Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: It's the 31st of July, like in the story- Happy Birthday Harry!

Chapter 16: Birthday

In the shadowy dungeons of an unknown location, a group of cloaked figures sat around a table, huddled together as they talked in low voices. There would be no disturbances, and nobody to overhear them, but secrecy was always best. It was a plan they were discussing, a plan that had slowly began to form in their minds over the previous days as new information came to light. Their leader was absent, doing something no one knew or dared to guess, but he would be back, soon, and they would talk some more. They would plan even further until every stage was complete, and the boy was in their hands. They would succeed.

Several hundred miles away, the sun was just beginning to rise over the grounds surrounding Hogwarts castle. Harry lay in his bed, breathing softly. He was fast asleep, still, despite having gone to bed early the night before, but in the next few moments would be starting to wake up.

A small yawn, a little stretch, and Harry's eyes blinked open several times, adjusting to the bright sunlight streaming in through the two large windows in his room. It took him several seconds to remember why he was so excited, so eager to get up, and when he did, he let out a small scream and shot up in bed.

It was his birthday!

Grinning from ear to ear, Harry pushed the covers off himself and swung his legs over the side. He couldn't believe it, he really couldn't believe it! Today he was nine- nine years old! A whole year older than eight, one year closer to his age being double digits, and another step nearer to being able to start at Hogwarts when he was eleven!

Harry raced to the wardrobe on the other side of his room and hurried to change out of his pyjamas (a set with a pattern of small golden snitches that sometimes zoomed around on the fabric) and pull on some clothes. When he was done, he yanked the door to his room open and ran out into the landing and down the stairs to the office.

'Albus!'

Albus sat in a small armchair, reading a copy of the morning's Daily Prophet. He looked up, eyes twinkling, when he heard Harry trampling down the steps, and placed the newspaper down just as Harry threw himself into his arms.

'It's my birthday!'

'Indeed it is,' remarked Albus, smiling. 'Happy Birthday!'

Harry took a step back. 'Do I get any presents?'

Albus chuckled. 'Of course, Harry. What do you think?' He stood up, stretching. 'Breakfast first, however.'

'Ok!'

They headed down to the Great Hall together, Harry skipping along the way. Several ghosts passed them as they walked and wished him a Happy Birthday, which made Harry question how they knew before he remembered that it was Hogwarts and that he was, well, famous (as much as he didn't like it). There were no students around, as it was mid-way through the summer holidays.

As they got closer to the Hall, delicious smells of hot breakfast food wafted out into the corridors. By the time they were walking through the doors, Harry was nearly drooling.

Minerva was there, standing next to the Head table, where several other teachers sat drinking mugs of steaming coffee and tea.

'Aunt Minnie!'

She gave him a tight hug when they reached her. 'Happy Birthday, Harry.'

This was followed by several other choruses of 'Happy Birthday' from the rest of the assembled teachers; Professor Sprout, Professor Kettleburn, Professor Vector, and Professor Flitwick. Professor Snape was nowhere to be seen. Harry was secretly glad.

'Nine, already!' Professor Flitwick squeaked, beaming at Harry. 'Growing up so fast... .'

'Yep! I'm old now!'

Everybody laughed.

Breakfast was incredible. There were many more options than usual, in celebration. Not only were there the classics; fried eggs, sausages and beans, breakfast potatoes, fried tomatoes and mushrooms, toast with jam and butter, muffins, porridge, drinks such as milk and hot chocolate and juice, and an array of different cereals such as Cheeri Owls and Pixie Puffs, but the table was also laden with plates of doughnuts, croissants, chocolate pastries and tarts.

Harry helped himself to a small chocolate croissant as well as some fried eggs with the potatoes and tomatoes, and a glass of cold orange juice.

As breakfast was wrapping up, Professor Sprout presented Harry with a present on behalf of all the Hogwarts Staff. It was a set of balls- balls that looked rather plain and ordinary, except when thrown into the air, they would turn into a different type of bird. Harry got up from the table and chucked one up towards the ceiling as high as he could. Several metres above his head, the ball transformed into a small robbin, which flew around him for nearly a minute before turning back into a ball and falling into Harry's open palm. Harry was amazed.

