Author's Notes:

Thanks to all who took their time to read, favourite and follow. I really appreciate it. Here's chapter two. The main story I feel will start by the next chapter. I'm trying to build a picture for the story to flow over. Hopefully, you like it.

Please read, follow, and review. I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is J K Rowling's property, not mine.

White strokes on black canvas

….

May 5th, 1998, 10 am

It was as per usual practice; Harry Potter hated Floo travel, no news there. He had naturally landed in a heap as he exited the Floo at Longbottom house. He looked up to the pair of chuckling Longbottoms.

"It looks like there is something I can teach you Harry." said Neville, while still chuckling, "Welcome to Longbottom house." Harry just nodded while rubbing off a bit of soot from his shirt.

"Would you like something to drink before Neville shows you your room?" asked Augusta. Harry shook his head.

He looked around and found himself looking at a rather large room. It was rather sparsely decorated with only a large clock sitting on the wall adjacent to the fireplace and a small desk on the opposite wall. There was a cupboard beside the fireplace.

"that's the cloak cupboard Harry." Stated Neville noting the direction Harry was looking. "This is where we welcome guests to the house."

"Come on then, Let's get you settled first. I'll give you a full tour after we've changed." Neville then turned to his grandmother, who nodded. " Make sure you pause for lunch. Dink should have it ready by a little after noon. If you want and refreshments

Neville directed Harry to the first floor. "There are five Bedrooms here Harry. You can use this one. It has a view of the wheat fields." Harry entered the room and smiled. The room had a carpeted floor and simple white walls. The room was well lit with windows on either side of the queen-sized bed. There was a larger window on the wall adjacent to the bed. On the other side, was a small fireplace with a chimney leading out.

Looking out the window, Harry saw a large green field with a small canal on one side. There were other fields on either side and a wooded area beyond the field he could see. "I'll take you out there tomorrow." Said Neville, "Today, I'll show you around the house first, introduce you to the elves and show you the main greenhouses."

"How big is the estate, Neville?" Harry asked. "In total, 740 acres, we have fifty magical greenhouses, each about an acre in area. They're spread out over the estate."

"That is huge Nev. The Weasley's have about twelve acres of land, I think. I asked Ron about it once and that's what he said." Harry exclaimed. "How do you look after it all?" He asked.

Neville replied, "Well, I don't know it entirely, I mostly just tend to a couple of magical plant greenhouses. Gran mainly looks after the front garden and attends wizengamot sessions. My great uncle Algie is the one takes care of the estate management with five elves. My grandmother wants me to take over the estate after I graduate. I think she'll be telling me to take lessons from my great uncle soon."

"I guess that'll be a lot of work for you?" Harry stated. Neville shrugged, "I guess. I mean, I still don't know a thing about managing the entire place. I'll have to get to that soon. Anyway, you freshen up and get yourself settled. I'll meet you outside the room in say forty-five minutes? I'll show you around the house. And then after lunch, we can see the greenhouses."

"Sure Nev." Replied Harry.

Neville left the room and went over to his. Dink had brought his luggage up to the room. He quickly freshened up and unpacked. He placed the twelve books he had raided from Snape's room in his shelf. He had just finished putting his clothes in the cupboard when he heard his grandmother call for him. Quickly changing his clothes, he went downstairs to see what his grandmother wanted.

"Gran?" he called out to her.

"Neville, is Harry settling in? She asked. Neville nodded. "I'll be showing him around in about 20 minutes." He replied.

"Very well. Neville, I must tell you something, Algernon has been missing for a few days now." Neville blinked. "What? Since when?" He asked,

"3 weeks ago, he left taking a shipment to the market at Southampton. He was meeting the Davis brothers near the harbour to organise the export of the belladonna he had harvested and was getting old. It was only yesterday that I received word from Martin Davis, that the harbour had been attacked by death-eaters 8 days ago. Martin was gravely injured and only regained consciousness last night to inform the authorities. He was the only survivor. He lost his brother in the attack too." She paused. "They weren't able to recover the body as the death-eaters had thrown most of the dead into the sea."

Neville stood silent in looking down in shock. Numerous thoughts were wandering through his head. His great uncle Algie, although a little rough on the outside, was a loving man and had dedicated himself to taking care of Neville and his grandmother. Algie had single-handedly managed the estate since Neville's grandfather had passed away. The thought of the consequences of this event made Neville weak in the knees.

"I know it is a lot to take in Neville. But I need you to stay strong." Augusta told Neville grabbing his shoulders while chocking back a sob. "I'll get the paperwork sorted out at the ministry. I expect to be busy at the ministry as we sort out government. I hope we can set up a small grave next to the rest of the family when I get some free time."

He looked up at her and saw tears streaming down her eyes. Her brother was now dead. He nodded. He would be strong. He had promised himself that in fifth year. He would be strong, but it was going to hard. tears made their way down his face, as he hugged his Gran.

He then remembered Harry upstairs and told his grandmother not to tell him. He didn't want to burden Harry further with their problems immediately. Taking a few minutes to set himself right, Neville gave his grandmother another hug and went back upstairs.

Later that evening, after dinner, Harry had called it a night. Neville sat quietly with his grandmother beside the fireplace of the living room. His grandmother broke the silence, recalling tales of Algie in his youth. He listened and pitched in with his own stories. They spent the rest of the night in mournful remembrance.

