A POTTER TURNED FIFTEEN

Soon the morning of Harry's fifteenth birthday arrived. It was 6 AM when Sirius decided to wake Remus by dumping a bucket of water on his head. The werewolf yelped and wanted to chase him down the hall but stopped because Harry's bedroom was right next to Remus'.

"Shh," whispered Remus, putting a finger to his lips so they wouldn't wake the sleeping boy inside.

Sirius nodded and the two walked steadily downstairs to begin decorating the place for Harry's birthday. The night before, Remus had fire-called each person that was going to Harry's party to ask if they could attend at such short notice. Thankfully several agreed. So Bill, Charlie, Ron, Fred, George, Charlie, Ginny, Hermione, Neville, and even Hagrid agreed to come by. Mr. Weasley thought this would also be an excuse to talk about business with the Order and even the trial taking place soon after.

During that early morning Remus magically blew up red and blue balloons with long gold strings to float to the ceilings, and with a wave of his wand, had red and blue crêpe paper wrap around the banister. Sirius sent up a huge pile of multi-colored confetti to hover to the ceiling and have shower onto Harry the moment he stepped into the living room. A giant banner hung on the tall wall that separated the kitchen and the living room reading: HAPPY 15TH HARRY! in gold letters. They also prepared streamers to shoot across the room after the confetti fell down. If they had more time, and maybe if James were still here, the place would've been ten times better. Remus cooked up breakfast, and finally, it was time to get the birthday boy up.

The two men crept up the stairs cat-like and into Harry's room, advancing to his bed softly. Harry was fast asleep on his back, arms to his sides. He had been sleeping like that ever since his injections, even though his arms no longer hurt. Hedwig was on Harry's bed board and stared down intently, watching them with large amber eyes, as if about to attack if they harmed her master.

"Psst, Harry, wake up," Sirius whispered in the boy's ear. Harry continues to sleep. "Well, can't say I didn't try the harmless way first. Ready Moony?" smiled Sirius mischievously.

"Oh, I'm ready Padfoot," he said, just as slyly back.

Both whispered "Sornorous," and magically magnified their voices, then-

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" rang out into the room. Harry screamed and fell out of bed, Remus catching him under his arms before he hit his head on the hard wood floor. Their voices returned to normal, and both were laughing hard. Harry's eyes were wide with fright still, his heart beating rather fast.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Harry yelled as he scrambled to his feet.

Sirius stopped laughing, but was still wore a huge grin on his face. "I'm sorry Harry, but it's your birthday, we had to. Aw, don't be angry with us kid- come here"- Sirius held out an arm and Harry reluctantly went into the one-armed embrace.

"Happy birthday kiddo." He ruffled his hair before Remus held out his arms and hugged him after.

"Now come on downstairs Harry. Come on!" smiled Sirius.

Harry went to put on his glasses and slippers and waved goodbye to Hedwig, who was now in the far corner on the tall bookcase in the room in fright of the sudden noise that filled the room. Harry's eyes grew wide when he saw crêpe paper on the banister. He hurried down after Sirius and Remus to the living room and was suddenly showered in tons of tiny bits of colored paper, and it wasn't just a generous amount, it rained down on him, almost knocking him over and finally building up a pile two feet deep around his ankles when it all fell down. He looked at the two men, now laughing again.

"Do you really think we'd just give you a light shower of confetti Harry? No- it had to be fun"- Remus said as he helped Harry out of the fallen bits of millions of little paper. Harry looked around again to view the rest of the decorations. It wasn't much, but it was more than he ever had, and he was thankful for it.

"Thanks a lot for everything you guys. I wasn't expecting all this..." he mumbled, looking embarrassed, flicking paper out of his glasses and hair.

"Pff, this is just the beginning. You deserve a great birthday so we're going to deliver. Now how about some breakfast?" Sirius crossed his arms.

Harry drank his potions before starting his meal. On his plate were pancakes with bacon and eggs.

"Eat as much as you can but don't overeat," Remus instructed as he took a sip of coffee.

Harry started on his plate but stopped suddenly.

"Can I… try a taste?" he nodded to Remus' coffee.

"You want to taste coffee? Why?"

"Everyone seems to like it. I think I'm old enough to just try it."

Remus shrugged and handed his mug over. "Sure I guess. It's a little strong though…"

Harry took a sip- his body filled with a warm and relaxing feel the way hot chocolate did. He took one more sip before handing it back.

