Chapter 5
“Do we have a set time when we are supposed to arrive at Gringotts?” Hermione asks as they make their way through the manor to the front gates.
“No, I normally just go over without setting up an appointment. Unless my account manager is busy with another client they will see us right away.”
“Really? In the muggle world if you want to do something more than withdraw or deposit money you have to make an appointment to talk with someone.”
“I guess that's the benefit of having a large Vault and quite a few assets.” Theo shrugs. “The Goblins are also meticulously efficient with their time. Time is money after all and the only two things Goblins really respect is money and fighting prowess. And I can assure you Mia I do not want to face a goblin on any battlefield. Was there someplace you wanted to stop before we headed to the bank?”
“Yes” Hermione nods her head absently, “I’d like to stop by my flat for a moment to change my clothes. Thanks to Bipsy they’re clean, but I have still been wearing the same outfit for three days now.”
“No worries. First stop on our adventure today, your place! Then Gringotts, after that only magic herself knows!” It’s said so dramatically that Hermione laughs loudly at him.
“You’re a dork.”
“What’s a dork? Is that a muggle phrase?”
“It means you’re being silly.”
“Then I am the biggest dork there is! You’ll have to share more of these muggle phrases with me, it would really throw off the other purebloods we might have the misfortune of running into.”
Giggling at him she replies, “I’ll teach you anything you want if you teach me more about the magical world. A fair exchange.”
Turning to look at her, Theo can’t help but smirk, “My my, that was a very Slytherin thing of you to say Mia.” Reaching over she swats at his shoulder playfully as they reach the Gates. “Why don’t you aparate us to your flat and then we can make our way to Diagon Alley.”
Nodding her head she slides her hand into the crook of Theo’s arm and with a soft pop they disapparate, leaving Nott Manor and reappearing in a small relatively empty apartment.
“Welcome to my flat, It’s not much but it works. Give me a few minutes to change and we can head out.” With that she disappeared down the hall, closing -what he assumes- her bedroom door after her.
Looking around Theo can’t help but feel a little sadness for his newfound sister. It’s not a bad flat, obviously small compared to what he is used to with the manor. The walls are bare of any decorations and she only had a small sofa and coffee table in the living room. The kitchen looks to only have a fridge and a stove. No dining table or bar to sit at. It’s so lifeless, empty. There is nothing here except the stack of books on the coffee table to show that someone even lives here.
Hearing footsteps headed his way Theo looked towards the hallway Hermione had disappeared down moments ago. As she makes her way to the living room Theo blurts out, “ You should move into the Manor with me.”
It’s quiet for a moment. Tilting her head to the side and furrowing her brows Hermione looks at him questioningly.
“What?”
‘Great timing there Nott’ he thinks to himself. He had not meant to say that outloud. Not to say he didn’t mean it, but still it was a tad fast for this.
“Well I mean, you don’t sound like you really like it here from your earlier statement. And I would love to have you at the Manor. You are my sister now after all and the room you have at the manor seems more like you than this whole flat. Honestly this place feels more like a prison cell than a home. We wouldn't be so lonely anymore and it would be fun to have you around and wow i’m still rambling, i'll just shut up now.” Theo’s embarrassed blush gets more pronounced as he rambles out the rest of his impromptu word vomit of a speech.
Hermione still hasn’t said anything and he is really starting to think he crossed the line and sounded like an absolute creep.
He’s contemplating just throwing himself out her living room window when she finally responds.
“Okay.”
Theo just stares at her blankly, ‘he looks like a rebooting computer’ she thinks to herself idly.
“Okay?” He responds slowly after a few moments. Like he isn't sure that's what she just said.
“Mhmm” she hums in agreement. “Okay. You are right. I hate this place. I only took my belongings from the flat that Ronald and I shared, none of this furniture is mine and I never bothered to actually unpack anything other than my clothes. Honestly I was kind of worried Ron would decide to come looking for me to harass me about coming back to him. So everything I own is still in boxes, most is still shrunk down and is in my bag I bring with me everywhere.” She holds up her beaded handbag, bringing it to Theo’s attention.
“What.” Okay maybe she really was right on track about the computer comparison.
“Sorry, what I mean is how do you have almost all of your belongings in that little beaded bag?” He asks in clear confusion.
“Oh, I put an undetectable extension charm on it in our sixth year at Hogwarts.” She says with a shrug. “It was very helpful when we were out hunting Horcruxes during the war.”
