Birthdays were always an exciting time in the Potter home. When James was a child his parents spent long nights choosing the venue and the entertainment for his special day. One year it was at a lake and there was a clown, another year they were deep in an Amazonian jungle as botanist told the fascinated children about the various plants they encountered on their adventures. His 17th birthday included an exciting adventure into the US where he, Sirius, Remus, and Peter partied long into the night at a magical club in Nebraska.

Lily always prefered calmer celebrations, though her excitement and budding magic provided plenty of entertainment. One year they had a barbeque at a local park, the weather luckily suitable, and during a game of hide and seek she mysteriously found the best spot in the park's highest tree. Her 12th birthday was spent at Hogwarts but the small celebration she with Alice Longbottom and a few other friends ended spectacularly when one of the gifts turned out to be a Zonko's firework with a hair-trigger.

Harry's first birthday was also spectacular. The Potter's were in hiding at the time but they still put one of the best celebrations together for their little son. Sirius took the babe on a low altitude flight around the house with his motorcycle while Remus lead an adventure through couches and chairs. Peter took his time making sparks and wispy bits of magic in the shape of animals for him to play with. And Harry gladly gobbled up the attention. He shot sparks back at Peter and laughed loudly with Sirius. He crawled like the dickens after Remus and gave gummy smiles at his parents while playing with the wrapping paper.

Now, the the elder Potter's were gone but Harry's celebrations were no less spectacular.

Remus and Minerva spent a large amount of time, heads in the fire, discussing possibilities for the baby's party. Harry was so young, Minerva didn't want to do too much but, she agreed with Remus to keep up the tradition of exciting birthdays.

This is how we found little Harry running along the grounds of Hogwarts after one of his new toys, an enchanted device that takes the form of different animals and then ran and hides, giggling all the way.

The surrounding ding area had a good number of people. Severus was there chatting with Professor Sinistra while Hagrid was sharing tales with Professor Flitwick who listened with half an ear. Michael and Stephen had returned for the celebration as had Elizabeth and a few other students. Professor Vector had brought along her family so there were a few children for Harry to play with.

Soon enough it was time for food.

"Harry! Harry, come on! Come eat!" Minerva called to the mobile tot.

Harry looked over and blinked at Minerva but giggled and ran in the opposite direction. She sighed and smiled gratefully as Remus scooped up the squirming child as he ran by.

"Let's go have some food and cake little guy," he whispered as he tickled Harry's side.

He sat the newly minted two year old in his high chair where his food was already waiting. There was a little sausage and hot dog that was in the shape of an octopus. He had little potato smiles and then little bananas in the shape of elephants. They were charmed to move a bit and they attempted to eat the pieces of lettuce on the plate.

The adults had normal food. Sausages, burgers, chicken and such but for the more adventurous few there were animal options for them as well.

Harry ate gladly. He only nudged the food-animals at first but they stopped moving once touched so he ate them, though he still stared curiously at their actions. Soon enough it was time for the best part.

Minerva cleared his little tray and Harry squirmed impatient and not entirely full. Smiling and ruffling his hair she reached around and pulled out a small cake in the shape of his favorite planet, Neptune. The cake was a perfect circle and only the size of a large orange. There were twinkling lights where it's ring should be and the surface said 'Happy 2nd Birthday!'.

Seeing the slightly floating ball Harry's mouth dropped in shock. His eyes wide he tried to reach for it but Minerva grabbed his little hand. Looking at the others nearby she nodded.

And so began the jaunty out of tune version of Happy Birthday.

Harry looked around in confusion but smiled as he saw everyone focusing on him.

"Happy Birthday to you~!" They sang exuberantly as the song came to a close.

"Blow out your candles Harry" She instructed, helping him blow at the ring of lights when he only looked up at her confused. She then carefully cut the cake in half, sitting the chocolate hemisphere on one small plate and the vanilla on another. She placed them both in front of Harry.

Harry squealed and at the first bites a small burst of confetti blew above his head. He giggled and kept eating.

With Harry otherwise occupied, Minerva and the others enjoyed the larger Neptune cake for the guests.

The children and young adults laughed every time one of Harry's bursts of confetti happened and the adults took the time to catch up.

Soon enough all of the food was finished and the kids plus Harry were off again, this time playing a gentle form of catch.

Later that night, after bidding everyone goodnight and heading into bed, Minerva pulled out the small photo album she was able to make. She showed Harry pictures of his parents and the good times they had together with and without Harry.

Harry went down easily that night. A long and exciting day over.

Minerva counted this as a tradition well kept.

a/n:

Hello all. I know it's been a while. I'll explain after a few points about the story.

1 Harry's toy is called a Zoof and it's a newer child invention. It takes the form of many animals, as mentioned before and then it runs and hides. So it could be a small horse and hide but once found it turns into a cat and the game continues. It only jogs and parents can set the speed and size of the animals its form takes.

2 All student Harry interacted with in previous chapters on a 1 on 1 or 1 on small group basis are at Harry's party. There was only one child near Harry's age there, around 3 or 4. Min era is looking for more appropriate playmates.

3 the confetti if you didn't guess is accidental magic. It isn't set up by any adult but is instead a manifestation of Harry's happiness.

I think that's it.

So explanation. I haven't updated in a while, primarily because I didn't have a schedule and then suddenly I didn't have the time. I work two jobs during the summer and then I go to school the rest of the time. So, I'm not giving up and right now the school thing isn't relevant but I just wanted to put things out there. I'm typically off on one of my jobs on Monday and Tuesdays, so let's make a tentative schedule for updates then and then any additional ones whenever.

I made this chapter extra long as an apology. Hope you liked!