Harry doubted Saturnine had any idea when his birthday was, and he decided he would not mention it. He was used to not celebrating it anyway; so, today would be a Wednesday just like any other.

He wouldn’t be getting any post this year, though, and he’d have to wait until he returned to Hogwarts to receive his friends’ letters and presents, but it was okay. He knew the Fidelius Charm put on the house made it impossible for owls to find him, and it was too risky to send Hedwig out for she could be followed back and lead the enemy to their doorstep. That didn’t seem to be much of a bother to her. His snowy owl had enjoyed meeting the locals, and she spent a lot of time flying over the cliffs with the seagulls.

They were in the middle of breakfast—blueberry pancakes made with fresh berries that Harry had found growing in a nearby bush—when the Floo roared to life in the living room. Harry was out of his seat in seconds, surprise all over his face. Saturnine hadn’t moved and was content to sip her tea quietly. Harry gathered from her behaviour that whoever was visiting had been expected. At a nod from her, he bolted out of the kitchen to greet their visitor.

In the living room, Remus Lupin was dusting soot out of his tweed jacket’s lapel. Harry all but threw himself at him.

“Happy Birthday, young man,” the sandy-haired wizard said, putting his arms around the boy’s shoulders.

Harry’s heart missed a beat when he realised the werewolf had come to see him, especially because it was his birthday. Such a thing had never happened to him before, and he felt his eyes growing wet.

“Are you ready yet?” Remus asked when the arms that encircled him finally started to let go.

Harry looked up, puzzled. “Ready for what?”

“Your birthday party, of course,” said Remus, as if it were obvious.

“I’m getting a party?” Harry asked, aghast.

“A secret birthday party,” came Saturnine’s voice, sounding a tad exasperated. Looking back over his shoulder, Harry saw that she’d come to lean against the doorjamb between the living room and the kitchen. With her arms crossed over her chest, it was obvious she was displeased.

“Sorry, ’Nine, my bad.” Remus looked contrite as he scratched at the side of his head.

“I’m getting a party?” Harry asked again, looking back and forth between the two. He hadn’t misheard them, had he? There would be a party—for him?

“It’s your birthday, isn’t it?” Saturnine asked in a tone Harry was familiar with. It was her don’t be so thick tone. “Of course you’re getting a party. A secret party, at that. So, I hope you’re ready to act surprised when you get there.”

Harry nodded. No matter what kind of party it would be, he was sure that he’d have no problem looking gobsmacked. A party! No one had ever thrown a party for him; he was beyond ecstatic. He couldn’t wait to get going.

“Where are we going? Who’s going to be there?” he asked, practically bouncing off the walls.

“Perhaps it’s best we try and keep some of the surprise intact, Harry,” Remus said, reaching forward to ruffle his hair. “It took Saturnine and me quite some time to arrange this. So, be a good sport, will you?”

Harry turned back to look at the raven-haired witch, practising his astounded expression. “You did this? I didn’t even know you knew it was my birthday. How? You’ve barely ever left the cottage.”

Saturnine kept her secrets to herself and merely raised a fine onyx eyebrow in reply.

“Why don’t you finish getting ready, Harry? We’ll be gone in no time,” Remus said, and Harry dashed to his bedroom to brush his teeth, attempt to fix his hair, and put on another shirt that wasn’t as worn-out as the one he’d selected that morning.

When he returned to the living room, Saturnine hadn’t moved from her place by the doorjamb, but Remus had stepped closer, and the two were amicably discussing the day’s events. They stopped talking when Harry approached, probably to try and salvage what was left of their quickly-sinking surprise ship.

“Ready!” Harry said as he stared at the fireplace, anxious to get going.

“We’re not travelling by Floo, Harry. We’re going to Apparate, so, you won’t know where we’re going until we get there,” Remus explained. “For the full surprise effect.”

“You went a bit overboard with this, didn’t you?” Harry couldn’t help but grin.

“It’s the first time either of us got to organise a birthday party,” he admitted, with a grin of his own. “We took it seriously.”

“And you’d best get going if you want to be on schedule, Remus,” Saturnine said, looking like she meant it. But she still hadn’t moved from her place by the door, and Harry got a sinking feeling in his chest.

“You—you’re not coming?” he asked her. And with that question, all the joy and happiness he’d felt was sucked out of him.

Remus must have felt some of his anguish, for a heavy hand landed on his shoulder an instant later.

