Proposal
Neither of the people in the drawing room spoke a word. They just stared at and surveyed each other. Sirius Black was the first to break the silence.
“Dear cousin, it’s so nice to see you.“ He faced Narcissa. “I see you’ve all been well. But I will spare you the unnecessary pleasantries and come directly to the point of our visit. The Order of Phoenix wants to form an alliance.“
Lucius choked a cold laughter. “Please tell me just why would we do that? Surely after this summer’s events you are not that disillusioned to not notice that this family is a proud supporter of the Dark Lord.“
“Well, Lucy, dear, we have great hope that you will come to your senses and will fight for the light. I think, what my godson Harry has to say will persuade you.“ Sirius smirked. With an encouraging squeeze at Harrys shoulder he shoved the black-haired boy towards an enraged looking Lucius.
Harry straightened himself and set his clear green eyes determined at Lucius. “I want to ask for your son’s hand in marriage“, he said with a businesslike voice and flickered a short glance towards Draco.
The blonde boy dropped his jaw. Narcissa gasped. And Lucius stared incredulously at Harry. He counld’t believe it. Would his wildest phantasies come true? Would the ancestors of the Malfoy family finally find closure?
“What did you say, boy?“ Lucius whispered.
“I, Harry James Potter, want to marry Draco Lucius Malfoy”, Harry answered coolly and added, “But only after we’ve finished school and Voldemort is dead.“
“Do you really mean that?“ Lucius inquired beseechingly.
Harry shrugged and got a little black box out of his pocket. “So“, he looked intensively at Lucius, “what do you say?“
Lucius beamed at him, ignoring his Malfoy manners. “Of course, we would love to welcome you to the family, dear Harry Potter!“ Lucius took Harry’s hand and shook it enthusiastically. Than he turned to Sirius to do the same and said “Oh, what a gloriuos day.“
Meanwhile, Harry opened the black box and took Draco’s left hand. The blonde had shut his mouth and just stood in a daze. He didn’t notice how his now fiancè put a platinum ring with a little smaragd at his finger. Draco felt more than a little dizzy and sat down at the couch, unable to process what had happened.
Harry returned to his godfather’s side und sighed in relief. Draco was too shocked to hex him into oblivion. He was glad he asked Lucius and not Draco himself for marriage, because Draco would have said no, certainly. But Draco couldn’t fight his father. Everything had gone as planned.
Sirius knew through his pureblood upbringing in the House of Black about the Malfoys’ dream to get in the Potters’ good graces and eventually combine their families. The Malfoys were powerful wizards not only in magic but in the wizarding society, too. Their influence was wide. Especially with Lucius as right hand man, and as such the most informative person in matters of Voldemort, it would definitely be advantageous to have the Malfoys at the side of the Order. So, Sirius came up with a plan to bound the Malfoys to the Order and work against Voldemort. If Harry were to become part of the Malfoy family, they would join their cause.
Harry wasn’t happy at all to be bounded by an arranged marriage. True, he hadn’t experienced love yet, but he would have liked to find it. And then Draco had to be his spouse who always annoyed him with his hateful pranks and snarky comments. But Harry knew how crucial the alliance with the Malfoys was in the war against the Dark. He would play his role martyr-like. At least he knew that the blonde would be just as miserable as he was.
Lucius, eager to set those oral agreements in stone, led the two dark haired men into his study and said gleefully, “Come on, gentlemen, we have a marriage contract to discuss. And the downfall of the Dark Lord to plan!“