Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 14 – Family

As Harry and Ginny were waiting for Griphook to return, Harry commented, "Too bad there weren't more mithril suits for Ron and Hermione."

Ginny looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Do you know how rare those are? I've only ever heard of mithril in legends! I doubt any suits have been made since the founders were alive! You're lucky to have any! Of course, if you'd rather Hermione had the one I'm…"

"I want you to always wear that," Harry stated firmly.

Ginny smiled wickedly. "Even in the shower?"

"No, not in the shower, but maybe I should stand guard when…"

"Oh, no you don't, Mister Potter," interrupted Ginny, despite the fact her cheeks were as red as her hair.

Before Harry could respond, Griphook arrived and they proceeded to the Potter Heirloom vault. The door looked very much like the Gryffindor vault, except that instead of a lion, it had a stag. Harry was looking intently at the stag when Griphook explained, "It used to be just a golden 'P' until your father had it changed to this. Does that hold any significance to you?"

"Well," answered Harry, smiling. He decided how much information he should give away. "My Patronus is a stag. Maybe all Potter Patronuses are stags."

"Interesting," replied Griphook, while giving Harry a scrutinizing look. "Anyway, I believe it's about time to go on into your family vault."

Harry placed his hand on the stag and whispered, "Hi, Prongs," as the door started to open.

There wasn't as much stuff in there, but what was in that vault was impressive. There was a podium with an inventory book similar to the one in the other vault. Harry noticed a jewelry display, and looked up various items. When he looked up his parents' wedding rings in the book, he read out loud that, "'It is impossible for a Legilimens to read someone's mind while they are wearing one of our rings. Not even Voldemort can get through the magical wall it puts around a person.' Ginny, I insist that you wear one of those rings."

"Harry," she replied blushing, "Those are wedding rings. That's not a good way to propose."

Harry blushed a bit, "That wasn't a proposal, though that doesn't seem a bad idea, either. I want your mind protected from Tom. I'm going to wear the other one."

She sighed, "Too bad. I guess I'll wear it. Do you want me to wear it on the finger that will indicate that we're engaged?"

Harry at that moment made a decision. He walked up to her with one of the rings. It was gold with small rubies spread out on the bottom of the band, and one big ruby on top. (Only muggle marketers make the public think that the diamond is the only gem that can be used on a wedding band.) To her complete astonishment, he got down on one knee in front of her, and took her left hand in his. He said with a very shaky voice, "I-I know we haven't really been dating that long, and you can say no if you want to. But I know that I love you, and that I always will. I'm asking you to marry me when this war is over. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you."

She stared at him with tears forming in her eyes. She swallowed hard as she gazed into his emerald eyes. "Y-You really want to marry me?"

He looked directly into her chocolate eyes, and answered, "Yes. I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

A broad smile appeared on her face, while at the same time a few stray tears escaped her eyes. "Then I will."

He smiled even wider than she did, and he gently placed the ring on the appropriate finger, and then kissed her hand. She then helped him up with that hand and then kissed him more deeply than she ever had. After a few minutes of passionate snogging, they broke apart. While Harry was gasping for air, he suggested, "We should see what else is in here," after he grabbed his ring and slipped it on.

They looked in a corner of the room and saw two staffs with a hole at the bottom. Ginny looked them up in the book and read out loud, "The staffs are capable of focusing magic much more than a regular wand, thus making a spell even more powerful. To use them, simply stick your wand in the hole so that the staff has a magical core. Without a wand inside, the staff is useless (except to hit someone in the head with). It also has a spell for making the staff appear and disappear from your wand once they've been joined. It says that your wand's performance won't be affected when the staff isn't shown. There's also a spell to disconnect the wand and staff." Ginny then looked up from the book and said, "I wonder what my Bat Bogey Hex would be like if I did it with this staff."

Harry chuckled, "I don't want to be the one who finds out. I'll take one, and give you the other."

