CHAPTER 1

Harry's First Birthday

Lily and James Potter lived together with a secret life in a shadowy corner of Godric's Hollow. This day was a particularly special day for them. It was their son, Harry's, first birthday and Lily and James agreed that they would spend as much time with Harry as they could, because the past few weeks had been really busy for them and they hadn't had much time for Harry. Voldemort had found out who they were and there had been a panic to relocate but luckily all of the Order of the Phoenix had chipped in to help the Potters. They were safe now, and that was something to celebrate too.

The majority of that special morning was spent cleaning up the house and getting it ready for Lily and James' closest friends in the Order, who were coming over for lunch. James spent his time walking around the house and tapping anything that looked dirty with his wand and muttering a small incantation so that the dust would disappear. Lily spent the whole morning in the kitchen, and she hadn't been going for long before a delicious smell began wafting through the rest of the house.

By midday, the house was free of every single speck of dust, and there was a magnificent feast resting on the beautifully set table with the Potters waiting patiently for their guests to arrive. Lily looked stunning in her floral dress and James was trying to look formal with his hair sticking up all over the place. Even Harry, who seemed to have inherited his father's hair's ability to stand up in every possible direction, looked nice in a miniature tuxedo.

They didn't have to wait long, and they knew their guests had arrived even before they rang the doorbell, because an odd, shrill screech started coming from the other side of the door. They opened it and welcomed inside Sirius Black, Alastor Moody, Frank and Alice Longbottom, who held a baby around Harry's age in her arms, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore.

"Sorry about the noise," Alastor grunted. He was the most battle-scarred of all of them, and there seemed not to be a square centimetre of flesh on him that wasn't scarred and he had a leg missing. "I thought I'd get a Sneakoscope for the young'un, seeing as he'll probably be growing up into the Order, but it hasn't shut up since we got together." He held out his hands and in them was a small spherical wrapped package that was glowing from an inner light spinning around very fast. Sneakoscopes are supposed to light up and spin whenever someone untrustworthy was around, but this one seemed to be faulty. "Well, it's the thought that counts!" James said cheerily. "It's good to see you all."

"Lily, you look as beautiful as ever," Remus said, kissing her hand with a smile. He then pulled from his robes a rectangular parcel. "I understand Harry is probably too young to play Exploding Snap, but he can use it when he's old enough and for now I'm sure the bangs will entertain him." He laughed.

Frank and Alice stepped up, Alice trying to keep their son, Neville, under control. "We got a toy wand for Harry, we thought that he could get into the habit of using one, but he won't be able to damage anything or hurt anyone." Lily and James thanked them, and gave the wand to Harry, who immediately started to send harmless, colourful sparks everywhere.

Sirius came up, greeting Lily and James merrily. "I got a toy broomstick, 'cause if he's anything like his father he's bound to be a legend. Doesn't go more than half a metre off the ground, and it's got an Anti-Collision Charm on it, so he can't crash into anything. Pretty useful, eh?"

Peter and Albus both gave Harry assorted candies, ranging from Chocoballs to Sugar Mice. After that they started lunch. Everyone enjoyed it, complimenting Lily heartily on the skilled cooking and exchanging news and stories until finally everyone was full and the sun had sunk into late afternoon. Rather reluctantly, everyone started to leave, but just as Albus started to go, he froze and turned around. "Ah, James. I meant to ask you a favour. Would you mind me borrowing your Invisibility Cloak? I have an experiment I've been meaning to do, and I require your Cloak to do it."

"Of course, Albus," James said. "I'll go fetch it." He turned around and ran up the stairs.

The others were still waiting for Albus outside, but he waved them off. "You go ahead; I'll meet you at headquarters."

They nodded and, as one, turned on their heels and Disapparated. A few seconds later, James came back downstairs holding a shimmering cloak in one hand. He tossed it at Albus, who caught it, thanked him and turned on his heel and Disapparated too.