Happy Birthday Harry!
"I'm bored."
"Harry, it's been summer for ten minutes, you can't possibly be bored already." Hermione said, turning the page of her book.
"Well, I am, so go figure." Harry swung his legs. Grimmauld place was absolutely packed with so many people living there and many more in and out all the time, that all the rooms had been magically expanded. The dining room was now huge, and everyone was sat in there quite comfortably.
"Do homework then." Draco said, his own potions essay in front of him.
"No, that's so boring!"
"Boredom is good for soul." Sirius said, joining them at the table. "Inspires imagination and creativity. How about a prank war?"
"NO!" Hermione and Draco screeched at the same time.
Sirius huffed. "You two are no fun."
At that moment, the youngest Black sister entered the dining room, giving her son a kiss on the cheek. Harry laughed when Draco went bright red.
"You didn't even come and greet me, Draco, before starting on your homework." Narcissa said smoothly, raising a brow at her son.
"We got back at three, Mother, I assumed you would be taking your afternoon nap." Draco retorted, not looking up from his essay.
"Now that your father isn't around to give me incessant headaches, there's no need for naps anymore dearest." Harry snorted, drawing Narcissa's attention to him.
"Mr Potter, it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. My dearest Draco has told me all about you." Harry's eyes lit up. Draco let his head fall onto the table with thump.
"Hello, Mrs Malfoy, please call me Harry. The pleasure is all mine! Stunning dress by the way, Twilfit and Tattings summer collection 1982?" Daphne's eyebrows rose so high they disappeared into her hairline.
Narcissa raised a brow. "Call me Narcissa, child. And yes, how did you know?"
Harry smiled innocently. "I like to keep up with the latest fashion trends." Daphne snorted and Harry kicked her under the table.
"Really, now? Fascinating." Draco apprehensively lifted his head off the table when he realised no catastrophe had happened. Yet.
"So, what made Lucy dearest steal the peacocks?" Draco whacked his head back down again. Hard.
Narcissa laughed. "Greed, most likely. Give Gellert my dearest apologies won't you?"
"Gilderoy." Hermione corrected automatically, before blushing. "Sorry Ma'am, that was rude of me."
"Not to worry, dear. Miss Granger, is it? And I assure you, it's Gellert."
Fred and George looked up from where they had been tying Ron's shoelaces together. "Really Ma'am? Since when?" They asked in unison.
"Sorry Gred, Forge. I forgot to tell you that bit." Harry admitted.
"Since Harry got to him." Andromeda said disapprovingly from the doorway. "The poor man was so sure he was Gellert Gindlewald that when he read about the awful excuse of a wizard in a book he thought he was an evil murderer and had a mental breakdown. Hello, Cissy, you're looking much better."
"Thank you, Andy dear."
"Couldn't you just tell him Harry was lying? Or that he was a different Gellert?" Daphne asked, swiping Ron's toast before the boy could wake up.
"No, He only believes what I tell him. It's okay, I told him he lost his memory reforming himself into a better person." Harry told her.
Hermione smacked Harry hard with her textbook. "You're so cruel, letting the poor man believe he was some evil mastermind turned good."
"Oh come on Mione, it's better than a fraud turned even more fraudulent." Harry argued back. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Look, if it bothers you that much, I'll tell him it was my mistake and I got him and Barbie mixed up because of how similar they look, and he is just a kind-hearted zookeeper after all."
"Barbie?" Daphne asked, confused.
"Lucius Malfoy." Hermione responded shortly. "Harry told Lockhart his name was Barbie and that's what he's been referred to ever since."
"Hmm." Narcissa's lips twitched. "Lucius is rather... plastic."
Harry cackled.
Harry did tell Lockhart the truth. Lockhart decided he preferred the name Gellert but wanted to keep his real surname.
"Harry, how did you know what Narcissa was wearing?" Ginny asked later.
Harry smirked. "She forgot to remove the label, it was sticking out of her collar."
~
Harry begged. Harry pleaded. Harry grovelled. Harry bribed. But no matter what Harry said or what Harry did, he was still banned from all Order meetings.
"It's not fair!" Harry had said petulantly, crossing his arms and refusing to leave the dining room. "I thwarted him literally a month ago, and you're still refusing to let me in. You might actually be forced to admit you need me, you know."
"Harry, if you have information that may help us, you are more than welcome to share it with me so I can proceed accordingly." Dumbledore twinkled at him.
"Nah." Harry ambled from the room. The twins waved mockingly after him, seated comfortably between Bill and Charlie.
Harry just giggled as he left. If the order thought Fred and George wouldn't tell them everything after each meeting, then they were truly off their rockers.
It didn't mean Harry still wasn't going to have his fun.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Remus scowled. "What are they up to now?"
Thud. Thud. Thud. SMASH!
Molly stood up and yanked the door open. Harry and Ginny grinned sheepishly at the order, rackets in hand. Ginny and Astoria had returned that same day, Luna and Neville due to join them in a week.
