‘Harry, we won!’ shouted Ginny as she landed on the ground. She ran over to him and hugged him.

‘You were brilliant, Ginny,’ he smiled when she’d released him.

‘Thanks,’ said Ginny, smiling brilliantly. ‘You were amazing yourself.’

Harry was left breathless by her smile. Her cheeks were flushed pink due to flying for so long, her hair was windblown and he thought she’d never looked prettier.

‘Hem hem,’ said Fred in a perfect impersonation of Dolores Umbridge.

Harry dragged his eyes away from Ginny and saw that the others had landed around them while they’d been busy staring at each other.

‘I thought the real Umbridge had arrived,’ said Neville, shaking his head at Fred.

‘I knew only such a despicable voice would make Harrykins and Gin-Gin look away from each other,’ he said, smirking.

‘Oh, never mind that,’ said Ginny as a grin spread over her face. ‘We beat you - I beat the five of you! You five never thought you’d actually lose to your little sister! I beat you - ha!’

Harry couldn’t help but smile at the proud look on Ginny’s face.

‘The shame is killing me here,’ said George as the Weasley brothers’ ears turned red.

‘I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life before,’ said George. ‘Things would’ve been so different if we’d picked the right players.’

‘You all always thought that I was no good at Quidditch,’ Ginny continued, clearly enjoying this. It seemed like Ginny had been waiting for this moment for ages. ‘You never allowed me to play with you because I was a girl. It turns out that I was the best Quidditch player in the family all along!’

‘This proves nothing,’ scoffed Charlie. ‘I’m one of Gryffindor’s legendary Quidditch players, remember?’

‘I won the Quidditch Cup twice for your kind information,’ said Ginny. ‘You also only won it twice the last time I checked. Harry and I are going to be much more legendary than you!’

‘You tell them, Ginny,’ said Tonks, snickering. Remus was having difficulty concealing his smile, Hermione was sniggering into her hands, Mad-Eye was chuckling and Hagrid was laughing.

‘Will you quit it, Ginny?’ asked Ron irritably.

‘I won’t until you admit I’m better,’ said Ginny smugly.

‘Hey Hagrid, tell us the score,’ said Harry, hoping to rub defeat even deeper into the brothers’ faces.

‘Righ’,’ said Hagrid, peering down at the clipboard Hermione had given to him for recording the scores. ‘The final score is 350 to 60.’

‘This means we’ve destroyed you real bad,’ said Ginny, her grin growing even wider, if that were possible. ‘We gave them a real beating, Harry. I’d the say the score could’ve been worse if he’d played for more time.’

‘Yeah, you were giving them a real thrashing,’ said Harry, smirking. The brothers didn’t look overly angry so maybe he could also join in on the teasing. Merlin knew Fred and George had teased him far too many times about Ginny ever since he’d arrived. It felt good to be getting some revenge.

‘It’s just a game,’ said Charlie, trying to appear nonchalant. ‘It doesn’t really matter.’

‘Sure , Charlie, I believe you,’ said Ginny sarcastically.

‘Excuse us,’ said Fred, ‘we’ve got some work to do.’

And the twins bolted back to the house without any further explanation.

‘Cowards,’ laughed Ginny.

‘Ginny, I think your Mum might need some help with the food,’ said Hermione. She appeared to be taking pity on the remaining three brothers.

‘Oh yeah, let’s go,’ said Ginny. She turned to look at Bill, Charlie and Ron, ‘Don’t think I’m letting you off so easy. I’m going to make you five admit that I’m the best Quidditch player in this family.’

She smirked one last time and hurried after Hermione, her ponytail bouncing repeatedly as she went.

‘She can really get on my nerves sometimes,’ grumbled Ron.

‘The twins’ presence is rubbing off on her,’ said Bill, shaking his head.

‘Look on the bright side, at least she’s not like Percy,’ said Charlie dryly.

All of them laughed.

‘We’d also better go inside,’ said Tonks, making her hair an even brighter shade of pink so that it would glow in the darkness. ‘It’s getting dark.’

‘Hey Luna, you can come down now!’ Harry called, spotting Luna drifting serenely in the distance. She appeared to be watching the sunset.

‘Oh, right,’ said Luna vaguely. She landed on the ground after a few moments, looking surprised that the game was over.

They went to the sitting room, where they’d a lively debate about the match. Ron then challenged Harry to a game of wizard’s chess and Neville and Luna decided to help Harry try to beat Ron. Ron won easily despite moaning about food throughout the game. Hermione showed up after about two hours just when Ron was beginning to get desperate for food.

