Notice: Harry Potter, Tom Riddle, and any other characters you may recognize in this story are the property of JKR and/or whoever had the brains, contacts, and cash (or other negotiable items) to secure the rights to them. Alas, I had the brains, just none of the other stuff.
A/N: As a lot of this will be written conversation between HJP & TMR, Harry's writing will be in italics, and Tom's will be bold.
A very busy Saturday
The next morning was Saturday, and Harry slept in. Well, "slept in" for him. He was awakened at 8:00 as Andromeda and Ted came through the living room headed for the kitchen. Ted accidentally bumped the couch, startling Harry. Harry was instantly awake, and rolling off the couch onto the floor, wand at the ready.
Ted held his hands up and said "Easy, Harry. Didn't mean to scare you."
Harry, on hand and knees in just his boxers, blushed. "Sorry about that. Just a little bit jumpy lately."
Andromeda, looking over his shoulder, saw Harry's back and paled. "Oh, Merlin, Harry! What ever happened to you?"
"What? Oh, that was just my Uncle's version of punishment, generally. No big deal." Harry said, trying to find a shirt to cover up with.
"Harry! What do you mean punishment? That's abuse, plain and simple. Does anybody know about this?" Andromeda asked.
"Well, Tonks and Remus, and Dumbledore. Oh, and my room mates at Hogwarts. Nurse Pomphrey, probably Molly and Arthur. That's about it that I can think of. Like I said. No big deal. It's not like anything was done about it. At least until Tonks and Remus got me out of there. It's over with, the whale is in the hospital, and I'm out of there. What's done is done." Harry said, buttoning up the shirt and looking for his pants.
As he turned around, she saw the state of his boxers. "Honey, we're going shopping for you first thing. We can't have Lord Black walking around looking like a beggar."
"Well, right this second I'd settle for not having anybody either kill me or kidnap me. Fashion can wait." Harry replied.
"No. I don't think that it can. Appearance is everything. A powerful image protects the projector of the image." Andi said. "It doesn't matter what world it is in, magical or muggle. If the image is right, half of the battle is already won."
"Okay. We'll take care of that sooner, instead of later. In the mean time, what can you tell me about your sisters growing up?" Harry asked.
"Well, we were just three sisters. I was the eldest, Narcissa was the middle child, and Bellatrix was the youngest. Narcissa was the beauty, I was the brains, and Bellatrix was the baby. I was originally slated to be married to Lucius, but rebelled and managed to escape from The Black and my mother at the handfasting, and threw it all away for this gorgeous young man that I fell in love with. I was never happier than when the minister pronounced us. Well, other than that evening when we consummated the union." Andi said, smiling at the memory of her younger self.
"Narcissa never spoke to me again. As she was the next oldest, Orion forced her to take over the marriage contract with Lucius, and kept her in a gilded cage until the handfasting. Her every wish was fulfilled, except to leave. She was watched by Walberga from the time the contract was reforged until the moment of the ceremony. I don't think she even went to the loo by herself.
"Trixie was the baby, as I said. We all loved her dearly. We all spoiled her rotten, I'm afraid. She was as smart as I, almost as beautiful as Narcissa, and stronger than us both. In school, she was the best dueler. She never lost an even duel. She was fast, she was knowledgeable, and always seemed to know what the other person was going to do before they even did. I don't know if she was a natural legilimens or just really good at reading people, but she was incredible when she was crossing wands with someone."
At this point, Tonks came into the kitchen and poured herself some tea. "Hi Mum, Dad, Harry. What's going on?"
Harry looked at her and said "I just thought I would find out a little bit about the other person in my Family, Tonks. Since it's me and Bella, I thought I might as well get some background on her."
"Oh, Okay. Carry on." Tonks said as she sat down and sipped her tea, listening closely.
"Oh, and she used to think that cousin Sirius was just soooo cute! Sirius was a year behind us, but she had a thing for him... Bad. She sabotaged more of his snogging sessions than I can count, but Sirius was always nice to her. I think that Sirius looked at her like she was a little sister that he never had, even though she was older than him by six months. It got to the point that it was a game between them every Saturday night. Sort of a hide and go seek with Sirius getting some benefits from his girl of the week."
