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The First Year, An Almost Happily Ever After Story | ||||||
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Category: Post-DH/AB Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Action/Adventure Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 103 Summary: Fairy tales end “And They Lived Happily Ever After,” but wars end with Post Traumatic Stress Disorders. Someone is taking hostages and wants to kill Harry and everyone close to him. Follow our favorite characters as they rebuild their lives the first year after the war, Harry as he becomes an Auror and finds out that life as a hero has its own challenges, Ginny as she finds out that having all your dreams come true does not solve all your problems, and the rest of the Weasley clan as they start to rebuild their lives. Hitcount: Story Total: 96917; Chapter Total: 3242 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: “Oh Ginny, I’ve never seen anything like it! I never thought I’d see Kreacher so mad at a goblin that he was jumping up and down, pointing his finger at the goblins. It would be funny, if the atmosphere was not so tense.” |
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Monday August 17 Harry woke up at about six thirty. This was, in some ways, the first day of the rest of their lives, the first day he was going to work after the wedding. He went to the bathroom, used the loo and touched his wand to the toothbrush. As the toothbrush was thoroughly cleaning his teeth he did the shaving spell. Ginny came into the bathroom, naked as was Harry, and sat down on the loo. Harry reflected on how natural it was to be starkers in front of your bride. It would have been embarrassing to be watching a bloke sitting on the loo like that, not to mention a woman with her legs spread apart, but with his wife it was like there was no need for any modesty. Ginny grinned and said, “Quick shag before breakfast?” Harry went to work feeling very satisfied. Life was good. Ginny watched Harry leave through the Floo. She waved her wand a few times to wash and put away the dishes. She looked out over the garden, still a junk yard. The kitchen was a little lighter, but it was still the old Black kitchen. She went up to their bedroom, waved the wand a couple more times to make the bed and neaten the room. She sat cross legged in the middle of the bed and pondered. She looked at her rings, the magnificent engagement and wedding rings. What was wrong? Well, it wasn’t like anything was wrong, not really. Being married felt very good and right. Getting married wasn’t quite the Happily Ever After ending she though it would be. Well, she’d really botched it with her rant at the wedding, her face flushing with the thought. It was more than that. No, it wasn’t more than that, it was LESS than that. It was this incomplete feeling. The house felt like the old Black house and maybe Harry’s house, but not like HER house. The bedroom didn’t feel like HER bedroom yet, not quite. She didn’t feel like a grownup married lady yet either, not with a year of school left. She would be married at Hogwarts, but she’d still be a Hogwarts student at Hogwarts, not a grownup. Harry was a grownup. Not just because he was 18, either. Even when he was taking classes, the teachers bent the rules around his schedule. Her dad said that Harry was already becoming a respected member of the Wizengamot, because of what he had done, but also because of what he said and who he was. He was a truly nice person, always willing to listen to others, trying to see the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt. He was almost always in favor of showing mercy, Lucius Malfoy being a notable exception, and even there he did not want Dementors involved in any way. At the same time, he was no pushover. He was willing to fight fiercely for what he believed in. Bill said that although Harry had very little to do with the financial affairs of the Harry Potter Estates, in the end, it was his insistence on fair play and generosity that set the tone for the whole organization. “There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Harry is in charge,” Bill had told her. Harry had been a grownup from the moment he and Riddle dueled and he won and maybe well before that. If anyone wrote Harry’s story, they would have to end it there, at the duel, at least end a chapter, a book, at that magnificent moment when Harry caught Riddle’s wand, standing there victorious. Ginny knew that she really couldn’t expect a fairy tale wedding, and if they had waited they could have had something close to it. She didn’t want to wait, but somehow getting married in a sun dress felt like less than what she sort of expected. Ranting at one’s wedding wasn’t much of a fairy tale ending either. Ginny really didn’t even want to live in a castle! The old Black house was big enough, but living in a house that reminded her all the time that it was someone else’s house was awkward too. She wanted it to be HER house. Then she was going to be a school girl again, and that was certainly not in any of the Happily Ever After types of stories. Life was good, better than before she and Harry were married, but incomplete. Ginny needed more, needed some things to be accomplished. She needed some sort of finish to this portion of her life. After all of the talk about never leaving her, of course Harry left to go