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Chapter 13
The week after Harry's visit to the bank, two important events happened. On Monday, Harry got his response from Gringotts; they had accepted his proposal. There were a few minor tweaks to the contract, but nothing Harry hadn't expected and nowhere near as aggressive as the bank had a reputation of being. It just went to show how eager they were to have the goblin artefacts back. As soon as Harry signed the contract and sent it back, then the work would begin. That was all Harry could do for a while. The next part of his plan required him making a speech before the Wizengamot, and the next section for that wasn't until the equinox on Sunday the 22nd. Before then was a far more important day on Harry's calendar, as Thursday the 19th was Hermione's seventeenth birthday. For both of those things Harry had to go see the headmistress again, so this time he hung back after class after having told Hermione he would catch up.
"What is it this time, Mr. Potter?" The headmistress asked in a tone of fond exasperation.
Hearing the professor's tone Harry couldn't keep the cheeky smile of his from spreading over his face. "Well professor, two things this time, the first is relatively simple. It's Hermione's seventeenth on Thursday, her coming of age. Would it be okay for me to host Hermione a small intimate dinner in the Room of Requirement, just me, Hermione, and Fleur?"
Professor McGonagall had looked confused until Harry mentioned Fleur. The Room of Requirement, while not well known to the students, was not out of bounds and both of them were well aware that he and Hermione made use of it quite often. But when Harry mentioned Fleur it fell into place that what he was asking was permission to invite her to the school for the evening. "That won't be a problem Mr. Potter, but Miss Delacour is not to stay the night, and as it's Thursday I don't want you and Miss Granger out after curfew."
Harry agreed with that quickly as the restrictions were quite reasonable. "The second thing is I need to be away from the school probably all day on the twenty-second."
Headmistress McGonagall gave Harry a shrewd look. "That is the equinox. You intend to go to the Wizengamot meeting." She didn't ask, she told him what she had worked out.
"Yes," Harry said simply as there was no need to hide that.
"May I ask why? You may be a Warlock but you don't have a seat, have you been sent a notice to appear?" She asked this time.
"No, I need to make a declaration," Harry admitted.
"Mr. Potter, you do know that such things are for matters of great importance. Whatever it is you're declaring… please tell me you have thought it through and spoken with other people about it. It can be incredibly dangerous," she cautioned harry.
Harry had to keep himself from reacting. If this went to plan then there would be a lot of people trying to kill him. Of course, they would be people who were already trying to kill him, so it didn't make much difference. Out loud he said, "I have talked it over with a number of people. We all agree that it's what needs to be done. We aren't happy about it, but needs must and all that."
"Very well, if you need to leave the school I need a signed permission form from your guardians and you will need an adult chaperone." McGonagall said.
Harry pulled out a letter he had asked Dobby to get from Dan and Emma and handed it to the headmistress. "As to my chaperone, can I just meet Sirius at the Ministry or does he actually need to come here?"
"Mr. Black needs to pick you up and drop you off." McGonagall sounded like she didn't want to let him go for his own safety.
"Don't worry Professor, I know what I'm doing. I have a plan." Harry flashed the professor a grin he meant to be boyish and charming, but unknown to him it came across as more predatory, like a predator who had just spotted his next meal.
"That, Mr. Potter, is exactly what I'm afraid of. Just please be careful," The headmistress finished.
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Harry spent the next few days either in class, doing homework, or working on a Runes project he had come up with. The idea was simple enough: spells like the Killing Curse only worked if they hit you, and physical objects blocked them. Harry wanted a way to do that without needing to use his wand to conjure or transfigure something, so the vambrace of shields was thought up. The idea was to have an expanded space filled with a stack of disposable shields. When he fed a little power into the vambrace, a shield would be switched out and would float a few inches away from the vambrace, positioned like a mediaeval knight or a goblin warrior would wear strapped to their arm. The shield would then keep its position relative to the arm and would block any Unforgivable spells.
