A/N – I want to thank everyone who has flagged this story and to those of you who have reviewed it. I don't know how long it will be but there are a few things that will remain hidden for a few more chapters to keep you guessing.

Chapter 3 – Interest from the Bank

The next morning Harry got up early and finished unpacking. He was preoccupied by the information he gathered from Sirius' letter and the information contained in the documents. His brain was starting to come to terms with the enormity and complexity of the task before him. Luckily he wouldn't have to go through it alone.

The most surprising part was that Sirius and his parents had found out the prophecy and even managed to get it all. Dumbledore had gone out of his way to hide it so that very few people even knew about it and that no one but he knew it all. Sirius and his mom really had been good at finding information.

Harry was so deep in thought that he almost missed the sound of the locks opening on his door signaling that he could use the shower and get ready for the day. With any luck he'd be able to get some breakfast.

After having a shower, and getting dressed in his least-ragged muggle clothing, Harry made his way downstairs. There was a note from Vernon saying that they had gone away for four weeks and that if anything was missing or out of place when they got back there would be hell to pay.

Harry smiled a genuine smile. He set about making himself a big breakfast. As he sat down to eat, he reflected that this was probably the most enjoyable meal and the best company he had ever enjoyed in this house.

After breakfast he cleaned up and went back upstairs to prepare to go to Gringotts. As he got to his room the large red bird perched on his bed startled him. He maintained an outward appearance of joy for he was truly happy to see the phoenix itself. The only problem was the letter Fawkes was delivering.

"Well, let's see where I've been sentenced to this year – Day Parole, Incarceration with Daily Exercise, or 'The Box'" he thought grimly as he retrieved and opened the letter.

Harry,

You must not leave the Dursley's house or even be seen in the streets this summer. Voldemort is more dangerous than ever after the Ministry and I have received word that his Death Eaters have orders to stun and kidnap you on sight. Your best protections are the blood wards surrounding your aunt and uncle's home. The Order will be posting guard for your safety and they have also been told to keep you in the house as well.

As unfortunate as this may be, we will also be monitoring any owls heading for the house and monitoring all incoming correspondence for dark spells. I assure you we are doing this for your continued safety and the greater good.

There's one other thing. The reading of Sirius Black's will is scheduled for two weeks from today on July fourteenth. Due to the security risks we cannot allow you to attend. However there is a way that I can represent your interests. Please attach a note allowing me authorizing me to represent you on that date. You will not be missing very much. Sirius had little to his name and most of it will probably go to the rest of the Black family.

I have asked Fawkes to await your response. If you need to get in touch with anyone during the summer, you can summon Fawkes and he will be able to bring a message to me.

Albus Dumbledore

Harry was furious inside. It was definitely solitary confinement "And the bastard didn't even give me a glove and a ball" he muttered under his breath.

He pulled out a piece of parchment and thought very carefully about what he was going to write. He was going to tell the truth, but in such a way that he would give the Headmaster exactly what he asked for. A small smile crept on his face. Sirius had foreseen this and now Harry knew one thing he would be doing at the bank.

Headmaster,

I appreciate your concern for my safety. Thank you for caring so much for my safety. After what I learned in your office that night I understand why Voldemort and his people are after me. I can assure you that I ill not even think about walking out the door of this house until it is safe to do so.

As for the will, please accept this note as my authorization to represent me at the July fourteenth will reading of Sirius Black and act in my interests for anything I may receive on that day.

Harry Potter

Harry rolled up his response and handed it to Fawkes. The phoenix left in a ball of flame.

Harry nearly doubled over laughing. Sure Dumbledork got what he asked for in a way. Harry didn't mention about leaving by portkey. And if he was right about Sirius, there would be a will reading before the fourteenth.

There was no time to waste.

Harry got the documents from the spot under the floorboards and grabbed his wand. He took the portkey page, pointed his wand at it and said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He immediately felt the pull behind his navel and disappeared from Privet drive.

Scene Break

Harry ended up in the room in the same way as every other time he traveled by portkey – flat on his face. When he straightened up his glasses and looked around, he was in an office and not the lobby of Gringotts as he expected. What had Sirius got him into now?

"Ahem." Harry looked around for the origin of the cough. He got up and looked around. On the other side of a large desk sat a familiar-looking goblin.

"Oh, Hello Mr. Griphook. It's been a few years. How are you?"

"Very well Mr. Potter. I'm surprised you remember me. Most wizards don't distinguish one goblin from another."

