25 Chapter - 25 : Schemes Part -2

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The girl gave a deliberately casual shrug. "Not to mention the fact that it will cause my poor cousin Draco no end of trouble when his status as a pureblood is gone."

"Really? How would that go away?" Of course, Voldemort had been a wee bit obsessed about blood power and purebloods, so Harry knew quite a bit about their culture - more than most of them did, to be honest, but couldn't think of a way to lose pureblood status completely without being named a blood traitor (something he couldn't imagine Draco would ever be in danger of) or having one's impure ancestry revealed.

Everybody was concealing a bit of shameful past somewhere, even if it was only cousins cast out for marrying muggleborns.

Luna fidgeted, misinterpreting his question as ignorance. "Well... Harry, the first thing you have to know is that there are different levels of pureblood. Status is based on a combination of money and how long you can trace your magical line. The Potter family for example is about the middle of both, while the Weasley family has a long line but no money, and the Lovegoods are on the short end of each, respectable but not significant, just another junior pureblood family."

Ah, it was it was just loss of status, not heredity. That resolved his confusion. Someone taking a tumble down the social ladder occurred regularly. "What about the Malfoy family?"

"High on money but it's a relatively new family," Luna replied. "Which is why Lucius married Narcissa, the Black family has no money but the Ancient in their motto is not just for show like the Noble is. Lucky thing really, if it weren't for that then we wouldn't be able to go through with this plan."

"What do you mean?"

"The marriage of Lucius Malfoy to Narcissa Black sealed the alliance between the families," Luna explained. "Breaking the alliance would cause some... bad things to happen, very bad things. You can, or I should say that you'd be able as Head of House Black, to dissolve Narcissa and Lucius's marriage. You would then have to arrange a new marriage between a member of House Black and House Malfoy."

"What?"

"You could marry me... or have Sirius do it I suppose," Luna mused. "If we do things correctly then Draco will be frozen out and the only person able to fulfill the agreement on the Malfoy side is me. The only ones on the other side are yourself and Sirius... unless Nymphadora can transform all the way, I'm not sure if that would work but it's a possibility."

"We have to get married?" Harry lofted an eyebrow.

"I have to get married," Luna corrected. "You have a bit of wiggle room, I'd prefer it to be you, but..."

"I need to think about this," Harry said with a shudder. "I can't just... I need to think about this."

"I understand Harry," Luna sighed in disappointment. "But please agree, even if you don't want me yourself, please agree to this."

"Why is this so important to you?"

"Because by and large, Malfoys don't die in accidents."

"I don't... your mother?"

"Was a threat," Luna agreed. "And so were you and so am I."

"Me?"

"Sirius named you his heir about a week after you were born," Luna said calmly. "Lucius lost the court case to have his son named heir to the Black family the week before my mother died... as chance would have it, he also stopped petitioning to have Sirius given the kiss the same week."

"You're saying he's responsible for Sirius being put in Azkaban?" Harry asked intently. "And for the death of your mum?"

"I'm saying that members of the Malfoy family don't tend to die in accidents," Luna said firmly. "And that that was a particularly convenient week for my dear Uncle. I'm not saying any more then that, I will say however that it was what convinced the Hat to put me in Ravenclaw."

"Why?"

"Slytherin Luna is a threat, but not a large one. With Snape in control of the house she won't be difficult to break or dispose of," Luna spoke in an odd tone. "Gryffindor Luna is just as bad, courageous but also a black mark on the Malfoy name, she'll have to come to some misfortune. Hufflepuff Luna is also bad, but since she never really had friends it wasn't much of a possibility. Ravenclaw Luna on the other hand... she's not as bad as the other three but she'll have to work to convince the world that she's harmless, not too hard mind you, Ravenclaws have no common sense and wouldn't look under the surface of something if they didn't have to."

"So that's why you're always doing odd things," Harry said.

"Loony Lovegood isn't a threat," Luna explained with a shrug. "And no one takes her seriously, you'd be surprised what people will say around you when they think you won't understand what they say. Much the same way that innocent and good Harry gets overlooked, no one questions it."

Harry was nodding. "But then I had to go and put my finger in by placing you under the aegis of my personal protection."

The sharing of the cup was very old, hearkening to the earliest times when a visitor was offered water to ease a parched throat. His formal gesture of friendship to her told the rest of the Ravens in no uncertain terms that Luna was under Harry's protection. That he used Hufflepuff's cup while carrying Gryffindor's sword and wearing Rowena's diadem only helped to impress the pants off of everyone there, reinforcing the image of him being able to carry through on that protection.

It also took her out of obscurity and bumped her up several levels on the threat category of people like Lucius Malfoy, who she'd previously been very successfully avoiding. He had, in effect, very thoroughly stripped away that defense by offering her his protection.

Okay, so that was it. He had volunteered himself as her protector, and here she was asking for his, rather proactive, protection against her family. It was time he owned up.

Other plans would have to be abandoned. But, he HAD offered...

"I'm in," Harry said suddenly. He smiled, it wasn't a nice smile, it was the smile of a boy who'd spent ten years living in a cupboard and working as a slave. "I presume you have a plan... wife?"

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