Here is the next chapter. Please enjoy it and read and review love Hannah xxx
Astrid called forth the Potter elves Donny, Lolly, Molly and Pops. Once she explained to them what had been done and who she truly was they were delighted. Their Potter magic prevented them from ever telling anyone about it either. The Potter manor was renamed to Wyatt Manor on the national manor registry as well as everywhere else it counted. It now looked as though either Potter manor had never existed or had been destroyed. Actually back in the day there had been rumours that it been destroyed which suited Astrid well as everyone including Dumbledore himself had believed them. Actually the senior Potters had put out the rumour themselves to protect themselves in the war. They had died together but it had been Dragon Pox and not anything else. She had been to see the manor and it had looked gorgeous. It had twenty five bedrooms, four wings, two formal dining rooms, two informal dining rooms, two offices, an indoor pool, potions labs, duelling rooms, two ball rooms and vast gardens with quidditch pitch attached.
Astrid decided to try out riding a broom to see how she liked it. Harry had obviously loved it but the question now became would she love it? She mounted the broom and kicked off feeling great. As she soared above the house Pandora who had joined her there flew with her daughter in joy filling her in on all that happened in the meeting. "But mum surely you're not thinking of seriously dating Lupin?" she asked scandalised as Pandora laughed loudly.
"Of course not. I was just joking with him and watching him blush because of me was quite funny. Even Albus who hates him agreed he'd be the perfect light husband for me and it was very satisfying as I could tell he hated him and hated further that he was left with no choice but to say he was light. I am thinking of marrying Abdallah Shafiq an unspeakable if he'll have me. He's exceptionally handsome and would be ideal. I will converse with the goblins and see if they think the match would be a good one. I shall let you know what they tell me. What about Draco Malfoy then? He seems smitten with you" she noted as Astrid groaned.
"Mum! Draco Malfoy is smitten with me yes but the feelings are not mutual and yesterday I helped him select Susan Bones to marry from Sirius' list. She would be the best candidate and asides from that she's very light and can only serve to improve his image. I'd be a fool to say otherwise. As for me I know who I want to marry. The hottest guy at school!" she said blushing very hard as Pandora laughed.
"May I know his name? Please don't say Ronald Weasley or I may have to hurt you!" she joked as Astrid smirked in her direction.
"Oh ha-ha mum very funny! His name is Blaise Zabini. He has gorgeous tanned skin, long black flowing hair and the most divine chocolate brown eyes. He's Italian too. Dios Mio!" she said as they landed. He had been all she could think about recently.
"Should I inquire at the bank about him too then?" she said landing and heading in the direction of the floo.
"I um…I'm not too sure. Do you think you should? I don't want him to think poorly of me or something!" she said panicked as Pandora hugged her closely kissing her head.
"Don't worry sweetheart I will ask about him and do so in a gentle way. I can even arrange a meeting with his mother and see what she thinks. I'll go now and then you can relax here this afternoon. I'll let you know how I get on and wish me luck as I hope Abdallah says yes. He's from a very pureblood and light family" she said once more hugging Astrid closely and flooing off to the bank for her appointment she'd arranged.
She entered the appropriate office and waited for her account manager Axegrind to turn up which he swiftly did.
"Hello Madam Black how may I assist you today?" he asked sitting down opposite her.
"Hello Axegrind. I am here today to speak about the future relationship I want to have and for the relationship of my daughter. I want her to have someone light like me. I wish to arrange for her to marry Blaise Zabini if he is free. Possibly you can set up a meeting with his mother or something. As for me well I also wish to remarry and I wish to marry light too. I want to marry Abdallah Shafiq if he'll have me!" she said getting right to the point. There was no point in doing things any other way with the goblins.
"You are in luck as Madam Zabini is doing business here right now so I will have her sent here when she is done. As for Mr Shafiq he would be a wise choice for sure. I will send out a notification for him to meet you here where you both can decide on what you would like to do. While we wait for Madam Zabini is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked kindly as she smiled at him.
"Not at the moment no but thank you for asking. I was really only here today to sort my relationship status out and of course that of my daughter!" she said as the door was opened and Madam Zabini stepped in.
"Good afternoon. I am Clarisse Zabini. Might I inquire as to why I have been summoned here?" she asked kindly taking the seat which was offered to her.
