Harry flew through the air, hand held high as he reached for the snitch. The tips of his fingers brushed against the delicate golden wings. He was so close, he could feel it. The encouraging chants of those below rang in his ears.
"Harry! Harry! Harry!"
He flew a little bit higher, reached up, and caught the snitch firmly in his hand. As he slowly descended to the ground, his fingers still wrapped firmly around his prized possession, the crowd went wild.
"Harry, wake up!"
Harry came out of his dream so slowly; he wasn't sure it was a dream. But the moment he opened his eyes, any hopes of being a Quidditch star faded. Leaning over his bed, hazel eyes boring into his own green ones, was his eight-year-old sister, Katie.
"Go away," Harry mumbled.
Katie threw herself onto the bed, jostling Harry and preventing him from resuming his blissful slumber. "Can't," she shrugged. "Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony will be here soon, and mum says she wants you up and ready."
Harry grumbled a string of unintelligible words before rolling off the bed and heading for the bathroom. He pushed the door, which was slightly ajar, open, his hand already reaching for his pajama bottoms when a roll of toilet paper hit him in the face.
Harry barely had the chance to register what was going on, his brain still foggy from sleep, when his four-year-old sister, Lucy, started screeching.
"GO AWAY! I NEED PRIVACY!"
Harry stumbled backwards and slammed the door shut. "Close the door next time." He snapped.
Harry made his way back to his room only to find Katie lounging on his bed as she carelessly flipped through one of his quidditch magazines.
"Get out!" Harry snapped as he reached for the magazine.
"Is that any way to speak to your sister?"
Harry snatched the magazine from her hands and tossed it to the side. "I need to get dressed. Get out!"
Katie rolled her eyes, an attitude that amused their father and annoyed their mother, before getting up and making her way towards the door.
When Harry was dressed, he headed down to the kitchen, only to find that the entire family was already seated. His father, James, sat at one end of the table, while his mother, Lily, sat on the opposite side. On their father's right was Katie, and on his left was Lucy. One-year-old Aurora sat in her high chair on their mother's right. This left Harry to take the empty seat on her left.
"Happy birthday, darling!" Lily cooed. She immediately stood up and made her way over to her son before planting a kiss on his head.
"Eleven years old," James gasped. "Where did the time go? It seems like only yesterday when you were crawling around the house stark naked because you refused to leave your nappy on."
Katie and Lucy burst into a fit of giggles.
"DAD!" Harry shouted, his cheeks tinted red with embarrassment. He quickly busied himself with piling his plate full of his favorite breakfast foods.
"Sirius, Marly, and Remus will be by shortly." Lily informed her son. "Your friends will be here in a few hours for the party."
Harry dug into his breakfast, even helping himself to seconds. Just as he was finishing his glass of pumpkin juice, the kitchen door swung open, and a man with shoulder-length black hair entered.
"Good morning, Potters!"
Lily shook her head, but a small smile crossed her lips. "Have you ever heard of knocking, Black?"
"Course I have, Evans." He cheekily replied. "But seeing as I'm family, I really don't see the point."
He made his way over to the table, snatched a piece of bacon off of James's plate, and popped it into his mouth.
"Sirius Black! Apologize at once!"
Sirius pulled a face as his fiancé smacked him on the head. "Oww, Marls, what was that for?"
Marlene didn't reply. Instead, she made her way over to Harry and kissed him on the cheek. "Happy birthday, birthday boy!"
"Aunt Marly," Harry groaned as he wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. "I'm too old for that."
Sirius snorted. "Yeah, Marls, give the guy a break. He's practically a man."
Harry shot his godfather a grateful smile which he immediately returned. Sirius then reached over and ruffled his godson's already messy hair. "Happy birthday, kiddo!"
"Uncle Padfoot," Lucy piped up. "You're belly's getting big. Are you having a baby?"
James burst into laughter as Sirius shot his goddaughter a playful glare. "Oi, my belly is not getting big."
"Yeah it is. Just like Aunt Marly's."
"Well," Sirius said, patting his stomach. "We are technically eating for two."
"I am eating for two." Marlene corrected. "You're just using my pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever you want."
"Well, we can't let the mother have all the fun." Sirius replied. "What about the father of the baby? I swear, the only fun part I was involved in was the making of the baby. Now that was a fun night."
"Sirius!" Lily scolded. "There are children in the room."
There was a knock on the door, and Harry, wanting to get as far away from the current conversation as possible, jumped at the chance to open it. Unfortunately, Katie seemed to have the same idea, and the two practically sprinted to the door to see who could get there first. Like usual, it was Harry.
"Uncle Remus!" Harry threw himself at his honorary uncle.
"Hey, Harry," he said as he wrapped the boy in a hug. "Happy Birthday!"
