Chapter 4:
Meetings, Vault 1031
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter…yet *maniacal laughter is heard*
"I'd like to go to vault 1031 please." Harry stated to the Goblin sitting behind the desk.
"Key?" the Goblin stated curtly.
Harry fished the golden Gringotts key out his pocket and showed it to the Goblin, who called for another to lead Harry to the vault.
One roller coaster ride later, Harry was standing in front of his parents vault. The Goblin who had taken him there took his key and opened it for him and Harry stood there amazed at everything he saw. There were trunks scattered here and there, portraits lying against the walls covered in dust, stacks of books, a few pieces of furniture such as a well carved desk, and wardrobe, and lastly, Harry saw in the middle of the vault, a small table with a piece of parchment sitting on it. Harry turned to the Goblin.
"Could you possibly come back for me later?" he asked.
"I'm sorry sir, but I am not allowed to leave anyone in the vicinity of the vaults." Replied the Goblin stiffly.
"Alright, alright, can I just have a few minutes then?"
"Of course sir." The goblin then left to stand next to the cart, his back facing Harry who walked into the vault and over to the table.
Shakily, he picked up the parchment and unrolled it to reveal a letter. Whoever had written it had beautiful handwriting Harry noted.
Dearest Harry,
If you are reading this, then our worst fears have come true. We are no longer living and able to stand beside you as you grow in the man we are proud to call our son. But it is our hope that in your lifetime you do not have to deal with the likes of Voldemort, or other dark wizards. However, we fear it that it may be in your destiny to do so. Therefore, we can only pray you will prevail in all of your endeavors. We do know that with Padfoot,Moony and Peter at your side, you will always have good hearted and courageous (albeit immature) people to look up too.
In this vault, you will find many things. But our most prized possessions you will find in a small black chest that we have asked Dumbledore to look after. He was instructed to place it here along with our other belongings once you turned fifteen. All I will tell you Harry is choose wisely.
Lastly, we simply want you to know that we have always and will always love you. We are proud knowing that you are our son, and don't ever forget that. We will always be watching over you and protecting you.
Love Always,
Mum and Dad
P.S. If you're anything like you're father (and I know you are) stay out of trouble, well for the most part anyway.
A small tear sped down Harry's cheek. When he had spoken with his mother in the timeless place, she had told him that he would receive something from Dumbledore on his birthday. But she hadn't said what; now he knew.
Wiping the tears from his face quickly, Harry pulled his trunk out of his pocket, and after enlarging it, he began to place everything in the vault into the bottomless part of the trunk. When he was finished, he shrunk the trunk once more and placed it back into his pocket to go through later. He then left the now empty vault and the Goblin gave him back his key. And led him to his vault where he got a few bags of money.
Harry soon left Gringotts to get his school supplies. Looking at his list he saw he needed the usual things: potion ingredient refills, new books, and new robes (including dress robes). Harry inwardly groaned. That meant that another ball was going to be held this year.
He already had the books because they were in Merlyn's library. His potion ingredient refills he got quickly, and then after stopping to get Hedwig some owl treats for her when he next saw her, he headed for Madam Malkin's. As he neared the store, he noticed someone oddly familiar looking at different pairs of dress robes through the glass. It wasn't until she turned her head ever so slightly that Harry realized it was Ginny.
"Ginny?" Harry said softly as he stepped up behind her. She jumped back startled, and bumped into him.
"Harry! What are you doing h-"she trailed off as she noticed how different Harry looked.
"I was going to ask you the same thing Ginny. Ron told me that you guys had already come by to get your school supplies. Did you guys forget something?" said Harry.
"Actually, I finally managed to convince mum that I'm old enough to come here by myself. I wanted to stop by Flourish and Blott's. See, I know the owner really well and she lets me come in and read whenever I'm here with my family. I needed to come today because she was holding a book for me."
Ginny then seemed to realize that she was talking slightly fast, but Harry hadn't seemed to notice. He was too amazed at the fact that she just said more than two whole sentences to him and hadn't even blushed.
'I wonder if she's over her crush on me?' Harry wondered.
"What books was she holding for you?" asked Harry and pointed to the books she held in her arms.
"A few advanced healing books and a couple of muggle books. We both like muggle poetry, and that's how we became such good friends." Ginny explained.
"Well Gin, while you're here, do you think you can help me pick out some new robes?" he asked her.
