He only had to wait about five minutes before both girls walked in and, a couple minutes later, so too did Daphne and Tracey.
"How are you all holding up?" he asked. As the senior 'Heir', without Harry also there, it was his job to make sure the other four were all alright.
"We're fine," replied Tracey, for the four of them. "You're the one who is getting continually questioned over and over again."
Susan added, "We've been watching. We think you're getting about triple the questions the rest of us are getting."
Neville sighed and replied, "I'm fine, too. It's not as if we didn't expect this."
Daphne asked, "No word from Lord Potter?"
"No," he replied. "Without news to the contrary, he and Hermione still plan to arrive tomorrow morning during breakfast."
Daphne sighed and said, "If you manage to talk to Lord Potter before I do... which, of course, is almost a certainty... can you pass on the message I need to speak with him?"
When Neville looked curious, he still replied, "Of course."
Taking another look around her she let her 'Ice Queen' mask slip, as she would only in their presence or within their dorm, and said, "Alliance Secret time. My father has tasked me with approaching Lord Potter about a Concubine Bond Agreement."
That had everyone, but Neville, shocked. He and Susan just looked at each other for a moment before both blushed.
"If we're talking about such..." he said, giving Susan a pointed look.
She didn't indicate he was not to say, so declared, "Alliance Secret; Susan's aunt, Regent Bones, and my father are also talking about a Concubine Bond Agreement for Susan with me."
"Furthermore..." prompted Hannah.
"Furthermore," he agreed, with a nod in her direction. "My father and Mister Abbott are currently negotiating a Betrothal Agreement between Hannah and me."
That seemed to surprise the two Slytherin girls. And both noticed that Susan and Hannah did not seem surprised.
Tracey looked to Hannah and asked, "You don't have a problem with the Concubine Bond Agreement, Abbott?"
"Nope!" the once-pigtailed blonde happily replied. "As you know, Sue and I have been friends since we were babies. We... kinda... hoped this would happen ever since Sue found out she'd enter either a Concubine Bond Agreement or needed a Line Continuation Clause in a Betrothal Agreement."
Neville smirked and said, "Harry, apparently, figured it out during that day when he formally introduced Hermione as Lady Presumptive to you all. According to my dad, he'd told him it was quite obvious by the way the two girls acted between themselves and me, when he was talking about his and Hermione's Betrothal Agreement. He said it had something to do with 'body language', whatever that means."
Tracey, not realising Neville didn't actually expect an answer, replied, "It's to do with how people move, stand, gesture with their hands, hold their heads a certain way, their expressions, things like that when interacting with others. Apparently, someone who becomes skilled in... reading... it can determine a lot more information than the person just telling them."
When she noticed the others, except Daphne, looking at her in surprise, she blushed and added in an almost mumble, "Leastwise, that's what my father tells me."
Neville was the first to react. He gave a small snort of amusement and said, "And that means Harry was both telling my dad the truth and knows how to... read, as Tracey put it... someone's 'body language'."
Daphne asked, "All three of you are happy with this arrangement?"
All three replied in the affirmative.
She then said, "Well, then; I can only hope Harry is as open to discussing this for he and me."
"As you now know," said Neville, "Harry is not an idiot. You've now seen and talked with the real Harry Potter. He'll hear you out and give the matter a lot of thought.
"Your bigger, probably only, problem is going to be Hermione. She's a muggleborn, remember? They don't have concubinage. Mum even told me it's illegal in their world.
"You're going to need to be able to explain it to her in a fashion she'll understand. And you're going to need to give her a logical reason why she should be accepting of it."
Daphne winced. Her one 'card' she could play was that she and Hermione were both in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy; and the two had studied together for both those subjects.
In her mind she began to formulate her arguments for the girl.
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