"Daddy, Naia and I are going to pick up Harry and Neville!" I called into the office. "I'll be back, Vittat."

"Very well. Give the Nest-Lady my regards." Assuming that Vittat was referring to Lady Regent Longbottom, I nodded my assent.

The first three weeks of the summer had been very quiet. Mama had taken Sebastian back to the States to resume his summer training so as to prepare him as much as possible for the rigors of Auror Training—which he was all but lined up for as he entered his last year at Hogwarts—and Damien had spent only a couple of days at home before returning to the Weasley's home for the summer. With just Daddy and I, the house in Wales had seemed far too big and we had decided to spend the summer in the house on Palace Street in London. Ordinarily that would have been great, but there was little I could do without the Corps at my side.

Mama hadn't taken the idea of a faux proposal extremely well, but she had taken it much better than I had expected. Her biggest argument was that she felt it wouldn't end well unless it ended in marriage. While the exact wording of a betrothal contract is generally confidential, if word got out that we entered the contract with full intentions of breaking it off later... It would be an insult to anyone who would have wanted to enter into a contract with either of our houses—case in point, the Malfoys. She understood the necessity of a faux betrothal, though, and she did agree to it.

Harry's emancipation hearing was held and, while it was a bit of a farce, he had been legally emancipated from Sirius Black's care. Harry had gone through most of the emancipation process with Professor McGonagall and she had set him on a good course. The only piece of paperwork she hadn't personally assisted Harry with was the agreement of fellowship, which he needed as he stands to inherit a lordship. Neville's grandmother had agreed to sign the agreement of fellowship, which took a weight off of my shoulders.

Harry spent most of the time since his emancipation with Neville and his grandmother. As per the agreement of fellowship, which traditionally ensure that he was properly trained in the ways of the magical upper class, he would live with them until at least his 17th birthday. It was Augusta Longbottom's duty as Lady of the house to ensure that Harry was prepared to claim his lordship when he was old enough and so he would receive tutoring alongside Neville, which would hopefully help them both. The agreement of fellowship was also a formal alliance, which bound the two houses together until it was broken or until Harry's 17th birthday.

Having Augusta Longbottom sign the agreement of fellowship would make my faux betrothal to Harry more believable as well. With Alice Longbottom as my godmother, that duty had automatically transferred to Augusta after the attack on the Aurors. With ties connecting Augusta to both Harry and I, it was a shorter leap that the two of us enter into a betrothal. The betrothal, with the Longbottom house so involved in Harry's early life politically, would strengthen the relationship between all three houses and firmly push the balance of power away from the Malfoys.

Hermione's family had gone off to France on holiday, leaving me with no company in London. Blaise was recently struggling to introduce himself to stepfather number three, whom he was also trying to warn away for the man's own safety. Neville and Daphne were both undergoing tutoring within their families to prepare them for the eventuality of their leading their respectives houses. Steph had duties at home to tend to relating to her family's import business. Luna and her father were out of the country trying to track down this or that fantastical creature. Ron and his family—and Damien with them—were out of the country, visiting the eldest brother in Egypt with money won in a lottery.

With little to do but work on the Corps-iculum, I did exactly that. Potions was the only course that I was doing the notes for without help from anyone else but, thanks to my proximity to Professor Snape while I was assisting him with the first years, I already had up to fourth year finished. With no set DADA professor, given Lockhart's sacking last year, I turned my attention to Transfiguration.

Being alone with my dad had its benefits, though. As we were so close to the Ministry, he'd brought me into work once or twice over the past month. From the hazy figures of the Unspeakables in those unnaturally forgettable corridors I learned more magic conditioning techniques to bring back to the Corps. All the while, my magical core was studied and quantified. With more information on my link being collected, there was more to compare to the few other recorded ley links the Unspeakables had data on.

My ley link was developing in a different way than what had been observed before. Most ley links were gradual, developing within the witch or wizard from birth. A slower growing ley link allowed the magical core to stretch and grow naturally to merely supplement the person's magic with natural magic. When the magic entered me, my core was too brittle and delicate to handle the influx, resulting in the violent loss of control I experienced. As a result of the nature magic hollowing out my core, the majority of the magic at my disposal was the much more dense and powerful natural magic. If I honed my control, my spells would be much stronger than a normal witch's, at least in theory.

