It took a few hours for Ginny to come home. Time enough for Harry to stew in his anger and the deep betrayal he felt. Ginny and Hermione knew that he counted Severus amongst his closest friends these days. Whilst he'd known they were both struggling, as others still did, with accepting that Snape wasn't the villain, he could never have expected they'd stoop to such devious and cruel means of voicing their continued displeasure.
He'd decided to confront Ginny first. His boss at his official job in the Creature Relations office had been more than willing to cover his absence with Hermione, if she asked, with a story about another "charity case". Gregor was probably the best boss Harry could've asked for. He'd survived Grindelwald's war, and kept his head down during Voldemort's, so he understood penance and the toll war took on the survivors. As long as Harry's paperwork was thorough, and he took care of his duties, he never minded if Harry missed a day or two on occasion to help whatever poor sod couldn't get by without the Savior's intervention.
He may have slightly fudged the truth when he'd told Severus he was going to Gringotts. Instead, he'd first come home to Grimmauld and collected all those pretty new bits and bobs that Ginny had been accumulating. He couldn't be sure how long she'd been using the bond against Severus, but he figured a year was a decent range, so he'd grabbed anything that might fetch a price that he hadn't personally bought her or seen her receive from friends and family. Since he suspected she'd been squeezing more than favors from Severus, a first-stringer's pay raise wouldn't cover the increased deposits into the account, he'd included anything he also knew she'd spent money on.
Anything the Goblins didn't personally want to buy off him went to the local consignment shop. They'd funnel the funds directly into Severus' shop. Griphook had assured Harry they had no issues transferring the contents of the joint vault into Severus' personal accounts, as well. Harry thought that a decent trade. There were several hundred galleons worth of pretty fabrics and antique or hand-crafted paraphernalia that wasn't expensive enough to tempt the Goblins. It would cover whatever disparity there was between his more meagre contributions to the vault and whatever he'd promised Severus he could use for the shop.
They'd also gladly stopped any 'potential' transfers from Severus' vault into Ginny's. The upshot of having a Goblin for a friend was the wink-nudge relationship between them. Although, it had been a bit of an uphill battle to stop Griphook from labeling her a thief. According to Goblin law she was, but ancient wizarding laws regarding Vassal bonds said it was all technically tribute, even though she wasn't legally a Potter yet.
She really should've considered that she'd left him in charge of their finances following the engagement, when she'd agreed to the joint access to the account. Of course, her greed had been about his own paycheck contributing to what would essentially be her dowry, so of course she didn't think that far ahead.
His luck had been working overtime as he made to leave Gringotts this afternoon, too. Gwenog had come in for a personal matter of her own. It hadn't been hard to talk her into getting a drink at the Leaky, where he'd explained his moral dilemma. Since there was no proof, and Gwenog was the height of discretion, she was happy to use the missed practices as reason enough to drop Ginny like a sinking stone. Especially since she'd just come from yet another practice the girl had missed. That news would be delivered in the next few days, either at the next practice or after, if it was missed due to what was sure to be Ginny's 'delicate emotional state'.
Harry suspected Gwenog was getting a little too much enjoyment at seeing his fiancé get what was coming to her. He didn't blame the older Quidditch player. The girl who'd gotten hurt as a result of the botched potion had been dropped to the reserves because of her recovery period from the injury. No decent captain would accept that level of immoral behavior, no matter how good of a Chaser Ginny was, or how many games they'd won last season.
The front door opened, and Harry stood from where he'd been brooding in his favorite chair in the sitting room. The only chair he'd personally approved and defended when Ginny and Molly had renovated Grimmauld. He couldn't wait to gut the place and make it his home, since they'd little taken his aesthetic pleasures into account while he'd been busy helping rebuild Hogwarts. He'd been gracious about the "surprise" then, but it hadn't stopped him despising nearly every change they'd made to his house in preparation for a marriage he hadn't even been actively considering yet.
"Harry?" Ginny called from the front hall.
"Living room," Harry called back, working to keep his voice steady. Because he didn't care what the pretentious families like the Malfoys and Longbottoms said. A living room was a room you lived and sat in. What the fuck did it matter what you called it? He almost hoped Ginny would try correcting him again, since she was so hung up on joining the upper echelon when they wed.
