Two owls were waiting for them when they returned to the villa, a few hours later. Harry took a letter from one, while the other owl allowed Hermione to take another. Both letters were addressed to Lord and Lady Potter. Harry opened one. It was in French, and Claude volunteered to translate.
"Dear Lord and Lady Potter,
It is with great pleasure that we confirm the rare event of a soul bond completed between Lord Harry Potter and Lady Hermione, née Granger. The bond was completed today at 14:28 local time and is recognized as equivalent to a marriage bond, giving you all the rights and duties of a married couple. As you both are still underage, this also emancipates you, giving you the rights and duties of adult wizards and witches.
As customary in international relations, the authorities in your country of residence will be notified of this change within a week.
We, at the Ministère de Magique, wish you long and fertile lives together."
Harry looked furtively at Hermione's parents. They didn't seem surprised, not too much, at least, but they seemed quite apprehensive. He could probably understand their feelings. Although they knew of Harry, and probably approved of his friendship with their daughter, they hadn't expected it to turn into marriage at such a young age. Well, neither had he.
The other letter was from Gringotts, and it was in English.
"Dear Lord and Lady Potter,
Let us congratulate you on your bond and your marriage, which was registered in our office this afternoon. Due to your current change of status, you are kindly requested to contact the nearest branch of Gringotts and get an updated status report, as well as some suggestions for changes in your accounts, caused by your bond.
On behalf of Gringotts,
Shortsword, Manager of the Nice branch of Gringotts.
P.S. You may use this letter as a portkey to the bank. Just tap our logo with your wand and say 'Gringotts'."
Harry looked at Hermione and then at Claude. "I think that tomorrow morning, after we visit the beach, would be just right to visit Gringotts. We may then send Andromeda her portkey as well. Don't you agree?"
Hermione nodded, as did Claude. Jean and Dave had other concerns, though. "Aren't you a bit young to be married?"
Apolline beat Hermione at answering. "They may be young, yet they didn't just marry — they had a soul bond, which means that their love for each other is much stronger than even love between happily married couples. Besides, this bond is created by Magic, and there's nothing anybody can do to change it." Seeing the concern on the faces of the muggle couple, she added, "They should still try to behave according to their age and use precaution if they don't want to burden themselves with children too early, and they will probably need your advice even more than before, if only due to their unusual circumstances."
"But can they live on their own? I mean, they're still too young to earn their living," Dave insisted.
Apolline smiled. "Without knowing the details, just having heard of this family, I'm sure they can live leisurely only on the profits of what they own, without ever touching the bulk of their assets."
"Maybe you'd like to accompany us to the bank?" Harry offered. "I only got a very brief presentation until now and would appreciate some advice."
Dave finally smiled. "I'm not sure I'm knowledgeable enough on these matters, but I'll do what I can to help you, son."
The last word seemed to have the most effect. Harry's face teared up and he jumped to hug Dave, soon joined by Jean and Hermione, making it a family hug. Harry was finally feeling the love of family, not only his wife's. It took him a long time to let go. Hermione kept holding his hand and hugging him every few minutes until his emotions came back under control.
–..–
They still spent the next morning at the nude beach. As Harry's swimming was improving and the exercise was building his muscles nicely, he attracted quite a bit of female attention when he swam in the sea, only where the waves were not too high, and even more attention when he came back to the beach, his body glistening with the salty water. Hermione felt a bit concerned about that attention, as girls tried to make Harry look at them, making sure to expose their most enticing assets for him to see. She didn't need to worry, though. Harry seemed oblivious to the other girls, walking straight to Hermione and engulfing her in a tight and loving hug, to the dismay of most other girls.
Fleur only laughed, despite Gabbi frowning a bit. "You're soul bound. Nobody can interest Harry more than you. He even seems oblivious to other females. You're so lucky to have him!"
As the sun rose higher, they returned to the villa, showered and got dressed. The young couple, along with Hermione's parents, took the portkey to Gringotts, landing in a room designated for incoming portkeys. Harry showed the letter to one of the goblins there and they were immediately invited into a very ornate office. The goblin at the desk stood up, inviting them to sit on the four comfortable chairs he conjured in front of the desk. He waited for them to sit before sitting back.
"Let's start with the introductions," he said with a slight accent. "I'm Shortsword, the manager of this branch, and as such I'm also handling all major accounts, including the Potter one, for as long as Lord Potter stays nearby."
Harry bowed his head in acknowledgement and made the introductions. "The young lady at my side is my dear wife, Lady Hermione Potter, and the couple sitting at her side are David and Jean Granger, her parents. I'm Harry Potter."
The goblin seemed somewhat amused but stayed formal. "Congratulations, Lord and Lady Potter. You've been invited here, as any change in marital status may also change some of the considerations used in deciding about our client's investments. As I've been informed, you've only got a very brief introduction to your assets, since you were in quite a hurry when you last visited our London branch."
Harry nodded, confirming the goblin's words.
"May I assume that you'd like your in-laws to hear the details as well?"
"Sure! I hadn't handled any significant amount of money until now and I'm sure we shall need their advice," Harry confirmed.
"Well, let's proceed…"
It took them more than three hours, not including a lunch break, to get a condensed overview of all the Potter assets. Harry also made sure that his solicitor would get portkey transportation and arrive at the Delacour villa. During their lunch break, Shortsword had their Lord and Lady rings transferred from the Potter vault in London, while giving his clients the best lunch they could get in that part of town, with Gringotts' compliments. Once the meeting was over, all four seemed more than a bit overwhelmed, making Shortsword chuckle. Humans, he thought, had a very poor understanding of finance, although the young lady seemed sharper than most.
