Beautiful, Perfect Birthday

Disclaimer: It’s all so Jo’s! =)

“Mmm, mmm, Harry, wake up.”

This was Hermione Granger prodding her husband, Harry Potter, awake.

“Mmm, Mione, whaaat....” groaned Harry, shifting slightly.

“Flowers, Harry!” Hermione urged, nudging him again. “The flowers are blooming!”

In a flash, Harry was at the window. “Wow....” he breathed. “They’re beautiful....”

Hermione smiled and came to stand beside him. “Am I as beautiful?” she asked innocently, resting her chin on his shoulder.

Harry turned and kissed her gently. “You are... more beautiful than... anything,” he responded. “In fact, you are so beautiful, I don’t know what we’re doing standing here. We should be back in bed.”

Hermione giggled and swatted him playfully. “Right,” she said. “Back in bed when we should be getting ready for Sarah’s birthday.”

Harry clapped a hand to his forehead. “Oh, my gosh!” he exclaimed. “Sarah’s birthday! I completely forgot!”

Hermione’s mouth fell open. “Harry James Potter,” she said slowly, backing away from him, “you did not just forget our daughter’s birth-”

“Kidding,” replied Harry with an easy grin as he walked over and kissed his wife again. “Miss Gullible,” he teased, burying his face in her hair. “Mmm, your hair smells good.”

Hermione smiled, then frowned. “Thanks, Mr. Butter-Me-Up,” she replied. “Looove you.”

“Well, I would think so,” responded Harry cockily. “Forget just how I’m related to you?”

“Oh yeah, definitely, because you’re so easy to forget,” teased Hermione.

Harry grabbed Hermione’s arm. “Oh yeah? Then who was it that slept with me last night, Dumbledore?” he asked, his eyes twinkling.

Hermione shrugged. “Very likely,” she said casually. “I wouldn’t know; I was over at Colin Creevey’s.”

Harry burst out laughing and threw his arms around Hermione. “Ahhh, best one you’ve ever come up with,” he chortled, hugging her to him. “Mmm, I love you, Mione.”

“Mmm, love you too Colin,” Hermione responded.

Harry laughed and slapped her butt. “Yeah, cute ass, Albus.”

Both of them laughed then. They soon quieted down, Hermione still wrapped in Harry’s arms. Gently, she rose on her tiptoes, until her mouth was near his ear.

“Harry?” she whispered.

“Yes, Mione?” he whispered back.

“Love it when you hold me like this,” Hermione responded, snuggling into his chest.

Harry smiled and tightened his arms around her. “And I love to hold you like this,” he responded.

Safely enclosed in Harry’s comforting presence, Hermione smiled.

The two just stood there, rocking slowly back and forth, for a few minutes. Then, suddenly, the clock chimed nine o’clock and their bedroom door flew open.

“Mommy, Daddy!” squealed the excited voice of the little girl who had just run in. “Mommy, Daddy, I’m five!!!”

Gently entangling himself from Hermione, Harry swooped his daughter off the ground and kissed her. “Yes you are, cutie pie!” he responded. “Miss Five-Year-Old!”

High off the ground, Sarah Potter giggled and waved her feet. “Mommy, Daddy, can we sing, can we sing, can we sing?!” she shrieked in excitement.

Hermione came over, taking Sarah into her arms. “Later, little munchkin,” she laughed. “Now we’ve got to go get ready to recieve all our guests! And when everyone’s here, we’ll sing. How about that?”

“Goody, goody!” Sarah cheered, slipping out of Hermione’s arms and bouncing up and down. “It’s my birthday, it’s my birthday, it’s my birthday!”

Harry and Hermione laughed, watching their excited five-year-old jump up and down in ecstasy.

“All right now, baby,” said Harry. “Brush your teeth and go potty and then come downstairs for your birthday breakfast!!”

