Harry once again sat in the conference room at Gringotts reviewing contracts and notes for the upcoming meeting. Of all the meetings he had this week, this one would be the most difficult by far. The first meeting and marriage occurred after the Grangers and Mr. Lovegood recovered their memories about the contracts and what should have been. It also occurred after Harry, Hermione and Luna had spent more than two weeks together knowing they would be married and why thanks to the research and study time available through time compression. The Greengrasses were fully aware of their contract with House Potter. Their concern was about finances and living arrangements mostly and not about the fact their thirteen-year-old daughter was getting married that day on such short notice. Daphne was aware of a contract, but not the details and her concerns were of a more personal nature. The meeting yesterday was along similar lines except Hannah was aware of the details of her contract before they met. The parties did not want out of the contracts, not really at any rate.
That was the difference. In this meeting, Harry wanted out of the contract and knew that at least on the surface that was easier said than done. He had not called in all the signatories as he was fairly certain one would not be persuaded to abrogate the contract. The other two might be, but unless the third also agreed they were stuck. He expected them to resist anything that might force them to breach the contract because, while the contract was not explicit about it, the penalties for a breach were probably steep.
There was a way out of the contract. It’s language was such that there was a loophole, one which in the ordinary course of events would never be available or at least exceeding difficult if not impossible to utilize. But there was no such thing as “ordinary course of events” in the life of Harry Potter and at least in this one instance maybe not being normal had its advantages.
“Mr. Potter?” Grisha’s voice called. “The others have arrived. it’s time.”
Harry closed his folders and nodded. He was here in this room to prepare, but knew the meeting would be in another room. Given the circumstances, this required a bigger entrance than before.
“Have they taken the oath?” he asked.
“They have indeed,” Grisha replied. The oath was to be a magical one binding the others to say nothing about what transpired today aside from a cover story that Harry would give them later. He was doing his best to keep it all sorted and keep his emotions in check. He really wanted to give these people the benefit of the doubt, but wasn’t certain that benefit would amount to anything. He gathered his things and followed Grisha from the room. How he wished Hermione or Luna or any of his girls were here, but that was not how this worked.
Grisha led Harry to another door and it opened. Harry heard a voice announce his arrival.
“All rise!” it said and it was definitely a Goblin. “His Grace, Lord Harry James Potter, Earl of Hwicca, Abengale, Hereford and Finchley, Baron of Loch Sheen, Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter!”
Harry knew now that while those titles meant little until he came into his full inheritance, he had been entitled to them since the death of his father and he was still learning what that meant for now. There were three people at the opposite side of the table and several Goblins, many of them armed, around the room. Harry did his best to ignore it all. He walked to his chair and took his seat arranging his folders before him. Grisha took one of the seats next to him and Dobby, acting as his bodyguard took the other. The rest of the Goblins in the room remained standing.
“You may be seated,” a Goblin announced. The three others, looking very confused, took their seats.
“This meeting is called pursuant to Summons and in accordance with Treaty between the Goblin Nation and Magical Britain,” Grisha began formally. “This meeting is held under a Goblin enforced Truce between the Ancient and Noble House of Potter and House of Arthur Weasley. The Truce, by law and treaty is to insure there will be no unnecessary effusion of blood but any breach of said Truce shall be dealt with… harshly!”
“Truce?” Mr. Weasley asked.
“Why would we need a truce?” Mrs. Weasley asked. “Harry Dear, what’s going on?”
Harry did not respond nor look up from his folders.
“There are sufficient grounds,” Grisha continued, “for House Potter to declare a Line War against House Weasley. You have been Summoned here to avoid such a fate for both Houses sakes.”
“A Line War?” Mr. and Mrs. Weasley asked in confusion.
“An attempt and Line theft or usurpation,” Harry answered, not looking up. “An attempt at subordinating my House to yours!”
“What are you talking about?” Mrs. Weasley asked. “We’ve done no such thing!”
“Oh?”
“H-Harry?” Mr. Weasley began. “Wh-what are you on about? We’ve done no such thing as Molly said. You’re friends with our sons and… and we enjoyed your visit last year. Th-that’s not line theft!”
Harry pulled two documents from his folder and slid them to Arthur and Molly Weasley. “I have no issue with your treatment of me last summer,” he began. “Can’t say the same for the relatives I’ve been forced to live with. But do explain that!”
“It' a betrothal contract for Ginny?” Arthur asked confused after reading the first page. “I have no memory of this! We never signed such a thing!”
“I don’t remember it either,” Molly added.
“Not again,” Harry muttered. “Look at the last page,” he said aloud. “Those are your signatures, aren’t they?”
The two did as they asked while it was clear by looking Ginny was beset by conflicting emotions although she remained silent.
“That looks like our signatures,” Arthur nodded. “But signatures can be forged.”
“That must be it,” Molly agreed.