‘Dinner’s ready,’ she said.

‘Oh, at long last!’ exclaimed Ron, knocking over the chess board as he jumped to his feet. ‘I’ve been starving - I always need food after I fly!’

‘The cake took a long time,’ said Hermione, rolling her eyes at Ron. ‘Wake up Moody as well. He wouldn’t want to miss any of the food.’

Mad-Eye was snoozing in an armchair, his magical eye swirling eerily in its socket. The others had left the sitting room when Harry, Ron, Neville and Luna had started their game. Ron had suspected they’d gone to talk about secret information.

’We’re eating outside in the garden,’ Hermione informed them.

‘Wake up, Moody,’ said Harry, tapping the old Auror on the shoulder.

Mad-Eye’s normal eye sprang open; he immediately reached for his wand and pushed Harry back roughly.

‘What’s going on?’ he growled.

‘Dinner’s ready,’ said Harry.

‘Oh right,’ said Mad-Eye, visibly relaxing. ‘Sorry about the push, you know I’m crazy about constant vigilance.’

‘Yeah, how could we forget?’ asked Harry, amused.

‘Let’s go, then.’

Harry realized he was feeling quite hungry himself as they hurried outside to the garden.

A long wooden table had been set up in the garden. There were empty plates and goblets placed on it. Harry spotted gnomes struggling against an invisible shield in one corner of the garden. They were croaking irritably, clearly not pleased of being stuck in one part of the garden. Streamers of all kinds of colors imaginable had been strung in the garden and the number seventeen seemed to be flashing around them.

‘My Shield Charm is really working, isn’t it?’ asked Hermione proudly.

‘Never mind that,’ said Ron, looking at the table in dismay. ‘Where’s the food supposed to be?’

‘It’ll appear once everyone arrives,’ said Hermione, scowling at Ron. ‘You can surely wait a little longer.’

‘No, I can’t, that’s the problem,’ grumbled Ron.

The rest of the Weasleys, Fleur, Professor McGonagall, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley and Hagrid arrived soon.

‘Happy seventeenth, Harry,’ said Mr. Weasley warmly, shaking Harry’s hand.

‘Thanks, Mr. Weasley,’ smiled Harry. ‘Did you just get back from the Ministry?’

‘Yes, just five minutes ago,’ replied Mr. Weasley, looking exhausted. ‘Molly wanted me to be here before the cake was cut.’

‘Mum - bring the food already!’ said Ron impatiently, clutching his stomach.

‘Yes, yes, I’m bringing it,’ snapped Mrs. Weasley, frowning at her youngest son. ‘I suppose we should start with the cake. Sit down everyone.’

Harry couldn’t stop himself from rushing to sit next to Ginny. She looked somewhat surprised at this but then smiled, looking pleased. Fred and George sniggered on the opposite side of the table. Hermione smiled at Harry in an annoying manner as she sat down on his other side.

You’re supposed to stay away from her, you idiot! Harry groaned at himself inwardly. Now everyone was going to think they were together. I wish we were - no, stop it!

‘Mum!’ said Ron.

‘Yes, yes, wait a few seconds,’ said Mrs. Weasley, who’d been looking amusedly at Harry and Ginny. She waved her wand through the air and then flicked it sharply.

Harry gasped slightly as the biggest birthday cake he’d ever seen appeared before him. It was a seventeen tier chocolate cake. Dudley would’ve given up everything he owned just to get his hands on this cake. Harry had to crane his neck to see ‘Happy Birthday Harry’ scribbled on top of it with icing. Seventeen candles had been placed it. Harry wondered how long it’d taken to prepare the cake.

‘Bloody hell,’ said Ron, gaping at the cake.

‘Language, Ron,’ Hermione and Mrs. Weasley scolded simultaneously.

‘It’s huge, Mrs. Weasley!’ said Harry, thinking he sounded a little childish. ‘How ever did you make it?’

‘It wasn’t difficult at all, dear,’ said Mrs. Weasley, smiling fondly at him. ‘Ginny and Hermione are the ones who made this cake. It was Ginny’s idea to make a seventeen tier cake - she was very eager to make it.’

Harry glanced at Ginny and saw that her cheeks had turned slightly pink.

‘You two shouldn’t have worked so hard for me,’ Harry said, it was obvious it’d taken a lot of hard work to prepare the cake despite what Mrs. Weasley had said.

