Chapter 3: Costs and Payments
Saturday dawned grey and cold, which Harry only noticed because the damned alarm spell awoke him around then. The fuck was wrong with him, waking up at dawn on a Saturday holy shit Astoria. His eyes snapped open at the memory of the frail little girl whose life might depend on him and he got his ass immediately into gear.
He took a quick shower, threw some clothes on, and hurried down to the Great Hall. Few students were up so early, so he had no trouble spotting Daphne's blonde hair at the Slytherin table. He tried to avoid looking at her, blushing, or thinking about how she'd looked the previous evening as she lay-
Quidditch. It was time to think of Quidditch.
He scarfed down some food and was out of the Great Hall before Ron or Hermione had even gotten down there, which suited him fine. He was also glad not to see Astoria, largely because he wasn't positive he could look her in the face and her giggling would probably be visible from space.
Just as they'd agreed, Daphne awaited him at the door of the Ancient Runes classroom. Her robes hung slightly away from her the way she leaned back against the door, revealing a white blouse covered with a stylish short green jacket and matched to a knee-length green skirt. And two-inch black spiked heels.
"Good morning," she said evenly. Merlin, her legs looked good in heels.
Harry felt underdressed in the jeans and jumper he was wearing now, but at least he had his robes on over them. "Um...hi." He started to hold up his arms for a hug, then lowered them again. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what we are now. Should I hug you?"
"I...I'll be honest, my etiquette lessons never covered this," Daphne said. "I have no idea what we are. We're definitely something, though, aren't we?" Sapphire eyes locked onto emerald as she spoke.
"We're definitely something," he agreed. "Should I...I don't know, kiss your hand or something?"
"That would be acceptable." She held out her left hand, which Harry took and kissed. When he finished (he might have lingered a bit more than necessary), Daphne nodded, led him into the classroom, and magically locked the door behind them. "Let me guess," she said, "you've got jeans and a t-shirt on under there."
Harry didn't even bother responding. She read him like a book.
"Thought so." She didn't even try to hide the smugness. "That's fine for 'Harry,' but you and I are going out today as the Lord and Lady Black, and nobody's going to take us seriously unless we look the part."
"Aren't we in a hurry, though?" Harry asked. "I got up at the butt-crack of dawn for this."
Daphne tried to choke back laughter, failed, and guffawed so hard she bent double.
"You've never heard that expression?"
"Must be...a muggle...thing," she said, gradually getting her breath under control again. "Anyway, we are in a hurry, but we also only have one shot at this and I want to get it right."
"I don't like it, but I see your point," Harry said. "What do I do, though? I only have these casual clothes and my super-formal dress robes."
She smirked. "You do what Lord Black would do: throw money at the problem. Kreacher?"
The house elf popped into the classroom. "Yes, new Pureblooded Mistress?" He sounded positively eager to obey her orders.
"I have a rush job for you," Daphne said. She glanced at Harry and her face darkened. "First, though, sit."
Kreacher sat down so fast that Harry could swear he winced.
"Listen, Kreacher, the world is changing and so are our businesses. I don't care how you feel about it, but I will not have you threatening our commercial prospects because you can't keep your disdain of the muggle-born to yourself. Insulting someone is one thing, but your loose tongue weakens House Black. I will not abide that, and I will not be stingy with the punishment necessary to protect my house. Do you understand?"
"But mudbloods-"
"Quiet!" Daphne roared. "That was a 'yes' or 'no' question, and the next word out of your mouth will be 'yes' or 'no.' Which is it?"
"Yes, Mistress." Kreacher hung his head sadly.
"Good. Now, take Lord Black's measurements for a fine suit, go to Madame Malkin's and purchase whatever is necessary, modify it, and bring it back here as fast as you possibly can. If you find it necessary to spend more than three hundred galleons, return here and we shall discuss your spending habits. And I expect the suit to be something of which Orion or Walpurga would have approved, or I shall bring you to their portraits and let them decide your punishment. Do you have any questions?"
Kreacher stared at her in awe. "No, Mistress." Harry thought he might have been in awe, too.
