Portrait Between the Pages (Harry Potter fanfic)

Unwanted Surprises

"Sometimes I think Fred and George are looking for any excuse to make a lot of noise," Hermione told Harry.

Of course, saying that—

The circumstances were complicated.

At the start of the twilight hours, Hermione arrived back at the Gryffindor common room, greeted by the red and gold embellishments that adorned the walls, the welcoming feeling amplified by the warm fire crackling in the hearth. She let out a sigh, already planning on doing her usual thing despite today being that day of all things, and started turning towards one of the desks located in the common room to set her bookbag down so she could study when—

"Surprise!"

Hermione tensed, then turned, her mouth pressed together to find her fellow Gryffindor there blowing on party noise makers at what was obviously meant to be a surprise birthday party for her. One of the Weasley twins approached her, grinning ear to ear with a party hat, placing it on top of her head of bushy brown hair and letting the elastic snap under her chin. Without batting an eye. "Did you think of this? The two of you?"

"Of course we did!" the twin said, making Hermione wish she knew which one was in front of her so she could know which one she currently wanted to throttle.

"Fred or George?"

"I'm Fred," Fred laughed. "Surprised?"

"Definitely," Hermione said as the music started up.

"You don't get to celebrate your sixteenth more than once," George piped up, having not approached her as his twin brother had.

She felt her mouth twist into a smile, even though Hermione didn't feel at all comfortable with all of Gryffindor throwing a surprise birthday party for her, with the music blaring and everyone beckoning her to blow out the candles on a cake that—

Hermione wasn't sure she wanted to know where the twins got it but found herself asking. "There's no trick to the cake? No trick candles?"

Fred let out a laugh, but George—his mouth opened slightly, almost as if he were taken aback by the suggestion. Ginny, their younger sister, let out a laugh. "No. Mum sent it."

"Well," Hermione said, smiling more even though she didn't want to be there. "Can't let one of Mrs. Weasley's cakes go to waste, can we?"

Taking a deep breath, she blew out the candles. As Ginny said, nothing happened, although there was that knowledge in the back of her head that Fred and George, despite having nothing to do with the candles, could easily have still used trick candles then perhaps that was more of a Muggle thing.

"See. No trick candles," George said.

"You're not Ron," Fred replied.

"Hey!" the younger brother in question responded, looking up from Angelia, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team cutting the cake.

"Or Percy," George said, ignoring Ron's indignant response as Angela started handing out the cake, the first slice going to Hermione. The cake was chocolate, with chocolate frosting. As for the design, Hermione recollected the words "Happy Birthday" done thin lines of white frosting with elaborate, elegant swirls decorating the cake, the ends of each swirl with a small bead of frosting at each end, almost as if Mrs. Weasley wanted to congratulate her for turning sixteen.

She stepped to the side, watching everyone else take a piece of cake, which was when she said what she had done to Harry, who stood next to her. However, she knew in truth that Fred and George were only trying to lighten the mood, to make everyone, particularly the first years, forget the lackluster start to the school year for a moment. Nor did Harry respond, possibly, or at least Hermione hoped, figuring out Hermione didn't like being used as an excuse to make a large amount of ruckus in the common room.

Ron turned his head, chocolate cake crumbs at the corner of his mouth, twisting up ever so slightly in amusement. "You know they're doing this to distract everyone from You-Know-Who and Umbridge."

Hermione turned her head to look at him, her mouth twisting into a scowl, having managed to eat a few bites of the cake. "You know, you can say his name."

"And ruin the mood?" Ron said, letting out a chuckle as Fred and George continued making as much noise as possible. "Umbridge is already ruining the fun, Hermione." He let out a chuckle.

"Yes, I'm aware," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "But nobody asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, did they?"

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a surprise party?" Ron asked.

"Ron." Harry cleared his throat.

"And look at the first years," Ron said. "They're so happy."

Hermione frowned, knowing Ron wouldn't hesitate to use his status as Gryffindor prefect to mess around with those same first years. She held out the cake, which Harry took, his mouth twisting into a frown.

Ron pointed at the cake. "Can I?"

"Sure," Hermione said, watching Ron take the piece of cake from Harry.

"Are you leaving?" Harry asked, giving her a concerned look.

"It's too loud for studying, and I'm already worried about our OWLS at the end of the year," Hermione said. "Will you tell everyone to thank you for me? I just need some quiet and some light reading."

Ron frowned, still eating cake, two plates held in one hand now. "Light reading? You're the only one who thinks picking up a book as thick as my arm or thicker is the way to unwind. And isn't this the point of the party?"

Hermione gave him a look before heading through the portrait of the Fat Lady, who cleared her throat, drawing Hermione's attention to her. "Don't stay out past curfew." The portrait then noticed the prefect badge. "Even though you're a prefect. Unless, of course, you're doing your rounds. I don't like being awakened from my sleep, you know."

"I know," Hermione said, just as the portrait opened to let someone else again. "Harry?"

She watched her friend take a deep breath. "So...."

"If this is about," Hermione glanced at the portrait before motioning Harry to step away where the Fat Lady couldn't hear the gossip. She lowered her voice, whispering as she did. "If this is about teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Oh, no," Harry said, cringing.

"I get your hesitation, is what I wanted to say. And you should take your time to decide," Hermione said, fidgeting, glancing at the floor. "Though I'll likely bug you about it soon, I guess." She frowned. "I can't imagine what else this could be about?"

"Happy birthday," Harry said, smiling, although his body remained tense.

"Oh. Yes. My birthday," Hermione said, frowning. "Wonderful."

"Is there something wrong with celebrating your birthday?"

"Well, no," Hermione said. "I've done the math, though."

"The math?"

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said, smiling. "I'm heading to the library. For books."

"Of course," Harry pointed at the entrance to the common room. "I'll be sure to pass on your thanks."