And then Harry woke up in the cupboard under the stairs…

He groaned, and looked up at the ceiling, still groggy. What a bizarre dream! How long had he been out? Harry heard footsteps rushing up above him, and suddenly the door to the cupboard flew open.

"Harry! Oh, thank goodness, there you are! I've been worried sick!"

"Sorry mum, I guess I fell asleep. I had the strangest dream-"

"Well, what were you doing in the cupboard anyway?"

"Ron, Fred and George and I were playing hide and seek, but I guess they didn't find me."

"Well, get up now," said Lily, Harry's mother, "It's your birthday dinner; you can't be late. The guests will be arriving any minute. The Weasleys all went out in the garden, you can join them. I'm so glad Molly and Arthur agreed to help set up. And you godfather will be arriving soon. Heavens knows what sort of dangerous present he's bringing this year." As Harry followed his mother through their house in Godric's Hollow out to the garden, he felt sort of odd. His dream had felt so real. Harry wondered how could he have ever imagined a life without his parents.

In the garden, there was a table laden with food, and a family of redheads milling about. There was a knock at the gate, and Harry turned and saw a smiling man with long black hair.

"Sirius!" Harry called, and ran to meet his godfather.

"Hello! How's my godson doing? Hogwarts letter come yet?"

"They don't come for a few more weeks," said Lily, "Don't cause a panic."

"Hey, Harry!" said Sirius, "I've got a present for you." Sirius reached down and lifted up a suspiciously broom-shaped package above the gate.

"No fair!" said a man with messy black hair and glasses as he entered the garden from the house, "That's what I was gonna get him, Padfoot! You can't steal a man's present to his own son!"

"I thought first years weren't allowed brooms," said Lily with her hand on her forehead.

"They aren't," said Sirius, "But I figured they might make an exception for this one since he's such a natural like his old man!" Sirius entered the garden, then turned to Harry's mother. "Oh, Regulus sends his regards, Lily. He wishes he could come, but important Department of Mysteries business and all that."

"Well, one of you has to be the sensible one," said Lily rolling her eyes.

"Imagine that," Sirius chuckled, "Just eleven years ago you're dueling someone with bitter hatred, then all they have to do is hand over information that leads to the downfall of a dark lord, and suddenly they're a coworker you invite to your son's birthday party and call sensible. What a turnaround, Lily. Well, don't forget it was aurors like me that did the dirty work back then. Bloody horcruxes, nearly impossible to destroy. While you two were living it up in hiding, probably having lots and lots of s-"

"Ok, Sirius!" said Lily. "Why don't you go enjoy the punch?"

"Don't mind if I do," said Sirius. "But remember James, you owe me, your most amazing friend and secret keeper for that extended honeymoon. All those lonely nights with Lily after the baby went to sleep..."

"Sirius! Punch!" said Lily, and walked him over to the food table.

There was a popping noise, and a man in a brown suit appeared, holding a wrapped box. "Hello, James! I'm not late, am I?"

"No, no not at all, Moony! How's our favorite History of Magic professor?"

"Well, it's about to be Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Remus. "Quirrel's research on vampires in Romania got him a post at Beaubatons, so I'll be taking over."

"Wonderful!" said James. "Dream job, am I right? Teaching little kids to blast each other across the room. Reminds me of the good old days! But I bet a certain Potions Master isn't too happy about that."

"Snape?" said Remus, "Oh, he's fine. He's been a lot better ever since, well, have you heard?" Remus lowered his voice, "Snape's gonna be a dad!"

"What?" said James. "No way!" Harry saw his mother across the yard freeze what she was doing, listening.

"Yeah," said Remus, "You remember that girl he married a few years ago, Rosemary or something, was a few years below us in school, well anyway, she's pregnant! They're expecting a boy."

"Well, good for him," said James. Harry saw is mother smile.

"Harry!" A voice called out, "Come on! We're about to start exploding snap!" Harry turned to see his best friend Ron waving him over. Harry started to walk towards him, when there was another apparition 'pop' behind him. Harry turned around instinctively, and felt a chill when he saw who it was.

"Peter!" said Lily, as she made her way to greet him. "Glad you could come!"

"Always glad to be invited," said the smiling man as he shook Lily's hand. Harry couldn't help but feel disturbed after the dream he'd just had. Jolly, friendly Peter, always ready with a handshake and free samples from his popular café in Diagon Alley, had been so… so… different. And it had all felt so real. Harry touched his hand to his forehead just to be sure there was no lighting scar.

Guests continued arriving: the Tonks' and their cool daughter, an older girl who used to babysit Harry, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom and their son, Neville, who Harry was pretty good friends with, and Hagrid, who brought Fang with him for a "pettin' zoo". Kingsley Shacklebolt, head of the Auror Department stopped by with Mad-Eye Moody to say hi, some friends of Lily's arrived, and the annual store-bought card signed by all three Dursleys arrived by muggle post. Soon the yard was full of wizards and witches, some of which Harry didn't even know. But he didn't care. He was just so happy.

When the time came for birthday cake, Harry looked into the loving eyes of all the faces around him, his parents, their friends, his friends. Then, he closed his eyes and blew out the all eleven candles in one breath. Everyone applauded, then got busy cutting and handing out cake.

"So, Harry, what'd you wish for?" asked Ron.

"Nothing," said Harry with a smile as he watched them. "I don't need anything at all."

"What?" said Ron. "You should've at least wished to be in Gryffindor house. You and me are going to be together there, right?"

"Right," said Harry. He supposed he could have added a wish: that he would meet a girl named Hermione on the train, and a hundred other people in the years to come, and they could all live safe and happy lives because maybe, maybe if only a few things had been different, their world would be a much more difficult place.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review, if you have the time. I know that was a lot of information cramming, but I wanted to get it all in a short epilogue! If you have any questions or requests about this alternate universe (because that's what I see it as, not an actual alternate epilogue), let me know because I came up with a lot more information than is included here, so I could write this. It was just really fun to do! So if you want more information about the events in this story (i.e. people's jobs, how the first and only wizarding war was resolved, how did Snape meet his wife, etc.) or want more fics from this universe, please let me know because I'd be glad to do them!