Chapter 21
Hermione could say with confidence that she had never been so full in her life. By the time they got done trying all of the food Chef Wouters had whipped up it was half five and she’d had to take three nausea potions to be able to keep going. Not that it helped much, since by the second hour everything had the consistency of saw-dust and tasted exactly the same. She’d had to let Narcissa and Malfoy decide on what to layout for the wedding since they’d both been through the process of day-long taste testing before and actually still had use of their palates.
They had three options for their guests to choose from (the invitations they’d sent out let Narcissa know which invitees were going to be at the wedding and those who were coming had their invitations alter themselves to show the menu they could choose from). Narcissa had selected the seafood dish since she and Mr Malfoy would be eating it. Something called Lobster Newburg; an American dish that would have pieces of lobster tail in a rich cognac and egg sauce and a sprinkling of lobster roe on top. Gary decided they would pair it with a pear and walnut salad (one of the few dishes Mione remembered being able to taste and enjoy) and roasted asparagus and fingerling potatoes. Malfoy had selected the other dish (filet mignon with Panzanella salad and butternut squash puree served with pinot noir). Luckily she was fond of beef herself so she had no complaints. And they’d agreed on a vegan/vegetarian dish that Mrs Malfoy had served at a couple of parties previously; Risotto with truffle made in vegetable broth and served with a piece of eggplant timbale with tomato coulis and a glass Barbaresco or sparkling grape juice if the guest didn’t or couldn’t drink.
She’d nearly fainted again when Mrs Malfoy paid for half of the services upfront. Hermione had never laid eyes on one and a half million before but her future-mother-in-law had just signed over a check-in her galleon book for as much without blinking an eye. Malfoy had spent the last ten minutes trying to calm her down while she freaked out about his wealth and the nonchalant way his family had of spending so much in a day. She was sure at least Harry would get a kick out of it when she told him, but she’d have to be careful not to mention it in front of Ron or Ginny. Merlin, she did not need to have another row with the Weasley’s right now and money was already one of their sore spots. She’d indulged around Ron one or two times while they’d been dating, little things like a few extra books to complete a series or swinging by WWW for a couple of chocolate frogs when Ron was having a bad day. Then the two of them would spend the next several hours arguing about finances (even though they had nothing to worry about) before having angry sex that was semi-decent.
“It just doesn’t make sense to spend so much on one meal. Can’t we just... I don’t know... order takeaway or something? Sure it won’t taste as good but it also won’t bankrupt a small country!” Hermione said with a slight whine in her voice.
“If Mother or Gary heard you say that, they’d probably Avada themselves. Granger, I’m telling you, don’t worry about it. It’s not that much money, and Mother has spent much more on less. Trust me.” Malfoy drawled back from his place on the chesterfield. He’d been watching her burn holes in the carpet with her pacing before starting a book to keep from telling her to stop in annoyance.
“You are not allowed to teach our hypothetical children about money.” She turned and pointed at him as she continued. “This is not normal and your family is too rich for its own good if none of you realizes that.”
“You’ve already said that.”
“Which goes to show just how truly ridiculous it is!”
“Ah, Mother. I assume Father is ready to speak with her?” Malfoy asked from his spot on the couch (not even bothering to look up from his book as his mother entered the room).
“Hermione, you may follow me. Lucius has been warned to be polite and cordial. I ask that you do the same.” Narcissa told the brunette with a slight raise of her brow. Hermione nodded before following the older witch out of the room. They took another maze of hallways until they reached a set of dark wood double doors. Mione opened the doors and walked into a candlelit room complete with leather furniture, dark wood bookshelves and desk, and what looked suspiciously like either an acromantula or chimaera hide rug. Either way, she really hoped it was fake (though considering whose room she was standing in, she highly doubted it).
“Ah, Miss Granger.” The older man spoke with a scowl and open disgust. “My wife said you had something you wished to discuss with me.” He leaned back slightly in his chair, commanding the room even though only two of them were there. Hermione straightened her spine and sat in one of the armchairs (something Narcissa must have had a hand in selecting as they were comfortable and slightly less foreboding than the rest of the rooms furniture) smirking slightly as the scowl on Mr Malfoy’s face deepened.
“Yes, I’d like to look over your family's inheritance documents.”
“And why would a... silly child such as yourself want to do that? The inheritance is airtight, there is no way for you to get your hands on any money outside of your weekly allowance. The half-breed’s you birth will still be entitled to their portion of the family fortune unless myself or Draco birth another pure-blood heir, which seems unlikely given your marriage contract and my wif- my age.” He finished, correcting himself.