“I can assure you, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, that the signatures are authentic,” Grisha said. “The signing occurred here on the afternoon of November 11th, 1981 and was witnessed by Ragnock Harshafell, another account manager. It was done with a blood quill and the blood matches your own on file. There was no evidence at that time that either of you were being coerced or compelled to sign this document magically or otherwise, although Ragnock Harfang’s notes stated neither of you seemed to have actually read the document. Mr. Weasley stated that the two of you were fully aware of its terms. Unfortunately from Mr. Potter’s standpoint, not reading or understanding the terms is no basis to invalidate the contract.”
“It changes things a little,” Harry added.
“How so, Mr. Potter?” Grisha asked.
“Well, if they have no memory of this, it’s like the last time, isn’t it?”
“It is possible, Mr. Potter, that this contract merely slipped their mind. What is certain is that if their memories were magically altered as were the others, it was by a different technique. The others were subjected to a memory cap, and advanced and delicate branch of your mind magic that requires great skill and finesse. That does not appear to be the case with these two. If their memories were altered, it was most likely by obliviation. It is effective but crude. The technique suggests there may have been another perpetrator although it could be the same person. In that case the motivation was different.”
“Are you saying we were obliviated?” Mr. Weasley asked.
“That appears to be a valid suspicion under the circumstances given the evidence, Mr. Weasley. Unfortunately, it is all but impossible to prove since unlike a memory cap, the memories are well and truly erased and after so much time, a temporal gap can be expected and is in and of itself not suspicious. Be that as it may and as suspicious as subsequent events appear, the fact remains that neither you nor your wife were under any form of magical compulsion when you signed this and when you stated under oath you were not under any form of coercion and did not have grounds to claim fraud, those statements were truthful to the best of your knowledge. About the best that can be said is that you had not truly read that document before signing and, as you had no Goblin or human solicitor, it probably was not explained to you in detail. It is those details that bring you here today and provided a basis for a potential Line War.”
“So this changes nothing?” Harry asked.
“Only their degree of complicity and culpability.”
Harry nodded. “Actually, while it doesn’t change what I need to do today, it does change how I should do it. What I was going to do, believing the Weasleys were a part of all this was confront them with this contract, do what I came here to do and be done with it. Now I feel I need to explain why it must be that way. They won’t like it, but you know it’s the only option that does not involve either killing or Azkaban or both. That’s why I asked for our earlier meeting, just in case they were not truly part of this.”
He looked at the two Weasleys. “I believe you when you say you have no memory of this and I believe Grisha when he says you were probably unaware of the details when you signed it. It is possible that the reason the two of you were obliviated was because you did eventually read it and found it every bit as offensive as I do even if it is perfectly legal. That, or like some others, you tried to use this agreement as a means to gain custody over me, something Dumbledore clearly was not about to allow under any circumstances.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Mrs. Weasley began.
“He did something to my Aunt and me the day after my mother was killed. My Mum did something that night that kept me alive and that protection was made into a ward scheme. That ward, based upon the common blood we shared with my mother, protects me from Voldemort and his minions. So long as those wards exist, they can’t find me. Well, that’s not totally true. They can’t find me in the Muggle world or outside of public places in the wizarding world if I do not wish to be found. Even if they could, they can’t kill me or any member of my family. They can hurt us, but not kill us. Not with magic at any rate. That doesn’t mean I can’t be killed by magic or that I’m immortal or something. I could leave here, step out into Muggle London and get hit by a bus - a big Muggle vehicle - and be quite dead as a result. I could also be killed by magical means by creatures and such. What happened in the Chamber of Secrets proves that when I was bitten by the basilisk.”
“But you didn’t die!” Ginny said.
“Only ‘cause Fawkes was there,” Harry said. “I would have otherwise 'cause it was the basilisk and not Voldemort who struck that blow. Anyway, those wards protect me but they only work so long as my Aunt lives at that house and I live there at least thirty days of the year. And they will only work until the youngest member of my family turns seventeen and until recently that was me. As much as I would have preferred to live anywhere else and with anyone other than those people, those wards are useful and that’s probably why Dumbledore has been rather… demanding that I should stay there.
“Now to the Contract. On the surface, it states that you as Ginny’s parents and Dumbledore as my then acting magical and legal guardian agreed to betroth Ginny and me and that we would marry, absent extenuating circumstances, sometime between her fifteenth birthday - August 11th, 1996 - and my nineteenth birthday - July 31st, 1999 - in exchange for which as Headmaster of Hogwarts he would not require you to pay tuition for any of your children.”
“That doesn’t seem terribly offensive,” Mr. Weasley said while his daughter squeaked and blushed.
“I can see why we signed it,” Mrs. Weasley said. “Bill was set to start wizarding school the next September and we had six more behind him by then. At that time, even though Arthur and I attended Hogwarts so that meant they all would be invited to attend, we didn’t have the means to pay for even Bill’s first year’s tuition. We could have sent him under a hardship scholarship which is available for a legacy student, but wizarding families are only allowed two such scholarships. That means five of our children would have had to attend St. Michaels…”
“St. Michaels?” Harry asked.
