I, Sirius Black, being of sound mind and godlike body do hereby declare this my last will and testament. I sincerely hope that this is completely unnecessary, but life rarely gives us what we want, so I hereby declare all previous wills null and void. This will has been witnessed by Remus John Lupin and Senior Teller Sharpblade...
Master Sharpblade skipped the first several pages that covered private messages for Harriet duly covered in their previous meetings.
Dumbledore meanwhile lost what remained of the color in his face. "Yup. Things are going downhill, this is not the will I witnessed." He thought grimly. He internally prayed that Sirius didn't screw his plans too badly.
He carefully cleared his throat and asked as politely as he could muster. "Master goblin, I am sorry to interrupt but may I know when this will was written?"
Master Sharpblade glared at him, as he didn't like to be interrupted. "This will was created on the twelfth of March of this year. Why are you asking?" he replied, a slight annoyance coloring his voice.
Dumbledore nearly sighed in relief and did small victory jig in his head. "Sirius Black made a new will and used me as a witness of this. He left it in my possession. I thought that he had informed Gringotts of this. I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience, as I can see that he hadn't. Surely you wouldn't want to ignore the last wishes of Sirius Black."
He said apologetically as he pulled the will from his robes and handed it to the Master Sharpblade.
The goblin picked the piece of parchment and flipped through it. He then waved his long clawed finger over it muttering a few spells in goblin tongue. The parchment glowed in several bright colors. He nodded to himself and returned the parchment to the now frowning headmaster and said, "I'm sorry Headmaster, but this will is invalid. There were traces of confudus charms and it was not signed in Sirius Orion Black's blood, as per the rules of the House of Black regarding their last will and testaments. I must say again, this piece of parchment has no meaning in this proceedings." His insincerity was given away by the false apologetic tone of voice. "May I continue with the reading?"
Dumbledore didn't grace him with a verbal reply. He just nodded stunned as his mental happy dance waltzed directly into a brick wall.
Now my friends, my family, and people who fall into other categories, we are getting to the part where you will get stuff…
To my best and last friend, brother in all but blood, Remus John Lupin. I leave you my role as Godfather. Take care of our cub for me will ya? For all other purposes, I am leaving you the sum of 100,000 Galleons, and my entire wardrobe. Use it well, my friend. And a piece of advice? Someone pink is making her eyes at you, so go and make her an honest woman! You deserve it, despite what you might be telling yourself!
Remus let a lone tear slide down his cheek as he whispered, "Already done my friend, and I would on my honor. I promise."
Tonks sitting next to him silently took his hand and squeezed it to show her support of him.
To Andromeda and Theodore Tonks. Andy my beloved cousin, I hereby reinstate you to the Ancient House of Black and I am welcoming your husband and daughter into the family. I leave you 50,000 galleons just for you, and 150,000 galleons to be paid to you and your husband as a belated dowry. Andy, I always knew how hurt you were when you were disowned, and I am even sorrier that I haven't done anything about it sooner.
Andromeda and Ted sat in shock by the sum they were bequeathed with.
Draco on the other hand was internally fuming. "What did that mutt think he was doing? Giving my fortune to some dirty mudblood and blood traitors? And he thought he could have them reinstalled into MY noble and ancient house? HAH, We'll see about that!"
To my Nymphadora! HA in your face Nymmie! You can't hex or hit me now! Nah-Na-Na!
Tonks muttered something under her breath, but her mother swiped at her quickly. She looked apologetic to the Master Sharpblade, who pretended to hear nothing at the time.
Now that that's off my chest, I leave you a sum of 50,000 Galleons and a leash for a certain old wolf, who has a few issues. I think you could solve them, so please, take good care of him. He is my last living best friend, after all.
To my crazy bitch of a cousin, Bellatrix, who is not here because of death-eater reasons, I leave my utter contempt and I am dissolving your marriage. Well I couldn't do this, but I have left instruction for the next Head of the House of Black to do so.
This statement was met with general confusion. The heir apparent was Draco and why would he do something that would probably piss his aunt and the Dark Lord to nth degree in one go?
Only the Vegas couples weren't confused but they offered no explanation for their small grins. It was Sharpblade's show after all.
Dumbledore started to worry that this was just the beginning of his future problems.
