A/N:You're getting a 2-for-1 special tonight. This chapter kept getting longer and longer so I broke it up into two sections. I'm trying to bring this to a close, but apparently, the characters have more to say. I'm sorry it's taking so long between postings, but this part is a lot harder to write than the starting chapters!
Story Arc 5, Chapter 3, Part 1
Once they were clear of the Wizengamot chambers, Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. Everything went as well as could be expected. Hermione quickly grabbed Harry in one of her trademarked hugs and said, "Oh Harry! I'm so happy you and Sirius can be together now!"
Harry smiled, "Me too!"
Arthur turned to them and said, "Sirius, Molly asked me to invite you and Harry to the Burrow for Sunday lunch."
Sirius replied, "Thank you and Molly for the offer, but Harry and I have some business at Gringotts that morning and I'm not sure when we'll be done. Perhaps the next weekend?"
"I'm sure that will be fine. I'll owl you later in the week to confirm. Harry is welcome at the Burrow any time, as are you."
"Thank you, Mr. Weasley. Maybe once we've settled down a bit, I'll come over," replied Harry.
Hermione asked, "Do you know where you're going to live?"
Sirius replied, "For now we're staying with the Tonks'. Harry and I haven't discussed this completely. I have a house in London that I grew up in, but I don't think I'd want to live there. Too many bad memories."
"Well, please let me know if you move. Maybe you can come over and we could go to the cinema. Ron, you might like to see some of the things Muggles can do too," she said, wanting to include both friends.
"Yeah, maybe," he said.
The group parted in the Atrium. Arthur took Ron and Hermione home. Percy had gone back to work. He'd gotten a position in International Cooperation. He wasn't sure how this case would affect his character in Barty Crouch, Sr.'s eyes.
Sirius, Harry, and Andromeda floo'd to Andromeda's house. Ted went to file Sirius' animagus registration and then back to the office. They saw that Harry's trunk as well as all of Sirius' new belongings had been brought over from Hogwarts. Harry said, "Thanks Dobby!"
The little elf popped in and said, "Is this being OK, Master Harry Potter, sir?"
"This is perfect, Dobby. Thank you."
"Dobby took the liberty of fixing a morning teas for youse all. I'se serves it in the sitting room."
They all trooped into the sitting room where a perfect tea with finger sandwiches and biscuits was waiting for them. Andy served the tea and each got a selection of things to nibble on.
"I could get used to having an elf around," said Andromeda.
"Dobby is the best!" said Harry.
Sirius said, "Did you hear how Dobby came to be Harry's elf?" asked Sirius.
"No, I haven't heard that story," said Andromeda.
"Harry tricked Lucius into giving Dobby clothes!" crowed Sirius.
"How in the world did he manage to do that? I thought Lucius was the definition of Slytherin and nobody could get one over on him," she replied.
Harry launched into the story of how Dobby kept trying to 'save' Harry in second year and ending with the freeing of Dobby.
Sirius said, "And Harry didn't know that Dobby had secretly bonded to him. So now Harry has an elf that is totally devoted to him."
Andromeda chuckled, "I wonder what Cissy said to him when he had to tell her they no longer had an elf."
"I'm sure Lucius was sent to buy another one. I'm sure they had more than one, but even the loss of one would be a step down in Cissy's mind," said Sirius.
"Well, if you two will excuse me, I have to get ready for a shift at St. Mungo's. I'll show Dobby where to put your things. Consider this your home until you find something suitable."
Both Harry and Sirius decided to take a bit of a rest until lunch, then they sat down for some serious (no pun intended) planning. They'd made a few lists while at Hogwarts, but they really couldn't make concrete plans until Sirius was free.
Harry:
1. Meeting with Gringotts
a. Inheritance test
b. Status of Potter properties
c. Status of Potter investments
d. Rendering of basilisk
2. Clothes!
3. Continuing appointments with Mind Healer
4. Practicing Occlumency
5. Summer homework
a. Tutoring in Runes and Arithmancy
b. Drop Divination
6. Training in Wizarding Customs (with Andi)
Sirius:
1. Meeting with Gringotts
a. Status of Properties
b. Status of Investments
c. Banishing Bellatrix from the House
d. Restoring Andi to the House
e. What to do with Cissy
2. Find a house
3. Clothes!
4. Tutoring Harry (with help from Remus)
"Harry, what kind of house do you want to live in? Do you want to live in the Muggle world or the Magical? Large or small?" asked Sirius.