“Aw, yeah!! Birthday breakfast!!” exclaimed Sarah, now even more excited. “Goody, goody, Mommy and Daddy!!” She raced out of the room, and they heard the bathroom door close behind her.

Harry shook his head in amusement. “Love her,” he said. “I just love her.”

Hermione smiled and came and wrapped her arms around her husband from behind. “Why, thanks, Harry!” she said.

Harry laughed and kissed her on the nose. “I totally meant both of you,” he said, grinning.

Hermione stuck out her tongue at him, and they both laughed. “Well,” she said, entangling herself from him, “I better go conjure up Miss Sarah Potter’s Birthday Breakfast!”

“And I think I’ll come!” Harry added, swooping his wife up in his arms. “I think a little ride downstairs will do!”

Hermione giggled in amusement and pleasure as Harry carefully made his way down the stairs with her wrapped safely in his arms. When they reached the kitchen, he set her down gently on the tiled floor and bent to kiss her again.

In a few minutes, little Sarah came pitter-pattering down the stairs and into the kitchen. A spectacular breakfast feast awaited her, complete with bacon, sausages, pancakes, and eggs.

“Oh, goody, goody, goody!” Sarah exclaimed. “Yummy, yum!”

She looked up as her mother and father suddenly Apparated in, singing. “Happy Birthday, to you... happy birthday, to you...! Happy birthday, little Sarah... happy birthday, to you...!”

Grinning, Sarah cannonballed herself into her father’s waiting arms. “Thank you, Daddy!!” she exclaimed, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “And you too, Mommy!!” she added, leaning over and giving Hermione a kiss.

“Happy fifth birthday, little munchkin,” said Harry, setting her down gently on the floor. “Now, eat up!”

Smiling happily, Sarah dug in.

Harry and Hermione watched their little five-year-old eat, feeling only pride and happiness. They were glad they were living a wonderful life in their cozy home, glad they had a beautiful little daughter, but mostly glad that they had each other.

As soon as Sarah had eaten all that she wanted, Harry and Hermione sat down to finish what she could not. In no time, they had polished off the leftovers. After some magical dishwashing and table clearing, they all headed upstairs: Hermione to give Sarah a bath and then take one herself, and Harry to take his bath.

*~*

After all the baths, the house had to be readied for the party that evening. Most of the rest of the morning and afternoon was spent tidying up the house and getting ready for the party. The big banner that proclaimed “Happy 5th Birthday, Sarah!” in humongous letters hung from two trees in the front yard. Since the Potters lived in a little clearing, away from other houses, they could make all the noise they wanted clear into the night and nobody was around to complain.

While Sarah and Harry dusted, tidied, and decorated, Hermione was busy in the kitchen, making all the food for that evening. For most of the dishes, she enlisted the handy help of her wand, but for other special dishes, she got out her cooking utensils and hand-made everything.

*~*

By five o’clock that afternoon, the house was gleaming, the food was neatly arranged on a long table in the backyard, and the decorations looked simply marvelous. Streamers and balloons were everywhere, and the big banner looked charming with the addition of sparkly purple glitter, compliments of the birthday girl.

“Oh, Harry, Sarah,” breathed Hermione as she got her first glimpse of everything (for she had been cooped up in the kitchen all day). “Oh, it’s beautiful! You two are so creative! I swear I’m going to rent you out as decorators or something. Oh goodness, I love it! What a beautiful job you two’ve done!”

She scooped up Sarah and gave her a kiss, then hugged Harry tightly and gave him a kiss. Harry put his arm around her, and the little family just stood there, gazing at the beauty of their lovely home.

In no time, the first guests had rung the doorbell. Harry and Hermione Potter ran to open the door to the five Weasleys standing on their doorstep.

“Ron, Luna!!” exclaimed Hermione. “Finally, we get to see you two again!!”

“Aw, hey, Mione!” said Ron, giving her a hug. He turned to Harry. They both grinned broadly at each other before hugging, too.

