Author's Note: The Potter universe and all it's characters, places, names, etc. are not my creation, all credit belongs to JKR. All ideas for this continuation are my own.
This chapter is going to begin just a few minutes after the end of the previous one. I know it's a lot about just a few days time, but these chapters are going to set plots in motion for quite a while down the road.
Chapter 2 - Grief
"Ron, wake up! Breakfast is getting cold already!"
Ron grumbled at the sound of his mother knocking on his door. He had been hoping to sleep in today, but that didn't seem to be in the cards for him. "Allright… allright…" he mumbled at the door, groaning as he contemplated opening his eyes for the first time that day.
He shifted his weight around, feeling something soft next to him. This caused him to wake up quite suddenly, realizing that the something soft was Hermione. Turning his head a bit, he saw her lying there next to him, awake and smiling.
Hermione couldn't help but giggle at the look on his face. "Good morning Ron," she said softy with a grin still on her face.
Ron looked at her a bit sheepishly for the way he had gotten startled. "Good morning to you too..." he said, rubbing his face with a palm. "Did Mum wake you too?"
She propped herself up on an elbow and shook her head. "No, I've been up for a bit. I was, umm, " she stopped and blushed a little, "watching you sleep and kind of daydreaming."
Ron stared at her, his mouth slightly opened as if he were surprised, but then he smiled, leaned over and brought her into a kiss. It was short and sweet, and they were both smiling at the end of it. "That's sweet, but what you see in me, I have no clue. So, I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing, and consider myself lucky."
Hermione grinned and pushed him back playfully into his pillow. "Ronald Weasley, sometimes you…" she trailed off with a look of mirth on her face, shaking her head. Leaning in over him, she planted another kiss on his lips, then sat up straight.
"I should probably Apparate down to Ginny's room and come downstairs from there," she said, getting out of bed and standing up. "There'd be too many questions…"
Ron nodded, stretching his arms up. "Yeah, and as much as I wouldn't care about them from everyone, it's Mum we should be worried about," he said with a playfully ominous tone in his voice.
Hermione grinned and nodded, then turned on the spot and vanished into thin air with the quietest of pops.
Downstairs, Ginny and Harry had nearly finished with their breakfast and were discussing what they wanted to do with the day. Nearly everyone else in the family had trickled down from their bedrooms to grab something to eat before heading off to work. Arthur, Charlie, and Percy all looked rather excited, mentioning a meeting they were each going to have with Minister Shacklebolt that day.
George looked equally as excited to get back to work at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. The store had been shut down for most of the last year, and he was itching to clean up the place and restock so it could open soon. Molly looked at him for a bit while he talked, worry plainly evident on her face. Ginny caught her eye, and the two Weasley women nodded slightly to each other.
Seeing Harry's puzzlement, Ginny leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Mum's been worried about George; with Fred gone and everything. I think it's a good idea for him to get back to work, it'll make him happier than just sitting around here all day long."
Harry nodded, knowing that it was going to be tough for everyone for a while. Bill and Fleur came downstairs after a bit as well, making plans to get all of their things cleaned up and packed. Molly frowned a bit at this news as well. It was obvious that she wanted to be able to keep an eye on her whole family after the events of the last year, but she seemed resigned to the fact that everyone needed to live their own lives. Her mood improved greatly when the couple said that they were going to look for a new home closer to London and the Burrow than all the way out at Shell Cottage.
Finally, Hermione and Ron joined them at the table after everyone else had left. Both of them had smiles on as they sat next to each other and Ginny looked pointedly at Hermione as she raised an eyebrow. Hermione just kept on smiling over at her, with a look that meant they'd talk later.
From the fireplace in the next room, they could all hear a Whoosh!. Molly set down the pan she had been magically scrubbing and went to go see who it was. Harry, who was sitting at the end of the table, could just barely see into the room. It seemed as if she was talking to the fireplace, but he knew that she was getting a message from somebody through the Floo Network.
They could all hear the booming voice they knew to be Kingsley's, but none of them could make out what was being said. The conversation was over quickly, and before they heard the emerald green flames die out, Molly was back in the kitchen. There was an amused look on her face as she stood near the table, looking at the four of them sitting there.
"What is it Mum?" Ron asked, before stuffing a piece of bacon into his mouth. The others were all curious as well, and looked at Mrs. Weasley expectantly.
