Chapter 8.
"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?!" James was furious, Lily had her suspicions, however neither one of the Potters would have guessed how far Dumbledore had decided to push his luck.
"So let me make sure I understand this correctly." Lily took a deep breath before continuing.
"Dumbledore not only took money out of Harry's trust fund for almost his entire childhood without giving Harry or his guardian's the money, but he also took said money and transferred it to his own private account with the gnomes?"
"That is correct." Griphook, the goblin assigned over Harry's trust vault said before continuing.
"Now normally the goblins don't interlope with the gnomes at all, but when it comes to some of our larger estates, ones that have a substantial holding within both entities… well we tend to talk a little more openly."
"Openly?" James asked.
"Yes, normally we don't communicate about funds being transferred from one bank to another, but in your case, there was so much activity, and with both of you being supposedly deceased" the goblin air quoted the word deceased.
"Well, it just didn't make sense, all of our security measures show you as non-deceased, your will was allowed to be sealed when no one could prove that you were dead."
"Couldn't they just show our bodies for proof of death?" James questioned.
"Normally yes, but you see, after your son was taken from the cottage in Godric's Hallow your bodies went missing." Griphook was looking to the Potters for an explanation.
"It could have been a side effect of the spell work that we performed… but I have a suspicion that it was someone else." Lily said while thinking about the possibilities.
"What is buried at our graves then? Remus said that he visited us often and made sure we had flowers and such?" James asked the goblin.
"Well, you see, Dumbledore wanted to celebrate your sacrifice, so he made sure there was a grave for anyone wishing to pay their respects to you. Technically speaking there are no bones beneath that stone." Griphook explained. "He also had a statue placed in honor of your memory in Godrics Hollow. Made a big show of it to be exact."
"Okay so let's back track for a minute." James said calmly while trying to piece things together. "You said you have open communication with the gnomes, is there a possibility that we would be able to get the ten years of funds reimbursed to us as they were not properly used?"
Griphook confirmed that they would in fact be able to challenge the first ten years of misuse and that since Harry turned eleven there have been smaller withdrawals made and transferred by Dumbledore that would be reimbursed as well, obviously he couldn't know when Harry was going to take gold out so didn't grab the full amount.
Griphook, who reminded them that he only took care of the trust fund, asked the Potters to withhold any recommendations of punishment for Dumbledore until they spoke with their main financial account manager as they have some issues that Gringotts would like to address with them as well.
Lily turned to Amelia who had been silent for this entire exchange, "Ami, do you have some more time I know I said this would be roughly an hour and we are approaching the two-hour mark."
Looking at her watch Amelia answered. "No problem, Lily, when you explained about the missing funds, I accounted for a longer time frame as I know the Goblins are very thorough. I'll just sent an owl off to cancel my auror meeting for this afternoon, Kingsley can handle it and I'll be clear for the rest of the day, it looks like we are going to need it."
"Thank-you Ami" James said with a smile.
Griphook waved his hand over a round circular cutout on his desk, a few moments later two other goblins walked into the meeting room, one in a three-piece suit, looking very formal who introduced himself as Ragnok, the other a smaller goblin by the name of Bloodax who had a tray full of refreshments.
"Thank-you for this unplanned meeting after your prior scheduled one. I know you have all been here for quite a bit already so please feel free to have some refreshments." Ragnok waved to the tray of refreshments that was placed on the small floating tray table by the other goblin before he left.
"To be honest, I am no longer an account manager, I have taken up my father's position as head of the London branch of Gringotts after his passing, however I couldn't in good conscious give up your account to just anyone, you and the Black accounts are the only two I currently continue oversee and will do so until my death."
"First of all, I'm deeply sorry for the passing of your father, and second I would like to thank you for your dedication to not only the Potter accounts but my dear friend Sirius' accounts as well." James said while shaking the large goblins hand.
