Follow Me

A/N: Thank you to all the people that have sent hope and prayers to Aiden, he is doing better but it is going to be a long hard road and like I have heard the doctors say way too many times...we will just have to wait and see. I try and post occational information on him and his mother on my group site so if you are wondering how they are doing you might go check there. Please keep the energy flowing...they need all the help they can get.



A/N2: Ok folks, I set up a yahoo group for my writing. Primarily it is to give me a place that I can post my stories to, and hopefully get some useful feedback on chapters before they are posted elsewhere on the net. By the way there is a picture of Norische on the group... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Of_Pens_and_Ponders/?yguid=104171974



A/N3: Please leave feedback, if you dont leave feedback I dont know how I\'m doing. If you have ideas, questions, or comments please leave me feedback.





[...] or {...} = mindspeak

~...~ = parseltongue

\'...\' = thought





Chapter 42



Norische was dressed in his royal blue robes with charcoal colored under robes, they were not quite formal robes but they definitely had money written all over them. Chris had on his black dress robes with silver under robes, again the scent of money and influence oozed from every pore. Draco, not to be out done by any means wore his Slytherin green formal robes, and like Chris he wore his silver under robes, although his had black and deep green trim where appropriate. Harry wore a deep burgundy robe set, although not formals or anywhere near as dripping with presence as his mate’s did, they were still quite impressive, he had chosen the black under robes with the hematite buttons, the set was simplistic but they still cost more than most wizards made in a month.



Remus and Severus were dressed in elegant black as expected, both felt a little over dressed but it suited their purpose for the days events. Sirius had gotten a steel gray set of robes and matching under robes from Kain, Harry was actually quite impressed, even though Sirius felt like a fish out of water, he looked like old money today. Pari and Kain both were dressed in their finest robes, Kain wore his royal blue robes with the black under robes and Pari was in a matching set of robes with a black and silver gown on underneath.



While each individual was impressive in their own right, the group together presented an almost majestic air. After orbing into a side alley they walked as a group down Diagon Alley towards Gringotts Bank. Remus, Severus, and Sirius took point, clearing the path as it were. Norische and Harry walked side by side, followed closely by Draco and Chris. Pari and Kain brought up the rear, but anyone could tell from the glares being cast from the two, it was more of a possessive nature than it was a submissive or lower standing within the group that decided the positioning. As they walked down the crowded street, individuals quickly moved aside and made way for them.



It was a little disturbing to Harry to walk down the street, intentionally trying to make people notice them. Normally he did anything possible to avoid attention, but not today. Today he was using every ounce of his notoriety and fame for what ever it was worth. He had even made sure that he had combed his hair just so, so that everyone could clearly see his infamous scare.



With a waive of his hand, Severus opened the bank doors and proceeded to lead the way into the bank. Harry couldn’t help but smirk at the impressive show of wandless magic, nice touch. Severus passed by most of the gasping goblins and walked strait to the far end of the bank.



“What may I do for you Sirs?” The young goblin addressed them with mild disregard.



“I wish to speak to Grinklok.” Kain stated quite clearly as he stepped forward.



“Hmmphf…” The goblin scowled at Kain then jumped down off his chair and walked over to a side door, whispering something to the goblin guarding the door. That goblin gave the group a similar look and went into the door, then came out with another older goblin.



“Who is it that wishes to speak to Grinklok?” The older goblin glared at Kain as he spoke.



“I do, and before you utter another word I highly suggest you do an identity spell on me.”

Kain growled.



The goblin seemed highly offended but raised his wand and aimed it at Kain nonetheless. As the golden glow encircled Kain he glared at the goblin and waited.



“Eeep!!!” The older goblin looked at the paper that materialized with Kain’s identity boldly written across the top of the page. Then in a flurry of motion ran over to Kain and began begging for forgiveness, and shouting orders to half a dozen younger goblins who began heading in every different direction as fast as their stubby little legs could carry them. “This way, oh your Majesty, please forgive me. This way!”