"Oh, you're just in time," James said as Remus entered the kitchen. "Sirius was just on the topic of baby-making."
Remus snorted. "Really, Padfoot? You really should know how it works by now."
James choked on his tea and Sirius pouted. "Of course I know how it works, you twat. I'm the one that put the baby in there in the first place."
"Alright," Lily said, clapping her hands together. "I really think it's time for a different topic of discussion."
Harry immediately thought of the news he had been dying to share. "My Hogwarts letter came the other day!" He said.
"Did it now?" Sirius grinned. "That's great, congratulations!"
"You'll love it." Remus added.
"I can't believe you're going off to Hogwarts this fall." Marlene sniffed.
After that, the main topic of conversation was Hogwarts-related. James, Sirius, and Remus began telling stories of their Hogwarts days, which mostly involved playing pranks, and every once in a while Lily would make a comment about James and his big ego. This led to another story, one involving how Lily finally ended up falling in love with James.
Before long, it was time to start setting up for the party. Everybody moved outside, where Lily had outdone herself with decorations and games. At 10:00, the guests started to arrive.
The Weasleys were the first to show up. Ron immediately greeted his friend with a pat on the back, and the twins secretly showed him their dungbombs. Molly and Arthur went to talk with James and Lily, and Ginny hid herself behind a bush, a slight blush on her cheeks as she watched Harry.
Neville arrived next along with his parents. He quickly joined Harry, Ron, and the twins, eager to hear of their next prank. More guests continued to show up after that.
"I invited Petunia," Lily told her husband. "I guess I really shouldn't be surprised she hasn't showed up, but I really hoped she would."
James wrapped a comforting arm around his wife and pulled her close.
"It's her loss." Sirius said as he reached for another balloon, using his wand to inflate it. "Harry doesn't need relatives like that in his life anyways, and either do you. You have us."
"I know," Lily said. "And I'm grateful for all of you. I just wish Petunia wasn't so—"
"Rude," Marlene suggested.
"Bitchy?" Sirius added.
"Stuck up," James said.
"Blinded by hatred," Remus piped up.
"All of the above, really," Lily chuckled. "I just can't help but wonder where it all went wrong."
"Hey," James said as he ran his fingers through his wife's hair. "I know it hurts having your only sister turn her back on you, but take a look around, Lily. Look at all the wonderful people we have in our lives. All the people who came together today to celebrate our son. They're our family, Lily. They're the ones that really matter."
Lily took a look around. Molly and Arthur were laughing at something Alice said, Frank was making Lucy giggle, and Harry and Katie were huddled together with Neville and the Weasley boys setting off dungbombs.
Dungbombs!
"HARRY JAMES," Lily screeched. "KATHERINE LILY,"
The two children whipped their heads around, their eyes wide as their mother stormed over.
"I can't take my eyes off of you two for five minutes. Just like your father and godfather, I swear."
At that moment, a car pulled up, and out stepped Petunia Dursley. She was dressed in a fancy dress and high heels. By her side was a rather large boy, who Lily imagined must be her nephew, Dudley, though she hadn't seen the boy in years.
"Petunia!" Lily exclaimed. "Oh, I'm so glad you could make it!"
Petunia looked around, her nose turned up in disgust. "Well, I was in the neighborhood and thought we might as well stop by."
Lily knew this was a lie, but she was so happy her sister was there that she didn't mention it. "Why don't you come say hello to Harry. He's really grown since the last time you saw him."
Petunia shrugged in response as if she really couldn't care less about her nephew, but she followed Lily. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, Harry set off a firecracker. With a huge bang, the grass started on fire and Petunia started shrieking.
"Freaks!" She screeched as James hurried forward to put the fire out.
"I should have known your children would be just as abnormal—just as freakish—"
"Now hold on," Lily said, her eyes flashing dangerously. "I will not have you coming here and insulting my children. You and I may not have anything in common, and you can be mad at me all you want for getting into Hogwarts when you couldn't, but I will NOT have you talking about my children like that."
"Hmph," Petunia sniffed. "Come along, my Diddy-dumpling." She took her son by his porky hand and lead him back to the car. In a matter of seconds, they were gone.
"Sorry mum," Harry mumbled. "I didn't mean to start the fire, or scare off Aunt Petunia."
Normally Lily would have scolded her son and daughter for being so reckless, but right now, all she could do was laugh.
"Oh, Merlin," she gasped. "Did you see Petunia's face?"
Everyone looked at Lily like she had lost her mind, but as her giggles turned into snorts of laughter, the others soon began to join in. Soon, all the guests, even Molly, were laughing.
"Come on, Harry," Lily said as she wrapped an arm around her son. "Let's go have cake."
Lily thought about her sister, and she knew the two would likely never get along. But it didn’t matter—not really. Because her real family, the ones who really mattered, were right here.