special {harry potter}
requested by anon: it's harry's birthday and you decide to take him to the beach to celebrate
character: harry potter x female reader
Harry didn't expect anything for his birthdays, a sad habit he'd learned from growing up with the Dursleys', he never expected nor wanted anything, he was content enough. Especially now that he had killed Voldemort once and for all and all was well in Hogwarts and in the Wizarding World.
It was just a few weeks previous had he been successful and Harry's world became a whirlwind of interviews, photoshoots and parties. Ron had clapped him on the back at one point, 'Get used to the parties, mate, cause you're 18 soon and that'll be the best one yet'. But Harry refused point blank.
"No parties, no photos, no presents... I just want a lie in. That's all I want."
Being Harry's girlfriend, you wanted to do something or give him something to celebrate but you knew how tired he was, how exhausted he was and how stressed he'd been for the last seven years so you decided to plan a little surprise trip. Nothing strenuous or wild, just a nice day out.
You let him sleep for as long as he wanted, it was his day and there was absolutely no rush to hurry him up. He looked so peaceful as he slept, no worries, no stresses. You stroked back his hair, pressing a delicate kiss to his forehead careful not to wake him before heading downstairs to prepare.
You were going to take Harry to the beach. He'd mentioned to you before that the one thing he always wanted as a child was to go to the seaside on a hot day, have a picnic, swim in the sea and build a sandcastle. He'd never had that growing up and he just wanted a normal slice of childhood so you were taking him to do all of those things.
Downstairs, you were preparing a picnic basket full of Harry's favourite foods to take with you. Chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, bacon sandwiches which were charmed to stay warm, strawberry tarts, sausage rolls, a small birthday cake, tea and apple juice. As you finished packing the basket, you grabbed a few more items and with a click, you apparated.
You landed safely on the beach to where you'd already set up a little gazebo type set up with a canopy, a picnic blanket and now you had the basket to go with it. You set the basket up and also took the buckets and spades you'd brought to lay them out. You had two towels set up for after swimming too. Everything was perfect.
You apparated back just in time for Harry to wake up and come downstairs. He padded over to you, wrapping strong arms around your body from behind as he rested his head on your shoulder, "There's the birthday boy," you said with a smile, turning to kiss his temple, "How'd you sleep?"
"So good," Harry yawned, "I needed that."
You turned to him, smiling up at his green eyes, "I have a little something planned. I know you didn't want anything big or expensive so it's not, I promise. It's something for the two of us, just us." Harry eyed you suspiciously but the corners of his mouth twitched letting you know that he wasn't annoyed, "Go get ready, no rush so take your time."
Fifteen minutes later and he was ready, "You promise it's not a party?" He said as you held his hand to apparate.
"I promise."
Click.
When Harry opened his eyes, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The seagulls squawked from above as the waves crashed into the rocks. The sun was warm on his skin and the gazebo that you'd set up looked perfect. He looked at you with the warmest of expressions, so full of awe, love and gratitude.
"You remembered," Harry murmured softly as he wrapped you in the tightest hug, "I... I love you so much."
"I've got everything; a picnic of your favourite foods, buckets and spades to build sandcastles, I've got us swimming costumes and towels to go in the sea," you said pulling back to gesture to everything, "you like it?"
"I love it."
The two of you started with the picnic, finishing almost everything in the basket before you moved to build sandcastles. Harry was loving every single second of this. For about an hour, he build sandcastles, creating his own version of Hogwarts. You adored watching the way his eyes lit up with joy and loved hearing the laughter that came from him. He had no worries, no stress; he was just having fun.
He kept pulling you in for tight hugs, telling you how much he appreciated this over and over again, thanking you with kisses and praise. He couldn't believe that this was real and this was happening. Harry had craved this ever since he was a young boy and now, at 18, he finally had it. He smiled over at you, watching as you carved some details into the sandcastle Hogwarts, you were helping him to heal his inner child one day at a time.
