Chapter Eight:

Birthday Surprises

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Savoren.

As hard as he tried, Harry couldn't force himself to enjoy the games because his mind felt stuck on the empty envelope in the kitchen.

Knowing something was wrong, Hermione waited between games and then pulled Harry into the kitchen. She stared at him in concern before saying, "Your mind is elsewhere. What is wrong, Harry?" She narrowed her eyes at him as soon as Harry opened his mouth, "And don't you dare tell me that it's nothing. I know you, Harry, and I know when something is wrong."

Harry sighed softly and motioned toward the empty envelope on the table.

Curious, Hermione closed the distance and picked it up. Inspecting the blood-red letter, she frowned. "Is this from...?" The name refused to escape her lips.

Harry gave a silent nod of his head. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall.

She frowned as she her mind raced. She ignored Godric when he pounced at her legs, demanding attention. "Why would he send you a birthday card?" Her voice echoed with worry.

Harry let out a deep sigh and reached down to pat Godric's head. "I have no clue, Herm. What I want to know the most is where the birthday card got to. Isn't it illegal for people to go through another person's mail?"

Hermione smirked and gave a small shake of her head, "Not if it's your parent. . . I think?" She frowned softly, thinking that over.

Harry grumbled something inaudible under his breath. "I just can't focus on ridiculous games like exploding snap right now. I'm sorry, Herm." He dropped his eyes to tile on the floor, worried that he might have offended her.

Instead of answering him, she took a step forward and gently grabbed his chin. She took a shaky deep breath to calm her nerves and then captured his lips with her own.

The kiss only last a matter of three seconds but when they pulled apart neither would look the other in the eye, deep blushes stained their cheeks.

Hermione kept her eyes down, worried that Harry didn't like the kiss or that she was a bad kisser. She quietly cleared her throat and forced herself to look up at him. "That is your birthday gift. D-did you like it?" She felt as if her cheeks were on fire but she forced herself to keep her eyes locked on his.

Smiling, Harry gave a twitchy nod of his head. "It was amazing. Thank you, Herm."

She physically sagged in relief. "I'm glad."

Taking hold of her hand, Harry pulled her close and kissed her again on the lips. When he pulled back, he smiled at her, "When I'm around you it's like the rest of the world fades away."

A soft blush appeared on her cheeks as she smiled and hid her face into Harry's chest, hugging him tight. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it will all get figured out and will be okay. Try not to think about it okay? It's your birthday - you're supposed to be in a good mood."

Harry gave her a weak smile, "Alright. Thanks, Herm."

Holding his hand tight, she pulled him toward the living room, "Now come on before the Slytherins do something to Ron." She threw him a wink, giggled and pulled him into the living room.

"Did you enjoy your alone time?" Draco wiggled his eyebrows at them.

The door opened and in stepped Poppy. She glanced around the living room and offered a huge smile to the children. "Harry, your mum and dad need your help now." She looked to the other kids, "Your help is needed as well."

The five teenagers followed Poppy toward the field near the quidditch pitch.

Harry frowned, "I don't see them."

Poppy hid her smile and once they got closer, she pulled her wand out of her pocket and swished it three times, destroying the invisible barrier.

Harry's jaw dropped when he saw the crowd. He stopped walking and stared at the party, shocked.

Hermione giggled and pulled him towards the crowd, "Your parents have been planning this. Do you like it?" She looked at him and noticed him nod, still in shock. Laughing, she said, "Everyone came! All your friends, all the professors, and even all the Order members. Look at that pile of presents!" She pointed to a table full of wrapped boxes.

Harry smiled softly and looked around for his parents. The field is full of tables, games and a snack bar. He noticed his parents standing beside his grandfather and Uncle Filius. Leaving go of Hermione's hand, Harry hurried to their side and threw his arms around them in a group hug, "Thank you! This is amazing!"

Severus chuckled and patted his back, "You're welcome, son. Go around and greet everyone. Make sure to thank them for coming, alright?"

Harry nodded quickly, "Yes, sir!"

With a smile, Severus sent Harry on his way with a playful, light tap to his bottom.

Harry scurried to the first group of guests. They were sitting around a table playing a game of cards. In this group sat Professor Sprout, Professor Trewlany, Professor Binns, and Madam Hooch. He smiled at them and said, "Thank you for coming to my party."

