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An Interesting Birthday

Harry flopped himself back onto his bed, exhausted. His aunt and uncle had found a new way of making his life miserable, ruin all his hard work to the point he has to repeat the chore again. What a wonderful way to spend the day before his birthday. Harry jolted upright on his bed as he heard the tapping on his window, it was Pig, Ron's owl. He quickly unlatched the window and let the owl in, handing it some treats as it landed. He untied a rather large package attached from the tiny owl; Pig left as soon as he relieved its burden. The gift was wrapped messily in emerald green paper that proudly bore the words "Happy Birthday Harry" in a messy scrawl.

He grinned down at the package in his hands. Before he could open it though, an unfamiliar owl swooped in through the open window. Curiously, he set down Ron's gift and strode towards the elegant brown barn owl, it had a letter and a neatly wrapped present tied to its leg. He removed both from the owl and gave it some owl treats before it flew away. He opened the letter first, it was from Hermione:

Hello Harry,

I'm sorry I haven't been writing to you very often. Dumbledore didn't want me to tell you this, but, he wants me and Ron to, well, hide certain things from you. Like where we really are right now and just not talk to you much in general. I suspect he's trying to cut us off from you, but, we'll tell you more when you get here.

Anyway, in case you didn't notice, mum and dad bought me a new owl, I've named her Astra because her eyes are unusually blue, reminds me of the sky. I'm rambling, Happy 15th Birthday Harry, I'm sure this will be a wonderful new year for us all. We have a lot to talk about.

With Love,

Hermione

Smiling softly, he took Hermione's and Ron's presents to my bed where he started to carefully unwrap Ron's. Who knows, he could use this for someone else one day. After he had successfully taken off the paper, he marveled at the contents. He'd sent him Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and a large slice of homemade chocolate cake in a spare tin can. The tin can had a note telling him that he and the rest of his brothers - except Percy and Charlie, of course - had made it themselves when the adults weren't out. Sirius tried to help, but ended up messing up the first batch.

Hermione, on the other hand, had sent him a copy of "The Magical Book of Magical Creatures" by Amanda Hopkirk and "Potions and Poisons" by George Wright. Contrary to popular belief, he is pretty good at potions and enjoys it very much. He only acts like he's bad at it to annoy Snape. He has no idea why she sent him that other book, but, one thing's for sure, she's hinting at something, something that involves magical creatures. He ate a small portion of the cake while he read about both Light and Dark Veelas. He stood up to hide the rest of his cake and candy in the loose floorboard before he laid on his bed, what a day it's been indeed.

He stared at the clock on the wall and waited patiently, 1 minute until midnight. He watched it tick slowly; 10...... 9....... 8...... 7....... 6..... 5...... 4....... 3....... 2....... 1! Happy Birth- he cut himself off as pain wracked through his body. He bit back a scream as a second, even more intense wave of pain spread through his malnourished body. Unable to take it, he let a quiet groan pass his lips. Finally, unable to hold out, his vision darkened as he succumbed to the darkness. A tear slipped out of his eye as he lost consciousness and lay limp on his bed.