to work. She was going to go to school and Harry was training to be an Auror. If she became a player on the Harpies, she would be traveling. Her parents probably spent over half of their waking hours or more apart, but they had never “left” each other. What did “never leave me” mean? Ginny had not scheduled any more Quidditch practices. There were some problems scheduling them so close to the start of the school year. Besides, the New Burrow wasn’t where she was living any more. Ginny thought that she ought to be doing something, but what? Was there anything left undone? Oh, the bras! Maybe Mum knew where the bra shop was. Mum or Sue. Ginny poked her head outside the door and saw Kim. “Do you have to stay outside?” Ginny asked Kim. “No, not at all. We just don’t want to intrude,” Kim said. Waving her inside Ginny said, “I tried on muggle bras for the first time when we went clothes shopping.” “You didn’t buy one!” a horrified Kim said. “All that elastic and no spells.” “No,” Ginny said, with a laugh. “I need some though. I thought I’d ask my Mum to go with me to get some new bras.” “I probably ought to have one new one,” Kim said. “Just in case.” “Just in case what?” asked Ginny. “David and I have stopped using birth control,” Kim said. “We thought it was time to start a family, and I just found out I’m pregnant. I have an older sister. We don’t get along all that well since I left for school to become a witch, but when she got pregnant she got pretty big on top real fast. I ought to see if they have a bra that can adjust.” When they got to the New Burrow, Ginny said, “Mum, the one thing I didn’t get when we went clothes shopping was new bras.” Molly said, “Give me a moment to tidy up, and then I know just where to go.” They took the floo to the WWW office, where everybody was very busy with school shopping. “I’d better schedule a date to get books and stuff,” Ginny said. “Maybe you and Hermione could go together,” suggested Molly as they headed out the door. Down towards the end of the street there was a sign in a door that obviously led to an upstairs store. MOTHER MINERVA Maternity and infant supplies, feminine undergarments. The three women climbed the stairway and looked around. Ginny and Kim both did a double take. Coming towards them was a woman, at least a generation older than her mother, with the biggest bust either of them could remember on a woman that was not obese. She was wearing a witch’s robe, but it had an empire waist under the bust, and whatever was holding up the bust was a fantastic endorsement for her product. She showed just enough cleavage, giving proof that all of that superstructure was her. “Finally going to buy a good bra Molly?” Minerva said. “Minerva, this is my daughter Ginny Potter and Kim Williamson, an American Auror,” Molly said. “Ginny and I are in the market for new bras.” “You need this French import,” Minerva said, waving her wand. A rather large bra, two cups with a wispy connection in the middle, flew off of a bust on a shelf and into her hand. “Best support spells in the business. Ideal. Plus it helps support you for a little while after you take it off, which Arthur should like!” Minerva gave Molly a poke and wicked grin. “Got to like doing it to have as many children as we’ve had. Stay sexy for your man.” Molly nodded and grinned back at Minerva. This was a side of her mother Ginny was not used to seeing. “We’ll go back to the private area to try on your fancy bras,” said Molly. Mother Minerva took the women to a room and closed the door. Ginny thought there must be hundreds of bras in the room, all in neat little boxes on little shelves. It kind of reminded her of Ollivander’s but a lot neater. “Molly, you first,” Minerva said, giving her a familiar poke. “With your husband head of the Office for Magical Law Enforcement and your daughter married off, you should finally be able to afford a good bra. Not those two Galleon ones you’ve been wearing until what support spells they have on them are as worn out as the material is.” “The nursing bra was more expensive than two Galleons,” Molly shot back with. “The least expensive nursing bra I had in your size,” Minerva replied. Minerva brought out a cotton bra in Molly’s size, no straps or back. Molly took off her robe and tried on the bra. Ginny could tell from the way her mother moved and looked that she liked this bra. You could open it up to nurse too. “Twelve Galleons and cheap for the price,” Minerva said. Molly nodded her head yes and her shoulders kind of drooped like she was saying, ‘Yes, I’ll take it, but I can’t believe I’m spending this much money on myself.’ “You got that one for yourself, Molly,” Minerva said. “Time to get one for Arthur.” She brought out one that was all translucent lace, covered about 3/5ths of the breast, and gave Molly, if anything, a little more support and separation. It was sort of a longline, with something under the cups that tightened up the tummy as well. It really was pretty and sexy! “Twenty Galleons, Molly. The spells are pretty much the same, just the fabric is different.” “How do I nurse?” asked Molly looking at the bra, which covered a lot less of her bust than she was used to. “Just pull back the top like this,” Minerva said, as she showed Molly. Molly looked at the bra and Ginny could see a world of conflicting thoughts running through her head. “Go ahead, Mum,” Ginny said. “I know you’ve had to be so careful with money, and I’m not suggesting you go out and waste it, but you don’t have any more children in school since Harry is paying for me, and no rent on the house. You have a little money. Besides, I’m sure dad will like it! Buy it for Dad!” Molly put her robe back on and looked at herself, moving and looking from several angles. Her bust was more defined, and you noticed her stomach less. You could see Molly thinking. “I’m sure Arthur will notice” Minerva said. Molly got a crooked smile. “I’ll take it, and I think I’ll leave it on! I’ll take it off for Arthur tonight.” All four women giggled. They were all sure Arthur was going to enjoy Molly tonight. They could tell that when Molly walked out, she felt very sexy. Ginny bought four bras, from a very plain one to a couple of really fancy ones that she was going to need with a few of the blouses and dresses that she had bought the week before. She wore a new one home as well. Mother Minerva had something for Kim as well. When Ginny got back to WWW there was a message from Harry asking her to meet him at 4:00 PM at the store. So she went home, put the new bras away and went back to WWW at 3:45 PM. On the Monday after the honeymoon Harry went into work as usual. Ginny’s rant at the wedding was not in any of the papers, but of course anyone who knew anyone who knew Harry or Ginny had heard about it. Harry was constantly asked, “How was your wedding night?” or “How was she?” or “I heard Ginny was a real tigress on your wedding night” or some variation over the next couple of weeks. At first, Harry did not have any idea how to respond, but finally Professor McGonagall’s comments at the wedding gave Harry a clue. From then on, when Harry was asked or kidded, he just said, with a straight face, “Ginny IS very quiet and shy, but she got used to it. We did alright.” Harry followed that with a big disarming laugh and refused to say any more. The next two weeks were going to be devoted to getting as much done on the Potter Estate problems as possible. Tuesday through Friday were going to be spent in some of the more distant and difficult countries, and Harry might have to get up early and get back late. Saturday and Sunday morning were free, but Sunday afternoon Harry and Bill were going to go to a couple of the Persian Gulf countries. They would not get back until sometime Tuesday, maybe late at night. Because of the schedule, Dan Williamson suggested that Harry get a couple of wizard phones. Besides, WWW had just opened a small office a few doors down from the Three Broomsticks, far enough away from the magic of Diagon Alley for mobile phones to work, to sell wizard mobiles. Since Ginny had been raised in a totally magical household, this would be a good way to see if the store could sell mobiles to wizards. Harry went home, but Ginny was not there. He went to the New Burrow and Andromeda said, “Molly and Ginny and another woman went to Diagon Alley.” Harry went to WWW. Angelina said, “I saw Ginny and Mum not too long ago. Is it urgent or should I just give them a message?” “Just tell Ginny to meet me here at four o’clock,” Harry replied. “Will do,” Angelina agreed. Harry though that one was always better off having Angelina relay a message. He could never be quite sure what George would say. Harry took the floo back to WWW at four o’clock to find Ginny waiting. “We are going to get mobiles to make it quick and easy to talk to each other when we are not close,” said Harry. “Can’t we use the Floo?” asked Ginny. “It’s not so easy when I’m out of the country,” Harry said. “Not every country has a Floo network. Some use magic carpets. All of the Floo networks are not connected either.” When they came into the store, the one man behind the counter said, “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Potter. I have your mobiles. They have magical pagers on the back that can send both text messages and notify you that someone wants to talk on the phone. You turn on the magical pager like this,” showing a button and pushing it, “and then these icons come up. This is the phone icon and this is the text message icon. You need the magic pager part when you are in an area that is too magical. The muggle part of the mobile doesn’t work at the Ministry or most of Diagon Alley and not in most wizards’ houses either.” Harry understood what the man was saying, but Ginny was totally confused. How did that little blob mean anything? What was a text message?” As the man explained more, Ginny got more and more confused. Harry could see her confusion, and they went back to the beginning and Harry tried to explain things in a simple way. But the confusion continued. Harry was slowly learning how to type and use a computer, and he was thinking of taking a laptop home to practice his typing. Ginny, in contrast, had never seen a keyboard being used, had never even seen someone talking on the phone, and when the mobile phone man brought up a virtual QWERTY keyboard, Ginny was beginning to get mad. “How can any muggle learn all this stuff? That is the stupidest arrangement of letters I have ever seen. Of course, it is a quirky keyboard. It makes absolutely no sense at all. There aren’t even any keys on the keyboard. There are just those little boxes with letters.” Dan finally stepped in. “There is a simple wizard interface for the magic part of the mobile. Let me set it up.” He did a few things to the screen on the