“Oh, it’s one of the other wizarding schools in Britain and the one nearest our home. Most children attend those schools in part because they cost next to nothing aside from uniforms and supplies. It’s not a bad school, really. But Hogwarts is the oldest and most prestigious and for certain jobs, particularly within the Ministry of Magic, you’re better off going to Hogwarts. It doesn’t mean you can’t get a nice job if you don’t, but there are more opportunities coming out of Hogwarts in general.”
“But what about the Muggle Borns that go there?” Harry asked.
“They are selected at random each year from all over. They pay tuition if they can but most are on a special scholarship for Muggle Borns.”
Harry nodded after a few moments. “And, to be honest, if that’s all there is to this I would only be upset about the fact that Ginny and I don’t have a choice in this matter, but I understand that’s still legal.”
The two older Weasleys nodded.
“It’s the details - again legal - that I really find offensive,” Harry went on reading directly from time to time. “First off, the contract allows the two of you or Dumbledore to - what’s the word - abrogate any other betrothal contracts that existed or could exist between the Bride and/or Bridegroom - that’s how we’re referred to throughout this, Ginny - and any third parties or any other contracts that might void or invalidate this one; to end any engagements entered into by or on behalf of the Bride and/or Bridegroom with any third parties and annul any otherwise valid marriages entered into and such. Again, I’m told that’s not an unusual provision but in my case it can potentially cause serious problems and may even be viewed as attempted murder…”
“How… how can that be?” Mrs. Weasley asked.
He held up a document. “This is a certificate from the Ministry stating that I share compatible and complementary magic with Hermione Granger…”
“A Soul Bond?”
“It means one is possible between us, but not certain,” Harry continued. “This is another stating that the same thing is true between Luna Lovegood and myself.”
“Two?”
“Possible, but not certain. This is a betrothal contract between my parents and Luna’s made about a month after she was born. It is a conditional contract and that condition is the start of the bond. We can be married anytime after that without regard to our ages. This is a similar contract between my parents and the Grangers…”
“But they’re Muggles?”
“And my Mum sought them out, became friends with them and looked after Hermione, Luna and me while her parents worked. The law does not absolutely prohibit telling the parents of a Muggle Born about their child’s magic until they are to be sent to magical schools and there are exceptions and I believe this fell into one.
“This is a betrothal contract between my Father as Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter - he was not yet twenty-one when he signed the other two even though his father had already died - and the Greengrass family. I was to marry their daughter Daphne anytime after I began bonding with and married Hermione or Luna provided that my Dad died without having any other children. Because I’m the last Potter, I can be in a Plural Marriage.
“Then there’s this one between the Ancient and Noble House of Potter and the Ancient and Noble House of Abbott. It’s a Line Continuation Contract conditioned upon Hannah’s father dying without another child and my being married in a valid plural marriage with at least two witches to continue the Potter line. And yes, I know what a Line Continuation Contract means.
“The contracts with the Lovegoods and Grangers were signed before my father turned twenty-one. They were reaffirmed afterwards when he was able to legally exercise all his rights as Head of House Potter.
“These last four are all marriage certificates executed here at Gringotts this week. I married Hermione and Luna on Tuesday after it was verified our bonds were forming. I married Daphne on Wednesday and Hannah yesterday as all the conditions of their contracts have been met. Needless to say, I doubt you were even aware of these possibilities back when you signed yours and as you can guess, yours now poses some problems.”
“I should say it does,” Mrs. Weasley began. “I would never have agreed to this if there was a chance of a Plural Marriage.”
“Last of an Ancient and Noble House,” Harry said. “Without that clause about breaking up contracts and marriages, I had the right to a Plural Marriage to continue the line and protect the future of my family seat in the Wizengamot. And since it’s illegal to interfere with or break up a Soul Bond and neither you nor Dumbledore ever had the authority to interfere with any contract made by the Head of my Ancient and Noble House, unless you and Dumbledore break this contract of refuse to enforce it, Ginny’s stuck as my fourth Potter wife and fifth wife overall.”
“That clause in your contract about breaking others is a problem. Dumbledore can’t use it to go against the will of the Last Lord Potter, but he can use it to interfere with things or to prevent that from happening. To interfere with a forming Soul Bond could kill us, hence the bit about attempted murder…”
“Just out of curiosity, how did you find out about this?” Mr. Weasley asked.
Harry was not about to tell them about the Tennysons / Flamels. But he had a plausible story which was not entirely false. “I have no living magical parents or such. These are all recorded at the Ministry and since my parents are gone, so long as I’m twelve and they’re about me, I can get copies.” It was true enough even if he didn’t do it that way.
“And you’re wives?” Mrs. Weasley asked. “Are they living with you?”
Harry nodded.
“With your relatives?”
“Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“I got a live-in trunk from a friend when I got back from Hogwarts. The trunk is at my relatives and that’s where I live for now. It means I am living there, but they can’t get in or get rid of it. My girls have access trunks and one is at each of their homes so we can come and go as we please. I only need to be in my trunk eight hours a day or so, in other words when I sleep. I also need to have contact with Hermione and Luna for the bond for eight hours a day or so until it’s fully formed, so they sleep with me and no! We’re not having sex or anything like that! If anything, the bonding tends to prevent that.”
“Is it large enough for all of you? How do you eat?”
“It’s larger than the Burrow on the inside and it has plenty of bathrooms so there’s no queuing. As for eating, there are House Elves with the Trunk and I have a large Trust Fund with more than enough to pay for food and for my girls' needs. May we continue?”
The Weasleys nodded.
“You said you have no memory of this Contract and I believe you. I said early - and neither of you disagreed - that I doubted you would’ve signed it for all the Galleons in Gringotts - no offense, Grisha.”
“None taken,” the Goblin replied.
“You would not have signed if you even thought there was a chance that Ginny might be part of a Plural Marriage, am I right?”
The elder Weasleys nodded.
“At the time you signed this Contract, Dumbledore knew about the other four,” Harry continued. “He had claimed magical guardianship over me by then and would then have access to those contracts. He had already taken care of that situation - or so he thought.”
“Taken care of…?” Molly began.
“He visited the Grangers and the Lovegoods, stunned them by surprise and memory capped them,” Harry began before explaining what the families had promised to do and how Harry was supposed to have grown up with Hermione and Luna so that both bonds might one day form. “The Greengrass contract was contingent upon my bonding with one of them - Hermione or Luna that is. The Abbott Contract was contingent upon my entering into a Plural Marriage already which meant a bonding with either or both or one of them and marrying that girl and Daphne. By eliminating the Grangers and Lovegoods from the situation, he had no reason to deal with the other families. After all, just because a soul bond might form does not mean that it will.”
“I can’t believe he would do this,” Molly began.
“He did,” Harry said. “We can’t say precisely why, although we have a pretty good idea. All we really have are theories - guesses really - that make some sense under the circumstances. But he did and because he did that’s why he’s not here and why you had to take that oath today. He’s messed with my life long enough and I won’t give him a chance to continue doing so for whatever reason!
“Right then. Now as I said, there’s nothing that can be done about my other marriages until I’m twenty-one and then only if they’re not consummated.”
“What’s that mean?” Ginny asked.
“It means if I never had sex with one of my wives before then. While the bonding prevents sex for now, it’s pretty much certain to happen sooner rather than later once it’s complete. Hannah wants this Contract and marriage and I am beginning to like her and Daphne seems to want it too, so I’d say that won’t be an issue seeing as we have a little over eight years to get to that point before it can be used to annul the marriage.
“The other problem is while there are things I might be able to do about the contract with Ginny, unless I’m willing to kill her or you or Dumbledore, I can’t get out of it completely. My best shot of getting out of it was two weeks ago. Had I not gone after Ginny or had I gotten there too late, she’s be dead and this contract would be void as I can’t marry a dead person. But Voldemort would be back as well so that wasn’t an option and it’s not like Ginny means nothing at all to me. She is my best friend’s sister and I don’t dislike her or something like that. Since such measures were not really an option, the only other way I can avoid marrying Ginny - seeing as there really are no conditions or other ways out - is to either avoid it until I’m twenty-one when I can void the contract on my own or avoid having sex with her until then…”
“Can’t you do it at seventeen?” Ginny asked.
“That’s usually the out clause in these things,” Harry said. “Except this Contract does not allow that so I can’t, at least not until I become the Head of my House which does not completely occur until I’m old enough to take my seat in the Wizengamot. What this means, Ginny, is whether we want to or not, we will be married by the time I’m nineteen. Our only way out would be to abstain from consummating the marriage until we’re twenty-one and can annul it on those grounds. The next bits are even more offensive to all of us because they’re intended to take care of that way out.
Harry read. “Upon both Bride and Bridegroom attaining their respective bonding ages… ,” he looked up. “I have. The earliest Ginny could is this time next year.” He continued: “… the parties may with or without consultation with each other use such reasonable, non-magical means as they deem appropriate to encourage the Bride and Bridegroom to enter into a romantic relationship with one another. Furthermore, the parties may take similar measures to encourage the Bride and Bridegroom to engage in frequent sexual intercourse…”
“And just how are we to do that?” Mrs. Weasley almost shrieked.
“It doesn’t say,” Harry replied. “My girls told me of a scenario, though. Ginny reaches bonding age next summer probably, and probably before I’m allowed to leave the Dursleys. Since I do have four, young wives all of whom are at or beyond bonding age, they’ve told me things about teenage witches and their needs. I was Muggle Raised and even if not, if we weren’t married they probably would not have mentioned those things. I know now that between bonding age and magical and sexual maturity - or pregnancy whichever’s first - they need sex even more than teenage wizards. They are not forbidden from having it with boys, not since magical birth control which they’re all required to take, but many of us blokes only care about getting our jollies, not whether she does and that’s what she needs to mature properly so they are all strongly encouraged to seek sex with other young witches.”
