Happy holidays and merry Christmas! I'll be gone for the next few days doing family stuff, so this'll have to do you until about Monday. Enjoy!

They reappeared in the common Apparition point just off of Diagon Alley. Narcissa and Augusta led the way to Gringotts, with the three boys sticking close to their guardians. The Alley was relatively empty, given that the Hogwarts letters had yet to go out. Not that anyone really minded; Harry in particular was rather grateful that they wouldn't have to deal with large crowds at the moment.

They made it to Gringotts without anyone stopping them, though a few people waved hello to Narcissa or Augusta as they passed. Once inside the bank, Narcissa went over to one of the free tellers, talking in quick, hushed tones with the rather unimpressed looking goblin. Eventually, the goblin hopped off his stool, rounded the counter, and then led them into a private conference room off the main lobby. Harry shivered when he felt the heavy privacy wards go up. They had a weighty sense of age and security about them. Neville placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"So," the goblin, who went by the name of Tirak, said as he settled into a goblin-sized chair at the head of the table that hovered just at the right height for him to be fully visible, "how can I help the Houses of Malfoy and Longbottom? Come to set up a betrothal agreement?"

"Not exactly," Narcissa said as she and the others took their seats. "We're waiting for one more: Madam Amelia Bones of the DMLE."

"I'm well aware of who she is," Tirak said. He pressed a rune on the arm of his chair and spoke into it, the rough syllables of the goblin tongue sounding like gravel being dropped and crunched together. There was a muffled reply from a goblin on the other end of the communications rune before it cut sharply off. Tirak drummed his long, pointed fingers against the top of the highly polished top of the table as time passed. He could be out at his station actually making money instead of wasting his time in this room.

After about ten minutes, the door opening and wards thinning long enough to allow Amelia Bones inside. The wards, didn't, however, let an enterprising reporter in the form of a beetle enter the room, flashing a bright blue before going opaque. The door slammed shut behind Amelia as Rita Skeeter landed in her human form in a disheveled heap on the floor several feet back into the lobby. Harry could just see some guards hurrying towards her as the door shut.

"Well," Amelia said dryly, "an interesting start to the afternoon. I'll have my people look into Ms. Skeeter once we're done here."

"Probably a good idea," Tirak said. He waved for her to take a seat. "Now that you're here, Madam Bones, I assume we can get started?"

"Of course, though I'm not exactly sure why I'm here, to be honest," Amelia admitted as she sat down.

"We can explain that," Draco said as he slipped his hood off. Neville and Harry did the same, blinking a little in the warm golden light coming from the gas lamps around the room. Tirak barely showed any surprise at seeing their faces, though Amelia did a double-take when she saw Harry. Harry just gave her a little wave.

"Yes, I'm Harry Potter, and no, I'm not giving out autographs," he joked. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Do try to be mature about this," he drawled. He shook his head. "My apologies, Madam Bones; my bondmate likes to be an a-" Draco glanced at his mother before quickly correcting himself. "-very juvenile."

"He's te- Wait, bondmate?" Amelia asked, eyebrows rising sharply. Draco nodded.

"Yes. Harry, Neville, and I have a trichromatic bond," he said. "I have an affinity for Dark magic; Harry, Gray; and Neville, Light. My talents lie in curses and jinxes, Harry's in healing and defense, and Neville's in Herbology and Charms." He rubbed at the back of his neck. "Before you ask how we have a trichromatic bond so early, let me do something for all of you."

He drew his wand out of an inner pocket of his robe and then held it up in front of him. "I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, do solemnly swear upon my magic that what I have already told you and what is about to be revealed is wholly and entirely true. So say I, so mote it be!" His wand flashed three times before he set it on the table in front of him.

"Draco!" Narcissa said, eyes wide. "An oath like that- You could be a Squib before you even start at Hogwarts!"

"Not to mention he just performed underage magic in front of the head of the DMLE," Amelia pointed out. Draco just shrugged.

