Dixie.f.9: Hmm...something like that probably. I never thought further thank getting Dumbles out of the picture for good.. Maybe they keep him at Gringotts since wizards have broken out of Azkaban before... Maybe but I think Sev and Marv have locked it away in their minds and Harry is talking to them, so I'm not sure...

mizzrazz72: Haha yeah I thought some of you would think that but I really liked the title :D Me too :)

DiezSimmons: Thank you! Nope - sadly I have not yet been to the Netherlands, but it is on my list :D Who knows? I deliberately left it at an open end. Maybe they will get together and you will see it in a side story or you can imagine whatever you want :D

aisa.32: Dziękuję Ci!

TLD110166: You have no idea how much this irks me now. I actually noticed it while typing but didn't want to stop right then and afterwards I obviously forgot . :P Thank you for telling me :D

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling - I just played a bit in her universe.

Thanks to miu-sama95 for prereading, betaing and helping with the storyline ;)

Chapter 52: Happy Birthday!

Words: 3396

So far, this holiday had been the most amazing thing to ever happen in his life. The last ten days had just been awesome. Harry had enjoyed his time with his family and Hermione as much as possible. The anonymity of being in a foreign country and not speaking the local language was just wonderful to him.

There was just a tiny wizarding community in Nice and they kept to themselves enough to not know what has been going on in Britain.

Since Hermione was fluent in French, they were often allowed to wander around the town on their own for a few hours.

His best friend had dragged him along to a detailed exploration of the magical district since she hadn't even known of its existence before Remus showed it to them.

Remus and Sirius had vanished for a few days around the full moon, but they were back in Nice the same day that Ron had arrived.

Ron had flooed into the hotel three days ago and since then the trio had been inseparable – even at night. Although the adults had offered Hermione her own room, she chose to share with the boys.

This usually led to the adults having to remind them to sleep more than once every night and in the mornings the teens were all overly tired.

They had spent the last days exploring the tiny country Monaco, which was nestled in between the Cote d'Azur and the mountains, close to the Italian border, as well as the mountain villages north of Nice.

Severus had been enthralled by the amounts of rare herbs that had been on offer at the local market in Saint-Martin-Vésubie. That had led to Remus and Sirius taking the kids to the wildlife park Alpha-Parc Animalier which led to a few hilarious encounters between the werewolf and local wolves as well as Padfoot chasing after birds.

One day they had even visited and toured a famous fragrance production in the area. Of course, Hermione was the most excited that day, although they had all left the company with a bag of goodies of their own choosing.

Today the adults had done their best to exhaust the teens by sending them to the beach. Sirius and Remus had been assigned babysitting duties, so his Dad and Papa could organize stuff for his party (and probably spend some time alone together). His uncles had done a great job by signing them up for surfing lessons.

By nine that night the teens (as well as the uncles) retired to bed and by ten Ron and Hermione were fast asleep on either side of Harry who was still holding on by a thread.

For as long as he could remember he had always stayed up until midnight to congratulate himself on his birthday. Although so much has changed since his last birthday, this was a tradition he wanted to keep. It didn't matter to him that his friends were asleep already – he actually preferred it this way. It gave him time to reflect on the past year.

And what a year it had been. All those ups and downs with the tournament and getting together with Ron. Then the chaos at the last task and finding his Dad. And to top it all off there had been Dumbledore's trial and his first ever vacation. What a year indeed.

He just hoped that next year would be quieter and more relaxed.

Harry checked his watch again – 10 minutes till midnight. It was one of the only things he had kept from his time at the Dursley's. It was a digital watch that could light up. Dudley had thrown it out when his wrists had gotten too fat to wear it.

He sighed. He didn't want to spend the last minutes of his reflection time thinking of them but now his brain was stuck at Privet Drive.

"Why are you still up, Snitch?" A quiet voice scared him to death in the dark. He let out a very unmanly squeak and jumped about a foot.

"Dad?"

"Who else would it be?" The Potions Master drawled highly amused.

"Don't scare me like that! What are you doing here?"

"I looked in on you before going to bed myself, like I do every night. Now why are you still up?"

" 'M waiting." The teen mumbled suddenly embarrassed.

"Waiting? What for?" Severus stepped closer to the bed.

"Midnight."

"Your birthday?"

Harry just nodded and thanked Merlin that it was too dark in the room for his Dad to see his blush. Saying it out loud made it seem childish.

"Why don't you join me and your Papa and we wait the last minutes together?"

