Potions and Parchment Match

A/N:

Alright, here is the promised chapter...its 2:00am, but still tonight as far as I am concerned...lol. This chapter ran away from me and took on a lift of its own...I didn\'t mean to drag it on, but my fingers just typed and before I knew it...well, you know how that goes...now I have to resolve another damn thing and this story is going to keep growing!!!! I wanted to be done with it...maybe my mused returned...if anyone can guess the name of narcissa\'s match i\'ll name a baby after you...lol. or the character pair of your choice will name a baby after you! so read and review and let me know what you think!!!!



















“I appreciate you coming with me today, especially after everything that happened at the wedding,” Harry said to Arthur Weasley.



“Harry, I know what the twins did to Ron had nothing to do with you. It was unfortunate, but if I was your age I would have been standing there laughing with you. If you ever tell Molly that, I’ll deny it though,” he said with a smile.



Harry grinned. “Like I’d ever be brave enough to bring that subject up!”



“I’m really sorry that she took it out on you, Harry.”



Harry nodded. “It’s alright. I guess I wasn’t a very loyal friend,” he said.



“I don’t think it had anything to do with loyalty. You’ve always been there for Ron, and if anyone has a right to question someone’s loyalty, it’s you to question Ron’s. I love my son, Harry, but I know who he is. I’ve raised seven children, and I have no illusion about any of them.”



“I hope that I can say that about my own children someday,” he said.



“Are you ready for this? Romskei Parkinson is not going to be an easy man to please,” Arthur said.



“Neither is his daughter,” Harry muttered.



Arthur laughed. “No woman is, Harry, my boy!” he said patting him on the back. “The best you can do is to smile, nod you head when they speak, and say “yes, dear” to whatever they say. Then when they’re not around just do what you want. It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission I always say.”



“Mr. Weasley don’t you think it would be easier just to tell her how you feel instead of pretending she is always right?” Harry asked.



“You know Molly, what do you think?”



Harry shuddered and grimaced. “Yeah,” he agreed.



“Alright then, have you the financial statements that Gringott’s sent over?”



Harry patted his breast pocket. “In here,” he said.



“Good, good. Let’s go. Parkinson said he would open his floo at exactly noon, and it’s that now.”



The two men had met at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley. Headmistress McGonagall had allowed Harry to use the floo network from her office in order to meet Arthur. He had decided it would be best to meet Harry at the Leaky Cauldron and allow Molly more time to cool off before Harry showed his face at the Burrow again. Ron still had not reappeared at either the Burrow or Hogwarts and she was worried. Arthur decided that Ron was of age and would let him have some breathing room before he tracked him down. The clock in the hall at the Burrow still said he was safe and that was the only reason that Molly had agreed with Arthur. She was furious that he hadn’t returned to school, but Arthur told her that he needed some time to cool off and to leave him be.



Harry grabbed a handful of yellow powder from the dish on the mantle and threw it into the flames. “Parkinson Park!” he said, enunciating the words clearly. When the flames changed to green he stepped into them and moments later he was in the study standing in front of Romskei Parkinson. A few seconds later Arthur appeared behind him.



“Mr. Parkinson,” Harry greeted him, holding out his hand.



Mr. Parkinson looked at the offered hand for a moment and then took it. “The boy who lived,” he said with a chuckle. “The boy who lived several times. I guess I should be grateful that my daughter has been matched with a man who can obviously protect her,” he said walking over to a small cabinet and pouring himself a glass of whiskey. “Care for a drink?” he asked both men.



Harry shook his head trying not to be offended by that stupid nickname, but Arthur said, “Don’t mind if I do,” with a smile.



“Have a seat,” Mr. Parkinson said, waving his hand in the general direction of a couple of chairs that sat in front of a large wooden desk.



Harry sat while Arthur and Mr. Parkinson poured themselves a shot of whiskey.



“So Weasley, you’re here to act as Harry’s parental advisor, I take it?” he said sitting down in the massive chair behind his desk. “I figured it would be you. Rumor has it that you practically adopted the boy,” he said sipping his drink.



Arthur nodded with a smile. “We think of Harry as another son,” he said fondly.



Mr. Parkinson snorted. “Not like you don’t have enough of those!”