‘Stop being silly, Harry,’ said Hermione, a hint of exasperation in her voice. ‘We just wanted to make you happy.’

‘Yes, your smile suggests it was worth it,’ added Ginny.

Harry smiled at her, warmth flooding inside his body. He was suddenly very pleased that Ginny had worked hard to make him happy.

‘Hey Ginny, how come you made a cake for Harry?’ asked Fred with mock seriousness. ‘You’ve never made cakes for the rest of us!’

‘That’s because you five are big, immature prats,’ replied Ginny with a smirk.

‘You can be very hurtful sometimes,’ sniffed George.

‘Cut the cake, Harry,’ said Mrs. Weasley, shaking her head at the twins. ‘Here you go.’

She handed him a gleaming knife. Harry stood up, as he couldn’t properly reach the top of the cake.

‘Let me get my parents first,’ said Hermione. ‘They’ve been spending far too much time in their room.’

Hermione ran off in the direction of the house and returned after a couple of minutes, followed by her parents. Mrs. Granger’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at the sight of the immense cake.

‘Make a wish, Harry,’ said Hermione cheerfully.

Harry had never really done this before so he wasn’t sure what to wish for.

I hope I defeat Voldemort in the end and all of my loved ones survive he wished, uncertainly blowing out the candles. As he cut the cake, a painful lump rose in his throat. He’d never celebrated his birthday like this before; these were the kind of moments Voldemort had stolen by killing his parents. He felt his affection surge for the people around him, who were singing happy birthday as he cut the cake.

‘Happy birthday, dear,’ said Mrs. Weasley, putting a small piece of cake into Harry’s mouth. Harry was slightly embarrassed to be treated like a kid but he also enjoyed it. He’d never received any kind of affection in his childhood. The Dursleys had always treated him worse on his birthdays, if that were possible.

‘Yes, yes, Ron, I’m giving you your piece,’ said Mrs. Weasley, smiling sadly at Harry. She started to cut pieces for everyone on the table.

Mrs. Weasley made the cake disappear when everyone had eaten at least two pieces, saying they would eat the rest of it with the other desserts. Ron looked disappointed as he’d been going for his fourth piece. Harry thought the cake alone would’ve easily filled all of their stomachs. Mrs. Weasley flicked her wand and this time delectable food appeared all over the table. All of them piled some into their plates and started to eat. Ron overloaded his plate so Hermione had to give him another plate, looking disgusted at his table manners. Conversations erupted on the table and it was incredibly difficult to keep up with all of them.

Ginny was teasing Fred and George about beating them earlier; Mrs. Weasley and Fleur were arguing about something to do with the wedding preparations; Hermione and Mad-Eye were having an intense discussion about safety spells; Tonks and Remus were whispering while watching the others amusedly; Charlie and Hagrid were talking about Norbert, the Norwegian Ridgeback dragon, which Harry and Hermione had once sent to Romania; Bill was telling Neville and Luna tales about some of his exploits in Egypt; Mr. Weasley was eagerly asking Mr. and Mrs. Granger about some Muggle contraption; Professor McGonagall and Kingsley were discussing the latest happenings at the Ministry of Magic and Ron was too busy eating as if his life depended upon it.

Harry ended up staring at Ginny when he didn’t have anything better to do. Ginny didn’t seem to notice as she was too busy teasing Fred and George. He was sure he could feel Hermione glancing continuously at him. He was barely resisting the impulse to touch Ginny’s hair; he’d used to love running his fingers through the silky locks.

Ginny suddenly turned and caught Harry staring at her. She blushed furiously while her eyes travelled down to his left hand, which was only inches away from her hair. He felt heating rushing up his cheeks.

‘Have you been doing that for the last ten minutes?’ she whispered, her eyes twinkling. She didn’t seem to have minded his staring at all.

‘Even longer,’ said Harry without thinking. ‘I mean no, of course not!’ he quickly added.

Ginny giggled; Fred and George’s heads immediately turned to look in their direction. Hermione seemed to be having difficulty containing her giggles.

‘It’s all right,’ breathed Ginny once Fred and George had returned their attention to their food. ‘I don’t mind…’

Does that mean I can stare at you whenever I want?

‘You’re hopeless,’ murmured Hermione, who was still chuckling slightly. ‘That was real smooth, Potter.’

‘Shut it,’ hissed Harry, certain that Ginny was listening.

‘I think it won’t be difficult at all, Ginny,’ said Hermione, looking knowingly at Ginny.

