Harry and Remus went and sat down at the table in the kitchen, where Remus pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and Harry found two bottles of Butter beer.

"Right then" Remus started, "we need to decide what to start first, and how to do each room."

Harry passed him one of the bottles of Butter beer as he sat down. "Well, I thought we could start at the top, work our way down. Apart from the ballroom, we can leave that till last."

Remus nodded, before writing something down. "Ok, the top floor is all done, so we can ignore that. The next floor, we have three bedrooms, the bathroom and the library."

Harry thought for a moment. "Ok, what about this. The two small bedrooms we paint in a dark blue, and the other in red. The double we can do in pastel, pinks and purple"

Remus smiled and wrote that down before suggesting, "The bathroom we paint white, like the other, and we can do the library back in its original style, dark reds and wood."

Harry nodded his agreement.

"Ok, that's the top floors done, next we have the ground floor, the study?"

Harry suggested that they paint that in a dark green, again with wood panelling, and that they paint the kitchen in a darker yellow, with the dinning room being terracotta.

The Hallways they decided would be painted in Gryffindor colours, scarlet and gold. That left just the ballroom.

"We should really return the ball room to its original design" Remus suggested after a brief pause,

Harry thought that over, while running what he had seen of the ballroom though his mind.

"Yeah, that would make it silver and gold, with the marble columns."

Remus wrote that down along with the rest. "Ok, now we need a list of things we need to get."

They continued that for an hour or so, making up a comprehensive list, including all new furniture that would be required.

Once that was all finished, Remus had a suggestion.

"Harry, you really ought to decide when you want this party. You should probably send out invitations soon, other wise people won't have enough to time prepare."

Harry thought this over. "Ok, how about we say August the twenty eighth?

"That sounds good to me, er, we'll need to write out a guest list." With that, Remus pulled out a new piece of parchment.

"Um, ok, well, I guess we should start by inviting the order. And the Weasley's of course. Hermione, the rest of the Hogwarts staff."

After about half an hour Harry and Remus had written a list of guests to invite, and had come up with a letter of invitation.

Dear Sir/Madam.

It is my Pleasure to invite you to a ball in the celebration of the memory of Sirius Black, and to the continued success of The Order Of The Phoenix. Please come in Dress Robes at eight pm on Tuesday the twenty eighth of August. The only way to arrive is by Floo, and the address is Black Manor.

I hope to see you soon. Best regards.

Harry Potter

Remus then proceeded to copy the invitation so that there would be one for every person invited, and then he and Harry sat there for another hour and addressed them all.

They paused for a quick tea, of bread and cheese before they finished. Finally, at half past five that evening, the invites were all completed and addressed.

Looking at the clock, Remus stood up. "Right, well then I have to be off."

Harry nodded, then added. "Well, tomorrow, why don't you bring your things here, you can stay here for the summer?"

Remus smiled at him. "Ok, that makes sense. Well, I will return to Hogwarts tonight and see you tomorrow. I will take these with me," he said, indicating the invites for the Hogwarts staff.

Harry nodded. "Ok, well, I am going to go see the Weasley's tonight, and I'll take theirs. I will see you in the morning?"

Remus nodded, before hugging Harry. "In the morning."

Harry watched as Remus Floo'ed back to Hogwarts, before picking up a handful of the powder himself.

He stepped into the flames and shouted "The Burrow"

As the swirl of flames subsided, Harry found himself on his knees on the floor of the kitchen at the burrow. Ron rushed over to his side to help him up.

"You ok mate? What you doing here?"

Harry turned to Ron, "I'm fine. Actually I came to bring you some invitations." With this he handed one of the invites to Ron.

Seeing Mrs Weasley enter the kitchen he walked over and handed her two invitations, one for her and one for her husband.

Mrs. Weasley quickly read the invite, before beaming down at Harry.

"Why that's a lovely idea Harry. You're going to need help, I better start getting prepared."

Harry, who had been suspecting this, assured Mrs. Weasley, who insisted that he call her Molly, that he had everything under control. He also gave her the invitations for Bill and Charlie, with the promise to pass them on.

He handed Hermione and Ginny, along with the twins, there own invitations before addressing the entire room.

"I'm afraid I can't stay, as I have lots to be getting on with. I am going to have to ask you not to try to come to Black Manor before the twenty eighth. The wards aren't set to allow you entry yet, so I am afraid you will have to wait."

Harry then left, after promising to write, and being given two bags, both containing birthday presents. Harry had totally forgotten that it was his birthday today.

Harry returned to Black Manor, where he proceeded up to his room. He put the bags down next to his desk, deciding to open them in the morning.

Opening the wardrobe, Harry found that it did indeed contain many clothes, all of which were his size.

Pulling out a pair of pyjamas, Harry went to the bed, pulled to drapes closed. And went to sleep.

* * * * *

The following morning, Harry awoke at five, as he was used to doing. Rather than go for his morning run around London, he went down and spent an hour and a half using the gym.

Deciding he would leave the pool till later, Harry headed back up the stairs, pausing at the kitchen to grab a glass of water, and into his room. He went straight into his bathroom, and had a shower.