Harry began settling into his life at Longbottom house. He moved around the house with a little more freedom in his stride. Neville smiled at seeing his friend relaxed and without the troubles that constantly plagued his mind over the last few years. For the first time in his life, he was free.

Augusta had clearly stated the rules of the house, which weren't much and generally allowed Harry the freedom to move around the estate as he pleased. Harry had found his favourite spot in the estate, the small wood beyond the wheat fields which he could see from his bedroom. At nights, He would either spend time exchanging stories with the Longbottoms or playing some games with Neville.

It was during one of those evenings that Augusta told him stories of his grandfather and the battles of Grindelwald. She described to Harry of the importance of his house and its standing in wizarding society. The Potter house was not an incredibly old house having originated from the dying Peverell family in the 17th century.

She explained that the early Potters had developed a few novel potions, which over the years brought wealth to the family. The money had been invested into building the family estate and developing a standing in society.

Augusta informed Harry that his grandfather Charlus and his brother Fleamont had squandered a substantial portion of their wealth while fighting the Grindelwald wars and had come out of the wars almost bankrupt. If it were not for the many investments the family had made, they would have been destitute.

As a result, by the time his father James was in Hogwarts, the family had sold all their investments and their grand estate, opting for a simpler life, with just a house in Godric's Hollow. Harry had listened in rapt attention, taking in the legacy of his family that no one had cared to explain to the extent that Augusta had.

At the beginning of the second week of Harry's stay at Longbottom house, the three had visited Hogwarts for the funeral of all who had lost their lives in the decisive last battle. While there, Harry was called aside by Kingsley and Minister Ogden who informed him that he had a ready pass to join the Auror academy, along with any others that Harry would recommend. Harry had replied that he would think on the offer and inform them of his decision after his birthday.

The Minister also informed Harry that he would be awarded the Order of Merlin, First class for vanquishing Voldemort. He was presented with his Medal and Certificate. On a lighter note, Harry and the rest of the trio had also received a full pardon for using magic outside school, and all the seventh years had their traces removed from their wands.

Over the first two weeks of May, Neville used the time to take a complete tour of the estate to understand where it stood. If he were to manage the estate, he would need to know what he was managing, he reasoned to himself. He mapped out the various fields and compared them with the last notes Algie had given Augusta and saw that extraordinarily little matched. What he saw was not good.

Out of the sixty fields meant for food crops, only twelve were planted. The rest were barren with random weeds growing all over them. Neville shook his head, "Looks like I have another war to fight." He said to himself.

He looked over the Greenhouses and found them to be in better shape. Although, they were a long way off his personal standards. Something had to have happened for Algie to neglect so much of the estate.

When he checked in with the elves, they gave a grim picture. Dink managed the house and its surrounding east-side garden under Augusta's supervision . Porty, Cory, Tati, Marko, and Trig had worked with Algie. Porty and Trig looked after the Greenhouses.

Originally Cory, Tati and Marko were looking after the southern, western, and northern fields, respectively. Unfortunately, Algie had used all three elves for the southern fields alone, leaving the remaining fields neglected.

When asked why, Tati said that it was due to a lack of fertilizer and seed for the rest of the fields. The elves had no further explanations.

Neville reported the matter to Augusta who was shocked as well. At her age, she didn't move around the property much and spent all of her time, when not looking into Wizengamot matters, only as far as the east side garden. Augusta decided to check the family finances to see what the problem was.

By the end of May, Neville informed Harry the situation regarding Algie and his death. Harry had sombrely accompanied the two while they created a symbolic grave for their relative in the southern corner of the grounds where all Longbottoms had been buried.

By June 12th, Augusta had found out the answer for Algie's neglect of a great chunk of the estate . She had visited the family accountant, who recorded all transactions that took place for Longbottom house and had raided Algie's cabin between the south and west fields to find her answer.

It had been found that Algie had squandered a huge chunk of the finances on bets with the goblins and other players, during the world cup. In his shame, he had not informed Augusta and had taken out the money in instalments, stating miscellaneous expenses. With the government in a tumultuous state and with her focus on Neville and the wizengamot, Augusta had ignored the family's finances and monitoring sales as she had usually done before 1994."

The Longbottoms were left with a paltry 34000 Galleons, which was not much to run the entire estate, just the south fields as Algie had done. Augusta had burst into tears after that. Her family was in shambles. They would be making just enough to live a decent life, but it was not the wealth and prestige that the Longbottom name was known for, not the legacy her own husband had left her.

Neville began work fixing the greenhouses to bring them up to his personal standards. Harry helped him to pass the time and in the span of a month the two young men had re-organised the plants among the green houses and cleared out many old plants while rejuvenating some old plants.

Only time would tell if the harvests would be better, but for now, he was satisfied with the results. He had also shown Porty and Trig how he wanted the plants maintained and took some time to train the elves to a level he wanted them to be at. Harry still giggled at the memory of seeing two elves listening to Neville in rapt attention.

The re-organisation went well and pretty soon the two had effectively opened out three whole greenhouses. Augusta was proud of the boys as they came in laughing on a late-June Sunday covered in dirt and soot. They had just finished clearing the nightmarish last dark greenhouse which had been infested with devil's snare overgrowth.

"Leave the empty spaces in the greenhouses be for now." Augusta said, "You can fill them up once you get know what the wizarding world requires." Neville shook his head at that, "Actually Gran, I'm going to be growing Aconite in the one we've completely emptied. There will be a need for wolfsbane soon. I saw that a lot of people were bitten at Hogwarts. If I'm able to stabilize the greenhouse's environment to meet the requirements that Aconite needs, we'll be able to help a lot of people while also getting some good business for the estate.

