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Chapter Twenty-Eight
Birthday Treats

Harry and Gryffindor entered the Great Hall to find only the other students at dinner.  Lolide was still in the infirmary, and the other two founders were still at the herbology convention.  When Harry's friends saw the state they were in they came over, Gallatea wrapping her boyfriend in a hug.

“ What happened?” Hermione asked.

“ It's over.”

“ What's over?” Ginny asked, bewildered.

“ Slytherin's gone.”

There was an immediate uproar.  All four of them were asking questions at once.

“ What?”

“ What do you mean?”

“ Gone where?”

“ Why did he go?”

“ Did you fight?”

“ Where were you?”

“ Are you alright, Lord Gryffindor?”

This last question brought everyone's attention to the remaining founder.  He was starting to turn an odd grey colour and was lightly wheezing.  His lips were an alarming shade of blue, and he was tightly clutching his left arm.  Harry's eyes widened in comprehension as the man fell to the floor.  The Boy-Who-Lived took charge, turning to his friends.

“ He's having another heart attack.  It must have been the stress of the battle.  Ron, I need you to run to the hospital wing and get Lolide.  Tell her he's in arrest and to bring the olbas root and kraken tooth salve.  Ginny, Hermione, help me to make him comfortable, we can't move him or it might make it worse.  `Tea, I need some blankets and a cool cloth.”

Nobody moved.

“ NOW!”

The group scrambled to do as they were asked.  Gryffindor was laid out on the floor, as comfortably as possible.  After a few minutes Harry started to get impatient.

“ Where's Lolide!  If she doesn't get here soon, he's not going to make it.”

 Harry waited for another couple of minutes before reaching a decision.  She's not going to get here on time.  I'm going to have to start. Sitting cross-legged at Gryffindor's head, he held his hands out over the founder's chest and started to chant in rapid elvish.  Hermione, Ginny and Gallatea watched in astonishment as a faint green glow started to form in Harry's hands, before spreading all over Gryffindor's body.  As it spread, the dying man seemed to relax a little, as if the pain was dissipating.  Their attention was taken away from the strange sight by Lolide and Ron running into the room.  As soon as she spotted the chanting boy, the elf ran over and joined him.  While Harry continued to chant, Lolide took out the items she had brought and started to use them to perform various spells.

It took over an hour before the pair stopped their spells and collapsed back onto the floor, exhausted.  Harry had continued the same chant the whole time, keeping the pain away and preventing the problem from spreading.  Lolide had been repairing the damage with a mixture of spells and medicines.  The other four occupants of the Great Hall had sat at the Ravenclaw table, debating on what was going on, and speculating on how Harry knew elven healing magic.  As soon as the healing was through, Ron ran over to help.  He levitated Gryffindor, motioning for the girls to get the other two, and headed for the hospital wing.

*~*~*

The next day Harry awoke with a pounding headache.  Opening his eyes, he instantly regretted it when the bright sunlight streaming through the windows increased the pain in his head.  After a few minutes he tried again, opening them more slowly.  This time there was no pain, and he looked around cautiously.  Eventually, he looked up, and saw a familiar crack running across the ceiling.  The hospital wing, just what I need, he thought.  Looking to the side he could see the bed on his right was occupied by none other than Godric Gryffindor.  Memories of the day before suddenly flooded back and he winced when he thought of the questions that would come from his friends when he next saw them.  He knew Lolide wouldn't be pleased that he had revealed his training either.  Just then, the door to the infirmary banged open and the four students, plus Lolide, came in.  Harry was very surprised when a smaller form peeked out from behind the elf.

“ Gaerwyn?  What are you doing here?”

Seeing he was alright, the small girl ran across the room and jumped onto his bed, giving him a big hug.

“ Lolide came to see us.  She needed some more olbas root from the elf world.  I asked her why she needed it and she told me you had been in a battle and were in the hospital.  I wanted to come and see you.  Plus, I've never been to the human world.”

“ Never?”

“ Nope!  Mother and Father didn't want me coming, because of the time difference.  They thought I was too young.  But now they think I'm old enough!”

“ That's great, Gaerwyn!  How long are you staying?”

“ I can stay three days.  I know it's your birthday in two, so I wanted to stay until then.”

“ I'd completely forgotten about that!”

“ Well, I brought you a present.  I think you might like it…”

“ Thanks Gaerwyn.”

Just then, Harry looked up and spotted his bewildered friends and an amused looking Lolide sitting around his bed.  All he could do was smile sheepishly at the group.

“ Um…hi guys.”

The staring students remained frozen.  Lolide took this as an opportunity to berate the boy, speaking in elvish so that his friends wouldn't understand.

