Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Pretty Little Secrets ❯ Happy Birthday Harry ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Edited: July 2007

A/N: Sorry about the long wait but I'm really trying to get back into the fanfiction feeling after ten months of school. But I'm getting there! With my computer in my room it's easier! I really like this whole computer thing. Now it's mine! I'm very tempted to laugh evily but that would be too cliched. I also realized that I forgot to disclaim all this.

Disclaimer: (For ALL chapters) I don't own the characters. Only the plot. So don't sue me. I have only my little sister's play money and even that is covered in play-dough.

Chapter Six: Happy Birthday Harry

Harry, Remus and Sirius stood in front of the one thing that stood between them and the Slytherin Common Rooms. A portrait. Not just any portrait, but a serpent one.

"How original. Bet you can't guess where this leads." drawled Sirius. The serpent, silver ("Figures.") hissed at the offending Gryffindors, but only Harry understood.

"Gryffindorks. Pah! I suppose I will have to let them in if they know the password. Which is unlikely."

Harry grinned at the beautiful snake and hissed back in response. “Actually we do. And I'd rather be a Gryffindork than a Slytherin any day. Now, Pureblood."

The serpent looked shocked for a moment before realizing that the 'Gryffindork' was actually talking to it. Its tongue lashed out and tasted the air.

"Elemental. Elemental Veela. My apologies. Please enter."

Harry grinned and hissed his thanks back as the portrait swung open. Sirius shivered.

"I hate it when you do that."

Harry smirked at his godfather, one which frighteningly reminded both men of the boy's mate.

The sight in the Common Room wasn't exactly a welcoming one. All the Slytherins were either sitting or standing around the silver fires that danced in the fire places or in Snape and Malfoy Sr.'s case, standing menacingly facing the door.

"Gee, don't you just get this warm, happy feeling right in the pit of your stomach when you come here?" Harry asked his godfather sarcastically. Remus snorted.

"Yeah, it feels like I'm about to be sick."

The three Gryffindors slowly descended the stairs that began at the opening of the portrait, all wary of the supposedly-evil Slytherins.

Snape finally spoke up. "How in Merlin's name did you get Albus to agree to this? Black? I assume it was you wanting to prank everyone in their sleep. Or maybe it was Potter, wanting some sympathy."

Harry glared, the white in his hair sticking out more now thanks to the silvery flames.

"Believe me; we all tried to get out of this. The first pair of scissors I find I'm taking with me to visit the Headmaster."

Everyone looked at Harry in surprise. Did Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, just threaten the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore?

Harry sighed heavily. "Not Professor Dumbledore! I'm here thanks to vengeful Sorting Hats."

The surprised look stayed.

"And that's all I'm saying."

Remus recovered first, shaking his head to get rid of the Veela Allure. The Slytherins weren't so lucky. While they all had great control over their emotions, Goyle was starting to drool.

"Come on Harry," said Remus, putting a hand on his sort of nephew's shoulder, “it's been a long day. You need to get some sleep before Poppy decides she needs to kidnap you and hold you hostage in the Hospital Wing."

Harry bristled like a threatened cat. "She wouldn't dare! I can't be in the Hospital Wing anymore before school ever starts!"

Sirius chuckled. "You keep going and you'll beat out all the Marauder's records for the number of Hospital Wing stays in seven years! Now," he clapped his hand before pointing towards himself "do you want your lovable pet Snuffles to join you on your quest for clothes that fit tomorrow? Or shall I mope around this place and ignore you for the rest of our unnatural lives?"

Harry smiled. "With choices like that, I'd have to say I'd like to spend some time with Snuffles. His human counter part is far too boring."

Harry ducked a swipe from Sirius before turning back to the Slytherins.

They'd been quiet all through out their little talk. His clear emerald eyes caught a pair of quicksilver ones and Harry felt his stomach drop and his heart rate soar. He didn't even realize he had moved until Draco Malfoy spoke.

"I suppose you'd like to sit?" was all he asked, regaining his control and pulling back from Harry's Allure. It was the nicest tone Harry had ever heard the blond take with him.

Harry mentally shook himself. What the heck was going on? Was it just a side effect from the blood loss?

Nodding his head, the Gryffindor closed his eyes and took a seat next to the soft fire, letting a normal kind of heat fill him. He was suddenly pulled out of his bliss by someone politely clearing their throat.

Opening his eyes, Harry saw Pansy Parkinson was sitting across from him, her navy blues eyes seeming to bore into him.

"Er, hi." Smooth Harry, real smooth.