"Want to play squash with us?" Harry asked. Ginny took one look at the fire in her mother's eyes and ran, Astoria at her heels.
"You've only been back for ten minutes and you're already causing trouble, Ginevra!" Molly shouted after them.
~
Harry had refused to let anyone celebrate his birthday last year. He had his reasons (trauma, mostly), but this year, he let Hermione talk him into it.
They kept it simple and sweet, with three cakes for the sheer number of people present and party food. Harry almost cried when he saw the pile of presents on the dining table.
Luna and Neville came to stay for his birthday, and Harry's friends had worked together to make him a large hamper, stuffed to the brim with gifts.
Colin had apparently been taking very domestic and candid photos of the group all year and had sent them to Daphne and Hermione, who dated and organised them. Ginny, Luna and Astoria had arranged them and stuck them down, whilst Draco wrote captions in cursive as he had the best handwriting. Ron and Susan had made the front and back cover - a college of everyone's favourite memories of Harry. Harry definitely didn't cry when he opened that one. Definitely not. Okay, maybe just a little.
The rest of the hamper was mostly joke presents. A jar of jam (Daphne and Astoria, from the look on Draco's face) a rubber duck with black hair, glasses, a lightning scar and a Gryffindor tie (Ron and Ginny), a new fly swatter (Draco, to Daphne's dismay), a cuddly niffler and a cuddly bowtruckle (Luna), a little pink glass frog inside a snow globe (Neville), a book titled '100 Legal Psychological ways to mess with the mind' (Hermione), and Ravenclaw Pyjamas (Susan)
The twins and Sirius had given him pranking stuff, obviously. The other three champions from the triwizard tournament had clubbed together to get Harry a broom servicing kit, along with a practice snitch, and Remus had given him a muggle garden gnome and lots of chocolate. Like, lots of chocolate. Enough to last at least three years. Molly and Arthur had given him some new clothes - jeans, jumpers and t-shirts, all of which actually fit.
He got a few other gifts, mostly sweets and books, and Harry loved them all.
"This might just be the second best day of my life." Harry said happily.
"Second best? Second best to what?" Sirius asked, looking insulted, as if it were him and not Molly who organised the entire day.
"The day Mrs Weasley sent Professor Dumbledore a Howler." Molly smiled, pleased she was the reason for two best days of Harry's life. Sirius pouted like a toddler.
Harry ran from the room and came back wearing his Ravenclaw pyjamas. Susan grinned, looking very pleased with herself.
"Why Ravenclaw?" Bill asked curiously.
"Oh yeah! I'd almost forgotten! In fourth year we had a pyjama party one astronomy lesson, made a bet, and Ravenclaw won so they were giving the title of having the best common room ever." Ron explained as Harry and Daphne grew very sad all of a sudden.
McGonagall sighed. "It was the longest month of our teaching lives." Snape, who for some reason came to visit (Harry was almost 99 percent sure Snape did actually like him now), shook his head.
"It was the best month of my entire career." He said, moving his knight. Ron was sat opposite him, and Remus was watching the two play chess with slight terror. McGonagall looked incredibly entertained, watching the game with a glint in her eye.
"Check." Ron said lazily, moving his queen to take Snape's knight. The man snarled.
"Wotcher, Harry." Tonks greeting, stepping out of the floor. "Mum's on her way, she told me to give this to you." She tossed Harry a small package and he caught it deftly.
Happy birthday Harry, thank you again for saving my life.
Your friend,
Gellert
"Aw, this is wicked!" Harry cheered, ripping the package open. "Fawkes!"
In a flash of fire, Fawkes appeared in the middle of the table, looking at Harry expectantly.
"Harry, how did you summon my Phoenix? The phoenix only responds to the summons of it's owner, you know." Dumbledore queried, watching Harry curiously.
"I told you, we have a bond. Here you go Fawkes!"
Harry tossed him the burger and packet of fries that had been in the package. Fawkes caught them with a squawk and disappeared again.
"There." Harry said, looking very satisfied. "The Order of the Phoenix has been fulfilled by a MacDonald's happy meal!"
Hermione clicked her tongue disapprovingly, but said nothing.
Harry caught Narcissa staring at him out of the corner of his eye. "What is it?" He asked her, smiling innocently.
"Malfoy's Minion, Fly Squasher, Pro?" She asked, raising a brow. Harry smirked as he fiddled with the badge pinned proudly to his new pyjamas.
"NO, Mother, not like that." Draco groaned, putting his head in his hands. Harry fell off of his chair from laughing so hard and left Neville to explain, hiding his own grin.
"I was actually referring to Barbie, by the way." Harry added when he'd sat back down. Everyone stared at him. "What? I thought that was obvious. Since we knew he'd be at the ministry and all."
"Oh, Harry." Hermione shook her head fondly. Harry scowled.
"Checkmate." Ron said with a grin. Snape flipped the board.