I've been in a bit of a writing funk lately and have started writing chapters for several of my WIP's only to hit a wall. I came back to this one, one of my favourites and the words just flew out. I hope you enjoy there's a bit of an alternate POV change in this chapter, also some creative license with the timeline, just roll with it, it's fanfiction!
Chapter 13
Abraxas fought not to roll his eyes as Meadow simpered at a pretty robe that hung in the shop window.
"Oh, can we go inside and have a look?" the older Slytherin asked, gripping his arm firmer as she started moving toward the shop's door.
"Of course," Abraxas acquiesced, following his date inside. He tried not to look too bored as he was shown robe after robe in varying shades, like he cared. He could barely focus on what she was saying, when all his thoughts as of late centred solely around one Harry Potter.
"The blue, I think" he murmured softly when two robes were held up for his inspection.
How lovely Harry would look in blue, Abraxas thought as they continued to browse.
He glanced down at his pocket watch, he still had an hour before the meeting with his father, it couldn't come quick enough. Unfortunately for Abraxas, Meadow managed to spend that whole hour shopping for new clothing. It was only years of practice and good breeding that kept him looking mildly interested throughout.
It took extreme effort to extricate himself from her clutches when the time drew near for him to leave.
"Must you go?" Meadow asked, once again clinging to his arm.
Abraxas nodded, "yes, I have a meeting with my father that cannot be delayed."
Meadow pouted, "I thought we were going to spend the whole day together."
Abraxas bit back a sigh, "I will meet you at Mirabelle's in one hour."
He strode away before she could voice anymore objections, heading to the three broomsticks. He gave his name at the door and was immediately shown to a private room where none other then his father and grandfather sat waiting. Both greeted him warmly.
"It is good to see you" his grandfather, Lucius murmured as Abraxas took a seat at the table.
"You are looking well" his father, Hyperion said as he called for a house elf to begin serving them.
"I am quite well, thank you" Abraxas said, feeling his heart flutter slightly in nerves.
"Why have you called us here?" Lucius asked. "It must be important if you did not wish to discuss it in a letter.
"I felt it was a matter that was better discussed face to face" Abraxas agreed, taking a fortifying sip of his tea. Both his father and grandfather sat watching him quietly, knowing he would speak when he was ready.
"I wish to cancel my betrothal to, Meadow."
Both Lucius and Hyperion looked surprised.
"You do not wish to marry her?" Hyperion asked in confusion. "When last we spoke all was going well."
"As well as they can go with a girl like Meadow" Abraxas agreed. "But things have changed since then."
"Changed, how?" Hyperion asked, eyeing his son carefully.
"I have developed feelings for another and wish to have the freedom to pursue them."
Lucius sighed softly, "feelings come and go. Are you sure this is not just youthful infatuation. It would be a mistake to throw away such a good match over something that may fade in a few months."
Abraxas swallowed thickly, "I have never felt before as I do now. I do not envision a time when these feelings will change."
He did his best not to squirm under their scrutiny, lifting his chin and squaring his shoulders.
"We will have to ensure that this person is a suitable match, someone worthy of marrying into the Malfoy family."
Abraxas let himself relax just a little, he knew there would be no objections about his choice.
"It is Harry Potter."
Both Lucius and Hyperion raised their eyebrows in surprise.
"Harry Potter would indeed be a suitable match" Hyperion conceded. I will contact our lawyers and have your contract to Miss Selwyn revoked, her family will not be happy about it but I'm sure we can smooth things over in one way or another. Do you wish a contract drawn up and sent to Lord Potter?"
Abraxas shook his head, "Fleamont is not playing a part in who Harry chooses and Harry will choose for nothing short of love. He will not be moved by titles or money and would be most angry if I was to send a contract through to him. No if I am to have Harry, I will need to prove myself and my devotion to him."
Hyperion smirked, "good luck in your endeavours my son, I feel you may have your work cut out for you."
"Harry will be worth it."
Talk turned to other matters, and Abraxas felt a sense of relief wash over him so vast he lost his breath for a moment. For once in his life his family's name and influence would mean nothing, if Harry is to choose him it will be based on Abraxas alone. The thought was as thrilling as it was terrifying.
