Harry woke up the next day with heavy heart and tired eyes. He had slept even worse than normal, his mind racing between the prophecy, Riddle's Diary, and his earlier years with the Dursleys. He looked over at Ron but his bed was empty. Ron did not always get up this early anymore, but he had done so today.

This allowed Harry a few moments of quiet contemplation. The lines of the prophecy ran through his head. As he finished the third line, he remembered that the prophecy could also have been about Neville. That reminded him of the fact that it was Neville's birthday today. He had never exchanged letters with Neville before, but he probably should considering what the boy had risked for him. The same was true for Luna. He decided to just get his day started and write the letters after breakfast.

After breakfast, which was once again partly cooked by Ron, he ran upstairs to get his writing supplies.

As he started his letter to Neville, he looked up to Ginny who was still at the table drinking her tea.

"Hey, Ginny, when is Luna's birthday?" he asked.

"February 13th, why?" she answered without having to think about it. The mark of a great friend, Harry remarked to himself.

"Oh, because it's Neville's birthday today, so I was just wondering," Harry said, with his eyes on his letter.

"It's Neville's birthday today?" Ron asked coming into the room. "Since when do you know?"

"Er…" Harry stalled for time. He could not yet tell Ron he knows because Dumbledore told him. "He mentioned it one time because our birthdays are after each other you know?" he lied.

"And you think you owe him at least a birthday wish after what happened in June?" Ginny guessed. She picked up the other piece of parchment. "And I guess you're writing Luna too?"

"Yeah," Harry mumbled, eyes on his letter to Neville. Ron remained silent and stood next to the table for a moment. As he made to go outside, Harry made to speak up but he didn't want to tell Ron that he wanted to speak with him in front of Ginny. He didn't want her to think they were going to discuss the previous night. Instead, he decided to distract her by asking a question.

"You went with Neville to the Yule Ball, right? Did you have fun?"

A snort got his attention and he looked up at Ginny. She was looking at him with a mix of mirth and something he couldn't place. Her raised eyebrow wasn't hard to explain, though.

"Why do you ask, Potter? Want to catch up on four years of missed friendship?"

Harry frowned. With her using his surname and what she said, it seemed kind of angry. The tone of voice, however, was more or less playful. He looked at her questioningly.

"What?" she asked, the question clear on her face.

"It's just, you saying 'Potter' and that last part, makes you seem angry with me," Harry stated. "But I'm not sure why you would be angry with me." He went back to his letter to Neville.

Ginny didn't answer immediately. When Harry chanced a glance she was looking out of the kitchen window, thinking about something. Harry continued writing, crossing a part out.

After a minute or two, Ginny spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I wanted to think about your questions and what the true answer was," she said. She took a deep breath and looked Harry in the eyes. "The petty part of my brain said that you asking me about the Yule Ball was proof that you only have time for others when you're on the out with your actual friends."

Harry looked at her flabbergasted, and she hastily continued: "But like I said, that's the petty part of my brain jumping to conclusions. I like to call him Snape."

This derailed Harry's thinking, as he had to do a double-take and then ask with a snicker: "You named the petty part of your brain Snape?"

Ginny grinned. "Yeah, it was one of Prim's exercises actually. It helps to create distance between yourself and what your brains tell you."

Harry didn't quite understand that, but he let it pass. "Do you really think I only talk with you when I'm not seeing eye to eye with Ron or Hermione?"

Ginny raised an eyebrow in challenge. "When have you ever just hung out with Seamus, Dean, or Neville? Without Ron or Hermione? I know Ron did so, but that was when he wasn't speaking to you. You didn't talk to anyone except Hermione before the First Task, I think."

Harry swallowed. Except for Cho, he couldn't think of a single occasion when he had gone out of his way to speak to someone other than Ron of Hermione. Well, there was yesterday… but that didn't count.

Ginny continued. "Do you even know who the other two Gryffindor girls in your year are?" she said teasingly. "Besides Lavender and Parvati?"

