and the Perils of Nature. Harry didn't like it when his housemates said things like that, as between Malfoy and Dudley he'd been on the wrong end of too many nasty jokes himself, but it certainly wasn't because of any fondness for Millicent.
“Hello, Potter. I don't suppose we've ever met under friendly circumstances, so what say we pretend we're only just meeting for the first time? I'm Millicent Bulstrode. Pleased to meet you. And would you please call me Millicent?” She held out her hand, and he took it.
“I'm Harry Potter. It's good to meet you, Millicent. And please call me Harry.” Millicent had a firm grip, but she didn't try to crush his hand. She wasn't fat at all, he realised, only tall and rather muscular. He suspected she did indeed outweigh him by a few pounds, but she was also nearly a head taller, so it was only natural that she would. It was true that she'd been a bit plump at their Sorting, but that had probably been because her body was getting ready for a growth spurt; he seemed to recall that she'd grown almost six inches over the course of their First Year. Some of the boys who made fun of her had got heavy and then shot up during First and Second Year as well. Ron was one of them, in fact.
“So, you're Hermione Granger's best friend, right? I'm glad you're-”
Luna cleared her throat. “Wait, Millicent. Should we not sit down before we get round to business?”
To Harry's surprise, Millicent cast down her gaze, looking slightly embarrassed. “Sorry, Luna. I suppose I'm too used to the way my Daddy does things. People say all sorts of nasty things about Hippogriff and horse dealers, so he's always made a point of being very upfront and never beating round the bush.”
“But there aren't any bushes to beat round in this room, are there?” Luna looked about, as if she were making quite sure. “At least I don't see them-I suppose it's possible that you might be able to see some sort of plant life that I can't make out? After all, there are creatures I can see that other people can't, so it would make sense that there would be things with which it was the other way round.”
“It's a figure of speech, dear Luna,” Ginny said.
“Oh, right, one of those. In any case, friend Millicent, you've no cause for being sorry. Your straightforwardness is but one of your many charming features and characteristics.”
“Thanks, Luna.”
“So,” Susan said, “since everyone's here who's been asked to be here, how about we all sit down?” There were five chairs, Harry realised. He wondered which one Hermione sat in, since she was apparently another member of this study group. For that matter, why had the other girls asked him to come here and meet them without Hermione?
“Why don't you sit here, Harry?” Luna said, pointing to the chair beside her. Ginny took the one on his other side. He hoped Susan and Millicent weren't offended that he was sitting between the two girls he knew best, but neither seemed to mind. Susan poured out the tea and handed round the mugs, and a few minutes were taken up with adding milk and sugar.
“So, Harry, no doubt you're wondering why we've asked you here to talk with us,” Millicent said.
“I have to confess I did wonder why Parley was being invoked.”
Millicent blushed and began to play with the end of her long thick black plait. “Err, well...”
“It's because dear Millicent has a charming taste for historical fiction. Not to mention her handwriting's very nice and she has a knack for making and animating those cute little paper animals. I can do something similar in wood, but paper's always been beyond me, I'm afraid, which is probably rather silly because paper's made of wood, but there you have it.”
"In any case," Susan said, "we've asked you to join us because of a significant upcoming date. Namely, your best friend's birthday."
He wasn't sure what to say. All this simply to remind him of Hermione's birthday? Then again, he'd not done enough for her in the past. First Year he had the excuse of them not being really friends yet, not that it was much of an excuse, because she'd clearly wanted to be friends from the first moment they met and so had he, and Second Year he'd only found out about it on the morning of the day itself. But last year he really should have done something more than make a simple card at the last minute. Sure, it was more than Ron had done, but still...
Luna broke in on his train of thought. "We think our illustrious Hermione deserves a better birthday celebration than she's had in her previous years at Hogwarts, and we think her very best friend should be a part of that. So, we decided to bring you here, because taking care of the brightest witch in Gryffindor isn't a personal interest, but in fact is in the best interests of all of us."
"I owe Hermione nearly as much as I owe you, Harry. Besides that, I... that is, I like her tremendously. She's almost like the big sister I always wished I had before I came to Hogwarts. Really, that's how I think of her."
Luna squeezed Ginny's hand. "Personally I think having a Hermione is even better than having a big sister. I'm sure sisters are very nice, but Hermiones are adorable and stunning and desirable in addition to being very nice. And they look especially pretty when they're with their Harry Potters and their auras are glowing and all of that. Besides, there are so many things that I don't believe one should really think about doing with a sister, like... well, I'm sure you get the picture."
Harry wasn't at all sure he did, but he didn't much want to say so. After all, he had feeling that the explanation would lead to Susan, Millicent, and Ginny being even pinker than they already were, and although it was sort of a becoming colour he didn't want them to feel any more awkward than they already felt.
