"Don't bite my head off for the idea," she carefully replied. "But, I want to know how you feel about the idea of Hermione being better protected?"
"I'm all for it, of course," he replied. "Why?"
Taking a deep breath she screwed up her courage and explained, "I want to talk to Sirius about floating the idea of Harry and Hermione becoming betrothed to one another."
"What?!" he loudly exclaimed. "Y-you want to give our daughter―"
"No!" she firmly and immediately cut in. "A Betrothal Agreement, from what I can gather, is a promise statement. However, it can also be written with escape clauses. That's the first important part.
"The next is, when a witch or wizard is in a Betrothal Agreement, both are protected under the auspices of the senior House. In this case, that would be Harry's; the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter. To interfere in a Betrothal Agreement, including dosing one or the other or both with mind altering potions or charms, is considered interfering in the private practices of a House or Houses. At the level of Harry's House, that could see you executed; so, people are going to very wary of trying such a thing. It would protect them both!"
"I don't believe this!" he declared.
The voice of the current senior auror on their 'detail', Senior Auror Horatio Cummerbatch, was suddenly heard to say, "Believe it, Doctor Granger." He was quite firm.
Spinning to the door leading to the kitchen, Wendell looked at him in shock. "Horatio? You mean, she's right?"
"Yes, Sir," replied Cummerbatch. "It's actually quite a clever idea, too."
"But, what if Harry..." began Wendell before he stuttered to a stop unable to find the right words.
"A formal Betrothal Agreement is not a licence to have sex, Sir," replied the auror, walking more fully into the room. "A Betrothal Agreement is a statement to the other Houses, plus individual witches and wizards, that these two... in this case, Lord Potter and your daughter... are, not just off limits to any form of courting, but most especially what your wife was describing.
"As your wife said, they can include clauses that allow the Agreement to be dissolved. It can be as simple as either party saying, 'I hereby dissolve our Betrothal Agreement' for it to be ended. For your own piece of mind you can also include a clause that states you can say, 'I hereby dissolve the Betrothal Agreement between Hermione and Harry' for it be ended."
"That's all?" asked Wendell, still doubtful.
"Yes," nodded Cummerbatch. "But, a Betrothal Agreement must include stipulations, just as any contract does in the muggle world. Normally, they would includes things like, 'The bride must produce at least one male heir within thirty-six months of the date of the union and another heir, whether male or female, within seventy two months'; or 'On the bonding of the marriage the House of Potter agrees to pay bride price of ten thousand galleons to the Head of the family of the bride and fifty thousand galleons on the birth of the first heir of the House of Potter resulting from the union'.
"It can also include business arrangements, as these usually do. 'As of the date of the union the House of Potter agrees to loan House Granger, at the interest rate of zero point one percent calculated yearly, the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand galleons. Such loan to be repaid in full, together with the interest, within five years to the day'. That sort of thing."
Narrowing his eyes in suspicion at the auror, Wendell said, "It sounds like you have experience with these."
Cummerbatch smiled and replied, "They're quite common in our world, Sir. They're practically mandatory at Lord Potter's level."
"His... parents?" asked Wendell.
"It is not known for sure by the wizarding world at-large," shrugged the auror. "But, it is believed so, yes. However, it is also believed that they didn't enter a Betrothal Agreement until after Lord James Potter proposed, if they did. And that was also after both reached of-age.
"Like your daughter, Lady Lily Potter was a muggleborn. The trial showed that her parents passed soon after she graduated from Hogwarts. However, as she was 'Unhoused' she did not need her parent's permission once she was of-age, anyway. And, by then, Lord James was also both of-age and rightful Lord of the House of Potter. So, he could sign such an Agreement off his own authority, too.
"If there is anyone who could truthfully tell you whether they entered such an agreement or not, it would be Lord Black. Before being Lord Potter's godfather, he was Lord James Potter's supposed best friend. They attended Hogwarts together in the same year. So, too, did Lady Lily Potter née Evans."
The auror stood there for a moment before he said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have intruded on your conversation. We're taught not to do that and I'd be hexed into next week if The Boss ever found out. I'll leave you to it." And, with that, spun around and strode out the door.
Wendell stood thinking about what he'd been told for a long, long moment before he looked at his wife and asked, "Could it be that simple?"
"What I was going to suggest was, we speak with Sirius... Lord Black... when he next drops by," she replied with a smile. "The only thing I ask is that we discuss it... as adults."
He gave a firm nod and replied, "We'll do that. But, we'll do it away from the kids, first."
"Good," she said. "I don't want to discuss it in front of them yet, either."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After being shown Hermione's old primary school through the security fence - especially the library, of course - the two headed for the local small shopping district.
Harry used the opportunity to 'pick up some things' from the supermarket for the pantry, fridge and freezer at the Grangers that were either lacking or he felt he needed to contribute to. In Hermione's mind, though, Harry had basically bought a week's worth of grocery shopping.
Once out of the shops, Harry led Hermione into the back lane-way behind the supermarket and, checking by looking about first, called Dobby.
Dobby popped in, saw the bags Harry and Hermione were carrying and popped away with them.
"That's so useful," said Hermione. "I first thought we'd have to carry them all back ourselves and was dreading what my arms and hands were going to feel like well before we got back."
Once back out on the street the two slowly made their way back to the Granger house.
And Harry finally screwed up his courage enough to ask what he desperately needed to, but still feared to, ask.
"Hermione," he began. "How do you know if you've fallen in love with someone?"
That stopped the girl in her tracks. And her stopping caused him to stop a step later and turn back to look at her.
She gawped back at him. "W-what?"
"How do you know if you've fallen in love?" he simply asked.
"I... what? I... don't know," she replied.
With a sigh he muttered, "Pity."
"W-why do you ask?" she asked a little fearfully.
Looking away and blushing a little he quietly replied, "Your dad said he believes I've fallen in love with... someone; but, because I never experienced love as a child growing up, I don't know what to look for to determine if I've fallen in love or not."
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF with more than 400 chapters, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/shihao123🎉