Augusta blinked. She hadn't thought of that and slowly nodded. Neville also added, "Also Gran, Harry and I were wondering if you could push a bill to subsidize Wolfsbane potion for werewolves. If they had access, we both agree, that we wouldn't have seen many werewolves would have joined the dark lord."

This wasn't the first instance of the two young men putting forward recommendations for changes to the law. Each time Augusta had taken note of the recommendation and had made it a point to discuss its feasibility with the rest of her faction in the wizengamont.

Neville spent more of his nights reading the Snape's books and outlining the spells he found most functional and where he would be applying them in the estate. He had found and experimented with a spell of Snape's creation that controlled the climate of the room to a specific temperature.

The warming ward that was currently in the green houses worked to increase the temperature on the greenhouse, but never stuck to a single temperature. It worked but fluctuated with how warm it got the room and also provided the warmth in waves, similar to if a how a fireplace provided warmth.

Snape's spell worked to control the temperature to a specific point, and even in hotter conditions. Neville experimented with the spell and found it to be remarkably effective in the greenhouse. But it only lasted four to five hours. Since he didn't take runes and arithmancy, Neville didn't know how to attach the spell to a ward.

He chalked it down as a future point to work on. It wasn't needed immediately as he had other things to prioritize. He needed help though, maybe he could ask the oldest Weasley brother on the matter.

Neville also started making plans for what he would do with the untilled parts of the estate. He decided to look at the situation differently. The dark lord was dead. It was time to be optimistic. "In a way, it is a blank slate for me to do as I please." He thought to himself. He would get it sorted out.

He decided to collect as much information as possible before decided on the next course of action. He would need to identify what he could grow in the rest of the fields which would require him to learn the market first. He needed his grandmother's help for that. He suddenly had a brainwave.

June 15th, 1998

Breakfast was an entertaining affair that day as Errol flew into the house and ended up barreling into Dink. Harry had received an invite from Ginny and Mrs. Weasley to spend time at the Weasley home. Harry informed Augusta and Neville of his desire to go and had left for the day.

Neville took the afternoon to act on his brainwave, which was to visit the nearby Muggle towns and their farmer's markets. He had found and used the bicycle that Algie had shown him to ride in the holidays before sixth year. Once he reached the town and took directions from a local, he reached the farmer' market.

Once there, He parked his bicycle behind a house and discretely applied a leg locker on the wheels, which he found to be highly effective. He then roamed around the market and took notes on the produce available.

One particular stall of the vegetables was amazing in their quality. Algie had tried to grow vegetables and failed miserably, according to his notes. Intrigued, Neville squared his shoulders and approached the middle-aged couple behind the stall.

"Hello, how much for the carrot and courgettes?" Neville asked. "25p for the carrots, and £1 for the courgettes." Replied the man. Neville asked for a kilo of each. He had borrowed some of the muggle currency from Harry. As the woman packed the order, Neville began again

"I'm Neville, I live in the farm a few miles from here. I sorry for prying, but I saw your vegetables and was wondering how you managed to grow them so well. They look very healthy. You see the caretaker of my farm passed away recently, and since no one else in my family is able, I need to take over running the place, and I just got out of school. I was wondering if you could give me some advice on how to go about ensuring such quality in your produce"

The couple smiled in greeting, the man replied, "Well son, you saying that tells me you are very new to this whole farming affair." Neville nodded vigorously, "I'm out of my depth actually. I do a bit of gardening, but not farming and not at the scale I'm supposed to. I am struggling at the thought of how to start." Neville replied and the man laughed.

"Why don't you visit our place. I'll show you what we've done, and we can chat over your farm's prospects over lunch and a pint. I'm Gareth Brow by the way, and this is my wife, Linda. We would be happy to show you the ropes. Heck, I could show you the farms of a couple of friends of mine too. They have livestock that and that could give you some ideas as well."

"Oh, thank you very much! I am really grateful to you for this help!" Neville exclaimed Shacking Gareth's hand, "I was in a rather blank spot in how to approach the whole thing. When would be a suitable time for you? I'm mostly available for the rest of this month."

"How about two days from now? We'll be busy with the market for the next two days." Linda said, turning to Gareth. He nodded to Neville. "Awesome! Thank you so much. Could you also give me your address and directions to the farm? I'll make sure to be there." Neville replied.

Gareth drew out the directions to the farm from the town's square. Neville quickly pocketed the note and after collecting his order, he thanked the couple once again and continued to move about the market taking notes on the produce.

When he got back, Neville revealed to his grandmother his plans to first identify what he could do with the land and understand how much it would cost. He made his request to his grandmother regarding the help he would need in understanding the market of the wizarding world.

He needed his grandmother to check other estate owning families and their estates and find out what they grew and sold. They needed information first before planning the future out. Augusta agreed to Neville's request.

Neville then let he know his findings from the outing to the muggle town. He described his meeting with the brows and the plans he made to visit their farm. He described his notes on the variety of meats and fish that were being sold in the market along with other products such as honey and preserves.

Augusta was shocked and agreed that Neville's findings were good but, she wasn't very keen with interacting with muggles or learning from them. At this Neville replied, "Why not? Look at the courgettes I've bought! They are a lot better than the ones we grow in the east side. I'm just going to see and understand what they're doing differently."

