Thursday evening saw Hadrian and Theo curled up together by the fire at Grimmauld Place. With only nine days to Sirius' trial and ten days to their wedding they had much to discuss. Jacob Brown had flooed into Grimmauld Place early that afternoon and was currently holed up in the study with Sirius going over the information on the trial. Theo and Hadrian were making last minute plans for the wedding. As they were discussing the marriage contract inevitably came up.
"I wonder why we got the marriage contract" wondered Hadrian " surely there were others that could have fulfilled the conditions."
Theo snorted "I had wondered the same thing, so I looked into it. It seems that there has been creature inheritance in both our families. And both families have had dominants and submissives, but they always seemed to just miss each other, sometimes even by just a few months. So in the end we have to fulfill the contract by just dumb luck."
Hadrian grinned "well I'm glad, without the contract I wouldn't have met you."
Theo blushed and looked away. "I'm glad too, but there is one thing about the contract that I'm concerned about."
Hadrian frowned in concern "what is it?"
"It's the part about children, we have to conceive one a year after we get married. As the submissive I'll have to be the one to get pregnant, I don't think I'll be ready for that, even in a year."
Hadrian tossed his head back and sighed, " I've had that concern as well. I spoke to Jacob about it, he said he'd look into it, see if he can find a way to at least delay having children."
Theo nodded "good , hopefully he can find something.
"Have you gotten your inheritance test yet?" asked Hadrian.
"I did" answered Theo "It wasn't anything too surprising. I'm of course a submissive, and the only lordship I'll inherit is the Nott Lordship. But you'll be the one to actually get it according to the contract."
"Sorry about that," muttered Hadrian.
Theo grinned over at him "I'm finding that I don't really mind giving up my lordship, it's not like I really wanted it in the first place. The only really interesting thing is my creature inheritance, I'm a forest nymph."
"What's a forest nymph?" Questioned Hadrian.
Theo explained "its a type of nature spirit, no one is quite sure what they look like, but their said to have power over plants. Other than that I couldn't really find anything. So I guess we'll just have to wait till the morning after our wedding to find out. Now let's get back to talking about the wedding. What do you want at our wedding feast?"
As They were discussing the food for the wedding, Kreature popped in "Master Black has a letter." and thrust the letter into Hadrian's hands and popped away.
"Thank you Kreature," Hadrian said into the air. He looked at the envelope "Oh, it's from the twins. Do you mind if I read this?"
Theo nodded "go ahead, I'm curious about what they have to say."
With that Hadrian opened the letter.
Harry mate,
Or is it Hadrian. What do you want us to call you? We just wanted to let you know, mum, Ron, Ginny and Hermione got letters from your solicitor. Wow, we have never seen them so angry. Did they really steal all that money and stuff from you? It would explain some of mum's behavior over the last few years. Ron and Ginny have both been whining to mum since they got their letters. They don't want to return the money. And Ginny keeps talking about how you have to marry her. It's pretty disturbing really. Currently mum is talking to Dumbledore about what to do. She promised Ron and Ginny that he would fix it, whatever that means. You should expect a strongly worded letter from Hermione. We can hear her muttering about it through the walls, honestly she may be writing a book in there instead of a letter. We hope that you know that we had nothing to do with this. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask. Even if you need us to speak as witnesses against our family. We really don't like how they've been behaving.
On a more positive note, our product line for WWW is going great. We plan to start with just owl orders at first. When we leave school we plan to look for a place in Diagon alley.
Your Mates,
Gred and Forge
Theo smiled "I'm happy that you didn't lose all your friends. You should invite them to the wedding."
Hadrian grinned and leaned over to kiss Theo, "I like the way you think. I'll send an invitation to them through the owl post tomorrow."
In the study Jacob Brown explained to Sirius what would happen at his trial. When he arrived at the ministry building Aurors would escort him to the trial room. Once in the trial room he would be brought to the chair where criminal trials were held. Before the trial began he would be asked whether or not he would consent to veritaserum.
"I strongly suggest that you agree." warned Jacob.
After the veritaserum is admonished they will ask several questions to assure that it is working. Then members of the Wizengamot will take turns asking questions after which, any witnesses if there are any will be asked to give their statements. Once all statements and testimonies are given the Chief Warlock would normally be the one to act as judge and give out the verdict. However because Dumbledore is the Chief Warlock and will be acting as a witness he cannot act as judge. Therefore the head of the Department of Magical Law enforcement Madame Amelia Bones will be acting as Judge.
"Do you have any questions?" asked Jacob.
Sirius sighed and leaned back in his chair "no, I just want to get this over with, and be a free man again."
Kingsley Shacklebolt met Dumbledore at the Burrow. "Well, what was it that you wanted from me?" he asked as he took his seat at the table.
Molly shoved several letters in opened envelopes into his hands. "Harry somehow got a solicitor to write just awful letters threatening me and my children, demanding we return money and items that are rightfully ours."
Kingsley raised an eyebrow "This seems like a personal matter. I'm an auror not a solicitor, what do you want me to do."
Dumbledore leaned forward "you may not be a solicitor dear boy, but as an auror, you are able to offer legal advice." He gestured toward the letters, "if you would please."
Kingsley narrowed his eyes "very well then, lets see what we have." Shacklebolt took the letters out and read them one by one before replacing them into their envelopes. "Well it seems pretty clear what you need to do," said Kingsley. Molly and Dumbledore leaned forward in anticipation. "You need to do exactly as the letters say" The auror said to their surprise. "If you can't afford to pay all the money back right away, I'm sure just returning the items would be seen as a gesture of good will and show your intentions to return everything in good time."
"B-b-but what about Ginny's letter?" sputtered Molly.
"Ahh, yes" acknowledged Kingsley, "the marriage contract, you need to cancel it, of course if both parties are agreeable, a new contract can be made in the future."
Molly nodded in resignation "Ok, I'm sure Harry will want to make a new contract and marry Ginny. But what about the solicitor that the letter came from? It was addressed to Ginny and she's just a little girl, she didn't even make the contract in the first place, I had to do it for her because she was too young."
Kingsley gave her a flat look "did you not read the envelope the letter came in? It was addressed: To Ginevra Weasley For Molly Weasley. This means that the letter may have been in her name, but you were meant to open and handle the contents for her."
"Well they should have made it more clear" Blustered Molly.
"It is confusing but this is just how legal documents are addressed to minors," responded Kingsley. "Now if neither of you mind I need to return to work."
"Don't worry Molly," assured Dumbledore. "Sirius is having a trial on the twelfth, I'm sure that both Harry and his solicitor will be there, I'll make sure that they understand how they have put your family in a bit of a tight spot making demands like they have. I'm sure once he realizes how ungrateful he has been he'll agree to come stay at the Burrow."
"Yes," sniffed Molly. "I'm sure once the boy is here we can make sure that he behaves and listens to the adults that know better."
Once again neither of them noticed the children had been listening into their conversation.