Ginny wandered in, the clunk of her gear dropping on the floorboards in the hall echoing loudly to herald her coming. Ah, so she was going to pretend she'd gone to practice today, he supposed, leaving him to wonder what other exploitative gifts or 'free' services she'd received. He guessed she had a bag of coins that hadn't been filled from their joint account, and he felt his fury rise another notch as he considered the only person who might've filled it. Fucking martyr of a man probably wouldn't have ever mentioned it, either.
"Merlin, Harry, you look like hell," Ginny said by way of greeting, smiling sweetly. "Bad day at work?"
Harry shrugged. He could say yes, but since he wasn't even sure she knew what it was he did at the Ministry, he doubted it would make a difference. And he wasn't in the mood for playing games or dancing around the subject. He'd just spent the day finding out his fiancé was little better than a thief and slave driver while she was living it up on his friend's stolen funds.
When she made to cross the room and kiss him 'hello' as was their routine, he held up his hand in the universal stop, causing her to freeze in her tracks. "I spoke with Severus today."
Ginny scoffed, changing direction to leave the room again, as she always did when Snape came up in conversation. "What did the old git want now? Begging more charity off you for his shoddy potions shop?"
Harry waved the hand he'd put up, slamming the doors of the living room shut and locking them against her leaving. "Funny you should bring that up," he said calmly as she turned back to him with wide eyes. "Why would he need more funding, do you think? He's the best-selling apothecary in the Alley and receives commissions from across the country and on the continent."
Ginny scoffed again, though there was a nervousness to it, now that she was trapped. "How should I know what the greasy bat gets up to with your investment? Maybe he's spent too much on more of those rare ingredients you gave him for Christmas."
"Or, perhaps," Harry said slowly. "Just a thought here, but maybe he's suffering under the weight of his homage to the Noble House of Potter." Ginny paled. "After all, it's not cheap to keep you happy. I should know."
"H-How did you-?" Ginny fumbled out. "What did he-?"
"Oh, don't worry, Severus isn't enough of a martyr to face the lashing spell should he have defied your orders. You must've set quite a high recompense, that he hadn't wanted to risk it. No, Gin, you just got sloppy in your orders. And, as Head of Household, my orders override yours, which means he had to tell me the truth when I demanded it," Harry explained. He scowled as Ginny straightened, squaring her shoulders. "You deliberately abused and took advantage of my friend using a slave bond, Ginevra. You and Hermione both."
"So what?" Ginny sneered. "It wasn't anything he couldn't afford, and at least we never demanded a physical pound of flesh. What's a few galleons or favors?"
Harry felt his magic pulse angrily at the reminder that at any time his friend and his girlfriend could've used the bond to physically wound Severus. Ginny, stupidly, didn't back down.
"It was all just recompense!" She continued shrilly. "He owed us after everything he put us through, owed you. Did you forget the list of his many sins against all of us, especially you, when he was Voldemort's right-hand man?!"
The magic pulsing around him lashed out before he could stop it, pushing aside the uncomfortable but fashionable furniture and shoving Ginny back a step. "He paid for that! In blood, and tears, and twenty years of serving two masters without a single ally! Not to mention saving my life over and over again, ungrateful shit that I was! Do you think he was never tortured for refusing to hand me over to the Dark Lord? Do you think he wasn't tortured for stepping in against the Carrows, or helping you and your friends squirrel away in the Room while he protected the rest of the students? Do you have the SLIGHTEST IDEA the toll it took on him to act as a spy, while you were playing at being a soldier, and he risked his life daily to keep our worthless hides intact?!"
Ginny scowled, pursing her lips. "It wasn't enough, it'll never be enough."
"Why?!" Harry demanded. "Because you didn't have a hand in it? Because you didn't personally make him suffer? What the hell kind of example is that to set, for your nieces and nephews or Hermione's son?!"
"Me?!" Ginny screeched. "What about him?! You bring him round to Christmas, and family dinners, what kind of example is he setting for them? Or you, for that matter with your naïve and passive nature?!"
Harry felt his anger settle coldly in his stomach as he realized she wasn't going to back down from this. He'd thought bringing the kids into it would open her eyes, since she was so set on having a few of their own. No such luck. She refused to see that what she'd been doing was wrong, and perhaps truly believed she'd had the right to demand recompense from a man who'd already suffered so much. His scowl smoothed to a cool glare.
