Not So Secret

DISCLAIMER: That part of this world and those characters you’ve seen before belong to their Creator: JKR. The rest is mine - although I cannot quit my day job as I make no $$$

A/N: I was hoping to post this yesterday as I said I’d post a few in quick succession, and then I didn’t. I wrote the next two chapters and then thought they were too long, perhaps too repetative, and too dry for many readers. I spent weeks trying to rewrite them in a way that got rid of the too’s and was never satsified with any of the results and finally thought I liked the first way better and had fun doing it that way so the hell with it. It’s not like I’m getting paid for this or need to keep some editor happy. (Some of you might not like it, but you can always skip forward or skim…)

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN: NOT SO SECRET

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29 th 1993.

Sirius did not know what to think. It did make sense that the Muggles had some organization to protect and enforce the Treaty, but the idea that they knew so much was still disturbing. Could the Wizards have done the same? Part of him doubted it. Another part thought that maybe they had and were as secretive as this lot seemed to be. But if it was such a secret on this side of what they called the Treaty Line, why had they told him anything?

“None of this has anything to do with my son and whatever it is this man wants,” Commander Finch-Fletchley growled.

“Nigel,” the Earl said, “you’ve been read into this program. It does not yet follow that you understand it.”

“Must not be much of a secret if you tell every witch or wizard who wanders in about it,” the Commander countered.

“We don’t,” Sir John said calmly. “On those rare occasions when the odd and unexpected witch or wizard tripped our detectors, they were dealt with without revealing who it was precisely who was doing the dealing as it were. Most returned to their lives as clueless as the Muggles who stumble upon magic.”

“We have our own wizards who are as adept at memory alteration as the ones in the employ of the magical government,” Earl Denworth added more for Sirius’s benefit than his son’s. “We are judicious in revealing any information in regards to this office and, Nigel, do not think that just because you are my son and this meeting is ultimately about your son that we will leave your memories intact if we even think you may be a security risk.”

“Sorry,” the Commander said. “It’s just…”

“It was our assumption that Lord Black assumes that I know nothing about magic,” the Earl continued. “It is further our assumption that he would do some kind of impressive light show to convince us that it is real so that we might be inclined to listen. After all, magic was officially revealed to you, your son and Sarah, not to me. This meeting was structured as it has been to let him know that such theatrics are not necessary and, moreover, that it would not be appreciated. That was your plan, was it not Lord Black? Wave your wand and such?”

“Actually, I was going to turn into a dog,” Sirius said. “A professor at my school could turn into a cat and that was her convincing show for Muggle parents. I recall her once saying it beat any spell casting hands down for those who were reluctant to believe.”

“Ah yes,” Sir John nodded. “Your dossier does say you are an animagus.”

“Pretty common that?” Commander Finch-Fletchley asked. “I mean your Professor McGonagall was the one who visited us and she most certainly turned into a cat. That was hard to rationalize any other way except to accept the truth of her otherwise unbelievable assertion that she and my son were magical.”

“Not common at all,” Sirius replied relaxing just a little. “While in theory most of us could become such, the reality is it lacks practicality and it can be dangerous for us to attempt it.”

“Lacks practicality?”

“My best friend was one too. He was a stag. That form’s not much use unless you like being shot at by Muggle hunters. We can’t choose what form that transformation will take. It is what it is and in many cases it is of little use other than as an ice breaker at parties.”

“Or convincing us that magic is real,” the Commander added. “But what has any of this to do about my son and why did you seek my father?”

Sirius nodded and reached into his suit jacket in as non-threatening a manner as he could. He suspected that at least two of these men might suspect he was going for his wand, although that was actually up his left sleeve. He withdrew from the inside pocket a couple of documents. “It is our custom,” he said more to the Commander than the other two, “that matters of this nature be broached with the Head of a family. Again, our custom is such that the Head of Family is not necessarily the parent of a child.”

“It is somewhat similar to the old notion of Clans,” Sir John commented.

“That is my understanding,” Sirius agreed. “When I was a boy, my Grandfather was the Head of Family, not my father. Any decisions my father made regarding certain matters could be overruled by my Grandfather with no recourse. For example, had my father insisted I attend a certain school, his wishes were at the discretion of my Grandfather and if my Grandfather disagreed that was the end of it. Per custom, I will hand this to the Earl although I will also provide a copy to you as it is polite if not customary to do so.” With that he handed a document to the Earl and to the Commander.

The two men read the documents. The Earl was nonplused. “What is the meaning of this rubbish?” the Commander asked. “You knew about this I take it?” he added turning to the Earl.

“I’ll let Lord Black explain as I can assume he’s more conversant than I am,” the Earl replied. “But yes, Nigel, I knew and have known since not long after joining this office. Although I will admit it slipped my mind until now. And before you say something about keeping this from you and Sarah, what I know by virtue of my position here - anything I know - is subject to the State Secrets Act and until today you were not read in.”

The Commander snorted. “A hell of a way to run a ship, or a family for that matter!”

The Earl merely shrugged.

“Well?” the Commander asked Sirius.

