Title: Diverging Reality
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Harry, Lucius, Fred, George
Chapter: 6
Word Count: 1713
Warnings: Just talk about things

Edited by: eiliagh
AN: I am soooo tired. But here I am posting this chapter. We've had storms every day for the last four days okay? It's been a wet few days and the electricity has flickered.

I'm going back to writing on 31/31. Enjoy!

When Lucius and Blaise entered the meeting room that he had set up with Severus, when he had agreed to meet with Lucius for business originally, Harry stood and bowed slightly. He mentally sent Sirius his thanks for using some of their rare times alone when he had been alive for teaching him. Not only had he taught him the basics, made sure Harry knew of the system of bowing and curtsying, but Sirius had taught him about the basics of what it meant to be an Heir.

The man had also given him names of who to contact about in-depth etiquette lessons. He had set up a tutor for his Christmas break to do some fast and furious lessons while he wasn't doing business with Gringotts about his properties.

Lucius smiled and returned the bow, eyeing the smug little smirk that Harry tried to hide when he looked at some papers. "Something amusing you today?" he asked as Severus settled at another table as a chaperone. Harry hummed and tapped at a paper with several runes written down on it, ensuring that the wards around the room were solid.

"I'm just thinking of the home that I am setting up for my new wife," Harry drawled as he crossed his legs. "I don't think that she will be very pleased to know that the Potter mansion will not be able to be opened for anything or anyone for quite a few years yet," he explained.

"I have heard that it is in bad shape," Blaise said as he pulled out papers from his own case, including a roll of parchment and a Dicto-Quill. He unrolled a bit of the scroll and set the quill to it, the magic in both making it float before it started to write out the date, time and who was there for what reason.

"It is," Harry said. Dobby appeared with a tea service, serving them before he bowed and left them with a smile. "When grandmother and grandfather were attacked at the mansion, the Death Eaters tore down not only the wards that protected the estate, but the walls that surrounded the property and quite a few walls of the mansion. I did find out that, luckily for me, the portraits were moved by the Potter elves to specialized bunkers and put asleep as the mansion was attacked. Once I get the mansion fixed up and the wards reinstated, I'll most likely wake them up."

Lucius smiled, approving of that as he nodded his head. "I believe that your great-grandparent's portraits are amongst them. They would know more about the wards, if I remember right," he said.

"I found them along with their connected landscapes. They approved of me moving their portraits to the chosen house once it's up and running," Harry said as he pulled out the papers that he needed for their business. "Shall we get down to business? How is the marriage contract coming?" he asked.

Lucius took the papers that Blaise handed over to him and looked through them. "It's going very well. The copy of the family charters are making things very easy to figure out what we can and can not have in the contract, and in what way. Miss Granger-Potter has been most helpful with her research. She has found copies of any contracts that were much like yours so that we have those bases to twist things around in our favor."

"She has always had a bit of a knack at finding things that will be of use to us. This time, she is using that ability to mess up a few of Dumbledore's plans." Harry smiled slightly at the thought of his sister.

When they had been told Dumbledore and Molly had been planning things, Hermione had gone full paranoid and had worn her secondary heir and lady ring to protect her from spells and to warn her of potions. It had stronger charms on it due to the fact that it was bigger and was lesser known. So far they hadn't done anything but she was still being paranoid.

"I will then continue to leave the contract writing in your capable hands then. Is your wife free to talk this Saturday for a few hours? It seems as if Molly Weasley is trying to plan the wedding for us without knowing what she needs to do for such an event for my family," Harry said.

Lucius frowned at that and sat back. "Does she not know that with your families, it is up to the groom to find someone to plan the wedding properly? And that person must be a woman of the family that he is a part of. For both Potter and Black," he said. Harry shrugged. "I see. Yes, I will see if she is free. I will send you her reply via elf," he promised.

