Nine Months Later - Harry's Second Birthday
The Parker backyard looked like a craft store had exploded in the most delightful way possible. Red, blue, and yellow streamers twisted through the air like colorful snakes, balloons bobbed and weaved in the crisp October breeze, and a small army of toddlers had taken control of the lawn with the strategic precision of tiny generals planning maximum chaos.
May Parker stood at the kitchen window, her dark hair pulled back in a messy bun that had started the day looking much more intentional, watching the beautiful disaster unfold outside. She was wearing her favorite jeans—the ones with paint stains from when she'd helped Ben refinish Harry's crib—and a sweater that had already collected fingerprints from approximately seven different children.
"Ben, honey!" she called through the open window, her voice carrying that particular tone that meant business. "Tommy Chen is about to eat that pinecone, and I'm pretty sure Sarah Martinez just figured out how to unlatch the gate!"
Ben Parker, looking slightly frazzled but grinning widely, jogged across the yard with Harry perched on his shoulders. His button-down shirt had somehow acquired grass stains and what looked like juice box residue, and his usually neat hair was sticking up at odd angles—though not as impressively as Harry's, which seemed to defy both gravity and hair gel on a molecular level.
"Got it!" Ben called back, swooping down to redirect Tommy toward more edible options while simultaneously hip-checking the gate closed. "Crisis averted! Well, this crisis. I'm sure they're planning seventeen more."
Harry giggled from his perch, his bright green eyes sparkling with mischief. "Daddy funny!"
"Your daddy is something, alright," May muttered fondly, returning to the elaborate train-shaped cake that was currently testing both her artistic abilities and her sanity. She'd been working on it since six in the morning, and it now sported multiple train cars, tiny fondant wheels, and a level of detail that would have made professional bakers weep—either with joy or terror, she wasn't sure which.
The doorbell rang, and May quickly wiped her frosting-covered hands on her apron before hurrying to answer it. She pulled open the door to find her sister-in-law Mary Parker standing there with a warm smile, looking annoyingly put-together despite having just driven three hours with a four-year-old.
Mary's blonde hair was pulled back in a perfect low ponytail, not a strand out of place, and her casual outfit somehow managed to look both comfortable and effortlessly stylish. She had that scientist's precision about her appearance—everything exactly where it should be.
"May! Oh my god, you look..." Mary paused, taking in May's flour-dusted apron and slightly manic expression. "You look like you've been having an adventure."
"That's one way to put it," May laughed, pulling Mary into a warm hug. "I've been up since dawn working on this cake, and I'm pretty sure I've used every bowl in the kitchen. Twice. How was the drive? Please tell me Peter behaved better than last time."
"The drive was actually great—Peter slept for the last hour, which was a miracle. And Richard only got lost once, which is practically a record for him." Mary stepped aside to reveal her husband emerging from their car, his sandy hair catching the afternoon light as he carefully helped a sleepy-looking little boy out of his car seat.
Richard Parker was tall and lean, with the kind of easy smile that made people instantly comfortable. He had Ben's warm eyes but a more animated energy, the kind of person who talked with his hands and got excited about everything from new scientific discoveries to particularly good sandwiches.
"May!" Richard called out, jogging up the walkway with Peter's hand firmly in his. "Sorry we're a few minutes late—we had to stop for an emergency bathroom break and then Peter insisted on bringing exactly twelve toy trains, which required very careful car Tetris to fit in the trunk."
"Twelve trains seems perfectly reasonable for a train-themed party," May said seriously, crouching down to Peter's level. "Hi there, sweetheart. I love your shirt!"
Peter Parker looked up at her with serious brown eyes that were exactly like his father's but somehow seemed older, more thoughtful. He was wearing a striped t-shirt and jeans, and clutching a small backpack that was undoubtedly full of the aforementioned trains.
"Hi, Aunt May," he said softly, still half-hiding behind Richard's legs. "Is Harry really turning two? That seems very little."
