Ch. 3

The Reading of the Will

Harry awoke the next day earlier than he had wished for. The sun had already risen, but the birds chirping told Harry that it was still early morning. For a few moments he wondered what had awoken him, but he realized that there were a couple of people talking in hushed voices in the hall just outside of his room. He strained to hear what they were saying, but the voices were too muffled. Harry turned his body to see if Ron had awoken, but Ron continued to snore, oblivious to the voices in the hall.

Slowly Harry got ready for the day. When he stepped out into the hall, Harry saw Lupin and Mrs. Weasley speaking intently with one another, but both broke off abruptly at the sight of Harry. They smiled at him, but both seemed forced.

"Good Morning Harry." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Morning." The three of them walked, down to the kitchen together in silence, being careful to tiptoe past Mrs. Black's portrait. Kreacher was no longer in the house, but no one would tell Harry what exactly happened to him. They believed that it was probably better for him to not know. And Harry didn't care, as long as Kreacher was gone.

"Harry, the meeting starts at 11am, so we have plenty of time to eat and relax a little before we head out." Harry nodded at Lupin and then thought of something he had been contemplating the night before,

"Lup-er-Remus, how does the Ministry know about Sirius?" Lupin's eyes widened slightly.

"Dumbledore convinced the Ministry of his death along with the testimony of Kingsley, Moody, and myself."

Mrs. Weasley began breakfast as Harry and Lupin sat at the table. Shortly afterward, Hermione and Ginny walked in with Mr. Weasley, who was shuffling in a very sleepy looking Ron. They all ate breakfast together while chatting merrily at the success of Harry's birthday party. Before any of them had realized the time, Lupin stood and informed Harry that it was time to go.

"How are we getting there?"

"The Ministry has loaned us a car to use. "Sure enough, as soon as Harry walked outside a Ministry car was parked on the street with Moody leaning against it.

"What's going on, where are you going?" Ron and Hermione had followed them to the door.

"I have to take Harry to the Ministry for personal matters." Lupin said matter-of-factly before turning his attention to Moody, "Where's Tonks?"

"She's meeting us there." Harry saw Ron and Hermione look crestfallen that they weren't going and he felt a pang of guilt. He had forgotten to tell them what Lupin had said. Harry felt that he was leaving them out of something they should here been apart of. They had known Sirius as long as he had and had wanted to protect him as much as Harry had. So, the fact that Harry had to go through this without his two best friends at his side felt completely wrong.

"I'll tell you guys everything when I get back, bye guys." Harry slipped into the backseat as Lupin took the driver's seat and Moody took the passengers. As they drove away, Harry watched number 12 Grimuld Palace fold back into itself and disappear.

Arriving to the visitor's entrance took no longer than 15 minutes; however, the wait in the Ministry, security, and the lift had made Harry and Lupin a few minutes late to the meeting. When they arrived, Tonks, Dumbledore, a woman Harry didn't know but looked vaguely familiar were there, and, to Harry's surprise, Mr. Weasley.

"Now that everyone has arrived, we can begin. My name is Randolph Harvard and I'll be the Ministry Representative handling the reading of the Will and the division of property. Shall I begin?" He asked and cast a look around the room. Harry glanced around and noticed everyone was nodding, so Harry followed suit. "Good, I will read the Will directly, I, Sirius Black, hereby acknowledge that I am no longer among the living and will therefore divide my assets accordingly: The Noble House of Black shall be shared by Remus Lupin and Harry Potter. Any or all possessions by the Blacks may be taken by my cousin Andromeda Tonks or her daughter, Nymphadora Tonks. All of my fortune shall be divided amongst these four individuals mentioned, as well as Mr. Arthur Weasley. The papers presented with this Will are to be given to Albus Dumbledore. Any of my possessions or the possessions of the Blacks, including the House-elf, Kreacher, may be disposed of as he or she wishes." Mr. Harvard paused and placed the Will upon the desk. He looked out at the five of them before he continued, "He also left a few letters with names on them, those who are not present, I'm sure you will be able to give the letters to them." He reached into a folder and pulled out many envelopes. "Albus Dumbledore, Andromeda Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." he gave each their letter in turn. "The other three are for Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Severus Snape." Harry was quite surprised with the names, although he figured that Ron and Hermione's letters were mainly thank you letters, he could only imagine what was in the letter addressed to Snape. Mr. Harvard passed the letters to Lupin and also passed a large bundle of parchments to Dumbledore. Harry tucked the letter into his robes and placed it in the back of his mind. "Now if everyone would be so kind and follow me to Mr. Black's vault, we can have this all resolved." Mr. Harvard stood and walked out of the room, Tonks and her mother followed with Harry, Lupin, and Mr. Weasley trailing behind. They walked to the lift and went up to the top floor.