"I remember you coming in with your father when you were younger Lord Potter, I'm glad to see that the cockiness has worn off and has been replaced with a good heart and solid manners, I'm going to guess and say thank you to you to the Lady Potter for the changes I see."
Lily laughed at Ragnoks remarks and nodded in agreement, James let out a hearty laugh and introduced Amelia to him as well.
"Pleasure to meet you Lady Bones" Ragnok said politely before turning to James once more.
"Lord Potter, it would be in both Lord Blacks and yours best interest to have him here with you, would you be able to contact him by chance to meet us here? Again, I apologize for the impromptu-ness of this meeting."
"Absolutely." James said while pulling out a mirror from his pocket and saying the name Padfoot.
"Wotcher Prongs?" Sirius said while ducking from a colored blob that landed somewhere over his left shoulder.
"Hey Paddy, sorry to break up the … umm.. paintball fight? Would you mind popping over to Gringotts, our account manager has some things he would like to discuss with both of us." James said while laughing as another blob of paint flew at his best friend, this time it hit its mark as Sirius was wiping away blue dye from his face as green blob took its place.
Growling Sirius replied "Sure, give me a few minutes to get cleaned up and tell the twins to cease fire and I'll be right over!"
Sirius' shout of "OI CEASE FIRE" could just barley be heard as he hung up the mirror, much to the laughs of everyone in the meeting room.
True to his word, Sirius entered the meeting room, free of paint, roughly ten minutes later.
"Oi, Prongs ole friend, you'll never believe what those pranking twinsters have gotten their hands on!" Sirius said with a laugh.
"Later Padfoot, I'd rather get to the meat and potatoes of this meeting first if you don't mind." James said with a smile.
"Sure thing, how can I help Sir?" Sirius asked Ragnok while shaking his hand.
"Good day Lord Black, thank you for meeting with us on such short notice. When Griphook mentioned that he was meeting the Potters today to go over their son's banking transactions on his trust account, I had asked him to include me in."
Everyone nodded waiting for Ragnok to continue.
"You see my Lords, there has been some peculiar withdraws from several of your accounts along with some weird contracts and dealings." Ragnok explained.
"The Longbottom trust for example, has the same type of activity as the Potters, now Lady Potter, you had this account set up for your godson Neville, correct?"
Cursing under her breath Lily could do nothing but nod.
"Well although it was much smaller than Harry's it still had a substantial amount in it and would be accessible to Neville if his parents were not able to care for him."
Nodding, so far nothing sounded out of place and signaled for Ragnok to continue.
"Seeing as Neville's parents have not been able to take care of him since the same time you both disappeared, the control of that account would go to the caregiver of Harry's guardian until such time as Harry himself can take care of it."
Lily was furious now, "I take it Dumbledore took control and withdrew the amount each month that it renewed?"
"That is correct. Neville nor Harry knew of this account I'm guessing." Ragnok said plainly.
"What happened to Frank and Alice? I noticed you said unable to care for him, not deceased. We know that Neville is raised by his grandmother." James asked solemnly.
"Bellatrix LeStrange used the cruciatus curse on Frank and Alice until they were lost within their own minds." Amelia answered his question before Ragnok. The pain in her voice could be felt.
"Correct, we offered to help treat them all those years ago, but the previous Minister for Magic refused, stating something about interspecies help was not needed." Ragnok looked disgusted even saying that.
"You're kidding me, you and your colleagues have a cure for over exposure to the torture curse? Even more so you offered help to a pair of well recognized aurors and the Minister himself turned you down due to you being Goblin?" Amelia was furious.
"That is correct Lady Bones, that curse was originally designed for goblins you see, to break us during the many wars our people have had, however we are stronger than we look and only had mild reactions to the curse itself. The children of our race however had not built up the tolerance that adults carry to pain."
"NO!" Lilly gasped.
"Sadly, yes, my Lady, you see, we goblins are a proud race, but we put our families first and foremost. The easiest way to break a goblin is through their children. This is why you no longer see a goblin child anywhere in public. They are safely protected in our catacombs." Ragnok saw the tears building up in Lily's eyes.
