Harry Potter and the Legend of the Twelve

Happy Birthday

January turned to February, February turned to March, and March turned to April. Life in the castle was not out of the ordinary, in fact, things were so ordinary that Harry nearly forgot about the prophecy.

It was a very happy time. Harry watched as Albus and Carly's relationship did nothing but strengthen. Danny had kissed Rose on Valentine's Day. It was just a peck on the cheek, nothing like Albus and Carly's kiss at the Halloween dance, but Rose was completely thrilled. Harry had had to restrain Ron briefly when he found out Danny had kissed his daughter. Harry managed to talk Ron out of challenging Danny to a duel by pointing out that if he did, he would be dueling Hermione next.

Harry could not believe how well the training of the New Marauders progressed. As great as Dumbledore's Army was, he was pretty sure these eight young students could have taken them in a fight. They had learned many spells mostly taught to older students, and were able to cast them effectively, powerfully, and accurately. Lily and Hugo had mastered the Protego charm, but were having trouble with Expelliarmus. Being nine years old, mastering Protego was impressive enough.

The hardest part of the training was the teamwork. The problem seemed to be that none of the New Marauders were in charge. Reluctantly, Harry was forced to make one member of the New Marauders their Field Leader. James was the obvious choice. He was such a natural leader. Field Leader was the best title Harry could come up with. Some others thrown around among the adults were quite comical, but Harry thought they would have given James a swelled head.

The sword training was going much better than Harry could have ever imagined. James and Albus looked like they'd had years of formal training, in just a few short months of once a week classes. Reluctantly, Harry had to move them to real swords, as they could learn little else with the wooden ones. With the aid of some Protection Charms to prevent injury during training, they were soon dueling with swords like they were an extension of themselves. Albus even once defeated Harry much to Ron's amusement.

The Quidditch Season was unfolding. Slytherin pounded Hufflepuff so badly, that they led Gryffindor by 140 points in the standings, with just one game left between the two houses.

The final match of the season between Gryffindor and Slytherin was scheduled for April seventeenth. Coincidently, that was also Carly's twelfth birthday.

As Carly had done for each of the two previous matches, she met Albus just off the pitch before the game to wish him luck.

"Sorry I can't give you a proper birthday," said Albus with a frown. "I'm afraid we will either be too happy to do anything but celebrate the win, or we'll be too depressed to enjoy anything."

Secretly, Carly was a little disappointed, but she knew the match schedule was set, and all she really wanted for her birthday was to go for a broom ride with Albus. Maybe they could squeeze that in later she hoped. "That's all right. Please be careful," said Carly, throwing her arms around Albus' neck. "Be safe."

"I'll be fine," said Albus. He pulled her back and kissed her. "Happy birthday, Carly."

"Al, will you do something for me?" she asked.

"Sure," said Albus.

He watched as Carly put her hands on the back of her neck, and undid the clasp of her necklace. "Al, would you wear this for luck?" asked Carly. "I know it's silly, but I'd feel better if you wore it."

Albus had never seen Carly take the necklace off. She had received it exactly one year ago. He knew how important it was to her.

"Of course I will," said Albus. He undid the top of his robe and slid it down his back a little and he turned his head. Carly put it around his neck and connected the clasp. Albus pulled his robe back up and fastened it.