Theo just looks at her like he is seeing her for the first time. “You are a bloody brilliant witch, you know that Mia.” He grins at her slyly. “Aren’t undetectable extension charms illegal unless with the proper permits from the Ministry?” He asks her, his sly grin stretching across his face in unadulterated glee.
Making direct eye contact, she slips her beaded bag onto her wrist, responding in faux innocence. “I have no idea what you are talking about Theodore.”
Laughing loudly he moves in front of her and places his hands on her shoulders still maintaining eye contact. “Are you sure you weren’t supposed to be in Slytherin Mia. I personally think you were mis-sorted.”
Her only response is to roll her eyes at him with a secretive smile. She knows she’s just feeding into his chaos but he’s just so much fun to tease.
“Back to what we were saying before we got off topic. I would love to move in with you Teddy. I agree it would be nice to have someone around and it seems like we have a lot we can learn from each other. So why not!”
She’s excited at the prospect of living with Theo. In the short amount of time she had been around him she has had more fun and talked more about her feelings than she has in years. Just being around him has been great for her mental health, she hopes that goes both ways. Besides if they each wanted some space then it would not be a hard thing to achieve, the Manor is massive. And no one would be able to show up unannounced there. Especially not Ron.
“Really! You actually want to move into the Manor! This is going to be the best!” He whoops ,then taking a breath to try to calm down a little, “Do you want to pack your things now? Or do you want to do that after we go to Gringotts?”
“Let’s do it now, i just have to grab my clothes and toiletries, there really isn’t any food here and anything else I can just vanish. The flat came furnished so none of the furniture or dishware is mine. Just give me a few minutes and then we can go down to the leasing office to turn in my key and cancel my lease.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” He asks.
Thinking for a moment, Hermione motions towards the kitchen area, “Can you go through the cabinets and the fridge and vanish any food stuff you find? I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Walking to the kitchen he starts going through all the cabinets and the fridge only finding a box or two of biscuits and a bottle juice in the fridge. He opens any drawers he finds to make sure there isn’t anything of hers being left behind.
“Okay I think that’s everything” Hermione says as she walks back into the living room stopping to put the books occupying the coffee table into her handy beaded bag.
Turning around to face her after completing his task Theo responds, “There wasn’t much in here just a few boxes of biscuits I vanished and some juice. To the leasing office?” he asks.
“Yes, it shouldn’t take long. I probably just need to sign a few papers and we can be on our way.”
“Are you sure about this? I very much want you to move in but I don’t want you to feel like you are being forced into this.” He’s excited, don't get him wrong, but he also wants to make sure this is something that she really wants.
Turning to look at Theo she smiles at him gently, “I have never been more sure of anything in my life. Besides, what kind of sister would I be if I left my brother all alone in that big manor.” she says teasingly. Stopping for a moment to think, she realizes she never asked Theo when his birthday is.
“When is your birthday?” She asks, surprising Theo with the seemingly out of nowhere question.
“September 1st, yours?”
“September 19th.” She replies.
“I’m a big brother! I’ve always wanted a little sister!” He exclaimed, she has a feeling he is going to enjoy holding onto the fact that he is older than her.
“Alrighty then ‘Big Brother’” she says in a slightly sarcastic tone, “Care to escort your little sister to the leasing office so we can get out of here?” She steals one of his moves and winks at him.
Placing a hand over his heart he sighs dramatically, “Stealing my smooth moves already, you really are my sister.” Laughing he extends his arm towards her, letting her slide her hand into the crook of his elbow.” Lead the way, M'lady.”
Giggling at his antics she leads them out of the apartment and down to the leasing office. After signing some paperwork and polite conversation they make their way out of the office and down a few blocks to the leaky cauldron.
He was surprised at how close she actually was to Diagon Alley, when he asked about it she just said that it was the fastest and cheapest flat she could find in the time crunch she was on to find her parents and get away from Weasley. They talked about her room in the Manor on the walk to Diagon Alley, she asked if they could put in a bookcase for her and he told her they could add as many bookcases as she wanted.
“It’s your room to do with as you please. You can paint it, rearrange it, anything you want to do Mia. It’s your space to do with as you see fit.” Her brother told her nonchalantly.
Looking up at him from where she was walking, her hand still resting in the crook of his elbow. She can’t help but think how kind he is. He is literally offering her everything he has and asks nothing in return. Really she thinks maybe he is the one that was mis-sorted, he seems pretty Hufflepuff to her.
After a twenty minute walk they finally make it to the leaky cauldron. Before they enter he stops and looks at her.