“What are you talking about? Weekly allowance? Marriage contract?”
“What, you think you’re entitled to our vaults in their entirety? Not even a pure-blooded wife would be given that. Certainly not some lowly mud- muggle-born.” He grit his teeth as he spoke (she had little doubt Narcissa had reemed him before sending Hermione in or he wouldn’t have been so modern with his word choice). “If you can’t make do with 5,000 galleons a week-”
“5,000 galleons! What is wrong with this family? Firstly, Mr Malfoy, I do not need or want your money. I plan on having a career, so I will have my own bank account. The only reason I would ever touch your vaults would be if I couldn’t afford something in case of an emergency for any future half-breeds your son and I have. A normal person does NOT need 5,000 galleons a week. No one should be that cavalier with money, and the fact that this is normal and written into your family's documents is absurd! Really, are all pure-blood families like this? Because if that’s the case I feel very sorry for all of you because none of you has any concept of the real world.” Mr Malfoy seemed taken aback by her words, and a beat of silence hung between them before he cleared his throat to continue speaking.
“That is quite average for allowances, I can assure you. As for your... career goals, you’ll need to speak with my wife on why that wouldn’t be proper. It is not my place to tell you that women belong at home raising the children while the men work.” She huffed in annoyance at the antiquated thinking but kept her mouth shut. After all, he had no say over her life and she’d already made her thoughts on the matter quite clear to both her husband-to-be and her future mother in law. “Whether you use the money or not, I could not care less. The marriage contract you and Draco sign will still stipulate it as a term of your union.”
“You’ve mentioned that twice now, what marriage contract?”
“This.” He said, bringing out and unfurling a scroll with his wand before letting it float into her outstretched hands. “It is fairly standard as far as marriage contracts go, we’ve had to omit some of the clauses and protections since you’re a mud- muggle-born.” She read it over as he described each section. “The first piece is your fidelity clause. This we require for all Malfoy marriages.” She noticed that the clause was worded just the right way to allow the Malfoy men to sleep with as many women as they want, while the women who signed on the dotted line would be cursed with pain and misery should they try.
“This will need to be amended. A marriage is a partnership. Frankly, I don’t particularly care if your son were to shag some corner girl but if this clause is going to be kept in the document it will apply to both parties equally. Or you can take it out entirely.”
“You can discuss it with my son.”
“No, actually, I’m going to discuss it with you. See I’ve been doing some research in preparation for when I got the chance to speak with you. Reading up on magical laws and such. So I know that, as Head of Malfoy House, you have the final say in all amendments, new documents, erasures, and any other documentation that affect your family. So, you can take note and have your solicitor fix the issues I bring up, or we can postpone the wedding until it’s done. I’m sure your case Auror would love to hear that you are the reason our marriage isn’t taking place.” She smiled as his face paled a shade.
“Very well.” He grumped before pulling out a quill and a piece of parchment. “We can not take out the clause, but I can amend it. This farse of a law lasts until any children born are in school correct? I will have the lawyers stipulate that both the husband and wife will be required to stay faithful to one another for a minimum of eleven years or risk pain and dismemberment.”
“Thank you. Please take out the middle name requirement as well. This isn’t the fourteen-hundreds, no child should be forced to be named after their father.”
“It is a tradition! Draco was named after me, as I was after my father, and his father before him.”
“I don’t care. It’s old-fashioned. I’m picking my battles but I will not have any potential sons with the middle name Draco. It’s pretentious. If you don’t take it out, I’ll hire my own lawyer. And then I’ll have them take out that bit and the bit from the Black family side about naming children after constellations.”
“Very well. Anything else?” If looks could kill, she was sure she’d have died when she entered the room. But now she’d be a pile of ashes, burned to a crisp in the afterlife.
“Yes. The clause towards the bottom about the woman’s dowry, you can take that out as well. I haven’t got one, so it doesn’t apply. I would like it replaced with a stipulation that should we ever divorce, and yes I’d like that part about matrimony till death amended to be applicable for eleven years as well instead of indefinitely, I get the property and money I came into the marriage with and he can keep the property and money he entered the marriage with. The only thing I would like to be added is that any children we have will be given a weekly sum of money from your side of the family until their seventeenth birthday or when they graduate from school. You can put it in a trust or give it to the child directly. I don't have to touch it at all if you prefer, but if we ever divorce I will fight for custody and if they live with me then he will still need to provide for them.”