"Then get to work."
He nodded and hurried over to Harry. A tape measure appeared in his hands for the measuring work, which was uncomfortable for the boy but over quickly. Kreacher was gone again in less than three minutes from Daphne's final order.
Harry stood there in silence for a moment, his legs still spread from when Kreacher was taking his inseam measurement. "Holy shit, Daphne. "
She collapsed into one of the desks. "I've never done anything like that before. I mean, I've seen my parents do stuff like that, but I didn't do it like them because you'd hate me and fuck them anyway, so I made it all up as I went. I just...I saw your face and knew how angry you must have been and that you needed Lady Black, not Daphne, and I tried to become her for a minute. I hope I didn't just fuck anything up."
"No, that was amazing," Harry said. "Thank you. He's been driving me crazy with his pureblooded bigotry."
"I could tell. Hopefully, he'll keep a lid on it from now on."
"Thank you." He looked around awkwardly. "I guess we wait, then?"
"Yeah, it shouldn't take him too long."
Harry nodded and cleared his throat. "About last night...that was incredible, thank you."
She smirked, but Harry caught a hint of a blush, too. "You weren't bad yourself. I understand why so many witches lust after Quidditch players now."
If Harry hadn't been blushing before, he definitely was now. "Thanks." He scratched the back of his head. "Um...would you want to try that again sometime? If you don't want to, that's fine, but I'd be interested if you were."
Her blush deepened, but there was no hint of it in her voice when she spoke. "I could be persuaded."
Before Harry could ask how to go about doing that, Kreacher popped back into the room and killed the moment. "Here...you go..." he panted, and laid an elegant, if old-fashioned, men's suit across a desk.
"Thank you," Daphne said, slipping back into "Lady Black" mode. "Please go home and rest while Harry changes. We'll summon you again shortly."
"Mistress is kind to give Kreacher a rest," he said, and popped away again.
Daphne looked back to Harry and then shot a meaningful glance at the suit.
"Oh, right," he said. "I'll change as soon as you leave the room."
She raised her eyebrows.
"Seriously?"
She nodded. "I'm claiming my wifely privilege of ogling you as you change. Now get to it."
"Humph," Harry said, both embarrassed and shocked that anyone would want to look at him. He did start changing, though.
Daphne smiled.
The suit was made of a rich black wool that would have been way too hot in the summer but was a perfect fit for the British fall, and Kreacher had thoughtfully accented it with an emerald green tie and handkerchief. Harry was able to get the clothes on in just a few minutes, but he ended up needing Daphne's help figuring out how to tie the tie and fold the handkerchief. When they'd finished, he stood back and let her examine the finished product.
"Merlin, Harry," she said. "I've never seen you like this before. You're gorgeous."
"I am?" He was having trouble wrapping his head around that statement.
"Yes," Daphne said firmly. "I feel underdressed now."
"Don't." The absolute least Harry could do was return that compliment, especially because he was telling the truth. "I still have no idea what I'm doing, but at least I'll be doing it with the most beautiful witch in the building on my arm. That's got to count for something."
She blushed. "Flattery will get you everywhere."
"I really meant...wait, what?"
"Kreacher," Daphne said, ignoring him. The house elf returned, and she continued, "Take us to the front door of Gringotts."
"Yes, Mistress," he said.
"He can do-" Harry's question was cut off by Kreacher grabbing his hand (as well as Daphne's) and apparating them straight to Gringotts. It was less unpleasant than normal apparition, but Harry was still glad he'd eaten a small breakfast.
"Thank you, Kreacher," Daphne said. "You may go."
After he left, Harry said, "I didn't know house elves could apparate people out of Hogwarts."
"The students aren't supposed to have access to them," Daphne said, "but as the Lord of a House, you get a little more leeway with that sort of thing. I recommend keeping that part quiet in case Dumbledore decides to close that loophole."
"Good idea." Harry held his arm out. "My Lady?"
Daphne's expression blinked into unreadability before settling on a small smile. "My Lord," she said, taking his arm, and they strode together into Gringotts.
