Harry had been quite surprised when he'd been invited to Ginny's birthday party. He only really knew her from her letters. He was much more of a friend to her brother Ron. Then again, he had written to her two, three, sometimes even five times a week for the last five months. Even once the last letter of the school year had been sent out, ending the collection that would go on sale next week, he still managed to write her twice a week.
He was almost certain that those letters revealed more than he had ever considered revealing about himself in the beginning. Actually he was certain, as he'd read them all as they would be published. None of them had been really edited much, aside from spelling. Apparently he'd been misspelling transfiguration in practically every letter he'd used it. He hoped McGonagall never found out.
The Burrow was a magical place to Harry, in some ways even more magical than Hogwarts was. It was not because of the structure that seemed to require magic to hold it up, expanded haphazardly as the family grew. No, it was something entirely different. Harry had grown up in rather a sterile post war development, in a house where everything had to be proper and sterile.
The only thing that seemed to ever change at Number Four was the Parlor's wall paper, which Harry had assisted in changing three times. Every single house on Privet Drive seemed to be the same. And it was the same on Magnolia Crescent, Wisteria Walk, and Morning Glory Lane. Well, on Morning Glory Lane they were Laing Easiform construction, instead of brick. Someone had the less than brilliant idea to paint the concrete in shades of pink, blue, and purple, which had pretty much universally faded to much more sensible pastels. Or at least that was what Harry's Uncle Vernon had said. Harry had contrarily decided he liked the houses on MGL, in their original bright hues.
Everything on Privet Drive had been to the eye of being normal, perfectly normal, and Harry's magic had been an offense to that normality. The Burrow was the first time that Harry had seen a magical home. It was comfortable, and seemed to hum with magic and life. The Weasleys were not trying to keep up with the neighbors, not that he could see the neighbors, save during the Quidditch game. The family members seemed to genuinely like each other, and were quite affectionate. No one escaped Molly Weasley's hugs.
Harry had no idea what his life would have been like if his parents hadn't been killed by You-Know-Who, but as he sat in the Kitchen of the Burrow, waiting for Ginny come back down, he imagined that he might have been a part of a much larger family. He'd been told to be very careful with Hermione, as her bond would make it very easy for her to get pregnant again, though fortunately he'd have to do the act this time. Mr. Granger had already given Harry the talk, shortly after Jimmy had been born.
He was holding Jimmy at the moment. He liked holding his son. Harry bent down and kissed the baby's forehead. Jimmy responded by raising the arm not against Harry's body, nearly snaring Harry's glasses. Twice he'd managed to knock Harry's glasses off. Across the room Penny and Percy were holding their own babies. Harry was glad Hermione hadn't had twins.
Speaking of twins, Fred and George were up to something, and he was fairly certain that the target was the birthday girl. There was no other reason that they would both be looking towards the spiral staircase with those evil grins of theirs. He was also fairly certain that Ginny knew that she was the target, and had something planned. He was also fairly certain that Ron was her ally in this particular case. The Burrow was a very happy place, with jokes going back and forth.
He heard Ginny's steps coming back down from her room, and soon her bare feet came into view. Harry could see the twin's expressions changed to puzzled ones. As she came down the stairs, he could tell that Ginny had changed out of the jeans and t-shirt that she had been wearing to the more formal looking dress that she'd worn to Neville's birthday party, though it seemed to have undergone a color change to blue from the green that it had been then.
It was only when Ginny had reached the floor, and stepped clear of the stairs, that Ron launched one of the little rubber balls he'd obtained in Crawley, making two rather artful bounces before hitting the third stair up in a glancing bounce from the direction that the twins were seated in. Suddenly a gush of water emitted from the stair, hitting Fred and George.
Molly Weasley looked like she was about to say something, and loudly, taking in a deep breath, but before she could, Fred, or at least Harry thought it was Fred, said, "Okay, how did you figure it out?"
"That's our secret, George," Ginny said. "Not your secret, though. Ron and I have been waiting for the soaking stair for a month."
"There better not be any other stair treads with that prank on it," Molly Weasley told her sons.
"At least not as long as we have guests over," Arthur said. Harry caught the glance between the Weasley parents, and wasn't quite sure what it meant. "Now, Ginny, whose present are you going to open first."
"Hmmm, well, I usually go for Bill, my favorite brother, who lost that title to Charlie, who then lost it when he decided to take Neville up onto the roof, so Percy?"
"It seems I was too busy to get on Ginny's bad side today," Percy said, handing over an oblong box. "This is from both me and Penny."
Ginny opened it, and reached inside to draw out a gold chain with an assortment of charms. Harry wasn't close enough to see them all, but he could tell that there was a four leaf clover, and a pair of hearts at least.
Harry sat back, Jimmy a warmth against his chest, and watched Ginny open present after present. Most of them were simple, and obviously well thought out. He'd gotten her a lap desk after hearing from Ron how Ginny liked to write her letters curled up on the window seat in her room with a thick book for a table. Hermione had actually made a woven friendship bracelet, and seeing the light in Ginny's eyes when Hermione explained the meanings behind the bracelet and the colors. Bill got her a diary.
The big present was apparently Ron's and his father's. Somehow Ron had contrived to make sure his present was the last one to be opened. Harry watched as Ginny removed the wrapped cloth from around the object to reveal a broom.
"A Nimbus Seventeen oh One," Ginny gushed. "These are what the Harpies use." She turned the broom in her hands. "Gwenog Jones was flying one of these when Grandmother Weasley took me to watch last time. Do you think there is enough time for a game before it gets too dark, tonight?"