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Chapter 8
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Dirk Goldstein was used to dealing with all sorts of contracts, but he hadn't had to deal with a Betrothal Contract since he'd been an apprentice, and that single Betrothal Contract he'd dealt with then hadn't been nearly as interesting as the Potter-Weasley one he'd been trying to find a way to absolve for three months.
To have a Betrothal Contract remaining unfulfilled and untouched for so many generations, it was unheard of. And the fact that neither family could recall receiving notice that the names had been added to it when young Ginevra had been born, well, it had been a complete oversight by someone, and he didn't know who.
The responsibility for maintaining and updating the contracts was not on the Goblin's shoulders, they had done the families a courtesy by reaching out a year before the contract had to be upheld.
It would have been the Potter's and Weasley's responsibility for taking care of this sooner.
He couldn't say that directly to them though, his job was to find a way for them to get out of the contract, not telling them off for leaving it to the last minute.
And considering that he'd had several billable hours dedicated to this task, he shouldn't be complaining at all. The Potter family was a very wealthy one and he wanted to keep them happy, but he'd also made enough to cover the salary for one of his apprentices for the year off of this task alone.
Nothing in the British law books on this subject had helped, so after a month of looking through their own stacks he'd sent someone off to France to look through Betrothal Law books there and see if they could make a case.
Pushing the contract off on the future generations of the family would have been the easiest way, but neither party would agree to that.
Mr. Goldstein finally had the solution though.
Finally, finally, something to report back to Mr. Potter that wasn't 'nothing so far, we're still looking'.
His apprentice had come back from Romania with a borrowed Contract's Law Tome from the thirteenth century in hand that would be the answer to everything.
He studied the text thoroughly and drew up a contract, being very specific about the wording, and now he had just sent off an owl to Mr. Potter letting him know that they needed to have a sit down in person the next day, a Saturday, which meant it would be billed at time and a half, so they could get this whole situation resolved.
Dirk Goldstein was so relieved and sure about this that he anticipated a very nice 'thank you' in the form of several gold coins from the Potter family.
And this task would be done with!
Oh, he was so relieved.
They money was great, yes, but he also had a reputation to uphold and this one should win him a bloody award, if there were such a thing.
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Ginny had mentally kicking herself all the way back up to the school after her post-Quidditch win Hogsmeade visit.
Harry had walked with her around the village and even insisted on paying for her massive amount of chocolate she'd picked out to refill the cache in her trunk. There had been plenty of opportunity to talk about what they were supposed to be to each other. The stage had been set with her mentioning about Ethan and him mentioning the woman that was putting the moves on him at his work.
They hadn't though.
There had been no confirmation about whether they were free to see other people, or whether he was interested in seeing other people. And now she really didn't want him to see anyone else. Seeing him that day had just reminded her how nice and attractive he was and also reminded her of the dreams she had of them being wrapped up in each other.
It had been a while before that day that she'd had one of those dreams.
When she'd gotten back to the Gryffindor common room it had been full of the younger students still celebrating their Quidditch win, but she hadn't felt like celebrating.
After accepting a few hugs and high-fives with a forced smile plastered on her face she had made her way through to the stairs that led up to her dorm and opted to spend the rest of the evening alone, working on her assignments.
That had turned out to be a bad idea as the next day was Sunday and she had finished all her assignments and then was left with no essays or Quidditch to distract her.
And she'd had a dream about Harry that night. This time they'd been chasing each other around The Burrow on their brooms and wound up on a picnic blanket out of sight of anyone. Both their hands had been doing a good amount of wandering and she'd woken up disappointed and with a pillow between her legs.
There was nothing better for her to do on her Sunday, so she wound up writing a letter to Harry.
And it took ages.
She tapped her quill against the desk so many times as she stared at the blank page and waited for inspiration to strike for how to approach this.
Hey Harry,
Remember when I said that there was a friend that tried to kiss me. Well, the reason I fell on my arse over it was because I thought we were together, as in, you and me, a couple. Because I'm growing to fancy you and keep having these really vivid dreams-
Ginny had stopped her quill, horrified with herself for writing that much.
That had been too honest.