“Molly had her heart set on a girl, and Weasley’s usually breed son’s.”



“I always wanted a son, but my wife gave me one child and refused to have another. I guess I should be grateful that I had one healthy magical child. I could be like the Hester’s and have one child who was born a squib!” he joked.



Arthur shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Yes, I can see how that would have been problematic in your prior association with you-know-who.”



Mr. Parkinson nodded. “I doubt I would have been allowed in,” he agreed.



Harry snorted. “Like that would have been a bad thing,” he muttered.



“What’s that boy?” he asked with a glare.



“I can’t understand why you would have followed that maniac to begin with. He was the worst sort of hypocrite.

He was a half blood! He had a muggle father, yet he went around proclaiming death to all muggleborns and half bloods. He should have just killed himself and saved the world of his stupidity!” Harry seethed.



Mr. Parkinson surprised both men by laughing. “You sound like my wife! She always said the same thing. When I was a young man, I was seduced by the power he offered. Hell, being in a pureblood family, we’re fed on pureblood rhetoric. Bloodlines are everything. We must keep the bloodlines pure, no matter what! Joining the Dark Lord was just an extension of what I had always been taught. When I first joined, I didn’t know the Dark Lord was a half blood. Nobody did.”



“Bet that was a shocker,” Harry said sarcastically.



“By the time we learned of it, we were too far in and the only way out was death,” he said bitterly. “A lot of good men and women lost their lives trying to leave the Dark Lord’s service.”



“You still honor him by calling him “The Dark Lord”! Call him who he was! His name was Tom Riddle! He was a wizard, who used his powers to control those around him, and those he couldn’t control, he killed!” Harry shouted.



“Harry,” Arthur soothed, putting his hand across Harry’s arm.



“Its alright, Weasley,” Mr. Parkinson said. “If anyone has a right to berate me about my allegiances to…Tom Riddle, it would be Harry. He earned that right when he saved our world from him.”



“What? I thought that you were a loyal deatheater to the end?” Harry asked in shock.



Mr. Parkinson chuckled again. “Only as far as it kept me from being killed. I did my best to stay as far away from the death eater activities and revels as I could. I only came when I was called to do so, and I made sure that I kept myself as invisible as possible.”



“I always assumed that as you were aligned with the Malfoy family, you had the same views that they did.”



Mr. Parkinson snorted. “Lucius lived just down the road. Our estates join. I would have to have a death wish not make sure that Lucius thought that I agreed with everything that he did. Our children were even betrothed at one point.”



Harry grinned at that. “That didn’t work out so well did it?”



“The kids were never happy with that decision,” he said dryly.



“Obviously because they were never meant for each other. Pansy was matched with me and Draco with Hermione. The potions and parchment spell could only match soul mates together.”



“I do find it ironic that my little girl is the soul mate of the Dar…uh…Tom Riddle’s greatest enemy. If he had had this information years ago he would have destroyed her life to get to you.”



“I doubt if I would have cared that she was my soul mate before. I always thought that Pansy was an annoying Slytherin and I wanted nothing to do with her. She was Draco’s girlfriend and I hated him.”



“You do know that she has had a crush on you for years?”



Harry blushed. He looked from the older man across the desk from him and then out the window behind him. “She told me that after we were matched.”



“How do you feel about her?” he asked.



“I think that we have a shot of making our marriage work,” he hedged.



“She’s spoiled and used to getting her way.”



Harry laughed. “You think? That was the first thing I figured out about her,” he said.



“What else did you figure out?”



Harry stood and walked around the room, looking at the paintings of past Parkinson’s that hung on the walls, listening avidly to the conversation. He turned and again looked at his future father-in-law. “I figured out that with time, she will be the greatest love of my life. She makes me feel, and that’s something I have very seldom allowed of myself. She makes me so angry I could…”



“Hex her with green sores?”



Harry blushed. “Heard about that did you?”



“She sent me an owl saying that the wedding was off and you two had a huge fight. She said that you covered her with green weeping sores and made her go blind,” he said, trying not to laugh.



Harry frowned. “I did hit her with a spell causing her temporary blindness, but she cursed me with the green oozing sores!”



Both older men laughed at Harry’s indignation. Neither man had forgotten what it was like to be young and in love and still fighting that last fight for independence and dominance. “Shall we get on with the settlements?” Mr. Parkinson asked.



