A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome back to The Saviour's Pariah!
Thank you all so much for the continuous support for this story, it means the world to me!
For those of you interested in my other works, I've got a wealth of oneshots available as well as two other fics in progress! Tomorrow's release will be PoL Chapter 24! We'll also potentially be having a one-shot sometime this coming week!
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Feel free to join my Discord for updates and information, link on my profile. Without any more rambling from me, I hope you enjoy the story!
(Sorry if you don't like the chapter!)
September 13, 1998
Sunday Morning
Harry waited a few minutes longer than Andromeda had told him, and when the older woman finally entered, she did so in different clothes, her previous casual clothing exchanged for a similar outfit. In response to the time spent on changing, he raised a brow and was met with a tired shrug.
"Teddy spit up, I can't shake the habit of wanting a change of clothes after the feeling of it," Andromeda smiled distantly, something Harry related to memories of Dora, and then spoke again, "What is it you'd wanted to discuss?
"Gringotts. I've made amends with them after that minor incident, but I still feel like your way of speaking far surpasses mine," Harry wasn't much of a convincer, he was more for solving issues on the fly and using brute force. Andromeda, due to her upbringing, was the exact opposite; he hadn't seen a scenario she couldn't talk her way out of.
"Okay," Andromeda agreed easily enough, her shoulders relaxing as she took the seat he'd moved beside him.
"Right. How do I ask them properly for access and information on all the Black vaults?" Harry didn't see a point in wasting time and Andromeda wasn't fond when he'd try to phrase things better, thus he'd went straight to the point.
Andromeda turned her attention from the blank parchment paper he'd laid out, over to him.
"I could write this easily enough, Harry. I'm sure you'd much rather be returning to Hogwarts, especially with McGonagall being as strict as she is," Andromeda slid a hand onto the table and opened it, waiting for him to give the quill over.
In response to her offer, Harry shook his head 'no'.
"Thank you Dromeda, but I do feel like I'll be needing to learn about this sooner than later with this 'Lord Black' business bearing down on us. Maybe we could get an in-depth accounting on more than just the vault's contents too — you'd know more about House Black property than I would," Harry was hoping his being beside her wouldn't waste too much time, but he truly did feel that he'd need to learn this after how long it'd taken him to learn about his own house.
Thankfully, the tired Andromeda morphed into the professional one, her posture straightening and her eyes taking on a gleam that he recognised from their earlier lessons.
"Taking the initiative's great, Harry, I remember the reluctance you'd had for that first month when we started your lessons on politicking," Andromeda smirked at him and motioned towards the parchment, "You remember how to properly address a letter to your Account Manager, right Harry?"
He nodded in response.
"Go on then, start with that and then we'll get to the main body."
Harry nodded and wrote the introduction as he'd remembered; 'Dear Account Manager Griphook,'
Goblins liked their proper titles used at all times.
"Wonderful. You'd like the House Black vault information as well as property, as you said earlier?"
"Everything, if there's more, we should know," Harry's words were met with an approving nod from Andromeda, the older woman clearly satisfied with the progress he'd made from dolt to responsible in terms of anything stately.
"State your intentions plainly and without beating around the bush, the Goblins aren't ones to waste words. If there's anything specific, specify that on a separate line, less likely for any mistakes or miswordings that way," Andromeda finished her tips and motioned towards the parchment, her movement telling him 'get on with it'.
Harry nodded a few times to himself and started the main portion of his letter.
'It has recently come to my attention that I, Harry James Potter, have become Lord of House Black. Proof is already being forwarded to the bank by means of the Ministry, as is needed by your policies. As the newest Lord of House Black, I'd like a general accounting of all possessions, investments and so on. Do take out the fee for doing so from the Black funds.
One personal request is for all Vaults and belongings to one 'Delphini Black' or women sharing that first name be sent on a separate accounting; the sooner this specific task is complete, the better, any funds for expediting this task can be withdrawn from the Potter Vaults.'
Resting the quill back in its holder, Harry motioned for Andromeda to read it over. She was silent when she did so and read through it multiple times based on the movement of her eyes. A few corrections to 'beautify' the letters he'd written later and the woman was nodding to herself, placing a kiss on his cheek not long after.
"Very well done, Harry. It's certainly a far cry from your earliest attempts at formal letter-writing. I trust after these two tas-"
One of the elves popped in and interrupted Andromeda, "Missus Andromeda!"