“That document was issued by our Ministry of Magic the day my daughter was born,” Sirius said. “Ordinarily I would’ve been made aware of it not long thereafter but my living arrangements at the time were such that I was not able to receive any such posts.”

“It appears that he was incarcerated for political reasons seeing as he was never tried nor convicted of any crime,” Sir John said in case the Commander missed the significance.

“The distribution,” Sirius continued, “is to the parents of the named child and the Head of that child’s family, if different.”

“Why would it be different?” the Commander asked.

“In your world, you son is in the line of succession to an Earldom, is he not?”

“He is.”

“Then his Head of Family is the current Earl and no one else by our traditions. When my daughter was born, my Grandfather received this notification as he was then Earls and Baron and I was merely the heir apparent. Had I not been incommunicado, I would have also received such notification. My wife did in my absence.”

“And her Head of Family?” the Commander asked.

“There was not a legacy at stake from her side,” Sirius said. “As she was not due an estate from her parents or such, there was no Head of Family above her to notify. Don’t ask me to explain the basis for the rules. They don’t make sense to me either and I’m not here to justify them, only to fulfill what I believe is my obligation in light of this notice.”

“Her parents were destitute?”

“Estate is more than a mere inheritance,” the Earl said. “In their world it’s not strictly monetary. Estate in this case means a right to accede to a hereditary seat in their government…”

“Or in the case of your grandson, sir,” Sirius continued, “the right to establish a new one following the first vacancy after your grandson passes his twenty-first birthday.”

“That requires explanation,” the Commander started.

“Does it really, Nigel?” the Earl asked rhetorically. “Assuming the absence of a further reform regarding our own House of Lords, you will gain a seat in that body when I pass on or when I step aside, will you not? Your son will likewise gain that seat in time.”

“I’m not counting on that,” the Commander snorted. “To be honest, I am also disinclined to enter the political fray.”

“Be that as it may, Nigel, for now whether or not you take your seat as Earl when or if the time comes, the seat is there. It is similar in their world and in their world there is no equivalent to House of Commons. Their House of Lords known as the Wizengamot is their government.”

“There are differences,” Sirius said. “Fifty-four seats are hereditary and there are others that are held by the equivalent of our Prime Minister and his cabinet and another number that are life tenures which cannot be passed down to their heirs. The hereditary seats must be filled and if the Holder, as we call the person entitled to the seat by law, if the Holder declines to do so personally he is required to appoint a proxy to fill the seat and exercise his votes. If a hereditary line dies out, it become vacant and that vacancy is filled with a new hereditary line by agreement of the rest of our hereditary membership unless there is an unseated member of an existing British Peerage available. By that I mean someone like your son: a hereditary Earl as designated by the Crown.”

“He’s not an Earl yet!” the Commander said.

“As you are Muggle and he is magical, for our purposes whether you are around or not, he becomes a de facto Earl upon his twenty-first birthday.”

The Commander looked at the Earl. The Earl nodded. “That has been the case throughout their history. Moreover, they do not lose their noble status simply because they displeased our sovereign at some point. Lord Black is a commoner on our side, but a member of the Peerage on his side and his Estates were bestowed by predecessors of the Crown.”

“The Earldoms predate the Normans,” Sirius agreed. “They were bestowed on my ancestors by Anglo-Saxon kings. The Barony was later. My family lost its noble status for a time following the Norman conquest as we were not Normans and as I understand it not particularly pleased that they had arrived. We regained it for later services to the Crown, although not our old estates on your side of things and lost it again during your Civil War. There are lines which have been magical for hundreds of years and are still members of your Peerage. My Godson, for example, holds five Estates although for now in name only for now as he’s too young to exercise them. One is Scottish and two are of Anglo-Saxon origin. The Scottish one was attainted when one of his ancestors sided with the Scots against the English King or a later English king did it ‘cause of that, I can’t remember which. Naturally, the Anglo-Saxon ones fell out with the Norman conquest. Yet all three are still recognized on our side as valid.”

“And the other two?” the Commander asked.

“Later services to the Crown which have not fallen into disfavor, although from your point of view only the most recent one is relevant. That was an Earldom bestowed by your Queen Victoria. However, from our standpoint any one of them makes his line a member of our Peerage and therefore allows him to have a seat on our assembly.”

“So he could hold five seats?”

“No. The number of seats is fixed and each must be held by a specific individual,” the Earl said. “Under our current system, elevation to the Peerage brings with it the right to sit in our House of Lords whether such right is exercised or not. Each separate Peer has that right. If a family has more than one title to it, it can increase its influence by dividing those titles amongst its members - within reason of course. Their system does not allow for that. Were Lord Black who has three recognized titles to have three sons, he could not split his titles to gain two more seats.”

