The morning dawned with little fanfare in the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Having gone to sleep a bit later than normal, it was understandable why Harry chose to have a lie-in. However, 8:30 was too much for his tastes now, and with a sigh, he blearily sat up on the bed.
He had his own room, and he was thankful that Sirius had arranged it so. Merlin knew what would've happened if he had to share one with Ron, after what had transpired between them a few days ago.
Shaking his head to chase those morose thoughts away so early in the morning, Harry got up to freshen up. Fifteen minutes later, he emerged out of his bathroom and sat down to work on his Occlumency. A remarkable feat for someone so young, Harry had managed to reach Level 7 in such a short time. Obviously aided by his mother's final blessings, he didn't see it as some form of cheat code now. It was his mother's parting gift, and he would treasure it until his dying breath.
It was 9 when Harry finally walked into the dining room of #12 Grimmauld Place. A cacophony of excited whispers greeted him as soon as he walked in, and Harry cleared his throat.
Immediately, he was subjected to stares which he didn't bother to count.
"Harrykins!" One of the twins shouted, and Harry flinched slightly.
"Calm down, not so loud," he winced, and Fred grinned. Harry was surprised when he was lifted into the air.
"H-hey! What's the big deal!?" He shouted as Fred and George carried him on their shoulders amidst a cacophony of laughter.
"You've made our day, Harrykins!" George shouted as they deposited Harry on his chair at the dining table before pushing the Daily Prophet in front of him. Confused, Harry looked down, only to feel his eyes widen.
POTTER SUES THE MINISTRY; FUDGE IN DEEP WATERS AFTER THE MOST AWAITED TRIAL OF THE DECADE CONCLUDES
DEMENTORS IN LITTLE WHINGING – A PLOY TO SILENCE POLITICAL OPPOSITION?
HARRY POTTER – THE FUTURE LORD OF HOUSES POTTER AND BLACK!
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE STRIPPED OF HIS POSITION AS THE SUPREME MUGWUMP OF THE ICW
The headlines screamed at him, and Harry found himself pleasantly surprised. He turned around to look at a grinning Sirius.
"What's all this? I thought the Prophet was in the Ministry's pockets?"
Sirius chuckled.
"One thing you need to know about the press, Harry, is that they go where the flow takes them. Before yesterday, the ministry was strong, so they chose to print whatever the ministry told them to. But after the revelations from the trial yesterday, even they have seen that the tides have begun to turn. Ministry workers have started to question, Harry, and word has spread across Magical Britain that the place where you lived was attacked by Dementors and how Fudge orchestrated a trial to get rid of you. The prophet played its game and has now switched its approach to report whatever hot topic there is so that it gets the most sales."
Harry nodded, slightly surprised.
"Still, I never expected them to published the truth," he remarked.
"Eh, who cares? I'm just looking forward to the shitshow this is going to cause for bad ol' Fudge," Sirius grinned.
"And all of that because our dear Harrykins played Fudgie at his own game," George grinned, clapping Harry on the back.
"Come on guys, I simply defended myself from those trumped-up charges. I never imagined this would happen," Harry said with a chuckle.
"You think we care?" Fred laughed as they all sat down. Harry grinned and thanked Mrs Weasley when she put the plates of breakfast down on the table.
"We can go up and check out some of the products we've been working on if you want when we're done here," Fred whispered in his ear, and Harry nodded.
XXXXX
"What about this one?" Harry asked, holding up a pouch filled with some sort of black powder. George saw and grinned.
"Why, I'm glad you asked, dear partner. Let me show you what this baby does," he snatched the pouch from Harry and quickly stood up.
"Watch closely," Fred grinned, looking on. Harry nodded and watched as George conjured a large bucket, tore the pouch open and flung it down into it. Immediately, dark smoke rose off the floor until it shrouded the entire bucket in front of him.
Harry watched in fascination as the smog concentrated even more around the middle in an instant until there was nothing visible apart from pitch-blackness in front of him.