“Come on in, come on in,” welcomed Hermione as Harry gave Luna a hug. “Hi, John! Hi, Jacob! Hi, Mara!”

“Aunt Hermione! Uncle Harry!” Ron and Luna’s three kids squealed before launching themselves onto them. Even though John was already ten years old, he was still there squealing and hugging.

“Hi, guys!” came a fourth excited voice.

For Sarah had come into the hallway, and she stood there eagerly looking at her friends.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Luna smiled as the four children kicked off their shoes and ran with Sarah to the backyard.

“That’s beautiful....” said Luna softly. “The sights of children playing innocently.... so beautiful....”

Hermione nodded. “Their shouts... their giggles... their mischief...” she sighed. “So beautiful, indeed.”

Harry and Ron looked at each other and rolled their eyes. “God, Harry,” said Ron, “I think all this being married to you has made Hermione into a sentimental!”

Hermione glared at him. “As if I wasn’t before,” she sniffed, her nose in the air.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other, then dissolved into laughter.

“What, what?!” Hermione exclaimed. “What’s the joke?” She glanced over to see Luna giggling, too.

“Oh, wife!!” Harry exclaimed. “Come here, you.” He swooped down on her with a big bear hug, making her giggle and squirm.

Ron smiled at the sight of them and leaned over to give Luna a kiss. As he did so, he heard the sound of more people arriving.

“Hey, Potters! Weasleys!” came a familiar voice. The four adults turned to see Draco Malfoy striding up the walkway, complete with his wife, Ginny, and their kids, Caleb and Alexandra (Alex for short).

“Malfoy!” exclaimed Harry, striding up to him. They shook hands and hugged. “How have you been?”

“Oh, excellent,” said Draco, smiling. He went on to greet Hermione, Ron, and Luna, as Harry gave Ginny a hug.

“Hey, Gin. How’ve you been?”

“Oh, wonderful!” Ginny replied. “Caleb, Alex, say hi to Uncle Harry!”

“Hi, Uncle Harry! Hi, Uncle Harry!” the two kids exclaimed, jumping on him.

Harry laughed and knelt down to hug them. As soon as he had let them go, they were off to greet Aunts Hermione and Luna, and Uncle Ron.

“Hey, you two,” said Hermione. “John, Jacob, Mara, and Sarah are in the backyard. Why don’t you go join them?”

“Okay! Okay!” Caleb and Alex exclaimed, immediately running off to the backyard. The now-six adults watched them go, smiling.

“So, Weasley,” said Draco, punching Ron lightly on the shoulder, “when’s John starting at Hogwarts?”

Ron smiled. “This August,” he stated proudly. “His eleventh birthday’s coming up in June, and he’ll be off to Hogwarts this year.”

“Oh, wow,” cut in Ginny, smiling. “The years sure have passed fast.”

“They sure have, but remember, we had John exactly nine months after we got married,” said Ron, grinning and nudging Luna, who blushed. “Got pregnant the night of our honeymoon, I’d say!”

Luna swatted Ron’s arm. “Hey Ron, while you’re at it, why don’t you tell everyone exactly what we did on our honeymoon, now!”

They all laughed. “Go ahead, Ron,” urged Draco. “Spill it out!”

Ron grinned. “You and Ginny first, I insist,” he replied.

Ginny giggled. “Let’s just say - you don’t want to know,” she finished, smiling.

“I agree,” said Draco, putting his arm around her. “I totally agree.”

Harry groaned. “Can I remind you that we have six kids in the backyard?” he said. “With any luck, they already have some magical connection set up and are listening to every word we say.”

Ron laughed. “Hey, Harry,” he teased, “are you trying to change the subject before we get to asking you what you guys did on your honeymoon?”

“Well, no,” replied Harry, grinning, “in fact, I can tell you right now what we did. We-”

“Oh, please, please!” yelled Draco, covering his ears. “Spare my delicate, innocent, little ears the details, please!”

