Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter Eleven

The next morning, after a hurried breakfast, they donned their robes and made their way by the Floo Network to Diagon Alley and Gringott's.

When they had arrived, they made their way quickly to the wizard bank and told the goblin at the door why they were there. He motioned for another goblin who hurried smartly over and escorted them into the bank. Their footsteps echoed on the marble floors as they followed the goblin to a narrow corridor on the far side of the main room. They walked nervously past wood paneled doors and portraits of goblins until their guide stopped at a door and turned the brass knob. He opened the door and with a bow and a sweep of his hand, indicating that they were to enter. Harry crossed the threshold with a heavy feeling in his heart. He'd had trouble sleeping the night before thinking about the will and what it might contain. He didn't want any of Sirius' money, knew he didn't deserve it. But he also knew that to refuse it would be disrespectful to Sirius' memory. May be he could find some way to use it that Sirius would have approved of…

The goblin said, "Please sit down. Someone will be with you in just a moment." And with that he exited and closed the door behind him. Several tall-backed chairs upholstered with gold and red brocade were placed around a heavy wooden table that had ornate carvings in its sides. The table was sitting on a golden area rug and Harry could see a shining wood floor outlining it. Weak rays of sunlight were filtering between the golden curtains and glinting off the highly polished surface of the table.

Each of them sank into a chair and Harry looked uneasily at Ron and Hermione wondering where Dumbledore was. They smiled back at him reassuringly. Then the door swung open and Dumbledore, wearing midnight blue robes and accompanied by a rather severe-looking goblin, walked into the room.

"Good morning, everyone," greeted Dumbledore and then turned to the goblin. "Please meet Terog. He will be presiding over the reading of Sirius' will today."

The goblin seemed surprised when everyone stood to shake his hand and his features softened slightly. They all sat down with Terog at the head of the table. He held out his hand and a rolled parchment sealed with red wax appeared in it. "If everyone is ready, we may proceed," he looked solemnly around the table as everyone nodded.

Terog carefully unsealed Sirius' will and straightened the parchment. He began to read.

On this date, 15 April, 1996, I, Sirius Black, being of sound mind, do record this last will and testament.

I appoint Remus John Lupin to be the guardian of Harry James Potter in the event of my death or incapacitation. If Remus John Lupin is unable to fulfill this responsibility, I do hereby appoint Arthur and Molly Weasley as the guardians of the afore-mentioned Harry James Potter.

I bequeath my house, number 12 Grimmauld Place, and all other material possessions, to Harry James Potter.

I bequeath half of all my gold to Harry James Potter and the other half I bequeath to Remus John Lupin.

At this, Remus quickly leaned forward in his seat said, "No! It should all be Harry's! Albus…" He looked at Dumbledore who shook his head slightly and solemnly held his hand up for silence.

Harry, who had been elated to hear Sirius' instructions regarding Remus, put his hand on Remus' shoulder and Remus turned to him. "This is what Sirius wanted," Harry said earnestly. "Please don't turn down his gift…"

After a long moment, Remus nodded and leaned back in his chair with a pensive look on his face but didn't say anything else.

Terog looked around the table then continued, "This last will and testament is signed Sirius R. Black and witnessed by Albus Dumbledore and Alastor Moody. That is all," he said rolling the parchment in his hands, which disappeared when he had finished. In its place appeared several other pieces of parchment.

"These documents will need to be signed by Mr. Potter and Mr. Lupin," Terog said handing Harry and Remus both two pieces of parchment.

Harry looked at the first one and sighed softly. It looked like a receipt for the gold that Sirius had left him. He looked up at Terog who sensed his question and said, "The gold will automatically transfer to your vault as you sign the document." Harry nodded resignedly and signed.

The second parchment indicated the transfer of the title for Grimmauld Place to Harry's name. He signed both and handed them back to Terog about the same time Remus had finished signing his. Terog rolled the parchments and they also disappeared from his hand.

"May I be of any other service to you?" Terog asked looking around the table.

Dumbledore stood and extended his hand. "You have been a great, help. Thank you, Terog."

Harry and Remus also thanked the goblin and shook his hand.

