A/N thanks for your reviews and support.
kirsty21: thanks for your review my friend. Thank you!
Sly Riddle: thanks for your review my friend. It happens!
mooneysfate: thanks for your review my friend. Because they beleive he is a squib or close to it. In purebloods eyes it is disgraceful.
...
Potter Manor was already a whirlwind of activity when Harrison and XIII finally landed in the foyer, still feeling a little disoriented from his trip by Portkey. He took a few moments to gather his wits before looking around, frowning at the number of servants bustling around; some carrying trays of food, others dusting every corner imaginable.
His mother insisted on having human servant rather than house elves. She could not stand the slavery that the elves were "forced" into. At Nightingale Harrison had learned the truth of the so called barbaric ways of the purebloods. House elves could not control their magics without the aid of a family. To survive they must be bound otherwise they would lose their minds and eventually die.
Harrison had his own house elf assigned to him when he was four just like most pureblood children, much to his mother's ire. The elf's name was Nit and he looked after the young boy since the day he was assigned. Due to the elf being a gift from his father it was one of the only ones left in the manor. Nit only had to listen to Harrison no one else.
"Maria," Harry called out when he recognized one of the maids passing by, "Do you know what is going on?"
"Oh Master Harry," she greeted him; a thousand watts smile on her face.
She did spare XIII a glance as she didn't know him. Unlike his siblings he had never brought a friend home. Even when he still came back. Maria has always been little Ms. Sunshine, always smiling even when she was sad and depressed.
"Mistress Lily wanted the house ready to celebrate Miss Rose's engagement."
"Rose is getting engaged?" Harry echoed, not believing what he was hearing.
Just a few days ago, Rose had still been mooning over Tom Riddle and now she was getting engaged? This whole thing doesn't make the tiny bit of sense in his mind. For a moment, he wondered if Maria had been listening to rumors again. The two blood brothers exchanged a cautious glance.
"Yes," Maria nodded, ignoring Harrison's surprise, "To that nice young man she's been crushing on; Tom Riddle is his name."
Harry choked on absolutely nothing.
"Tom Riddle," he gaped, mind going back to the last Tom/Rose interaction he had witnessed.
Although to be honest, it was less of an interaction and more of a one-sided show where Rose stared with dreamy eyes at Tom while the young man ignored her in favor of his book. Harry had overheard Rose tell her friends later that night how she and Tom were meant to be because they sat on the same library bench. Rose's denials can sometimes reach levels Harry didn't even know existed.
XIII the traitor looked like he wanted to burst out laughing. There was no doubt his mind was thinking the same thing.
"Are you sure?" He questioned unbelieving.
"Of course I'm sure," Maria chided him, "I heard the Mistress tell the Master how Miss Rose would be delighted by the Courtship offer Mr. Riddle sent to the House."
"He sent a courtship offer?" Harry repeated, feeling rather like a parrot at the moment.
Nothing was making sense; why would Tom Riddle send a courtship order to a girl he had barely said a word to? Rose may be a Potter and thus still respected in the Pureblood circles, but she was far from the most attractive marriage candidate vying for Tom's attention. The Beaumonts Family, whose only daughter Emilie had been after Tom ever since his majority, was much older and richer than the Potters. Emilie was also an extremely gifted witch by everyone's account. She would be a much better match than Rose.
Jacob's high pitched voice called out as he too arrived, "You should be thankful you're even allowed to be here for this. Squibs aren't usually allowed to join in the family events after all. I can't wait until Father decides to declare me the Heir."
Harrison immediately covered XIII's mouth to stop the other's retort. Letting XIII's mouth run here would be a terrible idea. He was known for his sharp tongue and even sharper dueling skills. If Harrison didn't stop him he would have his little brother in tears for more than one reason in seconds.
Maria began to fawn over the youngest male. She always did like Jacob better than him. The servants all thought he would end up like them. Worker in the large manor that was all he would be good for. If only they knew.
