Sirius grinned and said, "Welcome back, Moony."
"Yeah, yeah," Remus grumbled. "Now, answer the bloody question!"
Sirius smirked and asked right back, "What makes you think it's not already being done?"
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Stepping out after Neville in the Greengrass manor welcoming room, this time Harry only slid about ten feet on his knees off at an angle as he exited the floo.
"Ha!" he declared, jumping to his feet. "I think I'm starting to get used to this flooing malarkey!"
That had the others in the room all laughing as he grinned at them.
As Hermione stepped out she immediately asked, "What did he break?"
That set them all off again.
Neville did the introductions this time. He was first, as was proper, introduced to Lord Samuel Greengrass. Then to Lady Adeline, his wife.
Harry stepped forward and shook Lord Greengrass's hand before bending over and kissing the knuckles of Adeline's hand.
Though it was unusual, he then introduced them both to Hermione as his Lady Presumptive. Then he moved on to kiss the back of the knuckles of both Daphne and Astoria, her younger sister and only sibling.
"Lady Presumptive," said Daphne. "We read about the Betrothal Agreement."
"Yes," replied Harry. "It's so she will be protected. It also has specific clauses which will allow either of us to easily cancel it if either of us wish to do so."
"Clever," said Samuel.
Adeline looked to Hermione and asked, "I take it, it was explained to you what it means for your standing in our world?"
Hermione, though she blushed a little, firmly looked back and nodded. "Yes; for all intents and purposes I'm now recognised as having the standing of a Lady of a Noble and Most Ancient House."
Harry quickly added, "But, she doesn't need the Betrothal Agreement to accomplish that. Hermione's also the magical ward of Lord Sirius Black of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."
Samuel gave a low whistle. "That's quite a jump."
Hermione obviously thought it was a slight on her being a muggleborn; because she frowned and almost, but not quite, snapped back, "It's for my protection."
Samuel, realising how his words were taken, didn't take umbrage. Instead, he was quick to apologise. "My apologies, Miss Granger. I did not mean for my words to be taken as they were. It was merely a comment on the unusual situation."
Harry was quick to say, "The same thing happened a decade and a half ago, Sir, when my mother was brought into the Potter family through a similar Betrothal Agreement."
"I did not know that, Lord Potter," said a clearly surprised Samuel Greengrass. "I knew, of course, of the marriage of your mother to your father - after all, I was at their handfasting - but, I did not know a Betrothal Agreement existed between the two."
Harry gave a slight nod and said, "Discovering and reading their Betrothal Agreement slash Contract was what aided me in the decision to agree to a similar arrangement with Hermione."
Hermione was frowning in confusion. "I'm sorry, I don't understand. If the House of Greengrass is one of the founding Houses of the alliance, how is it you didn't know of the contract between Harry's parents?"
Before Harry even had a chance to think of an answer, Samuel smiled and replied, "Just because our Houses are in alliance, does not mean we are privy to internal House matters of any other House... or Houses."
Harry added, "That's what I was telling you about before, Hermione, when I mention that... now that Frank Longbottom is back as Head of House for Longbottom... it is not for us to know what he chooses to do about Dowager Lady Augusta. It's an internal matter."
The sudden understanding was clear to see on Hermione's face when she nodded and softly said, "Ah."
Then she thought and asked, "But, wouldn't our betrothal also be an internal matter?"
"Good question," he smiled. "It is. However, that just means it was my place to choose whether or not to inform the other Houses of the alliance. I decided it was in all our interests to do so. The Daily Prophet were being quite rude when they jumped the dueller's flag and published it."
Samuel piped in and asked, "And, just why did you decide that?"
"Because Daphne and Astoria, especially, needed to know that for when we return to Hogwarts - if we return to Hogwarts," he replied. "I'm hoping they can use their Slytherin skills and contacts to ensure their own House, at least, is made aware of the betrothal as soon as possible on our return.
"If you return to Hogwarts?" asked Samuel.
Both teens nodded, but it was left to Harry to answer. "If."
Hermione added, "With Dumbledore still there, we really have no desire for either of us, especially Harry, to be within reach of that man."
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