They were all quiet as they walked following the corridor to the main room then out the front door.

Dumbledore broke the silence after they had descended the steps. He handed a sealed parchment to Remus. "This is for you." Then taking out his watch, he said, "Well, I've a meeting I need to attend so I'll be going now."

Harry stepped forward and extended his hand. "Thank you, Professor."

"Certainly, Harry. I'll be seeing you soon." He smiled at the others and with a swish of his cloak he was gone.

Harry glanced furtively at Remus whose expression was still brooding although a little bit of a stunned look was present as well. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione. "Would you mind going to Eyelops and getting some food and treats for Hedwig?" He handed Ron some galleons. "I didn't get to go on Saturday after what happened…"

"Why don't-" Ron began but Hermione nudged him with her elbow and he cottoned on. "I mean, sure, no problem. I can get some to take to Pig, too. Why don't we meet you at Fred and George's in a bit?" He asked.

"Sounds good, then," Harry responded gratefully as Ron and Hermione turned to go.

When Ron and Hermione had walked far enough away, Harry turned to Remus and said softly. "I'm glad you're officially my guardian now."

"Harry…that money should be yours-all of it…"

"Why do I deserve it more than you do?"

"He was your godfather…you were his family…"

"I think Sirius considered you part of his family, too."

"Still…this isn't right…"

Harry grasped Remus' arm and said in a low but heated voice, "Why is it not right? Why do I deserve it more than you when I'm part of why he died?" Remus started to object but Harry stopped him. "No, let me finish. Gold is just a tool; don't you see? Our world is stacked unfairly against you for terrible reasons-Sirius was trying to level the field. His gift to you wasn't gold as much as it was some amount of freedom! He was your best friend and I'm sure it made him happy to think of you enjoying his gift. What would you have done if your positions had been reversed?"

Remus looked at Harry with a mixture of frustration and pride. "You're right, Harry…I hadn't thought of it that way. But I'm still not entirely comfortable with this AND I don't like that you think you are in some way responsible for Sirius' death. I tried to stop him going that night but couldn't. He needed to come…was excited to come. It was his choice and no one could've kept him from it."

"Yeah, I know…" Harry released Remus' arm and they began to walk. "Hermione yelled at me about that yesterday. Seemed to think I'd taken on responsibilities that weren't mine…"

Remus smiled. "I thought I heard her when I was working in the drawing room. I started to come up but then realized that she probably had things under control." He elbowed Harry in the arm and went on, "I would've come to help, though, if I'd heard you or Ron scream." He looked sidelong at Harry and grinned.

"Hey," Harry elbowed him back. "That'll never happen."

"Yeah, right. We'll see about that…"

"What did Dumbledore give you?" Harry asked pointing to the roll of parchment still in Remus' hand.

"Oh, I forgot about that. Hang on…" They stopped and Remus unrolled and straightened the small parchment, scanning the writing. He looked back at Harry, his eyebrows raised. "This is from Sirius," he said then he quietly began to read.

Dear Remus,

If you're reading this, I must not be around anymore. I asked Dumbledore to keep this for me and give it to you in the event of my death after my will had been read. So, I'm guessing you're a little surprised and not very comfortable with what I left to you. I really don't care and if I can see you, I bet I laughed at the look on your face when you heard the news. I wanted you to have the gold but with one stipulation-buy yourself some new robes!

Seriously, as I said when we talked, I know you will be the best guardian for Harry…maybe better than me as you have always had a more, shall we say, mature way of dealing with things (but oh, the tales, I could tell!). I will miss you, Moony. I thank you for your friendship and all the good times we had. Here's hoping for many more in your life.

Sirius

Remus' eyes were bright when he finished the letter and he looked at Harry with a small smile. "I guess I'll need to stop by Madame Malkin's sometime today…"

Harry nodded and gave a quick clasp of Remus' shoulder. "Sure…let's go on to Fred and George's then."

vvvvvvvvvvv

Later that afternoon, they flooed back to Grimmauld Place. Harry had a bag of things that Fred and George had handed to him before he left. They had included Extendable Ears, Twinkle Tweakers, Mop Modifiers and a new item that that they had created called S.T.B. Chocolate-covered Coffee Beans. George had let them know that S.T.B. stood for `Spill the Beans". The sweet apparently made the eater tell the truth about almost anything for 5-10 minutes.

