Saturday rolled around, with the first two houses using the pitch to find their Quidditch team today. Harry would be retrying out for his team, which was weird for him since he had already been on the team for three years but this was the first time he was going to try out. He, Ron, and Hermione all went down to breakfast together, Ron talking Harry's ear off all the way about trying out for keeper, so Hermione quickly decided that the newspaper was more interesting when the morning copies were delivered. However, she grabbed Harry and pointed to the front page as soon as she unfolded it.
Harry looked over to see an artist's impression of himself that had distinctly goblin features playing with a few handfuls of gold coins along with the headline, 'The Boy-Who-Sued'. He instantly pulled the paper to him and started reading, and Hermione pressed into his side so she could read it as well.
You read that headline right, readers, our beloved saviour has become the Boy-Who-Sued. Last night, while going over the public daily filing at the Ministry for Magic, a Daily Prophet researcher discovered that Harry Potter and his guardian and grandfather Charlus Potter (for a recap of Charlus Potter's return from the grave, see page 3) have filed to sue a staggering number of people in the past twenty four hours.
The boy with the lightning scar has filed for arbitration against G.C. Rowling and Avalon Publishing, the writer and publisher responsible for the popular young magicals series "The Adventures of Harry Potter", a book series that is set to release its thirteenth book in under a month. Mr. Potter's legal team has also filed against two printing companies and four different manufacturers of toys and collectibles. Even the popular Mr. Mulpepper's Apothecary of Diagon Alley has been included, and not even the Ministry itself was saved from being served notice, as they too are on the list.
We reached out to Warlock Potter and the solicitors of GripSack - Anne Twist to see if they had a comment, and while no response was received from Warlock Potter we did receive this statement from Anne Twist, senior partner at the law firm in question. "These companies, organisations, and individuals have systematically defrauded young Mr. Potter for almost his entire life. While Mr. Potter was hidden from the magical world and kept ignorant of his place in our society, people saw an opportunity to exploit his name and fame for their own profits. Hundreds of thousands of Galleons, possibly even millions, and of that money not one Knut has gone to the Potter family. That is essentially stealing from a child, and that has to stop now. However, we are not being unreasonable. Books discussing young Mr Potter in a historical context, or where his name, likeness, and/or story have been used to raise money for charity, are being forgiven and have the blessing of Warlock Potter to continue...
Harry put the paper down and Hermione pulled it closer over to herself and continued reading, still pressed against Harry.
"Is it true, Harry? Are you suing a bunch of people?" Ron asked, who had only read the headline.
"Sort of. Grandfather is the one doing it in my name," Harry explained before telling Ron and Hermione about the letter he had gotten a few days ago.
"So what are you going to do with the money if you win?" Ron asked.
"No idea." Harry admitted. "Thanks to grandfather and Sirius I have everything I could want. I have all the clothes I could want, I have a top of the line broom, I have books, and a great home. I already have all the gold I need for Hogsmeade trips. Honestly I have no clue what I could use it for. What would you do with that kind of gold?" Hardy asked looking for ideas
"Buy my weight in chocolate frogs," Ron answered in a mock serious tone, causing Harry to laugh and for Hermione to mutter something about teeth. "What about you, Hermione?" Ron asked. "If you had a load of gold, what would you spend it on?"
Hermione shrugged. "Assuming I was in Harry's position with a private library, I'd spend it on experiences. Try new things, visit other countries and cultures, go see the seven wonders of the world."
That actually got Harry thinking. Even if he didn't leave the country, how many things had he missed growing up that both wizarding and muggle children took for granted? He could visit a few theme parks, take some trips to the beach, go for a walk around the lake district, go to the cinema, or bowling, or laser tag. None of those things were particularly expensive, and with the Knight Bus they should be pretty easy to get to. Maybe he should look into doing that next summer.
-ϟϟϟ-
Harry walked down to the Quidditch pitch with a bunch of other Gryffindors. Most of them were looking to try out for a position on the team like him, Ron, and Ginny, but a few like Hermione were there to cheer on their friends. Alicia had everyone run a few laps and do a few drills before anything else, which turned out to be a good move as that got rid of a lot of dead weight that would have slowed everything down. Then Harry got to watch the chasers try out. There were only two, Ginny and Demelza Robins, and while they were decent flyers they didn't stand a chance. Not because they had no talent, but because they couldn't match the sheer level of teamwork that the current players had. Even so, Ginny and Demelza were definitely people to look out for when Alicia and Angela finished Hogwarts in a couple of years.
