I own nothing, and gain no form of payment from these works.
At this point I will say that this is a crossover with the SERRAated edge series, created by Mercedes Lackey. It is part of the Elves on the Road Universe, I love this series and am happy to be able to play a little with it.
In this story Harry was brought to Fairgrove almost a year after the events in Chrome Circle. Go check out the series, it is well worth the time to find them.
Read! Enjoy! And remember to Review!
Edited by the mighty Pazed!
Chapter 19
The sun pierced the clouds, causing shafts of light to be scattered across the open air shopping area known as Diagon Alley. The old cobblestone street was lined on both sides by quaint old world styled shops, each more fascinating than the last. Their wares ranged from books to brooms, from potions to pots, and everything in between.
However, none of these things held any more than a passing interest to the eclectic group walking down the alley. Two of their number talked among themselves quietly but the four at the front strode on without a word.
Sirius glanced at the young man walking on his right; his jaw was tight, eyes hidden behind reflective sunglasses and dark blue cap. If a person looked closely they could see the tautness even in the way he walked. He wished he knew how to help him, but understood that he must stand aside allowing his adopted family to take the lead.
His eyes moved across to the young man's mother, Shar. She too was watching Harry. Probably trying to gauge him as well, he mused.
Looking back toward their destination, he saw the white marble of the building they were walking to, Gringotts, the wizarding bank. The building was massive and imposing, three stories of marble solid as the vaults below.
Sirius broke the silence, "That is Gringotts, our bank. Gringotts is run by Goblins; I was never a big student of history so I am not sure exactly how it happened but it was agreed upon in a treaty after the last goblin wars. They can be a little difficult at times." He said as he led them in.
The inside was a stark contrast with the outer shell. While still keeping the imposing feeling, dark rich woods dominated rather than the cold marble they had been expecting. The room was filled with the sounds of the morning's business being carried out, punctuated with the tinkle of the wizards' coin based currency. At each doorway stood a small suits of armor, none more than four feet tall, complete with sword and pike, the only thing betraying the fact that they were more than decoration were the dark calculating eyes showing through their helm's faceplate. At the far end of the room stood a row of teller stations, each manned by a creature with a long hooked nose, small pointed ears, grey almost leather like skin, and mouths filled with vicious looking pointed teeth.
They moved into the queue of people in front of the tellers. Shar looked at Harry, leaned close and whispered, "You don't need to do this today."
He whispered back, "The sooner the better. If my birth parents left me something I will not leave it here any longer!" he said, conviction filling his voice.
She sighed, and nodded as she turned back, motioning toward an open teller.
The goblin was counting and stacking coins at a quick rate, making notes in a large, leather bound book. It glanced up, eyes narrowing as it peered at the group gathered before it through its horn rimmed glasses. "What do you want?" Its voice sounded gravelly and harsh.
Harry removed his sunglasses and hat, and locked gazes with the creature's dark eyes. "I wish to speak with someone about the Potter accounts."
"Do you have your key?" the creature asked glaring at him.
"Until two days ago I didn't even know about this place. So no, I don't," Harry answered.
At that point Sirius stepped in, placing a golden key on the desk. "Your key was stored in my vault for safekeeping." He then spoke to the goblin. "We need to access the Black family vault, then we need to speak with the Potter and Black account managers."
The goblin picked up the key and studied it intently. Reaching to the right it rang a small bell twice with the flip of its dark claw, and returned the key to Sirius. "Black family vault," it said to the first goblin. "Take their guests to conference room 2," it said to the other, before turning back to Sirius. "Good day!" it then said in a dismissive tone and went back to the large tome it had been working in.
Sirius and Harry were led in a different direction from the main group. They passed through large steel-braced wooden doors and down a long hallway into a large room that reminded Harry of the loading platform of a rollercoaster. Across the length of the room ran steel tracks, on which sat a row of carts made of bronze colored metal. Each cart had four seats with red cushions, set two by two, and a platform lifted at the rear with a small bench next to a large handbrake.