Harry looked at the sweets dubiously and asked if they had been tested.

"Yes," Fred had answered looking darkly at George's grin. "He was only supposed to ask one or two questions but got a little carried away…"

"Don't worry, bro'," George had sniggered. "Your secrets are safe with me-not like I didn't know most of that already."

Ron sat the bag with Hedwig's food on the ottoman and dug into his pocket to get Harry's change. Remus unfolded his new robes and laid them on the couch.

"That dark blue will look nice on you," said Hermione who was sitting in a chair holding a parcel in her lap.

"Thanks," replied Remus. "So what did you get at Flourish and Blotts?"

"A book…" Hermione said turning a little pink. "Wasn't that a nice lunch we had getting to eat outside?"

Harry turned to Hermione. "So what book did you get?"

"Just a book to help me study…"

"Are you going to tell us what it is or do I need to give you one of the chocolate coffee beans?" Harry raised his eyebrows, teasing her.

Hermione shot him a look and huffed, "Oh…here." She unwrapped the book and held it up. "Apparating For the Aggravated" she read off the cover as Ron started to laugh. "There, happy?"

Remus shook his head slightly at Ron then said, "Hermione you've only tried a few times…it usually takes people longer than that to learn."

"I know," she said sagging back into her seat. "It just bothers me to be the only one who can't do it yet."

"I can understand how you feel…Sirius and James learned before I did, too. But I know you'll get the hang of it soon." Remus said reassuringly.

Harry sat on the arm of Hermione's chair. "The reason I can Apparate is because the first times, I did it accidentally when I was very frightened. After that, I remembered what it felt like and that's the way I could do it again…just luck, I guess."

Ron added, "And I watched the twins practicing over and over even when they were too young. I kinda gathered what the process was from listening to them, watching them make mistakes, and seeing them finally get it. If it helps, it's like gathering your energy-you can kind of feel it-and then focusing it with a target in mind. Sort of like performing wandless magic in any other situation."

"That's a good analogy, Ron," Remus nodded. "Hermione, these guys have just had experiences you haven't, but you'll get it soon. How `bout we put our things away and meet down in the dining room in about ten minutes to practice?"

The three nodded and began to head to their rooms with their things. In a few minutes they had changed and were downstairs waiting on Remus.

Just then the doorbell rang. Hermione clapped a hand over her heart. "Every time I hear the doorbell, I expect Sirius' mum to start shrieking…"

Harry walked to the entry to find Dobby letting a chartreuse-haired Tonks in.

"Thanks, Dobby. Wotcher, Harry!" she said as she guided a trunk through the door ahead of her.

"Hi, Tonks. What d'you have there?" Harry asked.

"Well, Remus owled me that you guys were interested in working out and asked me if I could get my hands on some equipment." Tonks guided the trunk into the dining room. Hermione hurried over to give her a hug. "Hi Hermione, Hi Ron." Then she went on, "My dad had some-I used them some when I was growing up. He's probably never going to use them again so I got them and here they are." Tonks opened the trunk to reveal several sets of weights in different sizes.

Ron reached in and got the heaviest set. "What do y'do with these things?" he asked grimacing at their weight.

Tonks picked up another set and showed him several different ways to use them to strengthen the upper body, explaining about the different muscle groups as she went. Remus walked in the room as she was talking. "Then you can hold them on your shoulders and do squats like this to strengthen your legs." She did several other lower body exercises to show them. "The best thing for your stomach is crunches."

"That doesn't sound good." Ron said.

Tonks lay down on one of the mats and showed him what she meant. "Push ups are also a good way to strengthen your upper body without having to use weights. You can do all the exercises without weights or you can even use things like books for weights, if you can't get to any proper ones." Tonks smiled at Hermione.

"Thanks for bringing those, Tonks." Remus said. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Sure," she said looking at him quizzically. Remus took her arm as they walked out of the room and he closed the door behind them.

