Disclaimer: I'm out of quarantine! Happy face! But I don't own the rights to Harry Potter…sad face.

Chapter 71

Harry fluttered his eyes open when he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. Letting out a small groan of annoyance, he rolled from his stomach onto his back and rubbed his eyes vigorously as he slowly but surely woke up. He felt the tap on his shoulder once again and lowered his hands, blinking rapidly to try and clear his blurry vision enough to see who was waking him up.

He was understandably horrified when he saw the face of one Severus Snape standing over him, his beady black eyes boring into him and his hooked nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Boo!" He shouted, and Harry let out a cry of horror, backing away and inadvertently slamming his head against the headboard. Swearing from the pain and the fright, he cradled his head and tried to roll away from his Potions professor, hoping against hope that he was trapped in a nightmare. He managed to roll off the other side of his bed and land on his feet and whipped his head towards the Head of Slytherin, trying to glare but knowing that his expression was still one of sheer terror.

Before Harry could open his mouth and ask Snape – in very profane terms – why he was in his bedroom, his jaw dropped as he watched his professor's trademark greasy black hair shrink and change color into a pink bob cut, and his sunken face shifted until it resembled the heart-shaped face of a certain Auror.

"Are you serious?" Harry spluttered, standing up straight and rubbing the back of his throbbing head. Tonks did not answer, as she was preoccupied with doubling over and laughing hysterically. "You're laughing. You woke me up looking like fucking Snape and you're laughing," Harry scowled, grabbing his glasses off of his bedside table and putting them on, only to see his unofficial sister pointing and guffawing with increased clarity.

"You should have seen your face!" She threw her head back, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "Oh, man, that has to be one of the best uses of my talents ever," She managed to stand up straight and subdue her laughter to light giggles. "Ah, good morning, Harry!" She said in an overly sweet voice.

"You're the worst," Harry groaned, shaking his head in a mixture of vexation and disbelief. "Seriously, you suck."

"Oh, relax," She picked up one of Harry's pillows and chucked it at him, which he easily caught and threw back twice as hard. "I just thought I'd start it off with a bang," She shrugged as she dodged the projectile.

"Start what off with a bang?"

"Your birthday, stupid!" Tonks beamed, and Harry realized with a jolt that it was indeed his fifteenth birthday. Without warning, Tonks jumped up onto the bed and used it as a springboard to propel herself forwards and land in front of Harry. "Well, happy birthday!" She playfully punched him on the shoulder.

"Gee, thanks," Harry raised his eyebrows before he was pulled into a quick hug.

"Sorry for scaring you," She said sincerely, patting his back. "But hey, how does it feel to finally turn twelve?" She smirked as she pulled back and ruffled his hair.

"It feels wonderful, grandma," Harry fired back. "As much as I appreciate you being here, don't you have to go be an Auror?" He checked his watch, but Tonks shook her head.

"Pulled a few strings to get today off," She jerked her head towards the door and they promptly exited into the corridor. "Remus also has the day off from his Order responsibilities that you definitely know nothing about, and Sirius is a lazy git that doesn't have a job, so we're all here to celebrate your big day. With everything going on, we're all eager to have a day dedicated to fun stuff, and what better day to do it than your birthday?" She grinned as they began descending the staircase.

"Oh…" Harry grinned back. "Thanks for doing that."

"Honestly, given the choice between celebrating something worth celebrating or sitting in my office and filling out paperwork, I'm coming here every time," Tonks said earnestly.

"I'm sure the fact that Lupin will be here all day did not provide any additional incentives whatsoever," Harry smirked, earning himself an elbow to the ribs and causing Tonks's hair to turn crimson in embarrassment before she corrected it.

"You should shut up more often than you do," She grumbled as they reached the ground floor.

Harry had barely set foot into the kitchen when he heard a squeal of joy. He had just enough time to look up and see a blur rushing in his direction before it collided with him at full speed and sent him stumbling backwards.

"Happy birthday!" Hermione practically shrieked, flinging her arms around his neck. She burrowed into him for a moment before pulling back and proceeding to pepper the left side of his face with a series of kisses, one for each year until she reached fifteen.

"Ugh, PDA in the kitchen of all places," Tonks snickered as she walked past the two teenagers and sat down at the kitchen table next to Lupin, who glanced up from his newspaper and smirked.