It was actually a lot simpler to build than anything he had made before except the first version of Hermione's concealment accessories, and he was using a few of the same arrays from those. There were some difficulties, but Harry was sure he would have the first module ready by the end of the week. Maybe he should show it to the D.M.L.E. once he was done, an effective counter to the Unforgivables would be invaluable to the Aurors with the war efforts.
For Hermione's birthday, Harry was leaving all the arrangements to Fleur, Dobby, and Sassy. He had offered his help, but Fleur had wanted to do it this year. Considering it was her first opportunity to actually be here for Hermione's birthday, Harry didn't put up an argument beyond insisting that he and Fleur keep each other informed on what they were getting Hermione, so that there was no opportunity for them to get her the same thing.
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On Thursday, Hermione woke to two red roses and four envelopes on her pillow next to her head. She quickly opened the envelopes and found birthday cards, one from Fleur, Harry, and Sirius each, and then one that was from both of her parents. Hermione set the cards on her bedside table, and after a quick morning stretch she went for a shower.
When Hermione got back most of the rest of her dorm were awake, and as they had seen the cards and flowers they all wished her a happy birthday. Lavender even offered to help Hermione put the roses in her hair in a nice style, an offer she accepted. It was half an hour later that Hermione walked down the stairs of the Gryffindor girls' dorms, where she found Harry waiting for her. "Hey Hermione, you're looking beautiful this morning. Happy birthday! How does it feel to be of age?"
"Morning Harry, thank you and so far pretty good. What's the plan today?" Hermione asked, knowing that between Harry and Fleur they would have arranged something.
"Well, classes take up most of our day unfortunately, and Professor McGonagall specifically said she didn't want us out after curfew. So just come back to the tower to change after classes, we won't be having dinner with everyone else in the great Hall. Apart from that, I'm not at liberty to say."
Hermione was both intrigued and annoyed by that description, because as interested as it sounded she had no clue what to wear. Were they leaving the school to go to a restaurant, where she would need to dress up? Were they having a party with their friends, where she would need casual but nice? Was it just going to be her and Harry, where just being comfortable while looking nice was the goal? She inquired, and Harry's answer was still just as vague on details. "Fleur has arranged for Sassy to lay out an outfit for you while we are in class. She has Dobby doing the same for me. So, I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to." And Harry grinned at her.
Over breakfast, Hermione got a few owls sending her birthday wishes: Sirius, Ali and her parents, and all the Delacours except Fleur, who Hermione assumed was going to deliver her message in person later. Hermione's friends all came up to wish her a happy birthday and a congratulations on coming of age. Even Professor Lupin offered Hermione his best wishes when he went past on his way to the head table.
Classes were the usual mix of challenge and tedium interspersed with teenagers being teenagers. After they ended, both Hermione and Harry made their way directly to their dorms to change. Hermione found that Sassy had indeed laid out an outfit for her, one she had never seen before. It was a wrap dress that was a few shades darker than periwinkle, as well as new shoes and a three piece lingerie set. Both the lingerie and the dress had already been modified to accommodate her tail. The dress would look decent enough in most situations, and unlike a lot of nice clothes looked increasingly comfortable.
After a quick shower and change, Hermione went down the stairs to look for Harry, only to find he wasn't waiting for her like she had expected. That was unusual, and Hermione was worried for a moment until Harry, dressed in a dark blue suit with a shirt that matched the colour of her dress, came barreling down the boys stairs looking a little rushed. Seeing that Hermione was already waiting for him, he quickly apologised. "Sorry I'm late, I had some last minute Stepping to do for Fleur," he whispered to her before kissing her on the cheek and saying louder. "You look absolutely amazing." He then offered Hermione his arm, which she took, and led her out of the common room.
