Chapter 2
()()()
Sunday, August 13th Harry woke up in his room with the light streaming in through the curtains and onto his bed; there was already a good amount of heat being generated by the sun beam across his one leg that he'd kicked the blanket off of in the night, so he knew it was later in the morning than he'd intended to sleep in. It took a minute to clear the cobwebs in his brain and remember how much tossing and turning he'd done last night in his attempt to get comfortable. There had been too much going on in his head to allow him to fall into a peaceful sleep, and for a moment there, he'd forgotten why that had been.
Today he was going to Gringotts with his parents, Ginny and her dad to make their first, and hopefully only, attempt to get this sorted out. His dad had explained to him that since the Potter's were an old wizarding family with several investments and a lot of gold, they hadn't had any trouble getting a meeting right away.
Harry had wondered if that was the case for this specific branch of Gringotts, or if it would have been the same case at the other branches that they didn't have a vault in. It was an inconsequential wonder, but it was one of the questions that had rattled around in his head the previous night anyhow.
The panic he'd experienced when he first read the letter from the bank wasn't gripping him anymore, and it hadn't since he'd sat with Ginny under that tree and held her while she had her little break down.
Until meeting her he had the worst scenarios running through his mind of what his betrothed and her family would be like that he was being forced to marry; worries that they would be gold diggers, or interested in the Dark Arts, that they would be mean and nasty people. And he had been worried what she would be like, that his betrothed could have been someone with zero appeal to him physically and intellectually.
That was why he hadn't gone with his parents to her home when they met with Mr. Weasley.
He was going to go with them, but then he had another panic attack when they were at the road that led down to the Weasley property and Sirius had taken him back to the village so that he could calm down and wait for his parents to report back.
His stomach had just stopped twisting in knots when the pretty red head had sat at the table beside them with her ice cream. Listening to her talk with Sirius had been a small distraction that eased his tension enough to start in on his breakfast by the time his parents had shown up.
It was a bit funny; when he was looking at the girl who had opted to eat ice cream for breakfast he'd been thinking about how miserable he was about being unable to choose his own future bride, thinking that perhaps he would have chosen someone with lovely red hair and chocolate brown eyes like the girl beside them.
She was not what he'd been anticipating.
Perhaps his worrying over it and tossing around the worst-case scenarios had made meeting the real Ginevra allow him to breathe a sigh of relief.
That was the main demon he was battling last night, whether he had any right to feel relief over Ginny being the one he was betrothed to. He'd been comparing his situation to movies he'd seen and books he'd read where things like this happened and it all turned out alright.
They were going to manage to void the contract though, he was sure they would find a way. But as he recalled how they sat and chatted together, how he saw her in her shock and comforted her when she cried, he couldn't help but think that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to be forced to marry someone like her.
He'd had a few girlfriends before, none for very long though. He'd only spent a maximum of two years at a single school throughout his magical education. And it was only in the last three years that he'd worked out that not all girls where annoying and he started seeing their appeal. The first time he'd finally worked up the courage to ask a girl out he'd only had a few months with her before moving somewhere else.
That was what happened with the last three girlfriends. He'd liked them all well enough, but marriage was certainly not on his brain with them, he'd only been thinking about kissing and wondering if they'd let him put his hand under their shirts. Marriage was not on his brain two days ago either, he was just about to start getting his career in line, that was his focus.
He might have conjured up a few fantastical scenarios that involved him meeting someone at work, they would wind up flirting back and forth, then 'accidentally' find themselves locked in a supply cupboard. But that had been normal daydream stuff.
Harry turned over and looked at the clock on his nightstand. It was eight. He had to get up and get ready.
With one last sigh in appreciation for his pillows he rolled over and managed to get out of bed.
He ate breakfast with his parents and listened as they talked, the whole family seemed to think that this would all be something they would laugh about over dinner; They'd nullify the contract, the Weasley's could keep their land, and the 'betrotheds' could keep their choices of future spouses as a decision to be made in the future.
