The Stars Will Still Shine....

Before the day was out, Ron had sent an enthusiastic reply with Hedwig. As Harry fed her a piece of toast, he saw the lanky redhead in his mind's eye- grinning and overflowing with lots of exciting and reckless plans how to best spend the remainder of the summer. Harry looked forward to seeing the Weasleys again. They were his family more than the Dursleys ever were. Not in blood but in the ways that truly mattered and Harry would never be able to thank them enough.

The days dragged until Sunday. Harry kept waking up with a jolt and worrying about whether he'd packed everything and meeting Hermione's parents. A quick glance around his sparse room quickly dispelled the first worry but he lay back thinking about the second. All he knew about Hermione's family was that her parents were dentists, she had a little sister and they lived in Kent. His stomach unknotted slightly as he realised that the Grangers couldn't be any worse that the Dursleys. After all, they had seemingly accepted the fact that their daughter was a witch with open arms.

Sunday was a quintessentially English summer day: deceptively soft sunlight from a bright blue sky and a soft breeze. Aunt Petunia had spent the entire day before making sure that the house was spotless. Harry wasn't quite sure why the bed sheets needed changing because the Grangers surely wouldn't be seeing them let alone sleeping on them. By lunchtime, Harry was sitting by the window in the living room picking at the hole in his jeans nervously and wondering when they would come. He was uncomfortably reminded of the incident when the Weasleys came to Privet Drive in the summer before the Quidditch World Cup and the resulting havoc.

By 2pm, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were in their Sunday best and Dudley was sulking in the corner after being refused permission to go out. Uncle Vernon had started to pace and look pointedly at his watch when the doorbell rang. He straightened his tie and Harry could see little beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He gave a slight twitch and strode to the door, with Harry trailing after him. As Uncle Vernon opened the door, Harry peered round the significant bulk and to his relief, saw Hermione on the doorstep with a man who was clearly her father. The cropped hair was wavy as opposed to bushy but looked like it had the tendency to go bushy if grown.

"Matthew Granger," he said holding out his hand. "I'm sure you know all about our daughter. We have been looking forward to meeting Harry at last." Uncle Vernon was looking vaguely flustered at this tall angular normal looking gentleman. "Err, yes. Pleasure. I'm Vernon Dursl-. " But before he could finish his sentence, Mr Granger stepped in and held out his hand to Harry. "Pleased to finally have met you Harry. Unfortunately, Lia couldn't come as she had to stay with Julliette." Harry looked faintly dazed at the sheer speed at which this man spoke and he wondered which one of these names was Hermione's mum. Hermione noticed his furrowed brow and added "Hello, Harry. Lia's my mum and Julliette desperately wanted to come but any longer than half an hour in a moving car makes her turn the most peculiar shade of green." After this pronouncement, she squeezed round her father and Uncle Vernon and gave Harry a tight hug.

Aunt Petunia had finally come into the hall and was standing at Uncle Vernon's shoulder. "Would you like a cup of tea, Dr Granger? I've just made a pot." Her expression changed slightly as she caught sight of Hermione; Harry detected a hint of bitterness. As if Hermione was a reminder of another witch born into a "normal" family many years ago. This flicker of expressions went unnoticed by everyone except Harry and Aunt Petunia continued with her small talk. Harry suddenly felt a bit sorry for his aunt. After all, didn't he know what it felt like to be the one always pushed to one side? His mother was a witch born to Muggles and Aunt Petunia must have always felt outshone despite all her efforts.

Aunt Petunia bustled back into the living room where everyone was seated around the coffee table looking slightly uncomfortably and broke the silence as she set down her best bone china. "Milk and sugar, Dr Granger?"

He nodded "White, no sugar. Thanks."

"And do you always allow your daughter to drink tea? I find that tea just makes my Diddikins' skin break out." At this slightly desperate attempt at small talk by Aunt Petunia, Hermione looked slightly affronted and in a rather sniffy tone said "My parents have been giving me tea since I was three years since I was three years old and it doesn't seem to have done me any harm. I was put up a year in primary school. Milk, no sugar please." Harry ducked his head to hide a sudden smile; this was the Hermione he knew and loved. Aunt Petunia smiled thinly and poured another cup of tea.