Ginny swatted him. “Your ears aren’t so innocent, hun,” she said. “They’ve heard some pretty- shall we say- racy things during our marriage! Need I remind you of last Tues-”

“Oh, God!!” exclaimed Ron, now covering his ears. “Please, please! My ears are innocent!”

“Oh no they aren’t,” cut in Luna. “Hmm, should I tell everyone what we did a couple weeks ag-”

“Oh, man,” Harry groaned, smiling at Hermione. “Are we the only ones here who’ve actually been clean?”

Hermione smiled back at him. “No,” she replied, to everyone else’s great amusement. “Did you already forget what happened that last Friday in the-”

“Ahh, ahh,” breathed Draco, “there go my ears again, there go my ears again!”

At this, all six of them finally burst out laughing.

“Oh, jeez,” laughed Ron, “the six of us have waay too much fun whenever we get together.”

“We do, we do,” agreed Draco. He smiled, and raised an imaginary glass. “Here’s to being Hogwarts students in mind and soul forever.”

“Cheers,” they all agreed, clinking imaginary glasses and then pretending to take sips. Hermione giggled.

“If you would only realize how silly we look,” she laughed, “clinking imaginary glasses and taking sips from them!!”

They all grinned as Harry came over and wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Silly, silly Mione,” he said, smiling.

Ginny sighed. “That name certainly goes back, doesn’t it,” she said. “How did you guys begin calling her Mione, anyway?”

Harry and Ron looked at each other and smiled. “In our sixth year,” Harry explained. “She got asked out by... who was it again, Mione?”

Hermione smiled. “Blaise Zabini,” she explained. “You know - that one Slytherin?”

“Oh, right,” recalled Ginny, the others also nodding in agreement.

“Well,” continued Harry, “Blaise thought she was the kind of girl who would turn on her best friends for her boyfriend. So he asked her out, and he was initially really sweet and all-”

“He was,” interjected Ron. “I mean, even me and Harry couldn’t tell that he was scheming something, and you know how protective me and Harry are about our Mione.”

“Oh, we do,” agreed Draco, smiling. “Remember how you two cracked on me at the end of sixth year and beat me up because I called Hermione- well- you know what I called her-”

Harry nodded, grinning. “Best day of my life,” he remembered, as Draco swatted at him. “Anyway,” he continued, “around the middle of the year, Blaise began asking Hermione to do all this crap to me and Ron, like put spells on us and such. He tried to get her to give him the password to Gryffindor Tower several times so that he could go in and steal our stuff.”

“Oh, my gosh,” breathed Ginny. “What a jerk! Just because Hermione was his girlfriend and all... what an advantage-taking jerk!”

Harry smiled at her and continued, “Yeah, so Hermione of course refused to do any of that to us two, so Blaise got pissed at her and divorced her. So-”

He paused, because everyone had started cracking up. “What?” he asked, puzzled. “What happened?”

“Divorced her?” choked out Draco through his laughter. “Divorced Hermione?”

“You said divorced!!” giggled Luna.

“Oh, goodness, Harry!” laughed Ginny.

“No, Harry, not divorced!” exclaimed Ron.

“Well, gee, Harry,” giggled Hermione, “it didn’t go that far....”

Harry smacked a hand to his forehead. “Okay, okay, I’m an idiot,” he said, smiling. “Back to story?”

“Okay,” they all agreed, but still with the slight inclination to break out into giggles every once in a while.

“So,” continued Harry, “Blaise got pissed at her and- uh- broke up with her- and so Hermione came to me and Ron in our dorm at night, because old Blaise had broken up with her when she was studying in the library late one evening, and she was crying and all upset and all. So Ron and I were comforting her and everything, and that’s when we began calling her Mione. We were just like, it’s okay Mione, calm down Mione, and I guess that’s where the name got started.”