Andromeda already knew what the elf was here for and stood up, looking down at Harry while she rolled her shoulders from sitting in the chair.
"Teddy's likely caused another fuss — I trust with your two paragraphs and introduction complete so well that I'll not be needed for the conclusion," She bent over and placed another kiss on Harry's cheek, looking him over with fondness until she pulled back, "Do be careful at Hogwarts and write as often as you'd like. You'll make me worry otherwise."
Harry laughed lightly, "I'll be fine, and I promise I'll write you every weekend. Maybe I can even get Professor McGonagall to let me visit once a month or so, I'm sure I could wear her down eventually."
Andromeda scoffed and corrected his shirt before making her way to the twin doors to his office, one wave from said door later, she was gone.
He sighed and settled back into the chair, wiping his forehead to remove the minor amount of sweat that'd built up before writing the final sentence on the letter.
'With the utmost respect to Griphook, Account Manager for House Black and House Potter,
From Harry Potter, Lord of Houses Black and Potter'
Harry figured adding on the new title to Griphook would make the Goblin happier than anything else would… a happy Goblin was most assuredly better to deal with than one with any other emotion, he'd learned that easily enough during his reparations payment to them.
September 13, 1998
Sunday Afternoon
"Hi Harry," Fay greeted as soon as he'd walked back into the eighth year's tower.
"Hi Fay," He returned, glancing at the girl who was watching him with an openly amused expression on her face.
"Harry, you don't suppose you've forgotten anything?" Fay asked him with the amusement growing into a wide smile with a minor blush on her cheeks.
He tilted his head and tried to scrounge around in his brain for anything, finding nothing… until he'd remembered.
"Where are they?" Harry couldn't believe he'd forgotten to see Daphne and Tracey, the two usually joined him for breakfast every morning, with the former being more 'reluctant' about it than the driving force the latter always provided.
"Already in the Great Hall eating lunch, they weren't overly happy when Neville said you weren't feeling all that well, they'll be more annoyed if they found out you weren't in the room to begin with."
"Fa-"
Fay laughed and shook her head, waving her hands in front of herself.
"I'm not gonna tell on you, Harry! We were both Gryffindors, you taught me in the DA! Morgana, I was only going to ask if you'd want to walk down with me, I'd slept in too long to do my makeup with Susan and I wasn't leaving without it."
Harry relaxed and shook his head. Tracey wouldn't have been all that annoyed, in fact, she'd probably have laughed it off while gracing him with another story she'd somehow come up with or go back to teasing Daphne; on the other hand, Greengrass wouldn't be all that pleased with him. She was an incredibly by the book person — similar to Hermione — but placed much more stock on traditions and words. His missing breakfast was something she'd probably be personally offended by unless it was for something important… he couldn't tell her about Delphini though.
"Let's go then," Harry looked around for anybody else milling about in the tower and came up empty — his eyes had been searching especially for Delphini, despite his mind separating the girl from the actions of her parents, the wariness he suspected would be around for some time if not forever.
Thankfully, it looked like it was him and Fay alone for the walk, and for the life of him he couldn't remember ever having been alone with her before.
Maybe it'd prove to be a good opportunity in getting to know a housemate he had barely any bond with other than their mutual opposition of Voldemort.
Fay responded by grabbing him by the robe and pulling towards the door, laughing when he had to jog to stay upright.
"Come on Harry, there's no time to waste, today's cookie day!"
Harry hadn't a clue what the girl meant and only after the pair raced down the steps of the tower until they were on the straightaway halls of Hogwarts did he question the girl as they raced along.
"Cookie day?" His tone wasn't all that breath-filled with the running they'd been doing, Quidditch and lean-eating had seen to a good physique.
Fay answered while running straight forward, laughing openly as she did so.
"Every other Sunday from the start of term has Lunch and Dinner served with desserts towards the end of eating. Anything you can imagine, everything you can imagine!"
Harry didn't remember anything like that during his entire time here, but he supposed McGonagall or the board had implemented it. Whoever was responsible, earned Harry's respect. Such a simple change made people like Fay incredibly excited while attending the greatest school he could ever imagine.
As soon as the two had entered the Great Hall, they separated with a wave from both while only Fay whispered 'good luck' in regards to the three Slytherin girls now watching him towards the end of their table.
