After the two rejoined the others, Harmony's godfathers were visibly upset. The contract was real and had to be fulfilled. Tom and Harmony had decided that right now would not be the best time to tell the two men the full truth. The girl informed the two that she would marry Tom and that they needed to return to Grimmauld. All of them knew once the two were married that the ward's at her relatives will fall and Dumbledore and the Order will be in a panic. They would have to wait to retrieve her things from the Dursleys'. Luckily she had let Hedwig out before Sirius and Remus had picked her up. The beautiful owl was already happily flying around the Potter's garden.
After much debate, Harmony promised that as soon as her godfathers were able to meet, she would explain to them what is going on in more detail. As of now, she and Tom were going through all of the businesses and properties she owned. They asked if it was too much trouble if they went over it here so she could ask the goblin any questions she had.
Harmony opens the briefcase given to her by the elderly goblin earlier. When she pulls out the stack of files, Tom is inwardly surprised. What is all this?
She hands him part of the considerable pile of papers. "Here, I'm gonna need your help. Sirius and Remus are going to take care of the Black and Lupin accounts, but that still leaves six different families information to go through."
He stares at her for a moment before the information sunk in. "You are telling me you are the head of eight houses?"
"No, I'm the head of six houses and the heir of Black and Lupin." She says with a shrug. "Why?"
He does not show his surprise, just looking down at the names in his stack when the name Hufflepuff catches his attention. There is no way; he thinks as he pulls her stack to him to look.
He chuckles. This changes everything. "I didn't expect this. I thought you just had the Potter and the Black holdings. Not including your status as The Girl Who Lived, you are the most politically powerful magical in the country." In his head, he was running all the possibilities. "And that is not even the best part. You are the heir of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. I am the heir of Slytherin and Ravenclaw."
Harmony pauses for a moment rolling the information over in her head. "That means," she finally says in excitement.
"We own Hogwarts." He doesn't even pause to think about what he is doing before placing his hand gently on her cheek and pulling her towards him. His lips meet her lightly. He wants to be firmer, he was not gentle by nature, and this girl, this witch, was his. The moment she agreed to marry him, she became his. But the way she stiffens at the action, he knew he had to take it slow. After a moment, she did relax, and he let her pull away.
He smirks at her blush. "That was my first kiss." Her hands in her lap seem interesting all of a sudden with her statement.
She peeks at his face to see a greedy look in his eye as he takes in her body. Licking his lips, he answers. "I will be your first in everything. No one else will ever touch you as I do." He is nothing if not possessive. Oh, she will still have her freedom and do as she pleases, but no other wizard will know her body.
The goblin across from them clears his throat, bringing their attention away from each other. "If we can go back to business." They both nod.
Within the next two hours, they had sorted through the girl's properties and decided which needed repairs and usable. She even asked Tom if they can use one of the manors as an orphanage. They also had a basic grasp on the two businesses that she owned and the few partial ownership. Now the two were heading to the ministry to go through with the contract. Harmony was hidden under her cloak, walking directly behind her soon to be husband. She made sure to touch Tom's hand occasionally to let him know she was still there.
Once they reach the office of the Department of Legal Contracts, Harmony removes the cloak revealing herself. Tom looks at her a moment before pulling out his wand. "This is the start of a new life for us. You are someone of status; I will not allow you to wear those rags."
Harmony looks down at herself. Her shirt was barely hanging to her thin frame, baring her right shoulder. The shirt was threadbare and barely holding together. Her jeans were no better; rips and stains covered them. She had rolled the legs several times so they would not trip her with the extra length, and a belt that went around her waist twice held them up.
"I would think that your godfathers would have gotten you something decent. You three did have three days in between meetings." He grimaced for a moment before waving his wand. Her muggle clothing shifted around her, becoming a fitted black robe that shifted to glittery silver down at the bottom and sleeves. The neckline also swapped down to bring attention that yes, she had a chest but was modest.
