Harry smiled as tinsel poppers activated each time he walked into a room, complement of the twins and he arrived to the kitchen covered in tinsel.
"Good morning!" Harry said, Severus looking at him with the mildest hint of amusement.
"Good morning, happy birthday." The potions master said, Ron and Hermione scrambling to the next room. Snape placed his hand on his shoulder and gave it a faint squeeze.
"Thanks Severus… but you didn't have to do this." He said smiling but embarrassed. "I know you're not the kind of person to make a party in your home." He said scratching the back of his neck.
"Perhaps… but this is not my home. It is our home. And it is your birthday." He said. "Sixteen." He chuckled.
"Probably not much to you, but I feel fairly grown up." Harry chuckled. Snape gave the shortest of laughs.
"Hardly. You are a child to me." He said, placing his hand briefly on his hair and Harry picked up on the mildest of caress that lasted less than half a second. An overwhelming need to hug him filled him. Mrs. Weasley walked in calling them all to breakfast before he could.
After filling up with pancakes, the adults cleaned up and Harry was dragged off by the teens to try out the new toys and trinkets that the twins were planning to introduce to their shop. Harry loved every bit of it. Ron himself seemed to recover from whatever chilly mood struck him and joined in as normal.
For the most part, Snape stayed to the side-lines, chatting ever so briefly to Mr. Weasley, but he would nod Harry's way if Harry showed him how one of the products worked.
"I hope he's not cataloguing all our products in preparation for the start of term." Fred half-joked and Harry laughed at their nervous glances at the potions master.
"He probably is."
"Here's the cake!" Mrs. Weasley proudly declared as she brought over a pretty home-made cake with golden frosting and 'Happy Birthday Harry' written in red with a sugar lion pacing around the sixteen candles surrounding the lettering.
Everyone praised the cake, except for Harry. Harry just stared at the second birthday cake he'd ever received. This one would probably be the first he would ever get to taste. He stared at the glittering candles which began to blur. He took a deep breath and ignored his emotions before they made him burst into tears.
"Make a wish, Harry." Hermione encouraged him. Harry felt his face heat up and strangely enough, Ron looked like he was glaring at him again.
"Right." Harry said and looked at the cake.
Despite doing his best to think of his wish, his mind went back to Malfoy Manor. He remembered the candle he lit that took him and the death-eaters to that moon temple. He remembered the candle image that he used to shut down his consciousness and allow Voldemort to control him. He didn't feel comfortable blowing out the stupid candles. And everyone was waiting on him to do so.
"Harry?" Hermione's hand over his snapped him out of it.
"Sorry… don't really feel like asking for anything." Harry said. Ron suddenly stood up, shoving his chair back.
"Yeah, 'cos you just have bloody everything, don't you?" And he stormed out.
"Where the heck did that come from?" Ginny snapped after Ron but he'd already gone. Harry was shocked and frowned, going after Ron.
"Harry he's just being a prat, leave him to his-" But Harry didn't listen as he followed Ron round the house and down the hill, away from the forest.
"Ron! Wait!" Harry called out and the redhead stopped. "What's wrong with you all of a sudden?"
"Just shut up! It's nothing!" He snapped.
"Ron, seriously… the hell's wrong with you?" Harry got angry when the other didn't stop and reached to grab and turn him around. Ron smacked his arm away as he turned.
"You're the one something's wrong with! Since when do you like Hermione? Aren't friends supposed to tell each other these things?"
"What? Are you crazy? Hermione's my friend!" Harry yelled at him.
"Not from the way you're turning red and touching her! Suddenly you're ready to try again after screwing up with Chang?!" Harry couldn't take the broiling rage that coursed through him and he punched the other, hitting his arm and suddenly they were both yelling and fighting on the meadow. They rolled and Harry felt his glasses slip as they tugged, punched, kicked. They ruined enough flowers for Harry to hear the angry screeching of the fairies.
"Who's the bad friend? Bringing Cho up when you know my secret!" He yelled at him, suddenly Ron froze as he looked at him shocked, as if for a second he had forgotten. Of course he had.
"..."
"Why the hell are you so angry about Hermione anyway? You're not her mother." He growled shoving the redhead away from him and Ron did not respond.
"I… maybe I like her." He said. Harry clenched his jaw. He was angry. Oh, he was furious.
"Aren't friends supposed to tell each other these things? Are you serious?" He hissed as he threw the words back at the other. "You got angry at me over nothing because you like Hermione? You know what? I'm glad she's so smart since she probably has enough sense to reject you."
"What? What's wrong with me, huh? I'm not the one with secrets!" He hissed.
"That! Precisely that! You glare at me and pick a fight with me in my first birthday party for a stupid reason! Friends don't do that to friends!" He yelled.
"What would you know?!" Ron yelled. Harry knew at this stage he didn't mean it. He was just saying things for the sake of hurting him but Harry was blinded by anger and didn't do the mature thing which was to shut up and walk away.
"Friends don't use each other's secrets against them." Harry added.
"I'm not the bad guy here!" Harry felt his anger dissipate slowly, feeling only tired.
"…We're supposed to be best friends… what does even that mean to you?" Harry asked softly.
"We are friends… I'm sorry." He looked away. Harry didn't really want to forgive him just yet but his anger was lessening. He held his own arm, squeezing it tightly. He never should have trusted Ron with his secret. The other was too much of a prat when he was angry. He simply turned around and went back to the house, forcing a smile.
"Guess he needs more time to cool off." He just said. He appreciated that they stayed out of it. "Let's eat cake." He said and the redheaded teens agreed, continuing with the merriment. Hermione frowned at Harry who simply shook his head at her to not ask him questions. Ron did come back eventually but stayed by his parents' sides, staying quiet.
When it came time for Harry to open his presents, they gave them one by one until Snape brought another over. "This one arrived in the post this morning." He told him.
Harry looked at the intricate bow and wrapping and looked at the fancy card. It was from Draco. "Huh..." He opened to read it.
'Thank you.' That was it. He shrugged and went to open it. Hermione leaned in, as curious as the others. He saw from the corner of his eye as Ron also inched a little closer to see.
"It's a…" Ginny whispered and Harry took out the carefully packaged gift. It was a small, but heavy, merry-go-round made out of porcelain and gold. A golden key accompanied it.
"Oh, it's so beautiful." Hermione admired.
"The Malfoys do have a lot of dark objects though." Ginny looked at the gift with distrust. Harry didn't feel the sticky, heavy, tingling sensation that went up his fingers whenever dark magic was close but he still looked over to Snape.
"I have checked all presents for any curses and hexes." He told him.
Harry nodded and turned back to look to the present, finding where to put the key and turning it. A clicking sound was heard and as he let go the music box in the mechanism began playing. Ginny, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley all sighed and smiled. Harry looked at it curiously. It was pretty as it turned and the tune was nice but it was a strange present.
"It's charmed Harry." Hermione told him. "To keep nightmares away."
"Huh… cool!" Harry added. Malfoy had given him something to keep nightmares away. Probably something that you only give to children too but he didn't care. He had nightmares to keep at bay and was actually quite excited to try it out. It looked ancient, hand-crafted and expensive though, so he would have to write Malfoy a long letter thanking him. He mostly wanted to give it back but he knew that would just insult the prat and his holier-than-thou family.
"I should probably put it away, looks kinda fragile." Harry said, leaving it in the corner of his night table and fixing it with a spell. "Well… I guess that means you're not that ungrateful." He mumbled to the present and shrugged as he returned to the party.
Ron was talking to Hermione who seemed to be telling him off and he approached nudging the redhead who smiled faintly and nodded to him. Harry nodded back. He'd forgive him for now.
