Edited by the mighty pazed!
Sorry about the short chapter but something had to give as work was much more demanding from the norm given the fact I had been away on vacation (I don't understand how so many things can go wrong when you are out of the office despite trying to plan for them. Go figure.)
Anyway, I reached a good stopping point, one that fit with the way I wanted to tell the next piece of the story, so I stopped there. Sorry to disappoint.
Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!
READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!
Chapter 4
Dowager Longbottom had, at one time, rather disliked visiting Gringotts, but after a visit with Harry during the mess with Malfoy, she had an epiphany when she saw the way the young Lord dealt with the Goblins that ran the bank. Since that time she had come to not only understand them better but enjoy her interactions with them. There was nothing she enjoyed more than haggling for a better deal.
Unfortunately, today's visit was not going to offer such a pleasant diversion. Today she was here to gather the group of security specialists that Gringotts had helped her arrange to guard against Bellatrix LeStrange, the woman that had led to her son and his wife spending many years in the care of St. Mungo's before their death in the great fire that destroyed the hospital.
She strode into the meeting room with a faint scowl on her face, giving her a no nonsense appearance. She had, of recent date, retired her once famous hat, much to her distaste, but perhaps Neville had had a point when he told her that walking around with a stuffed vulture upon her head was more disgusting than intimidating.
At any rate it had been a small concession to her grandson and how he wished their house to be seen by their community. His father would have been proud.
She had only been seated at the large table a moment when the door opposite the one she had entered opened, and three individuals came through, one Goblin and two she presumed were human from their heights.
The goblin nodded slightly, and took the chair directly opposite her. "Welcome to Gringotts, Dowager Longbottom. My name is IronAxe; I will be handling today's dealings"
She nodded in return. "I am pleased to meet you." She paused for a moment eyeing the two men behind the goblin. "I was under the impression that our negotiations were complete, and I had secured the services of five hitwizards for the duration of the event," she said.
The goblin gave her a toothy smile. "Indeed you did, but unfortunately a turn of events has unfolded that has made a number of those individuals unavailable due to their preexisting contracts with the Ministry." He shuffled the pages in front of him for a moment, as if looking for the correct page. "Due to this fact, we have secured the services of these individuals." He gestured to the pair behind him, hidden within their deep, black, cloaks.
"Just the two of them?" she asked anger beginning to fill her voice.
The individual on the right spoke. "No, Ma'am. Four of our team are already on site securing the area. The remainder are preparing to transport the remainder of our equipment. They should be done by the time we complete our transaction."
Her left brow cocked upward, as she studied the man in question. "How many are on your… team?" she asked.
"Ten, Ma'am," he said in a clipped tone.
She turned back toward the goblin. "And their qualifications?"
The goblin seemed to scan the paperwork. "They are fully qualified. I believe you will be satisfied with their performance."
Her gaze drifted back to the pair standing at the back of the room, and sighed. "I am not pleased with this change… but I do understand that things of such a nature do happen. Will this affect our contract in any way?" she asked.
"Not at all," the goblin said. "Truthfully, this group would have been our first choice, given your needs, but they were not available at the time for contract negotiation. It was quite a shock when we were informed of their availability. As for the fee, it was acceptable to them given the short term of the assignment."
The Dowager nodded. "Then let us be about our remaining business," she said as she leaned forward and began checking over the final paperwork.
Harry growled as he stepped out of the small cabin that served as the office for the campground. "That man's going to have permanent brain damage before this is over!" he said, glancing up at Sirius. "You need to find Amelia and tell her about the 'arrangements' that have been made by the Ministry. She needs to get someone down here and have the man 'suddenly need to go visit' someplace. If he has his memory continually modified much longer he won't be able to remember his own name! Or if he has a family!" Harry told the man. "How stupid can this lot be!"
Sirius nodded. "I'll call her on my mirror…" he said absently, digging in a pocket of his jacket. "That poor man."
