0000000000000 Severus Snape, Inheritance Office 00000000000000
Severus walked toward the Ministry elevators after taking the Floo. Thankfully he had time between his classes on Tuesdays that allowed him to do this. If he had to wait for the weekend, Severus doubted that he would be able to sleep between grading, the Prince duels, Head of House duties, and whatever he needs to brew for the Medical Wing and students. And knowing his luck, the number of students he must brew for would increase after the exams today. Thankfully he was able to see his first years to their appointments before coming here. Shaking off those thoughts, Severus stepped into the elevators and pressed the appropriate floor, ignoring anyone else that was in the elevator with him. He really didn't feel like making small talk with everything else on his mind, almost smirking at the heavy silence behind him.
When the elevator came to the floor Severus needed, he walked out causing many to move out of his way. No matter what others thought of him, nobody could deny the intimidating figure that caused many to get out of his way like the school students he teaches. Add to the fact that many had an idea to why he was here thanks to The Daily Profit, nobody wanted to piss off a new lord.
Walking into the appropriate office, Severus had to withhold a sneer at the mess he could see. Files, trinkets and flying airplanes were everywhere. Severus, dodging the awaiting avalanches and flying projectiles, made it to the front desk that was empty at the moment. Ringing the bell, Severus waited until someone came out of the back room.
"One moment please! I'll be right with you." There were some additional mutterings before the sound of something falling could be heard. Severus raised an eyebrow at what was going on and wondering if he interrupted an office romance. His thoughts were further confirmed when a young male and female came out of the back with rumpled clothes that they were trying to straighten out.
"Sorry about that. As you can see, we're refiling some and it's a mess." The look Severus gave them let them know he didn't completely believe them. The blush the male gave before moving from behind the counter insured that his message was received.
"I'll help you with the mess in the back, Julia, after lunch if that's okay." Julia nodded before turning her attention back to Severus while her 'boyfriend' made his escape from the situation. "How may I help you, Professor Snape?" Severus had to admire her ability to be professional while taking his paperwork from his robes.
"I'm here to file the paperwork to claim my lordship and seats." Julia nodded before looking over what he brought. Normally the goblins would send over everything, but Julia figured he had other business with the Ministry and decided to do everything while he could.
"Have you claimed your lordship ring?" Severus showed his right hand allowing the ring to show before making it invisible again. "Good. Everything looks like it's in order, but there is one thing you should know. With the taking of the Prince Lordship, Prince has to be in your name. This could be done by hyphenating your name to be Snape-Prince or to completely loose the name of Snape and go by Prince. Here are the forms for whichever you decide."
"How will this affect any of my published works?"
"Unfortunately, you'll have to send notices out of your name change for any of your published work. They will then use that for any future works and inform you if they are able to change or reprint the work with the correct name. For royalties you may want to inform them if it's still going to your personal account or the Prince accounts." Severus nodded at this before looking at the paperwork handed to him. The thought of being able to drop the name associated with his father was very tempting. On the other hand, Snape was the name that he worked under, and succeeded under despite those that looked down on him because he was a half-blood. Not to mention that he still didn't know why his mother was disinherited. The letter in his breast pocket from his grandparents would probably tell him, if he could believe them.
Taking the self-inking quill, Severus quickly filled out the forms before passing them back. Julia looked over them, making sure everything was correct before putting them with the rest of his documents.
"Let me file these for you and I will give you the confirmation paperwork, Wizengmont meeting schedule, and the rules and regulations. The agenda will be owled to you within the next couple of days. Previous meetings and rulings can be requested in written from the legislative department. Are there any questions?"
"Not at the moment."
"Then I'll get your paperwork. Excuse me." Standing there, Severus had to wonder once again what would have happened if his grandparents had been able to contact him. Would they have taken him in? His mother? Would they have liked him or held his parentage against him? Would him being from a reputable family called off James and Sirius from tormenting him?
That and many other questions went through his mind so fast that it would have overwhelmed him if not for his Occulmency. Julia coming back with a packet of parchment brought Severus back to the present.
"Here is everything that you'll need. I also put forms in here in case you want to appoint a regent to vote for you."
"Thank you and have a good day."
"You as well, Lord Snape-Prince." Severus walked out the office, glad that this was his last stop in the Ministry.