“You would keep Draco’s children from him?” Mione couldn’t tell if the older wizard was impressed or angered by this.
“Of course not, if you think it needs to be written out now then have your solicitor write up a mock visitation schedule that we both have to agree to. This is all hypothetical of course, but I want all of my bases covered in any eventuality.”
“Very well, I will make Draco aware of these changes.”
“One more thing.” He raised his eyebrow at her once more in annoyance at her pertinence. “You have a clause here that says ‘the first-born male of the first-born male is entitled to the family treasures, vaults, and any other expenditure including but not limited to properties, monetary assets, stocks, bonds, banknotes, animals, vehicles, elves, staff, and documents following the death or stepping-down of the previous heir’. I want that changed as well. Any children your son and I have will be treated equally. In every aspect. I want ALL hypothetical children taken care of in the scenario that both Malfoy and I are deceased and you are no longer Head. Make sure that clause divvies up all of that... stuff... evenly among any live children born.”
“And what if you have multiple children? And they have multiple children? How do you expect to keep the fortune from falling into the wrong hands or becoming so minuscule it isn’t worth anything if it’s broken up among so many hands?” He demanded.
“That isn’t my problem. If you want to amend the clause so that it only applies for a few generations, or whatever else you can think of, do it. But I want my potential children, and their potential children, to have access to the same advantages as one another. I don’t want everything to go to just one person.” He scowled and spoke under his breath about ‘brats’ and ‘modern decorum’ as he scribbled out what she’d said in fine cursive writing. “I’ll speak with your son about this as well so that he knows my thoughts on the matter. I know that since we both have to sign the Marriage Contract we both have to agree to it, but since I’m already here speaking with you and you’ve made me aware that this exists I figured it was good to get this out of the way. I’ll look it over further tonight and owl you with any other alterations that I feel should be made.”
“Oh, joy.” He sneered as he set down his quill. “Will that be all, Ms Granger?”
“Actually, we haven’t even gotten to what I came to speak with you about in the first place. I got sidetracked when you brought up the contract I didn’t know existed. I wanted to ask if I could look over your inheritance documents to try and find a way that Malfoy and I don’t have to live in the manor.” Mr Malfoy snorted (an almost human trait she didn’t know he possessed).
“Ms Granger, my son spent months combing the document with the best legal team galleons can buy. I assure you, there is no way out of living here. I myself have grown quite dissatisfied with the Manor, as has my malcontent son. Unfortunately, there is no other way. My great-great-great Grandfather, Magnus Grengod Malfoy, had the clause added indefinitely to the inheritance binding in blood magic. Just as the wards and protection spells prevent any rot, damage, or destruction to Malfoy Manor, they also prevent us from leaving if we wish to maintain our inheritance. If it wasn’t so binding I’m sure the Aurors would have found a way to kick us out of our home by now.” Mr Malfoy explained to her. She frowned. Hermione knew she’d be dealing with blood magic (most old contracts in the wizarding world had elements of it in their writing) but she wasn’t prepared for blood magic and other spells to be woven together with wards.
“I would still like the chance to look it over on my own. Please.” She added politely. He studied her for a moment.
“Very well, when you return for your next meeting with my wife I will have an elf lead you to the records room to view it. It cannot leave the room, so you will have to view it there and I will have Draco or Narcissa accompany you. You will not be able to do anything, but I will allow you to indulge your curiosity. You may go now, Ms Granger.” He dismissed her as he went back to the paperwork he’d been studying when she’d come in. The door behind her opened as he spoke and she stood for a moment longer before deciding it was best to just leave while she was ahead.
“Did you get to discuss everything you wanted to with my husband?” Hermione jumped as Narcissa Malfoy’s voice cut into the silence in the hallway. She looked over and saw the woman sitting in a chair playing a solitaire game of wizards chess.
“Yes, I think I did.”
“And did he behave himself?”
“Um, yeah... I guess.”
“Hermione, I’ve already spoken to you about using the word ‘um’. Try to rid it from your vocabulary if you wish to pursue any job or social function that requires speaking to people. Ministers do not use filler words. They are very precise. As are ladies of nobility and high society.” Narcissa told the younger girl with a touch of exasperation in her voice. “Come along, I’ll take you back to the floo. I’m sure you’ve had a long day.” She said, politely dismissing the girl. Hermione’s feelings may have been hurt if she liked the woman more or if she hadn’t been about to ask for directions to get out of here herself. Instead, she nodded in relief and followed behind the elegant witch on her way out the door.
～Edited 19th Jan, 2022