Jillian Green sat at her desk wondering how she was going to make the books balance for the month, this was not a problem with her excellent accounting skills merely that the amount of money coming in was insufficient to meet the running costs. The obvious business answer was to cut her costs but how do you explain to children that they couldn't eat today as the orphanage had to cut costs.
A knock at the door and Betty popped her head round to say they had visitors, Jillian usually hated this as the good and the great got to tour the facilities, get a photo taken for the press with a few orphans and then leave a few Galleons to ease their conscience.
She would just have to smile and bear it as even ten Galleons could make a big difference this month, a lot of purebloods had dropped off the map and though their contributions were meagre to say the least the children got to have food on their plates.
When Amelia Bones walked in she was surprised but when she introduced the two couples with her Jillian wasn't sure what was going on, fifteen minutes later and she had trouble remembering her own name and kept pinching herself to see she wasn't dreaming.
It was straight after the introductions and the group having been seated on some thread worn, mismatched chairs when the first bombshell hit, Harry Potter apparently didn't mess about.
"In conversation with Amelia last night she was thanking us for saving her niece from ending up here, she had nothing but praise for you and your staff but from my initial investigations I know that the orphanage is under severe financial pressure. What I'm proposing is that the orphanage becomes part of the newly formed Granger Foundation where it will be relocated to a more suitable building, have all it's bills taken care of with you and your staff actually being paid a decent salary."
"Just how 'newly formed' is this Granger Foundation and what does it do?" Hermione asked her sneaky husband.
"The Granger Foundation is my wedding present to my wife, it's a charity organisation that can circumvent red tape and provide help directly where it's needed. It has Lady Hermione Jean Potter as Chairperson with Dan and Emma Granger as board members. I won't go into business details here other than to say my information is that the orphanage needs help now, waiting until we came back from honeymoon might have been too late."
Jillian couldn't believe what she was witnessing and, but for the presence of her friend Amelia Bones, would have thought this was some sort of cruel prank. Hearing Lord Potter sum up their situation only made her nod in defeat, they might just make it to the end of this month but she couldn't see them reaching the end of August.
"One of the main problems is the rent you pay for this building, while I know it's not an exorbitant amount it's still more than you can comfortably afford. Should you accept this offer then the first order of business is to move you out of here into a building that will be owned by the orphanage and administered by the Foundation, you will of course still be in charge of the day to day running of the place as everyone agrees you're very good at your job. As with the Potter Institute you will be given a vault to cover the running costs and any major purchases get discussed with the foundation. Are there any questions so far?"
Hermione just grabbed her husband and kissed him senseless while Jillian looked to Amelia for confirmation that this was real, her friend's broad smile assured her that it was.
The strangest house elf Jillian had ever seen appeared next to the Potters, he was dressed in camouflage fatigues with patches on both shoulders and sergeant stripes on his arm. She was sure one of the patches was the Potter family emblem but the other with the snowy owl had her confused, every pocket of his fatigues was bulging with Merlin knows what.
"Ah Dobby," said Harry "how goes the restoration work?"
"We are ripping out old masters study as it would make a great play room for the children," the mischievous glint in his eye was unmistakable.
"I think you're enjoying this a bit too much Dobby, Have you moved all the books?"
"Oh yes Harry sir, they're all in the Institute with Professor Lupin sorting them after checking they're safe."
The penny had finally dropped for Hermione, "you're turning Malfoy Manor into an orphanage?"
"It seemed so fitting, don't you agree?" Harry cheekily asked.
Hermione and Amelia seemed to think so as they were almost bent double with laughter while the experience left Jillian Green practicing her goldfish impression, her mind just couldn't cope with the frequency and magnitude of the shocks coming her way.
"I understand there are three children here who are of age to attend school, all will be guaranteed places at the Potter Institute and all expenses met by us."
Jillian looked towards the young wizard who was practically their saviour and asked a question she really didn't want to, "Lord Potter, won't the children be picked-on for belonging to an orphanage?"
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