Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. Original characters are mine.
A/N: I rewrote this chapter and I changed a lot of things about halfway through. So you should all definitely reread this chapter.
Also, I think I should mention three things. First, Raae is pronounced just like Ray. Second, this will be slash. Which means boys will be boys. And thirdly, this is going to be a creature fic. But nothing extreme.
Enjoy~
Saturday, April 13, 1985
"What do you mean you can't open their will?!"
Raae Daleholm was a kind woman, majority of the time. But right now she was ready to curse the goblin in front of her. And if you considered the fact that she just found out about the Potters being killed by Voldemort, she had every reason to. Especially since she wanted to know why Sirius Black was in prison and who little Harry was staying with.
"It's as I said Mrs. Daleholm," replied Mulad, Head Goblin, "either the Chief Warlock needs to be here, or young Mr. Potter himself."
Raae let out a frustrated huff and stood from her seat closely by her bonded, Simon.
"If that's the case, we'll be back after dinner."
The Head Goblin nodded his head and let a smirk appear on his face, "I look forward to it, Mrs. Daleholm."
With those parting words, the couple made their way out of the bank.
"What are you thinking, my sweet?" Simons voice interrupted Raae of her homicidal thoughts towards the old coot.
She turned towards the man and inspected him. This is the man that she knew she loved from the day they met. He had honey colored skin the covered his 6'4 frame and black hair that was cut close to the head. His triangular shaped face was home to a strong jaw, full lips and cocoa colored eyes that she could get lost in. And she knew this man would do absolutely anything for her.
"Doesn't your brother still have those contacts with the Ministry? Can't you ask him to find out where little Harry is staying?"
The man let out a chuckle. "Of course I can. I can have it done within the hour." He tucked a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear and kissed the woman sweetly on the lips. "You should probably get us a room at the Leaky Cauldron. I will meet you there after I find out."
After one last farewell kiss, the two parted ways.
It took about forty minutes of endless pacing before Simon finally showed up with the information.
Raae now stood hand-in-hand with said man in front of number four with her other hand ready to knock. But before she could do anything, the door was yanked open by none other than Petunia Dursley. And considering her eyes were wide and her mouth was agape, she had not been expecting to see them.
Before Raae could even open her mouth to speak, Petunias' shrill voice reached her ears. "What are you doing here?"
The blonde had to cover her laugh with a cough. Some people never changed.
"Well, Petunia dear, if you must know, I'm here to get Harry. I've just came from Gringotts and it's been brought up that he needs to be there for some important matters. And if everything goes right, he'll be coming to stay with us."
As she spoke, the horse faced woman got a gleeful expression on her face.
"Is that right? Well, come in and get the boy. The sooner he's gone, the better."
Raae was silently fuming as they followed the woman into the house. They were led into the living room where a baby whale with blonde hair and a raven haired child sat.
Petunia pointed to Harry. "That's the little runt. I'll go get his things while you introduce yourself. Don't touch anything!"
Then she turned and left the room.
The blonde woman walked over to Harry, closely followed by Simon, and kneeled in front of him. "Hello, little one."
She put on her most charming smile, but all Harry did was look at her from under his fringe and mumbled a little hello.
"My name is Raae," she pointed to where her bonded was standing behind her, "and this is my husband Simon. We're here to take you home. It's where your parents wanted you to go. Would you like that?"
The child tilted his head to the side and regarded them with curious emerald eyes for a few minutes. When he finally answered, Raae felt her heart break.
"You know me mummy?"
She leaned forward and tucked a piece of raven hair behind his ear. She decided to ignore the flinch for now, but they'd be digging around later.
"I knew your mummy, dear. And your dad. They were amazing people. But I'll tell you all about them later. Right now, I have to take you somewhere so you'll never have to come back here again. Okay?"
Harry nodded his head and looked at her with wide hopeful eyes. "Otay."
Raae stood and held out her hand to Harry as Petunia came back into the room with a rucksack.
The horse faced woman held the bag out towards the blonde. "Here's all his stuff. If things don't work out, don't bring him back here."
Raae huffed at the woman and snatched the bag away and handed it to Simon.
