Harry, Hermione and Sirius were lead to a nearby conference room to reclaim their memories. Apparently Ragnok had shared the information with his advisors.
They were then lead out of the bank. Sirius and Hermione noticed that every goblin that they passed out of the bank offered Harry a salute or bow as he passed. They looked at each other shocked as to the treatment Harry was receiving in the bank.
As they were bowed out of the bank, Sirius looked at Harry and said, "Well, pup, I think there will be some explaining to do once we get back to the Grangers'."
Sirius sent off a patronus message to Tonks to help collect the teens as they moved to the apparition point. By the time they arrived, she was waiting for them.
"Wotcher, gents and lady! We were wondering what took so long. Stories when we get back. I will side-along Hermione while Sirius side-alongs Harry. The apparition point is next to the guest house surrounded by muggle notice-me-not charms. Any questions?"
Everyone shook their head as Sirius moved to the apparition point with Harry. Harry hung back and insisted Hermione and Tonks go first. As far as he was concerned, the faster Hermione was back under wards, the better.
Hermione and Tonks disappeared with a pop, followed a minute later by Harry and Sirius.
As they moved towards the back door of the Granger home, the door opened and Emma yelled out, "Dinner's ready! Come and get it!"
The threesome moved gladly into the house. As they moved to the dining room, they removed their outer cloaks and robes that they had gotten at Madam Malkin's and hung them up in a hallway closet with Harry following with the suit vest he had worn below them.
Everyone sat down as Emma brought in the food. The questions started soon after. Hermione was up first.
"Harry, where did you learn so much of goblin customs?"
"Well," he said sheepishly, "I spent a portion of the time when I was skipping the divination exam in the library. The meeting had been requested last week, so I knew I needed a crash course."
"Well, I for one was very impressed." She looked around the table. "He had them eating out of the palm of his hand. By the end, all of the goblins were saluting or bowing as we left the bank!"
Tonks looked shocked. "Cor, Blimey. No one gets treated that way by goblins. Right surly buggers, normally. What the hell happened?"
"One moment," he said to the table in general. He leaned closer to Hermione for a moment and asked her quietly how much her parents knew.
Hermione blushed and whispered back, "I might have left a few details out. No help for it now though; might as well get it all out in the open."
"Well, before we begin, I would like to say that any information we talk about needs to be kept here. Emma, Robert, I should warn you now. I can be a magnet for trouble, not that I always go looking for it, but I always end up in it. Hermione, being my best friend in the world, on occasion has also been involved. She hasn't told you all of this in an effort to protect me, I am sure, but you need to know some of the things that have happened over the years as background."
At that Emma and Robert looked at their daughter who was blushing. As they looked back, Harry started telling all of their experiences at Hogwarts and his own in the summers between beginning with their first year.
Various comments were elicited from the others as the story progressed.
"No one said anything about a troll! We were told it was a creature somewhat like a large wild dog!" Hermione headed that off with comments about not wanting to worry them too much. Sirius laughed when they talked about the dragon in first year with Hagrid, but all of the adults looked upset when the detention in the Forbidden Forest was recounted, as well as the large Cerberus being mentioned (although they all laughed when they learned its name was "Fluffy"). There were faintly reproving looks when Harry, with some interjections with Hermione, explained their decision to go through the trapdoor. The incident with Peeves caused laughter by Sirius and Tonks and they had to explain that. The confrontation with Quirrell elicited some looks of horror, and all were relieved that the result was not worse. Sirius pouted when Harry mentioned the last quidditch game that was lost when he was in the hospital wing.
Harry plowed on with the events leading up to second year and what happened then. Sirius looked thoughtful when Harry told of meeting Dobby. The resulting trip by flying car elicited both statements of disapproval and laughter mixed in. Lockhart's antics brought a blush to Hermione's face as she had been star-struck and her parents remembered how she had gone out about him when she learned he would be at Hogwarts. Harry explained he was a Parseltongue and what that meant, and how he had been involved with the first attacks. The brewing of polyjuice and the trip to the infirmary were told with humor, although Emma and Robert looked a bit reproving while they smiled; who knew their daughter could be such a rule breaker? Hermione added her explanation about her research and finding out it had been a basilisk. When Hermione told of being petrified, Robert had to comfort his wife. Harry's adventure with the acromatulas and Aragog were things that even Hermione had not heard details of. The decision to go after Ginny was met with clenched hands by the adults around the table. Lockhart's dishonesty was met with disgust and the adults thought he had gotten what was coming to him. The slaying of the basilisk was greeted with a bit of awe. The freeing of Dobby caused a few laughs, but the revelations about Lucius caused Sirius to revise his decisions and he resolved to speak to Narcissa again.