"Um, sure! I'd love too." She replied a little hesitantly. He then led her into the small robe shop.
"Hello dears! How can I help you?" asked Madam Malkin.
"I need some new robes. I've sorta outgrown my old ones" replied Harry.
"Of course dearie! Just stand still a moment while we have you measured."
The tape measure began to take his measurements all by itself while she began to get the materials ready and Ginny began to select colors for his everyday robes.
In what seemed like no time, his robes were finished, and now fit perfectly. For his everyday robes, Ginny had select some that were midnight blue, some that were forest green, some that were a deep red and finally some more black.
"Thank you Ginny. They're perfect!" said Harry and Ginny couldn't help but blush slightly. Luckily, Harry didn't notice.
"You're welcome Harry. But I really should be going. Mum will worry if I'm gone too long" said Ginny.
"Alright, let me pay for these and then I'll walk you to the three broom sticks."
Ginny nodded and walked outside to wait while Harry paid for his robes and when Madam Malkin wasn't looking, he quickly shrunk them and put them into his pocket and headed outside to Ginny. When he got there however, he found none other then Draco Malfoy standing in front of her smirking.
"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry hissed as he stepped up beside Ginny. Draco looked at Harry and didn't seem to recognize him. Harry noticed a shocked look in his eyes but it only lasted a moment.
"Potter! What are you doing here? Escorting your little weasel girlfriend here." Draco sniggered. But Harry didn't rise to the bait, even though he wanted to. Merlyn and Arthur had taught him to pick his battles carefully.
Harry instead smirked and said "What happened to your bodyguards Malfoy? I thought they were attached to you at the hip."
Malfoy began to shake with anger. But he then noticed the small pile of books that Ginny carried, and particularly the title of the one on top: Grasping for Life's Perfect Dream and Other Collected Poems By: Jesmyra Cruz. He quickly grabbed it.
"Hey! Give that back!" cried Ginny.
"A muggle book! You shame pure bloods everywhere Weasel. As a matter of fact, you're nothing better than a pathetic mud blood, just like Granger."
That was it for Harry. Forget magic. He was going to pound Draco the old fashioned way. Well, he was going to anyway, except Ginny decided to do it for him.
She kicked him hard (and she's a little shorter than him mind you). He bent over in pain, and she took that moment to knee him right in the face, breaking his nose. He fell back onto the ground and howled in pain.
"Last time I checked Malfoy," said Ginny picking up her book, "the only thing dirty around here are thieves like you. Don't ever touch my things again."
Draco, with tears running down his face along with the blood that was seeping from his now very broken nose, opened his mouth to say something. However, he never got the chance. There was loud BANG, and looking up quickly, Harry was shocked to see deatheaters making their way down the street throwing curses left and right.
People were screaming and grabbing their children to hide. Some of the braver souls ran out to duel the deatheaters, while others apparated away. Harry pulled out his wand, ready to fight, but Ginny grabbed his hand and pulled him into a small alley.
"Harry! You're no match for them! There's nothing you can do." Ginny pleaded.
Harry hesitated a moment, but he saw the worried look in her eyes and nodded.
"Alright then; so what do you propose we do?' asked Harry.
Ginny looked very frightened as she shook her head.
[[[Harry! Stay calm, you'll have to apparate!]]]
'Apparate!?But I've never done that before! I wouldn't even know where to begin!'
[[[We'll help you! Just hold on to Ginny's hand and concentrate on your relatives' home. Make sure to picture it VERY clearly, and be as specific as possible with the picture in your mind. Then imagine you and Ginny standing in front it.]]]
"Ginny, I'm going to try something. Hold on to my hand and whatever you do, don't let go!" said Harry.
Ginny stared at him for a moment, but then grasped his hand firmly in her own. Harry then closed his eyes and concentrated. He thought about the Dursleys' home, with its beautifully landscaped garden, business car in the driveway, old chipped paint, and newly mowed lawn. He pictured Ginny and himself standing in front of it. He felt a slightly tingling feeling all over his body and then a slight tugging similar to a portkey, except this pulled at his whole body. He cautiously opened his eyes, and was surprised to find not the Dursleys' home, but a thick grove of trees. Ginny stood next to him, a little frightened and stunned at the same time. Harry started to tell her everything was alright but he soon became very weak and collapsed. The last thing he remembered was Ginny leaning over him yelling his name.
"It was all a diversion…." Snape said quietly. He was sitting before the headmaster, Professor McGonagall sitting next to him with a grave look upon her face.