“Oh, wow,” said Ginny, “that is really, really nice. But jeez, what a jerk that Blaise was! I mean, my God, that’s so malevolent!”

Ron nodded. “Harry and I got him good, remember that, Harry?” he added, glancing at him.

Harry nodded, grinning. “Oh man, we got in so much trouble for that....” he reminisced. “It was just our luck that ol’ Snape had to come along just as we were beating Blaise up.”

Hermione gasped. “Snape?!” she squealed. “Snape caught you?! But- but- you never told me it was him!”

Ron nodded. “We didn’t want to make you feel bad or anything, Miones,” he said. “It wasn’t that bad, just-”

“Just Snape deducting three hundred points for each of us from Gryffindor, until Dumbledore stepped in and told him he couldn’t do that,” finished Harry, grinning. “Ron and I told Dumbledore the whole story, and he agreed that even though us fighting hadn’t been the right answer, we had still had the right intentions, and he gave us back the points - all six hundred of ‘em.”

“But boy oh boy, Snape was mighty bitter with us for the rest of that year,” recalled Ron, grinning.

“Oh, my gosh,” said Hermione softly. “I never knew... I never knew that Snape caught you... oh man, I feel so horrible now...”

Harry and Ron exchanged pained glances, and Harry came over and wrapped his arms around Hermione. “Aw, Mione, don’t feel bad,” he said, cradling her, “it wasn’t so bad at all, see, we got all our points back and me and Ron got in some good fighting in the meantime....”

Ron grinned. “That was certainly satisfying,” he said with relish.

Hermione smiled, not feeling as bad now, as Draco cut in. “Hey, I remember that Blaise kid! Oh, man, most of us hated him... he was just this good-for-nothing kid always trying to cheat people out of their stuff... what a loser he was!!!”

“I wonder where he is now?” wondered Luna.

“In Azkaban,” replied Draco.

“What?” everyone asked, shocked, looking at Draco. He nodded grimly.

“He was a double spy. Spying for the Ministry one day, Death Eaters the next.... well, we caught up with him soon enough. There are most definitely some Death Eaters who work for the Ministry, and they most certainly figured out what he was up to.... well, before they could get to him, the Ministry did, and bam- locked up in Azkaban he is.”

“God,” burst out Ginny, “that’s horrible. I’m glad he’s locked up in Azkaban. What a good-for-nothing jerk... jeez....”

Draco smiled, hugging her. “Yup,” he agreed. “Yup... a good-for-nothing jerk he was and still is....”

They all stood there in silence for a little while, reminiscing on the doings of Blaise Zabini. This silence was broken only when Harry noticed someone tugging on his trousers.

He bent down to find his little five-year-old standing there, surrounded by John, Jacob, Mara, Caleb, and Alex. “Daddy...” said Sarah, “can we eat now? We’re hungry.”

Harry smiled and scooped his little offspring up. “Sure we can eat now,” he said. “We’ll cut the cake and sing first, and then we can eat, how about that?”

“Oh, goody!” exclaimed Sarah, leaping out of her dad’s arms. “Come on, everybody!”

The adults all smiled as they followed little Sarah and all the rest of her friends into the backyard. There, in the middle of the long picnic table, stood the beautiful cake, iced to the hilt and decorated with lots of edible little goodies.

“Oh, wow, Potter,” exclaimed Draco, “run a cake-making business or something?!”

Hermione blushed and smiled. “Nah,” she replied, “too much work.”

They all smiled, joining Sarah at the table. Harry got out his lighter and lit all five candles on the cake, making it glow with a special kind of magical energy. Harry grinned and winked at his friends, slipping his wand/lighter back into his back pocket. Sarah was practically giddy with excitement as she looked at her beautiful cake.

“All right, guys,” said Hermione, “on the count of three.... one... two... three-”

“Happy Birthday to you!!!” everyone burst out singing, “Happy Birthday to you!!! Happy Birthday, dear Sarah... Happy Birthday to you!!!”

