A Diamond Heart - 1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The evil bastard was dead and people still wouldn’t leave me alone. I had to hole up in Grimmauld Place because it had the best protection. As soon as the final battle was over one of my best friends showed his true colors. Ron Weasley went to the Daily Prophet and told them I was the next Dark Lord and I was not to be trusted. Granted things had been rocky in our friendship since fourth year and the Tri-Wizard Tournament when he accused me of cheating and quit talking to me for a time. Since the end of the tournament, Hermione became more focused on following authority and rules. She kept pushing me to trust Dumbledore even though he had done nothing to get me out of the tournament when he could have. Her fixation that Dumbledore could do no wrong eventually wore on our friendship until I didn’t want to be around her anymore.

It was during that time that Draco and I began a tenuous friendship. Three years of antagonistic behavior didn’t evaporate overnight, but he proved himself when he and Neville helped me with the second task. Over the next couple of years, our friendship grew and strengthened as my friendship with Ron deteriorated.

The man I looked up to, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, saw me as nothing but a pawn to win the war. Ginny Weasley felt she should be the next Lady Potter even though I had told her time and again I was gay and would never marry her even if my life depended on it.

Draco and Neville were the only ones to stand by me after the war. Neville’s grandmother died in a Death Eater attack so the three of us all had being alone in common and it drew us closer. Draco’s father disowned him when he found out about our friendship and Draco refused to hand me over to the madman known as Voldemort.

The three of us were like brothers and put my so-called friendship with Weasleys to shame. The twins were decent to me but with the loss of my relationship with their brother, our relationship was strained as they didn’t want to cause drama in the family. After the first year of being in business, they were able to buy my shares out.

I heard Draco on the stairs as I sat in the kitchen and stared into my tea.

“Harry, you okay?” Draco asked as he sat across from me.

“Yeah, I just can’t believe everything that’s happened. I mean those who were supposed to be my best friends turned out to be spies for Dumbledore and the man I looked up to had my life planned out to my death at the hands of Voldemort. I’m just thankful I have you and Neville.”

“I can understand your thoughts of loss. I knew when I offered you my hand in friendship the second time that my father would not be happy with me, but I couldn’t be arsed to care. I knew that the ideals he held onto were going to ultimately ruin the wizarding world. I can understand about the muggleborns who go back into the muggle world because of the risk to our traditions, but what about the ones who stay and contribute to our society?”

“I know and I completely agree. I’ve been looking into things and we are never going to be left alone if we stay in wizarding Britain. Heck, I don’t think we’ll be left alone if we went into muggle Britain. I looked into the wizarding cultures in other countries and found that the one in America would suit our needs the best. They have their areas like Diagon Alley but, for the most part, they live amongst muggles and are living in current times, not stuck in the dark ages.”

“I don’t know Harry. Won’t they let Britain know where we are? If they do we’ll still never be left alone.”

“I’ve been in touch with the President of Wizarding Congress there and she knows what’s been going on here and is disgusted by how they’ve relied on a teenager to end the war, but to not ask for help from other magical communities is ridiculous. She said that there would be no problem in granting us citizenship, in fact, she said she would go so far as to grant us asylum in case anyone gets it in their heads to come after us.”

“Have you talked to Neville about this? You know he won’t leave Luna behind.”

We were so caught up in our discussion that we didn’t hear Neville come into the kitchen until he said, “Aye, he’s talked to me and I completely agree with him. Luna said we should all go and that she would gladly come with us if that was okay with you guys.”

Draco and I jumped when we heard his voice. I turned to look at him as he took a seat next to me. “You know we love Luna like a sister. I couldn’t ask you to leave her behind or to choose between us. That just wouldn’t be fair.”

“Harry what about Teddy? Andromeda isn’t getting any younger you know,” said Draco.

“I’ve spoken to her and she understands what we are going through and said that as long as we kept the floo open to her she’s willing to let me take him with us because he needs the stability that we can offer instead of spending, however, much time she has left and then being uprooted at that time.”

“I think between the four of us Teddy will be well looked after. Have you given any thought as to where in America we’ll live?” asked Draco.

“Well, there are two places that stick out to me. Washington state and San Francisco, California.”

“Harry, before I forget, Luna said to tell you Port of the Angels sounds nice, whatever that means,” said Neville.

“Huh, that could mean Forks, Washington. While it’s mostly muggle, there is a wizarding community in Port Angeles just a little ways away. The good thing is that the weather is similar to what we have here so that won’t be much of a change,” I said.

Draco sat there for a minute before he said, “I’m in.”

“You know my answer Harry, Luna and I will go wherever you go.”

“Well then, it looks like a trip to Gringotts is in order.”

“Why did you narrow it down to California and Washington State?” Draco asked.

“Well, it turns out that I have property in both areas that way we don’t have to buy anything.”

“That’s one thing we don’t have to worry about. While we’re at Gringotts we can start the paperwork to transfer everything to the branch there and get everything we

need as far as ID’s and such,” said Draco.