"In any case," Millicent said, "we all agree that our Hermione deserves to have a proper birthday. Well, that's already been said, hasn't it? And the important thing is that a proper birthday by definition means the participation of her very handsome best and dearest friend in the celebration of that birthday. And I'm sorry, Luna's said that already as well, hasn't she?"
Luna patted the tall girl's hand. "It's all right, Millicent. I should remember to be more careful when talking about things like how fetching our dear friend is, especially in the presence of her nearest and kindest and handsomest male friend. I'm sorry for rattling you."
"Thank you, Luna. It's all right."
"So, Harry, would you help us, please? Pretty please?" Susan's eyes had somehow got bigger than they normally were. He wondered if there was a spell she'd used to do that, or if this was some exotic power that Susan simply had. They were very blue.
"Of course I will. It's for Hermione."
"Susan," Millicent said, "you didn't need to use that puppy eyes technique. Did you really think Harry wouldn't agree?"
Susan giggled. "Oh, I know, but it's so much fun. And you know I don't get to use it very often. I've never had a chance to try it on a boy before, and it mostly makes girls giggle. Well, at least it makes you lot and Hannah giggle. I've not really dared to show it to anybody else, at least not since that strange American girl in Fortescue's saw me practising it on Tonks--she was the Seventh Year Hufflepuff prefect in our First Year, Harry, and she's brilliant--in the summer after Second Year and started hugging me, which might've been nice if I'd known who she was and if she'd not been squeezing quite so hard, and screaming at the top of her lungs that I was 'cow eye-ey,' whatever that means, and she wanted to take me home with her and keep me."
"Really?" Ginny said. "I don't think I've heard this story before."
Susan blushed. "Well, I didn't want to talk about it too much. Tonks stunned her, and about ninety seconds later one of her family's House Elves came round to collect her. The Elf apologised profusely; I'm certain I've never seen one of them so mortified before or since. She said that 'the young Mistress' had drunk some sort of experimental language potion made from Japanese comic books in preparation for the Salem Witches' Academy exchange programme with the Kyoto Institute for Magical Studies and the dosage had been a bit too strong. I'm glad Tonks dealt with it rather than one of the other Aurors, because they can be a bit too protective. The poor silly mad girl didn't mean any harm, after all, and it wasn't even her fault, really. It would've been a pity for her to be turned into a hamster and sold in a pet shop, not to mention terribly awkward when she transformed back the next day."
"Actually, I think I'd call that a reasonably appropriate, if not in fact an altogether condign punishment, myself," Luna said. "It's true that you're terribly adorable, with or without puppy dog eyes, and I can't blame anybody for thinking it would be fun to carry you off and play with you, but I do think it's more than a bit rude to propose making a pet of somebody without even being introduced, let alone setting parameters for the scene and establishing a safety word."
Harry didn't know what that last meant, but from the other girls' expressions he felt certain he didn't want to hear an explanation right now. He wondered if he could or should ask Hermione sometime when they were alone together. But he did know what he should say at the present moment. "All right, I'm in. What shall we do? I'm afraid I don't know very much about birthdays, since my relatives didn't... well, they didn't go in much for celebrating my... that is, anybody's birthdays." Susan's eyes narrowed slightly, as if she might have caught his slip, but she didn't say anything and thankfully none of the rest seemed to have taken any notice. "I was thinking about getting her something by owl order, a bookmark or a quill case maybe, because I'm pretty sure I couldn't find any books that she's not already read. Well, at least not ones she'd like to read... I'm pretty sure she's not read some of the books the boys pass round."
"Oh, I think you might be surprised at just what our Hermione might have for her bedtime reading, Harry," Susan said. "And did it never occur to you that we girls might pass books round as well?"
“Err... I suppose it would make sense that you would, although I've never really thought about what books they might be.”
“Oh, we have some simply lovely ones, Harry. Hermione introduced us all to this wonderful series about an alien witch who's captain of a renegade space battlecruiser. She says it's sort of a Wizarding copy of a Muggle moving picture show called Space Trek, or something like that, but she also says it's all right that it's a copy because the authors have made considerably better use of the setting and the characters than the Muggles did. Apparently the Muggles sort of dumped the character who's like Captain Reiana t'Meithan, which I think was a terrible mistake because she's absolutely brilliant. She has the most incredible adventures with her half-human enemy-turned-lover and her loyal sister-officers, although of course some of the things they do aren't quite sisterly... I think you'd like them, and I hope Hermione lends them to you soon.”
“Our Hermione can be a little shy that way,” Ginny said, “but I do have hopes that maybe she'll become a bit less shy soon, assuming all goes well with her birthday.”
“And how could it not go well, now that her handsome best friend is involved?” Susan said.
“Well, I still don't know what we're meant to do. I'm sure I can work out something to get her for a gift, but isn't there meant to be a party? Every party I've ever seen at Hogwarts has been in the Gryffindor Common Room, but I don't think the Prefects would let me bring all of you in there and I'm sure she'll want to have her friends with her...”
