Harry woke sweating, his nightmare had been… nightmarish.
It had been so vivid, Dumbledore in a cloud of white mist and for a
moment, just for a moment, Harry felt his own heart go quiet.
The images were fading now and he groaned as he stood up. He
had fallen asleep beside Teddy's crib in the chair. As Teddy was still
sound asleep, he had a bit of a reprieve. He went to the kitchen to
make himself coffee. He didn't really care what time it was. That is
he didn't care until he checked the date on the fridge and realized he
should have been at the Weasleys an hour ago for his birthday party.
Harry ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth then ran back, quietly as
he could to Teddy's closest where he had been keeping his trunk.
Selecting his least wrinkled robes and slipping them on, he then
went in search of Andromeda.
She was on the back porch swinging gently watching the sunset.
"Mrs. Tonks, I am going out tonight, I'll be home a little late. There
are leftovers in the fridge if you get hungry. Teddy should stay asleep
for another hour or two."
"Where are you going?" Andromeda asked.
And Harry was pleased that she cared enough to ask. "The
Weasleys are throwing me a birthday party."
She looked at him then, her brown eyes searching, causing Harry to
wonder at what she searching for.
"I'm late," he said, hesitating because he wasn't sure if she had
something she was building up to say.
"Have fun," she said finally, "I'll be good."
Which translated to ' I can take care of Teddy and I will not try to go
upstairs so you won't have to put it back together.'
"Don't forget to eat," Harry said before disapparating.
The thing about living at the Tonks House was that it was a quiet
place. Aside from Teddy's moments of waking in the middle of the
night, only Andromeda's occasional magical meltdowns in attempting
to go upstairs could be classified as truly loud. Harry had grown quite
accustomed and quite attached to this way of life, therefore he was
not prepared for about a hundred people roaring and cheering at him
when he entered the Burrow.
Harry's heart kicked into overdrive and had Hermione not run to him
to give him a hug he wasn't sure if he would have run away or try to
fight them all.
"Happy birthday, Harry!" Hermione called again over the noise.
Everyone Harry knew had to be here. The Weasleys, Hagrid,
Minerva, Filius, Luna- everyone but the Slytherins, excluding
Slughorn who was all smiles as he chatted up the crowd, pleased
that he had 'collected' Harry Potter.
Harry was overwhelmed and spent the next three hours with a fake
smile plastered on his face, as everyone made their rounds to
congratulate him, shake his hand, thank him, praise him.
He hated every minute of it. And vehemently wished that he had
slept in and avoided the whole affair. Harry also wished Sirius was
there to divert his attention or Snape who would be there to roll his
eyes and sneer at everyone.
Somehow, the thought of Snape directing disparaging remarks at
Harry brought a real smile to his face.
He would have liked more people to treat him like that, as it was,
everyone in this room loved him, adored what he had done and was
putting him on an even higher pedestal.
Ron was basking in the attention. Hermione was catching up with
Luna, Ginny, and Fleur. Harry felt alone even as Dedalus Diggle
nearly shook his arm out of its socket.
Ginny and Molly were probably the only two people who were upset
with Harry in that house, and both made it very clear that the reason
they were upset because they 'loved and cared for him.'
"Well, of course, Harry will be returning to his senses soon," Molly
was saying to a smaller group of people. "He has too many people
going back who love him, you see." She patted Ginny on the
shoulder and gave her audience a wink. "We all know that Harry
could never turn his back on Ron and Hermione. Those three have
been together since the beginning."
Harry excused himself and made a beeline for the exit. He gulped in
the air like a drowning man. He walked around to the side of the
house and collapsed to the dirt, his back pressed against the rough
siding.
As it turned out, he wasn't alone in his hiding spot.
Pulling his wand, he gazed startled at Xenophilius Lovegood who
was sitting beside him in the bushes.
"Mr. Lovegood?" Harry asked.
Xenophilius sighed and put his chin on his folded knees, "Call me
Xeno, Harry."
"What are you doing here?" Though he was pretty sure it was for the
same reason that Harry was.
"If you mean 'here' as in the bushes, it is because your adoring fans
don't like people who tried to turn you in. If you mean at this party, it's
because Luna wished me to come… Harry, I am sorry for what I did
to you and your friends."
"Don't. You did it for Luna. I get it, but for the next ten minutes could
you do me a favour?"
"Anything."
"Could you please not talk?"
Xenophilius nodded, "The Nargles have been ruthless in the last few
months."
Harry and Xenophilius sat in silence for nine minutes before Luna
found them.
"There you are fath- oh, hi Harry."
"Hi Luna," he said, standing and not bothering to keep the dread off
his face at returning to the party.
"It's your birthday, Harry, you don't have to do anything you don't
want to," Luna informed him.
Harry gave her a wry smile, "I think I will skip the next one that is for
sure."
"If you are staying then I think Mrs. Weasley is going to pull out the
cake soon."
And because it was Luna -who of all people would not judge him, he
said, "She better be glad I don't just shove it back in her face."