Harry headed them toward the teller windows, but Daphne gently guided him aside to the private account windows. "Trust me," she whispered.
He nodded. As he walked, he realized even though she was on his arm, she was purposefully keeping herself an inch or so behind him, with the end result being that she was simultaneously leading him while appearing to be led by him. If that was the type of cunning it took to survive as a Pureblooded witch, no wonder so many were in Slytherin.
There were four account desks, only one of which was in use. Harry supposed the kind of people that could afford these windows were the kind of people who didn't like to be kept waiting.
People like him, now. That was going to take some getting used to.
When they arrived at the window, the goblin merely grunted at them. Daphne didn't bat an eye and said, "Lord and Lady Black to see their account manager."
The goblin rose to his feet and straightened up his posture. "Of course. Follow me."
They did so, passing armed goblin guards at every hallway intersection and at each elevator entrance, all of whom glowered at them as if expecting them to steal something. After a few minutes of walking, they found themselves in a windowless office one floor up from the main hall.
"Remember:you belong here," Daphne mouthed to Harry as soon as they were alone. He had just enough time to take a deep breath before a sharp-dressed goblin strode into the room.
"I'm pleased to meet the new Lord and Lady Black," he said. "My name is Rustynail, and I've managed this account since Lord Arcturus's time."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Harry said.
Daphne nodded. "And may gold flow ever from your enemies' corpses into your vaults."
Damn she was smooth. That came out almost like they'd planned it, which was exactly what she'd have wanted Rustynail to think.
The goblin inclined his head to them. "A new era indeed has come to House Black. How can Gringotts be of service?"
"We'd like the Lord and Lady's rings from the Black vaults," Harry said, "as well as a summary of the Black account. Most importantly, though..." he gestured to Daphne. His wife. Nope, still felt weird.
"We'll need an indenture contract for a handmaiden for myself," Daphne said. "Immediately. The girl in question is the youngest daughter of Cyrus and Roxanne Greengrass, Astoria."
"The indenture contract is an old one, rarely used today. It's seen as little better than slavery by all but the most conservative Houses, a view shared by most in the Ministry," Rustynail said. "That makes this potentially difficult to enforce."
Daphne froze. She'd saved her own life, and now the thread by which she clung to her sister's was about to snap. Harry knew he had to do something, so he went with the same instincts that had sometimes saved his friends and sometimes killed them and he just did something.
"Muggles have a saying," he began, "that possession is nine-tenths of the law. We possess Astoria, with her permission, of course, and we wish to keep it that way. Can Gringotts retain us a solicitor who can tie this up with the Ministry for as long as humanly possible?"
"I see." Rustynail's eyes glittered. "You merely wish to cloud the title to the child, as it were?"
"Precisely," Daphne said. Harry wasn't sure what that phrase meant, but it sounded right.
"That should be quite do-able, but it may be expensive."
"How much?" Harry asked.
"We'll need to charge you fifty galleons for the contract itself, plus another hundred and fifty for a weekend rush job. I'm afraid I'll need to ask for an additional four hundred as a retainer for the solicitor we'll assign to this case. We'll return any unneeded money once the matter is settled, but realistically you should expect to recover no more than a fifth of that sum, at best."
Daphne went pale, but Harry simply said, "Very well."
Rustynail nodded and wrote something down on a piece of parchment that then vanished. "I've begun the process. Follow me to the vaults."
They nodded and rose to their feet. As they fell in behind the goblin, Daphne whispered, "I am so sorry."
"I'd trade it all for S-my godfather coming back," Harry replied. "Six hundred for your sister is a bargain."
"I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to repay this."
He shrugged. "I'm not doing it for payment."
"That's a hell of a gift," she whispered.
"No one's freedom is a gift," he hissed. "This is me spending six hundred galleons to tell the whole Wizarding World to shove its stupid laws up its hidebound ass."
"I respect that," she responded, that unreadable look coming over her face again.
The trip down to the vaults was once again quick and mildly terrifying. Everything inside was covered in a thick layer of dust, but Rustynail still had no trouble leading them straight to a small parquet box on a single-legged wooden table barely wider than the box itself.