"Well, I'm not like most wizards. And please just call me Harry. If I may ask, where am I?"

"You are in my office at Gringotts. Your godfather made special arrangements so that you didn't end up in the main lobby. I'm sure you can appreciate that. Normal portkeys can only take you to the lobby. Only Goblin portkeys can go anywhere else at Gringotts. Well then, time as they say is money. If you will follow me I will take you to Director Ragnok."

Griphook got up and headed for the door. Harry followed him down a number of hallways until they arrived at a large set of doors. Griphook motioned Harry to enter. As Harry stepped through the door he saw a large conference table with many chairs around it.

At the end of the table sat one of the oldest goblins Harry had ever seen. He walked up to the goblin, bowed slightly and extended his hand saying "Director Ragnok, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Ragnok took Harry's hand with a firm shake and a look of amusement in his eyes. "Mr. Potter, you are an unusual wizard. I'm over 400 years old and you are the first wizard to offer me his hand as an equal."

"Well Director, I'm used to not being like everyone else and one of the few benefits of my upbringing is that I wasn't exposed to the Wizarding world's bigotry. And please, call me Harry, I'm just Harry."

Ragnok smiled. For someone who had never seen a goblin smile it struck Harry as quite feral and he wasn't sure if he committed a serious breach of etiquette until the Director spoke again, "Well Harry, then I insist you call me Ragnok. Come and sit. We have much to discuss."

Ragnok took out a huge sheaf of papers. "Harry you are here today at the behest of your late godfather Sirius Black. We found out about his false imprisonment two years ago and we treated him as the legal head of the Black family even if the Ministry had not yet publicly acknowledged it. Normally a will reading for a family such as the Blacks would be scheduled well in advance so that all the people named in the will could attend. This will take place on the fourteenth. However your godfather felt that there were certain parties who may try to stop you from attending."

Harry was beaming – he had read the situation correctly. "Yes Ragnok, in fact the Headmaster wrote me this morning saying that I would not be allowed to come for the will reading citing security concerns. I had hoped after reading my godfather's letter last night that something like this would take place. That is why I gave the Headmaster the permission to act on my behalf on that specific day."

Ragnok smiled even wider now. "Harry, Sirius knew the Headmaster would make such a request. He was hoping for that and the part of the will that will be read on that day will make more sense now. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but Dumbledore will get exactly what he asked for. Now, down to business; Harry we will be doing a number of things today in a particular order. I have a letter here from Sirius. You need to read it and then let me know if you accept."

Harry took the letter and opened. The familiar scrawl of his godfather's handwriting covered the parchment.

Prongslet,

If you are reading this then I'm dead. I don't want you to mourn this old dog. I may not have had the best of lives, but I was able to spend my early adult life with your parents and Remus and I was able to get to know and love my godson before I died.

Harry you mean the world to me and for this I ask one last thing of you. As you may know, I am the Head of the Black Family – a family known for being pretentious, bigoted, dark wizards. I wasn't even supposed to become the head. However when my father and brother passed away without any other direct heirs, I inherited the head of house and the title of Lord Black. In some ways it was sweet revenge against the family that shunned me.

Harry, I want the Black family to keep changing for the better, however I don't have a direct heir. Harry I want to adopt you. I was going to ask you when you got out of school for the summer, but I guess it was not meant to be. You would be my son and carry both the Black and Potter names and it would not diminish your recognition as the last of the Potters.

It is my hope that you will consent to this. In order to be recognized as my son and inherit the head of the Black household, you will have to perform a blood ritual in which some of my blood must mix with yours so you can become a Black by blood and truly be my son.

You will need to give Director Ragnok your answer before we can move on.

Padfoot

Harry was speechless. Sirius wanted him enough to be his father? He didn't know what to feel. That crazy old dog actually chose him to be his son, him just plain old Harry. There was only one thing he could do.

"Ragnok, I'll do it"

Ragnok smiled and produced an odd bowl covered in ancient runes and a vial of red liquid that was no doubt Sirius' blood. "Now Harry, there is a sharp point at the bottom of this bowl. You need to press your finger against it until you start to bleed. You must hold it there while I empty this vial into the bowl. Once the blood is reabsorbed you can remove your hand. This may sting a bit."

Harry had the feeling the way Ragnok said the last piece meant it would hurt like hell.