Tom nods his approval as the girl speaks. "Well, one is a werewolf, and the other is a wanted criminal. We were also trying not to bring attention to the fact I was not at my relatives."
"Well, we have other things to do today, but tomorrow we are going to buy you some clothes. I will not allow you to continue to wear that boy's clothes." He sneers just thinking of them.
"Hey, that boy has a name." She crosses her arms in front of her. He looks at her strangely as she sighs. He waves his wand, again, placing a glamor on her as she speaks. "The summer before my fifth year, I saved Dudley from a dementor. Ever since then, he has helped me as much as he can. He and his gang had stopped picking on me years ago, but he would sneak me some of his food and tell his father he would teach me a lesson to get me out of a beating. He had to be careful, though, because if he got caught, I would be in even more trouble."
Tom just blinks at the information. He didn't pay attention much to those memories while in her head. He had only paid attention to the ones where they had abused her. "We will talk about this more later."
Grabbing the now blonde brown eyed twenty-year-old woman's hand, placing it in the crook of his elbow, and leading her through the door as they make their way past the cubicles. A few of the employees glanced up to look at the pasting couple. Harmony tries, despite her aversion to attention, to keep her head held high as Tom glides beside her to the department head's office in the back.
Tom raps against the door before it is yanked back. "I told you, idiots, not to interrupt" The old man stops his yelling when he notices the young couple in front of him. He seems to be in his mid-fifties with salt and pepper hair and clean-shaven. He clears his throat as he straightens himself out, coming only to Tom's eyes. "Yes, sorry about that." He holds out his hand to the 'younger' man. "The name is Aristos Elks. How may I help you?"
"Thomas Riddle," Tom says, taking the man's hand. Elks eyes shift to the girl in wonder and curiosity before shifting back to Tom. "My company and I find ourselves in a contract that we need to fulfill as quickly as possible. May we?"
Elks quickly step out of the couple's way. "Yes, yes, please do come in." He gestures for them to take a seat in the two chairs in front of his clutter desk. The only thing saved from the incompetent amount of scrolls, parchment, and files is the floor and chairs, as the two bookshelves in the office were also cluttered to the brim. "And what can I do for you today?"
"We are here for the contract of Slytherin and Potter of 1005," Tom replies, feeling like it would be best if he took the reins at the moment. The man looks confused at the two. It is widely known Harmony is the last Potter. Tom waves his hand, dropping the glamour to reveal said girl. "Sorry, it's always best to hide things from the enemy when you can."
The man nods at Tom's statement, and the younger man has to keep himself from smirking. He knows the man thinks of the dark when he says, the enemy. "Alright," Elks swishes his wand, and a parchment appears in front of the man. He takes a moment to look it over for a second before he pauses. "I'm sorry I can't do this."
Tom narrows his eyes as Harmony's spin straightens from its slouched position. "What do you mean you can't?" Her voice is hard as her eyes dare the man to come up with an acceptable reason for denying them.
"I'm sorry, Miss. Potter, but you already have a marriage contract." He stutters out.
The girl stands up, barely letting out some magick to push against the man's letting him get a taste of who he is messing with. "An illegal contract. Do we need to bring this issue to the DMLE?"
Tom smirks when the man's stuttering gets worse. "Nnooo, but Dumbledore said that…" The man's eyes shift between the young couple. "That you needed keeping. To make sure you do what's best for the greater good."
The girl turns, kicking the chair she had been sitting in, barely noticing the snarl from the Dark Lord. How dare the bloody old bastard? So I need keeping? I will show him why he should be afraid of me. He should have gotten rid of me himself. I'll tear his bloody greater good to pieces before his face. Once she knew she wouldn't lose it on the man, she turned around to find Tom with his wand pointed at Elks.
"You listen here, you will marry us this moment, or I will call Fudge down here this moment. Image what he will do when he finds out you are doing Dumbledore's bidding."
The seemingly older man pales. Everyone knew that minster Fudge was paranoid about Dumbledore trying to take his job. He has already demoted and fired three people this month for thinking they were Dumbledore's.