wizard part of the mobile. It had messages, talk to someone and send a written message. From there a couple of simple screens got one to a directory. When it was set up this way, Ginny could call Harry, Kim or Dan Williamson and Jim or Sue Shook. Harry said he would add other names and numbers as she needed them. Harry left the building and went out of sight, and he and Ginny called each other a few times. Kim then told Ginny and Harry that she and Dan would be rotated back to the US at the end of October and they would have a replacement couple. When asked why, Kim said, “They want us back in the US at least three months before the baby is due. I’m not due until mid-March, but it just seemed right to move back home.” Harry and Ginny congratulated Dan and Kim. “I’m not going to have my children grow up knowing nothing about the Muggle community,” said Harry. “We’re going to have electricity and television and computers at our house. We may get to most places by Floo, but I want my children to be comfortable in a car as well.” “Are you sure we can teach our children about all that?” asked Ginny. “It must be hard to learn all that!” “Muggle children know most of it,” Harry replied. “I think Hermione knows about computers and mobiles. She surely knows about electricity and cars.” “Maybe Hermione would know how tell me how to work this stupid thing,” Ginny said, holding up her mobile phone and looking at it as though it had come from Mars rather than a store. They went back to WWW and asked George if he knew if Hermione was at the Hogsmeade store. “No, she is downstairs trying to help us develop a particularly difficult potion.” At about this time, they heard Hermione call, “George, I need your help.” Verity had gone home and Angelina had gone to see a midwife and was not back yet. George said, “Harry, tend the store, please,” and hurried down stairs. Harry went over to the cash register, touched it with his wand, and said, “Open a cash drawer for Harry James Potter, partner.” Ginny looked at Harry with questioning eyes. “Do you work here, Harry?” Sheepishly he said, “I’ve helped tend the store a few times during the day when no one else can be here. George has explained all about how the store works, and he set me up as an employee.” Ginny asked, “They call employees partners?” Harry replied, “Well, no. Only if you own part of the store are you a partner. Fred, George and I were the partners. We are talking about making Ron and maybe Lee Jordan partners.” Ginny put her hands on her hips, stared at Harry, and said, “How did you get to be a partner? Explain yourself, Mr. Potter.” “Excuse me, I need to sell some merchandise,” Harry said, and he spent the next half hour taking money and explaining some of the products. Ginny also helped explain what some of the products were but did not take any cash. Finally, there was a break and Ginny went back to Harry and said, “Explain yourself, Harry. Why would you be a partner?” Harry said, “I gave Fred and George my Triwizard Cup winnings to start the store. Then they needed to borrow money to expand and I co-signed a couple of big loans, and the goblins insisted that I become a partner. Please do not tell anyone else.” Ginny just shook her head and said, “You’re just full of surprises, Harry.” George and Hermione finally came back upstairs, both smelling like something had gone wrong with the potion. Harry looked at Hermione and said, “You need the potions book from the Half-Blood Prince.” Hermione looked at Harry and said, “I wonder if there are any other textbooks with Severus’s mother’s notes.” Harry looked at her and said, “What about Snape’s notes? I assume he had notes in textbooks too, and other potions information. What happened to all of that when Snape died?” Hermione said, “Who could we ask, Harry?” Harry replied, “Can you go over to Hogwarts and ask McGonagall? I will ask Kingsley. If you and Ron can come over for dinner after he closes up the shop tomorrow night, we can compare notes. I should have just enough time to ask Kingsley before Bill and I have to leave.” That night Harry wanted to go to bed early so that he could get up early and see Kingsley before he went with Bill. Harry and Ginny were intimate that night, but he was gone before she woke up in the morning. Ginny decided that she ought to read the book from her mother, and she spent a couple of eye opening hours looking at drawings and reading things she never imagined she would see or read. Her mind was boggling by the end of it and her body was tingling in anticipation of sharing some of the new things she’d learned with her new husband. Harry was at the Ministry of Magic before 7:00 AM. Kingsley was there, and when Harry poked his head into the office, he said, “Come in, Harry. What brings you in to see me?” “Hermione would like to look over Snape’s books, if she could. What happened to all of Snape’s possessions after he died?” Harry asked. “When you say ‘all’ it covers a lot of ground, Harry,” Kingsley said smiling. “Most of Snape’s possessions, including all or almost all of his books and potion material, have been left to Hogwarts, and Minerva McGonagall is responsible for that.” “There is more?” Harry asked. “It’s hard to tell,” Kingsley said. “The goblins took everything except magical identification off of the body and went through the apartments within a day of Snape’s death. We are not sure what they took. It may take a