Chapter 2

Harry woke up on the morning of July 31, 1998 with mixed feelings. On one hand he was eighteen now. On the other, he had to go to work. Well, training. He wasn't quite the full time Auror yet. He had only been in training for about two months, though Kingsley said he didn't need the full three years of training. Being the Boy-Who-Vanquished-The-Dark-Lord had its advantages.

Harry hated hyphens. He always had. At least while living in the Wizarding world.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Harry groaned and rolled over to press sleep on the beeping alarm clock. He had found that the Muggle alarm clocks worked best for him over the years. The incessant loud beeping noise never failed to wake him, abruptly and rudely, but woke him never the less.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Five minutes already?" he wondered aloud. He groaned again, this time rolling over and sitting up. He reached for the off button and pressed it and grabbed his glasses. He wandered down the hallway to the bathroom passing Hermione who carried a steaming cup of tea in front of her sleepy eyes.

"Morning, Harry," she mumbled. She was definitely not a morning person.

"Morning, Hermione," he mumbled back. She was a tea-to-wake person. She would get up stumble bleary eyed to the kitchen several floors down, make a cup of strong Earl Grey, and sleepily walk back to her room a couple floors up.

Harry was a shower-to-wake person. Once he had a morning shower and a shave he was good to go.

Once his shower was finished and he was actually awake he wandered down to the kitchen to see Kreacher making breakfast.

"Morning Master Harry. Is there anything Kreacher can make for you today on your special day?" the elf asked. Really, Kreacher wasn't so bad. He was older than dirt, and the fact that he could change his feelings toward Muggles and Muggle-borns in roughly a year was a big deal. Maybe old dogs can learn new tricks.

"No, not for breakfast. Though I would love one of your Meatloaf sandwiches for lunch. Could you be sneaky and bring a couple to the Leaky Cauldron for me around noon?" he asked hopefully. The house elf had recently made meatloaf for dinner, and for once Ron wasn't there so there were actually leftovers. The next day Kreacher made the most amazing sandwich Harry had ever had and he wanted more.

"If that's what Master wants, Kreacher has no problem doing it for Master. Would you like sausage omelets for breakfast Master Harry?" asked the old elf. Harry nodded already anticipating the sandwiches he'd get for lunch.

After a quick breakfast, Harry went to the Drawing room. He'd set up a station for the owls to drop off their mail there and he had checked it everyday for mail before leaving for the Academy.

He shuffled through the mail and set aside his birthday mail from the now standard fan mail. He was surprised to see that the fan mail pile was getting smaller everyday.

He checked his watch and saw that he had roughly fifteen minutes before he had to leave and he decided to open a few pieces of mail so he grabbed the letter from Luna first.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! 18 isn't as big as 17, but I think that any birthday is a fun one. Daddy and I are hunting for Crumple Horned Snorkacks in Northern Finland. We both needed a break from Britain for a while and Daddy needed to recover from Azkaban, so it's been a slow and quiet vacation for us both.

Daddy would like to apologize for what he did when you visited him after Christmas. He won't tell me what he did, and I fear it's not something good. But I think he suffered enough by being put in Azkaban so I hope you forgive him, (though if it truly is that bad, I wouldn't blame you).

I will give you your gift when I return, I haven't yet got it, since we are somewhat out of civilization for now. But we have an owl with us so I thought I would send my wishes to you now.

Watch out for Muttering Mojouille's. They tend to sit on your shoulder whispering stuff to you and scramble your thoughts, making you mutter to yourself until you seem crazy to everyone else.

Love your friend,
Luna Lovegood; Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure.

Harry smiled. Muttering Mojouille's? he shook his head as he looked to the next letter. It was from Ginny.

Dear Harry, I'll see you tonight, but I wanted you to see this right away this morning. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! And I LOVE YOU!!! Have a good day in training, don't wear yourself out too much, and save room for mum's treacle tart tonight. *wink*
Love you lots birthday man,
Gin

He smiled. Molly Weasley's treacle tarts were literally the best things he had ever eaten, ever. He could have eaten a whole one on his own if he had tried, but someone always wanted some as well, so no such luck. Maybe tonight at his birthday party he'd get lucky and Molly would make two. One for Harry and one for everyone else.

Harry checked the time and saw he had a few minutes left and grabbed the last four letters in his non-fan pile and walked downstairs. Ron and Hermione were eating breakfast together.

"Hey, guys," he said.

"Happy birthday Harry!" Hermione said with a grin. Ron followed with a birthday greeting of his own.

"So Harry, big party tonight. You ready for it?" asked Ron. The two of them were living at Grimmauld Place with Harry since they didn't want to leave him alone. During the last two months, Hermione had "rescued" her parents from Australia, and the funerals of Remus, Tonks, Colin, and Fred had gone off without a hitch, many tears, and at least one physical attack on Harry. Though a punch from a distraught brother of Colin's wasn't something he was expecting, he could understand why it happened.

Hermione also said that living with Harry was easy. He was laid back enough that she didn't have to worry about paying him rent or food. That and the fact that her parents were none too happy with her for changing their memories and making them sell their practice and move to Australia of all places without consulting them about it. They were angry enough to not want her at home with them for the time being.

Until she was working steadily in a job, Harry told her under no circumstances would he accept a Knut from her. She was going back to Hogwarts for her seventh year come September first. He and Ron weren't going back though. Ron was working at George's shop with him, and Harry was enrolled at the Auror Academy.

"Yeah, I have no choice but to be ready for it. You guys still won't tell me who all is going?" Harry asked hopefully. He had been trying to wheedle out how many guests he could expect at the party he insisted on not being a surprise. His reasoning was valid enough that no one was planning so much of a hiccup of shock for Harry. He said that if someone jumped out from behind a piece of furniture screaming something at him he was likely to curse it faster than the person could get out the 'Suh' in Surprise! Everyone who knew Harry knew this to be true, so no surprise parties for at least a few years.

Seeing as how he got his way with the 'no surprises' part of his birthday, no one would tell him how many people would be there. He made them promise on pain of pranks that he would know each person by name and face, no fan-guests. Only friends and 'family'. They agreed, but still wouldn't tell him how many people.

"Nope, you just have to wait, Harry. What's the fun in no surprises on your birthday? You can't take the fun out of everything," Hermione said with a smirk. Harry shook his head and wandered over to the fire.

"Five o'clock sharp Harry, at the Burrow. Don't be late!" she said to him as he picked up the Floo powder.

"Yes, mum," Harry said sarcastically before shouting his destination and jumping in the fire just in time to miss the piece of toast that landed in the flames seconds later.

Hermione was smiling despite the food throwing. Ron shook his head.

"We really were a bad influence on you," he said with a smile. She kissed him on the cheek as she past him to go get ready for the day.

"You love the new me, admit it," she said in a sing song voice.

"I love it. I love you," he said following her.

a/n: so i decided to post chapter 2 today also. Please let me know what you think! Review people, it's like air! i need them to live (or at least want to keep going)!

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