Chapter 3: The Vault
It had been several days since Albus Dumbledore brought Harry to Hogwarts. Each day had passed slower and slower for young Harry. He had yet to hear from the Headmaster regarding the Dursleys or where he would spend the rest of the summer. With the Weasleys off on missions and training trips, Harry was worried about what would happen to him. He also had yet to hear anything from Remus Lupin. He didn't blame Lupin for that. The former marauder probably despised him for bringing Sirius to his death even still. No apology could even atone for what he had done.
Harry was so wrapped up in these depressing thoughts as he made his way toward the Great Hall, that he did not notice the dark figure that was approaching him from the other end of the corridor. His eyes were downcast and his steps were quick, so the outcome should have come as no surprise to the teen. He bumped into the tall figure that had been heading in his direction. Harry briefly stumbled, then his eyes shot upwards only to make contact with a set of fathomless black eyes that could only belong to one man.
Severus Snape stood towering over the young Harry Potter. "Have you no concept as to pay attention to your surroundings, Potter?" He glared down at the youth as his arms crossed over his chest, watching for a reply.
Harry nearly had to bite his tongue from wanting to spat the reply that he felt Snape deserved. 'Like this is all my fault. He is to blame just as much as me! He could have moved away had he been paying attention!' This quick series of thought rushed through our young hero. Luckily for him, the words that actually parted from between his lips was the wiser response under the circumstance from whom he was faced with. "Sorry sir, I wasn't paying much attention."
"Indeed that is obvious," Snape intoned, his eyes narrowing at Harry. Harry just stood there, glaring angrily at the Potions Master. Snape finally broke the silence at he shifted his stance and then started to move past Harry. "Follow me, Potter," he ordered, his robes billowing around him.
"Why should I?" Harry countered his face furrowing and his anger and frustration increased.
Snape turned his head around to look over his shoulder at the sixteen year old and his lipscurled, once again, into a sneer. 'This insolence of this boy!' He thought in angry bewilderment. 'He becomes more like his father with each passing day, I swear!'
His pale face reddened slightly as the level of his anger for the boy before him increased. "The Headmaster had sent me to get you. Now that I have done so, it is time for you to go see him. Any more of your insolent questions and babbling I am sure can be answered by him. Now, come."
As Snape stalked off up the corridor, Harry had to hurry to keep up with him. Both of them arrived at Dumbledore's office still angry and irritated with the other. Harry was so focused on his own thoughts and simply following Snape that he didn't even hear the password to get up and was therefore mildly surprised when he nearly ran into Snape's back just outside the Headmaster's door.
Before Snape could knock however, a voice called out from inside for them to come in. Snape opened the door and entered. Harry followed. Inside the room sat Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and, to Harry's surprise, Remus Lupin. Dumbledore motioned for the newest occupants of the room to take seats. "Lemon Drop?" he offered each of them with a smile. Snape shock his head to decline, but Harry respectfully took the candy and popped it into his mouth.
"Well, lets get to the point, as I am sure out Potions Master here has much to do, as he told me earlier this morning." Dumbledore eyes twinkled slightly as he teased Snape, who simply glowered in return. "I have gone over to your Aunt and Uncle's home twice now, Harry. Unfortunately your uncle is not willing to allow you the safety of their home."
Off to his right he heard a near scoffing sound and a muttered, "Foolish man," from McGonagall.
"Yes, yes, he is foolish. However, it is his home and right to decline others from being in his home. So I have spent the past day attempting to resolve this dilemma. Unfortunately the Ministry does not allow students to stay in the dormitories during summer holiday. So the question is, where do we put Mr. Potter for the remainder of the summer? The protection, unfortunately I can do nothing about, but I will continue to try to figure that out as well, but we must first deal with a new temporary home." While Dumbledore said this last sentence. He had a strange look on his face and his gaze briefly flitted over to Snape. However, before Harry could contemplate further oh this behavior, Dumbledore continued with what he was saying. "Now I think I have a solution as to where you can stay…" he began as he looked over to Lupin.
However, Remus interrupted him before he could say anymore. "Albus, I am a werewolf. The ministry would never allow the boy to stay with me. Not to mention the full moon. I can't protect him around that time!"
"I know this, Remus," Dumbledore tried to soothe the former marauder. "I was not trying to imply you take him, I was looking to you since you are Harry's Godfather now, per Sirius' request. You have an important say in these matters."
Lupin seemed to relax some at these words, and sat back into his seat once more, with a slight "Oh."
"As I was saying, I believe our best option is to move Harry in with Severus, in his chambers until school starts," Dumbledore stated, eyes twinkling in a mischievous was once again.
