4. Gringotts
The rest of the week was uneventful. As Hermione had been absent so long, it seemed quite natural for her to spend so much time with her closest friends – Harry and Ron. Ron was oblivious to the change of relationship between his two friends, yet Hermione tried to hold Ron's hand as much as she could when in public so nobody would read any special meaning to her holding Harry's hand.
Harry's absence from his dormitory had been explained by him being observed for any belated effects of his encounter with the Basilisk. The trio even spent some time in Harry's quarters, as they called it. Hermione's trunk had been hidden and a duplicate placed in her previous dormitory. Her dorm-mates didn't seem to mind her absence. They already knew that she had always stayed by Harry when he stayed in the Hospital Wing, and this seemed quite similar.
It was only during the weekend that the headmaster could find time to take the young couple to Gringotts. He wanted their visit there to be discrete, so he Floo'ed them directly to the bank, skipping the stroll through Diagon Alley, which was sure to bring them attention.
Like most Saturday mornings, there were very few customers at the bank. None seemed to pay attention to the small group. Dumbledore quickly led the youngsters to a side door, where a goblin guard stopped them. "Lord and Lady Potter", Dumbledore told him. The guard moved aside and directed them to a nearby room.
The room was quite bare. It only housed a long conference table with several chairs around it. The marble walls were glistening, but not otherwise decorated. A goblin was already waiting there, looking quite grumpy. "Let's start," he said as soon as they were seated.
The goblin broke the seal of a rolled parchment and started reading the will:
"This is the last will of James Potter and Lilly Potter nee Evans written on the 28th of October, 1981. This is one of three identical copies we are sending to Gringotts for safekeeping. One is to be put in our personal vault, another in Sirius's vault and the third will be taken by Sirius to the ministry." He continued reading some standard legalese before reaching the will proper:
"We first like to inform that our secret keeper is Peter Pettigrew. If we are dead, this means that he betrayed us. We wish to emphasize that Sirius Black has never been our secret keeper, although we originally considered him for the position. He planned to present himself as such to attract attention away from the real secret keeper."
Dumbledore paled considerably hearing this. "So he's innocent..." he whispered into his beard. Harry didn't notice, but Hermione did.
"In case one of us dies first, we hereby will all our worldly possessions to our spouses. If we both die, then our son, Harry, is to inherit everything that we own, including the title of Lord Potter and the seat at the Wizengamot. At the age of eleven or at the reading of this will, whichever comes last, he is to be emancipated and to assume his role as Lord Potter. Later, if the circumstances are right, he is to become Head of the House of Potter, accepting all that the title entails.
If we are both dead, then Harry is to be raised by his guardian. We hereby assign this role to his godfather, Sirius Black. Do marry a nice lady to help you raise Harry, Sirius. You know who we have in mind.
If the assigned guardian cannot accept the role, then it should be assigned to Harry's godmother, Mrs. Alice Longbottom, and if that's impossible - to Amelia Bones or Minerva McGonagall in that order. In no case should Harry be placed with my sister Petunia Dursley and her husband.
Harry, once you get access to our vault you'll find a letter for you. Read it alone or with your wife, but not in front of others.
This concludes the will of James and Lilly Potter."
Harry was still too excited to say anything, but Dumbledore asked "Can you give me a copy of this will. This is extremely important for correcting injustice done to someone."
The goblin moved his arm above the parchment, making an exact copy appear with the words "Certified Gringotts Copy" stamped on it. He handed the copy to Dumbledore, who turned towards the couple.
"Harry, this will made me discover some grave mistakes I did unknowingly. It is of utmost importance that I try to correct at least one as soon as possible. I trust you and your lady can continue without me for now. The goblins will help you out to muggle London, once you're done here. Make sure to take some money with you, as well as enough muggle money to do some shopping. Please refrain from going into Diagon Alley. I'll collect you at half past five at The Leaky Cauldron."
Harry nodded and the headmaster took his leave.
The goblin suddenly looked less grumpy. He even seemed to be almost friendly, which confused the children.
"How come this will has not been read until now?" Hermione asked.