"I'm setting the example that I can see the good in people, despite their pasts, and that one always should. Him? That it is possible to atone for your mistakes, no matter how great or varied, and that personal suffering is worth less than protecting others. He's living proof that true penance isn't in thought, it's in deed. I accepted his apology a long time ago. I don't know if there's anything you can do for me to accept yours, should you offer it, not after this level of betrayal. I want you out of my house."
Ginny stumbled as if he'd struck her, her pretty features falling. "What?" She whispered. "You can't just- our wedding is in two months! I finally have enough of a dowry-"
"You don't, in point of fact," Harry corrected her smoothly. "The Noble House of Potter repaid the House of Snape today, for mismanaging his estate in the worst way. You're broke, the account has been emptied and closed."
Ginny screamed. "You can't do that! It was my money!"
"Our money! That's what happens when you tie yourself to a more affluent family name, Gin, I own your resources!" Harry snarled. As expected, her eyes darted to the cloak she'd shed on the arm of the couch. "Kreacher! Retrieve the purse from Miss Weasley's effects!" The elf popped into the room and snapped his fingers, calling the decidedly heavy purse of coins from the cloak and handing it to Harry with a nasty smile at his ex-girlfriend. "You thought it was fun to soil a good man's name and reputation, thought yourself righteous in stealing his hard-earned gold. You seem to forget that you also fall under the Noble House of Potter, and by wizarding law I own you as much as I do him." The words left a bitter taste in his mouth, even as true as they were.
"Harry," Ginny whimpered. "Harry, please, don't do this. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have used the bond that way, but I thought if I could save up my pay from the team, I could get my dowry together sooner. I did it for us, so that we could finally get married! We've been waiting for four years!"
Harry tucked away the bag of coins and raised his hand again, recalling the Potter bonding ring, which wrenched itself from Ginny's struggling hand. He closed his fingers around it, feeling the gems dig into his palm. "That's no longer a concern. Kreacher, please ensure Miss Weasley, and any belongings she has sole ownership of, find their way to the Burrow. She is no longer a welcome guest in this house."
Kreacher's twisted smile grew. Harry knew the two of them had never gotten on. "With pleasure, Master Potter-Black."
Harry turned and stormed past Ginny, the doors of the sitting room slamming open with the force of his roiling magic, ignoring Ginny's attempts to grab him or speak to him. "I have further business to conduct with the Granger-Weasleys. I don't expect I'll be here for dinner. I want her and her things banished from this house by the time I return."
Kreacher followed him into the front hall, his elf magic keeping Ginny silenced inside of the living room. "With pleasure, Master Potter-Black," the elf said again.
Harry glanced back over his shoulder to the open doors of the living room. It was silenced, but he could still see Ginny throwing things in her epic tantrum. "Submit a bill, for any damages she causes, to the House of Weasley. I'll speak to Arthur about ensuring she's the one who repays them, if she can find new employment."
"Of course, Master," Kreacher answered with a low bow that had his ears scraping the hall carpet.
Harry gave a stiff nod as Kreacher popped away. He knew the elf would leave her to storm and stew for a while, whilst he packed her things, to wrack up damages, since anything priceless or sentimental was heavily protected already. Wrapping his winter cloak and his scarf about him, Harry watched the silenced temper tantrum as he pulled on his old dragon-hide boots, the new ones she'd given him now waiting to be sold at the consignment shop. Grabbing his gloves and pocketing them, he gave one more baleful look at the doors to find Ginny beating against the ward keeping her in, her face a mess of tears and snot as she screamed silently for him to come back.
Turning away, he apparated to Ron and Hermione's small cottage in Ottery St. Catchpole. It would by far be the more delicate conversation. Ron would take his side in this; he'd accepted the reality of Severus', and a lot of Slytherins', struggles after having a sit-down with his older brothers about prejudice and perspective after the war. But that also meant he'd need to watch his friend's temper. Hermione might honestly be remorseful, once Harry pointed out there was no difference in exploiting Severus versus the House Elf "slaves" she so disdained.
There was no reason two marriages needed to end over this gross betrayal.