"Are you alright now?" Her question wasn't in the usual mocking voice she always used, but in one that was a tad bit warmer than neutral.

Harry, while surprised by the question, was suddenly extremely embarrassed by the whole situation. These people had seen him in one of his weakest moments. It would be just like the old Slytherins he knew to use the whole thing to their own sick, twisted advantage.

`But theses are the new Slytherins.' A sudden voice inside Harry's head argued.`Before it was all for show!'

~`Please, are you trying to tell me that they didn't enjoy one moment of it? I bet they took it as extra perks, bullying Harry Potter.~'

`Why so pessimistic all of a sudden? Indirectly, these people risked their lives for you! And you go and think there has to be some alternate motive behind as simple question of how you're doing!'

Great. Now Harry was making himself feel bad. And why did that voice sound a lot like Hermione?

Realizing he hadn't answered the patient Slytherin yet, Harry blushed and cleared his throat.

"Yes, I'm feeling much better now. Ehh... thanks for asking."

The girl actually smiled at him, and now the so-called ice was broken. A lot of tension left the room as Sirius and Remus sat down on the couch next to Harry.

Matthew Flint gave the two men a small smile before turning his eyes back to Harry.

"So Potter, what was wrong with you?"

Luis Montague rolled his eyes. Harry boggled at the very sight. Had he stepped into an alternate universe? With his luck, it was a very large possibility.

"You have no tact Matt. You're supposed to slowly withdraw the information from him so that he doesn't know what he's said until it's too late. Not just drop a question on him like that!"

'Matt' shrugged. "I was curious." Then he looked back at Harry. "So?"

Harry remembered Remus saying that they would all really respect him if he had to tell them what he really was but…. you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Harry wasn't even sure he could tell Ron and Hermione, let alone the very people who had made fun of him and his friends for the last five years.

"Well, I was sick." Harry said, hoping the over-curious boy would take the hint and leave him alone.

"And the understatement of the year award goes to..." Theodore Knott said, a bit of curiosity coloring his voice.

Harry gave a sigh- what was this the Spanish Inquisition?- and looked to his guardians for help. Remus just raised his eyebrows as if to say 'What, are you waiting for?' Sirius looked torn between telling them all to mind their own business and blurting out the truth all at the same time.

`Why doesn't he understand?' Sirius thought as he watched his godson struggle to explain his sudden illness and healthiness without giving away his secret.`Remus told him that being an Elemental Veela was something to be proud of not kept like some horrible secret! If he doesn't come to accept himself, how will he ever accept that DRACO MALFOY is his mate?'

The ex-convict decided to speak up and save his poor godson from information hungry Slytherins.

"Harry just came into his inheritance. It's hereditary so Albus could prepare for it. Nothing to worry about."

Harry shot the man a look. The whole speech had the distinct feeling of someone waving their hands wildly and saying `There's nothing to see here, folks! Nothing to see!' while trying to hide a robbery in progress.

Pansy snorted. "Nothing to worry about? Yeah, I suppose throwing up blood is `nothing to worry about.'"

Sirius looked sheepish. Harry sighed mentally, happy the heat was off him.

Remus also looked upset at Sirius. He was supposed to be encouraging Harry to tell Draco and the other Slytherins his secret, not hide it away. Remus had lived that life and it was not a pretty one.

"Hey Harry." Remus said suddenly, reaching into his robes and unshrinking a present. "Happy Birthday."

Harry caught the green and gold wrapped present with a mix of his seeker and Veela reflexes before breaking out into a smile and taking out the four others he had received that day.

"Thanks Moony!" he said happily. "I probably would have forgotten."

Matt Flint's eyes widened. He was the most….. innocent, if you could call it that, of the whole group and the very idea of someone forgetting their own birthday was…..mind-blowing.

"You would have FORGOTTEN your own birthday? Who does that?"

Harry blushed prettily. "Me apparently. Long story."

Sirius scowled. "And it probably begins and ends with the Dursleys." He handed Harry his present, which was surprisingly small.

Harry gave his godfather a pleading look. "Please don't start that tonight. I'd like to have a bit of a nice birthday for once, which for me would include not discussing the Dursleys."

Snape snorted, still miffed about the whole living arrangements thing.

"What's the matter Potter? They didn't get you enough presents this year? Poor spoiled celebrity."

Remus held Sirius back as he tried to reach Snape, but Harry was surprisingly calm.

He put Sirius' and Remus' gifts down on the floor. "You know these are from Sirius and Remus."

He picked up a red wrapped gift and read the tag. “Ron." He then put that one down too.

