Title: Diverging Reality
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters:
Chapter: 4
Word Count:
Warnings: language and some talk of manipulation

Edited by: eiliagh
AN: Okay so last week was busy. So very busy. If you don't know, I am a part of the Game of Tomes thing on Twitch and I am a player in the lore RP so was busy with a bunch of shit that had to be done for that.

But I should be back. :D Enjoy!

Ginevra stalked into the Headmaster's office with a frown on her face. Molly was already waiting for her, to hear about how the date had gone, while Dumbledore smiled softly at her. His mind was already whirling with thoughts. "That date was simply horrible," the young girl stated as she dropped the tomes and her copy of the Betrothal contract onto the desk.

She had been told to put the ring on and couldn't even sell it to get a better one since it had been attuned to her magic before she had put it on.

"How so?" Molly asked, frowning softly at her daughter as she looked her up and down.

"Well, I did receive my engagement ring. Unfortunately, it's not the ring for either the Black or Potter Families," Ginevra said as she waved her hand. "He told me that he doubted that they would accept me anyways so I was going to have to deal with this...thing." She looked down at the ring and admitted to herself that it was nice, but she wanted a Family Engagement ring like the late Lady Potter had gotten. Dumbledore looked at the ring, raising an eyebrow at it. "Just look at it. It's so...boring. Nothing like what the future Lady of two Most Ancient and Most Noble houses should be wearing."

Molly clucked as she took her daughter's hand, looking over the ring by twisting her hand gently back and forth. "We'll just have to get that boy to replace it with a proper ring, I suppose."

"I'm sure that he told you already, but you will not be able to replace that ring. Or be able to force Mr. Potter to do so for you," Dumbledore said, clicking his tongue as he sat back. "I know that ring. It's one that is given to someone who might not fit what the charters would consider a good fit for the House of Potter. It's connected to your magical signature, yes?" he asked, Ginevra pouting and nodding. "That is what I thought. What are the tomes?"

Ginevra huffed as she crossed her arms under her chest. "They're 'How to' books apparently. Or something like that. I need to act a certain way and these books are going to tell me how to act," she said as she flopped into a chair with a pout. Molly proceeded to fuss over her daughter for a moment as Dumbledore picked up the Potter Family Charter and opened it up.

He started to read over the introduction with a frown.

"It looks as if you have to act like a proper Lady of the house otherwise you will bring shame to the family name and this is the book that tells you how things are to go down. Depending on the shame that you bring to the family will depend on the punishment that you have to deal with. Such as, a social faux pas will mean that you will not be allowed to attend the next ball that he goes to, and he will go alone. Insulting a fellow Lady or Lord of another house, even if they are not of a Most Ancient and Most Noble house like you will be, will mean you are not allowed to leave the house unless you are accompanied by someone that he approves of," he mused. "And that's just the examples set in the Potter Family book and the most basic."

"I looked through the Black Family book on the way here, actually," Ginevra admitted. "Those charters actually allow him to physically punish me as he wants to. Up to using the Unforgivables on me, and the law won't be able to do a thing because it's a long set charter law. When I finally take over as the Lady of the two houses, you can believe that I'll be removing a bunch of those charters," she hissed, Molly cooing softly at her.

"Yes, dear. You'll finally be able to bring those families into the modern world, darling, allowing the Lady of the house the proper power that they deserve," Molly promised. Dumbledore frowned as he continued to read the Potter family introduction. "You'll be able to get rid of those nasty rituals that they observe, allowing it to be easier for us to bring in the muggleborns to find places amongst the elite," she continued.

Dumbledore hummed, deciding that he didn't need to tell them about the small print that stated that unless the Lady of the Potter family had been the Heir of the House, she would have absolutely no say unless her husband asked for her opinion. Only Blood could change something set into the Family Grimoires after all and it seemed as if Molly forgot about that little bit of information. He knew that she had been trained in these things, but it seems as if she was ignoring everything she had been taught.

"Tell me what else happened during your date, Miss Weasley," he prompted as he placed the tome to the side, staring at the scroll.

"Well I got a copy of the Betrothal contract. He did sign it in after filling in the parts that had to be filled in by him," Ginevra said as she tugged out a key on a chain. "He also tied my vault key to my magical signature. Did the same to the family vaults for himself even though he can't access them himself right now. Said something about stopping people from trying for his fortune. I apparently am only allowed to get ten galleons a month right now and that will likely go up to twenty when we marry. It'll go up ten galleons every year that we're married. He told me that I have a starting balance of two hundred plus this months' allowance. He's also going to be dealing with my school costs like tuition and school supplies. But he won't allow me to get anything in-shop. He doesn't want it returnable so owl post only," she told them.

She pouted heavily as Molly snatched up the betrothal contract, reading it over with a scowl.

It was solid. Still the same contract that they had created based off of the other betrothal contracts of the Potter and Black families. But it did indeed limit Ginevra's access to any of the vaults, including Harry's own trust vault.