"What do you mean Severus?" asked Dumbledore.
"The dark lord sent a few of his newly recruited death eaters to Diagon alley so that he could go to Azkaban while the ministry was busy with them. Azkaban is now completely deserted except for a few soulless. Apparently, not all of the prisoners in the Azkaban were actually death eaters. I'm afraid it has finally happened Albus. The dementors have joined sides with Voldemort."
Dumbledore sighed and McGonagall said, "I haven't yet heard the reports from Diagon Alley. Were there any…losses?"
"I'm afraid so Minerva. Three dead, countless injured, and two missing."
"Who was killed?" asked Snape
"Thomas O'Connell, Jacob White, and Elizabeth Stuart died trying to stop a small cluster of deatheaters from burning the shops down. They succeeded, but at great cost."
"And who are the two missing?" McGonagall asked quietly.
"Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley."
Harry opened his eyes slowly and groaned. He felt like he had just been squashed by both Dudley and Vernon and that they had still made him do his daily chores.
[[[We are sorry Harry. We should have warned you; your body isn't yet used to releasing so much magical energy. You had never apparated before, let alone with another person. You will be weak for a couple of days, but you'll be fine.]]]
'It's alright Kai. We still got out of there. Of course, I was aiming for the Dursleys' house, and as you can see, I didn't quite hit my mark' thought Harry
[[[You tried your best Harry. Like we said, you've never apparated before. If you had not been bonded to us, and still tried to apparate, it could have been much worse.]]]
Harry sighed and tried to sit up and groaned even louder as he was forced to lie back down.
"I see you're finally awake! I was beginning to worry" said Ginny.
"Well you know me Gin, my life just isn't fulfilled if I don't black out once a month" replied Harry grinning.
But Ginny turned serious. "Harry, what happened? One minute we're hiding in that alley and the next, we're standing in the middle of a forest! How did you apparate us?"
"Um…well, you see…" Harry began to stutter. He had no clue what he was going to tell her.
[[[It's alright Harry. You can tell her everything; she's trustworthy.]]]
'Are you sure Kai?'
[[[Yes]]]
So Harry told her everything. He explained about seeing Vivian (but he didn't tell her what he had seen in the mirror), the necklace, seeing Merlyn, his 'history lesson', and the Akitians. When he was finished, he looked up to saw her looking at him strangely.
"You don't believe me do you?" asked Harry.
"I believe you Harry. It's just that, well, you're sharing your soul with a race of beings that existed millions of years ago. It's just a lot to take in."
Harry nodded and stared into the fire that Ginny had conjured while he had been unconscious. She had done quite a bit as a matter of fact. After she had conjured the fire, she found a stream nearby and gotten some water, and some more fire wood to burn later.
"So what do we do now?" Ginny asked him.
"Well, we can't try to apparate anywhere for one. We don't have a clue where we are, and I'm too weak to walk anywhere at the moment. So I guess we'll just have to stay here for a while. When I'm stronger we can try and find a way out of here."
It was then that they heard the sound of thunder over head, and it began to lightly rain. But they knew it would only get worse.
"Now what?" asked Ginny annoyed.
"My trunk! It's got a library in it. We can stay in there until the storm lets up." Harry got his trunk out his pocket and set it on the ground and opened it quickly to the library. Ginny hurriedly helped to stand and then they managed to quite clumsily get him down the ladder (ok, so he fell down into the library). Ginny closed the lid and they looked around. The room they were in was circular, and there were shelves lining every inch of the walls. A ladder led up to the lid of the trunk, and another with wheels on the bottom was leaning against the nearest shelf so that you could get to the higher ones. There were three doors; one that led to a bathroom, one that led to a kitchen, and one that opened to reveal the black space where everything in his trunk was stored.
Ginny helped Harry to sit in a chair at the round table in the room and they just stared around them in wonder.
"Well," said Ginny, "at least we won't be bored."
Authors Note: Sorry this took so long everyone. I'm finally finished with all of my exams. If you see a few mistakes in this chapter, I'm sorry. But I did it kind of hurriedly. I'll have the next chapter out after Christmas (I have to figure what I'm going to do for a few things). Oh, and as for those wondering what Gred was talking about in her review: I got the name 'Akitians' from looking around on Pet Finder.com. I saw the dog breed "Akita" and a race of immensely powerful, godlike, beings were created!