"You mean Lily and Sophie? Of course, I know who they are!" Harry defended himself.

"Have you ever actually spoken with them? Besides a 'hello' or 'can I borrow a quill?'"

Harry thought back through his years at Hogwarts, trying to remember if he had. He had to have had at least one conversation with them, right? To his surprise, he couldn't think of one, besides their very first day at Hogwarts, when they were sitting with each other after being sorted.

"Wow," he said slowly. "I honestly think I have never really spoken with them. So, what does that mean? Why did 'Snape' tell you that?"

At this point, Mrs Weasley entered the kitchen and Ginny whispered "We'll talk later." As Ginny engaged her mother in small talk, Harry finished his letter to Neville and read it over.

Neville,

Happy Birthday! How has your summer been so far? I wanted to thank you for what you did last month. I also want to apologize. I was stupid and put you in danger. You were incredibly brave, though. I had at least some idea of what was going on, but you, Ginny, and Luna walked in completely blind.

Did you get a new wand? You broke yours right? Hope your Grandmother wasn't too angry.

Harry

As he put the letter in the envelope, Ginny asked him to wait with sending it so she could add a letter of her own, and maybe Ron wanted to send one as well? Harry agreed and started his work on his letter to Luna.

Dear Luna,

How has your summer been so far? Found any –

"Ginny, what's that creature that Luna's always searching for? The somethingsomething Snorkack?"

"Crumple-Horned Snorkack"

"Thanks"

Found any Crumple-Horned Snorkacks yet? I have a vague memory of you mentioning that they can't fly, is that true? I'm writing you to both thank you, and apologize to you for what happened last month. I put you in incredible danger, and I'm sorry. You, Neville, and Ginny were incredible!
I hope you've been doing well.

Harry

Harry looked over his letter. He wasn't sure what to say to Luna as they hadn't talked that much. Which Harry was beginning to realize was true for almost everyone except for Ron and Hermione, and maybe the quidditch team. He looked up as Ginny came downstairs with her writing supplies in hand.

"You're done writing to Luna?" she asked him.

"Yeah, why?"

"Can I see?"

Harry frowned. "Why?"

"Luna sometimes has difficulty understanding what people have written if they use sarcasm, for example," Ginny explained. "As you've never written her before, I want to prevent miscommunication. Especially because I think she'll be very happy that you wrote her," she smiled at him.

Harry shrugged, and gave her the letter.

Her brown eyes scanned the paper. She sighed. "It's fine… except for the reason you're writing her, I suppose."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Luna's not going to like that you blame yourself. You should have heard the things she told me in second year".

Harry made a contemplative noise.

"Also," Ginny continued, "I should probably warn you, don't expect Luna to write you back like others would. You'll see why. Maybe."

-In Her Memory-

Later that day, having sent his letters with Hedwig, Harry got Ron to meet him in his room. It was time to tell him the prophecy and he decided to just jump into the deep end.

He looked out the window. The summer heat had drastically decreased since the beginning of July. Mr Weasley had explained that Dementors were breeding, which was causing mist and rain. Because the Burrow was located in the countryside, it had taken some time for that influence to reach them. Dementors mostly dwelled outside big cities.

Ron sat on his bed, looking expectantly at Harry. Harry sighed. 'Here we go', he thought.

"I know what the prophecy says," he blurted out.

Ron's face whitened and he took in a deep breath. Before he responded, however, he stood up and walked to his door, opened it and peered out. Apparently satisfied, he closed it again and turned around to look at Harry.

"How bad?" he asked simply.

So Harry told him.

Ron didn't interrupt but his breathing became deeper and more forceful like he was purposefully focusing on it.

Silence surrounded them as Harry finished. He wished Ron would say something.

Ron exhaled forcefully and said, "Bloody hell, mate". He looked at Harry and made a move like he wanted to come over to him, but stilled.

"So, you actually are the Chosen One? Because You-Know-Who chose you rather than Neville?" he asked instead.