He was sure it would turn out alright. They all looked sure it would turn out alright.
It was just that, none of them knew for sure that it would be alright, so it had gotten to the point that everyone's assurances sounded so fake.
Sirius wished him luck before the three Potter's apparated to Diagon Alley and made their way to Gringotts with time to spare.
When they go there, Ginny and her father were already there at the top of the steps of the bank waiting for them. Harry saw Ginny before she saw him, her expression was dark, a frown on her lips as she looked over towards the other side of the alley with her arms crossed and ignoring her father until he tapped her on the shoulder once and gestured their way. She turned to face them and seemed relieved that they were there.
He didn't know why she so relieved though. He wondered if she had been worried they wouldn't show up. Surely, they'd made it clear that this was as unexpected to them as it was to she and her family.
He watched as her whole body relax the closer they drew. "Hi," she smiled.
Their parents greeted each other, but he came right to stand in front of her. "Everything okay?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah," she said as her face grew slightly red. "Fine, just… family being a bit of a nuisance. I'm happy to see someone that doesn't have red hair."
"Careful there, my mother is a redhead," he remarked playfully.
Her smile widened and she rolled her eyes before greeting his parents.
"Shall we?" his dad gestured they all head into the bank.
Harry fell in step beside Ginny as their fathers went to an available Goblin and have him inform Gritgurg they were all there.
"How awkward were things when you got home yesterday?" Harry asked Ginny quietly. They stepped to the side of the lobby and rested against an ornate pillar.
Ginny let out a soft groan as she seemed to be mentally reliving the events of the previous evening. "They were all very apologetic."
"That's a bad thing?" he mused. She didn't look at all happy about it.
"No," she said mournfully and shook her head. "It's just that they wouldn't shut up about how sorry they were and how they were going to 'make it up to me', yada, yada. The thing is, I'm not done being upset about it. But them apologizing means I'm just supposed to tell them it's okay?" She looked quizzical and frustrated about it.
"You don't have to be done being upset about it," he tried to assuage.
"Well, I don't exactly want to keep behaving like a petulant child either. But now they're just so apologetic that I'm having to assure them it's alright."
Harry could understand where she was coming from but the most he could offer her was raised eyebrows and a skeptical smile telling her that she was an adult now and needed to take the high road.
"I know," her shoulders sagged and she cast her gaze down to the floor in the space between them, worrying her bottom lip. "I have more important things going on right now."
"We really do," he chuckled. "How did your brothers take the news about the betrothal? How many of them do you have again?" he asked. He remembered, but he wanted her to keep talking, to try and change the conversation.
"I have six, and they were surprised and indignant. It took myself, my dad and Percy to get the other three that were there last night to believe that you and yours had been as surprised as we were. My youngest brother Ron kept going on about how you were out to steal my virtue or something."
The idea was preposterous, but he could work with that. "Ha! Yes, it was all just an intricate plot. See, I'd seen you three years ago when I was here for the summer, then managed to convince the Goblins to back date a Marriage Contract, and planted the paper trail as well," he joked. "I was a rather smart fifteen-year-old."
Ginny's face was flush with humor at the idea, her eyes were sparkling with her amusement. "Well, I'll be. Ron was right. I don't know whether to be flattered or scared."
"You think I'm cute at least, right?" he bumped her arm slightly with his elbow. "That should have you leaning towards flattery."
Ginny shook her head while she muffled her laughter, leaning over and nudging his shoulder with her own. She seemed in a much better mood now.
Harry looked across the lobby and saw his mother was observing the two of them with a small smile on her lips. She arched a single eyebrow at him. He ducked his head slightly; she didn't need to be reading anything out of this. He and Ginny were getting on well, but that didn't mean that they wanted to get married by this time next summer.
"Harry." "Ginny." Their fathers called them over at the same time.
The group of them followed a Goblin to a lift and up to the second level of the bank, depositing them at Gritgurg's office.
The Chief Goblin conjured chairs for each of them.