"Well?" Sirius smiled, watching.

"I like it. It is a little strong but it's soothing."

"Well maybe you can start drinking it during breakfast if you want. Now eat up," Sirius said in a muffled voice around his eggs.

Harry ate both toasts and most of his eggs. Sirius and Remus were surprised he ate all of that, but soon began to worry instead of praise him when they saw Harry get up to go to the sink. The boy began to empty out his over-stuffed stomach. Remus rubbed his back and gave him a glass of water to drink after then was told to bathe and get ready for his birthday. Harry dressed in an outfit consisting of clothing he received from his day of shopping not long ago. He took some time looking at himself in the full-length mirror in the bathroom. He was glad to be ridden of the marks and scars left by Uncle Vernon but he still looked very skinny and his face sunken in and pale, making him look ill. He was looking forward to seeing his friends but afraid at the same time; he didn't know what they knew about his home life and didn't want to answer questions. He was afraid Hermione would think he looked like a weak thing when she saw him; she had been on his mind all summer. Harry shook his head and went back downstairs, not wanting to keep Sirius and Remus waiting.

When he got to the dining room, it was completely unrecognizable. There was another 'Happy Birthday!' banner above it, and a long table was covered in drinks and snacks. There was two bowls of crisps, an open bag of chocolate and vanilla sandwich cookies, a plate with honey-flavored biscuits in the shape of magical animals (Hippogriffs, dragons, owls, unicorns, and a griffin), a bowl of chocolate frogs and a small dish of chocolate covered Muggle sweets called Smarties. A large jug sat with pumpkin juice and a few bottles of soda sat at the end. Harry couldn't help but feel excited.

"Like it so far?" Remus smiled.

Harry looked to him. "So I'm going to have an actual birthday party? I'm going to hang out with my friends and get gifts and eat junk food?"

"You bet. I hope you enjoy everything we were able to plan."

"I'm sure I'll like anything."

At that moment a loud crack was heard outside, followed by another, and another…

"That must be the guests," Remus jumped and opened the door to the front where the Weasleys had just Apparated and side-Apparated with their clan inside the perimeter of the house. Just as Harry walked outside he was smothered by a great ginger-haired hug.

"It's so good to see you Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley was saying. "I made sure to make plenty of food for you. Look at you- you're skin and bones! You'll need fattening up and"-

"C'mon Mum, don't smother him already," Fred smiled.

"All you lot move, he's my best mate," Ron was saying.

After everyone had greeted Harry they moved aside and walked into the house. Ron stepped up and grinned down at him.

"How are you mate?"

Harry shrugged. "All right for now I guess. Um, thanks for coming…"

Ron smiled more. "It's your birthday Harry, how could I not?" He then turned serious. "Are you sure you're doing okay? After everything that has happened?"

Harry frowned, not looking at him. "How much do you know?"

"We were told by Dad you've had troubles with the Muggles over the summer so Sirius and Remus took you under."

"They didn't go into detail did they?" Harry asked, afraid at what else Ron might know.

"No, that's all I know pretty much," Ron shrugged.

"Good. Sorry but it's not something I want to discuss anytime soon."

"Yeah, no problem," Ron looked uncomfortable. "But when you do… you know, I'm here. But I don't want to pressure you."

Harry could only nod, knowing that time wouldn't come until many many months from now. If ever. Five minutes later he was called inside the house for another guest had showed up. It was Neville.

"Hey Neville, I didn't know you were coming," Harry smiled.

"Remus talked with my gran yesterday saying they were going to hold a party for you," Neville sounded breathless for he had just traveled by Floo.

"Wow, glad you could make it then mate."

There was soon a clatter of voices in the house but Harry could hardly focus, where was Hermione? Surely she would be coming too. Almost twenty minutes had gone by before there was a knock on the door so Remus went to answered it. Harry popped at his side and smiled as he saw Hermione standing between her parents at the steps. Mr. Daniel Granger with his chocolate brown eyes and thinning graying brown hair and slight mustache and Mrs. Emma Granger with her short curly hair and hazel eyes looked a little nervous to be standing there.

"Hello, you must be Hermione's parents? I'm Harry's temporary guardian, Remus," Remus shook their hands.

"Hello Remus, I'm Daniel and this is my wife Emma," Hermione's father smiled, shaking his hand. "We heard so much about you from Hermione. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Did you find the place okay?"

