December 25, 1944
Thursday Morning
Harry opened one eye after closing them in a mixture of shock and guard. He had thought she was going to hit him with a curse, perhaps something horrible that would result in his death or something else equally as violent. It was his instinct, he figured; the sudden movement and the smile she gave was entirely too… non-Corene?
"Corene?" He asked, his second eye now open so that it could join the first one as he moved his head to see Corene's still on his shoulder. "What're you doing?"
"Hugging you. It's an expression of thanks," Corene said with her voice muffled on account of her mouth being pressed into his shoulder.
"I get that, I really do… but why are you hugging me? I mean, what're you thankful for? I told you I'd keep that secret of yours and I meant it. You're my friend, the last thing I'd want to do is purposefully bugger you over," Harry rubbed her back awkwardly, feeling her shoulder blades despite the heavy dress she wore.
To him, the fact that he was embracing Corene for as long as he currently was felt weird to the point that he was nervous. He didn't know how long he should hold her, where he should touch or how he should feel thanks to the expressionless and oftentimes emotionless state of the witch in his arms.
"I trusted you with a secret that could see me thoroughly unravelled if it got out. Not only would I lose standing and power, but I would also receive punishment from both sides of my family. It was a leap of faith on my behalf, as I hoped I could truly trust you, Harry Peverell," Corene finally withdrew from him and looked up, her eyes filled with a spark, a warmth even, that he hadn't seen from her before. "I've slid something into your pockets too, during our embrace. It's meant only for your eyes to the point that it requires an activation phrase, one that I've slid under the carpet of where we're currently stood should Elaine find the parchment in your breeches. Everything you wished to know about my family, the deal we wish to have with you and more is within."
"Corene…" Harry started, swallowing again as he looked at the girl in front of him.
For her part, she stopped her speaking and patiently waited for him to say what he needed to. Her eyes were still filled with that warmth and her smile, one that looked incredibly out of place on her face was still equally as present.
"I'm glad you can trust me," Harry finally said as he placed an arm on each of her shoulders, ensuring his shields were up in his bond with Elaine as they'd been since Corene first put up her privacy charm. "I've been trying to see if - let's start walking to the top floor again - I've been trying to see if I could trust you too. For months, I swore I could. Ever since that time with hot chocolate in front of the fireplace, really. I'm glad we both feel the same way, I truly am, and I'm especially glad that your family finally wants to tell me about the plans they have regarding me."
Corene shook her head then. "You were smart to get us moving again, take that as my compliment for you since it was my lack of thought and eagerness that had us cease our moving in the first place," Corene re-looped her arm through his then, a moment later she continued her prior speaking. "We have no plans directly involving you, Harry. Nothing that could see you implicated or hurt, more so that we wish to bring you in on a multitude of important points. I won't speak aloud about them, you know the reasons why and where you can find the information already."
Harry noticed when Corene stopped speaking this time that she bit her bottom lip. Normally, he wouldn't have spared a second thought to that trivial, pointless detail. Merlin, he knew for a fact the old him wouldn't have even spotted it. As for the current him, however, he knew from experience with Elaine that it meant there was something more Corene wanted to speak about.
"What is it?" He asked casually, their looped arms ensuring Corene couldn't pull away and her friendly expression equally as helpful in making sure she couldn't poker face her way out of answering him honestly.
"I need your assistance in a matter I hadn't intended to press for another year, if not longer. I'm unsure of how it will ultimately go, though I know I'm deserving of some form of bitterness or punishment from her," Corene's face fell finally, her lips only slightly raised to indicate her happiness in his presence as was usual of her as her head resumed it's almost normal, comfortable position of being cocked. "What I'm asking of you is your assistance in telling Elaine who I am to her. It's troublesome, soon and without preamble, thus I understand if you decline my request."
"Simply put, very simply put, mind you. What you're asking is that I'm with you and Elaine when you tell her about your grandma?" Harry asked, his mind racing a mile a minute to keep anything important from being on it despite his 'shields' that Snape had helped him build being up.
Corene nodded once with her head remaining tilted to one side. "Yes, your assistance would be very beneficial on account of how calm you manage to keep her. I could offer you a reward for assisting me if you'd like, though I'm unsure as to what you could request of me that I wouldn't already willingly grant to you."
"You're too nice, you know that right?" Harry asked with a chuckle, his arm looped through hers pulling Corene slightly closer to him; he didn't feel all that romantic towards the girl despite how beautiful and Luna-like she was, it was more of a platonic sort of affection with a tinge of wanting to hold her that he felt.
