Behind him came four females, two of which Harry recognised as Bellatrix and Narcissa Black. He deduced that the other younger female was Andromeda, who looked very much like the middle sister but her hair was a shade or two lighter.
Narcissa's eyes lit up the moment she saw Harry even though it appeared she had recently been crying.
"Hello Harry" she greeted him excitedly.
"Hello Cissy" Harry returned, still finding it very strange that the young girl who was smiling so brightly could ever turn into the cold woman he knew her to be.
"And how is it that you are on such amicable and familiar terms with my daughter?" the man questioned Harry with a sneer.
Before Harry could respond it was Narcissa that explained.
"It was Harry that rescued me from the Dementors with his big reindeer thing" she answered happily. "And then he even got Andi's present fixed and bought me ice cream to make me feel better" she added.
The man just grunted.
"Then it seems that you are in young Mr. Potter's debt Pollux" Arcturus broke in, giving Harry an appreciative nod.
Pollux just frowned.
"Why is it that your wife and daughters look upset" the older man asked his son. "It seems as though they are not so supportive of my latest business transaction" Pollux shrugged.
"And what business transaction would that be?" Arcturus inquired, noting the very distraught demeanour of his daughter-in-law and granddaughters.
"I set them up in marriage contracts with prominent families for the betterment of our own?" Pollux answered dismissively.
The reactions at the table were a mixture of shock and horrified at the revelation.
"You did what?" Arcturus asked dangerously.
"I set them up with marriage contracts" Pollux reiterated.
"Oh, so I did hear you correctly" Arcturus stated casually. "So you have taken the freedom I gave to you and your siblings and pissed it away have you?" he ground out. "Father, these families are amongst the most affluent in our community" the younger man tried.
"What is your last name?" Arcturus questioned simply.
"Black" Pollux answered confusedly.
Arcturus nodded.
"There are no families better than ours you imbecile" he roared, slamming his hand on the table.
"They are my daughters, I will decide what will be done with them" Pollux hissed.
"As the head of this family it is my choice" Arcturus bit back furiously. "And what families have you decided to align yourself with?".
"Actually it is no longer your choice" Pollux responded coldly. "I have taken steps to ensure that you must sign it" he added with a smug grin. "The girls will be married into the Yaxley, the Lestrange and the Malfoy families" he finished gleefully.
"And what steps have you taken?" Arcturus asked through gritted teeth.
"The contract must be signed today or the contents of the family vault will be transferred equally into theirs" Pollux explained.
"And how did you manage that?" Arcturus returned neutrally.
"You have granted us all with complete access to the vault" Pollux pointed out. "I can move as much money around as I like" he explained further.
"Give it to me" the older man ground out.
Pollux removed three separate sheets of parchment and handed them to his father who read them and shook his head.
"You fucking moron" he spat. "You've essentially handed over the damn key to our vault and where in the contract is the stipulation that the contents of our vault will be forfeit if I refuse to sign?" he finished furiously.
"I signed a different contract for that" Pollux explained.
Arcturus gestured for him to hand it over which he did reluctantly.
"Half a million Galleons for your three daughters" he stated disbelievingly. "A stipend of 10,000 Galleons to be paid weekly to each family, please don't tell me you were stupid enough to sign this for pocket change only" the older man pleaded. "And why am I only aware of this now, this is dated from September?" he pointed out angrily.
"I was instructed not to inform you of the arrangement because you would refuse" Pollux replied. "And no, I did not only get the money, I am promised an introduction to someone who is at the forefront of the new pureblood movement" he added contentedly. "I am sure he will be along with the others shortly".
"What is the buy out? There's always a buy out option" Arcturus returned knowingly.
"1.5 million Galleons and a duel with a champion of their choice" Pollux informed him.
"So that is why you held off telling me until today when it has to be signed" Arcturus growled. "I can't even get to the bank, it's fucking Boxing Day and even the Goblins don't open today" he continued angrily.
"It wouldn't matter" Pollux shrugged. "You wouldn't be allowed to duel their champion anyway, no one with the name Black or anyone married to a Black could do it" he explained, clearly proud of himself.
"That was obviously done to stop Charlus from fighting on our behalf" Dorea deduced. Pollux nodded and smirked again.
"I despair" Arcturus stated. "How did we raise such a selfish little prick?" he asked his wife who was visibly upset.
"I did this for our family" Pollux hissed.
"No, you did this for you and your fucking greed, my hands are tied on this because of your ambition to be a bigger man than you deserve to be" Arcturus returned angrily. "How long until they get here?" he added, defeated by his son's underhanded dealings.
"In 10 minutes" Pollux answered with a victorious grin.
"Then that gives me plenty of time to kill you, you stupid bastard" Arcturus seethed as he grabbed the man by his hair and drew his wand.
Pollux instantly paled and began trembling but was saved by his mother. "Arcturus please, he's our son" Melania pleaded. "Please we will make it work somehow, I know you'll be able to fix it" she added confidently.
Arcturus shook his head.
"This prick has just given away my granddaughters for nothing" he spat dangerously. "I could have found a way had he come here yesterday but he did this on purpose, now there is no way out of it" he sighed as he released the man, clearly experiencing many emotions at once.
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