"Each one will remain invisible or visible, depending on your preference," he explained as he handed them the box. "The Black rings also inform the bearer of extreme emotional distress, and a few generations ago, Lord Phineas paid us handsomely to enchant the Lord's ring so it can always get a bearing on the relative direction of the Lady's ring."
"Prat," Daphne mouthed. Harry had to stifle a laugh.
"Great, thank you," Harry said. He put the Lord's ring on his left pinky and watched in amazement as it resized itself to fit perfectly before vanishing from sight, but not touch.
As soon as it was safely hidden, he took the Lady's ring and held it out to Daphne. "My Lady?"
That same unreadable expression once again flashed across her face before she held out the pinky finger on her left hand. Harry put the ring on and watched as it resized and vanished, as well. The gesture felt shockingly intimate, and he had to remind himself that this wasn't really his wife, just a classmate he was helping.
And possibly dating. Merlin, his life had gotten weird in the last twelve hours.
"May your lordship be long and rich with gains," Rustynail said, breaking whatever spell had settled over Harry and Daphne.
"Thank you," Harry said. Daphne nodded politely.
"Now," the goblin said, "we'll need to talk about spousal vaults. Normally, the Lady's dowry would be the core of her spousal vault, but since you married her without one, the customs to which the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black agreed along with other such houses require that five percent of the Black vaults be moved into her custody. That money reverts to her in case of a divorce, just as her dowry would have."
Harry knew he shouldn't be surprised at the existence of yet more wizarding "fine print" to bite him in the ass, but he still hadn't seen that one coming. Judging from how Daphne's face had gone pale, she clearly hadn't, either.
"Excuse me," she said, "but could you give Lord Black and myself a few minutes to discuss this?"
Rustynail sighed. "Time is money, but I can spare some for one of our biggest clients. I'll be back in five minutes."
"Thank you," Daphne said. After he left, she turned to Harry. "I'm incredibly sorry," she said. "I had no idea that would happen. I've never really known anyone who got married without a dowry. I'll sign that all back to you immediately."
"I appreciate that," Harry said, "but I want you to keep-"
She grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him down to eye level with her. "Don't you dare, Harry. I don't care what you call that money. I am not your whore."
Harry's eyes widened. "Oh, I didn't...I mean...it's not…"
Daphne released his lapels. "It doesn't matter what you thought. I won't take it."
"It's not about…" Harry sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm terrible at this. Please hear me out, though."
"Fine." She crossed her arms and stared at him.
"It's not...I'm not trying to pay you, I promise, but...school. I mean, books, robes, all of that stuff. How will you and Tori pay for school?"
"I...don't know." Her gaze softened. "I hadn't thought that far ahead. I didn't even think we'd be alive for it, I guess. That's our problem, though. You don't owe us anything."
"It's not about owing you," Harry said. "That's what I'm trying and failing miserably to say. I want you and Tori to get your N.E.W.T.s because I'll sleep better knowing your futures are secure and because I want your parents to know they gave up your love and got nothing for it, not even the satisfaction of watching you flounder without their help. Would a thousand galleons cover school supplies and summer living arrangements for the two of you till you graduate?"
"Yes, but I can't...that's too much." Daphne grabbed him by the lapels again, but this time it was only to pull him close enough for her to rest her head on his shoulder. "But Tori needs...I can't repay any of this!"
Harry wrapped her in a hug and found she was shaking. "Then don't. Sirius would think screwing up another stuffy Pureblood family's plans was a great way to use his money, and my parents would probably be annoyed that I'm not giving you more money, from what I've heard of them."
She sighed and released him. "Listen to me," she said. "A lot of people have said nasty things about you over the years, and I know they will again. When that happens, I want you to remember standing in a bank vault where nobody could see you and fixing two lives just because you could and tell whoever is saying those things to go bugger an erumpent."
"Will do," Harry said with a smile.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you when you were just trying to be nice to me," Daphne added after a moment.
"In your defense," Harry said, "I was doing a terrible job of it."