As they walked through the halls, Harry saw Kingsley and Dawlish, further down he saw Mr. Weasley's office. A few minutes later they stopped in front of a door. The door opened into a very long passageway that led them upward. It took them a good 20 minutes before they reached another door on the other end of the passageway. When they stepped through, Harry found himself inside Gringotts. Harry found himself being shoved into a cart and carried through the tunnels until they reached the Black's vault.

Upon opening the vault, Harry saw it full of gold and other Black personal possessions.

"The gold will be automatically separated and placed within each of your vaults. Anything that is left, you may divide amongst yourselves." Mr. Harvard stepped to the side to allow them to divide the assets in privacy. As the five of them walked into the vault, all of the money vanished. Harry could only imagine how much gold he actually had. Mr. Weasley smiled sadly and then left the vault to stand with Mr. Harvard.

"You know Harry, when you were born, Sirius thought the world of you. I'm glad he was able to spend these past two years with you. I'm just sorry that it had to be in hiding." Harry watched Sirius's cousin as she talked to him, she seemed severely shaken by all of this, but smiled politely as he stared at her.

"You were his favorite cousin." He didn't know why he said it, but he felt that she deserved to know. Andromeda smiled at Harry and studied him with her eyes. She chuckled as she replied,

"Well, there wasn't much competition was there?" She paused slightly, "He was my favorite too."

Harry watched as Tonks, her mother, and Lupin organized the possessions into separate piles: One pile to keep and one pile to discard. After that separation, Harry joined them and they each decided who should get what. Many of the Black's personal possessions when to Andromeda and Tonks. Harry only decided to keep a few photographs, one including the four Marauders on their graduation day, and another of Sirius holding Harry as an infant. Lupin also kept many photographs, but every-so-often he would come across something that would either make him laugh or bring tears to his eyes. After everything was separated and divided, Mr. Harvard came back in and gave each person a trunk according to the size of their possessions. Since Harry only had a few photographs, he was only given a small trunk, whereas, Tonks was given a large trunk for her possessions.

"Now that you are all finished, you are free to do as you wish." Andromeda and Tonks climbed into the cart with their heavy trunks, Harry went to follow, but Lupin called him aside.

"Harry, now that we have all this gold, what would you like to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've never had this much gold and now that I do, I would like to do a bit of shopping. Maybe get something for Mrs. Weasley for helping me with everything." Harry thought about it for a few minutes,

"Alright, and I can get something for Ron and Hermione."

"Good. Mr. Harvard, Harry and I would like to go to our personal vaults for a withdrawal, will that be alright?"

"Why of course, we will send another cart for you."

"Thank you, Tonks, tell Moody to meet us outside Gringotts." Tonks nodded her head and t hey each bid farewell. Lupin and Harry stood in silence for a few minutes until another cart rolled to a stop in front of them. They went to Harry's vault first and when they opened his vault, Harry saw it nearly filled with gold. He felt his jaw drop in awe and stood there gawking.

"How much gold is in there?"

"Enough to last you a lifetime."

"Then the Weasleys don't have to worry anymore?" Harry wanted Ron to be happy with his financial situation.