Mr. Granger bit his lip. "It was a little tricky. When you sent that owl message it said you were minutes from our town. That's why were drove. But we couldn't find the house…"

"That's what the word on the paper was for," Hermione spoke. "The house is protected and the only way you can find it is if you say the word that was given to us."

"Ohh, how interesting," Mr. Granger smiled.

Harry leapt forward to introduce himself properly to the Grangers since he hadn't seen them in a year. Hermione gave Harry a smile which he returned when he shook their hands.

"You're welcome to come inside for a drink if you Mr. and Mrs. Granger," spoke Remus.

"Oh, that's quiet all right Remus," Mr. Granger said. "We really must head back now…" he informed although looking as if he wanted to walk inside the house.

"Are you sure? Come inside, have a drink. You don't need to be intimidated by everyone since we're wizards. Come inside for a bit," Remus said cheerfully.

Husband looked to his wife and both decided they would like to step inside, Daniel Granger saying he had never seen a wizard house before. This left Hermione at the front door with Harry.

"Happy birthday Harry," Hermione smiled.

"Thanks a lot," he said gratefully.

She hugged him tight, not letting go for a moment. It felt nice. When she let go she had tears in her eyes.

"Hermione? What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"Sorry. But when I heard… I can't believe it…"

"What did they tell you?" Harry looked angered.

"You were having troubles back home so Sirius took you here. I- I can't image what happened that was so-so bad you had to be t-taken from them."

Harry sighed. "Well I'm doing okay right now. But I'm not ready to talk about it yet. Why don't you come inside…"

"Well I'm alright now. C'mon, everyone is on the stairs, they'd like to see you."

She smiled and took his offered hand and met everyone. Meanwhile, the Weasleys and Grangers began to compare and contrast Muggle and wizard things and machines, which Mr. Weasley and Mr. Granger found most interesting. Meanwhile, the teenagers were up in Harry's newly furnished bedroom. It was rather uncomfortable for Harry to have his friends look at him the way they were and he really wished they'd stop.

"So how are you doing Harry?" Ginny asked.

"I'm fine," he said shortly.

"C'mon mate, you're living with Sirius and Remus now, how is it?" George smiled.

"It's been good. Real good. How have you guys been?" Harry was desperate for things not to lead to what he had just gone through weeks ago.

"Never mind us, we heard what happened. Not in detail but back with the Muggles"- Fred began but Harry put his foot down.

"It's over with; I'm not talking about it. I've had to have everything hidden from me just two weeks ago. I still can't believe Sirius is free. None if this seems real. I don't want to discuss any of it," Harry said, voice strong.

"We understand, we do," Hermione looked at him concerned. "But you do look happier than we've seen you. Look at this room, it's incredible! I'm really happy for you Harry, whatever happens, at least Sirius is free. You don't have to worry about him anymore."

Harry opened his mouth, not sure what to say. He nodded. "Yeah, yeah, that's good."

A half hour had passed and Hagrid had arrived, creating more cracks in the wall as he tried to squeeze himself into the front door of the crippling house.

"Happy birth'ay Harry!" he boomed and trapped the boy in a bone-crushing hug, which Harry found hurt worse than usual.

"Hagrid! Let him go, he's just been through a lot," hissed Remus firmly, noticing the boy's discomfort.

"Oh, righ', sorry Harry," Hagrid apologized, setting the teenager to his feet.

"Don't worry," Harry said through clenched teeth, arm over his ribs.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked concerned, guiding Harry away from the crowd of people by the stairs.

Harry let out a shuddering breath. "I think so, yeah."

"Make sure you tell Padfoot or myself if you're uncomfortable. Your body is still healing. Why don't you show everyone the back garden? Lunch will be served there soon."

Harry led his friends outside where the boys all gasped in excitement over the Quidditch hoops.

"Mum told us to bring our brooms, let's practice a bit before the food comes"- Fred suggested.

Hermione didn't own a broom so she sat back and watched as Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, Charlie, and Neville swooped around outside. Neville wasn't coordinated enough to play Quidditch so opted to sit out once the balls were brought out. Not long into it Hermione's father hurried out to see what was going on.

"Is this that Quiddik game you've told us about dear?" he asked his daughter as he watched the players zoom around. "Amazing!"

