31st of July

Harry awoke to the sound of Ron having a shower. Groping for his glasses, he sat up in bed, savouring the knowledge that he could lie in for as long as he wanted, something unheard of at the Dursleys'.

The thought of Privet Drive brought his mind back round to Sally, and little silver package. After holding it for a long time, Harry had left it unopened the previous night, deciding to follow the instructions on the label and wait until his birthday.

Birthday…Harry leapt out of bed. In all the confusion, Harry had completely forgotten that this year he would be spending this birthday with people who actually cared.

Beaming, he began to rummage through his trunk to find something to wear. As he pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, Ron emerged from the shower, his flaming red hair now plastered to his head. Walking towards the doorway, he turned to Harry.

"Morning, thought you would never wake up. Mum says breakfast's almost ready, so I'd hurry up if I were you."

With that, Ron disappeared, and Harry heard him noisily make his way downstairs.

Harry sat down on his bed, half dressed. In four years, Ron had never forgotten his birthday. Once he had finished putting on his clothes, Harry wandered downstairs as slowly as possible, hoping that someone would bump into him on the stairs and wish him a happy birthday.

Finally reaching the kitchen, Harry walked smack into Hermione, who was reading the Daily Prophet.

"Good morning Hermione, lovely day isn't it?" Harry said, desperately trying to jog her memory.

"Mmm" replied Hermione, without even looking up.

Moving through to the dining room, Harry looked for any sign that his sixteenth birthday had been acknowledged. Apart from the customary greetings, however, no one paid much attention to Harry at all.

Once he had bolted his breakfast, Harry announced loudly that he was returning to his room, throwing a beseeching look at Mrs Weasley. Sure enough, as he turned to leave, Mrs Weasley called out,

"Oh Harry dear, I almost forgot…"

Harry turned round, smirking at how the others would react when she pointed out it was his birthday.

"Yeeees?"

"I washed and ironed those robes you left out, they're in the corridor."

"Thanks," Harry muttered darkly, as way of reply.

Having reached his room, Harry threw himself on his bed and hurled a pillow at the wall. Ron and Hermione had never forgotten his birthday before! As for the rest of them…well…Sirius would have remembered…Harry pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

"If they've forgotten my birthday, then I won't remind them," he muttered to himself. "They'll feel so guilty when they realise. It's not as if I'm not used to it, I mean for God's sake, the Dursley's never gave me so much as a…" There was a knock at the door.

"Harry? Harry?" Ron called, without entering.

"What?" Harry shouted back, trying to sound as annoyed as possible.

"Mum wants us to go and get some Doxycide, she's all out."

Fantastic, thought Harry, prising himself of the bed. Fanbloodytastic. Next they'll want me to de-gnome the sodding garden.

After Ron, Hermione and Harry had trawled several different shops to find a specific brand of Doxycide and had gone to Diagon Alley so that Hermione, who seemed to have developed a quill fetish, could stop at Flourish and Blotts; Ron suggested that they all go toThe Leaky Cauldronfor a Butterbeer.

Maybe someone in there will remember its my birthday, Harry thought bitterly. As they entered, however, he noticed that the normally bustling pub was completely silent. Obviously making the same observation, Hermione suggested that they check if people were in the back.

"Yes, yes! The back! Let's go there!" added Ron in a slightly monotonous voice, nodding frantically.

Too tired and depressed to care, Harry allowed himself to be lead to the large ornate room at the back of the pub.

As he opened the door, he was struck by a blaze of light.

Once he was able to focus, he saw that the room had been transformed. Glittering 16s whizzed over the walls, from one side of the room to the other. The ceiling had been spelled to show the night sky, ablaze with fireworks. In the middle of the room stood a four-tier, red and gold cake, each tier with four gold candles twinkling away.

Looking from one side of the room to the other, Harry could see the entire Order of the Phoenix, most of Gryffindor House and some people from other houses, including a few he didn't recognise.

Unsure what to say or do, Harry stood, staring at the room, not moving. Laughing at the expression on his face, Hermione reached up and gave him a kiss.

"Happy birthday Harry."

A/N I know, I know pretty predictable. Sorry for the long gap, my teachers have been setting sadistic amounts of work recently. Rest assured, the next chapter will be longer. Especially if you review…