Arthur leaned over the breakfast table. Wonder of wonders, everyone was still gathered and eating; it was the first time in a month that more than one of the Order was in the same room together. "What did you get, Lupin?" he said. "The post owls are supposed to deliver our mail elsewhere."
Remus removed the letter from the owl's leg, and it promptly flew out the window. "It's a Gringott's owl," he said, puzzled. "Not an ordinary mail owl. I think they have different standards."
Molly served them bacon. "Not like we'd ever be getting any owls from Gringott's," she said cheerily. "Unless it's to ask if we'd like to close our vault since there's nothing in it."
Remus snorted, thinking back to his painstakingly collected savings, which amounted to less than what Harry spent on his dress robes last year. He used his butter knife to open the seal, and started scanning the letter.
It was telling him he'd just inherited a fortune.
"What's wrong?" Molly asked, interested. "You look like the bacon bit you on the nose."
Sirius, apparently, had had a will drawn up. Though the Potters' money had gone to Harry, a nice sum of their property was in Sirius' name, since Harry, as a child, wasn't old enough to own actual assets. Lily's Muggle assets, something called a long term mutual fund and investment portfolio, as well as everything James had owned that wasn't in his house, had transfered hands, from Sirius to Remus. Assets. The ground itself where their house had stood. It had all changed hands.
It was true, Remus had inherited all of James, Lily and Sirius' personal effects fifteen years ago, but there was no way he would have parted with any of it. The three boxes - three measley boxes to sum up three lives -were still stored in the attic in his cottage, and were probably worth a total of five pounds.
Gringott's was trying to tell him he'd inherited upward of five thousand galleons from the Black family vault alone. Sirius' personal vault had another few thousand--
Remus' eyes swam with the figures.
"Remus?" Molly said again, and glanced at Arthur. "Are you all right?"
Arthur peered at him from over his tea, but said nothing. Remus ate a piece of bacon, absently, getting a little grease stain right over the part of the parchment detailing how to get access to his new vaults, and where to pick up the vault keys. He put the bacon down, feeling a little sick, and got a few spots of sugared tea right on the paragraph about needing to close the other vaults, now that the Black family was officially "deceased". The tea smudged the last half of "deceased", making it unreadable.
Remus put the letter down, carefully to the side. "I'm fine," he said. "I have an errand I have to do later," and he made sure to face the letter down so that Molly and Arthur couldn't see it.
Molly frowned at him, looking worried. "What did Gringott's want with you?" she asked.
Remus put his tea down; it was cold. "Nothing," he said. "Bad news."