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Manipulations to War
By Mutt N Feathers

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Category: Pre-OotP
Characters:Sirius Black
Genres: Drama
Warnings: Death
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 19
Summary: Sequel to Harry's second Christmas. James and Lily are dead, and Sirius, Remus and Anwen are living in the Potter keep with Harry. They want him to have a well balanced childhood, but the need to keep him safe is greater. Sirius is working to unravel where the Potter money went while Anwen wants to discover why they were in Godric's Hollow and not safely in the Potter's home.
Hitcount: Story Total: 18816; Chapter Total: 628





Author's Notes:
I am reposting this story as I accidentally deleted it. I will get us caught up as quickly as I can. MNF




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Manipulations to War
By Mutt N Feathers


Author's Note: This story is the sequel to "Harry's Second Christmas." In it, Sirius doesn't go after Wormtail but instead takes Harry to the Potter ancestral home and keep. He sends word to Anwen, his former girlfriend and Harry's godmother, to join him there. Remus eventually joins them, but as the dust settles from the murders of James and Lily, more questions than answers become evident. Large sums of money are missing from Potter accounts, and none of the three, nor their friends the Longbottoms nor Minerva McGonagall – Harry's surrogate grandmother – can figure out how. The Potter home was also protected by layers of charms and was even kitted out with a panic room. Questions are raised about why James, Lily, and Harry didn't come to live here when they knew Voldemort was hunting them. The previous story ended with Christmas, where the newly reconciled Anwen and Sirius make the day notable for Harry and the village attached to the keep.

Chapter 1:
Money, Disappeared.


May 12, 1982

"I never knew four children could make such a mess," Anwen said as she walked into the office in the rear-left turret of the Potter's family manor and keep. Sirius and Remus were already there, awaiting her arrival. Today had been Harry's turn to have his friends over for the afternoon. Harry, Neville and Ron and Ginny's families each took turns taking all four children for lunch and then playtime, thus giving their caregivers some child-free time (except for Molly Weasley, who had most of her boys' home). Remus stayed with Molly when it was her turn, to give her some assistance. Anwen had been doing Harry and Neville's turns for the last two weeks, as Alice struggled through the first months of her second pregnancy. "Remind me not to take them out back if it's anything but bone dry. I had to all but bathe them before sending them home. Harry is upstairs in his bath, and then Peng is going to put him down for a nap."

"Anwen, Luv, you have mud in your hair,” Sirius said, attempting to hide his snigger. “Let me,” he said, lifting his wand and removing the offensive glob.

“Perhaps you should have storytime after lunch on Friday," Remus suggested. "I'll feel well enough by then to occupy the tots after they eat." He'd had a hard full moon. There were rumours at the Ministry of a new potion which would ease the symptoms of Lycanthropy, although not cure it. It was also rumoured to be terribly expensive. Anwen and Sirius had agreed that they'd forgo any comfort in their lives to ensure Remus could have this. Anwen planned to attend a press conference scheduled for this coming Friday, the fourteenth, to find out more. She'd already decided with Frank to have him go with her. The last time she'd been in the Ministry, someone attempted to hex her because she was known to be Harry's caregiver. She was prepared but decided if she had to stand still, she wanted backup.

“Remus, that would be wonderful,” she said gratefully. “I have to go into the Ministry on Friday, so not having to entertain the kiddies would be great. Thank you.”

"I'm part of this parenting team, too," he reminded her, and she nodded and smiled kindly. Although he chose not to live in the house with them, Sirius was attempting to get him to take one of the smaller buildings within the property's walled area; he was every bit a member of their 'Team Harry' parenting group.

“Yes, you are,” Anwen said. “Sirius, let’s get this show on the road," she said, and he didn't get the reference. He rarely got her Muggle references but decided it meant he should start explaining what he'd learned.

