25Chapter 6 – Engagement Contract
A/N:
I haven't posted in a long while. Long story short, I got a very busy job and didn't have time to write. Now I've lost my job, and I had time to write again. I'm sad about losing the job, but I'll be alright.
I'm glad people are still enjoying the story.
Harry sat together with those he trusted most: Hermione, Daphne, and "Snuffles".
It was a rather curious collection to have as his most trusted advisors: 2 children, and 1 adult whom Harry knew for only a year and spoken with less than a dozen times.
As Daphne nervously (re)cast her privacy charms, Harry tried to reassure her they were safe enough, pointing at the Map. Sirius betrayed his nerves by also re-examining his own wards, and Hermione was confused. "What are all we here for?" she asked.
"So… well…" Daphne began bashfully after she'd settled herself, not seeing advantage in hiding her nerves, "I discovered Harry is still vulnerable to certain magical manipulations, and I wanted to fix that without giving anyone the opportunity to intervene. Which means it needs to be fixed almost as soon as I tell Harry. And the solution would be… um… this contract." With those last words Daphne took a bundle of parchment out of her cloak and put it on the table.
Betrothal Contract
signees:
Father of bride: Cyrus Greengrass
_Bride: Daphne Greengrass
Guardian of groom: _
Groom: _
Summary:
Harry James Potter and Daphne Greengrass are hereby betrothed to be married under the terms and conditions set forth in this contract.
Execution:
Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass must give their freely given consent to marry each other.
Upon mutual agreement on a wedding date, they shall be married in accordance with this contract.
Nullification:
Before this contract is solemnised, this contract may be nullified by any of the primary signees, so long as they prove to be of competent mind. The fee for dissolving the contract without mutual consent shall be 1 galleon, which shall be paid to the injured party.
If both parties reach age 30 without marrying, this contract shall be automatically dissolved.
Names and family allegiance:
Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass shall maintain their birth names, and keep their positions as primary heirs of House Potter and House Greengrass respectively.
Daphne Greengrass may claim the firstborn and/or any female children for the Greengrass family. Any children not claimed for the Greengrass family shall belong to the Potter family.
Protection of investment and name:
Magical influencing of Harry Potter via potions, charms, enchantment, or any other means, which would sway him away from House Greengrass or might indirectly work to wards that end, shall be as an attack on House Greengrass.
The head of House Greengrass shall have the rights as regnum parentis to compel Harry Potter to undergo magical cleansing, so as to rid him of the effects of all potions, charms, enchantments or any other magic.
Magical influencing of Daphne Greengrass via potions, charms, enchantment, or any other means, which would sway him away from House Potter or might indirectly work to wards that end, shall be as an attack on House Potter.
The head of House Potter shall have the rights to demand that Daphne Greengrass undergo magical cleansing, so as to rid him of the effects of all potions, charms, enchantments or any other magic.
Fidelity:
whilst under betrothal:
Both Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass may hold hands with anyone they wish, and kiss on the hand or face, but not on the lips, anyone of their choice. They shall not engage in sex whether [REDACTED] nor [REDACTED]. They may kiss each other on the lips and [REDACTED] but not [REDACTED].
during marriage:
Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass may perform whatever sexual acts they both consent to with each other. They may not perform any acts which may be reasonably interpreted as sexual or romantic with or to other people or beings, including but not limited to [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and [REDACTED].
Wizengamot votes:
Daphne Greengrass shall be authorised to vote in the Wizengamot on Harry Potter's behalf, and Daphne Greengrass may also authorise Harry Potter to vote on her behalf.
Property:
Both Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass shall contribute 50.000 galleons to their common vault no later than one week after they marry, which may be used for family expenses. The Greengrass ancestral holdings shall be preserved as well as reasonably possible to be passed on to descendents of House Greengrass. The Potter ancestral holdings shall be preserved as well as reasonably possible to be passed on to descendents of House Potter. Daphne Greengrass shall be authorised to manage investments of House Potter on Harry Potter's behalf, and Daphne Greengrass may authorise Harry Potter to manage investments of House Greengrass on her behalf. The common vault shall be split equally in cases of divorce or annulation, shall remain the property of the longest living partner in cases of death, and shall be split equally between all children of Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass if there are any such and both should die.