“You’re not supposed to know about that!” Molly said.
“Four wives,” Harry replied. “And believe me I was stunned when they told me ‘bout it. But… well, the magical world is different, you know. Saying something’s off 'cause it’s not that way in the Muggle world doesn’t always work really. Anyway, they have those needs and even if I could provide them, I can’t possibly provide them for all four, can I? Not as often as they need it for now given the fact we are all in school and have time commitments and such so they explained this to me if for no other reason than to let me know they were intimate that way and it was not because of me at all.
“So here I am, clueless about such things, and I arrive at the Burrow after Ginny has reached the age where just diddling herself is not enough - she’s now beginning to need physical intimacy and sexual release - but before she goes through her mentorship where she’s taught to have sex with girls. You take us aside, somewhere alone, and tell me about her new needs and tell her to let me help her with them. She’s sexually in need of it and I’m just a fourteen year old bloke who probably would jump at the chance and her Mum’s just told us she’s okay with us doing it… a lot. Moreover, you tell me that sex is not a big deal in the Wizarding World while you’re still single. Most all wizards and witches are doing it before they finish school and you’d rather it would be me than some boy who didn’t care at all about Ginny and her needs and naturally, even in the Wizarding World her brothers are not an option. Unless we absolutely hate the idea of doing that with each other, that small push and we’re shagging like bunnies in no time.”
“You’ve got to admit, Molly, you did the same with me Fifth Year,” Mr. Weasley said.
“And still needed a mild love potion to get you going. He was very shy at the time,” she explained.
“She told me first, about the potion that is,” Arthur said. “It’s not that I didn’t want to, but I guess then I needed the little extra push and I took it because I wanted to make her happy.”
“Now, the contract does not require this,” Harry said, “it only allows for it. Let’s continue, shall we? Should the Bride and Bridegroom not become a romantic couple prior to the Bride’s fifteenth birthday, the parties may, without consultation, use any legal magical means they deem necessary to bring the couple together and encourage frequent sexual intercourse.”
“And,” Harry continued, “while the contract does not say what magical means can be used, it only restricts illegal ones. As you signed this contract, you basically agree no Unforgivables as I’m told they’re called. There are some potions out there that would get us together and shagging even if we couldn’t stand each other. There are potions out there where we couldn’t stop ourselves. We could be shagging on the Gryffindor House table during meals in front of the whole school and not care at all!”
“Eeep!” Ginny squeaked.
“But why?” Mrs. Weasley asked almost in tears.
“It gets worse, Mrs. Weasley. So far the Contract allows this but does not require it at all.” He then continued reading. “Once any of the parties determine that Bride and Bridegroom are or have engaged in sexual intercourse, they shall do the following,” Harry stopped. “That means you have to and in your cases, given that the value of your tuition waiver could be at least 50,000 Galleons, the penalties for breach are severe or so Grisha tells me. And, given his actions so far, I have no doubt Dumbledore has no reservations about the ‘shall’ bit. Continuing. First, the parties shall provide living accommodations for Bride and Bridegroom that shall facilitate frequent sexual intercourse.” Harry paused. “It doesn’t say what but we guess it means something like married student quarters at Hogwarts… so we don’t have to do it in broom closets or in the Great Hall I guess. Second, the parties shall use such magical means as necessary to continue the sexual activity - but at least now we might be able to get to our room without shagging in the Great Hall, every broom closet or such. It also probably means I would sleep in Ginny’s bed at the Burrow, again so she and I could run off before doing it at your dinner table. We don’t know if it meant her staying with me at my relatives and until I got my trunk, that would just be cruel! And it gets worse…”
“How could it get any worse?” Mrs. Weasley sniffed. “I would’ve never agreed to this!”
“It gets worse,” Harry began.
“How could it get any worse?” it seemed all three Weasleys asked.
“Third, once such living arrangements are in place either at school or the home of the Family of the Bride, the Bride shall be denied any form of magical Birth Control and placed on fertility potions.” There were gasps. “Small loophole here, being Muggle Raised,” Harry quipped. “Doesn’t prevent us from using non-magical Birth Control. Hermione says the best method, aside from not having sex at all, is a pill girls can get, but you need to be part of the Muggle Health System to get them. Doesn’t matter how fertile Ginny is if she’s taking drugs that make her have her monthlies anyway. But we’d have to know about this and the Contract says she and I are not to be told and since, aside from the bottle or detection spells that you can’t truly master before Seventh Year at the earliest there’s no way to tell the difference between one potion or the other, they are supposedly the same in taste, color and odor - birth control in a brown bottle and fertility in a white one… three months for the Birth Control potions to wear off and, depending on the girl and when in her monthly cycle and how often she’s having sex - and we’d be shagging like bunnies by now - and she’s pregnant. This Contract allows Ginny to get pregnant as early as her Third Year in theory! Nothing is required until her fifth, unless we’re already having sex so, as no girl is allowed to remain at school if she’s more than three months along and she’s never allowed to return to school, Ginny could be out of school before her O.W.L.’s and probably would never finish. While there’s nothing preventing it, this contract does not require that you or I provide tutors to allow her to one day finish her education and take her N.E.W.T.s!”
