Prologue

August 1994

"Andromeda, you need to start planning for my leaving," urged Ted Tonks. The 1994 World Cup had just ended with a riot targeting muggles and the Morsmordre cast into the sky. Ted was a Muggleborn Hufflepuff and the love of Andromeda Black's life. "They say that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is being resurrected soon. When that happens, you will be safer if I am gone."

"Please, don't talk like that, Ted," his worried wife plead. "We will be fine."

"No, Meda, we will not be fine. They will come for me and kill me. If you and Nymphadora are here, they will kill you also."

"Then what are we to do? I assume you have a plan if you already are thinking about it."

"I began years ago, but now is the time to step it up. Remember how I told you to save your inheritance from your uncle Alphard." She nodded. "Now is the time to start investing."

Sirius Black had received a large inheritance from him, but there was a five hundred-thousand bequest to Andromeda which she had saved. She had given it over to Ted and the Goblins at Gringotts for keeping. "Are you saying that it is all gone?"

"No, I'm saying that we have been investing it a small amount at a time in the largest company in the Wizarding World."

"Not Malfoy Potions and Pharmaceuticals? Have you been giving my money to Lucius?"

"Not giving your money to Lucius, Dear. We have been giving him loans when he was short and taking shares in the company when he missed payments. We own approximately 25 percent, but now is the time to start investing more. He's starting to slip, though by giving more and more time to the return of his leader. There were a few years when the leader was thought to be dead that Lucius did a lot of research and expansion. The last couple of years he has backed off on research and totally on the expansion and we have been paying off the previous expansion loans. If we continue with it and begin funding the research, we can improve exponentially. We will continue to invest under the corporate name, ABT Inc."

"Why aren't you included in the corporate name, Ted?"

"Because it is your inheritance. I know I should have talked to you about this, but you would have protested. I'll work with the Goblins to give you a crash course in investments, but they have good instincts for how to get the most gold because they get a commission. Money is everything to them."

June 1998

"Hush little baby, don't say a word," Andromeda sang to her two-month-old grandson as she rocked him and fed him a bottle.

There was a knock on the door and a voice called out, "Andromeda, are you there?"

"I'm here, Harry," she answered. "Please, come on in."

He entered the sitting room and approached them and kissed the cheek of the woman and the head of the baby. "Pour yourself a cup of tea and have a biscuit. Please sit down." She continued rocking the baby. "What brings you around?

"I have a proposal for you because Rangnok at Gringotts says you can be discrete."

"He's been talking out of school. I thought we had an arrangement," she said quietly. "Okay, Harry, why has he been talking to you."

Harry went on to explain, "I have been working with the acting Minister on the trials and retributions. They have been seizing property to pay for the rebuilding and aiding displaced witches, wizards and muggles." Andromeda held her breath and waited for the next shoe to drop. "Imagine their surprise when they found out that 62 percent of Malfoy Potions and Pharmaceuticals was not owned by the Malfoy family, but by ABT Inc. In fact, the Malfoys have not had a majority of the company for a couple of years." Harry quirked an eyebrow, then went on. The trials begin in a couple of days and I was wondering if you could help me."

"What can I do for you, Harry?" Andromeda asked, ignoring the previously unasked question.

"I'm going to testify for Draco and Mrs. Malfoy at their trials, therefore, I cannot vote with the Wizengamot. I need a couple of fair proxies."

"Couple of proxies?" Andromeda asked. "I know you are the heir to the Potter Family seat, but who else?"

"Noble and Most Ancient House of Black," Harry stated. "Does that ring a bell?"

"How did that happen?" she inquired. "I thought the line had died out."

"When Regulus died the line may not have died. He must not have been formally declared the heir to replace Sirius because once Sirius was out of Azkaban, the house elf responded to him. Sirius was able to enter the family home unimpeded even though the had been blasted from the Tapestry. Hell, you were able to enter for the Order meetings in spite of what Wallburga's portrait said. The Ministry records never showed Regulus as heir, nor did the vaults and Goblins at Gringotts. Back to the topic, I would like you to serve as permanent proxy for the Black seat until Teddy is old enough.

"Oh, Harry, I am honored!" she exclaimed. "Who is your Potter proxy?"

"I've asked Professor Sprout to serve during the trials. When I am not available due to Auror training in the future, I've asked Professor McGonagall. I will not appoint a permanent proxy for the Potter seat since I plan on marrying and producing an heir sometime in the future."

"That seems sensible," she agreed.

"Next, I want to talk to you about the Black vaults and properties." Then he asked, "Are you aware of the extent of the vaults?"

"Extensive."

"More than extensive. It is unreal. I need to keep a majority of the Black holdings to retain the Black title and pass it along. I plan on passing it to Teddy when he is old enough, so until then I will keep 52 percent of the Black holdings. I am dividing the other 48 percent between you, Narcissa, Draco, and Teddy. I will be giving you yours as soon as we can go to Gringotts. You can either access the vaults or transfer money. If you want to wait until Narcissa and Draco are free and the ministry cannot confiscate the Black legacy, you can. Personally, I think they have gone overboard and taken entirely too much from some families."