Although he had wanted to spend this time alone the thought of cuddling with his parents was too appealing to pass up. With a small nod he took the hand his Dad offered and carefully slid out of bed.

His Dad quietly led him out of his room and through the unlit living room into the masterbedroom where Marvolo was just coming out of the bathroom.

"Oh! You found a night owl, Sev?" He asked amused.

"You could say that. Climb in, Snitch."

They all got comfy in the big bed with Harry in the middle and his parents on either side of him before Marvolo spelled the lights off.

"How much time do we have left, Snitch?" Severus asked.

"Thirty seconds." Harry stated after lighting up his watch again.

Marvolo was still trying to figure out what was going on, but he kept quiet. If he didn't figure it out himself, he could always ask his husband tomorrow. Severus obviously knew what the matter was.

"Ten seconds." The teen announced. "Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Happy Birthday to me."

"Happy Birthday, Snitch." Severus said quietly before drawing Harry into a hug and kissing his forehead. "May all your wishes come true."

If the lights had been on the two Princes would have laughed at the obvious lightbulbs going off in Marvolo's head.

"Happy Birthday, son." He said as well and pulled the teen out of his husband's arms to hug him as well. "May there be many more to come."

"Thank you. You are both the best parents I could have ever wished for."

"Good night, Harry. Good night, Marv. I love you both." Severus said quietly when he noticed his son was slowly losing the battle against sleep.

"Good night, son. Good night, love. Sweet dreams."

"Night, night. Love you." Harry mumbled before finally giving in and letting sleep overtake him.

Severus and Marvolo also fell asleep quite quickly after they had exhausted themselves with their afternoon activities.

The next morning he was woken up by his boyfriend and his best friend jumping onto the bed and screaming so loud that he thought his ears would be ringing for days.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!"

In a second all tiredness was gone from his face and a huge grin stretched across it.

"Thank you, guys!" Harry said and pulled them both into a hug, cherishing not having to spend his birthday alone for the first time in his life.

Hermione and Ron crawled under the covers and the trio cuddled up together – just for five more minutes.

"So, what's the story behind your bed switch?" Ron asked curiously.

"Ummm… Dad found me still awake when he came to check on us. He-…"

"Wait a second! He checked on us?" Ron interrupted.

"He said he has been looking in on me every night before he went to bed."

"Weird."

"It's not weird, Ron. It's cute!" Hermione declared and lightly hit her friend on the arm.

"Just don't let Dad hear you saying that. Anyways. I was still up and he asked if I wanted to sleep in their bed tonight."

Harry left it at that since he didn't want to go into his reason for still being up right now.

"Alright. We were just confused when we woke up cuddled together without you in bed."

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

"It doesn't matter now. It's your birthday today and it will be the most amazing day ever!" Hermione gushed excitedly.

"Then maybe we should get out of bed and into some clothes?" Harry offered.

"Don't be silly! There will be no changing before breakfast! The adults are all waiting in the dining room for us."

"Then what are we waiting for? I'm famish!" Ron complained and jumped out of the bed. This caused his friends to giggle but they still followed his lead.

Ron took Harry's right hand while Hermione took his left and together they led the birthday boy out of the bedroom, through the living area and into the dining room.

Just before they opened the door they each put their free hand over Harry's eyes so he couldn't see anything.

"Guys!" He complained but it was drowned out by the congratulatory shouts and the light blinding his eyes when the hands were taken away again.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!"

Harry was overwhelmed. Not only were there his parents and uncles whom he had expected but the Weasley family had gathered as well. Even Arthur, Bill, Charlie and Percy were there. They all must have taken at least part of the day off to be with him.

He was so speechless, he could only stand there with his mouth hanging open in surprise. That was quickly changed when Molly couldn't stand still anymore and pulled him into one of her rib-cracking hugs.

One after the other, they all hugged him tightly and wished him a happy birthday again. The last person to pull him close was his Dad and he more or less clung to him. His emotions were just all over the place at the moment and he needed his Dad's stability to calm down.

"Happy Birthday again, Snitch. I love you very much." Severus whispered into his son's ear before he addressed the room. "Why don't you all take a seat and we'll get started on this mountain of food?"

"Here here!" The twins exclaimed and proceeded to usher everyone to their seats.

Harry was sat at the head of the table with Ron and Hermione to his right and his Dad and Papa to his left. The others had chosen seats seemingly at random.

Harry had been too preoccupied before but now that he saw all the food his mouth was watering. He was surprised the table hadn't broken in half under the weight. Every inch of it was filled with dishes upon dished of food. While everyone started passing around platters and plates, the teen could only marvel at all the food.