The older goblin escorted the group through a long maze of hallways the entire time apologizing for the inconvenience. Soon they were all comfortably seated at a large table in a grand room. Harry couldn’t help but wonder at the behaviors of the goblins but he decided he would wait and ask Norische about it later… I mean he knew that Kain was the King of the Vampyres but…wow.



“Your Majesty!” Grinklok entered the room bustling over to stand in front of Kain and bowed low, allowing his nose to touch the floor.



“Greeting Grinklok, I am pleased to see that the service here has improved a great deal since the last time I was here.” Kain smirked at the goblin.



“Thank you Your Majesty, we do try. What can your humble servant do for you today Your Majesty?” Grinklok asked trembling.



“I would like to introduce you to a few individuals. First, this is my sister, and the Minde Cladire of ShadowHaven, Parinitra of the High Council of Elders.” Kain bowed slightly to Pari. Grinklok heard Kain state she was a Minde Cladire and the goblin practically splinched himself right there. Before Kain could say another word the white haired little man threw himself prone at Pari’s feet.



Draco watched in shock, through all his visits to Gringotts with his father, he had never seen a goblin behave in such a manner.



Pari looked down at Grinklok with a slightly bored look on her face. “Rise and speak.” She ordered, her voice just oozing with authority.



“Minde Cladire, we are honored to have you in our presence.” Grinklok gasped out. He was very familiar with the Vampyric culture and knew that the woman before him had the authority to dethrone the king of the Vampyric nations with just a word…anyone with that much power, as far as the goblins were concerned at least, was a force to be reckoned with.



Pari nodded and glanced over to Kain, indicating that he should continue with the introductions. “This is Professor Severus Snape and this is Professor Remus Lupin.” Kain nodded towards the two as he stated their name, each in turn nodded as well.



“This is Sirius Black, godfather of Harry Potter.”



Kain motioned Norische to step forward. “This is my sister’s godson, Prince Norische De LeNoir.” Grinklok immediately bowed low when he heard that introduction.



[Prince?] Draco whispered to Norische.



[Yeah since Pari has no heir at this time and I am her godson, then I am next in the line of succession to the throne.] Norische responded and nodded his acknowledgement of the goblin as he explained.



[Wow, I am married to a Prince. Hey does that make me a prince too?]



[Yes, but we will discuss this later.]



“These are Norische’s mates and his intended. First, his mate Prince Rashira LaCroix of the house LaCroix; next is Prince Draco Malfoy, Lord and Heir to the Malfoy Estates; and finally his intended soon to be ‘Prince’ Harry Potter, Heir to the Potter Line.” Each boy nodded in introduction as his name was mentioned.



“Everyone, I would like to present Grinklok, the current manager and head goblin of the British branch of the Gringotts banks.”



“Nice to meet you.” Harry nodded.



“Congratulations Your Highness. I am sure your Minde Cladire was most pleased with your choices.” Grinklok practically drooled at the possibilities, the heir to the Malfoy estates, the Boy-Who-Lived and the Lord to the House LaCroix…all bonded to one individual, the power that young man held in his hands was more than enough to impress Grinklok.



“My Minde Cladire is of no concern of yours; now… on to business. Harry needs a listing of all his assets and properties for the negotiations. Since he will be turning seventeen shortly we need a complete listing of it all. As well as a copy of his parents wills if they are also available. We will also need to place his name on all my accounts and set up the standard accounts for heirs.” Norische stated as if he were tired of all the paper work and annoyances of preparing for a marriage.



“Of course Your Highness. It will take a few moments to gather all the information for you. I can send an apprentice to get a listing of Mr. Potter’s vaults and we can start there while you decide on the inheritors accounts.” Grinklok rang a small silver bell and another goblin immediately opened the door, after giving the apprentice the appropriate instructions, Grinklok summoned several papers for Norische to look over and sign.



