บท 22: The grass is only green when you're here with me. Pt.7
22nd June 1993. Greengrass Manor.
Lord Peverell and his son appeared outside the gates of the ancestral Greengrass home.
Stefan watched from a window in the house as his granddaughter's suitor appeared with his father.
Cygnus got lost in his thoughts as he sat in the kitchen waiting for his visitor to arrive.
Daphne watched with apprehension from her bedroom with omnioculars trying to get a good view of their faces.
Lady Madeline Greengrass was waiting with her mother-in-law Lady Ophelia Greengrass in the parlour for fear that she would hex the boy who wanted to marry her daughter.
Ares waited five minutes before he lost his patience and was just about to blow the gates open and ruin the meeting before it had even started when a house elf appeared.
"Hello, Sirs, my's name is Rhys, and I will be taking youse to my Messrs. Follow me."
She opened the gates and transported them to the front door.
"Was it just me, or were you expecting more too?" Ares II said to his older self.
The only reply he received was a shrug, and then a smirk as a girl of eleven opened the door.
Ares senior spoke suddenly,
"You must be Astoria! It is a pleasure to meet you, My name is Mr Peverell, and this is my son Ares."
Astoria looked up at them with big eyes. For eleven years old, she was relatively small and would be described as cute or adorable, if anything.
"Hello, sir; my father is in the kitchen. I'll take you to him now." Her voice was high, although it displayed no nervousness or tremors.
They nodded at her and followed her into the manor stopping only for a second as the wards acknowledged them.
Daphne was sitting on the stairs and got a good view of them as they walked by, headed towards her father.
At first glance, Daphne was pleased to see that they both looked incredibly handsome and walked with a grace that most people she had met lacked.
She wanted to look into their eyes, as she believed the saying that eyes were the door to the soul.
Standing up, she followed them into the kitchen, anticipating what was to come.
When Cygnus watched his visitors walk in, he couldn't help but feel a shiver down his spine. He knew immediately that there was something off about them; they both radiated power, but the younger Peverell scared him more; no boy should have that much power, especially before his magical maturity.
Greeting them with a smile, he spoke,
"My Lord Peverell, Heir Peverell, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintances. I especially enjoyed your speech in the Wizengamoat yesterday."
Deliberately forgetting to mention that Lord Peverell's speech had stopped a bill his family had been pushing for.
He spotted Daphne slip into the room and sit behind the two men in the corner. He had already mentally acknowledged Lord Peverell's son as a wizard in his own right.
Ares Peverell Senior smiled as he felt Daphne's magical signature in the room, as did his younger self.
Sitting down, he looked across the table and observed Cygnus,
He couldn't help but think the man was a little disappointing for someone supposedly at the pinnacle of the Wizarding elite.
"Shall we begin? Please take a seat." the man mentioned above asked.
"Of course, but first, you must accept my apologies for yesterday. I needed to make an entrance and demonstrate I was someone to be taken seriously, and alas, your father's bill was rather troublesome for me," Ares spoke politely. Anyone unused to politics would have thought it was a genuine apology.
"Nothing to be said, completely understandable, now down to the point, why should I let your son marry my daughter?" The slightly older man waved it off and got straight to the point.
The Dark Lord grew a sudden, almost predatory smile and explained his argument,
"Your family has an interest in the mines in Cornwall, correct? But, unfortunately, those mines are starting to run dry of minerals. You also have a company specialising in trading and transporting magical goods worth around ten million Galleons."
Cygnus nodded, hiding his alarm at the other man's knowledge about their economic status.
"When your mines run dry, you will lose around five hundred thousand Galleons in infrastructure alone, not to mention a loss of goods to supply your company. However, I can offer you access to a massive supply of magical goods, animals and minerals, which would save your mining operations and double or even triple your profit." Ares declared with a satisfied smile on his face; he had found out that the black forest in Germany housed thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of magical plants and minerals such as moon silver and sun gold which were needed for any mid to high range ritual. He had bought up several hundred kilometres of the forest via Bloodclaw and had ordered the goblin to start work gathering and mining in the Schwarzwald as soon as possible.
He became somewhat alarmed when he saw that Cygnus didn't seem to have even been affected by the offer.
The other man looked him in the eyes. He said, "That's a great proposition, but alas, I will have to decline as we have already bought several mines in Alaska and North America in preparation for this eventuality. So we have no need for your help in that respect."
Ares was amazed. He was curious if the man was bluffing, but if he wasn't, then his spy network needed work. He could also see the man's pleasure in turning down his offer.
"Very well, I propose a political alliance. I'll pay for the honeymoon and pay you a bride price of two hundred thousand Galleons," Ares said, opening himself to bargaining.
Cygnus actually stopped to think this time, the idea of a political alliance giving him food for thought.
Daphne had been sitting in the corner for the past ten minutes watching her father dance around Lord Peverell, finding reasons to up the ante. She was amused; her father may not have been as good at politics, but he was an expert businessman and knew how to bargain.
Two hundred thousand galleons was a lot, but not in comparison to the ten million Galleon company she would be inheriting a part of, but the talk of magical goods did interest her.
Although she was still thirteen, what interested her the most was that Lord Peverell's son had merely watched on so far in silence.
It looked like he didn't know what to contribute, but if she followed his eyes closed, she could see him analysing her father.
Just as she was about to reveal herself and leave, as the chat had grown boring and it looked like she wouldn't be getting married, Ares II opened his mouth.
Ares watched his older self have a verbal battle with Mr Greengrass,
And then he realised something, Cygnus would never give his daughter away, but Stefan Greengrass might, not because he loved Daphne less but because he would see it as a necessary protection.
Smiling, Ares spoke out,
"Would you please excuse me? I would like to go use your facilities."
He could sense the disappointment on Daphne's face as he was given permission and headed to the loo.
Once there, he took out the time turner and turned it twice.
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