Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. All locations, items, spells, charters, ect. are more likly property of J.K. Rowling.

Review Responces:

To all my readers: Thank you for getting me to 58 reviews! I love you all! Last chapter recieved an incrediable 16 reviews!

yaminy-grint4eva: Thanks for the slash/AU help! Thanks for reviewing!

volleypickle16: Thank you for reviewing!

Eric2: Thanks for the slash/AU help! -laughs- I don't think Sirius and Harry could 'pop out a few kids' but I know what you mean. Glad you think Harry is pretty much in character. Thanks for reviewing!

Jen: Don't know if I'll add more drama or not. I forgot to put abuse in at the beginning... I forgot a lot at the beginning, but I may change it one day. I plan to add more arguements. I plan on making Harry have a lot of like/dislike kind of attitude around James throughout the whole fic. I'm not really sure yet. Thanks for reviewing!

minnie-mae: Glad you like the story. I'll try really hard to get updates out quick, but I may go work at a fireworks stand (I live in the U.S. Don't know if other countries have them.) for the rest of the month, while means less typing time. I try to make chapters as long as I can too. Thanks for reviewing!

mugglenet27: I agree, but I didn't think about that last March when I wrote the beginning. For now, we will all assume Lupin knew Lily and James were back since the start of Harry's 5th year, which is why Lupin didn't so much grieving for Sirius either. Thanks for the slash and AU help! Thanks for reviewing!

lily-potter-2010: I agree, I do tend to write on the cheesy side. Thanks for reviewing! I'll try to get off my cheesy writing style in the future.

PrincessSkywalkerOrgana: Thanks for the slash/AU help! I've never been grounded before, so I didn't really know if I was overdoing it. I guess it should have been lighter, but oh well. My orignal story plan had a reason for them not being close. I hope I didn't change it by accident. Thanks for reviewing!

Shadowrayne: Dumbledore is OOC for pretty much my whole story. I'll try to get him back in character later. A lot of reviewers said what AU and slash were if you want to check. Thanks for reviewing!

anonomous (again): More is on the way!

LylaLou : Thanks for reviewing! Thanks for telling me what slash was.

Dreamer: I completly agree with the tickling thing. As I said to someone else, I wrote those earlier this year. It was one of those sudden idea things at the time. I like writing the mood swings, so I'll probably have more of them. Thanks for reviewing!

JustSomeWeirdo: umm... I'm 14 and I still act like that sometimes. I'll try to make him more like a normal 16 year old though. Thanks for reviewing!

Faith-tse: Thanks for the help! I'll try that. -gets out stack of Harry Potter books- Maybe I'll do that later... Thanks for the AU help. Thank you for reviewing!

Silvercrystal77: Great idea, and I'd love to use it. I have Harry acting that way for a reason though. I kinda want to stick to my original plan, but I may change it. The problem is, I'll be so tempted to have major out of characterness if I use your idea. Sorry. Thanks for reviewing!

Becky: I've corrected the word Quidditch in my later chapter I think. I was spelling it the way it sounded to me, sorry about that. Do Brittich people really not say those words? I'm not Brittish, so I wouldn't really know. I'm sorry if it is bother you or anyone else I'm using American vocabulary. I'll start trying not to. Thanks for reviewing!

Author's Note: 16 reviews! I'm so happy! I got this chapter out as fast as I could. Sorry for the cliffy. Next chapter you'll find out what he dreamed. You can probably guess what it is. Sorry if this isn't really what a birthday party is like, I've never had a party before.
Also, after I finished this chapter I began my writing as I go part of the story, so be patient while I try to write the chapters. (I originally had the first 10 chapters, but I changed chapter 8 a lot already while I was typing, which means I have to chage every other chapter to go with it. Sorry!)

Chapter 7: The Birthday Surprise

The week went by very slowly for Harry, even though he was allowed to go outside. Finally, it was Friday. Harry was awakened by James shaking him.

"Get up, Harry!"

Harry groaned, "No."

"Now,"

"I'm sleeping…"

"I see that," James said impatiently. "now get up."

"Why?"

"Breakfast is ready."

"I'll eat it later."

"C'mon, Harry. Don't you want to enjoy your first day ungrounded?"