Harry took the staffs and handed one to Ginny. "Well, here goes nothing," he announced as he got his wand and slid it into the staff. The wooden five-foot high staff glowed green for a moment before returning to normal, with no hole in the bottom. He then took a galleon out of his pocket, threw it on the floor, and pointed his staff at it thinking, "Wingardium Leviosa." The coin rose at an incredibly fast rate, slamming into the ceiling a half-second later, echoing the sound through the vault. After Harry released the coin, and it fell back to the ground, Harry commented, "I'm glad I didn't try 'Lumos,' or we'd both be blind. Please, Ginny, don't use that to hex anybody who doesn't have the Dark Mark, or Voldemort himself. It would be the Dragon-Bogey Hex. What's the spell for hiding the staff?"

"The incantation is simply, 'Wand.'" At that moment, Ginny's staff morphed back into her wand in about three seconds. "Whoops. When you want the staff, you hold your wand and say, 'Staff.'" It changed back. "Wand," she said again, and then put it away when it had changed. "To remove your wand, you turn it into a staff and say, 'Separate.'"

After Harry had tried it out a few times, he stowed his staff/wand away. He then pointed at another corner and said, "Look at that."

He was pointing at a short sword that was in a sheath. It appeared to be made out of the same material as the sword and shield of Gryffindor. It truthfully looked like a smaller version of Gryffindor's sword except that it said, 'Abigail Gryffindor' instead of 'Godric.' "Wow!" exclaimed Ginny. "It matches your sword, but it has a sheath."

"It's yours now," announced Harry, "And I'm buying myself a sheath. If it's all right with you, I'm gonna find someone to teach us how to fight with swords."

"Hem, Hem," came a sound that made Harry draw his wand and spin around. He noticed Ginny had done the same as he searched for the source of the sound. His eyes finally rested on a portrait that was in an ornate frame of gold with small emeralds spread out on it. In the center of the bottom, a bunch of tiny emeralds were placed next to each other to form the words, 'Abigail Potter.' She was a middle-aged attractive woman with jet-black hair and blue eyes. Her face seemed a bit pale.

"Er," asked an unsure Harry to the portrait, "Was that you?"

"Of course it was me," she answered happily, "Do you see anyone else standing here? Since you're in here, you must be a Potter. You look a lot like James, so I guess you must be Harry. I thought you were dead! The Potter line isn't gone! Where are James and Lily?"

Harry put his head down, "They, er, were killed when I was a baby."

The portrait's face fell a bit. "Then they are dead. I thought Voldemort killed all three of you. How did you survive?"

"It's a long story. Anyway, you're right, I am Harry Potter, and I'm trying to defeat Voldemort."

"As my frame says, I'm Abigail Potter, the last person born with the proud name of Gryffindor. Who is this young woman? I saw you ask her to marry you. How did she get in here?"

Both Harry and Ginny blushed. Ginny answered, "I-I'm Ginny, I mean, Genevra Weasley. I owe Harry a life debt from, er, something that happened four years ago. Since we fell in love, that bond has strengthened, and I was allowed in here."

Abigail smiled, "Amazing. It's good to meet you both. Make sure to make a new generation of Potters, with more than just one child this time." Harry and Ginny's faces were redder than the rubies on Ginny's ring. "Now that we've met each other properly, I'll tell you why I got your attention. You were speaking of finding an instructor for sword fighting, and I'd like to volunteer. After all, one of the swords you're using is my own."

Harry stared at the portrait and replied, "Er, but you're in a frame. You can't…"

"…Touch you?" the portrait asked, and then sighed. "I hope you're not such a dunderhead that you can't listen to instructions without the teacher holding your hand. Since there are two of you learning, you'll have someone to duel with who will be near your level. Though I'd guess she'll surpass you before too long."

Ginny chuckled at Harry. Harry decided to ignore the insult and agreed, "Er, I suppose we could try. I want to keep our training secret anyway. This way I won't have to risk hiring an instructor. That is, if Ginny agrees."

"Of course I agree," replied Ginny, smirking, "Abigail likes me."

