Harry Potter, Heir of Gryffindor

Diagon Alley

The afternoon before Harry and Remus were to travel back to Diagon Alley for the reading of Sirius' Will Remus handed Harry an envelope. Harry looked at it and saw that it was addressed to him then turned it over and saw a wax seal in the shape of a dog's paw print on the back. "It's from Sirius," Remus said in response to Harry's questioning look as he sat down on the bed to watch his young friend's reaction. "I believe he wrote it some time along in May or early June. He asked me to give it to give it to you in the event of his death."

Harry looked at the envelope and turned it over several times in his hands, not wanting to open it because it would mean that Sirius really was gone. He and Remus had been talking about it for about a week now and he had pretty much come to terms with the idea that he would never see Sirius again; but this, opening this letter, would mean so much more. It would mean that he had truly lost the only father figure he had ever known.

"Would you like to be alone?" Remus asked.

Harry looked up in surprise. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had forgotten Remus was even in the room. "Huh?" Harry asked. "Oh. No," he said softly, shaking his head, "I was just thinking."

Remus nodded. "I understand."

Opening the top drawer on his desk Harry found his penknife and slit the seal. Laying it aside he opened the envelope and pulled out the parchment that contained the last letter Sirius had written to him. Unfolding the parchment and laying the envelope aside Harry laid the letter on his desk and stared at it blankly for several seconds before beginning to read.

Dear, Harry,

Since you are reading this then I guess it means that I am dead. Please don't
cry for me, Harry. You can cry for yourself if you want but please don't cry
for me. Hopefully I am with your parents now and we are in the process of
planning some kind of great Cosmic Prank. I don't know how I died but I hope I
went down fighting. If I did then it was my choice. Please don't blame
yourself. There are less honorable ways of dieing and I would rather die
fighting for something I believe in than just withering away (which is what
makes staying in this house so damned depressing).

I want you to do me a favor, Harry. If Remus is still alive please take care
of him. I know your life hasn't been easy but you are a survivor. You and
Remus are both survivors. If at all possible I want you to please take care of
each other.

As the last of the Blacks it is my right and so I am leaving almost everything to
you - the house in London, most of the Black Family Fortune as well as all of
our other holdings in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and on the continent.
You are a very wealthy man, Harry. All I ask is that you let Remus (if he is
still alive) live wherever he wants (room and board included) for the amount of
one galleon per year. I would also like you to appoint Remus (again, if he is
still alive) as your executor at least until you are of age. It is a large
estate and you are going to need all the help you can get and I think Remus is
just the man for the job. I would like the house on Grimmald Place be used as
the headquarters for the Order until such time as it is no longer needed. I
also want you to make sure Remus gets some new robes. He is a stubborn old
werewolf so you might have to drag him kicking and screaming into Madam
Malkin's. If he gives you too much grief tell him that I have given you
permission to transfigure all his robes into tutus if he doesn't behave.

Now, as to what you saw in Snape's pensive all I can say is that you shouldn't
judge the events until you know all of the facts. Yes, we were mean to
Snivellus. But we had our reasons. Snape and his crowd were tormenting and
torturing the muggle borns and half-bloods. But since there was never any
evidence the teachers, including Dumbledore, refused to do anything about it.
I think Dumbledore knew what was going on but since he couldn't catch them at
it he couldn't legally do anything. When James and I got wind of what was
going on we decided to take matters into out own hands. We had a pretty good
idea who was behind the attacks and when we heard about an attack we would
investigate before retaliating. I guess you could say that we were the
poor man's aurors and since Snivellus was one of the most active offenders he
was on the receiving end of a lot of our pranks.

If memory serves, your parents got together in our seventh years after a young,
third year Huffelpuff girl was raped. The teachers wouldn't do anything and
both James and Lily were furious. That's when they joined forces and your mum
became an honorary Marauder. James wouldn't let her become a full-fledged
Marauder because she had a reputation to uphold and we didn't.

In closing, Harry, if you are reading this it means that I am dead. I'm sorry.
I can only hope and pray that you will be able to find happiness, live a full
life and find some way of helping the people with the Black Family Fortune.
God knows I would like to but until my name is cleared I won't be able to do
anything.

