Chapter 09
Disclaimer: I do not own either Harry Potter or Rune Factory.
Their stay in England didn't last long as both wanted to get back to Trampoli as soon as possible. They made a quick pit stop at the burrow where he ran into Ginny who, much to his relief, told him they officially needed to 'break up'. Apparently she was as tired of the charade as he was. When that conversation was over he left while Ron tried to convince his parents that they should at least come for a visit. While his friend was busy talking to his parents Harry made his way over to the Lupin residence.
After the war had ended Harry offered Grimmauld place as a home for the small family; however Remus felt he couldn't be completely happy in the house his friend detested so much. Especially since they still couldn't get Walburga Black off the bloody wall. They had briefly considered just taking out the wall until they discovered it also acted as a support beam. Truthfully Harry had little company stop by for tea; especially since he reapplied the Fidelius and less than ten people (excluding the Weasleys') knew where he lived.
The Lupin family lived in a small cottage in rural England. The property had originally belonged to Tonks paternal grandparents and as such was considered part of the Muggle Government and exempts from current Werewolf legislation requiring Households possessing one or more lycanthropic members to pay substantial fines masquerading as "Monitoring fees for infected landowners". A Bill which had actually been passed long before Voldemort seized the ministry.
It was a mid-sized acreage well off the road with electricity and running water but little else. The house itself was also hidden behind fidelius with Remus acting as secret keeper; this allowed him to take a page out of Arthur's book and use magic to add rooms.
All in all the property actually reminded him a bit of his new place in Trampolli minus the nice neighbors, but that wasn't really important now. What was important was that he now had trustworthy dependable people he could hire to handle selling his produce on this side. If this just so happened to tick off prejudiced blood purists well then that was just all the better. It was with this line of thought in mind that Harry knocked on their door. He had all of three seconds to observe the relieved look on Tonks face before she pulled him into a Molly Weasley styled hug. Apparently they had been informed about the 'uninhabitable' dimension he could have been sent to.
It took several minutes of him explaining that he was perfectly fine before he was released from the hug and allowed to explain his purpose for being there.
"So let me get this straight, you managed to get yourself stuck in another world and come back with a way to make yourself richer than you already are?" That was Tonks incredulous statement as she bounced a fussy Teddy on her knee.
"Yep! I also managed to get away from the Paparazzi and journalists too. It's basically the best vacation ever."
"And you want us to handle the business for you on this side?" Remus asked
"Who else could I trust with this who's not already too busy? The Weasley's are about ready to retire now that all their children have graduated. Fred and George are too busy running their shop and Bill and Fleur are in a long term contract with Gringott's. Percy is trying to climb back up Ministry and Ginny's been accepted to play for the Harpies." Harry sighed in exasperation "Remus you really need more faith in yourself, of course you were going to be my first choice. Plus I look forward to some faces when they find out that a werewolf's been put in charge of all of my imports and businesses. Besides, if you agree this job will make you either rich or at least comfortably well off."
"Well it sounds wonderful. I have one question though; do we receive any employee discounts?" Tonks cut in.
"Of course, in addition to your salary you also get free potions supplies for as long as we're in business." Harry replied
"Alright, so when does this shop open up?" Remus asked, he finally seemed ready to accept the job.
"Well we won't have anything ready for sale for at least a month but Ron's already looking at shops I can lease or buy in the Alley. Before it opens I plan on warding it more thoroughly than Grimmauld Place."
"Isn't that a little paranoid Harry?" questioned Remus
"Remus, Remus, Remus…" Harry said shaking his head "It's not paranoid if they really are out to get you; and between the fans and blood purists any shop with my name on it is going to need those wards. By the way warding the place is another thing you'll be in charge of. I don't want to deal with this world any more than I have to. Hopefully I can live out the rest of my life in Trampoli, it's so much better there."
"What about you friends Harry? You can't just disappear on us." Tonks started to get upset. "What about your godson Teddy? Just because most of the Wizarding world is insane it doesn't mean you get to disappear on us."
"Of course I'm not going to ignore my friends." Harry said affronted "Anyone I actually want to visit again has access to Grimmauld Place and can come visit me whenever they want. The rest of the masses can go suck an acid pop."
"Well, that's alright then." She said appeased. "Would you like another glass of tea?"
"Actually I need to be going." Harry replied standing up "I have to pick up a few things from the Alley and I need to close my Gringott's accounts. The goblins have been taking out any fines they can lately so I'm just going to build a safe in my new place and keep my gold split between there and Grimmauld. I'll see you before I leave town though."
"Alright Harry, take care of yourself." Tonks said giving him a hug
"Make sure you give us the keys to this new shop before you leave. Bill and the Twins can help set up the wards while you're gone." Remus said giving Harry a hug himself. "We'll see you later Harry. Don't injure yourself permanently while you're gone."
"Goodbye Remus, Tonks. And goodbye Teddy." He said with a smile, reaching over to mess his godsons hair, laughing as the boy changed it first to blue and then pink to match his mothers. "I look forward to working with all of you." With a few final goodbyes Harry turned on his heel and disapparated to Diagon Alley to meet Ron.
The rest of his stay in Britain went by quickly. He emptied his accounts storing all of his gold in a seven compartment trunk much like the one moody had. The furniture and possessions from his parents and grandparents were shrunk down and stored as well. The trunk itself was shrunk and attached to a necklace charmed against theft. He was not about to risk losing everything he owned.