"Try casting some light through it," Fred implored. Harry nodded and brandished his wand.
"Lumos."
The beam of light from the tip of his wand visibly struck the smog and Harry's eyes widened when he saw the inky blackness seemingly swallow it.
"Lumos Solem!"
The same phenomenon repeated itself and Harry smiled widely.
"Lumos Maxima!"
Not even that could penetrate the dark cloud and Harry grinned.
"That's wicked!"
The twins grinned.
"We call it the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder."
"As you saw, it blocks all the light in an area. Pretty nifty, don't ya think?"
Harry nodded.
"Very. Imagine battling someone and suddenly throwing it in front of them, or ambushing someone. There are loads of possibilities," he remarked excitedly.
"Well, glad you like it, Harrykins,"
"We plan to keep all these off the shelves for the duration of the war,"
"Would be great help for our side,"
"We plan to introduce these to Moody after the training in a few days,"
"Mum will have our hide if she knew what we were doing,"
"But with Moody backing us,"
"Even she wouldn't do anything,"
Harry absently nodded.
"Tell me Fred," he began, picking up the pouch off the ground and looking at it, "how long does it last?"
Fred looked at George and both of them grinned sheepishly.
"Err… you see, we don't know," Fred admitted.
Harry raised his eyebrows.
"I mean, we tried it inside a flask once," he continued, fishing out a small flask from his bag, and Harry took it from him. He looked at the dark flask and stared at Fred.
"When did you try this out?"
"Uhh… last year, before school began,"
The flash dropped off Harry's hand on the bed as he stared at them.
"But don't worry, partner,"
"We're working on its antidote of sorts,"
"We're gonna call it Peruvian Instant Brightness Powder,"
"Not very original, we know, but it will do,"
"And it will create some sort of impenetrable magical light?" Harry asked.
"And possible nullify the effects of the PIDP as well," George nodded with a smile.
"Well, then I'm looking forward to that one as well. If nothing else, it would make for some brilliant lamps and flashlights. We won't need these replenishing lamps then," Harry smiled, gesturing to the lamp hanging off the wall.
Fred's eyes widened before he grinned.
"And there's that business mind that gave you the idea to invest in us,"
"Too true, brother o' mine, we can market it in that way as well,"
Harry chuckled.
"There's one more thing though," he interjected, picking up the pouch and looking at the tear that George had made before showing it to them.
"See here, you had to make this tear before throwing it down. That might take too much time. Can you do something so that we don't have to make a tear to use this?"
The twins frowned.
"Well, we can always use breakable glass orbs. Those will do the work easily."
Harry nodded.
"Yes, but what if we're fighting or ambushing someone in the air, or water, or, say, a sandy or damp ground?"
Fred and George looked at each other.
"So, you want us to use something tough enough to not break easily,"
"But weak enough to break easily. You make tough demands, Harrykins," George chuckled.
"Brainstorm, guys. There must be some way this can be done."
"Oh, you can be sure we'll do it, won't we, Gred?"
"For sure, Forge, for sure,"
"We'll be back with some ideas the next time, Harrykins,"
"See ya in the next business meeting, partner,"
"What about this bloody bucket?"
George grinned and undid the conjuration, and the bucket vanished along with the dark smog.
"I see. It vanishes if put inside a conjured object."
"Spot on," the twins chuckled.
Harry grinned as the twins gathered their stuff and walked out of his room.
"Say what you want about them, but they are geniuses. I'm so glad they're on our side," he muttered to himself with a chuckle as he sat down on the chair.
Looking down at the letter he had received from Gabrielle moments before the twins arrived in his room, he smiled before opening it.
Dear Harry,
First of all, what is this I'm hearing about you murdering someone!? How dare you do something like that without me? I thought we were close enough to share such an experience!
You might have wormed your way out of that farce of a trial, but you won't escape mine when we next see each other. Rest assured; I'm going to have to punish you for not taking me with you on that adventure.