"It is pretty little," May agreed gravely. "But he's getting bigger every day. Just this morning he managed to climb onto the kitchen counter all by himself to steal a piece of banana before breakfast."
"That's pretty impressive," Richard said, ruffling Peter's hair. "When you were two, you couldn't even reach the doorknobs yet."
"I'm much taller now," Peter announced with the dignity of someone who had recently had this fact confirmed via careful measurement against the refrigerator.
"You absolutely are. Come on, let's go find Harry and Uncle Ben. I think Harry's going to be very excited to see you."
They made their way through the house and out to the backyard, where Ben was currently mediating a dispute between two toddlers over who got to use the red bucket in the sandbox. Harry had wandered over to watch the proceedings with the fascination of someone observing a nature documentary.
"Richard!" Ben's face lit up as he spotted his brother. "You made it! And look at this guy—Peter, you've grown at least a foot since Christmas!"
"Three and a half inches," Peter corrected seriously. "We measured."
"Three and a half inches! That's practically a growth spurt." Ben abandoned his sandbox diplomacy to give his brother a proper hug, then crouched down to Peter's level. "Harry's been asking about you all week. He keeps saying 'Peter come? Peter come?' It's been pretty adorable."
As if summoned by his name, Harry toddled over with the determined gait of someone who had places to be and things to do. His dark hair was doing something particularly creative today—no matter how much May had tried to tame it that morning, it insisted on sticking up in approximately seven different directions.
"PETER!" Harry announced with the enthusiasm of someone discovering their favorite person in the entire world. He threw his arms up in the universal toddler gesture for "pick me up immediately."
Peter looked down at his little cousin with careful consideration, then glanced at his father for permission before crouching down to Harry's level instead of picking him up.
"Hi, Harry," Peter said solemnly. "Happy birthday. You're two now, which is bigger than one but smaller than four."
"Two!" Harry agreed enthusiastically, holding up three fingers in a way that suggested he was still working on the whole numbers concept. "Big boy!"
"You are a big boy," Peter nodded seriously. "Do you still like trains?"
Harry's entire face transformed with joy. "TRAINS! Choo choo!" He began running in a small circle, making what could generously be called train noises but sounded more like a very enthusiastic sneeze.
"I brought some of my trains to share," Peter announced, which caused Harry to stop mid-choo and stare at him with the kind of awe usually reserved for magic tricks.
"Share trains?" Harry whispered, as if the concept was almost too wonderful to believe.
"Yep. They're in my backpack. We can play with them after cake, okay?"
"Cake?" Harry's attention span, typical for a nearly-two-year-old, immediately shifted to this new and exciting topic. "Birthday cake?"
"The most amazing train cake you've ever seen," May said, appearing beside them with perfect timing. "Hi, Peter, sweetheart. Are you hungry? I've got juice boxes and goldfish crackers, and I think someone might have hidden some grapes around here somewhere."
"I like grapes," Peter said shyly. "Thank you, Aunt May."
"You're so polite!" May beamed, then looked around at the chaos of children scattered across their yard. "Okay, troops, let's think about gathering everyone up for cake time!"
"Already?" Ben checked his watch and looked surprised. "Wow, time flies when you're preventing small children from eating landscaping."
"Speaking of which," Richard said with a grin, "Peter, remember what we talked about in the car. What are the birthday party rules?"
Peter straightened up with the seriousness of someone reciting very important information. "Don't eat anything that isn't food. Don't climb on things that aren't for climbing. Share nicely. And if I'm not sure about something, ask a grown-up."
"Excellent. You're officially ready for toddler party duty."
"What about Harry?" Peter asked, looking at his cousin with concern. "Does he know the rules?"
Harry, who had been listening to this exchange with great interest, suddenly announced, "No rules!" and took off running across the yard with his arms spread wide like an airplane.
"Well," Ben said philosophically, "at least he's honest."