“All it would do is give two of those lines a shot at a separate seat at some remote date in the future when an existing hereditary seat died off,” Sirius said. “Moreover, splitting my estate would weaken my political power without regard to the fact that two of my currently hypothetical sons could not be seated. Each of my titles comes with its own votes when we sit as a legislature: one vote merely for the seat, two votes because my line can be traced to the formation of the Wizengamot without regard to any other matters, three votes for my barony and seven votes each for the earldoms. Thus, I can cast twenty votes for or against a bill. Well, I could. Currently my seat is held by proxy although should I so indicate I can either take the seat myself or direct my proxy to vote in the manner I should wish. We call it tiered voting and yes there are those who feel it’s improper. But it’s been the way of things for a thousand years or more and it’s the way of things now. Were your son to receive a seat, he would bring with him eight votes regardless: one for the seat and seven for his earldom.”

“Makes no sense,” the Commander said.

“There are many who say the same thing about our own House of Lords,” the Earl said. “You have yourself on more than one occasion.”

The Commander shrugged. “And what does this have to do with my son?”

“It has nothing to do with that document,” Sirius conceded. “It is by custom that I discuss this matter with both you and the Earl, that’s all. It has potential relevance in that there are potential political ramifications. But that is merely a contingency at this time.”

“So what does this mean? What does it mean by my son sharing compatible magic with your daughter?”

“Right now, nothing but a possibility,” Sirius said. “You hold in your hand a notification required under our law which merely notifies you of certain magical facts. It is, without more, less important than a notification of birth. But that’s not to say it’s meaningless. What it means is that it is possible - possible but not necessarily probable - that sometime in the future a magical bond may form between the two.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It is considered the basis for the expression a marriage made in heaven,” Sir John said, “at least on the magical side of things.”

“So they're…”

“No!” Sirius cut the Commander off. “It is merely a possibility for now and it might never happen. It is a possibility because even if it could happen now - which I doubt - my daughter is too young. She’s eleven, if you must know.”

“So is my son I’d say seeing as he’s only thirteen!”

“For our purposes, he may well be old enough but it takes two to tango as it were,” the Earl chuckled.

“They could…? At thirteen…?”

“If you’re talking sex, which I am not, whether they can or cannot at what age is a biological question,” Sirius said. “Whether society considers it appropriate is a separate question often defined by law. Our law is rather complicated and archaic in that regard, but for now they cannot due to my daughter’s youth. Still, even on your side as recently as 1929 your son and my daughter would be but one year away from being able to marry on their own. Under our law, once she surpasses what we call her Bonding Age, they can consent to a… well to certain… only because he is close enough to her in age. But as I said, this is not about sex. A magical bond such as this cannot happen unless both parties have attained their bonding age. Moreover, it will not happen just because they’ve passed their bonding age even if they were to have sex. It requires more. It requires something deeper.”

“Love?”

“In a word, yes, although that is simplistic,” Sirius said. “My wife and I shared compatible magic from her birth. She’s about three years younger than I am and although we went to school together, the bond did not form while we attended. It formed in an afternoon when she was eighteen and I twenty-one and it happened the day we truly first met. Before then, I guess we were aware of each other but that was it and we hadn’t even seen each other even in passing - which was all it had been before - in the three years since I finished school. The authorities cite to examples of known individuals who shared compatible magic and knew each other as children who never bonded. It either happens or it does not.”

“So it’s possible they’ll never bond?”

“That’s correct,” Sirius said. “Moreover there’s little you or I can do to have things turn out one way or another. Families have put potential bondmates together and nothing happened. I’m aware of situations where they were together very young and then apart for years and bonded. Then there’s my case where my family - my parents actually - went out of their way to keep us apart and they did until we bumped into each other one day in Diagon Alley and bonded over lunch in all likelihood. It is entirely unpredictable.”

“So whatever this is, however ominous it sounds, it might never happen?” the Commander asked. “When could it happen?”

“It might not,” Sirius agreed. “The earliest it could happen is June 21st, 1995 which is the earliest my daughter could reach her bonding age. That would be a little after her thirteenth birthday. The latest could be their mid-twenties although it’s rare that it happens at all and even rarer at the extremes.”

“What causes it to happen?”

Sirius shrugged. “No one can say with absolute certainty. The best we can say is deep down both of them want it to happen. It’s subconscious. That much is fairly certain. My wife and I did not know about our bonding potential when we met that day and I was not truly intending anything when I asked her to lunch other than to have lunch with a pretty girl with a nice smile and to see where that led. Deep down, I had to have been open to far more than a dalliance or even a date. The same had to be the case with her even if neither of us was aware of it at the time and that state of being could never have happened if we disliked each other or were making purely selfish decisions. If deep down all that I could have wanted from her was a roll in the hay, the bond would never have formed. The potential, plus the right mind set by both plus some form of acknowledgement by both and the bond will begin to form. The acknowledgement could be as otherwise benign as a kiss. It takes more than that to complete the bond.”

“You mean sex?”

“If they are both at the appropriate stage of magical maturation, that would do it. But if either of them had not yet reached that stage, they could do that ‘til exhaustion and nothing would come of it in that regard.”

“You’re saying this bonding age and the state of maturation are not the same?”

Sirius nodded. “Figure three to four years' difference. For the three to four years after the youngest as reached bonding age, sexual intercourse will not complete the bond. Such bonds are potentially precarious because they cannot be fully formed with ease.”