Daphne, Delphini and Tracey were sitting together, something that rarely if ever happened without his presence. More than that, Tracey seemed at ease seated next to Delphini, he'd learned the former girl was reserved with most other girls on account of her unusual personality. Apparently, she was too 'abrasive' and not 'girly' enough, the likes of Pansy and those similar to her claimed.
Harry didn't think of it that way — Tracey's clumsiness was endearing, her awkwardness helped alleviate his and the always relaxed, bordering on uncaring attitude was something he hugely admired. Her jokes were subpar to his own, obviously, but they were good too.
Smirking at his internal compliment, he walked over until he was standing near the three girls and greeted the three of them.
"Good morning Daphne, Delphini, Tracey."
Tracey put a hand in front of her mouth and answered, her voice coming out odd on account of her mouth being full.
He understood enough of it to recognise she'd returned the 'Good morning'.
Delphini gave a small wave, "Good morning, Harry. Sleep well?" The look she sent to Daphne had him wince ever-so-slightly before he turned his full attention to the final of the three girls.
Daphne was watching him with an openly annoyed expression, and the longer she stared at him, the more he worried she was going to say something offensive that was only slightly warranted. Much to his surprise, she inhaled and nodded to the open seat next to her, returning his greeting while looking away from him.
"Good afternoon, Harry. We're glad to see you're feeling better enough to join us for lun-"
"It's cookie day Harry!" Tracey cut off Daphne's slow speaking which likely had more accentuations coming by saying said remark and tossing something on his plate; those two actions combined earned the girl a strong look of objection from Daphne alongside a scandalised one from Delphini.
"Thank you, Trace-"
"Tracey! That's impr-"
Daphne and Delphini interrupted one another; causing the two girls to look at one another with vaguely apologetic looks before turning their combined attention — now in glare form — back to Tracey.
But, before anything could be said to the lovable idiot, Harry grabbed the cookie that'd been thrown onto his half-filled plate and bit into it. Unsurprisingly, the cookie was the epitome of deliciousness, as was anything cooked or baked within the halls of Hogwarts by the amazing house-elves.
"Thanks, Tracey," Harry said to the wilting girl, raising the cookie in way of a toast instead of his glass and smiling at her with a few crumbs left on his lips.
"Not a pro- only slightly a problem, Harry!" Tracey corrected herself midway through the sentence, glancing from Daphne to Delphini and finally ending with a wide smile at Harry.
He winked at Tracey and figured he'd pull the attention away from her.
"So Daphne, Delphini; I'm going to guess you've already read today's copy of the Daily Prophet… anything important?"
Daphne turned her head slowly until she was looking directly at him, whereas Delphini hadn't wasted a second to switch her still-scandalised expression over to him, making her looks morph into excitement.
"Absolutely! New broom models were released and another three stores opened on Diagon Alley!" Delphini's response was filled with energy as the girl squirmed in her seat, likely thinking about shopping that very moment.
Harry was thrilled right alongside her, though for vastly different reasons.
If new shows were opening or old ones reopening, it meant people were returning to Wizarding Britain. They'd only do that if they felt safe enough to do so, in a way, it signalled to Harry the war was well and truly over.
Aside from the joyous reminder and return of the wizarding community to their homes, it meant they could finally begin rebuilding in big ways. More people meant more votes for improving the magical community, more assistance for said community along with those in need such as the scores of orphans, and more manpower where it was needed, like in the Auror corps or ministry in general.
Darker thoughts in Harry's head said the people were fair-weathered, but it didn't take long for him to dispel that by arguing to himself that the people who'd evacuated were better than those who were corrupt — with any luck, there'd be the fewest bad apples in the Ministry than ever before.
If anybody could achieve that, It'd be Kingsley and the trusted remnants of the Order.
Daphne tapped Harry on the hand — the action unnoticed by Delphini and Tracey on account of their seating arrangement — and motioned with her eyes towards Delphini; the girl was looking at him questionably with her head tilted.
"Sorry? Spaced out thinking about…" Think Harry! "Shopping," Wicked.
"You like shopping too? We should all g-"
Tracey's happy, cookie-filled response was silenced by Daphne tapping her wand to the other girl's lips.
"Chew. Swallow. Talk. In that order, I've not the stomach to watch you spewing crumbs on our plates," Daphne's nose was raised, but Harry could make out the undertones of amusement easily enough.
