"And now we just need a signature here and here, and then flip over the page with a signature and a date at the bottom… and then we're done." The solicitor smiled as the couple of dentists in front of him were selling their private surgery to the corporate office that he frequently represented. The wife seemed to be the one in charge even as she smiled and deferred to her husband whenever there was a legal decision to be made. She was driving the sale and had asked all of the right questions and made the appropriate noises to get near top of market value for the past twenty years of the combined life that the two of them had built together.

The sandy haired man scrawled once more before handing the pen to his wife. She started to sign just below her husband's signature. Seven minutes into the long, drawn out process, she asked her solicitor one clarifying question. Their heads huddled for a moment until she was satisfied. The pen scratched into the heavy linen paper once more before she finished with a flourish.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, we are now done. We will file the title transfer this afternoon and here is the payment wired to your account at the Royal Bank of Scotland as you requested. Best wishes and success in all of your future endeavors".

"Mr. Mortimar, thank you for the kind words, you have been more than pleasant in this process." With that, the two dentists collected their copies and Mrs. Granger placed the records into her purse. In silence, they left the office park.

Eighteen minutes later, their daughter had joined them. The past five weeks had seen Hermione change. She head become slightly more fit as every morning she had done an eight mile movement. Today she was able to run for five miles of that including two continuous, and then an hour of stretching and resistance exercise. Being able to survive on the run often meant being able to run. Hermione had not been able to do that all too well. She had not been a sporty child in primary school, the obligatory few hours a week of physical education at school had been spent trying to avoid being singled out more than actively playing. Hogwarts had been good for her socially and academically but there was little physical activity unless it involved battling trolls or dodging werewolves. Those were not daily activities. Now, she was not set to compete at the Olympics, but she could freely move. She had even told her mother that her magic felt more limber now.

"Mum, Dad, thank you, thank you thank you…." Hermione wrapped her parents up in a combined hug outside of their favorite curry restaurant. Two biryanis and a masala were soon at the table where the family just ate and laughed for a few minutes without worry and without concern.

"Now, Grant, you're heading to our solicitor's office for 2:00 today?"

"Yes dear. When I'm there, Declan will brief us on our options to Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Gibraltar, Bermuda, Hong Kong and South Africa. Gibraltar, Bermuda and Hong Kong are the easiest as they are under direct Crown control, but the accelerated skilled migrant programs to the Commonwealth will allow us to disappear more easily in the sea of muggles. I'm also to look into changing our names and entering into an option contract to sell the house in the next two years. Finally, I'm supposed to offer Declan and Elaine congratulations on their engagement. Anything else while I'm there worry wart?" He had ticked off each task on his fingers and held them so that his wife and daughter could see. Both of the women in his life were the same - they needed to know that everything would be done to their specification. It would have been a serious moment except that his eyebrows were waggling and the edge of his lips were failing in their attempt to not smile to his eyes.

"That sounds right." After another bite of naan gave her the moment to take out her notebook from her breast pocket. She flipped through a half dozen pages and looked at her list.

"Hermione and I will go to Little Whinging to pick up Harry at 1:30. The three of us will head to Charing Cross and then into Diagon Alley. Today's objective is to go to Gringotts. We will transfer money into our and Hermione's accounts, converted into Galleons as required and then we will begin to acquire some legal and useful supplies. By nightfall, Hermione and Harry will see a movie while I head to Tesco. Anything else I'm missing?"

Her daughter looked at her. Then she looked at her own notebook.

"That's about the crux of it mum. I have a list of supplies that we can pick up from Diagon Alley today without it looking suspicious. There are a few things I want from Knockturn Alley, but I don't want to go there without half a dozen members of the Order within sight of me, much less with you."

The family rose and left.

Long, powerful strides propelled the trio rapidly down the alley. The two teens formed a slight shield two strides ahead of Ellen. A beggar asked for a free sickle. Hermione blushed and stammered as a prostitute made a pun based on the price of an Ollivander wand in a proposition for both Hermione and Harry. Ellen had always loved going to Diagon Alley. It was the one magical spot that the Muggle parents like her were at least routinely expected and could see other parents just like them. She had become friends with Rosanne Harris over the past few years and had a standing quarterly ice cream date at Fortescue's - butterscotch peppermint was not a flavor that she had ever conceived would be good, but somehow the subtle magics of fat and sugar had worked on her. Roseanne was worried about what she had heard from her son and had been even more worried about the world that she had been dragged into by the end of her chocolate sundae.

The teens stopped two steps in front of Gringotts. Harry tried to pat down his hair while Hermione smoothed the hem of her skirt and checked her purse. They walked up the imposing granite steps

They walked slowly through the almost empty bank lobby. A few Pureblood witches looked at the teenagers with disdain as they were teenagers invading the precincts of adults. They looked at Ellen without notice as she glaringly did not belong. The two goblin guards paid them almost no attention once they determined that the three were not a threat. Ellen reviewed the short few paragraphs of etiquette that Hermione had highlighted before she stepped to the counter. There was little difference in dealing with retail bankers no matter the species. A transaction was a transaction and time was money.

