“Are you planning something that I’m not going to like James?” she demanded opening her sandwich up and squirting tomato ketchup on it before closing it back up “can’t you just give me a birthday of peace where I don’t have to wash some disgusting substance off me? Don’t think I’ve forgotten last year, or the year before that or any year” she said with a shudder as she picked her sandwich and took a big bite of it looking warily at James.

“How little faith you have in me Carys, I’m not dreaming of doing anything to embarrass you in front of all the people coming here today, what do you take me as a monster or something?” James replied grinning widely his eyes twinkling behind his glasses. Carys gave him a look that clearly stated that she didn’t believe a word he said.

“I’ll hold you to that James” she said finally looking away from him and focusing on her sandwich which was certainly hitting the spot “Don’t forget that everything is different now, I’m 17 I can fight back now after all I am one of the top in the duelling club” James grinned further

“Is that a challenge to me Carys because let me remind you that only Remus could beat me in Duelling, shall we see if you can?” he asked. Carys shook her head her eyes on the tall black haired man with dark blue eyes that walked in with the daily prophet tucked in his arm. The man glanced around at everyone smiling especially at Maris who smiled warmly back, before his attention landed on Carys and he sent a few second observing her thoughtfully before speaking

“I see you’re finally up Carys we were beginning to think you were pulling a sleeping beauty on us” Jonathan Potter stated briskly “Happy birthday Princess” he placed the paper on the side, gently mussed up Francis’s head before walking over to where Carys was sitting and kissing her lightly on the head “And don’t worry about James if he or his friends disrupt this day in any shape or form then I’ll disinherit him and split the money he was going to get between you and your sister” he glanced at his son with a smug smile before quickly erasing it and looking serious.

“Woohoo” Sophie and Cary yelled together causing a general chuckle to go round the kitchen as Jonathan walked back to his paper.

“You wouldn’t dare Dad” James stated looking unconvinced “I’m your only heir, don’t you trust my word?” Jonathan looked up from the front page and looked sternly at his son.

“James I’ve been your father for 19 years and I know every trick you possess because I taught you a great deal of them. If you really want to question the master than I should warn you that you’ll get burned. As for trusting you, I do I just don’t trust you when a prank is involved.” He grinned at his son’s indignant face before sharing a smile with Maris who was covering three bowls containing salad.

James sighed loudly and began muttering to himself, stabbing the sausages with more force than necessary. Carys rolled her eyes at him and stood up taking her empty plate to the sink passing it to her aunt. She turned back to James and raised an eyebrow.

“Is Lily coming today James?” she asked “You did remember to invite her didn’t you? I mean I sent her an invitation but I’m not sure if it got to her or not or if I even got the right address, I bloody hope it did” she remarked casting her mind back to the invitation which couldn’t be more magical if they tried. Lily was a Muggle born witch and Carys hated to think what would happen if some other Muggle got hold of the invitation which had been hexed so only a member of the Evans family could touch it.

“She got the invitation” James replied looking up and brightening at the mention of his girlfriend of two years “She told me to tell you that she’s definitely coming but she might be slightly late, she has to wait for her dad to give her a lift here so to expect her from 12.30 onwards but more towards 1”   

Carys nodded her head, biting her thumb nail absently as everyone continued working, her thoughts on the party ahead and whether the postman didn’t get injured from delivering Lily’s invitation. She glanced at the backdoor in time to see Remus Lupin enter holding several different kinds of bottles in his arms. He was a gorgeous looking boy with soft wavy blond hair which looked as if it had recently been cut, nice even features and bright blue-green eyes which were looking more golden than either of those colours most likely due to his condition of being a Werewolf, he was tall at 6 foot and nicely built as well.

He placed the bottles on the side, his eyes casually glancing round the room before falling on her. She smiled as they lit up at the sight of her.

It was always a nice feeling when your boyfriend looked happy to see you, even after 2 years of being together as a couple the sight of him still brought a smile to her face and caused her heart to beat faster than it should have been capable of doing.

She watched him walked over to James and mutter something quietly, whatever he said caused James’s face to suddenly break out into a large grin and when he looked up the two boys sharing a warm smile, something which came from being best friends for 8 years. Carys pushed herself away from the side and walked over to him, stopping in front of him, eyes trained on his face in an almost loving look.

“Happy birthday Rys” he said softly his attention switching from James to her effortlessly, his voice sounding more Irish than ever and sent a pleasant shiver down her spine, he reached out and ran a hand down her arm catching her hand and squeezing it gently before dropping it.

Carys rolled her eyes as her Uncle Kim stated loudly in a joking manner that they should all start planning for the wedding soon. Carys stepped forward, wrapping her arms round Remus’s slim waist and hugging him tightly her head resting perfectly on his shoulder. She smiled as his arms went automatically around her and she felt him nuzzle her hair slightly, she suddenly felt glad that she had used the shampoo he loved the night before.

“Thanks Remus” she remarked, her voice sounding rather muffled, she tilted her head back so she could look in his face eyes scanning it, she was never sure why she did that since she knew the face better than her own but she had always concluded that it didn’t matter if she did or not because it meant she could look at him all the more, Remus smiled down at her shrugging as he did

“No problem” he remarked languidly “What exactly are you hoping for today Birthday Girl?” he asked shifting her closer slightly. Carys appeared to think deeply before smiling slowly and spoke, her tone lowered so no one but Remus could understand her clearly.

“Well Re” she said running a hand up his chest “I’m not sure if its proper for me to say what I was hoping for considering my dad is over there reading the paper and sipping his tea and my irritating brother is trying to listen to every word we say while trying to appear as if he doesn’t care” she laughed and threw some of her wavy black hair over her shoulder “What I really want to do” she continued in a conspiring tone “Is eat a really big slice of my mum’s birthday cake” Remus nodded slowly looking serious even as his eyes twinkled.

“Well I think that last thing you wanted could be taken care of no problem because I’ve seen the cake and it looks… well I‘m not going to say” he replied and she laughed out loud lowering her voice again

“And what about he first thing will that be taken care of?” she asked looking innocent as she wrapped her arms round his neck and smiling at him eyes focused on his.