Chapter 24: Lord Lucius Malfoy. Death eater, pureblood, murderer... and match-maker.
The 22nd of June 1993. Greengrass Manor. Present time.
Lord Stefan Greengrass sat calmly behind his desk, listening to the conversation going on downstairs. He was confident Cygnus would find a reason to turn down any offer, and in some ways, he felt sorry for his political opponent.
At exactly two-thirty, half an hour after his guests arrived, he received the first letter.
It was a worrying message from Lucius Malfoy,
Lord Stefan Greengrass,
It has come to my attention that your lovely eldest pureblood grandchild is nearing her coming of age. Since she has yet to be engaged, it would be an excellent idea for her to marry Draco, my son, as we also believe this would benefit you, allowing your businesses to continue uninterrupted. My son is, of course, an eminent young pureblood wizard of high status, famous at school and will be sure to leave Daphne satisfied…
Thinking of what's best ;)
Lucius Malfoy,
Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy
This was disconcerting; the death eaters had taken an interest in Daphne. He was afraid of what this could mean for Daphne, who would now need protection. It was obvious who was at fault here. For an old man like Stefan Greengrass, his grandaughter's safety would always take precedence.
That was when the following letter arrived.
Lord Stefan Greengrass,
The British Ministry of Magic will expect you and your heir on the 31st of July before the full Wizengamoat. Before a court, you shall be charged with destroying jobs and putting hundreds of good British citizens out of work.
If found guilty, your properties in Britain will be liable to confiscation by the ministry and a fine of up to one million Galleons each, possibly with a short sentence in Azkaban.
Richard Burke,
Head of the Sub-Department of financial crimes
Signed off by the Minister of Magic
Stefan started cursing with fervour,
How had he done this? The man had not even been aware of their plans until twenty minutes ago, and Stefan knew from experience that these kinds of letters usually took half an hour at least, and that was with an express order from the Minister himself.
This could be crippling if not dealt with correctly, and so soon after Lord Malfoy's letter? Not a coincidence, obviously Lord Peverell was a dirty bastard.
That fucking idiot of a minister, Cornelius, was terrified. His obsession with staying in office was the only thing even remotely impressive about him.
The man had sounded just like he would have expected of a pureblood lord, presumptuous and arrogant when talking to his son.
This was bad. The Greengrass patriarch didn't know how to get out of this, at least not at that moment.
What he needed was something to blackmail the bastard with.
It would help if the man appeared out of nowhere, speaking of which, who was the mother of his son?
That would be the perfect place to start.
Then Stefan realised he would have to give in to Ares Peverell, at least for now. Better to divert Lucius Malfoy's threats, give himself time to calm Cornelius down, and plan his next move.
With reluctance, he called for Rhys, telling the elf to relay his instructions to his son.
----------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, downstairs Ares Senior was waiting for whatever his other self had done to come to fruition and help him as he desperately traded words and did a verbal battle with Cygnus.
Ares the Younger was carefully counting down in his head, waiting to see how long it would take the old man to act.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 'pop.'
Rhys had appeared and was whispering in her master's ear.
Both Ares Sr & Jr couldn't help but smile at the grimace that crossed the face of Heir Greengrass.
The man was quiet for a while before he looked up, a fake smile plastered to his face.
"Well, Lord Peverell, as much as I have enjoyed our little chat, I think it is time we talked about the contract properly. Daphne will come with a Dowry of 400,000 Galleons and a 12.5% stake in Greengrass Limited. In exchange, we expect a political alliance, a discount on all magical goods sold to our companies and us. Furthermore, we will pay for the wedding and you for the honeymoon. Finally, we want a magical oath from you and your house to help us in times of need." Cygnus listed the deal he had been told to give, adding the last part on knowing it would never be agreed to just to annoy the other man.
"Very well I accept all your conditions, all of them. As long as you agree to make a similar magical oath of course." Ares said. He knew that most people would think he was insane agreeing to that last term, but the other man didn't know that he had a loophole out of any magical oath.
Cygnus was amazed and, for the first time since meeting them, pleasantly surprised.
Stefan, on the other hand, was incredibly concerned. Why would Lord Peverell agree to this, was his house in financial ruin, and he needed help? No, that wasn't it; otherwise, his spy in Gringotts would have told him when he demanded all the information on the Peverell accounts.
He was annoyed with Cygnus for disobeying his orders, but this might be their advantage.
Rhys appeared again and gave Cygnus permission to accept.
Cygnus and Ares shook hands both with firm grips.
Daphne was staring in shock, her mouth hanging open as she watched her father go from whipping Lord Peverell to effectively handing her over and promising to swear an oath that would bind the two families together.
Then suddenly, while the two older men were still talking, the boy turned around and winked at her ;). He fucking winked at her. Daphne wasn't sure if she wanted to curse him or swoon, but it had become obvious whose fault it was that her father had changed his mind so quickly.
What made it worse was his smile as he leaned back in his chair; what had he done in the few minutes he had been away that had changed the outcome of this meeting so drastically?
Cygnus and Ares agreed to sign the contract later that day at Gringotts so they could take the magically binding oath simultaneously.
Happy with the outcome, Ares was ready to go when Lady Madeline and Ophelia Greengrass walked in and turned his afternoon plan on their head.
"My dears, what a pleasure it is to meet the both of you, such strapping young examples of what a Pureblood should be, why not stay for lunch, I guarantee you won't regret it," suggested Ophelia, the resident pureblood supremacist of the family, albeit not on the level of the Blacks. She could stand muggleborns but wouldn't talk about muggles.
Both Ares Sr & Jr looked at each other and accepted their fate.
Ares senior spoke first,
"You will have to excuse me as I have some business to attend to, but my son would love to stay and get to know you."
With that, he smiled, thanking them all and left as he needed to return and become Ares junior.
The remaining Ares was left contemplating whether it was ok to hate yourself if they weren't currently sharing the same memories and experiences.
Rallying himself mentally, he turned around to face nearly the entire Greengrass family,
This was going to be a long lunch.
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