Now that I've got that madness out of my system, how are you really? The trial must have been stressful, right? We got the coverage last night in a special edition of Le Magique. It covered the entire trial.
I don't know everything as I didn't fully read it but what I do know is that you've got a lifelong fan in my Papa. He couldn't stop laughing when he read how you dressed down someone called Lucy Malfoi (?). At least that's what Papa called him.
I'm glad that you managed to clear your name, Harry. And what's this I'm hearing about you having two lordships? How come you didn't tell me? You have a lot to answer for, Heir Potter-Black. I will be dealing with you the next time we meet.
Reply soon.
With love,
Gabby
Harry read her words with a small smile on his face and tucked the letter inside a journal alongside many others. Gabrielle had occupied his thoughts since Sirius had granted him the lordship. He knew he had to marry two women if both houses had to be continued, and it left him with mixed feelings.
'I wonder what she would think about it.'
He looked at the letter and chuckled at the name her father had coined for Malfoy before pulling a thick tome out of the drawer. With a sigh, he stretched and turned to look at the spellbook on Elemental Transfiguration and Conjuration with a small gleam in his eye. He had read a bit already and had used it in his fight with Moody. That had been enough to give him a renewed level of appreciation for the volatile branch of magic. After all, anything that had managed to bring the formidable Mad-Eye Moody to his knee had to be appreciated.
He grabbed hold of the bookmark and pulled the tome open, continuing from where he had left it a couple of nights ago.
XXXXX
"And I told you that you are wrong. Elemental Transfiguration is taxing, and you can't just perform it on a whim!"
"But Harry Potter did it so easily when he fought that dragon! Didn't you see the blizzard he summoned? Didn't look like tiring to me," Astoria chimed in.
Daphne sighed.
"That was not transfiguration, my dear sister. That was a charm. I cannot believe you still can't tell the difference between the two."
"Why can't it be transfiguration? It was elemental, maybe he transfigured the air into blizzard!"
The two girls were going back and forth on the topic for the past fifteen minutes. Evelyn Greengrass looked at her husband who was reading the day's issue of Daily Prophet and sighed.
"Are you going to break them up now?"
Cyrus chuckled.
"Let them brainstorm for a bit. I'll interject when they're exhausted."
"You're as- "
She was cut off when the floo flared green and a parchment shot out of it.
"Were you expecting someone?"
Cyrus shook his head with a frown before he walked over to the fireplace. Picking up the parchment, he read the message. With each word, his face darkened.
"What is it?"
Cyrus looked at his wife and sighed.
"Lucius Malfoy has requested permission to meet me right now. Says he won't take too long."
Evelyn frowned.
"I don't like it," she muttered, looking him in the eyes. Cyrus released a deep breath.
"Me either, but there is no reason why I should outright refuse him. Don't worry, I'll activate the wards."
Evelyn nodded with a frown as her husband wrote his reply and threw the parchment back inside the fireplace, where it vanished with a plume of smoke. He didn't waste any time and quickly activated the wards that would get rid of any person trying to harm his family before the said person even made the first move. Taking down the restrictive enchantments around his property, he waited.
The fireplace flashed emerald once again, and a blonde man stepped out gracefully. With a cane in his hand which Cyrus knew housed his wand, the man brushed off the soot from his shoulders and looked around for a moment.
"Lord Greengrass, a pleasure as always," he spoke in a smooth voice, coming forward to shake his hand.
'Have to wash it thoroughly later. I already feel the slime.'
With a well-hidden grimace, Cyrus Greengrass shook his hand, before the man moved to greet his wife.
"Lady Greengrass, pleased to see you again."
"Welcome to our home, Lord Malfoy," his wife greeted with a slight incline of her head. Lucius smiled.
"Come, Lord Malfoy, let us talk in the living room," Cyrus intoned, turning around and walking with his wife by his side. Malfoy simply smiled and followed.
Once they were seated, Malfoy spoke up.