Harry looked at Norische curiously as Norische read over the documents. Seeing Harry’s interest Norische smiled and explained. “Tradition states that I establish ten heir accounts for any children we may have, just as I have done for Draco and Chris. If we need more accounts established at a later date they will of course be taken care of. Each account has several specific parts. First an inheritor vault, that will hold the majority of the funds we establish for each child, he or she will not have access to that account until they come of age. There is a secondary account that is set aside for educational expenses. A third account is specified for medical expenses, etc. As soon as a baby is born his or her name will be immediately placed on the account and within three days of their birth a representative of Gringotts will come and get a magical sample as well as a drop of his or her blood and their handprint. So that if anything happens to us the child will still have access to the account and will never have to worry about needing anything.” Norische explained as he went over the numbers and nodded then signed the appropriate scrolls. “You need to sign on each one of the scrolls beneath my name as well luv, and if there is anything you see you want to change with the accounts just let me know, ok?”



Harry listened intently; absolutely thrilled at the idea that they may have their own children. It was a dream of Harry’s to have a big family, and somehow the fact that Norische was setting up all these accounts and getting them ready just in case made him feel as if this whole war thing was not quite so horrible and that they very well may have a future after it was all said and done. “I think that I will let you take care of most of the details on this. I am not truly aware of the appropriate traditions and I would rather have you take care of those things. But I will be happy to sign where ever you need me too.” Harry smiled at Norische who returned the smile and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on Harry’s forehead.



After the inheritor vaults and accounts were assigned, Norische set up a joint expense account for all his mates to be able to access. Of course Harry almost choked when he saw how much Norische put into the account for ‘incidentals’. Norische just chuckled and stated he had every intention of making sure that Harry was well spoiled from now on. Draco saw the numbers and started licking his lips at the idea of weekend shopping trips in Paris and Tokyo… he wasn’t completely materialistic, but he did so love to shop. Norische then had special muggle credit cards issued for each of them that would automatically send the bill to the bank each month and be paid without having to worry with it at all. He also purchased four self-filling money pouches that had just become the new rage. The pouches were linked directly to the joint account and would automatically present the necessary funds directly from the bank in the required denomination without having to make troublesome trips to Gringotts or carry around a huge amount of coins. A simple waive of the wand, a tap, and pure convenience.



Next Norische moved on to adding Harry to all of his accounts as he had done for Chris and Draco after each of their bondings. “Do you think that is wise Norische, I mean …before the ceremony?” Harry asked timidly



Norische knew that Harry was worried about something going wrong and their bonding being prevented in some manner. He chuckled at Harry’s question… “Of course, we need to go ahead and get all of these things taken care of before the ceremony, we don’t want to have to worry with paperwork during our honeymoon do we?” Norische smiled at Harry trying to reassure him as best as he could.



Harry looked over to Grinklok. “Sir I would like to add Norische’s name to all of my property and accounts as well while we are doing all of this.”



Norische was a little taken back, this was defiantly not something he expected. “You honestly don’t have to do that Harry, that is your inheritance, you don’t need to…” Harry put his finger on Norische’s lips and shook his head.



“If we are going to do this, we are going to do it correctly. If you insist on putting my name on all of your accounts then your name will be added to my accounts. I may not have any where near as much to bring into this marriage as you do but what I have is yours.” Harry whispered looking deeply into Norische’s eyes.



Norische wanted to refuse but slowly he nodded. He fully understood why Harry wanted to do this, but he still didn’t quite feel right about it. “As you wish.” Norische kissed the finger pressed against his lips, this brought a blush to Harry’s cheeks and he pulled his hand away.



Grinklok rang the little bell again and another assistant came in and was instructed to retrieve the appropriate papers for Mr. Potter. As that goblin was leaving the room, the apprentice goblin came back in the room with a large pile of papers, after levitating the papers onto the table Grinklok began to go over some of the basics.



“Mr. Potter, it appears that you have in your name six separate vaults. There is the Potter vault number 628, the Slytherin Heir vault that is number 823, the Gryffindor Heir vault which is number 839, the Ravenclaw Heir vault is…number 819, the Myrddin Heir vault which is number 801, and of course your educational vault which is number 687.” Grinklok pulled out a bag with the appropriate keys for each vault.