After his shower he pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from his wardrobe. He then went and sat at his desk.

Harry picked up the bags and emptied them onto the desk. He had a present from Ron, one from Hermione and one from Ginny. He also had one from the twins, as well as a large packet of homemade sweets from Molly.

Harry opened Ron's present first, to find a book. The book was on chess and tactics, with the comment 'hoping to make you a worthy opponent.'

Hermione also sent a book, detailing curses and their counters. Flipping threw the book, Harry was most surprised to see that the magic was all slightly Dark. He made a note to ask Hermione about it later.

Ginny had sent him a leather wrist strap, in Gryffindor colours and with his initials on it.

And the twins had sent him a large collection of the tricks. It seemed as if their shop was taking off quite well.

Once Harry had opened all his presents, he wrote a thank you note to each sender. Then he thought of something, and wrote another note.

Dear Dobby.

I wish to ask you if you would come to Black Manor on the twenty eighth of August. I am holding a large ball, and require some assistance with the catering. If you are interested, please owl me back. I require about five or six elves, and am willing to pay a galleon a piece for the service.

Harry Potter.

Harry went over to Hedwig, and attached all the Letters to her leg. "The first is to Dobby at Hogwarts, then to the Borrow. Is that ok girl?"

Hedwig hooted her assurance before flying out the window.

Deciding it was time for breakfast, Harry headed down to the kitchen.

Harry was just finishing of his bacon and eggs when the door opened and Moony walked in.

"Ah, your up. And dressed, good good."

Harry offered Remus breakfast, which he turned down, saying he had just eaten at Hogwarts.

After Harry had washed up his breakfast things, he and Remus went back upstairs.

"Now, I have the list of things we need here, so lets go shopping" Remus said.

"Where are we going? I haven't seen any shops in Diagon Alley that sells this stuff."

Remus smiled at him. "Well, there is actually a shop in Diagon Alley, but we're going shopping at a muggle store. It's a lot cheaper, for the same stuff."

And so Harry and Remus set off. After a forty-five minute walk, they finally arrived at the shopping center.

Harry looked around at the group of shops, and followed Remus when he led the way over to one in particular.

As Harry walked through the door, he saw that it was a DIY shop, by the name of 'Focus'.

Harry and Remus spent a good couple of hours looking at all the different paints, the colours and textures, before deciding on which ones to buy.

They loaded cans up into one of the trolleys, before proceeding to the check out, were Remus paid for their purchases. Once they had everything they needed, they hailed a taxi to take them back to Grimmauld Place.

By the time that they had got inside, along with all their bags full of paint, brushes and bits, it was just gone one in the afternoon.

Leaving everything in the hall, along with Remus's bags that he had brought with him from Hogwarts, the two of them headed down to the kitchen. After lunch, which consisted of cheese and ham sandwiches, Harry took Remus and his bags up to the top floor.

"Pick a room" Harry told him. After looking into each of the two rooms on the top floor, Remus chooses the one with the light blue décor.

They spent the afternoon sending the remaining invites, and when Remus brought up the subject of catering, Harry told him about the letter he had sent to Dobby. Remus congratulated him on his smart thinking, and was proud that Harry had made an offer of pay for the work he was asking.

They decided that they would leave the painting till tomorrow, and start first thing in the morning, so Remus told Harry he was going to go up and read for a few hours.

Harry thought about what he wanted to do, and decided that he would go for a swim in the pool. He ran up to his room, and opening the wardrobe he pulled out a pair of swimming shorts, picked up a towel, and headed back down.

He went into the changing room, figuring it was to prevent wet people from walking water around the house. He walked up to the edge of the pool and knelt down. He put one hand into the water, to test the temperature, and found it to be just right.

'Figures' Harry thought, 'it's probably a magic pool'.

He set the towel down at one side, before going back to the pool edge. Just before he was about to jump in, Harry noticed a diving bored at the far end. Harry smiled as he thought about the first time he had learnt to swim.

He had been sitting beside the lake at Hogwarts just before the end of their third year, and Hermione suggested they go for a swim. Harry said he wasn't up for it, but when Ron said he thought it was a great idea, they tried to press Harry into joining them.

In the end, Harry had to explain that he had never learnt to swim. Hermione and Ron were more than a little surprised that their best friend, a thirteen year old, had no idea how to swim.

So, they spent the next two days teaching him. They had a great time, and harry quickly picked up the technique. In return he had brought them both a large lunch at Hogsmead the following day.

Smiling to himself he stepped up to the bored, and dived in.

Harry spent the better part of two hours swimming lengths of the pool, before finally deciding to call it a night. He picked up his towel and went back to the changing room.

Harry dried off, and got dressed, and hung his wet shorts and towel on the drying rail. On his way back to his room, he popped his head into the library to see Remus sitting in one of the chairs, engrossed in a book.

"Good night book worm." He said.

Remus looked up startled, "Huh? Oh right, good night Harry"

Harry laughed, shaking his head at Remus's reaction. He went back to his room, were he picked up the book Hermione had sent him, and then, changing into his pyjamas, he climbed into bed.

Harry sat there and read for an hour, before sleep once again claimed him for its own.