I do not own anything
I know that there was something I wanted to say... but I can't remember...
Byakuya glanced up as he felt the Black lord's reiatsu morph, a sign that Yoruichi had, after years of worrying, finally twisted things into engagement with a certain blue eyed animagus. Still, it had only been a half hour since the dancing…
"Just as impatient as ever," he muttered before searching for the elder Malfoys. It was about time they finalized the arrangement they had been deliberating for the past two years.
He found them by the refreshments table, chatting with Gawain Robarbs, third highest in command in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. "Pardon me, Lord and Lady Malfoy, may I see you and your son in private? There is something I would like to discuss." He then added as an afterthought, "I apologize for the intrusion, Mr. Robarbs, but this is a matter of significant importance."
Lucius looked mildly curious at why the propriety-driven man had suddenly halted a conversation with an official in the Ministry of Magic. "Of course, Lord Kuchiki. Draco is with your daughter, I think."
He nodded. "I would like her there as well."
He smiled slightly, realizing why he wanted to speak with them. "Let's go get them, then. Shall we?"
Fetching the children, he told them he wanted to see them privately and had them lead them to the Room of Requirement. Liana was a bit startled at the sudden request, but obliged. Draco smirked as, like his father, the pieces fell together in his mind. He watched the black haired man gain entry to the room. Only Kuchiki Byakuya could pace in front of a random stretch of wall and not look stupid.
"Now that there are no eavesdroppers, perhaps we can discuss some of the more intimate… things about the relationship the two of you share?" He had an amused glint in his eyes.
"W-what?" Liana blinked, blushing furiously. "Why are we talking about that?"
"Lucius and I have yet to find a suitable wife for Draco," Narcissa smiled. "Besides, the two of you are graduating next year, this conversation is long overdue."
"Suitable…? An arranged marriage?" She frowned, blushing. She didn't like the idea of being forced to marry.
Byakuya gave a hint of a smile. "It isn't arranged if the two of you agree to it. I have been discussing this with Lord and Lady Malfoy for quite a while now. In any case, you should have expected something like this would happen, Liana. I was under the impression the muggle nobility married for political benefits as well."
"Well, it's not like I ever really learned that," she defended. "The Dursleys didn't like it when I got better grades than Dudley!"
"… I see," he frowned. "Speaking of the fools, where are they? I haven't heard anything about them in quite a while."
"They're in the Hospital Wing," Draco shrugged. "One of the seventh year Gryffindors pushed them into a Vanishing Cabinet that was pretty much broken. We found them last month stuck on the rafters in the Astronomy Tower. They're traumatized or something so Professor McGonagall decided to put them in the Hospital Wing. They haven't really done anything since and Madam Pomfrey says it's unlikely that they'll ever be the same."
The captain decided to put the thought out of his mind. "Well, in any case, the fact remains that both the Kuchiki and Malfoy families are looking for spouses for their heirs. The two of you are of the same age and already know each other, it only makes sense."
"But isn't sixteen too early to be looking for a husband or whatever?" she asked. "Besides, that's what dating's for!"
"Ah, but can you honestly tell me the activities the two of you have been attending together over the past year doesn't fall into that category?" he questioned. "I'm certain Master Malfoy was aware that by accompanying you to those events your professor hosted and escorting you back afterward, he was courting you. I told you that I would not mind if you were seeing him, Liana. Did you believe I would say something like that so carelessly?"
"I forgot about that," she mumbled, turning redder.
"We have been searching for a wife for Draco for years now," Narcissa said, smiling gently. "We're always looking though the respectable families of the Wizarding World. The only problem is, he always refuses the girls we go to him with."
"Rukia has gone through every eligible nobleman in the Seireitei at least once every decade, ever since she was adopted," her father said. "However, she always claims they are too boring or something of the sort. Because the two of you are so similar in personality, I assumed you would think the same about them."
"So… you decide to try and get us to hook up?" Like a twisted game of matchmaker.
"The Malfoy and Kuchiki families are both extremely high standing families in their resepctive society," he said firmly. "As the two of you are the only heir to the families, you are the only way our family lines may continue. As such, tradition dictates it is your obligation to your family to wed and produce children." He gave the slightest smirk as his daughter started gagging and sputtering. "Of course, the fact that you are the heir of the Potter and Black families only magnifies that fact."
"I have to get married because of stupid tradition?" she asked unhappily.