"Chief Gritgurg," James Potter bowed his head slightly. "May your gold be plentiful."
"Lord Potter," the Goblin said, not getting up from his seat. "I hope you are in good health."
"Excellent, thank you," he responded as they all took their seats.
Harry had been inside the bank before but never in a Goblin's office. He supposed he would have to be coming here more often as his father was going to get him involved in the family finances and investments. He needed to know the small details in particular, like why his dad greeted the Goblin that way. Because of that he felt that he should really be the one speaking here. "We received your letter about the Betrothal Contract between myself and Ginevra Weasley," Harry gestured to her beside him.
"Yes," the Goblin nodded. "And have you come to provide the Marriage Certificate?"
Harry's eyes went wide at the Goblin believing they could have already gone through with it. "No. We were actually curious as to how we might nullify this contract. Miss Weasley and I were unaware of the arrangement until your owl two days ago and neither of us would like to lose our magic, nor are we interested in being forced to marry."
The Goblin's face scrunched into that of confusion. "This marriage contract is nearing two hundred years old, your names have been on that contract for seventeen years. How were you not aware?"
"I'm afraid that with so many generations having gone past, neither of our families remembered there was such a contract," the senior Potter told him.
The Goblin waived a dismissive hand in a single movement, "be that as it may, I have read through the contract thoroughly. It is simple, the Weasley's keep their land and you have a bride whose genetic history shows the ability to bear more than one child," he then gestured to Ginny. "This female appears to have the correct physical attributes to bear your children."
"Don't talk about me like I'm property," Ginny growled at him.
The Goblin didn't seem phased by her attitude. "This contract is essentially a transferring of goods. Land for a child-bearing bride; in this sense, you are property."
Harry saw Ginny's father put a hand over hers. He could see she was gripping the arm of her chair hard enough that her knuckles were all white.
"Is there any way for us to come to another arrangement?" Harry's mother asked. "We could simply sell them the land for a Galleon."
The Goblin shook his head, "this contract is tied to Potter and Weasley family magic. Specifically, it is linked to the young Lord and Miss Weasley. The land however is not in Miss Weasley's possession, nor can it be. As such, there is nothing I can do to nullify or alter the contract," he paused and peered at Ginny again as though examining her. "However, if miss Weasley were unable to fulfill her duty, then this may be pushed to the next generation of Potters."
"Her duty?" Ginny's father asked weakly.
Harry couldn't look away from the aghast expression on Ginny's face. He felt a weight sink in his stomach. Her duty according to the contract would be to bear children. The Goblin was implying that she be made infertile? Alter or mutilate her body? He felt the blood drain from his own face.
"No!" Harry turned to see his mother stand up. "That is a disgusting suggestion. We will just have to find another way to void this contract," she strode over to Ginny and took her hand. "Come, we're leaving."
It didn't look like Mister Weasley was even capable of standing at the moment. Harry's mum helped Ginny up from her chair and the two of them headed out the door, leaving the men still seated.
"What if either of them marries someone else before August next year?" Harry's dad asked.
Harry didn't like the thought of that either. Ginny still had a year at Hogwarts, she would hardly be the one to be speed dating her way to finding a spouse. He wasn't keen on the idea for himself either.
"This contract would make that marriage void," Gritgurg stated plainly.
The three men sat there in silence for a moment.
"If that will be all," Gritgurg insinuated that they leave.
Harry followed his father out, offering his hand to Mister Weasley to assist him out of his seat. Mister Weasley looked to be still in shock. "We'll keep looking for a way out of this," Harry assured him. "So far as we're concerned the land is yours and has been for a very long time."
The man offered a kind smile, stood up and started walking along side Harry out of the office . "Thank you for saying so. I'm just adjusting to how things have gone so wrong in such a small amount of time. Three days ago I thought our lives were going along just fine. My boys have all joined the work force, and Ginny-" he didn't seem able to finish his thought.