The adults brought out a couple tables and chairs from the basement and set them up with tablecloth and plates and silverware and then it was time to eat. The guests dug into roast chicken, roast beef sandwiches, chips, Mrs. Weasley's home-made peanut butter cookies, and a beautiful fruit salad. Harry wanted to eat two plates of food like Ron did but after getting sick that morning he knew it was important to not stuff himself yet. After some chatter once the food had been eating Sirius announced it was time for some games. The first one was dubbed Blind Seeker. Those participating were split into teams of two- one person on a broom was blindfolded and had to throw ordinary Muggle bouncy balls through a Quidditch hoop while a blindfolded partner at the bottom had to throw any that made it through into a basket. While the kids went into teams Harry went to his godfather.

"Sirius, am I still allowed to play even though it's my birthday?"

Sirius beamed and ruffled his hair. "Of course you are Harry, it's your birthday. You can't win any prizes but you can participate."

Harry ran off and went to play with George. Since Harry was a good Seeker he thought he'd be able to find the balls in the grass even though he had only his hands to do so. And the game began. It was difficult to locate where any balls were even though the adults gasped and clapped, Harry couldn't tell if they were for him or someone else. He felt a ball bounce off his shoulder and caught it in his hand before it fell. At least he got one in. At the end of it Ron and Ginny who were on a team won with Ginny being able to locate eight balls and put them in her basket. Sirius boasted out the prize bag.

"Oh wow- a gift card to Quality Quidditch Supplies! Worth ten galleons?" Ginny gasped, reading the writing on the card she picked out.

"How on earth could you afford to give out twenty galleons worth of Quality Quidditch Supplies?" said Ron in awe, holding his own for the shop.

"That's not important, let's move on shall we?" Sirius smiled.

After the track run game, they went to do another. They played four more games and at the end, Neville won a five-galleon gift card to Honeyduke's as well as a miniature owl figure that really flew, Ginny won another prize- a magical quill whose ink changed color every two minutes, Fred won a magical notepad that prevented certain people from looking inside it and had a theft alarm,(which was a great thing for plotting down new ideas for the joke shop they wanted to keep private), and Harry won the last game- a short but complicated obstacle course, and due to his surprising quickness, he beat the others, but he gave his prize to George, which was a kind of Pensieve quill. If you were afraid of losing a quick thought that was just appeared in your mind, you just had to extract it like a Pensieve thought, and put it in the quill and it could store up to twelve thoughts at a time.

After the games it was clear everyone was beginning to get warm so it was perfect timing for a swim in the rental transportable swimming pool Sirius had picked up from a shop in Hogsmeade. He unwrapped a small curvy flat shape that looked like a picture of the pool, complete with minute details. He placed the picture on the grassy ground of the higher part of the yard, and ran his wand over the outer rim twice saying in a whisper, "Arra billitrax appariium poolis." The picture began to quiver. He warned everyone to stand back as the pool began to expand. It rose as if from a giant pop-up book before dimension took shape and after another wave of the wand, water filled the pool. The process took a couple minutes but looked as if the pool had been there the whole time.

"Okay everyone, go put on your swimsuits and knock yourselves out, but save Remus and myself some room- it is hot today."

Eagerly, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Charlie, Neville, and Ginny ran inside to get changed. Harry was stopped by Sirius who told him, "There's a pair of trunks on my bed okay Harry?" Harry nodded and followed his friends inside. Harry came out wearing simple red trunks trimmed with black and a red towel wrapped over his torso.

As everyone jumped into the pool for some much-needed relief from the bright summer's sun, Harry stood in the shade, looking as if he were having an internal battle with himself.

"What's wrong cub?" Remus asked carefully, noticing the boy's discomfort. He placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, but he flinched back. "Sorry Harry. What's wrong?"

Harry looked at his feet and shrugged.

"Come on, tell me. There has to be something bothering you or you would've run to the pool just like everyone else. What is it?"

Harry looked up from his pale feet and said, "I don't want everyone to… well…see me."

Remus looked surprised. "Oh my, I didn't even think about that. And here we were thinking renting a pool was a good idea."

"No, I'm glad you did," Harry reassured. "I just don't want them to stare. And come to think of it, I don't think Hermione has really seen me in just… swim trunks. She'll notice how skinny I really am. And- and I still have scars." His eyes stung as he said this for some reason.

Remus placed a warm hand on Harry's shoulder. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. If you don't want to swim don't. I know your friends want answers but they're going to have to wait. It's not something anyone should be able to discuss so recently. I'm sure they'll understand if you don't jump in."