After what seemed like an eternity, making polite conversation about the weather and how terrible it was for the garden, Muggle politics and the recent headlines, Dr Granger rose to his feet and interrupted the quiet conversation between Harry and Hermione, "We had better be making a move if we want to miss the worst of the weekend traffic. Where's your trunk, Harry?"

"Second room on the left upstairs." As Hermione and her father disappeared up the stairs, Aunt Petunia gave brisk instructions to Dudley and Uncle Vernon to go and get some air as she cleared away the tea things. Harry moved to help her but Aunt Petunia stopped him with a surprisingly gentle hand on his arm. "Your mother and I loved each other once. We fought and now it's too late to say I'm sorry. Don't let bitterness and foolish pride hurt the ones you truly love." She stopped Harry who had opened his mouth to speak. "It's too late for you to love me but as a final apology to your mother, as long as I live, you can always find a home with me." A noise interrupted her and as she turned away, Harry could have sworn he saw tears in her eyes.

At that point, there were sounds of Hermione and her father coming down the stairs. Harry did something he never thought he'd do. He reached over and gave his aunt a hug. He whispered "Thank you." Harry turned and went outside to help the Grangers. With a great deal of slightly muffled swearing from Dr Granger and sharp looks from Hermione, they eventually managed to get the trunk into the car. Harry turned and, not knowing what to do, just gave a half wave to the watching Dursleys who were huddled on the doorstep. Uncle Vernon and Dudley turned without acknowledging the wave. Only Aunt Petunia paused and lifted her hand slightly.

On the drive to the Grangers, Harry was subdued and barely heard Hermione's excited non-stop chatter. She seemed to pick up that he was content to sit and half-listen to her. After about an hour, Dr Granger seemed to take pity and started to make conversation. Harry faintly blushed. He wasn't used to adults asking questions of him without them thinking he'd done something wrong. By the time they had reached the Grangers', they were on first names basis. Harry liked him. He didn't know too many adults that he felt comfortable with.

They pulled up in front of a house, whose front was covered with climbing pale pink roses and looked more like a home than Privet Drive ever did. The door was flung open and what appeared to be a small whirlwind rushed out shrieking. "Mummy, Mummy!! They're here. And he's got an owl, as well!!" A small child of about 11 only stopped when she reached Matthew and flung her arms around his middle.

A small bespectacled woman appeared at the door. "Yes dear. I can see they're here. Now how about letting them actually cross the threshold and let them have a cup of tea before you start cross examining the poor boy." This was all said in what was possibly the driest tone of voice that Harry had ever heard and he wasn't quite sure whether the woman was joking or not. She continued, "I'm Lia Granger, and that thing is my youngest, Julliette. Was the journey all right?" Harry found himself tongue-tied and could only nod. "Now let's bring your trunk in and put in the guest room and then have ourselves a nice cup of tea." Julliette had paused, looked Harry up and down with curiosity, and seemingly decided that she liked him. After that, Harry was the big brother she never had. After a while, Harry decided he liked this.

The next few days passed in a whirl of activity, what with taking day trips here, there and everywhere and trying to calm Hermione down about the OWL results. Lia and Matthew treated Harry like part of their family and Harry was bemused to listen to the "discussions" over the dinner about obscure subjects, like comparisons of different schools of thought in fine art. He was beginning to see where Hermione got her love of learning from. Julliette seemed to talk non-stop about anything and everything and Hermione would often wait for her to stop to breathe and then go off on a tangent. They seemed to adore each other, especially Julliette who had a severe case of hero worship.

Two days before Harry's birthday, Lia cornered him. "Hermione tells me that you never had a birthday party. Is this true?"

"Yeah. The Dursleys never wanted to make a big thing of it, especially because Dudley's was only a few weeks before. I never even got a proper present until I got to Hogwarts." The last few words were mumbled and Harry was doing a reasonable impression of a fire engine. Lia looked absolutely disgusted and bustled off muttering something about having to do everything in such a rush and how some people ought not to be allowed children. Harry, who looked after her bewildered, discovered the effect of this muttering on his actual birthday.

Julliette had run into the guest room where Harry was sleeping and woke him by jumping on the bed. "Come on!! Wake up. Aren't you excited about your birthday? We've made you a special birthday and I want to see your presents. There's been loads of owls for you." As he fumbled for his glasses and his wand, Harry realised where he was and that he probably didn't need his wand. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Once again, he was impressed by what appeared to be a Granger trait-their ability to speak very quickly without apparently drawing a breath. "Err.... I'll be down in a minute."