She'd crumpled up the piece of parchment and tossed it in the nearest fireplace so she could start all over again.
Hey Harry,
Sorry I was acting so strange yesterday. I guess we talked about why that was.
I don't think I ever told you that I was glad you came to the Quidditch game, and I'm really glad that I played so well so you know for sure that I wasn't just bragging when I told you how good I am! Sirius and your dad said I did Gryffindor proud and that meant a lot to me to hear it.
Thank you for buying me my months' supply of chocolate, despite my protesting. I feel like I'm taking advantage of you now though, you did supply me with my first months' worth as well.
I'm glad you got a chance to see the pitch and the castle. It was nice being able to chat with you on the walk back.
She had paused in her writing again and reread what was there. It didn't seem overly friendly. But as she was reading it, she couldn't help thinking how it read like they'd had a date.
It had been the same after they'd gone to Gringotts to meet with the Goblin; they'd wandered around Diagon Alley, had some food, he'd taken her home. Same for after she'd passed her Apparation test and she'd shown him Hogsmeade for the first time.
She had gripped her quill harder, trying to will her hand to take over and put on the parchment what they needed to talk about the next time they saw each other.
"When we see each other next time, we'll talk about whether we're dating," she'd muttered under her breath, talking to her hand. "Are we dating?" she'd told her hand to write, it still wouldn't. "Just write the word 'date' and a question mark."
It wasn't happening though.
Good luck rebuffing those unwanted advances at your work. It doesn't appear that my friend is too heartbroken over my turning him down, I've already steered him in the direction of a lovely girl in Hufflepuff that appears to like him.
~ Ginny
As she'd waited for that to dry, she swore she heard her subconscious making chicken noises at her.
It was two days later that she received a letter back from him and it hadn't said anything that would lead her to believe he was having the same internal struggle that she was. So again, she sent him a letter that may as well have just been asking how the weather was.
To her relief, Ethan really didn't seem upset by her rebuff, he'd sat by her in the library on the Monday and asked if they could just forget about him ever having tried to kiss her. He didn't seem to have seen her walking around Hogsmeade with Harry either, so she was grateful she wouldn't have to explain that one.
Then, on Friday she was asked to stay after Charms class by Professor Potter, who invited her to Potter Manor for the following morning because their solicitor had owled them and asked for an in-person meeting.
"That must be a good thing, right?" Ginny asked eagerly.
"I'm sure it is," Lily smiled back at her. "If it was bad news then I can't imagine they would want to tell us directly."
Ginny let out a breath of relief at hearing that. If the solicitor had good news then there wouldn't be all this pressure and maybe then she and Harry could talk about seeing each other.
It was such a strange thing to hope for, she mused; Wanting a betrothal contract nullified so she could start dating the man she was no longer obligated to marry.
The next morning, she was up bright and early, feeling hopeful about the way the day would turn out. She'd had another dream about Harry; this time they'd found out they didn't have to get married and wound up rolling around on top of the billiards table in his basement in celebration.
Ginny got dressed quickly and went to the Great Hall, being one of the first to show up for breakfast. She barely tasted it as she waited for the clock to strike eight a.m., when it would be an appropriate enough time for her to use Professor Potter's Floo to go over to the Manor. Professor Potter had told her she wouldn't be in her quarters, but that she, Ginny, had been keyed into their Floo and showed her where the Floo powder was kept.
The grate she came out of was just off the Entrance Hall at Potter Manor and she remembered from there how to get into the kitchen where she found James was at the stove and Lily was sitting on a stool with a cup of tea in her hand. Both of them were dressed.
"Ginny! Good morning!" James greeted her. "Did you eat yet?"
"Yes, thanks," she told him with a smile, looking around to see where Harry might be.
"He's still asleep," Lily told her.
"Oh. And do you know when the solicitor might be showing up?"
"Any time now. Did you want to go and bang on his door and wake him?"
Ginny nodded, she had a bunch of nervous energy coursing through her. And it wasn't until just then that she realized they'd forgotten to let her father know about this.
"My dad! I forgot to tell him!" she gasped, her hand going to her mouth.
