Exciting Weekend

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, though I wish I did. They are all property of J.K. Rowling and her business associates.

Sunday Afternoon

"I need to talk with the headmaster" Harry told Ginny after lunch.

"Oh, I thought we could spend some time alone..." pouted Ginny.

"Don't worry, we will – only a little later."

Harry and Bill reached the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore listened to Harry's request.

"How long will it take?" he asked both.

"No more than two hours," Bill assured him.

"You need to take some clothes with you," Dumbledore reminded Harry.

"I've already taken some". Harry pointed to his small backpack.

"Then – good luck, and don't be late."

"I won't," promised Harry.

The floo deposited them in Bill's and Fleur's living room. Fleur was sitting on the sofa, wrapped in a translucent negligee and reading. She was quite surprised to see Harry stepping out of the floo and somewhat apprehensive at her clothing and his lack of, yet she greeted him warmly.

"Harry! What makes us enjoy your visit?"

Bill responded instead. "Harry has some personal business at Gringotts and I promised to help him, after we put on some clothes, of course."

The way Fleur was looking at Bill, Harry was sure she had some other plans in mind, yet she responded gracefully: "Yes, you should help him. I only hope it wouldn't take too long."

"I'll try to keep him away from you no longer than strictly necessary," promised Harry. Fleur smiled.

As soon as they were both clothed, Harry and Bill flooed to Gringotts. They found themselves in the ante-room, adjacent to the main lobby.

"Wait here for a moment," Bill told Harry as they went into the main hall. Bill walked to one of the side offices and soon returned with a goblin.

"Mr. Potter, how can Gringotts be of service to you today?" asked the goblin.

"I'd like to find an engagement ring in my family vault".

"Do you have the key?"

"No. It has never been handled to me. I assume it had been lost when my parents were murdered. Isn't there another way?"

"Indeed there is. Please follow me."

They entered the goblin's office. He conjured two chairs for Harry and Bill and motioned them to sit down. He then took a small silver knife and a square of parchment out of his drawer. "If you place a drop of blood on this parchment then we can verify that you are really the heir and the rightful owner of the vault and we will give you a new key," he explained, passing the two items to Harry.

A few minutes later Harry was already sitting in the cart taking him down to his vault. Bill didn't join him.

As soon as he entered the immense vault he could see that Hermione was right about him being rich. There were several piles of galleons, each containing more money than he could spend in a lifetime, and then rows and rows of shelves holding gold a silver artifacts, many of them embedded with diamonds and other precious stones. Other shelves held books – thousands of them. The thought 'Hermione would be glad to get hold of them' flashed in his mind. In the corner nearest to the door he found several small velvety boxes on a shelf which also held a large painting, covered by a dark cloth.

Harry lifted the cloth to find a painting of a man wearing square spectacles with a woman sporting long dark-red hair. She seemed to be wearing her wedding gown. A large ring was decorating her finger, along with the wedding band. The man was also wearing a similar ring along with the wedding band. Harry gazed at them in awe.

"Who are you? You look familiar, but I can't remember ever seeing you" the painted man asked.

"I'm Harry Potter, son to Lilly and James..." he started answering.

"Harry, my baby! You've grown so well! How old are you now?" The woman seemed on the verge of tears.

"I'm seventeen. I'll be eighteen in three months." He looked some more at the picture. "I believe you are my parents."

"Yes, we are. Can you tell us what happened after your first birthday? We were then removed from home and stored here, not knowing anything about what happened since."

Harry grimaced. It wasn't going to be easy telling them they were dead.

"We lived at Godric Hollow only a few more months," he said. "On Halloween, Voldemort attacked. Your secret keeper betrayed you. I'm sorry – you were both killed protecting me..."

"At least you survived," said Lilly. "What happened to Voldemort?"

"It seems that he then tried to kill me, but the curse backfired on him. He didn't die, as he already had several horocruxes, but he was reduced to living almost like a ghost. He returned when I was fourteen and was eventually destroyed last summer."

"What part did you take in his destruction?" asked James.

"I was the one to kill him, just as the prophecy said." Harry wasn't really proud of it. He was only satisfied this nightmare had been ended.

"I'm very proud of you, my son," James told him. "We both are," added Lilly.

Harry was examining the rings on the painting. "These are our engagement rings", Lilly told him. "They should be on this shelf." She looked at him questioningly. "Is that what you are looking for?"

