A/N: Most characters and the main plot belongs to J.K Rowling.

~Parseltongue~

The 31st of July was now upon them. It was the first time Harry was happy that it was his birthday. It was also one year to the day since he had found out that he was a wizard. So much had happened in that one year, more than what had happened the 10 years previous to that. He had gained so much, and learned a lot too. He couldn't believe that so much had actually happened, there were enough things to have lasted at least 4 or 5 years in Harry's opinion.

Harry was currently laying down in his bed, allowing himself enough time to wake up properly. Veppy had brought him a cup of hot chocolate, which he was very thankful for. After a little while, he got up, and went through with his normal morning routine, and made his way downstairs. He had just reached the door to the informal dining room, he pushed it open ready for his breakfast, but when he did open the door, what he saw surprised him

On the table wasn't the usual breakfast, but more options, many more. If he so desired, he could have a full English breakfast, or he could have croissants, or even the cereal of his choice. Sirius and Remus were already sat at the table when he came in.

"Happy birthday pup" they both said in unison. Sirius then proceeded to walk over to his Godson, and caught him in an embrace. Harry returned the embrace with as much force. When Sirius eventually let go, Remus came over, and embraced him too. Harry was thankful for the new family that he had acquired. They hadn't even known each other for that long, yet it was like they had always been together.

Breakfast was a very pleasant affair. They had eaten much more than usual, but that was because they didn't have any sort of training today. After breakfast, Sirius, Harry and Remus all apparated to London, where they would be visiting the zoo. It was a beautiful day, and Harry couldn't have asked for better, he would make sure this was one of his best birthdays of his life, and so would Sirius and Remus.

They walked up to the entrance, paid the fee and walked inside. Harry had already been here the year before, but last time, he wasn't allowed to do anything, he was only there because Mrs Figg couldn't take him in.

While in the zoo, they saw a load of different animals, lions, gorillas, giraffes, penguins. The last place they visited was the reptile house. Harry walked up to the place where he had last spoken to a snake, but he knew that the same snake wouldn't be there unless they had caught it rapidly.

To his surprise, they had caught him again, so Harry knocked on the window to try and wake it up. His knocking didn't seem to work, so he tried a different technique. "~Hello old friend~" Harry said. At this, the snake lifted its head, and it seemed to recognise him.

"~Hello there, I'm surprised to see you here again~" the snake replied.

"~Well this time I'm not with my aunt uncle or that whale of a cousin~" Harry replied with a smirk. If snakes laughed, Harry was sure that the snake had done just that. "~How did they catch you ?~" Harry asked after a short pause.

"~Well let's just say that they nearly didn't, I was only caught because of a wizard, one of them was visiting the zoo when I escaped, so he stunned me.~" The snake replied. Before Harry could even respond, he was taken away by two people, one person taking an arm each. He was being led outside. They took him to a quiet area, and turned him around. Sirius and Remus both stood there, shock and confusion written all over their faces.

"Harry, what was that ?" Sirius asked urgently. Harry, not understanding the question, answered with the only answer he could come up with.

"A Python, they're- " Harry began only to be interrupted.

"Not the snake Harry, you were talking to it. How ?" Sirius asked, all signs of a joker's persona gone. Harry once again didn't understand this, he was sure that if they tried, they would be able to do it.

"So what, I'm sure you could do it if you tried, as long as you don't-" he was interrupted once more.

"Harry," this time, it was Remus who spoke "since when can you talk to snakes ?" he too asked, his voice and face full of seriousness.

"The first time was last year, when I visited this zoo with the Dursleys', that was the snake that had escaped when I came here, the glass had just disappeared, my cousin fell through, and the snake escaped, only he was caught by a wizard who stunned him. What's the big deal ?" Harry was starting to get frustrated now, he didn't see the problem with being able to talk with a snake

"Harry listen, and listen carefully. I don't want you doing that in front of people who you don't trust completely, alright ?" Sirius asked, Harry maintained his look of confusion, so he elaborated. "You just spoke Parseltongue, otherwise known as snake language. It is considered really dark, as the only people known to have this power were descendants of Slytherin, Voldemort himself is a Parselmouth, so was Salazar Slytherin himself. Now, I'm not saying you are dark, far from that in fact, it's just that it's not a good idea showing this power to the public. First of all, it would paint quite a bad picture on you, and secondly, it could turn out to be quite a good surprise in a fight if you learnt about Parselmagic."