"It was necessary, believe me. I wouldn't have done it otherwise," he said. "I wouldn't risk my magic or that of my bondmates so casually."

"Very well," Tirak said. "What is it that you have to tell us?"

Draco glanced at Harry, who nodded. "The story starts, for you, about ten years and four months into the future. For us, it was yesterday," Harry began. "Due to what was surely a certain death situation, we had to perform the tempus itineris ritual, thereby sending our older souls back in time to around six-thirty this morning. If we hadn't, we would've all been dead within a few months after that."

There was dead silence from the adults. Narcissa glanced at Draco, who merely held up his wand and lit the tip in a silent Lumos. Narcissa went paler than usual, both at the sign of truth and the fact that her, to her, untrained son had just done silent casting. Harry cleared his throat gently to regain the attention that had been lost.

"Let me start from the beginning," he said. "Or at least, what we know of it. As you know, Voldemort attacked the House of Potter on Halloween in 1981. After my mother and father's deaths, I was placed with my Muggle aunt and her family." Harry frowned. "I shouldn't have been. I was placed with them late on the evening of November the first by Albus Dumbledore. Minerva McGonagall and Rubeus Hagrid were witnesses to this happening. Dumbledore left me on the front doorstep of my aunt's house with a letter."

"That's it?" Amelia asked. "Nothing more? Why didn't he knock on the door and have your aunt bring you in herself?"

"I don't know," Harry said simply. "I looked up the weather report for that night. It was very cold for the beginning of November. He must've used an overpowered warming charm to keep me from dying of exposure." He waved off the concerned looks the three women gave him. "Anyways, ten years later, I was still living with them. They treated me little better than house elves are treated by some families. I did all the cooking, cleaning, and other chores around the house when I wasn't at school. They often withheld meals for perceived wrongs or locked me in the cupboard under the stairs, which served as my bedroom until my Hogwarts letter came."

He went on to tell them a somewhat abridged version of what had happened over the next seven years, though he saved the news about the Horcruxes for the last. "Voldemort lusted after immortality," he said after a solid half-hour of talking. He cleared his throat before continuing his story. "In order to slate that lust, he created objects to sustain and hold pieces of his soul. Horcruxes. They're a form of Black Magic related to necromancy, much like Inferi."

"How many did he create?" Tirak asked sharply. Harry focused on him.

"In the timeline where we came from, seven, with an eighth piece acting as his primary soul piece," he said. He held up his hands, lowering his fingers as he named them off. "His first, as far as we know, was a diary given to Lucius Malfoy for safekeeping. It was created when Voldemort- then known as Thomas Marvolo Riddle, or Tom to his teachers and classmates –unleashed a basilisk on the student population after opening the Chamber of Secrets. He killed a girl, Myrtle Malone, with the basilisk. That was the murder he used to create the diary. After that, he used artifacts of three of the four Founders- Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, Salazar Slytherin's locket, and Helga Hufflepuff's cup –to house his Horcruxes. He also used the ancestral ring of his mother's family, the Gaunts, as a Horcrux."

"And the other two?" Augusta asked, a slight tremble to her voice.

"One hasn't been made yet," Neville said, taking over the narrative. "After he regained a corporeal existence sometime in the summer between our third and fourth years, he made his familiar, Nagini, into one."

"He killed a Muggle to do it," Harry said softly. "Frank Bryce. He was the groundskeeper for the estate Voldemort's Muggle father grew up on."

"You-Know-Who is a Half-blood?" Amelia frowned. "All the accounts say he was Pureblood."

"That's what he wanted people to think. It helped with the blood supremacy propaganda he used to recruit heirs of wealthy Houses," Draco said. He shook his head. "Idiots."

"And the last?" Tirak inquired. "What did he use?"

"As far as we know, it wasn't intentional," Harry began. He straightened up and looked directly at Tirak. "Tirak, I have a proposition for you. In exchange for services rendered and a percentage of gold, we can start on ridding the world of these foul things. A two-for-one deal, if you will. Assuming, of course, your cursebreakers are up to the challenge."