He could see classic French pastries such as croissants and pain au chocolates as well as eggs in every fashion. There were assortments of fruits and jams as well as butter and cream cheese. Whoever made this breakfast had mixed together all of the French and English breakfast items one could imagine.

There were the classics of baked beans, bacon and sausages, as well as pancakes and crêpes. Down the table, where the twins were sat, he spied a bowl of porridge and all kinds of toppings for it. It was just a breakfast of dreams.

"What would you like, son?" Marvolo asked when he noticed that the teen had not yet touched anything.

"Erm… It's so hard to decide…" Harry answered while thinking about his choices. "I think I'll start classic. Can I have a small amount of beans on toast and a soft-boiled egg, please?"

All of those items were out of his reach and he gladly passed his plate to his Papa to get it filled up. In that time, he poured himself and Ron a cup of tea and orange juice.

All around the table people were enjoying their meal and having light conversations and Harry was happy to have them all here. Although Ron was completely focused on his food (he was working through his second plate already), Hermione engaged him in a conversation about their holiday. Somehow, they ended up fantasizing about what would happen today for Harry's birthday.

At some point Ron had joined in dreaming up different scenarios and since those were getting wilder and wilder, they had caught the other's attention.

The trio didn't even notice when it got quieter all around the table since everyone was listening with rapt attention to the tales about exploring the depths of the ocean and finding deep-sea dragons.

At some point Charlie couldn't hold on to his curiosity anymore and interrupted the teens tale.

"But how can the dragon breath fire underwater?"

His question startled all three teens and when they looked up they found all eyes were on them. While it made Harry uncomfortable, Hermione wasn't fazed at all and smoothly switched into lecture mode.

"They are blue flames created through a chemical reaction. Of course they are impervious to water, Charlie. Shouldn't you know this?"

"Erm… Well… I have never worked with water dragons." The dragon tamer mumbled.

"Are we really going to do a deep-sea exploration, Dad?" Harry decided to ask. Not knowing was killing him and he hoped the adults would divulge at least something to him.

Both Severus and Marvolo had to chuckle at the question. Especially since Harry had sounded equal parts scared, excited and doubtful.

"No, son. We will only tell you that your friends are to arrive shortly and there will be a lot of fun."

"Spoilsport." The teen pouted.

"How about you finish your breakfast and then you can open your presents from your family?" Marvolo mediated.

"Presents?! I'm finished!"

Now everyone around the table was chuckling lightly.

"Finish your tea and croissant, son. They won't vanish in the meantime."

Reluctantly the teen returned to his meal, as did everyone else. Once they were all done, they relocated to the living area where the adults took seats on the couches while the children perched on the floor.

The coffee table was laden with presents from each and every family member. Harry didn't know where to start.

"Just pick one." Sirius advised him. "Nobody cares if they are first."

After that encouragement Harry tore into his presents.

Although it was summer, Harry got a classic Weasley jumper in maroon from Molly and Arthur.

"It will get cold quickly in Scotland." Was her only comment.

Bill gave him a rare book on Parselmagic he had found in Egypt, Charlie got him a handmade dragon skin talisman that would protect him from light curses and Percy had given him a rather thick tomb on the workings of the Ministry.

"Since you are a Lord now, you'll need to know all this." He explained his choice.

The twins – of course – gifted him with a box full of prototype pranks they had developed with the money he had given them.

From Ron he got a beautifully crafted medallion. It was intricately designed and had an upside-down pyramid shape with long sides and one bigger and two smaller sides. The shape made it stand out when it lay flat on his chest.

There were miniature carvings of protection runes along the edges and once Ron showed him how to open it he was once more rendered speechless.

There were miniature pictures in it. On one side was one of his mother laughing at the camera and opposite to it was one of his parents at their second wedding. The third picture was the one of Ron and Harry's entrance at the victor's banquet. It took up the bigger space in between the other two.

"It's beautiful!" Harry breathed. "Thank you!"

He hugged his boyfriend tightly and gave him a chaste kiss before he asked Ron to fasten it around his neck.

"It is waterproof, so you don't have to worry about it getting wet." The redhead told him.

Ginny's present seemed insignificant after Ron's, but it meant so much to Harry that she had come at all. She gave him a mixed box of sweets and a beautiful feather quill.

Remus had conspired with Sirius and they gave him a blank journal as well as a handwritten one called 'The Marauder's Legacy'.