"What about before Hogwarts? What were you three like back then?" Harry asked.
"Why are you asking all of these questions about us?" Andi asked.
Harry decided to come clean. Or at least as clean as he was able, given the restrictions placed on him by the deal with Tom about the notebook. "I have a... source in Voldemort's camp. I don't know if I can trust anything that this source tells me, but I can say that he hasn't lied to me yet. He told me that Bellatrix was having severe problems with Sirius' death. I'm trying to figure out if this is a trap, or if it's a matter of family honor. Seeing as how currently the only family I have is the person that recently killed my godfather, I'm having some teensy weensy little problems believing that this is on the level. If it IS on the truth, though, I'd be remiss in my duties as Lord Black if I didn't help her. So I'm stuck without more information."
Tonks looked at him skeptically. "Harry, how high placed is this source of yours? How do you know that this isn't just a set up?"
"Well, he's pretty high up, but I have no clue if it's a set up or not. Like I said, I don't really trust him, but I don't want to lose another family member and be the sole member of two wizarding families." Harry said. "That's why I need to know about Bellatrix."
"Okay," Andromeda said. "I think I understand where you are looking for.
"Well, everything was pretty normal until Father died the summer before I went to Hogwarts. Mother never told us what exactly happened, but I think that it was because a business associate thought that he had cheated him, and took offense at it."
"Narcissa took it badly. She was going to be ten years old the next week. She was Father's favorite, I think. She was a gorgeous little blond haired girl, and had Father wrapped around her little finger."
"Trixie didn't really understand what was going on. She was six at the time. All she knew was that all of a sudden, Father wasn't in her life. We all tried to keep her happy. We would play games with her, take her places like the zoo or to quidditch matches, have parties just for her. Anything to keep her happy.
"Then, the Black arranged for Pollux to marry Mother, one year after the death of our father Cygnus. Neither Mother nor Trixie were happy from that point on for quite some time, but Trixie would never talk to us about it. Naturally Mother did not say anything to us. We were just children.
"Pollux was not exactly a loving step father. He was not abusive to Narcissa or I, just... cold. I think he WAS abusive to Mother. All of a sudden she would have a lot of bruises when we would come home on holiday. The healed up quickly, but always new ones would show up. When we asked her about them, she would simply say that she tripped and fell against a table, or hit a door, or some other excuse. Trixie was withdrawn. There were bags under her eyes all the time. Any time that someone would come into her room when she was asleep she would start crying. She would flinch away from us any time that we would lift a hand to do anything when we were around her."
"One night during the summer holiday during my third year, we heard her scream something in the middle of the night. 'Cissa, Mother and I ran into her room to find her dancing around a gravely injured Pollux, laughing and shouting every curse that she could come up with at him, holding Father's wand. Pollux was laying on the floor, pants off, and clutching at his groin, which was bleeding heavily.
"We gently pulled her away from Pollux, and Mother contacted Orion, who was now the Black. Orion came immediately, and we never saw Pollux again. Trixie would not calm down. She kept insisting that her name was 'Belladonna de Montaigne.' Not Bellatrix Black. It took her three days to come back to us and answer to the name of Trixie or Bellatrix. She did not remember anything of harming Pollux, or Belladonna de Montaigne, or anything like that. She was just Trixie again. Not quite the 'old' Trixie, but not anything like this 'de Montaigne' Trixie. It was almost like she was possessed."
"Were there any physical differences between Belladonna and Bellatrix?" Harry asked?
"Yes. Her eyes were violet. Trixie's eyes are blue-gray, just like mine, and just like Nymphadora's in her natural state. It's a Black trait. Her voice was different, too. A bit deeper, and a lot harsher. And she knew and said words that I didn't know that Trixie had ever even heard of. Some of them I wasn't even too sure of, and Mother threatened to use a scourgify charm on my mouth when I asked her what a 'motherfuckering faggot faced cocksucker' was. Remember, this was the early seventies, and things are a bit different now. Back then, nine year old girls never said anything like that."