Ron had bought a shop just outside of the main Alley. The building was fairly large with two stories and a basement carefully hidden from view. It was less expensive than the shops on the main Alley and wouldn't costs him as much in taxes. Having his name on the building would guarantee a steady stream of customers so he didn't need to worry about advertising.
After owling the keys and paperwork to Remus Harry and Ron made their way through every used book store in Diagon and Knockturn Alley buying any book that looked as though it could be useful.
By the end of the day they had books on potions, wand lore, runes, enchantments, herbology magical construction and housekeeping spells. Divination guides (Mostly to watch Hermione's brain break over the books being considered useful) and warding.
Then they hit Muggle London for books on farming. They bought books on beekeeping and cheese making. Animal Husbandry and muggle construction guides. As well as an Idiots guide to plumbing and electricity as well as solar and wind power. Then they hit a chemistry supply store where Harry spent a small fortune on a microscope and lab equipment for Hermione. They then raided her flat for her personal library and some other belongings before heading back to Grimmauld place.
A quick lunch and some packing later Ron and Harry stepped though the floo network connecting Grimmauld Place and Trampoli, when they emerged on the other side it was to witness a massive construction project going on being handled by Kreacher, Hermione and Kraus.
"Master has returned and the house isn't ready. Oh Kreacher is a bad elf!" The aging servant wailed in grief at his perceived failure.
"Actually we're nearly finished." Kraus told him. "I just need to repair a section of the roof and build stairs. With the way the two of you have been speeding things up the house will be ready in about an hour."
"Er…that's great but wasn't this supposed to wait until after I got back with building supplies?" Harry asked "Not that I'm not thrilled to have this finished already."
"Well it was" Hermione replied "But Kreacher insisted that the house was inappropriate for the Head of the most Ancient and Noble house of Black. So he brought over some things the blacks had in storage along with a bunch of lumber and now we've got our own rooms."
"So what's the layout like?" He asked her while Kreacher and Kraus finished building.
"Well you'll be happy to know we now have a proper bathroom with running water and everything. It's on the other side of that door to the right of the fireplace." She told him "The potions lab and forge have both been expanded and closed off. I've used some rune scripts and charms to soundproof them so we won't be disturbed by the noise when someone is using them. We know have three bedrooms upstairs as well as a second bathroom. Kreacher helped remove some dirt under the house and we've put in a basement. Well, he did it without telling me, apparently every black house needs a proper torture chamber." Hermione rolled her eyes as Harry paled
"Please tell me he didn't actually…?"
"No I stopped him from putting in an iron maiden don't worry. Though there is a jail cell and some chains, we decided to compromise. I thought we could use it for storage or an office." Said Hermione "By the way I hope you brought gold back, we'll need to pay Kraus."
"Yeah I did." Harry told her "Actually I emptied out my accounts so I brought a bunch of furniture as well. We also brought the things on your list so you can set your stuff up when the place is finished."
The trio made their way outside where they killed some time tending to the field and animals while the house was being finished. When that was finished Hermione used an overpowered finite incantatem to strip the protective spells from the galleons, she then melted and transfigured some of them into a few gold bricks they would use to pay Kraus with.
By the time the House was finished they sun had just started to set. Kraus was a little surprised at being paid in solid gold but accepted it all the same. Harry and Kreacher turned the jail cell into a heavily warded safe where they stored a chunk of Harry's gold and silver in solid bars after having Hermione melt them down. The rest went back with Kreacher to be stored in Grimmauld Place where the wards were even stronger. It had been decided that Kreacher would stay at the ancestral home of the Blacks in order to guard the house and oversee the communication between worlds. Which was a relief because Kreacher may have calmed down but he could still only go so long without insulting Hermione's blood status.
Hermione and Ron had started removing shrunken furniture from the trunk and by the time Kreacher departed they had several pieces spread out on the table for Harry to go through.
Ron was given a double bed with a matching walnut dresser and an old oil lamp for his room. At some point he must have packed his room at the burrow because he had immediately started decorating the room with Chudley Cannon posters and a bright orange bed spread.
Hermione had reclaimed her shrunken bed set from her flat along with her desk and book shelf leaving Harry to finish sorting through the rest of the furniture on his own.
A dark red Persian rug had been spread out and almost completely covered the floor. A French sofa from the 19th century was enlarged and placed next to the fireplace along with a rocking chair and matching foot stool Harry was pretty sure came from Godrics Hollow. Shelves were hung on the walls along with a few pictures of his parents and the Weasley's'. An antique china cabinet was placed in the kitchen near the fridge where it held an old English tea set that had apparently belonged to his grandparents along with matching silver eating utensils.
The chemistry supplies were unpacked and placed inside the potions lab for Hermione to go through tomorrow. The books he had purchased in London and Diagon Alley were left shrunken on on the table near the bookshelf. He would need to buy a few more shelves before he would have a place to fit them all.
There were a couple magical lamps that gave off a steady stream of light one went on the living room table the other was placed on an old Walnut desk he set up in the basement.
Harry unpacked his bedroom from Grimmauld place and replaced the old bed set that came with the house. His was much more comfortable. The rest of the furniture was stored back inside the seven compartment trunk and locked inside the basement vault before Harry organized his room and went to bed.