"What do you mean?"

"When Parkinson was sent to Azkaban for ten years last week, 90 percent of his holdings were confiscated. Pricilla was given house arrest with no magic, but they have warded off her house to deny entry by her or her children, except for the kitchen, drawing room and downstairs loo."

"Where can she sleep? Eat? Bathe?" Andromeda was horrified.

"The furniture was left exactly as it was, so she has two sofas and a loveseat along with the five easy chairs and straight chairs and assorted tables to sleep on. There is no shower in the loo, which was pointed out, but ignored by the Wizengamot when sentencing was passed."

"What about the girls?" Andromeda worried.

"Pansy is sentenced to return to Hogwarts and complete her N.E.W.T. s and then she will have six months of community service. She is to live at home until school starts and then remain there until she is finished. She will have to return home when she is done. Poppy will be starting her first year at Hogwarts and only has to return home for the summer. Pricilla's community service will be twelve months. And then she will be free."

"That is not right. They should have either moved her to alternate housing or given her more rooms to occupy."

"No, it is not right. Some of us are doing what we can do. Hermione has reorganized S.P.E.W., which she started in school."

Andromeda thought a moment then asked, "What's spew?"

"Not spew. It is S.P.E.W., Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare. She researched the sentencing wording once the first sentence to house arrest was set down and discovered a loop-hole. The person sentenced to have their magic bound and perform no magic has nothing in their sentencing that says others cannot perform magic for them. Strange they cannot read the Profit, but someone can apparate them."

"Interesting." She arose and took the sleeping baby to his room and returned. "What do the elves have to do with it?"

"The elves were going to all be set free until Hermione intervened and said they would die if not bound. She said pureblooded Wizengamot members should know this, or maybe they did but didn't care about sentient beings. She was able to argue that she would take them and bind them to S.P.E.W. and send them to help wizards and witches needing help. She showed them children without parents and nobody to watch them; she showed them adults needing constant medical care; she showed them families of Muggleborns rebuilding their homes from nothing and unable to make insurance claims. It was quite a heartbreaking presentation and they voted unanimously to allow her to bond all elves that were confiscated that chose not to work for Hogwarts or the ministry to S.P.E.W. It seems that elves can be bound to organizations as well as families. As head of S.P.E.W. Hermione is their "mistress" and can assign them tasks. She can also ask the elves to obey others as necessary, like Lucius being the Master of the Malfoy elves, but extension when Narcissa married him or Draco as heir to the Ancient House of Malfoy."

"And can you order Black elves about?"

"Sad to say, most have died," Harry responded. "There's only Kreacher left. We think that as long as Sirius was alive in Azkaban he would have survived, but there wasn't enough wizarding energy to keep the rest alive."

Harry went on, "Hermione is trying to assign one or two of the family elves back to their original families, for the health and comfort of both parties. She is doing this discretely so the Wizengamot will not close the loop-hole. Starving those under house arrest to death or their living in firth are two of the things that Hermione worries about. She is also concerned that if they are left totally alone in some cases, with only the Aurors popping in and out to search the properties and remove objects, some will go crazy. This is why I need you to be my proxy. You need to make certain the loop-hole remains in the standard sentencing agreement."

"So, how's Pricilla holding up?" Andromeda remembered her from her youth.

"Hermione has assigned Maize and Herb to taking care of the Parkinsons. When Hermione visited it was awkward until she suggested the Aurors check to see if the back garden would be included in accessibility. Don't know why they always come and go in pairs, but it was to Hermione's advantage. While they were out, she changed the sofas into muggle hide-a-beds and the kitchen pantry into a shower hidden behind the shelves of food. She also added an alarm to notify them when someone was coming. The Aurors came back and said that the porch could be accessed by the Parkinson women, but not the lawn. When she left, she pulled Pansy aside under the pretext of talking about getting hers and Poppy's books for the school term and told her to expect the elves to come and teach them about cooking and cleaning and keep them from sight when the Aurors were about the place. Hermione said that she had never seen Pansy hug anyone else so tight except Draco in fourth year."

"How was Hermione not sorted into Slytherin?"

"Muggleborn, although the hat considered it and Ravenclaw. She was nearly a hat-stall."

"What about Teddy when I'm sitting with the Wizengamot?" Andromeda clearly didn't want to be separated from her grandson.

"Molly says that she needs something different to think about and has agreed to come with you on the days the Wizengamot meets. She will watch him in Arthur's Office while you are in meetings. She is also spending time with Fred at St. Mungo's, but since he is still in a coma, there's little to do but sit. The Weasleys are taking turns to he is never alone with only the hospital staff around him."

"That won't be too much for her, will it?"

Harry laughed, "No, I swear she thrives on caregiving. It seems to make her stronger."