Harry nodded as they headed down the hallway to the lift, "same for us. We only just moved to England. Back to England I suppose, I never actually lived here for a long period of time. But I was looking forward to it and starting working. I hadn't even had getting a girlfriend on my mind, let alone-" he trailed off.
"You seem like nice young man," Mister Weasley sighed. "My Molly would have been furious with me over this." He then gave a chuckle, "Ginny gets her temper from her mother."
"She misses her," Harry stated sadly. He would be devastated if he lost one of his parents before they were well into their old age.
"She does. We all do, and I'm afraid that myself and my sons have been taking all that Ginny has done for us while she's been home for granted. Now I rather wish she had hit me with the frying pan yesterday."
They reached the lift and stepped in with his dad. When reaching the lobby they looked around for his mother and Ginny, but they didn't appear to be inside the Bank. The men found them out on the steps, sitting down with his mother's arm around Ginny's shoulder.
His mother looked at his dad, "we're consulting a solicitor."
"Yes dear," he smiled at her fondly.
It was a relief to see that Ginny didn't look to have been crying. She seemed sad, but resolved. Something his mother said to her must have given her some hope.
"We'll get in touch with our family solicitor and see what we can do," his dad told the Weasley's. "I can let you know when that appointment will be."
Ginny stood up and brushed off the skirt of her dress. "Thank you," she gave his mother a hug before turning to her father. "I'm going to get my school things. I'll see you at home."
It looked like her father was about to protest but lost his nerve as she turned her back on him and continued down the stairs and towards the shops.
Harry's father clapped Mister Weasley on the back. "It'll all be fine. Just give her some time." They then shook hands and Mr. Weasley headed off into the crowd.
"I'd like to see some of the shops," Harry told his parents. He could get himself home later, but this was the first time he was in Diagon Alley and had an opportunity to look around. Every other time he visited this part of London he'd been too young and had to follow his mother or dad around, now he had an opportunity to explore.
His parents nodded and headed to the Owl Emporium to send a letter off to the lawyer before doing anything else and Harry began to wander.
()()()
"Urgh, the nerve of that Gritgurg to say something like that, and directly too her as well!" Lily fumed when they got home.
"I take it the meeting didn't go well?" Sirius asked and Lily caught him tucking a bottle of something behind his back. He must have been planning on celebrating the contract being voided; the man loved any reason to celebrate. It was one of the things she loved about him, but he didn't always have the best timing.
"No, it didn't," James told him.
"That bloody Goblin said the only way out of it for the two of them is if Ginny couldn't have children! Can you believe that? He looked right at her and said it. Like it is only the woman involved in the child making," she scoffed and stomped over to Sirius, pulling the bottle of what turned out to be champagne from behind his back.
"Is now really the time to be drinking champagne?" her husband asked her.
"Blame Sirius, he's the one that chose it," she called back to him in defense.
"It was celebration champagne!" Sirius pointed out.
"Well, now it'll be commiseration bucks fizz. It's still morning after all," she led them into the kitchen and grabbed glasses and orange juice.
"Let me get this straight, you're up in arms because the Goblin didn't suggest that Harry get neutered?" Sirius asked.
James smacked him upside the head. "She's angry that the only suggestion that he gave was that Ginny be… spayed."
Lily simply concentrated on pouring the right amount of juice and alcohol into the glasses, then set down the bottle and distributed.
"We've sent the solicitor a letter detailing the issue. There's got to be a way out of this," Lily said, more to Sirius. "Oh, we should have invited Mr. Weasley to join us," she realized regretfully.
"Arthur, dear, he's asked us to call him Arthur a few times now," James told her.
"Next time," Sirius told her. "Sounds like this might take a while to resolve then. May as well be on friendly terms just in case this does turn into something we can't fix. I'm pretty sure Harry would rather marry her than lose his magic."
Lily couldn't help but agree with that, and it must have been written all over her face from the way the two men were looking at her, like they knew she had information they didn't and they'd stop at nothing to get it. She ran her finger around the rim of the glass. "I may have seen them sharing a moment in the lobby," she admitted.
