Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale.

As he walked into the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry was nervous, because in his mind this was the first test of whether they had managed to really change anything with what they had done over the past couple of months. It was Halloween, the anniversary of his parents' deaths, the one day of the year when it was guaranteed that things would fall apart for him in the last cycle, could he get through it without a disaster this time?

With this in mind, he looked around the hall. Over on the Gryffindor table, Fred and George hadn't really changed, their pranks were better planned, less destructive and more spectacular with Sirius and Remus coaching them, and their prospects were better with the family behind them, but they were basically the still the same larrikins that he and Hermione had gotten to know last time. For that matter, their half brother Ron Fudge hadn't really changed either, he was still a lazy, self obsessed walking stomach who believed that the world revolved around him and couldn't work out why he was sitting alone. The most notable change in him was that he was the one who was using the 'when my father hears about this' catch phrase this time instead of Draco, even though it was obvious to everyone that his father was avoiding him.

Draco, now he appeared to have changed, so far at least. Whether fear of being cast out of the Black family was enough to yield true change was another question altogether though. The only reason he made the effort was that Sirius threatened to take everything away from him if he didn't, so they would have to wait and see whether it would stick. Harry had to admit that he was looking forward to Draco finding out that his mother had taken up with a werewolf though, because Remus and 'Aunt Cissi' had been getting ever closer since Remus came back and started staying at Black House.

For that matter, he was sort of looking forward to the traditional Slytherins finding out that their House Mistress had taken up with the notable Gryffindor Transformation Master and Black blood traitor, Sirius, because that would really get to any who clung to the old beliefs.

Millie had certainly changed from how she was in the last cycle, but that was mainly because she'd been afraid to show her true self until her father was in Azkaban, now she was a true Slytherin Princess like Daphne, and she was admired as the brilliant beauty she was.

Closer to home in Ravenclaw, both Hermione and Luna were more confident and happier in this cycle, but once again, that was more because they'd been afraid to show their true selves in the last cycle, not to mention that Hermione was being potioned by that bitch who was now in Azkaban, may she rot in hell.

In Hufflepuff, Neville was happier and more confident, but that was just the true Neville shining through. Of course, the fact that they'd dragged him off to Diagon Alley and got him a proper wand in the first week instead of leaving him to struggle with his father's incompatible wand for five years probably helped. Harry made a mental note to show Neville's Gran what she did to him in the last cycle, her arrogance and dogmatic attitude had almost destroyed her grandson by the time he finally turned things around for himself. He would have had a much better life if she'd supported him.

So when it all came down to it, for better or for worse, the only person who seemed to have made a real change was Draco, and even that was questionable because that change had been brought about by fear.

Harry was jolted out of his introspection by a hot breath in his ear carrying a whisper. "I've decided that tonight is the night to start having sex, are you coming back or will I have to find someone else?"

He turned to stare at Hermione in shock. "What… What are you talking about?"

She giggled and leant in to kiss him on the cheek, whispering in his ear again. "I've been trying to get your attention for at least five minutes but you were in another world. So I decided to try something to shock you out of it. I guess it worked!"

Harry grinned at her. "You could say that!" he leaned in closer with a pout to whisper. "Does that mean that we won't be having sex after all?"

Hermione snorted before whispering back. "No love, you know that the Grey Lady was right, we're not ready for that yet. We've waited seven and a half years for this, a little longer won't hurt us. I want it to be right, so I'd rather wait until our bodies are ready."

The smile he gave her made her rethink her statement for a moment, until he whispered. "Of course! We've got our whole life in front of us, and no-one's going to interfere with us this time!"

She hugged him for that before continuing. "Not if they want to live! So where were you? What had you so preoccupied?"

"I was thinking about the fact that everything we've done so far hasn't really changed anyone, and that made me wonder whether we can really change anything. We've stopped Riddle and Dumbledore and their main followers, but the Ministry is starting to interfere now, where they didn't really do anything for years yet last time. Have we just shuffled the deck so the next few hands are a little different but it still ends up the same?"

Hermione hissed at him. "No! We have made a difference! Luna and her father are in a better space, and so is Arthur! We've freed him, and us, from being forced to do what Dumbledore and that bitch wanted. Neville will be that much stronger because he was spared five years of being told and believing that he was little more than a squib. And do you really think that sparing Sirius another three and a half years in that hellhole didn't make a difference?"

She reached over to pull his face up to make him look at her. "You stopped two monsters and by that saved thousands of lives and prevented untold suffering and you've have ripped control of this world from the Pureblood supremacists. Many of the people who stayed under their boots last time now have a stake in this world and a say in what happens to them, how can you say that that doesn't make a difference?"

"But what if all we did is create a new monster? Fudge is already getting more backing than he ever got in the last cycle, and the Purebloods are all getting behind him because they don't have Voldemort or Dumbledore to get behind any more. We saw last time what lengths Fudge will go to if he feels threatened or he doesn't get his way. How do you think he'll go with the Purebloods treating him as their champion?"

They weren't whispering any more, so Hermione took his hand and led him out of the Great Hall. The others went to follow them, but Hermione managed to convince all but Ulfr and Alastor to stay for the feast. As soon as she worked out that she wasn't going to manage to calm Harry's fears on her own, she dragged him to Black house via the trunk floo, Alastor and Ulfr of course went with them.

