Is This Legal?

Chapter One: Is this legal?

Harry awoke with a start. Just another dream he told himself.

It had only been weeks since the final battle at Hogwarts, but Harry was having trouble adjusting to life after Voldemort. Being jumpy was perfectly normal, or so he was told by a variety of other people in his life, but he kept having the feeling that he was forgetting to do something, something urgent and very important. It would only take a moment before he realized that this feeling he was having was the same sort of urgency that he had for the last year on his goal to defeat Voldemort. His mind had not yet caught up to reality.

He had spent only a day at The Burrow before moving back to Grimmauld Place. He could never get used to the fast paced style that the Weasley's lived by, even during all his summers living with them. The residue of grief that seemed to linger in an even empty room did not help matters. No matter how often Ron and Hermione would persist that he shouldn't be alone, and that friends and family were meant to cope with loss together, Harry knew that he would be much better off on his own. It was how he was raised after all.

The loss of Fred hit Harry hard, but it was the loss of Remus that hit him the hardest. Harry always felt that when all this was over, he'd be able to sit Remus down and have long talks about his mother and father, followed by tales of Sirius and all the trouble they had gotten up to together. With the loss of Remus, those stories would be lost forever.

Harry sighed as he raised himself off his bed. He found that keeping busy helped keep these thoughts from his mind, but the problem was that there really wasn't a lot to do anymore. The images of everyone that he lost would worm their way back into his thoughts after only a moment; no matter what chore he found for himself.

A tap at the window interrupted him before he could begin to wallow further. It was an owl delivering the Daily Prophet. The newspaper had been getting better since Kingsley took control, but rumors and slander still seemed to find its way into the articles every day.

The first day after the war ended, there wasn't a news article in the whole paper that didn't mention Harry by name. He was just thankful that, so far, he was in their good graces. No one wanted others to think they were on the wrong side of the war, and so Harry was looked to as a hero by all in public.

As Harry caught a glimpse of the cover story, he let out a hollow laugh,

Hogwarts to Repeat

In a press conference early this morning, Minister Shacklebolt has expressed his concerns with the recent state of schooling that was forced onto Hogwarts during the recent years. In an effort to fix this, students of all years are expected to come back and repeat the year over. A variety of issues were brought up by concerned reporters, including whether or not parents were expected to fund eight years instead of seven. Shacklebolt was quick to answer, "We are aware that the economy has seen better days because of the recent wars, and because of this, families are struggling. In light of this, we are willing to fund this years school year for any family with less than a thousand Galleons in their family vaults." In regards to the twice as many first year students than normal, the Minister didn't seem worried, "Hogwarts has held classes for a far larger class than it will see this year. The Professors and the castle are both up for the task."

As many of you know, in recent years Hogwarts has not seen a share of qualified professors. With a death eater, a werewolf and….

Harry stopped reading and put the paper down. The Ministry expected him to go back to school after the year he just had to sit down and get taught by professors three times his age with half as much experience? Harry wasn't sure just how much respect he could find for any of the Professors that weren't on the front lines of the war. Instead, they went home and left people like Fred to fight for them. Harry wasn't allowed to stew in his thoughts any longer as someone started knocking on the front door.

Harry dressed himself quickly and went downstairs but not before grabbing his wand.

"Who is it?" Harry called out.

"It's Kingsley."

Harry opened his mouth to ask a confirmation question. After a few seconds he realized he didn't know Kingsley all that well, but a question finally came to him. "What did you do to stop the Minister from learning about the DA?"

"The DA?"

As Harry gripped his wand, ready for a fight, Kingsley continued. "Oh, Dumbledore's Army! I had to use a Memory Charm on that girl."

Harry opened the door and let him in. "Sorry about that." Harry apologized

Kingsley laughed. "I know how you feel. I still wake up with my wand in my hand."

"Are you here to tell me why you are forcing everyone to go back to school because they spent the last year fighting The Ministry's war?" Harry asked, still bitter from reading the article.

Kingsley winced. "I know it will be hard, but education is the first step into making sure something like this never happens again."

Harry shrugged in response. "Tea?" He offered.

Kingsley shook his head as he sat down in the living room before gesturing that Harry should do the same. Harry accepted the offer and sat down on the couch opposite of the Minister.

"I won't be here long, but I wanted you to hear this some a friend." Kingsley said.

Harry noticed Kingsley hands grasping each other in what was obviously a nervous gesture. A dead weight seemed to settle in his stomach as Kingsley continued.

"I'm still in the process of going through everything Thicknesse was cursed to do and I came across a few questionable documents."