"Huh", Harry said, "I hadn't really thought about it that way, I guess I am literally the 'chosen' one."

They fell silent again.

Ron let out a shuddering breath. "I don't know what to say or do," he admitted out loud.

"Yeah…" Harry trailed off. It was moments like this when it became painfully clear that his friendship with Ron had been inextricably entwined with his friendship with Hermione. Just like Ginny had said. It would never be the same again.

"I miss Hermione," Ron said with a sigh, the double-layered meaning of the statement clear to both of them. "She would know what to say or do, you know?" Another shuddered breath escaped.

"What would she have done?" Harry wondered out loud.

"Go through it line by line and race to the library to map out all possible meanings," Ron suggested.

"Maybe," Harry agreed.

"So, this was the weapon the order was protecting? Why? Does it really matter whether You-Know-Who knows the prophecy?"

"I'm not sure, Dumbledore said that Voldemort knows the first two lines. He heard about someone with the power to defeat him born at the end of the 'seventh month', born to those who have thrice defied him. That was enough for him to act, but he also knows there's more to it than that."

"But, even though he didn't know the other parts, he's been trying to off you anyway, right? So why would it matter if he knew the rest?"

"er..." Harry said, thinking about it. "Because… otherwise he would come at me more forcefully and I need time to prepare?" he said. "Maybe Dumbledore will explain during our lessons next year."

"Lessons with Dumbledore?" Ron asked.

"Oh, didn't I mention those? Dumbledore want to give me private lessons next year, he was rather vague about it, to be honest. He only said he thought it was time he was more directly involved with my education and he would tell me why we needed Slughorn at Hogwarts."

"Wonder what that's about…" Ron said.

As they were talking anyway, Harry decided to also tell Ron about his decision to try to become an Animagus (Ron immediately decided to join), a deeper conversation about the problems with the Ministry (Ron seemed to agree with him), and whether they were going to continue the DA and if so, what they were going to teach and what the new name should be.

"You want to teach other stuff than defence?" Ron asked.

"Well, not me no, but don't you think it's really stupid we never bothered to study Healing?" he offered.

"Yeah, you're right," Ron agreed, wiping his hands over his face while stifling a yawn, "so you want to ask Pomfrey to teach that?"

Harry was surprised by that suggestion and Ron continued: "I mean, the DA doesn't have to be underground anymore, so we can ask the professors for help, right? Didn't Hermione mention something about Flitwick being a duelling champion? We could also ask Mad-Eye, I guess."

"Good idea!" Harry said enthusiastically.

They brainstormed some ideas about what to do with the DA, without being too concrete. As the discussion finished, Harry asked Ron a question he'd been wondering about for a while.

"Ron, do you know what that curse was that Hermione was hit with? Or who cast it?" he asked tentatively.

Ron looked at him and then looked away. "Yeah, Mad-Eye told us, it's… personal for our family." He stayed silent for a moment. "Have I ever told you about Fabian and Gideon, Mum's younger twin brothers?"

Harry shook his head, "I know they were in the Order and Mad-Eye said it took a large number of Death Eaters to take them out."

"Yes, it was Dolohov. We know for certain that Dolohov was at least directly responsible for Gideon, but probably also for Fabian. It was the same curse that he used for Hermione…" he trailed off. He looked angry. "It's so stupid! 16 years later, and we still don't know how to heal that fucking curse!" He threw a pillow across the room.

Harry just sat there, quietly.

"It's just that, sometimes it's like nothing has changed since the last war!" Ron stated angrily.

"That's probably because it hasn't," Harry supplied.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Ron said, deflated.

-In Her Memory-

Harry came downstairs to see Fleur sitting in the living room, looking quite bored and a bit forlorn. He had noticed that Mrs Weasley and Ginny's disapproval of Fleur had not abated at all. He decided to try to cheer her up. "Hi Fleur, want to go for a walk?"

Fleur sprang up immediately. "Oui!" she said eagerly.

"Eager to get out of the house?" Harry asked with a chuckle.