“Wh-what-whatever else I-I may’ve th-thought I w-wanted,” Ginny cried, “I-I w-wanted to f-f-finish j-j-just like M-M-Mum!”
“I would never have agreed to this for my daughter!” Mr. Weasleys stated.
“N-n-nor I,” Mrs. Weasley added softly. “Wh-what h-have w-we d-done t-to our l-little g-girl?”
“Do you want to hear more before I get to the part that really has me in a twist? There’s a bit in here about her having to bear me three boys. Might not seem much to you Weasleys, seeing as she’s supposed to be the first daughter in ages, but I’m a Potter. Last few generations aside, we tend to breed far more girls than boys and that - girls or boys - are always the father’s thing. Interestingly, our recent success with boys first or only came after someone invented a potion the father could take to choose the sex of their child before even having sex. Problem is, take it too much and the guy might not be able to have children at all! With a couple of exceptions, we Potters rarely had more than one boy, but almost always more than one girl and almost always two or three before the son was born. I can’t use that potion for more than one child. That means, if I am a true Potter, she’d have to have four to six girls to get me those three boys at best! She’s be on again off again pregnant for a dozen years or more assuming no problems! Basically, whether you or Dumbledore knew, she’s to breed early and often! Then there’s the bit where she’s not allowed employment outside of the Household. Then again, it seems her true job is to breed early and often and believe me my girls and I take offense at that! I’m not saying they only want one child each, but they want to choose when and how many and not to be tied down that way unless they want to! They want the option to have jobs and as they are all smart and such and I have elves and their parents will help out when that time comes - hopefully not until after we get our N.E.W.T.s - why shouldn’t they have that choice? Nothing against you Mrs. Weasley, but why shouldn’t they if they can? And, as much as I hate that bit, from my point of view it’s not even the worst bit!”
There was a long pause before Mr. Weasley spoke. Both Ginny and her mother were still crying. “This doesn’t justify a Line War…”
“No,” Harry said. “Shagging your daughter rotten as soon as possible and getting her pregnant as soon as possible and as often as necessary does not. But the final clauses do!” He began reading. “Upon the marriage of the Bride and Bridegroom, the Bridegroom shall be deemed a Vassal of the Head of the Bride’s family until his death…”
“Bloody hell,” Mr. Weasley sighed.
“Wh-what’s a V-Vassal?” Ginny asked.
“It means, for the rest of my life your Dad or one of your brothers or one of their sons is effectively Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter with control over my lands and property and accounts and, probably most important, absolute control over my seat in the Wizengamot. Now, if I have a male heir who survives me it reverts to him on my death or his twenty-first birthday whichever is later. During my life your family can do what they will with that and there’s nothing I can do to stop them! I became Head of House upon my Dad’s death! I can’t take full control until I turn twenty-one and can take my seat in the Wizengamot, but I am Head! Until this summer, I knew nothing of this! I should have been instructed on this BEFORE I began Hogwarts and should even now be receiving reports from Gringotts about my accounts and from my House Proxy about what’s coming to vote in the Wizengamot. While Dumbledore is not my proxy now, you Weasleys are his Vassals! And, as for the reports, I do know one of the wards prevents me from receiving mail from - I suppose - unapproved sources. When I turn seventeen, I can normally tell my proxy what to do and sack him if he doesn’t. If I’m a Vassal, he’s not my proxy. I’ve lost my seat and heritage! That, since it’s through no fault of mine or my ancestors, is Line Theft even if it could revert to my line in time! There’s also the bit where upon turning twenty-one I’m to pay the Head of the Bride’s family a half million galleons subject to a deduction in favour of Dumbledore for yours and your brothers' school tuition. My House can afford it but that’s not the point!”
“Those are grounds for a Line War,” Mr. Weasley sighed. “If we signed this, even if we didn’t know this at the time…”
“Dumbledore must’ve known this!” Mrs. Weasley hissed. “Why would he do this?”
“To take control of House Potter,” Harry said. “Of the Ancient and Noble Houses, it’s one that while not always opposed to him is not always for him and it seems my ancestors always carried the middle, enough so that if we opposed he lost and if we supported he won. He doesn’t carry that middle just by having my votes, but he knows he can’t carry them at all if I can oppose him as Head of House Potter. Add to it, he stuck me in the Muggle World and despite his role as my guardian kept me stupid about all of this when it’s supposed to be his job to teach me! He’s been a member of the Wizengamot since he turned twenty-one so he was there when Phineus Black was appointed to that group and began arguing for Muggle and Muggle Born rights and in favour of such things as elections to government and all of that. Dumbledore was willing to grant some concessions as to Muggles and Muggleborns - without true teeth to enforce them - but not such radical ideas as elections. Of course, I doubt it helped that Phineus and the Radicals who supported him later became enamoured with Karl Marx and the Bolsheviks. Don’t ask me about that lot. I just know they tend to offend.