Harry sighed. "I know them, they'll feel sorry for me and say words to cheer me up but they're just empty words. They don't really know what I went through."

Remus' face was blank. "Think about what you just said Harry. Do you really wish your friends knew how you feel? Do you really want them to know what it feels like to go through everything you did for a month?"

Harry looked on as he watched everyone in the pool, splashing each other and jumping in.

"No, of course not."

"I know what you're trying to get at cub," Remus said softly and Harry could tell he was telling the truth. "There were times I wished people could feel what it felt like to turn into a werewolf every month when I was at Hogwarts. But I got to thinking; did I really want any of my friends and classmates to become a werewolf? No, because it was too horrible for anyone to deserve it."

Harry nodded. Remus rubbed his arm comfortingly, and that was when they saw Hermione coming forward.

"Is something wrong Harry?" she asked, looking concerned.

"Huh? Oh, it's okay, I'm fine," Harry said quickly.

"Are you sure? Why haven't you come in yet?" she asked.

"Oh, it's nothing, something stupid," he mumbled. He didn't want to look at her straight in the eye for some reason. When he did look up though he couldn't help but notice how slender her legs looked in her simple blue one piece suit. He swallowed with nerves.

Hermione shook her head. "Harry, anything you are thinking can't possibly be stupid. And judging by the way your towel is around you, you must be hesitant for everyone to see how you look. But you do know who is here correct? None of us would ever judge you by your looks, you can trust us. Join us in the pool, it feels so nice and the water is perfect. Please?"

"But"-

"Harry, we're your friends. I know myself won't do anything but if the others... well it's rude of them to stare! You're not some piece of art or a-a broomstick," she said wildly.

Harry laughed, knowing she was trying to use words he understood. "Fine, I'll go in but you have to promise to stop making me laugh."

She beamed. "Deal. Come on!"

"Wait! I don't really know how to swim," Harry said quickly as she was about to pull him over.

"I'll teach you some moves, and Ron and everyone else who wants to can show you as well. Just come on. You can still have fun in the shallow end, and there are floaty things if you want to go to the deep end," she said as she grabbed his hand.

Harry looked down at his hand that was entwined with hers and suddenly felt a rush of compassion. It was the oddest sensation he ever felt and he had no clue where it came from. He looked up to see her smiling at him, and he shook his head, trying to rid the thoughts in his head and plastered a cheeky smile back to her and followed her into the pool.

Harry surprised himself with having more fun in the pool than he would've guessed. He tried to ignore the looks he knew everyone was giving him so he began to do some messy laps around the pool. He was once again hit with an odd dreamy feeling when he heard Hermione laughing at how he showed off his version of swimming.

"What? What's so funny?" he demanded at her.

"Sorry Harry, you just look funny when you swim. I'm sorry," she giggled when she saw his green eyes glaring back at her.

"How do I look funny when I swim? I'm just moving my arms and legs like one does when he swims."

"You splash everywhere when you do it Harry. You flare your arms around as if there's a giant bug trying to sting you and you don't kick very hard. Your body isn't vertical enough," Hermione pointed out.

"Fine, you show me if you're the expert." He wanted her to show him.

"All right I will." Harry was given a few useful tips and lessons from Hermione then, shortly followed by Ron and the Weasley twins who it turned out, were very good swimmers. While the youger guests were at the pool the older ones sat around discussing the upcoming trial.

"Is it set then? Will Harry officially be adopted in two days?" Molly asked.

Remus ran a hand in his hair. "If things go accordingly… there's no reason why they wouldn't allow it to happen."

"But What about full moons?I know it wasn't an easy thing to decide concerning Harry," Arthur asked.

"We already told Harry our plans concerning that," Remus said with a bitter smile. "The full moon is next week and I'll be staying here in the basement for the night. To give safety measures to Harry and Sirius, they will go to Julie Vesser's house for the time being. You know, Lily's best friend while she was at Hogwarts? Harry's looking forward to it. He never met any of his mother's friends before, not including us. Plus, we told him that Julie loves to make home-made sweets and there's a lot we told him about that got his mouth watering," Remus smirked.

"Don't remind me," Sirius said dreamily.

"I'm curious how Harry's going to react to her kids. She has four, all under the age of ten," Remus said thoughtfully.

"So Sirius, think you're prepared enough to handle a teenager?" Arthur smiled.