She smiled, still somewhat amused. "Well, it seems that the lot of you have some letters arriving today. Quite a lot of letters actually," she said, trailing off. Seeing the quizzical looks from them, she continued. "Kingsley wanted to tell us personally that Hogwarts and the Ministry were going to be sending over all the mail you lot have been accumulating over the past few days. He said there's a couple hundred letters and packages so far from admirers, fans, letters of thanks, all sorts. He also said not to worry about any tampering, the Ministry's already gone through everything and that no letter hexes, solutions, or anything else like that should have gotten through."
As she finished speaking, they could all hear a loud Pop! in the living room. Everyone headed in there, to find nearly a dozen large cloth bags on the floor, bursting at the seams with letters and packages.
"Wow," and "Oh…" were about the only things that anyone could say for a full minute as they tried to comprehend the amount of letters and parchment scrolls in front of them. Even Molly, who usually had something to say, was silent.
As the quartet sat down on various armchairs and couches, they started peering into all the bags. Hermione was looking around all of them, a concentrated look on her face. "There's easily a thousand letters here…" she said, a look of wonder on her face.
"This is incredible," Ron said, reaching for a letter with his name on it and ripping the envelope open to read it. He started laughing almost immediately. "Mrs. Gertrude Barnswallow of Tinworth congratulating me on my role in defeating You-Know-Who, and inviting me to dinner some night so she can hear what happened first-hand."
Everyone started laughing with him, and pretty soon all of them were searching through bags for ones addressed to them. Molly had a thoughtful look on her face, and after asking them all to hold on for a second, she jabbed her wand at the large sacks. Letters and parchment rolls flew around the ceiling for a few seconds, and then all dropped into neat piles near each of them.
Harry's pile was, of course, bigger than anyone else's, but Hermione and Ron still had about two hundred letters each, and Ginny's pile was nothing to laugh at. There was a separate stack of letters off to the side for the rest of the Weasley family, and these Mrs. Weasley picked up and and carried into the kitchen, leaving the four friends to pick through their mail.
They all smiled at the thank you letters, reading some bits out loud, though the sound of rustling paper was the most prevalent. Each of them received requests for endorsements of wizarding products, and plenty of requests for interviews and rights to biographies. All four received a letter from Rita Skeeter as well, asking, politely for a change, for them to contact her about an "opportunity to make mountains of Galleons."
"Good grief," Hermione said with a smirk on her face. "As if we'd ever partner with that woman on anything."
Harry was blushing after reading one of the letters, which caused Ginny to snatch it out of his hand before he could stop her. With a short laugh, she brought the tip of her wand to the paper and set it on fire, watching it burn up instantly in a small puff of smoke. She looked at Hermione and Ron, who were looking puzzled back at her. Shrugging, she explained her action. "No one gets to propose to Harry…"
They all laughed, and soon Hermione and Ginny were going through Ron and Harry's mail and giggling together, looking for proposals, pictures and requests for dates. Every one of those went up in flames. Harry and Ron could only grin and look at each other, not wanting to say anything that would set their two ladies off.
There were some snide messages as well. Harry read one out to them all which had them snorting and giggling into their hands by the last sentence. "And now that You-Know-Who is gone for good, I hope you will retire quietly and refrain from making a scene wherever you go."
He rolled his eyes as he set the letter aside, watching his best friends grinning. "What are you lot going on about?"
Ginny, who was sitting down on the other end of the same couch, smiled impishly as she poked Harry's leg with her toes. "What do you say Harry, want to go make a scene in Diagon Alley later on?"
Harry chuckled, "What kind of scene did you have in mind, Ginny?" he asked teasingly, shifting on the couch so he was closer to her.
Ginny moved closer to him as well, whispering something into his ear that made him blush a bright red. That earned her a kiss, a short and sweet, but chaste one. Ron also got red in the face, but not for the same reason.
"Oi! I get you two are like, back together and everything, but not in public!" he said with a half-scowl on his face.
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, getting up and hitting him with a large rolled up piece of parchment. "Let them be. Besides, it gives us license to do the same," she said, leaning down to him and kissing him as well.
The blush on his face only got deeper, which made them all laugh. It was a good feeling, Harry thought, to be able to sit around and relax with the people that meant the most to him, and not having to worry about the next bit of danger coming their way.