"I don't know. It would be great to live somewhere where I could do magic and maybe fly, but I can always go over to the Burrow to fly. I'd like to be able to have electronics like a TV, too, but I don't know if that's possible."
"Before I went to Azkaban, I know Lily was working on a way to shield Muggle electronics from magical interference. I'm sure someone has been able to do that since then. And we don't have to limit ourselves to what's available in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. We can always pop over to France's magical district and see what they have. Not every country is as backward as England."
Sirius saw Harry's eyes light up when he mentioned going to Paris, so he put that on his mental list of places to go.
"Well, then we'll see what Gringotts says about our properties. I know I have a house in London, but I hope it has burned to the ground and the elf with it," Sirius said bitterly. But seeing Harry's distress when he mentioned the elf, he thought he'd better clarify his statement, "Harry, I know how you feel about elves, but this is one bad elf. I don't know if my parents used some sort of dark magic to turn him into a horrible creature, but he and I never got along. He thought my brother, Regulus, could do no wrong and I was evil incarnate. If I decide to have the townhouse renovated, I'm going to have to do something with him."
"Maybe you could give him to the Malfoy's?"
"That's a good possibility, but I wouldn't want to just give him away. I'd have to get something from him in return. But it's something I will think about. I don't know the status of your grandparents' house. They died of dragon pox shortly after James and Lily were married. It's been more than ten years since then so the house should be habitable. We need to check on the elves that were there, too."
Harry looked horrified! "You mean I have elves that may be dead?"
"It's possible, but there should be enough magic in the house and grounds to sustain them. We'll go there right after we're done at Gringotts."
"Can't we go now?"
"Why don't you call Cassie, the head elf, and we'll see what the condition of the house is?"
Harry called for Cassie, and in popped a little elf wearing a black dress with a white apron bearing the Potter Crest.
"Who calls Cassie?"
"I did," said Harry.
Cassie turned to look at Harry then hugged his legs and started crying, "Master Harry called Cassie! Cassie has waited so long for you to call her. I thought youse didn't want Cassie anymore!"
Harry patted the little elf on the back, "Cassie, I just found out about you. Sirius just told me about you and Potter Manor."
The elf turned around and looked at Sirius, "Bad Doggie! Master Sirius, why haven't you brought Master Harry to Potter Manor before now?"
"I've been in Azkaban since then. I'm free now and I'm trying to help Harry here with his estate. Can you tell me what condition Potter Manor is in?" asked Sirius.
"When Master Fleamont and Mistress Euphemia died, we put the house in stasis. Only elveses can enter. Nasty dragonbug be gone but we scrubbed the manor from top to bottom anyway."
Harry asked, "How many elves are there, Cassie?"
"I bees the head elf. Tizzy takes care of the outside gardens and greenhouse, Hopper takes care of the inside, and Rizzo be the cook."
Sirius asked, "Are you all in good health? Do we need to come there immediately to renew the elf bond?"
Cassie wrung her hands, "Elves be OK for now Master Sirius, but renewing the bond will makes us stronger."
Harry said, "How about I renew your bond now, Cassie, and we'll come out to the manor in the next few days. I want you to meet Dobby, too. He's my personal elf."
"Cassie would like that, Master Harry."
Harry put his hand on Cassie's head as Sirius instructed him and said, "I, Harry James Potter, renew the bond of Cassie Potter Elf to serve the House of Potter as long as she is alive."
"I, Cassie Potter Elf, accepts the bond of Harry James Potter to serve the House of Potter as long as I lives."
A bright golden glow surrounded the pair. Cassie jumped for joy and hugged Harry again, "Oh! Master Harry bees a strong wizard! Cassie hasn't felt this good since she was an elfling!"
Harry looked at the elf who now looked much younger than before and was glad he'd rebonded with Cassie.