“Mr. Parkinson, I want you to know…”



“Please, Harry, call me Romskei. “



“Romskei, I’ll be a good husband to Pansy. I can’t promise to give into her every wish and demand, but I will protect her and support her in reasonable style. I’d like to have enough money to leave our children,” he said with a shrug. “I know Pansy likes to shop,” he joked.



Romskei laughed. “Don’t worry about money, my boy. She’s my only daughter and my only heir. She’ll come to you well dowered. Do you have your financial sheets from Gringotts? Rumor has it that you are the heir to both the Potter and the Black fortunes?”



Harry nodded and handed the man the folded papers he had received from Gringotts. “When my godfather died, he left me as his heir.”



“Old Sirius Black! I remember him well from our days at Hogwarts. He and your father were quite the pranksters of our time!”



Harry smiled. He always liked hearing about his father and Sirius.



Romskei unfolded the papers Harry had handed him and read through them. He raised an eyebrow when he got to the final figure at the bottom of the page. “Looks like Pansy could do a lot of shopping without bankrupting you,” he chuckled.



Harry blushed. He didn’t like to advertise exactly how much money he had. “Yes sir,” he mumbled.



“You own several properties as well. Have you two discussed where you’ll live?” Romskei asked.



Harry blushed when he thought of the night that they had came to an agreement on their future home and they amount of children that they would have. “Yes, I promised her we would build a home on the property I have at Devils Lake. She’s also promised me four children,” he grinned.



Romskei was shocked at this. “Four children? How did you get her to agree to that?” he demanded.



“Pansy likes jewelry,” Harry said.



Romskei burst out laughing and then Arthur joined in. The two older men looked at each other and laughed harder. “All women are the same, aren’t they, Weasley?”



Arthur nodded. “They sure are, Romskei.”



“We’ll add that bit about the children to the marriage contract. Then she can’t change her mind later,” he said. “I would be happy to see four grandchildren,” he said with a dreamy expression on his face.



“Better add the bit about the jewelry then. She wanted some pearls,” Harry blushed when he remembered his thick cum around her neck, “but I can’t remember the other stuff she mentioned. Something about emeralds and…hell, I can’t remember. A set jewelry for each kid I think.” Harry couldn’t get past the idea of his hot seed shooting onto her pale body, and how her breasts looked when they cum dripped down them. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and looked at Romskei.



Romskei watched Harry blush and said, “I don’t even want to know what happened in that conversation.”



Arthur said, “Me either.”



Harry blushed and said, “What else is there?”



“Well, I know it is tradition that the wizard buys his bride a dower house, but we would like to give Pansy hers. Pansy spent her summers in France at our chalet there. She has always loved it there. It’s a small place really, maybe a dozen bed chambers with baths, two stories, large ballroom, a few parlors, an office, dining room, kitchen, servants quarters, there’s a pool, thirty acres of gardens and another hundred of farm land, however the land has laid fallow for several years. I used to have a tenant farmer but the Dar…Tom…had him killed when he found out he was a Muggle.”



Arthur’s eyes widened. “You call that small?” he asked in surprise. It was huge next to the Burrow.



Harry ignored Arthur’s comment and said, “If something happens to me, the house that I build her is hers as well. The house on Grimmauld Place that I inherited from Sirius is a dump. It needs quite a bit of work to make it livable, and the Potter’s don’t have a family home,” he said sadly.



Romskei shook his head. “Sure they do, Harry,” he said thumbing through the pages from Gringotts. “Here, it states “Potter Castle” in Hampshire. Surely you knew that,” he said in surprise.



“What?” Harry asked in surprise. “Let me see that,” he said grabbing the papers. He read the list and sure enough, saw Potter Castle, Hampshire, England. Ancestral home of Potter family, built in 1649 by William Potter. “I didn’t know,” he said softly. Harry glanced at Arthur. “Did you know about this castle?”



Arthur nodded. “Sure, everyone knows the Potter family home was in Hampshire.”



Harry jumped up in his chair and shouted, “Why doesn’t anyone ever tell me anything? I’ve gone seventeen years and didn’t even know that I had a family home? I thought the only home there was is that crumbling mess that my parents died in! How was I supposed to know about anything if everyone keeps these secrets from me?” he demanded.



