Chapter 2 Contract
Harry stared at the door that led into his accounts manager's office nervously. He took a deep breath and opened the door. The office was spacious and brightly lit with candles floating all over the place.
Behind the mahogany desk sat a withered and worn looking Goblin with steel coloured hair and a neatly trimmed bread. Sirius nudged Harry gently forward to begin the meeting.
"Good afternoon, Mr Daggertooth." Harry greeted, the old Goblin
"Just Daggertooth, Mr Potter." Daggertooth said, in a gravelly voice.
Harry sat down in one of the woodens chairs in front of the desk. He felt nauseous at the upcoming discussions of the meeting. He was only 14 for Merlin's sake. He shouldn't have to worry about having to marry someone yet.
"Before we can begin I will need to verify your identity." Daggertooth stated, as he pulled out an object that looked like a scale but with only one dish. "Your wand will do."
Harry handed over his wand to Daggertooth who put it on the device which hummed and spit out a piece of paper near the base.
"Hmm, Holly and Phoenix feather used in the last three years?"
"Er, yes." Harry answered uncertainty.
Daggertooth handed back Harry's wand before looking at Sirius. "I require your wand Mr Black."
With Sirius's wand in hand Daggertooth put it on the scale and read the report on the wand.
"Beachwood and Dragon Heartstring Used in the last year? That is not the wand we have on record for you Mr Black." Daggertooth sternly gazed at Sirius. "Before you leave you will need to register your wand with the front desk."
"How was I supposed to know that?" Sirius grumbled "I've been in Azkaban for the past 12 years." Daggertooth didn't answer Sirius but instead turned his attention to Harry.
"Now Mr Potter, You are here because of a Marriage Contract between yourself and one Fleur Isabella Delacour." Daggertooth said as he thumbed his way through files he pulled out of his desk.
"Who?" Harry asked, nonplussed.
Daggertooth raised an eyebrow as he pulled the contract out of its folder and put it on the desk. "You don't recognize the name?"
"If I did I wouldn't have asked." Harry sarcastically stated, before he could stop himself.
Sirius elbowed Harry in the side eliciting a soft 'oof' from him. "What my Godson was trying to say was that he's never met Fleur Delacour." Sirius said.
"I'm sure." Daggertooth replied dryly.
Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Can we get on to why we're here?"
Daggertooth cleared his throat. "The contract is in effect as of now, and so are the penalties."
"Penalties?" Harry asked nervously.
"Yes, penalties." Daggertooth echoed as he read over the contract. "Nothing major I assure you. Just you losing any property you own."
"When did the contract come into effect?" Sirius asked. " Harry isn't even 17 for Merlin's sake."
"Ah but Miss Delacour is." Daggertooth stated, as he plucked up the contract and began to read. "When either of the parties reach a majority of 17 years old, they shall marry the other party, if and only if they are no more than 3 years apart in age."
Harry rubbed his hands through his hair. Of course he was only 3 years younger than this Delacour girl. Just his luck he had enough on his plate as it was and didn't need the extra load.
But what if…
"What if I was a year younger?" Harry asked tentatively.
"The contract would still be active for your kids then."
"Who the bloody hell wrote this anyways?" Sirius angrily asked.
"Fleamont Potter, he was the Lord of the Potter Family at the time when this contract was made. During the war he saved a Mr Rapheal Delacour and a life debt was formed. Fleamont wanted nothing to do with the life debt and opted to do nothing about it. Mr Delacour was rather insistent so Fleamont and him sat down and wrote this contract." Daggertooth gave the contract and little tap.
"However, your grandfather, Mr Potter never intended for this contract to ever be enacted. He wanted to break it as soon as he possibly could without angering the Frenchman. But before he could break the contract he contracted Dragon Pox and died a year or so after."
Harry's throat felt rather dry. This was the first time he heard about his grandfather and he wondered why he'd never asked Sirius more about his grandparents. After all, Sirius knew them rather well.
"So, that's what he meant by 'It's all my fault'." Sirius said, his face looking rather gaunt.
"What?" Harry asked, confused.
"Your grandfather before he died kept saying 'it's all my fault' and 'it's not broken'. He was talking about this contract the whole time." Sirius explained, as he put his head in his hands.
"What do we do now?" Harry asked Daggertooth.
"Well, we will need to notify the Delacours and get all your assets accounted for should something unfortunate happen." the Goblin explained as he cleaned up his desk. "If that is all, Mr Potter, then that concludes the meeting."
Harry nodded then it hit him. Sirius said that his grandfather's house was under the Fidelius Charm and if anyone would know how to access it it would be the Goblins.
"Do you know where my grandfather's house is?"
"Ah yes, the Potter House." Daggertopoth said as he rummaged through the desk draws. "Before James Potter died he appointed me the Secret keeper of the house, ah here it is."