"Not to worry, I've let him know about all the correspondence I get from the solicitor. He should be here any moment now as well," James said. Then there was the sound of a chime from the Entrance Hall. "That'll be your father or the solicitor asking to come through." James said as he wiped his hands on a dish towel before heading out the way she'd come in.
"Do you remember which one is Harry's room?" Lily asked her.
Ginny glanced to the other door that led to the in the right direction. "Second door on the left?" she asked for confirmation.
Lily nodded and went to the stove to turn over the bacon that James had left to sizzle.
Ginny went up the stairs and tried to steady herself to see him again. She'd been dreaming about him every night lately, and daydreaming about him. Now she was going to be seeing him again and it was a good thing. Because then she could put all these crazy fantasies of hers out of her head and see that there wasn't anything going on between them.
The letters they had been sending each other weren't any kind of longing to be with each other. They were simply platonic.
On his end anyhow. The number of times she had crumpled up a piece of parchment and tossed it in the fire was excessive.
Mentally she was preparing herself not to be too disappointed with the completely friendly greeting he was about to give her. For a moment she had the image in her head of Harry opening his door and greeting her with a cheery hello followed by a pat on the shoulder.
He wouldn't look at her with any kind of desire, and she was hoping she wouldn't feel anything for him.
What she was feeling for him right now, it was only that whole 'distance makes the heart grow fonder' thing, she told herself. If they saw each other every day at school, then she would have realized that her feelings were simply amplified because she'd been fantasizing too much. And this was reality.
Reaching his door, she knocked in the most casual manner she could, just rapping against it with her knuckles in the way that she would envision Sirius knocking on his door.
All pretense of a friendly hello from him was completely gone from her mind when he answered though.
The door opened and there stood Harry, apparently fresh from waking. His hair was completely disheveled and all he had on was a pair of fleece pajama bottoms. Her eyes travelled down his form taking in how lean he was. Not fit, just lean and strong. There was a bit of chest hair on him and this small trail of dark hair that went from his navel down into the elastic of his bottoms.
A treasure trail, that's what some people called it.
Right now, she felt like that was an accurate name for it because the sight of it was making her mouth go dry, and another part of her anatomy feel rather tingly.
"Ginny," he breathed out.
She didn't know what had possessed her. Her mouth wasn't able to articulate anything seeing him standing there like that. Her whole body function was now screaming for one thing and one thing only; to be pressed up against him.
Two steps forward was all it took and her mouth was on his, and it felt wonderful. It was desperate and wonderful. His arms wrapped around her immediately and he pulled her into his room, closing the door by pressing her up against it as soon as the click of the knob sounded.
His lips were somehow rough and soft all at once in the perfect way. Her tongue begged for entrance, and he groaned loudly as he opened and his tongue met hers for only a moment before it was all lips again. She buried her fingers in his hair and tried to press herself harder against him.
This is what she'd been trying to stop herself dreaming of since she'd last seen him and wasn't interested in having the same argument with herself anymore. She wanted to give in to all the desire that was pooling between her legs. He felt so good.
Right now, she could feel how much he was enjoying it too; that was absolutely his erection she was feeling against her belly and she so wanted to rock herself against him.
His hands moved down her body, stopping for a moment at her breasts and she made an approving sound at his touch before those hands shot down to grasp her bum and lift her up. She wrapped her legs around him then and they both moaned at the feel of their sex pressed against each other's.
Decorum had nothing to do with how they were carrying on right then. Everything outside this room didn't matter. All she wanted was to be closer to him and let themselves get even more carried away.
He got a good hold of her and walked backwards, carrying her towards the bed and turned around once they'd gotten there, he spun them around and lay her back on the bed.
Their eyes met as she lay back, propped up on her elbows before him on his bed, and she saw how dilated his pupils were and had no doubt that he was as aroused as she was. There was quite the impressive tent going on in his bottoms. She licked her lips when she saw that and without further thought she pulled her sweater over her head.
Harry climbed on top of her and kissed his way up her stomach and along the line of her bra until he was at her collar. By that time the sensation of his mouth all over her had her back arching and her head thrown back.
