Wizarding Contracts
"Papa? Would you ever give me away in an arranged marriage?"
Bill Weasley quirked an eyebrow at his eldest daughter as she rested the book she had previously been reading on her lap. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I'm reading this book and the main character; well her father gave her away into an arranged marriage by accident after he and the main bloke survived a duel with some Dark Wizards. And even though I think the two will end up living happily ever after, I'd hate to think that you'd trapped me into such a situation." Victoire looked up at her father expectantly, with a look of presumption on her face that remind Bill very much of his wife.
"Arranged marriages? They were outlawed years ago, due to the highly complex and often dangerous curses and hexes placed on the bride and groom both before and after the marriage." Interrupted a voice from the corner where Teddy Lupin sat at the small table with various different tools around him as he attempted to figure out why Bill's broom was over-steering to the left.
"Oh?" Victoire looked up in interest.
"The only thing remotely similar to an arranged marriage that is still permissible under Wizarding law is a variation of the unbreakable vow, where a wizard pledges to the father of the supposed Bride that if the bride is agreeable, he will do everything in his power to protect her and her family. It's sort of an extension of the marriage vow, but it obliges the wizard to the whole family, rather than just the Bride. It usually occurs prior to a proposal, as a way of asking for the bride's hand."
"You seem to know an awful lot about this." Victoire stared at her boyfriend suspiciously, but was distracted by his disarming smile.
"It's just the history geek in me. You know, I think I was the only person, excluding Aunt Hermione to sit through one of Binn's lessons without falling asleep. And did you know that in the same act that repealed the arranged marriages law, they also repealed a law that allowed Broomsticks to fly above a height of 200ft. This meant that…." Bill smiled as he watched his daughter get sidetracked from her original point, while her boyfriend carried on with his previous work, seemingly unaffected at the sudden suspicion that had fallen perilously close to him. Catching Teddy's eye, Bill gave him a knowing wink and looked forward to his daughter's wedding day.