“And many mooore... on channel 4!” sang Draco. “And then the fat lady... on channel 80!” He stopped singing as everyone started cracking up.

“Nice one, Draco,” laughed Hermione, “where’d you learn that?!”

Draco grinned and punched his wife lightly on the shoulder. “Gin here taught me that,” he replied. “I take it they used to sing it at their house when they were little....”

Ginny and Ron looked at each other and blushed. “Okay, so maybe birthdays at the Weasley house were always a bit exuberant,” Ron admited, his ears turning pink. “But-”

“Hey, better than mine,” cut in Harry. “Unacknowledged and unimportant, right?”

“Well, hey,” cut in Hermione, “don’t you think it’s time to blow out the candles, Sarah?”

“Oh, yeah!” Sarah exclaimed, for she had been watching the previous conversation. “Candles!”

“Hey,” cut in Harry seriously, “don’t forget to make your wish.”

Sarah nodded, smiling. “Don’t worry, Daddy,” she replied, “I know exactly what I’m going to wish for.”

And she closed her eyes, whispered her wish softly under her breath, bent over, and blew out all the candles in one humongous breath.

Everyone clapped as she drew back, smiling. “All in one breath!” she announced proudly.

“Very good, very good job,” proclaimed Draco. “Man, I remember when I was a five-year-old, I couldn’t even get one candle in one breath.”

They all laughed, thinking of the five-year-old Draco. Harry smiled and picked up the cutting knife, holding it along with Sarah. Together they cut the beautiful brownie cake, revealing the yummy inside.

“Oh, beautiful,” Luna breathed, enamored.

“Okay now, the daddy feeds the birthday girl a piece of cake!” called out Ron. “And then the mommy!”

Harry smiled as he broke off a small piece of the cake. As he was about to feed it to Sarah, Draco called out “wait!” and pulled a camera out of his pocket. “Okay, go,” he said.

Harry and Sarah smiled as Sarah ate the cake and the camera flashed. This was repeated with Hermione and Sarah, and then the cake was cut up and distributed to all.

The kids retreated to a corner to eat their cake and the rest of the food and laugh over nonsensical things, and the adults retreated to another corner, lying around on the cool grass and chatting over random things.

“Wow, this is awesome food, Mione,” commented Ron. “Great cook you’ve turned out to be! Man, I remember that one summer when you tried to cook for us-”

“What, what?” asked Draco, propping himself up on one elbow and appearing very interested. “What happened?”

Harry smiled. “Hermione, Ron, and I were spending the summer at the Weasleys’ between sixth and seventh year,” he explained. “Hermione went on this whole cooking streak thing and cooked bunches of stuff for us every day.”

“Yeah,” agreed Ron. “It was so crazy; she’d just be cooking away the whole day, sometimes even forgetting to read her books. And to make it worse, we had to eat everything she cooked and pretend it was all lovely.”

“Hey!” Hermione exclaimed, swatting at him. “Okay, maybe my cooking wasn’t the best-”

Harry, Ron, and Ginny all sniggered. “Hermione,” said Ginny quite solemnly, “I’m sorry we’re only telling you this now, but your cooking wasn’t even in the category of best. More like-”

She broke off as she began giggling. Hermione laughed, too, remembering all the atrocities she had cooked up. “Oh, man,” she giggled. “That was horrible.” She smiled, and added, “Well, at least I’ve improved.”

“All because of my expert teaching skills,” interjected Harry, wrapping an arm around her. He explained to the others, “When we got married, I taught Hermione how to properly cook.”

Hermione swatted at him. “Oh, shut it,” she said. “As if it weren’t enough to be The-Boy-Who-Lived. Now you have to be The-Boy-Who-Cooked, too?”

Harry laughed, squeezing her. “Of course,” he said.

They all just lay there in contented silence for a few minutes, until Sarah and all her cronies came racing over, crying, “Presents!! Daddy, can we open the presents now?!”

