Dean had decided to take Mrs. Weasley's advice when it came to gifts for the two back to back birthdays of his friends. He'd already been invited to Neville's party, which was a formal one. Neville had sent a second letter bemoaning his parent's intervention into his plans to invite a few friends over for his birthday. Dean hadn't heard anything about a party for Harry, but he was going to give a present, even if he didn't have a party.
He'd given the pastel of Seamus and Parvati to Parvati on her birthday, back in early January, and ever since then, he'd created a special picture for each of his friends. He'd done Ron, Lavender, Seamus, and Sally-Anne.
Ron's had been especially fun to make, putting him in Chudley Cannon robes, matching the style of the current publicity pictures that Quidditch team was using. He stood, holding his broom with three smaller players looking over his shoulder in the background. Dean had painted Ron's twin brothers as the beaters, and his sister Ginny as the seeker on his right shoulder. Then he'd used a picture that Percy had provided of Percy, Charlie, and Bill from Percy's second year to paint his other brothers as the chasers. And then he'd got Percy's help to animate the painting.
He wasn't going to do animation for Neville and Harry. It was summer, and he wasn't allowed to. Plus, that spell had been hard. If it wasn't for Percy lending his support, Dean was sure that he couldn't have done it. He didn't really need to use that spell, at least for Harry, who would probably be hanging his up in a muggle house, anyway. As for Neville, well his parents had already spoken to him about that. That's why he was painting two for Neville, one that his was commissioned, one that was his gift. The former was done, and now he was working on his personal one.
It had taken Dean a long time to figure out exactly how to portray Neville. He didn't want to do the typical surround him with plants idea. He was pretty sure that Neville was going to mostly get plants from his friends, but Dean knew that characterizing Neville as the plant guy was doing him a great disservice.
Oh, he knew his plants, but there was a lot more to Neville than his green thumb. He wasn't one for drawing attention to himself with words, but sit him beside someone who was down, and he would open up. He didn't do it with jokes and laughter. He didn't do it with lectures or suggestions on how to improve things. He just sat there with you, listening to what you said, being there for you, and perhaps even agreeing with you. You'd start feeling better, and he'd get up, letting you recover, perhaps not even realizing that Neville had done anything, but he had.
Some said the Neville wasn't a Gryffindor, that he wasn't brave, courageously standing up for what was right. Before Malfoy had shaped up, several times he'd been picked on by the Slytherin and hadn't stood up for himself. It took Neville a long time to believe in his own abilities. But once he believed in himself, he was no longer a timid pussycat, but a lion hid in the grass.
That was why Dean had chosen to outfit Neville as a squire, carrying a sword modeled on historical accounts of Godric Gryffindor's own. He was dressed in a scarlet and gold tunic, and was posed in Hogwarts' Great Courtyard, have just beheaded a giant snake. He wasn't pristine, his tunic was sweat-stained, and there was a cut on his forehead, but he bore an expression of triumph, revealing his teeth as he smiled.
Dean wasn't quite sure what had inspired him to paint Neville like that. He was sure that someday that was what Neville would be. Neville just needed to see it in himself. If a sincere gift from one of his friends reminded him of that every time he looked at it, well, as an artist Dean felt that was using his gift to the fullest.
"You know, I don't think I've ever went shopping for a gift for anyone before," Harry said as he walked through the mall. Hermione was pushing a pram with their currently sleeping son in it. "I did my Christmas shopping by catalog, and thank you for finding those, by the way. And unless you count the gathering on Ron's birthday in the dorm, I've never attended a birthday party."
"The Dursley's never gave you ... those people," Hermione said, as her face contorted into a scowl. "We'll see about fixing that."
Harry could see the determination in his Hermione's face. If he didn't say something now, and head her off, he was sure that the formal affair that Neville had invited him would pale in comparison. "I don't really want something big. Just family."
"Really, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking into his eyes. Harry felt as if she was testing his opinion. "You've never really had a birthday party, before, and birthdays are really something special to celebrate. Mum always says that it's a day to especially celebrate you."
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "How do you celebrate yours last year?" He stopped in front of the stationary store, looking at poster about a special for letterhead. His godmother had explained the Adorning Rite and the gifts that he'd present for that. He'd made his choice, as had Hermione, from the gifts that Neville's parents had bought, but having seen the included letterhead, he thought that should be replaced. He had gotten a more personal gift too, but fixing that was a good idea. "Let's go in here."
