August 1995

The month of August seemed to drag on for Harry. Nightmares were frequent, but Hestia refused to administer any more dreamless sleep draught, lest he become addicted. There was also the matter of the content of the dreams. Harry often awoke feeling like he was actually Voldemort.

Sirius upped Harry's Occlumency training, hoping to block the dreams. They helped Harry sleep a bit better, but they didn't block the memories of Cedric dying. Those dreams were the worst because he knew there was nothing he could have done. That, Harry, found out, was worse than having not acted at all. There was absolutely nothing he could have done to save Cedric. Harry found himself wrestling with that every single day.

After waking up screaming again, Hestia thought he overheard Hestia say something about a trip to Diagon Alley. He didn't think that could be right; they hadn't been allowed out of Grimmauld Place for days. Hours later, when it was an appropriate time to be awake, he found out that, indeed, they were going out.


Gringotts

"Harry, we've been going over your account numbers." Bill started hesitantly.

"Is there a problem?" Sirius asked, concerned.

"Well, it's the Tournament winnings," Bill stated. "They didn't go into either the Potter vault or your inheritance vault. We've lost a thousand galleons."

"How the hell did those goblins just lose a thousand galleons!?" Sirius exploded.

"Uh, they didn't." Harry blushed, ducking his head.

"What does that mean?" Sirius asked.

"I, uh, invested it, I guess." Harry continued looking anywhere other than Sirius.

"In what?" Sirius asked again, getting agitated. Harry muttered something. "Say that again. Where someone can understand you."

"Weasley Wizard Wheezes," Harry said, barely intelligible.

"The twins' joke shop?" Bill asked, confused. "You're their mystery dinner?"

"Yeah." Harry sighed.

"The twins have a joke shop?" Sirius asked. "When did that happen?"

"They don't have a joke shop. They have an idea for a joke shop. It's actually a decent idea, but they were lacking major capital. Sure, they won that pile off of you last summer, but they blew through that creating prototypes."

"The twins are starting a joke shop and are looking for investors and you never thought to mention it to me?" Sirius turned on Harry.

"I'm sorry! I just… I didn't want the money! It should have been Cedric's, but they didn't want it, obviously! So, I gave it to the twins. Invested in their venture! That kind of thing!" Harry pleaded for Sirius to understand.

"That's not what I'm upset about. That's what Hestia will be upset about. I'm upset that the twins are starting a joke shop and looking for investors and NOBODY TOLD ME!" Sirius exploded, arms waving about wildly.

"That what you're upset about?" Bill asked. "There's a 65% chance they'll flop in the first year. You're not upset that he potentially lost a thousand galleons."

"Bill, you're working at Gringotts. You know how much money Harry has. I am not upset over the money." Sirius scoffed.

"That must be nice," Bill grumbled.

"Oh, give it six months. You'll understand." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Now, how do I make an investment in this Weasley Wizard Wheezes?"


Quidditch Quality Supplies

"Can I be her when I grow up?" Ginny said staring at a poster of Gwenog Jones.

"Sure, It might be nice to see you in green robes," Draco teased pulling her away from the poster.

"I'm serious," Ginny said with a teasing glare. "What you don't think I could make it?"

"No," Draco said, lacing their fingers together. "I just don't know why you would want to be her when you can be you. Plus, she's a beater, and we both know how well you play that position."

Ginny laughed, "Valid point. I'm just excited to actually get a shot at making the team this year. Last year was stressful. All of this is stressful."

"This doesn't have to be," Draco said pulling her closer into his arms.

"How so?" She asked, leaning into him. "We're already friends, what if something happens? What if we end up hating each other?"

"I could never hate you," Draco said picking up the first pair of gloves. "Just think about it? We can go out on the first Hogsmeade trip. Just you and me. Not when we're waiting for people at the bank to finish."

"That sounds like a date," Ginny said looking down at the gloves."

