Walking up the path to the Grangers residence, Harry was suddenly assaulted by an angry white owl as Hedwig landed on his shoulder and proceeded to beat her around the head with her wing, and pinch his ear hard enough to draw blood with his beak.

"Hey. What's the big idea? No I didn't know I was coming here yesterday. Madam Bones picked me up after class, I didn't even have time to change. I'm sorry. No I don't think they'll let you. I can't stop you trying."

They made it inside while Hedwig was still berating Harry and Emma took Petunia upstairs to get changed. Once Hedwig finished beating him up he joined in with Hermione in talking about how they were doing at school. Petunia informed them about her need to go to Diagon Ally to talk to Kragnast about the possibility of gaining access to more money. She writes a letter to McGonagall saying that she's out of St Mungo's, but she needs to keep Harry out for the weekend to deal with the fallout of Vernon leaving, she also says that she's keeping Hermione around to support Harry during this time. Despite her arguments earlier, Hedwig swoops down and grabs the letter before demanding that the window is opened. They then troop off to Diagon Alley in order to see about getting things sorted. On the way Harry asks Petunia if he could call her Mum, as she was no longer the Petunia that was his Aunt. She agrees.

Walking up to Gringotts they see a wooden sign by the inside of the door that reads "Wizengamot has decreed a new Exchange rate to take place on the Winter solstice in order to bring prices back in line with the muggle world. 1G will now be worth £12". Making a note of it, Petunia leads them over to the desks at the back, and once the Goblin stops working for a moment she starts talking.

"Would you be able to see if Kragnast is available to talk about the Potter accounts?"

A goblin is sent off to check for availability, then comes back shortly stating that he would be ready in 10 minutes.

Deciding to wait, they chat quietly amongst themselves before a goblin arrives to lead them to an office. Petunia notices that the symbol on the door looks nothing like the one that she was taken to before. Once they are led in, they notice that Kragnast is sitting on a chair to the side of the desk while an older goblin is sitting in behind it.

"Come in. Please be known to Floor Manager Barknus. Farlor bring chairs for our guests, non-conjured as they have an Aictuilaxr."

"Greetings, I am Petunia Dursley, this is my ward Harry Potter, and family friends Dan, Emma, and Hermione Granger." They all bow or curtsey as their name is said. The door is opened, and goblins enter carrying chairs that look suspiciously like the ones that normally go behind the desks.

"Please, take a seat. What can Gringotts do for you today."

"My husband put me in the hospital two days ago, and now he's missing. This means that the money that he earned to support the house will no longer be available. As such I was wondering whether it was possible that I could gain more access to the Potter funds, and if Gringotts would be able to help me do that."

Kragnast barks a laugh and says to Barknus "I told you that being friendly and helpful to this one would pay off."

Turning his attention back to Petunia he continued, "We could indeed do that, however I do not believe that it would be in either your or our best interests to do so. If you remember the reason I was able to be so helpful to you before is due to the fact that you were not legally a witch.

"We have been looking into this, and I think I have a proposal that would work out for us. Would you be willing to listen, or should I move onto the Ministry business?"

Petunia looks at Dan who shrugs "It costs you nothing to listen, and you may not get the offer again if you refuse."

"Ok, I'll listen."

"While you are still mastering your magic, we are willing to rent a room in your house on a bed and breakfast basis. We are willing to pay 50G a week for this privilege. Once you have mastered your magic we would like to negotiate further services."

"Why would you offer that, as it seems like a lot of money."

Kragnast looks at Barknus who takes over in a gravelly voice "As you may remember from your last meeting, Gringotts is situated over the lair of a dangerous predator in The Dream.

"This means that since we were confined here in 1817 by peace treaty with the wizarding world, we have been unable to train new Goblins in the art of walking the dream. This means that we have lost access to the source of a lot of the ores that we use in our smithing. The statute of secrecy prevents us from doing business in the non-magical world, and the treaty of 1743 grants the Ministry a monopoly on contracting on Goblin business for witches and wizards. The other non-human races are in similar positions, and so we can trade with them for these sorts of services.

"Then you turn up. Someone that's not legally a witch but is legally a magical. You also live in the non-magical world. So Kragnast took a gamble and volunteered services and information that we normally would have withheld unless asked. We didn't know if anything would come from it, but apparently an opportunity has become available to both of us.

"You could take up the regency for House Potter, at which point you would become legally a witch and would be allowed to own a wand even though you haven't passed any owls. On the other hand, you could do business with us, and remain free from some of the Ministry Laws, such as those that discriminate based on blood status."

Petunia looked at Dan and Emma for reassurance then thought for a moment. "What if I were to say that I'm not the only non-witch magical anymore?"

A look of glee crosses both of their faces before it's quickly smothered. "We would be very interested in opening discussions for a similar situation with them as well. As where we have made a lot of space here, it also means that we have a lot of goblins that want to train."

She looks at Harry who smiles at her and shrugs to say it's her decision. "I think that I would like some immediate things, as well as an ongoing thing. Ongoing, I would like help learning to control my magic, for that I'll be willing to work with one goblin that's staying in that room to teach them the meditation technique we've been using. Secondly, I'd like help with getting access to something I've heard called a floo, as using the Knight bus is getting expensive, as well as the process I need to go through to adopt a house-elf. I'm willing to authorise payment from the potter accounts if you think the house-elf would be a valid expense for his welfare."