"Well, last year, starting the day off with Double Potions with Snape," Hermione said. "But last year was different, I was away at school. There really wasn't anyone to celebrate it with at Hogwarts. When I was younger, Mum used to invite my class mates over to dinner. That kind of petered out though, by the time I turned nine. My tenth birthday, Dad took me to the British Museum to see the King's Library collection. You know they've got a copy of Caxton's first edition fo the Canterbury Tales ...
"Anyway, Mum made my favorite dinner, before we finally opened my presents.. Most of them were books, of course. Birthdays and Christmas are when I get my best books. I got my leather bound copy of the Complete Shakespeare for my eleventh birthday."
"They never took me anywhere for my birthday," Harry said as he examined stopped in front of a display of pens. "I think we're going to need to look in the greenhouse to find something really special for Neville. Any way, they did take me with them last year for Dudley's birthday outing to the zoo."
Harry smiled, remembering Dudley being trapped behind the glass at the reptile house. "Dudley always seemed to want and get more and more gifts every year. I think he got thirty-seven gifts last year. Most of them were broken or lost within a week. I always felt that it was a waste. If you're going to give a gift, it should be something that is used or treasured.
"I wasn't lying to Mrs. Weasley when I told her that the jumper she made for me was my most treasured gift. My cloak may have been my father's, passed down to me, but that jumper, she spent a lot of time making for me, and she didn't even know me, not really. I was just the little orphan boy who was friends with her son. She said it was no bother, but to me, when I opened that package, I could feel how much care she put into it, you know."
Harry had to wipe his eyes which were tearing up just a bit.
"I love the blanket she knit for Jimmy," Hermione said. "I think you're right, we're going to need to look at the special plants in the green house."
A half and hour later, Harry pushed the door open to the green house in the Garden Center, and immediately came upon several plants that caught his eyes. There were lilies and orchids, and even a couple scarlet star plants, which even Neville would find a task to keep growing. There was a peace lily that was almost as good as the one that he'd moved to sit by the window in his room at the Grangers.
"Moth orchid," Harry decided, as he looked at a particularly nice plant. "I think this will do for Neville. He liked the ones like this at school, and even helped care for the ones in Green House One."
"Okay," Hermione said, just as Jimmy's eyes opened. In less than five seconds, as Harry picked up the orchid, their baby boy began to cry. It didn't take long for Hermione to figure out the problem. "I hope there is a nappy changing station in the restroom."
"I saw the sign as we passed," Harry said. "Is it my turn or yours?"
"Mine," Hermione said, sliding the nappy bag over her shoulder before picking Jimmy up. "Hopefully he'll wait until we reach home to decide that he's hungry again."
"We're not that lucky."
Lavender quickly dressed on the beach an hours after dawn. She may have been comfortable being nude for the most part, but it just didn't fit for what she and her uncle were about to do. Out of the sealed bracelet came a simple gray dress and some sensible shoes for beach walking. They didn't spend a lot of time on the beach, though. Instead they walked up the path to the nearest road and waited.
It didn't take long for a iconic black car to come to a stop in a could of dust. Lavender may not have spent a lot of her time in the muggle world, but even she could recognize a Austin Fx4S London Taxi. Though judging from the sign saying "такси" instead of "taxi," she was sure that this one hadn't been running in London for quite some time. The partially blacked out number and sign on the side further identified it as running from Belgrade.
It was configured as right hand drive in a country with right hand traffic, a bit of an oddity. Several noted Serbian Businessmen had agreed that the service was unlikely to survive. With one of it's former vehicles, already being second hand, no longer in service, they might be right.
The driver's door opened revealing a dark haired man dressed in a tuxedo. "Double Oh Eight?" the man asked in a Scottish accent.
"Certainly," Lavender's uncle confirmed, as the man got out. "Jamie."
"And who this young lady?" the man said as he reach out to kiss Lavender's hand.
"My niece," her Uncle Charlie said. "Nine and Three Quarters per M. Anything I need to know?"
"I'm about three minutes ahead of a couple of Serbian State Security Force agents. I'm afraid that Jovica Stanišic is not quite happy with my visit to Begrade, nor my run through Sarajevo, Charlie. And as I keep telling you, its James, James Bond," the man said, kissing Lavender's hand.