while to finish the estate. Apparently some of the estate is going to be kept open for years, waiting for events to unfold. Goblins never let you know what they are waiting for.” “And you can trust them?” asked Harry. “Usually,” Kingsley said. “Snape and the goblins here would have set up things very carefully, and I am sure Shape’s will is being followed to the letter.” “Hermione is just interested in the Potions parts of the library,” Harry said. “If she can write a better Potions text book than the ones we now have, then she should do it. She could make quite a lot of money from writing a text book, especially if it’s picked up by the Hogwarts’ Potions master and some of the schools in other countries,” said Kingsley. “If she finds out anything of significance, she should tell the Ministry.” Harry had duties at the Wizengamot and with the estate but no travel out of the country. He got back home at about 8:00 PM. Ron and Hermione had arrived an hour before, and they had started dinner. “We’ve mostly been talking about school, Harry,” Ginny said as Harry arrived. “Hermione and I have mostly the same classes. She just has more classes; you know our Hermione.” “I wanted to wait until you were here before talking about Snape’s estate,” Hermione said. “No sense in repeating things. Well, most of the estate and books were left to Hogwarts. The house in Spinner’s End needs to be cleaned out. Sidney and I are probably, oh, Sidney… “Harry, there is a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, and I think you are going to like him. You need to take a little time to get to know him. His name is Sidney Stanford, he’s an American. He’s in his mid-thirties, I’m pretty sure. He’s about Ron’s height, not quite as skinny, with just a touch of gray at the temples. Sidney told me he wants to settle down, maybe marry one of the good-looking English witches and eventually retire from Hogwarts. I told him this English witch was taken, but I was sure he could charm a lot of the females out there.” “Bloody good thing you told him you were taken,” said Ron, a dark look on his face. “Oh, I didn’t want the school year to start out with a duel between the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher and the boyfriend and future husband of one of the students,” Hermione said cheerily, holding on to Ron’s hand and giving him a little kiss. “Besides, I know you’re a good lover. I’m not looking forward to breaking in any more men.” They could see that Ron was not quite satisfied, but Hermione snogged him good, and Ron shut up. Harry and Ginny held each other and giggled at their best friends. “As I was saying,” Hermione went on, “Sidney and I are going to be going over Snape’s books. Some of the Defense against the Dark Arts books may end up in the library and some in Sidney’s office. There is a book case in the office that has special spells and locks on it. Actually, I think there is more in the office than you can see. Sidney gets the feeling that he is going to find a lot more in the office in a few years as he discovers what previous Defense against the Dark Arts teachers have hidden there, and not just in the last few years but the last several hundred years. Slughorn is not all that interested in the Potions textbooks, so I am going to end up going through them. There is some other stuff. Professor McGonagall is really the one in charge, but she gave Sidney and me a lot of freedom when it came to deciding what to do with Snape’s things.” Hermione went into a rather full discussion on what she and Sidney had found so far and the evening ran pretty late. Harry did not get to bed until well after midnight, and he had to get up at 5:00 AM for a long trip, so he begged off sex. Ginny could understand why, but she was not pleased. Harry was up and gone on Wednesday when Ginny got up. She tried to keep herself busy. She did have some of the textbooks she was going to need for the upcoming school years, and she did read through one of them. She was getting bored, and so when her mobile rang, she was delighted. The mobile did not work inside Grimmauld place, but Ginny quickly stepped outside to answer the phone. It took a few moments for her to figure out which button to push, but she felt very proud of herself when she discovered the proper one. “Hello, Harry. How are you doing?” “Oh Ginny, I’ve never seen anything like it! I never thought I’d see Kreacher so mad at a goblin that he was jumping up and down, pointing his finger at the goblin. It would be funny, if the atmosphere was not so tense.” “What is going on, Harry?” “Well, apparently, I’ve inherited three companies. We went to the branch of Gringotts here and started to look at the records. There was almost no money. The records were in terrible shape. Eventually, under a lot of pressure, the goblins brought out another set of books. Things kept getting more and more complicated and, oh Ginny, I’ve never seen anything like it!” “Just you and Bill and Kreacher?” Ginny asked. “Oh no,” Harry replied. “Michael Appledorn, no he’s Appleleaf now, when Michael came over, he almost immediately asked for help from a couple of people who work for him, one in England and one who is stationed on the continent. Bill has another six people who work for him over here. Gringotts is actually headquartered in Switzerland, and they have over a dozen goblins and a couple of wizards over here, and the International