"Good afternoon Clarisse. I am Pandora Black. I am a widow for many years now. We used to live in Paris and my daughter Astrid Black will be going to Hogwarts School this year. She will be in her fifth year there. As of now we don't yet know which house she will be in but I think she could be in either Ravenclaw or Slytherin myself. She is on the lookout for a future husband and we went through a list of light people and I truly feel that your own son Blaise Zabini would be the best fit for her if you consent of course. I would never agree to something I could not promise. She seemed very excited by the prospect of marrying Blaise and so I thought to ask you about it today" she finished as Clarisse looked stunned.
"To be honest Pandora if I had ever thought you'd say something I didn't think this would be it. Please if you will tell me more about Astrid. What can she offer my Blaise?" she said all ready for business now.
"Recently my cousin Sirius Black and his godson Harry Potter died. Sirius left a family home and couple of vaults to Astrid. Harry left his entire Lordship title to Sirius but as Sirius died too it went to his next of kin me. As I didn't see the sense in having two Ladyships myself I gave the Potter one to Astrid. If she chooses at the age of seventeen she will become the new Lady Potter. Money is of no object to us. She has her own multi-level townhouse in central London where we currently live. It is under the fidelius charm and she is the secret keeper of it so I cannot give you that address unless she does that herself" she responded plainly as Clarisse gasped aloud.
"I had not thought you would tell me this. This is mightily impressive. It means that Blaise will want for nothing. We are far from poor but the most important thing to me was that the woman who married Blaise would not do so solely to get his wealth. As Astrid has her own wealth she will not be with him for the wrong reasons. I will consent to this after we have a meeting in Zabini Manor tonight at six in the evening. Blaise will be there and you should bring Astrid. I will talk to them both together and if they both agree we will sign a contract right away. I want them both to know they have choices. Now if you will excuse me I must head home and get ready for tonight. Don't eat a dinner as we will have one at the house!" she said getting up and leaving.
A notification was sent to Abdallah who arrived moments later looking very confused. "You called to see me sir. Is everything alright? You don't manage my accounts here but is there something wrong with them?" he asked in a panic.
"Not at all Mr Shafiq. Please come in and have a seat. This here is Madam Pandora Black a widow of four years. She has returned from Paris to live here and is in search of a light husband for herself. Your name came up on the list of light people to marry and she wished to see if you would like to get married!" he said pointing in her direction as Abdallah gasped. She was divine. Her curvy figure and luscious black hair doing wonders to make her more beautiful He was in all honesty speechless.
"Why? I mean to say why did you choose me Miss Black?" he asked still stunned which made her squirm. She couldn't believe the hunger with which he was obviously checking her out. Judging by his expression he knew he was doing it and didn't like it but couldn't help it either.
"Well Mr Shafiq I was looking over a list of light prospects to be my next husband because times are dark and it's truly not safe to be alone at this time. When I do something I do only the best or not at all. The same applies when I select my husband. I wanted only the best and because you are the best I wanted you. You have a great ministry job and as my recently inherited Black vaults come with different businesses I will busy taking care of those. I need a wonderful companion like you. What do you say?" she asked as he slapped his own face exclaiming that it hurt him.
"I am so sorry Pandora if I scared you but I needed to make sure you weren't a mirage. I am honoured you have selected me and I do indeed agree. I can see it would be a great match. The Blacks and Shafiq's have aligned before in the past and it would be a most fortuitous relationship to pursue. Where um do you live?" he stuttered out. Best call into the bank ever! He thought to himself smiling deeply. She was so beautiful and she would be his.
"I live currently in a townhouse in London which my cousin Sirius left to my daughter Astrid. I am most thankful you see it that way. Now while the house is under the fidelius with her as the secret keeper I cannot tell you where it is but we can always go to your house or Black manor if you would prefer. If not then I can ask her to tell you where she lives. She will be a fifth year in Hogwarts this year and that house is hers so I don't have to continue to live in it with her if I don't want to. Right now however I would prefer to remain there. Also because it needs to be asked whether we like or not do you want children?" at this question his face fell completely.
"I want children more than anything in the world but you probably don't because you already have a child" he said sadly as though his world was ending. Men she thought seriously.
