Harry's 18th Birthday Party
The morning haze had long since burned off by the afternoon sun, and the sky was a clear, bright blue. Ron and George were busy draping red and gold streamers from any surface they could find across the backyard while Hermione charmed small red and gold orbs of light to float above them. Ginny and Mrs. Weasley hurried past Harry on their way outside, both carrying large plates filled with food and snacks which were placed on a decorated table hiding in the shade near the house.
"How many people did you say were invited?" Harry whispered anxiously to Ron, eyeing the table threatening to collapse under the weight of food.
"All the Weasleys, of course, the old Order, the DA and some of their families, Hermione's parents, and a bunch of reporters," he replied happily. Harry's head snapped towards him and Ron instantly held up his hands as if to ward off an attack. "Kidding about the reporters."
"That's still a ton of people, Ron."
"All here to celebrate you." Ron gave an affection slap to his shoulder, but the uncomfortable expression on his friend's face did not fade. "Oh come on, enjoy it! You've never had a proper birthday party so you can't say you don't like it before you've tried it. Plus, with all of our friends, it's bound to be a good time." Harry made no comments, but instead watched George levitate a large banner over the table of food that read "Happy Birthday Harry!"
"Really?" Harry said, shifting uncomfortably.
"What, too small? We can make it bigger. Hey George!" Ron shouted, striding forward with a large grin and Harry grabbing his arm and attempting to talk over him.
"Don't approve, Harry?" George said in mock surprise. "I guess we'll have to go with plan B, huh Ron?" He agreed with a nod of his head while Harry shook his furiously, not wanting to find out what Plan B was. George pointed his wand at the banner and changed it to read "Happy Birthday to the Chosen One, Boy Who Lived, and Savior of the Wizarding World!" The letters shrunk to fit the annoyingly long title on the banner and Harry's cheeks burned scarlet to match the decorations.
"Change it back," he demanded.
"Ah, he changes his tune. Too little too late, I reckon," George mused thoughtfully, eyeing the banner standing beside Ron and Harry.
"Wow, Harry. I didn't know you were one for bragging." The three turned around to see Charlie walking towards them after apparting just beyond the fence's border.
"Change it back, George."
"Fiiiine," he whined grudgingly with a smirk. The banner switched to its original message and Harry's cheeks slowly turned back to his normal color as he turned again to face Charlie.
"Happy birthday Harry! Sorry, I can't quite remember all of the titles you apparently wanted to be called," Charlie joked happily. Harry shook his hand and accepted his well wishes with an obvious eye roll. The next five minutes were filled with greeting the rest of the Weasleys as they apparated to the Burrow to help set-up, each holding wrapped gifts which they began to pile onto the empty table next to the food. Luckily, Charlie was the only one to see the extended banner.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Mrs. Granger peered out the passenger window to see beautiful yet decidedly empty rolling hills, and no houses along the dirt road.
"Positive. We'll be there soon," her husband replied confidently. "Ron said it was way off the beaten path, remember?"
"Such a pain to get there, though."
"Well they don't use cars to travel, so it's probably not a problem."
"I am rather nervous to go, are you?" She looked at Curtis anxiously, but he didn't take his eyes off of the bouncing road ahead of him. "We'll be the only muggles there, won't we?"
"Doesn't Harry have some muggle family too?"
"They were really terrible to him from what I understand, so I doubt they were invited."
"Oh," he replied softly, trying to hide his growing nerves. "I'm sure it'll be fine though. I'm actually excited to meet all the people Hermione's been telling us about all these years!"
"I suppose it'll be good to put a face to the name and all that." She returned to staring listlessly out of the car window.
"Here we are," Mr. Granger announced as the towering house came into view. "Um, there's no driveway… where should I park?" The car slowed to a crawl as they scanned the surroundings.
"Just leave it here." She unbuckled her seat belt. "No one else has a car." With a shrug, Curtis put the car in park in the middle of the thin one-way road and shut the door behind him. He studied the oddly shaped house apprehensively, took his wife's hand, and they made their way through the overgrown garden to the front door.
"They're here!" Hermione shouted from the kitchen. "Everyone, please remember that they're muggles so-"
"Be on our best behavior, we know Hermione," Ron finished. "Do you want to get that?" He motioned to the door as a second knock echoed against the wood. She pushed passed him at a sprint and slid to a stop in front of the door before pulling it open and embracing her two parents.
"Ron, good to see you again!" Curtis shook his hand smiling.
"Good to see you too, Mr. Granger! This is my Dad, Arthur," Ron introduced his giddy father who couldn't seem to believe his luck at having two muggles at his house and whispered a warning into his ear before leaving to greet Hermione's Mom. After a quick hello between the two, Hermione led both parents into the backyard where everyone else was chatting under the festive decorations.