"What?!" shouted an outraged and shocked Snape and he jumped up from his chair. "Albus, you can't be serious!"
"I am quite serious, my boy," Dumbledore said gently to Snape. "Next to his family, Hogwarts is the safest place to be and you are here all summer so watch over him."
"Albus, I agree that Hogwarts is much safer for Harry than other options we may have," McGonagall began. "However, the Ministry will not allow it! You said it yourself moments ago."
"My dear, the Ministry will not allow him to stay in a dorm. They have no authority to say who can or cannot live in a professor's personal chambers. That decision lies with me."
Harry sat there in stunned silence, listening to the conversation going on around him. Live with Snape?Harry was a bit horrified at the idea. The man hated him! What could Dumbledore be thinking?
Little did Harry know, but Severus was thinking much the same thoughts next to him. Potter living in his rooms was a horrifying thought. It was bad enough to have to teach the brat every year. But now, he had to live with him? He would have to house, and further protect the son of the man who stole his love away? Would Potter ever be satisfied? Even in death, the man tormented him.
Severus and Harry were both snapped out of their thoughts by Dumbledore, who had continued speaking. "So, this afternoon, Harry's things will be moved down to Severus' rooms. Severus, if you could please clear out the guest room you have so young Harry could use it."
Severus could only nod at the look given to him by Albus. The old man certainly knew how to get his way.
"Good. So I will let you go now and see you for breakfast in a few minutes," Dumbledore dismissed Severus with a smile. Severus took his leave if the small group, grateful to get away from all the Gryffindors. Minerva also left at this time. Dumbledore then turned his attention on Remus and Harry. "Now for the second reason I called the two of you here. The Ministry has finally cleared Sirius Black's name."
Harry's spirits lifted at these words and he threw a quick glance in Lupin's direction. The man had a sad smile of his face. He looked relieved but the pain of losing his friend was still very evident.
Dumbledore gave a small cough to regain Harry's attention. "Due to his name being clear," Dumbledore continued, "they have also opened his vaults. In his will, Sirius left everything to the two of you. Grimmauld Place is to be shared by both of you. Much of the money was left to Remus and there are several items he designated to each of you that are in the vault." He gave each of them a copy of the will and a list of what the each inherited.
Harry looked over his as Lupin did the same next to him. Indeed, Grimmauld Place was listed as shared property for the two of them. Several miscellaneous items were listed, along with a fair amount of money. What got Harry's attention however was the last 'thing' listed at the bottom with a wand drawn next to it. All it said was that Harry was to receive "everything along the north wall of the vault." Harry sat there, pondering what it was referring to. He didn't really care much about this rest, but this caught his attention.
Dumbldore gave both wizards a few moments to look over the will before speaking again. "I think you both should go to the vault this morning and straighten things out there. Gringotts sent a letter to the ministry stating they are closing the vault and removing all items from it in one week. So, lets all go get some breakfast and then I shall send you two off for the morning while we ready your new quarters, Harry."
Harry and Remus had Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron from Dumbledore's office; yet Remus had not spoken a word to Harry or even really looked at him. So it was a dejected Harry that could be seen entering Diagon Alley. Little did Harry know but Remus was unsure how to approach the boy and was feeling guilty for that himself. So the pair of them walked side-by-side in silence up the road to Gringotts Bank.
Upon entering the bank, Remus went up to one of the goblins sitting at the high counter tops and informed him that he and Harry were there to close out the Black Family Vault. The Goblin nodded and directed them over to a cart and the three of them were whisked away through the deep, long tunnels. After a few minutes they finally arrived at their destination. The Goblin pulled out a pair of keys to unlock the vault and then moved aside to allow Harry and Remus entrance to the large room. "How much time do you require to go through everything?" the goblin, whose name Harry never caught, inquired.
Remus looked around, took a quick estimate and replied, "I think three hours should suffice."
The goblin nodded and informed them he would therefore return in a few hours and handed Remus some sheets of papers with more information and transfer details for him and Harry. Then he got back into the cart and zoomed off into the darkness.
Harry looked around the room. There were several trunks and pieces of furniture mainly. Piles or parchment, books, and pictures were also visible.
Remus was reading over the papers. "Okay, it says here that the money that was in here has already been transferred into our own vaults. There seems to be a lot of miscellaneous items in here not listed by the looks of things. So I guess that's up to us what to do with them." Remus looked up at Harry who had a lost look on his face. Feeling compelled to comfort the boy, Remus walked over to him and wrapped his arms about him in a hug. "I know this is hard for you Harry. It is for both of us."