"Nothing's making sense," Harrison lamented to Remus 10 minutes later.
He had entered the kitchen with the intention of finding something to eat and found the werewolf sitting at the dining table, a cup of steaming tea in front of him. Remus had looked delighted to see him and promptly invited him over. XIII had gone off to explore the grounds. His own senses most likely making him curious about the new area. Being a were he would want to know everything he could about the manor.
"From what I know of this whole affair," Remus began, after he had taken a sip of his beverage, "is that James and Lily received a courtship offer from Mr. Riddle and assumed it was for Rose."
"Of course it's for Rose," He groaned, "I'm not doubting the fact that the offer was for Rose; I'm just wondering why he sent it in the first place."
"Harry, without opening the letter, we would never know whom it was addressed to," Remus chided softly, "Maybe it's for you."
"Ha," Harrison snorted, burying his face in to his arms, "That would make even less sense than Rose."
"I do wish you would stop being so hard on yourself," Remus said sadly, patting Harrison's head as if he was still a small child.
It was comforting in a way that Harry really didn't want to admit to; he was 15 for Merlin's sake, he didn't need people treating him with kid gloves any more. Any further conversation was cut short when Rose made her appearance, the bright smile on her face indicating that Lily had probably already told her the good news.
"Isn't today such a wonderful day?" she said in a singsong voice as she nearly danced in to the kitchen, her uniform skirt swirling around her thighs as she moved, "Dear little brother, you look well."
The hair on the back of his neck stood on its end. She wanted something and whatever it was he wouldn't like it.
"Wow," Harry said dryly, "You must be in a good mood if you are actually talking to me and acknowledging me as your brother."
Remus snorted at his tone, but Rose was still too out of it to truly care. Instead of berating him like every time he made fun of her, she swept down and kissed him on the cheeks – KISSED him on the cheeks – before disappearing in to the living room. Harry could hear Sirius' voice pipe up, full of congratulations and Rose's squeal of delight as she was reminded of her good fortune.
"Kill me now," Harry groaned.
Remus sighed and took another sip of his tea.
"Now that we are all united," Lily started, smiling around the room at everyone. "Let's get started."
Harrison sat on the sofa next to Remus and XIII, while Rose sat on another sofa next to Sirius. Everyone but he and XIII were beaming and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes while trying to school his expression in to something resembling interest. But since he had as much interest in the proceedings as being shot in the foot, it was proving to be quite the task.
"Stop grimacing," Remus hissed, elbowing him in the ribs.
"I'm not," Harrison protested, not looking away from his mother, "I'm smiling."
"You look like a deranged serial killer about to strike," Remus hissed back.
Harry frowned at that.
XIII snickered, "He always looks like that. It is far scarier when he goes full stoic. That's when he truly
"That wasn't really nice," he told Remus, and glared at his friend. But the two just shrugged unapologetically and returned his attention back to the front of the room.
"Rose, would you like to do the honors?" Lily was saying when Harry turned his focus back to the Lily-Rose show.
Rose stood up gracefully, hand automatically smoothing down her skirt and she started her way up to her mother. James stood next to Lily and gave Rose a big hug as he passed her what must be the courtship letter.
"Before I open this," Rose said, teary eyed as she turned to her assembled audience.
Harrison resisted the urge to bash his head against the wall; he couldn't believe that Rose was about to do a speech now of all times. He knew that the girl loved dramatics with a passion, but this was ridiculous. It was just courtship letter; one that she didn't even deserve on account of the fact that she hadn't even mustered up the courage to talk to Tom yet.
Oh I can see the wedding now, Harry thought with a snicker, "Rose! Look at your fiancée please! Rose, why are you trembling?"
He must have made some kind of sound because Remus gave him another jab in the ribs and Harry rolled his eyes. XIII had to be thinking the same thing because he was struggling to keep his mask up. They shared an amused glance.
