Chapter 91: Back to Potter Manor
“Are you sure you’re fine with this, Amelia? That it is what you want?”
The redhead witch was looking at the magical contract in front of her, laying on her desk. On it was everything she wanted for the House of Bones. A strong alliance with two other Ancient and Noble House, perpetuity of her own House through her line. More money, more political power, more support. The price? Her freedom. Partly at least. For the magical contract was in fact a magical marriage contract. It would take effect on the spot, the moment she signed it. She would still be Amelia Bones but not miss or madam. It would be Missus Amelia Bones and Rick would be Mister Bones, on top of already being Lord Potter and Lord Black.“I am.”
“Amelia. Amy… We don’t have to marry if you don’t want to. You can always find someone you love an-”
“I love you.”
“You know what I mean.”
She did. She loved Rick as much as she had loved Edgar and Robert, her brothers. If anything she loved him more after all the years they were together at Hogwarts. She wasn’t in love with him however. Never has been in love in fact. Never found and known that magical spark. Or so, she told herself.
That was why she had given up on it. Rick was the closest thing she had to actual love. And a very good lover. He had been her first and last, not having the time to date nor found anyone worth her time. She was fine with the decision she was making.
“I know. But I will not have any children seen as illegitimate. I will not have them grow up without them or the world knowing exactly who their father is.”
“I will recognize them either way, married or not you know that.”
“But the stigma will still be there if we’re not. On Lily, on Bella, on the children. Houses will pull away their support, it’s both outrageous and scandalous. Honestly, Rick, enough. It’s like you don’t want to be married to me.”
“I really don’t, not when there is a chance out there for you. This is a binding contract, there will be no divorce. Then there is Lily and Bella you will have to deal with. Narcissa and Andromeda and whoever the fuck they want me to… All for the sake of House Black.”
Amelia looked at him with an unimpressed gaze. “First of: you’re Lord Black you decide who you impregnate and who you don’t. Second: I dealt with Lily for years now. Her, her hunger and lust for me. I’m not dead and sometimes I had some really good fun. Bellatrix? She can’t be worse.”
“... She can and can’t. Depends on her mood. But that’s not the point I’m-”
Amelia had enough and signed the contract with her quill. Right next to Rick's signature. The parchment glowed for a few seconds then turned back to normal.
“There. Now I have a seventeen year long itch to scratch and you better scratch it good tonight.”
Rick looked at her in shock before he shook his head to get back his bearings. “... No. We’re married now. We can make the effort to have more than just sex when you have an itch.”
“I agree but itch first.”
Amelia raised from her chair and went for the room’s exit. Rick followed her and they delivered the contract to the goblin manager in charge of House Bones. A copy will be sent to House Black and House Potter manager respectively and a fourth to the ministry.
Rick watched pensive as his sister in everything but blood left Gringotts to go back to her office. She had treated such an important decision as a business and he didn’t like that. He couldn’t blame her however. She was faced with a dilemma, either marry him and continue the Bones bloodline or watch it become extinct. She was Susan’s legal guardian and proxy but nothing more.
Any betrothal contract she would write for Susan, no matter how difficult the exit clauses were, wouldn’t be worth anything because only Susan can validate it for House Bones as the heiress and soon Lady. Something that the young redhead would never do.
Amelia took the blows and did her duty despite her personal wishes. Rick hoped that wouldn’t create a distance between Aunt and niece or perhaps not widened it further.
In any case it wasn’t what he expected the day after coming back from his vacation in Japan with his mother.
This time, instead of visiting the central part of the country they went up North to explore a noticeably more rural area. That wasn’t to say Hokkaido wasn’t civilized. It was just way more in tune with nature than the rest of the country already was. The climate was colder too which during summer was a good thing. They had a wonderful time between Mother and son and Dorea used one of her blank coupons to request a week of just the two of them on a vacation during summer every year. Not necessarily in Japan.