"I am enjoying it… right here in my bed."

"If you don't get up right now, I'm going to come up there and make you."

"You do that."

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you." said James jumping on the bed and pulling out his wand, "Rictusempra!"

Harry started laughing uncontrollably. He glared at James.

"Dadddd!" Harry whined. "You're not f-f-funny!"

James smirked, "Yes, I am. Look, even you're laughing."

'Say the c-c-counter curse!"

James looked at Harry and snickered.

"I'll say the counter curse when you get out of bed." James replied.

"I'm-tired!" Harry whined.

"Well, if you aren't going to get up, I'll just get going not. You obviously aren't in need of my services." said James smiling to himself as he got up off the bed. "I'll be in my room if you need me." 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... James thought.

"W-w-wait! Come back! I'll g-g-get up!" Harry laughed.

James turned around as Harry pulled back his covers and got out of bed.

"I'm u-up now! Say the c-c-counter curse!"

"I don't know, Harry… you might try to go back to bed after I say it. Come in the hallway first and I'll say it."

"Fine," Harry growled as he walked into the hallway. "now s-s-say the c-c-counter curse or I'll g-get mum!"

James hesitated and muttered the counter curse. Harry stopped laughing and gave James a that-wasn't-funny look.

"That was mean." said Harry.

"Yeah, it was," said James. "but it was still really funny."

"I didn't think it was very funny." Harry said coldly.

"Well, your mother didn't think it was very funny when you did that to me, so now we're even."

Harry considered this and grinned at James. James grinned back.

"C'mon, let's go get breakfast." said James.

Harry followed James into the kitchen. Lily was placing plates of eggs and toast on the table.

"Good morning, Harry!" said Lily as they walked in.

"Morning, mum." said Harry sitting down.

"So, what are you going to do today, Harry?" she asked.

"I don't know yet," Harry shrugged. "maybe I'll ride my Firebolt."

Harry ate his breakfast quickly and ran upstairs to grab his Firebolt. He took out his letter to Hermione and added:

/I'm ungrounded now! I'm sending this with Hedwig in a minute. I hope I see you soon! -Harry/

Harry tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and told her to take it to Hermione. He then grabbed his Firebolt off his shelf and ran down the stairs into the kitchen.

"I'm going for a ride outside, be back later!" Harry yelled.

"Okay, just don't go too far from the house, Harry." said Lily.

Harry walked outside. It was a beautiful day, not as hot as it usually was. Harry mounted his broom, kicked off, and went soaring into the air. He felt the breeze blowing through his hair. He continued to fly around for what must have been hours. He didn't realize this until James came outside though.

"Harry, it's time for lunch."

"Alright," said Harry landing and walking inside.

"Did you have fun?" Lily asked.

"Yes, the weather is perfect today!" said Harry.

Harry quickly devoured a sandwich and headed back up the stairs. He walked into his room and carefully paced his Firebolt on his shelf. He then opened his trunk and took out his copy of Advanced Potion Making. Harry sat down on his bed, opened the book and began reading. Half and hour later James walked in again.

"Are you -er- feeling alright, son?" he asked.

Harry looked up from his book, "Yes, why?"

"Because it's summer vacation and you're sitting on your bed reading your potion's book." James laughed.

"Well, I -er- was just making sure I knew some of this stuff before the year begins, so Snape can't fail me again…" Harry set the book aside.

"You got an O in your potion's exam, I doubt you will fail anyway." said James.

"No, Snape always fails me. He'll find a problem with my work." Harry said.

"Well, he'll be hearing from me about that…"

"No, please don't! That will just make it worse, trust me. Besides, he can't fail me if my potions are perfect and I answer all his questions correctly."

"Well, alright Harry, it's your choice. I'll be downstairs if you change your mind though."

James left the room and Harry picked up his book to continue reading. A few hours later Harry ate dinner and went to bed. He thought about tomorrow. His birthday was tomorrow and he hoped his parents remembered.

The next morning Harry awoke on his own. He looked at the clock and was surprised to find it was already 9:37a.m. he got out of bed and went downstairs to get breakfast.

"Oh, good you're awake!" said Lily setting a bowl of cereal in front of Harry. Then, James walked in.

"Hey Harry." he said. "I was thinking we could do something this morning." James winked at Lily.