Council of Witches and Wizards has a few wizards and witches over here. There are also some Aurors and some sort of Law Enforcement officer that have to do with the money. It’s a madhouse.” “Oh Harry, what are they finding?” “Well, like I said there are apparently three businesses, one mostly magic and two mostly muggle. They have been badly managed, at least. But it seems that everybody has been cheating everybody else. No one, not the local government, the local branch of Gringotts, the managers of the companies, have come out looking good.” “Do they need you there?” Ginny asked. “Oh yes, because as the owner, the person who inherited this, I can get through any curse, anything designed to keep us from finding out the truth. And between me and Kreacher it is hard for the wizards and goblins to lie,” Harry said. “I didn’t think goblins could lie to each other and that they always had to be honest to wizards,” Ginny said. “It’s apparently a lot more complicated that,” said Harry. “Oh, I have to go. I may be back very late tonight.” Harry and Kreacher finally got back to Grimmauld Place at one in the morning. Ginny could not sleep, so she was waiting for Harry, and she greeted him with, “Are you done?” “Not even close, love,” Harry said. “Bill canceled our appointments for tomorrow and we’re going back. I’m supposed to be back, leaving here at eight. They left a few Aurors guarding things. A few of the people are sleeping over there, and I don’t know all that’s going on.” Harry and Ginny went upstairs. Ginny could see how tense Harry was and suggested, “You need a shower. I want to wash your back and give you a back rub.” “Sounds fantastic,” a tired Harry said. Ginny got Harry washed and into bed. It took a lot of work to keep him awake, but they did make love before Harry fell asleep. Harry usually got up early, but at seven fifteen both were still sleeping. Ginny heard a knocking on their bedroom door. “Master Harry needs to wake up. Needs to leave by eight o’clock,” Kreacher said. “I’ll wake him up,” Ginny said. She noticed that Harry was still sound asleep and that the charms had kept the blankets on. Ginny went to the loo and then woke up Harry. “Harry, Harry, you need to get up. We hardly have time for breakfast together.” Harry woke up with a start. He went to the loo and hurriedly got dressed. When Harry and Ginny got down to the kitchen, Kreacher had breakfast on. “Thank you, Kreacher, for all your help in getting this mess straightened out,” Harry said. “Is Master Harry’s money,” Kreacher said. “Is Kreacher’s job.” “I know it’s a hard job for you,” Harry said. Kreacher had a furious look on his face, that almost reminded him of the old Black house elf, but it wasn’t directed at him. “When house-elves lie to a house-elf is bad,” Kreacher grumbled. “Everybody lies to everybody, everybody cheats everybody. Goblins is going to lose jobses, they is. Is going to be in much troubles. House-elves is in troubles too. Master William says wizards lucky not to end up in prison, much worse prison than Azkaban is now.” “I’m afraid I’m going to have to agree to make an example of some of the wizards,” said Harry. “The goblins can take care of their own. I have no idea what to do with the house-elves.” “House-elves will be all right with good masters,” said Kreacher. Right at eight o’clock, Harry and Kreacher left the Floo from the Ministry. Harry and Kreacher got to the office at the little Gringotts branch where most of the meetings were taking place at about nine in the morning. Bill and a very short man were doing most of the talking, asking questions of various people. Harry had seen the man yesterday, but most of the day he was out, just coming in to talk to Bill and Michael and the rest of the staff from time to time. Harry took a good look at the man. He was dressed all in black, wearing what looked like an old fashion suit. He was no taller than Harry, and although he was thicker in the middle, he was not fat. There was an old-fashioned hat close by that Harry had seen on him yesterday, but today all he could see was thin black hair. He had a pencil thin mustache. If someone told him that he was in the Mafia, or a spy or a cold blooded killer, it would be easy to believe it. Standing next to him was the tallest woman Harry had ever seen, the tallest non giant anyways. She had legs that seemed to go on forever, large shapely hips, and bust that, since it was in proportion, was big just because she was so big. She was wearing a tight fitting purple dress and had plenty of jewelry on her hands and around her neck. Bill turned to Harry and said, “Harry, I want to introduce you to my specialists in Eastern Europe and the Slavic countries, Boris and Natasha. They work for you. This has to be their biggest challenge yet.” “Good mornink, Harry,” Boris said, in what charitably could be called a bad Russian accent. “Dollink,” Natasha said in the same terrible accent, “we are goink to visit your companies.” As they turned away, Boris was talking to someone in their native language. Harry followed Natasha outside. “Ve go in my car,” Natasha said, pointing to the longest, widest, lowest, reddest convertible Harry had ever seen. It had what looked like airplane fins sticking way up on the back. Harry did a double take looking at the car. Natasha twirled her wand and the car started up, a low rumble coming from under the bonnet. Natasha waved her wand