"So far as I know of, Trixie was normal again after that. At least up until she married Rudolphus. She would send me owls from school. I couldn't hear from her during the holidays since I was already kicked out of the family. That didn't matter to her until that point. I've not heard from her since.
"Does that help you out?" Andromeda asked.
"Yes. I think it does. Tonks? What color were her eyes when you were fighting her? And what spells was she using?" Harry asked.
"Blue-gray, the standard Black eyes. And mostly the low level stuff. I'd have had her if I hadn't lost my balance. Then she stunned me half way up the steps and all of my real injuries were caused by falling down thirty feet of stairs. What color were they when you were going up against her?"
"Um, violet. And she led off with a Cruciatus," Harry said.
Looking at all three of the Tonks', Harry grinned and said "So far, what you have told me matches up with what my source has said. My source said that Trixie is well, but that Bella um... removed the LeStrange brothers from the gene pool on her wedding night, the same as Pollux." Ted reflexively moved a hand in front of his crotch with a pained expression on his face.
"Oh, really!" Andromeda laughed. "Well, there goes yet another 'Ancient and Noble House.'"
"Now," Harry said. "The only problem is if it was all a set up, it would make sense for it to have a truthful background, and the lie would be on the current situation. That could very well end the Black House as well."
"I hate to say it, but it now IS a matter of honor. It is your responsibility to ensure the well being of your family. Just as it is your family's responsibility to maintain the honor of the family, and act in accordance to it's Lord." Andromeda said.
Harry groaned. He vaguely remembered Snaghook mentioning something about that the day before. "Okay. So I go in expecting a trap, and if it isn't I get a pleasant surprise. If it is, kill them all and let Merlin sort 'em out, I guess.
If it isn't, my source doesn't seem to think it's actually a possession, but what muggles call Dissociative Identity Disorder. It used to be called Multiple Personality Syndrome. So now, assuming that this isn't a trap, I've got to find a healer or someone that can figure out if it's a possession or this MPS thingy. Then, if it is a possession, get her unpossessed or repossessed or whatever it is. If it isn't, I have to track down a psychiatrist or whatever to deal with this MPS and hope and pray that Bella doesn't go ballistic and choke the poor guy with his own organs."
Ted spoke up at this point. "I might know of a person that would be able to help. He's a psychiatrist at Edinburgh Royal Hospital. He's not really a wizard, but he isn't exactly a muggle either. I'll check with a friend of mine in Lothian and Borders Police force to see if he is taking new patients."
"Not exactly a muggle? How can you be not a wizard and not a muggle?" Harry asked.
Ted grinned. "Well, there's magic, and then there's magic. He doesn't practice our version of magic, but the important thing is that he does get results, and my friend says that he's been in his fair share of scrapes with the strange and unusual. By the sounds of it, it'd take something pretty nasty to take him out of the picture, and he never works without a backup."
Ted looked at his wife and daughter and nodded slightly. Andromeda said "Harry. Lord Black. Ted, Nymphadora and I would like to be back in the Black family. That is, if you would have us. Nymphadora brought it up to me last night, and I spoke with it to Ted as we were getting ready to go to bed. It's not much, but we would like to consider ourselves as part of your family."
Harry was taken aback. He knew that Sirius had wanted Tonks to be back in the family, but Andi and Tonks? What was the point of them coming back? He had nothing to offer them that they didn't already have, other than himself. It didn't sound like a good trade off for them to make to him. "Why would you want to do this? I mean, I'd be more than happy to do it, but I don't see what the big deal is, and to be honest, I have no clue what I'm doing as the leader of the family."
"Harry. We want to do this, because we want to help you. Nymphadora has exquisite taste in people. If she sees something worthwhile in you, then there is something. She believes in you, and having had our little heart to heart with you last night, we believe in you as well. Even if that wasn't enough, you're going to try to get my sister back for me." Andi replied.
"Oh. Um. That's great. Now I just have to figure out how to put you guys back into the family." Harry said sheepishly.