"And I would like to thank my little brother for being so shit at everything that he always manages to make me look good in comparison."
"Rose!" James protested while Lily's smile dimmed a little for the first time that morning.
Harrison was gratified to see that his parents would still defend him when he was the clear failure of the family. Though Jacob roared with laughter and XIII looked like he wanted to curse the thirteen year old.
"Sorry," Rose said, not sounding sorry at all.
"Just open the envelope," Remus said, saving everyone from awkward silences and hurt feelings.
James passed Rose a letter opener and Rose slit finally slit the envelope open and extracted the content.
As per custom, the courtship letter was written on an expansive piece of parchment with the crest of the person making the offer stamped on the bottom. Any hope that Harry had that this was some kind of prank evaporated when he recognized the familiar seal of the Slytherin House, visible even from his seat.
Well that was that. His sister would be insufferable for the next year. It made him want to go home all the more.
Rose closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and began to read. He could see the exact moment she read something she had not expected, because her entire body froze, her mouth still opened on a silent "oh".
"Rose?" Lily asked in confusion as she came over and looked over her daughter's shoulders. She too for some reason, froze in shock, eyes wide as she read.
"What's going on?" James asked in confusion, no longer smiling.
"Oh," Lily said softly as Rose started to tremble, her face turning redder than the sweater she had on.
Harrison was, for a moment, concerned about her well being when out of the blue, she lunged at him, features contorted in to a mask of fury.
"What the bloody hell?" Harrison yelped as he dove away, his speed saving him from his sister's claws.
He may not be good at magic, but he had tried to compensate it by training his body to the max. Years and years of martial art training had given he the speed and reflex to evade any attacker; wizard or not. He knew that technically Rose would never succeed in touching him, but it did not stop the indignant sounds coming out of his mouth.
"You traitor!" she shrieked, trying to hit him once more, "You did this to me."
"What did I do?" Harrison yelled back, diving behind the sofa and using Remus and XIII as a shield.
For some insane reason, Remus looked amused by the whole thing, a glint of understanding in his eyes. Good, Harry thought, Good for you because I have no idea what is going on.
"Rosey," Sirius intervened – or try to before receiving an elbow to the nose.
"Rose!" James snapped, finally had enough of his daughter's theatrics. "You are a young lady for Merlin's sake; this behavior is extremely unbecoming of someone of your class."
With Rose safely contained for the moment, Harrison sneaked towards the forgotten letter. It was lying on the ground so innocently, as if it hadn't just prompted Rose to throw one of her most violent tantrum to date. With a sense of dread he couldn't explain, Harry leant down and retrieved the parchment, smoothing it out and began to read.
"No bloody way," he said.
Sirius moved up behind him, one hand still massaging his bruised nose. XIII was reading over his shoulder. Something dark and cold entered his eyes. It reminded him of the one time a group of older students tried to bully him. Together they had put all four in the Infirmary for nearly a week. For more than a month after that he was rarely allowed to be on his own in the halls.
"What?" he asked and took the letter rather rudely from Harry's hand. His expression of pure shock was pretty satisfying though.
"It was for Harry, wasn't it?" Remus asked calmly, no trace of surprise to be found either in his tone or expression.
"You knew?" He shrieked at the same time as James exclaimed: "What!?"
"Well I didn't before today," he shrugged, "But I, unlike everyone here, didn't presume it was for Rose."
"Oh Merlin," said Lily, sinking down on one of the sofas.
She looked lost, as if her world had just been tipped on one axis. Harrison couldn't really blame her. He too was pretty out of it as well.
"So," James cleared his throat, recovering enough to offer Harrison a small smile, "What are you going to do?"
"Yeah kid," Sirius piped up, eyes still a little wide, but looking more like his usual self by the minute, "Are you going to agree?"
"You could," Remus suggested, "It will give you a chance to get to know him and if at the end of the courtship, you still want to say no to bonding, you can."
XIII said reminding everyone of his presence, "He can't."
