Disclaimer: Any characters you recognize from the first 6 books in the Harry Potter series by J K Rowling belong to the aforementioned J K Rowling. I am simply playing with them for my amusement, and to see what kind of reaction I can get.
(23) King Arthur's Vault
Sun Jul 6
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Hermione flashed Harry back to her bedroom in her parent's home and, after dropping their belongings in their rooms they made their way to the kitchen where Emma had tea ready.
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That night Hermione cast a locking charm on her bedroom door as well as a silencing charm, then she apparated into Harry's room. He had already locked his door and silenced his room. No one in the rest of the house would be able to hear anything that went on in either bedroom, but they would be able to hear any noise from the hallway. They snuggled into bed together, and were careful to not disrupt the room. Harry had everything he could think of, stuck down or locked anyway.
Monday morning Jul 7
Harry again woke up first in the morning, he attributed it to the fact that he was getting a good night's sleep, pleasant dreams and all. Something he had not been used to for most of the last six years. She was again rolled into his side, her head nestled into his shoulder, their arms wrapped around each other, some of her bushy brown hair draped over his face. He could feel her heart beating a constant rhythm along with the rise and fall of her chest in time to her breathing. He dared not move or he would disrupt the beauty of the moment. How could a man … a boy … how could he wish for anything more perfect, and yet he felt guilty for enjoying not just the moment, but everything. There was no longer anything of substance between them, no sheets, no quilt, no clothes to speak of, just her knickers and his boxers. He was anxiously awaiting Slughorn's completion of his potion and yet dreading it at the same time. In less than a week the potion would be ready and he would start taking it, then, after two more weeks they could safely make love together. It could be another giant leap for both of them that could happen by his birthday. Hope grew and Harry smiled, then further concerns crept into his mind. He felt her move, every bad thought he had slipped away to be replaced by happiness as he watched her begin to wake up in his arms again. When her arm moved under him he realized that, yet again, they were hovering above the bed. Using a finger tip he gently spelled 'I Love You' on her back. She giggled as she realized what he was doing and looked up to find the biggest smile on his face that she could ever remember. She could both feel and hear his heart beating in his chest as well as his warm body against hers … then there was a sound in the hall.
Emma whispered, "This ones locked."
Dan replied, "So is this one … I wonder which room they're really in?"
"Dan!" Emma whisper-shouted. "Leave it be … you've watched the two of them together, they're a natural pair. Besides, you don't know, they could be in their own rooms."
"And they could be invisible and standing behind us right now, what are the odds?"
"You gave them your blessing"
"I know … can't I whine a little bit?" Asked Dan. "I still remember the exuberant, almost twelve year old girl with her new wand and spell books … I will always like that image, don't ask me to give it up, please … not yet."
"Come on." Said Emma, "I'll make us some breakfast."
Harry's smile had gone flat during Dan and Emma's whispered conversation in the hallway. Hermione's smile had also straightened out as she watched him. "Now I feel terrible … your parents have been so nice to me … I feel like I'm stealing something from them. We shouldn't do this any more, at least not in their home … your home."
"Harry, if they were really against us being together, they wouldn't let you stay here, especially given what they know about us and they do know what we're doing, they're not stupid. They're concerned about me, about my happiness and wellbeing. Harry." She said. "If we could somehow capture that image Daddy remembers, into a picture, I'll bet he would be really happy. I know the day he means, we'd just come back from Diagon Alley with all my school stuff, I'd put on my robes, had a spell book in one hand and my wand in the other. I was sitting on the sofa trying some charms out of the book, Mum and Dad came in just as one of them actually worked."
Harry laughed softly, "Only you, Hermione, only you could get something to work right from the book. Colin might know how to make a picture out of a memory, or Flitwick?"
"Rowena, I bet she'd have some spectacular ideas." Said Hermione.
"We can ask her, we'll be back there in a few days."
Errol, the Weasley's owl, swooped in through Harry's window, landing on the bed in a spectacular crash landing near Harry's feet, coming to rest against the footboard of the bed. Hermione looked down as Errol struggled to his feet and walked up Harry's leg. "He's got a letter for you." Said Hermione as she reached down to loosen the leather tie on Errol's leg. The scroll had Harry's name on it. Between Hermione's left hand and Harry's right hand and a little magic, they managed to open the scrolled message. "It's from Mrs. Weasley … I bet she found out about all the gold you transferred to her vault."