"No. Despite the fact that marriage is an important part of tradition, I do not see the merit in marrying for such something as common as a child when one can easily be adopted," he said simply. "Despite that a child by blood is most preferred by the family, I only ask that you be happy. As far as I am concerned, the fact that it happens to bring more power to the family is merely a side-effect." He smiled faintly. "Quite honestly, marrying your mother was probably the best thing that has ever happened to my life. She gave me not only contentment and a wife, but a sister and daughter as well."
"The continuation of lineage is very important for a high standing family," Lucius said. "Normally, children in the Wizarding World are taught from a young age that they are expected to marry well and provide an heir once they are of suitable age. Draco has accepted this a long time ago." The younger blond nodded, as if verifying this.
"Unfortunately, despite the fact they probably want you disowned, the Kuchiki Family Elders will acknowledge the fact you are of Kuchiki blood, and if you do not agree to wed Master Malfoy, they will choose someone for you and pressure you to marry," her father said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "Frankly, it is very hard to accomplish anything with their constant pestering."
"So you're saying I don't have a choice," she said flatly.
"You do have a choice, but your options are extremely limited," he corrected. "And I would say this one is the most favorable."
"If I do agree – I'm not saying I'm doing it, I'm saying if – can I change my mind later?" she asked.
"Engagements can easily be canceled, if not by the couple themselves, then by one of the families," he replied. "Afterward, divorce is possible, but very complicated and hard to achieve. It would probably be easier to arrange for an assassination…" He sighed, "I have suspected very many times that the family Elders tried to assassinate Hisana, and they would have done so to Rukia as well, if she wasn't capable of avoiding them and revealing their plots."
Her nose scrunched up as she, once again, broke it down into simple terms. "So either I marry a guy and have a kid, or they murder me?"
He scoffed. "Hardly. I have yet to repay them for driving my wife to the World of the Living and keeping the knowledge of a child from me. They know very well that if there is any more nonsense on their part, I can easily arrange for a mass execution."
"I don't get it. Do I have to do it or not?" she grumbled frustratedly.
"No one is forcing you to do anything. This course of action is simply recommended." He couldn't help but be slightly amused. Yoruichi had always told him he was more like Kurosaki Ichigo than he liked to admit. Apparently that characteristic had been passed onto his daughter.
She scowled at the vague answer.
"Are you saying you don't like me, Liana?" Draco teased, taking advantage of the situation. "I thought we were friends."
"Oh, shut up." A pillow appeared in her hand and she chucked it at him.
"Seriously, though, why not? This way you can have a foot in both the Wizarding World and the… Soul Society, was it? It isn't possible for you to abandon the Kuchiki family, but, on top of being a Potter, an arrangement like this would make it easier for you to visit England."
She frowned, turning the idea over in her head and weighing the pros and cons. "Fine."
"Excellent." Her father had a knowing glint in his eyes before he started tracing a line into the floor. "I'm afraid that, if only to avoid undesirable side effects, it would be favorable to perform a ritual on Master Malfoy as soon as possible. It isn't anything dangerous at all, simply the first part of integrating someone into our family."
"Of course, Lord Kuchiki, I see no problem," Lucius smiled, happy to have finally found a fiancée for his son.
On one end of the line he drew a chevron (basically two sides of a triangle with the lines curved inward like a fancy, upside-down V) with a five petaled flower inside. "Liana, you will need to participate as well," he said. "Just do as I say and there shouldn't be any complications, both of you."
Both teens nodded. Byakuya drew on the reiatsu given to him by his father's family as his eyes started glowing a luminescent white. He could see his daughter's eyes were doing to same, as was the drawing on the floor.
"Kneel, Draco Malfoy." The blond did, too much in awe of the entire process to really process his actions. "To whom will this man be bound to?" Luckily, Liana had been studying rituals a little bit out of sheer boredom, so she had a faint idea of what to do.
"I will."
"Do you accept this, Draco Malfoy?"
"Yes, sir." He has accepted it a long time ago, back when he noticed how frequently they were visiting the Kuchiki English Residence.
"Stand before him, Kuchiki Liana," he directed. She smiled faintly at being referred to as Kuchiki and did as she was told. "Put your hand on top of his head and insert your reiatsu into his body." She closed her eyes and focused her power into her hand as she had when using kido.
Draco gasped slightly as his body suddenly warmed. This felt so strange, but so… nice.
The pleasant sensation ended all too quickly, as he soon found himself being helped back onto his feet, being told he had 'gotten all spacey'.
Bad ending, I know. But at the moment, I'm more concerned with the fact that Pottermore is open to the public today!