Summer Challenge 14: Happy Birthday, Harry! (Part 2) (General)
Title: Happy Birthday, Harry! (Part 2) Author: elmyraemilie Other pairings/threesome: None Rating: General Word count: ~925 Theme chosen: Happy Birthday, Harry! Warning(s): None Summary: Party! A/N: Unbetaed. With this story, I have fulfilled my intention to post a short piece every day this month as part of the Summer Challenge. Thank you all for bearing with me, and forgive me if I've been all over the place like a rash. I wanted to see if I could do it, and I have. Now I'm going to Disneyland going to go back to playing silly video games and trawling AO3.
Severus blessed the idea that dinner and a show would be a useful decoy plan for Harry's surprise party. It made a good excuse to wear dress clothing, as well as to get Harry out of the house on time. Harry was checking his hair in the hall mirror, patting at it to try to make it stay in place.
"There's no point in fighting a battle that cannot be won," Snape commented.
Harry sighed. "Yeah, I suppose. Somehow I thought that once I went grey it would settle down, but I think it's worse than ever. Do you have the tickets?"
Severus patted his inside robe pocket, where tickets for next Saturday's performance of A Wizard In Aspic resided. "Right here." They were his birthday present to Harry, though he'd be collecting that present a week later than he expected. He held the door open. "We had best be going. It's nearly five-thirty now."
Taking his arm, Harry gave him the wide smile that had not dimmed in all their years together. "Very exciting! I've been looking forward to this all week." Snape locked the door and out they went to Apparate from the front garden.
"Are you sure you have the coordinates right?" Harry frowned, looking around when they arrived. "I thought the restaurant was near the theatre in London. We're right back in Hogsmeade."
Pasting on a matching frown, Severus said, "I followed Hermione's directions exactly. I will firecall the restaurant--they should be there by now. The town hall Floo is still open, I'm sure."
"Merlin. I don't want to be late so we have to rush." Harry trotted up the steps to the door of the hall. "It's not like Hermione to--"
"SURPRISE!"
"SWEET FUCKING MERLIN!" Harry jumped a foot in the air and yelled at the top of his lungs. Severus gaped at him for a split second before all their friends and family burst into gales of laughter and applause. Clapping his hand over his mouth, Harry turned bright red, swung around and grabbed Severus by the arm. "You big old sneak! You said we were going to dinner! When did you..." He laughed and shook his head, looking out at the crowded room, strung with banners that sparkled with the words "Happy Birthday!" and "Happy 50th, Harry!".
Hermione ran up and wrapped Harry in a hug. "Happy birthday, Harry!"
"Oh, wait a minute. This is what you two were doing last Wednesday at the Ministry cafe." He pushed Hermione back to arm's length. "You're a big sneak, too." She looked over his shoulder at Snape and grinned.
Ron grabbed his hand to shake and then pulled him in for another hug. "You have no idea. Most of these people didn't know it was a surprise party for you until they got here."
Snape nodded. "If it was truly to be a surprise, there was no point in telling over a hundred people about it. We told them it was a benefit for the Hogwarts Alumnae Scholarship Fund."
"You're all too much. It's a surprise party, all right. I had no idea at all. Severus, I..." As he turned to his husband of twenty-five years, Harry's eyes filled. "You never stop making my life wonderful, you know. I love you so much. Thank you."
"Ah, Harry." Severus bent to embrace him and give a tender kiss. "I can say the same about you. Now come and greet everyone. The band will start playing any minute and you will no longer be able to make yourself heard to your guests." Draping his arm around Harry's waist, Severus guided him into the room.
The evening was a blur. Molly and Arthur, who at eighty-two was starting his third career, were seated at the head table, along with Ron and Hermione, George and Angie, and Draco and Blaise. The buffet was delicious, and once the cake was distributed ("What a great idea," Harry raved; "Three different kinds of cake. Is Ron serious, Hermione? Did you bake all these? Can I have a wee bit of each one?"), the dancing began in earnest. Harry took the fast dances with Hermione or Blaise or some of the kids, and the slow dances with Severus. Someone started a collection, so in the end there actually was a nice sum to be donated to the Scholarship fund.
There were games and a party version of the popular radio quiz What's In Your Cauldron? The teens taught the twenty-somethings the latest dance craze, and the older people cast Muffliato so they could chat over the music. A little past midnight, Harry pulled Severus aside. "Since you've already fooled these people once, do you want to do it again and sneak out?"
"No goodbyes?"
Harry gazed around the room. "Nah. They're all having a great time, and I want them to stay as long as they want." He pulled Severus close and drew him into a long kiss, full of promise. "I'd like to express my gratitude for the lovely party while I'm still awake enough to do it properly."
"An excellent idea." Glancing around, Snape backed them toward the side exit.
Later that night, sweaty and sated, they propped up in bed and looked out at the moon, fat and full and pleased with itself. "What a wonderful evening," Harry whispered. "Thank you again."
"Mmmm. Despite a few quite desperate moments, it turned out very well. Shall we do it again in fifty more years?"
"Absolutely. I can't wait. Let's see if I fall for your tricks again at one hundred."