Chapter Three - The Will
When I woke up again, I was in the arms of that chubby Auror. "You have a great timing, John," I heard him say. "This fine person would like you to hear your mother's will." I could see he didn't really want to say it.
"Mister Granger," I heard a gruff voice saying. Longbottom put me down and I looked at who had spoken to me. It was a goblin. I gulped, having never seen one personally before. Mother talked about many magical creatures, so I knew the basics. "Mister Granger, I will read Hermione Granger's will." He didn't wait for my mind to process that.
"Could you simplify it? He's had a tough night," Longbottom said, with a hint of nervousness in his voice.
The goblin glared at him, but seemed to silently agree. "John Granger inherits from Hermione Granger the sum of 1,250 Galleons, which is, in Muggle money, 10,000 Pounds. From David and Miriam Granger, he inherits 30,000 Pounds, which is 3,750 Galleons.That is a total of 5,000 Galleons.
"He also inherits Hermione Granger's possessions, which are nearly five hundred books and a cat/Kneazle hybrid by the name of Crookshanks." The goblin took a small piece of gold and handed it to Longbottom. "That is the key to his vault. Miss Granger did not specify any limitations, so he can come and take as much as he wants."
The first thing I thought was that I would give all that money and more to get Mother back. The next thing that popped into my mind was what did my future hold for me?
"Did she put anything about a preferred guardian for him?" Longbottom asked, as if reading my mind.
The goblin grunted and shuffled the papers. "Here it says John Granger is to be left with his grandparents. Fortunately, she seemed to have forethought that they might not be alive for this occasion," he said, without even batting an eye. "Here it says Ronald Weasley is chosen as a next guardian."
"I see," I heard Longbottom mutter. "Thank you for your time," he said a bit louder. He took my hand and led me out of the room. Only then did I notice my surroundings.
The room had been small but looked very good. The floors and walls seemed to be made of marble and there was some gold trimming the door frames. There had been a small desk, made of fine wood. I had lost all of those details because of the shock and drowsiness.
We walked out of Gringotts and into Diagon Alley. I had never been there before. Mother always told me what it looked like, what one could find there. But she had never taken me there.
I looked up at Longbottom and noticed he looked very serious. "Where are we going, Mr Longbottom?" I asked.
He stopped walking and looked at me, his eyes were wide in surprise. I wondered if I had said something wrong... "Um, we're going to see Ronald, an old friend of your par... mother," he stumbled on his words, but looked relieved for a moment.
I suppose he thought I didn't catch on. "Did you know my father, Mr Longbottom?"
"Neville," he said quickly. I blinked in confusion. "Call me Neville, please."
"Oh. Sorry, Mr... Neville," I said sheepishly.
He smiled at me. "It's okay, John." He run his hand over his face, visibly figuring out a way to talk to me. I remembered my original question. "I knew your father, yes," he said finally. "The bravest man I've ever seen." He shook his head, as if trying to shake off memories and motioned for me to follow him. "We'll floo to the Burrow."
From what Mother had told me about floo traveling, I wasn't looking forward to it.
Notes: I know, the chapters are horribly short. Some will be slightly longer. It really depends on John.