“Okay, so there are six primary accounts under the Potter name, and then several smaller ones which benefit distant or elderly relatives, the largest being to my great uncle, Charlus Potter. Their stipend is enough to live off in his advancing age. Nothing has changed with any of those, so I'm not going to touch them and let the goblins do their job in managing them," Sirius began, sounding more studious than he ever had at school. Remus was impressed, Anwen was impressed and turned on; she secretly thought smart men were sexy.

"Two of the account have no movement in them, save the monthly interest additions; these are Harry's trust fund and his education account. At present, the only person, other than Harry, who can access them is me. It's going to stay that way unless I die, and then it will be Anwen. Of the final three, there is what Fleamont had called the 'house fund.’ It's for exactly what you'd think, upkeep of the house. Much like at Grimmauld, although it's nowhere near as old, magic can only do so much when mortar falls out, or pipes rust through.”

“I wasn’t sure how much of that happened to magical houses,” Anwen admitted. “After seeing the Burrow, I realized magic can do much at keeping a place upright.” The other two chuckled, thinking of the strange tower of rooms that only magic was holding together.

"Well, that's an extreme case, Luv, but like any older building, things break down or stop working, and the house fund is designed to be accessed to take care of things. Technically only the homeowner and Wilken are to access it, but it started having funds removed nearly from the day Monty died. Wilken said he was shocked when he went to purchase fixtures for one of the unused rooms upstairs, and he couldn't cover the sum. This was about six months after Monty and Fee died. James and Lily were living near Diagon Alley, and he and Peng were finishing up the work Fee had started. According to Wilken, Fee wanted to make the third floor a sort of apartment for James and Lily, so they could live here with Fee and Monty, but still have their own space."

"So somehow someone was accessing funds in the name of James? Polyjuice?" Remus asked, and Sirius shrugged.

“That or transfiguration. Wilken can access the account without going to the bank, but only to a total of one-hundred galleons. Anything over that amount, then the homeowner needs to go to Gringotts and request the funds be removed and transferred to the relevant account.”

"So, if you wanted to repaper the sitting room and it was one-hundred-fifty galleons, you would need to go to the bank, and have it sent to the shop’s account?” Anwen asked.

“That would be outrageously expensive papers, but yes, that’s the general idea. It has to be the landowner, so it was James; now it’s me as the executor for Harry.” Sirius answered with a smile, revelling in how smart Anwen was.

“Right,” Remus said, his deep thoughts nearly being visible to his friends. “How do you hoodwink the Goblins?”

“Polyjuice would only get you so far,” Anwen said. “You need to have the wand of someone keyed into the vault to open it.”

"Not with this account," Sirius explained. "It only needs to be the homeowner, and you can do it at the teller, rather than in the vault. I'm working with the goblins to trace where the money went, but it appears the account the funds were transferred into has disappeared.”

“How does an account disappear without the goblins knowing where it is?” Remus asked.

“We aren’t sure. The goblins are most annoyed." Sirius answered. "The second account which was being used was James and Lily's personal account. There are some small withdraws, mostly for things like food, nappies, and the like. It’s where the gold from the special pouch James gave you came from.”

"Right, but half the time, I didn't use their account when I bought them supplies," Anwen answered. "Most of the time, I forgot it was in my bag."

“Sounds like you,” Sirius said with a wink and a grin at his fiancée. “The thing is, there are huge withdraws from the account, far more than you’d be spending on cantaloupes and nappies. Hundreds of galleons went missing from it.”

"That wasn't me. No one could eat that many cantaloupes before they went sour." There was a beat, and then both men laughed at her. Anwen was known for her dry wit.

"Exactly," Sirius replied. "This money simply disappears. I doubt James was aware of it either, as he'd have put a stop to it. Yes, the Potter family is rich, wealthy, but he was never wasteful with his money."

"Well, there was that car he tried to buy right after we left Hogwarts," Remus said, and the two laughed.

“What car?” Anwen enquired, wondering why she didn’t know about it.