Andromeda spoke up at that point. "Oh, that's no problem. We can work up an oath, we all swear to it, and it's a done deal. We can word it so that it will not be an impossible oath on anyone's side. Generally it will work along the lines of the patriarch of the family agrees to protect the person's health and honor against all attackers, to work in the common good of the family, and to adjudicate any disputes within the family in a fair and even manner. In turn, the applicant will agree to follow the patriarch's direction in all ways which would affect the family, offer up honest opinions to the patriarch when asked, uphold the honor of the family, work for the common good of the family and take any unresolvable interfamily disputes to the patriarch for judgment. How does that sound?"
Harry said "Okay. Let's see if I got this straight. I, Harry James Black-Potter, patriarch of the Black family, do swear to defend Andromeda Tonks, Ted Tonks, and Nymphadora Tonks' health and honor against all attacks, to work for the common good of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, and to adjudicate any and all unresolvable disputes between each of them and any other member of the Family Black. Right?"
Andromeda said "That's got it. Ted, Nymphadora, are you ready to be Blacks?"
With their assent, Andromeda began. "I, Andromeda Tonks do hereby swear to Harry James Black-Potter, patriarch of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, on my magic to follow his direction in all ways that would affect the Black family, offer up honest opinions to the patriarch when asked, uphold the honor of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, work for the common good of the House of Black, and to take any unresolvable interfamily disputes to him for judgment and so abide by his adjudication." A wave of magic passed through the house.
This was repeated by Ted and Tonks. Harry then stated his oath to his new family members.
"Okay, so Andi, do I call you Mum, now?" he asked with a grin.
"Um, actually, as YOU are the patriarch, Harry, we could actually call you Father." Ted said with a grin. Harry groaned. Well, a weird family was better than none at all.
"Okay," Tonks said brightly. "Harry, you got three new family members, while we got two new ones, and all before breakfast! Would you mind doing the honors, your Chef Patriarchal-ness? I want you to show Mum and Dad your skills in the kitchen! That, and I wouldn't say no to another great omelet from you. Mum and Dad already know that I burn water for the tea."
Harry laughed "Andi? Ted? If you don't mind my borrowing your kitchen, what would you like for breakfast?"
Andi grinned and said "If you do the cooking, I'll do the dishes after we eat. Sound good, My Lord?"
Harry grinned back and said "Good to me. Now, I know Tonks' order, how about you two?"
Harry cooked, and was grinning while his two new family members raved about his cooking. After dinner, Andi went in to do the dishes. As she started, Harry came up and started drying and putting them away. "Harry, the deal was you cook, I clean. Remember?" Andi said.
"I know. I also know that it gets done faster if you share the load." Harry said with a smile. " A very wise man told me that. Funnily enough, it was because he was helping me do the dishes as well. Seems to work just as well from the drying side as it does from the washing. Shall we?" Harry picked up another dish. Andi just shook her head at her new patriarch. This was going to take a lot of getting used to, for all of them.
As they finished the dishes, Andi smiled and said "Okay. Breakfast and dishes are out of the way. Now, what?"
Harry looked at her and said, "Well, you said I had to go shopping, and I was thinking. With the heat on me and Tonks here in London, maybe it was time to go underground for a bit. Since Ted said that the shrink he had in mind worked out of Edinburgh, maybe I should go to ground in Scotland, meet up with him, see if he will help, and see about getting Trixie up there."
Tonks scowled and said "Hang on. What's this I stuff, boss? That should be a WE. You aren't going anywhere without me."
Ted and Andi looked at each other, and then at the two and Ted said "Us. You aren't going without US. Besides, I'm the one that knows Noel, and he is the one that knows the Doc. Besides, it's been a while since we've been up to Edinburgh."
Harry looked at the three, and sighed and said "Okay. Us. Now, how do we do this? I need some money from Gringott's, a way to get my stuff back, and someplace to stay."