Ginny's eyes were rolled back in her head and a loud moan escaped her as their bodies lined up properly again. The way he was nestled against her had the underside of his cock pressed right up against her clit through their clothes. She couldn't help rocking against it. And it felt wonderful.
It felt more wonderful when he moved back against her.
Their lips met again as they worked a rhythm against each other. Their groans and panting encouragements built higher and higher and Ginny felt she was about to lose her head.
Their lips broke apart as her head was thrown back from the power of her orgasm rocking through her.
Harry groaned along with her, gripping her hip with one hand and continuing his movement for a minute more while she tried desperately to help him along until he let himself go.
She felt him lurch against her in his finish and there was a warm and wet sensation against her belly.
He collapsed against her. Their lips returning to each other's in a lazy snog that grew less about kissing and more about simply having their lips against each other as they came down from their high.
Tingles went through her entire body while they had simply lay there and waited for their breathing to become normal once more.
They hadn't even said hello, she realized.
Her eyes were open now and she stared into his face, searching for any sign of what that might have just meant to him. He had this relaxed smile on his face, his eyes were still closed.
"Hi," she whispered.
He blinked his eyes open and met her gaze. "Hi," he whispered back.
"I- I didn't say that before," she managed, unsure of what else she could have said just then.
"That isn't just how we're greeting each other now?" he teased quietly. "I certainly wouldn't mind if it were."
She felt her face grow very warm then and she bit her lip, feeling pleased, confused and desired all at once. "I couldn't resist," she admitted. "You were just. I mean, you looked-look…" She was at a loss for words. There was no do-over when one was face to face.
"If you hadn't have made that first move, then I would have," he admitted right back.
"Really?" she asked in relief. "Because the whole way here I kept trying to tell myself that I was completely reading everything wrong."
"Everything?"
"Just," she turned to look at the ceiling in an effort to try and make her thoughts align properly so she could get them out. "This whole thing has been bizarre, hasn't it? I can't help thinking that I shouldn't be attracted to you. I shouldn't look so forward to your letters or hope that you will turn up at Hogwarts for some reason. That we have this contract looming over us and we've only banded together as friends to try and dissolve it."
"That's what you've been thinking, or that's what you've been trying to convince yourself of?" Harry asked. There was a hint of hope in his voice.
She locked eyes with him again and there was this tender vulnerability there that just pulled at her heart strings. "That's what I've been trying to convince myself of."
He gave her a soft smile and traced a line down the side of her face with one gentle finger. "Me too," he admitted.
She felt as if her heart had just swelled to twice its size. To know that he was as confused about all this as well was what she had been hoping for. They really were in this together then.
Together.
"But Ginny," he started. "That doesn't mean-"
"No!" she knew where he was heading with that. "No, I'm not saying that I don't want to void the contract! I'd still like some say in my life. I'm just saying that I… like you. That way." She felt the heat rush to her cheeks when she remembered how they were currently laying in his bed and both without shirts. "I don't do this with just anyone," she told him sincerely.
"Good to know," he grinned. "And I really can't say I'd mind if we greeted each other that way again."
"Can't say I'd mind that either," she told him, blushing with pleasure.
He leaned towards her again and their lips met once more. His hand trailed up and down her side. It set her skin tingling with his feather light touch.
She pulled back after a moment. "The solicitor!" she remembered. "He's going to be here in a moment if he isn't already! I was meant to come and get you to bring you downstairs. How long has it been since… I arrived." That was the most decent way she could think of describing her launching herself at him.
"Erm, two to five minutes?" Harry guessed.
Was that all? Their epic snog and rutting session had taken all of two to five minutes?
She felt around to find her wand and checked the time. Sure enough, she had only arrived to Potter Manor less than ten minutes ago.
He gave her one more kiss and they cleaned themselves up with a wave of their wands, she then pulled on her sweater once more while he disappeared into his attached bathroom to get dressed properly.
Ginny was a bit shaken and surprised at what had transpired between them. She hadn't jumped into things with her previous boyfriends like that, but she hadn't had a building relationship with them previous to their first kiss like she had with Harry, so she was having a hard time feeling too self-conscious about what they'd done.
She had quite liked it. It had been an almost exact recreation of some of the dreams she'd been having of him.