Harry's brain was buzzing with all the new information. He understood Sirius' logic, but he didn't believe that he was the only one at school to be able to do so. "There must be more people who can do this, I mean why would I be able to do it, I'm not Slytherin's descendant." Harry said with a shrug.

"Harry, we don't know if you are or not, he lived ages ago, you could just be distantly related, and have come upon this, or it could just come from the same place as your spell knowledge" Sirius said in a whisper, and making sure not to say too much out in public, you never knew when there were people listening. Harry nodded his head agreeing with what Sirius had to say, it wouldn't do to have people knowing too much.

After that, the tour went of in relative silence, they were all thinking about what they had just learned. Harry knew he could do it, he just didn't think it was anything special, he had just assumed that it came with his magic. They ate lunch in the zoo, and they chatted about anything but the Parsletongue episode, they would keep that for another time.

After lunch, there wasn't anything left to see, so they went back home, where they would all get ready for the arrival of their guests. Sirius and Remus had decided against having other people around, and had decided to spend the evening with the children. Harry decided that they would spend quite a bit of time outside, therefore he put on a pain of shorts and a Nottingham Forest shirt which he had received. It was the new kit, and with him owning nearly a third of the club, they had sent him one.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, The wards made a sound, and so Harry knew that someone had arrived. He was just about to head out and greet whoever it was, when Remus and Sirius asked him to wait from their rooms. So he did, and a couple of minutes later, Remus appeared wearing a pair of simple jeans and a polo shirt. The two stood at the door talking while waiting for the third man, when he appeared in a pair of black jeans and a white shirt.

"Won't you be a little warm in that Padfoot ?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, don't worry, I'm not the sort of person to wear shorts unless it's for exercise" he said with a shrug.

Harry also shrugged, and opened the door. The three of them began their trek to the gates of the property, and when they reached the halfway point, they spotted Tracey standing there with Daphne. The two of them wore summer dresses, a blue one in Daphne's case, and a green one in Tracey's. Daphne's hair was let loose, whereas Tracey's was tied into a bun. Harry had to admit, the two of them were very pretty, although Sirius and Remus both noticed Harry's eyes linger longer on Daphne.

As they reached the gate, it opened automatically. "Good afternoon ladies, welcome to Potter Manor" Harry said, a welcoming smile on his face. The two girls looked at him fully surprised. They knew he was going to be training this summer, but they hadn't expected the changes that were clearly visible. A faint pink flush appeared on Daphne's cheeks, which she tried to hide, completely failing obviously, well Harry didn't notice at least, but the two adults did, and the two men shared a knowing look, which made Daphne become even more flustered.

"Thanks Harry, happy birthday" the two of them said, Tracey giving him a hug, followed by Daphne. As she hugged him, she could definitely feel some improvements. His muscles weren't overly present, but they were definitely there. She wanted to see what was under the shirt, but quickly put that thought to the back of her head in an attempt to hide her pink cheeks, and lightly pink neck. Luckily for her though, Harry didn't notice again. Boys were so oblivious at that age, a fact that she was thankful for.

Sirius went in to kiss their knuckles, but Harry stopped him. "No need for formalities here Padfoot, they are my friends, I believe we can skip them, don't you ?" Harry asked. Sirius agreed, and together, the five of them went back up to the manor. The two girls looked at the house in pleasant surprise. The two of them lived in a manor too, but theirs weren't as big, nor as beautiful as this one. Harry led them through the house out into the back garden. They all sat down in the sitting area, and began chatting. No more than five minutes later, the wards went off again, and Harry knew what that meant. He got up, and was about to excuse himself when Sirius also got up and pushed him back down.

"It's okay pup, I'll go get them, you lot enjoy this, it is after all, your party" He said looking at Harry, who nodded. Sirius then left to fetch whoever it was at the door.

"So Harry, had a good holiday up until now ?" Tracey asked.

"Well it's mainly been a lot of training really, so it's been busy enough, I might finish exploring the house fully at some point" He said with a chuckle.

"You haven't explored it fully ?" Daphne asked curiously, she knew the place was big, but after a month, she had assumed he'd had time to see it all.

