Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or associated works. This work is not for profit.

"What?" All three Greengrasses were quite simultaneous in their exclamation. Harry narrowed his eyes. The girl seemed legitimately surprised, as did the parents at the surface. But Harry had been lied to his whole life by the Dursleys, in both big and small things. Heck, they'd tried to keep magic from him. He had a large sample size from which to compare. And it was also just a feeling he had, an underlying certainty that he was correct. Furthermore, at the worst, he embarrasses himself. What was that compared to his life?

"I am not a fool, Mr. Greengrass, so do not take me for one," he stated coldly.

"I'm not sure what you're trying to get at, Mr. Potter."

"I may be many things," he repeated, "but I am not a fool. It's a fake, a forgery. You swoop in and get the political capital of the Potter family, during a time when it is at its low point. An orphaned heir with no family, constantly slandered in the press. A relatively easy gain."

"Mr. Potter, I assure you that this is perfectly legitimate. Even if we do assume your foolish idea, how would we have gotten this by Dumbledore? Octavia and I had no idea before the letter came that-"

"And the goblins are in on this too, aren't they? How else would such an elaborate document be made?" Harry continued, brushing off the man. "And the non-disclosure mostly takes care of Professor Dumbledore. The rest is his often foolish notions of love and forgiveness, which all of the Wizarding World knows."

"Mr. Potter, be reasonable. What next of your conspiracies? Perhaps Grindelwald actually survived the end of the Great War?" the man scoffed. "I just don't want you, through your actions, to accidentally harm my daughter." He softened. "Please, don't be unreasonable."

Harry had to admit, the man played a good game, unlike the Dursleys, whose body language gave away everything. Nor did the man bluster like Vernon. But his sixth sense told him to continue. "Don't lie to me."

"Mr. Potter-" started the goblin.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" he roared, slamming his hands down on the table. Everything in the room rattled dangerously, making the other occupants of the room draw back in fear. He took a deep breath and settled down the raging magic around him.

The goblin shared a glance with Lord Greengrass. "You are correct so far," admitted the goblin. Daphne let out a gasp. "You would have handed me away? Me, your daughter?" she shrieked out the last line.

Lord Greengrass let out a sigh. "Daphne-" he started.

"Spare me the melodrama," interrupted Harry, still angry from the revelation that they were going to scam him.

"Very well," the man stiffly replied, and the family rose from their seats, Daphne still wearing a murderous look.

"So if you seek beneath our floors," muttered Harry, suddenly comprehending. "A treasure that was never yours," he continued, slowly increasing in volume, "Thief you have been warned, beware, of finding more than treasure there. Now wait just a minute, Greengrass," stated Harry.

"What?" asked the man, obviously still resentful of being called out on his duplicity.

"Those who take, but do not earn, must pay most dearly in their turn," quoted Harry. "Am I right?" he asked the goblin.

"You... are correct," answered the goblin reluctantly.

"Then you aren't going anywhere, Greengrass. The negotiations are not complete."

"I don't understand."

"Tit for tat, Greengrass. Tit for tat." Harry was quite cold; they had just tried to scam him into binding himself for the rest of his life. If they took an issue with his attitude... well, he took issue first. "You have wronged me, an heir to a Noble and Most Ancient House-"

"The Potters aren't a-" cut off Mr. Greengrass.

"Yes," agreed Harry. "But the Blacks are." Seeing the man's shocked face, he continued. "Thought you could push me around with impunity, Greengrass? We'll keep this little detail between us. And you, too," he added as an afterthought to the goblin.

"A blood ritual?" asked the goblin curiously.

"When I was one. They didn't have time to register it with Gringotts." His face darkened as he remembered again the night that changed everything, fundamentally marking him forever. "Anyways, I think you guys already know how this goes. Hadrian Black set a precedent for paying back wrongs back in the day. And you have already submitted a fake marriage contract... but the moment you signed your proposal you made it legitimate if I wish it to be."

