Chapter 17: All Fun Till the Paperwork

Pansy noticed several things in those first few days of the new school year. For one thing, Harry had had a more noticeable growth spurt over the summer than she'd originally realized. He was now one of the taller boys in third year, as well as no longer being rail thin. No one would ever call him stocky, but he now had some muscle and flesh on him rather than the waif-like appearance of years past. She would have to remember and thank Dobby for taking such good care of him over the summer.

There were quite a few girls who had given Harry very appreciative glances as well. Because of his fame, there were bound to be plenty of girls who grew up with crushes on him. Many purebloods would have looked at him as a prospect just for access to his family's influence and wealth anyway. The fact that he was now no longer just a cute little boy but becoming a very handsome young man would draw so much more interest. A part of her was worried by this, as any other girl he could get involved with would cause her huge problems. She didn't think Harry would be interested in anyone else, but revealing that she was his girlfriend could cause huge problems. Hiding in plain sight as his servant was a rather rash plan, now that she realized. That last night with her parents had driven her to acting in a way that might not have been the best idea. But for the most part, she was very happy with the results. Sleeping in Harry's arms had quickly become one of her favorite things. She remembered when he had teased her about being a romantic at the end of last year, but Harry was more right than he had known. That hidden part of her, buried for so long, she was now starting to let free.

She would soon have an even bigger advantage over any other girls anyway. She had been more than a little disappointed with her body's bad timing, but she was then very pleasantly surprised by Harry's decision to wait for any physical pleasure until they would both be able to enjoy it. When he did things like that, it was all that much easier to feel just like a girl in love. Her plans for keeping him pleased sounded even more fun now. She was resolved that he would never have any need of other girls, not with what she'd be doing to him.

Strangely enough, she also realized that Harry didn't seem to notice any of the looks various girls were giving him. At first, she might have thought that he was just a typically clueless guy. After what she'd learned of his childhood though, she decided it was much more likely that he'd been so badly mistreated that he didn't truly understand that he deserved love as much as anyone else, or more so even. Pansy herself had been taught that she deserved whatever she could get by the means available to her. Harry had been raised to believe that he deserved nothing. He was her Lord now and this absolutely infuriated her. She felt more like a Gryffindor than she would have ever thought possible. For the first day after he had confided in her, all she could think of was slowly torturing those muggles to death. Her self-control was badly drained till that night when Harry told her to relax. And then helped her to relax with his wonderful hands massaging all the stress and tension out of her neck and shoulders.

Harry's behavior had changed only a bit since the night of his confession all about what she refused to call a childhood. There were a couple of times when he looked at her briefly with worry, always looking away quickly if she noticed. It tore at her heart to think of how long he had suffered and that even now a part of him seemed to fear that she would reject him. That Dumbledore had caused this by leaving him with those muggle scum made her want to rip the old bastard's beard off and claw his damn twinkling eyes out.

Finally, she also noticed how much time Harry was spending with her, even to the detriment of his other friends. They had only spent about an hour in the Gryffindor common room, and the weasel was still clearly not happy with her presence. Granger was so focused on her work that she didn't bother Pansy for once. The squib made a minor appearance and she was disappointed that Harry wasted time speaking to him. Little Ginny Weasley was the most annoying one though. She watched him like a hawk. A disappointed hawk. She clearly wanted to gain Harry's attention, and Pansy could tell that thoughts of repaying the little redhead's own life debt off were spinning in her head.

The quidditch team, on the other hand, was fairly inoffensive. They were all polite enough but not overly friendly. The three female chasers had all clearly classified Harry as the team's little brother and had no obvious designs on him, which was surprising in a way, especially as Bell was only a year older than him. The captain Wood was way, way too obsessed with the sport and was already starting to talk about scheduling practice. She briefly thought about just how much time she might be willing to spend at the quidditch pitch. Watching Harry would be a lot more fun this year, but if the maniac keeper was serious about the amount of training he wanted to do, she thought she might have to develop a new hobby.

The Weasley twins were a lot more welcoming than she expected. Harry had told her how much they had supported him in the past, but she still needed a bit of time to get over what had occurred last May. They did seem truly apologetic at least. Subconsciously, she might have been a bit more willing to forgive them since their actions had led to her relationship with Harry.

