Hello Everyone~

Small change from before; from now on questions (and other comments on reviews etc.) shall be answered by pm. Unless, of course, reviewers aren't logged in, which more or less forces me to reply here.

This is a shorter chapter, but it seemed like a good place to end it so..

Jostanos - I.. can't write romance. End story. Besides, Ed, Harry, Draco, Winry (and the younger cast), are too young for anything (keeping in mind that they're six). The fate of the Dursleys... shall be revealed at a later date, but you can rest assured that Lucius Malfoy wasn't happy with the stunt they pulled back in chapter six, which is fair enough really. Back on track, chapter seven has been edited (and I'm never going to write when I'm on a sugar-high again). Hmm? Oh, chocolate frog cards... yes very mundane.. *distractedly answers*

I read Pandora Hearts, and am in absolute awe at how Jun Mochizuki uses her characters over and over again... (This shall be relevant for a later date..)

Disclaimer: Look up at your url bar. Do you know what site this is? . It's pretty safe to assume that this is, indeed, a fanfiction then, is it not?

Chapter Eight – Unseen World (Part I)

Just because you can't see it,

Doesn't mean it isn't there

~ Unknown

-Unspecified Area...-

The ceiling was white white white. It was unchanged no matter where he looked. No cracks or stains marred it's surface. None dared. 'But then again, what did I expect? This is Malfoy Manor after all.'

It had been a week since his talk with Urey Rockbell. A week during which the Malfoys had seemed more tense than ever. They'd spoken to the hospital staff to arrange a play-date at their mansion, to which the hospital had readily agreed, provided that they received payment for the 'hire of Harry Potter', and that the famous boy-who-lived would be returned to their care as soon as the trip was over.

It had been decided that, rather than sending him to an adoption home which he would have to leave again following adoption, he would remain in the hospital which was neutral territory and, in theory, where each of his adoption candidates had equal chance to meet him. In reality, only the Malfoys and the Rockbells had been granted visitation rights, the others ending up hopelessly lost within the maze of corridors and misleading portraits or faced with a booked-out waiting list to meet him (it turned out that the hospital was making a small fortune by auctioning off visitation rights).

A loud crack dragged his thought to the present, as he nearly jumped back a meter into the air at the appearance of the strange goblin-elf. It reminded him horribly of a deformed, malnourished human child with it's bony arms and large wide eyes, and he barely repressed a flinch in revulsion. It was only upon second glance that he realised the eyes were far too large and orb-like, that the ears bat-like and the nose were too large and pointed to be human. He looked closer at the creature, noticing the lined face, small tufts of hair at the top of an otherwise bald head, unnaturally thin wrist and the complete lack of flesh. It was, all in all, a very unnatural sight. The fact that it was wearing what appeared to be a potato sack didn't help didn't help either.

Beside him, Draco held out his cloak imperiously to the creature, motioning for him to do the same. With a flicker of guilt, he realised that he'd been staring at the elf-thing. Uncertainly, he untied the long black cloak from around his shoulders, nervously fingering it as he held it out in an imitation of his friend.

He would only later learn that the house-elf (for that was what it was known as), was called Dobby, and would later play a great role in his life.

For now, Draco was beckoning him outside again, to the broom-shed, so he brushed the existence of the elf aside.

The sky was a bright sapphire blue and the clouds a fluffy white. It was so perfect it rather seemed like a picture more than reality. Harry idly wondered if the whole thing was a projected image that the Malfoys had bought. He supposed it didn't make much of a difference. It was all just a backdrop to flying.

Somehow, flying suited him; he had taken to the air like a fish to water, or a bird to air. It was natural. The broomsticks were well-trimmed, polished and buffed up to the extreme. They responded to his every movement; it almost seemed that they acted upon his thoughts.

There was also something delightful about being with a friend without adults. It could have been that he didn't need to be polite or it might have been the knowledge that there was no-one to judge him; friends didn't count after all. He was very glad that Lucius had relied on the house elves to catch either of them should they fall. Harry, who wasn't sure if he wanted to be caught by a house elf, clutched his broomstick tightly.