The Greengrasses stayed silent, although Daphne kept shooting glances between Harry and her parents. "So essentially, I'm extorting the hell out of you." His eyes hardened. "You should have considered carefully before you decided to mess with me. I don't take kindly to those who wish to control me." Indeed, the Dursleys had quite well convinced him that he shouldn't let anyone push him around.

"Your claim must be verified," the goblin stated, pulling out yet another official sheet from the never-ending stack. It was as if Gringotts was prepared for anything and everything happening during negotiations, which, to be fair, was perfectly reasonable considering pureblood history. The goblin filled in the heritage form with the family name, 'Black.' "I need a drop of your blood."

He immediately stiffened. Voldemort had shown him just how powerful blood could be. "What for?" he asked suspiciously.

"Only a drop to verify that the blood ritual was indeed performed and to update the official records. After that, it shall immediately be destroyed." The goblin seemed almost... approving of his paranoia.

"Very well." Harry took the dagger that the goblin had procured from his vest while speaking and slit the tip of his finger slightly. Barely any blood trickled from the cut. He pressed the finger against the parchment and then lifted it. The parchment glowed briefly as he removed his finger. "Confirmed." He set down the dagger.

"Now that all this is over with, let's get down to the real business of today. I'm tired of all the shit people have been putting me through. You don't screw with Potters. Or Blacks. So she," he pointed to Daphne, "is now a concubine of the House Black. And I suppose I should ensure she still gets the proper inheritance of a firstborn child."

"Please, don't do this," entreatied Lord Greengrass. "My daughter is innocent of our crimes - we'll pay you, please, just don't punish her for this."

Harry softened. Then he considered the circumstances. People like Greengrass were scum, trying to manipulate children. This perhaps would make him no better. But then, when had fate ever given him the upper hand? If he passed on it now, who knew when he might regret it later. And most of Greengrass' pleading was probably based on the false assumption that he would use Daphne as a tool to sate his sexual urges. That wasn't him. When it came down to it, it was mostly that he needed all the allies he could get, forced or not. Money was not very material to him at the moment, nor was it binding on the Greengrasses. "I'm sorry," he stated, truly meaning it. "But I cannot do that. And before I forget, everything that happened and will happen in this room is not to be disclosed," he said, looking meaningfully at the goblin, who nodded at him. The oath of silence was still in effect.

"Please-"

"SHUT UP!" he slammed his hands down on the table again. "I'm tired of the Ministry's shit, tired of this hero's burden I'm supposed to carry, tired of this war already. So just comply," he added tiredly.

"What war?" asked Lord Greengrass.

"As if you don't already know," stated Harry exasperatedly. "It's practically an open secret in your social circles," he sneered this part out, "that your precious Lord Voldemort has returned." The family flinched at hearing the most feared Dark Lord's name out loud. "Scared sheep," he muttered.

It was the Lord Greengrass" turn to be indignant. "I am an honorable man." Harry snorted. "I have never supported-"

"I don't care," cut off Harry. "Let us finalize this," he said, sitting back down. The other Greengrasses sat down as well, the females glaring at him and the patriarch simply resigned to whatever would happen, ironically, as Harry noted, quite like his own earlier attitude.


In the end, everything had worked out as he dictated, with clauses to ensure that he wouldn't suddenly get screwed over by them. The Greengrasses had, after all, proven themselves to be quite cunning. The only additional thing would be that after their marriage/contract fulfillment hybrid before the solstice, Harry would be Daphne's guardian, a euphemism for 'master,' really. Not that he enjoyed that position or anything. Furthermore, they would not disclose information of these negotiations or dealings in general at all. Harry stipulated this since he would rather Voldemort not know anything and not target the Greengrasses. As much as he didn't like the senior Greengrass, he did not want innocents, like Daphne's younger sister, to die for no reason. The Greengrasses left, Daphne still icily glaring at him.