“I can’t, Harry,” Saturnine said. “But I’ll be here when you come back, and you can tell me all about it.”

Harry wanted to step forward and—

Do what? He wasn’t sure, but he wanted to do something. The hand on his shoulder was comforting, but it was wrong all the same. It wasn’t the right hand; it should have been Saturnine’s, and she should be coming with them to the party she had helped organise.

“Now go and have fun, why don’t you,” she said, and he could see the tell-tale signs that revealed she was Occluding. “It’s your birthday, Harry. Go enjoy it!”

Harry couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the real reason he hadn’t been told there would be a party. If Remus, in his enthusiasm, hadn’t blown it, Harry would have Apparated away with him without even knowing that he was leaving Saturnine behind to have fun with his friends on his own. And he felt like a right git for doing so.

“I’m sorry,” he said, catching Saturnine’s gaze and holding it until the world snapped around him, and he was yanked away by an invisible hook behind his navel.

Turns out, Harry did not need to feign surprise when they Apparated in the Burrow’s front garden.

A roar of voices began shouting, “Surprise! Surprise!” before he had time to make sure he’d made the trip with all his limbs intact.

A large picnic table had been installed in the backyard; it was covered in an assortment of small and not-so-small gifts wrapped in multi-coloured paper. Bright, neon-orange letters hung in the air, spelling out Happy Birthday Harry, while several winged sixteens—that reminded him of Quidditch snitches—floated about the guests.

Harry grinned, hardly able to take it all in.

Mrs Weasley—who was busy levitating plates, cutlery and glasses outside—came to greet him with a warm smile and bone-crushing hug. The rest of the Weasley Clan soon followed, including the patriarch and the eldest two brothers, Charlie and Bill, whom Harry rarely saw. He greeted each of them in turn, thanking them for the many choruses of Happy Birthdays.

More of Harry’s friends were present. Alongside Hermione and Ron stood Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, who wore a tight-fitting dress almost as orange as the floating letters that hovered above the table. Some of the members of the Order of the Phoenix were there, too, including Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

“Wotcher, Harry!” said Tonks after everyone else had had a go at hugging the birthday boy. She folded him in an embrace much too strong for such a petite figure. Her hair, a light shade of purple, bounced up and down at her excitement. “Sixteen then—we’ll soon make a man out of you. Parents beware, for he’ll be coming for your daughters.”

“Hi, Tonks!” Harry said, fighting the blush that crept up his cheeks. “Thanks for coming.”

“Are you kidding?” she asked. “A party and cake—of course I’m in.” Then, glancing at Remus, who still stood by Harry’s side, she added, “Not to mention some eligible bachelors.”

Harry had no time to try and interpret her comment, or the strangled cough that had come out of Remus’ throat at her words, before Moody’s large hand grasped his shoulder to steer him away. A moment later, Harry had a glass of Butterbeer in his hand and the solemn promise that all the presents were safe to open. Mad-Eye Moody had made sure of that himself—using both eyes.

It was much later in the afternoon that Harry managed to take a breather on his way back from a bathroom break. Glancing through one of the windows in passing, he was surprised to see the sun had begun to set. Time had flown by quicker than he’d thought.

Crossing through the living room, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed Remus was seated on the sofa with a book in his hands. Why the man had abandoned the party to isolate himself, he had no idea, and that struck him as odd. Remus was usually good with big gatherings, much better than Harry was. He knew how to make small talk and mingled effortlessly. But then again, this was the first party since the night at the Ministry, Harry remembered. And it may have become too much for the kind-hearted werewolf.

Remus finally took notice of him and asked, “Everything all right, Harry?”

“Brilliant, Remus!” he replied, beaming a wide smile. “Best birthday party ever!”

“First party ever, perhaps?” he asked, with a knowing smile that was all kindness and gentleness.

Harry nodded, but he was too happy to let any thoughts of the Dursleys bring him down. “It was well worth the wait! Thanks for organising this, Remus—you and Saturnine both.”

“You’re quite welcome,” he said, raising his closed book in a mock-toast gesture.

Edging closer to the sofa, Harry asked, “Whose idea was this?”

“While I would love to take credit for the smile that lights up your face, it was Saturnine’s. But I did help out quite a bit with the organisation.”

That didn’t surprise Harry much. She seemed the type who liked to come up with sneaky surprise plans. “I wish she could have been here,” he said, and that thought did dampen his enthusiasm a little. It didn’t feel fair that she’d been forced to miss the party she helped organise.