"Of course, that curse being used on any child, no matter their race should be a death sentence."
Seeing the group nod in agreement, Ragnok continued, "So, we took matters into our own hands. We had a couple children live through the curse, but we discovered that to protect themselves the children created protective space that their minds descended into. Our elders had to create a potion-based regime to safely bring them back at a slow pace so as not to damage their already fragile minds."
"I can't believe that the Minister would ignore help." Amelia said in shock, then thought better of it. "Actually, with everything that happened with Sirius, I take that back, this smells of Dumbledore and Bagnold."
"Leader Ragnok, is there anything we can do to help our friends now? We would be willing to pay for their treatments if you are still willing to help. We would of course understand if you chose not to help at this time." Lily asked politely with James nodding his approval.
"I'd help with the cost too, might as well use the Black fortune for something good, make my dear old mum roll over in her grave." Sirius added.
"Sadly, I am unsure if the potion would work now, given the amount of time they have been in such a state. But I will discuss this with our elders to check and see what, if anything can be done." Ragnok replied.
"Thank-you Ragnok, we appreciate that more than you can know. Now we had discussed with Griphook about getting back all the funds from Harry's account, would we be able to do the same with Neville's?" Lily asked.
"Of course, in fact we were going to recommend it." Ragnok replied.
"Fantastic, I would like all those funds recovered go to any research or fee's that are required to help out the Longbottom's. Anything that is left over if successful could you please have it donated to a children's fund for your youngsters, it could go for whatever they would want, be that education, medical, or just plain fun." Lily said with a smile, not having to check with her husband for support she knew he would be on board one hundred percent.
"Of course, my Lady, I cannot express my gratitude for your generous donation." Ragnok said with emotion laced in his voice. These are very different wand holders; I knew I did right holding onto these accounts. They are all special the older goblin thought to himself.
"Now, outside of the youngsters accounts, we have noticed some other discrepancies that we would like to go over." Ragnok said while he pulled a rather long piece of parchment from his coat pocket.
"Since Lord Black listed Harry as his heir, his guardian would also have access to"
"To my entire vault." Sirius said with a sigh. "I made sure that Harry could access whatever he needed, I didn't create a trust fund or anything. So, what did I end up losing to the old goat?"
"Well, very little money was withdrawn, it was mostly objects removed and placed within a separate vault after you obtained your parents vault, some money was used to buy a property that has been in use under wards since Harry was roughly five years old." Ragnok read off the list.
Sirius nodded and asked him to continue.
"It looks like the objects included are several sets of dragon skin vests and coats, a goblin made knife set, most of the Black Library, and a motorbike. The property lays in Little Whinging, we had assumed this was the property that Harry was residing at, however upon further investigation this week we have discovered it is occupied by what your people would call a squib, a Ms. Arabella Figg to be exact."
Looking up from his papers, Ragnok was met with shocked faces. Sirius was the only one who didn't seem surprised, instead he was just shaking his head.
"The stuff he took, it was placed in another vault here at Gringotts?" Sirius asked, all business now, the jovial tone was long gone, replaced by Lord Black.
"Correct my Lord, except for the books, I'm guessing those are in his personal library" Ragnok said.
"Excellent" Sirius clapped his hands together, bringing the others out of their shock, "Please have all the contents that were in my vault moved back with an itemized list, I will also need a new set of keys made up obviously."
Pausing to look at his best friend Sirius continued.
"Three keys should be enough, I would like to set for James and Lily as well as Remus Lupin as authorized holders of my vault, should anything happen, they can do with it as they please, full access at all times. Harry is also to be given a key to a smaller vault that will always contain at minimum five thousand galleons. He can withdraw the full amount once a day if he wishes. Harry and Harry alone will be allowed to use that key, no guardian is to have access to this vault, ever."
"Sirius, that's too much! Harry already has his own vault" Lily said while looking towards her husband for support.