When they came back the previous day, Lily and Bella noticed they were closer but no matter how much they pestered Rick or Dorea, they got no answer beyond ‘we just visited temples, town and farms.’ They didn’t get more because mother and son were more interested in the birth of Ursa Aldebara Black. That had happened two weeks earlier than the estimated time and right during their trip. Rick felt bad for not being there for Narcissa but not much. He kept that thought to himself however.
During his week of absence, Lily had already started on the rune spell. It didn’t go well. The carving done directly wasn’t working at all. Either it was the carving itself or if the rune did carve there was no magic in it. That was quite the problem and it frustrated her to no end. The arithmancy behind the spell worked. She had done the calculation four times just to be sure. Yet it didn’t do what was intended.
“Perhaps it’s the medium?”
“What do you mean?”
She was looking at her notes, chewing on the butt end of a pen when Rick embraced her from behind and rested his chin on the top of her head.
“It’s clear that the magic dissipates when in contact with solid matter. Maybe instead of magic, using an element filled with magic would be better? We know it’s possible because of the copy charm. Why not use… acid instead of ink? The acid would burn into the stone but the magic would still be in it?”
“Hmm… Perhaps yes.”
“Or we can make talismans?”
“Talisman?” She pulled her head back to try to look at her husband questioningly.
“I’m not talking about our western trinkets. I’m talking about Japanese magic. They use talismans to contain spells and chant to activate them. The spell is written through ink or blood on the talisman and they stick it to a surface to have an effect.”
“This! This is a better idea than acid. We could remove them and replace them easily! Except they wouldn’t be permanent and fragile.”
“We can’t have everything. I think it’s a good alternative. Even better in fact.”
“Did you bring back some from your time there?”
“Of course. I wanted to see if I could use ancient runes instead of kanjis and make it work. ”
“Then let’s do it!”
“Right now? Alright but I thought you would have wanted to know about Amelia.”
“On second thought…”
Rick looked at Lily amusedly and shook his head before leaving the room not saying anything about his meeting with the redhead at Gringotts. His wife had pushed for it for months and the day of the finalisation of everything she forgot. He certainly won’t tell her anything about it.
“Please! Rick!”
“No.”
She almost gasped when she heard the word. Except when it was a very serious matter, like the children’s education or House business, Rick had never told her ‘no’ as far as she could remember.
“You’ll discover everything at the same time as the others.”
She immediately went after him, stepping out of the room and jumped on his back in a bout of childishness.
“Come on!”
“Nuh-huh.”
No matter what she tried he wouldn’t budge on this. She ended up kept in the dark until they moved back to Potter Manor. The night of reacquaintance Rick and Amelia had, happened at Bones Manor. Rick had contacted his newly wed wife for a change of plans and she readily agreed since it was to mess with Lily.
It took them a few days but they have something working and promising. It would be long before they could recreate the playroom inside Potter Manor. Rick’s objective was to one day recreate the room of requirement and to improve it. Not an easy feat by any means but a great goal. First they needed to make more than just the basic runes work.
“WOW! Dad, you weren’t kidding when you said it was big!” Veronica voiced out loud what everyone thought inwardly.
“Nope. Now, before you all go picking a room, there are a few rules to respect. For your safety.
First: The third floor is off limits. That’s our, the adults, floor. Our bedrooms are there.
Second: the west wing is for the guests. We will have two, starting August. I don’t want any of you to go and make a mess there, alright?
Third: Basement is currently off limits too until further notice. Lily and I are remodeling it to recreate the playroom without messing with the wards. It’s dangerous business so don’t go there.
Fourth: Labs are on the first floor. I don’t need to remind you of the rules about them?”
““““““No.””””””””
“Good. Fifth:”
““How many are there?!”” inquired the twins.
“It’s the last one. Fifth: A part of the library is restricted. It’s for a reason. While at Hogwarts the restriction section may not have cursed books, this one does. I don’t want to have to spend the whole weekend trying to find a solution to break a curse because you thought yourself smart or better than you think you are. Those books are reserved for the head of House and the people they magically gave permission. Susan, Draco as usual you can use the regular library.”