“ Harry, I think we need to have words.  What happened to the rule about you not telling your friends?”

“ I'm sorry, Lolide, I didn't mean to.  I assessed Lord Gryffindor's situation, and took the action necessary to keep him alive.  I could tell that if I waited for you, he would die, and I couldn't let that happen.”

“ I know that Harry, and I know it to be true.  I should be angry with you, but under the circumstances, I think it was for the best.  You did a marvelous job keeping him alive, and if you had waited, as you said, he would have died.”

“ I am really sorry.”

“ I know.  Forget about it.  Now, I think you'd better speak to your friends.  They're starting to hyperventilate.”

Turning to the gawping group, he switched to English so that Gaerwyn could understand.  Over the month he had just spent with her, his elvish had become fluent, and she had picked up a lot of English, enough to follow a conversation.  Gallatea's English lessons had also gone very well, and she would be able to understand what was to be said.  

“ I think I'd better explain a few things.  You see, I was walking down the corridor when I heard hissing…”

*~*~*

Two days later was Harry's birthday.  While he was still in the hospital wing recovering from the battle and the exhausting healing, his friends were planning a party for him.  The other two founders were due back on Harry's birthday, so they didn't know yet.  Gryffindor, however, had been helping from his bed in the infirmary since he had woken up the previous day.  Every time Harry was asleep, he would call the others and give them instructions.  Gaerwyn was having the time of her life, running around and exploring all the secret passages in Hogwarts.  She was absolutely fascinated by the moving portraits, and had been delighted when Ginny had taken a photograph of a peacefully sleeping Harry and given it to her.  Lolide had been helping with the translation, as Gallatea and Gaerwyn were having trouble with their English.  While both were quite good, the human being a little better as she had been learning longer, neither could keep up with rapid discussions and the like.  This meant that for the most part the students spoke Anglo-Saxon, and Lolide was there to translate for her younger sister.

Harry was released from the hospital wing the evening of his birthday.  Gryffindor had been released a few hours earlier, while Harry was still asleep.  The boy was a little disappointed that none of his friends had been to visit at all that day.  Figuring everyone would be in the Great Hall for dinner, he was rather surprised to find it empty.  Checking his watch to make sure it wasn't too late, he made his way to the Gryffindor Room, as that was the most likely other place they would be.  When he finally got there, he pushed the door open to find the room in complete darkness, which was strange when you considered the number of large windows it had.  Seconds after he stepped through the door the lights came on and his friends all jumped out from various hiding places.

“ SURPRISE!”

Harry jumped back in shock.  Looking around the room, he could see it was set up much like it was for Gallatea's birthday, with decorations, a table full of food and presents, and a large group of people.  All of his friends were there, as well as the three remaining founders, Lolide and Gaerwyn.  Before he knew it he was being enveloped in a group hug.  Pulling back, he was shocked to see Ardwick, Peeves and Christabel.

“ What are you guys doing here?” he asked in delight, a broad grin on his face.

“ Well, the others invited us.  It was a good opportunity to see you again before you leave,” Christabel told him as he was pulled over to the table by an overenthusiastic Gaerwyn.

“ Harry, you have to have my present first,” the young elf told him in her tongue, “ I brought it especially from the elf world.  I think you might like him.”

The little girl let out a loud whistle, and a large golden bird came sailing through the window to land of Harry's shoulder.  The Boy-Who-Lived gawped at the bird.  It seemed sort of familiar.

“ Is that a phoenix?”

“ Yes!  His name is Fawkes.  I found him in the woods near our home.  Isn't he beautiful?”

“ He sure is, Gaerwyn.  I love him, thank you.”

“ Well in return, you have to promise you will come and visit me after I leave.”

“ Of course I will!  That's why you gave me the stone, remember!”

By this time the rest of the group were surrounding the table, picking at food and waiting for Harry to open more of his presents.  From most of his friends he got little keepsakes from the founders' time.  From Ginny he received a photograph album, similar to the one Gallatea had been given, with plenty of space for more pictures.  Right at the front was a copy of the photo taken on the last day of term, with the whole school in it.  The last photo was one of Harry sitting in the infirmary, Gaerwyn on his knee.  He smiled at the thoughtful gift, and thanked the young redhead.  When he came to Gallatea's gift he gasped in surprise.  It was a new broom, similar to hers, handcrafted out of holly wood.

“ `Tea, this is marvelous!  Did you make it yourself?”

“ Well, my mother helped.  It's not quite on the scale of a quidditch pitch, but I knew you needed a new broom, and it's at least as fast as your old one.  It has protection charms on it as well, and an unbreakable charm.”