"You have nothing to worry about, dear Petunia. Little Harry will never be coming back here."
Petunia let a sneer form on her face. "Good. I don't wanna see your kind around here anymore!"
Just as the blonde was about to rip her a new one, her bonded Simon spoke up.
"Well, this has been a lovely visit. But we must be on our way. Lots of places to be, many people to see."
He grabbed Raae's hand that wasn't holding Harry's and started to lead them out the door. Once they were outside and down the road, the couple turned towards the little boy.
To say he was small for his age would be an understatement. He looked like he was about three and underfed. He had large emerald eyes which reminded Raae of Lily. And wild jet black hair that reminded her of James. His clothes were much too large for him and looked like they belonged to the whale of a child that had been sitting in the room with Harry. And large glasses that didn't belong on his face. That just wouldn't do.
The blonde woman once again kneeled down in front of the boy.
"Harry?"
The raven haired child didn't look up from where he was looking at his trainers, but he hummed in acknowledgement.
"I know you're going to have questions, but you'll have to wait until we get you home before we answer any of them. Alright?"
Harry nodded his head.
"But for now we're going to take you to get some clothes and dinner then we'll be going to the bank."
The child looked up at her with wide eyes. "Really," he asked in a small voice.
The woman looked up at Simon then looked back at Harry. "Of course. Why would I lie about that?"
Raae was surprised to see tears forming in the emerald eyes.
"'Cause Aunt 'Tunia say that bad boy like me don't get new tings."
The blonde could feel her heart break again and could feel the anger coming from her bonded. She reached forward and pulled Harry into a hug, once more ignoring the flinching until they had more time.
"That's silly, Harry. You're a very good boy. And I can't wait to take you home and spoil you. You'll have lots of new things. Only the best for you, little one."
Raae could feel the child shaking with his sobs. And she promised herself that she'd get her revenge on those horrible people. One look at her bonded told her he thought the same thing.
After Harry finished crying, they cleaned him up and made their way to Madam Malkin's. They wished they could have stayed longer, if only to keep the look of wonder on Harry's face. But they only had time to buy him what was necessary for the day and tomorrow. They promised themselves that they'd take him shopping Monday for more things. Their next stop was the Leaky Cauldron. As soon as they entered, the couple took seats in the very back corner of the room.
Raae looked towards Harry who was standing beside the table staring at the floor and wringing his hands.
"Harry dear, why don't you sit down?"
Without looking up, Harry nodded and started to sit on the floor. Raae shot up from her seat and grabbed him by the arm, but quickly let go when he flinched harder than earlier.
"At the table, Harry. Sit at the table."
Once everyone was seated at the table, Tom came over to take their orders. "What can I get you folks?"
Simon looked over the menu and decided on the steak and kidney pie and a butterbeer. Raae decided on the roast hog and also a butterbeer. When everyone's attention turned towards Harry, he looked at them all with big helpless eyes. Suddenly his eyes started to fill with tears.
Raae quickly told Tom that he'd have the same thing as her. Once he was gone, she scooted her chair closer to Harry's and wrapped him in a hug. "Shhh. Everything will be okay, little one," she whispered as she rubbed his back. "You're with us now and we'll take care of you."
Finally reaching Gringotts, Mulads assistant led them towards his office. Once they entered the room, they were greeted by the Head Goblin who had a pleased smirk on his face.
"It's nice to see that things are going as planned," was the only greeting they got from the creature.
As Raae pulled Harry into her lap, she nodded at the goblin. "Of course. There's no reason to delay things."
"Indeed, Mrs. Daleholm. Now, we'll just need to do a little test to prove that this is Mr. Potter and then we may proceed."
The goblin opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a knife and a piece of charmed parchment. He handed the knife to Simon who turned towards Harry. The child had large eyes and distanced himself as far from the man as he could.
"Don't worry, little one. It won't hurt a bit," the man soothed.
Harry shook his head and the beginning of tears could be seen in his eyes.
Raae hugged Harry close to her. "I won't let him hurt you, Harry," she whispered in his ear. "I'll be right here and I promise nothing bad will happen."
After a few minutes, the small child relented. He held out his hand towards Simon and burrowed his head in the blonde woman's chest.