Neville paused before continuing in a softer note, "I don't want to be dependent on old practices if new ones are only going to make us far better. I'm not going to just sit and pray for the right climate for the crops. I'm not going to let tradition stop me from bringing my family back to its peak!"

"We have a lot of land, and we have magic. We see what the muggles do and add our own twist to whole affair. We'll do it our way. Heck if I'm completely successful, we'll have harvests for all times of the year and not just at the end of summer or winter.

He then described the next step to his plan which was to visit Diagon Alley the very next day for books and any other forms of information. Later, in August, he would approach the ministry, to learn his options from the magical world's perspective.

Augusta stopped him. "Don't burn yourself out. You can go to Diagon Alley with Harry on the 31st. Be sure to visit Gringotts as well. See if what options they can give us with regard to funding for your projects." Neville nodded.

Augusta began visiting her contacts from the Wizengamot and, as discretely and possible, learnt as much as she could on the estate management of other Magical aristocrats in their society. Of course, what she learnt wasn't very appealing. Most pureblood families only used their estates for subsistence.

The food of the society was only partly provided for by 5-6 families and majorly through trade with the muggles. The Department for magical agriculture was not focused on food production and were rather focused on growth and trade of magical plants.

The supply of food was the product of families such as the Greengrass and Roper families, who established collection points at various points in England and traded with the muggles to bring food into the society. This was how they had developed their fortune.

Neville meanwhile went through Algie's notes on sales points and processes. He noted that towards the end of the war, Algie's primary contact for sales was Martin Davis. Davis was the agent that would sell to aggregators like Greengrass and Ropers. Augusta and Neville noted that they would need to contact these families for any sales.

The days went by, and Neville's roadmap began to become clearer. He had visited the Brow's farm and that of the Penhales, who the Brows introduced to him. He learnt of climate-controlled greenhouses from the Brows, along with the crops such as barley and potatoes and their growing methods. He took notes on the construction and working of the greenhouses and how they were maintained. he saw their Apple orchard and their small chicken collection which had been allowed to free-range.

With the Penhales, he saw their huge free-range cattle farm. Other than the cattle, the Penhales only had a few root-vegetable fields. The Penhales also told him about other farmers setting up fisheries for consistent freshwater fish.

The vast variety that the Muggle farms produced delighted Neville. It meant that the possibilities of his vast estate were simply enormous. Step by step he would make Longbottom estate be as vibrant in produce as the muggles.

July 22nd, 1998

There was some particularly good news that day, as Pigwidgeon buzzed through the kitchen window. Ginny had written to Harry that Ron and Hermione were back and were successful in finding Hermione's parents and were also able to restore their memories. The family had a minor fall-out but had eventually patched things through and returned to England.

Harry and Neville had immediately gone to the Burrow to great their returning friends. After a little celebration, Hermione announced that she wished to spend as much time with her parents and the others obliged.

In the days leading to the 31st, Ron visited Longbottom house and three of young men spent the day flying around the area on their brooms, though Neville was still not as suited to flying as the other two. They spent the evening with Ron describing the happenings in Australia with some over the top descriptions of the Aussie wildlife (Mate! those Rookang's were weird!).

On July 30th, Ron Hermione and Ginny had come to Longbottom house for a small celebration of Harry's birthday. They had a small party, where dink had prepared some really tasty food. Augusta had arrived at the house and informed Harry that the ministry was planning a gala in celebration of the ending of the war and that the group had an invite to attend. Harry had quickly declined and so did the rest of the group.

July 31st, 1998

There was a chime at the Floo at 8:30 am. Andromeda Tonks was arriving at Longbottom house to pick up Harry for his scheduled visit to Gringotts. Neville greeted Andromeda at the Floo fireplace and guided her to the living room where Harry was ready and waiting. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were also present having stayed over the previous night. The group had been at the house the previous night to have a small party for the Neville and Harry on the occasion of their birthdays.

"We are scheduled to be at Gringotts at 9:15 am Harry. But in the meantime, I wanted to inform you of a few more points, from Sirius' will. You are the formally the owner of Grimmauld place. I am expecting Walter Ackerley, the black family lawyer to meet us at Gringotts to complete the transfer of the deed." Andromeda stated.

"Does this mean I own Kreacher too?" Harry asked, to which he received a nod from Andromeda. "What about any estates? Sirius mentioned that the blacks were a rich and powerful family" He asked to which Andromeda replied, "my grandfather Arcturus was forced to sell the estates by his sons. A lot of the money was used to fund the Dark lord's initial campaign. It was one of the signs I took to rid myself of my family's foolishness." She muttered the last bit.

"Arcturus held back some funds as he saw his sons were wasting away without any work. He saved it with Gringotts and what you'll receive today is what he managed to save from his family. It was one of the signs I took to rid myself of my family's foolishness." Andromeda added.

"What about you? Did Sirius or Remus leave anything for you to take care of Teddy and yourself? Also do you want help with that?" Harry asked. Andromeda smiled at that, "Yes, they did. I have a good amount of funds to look after myself and Teddy. Don't worry about us. I'll take care of him, and you can visit whenever you want. You focus on building your life, and when you are ready, if you choose, you can take him in too."

Harry nodded. That sounded fine to him. After a moment of thought, he asked Andromeda, "Could I sell the house?" "You can do as you please. It will be yours." Andromeda said with small understanding smile.