Fleur was waiting on the seventh floor outside the Room of Requirement. She was wearing a wrap dress that was almost identical to Hermione's, save for the fact that it was the same dark blue as Harry's suit. As soon as Harry and Hermione reached their girlfriend, Fleur pulled Hermione into a passionate kiss that had her toes curling in her new high heeled shoes. As soon as she broke the kiss, Fleur excitedly said, "Bon anniversaire, happy birthday. That dress looks fantastic on you, I knew it would when I saw it in the store, and when I saw the other one I just knew what I had to do." As she talked, Fleur opened the door to the Room of Requirement and motioned Hermione inside.
The room was configured like a five star hotel suite. There were large French windows along the far wall looking out on a scene that was a mix of lush green forest and numerous waterfalls while the sun slowly set in the background. On a table in the middle of the room was a stack of presents, and there was an open mirror call to her parents. As soon as they saw Hermione walk through the door, both of her parents started wishing her a happy birthday. Her father's, "Happy birthday kitten," and her mother's, "Happy seventeenth Hermione!" blended together into one congratulations.
For the next few minutes everyone talked, Hermione showed off her new dress for her parents - well, more her mum, her dad made the right noises and nodded but he would have done the same if Hermione was modelling an old muddy burlap sack. Then it was on to opening presents. Hermione opened one from her parents first. After ripping all the paper off a shoe box-sized gift, Hermione found a stack of shrunken books in a box. She had to squint a little to read the titles, and could only read a few. Game of Thrones, the first book in a new series; Bridget Jones's Diary, a fictional diary that the cover claimed to be hilariously funny; and The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, that was another first book of a series. There were quite a few more but if hermione focused on them she would be here for quite a while.
Next was Harry's gift, and like her parents he had gotten Hermione a sizable stack of books. However, the books Harry had gotten her were from the magical world and were all books Hermione had expressed an interest in getting. She gave him one of her rib crackers as she thanked him profusely. Hermione, being the bibliophile she was, always loved receiving books.
Finally it was Fleur's present, which surprised Hermione. She thought the clothes were her present, but instead Fleur handed Hermione a small present that was just a little bigger than the palm of her hand. Removing the paper revealed a velvet covered box, the type you keep a piece of jewellery in when you weren't wearing it. Hermione opened it and found a beautiful brooch that had a large piece of highly polished golden tiger's eye at its centre set in gold.
"When I saw that all I could think was that the stone was such a lovely match for your eyes. It was screaming for me to buy it for you," Fleur told her.
Hermione responded as only Hermione could, by pulling Fleur into one of her "squeeze the life out of the victim" hugs. "Thank you, I love it."
Fleur then helped Hermione pin the new brooch to the front of her dress.
After the presents were dealt with, Hermione's parents said goodbye and wished Hermione one last happy birthday before they disconnected the call. Fleur directed them to some comfortable seats that looked out over the view the room had created. She then pulled out a bottle of wine that they all recognised as one of the best bottles from Harry's tiny vineyard.
"You know we aren't meant to be drinking on a school night, right?" Harry teased.
"You're still under age, you're lucky we let you drink at all," Hermione teased back.
Smiling, Harry said, "It's my wine. If I can't have any, I'm not sharing." As he spoke, the Room conjured three wine glasses and Fleur poured them all a glass.
Hermione picked up one of the glasses and after taking a sip said, "So Fleur, how is everything going at Gringotts?"
The French blonde picked up her own glass and leaned back into the comfortable sofa. "Everything is going well. Unfortunately one of the bank's clients, and I really wish I could say who because it's juicy gossip, has been filing his Gringotts documents in French. Which surprised me. I didn't think the bank would accept French here in Britain."
Harry cut in. "It's because of one of the goblin treaties from the founding of the bank, they have to accept documents in any of the official languages of Britain. At the time it was written, most of the nobility of the country were French so it was an official language. They also have to accept both Scots and Irish Gaelic and Welsh as well as English." Both girls looked at Harry in surprise at him being the one to know that. "You know, I may have slept through History of Magic class, but I still read the books. Anyway, you were saying about documents in French, Fleur?"