Love,

Sirius

Harry looked at the letter and stared at it for several seconds as the finality of Sirius' death sank in. As his eyes began to fill with tears and his vision blurred he promised Sirius that he would make him proud, that he would defeat Voldemort and that he would find a way to turn all of the assets in the Black Family Fortune to the forces of good.

Wiping his eyes he handed Remus the letter and said, "There's a message in there for you."

Remus took the letter and read it then laughed. "That old dog," he laughed. "He knows I don't like accepting charity. But just this once I think I can accommodate him."

The next morning - after a quick run, a short workout and thirty minutes of dueling practice - Harry and Remus dropped Neville off at Mrs. Figg's house before returning home to get cleaned up for their trip to Gringotts for the reading of Sirius' Will. Since the Black Family Fortune was so large the reading would be taking place in a secure location inside Gringotts and additional security measures were being taken to ensure the safety, security and privacy of those involved.

Tonks was waiting for them when they entered Mrs. Figg's house and five minutes later they were regrouping with Fred and George in the back room of their shop before heading over to Gringotts. Five minutes later, faded baseball cap in place and flanked by his guards (Remus, Tonks, Fred and George), Harry found himself in the main lobby of the Diagon Alley branch of Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Remus approached one of the tellers and, after a brief conversation, returned to the group saying, "They are sending someone around to take us to the meeting chamber."

When the uniformed goblin appeared a few minutes later it led them through a maze of hallways and corridors to a conference room near what Harry supposed was the back of the building. Upon entering they saw several familiar redheaded Weasley faces, Hermione, Professor Dumbledore and a few faces they didn't recognize. Tonks almost immediately broke away from their small group and raced across the room towards a modestly dressed blond haired whitch who looked to be in her late forties and dark haired man dressed in a muggle business suit. "Mum! Dad!" she called out happily. "I'm sorry I haven't written but I've been kind of busy."

Tonks' mother - Andromeda Tonks - just laughed. "So I hear, Dora. So I hear." As Fred, George, Harry and Remus walked towards the front of the room Ron and Hermione raced around the large table. Hermione burst through the twins' protective barrier and threw her arms around Harry's neck. "Oh, Harry," she squealed, "I'm so glad you're all right!"

Gasping slightly Harry coughed and said, "I'm fine, Hermione. I just need a little air."

Hermione released her vice-like grip on his neck and lowered herself to the floor. "Oh," she said as a bright blush flooded her cheeks. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Harry said, a gentle smile appearing on his lips. "I'm glad to see you too."

Hermione looked up and smiled, a look of relief on her face that Harry supposed was her way of saying that she was glad he wasn't going to blow up at them like he did last year.

"Hey, mate!" Ron said with a smile on his face as he stepped forward.

"Hey, Ron!" Harry said smiling. "How's things with the new genius?"

Ron blushed. "Not bad really," he said quietly. "It's going to take some getting used to but the meditation is helping. How have you been doing?"

Harry glanced quickly over at Remus, uncertain as to how much he should tell his friends of his summertime activities then said, "Oh, you know. I've been doing a little reading and a little studying. That's all."

Ron gave him an appraising look and said, "It looks like you've been working out a bit too."

This time is was Harry's turn to blush. "Well, yeah," he said modestly. "I guess you could say that. I've been getting a bit of exercise."

Ron snorted. "More than just a bit I'd say. You look like you've been working out almost continuously since we got back."

Ginny stepped up beside Hermione and looked Harry up and down as a mischievous twinkle came into here eye. "You look good, Harry. Almost good enough to eat."

Ron's mouth fell open as he turned to look at his little sister. "Ginny!" he said, his voice filled with mock outrage.

Ginny smiled up at the youngest of her older brothers. "Yes?" she asked as both she and Hermione burst into fits of laughter.

"I think you had better watch out, Harry," George said.

"It looks like our little sister . . ." Fred continued.

"Might have designs . . ."

"On your body."

Harry rolled his eyes and grimaced at the twins' insinuations. "Purely plutonic I assure you," he said then smiled at Ginny. "Hi, Ginny. How's it going for you this summer?"

