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Hermione stiffened a bit. "I'll do my best not to. Please proceed."
"As part of their agreement, Jim and the other boys are not just paying Lavender, they also had to promise to study hard, to be on their best behavior in class, to avoid losing House points, and to act like respectable young gentlemen, at least when she and Parvati are around. In short, I think Lavender sees this as a chance to spend time with Jim in a situation where she can influence his behavior and determine whether he might be ... suitable."
Hermione's eyes narrowed while Harry put a hand over his mouth. He had a feeling where this was all going. "Suitable for what?" Hermione asked slowly.
"Marriage, of course," replied Padma simply.
Harry struggled not to laugh at the look on Hermione's face. "Marriage?!" she spluttered. "They're eleven!"
"Hermione," Harry said with a chuckle, "Draco and Pansy have been engaged since they were five."
She actually choked at that. Harry laughed even louder and even Padma seemed amused.
"Marriage contracts ... at the age of five! I guess I'll be an old maid if I'm not married before my teens! Please tell me that this is not something I need to be worried about!"
"It's not," Harry reassured her. "The vast majority of magicals get married just like Muggles do. They meet, fall in love, and decide to spend their lives together. Divorce can be a bit problematic because there are usually magical oaths involved at the marriage ceremony, but generally most wizards and witches don't use marriage contracts except maybe as the magical equivalent of prenuptial agreements."
"Yes," said Padma. "Things only get complicated and legalistic – well, in Britain, at least – when you're an heir to a Wizengamot family. If you are, marrying the wrong person can affect your inheritance rights and possibly even the status of your family's seat. In Lavender's case, she's the Heir Presumptive of the Noble House of Brown. And the Noble House of Brown would like very much to become the Ancient and Noble House of Brown. But they need political support to get elevated. I think ... no, I'm quite sure that Lavender believes that marrying the Boy-Who-Lived who is also the second son of House Potter and – no offense, Harry – the favored son of House Potter will get them that support."
Even Harry was surprised at Padma's bluntness. "So being the Boy-Who-Lived trumps being the Potter Heir Presumptive?" he asked with some annoyance.
She shook her head. "No, there's more to it than that. You see, the Browns are a matrilineal family." She went on to explain for Hermione's benefit. "That is to say, pursuant to the family bylaws enacted when the Browns first joined the Wizengamot, Heirship passes exclusively to the eldest witch in the Brown line of succession. If Lavender wants to keep her Heir Presumptive status and eventually become the Lady Brown, anyone she marries has to be willing to change his last name to Brown or, at the very least, take a hyphenated name and accept that any children will be named Brown. Because the Potters are Ancient and Noble, that's not an option for you, Harry, at least not without sacrificing your right to become Lord Potter some day. You can marry whoever you want so long as your spouse takes Potter as her surname – or his, I guess, if that's your preference – but you can't change your name or add a name of lesser rank to your own without surrendering your Heirship. As second son, that's not an issue for Jim so long as you stand between him and becoming Heir himself."
Harry shook his head. "I swear, I have been poring over this crap for months, and there's still always some new bit of minutia for me to discover."
Padma shrugged. "It's not an issue that arises very often. There are only a few matrilineal families left, along with a few others that are strictly patrilineal. They were more common when the Wizengamot was founded, but by their very nature, such families are more likely to face line extinction because they're more selective about who can carry on the line than those houses that favor gender neutrality. Susan Bones' situation is the opposite of Lavender's, as the Bones are a patrilineal family whose only surviving members are women, Susan and her aunt Amelia. There won't be a Bones Heir and consequently there won't be a Bones Lord unless Susan gets married to some wizard willing to take her name and then produces a male wizarding child. Likewise, the Black family will probably lose its seat altogether when Sirius Black finally dies – there are no other living males descended from the Blacks who aren't disqualified because their surname is different. The family's money and estates will probably go to the nearest legal heirs, but the Black Wizengamot seat will remain vacant until some Noble family is elevated to take its place." She made a face at the mention of the notorious Black family. "No great loss there, of course. Anyway, the majority of Wizengamot families don't distinguish between male and female heirs, although surnames still sometimes remain an issue for witches."
"Hmm," said Hermione as she digested all this. "What about Parvati? Is she husband-hunting too?"
"Oh, no," said Padma easily. "She's been engaged since she was three."
Hermione started coughing uncontrollably. Padma smiled and looked at Harry. "I can see why you keep doing that to her. It's quite amusing."
"Three!" Hermione interrupted.
"Yes. The Kumar Pasha, the wealthiest and most powerful of India's wizards, had a son born a year before Parvati and me. He wanted to form a political and business alliance with the Patils, so he proposed a marriage contract to our father. I've meet the son, Sanjeev, a few times. He seems nice and looks like he'll grow up to be good looking, and anyway, he'll be absurdly rich."
"Hang on. You were three-year-old identical twins. How did they decide which of you would become engaged? Is Parvati the older twin?" asked Harry out of curiosity. Padma smiled at him again, but this time, it actually sent a shiver down his back. This smile was what he imagined his own fake smiles used to look like to others back when he was still pretending to like the Potters.
"Age and birth status had nothing to do with it. Our eldest brother is the Patil Heir, and we have several older siblings besides him. No, as I understand it, my father literally flipped a coin, with one daughter guaranteed a life of wealth and privilege, complete with multiple palaces, jewels on every finger, and an army of servants to wait on her every need. The other daughter would have to study hard and get a job."
Padma paused and her brow furrowed. "Did that sound as bitter out loud as it did in my head?" The other two grimaced and then reluctantly nodded.
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