Tirak's eyes glittered with interest. "And what challenge would that be?"

"A transfer of a Horcrux from a living being to either an inanimate object or a non-sentient being, like, say, a pig," Harry said. Tirak blinked.

"Are you saying that-"

"My scar," Harry confirmed. "An accident on Voldemort's part. He probably meant to use something of Gryffindor's to complete the set. As it was, he failed, due in large part to my mother's sacrifice." He sighed. "I can't imagine what it was like for my dad when he felt my parents die."

"I'm sorry? James Potter was your dad, wasn't he?" Amelia said, looking confused. Harry shook his head.

"No. James Potter was my biological father," he explained. "Lily Potter was my mother." He grinned. "Sirius Black, on the other hand, was my dad; he adopted me an hour after I was born, both by blood and by magic. They had a trichromatic bond. I take after my mother in my magical affinity. My father, while a bully at school, tended towards the Light. My dad, though he wasn't too fond of it, upheld the Black Family tradition of having an affinity for Dark magic. He didn't, however, do what he was thrown into Azkaban without a trial for."

"What? Of course he had a trial."

Harry shook his head again. "No, he didn't, Madam Bones. He was innocent. He wasn't the Secret Keeper, though my parents wanted him to be. No, it was Peter Pettigrew." He spat out the name with intense dislike, a snarl distorting his mouth momentarily. "That rat-"

Harry broke off and turned to Draco. "Call Dobby, please. He should've finished his tasks by now."

Draco did so, with Dobby popping into the room with a covered cage in hand. "Master Draco!" he squeaked. "Dobby has done it! He has got the-" He broke off with a squeak when he saw Narcissa watching him. "Mistress Cissa. Dobby was just..."

"Don't worry about it, Dobby," Narcissa said. "What do you have in that cage?"

"Oh!" Dobby handed the cage over to Draco, who set it on the table. He took the cover off, revealing the slumbering form of Scabbers within. Dobby popped off once he was quietly dismissed by Draco.

"That," Harry said with a glare at the gray lump of fur and tail, "is Peter Pettigrew. He, along with my father and dad, became Animagi during their time at Hogwarts in order to aid a friend with a recurring problem."

"You mean Remus Lupin?" Amelia broke in. Harry smiled wryly.

"Yes. Breaking I don't know how many rules, they would sneak out of the castle every full moon, transform, and then go retrieve Lupin from the Shrieking Shack where he was supposed to stay. Thankfully, there was only one near-miss, but that was Sirus' fault. My father stopped it before anything happened." Harry shook his head. "They were idiots."

"You could say the same thing about all the trouble you got up to," Neville pointed out.

"Hey, most of that trouble found me," Harry said. "That, or I was led into it by others."

Neville reached out and took hold of Harry's hand. "I know, love, I know. Finish the story. They need to hear the rest."

Harry took in a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "Right. Thanks, Nev."

"Any time."

"Anyways, Pettigrew was the one who betrayed my parents to Voldemort. Sirius was half-mad with grief and the breaking of the bond when he caught up with the rat. My parents... They were planning on officially making Sirius Consort Potter once the war was over. They never got to even use the Potter triad betrothal rings. We, on the other hand," Harry gestured at Draco and Neville and then himself, "would." He looked at Narcissa and Augusta. "If that's alright with you."

"We can hardly deny you that," Augusta said. "It would keep you all safe, especially from unscrupulous people looking for fame or money."

"Agreed." Harry focused on Narcissa. "I'm Sirius' heir and next in line to the Black name. I would prefer Draco receive that honor, if Sirius agrees. I'd also like to have you come back into the Black Family. Your husband..."

Narcissa held up a hand. "Lucius is hardly the man I first married," she said. "I've stayed with him only out of necessity. If Sirius is willing to call primacy and dissolve the marriage, I will gladly retake the Black name. The Malfoy family can die out with Lucius." She smiled coldly. "After I carefully drain his coffers, of course. I have a certain spending limit per month. I'll withdraw that minus one Knut. If the Dark Lord does somehow manage to return, a second war won't be funded with that money."