“Do you want to go in separately or do you want to cast a notice-me-not charm?” he asks her quietly.
Tilting her head slightly in confusion, “Why would we do that?”
He’s quiet for a moment. Posture tense, where it had been relaxed moments ago.
“I don’t have the best reputation here Mia, most people look at me and still see a monster, an evil death eater that’s out to get them. I don’t want to drag out into that. Merlin only knows what filth everyone will say about you then.” He sounds so dejected as he talks, it simultaneously breaks her heart and absolutely infuriates her.
She doesn’t say anything for a moment, just breathes through her nose. Then she squares her shoulders and tilts her head back, eyes glinting in fury and defiance.
“I don’t give a damn what they have to say about me, they can all kiss my ass.” She states in an even, matter of fact tone. “You are my brother now. My family. I am not going to hide that fact and I am not going to hide you. So let’s go see what the goblins have to say about the mess we got ourselves into and let the sheeple bleat amongst themselves.” Her beautiful face is twisted up into a fierce sneer. She looks every bit a witch raised in a pureblood house. 'Oh how she will take this world by storm', he thinks to himself.
He’s looking at Hermione like he can’t believe she’s real. Then he starts laughing, well kind of, it’s more of a choked disbelieving laugh mixed with a sob. He has tears in his eyes as he removes his arm from her grasp and envelops her into a hug. He realizes belatedly that they are kind of making a scene outside the pub but he doesn’t care. All he can think is he can’t believe he got so lucky to have her in his life.
Letting her go, he dries his eyes and clears his throat.
“Well then sister, shall we make a scene and possibly cause a scandal within the wizarding world?” Theo turns to open the door, offering her his arm again.
“Yes brother I think we shall.” She says in a haughty voice shoulders still squared, but a faux look of calm disinterest taking over her face. Glancing up at her brother she can see he put on a mask of indifference.
Opening the door to the pub, you can hear the moment people recognize them. Most people stopped talking, but some whispers can still be heard. Ignoring the eyes trained on them, they make their way through the pub and into the back alley entrance to Diagon Alley.
“Well that went better than I had hoped.” Theo says in sarcasm.
“No one threw any curses or hex’s our way so i count that as a temporary win.” She replies dryly.
Tapping the bricks to reveal the entrance, they head through and make their way to Gringotts, conveniently located at the opposite end of the alley. It’s getting hard to ignore the stares, and people apparently gave up whispering and are now just openly talking about them. Keeping on their respective masks they continue their way to the bank, trying to maintain the air of indifference they are projecting.
They manage to keep up the act even once they reach the bank and Theo requests they meet with his accounts manager. The Goblin he speaks with gets down from his chair and leads them back into a large room filled with beautifully crafted weapons adorning the walls like trophies. There in the middle of the room is a rather old battle-worn looking Goblin sitting at a large desk going over what appears to be stacks of papers.
The Goblin that led them there announces their presence and then leaves. The battle-worn Goblin at the desk motions to the chairs in front of his desk, silently telling them to sit. Looking up from his paper he addresses them.
“I have been expecting you, Lord Nott.” The Goblin states, then he turns his attention to Hermione. “A pleasure to finally meet you in the flesh, Dragon Stealer, the tales of your exploits have been used as a cautionary tale to the ingenuity of wizards. Most here did not take kindly to the happenings down in the vaults. But those of us old enough to have seen the battlefields of war were impressed with your bravery and grit.” He smiles sharply at her. “I do hope you are not here to steal another dragon though. We have yet to replace the last one you took.” He laughs darkly at his joke, the unspoken threat received loud and clear by Hermione.
Theodore though is gaping at Hermione in a very unbecoming fashion.
Looking between the Goblin and his sister he quietly says to Hermione, “We are SO talking about this when we get home.”
Clearing his throat Theo addresses the goblin, “Sir Ironfist, I have come to inquire about my family registry. There was an incident involving the Ward Stone and the family magics.”
Focusing back onto Theo the goblin nods his head and reaches for an old scroll already placed on his desk. Opening the scroll he hums in acknowledgment of what Theo had told him.
“Yes, I figured that was the case. Yesterday evening I was alerted to a burst of magic from your family registry scroll. It looks as though Miss Granger here has been accepted into your family, though not through marriage it seems.” Turning the scroll towards them he continues,” As you can see indicated on the scroll she is now the Heir to the Nott Family. If something were to happen to you Lord Nott and you had no children to take your place, Miss Granger here would become Lady Nott and would inherit all that comes with the name. Though if you so choose to, you can take the Nott name for yourself Miss Granger. Would you like me to explain more in depth what happened with the magic that caused all of this?”