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The previous afternoon
Arthur had been so confused when the Goblin appeared to have taken him to the wrong vault, yet his key worked and the vault was full of gold, well not full, but there was a lot of gold in it, more than would have fit in his old vault. Arthur had refused to take anything out of the vault until Griphook explained what had transpired and that they had to move him to a larger vault to hold all the gold that Harry had transferred to his family. Mr. Weasley had tried to return all or most of the gold to Harry, but the bank wouldn't allow it. Eventually he made enough fuss that he ended up in Ragnok's office and between Ragnok and Griphook they managed to calm him down and explain what had happened, showed him the balance and transaction sheets and finally settled him down. In the end Mr. Weasley took more gold out than he was planning and filled Molly's shopping list with pockets full of galleons to spare.
When Arthur had arrived home he took Molly aside and questioned her regarding exactly what Harry had said about transferring gold to their vault. Then he told her about the larger vault they now had and showed her the copies of the paperwork he had been given at the bank and the fact that he spoke to Ragnok, the President of Gringotts himself. Then he proceeded to empty his pockets onto his desk, those pockets were deep and there was a significant pile of Galleons that overflowed the corner of his small desk.
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Back in Oxford
What the message boiled down to was that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley wanted to have a chat with Harry about his 'gift' and if nothing else, clarify that it was indeed correct before they said anything to the family.
"We'd better stop at The Burrow on our way to Privet Drive." Said Hermione, "And we'd better get a move on, it's probably going to take some time to convince Molly and we still have to get to Surrey before noon. Let's go down and say goodbye to Mum and Dad." She gave him a seductive kiss before jumping out of bed and apparating to her own room. She first messed up her own bed so that it would at least look like it was slept in, then she found a robe.
Harry groaned as he got up and went over to his trunk to find pyjamas and a robe. He met Hermione in the hall a few minutes later and they made their way downstairs.
The four said their good morning greetings then Harry offered to make breakfast. Dan and Emma regretfully declined the offer so Harry started bacon and eggs for two when he found the fridge had been restocked while they were at Hogwarts.
Hermione poured herself a mug of coffee and had a subdued conversation with her parents while Harry cooked. She told them they heard their conversation in the upstairs hall and it made Harry feel so guilty. She told them that they kissed, they hugged, they cuddled, but beyond that all they did was sleep, and they both slept better together than apart. Harry had never asked her to come to bed with him, that was all her choice and she had no intention of changing. She explained to her dad that she too sometimes thought of herself as the excited eleven year old that he remembered and she wanted him to keep thinking of her like that as long as it made him happy. She then told them both, "There are three very important things in my life right now, school, you two and Harry. I don't think I could deal with having to choose between them …"
Emma quietly responded, "You won't need to choose honey …" Emma stopped because Harry turned to bring breakfast to the table. Hermione smiled at her parents as Dan nodded, then turned to find breakfast being slipped in front of her as Dan and Emma got up to leave.
"I heard most of that conversation." He whispered in Hermione's ear, "And I don't want you to have to choose either … even though I'm certain of your selection."
Dan and Emma we about to leave through the front when a crash was heard in the back yard. Hermione told her parents to hide as the two teens ran to the living room where they could see the back yard. Tonks head could be seen as she was extricating herself from the midst of a freshly collapsed garden shed. Hermione returned to the kitchen, while laughing, to calm her parents, leaving Harry to greeted Tonks. Once out from under the rubble, Tonks used her wand to repair the damage, then made her way to the back door of the Granger residence. Harry greeted Tonks and led her into the kitchen where they sat her down. Tonks had met Dan and Emma previously so introductions weren't required. Harry and Hermione continued their breakfast while Harry asked Tonks if she wanted some food.
Tonks said, "Sure." And tried to get up only to find that Harry wasn't taking any chances, she was well stuck to the chair that was also stuck to the floor.