“He never did tell Lily,” Remus said offhandedly. “James decided he wanted to buy an Astin Martin. It was a beautiful car, two-seater, V8 engine, dark green in colour. He didn't, however, want his father to know until the purchase was made. The dealer must have had to know he knew nothing about automobiles and drove the price up to almost one and a half times what the sticker said. In the end, James couldn’t agree to it.”

“So that’s why Lily bought their saloon car and not him,” Anwen said in understanding. “I couldn’t figure out why it was the two of us who went to by their Volvo.”

"Because you're the only two of us who know a darn thing about Muggle money," Remus said.

"Back to the missing money," Sirius said. "Notes are stating this money was turned into Muggle pounds."

“Even I don’t change that much money into Muggle pounds,” Anwen said. “And I’ve been living as a Muggle most of the time, even when I’m on missions.”

“The oddities keep adding up,” Remus said.

"Lastly, the Potters set up a fund for the light side of the war, and I quote, 'The support of those who are fighting for justice.' Fleamont set it up in sixty-five, which is well before most people had even heard of Voldemort or considered him a Dark Lord. Sure, he came to our house for dinner, but father was a true believer from his school days, but he wasn’t talking about the destruction of wizarding society. Monty must have known better. He always had foresight like that. For the first ten years this account existed, there was little activity outside of regular deposits that Monty made and interest. Then, starting in seventy-five, there are withdraws, although generally small, until early eighty-one, then the account is nearly drained in April. What happened last April?”

The other two thought back, and nothing spectacular had happened. The attacks were ongoing, but they were always small. The goal was to kill Muggleborn witches and wizards, and perhaps their families too. It wasn't like they were attacking city centres and taking out hundreds of people.

"Malfoy was arrested for the second time, and he was briefly detained in Azkaban," Anwen added. "His trial was a joke. He was released on murder charges claiming the evidence was too insignificant. I worked on that evidence; a Muggle court would have convicted him. We had his magical signature on the Dark Mark, his hair in one of the victim's hands, and the mud on his shoes contained the seeds from one of the rare plants the wife of the victim cultivated. Not enough evidence, my arse."

“Why wasn’t he administered Veritaserum?” Remus asked.

“Same reason he was let go,” Sirius said bitterly. “Lucius Malfoy has slipped funds into the hands of more people at the Ministry than not. He probably has a janitor he pays off so he can have his favourite loo sanitized before he shits in it.”

“That shouldn’t have caused the Order to need more money, though. The Death Eaters became extremely cautious after that. It was weeks after his release before there was another attack,” Anwen added.

“Something isn’t right about that,” Remus said, the furrow between his brows growing deeper.

“Thankfully, the sixth account remained untouched, and that is where the bulk of the Potter wealth is. Only Lord Potter can access it, and it must be done in person and at the vault with a key, wand, and magical signature. I was informed as the legal guardian of Harry, who is the actual Lord, I too have access to this account. I don't see myself needing to go to the vault and retrieve anything or get more gold. Harry's welfare account is generous, and I do not lack for funds. I don't see money ever being an issue. When he goes to Hogwarts, he has his school fund, and … I don't understand who would do this."

"Well, at least you've unravelled the accounts," Anwen said, going to stand beside him and wrap her arm around her fiancé. "Now we find out who was pillaging them. And I figure out why the hell our friends weren’t living here. I'm off to talk to a portrait or two." She kissed his cheek and then left the room. Sirius looked at Remus, who just shrugged.


Later that night, Anwen and Sirius were cuddling in the large bed in the master bedroom. This one had been Fee and Monty's, but when they died, it was offered to Anwen and Sirius while recuperating from a Death Eater attack several years ago. The couple finally decided to move in since a passageway between the adult bedroom and the nursery existed. While they'd been able to get Harry out of their bed about a month ago – a boon for their sex life – he was still sleeping in a toddler-sized bed in what should have been the sitting area of the suite. They would eventually move him into the nursery and then into his own room and a twin bed when he was old enough. For now, it was sufficient that they could put up Sound and Privacy Shield Charms so they could enjoy themselves.

