Perfectly Ordinary (July 2013)

Today was perfectly ordinary.

I'd arranged to meet Susan for breakfast so she could report on her case, but she cancelled. Looking back now I realise the reason is obvious. Either Ginny got to her, or she remembered the date, or James owled her, the scamp. Whichever, the result was that I didn't need to go in to work early.

I was woken by a very loud squeal in my ear, Lily-Lu bouncing on my chest, Al sitting on my stomach and letting off Muggle party poppers, while James held up a giant-sized birthday card. They all did a round of the birthday song, at the tops of their voices, and for good measure finished with a loud shout of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!"

"Alright, alright, I get the picture," Ginny grumbled sleepily beside me. "No, James, no fireworks in my bedroom!"

Then the children made her play camerawoman and take a dozen pictures. Then they insisted on a couple shot, me and Ginny blinking sleepily into the camera.

"Just remember, you started all this, Potter," she whispered as we posed, bed-head and morning breath and all, "you and the brain you keep in your pants."

"I don't recall you objecting at the time," I murmured back. "Quite the opposite..."

Then we had birthday cake in bed for breakfast, because "Why not?" as Al said. And yes, they'd gotten up at three to bake it, using every utensil in the house and spilling flour and sugar everywhere. How had we not heard them? Because James had put up a Silencing Charm.

Auror-me choked on cake when I heard that, and Al punched me in the kidneys and handed me a glass of water. The sponge was chewy, stodgy, and lopsided; the icing was at least two inches thick. But it was quite nicely decorated; there was a big Golden Snitch, and a stick figure in green icing on a broom with long red icing hair, and another stick figure with huge eyes looking up from below. And lots and lots of red and pink hearts.

"I drew the picture on it!" Lily-Lu said. "That's you, and that's Mummy catching the Snitch for you, and then you fell in love!"

"It's beautiful, Lily love," said Ginny, hugging and kissing her. "James, if you Silence the house again, I'm confiscating your wand."

The rest of the day was also perfectly ordinary. We're close to a breakthrough in the Macboon Murder, but Robards made me go home early "so's your bloody well-wishers won't clog up my bloody office!", the darling bastard.

So I spent the evening playing with the children at...

"You're quiet," Ginny said, nuzzling Harry's cheek, in the darkness of their bedroom. "What's up?"

"Just writing a letter," said Harry, squeezing her close. "Telling them how nice it is to be perfectly ordinary."

She understood, of course. "Okay. Love you, darling." Ginny kissed him, laid her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes.

Good night.

Love you, Mum, Dad,

Harry