Between fits of giggling laughter Ginny said, "It's been going okay. I get to push Ron's buttons a lot more now that it's just the two of us. It's kind of quiet without Gred and Forge around all the time but they are helping."

"She has volunteered to help us test our products on our dear brother," Fred stage whispered in his ear.

Ron scowled and glared at his brothers. "Just you wait," he growled, his face burning with a bright red blush. "I'll get even some day."

Fred and George hid behind Harry, shivering with counterfeit fear, and said, "Oh! Save us Harry! Big bad Ronniekins is going to turn us into toads."

"You'll be lucky if that's all I turn you into," Ron growled.

Moments later a man dressed in finely tailored business robes swept into the room and placed what looked like a miniature crystal ball on a small golden stand at one end of the table. He looked, in Harry's opinion, to be a very self-absorbed and self-important man. He reminded him somewhat of Percy but he didn't want to draw too many conclusions without having met the man so he let those first impressions fall by the wayside and watched as the man set things up for the reading of Sirius' Will. "Good afternoon," the man said in a pleasant enough voice. "My name is Nigel Nolan. I am an attorney at law in the wizarding world and I was retained by Mister Black - under circumstances of strictest secrecy - to see to the proper execution of his Last Will and Testament."

Looking around he said, "I trust that everyone is here so if you will please take your seats we can begin."

Harry looked at Remus who was fidgeting nervously, his eyes downcast and a look of complete emotional exhaustion playing out across his features. Walking over to the last true Marauder he put his hand on Remus' shoulder and said, "Are you going to be all right, Remus?"

Remus looked up at the ceiling. "Yes. I'll be fine," he choked out as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "I just need some time."

Harry nodded his understanding and slowly turned away, walking to the table and sitting down, saving a space for Remus beside him.

When everyone had found a seat Mister Nolan took out his wand and, while muttering an incantation under his breath, tapped the crystal three times in rapid succession. The torches dimmed and the room grew dark as the energy from the crystal was released.

The crystal glowed briefly before a bright, white, ethereal mist began to issue forth from the crystalline structure and gradually grew to assume the size and shape of a ghostly Sirius Black. The apparition walked the length of the conference table then turned around and paced back to the center. The ghostly Sirius stopped and looked slowly around, its sad eyes seeming to stop and rest momentarily upon each person seated around the table in turn. "Ladies and gentlemen," the shadowy figure said, "I thank you for coming. I don't know how many of you are still alive but at the time this was recorded you were all alive so I guess we will just have to go by that. For the record, my name is, or was, Sirius Black and I was the last of the Black line. As such it falls to me to dispose of the Black Family Estate as I see fit. I don't want to make this any more complicated than it has to be; but at the same time I want to make it complicated enough to keep all of the Black Family monies, heirlooms, properties and possessions out of the hands of those the rest of my . . . family associated with."

"Before I get to the to the distribution of these assets I would like it to be known that if any of the people named herein are no longer alive at the time of this reading then the assets that were to go to them are to be divided equally amongst those who are still alive.

"To my cousin, Andromeda Tonks, I leave the sum of fifty thousand galleons. To her husband, Ted Tonks I leave an additional fifty thousand galleons. And to their daughter, Nympadora Tonks, I leave the sum of fifty thousand galleons.

"To Molly Weasley I leave the sum of fifty thousand galleons. And to her husband, Arthur Weasley, I leave an additional fifty thousand galleons. The two of you love my godson, Harry Potter, in ways I never could. All I ask is that you continue to be there for him when he needs a parent figure. I know we may have had our disagreements, Molly, but I do respect you and ask that you please watch out for Harry.

"I am also leaving fifty thousand galleons to each of Molly and Arthur's children - Bill, Charley, Percy, Fred, George, Ronald and Ginevra. I thank you for being Harry's friends, if only for a little while. The only stipulation I will make on the payment of these funds is that Percy reconcile his differences with his family and realize that Cornelius Fudge is a blithering idiot who is more interested in holding onto power than actually serving the people he was chosen to represent.

"To Hermione Granger I leave fifty thousand galleons as well as all of the assets in the Black Family Library. You are one smart witch, Hermione. Don't ever sell yourself short and don't ever let anyone tell you that you are less than the best. I thank you for being Harry's friend.