“My Ancestors opposed Phineus ‘cause of the Bolshevik thing and Dumbledore on his concessions - because he was too weak - and on some form of elections - because unless you’re on the Wizengamot or a senior Ministry Official, you have no say in how things are! With one notable exception not relevant here, Dumbledore wants things the way they were and quiet! He fears reform and fears a Muggle Raised like me with what Daphne calls more than a fair bit of political capital by being The-Boy-Who-Lived and some stuff I’ve done lately should it get out; I might have ideas as radical as Phineus - less the Bolshevik bits - and the ability to get enough votes to make them happen and Dumbledore won’t stand for it as it flies in the face of whatever he calls the Greater Good!”
“So this was all about politics?” Mr. Weasley asked.
“Since he doesn’t profit from this in Galleons really, what other thing could it be?”
“And what do you think about that?” Molly asked.
“I’m twelve years old! What I think now really doesn’t matter! Ask me that again if I ever get my House back and take my Seat! Or ask my appointed Proxy then.”
There was a long pause. “How do we get out of this mess?” Molly asked. “Nothing against you, Harry, but we’d never want this for Ginny and not for this price! Can we do anything?”
Harry sighed. “My girls and I have been working this since we learned of it and Grisha for far, far longer. This contract was written by a clever Goblin who saw at least part of what was going on. Apparently, he couldn’t make it totally unbreakable - short of killing people that is - but he wrote in potential loopholes that could, if they happened, at least preserve my Line.”
“Such as?” Mr. Weasley asked.
“I can’t get out of marrying Ginny nor she of marrying me without dead people. That bit for us is sealed and my Plural Marriage doesn’t change that since I can have a fifth wife with reason. We’re pretty sure it has to be a consummated marriage, so annulment is not an option and that we must marry by the time I’m nineteen. We are certain, however, we can get out of the bits about potions and pregnancy.”
“But that does nothing about the Vassalage! You marry her and…”
“I owe Vassalage to the Head of the Bride’s Family - as in the Head of her family as determined at the time of her marriage to me. If she’s a Potter before she’s married to me and not a Weasley; I owe Vassalage to me as I’m the Head of House Potter - the only one. And I also owe myself a half million at age twenty-one and as I didn’t send any children through Hogwarts with the tuition waiver, I don’t have to pay that back since that clause only applies if you’re the Head of the Bride’s Family. Clever trick, the Goblins played. It was a long shot that this could happen…”
“Has it?”
“It will by the time I leave here today.”
“Adoption?” Molly asked.
“It could be deemed a contract in conflict with the Betrothal Agreement and then avoidable by either yourselves or Dumbledore,” Grisha said. “This called for a more subtle and elegant solution, if it could happen.”
“Turns out Grisha here wrote the contract at Dumbledore’s behest,” Harry chuckled. “His elegant solution was a long shot, but better than no shot at all and, until three weeks ago I could only have hoped that the lot of you forgot about this until I turned twenty-one…”
“Life debt!” Arthur hissed. “If she’s your slave…”
“Muggle-raised,” Harry almost sing-songed. “We did away with slavery - and in my case that includes the elves I employ - and I do employ them. While they are magically bonded to me and my family, they are paid a wage for their services even if it’s not much by our terms. What I propose and insist upon is not slavery and calling in the debt by making her my wife triggers the Vassalage Clause as she’s still legally and magically your daughter. Another guess?”
“I can’t think of anything,” Mrs. Weasley began.
“A concubine,” Harry said.
“BUT THAT’S A SLAVE!” she shot back.
“Legally and magically, it’s not,” Grisha said. “A slave can be sold and used as property - whored out for profit as I believe you Wizards say. Concubines cannot be. A slave cannot be released from their status. Concubines can be. A slave cannot marry. Unreleased concubines can marry their Lord and Master. A slave’s children are bastards without any rights to inheritance. A concubine’s children are at worst only subordinate in such rights to the children of her Lord and Master’s legal wife assuming he doesn’t marry the concubine and even without marrying her the Lord and Master can make them equal to those children such that if the first born son is the son of the Concubine, he is the heir of the family. A slave has no family and no head of family for she is property only. A concubine becomes, upon bonding, a member of her Lord and Master’s family by law and magic and name. It is a relationship that can be abused without much in the way of recourse in your world. But it does not follow that it is always abused. She would be neither slave nor wife, unless Mr. Potter marries her in time which he both can and must do. Since Mr. Potter cannot avoid the marriage without her death and he does not wish that for her, they must marry. But as his concubine first, she would then be more than a mere betrothed who can be cast aside or ignored since he becomes responsible for her well being from the moment of their bonding. She would be less than a wife, which avoids the Vassalage and Payment Clauses, yet more than a betrothed, which protects her and obligates him to treat her well. It’s an elegant and devious solution to this dilemma, even if it was - as Mr. Potter said - a long shot to avoid Line Theft.”
