True Existence

Harry strode through a shopping centre enjoying the fact that he was not being stared at, actually he was pretty much being ignored. No-one knew what his scar meant and he thought it was fantastic. Like any typical man he knew what he wanted and didn't waste anytime getting it, he bought a few well fitting trousers, shirts and t-shirts, a luxury he had never experienced in his life. He had already stocked out his flat with food and other essentials. He was keeping an eye on the news, the death of the Dursley's had been reported and although they hadn't mentioned him it was pretty obvious he'd be the prime suspect so Harry had to find a way of disappearing, non-magically for once. After a quick stop to the opticians he had a pair of blue contact lenses to hide his trade mark emerald eyes and after a little consideration he decided to pay a visit to the hairdresser. The poor woman didn't know what to do with his hair; it was so thick and unruly. But Harry emerged two hours later a proud fake brown with a semi-respectable haircut. Even if he didn't hide his scar no-one would look twice at a blue-eyed brown-haired boy when they were looking for Harry Potter.

He had started to go to the gym and go for runs everyday to try and bulk up, something that was difficult to do considering his skinny frame but he supposed that he might as well try. In his spare time he was having a look through one or two of his text books; it was funny to see how much he hadn't bothered to learn and how much was completely useless in everyday life. It was two weeks until his 16th birthday and Harry was already bored. He threw himself down beside his books and snorted at the first page he opened,

"A charm to keep coffee hot, how… invigorating" he muttered before turning to his defence against dark arts books. At the moment all he would risk was the motion and the theory, never using his wand. He didn't want to shine like a beacon for the ministry to find him. He spent the next few hours flicking through his books and making notes on whatever he thought may be helpful, strangely when he re-read some of his potions books there were bits and pieces he'd ignored in the past that were vital to the success of the potion and he'd been messing up all this time. No wonder Snape hated him so much. It was late evening by the time Harry gave up, he was thoroughly bored. He made a resolution to buy as many interesting books as possible when he managed to check whether he was being traced. It was really quite depressing being a near-18 year old sitting alone on a Friday night with nothing to do. He pulled himself up and wandered into the bedroom and started pulling different clothes out of the wardrobe, he was going to go out.

Harry was sitting at the edge of a bar listening to the music blaring in the background and drinking a beer. For the first time in his life he was doing something a normal teenager would do. He'd missed out on the drunken nights, sexual adventures and forgotten nights. Before now he hadn't looked at the opposite sex much, at now he was making up for it as he stared out to the dance floor. "It looks fun" he thought, although he wasn't drunk enough yet to join the warm sweaty moving crowd to dance; he didn't want to inflict that on any one unless he was intoxicated. A girl pushed beside him to get to the bar, she shouted her order at the barman and turned with a smile to look at him. She was curvy with long brown hair and big blue eyes. Harry grinned back rather sheepishly, unsure as to how this flirting thing went. The girl came in close, "Hi my name's Claire, yours?" she said into his ear. "Pete, I'm new in town" he replied, choosing his alias for the moment. "Well I can certainly show you a few things if you want" replied Claire and with a wink she left with her drinks. Harry wasn't sure whether he wanted to chase after her or fall off his stool. "I'm going to make a fool out of myself" he thought dimly.

After about an hour Harry finally stumbled into the throng of moving bodies pulsing to the music, he lifted his arms and moved to the music happy in his drunkenness to let go his inhibitions and just move with the flow. The girl from earlier, Claire, appeared beside him with that cheeky grin and started dancing with him. Harry without a thought moved in closer and placed a hand around her waist. They danced and moved in the heat of the club. People around them moved in the same carefree manner, she grabbed his bum and he just laughed. Their bodies flush; Harry moved down and pressed his lips to hers in a spontaneous electrifying kiss.

The next morning Harry awoke with a groan, sunlight streaming through his curtains he rolled over to shield his face. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten home last night but he could definitely remember what he got up to. With a silly grin on his face Harry loped into the bathroom to clean up, "Damn that was good." Sitting with his breakfast a little later Harry was reading the paper. The Dursley's had been buried by Aunt Marge and the police were still hunting for their murders. There had been no news from Dumbledore or the Ministry so Harry assumed that they couldn't find him unless he left his magical signature and Harry was happy for the moment living as a muggle in London.

