"I have made a list of all eligible young women for you to peruse if you're not going to read that book." Lucius told him several minutes later after Harry had spaced out yet again.
"What for?" Harry demanded angrily.
"For your betrothal, Harry." Lucius said patiently.
"I am not getting married to anyone and you can't make me!" He exploded. Lucius Malfoy sighed heavily. "A betrothal is a simple contract that is easily broken if you wish it to be, but it's traditional for an heir, or an underaged lord in your case, to be betrothed. It's more for protection as you cannot be betrothed to two people at once, and it is infinitely better to have a hand-picked betrothal than one not of your making. Draco is betrothed, and has been since he was six years old, to Astoria Greengrass, which is why his 'bed-hopping' as you phrased it, with Miss Parkinson and Astoria's older sister, Daphne, is deeply disgraceful and is the reason why I put a stop to such behaviours. I don't expect my son to remain virginal until his wedding night, but I had thought that he'd have more respect for the daughters of other pureblood lines, who traditionally are expected to remain virginal, as unfair as that might seem to you."
"So there's no…obligation for me to marry this person?" Harry asked as he took the list of just a handful of names. "None." Lucius told him smoothly. "This information will be in one of the books that you were given."
"I haven't gotten around to reading them all yet." He said with an averted gaze.
"Hardly surprising if you just stare mindlessly at the page and don't actually read them." Lucius said pointedly as he let his gaze linger on the forgotten book on his lap. "I understand that some of them are quite tedious, but it is all information that you now need to know, so I suggest that you apply yourself more than you have been and retain the information you are taking in."
"I don't know any of these names." Harry said with a frown as he read down the list.
"You don't have to know their names, they are in order of suitability for a lord of your status, to have two lordships is a very attractive quality, even if your manners, etiquette, intelligence, and personality are all lacking."
Harry grit his teeth together, he'd lashed out once, only verbally, but as his guardian, Lucius now had the power and the right to punish him, as he'd done with Draco. Harry would not soon forget that punishment and he had no wish to ever repeat the utterly humiliating experience.
"Hmm, so you can learn. Good."
Harry sat sullenly in the chair, glaring at the parchment that had only five names on it. He couldn't pronounce two of them.
"There is a lack of pureblooded witches in Britain." Lucius told him as if reading his mind. "Those that are even close to your age group were betrothed years ago. I didn't think you would like a baby as your betrothed, nor a witch of advanced age, though I suspect Draco would thoroughly enjoy it." Harry remained silent as he nibbled on his lip. Lucius sighed again. He was doing that a lot around him and Harry wondered if he really was that much of a burden or if the man was prone to sighing over everything.
"What is the youngest and oldest age that you would consider?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't like the thought of anyone younger than me, but people, well, they annoy me."
"Annoy you how?" Lucius queried.
Harry shrugged again; immediately a pain in his shoulder, like being hit with a wooden ruler, had him startling in surprise and rubbing his shoulder as he glared at Lucius, who had his wand out.
"I have warned you several times to stop shrugging like an ineloquent muggle." Lucius hissed at him. "Tell me, with your words, what you find annoying about other people." "I don't know, most people my own age annoy me, little things like the way they act, the things they say, what they expect me to do or how to behave, it all seems so…pointless, so childish."
"Things like what?"
"Like pranks, or stupid games, calling other people names because of stupid reasons. I've never liked it. Everyone expects me to be this huge prankster like my dad was, but I have no interest in doing something so ridiculous as using other people for amusement. Or when Ron calls Draco a ferret because of what the fake Moody did to him in our fourth year or the Slytherins calling Hermione a beaver because of her teeth when it's something she couldn't control, it's all so pointless, what's the point behind it? It doesn't give either party anything so why bother doing it? It's stupid."
"Well well, it seems I misjudged you. You are a little bit more mature than I first thought. So you would actually prefer someone older than yourself?"
"I suppose." Harry said unhappily.
"Shall we say forty then?" Lucius asked patiently.
Harry nodded, the feeling of a ruler smacking into the back of his head had him gritting his teeth. "I mean, yes."
"Good. There are still no pureblooded witches of that age group in Britain who I deem suitable for you, but it opens up quite a bit for more European pureblooded witches."
Harry scowled and looked down at his lap. Lucius sighed once again.
"What is the problem now?" He asked less patiently.
"I'm…I'm not sure that I like women as a whole."