Orion frowned as he led Walburga into Mirabelle's. The place was packed with Hogwarts students, but Orion had thankfully thought ahead and booked them a table.
As soon as they sat Walburga started talking about Cygnus.
"An utter disgrace to the Black family, just what was he thinking walking around Hogsmeade wearing that outfit. You should have put a stop to that before he left the castle, Orion."
Orion's frowned deepened at that.
"You simply can't allow things like that to happen, Orion. You are the heir; they have to listen to you."
"Please, do not tell me how to rule my house" Orion said stiffly. "I have been trained for this since birth."
"I would never dream of telling you what to do" Walburga said with a coquettish smile, as she reached out and ran a finger over the back of his hand.
"I just meant that when we are the heads of the Black family, that kind of behaviour will not stand. It would be best if you were to stamp it out now."
"You presume too much; we are not betrothed yet" Orion moved his hand off the table and into his lap.
Walburga's brows drew together in consternation but did not press the subject.
"At least Cygnus had an appropriate choice in date, Harry Potter would be quite a boon for the Black family. Perhaps I shall owl father when I get home and see if a contract has been drawn up for Cygnus and Harry."
"Harry and Cygnus are merely friends."
"He would be a fool to let a carrier slip through his fingers. Perhaps we should speak to father about something to improve his chances, perhaps a love potion."
Orion slammed his fist down on the table.
"Do not be so foolish" he snarled, pushing his chair back from the table as he stood. The Black heir took a deep breath, calming himself before bowing slightly. "Thank you for your company, but I must be going. Good day."
Walburga spluttered in indignation, "Orion!" she called, but he was already out the door. He had a letter to write to his father immediately, there was no way he was going to marry that, that woman. He would mention what Harry said about marrying too close within your own family and how it inhibits magical growth, that would be sure to get his father's attention.
Harry waved goodbye to Cygnus in the entryway as the Black headed to his own common room, Harry was about to head off towards his when a hand on his shoulder had him spinning back around.
"We've got a few hours before dinner; did you want to come up and see the Gryffindor common room with me?" Charlus asked with a smile.
"Oh, yes please, but-"
His question was answered before Harry could even ask it, when Charlus called for a house elf who came and collected Harry's new broom to deposit in his dormitory.
"Our common room is up in one of the towers, its about as far from the Slytherin common room as you can get" Charlus laughed as they started walking. "There's lots of shortcuts if you know where to look" he continued with a wink, as they pushed aside a tapestry and walked through.
Charlus knew Harry used to be in Gryffindor, so he figured this explanation was because Bonnie was still walking with them.
"The Hufflepuff common room is much closer to Slytherin's" Bonnie said as they emerged on the other side of the secret passageway. "We're practically neighbours."
They continued walking until they reached a painting of a very familiar woman. Charlus made a show of leaning forward and whispering the password so that Harry and Bonnie couldn't hear it, before stepping back as the portrait swung open.
Harry trailed after Charlus and Bonnie, a warmth setting into his bones as he emerged on the other side to the familiar sight of red and gold. He stared around in open awe, a flood of memories hitting him like a hippogriff. The common room though not identical looked very similar to when Harry had attended Hogwarts. He looked around the room, remembering his very first night at Hogwarts, in this very place. He remembered hours studying with Hermione and playing chess with Ron. He remembered sneaking out at night and the wild parties they used to throw after winning a quidditch game. He remembered Ron's laughter and Hermione's smile and had to fight back the tears that stung his eyes.
A firm hand on his shoulder pulled him back to the present, Harry blinked struggling to refocus for a moment as he looked at Charlus' concerned face.
Charlus lead him over to a group of lounges where several students sat, greeting the newcomers warmly as they took a seat.
"We're just about to start a game of exploding snap, care to join us?" Aiden asked, and Harry knew he was making an effort to include him.
"Sure" Harry, Charlus and Bonnie chorused as the cards were dealt.
"These are a new set I got in Hogsmeade today, twice the amount of explosion-"
BOOM
Aiden blinked dazedly as the cards he was dealing blew up in his face, causing everyone in the vicinity to start laughing.
Harry spent a fun afternoon in the Gryffindor common room, making new memories.