Fleur looked a tad embarrassed and silently shrugged a shoulder.

As Harry had promised Dumbledore to not leave the Burrow and the wards only covered so much, they couldn't really walk. So, they walked over to the other side of the pond, through the trees, and out to the furthest part of the grounds the wards reached. That spot provided a nice view of the grasslands of Devon.

As they walked and made small talk, Harry had thought about whether to say something about what he had noticed about Ginny and Mrs Weasley. As he sat down on the makeshift bench, which looked like a magically elongated camping chair, Mr Weasley's doing no doubt, he decided that there really wasn't a reason not to. He also wanted to get to know Fleur a bit better, they had been Triwizard champions of course but he hadn't even written her a letter afterwards or anything, and as he had realized at the beginning of this summer, he didn't even know she and Bill had been dating, let alone that they were engaged. This was exactly the kind of thing that Ginny had meant about him not talking to anyone except for Hermione and Ron.

"So… it seems like Mrs Weasley and Ginny are not your biggest fans", he stated dryly. Fleur let out a humourless chuckle.

"Indeed." She sighed. "C'est la vivre du Veela, female jealousy is as constant a companion as male attention is."

"So you think they're jealous?" Harry asked. That didn't seem to fit with his view of Mrs Weasley and Ginny, but then again, he didn't really know them that well, on a personal level right? "Wouldn't that be … kind of weird?" he added.

"Harry!" Fleur scolded teasingly. "Not like that!"

Harry turned beet red and looked away embarrassedly.

"But non, you are right. I don't think they are jealous, but I don't know if I've done something wrong?"

"I could try to find out if you want? When did they find out you were dating? I had no idea, and then you told me you were engaged. Kind of a shock, to be honest."

"You didn't know?" Fleur gasped. "How come you didn't know?"

"Who should've told me?" Harry shot back.

"Ronald, of course!"

"Did he know?"

"Why wouldn't he have known?"

"I don't know, he never mentioned it to me, that's all I know"

Silence stretched for a while.

"When did you start dating Bill?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh, we started working together at Gringotts and we started dating only a week or so after."

"Isn't that kind of quick?" Harry wondered out loud, "but then again, I saw the way you looked at him during the family day before the third task," Harry said, smirking at Fleur.

Fleur blushed, "Veela just know these things. I think this is one of the problems Mrs Weasley has, for her the engagement seems rushed, for me and my family it's only logical." She sighed happily. "It was so romantic," she said with a faraway gaze, clearly reminiscing. Harry let her.

After a minute or so, Fleur came to and looked at Harry. "And you, Harry? Any nice girls at Hogwarts?"

This time Harry blushed, but in embarrassment rather than whatever Fleur had been feeling. He made a noncommitted grunt, somewhere between a positive and a negative.

"Non? Well, you could always write to Gabrielle", she said with a smirk and a slight push to his shoulder.

Harry laughed at that. "Well, if I wanted to date a fangirl, I could always ask Ginny," he said, but regretting it immediately. Not a nice thing to say, to both Ginny and Gabrielle. Time for a distraction. "I dated Cho Chang for a while last year though."

Fleur smirked at him and then did a double-take. "Cho Chang? The pretty Asian girl? Went to the Yule Ball with-

- with Cedric, yeah," Harry interrupted. He wasn't painting himself in the best light right now, was he?

"Didn't work out?" Fleur asked, lightly.

"No, we only had two things in common: quidditch and Cedric. Cedric wasn't a happy topic and you can't talk about Quidditch forever," 'No matter how much Ron tries sometimes,' he added to himself.

"Well, don't hesitate to write if you need tips," Fleur said, "or about anything, really."

Harry promised her he would.

