Amisty looked down at the newspaper clipping as Harry read it, smiling down at the Weasley family, who were waving ecstatically and standing in front of what seemed to be a massive pyramid.
Ron was in the middle, somehow growing even taller over the little summer that had passed, with the rest of his family spread around him.
Scabbers was perched on his shoulder and his arm was thrown around Ginny's shoulder.
"Ministry of Magic employee scoops grand prize," Harry recited, his voice quiet as to not wake the rest of his family. "Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, 'We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank.' The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend."
Amisty grinned, happy that the Weasley family won the prize.
They definitely deserved it. Harry picked up the letter, once again placing the paper in between the two of them before he started to read.
"Dear Harry, and Amisty since you're probably reading this with him," She laughed at that. "Happy Birthday! Look, I'm really sorry about that telephone call. I hope the Muggles didn't give you a hard time. I asked Dad, and he reckons I shouldn't have shouted. It's amazing here in Egypt. Bill's taken us around all the rombs and you wouldn't believe the curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them. Mum wouldn't let Ginny come in the last one. There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff. I couldn't believe Dad won the Daily Prophet Draw. Seven hundred Galleons! Most of it's gone on this trip, but they're going to buy me a new wand for next year. We'll be back about a week before term starts and we'll be going up to London to get my wand and our new books. Any chance of meeting you there? Don't let the Muggles get you down! Try and come to London, Ron. P.S. Percy's Head Boy. He got the letter last week."
Amisty laughed softly, pointing out how Percy in the photo had pinned his Head Boy badge to the fez on top of his head.
She noticed Harry's gaze drift toward the gold wrapped gift and nudged him with her shoulder, "Go on, open it."
He listened, unwrapping it gently so that there wasn't too much noise.
It was a box with something strange looking inside, a tiny glass spinning top of sorts. At the bottom of the box was another little note from Ron.
She glanced over his shoulder to read it.
Harry -- this is a Pocket Sneakoscope. If there's someone untrustworthy around, it's supposed to light up and spin. Bill says it's rubbish sold for wizard tourists and isn't reliable, because it kept lighting up at dinner last night. But he didn't realize Fred and George had put beetles in his soup
Bye -- Ron
Harry leaned over and placed the Pocket Sneakoscope on his bedside table with a soft thump.
Somehow it stayed upright, balancing on the point. Amisty picked up the package Hedwig had brought, guessing it was Hermione judging by the neatness of the wrapping.
She had gotten her own letter from her this time, though.
So she handed Harry his, and the present, before opening her own letter and reading it.
Dear Amisty,
I hope you've had an amazing summer so far, and do tell me if you've gotten any letters from your mysterious penpal!
She smiled at that, rolling her eyes gently at the teasing tone. She had been writing with them back and forth for a while now, and now she was waiting for a reply to her latest letter.
I'm in France right now on holiday with my parents, all of my Hogwarts supplies is back home, so I had no idea how I was going to get these letters to you and Harry... but then Hedwig arrived! Thank goodness, I'm so relieved. Anyways, there are so many fascinating things here in France. I scrapped my old History of Magic Essay and rewrote it based on everything new I've learned here. It's two rolls of parchment longer than what Professor Binns asked for, so I hope it's not too long. Ron wrote me from Egypt, he said that he would be going to London the last week of the holidays. Do you think you and Harry could make it? I would love to see you again before school starts up again. I'm so sorry that we (Ron and I) didn't get you a birthday present, it's just that we don't know when it is... and I don't think you do either. I feel so awful, I promise I'll make it up to you.
Love from, Hermione
She folded it up, pushing away her slight twinge of sadness at not knowing her birthday and looked back over to Harry, who was opening up Hermione's gift with a bright glow in his eyes.
"This is his first proper birthday, Amisty!" She reminded herself, stooping down and grabbing the box she had brought.
"Wow, Hermione!" Harry exclaimed quietly, his eyes wide as he unzipped the case.
Amisty leaned closer, catching the words Broomstick Servicing Kit printed across it in metallic silver font.
He rustled through the things inside, the bottles and instruments clinking together softly. With a massive grin, he closed it, zipped up the case, and placed it beside Ron's gift.
"Before you open Hagrid's, I made this for you," She whispered, handing the box to him with a small smile.
"Am, you didn't have to!" He exclaimed quietly, hugging her tight before pulling away and opening the box.
He pulled out the sculpture, his face lighting up once more at the sight of it.
"It's not that impressive, I know, but I really wanted to do something for your birthday properly and -- " She rambled.
"It's amazing," He cut her off by covering her mouth with his hand, his quiet laughter making his shoulders shake.
She grinned, throwing her arms around his neck as relief flooded through her.
"Now... let's see what Hagrid's gotten me."
He leaned over and picked up the thick brown parcel, tearing off the top later.
It jolted slightly, making a strange snapping noise.
Amisty fell off the bed in shock but recovered in time to muffle her fall with her hands. Harry poked it hesitantly and it snapped again.
He grabbed his lamp, held it high up above his head, and tugged off the rest of the paper. Two books fell out, labeled with the title The Monster Book of Monsters in bright gold font, and then they... they scurried along the bed.
Amisty shot to the side of the room in an instant.