'This is really cool!' he cried, throwing another ball- which became a small goldfinch. Harry laughed. 'It looks a bit like a snitch!'

'So it does,' agreed Albus. 'So it does.'

'We have something else for you as well, Harry,' Minerva told him. Harry turned back to face the table.

'What is it!?'

'Ahh, you shall see.' She waved her wand, and a package wrapped in paper flew out from under her chair and towards Harry. Harry caught it and began to open it. Seconds later he was holding a strange, brightly-coloured object, which consisted of some long stick-like parts stuck to some fabric, and some. . . string?

'What is it?' Harry asked, slightly puzzled.

'A wonderful Muggle creation,' Albus explained. 'Enjoyed by people of all ages! I believe it is called a kite.'

'A kite!' Harry exclaimed. He observed it closely, and noticed that it was shaped as something- something big with wings and a tail and sharp claws. . .

'Wow! It looks exactly like a dragon! But, wait- how do you use it? What does it do?'

'You fly it,' Albus said. 'It is able to catch the wind and hover in the air. Ingenious!'

'Woah. . .' Harry was still a bit confused, but it looked to be like a very fun present. 'I'm going to go try it right now!'

That did not work quite as well as Harry had imagined.

Flying a kite was much harder than it sounded. After positioning himself at the front of the castle, near the main front doors, Harry had tried to run fast enough in order for the kite to work, but it had done just the opposite and dived to the ground, nearly hitting Harry's legs.

As Harry tried fruitlessly to get it up into the air by throwing it as high as he could for the third time, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him, and whipped around.

'Uncle Remus!'

Harry dropped the kite on the grass and rushed towards him.

'Happy Birthday, Harry.'

'Thanks!' said Harry breathlessly. 'Remus, Remus, d'you know how to fly a kite?'

If Remus was startled by the sudden question, he didn't show it. 'Hmm. . . a kite? I do- yes- I do believe your mother once showed me what one was.'

'Really? My mum showed you?' Harry had several pictures of his parents, and most people he knew often talked about them and told him stories of when they were students at Hogwarts if he asked, but he relished every new bit of information he got about them. 'Wow, she knew how to fly a kite! Can you show me how, then? I've got one- it's my present from Albus and Aunt Minnie!'

Remus smiled. 'Let's see it, then.'

'Ok!' Harry rushed back and grabbed his kite, before going back to Remus and thrusting it into his arms. 'Here it is! D'you see how it looks like a dragon?'

'Oh yes, a very beautiful design,' Remus turned it over for inspection. 'You see this, Harry? That's the string. You have to hold on to the end and then run as fast as you can, in that-' he pointed towards the Black Lake, '-direction. The wind should pick it up and keep it in the air, see?'

'I tried that before, but it didn't work.'

'You were probably not running fast enough, and you have to hold the string properly too. Here, wrap the end around your fist, that way, yes, and hold it tight.' Harry did so. 'Now, you might want to try running down that hill over there, to gain more speed.'

'Okay! Okay, I'll do that!

'Good. Want to give it a go?'

'Yes!'

Several seconds later, Harry was positioned at the top of a rather large hill. If he continued without stopping once he reached the bottom, he would run straight into the water. 'Okay, I'm ready!' he called down to Remus.

'Alright. On the count of three, Harry. . . One. Two. Three-'

'Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!'

Harry shot down the hill, yelling all the way. He could feel the string tugging at his hands, but he didn't let go- he just kept going. Harry spared a quick glance behind him and saw that the kite was in the air! Finally! He ran for a few more seconds, then slowed down to a stop and turned around so that he could face the kite. It was quite high up, at least 20 feet. The wings and spiky red tail of the dragon flapped about in the wind. It was amazing.

Harry kept flying it for a good while, until he finally got tired and Remus helped him bring the string in and take the kite down. They headed back into the castle, Harry chattering on and on about everything he had done recently as Remus listened patiently. Ah, children.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and reading books, followed with more playing outside (something which even included a quick swim in the shallows of the Black Lake), tumbling down grassy hills, and climbing trees (Harry wished he could climb the Whomping Willow, but he knew it was far too dangerous to try, even without any adults telling him).