Sirius became involved with telling of third year and his part in it. The blowing up of Aunt Marge made the adults laugh, while Fudge's involvement caused some looks of thoughtfulness. The dementors outraged the Grangers, who were getting quite annoyed with the dangers that no one had told them their daughter had been subjected to. Sirius apologized for his part in that, but the Grangers blamed Cornelius Fudge after hearing that Dumbledore had tried to fight the decision to have them placed around Hogwarts. The Marauder's Map had to be explained, with Emma agreeing with Hermione's initial impulse to turn it in, while Robert, as a man, was more understanding of the decision not to. Even as a fairly responsible person, he had been involved with a fair bit of pranking and practical jokes as a teenager. Sirius, of course, cheered the result. Harry learning the patronus charm at 13 impressed the hell out of Tonks, who had not heard of it before. Fudge's outright refusal to listen to reason outraged all of the adults. The rescue of Sirius and Buckbeak was met with cheers; no one liked to see an innocent animal destroyed.
The fourth year included what happened at the World Cup. Hermione had told them of this as an attack by terrorists. Harry told of the lessons about the unforgivables and Sirius and Tonks looked mightily impressed by Harry's ability to throw off the Imperius Curse. The incident of the Goblet spitting out Harry's name and the subsequent reactions of the student body made the adults angry, especially about Ron and his disloyalty. The Grangers listened with awe as he talked about overcoming a full-sized dragon, while they laughed when Harry told them about Hermione's reaction when she and Ron had gotten to the tent. Hermione slapped Harry's shoulder when he described the finger marks on her face. The Yule Ball was recounted, with Harry earning a hug and a kiss on the cheek when he told them about how beautiful Hermione was in her ball gown. The second task was explained, with the Grangers looking angry about their daughter being used in the second task without their permission, although they were very appreciative about Harry's refusal to allow any of the hostages to be left behind under any circumstances. Hermione looked at him and only said, "Noble prat!" with a watery smile on her face.
The third task and what had been happened during that and the revelations of it's aftermath included the subsequent invitation to the bank and to see Amelia Bones.
When Harry was all done with the Hogwarts tales, he continued with telling about what happened at the bank. "The goblins are a warrior race. They are also extremely appreciative of respect for their customs. When I was respectful, they returned it in kind. I offered them the chance to review my memories, and as a result they consider me a warrior due to warrior's courtesies. The information that Ragnok asked about I promised not to divulge but it was of sufficient importance to them that they decided to declare Voldemort (he was happy that no one at the table flinched) an enemy of the Goblin Nation and they are very much proponents of the philosophy that the friend of my enemy is my enemy. They also are applying the converse in this case. Which leads us to Hermione's announcement."
Hermione blushed as her parents looked at her. "When the goblins learned of my plans to work on equal rights for all magical creatures, including goblins, as well as non-pureblood witches and wizards, the goblin's agreed to provide a full scholarship to Oxford University so that I can study law to help me with my future plans. They also offered to provide support during my education."
Emma and Robert lost all thought for a moment. Their little girl had so impressed a race of warriors that they had granted her a full scholarship three years before she would even be able to attend. The Grangers got up and rushed around the table to hug their daughter, while Hermione basked in their obvious approval of her future plans. Harry looked on proudly while Tonks was shocked. Sirius looked at Harry knowing that he had somehow arranged this. Harry had too much Marauder blood and godblood to not have been involved in it directly.
When Emma had finished hugging Hermione, she moved to Harry and engulfed him in what was very much like her own version of a hermy-hug. "I want to thank you for always protecting my daughter. She means to world to her dad and I."
Harry stammered a little and replied, "Always."
Robert shook his hand as well, and then smacked him lightly across the back of his head, and said, "And THAT'S for getting her into trouble with the extra-curricular activities!" Robert laughed out loud quickly followed by everyone else laughing as well.
However, after they sat down, they sobered down a little and everyone, seeing how serious they were, quickly became serious as well.
"Harry," Robert started, "I appreciate the honesty that you have shown tonight. I admit if I had found out some of this information before, I would have been tempted to find another school for Hermione to finish her education." Hermione looked nervous at that. "We are not happy about the danger that she, and you as well, have been subjected to by poor decisions from the adults around you. Some of these decisions we should have been consulted about and we should have been more informed by the school of some of the things that have happened. Hermione also should have told us more." Hermione looked embarrassed and downcast at that. "However, knowing the convictions of our daughter, I cannot really think that the results would have been much different, so maybe it was better that we didn't know."