“Thanks, Uncle.” / “Thank you, Uncle.”
“Okay. You can go pick your room and NO FIGHTING!” he shouted to his children as they almost all darted away to get the best bedroom.
The only one left behind were Rose and Susan who already had their rooms, Draco who waited for his mother to arrive to help her with Rigella and Ursa, Lyra who walked slowly as was ‘befitting of the heiress of the ancient and Noble House of Black’ and Lea. The artist of the family went to her father and tugged on his hand.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Is there a painting room?”
“I don’t know.” His answer deflated her a bit. “But.” and now she perked up. He absolutely loved how his daughter wore her feelings on her sleeve. “But, there is a room with portraits of all our ancestors, maybe you can paint there? I was going to bring Rose there so she could meet my father but you can come too.”
“Yay! Rose, let's go!”
Lea darted towards Rose, grabbed her by the hand and rushed out of the living room, Susan following her distressed but also amused girlfriend.
“I wonder how long it will take for her to realize she doesn’t know where the room is.” Draco remarked.
“Oh, Draco. You’re assuming Lea cares. She will kick open every door until she finds it.” Rick couldn’t help himself but chuckle at his daughter’s behavior.
“... Right. Sometimes I forgot she took your sense of adventure and her lack of common sense from Aunt Bella.”
“By the way, if staying on the same floor as your… energetic cousins is a bother, I reserved a room for you on the third floor. Away from the adults so you’d have your privacy.”
“Thank you, Uncle.”
“And remember…”
“Not a word to them.”
“Yep. So, how is life in Slytherin?”
“The blood purists plot as usual but do nothing. It may change now that Voldemort is back. Otherwise it has been peaceful this year. There was no house infighting and Lyra and I’s effort to be friendly with other houses paid well. We’re not quite the pariah house that we were. It’s easier with the Ravenclaws because of the smarts we share. Hufflepuffs like everyone in general and us not attacking them played a lot in our favor but that’s not really a feat and Gryffindor… Without Rose things would be more difficult. The fact she’s popular helps a lot. Then the twins' friendship with Lyra and finally Veronica and Vega’s. There is of course an idiot or two set in their ways like Ronald Weasley but we’re… civil to each other.”
“I thought Ronald was alright?”
“He is but only with me, Lyra and Vega. Also Daphne Greengrass but otherwise Slytherin are evil and spawns of Death Eaters and Death Eaters in the making.”
Rick sighed hearing that.
“I bet it’s his mother’s talking through him. Nevermind then. You can’t change everyone’s mind, nor should you try. About Daphne… If you want to see her during Summer you can invite her. I don’t have any problem with that.”
“Noted.”
“DAAAAAAD! CAMY AND SAGE ARE TAKING TWO ROOMS!”
Recognizing Veronica’s voice, Rick sighed deeply.
“Words of advice, Draco. Don’t marry before your mid-twenties at least. Have one wife and three children at best. Restore the Malfoy line only bit by bit and let the new generation put their own bricks in the reconstruction. You’ll not be tired all the time.”
“I honestly don’t know how you do it, Uncle.”
“I don’t either.”
Leaving Draco alone, Rick went to the third floor to resolve the dispute. Camelia and Sage wanted two rooms. One for each and it was fine. What wasn’t was that they wanted to sleep together in one room and use the other room for something else.
Unfortunately the second room was the one Veronica wanted for herself. He denied the twins and told them that they either use one room each or bunkered up together. Being twins didn’t grant them special privileges. Being older than Veronica too. They were not happy with this but he knew that within the month, if not the week they would have forgotten all about it. He gave Vega a thumbs up when he noticed his son had taken a room as far away as possible as his sisters.
When he climbed down the stairs to the first floor he closed all the doors that Lea had left open in her quest to find the portraits. He expected to find her sitting on her bum on the carpet in front of Charlus and he wasn’t disappointed.
“Did Dad really show up grandma in potion the day after they met?”
