the marriage stone (Discontinued)

Chapter 43 What are Friends For

It was lunchtime before Harry had a chance to talk to Ron and Hermione in private. All day long he'd be subjected to whispers and stares - though thankfully the bizarre innuendos he'd endured after his marriage were missing this time. No one seemed certain what to say to him now, and so resorted simply to gossiping behind his back rather than confronting him directly. The only pleasant moment he'd had all morning was when he'd learned that Charlie had remained behind at Hogwarts to help Hagrid out with a special project down in one of the main stables. Ron and the other Gryffindors had gotten the former student to promise to join them later in the week during Quidditch practice for some extra coaching.

Rather than return to the Great Hall for lunch, Harry, Ron and Hermione retreated into Gryffindor Tower, locking themselves in the sixth-year boys dormitory with some food courtesy of Dobby. Alone and warded behind a privacy charm, Harry sat on Ron's bed and told his two friends about all the things that had occurred in the last few days, finishing with the story about the Malfoy proposal and the trouble with Remus.

Both Ron and Hermione had asked hundreds of questions, wanting to know every detail he could remember about the Winter Lands and the battle he'd fought. And Hermione had been in positive raptures over the description of the Capstone, the Well of Despair and the spells Harry had used to move and seal it. She took copious notes, intent on some new research project that Harry just couldn't bring himself to get excited over.

"What I don't understand is why Sirius has to marry Draco?" Harry complained after the three of them had hashed out the details of the story in greater depth. "Shouldn't he just be able to say no?"

"Not without a good reason, mate," Ron told him.

"How about he just doesn't like the git?" Harry exclaimed. "That seems a perfectly good enough reason!"

"Doesn't work like that," Ron shook his head. "When you're talking about old pureblood families like the Malfoys and the Blacks, things like emotion have nothing to do with a marriage. It's a business arrangement - like the merging of two companies. There has to be strong legal reasons for the marriage to be denied."

"So what you're saying is that Lucius Malfoy could have insisted that Ginny marry Draco and there would be absolutely nothing she could do about it because your dad would be removed from his position as Head of House?" Harry demanded.

But Ron shook his head in denial. "No, of course not. First my Dad wouldn't care if he lost his position as Head of House. If that happened, Bill would become the Head of House and he'd immediately rescind the position and give it back to my dad. But that wouldn't happen any way. My family doesn't have a Conscriptus, and even if we did, it certainly wouldn't have an open alliance with any family that would force a marriage that any of us didn't want."

"A Conscriptus?" Harry flopped back onto the bed that the three of them were sitting on, and he stared morosely up at the canopy above them. "Why do I get the feeling that this is another one of those Wizarding things I should have read about in 'Hogwarts, A History'?"

"It's not mentioned in 'Hogwarts, A History'," Hermione frowned and Harry glanced curiously over at her. The girl looked a bit vexed and was staring at Ron with an irritated frown. "What is a Conscriptus?"

Ron's eyes widened and he laughed. "You don't know?" Even Harry had to sit up at this. Wasn't often Hermione was lacking a piece of information.

Hermione's glare hardened and she punched Ron in the arm. He was laughing too hard to notice. "Ron!" she protested.

"Fine," Ron grinned. "A Cognatus Conscritpus. It's a magical document. It's typically only found in the older pureblood families. It declares the line of succession as well as lists out alliances with other families and rights and duties the families have to one another."