"You're right Lils, he does have his own vault, however this is for fun money, broom money, hell even date…" He paused once more looking at his best friend and his wife.
"Ragnok, on second thought, I would like Hermione Granger to also have full access to Harry's vault as well, please set her up with her own key, same rules apply. Together they will be allowed to withdraw five thousand galleons each day if needed." Sirius said smiling.
"On top of that, Arabella can continue to live in the home unless she wishes otherwise. Once she decides to move however, I would like the house sold and all equity to be split evenly and donated to the fund Lily set up for the goblin youth, unless you lot have an orphanage, in which case I would like to create an account for them and then the rest goes to the magical orphanage here in the Alley."
Ragnok couldn't believe the generosity from the people seated in front of him. Never had a witch or wizard donated to the goblins any sort of funds, especially not the children, they would be thrilled. Writing down his wishes Ragnok continued to be amazed by Sirius.
"Furthermore, anything not found in that second vault will need to be returned to me, if we are unable to obtain any object taken then I want the person held responsible, penalized and dealt with by goblin law." Sirius mentally ticked off everything in his head making sure he wasn't forgetting anything.
"OH!" Sirius stated suddenly, "And I will of course pay any fees to your fine establishment for all the work you will no doubt be putting forward in this endeavor."
"Thank-you Lord Black, we will of course get started on this right away." Ragnok said with a smile.
There were two things that Sirius did that pleased the head goblin tremendously, first and foremost he didn't demand anything for free, many wizards treat goblins as their personal servants not much better than house elves. This usually never works out in their favor however, as the goblins will only put in the most minimal amount of effort into the assigned tasks at a higher-than-normal fee.
For clients like Sirius however, when they understand that services are not free, and don't even wait for the goblins to give out a number for said services they just understand that payment will be required. Well for them, they will put their all in, normally resulting in an excellent outcome and a very minimal fee.
The second thing that Sirius did was offer up the guilty party to Goblin law. This is something not many know about, goblins are seen as bankers only, however they have many different branches underground and are still very skilled defense masters and warriors. Goblin Law can only be allowed if the witch or wizard asks for it. Having the head of the Auror department here sealed that in stone.
Sirius got up to leave once more shaking Ragnoks hand then bowing.
"Thank-you Ragnok, may your enemies fall at your blade" Sirius said before exiting.
Make that three things. Ragnok thought to himself with a chuckle. Sirius was winning major brownie points with his society and didn't appear to even notice, if he did notice he didn't care that he was giving respect out to a "lesser species". Which made Ragnoks day, well that and the spot of blue paint on the back of his robes that made the old goblin chuckle.
"Thank-you Lord and Lady Potter, and Lady Bones, once more for meeting with me on such short notice. I am sure we have all come out of this meeting with more positives than negatives. I will investigate the Longbottom situation and will get back with you as soon as possible, we should have an answer no later than tomorrow evening." Ragnok said releasing the rest of the group from the meeting.
"Thank-you, we would also appreciate the same actions be taken with our vault, recover any and all possible funds and objects, we would also like to proceed with goblin law. We will of course pay any fees associated with this." James smiled at the goblin leader.
"May your vault overflow with gold Leader Ragnok" Lily said curtsying while getting up to leave.
"Yes, may your day be extremely profitable Leader Ragnok. Please let me know if there is anything the Aurors can assist you on, I would like to approach a better working relationship with Gringotts and the Ministry's Auror Department." Amelia said before also bowing to leave.
Ragnok sat still for a few moments in the empty meeting room. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought about what he was thinking of doing. He thought about his father and what his reactions to today's meeting would have been.
Shocked, he was sure. He knew damn well he was shocked to his core.
"Griphook!" the leader of the goblins spoke.
"Yes sir?" came the squeaky voice from the doorway.
Gather the elders and ask them to join me here, I would like for it to happen within the hour. Also please see to this list of details for Lords Potter and Black." Handing off the list to Griphook, Ragnok started to make another list.