To Narcissa Malfoy, my beloved cousin Cissy, I leave you the family opals. I always knew you liked them and I am sorry that we hadn't seen each other for such a long time. I really miss the days when we were young and we played together. I am also leaving you a piece of advice. Speak with the new Head of the House of Black, if you are unhappy with your marriage. Between you two, I think you could come to a solution. I left some instructions that might be helpful for you.
Narcissa openly let her tears slide. This was the final confirmation that her Siri was really gone. Suddenly several things clicked together inside her head.
"Now wait a second! The wording was strange and Nymphadora and Lupin were grinning when the new head of house is mentioned." the wheels in her head started spinning. "The wording was directly avoiding saying the name or even the gender of the new Head of the House of Black. Sirius Orion Black, what kind of mischief did you plan?" She thought and that had brought a sliver of hope in her heart.
Draco was clearly confused. He tried to think up of how to use this against his mother as leverage but he failed in this endeavor as his attention was interrupted by the next bequests.
To Fred and George Weasleys, also known as the Hell Carrots. Your mother is a shrew…
Molly screeched "How Dar..."
Sharpblade glared at her and said, "Shut up" before he continued.
...don't let her to dictate your life, so I leave you my prank notes and journals and 10,000 Galleons for you and your shop. Consider it as a reward for you, as you have always looked out for Harriet as if she was your younger sister. I suggest for you to pay Moony a visit as he is fountain of great prank ideas. Also did you know that he used to be a shady arms dealer in the muggle world, before he started teaching at Hogwarts?
The twins looked at each other as twin huge and very scary grins appeared on their faces. They high-fived themselves and started to move towards Remus, who whimpered and tried to hide behind Tonks.
Tonks just dryly uttered to him, "Sucks to be you."
Sharpblade on the other hand didn't sound amuse, but in reality wanted to call for a recess and flee the room to laugh. He cleared his throat loudly and growled, "The will-reading is not finished".
That stopped the twins in their track and they said in unison "Yes sir, sorry, sir." as quickly returned to their seats.
To Ginny Weasley, I leave 5,000 Galleons in a trust found just for you. You always tried your best to help my cub and I am grateful for this. And last summer you showed that you have more compassion than some other members of your family. You helped to keep things light when it was needed. I also leave you a Nimbus 2000, which I have bought especially for you. You as your brothers, have Quidditch in your blood so no matter what your parents were saying about you playing it, go ahead with your dream. I am sure that you would become one of the bright stars in the Quidditch pantheon.
Again this statement was confusing to the others. Albus continuously felt that things were just going rapidly downhill for him and others.
To Ronald Weasley, when I first met you I was glad that my cub had a strong loyal friend who was looking out for her; and maybe that you were her knight in shining armor. So I bought you a capital share in Chudleigh Canons as a graduation present and a trust fund with 10,000 Galleons. That one has similar access rules as that one I left for Ginny to help you with your schooling...
Ron's eyes lit with glee as he started to think (actually think) how he would reshape the team, and how he would bring them back to the top of the league. The next words from the goblins lips shattered that dream in tiny pieces.
Sharpblade had a very good sense for drama as he paused for a few seconds, savoring his next words before he continued.
...But then I saw through you. How often you betrayed Harriet's trust, and with every betrayal I have cut your share in the Cannons and in your trust fund. Congratulations, as you have left nothing more for me to cut! So I leave the Cannons to the new Head of the House of Black.
Draco was openly sniggering at Ron's face.
Ron only managed to shout, "Bloody hell," before he was silenced by an angry goblin glare. His brain was paralyzed by the thought that he had just lost his beloved Quidditch team to Malfoy.
Albus grimly thought, "Yup all's indeed going downhill."
To Hermione Granger, I leave 10,000 Galleons in a trust fund and the whole copy of the library from Grimmauld Place; and Albus? This is a decree from a Will, not an open-air auction, so you can't have them confiscated because some of them contained potential dark knowledge. I have had Gringotts remove all dark curses on them. Use them well Hermione. You are a remarkable young lady and I could trust that you would use the knowledge from them to help Harriet, and to make the world a better place.
Hermione swiped at her errant tears and whispered, "On my honor, I will."
To Albus Percival Wulfric Beverly Dumbledore. Originally I wanted to leave you one of my names, but I have decided that you have too many...
That was met with general chuckles.
The goblin took a short pause mainly to compose himself. The face that Dumbledore made when he heard his complete unaltered name was hilarious and nearly made him laugh out loud. He schooled his features as he prepared for the next part. He was curious as to how would the old headmaster react.