"Good, it'll be nice to leave this vault. There is one other thing you might want to take. Sixteen years ago, Lily put her diary in here just before she went into hiding. You may want to read it."

Harry found the old muggle diary that appeared in good shape. He picked it up, closed his eyes, and hugged it briefly to his chest. He let out a sigh and tossed it into his open trunk. He then put the portrait in the trunk, along with the vault inventory. Together, Harry and Ginny walked out of the vault.

Harry was quiet as they waited for Griphook, until Ginny asked, "Harry, do you want to talk about it?"

"No," he replied.

"Then talk about something else, like how we'll break the news of our engagement to my family. Don't just stand there sulking."

He took a deep breath. "I didn't expect to tell a portrait that my parents were dead, and I didn't expect to find mum's diary. I knew the rings were there. I expected that. Why couldn't I have found a portrait of my parents instead of some multi-great grandmother?"

"She is a relative you never knew about! She's the first relative you've ever met besides the Dursleys! You should be happy about it!"

"I am. I guess I'm feeling a bit disappointed. I wanted to get to know my parents somehow. I don't know, maybe the diary will help." He then smiled, "We're engaged! We should be celebrating and I'm acting like a prat! When we get out of here, we're going out to dinner in muggle London! Anywhere you want to go! I've certainly got the money."

"You're on!" agreed Ginny happily.

At that moment, Griphook arrived in a cart. Harry asked, "Griphook, is there any way I could access the money in my vault without always coming here? I mean, muggles have what's called bank cards…"

"Of course, Mr. Potter, although most customers don't ask for it," answered Griphook excitedly. "Our latest device is a muggle wallet that has a change pouch as well as a place for muggle paper money. You hold the wallet and simply say how much you want, whether it's in Galleons, Pounds, Dollars, or any other type of currency. If you've requested coins, they appear in the change pouch, and if you've requested paper money, it appears in the billfold. You'll find it quite easy to simply repeat your bill in front of muggles without them noticing. It is a one time charge of one hundred Galleons for the wallet, and it will be set to only respond to you."

"I'll take two. One for me and one for Ginny," Harry requested quickly.

"No," argued Ginny. "You don't have to…"

"Ginny," interrupted Harry, "You're my fiancé and the love of my life. I want to share this with you. When we get married it'll be half yours anyway."

"Fine, but I don't want it to be black like the trunks."

"You may choose whatever colors you wish, and it appears congratulations are in order."

"Thanks, Griphook," replied Harry, "I do want mine to be black."

"Thanks," responded Ginny, "I want a light shade of purple."

They left Gringotts, both under Harry's invisibility cloak, and walked to the Leaky Cauldron, and out to Muggle London. Harry looked unsurely at his fiancé. "Er, do you know any good muggle restaurants?"

Ginny smiled, "As a matter of fact I do. There's this place not far from here that my parents go to on their anniversary…"

Harry transfigured their clothes appropriately, and they got a muggle taxi to take them to the restaurant, where they enjoyed a relaxing, Voldemort-free meal. They arrived rather late at the Burrow. While they were dusting themselves off, they saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, along with Ron and Hermione, apparently waiting for them.

"Where have you two been?" screamed Mrs. Weasley. "Ron and Hermione said you had some business at Gringotts, but it couldn't have taken you that long! We have been worried sick! With You-Know-Who out there looking for Harry…"

"Voldemort!" shouted Harry, "The mortal half-blood sub-human named Tom Riddle invented the rather stupid-sounding name Voldemort! He even called himself a lord, while he was a student at Hogwarts! He wants you to shake in fear whenever you hear that name as though he were some kind of god who can hear you speaking it, but there is absolutely nothing to fear from his name! You are giving Voldemort power by fearing his name! Dumbledore was saying that for years!"

"Fine! V-V-Voldemort is out there looking for you!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"He didn't find us," replied Harry. "I'm sorry, but I am getting sick of people acting like that name has some kind of power. It doesn't have any more power than the name Pigwidgeon. Besides, we are probably better protected and armed right now than anybody in England. Tonight, Ginny and I decided not to let him rule our lives for a few hours. We, er, we…Ginny?" Harry's face was getting pink.