"I assure you, Lady Potter, this was not due to any negligence or ill will on the part of Gringotts," the goblin said. "Once the former Lord Potter died, his vault was magically sealed and could not be opened until his heir was emancipated or became of age. Nobody seemed to know of the other copies until today."
"May we see my parent's vault?" Harry asked.
"Sure, Lord Potter. It's your vault now."
Hermione couldn't refrain from asking. "You act nicely with us, but you were quite rude while Professor Dumbledore was present. Why?"
Harry was afraid this may offend the goblin, but their companion just smiled – quite a frightening sight all by itself. "We don't like most of the wizards. They treat us like scum, so that's how we treat them. The Potters have always been nice to us so we are nice to them."
They reached the vault riding the carts. Hermione was almost sick by then, yet Harry seemed to hardly notice his environment. They stood in front of a large, heavy door. The goblin touched one point and then the outline of a hand started glowing on the door. "Put your hand on the marked place in order to open the vault," the goblin instructed Harry.
Once he did, the door opened, letting him and Hermione in while the goblin stood guard at the door.
Harry looked around. The vault was large, much larger than the whole Dursley house and certainly not as tidy. Rows of shelves filled most of its area, holding almost everything imaginable: scrolls, books, jewels, weapons, armors, jars, bottles and many unidentified objects – probably magical artifacts. A large chest stood at the wall nearest to the door. Harry saw a large envelope on it and a few small boxes. A picture depicting a young couple was hung on the wall over it. While Hermione's enthusiasm was piqued by the books, Harry's eyes were drawn to the painting.
Looking closer, he noticed that the woman's belly was swollen with advanced pregnancy and the man was holding his hand protectively over it while hugging her with the other. They looked familiar, yet different. "Mom, Dad?" he whispered, attracting their attention as well as Hermione's.
"Welcome, son," the painted man said. "I'm glad to see you. How old are you now?"
"I'm twelve; almost thirteen, actually."
"You've grown so much... I wish I could be there for you." It was the woman's voice.
"Who's the girl you're holding hands with?"
Harry felt proud presenting her. "This is Hermione, my best friend and my soul mate."
"Soul mate?!" both painted parents said.
"Well, we only bonded a few days ago," Hermione said in a small voice.
"Aren't you a bit young for that?" Lilly asked.
Hermione blushed deeply while Harry answered. "We have done nothing wrong, really. After I killed the Basilisk and Hermione was released from her petrification she came and hugged me, and then it happened."
"Basilisk? Petrification? I think we need some more explanations. Do sit down."
A loveseat appeared behind the children while the painted two sat down on a bench painted behind them. Hermione took a deep breath, looked at Harry for a moment, and then started her story. "You see, there were some attacks on muggle-born students this year. They were petrified and nobody seemed to find the cause. Harry had heard some noises which he said were coming from a large snake who was probably hiding within the walls. Then I searched in the library and discovered that the Basilisk was a large serpent who could kill with his glance, only those affected didn't look directly at him so they were just petrified. I took that page from the book to show Harry but I encountered that Basilisk on my way and was petrified. Harry found that page in my hand and killed the Basilisk at the same day that the potion to unpetrify the victims was finally ready. I hugged him when we met, and then we were suddenly engulfed in light and a golden haze appeared. Then the headmaster told us we were soul bound and were married."
James looked stunned. "You fought a Basilisk and lived to tell it?"
"I couldn't have done it without Fawkes' help, though," Harry mumbled.
"Why didn't you tell a professor? You knew it was extremely dangerous," Lilly scolded him.
"We, I mean Ron and I, had to save Ginny, his sister. We asked our DADA professor for help, but he was a coward and only tried to run away. Luckily, Ron's wand backfired on him when he tried to oblivate us."
They spent some time retelling Harry's adventures at Hogwarts. His parents were furious of the events yet proud of how their son had handled them, along with his bond-mate.
"Harry, you should now read our letter and then take the rings waiting near it and wear yours, giving your wife the other," James told his son. "You may visit the Potter Head of House vault at another time."
