George gaped at Harry and Bill decided to tell the rest, "They thought Harry was dead so they were also discussing whether or not to go to Gringotts to make them read Harry's will."
"I didn't know you had a will." George stated as he tried to get his mind off the previous part.
"I didn't know it either." Harry grimaced.
"Dumbledore forged his signature. All Harry's things were to be split up between him, Ron, Hermione and Ginny." Fleur supplied, "Dumbledore even tried to get a set of permanent bonding rings from the Potter vault before he died. We suspect he was going to give them to Ginny. Harry would have had to marry her or give up his family title."
"Title?" George asked.
"May I present to you Lord Potter." Fleur indicated Harry who blushed furiously.
"When did this happen?" George whispered.
"I actually got my title on my Seventeenth birthday but I didn't claim it until yesterday." Harry shrugged.
"So I'm in business with Lord Potter." George stated with a slight grin.
"Yes and I'd like a bit of a return on my investment." Harry joked, "You have to get better so we can get the shop going again."
"We?" George asked.
"I'm not going to be an auror." Harry stated, "I think I'd like to work with you in the shop if you'll have me."
"I'm not ready to do that yet." George sighed, "However, I think working with you when I do would be a brilliant idea."
"We have to go if you two are all set." Bill said indicating Fleur and himself, "I've got to catch Charlie before his portkey takes off and Fleur is headed to her parent's home for a few hours before going to Gringotts for you. We'll be back by dinner at the latest or I'll send a patronus."
"Let me know how many to expect for dinner." Harry waved them off.
"What are your plans today Lord Potter?" George asked in a fake pompous voice.
"Stop it." He shook his head, "Minerva and Poppy will be here soon. After that I thought we'd start with a tour of the house and grounds if you want. I just want to give Neville a call first and have him here too. I'm going to need help with the gardens."
"I'll go get ready for the day then." George stood and stretched, "I only did the bare minimum for breakfast."
"Are you doing ok?" Harry asked.
"I'm more determined to live but I'm not ready to do it yet." He sighed, "Keeping my mind off some of my siblings trying to murder me is going to be the agenda for today."
"We don't have any proof they messed with the potions." Harry offered, "We don't know what they planned or if they would have gone through with it."
"Doesn't matter, they were still thinking about trying." George huffed, "Call Neville."
Two hours later, the complete checkup was done and they had scanned through the muggleborn packet. Luckily he hadn't missed any potions but he was missing quite a bit of information. Minerva and Poppy left not long after, then Neville and George were given a tour of the house, "Just how many rooms are there?"
"Forty bedrooms and a lot of other rooms, I've not been to them all yet." Harry shrugged, "I know there is a conservatory but it's over grown and I don't want to get attacked by anything so I'm hoping you'll look it over with me."
"I can do that, do you want me to tackle the gardens too?" Neville chuckled at Harry's relieved look.
"That would be great." He said, "I'll help as much as I can but I'm not the expert you are."
"Thanks." he grinned at the complement, "I almost forgot I checked up on Andromeda yesterday. She said not to worry about her you have your hands full. I told her that Luna, Bill, Fleur and I have assured you we'd keep a check on things. She also got the letter naming Teddy as the heir to the Black family and yours until you get one of your own. She was in tears over it but she said they were good tears. She had assumed she would never be part of the family again."
"Yes well only Andromeda and Narcissa are left from the original Black family. I'm not about to give the title to Draco." Harry scoffed, "He has plenty enough ego without it."
"You know you have him now." Neville grinned, "Malfoy's don't have a title."
"And you have two." George chuckled for a moment, but his laughs never lasted long.
They completed the tour of the inside and then started on the outside. Before they got out the door Kreacher stopped them, "Lunch is served Master Harry."
"Thank you Kreacher." Harry turned them back and went into the dining room. Once they were settled with plates Harry started again, "I know you saw the front garden when you came in. I haven't been out the back so I don't know what to expect out there. I've looked out over it but I didn't really pay any attention."
"Is that why you pulled your wand before reaching for the door?" George grinned.
"Yes I was prepared for a venomous tantacula to jump me." He chuckled lightly, "I'm also rather hoping we find a quidditch pitch."
"That would be awesome." George agreed.
"Most places this big will have a back garden with possibly a maze in it." Neville said thoughtfully, "If you don't want a maze we can take it out."
"I do not want a maze." Harry replied emphatically, "I've had enough of those to last a life time."
"We can replace the maze with a quidditch pitch." George suggested, "If there isn't one already there."
When they finished lunch they went out the back. They found a nice area for sitting, with a few overgrown plants around. Then down from it an actual garden with walkways and benches. Next was the maze, they walked around it but didn't go in. And then finally at the back in amongst the orchard was a quidditch pitch. The poles were still upright. The huge trees totally hid the area so even if muggles could see in they wouldn't see any broom flying unless you went over the trees. They returned to the house late in the afternoon.
