Chapter Text
Chapter 13
Once Ginny Weasley was old enough to understand why she was poor, her entire future changed.
Her parents, Arthur and Molly Weasley, were loving, kind, hard-working but slightly naive people. When they’d been expecting their third child and the Burrow needed expanding, they’d gotten a loan from who they assumed was an honourable wizard. Unfortunately for them, Aloysius Nott was anything but. One might best describe him as a loan shark with a talent for writing creative contracts with exorbitant interest rates.
That is how Arthur and Molly Weasley got stuck paying off a small loan for the rest of their lives. Arthur’s already measly Ministry salary was stretched almost to the breaking point under these payments. The thing was that the contract was so obviously skirting the law that it probably wouldn’t hold up in front of the Wizengamot. But to get it in front of the Wizengamot one needed a solicitor, and solicitors were far too expensive for the Weasleys to afford.
When Ginny Weasley learned all this, she was determined to become the first ever solicitor in the Weasley family. Problem with this was that becoming a solicitor required a four year apprenticeship and those were not free. In fact, a law apprenticeship was amongst the most expensive of apprenticeships, aside from a Potions one. A master may decide to wave any apprenticeship fees if the student was exceptionally talented or otherwise benefited the Master in some ways, like having a important family name.
Such had happened with a young but poor man named Severus Snape, who was so naturally talented that several Potioneers had actually offered Severus a salary to come work as their apprentice. This was practically unheard of.
Ginny Weasley had no family name to fall back on, nor was she particularly talented in ways that stood out, aside from on the Quidditch pitch.
It was her good friend Harry Potter who ultimately inspired Ginny. When Harry left Hogwarts he was determined to get a Mastery in Magical Zoology. But Harry’s family refused to pay for it, so Harry used his other major talent, that of a Seeker, to fly for the Montrose Magpies for many years while he got his mastery.
This, Ginny realized, was her one and only chance to save her family from financial doom. She put everything she had in becoming the best Quidditch player she could be in her final year at Hogwarts. She was Captain of the Gryffindor team and led them to victory in the Quidditch Cup. And when she applied to the Holyhead Harpies she was hired right out of Hogwarts as their new star Chaser.
Ginny kept living at the Burrow and saved every knut she made. She even wrote articles about Quidditch for several newspapers and magazines, and she accepted a Spellington Broom Wax sponsorship, all to earn as much money as she could. After 4 long years she finally had enough to pay for a law apprenticeship. Ted and Andromeda Tonks accepted her as their new apprentice and taught her everything they knew.
Unbeknownst to Ginny, however, someone had been keeping a very close eye on her career. What had started as an innocent crush on a pretty girl who looked particularly good while flying a broomstick at Hogwarts had eventually turned into something of an obsession.
Theodore Nott, youngest child of Aloysius Nott, was a brand new solicitor who’d apprenticed under his uncle Lambert Nott. He was also madly in love with Ginny Weasley, even if he’d yet to speak a word to her.
It wasn’t until Theo, as he preferred to be called, ran into Ginny in the bowels of the ministry that he finally spoke to her. And the words he said to Ginny were definitely enough to make her notice him at once.
Theo said, “Sue me, Ginevra.”
And Ginny had. She’d dragged Theo and his entire family in front of the Wizengamot and gotten that illegal contract nullified at once. Not only that, but Aloysius Nott had to pay back any gold, aside from the loan’s principal, he’d taken from the Weasley family over the years, plus a little extra as a fine.
And Theo had loved every second of it.
What followed was a whirlwind romance born on the Wizengamot floor. They flirted while they defended clients, they got hot and bothered while they listened to each other’s final remarks, and within a few weeks they were fucking and five months later they were married.
Nowadays they ran a successful law practice called Nott & Weasley – Solicitors. Ginny had insisted on keeping her own name. She’d worked far too hard to just give it up, and Theo honestly couldn’t care less as long as she agreed to become his wife.
This is why Harry ended banging on the door of their lovely farmhouse in Ottery St Catchpole early in the morning.
Theo opened the door, clearly in the middle of getting dressed, his shoes untied, his tie undone. “Harry? What’s the emergency?”
Harry leaned one hand against the doorpost while he panted. “I need your help. Or Ginny’s. Or both.”
“I’m expected in the Wizengamot in half an hour, but Ginny has office duty today so she can see you,” Theo said, opening the door further to let Harry in.
Ginny came walking down the stairs, wearing a black pantsuit. Once Ginny had been officially sworn in as a solicitor, Hermione had taken her shopping in the muggle world and Ginny had fallen in love with the sharply cut pantsuits she found there. She wore nothing else to the office these days.
Ginny raised a single eyebrow as she stopped in front of her friend. “Harry? What’s going on? Please don’t tell me that lethifold you caught ate someone. That’s going to be a challenge to defend in front of the Wizengamot.”