“There are plenty of empty classrooms we could use,” Millicent said. “I'm friendly with some of the House Elves, and I'm sure they'd help out. My mum taught me to get them chocolate as a thank you for doing extra work in situations like this. How about if we all go in together to buy them five pounds of Honeydukes' Dark?”
Luna steepled her fingers and gazed at Harry through the space between them. “For that matter, Harry, you'd do well to ask that charmingly eccentric House Elf who likes you so much. Dobby, isn't that his name? I think he'd be pleased to join your household as soon as you've established one, and I'm sure he'd see your and our very dear friend Hermione as a member of that household. Just you be careful with what you ask him to do, please? A friend of my daddy's asked a House Elf to help him put together a nice romantic holiday for himself and his girlfriend to go on after their last day at Hogwarts, and before he knew what was happening he found himself dressed up as a pirate captain with his girlfriend as his first mate and his girlfriend's two favourite dorm-mates in ornamental chains and nothing much else as a captive princess and her maid. They must have enjoyed it in the end, because they stayed out on the ocean for the rest of the summer and they're all happily married and running a Sasquatch refuge in America now, but it does sound as if it was a bit of a shock."
"I... I'll hold that in mind, Luna."
"I'm glad to hear you say so, Harry. As much fun as it might be to find myself on a ship in the Caribbean with you and Hermione someday, I'd like to finish my Runes project first."
"We can talk about that sort of thing later," Ginny said. "But for now, it's nearly dinner time. What say we meet up tomorrow to make more birthday plans?"
"I've written down some ideas that we thought of yesterday," Susan said, handing Harry a sheaf of parchment. "Would you mind reading them over tonight?"
"I will. Thank you, Susan."
The next few days were a blur of activity for Harry. There were catalogues to read, invitations to write, meetings with the girls, and meetings with the House Elves. Not to mention homework to be done; after all, Hermione wouldn't have a happy birthday if Harry fell behind in his classes as a result of him arranging her party. Ron complained that he was becoming just as hopeless a swot as Hermione, which made Harry wonder if his first friend even belonged on the guest list. Not that Harry cared if Ron insulted him--after all, slagging each other was just a thing blokes were meant to do--but using a comparison to Hermione as if it were an insult, even a joking not quite serious one, was beyond the pale.
Part two: Hermione's Discovery
A Harry Potter fanfic
(In which Harry meets Hermione's study group, Hermione learns the truth about House Elves, Ron learns the truth about Lavender, a birthday is celebrated, and a good time is had by all.)
By Andrew yclept Aelfwine
Rating: PG. 11,300 words total. Fourth Year AU Warning. Luna Being Luna Warning. Friendly Millicent Warning. Supportive Ginny Warning. Handy Susan Warning. Fannish Hermione Warning. Yours Truly Warning.
Harry/Hermione, with slight hints of possible future Harry/Hermione/other girls. Ron/Lavender. Dobby/Winky.
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The characters and situations of the Harry Potter series are copyright J.K. Rowling. They may not be used or reproduced commercially without permission. The use of these characters and situations is not to be construed as challenge to said copyright. They are merely borrowed for this work of non-commercial fanfiction, from which the author derives no financial benefit.
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So, this is the Hermione's birthday fic that I unfortunately didn't think of until it was already Hermione's birthday. And then it took me a fortnight to write it. Oh well.
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"I still can't believe they've cancelled Quidditch, Harry. Tri-Wizard Tournament or no Tri-Wizard Tournament, don't they realise it's the most important thing we do? I mean, if they had to cancel something, why not Potions class?"
Hermione, sitting in a chair to Harry's left with a book in her lap, rolled her eyes. Harry rolled his eyes, then hastily glanced at Ron, who was concentrating on the chessboard and wouldn't have noticed if Harry had just grown horns and wings, at least as long as he didn't fly away before Ron got him in checkmate. He flicked his gaze back to Hermione. The two friends shared a little smile and a wink.
It was nearly the third week of school. Something was nagging at Harry's mind. Wasn't there something significant coming up? Not a test or a paper due, but a date that meant something. He glanced up at Hermione again. The afternoon sunlight was slanting through the window, giving her skin the colour of old ivory and making her hair shine like polished brown oak. She had little freckles round the corner of one eye and a mole on her cheekbone. It was funny how one could know somebody for years and still be noticing something like that, wasn't it?
And that was it. Hermione's birthday was on the nineteenth. He should do something more this year than simply wishing her a happy birthday in the morning and making a card out of parchment. Perhaps he could owl order a gift for her? He wasn't sure if there were any books he'd ever heard of that Hermione hadn't read already, but a quill case or a nice brass bookmark or a box of sweets might go over well. Especially if he could think of a kind of sweet that Ron didn't particularly like, so Hermione wouldn't have half of them eaten by somebody else ten minutes after she'd opened the box.