The silver wrapped one was heavy and big. "Hermione." The next one, red and gold was medium sized. "Mrs. Weasley." He kept the last one, wrapped in blue, in his hands. "Ginny, Fred and George."

Harry looked at the Potions Master. "The last gift I ever got from the Dursleys was a pair of old yellow socks. They don't acknowledge my birthday- or even me now that I think about it- except when I'm getting yelled at for not finishing all of the chores. And you know I'm not lying or being too dramatic about the situation. You've seen the memories."

Harry looked down at the ground, suddenly embarrassed. Merlin he couldn't keep his mouth shut, could he?

Before anyone could say anything he picked up his gifts and tried to balance them over to his, Sirius' and Remus' rooms. Both men followed their godson, angry at Snape for making him unhappy.

"Well we've got to get to bed. It's been a long day and tomorrow we have to go to Hogsmeade. Goodnight everyone."

Only Pansy and Matt replied. "Goodnight!"

When the door closed Snape raised his eyebrows at his Slytherins. And Lucius. The elder Malfoy had been quiet throughout the whole ordeal while his house was somewhat...inviting.

"He's not like you think he is, Severus." Replied Lucius, who also raised his eyebrows in response. “No matter how much it pains me to say this, but Harry Potter only comes off like the arrogant, self centered replica of his father because you bait him and egg him on. You forget even his mother had a temper and I believe that he is more his mother's child than his father's. Now more than ever."

Pansy nodded. "I don't know about the rest of you but I wasn't raised to hate Harry Potter in my, my real life, I guess you could call it, or muggles for that matter. Sure, being in Slytherin we get the ideas that maybe we are better in a sense because we have magic but they have lived without it for longer than we have lived with it. My parents told me and," Pansy stopped for a minute to clear her throat. It still hurt her to talk about Patrick.

"And Pat to treat everyone like we ourselves would like to be treated when this was all over with. And now, in a sense, we're free. Maybe still in a war, still hunted but no longer spies. We can be ourselves and I intend to be friends with Harry Potter.” Her eyes flashed in the firelight. “ He's going to need all the help he can get in the future."

The Common Room was quiet after Pansy's little speech. Matt shifted, a bit embarrassed.

"Well, I don't have as nice a reason as that to befriend the Golden Boy, but I just like people in general."

This made the usually stone-faced Slytherins chuckle.

Harry set his gifts down on the kitchen table and looked around the place in awe. There was a medium sized, but spacious looking Common Room, decorated in blues and blacks that lead to a kitchen with an island all done in black marble and a space made big enough for four people.

Sirius whistled. Remus looked around in pleased shock.

From the Common Room was a hallway with four doors, two on each side. Each door was exactly alike in size and color but all had a plaque with their names on them. The last door read 'guestroom'.

Sirius smiled. "You know, Dumbledore is really good at kissing ass."

Remus made a surprised noise in the back of his throat and shot Sirius an annoyed look as Harry laughed in agreement.

Remus sighed. "Let's check out our rooms and meet back here in ten minutes for present opening."

Harry nodded. "Ten bucks says my room is red and gold."

Sirius looked at Harry strangely. "Ten bucks? Why would I want bucks? I'd rather have galleons."

Remus sighed again but quickly tried to explain.

"It's a muggle expression. Bucks mean dollars.” At Sirius' still puzzled expression the werewolf continued. “Dollars, give or take the ever-changing exchange rates are something like muggle pounds. You get the idea. If you had taken muggle studies like I told you to, this wouldn't be a problem."

Harry chuckled as he went to his new room, listening to Sirius complain about muggles with odd sayings for everything.

Luckily for Harry, Sirius and Remus had forgotten his bet. The room was done in dark greens and blues with gold and beige accents. It was, quite honestly, like walking into a five star hotel.

The walls and carpet were a dark, almost black green while the bed was golden with sheets of, according to Harry's increased sense of touch and smell, Egyptian cotton. The ceiling was charmed to look like the sky outside, like the Great Hall. Across from the bed was a big walk-in closet, still open with Harry's clothes already in it.

"Too bad it's all too small." Harry grumbled to himself tugging on his shirt. It had been hard to move about and not flash the entire Slytherin population his midriff.

Right in the corner was a large dark, navy blue bathroom. It held a 'prefect's tub' as Harry had dubbed it during his fourth year. The tub, sink and toilet were done in shiny silver. The same kind of shiny stuff that was in the Headmaster's office.

Magic. Harry could actually see magic. Concentrating hard on sparkles, Harry looked back into his bedroom and saw everything was sparkling.