“Oh, yes. She was quite unhappy with this. Seven years of study at Hogwarts getting the best grades in potion and thirty years as a potion mistress and your father with only five years of education beat her in a potion contest.” Rick’s father replied with a chuckle.
“To be fair, she would probably whoop my ass now.” Rick interjected, sitting down between his daughters and pulling them towards him for a hug. “So, what do you think? Best daughters in the world or what?”
“Oh, they are! I can’t wait to meet them all.”
Rick listened to his daughters have a talk with their grandfather’s portraits. Silly stories about Rick’s teenagehood. Lea got bored however and went to introduce herself to another portrait, then another, then another. He was sure she would wake them all and share a few words.
He kissed his daughters on the temple, did the same for Susan and stepped out to go back to the living room. Draco was gone which meant that his mother and sisters had arrived. The young man had probably led them to the second and third floor to let them get a room and also find one himself.
The only one in the living room was Lily. She had stayed behind at Lions’ Pride a bit more because she still had some packing to do. Mostly notes and blackboards about her current projects. That she was here, reading a book leisurely on the sofa told him she was done.
He sat right next to her, snaking an arm around her waist and buried his head into the crook of her neck and her crimson hair. A sigh of contentment escaped his lips as he took a whiff of her scent. No one smelled as heavenly as she did in his opinion.
“Hmmm… I missed this so much.” he mumbled.
“The last time was yesterday afternoon.”
“It’s an eternity when I’m separated from you for more than a minute.” She rolled her eyes at his cheesy line but the corners of her mouth curled up. “Should I be worried you don’t feel the same anymore? Are you finally tired of me?”
He began kissing her neck slowly while his hand around her waist went under her top and caressed lightly her skin and the other hand roughly caressed the inside of her thigh. Lily said nothing but kept reading her book. She did however uncross her legs a bit to give more access to his hand and tilted her head to the side for more access to his lips.
“Have I lost the favor of the love of my life?”
When he went from her neck to her jaw, Lily turned her head and caught his lips with hers. The book was dropped to the ground, forgotten while the hand that held it grabbed Rick’s shirt. Soon enough their tongues were dancing with each other, going faster and faster. Lily pushed him down on the sofa and straddled him while never breaking the kiss. His hands went to her bum which he fondled roughly making her moan and grind her mound against his hardening groin. Her own hands went under his shirt and delicately explored his bare muscles.
A loud dry cough was heard by them but they didn’t care. They kissed even fiercer instead, Rick using one of his hands to signal with a finger ‘Just a minute’. Finally when he slapped Lily’s butt with the other hand they broke it off. Lily’s eyes were full of lust. The kind that he knew meant that soon enough he’d better be balls deep inside her in some way or there would be trouble.
“You really want me to make you drop your panties, Lady Potter.”
“What a silly idea, Lord Potter. I don’t wear panties.”
“YEAH! NO! STOP! TIME OUT!”
Husband and wife exchanged a grin and turned their heads to see Rose, Susan and Dorea at the entrance of the living room. Susan and Rose’s faces were as red as their hair while Dorea was completely amused.
“Turnabout is fair play, huh?” joked the former Lady Potter.
“Grandma?”
“You see Rose, your mother and I caught my parents in the same situation when we were just a bit older than you.”
“Your father serenaded her with her favorite Beatles’ song though.” remarked Lily.
“The Point is-”
Dorea interjected on the spot. “Point is, Andi, Bella and I are taking the kids to muggle London to see a movie, so don’t forget about the cleaning charms.”
The other children came down the stairs and came to the living room. Before leaving, Bella gave a very heated kiss to Rick. So did Andromeda although it was a bit more chaste. Narcissa came down right after and left after saying goodbye but not saying where she was going. With Rigella and Ursa being babysat by Tipsy, Rick went back to fondling Lily’s butt.
“No panties, huh?” he looked up from her chest.
“None.” she replied.
Rick picked his wand and began to cut Lily’s jeans at the right place to verify that. When he saw her bare asshole and wet pussy he dove head first and began to eat everything to his heart’s content and Lily’s pleasure.