Delphini took over speaking as soon as Daphne finished, or at least attempted to; she'd stopped with her mouth open when Tracey made exaggerated chewing visuals, followed by a huge gulp in which her entire head moved. A few giggles later and the doe-eyed Tracey's mouth able to be opened again, Delphini got out the words she'd wanted to.
"You didn't miss much, I'd only asked if you were interested in that shop that sold wands — Ollivander's I think it was called?" Harry nodded at her question and she continued, pointing at a copy of the Daily Prophet that'd somehow materialised in her hands, "It's reopened, the man gave a quote openly thanking the saviour of the wizarding world too."
Harry felt slightly queasy at the memories of Malfoy Manor but forced a smile.
"I'll have to visit sometime, Mister Ollivander's an exceptional wizard."
"Perhaps you'd take me with you? I'm not in need of a new wand, but meeting somebody as acclaimed as he is would be a treat," Delphini's head remained tilted, the girl watched him curiously as his smile sagged.
"Sure," Harry responded, "We could do that. What're the other two shops that'd opened? Anything interesting?" He changed the subject with no mind of tact, but he figured the girls wouldn't mind all that much — if Tracey could do it, he could too… or so his flawless logic assumed.
"Oh, some ice cream shop, apparently it's old but I've never been too fond of the treat. I'm more a cake girl or some other pastry than anything dairy. What about you Daphne?" Delphini's question was directed at the blonde witch alongside Harry, she'd excluded Tracey not out of rudeness either, Harry knew getting words from the girl while at the table was as hard a thing as getting Ron to study. Tracey could eat just as much as Ron, though she wasn't nearly as tall or bulky; he hadn't a clue how it worked!
"I don't eat sweets overly often, they seem to settle on me far less gratuitously than they do on Tracey," Daphne looked pointedly at her arms and stomach, then the other girl's curvy figure, "When I do, however, I would prefer chocolates or caramels."
Delphini nodded along sympathetically, "I completely understand what you mean, almost all too well," the girl looked over at Tracey just as Daphne had done, envy in her eyes as the former girl stuffed the dozenth cookie in her mouth with a smug smile directed at Daphne.
Harry looked on while hiding a laugh, his gaze flickering between the girls, though lingering on Delphini more than either of the others, something that didn't go wholly unnoticed based on the coy smile she shot when the other two were distracted with one another; it still had the same effect as her flirting had before though… which is surely a good sign that his mind hadn't jumped leaps and bounds to paint her badly after finding out what he had.
His eyes widened at a realisation — he didn't know any other languages since they were too difficult and time-consuming to learn, but with Voldemort having been her father, surely he could speak Parseltongue with her, right?
He could just imagine the reactions doing so would have on people around them, though it did all hang on Delphini not minding if people learned of her ability… assuming she had it. As for him, the cat was well out of the bag and if anything, speaking it with somebody else while casually walking the halls of Hogwarts would be right funny, bizarre faces would greet them at every turn!
"Harry, would you stop staring at Delphini and do me a favour?" Tracey's voice, slightly muffled, asked.
"What?" He wasn't sure if his question was in regards to the favour, or the staring he'd just been rightfully accused of.
Daphne's hand answered his question by pinching him on his ribs, making him squirm in his seat and glance at the slightly shorter blonde girl cautiously; her glare in return silenced any comment he'd have made on her actions.
"Cookies. You have copious amounts to your right, the ones in front of me were eaten and the ones to my right were brutally crushed by Daphne so I'd stop eating them," Tracey's face and tone changed to pleading, her bottom lip shaking as it was stuck out, "Please don't make me resort to eating that pile of cookie bits. I just want my cookies, please Har-"
Daphne sighed and let her head nearly hit the table, Delphini looked away.
Tracey had been drowned out for a few seconds with the moving and loud sigh, but with those distractions gone, her pleading came back in full force.
"Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, any of the plates!"
Harry rolled his eyes and, deciding to show off, silently levitated all the plates of cookies until they were carefully plopped down in front of the still-pleading girl; the way her face lit up, nobody could be blamed for thinking Tracey had been proposed to or given the best gift of her life.
"Thanks, Harry, I hope Daph-"
Daphne's head shot up from the table and quick as a flash of lightning, she shoved the closest cookie into Tracey's mouth, ending the girl's sentence with a blissful smile as she started chewing with small, contented sounds.