“As I am sure she does, too,” Remus said, his own smile losing some of its brightness. “She has explained it to you, then—the particularities of her situation?”

“Some.” Harry nodded. “It’s okay—I get it. It wouldn’t have been safe for her to be here today. But it’s rather a shame given that this was her idea, and she won’t even get to enjoy any of it.”

Remus mm-hmmed in agreement.

“Say, Remus—” Harry started, another question ready to tumble out from his mouth. “The two of you are very close, right?” he asked. After a quick nod from the sandy-haired werewolf, he continued, “I know it’s none of my business, but—has there ever been something more between you two?”

A surprised chuckle escaped the wizard. “Between Saturnine and me? Merlin, no!” he protested with a smile. “We’re very good friends, yes. We were even roommates for a while, but that’s all there is to it. There’s never been more.”

“Why not?” Harry asked, with all the innocence of youth he could muster.

“Well—the timing wasn’t right, I suppose. It—well, it was shortly after your parents died and Sirius was sent to Azkaban. I—my head wasn’t in the best of places back then. Saturnine had problems of her own, and we—sort of helped each other out.”

“Has she got someone, then?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, perhaps the timing’s more right this time,” Harry said. Not that he was trying to play match-maker—he’d gladly leave that to Hermione or Ginny—but the camaraderie between the two had seemed strong and effortless from the first time he’d seen them together. And he hadn’t been able to stop himself from wondering if perhaps this was a sign of a deeper relationship.

The confused look on Remus’ face was enough to make him change tactics. “Or—have you got someone?” he asked instead.

Crimson rose to Remus’ cheeks in such a boyish way that it was an odd look on the face of a man of his age. “Sort of, maybe—it’s complicated,” he mumbled eventually. “It’s—can we talk of something else, maybe?”

Remus was saved from further embarrassment by Ginny’s buoyant arrival. She was all quick gestures and insistent pleas as she requested that Harry join her.

“What is it, Ginny?” he asked, wondering what had her so hyped.

“George sent me to get you. He says to get you to the garden right away.” Then, without thinking twice about it, the youngest Weasley girl snatched his hand and dragged him outside. “You, too, Professor Lupin,” she shouted over her shoulder, and Remus followed the pair outside with a bemused smile.

“What’s going on?” Harry asked as he was reunited with the rest of the guests and a substantial assortment of ginger-haired Weasleys. The twins were conspicuously absent. He had barely finished his sentence before Fred and George made their grand entrance—on brooms, no less. They swept in in tandem, arriving in from behind the house and stopping to hover a few feet ahead of the guests.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen—” started Fred.

“—and Birthday Boy—” continued George.

“—and Ronnikins—” added Fred, an afterthought that made everyone giggle.

“—we present to you, for your entertainment—”

“—and free of charge—”

“—a selection of the best of the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes shop’s Fireworks range.”

“Be sure to tell your friends about it—”

“—and come visit our store—”

“—at 93 Diagon Alley!” they concluded together.

And then the sky burst out in flames and rained sparkles.

Small explosions echoed all around the Burrow as multi-coloured spurts of light fell onto the grass below. Spatting out from Merlin knew where, dozens of fireworks fizzed by and popped into existence above their heads. They shimmered through the darkness in hues of gold, red, blue, and green. Zipping past and reaching high and to the sides, they exploded in ocean after ocean of sparkles.

The fiery display of the twins’ ingenuity culminated in the appearance of a moving, fire-breathing dragon made out of dancing flames. It came at them from one side of the Burrow, giant wings flapping at its sides. All of the guests wore the same raptured and awed expressions as it flew by before turning in a wide circle and coming back for another sweep. Then the fire-dragon climbed higher and higher and higher—it exploded into the most spectacular shower of sparkles of the night.

Harry rejoiced at the sight, at that marvellous show put on for him. His heart was brimming with happiness unlike he had ever felt before. All his friends were reunited in the same place, sharing in the joy of the moment. The adults that stood a little behind the youngsters all wore relaxed smiles unlike any Harry had ever seen before. Their smiles made them all look younger, as if their worries had been lifted, the dark clouds kept at bay by the scintillating festivities.

The night wouldn’t last forever, Harry knew. But the memories would, and he would cherish them for a long time, using their happiness as a warm blanket to shelter himself from the cold darkness that was sure to come.