“Ah… the only vault I knew about was number 687. So you mean that one isn’t the only one I have?” Harry was stunned.



“Mr. Potter that is by far the smallest vault you have in your name. That vault is similar to the inheritor accounts that we have just established for your heirs. It was set up to pay for your schooling, medical and living expenses up until your seventeenth birthday. Quite honestly it is not even one-tenth the size of the next smallest vault. From the list of assets that have been presented to me the next smallest vault would be the Potter vault and it’s estimated value is…9.3 million galleons. Now that is an estimate remember, we do not include any of the sickles or knuts nor does that estimate include any personal property in the vaults themselves.” Grinklok explained flipping through the papers that he had before him.



“WHAT?!?” Harry almost fell from his chair, if it wasn’t for Norische wrapping his arms around him, Harry would have been on the floor. “Merciful Merlin…..”



Draco’s eyes were huge; he barely heard anything after the list of vaults that Grinklok recited. Sweet Merlin… the heir to Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Merlin himself. Then he heard the amount in the ‘next smallest vault’ 9,300,000 galleons. Wow that one alone rivaled his own vaults set up by his father let alone all the other ones. Draco found himself fighting the urge to lick his lips at the wonderful temptations the numbers triggered.



“Harry… Harry luv…are you ok?” Norische watched the color drain from Harry’s face and began to wonder if this was such a good idea after all. Harry looked at Norische with a blank stare and nodded.



Severus, Remus and Sirius were in just as much a shock as Harry was. Severus had no idea that James or Lily had any such relations. He found out about Harry being the heir to Gryffindor back during Harry’s second year but even then it never occurred to him the true depth of that title, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin… Merlin’s balls…. The boy had control over three fourths of the vaults of the founders of Hogwarts…wait, the Myrddin vault. Harry was the last living heir to Merlin… by the power… no wonder Dumbledore wanted control over Harry. Severus’ mind was rushing through the recent information that had come to light about the past activities of the headmaster and he his manipulations of not only Harry’s life, but also the lives of those around Harry.



Remus could see from the look in Severus’ eyes that he was thinking along the same line as himself. What was hidden within those vaults was worth killing for, worth dying for; the centuries of knowledge that must be stored away in those vaults would be priceless.



“Grinklok, my partner has had quite a shock. I request that we hurry things along as quickly as possible. There are a couple of things we need to do before we go any further. First of all we need to know if anyone other than Harry has been told of the accounts or has taken anything from the accounts.” Norische kept his hand on Harry’s arm wanting to make sure that Harry was doing ok. Then looking over to his father and dad, Norische realized that they were both thinking the same things that he was.



“Well of course, Professor Dumbledore received a complete disclosure of all Mr. Potter’s assets when Mr. Potter’s parents were killed.” The goblin answered.



“Has anyone besides Harry taken anything from the vaults or the accounts?” Norische asked.



“The monthly stipend has been delivered to the school as requested, and of course the standard yearly expenses that were retrieved for you by the Headmaster.” Grinklok explained.



Harry’s head snapped up to glare at the goblin. “All my school expenses have been paid for from vault 687. I never authorized Dumbledore or anyone else for that matter to ever touch my accounts. I never received any monthly stipend nor did I get an allowance for yearly expenses. Everything I had, I paid for from my vault.”



Grinklok glared at Harry then shuffled through the paperwork once again. Finally finding what he was searching for Grinklok presented Harry and Norische with a series of papers. “Are you telling me Mr. Potter that you did not receive any of these funds nor did you authorize these withdrawals?”



Harry looked over the papers; from the quick addition he did it looked like several hundreds of thousands of galleons had been claimed by Dumbledore since Harry started school. “Albus Dumbledore has never been given permission to touch a single knut in my accounts.” Harry fumed, he couldn’t believe it, Dumbledore had been stealing from him for years, how could he…



“The only person that should have had access to the vaults at all was either myself or Sirius Black, my godfather. How did Dumbledore manage to gain access to my accounts, and why was he sent the information on my inheritance…that should have gone only to Sirius or those blasted muggles, the Dursleys.” Harry glared at the goblin; the look in his eyes easily matched that which was being given by Severus who was sitting just a few feet away. The effect on Grinklok was quite interesting; Harry had never seen a goblin tremble before but he was pretty sure that the one before him was shaking in his boots…literally.