The rest of the day passed along without anything else exciting or new happening, which suited the four friends pretty well. It was a relaxing day, mostly spent outside in the crisp spring air. Between taking an afternoon swim in the pond, and chasing each other around on brooms most of the afternoon, they were all pretty tired by the end of of the night, and turned in one by one.
As she watched Hermione and Ron walk up the stairs, Ginny realized that they would want to have some time alone again. When she heard the door upstairs close, she leaned over towards Harry, who was sitting next to her, and kissed him on the cheek. "Come upstairs when you're ready," she said quietly, with a small smile.
He nodded. "I'll be there in a bit," he said, looking into the fireplace where there wasn't any fire going.
Ginny stood and placed a hand on his shoulder for a moment before walking up the stairs, stopping for a moment to look back at him. She had noticed that he had gotten into a quiet mood after dinner. He had a lot of things to mull over, she decided, and kept going to her room, knowing that he would join her when he was ready.
Harry stared into the fireplace for a while, the events of the last couple of days and further back playing in his head. The evening crickets had long stopped their chorus of noise when he looked around the room, and realized that it was well past midnight. He sighed, and walked into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea before heading upstairs.
Just as he had poured some hot water over the tea leaves, he heard feet on the stairs. "I'm sorry, I lost track of time Gi..." he said, looking up and stopping when he saw that it was Molly, dressed in a long housecoat over her sleepwear.
She smiled back at him. "Are you alright Harry?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, I think I am. I was just doing a lot of thinking is all," he said, trying not make it seem all that important.
Mrs. Weasley nodded slowly and took a seat at the table, looking back at him. "Why don't you bring another cup and that pot over dear, I want to talk with you…" she said quietly.
Wondering what this was all about, Harry did as she asked and poured a hot cup of tea for her, setting it in front of her before getting his own and sitting next to her, where she was patting her hand on the bench.
There were a few moments of awkward silence before she spoke. "Harry, I'm worried about you," she said, looking up at him.
Harry was surprised at this. "Ermm, why? I mean, for the first time in a year, well my whole life actually, I don't have anyone trying to kill me. I'm going back to Hogwarts, I'll play Quidditch, think about what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. And, well," he said, blushing a little, "Ginny and I are back together, so everything's good, really."
"Those are all external, Harry," she said, lifting her hand and moving it towards him. She continued, "What I'm worried about is what's going on in here, and here," placing her hand on the top of his head, then over his heart.
Harry just stared at her quietly for a moment, then looked off through the window for a bit.
After a few long moments of silence, Mrs. Weasley sighed quietly. "Harry, please look at me."
He did, and found her looking directly into his eyes. "Dear, you've been through so much in your life, much more than people ever have to go through, and you're only seventeen. Even before you learned about what happened to your parents, you certainly didn't have a normal and safe childhood. You've lost so much, witnessed many horrible things, and had to do so many dreadful things. Most people wouldn't be able to deal with it all.
"Facing Voldemort at eleven, accused of being Slytherin's Heir, accused of cheating your way into the Triwizard Tournament, of lying about Voldemort coming back, laughed at in the papers, losing your godfather and Dumbledore. But Harry, even though each time you came out on top, you stayed quiet, composed, sometimes without any emotion.
"Harry I've known you since you started at Hogwarts, and I've seen you every summer since. I've been watching you, and not just here. I've always asked my children about you, in every letter, whenever we speak."
Harry's face showed a little betrayal as she said this, his mind racing through wild thoughts about all his friends blabbering about him.
Molly smiled warmly. "It's not what you think Harry. I was always asking how you were, were you eating enough, sleeping enough, what you were worried about, things like that. Ron never told me a thing, and Ginny, well Ginny has always been protective of you Harry. I remember one time I had been asking Ginny all sorts of questions and she finally had enough, and she said 'Mum, lay off of Harry, ok? I'm keeping an eye on him.'"