Rules for disciplining children:
Children shall not be treated in any way that constitutes child abuse according to Wizengamot law. This means that children shall not be disciplined in a manner that cannot be fully healed (without scarring or other permanent damage), and pain curses that are used for discipline may not exceed 9.0 on the Wong-Baker pain scale.
In addition, children shall not be treated in any way that constitutes child abuse according to UK law.
If anyone breaches these rules, both parents and the heads of both houses shall be notified.
The Nott-Pandora pact:
Children of this marriage shall not be able to marry without their and their spouse's freely given consent.
Any marriage contract for any children of this marriage shall not be acknowledged by parent or head-of-house or guardian unless it contains therein the Nott-Pandora pact.
Agreement not to potion/charm/enchant each other without consent:
[Details too boring to include]
…
…
…
Defn.: Freely given consent:
Given not under influence of mind-altering potions, charms or other magical mind-altering effects, not under any kind of threat, not under influence of fear, and not under influence of alcohol, sleep-deprivation, or other wisdom-reducing conditions.
Defn.: Primary signees:
The primary signees are Cyrus Greengrass, Daphne Greengrass, and Harry Potter
Defn.: Of competent mind:
To be of competent mind one must be aged 21 or older, and one must be free from magical compulsions, one must not be under influence of alcohol, sleep-deprivation, or other wisdom-reducing conditions, and one must be of sound mind.
Harry, Hermione and Sirius leaned over the contract to study it. Their reactions were plainly written on their faces, with Harry being stunned, Hermione appalled, and Sirius grinning like a madman.
By some miraculous implicit agreement they all kept silent as they read the document, at least until they got to the section on fidelity. Reading through the lists of lewd acts, Harry and Hermione both got red in the face, and Harry's eyes widened comically whilst Hermione was near sputtering. Sirius was the one who broke first, as he started laughing and slapping Harry on the shoulder and congratulating him.
"I can't believe someone had the shamelessness to put this on parchment!" Hermione's voice meeped as she pored over the contract, her cheeks flushing an ever deeper red.
Daphne allowed the reactions to play out, keeping her composure. She had read the contract herself earlier, multiple times in fact.
Finally Hermione buried her face in her hands, Sirius leaved through the final pages of the contract, and Harry just stared at the second-last page.
It took a couple of hours to come to a decision, which felt like forever.
Sirius was surprisingly helpful, explaining that betrothal contracts were quite normal in certain circles, that you weren't really fully committing to marrying so long as the nullification conditions were fair, and that the icky stuff that so horrified Hermione was actually pretty useful. She spluttered beautifully when Sirius revealed that he himself was actually under a chastity contract. With love potions, compulsion charms, memory charms, alcohol, and all the various other ways that your perception of your own free will could be manipulated, it only made sense that the decision to engage in sex ought to be made with care. At least to Sirius and Daphne.
After this it was Sirius' turn to be shocked, when he learned that Hermione and other muggleborn students weren't offered a standardised chastity contract before their first Hogsmeade weekend. As they were discussing this, Hermione flipped out when it was mentioned in passing that it is impossible to have sex under the Hogwarts wards. The discussion progressed to the role of sex and virginity in marriage bonding, then to sex magic, and was getting rather heated. When Harry, who had completely checked out of the conversation, tiredly asked them to please get back to the point.
The point that they finally agreed on, even though Sirius desperately didn't want to doubt Albus Dumbledore so, was that it was quite risky for Harry to delay signing the contract. That the contract was pretty good. And that it made Harry feel very happy that Daphne would confirm their relationship via contract, even if the contract wasn't strictly binding.
So the contract was signed.
And Daphne too went to her dorm with a spring in her step.
My dearest daughter,
To solve our peacock problem, I'm attempting to form an alliance with some French birds with unique magics. Hearing how a dragon was brought low with mental magic was inspiring.
The French finches are still furious about the foregone faults of our foes in France. The ones in 1977, 1987 and 1988. Our own just and judicious government considers these minor matters because the victims were "not fully human", and French besides.
I am hoping this can be resolved without involving you further, but if you do become involved, I trust you to further our alliances.
Take care,
Your loving father
A/N:
I write about a Harry Potter world in which it is advantageous for people to remain virgins until they marry, because I enjoy romance set in such worlds more. I'm also working with the 'house rule' that a chastity contract (or engagement contracts with the right fidelity clause) prevent all sex, including all variations of rape. (I probably could have expressed that more clearly in the chapter itself, but I wanted to post the chapter.)
Please feel free to let me know what you think ;)