Death's Life Debt Keeperoliver Chapter 7

The following morning Susan was released from Madam Pomfrey's care. Harry, Ginny and Hermione were there to escort her to the hall for breakfast, and meet up with Luna and Daphne.

They found the two ladies talking while waiting for the rest. They looked up and saw them walking across the hall to where they were seated, but were stopped by Draco Malfoy. "Potter I need to talk to you."

"Sure Draco, what is is you need?"

"Since you called me Draco, will it be alright if I call you Harry?" When Harry nodded his OK, Draco continued, "Harry I have a major problem that only you can settle."

"ME! How can I settle any problem you have Draco?"

"Before my father died, he made a marriage contract with Lester Parkinson for Pansy. I had my fun with Pansy, but, I don't want to marry her. Truth is, I love some one else."

"That still doesn't tell me how I can help you?"

"You don't know? You are the head of House Black. As the head of the only family we have left, you can void the contract. To do this, we will have to give up the Malfoy name, and if you allow it, take up the Black name. Then if you allow it, you can void the contract as a violation of my right of free will. As long as we keep the Malfoy name, that is not possible."

"How do you know I am the head of House Black? I don't even know I was the Head of house?"

"You mean to tell me you haven't heard the will of cousin Sirius. He left you everything, except for what he left for Lupin. With what you already had, and with the Black estate, you are fairly well off, Harry. Better off than us by a long shot, even before they took half our estate. It didn't leave us poor, but, Mum and I may have to tighten our belts for a while, until we can figure out a budget. We will have to sell Malfoy Manor, to pay off our creditors. Things have changed Harry, and not all for the better."

"Do you know what I have to do to get all this accomplished? I'm lost when it comes to politics, and pure blood bureaucracy. However, I think I have a couple of people here to help me. Daphne, Susan, what do you think?"

Susan stepped to the front, "Harry all it takes is for you to go to Gringotts, and ask to hear the will, and accept it's request. Then you have to accept Narcissa and Draco into house Black, and while you're at it, Maybe you could accept Andromeda back into the family as well. I am sure she would appreciate it. You might also want to ask Remus if he knows about Sirius' will. Then find out about you parents will. You may as well get it all done in one setting. Once that is done, you can find all contracts pending for the Black family, and void those you deem unacceptable."

"Susan, you make it sound all so easy, but it really isn't, is it?"

"It's really not that hard Harry, just time consuming. Once you start it, expect to be all day with it. We all will be there for any help we may be able to give. What with my knowledge of the workings of the Ministry, and Daphne with her pure blood status and knowledge, we should be able to handle it, plus Narcissa will be there. You might look into getting a Barrister as well. They come in handy, when large sums of money are involved."

"Is there anything else I should know? I don't want to appear lost when I approach the Goblins. SHIT! The Goblins, I don't think they like me too well right now. We did sort of leave in a hurry the last time I was there, and we left the place a mess. Plus we left with something of theirs they may not take kindly to."

Harry had to explain the whole thing to everyone but Hermione. To say that this brought down the house would be close . The girls and Draco were laughing so hard that the rest of the hall had to know what was so funny, This brought more laughter, including the Professors. Harry and Hermione were beet red with embarrassment.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward while this was going on, and was the only sober face in the crowd, besides Harry and Hermione. "Mr. Potter, It is to my displeasure, that I tell you your presence has been requested by the Goblin Director, Ragnok. He did say the sooner the better."

"Double shit. Draco, I may not be as rich as you thought, and I don't know what I'll be able to do from behind bars. Shit, shit, shit. I knew I had to eventually face them, but not this soon."

Hermione was holding her head in her hands, looking like she was ready to cry. Draco couldn't take it any more and burst out laughing once again. Hermione looked up, her eyes all red and swollen, and Harry looked angry at him for this callous act.

Draco calmed himself, and explained, "Harry, Hermione, you do know the Goblins have insurance don't you. They are protected from this sort of situation. As long as you were doing this in a noble nature, for the common good for all involved, the worst you could get is a slap on the wrist. I'm sorry if I made you upset, but the looks on both your faces was priceless."

Hermione was ready to strangle the ferret. Harry was ready to do something horrible, but, couldn't figure out what exactly.

Then Luna brought them all back to the situation, "Draco, we all thought that you and Pansy were going to become a couple. But you said you were in love with some one else? Does this person know that you love her, or Him?"

This brought laughter form Harry and Hermione, and the rest of the group as well. This time it was Draco that was red faced, "It was a her, and no she didn't know I liked her."

"Then how is it that you love her? Did you even get to know her?"

"Of course I knew her. But not as well as I would have liked to. We didn't travel in the same circles."

"So she isn't a Slytherin then?" Luna added.

"I didn't say that. Not all Slytherin students got along. But I'm not saying if she was or she wasn't."

"So she was a Slytherin!" Luna answered.

"How do you figure that?" Asked Hermione?

"Draco was too quick to defend his house. If she was in another house, he would have just said no."

Hermione thought on that a bit, and saw the logic to her assumption. She was gaining a new respect for the Ravenclaw member of the group. This was when she made a new discovery, "Harry, do you realize that you have a member of each house associated with this group?"

"Yes Hermione. This has crossed my mind."

Hermione thought out loud, "I wonder if this means anything?"

Daphne made her thoughts known, "I think it does Hermione. I believe each one of us is a part of Harry. Ginny is his heart, Luna is his soul, You are his wisdom, Susan is his conscience, and I am his spirit."

Both Harry and Hermione were taken back by this, and Luna just agreed, "I think Daphne is right Harry. It makes sense if you think about it."

Draco, in the mean time had his head buried in his arms. Luna saw this and commented on it, " Draco, it was Daphne, wasn't it?"

