A/N: Just thought I'd give it a go and try to catch a glimpse of how Harry's birthday/life would have been, had his mum lived. It's different from how he spent it with the Dursleys. Well hope you guys like it! It's rather short, I know, but I promise the next one will be longer. I just have a question for you guys. So, since Harry's off to Hogwarts soon, I was thinking that maybe Lily needed something to do while Harry's away. But I'm stuck. Should she become an Auror-she is pretty old at least by Muggle standards, but hey she's a pretty good witch; own a shop in Diagon Alley-I could definitely work this into the story just nice; or a Professor at Hogwarts-she'd be with Harry. But I don't know. Let me know what you guys think and if you have other suggestions, I'd be more than happy to hear them. Okay, I'll shut up now and let you continue your reading. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Harry's Birthday

"Harry. Harry, wake up, love," a soft voice whispered, dragging Harry away from his slumber. He opened his eyes sleepily and saw the grinning face of his mum peering lovingly down at him. "Happy birthday, love!" she said, hugging him tightly.

Harry grinned widely. Today was his birthday. He was finally eleven.

"Thanks mum," he said, snuggling close to her.

She stroked his hair, kissing him on his forehead. "I love you, Harry," she said softly and Harry could sense she was holding back tears. His mum usually got rather sentimental during his birthday. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, love."

"The best?" Harry asked pulling away to look into his mum's face.

"The very bestest," said Lily, smiling. "And don't you ever forget that. Now, how about you hurry up and dress, love? Sirius and Remus'll be here any minute," his mum said, kissing him one last time before exiting his room.

Harry stood up and made his way towards the little bathroom in his room and tried his best to make his hair lay flat. But as always, it went back to its regular position, sticking out at odd ends. He dressed rather hastily and the smell of bacon cooking reached his nose as he reached for a pair of clean socks, before heading for the door.

Sirius was seated at the breakfast table showing Remus what appeared to be a Muggle magazine—the people in the pictures stayed rather still, instead of moving, like in the wizarding magazines.

"Isn't she a beaut? I remember my old motorcycle," said Sirius fondly, staring off into space.

"I had a dream about a flying motorcycle once," Harry said from the doorframe.

"Flying motorcycles," his mum murmured, smiling absentmindedly. Quite suddenly, she turned around glaring at Sirius. "FLYING MOTORCYCLE? Are you mad? You took my son on a ride on that ghastly thing? What were you thinking?" she shrieked.

"Now, Lily. Calm down. I had nothing to do with it. If there's anyone you should be mad at, it's James. It was his idea," Sirius said innocently.

Lily glared at him, muttering something about 'incorrigible fools' as she exited the little kitchen.

"Actually, that was me," Sirius whispered to Harry, grinning widely. He stood up, opening his arms. "Happy birthday, Harry! How does it feel to be a man?"

"Absolutely brilliant," Harry said, running to hug him before turning to Remus.

"Happy birthday, Harry," said Remus, smiling tiredly. Harry grinned and gave Remus a hug before taking a seat next to them.

Sirius extracted a rather small package from his robes and placed it on the table. He whipped his wand out and tapped it once, enlarging it to its normal size; it was quite long and a bit thin. Harry looked at it, wondering what it might be.

"Now, I know that you're birthday party isn't until much later, but I wanted to give you this now, since your mum isn't here and she can't throw a fit. It's from me and Remus. Go on, Harry. Open it," he said, pushing the gift towards Harry.

Harry tore the wrapping hastily and grinned widely when he peeked inside.

"Wow! Thanks!" he said, throwing his arms around Sirius, then Remus, before turning back to his gift.

Sirius had a pleased smile on his face, looking contentedly at his godson. Remus, on the other hand, looked rather pale.

"You gave him a broomstick? Are you mental?"

"It's not just any broomstick, Moony. It's a Nimbus 2000."

"You blundering idiot," said Lily from behind him, hitting Sirius over the head with her wooden spoon. "Harry's not allowed a broomstick yet!"

"That doesn't mean he can't have one. And James would approve of it," he added, flashing her his winning smile.

"That's because he was as reckless as you," she said, rolling her eyes. After almost twenty years of knowing Sirius, Lily was unaffected by his 'charms' by now.

"Come on, Lily. You can't blame me for trying to pamper my godson. Look how happy he is."

Sirius' words had the desired effect. Lily's scowl gradually lessened at the mention of her son's happiness. If it made Harry happy, who was she to deny him that?

"You're still an idiot," she said, trying to hide the smile know forming on her lips. Knowing he had won, Sirius grinned happily.

The morning carried on in the usual chatter. Lily went about running errands while Harry played a game of Exploding Snap with Sirius and Remus until the afternoon, when guests starting arriving. The Weasley's were the first to arrive, given that Molly was more than keen to help Lily prepare the food. Their little home was filled with the sounds of laughter and happiness as Harry and the Weasley children, except for Percy, went about, running in and out of rooms.

After they had almost broken a lamp, Molly had finally put her foot down and sent them off to play outside. Harry took this opportunity to show them his new broom.

"Blimey, Harry! Is that a Nimbus 2000?" asked George, admiring the broomstick.

"Yeah, Sirius and Remus got it for me."

"I would give anything for a broom like that," said Ron.

Harry laughed. "Well, we can share it. I reckon we should take turns flying it."

"Yeah," Ginny said, grinning happily.

They each took a turn flying Harry's new broom around the woods surrounding his house, careful to avoid being seen by the Muggles nearby. Sirius watched proudly from the door as his godson mounted the broom.

"He's a natural, James. He's so much like you," he whispered, a sad smile on his face.

"Wotcher, Harry," a young woman no older than eighteen with bubbly pink hair said, grinning widely before handing him a present. "Happy birthday."

"Tonks!" said Harry, hugging her.

Tonks was Sirius' cousin and one of Harry's favourite people. It was thanks to Sirius that Tonks had become a constant presence in Harry's life. Over the years, Harry had grown to think of Tonks as an older sister and she was more than happy to think of him as a younger brother, seeing as neither of them had any siblings.

"I just only managed to escape Auror training. Mad-Eye wasn't too pleased. But I couldn't miss out on my little brother's birthday," she said with a wink.

"Nymphadora! How good to see you," a voice called, causing Tonk's hair to grow a bright red.

"Don't call me that, Sirius!" she snarled, annoyed.

Harry laughed as he watched his godfather and Tonks bicker as usual. As more and more people started arriving, Harry couldn't help but smile. These people were his family after all.

There was the Weasley's, who were extremely kind but very poor and whom he was really fond of; Sirius, his godfather and the closest thing he ever had to a real father; Remus, whom he had grown to think as an uncle; Minerva McGonagall, a very stern looking witch whom Harry had grown to think of as Grandmother; Emmeline Vance, a friend of his mum's, whom he was very fond of; Albus Dumbledore, whom he had always thought of as a Grandfather; Hagrid, one of his very best friends; and Tonks, his almost-sister.

He watched as they all gathered around him as his mum brought out his birthday cake, eleven candles lighted on top of it, their happy faces smiling down at him, full of love and affection. Harry couldn't help but think how lucky he was to have these people in his life. The only person missing was his dad, but he knew that somewhere out there, he was looking down upon him.

And for that one night, Harry Potter was a normal boy, celebrating his eleventh birthday, surrounded by his loved ones. To them, he wasn't The-Boy-Who-Lived. He was simply Harry.