“ I don't know what to say…”

“ You don't have to say anything,” she said, before kissing him on the lips.

Looking more closely at the broom, Harry could see that it was decorated with shining silver letters, written in elvish.  It read:

To my dearest Harry,
Happy sixteenth birthday,
Love Gallatea

“ I take it your mother helped with the message?”

His girlfriend smiled sheepishly and nodded.  The founders stepped forward and interrupted the duo.  Gryffindor smiled at them before addressing Harry.

“ Harry, Rowena, Helga and I would like to thank you for what you have done for us concerning Salazar.  None of us even noticed there was anything wrong, yet you and your friends have been keeping an eye on him for months.  I will never be able to repay you for your help in the Chamber of Secrets, and afterwards in the Great Hall.  I would have been dead during the duel, and Salazar would have been free to take over.  In gratitude for your bravery and loyalty, and as a birthday gift, we are giving you this room.”

“ This room?” Harry asked confused.

“ Yes, this room.  You are allowed to keep the room and its contents for as long as you like.  Before you leave, I suggest you place anything from this time you wish to preserve, as well as the trophies you have earned here, in this room.  All of the books on the shelves are yours as well.  They have preservation charms on them, so at least they will survive until your time, even if no others of their kind do.  I have keyed the room into a special system in the castle.  If you ever need to get to it, just place your hand on any wall, state your name, and say `Harry's Room' in Anglo-Saxon.  A door to the room will appear, and disappear as soon as the door is closed.  It works only for you and your three companions, so no-one else will be able to access it until you arrive at your next destination.”

Harry didn't know what to say.  He had a piece of Hogwarts that was given to him by the founders themselves, and no-one could take it away from him.

“ I don't know what to say…Thank you doesn't seem enough.”

“ You're perfectly welcome, Harry.”

Having finished opening presents, the group spent the rest of the evening having fun.  There was loud music provided by Hermione's enchanted CD player.  She had been working on it for months, trying to get it to work inside Hogwarts.  She had only finished it a few weeks before and was happy to show it off.  The Anglo-Saxons and the elves found it fascinating.  By midnight the founders and the elves had gone to bed, telling the students not to stay up too late.  As soon as the adults left, Ardwick and Peeves pulled out some crates of butterbeer and some bottles of Firewhiskey.  Gallatea, sitting in her boyfriend's lap, started telling the boys off for bringing alcohol onto school grounds.  Apart from Hermione she was the only one complaining, so she reluctantly gave in.  By 2:30 am the whole group had had more alcohol than they should have.  Harry and Gallatea were the worst, and had to hold on to each other for support as they made their way back to Ravenclaw Tower.

*~*~*

The next morning, Harry awoke with a frightful headache.  That's the last time I drink alcohol, he thought.  Snuggling in to the soft warmth next to him, he let out a soft moan when his pillow moved.  Hang on, why is my pillow moving?  Sitting up slightly, he looked down at where his pillow was.  He was a little surprised when it started to groan.  Pushing lightly, he turned the form over.  Sleepy eyes looked back at him, before widening.

“ ARGHHHH!”

“ ARGHHHH!”

Both teens fell out of bed, screaming.  After a moment, Harry looked down at himself to see he was wearing hardly any clothes.  Moving around the bed, he saw Gallatea lying on the floor in a similar state.  Panicked eyes met his.

“ Harry?”

“ Yes?”

“ What do you remember from last night?”

Harry had to think hard.  His memories were a little blurred, and the pounding in his head wasn't helping him think very clearly.

“ I remember the party, and the presents, and the Firewhiskey.  The last thing I remember is when we staggered back to Ravenclaw Tower.  What about you?”

“ Pretty much the same.  We didn't…do anything, did we?”

“ I don't know, I can't remember.  I don't think so…,” he said, not sounding very confident.  Gallatea, seeing his nervousness, tried to calm him, even though on the inside she was panicking herself.

“ We can't have done anything.  I mean, we're still wearing undergarments.  And I can't do anything like that; I'm not married yet…”

Harry nodded in agreement.

“ We were probably too drunk to do anything besides pass out.”

“ I agree.”

“ Uhuh.”

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Harry stood up and started heading to the bathroom.

“ I'm going to take a shower.  I think you should go back to your room incase anyone comes looking for us.”

“ Yes, I will.  Harry?”

“ Yes?”

“ Don't tell anyone.”

“ I don't plan to.”

“ Good.”

“ Good.”

Gallatea stood up as soon as Harry had left the room, heading back to her dorm.  All the time the same thought was running through her head.  I hope we didn't, but what if we did…

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