I've been feeling particularly inspired this week. Don't expect updates this fast all the time.
I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I did.
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Chapter 2 - Where There's a Will, There's a Way
"The will reading of Sirius Orion Black is now in session." Everyone sat straight in their seats as the Goblin unrolled a scroll. Clearing his throat again, the Goblin began to read.
"I, Sirius Orion Black, being of sound mind and body, declare this to be my last will and testament. Hopefully, when I died I was nearing a hundred and kicked it in a hotel room underneath two beautiful women…" the audience could not help but chuckle at the words, "…but it's more likely I got shot down by a Death Eater or something. Oh well, time to pass out the goodies.
"To my cousin Nymphadora Tonks…" Tonks shuddered at the mention of her first name, "…I leave to you fifty thousand Galleons, as well as my blessing to go hunt down a certain wolf, hint, hint." Tonks wiped away the tears from her eyes, and spared a glance at Remus.
"To my good friend and comrade Remus Lupin, I leave to you fifty thousand Galleons, as well as all of my clothing and one of my properties, the deed of which will be given to you later. Knowing how frugal you are with money, this'll probably last you for a very long time. Now, go ask the girl out, already you bloody coward!" Remus turned his head and smiled shyly at Tonks.
"To Molly and Arthur Weasley, I leave to you ten thousand Galleons, with no refunds. Consider it my thanks for taking care of Harry where I could not." Mrs. Weasley burst into sobs as Mr. Weasley rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.
"To Ronald Weasley, I leave to you five thousand Galleons. You're lucky to have a friend as loyal as Harry, Ron. Don't let something as petty as material possessions cloud you of that." Ron held an impassive face.
"To Ginevra Weasley, I leave to you five thousand Galleons. You have a good friend in Harry, but you need to let go of that crush of yours on him; you'll get nowhere with it." Ginny also held an impassive face.
"To Draco Malfoy, I leave to you one Knut. And if I have a body to bury, a formal invitation to kiss my pale, chilly ass." Malfoy's face was one of barely contained rage.
"To Hermione Granger, I leave to you twenty thousand Galleons, and all the books in the House of Black. Always keep close to Harry, kiddo, you need each other more than you realize." Hermione nodded her head, trying to contain the tears welling up in her eyes.
"To Fred and George Weasley, I leave to you seventy-five hundred Galleons apiece, as well as a copy of the Marauder's notes. You did an old prankster proud, boys. Keep up the good work!" The two twins nodded somberly, but there was still a mischievous glint in their eyes.
"To Albus Dumbledore, I leave to you one Knut and Kreacher. You screwed up on so many levels, old man that it'll be a wonder if Harry can ever forgive you. I know I won't." Dumbledore frowned at this.
"And finally, to my godson Harry, I leave to you the remainder of my possessions. I know you would rather have me back than my things, but unfortunately, this is the best I can do. I also leave to you the position of the head of the House of Black and all the privileges that it provides, which beyond your immediate emancipation is unfortunately not much. I want you to train, get strong, and when the time comes, kill that slimy son of a bitch! Then I want to you fall in love, get married, have kids, and be happy. And I don't want to see you again until you're tripping over your own beard! I'm told that the papers to finalize your emancipation will be provided to you after the will reading. Consider it a final birthday gift." Dumbledore's frown deepened, but Harry neither noticed nor cared.
"With that taken care of, I wish you all farewell, and that you live your lives to the fullest, because as I have demonstrated, you never know when you'll stop living.
Signed,
Sirius Orion Black, former head of the House of Black." The Goblin rolled the scroll back up and with a snap of his fingers, two more Goblins appeared, both holding clipboards and quills. One went to Remus, and another went to Harry.
"Sign at the bottom, Mr. Potter, and your emancipation will be official," the Goblin explained shortly. Nodding, Harry took the quill and was about to sign when Dumbledore interrupted.
"Harry, I must insist that you do not sign that document." Sighing, Harry turned to face the older wizard.
"And why not?" he asked, defiance in his voice. Dumbledore was momentarily taken back at Harry's tone, but quickly regained his composure.
"As tempting as it sounds to be considered an adult, Harry, you will still need the blood protection provided by your aunt. If you sign it, it will automatically terminate it." Harry pretended to think about it for a moment, before turning back to the Goblin.