“How so?” the Commander asked.

“Until the bond is fully formed, interfering with it is not a good idea. The couple cannot be separated for long periods of time or their magic will suffer as it tries to latch onto their bondmate’s magic - for simplicity sake and lack of a better term - and cannot. If separated like that, their magic will bleed away which leads to its total loss and often death for both partners. My wife and I were old enough that the bond could fully form through consummation, otherwise neither of us could’ve survived my incarceration.”

“So how…?”

“Six hours physical intimacy most days,” Sirius said. “It need not be every day although it’s easier just to let it be that way. Basically, so long as they share the same bed at night, their needs are met. Hypothetically speaking, if your son and my daughter began bonding before they were old enough to shag it home, they’d sleep together far more often than not from that day forward even if nothing else was going on. How long it takes the bond to fully form varies from couple to couple, or so I’ve been told.”

“And then they can go their own way?”

“I suppose, except they would not want to. Moreover our law sees them as married from the moment the bond begins to form and not from the moment it has formed.”

“Married? You said it could happen when you’re daughter’s thirteen!”

Sirius nodded. “It can happen that early. That’s not the same as saying it will or even that it will ever happen. But yes, once the bond begins to form they are married magically and can legally marry at any time after with or without parental involvement.”

“Your law allows that?” the Commander asked incredulous.

“Not generally. The formation of a magical bond is one of three exceptions to our age law. For the vast majority of us the age is sixteen and that’s only because the Muggle age for marriage in Scotland is sixteen and our side will recognize the validity of a marriage performed on your side.”

“So a young girl of thirteen could find herself married to a much older man?”

“Not by bonding through compatible magic,” Sirius replied. “Bonding couples are within about three years of each other age wise. A young girl could find herself married with parental consent if the man in question got her pregnant and consented to the marriage himself. That’s another exception although it’s practically impossible with our birth control magic and even without it was seldom ever used as grounds. We mentioned my ancestor earlier. He had children by scores of young women. He only had but one wife and that marriage was not as a result of pregnancy rather by prior arrangement. The other exception is also rare and not applicable in this discussion. I’m only aware of two marriages in the last few centuries that fell within that other exception and as I am aware of more than two bonds such as we’re discussing within the last twenty years, it’s fair to say the bond, as rare as it is, is more common than the other exceptions these days.”

“So what are you saying?”

“There is a chance that your son and my daughter will bond. I can’t tell you how much of a chance that is. It depends, I suppose, on what kind of people they are and whether they’re the kind of people they’d like to be with in the first place. That’s something I doubt they could tell us. I guess it would be they’d know it when they see it sort of things. But should they bond, they would be married from that point which could create issues if we were unaware of the possibility aside from the magical bleeding thing.”

“Such as?”

“Such as what if either of us had entered into a betrothal agreement on the behalf of our child with someone else?”

“Don’t be daft, man! That sort of thing went out with the Victorian Era!”

“It went out of favor well before you were born, Nigel,” the Earl said, “but more recently than the demise of Queen Victoria amongst our class. Lest you forget that my parent’s marriage was arranged for all intents and purposes. Their parents introduced them for that purpose and they agreed in short order ‘cause it was expected of them to enter into an agreeable marriage.”

“They could’ve said no.”

“But they did not and the prior generations had less choice than they did.”

“On our side,” Sirius said, “arrangements are still made even if they are not commonplace and the desires of the couple need not be taken into consideration. The couple does have a way out and that is to elope with another before they can be forced to marry although to do so is to give up whatever inheritance or such that they might expect. I was betrothed as a youth. Fortunately, my parents' choice of bride - whom I detested - went and got herself killed before I’d even reached an age where I could consider eloping with another assuming there was another who’d agree to that. My parents arranged the marriage in part to prevent my bond from happening as they considered my wife… undesirable. Then again, it was my mother’s opinion that mattered and her idea of acceptable often meant close, legitimate relations who had not lost their inheritances one way or another. Not that it would’ve mattered.”

“Oh?” the Commander asked.

“The Bond trumps any other arrangements,” Sirius said. “Had I married another and then began to bond with my bondmate, I would be married to her as well. The first wife could get out of it, but she could not prevent the second marriage and if she did not seek an annulment then I’d have two wives. I find it mildly amusing that my mother went to such lengths to see me married off for had I bonded after that marriage was made the family of my mother’s chosen bride could’ve ruined my parents and certainly would’ve destroyed whatever reputation my mother believed she had. Before you ask, we generally do not allow such relationships, but that would be an exception to the general rule which is valid on our side. Likewise, were my daughter to marry another and then bond…”

“She’d have two husbands,” the Commander said.

“Ah… no. In that case the first marriage is always invalidated. It’s not as obvious as to who the father of a child would be as compared to who the mother would be.”

The Earl snorted. “Marriage law is, after all, a definition of contract, property rights and inheritance. Were it not for that, a couple would be a couple just by saying so and not be one just by saying so and legitimacy or illegitimacy of issue would be much ado about nothing.”

“I hope you never said that to mother,” the Commander said.