"To Remus Lupin (Moony) I leave the sum of one hundred thousand galleons and a permanent home in my ancestral home in London. If you are still alive, Moony, you are the last of the true Marauders. You were always the levelheaded one and I dare say that very few of our pranks would have worked without your calming influence and attention to detail. If you are still alive, Moony, could you do old Padfoot a favor and watch out for Prongs Junior for me? You may have to tag team with Arthur on some of those father-son talks I never got around to having with him but I have faith in you, Moony. You will do just fine. I am also leaving a certain trunk that is in the back of my personal vault to you. It has all of the notes from our days at Hogwarts. You can do what you want to with it, Moony. All I ask is that you please not let the legend of the Marauders die.

"And now to my godson, Harry Potter. Everything else is yours, Harry. Aside from the rest of the Black money there are lands and estates in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and on the continent. All I ask is that you let Moony live in my ancestral home in London, or wherever he may choose, for the sum of one galleon per year. Moony can be a stubborn old coot, Harry, and he is loath to accept charity. But I give you permission to hex him if he does not accept your hospitality.

"Well," the apparition said as it stopped pacing and turned to look at the crystal, "I guess that's it. All of the titles and deeds to all of your properties are in the Black Family vault, Harry. You might want to have Bill check it for curses before entering, though, because the Blacks weren't a very trusting lot and I don't want to see either you or anyone else get hurt because of their paranoia." With that the apparition vanished.

"As you can see," Mr. Nolan said, "the Blacks were a very wealthy family. Even with these bequests, Mister Potter is still the single wealthiest wizard in all of Great Britain."

Harry looked up, his emotions spent, then, with a sigh, looked down at his hands as they rested in his lap. Several seconds later, while turning towards the attorney, he said, "Mister Nolan, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"

Nigel Nolan looked over at Harry. "I don't know, Mister Potter, what do you have in mind?"

Harry looked hesitantly around the room then said, "I want you to establish a one hundred thousand galleon fund that will provide Wolfsbane Potion to any and all werewolves who cannot afford it."

The room was silent for several seconds before Mr. Nolan said, "Might I ask why you wish to establish this fund, Mister Potter?"

Harry looked into the attorney's eyes. "Because," he said, "I do not believe, based upon my own personal experiences, that werewolves are dark creatures. I am of the opinion that the only reason they turn dark is because people have been taught to fear them and therefor refuse to give then a chance at a decent living." The room was silent. "And if the Ministry of Magic is going to go out of its way to make life difficult for them then I am going to do everything in my power to make it easier for them so that they will know that we are not all blind fools." This last was said with such contempt that there was little doubt in anyone's mind that Harry was referring to Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge. "Some might look upon this as charity, but I do not. I want it to be known that I personally look upon this fund as an investment in people's lives."

Mr. Nolan smiled and nodded his head as well. "I believe you, Mister Potter and happen to agree with you as one of my best friends was bitten by a werewolf last December and has since lost almost everything he had worked so hard to achieve. I will perform these duties without charge. What would you like to call this fund?"

Harry glanced over at Remus then said, "I would like it to be known as The Marauder's Wolfsbane Potion Fund." Remus' head jerked up. "And if you could tell your friend that if he is willing to side and work with us in the war against Voldemort I may just have a job for him. You can also tell him that I am going to be asking a few of my friends, one of whom is a werewolf, to look through all of the lands, holdings and properties I have just inherited to find the best and most luxurious accommodations available. Once they have been purged of all signs of dark activity and remodeled to suit the needs of their new occupants I will be turning them over to those werewolves who will take care of the land and who will promise - through magical contract - to help us defeat Voldemort. You can also tell him that we will be establishing a werewolf information service for new and existing members of the werewolf community and that these services and this aide will remain in place until such time as it is no longer needed - not just until the war is over but until it is no longer needed. And finally, I want you to make sure that he understands that this is not charity. I look upon it as an investment in the lives of those whom society has deemed less than worthy. Tell him that one of my best friends is a werewolf and that I am doing this as a . . . a labor of love because I know that werewolves are just ordinary people who happen to go furry once every twenty-eight days and who, if given the chance, can lead relatively normal, happy and productive lives."