"Happy birthday, Harry," He said, and Harry smiled back at him once Hermione was done blitzkrieging his face with her lips. "I hope you'll forgive me if I refrain from following Hermione's example in greeting you?" The lycanthrope raised an eyebrow amusedly.

"I'll get over it," Harry said, his smile widening as Hermione blushed and nestled into his shoulder with a squeak. "Where's the dogfather?"

"I'm here, I'm here, no need to fret!" Sirius called out, strolling into the kitchen with an armful of wrapped parcels that Harry assumed were presents. "We've been getting harassed by owls all morning because a certain someone had the audacity to make multiple friends over his years at Hogwarts. I mean, look at this avalanche!"

He deposited the pile of gifts onto the table and threw up his arms in exaggerated exasperation. "That owl I gave your friend Ron was here," Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh. "I should have picked a less bothersome bird."

Harry and Hermione both snorted at that. Sirius turned and grinned at his godson, opening his arms. "Happy birthday, Harry."

"Thanks, Sirius," Harry hugged him tightly before stepping back and glancing at the birthday gifts he had accumulated. "You reckon Voldemort put a Dungbomb or something like that in one of these?"

"As hilarious as that would be," Sirius poured himself a cup of coffee and chuckled, "I checked each package and letter for foul play. Didn't find anything, don't worry."

"Too bad," Harry sighed dramatically, taking a seat across from Tonks. "I was really looking forward to getting hit with a Stinging Hex this morning."

Hermione quickly sat down next to Harry and subtly hopped her chair closer to his while Sirius walked over to the stove and donned an apron emblazoned with 'Mischief Managed', a gag Christmas gift that Harry and Hermione had mailed to him from Gladrags.

"You can start opening," The Marauder called over his shoulder as he flicked his wand and summoned several dishes. "Breakfast will be ready soon enough."

Harry shrugged and decided to begin chipping away at the mass of parcels in front of him.

Luna had sent an advance copy of The Quibbler and a card that informed him that she and her father were extending his subscription free of charge. She had also sent a peculiar charm necklace that was supposed to ward off predatory Blibbering Humdingers, to which Tonks and Lupin furrowed their eyebrows in confusion.

Fleur had sent an expensive looking box of chocolates from a French chocolatier, along with a letter reporting the good news that she had secured a job at Gringotts in London and was working alongside Bill Weasley.

Lavender, according to her letter, was ecstatic that he and Hermione were still together and celebrating his birthday under one roof. She had sent a dozen Honeydukes Best Dark Chocolate Bars and a voucher for Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop that caused Harry and Hermione to roll their eyes.

"You guys aren't fans of the haunt of happy couples?" Tonks snickered when she spotted their reactions to the second gift.

"Long story," Harry exchanged smirks with Hermione before opening his next present, a voucher for the Three Broomsticks from Parvati. "'Lav wrote to me that she was sending you a voucher to Madam Puddifoot's. Have a date you'll actually enjoy on me,'" He read the accompanying note out loud and laughed along with Hermione.

Dean had sent him one of the banners he had designed for the Triwizard Tournament – the one depicting Harry flying around on his broom above the dragon – and had magically shrunk it down to the size of a piece of paper so it could be pinned to a wall, while Seamus had sent a large box of assorted sweets from Honeydukes.

"Hey, did you know Seamus is spending the rest of the summer at Dean's?" Harry turned to Hermione, who shook her head. He handed her Seamus's letter and grabbed another present. "Sounds like he just got there recently."

"I suppose it's not that surprising. They're best friends, after all," Hermione hummed as she skimmed the letter.

Ron had sent another refill of Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, along with a lengthy letter that detailed his excitement over getting a Cleansweep Eleven broom out of nowhere. The redhead was now more determined than ever to make the Quidditch team as a Keeper and was practicing with his brothers every chance he got.

"Ron Weasley? Working hard?" Hermione snorted. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"I think he's under the impression that making the Quidditch team will be a valid excuse for avoiding homework," Harry pointed out with a wry smile before glancing back at the letter. "Oh, Ron says Neville's staying at his house for a couple weeks. Apparently he got there yesterday, for his birthday."

"That makes sense too," Hermione mused. "He and Ron more or less became each other's best friends this past year."