As she had been banking on, Sirius, Narcissa, Arthur and Amelia were there, because Amelia had been spending more and more time there since Arthur moved in. She explained Harry's concerns and they called for Andi and Ted, Augusta Longbottom and the Greengrasses to come over, as these were the other people in their camp who had the most knowledge of the politics of their world.

Alastor was quite ready to admit that he didn't know anywhere near as much about the machinations behind the movements of power as they did. He could look after the lass, but he wasn't up to managing her business, which was why at his suggestion they'd made Narcissa Hermione's new Regent and Proxy Holder. Sirius's proxies had also been transferred to the new Baroness Black, so that the two Black sisters now split the bulk of the Potter Alliance's voting block between them.

The Blacks had traditionally been power brokers in the politics of Magical Britain, so most children of the Black family were well versed in the politics of their world. Sirius had been the exception to this as he'd rebelled against the family from an early age, but both Andi and Cissi had mastered this element of family tradition, and that had quickly become obvious when between them they dominated the Wizengamot. Augusta had traditionally been a leader in Light House politics in the Wizengamot and Maximilian Greengrass was a leader in the Neutral Houses. As a well respected legal advocate of Magical Britain, Ted could address any legal questions and Amelia could address questions about the Ministry, so if this group couldn't answer Harry's concerns, no-one could.

When they heard Harry's concerns, they conceded that they weren't unfounded, but challenged most of his points as Hermione had. Ted pointed out that while the voting block that the Potter Alliance held and the fact that the majority of the Muggleborn and Neutral factions voted with them meant that the traditionalist Purebloods had little chance of getting any dodgy new laws passed, the Ministry could still use existing laws for their own ends, and there were many obscure laws that had been brought in over the history of Magical Britain that they would not like.

When he was asked for examples of this, Ted faltered as he tried to think of one but Max jumped in and spat out. "The Heritage Preservation Act!"

Most of them looked confused at that, but Augusta swore, and as that was the first time most of them had heard her swear, they were fairly sure that this was something bad. Ted looked grim when he dredged what it was up from the depths of his memory, but when none of them expanded on the subject, Amelia snapped. "Well, what is it?"

Ted took a deep breath to try and settle himself and spoke. "It was brought in during the last of the big Goblin Rebellions, when Magical Britain had been greatly reduced by the losses of the war. Quite a few of the Noble Houses had almost been wiped out in the fighting, and in the panic that followed, this act managed to get passed to ensure the continuity of the Noble Houses that ruled Magical Britain. Basically, what the Act says is that in times where the Noble Houses of Magical Britain are in peril, the Ministry has the right to enforce unions to ensure that the Noble Houses do not die out. What this means, is that the Ministry can force betrothals or marriages on unattached witches of childbearing age, but especially those who are Head or Heiress to their house without an heir, and any unattached wizard who is Head or Heir to his house and does not have an heir."

He paused and looked around the room. "This Act hasn't been used in over two hundred years, but the one time it was used, the Ministry used it to take control of the power and wealth of many rich houses by betrothing their daughters, many of them children, to the allies of the Ministry. They also used it to betroth the daughters of Muggleborn and other houses who had opposed them to their friends and Allies to punish and control their fathers."

The others just stared at him and Harry blurted out. "You've got to be bloody well joking! How can something like that be allowed to exist?"

"As I said, it hasn't been used in over two hundred years, so it's just about been forgotten, I know I that blocked it out it after I had to cover it when I was studying law. I expect that Max only remembered it because he's politically savvy and made a point of knowing anything what might threaten his girls..."

Max nodded grimly. "Yes, there are all sorts of rules that make a man with two daughters who often takes an opposing position to those in power lose sleep, but that's one of the worst of them."

They were all looking worried now, and Andi spoke up. "If there was ever anything they'd choose to use against us, it's this. The purge of the Death Eaters and Voldemort's supporters eradicated over a quarter of the Noble Houses, so they might get away with enacting it now. That would mean that we could need to arrange….."

Hermione cut in with. "Maybe thirty unions."

"What? It can't be that many!"

"It is if we're including Emmeline, Hestia, Dora, Remus, Amelia and Narcissa. I know that Emmeline, Hestia, Dora and Remus don't have Heirs and while the House of Bones and Narcissa do, Amelia and Narcissa would still qualify as unattached witches of childbearing age, and the part they've played in our successes will make them targets. It might be even more if we want to include Draco, Parvati and Professor Sinistra."

"Merlin's beard! I can't keep up with you Hermione, but I have no doubt you're right. What can we do? We can't cover all of those unions!"

Ted cut then. "Maybe we can. Hermione, how many of those unions are for houses that the girls have to maintain?"

"Maybe fifteen? I presume that all the girls except Astoria are the heirs to their houses?"

Andi shook her head. "No, as far as I know, Padma, Penny and Tracey aren't the heirs to their houses, and for that matter nor are Fred, George or Lee. Aurora mentioned once that she wasn't in line for her house either."

Narcissa interjected "Don't bother including Draco, I don't know where my son stands as yet, and they can't get any more than my title if they force a union onto him anyway."

Ted nodded. "In that case I think we can cover everyone if the Diggories and Patils agree, if they don't we may have to try something more drastic."

He summoned parchment, ink pot and quill, putting them in front of Hermione and saying. "Can you write out lists of the male and female houses that you think we need to cover please Hermione."