"Of course. Harry's an easy kid as it is, not counting in his own personal issues. He's fifteen now, he doesn't need me to look after him much. Perhaps for advice since he'll be experiencing a lot the next few years but I'm not worried about legally being his guardian."

"How 'bout you Remus?" Hagrid spoke, trying to sit on the bench he was on without falling over.

"I know the Ministry will look for any reason to allow me unfit to be his guardian. I won't be surprised, as long as Sirius can become one, Harry will be fine. But since we both put money into this house and it's big enough, they are counting us as two friends who want to adopt. Something they never see and I know don't want to see. But whatever happens, Harry will have a better life this point forward," Remus said confidently.

"He will finally be able to run amuck and have no one to tell him no," Sirius smiled.

"He'll need to have boundaries set," Remus reminded him.

"No son of a marauder's needs boundaries!" Sirius declared, raising a finger in the air proudly.

The adults talked for twenty more minutes until Sirius checked his watch and decided it was time for some present-opening.

"Hey you lot- it's time for Harry to criticize the gifts we got him! Dry off and come inside!" Sirius yelled to everyone in the pool. After they had changed into their regular clothes the guests crowed around the table that held the burden of all the pretty gifts they had brought. Harry looked a bit stunned at the pile and stood with his mouth opened in silent awe.

"Well, choose a gift Harry," Remus said encouragingly, a hand resting on the boy's shoulder.

"Oh, right- yeah, okay," Harry said and took a gift at random. It was wrapped in shiny green paper and was topped with a beautiful gold bow. It was from Charlie.

"Be careful opening it Harry, there's a little something I attached to the bow," the Weasley pointed out.

Harry looked down curiously and saw a black string tied to the bow. He carefully undid the bow and the sting came loose. He picked it up and saw that there was a sharp three-inch tooth dangling from the end of it, (a dragon's tooth most likely).

Harry smiled. "Wow, thanks Charlie, it's really neat." Harry placed it around his neck and inspected the tooth more closely.

"It's from a Chinese Fireball Harry. I was pretty lucky I was able to retrieve it. It came loose off of an old female and I picked it up before she had a chance to scorch me," the second oldest Weasley explained.

Harry began to rip the green paper apart. There was a green box that he tore open and picked up what was inside. It was a dragon wind chime. He placed a couple fingers in the gold ring that suspended it to look at it closely. It held a beautifully painted sculpture of a Hungarian Horntail that really blinked her eyes and moved her head this way and that as well as flapped her sparkly wings and banished her spiked tail, steam coming from her nostrils now and again. She was on top a pile of rocks and stones, and on each of the six strings dangling from the base were glittering golden eggs.

"Oh wow, this looks great. Thanks a lot."

Charlie grinned. "Glad you like it."

He was then given another present. It was wrapped in red paper and was from Sirius. He tore off the paper eagerly and saw himself holding a heavy crate. It was a brand new set of Quidditch balls.

"These are the best kind of balls to play with at home kiddo," Sirius introduced them. "The ones we have now have been here when we moved in and you know they're old and rusty. These At Home Quidditch Practice Balls are safer than the real ones used in actual games. Open it up, go on!" he hurried the overwhelmed boy.

Harry took out the tiny golden key it came with and unlocked the crate. In it were four brand-new Quidditch balls. There was a scarlet Quaffle made from real dragon hide, two handsome but dangerous-looking black Bludgers and a tiny shiny golden Snitch.

"The Quaffle is a bit softer than the real thing so it's a tad easier to catch. The Bludgers weigh two pounds less than the actual ones and the Snitch is brighter, making it easier to spot. It also flies up to a hundred and ten feet in the air so you know that you can't go any higher than that when trying to catch it. It also only extends thirty-six feet from whatever pitch you're playing on, so you can't lose it as easily. Plus, it only files when you want it to fly. When you take it out, it doesn't race into the air immediately, only when you press this little button here, see? There's a whole booklet in here that goes in-depth about the balls," Sirius explained.

"These look great Sirius. Wow, my own set of Quidditch balls, that's every kid's dream huh?" Harry smiled.

He was then given another gift. It was from Neville.

"Hope you like them," he explained bashfully as Harry opened a large box of various gum.

"Thanks Neville, I'll go through this quick I'm sure," Harry told him.

