Friday 5th July 1996
It had been a hell of a week, Harry thought to himself as he collapsed exhausted onto his bed at Privet Drive. His godfather, Sirius, had been killed in a battle with some of the last remnants of the Death Eaters nearly three weeks earlier. They had been ambushed whilst shopping in Diagon Alley. The fight had been brief, the Death Eaters fleeing when the Ministry’s aurors arrived on the scene, but one of them had managed to hit Sirius with the instantly fatal Killing Curse.
Harry was utterly heartbroken over the loss of his godfather, of course, but there was another reason he had been mentally and emotionally wrung out over the course of the last week.
The Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy - whose heir was Harry’s rival, or as some had put it, nemesis, at Hogwarts - had protested Sirius’ will that left everything he and the Black Family owned to Harry. The basis for their solicitor’s case was an old law called Primogeniture- the closest living male relative inherits everything. The goblins had performed the necessary genealogical tests and research and determined that Draco was Sirius’ cousin three times removed, not a close relation, but that Harry was even further down the line of succession. This was why the Order of the Phoenix suspected that Lucius Malfoy was behind the attack that claimed Sirius’ life, but as usual when that slippery snake was involved, there was no evidence of Lucius’ involvement. He had an ironclad alibi.
The only living people with a closer or equal claim to the Black fortune than Draco, were Bellatrix LeStrange, who was ineligible as both a female and a convict on a life sentence; Andromeda Tonks, who was illegible as a girl who had married a muggleborn; Narcissa Malfoy who was illegible as her son was able to inherit, and males always take precedence in matters of succession; and Nymphadora Tonks – Andromeda’s 23 year old auror daughter, who was illegible only as a female.
But the goblins had informed them – Harry, Dumbledore, and the Tonks’ had been called to Gringotts to discuss the Malfoy’s objection with the Director of the bank, since the goblins certainly did not want the might of the Black fortune falling into the hands of suspected Death Eaters and certified bigots like the Malfoys – of an interesting legal point that might provide Harry with a loophole to inherit, but there was a catch. If he was to marry Tonks, as her husband he owned everything that she did, and would, legally, being of Black blood already, share her relation with Sirius. Combined with the wishes of Sirius, made plain in his will, this would give Harry the strongest claim to the Black inheritance.
The Director had said he could stall the protest for one week, but no longer, and they had until then to decide. Today was the fifth day, and Harry and Tonks had, after much discussion, decided to marry. It was worth the sacrifice to keep that amount of power from the hands of Death Eaters. They had also discovered, whilst talking, that both had been nursing a crush on the other for a few months. An embarrassing revelation, but one that gave both of them hope that maybe they would get something more out of this marriage than political and financial leverage.
They only had until Monday morning before the Malfoy’s protest would pass, so he and Tonks had to get married tomorrow. It would be, by necessity, a small event, with Dumbledore officiating and only their families and closest friends in attendance. This way, they would deny the Malfoy’s any time to try to protest on any other grounds before Harry could inherit, rendering the matter moot.
Harry could still feel his lips tingling from the kiss he and Tonks had shared a short while ago. He had promised to marry her again, properly, giving her the big, lavish ceremony she deserved, and she had rewarded him with a passionate snog that had left him smiling dreamily for the last hour.
Yes, he was getting married a lot earlier than he had ever thought he would. Yes, it was for reasons other than love, which he never imagined himself doing. But the time he’d spent with Tonks over the last few days had convinced him that it might be the best thing that ever happened to him.
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