...So I leave you thirty silver sickles and a muggle book that would give you the explanation of what it means, if you don't know it.
Albus Dumbledore paled even more, but knowing that at this point there was little he could do, he just hoped Sirius found out much of his plans but didn't do much damage to them.
And now to Draco Ares Malfoy, the heir apparent of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. You are a small loathsome thing, do you know that young Draco? I don't think that you would be a proper head of the House of Malfoy, let alone The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black...
Draco nearly screeched at the implication that the House of Malfoy was neither ancient nor noble.
...For a role like this, you lacked the subtlety, intelligence and cunning needed to rule the house of Malfoy, let alone the House of Black. How you have ended in the house of cunning was a mystery to me. You were always parroting what you have learned from your father. Did you know that if it was up to me, I wouldn't leave you anything more than my contempt. And I certainly wouldn't let you become my heir, but hey there was a problem with the first statement. Because you were not my heir. So you weren't going to be the new Lord Black.
"What, you lying beas…" screamed Draco but he shut up as Master Sharpblade nonchalantly reached down beside him and raised a huge battle-axe up and placed it down heavily on the desk.
"If you would let me finish?" The goblin said with contempt, although truth be told he nearly burst out laughing as he saw Malfoy's face. He pulled his axe mainly as a means to compose himself and prevent himself from laughing.
Everybody in the room was silenced by this action.
Draco shut his mouth as his instincts of self-preservation kicked in. He paled drastically. He realized that the Dark lord wouldn't be happy that he had lost a significant influential and financial base. That the Lestrange's marriage including their fortune might have been lost too. That his aunt might kill him just out of sheer principle.
No, the title and the rest of my family's riches and estates goes to my Daughter.
Nearly everybody stared slack jawed.
Dumbledore carefully cleared his throat and asked, "Master Goblin, I'm sorry to interrupt, but this was highly irregular as I know that Sirius Black didn't have a daughter." Though, he was secretly looking with concern at the unknown blonde with them. "Could she be Sirius' daughter?"
Sharpblade looked at him, then at Harriet who just nodded.
"But indeed he has. It is Lady Potter-Black."
Bedlam ensured at that comment.
Sharpblade put his hand on his axe. The action silenced everybody. "Now if you all would be so kind and let me finish reading this will, you might have found the answers in it." He then continued with the reading not waiting for any reply.
I bet you were all asking how this was possible. Some of you might know that James' great grandmother Dorea was from a branch of the House of Black. But there was one specialized family blood adoption ritual, which was in line with the inheritance rules of the House of Black and if everything went well, Harriet went through it before my will was read.
Sharpblade stopped reading and added, "I, on the behalf of Gringotts would confirm that Harriet Lily Potter went through this ritual, and now was indeed the legal heir and daughter of one Sirius Orion Black." He took a breath and continued. "In accordance of his will, I have proceeded with the given instructions of the late Lord Black, performed the adoption ritual, and emancipated the new heiress of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black." Sharpblade saw that Dumbledore was opening his mouth to speak. "Let me finish. As the young Lady Potter-Black was emancipated, we have unsealed and enacted the wills of James and Lily Potter." He finished smugly and fell silent for a moment.
Dumbledore closed his mouth and internally sighed deeply. "And here I thought it couldn't be any more worse. This was a bloody catastrophe! Half of the Order's funding was just lost..."
Ron was snapped from his stupor as a thought entered his brain. "Wait a second! Harriet has not only inherited the Potter, but also the Black fortune. And as she was emancipated she would have to marry me. And I would be rich… No I would be more than rich! I'd be filthy rich and she would be my bitch and the Cannons would be mine…." He nearly started cackling out loud in glee.
Silently, Molly and Arthur Weasley had similar trains of thoughts on how they'd use their newfound fortune, as their son was so easy to manipulate.
Dumbledore nearly sighed when he saw the literal galleons in the eyes of Arthur, Molly and Ron. He had a clear idea for what his contract for Harriet was good for, right now.
Harriet saw the look of mixed greed and lust on Ron's face and she felt a pang of sadness. Not that long ago, she had considered him as her short-tempered best friend and maybe-potential-boyfriend. Now she knew that the crush was a result of love potion usage. That their friendship was fabricated from their first meeting. She sadly shook her head.
