Chapter Seven:

Mysterious Envelope

A/N Thanks for reading and reviewing! Sorry for the long wait!

This is shorter than I wanted but I promised Ghost258 that I'd get the next update by tonight and I had to shove it between four essays that I need to write by Sunday. I will immediately start the next chapter though. I will work on the Chapter Eight when I get bored of writing about case studies. Hoping to have Chapter Eight up by Sunday night or Monday night.

Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Savoren.

The past few days flew by, much to Severus and Minerva's relief. They didn't know how much longer they could keep this birthday party a surprise. Even though the past few days flew by, it was jammed packed for the small family - especially Harry. Severus and Minerva were constantly busy planning, creating, and preparing for the party. Harry was busy working on the list so he could get off his grounding. Charles also came to assess Harry because of his desire to smoke.

Currently Severus and Minerva sat at the kitchen table wrapping Harry's present. Severus had insisted on them wrapping the gift the muggle way but neither really knew what they were doing. After a few more failed attempts they finally got the gift wrapped. It looked like complete crap so they used a straightening spell to fix all the wrinkles and creases.

Minerva leaned back, feeling accomplished. "I haven't wrapped a gift like that in years."

Severus smiled and nodded in agreement. Before he could say anything there was a tapping on the window.

Minerva looked over and frowned at the sight of a black owl. "Do we know anyone with a black owl like that, Sev? I didn't think anyone on the RSVP had a black owl. . ." Minerva stood and went to open the window. Yeah, some of the people had black owls but nothing like this owl - this owl was as black as the hole to Hell.

Cautiously, Severus reached out and untied the black envelope from the stranger owl. Flipping the letter over in his hand, he immediately felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. On the front of the black envelope is the words "Harry Birthday Cousin" in blood-red ink.

Severus forced his hands to not shake as he put it down on the counter and immediately started checking for curses.

Minerva frowned, "What on earth are you doing, Severus? Who is it from?"

Severus didn't bother looking up from his task, "The Dark Lord." He felt himself relax a little when there was no signs of dark magic or curses on the object. He frowned still, "Why would he write to Harry?"

Minerva grabbed the letter and ripped it open, dropping the envelope to the ground in hurry. She frowned at the sight of the birthday card. The front of the cover had floating colorful balloons all over it and big, bubble letters saying "Birthday Boy." With a deep frown, Minerva glanced at Severus and then flipped the card open.

BOOM! Confetti burst out of the card, and landed all over Minerva. Party horns and shakers echoed around the downstairs.

Minerva immediately put the card down and wiped the confetti off of her. Sneezing, she frowned. "What on earth?"

Severus felt as if his frown was going to be permanently on his face. Picking the card up, he cautiously opened it again - afraid confetti would shoot out again. When nothing happened, he started reading the card.

Minerva read over his shoulder.

Happy Birthday Harry!

I hope you enjoy your gift, I worked hard on it.

Give your parents Hell for me.

Love,

Tom.

Severus glanced at Minerva, he could see the fear on her face. "What does he mean by gift?"

Minerva nervously bit her lip, staring at the card as if it were going to turn into a poisonous snake at any moment. "Send it to Albus - he will figure it out."

Severus nodded and quickly did as she instructed him.

Taking a seat at the table, Minerva tried to push the card out of the forefront of her mind. There is too much to do today, she doesn't have time to worry about a card. Albus will take care of everything.

Hearing puppy feet running down the staircase, Minerva sighed and shook her head, "I'm getting tired of him kicking Godric out of his bedroom when he has to go to the bathroom. Harry needs to come down with him and put him out, not leave it up to us. Godric is his responsibility and it's like he has forgotten he owns a pet. This needs to stop." With an annoyed sigh, Minerva looked down at her feet where Godric sat wagging his tail, his leash hanging from his mouth. He stared up at her with such pitiful blue eyes, expecting her to take him out that Minerva couldn't help but feel her heart melt a little.

Sighing, Minerva stood and took the leash. Turning to look at Severus, she added, "We need to talk to him about this."

Severus sighed and watched as Godric tried to pull Minerva out of the house. Grabbing the wrapped present, Severus hid it in the cupboard under the sink. Knowing that Harry would be coming down the stairs soon.

When Harry hadn't come downstairs by the time Minerva and Godric returned, Minerva went upstairs to wake him up.

Harry groaned as he heard a third knock on his bedroom door. Hiding his face under a pillow, Harry wished he could just go back to sleep - sleep through his entire birthday. Birthdays suck anyway and he's grounded so it's not like he's going to be able to hang out with his friends. This birthday is going to be just like any other birthday. The fact of this made his heart sink. He was hoping to have a wonderful birthday with his parents but because he got himself in trouble, Harry doesn't see that happening.