"Good plan," Tirak said. "I can set up a private vault linked to the Black vaults in your name and authorize the transfer."

"As long as Lucius doesn't know about it, do as you like. And take a... three percent cut of that monthly withdrawal," Narcissa said. "For services rendered, of course."

"Of course." Tirak grinned, showing a mouthful of sharp, white teeth. "Now, about this other Horcrux? Given to Bellatrix Lestrange, you said?"

Harry nodded. "It's in her vault. Clever, really, to put it in one of the safest places in Wizarding Britain. There's a Gemino curse on the gold to deter thieves, and a dragon at the door. I'm going to see if I can't convince Sirius to disown her from the Black Family magic."

"On what grounds?" Augusta asked.

"Attacking allies of the Lord of her House, allying herself with an insane homicidal maniac, and..." Harry tipped his head back. "Hm. I don't know, did she have a marriage contract with Rodolphous?"

"Yes, of course," Narcissa said.

"Do you know the terms of it?"

Narcissa frowned. "The standard terms, I suppose, much like mine and Lucius' had. A dowry to be paid to the husband's family, and an heir within two years of m- Oh. Yes, that would work, wouldn't it?"

"Hopefully," Harry said. "It would likely affect Rodolphous and Rabastan as well, since they're tied to her through marriage. Hopefully it'll drain enough magic that they die in Azkaban." He glanced over at Neville. "Neville?"

Neville nodded and got to his feet. "Gran, I need to talk to you about something private. Come to the corner with me?" He held out his hand to Augusta, who took it with curiosity. Draco flicked his wand, setting up a privacy barrier around them that would block any sound from escaping. They watched Neville guide his grandmother to a set of chairs in the corner, keeping hold of her hands as they sat down.

Neville began talking, at first looking down at the floor but then up at Augusta's face. As he spoke, Augusta's expression changed from mild curiosity to a quickly dawning horror, tears starting to run down her face. Neville hastened to comfort her, squeezing her hands as he continued to talk. Augusta drew a handkerchief out of one of her sleeves, dabbing at her eyes as she nodded to whatever it was that Neville was saying. Once they were done talking, Draco dispelled the privacy barrier with ease, tucking his wand back into his robes.

"Right," Neville said, his voice slightly rough with unshed tears, "that's done." He focused on Amelia. "Will you be able to start the process of getting Sirius out of Azkaban? If not total freedom right away, then securing his transfer to a private mind healing clinic in Switzerland? We did research on it during the last timeline. The war left a lot of scars, and not all of them physical. It's top-notch, and has some of the best Mind Healers in the world. Far better than any at St. Mungo's."

"Give me the information and I'll see what I can do," Amelia said. She reached over and took the cage from Draco, tapping it with her wand.. The cage glowed a vibrant white for a moment before returning to normal. "There. He won't be able to transform. Not that he would want to, I suspect, but it never hurts to be sure."

"Thank you," Harry said. "It means a lot to me, to us."

"I'm sure it does. Is there anything else you need me here for, Heir Potter?" Amelia asked. Harry shook his head.

"No, ma'am," he said. "Thank you for coming today. We'll keep an eye out for Susan on the train. She's... In our timeline, she grew to be an amazing witch and a credit to your Family."

Amelia smiled at that. "Good to know." She got to her feet and left the room, cage in hand. Once the door closed again, Harry turned to Tirak.

"So," he said, "about the Horcruxes?"

"We'll get to work on them immediately," Tirak said. "If you can list the locations of those able to be retrieved immediately, that would help speed along matters."

"Of course," Harry replied. "I'd also like to get my Heir rings from the vaults, as well as the Potter triad betrothal rings." He paused. "Oh. And there's one- well, two –more rings we'll need."

"Oh? Which ones?"

"Harry," Neville began, but Harry just shot him a look.

"It needs to be done sooner than later," he countered. "You know that."