"Wicked." Harry said before hearing Sirius's distinct footsteps coming up the hall. Remus' followed him with the scent that the Veela in Harry understood as werewolf.

"Come in." Harry said before Sirius could knock.

Sirius came in with a put out expression on his face and Remus with an amused one.

"You've turned into a...a REMUS! Between a werewolf and an Elemental Veela I'll never pull another prank again!" Sirius yelled before dramatically throwing himself at Harry, who thankfully caught him before he could damage his already damaged brain on Harry's end dresser.

Harry patted his godfather's shoulder in mock-sympathy while looking over at Remus.

"So you can also hear people's footsteps?"

Remus nodded. "I'll probably have to teach you how to control it, magical being to magical being. Has your sense of touch and smell improved any?"

Harry nodded but looked confused.

"You have the smell that screams werewolf but there's this part of me that says friendly werewolf. Family."

Remus smiled. "I also have the instinct that says you're different, but you're first and foremost part of my pack. And if we can get the other part of our pack away from you and out in the Common Rooms, we'll open presents."

Sirius perked up and let go of Harry. "Presents? Well why didn't you say so? Come on Harry!"

Harry stumbled gracefully, if that's possible, out into the Common Room and was pushed into a chair by Sirius.

Grabbing the big present, Sirius cleared his throat.

"To Harry, Love from Hermione. You got something to tell me?"

Harry blushed and grabbed his present away from his godfather.

"Yeah, Hermione likes RON!" Harry pointed out before ripping off the silver paper.

Expecting books, Harry was surprised and thankful when he saw a wooden box. Opening it, Harry let out a yelp before jumping up and punching the air.

"Hermione, you're the best!"

Sirius looked over his godson's shoulder to see what all the fuss was about. Surely it wasn't a book!

Inside the box sat three snitches, one bronze, one silver and one gold.

"This is the newest thing in training Quidditch Seekers. The Gold one is for regular training, the silver for helping practice and sharpen my flying skills and the bronze is for reflexes!"

Lifting up the compartment that held the snitches, Harry found another compartment that held two books. One was Training for the League's: Seeker Addition and the other was Strategy for Dummies.

"Hermione," said Sirius shaking his head. "There had to be books in there somewhere."

Harry nodded. "She wouldn't be Hermione without her books and freakish know-it-all nature." Pause. "Just don't tell her I said that. The worlds 'know-it-all' are a bit of a sore spot for Hermione."

Ron's present was also a surprise. It was a crystal sphere the size of a grapefruit that fit perfectly into Harry's hand. Inside, wisps of smoke curled around each other and shifted into different shapes and colors.

Remus whistled. "Ron must have saved for this all year. It's pretty expensive."

Harry looked at the smoke closely. "What is it?"

"It's called Aurora's Tear. Mostly Seers use it to see if the dreams they have are prophetic. It can also be used as a lie detector. The booklet it comes with tells you how to operate it. It's actually pretty pricey."

Harry thought about the vision of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort, the one he was sent during his exams and saw the smoke in the sphere turn black and shape shift into a dark mark.

Remus picked up the booklet and read. "Black means that the vision is a complete lie and that danger has a serious chance of occurring if you follow what you have seen."

Harry sighed and put the sphere back into its velvet box. He could have used this precious gift so much last year. Voldemort probably wouldn't use the same trick on him twice.

Sensing his godson sinking into a depressed mood, Sirius picked up his gift and handed it to him.

"I know it's small but I think you'll like it. I had to fight Moony to let you have it."

Curious, Harry opened the small box and pulled out a small scroll and two sets of... keys? Heart pounding, Harry looked at Sirius for confirmation.

Sirius smiled and just pointed to the scroll in Harry's hands. The scroll was actually shrunk, so with the help of Remus, Harry could finally read it.

The Will of Lily Jade Potter and James Dominic Potter is to be read on August 30th to their son and only heir, Harry James Potter in the company of Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore, Remus Jacob Lupin and Sirius Caesar Black at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

At that time Harry Potter will become the Head of the Potter House and can legally viewthe family vaults and have complete sole authorityover family finances.

Please be prompt in meeting Griphook in the Headmaster's Office at noon at the aforementioned date.

Gringrotts Goblin Banks

Harry sucked in a shaky breathe. His parents had a will? What else did they have that Harry didn't know about?

Sirius smiled sadly. "They didn't want to overburden you so they made it so if you, by some chance, weren't living with me when you turned eleven you could have the will read to you and legally have a say in it at age sixteen. The first set of keys is for the Potter family vault. Lily and James' personal vault and... My vault." Sirius put up a hand to stop Harry before he could start.

