"Bad enough that I need a hug." Sirius opened his arms and Harry moved into the hug quickly. The feel of Harry alive eased his own worry greatly. "It's not as though we weren't aware before that you're a target so it makes no real difference, but it is a bit scary and we're going to have to talk about security later. OK?"
Harry hugged him back.
"It's going to be OK, Harry." Sirius promised gruffly. He pressed a kiss to the top of Harry's head. "Come on. Let's go and celebrate your birthday."
Harry eased away from him without letting go and nodded. Sirius kept his arm around him and they both turned to the door and froze at the sight of Molly.
She had the grace to look embarrassed and pointed behind her. "We missed you and…well, I see you're on your way so…" she hurried away.
Sirius exchanged an amused look with Harry. They followed her into the dining room and Harry let Molly usher him into another seat by Ginny. Sirius rolled his eyes at him as he took the seat on the other side of Harry rather than his usual place at the top of the table.
By the time, the cake was on the table, everyone else from the Burrow had arrived along with Amelia who briefly confirmed everything was fine and the Burrow was secure. Eventually, the party wound down and the guests dispersed. A group remained behind and gathered in Sirius's study.
Sirius sat beside Harry on one sofa, Minerva sat in a chair, Bill perched on the desk while Remus and Amelia sat on the sofa opposite. Kreacher had popped in with drinks but they'd all eschewed food, stuffed from the spread Molly had cooked.
"What did the investigation turn up?" asked Sirius, sipping at his pumpkin juice.
"Well, firstly, the Aurors did a full sweep of the Burrow and the land beyond. No sign that anyone was poised to attack." Amelia assured them. "It looks like it was a warning but not a direct one."
"Dad's got all the wards up anyway and we're talking about putting it under Fidelius." Bill added. "But as the target is Harry…" he shrugged.
"Which leads us onto how someone knew Harry was going to be at the Burrow." Amelia set her tea aside. "Unfortunately, it only takes one slip of the tongue or one overheard conversation from a parent or a guest for someone to have known. I'm not certain it's worth tracking down who might have let it slip to others and what those others might have let slip to more people…"
"The fact is that we might never know who was overheard or who told the wrong person." Remus said. "Just a brief conversation with Arthur and Percy had them admitting that they'd both told their direct colleagues – Percy had informed Barty Crouch in an update to him and Arthur had mentioned they were having a party for Harry to his assistant Perkins." He motioned at Sirius. "And we can't throw stones either; we mentioned the party in front of Lawrence, Caro and Bertie earlier, and such information probably isn't covered by the confidentiality vow they took for their Treasure Team duties."
Sirius's anger mutated to chagrin. Remus was right; they had all been sloppy.
"Add to that the fact that the Burrow isn't under Fidelius which may have prevented the location being known even if someone spoke of the party…" Amelia shrugged. "Most of Arthur's colleagues have visited the Burrow at one time or another. Most of the Wizengamot knows where the Burrow is since many families live in the area. It's not a secure location."
"My Mum didn't really give Sirius and Harry a choice." Bill commented before Sirius could retort.
"I've stayed there before and nobody's sent me a threat." Harry pointed out with impeccable logic.
"True," Amelia allowed, "but unfortunately, the political atmosphere is tense and with the Dark Mark strengthening…"
"Someone decided to make a move." Minerva surmised with a frown.
"Possibly," Amelia sighed. "My best guess is that the note was sent by a Death Eater as a way to curry favour with his Master. Maybe as a response to the Mark darkening and twinging recently. Upset the birthday of the Boy Who Lived, create a bit of fear."
"But?" prompted Sirius.
"We checked in with the Rat Squad and none of the tagged Death Eaters sent the owl." Remus reported.
"We do know of one Death Eater who isn't tagged." Sirius said. "Dumbledore's spy." Dumbledore had flat out refused to have Severus tagged even to give him cover.
Remus's eyebrows shot up. "Severus may not like Harry but I don't see him sending a threatening note; it's not his style."
"I agree with Remus." Minerva said. "I can't see him doing something so petty."
"He takes points off me for breathing," Harry replied dryly, "I think he could be petty enough to want to spoil my birthday – especially the first one I'm spending with Sirius."
Bill cleared his throat. "Maybe it's his way of warning us that his Death Eater chums are getting frisky without being overt."
"He would have sent word through Albus." Remus argued. "I just don't see Severus as a viable suspect."
Sirius sniffed. He definitely saw Snivellus as a viable suspect.
"We should get Albus to check though." Amelia said. "We did do some checks on the parchment but all we found was a faint trace of house elf magic. Snape would have access to one at Hogwarts."
"The house elf thing would also seemingly rule out Pettigrew and Riddle." Bill said.
"Not necessarily." Sirius said. "They could be staying with someone with a house elf."
"Our surveillance hasn't uncovered any sign of any Death Eater actually being in contact with either." Amelia argued.
"So either they're staying with someone we don't know and haven't got tagged or they've bought a house elf or it wasn't them." Sirius went through the various options.
"Peter wouldn't have sent something like this." Remus commented.
"I'm not sure we know Wormtail all that well enough to make a judgement," Sirius replied snappishly, "he did pull the wool over our eyes for years."
"It is like Tom to send something like that." Harry said, silencing the room very effectively.
Sirius swallowed his pumpkin juice and wished it was Firewhiskey.
"Couldn't someone have used their house elf to send the letter even if you did tag them?" Harry asked, breaking the quiet.
"That's true too." Amelia said. "We can't tag the house elves. The magic won't stick to them."
"So we really don't have any idea who sent it." Sirius concluded.
"No." Amelia admitted with embarrassment. "All we can do officially is advise you to be on your guard and take sensible precautions."
"Well, thanks for trying to find out anyway." Harry sighed and turned to Sirius. "Can we go home?"
Sirius nodded. "Like Harry said, thank you, Amelia." He stood up with Harry.
"I'll see you at home." Remus said.
"Happy Birthday, Harry." Bill said as a goodbye and Minerva echoed it with a small smile.
"Thanks, everyone." Harry smiled tiredly and Sirius ushered him out and to the floo.
They had just stepped out of the floo when Harry hugged him unexpectedly.
"Thank you, Padfoot. This was still my best birthday ever." Harry said.
Sirius tightened his hold, too choked up to speak. Finally, Harry broke away and made for the stairs. Sirius watched him go and swiped at his damp eyes, furious at the Dursleys and Dumbledore all over again that a birthday that included a hunt for a horcrux and a death threat could possibly be seen to be Harry's best ever.
o-O-o
"Did you really receive a death threat on your birthday?"
Harry was glad he hadn't taken a sip of his drink or he might have choked.
"Really, Jeremy?" Susan snapped. "That's what you're leading with?"
The fifth year Ravenclaw and Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Branstone sighed. "Our parents and or guardians have stuffed us into this room to get to know Potter better because of the new alliance. I assumed that meant we were allowed to ask questions, Bones."
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