With the chasers finalised, it was the keepers who were next, which was also the most contested position. Most people in Gryffindor thought that they had a pretty good team already, so there hadn't been much contest for the positions that were already filled previously. The keeper spot, however, was open and every hopeful in the house had turned up to give it a shot.
The first trial they were given was that they had to save at least one goal from a penalty shot by each of the chasers. Ron made it through that round with two out of three, missing the one Katie had thrown. But at least half of the hopefuls hadn't lasted that first round, leaving only ten for Alicia's more complicated set of tests. The keepers would have a chance at saving nine shots at the goal each, but they would be more complicated than one on one penalty shots. The chasers would be working as a team in the same way they would in a match, and the person who saved the most would be the new keeper.
A lot of the hopefuls had promise, but still needed a few years to practice before they would make the cut. In the end there were two clear stand outs: Ron and a fifth year student by the name of Cormac McLaggen. Both had scored the same, so everyone else on the team was summoned by Alicia to discuss it.
"Well, our opinion is obvious," both the twins said in unison. "He is our brother after all."
"I need to agree with the twins. Not just because he is my friend, but we won't have a lot of time for team bonding this year and Ron already knows how to work well with Fred George and I. That's a lot less work on the whole teamwork part we would need to do," Harry said
"That would be three Weasleys on the team, though, and I'm worried how that will look," Alicia said as she looked across the pitch at the two, who were eyeing the other up trying to determine who was more likely to get the spot.
"Well I don't know about Ron, but I would speak against McLaggen." Katie shot a disgusted look at the teen in question as she spoke. "He is a braggart and in no way a team player, he will spend so much time trying to tell you how to play your position that he will forget to play his own."
That was the death nail for McLaggen's Quidditch aspirations. Someone could be as good as Viktor Krum, but if you couldn't trust them to do their job and to let the rest of the team do theirs, then you didn't want them on your team. So the keeper spot went to Ron, who was ecstatic about being on the team.
There were no challengers for the beater position. Privately Harry thought that it was because the whole house feared being the twins favourite test subject for the rest of the year if they tried out for the spot. That meant that the only position left to finalise was the seeker. Harry was actually surprised to find Ginny was trying for the spot as well. When Alicia asked her what was going on, Ginny responded with. "Well Harry often ends up in the hospital wing, so I thought it might be worth having a reserve." Harry actually thought that was a good idea. Maybe if they had a suitable reserve in his first year they would have won their last match of the year when he was in the hospital wing. And Ginny would be a pretty good understudy for not only him but for any of the chasers as well.
Still, there was the official seeker trial to do. Alicia had a bucket of golf balls, and she had Harry and Ginny race to catch them. Harry caught all of them until Ginny had complained about his broom advantage, so just for fun Harry had tried switching brooms with Ginny and tried again. That was actually a much worse result for Harry, Ginny caught six out of the ten of the balls thrown this time. Even then, however, two of Ginny's catches were so close that it could easily have gone the other way. In the end, it was clear that Harry was the better seeker, but more than one of Harry's team members said that Ginny was better than Harry was in his first year on the team. They finished up not long before lunch, with the new Gryffindor Quidditch team of Alicia, Angelina, Katie, Fred, George, and Harry (with Ginny in reserve), went to shower and get cleaned up before sating the appetite they had worked up.
-ϟϟϟ-
On the nineteenth, Harry got up early and made sure everything was ready. It was Hermione's birthday, and Harry had to do better this year than he had so far. He gave himself a break for his first year, as they weren't friends for her birthday that year. His second year he had messed up and forgotten it until it was a week too late, and he still felt bad about that. He thought he had done okay last year, with a card and book with some quick birthday wishes on the right day.
But this year was different, this year he wasn't just Hermione's friend. He was her boyfriend, and that meant that he needed to step up his game. It didn't help that it was a Monday and Harry had been too busy with Quidditch tryouts to do anything yesterday when they could have had the whole day. But he had spoken with Sirius over his mirror a few times over the last week looking for advice on what to do, and he had a plan now. He checked he had everything he needed for later, and once that was settled he picked up Hermione's presents and made his way down to the common room to wait for her. He knew he wouldn't have to wait long, Hermione was always an early riser so she could double check her homework. Sure enough, she came down the stairs to the girls' dorms only about five minutes after Harry got to the common room.
She smiled when she saw Harry standing there with a few wrapped gifts in his hand waiting for her. "Happy birthday Hermione," he said, feeling his own face form a smile to match hers.
