MetaFic

17 Nov 1981

“It's not as easy as that, Petunia,” Severus said, his headache growing no less now that he was back in the house of such an impoverished mind. “And if you do not lower your volume, you will wake the children and I will all too happily depart.”

Petunia sighed, obviously put upon and not bothering to hide her distaste. “That boy must be out of here! Things are already turning strange. Vernon has been getting suspicious, and if he finds out . . .”

Severus was unimpressed with her implied threat. What did she know of violence, of hate, of pain? Turning his attention back to the picture on the mantle, he focused on the frozen moment that showed the two elder Evans and the two younger Evans in their early teens. For the sake of Lily's memory, he forced himself to put up with the inanities of her poor choices in life. “I do not like repeating myself, so listen closely. The Potters used to have greater power and wealth than their recent status allowed. In a fit of altruism, they appear to have released most formal bonds over the centuries. They have exactly one family still bound as a vassal, the O'Flaherty clan, for reasons I cannot find. Aoife O'Flaherty married a Muggle, Darius Finnegan, and that is all that remains of their vassal’s line.”

Petunia huffed, but he could hear her writing it down regardless. “Will this plan work if they are part Muggle? Wouldn't they object to this?”

Severus sighed and rubbed absently at his temples. Talking to the woman was worse than moving through the celebrations in Diagon Alley. A few moments to gaze upon the old picture were insufficient payment for the situation. “The boy's growing fame, which I explained earlier, assures their interest. Moreover, their ancestry shows several uses of Fosterage, so they will be familiar with the necessities and requirements.”

“All right, then,” Petunia sighed. “So why is it that the, mmm, Finnegans won't do? Why this other bit?”

“As you are unwilling to provide cattle to go with the boy into Fosterage, then there must be some other form of compensatory exchange.” This was one thing Severus could not even begin to imagine he was going to have to do. He hated the very idea of it, but at least there was some faint hope that everything 'Potter' would be thoroughly stamped out by what was coming. He turned to examine the look of disgust on Petunia's features. “You must purchase their cooperation and their silence in this matter.”

“Purchase?” She was nearly purple with anger. “It's going to cost us money to be rid of the boy?”

Severus let her anger grow in silence. She was transparent and petty, the sour mash perfectly depicted by Lily's words years ago. When he felt she was ready to explode into pointless ranting, he cut her off with a word. “No.”

Left with her mouth agape and one finger pointed like a knife toward Severus' heart, any argument from her was ripped out and left stillborn. “No? Then how . . . you said we couldn't use his money for anything!”

Grunting at the limited capacity for thought which Petunia was determined to demonstrate, Severus went back to his silent contemplation of the photograph. “As soon as anyone touches the Potter money, Dumbledore will be here to inquire about it. Is that what you wish?”

Her could hear her hiss of hate clearly. “No, of course not. I want rid of the boy, not more interference.”

Severus had to admit that he wanted to be rid of the boy as well. Let someone else raise the child in excess, spoiling his every whim. Severus wanted nothing to do with the situation, though he grudgingly admitted that removing the boy from this house was probably worth the bile required to make it happen.  His recent interactions with Petunia had made it increasingly clear that the boy – if left with the woman – would not simply be raised under strict supervision.  Rather, Severus believed that if the boy were left with the Dursleys, he would be at risk of emotional or physical abuse at the very least.  Based on the woman’s ongoing demeanour, Severus was becoming ever more convinced that such an outcome was a certainty rather than a risk.

“The answer, then, lies in extracting payment from another party,” he replied, keeping his thoughts hidden. “This is why the arranged marriage contract is required first with one of the candidate families I have identified. The bride's family will become the proxy-guardians of the boy, and they will see to the Fosterage fee at no cost to you. They will instead keep the Fosterage returns for themselves, and their obligations to the boy will ensure their silence in matters.  I recommend that the Fosterage end as soon as both children have turned eleven, though that is up to the bride’s family to decide.”

“Really, is this necessary? Why not just marry him off and let them raise him?”

Severus turned and stared at Petunia. Was the woman so lacking in education that she had to ask such questions? Was his purpose in life solely to be tortured by the Evans family? “The bride must have minimal contact, if any, with the groom until both are beyond the age of six. Otherwise, the imprinting of the mind will render them incapable of being attracted to each other as mates.”

Petunia waved one hand about airily. “I couldn't care less if they have an unhappy and unfaithful marriage.”

“You ignorant child,” Severus hissed at her. “The magical marriage contract will be voided if they imprint on each other, and it will backlash into your contract! Such a fallout would at best kill everyone involved, including you.”

“What?” Petunia appeared to finally understand that she was playing with a force that did not care about whimsy. “Why?”

To be fair, this was one question she should not be expected to know the answer to. That did not, however, excuse the other five thousand breaths he had wasted on her ignorance. “The binding contract Dumbledore placed on you is based on intent, Petunia. You are doing everything you can to weaken than intent, but the key is that the boy must think of only this house as ‘home’ until he is of age.  That requires the others involved to thoroughly understand the situation and to intend for him to be their guests.  Otherwise the entire arrangement will collapse.  What do you think years of built up magical power, in the protections on you and the boy, will do when that all of that intent is maliciously broken?”

After the silence stretched out, Severus withdrew from his robes two scrolls of parchment. “I have prepared for you the exact contracts you must use with appropriate blanks for you to fill as required. First, arrange the marriage. Second, secure the Fosterage with the bride's family assisting you.”

Severus then extracted and handed over a third scroll. “This is the list of candidate bride families. You have four choices.

“First, the Bones family. The current elders owe the Potters a life debt. He will grow up with political power and in financial comfort.

“Second, the Patil family. They have unpaid debts to the grandparents of the boy. He will grow up in comfort, if not wealth, yet have no measurable influence beyond his fame.

“Third, the Brocklehurst family. They actually owe me a profound debt, and they will honor this request if you choose them. The boy would grow up worshiped, most likely, but otherwise fine.

“And finally, the Weasley family. They have a failed obligation to Lily, and they already asked to raise the child, but Dumbledore declined. The boy would grow up in poverty, but fed.

“The choice is yours, Petunia. All of the contact information is there. I have done all that I can, and it is in our best interests that we never speak of this.” Thankful to finally be done with the business, Severus stretched slowly, his fingers brushing over the old photograph on the mantel. So many small choices on his part had led to such a huge outcome. His dreams were long since shattered, the pieces burned, and now all he had were ashes. “I expect I shall not see you again.”

Without waiting for a response, Severus turned on the spot and Apparated away.