“She said it to me,” the Earl laughed. “She said it ‘bout two years before we tied the knot. But that was only one part. She also said that in her heart she already saw herself as my wife and to her that was all that mattered. Then again, there was a war on, I was in the Army and I was heading off to do my bit for King and Country.”

The Commander nodded and then frowned. “So, my son may have no choice in this matter?”

“That’s not the way this works,” Sirius said. “What differentiates this is not that it takes away his free will or my daughter’s for that matter. They can’t bond unless they want such a thing to happen even if that desire is not a conscious thought at the time. I like to think that’s a good thing in a way because your conscious can get in the way of such things left to its own devices. If they don’t want it for any reason: they’re not ready for it, they don’t like the other person, whatever; then the bond cannot happen compatible magic notwithstanding. The magic bit is said to make it more likely, but only to the extent that it’s more likely than not at all. If deep down he doesn’t want it, it won’t happen. Deep down where it ultimately matters they both have to want it to happen before it can happen even if they’re not aware of that desire at all consciously.”

“So this might not happen at all?”

“I don’t think there’re any accurate studies that could tell us what the chances are, but there’s no reason to assume that it must happen nor is there reason to assume it can’t happen. We know only that it can, not that it will. If it happens however they will never come to regret it. That’s not to say they’ll always see eye to eye on everything, never have a disagreement or an argument. But it will never be a destructive relationship. My mother went out of her way (short of killing someone) to see to it I never bonded with my wife. Deep down I think it’s ‘cause she always regretted her marriage and didn’t want me to avoid the misery she believed was somehow a necessary part of things.”

“And your father?”

“Never had a thought that was not dictated by my mother, or so it seemed to me. Thankfully, I don’t have that kind of marriage. If the reason I have a mutually beneficial and supportive relationship with my wife is because of the bond, well having seen the alternative I’m not about to complain about any perceived magical alterations.”

“Would you have sought us out had my father not been an Earl?” the Commander asked after several moments of silence. “If we’d been on the dole, would we be talking?”

“If your father wasn’t an Earl, I would not have brought this to his attention. But I would still have sought you out. My original plan was to discuss this with the Earl as is our custom in such matters and then discussed this with you and your wife. I will still need to bring this to her attention due to the magic that was cast to protect this information.”

“I was unaware that discussing such things with Muggles was custom,” Sir John said.

“For many it would not be,” Sirius conceded. “But the law does not forbid it where the Muggles in question have a direct, familial interest in the matter such as here where the son is a wizard. There are those who would think such courtesies stop at what you call the Treaty Line and others who’ve been led to believe that. The truth is nothing but narrow-mindedness limits such things to just one side of the line. My best friend was heir to another Ancient and Noble House and his son was born with compatible magic with a Muggle Born witch. They made contact with that Muggle family before the son was two months old and about the time the girl turned one year of age.”

“And yet you waited,” the Commander observed.

“Nigel, he was incarcerated or a fugitive from their law until only recently,” the Earl said.

“He still had a wife…”

“No doubt the situation was not that simple.”

“It wasn’t,” Sirius said. “Until I was exonerated my Grandfather believed that the existence of my daughter must be kept secret from our world. I don’t disagree with his reasoning given the circumstances as there was an attempt on my life by a displeased claimant barely a week after I was exonerated. He’s now doing life in prison.”

“That would be the Malfoy matter,” Sir John said to the Earl although while looking at Sirius who nodded in confirmation.

“He was unaware of my daughter and only knew I claimed to have a wife. He believed his son was next in line - that was not the case - and tried to keep it that way. The information is still not known on our side and my guess is you only know it because of that dossier.”

“Fidelius Charm, is it?” Sir John asked.

Sirius nodded. Sir John then explained the charm to the Commander as it seemed the Earl was aware of it.

“It is a pity,” the Earl said, “that the Charm can’t hide pre-existing documentation. But for that minor weakness, it’s bloody useful.”

“Seems like more than a minor weakness to me,” the Commander said.

“I doubt anyone is looking for that information,” the Earl said.

“We weren’t,” Sir John nodded. “We pulled the dossier because Lord Black asked for a meeting and his existence is not protected. That Charm would mean even with the information in our files, we would see no need to check it. The Charm is not a perfect protection. But it seriously limits deliberate attempts at obtaining the secreted information. A person could find it only if they were not looking for it in the first place, as was the case with us as I did not pull his file to find that information. I would guess that the Charm is of recent casting. We obtained the information as to Lord Black’s marriage and daughter a few years ago. We would’ve failed to consider seeking such information if the charm was in place at that time.”

“Likewise,” Sirius said, “the fact of that notice is also under the Charm and I am its Secret Keeper.”

“I was aware of this before,” the Earl said.

“When was the last time you gave it a passing thought?” Sir John asked.

“Not recently. Perhaps around the time Justin started school but not since. There are, after all, six other magical schools in Britain not counting the one we have on our side so there was no reason to think it certain the two would be attending the same school. If they never met, the bond could never happen and the schools do not interact at all.”