Harry looked at Sirius questioningly. He smiled. "The best part about coming to the bank. You'll love it."
They were soon settled, and the goblin was on the platform. "Please stay seated at all times," it said, and with a ratcheting sound the brake was released and they shot forward, out a set of heavy stone doors and into the darkness beyond.
The cart rolled to a stop, brakes squealing. Sirius looked at his godson; a wide smile was on his face the tension of the day forgotten, at least temporarily. "Told you it was the best part."
Harry laughed. "Best rollercoaster I've ever been on! Part Space Mountain, part Shock Wave! And a lot longer! Those drops were amazing!" They stepped up onto the stone platform that ran next to a row of vault doors. "Running a coaster through a cavern! If they sold tickets people would flock to it!"
After a brief stop at the cavern sized Black family vault they were speeding their way back toward the surface. When they stepped away from the cart Harry asked the goblin, "Does it go any faster?"
It shook its head. "One speed only."
They were led from the platform to a large conference room, where the others sat at a large dark wood table. Across from them sat two goblins. "The Black Key, please," the one on the left said, immediately followed by the other saying, "Potter Key, please." They studied the keys intently then both the men.
The goblin on the left spoke first, "You wished to see me Mr. Black?"
"Yes." He placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "This is my godson Harry Potter. I would like to name him as the sole heir of the Black family, he is to be that heir till such time as I am lucky enough to have a child of my own. Please see to all the arrangements."
Harry was stunned. "S-Sirius, are you sure you want to do that?"
He smiled a weak smile. "As much as I would like to take credit for being a great godfather, this is actually you doing me a huge favor." He took a deep breath. "My family were not the nicest of people, in fact some say the Blacks are as dark as their name, so I want to be certain that the family money is put to better use than the remaining members would put it to, and if I just disinherited them the money would be seized by the Ministry."
"If something happens to me, use it. Go nuts! Spend it! Go on a date with the entire Holyhead Harpies Team! Give it away! Do whatever you want with it, just don't let the likes of the Ministry or Malfoy get hold of it," he said with a grin.
"I can do that," Harry said with a small smile.
The other goblin chose that moment to speak. "And what do you need Mr. Potter?"
Harry turned to face him and sat. "First, may I have your name?"
"My name is Felledstone," it replied.
"Thank you Felledstone, I would like a full accounting of my holdings, as well as the projected returns on any investments and/or property for the next year broken down on a monthly basis," Harry said in a business like tone. "What form of interest do you offer on my liquid deposits?"
The goblin's eye widened, as it passed a duplicate of the tome in front of it to Harry. "L-liquid deposits?'
Harry nodded. "Yes, I need to see if the rates you will give me are competitive?" His eyes passing over the general entries, he almost choked seeing the total.
The goblin said, "That is not the way we do things. You will be charged a fee for the use of your vault, that fee covers accounting, your key, and access. Any other services are contracted directly with others or the Goblin Nation."
"I see," said Harry. "Does your bank offer transfer services with non magical banks?"
"It does, Muggleborn often choose to pay for their schooling in such a way," it said, in a rude tone.
Harry flipped through the large book, seeing several objects other than coins had been stored in the family vault. "Do you offer a delivery service for other objects from the vault? And is delivery guaranteed?"
The creature grumbled, "Delivery to any location is included with the vault cost."
Harry smiled as he looked up. "Very good!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet; after flipping it open he pulled out a slip of paper. "Please transfer all money to this account in US currency, and have any objects in the vaults sent to the address listed below. Put any property up for sale and have any possessions stored there sent on with the things in my vaults. Next,call in any outstanding overdue loans, if they have a loan outstanding but are current please see that arrangements are made with my bank to accept their payment. Once that is done please close the accounts."
The goblin looked pale. "Close the accounts…." Its eyes went wide. "You can't without your guardian's…" It looked at a stunned Sirius, who pointed a shaking hand toward Shar.
The goblin's head slowly rotated in her direction. "Please do as my son asks."