The door opened and Harry heard footsteps come closer to his bed. He clenched his eyes shut, wishing they would just go away.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Minerva reached over and pulled the pillow off her son's face. "I know you're awake, Harry. Come on, it's time to get out of bed."

Groaning, Harry shook his head and tried to cover his face with the blanket. He slept like crap last night. His nightmares were filled with Dudley's past birthdays and reminded him that Dudley will never again have another birthday.

Smirking, Minerva shook his shoulder, "Come on, Harry. It's your birthday! Get up and get ready for the day!"

Harry huffed and tried again to cover his face with the blanket. "I don't wanna. Birthdays suck. . ."

Minerva frowned, "Oh?" She grabbed the blanket and pulled it off the bed so he couldn't keep trying to cover his face.

Harry gave her a small glare. "Yeah. I want to go back to sleep."

Minerva shook her head and grabbed his arms, trying to make him sit up. "Well that is too bad, son. It's your birthday and your father should be making your birthday pancakes as we speak."

Curious, Harry sat up, "Birthday pancakes?"

Minerva smiled, "It was a tradition when I was growing up. You will see them once they are done. Now, up and adams, child."

Harry shook his head, "I'm not a child, mum. I'm sixteen now."

Minerva chuckled softly, "Yes, quite the old person." She sighed softly when Harry laid back down, "Why do you not like birthdays? I thought you started liking birthdays when you met Ron and Hermione?"

Harry gave a half-hearted shrug. "I don't like it this year," he mumbled as he closed his eyes.

"Why?" She tried not to sound hurt. Something else is going on here.

Huffing, Harry finally sat up. He felt frustrated that she wasn't understanding. "I'm older than Dudley now."

Frowning softly, Minerva tried to wrap her mind around what he was getting at.

Seeing her expression, Harry rolled his eyes. "Dudley is dead, mum. He's never going to have another birthday. He was always a few months older than me but now I'm older than him and always will be. Dudley will never get to learn how to drive or grow old."

Understanding, Minerva attempted to pull Harry into a hug. She tried not to feel hurt when he moved out of her reach. "I believe Dudley would want you to keep having birthdays."

Harry rolled his eyes, a nasty look on his face. "Oh yeah? How do you figure?" Before she could respond, Harry jumped off the bed, angry. "Just forget it. It doesn't matter. Dudley is dead and I need to stop being pathetic. He wouldn't have cared if our positions were different." He continued on, not letting her get a word in, "Can you leave? I need to get dressed." He didn't look at her, his heart felt too heavy.

Sighing, Minerva stood from his bed and went downstairs.

In the kitchen, Severus had the pancakes almost completely cooked. He looked over his shoulder at her when she entered, "Is he getting ready?"

She nodded, sitting down on her seat. She absentmindedly petted Godric's head as she thought over what occurred upstairs. "Maybe we should tell him about the party. He isn't in a good mood. He keeps thinking about Dudley."

Severus sighed, flipping the last birthday pancake. "And ruin all our attempts at keeping the surprise hidden?" He shook his head, putting the pancake on the plate. "No. He will be fine. I will have Draco, Hermione and Ron come give him company while we set up the party - they will make him feel better." He immediately closed his mouth, hearing Harry coming down the stairs. Putting the plate of pancakes on the table, Severus grabbed a small red and white candle, shoving it into the stack of three pancakes on Harry's plate. Before his son could enter the kitchen, Severus quickly lit the candle just in time.

Entering the kitchen Harry smiled at the sight. Just stop thinking about it, Harry. It's fine. Be happy - at least for them. "Woah! Thanks!" He quickly took his seat at the table, ignoring Godric's pouncing at his legs.

The pancakes were in shapes of a one and a six and were made with sprinkled cake batter so the inside of the pancake had little bits of color.

He stared into the flame, a small (real) smile gracing his lips. "Should I blow it out?"

Taking his seat, Severus glanced at Minerva for a quick second and then suddenly they began singing Happy Birthday (they were quite good actually).

Harry smiled, listening to them sing to him. Just last year, around this time, if he even thought about the deadly bat of the dungeons singing him Happy Birthday, he would have died of laughing. Now, he watched on, his heart fluttering with happiness. Life is good when you're surrounded by people who love you.

As soon as they stopped singing, Harry closed his eyes and made his wish: I wish for happiness to always find it's home in mum and dad. Opening his eyes, he blew the flame out and was immediately overwhelmed as Minerva and Severus began clapping.

"What did you wish for?" Minerva asked, her eyes sparkling with happiness and curiosity.

Severus smirked and rolled his eyes, "Don't you dare tell her, Harry. Wishes only come true if you keep it to yourself."