"Neville are you sure you won't stay for dinner?" Harry asked.
"No I better not." Neville said, "Gran will be upset if I don't eat with her. She's a different person in a lot of ways since last year and the battle but this isn't one of them."
"Tell her I said hello then." Harry showed him to the floo, "You're clear to floo in next time."
"Master Harry." Kreacher popped into the room just after Neville left, "You have guests coming."
"Thanks Kreacher, I'll get the door." Harry turned and walked to the front and opened the door just as Bill was reaching to knock on it, "Hi, come in."
He stepped aside and let Bill and Fleur enter. Molly and Arthur were right behind them, followed closely by Charlie. Molly instantly pulled him into a hug and squeezed so tight Harry thought she would break ribs. This was even tighter than a normal one.
"Mum he might like to breathe." Bill tapped her shoulder.
She let go and patted Harry and gave him a teary hello. Arthur was next and gave him a hug too, but not quite as hard as Molly's. Harry led them into the dining room where George was sitting waiting for Harry to return.
"George you have some company." Harry stepped in first, followed by the rest.
"Mum!" George stood and walked around the table and hugged each of his parents.
"George oh my George." Molly mumbled over and over.
"You're looking good." Arthur smiled, "Getting away from Aunt Muriel's has certainly been good for you."
"It was a little more than that." Bill supplied, George tried to shake his head but Bill ignored him, "His potions were messed up. It's a rather common problem and several people have died from it. We caught George's in time. But a few more days and he wouldn't have been able to come back from it."
George sagged in relief; he didn't want his parents to treat the others different if they hadn't really poisoned him. Until they knew for sure they couldn't treat them different for that, however the lawsuit on Harry he could hold a grudge for. Kreacher set out the food and everyone took a seat.
"Harry we just can't tell you how sorry we are for Percy, Ron and Ginny's actions." Arthur looked close to tears, "I don't know what got into them."
"I always thought Hermione was such a nice girl." Molly dabbed her eyes, "I was so surprised. I'm sorry."
"It's alright Mrs. Weasley." Harry smiled kindly, "It's all taken care of now, nothing to worry about."
"You have a lovely home." She said after a moment of pause.
"It belonged to Sirius, though I doubt he knew about it. Kreacher said his mother hated the place." Harry grinned, "I know if he had known about this place he would have hidden here instead of Grimmauld."
"Bill said it didn't take much to clean it up." Charlie offered.
"No Kreacher came first and started. He had removed all the dust and cobwebs before we arrived. He also gathered the few dark objects in the house so Bill could deal with them." Harry replied, "We really didn't have much to do. Which reminds me are you all staying?"
"Yes I think it would be a good idea for us to be away from Aunt Muriel's for a few days." Arthur answered before Molly could say no.
"Excellent." Harry beamed, "Kreacher?"
"Yes Master Harry?" he popped up at Harry's elbow.
"Do we have a double and a single room ready?" he asked.
"No master but I have two double rooms ready." He replied.
"That's fine." Harry replied, "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley will be staying in one and Charlie in the other."
"Luggage?" Kreacher asked and Bill showed him where the bags were set by the door.
"He's a lot different." Arthur commented.
"Well when we left the wedding we went to Grimmauld place for a month or so. That's where we staged the break in at the Ministry." Harry informed him, "We managed to get on his good side. Did you know Sirius' brother?"
"I knew of him but I didn't know him." Arthur replied.
"Well he was a death eater but found out about the Horcruxes and turned on Voldemort and stole one. He didn't survive retrieving it and had given Kreacher orders to destroy it but he couldn't." Harry explained, "Once he found out we were going to destroy it he became a new house elf."
They talked all through dinner and then moved into the library to continue conversations. They talked of everything except Harry's ex-friends and their new attitudes. It was late when Molly remembered she had forgotten to pick up a bag.
"Arthur did the brown bag make it?"
"I didn't see one." He replied.
"Oh, I need that bag. It has Harry's birthday present in it. I wanted to bring it in case we don't get to see him before then." She huffed, "I'll just have to go back and get it tomorrow."
"Kreacher." Harry called and when the elf popped in he asked, "Did Mrs. Wealsey have a brown bag?"
"No Master Harry." Kreacher wrung his hands.
"Thank you for looking." He patted the elf, "Sleep well."
"Where is it Mum, I'll go get it." Charlie offered.
"It was in our room last I saw." Molly sighed.
"Here." Harry pulled a key from his pocket and handed it to Charlie, "This is a permanent portkey. It has two stops, here and the Leaky."
After getting the passwords for each destination Charlie disappeared. The rest of the group chatted while he was gone. Harry thought it was taking Charlie longer than it should. He didn't know how far Aunt Muriel's house was from the pub so he didn't voice his concern. Not fifteen minutes later Molly voiced her opinion about the length of his absence, she worried that he couldn't find the bag. However, he returned a few minutes later.
