A Nightmare in Heaven

Chapter 10

Draco was petrified. He hadn't gotten two steps into the room when Harry had asked him what was bothering him. He had thought that he'd hidden it better, but his anxiety over bringing it up to Harry must have shown on his face.

"Draco?" Harry was sitting on the window seat again, perched with a blanket and a schoolbook.

"Mother asked if you had anyone to teach you about managing your estate when you come of age." He was glad to hear that his voice didn't waiver.

"Uh...not really. But there's only one key to my vault at Gringotts and I don't really spend that much." If Draco hadn't been brought up with impeccable manners, his jaw would have dropped.

"Harry, you're a Potter. The Potter estate is one of the biggest estates known to wizards. You'll have properties and more vaults at Gringotts and likely business ventures collecting revenue from all over the place. Did you really have no idea?" Harry's face had drained of colour. Apparently he hadn't known any of that.

"No, I didn't know..."

"Mother said she'd be more than willing to help you learn how to manage it all. Father lacks the patience so she offered in his stead."

"Well...I'd better learn before diving headfirst without knowing how to swim."

The first thing Narcissa did was insist that Harry call her Narcissa. The second thing she did was insist that he learn about marriage contracts first.

When he pressed her for an answer on why he had to learn that one first, she simply mentioned that she knew her son well and that he'd probably explain properly later. While that didn't ease his nerves, he shrugged and they jumped right into the subject.

And how fascinating it was! Sure, marriage contracts seemed to be a bit cold and not very romantic but it made sense. At least both parties would be aware of what the other expected from their relationship in the long run; a bonus was the ability to simply decline should a contract offer come his way. Narcissa told him he was likely to receive many marriage contract proposals the day he turned seventeen and that number would only increase until he was actively participating in a contract.

He was looking forward to it just for the idea that people would stop swooning over him anytime he went out in public.

The only thing he couldn't figure out was why Draco hadn't mentioned any of this while they had been at Hogwarts. Deciding to voice his question, Narcissa gave him a smile.

"Draco and I hadn't gotten to discuss how marriage contracts might fit into his life prior to your winter break. He wanted a bit of time to explore his wants and desires before worrying about the technical part of it and I wasn't about to force it on him. His father wanted to, but Draco deserved a bit of time to figure out what he likes and I didn't want him to think of it as a business deal."

"But isn't it just that? A business deal?"

"Oh heavens, no! It used to be more like that, back before my generation but as time goes on purebloods have realized that love has to come first or the relationship will only result in many couples being completely miserable. That's why the courting period is there; to allow the two to get to know one another and without all the insane hormone rampages you teenagers get yourselves into." Harry blushed. He'd never really felt as sexually inclined as the other boys in his year were, but he refused to bring that up at the moment.

He did wonder why Draco never brought this up before; after all, they were sort of dating...weren't they? Draco had only kissed his head once, but they held hands and spent time together when they didn't need to.