When she quickly did that, he said. "For a start, match the houses that you have to maintain to the most compatible houses on Harry's list."

When she did that he nodded. "Good, now before we go any further, I should explain what I'm thinking here, we'll go through it all with everyone to make sure they all agree before we do anything of course, but this is just to see if it's workable. You see we have two types of betrothal and marriage contracts in Magical Britain. There's the standard one which is for continuing the male line, and another one that was passed into law back in the days of the Goblin wars to continue houses via the female line where no male heirs survived. In the female line contracts, the children take the name of the mother and continue her house's line. There is a caveat on these though that allows for both the male and female line contracts to be entered into for the same couple and where that is used the issue will alternate between the houses. Arthur, you should know this, because that must have used for your marriage to Molly for Charlie to have become Head of the House of Prewett."

Arthur shook his head. "I don't know that I was ever told that Ted, if I did my memory of it was removed. As far as I know the first I had ever heard of Charlie inheriting the House of Prewett was when I got that note in the Wizengamot."

Ted ducked his head. "I'm sorry Arthur, I didn't realise. But that's what I'm planning on using here. For Harry's four houses that Hermione has matched her houses to, I'm proposing to write both male and female line betrothal contracts, this will satisfy the needs of both houses for each pairing. All of these betrothal contracts will stipulate that marriage and consummation is not to be discussed until both parties have reached their majority, and that they can be cancelled up until the marriage by agreement between the two houses. Max, Anastasia, if you agree I propose to write a male line contract for Astoria and female line contract for Daphne to Harry as the Heir to the House of Black…."

The Greengrasses looked at each other and nodded, so Max looked back at Ted and nodded again.

"As Millie is extremely vulnerable as an unattached head of a major house, especially after her ordeal, I'd like to have her linked to Harry who has the strongest houses, so I'll write both male and female line contacts between her as the Head of the House of Bulstrode and Harry as the Heir to the House of Flamel."

"Augusta, Amelia, I think a female line contract between Neville and Susan and a male line contract between Neville and Tracey makes sense?..."

Augusta and Amelia nodded.

"Arthur, I propose female and male line contracts between Angelina and Fred and Katie and George, with the female lines taking precedence as the lines to be continued?"

Arthur nodded.

"Male and female line contracts between Bill and Dora."

Arthur nodded again and Ted looked at Andi who also nodded.

"A male line contract between Charlie as the Head of the House of Prewett and Penny."

Arthur nodded again.

"And a male line contract between you and Amelia."

Amelia nodded with a smile to Arthur and he matched it, looking back at Ted and nodding again.

"I suggest female and male line contracts between Lee and Luna, with House Lovegood taking precedence again as she has the house to continue. A male line contract between you and Remus Narcissa, and a female line contract between him and Emmeline."

Narcissa nodded.

"Then all that's left is a male line contract between Sirius and Aurora and a female line contract between him and Hestia….."

Andi cut in. "You do know that Sirius can't sire any children after what he went through in Azkaban, don't you Ted?"

He nodded. "Yes love, none of this is about actually continuing lines, the purpose is purely to put the legal frameworks in place to protect us from the Ministry trying to force any of our people into unions with someone they choose. If we have these legal contracts in place for everyone at risk, the Ministry won't be able to touch them with the Heritage Preservation Act…. And that brings us to the ones I'm most worried about, Cedric, Padma and Parvati. Cedric's father is faithful to the Ministry…. don't forget how he tried to revoke the permission that Cedric's mother gave for him to move into the tower for his own safety…. and Padma and Parvati's parents are all about getting suitable matches for their daughters….."

He paused and looked at Amelia "Close your ears for a moment Amelia."

Looking back at the others he continued. "The best chance of this succeeding might actually be to put a compulsion on both the Diggories and the Patils to convince them that Cedric fell in love with Padma but she insisted that her and Parvati were a package deal, so if he wanted anything from her he'd have to take both of them, permanently. They should sign the contracts if they believe that."

Amelia shook her head. "My main problem with that isn't the illegality of what you're proposing Ted, it's that I doubt that it would work."

"Yeah, I know, but the only other option I can think of is to have Padma become a vassal of the House of Potter, and then have Andi, as Harry's Regent, sign a male line contract between Padma and Harry as the Heir of Flamel. If we took that option though, we'd just have to hope that Cedric will be safe because his father's in the Ministry and that they'll leave Parvati alone because she's not part of us."

That shocked them all into silence, because up until Ted slapped them in the face with that, this had been an interesting exercise in outwitting the Ministry, but that brought them face to face with the reality of what could actually happen. Ted had given Hermione an idea with that though.

"What if Cedric became the vassal of the House of Potter and we got Padma and Parvati to help convince their parents that they all fell in love and the girls are willing to share Cedric? The fact that Cedric was willing become a vassal of a more powerful house to make this happen would support the idea that they're in love, and being linked to the powerful House of Potter would no doubt make him be more attractive to their parents than just being the Heir of a lesser Noble House…."

They all stared at her, and then Ted and Amelia nodded, almost together. Ted smiled at her. "I do believe that that would work, and better yet, it's quite legal! I'm sure Parvati would go along with it even if she doesn't believe the threat is real, because Dora tells us that she's got a crush on Cedric. You really are a brilliant witch Hermione! The only potential problem I can see is Amos arguing that Cedric was confounded into doing it, but we can disprove that easily enough by getting Cedric tested by St Mungo's."

