"Boys," Hermione said quietly, just before the trio entered Knockturn. "I– I don't want this day to end. I don't want to go back home,"

"I don't either, but I probably won't have to," Ron shrugged. "I'll be surprised if they even notice I'm gone,"

"And I'd rather not go back to being abused," Harry agreed, frowning and curling in on himself slightly. Hermione and Ron both crushed him in a hug, and Harry smiled.

"They won't ever hurt you again," Hermione said viciously, and the ground beneath them shook, causing her to smirk.

Ron tilted his head. "Well, the Potters are a noble family. Harry, if you want you could gain access to your parents' wills as their heir. If they've left you any properties, you could move there. Grandmother Lucretia says she's leaving everything to me, but she's still alive,"

"Fine, but we'll also have to be stealthy. I don't think Dumbledore will take kindly to me leaving the hellhole he put me in," Harry said before the three ventured into the Alley.

"Why do you think that?" Hermione asked.

"The way Petunia talked about him was strange," Harry shrugged. "And honestly I'm not quite sure. I just have a feeling.

"I'd trust those 'feelings' of yours, then," Ron added. Hermione and Harry waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

The three friends bought several questionable books, potions supplies for practice, and charmed black gloves for Ron to wear, which he put on immediately and squeezed both their hands, smiling brightly.

"Oh, we need pets!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed. "Magically intelligent ones, specifically, since Ron's rat is at the Station—"

"Still want to know why, but whatever," Harry grumbled and Ron sighed.

"There's eyes and ears everywhere in public. I'll explain when we leave. Maybe. Anyway, 'Mione's right. We need at least one owl, though. But I dunno, pets have never really been my thing, and most of the interesting ones aren't allowed at Hogwarts,"

"Oh come on, Ron, obeying the rules is boring," Harry grinned. Hermione thought about that for a moment.

"Mmm, I'd say they're more meant to be bent, but Hogwarts has fallen in the past few years from what I've read. Considering who's in charge, I'd say the rules are pretty much bull, so we might as well do as we please. Besides, I'm not going to try and get a slip to the Restricted Section every time, that's tedious," Hermione wrinkled her nose, still eyeing the bag of books they'd bought.

"Right, well, it's almost three o'clock, we'll head to Gringotts for now and check out properties, then the Magical Menagerie," Harry said, and the trio set off.

o - o - o

"Greetings, Mister Potter. Miss Granger, Mister Weasley," Longfang said as he entered the office. When Harry mentioned that they wanted to read his parents' wills and see what had been left to him, the goblins had been outraged he hadn't already heard them. And thus, they ushered the three into a private office with the Potter family accounts' manager.

"Greetings Longfang, thank you for giving us your time," Harry said as politely as he could, making a mental note to look into different species' customs and ways to treat them.

"Yes. I apologize, however, that you have not already heard your parents' wills. We goblins had thought your magical guardian would have had them read to you by now," Longfang explained.

Before Harry could question, Ron spoke. "Dumbledore sealed the wills so no one could view them, and left Harry with muggles,"

"Albus Dumbledore," Longfang spat the name with contempt, nostrils flaring. "Is hated by most goblin folk, the blithering old fool. We have managed to remove him as your magical guardian for crimes against the Heir to a Noble House, and are delaying the message to him as you must technically be 16 before you can become Lord Potter and be emancipated, and 13 before you can claim heirship,"

"Thank you for doing that for him, Longfang," Hermione said, both she and Ron squeezing the shocked Harry's hands.

"I would like to hear their wills, and then go through and manage what was left to me," Harry said. "The muggles I was left with are bad people, I don't want them touching my inheritance,"

"Right," Longfang nodded, pulling out a scroll. The scroll unrolled itself, and two wispy forms appeared above them, holding hands.

Harry felt his heart stop at how young they were.

"If you're seeing this, Harry, I'm gone," Lily's form began. "But know that I love you, and will never regret keeping you safe and alive. Please, live happily, be true to who you are. Don't let anyone try to change you," She smiled softly before her posture straightened and her expression became serious– looking every inch the Lady of the House of Potter. "In the case that both me and James die, to Harrison James Potter, my son, I leave everything. My money, my possessions, everything in my name. He is to inherit all of my journals in Charms and Rituals, and my shares in The Quibbler, a knowledgeable newspaper," Lily's eyes narrowed, as if daring to be disagreed with. "Under no circumstances is he to be left with my blood family. As far as we're concerned, the Muggles I am related to are not family. Harry is to be left in the care of his godfather Sirius Black, if he is not available, then he will be sent to his godmother Alice Longbottom and her family. If both of them are gone, then Harry is to be left in the care of Andromeda Tonks and her family." Lily lost her serious expression and looked sad, staring at her son. "I'm sorry, my baby, that I am not there," With that, she vanished back into the scroll, which rolled itself back up.