At 9:00 am, Harry departed Longbottom house with Andromeda and Neville. Neville was going as he had other business in Diagon Alley. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had left for the burrow a few minutes before. Harry had promised to give them all an update by the next day.

Arriving at the leaky cauldron, the trio made for the bank. At the entrance of the bank Andromeda met up with a man who introduced himself as Walter Ackerley. Upon entering the bank, Mr. Ackerley led Andromeda and Harry up the stairs to what he presumed were the meeting rooms.

Neville sighed to himself. 'Time to get some things sorted out' he said to himself. He approached a free counter. "Yes?" Asked the teller, "Good morning, I needed some information. I wish to trade with the muggles and wanted to know what facilities Gringotts offered such that I could do my business seamlessly."

The Goblin stared at him for a moment and then handed him a token. "Please take this token upstairs to the left. Once there, wait at the assigned waiting area. Someone from the Business development department will be assigned to answer your questions."

"Thank you." said Neville, collecting the small brass, triangular token with a hole in the centre and the number 8 punched on it. He then trekked up the stairs and found the right waiting area. Neville waited with baited breathe. Many of his plans for the future of the estate hinged on the answers he got today.

"Token 8!" A goblin called out. Neville quickly got up and went to the Goblin. "Come wizard, follow me." Stated the goblin. Neville quietly followed him to a room with a desk, two chairs and a set of filing cabinets behind it.

"Well wizard, what is it Gringotts can help you with?" the Goblin asked. "I'm Neville Longbottom. And I wanted to start trading with muggles. I wanted to know the facilities that Gringotts offered that could allow me to transact with muggles. I guessed that since the currencies and banks are different, you would have other means which would help me."

The goblin nodded and answered him, "While it is rare, it does happen. We at Gringotts have set up a clearing house, with some muggleborns that we hired, that enables monetary transactions to flow between our banks and remaining banks of England." When he saw Neville blink, the goblin decided to explain further.

"Let us say you were to receive a cheque from a muggle, you may deposit the cheque with a teller below and within three working days, we will have the amount converted to Galleons and credited to your account. The exchange rate varies weekly based on the economic state of the bank, the Magical economy, and the muggle economy. It is published in the bank's weekly newsletter, which you will have to pay to subscribe."

"We offer a similar cheque book to our customers for a fee of 1 Galleon and 5 sickles. The book will have ten cheque leaves. If you wish to have the larger book with thirty leaves, it is 2 Galleons and 11 sickles. The fees go towards us running the clearing house. If and when you purchase the cheque book, you will receive a detailed instruction guide on how to use the same."

"You may also visit the bank during open hours and deposit major muggle currency, and we will it have it converted at the prevailing rate. You can then choose to deposit the amount in your account or have the cash handed to you."

"That is perfect. Could I get a 10-leaf cheque book for now please? Also, what is the fee to subscribe to the newsletter? I did like take one of those as well." Neville asked. "5 Galleons a year" said the Goblin who then pulled out a form and asked Neville to fill it out. Once the form was filled, and his identity confirmed through his wand and key, The goblin left the room for a few minutes and returned with a cheque book and a few other documents.

"Mr. Longbottom, here is your cheque book, the guide to its usage, and here is a set of brochures detailing loans, other forms of funding and investment possibilities that Gringotts provides. If you are interested in any such, please approach any teller and ask to see me, Rockfrey. I will be glad to assist you in your endeavours." Said the goblin, Rockfrey. "Now if there are no more questions, I believe our business is concluded."

Neville nodded and thanked Rockfrey once more, before placing the documents and cheque book in his satchel and leaving the room and the bank.

Once outside, he made a bee-line for Flourish and Blotts and spent an hour looking for any interesting books detailing farming techniques, business management, etc. He came out of the bookstore with eight books on his desired subject in his bag.

He checked the clock over Gringotts, it was nearly 11am. He was supposed to meet Harry at the leaky cauldron in an hour. He decided to browse the alley. Looking around, Neville saw the alley still picking itself up after the war. Many shops were still shut. Ollivander's was open while Fortescue's was not.

The WWW had its curtains open but the shop itself was still closed. He had heard from Ron that George and Lee Jordan were looking to re-open the shop in Fred's memory. Angelina had also decided to help.

As he wandered, he saw a patrol of Aurors walking out of Knockturn. 'Seems like the ministry's vigil was still up,' he mused to himself. He then came upon a shop that looked like it sold magical equipment.

'Walsh's Wonders' . Curious, he stepped inside. It was a rather deep shop, with weird apparatus all over the place. "This looks interesting." He said aloud. "I would hope so young man, Welcome." Said a cheery voice from behind the counter, startling Neville a little.

The woman he saw behind the counter must have been in her thirties. She looked very cheery, and he couldn't help but smile back. "I was just browsing. The equipment here looks interesting, but I'm not able to guess the purpose they have been built." Neville replied.

"Oh, the one you are looking at is meant to function as a boiler. If I attach it to your plumbing, you'll have automatic hot water without the need for a fire boiler. I've already sold a two of those to the ministry and one to Gringotts." Neville's eyes widened.

"Seriously! That's brilliant! How much is it?" "500 Galleons. The charms are permanently attached to the boiler through the runes. As for upkeep, you'll have to ensure the rune overlay is not disturbed or damaged in anyway." She replied.

"Do you have any farming equipment?" Neville asked. "At the moment no. But if you showed me what you want, I could probably create it or modify it in such a way that it can work around magic." The woman replied.