He was only barely aware of the passing of hours, or the slow decent of the sun into the sky; he was simply enjoying himself far too much to stop.

-Malfoy Manor ~ Living Room-

Narcissa Malfoy, on the other hand, was not enjoying herself at all. She sat uncomfortably on the couch, her dress elegantly splayed around her. This, however was not the cause of her distress, which stemmed from the sheet of finances she held. It painted a grim picture; four thousand galleons 'donated' to St. Mungo's, two thousand galleons, five sickles and eighteen knuts spent buying Harry much needed new clothes, and five hundred galleons convincing St. Mungo's to allow Harry to visit. Rich as the Malfoys were, even they could not keep spending so rapidly over a mere week. They either had to quickly adopt Harry, or conclude the endeavour and gracefully had the boy over to the Stonechimes, or whatever the other family had been called.

At the rate things were moving, which was quite slowly, it was far more likely that the latter occur. It seemed a humiliating but inevitable possibility. Even should they be successful with the adoption, they would still have to pay to clothe, feed and supply the boy with whatever object he took a fancy to, which would be a lot of objects, if he were to follow Draco's example. They would still be fairly wealthy, yes, but no longer able to claim the title of one of the wealthiest families in the wizard world, second only to Gringotts; the old goblin had made a fortune when he started the bank, leaving a fortune several times even the richest wizards to his descendants piled the bank's funds into it (it was rumoured that the deepest vault in Gringotts, a hidden vault whose location is only known to the heir of Gringott's legacy, belonged to the senior deceased goblin himself and contained treasures beyond comprehension).

Narcissa flicked her quill, dispatching the blob of ink that had built up at the nib. The black drop sailed through the air, landing safely away on a white sofa. Almost immediately, a house elf appeared with a muted crack. Narcissa directed her attention back to the parchment, knowing the house elf would see that the sofa would be restored to a good-as-new state.

The situation was not as bad as it first seemed. Even if they did adopt the boy-who-lived, there was no way to incorporate him fully into the family, and he was a half-blood in any case. Once he'd grown up, the ties between the Malfoy family and the only remaining Potter would weaken. At the current moment, Draco was probably the boy-who-lived's closest friend, although that was to be expected since Draco was one of the first people to show kindness to Harry.

If it was a friendship that could be maintained as the boys grew up, it would be just as binding as adopting him into the Malfoy family, and quite a bit cheaper.

'Yes,' she decided, 'it's much better financially and possibly socially; it won't seem as if we are forcing our decisions upon the boy, but giving him a choice of his own.'

It did have the distinct advantage that the opposition would have five years to influence the boy, but once he arrived at Hogwarts, they would have five years themselves. And it wasn't like they couldn't visit the boy once he got adopted anyway. She rather liked the idea.

She rose in one fluid motion, perfectly balanced in precariously high heels. With only the barest hint of detectable hesitation in her step, she turned a corner towards her husband's office.

-Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ~ Headmaster's Office-

"This is utterly unacceptable!" Urey Rockbell's voice echoed slightly off the paintings hung cosily about the room.

On the opposite side of the desk Dumbledore sighed heavily, as if it were more for show than anything.

"It is a most necessary approach. Lord Voldemort," he noted that Urey did not flinch, "may be defeated, but his followers remain."

Seeing that Urey still seemed on the verge of protest, he continued forcefully, "If you do not like my measures, all you have to do is decline my deal. It is, after all, your choice. I can't force you to agree, but without my help your chances of a successful adoption of Harry Potter are slim at best, nearing impossibility."

It was a message with an underlying threat, one that Dumbledore could very well carry out.

And it wasn't much of a choice really.

I seem to write slower in the holidays, so..

Next Update: Probably this time next week.

I don't hate St. Mungo's. Just that, if they even have a donation fountain, they'd probably require extra funds (it's a hospital, there's no such thing as too much funding). And it's not like they're making a large fortune off Harry's visitation rights, and they do need to pay people, get food and supplies for patients, pay the rent (?) and bills so it's for a good cause. (Like how fundraising items cost more, but they aren't trying to scam you).