Harry, not having any relevant experience until then, was not quite sure what it all meant. Sure, the numbers were all quite large and it was quite evident that he could live luxuriously without even touching his savings, leaving it all for the next generations, but the rest seemed somewhat insignificant. Hermione, who was more aware of finances, felt overwhelmed. She could plainly see that the daily income from the Potter assets was more than her parents' monthly income. She could barely comprehend the rest, as the numbers seemed too large to make any sense.
Her parents were overwhelmed differently. They were content that their only daughter had her financial future assured, yet the rest was too much for them too. They needed some time to come to terms with that kind of money and understand what it could mean for their daughter, and by extension — for them as well.
Back at the villa, both couples retired for some badly needed rest, to let their minds process the vast amount of information. This didn't mean the young couple only slept. They first cuddled together, turning it into a very intense love session. Only when fully sated, they drifted to sleep, smiling contentedly. The teens didn't know, but the older couple acted very similarly.
–..–
Andromeda arrived soon after dinner. Apolline showed her in after explaining the "clothing optional" attitude in the house. The shapely, dark-haired beauty had no problems shedding her clothing, revealing just as nice a body as any of the other females present. Claude made the formal introductions. Andromeda only gasped in surprise when Hermione was introduced as "Lady Potter".
She then turned to Harry. "As much as I like social occasions, we first need to handle our business. Can we retire to a more private place for that?"
"You may use my study, if you like. Harry already knows where it is," Claude offered.
Andromeda smiled at him and motioned Harry to lead the way. She was a bit surprised that he first grabbed his wife's hand before leading both to the study, where he helped each to a seat before sitting himself.
They talked for a few minutes just so they could get to know each other better, and then, Andromeda ("You may call me just Andy, when not in an official setting," she told them) moved to the main reason for the meeting.
"Lord Potter, Lady, there are a few items we need to address so I can proceed. First — the Goblins have informed me that there's a will in your main vault. They don't know its contents and it wasn't registered with the Ministry, as far as I could find, yet only you can take it out of your vault, or order Gringotts to get it for you. I suggest tackling this as soon as possible, since it may have some effect on other aspects of your life."
Harry nodded understandingly. "Can they bring it to the Nice branch? We could read it there."
"They can, and it may only take them a few minutes to do this. When would you like to read that?"
"Tomorrow, after our daily visit to the beach."
"The nude beach, I assume?" The teasing tone was evident.
"Of course. You may join us there as well if you like," he teased back.
She smiled. "I'll ask my husband to join us, if you don't mind. We work together anyway, although he works mainly on the Muggle side of our business."
She glanced at her papers, tacked the first item on her list and moved to the next. "Assuming that your parents left everything to you, the next point is your Wizengamot seats, currently held by Ministry-assigned officials. Once you reclaim your position, controlling these seats may help you bring some changes. For that, I need you to sign a few documents."
"How many seats do I hold?" Harry knew he had more than one, according to Claude, but the man couldn't tell him the exact number, not being fluent in the English system.
"Let's see. You have Potter, Peverell and Gryffindor, to start with. Then, there's the Gaunt seat. By defeating the last scion of that house, you've got it by right of conquest."
"But he's back! I've seen him resurrected!" Harry said.
"His resurrection doesn't count. He was beaten by you as a toddler, and that's it! I know he also presented himself as the heir of Slytherin, yet the Gaunt had never had control of that seat." She turned more serious. "Have you taken the ancestry test at Gringotts?"
"No. What is it?"
"You put a drop of blood on a magically treated parchment and it makes your whole family tree appear. They keep the magic secret, of course. If you take that test, we may claim some additional seats. We can do it at the bank, tomorrow. I suggest the lady do the same."
"But why? I'm muggle-born, you know," Hermione replied.
Andy smiled. "Most pureblood families try to forget it, but Magic isn't strictly hereditary. Magical families have more squibs than they would like to admit and many children born to muggle parents show strong magic. According to the Goblins, each person usually has both magical and muggle ancestors, regardless of blood status." She turned serious again. "Your ancestry test may find some additional magical ancestors, unknown to you, that may help you establish your position much quicker."
Hermione nodded in understanding.
Andy marked her list and proceeded. "The other most urgent issue is the bad publicity spread about you by the ministry with the full cooperation of The Daily Prophet and the WWN. We can't sue them for libel, as there's no law forbidding it in Magical Britain. What we can do is gain control over these two very important tools for passing information. Your family holds about a quarter of the shares in both companies. Longbottom has about ten per cent, as does Bones. Black holds fifteen but is now controlled by Malfoy, unfortunately. We may need to look for smaller shareholders and either buy their shares or make them our allies."
"I think we can get hold of the Black shares," Harry commented.
"How?" she frowned.
"Lord Black, Sirius, is alive. He's not been convicted in court; he was just sent to Azkaban without a trial."
Andy paled. "Are you sure? I was just starting my career at the time, not fully aware of all that went on in the magical society. As he's my cousin, I feel like I betrayed him."
"Well, I believe you can still help him get the trial he'd been denied, so he can prove his innocence."
Andy scribbled furiously on her parchment. "I'll start working on that as soon as I can."