It Meant Family

1st of March 1994

"If there comes a day People posted up at the end of your driveway They're calling for your head and they're calling for your name I'll bomb down on them" - My Blood, Twenty One Pilots

Hogwarts, Scotland

Early on Tuesday morning, Ron was awakened by a loud Happy Birthday choir composed by his roommates, siblings and Hermione. They all stood around his bed clapping and singing with red party hats with dancing golden speckles. He rubbed his eyes and opened them slowly, feeling disoriented, and looked around furiously.

His annoyance, however, wore off quickly as in spite of the startling start to his day, he'd been gifted with a large array of breakfast food, all spread in the middle of their bedroom like a picnic banquet. He offered everyone a thankful smile and slid off his bed. He sat first, the rectangular maroon blanket had enough room around the food, so they wouldn't need to sit on the cold stone floor.

"Harry, how did you arrange this?" Inquired Ginny, scanning the food.

"I have a friend in the kitchens." He said mysteriously and smiled amused.

"A friend?" Said Percy confused, meticulously putting food on his plate.

"Dobby." He explained.

"I thought he was free." Commented Hermione, helping herself to a spoonful of baked beans.

"He is." Harry nodded after a large gulp of coffee. "Dumbledore pays him."

"Sorry," said Dean, "who's Dobby?" He looked at him waiting for an answer and Seamus took the opportunity to steal a buttered toast from his plate.

"He's an elf." He told them, enjoying the warmth the goblet left on his hands and ignoring the rest of the food. "He used to serve the Malfoys, until I tricked Lucius Malfoy into freeing him."

"Which is great." Added Hermione sipping on her tea. "This whole enslavement of the elves is absurd." He nodded in agreement.

"But Harry," said Neville, reaching for the jar of pumpkin juice, "don't you have a house elf?"

"Kreacher is free." He shot back quickly, catching his friend's glare. "Sirius freed him after his brother died before I was even born, but he refused to leave, so he started paying him."

Ron had been paying little attention to the conversation, still drowsy from sleep and much more entertained by his birthday breakfast. With a full plate and already a few bites into his food, he finally looked up and his eyes fell directly on Harry.

"This is brilliant mate." He smiled. "Thanks."

"It's your birthday." He smiled back.

He liked doing things for other people, he liked giving of himself to others and making them happy. The joy he felt from their joy was a reminder that the voice in his head, pushing him to do horrible things, wasn't his own.

Soon, their voices filled the room. The conversation was divided into smaller groups, occasionally it merged back together into a larger debate only to be split up again always in seamless transitions. At some point, Ron got up to change into his uniform as he was the only one still in pyjamas, but it didn't interrupt the celebration and, once he was ready, he sat back down and continued eating and talking.

When 8:30 rolled around, Percy was the first to stand up and declare the celebration over. He told the other Gryffindors it was time to head to class and slung his school bag over his shoulder, he fixed his Head Boy badge and crossed his arms waiting for the younger students to follow his lead.

Hermione put her plate back on the cloth and reached for her overfilled bag. Harry glanced at the clock on the wall, realising Percy was right, he took the last gulp of his coffee and stood up, followed by everyone else.