Hermione stood for a moment smiling at the door. Harry walked over to her, looked from her face to the door then back to her face and said, "What?"

"What?"

"What are you smiling at?"

"Remus and Tonks…"

"What d'you mean, Remus and Tonks?" baffled, Harry looked back at the door.

Hermione rolled her eyes, then shook her head and walked over to the trunk to get a small pair of weights. "My muscles are going to be shrieking at me again after this."

"Hermione, what did you mean?" Harry persisted still looking from her to the door.

"Oh, honestly…open your eyes, Harry. Sometimes things happen right in front of you and it's as though you aren't able to see them for what they are."

"See what?" Ron had just noticed Harry and Hermione's conversation.

Hermione rolled her eyes at them again. "Can't you see it? Remus and Tonks…" She was met with vacant stares from Harry and Ron. "…fancy each other," she finished for them.

"What!" Ron and Harry yelped almost in unison.

"Now don't go saying anything about it to them…it'll just embarrass them."

"You're mental," Ron said, his forehead furrowing.

"Oh, really?" Hermione's eyes flashed a warning.

Harry broke in quickly. "Why don't we go ahead and practice the…er…Shielding Spell a bit more just to make sure we've got it."

Hermione went on angrily to Ron as if Harry hadn't spoken. "And you are both great blind gits!"

"Hang on," Harry protested as he walked over to her. "Why're you getting so angry about this?"

Hermione looked at Harry then cast her eyes down and ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know…sorry." She looked back up tentatively at Harry and Ron.

"It's okay, Hermione," Harry said still a little confused as to what all the trouble was about.

Ron nodded. "I'm sorry I said you were mad…"

Hermione nodded back. "All right, then shall we practice?"

They practiced deflecting the spells just as they had the day before. Ron and Hermione did just as well as they had before. Remus and Tonks walked back in just before they were finishing. Harry saw that every now and then they would smile at each other and he wondered if Hermione was right.

"You're doing well," Tonks nodded at them. "I'm impressed. Hermione, would you mind coming with me for a bit?"

Tonks took Hermione to the drawing room to work on Apparating and Remus kept Harry and Ron in the dining room to practice Apparating to the entryway. Harry was able to Apparate to the entry first try and then surprised Dobby in the kitchen.

"Aaghh! You is giving Dobby a fright, Harry Potter!"

"Sorry, Dobby-just practicing." Harry's stomach growled as he noticed the wonderful aroma wafting through the kitchen. "Mmm…what's for dinner?"

"Roast beef and mash, sir. And rhubarb crumble for dessert."

"That sounds great but, Dobby, you don't have to use the `sir', remember? Just `Harry' is fine."

"Sorry, Harry Potter. Dobby has trouble breaking habits."

"That's okay. Well, I better get back. Bye." Harry Apparated back to the entryway and then heard shouts from upstairs. He immediately Apparated to the landing outside the drawing room and rushed in to see Tonks hugging Hermione. Hermione saw Harry and rushed over. "I did it! I did it!" She nearly crashed into him as she threw her arms around him.

"Oof-Congratulations, Hermione! I knew you would get it before long." He leaned back and smiled at her as Remus and Ron came quickly through the door.

"Everything okay?" Remus asked.

"Yes! I Apparated across the room!" Hermione said.

"That's great!" Remus replied, smiling. "Sometimes the teacher makes all the difference." He added turning his smile on Tonks.

"Way to go, Hermione!" Ron congratulated her.

"Thanks," she answered with a big smile.

vvvvvvvvvv

Tonks was able to stay for dinner and, afterward, they all sat contentedly in the drawing room in front of the fire except for Ron who was stretched out on the ottoman. The others were sagged back in their seats looking at the starry ceiling.

"Look, there goes a satellite." Hermione pointed at a small light traveling across the sky. Harry leaned his head over to sight his eyes up her arm to where she was pointing.

"There, I see it," he said. "How do you know it's a satellite and not an airplane?"

"Airplanes have blinking lights-satellites don't. My parents and I used to lie out on a blanket in the back yard stargaze on warm nights." Hermione smiled faintly as she remembered. "Look, there's the big dipper, the little dipper, and Cassiopeia, too."