Harry's left hand was slowly feeding a piece of bacon into his mouth while his right hand reached over his shoulder and made a peeling motion towards the stove and frying pan. On the counter beside the stove, five pieces of bacon peeled themselves off the rasher, inch wormed their way across the counter and into the frying pan arranging themselves to form a face. Three to form a circle for the head, the fourth in an "L" shape to be the nose and the fifth was a smile. Dan and Emma, who were standing up, were amazed by the performance and took notice of the happy face, less the eyes, as two eggs lifted out of their open carton beside the bacon to hover over the frying pan. "looking at you or back side up?" Asked Harry as the eggs lowered into the frying pan. Just before they landed, their shells and the membrane vanished allowing the eggs to flow into the frying pan completing the happy face.
Tonks had forgotten she was stuck to the chair as she watched the performance in disbelief, similarly Hermione and her parents were also watching, Dan and Emma had forgotten to leave.
Hermione glanced over at Harry and smiled before commenting, "Show off!"
"Sorry, I was hungry." He said as he finished his breakfast and got up to tend the frying pan.
"How long has he been able to do that?" Tonks asked. "Remus told me he disarmed Mad-Eye in McGonagall's office without a wand. Mad-Eye wouldn't answer my questions, or anyone else's."
"He's been able to do wandless magic from just before we left Hogwarts at the end of school." She replied. "He started out lighting a candle." A candle materialized in mid air between Hermione and Tonks, startling Tonks who was again looking around to see who had their wand out.
Harry brought Tonks breakfast over and said, "You want me to light that?" As he passed his hand over the candle for show, and it was alight as he had witnessed Dumbledore do so many times before.
"Mum, Dad, aren't you supposed to be at your office soon?"
"Oh, Lord, we're going to be late."
"Relax … I'll take you. Follow me into the living room so we don't upset Tonks."
A few seconds later, with a barely audible 'pop' they were gone. Before Hermione left her parents in their office, she borrowed her Dad's cel phone and arranged that they would call her to take them home. She would be in Surrey by then, thus the reason for the cel phone.
Tonks heard the faint 'pop' sound as they departed and questioned Harry. He told Tonks that he was sure the three of them apparated directly to their office and Harry unstuck Tonks so she could look in the living room. "Three people cannot apparate that quietly …" Tonks said with concern in her voice.
"Unless they have a Phoenix." Finished Harry. "Remus must have left out a few details or you were in too big a hurry.
"Who … who has a Phoenix?" Asked Tonks.
"I have access to two Phoenixes." Responded Harry. "Fawkes and a new white Phoenix."
About that time Hermione came down from her bedroom swinging a cel phone by it's strap. "I'll have to pick them up after work and bring them back here, but now we need to get dressed and get going. We have to stop at The Burrow before we get to Privet Drive."
"That reminds me why I came here … how come all that gold is in my vault? I was told it came from you Harry, is that correct? Over a hundred thousand Galleons?"
"Yes it came from me … to be honest; I would have put it in a vault under Remus' name except that he lacks the legal status to own a vault. I assumed that he would likely share it with you, so, for simplicity I had it transferred to your vault."
"Oh!" She said. "I should let Wolfie know"
"Wolfie?" giggled Hermione and Harry snickered too. "And just what does he call you?"
"You're too young to hear it." Said Tonks in a tone that ended that line of questioning.
"Alright … DEER … we've been put in our place." Harry said as he made eye contact with Hermione. Moments later two silver Patroni began to appear between the teens and Tonks.
Tonks had jumped back, unsure of what was forming in front of her. Once she recognized that two similar Patroni were forming she was both happy and in awe of the pair of teens in front of her. She had never seen a corporeal Patronus conjured nonverbally or without a wand. These two were accomplishing some very powerful magic … without wands. Tonks immediately recognized the Stag as Harry's, but the other one didn't resolve into the Otter that she expected, it was becoming something bigger, another Stag … no, it was a Doe. Tonks ran between the deer and engulfed the teens in a big hug, congratulating them for finally getting together.
When Tonks finally released her death grip on them, Hermione said, "We really need to change and leave for The Burrow now." She wiggled out of Tonks' grip and while saying, "Come on Harry … get dressed." Ran up the stairs to her bedroom.
When the pair came downstairs, Hermione transformed into her white Phoenix, flashed herself onto Harry's shoulder, and apparated them to the back yard of The Burrow. Tonks had a hold of Harry and ended up apparating with them.
"Ohhhh," Said Tonks, realizing what just happened as well as her fresh surroundings and never having experienced apparition by Phoenix before. "I could get used to that."