“The muggles would never have been given notice of your inheritance, due to its magical nature…they wouldn’t know what to do with it.” Norische explained to Harry, then turned to Grinklok his eyes narrowing. “This will not do. Grinklok, I want a complete disclosure of every single knut that Dumbledore has ever received, or anyone else for that matter that has ever made any form of withdrawal from my mate’s accounts, or visited his accounts without his presence. This is embezzlement to say the least, grand theft to be more precise. How could the goblins of Gringotts allow this to happen? Where is your documentation authorizing his access to these accounts?” Norische stood up his temper flaring.



“Embezzlement! NEVER! There must be some forms…. They must be here!!!” Grinklok screeched. The Gringotts goblins prided themselves in maintaining absolute security and the idea that someone so important as Harry Potter, the soon to be mate of the heir to the Vampyric nations, could have had his funds stolen from him was absolutely unacceptable. “We will investigate this immediately. If the Headmaster did not have your authorization to transfer those funds or to have access to your accounts then he will be charged, I guarantee that all of your funds will be returned with interests.” Grinklok had been the head goblin of the London branch of Gringotts for almost three hundred years and never so much as a sickle had ever been misplace or stolen that was not found and taken care of, and by Midas it wasn’t going to happen now.



“Very well. We will leave these matters in your capable hands. I wish to remind you that if either myself or my mate feel that our funds are not safe here, we will seek to make other arrangements, and I am sure that my father, godmother and Kain will follow suit, since their accounts are quite sizable and at great risk as well.” Norische growled low.



“The funds will be returned within a fortnight and we will get to the bottom of this, I give you my word as a goblin.” Grinklok took out his personal bar of gold from his pocket and placed his hand upon it, swearing an oath to see justice done.



“Your diligence will be appreciated.” Norische stated. “My mate has had quite a shock. We should probably take what information you have ready for us and proceed. We can go through the Vaults another day.” Norische looked over at Harry who was still pale and shaking from the shock of it all.



“Wait…Norische, I would like to do a couple of things first though.” Harry placed his hand on Norische’s arm, at first Norische started to say something but he saw the look of determination in Harry’s eyes and simply nodded and once again took his seat, looking over to Grinklok Harry stated. “First I would like to remove all access to any of my accounts, personal information and vaults, no matter who has been given permission in the past or what paperwork you have authorizing it… at this time I revoke it all. There are only five individuals that I wish to allow access to my accounts, Norische of course, then Severus Snape, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black as well as myself. For any access I demand a full identity check, if someone was able to forge my signature on those forms I demand every possible identity verification available be done. Once identity is verified then any one of the five individuals I mentioned may have complete access to everything.” Harry continued…



Harry looked down at the pile of papers in his lap, and then looked over to Remus. “From what it says here ‘James and Lily Potter do hereby bequeath to one Remus Johnathan Lupin the total and sum of vault 544 to be issued to him upon their deaths. It also shows that they have established a residence for you. A three story, four-bedroom terrace house on Rhyl Street. From what I can figure out it is set up so that it looks like you are renting the place from me for a galleon a year which is set to be taken from vault number 544. Apparently the house comes with three house elves which you are also inheriting, Bitzy, Neeper, and Simmy.” Harry handed the paperwork for the vault and the property over to Remus who accepted it with a slight glazed look in his eyes.



Severus quickly began reading through the papers right along with Remus, shocked at the numbers on the page before him.



