CHAPTER THREE
Severus had not expected to hear from Lily in around a week, let alone almost a day later, especially since it concerned Harry's future match. But much to his shock and delight, which he kept carefully hidden stoically – he had a reputation to uphold after all – the Potter family owl had arrived at breakfast with a letter. Severus had taken the letter with no certain amount of trepidation, fearing the worst. If neither Lily nor Harry caved, it could put a bit of a spanner in the works of the Dark Lord's plans.
The Potions master broke the seal on the letter and unfolded it, hoping for the best.
Dear Severus,
As I promised, I discussed the candidates Lord Slytherin offered with Harry rather candidly. Sometimes that boy surprises me to the point I am pretty certain he will one day be the death of me. Harry found the prospect of getting the newspapers off his back rather tempting and decided since Lord Slytherin had actually tried to accommodate to his tastes a little he has agreed to being courted by all three candidates.
Yes, Severus you are not misreading my words. Harry has agreed to all three. I should warn you, though, my son will not make it easy on them. In fact, I officially invite all three suitors to come to Mossbridge Hall for a formal introduction two days hence. Eleven o'clock should be the appropriate time for them to arrive; it gives both Harry and myself to prepare for their arrival. And since you are likely to report this to Lord Slytherin, kindly pass on to all three candidates they are expected to wear formal but casual. Proper, but not too stuffy. Harry hates stuffy as you know. Following the introductions, we will have lunch at twelve.
You can breathe now, Sev.
Lily, Lady Regent of House Potter.
Severus jumped up from his seat and fire-called Lord Slytherin the moment he had read Lily's letter. The boy had agreed. The boy had actually agreed!
Clearly excited at the news as well, Lord Slytherin had immediately called an emergency meeting of the inner circle where the news was delivered by the Dark Lord himself to Evan, Barty and Rodolphus that Lord Potter had consented to entertaining them as prospective suitors. This had come as a shock to everyone, including the three candidates.
"What did Lily Potter say to her son to get him to agree to this?" Rabastan shook his head in disbelief.
"I have not the foggiest idea," Snape answered, shaking his own head, still trying to wrap his head around the fact Harry had actually agreed. "I didn't stay long enough to find out. Lily had all but dismissed me. These matters are rarely discussed with me there unless I am expressly invited."
"Well, you were the harbinger of Harry's doom so it doesn't surprise me you were dismissed," Dolohov joked, smirking.
"So, we are actually going to do this?" Evan practically whispered, shaking his head as if trying to wake himself from some terrible nightmare.
"It would appear so," Barty replied grimly. "Just remember we are doing this to help our Lord; that should make this whole unseemly charade more bearable."
Not even that could make Rodolphus feel any better about this. He hated the fact that not only was he being pushed towards the very institution he despised before everything else, but he was condemning a young boy – a young lord – to possibly being with a grumpy, ugly old man. The years of stress thanks to Bellatrix had made Rodolphus quite rugged. People still called him handsome, but Rodolphus could no longer see it himself.
"What are our instructions?" he finally dared to ask.
Severus took out the letter. "You are to arrive at Mossbridge Hall at exactly eleven o'clock in the morning in two days, sharp. You will have tea with Lady Potter before you can have any form of interaction with Harry. Lunch will be served at twelve sharp. Oh, and you are expected to dress according to her instructions."
"A dress code?" Narcissa spluttered. Lily Potter had barely cared about fashion at school; to hear the Muggleborn witch talk in a manner of a pureblood was quite disconcerting for her. "Lily Potter actually sent a dress code?!"
"Yes. Remember, Narcissa, this is Lady Potter we are talking about. The same one who made Lord Abbott cry in the Wizengamot," Severus reminded with a small but rather sadistic smile. A few chuckles ran around the Death Eaters. "She specifies proper but not too stuffy. That is all she has specified."
"Kill me now," Barty grumbled, sinking down in his seat in despair. "My mother is going to spend three hours at most getting me ready."
"Your mother?!" Rowle barked with laughter.
"When she found out I was one of Lord Slytherin's candidates, she started to fuss and fawn more than she used to," Barty responded sulkily. "It will be a miracle if I even get to shower without her knocking on the door every two minutes, yelling advice."
Rodolphus was about to sulk as well, when he re-ran everything Severus had said in his head. The Lestrange Heir frowned.
"Why Mossbridge Hall?" Rodolphus suddenly enquired. Something didn't feel right; Mossbridge Hall was not the main Potter residence. That status befell to the ancient and castle-like Potter Manor. The last he heard of Mossbridge Hall, it had all but been consumed by the nature that surrounded it.