It was at that very moment that a little piece of paper, folded into the shape of a cat, came climbing up his leg. Paper was unusual in the Wizarding world, and folded bits of it that moved on their own were even more so. That's called origami, or something like, isn't it? Or at least the Muggle version is.
The little cat stretched out on his thigh and showed him the message written on its belly. "Potter--Please meet us in the Library at a quarter past five, at the third table from the north window. Come alone. This concerns matters of critical import. Consider this a gathering under Right of Parley." The person who'd written it put little hearts over her i's, much as Lavender did, but other than that their handwriting had nothing in common with Lavender's, being larger and not as loopy. The mysterious person had also sketched a little smiling face after the bit about Right of Parley, which was something Harry only had heard of because Hermione had lent him a novel about his own ancestor Hathorne Potter who'd ridden with the Royalist cavalry during the first battles of the Civil War before he almost single-handedly negotiated the compromises that took away all Wizarding support for the Parliamentarian cause.
Harry assumed that the smile meant he shouldn't take the invocation of Parley with complete seriousness, which was good because in the book characters always began Parley by stacking their swords and pistols together before they crossed their wands and vowed to do each other no harm for the duration of the meeting. It was a nice image, but Harry didn't think the Headmaster would let him borrow the Sword of Gryffindor for a meeting in the Library.
"Checkmate! Good game, Harry, but you really should've been paying more attention towards the end there. You missed a chance to castle, and with that done you could've taken out my bishop, and then it would've been at least another five moves before I could get you in mate."
"Thanks, Ron. Listen, I just realised I need to check something out in the Library before dinner."
"It's not even three weeks into term, Harry, and we've nothing due tomorrow. Surely it can wait?"
Hermione rolled her eyes again. "I'd be tempted to join you, Harry, but I do need to finish this reading for Runes. See you at dinner?"
"That's fine, Hermione, thanks. I'll see you there."
Ron immediately began trying to convince Dean to play a game with him, despite the fact that Dean was clearly busy with his Care of Magical Creatures homework. Harry picked up his satchel and headed out.
A few yards down the corridor, he realised somebody was walking with him. "Hello, Ginny."
She smiled at him. He still didn't feel that he knew Ron's younger sister very well, but at least she'd stopped squeaking and not meeting his eyes. "Hey, Harry. Headed for the Library?"
"Yes. You?" He was tempted to ask if she knew anything about the mysterious note, but there wasn't any point in it. If she knew, he'd find out. If she didn't, she might tell Ron, and then Ron would have a fit about evil slimy Slytherins trying to lure Harry into a trap, which was daft because there were any number of better places to trap somebody than on their way to the Library on an afternoon when there were plenty of people in the corridors.
"Yes. My study group have a meeting before dinner."
They walked together in silence for most of the way, until at the bottom of the last staircase they met with a small blonde girl wearing a Ravenclaw tie. Harry had seen her once or twice before. He thought she was in Ginny's year. "Greetings and salutations, Ginevra. And to you as well, Ginevra's companion to whom I've not been introduced yet, although of course I recognise you. You're Hermione Granger's best friend, aren't you?" Harry nodded. He didn't know what else he could do.
"Hey, Luna! Harry, this is my friend and neighbour, Luna Lovegood. And Luna, this is Harry Potter."
"Hello, Luna. Pleased to meet you." Harry held out his hand, not knowing what else to do.
"Hello, Harry Potter. It's very good to meet you, and I do think you're much more appealing in person than you are in the Boy Who Lived books. Not that the books don't have a certain amount of charm, of course--Ginevra and I used to have wonderful times together reading them."
Ginny was blushing. Harry felt a bit sorry for her embarrassment, although he did notice that she was smiling rather wistfully, the way that Hermione would smile when she talked about places she'd gone to on holiday with her parents. Or at least the way she would smile until Ron said it was completely mad that Muggles did things like sitting on the sand by the sea until they were almost burnt, not to mention the whole business of travelling inside big metal flying things instead of having Portkeys, or alternately that French people had to be utterly mental because they ate bits of flaky crescent-shaped bread for breakfast instead of bacon and eggs.
"Oh, Ginevra... did I embarrass you?"
"It's fine, Luna."
"Still, I'm sorry." She threw her arms about Ginny and hugged her tight. It looked a very nice hug. Harry wouldn't have minded being hugged that way, himself. Of course, he wasn't exactly a connoisseur of hugs, having only ever been hugged by Hermione and Mrs. Weasley, except for his Godfather's back-pounding manly hugs, which probably didn't count. Of course, Mrs. Weasley's affectionate smothering might not have counted, either, once it was put that way.
"It's all right, Luna, really." Ginny patted her friend on the back. Finally Luna released her.
"And I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have talked about those silly books in front of you." Harry was worried that Luna might cry. He really didn't know what to do with crying girls. He might've been able to guess what Hermione would need, of course, but he didn't know Luna at all. And aside from the awkwardness, he didn't want to see the little Ravenclaw unhappy. He knew next to nothing about her, of course, but somehow he knew he didn't want her to be upset, even beyond the usual way that he didn't enjoy seeing anyone sad or disappointed, except maybe for Draco or Snape.
