Chapter One; The Worst Birthday Ever

Harry James Snape lied awake in bed. He knew that in a few more seconds that he'd be thirteen years old. Which was a very big deal for him since that meant he would officially be a teenager and no longer a child but a young adolescent. Harry had been a very famous wizard ever since he had been a baby and he had been attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ever since he had been eleven years old.

For even though he couldn't remember it, an evil sorcerer by the name of Lord Voldemort had had tried to kill him and his mother when he was a year old and now their foreheads were marked with lightning bolt scars. Last year at Hogwarts a younger version of Voldemort (a memory of him hidden inside a diary) had had tried to kill him and all of the muggleborn students at his school, but Harry and his adoptive father Severus Snape had managed to stop him and prove his and his friend Hagrid's innocence.

Hagrid had been accused of opening up the Chamber of Secrets in his third year (which would be the year that Harry was going into) and it was the reason for his expulsion. Harry was glad that Hermione and all of the other students that had been petrified were alright again, but for the first time in his life, he wasn't looking forward to going back home to be with the rest of his family for the holidays. Of course it wasn't because he didn't miss his mother or his brothers and sisters.

So far to Harry's knowledge, all of his brothers and sisters were ordinary wizards. His seven year old little brother Tobey was the second oldest and about to start his first year of charm school, his six year old little sister Evangeline (Eve or Evie) was the third oldest and very girly and polite, and the youngest of his siblings were his ten month old twin brother (Teddy) and sister. (Heather) The real reason that Harry wasn't looking forward to his vacation is that this year he'd be forced to spend the last few months of it with his aunt and uncle.

His parents would be going on their second honeymoon and his grandparents (where he had vacationed before after Tobey and Eve got sick with the dragon pox) were out of town so he and the rest of his siblings were forced to stay there. At least he was allowed to keep his dog Cowboy with him (Katie was too big and had to go to the kennels) and his owl Hedwig. Aunt Petunia was nearly nowhere near as bad as Uncle Vernon, but they still strongly disliked anything that had to do with wizards (and witches) or magic in their house although Harry never fully understood why.

The alarm on his watch went off. He was officially a teenager. Even though his parents promised to celebrate his birthday with him when they got back, Harry still knew that this would be the worst birthday that he ever had. What had seemed like a few seconds after he fell asleep again, his mother was turning on the light and waking him up. "Good morning Harry," she began softly while she smiled warmly down at him.

"It's time to get up sweetheart." She told him as Harry groaned and rolled back over onto his side pulling the covers back over him. "Come on Harry, all your brothers and sisters are already awake." She told him as Harry reluctantly reached for his glasses and put them on his face before he got up and went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Tobey and Eve were already busily cutting into their pancakes while Snape was kneeling down in front of the twins trying to get them to walk to him. However they couldn't get any further than a couple of steps while they clung to their sippy cups and drank their pumpkin juice.

"Mummy, why do we have to go visit Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia?" Tobey questioned his mother. "They're never nice to us, and Harry told me that they used to hit you both." He said.

"First of all that was only your uncle that did it, your aunt was just too afraid to speak up about it, and second of all, they've really changed a lot since then." She told him when suddenly the toilet flushed and the sink ran for a few moments before Harry stepped out into the hallway.

"Yeah, I think they've gone from hating us to a rather strong dislike." He said.

"Harry James," his mother began warningly. "that's enough. Now do you have everything packed?" she asked him as Harry nodded. "Good, now sit down to eat your breakfast before it gets cold." She told him as Snape picked up both twins and hoisted them up in his arms before kissing them each on the top of their heads and setting them down in their highchairs. (Teddy got Tobey's and Harry's old highchair, while Heather got Eve's)

"Uh Harry before you do that, can I speak to you alone for a moment?" he questioned him as Harry nodded again before he led him back into his bedroom. "Listen Harry, I want you to look out for your brothers and sisters while we're gone. Especially Teddy and Heather since they're only babies and don't know how to speak up for themselves yet." He told him.

"I will." Harry agreed. "And I have no doubt that Cowboy will be watching out for you guys as well, but if there's any more trouble, any at all, please don't hesitate to send us an owl." He told him.

"I won't, I promise." He assured him before Snape wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"Good." He began before breaking out of the embrace again. "And as soon as we come back we'll go get your school supplies. I assume you're already done with all of your holiday homework." He said.

"Well, uh,.. sort of." Harry replied.

"Well then you have to sort of get it done. I may be your father, but I will not hesitate to give you a detention on your first day back if I feel that you have deserved it. Do you understand me?" he questioned him back.

"Yes sir." Harry responded before he started turning around and leaving the room.

"Oh and Harry," Snape began as he suddenly stopped and turned to look back at him. "happy birthday." He told him.

"Thanks." He replied as he left the room, but he already knew that what should have been a very special birthday, would turn out to be one of the worst ones that he ever had.