Neville excitedly asked, "Ma'am, If I wanted a spell that covered an area like a plot of land would you be able to permanently attach it to a ward stone or something such that the effect would be permanent?"

"Yes, I could do that. It wouldn't be too difficult or expensive. It would depend on the size and complexity of the area I would need to cover. But it is possible. Also, please call me Patricia. I'm Patricia Walsh.

"I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom." Neville greeted putting his hand forward. She smiled and shook his hand. "It was nice meeting you."

"Patricia, I am so sorry that I couldn't spend more time here, but I am expected elsewhere. I will be back with the spell idea I had in mind. But I really have to go now." He said while waving to the really cheery woman as he left her shop, she too waved back. He couldn't help but smile the whole way to the Leaky cauldron. That woman's personality just exuded happiness.

In his mind, thoughts flew at the possibilities of Patricia's capabilities, and not just with regard to Snape's climate control spell. If he could get farm equipment similar to the ones the Brows had showed him to work in the Longbottom fields, the possibilities were amazing.

When he entered the leaky cauldron "Neville!" He heard Harry call. He saw Harry, so was Andromeda and Mr. Ackerley. The adults were sipping on some tea. "Hello everyone." he greeted as he neared them. Andromeda reapplied the notice-me-not charm around them.

"So, what happened? Did you get access to your vault?" Neville asked. Harry nodded. He looked shaken. "Nev, it's not what I expected at all. Could we discuss this back at your house?" Harry pleaded. "Alright" said Neville.

Soon, the group finished their orders and got up. Mr. Ackerley bid them farewell and went his way. Andromeda, Harry, and Neville paid Tom and returned to Longbottom house.

That afternoon, Harry dragged Neville to his room. Once their Harry revealed the happening at Gringotts. The still shaken Harry spoke, "it is too much Nev! I now have access to the Potter vault, The black vault, Sirius' vault, and for a bizarre reason Peter Pettigrew's vault. Also, Dumbledore left me some money in the Trust vault."

"Okay, that's good right?"

"It's just that I never had money, Nev. I never had a home, but now, I have it all. It is just too much! Heck, Sirius left me a quarter of a million Galleons in the Black vault! To me!" Harry put his hands in his head and screamed in frustration. Neville went wide eyed for a second but quickly considered his friend's state

"Listen Harry." Neville thought for a second. He then replied, "Easy there. Some days ago, you told me your goal in life was to have a family like you never had. Right?"

"Yeah..." Harry replied. "But what am I expected to do with all this money?" He asked to which Neville answered, "Keep it for your family. You'll want the ideal home for your family to live. I know you are a frugal person, Harry, but even if you don't want to spend on yourself, spend on your future family. On their safety, comfort, etc."

"Heck if you don't want to just leave it lying around, invest some of it like your forefathers. That'll at least bring you some income on the side. I've got some brochures from Gringotts regarding investment options with them. You can look over them later in case you are interested too."

Harry nodded, "Nev, thanks a lot. I'll have to think about what you said. I have over a million Galleons, and it just overwhelmed me. I've also got to give my reply to Kingsley on whether I want to join the Aurors or not."

"Didn't you say you didn't want to fight anymore?" Neville asked.

"I did, but I do need a job too, right?" Harry replied. "I was thinking about how fighting dark wizards is the only thing I'm currently good at. So why not be an auror?"

"What about flying and professional quidditch? You still are an amazing flyer, Harry" Neville asked.

Harry paused. "I had ignored the thought of professional quidditch because of Umbridge. I only played quidditch in sixth year for the sake of Gryffindor. My mind was not in the games at all."

"Well, take my advice. As I see it now, I know you definitely don't want to fight anymore unless you have to, same as me. I know you are an amazing flyer. You have a million Galleons in your vault; with which, you could live a decent living for more than 40 years. Use some time and money to get into professional Quidditch

Harry took a few minutes to digest what Neville said. Neville added, "Also, you don't have to do so because I said so. Consult with people first. Talk to that Kingsley guy about the auror program and what your future is and how much fighting is involved. Talk to Oliver Wood about professional Quidditch. Send out letters to people to understand your options."

"There is another thing. You said fight dark wizards is all you know you are good at right now. The key words there are 'Right now'. You always train yourself to be good at something else. You have your whole life ahead of you. Take your time, Harry. Don't rush it."

At the last statement, Harry's eyes jerked up. After hearing the stories of the Potter family's tendency to rush a situation, Harry had wanted to curb the urge, but it seemed that he was falling for that very same tendency that had led the Potters to their downfall.

Harry took a long breath. He nodded to himself, rose up from the bed, and turned to Neville. "I'll do that. I'll look at my options first. I can't believe I still hadn't done that. Thanks for the advice, Nev."

"Anytime Harry, I mean it. Anytime you need to talk, you can come to me."

Later during a dinner, a Harry suddenly piped up, "Nev, I just want you to know this, of all the people I know, I don't think anyone else can come out of this situation you are in, fighting the way that you have. You've really become amazing Nev. I know you'll pull your family out of this."

Neville smiled and thanked him for his words. Harry continued, "Same as you Nev, if you ever need any help, don't be afraid to ask."

"We're alright for now Harry, but I'll keep that in mind." Neville replied.

August 2nd, 1998

Longbottom house was greeted with the news of the Hogwarts' re-build being complete. The students would soon be receiving their letters. They also read that since students had not completed the previous year, they would be allowed to repeat the year and have a hopefully peaceful years education. Incoming first years would be combined with the first years from the previous year.

