A Sirius Matter [Harmione]

18. Going Places

Harry woke up on his birthday determined to continue his training schedule. It never even occurred to him that he might have a birthday party. He went downstairs to exercise and met Hermione already there.

"Happy Birthday, Harry," she said just before kissing him.

He smiled and said, "Thanks!" He frowned for a moment upon realizing that no one had ever spoken those words to him before. He'd seen them in a letter, but never heard them.

"What?" asked Hermione, who'd noticed the expression on his face.

He plastered a fake smile on his face. "Nothing. Thanks." He then quickly kissed her.

Not being fooled for one second, Hermione asked, "What is it? Is something wrong?"

He sighed and realized that he couldn't keep a secret from his girlfriend if he wanted to. "I, er, just realized that you're the first person ever to wish me a happy birthday. The Dursleys never even acknowledged them. I know it's stupid, but..."

He was cut off by Hermione throwing her arms around him and sobbing. "It's not stupid to be angry about that. What is stupid is Dumbledore leaving you with those...people!"

Harry angrily said, "He thought it was safe."

Hermione frowned. "So is Azkaban."

"It's probably more pleasant, too."

Hermione took a deep breath and smiled. "You're not with them now, and you never have to see them again! That's a reason to celebrate!"

"You're right! I'm not letting them ruin this birthday! They've already ruined enough of them!"

Hermione looked at her boyfriend. "Are you sure you want to train today?"

He nodded. "Absolutely. Let's exercise."

They did their morning exercises while Mrs. Granger snuck downstairs and started making breakfast. When Harry walked into the kitchen to prepare to cook, he was surprised to see her there. "Happy birthday, Harry!" she said and pulled him into a quick hug which he awkwardly returned. "Now, why don't you shower quickly so we can have your birthday breakfast?"

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When he finished showering, he found that Mr. Granger was also downstairs and wished him a happy birthday. While Hermione took her shower, Harry chatted with her parents about his plans for moving out the next day. They assured him that it had been a pleasure having him when he thanked them for their hospitality. When Hermione came downstairs, breakfast was served. Harry was given a stack of pancakes with a candle shaped like a '1' and another like a '4' that he blew out, making a wish for every birthday to start out as pleasantly as this one.

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At Grimmauld place, both Sirius and Ginny wished him a happy birthday when he and Hermione portkeyed there. In the animagus training they had that day Harry was finally able to turn his left hand into a paw. In the weeks since they found out their forms, they'd spent a lot of time concentrating on making the change with little results. Ginny had been able to grow one feather without changing form at all, and Hermione had been able to make her ears pointy, causing Harry to say she looked like Spock from Star Trek. After Hermione had slapped Harry's arm she reluctantly explained to a confused Ginny and Sirius who Spock was. Harry was the first to actually fully change any body part to look like it should. Sirius said that the paw was even the right size for a lion.

When the two hours devoted to that were done, they all headed to the dueling room. Sirius had started helping them as soon as he was cleared. In dueling, he'd watch their duels and offer advice for the first half-hour, and then he'd join in. So far the only way they'd beaten him was by ganging up on him. Harry and Sirius both wanted Harry to be able to take on all of them and Lupin, who still joined them on Saturday. When he was there, they'd have teams where the three kids were against the two adults. At this point the adults were kicking the kids' behinds. The plan was that when the three kids started regularly beating the two adults, Ginny would switch sides, followed eventually by Hermione. Once they reached that stage, they planned on finding others to help. The goal was for Harry to be able to fight off as many people at once as possible since he was the chosen one (although they didn't tell Ginny the reason - just that he wanted to be the best). They didn't expect to reach that phase for at least a year.