Before the Rebirth

2 weeks, 3 days, 7 hours and 42 minutes. That was how long Harry potter had spent in a magically induced coma after his surgery. When he woke up he had released a blood freezing scream that almost blew the windows out of the building.

He was swarmed by nurses and doctors in no time as they tried to figure out just what had gone wrong with their unknown resident. When Harry had calmed down enough he had blamed it on a mixture of a nightmare and phantom pain from his eye, thankfully the doctors bought it.

After that, Harry had spent almost a month in the hospital trying to figure out what to do now. Thankfully he had managed to keep his feather hidden from the hospital staff.

He stroked the lone feather up its sides and relished the comforting feeling it brought him. The feather itself belonged to a Silver Phoenix that Harry had met during his fourth year. He had been talking a walk around the Black lake to clear his thoughts about the tournament when he had found the ashes of the creature.

Of course he couldn't leave the newborn phoenix somewhere this dangerous so Harry had brought it up to the Owlery and asked Hedwig to protect the young Phoenix until it was old enough to fly out on its own again. It had only taken a month before the beautiful creature had taken flight and left behind that feather for Harry.

Of course looking at the feather he couldn't help but to remember just what purpose it had served him two years later during his sixth year, when he had first discovered the Ashwoods and the hidden realm of the Dark Elves.

Harry smiled at the thought of Amorpha; the queen had done much for him. The crafting of his staff, the least of the boons she granted him. His cheeks flushed at the thought of some of the more… fascinating boons that Amorpha had showed him.

*plumf* Harry fell back into his pillow. Such thought really wasn't smart to entertain when one was still in the hospital. He had heard some crazy stories about guys getting caught by their heart monitor.

'Just where the hell am I supposed to go now? The Ashwoods are out of the question, Amorpha will kill me once she realizes I broke the staff'

With a sigh Harry finally stood up from the bed and stretched, thankful that his clothes were right next to the bed, allowing him to get dressed quickly and be on his way. Two minutes later and the John Doe that had inhabited the hospital was making his way out of the doors, invisible to all muggles.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he stood out on the streets of London and looked towards the sky. The sky was blue with naught a cloud in sight.

He was free…

Such an odd feeling. He could go wherever, do whatever and no one would come for him. But where to start, somewhere magical would be preferred since he would like to be able to use his magic, but he could deal with doing less magic and sticking to the muggle areas.

"Oi, you 'arry Potter?" asked a gruff voice

Looking around, Harry tried to identify the source of the voice. Only when he looked down did he see the speaker. It was a house elf… a really dirty and by the looks of it… drunk house elf?

"Yeah, I'm Harry"

"Gringotts want to see ye, somthin' about your inheritance"

"Ehh… thanks? Who are you anyway?"

The elf puffed out his chest for a moment in pride "I'm Ulhes, personal elf to the Lady le Fay" and with those words the elf popped away, leaving Harry with house jaw slack and a million to two questions.

With a shake of his head, Harry decided to head off to Gringotts; better not keep the goblins waiting. So with a silent pop, Harry apparated right to the doors of Gringotts and spared no time in heading inside. Only to be met by a contingent of spears pointing in his direction…

"Halt there human! State your business or lose your head!" commanded the foremost Goblin

"I'm Harry Potter and I believe I was summoned"

The spears lowered slowly before a goblin came down from one of the desks and walked over towards them with a scroll on hand.

"It checks out, Lord Potter is here to see Hookfang" said the goblin

The spears were fully parted, allowing Harry to step forward and follow the goblin that spoke before. He was quickly led out towards the back and into a small office where a chair stood waiting for him.

"Sit Mr. Potter, we have much to discuss today" came a rather impatient voice

Moments later a goblin stepped out from one of the side doors in the office, he had a large scar running down over his left eye, which seemed to render it blind.

Harry of course did as asked and sat down and patiently waited for the goblin to go through the documents on his desk, something that wasn't missed by Hookfang.

"Well Mr. Potter first I do believe a congratulations is in order. Though Gringotts isn't happy with your break in, we do see your reason. Though for future reference Mr. Potter, if you merely told us that there was a Horcrux in our vaults we would have sought out the item and destroyed it ourselves." Began Hookfang

Harry gave a nervous chuckle at the mention of his earlier break in, which lead him to another thought.

"If you will allow me, what happened to Griphook?"

"Hurmpf, that traitor was executed for his actions. Much as he might always have intended to double-cross you, he still agreed to go against Gringotts for however short a moment. He paid the price for his betrayal."

Harry nodded but couldn't disguise his obvious discomfort at the thought. After all at this point he was still a far cry from the man he was going to become someday.

"Then perhaps it is time for business?"