"Oh good, you found it." She exclaimed reaching for the bag.
Charlie pulled it from her reach and handed it to Bill, "Check it over please."
It was then that Harry realized he was pale and shaky, "What happened, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just heard some things." He responded sinking into a chair, "Do you know where your bonding rings are?"
"I've had them and a few other items put in a new vault that requires blood proof before they can be removed." Harry said, "Why?"
"They are planning on using polyjuice and getting them." Charlie said, "They also mentioned a seal on you."
"The rings should be safe because polyjuice only copies the outside." Harry said, "The Goblins suggested that I leave a copy of the rings in the vault. The only magic on them is a message to a blood Potter that tells them which vault the real rings are in."
"I can't believe Ginny is doing this." Molly had tears running down her cheeks.
"Not Ginny." Charlie interrupted, "Ron and Hermione are planning it. Ginny is actually trying to back out of it. Evidentially she has a boy she wants to chase, seems Harry's a bit too scrawny for her now."
"I never thought I'd be glad to be so scrawny." Harry mumbled.
"The plan is to get the rings and slip it on Ginny while she's asleep. Put a compulsion charm on her and they have your money." Charlie said, "All easily avoided if your rings are safe."
"You said something about seals." Fleur changed the subject, "What does that mean?"
"I don't know." Charlie said, "Before Ginny left them she was arguing that Harry was too scrawny. They said something like remember the seals, once they're removed he won't be. She argued that they didn't know that for sure, he may only grow one inch."
"NO!" Bill choked out interrupting Charlie, "They didn't, they couldn't!"
"Dumbledore?" Fleur guessed.
"What is it?" Molly asked concerned.
Harry was concerned himself. He became even more so as Bill explained, "Seals like that are unheard of in civilized countries. They are used in some obscure places mainly to keep women small. For instance in Japan two centuries ago only women who were small were considered beautiful. If the girl reached the desired height too soon the parents would place a seal on her. It locks her body at that point. Not even her magic can get any stronger. Once she is married the husband could remove the seal if he wanted. She would gain all her height and magical power in a few hours."
"But wouldn't that be dangerous?" Arthur asked.
"It's more dangerous to keep the seals on. There are a few documented cases of the woman's sealed magic breaking free. In those cases the seals would rupture and the women and anyone around them would perish in the resulting explosion." Bill explained, "If Harry is sealed he could be and most likely is a walking explosion waiting to happen."
"Can you remove it?" Harry asked.
"No but I know a guy who has studied it. Like I said nobody uses them any more except a few small obscure groups." Bill reiterated, "I'll go get him tomorrow."
"How far away do you have to be in order to stay safe in case of an explosion?" Harry asked.
"Depends on how powerful you truly are and if that is the type of seal you have." he said, "It's not my specialty area. I was there once when my friend removed a seal and we just stepped out of the room she was in. I think we'll all be safe enough tonight."
They soon called it a night and each went to their separate rooms. At breakfast Harry sat quietly eating and thinking about the latest development. He had always hated the fact that he hadn't seemed to grow since he was fifteen. He was only five foot six inches which was quite small. At least he was taller than Seamus who had always maintained that boys could continue to grow into their twenties and that he and Harry were just late bloomers. This thought led to the next which was why. Why had Dumbledore sealed him, if it had indeed been him? Why did he want to stop Harry's magical growth when he needed it to stop Voldemort? And mostly what benefit did his ex-friends get from him staying short? For Ron he could see him thinking in terms of quidditch. A smaller lighter Harry was a better and faster seeker. For Hermione he couldn't see any benefit at all. Unless he included her in Dumbledore's which would be a small weaker Harry would die while killing or weakening Voldemort.
"You're awfully quiet." George commented, "You thinking about the seals?"
"Just trying to figure out why." He shrugged, "Other than being sure I'd die when I was supposed to I really don't see any benefit for them."
"Something twisted I'm sure." He replied then changed the subject, "Last night Dad made me tell him why you brought me here. He's angry with them and agrees it's best to keep it all from Mum. He wondered what made them do all of it."
"Some twisted Dumbledore thing I'm sure." He gave George back his own words, "I can't believe I was so stupid."
"You weren't being stupid." George patted his shoulder, "No one saw it."
"Malfoy did." Harry slumped further in his chair.
"No he didn't." George laughed, "Its typical Slytherin behavior to capitalize on information after the fact."
Harry nodded and hummed without comment. After a few moments of silent eating he changed subjects, "Neville is coming over again to work on the gardens. If I'm busy do you mind helping him?"
"No I don't mind." George said, "I was planning on going with the two of you to see if I can find anything useful for pranks anyway."
"Feel free to take anything useful." Harry waved him off as the others entered the dining room.