‘I hope so,’ said Ginny.

‘Time for dessert!’ announced Mrs. Weasley before Harry could ask what they were talking about. The desserts appeared with another flick of Mrs. Weasley’s wand. Harry searched for treacle tart and reached for it as soon as he spotted it. He saw Ginny smiling at him out of the corner of his eye.

As Harry ate nearly all the desserts available, he noticed that Ginny had suddenly gotten exceptionally silent. She was gazing into the distance with a wistful expression on her face. She appeared to be deep in thought and he couldn’t bring himself to ask what was troubling her.

‘You’re not retiring to bed just yet, mate,’ said Fred as Harry got off the table. The treacle tart looked highly tempting but he knew he would probably end up throwing up if he ate anymore.

‘Yeah, we’ve got a surprise for you,’ said George, grinning.

The twins hurried away to the back of the house. Harry hoped Fred and George hadn’t planned to prank him.

‘Even they don’t have the nerve to attempt a prank in front of Mum,’ murmured Ron, sensing what Harry was thinking. Harry knew he was probably right.

Fred and George returned, levitating a wooden box in front of them. Harry leaned forwards, trying to see what was inside it.

‘The box contains some of our Weasley Whiz-Bangs,’ said Fred proudly. ‘We’ve made some especially for your birthday.’

‘You remember the Weasley Whiz-Bangs, don’t you?’ asked George, grinning. ‘We used them - and some of our other products - to make Umbridge’s life miserable.’

‘You could wake up the entire village with those fireworks of yours,’ growled Mad-Eye.

‘We took care of that easily enough,’ said Fred. ‘Only the people who can enter this house would be able to see them. The Fedilius Charm really helped.’

Hermione looked highly impressed.

‘Are you sure they’re safe?’ asked Mrs. Weasley apprehensively.

‘Yeah, Mum, perfectly safe,’ replied George innocently. ‘Don’t you trust us?’

‘I don’t,’ said Mrs. Weasley, looking suspiciously at the twins.

‘Just get them in the air already!’ said Ginny impatiently, stomping her foot on the ground.

‘That’s the spirit,’ grinned Fred, reaching over and ruffling his sister’s hair.

‘We’d better retreat to a safe distance,’ said George, backing out of the garden and toward the orchard. The others followed but Fred stayed in the garden. He moved his wand in a complicated movement and there was a white flash of light as the box opened up. He hurried towards them, grinning.

‘There goes the first one!’ said George, pointing into the air.

They all looked up. Harry saw what looked like a little rocket zoom up into the star strewn sky. He heard Hermione gasp as a huge Gryffindor loin appeared in the sky. The loin roared deafeningly and then exploded in a brilliant display of red and gold sparks.

‘That’s for Gryffindor!’ yelled Fred. ‘The best house at Hogwarts!’

Harry squinted at the sky as four creatures appeared on it at the same time. The first one was a stag, the second was a red phoenix, the third was a Hippogriff and the fourth was a familiar shaggy-haired dog. Harry knew Fred and George had meant for them to remind Harry of Prongs, Fawkes, Buckbeak and Padfoot. All the creatures meant something to him, he was deeply touched. He felt slightly dismayed as the creatures, especially the dog, disappeared in a brilliant explosion of colors.

Harry was left astounded as what looked like Draco Malfoy’s head appeared in the sky next. He was furious at Fred and George at first but then a wide grin appeared on his face as Malfoy’s head transformed into a twitching ferret. Harry heard Ron laughing uproariously next to him and he found himself joining in. Turning Malfoy into a ferret had been the only good thing any Death Eater had ever done. The ferret exploded, lighting up the sky once more.

‘This one might be even funnier!’ shouted Fred gleefully.

This time Severus Snape appeared and Harry immediately knew what was coming. Neville’s grandmother’s clothes appeared on Snape and all of them laughed at the sight, even Mrs. Weasley looked amused. Harry grinned; Fred and George had just made him relive two of the funniest memories of his life.

‘This one is special!’ screamed George, tears of laughter streaming down his cheeks.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Mrs. Weasley and Hermione as the Dark Mark appeared in the sky. Harry’s body shuddered involuntarily at the gruesome sight of the green skull with the snake protruding out of its mouth. A Hungarian Horntail dragon appeared next to it. There was a great roar of rage as the dragon launched itself into the skull. The explosion of colors was almost blinding this time and left Harry with several spots in his eyes.