again and the bonnet came up, revealing a huge engine going rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble. “Not super-charged, magic charged,” Natasha said as she waved her wand again and the engine went ROAR, ROAR, ROAR, ROAR, as it vibrated like it was going to shake loose from its mounts. Natasha waved and the engine settled back into its low roar. “Ve can go hundreds of kilometers without engine on, with magic, but this is more fun, dollink. Nineteen Fifty Nine Cadillac Eldorado convertible,” Natasha said. “Twenty three coats of Candy Apple Red paint, put on by the same witch that painted Snow White’s apple.” Natasha winked. “White Leather interior you can only keep clean with magic.” They got into the car. “Seat belts,” Natasha said, and as if by magic, a full racing style five point seat belt was fastened onto both of them and Jim Shook, who was in the back seat. Harry could tell that the car was magical. The roads were some of the worst he had ever been on, but the car drove like the wheels never touched the ground. Natasha drove fast but not fanatically fast; it was nothing like the Knight Bus. They finally arrived at what appeared to be a moderately-sized farm. Natasha did something and the convertible top went up. She pulled out three portfolios and opened one. “Time to inspect your first company, Harry,” Natasha said in what to Harry sounded like an American Voice. Jim Shook had accompanied Harry the whole trip and was sitting in the back seat shaking his head, stifling a laugh. “Who are you?” asked Harry of the woman. “My name is Natasha Fatale, and I grew up in San Diego, California,” Natasha tossed off in a casual way and same American accent. “Boris Badenov grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. We met at the Los Angeles School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and even then, people were calling us Boris and Natasha. We went to the San Francisco College of Witchcraft and Wizardry, then went on to additional studies in finance and Slavic languages. Bill hired us to handle some of the more poorly managed of the companies you inherited.” Harry still had a very uncertain look on his face. “The act keeps people on edge, and when you are dealing with some of the idiots we have been dealing with, it helps, dollink,” Natasha said, tapping him on the arm and giving him a wink. “The first business is basically a farm, what we would call in the U.S. a truck farm. The biggest problem is that the manager was spending far more time trying to cheat people than farm, and the second problem is that the rest of the people were not very good farmers. One of the three employee couples wants to be a good farmer, as do the house-elves, but the institution is so messed up, it is going to take some time to turn it around. The current turnover is only about 200,000 Galleons, but with a little work, it should bring in a million or so, and even after paying good wages, make you money.” Natasha got out of the car as Natasha Fatale and showed Harry around the property, introducing him to all of the people and house-elves too. Harry did what he had done before- talk politely, try to learn and back up Natasha, who obviously knew more than Harry did. After a delicious lunch of farm fresh food, they went to the next small business, a woodworking and wood carving business. Again Natasha explained the basics of the business and how with a different business model, they could make good money for more of the people of the area, magical and muggle. “Good wood for wands but also for magical devices and furniture,” Natasha explained once they were safely settled in the car again. “Good jobs for muggles and magical people.” The last visit was to a large lumbering concern. Although it sold plenty of lumber to the muggle market and used lots of muggle equipment, lorries and bulldozers and the like, it also used a fair amount of magic in picking the trees to harvest and getting them over somewhat inaccessible terrain to the sawmill. “If done right, the yields on the harvest can be magical as well,” Natasha said, indicating that the few really modern magical lumber mills used muggle and magical technology to get really fantastic yields of high grade lumber. “We have some new help coming in for this firm,” Natasha said. “None of the managers is going to be managing this place in two months. Harry was trying to figure out how he was going to tell Ginny about all this. In the first place, Harry was so short and Natasha was so big that Harry was mostly staring at her bust, something that was distracting at the least. Not that her hips were bad. Not that Harry was tempted, but Ginny could be jealous. Plus, the business dealings were things that, from the little he had talked to Ginny about them, she really did not understand or care to understand. Maybe he could talk about the car. They were back at the bank, and Natasha said to Harry and Jim, “The back seat turns into a bed.” She waved her wand, and instead of a huge back seat, there was an enormous bed. “Nothing like making love under the stars in the back of your car!” she said with a wicked grin. “Harry, I’ll loan you the car sometime so you and your wife can go out to some hilltop or go to a pond and skinny dip and finish up in the back seat.” Harry thought that maybe talking about the car could get awkward. Then again, Ginny was reasonably adventurous sexually. Well, looking