"Hermione love, please tell me you are not doing paperwork on your only day off!"

"Morning darling, how was Quidditch?"

"It was fine, we trounced them… I thought you were having a lie-in, wouldn't have gone otherwise."

"Oh I did, I slept until nine and had a lovely breakfast date with the latest Arithmancy Almanack."

"Only you would think nine is late! So, this isn't work then?"

"No, a favour to Rose and Scorpius."

"Oh?"

"Their marriage contract. Or at least, the one that Draco is insisting they use. I promised to cast an eye over it."

"Bloody hell. How many pages are there? Nobody needs a hundred-page contract!"

"Most Purebloods use the long form, it's for inheritance purposes more than anything. He wants to protect the Malfoy family assets. They appear to have a stake in half of Wizarding Britain."

"I'd say it galled him to have to itemise it all on paper! Go on then, how bad is it?"

"Worse with every page I read. There's no way to sugar-coat it: he's trying to dictate their lives, Ron. There are clauses in here around child-rearing roles and attendance at social events and how many staff they must hire…"

"Staff?!"

"There's even a paragraph here about Rose giving up work once she has a child. It's archaic!"

"Ro would never sign that! What are they going to do?"

"Make amendments and pray they stick? For my part, I'm hoping that Malfoy is just trying to see what he can get away with and won't kick up a fuss with the changes they make."

"Godric love them, it's so much to think about. What was our contract, love? About a half a page?!"

"If that! I think the overall gist was what's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine…"

"Oi!"

"It was whatever the standard text was at the time, but we didn't have anything to our names anyway!"

"True that. Rosie and Scorpius do though, what with the business and everything."

"Yes, and they have made quite a few decisions already in that regard, which is nobody's business but their own. In terms of the Malfoy estate though, it's very clear cut: Rose would only stand to inherit in the event that 'an heir is produced,' and in reality, she would be keeping everything in trust until that child reached majority."

"Charming welcome to the family, that."

"There is one lovely section here though. They've bestowed Reddish House as a wedding gift. Scorpius and Rose will own it outright."

"Malfoy's giving them a house?"

"It's Scorpius' favourite of all their properties, Rose was telling me about it. I suspect that's not the only reason Malfoy chose it though. It's not twenty minutes' walk from Malfoy Manor. If they can't have them in the East Wing, they at least want them close."

"Bloody hell. And I thought we were doing well to have saved up enough to help them with a down payment."

"I know."

"I hope you kept your foot down about the venue?"

"They have suggested an overseas family property, given our objections to Malfoy Manor. I am given to understand that they own a chateau in the Chapagne region and a villa in Tuscany, either of which would be suitable."

"Bloody–"

"–hell. Yes, I know."

"So they vetoed a pavilion by the beach then?"

"I'm not going to lie, Ron. I didn't even suggest it. Astoria had a preliminary guest list of over four hundred names."

"Do Scorpius and Rose know any of them?!"

"Unlikely."

"This is utter bollocks, Hermione! Can't they just elope?!"

"I would, in their position."

"We could help them, get the paperwork sorted on the sly–"

"They'll never go for it. Scorpius knows how much a society event like this means to his parents."

"Merlin, poor lad."

"Poor Scorpius? That's a change of tune for you!"

"Honestly Hermione, I feel sorry for the bloke. To have parents who put public image ahead of what their son wants? It's bloody unfair."

"Rose is worried about him. They've just secured global patents for their RheumaRelief tonic and they may need to hire a production team to manage the orders coming in from all over. By rights, he should be jubilant, but she says he's been so tense."

"Really? He seemed in good enough form last week, I thought."

"Well, I think he appreciated the chance to unwind with Rose. They're together all day, but they're working, it isn't the same. And wasn't that the evening he beat you in chess for the first time? That would put anyone in good form!"

"… Should we suggest he join us for dinner more often then?"

"Who are you and where have you hidden my husband's body?!"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up! But I was being serious."

"Ron, you've dedicated the last ten years of your life to keeping them apart!"

"And a fat lot of good that did me! Look, I can't give them a bloody house, but if they need to hide out in our living room a few nights a week to keep their sanity, well…"

"I think they'd really appreciate that, darling."

"You suggest it to them, then."

"All right, I will. Later this afternoon."

"Do you need any help going over that?"

"I'm really just slashing red lines through three-quarters of it. None of it is any of Malfoy's business, bar the inheritance section."

"Do you think he's serious, or is it for Malfoy Senior's sake? Heard from Harry who heard from Burke over in Warrants that old Lucius reacted badly to the wedding announcement."

"How badly?"

"Blasted all the busts of Malfoy ancestors to pieces over the shame of it, apparently."

"You're not serious?"

"Harry seemed to believe him."

"What is Rose walking into?!"

"A madhouse, but we knew that. Shove over, I'll do a bit of slashing too. Need to do something to feel better."

"It is cathartic, isn't it?"

"I'm channelling my inner Snape!"

"Professor Snape, Ron."

"Can I put snarky comments in the side too? Addendum number one, no ferrets allowed in Reddish House! Ha!"

"Ron, give me the quill!"

"Addendum number two–"

"Ron, I have to give this back later!"

"Great! If Scorpius asks questions, I can show him the memory!"

"Honestly! Are you still fifteen in your head?! If you show him that, Malfoy will just show him the slug one."

"Bloody Malfoy."

"Agreed. So we're not going to write petty insults up and down the margins... But we could charm it to turn every mention of 'Malfoy' to 'Weasley-Malfoy' instead...?"

"The sorting hat considered Slytherin for a minute, didn't it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about! If anything, I was almost a Ravenclaw..."