Of the rest of Gryffindor, she thought she might be able to get along with Patil at least a bit. She certainly wasn't any worse than the girls she'd left behind in the dungeons. The other boys were mostly forgettable, although if that damn Creevey kid got his camera out again, she was going to hex him into next week.

Late Saturday morning, Sam McKenzie arrived and joined them in Harry's personal quarters. Today was one of the reasons that private quarters were available to someone in Harry's situation. Pansy eyed him a bit nervously at first but he quickly put her at ease.

"I guess we won't be needing that betrothal contract I wrote up after all," he said with a laugh after Harry introduced her to him. "You, Lord Potter, are quite the interesting client. We'll have a couple of things to quickly work out after lunch with the staff but I don't foresee any difficulties. We do have a separate issue to deal with that requires the headmaster. Hopefully everything shall be well in hand by the time the afternoon is over.

"In what I hope is good news, the Harry Potter books are a thing of the past. The defendants are willing to settle out of court, assuming this figure will work for you." He handed Harry a piece of paper that she could not see. She noticed that he didn't seem too fazed by whatever the amount must have been.

"How much more do you think could be won if it went to trial?" he asked.

"At most, I could see winning twice that much if everything went just right. However, with this settlement would also come a very public statement of apology which I thought would mean even more to you. I have a draft written up for you to look over." The older man pulled out a parchment that he handed over for Harry to read.

He spent a few minutes on it then handed it to Pansy. "Tell me what you think of that."

"This meets my approval, my Lord," Pansy answered after reading it through. The authors and publishers all agreed to be very contrite and she knew that the lies the books represented mattered more to Harry than the money. She, on the other hand, might have wanted him to pursue more money anyway.

"The good thing about settling in this case would be that this should make the other lawsuits that much quicker to resolve. The quidditch jersey sales, for example, are looking like they might give you a higher rate than even the biggest professional stars. The fact that they started selling without permission and while you were still a minor really has them over the barrel. Since you are even now famous as the youngest player to make a Hogwarts team in a century, they really want to keep selling and this has a potential for years of easy income."

"And me being a big quidditch buff, you knew that I'd probably be willing to make a deal with them."

"Exactly. I've prioritized as per your instructions. Additionally, there are a few things that either already have or soon likely will be making less money off of you. For example, as you are now getting older and no longer are such a fairy tale character, there are fewer little girls buying Harry Potter dolls. A decade ago, they sold like crazy. A decade from now, its likely they will be little more than a memory.

"Beyond issues like that though, a strong but fair stance now will make any future business dealings that much smoother to negotiate. Mostly likely, they'll also make you a lot more money in the long run as well."

"Fair enough, Sam." Harry thought for a moment. "Make sure that the statement won't be buried in the press and I'll accept this bargain. Get me a figure on the quidditch jerseys, I'm inclined to agree to that proposal as well.

"On another matter, I wish to slightly revise our relationship. I want you to be the solicitor for House Potter instead of me personally."

"Legally, there is no difference right now."

"True, but from what I've read, this would mean that attorney-client privilege would extend to all of House Potter," Harry said as he looked over at Pansy. "Even as a servant of House Potter having few rights, this would help protect her."

"I can easily agree to that. Is there anything I can do for you, miss?"

"Other than what we should be dealing with today, no. I may write you in the future if I need anything."

"It will most likely be the same owl anyway, Sam. I just want to make sure that you will take care of anything for Pansy too."

"Not a problem, Harry." Sam and Harry shook hands, then the lawyer reached back for his briefcase. "Vogruk asked me to deliver this to you. Once we get the mail issue resolved, this shouldn't be a problem, but he wanted you to have that as soon as possible."

"I'll have to thank him later for this." Harry set the envelope aside. "It's almost time for lunch."

"Yes, I'll meet back up with you at 1 PM. We should have just a few things to sign with Professor McGonagall then we'll be off to see the wizard."

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," Harry said with a laugh that Pansy did not share. He looked at her and explained, "It's from a famous muggle story that I'll show you some time."

Lunch passed quickly. Harry's friends, especially Ron, were annoyed that he would likely be unavailable for at least part of the afternoon. They were hoping to enjoy the weather outside with him. He just said that it was all part of the business of being the head of House Potter. "Being an adult sounds fun until you have to do the paperwork, " he told them with a chuckle. He did say he would try to meet them later if possible but he didn't know how long things would take.

