A Test of Wills
A/N I didn’t create this world or these characters, only the adventure they are on. Thank you Jo for letting me play in your world.
A/N I corrected the area with the results of the will in it. Thanks to TiffanyRuth for pointing out the errors in that. It now correctly states Galleons instead of Pounds. Sorry for the confusion everyone!
A few hours later found everyone showered, dressed, and in the kitchen having breakfast. Petunia and Molly had been brought up to date on everything that happened, after they left Harry’s room earlier, by Remus. It had taken Remus another 30 minutes to calm down the women. He knew Molly’s temper was bad and her protectiveness high, but he had never expected it from Petunia. His body was still sore from trying to hold both women back as they tried to leave the building to go find Umbridge. Merlin knows, Dumbledore had better have this under control by the time of the reading of the will or there would be hell to pay.
A non-descript owl flew through the window, delivering the Daily Prophet. Remus was shocked to see the two headlines in huge, bold print on the front page.
DEMENTOR DEFECTION
THE DEMENTORS LEAVE AZKABAN UNPROTECTED / SUSPICIONS THEY HAVE JOINED YOU-KNOW-WHO!
And…
FUDGE RESIGNS IN SHADOW OF SCANDAL
Amelia Bones Temporary Minister of Magic
Official Election to be held in two months
Harry walked in to find Remus Lupin deep into reading the prophet. Not wanting to interrupt him, Harry just made himself a plate quietly, and sat down to eat.
A few minutes later, Remus noticed Harry sitting at the table withhim, eating.
“Well I think I have found the explanation for this morning’s events with you and Voldemort,” Remus said with a wry smile.
Harry looked at the paper Remus was holding for him. He read the first headline and then took the paper from Remus’ hands. By the time he got to the second article, he was in shock. One article referenced page five for the rest of the print so Harry turned the pages. On that page the headline read:
DOLORES UMBRIDGE, UNDER INVESTIGATION!!!
Dark Magic, harming children, threatening of unforgivable curses!
Former High Inquisitor of Hogwarts in BIG Trouble!
This article, combined with the one about Fudge just about made Harry’s day. But then he remembered the dementors.
“You’re right Professor,” Harry said with a grimace. “He was happy that the dementors had left Azkaban. But why is he angry about Fudge retiring? Was Fudge a Death Eater?”
“No, just a very malleable minister. He liked power and money and was blinded by them. Perhaps he is worried that a more competent person will be put in the office of Minister now,” replied Remus with a grimace. “And Harry, I have not been your Professor for years. Please, call me Remus or Moony.”
Harry blushed a bit and said, “ I’ll try Prof… er Moony. It will take some getting used to. I have meant to ask you sir, how are you doing? I got so wrapped up in how I was handling things that I forgot to ask. For that I am really sorry. It wasn’t until Ginny blasted me about it yesterday that I realized I had been self-centered.”
“It’s okay Harry. We all mourn in our own ways. I am… as well as can be expected. It is harder than I thought being the last of the Marauders. Peter’s betrayal disqualified him from being a Marauder anymore. Losing your father was very hard. Losing Sirius, when we had just gotten him back, it’s a bit harder. But I’ll be okay, with time.”
“Professor Dumbledore gave me a letter from Sirius yesterday. I’d like you to read it. I think it might help you. He mentioned you in it.”
“Really? What did the old mutt have to say about me?” asked Remus with a smile.
“He said I should look to you as my new godfather. He said for me to take care of you. He implied you have a tendency of forgetting about yourself,” Harry said with a hidden smile.
“I would like that you know Moony. I would really like for you to be my new godfather. But I have to tell you something first. There is this prophecy…” Harry said, dreading his next words.
“I already know of the prophecy Harry. I have known about it since your birth. That won’t stop me. Are you sure you want a werewolf as your godfather though? It doesn’t exactly make me a person who is readily available at all times,” Remus replied, ready to accept that Harry would not want a werewolf as his godfather.
“Do you seriously think I would let something as small as you being a werewolf stand in the way? If so Moony, you don’t know me at all,” Harry tried to sound mollified but ended up laughing instead. “On a more serious note, we can both look out for each other.