Karen sensing her wife's discomfort, took Harriet's hand in hers and gently squeezed it to show her support.
Master Sharpblade again confirmed that he had an excellent sense for drama as he picked this moment to continue reading.
As some of us were aware, there was a marriage contract between Lady Potter-Black and Ronald Weasley, which should be activated, when she reaches the age of seventeen or when she is emancipated...
He noticed the looks of the people who didn't know about it.
Hermione, Ginny, the Weasley twins, Ted, Andromeda and surprisingly Narcissa looked shocked and wearing deep disbelief on their faces. They couldn't imagine the marriage of these two.
The twins, Ginny, and Hermione knew there might be a small crush on Ron in Harriet's case, but nobody could imagine that it would last.
Draco somewhat recovered from his previous shock and he was torn as he didn't know if he should be outraged that what was his would go to the Weasley's, or to be laughing at the fate of his nemesis.
Dumbledore kept his face schooled as he guessed where this would lead.
...Then you should also be aware that it has been invalidated.
"What!?" Screeched Molly and Ron in unison.
Sharpblade didn't glare at them instead he gave his axe handle a significant caress. This shut the offending Weasley's up very quickly.
Arthur Weasley politely asked, "Excuse me for interrupting Master Goblin, but may I inquire why it was invalidated?"
Master Sharpblade looked at Harriet, silently asking how much he should tell. Harriet indicated that she had no problems if he told all the reasons why the contract was invalid now.
"Well Mister Weasley," Sharpblade answered, "There are numerous reasons." And he started to list them counting them on his fingers.
"One was that the contract was written for one Harriet Lily Potter, but when she went through the blood adoption, that person ceased to exist and was replaced with Harriet Lily Potter-Black. Two, as Lord Black was never convicted, his claim as Miss Potter's guardianship never ceased. Even if Dumbledore may have acted as her guardian, legally he never was. Even he unknowingly acknowledged this fact as he recognized Sirius Black's signature on a permission slip to Hogsmeade in Harriet's third year. That's reason number three. Four, she was already married in a soul-binding ceremony."
Numerous jaws dropped open at the revelation. Before anyone could say anything, Sharpblade continued in his reading, his amusement now fully evident to everyone.
This concludes my will Sirius Orion Black, Signing out...
PS: Oh, and to everyone whose plans were fucked up by this will?
HAW-HAW! Joke's on you!
Sharpblade finished into a shocked silence and continued, "This reading is concluded, although there was one bequest that wasn't read, as it was specialized. A trust fund for abandoned young witches and wizards, which would be headed by the current Lady Black, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and the Senior Teller from Gringotts. Lady Potter-Black? This room is at your disposal." He finished and leaned back into his chair. He had no intentions to leave. The real drama, in his opinion, was just beginning and he wanted to see how it ends.
The doors from the room unsealed themselves at the wave of the goblins' hand.
Harriet took her cue, stood and walked into the middle of the room to start an impromptu speech, but before she could begin, several things happened.
Dumbledore seized his opportunity and as she moved, he got up from his seat took on his 'grandfatherly face', set it for 'disappointed mode' and prepared to speak to her. He might have lost in this round, and although the damage done to his plans was great, there were still a number of unknowns. He still didn't know who the blonde is, what her relation to Harriet or Sirius was. Where was Harriet's husband? What kind of information had Sirius passed to her? How much of his influence he still had left over her, Lupin and Tonks? He opened his mouth to speak, but in that exact moment Mount-Ron-Weasley exploded.
Ron's temper was already rising all throughout the reading and with every blow to 'his' inheritance, his inner pressure climbed, heading to this inevitable blow-up. When the goblin finished and Harriet moved upfront, he couldn't hold it in anymore and he exploded. He leaped from his chair into Harriet's face. With a battle cry:
"YOU FILTHY BITCH! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? YOU ARE MIN…"
His rant was abruptly stopped as the blonde was suddenly between him and Harriet, holding him casually and single-handedly one foot in the air by his collar. The woman stared coldly into his eyes.
She moved impossibly fast that many in the room thought she apparated.
She stared on him with disgust as he tried futilely to pry her fingers from his collar. Her grip was impossibly strong! He couldn't move the iron fingers. Not even by a millimeter. Then she growled.