"Really?" Harry blinked in surprise, but as soon as he began thinking about it, he realized Ron and Neville had taken to sitting exclusively with each other during class and spent a fair amount of their free time together. "Guess I never really noticed," He shrugged.

"Always the observant one," Hermione rolled her eyes with a light laugh. Harry shook his head in feigned annoyance and grabbed another present.

Neville had sent Harry a letter thanking him and Hermione for the miniature Wiggintree and the signed copy of Sub-Aquatic Botanical Mysteries that they had sent him for his birthday, along with Harry's gift. It was a frame containing a photograph Harry had never seen before, but according to the card was courtesy of Colin Creevey.

It was taken on the edge of the lake during the Second Task, just as Harry stumbled out of the water once his gillyweed supply had worn off. He was visibly shivering as he walked forward, and just as it looked like his legs were about to give out, Hermione came sprinting into the frame and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace and kept him on his feet. A small piece of parchment was taped to the back that simply read: 'Glad I could help.'

"Wow," Harry stared at the picture before showing it to Hermione, who placed a hand over her heart before beaming at him.

"Oh, look at this!" She exclaimed, tentatively taking it into her hands and tracing the edge of the frame with her finger. "Oh, I look like a missile in this picture," She giggled.

"You look like a missile in real life, too, whenever you run towards Harry," Lupin pointed out with a chuckle, causing both teenagers to blush slightly.

"Looks like that's all of those gifts," Harry gestured to the lack of wrapped presents on the table.

"Just in time!" Sirius appeared by his side holding a plate piled high with French toast and fruit. "Breakfast is served, ladies and gentlemen," He set down Harry's plate and flicked his wand, magically bringing over the rest of the dishes and setting them down in front of everyone. "You can open our gifts after we eat," He whispered as he ruffled Harry's hair.

"Anything special you want to do on your birthday?" Lupin asked after a few minutes.

"Don't say homework, don't say homework, don't say homework," Tonks muttered repeatedly under her breath, earning herself a kick in the shins from the birthday boy.

"Actually, there was something I was thinking about," Harry said hesitantly, spearing a bit of French toast with his fork. "It shouldn't take terribly long, but, well…you guys know how Hermione has that magical Polaroid?" He asked, and the adults nodded. "Well, Hermione's parents asked us to send pictures with our letters, so they can see our faces – which we've been doing – but since we've only been photographing ourselves, I realized I don't have many photos of you guys." He paused to take another bite of his breakfast and swallow. "I mean, we're all pretty close and I thought it would be nice to bring some photos of the five of us or groups of us to Hogwarts or something like that, and maybe you guys would like some as well. I thought we could just find some time to take pictures during the day for a bit."

"Oh, I'm so in," Tonks grinned. "I'm turning myself into a Harry lookalike to mess with everyone who sees the pictures."

Harry couldn't help but laugh, even as he rolled his eyes at the Auror's antics.

"That sounds fun," Lupin said sincerely, a smile playing on his face. "And it would be nice to document how many wrinkles Padfoot has developed over the summer."

"Oi!" Sirius balled up his napkin and threw it at his fellow Marauder while everyone else snickered. "I'd love to do that, Harry," He turned and threw his godson a wink.

Soon after that exchanged, everyone had polished off their breakfast and Sirius quickly cleared the table. "Ready for some more presents?" He asked with a grin as he sat back down and rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"Bring it on," Harry shrugged.

"I'll go get mine," Hermione hopped up to her feet. "Be right back," She turned to Harry before striding out of the kitchen.

"You can open mine in the meantime," Tonks reached into a drawstring bag that she had stashed underneath her chair and pulled out a package roughly fifteen centimeters long. She tossed it across the table and Harry snared it, peering at the parcel inquisitively.

"This isn't going to be another prank, is it?" He looked up at Tonks who shook her head.

"It's not. Promise."

Harry then peeled away the wrapping paper, revealing a black leather glasses case. "Oh, nice!" He examined it and flashed Tonks a smile. "This is perfect, I probably should take better care of my glasses, since –"

"Check inside the case, moron," Tonks rolled her eyes.

"Oh," Harry blinked sheepishly before flipping the case open. His minor embarrassment immediately gave way to a blend of disbelief and delight as he laid eyes on its contents. "Are these what I think they are?"