Betrothal offers began rolling in the next morning, Harry was flawed by the sheer number of them. The whole hall froze what they were doing as the owls started pouring in, one then five, 10 then 30. He ended up with 34 letters in one morning. Everyone stared, standing, craning their necks to get a better look at what was going on. Harry blushed and, in a fluster, reached to gather up the scrolls and envelopes to put them in his bag. A firm hand on his shoulder stopped him and he turned to find Tom beside him.
"Don't touch them yet" he murmured, pulling out his wand and casting a spell over the whole lot.
Harry nearly smacked himself for forgetting to check if they were safe to touch.
"Thank you" Harry said, looking down in embarrassment.
Tom took pity on him, helping him scoop up every last piece of mail and shrinking them so that they would fit easily into Harry's bag.
"You're not actually going to bother reading all of those, are you?" Abraxas sneered.
Harry shrugged; he actually hadn't decided what he was going to do with them.
To Harry's surprise Tom took his side.
"It's wise not to just get rid of them, there will be some very beneficial offers amongst them."
Harry shrugged as he started to spread some jam on his toast.
"It could be interesting to read them."
"If nothing else you may make an acquaintance or two" Tom said, sipping his cup of tea and eyeing Abraxas with a smirk.
"If you like, I could help you go through them this evening?" Tom offered, and Harry eyed him cautiously.
"Sure, that'd be great."
Tom looked pleased and Harry wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Luckily, he was saved from thinking too much about it by the arrival of Alphard, who managed to get everyone into a rousing discussion about quidditch and Slytherin's chances of winning the quidditch cup this year. The conversation carried them through breakfast and out onto the pitch where Harry joined in a Slytherin team training session for the first time. Harry spent most of the time getting used to the feel of his new broom, wanting to make sure he was in tune with it, he watched the other players go through their training, eyeing things that they did well and areas that they could improve on.
That evening he sat with Tom and started going through the contracts and letters he had been sent. They had set up at a table in a corner of the common room and both were studiously ignoring the amount of attention they were gathering. Though Slytherins at least were a little more subtle in their attention then some of the other houses would've been.
They began opening the mail and Harry found that many of them were letters, offering dates and courtships rather than outright betrothal contracts.
"They are wanting the chance to woo you; they think their chances of being picked will increase if you actually meet them" Tom explained, and Harry hummed thoughtfully. That actually made sense.
Tom separated the letters that were from families with students at Hogwarts, the ones from influential families and the ones from overseas.
"If I were you" Tom said quietly, "I would send them all a letter, thank them for their interest and explain that you are only interested in marrying for love. It will soothe a lot of feathers and leave you on good terms with many in the wizarding world. You aren't flat out rejecting them, nor are you favouring another over them, it could lead to some valuable friendships."
Harry nodded, "I like the idea of being honest with them. I don't want to lead anyone on or hurt anybody's feelings and I certainly don't want to create conflict between the Potter family and other influential families."
"Exactly" Tom said with a smile. "Write out the letter and sign it and we can just duplicate it."
Harry nodded and did just that, introducing himself, explaining his reasoning before signing.
Tom did a complicated wave of his wand and a hundred exact letters now sat piled on the table.
"Now we simply address them, and we can owl them in the morning."
Harry felt a little twinge in his stomach as he wrote out the addresses and realised none of the names were familiar to him. Why, he wondered, had he thought anyone he knew would be interested in courting him.
"Are you courting anyone?" Harry asked, deciding this was a good opportunity to try to get to know Tom better.
The elder shook his head, "no, I'm not sure if that is where I want my future to go."
Harry had to hold back a shudder as he remembered just where Tom's future did go.
"Is it something you are actually interested in?" Tom asked.
Harry thought about it for a moment. "Yes, definitely. With the right person and for the right reasons. I've always wanted a large family."
"Something that may be somewhat difficult with the fact that you are from a wealthy family and a carrier. Thankfully neither is something I have to worry about" Tom said with a sardonic grin.
Harry smiled back, moving another letter to the finished pile.
"Surely there must be witches and wizards alike lining up for their chance to be with the heir of Slytherin."
Tom froze, his eyes swinging up to fixate on Harry, "the what!?"