"I owe my attitude in part to you, as do many of us," Corene said, dipping her head to Harry. "Had you not come along and kept Elaine happy, especially when you arrived that last year, I think many of us would be all the more willing to perform tasks that we shouldn't. There were even talks of a mark on our arms, all of us, to ensure lasting friendship. None of that's been brought up with Elaine latched onto you as she currently is."
"That much has changed, huh?" Harry asked, his voice fighting to remain controlled his mind once more resumed its racing.
Elaine was going to give them all the Dark Mark, the one Voldemort gave to his followers. I was wrong, she is evil or bat shite crazy. Then again, Corene did say that she's mellowed a large bit with me being here to keep her calm… Merlin's beard, I'm going to have to stay with Elaine until the day she dies if I don't want her Voldemorting out.
Corene poked him once, right above the ribs. "You were dazed," she said simply, smiling at him as she had earlier; it wasn't as large or happy-looking, but the shy look was more than enough to cause a resurgence in those cuddling feelings he felt towards her.
If anything, until the two returned to Elaine, he strived going forward to defend Corene from all forms of harm. Anybody as cute and friendly as her deserved to be safe, especially when they smiled as wonderfully as she did.
Once he and Corene had returned to the rest of the group, they saw that Reinhard had finally arrived. He had been running late, the large boy had said it was thanks to his family for keeping him but Aster had whispered that Reinhard hated being away from home during the holidays. Something about a 'hot distant cousin' with a few winks tossed in.
Harry laughed and felt a wee bit sick at the same time, but he knew how circular Pureblood family trees could be. If he remembered from the brief bit of looking around he'd done in the Potter bloodline, they were guilty of it too, if only not as bad as others… like the Malfoys.
"Let's get to eating, yeah?" Harry finally offered up once the group of six had been sitting in the parlour room, talking casually, for half an hour.
That was all it took for the others to shrug, get up and offer up varying words that were in agreement with what he said. It was weird, definitely weird thanks to Elaine's presence, giving the orders or suggestions as he called them. She didn't seem to mind listening to him though, at least not when it came to suggesting they move to the dining hall.
"Pev, mate, good to see you," Aster said as he fell in on Harry's left and Reinhard did the same on his right. "Been a good long time, hasn't it?"
Harry rolled his eyes and tossed Aster a knowing look. "First off, it's been a little over a week since I was last graced with the presence of the two mightiest Hogwarts dolts. Secondly, Aster, no."
"No what?" Aster asked with furrowed brows.
"No as in, no I won't help with whatever you're attempting to plot," Harry responded, smiling as he looked between the two boys. "Trust me, I've known you two long enough that I can tell when you're trying to plan something. I'll give you points for trying, especially with who our current company is, but unless you're planning on getting cursed by some beautiful birds I'd suggest you don't do it."
"These beautiful birds can hear you, my love," Elaine said from behind him, causing Emilene to laugh prettily while Corene shook her head audibly, her hair whipping about behind her.
Harry gave a pointed look to Aster and Reinhard each then, showing to the two exactly what he'd planned.
Good lucking going forward with them hearing what I said, clowns.
Normally, he would have helped them with whatever it was too. He considered himself fun, engaging and most of all, one of the blokes' blokes when it came time to have fun. This was one of those rare times where he needed to ensure peace, but most of all, when he needed to ensure his house wouldn't melt thanks to whatever machinations these two were plotting. It may have cost him a couple of cool points, as he called them, but it was well worth it.
"Fine, no pranking while we're here, we got it," Reinhard said, his large arm going behind Harry to flick Aster in the back of his head until the other boy echoed much the same. "You'll help us get Malfoy though, won't you, Pev old boy?"
"What would we be getting him with? Your answer will determine what my answer is, especially if it's something tame or worse, something that'll cause some long-lasting damage," Harry raised his hands when they made to argue; the last thing any of them needed was a Malfoy sending up their issues from within Elaine's circle.
Aster looked at Harry for nearly half a minute in silence until he finally cracked, a smile present on his face. One that spoke of shite-eating, horrible future plans for Malfoy that still fit within Harry's criteria.
"It'll be great, mate, trust me."