Luna nodded, "Lucky indeed. She was lying, right? About you
returning to Hogwarts."
"I am not returning to Hogwarts."
"And you're not Ginny's boyfriend."
"No."
"Good," she said firmly.
Harry tilted his head at her, "Ginny's your best friend, isn't she? And
are you returning to Hogwarts?"
She nodded, "Yes to both. Although, I think you are a better friend to
me than Ginny is. I think it is a good thing you aren't dating her. She
can't see you, not really. Also, you look better, I mean not today but
you feel better than you were during the war. Many people are
getting worse. But you've grown. I would like to meet Teddy one
day."
She left before Harry could respond, leading her father by the hand.
Harry felt like he always did after talking to Luna -like he had just
stepped into a deep puddle that he had expected to be more shallow
than it was. And yet, he felt better for having talked to her.
When he did re-enter the house, he was immediately engulfed by
people. Molly did indeed bring out a cake.
Harry blew out all eighteen candles and wished for peace in the
Wizarding World.
And then there were presents, which in large part felt like gratitude
gifts rather than birthday presents.
His two favourite presents came from the same wonderful person.
Hermione had gifted him with - shockingly- a book.
He was surprised by the title after he unwrapped it. Peter Pan by
J.M. Berrie.
"It was one of my favourite books when I was little," Hermione said.
"Mine too, I can't tell you how many times I rented it from the library,"
he said, thinking he would read this to Teddy at not even if he wasn't
old enough to appreciate it yet.
"I thought maybe you could read it to Teddy when he gets older,"
Hermione said as if reading his thoughts.
The first genuine smile of the night crossed his lips then, "Thanks,
I'm sure he'll love it."
"And then, thank you for letting me borrow your invisibility cloak
while I was abroad," She said pulling an invisible thing closer to them
on the table before removing the cloak. Revealing a little barn owl,
who bobbed her head at Harry before spinning on her perch to try
and look at everyone else gathered around the table. "Now I know
she isn't Hedwig, no one could replace her, but I figured you would
still need a way to send lett-"
"She's beautiful," Harry said, pulling Hermione into a hug.
When they parted he looked at the new owl a bit more closely. She
was awfully cute and he found himself relieved that she wasn't
another Snowy. There really wasn't a bird who could compare to
Hedwig. "Did you name her?"
"You can change it of course," Hermione said, "but I was thinking,
Wendy?"
And because Harry had read the book, he laughed, "Wendy Bird. I
love it. I love her." He pulled Hermione into another hug and
whispered, "Thank you, Hermione, I love you," into her ear.
Harry did not see the jealousy on Ron's face.
Harry helped clean up after everyone was gone. 'Help' meaning
Harry had to forcibly push his way into Molly's kitchen and had the
place half-finished before Molly had to stop and catch her breath
from telling him off for cleaning on 'his birthday.'
"Molly," Arthur said, "Just let it be. He has this place half cleaned
already."
"It isn't righ-"
Harry had finally had enough. Turning with soap still on his hands he
glared at Mrs. Weasley. His voice was deeper than he intended it to
be as he said, "No. Enough, Molly, what isn't right is you telling
people falsehoods about my life and my choices. I am not going
back to Hogwarts and I am not dating your daughter."
Molly, Arthur, Bill and Fleur, Charlie, the twins, Ron, Ginny, and
Hermione all stared at him. For one Harry had used Mrs. Weasley's
first name and for another, he hadn't just lost his temper, he was
talking to her in a voice that would have stopped anyone in their
tracks for fear of danger. Because he was calm and clearly unhappy
with Mrs. Weasley, dangerously unhappy.
"You will," Molly said, regaining herself. "Once you come to your
senses. When that train leaves, you'll be on it, mark my word-"
"Mum," Charlie warned, seeing the anger building in Harry like fire in
the stomach of a dragon.
She went on, "You'll be on that train young man and get a proper
education. As for dating my daughte-"
"Molly!" Arthur chided.
She raised her voice, "As for being with Ginny, you two were simply
meant to be."
Harry stared at her and wondered how she could be so diluted. He
shot a look at Ginny who was staying silent but her expression said
clearly that she agreed with her mother.
"Is that what you think?" Harry asked Molly turning back to the older
woman. "That I am some sad little boy, so lost and traumatized by
the war that I couldn't possibly know myself or understand what I
want out of my own life. Is that what you all think?" His voice rose,
"You think I am just going to blindly walk down the path that was set
before me for my entire life!?
"That the first family I meet at the station will be my in-laws, the first
friend I make will be my closest buddy forever, that the first witch my
age I hear say my name is the person I am 'meant to' end up with?
"I already walked down that damned path! I choose Gryffindor, I
made friends with the 'right' sort of people, and I did what
Dumbledore told me to. I stayed with the Dursleys as he instructed. I
fought the Dark Lord, I lived on the run in the woods, robbed banks,
and I walked to my own death without so much as a shield charm!
What the bloody hell more do you people want from me!?"
