The Contract

Chapter Thirty-Nine -- Explosions at the Burrow





Auror Maples locked eyes with the shocked Percy. “Hello Percy.” He said evenly. Severus watched him closely. “Did you bring more out of the Department of Mysteries than perhaps I already know about?”



“Uhm, hello Auror…Maples. How are you all doing this evening?” Percy asked a bit pink faced, “Oh forgive me, this is Sissa, she works for the Parkinsons. She came to me today and brought a bit of information as to where I should search for the original Contract between James and Lucius.”



The pretty brunette smiled but kept her head down. Molly smiled at her shy nature. “Hello, Percy dear, please, come get a spot of tea and tell us what you’ve found.”



“Yes, Perce, please share…” Auror Maples words hung in the air like a heavy storm cloud.



Clearing his throat, Percy drank a bit of tea and looked to each of the others, “First of all, Auror Maples, you must realize that it is time.”



“I suppose so, perhaps you would like to show yourself as well, Sissa?”



Standing, the tall, slim, dark-haired man pulled his wand and performed a complicated maneuver that was mirrored by Sissa. Seconds later, Remus fainted, Hermione screamed, Ron’s cup of tea exploded, Molly gasped, and Tonks hugged Sirius Black.



It took a moment for the crowd to realize that Narcissa Black Malfoy stood beside Percy, perfect in her blonde hair and perfect skin. She was a bit too thin to be healthy, but seemed relieved to be herself again. “Thank you Sirius, I hate being a brunette.” She said with a sly smile.



Sirius disentangled himself from his cousin and walked to Severus who was assisting Remus. Crouching down, he looked into the semi-blurred brown eyes. “Hello old friend.”



Smiling, Remus pulled the man into a hug, which overbalanced him and they sprawled on the floor. Narcissa rolled her eyes at the pair and said, “Hello Severus.”



Standing, leaving the two men to laugh through their excitement at their reunion, Severus said, “Narcissa, would you please explain how you pulled this off?”



“Why, of course, Bella wanted my dearly departed husband, and I wanted to be free. We switched. But when she became her normal insane self, I went into hiding. It was a relief when the Parkinsons took me in and gave me work. But one day, I will have a chat with that woman about her daughter. Of course, that really isn’t important now.”



“No, not at the moment, no.” He agreed.



The rest of the room was silent when Remus and Sirius stood and walked, embarrassed, to the table. “Forgive me, Remus. Narcissa pulled me out of the veil when she realized how much trouble Draco and Harry were in. She seduced the real Auror Maples and sent him on a one way trip to France, to wait for her.”



“Not quite wait for me, per se, but more to ‘just go away’. Poor thing was Obliviated on accident, you understand. No idea he is a Wizard.” The others in the room gaped at her. “Oh, I didn’t do it. He did it when he decided to Obliviate one of the Unspeakables. Really, don’t look at me that way, I tell you I didn’t do it. But it was perfect for Sirius to assume the identity and be assigned to Harry’s detail.”



“I spent a lot of time with Harry while he was in the hospital. Do any of you realize that idiot woman who was supposed to be a ‘mind-healer’ turned away Draco’s letters? It wasn’t Harry. I didn’t find out until he had left the hospital. I doubt she will ever be the same now that we have had a chat. She did tell me that it was on Dumbledore’s orders and since he produced guardianship papers, she had to follow his orders.”



Remus was not smiling. “Guardianship papers? You and I were to be awarded guardianship if something happened to James and Lily.”



Clearing his throat, Percy stood, “That’s why I am here. I found the original Last Will and Testament that James and Lily hid in the Department of Mysteries. I have been looking for it since that night at the hospital. It is much different that the one filed with the Department of Records.



“This one shows clearly several things,

1. Harry James Potter is their only son. But we knew that already.

2. They intended that Sirius and Remus rear Harry if something should happen to them.

3. They both knew about the Life Debt and what it was to be. But the terms were not accepted. There was not to be any training and if James were dead, the Life Debt would be cancelled.

4. James never agreed to the terms of Lucius demands. He states that he would rather be a poor Muggle than a rich Wizard if it cost him his son’s love.

5. They requested that only if Sirius and Remus were unavailable or unwilling, should Albus Dumbledore take custody of Harry.”



The room was quiet. No one spoke or breathed loudly enough to be heard. Percy looked around the room again before continuing. “The Will also states that under no circumstances would Harry’s inheritance be denied him on his seventeenth birthday. He would inherit not only the Potter estates, but the Evans as well.”



Molly spoke, calmly, coolly, and collectively. “Then why has Harry had to go through all of this…nonsense?”