Harry would then go on to spend the next five minutes until they finished their walk to the dining hall listening to Aster and Reinhard's entirely too complex, stupid, wicked plan. He could sum it up too, for that was what he had to do when he later recalled it; Aster and Reinhard would use a new creation - something that was meant to cause the person ingesting it to make frog-like sounds and bounce around - on Malfoy, they would then release dozens of flies after spiking his drink with another creation, one that extends his tongue like that of an actual frog. Once that was all done in an entirely too complex manner via dinner, the two would laugh and watch as Malfoy publicly made a fool of himself.
It was a stupid, weird, simple plan that heavily relied on Malfoy being absolutely oblivious and at the same time, relied on their creations working perfectly. All in all, Harry chalked them up to yet another similarly made plan, reliant on their own skills and all. It would be incredibly interesting to see how it worked in a few weeks time.
"Dinner?" Elaine asked once they were all at the frontmost table by the kitchens.
Harry had purposefully picked that one too, despite the rest of the group enjoying the outdoor eating arrangement. There wasn't any snow on his deck, nor was it too cold to eat comfortably outdoors, it was all a matter of his greenhouse being within range. As he'd learned more and more, he had started having his gardener house-elf grow other plants, Mandrakes chief amongst them.
The Basilisk was still within Hogwarts, so he would need a suitable fix if anybody was petrified and not killed outright. It was wishful thinking, just like keeping the greenhouse entirely private was, but he figured the less attention it got the better.
"Look at all this food… enough for twenty people, it is!" Aster said joyously, the boy practically salivating as he moved from one chair to the next, sniffing lengthwise the table as he went.
"You'll get fat if you eat too much, Aster. Don't you remember what Druella said?" Reinhard asked with a grin, poking at the smaller boy when Aster tossed him a dirty look.
Harry turned to Elaine then, whispering to her as the others continued their joking around and Corene, as well as Emilene, seated themselves near the front. "Where is Druella, I thought you said she could be coming too?"
Elaine kissed his cheek and motioned for him to pull out her chair, which he very quickly did. "I did say something along those lines, yes. Druella was indisposed for much of this afternoon, unfortunately. You needn't worry, she'll make her appearance before too much longer. I'm sure one of your house-elves will be more than happy to share with you when that is," Elaine withdrew and slotted herself into the seat right of his at the head of the table without any complaint or attention drawn to her choice of seating.
Harry was surprised that she readily relegated herself to the second spot, but he was more surprised that she did so without fuss or mention of it. His eyes would most assuredly remain on her for most of the evening, not that they ever strayed really, but he would try and come to the bottom of why she was so willingly subservient.
Nearly one hour later and Harry understood exactly why Elaine was so willing to sit next to him rather than with him. She had planned out nearly the entirety of the day, as he'd come to learn when food was brought out by his elves without him ordering them to do so. Laddey, the poor little guy, had apologised to Harry when the latter had to leave to use the 'loo'… really, it was just a means for Harry to speak with the people who were supposed to be on his side above all others.
He came to learn right then and there that Elaine had told the house-elves it was a 'surprise' for him and that everything she did was fine. It was to 'please Master Harry' as they'd heard. That was the moment it all made sense to him. With everything preplanned to her specifications, she didn't much care for the minute details such as who sat where.
Harry shook his head and made his way back over to the table, sitting at the head of it again as he looked over to Elaine while the others simply snacked.
"Elaine," Harry said, her name sweet-sounding coming from his lips.
"Yes, my love?" Elaine answered equally as romantic.
"Would you go and check the parlour room, please? I believe Druella should be arriving soon, and I could think of nobody better to greet her," Harry smiled at Elaine then, the look innocent and his words as polite as he ever was with anybody at the table. "I'm sure she'd love for you to take her on a tour later too, you're equally as familiar with this home as I am."
When Harry finished with a grin and look around the table, he saw both of the other conversations were still ongoing but all of the eyes were stuck between him and Elaine. With his final words being complimentary and the entirety of his speaking being sweet, respectful in the way that they were said, he didn't think Elaine would be too angry.
He wasn't stupid though, not like he used to be. Harry understood that she'd recognise what he was trying to do the same as the others would. Elaine, the woman who they all knew would be his wife in the coming future, had just been given a task by Harry rather than the other way around. Had he been his old self, the initial one, he wouldn't have tried to do that - the him from a few months ago would have likely done it in private too, but no. He had to make the occasional show of dominance even if it turned into a pissing contest.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to go with Aster?" Elaine asked, staring at him as her huskier tone came into effect.