"We thought long and hard about it before we gave this to you. We also talked to your Dad." Remus explained. "In this journal is every prank and joke we ever came up with, how we played it and the results."

"Before you interrupt, pup, we know. You hate bullies and don't prank all that much, but a lot of these ideas can be used in tight spots to escape and we all know you have had plenty of those. It was what made James and me such exceptional aurors."

"And the second book?" The teen asked curiously after thinking over their explanation.

"To write down your own adventures, of course!" Sirius exclaimed. "Your adventures are the stuff bestselling books are made of!"

"Thank you, guys!" Harry hugged them both before he opened the last few presents.

From Hermione he got a few defense books, journals for his notes at Hogwarts and quills with a set of special inks that dried far quicker than any other.

His parents had gotten him a wand holster made out of Basilisk skin. It would shield his wand from being summoned and him from basic hexes. Marvolo had gotten the idea when he had been down in the chamber of secrets the last time.

The last parcel on the table was a rather thin one and also from his parents. Harry opened it carefully and once he read what it was he dropped the cards in his hands and scrambled to hug his parents as tight as he could.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He kept repeating over and over again.

"What is it?" One of the Weasleys asked curiously.

Since he was closest, Ron picked up the cards and his eyes bulged at what he was reading.

"It's… It's a meet and greet with the British quidditch team. As well as a train along session and tickets for the player's bench for their next game." He finally got out.

There were exclamations of surprise and shock all around since these tickets were nearly unattainable.

"How?" Was all Sirius got out. He had been trying to get meet and greet tickets for as long as he could remember.

Severus smirked at the Gryffindor's surprise.

"The current trainer was one of my top students a few years back and if it wasn't for his love of the sport he would have made a mighty fine Potions Master."

"This is just the best present ever!" This day can't get any better!" Harry declared.

But it could.

After the teens had dressed Harry's party guests started to arrive.

He had invited his whole quidditch team, all Gryffs from his year as well as the Creevy brothers and Luna.

Harry had not forgotten that Neville's birthday had only been one day prior and all invitations had gone out in both boy's names without Neville's knowledge and after a consultation with his gran.

The quiet boy blushed furiously when everyone gave him presents and Harry declared it to be their shared party. It was Harry's present to Neville.

It was a merry bunch of teenagers that occupied a huge section of the hotel's private beach.

The whole quidditch team went crazy over the tickets while the more studious ones didn't understand what the big deal was.

After hours of fun and games at the beach, which included jet skiing and surfing, the adults called the kids to a table they had set up further back.

There were two huge birthday cakes, both with fifteen candles burning on them.

Severus and Marvolo situated Harry and Neville each before one of the cakes before all guests sang Happy Birthday to them.

"Now make your wishes and blow out your candles!" Sirius shouted from somewhere.

While Harry had always wished for a family and a better life before, he finally had that. He was happy and content for the first time in his life and it was hard to come up with a wish.

'I wish to never lose my family or this happiness I feel ever again.' Harry thought with closed eyes and blew out his candles.

Life was good.

THE END

Since this story is now over I thought I would post some facts and stuff here - feel free to ignore my nostalgic me :D

I sat the last few days with a hot cup of tea in my room writing this while there were 32°C (90F) outside just for the nostalgic feeling it gave me ;)

It has been one and a half years of writing - the first time I wrote anything down was the 8th of February 2017 and I sent the first chapter to be corrected by miu-sama on the 27th.

I posted the first chapter on the 5th of March 2017.

There have been three notebooks filled with 52 chapters and background information, 66 emails from miu-sama to me and endless conversations held instead of studying :)

I have written in planes, trains, airports, at university, at work, in hotel rooms and at home. I wrote chapters in Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain/London/Brighton, Sweden/Stockholm, Russia, France/Bordeaux/Lyon, USA/San Francisco/Los Angeles/San Diego/Norfolk/New York City/Boston. I can now confirm that I really like writing while flying or late at night at home with my cat sleeping next to me :D

It was an amazing journey and we could not have done it without each and every one of you! Thank you all for following, favoriteing and commenting! You have all been an amazing part of this story!

At this moment there are 701 Reviews (DiezSimmons was the 700th!), 833 Followers, 592 Favorites, 3 Communities, 208,538 Views.

To Miu-Sama: Thank you for being my sounding board and hashing out plans with me over the last years! You were awesome! :D

Thank you all and good night!

SlytherdorAnna & Miu-Sama

First posted on: 19. August 2018