Sirius's mind was still reeling even as they stepped onto the plane. He barely acknowledged the beautiful woman as she placed a tumbler of scotch in his hand, nor did he notice them taxi to the runway. What did catch his attention was the take off.
The noise and the speed had taken him off guard, he felt his stomach drop as the plane tore into the sky making a wide bank and continuing to climb. He was captivated by the sight below as the land dropped away and clouds began to appear below and around them.
When a bell rang in the cabin the two women unlocked their chairs and turned them toward the table and Sirius. "We are happy you could join us Mr. Black," said Lady Ako.
Sirius glanced over his shoulder toward where Harry had gone to sit, the couch. He was strumming an electric guitar plugged into a pair of headphones. Turning back he asked, "Will he be ok?"
Shar shrugged. "In time, his guitar will help for the moment. Hopefully he will be able to rest on the flight as well. Being chained to that chair was harder for him than anything else. He will most likely be edgy, and angry for a few days. The nightmares will probably return as well," she said looking at her mother.
"Most likely," she said sadly. "We will be there for him, as we should. I will have the pilot contact Tannim, he will have things prepared."
Sirius had to ask, "Nightmares?"
Shar nodded. "He had gotten much better, but I fear this will cause them to return with a vengeance. What would possess that old idiot to chain a child to a chair? Especially one that he knew was abused."
"Albus has...well…" He stumbled a bit. "He was a great man, a great hero, but... He.. He has lost sight of some things…"
Shar snorted, "Like sanity?"
Sirius smiled. "Possibly, but he is not one to be underestimated. H-how bad was it?"
Shar knew what he was asking about. "It was bad. He couldn't stand to be touched. He could only sleep in a small enclosed area. He had several bones that had not been properly set after they had been broken." A tear ran down her face. "It was bad, very bad."
"He would disappear during the nights, we would find him hidden in a closet sometimes, but more often we would find him in one of the Fairgrove cars, especially if one of them was running. He found the sound soothing I think," said Lady Ako. "His guitar helped, that started as physical therapy for his injured hand. I think it has been more therapeutic to his soul, than his body."
She looked over at Harry then continued, "It has taken a lot of time and effort for him to come as far as he has, and I fear this weekend has done much harm."
Sirius nodded numbly. "How did he make it to your home?" he asked.
"Nicolas, a dear friend of the owner of Fairgrove, found him and brought him to us. He loves children, and when Harry told Nicolas that he wished to be with his birth parents rather than staying with the Dursleys he brought him to us," explained Lady Ako.
"Why bring him to you?" he asked.
"Keighvin and his people have had much experience with people from Harry's background or other forms of trouble, they are very skilled at helping them. They provide a safe environment, then a family, an education, and support structure. A few choose to stay on with Fairgrove in one capacity or another, others move on and become successful outside the compound, and they have someplace to turn if they ever need help," she said.
"What is your connection to them?" he asked.
"My daughter," she said patting her hand. "Her young man, Tannim, he is a member of Fairgrove. They are now our family."
Shar blushed, as her mother continued. "When they met it was if they had known each other their entire lives. They fit together like puzzle pieces." Shar choked on her drink. "Are you ok, daughter?"
"Y-yes mother, I'm fine," she said a few moments later.
"Was Tannim from a background like Harry's?" Sirius asked.
Shar chuckled. "No, nothing like his. Tannim's parents are wonderful people, they breed horses in Oklahoma, and have taken in Harry as if he was their own."
Lady Ako smiled a mischievous grin as she started to take a sip of her drink. "Although I expect they will love to hear another grandchild is on the way."
Shar's eyes widened, as she looked at her mother stunned. "H-how?"
"You are my child. I could see it in the way you almost floated around the compound before this mess started. When will you tell them?" she queried.
"Soon," she said. "I want to get Harry home and settled first… Probably after this weekend's race, it will give us more to celebrate."
Lady Ako nodded, that would give her plenty of time to plan something to keep
Chinthliss occupied for a few days.