Tonks looked at her watch. "I better be getting home…see you all later." She stood and Hermione got up to give Tonks a hug.

"I have to leave tomorrow so I won't be seeing you for a couple of weeks. Thanks for your help tonight." Hermione said.

"You're welcome. I hope you have a fabulous time in Austria. See you guys." She waved at Ron and Harry. Harry waved back but Ron appeared to be dozing.

Remus stood with her. "I'll see you out," he said, following her.

Hermione sat back on the couch by Harry.

"I had forgotten that you're leaving tomorrow," he said quietly as he turned to her, that forlorn feeling seeping in again.

"Yes, I'll need to leave in the morning to get home and finish packing. I packed some when I was home on Saturday but I have a bit more to do. We're flying out of Gatwick tomorrow afternoon."

"When will you be back?"

"Two Tuesdays from tomorrow, just in time for your birthday."

"That'll be a good present," Harry said with what he hoped was a happy voice.

"I'll bring you back something from Austria for your birthday."

"Can't wait…so what's it like to fly on a plane?"

"Mmm…very interesting. Taking off is a different feeling from landing although you probably know both those feelings from flying your broom. It can get a little crowded and Heaven forbid there's a crying child." Hermione shook her head. "I feel so sorry for them-their little ears hurt because of the change in air pressure and they don't know how to help themselves." She went on, "Most of the time the food is okay and sometimes whatever they're showing for a movie is good. As you could probably guess, I usually read or look out the window."

Harry smiled wistfully. "Someday, I want to go to as many places as I can, but I'd even settle for seeing things right here in London that I've never seen."

Just then, Remus stepped back into the room. "Hermione, Tonks almost forgot to leave this Portkey for you." He held out a large silver key. "It's set to go at ten o'clock in the morning. It'll also bring you back to Grimmauld Place after your trip so put it in a safe place when you get home and don't touch it `til you're ready to come back."

"Thanks," Hermione nodded.

"I'm heading on up to bed, then-see you in the morning." Remus said walking toward the door.

"Night," Harry and Hermione replied as Ron gave a soft snore.

"Sounds like he's gone out like a light," whispered Hermione with a smile.

"Full stomach, warm fire, soft place to lay down-what d'you expect?" Harry chuckled then leaned his head back and returned his gaze to the stars.

"So," he continued, still looking at the ceiling. "Do y'really think Remus and Tonks…"

"Mmmhmm," Hermione responded, gazing into the fire.

"What makes you think that?"

"The way Remus acts if he thinks he's going to see her and remember how he treated her after she was attacked by Macnair?"

Harry turned his head to look at Hermione. "But, he was worried about her…they're friends."

"Yes, they are friends but I think it goes further than that-you should've seen his reaction when he first realized she was being attacked. His face went sheet-white and he yelled, "No!" before he Apparated to the square."

"Well, maybe you're on to something…" said Harry, unconvinced as he looked back up.

"I guess time'll tell. Harry," Hermione turned to him. "I'll miss you these next two weeks."

"I'll miss you, too." He looked back at Hermione and reached over to give her hand a quick squeeze. "I hope you have a great time…be safe, okay?"

"I will."

Harry stood up. "I guess both of us need to get some sleep-especially you."

Hermione stood with him and Harry saw an unfamiliar look cross her face as she gazed at him. It was as though she was expecting something-no maybe hoping was a better word. Harry began to feel uncomfortable in the intensity of her eyes. It was as though he knew there was something he was supposed to do but didn't have the foggiest what that was so he turned, breaking their gaze.

"Here, I better get Ron…" Harry reached over and shook Ron's shoulder. "Wake up. We need to go upstairs."

"Mmmpff" Ron responded and sat up blearily.

"Come on, then." Harry helped Ron stand up then guided him around the armchair and towards the door. "See you in the morning, Hermione." He said back over his shoulder.

"Night, Harry…Ron…" Hermione watched them go out the door and heard their stumbling steps go up the stairs. Then she sighed and sank back onto the couch.

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