"Now, what do you think you were doing, boy? You weren't trying to threaten, yell or god forbid, touch my wife, weren't you? I hope not or I would have to crush you like the insignificant bug that you were. But that would leave my boot messy, wouldn't it? Did you understand me? Yes? Good, take this as a friendly warning. It's the only one you will get anyway. And, if there's a next time, I would have to deal with you, I WOULD be extremely mean and prejudiced."
Ron managed to whimper, as he was nearly paralyzed by his fear.
She looked at where Dumbledore and the adult Weasley's were, and pointed a finger of her other hand at them in warning. "The same goes for you." She growled at them.
All occupants of the room froze in their places by her actions, while Harriet found this scene extremely arousing. Her personal knight in shining armor. Tonight someone was getting extremely lucky!
Ron kicked at the blonde several times while she was speaking, but the American gave no indication that she even felt them. He on the other hand, felt like he was kicking a solid wall. It felt like he had broken some of his toes. In desperation, he reached for his wand, but the blonde slammed her right knee into his groin.
Karen used only a small fraction of her superhuman strength, but for Ron it felt roughly equal to a hit by a pissed off Hagrid, wielding a beater's bat. Ron's world shrank into a small dark place, filled with excruciating pain.
Karen dropped the crumpled and writhing figure on the ground and gave him a hostile glance before she moved next to her wife. Harriet beamed at her and gave her a chaste kiss.
The room stood still for a few seconds as nobody moved or dared to speak.
Ron on the other hand still laid on the floor unmoving like a puppet whose strings were cut. He moaned.
The room occupants were shaken from their reverie as Harriet gave the blonde a chaste kiss, followed by a "Thanks, Karen for fixing him up. That was awesome!"
Harriet beamed at her.
Karen returned the smile and answered, "No problem honey, happy to oblige. But we have an audience and it is your show, after all." Karen smirked and returned to her seat, swaying her hips suggestively.
Harriet sighted wistfully, her gaze following Karen's hips as she shook herself and brought her attention to her audience.
"Andromeda and Theodore, it's my happy privilege to be the first to welcome you back into the family!" She said with a huge smile. "The same goes for you too Moony and N…Dora. I will honor my father's wishes and oversee your reinstatement right after we leave this room."
She then turned to Narcissa. "Lady Malfoy, I have sensed a great deal of urgency from my father's note regarding you. So I would like to propose a meeting right after I wrap up here. Is that acceptable?"
Narcissa hesitantly nodded. The sliver of hope in her heart was growing brighter and brighter.
"Draco, after hearing what my father said about you was very true, I thought that I never heard anything more appropriate. You are a real wanker, did you know that?"
She noticed in corner of her eye that Moony was trying to hide behind Dora, as the twins again started to slowly close in on him with their scary grins, she shouted. "Oy, Hell carrots! You two leave my honorable godfather be! You will have more than enough opportunities to pump him for ideas later, so back off or he might sic his wife on you! And she's very mean and prejudiced."
Tonks grinned evilly at that and gave them her full attention changing her hair color to blood-red, showing them a mouthful of sharp, sharp teeth.
The twins seemed to shrink and started to back off, showing raised empty hands placating Tonks.
Remus sighed in relief and moved from behind his wife.
Ginny seized her opportunity and sneaked into her twin brothers, caught them by their shoulders and winked towards Harriet, "Don't worry, I'll rein them in." She dragged them from the room. They had many things to discuss and not many of them were pleasant.
Molly who was on her knees and checking her son, stood up and rounded on Harriet but stopped shortly because she noticed that Karen was looking coldly at her with a cocked eyebrow.
Nevertheless, she screeched , "What do you think you are doing? After all that my family has done for you? You let that brute to manhandle my son like that? And you are letting them dissolve your marriage contract? THAT CONTRACT WAS SET UP FOR YOUR OWN GOOD! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, TO JUST CANCEL IT LIKE THAT?..."
Her ranting was stopped dead in its tracks, as Karen suddenly and very noisily cracked her knuckles, looking at Molly that could only be described as: 'Go ahead, make my day.' She suddenly grew nervous at the blonde. She slowly backed up and motioned to her husband to help her picked their son up and leave the room.
Draco meanwhile was still in a daze. Even in this state, he was pondering what was he going to do. His mind was filled with recurring thoughts, "Potter is Lady Black! It's not fair – I was supposed to be Lord Black! Just wait until Father hears about this!" He thought about what his Father would say if he was in his place. After a quick consideration, he picked himself up and pompously said, "Don't get too comfortable Potter, my solicitors will tear this mockery of a will to pieces." He sneered at them and strolled away as pompously as he could, never noticing that his mother wasn't following him.