"I apologize for interrupting what I am sure was a relaxing afternoon for you, but there is an important matter which I wish to discuss with you."
Cyrus nodded his head and gestured for the man to continue. Lucius smiled.
"As you very well know, my heir Draco turned eighteen a couple of months ago, and my wife has been perusing the betrothal offers we have received during this time. However, she has deemed every one of them unworthy of being the future Lady Malfoy. However, she remembers your eldest from the New Year's Party held a few years ago, and it is her wish that she become the new Lady Malfoy."
Cyrus sighed.
"I have told you, Lord Malfoy, that I will not decide my daughter's future. She will choose her own husband. I don't see any reason why I should change that stance. I am afraid I have to say no to your offer, which I am sure you were about to make."
Lucius' eyes hardened slightly.
"Are you sure about that, Lord Greengrass?"
Cyrus and Evelyn both picked up the slight change in tone, and they looked at each other before fixing the Malfoy lord with a look.
"I am, Lord Malfoy. My daughters will choose their partners and no one else."
Lucius sighed in mock disappointment.
"I hope you come to see reason soon, Lord Greengrass. The situation in our world does not take too long to change, and us purebloods have been taught to navigate the waters and choose the right side, have we not?"
Cyrus grit his teeth and barely kept himself from snarling.
'Just who does this cunt think he is!? How dare he threaten me in my own home!"
Outwardly, Cyrus sighed.
"I will certainly keep those words of wisdom in mind, Lord Malfoy. Rest assured; you do not need to worry about House Greengrass. We have stood strong for over a millennium. We can survive any incoming storm as well. As you said, we have been taught to make the right decisions."
Lucius smirked and stood up.
"I cannot say I am happy with your decision, but I shall wait for you to change it. I will keep the other proposals on hold, understandably. But do not forget that I won't hesitate to shelve them all if you agree."
Cyrus nodded and stood up, prompting Lucius to stand up as well. He looked at him before he glanced behind him where his daughters were now staring at them. Cyrus caught Daphne's eyes and shook his head slightly.
"Your daughter will make an excellent Lady Malfoy, Lord Greengrass. I hope you agree to my proposal," Lucius smirked, his gaze still on Daphne who heard what was said and quickly schooled her features into a neutral look. Without waiting for a response, he turned around and walked over to the fireplace.
A flash of green and he was gone. Cyrus wasted no time in reapplying the restrictive wards as his daughters reached them.
"Father I- " Daphne began agitatedly, and Cyrus held his hand up.
"I will die before I agree to that swine's proposal," he hissed.
"I'd rather die than become Malfoy's plaything," Daphne whispered agitatedly. Evelyn came forward and put her hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"They are getting bolder," she muttered, looking up at her husband, who frowned.
"That swine dared to threaten me in my own home," he snarled, and Daphne's eyes widened.
"What did he say?"
Cyrus looked at her and sighed.
"He wasn't explicit or anything, but he surely alluded to how it would be better for us if we allied with him and his ilk. As if!" Cyrus scoffed.
"It's even more imperative to form the alliance now," Daphne whispered, looking at her father who was staring at her with a gentle look.
"I understand, father," she smiled, "and if it is necessary to keep people like Malfoy at bay, you have my permission."
Eyes widened.
"Daphne…" Cyrus whispered, looking at his daughter with wide eyes.
"You always said it was in our hands, right? Well, I am using my right to decide. I would die rather than become a Death Eater's plaything, so you have my permission to go ahead with it. And to be honest, if something like this has to happen, then I would honestly prefer it to be Potter."
Evelyn took her daughter in her arms and held her tightly.
"You know he has dual lordship, right? You know what that means," she whispered.
"I understand," Daphne replied with a small smile.
"But-"
"What the hell, mum!"
All three of them turned to look at Astoria, who was staring at her mother with wide eyes.
"What is it?" Evelyn asked, confused.
"Why are you behaving as if it's a bad thing!? It's Harry Potter, or Potter-Black now! The most eligible bachelor in the world! Any girl would be lucky to marry him!"
