Disclaimer: Not mine, unfortunately. JK Rowling owns it all…
A/N: My reply to the "Flowers in the Attic" challenge by What Contented Men Desire, here you can find it: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26767 Hope you will enjoy, it's kind of dramatic at times.
Thanks to my beta Gingercat!
Craving the Fame
Chapter One: Prologue
"I can't believe it!" Harry Potter whispered, nervously running his hand through his black hair.
"What is it?" Hermione Potter, his wife, asked him as she prepared breakfast for themselves and their three children, Mark, ten years old, Fabian, eight year old, and Alexandra, the youngest, only four years old.
The three of them would soon wake up and trudge into the big kitchen of the house.
"You might want to sit for this" he gravely said, and Hermione, worried, followed his advice.
"Basically, our investments in the Muggle world are going worse and worse. You know about the economic crisis that is currently menacing most of the industrialized countries of Western Europe and U.S.A., right?"
Hermione nodded.
"That caused the companies we invested in to lose huge amounts of money, and while the Goblins have done their best to minimize the damages, three quarters of our vaults have slowly emptied"
Hermione immediately realized the gravity of the situation. "We should have withdrawn from those investments months ago when the Goblins gave us the first warnings" she sighed. The two of them had faith in the Muggles and thought the weakness of their economy was only temporary. They were sorely mistaken.
"The worse part is, right now we don't have enough money to guarantee we can finish to pay for the house" Harry told her. "Knowing me personally, Ragnok has decided not to take it from us yet, but we have one month time to raise two hundred thousand Galleons before the next meeting of the Gringott's Council. Once the matter comes to the attention of the Council, there's nothing he can do to help us"
"Harry, we need to find a solution!" Hermione said, but the discussion was soon ended by them hearing steps in the hallway signalling their children were arriving. The two adults exchanged a glance to say they would continue talking about it later.
--
One month later
"Brother Goblins, the monthly meeting of the Council has started. The Muggle economic crisis has caused many of our customers to lose great amounts of money, and there are some situations that should be assessed.
One of those regards Harry Potter and his family. It is my understanding that the family vaults right now can't fulfil the payment of their house, is that true, Ragnok?"
The Goblin reluctantly stood up and nodded. "They have however managed to raise more than half the needed sum, if we could just give them more time…" he suggested, but the glare from the Chief Goblin quieted him.
"Our policy has always been of maximum severity, Ragnok. You know that very well. We can't afford our reputation to be diminished by acts of compassion, and believe me, I don't want to do this more than you do, Mr. Potter is a famous member of the Wizarding World. But rules are rules, and we must respect them. We must take their house. Now, onto the next matter…"
--
It was so that two days later, five people nervously knocked on the door of a big, imposing manor in the countryside, hoping someone would answer them, and hoping the answer was positive.
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