The Burrow's Birthday

Su Yu and Hermione arrived at the Weasleys' with a large cake in their arms. By then, night had already fallen.

The Burrow looked crooked and lopsided in the dusk. Smoke drifted from its chimney, while several chickens pecked at the ground in the yard.

Mrs. Weasley came over from the other end of the yard, sending the chickens scattering. She wore a floral apron and still clutched a spatula in one hand. When she saw the sky-blue Ford Anglia parked in the yard, she froze. Then she charged over, and in an instant, the plump, kind-looking woman seemed like a saber-toothed tiger.

"Ah!" Fred shouted.

"Oh my God!" George cried.

Mrs. Weasley stopped in front of them.

"Hello," she said.

"Good evening, Mum," George said with a smug look.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was today?" Mrs. Weasley whispered terrifyingly.

"Sorry, Mum, but look, we—"

All three of Mrs. Weasley's sons were taller than her, yet they were terrified of making her angry.

Fred shrank back. George's smile froze on his face, while Ron simply hid behind Harry.

"The room was empty! No note! The car was gone... What if you'd crashed... I was worried sick... Do you know that? I've never been through anything like this in all my life... Just wait until your father gets back. Bill, Charlie, and Percy have never caused this kind of trouble..."

"You should learn from Percy!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, jabbing a finger into Fred's chest. The force of it made him stumble back a step. "You could have died, Muggles could have seen you, you could have gotten your father fired—"

It looked like this would go on for several more hours.

It was not until Mrs. Weasley turned and spotted Harry that her voice had gone hoarse from shouting. Harry took several frightened steps back, thinking he was about to be scolded too.

"Oh! I'm so glad to see you, dear Harry," she said, her voice suddenly softening, as though a storm had instantly turned into sunshine. "Come on, come in and have dinner!"

She turned and led Harry back into the house. After casting a nervous glance at Ron, who nodded encouragingly at him, Harry followed. Ron gave him a thumbs-up, and Fred shoved him forward from behind.

Then Mrs. Weasley noticed Su Yu and Hermione.

"Oh my heavens, what sort of day is this?" Mrs. Weasley said dramatically, covering her cheeks with both hands. "Su Fuli! What is a good boy like you doing here too? And who is this?"

Su Yu hurriedly set down the cake on a table in the yard, then explained everything that had happened that day to Mrs. Weasley—The Dursleys' abuse, Harry being locked in his room all summer without receiving a single letter, surviving each day on only a bowl of cold canned soup, and the fact that it was Harry's birthday, so they had come to celebrate it with him.

When Mrs. Weasley finished listening, her eyes reddened. She was holding Harry now, consoling him over and over while saying that the poor child had truly suffered. She stroked his hair as if soothing an injured little animal.

Just then, a short redhead in pajamas appeared in the kitchen doorway. Seeing so many people in the yard, she let out a small shriek and ran back inside. The wooden door slammed shut behind her.

"Ginny," Ron told Harry in a low voice. "My sister. She's been talking about Su Yu all summer."

As Ron said this, he glanced at Su Yu. Su Yu remained expressionless. The Nine-Tailed Fox poked her head out from his arms, glanced at Ron, then at the kitchen door, and buried her face again.

The Weasleys' kitchen was small and rather cramped. In the middle stood a clean wooden table and several chairs. A checkered tablecloth covered the table, worn around the edges but freshly washed.

Su Yu, Hermione, and Harry carefully sat on the edges of their seats. Hermione sat perfectly straight with both hands on her knees, as if she were in Professor McGonagall's class. Su Yu leaned against the back of his chair. The Nine-Tailed Fox jumped from his arms onto the table and crouched beside an empty plate, her tails curling around her. Harry looked around curiously.

Harry had never been inside a wizarding home before. On the wall behind him hung a clock with only one hand and no numbers, its edge covered in words such as "Time to make tea," "Time to feed the chickens," and "You're late." Three thick stacks of books sat on a shelf, titled Making Your Cheese Delicious, Cooking Charms, and One-Minute Feasts. It was incredible! If Harry had heard correctly, the old-fashioned radio beside the sink had just announced, "Up next, Magic Hour, hosted by the beloved wizard singer Celestina Warbeck." Light, peculiar music drifted from the radio.

Mrs. Weasley bustled noisily around the kitchen, preparing a lavish dinner. As she poured sausages into a frying pan, she shot her sons a look of mild disgust. The sausages sizzled in the pan, grease spattering everywhere. From time to time, she muttered, "I really don't know what you were thinking," and, "I can't believe it." Then she quickly added, "I'm not blaming you, dear"—which was directed at Harry.

"Arthur and I were worried about you too, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said as she cooked, waving her wand rapidly. "We were talking last night about coming to fetch you if you still hadn't replied to Ron by Friday. But really, flying an illegal car through the countryside—anyone could have seen you—"

She casually pointed her wand at the chopping board, and the knife atop it began cutting potatoes and bacon by itself. The blade fell rapidly, slicing the potatoes into even thin pieces and the bacon into neat little chunks stacked in one corner of the board.

"Mum, it was cloudy that day," Fred said.

"This is when you should keep your mouth shut!" Mrs. Weasley cut him off, viciously flipping the food in the pan with her spatula.