“Harry, I am sure it was just an over site. I think everyone just assumed that you knew. You’ve always had to spend summers with your mother’s relatives until you came of age. This last summer you spent it with us at the Burrow. I just assumed that you would rather be with us then alone in an old castle.”



Harry snorted. “I just wanted to know about it! What else don’t I know about?”



“Harry, didn’t you look at your financial statements when you turned seventeen?” Arthur asked.



Harry shrugged. “I think that they’re still in the bottom of my trunk. Fred and George took Ron and I to Diagon Alley. They rented us some hoo…uh, well, uh, anyway, we had a bunch to drink and I forgot,” he blushed. “I was going to read them later, but there was always something else to do. Then school started and then the parchment matches. I never got around to it. I knew I had a bunch of money, and I knew I had some property. I just didn’t know about the Castle. Wow! A castle!” he said in awe.



“The last people to live in it were your grandparents, Harry, and they died the year before you were born. It’s probably a mess as well,” Arthur warned.



Romskei shook his head. “There would be house elves bound to it. All old wizarding homes have house elves. They would have kept it in repair for the next heir to emerge.”



“I want to go see it!” he said eagerly.



Romskei laughed. “Perhaps we can finish up here. I’m satisfied that you can take care of my daughter. I’ve made a note of your agreement with Pansy and added the house as a dower for her. You’ll assume all education costs and upkeep for your children, but I’ll continue to provide for Pansy’s education should she want to enter the University. She has her own vault at Gringotts; she doesn’t know this yet though. I thought it would make a wonderful wedding gift. She’ll come to you with about the same amount that you inherited from Sirius.”



Harry nodded, having lost interest in the conversation. “Is that all?” he asked.



“We just need signatures,” Romskei said.



“Hold on a moment,” Arthur said interrupting. “I think that we should add that in case of Pansy’s death, her estate would go to any children they have at the time. I would also like to add the same of Harry. I would think it would be important for any future heirs to be well covered.”



Harry added, “I would like our home to go to Pansy and a yearly amount for upkeep. The rest of my estate will be evenly divided between my heirs. I would like my oldest child to inherit the Potter Castle.”



“Only a male can inherit the Castle, Harry,” Romskei stated.



“Why?”



“It’s an antiquated notion that came about in a time where women could not own property. If there is no male issue it would be held in trust for the next direct male descendant. Parkinson Manor is the same way. Your oldest son will inherit this manor. Everything else will go to Pansy.”



“So my oldest son will inherit both this manor and the Potter castle? Then we need to make sure that any other children have a home as well.”



Romskei smiled at the young man. He could tell he was going to be a protective father and a responsible husband. “Then we will decree the chalet in France go to your second child, Grimmauld Place to your third child, and Godricks Hollow to your last child.”



“But there is very little left at Godrick’s Hollow, and Grimmauld Place is not fit to live in!”



Romskei laughed. “You’ve got several years to set the properties to right,” he said. “They will be what you make of them.”



Harry thought for a moment and smiled. “I like it! Where do I sign?”



A few moments later signatures were affixed and the documents disappeared to be filed at both Gringotts and the Ministry of Magic.



Harry stood and held out his hand. “Thank you, Romskei, and thank you Arthur, for joining me today. Now, I am dying to see my castle!”



“Harry, Pansy is up stairs. Would you like to see her before you leave?” Romskei asked, knowing that the two of them would need to make up before their wedding, which was only a week away.



Harry sighed and nodded. “It’s probably a good idea.”



“Top of the stairs, last door on the right,” he said.













The sun was brightly shining into the room and Alice lifted her face into the light, enjoying the warm feeling of it as it heated her cool skin. She stood up from her chair and positioned it closer to the window so that she could see the gardens below. She briefly glanced over at the bed where her husband layer, blankly staring at the ceiling.



She remembered more and more each day. She knew that she was Alice Longbottom and that man was her husband, Frank Longbottom. She knew that the young man who came to see her almost daily was their son, Neville. She also knew that her husband would never leave that bed again. She tried to bring up a pang of regret, but she had been numb for so long, she couldn’t remember how to feel.