He pulled on a pair of slightly grubby tracksuit trousers and padded downstairs. The dining table was laded with food and there was a pile of cards by his plate. Hermione looked up and said through a mouthful of toast "OWL results are here as well. It looks like you've got cards from the Weasleys, Hagrid, Professor Lupin and Sirius, Mrs Figg and Tonks. There's also a book list for next year." Harry suddenly felt slightly queasy. What if he didn't get high enough marks to eventually get on the Auror training programme? He slid into his chair, ripping open the Hogwarts letter, which was lying on top of the card pile, and scanned the parchment.

Dear Mr Potter,

We are pleased to inform of your results of the recent OWL examinations. We are also pleased to inform you that you have been made the 6^th year prefect for Gryffindor.

Please also find enclosed a list of necessary books for your upcoming NEWT courses. Term begins on 1 September.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

His eyes glazed over slightly and he could barely hear Hermione talking at him. He passed Potions AND was prefect. If he did well enough in the NEWT courses, he could still become an Auror. Harry checked his line of thought and added, with a touch of cynicism, if he was still alive by then. As Hermione kicked his shin to find out his results, he grinned and looked up, "I got an O in bloody Potions. Snape's going to be thrilled to hear that he's got to last the next two years without killing me." Hermione gave a little shriek, flung her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Well done, Harry. I knew you could do it." A chorus of congratulations came from the rest of the family as they compared exam results. Hermione managed to get only Os- as if anyone expected any different.

Matthew stood up and got a bottle from the fridge. "Seeing as we're celebrating two excellent sets of exam results and a birthday, I think a glass of Buck's Fizz would be appropriate." As Julliette looked up from her cornflakes hopefully, he added "Only a small glass for you, poppet."

As the drinks were poured, Lia raised her glass "I'd like to propose a toast. To our daughter on her excellent exam results and her best friend on his birthday and his excellent exam results. And of course, to both for becoming prefects. Cheers!!" They clinked glasses and Harry felt a flush of pleasure. She continued, "And as it's your birthday, I have taken the liberty of organising a party for you. I hope you don't mind, love. The Weasleys are coming, as are your godfather and that nice Professor friend of his, Lupin. Tonks, is that what's she called?" Harry nodded after being confused by the apparent change of subject. "She's coming, too."

During the remainder of the breakfast, Harry opened all his cards and, with the exception of Mrs Figg, they all said they'd bring their present to the party. After Harry had showered and dressed, he was shooed off and told to keep himself occupied out of the house until three o'clock. Harry, Hermione and Julliette went to the park with a picnic lunch and fed the ducks. Harry told Hermione that he wasn't sure he had ever enjoyed a birthday quite as much as this before. Hermione sniffed and said "That's because the Dursleys spoiled Dudley rotten and they hated your magic. Not all families are like that. And you are part of my family now. And Ron's family. If it was left up to us, you would never have to go back to the Dursleys."

She squinted at her watch and scrambled to her feet. "It's about time we were heading back. People will be arriving soon. JULLIETTE!!! WE HAVE TO GO!" The walk back didn't take long and as soon as they reached back to the Granger's house, Julliette disappeared somewhere up the stairs. Harry and Hermione walked into the garden to look for her parents and suddenly they heard small popping noises and suddenly there was a crowd of people standing there. Ron's father and the twins were looking around with curiosity, but as soon as they saw Harry and Hermione, they hurried to greet them. Mr Weasley cleared his throat and said "Molly is coming via Floo with Ron and Ginny. Of course, she wouldn't hear of me setting up a connection, so she's Floo-ing to Remus' father's house. It's about five minutes walk from here. Sirius and Remus will be walking with them. Sirius is still far too weak to Apparate. Now, where can I put this cake?" He was clutching a package that seemed to have survived the Apparation well. Hermione led him to a small table that been moved to the patio and the presents. The twins pulled small packages out of their pockets and set them next to the cake, which Mr Weasley was now pulling out of the package. Tonks followed and nearly tripped on an uneven paving slab. She leaned her square package, (which turned out to be an album full of Chocolate Frog cards and some rare cards), against the pile from the Weasleys.