"Aster's probably seen his sister more than enough in recent times, don't you remember how excited he was when he wouldn't have all his friends hitting on her anymore?" Harry laughed and gave a pointed look at Reinhard then, making the bigger boy cough to hide a grin. "I'd love to go with you on that tour later too, Merlin knows two of these four will be drunk by then. If Emilene and Corene wouldn't be opposed, we could make it something of a group event since Emilene could benefit from a tour as well."
"I do-" Elaine started, looking slightly calmer until he interrupted her, at which point she looked very fuc- annoyed.
"Please, my wonderful future wife," Harry said, leaning over to kiss her cheek as he played to her romantic side. "I had something planned during your absence, a surprise if you would. You won't make me ruin that, will you?"
Harry pulled back and winked at Elaine, recognising the way her eyes flashed. If she tried him again on the matter, he would wisely back down, but he didn't think that'd be necessary. Elaine was materialistic just as much as she was always vying for his affection. If he made a showing in front of all of their friends that he had something planned for her, especially for her and nobody else, those two sides of her would more than likely ensure he got what he wanted.
In a way, Harry had finally learned how to play the game. He'd been in it long enough, he reckoned.
"I'll do as you'd like, my love," Elaine finally said, relenting and leaning forward to aggressively place a kiss on his lips; he nearly brought a hand up to touch them until he realised how that'd make him look.
"Thank you, and I promise it'll be well worth it," Harry said, smiling as he raised his glass and looked towards the clock. "Here's to one final toast before Druella arrives - this one's for you and your soon to be enforced sobriety, Aster."
"Here, here!" Reinhard said quickly, taking up the call with a laugh before he necked his drink.
Elaine took a sip and soon after left the room, headed towards the parlour area. When she was well and truly gone, he caught looks from all four of the others; Corene was impressed, Aster was grinning, Emilene looked bothered and Reinhard… Reinhard was conflicted.
Harry wasn't so sure anymore that him pressing the matter was the right thing to do even if the two he cared most to have on his side were happy with it. The last thing he needed to cause was a splitting of Elaine's circle, for that would only mean the strengthening of Walburga's group despite her recently 'reformed' status.
Yeah, no, he still didn't completely buy it.
"Why if it isn't Harry Peverell," Druella said as she walked in alongside Elaine, the woman looking older and taller than he remembered. "You've grown and filled out, haven't you?"
Harry dipped his head once to Aster's older sister. "I'm glad you think so, I've definitely been trying to get my exercise in. I can say you've got a more mature air about you too," Harry smiled and stood up, moving over to Elaine's seat to pull out her chair before doing the same for Druella. "Aster barely talks about, still afraid about us going after you, I think. With that being the case, forgive me for asking if it's obvious, but where do you work? What've you been up to?"
Druella laughed and flashed a dazzling smile to the entirety of the table. "I can't say I'm surprised that Aster is keeping anything about me private. He's always been nervous that his big sister is going to crash his party or mess with his friends, my cute little brother," Druella shook her head and waited for Harry to grab his seat, only continuing once he did so. "I currently work for my parents and the family business that we've been operating for centuries. It's a potion brewing one, we've been trying something experimental and it's very early in its workings."
"Is it that potion for Werewolves, by any chance?" Elaine asked, joining the conversation while the others were still satisfied with their listening in.
"It is," Druella confirmed with a nod and smile over at Elaine. "We've been working out the early theory and potential ingredients for a potion that would cease their transformation while keeping their 'wolf-side' as they call it, in check. It's nowhere near ready it, I believe it'll take a very long time in all honesty, but we've been working with the Ministry to produce early information for it."
"Grants," Corene said. "Whatever could turn a profit is given a grant for the duration the highest official sees fit."
"You'll have to ask your father about that, Corene. I'd be very interested in seeing how we could get extra funds for Druella's project, especially with the uptick in Werewolves moving to our wonderful nation," Elaine said, finally turning her attention back to Harry to pull him back into the conversation. "Druella knows of our wedding sometime in the future, darling. She'll be invited, of course… forgive my impatience. I must confess I was eagerly moving so that we could return and see this surprise you were planning in my absence."
Harry grinned at Elaine, recognising his earlier plan had worked while also enjoying the sight that a happy, smiling Elaine provided. She was beautiful, well and truly beautiful. Not only was there that fact, but now that he looked between her and Corene, especially while both wore their hair down, he could see the similarities in their features.
Each of them had dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin, tall builds… it was a wonder that nobody else could put it together. It was such an obvious, in the face fact but at the same time, so out there that it made sense that it was a secret.