The sun was hot, beating down on the two of you, so quickly you scrambled up and started running, yelling behind you, "Last one to the sea has to eat a Ton-Tongue-Toffee!" Harry's laughter bellowed behind you as he started chasing you, feet fighting hard against the sand that so desperately tried to pull him down a few centimetres. You narrowly made it to the sea first, just by mere inches, as Harry's arms reached out and grabbed you around the waist, tugging you around as you laughed loudly. The two of you stumbled but managed to keep your balance as you waded in together, "Ha! You have to eat a Ton-Tongue-Toffee!"
Harry was quick to shake his head, "Absolutely not. I remember Dudley ate one after the twins dropped one in Privet Drive and oh my god, it was horrible, hilarious but horrible. Mr Weasley tried for about 15 minutes to help but my aunt and uncle refused. Eventually they let him but absolutely not."
The two of you spent a long time enjoying the water, swimming, using your wand to blow bubble bursts to push the other back, causing whirlpools to spin around in... Your laughter was loud as the two of you played in the sea. Harry watched as you plucked up some cool shells from the under your feet and showed him proudly. He'd never had a day like this, never experienced true happiness like this. Harry waded over to you and planted a hard kiss on your lips, "I love you so much for this," he murmured against your lips as you giggled.
The temperature started to cool as the sun began to set so you and Harry left the water, shooting blasts of hot air at each other to hurry up the drying process as you made your way back to the gazebo. Harry conjured up small fireballs and dotted them around the two of you to keep warm as you grabbed the blankets and set them up. The two of you lay down as you watched the sunset in silence. He was so grateful for you.
After years of torment, stress, fear and death, now, now things were okay. Things were happy now. You'd both lost a lot in the last few years but there was one thing that was certain; you and Harry were a team. Years of not being able to relax or take his foot off of 'go' and now he could, now he could rest and relax and just enjoy life like he should've been able to this whole time.
Harry was too preoccupied to notice what you were up to, hands twiddling and fidgeting. It wasn't until you were finished, holding up two matching string and seashell bracelets that he realised, "Happy birthday, Harry." Your grin was wide as was his, he happily took it and you tied it around his wrist and then he helped with yours, "I know it's not the best-"
"(y/n), it's the best present I've ever had," he told you honestly, "I love it. Thank you." You settled back into his arms once again as you relaxed again. The sun had set and Harry knew that it was time to go before it got too cold and before the tide came fully in. Selfishly, he wanted to stay. He wanted to stay here, with you in his arms, forever just in your own little bubble.
You seemed to sense his apprehensiveness about leaving, "We can come back," you suggested quietly, "it's summer so it'll still be nice and hot for a good month or two. Would you like that?"
Harry nodded with a smile, "God, yes."
So the two of you packed everything away, using the charm Hermione taught Harry to make the picnic basket bigger on the inside so that everything fit into it and you and Harry stood, hand in hand waiting for him to apparate the two of you. Harry spared one last look around before click and the two of you were back home in 12 Grimmauld Place.
You stretched out your tired muscles, it had been a lovely but long day, so you left the picnic basket on the kitchen table, you'd get it in the morning, and the two of you headed upstairs to bed. Once changed into your pyjamas, you slid under the cool sheets as Harry lay down beside you. You curled into him, smelling the salt from the sea on his skin, "Happy birthday, Harry," you whispered quietly, already feeling the tendrils of sleep reach out to take hold of you, "We've to go to the Weasley's tomorrow. You didn't really think Molly would let you not have a birthday cake and presents, did you?"
He didn't mind. He was on cloud nine, "Thank you for today," he said softly, "today meant more to me than I can ever tell you." He pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead and then you were sound asleep.
Harry was awake for another while after that. He found the excitement of the day had him awake, replaying building sandcastles and having a picnic and chasing you to the sea... He loved every single second of it and wanted to live in this moment forever, this perfect content bubble of happiness.
Eventually, Harry closed his eyes and fell asleep with a smile on his face and all was well.
229 notes
·
View notes