James snapped his hazel eyes looking at XIII now, "What do you mean?"
Harrison had already put two and two together however and he said, "It's because I'm apprenticed. As an apprentice," despite having masteries as well, "I have to have permission from my master before I can accept or decline a courtship."
"I never approved of an apprenticeship," snapped his father.
XIII gave a wolfish grin, "You didn't have to. The moment you signed the contract for Nightingale, Harrison had the right to choose his apprenticeships without consulting you. All students are afford this."
With that the room exploded in shouts of anger and outrage. The two Nightingale boys looked at each other. He could feel the fire beneath his skin return. The same fire that had thrown him and Riddle into far walls when they dueled. A fire that would consume everything and everyone around him.
Then Harrison grabbed the Fool's World card he always kept on him turning it and thus activating it. Now everyone in the room had their magic sealed including him till he deactivated the spell. Not even family magics could be invoked. If it came to physical violence he and XIII were capable enough to defend themselves.
Ross screeched, "What Master would ever accept you as an apprentice?! You're little more than a squib!"
Harrison took a breath than released it. He had to stop his emotions from getting out of control. There was no telling what that fire would do here. Especially without his Master to be nearby to stop him.
James demanded, "You will reject his proposal."
Vaguely he could hear XIII groan in the background. Everyone within Nightingale knew two simple unbending truths. One you don't attack a member of the Black Hawks Battle Mage Squad. That would end very gruesomely for anyone stupid enough to try. Two you don't make a direct demand from Harrison Potter. Ask but never out right demand. As stated before it would not end well for you.
The fire underneath Harrison's skin was beginning to lash out. The air around them began to become uncomfortably warm. Sirius and Remus exchanged an uncomfortable glance. As oblivious as ever his family weren't putting together his anger and the rising temperature were connected.
Harrison denied his voice ice cold sending shivers down everyone's spines, "No. What I choose to do with my life is my own choice. Unless there was a betrothal contract in place before I was fifteen you have no say in who I court or don't court. You beleive I'm little more than a squib but you're wrong. That was proven the day my school was attacked.
James drew his wand an angry snarl on his lips. Lily tried to shout at them both to calm down but it was obvious neither Lord nor Heir were listening. Harrison's hand held onto the card ready to pull it out and show them.
James said lowly, "I am the Lord of this family. You will obey me!"
A growl escaped XIII his eyes flashing amber. Harrison said still as cold as ever, "You can't activate any magic right now. Not even Family Magics. Even if you were able to I would invoke my rights as the Heir to the Family. I would call upon Mother Magic to stop you."
It was Lily who asked, "What do you mean?"
Harrison pulled out Fool's World not deactivating it, "This card has a magical circle inlayed into it. It stops any and all magical activations from the moment I activated it."
He didn't explain that it was only within a certain range. If he did, his father would most likely try to get past him and out of the range. Then activate family magics or to use magic against him. Though it seemed his family was stunned into silence.
Remus was the first to recover from his shock, "You created a spell? Magical circles are such a rare form of magic. It's a form of..."
"Technomagic," yawned Harrison, "My Master has many Masteries one of which is in Technomagic. As I am now too. I'm studying Warding as an apprentice now."
James snapped, "That's not possible."
"If you hadn't treated me like I was useless," Harrison returned evenly, "Nightingale only takes the best of the best into its halls. If I hadn't gotten an apprenticeship by the Christmas of my first year I would have expelled."
"It's a squib school," shouted his sister and brother.
"If we were all squibs would we have fought Grindelwald and his Reapers. My school did more for our world in a single night than your entire war against him."
With that Harrison turned on his heel and headed for the Floo Room. XIII was hot on his heels not wanting to stay any longer. Hogwarts would to do for now even if it wasn't home. Not like the way Nightingale had been.
James yelled, "If you leave this manor you will regret it!"
Harrison ignored him and only deactivated Fool's World right before they entered the Floo.