They returned the smile and continued to play their game.

Professor Trewlany looked up as she discarded, "I have a special gift for you then Mr. Potter."

Harry didn't like the sound of that. "Um, thanks?" He hurried off to greet more guests. He moved to the table with the school ghosts, "Thanks for coming!"

Nearly Headless Nick bowed his head, causing it to flop to the side, "Ah, the birthday boy! I always knew you'd make it to sixteen!"

Harry frowned, not sure what he meant by that. Before he could ask him, Harry heard his name being called from a few tables down, it was Molly Weasley. Smiling, Harry hurried to her side and allowed her to pull him into a bone-crushing hug. "Thanks for coming to my party!"

Molly placed a big, wet kiss to his cheek, "You boys are getting too old. You need stop growing up so much!"

Fred smirked and glanced at George saying, "At least you don't have to worry about him getting too big."

George nodded, a small laugh begging to escape the pit of his stomach. "I'm afraid Harry is done growing. How tall are you, Harry?"

Harry gave them a glare and fidgeted a little, feeling insecure about his height.

Molly pulled him tight against her and glared at her twins, "Behave! Apologize to Harry, boys."

Fred and George quickly did as they were instructed, not wanting to test their mother. It doesn't matter how old they get, their mother will always strike fear into their souls when they misbehave.

Molly patted Harry's back gently, "Go along, child. Have you met Professor Slughorn yet?" At Harry's small head shake, she pointed him in the direction of the new Potions professor. "He's over there. He's sitting next to Mundungus over there."

Looking to where she pointed, Harry nodded his thanks and then went to speak to his new professor. He offered them smiled and said, "Thank you for coming to my birthday party."

Mundungus simply grunted and took a swig from the bottle of Firewhiskey he had between himself and the professor.

Horace Slughorn smiled a toothy grin, Harry could smell the Firewhiskey on the man's breath when he spoke. "Oh it's my pleasure, Mr. Potter. Sixteen, eh?" He looked off into the distance, "I remember when I was sixteen. . ." He shook his himself out of memory lane and looked at the young boy in front of him. "You look just like her."

Harry forced himself not to sigh. "Yeah, I know. I have my mother's eyes and my father's looks."

Horace didn't notice the bored tone in Harry's voice. He continued on, "Do you know who I am?"

Harry gave a tiny nod, "You're the new Potions professor. You're subbing for my father this year."

Horace nodded, a huge smile gracing his lips. "I bet you have your mother's talents." He didn't let Harry explain that he sucks at Potions. Instead, Horace continued on, "I expect to see you in my Slug Club."

Harry frowned as his mind immediately jumped to the time that Ron puked up slugs. "I'm sorry, what club?"

Horace's eyes shined with excitement. "It's a club for my elite students."

Harry couldn't help himself from snorting. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Professor Slughorn, but I'm not even taking your class this coming school year."

He frowned, "I was speaking to your mother earlier and I could have sworn she said you wanted to be an Auror?"

Harry nodded, getting bored of talking to this man. He looked around, hoping for an escape. "Yeah, I do. I just didn't make the marks." Seeing Hermione motioning him over, he smiled brightly, "Well, it was wonderful speaking to you professor. Good luck with classes this year!" With that, he hurried to Hermione's side.

She smiled at him when he got to her side, "The twins wanted me to find you and ask if you wanted to play quidditch. They are creating two teams right now."

Smiles felt contagious. Harry smiled brightly, "Yeah! I'll play. Will you join us?" He smirked, already knowing the answer.

She rolled her eyes, "You know I hate flying, Harry. I'm going to go get Luna's shoes from your house and give them back to her."

Harry nodded, "That's a good idea. Thanks, Herm." In his peripheral vision Harry saw Dean walking towards the party. He immediately felt his blood begin to boil. "What is that asshole doing here? Who would invite him?"

Hermione watched as Ginny ran towards her boyfriend. She sighed, "This isn't going to go well."

Harry nodded in agreement, noticing Mr. Weasley and Remus stand from their seats and head in Ginny and Dean's direction. Not wanting to witness this, Harry turned away from the scene and looked toward the Quidditch pitch. She's stupid for staying with him. Harry shook his thoughts away, not wanting to ruin his birthday. "Have fun with Luna, Herm. I will see you later." He gave her a quick peck and hurried on his way.