“As it was not something that you dwelt upon, it was easy to cast the Charm,” Sir John said. “It is harder if you seek to hide information from someone else who knows, is focused upon such information and is not to be an intended recipient or retainer of the information. The fewer you’re hiding it from at the outset of the Charm, the easier it is to cast, you know. For you Commander, I would say that we in this office are known to use a variant of this Charm for Most Secret type information particularly when communicating with our agents in the field. Were it not for the inconvenience of the fact that to the vast majority of Her Majesty’s government we neither can nor do exist, it is fair to say this spell would have more broad applications. What I find of interest, Lord Denworth, is that Lord Black and others - I dare say a probable handful of others - have seen such utility. Our sources and files have suggested that for whatever reason our counterparts across the Treaty Line have failed to see such utility and have confined the use of that spell to safeguarding properties both on their side and a few on our side of the Line. It is an interesting development.”

“The idea came from… well, I don’t know who thought of it,” Sirius said. “The caster is a young Muggle Born who’s proven both adept and creative with the spell.”

“Muggle Born, you say?” Sir John asked. “It might be interesting one day to compare notes. But all this is an aside. Necessary from a security standpoint, but an aside. My original inquiry remains unanswered. Why are you discussing what may well be a remote contingency that being a potentiality of a bond and the attendant marriage between your daughter and the wizard son of a Muggle? You have stated that it may not happen at all. My understanding is it is exceptionally rare.”

“Less rare that we’re led to believe, I should think,” Sirius said. “Of the compatible magic bonds, I am aware of not less than five including my own. There may be others. There is a similar bond that occurs only amongst adolescents that is not particularly relevant here but is said to be rarer still, and yet I’m personally aware of three such bonds. Perhaps I just happen to know the right people, then again maybe it is not as rare as we’re led to believe. Such demographical concerns aside, I am here because of the potential of such a bond between my daughter and Justin Finch-Fletchley.”

“And yet your own statements suggest that as Head of an Ancient and Noble House you are negotiating, for lack of a better word, based upon such remote contingency with a Muggle family. Your statements suggest you would have done so in any event, even if the lad in questions was no more than the son of a dustman, but particularly in this event. I believe and explanation as to the particulars is in order.”

“My societal standing is a consideration and I’ll get to that,” Sirius said. “But first and foremost is my standing as her father. My wife and I have discussed this, in case you’re wondering. We know what we have as a couple and know the bond is a part of it. Why would we deny our daughter that chance? We can’t make it happen for her. But we can try to clear the obstacles, as it were. Neither of us will stand in the way of this and we would hope no one else will as well. But the positions of the two young people must also be taken into consideration for their contingent future could pose problems unless steps are taken in anticipation of it occurring even if it never does.”

“That is where I thought this has been leading,” Sir John nodded.

“Sir John?” the Commander asked.

“Lord Black, for now, has but one child. I know this is a personal question, but you and your wife are trying for more?”

“We are,” Sirius said. “Under the circumstances, it is a relevant question.”

“That being said, there are no guarantees. To avoid the sticky particulars, it would be necessary for Lord Black and his wife to have a son which not even magic can make certain.”

“Superstitions and old wives' tales to the contrary,” Sirius agreed.

“Then there is the sticky problem of the Earldom of Denworth,” Sir John added. “The Treaty of Separation and magical laws of inheritance make quite a mess in this situation were you to do nothing.”

“That requires an explanation,” the Commander said.

“Their laws of inheritance still follow a version of primogenitor,” Sir John said. “If we were to look at their law, unchanged from before the days of William I, we might say they were quite progressive at first but now might well be seen as regressive. But that’s another discussion. What it means to you today is that Lord Black needs a grandson by his daughter at the very least to continue his line. Assuming he has no other children, it must then be a grandson with no expectancy from his father’s side of the family. To do this, a family such as House Black would prefer to rely upon a long recognized form of prenuptial agreement, one by which Lord Black’s daughter’s bridegroom would necessarily abandon his rights as a son and husband for inheritance purposes. In effect, the bridegroom is adopted into the bride’s family.”

“I would say that is unacceptable,” the Earl said.

“It is not their only trick,” Sir John said. “But as you can imagine, there are few bridegrooms who would accept such terms unless they have nothing to abandon in the first place. Their other common scheme, more applicable in this instance, is a variation where the bridegroom is the bride’s consort husband - meaning he has no interests in her estates. But it also means their children have no interest in his.”

“That’s the same thing, isn’t it?” the Commander asked.

“Except that under their law, the bridegroom is allowed another wife to sire his own line to pass on his estates. As Lord Black said, their law allows such plural marriages under certain rare circumstances and Line Continuation is the most common.”

“It’s still rare enough,” Lord Black said. “There are currently two such arrangements in effect in our world involving four Ancient and Noble Houses. They are the only such arrangements in the last two centuries or more that I am aware of.”

“And your suggesting a third?” the Commander asked.

“He probably is,” Sir John said.

“Reluctantly,” Sirius added.

“But probably unnecessary,” Sir John continued. “We’re not talking about a union of magical estates, are we? We are talking about a union across the Treaty Line. I am aware of such a union. There was one long ago and because of the Treaty of Separation, it created an interesting exception to the magicals' rules of inheritance.”