"I suppose I'll have to bug Druella with our catching up later in the evening," Harry said as he stood up, his hands seeking out the front of the table once he was completely upright. "Laddey."
Laddey appeared and looked at Harry, only at Harry. "Yes Master Peverell, sir?"
"Bring out Elaine's surprise, if you would - do the same for the items meant to accompany it, please," Harry ordered politely, smiling as Laddey nodded emphatically before popping off; he would take that time to address his guests who were all watching him. "It's a surprise meant primarily for Elaine, but I didn't see any reason to avoid sharing something with all of you."
In the short amount of time where nothing was happening and the group was waiting, Aster cracked a joke that sounded sadly true. It was enough to make Reinhard laugh, however, and his contagious laughter would spread throughout the table to include everybody else.
"Is this one of those gifts you get on Valentine's day when a pretty bird does something for your friend but knows you're alone so she feels bad and gets you something too?" Aster had asked.
Sounds like he's speaking from experience, really. There's no way you put that much detail into it without speaking from something that's happened first-hand to you.
Nobody else had the chance to say anything before Laddey was back with a couple of the other house-elves. Those other ones would deposit items on the table in front of all the other guests, while Laddey brought over Elaine's gift directly to Harry. It went just as he wanted, wonderfully enough.
"Here we are," Harry said, calling attention back to himself while the others - save for Aster who already had the small package in his hands - looked on at the small box in front of them. "Elaine, my friends… our friends. In the short time that I've come to know the lot of you, I'd like to think we've become close in our relationships. It means a lot to me, just as I know it means a lot to Elaine. In honour of this friendship and the bonds between us, the items within these boxes were made specifically for you. It took a great deal of time, hence the wait, but I hope you all can appreciate what you were given."
Harry looked at Elaine then, carefully extending his arms which were still holding her gift. When he smiled and nodded, she took hold of the item just as carefully as when he'd been holding it.
"You can all open your gifts," Harry said then, smiling and watching Elaine with his gaze only occasionally flickering across to Corene; he couldn't watch all of them, so he settled on the most important two to him.
Elaine's wide-eyed look followed very shortly thereafter by a lusty gaze ensured him that she was very happy with what he'd gotten her. It was funny too since that was only the prelude to her Christmas with him. All of them, really, had been spoiled this year by his Christmas, Yule or whatever else they'd like to call it, shopping. Buying people was wrong and all, he knew that. In all honesty, he didn't much care for it, but he recognised the importance of gift-giving in a friendship and aside from that… it made him feel good. More than he could put into words - something about the Gryffindor memories or something of that sort.
"You spent entirely too much on these rings, Harry," Corene said, drawing his attention away from Elaine and over to herself as she held up the offending item. "Father does business with Madame Beautrois, so I know the price of a custom piece. Had pluralism not been banned centuries ago, I should think you're proposing to all of us."
"Pfft, takes a bigger ring than that if Pev's trying to date me," Aster said, flipping his non-existent hair over his shoulder as everybody looked over to him with varying looks of concern or amusement. "What? I know how many Galleons the bloke has from being in a family this old, I'm just saying."
Harry rolled his eyes and looked back at Corene. "As I said earlier, we're all friends and Aster's not entirely wrong in the sense that this wasn't a horrible dent. Even if it were, I'd still say it was well worth it to show the lasting friendship of our houses."
"Corene, I'd like for you to know that I appreciate the way you say so very stoically all of your jokes," Elaine said, smiling at her friend and returning a nod when Corene sent her one. "As for you, Harry Peverell. You should be lucky that it's banned with gifts as grand as these, lest our friends here mistake your presents - in all honesty, the necklace you gave to me and the rings for all of them are the epitome of classy. It's clear to see the small fortune these took to create, especially with they're enhanced the way that I assume they are."
He nodded once, a bit of a blush finally coming to his cheeks as he remained the centre of attention within the room. Harry had meant to show everybody how much they meant to him, he hadn't intended for them to stay focused on him as long as they were.
"Harry?" Reinhard said, speaking up and winking very obviously at him.
"Yeah, mate?" Harry responded curiously, his eyes narrowing in the event that a prank or wise remark was incoming.
"These things are awfully fancy, especially with how you mixed your sigils and ours with those jewels or stones or what have you, but… if I had a custom sigil, for when I strike out on my own if I ever do, could I have this modified?" Reinhard asked, making Aster groan.
"Not this again," Aster said with a huff as he looked pointedly at all the women.