Narcissa looked on as her son disappeared from the room and silently wondered if this was going to be the last time she saw Draco as a member of the same house.
Dumbledore meanwhile composed himself. This meeting gave him more shock than he was used to. He schooled his best 'disappointed grandfatherly' face. He walked to Harriet looking gravely, "Harriet, I am deeply disappointed in you. I thought you had matured with everything that has happened. You have promised me that you wouldn't step out of the safe boundaries of the wards at Privet drive."
"I beg your pardon headmaster, but I think that you have it somewhat reversed. I am disappointed in you. And for the record I never stepped out of the safe boundaries of the wards of Privet drive. I portkeyed from there." Harriet replied, staring few centimeters above the headmasters right ear to avoid his legilimency.
Dumbledore huffed mentally. "Harriet, I do not know what I did to disappoint you, but I assure you that I had good reasons for it. It was for the greater good. I must insist that you return to Privet drive as the wards have been weakened by your absence. They would recharge soon if you return, and then you can go to Burrow for the rest of the summer. How else could they and I protect you from Voldemort?" he tried, hoping against hope that his hooks in her weren't totally gone.
Harriet shook her head slightly and replied, "Headmaster, I am the Head of two Noble and Ancient houses. I have numerous properties at my disposals, which I guarantee have more than adequate protections against dark wizards. Furthermore, you have no rights whatsoever to dictate me on where I should live. Now headmaster I have a few meetings still, so we would discuss further dealings between us later. I would send you an owl with the terms of our meeting." She said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Dumbledore raged inside for being dismissed like this, but he could only give a nod and leave. He knew that he needed to return to Hogwarts to consolidate his losses and to prepare new contingencies for the new situation.
Hermione looked at the departing headmaster and at her friend. "You owe me an explanation, but I see that you have other things to do right now, so send me an owl when you have things settled. We'd talk, all right?" She said then she gave Harriet a bone-crushing hug. "Congratulations on your wedding, I hope that you have at least some photos to show me!" She then gave a wave to Karen, "It has been pleasure to see you all." she said to the whole room and nearly skipped out. No doubt to see her vault and her new library in it.
Harriet looked at her giddy and retreating friend and fondly shook her head. "Hermione and her books!" She then switched her gaze to Narcissa.
"Lady Malfoy," Harriet began, but she was interrupted by Lady Malfoy.
"Please, call me Narcissa"
"Very well, but only if you would call me Harriet." Narcissa nodded.
"Narcissa, would you object if the others stay here for this discussion as I keep no secrets from them?"
Narcissa shook her head.
"Good. Narcissa, Sirius left me quite a note about you. He expressed that he had missed you deeply, that he had many fond memories of you, that when he and later Andromeda were thrown out of the House, he felt he had lost you forever."
Narcissa sadly nodded. "In many ways, it was the truth. I never had the courage like Andy or Sirius had, to disobey my family's wishes. I was already promised to Lucius too. When the two of them were kicked out of the family, I lost a part of myself. After my marriage and after Sirius was incarcerated, I was forbidden by my husband to contact Andy at any occasion." She said sadly. She took a deep breath as she knew that her fate would be considered on the basis of her next words.
"Harriet, it feels strange talking about this to you, but I know that given different circumstances, I would be talking to Sirius himself. I didn't know it would be so hard to answer. I'm not sure how you could be so calm. Sirius' wishes or not, why don't you see me as the enemy?" she asked.
Harriet just shrugged and said, "My view of who was enemy and who was not had drastically changed in the last few days. Too many people pass judgment of others, usually based on things that were irrelevant, instead of getting to know them, so as long you do not have the dark mark then you couldn't be completely evil. I of course, don't know you yet, but I certainly would not base my opinion on the experiences that I have had with your husband and son. So I have to ask what Sirius wanted me to ask you—were you truly happy with your marriage, your family, and your life?" She finished.
Narcissa looked momentarily thoughtful.
"Happy was not how I would describe my life, family and marriage, but one was bound to one's duty."
"And how would you react, if said duty was lifted from you?" Harriet prompted.
Narcissa answered hesitantly, "I'm unsure, but if said opportunity arose, I would pursue it. If it would improve my life, that is."