Harry looked at the next section of the will and cleared his throat. “That’s not all. Severus… it says here that ‘Lily Evans Potter does hereby bequeath to one Severus Parcelsus Snape the sum and total of vault 508, to be issued in it’s entirety to Master Snape upon the proper reading of the inheritor will. Wow… lets see. It looks like the original vault was opened up with two million galleons!!!!! WOW!!!” Harry gasped at the numbers. “With the current rate of interest that would bring the total of…” Harry flipped the pages until he found the numbers he was looking for, “…three million, four hundred-sixteen thousand, five-hundred and twenty-six galleons!” Harry looked over to Severus who was sitting there with a completely shocked look on his face.



Once he was able to speak, Severus cleared his throat. “Well Lily always did want me to get away from underneath Dumbledore’s thumb and to be able to open my own shop. Sweet Merlin… Lily…”



Harry handed Severus the paperwork on his vault and the information attached to it, including the key. Severus took the papers shaking his head. Lily had always been a good friend but he never expected something like this.



Harry spent the next several minutes going over the specifics of the will and accounts with Grinklok. After reviewing the Potter estates Harry found a place that Dorea Black, his grandmother, had married Charlus Potter, his grandfather had left to him…apparently Dorea owned a castle somewhere in the south of Wales. Being the last heir in the line, evidentially Harry now owned his own castle.



Norische suggested that they send auditors and assessors out to all of the properties belonging to each individual. Assess the values and needed repairs then set aside a vault to be used specifically for that purpose. Draco had his flat in Venice that he had inherited from his grandfather and he had two pieces of undeveloped property that were also deeded into his name by his mother. Chris had the château in France, the cottage in the Netherlands and that one piece of property that his birth mother had given him in Zurich, although he wasn’t too sure about its state at this time. Norische of course had ShadowHaven, as it’s rightful heir, and then he had a quaint little 20-room cottage in Lothstia, in the Elvin lands, and the loft in London. From what they could gather Harry had eight pieces of property, a castle in Wales, two large estates in England, a shop in Diagon Alley that had a loft above it, three businesses properties in London, and the property of Godric Hollow.



After all of the arrangements that Harry wanted were taken care of, they gathered together several files and packages of paperwork and started out the door, “Oh Mr. Grinklok, take note, if Albus Dumbledore ask any questions what so ever, no matter how vague about me, my accounts, my inheritance, any of the arrangements made here today or the new accounts, Norische or anything associated with either of us or our mates, you will not answer anything and you will contact me immediately is that understood?” Grinklok of course gave his word to follow Harry’s instructions to the letter, in fact he had a dict-a-quill write down each word he said and duplicated it, immediately sending a copy to each and every employ in the service to Gringotts bank.



Norische wrapped his arm around Harry and escorted him out of the bank. Harry was leaning heavily on Norische by this time, the events of the day finally catching up with him. Harry was both elated and horribly hurt. Harry was so excited about seeing what was in the vaults, but he had to admit… today was just not the day to mess with all that. Harry was also incredibly hurt by what he had learned about Dumbledore. “I don’t understand. I trusted him, and all along he was stealing from me, from my parents.”



Norische knew that Harry was speaking about Dumbledore and pulled his intended close to him, wrapping him in his arms protectively. “Harry luv, it may be more than that. We only know pieces to the puzzle yet. We need to make sure we do not jump to any conclusions before we have all the facts.” Norische felt his intended trembling with the emotions that were flooding him right now. Both Draco and Chris could sense the pain and confusion in Harry and came over to the two of them, wrapping their arms around both their mates, trying to give what support they could. Harry snuggled into Norische’s robes, burying his face in the soft fabric, trying to hide his tears from the others.



Severus spoke up at this point, although he was uncertain if it was appropriate or not. “Norische…we need to get back to ShadowHaven. We have done quite a bit to draw attention to ourselves today and I do not think now would be a advantageous time for a confrontation with either Dumbledore or the Aurors.”



Norische nodded and kissing Harry on the forehead, then each of his mates in succession… “We need to go guys. Are you ready to go home?” Even though Norische could not hear what Harry mumbled he could feel him nod his head. Norische looked over to his father and nodded. A moment later they were back at ShadowHaven, standing in the gardens near the front entrance. “Let’s go inside.” Norische whispered to his mates as he pulled Harry close to him.