Harry's birthday was a quiet affair. Dudley and Benny both tried to get them out of the house to "celebrate" but after Prince sternly reminded them that those outings bothered Ree they stopped pressuring. Harry enjoyed curling on the couch and watching movies all afternoon with the other boys. For lunch they ordered pizza, a compromise to keep Harry from cooking and from feeling guilty for not cooking. He took a short nap after lunch and woke to laughter.

He stretched out in the bed, wincing as his shoulder twinged and his knee ached. He was still sore in places as his worse injuries healed slowly. He slid out of bed and tugged on the pants he'd kicked off earlier. He shuffled out of the room and followed the laughter to the living room.

Benny had his back to him as the older teen bent over Dudley. Harry could see the side of Dudley's face covered in green and purple paint. Brushes, cups, and other paint tubes littered the living room table. Prince was sitting in his usual chair snickering at the two. Bewildered he slipped further into the room, trying to figure out what was happening. Surely they weren't really…

"Harry!" Benny J suddenly exclaimed making him jump. The older boy was grinning at him, his face painted mostly white with a star over one eye.

"What's going on?" he asked, although it was apparent they were painting each other's faces.

"Sorry we started without you." Dudley looked sheepish as he elbowed Benny J out of his way.

"O-kay, why are we painting our faces?" he knew it wasn't a birthday thing, the only birthday involving face paint he could remember was when Dudley went to a carnival for his birthday when they were six.

"Because it's fun." Dudley explained. Harry could tell the other boys were put out by his lack of enthusiasm.

He looked at Prince questioningly. He could feel the positive emotions radiating from the other, it seemed Prince was having fun too. The blond nodded and smiled.

"Go on Ree. You should try it, something simple maybe?" he directed the last part to Benny J.

"I can do simple."

Harry chewed his lip and relished in the happy feelings. He wasn't too sure about this, but he wanted to keep these happy feelings longer. He gave a quick nod then squeaked as a hand gripped him pulling him in close. He'd shuffled all the way over to Prince, who was now holding him. After a moment of anxiety he relaxed into the arms of the blond, letting himself be arranged on the other's lap. Completely comfortable against his anchor, Harry smiled at Dudley and Benny J.

"Well?"

The two huddled together for a moment whispering, then they picked out paints and hurried over. He giggled as the paint ticked his skin and followed instructions as he tilted his head this way and that. At some point he'd given up his glasses to keep them free of paint, and relaxed into the warm comfort the others were giving off.

A mirror showed him the cat face they'd painted on him. A black nose and whiskers, the rest of his face was covered in rough patches of color almost matching his hair. When they were finished Dudley demanded pictures. Uncertain, Harry clung to Prince for the first few. Soon he was being shuffled towards his cousin as Prince took charge of the disposable camera. He relaxed again and laughed as Dudley and Benny J came up with outlandish poses for the three of them.

"Hey, come on Prince, what about you?" Harry demanded impishly as a thought came to him.

"You want me in a picture?" the blond questioned pulling the camera from his face.

"No. Well, yes. What I meant is that you aren't painted."

"Oh no, not me." He shook his head sharply.

Harry pouted a moment and looked from the paints and back.

"Come on, it's his birthday!" Benny J stuck in.

"Yeah, come on, it's only fair." Dudley encouraged.

XXXxxx

The Prince frowned at the two, but he already knew he was going to give in. His wizardling asked for so little. What was a bit of personal humiliation in exchange for one of those little smiles? He found himself nodding and gave a little shrug.

"Oh, why not? For the birthday boy."

Ree blushed and beamed at him and Prince tucked the camera away as the little one set to sorting out the paints. He thought carefully and selected a blue mixing it with white until he had a light color that complemented the blond and grey eyes. He carefully painted a mask around his eyes adding white dots around the edges and small black swirls. The paint brushed on smoothly and he could feel the tingle like laughter in the other's emotions that he believed was ticklish spots. Dudley and Benny J sat back complementing and suggesting further detail as he worked out the detailing. Finally content he sat back and met those grey eyes. His stomach flipped and he found himself blushing. Quickly moving away to set the paints down, he let Dudley hold the mirror so Prince could inspect the damage.

"Not bad, Ree."

Harry beamed at the complement and allowed the others to talk him into another movie. He snuggled down on the couch, content with his birthday. They relaxed in front of the telly. At some point Benny fetched the left over pizza and some popcorn and they had "dinner". Harry relaxed further, curling against Prince. The movie ended and there was a quick flash. Harry jumped slightly and turned his head to see Dudley there with the camera.

"Alright, you got one. Now put it away or point it somewhere else." Prince demanded. The tone was cold, but Harry could feel there was no real anger behind the words.

"It's cake time. We have to take pictures of Harry with the cake." Dudley grinned.

"Cake?" he questioned, feeling overwhelmed by the reminder of the day. "You really got me cake?"

"With candles and ice cream." Benny J answered with his own smile as he hurried in the kitchen. After a moment the teen returned with a chocolate cake, two candles shaped like numbers perched on top and burning cheerfully. "Make a wish."

Harry couldn't think of anything that would make him happier. He was surrounded by happy people who had done all these good things for him. He took a breath, taking it all in. Both Dudley and Prince had promised to protect him, to look after him. No one had ever done that before. He wasn't having nightmares. He was safe from Voldemort and his uncle both. It was better than anything he'd ever had before. With a huff he blew out the candles. I wish for more of this.

He laughed as Dudley snuck another movie in and they watched another film as they ate cake and ice cream. It was really the best birthday ever.

XXXxxx

A/N: Thank you thank you, all of my faithful readers. I hope you like the addition. Hopefully more to come, this year has started off looking good.