He snorted, "Of course, Cedric may be forced to follow through with the act a little to 'prove his love' with Parvati at least, even though I don't think that Padma would insist on that."

The others burst out laughing at that, because they could just see the flirty Parvati insisting on something like that, but they didn't see Cedric really minding making out with the beautiful Indian Princess either, and they knew that he'd make sure that it didn't go too far, so it was something that none of them had an issue with.

It was agreed that they'd sit down and talk this through with everyone, and then talk to the parents who weren't part of the group. When they went to the parents, the stipulation in the contracts that they would wait until both parties had reached their majority to make the decision about when they would marry put that decision at least three years down the track for everyone except for Bill, Charlie, Dora and Penny (and the adults of course), which should make them more comfortable with the idea.

Most of the parents had seen enough in the past ten to fifteen years to understand and agree with the concerns that the group held about the Heritage Protection Act, and the fact that the most of the group had already done this reinforced to the parents that they were serious about this.

Cedric, Padma and Parvati had little trouble convincing the Patels that they were in love and serious about getting betrothed and they readily signed the contracts, though Cedric had to put on a display of affection with Parvati as expected. Now they were just waiting to see how long it took for Amos Diggory to discover that his son had a) become a vassal of the House of Potter and b) become betrothed to the two Patil girls, then the fun would begin.

They had had Cedric tested for charms before and after the betrothal contracts were signed and specifically asked the healers to check for removed charms both times. With the official statements from St Mungo's that Cedric was clear of charms and that there had been no sign of any removed charms either, Amos wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

They got their proof that they hadn't been paranoid when they came back from the Christmas break, because Andi, Alastor, Augusta and Amelia were all owled notices to say that under the Heritage Protection Act, Harry, Hermione, Neville and Susan had been selected as examples of endangered houses and therefore the Ministry decreed that they would be betrothed to the most suitable matches. More notices came in for all of the students except for Fred, George and Lee, and Dora, Bill and Charlie got them as well.

It wasn't only them who were receiving these notices though, quite a few families who voted with the Muggleborn and Neutral factions and parents of other exceptionally talented Muggleborn witches did as well. Luckily most of them had heeded the warnings that were quietly given after Halloween, and they had used the betrothal contracts that Ted had put together as the template for the contracts to betroth their sons and daughters to like minded girls and boys. The parents were very grateful for the warnings when they saw the 'suitable matches' that the Ministry was trying to link their children to, though none were more onerous than the contracts to link Hermione to Ronald Fudge, Penny to Percival Crouch and Harry to Ginevra Scrimgeour.

Narcissa did receive a notice for Draco, but at the Wizengamot session where the Ministry notices were addressed en-mass, Sirius advised the Ministry officials that if Draco became betrothed to their choice, they would have to issue a new contract for Draco No-Name, because he would be cast out of the family Black and therefore no longer be the Heir to Narcissa Black's title.

The Ministry official tried to say that he couldn't do that, so Ted just requested clarification from the court officials. When the court officials ruled that the Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black had every right to cast out any member of the House of Black and thereby remove them as an Heir to any branch of the House of Black, the Ministry officially withdrew Draco's betrothal contract.

Next the Ministry tried to get a ruling made that Harry and Hermione could not have multiple betrothal contracts with one another, and therefore have all of their betrothal contracts cancelled, but Ted just supplied the court officials with references to numerous instances over history that showed that this was a common practice for families which included multiple houses. After the court officials shot that down as well, the Ministry officials who had been sent to the Wizengamot session to stomp on any complaints about the Ministry betrothal contracts and return with the families' signed acceptances were starting to panic.

Ted went through the Ministry betrothal contracts issued for the family and shot them down one after the other, showing in each case that legally binding betrothal contracts between the families had been registered with Gringotts, as was traditionally required under law in Magical Britain, back in November and that this was reflected in the magical records as at those dates. Therefore, as Ted and the other solicitors went through the ministry betrothal contracts for the people that they were representing, the vast majority of the Ministry contracts were made invalid by pre-existing legal betrothal contracts that had been properly registered months ago.

Ted pointed out that the Ministry would have known this it they had attempted to register their contracts, or checked the magical records for that matter. (The Ministry's loathing of the Goblins almost guaranteed that they would not have done this.)

The few who had ignored their warnings were the only ones who failed to have the Ministry's betrothal contracts rejected by the Wizengamot, and they were small fish. All of those contracts that the Ministry people had specifically been tasked by the Minister himself with ensuring that they were ratified had been rejected and there seemed no way of getting around the legal contracts that were already in place.

They had no doubt that they'd be severely punished if they went back and told the Minister and his Senior Undersecretary that they'd failed to have any of the most important contracts ratified, so they made one last, desperate attempt and claimed that there was an obvious conspiracy to defy the lawful orders of the Ministry of Magic going on here, because these so-called betrothal contracts had all supposedly been lodged within a few weeks of each other. Their spokesman made the mistake of shaking the parchments in his hand at the bench and Madam Marchbanks had him. "What's that you are waving about, bring it here!"

Only then did he realise what he'd done and he tried to say that they were nothing, they were just some parchments he'd happened to have in his hand. "Well there should be no problem with presenting them as I have ordered you to. Bring. Them. Here. Now!"