"This is Molly, Ron's Mom, and this is Charlie and Bill and Fleur- they're married-and Percy and George and Ginny and Harry," Hermione listed out, moving along the half circle of the assembled family. "Everyone, these are my parents, Juliet and Curtis." The names were already blending together into one red-headed blob for her parents and after they all said a simultaneous hello, Juliet turned to the one she could easily recognize.
"Harry! Happy Birthday!" She said with a large smile to the black haired teen. Hermione stood back with her father as her mom approached him. Harry was the only other person who knew about muggles from first-hand experience, so she wasn't too worried about him.
"Thanks, Mrs. Granger!" He smiled back at her and stepped aside to let her into the small circle he had formed with two of the many red-headed kids. "It's nice to see you again. I hope this isn't too sudden for you. I'm sure you're not used to this many witches and wizards in one place."
Thank God, someone else here gets it, she thought relieved. "It is quite weird, I must admit. But, I'm glad I can finally put faces to the names," she turned with a smile to the two siblings.
"I'm Ginny," she reintroduced herself and held out her hand.
"Ginny!" The name sparked a realization for her. "Yes, the youngest, right?"
"Yeah. So don't worry, I'm not allowed to do magic for another month still." Ginny scowled and Mrs. Granger nodded her head distractedly. This, she could understand. Hermione wasn't allowed to do magic at home for quite some time either.
"I'm George and I am allowed to do magic," he said happily. Ginny stuck his tongue out at him and crossed her arms while muttering darkly. Most likely about her plans for revenge.
"Nice to meet you, George." She clutched her purse in front of her nervously and looked around the yard for a subject to grasp onto. "Harry, Hermione showed me that article about you in your paper." Ginny's frown instantly turned into a smirk.
"She did, did she?" Harry ran a hand through his hair nervously and attempted to force his cheeks to stop blushing.
"From what I understood, you're quite the hero aren't you? And you're rather good at magic, huh?"
"Hermione's better than me in most subjects, actually," he replied, eager to change the topic of conversation before George or Ginny could interject.
Hermione, still watching their small group from the corner of her eye, relaxed slightly when she saw her mom smiling. She made a mental note to thank Harry later and turned back to her father who had begun to walk across the yard to the elder Weasley brothers.
"Hello, hello!" He said cheerfully. Charlie raised his bottle of butterbeer in greeting and Bill smiled warmly at them.
"You're Bill, right?"
"He's Bill, I'm Charlie," the latter clarified. "Nice to finally meet you."
"Oh right, sorry."
"No worries. There's an awful lot of us, after all," Bill replied warmly.
He chuckled appreciatively. "Indeed there are. So, your Dad works for your Ministry, right? What do you two do?" The two Weasleys looked at Hermione apprehensively, unsure of how to respond. Earlier, they had both been warned to keep things as non-magical as possible around her parents.
"Er…"
"Bill is going to be teaching at Hogwarts this year and Charlie… well, he works with dragons," Hermione answered for them, unable to create a somewhat truthful yet non magical version of Charlie's job.
"Dragons!? Good lord, that's remarkable! That must be a rather dangerous profession, though."
"Yeah, it keeps me on my toes. I'm sure Harry can tell you about that too."
"What?"
"Long story, but yeah, it's a fun job. What do you do, again?"
"I'm a dentist."
"Oh! A tooth doctor, right?" Bill clarified, finally putting his one year of Muggle Studies to good use. Mr. Weasley joined the circle and the two fathers quickly started exchanging enthusiastic questions about their lives, leaving Bill, Charlie, and eventually Hermione to excuse themselves politely from the pair.
At precisely three in the afternoon, people began appearing in the surrounding fields just outside the white fence. Neville was the first to arrive with his grandmother in tow. They both headed straight for Ron, Hermione, and Harry, all of whom waved at their fellow Gryffindor.
"Happy Birthday, Harry!" Neville said as he approached the trio.
"Thanks, mate. Good to see you, again!"
"Hey Ron, hey Hermione! I feel like I haven't seen you in ages!"
"Neville! Aren't you going to introduce me?" His grandmother slapped him on the arm. Harry noticed that she was not wearing a vulture hat, as he had always imagined, but she did have her now iconic handbag draped across her arm.
"You already met them! At St. Mungo's, remember?" he replied indignantly.
"Yes, I certainly remember. But as you are more acquainted with them, it's the polite thing to do." The small woman turned back towards them and waited not-so-patiently for her grandson.
"Fine. Guys, this is my grandmother, Augusta Longbottom."
"Thank you, dear. And happy birthday, Mr. Potter." Before he could reply, she barrelled on. "I recently started taking the Daily Prophet again and I read that article about you three just the other week. I must say, I was quite impressed. Obviously, I was impressed by all the stories Neville told me about you," (Neville turned a fierce scarlet and studied his shoes) "but after hearing what you accomplished, well… you all must be quite talented and brave to say the least."