"What kind of documents?" Harry asked as Kingsley paused. Harry was sure Voldemort had made Thicknesse do a lot of bad things; he just hoped all of them could be corrected.

"There were a few marriage documents among the minister's papers." Kingsley explained. "The Minister has nothing to do with marriages you see. I was about to hand them off when I noticed a name on one. Yours."

Harry didn't see why this was important. "So? I'm sure I've received at least a few marriage contracts in the past. Just throw it out." He said; half hoping and half praying that that was the end of it. Kingsley shook his head rapidly.

"No Harry, this wasn't a contract, it was a full blown marriage document. As I read it, it became clear that in the legal sense you are married."

"You can't get married without even knowing Kingsley!" Harry said with his voice slightly higher than normal.

"I know that Harry, and my first assumption was that it was roughly forged in case of your death. Your wife would get your vaults without any questions asked."

"So? Throw it out." Harry demanded.

"I would, and I was going to, until I noticed it was magically bound."

"That can't be legal." Harry said. Kingsley agreed.

"It's not. Anyone caught binding someone to a contract without their agreement would be kissed. It's a flaw in the system that no one would dare to cross. You remember your fourth year? Your name was entered without your permission and in doing so you agreed to a contract without your knowing. It's the same here."

"So you are saying I'm married, illegally." Kingsley nodded. "And I can't just ignore it, because it's a magical contract. An illegal one, I might add." Harry continued, feeling his temper flaring. Once again the magical world found a way to stab him in the back.

"What are the conditions?" Harry grounded out, trying his hardest to not yell at Kingsley, who Harry knew had no part in the matter.

As Kingsley was starting to feel Harry magic in the air, he was quick to reply. "It's pretty basic. You may not have a physical relationship with any other woman, you may not marry any other woman, and you both have to try your hardest to produce an heir by the time you are twenty." Kingsley finished.

"Do you know why someone did this?" Harry asked, trying to think of a reason to marry someone in the middle of a war. Kingsley wasn't sure what to tell him.

"There are various reasons. Because of your name, or your wealth, but I expect it was done by someone who had nothing to lose. You'll have to ask the other name on the contract." Kingsley answered, noticing that Harry was handling the news extraordinarily well.

"We can just divorce" Harry said with a wave of his hand. Kingsley went pale with understanding.

"Harry." He said with what he hoped was a calm voice. "There are no divorces in the Wizarding World."

"What?" Harry yelled as he got up from his chair. "There are plenty of students whose parents had more than one marriage." Harry said in defense. It just didn't make sense that there was a magical way to bind someone to someone else without a way out of it.

"The only way to get out of a marriage is with death Harry." Kingsley said in a whisper, deeply sad that one of the bravest men he knew would be stuck for the rest of his life with a woman he didn't even know. Harry collapsed back onto the couch.

"So she'd have to die." Harry said. Kingsley didn't really like the thoughtful expression on Harry's face.

"Something which you would never do." Kingsley reminded. Harry looked shocked.

"Of course I wouldn't, but I'm not sure if I could say the same for her." Harry said. This was true; Harry didn't know how he would ever get along with anyone who would willingly do something like this to another person. Which would only mean that their marriage would not be one of kindness and respect. Although Harry would never kill someone else in anything but self defense, he couldn't expect the same from his 'wife'.

Kingsley got up from his chair and with a reach inside his jacket, brought out sheets of paper. "I wouldn't ever trust something like this to another, so I brought you the document so you could see for yourself." He said, placing the papers on the table. "Just a warning, if you decide to destroy it; you will lose your magic, and maybe your life." Kingsley said after he saw the fire in Harry's eyes. Kingsley walked to the door. "I'm sorry Harry." He whispered, and then he was gone.

Harry stared blankly at the parchment that contained his future. He already knew that the other name on that parchment wouldn't be any good. Harry expected that Voldemort himself set this up so when Harry died, his wife would receive everything. Voldemort would choose someone who he knew would hand the money right over to his cause. This was not good.

Harry briefly thought that his wife might already be dead from the final battle, but the way Kingsley presented the contract, Harry knew that this was probably not true. Although Harry knew the name of a few Death Eaters and few people in league with Voldemort, he was far from knowledgeable about the many people who he could possibly be married to.

Harry grabbed his marriage contract from the table, ready to open it when the fireplace lit up and a face appeared. Harry recognized the face at once as Ron.

"Hermione and I are coming through." Harry nodded. It was common practice for the three friends to let the others know before using the Floo network after Ron got stunned the day after Voldemorts defeat when surprising Harry in the middle of the day.