"Because that is where Lady Potter and her son have been living for the past fourteen years," Severus answered crisply, which got varied responses. Indifference, confusion, suspicion, were amongst those reactions.
"Seriously?!" MacNair spluttered.
Severus nodded in silent affirmation, not even resisting the satisfied smirk that formed on his face at the fact no one, it seems, had suspected Lily and Harry had been living in the most hidden property of the Potter family.
"And no one noticed?" Alecto Carrow scoffed. She turned to Lucius. "I thought you said Draco and the Potter Lord were friends."
"They are," Lucius answered through gritted teeth. "However, Harry always comes to Malfoy Manor. Draco has never been to Potter Manor or Mossbridge Hall."
"Why?" Avery Senior demanded. "You never thought that to be odd?"
"Not at all," Narcissa piped up. "Lady Potter had to leave on important business a lot and couldn't leave Harry alone, so asked us to take him over the Ostara holidays and a few weeks in the summer. Plus, we always host a Yule Ball and invite the Potters, naturally. They have not missed one since Harry and Draco became friends. We never had cause to visit the Potters."
Rodolphus' frown didn't leave him. Something still did not feel right about any of this, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. Evan and Barty did not seem too overly concerned about this; they were both still too preoccupied with the task they were set. Rodolphus had to suppress an eye roll at this. Sometimes the Healer wondered how Barty had managed to be Sorted into Ravenclaw when he couldn't even smell a mystery when it was placed right in front of him.
When Rodolphus returned home, he retired to his chambers without so much as a good night to his brother and grandfather and – while preparing himself for bed – looked at his reflection long and hard. The last time he was this pensive, it was the day of his wedding to Bellatrix. He and Bellatrix had been friends, but there was no love between them. His affairs hadn't relieved any of the pain. Rodolphus thought that he could easily live without love but as soon as the divorce was through, he realised he had been starved for too long. He couldn't go through that turmoil again.
More to the point, Rodolphus could not condemn the boy to a loveless marriage as well. He secretly hoped Lily Potter would not accept any of them for her son, no matter how important this was to his Lord. It would be the best for everyone. Harry deserved love, and Rodolphus was pretty sure love was something he could not give Harry.
He wasn't even sure if he was capable of loving another person, apart from his family. When he was younger, Rodolphus had always wanted a love like his grandfather and grandmother's. He had seen the tender kisses and soft touches they had exchanged over the years; little gestures of true lovers. To Rodolphus, it had been magical to witness. It was what he wanted the most. Rodolphus did not want to ever end up like his miserable bully of a father.
Plus there was the added stigma that Rodolphus had been married before. He was considered to be soiled goods by many eligible families, and for the Potters to even consider him as a candidate for Harry's courting was something Rodolphus would never have dared to dream of. Other Pureblood families would be scandalised the moment the news was out. As if they already did not snub him already. The Light side normally wanted nothing to do with him because of his family's alliance with the Dark Lord. The Dark wanted none of their children to marry Rodolphus because of his divorce and the Grey side held both opinions in equal measure.
Lily Potter should have rejected him outright, but she didn't.
Rodolphus was never going to admit it to anyone, or to himself, that he was interested to see how this would play out. When Harry had reached fifteen a few weeks ago, and no courting gala was announced, it seemed to everyone that the Potters would not be taking marriage contracts for another few years. Yet, something had changed.
The Lestrange heir had noticed that during her time at Hogwarts, Lady Potter had more of a cunning streak than people dared to admit. No one knew, but Rodolphus had kept a close eye on Lily Evans and found that some of the pranks played that were blamed on James Potter and his friends, were actually her doing and she simply let people think it was Potter and his pals. He had seen the smirks and the attempts to stop herself from laughing while hiding her face in her books all too often. Lily Evans, the Mudblood witch who apparently had adopted every element of wizarding culture into her being, was as intelligent and as cunning as she had been back then.
Apparently he had misjudged her. Because there was no doubt in Rodolphus' mind that Lily had some sort of plan, and one way or the other he would find out exactly what it was. And for that, he was going to meet the formidable Potter Matriarch and her son.
A smirk grew onto the Death Eater's face and soon evolved quickly into a genuine smile. Rodolphus found himself counting down the hours and then the minutes to the day he would get to meet them.
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OK so Severus can breathe – he is fine folks! And Lord Voldemort is rather obnoxious in his glee at the moment.
Voldie: You take that back you cretin!
*Gulps* Oh dear, he heard me. Anyway, stay tuned to see if these three suitors survive their encounter with Lily and Harry.
Kingmaker'sUmbreon