"No, well I've seen most of it, there's really only one room I haven't seen at all, and that's the Vault, and the other place is the stables. I just haven't found the time really, and when I did have time, I didn't have the energy, so I haven't seen them yet." When he said this, the ward went off once more, indicating the last person's arrival, the last person had probably arrived just in time for Sirius to reach the gate. "How have your summers been so far ?" He asked.

"Well, I've mainly spent mine with my family attending Wizengamot sessions, I think dad attends every single one of them, it's quite annoying really." Tracey said.

"At least you'll be ready for the future than" Harry replied with a shrug. She responded only by lifting her eyebrows, so he turned to Daphne next. "What about you Queenie ?" Harry wasn't sure, but he was sure he saw her lips smile a bit brighter at the use of her nickname, although he didn't know why, he was under the impression she didn't like it much, because when he used to call her that, she would send him a glare, sure it never seemed fully meaningful, well except for the beginning, but that was it. He shrugged it off as his imagination.

"Well I've mainly spent time with my sister. When I wasn't with her, I was either reading, attending the Wizengamot with my father, or doing my school work. Not as busy as you apparently" she said, looking at his figure which was more built up than any other boy she had seen of his age. She saw Harry looking at her, so she quickly diverted her gaze to his face.

At that point, Hermione and Neville came through the back door along with Sirius. Hermione's mouth was hanging open, Harry knew she didn't live in a Manor, so wasn't exactly surprised at the awe on her face. Neville however, had a similar look to the other two girls, except he had a manor of a similar size to this one. His was just less welcoming than this one.

Harry got up, and the other two reached the sitting area. "Welcome to Potter Manor you two, I hope this old mutt wasn't too boring" he said. At this Sirius let out a huff, and the rest of the group laughed.

"Happy birthday Harry, this place is beautiful !" Hermione exclaimed as she hugged him. As soon as she let go, her gaze returned to the house.

"I know, I just can't believe it's mine to be honest." Harry replied.

"My gran told me it was stunningly beautiful, but I didn't expect this. Happy Birthday Harry" Neville said clapping Harry on the back.

"Thanks, and Happy belated birthday to you too" Harry said. Neville nodded his thanks, and hey all took their seats, and as they did so, a faint pop was heard.

"Welcome to Potter Manor friends of Lord Potter. What drinks can I get you ?" Veppy asked. Hermione looked at her curiously. She had obviously never met a house elf before.

"I'll have a butter beer please Veppy" Harry said with a smile. The rest of the group answered with the same answer, and the elf popped away, only to reappear a couple of seconds later with seven bottles. One was placed in front of each person. "Thank you" the whole table exclaimed. The elf bowed, and popped away.

"What is that Harry ?" Hermione asked.

"That Hermione was a house elf. Most Pure-blood families have some, they are bound to a family each, and they serve them." Harry said.

"But that's slavery !" Hermione exclaimed.

"No it's not Hermione," Neville said, "they need to be bonded to a family, otherwise they lose both their magic, and eventually, their life. In repayment to this bond, they swear to serve the bonded family. Some families however, mistreat their elves severely, as you can see, Harry's are treated with utmost respect, much like the Longbottom ones."

"But are they paid ? Do they get week ends ?" Hermione asked. Harry could tell she was torn between what to do. He didn't know what she was considering, but he would try to figure it out in time.

"No, and if you offer such things to house elves, they would believe you were insulting them. They take great pleasure in working for wizards, and if you offer them days off, they'll believe that their work isn't good enough. I understand what you want to do Hermione, but just leave it as it is, things have been like things for centuries, and nobody ever complains about it." Tracey said. Hermione seemed to hold at this, but Harry could still see the hesitation on her face.

"Anyways, how have your summers been ?" Harry asked Neville and Hermione.

"Well, I've done quite a bit of reading, and I've finished my homework. I've also been keeping up on my spell practice, although nothing too dangerous, mostly simple charms and what not. My parents were really impressed with my magic, everyday they ask me to show them some, as if they didn't believe it was real" she said with a chuckle.

"How about you Neville ?" Harry asked.

"Well I've mainly been getting used to my new wand. I've had a load more success with this one, I actually manage to cast the spell nearly every time. Gran was surprised when I told her about wandlore, she had just assumed that given that it was my father's wand, it would also work for me."

"Anyways, I reckon it's time to open the presents, don't you ?" Sirius asked joyfully. They all laughed at his enthusiasm. "Mine last" He called quickly, gaining another roar of laughter.