And he had certainly liked it as well.
It wasn't like they wouldn't have all this time to build to that again either. He was out in the world and she was still in school. That meant that every time they saw each other it would be after a bit of separation and even then, they'd only have a few hours together; so they would have to make the most of it.
She didn't know where this left them now though either, but that was something they could get to discussing later. Perhaps down in the pub room after a few drinks. It would be easier to talk this over if they were both happy with drink and a solution to the contract.
Harry came back out of the bathroom fully dressed and had a funny look on his face as she walked over to him.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"We're- are we going to tell them?"
"That we just dry humped each other on your bed? No, I'd rather not," she joked.
He snorted a laugh. "Why not? Sirius would be so happy."
Ginny gave him a light slap to his shoulder. "I think we shouldn't. We should probably talk a bit after the meeting," she told him seriously.
"Absolutely," he nodded.
"Okay then," she nodded right back.
"But this does make us… a couple, right?" He sounded sure of it on his end, it was phrased as though he wanted to make it clear to her.
Ginny grinned. "Yes."
"Good. Well then, to the kitchen," he said in a nervous breath.
The solicitor was there when they got back downstairs. Her father was there too. It was just her dad, Lily and James and the solicitor that were at the table, with a few volumes of older texts before him and a piece of parchment that looked to have been drawn up recently. All the parents looked fairly happy too, so that must mean that the solicitor had found something.
"You've found a way around it?" Harry asked going forward to sit at the stool at the counter and pulling one out for her to join him.
"There is a way," the solicitor told them looking pleased with himself. "We've scoured several texts on the subject, done a considerable amount of back and forth and there is a way that it can be resolved monetarily. It would involve creating a new arrangement that changes the terms and would absolve the betrothal contract through careful wording, considering you haven't sealed your union in any sort of physical way."
Ginny could do no more than stare at the man and feel her hands go cold as she gripped the bottom of her stool.
She and Harry exchanged a look before turning back to the solicitor. "Er, physical way meaning what exactly?" Harry asked awkwardly.
She bit her lip and saw a look pass between his parents.
The solicitor raised his eyebrow and lost a bit of luster in his eye. "A kiss can seal it, and intercourse of any kind would certainly make it so that it would be irreversible. If neither has happened between you-"
"What if it has?" Harry asked, cutting him off.
The light in the man's eyes completely deadened at that question. "A kiss would be seen as acceptance, anything more than that would solidify it. If you haven't kissed, then we would be able to finalize the counter agreement."
"And you didn't know about this option before now?" Ginny asked him, trying not to let any panic show in her voice. She'd heard about this appointment yesterday, why hadn't this part of the stipulation been provided to them with the notice of the appointment?!
"No," the solicitor said through clenched teeth. "We had to look outside British Law for this one. It was highly uncommon for betrothal contracts to be broken here, it was more common for them to be broken in the Eastern European nations and generally that involved proper Wizards Duel, not an appropriate plan of action here. Then we came across this option, which would mean you," he pointed at Harry, "would have needed to rebuff your bride and allow you five years to find another and the Weasley's would need to compensate you in another way for the land. Are you telling me this is no longer an option?" he asked through clenched teeth.
Ginny lowered her eyes to the counter, then cast a sideways glance at Harry and found he was doing the same to her.
The man's brow furrowed and his eyes closed as though he were bracing himself. Ginny felt bad for him now. He had been working on getting them out of this for months and now they'd gone and dashed the method he was going to use to nullify the whole thing.
"When did this happen?" James asked the pair of them, awestruck.
Both Ginny and Harry shifted a bit.
Why could this solicitor have sent some sort of forewarning? A letter last night to either of them would have prevented them from bollocksing it up.
The man closed his eyes and tried to take a calming breath. "If the two of you are already entering into a relationship, then might I ask why exactly you are bothering trying to stop this betrothal contract? If you ask me, the two of you are much more fortunate that most every other couple I have seen with this arrangement." He slapped his briefcase closed and stood up. "Will I be searching for another method then?" he asked James specifically.
James looked from his son to the solicitor and back again. "We'll let you know."
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