"Alright," He walks around his desk and stands across from the couple. "Hold each other's left hand." They do as they are told. Elk makes a figure eight with his wand making thick silver thread criss-cross around their gripped arms to their elbows. "Now state the vows."
Harmony looks lost before the hand in her tightens for a moment. "Just repeat after me but your own name and titles," Tom states calmly.
With her nod, Tom starts. "I, Thomas Lynx Riddle, Lord of Slytherin and Ravenclaw, in the name of the magick gifted to us all by Lady Magic and the life that courses within my blood."
"I, Harmony Lilith Potter, Lady of Potter, Griffendore, Hufflepuff, Peverell, Pyrites, and Mabolt, Heir of Black and Lupin, in the name of the Magick gifted to us all by Lady Magic and the life that courses within my blood."
"Take thee, Harmony Lilith Potter to my hand, my heart, and my magic, to be my chosen. To desire thee and be desired by thee, to possess thee, and be possessed by thee. I shall not seek to change thee in any way. I shall respect thee, thy beliefs, thy people, and thy ways as I respect myself." Tom stared intently into her eyes, capturing her and not letting go.
"Take thee, Thomas Lynx Riddle, to my hand, my heart, and my magic, to be my chosen. To desire thee and be desired by thee, to possess thee, and be possessed by thee. I shall not seek to change thee in any way. I shall respect thee, thy beliefs, thy people, and thy ways as I respect myself."
There is a bright silver light, and whatever their connection is between them strengthens. Harmony glances down at their clasped hands after the light fades to find a simple silver band around Tom's ring finger and an intricately designed ring on her own. It had three gems in it; a diamond, an emerald, and a ruby. Looking at it, it felt like something unusually happened between the two. She made a mental note to ask Tom later.
Elks was taking his wand and circling their hands and muttering an incantation "Hoc modo vinculum, et benedicat duobus" then tapped the clasp hands making the threads sink into their skin. "There it is done."
"Thank you," Tom says before raising the wand he never put away to Elk's head. "Obliviate '' He takes all the memories from after he said he can't fulfill the contract and makes it seem like the contract was a business one and that Harmony was in her glamour. The man stares off blankly as Tom rights the room. "Well, it's really too bad you can't do that for us. We will be taking our leave". He gestures with his wand at his now wife, and she once again is blonde.
With that, Tom takes Harmony's left hand once again, placing it on his folded arm, leading her to the door as he wandlessly hides their rings. Once they are back in the hall, Tom directs her the opposite way they came putting up a privacy charm around them.
"Are you going to berate me for what I did?" He asks, expecting more anger out of the calm girl beside him.
"No, we could not let him go and tell Dumbledore exactly what the contract is and my titles. This way, it will take the old coot longer to have any hint of what is actually going on."
"Hmm, that is very logical for a Gryffindor." The man states with no emotion.
She giggles. "I should have been in Slytherin. The hat said so. I should have listened, but I begged for another house." Tom's eyebrow raised at this piece of information. Well, someone has been hiding their true colors. "Tom, I feel like that was not normal wedding vows."
"Perceptive brat," he murmurs. "Yes, the normal vows stop at my chosen for contracted marriage, but you say you want us to be partners. So I felt like adding what we want from the other would add to our bond." There was more to it, and Harmony could tell, but she felt like pushing the issue when today was the first day of not being enemies and would put a strain on what they were trying to make.
"Okay, but where are we going?"
He sneers. "The hall of prophecy, there is something that has been bothering me."
They walk in silence for a moment before Harmony speaks up. "Well, share with the class."
The man sighs quietly. It will be a while before he is used to sharing his ideas without being prompted. He was so used to no one questioning him, it was refreshing in a way. "The contract has been around for almost a century, and the reason I went after you as a baby was because of a prophecy. It said you had the power to destroy me, but the contract says we can't kill or even permanently harm the other. Magic doesn't contradict itself like this."