Mary laughed, the kind of bright, delighted sound that made everyone around her smile. "I remember when Peter went through his 'no rules' phase. It lasted approximately six months and involved a lot of creative childproofing."
"We're still in the creative childproofing phase," May admitted. "Yesterday I found Harry standing on his toy box trying to reach the top shelf of his closet. When I asked him what he was doing, he said 'getting bear' in the most reasonable tone, like obviously that explained everything."
"Did he get the bear?" Peter asked with genuine curiosity.
"He did, actually. I'm still not entirely sure how."
Ben and May exchanged a quick look—the kind of marital communication that happened without words. Harry's occasional unexplainable achievements were becoming more frequent, and they were running out of ways to dismiss them as normal toddler behavior.
"Alright everyone!" May called out in her best crowd-control voice. "Cake time! Everyone to the picnic table!"
The announcement of cake caused an immediate stampede as eight toddlers and one preschooler suddenly remembered why they were there. There was a brief traffic jam at the patio door as everyone tried to get through at once, which resulted in a lot of giggling and mild chaos.
"Single file, guys!" Ben called out, gently organizing the line. "The cake isn't going anywhere!"
Harry, with the confidence of the birthday boy, marched straight to the head of the line. Peter, torn between following the rules about waiting your turn and wanting to stay close to his cousin, hesitated for a moment before Harry grabbed his hand and pulled him along.
"Peter come too!" Harry announced, as if this settled any possible objections.
"Is that okay?" Peter asked Ben uncertainly.
"Absolutely," Ben said warmly. "Birthday boy gets to choose his cake partner."
The adults followed the children out to the backyard, where the picnic table had been transformed into something out of a Pinterest board. May had outdone herself—the train cake sat in the center like a magnificent centerpiece, complete with multiple cars, tiny fondant people waving from windows, and two bright candles shaped like the number two.
"May, this is incredible," Mary breathed, staring at the cake. "Did you really make this yourself?"
"I may have gotten a little carried away," May admitted, but she was clearly pleased with the reaction. "I found the design online and thought, how hard could it be?"
"Famous last words," Richard laughed. "It looks amazing, though. Peter, look at that detail work!"
Peter was indeed studying the cake with the kind of intense focus he usually reserved for his favorite books. "Aunt May, how did you make the wheels so round?"
"Very carefully and with a lot of muttering under my breath," May said honestly. "The first batch looked more like squares."
Harry had climbed up onto the bench and was staring at the cake with wide eyes, clearly overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all. "Big cake," he whispered.
"It's a very big cake," Ben agreed, lifting Harry up so he could see better. "What do you think, buddy? Ready to make a wish?"
"What's a wish?" Harry asked, tilting his head in that way that made him look exactly like a confused puppy.
"A wish is when you think about something you really want," Peter explained seriously, "and then you blow out the candles and maybe it'll come true."
"Like magic?"
"Sort of like magic," Ben said carefully. "But the real magic is having all the people who love you here to celebrate with you."
"That's very smooth, Dad," Richard said quietly, grinning at his brother.
"I have my moments."
The other children had arranged themselves around the table with varying degrees of patience. Tommy Chen was systematically trying to lick frosting off his finger despite not having touched the cake yet, Sarah Martinez was standing on her tiptoes trying to get a better view, and the Johnson twins were having a whispered argument about something that seemed very important to them.
"Okay, everyone," May said, pulling out her phone for pictures, "let's sing happy birthday to Harry!"
"Wait!" Peter suddenly exclaimed. "I want to help him blow out the candles. Is that okay, Harry?"
Harry nodded enthusiastically. "Peter help!"
"Happy birthday to you," the assembled crowd began singing, and Harry's face transformed with delight. He clapped along with the rhythm, occasionally shouting "BIRTHDAY!" in the middle of verses, while Peter stood beside him with the serious expression of someone taking their candle-blowing duties very seriously.