"Don't ask," Daphne said, favouring the wall furthest from him rather than looking remotely close to his seated position beside her.
"I think Tra-" Delphini began and stopped with a laugh, raising her hands when Daphne snaked one of her own across the table to arm herself with another cookie — he hadn't a clue how the beautiful, usually well-mannered Daphne had made the motion so menacing, but he wouldn't risk asking if it meant getting a cookie shoved down his throat. Not until he'd tried a few out to see his favourite flavour and set a plate of those near her.
Tracey chose that time to finish swallowing the remnants of the cookie and stretch in her seat, squeaking when she'd reached the furthest extent her body would go.
"Wicked! I've eaten three more cookies today than last time!" Then she sagged in her seat, wrapping her robes tightly around herself and snuggling into the slightly weirded out Delphini who'd sat next to her, "Tired now, can we go back to the tower?"
Her question wasn't directed at any one person, but based on the groan from Daphne and the still awkward expression Delphini was looking at Tracey with, he'd have to deal with it.
He dealt with it.
And by dealing with 'it', Harry had carried an asleep — and mumbling about pixies — Tracey back to the Tower.
Daphne and Delphini had joined him for the journey, of course, the former to race ahead so she'd get a few pictures of his doing so to harass Tracey with later, though Harry had pointed out within the brief time he'd known them that he didn't think Tracey would care all that much. Delphini on the other hand joined him for the entire walk back for one on one conversation time, and Harry used that time to see how he reacted to being alone, or mostly alone, with her.
Surprisingly enough, the gnawing he'd assumed would've been heavy-handed enough to distract him was barely present; talking to a girl who he now knew as a product of Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort was a lot less gut-punching than he'd have expected. Harry figured the lack of strong emotions coming to the forefront of his mind at the table had been because of the others being there, but his mind barely had the slightest of problems being near her on account of personal… bias? He wasn't sure of the perfect word, only if he thought overly much about who her parents were and the secrecy she'd kept did he begin picturing the faces of the fallen.
His multi-tasking of thinking about Delphini and speaking with her finally ended when the doors to their shared tower were opened with enough force to leave them shaking for seconds passed.
"There you two are, I half thought with how long the journey took you'd gotten lost — don't move, I need two good shots to tease her with. Maybe then she'll stop talking about my personal life within earshot of anyone else," Daphne was on her way to taking the second photo by the time she'd finished, and Harry had to hold himself back from commenting on her choice of confidant.
Picking the Slytherin girl with a love for cookies and affinity to awkwardness hadn't been the smartest move — she was an endless source of smiles were her abrasive, yet somehow cute personality.
Maybe he'd bring her to Hogsmeade over the year, they'd made the trips monthly instead of random finally.
"Done," Daphne declared, moving off and settling the camera in her satchel, "You can wake her up now, she's had a long enough nap as is."
Harry chuckled and walked past Daphne, Delphini at his side, moving until he stood above one of the many long couches in the tower. Once there, he carefully placed Tracey on it and took a seat on one of the smaller chairs closer to the fireplace.
"I'll let you wake her up, I've not forgotten what happens when somebody wakes her," Harry directed that comment to Daphne, the blonde girl smirking in response; one of the other times Tracey had fallen asleep, Daphne had him rouse her while she finished putting away her classwork. Seeing as he'd known them for a while, he thought nothing of the request and tapped Tracey's shoulder, saying her name softly rather than yelling as Ron would've.
Wrong move.
Tracey had jolted at the contact and kicked his upper thigh, coming to incoherently.
Daphne's amused remark of 'Oops' had been all he needed to know she'd predicted the outcome.
"I could do it," Delphini volunteered, only for Harry to shoot her down and point out exactly why that wouldn't be a good idea. Needless to say, Daphne hadn't been happy, though when she'd finally woke Tracey nearly a minute later after having a staring contest with Harry, she did so by repeatedly dropping a couch pillow on the girl's arm.
One slap at the pillow later and nearly ten seconds of babbling, Tracey was fresh awake with just as much energy as she'd had at the table.
"I had the weirdest dream!" Tracey declared, looking around the room without a hint of confusion as to how she'd gotten where she currently sat.
"Oh? Do tell," Daphne seemed curious, but Harry couldn't tell whether it was faux or genuine.