“No, no.” Harry shook his head and finally felt like he could breathe again. Ginny was an amazing solicitor. She would be able to help Tom. “My dad has lost his mind and he’s arrested my boyfriend for Dumbledore’s murder even though I’m sure the old man just died of a heart attack.”
Ginny blinked. “Okay, tell me everything. But first take a few deep breaths. Blippy, tea for two!”
After they sat down in the sitting room and Harry finished a strong cup of Earl grey he was able to tell Ginny the whole story.
“Pfft.” Ginny said with an unimpressed snort. “They probably don’t even know the cause of death this soon after he died. We’ll demand an autopsy first thing. That should get your man off in no time.”
“Thanks,” Harry said, finally feeling like things would be all right again. He hadn’t dared attack his father that morning, not with four other Aurors around. Harry knew James would arrest his own son in a heartbeat and with Harry behind bars as well there would be no one to arrange for legal help and to ensure a fair trial was held. Tom had understood this much as well, and he’d gone quietly with James while giving Harry a reassuring smile. After that Harry had gotten dressed in a hurry and apparated to Ottery St Catchpole at once.
Ginny and Harry used her floo to get to the Ministry and Ginny marched them straight to the office of Susan Bones, Head of the Auror Department. Susan was of course the niece of Amelia Bones, who had been Head of Magical Law Enforcement for many years until she eventually ran for Minister for Magic which she remained to this day. Susan’s father, and Amelia’s brother, Edgar Bones was the current Head of Magical Law Enforcement. Good old nepotism at its finest.
“We enjoy playing a game of Quidditch on the weekends,” Ginny explained when Harry wondered out loud how Ginny even knew Susan Bones personally. Harry knew her from Hogwarts because they’d been in the same year, but they never spent any time together. “Susan is a ferocious beater. She played for Hufflepuff during her Hogwarts years,” Ginny added with an admiring smile.
“Ginny, what can I do for you?” Susan was seated behind her desk and gave Ginny a curious look.
“Save James Potter from ruining his own career, for one,” Ginny said, and then she gestured at Harry. “This is my good friend Harry Potter, the zoologist. His boyfriend was just arrested by James on some bogus charges because James doesn’t like his son dating a Slytherin.”
Susan sighed, long and deep, and then she waved her wand and summoned her Patronus. “Get me James Potter. Now,” she said to the silvery wolf, who disappeared through a wall immediately.
For the next five minutes Ginny and Susan made small talk about their Quidditch plans for the weekend while Harry tried not to succumb to the nerves he felt swirling through his entire body. Harry kept telling himself that everything would be all right and Tom would be at his side again in no time. But a small little voice in the back of Harry’s mind was already planning on how to get Tom out of Azkaban. Perhaps he could train Rene to put sleeping potions in the human guards’ beverages and then sneak in himself to break Tom out. And if that didn’t work and Harry truly became desperate, he could always go and get Aisa the basilisk and just storm Azkaban like the reckless Gryffindor he was.
The prospect of never seeing Tom again had that big of an effect on Harry, that he was seriously considering the life of a wanted criminal just to have Tom by his side again. Harry had never met someone like Tom before, someone who fit him and his strange life so perfectly. Heck, they even spoke the same, very rare language. If that wasn’t true love, Harry didn’t know what was.
James Potter barged into the office without knocking and looked down at Susan Bones over his nose as though she was a mere secretary and not his immediate boss. One might wonder why James Potter wasn’t the Head Auror, or even Head of Magical Law Enforcement. He was certainly old enough, with enough years in the field to qualify for it.
But the fact that James Potter’s best friend had turned out to be the worst crime boss their world had seen in decades, while James hadn’t noticed a thing wrong with him, had pretty much killed James’ career. Ever since then James had been passed over for every single promotion, as had Sirius Black. They were doomed to work the rest of their lives as Aurors in the field because neither had noticed that their best friend Peter Pettigrew was running a huge crime syndicate right under their noses.
Harry suspected that this was the most important reason James Potter was so adamant that Harry become an Auror. It was, at least to James, the one opportunity they had to save the Potter name, at least in the Ministry. Hyacinth had become a Healer, just like Lily was, so James couldn’t complain about that. Harry, though, had chosen what to James seemed like an entirely useless profession and thus Harry should drop it and do as his father told him. But Harry wasn’t about to give up his own life and happiness because his father had shitty taste in friends, and hence their battle of wills had begun and seemed to be coming to a head, finally, in Susan Bones’ office.
“Do you have an autopsy report for Albus Dumbledore yet?” Susan asked, giving James a stern glare.
“Not yet. Should be coming at end of the morning,” James muttered while giving Harry a disgusted glare.