“Daphne says you would’ve made a great and proper Slytherin and given that most of her House are anything but…”
“I consider that a compliment, Mr. Potter and please thank the Countess for it for me.”
“I will indeed as it was meant to be one.”
“And how does this solve the problem?” Mr. Weasley asked.
“Still have to marry her before I’m nineteen,” Harry said. “Now we have over six years to get used to the idea. I had Grisha draw up a new betrothal contract and since it does not stop us from marrying and I am somewhat emancipated, it doesn’t trigger the Contract Clause. It defines the terms of the betrothal, as it were. This gets us all out from the potions nonsense, but she will as my Concubine, be living in my trunk with my family. What this means is not in my bed shagging like bunnies. That’s not saying it will never happen, but when it does it will be because it’s what Ginny, my family and I want and we all agree it’s time. Under this contract, Ginny and I will marry sometime after her bonding age but not later than her seventeenth birthday. It also states that unless I and my family agree for reasons of our prolonged safety - as in the wards on my Aunt’s House which protect us all and will fall when the youngest of us is seventeen - she will not be required to become pregnant until after she finishes Hogwarts. And, before you ask, my family will only agree if we all agree the wards remain necessary for our safety from Voldemort and his minions and none of my wives are willing at that time to take that bludger for the team. Then and only then does it fall to Ginny and in no case will she become pregnant such that she can’t sit for her O.W.L’s and unless it’s her choice, by our rules, not to go on for her N.E.W.T.s. Otherwise I will provide tutors for her to continue on if she cannot finish Hogwarts because of that decision. Only in that regard is she different in any way from the rest of my wives and it’s only for that - hopefully unneeded reason - that I will keep her as a concubine beyond her bonding age. I won’t order my wife to get pregnant. I can order my concubine to do so. I will only do so for the safety of all of us and only if my wives balk and - as Hannah wants a large family to preserve House Abbott - it’s entirely possible she’ll be the one taking that bludger.
“She will leave here my concubine. That’s not negotiable. It’s the only way out for House Potter! Had you been part of the conspiracy against my House, you would’ve both been escorted out long before now and I would’ve already bound Ginny to me because of the Life Debt she owes me! I would’ve owed you no explanation and no apology or anything! But get this straight: before we leave this room, magical and legally she is no longer your daughter, she’s my family. This contract says that and says that I’m responsible for her from now on. Don’t worry. It seems I make more than 20,000 a year from my trust to spend and have 90,000 I can spend to support her and the others. I will pay her Hogwarts tuition through Seventh Year before the summer is over - anonymously of course. One of my elves is probably already collecting the things from her room which they think might be of sentimental value, as well as her books and school supplies. She won’t be getting her clothes back. When we leave here, we have an open appointment with Madam Malkin’s and Madam Carter’s for a completely new wardrobe for her from her knickers to accessories - age appropriate, of course; summer, fall, winter and spring… It’s quite a list my girls have drawn up. Did she get her wand from Ollivanders?”
“N-no,” Mrs. Weasley said. “It’s from my gran…”
“New wand too, then. I won’t have my girls held back by a second-hand wand. She can keep her old one - with your permission - as an object of sentimental value. If we have time, maybe ice cream at Fortescues? Then it’s home for dinner…”
“Will we,” Mrs. Weasley began, “will we see her again?”
“Certainly not before early August,” Harry said. “Plans for the summer, you know? Had you been a part of this plot against my house, not in your lifetime! But, as it seems you were not, maybe in August and certainly sometime over the Christmas Hols. Until I leave my relatives - not earlier than August 4th - you can’t write either. Even though my current living situation with them is tolerable, I want to keep the owls to a minimum. After that, she can write to you and you to her. But the oath you took remains. Aside from the three of you, no one can know of this before September 1st and after she’s left with us for Hogwarts, not even her brothers.”
“What do we tell them?”
Harry smiled. “As a result of last year Ginny had an emotional breakdown today. A generous benefactor saw this and is paying for her to spend time with a private mind healer. It is hoped that she’ll be herself again when the school year begins.”
The elder Weasleys thought about all of this for a while, as did Ginny. All three read over the new betrothal contract - or more appropriately - terms of concubine contract -although it didn’t say that. They spoke quietly about it for a while before all three picked up a blood quill and signed. Harry then signed as well. He then claimed by magical oath his right to Ginny in payment of her Life Debt, signed another document to that effect and Ginevra Molly Weasley became from that day forward Virginia Ellen Potter - that way, Harry explained, she could always remain “Ginny” to family and friends. The Weasleys were invited to join them for shopping - provided they offered no suggestions to the personal shoppers.