"Thank you, Lord Malfoy, that would be welcomed," Harry said as he looked to Blaise as the other male shuffled the paperwork. "Do you think that your mother would mind helping Hermione shop for a few formal robes and dresses?" he asked him. "I am afraid that I forgot to ask the last time that we were able to talk due to the fact that I had just gotten done with my weekly meeting with Ginevra."

"Of course. Have her send me a message and I will pass it on to my mother. I will have a reply as soon as I can. When does she need the robes?" Blaise asked him.

Harry looked at his calendar with a thoughtful frown. "We have formal outfits for the Malfoy Family party already, but she needs some more formal robes and a few dresses for various meetings over the Easter break to come." He looked up. "That should give the tailors enough time to work, yes?" he asked.

"That is more than enough time. I take it that you want the house colors of each house?" Blaise asked, noting that down on a piece of spare parchment.

"She'll need it that way, so yes." Harry looked back to Lucius again. "Has the allowance vault been fully set up?" he asked.

Lucius smirked and nodded. "As promised, the Gringotts statements will be sent to me to turn over to you in turn," he said, handing over said statements. "So far she has bought a few things for herself but nothing amazing at this time. I think, though, that she'll go on a bit of a spree once she has been freed from school for winter vacation."

Harry snorted and looked over the statements. As Lucius had said, Ginevra hadn't gotten anything major so far. Some nicer quills, a bit of fancier parchment that he hadn't bought her when she had asked, and some chocolate from Honeydukes. Most of the money from the initial deposit plus the last three months of allowance hadn't been touched beyond that.

"It's almost December. She keeps pouting that we do not do a Hogsmead meeting despite the fact that we can't," he mused.

"I would have thought that she understood that you had no wish for reporters digging into your situation with her," Blaise drawled as he added a bit of sugar to his tea.

Harry snorted, sitting back. "She has told me, on several occasions, that she has plans on how to use our name to our 'advantage'. I'm thinking that she will try to use the fact that she is marrying me to get her things that she wouldn't without hard work. She wishes to become a world famous Quidditch star from what I remember. From what Hermione has told me, lately she has been talking about using the Potter name to get first pick on any tryouts over anyone else. Never mind the fact that while she is good, there are others who are willing to work harder and train more for their positions," he said, shaking his head.

"Pansy is about ready to smack your fiance around. A lot. Using a very heavy skillet. She says that her mother has one that she uses to protect the family and has been through a few rounds. She and her female cousins were all taught on how to wield it," Blaise warned him, smirking.

"That must come from her Longbottom genes. If I remember right, her mother was a Longbottom," Harry mused, snorting. "All Longbottom women are scary, married into the family or not. To move on, I will make sure that I speak with Ginevra about her code of conduct and make sure that she is reading the books that I gave her. If I need to, I will use each time that we meet to force her to read them. I will not have my name smeared by her attitude."

Blaise smirked at that, Harry knowing that he would tell the rest of the Slytherins what he had said. Lucius rolled his eyes and turned to his teacup.

Lucius asked, "Tell me, Harry, what are you thinking of doing with the wedding?"

"Despite what people think, I am not doing a Black Bonding ritual. The fact that Sirius' parents weren't compatible and they were forced to do one was what caused them to go insane. I am not being forced to live with her even if she does end up breaking the contract." Harry sipped his tea before smirking. "As it is, Dumbledore didn't write a bonding contract for us. He wrote a marriage contract. There's no reason to plan for anything but a wedding between us," he continued. "No matter what Ginevra Weasley hopes for."

Lucius chuckled as Blaise smirked and checked the notes before moving on. "Miss Granger-Potter created a will for herself with her stipulations that before she is allowed to marry someone, she is to be tested for any and all forms of control. Suggestions, love, and mental control potions, and/or charms, spells and the such. She has already set the money aside for that in a special vault."

"Good. Now tell me, do you think I could get away with wearing the more modern mourning robes for my wedding?" Harry asked, making the men laugh as he smiled smugly, having allowed the privacy wards to fall.