Riddle and the Ancient Contract

Chapter 23: Alliances

Hari set her quill down and pressed the thumb of her left hand into the palm of her right massaging the aching muscle. She leaned her head back and shut her eyes with a soft sigh.

Politics. She hated them. She hated having to be tactful and stroking egos of arseholes. Luckily, most of the men she was corresponding with today weren't arses. Arrogant at times, yes. Rightfully so.

Still.

Concessions and carefully worded sentences and paperwork. Ughh. It was her money, her land, her businesses why should she have to fill out a mountain of paperwork to use it.

She felt nimble fingers thread through her hair and sighed this time from contentment as her lord husband's aura swept over her easing the magical strain of buffering their child while training to defeat Dumbledore and take over Hogwarts. Worrying about who Bellatrix' plots had spread to wasn't helping.

"Are you okay?"

"Just tired. So very tired."

"Take a nap then."

"I want to finish this first." She waved at the correspondence on her desk.

"You can finish in the morning."

She nodded slightly in acquiescence.

"May I read them?"

"Of course."

Tom picked his delicate wife and settled in her chair snuggling her to his chest. Her arms slid up over his shoulders and she relaxed in contentment. He gathered the pile of letters that were responses to her initial letters to her family's allies.

Hari pressed her face into the crook of his neck inhaling his unique scent as Tom's warmth surrounded her. "I've reaffirmed the border peace with Lord Rathton. I explained the reason the ambiguity lingered so long was that I had not been aware of my title or properties and had to hunt down information on alliances and agreements."

Tom rifled through and found Rathton's response. He scanned it quickly then read it again more carefully. "I don't like his tone. He accepts the affirmation while insinuating that regardless of your circumstances you should have known when, in fact, he should have sought you out to reaffirm since he is a lesser noble than you. It is a subtle attempt to dominate because of his age and gender."

"Yeah," she mumbled sleepily. "I got that. Pissed me off a bit. You might want to read my reply before I have to send Adler and Moshner out to talk to him."

Tom snorted softly and shifted her in his lap to reach her reply. "I believe you have purloined those two from my service."

"They are both funny and vicious and seem to actually like and respect me."

"They do." Tom murmured absently as he read Hari's reply.

Lord Rathton,

While I do wish to keep the peace with my neighbors I find your reply to my politely word missive offensive. I was raised by muggles and kept purposely ignorant of magic and my inheritance by Albus Dumbledore and those allied with the Potter family for generations. Instead of finding fault with a child who gave the wizarding world a decade of peace at the cost of her own perhaps you should look to yourself and the wizarding society as a whole and ask why no one bothered to tell their 'beloved savior' about her heritage.

I do not like bullies. I will not tolerate them nor will I tolerate disrespect. Furthermore, I despise those who willfully take advantage of those they should honorably aid. If you wish to keep the peace betwixt our Families I suggest you not only keep to your side of the property border but also learn to keep your overbearing opinions to yourself.