A Meeting
The week passed swiftly for everyone involved. Minister Hall offered whatever assistance she could, and Grimclaw gained approval from his superiors to be the representative for the visit. Seeing as he was the goblin in charge of the Lupin vaults, it seemed fitting. He arrived at the Lupin home at eleven the morning of the visit, looking around the home curiously. It was the first time he had visited a wizard's home. Draco and Harry were coloring, supervised by Padfoot. Severus and Alyssa were at the apothecary until eleven-thirty, and Remus was at the hospital till then as well. After the shop was closed and Remus's shift was over, all three got ready for the visit. Sirius changed back, and then they all sat and waited. The adults and Grimclaw made small talk, watching the minutes tick ever nearer to noon, while the children began to lose interest in their project. Each was thinking the same thing; we have one chance to make this work.
At noon exactly, three cracks were heard outside. Remus rose and went to the window, looking out and catching sight of Ministers Hall and Fudge, and Madame Umbridge. He turned to face the others, indicating that they had arrived as he lowered the wards so their guests could enter. They knocked, and were shown to seats, Umbridge loudly demanding that he wanted to know why there was a goblin present.
"I am here Madam, because my clients have requested that I be here," Grimclaw snarled, sneering at the Undersecretary.
"Oh? And have the Lupins done something wrong, that there is such a large number of people gathered here for a simple visit from Social Services?" Umbridge asked, looking disdainfully at the goblin. Filthy beast. A magical creature, speaking as though he is my equal? Ridiculous!
"I don't believe that you are a part of Social Services," Minister Hall said crisply. She'd spent about twenty minutes with Umbridge so far, and already she disliked the woman. Evil, narrow-minded, vicious harpy!
"And Grimclaw is present because we have found a discrepancy with our case," Remus said, taking his wife's hand as he looked at Fudge, ignoring Umbridge. It would do nobody any good if he lost his temper with the vile woman this early in the proceedings.
"A discrepancy?" Fudge asked, his eyebrows rising to his hairline, "What have you found? We gave you a fair chance to prove you are adequate guardians for the boy, and if you were unable to do so…"
"Ah, but we should have never had to wait to adopt Draco at all," Alyssa interjected, cutting off Fudge's rant. "Because I swore an oath as his godmother when Draco was a baby, if for any reason he could not be with his family, then he should have automatically come to either me or his godfather."
"He chose Alyssa," Sirius added, speaking for the first time, "And the magic of the bond recognized that. The law states that Draco should have gone with his godmother, as the bond already looked upon her as the boy's mother, and yet you are trying to send him away, breaking your own laws. Why?"
Fudge looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Laws can change," he said, not liking where this was going, "And they're not fit guardians anyway. Even with the potion, Mr. Lupin is still a danger to everyone around him. The Ministry refuses to allow harm to come to its ward…"
"But young Mr. Malfoy isn't a ward of your Ministry," Grimclaw said, "He never was. As soon as he was renounced by his parents, the guardianship bond nominated the best person to care for him. The bond chose Mrs. Lupin and her husband, not the Ministry of Magic."
"What proof do you have?" Umbridge demanded. "Some mythical bond is supposed to know better than the Ministry whether that filthy half-breed is an adequate guardian for the little brat or not?"
"Yes," Alyssa said simply, wanting to hex Umbridge into dust. "The bond is similar to the one a child forms with his or her parent. When something happens to the parent, the bond will look at the other guardians, evaluating their worth. Fear and abuse negate the bond, as does neglect. Since the bond is still strong, that is evidence to support that Draco has never been in danger from us. He has gotten into trouble, but none that we couldn't get him out of, and if he disobeys, he is not harmed for that. Scoldings and time outs, soap for cursing, and a maximum of three swats with his trousers on. The last punishment was only use once, when he and his cousin were fighting, and that punishment taught them not to use their fists to solve problems."
"Sounds fair to me," Minister Hall said, "And I don't see a mark on those boys. They seem to be happy and healthy."
"Appearances are deceiving," Umbridge said, causing Fudge to nod in agreement.
"They are," Remus said, glaring at the two. "Imagine, a Minister and his Undersecretary trying to cheat a four year old boy out of his inheritance and his chance at a loving family."
Both Fudge and Umbridge paled. "W-what?" Fudge asked, trying to calm his racing heart. They can't know; it's impossible.
"I have talked to the head goblins in the British chapter of our bank," Grimclaw said smoothly, "And they said that a Minister Fudge from the British Ministry came to the bank the day before the trial of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy and withdrew a total of 50,000 galleons, saying that they were in jail and their heir was a ward of the Ministry, authorizing him to remove the money. Imagine their surprise when they discovered that they boy's godparents hadn't been notified of the withdrawal, and that the boy in question was not a ward of the Ministry at all."
"We needed to finance the cost of their trial…" Fudge began, but Grimclaw cut him off.
"Taxes pay for the trials, and the Malfoys had already paid theirs, and they were far less than the amount you withdrew. Now, shall we discuss payment."
"Payment?" Umbridge asked, beginning to worry. Neither she nor Fudge had thought that the goblins would ever catch wind of their plans. Every smart person knows to never double cross a goblin.
"Yes," Grimclaw said, smiling and showing all of his pointed teeth, "Repayment to the Goblin Nation, the Lupin family, and young Mr. Malfoy. Firstly, you will return 50,000 galleons to the Malfoy accounts by Friday."
"That's…That's two days from now," Fudge protested.
"Yes, it is. I believe I am being generous," Grimclaw smirked. "Secondly, you will approve the adoption of Draco Lucius Malfoy by Remus and Alyssa Lupin. They have been made to wait far too long, and it is time for them to be a proper family."
Umbridge opened her mouth, no doubt about to criticize the type of family the Lupins would be, but a glare from Grimclaw made her rethink those words.
"And lastly, you will accompany me back to the bank, where the managers of both the British and American banks are waiting to speak to you. You will be found guilty of theft, fraud, and negligence, and punished accordingly by our laws," Grimclaw said, his smile widening. Getting back at these human who thought that they could outsmart Gringotts goblins was going to be extremely satisfying.
"You can't do that," Umbridge said. "You have no authority over us."
"Oh, but that is where you are wrong human," the goblin laughed, "You fall under our power any time you break our laws. By the laws set long ago, you will be punished for your treachery."
"Should have paid more attention in History of Magic," Sirius snickered, "Binns covered that in third year."
Grimclaw rose, using Goblin Magic to send the Undersecretary and the British Minister to the holding cells deep beneath the bank, bowing at his hosts before flooing to Gringotts, eager to inform his fellows of his success.
"Well," Minister Hall said, smiling at the smirking wizards and witch opposite her, "I can have those papers sent out by tomorrow. You'll have them to sign by midday, then all that will be left will be for the goblins to have the Brits sign them as well."
"Thank you for all of your help," Alyssa said sincerely.
"We appreciate it," Remus added.
"You saved my daughter's life," the Minister replied, "And by helping you with your son, the debt is repaid." With that, she apparated back to her office.
Alyssa and Remus smiled at each other, feeling lighter than they had in months. Draco was theirs, and their daughter would join their little family soon. Everything appeared to be looking up. Then again, appearances can be deceiving.