-In Her Memory-

That night Remus returned and with seven they ate dinner. Remus didn't look good, gaunt and grim and also with a clear aura of sadness, that even Harry could see. He wondered if he should provide him with a chance to talk about Sirius, but he wasn't completely sure that was the cause of Remus' mood. He brought news of Dementor Attacks and that Igor Karkaroff's body was found, who as Remus said, had done quite a good job escaping Voldemort for so long, seeing as Sirius's brother Regulus only manage a couple of days. Bill supplied them with more bad news about Florean Fortescue, the ice-cream king of Diagon Alley, and Mr Weasley told them that Ollivander had been missing. Harry hoped that Neville had been on time if he did get a new wand.

Speaking of Neville, his reply to Harry's letter stating he had gotten a new wand came in after dinner. Apparently, his Gran was quite proud of him and he had been one of the last ones to get a wand from Ollivander. He didn't say anything about Harry's apology, which didn't sit quite right with Harry. He hoped Neville wasn't angry with him. But if he was, he would not have replied. Right? Considering the letter was quite a bit longer than the one Harry had sent, he hoped Neville had just forgotten to respond to it.

The next day was Harry's birthday. He still needed to finish that conversation with Ginny but he decided that could wait. No reason to bring yourself down on your birthday, he mused. It really hadn't anything to do with his reluctance to talk about how he had been a recluse during the last 5 years, so he told himself. Or that he didn't want to talk about the Dursleys.

As it was a Wednesday, Harry didn't expect a party. He got one anyway. What he also hadn't expected, was Luna arriving unannounced during the afternoon. As she had come unannounced, she couldn't enter through the wards, and Remus had to go let her in.

Harry, with Ron and Ginny, was waiting for her outside of the house. As she walked into view, Harry spotted she was carrying a present. She was wearing a white summer dress that had been charmed with a lot of moving butterflies. Or, maybe they were some of Luna's creatures? The blonde girl was seemingly in deep conversation with Remus. As they drew nearer, they could just hear the end of their conversation.

"… so no, Luna, you don't bother me at all, even if you're named after the moon," Remus said with a bemused but fond smile on his face. Harry suppressed a snort, thinking of how Luna probably was in a class environment. He heard Ginny also chuckle.

As they arrived, Ginny hugged Luna. "Hi, Luna, what a nice surprise!"

"Hello, Ginny", Luna answered with a smile. She looked over Ginny's shoulder to where Harry and Ron were standing. "Hello Harry, Hello Ronald."

"Hey Luna, I didn't know you were coming," Harry greeted Luna back.

She looked to the right. "Oh, my" she murmured in surprise. He looked over to see Fleur walking towards them.

"That's okay, I didn't either," she answered, slowly bringing her gaze back to Harry and Ron.

"Is that a present for Harry?" Ron asked, pointing at the box in Luna's hands, "we can put it with the others on the kitchen table if you want?"

"Are you staying until dinner, Luna?" Harry asked.

"Probably," Luna answered distractedly, not taking her eyes off Harry. She cocked her head slightly to the side. Harry squirmed a bit under her gaze.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," Luna answered, a bit more clearly, shaking her head like a dog getting rid of water. Or, like Luna getting rid of Nargles, Harry thought to himself.

"Well, you're welcome to stay, dear." Mrs Weasley said from the backdoor. "The more, the merrier."

As Luna and Ginny walked back inside, Ron leaned over to whisper to Harry. "Is it just me, or did Luna seem more … er… than normal?".

Harry nodded thoughtfully. Whatever the best way was to describe Luna, she certainly seemed more of it than usual. "Maybe we can ask Ginny if she knows what's up?" he proposed.

"She does know her best," Ron agreed.

-In Her Memory-

At Harry's birthday dinner, there were more people than he had expected. Apart from the Weasleys, Fleur and Remus, Tonks had come, looking distinctly colourless. Luna was there, apparently having come to the conclusion she would stay.

After eating to their heart's content and singing Happy Birthday to Harry, it was time for presents. Here, he got another surprise.

"Harry, dear, this present came by owl this afternoon, while you were outside. It's from Professor Dumbledore." Mrs Weasley told him. "He also said to let you know that Hagrid was planning, but couldn't make it, unfortunately."

