"Is there something wrong?" Rita asked, interrupting his thoughts. Once again he wondered how she knew something was distressing him.
Quickly realizing his slip, he replied, "No, my apologies, just a momentary lapse in attention." He forced a smile for the camera once more. With his mask restored, his mind turned back to his previous line of thought.
...
Sirius getting married could also threaten his succession to the position of Lord Black, potentially robbing him of his position and influence as Sirius' heir if a direct heir was produced, despite the highly unlikely odds.
After all, magic was magic, meaning there was always a small chance of an heir being born, and Sirius was certainly a man with a strong sexual appetite Even if a child wasn't conceived, a new wife might be able to persuade Sirius to declare another his heir, selected from a distant branch of the Black family tree rather than Harry, who was already heir to two families.
The purebloods had intermarried so much over the years there were probably many with Black blood close enough to qualify as 'family.'
Technically speaking, Draco was his closest rival by blood, followed by Andy's own bloodline as potential challengers, but Draco and thus any children he might produce in the future had already been disinherited, along with his mother Narcissa due to her marriage to Lucius Malfoy. That couldn't easily be undone. Again, though, not impossible.
'I should marginalize Draco further,' he decided, knowing there was no such thing as too safe. But the question was how to do it, short of outright killing the lad. He considered the possibilities.
Perhaps he should attempt to get Rita and his godfather together? His fear of being displaced as the Black family heir would be next to impossible with the hold he had over her, due to the magical vows, thus securing his position from being usurped. The camera flashed again with a large puff of smoke, making him wonder just how many more photos the man was going to take before he called it quits. However there was one problem with this developing plan, Rita was already seriously dating someone else, a man called Malcolm.
His thoughts flashed back to the file Rita had assembled on her lover. This meant he would have to break the pair up. That would be a minor issue, solved with a simple order; nevertheless, he was hesitant to give it, as it would almost certainly permanently damage his relationship with his pet reporter and cause her to fight back against his control in whatever way she could. He considered the pros and cons of this idea.
He decided to delay such plans for a while, or at least until after the court hearing was done, since he didn't want Rita's opinion of him to suffer during such a crucial period. And there was always the chance that Sirius would end up dating someone that Harry actually liked or maybe just continued his womanizing and never staying with one woman for all that long. While it invited one danger, it ended the other of his being replaced. He mentally marked the possible plans for Rita as a backup.
"I think that will be enough photos for the article," Rita told the cameraman that accompanied her to the interview, before she turned to him and Sirius with a genuine smile. "Thank you again for agreeing to the interview."
Sirius was quick to respond with a doggish grin, "No problem, no such thing as too much publicity after all, and you do always write the most flattering articles about us." Harry kept the smirk from showing on his face as he got up out of the chair he had been sitting in for the photo session.
He took over for his godfather at that point. "Why would we go to another reporter? You say the nicest things about me. 'A charming young man, a wonderful catch for any girl,'" he recited with a smile, quoting one of her previous articles about him, as he looked over toward his godfather before smiling.
"It's all true," she replied with a false smile, one that he recognised for what it was. Sirius grinned, clearly buying the little act going on between the pair.
"Thank you Ms. Skeeter, you're too kind," he replied, carrying on with the act. "Will you be attending the trial of Lord Malfoy this upcoming Wednesday?" he politely enquired, as the chat quickly settled into polite small talk about the upcoming trial.
...
"My Lord?" Rita asked timidly through the small hand held mirror, clearly taken off guard by his unexpected communication in the middle of the day.
He really did love that, how that 'My Lord' sounded, how it made him feel powerful and in control. He was never going to be someone who wanted to be "just Harry" or asked everyone within moments of meeting them to call him by his first name. Those people were fools and undeserving of his respect. "What do youthink of Sirius? He thinks you're quite attractive," Harry asked, editing the choice of words since Sirius' original words he used to describe the reporter was about 'banging her like a drum,' and various other heavy handed sexual remarks which he doubted would be taken well by the reporter.
"Does it matter?" Rita countered, avoiding the question by asking her own.
He rolled his eyes at the transparently evasive answer, knowing from experience that this was a tactic commonly used by Rita to fish for more information, as well as to avoid answering questions she didn't want to. "Do you think my Godfather is attractive, or not? It's a simple yes or no question, I'm not asking for any specifics," he pushed, wanting an answer, just in case he decided to try to match Sirius and Rita together in the future.
There was a short pause before she replied with a single word, "Yes." This caused him to nod in response, as he noted that his scheme could potentially work if he decided to go ahead with it.
"Ok," he answered with a satisfied tone. "By the way, discreetly remind the public of the current Minister's long and very close friendship with Lord Malfoy. We don't want the Minister thinking the public has forgotten their mutually corrupt close friendship, now do we. Maybe even compile a nice collage of old photos of the Minister and Lord Malfoy getting oh so cosy together. I'm sure there have been so many such pictures over the years in the Prophet that you'd have easy access to."
Rita quickly nodded in thoughtful agreement, a little smirk on her face that he recognised as one of happiness at having another angle to fan the flames of scandal and write several articles doing it. "I look forward to reading your upcoming articles then. Have a good day, Rita." He then disconnected the magic flowing into the mirror and ended the call.
Everything was coming together as he desired, and soon the Malfoy family fortune would be his to use as he wished. He mightily resisted the urge to cackle like a mad James Bond villain, just as shadow jumped onto his lap, causing him to instinctively stroke the black cat's fur.
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A/N : if we get 400 power stones by the end of the week, I will release an extra chapter ;)
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