Time passed and he received a box of home-made treacle fudge and a book called 1001 Fun Facts on Wizard Animals by Donnie Mc Collensly from Hagrid and a fun book from Ginny called Witches, Wizards and Goblins: A Guide to Wizard Music by Frank Lellioon. Harry was then passed a gift from Hermione. He found himself getting excited at what she bought him. It was a slender small box wrapped in blue and silver. He took off the wrappings to find an expensive-looking toothbrush with a red base.

"It's an electric one Harry. My parents thought you might want a really good one for some reason. You know them, dentists," Hermione passed off.

"That's a great brand you know lad," Mr. Granger pointed out.

"Daniel, he doesn't care," his wife Emma snapped.

"I have something a little more exiting that that though," Hermione passed along another gift.

Harry opened a smaller box and found a large chocolate. It was in the shape of a single fat birthday candle and was filled with truffle cream. Harry smiled and opened the other gift. It was a small pack of dragon figures, five of them in total. He was about to thank her when he saw them spring to life. They really roared tiny roars and walked around the floor. They were just like real dragons but miniaturized.

"They're like the ones you got from the first task last year. They copy all the sounds of a real dragon and everything. They even fly! The good thing is you don't have to feed them as they are just toys, but the bad thing is you have to look out for them because they can easily get lost. And each one is a different breed. I forgot which breeds they are but there's a little book here that explains it a bit more," Hermione explained.

"This is really cool, thanks Hermione. Hey, come back here," he said to the little Common Welsh Green who was scampering away from the rest. He placed them in the box again and turned to his remaining gifts, which there was still a pile of. Suddenly, a large box was placed on Harry's lap.

"From us little brother," George winked.

Harry was a bit apprehensive as he carefully pulled the paper and bow off the box, afraid it might blow up if he wasn't careful because if you were given anything from the Weasley twins, you had to be cautious. He opened it up to find a plain white box. He sighed and decided to get the worst over with and opened the box. Nothing happened, but a bunch of little products appeared in the box.

"We have been working tirelessly on making new products, ones that aren't real dangerous, mind you. These are just the prototypes of a select few we thought you might enjoy. Of course, that means we have to re-stock ourselves and create several things from scratch again, but it's worth it. We thought you deserved it more than anyone else. Go check it out," Fred smiled.

Harry looked down at the samples. There were hair-changing gels that made a person's hair covered in funny patterns such as circles and squiggles and a wide array of colors. There were a few samples of their latest inventions- skiving snack boxes, (only the ones that they knew were one hundred percent safe), irritating sound makers, light bulbs that had different colored lights, ten fake wands, five strands of their new Extendable Ears, and mini-lake kits.

"So have some fun Harry. Live a little," winked Fred.

"Thanks you two, I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Harry reassured them but still looking apprehensive. "What's next?"

"Here is one from me," Remus said and brought over the semi-flat gift. Harry opened it to find two more books.

"A Seeker's Secret by Quilla Billhart and Stars, and Stripes, and Snitches: Quidditch in America by Michael Johnston?" said Harry, reading off the titles of the books.

"What? Do they not sound interesting?" panicked Remus. "I'm sorry Harry; I was rushing a bit this week trying to find you something you'd like. I ordered that one book straight from New York in America."

"No Remus, I love it! It'll be cool to read how they do Quidditch in the States."

He opened another gift from Remus right after that one. They were a new pair of slippers. Blue in color and had a fancy 'P' on the top written in silver.

Finally, he was given a gift from Ron. It was surprisingly heavy. He unwrapped the red and gold paper to find a Snitch that was heavy and about ten times as big as a normal one.

"It's a Snitch bank. Instead of having money hanging around, you can keep it in here. Just place all those loose galleons, sickles and knuts in here and it sorts them into separate columns and after it gets full enough, it begins to bug you to spend the money that's in it," Ron explained.

"Wow! Brilliant, thanks mate."

Harry plowed through the rest of his gifts. He received a hand-knitted quilt from Mrs. Weasley that was blue and had a beautiful picture of Prongs surrounded by pretty lily flowers on the night sky. Harry found his eyes prickle again when he saw the image.

"Thank you so much Mrs. Weasley, it's beautiful." He stood up to give her a hug.

"Oh, you're very welcome dear, it was nothing," Molly smothered, kissing Harry's cheek.

"Okay, what's next?" Harry asked, looking around.

He was given his last two gifts, both from Sirius and Remus. He opened the gift from Sirius first. Harry gasped again.