"In for a knut in for a galleon" he muttered as he pressed his finger against the point. Immediately his blood started to pool at the bottom of the bowl. Ragnok started muttering something in a language unfamiliar to Harry. As Ragnok emptied the vial, the runes on the bowl started glowing. Harry looked and as Sirius' blood mixed with his it started being drawn up into his finger. There was a burning pain spreading from his finger along his arm and into his body. He woke up a short time later.

Ragnok smiled again, "There, that wasn't so bad was it Harry? You are now Mr. Potter-Black, or would you rather be Mr. Black-Potter?"

"I think I like Potter-Black, it has a better ring to it. Un, Ragnok, who needs to know about this?"

"Well, Gringotts now recognizes you as Harry Potter-Black. We do have to file with the Ministry but there is a chance it could get caught up in red tape and not be filed until, say the fourteenth."

"Perfect Ragnok. Thank you. What is next on today's agenda?"

"Well Harry, we can move on to Sirius' will. Sirius wanted you to hear this and claim your inheritance as soon as possible. He did however state that you could invite any other beneficiary to this reading if you trusted them. There are clauses in the will which you may not want anyone else to know about for now."

"Ragnok, there are only four people I would trust with my life and well-being right now. They are Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Remus Lupin. Are any of them mentioned in the will?"

As Ragnok looked through the will, Harry reflected that there was not a single Weasley on the list. He wasn't sure where they stood right now. Ever since the DoM night, the only Weasleys who had contacted him were the twins. They had sent him a "care" package with many of their best and newest products and congratulated him for the capture of the Death Eaters. They were also very sympathetic and surprisingly quite tactful when they mentioned Sirius.

"Well, Harry, Mr. Lupin and Ms. Granger are on the list. Would you like them to be here for the reading?" Harry nodded. Ragnok continued, "I will send a representative of the Bank right away to get them."

Scene Break

Hermione was sitting alone at her desk in front of a blank parchment. She was confused. She was trying to write a letter to Harry and the words were not coming. Now normally writing Harry had come naturally and she would write just like she was speaking to him. The problem was not whom she was writing to, but what she was trying to write about.

The reason this letter was so hard to write is because what she wanted to say would not have been any easier to express face-to-face. Hermione was trying to tell Harry she felt something for him more than just friendship. What caused her even more grief was the fact that she was scared that he might not like her that way and it would ruin their friendship. She had even read relationship guides and other books and they were no help – she was completely lost.

To take her mind off things, she looked back at the note she received from the Headmaster this morning. He said for Harry's security she was not to contact him at all. In Hermione's mind this was pure crap. She knew Harry didn't like the isolation. He needed his friends – especially when he had to live with those "people".

She had figured that Dumbledore would try and pull another stunt like this and she was ready this year. She asked to borrow Hedwig to send a decoy message that would obviously never get to Harry. She would send her real letter via the muggle post and the stupid wizards would never be the wiser.

It was a clever plan if she did say so herself. The problem was now actually writing something.

It was in this state that she heard a 'pop' behind her and in an instant her wand was out and a glow was forming at the tip as she faced a … goblin?

"Ms. Granger, I presume. I am sorry for startling you. I come on behalf of Director Ragnok and the Misters Black. Your immediate presence is requested at Gringotts."

"May I take 5 minutes to get ready Mr. …?"

"Fangtooth, Ms. Granger, and yes, you may have 5 minutes."

"Thank you Fangtooth." Hermione quickly got changed and came back into her room with 30 seconds to spare. "Um, Fangtooth, you mentioned Misters Black. I only know one Mr. Black and he died recently."

Fangtooth grinned and this unnerved Hermione as much as it had Harry, "I did mention Misters Black and one of them was Sirius Black. The other will become clear shortly. Come, we must leave." And with that he grasped Hermione's arm and the bedroom was empty.

Scene Break

Remus Lupin woke up that morning reflecting on his life. He had just lost his last close friend and he was finding it hard to get past Albus to help His other friends' son. No matter what he did to try and at least visit Harry, Albus or another member of the order was saying that it was for the greater good that he not see him.

He was working on his next plan when he heard a pop and a Goblin was standing in front of him.

"Mr. Lupin I apologize for my unannounced and uninvited appearance in your home. I come on behalf of Director Ragnok and the Misters Black. Your immediate presence is requested at Gringotts."

Remus picked up on the plural and for the first time in weeks, Remus Lupin actually smiled.

"That old dog" he thought, "he did have it all planned out". He looked at the goblin and said, "What are we waiting for? Let's go."

There was another pop and they were gone.

A/N – Next Chapter – The Will