"Tori…" Evelyn sighed.
"Have you looked at him!? Merlin, he looked so hot in that picture in the Prophet! Not to mention a polite person too! How many are there with those qualities?"
They were too shocked to even reply, and Astoria continued.
"Daph here is ready, and he has two lordships, right? If they agree, I will marry him too!"
"Wait what!?"
Cyrus sighed as he massaged his head. "Eve…"
Evelyn Greengrass was already moving. In one swift movement, she grabbed her youngest's arm and started pulling her away.
"Ow mum, I- "
"Shut up, you crazy little girl. Do you have any idea what you're saying?"
"Of course I do. It's Harry Potter-Black, he's the dream wizard," Astoria sighed.
"You're not even 15, Astoria! It's unbecoming of you to behave like this."
Daphne and Cyrus could only look in bewilderment as Evelyn forcefully dragged Astoria away and out of sight.
"Daphne," Cyrus began, prompting her to turn towards him, "Are you really open to marrying him and possibly sharing him with another witch?"
Daphne simply gave a small smile.
"I will try to talk to him about it. As you explained, he is a good person. I have faith that he will consider what I have to say."
Cyrus looked at her for a moment, before he sighed. It was true that he was hoping for a match between Daphne and Harry, but there was always a voice in the back of his mind that his daughter might have to share him with another witch. He had mixed feelings about the whole arrangement.
"I trust you, daughter. And I shall let you discuss it with him."
XXXXX
A dark-haired man was standing in front of the mirror, taking in his reflection as he prepared for the meeting. Clad in dark-green robes with gold trimming, he looked the perfect combination of a snake in lion's clothing. As he fixed his hair as best he could, he pondered once again upon the event that was to follow. Although, it would be a stretch to call it an event; it was a dinner invitation after all. Regardless, it felt like an event to him.
Cyrus Greengrass' support during the trial and the invitation afterwards had taken them by surprise. Apart from Dumbledore, obviously. But that was normal. Dumbledore was hardly ever surprised. The only time he had seen the headmaster look truly shocked was when he had revealed that he had been hit by the killing curse in the graveyard.
Harry had an inkling already as to what the agenda of the meeting would be, and his talk with Sirius in the morning confirmed it.
A betrothal had been the last thing he had expected, but as Sirius told him, it was the norm in pureblood circles for witches and wizards to get betrothed by the time they took their OWLs. Not all families followed this unwritten rule, but the ones who practised wizarding traditions certainly adhered to it.
Harry tried to recall any memories he had of this girl. He knew she was a beautiful girl; it was tough not to know when you spent most of your day with horny teenage boys who loved to talk about girls, but apart from that, there was little he knew of her.
'Well, it's not as if I'd be in the dark for long. I'm invited to her home, after all,' he thought with a small smile. However, his smile diminished slightly when he saw the letter on his desk, the one he had received from Gabrielle the previous day.
Harry put it inside his drawer and sighed. He had a duty now, and he could not let personal feelings get in the way. Yes, he liked Gabrielle, and he felt she liked him too. But they had never talked about it. Their interactions had always been majorly platonic, and ever since he had started his Occlumency, he had felt his excitement well under control.
He had given Sirius his assent regarding a possible betrothal, and the marauder had clapped his shoulder in understanding. The man had mentioned how he was eligible to have two wives owing to his dual lordship, but he had stopped him right there.
"Assuming there is a betrothal with Daphne, I won't have two wives if she doesn't consent, and I will not force her either. And we have no idea what is going to happen anyway. Yeah, I like Gabrielle, and I've thought about dating her. That doesn't mean I'll marry her. If you feel it necessary to arrange a betrothal between Daphne and me, you have my permission for that. I understand the situation, Sirius. I'm not an idiot to not know how much pressure Cyrus Greengrass might be in. The man has two daughters after all.