"And what about your husband and son?"
"There was never love between me and Lucius. I knew that my marriage wasn't destined for happiness and I came to terms with it. But I had hoped that my children would bring some measure of happiness to it. Once Lucius had his heir though, he had no more interest in having any other children and in me, altogether. As for Draco, his father's tutelage had destroyed everything that I loved in him. He became everything that I hated of his father, amplified ten times. So if you are offering a way out for me from my marriage, I am offering to swear my loyalty and allegiance to you and your houses, upon my life and my magic. "
Harriet after seeing Andromeda's nod said, "Narcissa, as Lady Black and your Head of House, I'm offering you the following: I would declare your marriage to Lucius Malfoy forfeit. He would retain full custody of Draco until Draco is of age. The dowry of 200,000 galleons would be retrieved from the Malfoy vaults by the goblins and deposited in a vault under the name of Narcissa Black. You would receive the protection of the Black family and would be allowed to hide in a Black residence of your choosing until it's safe for you to re-join society. Also, you must swear loyalty to the House of Black and its head. Do you accept?"
Narcissa nodded shakily, "Lady Potter-Black, I… I am at a loss of word. Thank you for such a gracious offer! I accept." She breathed.
Harriet nodded, "Splendid!"
Harriet and Narcissa signed the appropriate documents that Master Sharpblade had prepared beforehand. Afterwards, he disappeared for a second while Narcissa was swearing an oath and filling in other necessary documents with Harriet for the Ministry to inform them of her changed marital status. He returned bearing an envelope and piece of rope in his hands.
He pulled a piece of parchment and gave it to Narcissa when she and Harriet finished with their paperwork. "Please read this and remember it."
Narcissa did and she suddenly remembered the location of Walburga's house in the heart of London.
The Goblin took the parchment and gave it to Andromeda and Ted Tonks, with the same instructions. Then he took the parchment back and placed it in the envelope and slipped it into his pocket. He turned to Harriet and handed her the rope, "Here is a portkey that would take all of you into the main foyer of the Grimmauld place. This portkey is free of charge, but for the next one you would need to pay the mandatory six sickles."
He said with a smile, "Again, I would like to thank you that you let me participate in this reading Sirius Orion Black's last will. I hadn't had this much fun for seventy years! I look forward for the next meeting. 'Till next time, farewell." And with a short bow, he left them.
Karen eyed the rope curiously and asked Harriet quietly, "Honey, what is a portkey?"
"It's a magical way of transportation. Not very pleasant. It always left me flat on my ass."
"Is it worse then than our taxi ride this morning?"
"Hmm, tough to say... But I think it's slightly more bearable as it takes less time..."
Flashback to That Morning, 8:00 am
The Vegas quartet just left their hotel by the airport in full disguise and decided to hail a cab to take them to Charing Cross Road where the Leaky Cauldron was located. It would take them about an hour to get there in the morning traffic.
As they got in the cab, Karen pulled a wad of cash from her purse and handed it to the driver, saying "Charing Cross Road and if you get there under half an hour without being pulled over, I'll double it."
The cabbies eyes bugged out, and he nearly swallowed his fag at the sum of the wad of cash he was being offered. He gave them a large, bordering on the insane grin and he jammed his gas pedal to the floorboards. Harriet and company were thrown back in the seats.
Nineteen minutes and thirty-one seconds later, the car screeched to a stop outside the Leaky Cauldron. As the occupants shakily unloaded themselves out of the cab, Karen spoke in a slightly shaken voice. "Here's the rest of your money, you better be going. I think the cops might take a while to figure out where you went, after you took that shortcut through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. But that won't last forever."
The cabbie nodded. "Well, it might have taken them a bit longer to figure it out, if you lot hadn't been screaming the whole way." He stopped and gave them a large not-so-sane grin.
"Look, I could safely deduce that you lot are 'magicals' what with the changing hair color. It was a dead give-away." He said pointedly looking at Tonks. "My name's Michael Stone, but my friends call me Mickey Bricks." He held out a small card. "You ever need a ride, just call."
As the cabbie drove away, Karen examined the card. On one side was a phone number, with a note written on it: "Just stick your thumb out. I'll be there."
Karen handed the card to a still dizzy Remus. who slid it in his back pocket. They all walked into the Leaky Cauldron, all still slightly green...
Karen shuddered slightly at the memory and answered, "That's... reassuring."