Title: Diverging Reality
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Harry, Bill, Severus,
Chapter: 10
Word Count: 1956
Warnings: nothing

Edited by: eiliagh
AN: I'm a tired human but I'm doing the catch up thing today and tomorrow. Got a few things I need to do to be ready for the next couple of weeks but they're easy enough to do. Enjoy!

Sitting down at the table in a Gringotts conference room, Harry tapped his fingers on the table as they waited for Bill to arrive. Severus had taken a seat next to him and was reading over an updated potions journal that, apparently, all Potion Masters received.

Harry knew that Bill had fully stepped up as Heir to the Weasley clan and Harry had told him flat out that he wouldn't work with Dumbledore or Molly Weasley on anything. It would be Heir to Heir, even if, by a technicality and status, Harry was above him in station.

Still, Bill had agreed to meet with him to discuss a few things, including the Prewitt and Weasley family charters, so that they could ensure that nothing being put into the contract went against them.

Neither Molly Weasley nor Arthur Weasley were to be told of, or allowed at, the meeting, otherwise it wouldn't be happening at all. They had been warned about this fact, but goblin had stopped by and told them that Bill was dealing with his mother to get her to stop trying to attend the meeting, along with Albus Dumbledore.

A few minutes after that, Harry sat up straight when Bill finally walked in with a disgruntled look on his face. Lucius Malfoy closed the door behind them. "I was able to gather Curse Breaker Weasley from where his mother had cornered him to get him to drop the charters and to ignore the very reasonable requests that you made," Lucius explained. He nodded his head in greeting as they took a seat.

"Forgive me for being late to the meeting, Heir Potter," Bill said, nodding his head. His fang earring swung with the movement. Harry's smile was understanding, if not small.

"I was told by one of your goblin co-workers that you were dealing with your mother and Dumbledore trying to join the meeting against my requests. I am sorry that you were dragged into this mess they created," he said. Bill sighed.

"If I had known that my mother was planning on trapping you into a marriage with my sister, I would have stopped her before she could do it," he assured Harry. He set two slim books onto the table. "Neither the Prewitts nor the Weasleys have many charter rules and regulations in regard to what we can and cannot do in our marriage contracts. At least nothing that doesn't go against Mother Magic and, thus, wouldn't be binding anyways," he said. He took his own seat once Lucius had sat down and set up his DictoQuill with parchment at the table. "Great-Grandfather had to stop great-grandmother from trying to force us only to be Light in the family since we are, by nature and magic, Neutral."

"I had not known that your family was Neutral magic-wise. I was always told that the Weasley family were Light and Light alone," Harry said. Bill stopped, sneering with a twitch of his facial muscles.

"No, we are not, despite what mother says," Bill stated. "Anyone who says such things needs to be reminded about a few things, including the fact that we are Weasleys and we do have a charter that we are bound to just like every Family," he continued, handing over the books to Lucius. "Those are the copies of the Official Charters of the Prewitt Family and the Official Charters of the Weasley Family. They can not be altered, added to, or changed without the express permission of Mother Magic and thus are the only things that should matter on our part in regards to the marriage contract between Heir Harry Black-Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley."

Harry nodded, accepting the words as they were written down in flowing silver, showing them to be true, and looked to Lucius. Lucius opened the tome and tapped them with his wand before he nodded at the soft blue glow of the magic. They were official copies of the Magic Blessed charters of the two families.

"House Potter and House Black both thank you for your willingness to be forthcoming with the Family Charters for House Weasley and House Prewitt," he finally said. The words were written out in gold ink. He shifted and snapped his fingers, a full tea service appearing on the desk. "Now that that bit of business is out of the way, shall we discuss the wedding and my issues?"

Bill smiled and nodded at him, sitting back in his chair as he pulled from his robes a rather short list of things that he also wanted to ask. "I hope you don't mind, but I have a few questions myself. A couple are from my mother but the rest are from myself."

Harry nodded as he took the floating teacup that came over to him, Bill's already settling down next to him. "Please, ask away. If I have the answer I will," he said.

Bill smiled at him before frowning as he looked down at his list. "I hate to ask, but my mother is demanding to know why you are giving Ginevra such a small allowance when she is slated to be your Lady," he said. He looked up, the look on his face and the clipped words telling Harry all that he needed to as he made his tea to his liking.

