"Something wrong Harry? You look nervous." Sirius commented with a grin. He and Harry were had just arrived at the Greengrass's home and were standing in front of the door waiting for someone to answer their knocks. Harry looked at Sirius and frowned in response to his statement.
"I'm fine, Sirius. And I'd appreciate it if you stopped trying to make me panic about this. It's a calm lunch, nothing to be worried about." Harry replied. Sirius snickered but didn't say anything else. Their wait did last much longer because the door soon opened and revealed Daphne who was smiling brightly at her visitors.
"Harry!" she said excitedly as she rushed forward to hug her boyfriend for the first time in a few weeks.
"Don't mind me, I'll just avert my eyes." Sirius said as he began to look away.
"Good to see you again too, Sirius." Daphne laughed. "Please come in, everyone's waiting." Daphne led her two guests through an impressive hallway lined with portraits of Greengrass's from days past and into a room that felt somehow more relaxed than the other parts of the house Harry had seen. This room was circular with the outer edges lined with large, leather couches. The walls contained not portraits but a huge mural that showed a mountainous landscape. The mural was obviously magic, as Harry could see the trees swaying in the wind and even animals moving about. As interesting as it was, Harry only gazed at it for a moment before focusing on the family in the room that had stood to greet their guests.
In front was young Astoria, who Harry had come to know better since beginning to date Daphne. She waved at Harry as he came in but then tried to straighten up and act formal as perhaps her parents expected her. To Astoria's left was her father, Daniel Greengrass. Harry wasn't sure what he had expected the man to look like but he had to concede that Daphne was correct in one sense, he was intimidating. The man was tall and broad, reminding Harry of what the professional beaters he had seen at the Quidditch World Cup looked like. He had short dark hair that was beginning to gray but that did little to detract from his overall youthful appearance. He was not smiling, but the look in his eyes showed that he was enjoying the tenseness of the situation. His wife, Penelope Greengrass, stood beside him. With her flowing blonde hair and and bright blue eyes Harry thought she looked much like an older version of Daphne. Unlike her husband, she was smiling towards Harry and Sirius.
"Sirius, a pleasure to see you again." Daniel Greengrass said as he stepped forward to shake Sirius' hand. "I was delighted when I heard you weren't actually a raving psychopath."
"Ha! In the eye's of the law I'm perfectly sane." Sirius answered with a grin. "It's a different story to those who know me, of course."
"Indeed." Daniel replied. "Harry, welcome to our home. We've heard a lot about you."
"Thank you, Mr Greengrass." Harry said uncertainly.
"Why don't we all sit down for a bit." Daniel suggested. "We can all get to know each other." Harry and Sirius nodded and they all took their places on the couch. Harry had Sirius on one side and Daphne on the other and felt somewhat comfortable in the situation. Astoria, meanwhile, was having a hard time suppressing her laughter.
"So, Harry, how has your summer been so far?" Daphne's mother asked, trying to start the conversation.
"Oh, well a lot better recently." Harry answered. "I moved in with Sirius. It's great." Penelope Greengrass smiled at his answer but did not ask anything else.
"Well Daniel, I suppose we both know why we're here." Sirius said suddenly, surprising Harry. "I am the boy's godfather and legal guardian after all, so we should be able to handle this quite easily."
"Sirius, what are you talking about?" Harry asked.
"Excellent!" Daniel replied. "I am sure we agree in principle to the major issues, now it's just the details to work out."
"Father, what's going on?" Daphne asked with a concerned look on her face.
"Nothing for you to worry about, dear." Daniel answered. "Mr Black and I were just going to hammer out the details on your marriage contract. We'll be done in time for lunch, I assure you."
"He's right." Sirius agreed. "We aren't going to request anything out of the ordinary after all. The Potters are an old and respected family, plus with your relationship with Harry your father and I thought you'd both be thrilled by the idea."
"Now wait a second!" Harry said loudly. "Daphne and I aren't going to… what I mean is not now obviously… not that we're planning anything! But we're just fifteen! Sirius, do something!" Sirius was able to keep a straight face for about five seconds before he finally burst into laughter which soon spread to the rest of the room, minus Harry and Daphne. Harry looked around in confusion for a moment before realizing the whole thing had been one big prank.
"The look on your faces was priceless!" Sirius laughed. "You did excellent in your part by the way, Daniel."
"I see you still like a good prank, eh Sirius?" Daniel said between chuckles. "Just like I remembered."
"How dare you!" Daphne yelled, although she knew she would have thought it was funny if it had happened to someone else. "That was not a nice prank."
"Oh dear, don't be angry." Penelope said. "You know as well as I do that our family hasn't used a marriage contract in over two hundred years. Why would we ever start that foolish tradition again now?" Daphne's jaw dropped open as she realized that her mother was right and she should have recognized the deception. Still angry regardless, she sat back on the couch and glared at her father and Sirius. Harry held her hand but said nothing, knowing that it would be stupid to get in the way of an angry Daphne.
"I'll get you back for that one Sirius." Harry promised.
"I know you'll try, pup." Sirius replied, still laughing.
"Lunch is ready." Penelope announced. "Let's move the party into the dining room, shall we?" Everyone stood and followed her through the house and into the dining room were an elaborate meal had been laid out. As they ate everyone seemed to grow much more comfortable around each other and soon Harry and Daphne had forgotten about the prank that had been played on them. Harry quickly found that he liked the Greengrass family. They talked and laughed and genuinely loved each other in a way that he had never seen the Dursley's act and Harry realized that it was the way a family should be. His fears about Daphne's parents disliking him were erased they continued to chat during the meal. The Greengrass's, meanwhile, weren't sure what to expect from their daughter's boyfriend. Although they did not trust anything that had been written about him in the press they still hoped that Daphne had chosen a young man worthy of her. Despite their high standards they were pleased with Harry's kindness and the obvious affection he showed towards Daphne. A smile and a nod between the parents let them each know that the other would not object to the relationship.
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