This one for his reasons on wanting to induct the group into friendship status, allowing them access to see what their money would be going towards. Something that hasn't been done since Merlin's era. The children are going to be ecstatic, hell he was ecstatic.
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*
"Who is it Mipsy?" Augusta Longbottom asked her house elf when she heard the floo activate. She wasn't expecting any visitors.
"Lord and Lady Potter ma'am." The little elf replied.
"Merlin's beard, show them in, show them in!" Augusta cried, then she started to organize herself. Walking to her window she opened it and called out to the greenhouses, "Neville! Please wash up and meet me in the lounge, we have guests!"
A distant "Yes Gram!" Could be heard along with some shuffling. Smiling Augusta was excited to introduce Neville to his Godmother.
"Augusta!" Lily gasped walking through the fireplace, arms open rushing towards the older witch. "I'm so sorry we didn't pop over right away!"
"Oh Lily! I almost died when I saw you walk into the court room the other day! Gave me a right fright!" Augusta said while hugging the thin woman.
"I know! We were going for impact, no one had known we survived, and we wanted to keep it that way for a bit! How are you?" the red head asked as the floo activated and James Potter stepped through with a younger version of himself and a bushy haired young lady.
"Well, you certainly did that." She said with a smile. "Now who do we have here James?"
"Augusta, so nice to see you again" James said kissing her hand. "This is my son.. Har" but he couldn't finish.
Neville had just walked in and ran up to the pair, "Harry! Hermione! What are you doing here?" the question was asked while doling out a hug and pat on the back.
"Hi Neville!" Hermione said with a smile, "You have dirt on you nose… just there" she said pointing to her face.
Neville blushed and wiped his face, "did I get it?"
"Yup" Harry said giving a thumbs up. "Working on your Herbology homework I take it?"
Neville nodded before turning to his grandmother, "Gram, could I show Harry and Hermione my greenhouses?"
Augusta smiled, seeing Neville with friends was her dream come true, and the pair in front of her seemed to know her grandson's passion for plants and herbology, meaning they weren't just classmates but actual friends. She had heard the names used often enough, but was pleased to see the bonds between the trio.
"Actually dear, there is someone I would like to introduce you to before you lot head off."
Neville nodded and stepped back to be side by side with his grandmother, "Okay."
Neville's body language changed to one more formal and obedient.
"Lily, I would like to present to you for only the second time, your godson, Neville Longbottom." Augusta said voice cracking, while holding back some tears.
Neville paused, his mouth dropped open as he looked between the pretty red head and Harry. Back and forth his eyes went several times before landing on James as well.
"Ha-harry?" Neville asked with wide tear-filled eyes.
"Yes Neville?" Harry replied smiling, he knew this was just as big a deal for Neville as it was for him after being told about his mum being his godmother and what his parents went through.
"Am I dreaming?"
Harry laughed, "No mate, you're not dreaming. It's a long story, but a good one. My mum's been dying to meet you for a couple of days now."
"Oh, um… Hi" the shyness was back once he realized he was talking to his godmother, Harry's mum for the first time in his memory.
"Hi Neville, it's so good to finally see you!" Lily said while stepping forward to hug the shy boy.
Neville had let the tears in his eyes fall when the pretty redhead hugged him. It might not be as nice as a hug from his mum, but it came damn close. James ruffling his hair caught his attention.
"You look just like your dad when Lily hugged him" he said making all the adults laugh and Neville smile and feel less embarrassed about crying.
"Now, I'm okay with you taking the kids to the greenhouse but there is something I would like to run past you first before you leave." Lily said warmly she still had her arms around the lad.
"Anything you want" Neville was curious now.
"Well seeing as though you are now in Hogwarts, you have the availability to make head of house decisions." Lily started but was cut off by a stuttering Neville who had started to back out of her embrace.
