Happy Birthday Harry

Ginny Potter walked downstairs to her kitchen, stretching. It was a sunny and warm morning, perfect for the last day of July. Today she celebrated her beloved husband's birthday. She was just basking in the sunlight streaming through the window when a voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"Morning, Ginny." It was Teddy, his hair bright red and his eyes emerald green, looking as if he were her own son – which he pretty much was. Ginny recalled as clear as day the day his grandmother passed away; she had been away at training camp and had been excused at the call from Harry. She and Harry both had been prepared to fight tooth and nail for custody of Teddy – Harry had been physically sick with the fear of giving up his godson to a home potentially as loveless as the Dursleys', and it had taken a long talk with Ginny to convince him that the boy would be going to a loving and willing home on the off chance they didn't win custody.

Fortunately, it never came to that. Kingsley called off the trial, declaring Teddy old enough to have a say in his living situation, and the young Metamorphmagus's choice was the Potters. James was born a year later and Albus, with Lily following after another two years.

More footfalls reached her ears as she snapped back to the present. Speak of the devils and the devils arrive, she thought to herself as her two biological sons entered the kitchen.

"Morning, Mum," they chorused.

"Good morning," Ginny replied, putting the kettle on.

"Are we doing this the way we did Father's Day?" Teddy asked, eager to celebrate his godfather's special day.

"Indeed we are." Ginny set them to work as Teddy helped Albus to crack the eggs and James to scramble them while she fried the bacon and the sausage.

"Teddy, go and get Lily and check and see if Harry's still asleep," she requested of the teen.

"On it." Teddy tiptoed up the stairs and into Lily's room, where Ginny's mini-me was still asleep, her long red hair splayed out over her fairy-print pillow. "Good morning, pumpkin," he greeted as she sat up and rubbed one eye. She was six years old and already had the men in her family – especially Harry – wrapped around her little finger. "C'mon, Mummy's making breakfast and then we're gonna wake up Daddy."

Teddy carried the little girl downstairs. Since the day she was born, Lily was his little buddy. While he roughhoused with the boys and played Quidditch with them, he couldn't say no to Lily when she wanted to play. Ginny watched them set the table together as she fried the bacon and sausage and reflected on birthdays past.

Harry's eighteenth was one that always stuck out in her mind – the first birthday after the war. They'd celebrated at the Burrow. For his nineteenth, she took him out, just the two of them. He fell so ill when he turned twenty that George was convinced he'd taken double doses of both Puking Pastilles and Fever Fudge when really he had a caught a bug while he was in Scotland for an Auror mission he had just returned from. His twenty-first was spent on tour with the Holyhead Harpies – the birthday boy tagging along for security purposes and sneaking out for a night on the town with his girl. They had returned to the little island ten months later for their honeymoon, and all his subsequent birthdays were spent with family, living the good life and happily married.

"Mummy?"

Ginny was broken out of her daydream by her daughter.

"Can we go wake Daddy?" Lily asked, not bothering with her puppy-dog pout as it didn't work with her mother quite like it did with her father.

"Yeah, why not?"

The Potter kids immediately bolted up the stairs as quietly as they could with Teddy and Ginny bringing up the rear. James made it to the door first and quietly opened it. With Albus and Lily behind him, he snuck up to Harry's side of the bed and peeked at the sleeping man. Albus joined him on one side while Teddy and Lily took up the other side. Teddy quietly counted to three.

"One…two…three! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!"

Harry's only response to their simultaneous shouts was to bury his head under the pillows with a mumble of "five more minutes…" Lily crawled over and stuck her head under the pillows. She was nose-to-nose with her father when he suddenly grabbed her with one arm and his sons with the other, trapping Teddy with his foot. The kids all struggled in his grasp, their laughter filling the air.

"Y'know what? I think I'll lay here like this all day," he said, grinning ear-to-ear. Met with a chorus of "no's", he eventually let them all go and turned his attention to his wife. "Are you forgetting something, Gin?"

Ginny approached the bed, cupped Harry's head in her hands, and kissed him like he was turning seventeen all over again.

"EWWWW!" the kids all chorused.

"Okay, let's go downstairs for breakfast," Ginny said with a chuckle as she led the kids to the door and down the stairs, Harry right behind her. She plopped her husband down in his favorite chair as Teddy brought him his cup of tea, James his plate with breakfast, Albus a glass orange juice and Lily a bowl of fruit.

Once breakfast was all wrapped up, Ginny sent the kids upstairs to get ready for the day, then followed Harry into the living room and sat down on his lap.

"Say, Gin, what do you have planned for today?" he asked.

"Same as every year. We're going to spend the day as a family and you choose what we're going to do."

They went upstairs to check on the kids and get cleaned up and ready for the day. Ginny returned to their bedroom after helping Lily dress and found Harry brushing his teeth, shirtless and with damp hair. She snaked her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his bare shoulder.

"Y'know, for someone who's thirty-four today, you don't look too bad," she said, patting his stomach with her hand.

"That's what being an Auror does to you, and then there's the devil by the name of Yonas Mensah. Thank God he's retiring this year." Once Harry finished brushing his teeth and found his favorite shirt, he and Ginny went down to the backyard for some Quidditch. Eventually, the boys settled into a two-sided game of catch with the Quaffle while Ginny and Lily sat back in the grass and watched.