"Thank you, Mrs. Longbottom. That's so kind of you," Hermione said graciously. She fought the urge to kick her two friends to say something, but thankfully, Harry complied without any violence needed.
"Thanks," he managed. Pleased that she had said her bit, Augusta walked briskly away to find Molly. "What stories have you told about me, Neville?" Harry asked innocently once she was out of earshot.
"Oh, shove off, Potter. Otherwise, I'm taking back your present. Where should I put it, by the way?" Neville asked Ron, holding up a small wrapped box.
"Over there," Ron pointed at the table near the house and watched Neville walk over to it as the next guests approached them. Guests that were bound for a much more awkward encounter.
"Hello, Harry. Best wishes on your 18th birthday," the dreamy voice of Luna Lovegood floated towards them. Her tall father shuffled behind her awkwardly, looking at his shoes so that his pale blond hair hung in waves covering his eyes. The trio exchanged their hellos with their friend, and the trio glanced anxiously at Xenophilius unabashedly.
"Dad, stop looking at the grass and say happy birthday," she scolded as if he was her own child and not the other way around. What an odd experience to have Luna correct you on social cues, Ron thought mirthfully.
"Yes, yes, of course. Happy birthday, Harry." He glanced up and met his eyes for a second before staring at his daughter's shoulder.
"Thanks," he replied tensely.
"Dad, I told you. Harry is a forgiving person if you'd just say something." Luna's soft voice was replaced with a harder edge that she seldom used, but it got the job done.
"Right," he began grudgingly. "About the last time we saw each other…" he trailed off, but no one filled in so he was forced to continue. "I am terribly sorry for attempting to turn you in. My Luna means the world to me and I was just trying to do something to get her back, not that that justifies my actions because I fully regret what I did. So, I must also thank you for saving her and bringing her back to me." He brushed away a lock of his pale hair away from his face and gazed at them each avidly with large and unblinking eyes.
"Right…" Harry started. He glanced at Ron whose eyebrows betrayed his utter confusion on what he should say or do.
"Thank you for saying that, Mr. Lovegood," Hermione said politely, smoothing over the awkwardness.
"Yeah, thanks for apologizing," Harry added on to Hermione's non-committing response. They all stood in an awkward and unspeaking circle and suddenly, Harry desperately needed something to do with his hands. "I'm going to grab a butterbeer," he announced and led his friends to the table where a bin full of drinks rested under the table.
With a bottle in hand, Harry endured the next half an hour of accepting well-wishes, more than a few more awkward introductions to parents who tagged along with their kids clearly just to meet him before leaving again, and greeting old friends. The entirety of the remaining DA showed up as well as Andromeda, Teddy, Professor McGonagall, and Hagrid. After shaking hands with awestruck parents standing next to the uncomfortable DA member who quietly urged them to leave, Harry was left alone with his friends, all of whom had supported him consistently throughout the years (mostly). And even with Ron's smug look and his unspoken 'I told you so's,' Harry did have a good time.
There were enough kids to have a full game of Quidditch and after a few apparated home to grab their broomsticks, teams were made. Harry and Ginny were made team captains and after snide comments from both while the rest of the players assembled, they chose their teams. Harry chose Ron, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Dean Thomas, Michael Corner, and Justin Finch-Fletchey. Ginny had George, Charlie, Bill, Alicia Spinnet, Cho Chang, and Lee Jordan.
"You're going down, Weasley," Harry muttered out of the corner of his mouth as they swung their legs around their broomsticks.
"Says the wizard who hasn't practiced for over a year." He scoffed and kicked off from the ground, hearing the rest of his team follow suit. From the ground, Hermione levitated the quaffle in the middle of their pitch and after counting to three, let it drop and the game began.
From the sidelines, Mr. and Mrs. Granger watched with interest while Hermione and McGonagall explained the rules to them. The rest of the DA idled by and made bets on outcomes as well as keeping track of the score. Neville and Hannah Abott were partially watching, but mostly were talking over their own drinks, hardly aware of their surroundings.
Harry and Charlie both circled the field on the broom while scanning the air for a flash of gold.
"I forgot you were a seeker, Charlie," Harry commented.
"Yeah, a seeker out of practice for sure."
"Same here." Below them, the game was beginning to lose all sight of the rules. George was conveniently parked in front of their hoops alongside Lee Jordan, the actual keeper for the team, and claimed to be 'protecting the hoops from bludgers' when in reality, he used his bat to hit the quaffle that Angelina shot at the hoops to the other end of the field. In turn, Dean (a beater) began chucking quaffles at George. Ginny flew up to the seekers for the sole purpose of distracting a laughing Harry by grabbing onto the end of his broomstick and urging Charlie to grab the snitch, even though none of them have seen it yet. After about thirty minutes of this, all three of them spotted a bright flash of gold so Harry bumped into the two Weasleys that were currently sandwiching him from either side and chased after the snitch. It danced just past the left hoop where Ron was guarding, and Harry ducked his head to fly through it, reached out and grabbed the golden ball with Charlie tailing him. He held it up in his crumpled fist and the onlookers finally saw that the game ended and started clapping and exchanging galleons and sickles.