“Luna figured we would be doing that so she said she would meet us there this afternoon. We thought we would do a simple bonding ceremony before we leave since we would have the two of you there as our witnesses, that way we can get everything out of the way at the same time.”

I looked at Draco before I answered. “We would be honored to be your witnesses.”

“What he said,” smirked Draco.

There was a soft pop as Dobby popped into the kitchen. “Master Harry Potter sir, there is someone wanting to come through sir,” he said as he pulled on his floppy ears.

“Who is it Dobby?”

“It’s Mistress McGonagall, Master Harry Potter sir.”

“Okay. Dobby please go put on a clean towel.” I got up and went to the parlor to let her through.

“Mr. Potter, may I come through? I have something to discuss with you,” said Minerva.

“Of course Professor McGonagall,” I replied. I stepped off to the side to give her room to step through. Since the end of the war, she seemed to have aged almost overnight. I was sure the stress of rebuilding Hogwarts didn’t help matters.

“Lord Potter is Lord Longbottom and Draco here?” she asked.

“Yeah, they’re in the kitchen.” I led the way to the kitchen with her following behind me.

Once we were settled in our seats she clasped her hands on the table in front of her. She looked at each of us and said, “Gentlemen, it pains me to say this, but you need to disappear. Rufus has been named interim Minister and has deemed you three as dangerous and on the verge of becoming the next wave of evil that we will have to face. He feels that with the amount of power you three showed during the battle that you each have the chance to become a Dark Lord to rival the history of You-Know-Who.”

I looked at the others and said, “Looks like we may have to step up our timetable and get a move on with what we need to do today.”

“I’m ready when you are,” said Draco.

“Same here,” said Neville.

We rose and followed her to the floo. She reached into the box on the mantle and stepped into the fireplace. She threw the powder and said, “Hogwarts, Headmaster’s office.” The flames turned green and flared around her, the next second she was gone.

I looked at Draco and Neville and said, “No time like the present. Might as well head to Gringotts and get everything taken care of.”

Draco grabbed some floo powder from the box on the mantle, stepped inside the fireplace and called out, “Gringotts bank.” He swirled away amidst the green flames.

After a couple of minutes, Neville repeated Draco’s actions. Muttering to myself, I followed up and stumbled out of the floo inside the lobby of Gringotts bank.

I took a moment to settle myself and wished I hadn’t just eaten an hour before flooing. I looked around and saw the glass case in the middle of the lobby where the sword of Gryffindor rested. I had to give it up as part of reparations for breaking the dragon out. I would never get used to the ornateness of the lobby with the gems laid into the gold moldings across the walls and teller stations.

Once I was steady on my feet and my stomach had settled down a little bit I walked up to an available goblin and said, “Hello, I am Harry Potter and I was wondering if I could see Director Griphook if he is available.”

The goblin looked up and asked, “And who are your companions?”

“Neville Longbottom and,” I shifted uncomfortably, “Draco No Last Name.” I could see Draco out of the corner of my eye and the look of pain on his face at being

introduced without having a last name almost broke my heart.

He nodded and said, “I don’t know how he’ll treat you after the dragon fiasco, but nonetheless follow me.” He didn’t wait to make sure we were behind him as he walked away. We scurried to catch up to him as he strode down a short maze of corridors. The goblin stopped in front of an ornate door and knocked loudly.

“Come in!” exclaimed the voice from within.

“Griphook, Lord Potter-Black, Lord Longbottom, and Draco No Last Name are here to see you,” the first goblin explained. Draco shifted uncomfortably when his name was announced.

“Well, don’t just stand there, come in,” grumbled Griphook.

The first goblin left and we walked into the room. Draco closed the door after we were all in the room. We each took a seat and waited for Griphook to look up from the papers on his desk.

He finally looked up and said, “What do you want? I don’t have all day.”

“Director Griphook, you know how very sorry we are for the whole dragon escaping thing, and from breaking into one of your vaults, but the future of Wizarding Britain was at stake and the Potter Vaults have fully made reparations to you for any damages to the Bank".

Griphook looked at me briefly from his paperwork and only replied with a "Hmph", as this seemed to be Griphook’s only response so I continued, "We are here for the papers I talked to you about earlier in the week.”

This, however, got Griphook's attention “Lord Potter-Black, are you sure about what you are asking?”

“Yes, I am, Director Griphook. Draco is to become a Black as are I and Lord Longbottom. We require the muggle passports and identification, as well as the transfer of our funds to the Gringotts in Seattle, Washington.”

He looked at Neville and asked, “Are you really sure about this Lord Longbottom?” he asked incredulously.

“Yes, Director Griphook. I also need to do a bonding between myself and Lady Lovegood with Lord Potter and Mr. Draco as witnesses.”

There was a knock on the door, annoyed at the interruption Griphook called out, “What is it now?!”

Griphook directed a smile towards the door which was not at all suited to the goblins aged features as she came into his office and said “It would be my pleasure to bond you two, as I personally bonded your mother and father Lady Lovegood,” said Griphook as he sent a note for all the papers he needed to be delivered.