Harmony pauses, letting Tom get ahead of her before he turns around to face her. "So, the prophecy is fake."
He nods grimly. "Yes, but who and why would someone fake a prophecy?"
On the other side of the country sat an older man sitting at his desk, working through a stack of paperwork. One of the many gadgets in the room starts spinning in warning; then, a loud blaring comes from the twirling object. Dumbledore jumps at the sudden noise. He looks over to see the suddenly activated object. He stares at it for a moment, searching through his memories to remember what it means.
His eyes open up wide when he remembers what this object tracked; it had been set up over a decade and a half ago. He is up and a white blur flying out his open window in a matter of seconds. He settles on the outside of the school's wards minutes later.
Apparating, he appears in the middle of a quiet, unassuming neighborhood, not caring who sees him. Walking up to the house with a four on it, he calls out.
"Moody," The scarred and disfigured man appeared beside his friend. "Have you seen anything?"
"From the reports of the others, Potter has been sick for the last few days. I saw her in her room when I started to watch. The door hasn't been opened." Moody replies. While using his cane for balance as he stretches out his back.
So they must not have opened her room for the last few days. The only wards still standing are the ones that make the silent watchers turn their heads, so they don't see when she is obviously abused. He makes a displeased sound in the back of his throat. What is going on? Uncaring of anything else, he storms up to the door. When he slams the door open, a red-faced whale of a man is storming towards him.
"What do you think your" He doesn't get any further before the headmaster flicks his wrist, and the man flies to the floor on the other side of the room. There is a shrill scream ringing through the air, but he ignores the muggles. Heading for the stairs instead. He pulls the elder wand twirling, making the locks undo before he is opening the door. Dumbledore has only had to take one glance to realize that this was an illusion. He fights from letting his magic explode in his anger. Who knows how long the girl had been gone?
He takes a deep breath and banishes the fake sick girl in the bed. He glances around. The owl's cage is still there, and there was still a mild ward under the bed. So her stuff is still there because the muggles would have noticed if her stuff was not under the stairs. So she will be back even though she had to dismiss this through the action of the word as not being her home. She will regret what she has done when he gets his hands on her. He did not work so hard all these years for her to slip through his fingers when everything was almost done. Two more months, that is all that's left.
Summing his Patronus, he sends a message to the order, telling them that the girl is missing and meeting at headquarters. Luckly, it is around lunch, so all should be able to attend. He goes down to see the disgusting muggle woman fretting over her husband as the boy stood against to watch with no emotions.
"Enough, where is Potter?" The headmaster demands getting the attention of the three.
The man sitting up on the floor glares at the wizard as his face turns a deep red. "The freak is up in her room. We have not let her out in days."
"She is not there. She hasn't been in days." The thick boy smirks at this, and a small chuckle leaves his mouth at the couple's confused looks. Dumbledore takes a moment to glance at him. He noticed that the boy had broken through some of the enchantments, but the most important is still there. The old man decides it is not worth his time. Turning back to the man, he mercilessly rips through his mind and finds that he does know nothing—Vernon groans from the painful intrusion of his mind.
Dumbledore sighs. This is a waste of time. Without wasting any more time, he apparates to the alley behind Grimmauld. It doesn't take him long to be in the narrow entrance of the Black family's ancestral home. From the yelling he hears coming from the kitchen, he is tempted to just turn around and go back out. But he continues. When he reaches the room, everyone is supporting worried looks or yelling at one person or another.
"Enough," he speaks with a sonorous charm making everyone wince at the loud sound in the confined space. He continues at a normal level once he has everyone's attention. "This will get us nowhere. Now, who was the first one to notice that Hari was sick?" Tonks steps forward with the question. "Ahhh, Nymphadora"
"I have told you it is Tonks." Her hair turns a light shade of red at him, ignoring, yet again, her hate for her first name. "I noticed her throwing up the morning three days ago." She says making sure that she does not bring up what her love and his best friend asked her the night before. She knows they have their reasons and she has noticed that the old man has been acting strangely lately. All the strange behavior directed at the young woman they are discussing, and getting worse the closer they got to her birthday. She is worried about her younger friend that Remus and Sirurus are so protective of. Once the headmaster's eyes leave her she glances at the two men to see them sitting separately from everyone else tense eyes full of angry.