"Yeah, sure. Sounds good." said Harry not really caring. "What are we going to do?"

"Umm…" started James, he hadn't thought about that. "We could… go for a walk around the neighborhood."

"Well, alright." said Harry. "We can go after I finish breakfast."

Harry finished his breakfast and walked upstairs. He quickly showered and dressed and went downstairs to wait for James. James came in about five minutes later and they left. It was nearly eleven a.m. They circled the entire neighborhood; neither saying much. Finally at 11:50, James pulled out his watch.

"We need to head back now, Harry. I told your mother we'd be back for lunch."

The walk home took nearly twenty minutes. They finally reached the house. Harry opened the door and…

"SURPRISE!!!" yelled a large group of people. "Happy Birthday, Harry!"

Harry looked around the room surprised. He thought his parents had forgotten his birthday! He saw Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Fred and George Weasley, Lee Jordan, Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, Luna Lovegood, Tonks, Remus, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson and to his surprise…

"Oliver?" Harry asked astonished (A/N:Sorry, I love Oliver too much to exclude him!) The girls all looked at Oliver dreamily, except Luna and Hermione.

"Hey Harry! You didn't think I'd forget all about you after I joined Puddlemere, did you? After all you did for Gryffindor those three years."

"Um… I guess not." said Harry, still shocked.

Harry looked around and saw a huge birthday banner, a cake shaped like a Quidditch Pitch (He assumed that had been James' idea), a giant pile of presents, food and his friends.

James saw the look on Harry's face an said, "You didn't think we had forgotten your birthday, did you?"

"Well… It's been fifteen years and all… yeah, I kinda did." said Harry. "But you didn't and I love it! Thank you!"

Harry ran over to talk with Ron and Hermione and the party started. Everyone started eating food, dancing to the Weird Sisters latest hits and talking.

"Hey Ron! Hey Hermione!" Harry said.

"Hey Harry, Happy birthday!" said Hermione giving Harry a hug. Harry blushed.

"Yeah, Happy Birthday, mate!" said Ron.

Harry looked around the room. Katie, Alicia and Angelina were in the corner of the room giggling about something, Ginny was flirting with Dean Thomas and Seamus, Fred, George and Lee were huddled together; probably planning a prank, Tonks and Remus were gathered around the table talking to Lily (Harry would bet five galleons they were chaperoning to make sure nothing bad happens at the party.), Luna had her usual dreamy look as she talked with Neville; They had recently become friends since the Department of Mysteries thing last month. Over by the doorway, Harry saw Oliver talking to James excitedly. Oliver left James and walked over to Harry.

"Your dad says you were made Gryffindor Quidditch captain. Congratulations!"

"Thanks!" said Harry.

Angelina, overhearing Oliver quickly walked over.

"Captain?" Angelina asked. "Looks like the previous two captains should give you some advice."

"First," said Angelina. "Please try to stay out of detention this year or McGonagall will kick you off the captain position right away. Also, try not to get banned again! You know how hard it was to replace you?"

"You were banned?" Oliver asked shocked.

"Last year…" said Harry.

"Why?"

"Punched Malfoy, the Slytherin seeker. Umbridge decided to ban me for it. It was really unfair." said Harry.

Angelina continued to lecture Harry about last year while Oliver laughed.

"Angelina, I get the point!" said Harry. "And I actually plan to make an effort to stay out of trouble this year if you were wondering."

"That's good, because even if I'm no longer at Hogwarts, I'd love to see Gryffindor take the Quidditch cup again." said Oliver. Angelina agreed.

"I'll try my best." said Harry walking away to greet Luna who was standing alone.

"Hi, Luna." said Harry.

"Oh, Hi" said Luna dreamily. "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks, Luna." said Harry. "Did you find any Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in Sweden?"

"Oh, no" said Luna disappointedly. "We think we saw one, but couldn't catch it."

Harry was saved from saying anything when Lily walked over.

"C'mon, Harry! You have to open your presents!" exclaimed Lily.