"Easy enough," said Andi, taking charge of the situation. "Ted, you go get his stuff. Make sure to check it all for tracking charms. Then bring it back here. Harry, if you give Tonks your ring and your key, She can access your account. That will keep you out of Diagon Alley until we can get you looking like a beggar. I'll give you a makeover and show you some makeup tricks to make you look a bit less conspicuous."
The other three stood there for a moment, dumbstruck. Andi saw this and said "Well? Close the mouths before one of you swallows a fly, and get moving. Harry, give her the key and the ring. Ted, go to your daughter's flat. Move it, people!" Startled, all three started moving at once, while Andi laughed.
Finally, they all got sorted out, and off to their prospective tasks. Andi took Harry into the bathroom, and showed him how to use foundation to hide his scar, thin his eyebrows a bit, and how to transfigure the frames of his glasses into a more stylish look. Next, it was time for the hair. She tried combing it into different styles without success. Nothing seemed to help, even a full bottle of Sleakeazy's. Admitting defeat, she finally said "I don't know what we can do with this mop. I have some potions here that can change it to a light brown or a strawberry blond, but it's going to be asking a bit much for getting it to lay straight."
"Well, I'm used to the hair being a mess. It doesn't seem to matter what I do to it. It just goes back to this. I don't think blond would be a good look for me. I keep thinking that would make me look too much like Malfoy." Harry shuddered, and then continued. "I wouldn't mind the light brown, though. Maybe a hat would help?"
"I think that we can add a ball cap in on our shopping trip."
About that time, Ted showed up. "Harry, you have got someone looking for you really hard. It's a good thing that I did go in there. They went through and put up six different detection wards, and put tracking charms on every bit of your property. They even put four different ones on your owl!"
"That sounds like Moody's work," Harry laughed. "Only he would set up something like that."
"Well, I didn't feel like getting mangled by that owl of yours by apparating, so I just told her to head for you after I got all of the spells off her. She'll be here in a minute. Here's your trunk. I pitched all of the clothes. I hope you don't mind. Otherwise I'd still be there, and they didn't look like Andi here would let you have them anymore anyway. I know what she's like when she goes shopping." Ted said.
Tonks apparated back to the living room. As she handed Harry back his key and ring, she also handed him a billfold, a small stack of papers, and a small Gringott's money bag. "Harry, you have two sets of identification papers now. You are either Harry James Black-Potter or James Harrison Black. Both of them are eighteen, and you have their driver's license, birth certificates and passport. You also have in the billfold one thousand pounds in various denominations, and six prepaid credit cards, each with one thousand pounds on them. In the money bag you have ten thousand galleons, and another twenty thousand pounds. If you will prick your finger and put a drop of blood on the billfold and the money bag, they will only be able to be opened by you, and will find you if they are misplaced or stolen. Oh, and they are almost indestructible as well. Can't be cut, burned, crushed, and are waterproof. With that kind of money, you ought to be able to disappear for a long, long time."
The money reminded Harry of something. "Oh, Tonks. Do you have a broom available? And one for Remus? We have a meeting tomorrow morning, remember?"
"I've got a Comet 260 at home. I don't know about Remus. Sounds like I need to make another trip to Diagon. You've been down in that cave before, so any preference on broom types?"
Ted said "What's this about a meeting tomorrow?"
"Oh, no big deal," Harry said. "We just need to meet up with an armorer about picking up a few hundred square feet of basilisk skin and he's going to make us some armor for it and stuff like that. "
"A few HUNDRED feet?" Ted choked. "There's no way there's that much basilisk skin in England!"
"Oh, it's not. It's in Scotland." Harry replied with a smile.
"Wait a minute. You're GIVING him the skin? Not trying to buy it from him?" Ted asked.
"Yeah. And in return, he's giving us some opaleye armor and battle robes, and in a month will have three sets of Basilisk and Nundu hide armor for us to pick up." Harry said.
"Basilisk AND Nundu? That can't be cheap. I hear they're ten times as resistant to spells as a dragon."
"Yeah, that's what Hagrid said one night when we were talking. He said he really wanted to try raising one from a kitten, and that they were even more misunderstood than dragons. Needless to say, we asked him to warn us before he got one. The Fluffy and Norbert were bad enough." Harry shuddered at the memories from first year.