Ron and Ginny came out from the kitchen to greet the arrivals and Ron said, "Mom and Dad are in a right state about something you did Harry …"
"They're not mad at you … precisely … more like they think you've lost your mind." Said Ginny.
"They won't tell us what it's all about either." Said Ron.
"You two are starting to sound like Fred and George." Responded Hermione.
"When you finish each others thoughts." Said Harry.
Tonks immediately broke out in uncontrollable laughter prompting Mrs Weasley to come to the kitchen door and stare curiously at the five of them. At this point the four teens had realized they were all finishing each others sentences and broke out in laughter as well, causing Mrs Weasley to scowl at the lot of them, making them laugh that much harder.
When they had all calmed down enough to be sensible, they started moving towards Molly's kitchen. Once inside they sat around the kitchen table including Molly. Arthur was at work, but would likely be back at noon unless something kept him at the office. Harry and Hermione planned to leave before noon to be at his Aunt and Uncles for lunch so they weren't going to see Arthur.
"Alright." Said Harry, "I guess I'd better get to the point because Hermione and I have to leave soon. When I found out from Ragnok …"
Most of those present gasped at the realization that Harry actually talked to Ragnok, one of the most influential Goblins in the entire world. Not only was Ragnok the head of Gringotts Bank, he was also the chief of the largest Goblin Clan in the world, thus head of the Council of Goblin Clans. He didn't usually see just anyone, even the Minister of Magic had to make an appointment. Ragnok obviously wasn't too impressed with 'The Ministry of Magic'.
"… that I had a ludicrous amount of gold in my trust vault I decided that I didn't want to take the chance of the Dursleys getting any more of it than could be helped should something happen to me. In the last six years it had gained more in interest than I had spent for school. Mrs Weasley, I transferred a quarter of the contents into your family vault and another quarter into Tonks' vault for her and Remus. You should have seen a little over a hundred thousand Galleons transferred to each of you, is that about right?"
Molly said, "That's what Arthur told me."
"That's what I found too Harry." Said Tonks.
"You can't expect us to accept all that gold Harry, it isn't right, you've got a life to live … you and Hermione." Said Molly. Tonks didn't say anything, she was waiting to see how Molly got along with her argument.
"The Trust Vault only needs to last until the end of this month at which time I get access to the Potter Family Vault, a portion of Dumbledore's Estate and when the Wizengammot is through mucking around with it, the balance of the Black Family Estate that was intended for Narcissa and Bellatrix."
Ron and Ginny were looking at each other with their mouths flapping open while Molly and Tonks were mentally adding up what they estimated that to total.
Harry carried on by saying, "The amount in my trust vault, makes barely a ripple in the pond, considering the overall picture. Now I won't hear any silly arguments about taking it all back, or if you somehow force me to take it back, I'll give it all to S.P.E.W. and Ron, the duly appointed Treasurer, can explain what that's all about as Hermione and I are almost late to return to Privet Drive."
Both women looked at each other, knowing full well about Hermione's ideas regarding House Elves. "When you've got us cornered, you've got us cornered." Said Tonks as she looked at Molly, "There's no point arguing with that."
Both Hermione and Ron actually looked quite disappointed. She wasn't going to get almost a quarter of a million Galleons to promote House Elf freedom, and Ron, because he wanted to bury himself in all that gold. Harry caught the expression on her face and smiled knowing that she knew full well she could have that and more if she wanted it, she had, after all, a key to his … their vault.
Hermione transformed into her Animagus form and landed on Harry's shoulder. Harry stood up carefully while saying, "I guess that's a hint that we are on our way, I expect that we'll drop in tomorrow afternoon on our way back to Oxford. Thank you both for not making a big bother about a little bit of gold. Enjoy the gold and I'm sure you can give Bill and Fleur a brilliant wedding, they deserve nothing less."
In a small but brilliant white flash Hermione placed Harry
in his old bedroom at number four Privet Drive, the one she had used for half a night. Hermione unsealed the door and they proceeded downstairs quietly, hand in hand, as the hall clock struck the hour of twelve. Petunia had set two places for them at the table and Uncle Vernon was about to make some comments about their kind of people not putting much store in being on time and delaying lunch when he saw them enter the kitchen.