0000000000 Petunia Dursley 0000000000
Petunia was in her cell trying to stay out the way from the general population. Somehow, someone found out that she was being charged with child abuse and everyone had turned on her. She's been pushed, slapped and verbally abused by everyone and the guards were barely doing anything about it. She was so going to sue this place when she was released, but her making it out alive was what scared her the most. The stories and tv shows showed her that even alleged abusers were guilty until proven innocent in jail. Add in the fact that the trial for her bail was two weeks away made her shiver. Petunia didn't want to show up to the judge looking ruffed up because the other inmates thought she was an abuser.
To Petunia, being heavy handed wasn't abusive, they were protecting themselves and Dudley from the dangers of the wizarding world. That freak that retrieved her nephew proved them right when he destroyed Vernon's gun when he was trying to defend his family. Not to mention the tail Dudley received. Having to explain that to the doctor was frustrating. The sound of her cell door opening brought Petunia out of her thoughts. She breathed a sigh of relief when the guard appeared.
"Prisoner stand up. Your lawyer is here to see you." Petunia stood up worried. She wasn't supposed to see Mr. Sandwood until next week. Different thoughts and situations went through her head from the charges being dropped to something happening to Vernon and Dudley. She was hoping for the former, but with no contact with her husband and son, she couldn't help but worry.
"You have thirty minutes before going back to general population."
"Would you happen to know why my lawyer is here earlier than expected?"
"You'll have to talk to him." Petunia easily got the message that the guard didn't want to talk to her. They went to the private visiting area where Petunia could see Mr. Sandwood already waiting for her. "Remember, you only have thirty minutes." Mr. Sandwood nodded to the guard who quickly left to wait outside.
"Is everything okay? I didn't think I'd see you until next week."
"Normally that would be true, but I have some information that couldn't wait until then. It seems that Vernon had a heart attack two days ago."
"What!?" Petunia immediately began to cry. "Is he okay? Please tell me he's alive?!"
"From what I've been able to gather, he is alive. The heart attack happened when he was going up to his cell. It seems that his heart was already bad from being overweight, and the stress from the situation and going up the stairs caused him to have a heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital and seems like he will pull through. His trial has been pushed back of course."
"I have to see him. Please tell me I get to see my husband. Oh God, does Dudley know. He must be so terrified."
"Mrs. Dursley, I know that this is distressing news, but I need you to calm down. Can you do that for me because you'll be of no use to yourself or your family. Deep breaths, please." Petunia took some breaths while trying to stop her tears. She accepted the tissues Mr. Sandwood pushed towards her. It took a while, but Petunia finally calmed down enough to continue.
"Will I be able to see Vernon? Even for a little while?"
"I'm sorry, but that won't be allowed until after your bail trial if your released. A notice has been sent to your sister-in-law to let her know the situation. I'm not sure if she told your son or is going to allow a visit, but I'll see what I can find out."
"Thank you. When I get out, will I be able to get Dudley from Marge?"
"If you mean after the trial on bail, no. Since you are being charged with child abuse, they won't allow you to live or work around children. We'll have to wait until after your main trial to see about custody of Dudley." Petunia whimpered in despair. She couldn't believe that this was happening to her.
"Vernon always seemed so healthy. Do you think whatever he's been fed at the prison caused the heart attack?"
"Mrs. Dudley, I don't think you understand. From what I've been told, your husband has been overweight for years. It was only a matter of time before he had a heart attack or stroke. The stress from being in prison may have compounded the issue, but nothing the prison did was the primary cause." Petunia didn't want to believe that, but the intense look her lawyer was giving her made her face that what he was telling her was the truth. "If you want, I can take a letter to your husband." Petunia nodded her head and took the pad of paper and pen offered to her. She wasn't sure how much time she had left and wanted to reassure Vernon as much as possible.
0000000000 Remus Lupin 00000000000
Remus let out a sigh while wondering if this was some karma back-lash he was suffering. Even though Sirius was still in the hospital, the Healers didn't trust him mentally, so Remus bore the brunt of Sirius' mood swings and side-ways thinking. One minute they would be talking about James trying to woo Lily and the next Sirius would start crying uncontrollably while throwing things, ranting about the evilness of Slytherins. More than once the Healers had to sedate Sirius so he wouldn't hurt himself or anyone else, like right now. Walking down the hallway towards the Healer in charge of his case, Remus couldn't help but wonder if the original release date was still realistic considering Sirius' instability.