She let this soak in for a moment, watching Harry closely. "Harry, what I'm trying to say is this. You can't keep everything inside of you, it's just not good at all. I know you feel guilty about the battle, asking people to fight while you tried to stop him, but really that's all hogwash. You are a victim to everything that's happened, not the cause of it. Grief is okay Harry, most everyone is grieving right now, but it's the guilt that you need to toss aside. Don't let it consume you Harry, please…"
His eyes stayed with hers for what seemed like ages, and then they started to well up with tears and let loose at the same time. He shut his eyes and the sobbing started. Harry could feel Molly pulling his head down on her shoulder and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. As she did that, he could feel the walls that he had put up in his mind breaking apart, and he allowed them to fall apart. Everything that he had kept bottled up; his parents, Sirius, Dumbledore, Lupin, Tonks, Fred, all his worries about Hermione and the Weasleys, it all fell away.
Molly didn't say a thing, letting her embrace and the love it represented do all the 'talking'. It took a few minutes for the tears to dry up and the shaking to stop. He finally lifted his head and the hug was broken, and he looked at her. His face was all red and splotchy with stains of tears, but he had a small, genuine smile.
"There we go," she said quietly, with a smile of her own. "That's the smile I was looking for, not the one you used when you were trying to convince everyone you were alright. It suits you Harry, you should use it more often."
He sniffled once, and nodded. "I will. It'll be a lot easier now that I have a true family."
It was Molly's turn to tear up a bit, but the smile on her face stopped it from being anything more than just a few tears. She grabbed a napkin off the table and dabbed at her eyes a bit, then looked back at him. "Thank you Harry, you don't know how much it means to me to hear you say that."
She placed her hands around her cooling cup of tea and looked down for a bit before looking back to him. "You know Harry, I meant what I said this morning. You and Ginny are meant for each other, and I'm not saying that just as a mother about her daughter. You've saved her life a few times, and been so protective and worried about her, and she's done the same for you. She's had a place in her heart for you ever since she saw you that First of September when we met you. It's meant to be, I believe."
Harry blushed a little. "Now now," Molly said, smiling at that. "You know what I mean, and you know it to be true, so let's not get any more sappy here. Arthur and I are over the moon about you two, and we couldn't be happier about it."
She placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Now if I'm not mistaken, I think Ginny's up in her room waiting for you, unless she's fallen asleep." He blushed again, trying to find a way to tell her otherwise.
Molly grinned. "Don't think I haven't realized that the sleeping arrangements in this house have changed a little. I'm perfectly alright with that, really, as long as I don't hear anything about it," she said pointedly, her eyes catching his. Harry caught her meaning and nodded.
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," he said as he stood up to walk upstairs.
"Harry, you should really just call me Mum," she said with a warm smile. "You are part of this family, no matter what's going on between you and Ginny."
Harry smiled and nodded, feeling very much a part of the family with that statement. "Thank you… Mum." With that, he turned and started to climb the stairs.
"Oh Harry," he heard a moment later, and he turned around to look back at her.
"Yeah?"
"Even though you're family," she said sipping at her cup of tea, "if I find out you've crossed Ginny, I will have to turn you into a toad." The way she said it and the smile on her face told Harry that she was mostly joking, trying to put him in a good mood before he fell asleep, but he couldn't help but wonder if she really meant it.
He grinned, and nodded. "Right."
A minute later, he was in Ginny's room, quietly closing the door behind him. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the dark, and saw that Ginny was in bed, asleep by the looks of things. He smiled, and with a wave of his wand changed his clothes to pajamas, and crawled into bed next to her. Noticing that she didn't wake, he smiled and put his arm around her, bringing himself all the way to her back. He laid there against her for a moment, taking in the smell of her hair before kissing the back of her head and whispering, "Good night, Ginny," and drifting off himself.
Other than a few incidents with overzealous reporters wanting to talk to Harry, Hermione, Ron and some other Weasley family members, the next few weeks at the Burrow were as relaxing as Harry could ever remember. After taking care of chores each day as assigned by Molly, the four of them spent their time lounging about outside by day and in the living room or their own rooms by night. Ron was spending a good amount of time each day helping George out at the store, which was scheduled to re-open in a few weeks time.
Harry had never been at the Burrow in late spring before, and enjoyed the cooler weather here much more than the heat of summer that he was used to. He was also enjoying all the time he and Ginny had to spend together. The two were inseparable from morning until night, and more often than not they slept together in Ginny's room, after Molly had told Harry that she knew of all the room switching.