As soon as Severus saw Horace Slughorn making a bee-line towards him, Severus felt his irritation rise. This man is insanely annoying and only ever talks about his stupid Slug Club. Nevertheless though, when Horace took the free seat beside him, Severus forced himself to greet him with respect - after all, this man is subbing for him this year and so he will have to deal with him a lot. "What can I do for you? Are you enjoying yourself?"

Horace nodded, "Very much indeed, Severus. Thank you! I have a matter that I wanted to discuss with you."

Severus frowned, "And that is?"

"Your son told me that he isn't taking Potions this school year."

Severus could see the pure disappointment in his voice, "He is."

Horace frowned, "That's not what he said. . ."

Severus rolled his eyes, "The boy is not aware that you do not expect a lot from your students."

Horace didn't notice the insult and instead, smiled with excitement, "Oh good! I want him for my collection."

Severus snarled at him, "My son is no one's piece of collection. You will do well to remember that, Horace." With one last glare, Severus stood to find Minerva. They need to get supper on the tables for their guests. He found Minerva, Molly and Poppy were already spelling cups, plates and bowls on to the tables.

Once everything was set up, Severus went to retrieve the teenagers from the quidditch pitch. When he got there he froze in place for Harry and the twins were performing tricks on their broomsticks. Currently, Harry was doing a hand-stand high up in the air. Feeling his heart pound furiously, Severus pointed his wand at his son's broom and forced the broom to come down to him.

Harry paled as he felt his broom moving without his permission. When he noticed where he was moving to, he fidgeted nervously. Once in front of his father, Harry jumped off the broom and held it behind him. "I can explain."

Severus held a single hand up, stopping Harry from continuing. He looked at all the teenagers that were landing and coming toward them. He glared at them, "Supper is being served." He leveled them with a daring look, "Go."

Harry bit his lip and dropped his head. He waited until his friends were gone before looking at his father again. "I'm sorry, dad. I know I'm not supposed to do tricks."

Severus gave him a stern look, "When you do tricks, Harry James, you put your life in danger." He watched as Harry immediately dropped his head again. Sighing, Severus firmly took hold of his shoulders and turned him to the side, landing sixteen fast, small smacks. Once done, he turned his son back around and pulled him into a hug, "Do not do it again, Harry James."

Surprised, Harry looked up at his father. The smacks barely even hurt, they just made his bum warm! "Is that it?"

Severus smirked and ruffled Harry's hair. "You are lucky it is your birthday, Harry James. Though, if you do it again you can be prepared to sleep on your stomach tonight. Am I understood?"

Harry quickly nodded, "Yes, sir."

Severus patted Harry's back and steered him in the direction of the party. "Did you win the game?"

Harry smiled broadly, "Yeah!"

Severus laughed, "Of course you did."

When they got back to the party, Harry hurried to the seat beside Hermione.

Ron gave him a concerned look from across the table but Harry shook his head, showing that it was okay.

"Alright everyone! Dig in!" Albus told everyone as he waved his wand, filling the tables with food.

Halfway through the meal, Nymphadora and Remus stood to make an announcement. Their eyes shined with excitement.

Nymph smiled at the party, "We have good news!" When everyone was looking at her, she continued, "We moved the wedding up to three weeks. The wedding will be the week before classes start. We are still going to have the wedding on the beach."

Remus jumped in, "We also have ultrasound pictures if you want to see them."

Harry smiled at Hermione, "I've never been to the beach. Well, unless you count the time Uncle Vernon made us live on a rock-island." He shuddered at the memory.

Ron shook his head, "That doesn't count. You need to experience the sand and swimming."

Changing the subject so he didn't have to keep thinking about his relatives, Harry asked Ron, "Do you want to spend the night? I'd have to get permission first. . ."

Ron quickly nodded, "That'd be awesome."

Harry nodded in agreement, "I'll ask after we eat."

Seamus glanced at Ron, offering him a gentle smile, "How is the dessert, Ron? Is it sweet?"

Ron felt his cheeks warm and he quickly looked away from Seamus. He and Seamus have been hanging out all day and have been writing back and forth a lot this summer. He couldn't help but begin to feel different around Seamus. These feelings unnerved him, too afraid of anyone knowing his secret.

Harry jumped when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. He turned and saw Nymphadora smiling down at him.

