"Great," said Bellatrix. "I'll go shopping for a place to live. In order for me to do the wards, though, I'm going to need some books and possibly heirlooms from the Black family vault. You can either come with me, or you can write out a note authorizing me to visit the vault and withdraw items."
"I'll write the note," Harry said, not particularly wanting to pay another visit to the bank. He stepped into the room, found a sheet of complimentary hotel stationery at the desk, and wrote out a short note for Bellatrix before handing it to her.
"On second thought, could you specify multiple visits?" Bellatrix asked.
Harry sighed, but quickly amended the note to the bank. "Happy?"
"Yes," Bellatrix said, beaming him a smile.
"Great. I'll see you later. You'll probably be asleep by the time I get back here," Harry said. He then left the room. Automatically, the hotel room door swung shut behind him leaving Bellatrix alone.
Humming somewhat happily, Bellatrix enlarged her trunk and quickly rifled through it. Finding an outfit that seemed somewhat Muggle, she changed into it before departing for Gringotts, thoroughly enjoying her newfound freedom. She was practically independent now. There were no more school rules and no more parent or guardian figures. Turning seventeen had been one thing, but now she truly felt "of age."
She soon arrived in the Gringotts lobby. Rather than immediately visit the Black family vault, however, she made her way to a random goblin sitting at a desk. "Hello," said Bellatrix. "I need to speak to a contract goblin." A brief staring contest ensued, but Bellatrix won by tacking another phrase onto her request. "If you would be so kind."
Severely annoyed at being interrupted in such an informal matter, the goblin glared balefully at Bellatrix before leading her to a rather small office at the end of a dark hallway. The desk goblin gestured for her to enter the office before abandoning her.
The contract goblin in the cramped office was a young male. Though he clearly desired to maintain the professional, hostile aloofness that more senior goblins regularly did, he ultimately rewarded Bellatrix with his kindest smile before offering her the seat in front of his desk. The seat was designed for other goblins and thus left Bellatrix uncomfortable and practically staring at the goblin from between her knees.
"What is it that you require, Miss?" the goblin asked.
"I'm looking to buy a piece of Muggle real estate," Bellatrix announced. "I'll need a proper contract that is recognized by the Ministry and the Muggle authorities. If you could draw something up, and I'll fill in the blanks once I've decided on the property."
"You know the proper way to register the purchase and title deeds once the transaction is complete?" the goblin inquired.
"Yes," said Bellatrix, silently thanking fate that her father had regularly purchased and sold real estate. It was irregular for a customer to conduct real estate business quite so independent of Gringotts, but sometimes it was useful-at least her father had occasionally benefitted from such a situation, though the goblins were never fond of seeing potential work taken out of their hands in such a way. "I'd also appreciate if you could draw up sub-lease contracts. There's a possibility I might rent out part of the property to Muggles."
The goblin raised his eyebrows suspiciously.
"I would of course appreciate it if the bank managed the leasing side of things," Bellatrix rushed to inform the goblin. "It's just that I might need to get things signed more quickly than the bank could move."
"Very well," the goblin agreed, sounding placated. "Is there anything else?"
"Er… yes," Bellatrix said, hesitating slightly. Her next request was highly irregular, but she reckoned that it might later come in handy and save a great deal of hassle-at least once she brought Harry around to her way of thinking. "I'd like you to draw up a marriage contract."
"Really?" the goblin said, almost disbelievingly.
"Yes," said Bellatrix, blushing slightly in response to the goblin's surprised demeanor. She rushed on and explained the details to the goblin. "The bride in question is a scion of House Black."
The goblin held up his hand to stop her. "Let me write this down," he said as he searched out a blank parchment and his quill. "All right, go ahead."
"Like I said, the bride is a member of House Black," Bellatrix repeated.
"Okay."
"The groom's heritage is irrelevant," Bellatrix continued. "Upon the execution of the marriage, he will take the surname Black."
"Wait, so the groom takes the bride's name instead of the other way around?"
"Yes," said Bellatrix.
"What is the groom's name, then?" the goblin asked.
"Leave it blank," Bellatrix instructed. "I'll fill that in myself." She then went on to detail the rest of the requirements for the contract, specifying that it would be signed by the Head of House Black. This made the goblin happy, for the presence of Lord Black's signature on the document, in addition to the signatures of the bride and groom, would go far toward simplifying the provisions Bellatrix had requested.
"How soon do you need copies of your contracts?" the goblin asked once she was finished.
"As soon as possible," Bellatrix requested. "Perhaps before I leave the bank today?"
The goblin sighed deeply. "Very well. Would you prefer to wait here or in the lobby?"
"The lobby," Bellatrix said. "I'll meet you there when you are finished."
With that, she made arrangements to pay the goblin for his services and then exited the cramped office and found another goblin willing to show her down to the Black vault. In the vault, she deposited the basilisk ingredients, deciding that selling them too soon would inflate supply and decrease demand. In fact, she was concerned that Harry's most recent sale of the first batch might still be affecting the market. She then picked out a number of Black heirloom books before returning to the lobby.
She waited there for a time until the contract goblin appeared with her contracts in hand. She briefly inspected each contract and was satisfied. "Thank you," she said peremptorily. "Now, I have one last question."
"Yes, Miss?"
"Once the required signatures are on the marriage document, the marriage is in force, correct?"
"Well, yes, or at least as soon as you return a duplicate copy to Gringotts for us to register with the proper Ministry authorities," the goblin said.
"Perfect," Bellatrix declared, pocketing the contracts.
....
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