Then the vision of James spoke. "If you're hearing this, then I died," James cracked a slight, sad smile. "Here Sirius and I were, joking about your first few years at Hogwarts. I'm sorry, fawn," Just as his wife had done, James became serious. "If both Lily and I are gone, then to my Heir I leave the extent of the Potter estate. As my only you've been set to inherit everything since the day you were born, and since I'm sure you're on a time constraint, I'll leave Longfang to explain. Should anything happen to my wife and I," The words made James smile. "Harrison James is to live with his godfather, Sirius Black, or his godmother, Alice Longbottom. If unavailable, he is to go to Andromeda Tonks," James sent a youthful grin to his son. "Cause as much trouble as you can, Harry, because you're only young once. Have fun with it. Mischief managed," With that, James's figure returned to the scroll, and Harry gripped his friends' hands tightly, the experience reinforcing their newfound bond.

"As Lord Potter, you're in possession of three estates; Potter Manor, the Laghari Mansion in Southern India, and an Alaskan Lodge in the mountains of Alaska in North America. You hold ownership over six vaults, three of which are filled with heirlooms, paintings, books, and other things left behind by the Potter family. Another is your trust vault, for you to use until your 17th birthday, upon which you'll have access to the Potter family vault. The third vault is filled with things from your mother, and from what she inherited from her parents. Upon your coming of age you will have claim to the Potter Lordship, and you are also in line for Black Lordship due to blood-adoption with your godfather. You own six shares in the Quibbler, and also own the lands surrounding all of your estates. Potter Manor is the main family home, while Laghari Mansion is from your grandmother Euphemia's family in India. Should you wish it, you can go to your vaults of artifacts and possessions and have them put back to where they were in Potter Manor, including returning the books to the family library. The house elves at each of the estates will be able to give you more information," Longfang explained, pulling out files. "As you are eleven, I won't go deep into finances, but I will say that you are the second richest magical family in England, only behind the Malfoys in monetary wealth,"

"Can we move in to Potter Manor? And put everything back in it?" Harry asked, forcing down all of his emotions in order to focus, as he would at the Dursley's.

Longfang nodded. "It is done. Is that all, Mister Potter?"

"Yes, for now at least. I'll probably be back when I'm a bit older to figure things out," Harry said. "Thank you Longfang,"

The goblin's lip twitched in amusement at that. "Anytime, Mister Potter. If you wish, you may use the Floo to go to Potter Manor, instead of taking the long route. Your purchases of the day are already there. I'm sure Mister Weasley can explain to you and Miss Granger," With that, Longfang left the office, leaving the trio.

"Harry—"

"Let's go," Harry cut Hermione off, and she nodded, letting the subject go for now. Ron walked them to the fireplace and explained the concept of Floo Powder, and soon enough the three were standing in the foyer of Potter Manor.

Harry broke down, and Hermione and Ron were wrapping him in a hug in an instant.

"Huh," Ron squinted, laying his chin on his crossed arms on the table as he stared out the window. Hermione and Harry also sat at the table, forming a triangle around the round table.

"What?" Hermione asked, not looking up from her book.

"Mum and Dad finally noticed I was gone," Ron commented, impressed. "Damn, thought it'd take longer,"

"Hah! You owe me two sickles, Hermione," Harry grinned and Hermione grumbled as she handed over the money, skillfully avoiding letting Missy snatch it.

The owl face planted on the table with a red letter in its beak, and Ron sighed and gave it a piece of bacon out of pity. Poor Errel.

It had been about three weeks since the trio met in Knockturn, and they'd only grown closer. Potter Manor was huge but not garishly so, still having a home-y feel to it. The team of thirty-five overall house elves (eight in the kitchen, seven for cleaning, and ten for tending to the grounds, as well as ten personal elves for family members) had given them the grand tour, and all three loved the large library. Harry had the master room to himself, though Hermione and Ron's were the ones closest to his. The three had also enjoyed the portrait room, where Harry met many relatives and all three learned about the Potter family.

Hermione enjoyed discussing the treatment of women of color in the wizarding world with Harry's grandmother, Euphemia. Ron bested Harry's great-grandfather Charlus in chess, and Harry enjoyed moments with each of his relatives, though there weren't many, as he found that every generation of Potters had only had one son.

