Disclaimer: I don't own anything. J.K. Rowling does. EDIT: I realize that this story starts out very cliché, and it's not so great, but if you give it a chance, I think it gets better. Hopefully. If it's not your cup of tea, that's ok.

A Dish Best Served Cold- Chapter 1

Harry Potter had dealt with hatred many times in his life. He had been the victim of pointless bigotry and abuse at the hands of his guardian, he had faced the school when they believed him responsible for the Chamber of Secrets, and then again when he had been forced to take part in that damnable Tournament. What he had never expected, was to be the one feeling that abhorrence.

He was sitting next to the Sirius, his teeth grinding against each other in barely concealed rage. He was in Gringotts Bank, and was speaking to the goblin that managed his accounts. Sirius had suggested that he come today and claim his place as Lord Potter, because now that Voldemort was back, he would need access to things that most kids couldn't get and he would also need to train. As a Lord, he would be emancipated and, therefore, not fall under the Restriction of Underage Sorcery.

What could possibly make Harry Potter fume like the Hogwarts Express? Betrayal. The two people he had trusted the most in the world, the ones who were supposed to be there for him through thick and thin, had smiled in his face all the while sharpening the dagger they were ready to shove in his back.

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had been stealing from him. Back in second year, when Harry had allowed Mrs. Weasley to use his vault key to buy his supplies, she hadn't given it back. Being the naïve boy he had at the time, he hadn't thought twice about it. Now, he was finding out that he had lost nearly a half a million galleons.

Ron had stolen the key from his mother and hidden the fact that he had it from anyone else. Being an idiot however, he had let it slip to Hermione one day, who had surprised him by promising not to tell Harry, so long as she got a share. She had also promised to be his girlfriend, just so long as they kept it secret. So, the two of them had begun stealing from him a little at a time so that he wouldn't notice large chunks of money missing. When he failed to mention his funds being low, they took that as a good sign and started taking out more. By the beginning of fourth year, they were comfortable enough to take out large amounts of money and putting them in a joint account that they had opened with their own money, and then put all of the galleons they had stolen into that one.

Harry did not know all of these details, but he had figured out how they had done it. When he had asked why the manager had never notified him earlier, he was made aware of a few things. The first was that the money was almost always removed during holidays of some sort or on a weekend, and it was done by Harry himself. The second was that more recently, some withdrawals had been made with a magical key imprint so the key holder didn't need to show up in person. The bank had sent out a notification of transaction and receipt, but the owl tracks the key, not the owner, so because he didn't have the key, he didn't receive the letter.

Harry, having heard the part about him showing up in person, he was a little vexed, since he had no idea how they would do that other than with Polyjuice potion, for which they didn't have access to the ingredients. He endeavored to find out exactly what was happening. He also asked if anyone else had been benefitting from him, and had been told that Ginny Weasley had gotten a few payments from the Weasley/Granger account, so it was safe to say that she was in on whatever was going on.

Harry's blood was boiling, and his magic screamed for release. He wanted to find the fools that dared to cross him and rip them apart. There was something that few people knew about Harry, and those that did thought it a good thing because they viewed it as protectiveness.

Harry Potter was highly possessive. When applied to his friends, it looked like he cared deeply for them. In truth, he would never let them go unless he had no more use for them. His vow to overcome Voldemort had sprung from the fact that the man had taken his parents, almost taken his at-the-time friends, and finally, had stolen Harry's blood. For that, he would never forgive the ugly lizard-lipped son of a bitch.

"Take all of the money from their vault and put it back. Immediately." The goblin nodded with a smirk on his face and wrote a note before summoning another goblin and handing it to him. SilverKnuckle, the goblin in front of them said, "I added Ginny Weasley's name to the list, but I told them to make it look like the Weasley/Granger vault took it back first." Harry grinned a wicked grin and loosened his grip as he relaxed a little. Just knowing that he was getting back what was his made him happier.

SilverKnuckle continued with business knowing that his client wouldn't want to be here all day. "We will need a blood sample for our testing to prove your lineage. Standard procedure, I'm sure you understand." Harry nodded. "Here is a ritual dagger that will cut with zero pain and seal the cut almost immediately after the blood is released." Harry ran his thumb over the blade, and his blood seemed to stick to the blade without dripping. It was odd, but it was so that a mess wasn't created. When he was done, he handed the blade back to the goblin and looked at his thumb to see that it was cut-free.

The goblin moved the red edge to a piece of magical parchment and chanted some words in Gobbledegook before touching the blade to the paper. There was a small flash of blue light and when it was gone there was a gasp from the account manager.

"What?" asked Harry. "What's going on? Is something wrong?" He was somewhat worried because he would need this to go right if he was to gain his revenge.

The short being shook his head with a bemused smile on his face and said, "No, Mr. Potter. For you, everything has just gone so right." He took the parchment and handed it over. There were three names on it. The first two were expected. Not the third.

Potter. From his father.
Black. From his grandmother.
Beaufoy. Who?