A piece of paper was slid over to Harry as he read. 'The Potter House can be located at Number 7 City Road, Norwich.'
Harry passed the paper to Sirius. Who in turn read the note and handed it back to Daggertooth.
"If you wish to be the secret keeper Mr Black then let me know and we can arrange to transition it over to you."
Sirius nodded his understanding. "Come on Harry." he said as he headed for the door.
Sebasitian Delacour was a very lucky man. He had a beautiful wife and two beautiful daughters that he couldn't tell either of them no. His oldest daughter was perhaps one of the brightest Witches in France. His youngest was an imaginative little bundle of joy and he loved every moment with her because they were never dull.
Sebastian was sitting on his front porch looking out over his vineyard. The grape leaves rustle in the cool summer wind making the whole area smelling of fresh grapes. He started making Wine when he was a young man of just 21 after inheriting the house from his father who got it from a gambler in a card game.
His Winery was called Vignoble du Pays Vert or in English Green Country's Winery. He did good business with Non-Magiques and French Wizards and Witches alike. He made enough money to pay his taxes, feed his family and put a little back for spending money all was well.
Until the letter came, it was as he was sitting on the porch, he saw a Tawny Owl flying over the grapevines directly at him and it dropped a letter in his lap and flew off. Sebastian frowned; Owls don't usually just fly off after delivering Post. He picked the letter up and flipped it over so he could read the name of the sender and seeing the name on the envelope made his stomach drop. It read GRINGOTTS.
He opened the letter and began to read.
Dear Mr Delacour,
It is my duty to inform you that a Marriage Contract concerning your eldest daughter was found to be legal and active. Please present yourself to your Account Manager for further details.
Sincerely Daggertooth.
That certainly threw Sebastian for a loop; he wasn't aware that his father had made any contracts with any family of any kind. But what did the contract entail? That worried Sebastian greatly. The man marrying Fleur could be a head case for all he knew, and he would be powerless to protect his daughter from such filth. What was he to tell his wife?
Sebastian stood up and went into the garden to where his wife was. This was going to be unpleasant for him. When he told her of the existence of this contract there would be no telling what she would do.
"Apolline." Sebastian called out.
"Yes?" She asked without looking up from the Rose Bush she was putting in the ground.
"I…I.." stuttered Sebatian nervously as he started to sweat.
Apolline turned to face her husband and took in his nervous sweating face. This took her by surprise since nothing usually rattled Sebastian. This must be really bad news, mused Appoline.
"What is it, Sebastian? You're starting to worry me." Apolline stated, as she tenderly wiped the sweat off his brow.
Taking a deep breath as he steadied himself. "This just came in." He said, as he held up the letter for his wife to take.
When she read the short letter from Gringotts the paper burst into flames and her hand curled into fists. Here we go, Thought Sebastian as his wife grabbed the front of his robes.
"Who?" She hissed venomously. "Who was foolish enough to write that contract?"
"Not me." Yelped Sebastian, as the front of his robes started to smoulder. He also took note of the feathers growing on his wife's arms. "It must've been my father. He was always a fool for politics."
Nails pierced his chest, and he grunted in pain. "Do you know how potentially dangerous that contract is to Fleur?"
If Sebatian was sweating, it's nothing to how he was sweating now. From the pure unbridled heat emitting from his wife he was drenched head to toe in sweat.
"You know I would never do anything to put Fleur in harm My Love."
The hands on his robes slacked and Apolline slumped forward into Sebastian's chest hugging him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her.
"Forgive me Sebastian my anger got the best of me." Apolline mumbled into his wet shirt.
"Of course My Love."
"Sebastian, if we don't break that contract I fear the worst for Fleur."
"We will break it. Have faith."
"And if we can't?" Apolline asked fearfully.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Sebastian stated as he hugged his wife firmly.
Lights lit up the dank living room that smelled strongly of mildew and revealed the room to be covered in very fine dust that crunched underfoot. White blankets covered everything in the room. Even the pictures on the wall were covered.
"Charming." Sirius remarked, as he peered around the room. "It's going to take a bit of time to get all the dust up."
Harry wasn't paying attention to Sirius in the least. As he stared around the room it occurred to him that this house was once full of love. But now it resembles nothing more than a tomb.
Sirius clapped Harry on the shoulder. "You ok there?"
"Yeah, just wondering how things would be if my parents were here." Harry answered.
"Me too." Sirius agreed solemnly "One thing I know is that we'd all be one big happy family."
Harry smiled at Sirius, who smiled back with another clap to the shoulders. "Welcome home Harry."
An: I know it's a short chapter, but I have ADHD and trying to reach my goal of 5000 words makes me want to bang my head against the keyboard. Also, it makes the quality drop in my opinion. I want you guys to know I have big plans for this story, and I hope I achieve them so wish me luck.