Before long, Harry and Pansy were outside McGonagall's office as Sam joined them. The stern professor invited them inside.

"Professor McGonagall, I'd like to introduce you to Sam McKenzie, solicitor for House Potter."

"Mr. McKenzie, a pleasure. I have a couple of forms for your client to sign that I assume you'll need to look over." She slid a few pieces of parchment over to Sam and turned to Harry. "In short, Lord Potter, there is a form for you to sign that you understand the responsibility you have for your servant while at Hogwarts. There is also a Hogsmeade permission form as well. Since she is officially no longer miss Parkinson, her old form is no longer valid. As well, there is a form that will now send all school materials related to her to you.

"Finally, there is the form dealing with her tuition. This term has been paid for when she was still miss Parkinson, but next term and future years will be your responsibility to bear. Unofficially, I should warn you that Lord Parkinson could try to contest the full payment for this term."

"That should not be a problem, professor," Sam stated. "I began a cursory investigation into that possibility and he would have a hard time winning such a case. Regardless, my client will deal with that if necessary.

"Everything looks in order," he said as he handed the forms over for Harry to sign. Harry took up the quill and began signing all the paperwork. He was thankful that the stack wasn't any larger than it was.

"Speaking of mail, by the way," Sam said as Harry finished up, "I trust our meeting with professor Dumbledore has been arranged?"

"I am to escort you to see him once this business is concluded."

"Excellent, professor," Sam answered as Pansy noticed that Harry was being rather quiet. She was pleased that he was letting his lawyer handle as much of this as possible. For one thing, it showed some wisdom in letting an expert deal with things that Harry did not have enough knowledge of, but she was also pleased that it made him look that much more important and powerful. A head of house should have someone skilled to deal with this sort of thing, and Sam had impressed her so far. She hoped that he continued to do so once they had to face off with the headmaster.

"Professor, I wanted to check on a couple of rules with you."

"Certainly."

"First of all, from my research, about any possible detention or punishment handed out to Pansy-"

"Anything of that sort would be dealt with by either the headmaster or myself. With the two of you technically being in different houses, taking things to two different heads is out of the question."

"And I would be allowed to oversee any such punishment."

"Yes, Lord Potter, although may I ask why you bring this up?"

"I just want to make sure that no one tries to take advantage of Pansy. Especially since professor Snape has a well known bias against me and has already tried to interfere in the affairs of House Potter."

The older woman had an unusually sour look after he said that. "I'm sure professor Snape was not intentionally interfering with-"

"Professor, if I may," Pansy interrupted. "Professor Snape tried to force me apart from my Lord. He then called my Lord an arrogant brat and took away 10 points for no discernible reason, unless you want to count stopping the professor from breaking the law. I can assure you from two previous years of Potions classes that he has always treated Lord Potter with a quite unreasonable amount of scorn and derision in a manner that is thoroughly unbecoming of a professor. His bias against all non-Slytherin students is well known, but his treatment of my Lord goes far beyond even that. If you were to look up the records of points that professor Snape has given, this would be quite clear. I still remember our very first class, in which the professor asked my Lord questions that no first year student had any way of knowing without having read several years ahead while also insulting him."

Harry was overjoyed at hearing her stand up for him, ripping into Snape. He was surprised that she still remembered Snape's atrocious behavior from that first lesson. All he had actually learned that day was a hatred for the class. Sam then joined this part of the conversation and Harry was briefly overwhelmed at the fact that he now had people on his side for once in his life.

"While there are inner school issues that you deal with as need be, any interference in House Potter's affairs, intentional or not, will be dealt with harshly. I realize there have not been many Lords at the school in recent times, but that does not excuse anyone from breaking the law. I will remind the headmaster of this once we speak to him."

McGonagall seemed taken aback by this, but soon recovered and led them upstairs to see Dumbledore.

Harry and Pansy were mostly quiet on the trip to the headmaster's office. Sam was reminiscing about his time at Hogwarts and chatting fairly pleasantly with McGonagall. The password to get the gargoyle to open up was another magical candy, and Harry briefly wondered if magical people got diabetes.

"Ah, welcome Minerva, Mr. McKenzie, Harry, miss Parkinson, please come in," Dumbledore greeted them.