Lily smiled and pulled Harry over to the table. Everyone gathered around while Harry opened the presents. Oliver got him a Quidditch book called Famous Seekers and Moves of the 1900s. Neville bought him a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and some Chocolate Frogs. From Fred, George and Lee, he received a huge bag of items from the twins' joke shop. Luna got Harry a book on Crumple-Horned Snorkacks (Harry wondered where she had gotten it) and the latest issue of the Quibbler. Moody, who fortunately for Harry, couldn't make it, got Harry a book on Wand Safety; everyone including Harry, laughed at that. Hagrid, who also couldn't make it, sent Harry a book on rare and unique magical creatures. Tonks and the rest of the Order chipped in to get Harry a set of books on Auror training. Hermione, being a muggle-born, gave Harry a deck of playing cards, a Frisbee (everyone except Lily, Dean and Seamus gave her questioning looks) and a book on potion brewing.

"Do you… like it?" Hermione asked nervously.

Harry made a note that this is the first time he had heard Hermione nervous before answering, "Yes, I love it!"

"What is it?" asked Ron.

"Muggles like to throw it around and catch it I think. I saw Dudley playing with one once."

Hermione blushed and Harry continued opening his presents. He got an assortment of books, candies and other things from his other friends. It was finally time to receive his parent's present. James handed him a small box and Harry unwrapped it slowly. He took off the lid and inside was a brand new watch with black leather straps and a shiny metal covering; a lot nicer than his old watch. Harry glanced over at James and noticed he was wearing the same watch. Harry was glad James had good taste.

"Thanks mum, dad! I've been needing a new watch since 4th year!"

After the wrapping paper was cleaned up, Remus took Harry aside and handed him a box. Harry looked at him questioningly before opening it up. Inside were pictures of the Marauders during their school years, a golden snitch, a moon pendent, a bottle of shampoo, a stuffed black dog and journals of the Marauders pranks. Harry assumed Peter's things had been removed from the box.

"It's the Marauder's Box," said Remus. "Sirius wanted you to have it. James and I agreed we'd give it to you on your birthday. It has things that represent us all. The pendant is for Moony, the snitch was your dads, the shampoo represented Snape of course."

Harry picked up the black dog, "Padfoot."

"Yeah, Sirius put that in there to represent himself. He also added the pictures and the journals."

Harry flipped through the pictures. There was one on Sirius and James turning Snape's hair pink, one of Remus, Sirius and James sitting in the Gryffindor common room, one of Lily and James on their wedding, another of Remus dragging Sirius and James out of the Great Hall; Snape chasing after them with his wand. Harry laughed.

"Luckily Peter never wanted to be in the pictures…" Remus muttered.

Harry looked up at Remus, "Thanks, I really like it."

Remus smiled, "Just take good care of it, okay?"

Harry nodded and set it carefully on the table. Remus left and walked over to where James, Lee, Fred and George were. Harry went over to Ron and Hermione.

"Do you think they know how obvious it is they are going to do something?" Harry asked Ron.

Ron shrugged, "I guess not. I'd watch out if I were you though, Fred and George with Lee and two of the Marauders can't mean anything good."

Harry and Hermione nodded in agreement. Suddenly, the group of pranksters broke apart and James stood up.

"Time for cake!" he yelled.

Everyone excitedly ran to the table. Ron and Hermione dragged Harry over and pushed into the chair while Lily set and lit sixteen candles on the cake. Remus turned out the lights and everyone began to sing.

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to Harry! Happy Birthday to you!"

"To yooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Fred and George finished.

Harry wished he would always have his family and friends and blew out the candles. Everyone clapped and took a slice of cake. Harry's piece was the biggest, chocolate cake with green icing and a golden snitch made of honey on the top.

They all began to eat cake, until suddenly Hermione, Harry and Ron felt cake smack them in the heads. They looked up to see Lee, Fred and George laughing. Then, James and Remus nailed Tonks and Lily with their cake. Suddenly, everyone began tossing cake in the air. Neville tripped and got smothered with the bowl of pudding by Seamus. Soon Alicia, Angelina and Katie joined in by smearing their icing all over Oliver. In return, Oliver poured drinks into their hair.

James and Remus yelled, "Food fight!"

Harry, deciding to join in, threw cookies at Ron. Then, James tossed a slice of pie towards Harry and Hermione. Harry, without thinking moved Hermione out of the pie's path and threw the chips at James. Ginny dodged a slice of cake heading her way from Dean, making it hit Luna. Luna got out of her dreamy state and threw her cake at Ron. Then, the twins tossed the bowl of popcorn into the air, making it cover everyone.