Her son told her that he loved her each time that he came, and she could see the pain in his eyes when she didn’t answer. She very rarely spoke. There was so much that she wanted to say, but for some reason, the words refused to come out. She worked with a medi-witch speech therapist every day, learning how to form words. She could get out basic words when she concentrated and there was no one else around to distract her, but for some reason she could not do so around her son. When he asked her a question she would nod either yes or no, but she couldn’t manage anymore than that.



She reached over to the end table next to her chair and picked up the picture he had given her weeks ago. She traced over the familiar faces and could remember times when they had been in her life. She longed to know what had happened to these people who were once her friends. She remembered Marlene and Dorcas. They had been her dearest friends. She remembered Lilly and James and knew that they were dead. Gideon and Fabian, and their sister Molly and her husband Arthur. She smiled when she remembered how many red heads were in the order.



She frowned when she remembered the Order of the Phoenix. They had formed it to protect themselves and their families from…evil. There was an evil man…He Who Must Not Be Named. He had another name as well…what was it? Oh yes, Voldemort. She shuddered when the name went through her mind. He wanted her dead. Why did he want her dead? She stood and paced back and forth in front of the window. She felt dead. Perhaps her really got his wish.



But why? Why did he want her dead? She glanced at Frank and realized that the evil man wanted them both dead. A memory of a screaming woman with bushy hair and an arm waving a stick at them flitted across her mind. A waving stick? Pointed at her…why? Why was she shaking a stick, no, not a stick, a wand. She was waving a wand at her. Blue and green lights flew out the tip and caused her to double over in pain. The pain was excruciating. She screamed and demanded to know where the Dark Lord was. The dark lord. Who was the Dark Lord? Evil…Voldemort. The dark lord was Voldemort. She wrapped her arms around her waist and shivered again.



Another flash of light drifted across her memory and she felt the worst pain yet. She screamed and dropped to the floor to her knees. She screamed over and over, remembering the feelings of pain and despair as it again washed over her. She remembered her last thought and screamed, “Neville!”











“Narcissa, this has been so much fun!” Hermione laughed as she picked up her glass of ice tea. “I didn’t even realize that France had a wizarding community shopping center! This is like Diagon Alley, only so much better!”



Narcissa smiled at her beautiful soon-to-be daughter-in-law. “Diagon Alley is nice when you just need a few things, but Rue de Magasins Classes is so much better,” she said with a perfect French accent.



“What does that mean? My French is crap!” Hermione giggled.



“Street of Upscale Shops. Quite snobby, but it was started by the pureblood community. Years ago, only purebloods could enter.”



Hermione wrinkled her nose. “I’m glad they changed that rule. When did they change it?”



Narcissa smiled. “I can’t quite remember dear, “ she hedged.



“Let me guess, when Voldemort was defeated?”



Narcissa laughed at the bright young witch in front of her. “Actually, it was when the Ministry started the Potion and Parchment matches.”



Hermione rolled her eyes. The pureblood snobbery would never cease to amaze her. “Well, I am glad for the experience,” she said glancing down at the bag that held at least twenty shrunken sacks from other stores. “I can’t believe how much we bought today!”



“Nothing is to good for my son’s bride,” Narcissa beamed.



“Can I ask you a question? Will you be completely honest with me?”



The blond woman took a sip of her tea and nodded. “Ask,” she said.



“Are you disappointed in this match? Do you wish Draco had been paired with a pureblood witch or even that he and Pansy had kept their betrothal?”



Narcissa stared at the earnest young woman before her and thought for a moment before she spoke. “Come dear, lets walk off that heavy lunch and speak as we walk,” she said standing. She tapped her wand across the bill that had discretely showed up at her elbow and it again disappeared as fast as it had appeared. “Let’s send these packages back to the manor. I don’t feel like carrying them.” She again tapped her wand and a moment later all of their purchases disappeared. She reached over and took Hermione’s hand in hers.



They strolled hand in hand in silence for a few moments, enjoying the crisp, sunny, December day. Christmas had passed and within a week Draco and Hermione would be wed. “Hermione, I hope that you know that I had no choice but to follow my husband in his choices. A woman can only do so much on her own in our society. Once we are wed, it’s for life. I could not walk away unless I was willing to leave behind my son, and I refused to do so. I hated what the Dark Lord stood for. I hated that my husband followed him around like a little lost puppy. I hated hearing and seeing the senseless killing and torturing of people just because they were not “pure”. I couldn’t understand why it mattered.” She walked for another moment in silence, hearing the laughter of children as they raced across the park.