"Even as a criminal you are still my godson. Now, James and I were tenth cousins three times removed or something like that so I could say we're family. And I can't really use the money being on the run as I currently am so I'm entrusting you with it. The Ministry won't allow Remus to have so much money; it's against the Werewolf Code of some odd year for them to have over 2 million galleons or something like that. Bunch of B.S. if you ask me, but that's our Ministry. So you're the only one I can trust with this. End of discussion."

Harry smiled. "So my parents had a will? Do they have anything else I should know about? Graves!? And I will take care of your money. I promise."

Sirius looked at Harry, his face pale. "You mean you didn't know?" Remus looked the same. Both had looks of shock on their faces.

Feeling a sense of dread Harry asked. "Know? Know what? Most people shy away from anything that has to do with families, especially mine!"

Remus spoke this time. "Of course your parents have graves. I- we- thought Dumbledore would have shown you them already."

Harry shook his head, rage building with him. Dumbledore again. He knew about the prophecy, knew about the Veela thing and now this. He probably also stopped Harry from seeing his parent's will the first time.

"Everything goes back to him." Harry whispered, his anger making the room boiling. "He knew everything."

Sirius grabbed Harry before he could do anything stupid, like cook everyone, and looked into his eyes.

"I promise, on my friendship with your father, that we will figure all this out. Dumbledore will tell you everything he knows about it. Us as well. But not tonight. Your parents would want you to enjoy this night. Do it for them if not for yourself."

Harry slowly calmed down and brought down the room's temperature.

"Okay Sirius. Tomorrow.” It took a great amount of effort to push away the threatening rage. “What are the other keys for?"

Sirius grinned. “My, or should I say your, new flying motorcycle."

Harry's eyes went big. "The one you used to own?"

Sirius nodded. "I remembered you saying last summer that the one memory of that night you truly liked was the one about a flying motorcycle. Hagrid must have brought you to the Dursley's on it. Hagrid said he put it in my vault just before I was arrested. Now who's next?"

Remus smiled slightly. "That would be me."

Remus' gift was actually very useful. It was a book ("Honestly someone had to be the responsible one around here.") but it one of the three books written on Elemental Veela. The book itself was very old looking and had on the cover a heart split, not broken, down the middle that was made of pink diamond, with the symbols of different elements- a ruby flame, an emerald leaf, a sapphire droplet and an amber twist- all around it. The book also opened from the middle, more like a travel booklet and was very thick.

"Get started on it as soon as you can." was all Remus said.

Mrs. Weasley had sent Harry a bunch of candy and cakes, probably still thinking he was at the Dursley's, and a homemade jean jacket.

"She must be experimenting with different fabrics. It's a lot better than the jumpers." The Elemental Veela said, a lick of guilt creeping into his voice. Those wool jumpers kept him warm and were very precious to him, but Harry was certain red wasn't really his best color.

Last but not least was the gift from Ginny and the twins. Ginny had given Harry a book about Defense against the Dark Arts and how to teach it. Many of the spells Harry had never heard of- you could actually make someone's ear hairs grow out fast enough to muffle their hearing?

Somehow, the Gryffindor doubted the tactical usefulness of that maneuver.

Fred and George gave Harry a free tester of everything in their shop and what looked like a dress-up kit of some sort.

"The twins must be doing good to get this for you Harry.” Said Remus. "It very appropriate, actually. It's for celebrities or known criminals to hide themselves. Many famous celebrities have been out in the public and have been mob free."

Sirius winked. "You can take that special someone out and not be bombarded with reporters."

Harry was touched that they'd actually gotten him something to make his life easier. Perhaps he would try and get Sirius to invest into the twin's shop. The looks on Fred's and George's faces when they realized Sirius was one of the four original Mauraders would be priceless.

Finally, well after midnight, all three Gryffindors said their goodnights and went to their separate rooms. Closing his bedroom door with a soft click, Harry turned to take in the sheer elegance of the room and blinked.

A door, obviously not belonging to his bathroom or the closet, was set into the right wall. His curiosity was quirked.

Opening it, Harry saw it led right to the guest bedroom. Knowing it was for his mate, a warm tingle went through his body as he dressed, got in bed and fell asleep watching the stars.

A/N: Sorry for any spelling mistakes and such. I'm really tired and it's hot here! My next update will be after the HBP is out and I've got it read. Then I'll go from there.

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Sparkley Tangerine