"I've been told that you like a certain movie," Tonks leaned back and shrugged with mock innocence, "with a certain fighter pilot that wears a certain type of sunglasses. I thought you might like some of your own. They're charmed to match your prescription, too, so you won't be walking around outside blind as a bat."

"Wow!" Harry stared in awe at the pair of aviator sunglasses lying inside the case; they were practically identical to the ones Maverick wore in Top Gun. "These are amazing, Tonks, thank you!"

"Try them on," Sirius urged, sporting a grin of his own. Harry complied, placing his regular glasses in his new cases and donning the aviators. He was pleasantly surprised with the clarity of his vision through the shades; if not for the tinted lenses he would have thought he was wearing his regular glasses.

"They look nice," Lupin mused as he leaned back in his chair.

"You look nice," Sirius added. "Seriously, if you wear those glasses out in public you're going to be fighting off witches by the dozen."

"Shut up," Harry rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm with Sirius," Tonks smirked. "In a completely platonic and not at all creepy or inappropriate way, those make you look good." She drummed her fingers on the table for a moment before perking up. "Oh, you know what would look great? Do this," She ran a hand through her hair and Harry reluctantly copied her movements. "Nice, nice, now smile. Teeth and all – there we go," She grinned as Harry did as she said. "Looking good, Potter. Now we just wait."

"Wait for what?" Sirius tilted his head, but the sound of footsteps coming down the staircase rang out before Tonks could answer.

"I'm back!" Hermione called from the entrance hall, and Harry instinctively turned his head. Hermione appeared in the doorway a moment later with a parcel in her hands, but as soon as she laid eyes on Harry she froze in her tracks. Her mouth dropped open in shock and a peculiar noise that sounded suspiciously like a gurgle escaped her lips; a split-second later her knees began visibly wobbling and she stumbled backwards until she was leaning against a wall, her eyes widening in surprise. Harry could hardly believe it – Hermione was swooning.

"H-Harry!" She said breathlessly, tucking a few curls behind her ear as her cheeks flushed. "Are the…are those sunglasses a present?" She asked, trying to stand up straight while not putting too much weight on her trembling legs.

"Yeah, from Tonks," Harry answered, still grinning and barely fending off a blush of his own as he observed Hermione's obvious flusterment. "Do you like them?"

Hermione nodded so vigorously her hair flapped with her movements until she noticed and blushingly composed herself. "Yes," She squeaked.

"Me too," Harry said nonchalantly. "Are you going to sit down?" He asked a bit smugly.

"Right!" Hermione stood ramrod straight, giving herself a little shake as she did so. "Right," She repeated, looking back at Harry and immediately biting her bottom lip. She sat back down in her chair and placed her present onto the table with trembling hands. "You look handsome," She said quietly, and Harry flashed her another smile, causing her to make another one of those funny noises.

"Perhaps you'd like to open another present, Harry?" Lupin cleared his throat, and both teenagers tore their gazes away from one another.

"Sure," Harry nodded, replacing his new aviators with his regular glasses and biting back a smile as Hermione let out a disappointed exhale to his right. He caught Tonks's eye and she winked, mouthing 'You're welcome' when nobody was looking.

Lupin then slid a small square box across the table and Harry eagerly removed the lid.

"I can't force you, obviously, but I would highly recommend you carry this on your person at all times," Lupin explained as Harry lifted what appeared to be a small circular mirror. "It's not quite the same as the full-length ones used by the likes of Alastor Moody, but it can be quite useful."

"Is it…" Harry was about to ask if it was a mirror, but he lifted it up and saw not his reflection, but a few faint shadows swishing back and forth across the glass. "Oh, is it a Foe-Glass?"

"It is indeed," Lupin nodded. "It's one of the smaller, more compact versions out there. Not only is it useful to have on you with everything happening, but after the kidnapping of Alastor and his impersonation by a Death Eater last year it would be beneficial for you to bring this to Hogwarts in case anyone attempts to deceive you once again."

"Thank you," Harry said earnestly, slipping it into his pocket to see that it was light and small enough to be of little hindrance.