Harry smiled and pushed himself up. “Sure, honey,” he said. “Why don’t you guys bring all the presents over here? Then we can all see them.”

They all immediately rushed off to transport the presents over to the six adults. Rousing himself, Draco reached over and picked up the camera from where it had been lying on the grass.

Once all the presents had been brought over, Sarah picked up the nearest one. “This one’s from Auntie Ginny, Uncle Draco, Caleb, and Alex,” she announced. She blew them all kisses. “Thanks, guys!” Ripping open the present, she smiled with pleasure at the ginormous box of assorted candy. “Aww, thank you!!!” she exclaimed. “Oh, I LOVE it!!!”

She picked up the next gift. “This is from Auntie Luna, Uncle Ron, John, Jacob, and Mara,” she said. “Thanks, guys!” This present was a book she had been wanting ever since she had learnt how to read, Simple Magic Taught by the Magic Clown. “YAY!!!” she exclaimed. “Thank you so, so much!!! This is the book I’ve been wanting since I ever learned how to read!!!” She blew them all kisses, and then reached over for the next present.

This one was a little blue teapot that sang and danced, compliments of Hermione’s parents. “Be sure to write and thank them,” Hermione reminded.

“I know!” Sarah replied as she picked up the last present, a long package. “This one’s from Mommy and Daddy,” she announced, tearing off the paper. Out fell a beautiful little toy broomstick, exactly her size, and exactly the thing she had been most wanting.

“Oooh, Mommy, Daddy, thank you!!!” Sarah exclaimed, running over and giving them humongous kisses. “Thank you so, so much!!!”

Harry smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You’re welcome, little munchkin,” he responded. “I hope you go on to have many more wonderful birthdays.”

Sarah smiled, and then Draco interjected, “Hey, Sarah! Are you going to tell us what special thing you wished for now?”

Sarah smiled indulgently. “Well... okay,” she relented. “I wished for.... I wished for a little brother to play with.... someone to be my companion.... a little brother....”

Hermione suddenly made a funny noise. Everyone turned to look at her. Tears were shining in her eyes. “Oh, Sarah,” she said, “your wish has already come true.”

The world seemed to reel. Everyone stared at her in shock, not daring to believe what they had just heard.

“What?” said Draco.

“You’re.... pregnant?” whispered Harry, staring at her.

Hermione nodded. “I’m pregnant,” she said. “Pregnant, three months pregnant.... with a little baby.... boy.”

There was complete silence, and then, all of a sudden, everyone exploded. “Hermione!!!” exclaimed Harry in rapturous joy, and he seized his wife and began kissing her. “Oh, we’re going to have two kids, oh, this is wonderful, oh, Mione, I love you, I love you, I love you!!!”

Everyone else, squealing with joy, hugged random people and shouted in happiness. Sarah launched herself upon her parents, squealing, “Mommy, Daddy, I’m going to be a big sister!!!”

When they had all calmed down, Harry flopped back onto the grass, grinning. “Wow....” he said. “We’re going to have two kids.... this is amazing....”

Hermione smiled at him, grasping his hand. “A little girl, and a little boy,” she whispered softly. “It’s perfect.”

Harry smiled, hugging her again. “Mmm, I love you so much,” he said.

“Well, goodness, Hermione!” exclaimed Draco, smiling. “How long have you known this?”

Hermione grinned. “I just found out a week ago,” she said. “I saved it for today, and when Sarah announced her birthday wish, I couldn’t have been happier.”

Everyone smiled and lay back in contented silence as the sky darkened and the cool night air whisped around them in soft breezes. “Well,” commented Ron softly, “I guess this is what perfect days are made of, huh.”

Hermione nodded in agreement. “I guess so,” she replied, as Harry’s arms closed around her once more. “I love you,” they both whispered together, and then sighed, happy, just happy to be alive.