Moments later Sirius was holding a small pocket mirror in his hand, only instead of reflecting his face it showed him the face of Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE (Department for Magical Law Enforcement). "Amy, we've run into a problem."
The woman on the other end of the mirror call nodded, waiting for him to continue. "Harry and I just registered in at the campground. Someone stationed an obliviator using an invisibility charm in the office, instead of sending the owner and his family away and renting out the entire place."
"Damn!" she said under her breath. "I-I can have him removed… but I don't have anyone that could take the owner's place…" She thought for a moment. "Could Cissy do it? Handle the money and guide everyone to their campsites?"
Sirius sighed. "Most likely… I'll ask her, but she'll need some form of protection. Just in case some of her ex's friends decided to cause an issue."
Amelia nodded. "I'll send Shacklebolt, he's good and she knows him. Can you stay there as well?"
Sirius looked at his godson who nodded. "I'll be fine. It's not far to the campsite and I want to get settled before the others start arriving."
Sirius turned back to the mirror. "I'll be here, and I'll help her as much as I can. I saw how he did everything. It shouldn't be a problem…" He changed subjects slightly. "You're positive you don't want to join us here tonight?" he asked hopefully.
She shook her head, but had a small sad smile on her face. "No… I wish I could, but the Minister asked me to come to the reception for the Bulgarian Minister tonight, and after that I want to go over the final security arrangements for the game… I doubt I will even get to watch much of the game… I want you to enjoy yourself though… Just don't get in any trouble, I don't want to be forced to bail my husband-to-be out of my own jail," she said glaring at him, but smiling at the same time.
He put on his most wounded face. "Who me?" he asked dramatically. "What would I do to cause trouble?"
The woman's image on the mirror rolled her eyes. "Whatever you think would be fun… do the opposite… I love you, you stupid mutt. See you soon."
"I love you too," he said in a more serious voice. "I'll miss you. Be safe."
She nodded, and said, "You too." Then her image faded, to be replaced with his own.
He sighed after a moment, lowered the mirror, and looked at Harry. "Alright, you head over to the cabin, I'll stay here and get hold of Cissy. We'll be over right after we close the office this evening. I'll send Luna and Hermione over when Xeno arrives, I think he is just covering the events leading up to the game for the Quibbler."
Harry shrugged. "That's what Luna said, he is having her write the article for the actual game. She writes the ones for the games at Hogwarts he publishes, so that makes sense. She'd have the most experience." Harry settled his backpack more comfortably, and took Sirius's from him. "I'll get us settled, and have dinner ready… we'll do the hotdogs, campfire style, It will be easy and fun… I even brought the things to make S'mores," he said.
Sirius had understood some of that, at least the hotdog part (he had done it one year in the fireplace with Prongs, Moony, and Lily after seeing it in a movie), but he had no idea what a S'more was. "Ok, I'll leave that to you then. Are you expecting all of your friends tonight?"
Harry nodded again stepping down off the porch. "Yes, I think everyone but Neville is already here, and he'll be here later this afternoon. He said they would be in time for dinner."
Sirius watched as Harry made his way down the lane toward the first grouping of cabins, his head swiveling left and right taking in the sights, and Sirius had to admit, they were something to see. No one ever said Wizards were a subtle lot. Especially when they were competing with each other.
Harry chuckled as he continued unloading the groceries Sirius had packed in a bottomless backpack, along with a couple of changes of clothing. He had decided that wizards were some of the weirdest people on the planet.
So far he had seen clothing choices that had ranged from the odd, the idea that a dinner dress was normal to wear in the mid afternoon in a campground, to the hilarious, a moo-moo and fishing waders… to the stunning, bright gold robes with purple and green swirling colors that would have made some of the things Albus Dumbledore had once worn seem tame.
That said nothing about the three story tents, complete with windows. or covered in real living shamrocks, or children riding toy brooms behind fenced in yards surrounding said tents. It was ridiculous, all of it!