When they reached "Happy birthday, dear Harry," Peter's clear voice rang out above the others, and Harry turned to beam at his cousin with obvious adoration.
"Make a wish, sweetheart," May whispered in Harry's ear.
Harry screwed up his face in concentration, staring at the candles with the intensity of someone making a very important decision. He looked at Peter, then at Ben and May, then at all the smiling faces around him.
"I wish..." he said loudly, apparently not understanding the concept of silent wishes, "I wish Peter stay forever and we have cake every day and... and..." He paused, thinking hard. "And trains!"
"Those are excellent wishes," Ben said solemnly. "Now blow out the candles."
Harry took a deep breath, and Peter leaned in to help. Together, they blew with all their might—and not only did both candles go out, but several balloons that had been tied to the fence posts suddenly popped in quick succession, as if they'd all decided to join the celebration.
The children cheered at the unexpected balloon finale, completely delighted by what they assumed was part of the planned entertainment. The adults, however, exchanged glances. A gentle breeze had picked up at exactly the right moment, though May noticed with growing concern that the wind seemed to have originated from exactly where Harry was standing.
"Wow!" Peter exclaimed, eyes wide. "That was the best candle-blowing ever! How did you make the balloons pop too?"
Harry looked around with the vaguely confused expression of someone who couldn't quite remember what they'd been doing. "Don't know. Birthday magic?"
"Must have been birthday magic," Ben said quickly, shooting May a look that said they'd discuss this later. "Okay, who wants cake?"
The announcement of actual cake distribution caused a renewed frenzy of excitement. May began the delicate process of cutting and serving pieces while managing to keep order among a group of sugar-impatient toddlers.
"I want the engine!" Tommy Chen announced.
"I want a wheel!" Sarah Martinez countered.
"Can I have the caboose?" Peter asked politely, which earned him an approving smile from Mary.
"Harry gets first pick," May announced diplomatically. "What piece do you want, birthday boy?"
Harry studied the cake with the seriousness of someone making a life-altering decision. Finally, he pointed to a section that included part of the engine and two cars. "Big piece! For sharing with Peter!"
"You want to share your birthday cake?" Ben asked, clearly touched.
"Peter my cousin," Harry said matter-of-factly, as if this explained everything about cake-sharing obligations.
"That's very sweet, Harry," Mary said softly, and May noticed her eyes were a little misty.
As the adults began the complex logistics of cake distribution—which involved remembering who was allergic to what, who didn't like chocolate (a concept Harry found personally offensive), and who needed their cake cut into very specific shapes—the children scattered around the yard to eat their treats.
Peter and Harry settled on the porch steps, where Peter was carefully showing Harry the proper technique for eating cake without getting it in your hair.
"You have to take smaller bites," Peter explained patiently. "Like this. See? Otherwise it gets all over your face."
Harry attempted to follow this advice, with limited success. Within thirty seconds, he had managed to get chocolate frosting on his cheek, his nose, and somehow behind his left ear.
"Harry," Peter said with the long-suffering tone of someone dealing with a particularly challenging student, "you're supposed to eat it, not wear it."
"Tastes good everywhere!" Harry announced cheerfully, taking another enthusiastic bite.
Richard, who had been watching this interaction with obvious amusement, sat down on the steps beside them. "You know, Peter, when you were two, you once got so much spaghetti sauce in your hair that we had to give you a bath in the kitchen sink."
"Really?" Peter looked skeptical.
"Really. Your mom has pictures. You looked like a very small, very confused tomato."
Mary appeared with a wet napkin and began the process of de-chocolating Harry's face. "Some things never change. Peter still manages to get food in impossible places."
"I do not!" Peter protested, just as a piece of cake fell off his fork and landed squarely on his shoe.
"Point proven," Richard said with a grin.
As the afternoon wore on, the party hit that perfect sweet spot where the children were happy and occupied, the adults could actually have conversations, and nobody was crying. Peter had retrieved his backpack of trains and was showing Harry how to make them go around a track he'd built in the sandbox.