Later on in the evening, Hagrid came up to Albus' office to see Harry and hand him a birthday present on behalf of him, and also Remus. Harry sat in an armchair as he unwrapped what felt like some sort of large- but quite light in terms of weight- book; Albus, Minerva, Hagrid and Remus spread out around him.

It was a book. Or rather, an album with a dark red cover. Harry opened up the first page, and his eyes immediately went wide.

There were photos of his parents.

Despite having some already, these were all new, and different. Shots of Lily and James lounging around the castle grounds, a few pictures of them when they were in their younger years, photos of them kissing (Harry wasn't grossed out, they were his parents). . . One photo showed them sitting on a bed, holding a bundle of blankets in their arms. Another showed Harry as an older baby, sleeping against his father's chest. There were also several photos of them when they were younger, as young as Harry was now, before starting Hogwarts. They were very old, without a lot of colour, but they still moved! He had Lily's eyes, of course, and he was a spitting image of James at the same age.

'Do you like it, Harry?' Remus spoke up from beside him. 'Hagrid and I organised it earlier this month. We got in contact with some of your parents' old friends and collected as many photos as we could get.'

'Th-thank you!' Harry threw himself into Hagrid's arms, then proceeded to hug Remus, Albus and Aunt Minerva in tow. He wasn't really sure what to say. It was the perfect present, and he loved it, but too much to be able to put into words.

'Now, Harry,' began Minerva, after Harry had sat back down in his seat and flicked through the album again. 'I think it is time for your birthday dinner.'

Harry sat at the Head table again, Albus and Minerva at his side. Most of the teachers were there, now, including Professor Snape (though he didn't look too happy about it). Dinner was just as good as breakfast, if not better, and Harry was just finishing off the last of his roast potatoes and vegetables when everybody went quiet and the candles and torches throughout the Great Hall went out. Harry looked up in shock, wondering what was going on, and a split second later knew exactly what; a massive round birthday cake was floating up the aisle towards him. Neatly laid out on top were nine flickering, blue candles, and as the cake got closer, Harry saw that it was a chocolate one with lots of icing. Just as it carefully rested on the table in front of him, everybody began to sing Happy Birthday. Harry sat there in the dark, his bright green eyes shining in the light of the candles, unable to contain the elated smile spreading across his face. Though he loved all of his birthdays (the ones he could remember, anyway), he had never had such a big celebration. This one had to be the best.

The Hall lit up again after the last notes of the song were sung, and everybody clapped. Harry took a deep breath and blew on the candles, wishing happily that every day would be like this one. Then he cut the cake himself (with a little help from Albus), and placed it on his plate. The dinner dishes had all vanished while it had been dark- replaced by the dessert ones and several bowls of ice-cream, and even some fruit.

'Happy. . . birthday. . . Potter. . .' Snape managed to get out when Harry passed him a plate of cake. Harry tried to stifle his giggles with one hand, but was forced to quickly turn away as he burst out laughing. He could almost feel Snape's angry glare behind him.

Mouth filled with cake and ice-cream, with everybody he cared about by his side, Harry thought back on the day. It had been such a good one- the best ever! He had gotten all these presents, and had all this delicious food, and everybody had sung him Happy Birthday, and he was nine- finally nine!

He had no way of knowing that within the next month, his whole life would change forever.

. . .

A/N: This is the last chapter, but as you can see, it is far from over.

The second part of this story- 'Nightmare Most Real'- will be published separately, and the first chapter of it will be posted tomorrow. It is set a couple of months after Harry's birthday, and it is when all the action kicks off, as Harry gets kidnapped. . . kidnapped by Death Eaters.

(There will be a third part also, hopefully, but much later).

It is, of course, a continuation of this story, but can also be read separately.

I hope everybody enjoyed this story, and will also like the next part, which is rather different and- well- sad, really. It's quite brutal, so if you don't like suffering, or sadness (which I can understand) then you might not want to read it. I'm sorry if that's the case.

A massive thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favourited, and followed this story! I really, really appreciate it :)