Harry accepted the gift and accompanying letter, wondering why Professor Dumbledore had decided to give him anything at all. He hoped it had something do with their private lessons. He read the letter first.

Dear Harry,

I wish you the most happiest of birthdays possible. While it is unusual for a Headmaster to give birthday gifts to students, I couldn't think of a better occasion to gift you this book. Yes, I recognize the irony in me gifting you a book, when it was I who lamented the fact that people are wont to give me books! However, books, literature more specifically, can often be a great way to escape the realities of life. Therefore, I gift you this book of happy endings, in the hope you can someday write your own.

With the most kindest of regards,
Albus Dumbledore.

Harry read the letter curiously and then opened the parcel. It seemed the Headmaster had given him a book called The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It seemed to be a book of Wizarding Fairy Tales. The book was clearly not new.

"Ah! The Tales of Beedle the Bard" Mr Weasley commented. "Are you familiar with it, Harry?"

At Harry's headshake, he continued. "They are kids' stories. I believe the muggles call them … er … something magical like …"

"Fairy tales," Harry supplemented, realizing as he did so that Hermione would've done so at least three seconds earlier.

"Yes, fairy tales, that's right. May I see it?"

Harry handed the book over. Mr Weasley frowned as he saw the state the book was in. He opened it and something he read surprised him.

"I think, Harry, that this is the Headmasters' own copy of the first edition of the book. I wonder…" he trailed off. "Yes, the book is filled with annotations and notes on the stories. Quite a gift," he added as he gave the book back.

"So it has the original version of The Fountain of Fair Fortune?" Bill asked his father.

"It should have, yes." Mr Weasley answered. At the questioning glances of Harry, Ginny and Ron, he added, "The original version featured a quite prominent marriage between a witch and a muggle man. In some editions of the book, this has been rewritten to be a witch and a wizard. No need to tell you why some people objected," he finished with a dark look.

"Be sure to write him a thank-you letter, Harry, dear" Mrs Weasley advised.

Harry agreed and accepted a gift from Bill and Fleur.

"This is a Gringotts Instantly-Refilling-Money-Bag." Bill explained. "It will continuously top itself up to a predetermined amount. They're enchanted with feather-weight, shrinking, and notice-me-not charms, to make carrying it with you easier and to prevent it from being pickpocketed. From the moment the bag touches your skin, it will only open for you. I also fulfilled your request, you'll find the information in the bag. I suggest you open it somewhere privately." He added with a wink.

Harry nodded his understanding and thanked the couple. He did notice Mr and Mrs Weasley sharing a look and Remus hiding his second smile of the day.

Next up was Luna, who gave him a big box that weighed almost nothing. He opened it to find the box empty. He looked questioningly at Luna.

She smiled at him. "It's an accepted apology," she stated matter-of-factly.

Harry could see the confused faces around the table, except for Ginny who smiled knowingly at Harry and then fondly at Luna. Harry gave Luna a small smile. "Thank you, Luna, that means a lot."

"Not that I understand why you did apologize, but Daddy says it sometimes better to just accept that not everything can be explained," Luna added.

Harry thought that was a rather interesting observation for Luna to make, considering he was sure Luna had an explanation for everything. Next came Ron, who gave him a box of assorted candies. Fred and George, from whom Harry had not expected anything, gave him a Weasley Wizarding Wheezes gift voucher. They all promised they would visit when their booklists were delivered. Harry also got an Auror training manual from Tonks, who tried her best to look enthusiastic as they talked a bit about what was in it.

The evening was spent in (mostly) good spirits, as the butterbeer and fire whiskeys for the older generation flowed freely. Harry and Ron, with the help of Fred and George, managed to disguise the fire whiskeys they had sneaked past Mrs Weasley as butterbeer, only to be busted when Harry took his first sip and immediately started coughing as he had underestimated the strength of it. Mrs Weasley was fondly telling them both of. This proved to not be the only alcohol-related anecdote to be told in later years as an hour later Luna realized that Remus' nickname was Moony.

"Wait… you're Moony?" she asked with barely concealed glee.