“Thank you, Director Griphook,” said Luna.

“If we are changing your names to Black I will do the name changes first and then the bonding. The transfer will take no time at all so we can do that last,” said Griphook as he pulled a parchment out of the stack that had just been delivered to him.

“Director Griphook, I want to blood adopt Draco into the family and make Neville our blood brother. We don’t want it to be in name only; we want to truly be brothers.”

“Very well, Lord Potter-Black.” He turned to the cabinet behind his desk and pulled out a silver dagger, silver bowl with gems and runes, and a golden chalice decorated with gems all around it. When he turned back around he pulled a potion out of a drawer in his desk and poured it into the chalice. “I need three drops of blood from each of you, starting with you Lord Potter-Black.” He slid the dagger across his desk.

I stood and accepted the dagger. I took a moment to actually look at it and was amazed at the simple beauty of it. It looked to be pure silver with a small gold trim around the hilt where there was a Celtic knot. I pricked my finger and watched as the blood swelled into a bead on the tip of my finger. I held my finger over the chalice and watched as three drops of blood dripped down. I pulled my finger back and cast a quick healing charm on it. I handed the dagger to Neville and he repeated the process before he passed it to Draco.

Once completed Draco slid the dagger across the desk to Griphook. He picked up the chalice and swirled the liquid around before he handed it to me. “Each of you needs to take a mouthful before passing it to the next,” instructed Griphook.

I took my mouthful and couldn’t help the grimace that came as the concoction slid over my tongue. The bitter taste reminded me of all the ones I took during my time at Hogwarts due to my many injuries. I handed the chalice to Neville and saw the grimace on his face before he handed it to Draco.

I felt a tingle in my stomach as I felt the potion take effect. I watched Draco and Neville grab their stomachs, suddenly I wasn’t sure this had been a good idea. After a few minutes, the queasiness in my stomach eased off. I looked at the guys and saw them both stand a little straighter. Draco’s eyes had changed to a grayish green and Neville’s cheekbones seemed to be a little higher and more pronounced. Luna stood next to Neville and rubbed her hand across his back in a comforting gesture.

“While Lord Longbottom has been ‘adopted’ by Lord Potter-Black, Lord Longbottom retains his rights to that Lordship,” said Griphook.

“Good, I was worried about that,” said Neville.

“Even though Mr. Draco is a Black by blood, he will not be able to inherit the Black fortune since Lord Sirius Black named Lord Potter as his heir.”

“I’m simply happy to have a last name again. If I have to work to make a living I will do that,” said Draco.

“Draco, I’m not going to cut you out of the Black fortune. I will, however, create a vault for you with an allowance. I will not make you do without things that are needed.”

“Thanks, Harry.”

“Now I believe these documents will suffice.” Griphook handed each of us a bundle of papers.

I flipped through and found a passport, an ID, a lease, a car title, and a set of keys. I could only assume that the others had a passport and ID as well. All documents showing me as Lord Harry Black.

“Thank you Griphook.”

“Now I believe we have a bonding to do,” said Griphook.

“Yes, please,” said Luna.

“Alright, Lord Longbottom and Lady Lovegood, please stand before me.”

“Oh, before I forget. Griphook I need the rings from my family vault,” said Neville.

“Of course Lord Longbottom.” He handed Neville a velvet pouch. “Just think of the rings and they will appear in the pouch.”

I saw the look of concentration on Neville’s face before he opened the pouch and pulled out two silver rings with what looked like an opal in the center of them. When he handed Luna the ring for him it changed to blue. I had never seen anything like them before. The ring Neville held in his hand looked like an opal surrounded by flower petals while the ring in Luna’s hand was a plain silver band with the opal in the middle.

Griphook cleared his throat. “Do you Lord Neville Longbottom pledge your mind, body, and soul to Lady Luna Lovegood?”

“I do,” said Neville. He pricked edge of a finger with the slim silver dagger Griphook held out to him and dripped blood into the silver bowl below. He cast a quick healing charm before he placed his ring on Luna’s finger.

"So mote it be."

“Do you Lady Luna Lovegood pledge your mind, body, and soul to Lord Neville Longbottom?”

“I do,” she said. She pricked edge of a finger with the same slim silver dagger and dripped blood into the silver bowl below. Neville cast a healing charm on her finger before she placed her ring on Neville’s finger.

"So mote it be. With the Power of the Goblin Nation, I declare you bound by mind, body, and soul. Nichil omnino frustra hic addenda sit amet Iustus sum visus hariolari. So Mote It Be. A kiss of true love will cement your bond. You may now kiss your soulmate.”

Neville leaned in and claimed Luna’s lips in a kiss. An ocean of colors flowed from one to the other rising from their chests out through their kiss into the other. The sea of colors continued from their chests and down their left arms to their rings where they combined and went from an emerald green to a blue and green fire opal that changed with the force and swiftness of lightning emitting a soft glow. I gasped in awe as I watched the scene before me play out. It made me long for the day that I could bond with my soulmate.