“How did it go with the portraits?” Sirius asked. They didn’t discuss such things when Harry was around. Sirius had been avoiding going to the portrait gallery outside the ballroom since he'd moved in. He didn't want to have to face his best mate and wife about how he'd failed them the night he died.

“Okay, and Fee is furious you haven’t been to see her,” Anwen said. “She can’t come to the portrait in the office like Monty can. James and Lily are put out as well –”

“Of course, they are! They’re dead because of me!”

"That's not why they're put out," Anwen continued over his objections. "They want to see you to thank you for getting Harry here and then bringing Remus and me into his life again. They are thrilled he's seeing his stand-in Grandmama and has magical friends. It's all the things they wanted for him."

“It shouldn’t be me giving him those things.” Sirius was constantly berating himself over his not being there when Voldemort arrived on Hallowe’en.

“Sirius, I was talking with the counsellor in Healer Weston’s office,” Anwen said gently. “She thinks you are suffering from something called survivors guilt. She said it can be damaging for you and for those of us around you, especially since you still sometimes get drunk to deal with it.”

“There is nothing wrong with me, Winnie,” he snapped back.

“The fact that you just yelled at me at the suggestion, perhaps there is. I’m not going to make you go, but we aren’t getting married until you’ve dealt with your emotions.”

“Anwen, you can’t give me ultimatums like that, not if you don’t want me giving them to you.” Sirius became petulant, and Anwen was going to let it go after she said one more thing.

“You gave me an ultimatum about my working on a case, not something for my health, which would affect our relationship. We are both going to live destructively if you don't at least talk with someone. You didn't do anything wrong that night. You had an urgent message from a friend, and James urged you to go. You were both worried about Wormtail. You had no way to know it was a lie."

“I shouldn’t have gone.”

"If you hadn't gone, you would probably be dead too. Harry would be with the Dursleys, and any hope I would have ever had at being happy would be gone."

"You would have fallen in love again," Sirius said sadly. "You and Remus could have gotten together. You're more alike than you and I are." Anwen screwed up her face at the idea.

“Remus is a dear friend, but I couldn’t fall in love with him. I don’t see him that way. Sirius, we work because we are opposites. I'd be bored with someone who doesn't keep me on my toes. We fit together because we're different. You need me to make sure you don't run your life off the rails." Sirius kissed her deeply for her reply. He loved her with all his heart, and she was right; she kept him alive. He had been a mess without her last year. “I need you because I’d bury myself in responsibilities.” Another passionate kiss ensued.

“Did you learn anything about the wards and spells on the property?” he asked when they were breathless.

“Not much yet, but Monty is conversing with every Potter who has had a portrait made since magical painting became a thing in the sixteen hundreds. We should have some answers soon.”

“What about James and Lily? Why didn’t they return here?”

"They don't know. James and Lily remember discussing it, and they think they agreed, but the next thing they remember is moving into the house in Godric's Hollow. If they were alive, Remus or Healer Weston could check for memory spells, but there isn't any way to know for sure with them dead. The only way we would know now was to check the wand of the person who cast them."

“I doubt we’re going to get his wand,” Sirius said darkly.

“You really think it was Albus who sent them there? Why would he want to get them killed? They were the poster children for the anti-pureblood movement. With his name and title, James married a Muggleborn witch; it was everything Albus could have hoped for. It wasn't him, and before you say it, I doubt it was Wormtail either. He isn't magically strong enough to pull a Memory Charm that complicated off, not on both."

“So, do we become Dumbledore’s poster children now?” Sirius asked playfully.

“Well, without a war going on, the Order doesn’t need standard bearers. Let’s not worry about that and focus on being Harry’s godparents.”

"I agree, but I am going to find out where that money went," Sirius added, and Anwen wasn't going to argue with him because she was going to find out who sent James and Lily into inadequate hiding. All thoughts on the subject were forgotten when Sirius directed her lips back to his and lifted his wand to cast the spells which would keep their adult activities from Harry.



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