the brick building loomed before him as monty squinted up at it, a hand brought up to sheild his eyes as the light from the sun reflected off the plaque above the doors. GRINGOTTS was the only bank in the wizarding world, operated and managed by the goblins manning the desks past the atrium, and the slytherin would have been lying if he said he completely trusted them to manage his affairs. yet given no alternatives, the sayre family had maintained their vaults for as long as he could remember .. perhaps even longer than his parents could. at the thought of his parents, monty’s blood ran cold. would they have been callous enough to empty his personal vault? he had no key to the family vault so he knew that was off limits, which was fine, but if his own had been emptied? he’d be in quite the pickle... and if there was one thing desmond sayre worried about above all else it was being left with nothing but the few galleons that were safely tucked away at the bottom of his trunk. they certainly wouldn’t cover the few things he needed to prepare for the new school year even I F a lot of the books could be re-used. once he’d mustered enough courage to walk inside he approached one of the desks, informing the goblin that he wanted to access his vault.
the goblin peered down at him from below his eyeglasses ; calculating, curious. of what, monty couldn’t be sure .. but it left him unsettled. “of course, mr. sayre.” the goblin replied as he hopped down from his perch, crossing around to him. “...which one will you be visiting today?” monty couldn’t help the look of confusion that shrouded his vision, an eyebrow arching as he turned over his key. “err, this one... i only have the one?” the goblin simply shook his head as he motioned for monty to follow him down to the carts. while the journey was not an unfamiliar one to the wizard, the path they travelled to access the vaults was DIFFERENT this time. when it stopped with a jolt, monty frowned. this large vault with emeralds encrusted around the door looked unfamiliar and he wasn’t sure what they were doing there. even after the goblin handed him a thick envelope and motioned for him to get out the blond was stunned. yet he did as he was told, not without a series of undignified murmurs made under his breath, and ripped the envelope open. he lept back when it ripped itself from his hands, twisting as if it were a howler and opening to reveal its message.
“desmond, my darling,” the letter cooed, its sound on the low side .. so much so that monty had to lean in to hear the soothing voice of his grandmother, elphadora sayre. she’d passed away when he was ten so it was a bit overwhelming to hear her voice again after so long. “... i hope by the time you hear this, it won’t sound quite so deafening. they’ve assured me it’ll quiet with time but one can only trust so much magic they don’t understand. but that’s enough of that, my boy, you don’t need to listen to the ramblings of an old woman. you’ve done enough of that ‘till now. i know it’s wrong of me, but you’ve always been my favorite. a lot like your father, you see .. you remind me of how he was before he left home and married your mother. i won’t speak ill of her because she’s your mother and i’m sure you love her, but it’s never been a secret that we’ve had our... differences.” monty could practically hear the sneer in her voice and he couldn’t help but laugh, a swell of love rising within him as he strained to hear the rest of her words. “it breaks my heart to know that your grandfather was just shy of being able to meet his namesake, and that the both of us will never get to see you grow into the extraordinary man i know you can be. your path is just that - your own, and even if you stray from where you think you should be, or feel lost, just know that you’ll always have a home. live for yourself, my darling, and N E V E R let anyone hold you back.” as her words faded away the letter crumpled to dust before his eyes, dropping a single silver key into his hand as the pieces drifted away. blinking slowly he turned the key over in his hand, swallowing hard when he saw the emblem of their family engraved on the handle. the key twisted in the lock to the vault and with a turn of the handle he was able to push it open, eyes widening when he saw the towering stacks of gold and silver ; jewels, money, and more than his eyes could even take in. he leaned up against the door as he shook his head, laughter bouncing off the walls of the vault. he’d listened to his mother complain for years about the sayre fortune, how no one knew what had been done with it after elphadora’s death, and now he knew. his grandmother had purposely kept it away from his parents and left it to him .. only to be granted access when he’d come of age. another letter set atop a desk by the door explained just that and listed the address for a property that now belonged to HIM upon the event of his grandmother’s desk.
it was a CASTLE.
he owned a bloody CASTLE.
he decided to just take what he needed for the time being and tucked the key safely into his pocket, the papers for the house securely folded and stuffed in his bag before returning to the cart. he’d leave the vault from his parents alone for now. after all, his grandmother had seen to it that her grandson would never go without .. even if her own son cast him away. she’d always known that he was different, that he’d never quite fit in with the rest of his family, and she’d seen always been his C H A M P I O N ; as a child, and now in death. it was with a fond smile on his face that he apparated into claramae’s bedroom, intent on sharing news - both good AND bad with his girlfriend. the room was shrouded in darkness and he nearly tripped as he appeared, squinting and casting a quick lumos charm to illuminate the room. at first he’d assumed she was out somewhere and had been about to owl her when suddenly he spotted her curled up at the end of her bed, back against the footboard - on the floor - with her knees drawn to her chest. with a muttered curse he crossed the distance between them in little to no time, kneeling down beside her and quickly pulling her into his arms. it didn’t take a genius to know she was U P S E T and while he wouldn’t press the witch for details until she was ready to talk he wanted to be sure she knew that he was there for her. no matter what.