Harry pulled back to look Remus in the eyes. Seeing nothing but warm compassion in them, Harry felt another surge of guilt swell up and tears started to form in the corners of his eyes.
"Harry?" Remus questioned him in concern, seeing the emerald eyes fill with tears that were glistening on his lashes.
At that call, Harry let his emotions flood over him as he flung himself into the older man's arms, burrowing his head in his chest. After a few minutes of allowing the long awaited tears, Harry pulled back out, once again, from Remus' embrace. "I'm sorry," he cried.
"Harry, it's okay to cry. There is nothing to apologize for," Remus tried to comfort the sobbing youth.
"But I killed him!" Harry cried out in anguish. "I was stupid and ignorant, and now he's dead!" Harry then started rambling about how Remus had every right to hate him and how Harry didn't blame him for not writing to him this summer. That he deserved his anger. That he wasn't worthy of family and how it was his fault everyone kept dying.
Remus let the boy rant for a few minutes, knowing he needed to get this off his chest. Then he laid a hand upon Harry's shoulder and another hand briefly under his chin so the boy would look up at him. Remus smiled a sad smile, but it was still warm and caring. "Harry, I don't blame you at all for Sirius' death." When he saw Harry was about to object, he continued. "Yes, you made a reckless choice that night. But so did Sirius by responding to it. If we are going to blame anyone, lets blame You-Know-Who for starting this whole mess. Sirius, your parents, nor anyone has been your fault. And I do not hate you, nor am I angry with you. I am sorry for not writing to you this summer. It isn't that I didn't want to, but I have been away on Dumbledore's wishes to help the Order. I had only just returned late last night. I haven't even had the chance to read your letter. But I am sorry that I have caused you addition anguish." With that, he pulled the youth into another brief hug. "You are family to me. I could never hate you." After a brief pause, he added, "Well maybe if you joined Voldemort." This said with a teasing smile to distract the young man.
It worked. Harry gave a short laugh through his tears. Then he started to wipe them away in embarrassment. Remus gave the boy a few minutes to collect himself, while he wandered over to the large piles of items and started to sort through them. Picking up a picture, Remus started to laugh. Harry wandered over to see what had caused the joyous noise. Remus handed him a picture of himself, Sirius and James Potter. They looked to be about 14-15 at the time and the corridor looked like it was taken at Hogwarts. They were laying together, limbs everywhere, with shocked looks on their faces. Harry looked up at Remus in confusion.
Remus grinned at him before explaining, "It was fifth year. I had just been named a Prefect and your father and Sirius decided to take advantage of that. You see, there was a girl named Belinda Noracho, who was also a Prefect in Ravenclaw. She was considered the most beautiful girl in the school. Well, since I now had access to the Prefect's bathrooms, they wanted to use that to hide out to hopefully get a few shots of her. So we, Peter included, were hiding in the bathroom when someone came in. Unfortunately it wasn't her, like we were expecting but a man named Craddum. Filch's predecessor. He was there to close off the bathroom, as something was apparently not working properly. I do not remember what. After he left, we stepped out of our hiding place and back into the corridor. At just that moment we saw a shadow start to turn the corner toward us. Thinking it was Craddum again, and not wanting to get Sirius, James or Peter into trouble, we all took off as fast as we could. Even though your father had the Invisibility Cloak it could not cover all of us, and Peter had it at the time, along with the camera. Well, not getting very far, Peter tripped on the edge of the cloak, and all of us went tumbling down. Just as we hit the floor, Peter clicked the button on the camera, hence the photo. Turns out it wasn't Craddum, but Belinda, who got her own share of laughs at our predicament."
Harry gave a short bark of laughter and took another look at the picture. He couldn't see Peter in it, except a foot, for which he was grateful. But it was funny to see the changing expressions from shock to embarrassment on the young Marauders' faces. He handed to photo back to Remus to keep.
Remus started to go though the rest of the stack while Harry looked around again, thinking of that the will said, about items on the north wall. "Remus, which direction is north down here?"
Remus stopped and looked up. He point toward the far wall, past the mound of items. "That way. Thinking about what that will said?" he questioned.
"Yeah."
Remus smiled. "I am fairly sure that that was referring to the items that were your parents. You see, since Sirius was your Godfather, all items meant for you went into his care until you came of age. Even though he was sent to Azkaban. All items went down here. I remember Albus fighting the bank for the money to be set into a separate account for you. Took him almost a year to set up that vault you have. I guess the bank figures you are close enough of age for the rest, especially since right now your closest guardians are Albus and myself."
'Yeah, except Dumbledore is trying to pass his share onto Snape!' Harry thought to himself darkly. But he shook the thought away. Now was not the time. For the next two hours or so, he and Remus sorted though Sirius' things. They shared more laughs and tears as Remus came across items that brought up memories and he told stories to Harry of the Marauding days.
