'Interesting,' he mentally noted. "Have you talked to Harry about the possibility of marriage contracts?" wondering if the young lord was open to them and could strike a deal with Sirius.
"Yes, but it wasn't encouraging. Nor would I ever force one upon him. I doubt I could, even if I tried to," Sirius expressed with a sigh, this last statement taking him by surprise.
...
Noticing that Sirius was slightly drunk and was obviously saying more than he had intended to, he debated whether to ask more whilst his fellow Lord's defenses were down, to try to learn more about Sirius' charge. "Why do you say that? You're his magical guardian," he pressed.
"Harry is ridiculously smart and capable. He admitted to me on holiday that he already had measures in place to remove me if I was unfit," Sirius stated with a sigh as he considered the shocking news. "Harry is very driven and independent; if he wants something, he will get it, and nothing will stand in his way. He's also a manipulative brat, who knows just what words will hurt the most and which ones will cut the deepest. What you said about the clothes and the guilds won't stop him. He will find a way; it will just take more time.
We'll just be forced to watch from the sidelines in awe of him as he does what we thought impossible and somehow makes it look easy. Any who stand against him will regret the day they attracted his attention," Sirius rambled.
"Surely you give the boy too much credit, Sirius?" He decided to push forward with his interrogation at these shocking statements.
"Na, he's already got big plans in motion and has for some time, even before I was freed," Sirius expressed, his eyes closing as he buried himself deeper into the comfy armchair.
"He's reopening the old Potter docks and has been buying up all the land around the site for months at bottom-rate prices. Soon he'll control the whole magical alley. I looked at the figures, he already owns 85% of the area," this caused him to drop his glass in shock at what he was hearing from Sirius' lips. He had already sold all of his holdings in the alley several weeks ago, and those would have been prime spots on the high street if the area was revitalized.
The price was just too good and gave him every reason to unload property in his portfolio that had been essentially worthless for over a decade and did nothing but cost him more money.
Regardless of the lost opportunities, he found himself again impressed by the young Potter. He would never take it personally when someone made a good business move like that, as it was exactly what he would have done in the other's position.
"You know, Nick, you don't mind if I call you Nick? Nicholas?" Sirius asked with a little giggle.
"It's fine, I like Nick," he stated, eager to keep Sirius talking after the verbal 'bombarda maxima' he had just cast. "So what else is Harry doing?" His respect for the young Potter was steadily ticking up.
"Not much else, just consolidating his assets as far as I'm aware. Harry plays things pretty close to the chest," Sirius declared with a giggle, a good amount of disbelief and pride coming through; even in his drunken state that came through clearly, despite earlier calling the boy a brat. Cynthia then entered the room, her eyes quickly spotting the drunken Sirius, the disapproval in her eyes clear.
"Where's our young guest?" he asked his beautiful wife, loving her choice in outfit as the white silk hung off her body perfectly, highlighting her ample curves, diamonds hanging around her long, delicate neck. The ogling of his wife ended unceremoniously as Sirius gave a mighty snore.
"I left him with Daphne, who's giving him a tour of the manor," before kissing him lightly on his lips, sending a spark of passion through his body, stirring his desire for his wife of many years. "Maybe we should inform Harry so that he can collect his godfather and we can go to bed."
"In a minute, dear," his wand appearing in hand and immediately casting a silencing charm around Sirius, his wife immediately catching onto his mood as she demurely hitched her dress up and straddled herself delicately on his lap. "Sirius said that Harry wasn't interested in the idea of marriage contracts," his eyes darting over to the sleeping Lord.
"He also shared that Lord Parkinson, Lady Zabini, and Lord Patil have all requested meetings for the same reason, as well as a number of others. I have a feeling there will be many more as he grows older and his sheer potential becomes more widely known," he explained to his wife.
"I was under the impression that Lord Parkinson's daughter was contracted to Lord Malfoy's son and had been for quite some time," his wife expressed, a tiny bit of surprise capable of being detected in her voice by those who knew her best. "We'll tell Daphne tomorrow. Plus, I don't think plotting with clouded minds is the wisest decision, my dear," his wife expressed, kissing him lightly on the lips again.
"Are you still considering the idea of canceling the marriage contract with Lady Zabini? Our mutual business partnership has been quite profitable for us," he voiced, playing the devil's advocate. "Plus, that woman carries a grudge and doesn't forgive easily."
"Potter is the much bigger prize and far more beneficial to us in the long term if he and Sirius are truly going neutral politically," Cynthia advised, her lips brushing his ear. "Astoria can always replace Daphne if need be. She's more immature and lively anyway, a much better match for Blaise.
Daphne's personality would utterly dominate the relationship with young Blaise and do little to benefit her," her lips curling in amusement. "With Harry as her husband, they would be an equal match, both testing and strengthening each other.
The two of them would be a stronger force together than individually. But there would be the issue of heirs to deal with. Any marriage contract between them would have to ensure that at least one of their children took up the Greengrass name and the house stayed a separate independent body and not a client house of the Potters."
Only half listening to his beloved wife, he shook his head to clear itself of the unfortunate images his wife had accidentally created; images of Daphne in a leather bodysuit with a whip in hand popped into his mind before he shook his head again, desperately trying to think of something, anything, rather than his sweet daughter doing that. Well, maybe not that sweet.
"There's more," he stated urgently; however, the approaching voice of his eldest daughter, along with the young lord in question, stopped him from continuing. He quickly canceled the silencing charm on Sirius, and Cynthia repositioned herself for propriety's sake, straightening her dress as she did so.
...
Following Daphne into the front room, he saw that his godfather had passed out, sound asleep in one of the chairs. A wave of embarrassment came over him. 'Idiot,' he mentally muttered as he schooled his features into a clear look of disapproval at his godfather's behavior.
Speaking up, "I apologize on behalf of my godfather," Harry stated, letting his disapproval be clearly heard, deciding to get back at Sirius for this stunt.
"It's fine," Nicholas stated, waving his hand and thus dismissing the issue, amusement clear on his face as he nursed his own drink. "It happens to everyone at some point."
"I think it's for the best that we take our leave now," Harry expressed, going into serious damage control mode after noticing Nicholas' eyes were watching him much more closely than before. Something had happened. Something was different now. He needed to figure out what had happened while Lord Greengrass was alone with Sirius.
"Indeed," Cynthia agreed, as Harry spotted that her dress had shifted to one side and Nicholas' similarly ruffled outfit. Whilst he was new to the whole physical attraction for beautiful women thing, he was willing to admit privately to himself that Lady Greengrass was extremely attractive, if you could stomach the cold-hearted vibes coming from her. Daphne was also on her way to being a great beauty as well.
...
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