Hermione walked up to Harry, and ignored Harry offering her the present to press herself against him, wrap her arm around his neck, and pull his head down so she could kiss him. When she broke the kiss, she gave Harry a seductive little smirk and said, "Now it's a happy birthday," causing Harry to blush a little before taking the gifts and card.
The card was a fairly common muggle birthday card of a cute teddy bear holding up a heart-shaped pillow with the words "Happy Birthday" stitched into it. However, it was special because birthday cards were not something that magicals seemed to do; it was a connection to something they had in common, both learning about the magical world as they went. Harry wished he was the type who could write good heartfelt messages in cards, but all the card had was a simple wish that she had a perfect day.
Next Hermione opened her first present, of course a book, because Harry knew how much of a bibliophile Hermione was. This book, though, was a novel by a magical author rather than a textbook or a research book that he knew she could buy for herself. He wanted to get her something she could enjoy, not give her more work.
"Oh this looks good, thanks Harry," she said as she gave him a peck on the cheek before opening the second, smaller gift. She pulled off the paper and her eyes went wide when she saw the long jewellery box. She flipped open the lid to reveal a beautiful locket, teardrop shaped with a slice of periwinkle blue agate set in faux gold. It hung on a fine gold chain. Hermione became really excited and almost demanded Harry put it on her immediately. Harry loved her reaction, and as she bundled up her hair he stepped up and placed the necklace around her neck. The chain was long enough that she could easily wear it under her school robes if she wanted to. Once Harry was done putting the chain around her neck, Hermione readjusted her thick mane of hair and continued to examine the locket. She opened it up and found that it was magically expanded so that she could store up to seven full-sized photographs.
"It's also enchanted to protect any photos you put in it. You could wear it while swimming in a lake and the photos in it wouldn't be damaged at all," Harry told her.
Hermione completely abandoned the idea of checking her homework this morning (it was just an extra precaution anyway) and instead decided that she and Harry were going to take advantage of the common room being empty to start the day a little differently. She pulled him to one of the sofas and down onto it with her. Understanding what Hermione wanted, Harry leaned in and claimed her lips. The two remained attached at the lips until they were interrupted by one of the sixth-year girls who left the common room to go do something almost immediately after seeing them.
-ϟϟϟ-
Harry tried to keep Hermione's birthday running on a high note, which was not that easy when most of the day was spent in lessons. He had sent Hedwig to Hermione's parents two days earlier so that the dentists could send something for Hermione if they wanted to. He knew they had already given her her birthday present before she left for school, but he was sure they would like to send her a card, a letter or possibly something else. He had guessed right and Hermione was pleasantly surprised when Hedwig turned up at breakfast with a card, a letter and a small box of Cadbury Roses chocolates.
"I'm surprised your dentist parents sent you chocolates," Harry commented as she opened the box and took out a chocolate wrapped in purple plastic.
"They are dentists Harry, not monsters." Hermione joked. "While I didn't have sweets as much as most kids growing up, I still had some. I was just taught moderation." She put on a fake snooty accent and Harry laughed.
Harry had made sure to remind Ron the night before that it was Hermione's birthday, which was good because the redhead had forgotten the date. Ron came down to breakfast halfway through, wishing Hermione a happy birthday and giving Hermione a book that he had gotten second hand in Diagon Alley over the summer. However, it was in good shape and Hermione looked interested in the book that was about famous Muggleborns and what they had done to become famous.
During class, Harry wasn't able to keep up Hermione's spirits constantly, but as they didn't have Snape teaching them today he didn't have to worry about Hermione's good mood being stuffed in a blender and set on puree. After class, though, was where Harry intended to bring it all together. He disappeared right after class to make preparations, running around and making sure everything was ready while tasking Ron with getting Hermione to one of the old unused classrooms in one hour.
His first stop was to the twins, who Harry had asked a few days prior to arrange some food, and they assured him that they had everything under control. Then Harry found Lavender and Parvati to check their progress on sprucing up the classroom a little. They both seemed to think it was cute and romantic to see him running around like a headless chicken trying to make sure everything was perfect. Harry had even convinced Alicia to lend him her wireless for the evening, as well as to show him how to change stations on it and recommend a few stations that play music that they would like rather than a station catering to witches and wizards who haven't had a clue about trendy music for over a century.
With ten minutes to go, all that Harry had to do was help finish the room. Luckily, Lavender and Parvati had pretty much finished when Harry got there, and the twins were just behind Harry carrying two platters, one filled with sandwiches and the other with small pastries like custard slices and chocolate éclairs. They also had a crate with bottles of chilled butterbeer and pumpkin juice.