Ginny and Hermione had blushed furiously when Harry mentioned it and Ron had a strange look about his face. Although, his was probably the result of both the thought of his mother knowing and the thought of his little sister and Harry sharing a bed as well.
One morning, after everyone had left, Hermione, Ginny and Harry agreed that while there was quite a bit to do around the Burrow, cabin fever was starting to set in.
"How about we go visit Diagon Alley?" Ginny thought out loud. "Dad said that it was starting to get back to normal over there and we can see if George and Ron are messing around, instead of actually working like they say they are."
They all had a laugh at that, Hermione especially. "If Ron's hiding away there every day so he doesn't have to spend time with me, I'd have to hex him…" she said in a matter-of-fact tone, but the grin on her face betrayed her speech. "Besides, if stores are opening back up, we could start getting everything we need for school."
She saw the look on their faces and grinned. "Trust me, it's not like I'd rather be back at Hogwarts right now, but wouldn't it be better to get some stuff out of the way now before the rest of the school gets their letters and make a mad rush to shop?"
Harry agreed with her. "I see your point. I should stop at Gringotts too, they keep sending me owls. Even though we don't know all the books we'll need, you and I do need to replace a lot of things that we lost or left behind in places while we were off hunting Horcru…"
He stopped mid-word at Ginny's expression. "Everything ok Gin?" he asked, concerned.
She nodded a bit.
"Yes, Im sorry. I just don't like thinking about that word is all," she said quietly, and both of her friends understood why. Harry had told the girls and Ron about everything that had happened, including his decision to allow himself to be 'killed' by Voldemort so that the final Horcrux attached to his soul could be broken. He hadn't mentioned that part of the story to anyone, not even Molly or Professor McGonagall, until a few nights ago while they were all sitting around a small campfire they had made.
Hermione and Ron had taken it as well as he thought they would, but Ginny had burst into tears. It had taken the three of them quite a bit of time to calm her down and for the rest of the night she held onto Harry's arm as if he would disappear on her.
Harry nodded and squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry, I'll try not to bring it up again."
Ginny shook her head. "No, it's okay, really. I just have to get used to the fact that you are the Boy Who Lived, Twice." Her smile was wide with that but Harry could tell that she was still mulling over things in her mind.
A few minutes later, with wands in their pockets, the three of them stepped out of the fireplace at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes one by one. They didn't see anyone at first, but heard noises from the nearby backroom. Hermione poked her head past the curtain, and grinned at the sight of Ron halfway up a small ladder, using his wand to float a rather large box of spare parts down to the ground.
When he saw her there he lost his train of thought for a moment and the box of parts came crashing down the last two or three feet to the ground. The sound brought the others looking and they had a laugh while helping Ron pick everything up.
"What's all this?" George asked, poking his head back and scowling. He looked at the sight before him and laughed. "Well Ron, if I had wanted help trashing the place again I could've asked the Death Eaters to come back…"
Ron flushed, but before he could say anything Harry spoke up, grinning. "Sorry George, we were just going to do a bit of shopping and used your fireplace to travel."
George waved him off. "Fine by me, just don't leave any soot on the carpets; I had a professional cleaning witch in here yesterday and she billed me an amount that's gonna take a while to recover from." He looked pained as he said it, though they could tell he was in good spirits.
As Harry, Ginny and Hermione stepped out of the store and looked around, they were pleased to see that the Alley was slowly returning to its former glory. It seemed as if all the major stores were already re-opened and that most of the others had signs out saying they'd be back soon enough. They walked down the street a little, chatting happily. Harry had hoped to see Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor open but it was still shuttered tightly.
Hermione mentioned something about getting some books to read and headed off to Flourish and Blotts, leaving Ginny and Harry to wander for a bit.
"Harry," Ginny said as they walked along, "didn't you say you needed to stop at Gringotts?"
Harry nodded, his lips pressed together. "I do, they keep sending me letters saying that I need to stop in to talk about my account, but I'm worried about, well, you know…"
Ginny understood what he meant almost instantly. "Oh, when you guys broke in," she said quietly. "Well, honestly Harry I think it'll be ok. From what Mum and Dad say about the Gringotts goblins, they don't tend to hold grudges really. For them, it's all about contracts and such. Besides, you only stole the cup right? I'm sure they'll understand why you did it."
He nodded again, still anxious about it. "Alright, let's go then."