"This one is Thomas," Peter explained, holding up a blue engine. "He's the main character. And this is Percy—he's Thomas's best friend."
"Best friend," Harry repeated solemnly, clutching Percy to his chest.
"Yeah. Best friends stick together and help each other and share their toys."
"Like us?"
Peter considered this with the gravity of someone making an important pronouncement. "Yeah. Like us. We're cousins, but we can be best friends too."
From the patio, where the adults were finally getting a chance to sit down with their own pieces of cake, May watched this interaction with a full heart.
"They're really bonding," she said softly to Mary.
"Peter's been talking about Harry all week," Mary replied. "He keeps asking when we're going to move closer so they can play together more often."
"About that," Richard said, settling into one of the patio chairs with a contented sigh. "We have some news."
Ben looked up from his cake, immediately alert to the tone in his brother's voice. "Good news or 'we need to borrow money' news?"
"Definitely good news. Mary got the position at Empire State University."
"Richard!" Mary smacked his arm lightly. "I was going to tell them!"
"Sorry, I got excited. You tell them the rest."
Mary's face lit up with barely contained excitement. "The genetics department offered me exactly the kind of research position I've been dreaming about. Hereditary traits, genetic expression, inherited characteristics—it's everything I've been working toward."
"Mary, that's incredible!" May exclaimed, jumping up to hug her sister-in-law. "Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!"
"Thank you. The thing is, it would mean moving to the city. We've been looking at houses in Forest Hills, actually."
Ben nearly choked on his cake. "Forest Hills? As in, our Forest Hills?"
"The very same. We found a few places we want to look at, all within about a ten-minute drive from here."
May felt like she might cry from happiness. "You're moving here? Really?"
"Well, not here exactly," Richard clarified, "but close enough that Sunday dinners and impromptu playdates would be completely feasible."
From the sandbox, they heard Harry's delighted laughter followed by Peter's patient voice: "No, Harry, the train goes on the track, not in your mouth."
"Everything goes in his mouth," Ben explained to Richard. "It's like he's conducting a scientific experiment to determine the taste and texture of every object in the house."
"When does the position start?" May asked, still processing the wonderful news.
"January," Mary said. "Which gives us a few months to find a house, sell our place upstate, and make the transition. Speaking of which, we wanted to ask a favor."
"Anything," May said immediately.
"I want to come down next month to really look at houses and get familiar with the area, but dragging Peter to twenty different open houses seemed like cruel and unusual punishment for a four-year-old."
"Especially since he'll probably have very strong opinions about which houses have the best yards for train tracks," Richard added with a grin.
"Would you mind if we left him here for a weekend? He could play with Harry, and we could focus on house-hunting without having to worry about keeping him entertained."
"Are you kidding?" May was practically bouncing with excitement. "We'd love to have Peter for a weekend! Right, Ben?"
"Absolutely. Harry would be thrilled. He's been asking when Peter can come for a sleepover ever since you visited at Christmas."
"Peter would love that too," Mary said. "He's been asking if Harry could be his little brother. When we told him about moving closer, he got very excited about the possibility of 'teaching Harry everything he needs to know.'"
"Such as?" Ben asked, amused.
"According to Peter's list, which he wrote down very carefully, Harry needs to learn: how to tie his shoes, how to ride a bike, how to build the ultimate blanket fort, the proper way to eat ice cream so it doesn't drip, and the complete backstory of every Thomas the Tank Engine character."
"That's quite a curriculum," Richard laughed.
"Peter takes his big cousin responsibilities very seriously," Mary said fondly.
From across the yard, they heard a small commotion. Peter and Harry had apparently decided that the sandbox was insufficient for their train empire and had begun expanding operations onto the lawn. What started as a simple track had somehow become an elaborate transportation network involving blocks, toy cars, and what appeared to be most of the party decorations.