Hermione came in first and welcomed Harry with a hug after cleaning off fireplace ash from her clothes with a wave of her wand. Ron followed shortly after and gave Harry a nod which he returned.

"Did you read the newspaper?" Hermione asked while waving a copy of the Daily Prophet that she had clutched in her hands during her Floo travel.

"Some of it." Harry said truthfully. Ron let out a bitter laugh. Harry knew he was still angry at the loss of Fred.

"Can you believe they are making us go back to school? Like they have anything to teach us." Ron complained before throwing himself into the chair that Kingsley sat in just five minutes before.

"They aren't making anyone Ron." Hermione said. "People don't need seven years of schooling; they just want everyone to be able to take their newts. No one was able to last year."

Harry shrugged. If his friends arrived half an hour ago, he'd have a lot to complain about with them but the marriage contract was far more important than having to go back to school for a year.

"I know that." Ron snapped. "But everyone knows that you need your newts to qualify for most jobs." Hermione nodded. Harry knew what they were both thinking, for he was thinking the same. Fred didn't take his newts.

As the seconds ticked by in silence, Harry figured that this would be as good a change of topic as there could ever be.

"I'm married." Harry said tonelessly. Ron let out a laugh, but Hermione, who was always the more observant could tell that he wasn't joking. Ron caught on quickly and was the first to reply.

"What? If it's Ginny, mum will…" Harry shook his head before Ron could finish and pointed at the contract. Hermione grabbed it with a huff and started to read it as Harry explained what Kingsley had told him only moments before.

"That. That can't be real!" Ron stuttered out. We both looked to Hermione for the answer. Although Harry trusted Kingsley, there was no one's word that he trusted more than Hermione's. She finished reading and looked up. Harry could tell from her pale complexion that he was doomed.

"It's real." She said in disbelieve. Ron took it from her to read for himself and Harry just sat there in a continued surreal state. "Why would anyone do this?" Hermione asked. Harry only had theories.

"It has to be Voldemort. If the contract was for my money, it would be simple to draw up a contract without those conditions. Only Voldemort would make my life miserable in case he lost." Harry said with spite. Neither Hermione nor Ron could bring themselves to argue his point.

"I couldn't bring myself to look at it." Harry said as he tried not to watch Ron's expression as he continued to read the contract. Hermione leaned forward in concern.

"So you don't know who it is?" Hermione asked.

"No. I'm not sure if I want to. I might be better of ignoring it for a long long time." Hermione nodded in understanding.

"Well you have time. It says you don't have to really do anything until you are twenty." Hermione said. Ron however, disagreed.

"You said for yourself that this contract was probably made so Voldemort could benefit in case of your death. The person on this contract can't be all that happy with the conditions either. Do you really want to be looking over your shoulder at every turn?" Ron said, before trying to hand Harry the papers. "Look at it." He demanded. Harry accepted the parchment but paused.

"Is it bad?" Harry asked them, looking from one to the other. Ron shrugged but Hermione replied.

"It could be worse." Harry wasn't sure if he liked that answer all that much, but he took a deep breath before glancing down. Harry James Potter was clear as day on one side of the paper and on the other side was a name he barely recognized.

Daphne Laurel Greengrass.

Harry looked up in thought. "I don't know anything about her." He admitted. Ron shrugged.

Hermione scoffed. "She was in our year."

"What side of the war was she on?" Harry asked. Hermione blushed and mumbled that she didn't know.

"It's strange how little we know of people our age." Ron said. "So what are you going to do?" He asked.

Harry played with the paper in his hands as he wondered just that. If she was alive, he would most likely see her at Hogwarts where he could confront her. He didn't like not knowing where he stood with the girl however. Whether or not she knew about the contract, volunteered for it, or was blackmailed into it. Harry was trying his hardest not to come to conclusions, but it was clear that Voldemort would only put someone's name down that he trusted. Harry put the contract down in a decision.

"I'm going to ignore it." Harry answered. Seeing Hermione open her mouth to argue with disapproval, he explained. "It will be easier to get in contact with her once summer is over, I'm just going to have to make sure she's going to school next year." Hermione nodded with acceptance.

"So I guess that means we're all going back to Hogwarts?" Ron whined.

"Maybe no one will try to kill us this year." Harry laughed. Ron and Hermione cringed.

"You just had to say that." They groaned together.

Author Notes: This was going to be a one shot, just a tad extended from this point, but as I was writing this a whole plot seemed to open up in my head, so I decided to stop here as chapter one instead. Unlike most contract stories, I have no desire to see Daphne and Harry fawning over each other by chapter five.

Please review, as they keep me going.