Once inside the bank, Harry looked around and was amazed; the whole place looked just as it did before they had ripped through the lobby on the back of that half-blind dragon. He noticed a few of the goblin tellers and accountants looking down at him from their desks as they made their way to the reception desk, some of them scowling.
Since there were no alarms going off, or guards rushing at him, Harry breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the Goblin behind the desk when it came to his turn. "Ah, Hello. Ermm, I'm Harry Potter. I need to make a withdrawal from my vault and I was sent a few letters saying that there was a matter that needed to be discussed?"
The goblin sitting there appraised Harry with a long stare, before nodding. "Yes Mr. Potter, it is good to see you. We do indeed have a few things that need to be handled. Very well, I can arrange a trip down to your vault momentarily and then we will have you speak with an estate banker."
Estate banker, Harry thought over in his head, wondering what was going on. He looked over at Ginny, who was equally as confused and shrugged. The goblin was being just a little too courteous for Harry's liking, he had been expecting some sort of demand to repay the bank for the damages.
As they headed down the corridor to the cart system, they heard a voice behind them. Ginny smiled as she looked behind her. "Hi Bill," she said and Harry was relieved immediately. He had forgotten Bill and Fleur worked here.
"Hi guys. Whatcha' here for?" Bill asked, as a Gringotts goblin walked towards them and summoned a cart.
"Mr. Potter wishes to withdraw from his vault, Mr. Weasley," the goblin said with a wheezy voice.
Bill looked from the goblin and then to Harry. He must have seen some sort of worry on Harry's face because he started for the cart with a smile. "I'll join you lot then. I'm on my break anyway and I haven't had a good ride down to the vaults in a while, Brodock."
Brodock looked at Bill and scowled. "Very well sir, though it will be a tight squeeze for us all."
Ginny giggled as she stepped into the cart, holding her hand out to Harry. "That's alright, I can sit on Harry's lap."
Harry blushed as he saw Bill's grin, and wrapped his arms around Ginny's middle as the cart made it's way down the track. None of them tried to say anything on their way down the caves and tunnels, they wouldn't have been able to with how loud the cart was scratching on the track.
They stopped in front of Harry's vault and piled out as Brodock held his hand out for Harry's key. As he opened the vault, Harry wished for a moment that Bill and Ginny weren't here to see it. He knew the topic of money was a touchy one with the family. He quickly walked into the vault and looked around, seeing that nothing seemed to have been touched.
After a minute or so Harry reckoned he had wedged a good supply of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts into his money bag and stepped out to where the rest of them were. His eyes didn't meet theirs as they clambered back aboard the cart for the ride back to the surface. Noticing this, Ginny looked back at Harry as the cart started to move and gave him a smile. Harry smiled himself, knowing that she knew what he was feeling.
As they were leaving the cart room, a witch wearing the same colored robes as Bill walked over to the group and introduced herself. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley, it's good to meet you. I'm Larissa McEndry, one of the estate bankers here." She smiled at Bill to acknowledge him and he nodded back. "If you would follow me please, we can talk in Estate Records Room."
Harry followed the witch and when he realized that Ginny nor Bill were following, he looked back.
"Ah, perhaps it's best it just be you Harry," Bill said with a hand on Ginny's shoulder. "These are private things."
Harry shook his head. "No, it's alright. I tell Ginny everything and you work here. You might be able to help me out with things I don't know." He smiled at the both of them and they followed, Ginny slipping her hand into his as they entered the correct room.
The two younger ones couldn't help but to look around the room like children at a sweets shop. The room reminded Harry of his amazement the first time he had stepped into the Great Hall at Hogwarts. The room here was just as big and was covered wall to wall with filing cabinets that were opening, closing, and resizing themselves as files flew magically between them, going in and out of slits in the stone wall to other offices.
The banker witch took a seat at one of the many desks and motioned for the others to sit across from her with a smile. "Well then Mr. Potter, firstly I have to thank you for what you've done, in regards to ridding us of You-Know-Who." Her warm smile eased Harry's mind.
"Even though you were part of one of the only two break-ins in the bank's history, I have been asked to tell you that our Director will not being filing charges against you, or assessing any fees from your vault." She looked at Bill with a smirk and Bill smiled serenely back at her. Harry watched the two of them and decided that Bill had definitely had something to do with what he had just been told.