"Because she is not yet my wife, and there are still rules that I must follow if I wish to keep my titles, much less anything else under my name," Harry stated, tilting his head. "Both of them would know that if Ginevra had bothered to read the books that I had given her."

"She also wanted to know about the books. Is it possible that I can have a copy of them to read over to know some of the information myself?" Bill asked. Harry looked to Severus, who had been his escort, the man pulling out the extra copies of the books that they had taken to carrying around during the various meetings that he'd been attending. Bill took the top book and read through the introduction with a frown before doing the same with the other book. "It seems as if I, or my father, am going to have to force my sister to read over these during the Christmas Holidays," he said. "If not, start as soon as possible."

"That would probably be a good idea. Perhaps force your mother to read just what it is she has gotten herself and her daughter into. Once Ginevra and I marry, there will not be much that she will be allowed to do or say in regard to how our marriage is run," Harry stated. "She is marrying into the Black family, too, not just the Potter family, despite what they may think."

"Yeah, so I see," Bill mused, placing the books to the side as he looked down at his list. "I'm rather curious about this myself, but you have stated that there will be no magical bonding at the ceremony."

Harry hummed. "I do not want to be tied to her on such a deep level. Not after being forced into this. Should something go wrong with the marriage, it would make things messy to get the bond removed. As it is, I highly doubt that the family magics on my side would allow, much less bless, such a bond," he admitted. Bill smirked at that, privately thinking the same thing. "Along with all of that, we will still be underage when we do marry. They want it to happen this summer before my seventh year, meaning that I will still be a year from my majority. She will also be fifteen herself. The magics for a bond will not allow us to bond at such a young age. Even my own parents bonded after they turned seventeen and came into their majority."

Bill nodded, looking down to the list as he used his wand to strike out those questions. "My mother wants to know why Lady Malfoy is planning the wedding instead of herself. She thought she would be the one planning everything," he said.

"This comes back to the Black Family Charter. According to the charter, she is not allowed to plan the wedding or reception that must happen afterwards," Harry said. "It says, and I quote, 'A Lady of the Black family, one raised with the proper traditions and proper status, is to plan all weddings for a male marrying a woman outside of the family'. End quote. If I did not have Lady Malfoy or Lady Tonks, I would have had Hermione plan the wedding seeing as she is my blood sister," he continued. "Despite what she may think with her bloodline, Molly Weasley is not a Lady of the Black Family and thus is not allowed to plan my wedding."

Bill nodded his head. "Yeah, I can see that," he said. He crossed his legs as he leant forward, looking Harry in the eyes as his lips tugged down into a frown. "Harry, tell me. Do you want this marriage?"

Harry sighed as he put his teacup to the side. "Quite frankly? No. I do not want to marry her. As I stated, I'm being forced into this marriage. I'm not even sure about what my own sexuality is. It's not as if I have had the time or the energy to really get the chance to think about it. But I do know that I do not want to marry Ginevra in any way, shape or form." He looked at Bill and stared him straight in the eyes. "Again, the only reason why I am marrying her is because I am being forced to do so. I am being forced into this marriage by my so-called magical guardian so that he can try to keep me as some kind of savior that the Magical World shouldn't and doesn't need, and make it so that I will be willing to die for this fool's cause. I do not plan on dying any time soon by anyones hands, and should I die without children, it is not the Weasley Family, nor the Dumbledore family, who will profit from my death."

Bill blew out a slow breath as he sat back, nodding after a moment. "Okay. Yeah. I understand. I am sorry about all of this," he said, picking up the books. "I think that is all I need to know. If you need me, please don't hesitate to send me a letter via Gringotts and I will respond as soon as I can," he promised. Harry smiled at him, standing up as Bill stood, shook hands and left.

Severus finally spoke up once they were sure that there were no evesdroppers as they started to pack up. "That went well."

"We all knew that Bill and Charlie Weasley were smarter than what people would think," Lucius stated as he cut the parchment with their talk, Harry musing that he would have to send Bill a letter to ask his own questions. He hadn't wanted to ask the man these questions when his world was still so shaky. Two copies were made of the parchment, the popping sound as they disappeared to be delivered drew him out of his thoughts. "They would make good allies if Charlie returned to England. But if anything, Bill would make a good one."

"Yes, he will," Harry mused. He placed the teacups onto the tray to be taken back to the home that Winky and Dobby were deep cleaning. "I have a good feeling that things are just starting to get interesting," he mused. Lucius and Severus smirked, agreeing with the young heir.