"What kind of moment?" her husband asked, the corner of his mouth turning up in interest.
"Just, they looked friendly already. She is a pretty girl," she shrugged.
"And I agree with Ginny's friend, they'd make really gorgeous babies," Sirius nodded.
"Okay, I'm shutting this conversation down," James announced. "I don't want us all getting it into our heads that this could be a good thing."
"You're right," she stood up properly and drank down the rest of her drink in one go. "There's got to be some books on betrothals and such in the library."
"Awe, come on!" Sirius complained. "I want to drink more and talk about how I'm going to be a drunken Great Uncle."
"You can advocate that they belong together once we nullify the contract and they actually have some say about it," James patted him on the back. "We're going to look up contract law."
Sirius rolled his eyes and downed the rest of his glass before taking the half empty bottle of champagne and following behind them to the library. "Fine, we can pretend we're at Hogwarts again and James isn't trying to see down your shirt while you're bent over a book."
"What?" Lily rounded on her husband. "Is that why you always sat across from me in the library?!"
James shrugged. "It was the best view."
()()()
Ginny headed straight for Quality Quidditch Supplies. Checking out the latest and greatest that the store had to offer would help get her mind off everything that was going on for a little while. Her brothers had all given her money yesterday as a late birthday present, so now she didn't have to ask her father for money to pay for her school supplies and that was a relief.
Her books and uniform she didn't need to worry about anyways; last year's uniform would still fit, and she had all her brothers schoolbooks from the previous years; they were covered in doodles with water stains and dog eared pages, but they still worked and she had her pick of the least damaged ones considering there were at least three of every kind she needed in the attic in their old school trunks. She just needed to replenish her basic potions supplies and get one new book from her list.
And daydream about how amazing a new broom would be.
"Hey Ginny!" came an excited voice beside her. It was from a short, sandy-haired boy with overlarge teeth and an excitable air around him.
"Colin!" she beamed. Colin Creevey was in her year and a Gryffindor. They'd become friends over the years but didn't talk much outside of class or the common room. She greeted him with a small hug. "How's your summer been?"
"Brilliant! My mum and dad got me a new Nikon that I found a spell for so it'll work at school."
She assumed that was a camera, he was always taking photos, and they were quite good photographs too. Looking over his shoulder she saw an older couple with Colin's younger brother, his parents were looking a little out of place and unsure of their surroundings.
"Did you just get here? Have you got your school things yet?" Ginny asked.
"No, we're all done. Dad gets up really early, so we hit the shops when they just opened. I saw you in here and wanted to pop in and say hello," he told her easily. "Drooling over the newest model?" he asked, inclining his head towards the newest broomstick model available.
Ginny sighed wistfully at the display case beside them. "One day this will all be mine," she mooned.
Colin chuckled. "I'm sure it will. Hey, if you need a picture for a CV or something when you're applying to the training camps, you know who to come to."
She grinned. It wasn't a secret that she was hoping to wind up on a professional Quidditch team. "Thanks, Colin. I'll see you on the train, yeah?"
"See you," he waved.
She watched him go and greet his parents and gave them a friendly wave when they looked back at her, then she turned back to the display case. The Firebolt was still the top of the line broom, not ideal for a Chaser, but she would have loved to give one a try.
She couldn't stare at it all day though. She needed some new gloves. Gloves she could afford. Heading over to the section of wall sporting the different kinds available, she checked if there were any sale options but wasn't optimistic considering the time of year.
"Fancy meeting you here," came an unrecognizable accent from a person beside her.
Biting her lip to stop from smiling at his choice of greeting she turned to Harry, "yeah, fancy."
"Stocking up for your year?" he asked.
"And looking at all the pretty yet unattainable things," she inclined her head to the brooms.
He looked over to where she was indicating, he gave the different models an appreciative looking over. "What do you ride?"
"Cleansweep 5," she told him. It was an old model, but she still managed to get the job done on it.
"Good solid broom. Not very fast though."