He'd missed the signal to the Chamber Guards, but he couldn't miss the fact that four guards were converging on him, so he did the only thing that he could under the circumstances and went forward to hand them over to the Clerk of the Court. The clerk cast spells to duplicate the lists and then presented the originals to the Chief Witch, who murmured to him to check the affiliations of all the names on the lists before beginning to look at them herself.

Madam Marchbanks frowned as she looked through the lists, but waited for her clerk to finish doing what she had asked him to do and turn around. When he did so, she asked. "Have you found any patterns in the lists that you have examined Somersby?"

"Yes, Ma'am, the recipients of the betrothal contracts issued by the Ministry of Magic under the Heritage Protection Act on the first page nearly all belonged to families who are part of what is generally known as the Potter Alliance. The ones on the second page are mostly part of the Muggleborn or Neutral factions in the Wizengamot."

"And those they were to be betrothed to?"

"The other parties all belonged to families who are either connected to the Ministry of Magic or who have recently supported the Minister for Magic Ma'am."

"I see, thank you Somersby."

She pierced the Ministry official with a look that made him wish he was anywhere but here. "It appears that there is indeed a conspiracy going on here Mister Habersham, but we have been misled as to who is perpetrating it. Please present the Ministry's justification for enacting the Heritage Protection Act at this time, and the criteria that was used for selecting the houses to be bound by these Betrothal contracts."

"I. I do not have that information with me Ma'am."

"Well it must on file, send someone to retrieve it and bring it here now. And tell them to hurry, we have wasted considerable time on this matter already!"

He was about to say that he couldn't do that but he didn't think that he would survive the attempt, so he grabbed one of the others and hissed at him to go get the bloody documentation that she wanted and get back quick smart!

As the lesser minion ran off to try and get something that would placate the Chief Witch, she addressed Ted. "Lord Tonks, you appear to be representing nearly everyone on this first page. I must agree that it is strange to see so many betrothal contracts being formally lodged together in a time when the practice has fallen out of favour with most families. I don't see many of these young people listed agreeing to something like this without good reason, are you able to share with us their reasons for doing so?"

Ted looked up at the boxes which made up the top tier of the Wizengamot seats and were occupied by Harry, Andi, Hermione, Narcissa and Sirius as the representatives of the only Noble and Most Ancient Houses in the Wizengamot. Harry shared a look with Hermione and nodded to Ted, so he answered the Chief Witch.

"It was Lord Potter Ma'am. He had a foreboding of something bad coming on Halloween, which you may remember is not a happy night for his family, and Lady Granger called for a family meeting to help talk him out of his concerns. We didn't manage to talk him out of them, and in fact he convinced us that there may be good reason for his misgivings. When we were discussing what form what was worrying Lord Potter may take, someone mentioned the Heritage Protection Act and he agreed that that was it."

He glanced dismissively at the Ministry table before looking back at Madam Marchbanks. "You may recall that Lord Potter and Lady Granger have not been well treated by the Ministry since they accepted their places in our society Ma'am, so when he heard that the Ministry could order them to be betrothed to whoever it may choose, Lord Potter was concerned, for Lady Granger more than himself, so he asked her if she would agree to marry him when they were old enough and she said yes. It was quite touching actually Ma'am. Anyway, while I was writing up the betrothal contracts as requested for the two of them, the rest of our group discussed this and came to the consensus that as Lord Potter has normally been proven correct when he has been concerned about such things, arrangements should be made to ensure that everyone in our group would be protected against this in case his concerns came to pass. I would say that the fact that we are here today shows that Lord Potter's forebodings were in fact quite valid Ma'am."

"A moving story, thank you Lord Tonks. Tell me, does Lord Potter get these forebodings often? Would you say that he is a seer?"

Ted looked up at Harry again but this time proceeded without asking permission. "He gets them occasionally Ma'am, and as I said he is usually proven correct when he does. As to whether he is a seer, well I'd say that depends on what your definition of a seer is. I'm sure that he would deny it and say that he only gets these feelings occasionally, but as I've said, when he does they've more often than not proven correct..."

He paused, as if uncertain whether to continue. "When I read the particulars of the Heritage Protection Act, I must admit that I was dubious, because I didn't see how the criteria for enacting it could be met in today's society, but I was acting on my client's orders so I completed and lodged the betrothal contracts in accordance with requirements. Given the fact that our friends, their children and my own daughter and sister-in-law wished to follow Lord Potter and Lady Granger's lead in this, I ensured that the contracts for all of them were properly completed and lodged, and as I said, this was obviously the right move."

"Would you happen to have a copy of the Heritage Protection Act with you Lord Tonks? We were not informed that this was the basis for what was being brought before of us today so we did not come prepared with copies. I would like to refresh my memory of the terms of the Act."

Ted hid his smile as he said. "Most certainly Madam Chief Witch." and took the document (with breakdowns of everyone who the Ministry betrothal contracts had been issued to the two times it had been enacted attached) to the Clerk of the Court, who once again copied the documents and handed the originals to the Chief Witch. They both had plenty of time to read the documents because it was well over half an hour before the Ministry official returned, but he didn't come back with the required documentation, he brought the Minister for Magic's Senior Undersecretary, Delores Umbridge, instead.