First to hand Harry a present, was Hermione. "I know you've got a load of books, I read that many Pure-blood families have quite big libraries, so I thought I'd get you something else."

Harry unwrapped the packaging, and inside was a miniature punching ball. "I had to make it smaller, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to bring it. All you need to do is tap your wand on it, and it will grow to be its original size."

"Thanks a lot Hermione, I was actually thinking about getting one of these myself" he said, leaning over to her to give her a hug.

"No problem Harry, I know you've been training a lot, so I thought I'd get something to help" she said with a smile.

Next up was Daphne. She pulled out a package from her little handbag which mashed had brought with her. "Now, we all know who you are, and so I decided to get you something that might help you in your future." She said handing him the package. He could tell it was fragile just by touching the package, so he was extra careful with it. When he finished opening it, a ball came out. "It's an object that will tell you if there are people around you who mean you harm. I thought it would be useful. The smoke will glow blue if your safe, and purple if you're not." she said, hoping he would like the gift.

"Thanks Queenie, this is really cool !" He said, he gave her a hug as she was just next to him, which of course was Tracey's doing. As he hugged her, Daphne could smell his mint and cardamom cologne. She found she really liked the smell of it, and when he separated from the hug, the scent lingered in her nose for a few seconds.

And so the gifts continued. Tracey had gotten him a book on defensive spells against curses, a book which Harry appreciated greatly. Neville had got him a self writing quill, one which looked like it had cost quite a lot. He thought it would help Harry complete his work. Next up was Remus. He had got him something that didn't make any sense: a broom servicing kit. Everyone but Sirius looked at him questioningly, they all knew Harry didn't have a broom, so didn't see the point in a servicing kit.

"Well you never know you might need it" was Remus' answer to the questioning look everyone had.

"Yeah, thanks, I was actually thinking of joining the Quidditch team this year if I had the time" Harry said.

"Ah thank God, I was scared I'd got you this for nothing." Sirius said, pulling out a long package from behind him. Just looking at the way the package was wrapped, Harry already knew what it was. He quickly tore open the package, and behind all the packaging was a brand new broom, but it wasn't one Harry recognized.

"It's the latest prototype of the Firebolt company. The Black family own quite a reasonable share in the company, and I was informed that they were producing this broom, and I thought that you'd like it. It easily out speeds the new Nimbus 2001, and they reckon it will be used in professional Quidditch games in no time."

Harry couldn't believe it, Sirius had managed to acquire a broom that wasn't even released yet, and it was already expected to be one of the best. "Thank you so much Sirius, this is perfect !" Harry said, quickly hugging his Godfather, and then resuming his inspection of the broom. On the tilt, there was something written. On closer inspection, Harry noticed what it said 'Firebolt #00001', and on the other side, 'Harry Potter'. Harry was over the moon with the presents he had gotten.

After finishing their drinks, the children decided to go for a tour in the pool, Harry had told them all to bring their swimwear in case, and fortunately, the weather was perfect for it. The rest of the afternoon was spent either in the pool, talking, or sometimes going inside to play pool or babyfoot.

They decided to eat dinner outside in the sitting area, where they all shared stories from their childhood, Remus and Sirius were telling stories of Harry's parents, Harry as a baby, and some of the pranks they had done at school. They all laughed the hardest when Sirius had told them about the time he had bought Harry a broom when he was one year old. He had explained how Lily wasn't at all happy with Sirius for a week afterwards, as Harry had half destroyed the house in just one day.

As it was getting late, they had lit a camp fire in the middle of the sitting area, not for warmth as it was still quite warm, but just because they wanted to. Hermione was the first to fall asleep where she was, quickly followed by Sirius. The rest of them spent time either talking, not too loudly so they wouldn't wake the others, or gazing up at the stars. Harry eventually fell asleep, his head leaning back against the cushions.

Remus was about to call it a night, but then he saw Daphne fall asleep, her head on Harry's shoulder. He decided that Harry wouldn't have minded given the looks the two of them had been sending each other secretly throughout the afternoon and evening. He ended up falling asleep last, his head leaning back.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, I hope you enjoyed the few Haphne moments in this chapter. I will try uploading another chapter either Wednesday or Thursday, if not it will likely be on Saturday. Good week to you all !