“Then why on earth have you arrested a man for Dumbledore’s murder?” Susan demanded. “From all initial assessments I’ve seen it appears he died of massive heart failure.”
“Because Dumbledore told us Tom Riddle was a criminal right before his own death. If that’s not suspicious, I don’t know what is,” James said in a sort of belligerent tone that suggested everyone in the room was batshit crazy aside from himself.
Ginny snorted and crossed her arms. “You mean a senile old man accused my client of a crime someone else was convicted of 70 years ago.”
Sighing, Susan shook her head and gave James a tired look. “Did Dumbledore present you with any actual evidence?”
“His word should be enough!” James said with finality.
Susan looked like she very much wanted to roll her eyes but her professionality stopped her at the last moment. “Auror Potter, release Mr Riddle from custody at once and drop the charges.” When James looked ready to explode in protest, Susan actually stood up from her chair, placing her hands on her desk as she leaned closer to James. “I don’t care what sort of vendetta you have against your own son and his boyfriend, but you will keep it out of my department and the Wizengamot, is that understood? If evidence shows up that Mr Riddle is guilty of a crime, I will arrest him myself, but until such a time he remains a free man.”
Harry was deeply impressed by Susan’s little speech, because it even got James to back down.
“Fine,” James muttered, slowly stepping up to the door. “But just for the record, you’re making a huge mistake.”
“Duly noted,” Susan snapped, glaring at the man with fire in her brown eyes. “Now get the hell out of my office.”
Harry got an impulse he couldn’t control and he quickly followed James into the hallway. “Dad, this is it,” Harry said, finally saying the words he’d wanted to say for years and years but hadn’t dared. These were his parents, after all, and Harry loved them, even if he hadn’t actually liked them for years now. “You’ve gone too far this time. I no longer want any contact with you or mum.”
“Harry, that is codswallop. You’re our son, even if you haven’t acted like it in years,” James started on his usual monologue of how Harry was the family disappointment, but Harry was done. He was well and truly done.
With an empty heart, that had once housed endlessly conflicting emotions, Harry stepped away from his father. “Goodbye,” he said and then quickly entered Susan’s office again, shutting the door behind him with a huge sense of finality.
“You okay?” Ginny asked with a knowing glint in her eyes. Harry could only nod in response, throat too tight for any verbal response. “Mum was saying just the other day she hasn’t seen you in too long. Come over Sunday for dinner at the Burrow and bring your new man.”
“We’ll be there,” Harry whispered, beyond grateful for the many amazing people he had around himself. Even if he’d just lost his parents, Harry knew he still had plenty of family to fall back on in his life.
Fifteen minutes later Harry and Ginny approached the Atrium where they found Tom patiently waiting. Harry gave him a long, tight hug.
Ginny cleared her throat after a few minutes. “Hi, I’m Ginny Weasley. Harry’s friend and your solicitor. If you ever need anything, just contact me.”
“It’s truly a pleasure to meet you,” Tom said, finally prying himself away from an overly clingy Harry. “And thank you for your help.”
Ginny waved his gratitude away. “I barely did anything. I have to be in the office, though, so I’ll see you both Sunday.”
“What’s on Sunday?” Tom asked after Ginny disappeared in the throng of people around them.
“Dinner with Ginny’s parents, Arthur and Molly. They’re lovely people,” Harry said, looking up at Tom in slight disbelief they were really together again. The relief he felt was enormous and made him question his earlier thoughts of what he would do if Tom had been locked up. Harry leaned closer so he could whisper in Tom’s ear. “I was about ready to get Aisa and storm Azkaban if you’d been convicted.”
“What a splendidly Gryffindor plan,” Tom said with a terribly fond smile.
“I would have done it, too,” Harry insisted, though he couldn’t hold back a wide grin. “What I’m actually trying to say is that I’ve… you know… gotten used to you and I’d like to keep you around.”
“That is your big romantic declaration?” Tom rolled his eyes, though his cheeks flushed a slight pink in obvious pleasure.
“Well, you try it, then,” Harry said, winding his fingers through Tom’s and all but dragging him to the fireplace.
“How about I show you instead,” Tom whispered against the side of Harry’s head.
“You did make me a promise last night, that’s true,” Harry said, warm arousal coiling in his belly. “I’m going to keep you to that promise.”
When they arrived home, Tom took Harry to bed, even if it was the afternoon. They then proceeded to show each other exactly how much they’d grown to like the other. Multiple times.
Life went on and Harry kept his distance from his parents, though not for lack of trying on their part. But Harry had informed everyone of what had happened and what he’d decided to do about it, and even Severus understood that Harry meant it this time and no longer let Lily through Harry’s wards whenever she begged him to.
Dumbledore’s autopsy came back as heart failure, as everyone had expected, so Tom didn’t hear from the Auror department again, much to Harry’s relief.