Rustynail returned a few moments later to find the two of them still laughing, but they quickly quieted down and explained the plan to move all of the money back except for one thousand galleons. He shrugged and took them back upstairs to handle everything, and was almost shockingly efficient as he did so. The next fifteen minutes were a whirlwind of travel and contract signing that eventually deposited them, arm-in-arm, back in the Gringotts Main Hall. "Do we need anything else here?" Harry asked.
"No, I think this has been quite enough," Daphne said. "Let's get out of here. We'll need to visit Black Manor next."
Harry scratched the back of his head. "Um...that's under a Fidelius. I'm not sure I should let you in."
She looked briefly hurt, then set her jaw. "I understand your concern, Harry, but there are some things Lord Black can only do at his manor. I'm happy to take an Unbreakable Vow to reveal it to no one but Astoria, who's going to need to know it now that she's my handmaiden, though. Besides, she and I are only safe so long as you live, you know. If anything happens to you, I...I'm going to have to take her back up the Astronomy Tower."
Harry's response popped out without thought. "Ouch, sorry, but in that case, you two are kind of fucked. People nearly kill me with such regularity around here that I'm starting to wonder if someone added 'grisly death' to my Hogwarts graduation requirements. And that basilisk may technically have killed me, at least for a minute."
Daphne stared at him.
"Sorry," he said. "I probably shouldn't make light of us dying horribly. I'm just kind of used to it by now."
"You mean all of those stories are true?" she finally managed.
Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure what you've heard, but probably."
She put her free hand over her eyes. "I'm sorry, I need to lose my shit right now. Can you just take us somewhere private?"
Harry nodded and decided to take the risk. He led her just outside of Gringotts, called Kreacher, and had him take them back to Black Manor. Once they'd arrived, he dismissed Kreacher and held up a finger to his lips. "We need to avoid waking Walpurga," he said, gesturing to her curtained-off portrait.
"OK," Daphne whispered. "Can you not get it off the wall?"
"No, and we've tried all of the spells we can think of," Harry said. "She drives us all crazy."
"So it's a lifelike portrait, then?" Daphne asked.
Harry had to hold back a laugh. "I suppose so. If you'll come upstairs, we can chat properly in the drawing room." He led Daphne up the grand old staircase, doing his best to ignore the mounted house elf heads. Daphne shuddered as they passed, but otherwise said nothing until they were safely seated on a couch in the drawing room.
"Thank you for taking me somewhere quiet," she said. "Merlin, Harry, I feel like it's been a long day already and it's not even close to noon yet."
"Same here," Harry said. "Are you OK?"
"Not really." Daphne shook her head sadly. "First I find out that I've roped you into paying a fuckton of money for my younger sister and accidentally stolen even more as a dowry, and second I find out that all of the shite I've been mocking you for with the rest of the Slytherins all of these years actually happened."
"Please don't worry about the money," Harry said. "What am I going to do with it, anyway? I'd rather know you and Tori are safe."
A smile flitted across Daphne's tired face. "She's got you calling her 'Tori,' now, too?"
Harry nodded. "It's impossible to actually know her and think of her as 'Astoria.' She is 'Tori' in some fundamental way I don't really understand."
"That she is. Thank you, Harry. She's my whole world. I don't think I could live with myself if I let anything happen to her."
"She's lucky to have a sister like you," Harry said.
"Luck had nothing to do with it!" Daphne snapped, then flopped back on the couch. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that. It's just...I'm not being magnanimous here, Harry. I'm paying her installments on an infinite debt."
Harry cocked his head at her. "What happened?"
"I was probably seven years old," she said, not bothering to sit back up or look him in the face. "I was sitting there crying after yet another etiquette lesson from my mother where I just wasn't good enough because I was never fucking good enough...anyway, I'm sitting on a couch a lot like this one when this warm little body crawls up next to me. Next thing I know, Tori's got her arms around me and is saying something like 'I wuv you Daffy' in the most adorable damn voice you can possibly imagine."