If that wasn't bad enough, Sirius made him his proxy while they were at the bank. Not only was he in charge of all Black accounts and business ventures, Remus also had to go to the Wizengmont and vote in Sirius' place. At first, Remus thought that Sirius was doing this out of pity since he was being paid 600 galleons a month, but now he's thinking it's one of the sanest things Sirius ever did in his life. If only there wasn't over two decades of paperwork to go through. After Orion Black passed, it seemed that Walburga Black did the bare minimum before giving up completely near the end of her life. Family alliances, businesses, debts, and properties fell by the wayside and it was Remus' duty to go through everything to see what could be done.
Add in the new wardrobe Sirius ordered for him without his knowledge and overseeing the remodel of Grimwald place, that made him appreciate the cottage James and Lily left him. The dark magic and creatures that took up resident at Grimwald was insane. The number of doxies alone would allow them to start a farm and sell their venom for a profit. Potion Masters were known for trying to find different uses for it other than cleaning solutions.
Pausing at that thought, Remus started to mentally go over some of the Black properties that could be used. Shaking his head, Remus smiled before walking again. He'll go to the bank before the exterminators came after finishing here. If Sirius was going to throw so much money at him to get his family holdings in order, then Remus will make sure that he would give Sirius his money's worth. And at least this meant Harry wouldn't have so much to do when he became the next Lord Black. And with Sirius' mental issues, that might be sooner rather than later.
000000000 Hogwarts' Infirmary 000000000
Healer Grain was going over the results of the Slytherin first years while her associates started on the Gryffindors. Other than Harry Potter's results, nothing serious showed up. A hormone imbalance for one girl and one of the boys needing to eat more read meat were the only problems so far, and the trainees were able to deal with those. The Medi-Healers already sighed off and sent the children on their way, that Grain didn't need to look twice when she saw their reports. The same could not be said for Harry Potter's report, or his request.
For it didn't matter to Grain what The Daily Profit printed, she almost couldn't believe that any child could survive this type of abuse without more injuries, or death. But the results in front of her showed that Harry Potter was one boy not to be denied the right to survive. What he was able to survive, and how quickly he was healing was amazing to her. Some of the potions he's on were able to be reduced in the next week if he suffered no setbacks.
Letting out a sigh, Grain relaxed in her chair. Deciding to be the one to check Mr. Potter himself to see the truth of his injuries almost made her want to abandon her oaths to heal and not harm. The only reason she didn't was the knowledge that the people responsible were no longer free to do this to another child. Then to have this little slip of a boy ask her about Mind-Healers made her close her eyes before giving him a list of names that she knew would put aside any hero worship and treat Mr. Potter like he needed to be. For even she could see the pain in his eyes.
"Healer Grain?" Said Healer jumped at the interruption. Snapping her eyes open, she saw one of her Trainees with a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry to interrupt you, but one of the results looks strange and we thought you should look at it."
"Well bring it here then and I'll have a look." Getting her mind back into the present, Healer Grain focused on the new patient to see what was going on.
00000000000000
Harry walked down from the infirmary with the rest of the Slytherins thankful he was healing correctly. He needed the good news with everything else going on. And with the list that Healer Grain gave him, Harry would be able to talk to a professional, even if it scared him. But even he knew that he needed to talk to someone. Almost electrocuting a friend for touching his shoulder wasn't a normal reaction, and he didn't want to hurt anyone. And considering that his magic seemed to be growing, that was a possibility. Theo's voice brought him out of his thoughts.
"Do you want to meet up with Neville? I saw him being looked at first by the Healers, so he should be coming down soon."
"Yeah, maybe we can sit by the lake? The weather is still nice enough."
"We can go to the kitchens too, and get a snack."
"Blaise, how in the world do you know where the kitchens are?" Theo said incredibly, barely remembering to keep his voice low so they wouldn't draw any attention to their conversation. No need for Draco or any of his cronies butting in.
"I like to explore at night when I can't sleep." Two pairs of eyes just looked at him. "What? You and Harry wake up with the sun and I like to roam with the moon."