"It's okay, Luna."
"Thank you, Harry, but still, I should have thought about your feelings. May I hug you?"
"Err, well, you don't have to..."
"As you wish, but it is a traditional method of apologising."
"I wouldn't want you to feel forced."
"But I wouldn't. I'd feel honoured and delighted and all sorts of fine and pleasant things along those lines." She reached out, and before Harry knew it he was being hugged by Luna, and hugging her in return.
"Thank you, Luna." It didn't seem adequate, but it seemed as if he should say something once they'd let each other go, and that was the only thing he could think of saying.
"Thank you, Harry."
He glanced at his watch. It was almost ten past five. "I'm sorry, but I'm meeting somebody in the Library in a few minutes. It was good to meet you, Luna. Thanks for walking with me, Ginny. I'll see you both soon."
He reached the table just barely in time. There was nobody there. He wondered if the mysterious people he was supposed to meet were running even later than he was. He'd rather think that than wonder whether this was all some particularly obnoxious sort of prank.
Not wanting to stand around looking confused, he sat down at the table, in a chair that gave him a good view of anyone who might be coming into the library.
As soon as he sat down, a note appeared before him. “Good man, Potter. Please join us under Parley in the northwest corner of the stacks, behind the second shelf housing books on magical creatures.”
This was getting ridiculous. The only positive was that everyone knew Madam Pince would never tolerate spellfire in the Library. She had an ability to detect misuse of magic that would put an Auror to shame, and everyone above First Year remembered the duelling exhibition she'd put on with Professor Flitwick, in particular her fiendish application of spells meant for bookbinding and manuscript repair. Besides, neither Draco nor his pair of bodyguards were clever enough to think of a scheme this complicated.
With that in mind, Harry got up and headed into the stacks. When he reached the designated meeting point, no one was there. This was getting to be a bit much. Despite Madam Pince's vigilance, he unobtrusively slipped his wand into his hand as he looked about for another note.
“Harry?”
He almost leapt into the air. If he'd not recognised the voice, he might have sworn. “Ginny?” Why was her voice coming from a bookshelf?
“Come you in here, and quickly.” Her hand reached out to grasp his, and much to his surprise he found himself walking through five shelves of illusory books.
“I could have sworn that some of the books Hermione and I used last year for Buckbeak's hearing were shelved right there,” was all he could think to say.
“That might be because they are shelved there, Harry,” Luna said. “Assuming, of course, that my surmise as to what books those would be is correct. I do find it hard to believe that Hermione Granger would use Hugh Gabbet-Fairfax's Season with the Smilodon and Truffles, Turnips, Tribbles, and Me to defend a Hippogriff. Not to say that either one might not have been useful, I have to say in hindsight. She's even more of a genius than she is gorgeous, and that's saying something, but she doesn't always understand that when working with Wizarding law one sometimes has to think backwards and sideways.”
“No, we didn't use either of those. But we did read Blackmore's Feathered Quadrupeds and the Principles of Autonomy, and I just saw Ginny's hand come out of the spine of it.”
“The shelf retracts into the floor when somebody needs to come through, but an illusion remains to keep the door hidden. There's also a distraction charm-if you'd been looking for one of those books, you'd have realised that you needed another book from another stack much more urgently.”
Harry looked about. He saw that he, Ginny, and Luna were standing in a pleasant little study room, with comfortable chairs, a couch, and a round table. There was even a teapot and a set of mugs. “Oh. Actually, I'm amazed Hermione doesn't know about this place, with all the time she spends in the library.”
Luna smiled. “Believe me, Harry, she does. But you have to understand that it's forbidden for a member of the study group to bring a boy here solely because of her own personal interests. Although do I think that rule was actually established to prevent girls bringing their boyfriends here for sexual activity.”
Harry was glad he wasn't drinking anything, because he suspected it would have come out his nose or at least gone down the wrong way if he had been. He didn't even know what to say. Ginny looked equally uncomfortable. “Um, Luna...” she said.
“Well, I can see why they would do, if it weren't for that rule, since after all it is much more comfortable and spacious than a broom closet, but I also don't see why it wouldn't be just fine to bring a boy here to work on something, especially one as nice as you, Harry. That said, you know how conscientious our Hermione is. She would see researching how to save Hagrid's Hippogriff in the company of her handsome best friend as a 'personal interest.' I tried to tell her it would be perfectly appropriate, but she wouldn't listen. In fact, she got all embarrassed about it.”
“Oh.” Harry was saved from having to say anything more than that when Susan Bones from Hufflepuff came through the portal.