"Harry," Peter was saying in his patient teacher voice, "you can't just put the train anywhere. It has to follow the track, see? Otherwise the passengers get confused."
"Passengers?" Harry asked, peering into the train car.
"The little people inside. They're trying to get somewhere important, so we have to make sure the train goes the right way."
Harry nodded very seriously, then carefully placed the train back on the track. As he did, several of the blocks that had been precariously balanced as part of their construction suddenly shifted and settled into a much more stable configuration, as if they had rearranged themselves.
Peter stared at the improved structure with obvious admiration. "Wow, Harry, that's way better! How did you know to do that?"
Harry looked around with the confused expression he got when things happened that he didn't quite understand. "Don't know. Just... looked better that way."
"You're really good at building things," Peter said with genuine admiration. "Can you teach me how to make them stay up like that?"
"I don't know how," Harry said honestly. "They just... do it."
Ben caught May's eye and saw his own concern reflected there. These incidents were definitely becoming more frequent, and Harry was getting old enough to notice that other children couldn't make things "just happen" the way he could.
"Maybe we should think about getting those boys cleaned up for dinner," May suggested, standing up and brushing cake crumbs off her jeans.
"Do we have to?" Peter called out, apparently having superhuman hearing when it came to discussions of ending fun activities.
"Afraid so, buddy," Richard said. "We've got a long drive ahead of us."
"Can't we stay for dinner? Please?" Peter's bottom lip jutted out in the universal expression of childhood disappointment.
"We really should get going," Mary said gently. "But remember, we're coming back soon to look at houses."
"And then we'll live here?" Peter asked hopefully, scrambling to his feet.
"Close to here," Richard confirmed. "Close enough that you and Harry can have playdates whenever you want."
Harry, who had been quietly listening to this conversation, suddenly perked up. "Peter stay forever?"
"Not forever," Ben explained, lifting Harry up and brushing sand off his clothes. "But Peter's family is going to move much closer to us, so you'll see each other much more often."
"Every day?"
"Maybe not every day," May said gently, "but lots of days. Would you like that?"
Harry's face lit up like Christmas morning. "YES! Peter stay! We play trains every day!"
"Well, not every day," Peter said with four-year-old practicality. "Some days I'll have to go to school and stuff. But we can play trains a lot!"
"What's school?" Harry asked with genuine curiosity.
"It's where kids go to learn things. Like letters and numbers and how to read books."
"I want to learn letters!"
"When you're bigger," Ben promised. "Right now you're just the right size for learning how to put on your own shoes and brush your teeth."
"I can brush teeth!" Harry announced proudly. "Watch!" He pretended to brush his teeth with his finger, making enthusiastic scrubbing motions.
"Very impressive," Mary laughed. "Peter, we really do need to start packing up your trains."
"Okay," Peter said with resignation, then turned to Harry with sudden inspiration. "Harry, do you want to keep one of my trains until I come back? Like a... like a friendship train?"
Harry's eyes went wide. "Really?"
"Really. Which one do you want?"
Harry looked over the collection of trains with the seriousness of someone making a very important decision. Finally, he pointed to Percy, the green engine he'd been playing with earlier.
"Percy," he said firmly. "He's nice."
"Percy is a great choice," Peter agreed, placing the train carefully in Harry's hands. "You have to take really good care of him, okay? And when I come back, you can tell me all the adventures he had."
Harry clutched Percy to his chest like a precious treasure. "I take good care. Promise."
"I know you will."
The two boys hugged with the fierce affection of children who had decided they belonged together, and May felt her heart squeeze with emotion. Peter's natural kindness and Harry's enthusiastic affection for his older cousin were creating exactly the kind of bond she'd hoped for.
As Richard and Mary gathered their things and Peter reluctantly packed up the remaining trains, the party began winding down. The other families had already departed, leaving behind the pleasant debris of a successful children's celebration—stray balloons caught in tree branches, cake crumbs scattered across the patio, and that particular kind of exhausted happiness that came after a day well spent.