"Now, onto the matter at hand. I apologize Mr. Potter, our records the last few years have been slipping, especially with all that has happened. The letters you've been receiving should have been sent right after your 17th birthday, when you rightfully inherited several vaults and estates."
Harry looked at her, surprised. "Umm, several?"
The blank stare on his face brought a smirk to the banker's face. "Yes, Mr. Potter. As you know, your parents left you your vault, in the event of their demise. This vault however, did not contain all of your parent's worth. Since you are now of age, you are now the owner of the Potter Family Vault, number 486."
Larissa raised her wand and pointed it at a filing cabinet and caught the file folder that flew at her. She opened the file and began to review it. "The Potter Family account currently contains almost three times the amount in your personal account, along with various artifacts, family heirlooms and possessions they brought here for safe keeping in the months before their passing. All the stored possessions have been appraised in recent years and have been valued at almost one hundred and fifty thousand galleons."
"In addition, the estate also contains your parent's homes and properties. There is of course Potter Manor and the house in Godric's Hollow. Your father's parents also left to him a house outside of London and a flat within London proper, not far from the Ministry actually. There are also a few tracts of land around the country that are now yours, none of which have been used or built upon. Outside of Great Britain there are three properties, a beach house in the south of France, a cabin in Canada and a condominium on Grand Cayman Island."
Harry looked at the banker, with what had to be a stunned look on his face. He had never known much about his parents or his father's family. Looking over at Ginny, he saw a look of shock on her face that had to have matched his own. The edges of her mouth were curled upward in a sort of smile as she looked over at Harry, obviously very happy for him. Bill was trying not to meet his eyes and Harry had the sneaking suspicion that Bill had known about this for a while.
"Now then, Mr. Potter, if you will just sign here, acknowledging receipt of the estate," she said sliding a form over to him. Harry recovered enough to sign where he needed to. As he finished his signature a tray appeared on the desk in front of him. Seven sets of keys were laid on the tray with a tag attached to each.
Harry didn't get much of a chance to look at these as Larissa opened another file and looked through it. "This next inheritance is from the Snape estate."
Ginny spoke up, seeing the look on Harry's face. "Snape left something to Harry in his will?"
The other witch nodded. "Indeed. The Snape estate is not very large, and as he was the last of his line, the professor drafted his will to award most of his savings and properties to Hogwarts. However, he did leave to Mr. Potter a sum of three thousand Galleons and this letter."
Harry took the letter and held it for a moment, thinking about what had to be in it's contents. He laid it next to the tray to read later and signed the form that had been placed in front of him.
"Very good," the witch said as she brought forth one more file folder, this one looking very heavy with a good amount of parchment stuck inside of it. They could all see the anticipation on the witch's face as she opened the folder.
"Harry, this is the Black family estate. As you know, your godfather Sirius was the last of his name," she said looking over to Harry who just nodded. "You were already informed that he had left Number 12 Grimmauld Place and his personal savings to you in his will. However, not until very recently, when we were able to research fully and procure proper documentation, were we able to total the full amount of the Black estate."
The witch looked as if she was very excited as she went through the file. "I'm sure you know Harry, that the Black family was very proud of it's pure-blood heritage for many centuries. Because of this, the Black family has been linked by marriage to over five dozen wizarding families over the years. As families died out, and most recently as members were found guilty of charges and sent to Azkaban, the Black Family vault steadily grew. The Lestrange family inheritance is the most recent to be added. Therefore, as well as being able to claim the ancestral seat on the Wizengamot, you now also inherit the Black Family Vault, one of the oldest and most secure here at Gringotts, which now has a total net worth of just over twenty-two million galleons, including stored artifacts, possessions and proceeds from sales of properties."
She produced the proper form and slid it in front of Harry, who felt like he was about to pass out from the information. He heard both Ginny and Bill gasp at the revelation. "I didn't realize…." Bill said quietly with a pale look on his face, one that said he wished he didn't know that information. Ginny was looking at Harry intently, knowing that he was flabbergasted.
With a stoic face, Harry signed the papers and as he put his hands back into his lap, he felt Ginny wriggle her hand into one of his, squeezing it. He squeezed it back silently thanking her.