“Okay, this I’m unaware of,” Sirius said.

“Commander, as you are unaware of these laws, I will explain,” Sir John said. “Essentially, the Treaty of Separation between the Crown of England and Wizengamot of Greater Britannia of 1207 states that what herein is the King’s shall henceforth be the King’s and that which is the Wizengamot’s shall so remain. The language is more verbose than that, but that is the gist of it. It dealt with property, taxes and law enforcement. The Crown cannot tax the wizards and the Wizengamot cannot tax the Crown’s subjects. Each is further tasked to prevent their citizens from infringing upon the other’s lands, properties and rights; hence this office. Whether intended or not at the time, the Treaty created an impediment to the transfer of estates and rights across the Line. What is Muggle remains Muggle and what is Magical remains Magical; something my ancestors knew all too well.”

Sirius nodded. “The King didn’t want his Muggle taxes running off to hide in our world and we most certainly didn’t want to pay his taxes.”

“King John was a right bastard about that,” Sir John nodded. “Then again, he was a right bastard about just about everything. It’s what pushed the Wizengamot to force the issue with England first. You should know, Commander, that on the magical side the British Isles have been under one government since around the time of the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons and by 1207 they’d grown tired and frustrated with the changing maps and polities of the various Muggle overlords. Persecution of their kind for being magical was all but nonexistent which is not to say there was not some zealot here or there who tried, only they truly lacked the means to really be a threat. But the magicals had accepted Muggle rule up to that point and it had grown far too complicated. Persecution for being on the wrong side of a physical line or simply for having a lot of money when the Muggle overlord found himself short of funds was more the normal state of affairs. It was either separate from Muggle rule or allow Muggle politics to divide their internal culture and economy.

“The effect if this treaty was to effectively strip Muggle Borns of their inheritance rights certainly when it came to transfer of land. Under the Treaty, Muggle land cannot become magical land by any means (short of conquest which has not happened) and vice versa. More recent monetary changes on the Muggle side limit the ability to transfer liquid capital either way. That change was when Muggle money ceased to be made from precious metals. However that complication was unrelated to the Treaty of Separation. It’s based upon a separate agreement with the Wizard’s Bank to prevent currency dissipation and speculation.”

“That needs clarification,” the Commander said.

“It is merely an aside.”

“Still…”

Sir John sighed. “You know magical money is entirely coinage. Two of their coins, the Galleon and Sickle are made from gold and silver respectively. The exchange rate between pounds and Galleons is regulated by the bank and is a close approximation of the relative purchasing power of the two currencies. Today a Galleon has the same purchasing power as not quite seven pounds on our side. However, a one galleon coin is worth far more as gold. Likewise a Sickle coin is worth more as silver than as its fractional share of a Galleon.”

“But I was able to Convert pounds to Galleons,” the Commander countered.

“Not a lot of them,” Sir John replied. “Most of that transaction was more modern in derivation. The Goblins estimate how many Pounds you are likely to spend in their economy and were you to try to exchange substantially more than their estimate, you would’ve been questioned and if they deemed the answers unsatisfactory they would not have allowed the exchange. They do not want more than the expected handful of coins leaving their circulation. A large conversion without an anticipated equally large transaction on their side of the line leaves to the conclusion that the conversion must be for the gold and silver as commodities and no other legitimate reason.

“But back to the point. Under Wizard’s version of primogenitor, they pass the bulk of the estate to the eldest son and with that all hereditary titles. Generally, if there is no son, the estate must be split between all surviving descendants and the titles are abandoned. This results in dissipation of the former estate and the loss of prestige and, more important here, the votes in their assembly tied to those titles. Line Continuation allows the estate and the titles to pass to a grandson or great-grandson through a daughter where otherwise this would not be possible.”

“At the cost of my boy’s own legacy.”

“At the cost of a magical legacy if your boy had one, which he does not. The impediment on your boy’s legacy is not their inheritance laws so much as the limits on transfer under the Treaty of Separation and Gringotts rules for preventing currency speculation. The problem is similar but not the same.”

“And you’re suggesting a way around the problem?”

“I’m sure Lord Black did not come here to tell you your son has lost his legacy by being born a wizard.”

“I did not,” Sirius said. “And he normally would not, although his situation would not be as fluid or whatever. The problem presented is how to protect my estate as well. He left out the bit where unless steps are taken, the wife loses her estates to her husband on marriage. Had I a son, this would be of little importance. But until I have one, I have to assume my daughter is next in line and because I have a daughter unless I have a son there are no other claimants while she is alive. Thus, if I take no steps and she marries and I die, the Black Estate ceases to exist and with it go the titles, votes and a thousand years or more of history. That, and upon her death the estate passes in equal parts to her children and other ‘close claimants’, although in her case there would be no close claimants if she dies after I do. Our rules of primogenitor only apply to a small number of recognized lines of which House Black currently is one. If your line is not recognized, there is no such rule.