"Thank you so much for including us," Mary said, giving May another hug. "This was exactly what Peter needed. He's been a little anxious about the move, but seeing how excited he is about being closer to Harry... I think it's going to be great for both of them."
"Harry's going to miss him," Ben said, watching their son wave goodbye from the porch while still clutching Percy. "He keeps asking when 'Peter come back.'"
"Soon," Richard promised. "And next time, maybe we can convince May to share that cake recipe. I haven't had anything that good since our wedding."
"I'll email it to you," May laughed. "Fair warning though—it requires patience, a lot of coffee, and the ability to start over when your first attempt looks like a train wreck. Literally."
As the car pulled away, with Peter waving frantically from the back window and shouting promises to take good care of Harry's friendship train, the Parker family stood on their front porch feeling that particular mix of contentment and exhaustion that came after hosting a successful party.
"Well," Ben said, looking around at the chaos of their backyard, "I'd say that was a complete success."
"Complete success and complete disaster," May agreed cheerfully. "Look at this place. It's going to take hours to clean up."
Harry, who had been unusually quiet since Peter's departure, suddenly tugged on Ben's pants leg. "Daddy? When Peter come back?"
"Soon, buddy. A few weeks, maybe a month."
"That's a long time."
"It might seem like a long time, but you know what? We can count the days on the calendar, and we can play with Percy while we wait."
Harry held up the small green train, studying it carefully. "Percy misses Thomas."
"I bet he does. But Percy is brave, and he knows Thomas will be back soon. Just like Peter will be back soon."
"And then we'll be neighbors?"
"Close to neighbors," May confirmed. "Close enough that you can play together all the time."
Harry seemed to consider this, then nodded seriously. "Good. I like Peter. He's my best friend."
"That's wonderful, sweetheart. Having a best friend is one of the most special things in the world."
As they began the process of cleaning up—which involved a lot of trash bags, several trips to the recycling bin, and discovering cake in places cake had no business being—May reflected on the day. Harry had been so happy, so completely in his element with Peter and the other children. For a few hours, he'd been just a normal almost-two-year-old having a birthday party, not the famous Harry Potter with a destiny hanging over his head.
"Penny for your thoughts," Ben said, appearing beside her with an armload of deflated balloons.
"Just thinking about how normal this felt," May said softly. "How right. Like this is exactly where he's supposed to be."
"He is exactly where he's supposed to be," Ben said firmly. "He's home, May. This is his life now. Birthday parties and friendship trains and learning to share cake."
"I know. It's just... seeing him with Peter today, seeing how naturally they connected... it made me think about everything he might have had if things had been different."
Ben set down the balloons and took her hands, his expression serious but gentle. "May, listen to me. We can't change what happened to his parents. We can't give him back the life he might have had. But we can give him the best possible life he can have now. And judging by today—by the way he laughed and played and shared his cake and made friends—I'd say we're doing pretty well."
May smiled, leaning into his warmth. "When did you get so wise?"
"I married a woman who makes me want to be the best version of myself," Ben said simply. "That tends to have a clarifying effect."
From inside the house, they heard Harry's voice calling out: "Mommy! Daddy! Percy wants dinner!"
"And there's our cue," May laughed. "Come on, let's go feed the train."
As they headed inside, May took one last look at their backyard. Tomorrow, she'd finish cleaning up the streamers caught in the maple trees and find all the stray pieces of cake that had somehow migrated to impossible locations. Tonight, she'd give Harry a bath and help him put Percy safely on his nightstand, and she'd read him stories until he fell asleep with chocolate still smudged on his cheek.
And in a few weeks, when Richard and Mary came back to look at houses, the real adventure would begin. Peter and Harry would become the kind of cousins who grew up more like brothers, the kind who shared secrets and adventures and the unshakeable conviction that they could take on the world together.
It wasn't the life Harry Potter was supposed to have. But for Harry Parker, it was going to be perfect.
---
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