"I told you that we shouldn't have allowed him the chance to put whatever he wanted to put into it," she hissed as she tossed the contract copy to Dumbledore. "Look what he went and did with it. He got Malfoy and Snape to be his witnesses and fill things in for him."

Dumbledore scowled as he grabbed the contract away from her, going over it with a careful eye, taking in all of the parts. "Unfortunately with the way that we had to set up the contract to get it to work due to the charters of his families, especially since we didn't want him to be able to get out of it once he took over as the Lord of the Potter and Black families, we had to let him fill out those details. Otherwise the magic behind it would consider the magic binding the two of you to be void. Which would have forced us to start it all over again and by the time I could do that, he would have claimed his Lordships and we wouldn't be able to do a thing. It took me a year to set up this contract," he explained.

Molly huffed as she crossed her arms, tapping her feet. "We'll just have to make him give my Ginny more access once they are married then. No man can resist a happy and willing wife when she wants something. Perhaps you should try to get him into bed sooner," she suggested, looking at Ginvera.

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head as he spotted the clause. "No, they put paid to that idea. There's a purity clause in the contract. Which is rather normal for the House of Black. Neither of them are allowed to play with another person in any form, fashion or way. And all of their interactions are to be chaperoned in some way," he told them.

Molly muttered under her breath about having Arthur in her bed the moment that she had had a betrothal contract between them signed and dated. Ginevra pouted at the fact that she had to stop kissing all of her favorite boys while she was engaged. Dean had such wonderful lips and he was always so willing to give her a little help in scratching an itch when she had one. She had been planning on taking him to a closet later to show her appreciation of that fact but now that the contract was signed and dated, she'd have to just wait.

"I suppose I can wait to play," Ginevra finally said. She pouted as Dumbledore continued to read through the contract. "Does he say anything about his will in there? And what would happen should he die before we tie the knot?" she asked.

Dumbledore's lips pulled thin as he read further down the contract, finding the answer. "It looks as if he didn't take his parent's path with a Ministry filed will. Instead he filed an Orb Will with the Goblins and used a specialized ritual to bind it. Not even the Wizengamot can touch those. If he put clauses into the will about it being sealed or contested, those clauses will go into effect immediately so we wouldn't be able to stop it."

"I suppose that there's nothing that we can do about it then. We'll just have to wait and see how things go and hope that You-Know-Who keeps hiding for the rest of the year at least," Molly said, shaking her head. Dumbledore nodded his head. "Ginny will have to read those books, I suppose."

"She will need to. If anything just to play the perfect little partner to the Potter and Black Families Lord," Dumbledore said as he rolled the contract up. "Miss Weasley, I suggest that you place this into your special trunk. Using that trunk for such paperwork and storing it into your Gringotts vault would be a good idea," he told her.

Ginevra sighed and nodded. "Fine. I will do that then. Is there really nothing that you can do about all this?" she asked hopefully, smiling sweetly at him. Dumbledore gave her a bemused look and shook his head. "Damn. Well then, I suppose that I'll just have to work him over to get what I want," she mused, tapping the contract against her hand once she took it back. She turned her eyes to the ring when it warmed before it cooled once more. "I swear that he had this thing charmed beyond what he told me was on it."

Dumbledore simply hummed and waved her over, pulling out the Elder Wand to test the ring with a few spells. He flicked his wand and created a parchment that listed off the charms on the ring. "It looks as if there are a few on there. A rune to bind the ring to your magical signature. Another one that will destroy the ring if you try to destroy or unravel the rune and dissolve the engagement. The normal. A rune to track where you go. Again, normal. I can't find anything else."

Ginevra hummed as she stared at her ring. "It's just weird that it'll warm up randomly. Thank you, Headmaster, for taking the time to speak with me."

"Of course, Miss Weasley. Please, keep me updated as to what happens during your date and the rules that you find as you go along through the charter books," Dumbledore said. Ginevra nodded with a smile, collecting the things and leaving the office, the two adults alone finally.

"Headmaster, do you think that we can somehow get her on our side?" Molly asked, lacing her fingers before her. She was careful as to how she phrased her words and not using names. Phineas Black was in his frame, and the man was first and foremost loyal to the Black Family and now that Harry was Heir Black, he was loyal to Harry first. There was no reason to tip the Potter Heir that they were talking about slipping his 'sister' potions.

"Oh, I'm sure that I can think of something to get her onto our side," Dumbledore mused as he tucked his wand away. "I will have to come visit you soon and discuss that with you. I can only hope that she is open to helping her friend's marriage go smoothly, after all."

Molly smiled at him, curtsied, and left via the floo, intent on pulling out her personal Book of Potions that she had compiled through the years and finding a few that they could use on Hermione. Neither of them noticed when Phineas got up from his seat in his portrait and left to hunt down the new Black Heir to warn him and his sister to be on the lookout for new tries on Hermione.

He grumbled about people trying to talk double around a Black as he walked.