The most amazing part was the fact that it was all supposed to be hidden because of the Secrecy Statute, but not a single one of these people seemed to be able to keep from flaunting their magic, or at the very least do it without screaming, 'Look I can use magic'.
A click, followed by soft music then static for a moment as the station changed, came from the living room. Harry smiled, as the sound finally settled on a rhythmic beat accompanied by a guitar. He placed the last of the groceries away and washed his hands on his way out of the kitchen.
Luna was dancing in the middle of the room in time with the music on the radio, her back to him. He walked up and tapped her on the shoulder, making her jump and let out a loud squeak.
She spun as she jumped away, only to yell, "Harry!" when she saw who it was, and hug him tightly.
Seconds later Hermione appeared in the doorway of the room she was going to share with the younger girl, smiling as she walked forward and hugged him as well. "We thought you were out exploring," she said as she let go.
He shook his head. "No, not yet. I wanted to get settled first." He checked his watch, then looked out the window. "Besides I told Sirius I'd have things ready for dinner by the time they get done, so I only have an hour or so to get everything done. Do you two want to help?" he asked, turning toward the kitchen again.
The girls looked at each other then followed him. "Harry, I didn't know you knew how to cook," Hermione said, as he started rummaging around in the cabinets looking for different things.
Harry chuckled. "What you are about to see is the extent of most of my cooking talent. Coleslaw and deviled eggs are about it… It's going to be mostly picnic fare. Sorry to disappoint you." Both girls laughed as they began working.
The next day found their group, several strong, making their way toward a group of tents with Harry and Neville in the lead. Harry stepped up to the canvas doorway and called inside, "Weasleys? It's Harry Potter. Is any one about?"
A voice from inside answered, "Harry?" Followed by the pounding of feet, then, after a moment the canvas door flipped open revealing a pair of identical faces.
"Harry, our young-" the first said,
only to be continued by the other, "-friend. We are so glad you-"
"-decided to drop by," the first said again.
"Our dear sister-" said the second,
"-has been quite worried that-"
"-you would be unable to find-"
"-our humble, short term, home," they ping-ponged, as their smiles grew.
"Fred, George!" yelled a female voice from inside.
"If you'll excuse us-" said the twin on the right.
"-we don't wish to feel the-"
"-wrath of our littlest Weasley," they finished, as they pushed their way past, and into the flow of people.
Moments later the face of the Weasley patriarch appeared in the door way. A large smile broke out across the older man's face. "Lord P-"
Harry broke in, "It's just Harry here, Mr. Weasley. We just wanted to invite Ginny to join us, we're going to look around the vendor area."
Mr. Weasley's smile faltered. "I… I'm not so sure that's a good idea… it was hard enough to get her mother to agree to let her accompany us to the game…"
Harry nodded. "I understand your concerns." He gestured to the men walking just behind the group. "Neville's gran insisted, just in case."
Mr. Weasley looked at them in surprise. "Hitwizards?" he asked quietly, before he remembered. "LeStrange… I'm sorry, Lord Longbottom, the fact she escaped had slipped my mind."
Neville nodded. "It's Neville… I assure you, however, between all of us," he said gesturing to the group of friends, "and my minders, she will be safe."
Mr. Weasley chuckled. "I expect you are quite right," he said, as a red headed girl's head appeared under his arm.
"Hi, Harry, Neville. May I Daddy? Please? All the others are gone, and you let Ron go off with his friends," she asked, giving her father her best puppy dog eyes.
Mr. Weasley sighed, then his smile returned. "Okay, but I want you to be careful." He pulled a few coins from a thread bare pocket. "This should get you something to eat or something… Now I want you back by three, I want us all to have dinner before we head up to the stadium." He looked over the head of his little girl at the two young men who both nodded.
It was Neville who spoke. "That won't be a problem, we will be wanting to get back by then as well to get ready for the game."
It wasn't long before the group headed off up the walkway toward the growing sound of the crowd.