All the party guests were laughing and having a good time. The food fight went on for about twenty minutes, before the food was all gone, and Lily called it to a stop. Remus finished it with smashing a jelly doughnut into James' hair. James laughed and poured his butterbeer on Remus. Lily looked around the room and turned to James.

"You're cleaning this up, James." she said.

James looked around the room for a moment. Everyone was covered in the food and the wall and floors had food splattered everywhere.

"Moony, help me clean this up." said James taking out his wand. Remus followed.

"Scourgify!" yelled James and Remus pointing there wands in various places around the room.

Soon enough, the entire mess was cleaned up and all the party guests were no longer covered in food. Everyone continued dancing for a few minutes. Harry joined Ron and Hermione and discussed plans for next year and Quidditch. Hermione rolled her eyes as Ron and Harry went in depth on the strategies used by players during the match against Ireland and Germany. Oliver and Katie Bell joined them while Hermione went off to talk to Neville. Pretty soon it was 4 o'clock and everyone had to leave, except Remus, Hermione and Ron who were staying later. Harry waved goodbye and thanked everyone for coming as they left. Finally, the last guest flooed out of his house. Harry, Hermione and Ron went to take Harry's gifts upstairs.

"You three go have fun, I'll take this upstairs." said James.

Harry grabbed the Marauder's Box and the Frisbee and left the room. He laid the box on his bed before leading Rom and Hermione outside to use the Frisbee.

"What do we do with it?" asked Ron when they got outside.

"Okay, what you do is toss it like this," said Hermione doing a Frisbee toss example. "then someone else catches it and tosses it back."

"Can't be harder than Quidditch." said Harry. Ron agreed.

Both ended up being wrong. Tossing the Frisbee was so much harder than it looked! Hermione laughed and Ron missed the Frisbee for the 5th time in a row. They continued to play for over an hour, Hermione doing the best on every throw. By the time they finished, Ron and Harry had gotten the hang out it almost. The trio headed up to Harry's room to talk when they got inside.

"So what have you guys been up to lately?" Harry asked.

"I read a new book on jinxes and hexes!" exclaimed Hermione. "It might be useful if you decide to re-form the D.A."

"Yeah, I'll have to ask Dumbledore if we can make the group official this year. Unless we get a real Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Ron and Hermione agreed. They continued to talk about their summers until Lily came up and told them it was time for dinner. They walked downstairs and were unsurprised to see James already down there. They had a pepperoni and cheese half and half pizza with Butterbeer for dinner. There was surprisingly a little bit of birthday cake left for dessert too.

"Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley would like you two to floo home before nine." said Lily.

Harry looked at the clock and realized it was almost nine. They finished dinner and Harry lead Ron and Hermione to the fireplace to go home. Lily handed them some floo powder and they stepped into the fireplace.

"Bye Ron, Hermione!" said Harry.

"See ya, Harry!" said Ron and Hermione.

"Owl me!" said Harry.

"We'll try to." said Hermione.

Harry waved goodbye as they threw down the floo powder and yelled, "Number twelve Grimmauld Place!" the fireplace smoked green and they were gone.

Harry picked up the Marauder's Box and went upstairs. He noticed his other gifts had already been put away. He opened the box and took out the Padfoot stuffed animal. He then laid down on his bed and fell asleep, still in his wizard robes. Today's sleep was not dreamless though…
Please review! And be honest too. If you think the story is the worst thing you've ever read, tell me. If you love it, tell me. If you see any problems, spelling errors, ect.; please point them out so I can fix them. Note: Sorry about spelling, my spell checker wasn't working right.
Gift note: Yeah, I know he got some pretty stupid birthday presents, but I didn't know what to get him.

kinda important notice: I can't use my Internet Explorer anmore, it keeps messing up and closing and stuff. Quick-edit (My bold, itallic and underlining) will not work on my Mozilla web browser. For now, I will be substituting all the things I think need to be bold or ittalicised.
Thoughts will not be in 'XXX'
Letters will be between /XXX/
Dreams will be between these: [XXX]