Fleur smiled. "Right, so this client has been submitting his documents in French, and the goblins didn't have anyone who was fully fluent in French until now. So they decided to have me help audit this clients parchmentwork between running errands for ward master Elaine. We are finding all sorts of shady stuff that added subtlety that the previous people who checked the documents missed. It's probably going to blow up soon and wind up in the news."
"I thought Gringotts kept its client's dealings confidential?" asked Hermione, confused.
"They do, but legal judgments are public record. If you are convicted of fraud in a goblin court, for example, it's public record just like in a wizarding one. The newspapers check those records regularly looking for stories. I know this because I have been sent for the records three times already so a reporter from the Daily Prophet can check them."
"So do you think we will be shocked when the papers reveal who it is?" asked Hermione.
"Not shocked, more surprised you didn't think of it sooner," Fleur said after a second of thinking about it.
"My gold is on the Malfoys. They are an old French family, right? I could see them insisting on filing in French to try and keep a leg up financially," Harry speculated. "God I would love to see the snooty bastard brought down a few pegs" He looked at Fleur trying to see if her expression gave away if he was right.
"You know I can't say Harry." Fleur smirked as she sipped her wine again. "But enough of that, how is it being N.E.W.T students now?" Fleur changed the subject before she could get anywhere nearer violating her contract with the bank.
The trio talked for a while as they finished off the bottle of wine. Even though it hadn't even been 20 days since they'd all been together like this, it was nice to be back together. They talked about work, school, and Harry's plan with the goblins. Fleur told them there had been a lot of excitement in the bank ever since Harry's meeting with the directors. A few of the other low level staff had been asking Fleur what was going on, as they knew about her and Harry's relationship and guessed that Fleur knew the story from Harry's side, but Fleur had refused to tell them anything.
After that was dinner. Fleur had arranged a full three-course candlelit dinner for the three of them, and it came with a second bottle of Harry's wine that, while not one of the good ones, was still one of the decent ones. Every course was chosen to appeal to Hermione's tastes. The starter was a prawn salad, the main was a salmon en croute*, and dessert was a rich chocolate ice cream with a salted caramel sauce. Hermione loved it all.
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/NSFW CUT
see best laid plan's - after dark chapter 3 for full scene
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From the shadows, a girl watched as Harry carried a cat to the Gryffindor common room entrance, obviously the mudblood in her Animagus form. She was tempted to try the killing curse to his back, but held off. Potter had survived that before, and if he didn't die then it would be a fight. Despite what the unbound fragment said about Potter getting extremely lucky, Potter had bested him four times now, five if you included the fragment bound to the diary. Her fingers unconsciously straightened the tiara that she was wearing on the back of her neck, hidden under her hair. Getting into a straight duel with Potter wasn't a good plan, better to keep watching and putting together a plan. At least for now.
Voldemort watched as Potter passed through the entrance, guarded by a portrait of a witch who had never heard of portion control. With the reconnaissance over, Voldemort turned to return to Slytherin common room to muse over the latest piece of data, only to grumble and change direction to the bathroom as the body he was possessing made him aware of a need. He didn't care what the others said about the diadem being more fitting for a witch, next time he was definitely getting a male body. There were parts of possessing a teen girl's body that were just too disgusting to do again.
A/N
The books I had Hermione's parents get her were all released in 1996, the year this was set. Of the three, the only one I have read any of is Game of Thrones, and after about six chapters I put it down because I couldn't get into it.
salmon en croute* is a piece of salmon cooked in a puff pastry crust, similar to a beef Wellington in style but with very different flavours.
A/N
The books I had Hermione's parents get her were all released in 1996, the year this was set. Of the three, the only one I have read any of is Game of Thrones, and after about six chapters I put it down because I couldn't get into it.
salmon en croute* is a piece of salmon cooked in a puff pastry crust, similar to a beef Wellington with different flavours.
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