"Yes?" Remus asked cautiously.

"Then, then. Wait!" Luna said, thinking hard about something, eyes glassy. She laughed out loud. "That means that, I'm Luna, you're Moony, you're Remus, I'm Loony" she sang, barely making it to the end of her poem before laughing so hard she cried.

"Oh, no!" Ginny said dramatically but with a fond smile. "Who gave Luna butterbeer? Mum, didn't I tell you to keep her away from the butterbeer?"

"Is she drunk?" Ron questioned, amazed. "How do you get drunk from butterbeer?"

Ginny shook her head. "You know how she is when she's sober, this is just her with … er… lowered inhibitions." She walked over to Luna and hugged her. "Come on, Luna don't call yourself Loony."

Luna just laughed again, before she looked up to Remus, who was at this point just amused, and asked, quite seriously: "Do you think rhyming nicknames are a sign of true love?" Remus' smile slipped from his face. Harry saw Bill and Fleur tense up but didn't understand why. It seemed Ginny did, as she pulled Luna into a standing position. "Okay, Luna, let's go."

Luna looked up to her and said "Oh, okay, Ginny". As Ginny walked her into the house Harry could swear he heard Luna giggle, a sound which he had never heard her make before. Ron and he looked at each other before laughing disbelievingly and shaking their heads. After that Remus made them all go to bed, while Bill and Fleur went to his (or their? Harry wasn't sure actually) apartment in London. Tonks had pulled an Irish Goodbye.

As Harry lay in bed, he wondered again what was happening with Tonks and Remus. Did they miss Sirius? Tonks and Sirius had been cousins after all. Maybe he should talk to her about Sirius? He decided it was a better idea to first ask Ginny, she seemed to know what was going on.

-In Her Memory-

The next morning he woke up alone again, as Ron had made his way downstairs already. This gave Harry the perfect opportunity to read the Gringotts documents Bill had gotten him. He grabbed the bag Bill had given him and pulled out a note and an official Gringotts document. He read the note first:

Harry,

This is a Gringotts Instantly-Refilling-Money-Bag. I've set it up to refill to 20 galleons. This way you won't have to visit your vaults. The security at the bank has been increased and it is a chore to get through all the checkpoints. Important to know, however, is that these bags are usually only given to major account holders. Consider that a clue for what you'll find on the Vault Inventory!

Bill

"Major account holder?" Harry questioned. He pulled out the Gringotts document and opened it to see a letter and a document and started reading the former.

Mr Potter

Enclosed you will find the requested information regarding your vaults. Please be advised that due to your status as a minor, you will not yet be able to open your main family vault. An appointment for the key handover will be scheduled somewhere between July 25th and August 7th 1997. Your account manager, Geldgraag, will contact you approximately a week prior.

May your profits and wealth be ever plentiful,
Odbert
Chairgoblin of Gringotts' Vault Inspection Division.

The fact that Harry wouldn't be able to go into the Potter family vault did not surprise him. Whether he would have wanted to, considering the security measures Bill had spoken of, would be determined by the contents. He grabbed the official-looking document.

Gringotts Vault Inventory

Mr Potter has (future) access to two vaults at Gringotts:
* (1) Minor Vault (automatic refilling)
* (1) Family Vault

The vaults contain a sum total of: 87.172 Galleons, 6 Sickles, and 24 Knuts divided as such:
Minor vault: 400 Galleons (refilled on July 1st, 1996)
Family vault: 83.172 Galleons, 6 Sickles, and 24 Knuts

Nonmonetary items in vault storage*:
* Please be advised that due to privacy policy, Gringotts Goblins can only give an overview of the non-monetary items stored in a vault.

Minor Vault: none
Family Vault: Jewelry, Books, Photos, and 2 chests of drawers.