Robert looked at Hermione and addressed her directly. "I can see that you have stood by Harry for a long time." Hermione looked up and a defiant look crossed her face. Robert was familiar with that look and knew that Hermione would continue to stand by Harry regardless of their own decisions. "But it is a parent's job to be worried for their children, so in the future, we would like to know everything, even if you think it might worry us."
Hermione, with watery eyes, ran around the table herself to hug her parents. She knew then that they would not take her from Harry. She was happy that they now knew everything and she no longer had to hide things from them. She could talk to her father about her worries and her mother about how to deal with Harry.
There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Harry was thankful that Hermione had such strong parents. Sirius was proud of them both and how they had coped through so many harrowing experiences, especially Harry. Tonks was moved by the moment between Hermione and her parents. She herself had always had her parents' full support and she knew how important it was.
When everyone had settled down, Harry added more information. "The goblins having agreed to help get rid of Voldemort makes it a much easier proposition. There are things I can't tell you that Ragnok and I discussed, but they will have a significant impact. The fact that the Director of Magical Law Enforcement has been made aware of the situation at this stage means that the Aurors will be more prepared than they would have been."
Harry looked around at the table, and his face took on a look of resolve. "I will be involved." The adults faces looked worried. "I have been involved with the fight against Voldemort my whole life. He is bent on killing me and he killed my parents. I can't avoid it. I won't do it for revenge, but I will do it so that Hermione's children," Harry mumbled, "which I hope will be my children as well," Hermione beamed at this with a blush, as Harry's voice became strong again, "will be safe and never know the threat of war."
"Hermione is involved." Hermione's face took on a similar look of resolve. "As a first-generation witch, Voldemort and his followers position would dictate that she should not be allowed to exist. So, even without me she would be in danger. She has stood by me for years now and she will not back down from a fight."
Harry looked down for a moment. "If I had my way, she wouldn't be involved at all." Hermione squawked in disagreement. "However," he looked back at her and grabbed her hand, "she is first and foremost a person of her own mind, and her convictions would not allow her to stand back and watch someone else, especially me I know, being involved without doing all she could to help. She learned this from you. She is the brightest witch of our age, and I cannot win without her." Hermione leaned over and gave Harry a huge hug and they sat there for a moment lost in the moment.
The adults around the table looked at the two teens.
Emma wasn't happy her daughter was involved, but she had found an extraordinary boy that made her happy. Harry would most likely become her son-in-law and she could see that Hermione would follow Harry to assault the gates of Hell itself. And seeing Harry's character, he just might do that.
Robert knew that at that moment, he had become the second most important male in his daughter's life. He was of two minds about that. His daughter was a person of conviction which made him proud. Harry would apparently do anything he could to protect her, and had the power and resources to do it. But she, at 15 going on 16, was going to war. And there was nothing he could do about it.
Sirius thought about how proud Prongs and Lily would be at that moment. They had both got to Hogwarts in a background of the threat of Voldemort and his death eaters. They had fought the good fight and their son was going to finish it.
Harry had impressed Tonks. She knew that if Voldemort was back, even with a mutant body, that the boy would have to be trained. Sooner rather than later. She resolved to speak to Madam Bones about it when they visited the Ministry on Monday. She could see the resolve in the both oh them that she had joined to Aurors to see. These were two remarkable people and she resolved that she would help them in any way. Even if she teased them mercilessly, she thought with a smile.
Emma broke the moment. "Well, enough about all of this depressing stuff. Obviously there are plans to be made, but at the moment you are on holiday. Tomorrow will be a day of rest, Harry will do his thing on Monday, and we will plan our vacation in Naples this week. There are days to plan, and days to relax. For the next few days, it is summer and there is a pool." She smirked at her daughter, "Besides, I think Harry would like to see you in that new bikini we got earlier today."
Hermione exclaimed, "Mother, really!" while she blushed. Harry blushed as well, while looking shamefacedly interested. Sirius and Tonks laughed with Emma while Robert took on a slightly greenish face before he laughed as well.
The rest of the night passed talking about myriad things with the adults teasing the teens constantly while Harry and Hermione tried to avoid burning their faces with their blushing.
A/N: Ok. Except a section of the meeting between Amelia and Harry, the fic should start moving faster from this point. Most of the plans have been made, the Grangers know about everything and it's time to have some fun.