Madam Marchbanks ignored Umbridge as she skewered the man who had returned empty handed with a look. "Where is the documentation that you were told to bring man? You have been gone for over half an hour and you return with nothing?"

Umbridge was trying to get her attention with her usual false throat clearing. "Hem Hem!" "Hem Hem!" "Hem Hem!" until Madam Marchbanks turned on her. "What? Do you have the documentation I required hidden on you somewhere Miss Umbritch?"

Umbridge only just managed to avoid snapping at the Chief Witch that respect for her position must be shown because she was the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, and responded with a terse. "That is Madam Umbridge! And no, the Minister has asked me to come and explain this matter to you as you obviously do not understand what is going on here."

She had a hard time swallowing her response when the Chief Witch looked at the Clerk of the Court and clearly said. "This should be interesting!" before turning back to Umbridge and saying. "Very well Miss Umbritch. Explain the Ministry's justification for enacting the Heritage Protection Act at this time, and the criteria that was used for selecting the houses to be bound by these betrothal contracts that they have issued!"

Umbridge gritted her teeth and ground out. "All the details of what was involved in the Ministry's decision to enact the Heritage Protection Act requirements and the process used for selecting the parties for the betrothals would take much too long to explain Madam Marchbanks. All that is important here is that these illegal betrothal contracts that these people have fabricated must be cancelled and the rightful betrothal contracts issued by the Ministry must be enforced!"

Madam Marchbanks looked at her for about thirty seconds and then said "I must wonder about your ability to explain even simple matters then Miss Umbritch, as it clearly says right here….." looking down, she continued as she read the definition from the Act. "In times of war, when the on-going conflict is endangering the continued existence of the ruling Noble Houses, the Ministry of Magic may mandate betrothal contacts for the surviving members of endangered houses for the purpose of ensuring the continuance of their lines." She looked up at Umbridge briefly before continuing. "And the criteria for selecting the houses to be joined by these betrothal contracts is…. Any Endangered Houses with only one living member will be joined to another house with a proven propensity for generating offspring, to ensure that Heirs will be born to prevent that line from dying out."

She looked up then "Miss Umbritch, according to any reports that I have been privy to, we are not currently in a time of war, let alone an on-going conflict which is threatening to kill off the Noble Houses, so once again I ask, what justification does the Ministry offer for enacting the Heritage Protection measures at this time?"

Umbridge just looked at her.

"Perhaps that was too difficult, lets try something simpler. The Act defines Endangered Houses as those with only one living member, but of the list in front of me here, only Lord Potter and perhaps Lady Bulstrode and Percival Crouch meet that criteria, in fact there are multiple members of three different families on this list. However I see no mention of numerous other houses that I know to have been reduced to a single member, so I must give credence to what the Clerk of the Court has noted, that nearly every recipient on the primary list for Ministry's betrothal mandates is a member of what is generally known as the Potter Alliance, while the secondary list is made up of members of Muggleborn or Neutral Houses who oppose the Minister's interests. I will leave that for now to address the other half of these mandates. As I read out, the criteria for these houses is the proven propensity for generating offspring, which I would have thought any fool could read to mean having a number of children, and yet the families of most of the ones on this list have only had one child for the past two or three generations. In addition to this, my Clerk has identified all of the names on this list as belonging to the Ministry or Minister Fudge's supporters."

She stopped and looked at Umbridge for a while. "Miss Umbritch, I demand answers! The Ministry has demonstrably made illegal use of the Heritage Protection Act in an obvious attack against those who Minister Fudge regards as his opponents, for the benefit of his supporters. If the Ministry wishes to avoid serious repercussions here, you will give me the answers I require now, and they had better be good ones!"

Umbridge tried to bluster. "You have no right to demand anything of the Minister! The Minister has rightfully required this and it is your responsibility to enforce his orders!"

Madam Marchbanks snapped at the chamber guards to bind and silence her. Umbridge could do nothing but watch and silently rage as the Chief Witch addressed the Wizengamot.

"The Clerk of the Court is now distributing copies of the documents that we have been discussing here. There is no doubt in my mind that the Ministry has wilfully breached the conditions and intent of the Heritage Protection Act in order to use it as a medium to attack notable Wizengamot members in a blatant attempt to seize the power and wealth of their houses and gain the upper hand in the Wizengamot. The documentation that you are receiving includes lists of those houses that betrothal contracts were being forced upon, and who the other parties in those contracts were on both occasions that Heritage Protection has been enacted. On both occasions, the Ministry has ignored the conditions and requirements of the Act and used it for its own gain. I will be calling on the Minister for Magic to come before the Wizengamot with all requisite evidence to answer the apparent illegality of the Ministry's actions here. At this time, I order all remaining Ministry issued betrothal orders null and void as they were not lawfully issued."

She stopped and looked around the Wizengamot seats. "There is a larger issue here however, in that the two times that the Heritage Protection Act has been activated, it was done in defiance of the conditions and requirements inherent to the Act and used for nefarious purposes. I therefore submit that, given the way that it has been misused on the only two occasions that it has been activated by the Ministry of Magic, the Heritage Protection Act in fact endangers the integrity of the Noble Houses of Magical Britain and propose that we hereby abolish this Act to prevent any further attempts to misuse it in this way."

