"Surprise!"
Eliza jumped. Everyone was here! They had all thrown a surprise leavers party just for her. She had been frantically packing all day: making lists, buying last-minute items, trying to find that one specific shirt. Remus had disappeared early that morning, but Eliza had been too busy to bother asking where he was going. He had reappeared around 5 minutes ago and asked her to come with him for a minute.
Finally finished with packing, she agreed, and that's how she found herself in the middle of the Weasley's garden being stared at by 20 pairs of eyes. A party had been the last thing on her mind, but it was definitely a welcome surprise, this way, she could see and say goodbye to them all. Eliza looked around at the garden, the place was beautifully decorated, it obviously took a lot of time and effort, and they were all dressed up in their best outfits. Luckily, Eliza hadn't been dressed like a slob for once. Instead, she was wearing a yellow summer dress with long sleeves. She subconsciously tugged her hair down from its messy bun in an effort to look more presentable.
"Wow! You did all this just for me?"
"Of course we did, dear! Everyone pitched in and helped out too. Come sit, sit, let's all eat before the food gets cold." Molly Weasley gestured her over to the spare seat next to Theodore and Hermione.
As everyone tucked into their meals, Eliza opted to listen rather than to talk. She sure would miss them all. At one end, Ginny, Harry, Ron, Bill, and Mr. Weasley were all having a rather loud discussion about the next quidditch match. From the sounds of it, they all seemed to violently disagree on who would win the Euro's. Hermione and Percy talked about new ministry laws and other boring political talk. Theo was entirely captivated by Charlie's dragon stories. The two had only met briefly once before, but they hit it off almost instantly. Luna and Neville were also listening intently, although their responses were complete opposites. Luna looked as if she was listening to a story about a completely ordinary experience as if dragons were a normal thing to be talking about. Neville, on the other hand, looked horrified and almost worried as if a fire-breathing Horntail was about to randomly appear at the Burrow. Eliza had to admit, Charlie's stories about Romania and his work were always so fascinating. She could sit and listen to them for hours on end. On the far end of the table, Fred, George, and Remus were bent forwards whispering amongst themselves. That couldn't be good. They were definitely up to something. Eliza decided she would have to keep an eye on them, just to be sure. Molly and Fleur had just brought out the desserts when another guest arrived.
"Don't tell me you started the party without me?"
"Sirius!" Everyone exclaimed at once clearly surprised he had arrived. Harry raced forward and tackled him in a great hug. Eliza went forward to greet the man. Sirius had been travelling the world since he was declared not guilty after the war. He was finally a free man. Restless from having to be in hiding from the previous years, he decided to get out there and see the world. He looked good, Eliza deduced. It had definitely been the right choice. He looked brighter, more full of life. His eyes now held that spark that had disappeared since Azkaban. He was a lot less skinny now and had developed quite a tan. His long hair had been pulled back into a bun, and even that looked fuller and healthier. He wore a black leather jacket and a brown motorcycle t-shirt, which, according to Remus, used to one his most prized possessions. Perhaps he would buy another bike now that he was free.
"Hello Sirius! It's so lovely to see you again." Said Eliza giving him a hug, "when did you get back from Costa Rica?"
"Just this morning, sorry I was late to the party. I didn't actually know about it 'til an hour and a half ago when I saw the letter Harry left out at home. Then I popped down to Diagon Ally to pick up your gift. Also, the hair -" he said, patting his bun, "-I don't just wake up like this."
Eliza giggled, "Well, thanks for coming, and you didn't have to get me anything at all."
Sirius waved her off, reassuring her that it was no problem.
After greeting the remainder of the guests, he sat down at the table and cut himself a giant piece of cheesecake. "Mmm, delicious, I'm guessing you made this Moony?"
"Yes," Remus blushed slightly, "glad you like it. And you could have told me you were coming back home, Sirius! One letter, that's all it takes. Just one simple letter. But how was Costa Rica?" He asked after calming down slightly. "Was it as fun as James always said it was?"
Sirius rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry Moony, you know I'm no good with writing letters. Besides, I was planning a bit of a surprise myself, although you all seemed to have done your own surprise party. And yes! Moony, it was amazing! The sun, the sea, the oranges! We shall have to go together sometime, do be sure to remind me. Now -" Sirius turned serious and moved his head to look at Eliza, waving his fork in air for dramatics, unaware of Remus, who had turned an even brighter shade of pink at the comment. "What's all this about moving to America?"
And so once again, Eliza explained about her new job offer and what that would entail. Once she was done, she looked back up at Sirius, who seemed to be in deep thought. "And how long will you be gone for?"
"Unclear at the moment, but Kingsley reassured me that I should be able to pop over when I get time off work or during the holidays."
Sirius seemed to contemplate this news even more before eventually grinning. "I'm happy for you Eliza, it'll be good to get away for a while, a fresh start. Heavens know it did me some good. And don't you start worrying about us over here, I know what you're like. A bigger worrier than Moony- who knew that was even possible." Sirius laughed as he grabbed a gift bag from under the table. "Now I do believe it's time for presents! You better open mine first!"
"No way, Black! I already asked to go first!" Shouted Ron from the other side of the garden. Eliza grinned. How did she get so lucky to find such an amazing family.