"You can call it whatever you want, as long as you come," Draco said taking the gloves from her hands. "These, however, are an early birthday present." He leaned down, pulling her in for a heated kiss. "That too."


93 Diagon Alley

Fred and George had managed to slip away from the group and find Lee in the crowd. Then, they found the possible future location of their business. That is if they could get the funds together. They had time, 93 had been uninhabited since the last war, so they were going to spend this school year researching and selling within the school to build up a loyal customer base. That should be enough time to get the money together.

"It's a bit run down, don't you think?" Lee asked, smirking.

"It would take time to get it ready." Fred agreed.

"It would, of course, have to be up and running before Hogwarts starts next year." George finished the thought.

"It definitely has potential." Lee agreed, taking another peek in through the dusty window.

"That'll be wicked." The twins said in unison.

"Can't imagine it would be much else." Lee laughed. "If only you can get the money together."

The twins just glared at him.


Madame Malkin's

Neville didn't think he could be prouder as he stood on a stool, modeling his fifth-year robes while Marly watched from a nearby stool.

"I'm so excited, Nev, I finally get to go to Hogwarts!" Marly cheered as she was fitted for her first-year robes.

"You've got your wand and your books. You're almost ready." Neville laughed.

"Oh goody. Another ikle lion cluttering the halls. We'll all be better off when you breed dies out." A voice sneered and a nearby curtain opened to reveal Pansy Parkinson.

"Oh hush up, Pansy. We're not at Hogwarts and none of your lapdogs are here to pander for your favor. So be a good little Pureblood girl and shut your mouth while men are talking." Neville sneered and Marly stood there in shock.

"Neville," Marly said stoically. "I'm a Pureblood girl."

"Yeah, but you have enough self-respect not to follow the old traditions. You're a good Pureblood in the Alice Longbottom tradition, not the Walburga Black tradition." Neville explained.

"Walburga Black was a queen!" Pansy spewed.

"Walburga Black was a terrorist who single-handedly tried to kill out one of the last Sacred Families, solely because she didn't like the color of tie her oldest son wore when he was away at school!" Neville shouted back.

"Suddenly, the air in this shop has become repulsive." Pansy sniffed. "I'll just take my business elsewhere."

"Elsewhere? The only other option you have is Gladrags, and trust me, you don't want to wear those to class." Madame Malkin chastised. "Now, your order is almost finished, so I suggest you stand up on that stool over there and let Melinda finish hemming your skirts."

"Or what?" Pansy challenged.

"Or I'll tell your mother that you were making a scene in here this afternoon." Madame Malkin fired back.

Pansy, knowing she'd lost this battle, huffed her way to a third stool and stood quietly as 'Melinda' finished her uniforms.

"Mum won't care that we made a scene, will she?" Marly asked, staring at the pouting Slytherin with wide eyes.

"Of course not, Marly." Neville smiled. "Mum hates the Parkinsons more than Sirius hates dementors."


Leaky Cauldron

"Uh, what's this owl?" Fred asked as an owl dropped a notice in front of him.

"It's Gringotts," George said ominously.

"What? What's happened?" Fred asked.

"I don't know," George said, looking at the letter. "I can't, you read it."

"I can't!" Fred shouted as George shoved the letter into his hands. "You do it!" He said as he shoved it into Hermione's hands.

Hermione calmly took the letter and read it silently to herself. Fred and George stared at her. She continued reading, then cocked an eyebrow at Sirius.

"Are you going to tell us what it says?" Fred asked.

"I thought you wanted me to read it, not tell you about it," Hermione replied.

"You are bloody infuriating, do you know that, woman?" Fred mock glared.

"Call me 'woman' again and see what happens, Frederick Gideon Weasley." Hermione glared over the top of the letter.

"Yes, yes he is terribly sorry, now what the bloody hell does it say!" George said trying to swipe the letter from Hermione's hands.

"It says you two owe your entire lives to one Sirius Orion Black," Hermione said dismissively, tossing the letter on the table.

"What did you do, Sirius?" Hestia turned on her husband.

