If anyone reads this fic on Ao3, it's no longer under the account with the same name as this one, but under Yumeori. It's a second account I made there when I forgot my log-in information and it already had most of my works so now they're in one place.
"This could turn out to be incredibly complicated," Chang declared after a couple of minutes of contemplation.
Michael had refused to even entertain her question unless a binding non-disclosure agreement was signed, which took nearly an hour of back and forth and made him glad that he'd brought one of Harry's current reads along to entertain the boy, who was currently curled up on a couch near them and entirely entranced by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Only once the ink was dry on the signed paper did he start recounting the entire situation from the beginning to the older woman's bewilderment.
"I don't doubt it," Michael sighed.
"I hate to say it, but you might be competent enough to get through it," she added, looking decidedly disgruntled at the admission.
"Careful, I just might grow an ego," He can't help but quip sarcastically.
Michael and Ms Chang knew each other long enough not to take any jabs too seriously unless they were made during billable hours. From the moment he met the woman during his first year in Macfarlanes, she had insisted he was too soft and unfit to advise any company looking for a successful merger. They found themselves on opposite sides more often than not, even when working towards a common goal, but he liked to think he'd earned some of her respect over the years. Michael mostly worked as a solicitor in his firm, though he usually dabbled as a barrister for pro-bono cases and by request, while Chang usually worked on M&A and disputes and often made headlines that he preferred to avoid. Rivalry aside, he had a lot of respect for her, which only increased with the knowledge that she worked on the magical side of the law as well.
"If you grow any more I'll have to start looking up at you, so save me the effort," Chang huffed and Michael chuckled. She wasn't wrong, he was already half a foot taller than her.
Even the light-hearted joking couldn't quite break the tension in the room, and the older woman sighed, leaning forward on the desk to level him with a more serious look.
"You are currently less than a second-class citizen in the Wizarding World. I can expedite a Ministry registration, but Squibs are hardly granted as many liberties as full-blooded wixes in the eyes of our laws," she declared. He was disappointed, but not entirely surprised. "From what you've told me, the matter of Mr Potter's guardianship is completely bungled, but it's no use to pull on that thread without a viable magical guardian, which can't be you."
"I'll look further into family relations, there's got to be some alternative," he suggested, "worse comes to worst, we can draft up a deal for nominal guardianship with no power of attorney and pay someone to sign, wrap them so tight in NDAs that they'll sneeze small print."
The laugh that followed his sentence surprised both of them.
"I suppose you have grown up, haven't you?" Chang chuckled, shaking her head, "It's a possibility, but still leaves you open to ministry interference unless it's very particularly worded, so let's put it as a last resort."
"How should we proceed, then?" He can't help but ask, deferring to her superior knowledge of magical law.
"No one currently knows where Mr Potter is, at least according to every article written about him, so there's no immediate rush to solve everything at once," she pointed out, "Let's take care of your registry first, and I'll start looking into the issue of the wills while you try to track down any remaining family. We can go from there."
"Right," Michael nodded to himself, "thank you, Ms Chang."
"You'll be paying me, I'm not exactly doing this out of the kindness of my heart," she smirked and he shook his head in exasperation.
"Still," he insisted, "this means a lot, to both of us."
"Children should be with those who care about them," she looked down at the desk for a moment before standing up, "if that's all?"
"Actually," he hesitated for a moment, not quite believing what he was about to say, "I wanted to enquire about an apprenticeship."
Michael swore he was stared at for a full minute before the woman managed to speak.
"You do realize this would mean getting Treves to let you go without a non-compete clause?" Chang asked, tone tinged with disbelief.
"Not necessarily," he smirked, "I'm not on the payroll as a barrister, so as long as I didn't work as a solicitor for the duration of the non-compete…"
"That's flimsy, and unlike you," she scolded.
"But could work," Michael shrugged and stood up, "besides, can't exactly compete when I'll be working in an entirely different field."
"I'll think about it," she conceded after a minute.
"Doesn't have to be under you," he pointed out.
"Kid, If you think I'd trust anyone else to kick you into gear for magical court, you're delusional," Chang scoffed, making him roll his eyes.
"Not a kid," he quipped as he often had to for the past five years.
"Move it, kid," she ignored him, as usual, and shooed him toward the couch to retrieve his ward.
Harry enjoyed the lift ride up just as much as he had on the way down.
September 7th, 1988
"Is this for me?" Her husband approached the dinner table and plucked something from the pile of correspondence, something noticeably muggle given the bright white of the envelope. He turned it around and she watched his eyebrows climb up, "No, very clearly for you, though it's addressed to Andromeda Black."
"Who would-?" She shook her head and held out her hand for the envelope, opening it with a single motion of the sharp letter opener and unfolding the letter inside.
6th September 1988
Dear Andromeda Black,
I must apologize if that was the wrong form of address, as it was the only name I was able to link to the family in question. I am writing to you on the subject of your cousin, whom I will refrain from naming, in the interest of requesting a meeting. Startling information has come to light and in the name of discretion, I would prefer to only disclose it in person, at a time of your choosing, as your aid could prove invaluable in the matter.