"I suppose so." Harry put a handful of gold into his money bag and then traveled to Lupin's vault that was just as full as Harry's had been.

After Lupin pocketed some gold, they left Gringotts and met up with Moody. They walked around Diagon Alley, stopping in a few shops every now and then. Harry and Lupin bought new robes; Harry because he had grown a few more inches and Lupin because he needed them. Harry also found a good Defense book that would do well if he continued with the DA meetings. He found a book on the History of House-elves and bought it for Hermione. He wasn't sure what to get Ron, so they walked around a bit. As they walked, they came upon the twins shop.

"Hey, let's go in here, I haven't seen their shop yet!" Lupin, Harry, and Moody walked into the shop together. There they met-up with the twins who gave them a tour of the shop. As it turned out, the Twins' shop was doing quite well and they had become very successful considering. Harry bought a few joke tricks like Skiving Snack boxes and Canary Creams.

"Hey Fred, I want to give something to Ron, but I don't really know what to get him."

"What are you getting him a gift for?" George asked, who just arrived from helping a customer.

"Well, I don't know. I just thought Hermione and Ron both deserve gifts-you know-for being my friends through all this." Harry's voice grew very quiet by the time he finished and his head dropped to the floor in embarrassment. Fred and George were staring at him with uncharacteristic serious faces. After a slight pause and an awkward silence Fred spoke,

"You know, I reckon I know what would be the perfect present for Ron." He donned a wicked smile,

"Are you reading my mind dear brother?" George asked with an identical wicked smile.

"I believe that I am."

"What?" Harry asked, he couldn't help but smile.

"A girlfriend." Fred replied.

"A specific girlfriend." George added. Harry looked between the two, waiting for an explanation, when none came,

"Who?" Both twin's jaws dropped at Harry's question. Looking at each other, they started sputtering,

"Your joking?"

"What do you mean who?"

"Hermione of course!"

"Don't tell me you didn't know?" Harry took a moment for al this to settle in,

"Hermione?" Harry asked, his surprise audible in his voice, "You're joking right?" Of course they had to be joking, who would believe those two could

possibly like one another in a romantic way?

"Oh Harry, don't tell me that you are that naïve?" Fred asked.

"How could you not see it?" George asked.

"Bu-but they're my friends, they are friends, they are always bickering. It just doesn't made sense, they can't like each other like that!" But as Harry continued the argument something clicked and all of the pieces fell into place, "Oh man! I thought life was complicated enough, now my best friends have to go and like each other." Harry was smiling, the truth was that he had suspected that they fancied one another ever since their fourth year when they had that huge row after the Yule Ball. Fred and George were smiling again. "Well, how do I get those two to admit they like each other?"

"We thought you'd never ask." Fred replied happily.

"You see Harry, Fred and I have been working on a new-er-project, but we need a couple of people to test it on."

"And Ron and Hermione happen to be the perfect test subjects."

"And What exactly is this project you two are working on?"

"Well, it's a type of potion-"

"-it's a mixture of sorts."

"Of a type of vertisarum and love potion."

"And what is the purpose of this-er-potion?"

"To make two people admit their love."

"It's basically a push in that direction." George added.

By the time Harry had left the Twins' shop, it was well towards dinner. Harry had bought their potion with instructions of when and how to use it.

"I think we should head back now." Lupin said to Harry while Moody nodded in agreement. They got into the car and drove in silence. When they reached Headquarters, Moody led them to the door before bidding them farewell. Inside they found everyone in the kitchen.

"HARRY, HEY HARRY! Guess what! Dad just told us where've you been and what happened. We've got gold now, loads of it too!" Harry smiled at Ron, he was happy that Ron no longer needed to feel embarrassed about being a Weasley.

"Dinner will be shortly, why don't you put your purchases upstairs, Harry." Mrs. Weasley told Harry. Harry nodded to her and he, Ron, and Hermione went up to the room Harry and Ron shared. Harry then explained to them everything Lupin had said the night before.