Finally they reached the far back wall. There were several trunks and a few pieces of household furniture. Along with a single shoebox. This lone box intrigued Harry the most, so he approached it. He removed the lid. Inside were several photos. Mostly of his mother. There was one of her as a child, and one with a young Petunia along with whom he could only guess as being his grandparents. Another was of Lily pregnant with Harry, also one of her and James on their wedding day. And lastly, there was also one of her with Snape. Both of them looked happy and were laughing. "I didn't know they were friends." Harry turned to Remus for an answer.
Remus looked uncomfortable. "Actually they were a couple for a long time. They were dating from about sixth year until...well…until about a year after we graduated." Remus didn't want to go into detail about how Lily left Severus before hooking up with James. It had been an abrupt change.
Harry nodded, a little unsettled with this new information. He turned his attention back to the box and picked up a ring. It looked to be an engagement ring. This must have been what his father proposed to her with! Inside was an engraving that read I love you always. S.P. Harry was puzzled by the S.P. What had his father meant with that? It must have been some secret between the two of them, he concluded.
The only other item in the box was what appeared to be a diary, but it was locked. It appeared to require a small item in the shape of what appeared to be a flower. A lily if he was not mistaken, which would be fitting for his mother. Puzzled, he re-looked through the box for such at item, but found nothing new. Harry showed the diary to Remus and asked how to open it.
"I've seen the diary a few times," Remus conceded. "She used to wear a necklace with a lily. I believe that is what opened it. It might be it these trunks. Let's find out. Accio Lily Pendant!" Nothing happened; nothing shifted or moved in the slightest.
At that time the goblin who led them to the vault reappeared in the entranceway. "Are you finished yet?"
"Well, actually, we are trying to find something if possible," Remus informed him. "I believe there was a record of all items placed in this vault after the deaths of James and Lily Potter. They were to be held here for Harry Potter."
"Yes we do," he waved his hand and a scroll of parchment appeared. "What is it you are looking for?"
"A pendant or locket, shaped like a lily," Harry offered.
The goblin scanned the listed carefully, then looked back up. "Nothing like that. Only jewelry we received was an engagement ring," he pointed to the open shoebox, "and a set of simple gold wedding bands." He then pointed to a small black trunk.
Harry nodded dejectedly. He didn't know why, but he felt a very strong urge to open and read the diary. Well, he would just have to find another means to open it.
While Harry walked back over to the shoebox once more, Remus stepped over to talk to the goblin and gave the creature directions of what was to go where. Remus then called to Harry and they climbed back into the cart. They went to Harry's vault next so he could gather some more money for the year and for school supplies. Once back outside the bank, Remus spoke to Harry, "We'll speak to Albus, he may know of the pendant. If he does not, I will do some research for spells to see if we can open it by other means. Although, knowing Lily, the charms she probably placed over it won't be easy to get past." Remus suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Harry! You left the diary! Let's go back to get it before we go anywhere else."
Harry shook his head. "I didn't forget it."
"Then where…?" Remus began.
Harry reached up his left sleeve and pulled out the book. Laughing at the shocked and bewildered look Remus was giving him, he explained. Shortly after school ended last year, Hermione sent me what she called a 'hidden patch'. It's actually a double that she made for me. Basically you stick it to your clothing and it worked like a pocket, except nothing can ever fall out, nor can I feel its added weight or shape. I keep my wand there now. Hermione said neither it nor anything else can break whilst it is there, and since I can't feel it, it doesn't inhabit my movements. It's a great place for money, my wand and any other small items."
"Wow! I have heard of these patches but they are very rare and hard to make. I am impressed that Ms. Granger was able to do so." Remus shook his head in amazement.
The two of the spent the next couple hours shopping around Diagon Alley and ate a wonderful lunch at a small restaurant in Muggle London. It was a wonderful few hours for Harry. The best he had yet to have all summer.
However, his happiness was overshadowed by the knowledge that later that day he would have to face Snape. And then he would be stuck with him for the next month until school started.
Harry had to wonder which was worse, the Dursleys or Snape. Only the next month would tell.
Authors Notes:
Thanks again to all my loyal readers and especially my reviewers! To all new readers, I hope you enjoy this story.
I am taking suggestions of whom to pair up with Harry (if anyone) so any ideas there or coupling you want to possibly see, let me know. This will play a small part, however, in this fic, as this will mainly focus on Snape and Harry.
Also, the S.P. letting will be explained in later chapters, although you may be able to figure it out to a certain extent.