"I also got you some more Defense books," Lupin drew his wand and summoned several tomes from another room and had them land directly in front of Harry. "Some of the spells in these books are on the advanced side, and there's also quite a bit on countering Dark curses, so make sure if you try practicing you find somewhere safe and controlled to do it."

"Will do," Harry paused before winking, "Professor."

Lupin smiled and leaned back in his seat. Sirius promptly extracted his wand and summoned a wrapped present from another room just as his fellow Marauder had done with the Defense books, along with a folded piece of parchment. Harry grabbed the paper first and unfolded it, quickly deducing by the layout that it was a letter. At first he thought it was a letter he had written because the g's were written identically to how he wrote his own, until his eyes drifted towards the bottom and he saw his mother's signature. His heart leapt into his chest as he read through her message to Sirius. He smiled as he read about his one-year-old self riding around on a toy broomstick; he felt a surge of pride when he read that his father was convinced he would be a brilliant Quidditch player; he felt a pang of anger when he read about Wormtail visiting; he felt his lips curve into a longing smile as he read her signature, her sending 'Lots of Love' to Sirius.

"It hit me the other day," Sirius smiled sadly, "that you've probably never seen your mother's handwriting. James…his is all over the map, but not Lily's." He paused, averting his eyes. "That was the last letter your mother sent me, and what's under that wrapping paper is what came with it in the envelope."

Harry's throat burned suddenly. "Sirius, I can't –"

"She'd want you to have it," The Marauder cut him off, his wistful smile returning. "Don't try and fight me on this."

"Thanks," Harry returned his smile and laid a hand over the other part of his gift. He could feel the outline of a picture frame beneath the wrapping paper and slowly undid its covering to reveal a photograph of what must have been the inside of the Potters' cottage in Godric's Hollow. A one-year-old Harry Potter was zipping back and forth across the room on a toy broomstick and laughing uproariously while an equally amused James Potter chased him on foot. Off to the side was Lily Potter, laughing and leaning against the wall as she tried in vain to look exasperated at the antics of her husband and son.

"You ought to have these," Sirius said. "This picture, this letter. You more than anyone."

"Thank you," Harry smiled again. A content silence fell over the group for a few seconds.

"Honestly, I can't see how I'm meant to top that," Hermione suddenly muttered under her breath, eliciting laughter from everyone else. Harry turned and smiled at Hermione, whose vexation melted as she smiled back and took his hand under the table. She slid her present, a fairly large box wrapped in red and gold wrapping paper, across the tabletop and in front of him.

Giving her hand one more squeeze before letting go, he removed the wrappings and lifted the lid of the box. He blinked in surprise at what he saw; it appeared to be a normal scarlet jumper until he lifted it out of the box and allowed the garment to unfold entirely.

It was a jacket – a letterman jacket, like the one Lieutenant Kaffee wore in A Few Good Men. The sleeves were white, but the rest was Gryffindor scarlet; a golden lion was emblazoned below the left shoulder and a golden Snitch was stitched onto the right sleeve on the bicep. Hesitantly, he turned to examine the back and grinned as he saw his last name sewn in golden block letters across the shoulder blades.

"I do wish Tonks hadn't taken my idea of giving you cool fashion accessories from movies," Hermione explained with a playful eye-roll, to which the Auror just shrugged. "But Tom Cruise does wear one of these exceptionally well in A Few Good Men and I thought you might like one of your own. With some personalization, of course," She added with a small smile.

"It's perfect," Harry stood up and pulled it on, his smile widening as he realized it was a perfect fit. He turned to Hermione and placed his hands in the pockets. "I love it, Hermione. Thank you."

"There's one more thing," She said shyly, gesturing to the box. Harry raised his eyebrows and peered back into what he thought had been an empty receptacle and was surprised to see what appeared to be a brown leather notebook.

"Did you get me a homework planner?" He teased, to which she bit her lip and shook her head. Intrigued, he picked it up and turned to the front cover, only to nearly drop it in surprise as he read the engraved words.

From the Journals of Hermione Granger

"Now, I know what you're thinking," Hermione spoke up before he could, her voice laced with worry. "I know that you've never seen me write in a journal before, and truth be told nobody except my parents have. I usually do it in bed right before I go to sleep when I can be alone with my thoughts and reflect on the day in peace; not even Lavender and Parvati know about this. I know, I really should have told you that I write in a journal ages ago, but the truth is, by the time I thought of telling you I had already sort of…started to fancy you," She mumbled, averting her eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and composing herself. "I thought if I told you I kept a journal you might want to try and find a way to read it, and then you would see that I had written that I had a crush on you and that was absolutely mortifying to think about."