"Professor Dumbledore, thank you for taking the time to meet us today," Sam answered, while Harry merely moved to take a seat. He noticed that Pansy looked a bit annoyed but she was remaining quiet. He knew she wished people would stop calling her Parkinson, but he figured that would be a very minor thing to quibble with Dumbledore over right now. He turned his head as his lawyer continued. "Hopefully, our business today shouldn't waste too much of your time. I believe Gringotts has already contacted you to lay the ground work, so to speak."

"Yes, of course, about the mail ward I had set up around young Harry years ago."

"Indeed, and I assume Lord Potter should have quite a bit of correspondence that he has never seen because of it. A dozen years of Gringotts statements, for one. Probably a fair amount of fan mail as well."

"Yes, I can have you taken to where it is in storage shortly. If I may make a suggestion, it might be best to have some sort of new wards put up, lest Harry begin receiving a large amount of daily post."

"We already have plans to take this into account."

"Well then, if I may," the headmaster said as he pulled out his wand. Sam and Harry both nodded in agreement. He then drew a complex pattern and canceled the ward. "Now, is there anything else I can do for you today Harry?"

Harry looked over to Sam with a nod who spoke up.

"There is one other matter Lord Potter wished to bring up. There has already been one attempt by your Potions Master to interfere in the affairs of House Potter by forcibly separating my client from his servant, which is illegal as I'm sure you know. I suggest you may wish to speak with him to make sure that no further issues occur as I would hate to have to charge one of your professors with a crime."

"I'm sure Severus merely made a mistake, but I will speak to him to avoid future problems."

"I strongly doubt it was a mistake," Sam said angrily. "Snape is well known as a bully who has been making a mockery of this school for more than a decade. Your lack of control of his behavior is also well known. Don't assume that people haven't noticed what that Death Eater has been doing under your supposed watch, headmaster. If you can't bring him under control, be sure that we will do so."

"I don't see the need for such hostility, Mr. McKenzie."

"Then you shouldn't allow such hostility to flourish in your school. Animosity has been rampant for years, largely because of the head of Slytherin's atrocious behavior, not to mention his abysmal lack of any teaching ability. There are plenty of people who have noticed the enormous drop in Potions NEWTS. St. Mungo's and the DMLE are both becoming more and more understaffed. I suggest that you get your boy in line, Dumbledore, before he ends up in Azkaban where he belongs."

"Professor Snape does not belong in Azkaban, and I resent such an accusation." The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes was replaced with anger for once, but Sam continued on.

"Then maybe he shouldn't be intentionally ruining the potions education of an entire generation. One could argue that the lack of skilled healers and aurors his behavior is creating is tantamount to treason." Dumbledore paled at that statement and Sam continued. "I doubt you would want me to make such an argument before the Wizengamot."

"We shall have to agree to disagree on this matter, but I will speak to him about avoiding future problems with Harry. Minerva, if you could, take them to the third floor of the north east wing. Former classroom 314. A house-elf will meet you there to unlock the room."

Sam and Harry gave their thanks a bit frostily while Pansy merely followed them out as McGonagall led the way once again down the many stairways and corridors of the school.

"I am a bit surprised by your conversation with the headmaster, Mr. McKenzie," she said as they walked.

"Professor McGonagall, certainly you've seen Snape's ridiculous bias. Why exactly do you think Slytherin had won the house cup for seven years in a row? Do you remember how many Potions NEWTs this school produced last year?"

"Not as many as I would have liked, certainly."

"Only four. Three of them were Slytherins. Stocking the aurors full of the children of Death Eaters is treason, and Dumbledore has been letting him get away with it for years. If the old man can't pull his head out of his ass, we're going to be at war again one of these days with the deck stacked against us. I've lived through two too many Dark Lords trying to destroy the world. You can be damn sure I'm going to do everything I can to make certain we don't have to a third war on our hands any time soon."

The transfiguration teacher pondered his lawyer's words the rest of the way to the third floor. Harry looked over at Pansy with a smile and a nod towards Sam. She grinned in return. Eventually they reached a door with a waiting house-elf, who opened it for them. Harry stood agape at the stacks and stacks of parchment stretching to the ceiling.

"Well, I guess Dobby will have something to keep him busy now."