Author's Note – this story begins in the aftermath of the final battle (a.k.a. Battle of Hogwarts).
Also note that this story will contain disturbing and/or adult themes. If this offends you, feel free to read something else. You have been warned.
I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER (duh)
"speech"
"thought"
Chapter 1. – The Price of Victory.
Ronald Weasley was dying. The wounds he received during his battle with Fenrir Grayback refused to stop bleeding and were resisting both magical healing and mundane bandages. He had lost too much blood, and his friends were just trying to make his last moments as comfortable as possible.
"Her-Hermione," Ron said, his voice shaking with effort of speaking.
"I'm here Ron," the witch in question told him, taking his hand in hers.
"I love you, 'Mione," he said weakly, reaching up to stroke her face.
"I love you too, Ron," she told him, tears in her eyes, before leaning down to kiss him gently.
Ron returned her kiss, then looked over at Harry, "Take care of – take care of her for me, will you mate?"
"I will, I promise," Harry assured his best friend of seven years.
"Thanks Harry," Ron replied, "I owe you one."
Ron kissed Hermione once more, before settling back down, resting between his friends. They held his hands as he went cold.
"What was the point of it all?" Harry thought to himself. "Voldemort's gone, but so is everyone else."
It had been two days since Voldemort had died, and Harry was sinking into a depression. So many of his friends had died in the last battle; Neville, Remus and Tonks, Colin Creevey, Lavender Brown, and even Snape. The Weasleys had hit him hardest, though. The entire family of nine had been killed, robbing him of both his best friend and his girlfriend.
"What do we do now?" Harry asked, not expecting an answer. "How do things go back to normal after all this?"
"You can't go back, Harry," came a familiar dreamy voice, "you can only go forward."
Harry turned to the new arrival with a sad smile.
"You always know just what I need to hear, don't you Luna?" he said. "It's good to see you."
"I enjoy seeing you too, Harry," Luna replied as she sat down next to him, looking over the lake.
After a moment's companionable silence, Harry tentatively asked, "Have you heard from your dad yet?"
"He's dead, Harry," she replied. "I found out this morning. The Death Eaters sent him to Azkaban, and he died there."
Although she said it in the same matter of fact tone and dreamy voice that she said everything, Harry could see the tears in her eyes at this statement, and acting on impulse, he pulled her into a hug.
"I'm so sorry, Luna," he told her, "it's my fault, if you hadn't tried to help me, then–"
"It's not your fault, Harry," Luna told him. "Daddy wanted to fight, and his paper was the only weapon he had. It's not your fault."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Harry asked, unwilling to let go of his guilt so easily.
Luna paused a moment, hesitating before she spoke, "I'm supposed to go into Gringotts tomorrow to settle Daddy's debts, would, if it's not too much trouble, would you come with me?"
Harry turned to look at Luna. He had never heard her sound unsure about anything before. Clearly there was more going on here that he wasn't seeing.
"Of course I'll go with you Luna," he told her. "Ever since we met, you've been there when I needed you, of course I'll go with you."
"That way I can find out what's wrong," he thought to himself.
Even if it was only momentarily, even if it turned out to be nothing, Harry Potter had a purpose in life again.
"Hey Hermione," Harry said. "How's everyone?"
Hermione looked up from where she had been brewing healing potions.
"I think we've helped everyone who can be helped," she said. "The seriously injured are all stabilized so we're just waiting for the go ahead to transport them to St. Mungo's. How about you Harry? How are you holding up?"
"As well as can be expected, I suppose," Harry said with the sad smile that he wore so frequently the last couple of days. "I just talked to Luna."
"Did she find anything out about her father yet?" Hermione asked.
"He's gone," Harry said sadly. "He died in Azkaban. Luna has to go to London tomorrow to settle his debts. She asked if I would go with her. She seemed really scared about something."
"Of course she was scared!" Hermione snapped. "She has to settle her father's debts! Do have any idea what that implies?"
"No, not really," Harry told her. "Do wizards still have debtors' jail or something?"
Hermione sighed. "No Harry," she said softly, "it's worse than that. If someone buys up her debts, then – depending on how much Mr. Lovegood owed – she'll basically be their slave. Why do you think Crabbe and Goyle followed Malfoy around? But it's worse for witches, Harry. Historically, buying up debts has been used as a way to force witches into marriage, or to become a mistress."
At this, Harry's blood ran cold. "No," he stated with an air of absolute finality. "I will not let that happen to Luna. No way in hell."
The next morning saw Harry and Luna walking the road to Hogsmeade together, hand in hand. The blonde Ravenclaw was understandably nervous, so Harry took it upon himself to reassure her.
"Don't worry," he told her, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."
"Thank you, Harry," Luna said, leaning against him as they walked. "You're a good friend."
"So are you Luna," he told her. "Sometimes I think that you're the only one who ever understood me. I wish…" he trailed off, looking thoughtful.
"You wish what, Harry?" Luna asked, looking at him curiously.