"Hmm, so sometime since then, and today she has left the house and now has decided that it is not her home."
"What did they not buy the spoiled brat, the newest toy she asked for?" Snape snarks from his dark corner as far from everyone he can get.
There is the sound of the wood scratching wood before Sirus is standing glaring at the man. "Take that back. You don't know what she has had to go through there," Sirius says his mind is dancing with the things he saw and had not noticed before a few days.
"Sirius, calm down, but I do have to ask, do you have any idea of what she is doing? Has she told you anything? She doesn't talk to her friends anymore." Dumbledore intejects using his grandfatherly masks to try and seem worried for the girl.
Sirius has to actively keep himself from snorting at the old man's act. His eyes had been opened, and he could no longer be fooled. "No, the last time she talked to us was the night before Tonk's watch. We talked about how she is excited about her birthday and can't wait for her last year at Hogwarts. It is not like she would tell us anything like this because she would be worried that we would tell the order and stop her. She is determined for none of you to find anything out after the information blackout you did. Even if it means leaving the two of us in the dark until it is save." He lies while sprinkling in the wrongs the headmaster and the others had done o his pup.
"Well, the two have nothing to do with each other." Kingsley decides to speak up.
"Yeah, Dumbledore has just groomed her, and you all expect her to fight a dangerous Dark Lord while you all just kick back and watch. Even though she is not out of school and he is over twice her age." He crosses her arms glaring at the others in the meeting. "It is not like it's any kind of information that could save her life or help her win or anything like that." Remus quietly whines beside his sassing friend, worried about the others' reaction. Even though he completely agrees, they need to pretend they do not know what is going on.
"You will not talk to us like that, especially Professor Dumbledore! You will apologize now!" Molly shrieks. Arthur looks at his wife then Sirius in contemplation.
"Do I have red hair or look like the family you browbeat controlling shrew?" He notices that the two oldest of the Weasly offspring do not react to the accurate depiction of the mother. "This is my house that I remind you that I can't leave. If it offends your danity feelings; you are more than welcome to leave. Actually, I encourage it." He says back with a cold fury in his eyes. Everyone in the fight is confused by the Black's behavior. Normally his angered is not so controlled.
"Molly, Sirius, stop fighting. This is getting us nowhere. And Sirius, I do not have to explain my reasons to you. I will remind you that with you still being wanted, the chances of you sharing our secrets are more likely than the others. If you got caught they would question you ruthlessly." Remus hears the grinding of the Black's teeth at the thinly veiled threat. The Black trying to control himself. Repeating in his head, he can't reveal anything. Dumbledore barely pauses before sending people off to start the search. When he gets to Snape, only the Weasley parents Remus, Sirius, and Dumbledore are left in the house.
"Snape, I need you to cheek and make sure that she is not with Voldemort." The two marauders snort at this thought, but the headmaster ignores it for the moment.
The man raises a dark eyebrow at this. "You know I can't just appear without reason, and I know you don't want me to tell him that she is missing."
"No, I want you to tell him that you just found out about a marriage contract that will be activated on her birthday. That she will be happy marrying a young man of the Order."
"That is it," Sirius says, slamming his hands on the table, and everyone feels the Black family magic tightening around them. They fight to find that they are unable to move, even their fingers. Dumbledore tries to break the generations of magic only for it to press harder on him making it a snuggle for every breath.
Sirius knows that they can not show their cards yet, so he decides to play the ignorant play. "Who is this unknown and most likely illegal contract with?"
"I wouldn't tell" He stops as the magic presses harder, his ribs straining. "Ron." He wheezes out. With his answers, the hold lightens ever so slightly.