"Yes, Mister Bond," Uncle Charlie replied, then cooler, "And you're not getting any where with my twelve-year-old niece. Your wetsuit and equipment is on the beach waiting. I'll see you back in London perhaps, Jamie. Come on, Lavender, we have drive to the Hotel Bella Vista to get our rooms."
"Pleasure meeting you, Nine and Three-Quarters," Bond said.
"Likewise, Mister Bond," Lavender said in a cool tone, copying her uncle. Then as Bond jogged back down to the beach, she went around the car to the passenger door.
Her uncle cast a small spell on the doors, then on the taxi sign, and then took his seat. "Now let's see how long it takes us to get to the Hotel." Down the road they drove, not in the fast speed that Double Oh Seven had driven, but a smooth drive as if he really was touring down the coast.
"I don't know why, Uncle, that we had to room in Vlorë, Dhërmi is much closer, and there are some nice places right on the edge of the park," Lavender began setting up the conversation, pulling the map out of the box.
"The Hotel Bella Vista is just the right place," Charlie said, looking in the rear view mirror. He sped up just a little bit.
"You mean it has a bar, and you can't live without a beer," Lavender said as the car behind them nearly bumped them. "Is that guy behind us trying to run us off the road."
"It certainly looks like that Lavender," Charlie said. "Maybe we should pull over and see what they want?"
"Better that than wait for them to push us off the turns above Ilias," Lavender said, looking at the map. "That looks like some very sharp turns."
"It's Albania, all the mountain roads have sharp turns," Charlie said, as the car behind him actually bumped him this time. "Time to play Cockney cab driver." Charlie brought the car into a controlled slide ending just short of a ruined wall on the right shoulder of the road. The car that had followed them came to a stop beside them in the road and two men quickly jumped out of the car.
Then men were both dressed in black pants and deep navy blue shirts. Lavender could see the edge of a rose tattoo on one of the men's necks. For just a moment she was curious what Bond had done to get the Serbian State Security Force after him. That was before she noticed the gun.
Charlie, on the other hand jumped out of the car, and moved around to confront the two. He began a spew in an almost but not quiet stereotypical Cockney accent, " Awright geeezzaa! Can't yew gentlemen drive? I swear, I just wan'ed ter take a nice drive in da coun'ryside wiv me niece befawer goin' back ter Vlorë, an' yew 'ave ter get all impatien' an' knock me off da road."
This seemed to take the two men back a bit, and the gun that Lavender spotted moved back into a more hidden position. It seemed that the men had realized they hadn't pulled over Mister Bond.
Charlie bent down and looked at the bumper. "Gawdon Bennet! Thee be'er not 'ave. Yes yew did, yew messed up me bumper. I retire an' spend all dis time restorin' me Austin ter just 'ow i' 'ad been when I started ter drive da black cabs, an' now on me first trip drivin' fruff Europe yew din' me bumper."
"Sorry mister," the driver said. "We thought you were someone else."
Charlie stood up straight and crossed his arms. "Thee thought I was someone else? What are yew doing, 'ryin' ter chase down some spy? I don't believe it. I suppose yew don't 'ave insurance ter cover dis repair?"
"It doesn't look that bad," the driver said holding his palms up. "Just a little ding."
"Just a little ding, 'e says. It takes mawer van a little din' ter cause me ter slide off da road. Thee 'ad me niece fnkin' we was gon'a die. Oh me sister is gon'a kill me if she 'ears what 'appened while 'er daughter was in me taxi," Charlie said firmly. It look like her uncle had both men under his glare and they were not enjoying it. " I fnk yew need ter apologize ter 'er."
"Sorry miss, we should have driven better and not been so impatient," the driver to Lavender. She nodded her acceptance of the apology back nerviously. "Do you need help getting your car back on the road?"
" I be'er not," Charlie said, getting back into the car. " But yew gentlemen might be ready ter give me a push if I do."
It seemed that a push was required, but after they pushed the car about a foot or so, the Austin took off, leaving the two in the dust alongside the Albanian road. Lavender couldn't help but giggle as she saw the two face plant themselves in the dry ground. She was sure that their dark outfits were going to need a through cleaning.
"So where are we goin' now, govern'r," Lavender asked.
"We need to make a stop in Himarë to see a witch."