"Who are the Beaufody's?" asked Harry. Sirius gasped at the question, snatching the sheet away from him to look at it.

"No way. It's not possible!" He looked up at the Goblin. "Is this for real? Do you know what this means?" The goblin nodded before responding.

"I am very aware of what this could mean for not only the future, but also our young friend here."

Harry was looking back and forth between the two and was getting quickly annoyed with the situation. "Someone tell me what the hell is going on! Who are they, and how am I related to them?"

Sirius sighed, sat back, and got ready to tell a little story.

"Back in the time of King Arthur and Merlin, there was a family that was not as powerful in individual magical strength as Merlin, but almost. However, because there were many of them, if they had opposed Merlin, they could easily have killed him and Arthur, taking over the kingdom. They didn't though and lived in peace with them. They weren't the best of friends, considering the Beaufoy's tended toward the Dark Arts, but both parties left each other well enough alone. It wasn't until Arthur's half-sister, Morgana, tried to overthrow him, that things became bad.

"When she waged her war against him, she attempted to recruit the Beaufoy's to her side, because of their power and their unique ability. You see, they had the power to kill or heal someone simply by making contact with them." Harry's eyes widened greatly at this revelation. "The magnitude of the effect was directly proportional to the amount of magic expended. To kill someone, they had to spend half of their magic at once, and that was to kill them by heart attack. To cause more pain, would take more magic. This power was called The Touch.

"So, when they said no to Morgana's offers, which were more like demands, she had her followers destroy the Beaufoy's. They were believed to have all been dead. The only remnants were a branch of the family that was born without The Touch and changed their name after the extermination of the Beaufoy's. This family changed its name to Malfoy."

Harry nearly fell out of his chair in surprise, but managed to stay in his seat. His mind was racing with the possibilities of this revelation. "So does this mean I might have The Touch? That would be so great."

"Yes Mr. Potter, it would." SilverKuckle agreed. "But there is more to it than that. Because the Malfoy's were never officially disconnected from the rule of the Beaufoy family, if an heir exists, the Malfoy name falls under the command of the Beaufoy heir. Your command." As the implication set in, Harry's face gained a wicked grin. Oh, he had so many plans for the family of Platinum blonds.

Sirius spoke up. "Is there any clue about which family this came down through? Was it Lily's or James' family?" The experienced goblin in front of them gave a shake of his head and said, "It's difficult to be sure, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would the Potter line. Young Mr. Potter's mother was muggleborn with no sign of her being from a line of squibs. It wouldn't surprise me if the fleeing Beaufoy changed his name and married into the Potter family to survive."

Harry, wondering about something said, "So does that mean my dad had The Touch?" Sirius said no, because he knew that was true, but he couldn't figure out why, and so again looked to the seemingly endless source of information.

"I believe that when the Beaufoy married into the Potter family, The Touch went dormant, because while the Potter's were strong, they were nowhere near the level of the Beaufoy's. So, it is likely that the skill has been slowly but surely increasing the power levels of the Potter family, waiting for a child to be born that could unlock it. Your own levels at birth would have been sufficient, but only barely. However, because of the Prophecy about you and Voldemort, along with the failed attack on you as a child, your magical core was boosted."

Harry looked at him confused while Sirius looked sad. Harry decided to inquired, "What prophecy?"

The goblin looked like he had just heard an interesting joke, and asked, "They haven't told you yet?" Harry shook his head no and looked at his Godfather who sighed.

"I was going to tell you later, after you had some training in protecting your mind. We can't afford to allow anyone know the whole thing. Voldemort only knows half, and if he finds out the rest, it would be disastrous. Would you be willing to wait just a few more weeks until we can get you trained in the mind arts?" Sirius was serious for once in his life and Harry decided that despite the fact that no one had told him, he could wait.

"I'm very unhappy that this was kept from me, and you had better hope I don't find out anything else has been hidden from me." His bright green eyes seemed to glow for a moment, but that was all the SilverKnuckle needed.

"There it is! That's the glow that signifies a possessor of The Touch. We can't be absolutely positive, but there is a book in the Beaufoy Vaults that should tell you how to determine if it's there, and then how to unlock it." They then went about signing all the proper documentation for the emancipation and lordship, and soon Harry was an adult in the eyes of the law.

Harry was then led out of the office, along with Sirius toward the carts that would take him down to his new vaults. As the cart was flying down the tracks at maximum speed, his hair whipping around his face, Harry was thinking about this turn of events. 'You think you can double-cross me? You may have been my friends once, but nobody takes what is mine and gets away with it. You'll learn. You'll see. I'll have my revenge. Nothing and no one is going to stop me.'

Harry was lost in his thoughts as the cart sped deep into the bowels of the earth, leading him to the beginning of his new life.

A/N: This is a Ron/Herm/Ginny betrayal story, with DD not being the one responsible for it. Let me know what you think. I'd appreciate the feedback. Again, I know some of you will be tired of reading a story with the same sort of formula, but I try to get away from that as soon as I can. Thanks again for reading.