71

CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE:

"What is it?" Draco asked sullenly when he was let into Severus's quarters. Severus raised an eyebrow at his godson.

"Is that an appropriate tone to use on your Head of House or godfather?"

"Fat load of use you are as a godfather," the teenager snapped, dropping into an armchair and glaring at the man. "I thought you were supposed to take care of me if father died," he accused.

Severus's brows drew together thunderously. "Had you come to me instead of following your mother into the Black family, then you could have retained the Malfoy name with the Snape funds at your disposal. You would have found, however, that a Snape does not enjoy the same status as a Malfoy used to," Severus sneered. "This is now purely academic, of course, as you have sworn yourself to the House of Black. Even so, I fail to see what your problem is; you are one of only three male members of the Black family, with access to money, power, and prestige – and many pure-blood children will soon be your mother's charges, giving you an excellent platform to establish yourself as a top player. There is even the possibility of one day being Lord Black, if you play your cards right." He could tell that the boy was listening intently now, and he hoped his words would get through to the boy.

"As far as I understand it, Sirius Black is mentally instable and has need of a mind healer," Severus sneered, "and is hardly reliable as Head of House, especially after being viewed as a criminal for so long. He may be a Lord now, but it is questionable whether he manages to retain that position. Lord Potter-Black, on the other hand," a small growl came from Draco at the name, and Severus shot him a quelling look. "Lord Potter-Black appears to wish only to leave Britain and travel the world. A Lord can hardly fulfill his responsibilities when he is not present, no?"

His words were definitely reaching Draco, if the glint in his eye was anything to go by. Pressing the advantage, Severus continued persuading his godson. "Now, you are of course too young for the Lordship – but who says that it cannot be yours when you reach the age of seventeen? That means that you have two years – potentially three, as you would want to finish your education before assuming the necessary responsibilities – to show Potter-Black that you are worthy of the Lordship." That seemed to appeal to Draco rather less, Severus could tell. Knowing in which direction the boy's thoughts must be going, Severus said, "Listen, Draco. I am sure that you want revenge for your father's death, preferably by seeing Potter-Black dead in turn. However!" he exclaimed, seeing that he was losing Draco. "All that would accomplish is to see the Black Lordship go directly into the younger Potter's hands, for you can be sure that Potter-Black's will has everything going to his younger self. Once that happens, the Lordship is out of your reach – assuming that you could get the better of Potter-Black."

Draco, ever the egoist, didn't like the suggestion that he couldn't take on Potter, but before he could complain Severus resumed talking.

"The man killed the Dark Lord, Draco – as well as the Lestranges, your father, and many others beside. Do not be fooled by the genial exterior," he said intently, "that man is a killer. Show him the proper respect and he will treat you fairly; attempt to end his life and he will end yours. It is that simple." Pausing and regarding Draco with an intent gaze, he continued more softly, "However, the man is fair to a fault, and you can exploit that…" Trailing off, he leaned back in his seat and folded his hands before him, elbows resting on either armrest.

"How?" Draco asked impatiently, more than a bit of thirst for power audible in that question.

Carefully, Severus introduced Draco to the plan of pretending to adopt Potter-Black's worldview, including showing an interest in Muggles, treating the house elves as valued servants, and displaying a wish to be fair in all dealings, regardless of his personal political viewpoints. By the time Draco left his quarters Severus felt that he had made an inroad into broadening his godson's mind – or at least insuring Harry against an assassination attempt.

OoOoO

"This is all ours?" Harry gaped as he read the parchment detailing the monetary value of the Potter vaults. The material goods were separate from that tally – and also a considerable amount.

"It is," Hames smiled, remembering his own awe when he had become Lord Potter. It was one thing to brag about being rich to the likes of Vernon Dursley and quite another to face the reality of that much money. Especially after growing up with nothing, having so much money at his disposal was mind-boggling. He had thought the trust vault an incredible sum of money when he had first entered Gringotts – and it still was a very large amount – but the entirety of the Potter fortune was a whole other story.

"Come, let's go down to the vaults," Hames said, gesturing for Harry to leave the parchment. The goblin attending them led the way mutely to a cart.

"We'll have to go clothes shopping soon," Hames said to his younger counterpart, smiling when he saw that Harry was once again admiring the new ring he wore. Hames himself hadn't been wearing the ring when he came back in time, so it was lost to him; he already wore two protective rings, though, and was not really a fan of items on his fingers. "So far I've been wearing our father's clothing," Harry looked at him in surprise, "and it's actually too big for me, so I have to keep charming it smaller," Hames grimaced. Harry had a rather more complex expression on his face; amusement and longing wrapped together.

"How did you get his clothing?"

"It was in one of the vaults," Hames answered, clambering into a cart and settling down as comfortably as possible. "I had Dobby bring me the things as soon as I hired him." Then further conversation became impossible as the cart screeched into movement, hurtling down the tracks on its way to the Potter vaults. They were located quite deep within Gringotts, in a separate location from Harry's trust vault, which was on a higher level – and that was fine by the two speed-crazy males along for the ride.

"Woo! I love these carts," Harry laughed once they had stopped, pulling himself up out of it and reaching down a hand to help his older self out.