"Lupin's your Guardian now?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah."

"That's bloody awesome," Ron replied, "He's just as cool as Sirius was-oops" Ron cringed as he realized what he had just said.

"Yeah, he is." Harry agreed, surprised that he was able to talk about Sirius with less difficulty. After talking with them, Harry gave Hermione the book he bought her and a broom servicing kit to Ron (which he had run to Quidditch Supplies to buy after visiting the Twins).

"Oh wow Harry! This is great!"

"This is perfect Harry, it'll work wonders for S.P.E.W."

"You're welcome. We better head down for dinner now." The three of them made their way down to dinner.

Later that night, Harry sat in his room, listening to Ron snore. The letter from Sirius was gripped in his hand and he began to read it by the candlelight.

Dear Harry,

I know if you are reading this then I am no longer able to be a part of your life. These past few years that I have been able to know you, I have grown to love you as a son. I can only hope that you have grown to love me as well.

I need for you to follow your destiny now, Harry. I know that is asking for so much for a boy of your age, but you must understand that without you, our world would have died 15 years ago. I know that your parents would be as proud of you as I am.

I need to ask a favor of you now Harry. Remus is alone now, he has no family and now he no longer has me. Take care of him and look out for him. I have asked him that in the event of my death to ask for your permission to become your Guardian. This will suit the both of you, since you will both need one another.

You are a great wizard Harry and you will find your power someday. I have great trust in you. Take care of Ron and Hermione for me and give them my love. And remember, no matter what, I'll always be there, always.

Love,

Sirius

AKA Padfoot

That night Harry slept soundly. For once, he felt safe. Sirius was watching over him.

The rest of Harry's summer was quite uneventful except that in mid-August Dolores Umbridge was charged with setting Dementors upon unsuspecting and innocent children, one being a muggle, and for attempting to use an unforgivable curse on a child. She was sentenced for a lifetime to Azkaban.

"Serves her right that's what I say!" Ron declared after Hermione read it from the Daily Prophet.

"I don't know, a lifetime sentence? It seems awfully harsh."

"Hermione, she tried to kill me!" Harry argued. Harry had no sympathy towards Umbridge, she sent Dementors after him, and they nearly kissed him, nearly had him expelled, and nearly had him chucked into Azkaban. Plus, she tried to use the Cruciatus Curse on him.

"Yes I know, but still..."

"Hermione, remember what she was like!" Ron said.

"Think if it had been you that she did all that to!" Harry told her. Hermione bit her lower lip before finally nodding her head in agreement with them,

"Oh alright, you're both right."

The rest of summer went without a hitch until the last night before the train ride back to Hogwarts. Harry lay asleep in bed, dreaming a very different sort of dream. Harry was in a body that didn't belong to him, speaking in a voice that was not his, to a man he did not know.

"Did you kill her?" Harry heard himself ask. The room seemed familiar, although Harry could not place it. It was dark and scarcely furnished. The fire that was lit was the only source of light that cast shadows on the man kneeling before him. The man looked up, his fierce cold blue eyes locked onto Harry's,

"No my Lord. When I found the house, I discovered it empty. Apparently they have moved here. Rumor has it that the boy has a job here, so, of course, She went with him." When he spoke of these people, the man's voice filled with contempt and he seemed to literally spit in disgust at them.

"You will have your chance, don't worry Jacobs. But for now, I will teach you the lesson for ignoring my summons." Harry saw the wand in his hand and wondered for a moment where it had come from, but as he pointed the wand at the man, all thoughts were chased away. Looking down at the man, Harry saw what looked like a slight smile spread across his face. His cold eyes never left Harry's, while Harry uttered the unforgivable curse.

"Crucio" The man began to twitch and scream in agony. The man's screams were only matched by those of a young teenage boy with untidy black hair who awoke by the searing pain from his lightening bolt scar on his forehead made from the unforgivable curse he knew so well.