"O-oh no ma'am. My dad will remain head of the house with my grandmother acting in his place. I-I couldn't take that away from him, not yet." The young boy looked straight down staring at his feet, he hadn't really discussed his parents with anyone at Hogwarts before, so he avoided eye contact with Harry and Hermione.
Lily placed a hand back on his shoulder and used her other hand to lift Neville's head up to meet her gaze.
"Neville, it would hopefully just be temporary. Augusta can make decisions for you in their absence, but you are the only one who can make decisions for them." Lily spoke with kindness in her voice.
"What do you mean Lily?" Augusta asked.
"Well, we didn't want to say anything until we had a better understanding, but when we spoke to the goblins about some banking errors we had noticed, we stumbled into the topic of Alice and Frank's condition, apparently they were offered help from the goblins all those years ago, but Dumbledore and Bagnold put a stop to it." She growled that last part.
"WHAT?!" Augusta screamed, "Why wasn't I notified of this?!"
"We don't have any information on why at this present time, however we are having a specialized team investigate it, we are guessing the same reason you were never told of Neville's trust fund that I had set up. Gringotts was told at the time that the Ministry wasn't interested in any quote interspecies help." Lily was still piping mad about that little detail.
"What a bunch of rubbish, if Gringotts offered to help then at minimum I should have been informed to make that decision, and what do you mean trust fund?" Augusta stated.
"We agree Augusta, however no one was informed of either event, and Bagnold and Dumbledore kept the information to themselves. We think it has something to do with the Neville loophole that Lily mentioned just a bit ago. Believe me we are working on taking them down!" James said.
"Okay, well let me know if I can be of any assistance in the matter." Augusta said with conviction before looking towards Neville, "And why exactly does Neville need to take the mantle of the Longbottom head of house? Can I not just give the permission?"
"Gringotts requires Neville to make the decision, since he turned eleven and now has his wand, he and he alone can give permission for treatment from them." Lily said while placing a hand on Neville's shoulder.
"It would only be temporary dear; the goblins feel really confidant that they will be able to restore your parents' minds. They may not have the ability to be aurors again, but they will have most of their memories back, and a possible stutter."
Standing up a little straighter, Neville took a deep breath then nodded his head. For his Mum and Dad, he could do this, it was his dream after all, to just be able to tell them about his day and for them to respond back.
The adults released the kids to run off while they gathered what they would need, but asked them to stop back in before heading to the greenhouse. First step in the process was to transfer Alice and Frank out of St. Mungo's and into the medical ward of Gringotts, for that they would need Amelia. The medical staff at Gringotts advised that it may take up to a month for the potion to fully kick in, until that time they wanted around the clock surveillance on the Longbottom's.
After Augusta agreed with everything, Neville arrived back from showing his friends the house and his room, together Lily and Augusta walked Neville through the plan, and he signed the authorization line. Harry and Hermione then followed a smiling Neville out to his many greenhouses to see his plants.
He talked non-stop on the way out and while in the greenhouses. Harry and Hermione were used to him being the quiet friend, and very much enjoyed watching Neville come out of his shell a bit.
"Neville…" Harry stopped his friend, wanting to ask a specific question.
"Yeah Harry?"
"Why didn't you tell me about your parents, or that my mum was your godmother?" Harry asked quietly.
Looking ashamed, Neville answered his friend honestly, "At first, I didn't think you would want to be related to me, who would want to after all? I'm clumsy and stink at a lot of things."
"Neville!" Hermione admonished.
"I know, I know" Neville smiled at her, "I'm worth twelve of Malfoy!" he finished laughing.
After a brief laughing spell the shy boy continued, "Well, after that I just didn't want anyone to feel sorry for me. I mean you had it way worse, your parents were gone Harry."
Pausing to get the tears in his eyes back in order, Neville continued, "I still had mine, they just didn't know me or anyone really."
"Oh Neville!" Hermione wept while she flung herself at him to hug the air out of his lungs.
"Oi! Longbottom, unhand my girlfriend!" Harry said while laughing.