"I wish I'd met you sooner," Harry said. "I wish I'd been there to help you more. I wish I'd done a lot of things differently."
""You can't go back, Harry," she said repeating what she had told him the day before, "you can only go forward."
"I'm going to go forward," he told her. "I'm going to take care of the friends that I have left. You and Hermione both, you've always been there for me through everything, and you've always trusted me and never doubted me."
Luna simply smiled at him and said nothing. They finished their walk in companionable silence, until they passed beyond the anti-apparition wards surrounding Hogwarts, at which point they disappeared with a sharp crack of displaced air, reappearing in a similar manner in front of the front steps of Gringotts.
They walked in, and Harry approached one of the tellers. If he was going to help Luna, he had to see what his resources were.
"Excuse me," Harry said, "I'm here with my friend to settle the Lovegood accounts. But as we seem to be a bit early for our meeting in that regard, I'd like a quick estimate of my own assets, if that's alright."
The goblin looked up, and upon realizing who it was, spoke, "Ah, Mr. Potter, we've been attempting to contact you in regard to your inheritance from the late Mr. Black. You'll be happy to know that the question of the Black estate has finally been resolved, and in your favor. If you'll wait in the third reception room, a representative will be with you shortly. Gutrip will take you there."
At this, he gestured to another goblin, who bowed to Harry, before saying, "This way please, you may bring your lady friend if you like."
Harry thanked him, unsure what was happening and blushing slightly at Gutrip's implication, then went over to where Luna was waiting. A quick explanation later, and they were both following Gutrip down a hallway to a small room with a table and several straight-backed chairs. After a few minutes, the door opened and an older goblin that walked with a slight limp let himself in.
"Ah, Mr. Potter," he said, as he sat down across from Harry and Luna, "forgive me for keeping you waiting. I am Steelheart, Gringotts' official representative for inheritance disputes."
"Actually, sir," Harry told him, "I was unaware that there was any inheritance dispute. Sirius already left me Number 12 Grimmauld Place, didn't he?"
"Yes he did, Mr. Potter," Steelheart said, "as did he leave you the balance of his personal savings. However, his will also stated that he left you the majority of the Black family estate. This was contested by the Malfoy family, who claimed that Sirius had no right to leave you anything, as he had been cast out of the family, and that the Black estates should go to his cousin Narcissa Malfoy. However, the Malfoys' claim has been has been dismissed due to the criminal charges that they currently face. As such, the Last Will and Testament of Sirius Black can now be carried out without interference."
Fifteen minutes and many signatures later, Harry found himself almost two million galleons richer. It turned out that the Black family's assets were worth just short of three and a half of a million galleons. Of this, Sirius had willed roughly half a million to "his favorite cousin" Andromeda Tonks – "in hopes that she retire somewhere pleasant" – with similar portions going to Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks – on the condition that "they stop making excuses and go out on a date" – which would placed in trust until their son Teddy came of age. The remainder had gone to Harry. While the majority of this was not in the form of liquid funds, it was still more money than Harry had ever imagined having. He was not obscenely wealthy like the Malfoys, but he had enough to settle down and live comfortably for several lifetimes.
As they left the meeting with Steelheart, Harry was abuzz with confidence as he planned how to use his new wealth to care for his friends. He would pay off Luna's debts, then invite her and Hermione to stay with him at Grimmauld Place. Between the three of them they could probably even make the place pleasant. After that, they would finish their schooling (seeing as how he and Hermione had missed their final year and Luna had spent a large portion of hers being held captive by Voldemort).
Luna, on the other hand, was still nervous. She didn't know how much her father had owed, and if she couldn't find a way to pay, she would wind up indentured, a slave in all but name – possibly a sex slave. The fact of her father's death had yet to sink in. It all didn't seem real; part of her kept expecting him to wander out of a closet claiming that he'd been locked in by nargles. On top of that, she was painfully aware of being underground, and it was bringing back memories that she would rather forget of her enforced stay at Malfoy Manor. The only thing keeping her from sheer terror was the raven haired teen beside her. Harry had promised that he wouldn't let anything happen to her, and she trusted Harry with her life, almost literally in this case. Not that she expected him to pay her debts for her, they weren't his responsibility even if were possible for him to do so, but she simply knew that he would help her get through this somehow.
Hermione had been helping the injured almost nonstop since the battle ended, trying desperately to keep from having to remember that Ron was dead. So when she woke up feeling nauseous and discovered that she had slept to nearly noon, she assumed it was the result of stress and exhaustion. However, being the thorough person that she was (she refused to admit to obsessive compulsive, even to herself), she cast a quick diagnostic charm that would tell her the exact state of her body…whereupon she dropped her wand in shock. After casting the spell three more times and getting the same result each time, she curled up on her bed and began to cry.
"Oh Ron," she sobbed. "What am I going to do?"
As she cried, one hand went down to caress her belly, which she now knew carried her dead lover's child.