Mr. Nolan looked over at Harry, his face alive with wonder and amazement, and said, "You are a very wise man, Mister Potter. I will do everything in my power to see that this is done both legally and properly. And once again I will not be charging you anything for this service as I will be doing it as much for my friend as for you."

Harry nodded then said, "Alright, but I want you to know that while I will be keeping track of the expenses I will help you in any way I can."

Nigel nodded. "Perhaps we could have lunch sometime to discuss what you hope to achieve."

"Perhaps," Harry said. "I will have to talk to a few of my friends first but I think that can be arranged."

Fifteen minutes later, as the reading broke up, Professor Dumbledore approached Harry and said, "That was a very courageous move, Harry. Might I ask what made you think of it?"

Harry smirked. "Actually, you did, sir."

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up. "I did?" he asked.

"Yes sir. In almost all of your war stories one theme keeps emerging; and that is that people respond to kindness much more readily than they do to threats and fear. I am in a position to offer them hope, a light at the end of the tunnel, if you will. So that is what I am going to do. I am going to use the monies Sirius left me to offer the werewolves as much hope as I can and hopefully remove them from the ranks of Voldemort's forces while I am at it."

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore sighed happily. "Good thinking, Harry. I have a feeling your godfather would be very proud of what you have chosen to do with his bequest."

"I know he would," Remus said. "Sirius would have loved to stick it to his relatives and all their pure-blood righteous indignation by doing something like this. But unfortunately he couldn't even touch his own money while he was in hiding."

They spent the next few hours going through Sirius' and the Black Family's vaults, overseeing the transfer of funds and gathering up various items of interest. Harry was stunned when he saw the size of the three main Black Family vaults and realized that each of them was almost completely filled with gold and silver. As they stopped at his own, personal vault - not the Potter Family vault - to refill his moneybag he decided that financing the upcoming war shouldn't be much of a problem. And that is what he decided to dedicate the Black Family Fortune to, defeating Voldemort and, if there was any money left over, helping to rebuild the wizarding world.

At three o'clock that afternoon, as he, Remus, Tonks, Dumbledore, the Weasleys and the Grangers sat down to a late lunch in one of the Leakey Cauldron's private dinning rooms, Harry turned to Professor Dumbledore and said, "Professor, I want you to turn Black Manor into a proper command center. I want it to either rival or surpass anything and everything the Ministry has. I want you to be able to run the entire war from that house if need be. Of course I want there to be rooms and dormitories for Order members and I want it to be comfortable for whoever is staying there. But first and foremost I want it to be a proper headquarters."

Dumbledore nodded his head and smiled. "I wish . . ." he faltered. "I wish we had had this kind of commitment thirty years ago. Then we might have defeated Tom and you would not be facing this future."

Harry looked down at the table and then around the room at all of the laughing and smiling faces then sighed. "Yes, sir," he said. "I do as well. But you didn't. And now you do. I don't even want to think about what has changed in me to make me so determined to beat Tom but whatever it is I can only hope and pray that it is worth it and that we are successful."

"As do I, Harry," the aging headmaster said tiredly. "As do I."

Half an hour later, as pudding was being served, Harry excused himself and walked over to where Remus and Tonks were visiting with her parents. "Excuse me, Remus, Tonks," he interrupted politely. "I hate to interrupt but could I ask you to accompany me back out to Diagon Alley for a bit?"

Remus and Tonks looked up and saw the serious yet somber expression on Harry's face. "Sure," Tonks said. "What's up?"

Harry smirked more than grinned and smiled more than smirked and said, "Oh, nothing major. I just want to pick out a present for a friend and I want her to do the picking."

Tonks' eyes flew open and a wide grin spread across her face. "Have you got a girlfriend, Harry?" she asked.

Harry groaned then, turning to Remus, said, "Remus, why is it that whenever a guy wants to buy a girl a present everyone thinks you are going steady? Can't a guy just have a girl who is a friend without everyone thinking there is more to it than that?"

Remus stood up and put an arm around Harry's shoulders. "I'm afraid not, Harry; at least not until you are married and settled down. That's just the way things are."

Harry groaned and rolled his eyes. "Alright," he said. "Come on."

