Hello Readers,
Thank you again for the lovely comments and support.
Aya, lots of fluff coming up in this one, actually it's basically all this chapter is, nothing super substantial happening in this chapter.
Enjoy!
Harry could feel the excitement in his skin, like electricity all over, tomorrow he would be 8 (again) and he couldn't contain the energy. Of course it HAD to be raining tonight and he was stuck indoors so he'd run up to his and Severus's bedroom to get a toy, then back down to the living room, the kitchen for this or that, repeatedly. Tobias had asked him to calm down, but he just couldn't. He was running so fast, then suddenly the couch was in the way, he gracefully, like an Olympic athlete in the 110m hurdles lept one food on the cushion and then over the back end, well maybe not just like an Olympic athlete, but close enough.
CRACK
"Ow!" Harry cried grabbing his bottom where Tobias had just landed his heavy hand.
"I know you're excited for tomorrow, but that does not mean you can hurdle the furniture."
Harry pouted, "Sorry." His repentance was short lived as he ran up the stairs a moment later.
"Severus!" Tobias yelled into the kitchen. "Did you give Harry sweets?"
"I wouldn't dare." Severus deadpanned. He smirked when his father looked back at the telly though. Mr. Jenkins had in fact given Severus a few chocolate bars that had been damaged and couldn't be sold, so Severus had shared with Harry earlier that day, a decision he was regretting as the little boy bounced around the house, the sugar high combined with the excitement of his birthday was too much to be contained in his little body, but there was no way he'd tell his father that.
Tobias checked the time, quarter after 8. "Harry, time for bed."
"Aww, but it's still early."
"It's after your bedtime."
"I ALWAYS stay up late for my birthday." Harry said firmly.
"Not anymore. Up!" Tobias fixed the boy with a no nonsense look and Harry relented.
With a huff he stomped up the stairs muttering something about "can't make me sleep." Tobias chuckled and shook his head, he could understand the excitement, from what he could tell Harry had never celebrated his birthday at all, no cakes, parties, presents, it had been completely overlooked by his relatives, and with it being in the middle of summer holidays not even teachers would have done anything like they might have for pupils whose birthday was during the school year. He was looking forward to giving Harry his first happy birthday.
Harry was out cold ten minutes later.
/
"No, no, Severus, the table goes the other way….. Yes, that's better…. Do we have the balloons? What about the…"
"Dad! Its fine. Relax." Severus panted.
"The cake! We forgot about the cake!"
"Lily is bringing it over. Please calm down." Severus begged his father to sit down at one of the small tables they had put up in the back garden. The Evans family was coming over and Danny and his mother from next door. A relatively small gathering, but it would be more than enough for Harry. "How did you manage for my birthdays?"
"Your mother did most of it." Tobias answered.
Severus gave a curt nod "Yes, that would make sense." Severus tied up another balloon and set out the plates. "I think we're already. Harry and Danny should be back from the park with Mrs. Finnegan shortly and Lily.."
"We're here!" Lily cried as she came through the garden door holding it open for her parents to come through followed by a dour Petunia.
Mrs. Evans brought the cake into the kitchen and called out "I brought some candles in case you didn't have any."
"Candles! We forgot candles" Tobias cried out. Severus rolled his eyes.
"We're back!" Harry yelled from the house as he and Danny ran through to the back garden. Apparently the trip to the play park had not curbed Harry's energy at all. "Wow!" Harry's jaw dropped as he saw the little back garden transformed by the simple addition of a few colorful balloons and a couple card tables.
"The pizza boy was heading to the door just as we were." Mrs. Finnegan announced as she made her way through to the garden followed by a teen a little older than Severus who carried a couple of pizza boxes, Tobias paid the youth and showed him out.
The boxes were opened and everyone started helping themselves to a slice.
"Mmm Hawaiian! My favorite." Said Harry as he pulled one pineapple laden slice out.
Almost everyone made a face of disgust, pineapple on pizza was just… wrong.
"Yes!" Cried Lily, "I love Hawaiian pizza, no one ever orders it." she said as she grabbed another slice and Harry grinned up at her. They both found spots at the tables. Severus gave his father a light elbow and nodded in their direction.
Harry had pulled off every piece of pineapple and set it in a neat pile on his plate to be eaten later then started pulling the ham off and eating it as he did. Lily, unable to see Harry from her spot, was doing the exact same thing. They each picked up their slices and took a bite from the crust end first.
