Forever Family

Chapter 16

Publish Date: 11/02/18

The month of July had passed rather quickly, in a whirlwind of work and wedding planning. Things at the Auror Office had calmed down a bit—the most recent attack being the failed one from the beginning of the month.

It was now early August, just a few days away from Ginny's birthday. Because Harry and Ginny's birthdays were so close, the Weasleys decided to do one combined birthday party for the two of them.

"I wanna go to a party!" Teddy shouted with excitement. Harry and Ginny were still getting ready to go, but they paused what they were doing to look at Teddy.

"I know, Ted, we're almost ready to go," Harry assured his excited godson. "Just a few more minutes."

True to his word, the three of them Apparated to the Burrow just a few minutes later.

It seemed that Mrs. Weasley had invited everyone that Harry and Ginny knew, because the Burrow was more crowded than it had been in a long time. People were both inside and outside, and there was a big tent set up in the backyard.

"Harry, Ginny! Welcome, dears, and happy birthday!" Mrs. Weasley excused herself from a conversation with Neville and his girlfriend, Hannah, and went to greet the couple.

"Hey, Mum. Thanks for doing all this," Ginny grinned, and Mrs. Weasley wrapped her in a hug.

"Oh, it's no problem at all! Now, come in, everyone will be so excited to see you!"

Harry and Ginny made their way through the crowd and into the Burrow, catching sight of the familiar faces of DA members and former classmates.

"Harry! Ginny!" Ron's loud voice carried across the room, alerting the crowd that they were there.

"Hey, Harry's here!"

"Hi, Harry!"

"Brilliant job on your win last week, Ginny!"

Once Harry and Ginny had greeted everyone, they led Teddy to Fleur and Victoire, and split up to find some friends that they haven't seen in a while.

"Hello, Ginny. Happy birthday." Luna Lovegood walked over to Ginny from behind. "I thought I should greet you after everyone else did—so it's less overwhelming."

"Oh! Hi, Luna. And, yes, it was less overwhelming, thanks," Ginny turned around and smiled at her close friend.

"Where's Harry? I wanted to tell him about some Wrackspurts I saw floating around him earlier."

Having gotten used to Luna's eccentric personality years ago, Ginny said, "Harry's got a lot on his mind lately—I wouldn't be surprised if you saw some Wrackspurts. And he's over there, talking to Dean, Seamus, and Neville."

"Thank you." Luna merrily walked away as Ginny was greeted by another familiar face. Katie Bell, a former Quidditch teammate, made her way towards Ginny.

"Hey, Ginny. Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Katie. Been alright?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, yes, I've been good. I just wanted to stop in and say hello, I haven't seen you in a while." Katie grinned. "Anyways, I've got to go, but it was nice seeing you!"

The party went on like this for a while, with Harry and Ginny talking to old friends from school, wishing them a happy birthday. Soon enough, Mrs. Weasley got everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone, gather outside now, it's time for presents and cake!"

Once the crowd had all made it safely outside, Harry and Ginny were left to open the big mound of presents left by their friends and family.

"Alright, dears, just pick a present and say who it's from—we've got a lot of presents to open!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, quieting everyone.

"I s'pose we should get started, then," Harry said, picking up a present from the pile. "This one's from Hermione and Ron." He grinned as he opened an assortment of sweets, including Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs.

"It's the sweets we had on the train the first day we met. Remember, mate?" Ron laughed.

"Yeah, I remember."

"Dig down further, Harry, my present's at the bottom," Hermione said. Harry smiled knowingly. Hermione was the type of person to get him a practical gift—he couldn't see her getting anyone sweets.

Harry dug further into the bag and pulled out quills, parchment, and ink. It may seem simple and generic, but Harry was really running low, and couldn't find the time to go to Diagon Alley. "Thanks, 'Mione, I really needed those."

"Okay, I'll open one now," Ginny pulled out a present from the pile. She dug her hand in and pulled out a Broomstick Servicing Kit, complete with broomstick polish.

"Oh, this one's from Oliver," Ginny grinned and waved to Oliver Wood, who gave her a smile in return. "Thanks, Oliver!"

"Harry, Ginny, open mine!" Teddy smiled brightly as he shouted. "It's the small one on top!"

"Sure, Ted, we'll open yours," Harry grabbed Teddy's present. Looking at Ginny, he said, "Open it together?"

Ginny smiled and nodded. The two opened the gift, revealing a framed photo of Harry, Ginny, and Teddy standing at the beach at Shell Cottage earlier that summer. Their hair was windswept, and they were smiling and waving at the camera while Ginny kissed Teddy on the cheek.

"Oh, Teddy, it's wonderful!" Ginny beamed.

Harry and Ginny opened presents for a while. Some were funny, like Ron's, while some were sentimental, like Teddy's. Regardless of the present, Harry almost couldn't remember another time when he was so grateful for his friends and family.

Once all the presents were opened, Mrs. Weasley got everyone's attention for cake. The crowd turned their attention to the large table, where three big cakes were lined up.

"Listen here, everyone! Because we have so many people, and so many cakes, we're going to need to do this in an orderly fashion!"

Despite Molly Weasley's words of protest, the crowd did not do this in an orderly fashion. Instead, they all managed to get a piece of cake by trying to make their way up to the front.

"Harry and Ginny get first pieces!" called out Lee Jordan.

Harry and Ginny eventually made it to the front of the crowd, and were able to get their first pieces.

Teddy ran over to his godparents with his cake, and they made room for him to sit down by them.

Harry looked around at the smiling faces of his loved ones—the friendly bickering between Ron and Hermione ("No, Ronald, you can not have more than one piece of cake!"), the bright smile on Teddy's face, and Ginny's laughter as George told a joke—and he instantly felt any stress lift from his shoulders, even for just a second.

A/N: Not sure how I feel about the ending, but I enjoyed writing this chapter. What'd you guys think? I'm listening to Les Mis while writing this, so that's fun. Thanks for reading! 💛
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