"She owes me nothing!" Harry snapped back. "I did it, because it was the right thing to do!"
"And therein lies the problem," said Samuel. "You did it simply because you could. You did it without thought of what it could mean to you; how you could benefit from it. You did it in a purely altruistic sense."
Confused again, Harry stopped and looked at Samuel. "Hunh?"
"Harry," said Sirius. "Because you saved that young woman's life, without thought of how it could benefit you to do so, magic has deemed she owes a debt to you."
Harry thought for another long moment, trying to figure out how to get out of it. Eventually he asked, "How do I... absolve her of the requirement to pay it?"
"You can't," said Samuel. "Magic has deemed it so."
In frustration, Harry threw his arms in the air and spun about as if to leave, before spinning back and saying, "Un-fffflipping-believable!"
Lowering his hands and carding his fingers through his hair on the way down, he eventually sighed and asked, "How does she pay this... debt."
Again, the three adults looked to another before Sirius quietly replied, "We've checked. We've done our research. There's only one way... two. Slave bond or concubinage."
Throwing his hands in the air and stomping around again, Harry exclaimed, "Oh! How... fffreaking... wonderful! This poor girl is going to be forced to... to―"
"Have sex with you," said Marchbanks.
Harry spun on the spot and stared at her. His expression was one of horror. "No!"
"Harry―" started Sirius.
"No!" said Harry, cutting him off. "No... no... no... NO!"
Feeling himself starting to hyperventilate, he began to pant as his chest felt tight and his heart felt as if it wanted to escape through his ribs. "I... I gotta―"
He spun towards the door and began to run. Then... blackness.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
When he came-to later, he was looking into the eyes, up close and personal, of medi-wizard Robinson. And he tasted the remains of a calming potion in his mouth.
He was again sitting in the chair before Marchbank's desk with both Sirius and Lord Greengrass beside him.
"Yyyuck!" he said, trying to clear the taste from his mouth by using his tongue to wipe all the inner surfaces clean.
Robinson backed off a little and, with a smirk back, said, "Nope. Medi-wizard Robinson; not 'yuck'."
Harry just gave him a filthy look, which only had the man grin wider right back.
The man cast a couple of healer's charms on him and said, "He's a lot calmer now. The developing panic attack is gone."
Harry, who'd been thinking, moaned, "Oh, God! Hermione's going to kill me!"
Confused, Sirius asked, "Why?"
Harry gave a slight snort of amusement and said, "She always told me my 'saving people thing' was going to get me in trouble, one day. Well, it seems that 'one day' is here."
With a sudden thought he sat up straight and said, "Oh, Fleur! I forgot what this means to her! She... does she know what this means?"
"Harry," said Samuel. "I think you need to know more about what this means for a Veela; for Miss Delacour."
"I think I already know that," said Harry. "It means she has no choice, whether she likes it or not, but to strip naked, lie on her back, spread her legs―"
"Lord Potter!" barked Marchbanks. "You will not be so crude in my presence!"
Harry cringed, blushed and looked sheepish. He muttered, "Sorry, Lady Marchbanks."
"Harry, magic is not that cruel," said Samuel. "Yes, Miss Delacour will have to... you know. But it will not be like that for her."
When Harry turned an almost pleading look on him, he said, "Her magic is urging her to do this. And, as she is so in tune with her magic due to her heritage, this... will not be unwelcome to her.
"Actually, it's been her recent behaviour which triggered the investigation into what was discovered."
When Harry looked even more confused, Sirius said, "She's pining for you, Pup. Apparently, you are about the only thing she talks about of late. She wants to be with you. She's driven to be with you... that way."
"Is there no way to free her of this... compulsion?" he asked.
Samuel replied, "We've been searching for the past few days to find a way. However, Lady Apolline Delacour, her mother, gave us a couple of English translations of a book on this very subject. The only way for her to be free of this, is to die.
"Actually, if she doesn't... meet... the conditions of the debt soon, she will die. But only after she first goes mad from the unfulfilled need to... mate... with you."
"So," sighed Harry. "We have to have sex or she dies?"
"It's more than that, Harry," said Sirius. "The bond is for life. Yes, she has to have sex with you or she will die. However, she will also die if she's not with you all the way through life."
With the jerk of shock from Harry, Sirius was quick to clarify. "I do not mean you have to keep having sex with her over and over again, day after day. No; I mean, she has to consider herself part of your family, as mentioned before, like a concubine... or slave."
"Definitely not a slave," muttered Harry.
After it went quiet for a while, Harry said, "We have to have a family confab. We need to get together with Hermione... Hermione's parents... Daphne... You and Adeline, Samuel... You, Sirius... Hell, even Fleur's parents. Maybe they can explain it to Hermione and her parents. I certainly can't! Can Fleur be there without trying to jump my bones, or something? I'm already thinking Wendell is immediately going to clean his gun and sharpen his shovel, when he hears about this."
Sirius said, "A family... confabulation... sounds like an excellent idea, Harry. Good name for it, too."
Samuel said, "Hmm... Tell me when and where and I think I'll have no problem convincing the Delacours to attend."
"And I'll organise the time and place and the Grangers," said Sirius. "I think my place can host this.
"Besides, I want to show my godson and his two ladies what my new home looks like before they come for a visit next summer."
After organising things a bit more, Harry left. He was a bit reluctant, though; knowing what he'd be facing.
"Problem, Pup?" asked Sirius.
"Hermione," he sighed. "I... don't know how I'm going to explain it to her."
"I will, as her magical guardian," he said. He turned back to Marchbanks and asked, "Do I have your permission to address family business with my magical ward, Miss Hermione Granger, before I leave?"
"You do," she nodded.
"Thank you," he immediately replied.
Rising, he walked with Harry out the door. "Come on, Pup. Cheer up. What's the worst that can happen?"
"I don't know," replied Harry, as they walked out the door. "But I'm sure Hermione will exceed even my expectations."
As the door closed and they heard Sirius's laughter as the two went down the stairs, Marchbanks smirked at Samuel and said, "That went about as well as I expected it would."
The hidden auror in the room immediately removed her invisibility charm and said, "I'll need to alert The Boss as to the change of circumstances relating to Lord Potter."
"It won't happen for a while, dear," said Marchbanks, unsurprised to find the young woman there, while Greengrass was. "Two or three weeks, is my guess."
The auror nodded and said, "In that case I can hold off on alerting her until shift change. However, I should go catch up with those two." And indicated the door.
"Then go, dear," said Marchbanks.
The young auror quickly made her way out of the office to catch up with Sirius and Harry.
"How long was she there?" asked Samuel.
"She came through the floo from the atrium a few moments before I did," smiled Marchbanks.
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