The Unspeakables were also working on a way to lock my own magic so I didn't drain it accidentally. Given how other people react when their cores are severely depleted, I'd likely pass out before I use up all of my own energy but there was a measure of uncertainty that the Unspeakables didn't like. The fact that I was the daughter of one of their own didn't matter much; I had a feeling that they didn't want to lose such a valuable and willing test subject.

"Okay! I'll be at work by the time you come back, so I'll see you for dinner. Are we still on for pizza?" my dad called back to me from deeper in the house. I called back a confirmation before looking to Naia and holding out my hand. She gripped it tightly and we disappeared in a crack.

Augusta Longbottom's eyes were sharp and narrow as she examined the contract my father had drafted.

The three of us were seated in one of her studies. A tea tray sat on the table between us, untouched, as she read the document once, twice, and a third time before lowering it back to the table, her eyes shifting between Harry and me.

"And are you sure that this is what you desire?" she asked me directly. I smiled tightly but nodded my head.

"Even if it's not what I would originally have done, I have spoken to my parents and they agree that this is the best course of action. If I do not enter into a contract, Lord Malfoy shall continue to pressure my family. Once my connection to Slytherin and my ley link are exposed, he'll only be more interested. I refuse to ally the Wyncrest House to the Malfoys."

"Harry?" she said, turning to look at the boy.

"Cor and I have talked a lot about this. I missed a lot of our world and culture growing up at the Dursleys'. Having this arrangement with Cor ensures that I don't lose any more. She knows a lot more about my house than I do at this point and, if I'm entering into a betrothal, I'd rather it be with someone who I know won't abuse that."

"Why Potter?" She wasn't asking if I even liked Harry, which I respected. Lady Regent Longbottom was a very shrewd politician and a valuable ally. She merely wanted my reasoning, my logic. I gave it to her in its entirety.

"House Wyncrest was very neutral in the last war but, given recent events at Hogwarts, I see no sense in fence sitting. My friends and I have been personally attacked by what's left of You-Know-Who. I intend to declare my house as Light and a marriage into an already Light family would certainly help. Given my mother's relationship to the Lowe family and my own history with Neville, I didn't think he and I would make a good match. Harry and I have similar interests and abilities."

"Longbottom and Potter aren't the only two Light houses," Augusta reminded me.

"They aren't, but they're the only two major Light houses I have preexisting ties to. I know that I can coexist with your ideals. I don't know that for certain of other families."

Augusta was silent for a long minute, measuring us with her eyes and trying to detect subterfuge. Evidently coming up with nothing, she nodded her head.

"As fellow of House Potter, I will agree to sign this contract as witness," she decided. "Do you understand the consequences if this contract is breached?"

"Yes."

Broken faith was the phrase applied to oath breaking houses. By showing in the past that their word means little, houses of broken faith are generally and systematically pushed out by the other houses over time. There are ways to get around it, of course; breaking oaths mutually, repaying the opposing house for the broken faith in gold, or repaying the community in favors. Sometimes money wasn't always enough. The Malfoy family had come to Great Britain years ago after being renamed and cast out of France, where mal foi literally means bad faith.

They were bloody awful Slytherins.

I had already spoken to Harry about the what-ifs and the implications of a betrothal contract and I wasn't too concerned. Our contract doesn't have a deadline of marriage, which would traditionally be the 17th or 18th birthday of the younger partner, so we were leaving plenty of time for one of us to find someone or something else. Then we can quietly dissolve the contract. Betrothal contracts are held in high regard, but they are formalities. It's an oath that, one day, the two of us will marry. Most people don't care about the in-between.

"Very well." Augusta drew her wand and tapped it on the second witness line, just under my father's name. Her name and title bloomed across the line, as well as the date, and she passed the document back to me. "With this contract, we shall have to review the formal agreement between our houses. Please ensure that your mother contacts me so that we can discuss the implications."

"I will."

"Good. Corinne, I expect that Neville and Harry will both be returned to the manor prior to the start of term."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then you three may leave. Give your father my regards."

"Yes, ma'am. Good day." I curtsied as I'd been trained, deep and careful, before grasping the betrothal contract and walking out of the room with Harry in tow.

Harry and I were officially betrothed. Now the fun starts.