Now there was the matter of Gringotts colluding in this plot. "So, Mr. Potter, since we failed to pull the wool over your eyes, Gringotts is in your debt." That was how the goblins worked. If you could get away with it, it was valid, even stealing from vaults. Then they both respected and resented you. But if you got caught, which was practically equivalent to failing since even attempting to rob the bank and making it out unscathed was quite an accomplishment, then the consequences were quite severe. Like being left in a vault for ten years.

"I will contact Gringotts whenever I think of suitable compensation for this heinous attempt to bind me, the Heir Black," he stated a little pretentiously, emphasizing just how terribly he thought Gringotts had screwed up. Reminding your enemies of their failures was another goblin thing.


The walk back out of Gringotts and Diagon Alley was uneventful. "How did it go?" asked Tonks.

"Technically, I can't go through the details of the proceedings. The end result was a little strange, I can admit. I can only actually tell Sirius anything, though." The rest of the walk was silent. When they had walked appropriately far away from the wards, they grabbed hold of a Portkey, which deposited them in front of Grimmauld Place.

When he entered he was again bombarded with the same question, even as Tonks knocked over the umbrella stand and set off the painting of Mrs. Black. "Nondisclosure contract," he answered briefly, brushing away the questions. "Can't really say too much."

He made his way directly upstairs, looking for Sirius. As he entered his godfather's room, he saw Sirius tending to Buckbeak. "What took so long after I contacted you?"

"We ended up finding a way to limit the extent of the contract, due to how vague it was. I'm barely bound at all. Most of it was nullified." He told a half-truth, unsure of how his godfather would judge his actions. "Nor are they going to be my temporary guardians anymore. I wrangled that out of them, somehow." And a lot more too, he mentally added.

"Well, that's good, Harry."

"Yeah. There'll be a sort-of-ceremony by the winter solstice."

"So all your research was useless," stated Sirius, smiling a little.

"It was not completely useless," he retorted defensively. Inwardly he noted just how useful it had been.

"Of course," conceded Sirius, still smiling. "I remember, in our last year James and I made fun of Remus because he actually studied theory for school." His smile faded. "There were more important things on our minds. They were dark times, Harry, just as they are now." He sighed. "But enough of this depressing talk. You deserve some time off."

"Yeah, I guess I do," replied Harry. Right before he left the room, he turned around. "Oh and Sirius?"

"Yes?"

"I need you to sign a contract stating you won't discuss what I tell you of the negotiations. I wouldn't want to face the consequences if you let something slip." The seriousness of the statement seemed to put a damper on the mood, so he left and headed down the stairs towards his room.


Harry sat late in his room, considering the events of the day. He never really had been too much of an introspective person, but his own actions had him thinking. He had managed to gain the upper hand, and in a fit of revenge, had turned the negotiations against the Greengrasses. Should he have been so forceful and quite cruel regarding the girl's fate for the rest of her life? Sure, the elder Greengrasses had tried to do the same to him. He used this reasoning to justify his actions earlier, along with the belief that it would be for the good of all, for any and all advantages could be used against Voldemort. Was Voldemort really his responsibility, though? And was he not simply treating other people as pawns to be expended on a chessboard, objectifying his living and thinking fellow humans? Was he not doing to Daphne what her parents were going to do to him, and what Dumbledore sometimes seemed to do as the man compartmentalized information and kept Harry isolated - for his own safety or something? He did not want to be dictated to; what right did he have to dictate to others?

Yet... he knew, in his heart, that he was benevolent. He did not know this of the Greengrasses. All humans did not like to be treated like pawns because they have an inherent mistrust of whoever is in power, or anyone in general, really. Although this could easily be Voldemort's logic for controlling his followers and taking over the Wizarding World... the logic that he was right and everyone else was wrong... Harry stopped here. Trying to justify anything morally seemed circular. He would not be a bad person to Daphne, and that was what mattered. Over time, hopefully, she would learn this fact as well. And really, what was her right to free love and marriage if it was under Voldemort? Or if she was dead?

But then, these questions could simply be excuses to bypass justification of his actions... Harry stopped here and decided to go to sleep. He was again caught up in the circle of morality.