"But –"

"I know, I know," Hermione held her hand up, "maybe I should have shown it to you when we started dating, but by that point I had moved on from fancying you. Thanks to your nightly visits while I was petrified and all of those unbelievable sweet things you said to me and brought for me in the Hospital Wing, I fell completely and hopelessly in love with you and had written so in my journals on several occasions, beginning months before we finally told each other that we fancied one another.

"I was terrified of scaring you off if you found out so soon after we started dating that I felt that strongly for you, so I kept my mouth shut," She continued, tucking a few stray curls behind both ears at once. "Then, I finally gave in and told you how I felt, and I was so ecstatic that I essentially forgot that I could show you my journals until Christmas rolled around. I thought about giving you that," she pointed to the book in Harry's hand, "as a Christmas gift, but then we agreed to focus on the Yule Ball rather than stress ourselves out over gifts for each other, so I decided I could give it to you for your birthday instead. I spent a lot of time deliberating whether or not I should tell you or keep it a surprise before I decided on the latter, mostly because you always take me by surprise with your brilliant gifts for me and I wanted to be the one to do that this year.

"What you're holding right now is a compilation of my top one hundred, my absolute favorite journal entries since September first, nineteen-ninety-one," She said matter-of-factly. "Naturally, they all rely heavily on you since you make me happier than anyone else on this planet." Harry felt his face grow warm but said nothing. "They're written in chronological order, but you can read them in any order you want, don't feel pressured to go from beginning to end," She took another deep breath. "I hope you're not furious with me; I know I should have told you but –"

"Hermione," Harry sat back down in his chair and placed a hand on her thigh. "I'm not furious with you," He said slowly, and she let out a long, relieved sigh. Her shoulders sagged a bit as the tension in her body melted as he lifted his hand from her leg and intertwined their fingers together. "This is…brilliant," He glanced down at the journal and opened it to a random page, floored by how she managed to fill so many pages from top to bottom. "Absolutely brilliant, Hermione, I love it. Honestly, I can't actually begin to describe it. Mostly because I'm a bit in shock, but it's absolutely brilliant," He squeezed her hand and smiled as she beamed at him.

"I'm so glad," She whispered, letting out a shy laugh. "I hope you like reading it…and that I don't come off as a lovesick schoolgirl," She added nervously.

"I can't wait to read it," Harry said sincerely. "And it's hard for me to see you as anything except the brilliant, driven witch that you are. I doubt a silly crush on a black-haired troublemaker will make much of a difference."

She smiled her thanks and squeezed his hand, the gesture sending a pleasant warmth throughout the entirety of his body.

"Goddamnit," Sirius threw his hands up in the air and slumped in his seat. "She beat me. She beat my gift! I had such a great gift! I had everyone here feeling all emotional, and then Hermione has to pull this stunt and top it. I give up, I can't win with this girl," He turned and stuck his tongue out at Hermione, who giggled in response, which quickly caused the others to burst out laughing as well.

"Well, I believe that does it for gifts," Lupin said once he managed to stifle his laughter. "I believe we have some pictures to be taken?"

"Ah, yes we do!" Sirius grinned, leaping to his feet. "The drawing-room has the best lighting in the house, I think, does that work?"

"Works for me," Harry shrugged, and the others echoed his sentiment.

"Brilliant," Sirius clapped his hands together, and they exited the kitchen. Hermione offered to help Harry carry his gifts to his bedroom, so the two of them advanced one more flight of stairs while the adults entered the drawing-room.

"Thank you," Harry said once they reached his room and dropped his new contraband on his bed. "Seriously, those are brilliant gifts. You're making it harder for me to top them every year."

"You always find a way," Hermione fiddled with her sapphire pendant before she suddenly smiled wickedly. "Can you put on those sunglasses?"

"What?" Harry blinked before realizing. "Oh, yeah, definitely," He turned and rummaged through the pile of goodies until he extracted the leather case and slipped the aviators on. He turned back to Hermione and grinned as she bit her lip and stepped closer to him. "Am I really that attractive to you with these on?" He teased.