Harry blinked before grinning, remembering exactly what Reinhard was recalling from all those months ago. "I think we could do that, though that'll have to be when it comes up. Oh, it'll be on your head too, not mine."
Thus, with a curious look from the rest of the table, Harry ended the meal as he called for them to go to the parlour room once more; all of their gifts were in the room adjacent to it. He had well and truly filled the place up for them, Elaine had done something similar though. She had gotten dozens of gifts, possibly a hundred, with more than fifty per cent for him.
That Christmas was a wonderful one when the gifts started flying all about thanks to an 'accidental' duplication charm on one of the boxes. It didn't take a genius to figure out who 'accidentally' put it on their present meant for their sister and it, sure enough, didn't require a genius to cancel it.
Merlin, Harry would definitely be getting Aster back for that.
December 26, 1944
Friday Morning
When Harry woke up the next day, his bedroom nearly completely filled with presents in varying stages of open to readily usable, he saw that Elaine was gone once more. There was another note on her side of the bed too, one that made mention that she was with Druella on an important errand. Again, she didn't go into any details, which was not surprising, but he figured it was political or funding in nature. Rarely was anything Elaine did not political or economic in nature, considering her ambitions.
Right, ambitions… I'll have to speak with that new Ministers advisor before too long, especially if the old one was fired a bit ago. Another issue for someday soon, I guess.
Knocking sounded at his door, the sound likely what woke him in the first place. "May I enter?"
It was Corene, though he hadn't a clue as to what she could want at twelve in the afternoon.
"Shite, it's past twelve," Harry cursed with wide eyes as he called back to Corene. "Yeah, come in, please. I've overslept, I'm sorry about that too - I never got around to that personal matter either, so double sorry. I was hoping to, but I didn't think we'd have such a late night."
Corene entered in, her head only briefly scanning the room before she zeroed in on him; as was usual, she was staring blankly at him with only a slight rise in her lips. "You look tired and hungover," she said simply as she drew closer to him. "Would you like a glass of water or a potion to remove your hangover? After such a pleasant evening and so many high-priced gifts, it's the least I could do for you."
Harry shook his head with a fond smile on his face. "No, that's alright, thank you. I'll handle it later, once I've woken up a bit more, I think. What can I do for you?"
His question was meant to prompt Corene since he felt especially dirty and sticky after a night of drinking from the afternoon on. He was sure he'd sweat a lot of it out, but that made him feel horrible and muddy. It was deserved after necking so many drinks.
"The others have all gone home," Corene said, cocking her head at him while shooting him a look that was so inquisitive he swore he could see a giant question mark hanging over her head. "You risked Elaine's ire at our late lunch yesterday, was there a reason for doing so other than showing off your control of her?"
Harry shook his head with a small grin on his face. "Not really, it was purely to show that I wasn't somebody she cold rollover any longer. It's stupid, I know, but I figured the people everybody else calls 'lieutenants' should see that."
"It was a smart move, if not the most cleverly done. I'm sure you noticed Aster's look as much as I did, which means you saw Reinhard and Emilene's reactions too. Tread carefully, Harry, reckless behaviour ultimately leads to many peoples undoing," Corene's eyes then went down his face, neck and to his chest. "You'd like to clean yourself, I imagine?"
He snorted and nodded once, withholding his laughter. Corene's… way with words, was certainly something.
"Forgive me for holding you hostage in your bedroom, I simply meant to extend you an invite since Elaine is no longer present," Corene started to move back towards the exit of his room then, but he stopped her.
"Invite?" He asked simply, figuring that was all the prompting she needed to relay what she meant.
Corene nodded and tilted her head at him, her eyes darting over to the other side of the bed before they returned to him. "Yes, invite. My grandmother, the one I share with Elaine, will be present at Carrow Castle this evening. You were formally extended an invitation for the duration of Yule and what better time to use it than when she's present?"
"When will we be speaking with Elaine regarding your mutual relation? It was my understanding that doing so was important, vital even, to you," Harry asked curiously as he yawned and watched Corene regard him with a look that seemed bothered, intrigued maybe; it was something he couldn't quite make out completely.
"I had planned to do so when we were alone, this morning would have been perfect, but she left early with Druella Rosier. You can understand that I was annoyed by this fact, as it means my plans for the day were ruined since I half-expected this to be a rather bothersome revelation to her, but I figured it was recoverable on account of you visiting my family," Corene pointed then, her hand extended towards the opposite side of the bed where her eyes had darted only minutes earlier. "Your pants, the ones you were wearing yesterday and currently reside on the floor near what I assume to be Elaine's side of the bed, should still have the parchment regarding my family in them. I've taken the liberty to retrieve the other piece with the activation phrase on it so that you could read the letter before you come to my familial home."