Draco lifted his head and looked at her. There were actually tears in his eyes. Luna was correct, it was Daphne.

Daphne looked over to Draco like she was looking at him for the first time, "I'm sorry Draco."

Draco smiled at her, "It's not your fault, I never showed you a bit of interest. I was always with Pansy draped all over me. Now, to get back to my problem, Harry will you help me."

"School will be out the day after tomorrow, I will go see the Goblins then and take you all with me, you included, Draco. It might be better if you brought your mother also. And also Andromeda. I will talk to Professor McGonagall to see if she could reach Remus so that he could be there also. I want every one there that may be involved."

Draco looked at Harry with a sigh of relief. "Thanks Harry. Even if this doesn't work, knowing you tried to help, when you didn't have to makes it feel like it will be alright in the end."

Once breakfast was over, they all made their way to their work stations. The work they did today was all cosmetic. Once it was done, then the castle would be ready for the next school year. Harry and Hermione, as well as Ron were asked to see the head mistress before they called it a day. They were all heading there together.

As they approached the Gargoyle, they realized that they didn't know the password. It wasn't necessary, as when they approached him, he moved out of the way to let them pass. As they passed, Hermione said thank you, and was surprised when he said, "You are quite welcome my dear, anytime."

Harry and Ron snickered at this, while Hermione blushed. She wasn't expecting a response.

At the top of the steps, they were ready to knock on the door, when it opened for them. Being used to the strange working of this office, he just walked in, followed by Hermione then Ron.

"Please sit down, I have something to tell you that you may not find pleasant." When they were seated, Minerva continued. "I am afraid that you all will be returning here next year, to finish your schooling. The Ministry sent out a message stating that because of the mess of last year, all students who were not able to attend for what ever reason had to return to finish their schooling. This means you three also. Miss Granger, I am pleased , but dismayed to tell you that you will be one of two head girls. The other will be Miss Weasley. I am sorry you have to share the duties, but, I had to be fair to the class below you."

Hermione was tickled pink, "Professor, there is nothing to worry about. I understand your dilemma. I'm just proud to be chosen. But, may I ask why Ginny?"

"Did none of you know that Ginny was a Prefect last year?"

This was a first for any of them. It seems that her and Neville were made Prefects because Hermione and Ron missed the school year.

Ron did not like this turn of events. he thought he was through with school. He didn't have any plans for what he would do, but, going back to school would have never been a part of them. Now it seems his plans had been made for him. Then he thought, "Professor, what about the seventh years that will not be graduating?"

"All seventh will be given the choice of either repeating, or attempt to take their N.E.W.T.S. If they opt for the NEWTS, they have one week to prepare, otherwise they will be back as well."

"Thank you Professor. Maybe next year won't be so bad after all."

"Excuse me! Are you saying Hogwarts is bad, Mr. Weasley?"

"Well you have to admit, Professor, it hasn't been like paradise for us these past seven years, even if we were not here for this one, this is where we ended up."

"Point taken Mr. Weasley." Minerva stated with raised eye brows. "Now, if there are no further questions, you may go, and please have a relaxing summer. You all deserve it."

"Thank you Professor." came from them all.

DLD-}

The group was sitting in the great hall after dinner, just talking. Draco had joined them, as well as Daphne's younger sister Astoria. It was amazing how much she looked like Daphne. Draco was especially noticing this. and it caused Astoria to blush at his admiring her. Daphne saw this, and nudged Luna to look at the pair, which was probably the wrong thing to do.

Luna turned to see what Daphne was pointing out, and saw Astoria blushing. She made a comment, "Ohhh, Astoria I love the make-up you're wearing, what color is that?"

Astoria's blush grew deeper, "I'm not wearing any Luna."

Luna scrunched up her eyes, "Then are you a Metamorph?"

"No, why?"

"Well you sure are changing your color pretty fast."

This got the whole group laughing, including Astoria.

When it was time to return to their dorms, or where ever they were going, Harry asked Susan, Luna and Daphne if they could go on alone. He wanted to spend some time alone with Hermione and Ginny.

Luna once again pouted, "Not another night without the Muscle of Love. Harry I hope this isn't going to become a regular occurence. We get lonely with out it, I mean you."

Harry buried his head in laughter. No wonder he loved this girl. She reminded him of the twins. She was even funnier, if that was possible, as she was so spontaneous. They all agreed to his request, and Luna and Daphne pulled Susan to their secret place.

Harry, Ginny and Hermione made their way to the Gryph common room where they took a seat in front of the fireplace. Harry always wondered why his spot was always vacant.

The two girls cuddled into his arms, laying their heads on his shoulders getting comfortable.

"Hermione, Ginny, you don't know how happy I am that you finally accepted your bonds. Ginny, I was really worried about you. The longer you denied it, the sicker you looked. I don't know what finally got you to accept it, but for that I'm Glad it was enough. Now, Hermione and I have something to tell you. Go ahead Hermione, you tell her."

Hermione looked to Harry for a second, then remembered their talk to Minerva, "Ginny, it seems you and I have been chosen to be the Head Girls Next Year. Professor McGonagall felt like she needed to do this because of two seventh year groups of students would be attending next year."

Ginny leaned across Harry and Hugged Hermione, and then she hugged Harry, and added a kiss. Hermione pouted, "What, no kiss for me?"

Ginny leaned back across Harry and gave Hermione a kiss. Then pulled off and gave Harry a second Kiss.

Hermione pouted once again, and Ginny giggled as she leaned across Harry once more and gave Hermione another kiss. She did not give Harry a kiss this time.

Now Harry was pouting, so Ginny got up, and pushed herself between Harry and Hermione, and they both leaned for kisses for her.

There was no sex for them that night, but there was a lot of kissing, much to the pleasure of them all, until it was time to retire for the evening.