He was expecting her to mention the trip up and the weird subjects he and Delphini had gone over.
Tracey's words shattered his expectations.
"You were all cookies! Daphne was a white chocolate chip with caramel, Delphini was apple cinnamon and Harry was oatmeal-raisin with salt on him!"
Aww, man. Why did he have to be the one that got oatmeal raisin?
Thirty minutes later when the conversation on Tracey's dream was over and she, alongside Daphne, decided on going to the library to study, he'd found himself alone with Delphini — truly alone — for the first time since he'd found out her parentage. Naturally, an awkward silence settled in with her content to stare at him behind a smile while he returned weird, short, half-smiles in return. There still wasn't a sense of wrongness in spending time with her, no impending doom from looking at her or any other nonsense that'd make him fearful of spending time with her alone as they currently were; he was happy to know that the unconscious Tracey hadn't been the deciding factor earlier in the day.
Stealing glances at her, Harry had the mental debate on what he'd do next.
Did he speak with her as if he hadn't found out who her parents were? Should he confront her about it, asking to know why she'd lied and how she'd ended up getting the last name, Black?
No, that second idea probably wouldn't go all that well. Harry inwardly commented on the stupidity of his most recent idea, but thankfully that thought being discarded gave way for a new one that was far, far better.
He could bring up her family if he brought up her vault — he'd requested the information for it too, so that was fully truthful and by doing this, he'd give her the opportunity to come clean with him. Obviously, he didn't expect her to, but he was interested in the lie she'd come up with to cover herself. Who knew, maybe this coming discussion would explain her infatuation with him as well as her reasons for coming to Hogwarts after having had both parents killed in a war they'd been the aggressors in.
"Would you mind terribly if I asked you something, Harry? More a favour than some general question, but you're one of my only three friends. I don't know who else I'd be able to ask this of..." Delphini flushed after saying that, and from what Harry could recall, she'd sit with very few people outside of her time with the other two Slytherin girls or him.
It could all be for show, she cou-
Harry brought a hand up and rubbed his eyes, focusing while they were closed to subdue the crazy thought that Delphini'd come here to hurt him. He'd seen more than enough during the war to realise loyalties to one's family wasn't always a given.
"Ask away, Delphini, I'm sure if it's something I'm pants at I know somebody who could help us both with it," Harry smiled reassuringly when he'd finished, earning one back from the girl sitting across despite the bright red her face had become.
"Could you show me around Diagon Alley? Other places or villages too if there're many? I've never been able to roam freely considering the tensions that'd spilt over to where I'd lived, but now that it's all over, thanks to you, I'd like to visit everywhere I previously couldn't," Delphini broke eye contact, "I could pay for it all, my family gave me a trust vault that I've never had the chance to spend from."
He hadn't expected… that.
Moreover, he didn't think she was lying, at least not in regards to having never seen Diagon Alley or other places in Wizarding Britain. Something about her was awkward during interactions as if she'd not talked all that much or spent time around others, not that he was one to comment overly much on those types of problems.
"No," Harry initially said, his words being misinterpreted based on how Delphini's face dropped, thus making him amend what he'd said, "Sorry, I meant no to your paying for everything if we ended up going around — that wouldn't be fair to you. Honestly, considering we're at Hogwarts until the end of the year, I can't give an answer on Diagon Alley or all the rest. I'm sure it'd be great fun and all, but planning too far in advance isn't my greatest ability," Harry's no-answer through a lot of words wasn't due to anything Delphini had said, it was more of how she'd been.
Sure, fangirls could be irritating with their outward expressions of affection — that's what he'd initially thought Delphini was — but he could deal with it… for the most part. Romilda Vane and those similar to her were in a league of their own, but flirtatious witches like Delphini weren't anything he minded overly much. Aggressive, confident witches like Ginny were something he found pretty attractive as it turned out.
Now while that had initially been a plus on her part so long as it didn't turn into too much, it was acting against her once he'd figured out her parents. He wasn't judging her, he didn't think her evil, he just thought it very weird how she'd be attracted to him considering he'd killed her father and such was a well-known fact.
All he could think was that she didn't know her true parents, but the lucrative means in which she'd arrived along with her late admittance into Hogwarts were factors against that train of thought. Who else would have such a strong political backing than Voldemort's daughter? Even if she wasn't evil, the people behind her would be — that included the 'parents' she claimed.