With best regards,
Michael Morgan-Wright, QC.
"What do you think?" Ted asked as he finished reading over her shoulder.
"I think someone went to great lengths to make me think they are talking about Sirius," she hummed in consideration.
"You're curious," he concluded.
"A muggle lawyer, who could only find me through my previous name, wants to schedule a meeting to talk about information on an unnamed cousin," she presented the facts and shrugged, "it's intriguing enough, and with Nymphadora off to school there's little to keep me occupied."
"I'm coming with you," her husband announced, predictably.
"Of course you are," she huffed, it should be obvious.
Her Ted knew she hardly needed protecting, but he was oh so fond of watching her deal with people who thought themselves smarter than her. Her curiosity may have a chance of getting her in trouble, but the Slytherin in her would hardly allow her to come unprepared.
September 10h, 1988
Michael couldn't keep himself from pacing inside his office, though it was an improvement on the foot tapping he had been doing a few minutes before. Getting in contact with Andromeda Tonks - as she had instructed him to call her in the response letter - had been a risky move, and the tone of her reply told him she probably knew something was afoot and decided to go along with the meeting anyway.
"You'll pace a hole down into Rachel's office," Sarah warned from her spot by the door, looking amused but still a little annoyed, "will these clandestine meetings become a regular thing?"
"They're hardly clandestine just because I didn't have you schedule them," he pointed out, shoving fidgeting hands into his pockets, "I'm just dealing with a lot of Harry-related stuff."
"I could still help," she crossed her arms, "It's literally my job."
"I wish, but I'm kind of legally bound to keep anyone else out of the loop for now," Michael explained. It wasn't as if he could go around telling everyone about magic, after all. It would be a surefire way to land himself in trouble with wizarding law enforcement, "I promise Ill fill you in as soon as I'm allowed to."
He had plans, which mainly included talking Ms Chang into allowing him to bring his secretary along if he ended up changing firms and pretty much talking his way into getting her authorization to know about the wizarding world. It was a work-in-progress type of plan.
"...fine," she sighed but let it go for now, "I'll go wait by the elevator."
"Thank you!" he called at her retreating back.
It took a couple more minutes until Sarah announced that he was expected in the meeting room, and he made his way to it with quick steps. The first thing he realized upon entering was that these were a different type of wix, evidenced by their entirely unremarkable appearances and clothes that blended in with the current fashion instead of the Malfoys' old-fashioned style. The black-haired woman he assumed to be Mrs Tonks was wearing a grey trouser suit and white blouse while her husband, a brown-haired man with a short beard, was wearing a dark blue suit with a grey tie. If he passed them on the street, he would be entirely unable to point them out as part of the magical community.
"Mrs Tonks, Mr Tonks, thank you for your time," he spoke as he made his way to the standing couple, bringing Mrs Tonks' extended hand to his lips as he did when greeting Mrs Malfoy and trading a handshake with her husband.
"I hope it won't be wasted, Mr Wright," Mrs Tonks warned as Michael motioned for them to take their seats around the table, placing his suitcase beside him.
"Me too," he muttered under his breath before going straight to the point, "as you may have guessed, this meeting is not about your imprisoned cousin. I need to talk to you about Harry Potter."
"No," Mrs Tonks immediately stood from her chair, her husband following her lead, "I don't know who hired you, but I know nothing about the boy and if I did, I wouldn't talk. You should be ashamed of going to such lengths for some celebrity gossip."
Michael couldn't help but smile at their retreating backs, calling out to them before they opened the door, "Good, because I have him in my custody!"
"What?" Mrs Tonks turned around with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"You may want to start explaining, mate," Mr Tonks advised.
"I removed Mr Potter from an abusive home situation on the twenty-fourth of July, and have since begun the process of ensuring whoever placed him in that household is entirely unable to get their hands on him again," he explained, motioning once again for the couple to return to their previous seats. The woman looked like she would need it once he was done explaining. "For his safety, I will not disclose any more information unless you agree to sign a binding non-disclosure agreement regarding anything discussed during this meeting."
Michael gave the couple some privacy to exchange looks by turning to his briefcase and opening it, pulling out the contracts and placing them on the table between them. They only hesitate another moment before Mrs Tonks pulls them to herself so they can read through it. A couple of minutes later, he stores one signed copy in his briefcase while leaving the other to them. He then proceeds to outline the entire story of how Harry came to be in his custody for the second time that week.
If he's made to tell it one more time, he may decide to put it in writing to spare his voice.
I hope you guys liked that! I was looking forward to introducing more of Harry's family into the story.
See ya next chapter!
it might take a bit cause I'm about to make a trip and not have access to a computer for 20 days so, sorry about it in advance
Edit (01/22/23): I have since transferred this fic in fanfiction dot net from TheQuaintrelle to Yumeori. YAY!