On the day of Harry's 16th birthday he woke early. The feeling of anticipation had built over the last few weeks as the day he'd set for taking his first steps of action arrived. A quick wash and shave and Harry was ready. He had found the Leaky Cauldron almost as soon as he'd arrived in London so he took the front entrance through the bar. It was emptier than usual but Tom remained faithfully drying a glass behind the counter and talking to his patrons. No-one noticed him due to his hair colour and lack of signature round black glasses so he passed through easily enough, still Harry breathed a sigh of relief once he'd entered the Alley. His first stop would not be on Diagon Alley but on Knockturn Alley. He swiftly passed through into the dark Alley and found the shop he was looking for – Clary's Curses. The shop was well set out with clear labelling for all the scrolls stacked up on each shelf, Harry moved through them trying not to disturb any of the piles for fear that they would collapse around him. A dark-haired clean-shaven man greeted him with a firm handshake.

"Morning Sir, I'm Mr Clary, How may I help you?" he asked politely, little sign of malice or otherwise evident in his face. Contrary to popular belief Knock-turn Alley was not inherently evil, the people who ran these shops didn't always have lesser morals they just had interests that lay in magic that was frowned upon and misunderstood. The ministry didn't approve what it couldn't understand and bred this distrust into generations of witches and wizards. Harry had always mused whether anyone had tried to explain to the ministry that a normal charm or spell could lead to lethal consequences. He thought not. "I would like you to investigate whether my person or my wand has any charms or spells acting upon us if that is at all possible?" asked Harry as he fished out his money pouch. Granted money is a motivator if he ever knew one. The shop keeper nodded and gestured to a doorway just behind him. "Sir if you would just follow me into an area a little more private? Marcus look after the floor" he called to a younger boy nearby. Harry was a little apprehensive but followed Clary into a small room behind the till, with a little window and a small chair. Mr Clary gestured that Harry take a seat and he did. "Now I will cast in indicator spell, it will indicate whether you have any spells acting upon you, I will neutralise whichever you choose, I will then repeat the procedure for your wand." Harry nodded and sat still as the Mr Clary passed his wand along the length of his body. Harry was intrigued when 3 small runes appeared on his chest, he knew enough from Hermione that runes indicated spells but he couldn't tell what they meant exactly.

"Now Mr…?" "Millar" supplied Harry, "Now Mr Millar, it appears you have a ministerial tracker and two individual wizard trackers upon yourself, however I cannot tell who cast them."

"Could you neutralise both? Is that possible?" asked Harry slightly perturbed that he was being tracked by so many people.

"Of course, it will take only a moment."

The runes flashed out of existence promptly. Mr Clary repeated the procedure with much the same results on his wand. After a quick payment and many thanks Harry left the shop feeling secure that no-one could track him from now on. After stocking up on potions ingredients, Harry moved onto Gringotts Bank.

He stood and looked at the looming white building before pushing through the crowd to the heavy glass doors. Stepping into the marble paved forum of hushed activity the loud noises of outside faded away. Harry waited in queue until he was seen by a grumpy looking goblin that just held out his hand for the vault key. "Excuse me but could I meet with an official to discuss the wills of my late parents and godfather, also the status of my current account?" he asked unsure whether he was in the right place. The goblin sneered and muttered "Liarok will speak to you", promptly a small and rather fat goblin scurried out and bowed to Harry. "Sir if you could come to my office if you please." Again Harry followed the plump goblin to a small conservative office with a simple desk, two chairs and a cabinet. Harry settled himself into the chair, "I wanted to enquire about the details of my late mother and father, Lily and James Potter, as well as the late Sirius Black's last will and testaments if possible Liarok?" said Harry fixing the goblin with a stare. He didn't trust these people, he was pretty certain that he should have been given information about his status far earlier than this. But time will tell who had been interfering with his matters, there was no point working himself up about it now.