Sirius said, "Then we'll see you in a few days."
A very happy head elf popped away to let the other elves know that their Master had returned.
—- Scene Break —-
After a short rest and a hearty lunch, Harry and Sirius sat down and compared notes. While they both needed to go shopping, that should wait until after their visit to Gringotts where they could get some muggle money. Harry had purchased the third year's Ancient Runes and Arithmancy books via owl order while he was still at Hogwarts, so he could get caught up. He'd been lucky that both Professors Babbling and Vector spent some time with him while he was at Hogwarts so he already had a study plan. He could almost test out of third-year Arithmancy just on the basis of his muggle education. He just needed to learn the parts of Arithmancy theory as it applied to magic. He was sure that Hermione could explain that part as well as Sirius or even Andromeda.
Runes was a bit different. It was like learning a new language - or multiple languages. Harry had shown an aptitude for them, so would be working on them as well. He'd already talked to Professor McGonagall before he left Hogwarts to change his electives. While it would be a crash course, his rudimentary occlumency was helping him process them more quickly. Harry had already completed his summer homework (having access to the library at Hogwarts made it much easier). He would devote an hour a day each, Monday through Friday to the new subjects.
While Madam Pomfrey had mostly healed Sirius physically, Sirius knew he would also need to set up appointments with a mind healer. Andromeda was working on that for him since she had a better idea of what type of person would work best with Sirius. Sirius also needed to spend a considerable amount of time getting the Black holdings back in some semblance of order. And he would need to spend time with Harry on the Potter holdings. He really did need to get a Steward who could oversee both the Black and Potter accounts and he knew just the wolf to do it. He got out quill and parchment and wrote the old wolf a letter that he wanted to see him on Saturday to discuss a mutually beneficial arrangement. He'd make sure that Harry was okay with it before he broached the subject with Remus. One of the things Harry's mind healer had told him (with Harry's permission) is that Harry needed to feel he had some control over his own life. Dumping the Potter estate on Harry immediately wasn't the thing to do either. Just as Sirius finished his letter and sealed it, Hedwig sailed into the room and landed in front of Sirius.
"Hello, Hedwig! Would you like to take this letter to Remus for me?" asked Sirius.
Hedwig looked at the dogman as if to say, "Would I have given up my nice nap if I didn't?"
Sirius looked at the owl's eyes and said, "I guess that was a rhetorical question then?"
Hedwig nodded and stuck her foot out for Sirius to tie the letter on and took to the air, but not before batting Sirius on the back of his head with one of her wings.
"That's one scary bird you've got there Harry!" Sirius said.
"Don't I know! I think she believes she's the master and I'm her owlet," replied Harry.
"I sent Remus a letter asking if he could come by tomorrow and talk. We both need some help managing our estates. I know how big the Black estate is and I'm not in any shape yet to take it on completely. You're going to be at school most of the year and really don't have time to give the Potter estates your full attention. I thought that we could join together and hire Remus as our Steward. Now, if you don't want to do that, it's up to you. I plan to use him for the Black estate. But I'm not going to pressure you on this. You've already had an overwhelming experience and you don't have to make a decision today."
"I wouldn't know where to start, especially if you're talking about a large estate. I'd like the help, but I do want to be involved in the major decisions. If you think Remus is capable, then I can live with that. But if I don't like something, I want to be sure he'll listen to me and not brush me off as just a kid," replied Harry.
"I don't think that will be a problem. I think Remus will do anything to make his cub happy."
The meeting with Remus went off without a hitch. Ted sat in with the three of them so that he could write up the contract for Remus. When Ted asked how much the stipend would be, Sirius said, "One thousand gallons per month paid equally from the Black and Potter vaults." Housing, room, and board at one of the properties was also part of the compensation package.
When Remus tried to complain, Sirius said, "Mooney, both the Black and Potter accounts have been left to gather dust for 13 years. There's going to be a lot of work to do bringing everything current as well as visiting the various properties and ensuring they are in proper condition. You are going to earn this, I promise you!"
When Harry turned his puppy dog eyes towards Remus, he gave up and agreed.