"Fluffy? Norbert? What were those?" Andi asked.
"Well, Fluffy was a Cerberus; a three headed dog that was ten feet at the shoulder. Norbert was a Norwegian Ridgeback that Hagrid raised from an egg for about a month before we managed to talk him into letting Charlie Weasley take it to the Dragon Preserve in Romania. Almost burned down his hut a half dozen times that I know of, not counting the times I don't know about." Harry replied.
"Harry," Ted said. "We are going to have to have a long, LONG talk very soon."
"Funny, that's what Remus said." Harry grinned.
"Harry, we're going with you to this meeting of yours tomorrow. It sounds like you need someone to guard your back. Nymphadora, honey. When you pick up the brooms, pick me and Ted up one as well. We'll pay you back when you tell us how much."
"No. I think this falls under the classification of 'for the good of the family.' Also, you two WILL be getting measured for a set of armor as well. If you are going to be 'guarding my back,' you will need it. It also means that the Black Patriarch is picking up the tab. Let's see. Remus, Andi, Ted, Forrester, and his apothecary friend. Tonks, leave yours at your flat. According to your Dad, Moody's been doing some breaking and entering as well as going tracking charm happy lately, so I bet he put one on your stuff as well. So, You will pick up six Cleansweep Elevens. They aren't as fast as my Firebolt, but the handling is better, and they are fast enough to handle most stuff. Besides, it's not like we're going to be going very fast down in the Chamber, anyway. Do you need to go back to Gringott's for this, or will the ten thousand I have here take care of it?" Harry said. He decided he liked that phrase 'for the good of the family.' It meant he could get away with doing just about anything he wanted to, and the others wouldn't keep trying to pay him back for it. Besides. Just a few more people and they'd have their own quidditch team.
"Harry, a thousand will take care of it, but we can easily afford to pay for the brooms, and we don't need the armor." Ted said.
"No. I have enough money roaming around that I could by a different Firebolt for every day for the rest of my life and STILL not spend it all. And the armor is not up for discussion. I swore to protect you not two hours ago, and Forrester said that the armor he's going to be making even has a shot at stopping a killing curse. If you are going to be running around with me, you've got to know that I have enemies. Really NASTY enemies. That means you WILL accept the armor. You don't have to like it, but you do have to accept it."
"Yes, Lord Black." Ted said.
"Thank you. I know you don't agree with it, but it's like I told Remus and Tonks before even going to the armorer's in the first place. I have so much money it's not even funny. What I've never had is a family. If I had to give away all of the money I now have in order to keep you safe, I'll do it and not even blink." Harry said.
Touched, Andi said "I understand, Harry. Thank you, and we will of course follow your wishes. Right Ted?"
"I still don't like it, but I will accept it," Ted agreed.
Harry counted out a thousand galleons, put it in his old money bag and handed it to Tonks. There was a -pop-, and she was gone. A short time later, Tonks returned, with the six brooms in their cases shrank and placed in a bag. "Harry, I thought the salesman was going to faint! I was in my little old lady disguise and walked in and said I wanted six of the new Cleansweeps. Then I took one out to the testing grounds and put the man into a panic when I pulled off a Wronski Feint right on top of him. Oh. He gave us a fifteen percent discount for the bulk purchase. Here's your change back." With that, she handed Harry back over two hundred galleons.
"Now, If there is nothing else..." Andi said, and then Tonks joined in and together they cried "Harrod's!" Ted and Harry groaned. Shopping.
Andi transfigured Harry's ragged, illfitting clothing to something acceptable, and they all apparated to a nearby alley. A short time later, they entered the clothier's. A very long time after this, they exited. Ted and Harry's arms were full of bags until they reached the alley. At that time they shrank the bags, and placed them into a pocket.
When they returned to the Tonks residence, Harry looked at Tonks and said "My place or yours?"
