"He told you?" Cho asked, her mouth dropping open just a little.
"Of course not," Bernadette scoffed, looking slightly offended at the suggestion. "As if he would ever confide in me about that. No, I know many things, Cho. The marriage contract is the least of them. How can I help you with it?"
"Right," Cho said, her eyes moving to the tulip. Resolving (again) not to cry, she reached into her purse and pulled out Michael's engagement ring and the bracelet from Quinn. She placed them on the desk before looking up again. "I found someone that will reverse the contract, but he's charging more than I can afford."
Bernadette glanced at the jewelry, regarding it cooly before deliberately returning her eyes to Cho. "Who are you seeing? There are plenty of charlatans who claim they can reverse these things only to leave you penniless." Repressing a shudder at her own experiences in the matter, she forced her hands to stay folded in front of her on the desk, resisting the urge to shake them.
Cho handed Bernadette a slip of paper with three names on it, all of them written in Marc's elegant handwriting.
Holding the paper, Bernadette scrutinized the names. Two she recognized, one she didn't. "The first one is a fraud. He looks good on paper but he only gets business because of his lineage." Taking her quill, she crossed the name out with a firm stroke. "I don't know the second one, he must be new. New can either be promising or dangerous. I wouldn't chance it." Another stroke and the name was crossed out as well. "The third one is... he's decent. Honest, which is rare. If he can't help you he'll tell you so and give you back half of your deposit. He's a good last resort." Placing a question mark at the end of the man's name, she added a fourth option to the bottom of the paper. Havard Yarvsen. "He's the best one to ask. Not many people know him, but I would trust him with my life and have before. He's hard to find, but if you go to Grannog's Pawn shop in Knockturn Alley, tell Gollum Grannog that I sent you and you're looking for the Salamander. He'll ask you how many legs a centipede has and you are to tell him 'as many as it takes.' Then do whatever he asks and he'll take you to Havard."
Opening her top drawer, Bernadette withdrew a slim velvet, drawstring purse -- opening it and sifting through its contents with her pointer finger before closing it again and handing it to Cho along with the paper. "This should be sufficient for a consultation. There is just one more thing," she added, hand still attached to the neck of the purse.
"Yes? Anything," Cho said, deliberately not looking at what Bernadette had given her.
"The contract. I would like to have a look at it," she requested, her eyes locked on Cho's, "before you pay anyone."
Cho dropped her gaze long enough to find her purse again and retrieve the contract. "My mum just sent it back to me today. Her contact in Asia didn't pan out."
Taking the parchment, Bernadette leaned back in her seat, absorbing every word that was written. Whether in ink or in blood, and she was quite certain she could figure out whose idea it was to sign in that. Some of the conditions, such as the duck farm, made her question whether or not the two had been in their right minds when they'd written this. Then she'd read about the job at the Ministry, the number of children, and part of her wondered if it wouldn't be so bad, in the long run.
But it would she knew it would. It was best for Cho to marry Jonas, for Quinn to marry Hannah, to continue with the plan. Everything would work out beautifully. Glancing up from the paper, she tried to catch Cho's eyes again. "Why bother with breaking it when you have a wedding in less than a month? It will be void then, from what I see."