They made it to the dining room, Harry hand in hand with Rabastan still, and before Lucius could say anything about them not being chaperoned, Draco walked in just behind them.
"Where have you been, Harry?" Narcissa asked, but Harry detected the hint in her voice, the slight distrust and then the glare she gave to Rabastan. Harry hid his smile as he realised that she was angry with Rabastan, not himself.
"In the library with Draco." Harry answered with a smile. "He insisted on having a turn at chaperoning Rabastan and me, so we accompanied him to the library so that he could do his homework while still keeping an eye on us." "And what were you two doing?" Lucius asked nonchalantly.
"I was reading an Arithmancy book aloud to Rabastan."
"He was." Draco confirmed as he sat down.
Harry ignored the looks of the older men and he sat himself next to Rabastan. He looked up as Lucius cleared his throat and looked pointedly to the chair on the opposite side of the table.
"Oh, come on! What am I possibly going to do at the table with you all sat here?" Harry said as he poured himself and Rabastan a drink.
Lucius sighed, but he was smiling. "What do you think, Xerxes?"
"Let the boys stay where they are. I'm not so old that I can't remember my own betrothal period and how frustrating it was."
Harry grinned happily at Xerxes as he handed Rabastan a glass of water (he and Rodolphus were strictly not allowed any alcohol at all) before he sat himself down next to his betrothed and took a sip of his own water. He would have preferred pumpkin juice, but he would do anything to support Rabastan, even if it meant drinking water at mealtimes with him to show solidarity.
The chatter around the table was light and Harry joined in happily before going back to giving his undivided attention to Rabastan, which seemed to bolster his confidence if his expression and progressive animation in their conversation was anything to go on. Not even Rhadamanthus' odd snide comments could penetrate their happy bubble as Harry took to feeding Rabastan fresh raspberries with his fingers for dessert.
"Must you do that?" Draco complained, bringing the attention of the table to them.
"What are you doing?" Lucius demanded. "Making sure that Rabastan gets his daily quota of fruit." Harry answered blithely.
Xerxes laughed, but he was the only one. Rodolphus just stared at them, Narcissa glared, Lucius looked very unimpressed and Rhadamanthus looked like he was barely restraining himself from leaping over the table and choking the both of them with his ham-like hands.
"I'm still not doing anything wrong." Harry said. "We're not touching, we're not kissing and it's not sexual. So, therefore, it's within the betrothal limits. It doesn't expressly say that I can't feed my betrothed with my fingers."
Draco snorted and Rodolphus smiled and Rabastan chuckled, squeezing the fingers of Harry's left hand lightly. Harry had lied when he'd told the table that they weren't touching because they were. They were holding hands under the table, in Harry's lap, and their knees were touching. "Carry on then." Lucius sighed, giving in to Harry's steely determination and fierce defiance.
Harry grinned and plucked up another raspberry to feed to Rabastan.
"Lucius!" Narcissa cried out scandalised.
"No, dear. Harry is correct. He's found a loophole because the contract that he and Rabastan signed did not forbid feeding one another fruit by hand and they are still under chaperone supervision while we are in the room with them."
Narcissa exhaled through her nose, but she sat back and sipped at her after-dinner tea, saying nothing more, but she was visibly displeased.
"I disagree." Rhadamanthus exclaimed loudly.
"There's a surprise." Xerxes grunted, giving his son a warning look. "I don't believe that they should be allowed to sit next to one another at all during their betrothal period. It is against tradition!" Rhadamanthus insisted. "They are breaking strict betrothal layouts."
"The betrothal guidelines are set out according to the two families who set up the contract." Harry said mildly. "That would mean my father and Xerxes. Not you."
"He is my son!" Rhadamanthus snarled.
"And I love him!" Harry declared passionately. "I won't allow you, or anyone else for that matter, to come between us for such ridiculous reasons! I understand the traditions, I've been taught about them meticulously and I respect them, which is why I am trying my hardest to follow them…for the most part. That said, I will not force myself to adhere to them when the attraction between Rabastan and me is so high. I will not bat away Rabastan's hand if he tries to touch me, I will not recoil away if he goes to kiss me and I would very much hope that he wouldn't do those things to me if our positions were reversed. I understand the need for chaperones and I respect the need for tradition, but I won't let either dictate the pace that Rabastan and I interact with one another."
The table fell silent and Harry stared at all of them in turn for a few moments before he picked up another raspberry and he gave his attention back to Rabastan as he offered it up with a smile.
He had meant every word that he'd said and he was going to stick to what he'd said. He hadn't meant to publicly declare his love to Rabastan, at least not before privately telling the man how he felt first, but that didn't mean that it was any less true.
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