Corene floated it across the room to him then, her cheeks slightly red since she brought attention to his pantless state.
"Thanks, and uh, sorry… about that, again," Harry coughed and shook his head, hoping the awkwardness would dissipate by the time he went with her to Carrow Castle. "About this letter too, you'll be down with answering any questions I have before we go and see your family, right? I wouldn't want to be caught off-guard by anything."
"I'll not throw you to the wolves, so to speak," Corene said simply, then, she was gone around the corner, leaving him to dress.
Harry's shower lasted all of five minutes, much to his displeasure. There was too much to do today, especially if he were to referee Corene's talk with Elaine after they met with their mutual grandmother. He could only imagine how all of this would go by Elaine, especially with her holding onto him as her 'only' family as she currently was.
Merlin, when she found out that Corene was her first cousin and the rest of the Carrows were relatives of hers too, she'd likely go crazy. Harry could only imagine who else among the Carrows knew about Elaine or the Gaunts that she was related to, especially since the Gaunt family was all but wiped out. It made sense with what he knew about them too that nobody on the Carrow side had reached out.
The Gaunts were scum, from all accounts. There was a reason one was a Muggle-killer in Azkaban, another was dead under 'normal' circumstances at a younger than normal age and the last woman of the family had done herself in… supposedly. Harry didn't buy much into it, but he would have done the same as the Carrows, really.
"You've been out of the shower for two minutes and twelve seconds, Harry. With you being a wizard, you should be dressed by now, so by that estimate, have you finally started reading the letter?" Corene's question and the rest of what she'd said nearly made him choke on his spit.
How did she know how long he'd been out of the shower to a precise time and furthermore, how did she know how long it took for a bloke to dress? He shook his head and huffed, rolling his eyes at the curious, unique girl. She most definitely was this worlds version of Luna, if Luna were only infinitely scarier in appearance and attitude.
"I'm doing it now, I got distracted with a present that you'd gotten me - you and your family have wonderful tastes in clothing," Harry figured the white lie would be fine, especially since he'd nearly tripped on those very items.
"That's very polite of you," Corene responded, going silent once those words were had.
He waited nearly thirty seconds for anything more, but when nothing materialised, he shook his head with a slight chuckle to himself and made to pick up her parchment. Harry would get about to reading her family's letter, finally, now he only hoped it wasn't entirely too long or written by Corene. That wasn't a dig at her either, he just hoped it was worded clearer than she usually spoke.
Harry picked up the activation phrase she'd left and took hold of the larger parchment in his right hand. With both of them in his grasp, he looked at the smaller one he was holding in his left hand and read the phrase as written.
"Show me your secrets," He said with a very minor stutter, the simplicity and directness of the phrase catching him off guard. "Bit simple that, isn't it?" he questioned aloud to himself as the larger parchment in his right hand started showing paragraphs of writing.
Looks like it's a long letter too, hurray for me.
' Dear Harry Peverell,
My dearest daughter constantly sings your praises and makes mention of your natural affinity with magic. Not only does she seem so struck by you and the marks that you've achieved, she constantly relays to her mother and me how wonderfully noble you are. Nobility and titles no longer exist for a reason, as you've likely learned in recent times, but the qualities are still as sought after as they have always been. My Corene sees many of them in you and has brought up the longstanding relationship our family once held with yours. Namely the benefits they would have for the pair of our families.
Let me not get too far into the past before discussing the potential future we could have as well as the reason for our reaching out to you after a great degree of hesitance. You, Harry Peverell, as well as the remainder of your family, hold a position of authority over us. Centuries ago, when we were nought but peasants slightly above the rest of our station, your family granted to us land as well as titles for great service. From that point on, we signed a document that grants your family our absolute loyalty, and while it's not magically binding as many fear, it is legally binding. Never can we move against you in any way, shape or form without the risk of lawsuits that could cost us nearly everything. Beyond that, it grants you the right to take on any son or daughter, unmarried, of our family to your family. Our Corene is not worried on account of your relationship with Elaine Gaunt, our distant relative, but it was brought up nonetheless when I spoke with my wife.