Eventually, it came time for lunch. Ginny made sandwiches and called the boys to the kitchen, where they left their gear in the scullery and plopped down alongside Lily to eat.

"So, what do you want to do for dinner?" Ginny asked once lunch was done, already knowing the answer.

"Shepherd's pie?"

"Don't have to ask me twice!" She set off to work, listening to the joyous sounds of her once love-deprived husband playing with the kids. He took the boys outside to continue playing catch while Lily remained in the house, drawing a picture but refusing to let Ginny see. At four, Ginny called the boys to come and wash up for dinner, knowing a shower would be in order. At five, they all sat down at the table.

Harry really enjoyed the meal and was not afraid to show it. Ginny had become just as good a cook as her mother and husband – who'd been cooking since he could walk – but of course, Harry would never tell his mother-in-law that his wife's treacle tart was better than hers. He'd always say they were about the same, if only for the sake of keeping the peace (and not having purple bubbles floating from his ears for a week).

"Right then," Harry said once the meal was over and all five helpings had satisfied him. "Whose should I open first? Lily's?" He was met with the squeals of his daughter. "Okay, Princess, I'll open yours first." And with that, he tore into the package to reveal a leather-bound black book featuring the Aurors' emblem and emblazoned in gold with The Greatest Aurors of the Century.

"You have an entire section all to yourself," Ginny explained. "As usual."

Harry thanked his girls and put the book down, knowing it would go right alongside the book he had gotten for Father's Day. Lily then stepped up and handed him the picture she'd been working on all afternoon. It was a colorful drawing of a tall black stick figure with green eyes holding the hand of a little red stick figure with brown eyes. The latter had long red hair and freckles while the former was adorned with messy black hair, circles around his eyes, a lightning bolt on his forehead and even the new scar he'd gotten about a month ago from a rogue curse thrown in a raid.

"It's us," Lily explained.

Harry leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, Lily."

Albus's present was next. Harry ripped open the package to reveal a replacement for his old Gryffindor Quidditch jersey. His old one had gotten worn out from use. The back was adorned with POTTER in gold as well as his old jersey number – 7, the standard for all Seekers.

"Thanks, Al." Harry ducked to the bathroom to change into the new jersey (which fit perfectly) and came back out to show it off. James's present was new Quidditch gear, specifically for a Seeker and complete with goggles. He thanked his eldest biological son before Teddy got up and placed his present beside him. "What's this?" Harry asked.

Teddy shrugged his shoulders and motioned for Harry to open it. Harry started to tear off the packaging and found himself looking at a picture frame with pictures of Harry and Teddy from when Teddy was two months old to now. His eyes moved from picture to picture, seeing himself grow older as Teddy grew up. "Thanks, Ted." He got up and hugged his godson, no longer the baby Harry was afraid to hold.

Ginny, who had been watching from the kitchen counter, came over with a large package. It looked like a picture. "Happy birthday, Harry." She kissed his cheek and he ripped off the paper, finding that Ginny had framed all of the Daily Prophet articles she'd written about him. There were all the articles she wrote about being an Auror's wife (most written following the more severe injuries). There was one she'd written when he'd gotten an award for all his hard work in the Auror office, and in the center was her piece from when he was promoted to Head Auror. He looked at her with a smile, knowing how proud she was of this and of him and how this had been a major project of hers for a while now.

"Thank you, Gin. Thank you all of you. These presents are wonderful."

Once the kitchen was clean and the kids retreated upstairs, Harry walked into the living room and plopped on the couch. "I think I ate too much," he groaned, rubbing his stomach. Ginny lifted his feet and sat down, placing them across her lap. She pulled up his shirt, undid his belt and unbuttoned his pants. He sighed in relief as she placed her hand under his shirt, rubbing his stomach.

"Thanks, Gin," he said as he relaxed and laid his head back on the pillows.

"Well, did you have a good birthday?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, of course. I was with you and the kids and not at work," Harry said through a yawn.

"Good. Now come on. Let's go upstairs." Ginny pulled Harry up and led him upstairs, where they said goodnight to the kids and settled into bed. They cuddled for a few hours before Ginny fell asleep. Her soft Weasley snores filling the room, he ducked out and Apparated to an alley, walking the now-familiar path he'd learned since that Christmas sixteen years ago. He passed through the kissing gate of the old church and found his parents' headstone.

"Well, Mum, Dad, I'm thirty-four today." He paused for a moment to collect himself. "Ginny fixed all my favorites, the kids got me some interesting stuff and yet…I still feel like something is missing. You two, and Sirius."

He looked over at the headstone he had fixed for Sirius and requested to be placed next to his parents.

"I'm so grateful for all that you did for me. Not just for having me, but for protecting me. My kids – your grandchildren – love hearing stories about how you two got together and all the other stories Sirius told me."

He paused once more to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Thanks, Mum, Dad. Thanks for giving me life. I hope I make you proud."

As he turned to leave, he turned back. "I love you. I love you both, and you too, Sirius."

And with that, he walked back to the alley where he Disapparated back to Godric's Hollow.