Delphini took his answer easily enough, pouted cutely at him before saying something well in line with the girl he'd gotten to know.
"Maybe's not a no."
Harry decided at that moment that asking her about her family, the vault or other personal aspects of her life could wait. At least until he had the information in hand and had the chance to look it over… watching how Delphini acted for another week or two wasn't bad either.
September 18, 1998
Friday Evening
It'd been nearly a week since he'd learned of Delphini's parents, and during that entire time with keeping an extra watchful eye, she'd only appeared out-of-character once; when she'd returned from McGonagall's office.
Harry hadn't been privy to the conversation or a rundown of it, but he imagined the Headmistress had alluded to knowing Delphini's background if not outright admitting it. That was all he could think considering how offbeat Delphini had been that day.
One thing that confused his thinking was if it'd been that or something equally as serious, how could Delphini put on her usual personality one day later? She'd been as flirtatious, comedic and awkward as ever, if not more so on the lattermost quality — it was so bad yesterday that Harry dared to say she gave Tracey a run for her money.
Seeing all that sense of normality, Harry wished he hadn't been holding the letter in his hand that he was; Gringotts had sent him the full assessment and list of contents in the vault meant for Delphini.
Well, they'd sent it to Black Manor, where he asked if Andromeda could look it over considering her fine legal eye — she had, thus the singular paper filled with notes that'd been tucked away with the folded Gringotts parchment. When he glanced at her notes in comparison to the official Gringotts document, his decision was instantly made on what copy he'd be reading.
Andromeda's even included a list of contents with only the objects that mattered; be it from wealth or personal value to House Black!
'Harry,
After reviewing the Gringotts inventory and general accounting of her vault, I can safely say there's nothing overly important to the family within. Should you currently or ever come to trust her character, the number of Galleons it contains and the few items within are piecemeal to House Black; yes, that means give it to the girl so long as she's not morally reprehensible or otherwise hostile to your values.
Love,
Andromeda
P.S.
Teddy misses you.'
Harry smiled at the simple three words the older woman had ended with, knowing full well the boy was too young to form words enough to say that — if he had, there was no doubt in his mind that Andromeda wouldn't find a way to Floo to Hogwarts to tell him!
He loved his godson and his surrogate mother, the joy they'd brought to his life since meeting them was immeasurable.
Glancing down at the attached list of items that were semi-important at best, he briefly touched on them; some precious gemstone here, an old painting there, simply put there was nothing Andromeda nor he cared about in the slightest… but he'd take a look before passing the vault key over to Delphini.
Better safe than sorry, he'd learned his lesson on checking everything twice over!
After reading the notes he'd been given with Andromeda's personal writing at the top, he copied the list she'd left him along with the amount of currency within Delphini's vault on a separate piece of parchment on account of not wanting the girl to read his correspondence. Once that was done, he left his private room in favour of the eighth years' common room, seeking Delphini out.
He'd not press overly hard, he wouldn't outright confront her about her parents, but he would discuss her vault with her, and if family came up, he'd be all too happy to listen.
COMMENT REPLIES:
TheGreatBubbaJ: Probably not what you were expecting, but there'll be more Delphini x Harry fun.
bdwilliams3: Thank you very much!
Sir Gewen Baudelaire: Oh yeah, I tried my best to show you it altered his thinking without him assuming the worst too - please let me know if that reflected!
mwinter1: I was considering it, maybe. A few people will know who Delphini is, and that'll be coming in detail next chapter when he discusses it with her!
Matt9917: You can bet on that! Sirius will be having a field day with it!
AmWRAZ: He's not implying she's evil, though there'll be some nagging doubt!
Seananagan: I'm glad and you're all good! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too, we'll be learning a lot more the next chapter! They could too, maybe!
Spyro: Thank you, glad you liked it!
Kaito gozali: I'm thinking about it still, may do a poll on discord and on FFN.
TempestuousInferno: Glad you like it so much, hope this chapter wasn't bad! Happy you like the characters too, writing multiple variations is very fun!
Kereil: Thanks for the input!
Slucas123: Hope this one wasn't too bad, wanted to show some inner conflict a bit before doing the big conversation with Delphini! Thank you very much and for the input too!
Zugrian: Haha, I've written three Haphne oneshots if you've not read those yet!
hk78833: Thank you very much, really appreciate that!
