Chapter 22 - Schemes within schemes
Blaise Zabini waited in the rear shelves of the library at the end of dinnertime with an odd expression twitching across her face now and then.
"You look amused by something Blaise. Wasn't a certain blonds reaction to a letter, was it?" Harry said as he appeared from beneath his invisibility cloak.
"Merlin, Potter." Blaise said as she jumped in surprise. "Stop sneaking up on me like that." After a pause she continued, "And yes you are correct I was thinking of Draco's reaction to your letter. I have never seen him struck senseless before. First, he looked smug as he opened his letter as if you would be falling at his feet. Then he started to read. Oh Merlin, his expression was priceless. Then he started to make this really odd sound. Like he was choking but not quite. Everyone else in the Slytherin common room took one look at him and then found excuses to leave the room as quickly as they could without appearing too obvious in their fear. Anyway Draco soon ran out of the Slytherin common room with your letter tightly crumpled in his hands. I guess he went to Snape."
Harry nodded. "I suppose it serves him right but I am feeling a little sorry for what the jerks going through."
Blaise looked at Harry appraisingly and said, "That's more than Draco would do if the roles were reversed Harry. Remember that."
"I know but I can't help it. I just hope Draco will choose another so I can be done with all this." Harry replied shrugging.
"That is not going to happen Harry." Blaise replied as they both settled in a small alcove in a private area of the library. "Especially if you are correct in your belief that all this is a scheme of the Dark Lord."
Harry sighed deeply, "It is!"
"Then you are going to have to either string Malfoy along until it becomes obvious to everyone that is what is happening or you have to find a way of removing Malfoy from the equation… permanently." Blaise spoke in a whisper just loud enough for Harry to hear.
"I am not killing Malfoy. Enough people think I am going dark already without me doing something like that." Harry replied.
"You wouldn't have to do it yourself. My father knows some people who for the right price could arrange…"
"NO!" Harry snapped.
"Alright, alright." Blaise said in a conciliatory tone. "It is only one option. If you won't get rid of him then you will have to plan on him being after you until he either wins you or his veela powers self-destruct. Either way it is not going to be pretty."
"I am sure those are not the only options Blaise. I should be able to find a way were everyone gets out of this mess safely." Harry replied looking grimly serious.
"Spoken like a true Gryffindor." Blaise sneered.
Harry snorted and said, "As I have told you that is what I am."
"But now you are playing a Slytherin's game. You will need much more than hope for some miracle to happen to get out of marrying Malfoy. You will need schemes within schemes."
"Perhaps I do have schemes within schemes already, Blaise." Harry challenged her back.
"Sure you do Gryffindor, sure you do." Zabini replied mockingly.
"You just wait and see." Harry said with as much confidence as he could.
"I will." Blaise replied. "Now are we going to spend all night arguing or do you have the candidate list for us to go through."
"I got it from Mrs Longbottom this morning. It's a lot longer than I thought it would be." Harry said as he pulled a folder of parchments out of his book bag and put it on the table in front of Blaise.
Blaise wasted no time in opening the folder. She scanned down the pages one after another checking the names of candidates, occasionally making a comment over some name she recognised such as "fat cow" or "bitch". Finally Blaise reached the last parchment and looked up at Harry. "Merlin Potter, every family in the wizarding world must be sending a candidate. This is going to be a lot harder than even I realised."
"I know. How are we going to get all those girls to give up?" Harry replied looking very nervously at the folder.
"You did notice that there are quite a few males amongst the candidates, didn't you? Some of them quite elderly." Blaise asked.
Harry's face paled. "Merlin!" he gasped.
"Relax Potter. We should be able to eliminate them from the rituals quite quickly by specifying some further requirements to your Matriarch. Things like fertility and preferred age groups should do to eliminate most of the males and the older women attempting to be candidates." Blaise said in a business like tone.
"Can we change the requirements like that? I thought that once they were set they couldn't be changed." Harry replied.
"Unless you get more candidates than is practicable to have in the rituals. But that is what has happened so I am sure your matriarch will agree to additional requirements to bring the list of candidates down to a workable number." Blaise said. "Height and weight would be good to get rid of a lot too. Anything you can think of?"
"What about requiring a understanding of the muggle world. That should knock out a lot." Harry suggested.
"Especially the pure-blooded eh Potter?" Blaise said caustically.
"I've got nothing against purebloods but like I told Draco in the letter, I intend to live in the muggle world after graduation. So if my wife (Merlin!) would have to be able to cope with that." Harry said.
"You are really going to live in the muggle world?" Blaise asked surprised.
"Yes," Harry said, "I am still going to be around the wizarding world being an Auror and everything but I will be living in a muggle house in a muggle area. That way I can get on with my own life and not have to put up with all the boy-who-lived crap all the time."
"Okay, we'll add that to the requirements but you can expect some outrage from the traditional purebloods over making that a requirement." Blaise said as she wrote out the list of extra requirements.
"What about you? Will that knock you out?" Harry asked suddenly realising this requirement might end Blaise's participation in the rituals.
"Fortunately the wizarding and muggle communities are much closer in Italy than here. I am perfectly comfortable in both worlds. Father always insisted on us knowing the muggle world as that is were the majority of the business is done for the family corporation." Blaise replied.
"Good." Harry said, "I don't want to lose you yet."
"Remember Harry, I am exiting at the last stage with your Zabini holdings voting rights." Blaise replied.
"I know." Harry replied but his tone sounded a little regretful.
Blaise looked up from the listed of new requirements directly at Harry for a few moments but didn't say anything before continuing to write down a few more lines.
"Okay that's done." Blaise said as she handed the list to Harry. "What else?"
"What's Snape up to? The governors meeting is coming up and he seems oddly quiet." Harry asked.
"I don't know yet. He will be planning something. He always is but I think he will wait till after the Governors meeting before attacking you or your friends again. To do it now would be foolish. He's not that stupid. Do you really think he will be sacked?" Blaise asked.
"No, Dumbledore will get him off. He can't afford not to." Harry sighed.
"Then why go through with it? It will only make him hate you and we both know what a vindictive bastard he can be." Blaise argued.
"I'm hoping it will reign him in a bit." Harry replied. "If nothing else it will at least show him there are consequences for his actions. Dumbledore has let Snape get away with far too much over the years. It has to stop somewhere. Maybe this will do it.
"Hoping for another miracle, Gryffindor?" Blaise scoffed.
"Maybe its part of my schemes within schemes." Harry replied lifting his head high in false confidence.
Blaise laughed and Harry nudged her with his shoulder playfully. In return she swotted his arm.
"So tell me something about yourself. Nothing big. Nothing to do with the stupid rituals. Tell me about Italy. Is it nice there? I have never been anywhere, so tell me all about it." He asked.
It was some time before Harry made it back to the Gryffindor common room under his invisibility cloak. He had visited the owlery on the way back and sent off the new requirements for the candidates to Mrs Longbottom. Hopefully that would get the number of candidates down to a reasonable number.