The copy and paste upload method has been a life saver these days...
Hello! Since it's Harry's birthday today I whipped up this thing that is a kind of a follow up/sequel to 'Remembering Birthdays'. You can read this alone but you'll have a wee bit more context if you read the first... Okay, plug over.
~BH
Having had worse birthdays
Harry was dreading what was awaiting him through those large doors.
His friends were already inside, and Ginny was standing next to him, but he already felt suffocated.
Then again, he'd had worse birthdays.
The only birthday he'd had when his parents were alive he couldn't remember, and up until his 11th birthday he'd had next to nothing.
Things were looking up when he was told he was a wizard and had an automatic place in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He and the Dursleys had been interrupted in the middle of the night with the arrival of Hagrid, cake, and life changing news.
Since then, birthdays were still nothing special, but they were better. He had received presents and cards for the first time in his life, and even when he was alone at the Dursleys, he knew at least that he had people who remembered him.
The best birthdays he had celebrated so far were his 16th and 17th, both at one of his favourite places in the world: The Burrow. Mrs Weasley spoilt him far too much with an even bigger dinner than usual and a garden party with the family.
His 18th birthday had thankfully been left unnoticed. He was getting fed up with the constant attention from the Daily Prophet and various other 'fans', and he never liked the attention that much anyway. All he ever wanted was a quiet gathering with his closest friends and some cake.
This year, however, things took a turn for the worse.
Now the Ministry was fully reformed again, they realised that Harry did indeed have a birthday, and they had brought it upon themselves to ensure it was celebrated properly. Thanks to the Ministry, it was common knowledge that Harry's birthday was on the 31st of July and they were trying to turn it into some sort of national holiday. The following week would be devoted to celebrations and parties, with the addition of awarding various Orders of Merlin to war heroes and the Golden Trio themselves, which consisted of him and his best friends Ron and Hermione.
"Are you ready?" asked Ginny quietly, nudging him alert and kissing his cheek.
"I suppose." Replied Harry, smiling weakly at his girlfriend. They had rekindled their relationship after the war, knowing that it was inevitable, and that they had waited long enough. Despite this, they were putting off any thoughts of marriage for now, because they were both still young at 17 and 19. Nevertheless, the Ministry and the media were happily badgering them about it, asking if Harry had proposed, or if Ginny had chosen a dress. It wasn't until Mrs Weasley had yelled at the many photographers waiting at the door that they were far too young to get engaged, they shouldn't rush such a beautiful relationship, and Harry was stressed enough as it was that they stopped stalking him near the Burrow. She had earned herself a front page report in the following morning's Daily Prophet, but she had declared it was worth it, and thought it was very disrespectful of them to intrude on his private life. Harry had appreciated it, but despite her outburst he was still bombarded with people daily: on his way to work, coming home from work, when he was out with Ginny, when he was out with friends…
Most of all, when he was out with Draco Malfoy. Since the 5th of June they had made an unspoken vow that they would meet up in the Leaky Cauldron every Friday evening for a catchup and a drink. Harry was fascinated to notice the other man's change in attitude about everything, now he was free from the restrictions and expectations of his domineering parents and pure blood heritage. It also fascinated the media that two people who once despised each other were now very good friends, which resulted in Tom giving them a Private Parlour on the house to relax and have a few drinks without anyone pestering them.
Ginny, Ron and Hermione knew that Harry was spending his Fridays with Draco, and weren't too sure whether to disapprove or not. They figured Harry would be more of a good influence on Draco than the other way round, but none of them knew him well enough anymore to judge. Hermione was still shaken after her abuse at the Malfoy Manor and was baffled when he confided in her how much he had changed. She wasn't sure what to believe.
Back in the present, Harry pushed open the doors leading to what could be his doom.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" a chorus of people yelled upon his entrance. He let Ginny guide him to the centre of the room, still confused by the fact that everyone was staring at him, and applauding. It was only his 19th, nothing special. They looked delighted that he was now a 19 year old. He was greeted by Kingsley Shacklebolt, the new Minister of Magic, who shook his hand and winked at him.
"You've got a long night ahead of you." He murmured as he, Harry and Ginny were surrounded by well wishers and officials.