"Same," the older Harry grinned back, brushing off his robes once he was securely on his feet. "I can't wait to go to an amusement park and try out the rollercoasters Hermione has told me about!"

"What are those?" Harry asked as they followed their guide again. Hermione had never mentioned any rollercoasters to him, and the only time he could remember Dudley mentioning one had been when he'd overheard the boy telling his friends about the ride that had made him throw up.

"They're apparently exactly like that cart ride, just with more comfortable seats and going upside down and everything," Hames grinned, an anticipatory sparkle in his eye. "We definitely have to go to an amusement park this summer! Maybe Ron and Hermione could join us, too? I don't know what their plans are. Maybe even Luna and Neville – I'm not sure either of them would like rollercoasters, but from what I've heard there are a lot of different rides at amusement parks. It's kind of sad that we grew up as Muggles but know so little about the Muggle world, isn't it?" Harry just sighed in response – they both knew perfectly well that they had spent their childhood in a Muggle cupboard, not the wider Muggle world.

They stopped in front of a huge metal door, and Hames told Harry that he could either use the ring or the key he was now wearing around his neck like Hames was to open the door. "Just touch it to the door and it'll open," he explained. Harry reached out and touched the ring on his finger to the door, and the heavy door creaked into motion, slowly opening to the inside and revealing a glorious view to the teenager.

"Oh my," he breathed, dumbfounded at the sight despite having had a similar experience when he first visited his trust vault. This vault was far larger, and filled not only with glittering coins but items of all shapes and sizes – even whole racks of weapons!

"How did you get the sword of Gryffindor?" Harry asked, suddenly remembering about the photos taken after Voldemort's defeat. Both he and Hames missed how their goblin guide suddenly stiffened, clearly listening intently.

Hames shook his head with an indecipherable expression. "It was the strangest thing," he said, taking a few steps into the vault. "I had just returned from killing Voldemort when Fawkes blazed into the room, holding the sword between his talons. He handed it to me, then sang a song that made me feel deep sadness, regret, and hope. After that he blazed away again, and as far as I know he hasn't been seen since. I think that's when he decided to give up on Dumbledore; though I wonder why the phoenix was with him in the first place. Dumbledore was hardly as Light as he pretended to be, after all – but then again, maybe phoenixes aren't as Light as they're believed to be, either. Maybe I'll ask Luna about it; she'd be the most likely to know…"

Harry hummed pensively, following Hames into the vault and walking up to a bookcase. "You seem very close to Luna," he observed.

"She's a wonderful person," Hames replied, a smile in his voice. "We grew quite close in the future, though it took me a little while to figure out her creatures. They really do exist, you know – in some way she definitely can detect something we others can't perceive. They tell her about people's emotions, health, abilities, sometimes even their futures. Other creatures tell her about events happening in another place, or let her know when it's a good time to talk to someone… things like that. If you just listen closely, you'll soon come to decipher what names correspond to which things," Hames smiled at his younger self. "She's a lot of fun to be around, and was always very supportive of me."

"What about Neville?" Harry asked curiously. "You also mentioned him when talking about the amusement park; were you close?"

"Oh, yes," Hames grinned, but his face was shadowed. "Neville was the best. It wasn't until his gran died that he became strong, but then he was one of the core members of the Order. He was the bravest of us, always steadfast in the defense of what was right, but in a quiet way. During meetings he would listen quietly, take in all the information, and then when he spoke everyone would listen up. He'd have been a great leader, really," Hames said, sadness in his voice. "If you were his friend he'd be at your side through anything and face down anyone for you, and it's just sad that it took so long for me to see how amazing Neville truly was… I think that he felt very restricted by his gran's attitude towards him, and even though he clearly loved her very much it wasn't until she died that he was able to really be himself. I do want to have a talk with Madam Longbottom soon about that," he said firmly, picking up a scroll and unfurling it. "And I'd like to spend some time with Neville as well, just to support him the way he supported me. He's a really amazing guy, and he deserves to know it."

They fell quiet for a short time, Harry mulling over Hames' words while the young man busied himself with the scrolls lying around.

"Neville asked Hermione out to the next Hogsmeade weekend," Harry said spontaneously. Hames' reaction affirmed his suspicion that it hadn't happened in the original timeline.

"What?" Hames asked, spinning around with wide eyes. "Neville asked Hermione out?"

"Yeah," Harry said, cocking his head. "We were real surprised, too. She thinks it might have something to do with the fact that she was the one to tell him about the Lestranges after you killed them, but she really seems to be looking forward to getting to know him better." Harry shrugged; he really had no idea how Hermione felt about Neville. "Ron's not too happy; he fancies her, and I thought she liked him, too."

Harry hummed, looking at the student with a pensive expression. "Interesting," he said eventually. "I do think they could be really good together – it's just unexpected."

"Ron and Hermione were together in your future, weren't they?"

Harry briefly deliberated denying it, then decided there was no point. "Yeah. I think it was mostly because they each needed someone and they were already so close. There wasn't much time during the war to find a partner," he smiled sadly.

"And yet you found the time to marry someone," Harry pointed out curiously.

"Yeah." Hames turned away, and his shadowed smile kept Harry from asking any more.