And so they all sat around the table once more to open presents. "This is from me and Charlie." Ron said, passing over a small brown package. Eliza tore off the paper to reveal a small pocket knife. "The edge transforms so that it can be used to pick any lock in the world." Ron had told her excitedly. Thanking them both for the useful tool, she moved to open the next gift. Neville had gifted her a self maintenance plant that came in a test tube looking vase. They would keep themselves alive so that Eliza wouldn't have to look after them all too much, which was definitely a good thing - Eliza was definitely lacking green thumbs. Bill and Fleur had given her a pair of beautiful handmade earrings. From Luna, she received a pair of funny looking glasses that she had called "Spectrespecs", they were supposed to make wrackspurts visible (whatever they were). Ron had loudly declared that Eliza looked like a demented, multicoloured owl when she tried them on, earning a sharp elbow jab from Hermione.
Theodore Nott had bought her a luxury stationary set complete with a leather journal and a stunning eagle feather quill. Molly had baked her a basket full of delicious treats to take with her on the plane, and Percy had got a book all about the history of MACUSA (which Hermione was looking enviously at). Ginny gave her a mini potions set that contained all the main, necessary ingredients for a potion and even a little potions step by step book, "just in case," she had said. From Fred and George, she was given a giant box of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes merchandise, fresh from the product line. Eliza was given the opportunity to be the first person to try them out.
Mr Weasley had excitedly given her a collection of muggle pens he received at work. Truth be told, she was pretty excited about them too. She hadn't actually used one since before her first year at Hogwarts, and she seriously missed them. They were just so much more practical.
Next was Hermione. She had enchanted a notebook so that it would be able to be used for long-distance communications since owls would be impractical. If Eliza wrote in her book, Hermione's would glow blue, indicating there was a new message to be read. Eliza was astonished. This must have taken some serious skill and dedication. In fact, Eliza had just been thinking of a way to best to communicate with everyone whilst she was away, but apparently Hermione had already come with a brilliant idea - as always. Hermione had beamed proudly at the feedback. Everyone had been seriously impressed with the invention.
"This is definitely the best gift," boasted Sirius as he gave Eliza a bright blue wrapped box. Opening it, Eliza was amazed to find a muggle camera. Arthur Weasley jumped up immediately and quickly ran over to inspect it, his face shining in the excitement. Eliza thanked Sirius and allowed Arthur to look at it for a little while longer. "So you can take pictures of all the new places you'll see. I got one myself a few months back. Trust me, it's a great way to keep track of your adventures. You better show me all those pictures when you get back little pup." Sirius said fondly. Eliza nodded enthusiastically. A camera, her very own camera. She had never owned one before, many of the muggle children she knew from when she was little used to have one, and they looked like such fun.
"I guess that just leaves mine," said Remus, handing her the very last gift. It was a gorgeous brown leather photo album. Eliza's breath hitched. Inside was dozens of photos of Eliza, her friends, and family from the years. "I had some people send me the older ones, Hagrid was more than happy to help gather them all." There were photos of Eliza, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all standing in front of Hagrid hut as first years, bundled up in layers of jumpers and scarves. Remus had also managed to get a photo back in fourth year when Eliza first started training under Madam Pomfrey. She had started helping the medi-witch during the weekends. It had originally started as a detention, but after seeing how interested the young witch was, Madam Pomfrey offered to let Eliza work in the hospital wing during the weekends. Eliza had been ecstatic and would look forward to every weekend. Then there was the photo of Eliza and Nott stood proudly outside St Mungos on their very first day as healers, and then again on their first day working in the ministry's healer department. The whole team was in that photo all smiling and waving even to Eliza's surprise, Perez.
"I love it Remus, thank you so much! You'll have to thank Hagrid for me, too." Eliza continued to flick through the pages until she got around halfway through. It was blank. Puzzled Eliza continued to flick through the book only to find the other half was completely empty.
"I thought you could fill that half in yourself, full of new pictures from your new adventures." Remus said, picking up on her confusion. "I suppose it'll be a lot easier to do now that Sirius got you a camera. It's almost like he knew what I got you." Sirius winked and went back to finish off his cake.
Eventually, everyone separated into their own little groups, talking the night away, sitting on the cool grass, enjoying one and others company.
BOOM!
Everyone's heads snapped up toward the sky. Some immediately gripped their wands only to relax a second later once they discovered the cause of the sound. Fred and George had set off a magnificent firework display! They all quickly settled down to watch the bright colours illuminate the night sky. Eliza snuggled into Remus' side as they watched on in awe.
"I'm going to miss them all so much, Remus."
"I know. They'll definitely miss you too. But you can always come visit when you're free. And you'd better message me every single day. Hermione was kind enough to give me one of those handy notebooks too, it'll definitely be a lot easier to stay in touch this way."
"I promise I will." Eliza watched the fire dragon fly past. "Is this what you and the twins were whispering about at dinner?"
Remus chuckled, "Yes, I was to distract Molly so she wouldn't notice them setting them off. I reckon I did a good job. She was pretty distracted looking at the photo album with you."
They sat in silence for a few more seconds before Eliza whispered, "I love you, Remus."
"I love you too, cub."
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