Two hours later, the party was in full swing. The Ministry had hired the Weird Sisters and various other popular teen wizard bands to perform, and a dance floor was filled in the centre of the room. The entire building was completely covered with banners and decorations, almost to the point where there wasn't a single blank space on the wall. Harry wasn't sure whether this was a formal gathering or a small child's birthday party, with the combination of garish bunting and strong cocktails. Despite their weird choice in music and food, people were still dressed in formal wizard's robes and ball gowns.
What baffled Harry most of all, was the growing pile of birthday presents that were being taken into a chamber off the dance hall. Many of his admirers had donated presents that he wasn't expecting, in addition to the party guests which consisted of well known Ministry of Magic employees, anyone associated with him at all, and also, thank goodness, his friends from school. He had recently finished his final year at Hogwarts after taking a year out to search for Horcruxes, and was looking into joining the Auror office in September for training. Kingsley had insisted he could start straight away but Harry didn't want to be treated differently to anyone else, and he still wanted to have common ground with what would be his fellow colleagues.
He didn't know many people who had graduated show were actually his age. Hermione was there, of course, along with Draco, Hannah Abbott, Dean Thomas, and many other Muggleborns who were on the run or people who were forced to drop out due to deaths in the family. Some of the DA also returned to sit their NEWT's without repeating the year after they missed the exams hiding out in the Room of Requirement, but felt it was a waste to repeat the year. Most of his fellow graduates were in this very room: drinking, socialising and dancing.
Draco Malfoy, however, was not in attendance. His family had been disgraced since the war, and Lucius and Narcissa spent most of their days in their Manor, avoiding contact with everyone. Draco, despite him not truly sharing his parent's views, had still been tarred with the same brush. Luckily, one of the healers working at St Mungos had been an old family friend, and had offered to train him herself when others were reluctant to. Since then, Draco had been working hard to gain an honest reputation, and he was slowly gaining respect for his changed character.
Even though he knew most of the guests at this party, he couldn't see anyone he knew. He was almost skulking in a corner, watching everyone mulling around the room, excited to be part of such an over-the-top celebration and drinking far too much champagne.
"Harry!" He heard a vaguely familiar voice call him as a short pudgy figure came into view.
Harry squinted through his glasses to try and make out the silhouette dashing towards him before anyone else could interrupt. He almost groaned when he saw it was Cornelius Fudge.
He didn't hate him, for he was merely desperate to cling onto the power he had only gained due to chance. However he couldn't help but resent him for portraying him as a liar back before the Second Wizarding War.
"Happy Birthday my boy!" he greeted, holding a pudgy hand for him to shake. When Harry didn't take it, he raised it to scratch his head as if nothing had happened. Harry did note his slightly crestfallen expression though. He was forgiving, but not a pushover.
"Thank you sir." Harry replied, hoping their conversation would be short. He glanced around quickly without looking too rude- he still couldn't see any of his friends.
Fudge continued to try and make conversation, but Harry's answers were getting shorter and shorter as the voices grew louder and more people smothered him. He had to escape.
"I need to get some air, excuse me." He murmured to a flabbergasted Fudge before slipping out of a side door into the empty street.
Nobody watched him leave, as most of the guests were too intoxicated to even spot a small 19 year old in round glasses with messy hair.
One person saw him.
Draco Malfoy had just finished an evening shift at St Mungos hospital. He was having the time of his life: he'd never even thought of going into healing while at Hogwarts. He only thought about it when all the 7th years had careers advice in his repeated year. Professor Slughorn understood how he felt, eventually. Once they had talked about his work this year they ended up having a rather deep conversation about how Slughorn was reluctant to choose a side and how Draco had no choice but to fight for the wrong side.
Draco saw Harry rushing out of the telephone box, looking flustered and uncomfortable.
"Harry?" He asked, before thinking about whether he wanted company.
"Draco!" He greeted, relieved to see a friendly face that wasn't associated with that overwhelming party. They hugged briefly before Harry ran a hand through his hair, still a little shaken.
"Are you okay?" Draco asked, worried.
"Ugh, I've just escaped from the Ministry's clutches." Harry sighed.
"Happy birthday!" Draco exclaimed, just remembering. Not that he didn't know already. Pretty much every wizard knew Harry's birthday now. "Party that bad huh?"