Sometimes we all forget about ourselves at times.”
Harry took a moment to read the article about Umbridge a little further. “They are asking parents to question their children and report any claims of abuse to the ministry at once. Do you think they will get her?” Harry asked.
“I think they have a really good chance. You can’t be the only one she gave that punishment to, or be the only one she had issues with. Blood quills are very dark magic Harry, you really should have said something sooner,” Remus scolded Harry.
“I didn’t want to cause any more problems. All those stupid decrees last year, including my lifelong ban from quidditch, do you think they will be upheld?” Harry asked anxiously. He had truly missed his Firebolt and the game itself.
“I doubt it. Especially after she goes to trial. I wonder if Fudge knew about all of this. That would explain him resigning so quickly,” Remus was trying to reassure Harry.
“I always knew his backbone was made of jelly,” Harry laughed.
The two sat at the table talking and laughing until everyone else came down for breakfast. They were getting some very strange looks as the morning went on, after all they were supposed to still be in mourning.
When Ginny walked into the room, Harry went utterly still. He could swear he forgot how to breathe. She was dressed in a short but modest black dress. Her hair looked as if it were alight with flames as her curls bounced. Russet eyes met emerald eyes, and both parties smiled.
She could tell by looking at him that he was feeling better. A shower and some food had done him worlds of wonder. She looked to see who he was talking to and saw Remus sitting there, more relaxed than she had seen him in weeks. It looks like Harry had finally listened to her and talked to Remus.
Harry stood and slowly walked toward her. “May I speak to you privately for a moment Miss Weasley?” he asked her with a sparkle in his eye.
She looked him directly in the eye, a bit suspiciously, but followed him out into the entry hall.
He took both her hands in his, “Ginny, I know I don’t deserve you, I have been blind for far too long. I didn’t see what was right in front of me. But my eyes are open now, and I see that I am falling for you. Would you do me the honour of being my girlfriend? I have already gotten the permission and blessing from not only your brother, but your mother as well,” he tried so hard not to rush his words in his anxiety to get them out.
“My mother? My brother? You said to give you a few days. You’ve been hard at work here. You got all this done last night?” Ginny questioned him incredulously, flattered that he had gone to so much trouble for her.
“I saw something I wanted, so I went after it. You’re killing me here Gin. Can I get some sort of answer?” Harry was ready to scream. She was avoiding the question.
Ginny looked as if she were in deep thought for a moment. After so many years of adoring him from afar, she was going to let him suffer, but only for a few moments. When she saw that he was actually breaking out in a light sweat on his forehead and the very worried look in his emerald eyes she leaned forward and pulled him, by his collar, into a deep kiss.
When she let him come up for air she asked, “Does that answer your question? Or do you want a more detailed answer?”
She was teasing him, the little minx. He deserved it after being so thick for so long.
“We need to get back in there before they send out a search party. Thank you for being so patient with me Ginny. You won’t regret it,” Harry said as he quickly kissed her again and then still holding her hand walked into the kitchen.
Hermione stepped from the fireplace, trying to brush some of the soot off of her clothes. Ron walked up to her excitedly wanting to talk to her somewhat privately. She turned to go with Ron when she saw the kitchen door open.
“They’re holding hands,” she loudly exclaimed.
“Brilliant,” said Ron, rolling his eyes at all three of them. He had wanted to be the one to tell Hermione of the developments. Instead she told the entire room at once.
“Any other great observations you’d like to share with everyone Hermione?” Harry asked somewhat sarcastically, but grinning from ear to ear. He was a bit embarrassed with everyone looking at him and Ginny, but he was very happy. Even though the rest of the afternoon might be unpleasant, the morning had turned out pretty well, all things considered.
Hermione stepped over to Harry and Ginny and gave them both a hug. While she was hugging them both at once she had only one word to say, “Details!” she whispered to them.
Harry and Ginny laughed and promised to tell her everything later. Or at least to fill in the blanks that Ron left in the story.