at Natasha, maybe talking about her and the car would be very awkward. Ginny was either going to really like Natasha or really hate her. When they went inside, Bill said, “It looks like we are going to be done here tonight. Call Ginny and tell her we will be back sometime tonight. It may be late. Fleur and I need mobiles. I’ll have someone here call our office.” Harry called Ginny and after she said, “Hello,” answered, “We should be back tonight, maybe late, but we don’t have to come back tomorrow. We have a good couple over here watching after the investments.” “Was today any better than yesterday?” Ginny asked. “Oh yes, not so much yelling and I met the people who work at these businesses. Most of them seem nice enough,” Harry answered. “Miss you, Harry,” Ginny said. “I’m talking to Mum.” “That’s good, Ginny. It will be good to see everybody Sunday.” “Love you Harry.” “Love you too, Ginny. Bye.” By the middle of Thursday, Ginny was getting lonely and went over to The New Burrow to talk to her mother. Ginny said, “Mum, I guess it was different when we were all together and working so hard to get the house ready. I’ve just always been around people, and I’m lonely with Harry gone.” “It was only you and me when Ron left for school,” Molly reminded her. “I was a little lonely then too,” Ginny said. “I even missed fighting with Ron. How was it with all of us away at school?” “I had my own issues with no one being home,” Molly said. “I love a full house. I’m not saying that I am glad I have to take care of Teddy, and Andromeda can be a real problem sometimes, but in some ways it is better than not having someone I have to take care of. Lots of mothers are happy when all their children are gone and I’m glad I have something else to do. I know how you feel. That’s why I’m so happy that I’m helping Rosemary home school the children.” “I guess I can get used to being alone, but I miss Harry!” Ginny said. “It’s hard when he leaves so early in the morning and is back so late at night. I’m just used to seeing him every day, really talking and, well, and the physical part, the touching.” “The talking really is more important, Ginny dear,” Molly said. “Is that muggle gadget helping?” “Sort of,” Ginny said. “At least we talked a little while yesterday afternoon. Maybe he’ll call again this afternoon. He is so frustrated! ‘Everybody is cheating everybody,’ Harry said. He said Kreacher was so mad he was ‘jumping up and down pointing his finger at a goblin.’ “Oh my!” a horrified Molly said. “Is it really that bad?” “I don’t know,” said Ginny. “I don’t know anything about business, not like Bill and Fleur. Harry seems to be learning. In all honesty, I’d rather play Quidditch.” “You are going to have to get used to being apart some,” Molly said. “That little muggle thing, if it allows you to keep talking even when you are apart, is a good thing. Talking is really important. Communicating. If you go a couple of weeks without a good, satisfying talk, then maybe you have a problem. After all, once you get back to Hogwarts, you will have times when you are too busy for him.” Ginny did spend some time with Teddy. He wasn’t all that mobile yet. But he was an active baby, and he loved Ginny’s attention. No words but lots of babbling, and it was fun to baby talk with him. Teddy was starting to crawl. He wasn’t very good at it, but between crawling, rolling over and just wiggling, they couldn’t leave him anywhere and count on him being in the same place a couple of minutes later. Ginny ended up spending quite a bit of time on the floor with Teddy, playing with him. In some ways, the hardest thing was when he was hungry, and Molly fed him instead of Ginny. She was continuing to be conflicted, being glad she was free of being tied to Teddy but missing him. Ginny ended up staying for dinner and promised her mother that she would be back to help with Teddy on Friday after Harry had left for work. On Friday, Harry was in the office, coming in at 7:00 AM but leaving at 5:00 PM. About half of his time was spent on Wizengamot business. The only noticeable thing that happened on Friday was that Michael and Bill finally realized that Harry had co-signed some large loans, 50,000 Galleons each. Harry had to tell them they were for WWW. It was clear from the documents that the goblins had insisted that Harry get a third of WWW, if he was going to co-sign such large loans. Now that Fred was gone, Harry owned 49% and George owned 51% of WWW. Harry sent Ginny a brief text message at 4:30, which said, “Home by 5:00 PM. Want to go out?” Ginny still had no idea how to send a text message, so she waited. When Harry got back and talked to Ginny about the phone, he realized that in all the discussion about Snape and Potions, he had forgotten all about asking Hermione to help Ginny with the phone and help to write simple instructions for witches and wizards with no knowledge of the muggle world how to use a “magic/muggle mobile.” Ginny had tried to read the instructions, but the instructions all assumed that one knew a lot more than she did. The only thing she could think to ask Harry about was that there was a reference to a computer mouse in the instructions, and could she use a rat like Scabbers instead of a mouse. They went out to dinner, and then Harry tried to make up to Ginny for being gone for so much of the week. |
| Reviews 103 |
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