Augusta advised both of them to redo their year and complete their NEWTs properly. As a result, both boys had sent their acceptance to the Headmistress, once Hogwarts letters had arrived. Harry had then gone off to the burrow to convince the other to do the same and to coordinate a combined shopping trip.

"Your plans will have to take a backstep Neville." Augusta said once Harry had left. "I know Gran." replied Neville, "I can do that only if you're confident that you can manage without me and any major food harvests for a year. I'll be harvesting and selling the wheat by the months end."

Neville continued, "I already have a prospective buyer with the muggles who looks like he'll give me a good rate for the full bulk load. So, there will be some money in the bank, but that is all there will be until I am able to fully get back next year. You can sell some of the greenhouse harvests. I've shown the elves how to maintain and store the harvests, so if you aren't able to, I should be able to make the sales when I come back for the holidays."

"You've thought of everything haven't you?" She asked rhetorically, smiling proudly. " And as I thought I was going to have to hire a tutor to teach you the works, you stepped up and proved to me wrong. You are becoming the very best of the Longbottoms, Neville. I do not think your father, or your grandfather, would have managed this situation as well as you have."

"Well, that just proves I have a lot of my mother and grandmother in me too." Neville replied. Augusta enveloped him in a crushing hug. Upon releasing him, she stated, "I'll have to check up on Davis to see if he has recovered, we'll still need him for those magical plant sales."

"Gran, I'll be meeting Patricia Walsh in Diagon. I'm going to see if she can create a ward with the climate control spell, I showed you. If she can I want to buy a few. I'll let you know how much she'll charge before making the purchase." Augusta accepted it.

"I'll also be planting some Floo in the other empty greenhouses. They'll take a couple of years to grow and be ready. The current plants seem quite old and may not last too long. Looking at Uncle Algie's notes, the harvests have dropped a little each year over the last few years." Neville added. "Also, could I purchase some dragon dung from the ministry depot?

Augusta replied, "I'll be showing you how I manage the family finances before you leave for Hogwarts. It will help you in taking any future decisions by yourself in case I'm not available at home."

Neville's eyes went downcast at that, realising what his grandmother really implied.

August 15th, 1998

Harry looked on at the scene in front of him, with trepidation. They had just recently finished their Apparition examination and all except Ron had passed. Ron had failed because he had left an eyebrow behind. He was being babied and chastised by Hermione at the same time.

Harry knew it would soon lead to one of the couple's infamous fights and quickly dragged Neville towards the nearest floo, knowing the other two would follow.

Arriving at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry led them to the WWW, where they would meet up with Ginny and Luna. Along the way, a lot a people stopped Harry to thank him for vanquishing the Dark lord. Harry just smiled and accepted their thanks and quickly moved the group forward.

Harry greeted Ginny with a quick kiss and gave Luna a hug. The group then shared a few hugs and moved to the bookstore. It wasn't a long visit as they had most of the books they needed. The group then separated for a couple of hours as Harry, Ginny and Ron went to the Quidditch store, Hermione followed Luna to the magical menagerie to get treats and other care products for Crookshanks.

Neville walked over to Walsh's wonders and entered. Inside he saw Patty lounging on her chair, reading a magazine. He cleared his throat, "Hello, Ms Walsh?" Patricia immediately beamed at him, "Hello again! Wait, Neville, right?" Neville nodded.

"Yup I've come back as promised. Well, if you remember, I had asked if you could put a spell that affected an area into a ward stone, and you had said that you could." She nodded. "I have the spell and the details of where I would like it to be applied."

"Ok, good." She gestured Neville to continue.

"The spell I have is this climate control spell that allows for an area to maintain a specific temperature. It usually lasts about 4 hours once applied. I have a drawing that details the area. So, could you, do it?"

"Easily! Are there any structures on the area?" she asked to which Neville replied, "It is a greenhouse. The structure is mainly steel and glass, there are a lot of magical plants within the structure and the wards should not affect them in any way."

"Ok, shall I prepare the ward stone now? I'll have it ready in about an hour." She stated.

"How much will this cost?" Neville asked. She thought for a few seconds before answering, "95 Galleons and 10 knuts"

"Would you be able to reduce your price? Also, this may be the first of many orders if it proves successful, I have other larger areas that can be covered. So, considering that maybe you offer me a better price."

"My my, for a young man you drive a hard bargain, Neville." Patricia stated. "Very well. Let us treat this as a test piece to prove my proficiency. I'll charge 80 Galleons and 5 Sickles."

"Alright I accept. Thanks Patricia." Neville said. Patricia smiled, "You can return in an hour, I'll have the stone ready by then."

Nodding, Neville left the store and went over to the Menagerie to see if Luna and Hermione were still there. He found the whole group there, with Luna and Ginny trying to convince Harry to get a new owl.

Harry refused as he didn't want to replace Hedwig in his heart. At this Neville piped in, "Harry, you will never replace Hedwig. She was your dearest friend and I know how much you loved her. I miss Trevor too ever since he refused to come back with me from the lake in sixth year."

"What the girls are trying to say is that you getting an owl would only allow you to communicate with the rest us easily. Think of this owl as not a replacement for Hedwig, but as a new friend in your life."

Harry stared at the ground for a while and then reluctantly nodded.