Hermione was surprised, Ironfist had been very even toned throughout this whole interaction with them. Normally the goblins she had to interact with before were rude and pushy.
“Yes please, Sir Ironfist.” Theo responded respectfully.
“The magic your family had been feeding into your Manor’s Ward Stone has left it sentient -like many of the old manors are-, this means that the family magic knows instinctively that you are the last of your family Lord Nott. In order to preserve itself and your family’s now unique type of magic, the Ward Stone recognizing Miss Granger as your soulmate, took some of her magic but the magic taken was directly from her magical core, not the ambient magic all living magical beings give off. Once that magic was taken it was replaced with essentially a concentrated dose of your family's unique type of magic. So while you may have different parents you are now magically siblings, you will soon be sharing a very similar magical signature, like most blood related siblings would. The magic put into Miss Granger's core will slowly start to change the rest of her magic, completely changing her magical signature to something that is recognized as coming from a member of the Nott family. Simply put, she has been made your Heir. She and any children she would have, whether she becomes the head of the Nott family or not, will be gifted with the magic of your family to continue the family magic and expand your family even if you have children of your own. Most likely to try to prevent the family from coming down to one person again. She will have the magical signature of a pureblood witch once the magic placed into her core finishes converting the rest of her magical core.”
The two of them all quiet for a few moments, digesting everything they have been told. It’s mostly what Theo thought it would be. But it was nice to have it confirmed and expanded on a bit.
Hermione on the other hand was confused. She understood what Ironfist was saying but she didn’t understand what he was talking about when he said she would have the magical signature of a pureblood. She didn’t think that it made a difference in magic, pureblood or not.
“Sir Ironfist, what does that mean, that I will have the magical signature of a pureblood? I didn’t think magic differed from pureblood to muggleborn.”
“You would be correct if you were talking about magical strength Miss Granger. That varies person to person. Pureblood or not. What I am speaking of is it's gifts. Every pureblood family that has been around for a long time has magical gifts, though some have been lost to time what they are or how to wield them. Others like the Nott family know what theirs are and how to use them. Muggleborn wixen are different though. They are for lack of a better word, pure. What this means is muggleborn wixen do not have a gift like the pureblood families. The reason purebloods get their gifts is because over the generations families have fed into a Ward Stone of some type and kept feeding it. This warped the magic, letting it take on an almost sentience, letting it evolve and develop something of a talent into one area of magic. Muggleborn wizards are given fresh magic, new unwarped magic, they are picked by magic herself to bring in new blood to the wizarding community. It's all done at random no one can predict who will be gifted magically. We always see an influx of muggleborn wixen after a large loss of life in the wizarding community. What I mean when I say you are going to have the magical signature of a pureblood is you are going to be a pureblood. The only way to truly differentiate between muggleborns and purebloods is their magical signature. Is it a pure magical signature or is it something slightly warped, not pure magical talent but magic somewhat concentrated around a specific branch, giving them a better understanding or an inherent talent in one area of magic. Not to say people cannot excel on their own, but some are just magically gifted because of their family.” Ironfist pauses for a moment before adding with a smirk.
“You would be surprised how many ‘muggleborns’ come through here that are not muggleborn at all. They are what is considered a halfblood by the wizarding community but to us they are pureblood. Wizards go out and have an affair, producing a child with a muggle. Said child comes into the bank much like you did for school once to exchange currency, it is obvious what family they belong to because of their magical signature. Always a rather enjoyable summons to send to the unfaithful wixen to inform them of their child.” He laughs darkly.
He waits for a moment to see if either of them have any more questions. When no one says anything he continues.
“I will add Miss Granger to the family vaults so she has access. Miss Granger if you decide to change your name you can come back to see me or send me an owl. You are now a part of the Nott family and I am the Nott family account manager as well as the family Solicitor. If there is nothing else, I will have someone come take you back to the lobby. Good day to you both.”
With that he snapped his fingers and summoned another goblin, they said their goodbyes and followed the goblin back out to the lobby.
“Is there anything you need while we are here?” Theo asked, turning to look at Hermione.
“No, I don't think so. Ironfist just gave us a lot of information and I feel like I need a bit to process it all.”
Making their way out of the bank and onto the streets of Diagon Alley she looked at her brother.
“Let's go home.”
Smiling broadly he responded, “Let’s go home.”