“Sorry I'm late! One of the Firsties was having trouble getting her chisels and her drawknife as sharp as they need to be, and it took me longer to help her than I thought it would.” She was a wholesome-looking girl with a round face and strawberry-coloured plaits. Harry'd had classes with her as long as he'd been at Hogwarts, but he really hadn't ever got to know her well, although he did remember how in Second Year he'd overheard her talking with her housemates and arguing that he couldn't be the Heir of Slytherin.
“No problem, Susan. We were just chatting with Harry.”
Susan squeaked, almost the way Ginny had done in Harry's first days at the Burrow in the summer before Second Year. “Oh. Err, hi, Harry. Good to, err, to see you again and all of that.”
“Hi, Susan.” They'd seen each other in Transfiguration class that morning, but Harry didn't reckon it was necessary to remind her.
Luna fished something out of her robes that looked like a pocket watch, although when she opened it Harry saw a miniature Stonehenge in place of a face and hands. He wasn't sure what good that would do for telling time, but it must have been some use for doing something, because Luna said “Excellent. The fifth member of our party for today's conference will be joining us momentarily, and then we will be able to sit down and explain to our honoured guest just why we've asked him here to spend time in our company. And don't worry, Harry, we didn't ask you to come here for sex, although it does occur to me that it wouldn't be strictly personal interest if all of us were involved...”
Ginny sighed, rolled her eyes, and hugged Luna round the shoulders, mouthing “Sorry, Harry.”
Susan, on the other hand, burst out laughing. After a moment, however, she got an embarrassed look on her face. “Err, sorry, Harry.” She tried to meet his eyes, but couldn't seem to manage it.
“It's okay, Susan.”
“What's okay?” Someone else had come through the portal. Harry turned and saw one of the last people he would've expected to see here: Millicent Bulstrode.
“Oh... nothing, Millie,” Susan said.
Millicent raised an eyebrow. Harry really didn't know what to say. The most significant memory he had of her was from Second Year's abortive duelling club meeting, when she'd put Hermione in a headlock. She wasn't one of Malfoy's regular sycophants and hangers-on, but he still would've made sure his wand was ready if he'd found himself alone in a corridor with her.
She was over six foot tall, and had a nose like an owl's beak and a chin that might've been called 'ruggedly handsome' on a man. Some of the other Gryffindor boys called her “Bull's Arse,” and one time when they were talking in the dormitory after lights out Ron had said that Millicent was so fat she outweighed everybody at Hogwarts other than Hagrid and the Giant Squid. Séamus had replied that if any of them should ever have sex with her said brave bloke ought to write up the story afterwards and send it not to Penthouse Forum but to Without Fear or Hesitation: the Magazine of Wizardly Exploits Against Wild Beasts and the Perils of Nature. Harry didn't like it when his housemates said things like that, as between Malfoy and Dudley he'd been on the wrong end of too many nasty jokes himself, but it certainly wasn't because of any fondness for Millicent.
“Hello, Potter. I don't suppose we've ever met under friendly circumstances, so what say we pretend we're only just meeting for the first time? I'm Millicent Bulstrode. Pleased to meet you. And would you please call me Millicent?” She held out her hand, and he took it.
“I'm Harry Potter. It's good to meet you, Millicent. And please call me Harry.” Millicent had a firm grip, but she didn't try to crush his hand. She wasn't fat at all, he realised, only tall and rather muscular. He suspected she did indeed outweigh him by a few pounds, but she was also nearly a head taller, so it was only natural that she would. It was true that she'd been a bit plump at their Sorting, but that had probably been because her body was getting ready for a growth spurt; he seemed to recall that she'd grown almost six inches over the course of their First Year. Some of the boys who made fun of her had got heavy and then shot up during First and Second Year as well. Ron was one of them, in fact.
“So, you're Hermione Granger's best friend, right? I'm glad you're-”
Luna cleared her throat. “Wait, Millicent. Should we not sit down before we get round to business?”
To Harry's surprise, Millicent cast down her gaze, looking slightly embarrassed. “Sorry, Luna. I suppose I'm too used to the way my Daddy does things. People say all sorts of nasty things about Hippogriff and horse dealers, so he's always made a point of being very upfront and never beating round the bush.”
“But there aren't any bushes to beat round in this room, are there?” Luna looked about, as if she were making quite sure. “At least I don't see them-I suppose it's possible that you might be able to see some sort of plant life that I can't make out? After all, there are creatures I can see that other people can't, so it would make sense that there would be things with which it was the other way round.”
“It's a figure of speech, dear Luna,” Ginny said.
“Oh, right, one of those. In any case, friend Millicent, you've no cause for being sorry. Your straightforwardness is but one of your many charming features and characteristics.”
“Thanks, Luna.”
“So,” Susan said, “since everyone's here who's been asked to be here, how about we all sit down?” There were five chairs, Harry realised. He wondered which one Hermione sat in, since she was apparently another member of this study group. For that matter, why had the other girls asked him to come here and meet them without Hermione?