Fred and George had engaged Harry in conversation. This was done in their usual habit of finishing each other's sentences. "Bill and Charlie send their apologies. Charlie is stuck in Romania with a birthing dragon. Better him than me really. Romanian Longhorns are really vicious when they're pregnant. Bill is stuck with discussions with the goblins and things are all a bit delicate at the moment." Harry nodded, and unsure how to phrase the next question, braced himself before asking "Where's Percy? Is he still not talking to your mum and dad?" Fred and George exchanged an odd furtive glance before George answered "Percy's finding it tough that Fudge was covering You-Know-Who's return for all this time. He's actually talking to Dad again but it's all a bit awkward. Mum's finding it hard to forgive him. You know what the Ministry's going to be like at the moment-he's buried in work." Harry sensed that Percy was still a controversial conversation topic in the Weasley household and hastily changed the subject to Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. By the enthusiastic sounds of it, business was booming.

The doorbell rang and Lia hurried into the house. After some muffled greetings, Harry could hear the remainder of the guests come in through to the garden. Mrs Weasley swooped over and gave Harry a stifling hug. "Happy birthday, dear. Bless me; you're still looking a bit thin. Are you sure you're eating properly?" And before Harry could answer, she bustled off to join her husband in conversation with the Grangers. Harry was looking hurriedly for Sirius who was standing in the doorway with Professor Lupin looking awkward. Harry was shocked at how ill Sirius still looked and both were looking pale and haggard. He remembered that there had been a full moon the previous night. After the initial shock on how ill his godfather looked, Harry smiled broadly and dragged a chair into a patch of sunlight and ordered Sirius to sit down. At least, Sirius was here and while he was weak, he was alive and not in mortal danger. He hugged his godfather tightly and whispered" I'm so glad to see you." After a chuckle from his godfather, "So am I, Harry. So am I. Excuse me if I don't look if I can sweep a baby off their feet, let alone a lady." Sirius continued to grumble as he walked slowly towards the chair.

He settled in the chair and studied Harry. "I bet you're wondering why you can't move into the festering pile that I call a home yet, seeing as my name's been cleared. Well, we've had to add new protections on the dump as it is. Dumbledore had to transfer the protection spells that were on where you lived with those Muggles." He sneered faintly and continued, waving a bony hand "I'm now considered a blood relative because I'm your godfather and of the magic involved with your christening. I'm not sure on the details. Anyway, it's hard enough that I can't actually do much at the moment. Remus helps as much as he cans but he's away a lot on Order business." His voice trailed off and sighed. Harry had to smile at how plaintive Sirius sounded.

"Don't worry. I'll be living with you before you know it and you just concentrate on getting better." Lupin was now hovering at Sirius' shoulder holding two plates of food in his hands. Sirius looked up and smiled his thanks. Lupin waved Harry away. "Don't worry about him. I'll make sure he eats. Go enjoy yourself with your friends." Harry, glad to see Sirius taken care of, wandered off to join Ron and Hermione in a corner of the garden. Conversation moved swiftly on to the OWL results. Ron hadn't done well enough to continue in Potions but was doing all the same subjects as Harry with Muggle Studies instead of Potions. He didn't seem too bothered that Harry had taken his place as prefect as he had been made Quidditch Captain. Hermione, in her typical fashion, was taking an extra NEWT. She insisted that she needed a well rounded education to advance in the Ministry. Ron and Harry looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

As Ron and Hermione bickered about whether house elves were slaves or not, Harry turned around and looked round the garden. Julliette was sitting at the feet of Sirius and Lupin, seemingly absorbed in a tale they were spinning. Lia and Matthew were deep in conversation with Mr and Mrs Weasley and the twins and Ginny were laughing hysterically at what sounded like a very off colour joke by Tonks. Harry reflected on this day that now officially was his best birthday ever. People gathered in one place who liked him for who he was and didn't think him a freak. They had outdone themselves on his presents including various Weasley Wheezes from the twins, "Dangerous" Dai Llewelyn's biography and a rather fetching jumper from the Grangers, tickets to a pre-season Chudley Cannons game from the Weasleys, more Defence against the Dark Arts books from Sirius and Lupin, and various odds and ends from other people.

As the light started to fade, people waved their goodbyes. Harry got hugged multiple times by the Weasleys, Sirius and Lupin and Tonks even kissed him on the cheek. Hermione and Harry arranged to meet Ron and Ginny in Diagon Alley on the 15^th August and then spend the rest of the summer with Sirius.