Harry set up the wireless as Hermione's friends arrived. Besides Harry, Ron, the twins, and her dorm mates (including Lily Moon), Harry had made sure Neville and Ginny would come, as well as her few friends from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff whom she mostly hung around with in the library: Padma, Su Li, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbott. Hermione's main friends may have been Harry and Ron, but Harry knew she liked to get away from them and enjoy some time with just the girls as well. With everything done, all Harry had to do was wait. He knew he was just being nervous, but that didn't stop him from worrying that Hermione would hate everything.
The time for Hermione to arrive came and passed. Harry knew that Ron arriving with Hermione exactly on time was about as likely as the Cannons winning the British Quidditch League, so he wasn't worried. But as five minutes passed, Harry was starting to worry that Ron hadn't been able to convince Hermione to come with him when he heard Hermione's voice outside in the corridor.
"Honestly Ron, why would you have left your copy of the standard book of spells in here-" Hermione's voice grew louder as she walked towards the classroom, but she was cut off when she opened the door and everyone shouted "Happy birthday!" The twins even had come up with a version of party poppers that they let off, showering Hermione not in confetti but a rain of rainbow sparkles, which were both far prettier than confetti and far easier to clean up as they vanished as they hit the floor.
Hermione's face broke into a huge smile as she looked around and saw the room, and more importantly her friends. Seeing Harry in the middle of everyone, she was able to work out that it was him who put this together and quickly pulled him into one of her patented rib-cracking and totally awesome Hermione hugs. "Thank you Harry. Thank you, thank you." It was only when he looked down that Harry saw Hermione actually had tears in her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in a little tighter as she buried her head in his chest. It took Hermione a minute to compose herself. "I was never popular enough to have such a party before I came to Hogwarts, and then I was here for my birthday so I thought it would never happen," Hermione explained through her happy tears.
Before Harry could work out what to say or do, Lavender and Parvati pulled Hermione off to the ladies' room just down the hall so she could fix up her face a little. Harry was confused by that, but luckily for him Ginny came up to explain it to him. "It's okay Harry, you have done well."
"Except Hermione is so overwhelmed she needs to run off for a few minutes…"
"Harry, Hermione may not be the kind of girl who has to be made up all the time, but even she likes to look her best for something like this. Lavender and Parvati knew this was going to happen, that's why they came prepared. Just give them ten minutes and Hermione will be back. Just tell her she looks nice when she comes back and you'll be golden," Ginny explained.
Of course, Ginny turned out to be right. The three girls came back shortly after and Hermione looked amazing. She has switched her school blouse for a pink top that hugged her figure, had ditched the school robes and was wearing Harry's birthday present to her out in the open. Harry could tell that she was wearing a little makeup now, because she looked a little better, but apart from the shiny lip balm he couldn't tell what exactly she had done except make herself even more beautiful than she always was. But he had to admit his opinion was a little biased.
Hermione mingled with the guests and Harry put on the wireless, and pretty soon they had a nice relaxed atmosphere. At one point even Professor McGonagall stuck her head in when she heard that a lot of students were hanging around in an old classroom, but she left pretty quickly when she saw they weren't causing any trouble. About halfway through the evening, a song came on the wireless that apparently was one of Hermione's favourites, so she pulled Harry into the middle of the room for a dance. It seemed then as if the girls decided as one that if Hermione wanted to dance at her birthday party then they were all going to dance. Ron ended up dancing with Susan, while Neville ended up dancing with Ginny and Fred and George seemed to take turns dancing with every other girl there. It was just some silly fun but everyone seemed to have a good time.
When the evening was over, Harry and Hermione headed back to the Gryffindor common room together. Harry didn't realise it, but they were walking past the alcove where the two shared their first kiss. Hermione did notice, though, and she pulled Harry into the alcove. "Harry, this was my best birthday ever. My parents always tried to make my birthday special, but I had trouble putting down my books long enough to make friends when I was younger, and it just never worked. Eventually my birthdays just became a family thing and I would do something with my parents, but then Hogwarts came and I lost even that the first year. The next two years, you and my friends wish me a happy birthday, and I thought that was as good as I was ever going to get. But then you did this for me, and it's the birthday I always wanted. Thank you Harry."
Harry was going to tell her that it was the least she deserved and promise to do this forever every year from now on, but Hermione pressed herself against him and took his lips with hers. Soon their mouths opened and tongues started to feel and press against each other as the two lost themselves in the moment. They were late getting back to the common room, but not so late that anyone said anything, although Harry did get a look and a smile from Ron, who had easily worked out exactly what had taken so long to keep them from getting back on time.