"Well that's rather unusual." Tobias muttered.
/
Tobias pulled Harry up to stand on his chair and protectively kept his arm around the boy's waist so he wouldn't fall. A beaming Harry suddenly felt very shy and rested his head on Tobias's shoulder while the little group sang to him. Harry couldn't remember ever being this happy, he had a dad, and a big brother, and his mom and grandparents (although they didn't know it) were celebrating with him, this was by far the best birthday ever, the sudden realization of all this was a little too much and Harry quickly tried to wipe away the tears threatening to fall.
"Harry?" Tobias asked with concern as he saw Harry's tear filled eyes, he quickly pulled the boy into his arms and that broke the dam. "What's wrong, Harry? I thought you'd like this, I'm sorry we couldn't do more."
"Ungrateful brat." Petunia muttered to herself, but no one heard her.
Harry pulled away and looked at his dad, "No, no it's perfect. Thank you. I never had someone care before."
"The candles are dripping wax on the cake!" Danny yelled, completely oblivious to the emotional moment. His mother gave him a light cuff but the spell had broken and Harry quickly blew out the candles in one go before Mrs. Evans took the cake to cut it.
After eating the biggest slice of the first birthday cake he could remember made by his mom (unbeknown to her), Lily handed him a present "Open ours first."
Harry smiled and unwrapped the large box "Lego Building Set! Thank you!" Harry admired the set of little blocks, he'd often watch Dudley get the building sets, although the lug of a boy had never shown an interest in them Harry had still never been allowed to touch them.
Danny and his mother had gotten him a handful of matchbox cars and Tobias and Severus got him a few books (classics adapted for children), and a Pocket Transistor Radio which Harry was looking forward to trying out, the house could get very quiet especially with nothing good on the telly during the day (or when Severus was hogging it).
/
Harry couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate, shortly after the Evans family left and Danny and his mother went back home next door Harry, Severus, and Tobias walked the few blocks to the nearby theater.
Harry's eyes were wide as he saw the large screen, something he'd never been able to do in his first life either, but as excited as he was for the movie, the excitement of the day finally caught up to him and he ended up falling asleep for the last half hour of the film. Tobias ended up having to carry him home and tucked him into bed.
/
Sunlight streamed in the little bedroom and streaked across Harry's face. He groaned and rolled over and cracked open his eyes. Severus was quietly sleeping in the bed across from him. Harry considered going back to sleep but his stomach rumbled loudly demanding food so he sat up and headed downstairs. Normally Tobias was up puttering around the kitchen Sunday mornings but it was eerily quiet, a quick glance at the clock showed that it was only 6, a bit early to be up for a Sunday.
Harry looked around the kitchen for a moment, not sure what to do next, but another loud rumble in his stomach propelled him to action. He got the kettle started for some tea and pulled out eggs and bacon. He'd had almost 10 years experience making the Dursley's breakfast and he hadn't lost the knowledge, but he quickly found out the skill was a little rusty as his small arms struggled to move the pan around and he could just barely look over the stove.
Tobias always liked sliced fried tomatoes with his breakfast so Harry decided to make some for him, he struggled to handle the knife in his small hands and almost cut himself a couple times. He pushed a stool towards the stove so he could see better and added the tomatoes to the pan.
While he was working, Harry didn't notice how hot the pan was getting and a moment later it quickly caught fire. Harry stared at the pan for a moment, not being able to remember how to handle a grease fire, was it put out with water or use the lid. In his panic Harry was about to pick up the pan all together to take it outside when he was pulled away from the stove. He stood frozen in place as Tobias turned off the stove and covered the pan, the fire out within moments before turning on Harry.
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
"Making breakfast."
"You're too young to do that unsupervised." Tobias scolded giving Harry a little shake.
"I used to make breakfast for my relatives all the time!" although now that Harry thought about it, he was probably closer to 10 before Aunt Petunia let him use the stove alone. "I was hungry, and I wanted to do something nice."
"Dad, I think you burnt breakfast." a sleepy Severus said stumbling into the kitchen, his hair disheveled as Harry's always was.
"No more cooking alone. Understood?" Tobias waved his finger at Harry who had taken to staring at his toes.
The small untidy head nodded and he quickly wiped his eyes, he was always mucking everything up. Tobias quickly scrapped the burnt food and sighed as that was the last of the bacon, eggs, and tomatoes it would have to be porridge again this morning.