Half an hour later, Harry left the menagerie with a cute little female barn owl with a small white patch on its left wing. She had a curious personality and spent a lot of time staring at Harry and his friends as if gauging them before acceptance.

Harry refrained from naming her at the time, but he smiled as he saw his new owl having a staring contest with Luna. It seemed like his friends were right again, and now he had a new one.

The group went back to the leaky cauldron for lunch. Harry asked Tom for a private table around which Hermione cast a notice-me-not charm. As the group placed their orders, Neville recalled that he needed to collect his order from Walsh's wonders soon. Neville ordered and quickly finished a sandwich. He excused himself from the group and made his way back to Patricia's shop.

As he entered the store, Patricia called out, "There you are! I've finished with the stone. Come, have a look."

Neville Stared in awe at the beautifully etched stone. It was an Obsidian stone with white ivory etching that held Snape's climate spell. Patricia showed him the correct point from which he could activate it and how to set the temperature he wanted.

"I've also added a rune that creates a bit of turbulence over the stone. This creates the effect of a gentle breeze flowing through the active area. Why don't you try it. Activate it and stand about a metre back."

When Neville did so, setting a temperature of 24°C, the effect was marvellous. The temperature dropped, and a breeze swept though the shop, twisting above the stone in a small tornado.

"Look out there." Patricia said, point out the front window of the shop and Neville saw a lot of people suddenly stopping and looking around as the conditions suddenly changed. Some people started to panic and Patricia quickly de-activated the stone.

"I hope you're satisfied." She said. Neville was left speechless and only nodded. He pulled out his coin bag and handed her the necessary amount they had agreed to.

"I would suggest you place the stone on the roof of the green house. make sure the stone is upside down, that way the plants won't be directly within the turbulence of the breeze effect runes." Patricia advised. "Try it out and if you have any problems, you can revert to me."

"Also, would you mind if I sold stones like these to others?" Patricia asked. Neville suddenly became cautious. Cheery or not, he had to be careful here. This was effectively his spell now, no one else knew about it other than the current occupants of Longbottom house.

"it's my spell, and my idea, Patricia, what do I get in return?" he asked.

Patricia thought on it for a minute. "What I can offer is a reduced price on all future climate control stones, which is what I'm calling them."

Neville shook his head, "No. Not enough, how about I get 30% off on all the stones you sell? And half price on stones sold to me."

Patricia lost her cheery smile, so Neville added, "You can sell these to not just farm owners, but common people as well, who can use it in their rooms and eliminate the use of smoky and dusty fireplaces in winter."

Hearing that Patricia's eyes widened as she realised how big business would be. They shook hands, as Neville said, "I'll be asking my grandmother and accountant to be visiting you to sign the deal. Please don't make any sales until then." Patricia agreed.

Thanking her, Neville put the stone away in his bag and left the store to the cauldron, back to his group of friends, while thinking on the placement of the stone and the deal he had managed to make.

Early next morning, Neville, Augusta, and Harry, arrived at the chosen greenhouse. Harry levitated Neville and held him there as he attached the stone to the roof of the green house, upside down as Patricia had advised, and activated it setting the temperature to 27°C. Once that was done Harry brought him down and the effects around the greenhouse were, like at the alley, marvellous.

After Breakfast, Augusta left for Diagon Alley in order to formalise Neville's business deal with Patricia Walsh.

August 23rd, 1998

The wheat had been harvested. Cory, Tati, and Marko had taken little time to separate the grain and now, the bags were ready for delivery to the Samuel Patterson, who managed purchasing at the nearest mill. He got Samuel's contact with the help of Arthur Penhale, who had also taken a shine to Neville and readily helped him with answers to any of his queries.

Neville and the elves had twenty-two tonnes of wheat, ready for transport. Neville now had a dilemma. How would he get the wheat transported to the mill without muggles entering the estate? The estate had muggle repelling and notice me not wards all over it. So, any muggle transporter would just end up driving around in circles. And the vehicles would not work properly as they would be within in an area of highly concentrated magic.

The solution was to hire a warehouse just outside the town. Neville rented the place for two days and asked for no one was present at the warehouse. On the night of the 23rd, the elves moved the stock from the estate into the warehouse. And on the morning of the 24th, The miller's picked up the stock from the warehouse.

Samuel arrived with the transporters and after inspecting the bags once more, gave Neville a cheque for £1430. Which, according to the latest Gringotts' newsletter, got him approximately 440G, which was a decent amount. The warehouse had cost £50, so they still had a good haul. Neville then apparated to Diagon Alley and deposited his cheque with Gringotts.

While the amount from this sale was good, it was much lesser than what the family made from a full harvest, nearly 3000 Galleons each year. And that was 20 years ago when his grandfather was still alive and looking after the full estate. Neville promised himself that he would bring the estate back up to that level as soon as possible.

Neville had reviewed the rate with Augusta. In comparison with previous sales, this amount was marginally better and the price of hiring the warehouse was much cheaper to paying Mr. Davis's commission. Augusta finally and reluctantly agreed to the fact that dealing with the muggles seemed to be much better for the estate.

September 1st, 1998

Sitting in their cabin in the Hogwarts express as it ploughed through the British countryside, Neville looked out the window as the group around him chatted away. The last couple of months had been a rollercoaster of setbacks and uplifts. But things now looked positive. He was on track in his plans and things were starting to look up in his life. He wanted them to stay that way.

AN: End of chapter.

Thanks again for reading.