Liarok cleared his throat and clambered up into the chair opposite Harry, his pointy elbows resting on the smooth wood, "If you could give me the key of the Potter vault, it would provide sufficient ID for the moment?" he smoothly countered before going into details.

Harry slid the small key across the table where it was snatched up by the fat goblin and studied for a short time under a microscope. With a grunt Liarok seemed satisfied and snapped his fingers. A large file bound with twine materialised in front of them. Harry's eyebrows tweaked as he gave away his interest in the object, Liarok produced a knife to cut the twine and started sorting through the various documents.

"As you may have suspected, Mr Potter, your mother and father had stipulated in their last will and testament that their estate may be transferred to you in the event of their untimely death. Until now it has been under that care of Mr Albus Dumbledore, until further notice. Gringotts was in the belief that you were aware of these arrangements and were happy for them to continue until otherwise stated." Harry frowned, until now he'd heard nothing about his inheritance, "What purpose would serve Dumbledore by withholding this from me? thought Harry. The goblin slid a small contract before Harry and pointed a thin red line at the bottom, "If you could prick your finger and allow a drop of blood to fall here that will confirm the transferral of the Potter estates from the care of Mr Albus Dumbledore to yourself. I assume you would like to halt any further payments as well?" asked Liarok briskly, Harry's head snapped up from the contract and met his fiery emerald eyes with the goblin's lidded orbs, "What do you mean payments?" he asked sharply. "Sir, since Mr Albus Dumbledore has been the guardian of your estate we have been under instructions to transfer a certain amount monthly from your account to his, it has been listed as a charitable donation towards the war effort Mr Potter." Harry's eyes darkened briefly as the realization hit him, Dumbledore had been siphoning money from his accounts to fund the activities of the Order without his consent. The pang of betrayal hit hard and Harry had to control his expression, to maintain his cool facade in the presence of the goblin, a sign of weakness would lead to exploitation. "Not that it stopped anyone" he thought bitterly. "I would like to discontinue any further payments from my accounts that have not been directly authorized by either my self or my parents. If it is at all possible may I have a list of recent transactions and my investments please. However in the meantime I will complete the contract at present." replied Harry coolly, the goblin slightly shocked at the demeanor now present in the young boy just nodded and produced the required documents.

Harry pricked his finger and letting the blood drip onto the contract watched fascinated as it expanded across the parchment to the size of a muggle fifty pence piece or a galleon with the image of a rearing stag embossed on the surface. "The seal of the Potter family" realised Harry. "And the Black Will?" asked Harry eyeing the goblin once more, "Ah yes sir" said Liarok with another click of the fingers another folder appeared, "Upon the death of Mr Sirius Black, his estate has been divided between certain parties. A sole beneficiary you are to receive 80 of his gross estate as well as Black Lordship. Similarly this has been under the care of Mr Albus Dumbledore, if you would like to continue with the transferral of his assets to your name?" Harry repeated the blood contract again, uncertain what was in store for him. He had been unaware that Sirius had chosen him as the Heir to the Black Family or to his estate so it was more than a shock to the system. Not wanting to seem overly surprised at this information Harry maintained his calm and collected composure. There was only a little more business the goblin needed to complete such as the consolidation of his trust fund and the distribution of his assets between the Potter and Black vaults. Harry converted a little more money into Muggle sterling, "May I take a trip down to see my family vaults?" he asked Liarok who agreed to escort him immediately.

A long and bumpy ride later Harry was standing before a wall of engraved metal seemingly imprinted into the stone face rising 12 feet in height. "Sir, you must place your palm at this point and state your name" said Liarok, bowing away from Harry as he moved towards the centre of the metal door.

He could feel a deep heat as he pressed his hand upon the crest of Potter, little red sparks of energy flickered along his finger illuminating his face slightly,

"Harry James Potter, Head of Potter House and Black House" he said quietly but the words seemed to reverberate and the metal wall cracked open, dust unsettling from years of disuse. Upon peering inside the vault Harry only had one thought,

"Holy Shit."

Well 2nd chapter, yet again I may adjust at another point. if you like it let me know :D because at the moment I'm just writing for my own entertainment. x I'm looking for a beta. anyone who is will to take up the job please contact me asap :)