"A signed poster from the Kenmare Kestrels? Are you serious?"

All the boys jumped up as if something had just bitten their bottoms and they crowded over Harry to see if it was true. Sure enough, on the moving poster of the team racing around on their Firebolts were seven signatures.

I can't believe I'm signing a poster for the boy-who-lived! Happy birthday kid! – Connolly. And Happy fifteenth birthday Harry Potter! - Ryan. As well as: Keep up the great flying kid! Have a grand birthday! - Troy plus: Have a very wonderful birthday Mr. Potter! From Mullet as well as: Maybe we'll see you on the pitch in the next few years. Have a great 15th From Moran and: Happy birthday Harry Potter, hope it's great! From Quigley, and last but not least: Keep up the great flying that I've been hearing about, considering you sound a better seeker than I ever was at school, happy 15th! From Lynch.

Everyone was staring at the poster in disbelief, almost jealous.

"Seamus is going to flip when we tell him he is," Ron gasped.

Remus passed along Harry's last gift. It was in an envelope. Harry opened it with curiosity, and smiled wide when he saw what fell out. It was three gift cards.

"Yes! Finally I have gift cards! I've always wanted gift cards. Where are they for anyway? Thirty galleons to Quality Quidditch Supplies! Twenty for Flourish and Blott's, nice, and twenty for- Gary's Goods? What's that?" Harry asked, looking at Remus, curiosity drawn on his face.

"It's a Muggle shop. It has everything the average teen wants I'd say," Remus explained. "Books, music, films, all that fun stuff. I just thought you might want to get a chance to see what regular kids out there are listening to and watching. We could even get one of those TV things sometime in the near future if you want."

Harry was a wizard but having grown up in the Muggle world there were things he always wanted since he was little. Knowing he could catch up on the music and films everyone his age enjoyed was something exciting. He thanked everyone again and again before it was suggested to go back out into the pool. Dinner was served at 6 o'clock. Everyone took up seats at the benches again while it filled with food a second time. Mrs. Weasley slapped Ron's hand away when he tried to reach over to place hot, cheesy scalloped potatoes on his plate, shrieking that since it was Harry's birthday he was to be served first. Harry got up and placed on his plate a small helping of the potatoes, a sizable slice of pork, sweet corn, and applesauce and filled his goblet with Sprite. After he served himself, everyone else began to serve themselves and eat. Remus sat on Harry's left, Ron to his right. Remus looked at Harry's plate, which he was shocked to find piled with more food than he ever ate this whole summer.

"Harry, I know you don't want to appear too deprived of food to your friends, but you know you can't eat all that. You'll make yourself sick, plus you still have birthday cake after this! Don't over-eat okay?" Remus said carefully.

Harry sighed.

"You don't want to be missing out on birthday cake do you? It's a really good one too; I helped pick it out with Padfoot. You'll really like it," Remus smiled slightly.

"Okay fine," Harry rolled his eyes and began to eat. He finished all the meat and half his potatoes before he was through. Ron understood how much Harry couldn't eat just yet, and offered to finish off his plate. Harry nodded, stuffed. Everyone lounged around after the grand dinner for an hour before it was time for cake. Harry was feeling pretty worn out and tired by now, having done so much that day, but he forced himself back into the kitchen after everyone else. A grand cake was placed in front of Harry. It boasted white chocolate frosting, and had a moving picture on the front of a giant fire-breathing dragon.

"What's with all the dragons?" Harry said at random, smiling.

"Who knows, maybe everyone just wants them to become your new 'thing'," Sirius shrugged.

Everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to the slightly overwhelmed boy and as he stood in front of the glowing candles, he thought of his wish: I wish I could understand these feelings I have for Hermione. He blew out the candles and the cake was served. It had layers of devil's food and white cake with vanilla frosting in between each layer as well as little pieces of chocolate sandwich cookies.

Fred and George put on a spectacular display of fireworks outside to finish off the perfect birthday, and everyone finally left around ten that night, all wishing Harry a happy birthday and giving him hugs and kisses that made the tired boy turn tomato-red. Sirius and Remus closed the front door to find Harry practically asleep on the sofa. Sirius carried the exhausted boy when he insisted he was too tired to walk himself, to bed and after the two wished Harry a happy birthday again did the boy fall asleep completely.

One more down, many more to go. Stick around and don't continue on unless it has been updated this year!

Magical love, Rose, June 3, 2013