The Wizard and the Muggle Girl

Shock and Happiness

    When I next woke up, the sun was out and I was still laying on James's arm. I felt a bit guilty then, he must have lost all the feeling in it by now. I turned over so I was lying on my back and stared at the ceiling. I felt James shift beside me and he leaned over and kissed me on my forehead.

"Happy Birthday baby!" He said and I grinned. I got up and went out onto the balcony and looked out at the rising sun. James joined me and for a while we just watched the sun rising higher and higher in the sky, until Mrs. Weasley came up the stairs. She smiled warmly at us as she entered.

"Happy Birthday dear!" She said and I grinned.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley." I said, with a smile.

"When you are ready, come downstairs, everyone is waiting for you." She said and she went downstairs again. James and I got dressed quickly and then clattered downstairs. As we entered the living room, everyone yelled 'Happy Birthday!' I beamed and James and I sat down on the sofa.

"Ours mine first, Ava." Albus said, giving me a parcel wrapped in brown paper. The label said 'To Ava, Happy Birthday! Love from Albus, Scorpius and Lily.' I pulled off the paper and found that it was a DVD. I looked at the cover, but it was blank.

"It is a video of everything you and James have done together." Said Scorpius, answering my question.

"Oh thanks guys!" I said, giving them a hug each. I also got a beautiful marbled notebook from Harry and Ginny and a Weasley jumper from Mrs. Weasley. It was deep red and had the letter 'A' on the front. I put it on directly, it was very warm and a perfect fit.

"Only one present left." Said Harry, tapping his fingers on the coffee table in a mock drum roll as James produced a small present, wrapped in gold tissue paper. I unwrapped it carefully and gasped at what it was. It was a small blue dream catcher, with several feathers floating down from it. It was beautiful.

"It will stop your nightmares." Said James and I grinned and kissed him.

"Thanks so much James." I said, smiling at him. Mrs. Weasley then made a delicious Full English breakfast and we all ate so much that our stomachs hurt. After we had finished and had let it go down, we played a small game of quidditch. On one side, there was me, James and Ginny. On the other, Scorpius, Harry and Albus. Lily and Mrs. Weasley were referees. I was playing keeper and I was actually not bad, managing to catch most of the balls that Albus was throwing. Harry and James were looking for the snitch, circling like sharks around the small field. Then Harry spotted it, he sped up and James was on his tail in an instant. The rest of us stopped to watch them flying like bullets along the hedge. James managed to get in front of Harry and he caught the snitch, a second before Harry did. James, Ginny and I celebrated but we congratulated Albus's team as well, as they played very well. As we trudged back towards the house, I saw two very familiar figures coming towards us. I ran to them and Ariz hugged me tightly. I hugged Alex too and introduced them to the other Potters and Mrs. Weasley. Then, as we were chatting in the kitchen, Mr. Weasley came home from work. He was a very nice man and he was fascinated by muggles. He had a very interesting conversation with Ariz about her job, she was a film director. She hadn't done many blockbusters but you could see her name on the credits if you looked hard enough. After a divine lunch of roast chicken, some more people arrived. Teddy and Victoire. We had to speak in soft voices when we spoke to Teddy because he had a bit too much firewhiskey last night and he now had a hangover.

"He passed out on the sofa, I couldn't move him!" Chuckled Victoire as she told us about what happened after the party. We all laughed and Teddy groaned, but he was smiling all the same. For the rest of the afternoon, we played board games and Mr. Weasley was very excited about it. As night fell, Ron and Hermione had joined the throng, as well as Rose and their son, Hugo. Scorpius went straight over to Rose and sat next to her, chatting with her. Everyone was talking and laughing and I was smiling as I watched them. James was sat behind me and suddenly he stood up. I saw him catch Albus's eye and Al nodded.

"Quiet everyone, James has something to say." Said Albus and the noise in the kitchen stopped and everyone turned to look at James. He was standing in front of me, a smile on his face.

"I have one more present I want to give you, if you will take it. Ava, I love you more than life itself and I couldn't imagine myself without you." He said and I smiled. He then bought out something from his pocket and I froze.

"This is my way of telling you that I want to be with you for the rest of my life." He said and he took out a tiny box and opened it. Inside was a stunning amethyst ring. My hands flew to my mouth as he went down on one knee. I could see tears in his eyes.

"Ava Ross, will you marry me?" He asked and I started crying too, with happiness. There was only one answer to that.

"Yes! A thousand times in a thousand languages, yes!" I cried and I launched myself on James, kissing him. I heard squeals and gasps from the others in the kitchen and I got down from James and he put the ring gently on my finger, it fitted perfectly. I hugged him, still in shock at what had just happened. Suddenly, everyone crowded around us, hugging and congratulating us. Nearly everyone was crying and they were all clapping. Then the truth sank in. I was engaged! To James! I started laughing and I held him close. I could feel the ring on my finger and I held it up to the light. The amethyst winked and gleamed purple. I smiled and kissed James again. Ariz came up to me and she gave me a huge hug.

"Let's see it then!" She said and I held out my hand with the ring on it. She squealed and gave me another hug.

"Congratulations Ava!" She said and I thanked her and looked over at James, he was with Albus and the other guys, they were all clapping him on the back and James didn't stop grinning. As the evening drew to a close, nearly everyone left, including the Granger-Weasley family and Teddy and Victoire. Everyone else went to bed, but James and I stayed up, sitting outside on the bench and watching the stars.

"This is the best birthday ever." I said softly. James smiled.

"Is it, fiancé?" He said and I almost squealed, but stopped myself just in time. I had forgotten about the others. I hugged James and he held me close, kissing the top of my head.

"When do you think we should have the wedding?" I asked him. Just the word wedding gave me the flutters.

"Very soon, I can't wait!" He said and I grinned and nodded. I started shivering as the breeze whipped around us. We got up and went to bed.