"A further document has been included in what you have been provided which is another act that was passed last year. This act enables the Ministry to override any will that may exist and seize all holdings and worth of any house where the last member of the house dies before they reach their majority. I submit that this is another Act which endangers the Noble Houses, because it provides a significant incentive for nefarious individuals to assassinate the last member of a Noble House for the purpose of claiming the fortune of that house. I propose that this Act also be abolished, to protect the members of the Noble Houses from assassination."

She left the Wizengamot members to read the documents, and just looked at Umbridge trying to fight her bindings for a while. If they'd been listening, and they would have because she set them up to, she'd planted the barbs to make them think about the fact that many of the houses in their own factions could be put at risk by this Act that Dumbledore and Fudge had put through last year. At the time many of them had agreed to it, following the lead of those who directed their factions, but now they had to wonder, were they really safe from this? Fudge was proving himself to be more ambitious than he had previously, and he'd lost most of his contributors and half of what he had on the day of the purge. This, when combined with the fact that their factions were far weaker than they'd been in the past and therefore could not protect them the way that they used to, should make them rather nervous about leaving tools like these two Acts in Fudge's hands.

Madam Marchbanks had left them to stew on that for well over half an hour, using the excuse that she was giving them sufficient time to read the documents, so she wasn't too surprised when she called for the votes to abolish the laws and she got a clear majority to do so both times. She didn't bother trying to hide her smile of triumph when she ordered Umbridge released from her bindings and sent her back to Fudge. That look of triumph morphed into a malicious grin when Umbridge literally ran out of the chamber in an attempt to get to a loo before she had an accident, because she'd been locked there in the binding charm for at least forty five minutes.

When Madam Marchbanks went to leave the chamber, Amelia asked to have a word in private with her, so she went back to her office with her for a talk. When they'd settled down, each with a glass of Firewhiskey, Amelia started. "Well for a start, on behalf of Susan and the rest of us, thank you for stopping those hideous Ministry betrothal contacts, and even more so for getting those two atrocious laws abolished, not having them hanging over the kids' heads is certainly a relief, but that brings us to what I asked you here for…. Stopping Fudge and his minions like that was wonderful, but we're afraid that it has put you at risk, so we'd like you to accept a few of the things that we rely on to keep us safe. You can call them a loan and return when we're sure you're safe if it makes you feel better, but we'll feel a lot better if we know that you have the means to keep yourself safe."

Griselda looked at her for a while and nodded slowly. "Alright Amelia, we'll call them a loan, for a while at least, so what are we talking about?"

Amelia smiled as she put one of the mirrors on the desk. "This for a start. These communications mirrors will work anywhere and will let you contact anyone else who has one. We don't know how far they'll reach yet, but we do know that they'll reach at least as far as Romania and Egypt. Once we set it up to recognise your magical signature, all you have to do is open it and say the name of the person you want to talk to. But this is what you'll really love..."

She returned the trunk on the floor beside the desk to its full size, and opening the lid on one side, she waved Griselda in. When she joined her inside, she was greeted with. "This is bigger than my flat!"

Amelia smiled. "It's a lot more secure, too! We'll go over the features, but these are warded better than most houses. You could actually leave it in your office and live in here quite comfortably, in fact that's what I do much of the time now. Quite frankly, I think that would be a lot safer than travelling to and from your flat, but if you insist on living in your flat, we can get the goblins in to ward it properly for you. You remember how Harry told us that the Floo Network is compromised at some point?"

Griselda nodded.

"Well these trunks have a secure private Floo Network linking them. There are twenty trunks all up on it but a few aren't in use yet. I leave one in my office, so if you do leave your's in your flat you can get to the Ministry via that one. I'll get your magic registered to everything and tell you all the security codes, but for now why don't I show you around?"

After a fifteen minute tour, Griselda decided that the living arrangement inside of her trunk was more comfortable than her flat, so they just went back to her flat to get her things and put them into the trunk before they headed to her office. Amelia put stronger wards on the office so that most people couldn't get in unless Griselda let them in, and then they used the trunk floo to head to Black House where they were having a little party to celebrate beating Fudge and having those two laws abolished.

Griselda asked whether they were going to cancel the betrothals now and Harry shook his head. "I don't know about the others, but Hermione and I at least are staying with them. As you noted last time we talked, we're in it for the long haul, and staying betrothed won't change that. Keeping the contracts in place may also protect us from anyone else trying something of this nature."

Griselda smiled at him. "As usual you have everything thought out Lord Potter…."

"Harry, please, Ma'am. I only use Lord Potter with outsiders and I don't believe that that applies to you, does it?"

That got another smile. "No, I don't believe it does…. So, what are you." waving her hand around to indicate the group in general. "planning to do about Fudge? We cannot leave him to keep doing what he's doing."

Harry stepped closer, so she knew that he hadn't shared this with the group at large yet. "We will have to weather the storm for a while, and let Fudge make the mistakes that will build enough popular support to bring him down. Over that time, we'll be doing our best to ensure people come to see who is the better man for the job."

"And that is?"

Harry turned to look pointedly at Arthur and Griselda chortled. "Oh yes, I can see that. The man he is now that he's free of what was done to him is capable of bringing Magical Britain back to its former glory. I approve Harry! So what other changes to the Ministry do you have planned?"

Harry looked around quickly. "Well the Umbitch has to go…."

"Umbitch! That's delightful, I must remember that next time I have to talk to the creature."