"You two finally made it official huh?" Neville asked still fiercely blushing from his interactions and a bit from his bravery in asking.
"Finally?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, everyone could see you two were a match made in heaven, I think the twins were taking bets around end of first year." Neville laughed at his friends faces, "What, you can't say that betting on your dating life is safe from the Weasley pools?"
The trio laughed and then got back to Neville's plants. Amazed at all the different varieties and danger levels.
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*
Several things happened over the course of the month it took Alice and Frank to heal thanks to the treatment provided by Gringotts.
Amelia had a huge case file into Dumbledore, unfortunately Bagnold had passed away several years ago and could not be held accountable, nor could he testify making things tricky on some parts.
During that month Harry and Hermione became rather close to Neville, he was a frequent house guest at Potter Manor and fit in well with the Marauders. He even had several prank idea's that incorporated his love of plants.
To top everything off Ron was teaching him how to play wizards chess, it turned out Neville was a quick learner and actually beat Ron on a few occasions. Much to the red heads dismay, and everyone else's surprise.
The twins, in their own fashion, took Neville under their wings as a surrogate brother and vowed to watch over and help him this year in school. With all his friends backing him up, Neville became more confident, his godmother made sure to help him in his academic area's where he was once struggling along with Hermione's help, and she also convinced him to get a new wand so that his dad could have his back.
As it turned out Neville was not a good fit for Frank's wand, this was clearly shown with the spell work he provided with his new Ollivander wand, Mr. Ollivander was quite put out that the young lad hadn't visited him when he turned eleven. The new wand gave a huge confidence boost to the young lad.
The other big event that happened that month was Harry and Hermione's relationship status.
It took the couple a few days to spill the beans of their new relationship to their parents. Parents who didn't even blink an eye when told.
"You knew!" Harry accused his parents.
"Yes, and we think it's wonderful news!" Lily answered in her calming tone, "However, we do have a suggestion that may help Hermione and her parents in the long run, if you just keep an open mind."
Harry glanced at Hermione, she nodded so he gave the signal to continue to his mum.
"Okay, well there is a thing in the magical society called betrothal contracts." Seeing that neither of the kids were comprehending she continued.
"Essentially it's like an engagement." She could see Harry hesitate, "But before you start to freak out or worry it's nothing like a muggle engagement."
Hermione sat back in her chair a little bit after hearing that and asked for Lily to continue.
"Well, a betrothal contract in the magical world simply means that you pledge yourself to each other, be that by the parents arranging a beneficial match when their kids are young, this being the most common use or a couple like yourselves where one party is muggle and the other pureblood it offers a certain protection to the muggleborn."
"Did you and James have a betrothal?" Hermione asked knowing full well their heritage.
"We did, not as early as you two, but we also didn't get together until sixth year." Lily explained as James made it known that was not by his choice, to which Lily rolled her eyes.
"What kind of protections do I get by being betrothed to Harry?" Hermione asked shyly.
"It doesn't matter, if you get extra protection, I want it!" Harry said sternly.
Hermione turned to face him and raised one eyebrow, Harry immediately blushed and apologized.
"I'm sorry Hermione, Mum could you please continue?"
Laughing at her son quietly, Lily answered Hermione's question. "Well, the biggest protection you get is the Potter name itself. In theory you will be slated as the future Lady Potter, giving you more rights in the wizarding society."
Hermione nodded and Lily continued. "The second benefit would be to your family, being in an Ancient and Nobel house, you will receive steep discounts on not only your schooling, but anything you buy in the ally or in Hogsmeade. As well as generous discounts on any loans your parents might have in the muggle world."
"That is so ridiculous, I understand my benefit, but I'm just thinking about all my muggle raised friends at Hogwarts that are getting the short end of the stick!" Hermione huffed.
"I know dear, it's something James and I were fighting for before this whole Lord Voldemort business." Lily said while waving off the name that people today feared like it was nothing.
