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Chapter 46

Amelia had been dreading this day from the first time Sirius had began to explain the plan to her. In all of her life she had not expected to deal with something like this. If she had to pinpoint a moment, this is where she would say the migraine that was still plaguing her began.

She had come into the office early this morning to make sure everything was prepared and within minutes of the delivery of her copy of the Daily Prophet, Cornelius Fudge was standing in her office flanked by Dolores Umbridge and Albus Dumbledore.

They had demanded that she personally accompany them to see about this new 'Savings and Loan' being opened by Fairgrove. They had to do something about it immediately! The goblins were going to be enraged! It was another goblin rebellion in the making!

Minutes later she was leading a contingent of aurors and politicians down Diagon Alley, only to be greeted with the most stunning sight she could have imagined, armed and armored goblins and elves lining the alley.

An elf in shining silver armor stepped away from the doorway of the new business, and strode toward them.

"He's armed! Protect the Minister!" screamed the banshee in pink.

"Stand down!" yelled Amelia. "Dolores, you do not order my men! We can not afford a battle to begin here in the middle of the alley! Especially with the goblins!" The elf stopped in front of them, left hand on the hilt of his sword, she recognized him. "M-Mr. Silverhair?" she asked.

He tore his angry eyes from the offending pink creature. "Ah! Madam Bones! Mr. Dumbledore! So good to see you again! Please pardon the disruption we have caused, just a few more minutes and the transfer will be complete."

"You-You're an ELF!" she said stunned.

"Indeed I am!" he said his grin growing. "Is that a problem?"

Dolores had had enough at this point. "All the elves are dead!" She drew her wand.

With a speed that defied thought Keighvin's sword flashed through the air between them removing the length of her wand from just above the handle, and returned just as quickly to its scabbard. "Woman, you dare to attack the Lord of Fairgrove? I could claim your life for such, be glad all I took was your wand!" He glared at the others in the group. "I recommend that the rest of you do not follow her example as my men, as well as the goblins until the transfer has been completed, would respond… poorly."

The people assembled tore their eyes away from the fallen wand end and to the elves stationed around the ally, each with their bow in hand and an arrow knocked. Fudge paled at the sight, but finally spoke. "I-I don't believe… Elves?" His mind finally began to process what was in front of him. "Amelia? Albus? Do you know… this elf?"

She nodded slowly. "I didn't know he was an elf…" She shook her head, and chuckled. "You did say you knew about magic for a long time… Minister may I introduce Keighvin Silverhair, head and I guess Lord of Fairgrove… Harry Potter's employer."

Keighvin chuckled, "More than that, I am also his liege." Though he believed the only person paying attention to that statement was Amelia as the others' attention was still being held by his men and the goblins.

"Lord Silverhair, may I present the Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge."

Keighvin nodded. "A pleasure sir."

Fudges eyes returned to the man in front of him. "Yes, quite… Potter?"

Keighvin nodded again. "It has been my pleasure to know the young man for several years. He's a good lad, hell of a driver! I have high hopes for his future!"

Confusion crossed Fudge's face, "But he… His parents, they're muggles! How?"

Amelia continued her introductions. "Dolores Umbridge, Undersecretary to the Minister." She gestured to the toady in pink, who was still fuming over the loss of her wand, and finally Albus Dumbledore whom you know..."

Keighvin nodded again, "Please follow me, we can be more comfortable inside." He motioned toward the building. "I'm sure you have several questions."

Thinking back on it, she had to admit Keighvin had handled the situation masterfully. He met them in a position that kept them off guard, then moved them into surroundings he would be comfortable with and left them off balance.

The inside of the Savings and Loan building was nothing like any other business in the wizarding world. It was bright, the colors vibrant, and impeccably clean. The floors were polished marble with red and green carpet runners, desks were of a light colored wood and each had some form of box on top with a glass front.

Once they were inside he led the group to a well appointed conference room on the second floor. Once they were seated in the cushioned chairs he asked, "Now! I expect you wish to speak with me?"

That had been an understatement! Albus had taken the opportunity given to attack with fervor. It was almost comical to watch, each point he raised was neatly dispelled by the Elven Lord almost as if he expected each one and understood the laws involved.

In the end it boiled down to a couple of main facts. First, the treaty between the goblins and wizarding world that resulted in the creation of the goblin run bank, Gringotts, had no barring on the Fairgrove Savings and Loan as they, the elves, were neither goblin nor wizard!

Keighvin went on to explain what they were offering and how it differed from the services offered by the goblins; and while they would offer some storage for goods it would never be enough room to store a house full of objects.

He also pointed out that while they could choose to leave their gold in the other establishment, or discourage the use of the Savings and Loan they would be depriving their people of the valuable resource being offered.

He then went on to explain how having more disposable income, as well as standardized rates and criteria for loans could generate a greater taxable base. She could almost see the galleons shining in Fudge's eyes.

To top it off, he had the blessing of the muggle government! They were affiliated with Barclays, a bank that had history in the UK going back to the sixteen hundreds and one of the largest financial institutions in the world.

In the end they had walked out the door, each with a full color brochure, and assured that any problems with the goblins could be handled as there was no conflict with the treaty.

She shook her head again. The stunning part of it was that the goblins had never said a word! They had to know exactly what was happening, yet they had not filed a complaint or said anything!

Even stranger was the silence that Dumbledore had fallen into during their discussion. In the end he had taken the pamphlet provided and just walked away, without saying another word.