Neville sighed and then slumped back in his chair. "Alright, go on."

"Thank you. Anyways, we'll need the Heir rings for Slytherin and Gryffindor," Harry said. "I am the rightful Heir of Slytherin by conquest. Voldemort was the Heir before, but he broke faith with the House of Slytherin. Slytherin has always been a Gray House; it's only been recently that it's become considered Dark or Black."

"And the Gryffindor ring?"

"That's Neville's," Harry said with a grin. "His is bloodline-based."

"You wouldn't happen to know the other two Heirs, would you?" Tirak leaned forward. "That would open quite a few vaults that have been laying dormant for a thousand years. Moving that gold around would see a boon for the Wizarding economy, especially if it was invested correctly."

"I do, but I'm not going to force them to claim the rings and titles," Harry said. "The Heir of Ravenclaw is Luna Lovegood. She starts Hogwarts next year. She has Rowena's Gift of the Sight. Hufflepuff's Heir is Hannah Abbott. She starts Hogwarts this year with us."

"Intriguing," Tirak mused, leaning back in his chair. "Your sexes match up with the Founders'."

"A fluke of chance, considering that the Gryffindor bloodline came through Neville's mother's side," Harry said, waving it off. "She would've been eligible had she known. We only found out about it because the Sorting Hat told us after the final battle at Hogwarts."

"We'll have to do a Line Test," Tirak said, "but since young Heir Malfoy here still has his magic, you must be telling the truth."

"Oh, that reminds me..." Draco took his wand out and then flicked it towards himself. The wand flashed three times again, making him relax. "There. The geas is complete. No need to worry about that any more."

"Good," Narcissa said. "Tirak, take the fee for the Line Tests out of my personal vault, as well as a one percent commission for yourself. Since both Bellatrix and Sirius are in prison at the moment, it falls to me as the only of-age member of the Black line to authorize you to go into Bellatrix's vault and retrieve what you need to." She smiled grimly. "I'll see about the diary when I have time. I'm not having it in the house any longer than necessary."

"Understood," Tirak said. "We'll gladly do as you request."

They ran into an unexpected snag- more of a blessing in disguise, actually –when Harry put on the Heir ring for Slytherin. Neville's ring had gone on smoothly, with no side effects save for a faint flash of red light around the ring as it resized itself to fit his finger. Harry got a similar flash of green when he put his ring on, but that was the only similarity.

He felt an immense pain in his forehead as the Slytherin Family magics swept over him, making him double over in pain. He clutched at his forehead, warning Draco and Neville away when they tried to help. A black tar-like substance oozed out of his now-broken skin, dripping to the floor and collecting in a quickly congealing mass. Narcissa, ever the quick thinker, conjured up a glass jar with a lid and scooped up the mass once it was done seeping from Harry's scar. She put the lid on as quickly as she could, screwing it shut tight.

Augusta helped clean Harry's forehead up, healing it the best she could. "Your scar," she breathed. "It's lighter than it was before."

Harry grunted softly in response, the Slytherin magics settling easily now that the Horcrux had been forced from his body. "Well," he muttered as he straightened up, "that's one way to do it." He shook his head, feeling lighter than he had before. "Now all that's left are the betrothal rings."

He took the velvet cases from the table, sliding Neville's ring on his left ring finger before taking care of Draco's. The two of them put Harry's on his finger together, the three rings flashing in concert to show that the deal was sealed. The Heir rings (all worn on the right ring finger and able to be cycled through with just a thought) could be hidden if chosen, but the betrothal rings could not. They couldn't be removed by force, only by choice. They and the Heir rings would help in detecting and protecting against various potions and tonics in foods and on surfaces, as well as minor curses, jinxes, and hexes. Harry pocketed one last small box before nodding at Tirak.

"Thank you for all your services, Tirak," he said. "May our endeavors together bring much wealth to the both of us."

"So mote it be," Tirak replied with a decisive nod. "I think the future is going to be very interesting with you three around."

The three boys just looked at one another and laughed.