Chapter 15: Potter Vaults

Reliving my past with my parents was draining, at best. Eventually we got off the subject of my past actions and started talking about what was going on now.

"So," said dad after retrieving a glass of water from my great-uncle Osiris' painting, "Tell me more about this girlfriend of yours. You say you met her this summer?"

"Yes," I replied, wishing I'd never even mentioned the subject.

"Well," said my mother encouragingly, "go on."

"Her name is Rein, and"

"Surname?" dad asked.

"Nightshade."

"Wilhelmina's daughter?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"We worked with her, your mother and I. During the war," dad replied, "She was our contact. She has a son too, if I'm not mistaken. Dorian, I think his name is."

"Yeah, Rein said she had a brother. What do you mean when you say that Ms. Nightshade was your contact?"

"In the Ministry. She was an Unspeakable."

"Ms. Nightshade worked for the Department of Mysteries? Cool!"

"Yes," said mum, "but we didn't see much of her after the first year or so. As I come to understand it, she was relocated to Egypt."

"Why?"

"We never found out."

"Oh."

There was a moment of awkward silence, broken when my father made an indignant noise as Osiris barged his way into my parent's frame.

"So, skipper," Uncle Osiris said, snitching his goblet back from my dad, "tell us about your bonnie lass. That's what Maureen and I want to hear about, isn't that right dear?"

His wife, still in their portrait, stopped brushing her long rouge hair long enough to nod in agreement.

"The next generation of Potters, that's what we want to hear about," she said, flipping her hair over her left shoulder and braiding it.

I blushed scarlet. "We're not that… far along yet."

"Well how far along are you then?" Aunt Maureen asked, "I need you to hurry up and get married so we can get out of this blasted vault! I miss sunlight."

"Maureen dear," Aunt Chloe said, "Whatever do you mean? You have a window right there in your portrait."

"Yes, sister dear, I see that. I was talking about real sunlight, not this artificial painted mess."

"Oh," she said, returning to feeding her albino puffskein, "well, we miss that too."

"Kreacher and I must be going now," I said standing, "But I'll try to come visit you again before school starts. I'll ask Dumbledore if I can bring one of the family portraits to Hogwarts with me this school year."

"Oh, alright," Osiris said, huffing, "But next time you'll tell us about your bonnie lass, savvy?"

"Yes, Uncle Osiris," I said, rolling my eyes.

"That's Captain Osiris to you, boy."

I laughed and shook my head. "Sure thing, Captain," I said, pulling my cloak about me, "Come on Kreacher, let's see if there's anything a little more presentable for you."

"Yes Master."

Kreacher followed me down the cavern and into the black vault.

"You need seven outfits," I said, opening a wardrobe and peering inside.

"Seven, sir?"

"Yes," I replied, "One for each day. You should wear clean clothing every day."

"Yes sir!"

"You'll also need socks and shoes. And make sure that you pick at least one outfit that you can do outside chores in."

"Yes Master Potter."

In the black vault Kreacher picked out five black suits and five white dress shirts. We also agreed on a pair of overalls, several undershirts, socks, workboots, a pair of pajamas, and a pair of dress shoes. We packed them all in a house-elf sized trunk and sent them along to Grimmauld Place via Gringotts' Eagle-Owl Express.

"Where to now, master?" Kreacher asked as a goblin took the trunk away to be shipped.

"Well, I need new robes. I'll look around the silver vault and see what I find first. No need to waste my money if I've got a perfectly good wardrobe here. After that I'll go meet Professor Snape and Ms. Nightshade and Rein at Twillfit and Tatting's, and you'll go back to Grimmauld Place."

The silver vault held more clothes than I could have ever imagined. It seemed to go on forever, and the racks and shelves of shoes and clothing right along with it. It seemed I owned enough clothing to start my own vintage shop. "And here I was, wearing hand-me-downs," I murmured, stepping into the cavernous room. There were shelves carved into the walls on either side, and while the left side held shoes, the other held an array of folded clothing. There were long, free-standing racks running down the middle of the room, occasionally punctuated by a couch or two and circular screen presumably for changing clothes. I was floored by the vastness of this new-found wardrobe, and decided to take my time looking around and trying things on.

"I'll bet Malfoy doesn't even have one of these," I said, swinging an opalescent dragonhide cloak about my shoulders. It was lined a warm, silvery animal hide that was soft to the touch. When I turned to a mirror to see myself, all I saw was my head.

"Kreacher," I asked, turning to the side, "what is this made of exactly?"

"Kreacher is not sure, sir," he replied thoughtfully, "Perhaps sir should ask Professor Snape."

"I'll do that."

In the end, I took the dragonhide invisibility cloak for myself, a set of black dress robes for Remus, and a long black traveling cloak for Ron. I resolved to ask Snape about the cloak's material as soon as I saw him. I sent Kreacher back to Grimmauld Place with the things I'd picked out for Remus and Ron, and took the cart back to the main lobby. I spent perhaps more time than I should've mulling around the silver vault, and it was nearly four o'clock when I finally took the carts back to the main lobby.

"Thank you for banking with Gringotts," said the goblin as I climbed out of the cart.

I crossed the lobby to a vacant fireplace, and, after throwing in a handful of Floo powder and shouting "Hogsmead", I was on my way.