Almost 90.000 galleons, Harry mused. That was obviously a lot but he wasn't sure how much that really was. What was the conversion rate between Galleons and pounds? He'd have to ask Bill or Mr Weasley about that. He was also very excited by the nonmonetary items. He wondered what kind of books were in the vault. His father was supposedly very good at Transfiguration, so maybe some Transfiguration books? He would have to ask Remus whether he knew what kind of books were in the vaults. Jewellery, maybe his parents' wedding rings? Harry already had some photos of his parents but he was excited by the idea that there might be photos of his grandparents as well.

After his morning ablutions, he went downstairs for breakfast. Mr Weasley had already left and Bill and Fleur were either at work or the apartment in London. Ginny and Ron were halfway done with breakfast already.

"Oh, good morning Harry, dear." Mrs Weasley greeted. "There are still some eggs and bacon in the frying pan."

"Good morning, Mrs Weasley. Thank you," he responded. After putting his breakfast together, he sat down at the table.

"Did you have fun yesterday?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"Yeah, I did! Thanks again for the birthday cake, it was delicious!" Harry said with a smile. He then turned to Ginny. "Did Luna sleep over?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, I floo-called her Father and send her through"

Mrs Weasley pursed her lips disapprovingly. She obviously wasn't a fan of 'drunken shenanigans' like last evening's. "That Luna. Ginny, please make sure she stays away from the butterbeer at your party?"

Ginny just nodded while Ron and Harry laughed. "I always thought only House-Elves could get drunk from Butterbeer," Ron commented.

"She wasn't drunk" Ginny defended. "Luna already has a hard time trying to not flaunt social conventions when she's completely sober, you can imagine how more difficult that becomes when she has a buzz going on."

"And just how do you know that, young lady?" Mrs Weasley asked heatedly. "Have you been drinking at Hogwarts?"

"Xeno told me", Ginny replied smoothly. That was a lie, Harry knew, because he was quite sure he had seen her and Luna drinking butterbeer after Gryffindor won the quidditch cup last year.

Seeing that Mrs Weasley did not believe her and was gearing up to reply, he decided to both help Ginny and himself.

"Mrs Weasley," he quickly said, "do you know the conversation rate between Galleons and Muggle English Pounds?"

"I have no idea, Harry," she answered while still glaring at Ginny.

"1 Galleon equals about 5 pounds" Ginny answered quickly. Ron looked at her funny. "I learned that in my first year of Muggle Studies," she explained.

Harry did some quick maths. That means that he had just under £450.000. His eyes widened. He was almost half a millionaire! Well, he would be next year. Major account holder indeed! He blushed as he realized that Bill probably knew of his riches. That was embarrassing.

"Harry, are you okay?" Ron asked. "You looked kind of… shocked?"

Harry didn't know how to respond to this as he felt different emotions rearing up inside of him. First of all, he didn't want to talk about his money with the Weasleys. Even if Mr Weasley now had a better paying job, he was quite sure he was still richer than them. At the same time, he had spent so much time at the Burrow he felt like he should do something for them. But he couldn't do that without mentioning the fact that he could allow himself to do so and not be in trouble. He'd have to discuss that with Mr and Mrs Weasley at some point, preferably before they went to Diagon Alley so he could buy something if he wanted to. Ginny's birthday was coming up, he could buy her something nice!

As Ron, Ginny, and Mrs Weasley were looking increasingly worried at him, he realized he still hadn't responded.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I just…" he trailed off. "I just realized something, that's all."

"Care to share, mate?" Ron asked.

"Not yet, Ron, I'll let you know," Harry said. This seemed to be good enough for the three and Ron, Ginny and Harry spent most of that day on the quidditch pitch again.

AN:
1. Say Hi to my Luna! Luna is such an interesting and difficult character to write, which is why she is never the same in two fanfictions. I enjoy writing her immensely, though!

2. I wanted Harry to be rich but not stupidly so. He had to be able to live of it for the rest of his life, provided that he was smart about spending. I think I based the number on the price of living in 1990s Britain, multiplied that by a lifetime and then subtracted the cost of housing (either rent or a mortgage). I'm not sure though, as I wrote this chapter back in like September.