Daphne finally leaned forward and wiped some tears out of her eyes. Whatever magical makeup she'd put on that morning didn't run, though. "That was the first time anyone ever told me they loved me." She fought back sobs as she spoke, mostly winning. "Right then, I realized I could either keep chasing my parents for affection they would never give me or embrace this little thing next to me, and I chose Tori. Ever since, I've done my best to make sure I took the brunt of any punishments our parents dished out, and every day I've made sure she had all of the love nobody ever gave me.
"At first, I was worried I would run out." She laughed a little through the tears. "There's seven-year-old me, going to bed every night and wondering if that was the last time I'd be able to tell Tori I loved her, because nobody ever gave me any and I thought something so precious had to be limited in supply, like the money I heard my parents arguing about sometimes. Fortunately, I always seemed to have enough for her, until...until yesterday."
She really broke down then, with heaving, screaming sobs that shook the whole couch. Harry still wasn't much for hugging, but some basic human instinct took over and he pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. He didn't say anything, but just let her cry until her grief burned itself out.
He didn't know how long she lay in his arms like that till she finally spoke again. "I've never told anyone that," she said. "Not even Tori. You won't..."
"Of course not." Harry hugged her even more tightly. "I know what you're thinking, but you're not a monster. Just someone trying to make the best of a bad situation. Tori's lucky to have you and I can tell she knows it. Merlin, I'd have given anything for love like that when I was her age."
Daphne extracted her head from where she'd buried it in his chest, partially breaking his embrace in the process. "What do you mean?"
"It's a long story," Harry said.
"I'll listen. Just...tell me, please."
So he did, starting with his earliest memories of the Dursleys and taking her through his schooling, beatings by Dudley and his gang, and how he'd graduated from a cupboard under the stairs to a room with bars on the window and a cat flap in the door for food. Daphne listened carefully and nodded at appropriate times, and didn't speak until he'd finished.
"My parents made me study Dark Magic during the last two summers," she began. "I never intended to use any of it, but I've now changed my mind. After you and your friends kill He-Who-Molests-Sheep, I'm going to slaughter those muggles. I will bring Blood Replenishment potions just to prolong their agony, and the sheer quantity of blood they spill will go down in the annals of criminology as a horrifying mystery. Once I finally grant them an end to their suffering, Dumbledore will be next. I will make him count the days he made you stay there by breaking one bone in his body for each, mending it, and moving to the next."
Harry had to smile a bit at that. "Dumbledore knows how hard it is for me, but he says it's safer there because of the blood magic from my mother's sacrifice that's still tied to her sister Petunia."
"Fuck that," Daphne said with such finality Harry had no choice to but to admit that was well and truly fucked. "I'm sure those wards are fantastic, but do you know who also makes fantastic wards? Gringotts. If we manage to survive the school year, which I'm no longer feeling great about, by the way, I'm hauling my too-damn-trusting-for-his-own-good husband to Gringotts so he can use some of his absolutely insane wealth to ward the ever-living fuck out of this house, where he will then live free of the awful abuse to which his so-called friends have allowed him to be subjected for his entire life." A small tremor in her voice at the start of that monologue was now full-blown shaking. "Never again, do you hear me, Harry Potter? Never again is anyone going to treat you like that. I don't care if we're still married; if I hear about someone treating you like that, I will personally feed them to the fires of hell. Is that clear?"
Harry was so entranced by the way anger glinted in her sapphire eyes that he could barely croak out a "yes."
"Good." She paused and looked down at where she was sitting on his lap. "That turned you on?"
He blushed. "You...you're always so guarded that the moments when you let that down and allow whatever you're feeling to burst forth are amazing. It's like you blaze with fire and it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
Her mouth opened and closed again, but no words came out. Finally, she said, "Do you remember what I told you this morning about how I was open to persuasion?"
Harry nodded vigorously.
"Well, consider me persuaded," her voice dropped to almost a growl as she spoke.
He grinned. "My bedroom is just upstairs."
She rolled her eyes. "And your couch is right here, Lord Black."
"Our couch," he replied, and she kissed him so hard he nearly passed out from oxygen deprivation.