“Why don't you sit here, Harry?” Luna said, pointing to the chair beside her. Ginny took the one on his other side. He hoped Susan and Millicent weren't offended that he was sitting between the two girls he knew best, but neither seemed to mind. Susan poured out the tea and handed round the mugs, and a few minutes were taken up with adding milk and sugar.
“So, Harry, no doubt you're wondering why we've asked you here to talk with us,” Millicent said.
“I have to confess I did wonder why Parley was being invoked.”
Millicent blushed and began to play with the end of her long thick black plait. “Err, well...”
“It's because dear Millicent has a charming taste for historical fiction. Not to mention her handwriting's very nice and she has a knack for making and animating those cute little paper animals. I can do something similar in wood, but paper's always been beyond me, I'm afraid, which is probably rather silly because paper's made of wood, but there you have it.”
"In any case," Susan said, "we've asked you to join us because of a significant upcoming date. Namely, your best friend's birthday."
He wasn't sure what to say. All this simply to remind him of Hermione's birthday? Then again, he'd not done enough for her in the past. First Year he had the excuse of them not being really friends yet, not that it was much of an excuse, because she'd clearly wanted to be friends from the first moment they met and so had he, and Second Year he'd only found out about it on the morning of the day itself. But last year he really should have done something more than make a simple card at the last minute. Sure, it was more than Ron had done, but still...
Luna broke in on his train of thought. "We think our illustrious Hermione deserves a better birthday celebration than she's had in her previous years at Hogwarts, and we think her very best friend should be a part of that. So, we decided to bring you here, because taking care of the brightest witch in Gryffindor isn't a personal interest, but in fact is in the best interests of all of us."
"I owe Hermione nearly as much as I owe you, Harry. Besides that, I... that is, I like her tremendously. She's almost like the big sister I always wished I had before I came to Hogwarts. Really, that's how I think of her."
Luna squeezed Ginny's hand. "Personally I think having a Hermione is even better than having a big sister. I'm sure sisters are very nice, but Hermiones are adorable and stunning and desirable in addition to being very nice. And they look especially pretty when they're with their Harry Potters and their auras are glowing and all of that. Besides, there are so many things that I don't believe one should really think about doing with a sister, like... well, I'm sure you get the picture."
Harry wasn't at all sure he did, but he didn't much want to say so. After all, he had feeling that the explanation would lead to Susan, Millicent, and Ginny being even pinker than they already were, and although it was sort of a becoming colour he didn't want them to feel any more awkward than they already felt.
"In any case," Millicent said, "we all agree that our Hermione deserves to have a proper birthday. Well, that's already been said, hasn't it? And the important thing is that a proper birthday by definition means the participation of her very handsome best and dearest friend in the celebration of that birthday. And I'm sorry, Luna's said that already as well, hasn't she?"
Luna patted the tall girl's hand. "It's all right, Millicent. I should remember to be more careful when talking about things like how fetching our dear friend is, especially in the presence of her nearest and kindest and handsomest male friend. I'm sorry for rattling you."
"Thank you, Luna. It's all right."
"So, Harry, would you help us, please? Pretty please?" Susan's eyes had somehow got bigger than they normally were. He wondered if there was a spell she'd used to do that, or if this was some exotic power that Susan simply had. They were very blue.
"Of course I will. It's for Hermione."
"Susan," Millicent said, "you didn't need to use that puppy eyes technique. Did you really think Harry wouldn't agree?"
Susan giggled. "Oh, I know, but it's so much fun. And you know I don't get to use it very often. I've never had a chance to try it on a boy before, and it mostly makes girls giggle. Well, at least it makes you lot and Hannah giggle. I've not really dared to show it to anybody else, at least not since that strange American girl in Fortescue's saw me practising it on Tonks--she was the Seventh Year Hufflepuff prefect in our First Year, Harry, and she's brilliant--in the summer after Second Year and started hugging me, which might've been nice if I'd known who she was and if she'd not been squeezing quite so hard, and screaming at the top of her lungs that I was 'cow eye-ey,' whatever that means, and she wanted to take me home with her and keep me."
"Really?" Ginny said. "I don't think I've heard this story before."
Susan blushed. "Well, I didn't want to talk about it too much. Tonks stunned her, and about ninety seconds later one of her family's House Elves came round to collect her. The Elf apologised profusely; I'm certain I've never seen one of them so mortified before or since. She said that 'the young Mistress' had drunk some sort of experimental language potion made from Japanese comic books in preparation for the Salem Witches' Academy exchange programme with the Kyoto Institute for Magical Studies and the dosage had been a bit too strong. I'm glad Tonks dealt with it rather than one of the other Aurors, because they can be a bit too protective. The poor silly mad girl didn't mean any harm, after all, and it wasn't even her fault, really. It would've been a pity for her to be turned into a hamster and sold in a pet shop, not to mention terribly awkward when she transformed back the next day."