"They were starving him, Mum!" George said.

"You too!" Mrs. Weasley said, though she still sliced some bread, buttered it, and handed it to Harry. Her expression softened considerably. The poor child needed something to fill his stomach first.

At that moment, Ginny came downstairs. She had changed into a clean pale-blue sweater, combed her hair neatly, and tied it into a ponytail behind her head. Her cheeks were still red.

Blushing, she explained that she had looked too casual earlier, then greeted Su Yu and Hermione. Afterward, she shyly sat beside Su Yu, leaving one chair between them before inching a little closer.

The Nine-Tailed Fox lifted her head from the table, glanced at Ginny, then at Su Yu, and thumped her tail once against the tabletop.

Suddenly, the front door banged open.

"He's back!" George said. "Dad's back!"

Mr. Weasley entered, removed his glasses, and closed his tired eyes. His robes were covered in dust, and his hair was a mess. He was thin and slightly balding, but his hair was as red as his children's. He wore an old green robe covered in dust, its collar open and tie crooked to one side.

Then he saw Su Yu and the group of young wizards and hurriedly greeted them.

"Good heavens, are you Harry Potter? Pleased to meet you. Ron has told us so much about—" he said to Harry, then sat at the dining table. He got up to fetch the teapot, failed to notice that the tea had gone cold, poured himself a cup, and drank it.

"Today, your sons drove that car to Harry's house and brought him back!" Mrs. Weasley shouted from the other side of the kitchen, her voice keeping rhythm with the spatula striking the iron pan. "What do you have to say about that, hmm?"

"Was it really you?" Mr. Weasley asked eagerly, his eyes widening at once. He looked at Fred and George, who both lowered their heads. "How did it drive? I—I mean," he stammered after seeing the look in Mrs. Weasley's eyes, "that—that was wrong, boys—really wrong..."

"Forget about her," Ron muttered to Harry while Mrs. Weasley puffed up like an angry bullfrog. "It's your birthday today! Cheer up, Harry!"

Gradually, a huge spread of food was brought to the table. Roast beef, fried chicken legs, mashed potatoes, sausages, gravy, peas, carrots—the table was packed with plates and bowls, some still steaming around the edges. Quite a few had been made by Carson at Su Yu's request, including the roast meat and fried chicken. Mixed in with the Weasleys' dishes, they did not seem out of place at all.

Everyone sang a birthday song and urged Harry to make a wish. Hermione started, Ron joined in, Fred and George deliberately sang off-key, Ginny covered her face and laughed, and Su Yu hummed along. Harry closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. Candlelight danced across his face, illuminating a tear at the corner of his eye.

At that moment, he finally cried. It was the first time in his life that he had celebrated his own birthday. There was cake, there were friends, and there were people singing beside him. He was not sitting alone in the garden, singing to himself. He had people with him.

He blew out the candles. Smoke rose from the wicks and slowly dispersed through the air.

Fred grabbed a handful of cream and smeared it over Ron's face from behind. Ron shrieked, spun around to chase Fred, tripped over a chair leg, and sprawled face-first onto the floor. George was even more ruthless. He circled behind Mr. Weasley and plopped a piece of cake onto his bald head. Mr. Weasley froze for a moment, then burst out laughing louder than anyone else.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Hermione and Ginny secretly smeared plenty of cake onto Su Yu's face as well. Hermione dipped a finger into some cream, dabbed it on the tip of Su Yu's nose, then quickly pulled her hand back and pretended nothing had happened. Ginny was bolder. She mashed a piece of cake onto Su Yu's cheek, then ran away the moment she had done it.

Su Yu acted as if he had not seen anything. He sat there with a dab of white cream on his nose and a smear across his cheek, his expression as calm as though nothing had happened.

Then he suddenly picked up Hermione and Ginny and kissed each of them once.

He kissed their cheeks through the cream. Hermione's cream was sweet, and Ginny's cream was sweet too.

When the candles were relit, Hermione and Ginny looked like little tabby cats covered in cake—cream clung to their hair, cake crumbs smeared their faces, and colorful sugar sprinkles dotted their collars. But no one noticed that their faces had turned completely red.

After celebrating Harry's birthday, Su Yu saw that it was late and took Hermione back to Foley Manor. Ginny stood at the doorway with her hands behind her back, tracing circles on the ground with her toes.

"I'll definitely bring you some gummies when school starts!" Ginny waved at Su Yu. Her voice was quiet, but earnest.

Su Yu looked back at her, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly as he nodded.

When Su Yu returned home, Sister Fa was lounging on the sofa with a bag of chips in her hand, watching television, while Sister Ka sat beside her with a magazine spread across her knees. When they saw Su Yu come in, Sister Fa merely raised an eyebrow, while Sister Ka smiled.

Su Yu asked Butler Carson to take Hermione upstairs to find a room and get settled before returning to the hall to play. As Hermione followed Carson upstairs, she looked back at Su Yu once more. Su Yu waved to her.

Su Yu also sat down on the sofa, squeezing himself between Sister Fa and Sister Ka. He rested his head on Sister Fa's lap and draped his legs over Sister Ka's knees.

The Nine-Tailed Fox struggled out from Su Yu's arms. She had nearly been squashed flat just now...