"Happy birthday, dear. Do you want to see the ultrasound?" Nymph asked, holding a picture in her hand.

Harry quickly nodded and took the picture. He stared at it in awe: the two babies were moving around and he could hear their heartbeats. "This is so cool," He all but breathed out. He watched as the one baby sucked on its thumb and he felt his heart melt. I hope I can make this world Voldemort-free for you. Shaking himself, Harry handed the picture back to her, "Thank you."

Nymph nodded and then moved along to show others.

"You have Black's old bike, dontcha Harry?" Seamus questioned as he shoved a piece of chicken in his mouth.

Harry nodded, "Technically, yes, but I can't use it."

Seamus frowned, "Why not? You're sixteen now. In the muggle-world, when you turn sixteen you get to drive!"

Harry thought that over for a second, "I'll have to talk to mum and dad about that."

Seamus nodded, "You should."

After everyone finished eating, Minerva and Severus had to force Harry to come open his gifts (he felt too shy to open them in front of everyone). As he opened his gifts, Hermione kept a list of who got him what so he could send thank you cards later on. The gifts that Harry liked the most was a crotchet Gryffindor blanket from the Weasleys, a slick-black broom case from his parents, a life-time supply of Quibblers from Luna and her father, a pot of lilies that will never wilt from Professor Sprout, clothes from Aunt Poppy, rock cakes and dog toys from Hagrid, light-up socks from his grandfather, and a set of new quills from Uncle Filius. Professor Trewlany wanted to give him a hand-reading but everyone jumped to tell her no - the last thing Harry needs for his birthday is to be told he is going to die. Harry's favorite gift of the night was from Remus. Remus gave him an old guitar. At the base of the guitar is a carved doe and stag.

Remus smiled as he watched Harry's eyes sparkle as he looked at the guitar, "I will teach you how to play it."

Harry looked up, hearing Remus' voice. "Was this my father's?"

Remus nodded. "I figured it was time that you had it. Take good care of it though, alright?"

Harry smiled brightly, "Thanks!" He got distracted when he noticed the twins messing with something. His eyes shined when he noticed them light it up and realized it was a firework.

The sky lit-up with different colored fire works. Harry smiled and looked around, enjoying the happiness that everyone was feeling because of the whole day. He looked over at Draco and noticed him just ending a kiss with Pansy. He frowned when he saw Remus give Draco a thumbs up. Dad would kill me if I kissed Hermione in front of people. . .

Speaking of Hermione, Harry felt her take hold of his hand. He smiled at her and pulled her tight against him into a hug. "Today has been amazing." He forgot all about the mysterious envelope.

Minerva frowned at the closeness of the two and came over to stand beside them.

Awkwardly Harry dropped her hand and took a step away. Having a strict mother is annoying. "Mum, can Ron spend the night tonight?"

Minerva sighed, Harry may have been able to forget about the letter but she couldn't. She shook her head, "Not tonight, Harry. We are going to be exhausted when we get home. He can spend the night as soon as you finish the chore list and get off your grounding."

Harry sighed, "Alright..."

Minerva gave his shoulder a squeeze, "You are close to getting the list done, Harry."

Harry nodded, "Alright. So, since I'm sixteen now, can I drive Sirius' bike?"

Minerva shook her head, "Definitely not. That is a dangerous machine and I won't let you ride that until you are no longer living under my roof."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Fine."

Sighing, Minerva gave him a stern look. "You need to watch your attitude, Harry. Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you can get away with that." Seeing Harry look away from her to glare elsewhere, she snapped, "No. Look at me, Harry James. I'm not kidding - stop the attitude."

Leaving out a huff, Harry finally looked up at her. "Okay! I'm sorry. Can we just drop it? I'm sorry I even asked. . ."

Minerva nodded, "I'm going to go speak with your Aunt Poppy. Enjoy the rest of your party." She glanced between the two and reminded them, "Space." With that, she left.

Hermione gave his hand a loving squeeze, "It's alright, Harry. Shake it off. Let's go have fun." She pulled him towards the rest of the teenagers who were running around with sparklers, screaming and laughing as they tried to write words in the sky with the smoke.

Laughing softly, Harry joined the group with ease, vowing to enjoy the rest of his freedom for tomorrow, when he wakes up, he will be back to being grounded.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

Savoren.