"You know how I've repeatedly expressed regret in showing you Top Gun?" Hermione asked in a breathy voice.

"Vividly."

"I take it all back," She whispered before grabbing two fistfuls of the collar of his new letterman jacket and eliminating the distance between them.

A couple minutes later, a dazed Harry and pleased Hermione entered the drawing-room, the latter triumphantly holding her enchanted Polaroid and a bag full of film capable of at least sixty photographs that she had secured before leaving Hogwarts a month prior.

"Nice shades," Tonks winked as Harry entered, and he blushingly took them off and replaced him with his regular glasses, placing the aviators in the pocket of his new letterman jacket.

"So, how does this thing work?" Sirius stepped forward and examined the camera with intrigue.

"It can hold ten photos at once," Hermione explained, "but we have plenty more in the bag. Essentially, you just point it and snap the picture, and it will print the photograph out right away. It takes a bit for the picture to completely develop so you can see it, but it will within about ten minutes."

"Brilliant," Sirius whispered. "Alright, give me the camera, I'm taking one of you two first."

Harry and Hermione complied, the latter handing the Polaroid over and wrapping her arm around Harry's waist and pulling him close. Harry grinned at her before turning back to his godfather and smiling into the lens. After a CLICK and a flash, the first picture of the day was printed and Sirius gently placed it on a nearby table.

"Got any poses you want to do?" Sirius arched an eyebrow. Harry thought for a moment before quickly grabbing Hermione's arm and draping it around his neck.

"Harry what are you – oh!" She cried out as he leaned down and wrapped his arms around her waist and thighs before promptly picking her up and holding her in a bridal carry position. "Harry!"

"What?" He looked down and winked at her right as Sirius took the picture, smiling as she blushed adorably in his arms. After a beat, he put her down and feigned annoyance as she swatted him on the shoulder.

Tonks and Lupin each had fun taking a few more pictures of the teenagers before Harry insisted on mixing it up. He happily snapped a few shots of the two Marauders, including one where they tried to jump in synchronization and failed miserably at timing it properly, much to everyone else's amusement. Hermione took a few of just Sirius and Harry, and then Lupin took a few pictures of Tonks and Harry. The Boy-Who-Lived let out a cry of surprise when the Auror unexpectedly picked him up in a bridal carry position for one of the pictures, but it didn't take long for the two of them to start cackling at their positions.

They began to get creative once they worked through the first twenty photos. Lupin and Hermione set up a chess set and sat across from each other with the most serious expressions they could muster, which were surprisingly stern and made for a very intense photo. Tonks dug out the boxing gloves and somehow managed to convince Harry into going a round with her while Sirius eagerly took pictures of his godson getting embarrassed by a girl.

Sirius showed Harry and Hermione a spell often used when he was in school called Levicorpus, and Harry was more than happy to set up several cushions on the floor before letting his godfather yank him into the air by his ankle.

Harry begrudgingly let Hermione wear his new jacket for one of the pictures, and she proudly twirled around so her back was facing the camera and beamed over her shoulder.

When it appeared that they might be seriously depleting Hermione's supply of pictures, Tonks tried the Doubling Charm and everyone was pleased to see that the effects of the spell were successful; the duplicated blank pictures printed and developed just the same.

Harry and Hermione exchanged grins as they taught the adults the famous Charlie's Angels pose and laughed away as they snapped photos of Sirius, Tonks, and Lupin holding up mock guns with their backs up against one another.

At one point, Tonks stopped to get a drink from her water bottle, at which point Harry whispered a well-timed joke about her crush on Lupin, causing her to do a completely authentic and – literally – picture-perfect spit take, taken by a grinning Sirius Black.

The Auror got her revenge by conspiring with Hermione when Harry was not looking and convincing the Brightest Witch of Her Age to snap a photo at the exact moment that her boyfriend was hit so hard in the face with a pillow that he fell onto his back.

Sirius managed to conjure a motorcycle for a few minutes in order for Harry and Hermione to recreate the famous movie poster from Top Gun, and Harry happily donned his new sunglasses for a few of those pictures.

Harry managed to convince Sirius and Lupin to hold their thumbs and index fingers out in the shape of an M for Marauders, much like one uses those fingers to form the letter W except upside-down.