Hermione understood and vowed to assist after everything was said and done, to make needed changes to their society. They just had to get rid of a certain dark lord first.
Looking at her parents, Hermione was surprised to see their calm faces.
"I'm assuming that you two discussed this with Harry's parents well before this conversation then?" Hermione asked.
"Of course, sweetheart, otherwise I think your father would be having a fit right now." Jean said laughing, "We talked in depth with James and Lily for close to two weeks. We are comfortable with this if you are. But please don't feel pressured into it."
"We will be fine either way." Her father added.
Hermione turned towards Harry to gage his reaction. She saw nothing but love and happiness on his face. Smiling she nodded.
"Hermione, would you please do me the honor of becoming my betrothed?" Harry asked formally.
All four parents were smiling when Hermione accepted, then the Grangers gasped when a ring showed up on her right ring finger.
"Oh Hermione! It's beautiful!" Jeans said.
"When you officially become engaged you will receive a ring to wear on your left hand, for now this is for lack of a better term a promise ring. It binds you into our family and allows you access to everything that Harry has." James explained.
With tears in her eyes Hermione gazed at the beautiful ruby that sat in the paws of two griffins. It was perfect.
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*
Neville was nervous, in fact he was more than nervous, he was slowly approaching a Professor Snape's potion class level of anxiety.
Today was the day he was going to be reintroduced to his parents. They had already been re-introduced to his Gram and Amelia; the goblins thought it would be easier to re-introduce people who might not have changed as dramatically first.
He wasn't a baby anymore after all, they had lost so much time together, and the goblins wanted to make sure their minds could handle that news.
Harry greeted Neville jovially in the hallway leading to his parents' quarters. He would be able to watch through a one-way mirror, as his reintroduction to his godmother would be happening withing the next few days as well.
"How's it going mate?" Harry asked with a huge smile on his face. As a whole both families have gotten much closer, the Weasley's included.
"I feel like I'm going to chuff to be honest." Neville answered with a groan.
"Deep breaths Neville, deep breaths." Harry encouraged.
Nodding and doing as he was told, Neville patted Harry on his back before heading down the hallway to meet with Rockgrip, the goblin in charge of his parents' treatment.
"Greetings young one" the old goblin greeted.
"Hi Rockgrip, may all your patients heal quickly" Neville said while bowing.
Rockgrip didn't think he would ever get used to this lot of wizards, they were by far the politest, and most generous group of wand users he had ever met. He was told of their generosity to the children of his race as well, as he is to understand they will be having a Children's Faire soon, this hasn't been done in a century and children were flooding in from all over to attend.
"Are you ready to meet your parents young Neville?" he asked quietly.
A nod was all he received as Rockgrip turned to open the door and usher in the lad.
"Neville!" Alice cried as she ran towards her baby with her arms open.
Frank stayed seated in his chair, his legs not fully recovered from his torture just yet, but had tears in his eyes watching his wife hug their only child.
"Hi mum" was all Neville was able to choke out before he broke down in tears, squeezing his mum tighter and burying himself deeper into the hug.
"Oh baby, we've missed so much of your life. Come sit and tell us all about it." Alice led him to a couch near Frank.
The trio sat and talked for well over two hours. The whole time Neville held his mother's hand and felt his father pat him on the back. It was his dream come true.
There wasn't a dry eye in the entire room behind the one-way mirror. Harry, Amelia, James, Lily, Sirius, Remus and Augusta all needed a tissue as they listened to Neville tell his parents all about himself.
One by one, each member of the group was re-introduced to the Longbottom's, it was James and Lily that had the greatest impact though. The last that Alice and Frank knew they were dead, and Albus had told them it was safe to come out of hiding. That was the night that they were brutally attacked by Bellatrix and her gang.
It seemed almost too well planned, too much of a coincidence, and with Albus being the one to give them the okay, well that just didn't sit right with Amelia. There was something behind this attack that screamed set up, and she was going to find out.