"I did nothing." Sirius shrugged.

"He invested- wait that's a miss print, isn't it?" Fred asked, handing the letter to Sirius.

"Hmm." Sirius intones as he scanned the letter and read the amount. "It is a miss print."

"That's what I thought," Fred said, taking the letter back.

"There should be one more zero. It was supposed to be 10,000 galleons, not 1,000." Sirius corrected. The twins stared in shock, as did Hestia.

"You invested 10,000 galleons in a joke shop, and you didn't tell me!?" Hestia screeched.

"It was actually 10,000 galleons I recovered from the LeStrange vaults when I confiscated them after the last war," Sirius smirked. "I felt that Rudy and Bella's money was best spent on something they would abhor."

"You confiscated the LeStrange family vault?" Hestia shrieked again. "When did you do that?"

"When I claimed that the LeStrange family owed me reparations for nearly ruining my life with their madness, then used the Sacred 28 against the Ministry. It was long before we were a thing. Besides, now I have control of their vaults. Forever!" Sirius laughed.

"You, Sir, are in massive trouble when we get home." Hestia glared.


Kitchen, Grimmauld Place, Midnight

"Shit! Remus!" Tonks cursed, getting a good look at him. "Where have you been?"

"It's fine, Dora. I'm fine." Remus tried to soothe, but his breath caught as his ribs ached.

"No, you're not. I'll ask again, where were you?" Tonks asked again.

"I told you, it doesn't matter." Remus reiterated tiredly.

"It was those damn werewolves, wasn't it? I told you, it's never going to work." Tonks shook him lightly. "You are infuriating, do you know that?"

"Dora, there are things that you don't quite understand about this war. Sacrifices have to be made. This is my sacrifice. I'm working with them to keep them from following Voldemort and Greyback to their deaths." Remus defended.

"Are- are you patronizing me, Remus Lupin?" Tonks asked, pulling her hands away from him as if burned.

"Dora…" Remus sighed.

"Merlin! You are, aren't you? You honestly think I have no idea how the world works. I endured puberty with the name Nymphadora and you think I have no idea how cruel the world is." Tonks shook her head in disbelief.

"I'm not… I didn't…" Remus tried to argue.

"Yes, you did. You meant that, don't lie to me." Tonks said, hurt evident in her eyes. "I'll leave you be, then. Just like you want."

With that, Tonks left the kitchen and went back to bed. Remus waited until he couldn't hear her footsteps anymore to say, "You two can come out of the pantry now."

Hermione and Ginny emerged looking guilty.

"We didn't mean to be spying, you know." Hermione tried to explain.

"That's not what matters." Ginny scoffed. "What matters is, you're never going to get the girl if you keep acting like a git."

"Ginny! You can't talk to a professor like that!" Hermione scolded.

"He's not a professor anymore. He's just Moony now." Ginny shrugged, then she turned on the aforementioned ex-professor. "So, are you ever going to quit acting like a git?"

"What makes you think I want to 'get the girl?'" Remus asked, slightly amused.

"Well, let's see. I've known you since I was born, practically, and you've shown exactly zero interest in women, and trust me, they've shown interest." Ginny scoffed.

"Who, exactly, has 'shown interest?'" Remus asked as if this was news.

"Miss Smith, Harry's year three teacher. Lana, Harry's nanny when Sirius and Hestia went on their honeymoon, Emmeline Vance at the last Order meeting." Ginny listed.

"The point is Professor," Hermione scowled. "You are a wanted man, so you better make the choice before Tonks makes the choice for you."


Kat: Well, are we ready for Hogwarts! Who are you rooting for? Draco or Harry?

Gabs: I'm rooting for whoever ends this slow burn. And you accused me of slow burning the hell out of Fremione! Please, dear readers, excuse any mistakes. I'm strapped to pretty much mobile only writing right now.

Kat: I'm working on about three different papers, so sorry about that too. We own nothing! We love comments!

XOXO

Gabs & Kat