"Abdallah calm down please and please stop assuming you know what I will say when you haven't even asked me the question yet. If you must know I would love another child maybe even two" she said with a huge grin. Abdallah was gorgeous. He had light tanned skin, medium length brown shaggy hair and gorgeous green eyes. He was truly divine to look at and she found herself lost in his eyes until he jumped up with a shriek and hugged her close.
"Oh Pandora thank you so much. Please have your daughter tell me where her house is and I will visit you there. Would you prefer it if I moved in right away? I could live in another bedroom in the house until you are comfortable with our relationship" he asked as she remained thoughtful.
"I will get back to you on it later on. You will have a letter from me tomorrow. As for now Astrid and I have an appointment to keep and I must be getting home to get ready. I can't wait to be Mrs Shafiq!" she squealed leaping into his arms and kissing him once. Both of them were dizzy by the end of it. This day with the Zabini family was not meant to be however as she got home and Astrid was halfway through her own dinner. When Clarisse had gotten home Blaise wasn't even there. He was at the home Theodore Nott having his own dinner. They both laughed and decided to just meet up after dinner. Blaise returned and saw his mother in a fancy enough outfit and rolled his eyes.
"Can't we have one night mother where some ridiculous ministry official doesn't come to our home?" he whined as she fixed him with an intense glare.
"We are having some important company this evening so please get dressed. It is not a ministry official either. In fact it is a young girl who will be in your year at school this year and hopes to marry you. I've already met with her mother who is a widow like me. Both of us are getting married actually by coincidence. She wanted a good and light man for her daughter and you came highly recommended. Please behave yourself Blaise!" she said as he stood there in awe.
"If this is a prank you will not the results of it. I will get ready now" he said stalking off to his room. Astrid couldn't understand why her mother had been so annoyed she'd been having dinner when she returned.
"Abdallah agreed to marry me Astrid! I have never been happier. Why are you eating dinner? You shouldn't have done that! Now I will look a bloody fool! No don't even bother. Just continue! I will let them know we won't be there for dinner after all but after it instead. Tonight we are going to meet the Zabini family. Please also write down your address on a parchment piece which I can send to Abdallah. Please charm it for his eyes only!" she scolded as Astrid looked stunned. She'd never been properly scolded like this before and it felt weird.
"When do we leave? I have something I need to do first. I will give you the parchment and it will be charmed for his eyes only. Please snap out of it. I'd rather you weren't in a foul mood tonight ok!" she snapped as Pandora reeled in shock. It was their first official fight as mother and daughter and it was interesting indeed.
"Look we agreed to have dinner there and then I come home to find you eating dinner. It's not damn ideal is it? Now I will look a fool! What's this?" she said taking the envelope Kreacher handed to her and laughed her head off.
"Well it would seem Blaise himself was also having dinner with a friend at his house so dinner is out for both of us. You have an hour and a half. Sorry I snapped at you ok?" she asked as Astrid chuckled. That had been funny after all. She could imagine Mrs Zabini freaking at her son for the same thing.
"Ok and congratulations with Abdallah. If he puts a toe out of line I will kick his arse so damn hard my foot will come out of his fucking mouth. No one will ever abuse my mother and get away with it. Just look after yourself ok. I am so happy for you. I love you mum!" she said kissing her cheek.
"I love you too sweetheart!" she said as Astrid went up to her room. She got out some parchment pieces and thought like Harry for a while. She wrote down every single bad thing which had happened to him and all about how awful he'd felt. She was hysterically crying by the end of it. That had been harder then she'd thought it ever would be. With a quick incendio she burned it all and watched as it crumbled into nothingness. She felt immediate relief wash over her. She would have Pandora do the same thing. She was highly nervous though about meeting Blaise. How should she look? Should she have her hair up or down? A lot of makeup or a little amount of it?
She opted for a Slytherin green cocktail dress with silver high heeled shoes. She decided to use minimal makeup so as to not look as though she was desperate. She wore some long heart earrings and a matching silver heart chain. Her hair was pinned back slightly half up behind her head and the pieces that fell down her back were curled slightly. With one last spritz of her new favourite Gucci perfume she was ready to go. Pandora teared up when she saw her. "You look gorgeous Astrid. Let's go!" she said as they flooed over to the Zabini house. This was it.