"Uh-oh," Harry whispered under his breath as one of the books jumped off the bed and onto the floor.
Getting her wits about her, she focused her gaze on the second book, her eyes narrowing in concentration.
There was a muffled 'ouch' from underneath Harry's desk, the book just bit him.
The book Amisty was watching was about to leap to the floor when she leaped on top of it, muffling a cry as it snapped at her fingers.
Harry had snagged his own book, and the of them froze as a soft grunt sounded from the room beside his.
After a brief, tense moment, Harry squeezed the book shut against his chest, pulled out a belt from his closet and wrapped it around it tightly.
"Harry! A little help here?" Amisty hissed, struggling to keep the book from flipping over on top of her.
"Sorry," He whispered back, handing her another belt.
Working quickly, she wrapped it around, almost got her finger bitten again, and then tied the belt around it probably a bit tighter than necessary. Harry grabbed the card that went along with the two books, reading it over quickly before handing it to her.
It a short note, comfortingly familiar in Hagrid's messy handwriting.
Dear Harry,
Happy birthday! Think you might find this useful for next year. Give the second one to Amisty if you could. Won't say no more here. Tell you when I see you. Hope the Muggles are treating you right.
All the best, Hagrid
She traded concerned, yet amused, glances with Harry as she handed the letter back.
He picked up his Hogwarts letter and she gave her new book a rather harsh 'accidental' kick.
As he read through the letter, his brilliant smile slowly faded and he pulled out the permission form. He let out a heavy sigh, walked over to a calendar he had set up in the corner of his room, and crossed off another day.
"Well, it's two o'clock now. I better get going," She plastered a smile on her face, walking over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "And hey, I can't go to Hogsmeade either."
"Thanks, Am. Be careful and goodnight," A faint smile tugged on the edge of his mouth and he messed up her hair affectionately.
"Goodnight, Harry," She replied, slipping through the open window and dropping down onto the grass softly.
It was surprising how bright it was outside, the moon shining a bright golden yellow in the cloudless, inky black sky. She walked back over to her camp, her footsteps echoing the in the quiet street.
There weren't many stars out, but that might have just been because of the street lamps that lined the street. She crawled into the depths of her camp, dropping the book on top of her trunk as she went, and tugged the makeshift sheets of her bed around her.
There wasn't much need for them, as the summer weather was warm and humid, but it made her feel safe.
-=+=-
The next morning Amisty woke up much later than usual, something she hated and the second she saw where the sun was in the sky her heart leaped.
It had to be sometime around noon. She had just rubbed away the remnants of sleep from her eyes when a car pulled into Harry's driveway and two rather large figures stepped out.
One was his uncle, the other what seemed to be his twin but a woman and she seemed to be carrying a dog.
A dog that was sniffing around suspiciously, it's mean gaze drifting around the block.
She instinctively sank lower into her camp, holding her breath and keeping her eye on the dog. It didn't take long for the Muggles that accompanied it to take notice of its distraction. The woman's equally mean gaze followed the direction her dog was looking, wandering over to Amisty's camp scrutinizingly.
Amisty let her hair fall in front of her eyes, hoping it would help her camouflage more. They exchanged a few words, Harry's uncle shooting a sharp glance at her camp and then his mouth curling up in disgust.
She made a mental note to clean up the visible parts before they called the police to destroy her new home.
As the two Muggles walked into the house, followed by a loud racket that was no doubt their greetings, Amisty felt a flash of fear in her stomach.
There wasn't any safe way for her to leave her camp and visit Harry as long as that dog was there. It would sniff her out and maul her in a few mere minutes, and there was nothing she could do about it.
-=+=-
The one afternoon she risked the safety of her home, she had snuck off to Lily's earlier that morning to escape the suffocating surroundings that were her camp and was walking back, was when she was met head-on with the dog.
The woman was walking the vicious creature around the neighborhood, she had managed to dart out of sight when the woman left the house along with the rest of Harry's family (he was very miserably trailing behind them) and missed them when they were heading back.
"Who is that?" A booming, deep voice echoed down the streets.
Amisty felt her back straighten as her entire body froze up.
She turned around, Harry's family were standing a few yards away from her, the dog straining at its leash with drool dripping onto the pavement.
Harry's eyes widened and he mouthed to her one word 'run.'
And that's what she did. She raced toward her little camp, which was thankfully around the next corner so they couldn't see exactly where she went, dived inside, and climbed up into a tiny alcove towards the back between a plank of wood and stack of boxes.
There was an alarmingly loud sound of barking, it was very close to her hiding place.
She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to catch her breath but keep quiet at the same time. Her heart was beating rapidly, pounding against her ribcage.
It seemed to last forever, the people calling after the dog. 'Ripper' was its name, fitting for how Amisty was feeling.
She usually loved dogs and animals but this... this was much, much different. It seemed to take hours for them to finally drag the dog away, not bothering to look for her since as far as they knew she was long gone.
Except Harry, he knew where she was.
She didn't leave her hiding spot until the entire street was dead silent, the only sounds she could hear being crickets and the sound of her own heavy breathing.
After peering through a tiny crack in the boxes, just to be safe, she dropped down from her hiding place and crept into her bed quietly.
She slept with one eye open that night.