"Yes, quite aside from her loathsome views and willingness to do anything to support Fudge, I must admit that I have a few personal issues with her from the last time, as she sent dementors to kill me when I was with my Muggle relatives and made extensive use of a blood quill to punish me and try and force me to parrot the stories Fudge made up to convince everyone that Voldemort wasn't back. The other big change that I'd like to see is to get rid of the man that the Ministry tried to make into my father-in-law. Scrimgeour hasn't done his worst yet this time around, but we can dig up enough to discredit him and get him out of the Auror's office and the Ministry. That will also disqualify Scrimgeour from making a credible play for the Minister's position, you may remember that I told you he took over from Fudge last time. I'll be trying to convince Madam Bones to make Kingsley the head Auror when we get rid of him, because we need someone who can be trusted in that role."

Griselda shook her head with a smile. "I can only say that I'm glad I'm on the same side as you Harry, I'd hate to be going up against you. That is not a healthy place to be from what I have seen."

Harry grinned at that and they went back to enjoying the party. When the party wound down the guests used the trunk floo to go back to Hogwarts and their homes, while Griselda went back to her new residence which was sitting in her office.

Back at Hogwarts, they offered Parvati and Professor Sinistra the option of getting out of their betrothal contracts after a suitable wait, but Parvati was quite enamoured with the idea of being betrothed to Cedric, even if her twin sister was as well, and Aurora was happy to leave her's in place to give Sirius a nudge towards making it into something more permanent, they hadn't been together that long, but she was quite liking being with the larrikin. The rest of the family decided to leave their's in place as well, they always had the option to get out of them if they wanted to, and for the most part they liked the feeling of security they gave, so most of them started wearing their betrothal rings openly.

They weren't the only ones either, many of the others who'd taken heed of the warnings and gotten betrothed last November made the same decision to keep their betrothal contracts in place until such a time as they decided that they wanted something else. Others at the school weren't happy about that, because many of the best and most enticing prospects at Hogwarts were off the market now.

For many, Hogwarts had traditionally been a place to locate and land their future mate as much as a place of learning, so having the majority of the more interesting options now locked into betrothal contracts cramped the style of those who had been after them. Of course, it made the prefects' jobs easier, because the instances of upset girls or bewildered boys who had been lured into broom closets by those intent on nabbing them was considerably reduced. Now what they found there were generally willing participants who were getting the gratification that they'd been after.

Of course, they should have realised that they couldn't put the Ministry's gambit behind them so easily, because Percy Crouch and Ron Fudge apparently believed that the Ministry's idea about them being joined to Penny and Hermione was right and proper, and they were determined to make it come true.

Percy at least was bright enough to get the message and give up after he ended up in the infirmary with a broken arm because an enraged Penny gave up trying to convince him that it was never going to happen and pushed him down a flight of stairs.

Ron however wasn't anywhere near that bright and he kept coming back every time Hermione put him in the Infirmary. Hermione's memories of what he'd done to her in the last cycle meant that she didn't pull her punches, and her development and training this cycle made his injuries quite severe. Madam Pomfrey commented one time that if she didn't stop kicking him so hard down there he'd be sterile before the month was out because he'd already had a ruptured testicle, and while she was a little taken aback when Hermione looked her straight in the eye and said. "Would that be a bad thing? I would have thought the prospect of wiping out the line of Molly Prewett and Cornelius Fudge would be something to be celebrated!" after a while she nodded thoughtfully and said. "Yes, you may have something there actually Lady Granger."

Hermione shook her head. "Madam Pomfrey, I will not stop doing what I must to rebuff Ronald Fudge's unwanted advances until he stops attempting to force his attentions on me. If he dies before he does so, well I don't believe that that would be a loss."

Madam Pomfrey nodded again, "Of course Lady Granger, you have every right to protect yourself against unwanted advances."

They shared a malicious grin as they parted.

The other development that came in the wake of the Ministry Betrothal Scandal (this was the headline Xeno had used when the affair was reported on the front page of the Daily Prophet the next day) was that Madam Marchbanks quietly gave the voting proxies for the Noble and Ancient House of Marchbanks to Augusta Longbottom. The Clerk of the Court knew about this, as he was the witness when she formally assigned the proxies to Madam Longbottom, but no-one else would know unless they examined the magical records of the Wizengamot voting system, and this was something that very few people had the authority to do.

All most people in the Wizengamot knew was that when Madam Longbottom cast her vote, that vote applied to all votes that she controlled, not that she cast the votes for the Noble and Ancient Houses of Longbottom, Bones, McGonagall and Marchbanks.

This was also why others did not know that Narcissa cast the votes for the Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Black as well as the Noble Houses of Granger, Lupin, Vance, Jones and Lovegood.

As it was done publicly, the Wizengamot did know that Andi cast the votes for the Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Potter, Peverell, Gryffindor and Slytherin, but not the fact that she also cast the votes for the Noble and Ancient Houses of Flamel and Bulstrode.

The fact that Arthur cast the votes for the the Noble and Ancient Houses of Prewett and Weasley was known, as was that Max cast the votes for the Noble and Ancient Houses of Greengrass and Davis, and that Alastor cast the vote for the Noble and Ancient House of Moody.

What it came down to was that it was common knowledge that the Potter Alliance was the most powerful faction in the Wizengamot, but most has no idea about quite how powerful it was.