"Right here, on this dotted line?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," the Goblin confirmed. Before Dumbledore could protest further, Harry signed his name on the document, sealing his emancipation. Dumbledore sighed in defeat.
"You disappoint me, Harry." Harry just shrugged and walked out of the bank. When he was outside, Remus laid a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Are you doing alright, Harry?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry said. "Dumbledore doesn't seem too happy, though." Remus chuckled softly.
"No, he doesn't. Now come on, let's get your school stuff."
For the next hour, they wandered through Diagon Alley, purchasing their supplies for the upcoming school year. After they had bought everything, Remus turned to Harry.
"Are you ready to head back to Grimmauld?" he asked. After a moment's hesitation, Harry nodded, and soon felt that squeezing sensation of Apparation again, before finding himself in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place, followed by everyone else who was occupying the once desolate manor. Harry immediately started going upstairs, but a gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked in concern. Harry nodded his head.
"Yeah. I just need to spend some time alone with my thoughts."
"Just remember that we're here for you Harry," Hermione said softly. "That I'm here for you." Harry gently brushed her hand off his shoulder.
"I will," he assured before walking into his room and closing the door. Harry pulled his passport out of his pocket and flopped down onto his bed, his mind swirling with thoughts. Surprisingly, they were not thoughts about the prophecy, or his plan of escape, but of his best female friend.
Wow, Hermione's a lot more…what's the word? Attractive? Beautiful? Hot? Where the hell did that come from? But I've always thought that she was pretty, even when she was younger. Okay, I need to stop this train of thought; I am NOT allowed to think about Hermione this way. But why? Why is it so wrong to notice Hermione as a woman? Because she's my best friend, that's why! And besides, she couldn't like me that way anyway…could she? Deciding to set aside this self-argument for another day, he tried to think of something else, but it quickly went back to Hermione. I've always needed her. With the riddle during first year, the basilisk in second year, the time turner in third year, and the dragon in fourth year. Without her, I'd be dead already. Merlin, I shouldn't have been such an ass to her last year. But can I really ask her to do it? Could I really ask her to abandon everyone she's ever known and loved for my crazy endeavor? Thought bounced around in his skull, and eventually, he fell asleep, his glasses still on and his passport lying loosely in his hand.
Harry was awoken several hours later by someone knocking on the door.
"Come in," Harry muttered groggily, inadvertently knocking his passport off the bed while he sat up. Hermione walked into the room.
"Hey, Mrs. Weasley said to tell you that dinner's ready," she said. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Harry said, yawning. "I just got a little bit too deep in my thoughts and fell asleep." Hermione nodded, but her eyes quickly fell onto the small red booklet on the floor.
"Harry, what's that?" Harry looked down and immediately knew he'd been in deep trouble if she found out.
"It's nothing, Hermione," Harry said a little too quickly. He reached down to pick it up, but Hermione beat him to it. She stared at the front with widening eyes.
"Harry, why in the world do you have a passport?" she hissed, her eyes narrowing. Harry opened his mouth to respond when Mrs. Weasley shouted, "Children! Dinner!" Hermione looked at the door, and then threw the passport back at Harry before whispering, "We'll talk about this later," in a tone that left no room for discussion before walking out the room. Harry sighed before putting the passport back into his pocket before following her.
Dinner was a relatively quiet affair, of course with Mrs. Weasley cooking far too much and Ron eating far too much. As soon as the remainder of the pudding was cleared away, Hermione said, "I need to speak to Harry alone," before grabbing Harry by the arm and pulling him upstairs. She flung him into his bedroom and closed the door.
"Okay, Harry, spill. Why the hell do you have a passport in your pocket?" Harry looked around nervously.
"I can't tell you," he said.
"What do you mean, you can't tell me?" she asked through clenched teeth.
"What I mean is, I can't tell you unless I know that no one else can hear us. If you cast a privacy charm on the door, I'll tell you." Sighing, Hermione cast the charm before turning back to him.
"Back to my original question, what are you doing with a passport?" Harry sighed and gathered up all the Gryffindor courage he could muster.
"I have a passport because…I'm leaving."
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Yes, another fairly slow chapter, but it's beginning to pick up.
Don't forget to read and review!
EDITED 1/02/2008 for some added words here and there, as well as altering some colloquialisms in the narration.
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