He was just plain shouting now. "You want me to just fall in line! Go
back to pretending to be a normal kid and marry the person you
chose for me! Well, you can all go to Hell! I am my own person and I
am a bloody adult who can make my own bloody choices!"
Harry shook the water and suds off his hands. He walked around the
island table and grabbed the bag of presents Hermione had packed
up and shrunk for him as well as the birdcage. Harry had already
sent Wendy Bird to the Tonks House, to get her out of the over
packed house and so she wouldn't have to be apparated there. Owls
seemed not to appreciate apparition.
He left out the front door and called over his shoulder, "Thanks for
the party." And he kicked the door shut behind him.
The silence that followed Harry's departure was all encompassing.
Hermione was holding her breath, so glad that Harry left.
"Well, he does have a temper," Molly said finally, breaking the frozen
quiet.
Arthur turned on her, "It was the man's birthday! Did you have to
provoke him today of all days?"
"He's being foolish," Molly insisted, moving toward the sink to finish
the dishes.
Arthur stepped in front of her, "No, Molly dear, Harry is not being
foolish. You are. The next time he comes around -if he comes
around at all, you will apologize to him for the way you treated him
this night."
"The way I treated him? He's the one-"
"You just treated a grown man like he was a child!" Arthur yelled,
even though he so rarely argued with Molly like this, "We would all
be dead or worse if it wasn't for what that 'boy' did, for what he
sacrificed."
"Sacrifice? We lost Percy!" Molly roared back, "My son! And what
about Ron and Hermione? What they did or what Ginny went
through at school?"
"I told you not to send her back last year!" Arthur bellowed, "And you
don't think I miss our son every day!? But what does Harry have?
His parents died, died before he had any siblings, an Aunt and Uncle
who despise him, a cousin who bullied him his whole life, and a dead
godfather? Harry has no family and he was willing to give up his
childhood and future for a world that turned on him at every other
turn. He has no one but the people he chooses to let into his circle."
"He has us!" Molly shot back, "We are his family."
Arthur shook his head, "And a load of good that will do him if you
don't treat him like the grown up he is rather than the child he has
never been. Don't you dare push him away from this family. We are
his friends and we all love him in our own ways but do not make the
mistake of thinking that he needs us."
"He does need us," Ginny said finally speaking up.
"No, Gin, he really doesn't," Bill said sadly.
"Yeah, I think-" Fred started.
"We've all grown to need Harry-" George picked up.
"More than Harry has grown to need us," the twins said in unison.
"Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said politely, "if you could perhaps just not
argue with him or not tell people things he didn't say. Harry won't
mind if you disagree with him, it's the lies and the orders that get him
going."
"Yeah, Mum," Charlie piped up, "if you could refrain from openly
insulting the man who saved the United Kingdoms and the
surrounding areas from an All Powerful Dark Lord, that would be
great."
"Don't you take that tone with m-"
"Mum," Bill said seriously, "I know you and Ginny want Harry in our
family. But he already is. None of us is going to thank you if you and
Ginny alienate him from this family. Harry is independent and selfreliant, he comes here to spend time with us, but not because he
needs anything from us."
"That is true," Fleur added, "I know Harry loves you all a great deal.
There is no lessening of that. Not even if he has decided that he
doesn't want to be with Ginny."
Molly did not like having everyone against her and her only daughter.
She turned on the one person who had yet to speak, "What about
you, Ronald, you thought Harry was going back to Hogwarts as
much as I did, didn't you?"
Ron shrugged, "If Harry has gotten it into his head not to do
something then he really isn't likely to change his mind."
Molly turned her back on them and grouched, "Fine."
Most everyone went to bed after that.
No one really knew if Molly would apologize to Harry but they all
thought she would be a bit more careful.
Hermione passed Ginny's room and heard her crying, she could only
hope that she would reliant. The more Harry was chased, the further
he was likely to run.
Hermione, Fleur, Bill, and Charlie stayed up to play a French
wizarding game that was a bit like rummy -only with more rum and a
deck that could steal cards on its own. It was something that Harry
would have enjoyed much more than the party, Hermione thought.
Harry sat out on the back porch watching the stars as he tried to let
go of the anger still roiling inside of him.
Andromeda came out to sit with him sometime later, with a sleeping
baby in her arms. She waved her wand and the little insects that had
been poking about him disappeared.
It was a warm night.
Harry held his hands out for Teddy and Andromeda passed him over.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"For what?" Harry asked voice thick and rough even as he felt the
anger dissipating as he looked at the little miracle in his arms. He
wondered if this feeling would ever get old, if there would ever be a
day he wouldn't be grateful and awed by having this little person in
his life.
"For not getting you anything for your birthday," Andromeda said.
Harry looked up to meet her gaze, emerald green to garnet brown
and he said, "Anything that could ever possibly be given to me, I
already have it."
Andromeda seemed at a loss for words. After a moment, she laid her
head down on Harry's shoulder, and they watched the stars and
Teddy together.