Harry shrugged, hoping Draco could read his expression and that no one was about to force him back inside. They'd already cut the cakes, they had produced seven large creations, of the seven horcruxes he had defeated. Despite him insisting that he didn't defeat all of them himself, they insisted he cut the first slice in all of them anyway. Seven slices of different flavoured horcrux cakes later he was feeling slightly sick, especially after seeing himself in cake form. A fight almost broke out over who got Harry's bright green eyes, which were his best feature.
He explained this to Draco, who tried his best not to laugh.
"We've had worse birthdays." Chuckled Draco. "Do you want to escape to a pub?"
"If we went to the Leaky Cauldron everyone would wonder why I'm not at my own party." Harry replied bitterly.
"No." Draco laughed again. "Somewhere around here. Muggle London. Then if you need to sneak back in you can."
"I guess this is why you're the one with the job." Harry agreed, as they walked up the street together.
Harry paid for drinks for both of them since he always carried spare muggle money around with him and knew how to handle it: a trick he picked up from Hermione. He carried two pints of beer across to Draco, who was sitting alone at a table. His black jacket was covering his uniform, and his wand was away. Harry was wearing a simple suit, purely because he preferred Muggle clothes to the billowing formal Wizard's robes.
"So, how's training?" Harry asked.
"Great!" Replied Draco, smiling. He didn't smile much, and it made Harry happy to see how much more positive he had become over this month alone. He was becoming a much better person and Harry was proud of him.
"Well, cheers to that!" Said Harry, holding up his glass. They clinked glasses, grinning at each other, feeling peaceful.
The next hour was spent chatting casually and joking as if they had never been enemies or rivals. They confided in each other about their unwanted attention and understood each other's desire for peace.
Harry returned from the bar for the fourth time with some unusual concoction which scared Draco. He had two glasses filled with an amber coloured liquid topped with ice, strawberries, cucumber and mint.
"What in Merlin's left sock is this?!" Draco eyed the drink suspiciously.
"I'm introducing you to some more muggle culture." Declared Harry. He had been slowly introducing him to non magical things such as TV, the internet, and various appliances.
"Who's idea was it to combine these things?" Draco sipped the drink, confused by the many different flavours he was tasting, and almost spat it out as the doors to the pub opened and Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked in.
His question was left unanswered.
"Harry!" Yelled Ron.
"We've been worried sick." Said Hermione.
"What are you doing with Malfoy?" Questioned Ginny, as the three of them walked towards the two friends. Draco, despite being irritated with her address, decided to remain silent.
"It was too crowded and overwhelming, I needed some air." Said Harry apologetically.
"I can see you're getting a lot of air." Retorted Ginny, raising her eyebrows at the quiet little pub.
"Well he is better company than certain ex-ministers." Harry looked across at Draco who grinned back. Ron and Hermione were watching the exchange with bemusement, not picking up on the inside joke.
"It was supposed to be a party for YOU. You could have at least stayed, so you looked grateful. You're lucky no one has noticed you've been missing for ages." Ginny whispered, aware that more people were watching the argument.
"Do you think that party was really for me?" He whispered back calmly. "You know I like a quiet life."
"But still... Draco!" She glared at him. She wasn't the jealous type, but she could be very suspicious at times.
"Hi." Waved Draco, making Ron chuckle, Hermione smile weakly and Ginny get even more irritated.
"Yes, he is my friend." Said Harry, surprised the words were coming out of his mouth.
"Look." Said Draco, glancing around uncomfortably. "I'm trying to be a better person. Yes, I will acknowledge that I've done some terrible things, but I'm trying to move on from that. So if you could not judge my character on my past mistakes that would be great."
Ginny faltered a little, caught off guard by his confession. She didn't want to trust him. She didn't want to let him be happy. She also knew that Harry would never forgive her if she didn't give him a second chance. She'd always thought he was far too noble.
"I still don't trust you, but fine." Said Ginny, resigned. She knew Harry wouldn't back down from this battle.
He wasn't forgiven yet.
After an awkward five minutes of broken conversation, Ginny, Ron and Hermione left them to it, knowing Harry didn't really want to go back.
"So much for birthdays then." Harry nudged him, rolling his eyes.
"Screw birthdays." Draco replied, downing his glass.