“I wanted a large family when I married Lucius. I had two sisters who I loved, and I enjoyed them while I was growing up. Bellatrix married that moron Lestrange and she was lost to me. I saw her all the time obviously, but she chose to go his way. She chose to participate, no, revel in the lifestyle of the Dark Lord. She actually believed it, lived it, loved it! I could never understand that. When Andromeda married Ted, she wanted to kill her. Poor Andromeda was disowned for following her heart. When she married and left, my heart broke. I loved her and knew that we would never see each other again. My family would never allow it, and neither would Lucius. Did you know that Bellatrix even went as far as trying to attack Andromeda? Luckily the wards of their home held and Bella couldn’t get her. Can you imagine going so far as to want to kill your own sister? Just for marrying someone who was not pure?”



Hermione watched the emotions flitter across the older woman’s face but held her silence. She could tell that Narcissa needed to talk about this and wasn’t finished yet.



“When Draco was born I was afraid. I was terrified that Lucius would turn him into another deatheater. I swore to him on the day of his birth that he would never be put in a position where he would have to chose the life of his sibling over the wishes of a twisted, demented fiend. I went to Severus the next week and demanded that he make me a potion. It was the infecunditas. I made sure that I would never conceive again. It broke my heart to know that Draco would be my only child. I cried for a week straight after I took that potion, but you know, I have never once regretted my decision. “



“Did Lucius know?” Hermione couldn’t help but ask.



“We never spoke of it, but I have a feeling that he did. He never once asked me about having another child. He never once berated me for not conceiving. I have a feeling that he knew,” she whispered. “Hermione, sometimes I feel so empty, like something is missing from my life. I know I was a good mother. I did what I could to protect Draco and keep him from the path his father chose. I feel like I was meant to have more children, to raise and nurture and guide more babies. I so wanted it,” she said as she brushed a tear away.



“Its not too late. There is another potion that will reverse the sterilization.”



Narcissa smiled. “I know. I’m too old now though,” she smiled.



Hermione laughed. “In the wizarding world, you’re not even middle aged yet. You still have another ten years, at least, that you can bear a child.”



“But now, I don’t have a husband.”



Hermione was silent for a moment and then smiled. “Let’s do the Potions and Parchment Match on you.”



“What?” Narcissa exclaimed.



Hermione grinned. “What do you say? Aren’t you even a little bit curious?”



“No! I am way too old for this nonsense!” she said, shaking her head.



Hermione, however, wasn’t going to be denied. “Come on,” she said, dragging Narcissa towards a shop that they passed advertising potions. “All the potion shops are now selling the potion for the soul mate test.”



Narcissa was silent as she let Hermione drag her down the road. Her mind raced as she thought of the implications of having a match. Could she really have one? If she did, would he be old? Oh gods, would he be young? Could she handle the truth? Worse of all, could she handle not being matched and having her hopes dashed? She barely heard the bells on the door jingle as Hermione drug her up to the counter.



“We’d like the potion and parchment for the soul mate test,” she excitedly requested.



A moment later the two women left the shop with the items safely tucked into a white paper bag. Hermione led Narcissa back to the park where she sat down on a bench and eagerly pulled the items out of the bag. “Give me your hand, Narcissa.”



“Wait!” Narcissa said yanking her hand away. “I’m not sure if I want to do this!” she said.



“What do you have to lose? Nothing. What do you have to gain? A life with a soul mate and the possibility of another child. Well?” the young witch demanded.



Narcissa thought for a moment and then shoved her hand at Hermione. “Just do it before I change my mind!” she whispered.



Hermione quickly pricked the tip of Narcissa’s hand and dropped the blood into the tiny vial. She shook it up and handed it to Narcissa. “Pour it on the parchment.”



Narcissa took the vial and dumped the contents onto the parchment before she could change her mind. A moment later dark letters began to form and a name appeared. Narcissa gulped and then paled.



“Wow!” Hermione said. “That was most unexpected!”











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