She withdrew a pain relieving potion from her bottom drawer and took a sip, then picked up the brochure and began to read.

The door into the headmaster's office opened and a plump ginger headed woman walked in just before her husband, also a ginger but with much more grey. "Molly, Arthur," Minerva said standing.

Molly and Arthur Weasley both nodded. "Minerva," they said in tandem. They then took note of the young woman standing next to the desk. "Ginny..."

She quickly crossed the room and hugged each of them in turn. "Minerva," Arthur began, "You said you needed to see us this morning… Ginny I'm happy to see you, but why are you here?"

Minerva answered. "Arthur, young Ms. Weasley may not be the reason I asked you to meet with me this morning, but she is involved." She sighed, "I know I didn't explain much last night other than that Ronald had been in an altercation, but that is just one of the reasons for this meeting. I had expected your son to arrive before you; as it is, I had to send Filius to gather him, it seems he has lost track of time during breakfast."

A few moments later Filius came in leading the youngest of the Weasley boys. "Headmaster, Arthur, Molly, Ms. Weasley. Good morning," he said walking toward them.

Ron looked around at the group nervously. "Mum… Dad.. W-What are you doing here?"

Minerva stood. "I asked them to come young man. I have informed them of some of what transpired last night, but before we go any further I want to hear your version of the events."

Ron's face reddened with anger. "It was Potter's fault!" His hands flexed in anger. "He did something to Ginny! She was crying!" His explanation faltered at that point

Minerva stood and walked around the edge of her desk. "And that was sufficient reason to assault Mr. Potter?"

"Yes!" Ron growled, "That bastard thinks he is better than us! Him and his muggle junk! He was supposed to be here! Dumbledore said! He was going to be in Griffindor! His bed has been there for him since first year!"

"ENOUGH!" yelled Arthur, rounding on him. "That young man has had enough hardship in his life without you acting like this! As for what Dumbledore may or may not have said, that doesn't matter!" He glared at his son in disappointment.

Ron shrank back from his father's rebuke and Minerva stepped in. "Ronald, you knew of the situation between your sister and Mr. Potter, did you not?"

He reddened again. "Of course, you're going to side with the git on that as well! Now that Granger and Loony are part of his little…"

It was Ginny that cut him off this time. "Ron! That's not fair! I was wrong! I shouldn't have done that! Luna was my friend when we were younger!" She took a deep breath. "Mum, Dad… He… I tried to talk to Harry last night… It was a mistake to do it, I know that now." Tears started falling down her cheeks. "I've been trying to talk to Hermione and Luna all week… I-I thought if I could talk to him he could help."

Molly wrapped her in a hug and she continued. "I just wanted to apologize… I didn't think it through…" She pushed away from her mother. "Then Ron… then Ron showed up."

Arthur sighed. "Ron… while trying to protect your sister is admirable… What you did was wrong."

"But..." Ron began.

"No! Ron, you could have stepped between them, checked on Ginny, even informed a professor. Physically attacking him was inexcusable. Even worse he is a representative of another school, and your headmaster specifically requested that you be on your best behavior for the ball!" he continued.

Arthur turned to look at Ginny, "I'm disappointed in you as well Ginny. That was the wrong place to try and apologize." She nodded. "But I am proud that you are attempting to." He knelt in front of her. "But you need to be prepared, even if they forgive you they may never be your friend." She nodded, and stepped in to hug her father.

When Arthur stood again Minerva spoke. "Ms. Weasley you are dismissed." Ginny looked at her parents in turn then made her way out of the office.

Minerva waited till the door had closed before speaking again. "Now, Mr. Weasley we have a few more things to discuss, besides the incident last evening. Would you care to explain your behavior as of late? Including your tardiness this morning? After that we will discuss your grades, especially the state of your homework over the break."

Pansy made her way toward the Great Hall to eat breakfast alone for the second time since arriving at Hogwarts. The first had been the day before after a gigantic row with Draco, most of it focusing on her accepting the offer of a dance from none other than Harry Potter.

She sighed, as she thought about it even now. It was just a dance, for Merlin's sake! He and his 'friends' had decided the dance was boring, and having nicked some Firewhisky thought that being drunk would be more fun. It wasn't her fault that he had woken up in Goyle's bed… naked. Though it was funny.

Unfortunately, because of dear Draco's caustic nature she had never been close to the other girls in her year. Hence her current situation, which unfortunately was not something that could be remedied at the current time for fear of reprisals from Draco's 'daddy'.

It had always been assumed that she and Draco would marry, something cooked up by their mothers, and she had tolerated him for her mother's sake, but after Draco's latest fit and letter home their mothers' friendship had been severely damaged, if it survived at all.

That, however, had never been her intent. She just wanted to dance at her first ball, she hoped her mother realized that much and could understand. If it had been anyone else would the outcome have been any different? Possibly, as long as the person in question wasn't a Griffindor of course, but Harry had brushed Draco off like a bug the first time they met and that had not sat well with the ponce.

For now she was alone, no friends and unfortunately now a potential target of Draco's wrath and with relatively little protection within her own dorm as his godfather was Severus Snape their head of house. As long as it did not get too far out of hand and draw the attention of the headmaster the little git would be safe.

So, for the time being, she needed to stay on her guard. Hence her being on the way to breakfast at such an early hour, as the Great Hall was one of the few places she could be guaranteed safety. There were always people coming in and out, and at least one professor in attendance.

However what she found this morning in the Great Hall was not what she had expected.