Kragnast picks up a file from the floor behind the desk and flicks through it. "I think that's possible, and house Potter no longer has any elves that you could call instead of adopting as it says here that they were forced to leave for survival."

Dan and Emma lean over and whisper to each other, before turning back to the goblins "I think we'd be willing agree to a similar agreement with the same additions."

"We will need you to take an oath that you are magical, but were not born magical. Assuming that pans out I don't see why you can't be accommodated."

"We run a dentistry in the non-magical world, if you have any contacts that already live there and are trained dental assistants, I think we'd be very interested in talking to them. I'm just thinking ahead hun."

An oath reading later and they are both back in the office, the goblins weren't idle either. They notice that Hermione and Harry aren't in the office either. Seeing them looking around Petunia assuages their fears, "I gave them a couple of Galleons and sent them out to get icecream or have a look in Gladrags. I have a feeling that we'll see them in the House-Elf placement agency or the bookshop though."

Dan laughs, "No bet on that one."

Getting the agreements signed was a simple process, Kragnast had bought a calming draft for Petunia so that she could use the blood quill. Dan insisted that the agreement had a 1 year renewal followed by a 5 yearly renewal so that if either party felt they were not getting a good deal they could exit without it costing them anything. He then had to run into muggle london to get the money that the goblins said would be needed for the adoption fees. As he was passing he saw that the children were actually at the ice cream place, though they both had new books. Once they had the money they needed, they went to fetch the children.

Petunia stepped beside Harry and started talking before she gave him a hug. "What book are you reading sweetiekins?"

Looking a little surprised at the intrusion and name she replied while lifting up the book "An introduction to runes and their uses. After Mrs Tonks showed us the pensive, and explained just how hard it is to make one, and that plate we used today, I wanted to find out more about it, and it was only 5 sickles in the second hand bookshop."

"Well mark your place and put the book away, we need to go and talk to some house-elves."

A similar conversation happened on the other side of the table, though Hermione was reading about the goblin rebellions mentioned.

With that the two families trooped off to the Placement agency and braced to be mobbed upon entry. As expected, they were indeed mobbed. After specifying that any prospective elves needed to be happy to learn how to live in the non-magical world, all of the older elves grumbled in a very house-elf way, and stepped back. Saying that they needed to be willing to learn to wear clothes that would fit in the muggle world, even if they had to buy them themselves saw a few more leave in tears saying they couldn't work for masters that want to give them clothes. Finally they ended up talking to the rest of them individually and eventually Harry and Petunia settled on a young female elf called Ceeley who had never had her own family before, and the grangers settled on a male elf called Soopy who had grown up with a family, but needed to be let go due to the drain on the owners magic after a child moved out. They also found out that it's possible for them to bind to a family rather than individuals but harder for the elf to form the bond as most wizards don't have enough magic pass a link through the elf to the rest of the family. They decided to head home rather than attempt the bond in the agency, though the agency worker ensured that they knew that if they did that the agency wouldn't be responsible if something happened between now and when the bond was done. The trip home was interesting as the elves had never had to travel by anything except popping so they were behaving like excited 6 year olds.

"Mum, if we got Ceeley a lightsabre and a little brown robe and got her to attach some string to a cap, do you think we could take her to London zoo?" Petunia snickered even as Ceeley looked adorably confused.

They arrived at the home and sat both elves down.

Petunia started, "Ceeley, I would like you to join my family with Harry. What I'd like to know is how you would like to bond with us. You are going to be a full member of the family, and not a servant. What do you want to do?"

"Ceeley would like you to bond with her."

"We know that, what we're asking you is how you want the bond."

"Ceeley want whatever bond you's willing to gives."

"Ceeley, we're willing to give you any bond that doesn't see us subservient to you. We want to know what you want."

"Ceeley not understand. Ceeley expecting to be told do this then go and do it."

Harry speaks up with an idea, "Ceeley, imagine we were young elves and you were explaining the different bond they could receive. Which one would you tell them was the best?"

"Oh that's easy, a bond of the heart."

"And how would we do that?"

Her ears droop, "Ceeley not sure, elder elves not tell her just that it exists."

Harry looks lost as Petunia turns to him, "How have you been getting on with your meditation?"

"OK I think."

"Can you feel your magic?"

"I think so."

"How about if we both link hands with her and then meditate on our magic and let it loose slightly?"

"I don't think it would hurt, but I've only done two months of school."

"Ceeley would you like to try?"

"Ceeley is willing to try."

"OK take our hands."

In another room a similar conversation is happening, although Hermione is getting upset with how little Soopy seems to know. Due to this they're still trying to come to an agreement when there's a sudden surge of magic and the light pops. They all rush into the other room to see what's going on.

Ceeley is grinning like a maniac and fair vibrating in place with excitement as Harry and Petunia are coming out of their meditation. "Ceeley like that bond, it feel like drinking from the sweetest pond while being praised for doing a really really good job." Petunia smiles and draws her into a hug. "Missy Dursley must nots do that it not proper."

"Ceeley it is proper for family, you're not just a house elf now, you're part of our family."

Soopy looks at his family, "If Soopy has choice, Soopy would like bond like that."

After a brief conversation about what was done, there was a second surge of magic and Soopy was walking around like he'd been electrified. Before being pulled into a hug by Hermione.