"Actually, I think I'd call that a reasonably appropriate, if not in fact an altogether condign punishment, myself," Luna said. "It's true that you're terribly adorable, with or without puppy dog eyes, and I can't blame anybody for thinking it would be fun to carry you off and play with you, but I do think it's more than a bit rude to propose making a pet of somebody without even being introduced, let alone setting parameters for the scene and establishing a safety word."
Harry didn't know what that last meant, but from the other girls' expressions he felt certain he didn't want to hear an explanation right now. He wondered if he could or should ask Hermione sometime when they were alone together. But he did know what he should say at the present moment. "All right, I'm in. What shall we do? I'm afraid I don't know very much about birthdays, since my relatives didn't... well, they didn't go in much for celebrating my... that is, anybody's birthdays." Susan's eyes narrowed slightly, as if she might have caught his slip, but she didn't say anything and thankfully none of the rest seemed to have taken any notice. "I was thinking about getting her something by owl order, a bookmark or a quill case maybe, because I'm pretty sure I couldn't find any books that she's not already read. Well, at least not ones she'd like to read... I'm pretty sure she's not read some of the books the boys pass round."
"Oh, I think you might be surprised at just what our Hermione might have for her bedtime reading, Harry," Susan said. "And did it never occur to you that we girls might pass books round as well?"
“Err... I suppose it would make sense that you would, although I've never really thought about what books they might be.”
“Oh, we have some simply lovely ones, Harry. Hermione introduced us all to this wonderful series about an alien witch who's captain of a renegade space battlecruiser. She says it's sort of a Wizarding copy of a Muggle moving picture show called Space Trek, or something like that, but she also says it's all right that it's a copy because the authors have made considerably better use of the setting and the characters than the Muggles did. Apparently the Muggles sort of dumped the character who's like Captain Reiana t'Meithan, which I think was a terrible mistake because she's absolutely brilliant. She has the most incredible adventures with her half-human enemy-turned-lover and her loyal sister-officers, although of course some of the things they do aren't quite sisterly... I think you'd like them, and I hope Hermione lends them to you soon.”
“Our Hermione can be a little shy that way,” Ginny said, “but I do have hopes that maybe she'll become a bit less shy soon, assuming all goes well with her birthday.”
“And how could it not go well, now that her handsome best friend is involved?” Susan said.
“Well, I still don't know what we're meant to do. I'm sure I can work out something to get her for a gift, but isn't there meant to be a party? Every party I've ever seen at Hogwarts has been in the Gryffindor Common Room, but I don't think the Prefects would let me bring all of you in there and I'm sure she'll want to have her friends with her...”
“There are plenty of empty classrooms we could use,” Millicent said. “I'm friendly with some of the House Elves, and I'm sure they'd help out. My mum taught me to get them chocolate as a thank you for doing extra work in situations like this. How about if we all go in together to buy them five pounds of Honeydukes' Dark?”
Luna steepled her fingers and gazed at Harry through the space between them. “For that matter, Harry, you'd do well to ask that charmingly eccentric House Elf who likes you so much. Dobby, isn't that his name? I think he'd be pleased to join your household as soon as you've established one, and I'm sure he'd see your and our very dear friend Hermione as a member of that household. Just you be careful with what you ask him to do, please? A friend of my daddy's asked a House Elf to help him put together a nice romantic holiday for himself and his girlfriend to go on after their last day at Hogwarts, and before he knew what was happening he found himself dressed up as a pirate captain with his girlfriend as his first mate and his girlfriend's two favourite dorm-mates in ornamental chains and nothing much else as a captive princess and her maid. They must have enjoyed it in the end, because they stayed out on the ocean for the rest of the summer and they're all happily married and running a Sasquatch refuge in America now, but it does sound as if it was a bit of a shock."
"I... I'll hold that in mind, Luna."
"I'm glad to hear you say so, Harry. As much fun as it might be to find myself on a ship in the Caribbean with you and Hermione someday, I'd like to finish my Runes project first."
"We can talk about that sort of thing later," Ginny said. "But for now, it's nearly dinner time. What say we meet up tomorrow to make more birthday plans?"
"I've written down some ideas that we thought of yesterday," Susan said, handing Harry a sheaf of parchment. "Would you mind reading them over tonight?"
"I will. Thank you, Susan."
The next few days were a blur of activity for Harry. There were catalogues to read, invitations to write, meetings with the girls, and meetings with the House Elves. Not to mention homework to be done; after all, Hermione wouldn't have a happy birthday if Harry fell behind in his classes as a result of him arranging her party. Ron complained that he was becoming just as hopeless a swot as Hermione, which made Harry wonder if his first friend even belonged on the guest list. Not that Harry cared if Ron insulted him--after all, slagging each other was just a thing blokes were meant to do--but using a comparison to Hermione as if it were an insult, even a joking not quite serious one, was beyond the pale.
Part two: Hermione's Discovery