The trio had also gotten around to making their purchases at the Magical Menagerie, having gone back to Diagon the day after their initial shopping trip.

Harry had purchased a snowy white owl named Hedwig, who was scarily intelligent sometimes. She was also unusually aggressive for an owl.

Hermione had purchased a pure-bred kneazle that she'd named Gizmo. He was white with light-brown spots, and large pointy ears. Gizmo was also the largest of his litter, and would grow to reach Hermione's waist once fully mature.

Ron, for some reason, had purchased a baby Niffler that had vibrant orange eyes and pitch black fur. It had a shorter snout than most Nifflers, leading the salesman to believe she was a runt, especially with her uncharacteristic shyness and gentleness. She was clever though, and quite often enjoyed stealing shiny coins. Ron named her Missy, short for Mischief.

"It's a Howler," Ron rolled his eyes, passing Missy to Harry, who laughed when the small creature stuck her tongue out. Ron opened it and his mother's screeching made Missy flinch and burrow into Harry's lap, and Gizmo growl and pull his ears down.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley where in Merlin's name are you?! How could you run away, do you know how worried your father and I have been these past two days?! Your siblings have gone crazy searching for you, I've called in the Aurors! Wherever you are, it is time to COME HOME!" The letter ripped itself to pieces and Ron glowered at the scraps, Missy crawling back into his lap happily.

"Only noticed two days ago, hasn't even realised I've been gone for weeks," Ron snarled. "She never should've had so many kids if she couldn't handle it– Oh wait, I almost forgot, I was just a disappointment because she wanted a girl!" He spat, calming when Missy put her little paws on his face, trying to push his cheeks up to make him smile. Ron grinned at the Niffler and tickled her stomach.

"You don't have to go back," Harry said to him. "School starts in less than two weeks, and all of your stuff is here. Just stay with us,"

"No, I don't want the Aurors tracking me down and dragging you two back to your homes," Ron shook his head. "I'll leave everything here, it might get messed with or Mum will lecture me for stealing," Ron sighed, getting to his feet. "Will you guys take care of Missy?" He'd grown rather attached to his Niffler.

Hermione glared and the house shook. "We will. Ugh, your family frustrates me,"

"Yeah, you and me both. The twins and Charlie are cool though, they help me with my powers. The twins can switch bodies and Charlie's a telepath. Bill is only sometimes cool," Ron explained. "Grandmother Lucretia says it's Black blood, since the family has always had lost magic hidden somewhere in the lines,"

"We'll see you on the train then," Harry frowned, he and Hermione hugging Ron before the redhead vanished into the Floo– Luckily Potter Manor had a private network and couldn't be traced.

Before the two could speak, another owl flew in, this one perfectly groomed and obviously from the Post Office, immediately flying off after dropping the letter.

Hermione, As thankful as we are to you for keeping the curse on you away, the neighbors are starting to question things. For the remainder of the summer you need to come back, but keep your distance as we are still trying for a normal child. Don't worry, you're still going away to Hogwarts, we won't stop you, but we also would like to know where you've been. Come home soon after reading this, though we'll probably be in church when you return, as we had to enter the cursed shopping center to get this to you. With Love, Dad

"No," Harry latched onto Hermione, who smiled at the affection, making the house stop shaking (something neither had noticed).

"Harry—"

"Ron just left, I don't want you to go too," Harry frowned. Hermione smiled even wider, hugging back.

"I know, but I'll be heading to school too. I'll do the same as Ron and leave my things here, but I'll try and come back the 31st to spend the night and get ready,"

"Okay, because we still haven't talked about houses yet," Harry said, obviously still not liking the idea. Hedwig flew over and perched on his shoulder, preening her wings.

"Trust me, I don't want to go back to that overly-religious, magic fearing house either," Hermione rolled her eyes. "What's worse is that they still think they love me, it'd be easier if they just hated me, like they do inside,"

"I don't care who sends me a letter, I'm not leaving this house," Harry said determinedly. "Hagrid was annoying anyway,"

Hermione laughed. "I know, you ranted all day about it a bit ago," Hermione smiled at him and patted Gizmo's head before flooing to the Leaky Cauldron in order to head into muggle London.

And once again, Harry Potter was lonely. It's not that he didn't love his relatives and the house elves, and the pets were practically his children, but Hermione and Ron were his best friends.

His first friends. They'd gotten in an alley fight together! That was a bond that couldn't be replicated.

And now he had to wait almost a whole two weeks to see them again.