Five weeks after Tom’s morning in a jail cell they woke up to a grunting sound. The first thing Harry saw was two large dark eyes giving him a demanding look.
Rene stood beside the bed, visible this time, with an empty pineapple can in his hand. He shook it at Harry, grunting again. He’d started showing himself more and more since a few weeks and nowadays he was almost always visible whenever he got hungry.
“Rene needs breakfast,” Harry mumbled into his pillow while outside Paul announced that there was rain coming with a few wails.
Beside him, Tom turned over and gave Harry a bleary look. “I’ve got my own critters to look after.” In a box beside Tom’s side of the bed several tiny kittens stirred and let out pitiful squeaks. A neighbour across the street had found a litter of kneazles no more than three weeks old under his shed that appeared abandoned and he’d dropped them off at Harry’s. Since Harry had been in a meeting with his publisher that day, Tom had accepted them. In the brief period Tom had looked after them by himself he’d already grown rather attached to them.
Harry worried they might end up with five kneazles of their own, though thankfully Hermione, Ginny, Hyacinth and even Blaise had already expressed an interest to adopt one of them once they were old enough. So Tom and Harry would probably end up with one kneazle for themselves, which was fine by Harry.
Harry got up, pulling on his bathrobe as he walked into the living room. There, on a wall, hung the lethifold, displayed under heavy preservation charms. Harry had studied the creature extensively, even going so far as performing an autopsy with the assistance of Severus and Tom. Harry was currently writing a new book about the lethifold and their extraordinary capture of it. And when Harry’s publisher heard about Tom’s unique predicament, he’d offered him a book deal as well, which Tom had accepted. Tom had just started writing his own book about his life as a basilisk and kept coming up with silly titles, such as ‘The Day I Ate A Tiger’ and ‘A Basilisk Named Tom’, much to Harry’s amusement.
Just as Harry shuffled into the kitchen and grabbed a can of pineapple for Rene from the warded cupboard, a Patronus flew into their kitchen. It was Rupert Longbottom’s hedgehog. “Hyacinth went into labour last night and the baby is almost here. Meet us in St Mungo’s.”
“Tom!” Harry yelled, instantly awake. “Tom, Hyacinth is having her baby.”
“You go ahead!” Tom yelled back from the bedroom. “I’ll feed the kittens and then meet you there!”
Harry threw on whatever clothes he could find while Rene sat on the couch, munching pineapple and watching Harry tripping over himself. Then Harry rushed out the door and apparated straight to the hospital.
“Is Tom looking after the kittens?” Hermione asked him first thing as he met his friends in the hallway outside Hyacinth’s room. “Are they all right?” Hermione hadn’t adopted another cat after she lost her beloved Crookshanks, and now that she had a baby kneazle coming her way soon she appeared more of an expectant mother than Hyacinth even.
“Yeah, they’re fine. He’ll be here soon,” Harry assured her while he waved hello to everyone else already there.
Once Harry’s parents arrived, his friends closed ranks around Harry and didn’t let them near him, for which Harry was eternally grateful. Tom arrived next and studiously ignored the suspicious glares James kept sending his ways while he chatted with Regulus and Barty.
Hyacinth accepted that Harry had gone no contact with their parents and was more than willing to accommodate Harry’s desires as long as Harry accepted that Hyacinth still wanted to keep a relationship with James and Lily. Harry was fine with that, since he had no desire to try to dictate his sister’s life. She was old enough to make her own choices.
Rupert yanked open the door and stuck his head out. “It’s a boy!” he yelled, face flushed while a baby’s wail could be heard in the background.
The two couples of brand new grandparents were allowed in first, but after that it was Tom and Harry’s turn, together with Neville and his wife Hannah.
“We’ve named him Francis Harrison Longbottom,” a proud Rupert said while Harry carefully held his nephew. He looked a bit like a grindylow, if Harry was to be honest, but that was probably just the result of the recent birth. Harry hoped.
“We’ll call him Frankie,” Hyacinth said with a tired smile while she kept a careful eye on Harry holding her child.
“A fine name,” Tom said as he stood beside Harry and peered at the babe with mild interest.
Later, when they came home and sat down on the couch together, Tom turned to Harry and gave him a questioning look. “Do you want kids?”
“Hell no, I’ll stick with animals,” Harry said. Tom seemed utterly relieved by that reply but before he could say anything they were ambushed by five kneazle kittens with very sharp claws.
“Oh look who’ve managed to escape their box,” Tom said with a beaming smile while one of the kittens climbed on top of his head.
Rene came sauntering into the living room, shaking his empty can in their direction while outside Paul started wailing.
Harry shared a smile with Tom while a kitten crawled inside his shirt and he realized that right at that moment, life was absolutely perfect.
The end.