Disclaimer : This is a non-profit and fan based literary works.

- Waltz of Blood -

[ Chapter III ]

~※~

— Harry / Lord Greengrass Office / 10:41 am —

Well this sure is awkward.

I tried hard not to squirm on my seat and show agitation as Lord Greengrass continues his silent stare down for about a minute now.

Bollocks, I wonder how long does he plan to intimidate me.

Is this really a prerequisite before doing business?

Seriously.

My initial impression of him was that this elder sure makes my hard boiled Auror instructor look like a bundle of joy when compared to this finely regal grim old man.

Lady Greengrass suddenly excused herself after bringing me along at her grandfather's office. For some reason her complexion suddenly flushed a beet of red and her face got that really dreamy look right after our brief introduction.

It was really unusual, i had the impression that she would also attend the meeting, i wonder what happened?

Perhaps she also had seen some vision back when our hands connected?

I myself currently also are having some mild headaches after that weird occurrence but this meeting hold much importance for me so i can't really back out now even if I'm suddenly feeling under the weather.

"Mr. Harry James Potter, I'm glad you came."

Sir Julius began by offering me a handshake. I accepted the gesture and surprisingly the old man neither tried to broke my fingers (which i was expecting) nor any more intimidation tactics but held it firm nonetheless.

No weird visions happened this time thank merlin.

"Please just call me Harry, Mi'Lord."

"...Harry it is then."

I nodded before returning to my seat.

"Perchance some coffee or tea before we start?"

Offered by Sir Julius with a slightly raised brow and i slowly shook my head.

"No its fine."

"Suit yourself then."

Silence.

...Okay what now?

Should i try for a small talk here? or perhaps going straight down to business would be better in this case.

Blimey, i really have no idea when it comes to these formal business discussions, i hope Lord Greengrass wouldn't notice my discomfort.

"Say Harry, how much do you know about the history between our families?"

Lord Greengrass idly questioned whilst arranging some files onto his table. He then procured a worn out parchment, paused what's his doing and gave me a pointed look.

It was a look that definitely says that he's testing me.

Okay calm down first.

Breathe out.

Good.

My mind then started recalling all of the informations that i have studied in my family annals days ago.

"Based on our historical accounts, our founders seems to be close friends and both have been exiled from their own respective households due to some incident back in the eleventh century.

With them being banished and strip off their nobility, the two of them then began living like a common folk with my ancestor Linfred concocting potions for a living while Wilheim, the Greengrass founder dabbling on trade business instead."

I paused for a moment and find Sir Julius nodding with the corners of his lips ever so slightly inched upwards.

"Correct. At the start, Wilheim my great ancestor was underperforming in his business. His downward fate however turned around when his friend Linfred commissioned my ancestor to constantly supply him with herbs and herbal medicines. That deal was the turning point for our founder thus he named our household 'Greengrass' as a tribute for the help of Linfred. Ever since then our families had been secretly tied through our joint enterprises.

The Greengrass family had always provided the raw materials for the things that the Potters produces...that is until the untimely death of your parents. I didn't like the new management that seized control over your enterprise so all the dealing between our families broke down about two decades ago."

I hardened my facade as i try hard not to grimace and show emotions.

The Potters have two major enterprises.

The Potterer Pharmaceuticals and Sleekeasy Hair and Cosmetics.

The former closed down but the latter which is the larger enterprise of the two was seized by some associates of my grandfather. Currently I'm still trying to find some legal ways to gain back Sleekeasy but my main problem for now lies on the Pharmaceuticals.

My family's colossal debt came from the contracts that were breached due to the sudden termination of operations of the Potterer twenty years ago. To make the matters worse, those people whom my family owes a debt had seen an opportunity and had agreed to postpone the payments until i was a legally binding adult.

Such gesture of kindness was nice and all but the hidden knife was that there's a clause in the debt settlements that there would be a ten percent interest rates per annum.

Ten whole effin' percent!

Holy Voldemort on panties!

That is a highway robbery!

The original debt that only amounts to a mere five hundred thousands bloated up to more than a double solely due to the interest rate which grew over twenty years.

I reviewed the settlements and found out that it was Aunt Petunia whom signed these terms twenty years ago being my legal guardian and all.

Seriously what the hell's wrong with that brain of hers.

I've been studying my accounts for days now and to say that the Potter's wealth are a shell of its former glory would be an understatement.

Quite frankly, my household is on the brink of insolvency.

Sure the vaults still have some considerable amount of golds in it but all would be seized as due payments for these inflated debts.

Now the payments for these liabilities resides on my shoulders since that i'm about to be legally acknowledged as an adult in month's time.

Great.

What an effin' way to start adulthood.

If i do not find a solution to gain considerable amount of money fast then my whole inheritance would be liquidated and i have to file for bankruptcy.

Sigh.

Initially before all of these financial problems, my life plan was to simply be an Auror.

How i longed for such a simple life.

Fighting off crimes and upholding justice seems like a dream job for me but the reality is that this job doesn't really pay much or at least it won't be able to give me the funds i needed to save my inheritance.

It's really easy to just let go of it all and just start anew.

Heck if i were given a choice, i would've prefer living like a normal common wizard without all of this financial nonsense to worry about. However, deep within me there's a force that's adamantly refusing to let go. It screams and berates at me that i have to fight for my family's legacy, to stand in defiance no matter how futile it might seem.

Maybe its my ancestors calling.

The blood that flows within me raging to burst if i somehow deny my heritage.

Maybe there's something more about these pureblood supremacy drivel that all the ancient families seems to be raving on about.

Whichever the case, one things for sure.

I have to at least try rather than going down without a fight.

~※~

A/N: Apparently the Potter's vault have around 1.2 Million. In my story he has a debt of 500K but had an interest rate of 10% that grew over twenty years, hence 500K / 10 x 20 = 1M

So more or less Harry had to pay up, 1.5 Million.

Update resumes Monday night, thanks for reading.