“Basically, were my daughter to marry without some form of prearrangements and were she to remain my only child, House Black would cease to exist. Your son’s situation is even more precarious as unless there’s a prearrangement that creates an exception, the property of the Earldom and your estates cannot be passed to him or any other magical descendant.”

“The Concordant of Henry VII allows the prearrangements Lord Black mentioned. Before that, only an Act by the Wizengamot could allow a Muggle estate to pass into their world and even then it was limited to cash transfers,” Sir John said.

“And that Act anticipated liberal use of inducements to ‘encourage’ enough votes to pass,” Sirius said. “In other words you’d have to bribe the hell out of people to keep your estate.”

“And the Concordant avoids that distasteful practice,” Sir John said. “It was what kept my family comfortable when we crossed over and what allowed us to keep what was ours when we crossed back a couple generations later. Should the sitting Earls agree - which I assume is why Lord Black sought a meeting with the Earl - they can come to a prearrangement that would preserve both lines of inheritance.”

“That was my intent,” Sirius said. “I meant no disrespect to Commander Finch-Fletchley. But to preserve the Earldoms of Dentworth, Hangleton and Falthsome and Barony of Savoy; the arrangements must be between the title holders and not the heirs. Our children, Commander, can’t do this while we’re alive at all and my daughter can’t do it in any event as without more she is merely the Regent who holds the titles for her son should she have one. Regents don’t have this kind of authority.”

“You’re talking of arranging a marriage between my son and your daughter!” the Commander said. “I know it has happened in my family’s past, but the wife would skin me alive if I even thought of doing something like that these days.”

Sirius laughed. “Yes, a full on arranged marriage would do it, but there’s no reason to go that far. What I’m proposing is a conditional arrangement, one that does not bind the children in any way but should they marry has the effect of a pre-existing betrothal and ‘merger’ of the estates. Basically, nothing would happen or be expected unless they bond; although we could include an added bit where the estates merge per our will if they should marry each other under any other circumstances seeing as the bond itself is by no means a certainty.”

“That would work,” Sir John said.

“It would?” the Earl and Commander asked.

“Better idea than what I was thinking,” Sir John concluded. “It makes no promises right now and binds no one. But it protects both lines should the preconditions be met which cannot happen at all for either line as it now stands without such a prearrangement.”

“What would such a pre-arrangement mean?” the Commander asked.

“If the children marry of their own volition,” Sirius said, “and the bond is of their own volition, then your son would one day become Earl Denworth while my daughter would remain Regent of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. Their son would become both in time upon the passing of his parents. He would have to be savvy in both worlds as the Denworth estates would remain Muggle and the Black estates would remain magical - well for the most part but the details are not important. But he would pick up the extra earl votes for his seat in our Wizengamot regardless as to whether his father had attained a seat or not. The agreement does not do anything at all. It does not bind us or them at all, unless that happens.”

“How often is there this sort of arrangement?” the Commander asked.

“This would be the only one I’m aware of,” Sirius said.

“It’s rare but valid,” Sir John nodded. “My family has been the primary if not only beneficiary of the exception available under the Concordant. Then again, it is rare that magic has ever manifested itself within the Muggle nobility except where, as in the case of my family, they married a witch. Muggle Borns such as your son while common place on the magical side, are exceptionally rare on the Muggle side: perhaps one in three thousand Muggle couples could give birth to magical children and maybe even less. Not including the Royal Family, there are around 800 active hereditary peerages so statistically the likelihood of any one such family going magical is about one in every century or so. Actually, it’s less than that considering most peerages are since 1800. There’ve been but a handful which have and aside from my family, most went extinct because they failed to make the necessary arrangements. One can argue whether this was their fault or reluctance on the part of a magical family to assist; probably both.”

“I’m still not getting this,” the Commander said. “Perhaps I’m missing something?”

“The Treaty of Separation created legal and practical separation of magical and Muggle,” Sir John said. “You were thereafter either one or the other and not and never both. The Concordant created the ability to create a hybrid family which was both. By using that framework, Lord Black can get around several laws legally and can preserve House Black in the event there is no son. More importantly, the Concordant is the only certain way to preserve your son’s full legacy. Lord Black could preserve his House through a Line Continuation, effectively adopting the husband of his daughter before they married at the expense of that husband’s estate or with a proviso that would allow that husband another wife. But that does not help your son because he cannot take a second wife to preserve a Muggle estate. The Concordant does not allow him the second wife either. But it allows him to keep his estates while also allowing his wife to preserve her own. Admittedly, there are easier ways. But the wizards never thought that way for whatever reason. With this arrangement, during their lives your son would become Earl Denworth in time and be allowed to pass that along to his heir. Lord Black’s daughter would be Regent of the Ancient and Noble House of Black and would be able to pass that to a son and heir. No other arrangement successfully would achieve both. And it would have the added advantage that the Estate is governed by the sovereign of choice which, right now, would most likely be the magical one seeing as their taxes and inheritance laws are more advantageous for the preservation of estates over generations than ours.”

“And your family had a hand in it?”

“A hand? No. We were, however, the cause of the Concordant.”

“How?”

“That’s another story,” Sir John said.