She shot Harry a quick glare and said, "Coward. We wanted to celebrate our, our…"

"Your what?" asked Molly.

Hermione spotted their rings and said, "Oh my god! You're engaged!" and then squealed with joy as she saw the expressions on their faces confirming her hypothesis. Ron just stared in silence.

"Engaged?" repeated Molly. "Engaged! Harry dear, I hope you know I think the world of you but you must understand that GINNY IS WAY TOO YOUNG TO GET MARRIED! Maybe in a few years…"

"In other words, mother," replied Ginny coldly, "You want us to sneak away and elope."

"Elope? No, I…"

"Harry, my boy," said Mr. Weasley in a friendly voice, "Why don't we go outside and have a little chat?"

Deep inside, Harry knew this talk would be coming, but he still didn't want to have it. But he figured that if he can face Riddle all those times, he could face this. He got up and followed Arthur out the door.

After they'd walked out of hearing distance from the house, Arthur stopped, and looked really nervous. "So, Harry, what did you mean by saying you were better protected and armed than anybody else?"

"Well, for protection, both Ginny and I are wearing Mithril armor under our clothes. See?" He unbuttoned his shirt to reveal it.

"Mithril?" asked Arthur, clearly surprised. "I didn't think they made those anymore. It had to be expensive."

"Actually, it didn't cost me anything. I received my full inheritance at the bank. The outfits were in one of my vaults. We've also both got a…" He pulled his wand out, "…staff." Arthur jumped back when Harry's wand grew into the staff.

"Wow," exclaimed Arthur, "I'm impressed."

Harry took a deep breath. "I suppose I should tell you that I found out today that with what I inherited from Dumbledore, Sirius, and my parents, I am the richest wizard that Gringotts knows of." Arthur's eyebrows raised at this statement. "I certainly know that money isn't everything, but I want you to know that I can take care of Ginny. After we got engaged, we decided to go out to dinner at a restaurant in muggle London that Ginny says you take Mrs. Weasley to for your anniversaries. I suppose we should have let somebody know what we were doing, but it was completely spontaneous, which means Voldemort couldn't have gotten foreknowledge of it." He took another deep breath. "I hope you know that if something happened, I would've defended Ginny with my very life. I just…"

"Harry, son, calm down. No harm was done."

"I'm sorry Mr. Weasley, I…"

"Arthur, or dad."

Harry blinked, "Dad?"

"Well, I'm going to be your father-in-law, aren't I?" Arthur explained with a grin.

"W-Well, yes, then you, er, approve?" he asked hopefully.

"Harry, I've never had the privilege of meeting a more upstanding young man than you. I've thought of you as another son for a long time now. I would be proud to make that official. I know that Molly feels the same way, too. She just doesn't want to lose our youngest child, our only little girl, who's not quite so little anymore. When were you planning on, er, marrying?"

"Well, we talked about waiting until the war is over."

Arthur looked down to the ground for about thirty seconds before he spoke. "Molly may make me sleep on the couch for a week for this, but I would like to advise you against that. You're letting V-Voldemort rule your life. I know we're all hoping that it ends soon, and I know you're doing something secret to help, but what if this war goes on for twenty years? I believe that you two should set a date and stick to it."

"But if she's my wife, she'll be more of a target…"

"I'm afraid that she's already a target. First of all, for being in my family of 'blood traitors,' secondly for being close to you. That's the price to pay for following your conscience and doing what's right. All I'd have to do to make my family safe is to join V-Voldemort. That's all you'd have to do as well. But we can't do that! Do you think Ginny would want a father or a husband who bowed to him? I know she'd rather die than see either of us sacrifice our principles, and I'm sure you know that, too."

"I do, sir."

Arthur smiled. "Good. Now, to other business. If you're really as rich as you say you are, the Order could use certain supplies and equipment. You may wish to speak to Ms. McGonagall about it…

Chapter end