Soon after that, Tonks used her powers to turn into an identical version of Remus Lupin when he wasn't looking and stood behind him, mimicking his movements as he talked animatedly with Sirius while Harry snapped a few pictures.

Hermione tried to sneak up on Harry with a pillow in hand while Tonks was holding the camera, but he managed to see it coming. He ducked the blow and spun so that he was standing behind Hermione and quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground, smirking as she shrieked with laughter and kicked her legs. Tonks was more than happy to document the turn of events.

It was while Harry had Hermione up in the air and the two of them laughed away the Lupin slipped unnoticed out of the drawing-room to answer the secret knock on the door that he had managed to hear above the laughter. He returned a moment later with the one and only Minerva McGonagall, who was carrying an armful of scrolls and two small white boxes. Naturally, nobody noticed their arrival and they were able to witness the scene in front of them unobstructed.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed, wriggling in his arms as her feet hovered uselessly above the floor. "You can put me down now!"

"Tonks, do you hear something?" Harry faked a yawn.

"Harry!" Hermione protested through peals of laughter, squirming about to try and escape his strong grip.

"Potter!" McGonagall's voice rang out and Hermione's laughter died instantly as she adopted a mortified expression, much like the one Harry was now sporting. "Could you put Miss Granger down, please?" The Head of Gryffindor asked calmly.

Harry released his grip on Hermione as if he had been hit by an electric shock. Unfortunately, he did it so quickly that she landed on the carpeted floor with a thud.

"Sorry!" Harry whispered, helping her to her feet. "Er…hello, Professor."

"Good afternoon, Mister Potter," McGonagall said curtly. "And happy birthday, as well."

"Thanks, Professor," Harry said, nervously running a hand through his hair as he tried not to think about what his professor was thinking at that moment.

"I have come by to drop off your summer assignments that you asked me to look over a few days ago," She said in her usual pedagogical tone, so Harry concluded that she was not outright furious with what she had just seen. "I am pleased to say that they were practically flawless. Well done, both of you," She gave a quick smile, and both Harry and Hermione nodded their thanks.

"I also have something else for each of you," She continued, placing the collection of scrolls onto the nearest table and holding out the two white boxes. "Certain individuals are opposed to my giving you this, but they have been convinced," She said cryptically. "Go on, take them," She brandished the boxes.

Harry and Hermione nervously stepped forward and each grabbed a box. Exchanging puzzled expressions, they simultaneously flipped open the lids and stared in awe at what lay inside for a beat.

Hermione reacted first, letting out a shriek of joy and jumping up and down in sheer glee. She suddenly stopped her celebrations and turned to Harry, her cheeks flushed and her hair flying.

"Did you – did you get –?"

Harry glanced up and grinned before extracting a scarlet and gold badge from his box.

"I knew it!" She said excitedly, launching herself forward into his arms. "Me too, Harry, me too!" She repeated over and over, wrapping him up in a hug so tight he expected his ribs to splinter.

CLICK

Harry did not even have to look to know that the last picture was going to be his favorite.

A/N: Hi guys! Did you miss me? I missed you. School is kicking my ass, not gonna lie. My muse pretty much died, I struggled with how to get from Point A to Point B in this chapter, and overall it was a pretty brutal week. Nonetheless, here we are. It took a lot of tries, a lot of effort to get here, but I enjoyed writing every single word of this version of the chapter. I understand if the pictures bit at the end might have bored you but I loved writing it, so no offense but I really don't care if you didn't like it.

References to note: the whole Hermione swooning over the aviators is inspired by the show Community. If you want to see one of the most bizarre yet hilarious scenes in the history of television, just search 'community aviators' on YouTube. Also, for those of you who are skeptical of that sequence, I am telling you as a guy who is at best slightly-above-average looking, aviators really do make all the difference in the world. They are an absolute game-changer in…that regard. Additionally, Hermione does the Amy Santiago double tuck from Brooklyn 99 while explaining her journal.

To my wonderful, brilliant, indescribably amazing readers, I love you all so much. You have brought me so much joy whenever life feels compelled to treat me like a punching bag, and it means the world to see that there are people out there that enjoy my work. Thank you all for everything, and stay safe!