The reading of the will went smoothly, all things considered. Sirius had put a great deal of thought into who was getting what. To Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, he left 100,000 galleons with the promise that the kids would get new books and robes this year. To each of the Weasley children he left 50,000 galleons, extracting a promise from them all to live a little. To Hermione, he left 50,000 galleons as well. His library was to be split between Hermione and Ginny. To Tonks and Lupin he left 250,000 galleons each, reminding them that they both needed to remember to live, laugh, and love (just as he had said to Harry in the personal letter). The remainder of the estate he left to Harry with the promise that Remus Lupin would always have a place to stay. One of the surprises of the day was that Godric’s Hollow had been fully restored and redecorated. It was going to be a gift for Harry’s seventeenth birthday, but was now his in full.
Harry also found out that the vault he thought was his was only a trust fund for school. The Potter estate was much more vast than he had ever imagined. It would take him a while to compile a full list of everything in the vault, including the stocks and bonds.
The last part of Sirius’ will gave Harry full emancipation. He was now a man in the eyes of the law, muggle and wizard alike. There was no way for Sirius to know the changes in Harry’s legal guardian. Harry was touched that Sirius would have thought of this as a way to rescue Harry, although rescuing was no longer needed.
The first thing he did as a legal adult was to pull Dumbledore into relative privacy and ask to join the Order. If he was stuck being the savior of the world and the key to winning the war, then he should not be left in the dark any longer. Dumbledore knew that there would be some protests to Harry’s request, but with the revealing of the prophecy things should smooth out rather quickly. There was going to have to be a meeting of the Order that evening, there was no way around it. He discussed this idea with Harry and got a reluctant agreement. Harry was not sure he was ready for all the stares or looks of pity from those that did not know.
After all the papers were signed, and Harry made a substantial withdrawal, converting some of the galleons into muggle money, the group left Gringotts. Harry had requested to do a bit of shopping to get some clothes that actually fit. He asked Tonks if she would go back and get Dudley and Petunia from headquarters. He figured they might enjoy at least a short shopping trip.
A few hours later, burdened with bags from Madam Malkin’s Robes p, as well as other stores in Diagon Alley, they stepped back onto the street. He had bought robes for his aunt and his cousin so they could fit in the wizarding world a bit better. The group then went to lunch at a restaurant in Diagon Alley, then split into smaller groups, each going its own way.
The last stop that Harry’s small group made was at a muggle clothing store. Ginny sent Harry to a dressing room and insisted that he try on everything she brought him. It was lucky for him that he had gotten some wizarding money exchanged for muggle money earlier in the day. He had four more bags that were overflowing by the time he left the store.
Harry had also made sure that Moony was one of the ‘guard’ in his group so that he could force him to do some shopping as well. Moony now had four new sets of robes, and Harry had even talked him into some jeans and collared shirts for casual wear.
As the small group was making its way back to Diagon Alley to meet up with his Aunt Petunia and her group Hermione was just full of questions. She was still a bit shocked seeing Harry and Ginny holding hands, seeing Ginny choosing clothes for Harry, and witnessing a few stolen kisses during the shopping excursion. Ron, Harry, and Ginny all told her different parts of what had occurred in the past few days. Harry and Ginny were both amazed to hear that Ron had been planning to push them together if they had not come together on their own.
Hermione was also very curious about Petunia and Dudley. After all the bad she had heard about them, there they were, hanging out with the Order at headquarters. Moony hung back with her a bit from the rest of the group trying to fill her in on everything that had transpired.
He kept noticing Hermione watching Ginny and Harry holding hands, talking and laughing. She would then look at Ron with a serious longing in her eyes. How long has this been going on? Remus wondered. He made a mental note to talk to Harry about this later.
Harry and his group met up with the rest in Diagon Alley. They were ushered by Tom to a private dining room where they used the portkey to get back to headquarters.
Once back at Grimmauld Place, Dumbledore said, “I have some things to do that will take the rest of the afternoon. I would like to have a meeting of the order tonight though. Perhaps we can have the meeting after dinner so as not to impose on Molly and Petunia overly much. I will notify the rest of the Order.”
Both women spoke up at once to tell him it was no trouble at all. He overruled them gently and said that the meeting would be around 7:30 pm. With that taken care of, he waved to everyone and disapparated with a pop.
A/N This is not my favorite chapter, but a necessary one. I apologize if it was a bit slow.