Hookfang gave a hearty laugh at the young wizards attitude, straight to business, that was just how goblins liked to work.

"Well Mr. Potter, as you are the last living heir the Potter family that has not been cast out. As such you are obligated to take up your head of house and become Lord Potter. That is what we are here for today, as well as to go over some of your acquisitions due to this new position."

The thought of taking up his house lordship was certainly enticing, but Harry had no intention of returning to the wizarding world for now. The hole in his skull made sure of that.

"Tell me, Hookfang, say that I should not wish to be a part of the wizarding world for a while… would that impact my lordship?"

Hookfang sudden grew a vicious grin, he could tell where the young wizard was going. And if the two shared even a few thoughts, then the goblins were being given a chance to stick it to the ministry big time.

"I would say that it shouldn't change anything. Of course there is a few details that would be needed to be filed with ministry, of course Gringotts can take care of that for you. But of course most of our submitted documents get lost in the department for magical creatures… so it would perhaps take a while before the ministry even realizes that Harry Potter has become Lord Potter"

Harry's own grin now matched Hookfang's, a scary thing that really shouldn't be possible.

"Well Hookfang, I would say we have ourselves a course of action then. And of course the goblins will take a fee that they see fitting from my vaults for this service. Now you said that I was the last Potter that was not thrown out of the family. Does this mean I have other relations aside from my Aunt Petunia?"

Hookfang grinned as he pulled out a set of papers and began writing down the details for the ministry, at the same time he answered young Harry's question.

"You have another Aunt. Your Grand-father had many mistresses during his life, and one of these affairs resulted in a child. Annabeth Potter was never formally recognized as part of the Potter bloodline, but your grand-father insisted she carried his name. Currently she lives in Italy with her daughter, Celeste Potter."

Harry felt as if someone had slugged him in the jaw. He had family… living breathing family that wasn't the Dursleys… why was he never told?

"How come I was never informed of this?"

"Miss Potter is one of our most prestigious customers in the Italian branch of Gringotts. So per her request we never divulged to anyone here in Britain her location or current status. This reminds me Mr. Potter, we have a letter for you. We were instructed to forward it to you when a time arrived where you could act on the information in the letter." Hookfang said as he pulled out a letter from a folder on his desk and handed it to Harry

When Harry looked down upon the letter he didn't see a name or a return address. On the back of it was a seal he didn't recognize. He quickly pried the letter open and read it.

To my dearest nephew,

I'm so sorry that I am not able to raise you. But wizarding Britain would have my own and my family's heads if they found out that I had taken you to Italy.

I wish for you to know that you will always be welcome in the Potter Mansion here in Italy. Gringotts can provide you with a portkey should you wish it. There will be a room waiting for you, alongside a loving family that can't wait to meet you.

Be well Harry, and remember I love you and can't wait to meet you.
Annabeth Potter

Ps: I have so much to tell you.

Harry put down the letter with shaky hands. It wasn't much or very informative… but he could feel the sincerity of the words. He had a family somewhere waiting for him…

"Hookfang… the portkey mentioned in the letter?"

A moment later a small silver coin was placed on the table, it held the potter crest and along the border the words "We do not fear death, we welcome him like an old friend" could be read. Harry didn't know what they meant but he could feel something deep inside him stir as he read it.

"The activation phrase is "Welcome home""

Harry nodded in acceptance and clutched the coin tighter in his hands, fearing it might vanish if he let go.

"Was there anything else, Hookfang?" asked Harry, clearly excited at the prospect of meeting his family

Hookfang pulled out a box and opened it to reveal the Potter family ring.

"Put this on and you will officially be Lord Potter, anything else we can take at a later date or we can forward it to the Italian branch if you prefer."

Harry took the ring with a shaky hand and placed it on his finger. It quickly tightened around his finger before a flash of light erupted and enveloped Harry for a short moment before ebbing away once more.

"Congratulations… Lord Potter" said Hookfang with a smile

"Thank you, Hookfang. And I thank you for the assistance you have given to me and my family… may your gold continue to flow and your ventures be fruitful"

Hookfang almost fell out of his chair when Harry used the goblin greeting, but managed to hold his mask long enough to return the greeting just as Harry spoke again.

"Forward the rest of the paperwork to Italy, I shall speak with the manager of family's vaults about the remaining issues and assets I have acquired… now, now I want to go meet my family."

Harry then stood and gave a bow to the goblin which was quickly returned. A large smile then erupted on the young Wizard's face as he spoke "Welcome home"

Harry felt a tug as the portkey transported him across the world. When he landed he was standing in the middle of a luxurious living room and the Italian heat suddenly hit him head on.

"Harry…?"


A/N: Another pre-rebirth chapter. Yay.

-TheLemonsWillSeeYou