With his two bodyguards in tow Harry walked over to stand behind Ginny and cleared his throat. "Erm, Ginny?" he said. "Could you come with us for a few minutes?"

Ginny turned around and looked up at Harry, Remus and Tonks. "Sure," she said uncertainly. "What's up?"

"Er. I want to buy you something but I want you to pick it out. And unfortunately I'm not allowed to go anywhere without a bodyguard."

Ginny looked at her parents briefly. They nodded their consent and Ginny folded her napkin and tossed it on the table next to her plate as she got up to leave. "Alright then," she said. "What have you got in mind?"

"You'll see," Harry said mysteriously as he led the way to the door. As they approached the door Harry pulled out his faded baseball cap and pulled it down over his head effectively concealing his scar and hiding his face from prying eyes.

"Do you have to do that every time you go out?" Ginny asked.

Harry nodded. "At least for now. Apparently Lucius Malfoy is out to get me for ruining his good name."

Ginny harrumphed and shook her head. "He did that all on his own."

"Yeah, I know," Harry said, "but he holds me responsible for him getting caught."

"But we were there too!" Ginny said indignantly.

"I know you were," Harry said quickly, striving to head off an encounter with the infamous Weasley temper, "but I would rather he blame me and forget that you guys were there because I want you guys to stay safe and because . . . well, I'm kind of used to being hunted."

Ginny said a soft, "Oh," then slowly reached over and took hold of Harry's hand. "But we don't want you hurt either, Harry," she murmured.

Harry squeezed her hand and smiled down at the beautiful redhead walking beside him. "I don't either," he said, "but one target is a lot easier to protect than ten."

Ginny squeezed his hand and leaned into his arm. "Alright then," she said softly. "But you be careful."

"Don't worry about that," Harry almost laughed. "I really don't have much choice in the matter."

As they walked through the Leaky Cauldron Tonks took the lead while Harry and Ginny walked side-by-side in the middle, Harry turning loose of Ginny's hand so that he could draw his wand if necessary, and Remus brought up the rear. Everyone's senses were alert for any signs of danger.

While the bricks were moving aside to form the entrance to Diagon Alley Tonks asked, "Where to?"

"Eeylops Owl Emporium," Harry said as he drew his wand and prepared to step through the barrier.

At that moment the back door to the Leaky Cauldron opened. Harry, Remus and Tonks all spun around and dropped into a fighting stance, leveling their wands at the intruders. It was just Neville and his grandmother. Ginny squeaked with surprise at the rapidity of their movements, Neville raised his hands in surrender and Neville's gran gasped upon finding herself confronted with three very nervous witches and wizards. Tonks let out her breath. "Whew!" Tonks breathed. "It's only you. Do you have your wand, Neville?"

"Yes, I do," Neville said confidently.

"Then you might want to draw it," Remus said. "I can't explain it but something just doesn't feel right."

Neville drew his wand and he and his gran joined the others as they entered Diagon Alley. "How are you today, Mrs. Longbottom?" Remus asked the aging matriarch of the Longbottom family.

"I'm doing quite well actually, Mister Lupin. I want to thank you for everything you have been doing for Neville. He tells me that you and Harry are the two best defense teachers he has had."

Harry and Remus both blushed. "Er, thank you," Remus said. "But that's not really saying much." Then, turning to Harry, he asked, "What have your teachers been like, Harry?"

"Well, let's see," Harry said, "the first was possessed by Voldemort; the second was an incompetent fool; the third was, of course, you, Remus; the fourth was a Death Eater; and the fifth was a bureaucrat who couldn't fight her way out of a wet paper bag and who wouldn't teach us anything."

"What was Dumbledore thinking when he hired all those others?" Mrs. Longbottom asked indignantly.

"He wasn't," Remus said. "Of the five, I am the only one he personally hired. All of the others were appointed by either the Ministry or the Board of Directors."

"We'll just have to see about that then won't we," Mrs. Longbottom growled. "I don't want my grandson graduating from Hogwarts not knowing how to defend himself. And with Voldemort back there is no excuse for not teaching proper defense!"

