TB2020 – A Classy Lady

Title: A Classy Lady
Author: Saydria Wolfe
Fandom: Harry Potter
Genre: AU
Relationships: Harry Potter/Neville Longbottom
Warnings: Dumbledore is a fucker. So is Amos Diggory.
Author’s Notes: No sex but I think I hit the mark anyway.
Challenge: Just Write Trope Bingo, Square: Friends to Lovers
Beta: PN Ztivokreb
Word Count: 1,310
Summary: The middle of a Wizengamot trial was not the time or place Neville had pictured for telling Harry about their marriage contract—but that choice was rather taken out of his hands and needs must.

 

 

“As a legislative and judicial body, we have agreed—over a dozen times—that Albus Dumbledore broke the law by failing to execute my parents’ Will,” Harry Potter said with more patience than Neville would have expected of him. “He illegally placed me with unfit guardians, illegally incarcerated my only legal guardian, defrauded my House estate, stole from me personally, and lied to every single person in this room about it.

“Albus Dumbledore is in the ICW jail as we speak for all of the many ways he violated the human rights of magical Britain in general and myself in particular.

“So, why is it suddenly acceptable that he signed a marriage contract without my input? Without my legal guardian’s agreement?”

“Mr. Potter—” the new Chief Warlock Amos Diggory started.

Harry held up a hand to stop him. “Lord Potter is the form of address required of you by court protocols, Mr. Diggory. Though Your Grace is also valid.”

Amos Diggory flushed scarlet immediately and Neville tapped his seal requesting to be recognized before the issue at hand could devolve into the Potter vs Diggory feud they had all been subjected too in the three months since Diggory had gotten himself elected. Dumbledore’s former voting bloc had voted the man into office and they were all paying for it.

They would be paying for it for another nine months since there were no protocols to remove a Chief Warlock or Witch from office short of the elected person stepping down or dying. There was no limit to the number of terms a Chief Warlock could serve, either.

Thankfully the Cheif Warlock had to be voted into office every Samhain.

Neville was already working to ensure Diggory was not elected again—and every meeting of the Wizengamot Diggory had made that job easier.

“The Wizengamot recognizes Lord Longbottom,” Chief Warlock Diggory announced grudgingly.

“Thank you, Chief Warlock.” With a tug on his magic, his head house elf appeared and handed over the magical vault from where it was usually hidden under the warding stone at Longbottom Keep. “I’m afraid any and all discussion regarding the marriage contract for Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley is moot.”

He pulled a signed and sealed scroll out of the magical vault and laid it on the desk. When he hit the correct rune, the contract was temporarily duplicated on every Lord’s desk in the room.

“As you can all see, there was already an active marriage contract for Harry Potter—signed by both valid guardians and patriarchs of both sides—when Albus Dumbledore illegally signed the marriage contract to settle Ginevra Weasley’s life debt to Lord Potter.”

Neville visually checked in with Harry. Harry’s poker face had gotten better over the years but there was something in his shoulders that read like relief to him.

The Weasley family solicitor looked up from reading his copy of the contract. “Lord Potter has two titles. He can legally take two spouses.”

Neville glanced over at Harry again. He caught Harry scrunching his nose in distaste before his face cleared.

“If Lord Potter were marrying a woman, that would be correct,” Neville agreed. “But as I am also a Lord and his peer, he is required to receive my permission to seek out a consort for the two of us. She would be our wife and I would never agree to marry a woman without a noble father—muggle or magical. My family magic would never accept her as the Lady Longbottom.”

“This is rather a clear-cut case,” Chief Warlock Diggory agreed reluctantly.

Then he suddenly sat up with a pleased look and Neville had to wonder how the old man thought he was going to fuck over Harry Potter this time.

“The Court moves to dismiss the case of Potter vs Weasley on the condition that the Potter-Longbottom marriage contract is fulfilled within the next forty-eight hours. All those in favor?”

Most of the Wizengamot voted in favor—Neville assumed to reduce the amount of time they had to tolerate Diggory, not because they cared about when he and Harry fucked.

“Lord Longbottom, do you understand and agree to the Court’s conditions?”

“Yes, Chief Warlock,” Neville agreed as he sat down.

“Lord Potter, do you understand and agree to the Court’s conditions?”

“Yes, Chief Warlock.”

“Very well, if you will return to your box so that we may proceed?”

Harry caught his eye as he walked back to his own box and Neville grinned when Harry rolled his eyes.

This was going to be fun.

-*-

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Harry asked once they were alone in the Lord’s Office at Longbottom Keep.

It was the most privacy Neville could provide them and he was grateful for Harry’s discretion.

“I did,” he said honestly. “I told you and asked you to Hogsmeade during our sixth year, but I was memory charmed and made to forget it. I assume you were too. I didn’t realize what had happened until I came home that summer and once again found the contract. When I asked Gran about it and she realized I had no memory of it, we sought out a ritual memory restoration from the Bank.”

“I’ve heard there is a bit of a waitlist for the Bank’s ritual services,” Harry frowned.

“The ritual wasn’t completed until Yule of that year,” Neville said by way of agreement. “But you hadn’t come back to school and Dumbledore hadn’t had the curse on his wand hand lifted yet so I figured you were relatively safe on that front and we would talk about it after.”

“You could have written me,” Harry protested.

“Our own minds weren’t safe—how could an owl offer any security to such a discussion?”

“Yeah, alright.” Harry sighed and nodded. “You know I had the biggest crush on you right up until the beginning of sixth year. Do you think Dumbledore took that from me too?”

“Possibly,” Neville agreed. “But if he did…consummating our marriage would undo whatever potion or curse work he did. The Contract will protect us in that way.”

“Is that why our parents engaged us?”

“Betrothed,” Neville corrected. “I have my father’s journal. It’s bound to my family line so you won’t be able to read it until we have a child that is biologically ours.”

Harry nodded once, indicating his understanding.

“According to my dad, our parents learned about the prophecy about you and Voldemort. They knew it would come true but they didn’t know which of us it was about so they betrothed us to form a bond between us—to make sure we would both have all the support we would need throughout our entire lives.

“That wasn’t their only reason,” Neville continued. “We were highly compatible magically and several forms of divination predicted happy futures for us together.”

He sat back to drink some of his tea to let Harry digest that at his own pace. Neville had had years to come to terms with things. Harry had had the afternoon.

“I want to read your father’s journal and I’m not opposed to children—we both need heirs, but we’re both men,” Harry shook his head. “How can this work? Two men cannot naturally…you know. We need parts neither of us has.”

“Once we’re married, I can teach you the Longbottom method,” Neville said.

“And that will let us make babies together?”

“Yes.”

“Like, biologically? Like. In our bodies?”

Neville chuckled. “No, neither of have to carry the fetus. The child will mature in the ground until roughly six months of age—based the…standard way of doing things.”

“That’s fascinating.” Harry shook his head and picked up his teacup. “What now?”

“Now, we relax until dinner and after that…we make our own choices.”

Harry grinned. “You’re saying you want to buy me dinner first?”

“I am a classy lady,” Neville agreed primly.

Harry laughed.

 

 

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