Harry blushed, but managed to answer. "Yes, I was hoping to find an appropriate engagement ring. My girlfriend seems to think only of that since our friend got engaged, receiving a soul-ring for her engagement."

Harry failed to see the look his parents exchanged.

"Who is your girlfriend?" Lilly asked him.

"You couldn't have known her, as she is younger than me. She is the youngest Weasley – Ginevra – daughter to Molly and Arthur."

"We knew them," said Lilly. "They are fine people and very loyal. Their daughter should be a perfect match for you. Do you really love her?"

"With all my heart, and I'm sure she also loves me."

"Then – go ahead. Propose and marry her, my son."

Harry looked over the velvety boxes. He opened one – it contained a large diamond ring, clearly unfit for the purpose. He opened a few other boxes until he found one containing the two rings that appeared in the painting.

"May I use these rings to propose to Ginny?" he asked.

"This is what I've always hoped you would do," answered his mother.

"These are also soul-rings. My father enchanted them for his engagement," commented James.

Harry was surprised. "Soul-rings? I thought that art had already been lost long ago."

"Not exactly. The book adjacent to the rings contains the technique for this sort of enchantments as well as several others. You would find it useful for enchanting your wedding bands similarly, once you wed."

Harry leafed through the book. It was an ancient book, full of runes and spells.

"Hermione would really like to read this," he noted.

"Who is this Hermione?" James asked.

"She is our friend, the one who got recently engaged."

"To a Malfoy?"

"How do you know?"

"They are the only other family to own soul-rings, although they no longer have the knowledge to create new ones. They have always supported the dark."

Harry smiled. "Not any longer. Lucius had got the dark mark in his youth, just like Severus" – his father grimaced hearing the last name – "but they both found out they could not continue to support the dark lord. They both spied for the order and helped defeat Voldemort. We've only learned of this recently, when Draco Malfoy proposed to Hermione Granger."

"Granger – there is no such family in the magical world," James said.

"Just like Evans – she is a muggleborn."

"Malfoy wedding a muggleborn? That is really some worthy news!"

"Do you allow me to show this book to Hermione?"

James thought for a moment. "I'd rather not have this book taken out of the vault. It is too precious to risk losing it. You may ask the goblins to make a copy of it or you may bring your friend here to read it. Actually, I'd like to see both your friend and your fiancée, if possible."

"I'll bring them here," Harry promised, "and once I settle in my own place I'll put this painting on the wall where you may watch all my friends."

"That's quite nice of you, son."

Harry pocketed the rings, said goodbye to his painted parents and left. He used the floo to go back to Bill's home, undressed, and flooed back to Hogwarts.

"Harry, where have you been? I've got so worried about you!" Ginny seemed very concerned.

"I went with Bill to Gringotts and came back as soon as I finished my business there," he said.

"What was so important that you had to leave without even telling me?"

"This..."

Harry kneeled and presented the ring to Ginny. "My beloved Ginny, would you like to become my wife?"

Ginny gasped and her pale skin started turning red – first her face, then her shoulders, her breasts and all the way down to her feet.

"Yes, Harry. It's all I was dreaming of since I was just a little girl and all I wanted since I've got to really know you. I'll be your wife gladly."

Harry slid the ring on her finger and it adjusted to her size. He then took the other ring and put it on his finger, immediately sensing the happiness his fiancée was feeling. They sealed their engagement with a long kiss.

"Congratulations!" – Draco and Hermione were the first to express their feelings for the newly engaged couple. Draco looked at the rings. "These are soul-rings, just like ours. Where did you find such rare objects?"

"These were my parents' engagement rings. I've taken them from our vault," explained Harry.

"I wish I knew how to make them" said Hermione, "then I would enchant our wedding rings just the same."

"It may be possible," answered Harry, refraining from smiling too broadly. "I think I've seen a book about it in the vault, along with some more books on other subjects."

Hermione's eyes lit as she heard "books".

"The Malfoy library might also contain such books," commented Draco. "There are so many books there – nobody knows how many, and some have not been opened for centuries."

The spark in Hermione's eyes could not be mistaken. She was greedy – not for money but for the knowledge in this vast treasure she had just heard of.

"I'll show you the library the first time I take you to the manor, but you must promise me one thing, though..."

"What is it?"

"That you won't forget yourself in there and still continue living normally."

She smiled. "I'll try."

"My parents – their painting, actually – would also like to see you and show you the books in my vault" Harry added.

"I will be delighted," Hermione said and then frowned, "but I must first find my parents and bring them back. I can't afford losing them now, can I?"