Harry did as requested. The letter included a walk-through of all the Potter wealth, as well as a brief explanation of the family traditions and pointers to the appropriate books, all of them stored in the vault. "You must know that while you are the Potter heir this doesn't automatically give you the status of Head of House. To gain that status you must marry either a muggle or a muggle-born witch or, at most, a half-blood witch. If you marry a pureblood you will not be eligible for that status, although your heir may be, if he sticks to the rule."
"Well, I don't have to worry about that," Harry told his wife with a smile. He still found it incredible that this marvelous girl whom he loved dearly was now his wife. He never expected to be married so young. He never actually thought about it before, yet now it was comforting, thinking of Hermione as his.
He then took the rings and put one on his finger and the other on Hermione's. Both rings flashed once when put on their fingers, before adjusting to their size. "You are now Officially Lord and Lady Potter, Heads of the Ancient and Noble house of Potter," painted James declared, while painted Lilly just wiped her tears.
Their grumbling stomachs reminded the children that lunchtime had arrived. They took their leave from the portraits, promising to come back soon and headed out. The goblin made sure they had enough muggle money with them before escorting them through a hidden passage to Muggle London.
Standing in the street among other people made them both aware of how inappropriate Harry's clothes were. "We'll grab a quick lunch and then buy you some clothes. I want my parents' first impression of you not to be clouded by these rags," Hermione told him in her no-nonsense voice. He had to agree.
It didn't turn out too bad, though. After eating lunch at one of the fast food restaurants, Harry actually enjoyed trying different outfits and choosing his own clothes, as well as buying a few for his wife. For a few hours they were just young teens enjoying shopping. Harry even allowed himself some Ice-Cream, while Hermione only took plain water. This couldn't last, though. At five o'clock they started their way back to The Leaky Cauldron, reaching there with just a minute to spare.
The headmaster wasn't there, but Tom, the innkeeper, greeted them. "Welcome Miss Granger, Mr. Potter. Your headmaster called in to say he would be late and you should wait here in a private room for him." He promptly led them to a private dining room, hidden from the other guests. "I was also ordered to serve you dinner," he added. "Would you like anything special?"
They didn't know what to say. "Just the regular," Harry suggested.
It wasn't easy for Albus to do what he intended doing. It wasn't something that would help his public image nor would it impress anybody with his wit or wisdom, but it was the right thing to do and the only honorable act he could contemplate.
He went to the ministry as soon as he left the bank and went directly to the head of the DMLE. He didn't even bother to knock.
"Amelia, I've got some new information. I now believe Sirius is innocent."
She could hear the urgency in his voice. "What is it?" she asked in her no-nonsense tone.
Albus gave her the Potters' will. "When he was caught, mumbling that he was responsible, I was sure he betrayed them. Now it seems I was wrong."
Amelia frowned. "It should have come out during his trial, I believe."
He sighed. "There was no trial. Based on his so-called confession, he was sent to Azkaban. I'm ashamed to say I was the one recommending this and the minister signed it."
"There's still the question of Peter and the muggles. He may be innocent concerning the Potters, but this document does nothing to clear him of the other charges."
Dumbledore sighed. "I thought you were his friend..."
"I was, and if he's innocent then I hope we shall be friends again, but I could not consider a murderer my friend."
"Well, I believe he should be brought here and given a chance to clear his name. I'm sure he won't object to being interrogated under Veritaserum or to giving his memories of the event to be viewed by others. That should make it clear if he's innocent or not."
Amelia sighed. "I wish I thought of it myself when I became the head of the DMLE, yet my previous association with him stood in my way..." She contemplated the situation. "You should now fill the forms for accepting this new evidence and for bringing him to trial. Once this is done, I'll have Sirius brought here and restart the investigation."
"Thanks, Amelia. I know this is just as important to you. Let's hope it had really been a grave mistake so we'll have a chance to put it right."
When Dumbledore arrived to The Leaky Cauldron, several hours later, he found both children asleep with their heads resting on the table and their hands clutching each other tightly. He was reluctant to wake them up, but there was no way he could bring them back otherwise.
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