He watched in amazement as letters appeared in the sky, forming a whole sentence. Harry read the message: Happy Birthday Harry - hope the next year finally brings you triumph over Voldy and you remain the Boy Who Lived forever!

‘So what do you think?’ asked Fred expectantly.

Harry was overwhelmed; he couldn’t come up with words to describe what he was feeling. Fred and George had really outdone themselves this time.

‘I-It was brilliant,’ he said, amazement in his voice.

‘Hey, wait up,’ said Ron. ‘We can’t let you two take all the credit for it.’

‘Yeah, I was the one who suggested to do this in the first place,’ said Ginny, nodding. ‘Ron, Hermione and I told you what to show in the sky.’

‘You never experienced Neville’s boggart, did you?’ said Ron, raising his eyebrow. ‘You wouldn’t have been able to do that without us.’

‘We’re the ones who really made the Whiz-Bangs,’ said George. ‘That certainly counts for something.’

Harry wanted to thank everyone present for everything they’d done for him. He wanted to thank them for making his birthday so special, so memorable … He’d never thought that he would actually get to celebrate one of his birthdays like this. Even Dudley hadn’t had such a grand birthday.

‘I-I want to thank all of you,’ said Harry, his voice choked with emotion. ‘For everything you’ve done for me.’

Ron, Ginny, Fred and George stopped arguing as they heard Harry’s words. Tears appeared in Mrs. Weasley’s eyes and she engulfed him in a strangling hug. He buried his head into her shoulder, urging the tears to disappear from his eyes. He was so grateful for the love and warmth that the Weasleys had shown him that he thought that he could never make it up to them.

‘I told you it was nothing, dear,’ said Mrs. Weasley. ‘We’re your family and this is what families do for each other.’

Mrs. Weasley finally released him and Harry stepped back, smiling at her. His eyes were still wet which he didn’t want the others to see.

‘Yeah, mate, you’re family,’ said Ron, looking at a loss for words.

‘You’ve been family ever since you first came here,’ said Mr. Weasley, patting him on the shoulder.

‘We’re your brothers, Harry,’ said Fred, an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. ‘Your five big brothers.’

Harry’s affection for the Weasleys was rapidly soaring to new heights.

‘Ginny, why aren’t you telling Harry you’re his sister?’ demanded George, feigning to look offended.

‘Shut it,’ mumbled Ginny. Her eyes were also wet; she appeared to be struggling to contain her emotions. She suddenly ran towards Harry when she saw him looking in her direction and threw her arms around him.

’Oh Harry,’ she sniffled into his shoulder and squeezed him. Harry was taken-aback but that didn’t mean he wasn’t enjoying the unexpected hug.

‘I don’t think Harry wants to be Ginny’s brother,’ said Fred, smirking at Harry from over Ginny’s shoulder.

‘I think you’re absolutely right, brother dear,’ agreed George. ‘Isn’t he, Harry?’

Ginny released him and glared at the twins.

‘Fred, George, are you two ever serious?’ snapped Mrs. Weasley.

Harry didn’t mind what the twins were saying. He knew they couldn’t help it. They’d obviously tried to be serious but had failed to do that.

‘I think I can be Harry’s sister,’ said Hermione, smiling at Harry. There was a tear running down the length of her cheek.

‘Me, too,’ said Tonks brightly.

Harry suppressed a yawn. He’d suddenly got very sleepy and all he wanted to do at the moment was to lie down in bed. He also wanted to get away from everyone before he lost control of his emotions.

‘Time for bed,’ announced Mrs. Weasley, noticing the tiredness on his face.

‘C’mon, Mum, I don’t want to sleep,’ complained George.

‘We’ll see you at the wedding, Harry,’ said Neville as Mad-Eye led him and Luna to the Burrow’s boundaries.

‘Goodbye, Harry!’ called Neville.

‘Bye, Harry,’ said Luna dreamily. ‘Don’t let the Wrackspurts infect your brain!’

Harry exchanged an amused grin with Ginny as he waved at Neville and Luna.

‘Oh no, the wedding!’ exclaimed Fred, the grin disappearing from his face.

‘That’s right,’ said Mrs. Weasley, nodding. ‘We’re starting the wedding preparations tomorrow.’

‘We’re starting at nine o’clock tomorrow,’ announced Fleur happily.

‘Well, I’m glad we managed to enjoy ourselves as best as we could,’ said George, who’d turned extremely pale at the mention of the wedding. ‘Tomorrow is going to be a real nightmare!’