It's final, Sirius. The dual lordship shall come into the equation only when all three of us agree. Otherwise, I don't care about it. And I know you well enough to know that you won't care either if House Black goes extinct."
That had been it, and Sirius had only chuckled, agreeing with his last point. Only an hour ago the man had dropped by and told him to get ready by 6:50 as they had to leave by 7.
Harry fidgeted with the hem of his robes, smoothing down the fabric when he heard someone knock on the door.
"It's open," he called out and turned when the door opened.
"Wotcher, hotshot. I see you're ready to meet the future in-laws, hmm?"
Harry sighed.
"There's nothing set, Tonksie. We're only going for a dinner, and possibly invite them to join the Order. Nothing else."
Tonks snorted as she plopped down on his bed.
"Give me a break, Harry. My mother is a daughter of the Blacks. So, I know how these things work. There's no chance in hell that you come back without a betrothal or two. The man has two daughters, after all."
Harry frowned.
"I'm not going to do it."
"Hmm? Do what?"
"Two wives. I won't do it unless all of us agree. And I don't think I'll be comfortable with having two sisters as wives. That would be weird."
Tonks stared at him for a moment.
"Are you sure you're right up there?"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, confused.
Tonks released a deep breath and stood up, coming to a stop in front of him. She started fixing his robes and looked up at him.
"You are telling me that you will turn away the chance to have two women, a fantasy of men all around the world, and sisters at that!? What's wrong with you?"
Harry wrenched himself away from her grasp, looking at her with a frown.
"There's nothing wrong with what I said. And I don't care about any fantasies or whatever. This is bigger than all of that."
Tonks frowned.
"You sure you're not taking all this way too seriously? No, hold up, let me finish. Ever since you arrived here, you've been more sombre. You were very serious back in your relatives' house, but it's ramped up now. You feel like a completely different person. Did something happen?"
Harry stared at Tonks for a moment. She kept her gaze even, and he looked away.
"You can say that I've had the time to process what happened since that night in the graveyard, and a few things happened that made me grow up. War is coming, Tonks. And we have to survive."
"We will survive, Harry. But don't forget that you have your life as well. If you let the war consume you, then he's already won. Don't give him that."
Harry closed his eyes and sighed.
"I know. And I'm trying."
"Then try harder. Stop being so gloomy whenever you're alone. Stop putting that façade in front of others. Yeah, don't look at me like that. It's easy to spot the mask. I'm a metamorph, I know all about fake faces. And don't you dare treat the betrothal, if it happens, as an obligation of war."
"I won't."
Tonks stared at him for a long moment before she nodded.
"Remember that the girl will also be equally trapped within this betrothal, obviously if it happens. And it would be up to the two of you to decide where to take your relationship. Find happiness, Harry. Your parents would've wanted that for you."
Harry looked at her with a small smile and nodded.
"You mind if I ask you something?"
"Hmm? No, go on," Tonks replied, smiling.
"How come you're not betrothed? You're what? 30?"
A stinging hex missed his face by inches, and Harry chuckled.
"Cheeky brat. I'm not betrothed because we don't follow those traditions. Mum doesn't like it, even if she understands the significance of it. Another reason is that I'm a lesbian."
Harry stared at her.
"What!? You're lesbian?"
"It is that hard to believe?"
Harry frowned.
"No, I mean, you've flirted with me enough, so I guess I never thought you might swing for the other team."
"Yeah, that was only to tease you."
"I gathered that much. So? Find anyone yet?"
Tonks sighed.
"Not really. There was this bi girl at Hogwarts who I fooled around with a few times, but she found a boyfriend soon after. Since then, it's been all dry."
Harry nodded.
"Don't worry, you'll find someone soon enough," he replied, standing up and getting ready to walk away.
"Keep an open mind, Harry. And always remember that you're supposed to be a team."
"That all will only count if there's a betrothal in place."
"Trust me, Harry. There will be."
Harry shrugged and walked out of his room to join Sirius near the fireplace, as Tonks stared at his retreating back with a smile.
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