Harry noticed that Mrs. Longbottom had no fear of Tom's fictitious name and that neither Neville nor Tonks nor Ginny reacted to her using it. Inside he was secretly pleased with these developments because he knew that at least these four, as well as himself and Professor Dumbledore would be able to fight without fear.

"Where are you heading, Neville?"" Ginny asked.

"The stationary shop," Neville said. "I ran out of parchment and I still have an essay to do for Professor Snape."

"You made it into Potions then?" Ginny asked. "I'm impressed."

"I'm shocked," Neville said brightly. "I didn't think I would ever want to take Potions again but after what happened in the Department of Mysteries and the fact that you have to have Potions to be an auror I'm going to give it everything I've got."

Harry smiled at the determined tone in Neville's voice and knew that his once timid friend was rapidly becoming a determined young man. "What about you? Where are you guys going?" Neville asked.

"We're going to stop by Eeylops Owl Emporium," Harry said. "I need to get some owl treats for Hedwig and I want Ginny to pick out an owl of her own."

Ginny's mouth fell open as she looked up at Harry. "I've learned some very surprising things about this young woman over the past month," Harry said. "I know it's not much but this is my way of letting her know that I am truly sorry for ignoring her over most of the past four years." Ginny's mouth snapped shut and she cocked her head to one side, looking up at Harry with an extreme look of consternation on her face. Harry laughed and threw his arm around her shoulders. "Come on, Ginny'. I want to apologize."

Ginny leaned into Harry's side and muttered, "Boys! I'll never understand them."

Tonks laughed. "I don't think we're supposed to, Ginny. They are just strange."

Harry was about to say something about girls being just as strange when Remus cut him off. "I don't like this, guys," he said urgently. "Harry, Neville, you two are a team. If anything happens I want you to stay together and fight. Ginny, Mrs. Longbottom, if anything happens I want you to take cover and stay there until one of us comes to get you."

Harry looked worriedly over at Remus and knew that his wolf senses must have picked something up. Pulling Ginny close he nodded towards Neville who nodded back. Even their senses were beginning to tingle in anticipation of trouble. As a group, Harry, Ginny, Neville and Mrs. Longbottom made their way into Eeylops Owl Emporium as Tonks and Remus stood guard out front and motioned for Kingsley and the other aurors on duty that day to get ready and to be alert for any signs of trouble.

Harry, Ginny, Neville and Mrs. Longbottom had just stepped behind a row of cages, effectively screening themselves from view when it happened. An explosion came from the entrance to Knockturn Alley, blowing a large hole in the side of one of the nearby buildings, shattering several windows up and down both streets and knocking several innocent bystanders - witches and wizards and their children - to the ground, injuring more than just a few. It took less than a second for both Harry and Neville to react. Neville grabbed a nearby stool and gently yet forcefully set his grand mother down, telling her to stay put until he returned. Harry shoved his moneybag into Ginny's hands, pushed her down to sit on the floor next to Neville's gran, told her to stay put until either he or Neville came to get them, drew his wand, turned his cap around and pulled it down and back to keep the hair out of his eyes and raced to the front of the store, with Neville close on his heals, to see what was going on.

When they reached the door curses and hexes were already flying fast and furious. Remus and Tonks were defending the front of Eeylop's. They could see Kingsley dueling with at least two Death Eaters down in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies. He was holding his own but they could tell he was out numbered. Crouching down and opening the door Harry and Neville crawled out behind Remus. "How many?" Harry asked.

""At least fifty!" Remus said.

"Alright. Neville and I will take this section and lay cover for you and Tonks to get down to where you can help Kingsley."

"Alright," Remus said. "You two keep together and be safe. Don't be afraid to hurt them, Harry. We don't care what kind of shape they are in when we take them in. All we care about is that they are alive"

"Alright," Harry said shortly. "We'll be fine. You just help Kingsley and please ... be safe."

"Will do," Remus said. Then calling to Tonks above the screaming crowds, yelled, "TONKS! ON THE COUNT OF THREE!"

Tonks glanced over briefly to see where they were going and nodded her head when Remus indicated Kingsley.

"ONE!" Remus yelled. "TWO!"

"THREE!" Harry finished for him as he and Neville rolled out into the street and began firing curses, hexes, jinxes and a few charms at the Death Eaters. Neville laid cover for Remus and Tonks as they ran up the alley to assist Kingsley while Harry covered his back.