Minerva laughed, "Fine, fine, fine. . ."

Chuckling softly, Harry pulled the candle out of his pancake and dug in.

During the meal, Severus decided now was as good of a time as any to bring up the subject of Godric. "Lately you have been neglecting your responsibilities."

Immediately Harry froze, the fork half-way to his mouth. He frowned, "What?"

Minerva jumped in, "Yeah. Godric is your responsibility, Harry. You need to start taking care of him better."

Harry tried not to roll his eyes, "I do take care of him."

Severus gave him an annoyed look. "Don't lie, Harry James!"

"You barely give him any attention anymore, you don't feed him in the morning or take him out to the bathroom. Have you forgotten about your puppy?" Minerva asked.

Harry fidgeted a little. Uneasy about this conversation. "He just wants me out of bed too early. . . It's my summer; I don't have to wake up early and so when he has to go to the bathroom in the morning, I just let him out of the room. I figured one of you would be awake. . ."

Severus shook his head, "You are going to put an end to it. Am I understood? Godric is your responsibility and if you cannot take care of him we will find him a new home. He deserves to be played with and given tons of attention. You are failing him as his master."

Harry felt his heart drop. Looking down at Godric, he noticed the same love-filled blue eyes he always sees. I'm his world and I'm letting him down. Harry sighed and leaned down to pat Godric's head. "I'm sorry boy. I'll do better, I promise." He smiled as Godric immediately started wagging his tail and kissing Harry's hand.

Severus and Minerva exchanged satisfied looks then returned to their breakfast.

After they finished eating, Minerva and Severus made up an excuse about needing to go to their offices in the school.

"Hermione, Draco and Ron will come to give you company," Severus informed him. "You are to stay inside the house." He eyed him closely, making sure he understood.

Harry smiled brightly, "Really?! But I'm grounded? I didn't think I'd be able to see my friends today. . ."

Minerva smiled, "We have decided to let you off your grounding for today. Aunt Poppy has done the same for Hermione. Don't let us catch you out of the house though. We will send for you when we need you."

Harry nodded, too excited to be hanging out with his best friends to question why he wasn't allowed out of the house if he was not grounded for the day.

With that, Severus and Minerva made their leave. Severus grabbed the present while Harry wasn't looking and shrunk it, shoving it in his pocket.

Hearing the front door close behind his parents, Harry sat back down on his chair at the table and contemplated what he wanted to do when his friends arrived. His train of thought got distracted when he noticed a black envelope laying on the floor at the edge of the table. Frowning, he stood back up and picked the envelope up, flipping it over. He frowned deeply at the words. Shivering, he put the envelope on the table when he noticed it was empty. He isn't stupid, he knows who it's from. All he wants to know now is why Voldemort would send him a birthday card and where the card disappeared to.

I will have to talk to mum and dad about this later - they probably know where the card is and are hiding it from me. He tried to push away the bubbling anger that started to appear in the pit of his stomach.

A knock on the front door distracted him from thinking longer on the mysterious envelope. He hurried to the front door and flung it open. His smile slightly faltered a little when he noticed Pansy standing beside his best friends. He tried not to give away his annoyance as he stepped to the side, allowing them entrance.

As soon as the front door closed behind them Hermione threw her arms around Harry's neck and gave him a tight hug, "Happy birthday, Harry!" She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek and smiled playfully as she noticed his face turn bright red.

Draco laughed and nudged Pansy. "Aw, that's cute. Little Harry is embarrassed. What? Have you never kissed in front of someone before?" He wiggled his eyebrows, amusement shining in his eyes. He pressed on, thoroughly enjoying Harry's embarrassment, "What about on the lips?"

This time, Hermione started to blush, "Oh shove it, Draco."

Pansy laughed and, just to prove a point, captured Draco's lips in a long kiss.

Ron gagged, "Get a room!"

Harry laughed and once the two were no longer kissing, asked, "What do you want to do? Play a game?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders, "I will do anything so long as I don't have to watch Draco and Pansy kiss again." He made another gagging sound.

Pansy lightly punched Ron on the shoulder, "You're just jealous, Freckle-Face."

Before Ron could get pay-back on the slimy snake, Harry jumped in. "Let's play Hide-n-Seek. Dad's lab is off limits though! Last time I went in there I got de-aged and trust me, that's not something you want to experience."

They all agreed and Hermione chose to find them first.

Once Hermione closed her eyes and started counting, Harry tried his hardest to push the black envelope out of his mind and enjoy the game. This was a lot harder than he expected though.

A/N: Again, I know it's short but I needed to get it posted. Next chapter will be up by Sunday night or Monday. I already have it outlined, I just need time to get it typed up and this weekend is crazy.

Thanks for your support!

Savoren.