"Sir, I would like to confirm a deposit of 150,000 pound from a Royal Bank of Scotland wire to vault 51225. Please convert those funds into Galleons, transfer 15,000 Gallons to Vault 58172 and then withdraw 5,000 Galleons from 51225." The goal was to fill Hermione's vault with enough liquidity that she and her friends could survive for several years without needing to find new sources of cash.

"Vault keys, and identification please." The gray skinned banker barely looked up as he grabbed the proffered steel keys, and passport. The goblin examined the keys, and Ellen's passport with intensity. He glanced down and then up again, and then down once more.

"Finger please."

Ellen offered her index finger. A quick wandless spell disinfected the finger and then a small dagger barely broke the skin. No more blood than that collected at the start of a blood donation to check for anemia was spilled on the parchment.

"Identity confirmed. Now let me look up the status of the account for vault 51225." The goblin stepped away from the counter and waddled to the filing room behind the main lobby. Ellen glanced to her left. Harry had been met by a goblin who escorted him and Hermione to a conference room. They were scheduled to make arrangements to sell the remains of the basilisk. If they could clear 30,000 galleons, four square meters of pliable skin, and half a dozen fangs they would be ecstatic. The fangs were a late addition to the plan. Professor Dumbledore had mentioned that they might be very useful when he had picked Harry up from his relatives to recruit a new chemistry professor and had been briefed into the plan.

The goblins would likely clear in profit two or three times that as they would be taking on the work of removing the carcass, rendering it to sellable parts and then taking on a decade or more of market risk. From what Hermione had said, the basilisk would eventually be worth over a million galleons but the effort to make it saleable was significant. Perhaps if they were not trying to liquidate assets on a near fire sale they could squeeze out another twenty or thirty percent, but that was not the problem. The money would be irrelevant in a few years.

She kept on thinking about her husband. They had agreed that they would look to relocate overseas. Somewhere in the Commonwealth was easiest to restart their lives, but if they needed to run fast, they would head to New York via either De Gaulle or Heathrow depending on the availability of flights. Once in the States, they could disappear and live only on cash for several months as the Wilkins family got established.

Even as she was musing about her ability to be a waitress in a greasy diner off a deserted highway in Wyoming, the goblin came back.

"Ma'am, please affirm or attest that you are not committing, conspiring or planning to violate the Money Laundering Regulations of 1993 and all relevant laws incorporated thereof." The goblin waited as Ellen collected herself. They were not planning to violate those regulations with these funds, but money laundering was a potential option in the future.

"I affirm that I am in compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations of 1993 and all incorporated laws thereof." The parchment next to the goblin glowed green for a moment.

"Very well, I can confirm that the draft has been received and the requested transfers have been made. The purse has 5,000 galleons in it, including 30 galleons worth of sickles and knuts. There is a featherweight charm and security features that are keyed to the blood of all authorized account holders. Currently that is the muggles Mr. Grant Granger, and you, Mrs. Ellen Granger and your daughter, the witch Hermione Granger. It is also charmed to complement the clothing of the primary holder; at this time that is you" He handed a black purse with a half inch thick Cordoba leather strap to Ellen. He was right, it did complement her outfit nicely.

"Is there anything else that I may do for you today Mrs. Granger?" He smiled a somewhat predatory smile that evidently was an expression of boredom among goblins.

"Will the charms also accommodate Muggle bank notes in the same manner?"

"Most of the charms inside the bag only interact with goblin magic on the galleons, but the security features are in effect without regard to what they are securing.

"Oh well, thank you for the excellent and prompt service."

She put the purse over her shoulder and walked out to a bench just across the street from the bank. Twenty minutes and a chapter of a bodice ripping novel later, her daughter shook her shoulder to grab her attention. Both teens were smiling.

"Good deal?"

"Very good deal… we're getting 30,000 upfront, all the materials that we requested, and 10% of gross revenue after the initial 300,000 earns out. There is a work crew that will be scheduling with Professor Dumbledore tomorrow with a likely extraction coordinated by Dobby likely in the middle of the month and before we're back at school. The Goblins are convinced that we're more dunderheaded than the typical wizard so I think everyone is happy. " Harry gave her daughter a quick squeeze on her forearm as he smiled at seeing his friendly excitedly celebrate a win.

"I am impressed, my daughter is a shark."

Three hours later, the trio exited the Leaky Cauldron with two shrunken trunks full of potion supplies, medical equipment, a pair of new tents, a trio of fast brooms as well as new clothes for both teens. Harry had hated to be fussed over but he took the advice both women offered in relatively good nature. He had even agreed to buy three pairs of shoes including an excellent set of dragonhide boots instead of just a single pair of trainers that he initially wanted. The only thing that they really had wanted to purchase but could not find an open shop in Diagon Alley was a set of back-up wands. Those would need to be acquired elsewhere and they knew where that might be.