Their Ballet, Gymnastics and Tumbling training definitely came in handy over the next 45 minutes as they ducked and rolled and jumped and dodged to avoid being hit while helping as many people as they could into the safety of buildings. Between the two of them they accounted for 15 of the 53 Death Eaters that attacked Diagon Alley that day and helped at least 30 injured civilians to safety. All in all they worked very well together as a team. So much so that even some of the veteran aurors who had fought in the last war against Voldamort were impressed by the fluidity of their movements.

Harry and Neville were still standing back to back, slowly making their way down the alley in the aftermath of the attack, their faces blackened and smudged from the smoke of fires and explosions and their clothes covered with dust, when Harry felt a hand on his shoulder.

Jumping and turning to face his 'attacker' Harry came face to face with a slightly disheveled Remus Lupin. "Whoa, slow down, Harry," Remus said, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "It's over. We won."

Harry waited for his heart to stop racing and his breathing to return to normal as he slowly lowered his wand. "You two did very well for your first time out," Remus said gently.

"Yeah," Tonks laughed nervously. "I don't even want to think what you are going to be capable of when you are fully trained"

Harry and Neville turned to look at each other and nodded their heads with satisfied grins on their faces. Then, picking their way through the rubble, worked their way back to Eeylop's Owl Emporium where they found Mrs. Longbotton and Ginny as well as at least twenty others huddled together in the aisles of the shop. "Well," Harry asked with a mischievous grin on his face when he reached Ginny, "have you picked one out yet?"

At first Ginny was surprised and just glad to see him but then the reality of what he had asked sank in she frowned and glared up at him. "Harry Potter," she scolded. "How do you expect me to look at owls when you're out there trying to get yourself killed?"

Harry smiled and, shaking his head, laughed. "Don't worry about it, dear," Mrs. Longbottom said as Neville and Harry helped her to her feet. "His father was the same way."

Fifteen minutes later Ginny had picked out a male snowy owl for herself and named him Henry. When they approached the cash register the clerk didn't want to let him pay but Harry insisted saying, "I don't fight for pay. And I'm sure you are going to need to make a few repairs after that little skirmish. Take this money and put it towards those repairs."

The man smiled and nodded his head. "Yes sir, Mister Potter. And thank you."

Harry smiled and shook the man's hand. "You are most entirely welcome, sir. And, please, my name is Harry."

As they left the store Mrs. Weasley saw them and came running up the street. "Harry! Ginny!" she screamed. "Are you all right? We heard the explosion but no one could get through the wall until just a few minutes ago. What happened?"

Harry was about to say something when a familiar voice called out, "Harry Potter, Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet. Could you tell us what happened?"

Harry froze for a moment then turned an icy glare to the reported. "Rita," he asked, "does that deal you had with Hermione still stand?"

Rita hesitated for a moment then said, "Yes it does."

"Alright then," Harry sighed. "I'll tell you what. If he will let you, you can interview Neville Longbottom. I don't want my name in the paper because I am getting kind of tired of all of the publicity and I have some very good reasons for wanting to stay out of the papers. If you will print Neville's story that should be good enough. Be warned, however, I will know if you exaggerate or distort anything."

Rita looked cowed for a moment then said, "Fair enough. You don't want your name in the paper at all then?"

"That's right," Harry said. "I don't want my name, or even any descriptions of me, in the paper."

"Where is Mister Longbottom?"

"He's in the stationary store," Harry said. "I'll go tell him that you want to talk to him."

After hugging Ginny, Mrs. Weasley and Hermione goodbye, Harry made Ginny promise to write him as soon as she got home. Then, once again with Remus and Tonks in tow, he entered the stationary store and told Neville about Rita's desire for an interview.

"Why don't you do it?" Neville asked.

Harry hung his head and sighed. "After everything that went on last year," he said, "I just don't want my name in the paper any more. I trust her because I know something that she does not want made public but I just don't want any more publicity. If you do decide to give her the interview I will suggest you make her let you proof read it before it goes to press."

Neville nodded grimly then said, "Okay. Thanks, Harry. I'll think about it."