"No, but decent for maneuverability. Would love to have a Nimbus 2000. That would be the ideal for a Chaser," she saw one hanging on the far wall, looking all shiny and enticing.
"That's what I have actually," Harry told her.
"Really? Is it as smooth as the articles say?" she asked eagerly.
"It is. I don't think I'll ever want to trade it in." He started looking at the other accessories on the wall with her. "Although, even with it being a good broom, I can't help but be itching to try out a Firebolt."
Ginny grinned, "I can understand that." The Firebolt in the display case was almost twinkling before their eyes. "Have you joined a recreational league around here?"
Harry shook his head, "no. Still just settling in. Want to figure out what my work life is going to be like before I start trying to figure out my social life."
"Well, when you're ready, three of my brothers are on a rec league that has pick-up games every other Saturday or so. I can ask them for you if you'd like."
"You don't think it would be a little, erm, awkward?" he asked shifting back and forth on his heels.
Ginny fiddled with the gloves in her hand. Her brothers had not been thrilled to find out that she was betrothed to him. It didn't matter much that Percy and her father had told them that Harry and his parents had as much warning about the betrothal as they had. Harry playing Quidditch with the twins and Ron at this point could potentially lead to a minor incident. "It might be, but it would also be the best way to move past the awkwardness as well," she said. "Until we have the whole thing resolved," she added hurriedly.
He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess," he cleared his throat. "What's next on your list?"
"Oh," she was surprised, "were you wanting to come around the shops with me?"
It appeared he couldn't fight the warmth from coming to his cheeks. "Thought I might. If that's okay. I just, well, I don't really know anyone here besides my parent's friends' kid that I hung around with a few times on our visits back."
"Who's that?" she asked.
"Neville Longbottom?"
Ginny nodded with a small smile, "I know him well. He was in Gryffindor, a year ahead of me. Roomed with my brother Ron."
The conversation flowed easily between the two of them as Harry accompanied her from store to store, he even treated her to an ice cream at Fortescue's, continuing around until she completed her list and it was time for her to head home and Harry offered to side-along Apparate her there.
"This was as far as I made it the last time I was here," he admitted, looking down at the lopsided farmhouse with a mixture of embarrassment with himself and amusement over the structure before him. "Got hit by a wave of nausea so bad I thought I was going to pass out."
Ginny chuckled, "I can certainly understand that. I'd at least seen you by the time I heard about it, and I basically fell apart in your arms." She blushed at the memory of him holding her while she wept. "Thank you, by the way. I don't normally go all… girlie," she toed her shoe into the dirt, not wanting to see any kind of judgement in his eyes.
"Don't worry about it," he told her immediately. "That whole day can be a write off for both of us."
She gave him a forced smile, still wishing she could have schooled her reaction better. The two of them stood there awkwardly. Ginny didn't know if she should invite him in for a tea and biscuits or give him a hug goodbye.
She would like a chance to see him again though before she went back to school.
"We've a Quidditch pitch," she said suddenly. "I, um. If you wanted to stop by, whenever."
Harry's gorgeous eyes latched onto hers at the invite and his smile turned into a grin, "yeah?"
"Yeah," she fought to keep a blush off her cheeks. "Now that I can do magic to get the work around here done, I imagine I'll be using it every afternoon until I go back to school." This was good, talking about Quidditch practice was keeping her embarrassment, or whatever that was her emotions were doing, at bay. "I could use someone who knows their way around a broom keeping me in top shape."
"I'd like that," he told her.
"Great," she grinned. "Well. I'll see you then," she said with as much finality behind it as she could, then turned to head back to the house.
Ginny heard him Apparate away and felt the ineptness of their farewell drift away, but it did lead way to some other confusing thoughts; Like wondering if that was a date? It had all the makings of one, but their situation made it hard to tell. They'd spent hours together and carried on brilliantly, he'd treated her to ice cream and brought her home.
Ginny shook her head. They were becoming friends, that's all.
()()()