As quick as he could, Simon pricked the child's finger and held it over the parchment.
Mulad leaned forward to look at the parchment and a satisfied smirk formed on his face. The words Harry James Potter had appeared.
"It looks like we may continue." The goblin snapped his fingers and two rolls of parchment appeared in his hand. "While you were gone, I found it was appropriate to floo everyone available that's mentioned in the will. If you follow me, we'll go to the reading room to met with everyone else."
The group got up and made their way farther down the hall.
The room they were led to was rather large. Against one wall was a large desk where Mulad would obviously sit. And facing the desk were three rows with five nicely decorated chairs. Along another wall was an obviously charmed window that showed the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley.
Once they were fully in the room, all eyes turned towards them. Raae could easily recognize Remus Lupin, who only had eyes for Harry. The man had aged quite a bit from the last time she had seen him. Seated in the row behind him was obviously Severus Snape. There was no way she'd be able to forget his sour demeanor. She could admit she had no clue who the grandmother with the toddler or the man in the upperclass robes were in the last row. But she could tell the man leaning against the wall was a Ministry official.
The trio took their seats in the front row two chairs down from Remus. Raae knew he would want to speak with Harry, but now would not the best time considering important matters needed to be taken care of.
Everyones attention was pulled towards the front where Mulad sat.
"Let's begin."
"I, Lord James Charlus Potter I, being of sound mind and body, hereby declare this to be my Last Will and Testament.
I'd like to start my saying that Lily Marie Potter née Evans is my wife. And if she manages to survive me, all properties and money are to go to her until Harry is seventeen and able to take over. And if that's the case, everything else in this Will should be void.
If Lily does not survive me, things are to be done according to this Will.
Starting with guardianship of our son, Harry James Potter.
He is to be placed with his godfather, Sirius Black III. If for some unknown reason Sirius can't take our Harry, he needs to go to his godmother, Raae Daleholm. If neither of them are available to provide care for our little Harry, he is to go to either one of Raae's bonded, Frank and Alice Longbottom, or Augusta Longbottom. If none of them are able to take care of him, he is to be placed in a magical home.
Our vaults are to be available to whoever becomes the legal guardian of Harry. But they are to be monitored by our solicitor, Mr. Donovan Bamford.
Mr. Donovan Bamford should also oversee all our stocks, properties and Potter Co. until Harry can do so himself.
As for our secret keeper, it was not Sirius Black. And if we've died by the hands of Voldemort, it is because of Peter Pettigrew. Make sure that traitorous rat suffers.
Now on to our funds. They are to be done as according:
Remus Lupin is to receive 13000 gallons.
Sirius Black is to receive 10000 gallons.
Raae Daleholm is to receive 15000 gallons.
As for our properties:
The Potter Cottage located in Scotland is to go to Remus Lupin. Everything is to be signed over to his name so it's officially his.
The rest are to stay within the Potter family until decided otherwise by Harry.
All family artifacts are to stay in the vault until Harry comes of age or becomes head of the Potter House.
I hereby affix my signature to this, my Last Will and Testament, on this 3rd day of February, 1981, in the presence of the following witnesses:
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Sirius Orion Black III"
Most of the occupants of the room were shocked to hear some of the things stated in the Will. But Mulad was obviously not going to let that interrupt the reading.
"We'll now move on to Mrs. Potters Will."
"I, Lady Lily Marie Potter née Evans, being of sound mind and body, hereby declare this to be my Last Will and Testament.
As my husband, James Charlus Potter I, he gets all money and properties I had before our marriage if he survives me. If he so wishes to, he may give them to Harry when he becomes seventeen.
If he does not manage to survive me, things are to be done according to his Will along with anything mentioned in my Will.
Harry James Potter is to be placed with one of his godparents. If they cannot take him in, he is to be placed with either, Frank and Alice Longbottom or Augusta Longbottom. If none of them are available to care for him, he is to be placed in a magical home.
No matter what, Harry is not to be placed at my sisters, Petunia Dursley. If he is placed there, I want whoever did it to stay far away from my son. I love my sister dearly, but that is the worst possible place for Harry. And I will not have my child grow up like that.