When Andi and Ted looked at the pair in askance, Tonks took pity on them and said "Sirius left me the summer manor at Edinburgh, while Harry inherited the Potter summer place somewhere around Inverness. We've never been to either one, so Gringott's got us portkeys for them the other day."
"Well, since Royal Edinburg Hospital is where he works, I think we should probably go to your place, Nymphadora." Andi said. "Then, if we need privacy, we can use Harry's place. Given the fact that we are going to be going into unknown territory with Trixie, we might want to keep her there, out of the way and out of sight. This is going to bring up another sticky problem. Even if everything is on the up and up, she is still a wanted criminal. If anyone finds her, she's going back to Azkaban. If Bella was the one that was in charge then, and Trixie has no memory of those years, I don't know how she would handle being in prison. Especially if the dementors are returned."
Harry said "She won't be going to Azkaban. Belladonna de Montaigne committed the crimes. If this is comes off right, Belladonna will no longer be alive. We will effectively be sentencing her to death. I think I can get a solicitor that can argue that, and if all else fails, I'll just pull a Malfoy and buy off the judges. If he can do it, I don't see why I can't."
Tonks looked at him and frowned. "Harry, officially I'm still an auror. I can't be hearing stuff like that coming from my patriarch. It puts me in a conflict of interest."
"So? Retire. I was thinking I'd hire you and Remus to be my combination body guards and teachers. Andromeda? I would like to hire you as well as the Black family financial manager. I haven't got the foggiest idea what I'm doing with money. I didn't even know how much brooms cost, for Merlin's sake. I get the feeling that I need someone I trust to help me with this stuff or I'm going to get taken so bad it's not even funny. Ted, I'd like you to go over the wards on all of our properties. I don't want anybody able to just waltz in any time they decide to unless I trust them. I've already got a bunch of freeloaders at the London Manor House that I'm going to have to kick out, but I don't think I'm ready for that action just yet. The worst of it is that it's under a Fidelius charm and the secret keeper is the one that's trying to kidnap me. After you get the wards situated, I want you to teach me how to do it, and anything else you can come up with."
As all three nodded, Harry grinned and said "Good. Now as far as salaries, just have a chat with my financial manager."
"Harry!" Andromeda protested. "You can't do that! I could rob you blind! You need to set the salaries at least!"
"Okay. Andi, how much did you make last year?" Harry asked.
"It was right in the neighborhood of fifty thousand galleons. I happen to be very good at what I do." She said.
"All right. Double it. That's your salary. Ted? How about you?"
"Well, part time, it ended up at twenty eight thousand." Ted said.
"Okay. Since this is going to be a full time job, how about we say seventy five? Tonks?"
"Well, auror pay pretty much sucks. You don't go into it for the money, you go into it because you want to. We're pretty much adrenaline junkies. It's about ten." Tonks said.
"Well, we can't have that. Seventy five for you as well. Are we all agreed?"
The Tonks family were gobsmacked. Harry just offered them more than the Minister of Magic makes just to do what they would willingly do for free. Andromeda found her voice first. "I accept, and you're right. You DO need a financial advisor. You've offered us easily three times what the positions are worth."
"Well, there's a saying. You get what you pay for. I expect all three of you to be the very best at what you do, and I expect you to teach me how to be the best as well. 250,000 galleons a year – 325,000 if Remus accepts, isn't even five percent of the interest the two estates make in the year. That means I could hire fifty more people at these wages and still not touch the principal.
"Okay. Tonks, do you accept? If you don't then I need you to go to a different room for a minute." Harry said with a grin.
"Yes, Harry. I accept. When Hedwig gets here I'll send Madam Bones my resignation. Actually, I'm curious what you want to talk to Mum and Dad about."
"Well, our discussion reminded me that werewolves are getting a raw deal. How much money am I going to have to bribe the Wizengamot with to get them all repealed, Andi?"
"Hmm. I'm not too sure that there is a way to get them pulled. Unfortunately, with Fenrir roaming around out there stirring up trouble, some of the Conservatives are pretty staunchly against it." Andi said.