The banker witch smiled and waved her wand, sending the files back to their homes. "I know it's a bit of a shock Mr. Potter, but it all truly does belong to you. Now, is there anything I can do for you? Any particular instructions as to your accounts?"
Harry slowly found his voice. "Ermm, yes. First, could you please empty the Black vault of its money and place it in a new account? I'd like to keep all their heirlooms where they are, for now. Please add the money from Professor Snape into my Family Vault. As for the personal vault that I've been using, I'd like to turn it and all of its contents over to my godson, Teddy Lupin," he said, a small lump rising in his throat.
Ginny smiled at that before giving Harry a hug. He looked at her with a smile of his own. "There's more than enough in there right now for his grandmother to raise him on, plus paying for everything he needs for Hogwarts when he's old enough. Could you please make sure that Andromeda Tonks is made aware and given full access to the vault?" He directed that last bit towards Larissa, who nodded and looked up from the notes she had been taking.
"Very good Mr. Potter. We can take care of that all."
"Ermm, for the money that was in the Black vault, I'll have to get back to you. I don't want it added to my family's vault, but perhaps we can use it in other ways. I'll have to think about it, but I'll be giving a good chunk of that money away to charities. I can send you an owl in a few days?"
"Of course, Mr. Potter," Ms. McEndry said, her head bobbing up and down. "anything we can do for you, we're at your service."
The two said their goodbyes to Bill and walked out of the large building, taking in the fresh air after being inside or underground for almost an hour. Harry looked around for a moment, then headed straight for an unoccupied bench on the sidewalk and took a seat on it. He closed his eyes and breathed out deeply.
Ginny sat down next to him and wrapped her arm around him, leaning her head on his shoulder and not saying anything. She knew Harry well enough to know when he needed to stew over something in his head by himself. He would eventually talk to her about it and she didn't want to push such a big topic on him.
After a few minutes, Harry opened his eyes and gave her a small smile. She leaned over and kissed him on his cheek. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.
Harry shrugged. "Talk about what, that I probably just became the richest wizard in Britain? I'm sure the Prophet's going to have a field day with that." He looked around, lost in thought for a moment before looking back at her. "It just bothers me Gin', the way that I got most of that money. People had to die for it to happen. I know that's normally how inheritance works, but knowing the Black Family's legacy, I can't help but wonder how they obtained some of it. It just feels dirty to me."
He sighed, placing his head on Ginny's shoulder. "It feels weird too, knowing I have this much money and really, how am I supposed to spend all of it? When I was with the Dursley's I never had anything really and didn't expect to ever have this much. I mean, I'm going to have a job sometime next year too, and that's just gonna add to the mountain of gold under us right now."
Ginny lifted his chin, and held it in her hands with a gentle smile on her face. "So what?" she asked. "Just because you have all this money doesn't mean you have to spend it. You can work and live off the money you make. You're gonna give a lot of it away and that's amazing too. Harry, if anyone deserves what you got today, it's you. Keep it, live your life and give it to your children."
She kissed him on the nose, then pulled him into a tight hug and kiss. As they broke apart, Harry smiled, feeling a lot better and wondering just how in Merlin's name he had found someone he loved so much. He wanted to correct her there, telling her that the money was going to be for their children but he didn't want the conversation to turn awkward. He knew that's what he definitely wanted, to spend the rest of his life with her, he just didn't know how to say it just yet without stuffing it up. He had gained two fortunes today, he knew.
"Thanks Ginny," he said, breathing out deeply.
She grabbed his hand and stood, pulling him up with her. "Don't mention it Harry. Now come on, let's go find Hermione. She's either wondering where we've been or has her head stuck in a book."
Harry grinned. "Probably the book, knowing her."
As they walked back down the street, Ginny looked into the shops around her. "Harry, I hope you know, my feelings for you haven't changed after what just happened. You're still my Harry, my hero," she said looking up at him. "You don't have to go buying me all sorts of expensive presents or anything, though I wouldn't say no…"
She let loose a loud shriek as Harry grabbed her sides and tickled her in response, before pulling her back to him, wrapping an arm around her side. He could tell by the look on her face that she was kidding and trying to lighten the mood. He leaned over and drew her in for a kiss right there in the middle of the street.
They stood there among the light crowd of shoppers, pressed up against each other and kissing like fools, until the pains in their chests told them they needed to breathe.