There is a growl, and he notices that Remus' eyes are gold. "That jealous, pig-headed, gluten will never touch Harmony. Even if I have to kill him." The werewolf growls out.
"You will not touch my child. He will get what is his." Molly gets out before the ancient dark magic silences her.
"So you knew about this. What about you, Arthur?" The man seems confused. Sirius is worried for his hopefully friend and uses the magic to search him. The black-haired man's eyes widen at what he finds. "Don't worry; I'll take care of it." The patriarch of the Wesley nods his head. Molly's eyes widen at the interaction. Fighting harder at her invisible bonds. "Remus, call Tonks back. I'm ready to get rid of the trash."
Struggling to keep the wolf in control, the man nods, sending out a Patronus. It is a matter of minutes before the metamorphous rejoins the group.
"What is going on?" She asked confusedly to see everyone, but the two marauders stuck.
"I need you to answer a question after I explain," Sirius says, guiding the woman away from the others so he can explain without the others hearing. "It has come to our attention that Harmony's relatives have mistreated her. Dumbledore knew and continued to make her go back" The woman covers her mouth in horror. She likes the younger girl. She never thought bad about her for her ability or that she and her mother were disowned from her family. Harmony told her that if they could not appreciate her, they were not worthy of her. "Now we just found out he made an illegal contract to marry her to Ron."
The woman's hair turns a vibrant red, almost seeming like flames. Turning to the headmaster, she is hexing the man before anyone knows what happened. The man grunts in pain at the stinging hex. Tonks turns back to her cousin. "I'm with Harmony," She says, having noticed that the girl did not like it when people change her name. It was easy to notice when she also gets upset about her own name.
"Even if it means that you have to do some unpleasant things?" She gives the nod as her eyes glow with conviction. Sirius smiles at his cousin. He was worried that after she had wormed her way into Remus' heart, she would leave him for this dispute. He was glad to see that would not be the case.
They rejoin the others. "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, you have been found unworthy of being the secret keeper of 13 Grimswald places. I relieve you of your duty." A gold ball of light leaves said man's chest is pulled from his chest into Sirius' hand. The headmaster was sweating from the strain of trying to stop the transfer. The black-haired man turns to his friend holding his girl's hand. "Remus John Lupin, standing before me, do you agree to be the secret keeper of 13 Grimswald Place. Let no one with ill intentions harm any on the premises."
"I take this mantle and will protect those in my care, so mote it be." With those words, the orb of light floats and enters the werewolf's chest.
"Now with that done," Sirius turns to the four still frozen. "I name Albus Dumbledore, Molly Wessley nee Prewitt, Ronald Wessley enemies of the house of Black. Albus are Molly and no longer welcomed here." With that pitch, black magic raises from the floor covering the two mentioned. Once cover, the magic swirls and throw the two out on their butts.
Now that Molly is gone, Aurthur is released and supported by Tonks. Everyone turns to Snape. "Now we are only giving you a chance because Harmony said you had saved her life a few times. One being from Remus as the wolf." Snape, at those words for once, loses his sneer and just looks at the others in the room. "Did you know about the contract?"
"No, I would have gone after the man myself if I had known. It would have gone against my vows if I allowed her to be with someone who beats his girlfriend."
"Vows, Beats, his girlfriend?" Remus asks
"Mr. Weesley beats Mrs. Granger. It is noticeable with how she flinched from his touch last year." He rolls his eyes. "As for vows, After pointing the Dark Lord to Lily from the part of a prophecy, I made a vow to protect Harmony," Sirius growls, and only his cousin's hand on his elbow keeps him from punching the git. "Trust me, Black; you can't hate me more than I do." He says sullenly. After looking at the man for a moment, Sirius finally releases him.
With a sigh, he looks at the group before him. "Oh, Merlin, Harmony is going to be mad at me."
"Wait, you know where she is?" Tonks jumps on her cousin for answers