"Andi, if they repealed the garbage about the hiring restrictions and auror oversight garbage, Fenrir wouldn't be able to stir up as much trouble. Oh, and try to track down a potion master, and the number of werewolves in the country. I want to provide free wolf's bane potion to all werewolves that can't afford it. If we can get all of them to the point that they aren't harmful, maybe we can convince everyone of the fact that they aren't 'Dark Creatures,' but someone that happens to have a debilitating disease that happens to afflict them every twenty eight days. Hell, if all else fails, I'll hire all of them and put them to work myself!" Harry siad.
"Potions master and potions will be no problem. I'll get started on that. I agree with you on the repeals and the fact that they are just people that were unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I still don't know about getting it repealed. I'll put out some discrete inquiries and see what we can come up with. Some of the Wizengamot members may just need to be convinced, not bought." Andy said with a smile. "The other thing you might want to consider hiring would be a personal secretary and a social secretary."
"Personal secretary, maybe Remus can do that for me as well. He's good with words. I'm not going to be going to too many society events until I get Dumbledore off my back, though." Harry said.
"Well, that's going to have to be a priority. Lord Black is going to be on all of the A-Lists for parties and events. Everyone is going to want to get to know you and making these contacts can help you out greatly on your political quests." Andromeda said.
"I don't have any political quests!" Harry exclaimed.
"Of course you do, Harry. You want Dumbledore placed in a position that he can't get to you. You also want the Ministry off your back. Thirdly, you want the Wizengamot to change the laws around. All of these are going to require political clout. That requires you to smooze with the socialites. Oh, and there's that marriage and mistress thing hanging over your head. That has to be taken care of as well, and will require social appointments, too." Andromeda explained.
Harry groaned. Why couldn't Tom just have killed him when he was a baby? Either that, or gone after Neville.
At that point, Tonks piped in "Just make sure that you don't have Mum setting you up on the blind dates. It's not a fun experience. The last guy she set me up with was too ugly for a seeing dog."
Andromeda glared at her daughter, and said "There was nothing at all wrong with Steve. He was a sweet young man, rich, and had good genes."
"Yeah, and all he wanted was for me to change into his Mum when we were snogging, Mother. Eew!" Tonks retorted.
"All right, all right. I won't do it again. Besides, I don't have to. That's Lord Black's job now." Andi said with a smile.
"WHAT! What are you talking about?" Harry said.
"It's a common practice for the patriarch of the family to arrange the marriages for it's young ladies." Andi said with a grin, knowing full well that that was the reason she was cast out of the family in the first place.
"Don't worry, Tonks. That's not going to happen. You get to decide who you're going to marry." Harry said.
"Well, do we have any other items on the agenda, or are we ready to go check out Tonk's new house?" Harry asked.
No one could come up with anything, so Tonks pulled out a shoestring and said "Okay everybody. Grab on."
With a jerk from somewhere behind the navel area and a swirl of light, they were gone.
As they landed, Harry again hit the floor. "I hate wizarding travel. About the only time I liked it was last night, and I still fell over." He said, smiling at the memory.
"Well, I guess that I will just have to make sure that you travel in the manner that you like more often." Tonks said.
As they surveyed the manor home, they saw that while dusty, it was definitely in better shape than Grimmauld Place. Andromeda had been there when she was a child, and remembered where everything was. A lot of cleaning spells later, the kitchen, dining room, living room and three bedrooms were livable. Andromeda and Ted went back to their home and brought back food stuffs for at least a couple of days to stock the larder.
Finally, they all went to bed and collapsed. Before going to sleep, Harry quickly wrote in the notebook "Tom, I accept your proposal in regards to Trixie. It will take a few days to nail down the details on my side for her treatment, but I will get back to you on where and when I will collect her."
After this, Harry practiced clearing his mind, and went to sleep.
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A/N: All rights to Dr. Adam Sinclair, Noel MacLeod, and Ethan Peregrine are owned by Kathryn Kurtz, Mercedes Lackey, and their publishers. I am just borrowing them for a minor bit part. If you haven't read the Adept series from them, I highly recommend it.