In closing this letter, I would have you know that the document of non-interference was binding for a few years as you well know and mainly for our benefit. You have my sincere apologies for being misled, though in my shoes would you have done anything differently before gauging the quality of the man you were beholden to? We hope you're willing to put this contract to rest and should you do so, we would be more than willing to sign a new pact of friendship or alliance lasting upwards of a century.
With respect and the hopes of continued friendship,
The Carrow Family'
Harry set the letter down and sighed, rubbing at his head. It made sense now, why Corene had been so reluctant to mention what her family needed him for. Had he known what she had, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that he would've acted the same as she had. The awkwardness made sense, the hesitation to get to truly know him did too.
Her family had hoped to void a longstanding agreement of familial bondage, and while he didn't mind that in the slightest, the position of power over them that it gave was interesting, to say the least. They couldn't act against him in any way or form despite the age of the contract, hence the agreement they wanted earlier to ensure he couldn't do just that against them. If he wasn't so friendly with them, Corene especially, he would have been a bit annoyed at how quiet they'd kept the document. As it stood, he was already vaguely pissed at the fact it wasn't anywhere to be found in Peverell Manor.
Well, not unless it's in that hidden spot with everything else important. Merlin, I swear the bloke who lived here before I did is going to get battered if we ever meet.
Harry huffed and called out to Corene, finally. "I've read the letter, I don't really have any questions either," he sighed, making his way towards the door and when he opened it, he spotted a very fidgety Corene standing right in front of him; that quality didn't suit her in the slightest, not like that adorable smile from earlier did.
"I apologise for any sense of anger or annoyance you may now feel towards my family or me specifically. There wasn't any plan to mislead you, Harry, not least of all anything that could harm you," Corene stopped fidgeting and looked him in the eyes before they flickered down to focus on his shoes. "Should you wish to show your anger by yelling or insulting me for keeping this from you for over a year and a half, I understand. I do hope to maintain our current friendship, however, as well as our current plan to visit my family."
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I'm not angry with you and I'm definitely not going to yell at you - truth be told, I thought whatever you needed me for was going to be a lot… worse? I don't know if that's the right word to use, really, but I definitely thought whatever it was going to be would be far crazier. If it's really as barbaric as it sounds, that being any future children of mine could pick one of yours to marry on a whim without any way for them to decline, I could see why you want it ended. As for the fact that you can't move against me at all even if I were to do so against you, that's equally as stupid, which makes me wonder why your family agreed to all of this in the first place."
"I could explain the reasoning as it was left to us, should you find that agreeable," Corene said with her head returning to its cocked expression and her eyes raising back up to look into his.
Harry smiled, happy that she was back to her usual self by and large. He would've preferred one of those smiles of hers too, but he'd take what he could get. "Please, feel free, I'm really interested," he said as he looped his arm with hers and started towards the parlour room.
They had to get to Carrow Castle soon, but he would use the time it took them to get to that room to discuss her family. There wasn't a better way to spend the time walking around anyhow.
"Our family as you saw in the letter were nearly peasants, enough so that they didn't matter to their Lord at the time save for the magic that they were born with. That magic came as a direct result of one of my ancient family members joining out of wedlock with one of yours, so in that way, we're very distantly related - there were obviously more cases of intermingling since then, as you could imagine in those olden times," Corene paused to nod at him, emphasizing her point though he didn't really need it. "That bastard would eventually be granted the name of Carrow thanks to a deed done that saved one of your ancestors lives, though the deed itself was lost to time. Despite his saving of your family member, he was still treated as a bastard was and that continued across his family line. For nearly a century he was the second to your family but barely given any real strength or recognition by outsiders of equal station. That was where the contract came in, one that granted him higher favour than any others but came at the cost of assured, enforced loyalty."
Harry stopped when they were outside the parlour room, Corene's talking taking the entire duration. "So my family made sure yours couldn't hurt us but showed you favour for signing the contract? If there wasn't magic enforcing it, why bother holding yourself to it?"
Corene looked at him as if he were simple right then. "When you give your word, you're beholden to it as much as you are to the contract which itself is enforced by law. Should you break an agreement signed and ratified by the Ministry or their older form, you would face horrible penalties from them as well as losing the entirety of your social standing with other families."
"Alright," Harry said, fighting the urge to shake his head as they stepped towards the Floo. "We'll get this fixed, I can promise you that… now, how about we go and meet your Grandma?"
For the second time in the past twenty-four hours, Harry was granted the rare, beautiful gift that Corene seldom gave; her true, real smile.