Some funds that James forget to mention are as followed:
Alice and Frank Longbottom are to receive 10000 gallons.
Neville Longbottom is to receive 10000 gallons, all of which is to go into his trust for when he starts school.
Severus Snape is to receive 7000 gallons.
I would also like 10000 gallons to go to St. Mungo's.
Our wedding rings are to be left in the Potter vault until there comes a time where they can once again be used in the Potter family.
We've also left letters for family, close friends and our Harry. Some pensive memories can also be found in our main vault, along with a pensive, for our son. His guardian can take him to receive them when he turns eleven.
I hereby affix my signature to this, my Last Will and Testament, on this 3rd day of February, 1981, in the presence of the following witnesses:
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Sirius Orion Black III"
Raae looked down to see that Harry had fallen asleep sometime during the reading. But her attention was suddenly directed at Mr. Donovan Bamford. He held up a stack of envelopes as he addressed the room, "I have a letter for everyone present right now. I would appreciate it if you would retrieve them from me before you leave. I'd also like to speak to Mr. Lupin and Mrs. Daleholm privately before they leave. I'll be available in Mulads office." He slipped from the room before anyone could say anything else to him.
The Head Goblin cleared his throat and attention was once again on him. "All money will be deposited into your accounts before tomorrow morning. And seeing as that is all the business we have today, you're free to leave." The creature stood from his seat and made his way out of the room. Once he was gone, all eyes turned towards the direction of Harry Potter. Simon was the first to break the silence as he directed his question towards the Ministry official leaning against the wall.
"And who might you be," he demanded.
The man let out a chuckle and pushed himself away from the wall to stand up straight. "The name is Mathew Radford. I'm the Senior Undersecretary."
"Is that so," Simon looked him over with a critical eye. "I suppose you are going to take the case to the Minister?"
Radford nodded his head. "I plan on it. If she doesn't look into it, I'm sure Mr. Crouch will.
With a sniff, Augusta Longbottom stood from her chair. "This is all so lovely, but I must be getting home." The grandmother nodded her head in the direction of the trio, "It was nice to meet you. You should floo me sometime and we'll have tea while the boys play."
Raae sent the woman a smile. "Of course. Just leave your floo address with Mr. Bamford."
With a final wave to the room, Augusta and Neville Longbottom made their way to said man.
Severus Snape followed the pair shortly, only offering a nod towards the couple and their sleeping bundle.
Radford made his way towards the door, "I'll take that as me queue to leave. You'll be hearing from me soon."
The blonde watched as the man exited the room and turned her attention towards the last remaining person in the room, Remus Lupin.
Said man cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Would it be alright if I wrote to him," the werewolf asked in a low voice.
Raae couldn't think of any reason to tell the man no. She knew he'd help protect little Harry in every possible way.
"Of course you can, Remus." She shot a look at Simon when he just stood there. The man quickly agreed with his wife. "Just give him a bit to adjust. He's not aware of the wizarding world and I fear the Dursleys were not the best to him. I'll have him write to you when he's ready."
Remus nodded his head. "I think that's fair," he stood and Raae followed his lead. "I'll see what Mr. Bamford wants. I'll also leave my address so Harry can write when he's ready."
The woman held out her hand for him to shake. "It's been a pleasure seeing you again. I hope we can arrange for a visit to happen soon."
After releasing her hand, Remus nodded and the group made their way towards Mulads office.
Once inside, Bamford went over the property with Remus and gave him his letters from James and Lily. After getting the mans address and dismissing him, he began to explain his duties to the Daleholms. Basically he'd be looking over everything the head of house was suppose to until Harry turned seventeen. He'd make sure all the properties were updated. He'd also make sure they were gaining money in stocks, and not losing.
He informed them that he'd be available to do any other legal matters, handed them their letters and left the room.
It was just the trio and the goblin.
"If there's not anything else," Simon stated as he stood up from his chair, "I think we should take the little one home for the night."
Raae nodded her head and stood with Harry, holding him tight. "I think that's a good idea," she said, while Simon lead her towards the doors with a hand on her lower back. "We'll be in touch, Mulad."
"Until then."
