Ch. 107

He was basically going to feign illness. Thanks to the twins' inventions, it would not be terribly difficult to pull off. The trick would be not to overdo it so as to warrant a trip to the Hospital Wing. He would take just enough of the Skiving Snackboxes to give him a slight fever and cough. He would then let them know that he was a little under the weather and was tired, so he was headed to bed early.

They guessed that Hermione would put up a fight in an effort to convince him to go to the Hospital Wing but decided that Harry would most likely be able to talk her out of it. If she continued to struggle he would promise to visit Madame Pomfrey the next day if he was still feeling under the weather. As a last result, they decided that Ginny would come to his aid if Hermione refused to give up.

That Friday, the plan went off without a hitch. It did take some convincing, but Hermione relented when Harry made the promise to go to the Hospital Wing the next day if he was still feeling under the weather. So Harry made his escape up the stairs and set up a complex illusionary spell around his bed. It made it appear and sound as though Harry was asleep in the bed. He also erected a very minor repelling ward that would discourage anyone from approaching the bed. It was similar to the muggle repelling charms in that it made people suddenly remember something else they needed to be doing at that moment, but it targeted everyone.

Harry then snuck back out of the dorm under his invisibility cloak and carefully made his way out of the castle and over to the Whomping Willow. With a slight burst of magic, Harry managed to press the knot at the base of the tree to prevent the tree from attacking him. Harry climbed into the tunnel that led to the Shrieking Shack and took off his invisibility cloak, no longer needing it. He made the long trek through the dank passageway until he finally came upon his destination.

He rose out of the trap door to find the room more or less how he had remembered it: trashed. But there was one chair that lacked any of the marks that marred the rest of the furniture of the room. Sitting on that seat was none other than Remus Lupin. "Remus!" Harry exclaimed, jumping up and rushing to embrace the man.

Remus smiled as Harry's head appeared out of the trap door and stood to return the hug that Harry gave him. "It's good to see you Harry. We never agreed on a specific time to meet, so I had no idea when you planned to show up."

"I hope you weren't waiting too long," Harry immediately stated.

"No, no, it's fine. I haven't been here long at all. I was merely stating that I'm glad you're here so early because I have something I need to discuss with you." The seriousness of his tone did not go unnoticed by Harry, who nodded solemnly. Remus pulled out his wand, and with a little wave and murmured incantation, a second chair appeared in the room. "Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable."

So he did just that. The chair wasn't the most comfortable that he had ever sat in, but he didn't complain about it. It was more than enough to suit him for the time being. "So what is it that you wanted to talk about?" He was anxious to hear just what had this normally calm and collected man worried.

"Well…" Remus began. "Gosh, I don't know how to start. It's like this Harry: before Sirius died, he wrote up a will. He basically split up everything he owned in two, giving half to me and half to you."

Harry sat there, utterly gob-smacked. Whatever he was expecting this conversation to be about, this was not it. He just shook his head trying to grasp what he had just been told. "What? Why? Why now?"

Remus leaned forward and put a hand on Harry's knee. "I'm sorry Harry. I know this isn't easy for you. It's not easy for me either. But it's what Sirius wanted."

"But why now? He's been dead for three months now. Why is this just coming out now?" Harry asked, anger etching his tone. He rose out of his chair and began to pace.

The older man just sat and watched as the last remnant of his best friends, of his former life, wore a whole in the shabby hearthrug. Eventually he spoke up. "There were several complications that arose which delayed the process. There was no body to prove his death. It took a long time to convince anyone he was even dead. In fact, the Ministry still refuses to believe it, but we did manage to bring the goblins around."

"What? How can the Ministry not believe that he died? Don't they have some sort of way of tracking that sort of thing?" Harry didn't understand why this was making him so angry. He couldn't care less what the Ministry thought. Even if they did admit that Sirius was dead, they would no doubt celebrate the fact. They would claim it as a great victory in the war against You-Know-Who. How they think they can fight against Voldemort when they're too scared to even say his name was completely beyond Harry.

"They claim that he found a way to fake his death to throw them off his trail," Remus replied evenly.

"Never mind the Ministry. I don't care what they think anyway," Harry ranted.

"Indeed. After we finally managed to convince the goblins that Sirius was in fact dead, we ran into further trouble when trying to execute his last will and testament." There was an edge of bitterness in his voice now.

Harry picked up on the strain and immediately asked "What kind of trouble?"

Remus sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "The will was contested by Narcissa Malfoy. Being the closest living relative of Sirius, she claimed that she was the rightful heir of the Black fortune."

"That's ridiculous!" Harry yelled out. "It doesn't matter who he's related to if he made up a will."

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