"We still won, Potter," Ginny shouted as they approached the grass.
"No way! I caught the snitch!"
"Well we definitely got way more than fifteen goals. I'm pretty sure the score is 450 to 150."
"Really. You scored forty-five goals in thirty minutes?"
"Definitely."
"I think you're just a sore loser. Hey, Neville! Who won?"
"What? Oh, no idea," he responded shamelessly.
"Fine, since it's your birthday, we can tie."
"Wow, how kind of you."
"I know." Harry rolled his eyes, but followed her to the shed where they stored their brooms away and returned back to the party. The sun was beginning to set and everyone was joined under the spheres of light that were levitating over their heads. With the dusk approaching, Harry was forcibly reminded of the last large party they had here and he unconsciously took out his wand and began tapping it idly against his leg. His eyes scanned the crowd, waiting for a cloaked figure or curse to come out of nowhere.
Hermione approached him, biting her lip, and glanced down at his wand shooting out sparks every so often. "Reminds you of the wedding?" she asked bluntly.
"Yeah." She nodded and the two stood near the outskirts of the people and watched carefully for any signs. He rocked back and forth on his toes, itching to do something. To protect everyone from the incoming danger. To be ready to fight. His expression hardened and he lost his smile, but continued to tap his wand. Eventually, Mrs. Weasley and Bill approached them.
"Put your wand away, Harry!" she said sternly and locked eyes with him before continuing to the kitchen to bring out dinner.
"For some reason, people are quite nervous to see Harry Potter watching them all with his wand at the ready," he commented with a smirk, his arms crossed. Harry stopped tapping his wand immediately and scanned the crowd again, this time seeing only worried faces that glanced over at him and Hermione.
"Right. Sorry." Harry didn't shove his wand back into his pocket yet, but hid it behind his back. Hermione walked off to the kitchen to help Mrs. Weasley bring out the next round of food with as many backward glances at the crowd as she could manage.
"Come on, Harry. This won't be like the wedding," Bill continued, taking her place. "There's no death eaters and no ministry take-overs."
"Constant vigilance, Bill," Harry said monotonously, hoping to distract him enough so that he could still hold on to his wand without any more reprimands.
"Wasn't it a death eater who taught you that?"
"Of course it was." He let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. Slyly, Bill slid his wand out of his own back pocket and sent a stream of fall leaves headed his way. Without registering that someone had shot a spell at him, Harry waved the red orange blur away. But, before he could retaliate, Hermione strode out of the door next to them and whispered urgently.
"Harry! No magic with my parents here!" Bill smirked and pushed himself off the wall that he was leaning against.
"Bad luck, Potter," he said quietly and followed his Mom to the table where she placed the next round of food. Finally, Harry slid his wand into his own back pocket and joined the mass of people waiting to fill their own plates. After another half hour of no incidents, Harry managed to relax and forget about the impending doom that he desperately wanted to be prepared for. Instead, he talked with old friends, played games of Exploding Snap, introduced his godson to the DA, agreed to return to Hogwarts next week with Bill to plan their teaching schedules, and blushed violently as everyone sang a loud and off-tune chorus of happy birthday to him.
Nearing eleven o'clock at night, the last straggling guest went home and they were now tasked with the unpleasant task of cleaning up.
"That looks heavy, Ginny," Harry commented, staring pointedly at the large bucket of non-melting ice. "Wouldn't it be easier to just levitate it?"
"Ha. Ha. Very funny." She rolled her eyes, and continued to make her way to the kitchen with her head poking around the stainless steel rim.
"I thought so." He walked past her easily, levitating a plate of leftover food in front of him.
"Just you wait, Potter. Another month and I'll be seventeen." Harry smiled at her and dropped the empty platter he levitated onto the countertop.
"Thank you for everything, Mrs. Weasley. And the food was delicious."
"Of course, dear." She smiled warmly at him and after flicking her wand at the dishes so that they began to scrub themselves, she pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.
What would we have done if you really had died? The thought crossed her mind as it did every time she saw him, along with the image of him laying unmoving and dead in Hagrid's arms. She held onto him a moment longer than necessary. She sighed heavily and kissed his cheek before turning hurriedly away back into the yard to clean up. But he didn't! He's still here, as are the rest of them. She had to remind herself. They're still here.
As always, thank you for reading! My latest chapter got the most reviews so far, so thank you to all of you who left me a review. It is much appreciated, so please feel free to leave some more!
The next chapter will be getting ready to return to Hogwarts and I am planning on publishing it later this week.