Hermione answered, “Because Molly, if Harry can’t claim his inheritance, Dumbledore will. And he will not only be the strongest Wizard again, he will also be the richest and most politically powerful man on earth.”



The room at large held their breaths again. Some were shocked, some were calculating, but all were waiting for additional information.



Narcissa offered it, “Okay, we have the basic information. We are missing other parts though. If this is the original Will, why was it not filed properly?”



Ron offered, “We assume that Professor Dumbledore offered to take the Will to the Ministry and file it for them. They agreed, again, we can only assume. On the way there, he read over it, met with Lucius Malfoy when he read the part about the Life Debt, and bada-bing-bada-boom, we have the fake Will that was registered, giving Dumbledore the inheritance.”



“Bada-what?” Shacklebolt asked.



“Sorry, it’s a Muggle saying. It just sort of skips the meaty parts of a story and skips to the end.” Ron said with a bit of a blush. Hermione patted his leg with a smile.



“Regardless, what do we do now? There are laws in place that will prevent Harry from inheriting his Estate. If he leaves the castle, he will be arrested.” Arthur added. “How do we get them out of there?”



Sirius, Remus and Severus answered at the same time: “Emergency Portkey.”



Severus took the lead. “Sirius gave Draco one if they should get into trouble. Hopefully, he will heed our warnings and stay with Harry.”



The medallions on the three Aurors’ necks heated. Looking to hers, Tonks stood suddenly, “There is trouble at Hogwart's. We have to go!”



Sirius restored his Glamour just before they Apparated to the gates of Hogwart's.



Looking around the room, Arthur said quietly, “Where will that Portkey take them?”



“Grimmauld Place, I am sure. Shall we meet them there?” Remus asked.



Standing, the group walked with their papers to the large fireplace and Floo-ed to the Black Estate to wait for the pair of men who could very well be in the fight of their lives.











Harry and Draco finally woke several hours later to Fawkes screeching at them from the end of their bed. Sitting up, Harry looked at the bird. “What’s wrong Fawkes?”



Hopping down from the makeshift perch, the bird waddled to Draco and poked his stomach with his beak. Draco raised an eyebrow at the antics of the bird. Then they heard it, faintly as if from another part of the castle. “What is that noise?”



Fawkes and Harry listened intently for a moment. Then the silly bird waddled up to Draco’s neck and lifted the Portkey in his beak and made a beautiful noise. “Should we use this Fawkes?” Draco asked.



The bird nodded. “What is that Draco?” Harry asked.



“A Portkey that Auror gave me at the Manor the other day. He said I wasn’t safe and I needed to stay with you at all times and to use this if we got into trouble.”



Listening for a moment more, he turned back to Fawkes, “Are we in trouble?”



The Phoenix nodded his head again, the chain holding the medallion rattled as he did so. “Let’s get dressed Draco and see what all this is about.”



Draco looked scared. His hands covered the baby-bulge he wanted to protect. “Harry? I just want to go. Please, whatever is making that noise is what Fawkes is warning us about.”



Wanting to know what was going on was secondary to keeping his family safe. “Let’s get dressed then and go. Whatever we have to do to keep you safe.” Draco was pleased that Harry hadn’t been Gryffindor at that moment, he really just wanted to go – clothes be damned.



Dressing quickly, Draco asked Harry to Accio all the papers from the desk area in the living room. He did so and they fell flawlessly into the satchel Draco held open. Holding hands, they both touched the medallion and Portkeyed away, minutes before Dumbledore entered their quarters with Minister of Magic Scrimgeour.







Anger coursed through the Headmaster’s veins as he realized that the prey had left the rooms. Picking up the charred collar that Draco had removed from Harry’s neck the night before, he turned to the Minister, he said, “They are no longer in the castle. I recommend that you find them and hold them in custody.”



“Uhm, Dumbledore, I realize that I want Harry Potter for the destruction of the Potions’ classroom, but why would I want Lord Malfoy as well?”



Looking deep into the hazel eyes, Dumbledore said in his lowest possible voice, “If you want to remain in the position you hold, you will secure Lord Malfoy, who is very pregnant with Harry Potter’s children. Their births will deny us all of our legacy. No matter what laws we have constructed, those children will supercede all of them.”



Horror stricken at the realization of what those words meant, he turned to his team of Aurors, “Find them. They are no longer at the castle. Every Auror in the Wizarding World should be on alert for them. Find them and take them BOTH into custody for evading arrest. Harry Potter is to be given a potion that will dampen his magic until he can be remanded into the custody of St. Mungo’s for treatment.”



There was no arrest warrant on file when these orders were given, but the Aurors there knew that there would be by the time the men were found and arrested.