Chapter 3

"A magician will make you look in one direction, to where you'd think the magic is, while really he's doing some crazy shit somewhere else. You never can tell what they'll do next, until it's already done.

-?

"Jacques, how have you been my friend?" Harry asked with a friendly enough smile, shaking his business partner's hand while Willow moved to stand next to her husband.

"As well as can be expected, Harrison, as well as can be expected," Jacques replied in kind, wrapping his arm around Willow's waist to hold her close, his smile not quite reaching his eyes.

"You see, Harrison, I told you. He's been spending far too much time working and not with his loving wife, who is beginning to miss his company," Willow put on the act of the dutiful wife rather well, almost fooling Harry with the way she clung onto Jacques and when her eyes lit up.

"Yes yes, I know dear," Jacques said, trying to appease his wife even if her clingy nature, as of late, was starting to grate on his nerves; the woman wanted his attention more than the company board!

"All to ensure his family is well taken care of, I'm sure. Even though I haven't known him for that long, I can already tell Jacques is the type of man that would do anything to protect his family," Harry knew that was only a half-lie, Jacques would do anything to protect the family name he'd taken by marrying Willow; Harry found evidence of such.

Jacques practically preened under Harry's praise, barely even trying to hide his vanity, and as such missed the look his wife and business partner shared. The small mischievous grin made Willow stifle a very unladylike giggle, wondering if her husband realized he looked like a peacock strutting around with his tail feathers on full display. Still, Harry had come to this party for a reason and it most certainly wasn't to mingle among the Atlas elite, even if some of them looked rather fetching in their light blue dress. As unfortunate and troubling as it was to do business with a man like Jacques, Harry needed the man for just a bit longer.

Catching the sudden look in Harry's eye, Jacques knew he had business to attend to with his partner and thus turned to address his wife, "Willow, it seems Harrison and I have some business to attend to tonight, would you be a dear and entertain the guests for a while?"

Jacques didn't even wait for Willow to answer before moving away towards his nearest office, motioning for Harry to follow, and thus missing his wife's mask shatter and be replaced by an annoyed frown. Harry, on the other hand, was far from being stupid enough to disregard someone like Willow Schnee by leaving without a proper farewell. He'd spent many years learning to be a proper gentleman, as painful as some of those lessons were, and would be damned if he let it all go to waste now.

"It seems I'll be stealing your husband from you yet again," Harry said as he took Willow's hand and raised it to his lips, gently brushing them against her knuckles while never breaking eye contact with her, "I'll have to make it up to you some other time."

The frown on Willow's face was replaced by a smirk, a smirk that was somehow coy and borderline flirtatious at the same time, "You can do it tomorrow by joining me in the garden for lunch. My little Winter has been begging me to invite you over again so she can see your magic tricks and I won't be so bored while Jacques is away at the office."

"As my lady wishes, so shall it be," it wouldn't be all that far fetched to say talking with Willow made Harry feel much younger than he'd been in quite a while, or maybe she just brought back pleasant memories from his youth?

Moving through the crown of finely dressed people wasn't even a chore for Harry, the sound of his cane clicking and clacking against the tile floor was drowned out by the near non stop talking, and before long he entered one of the closed off hallways. Many of the staff at the Schnee manor knew their employer had business with Harry and thus were told to not bother the emerald eyed man unless it was very very important. So something as simple as wandering the halls wouldn't even so much as ruffle their feathers.

Upon arriving at Jacques' office, Harry didn't even wait to enter without even so much as a knock. The office itself hadn't changed much since the last time he'd been there, which said a lot about Jacques as a person if not a supposed family man. Jacques himself was now sitting at his desk, his fancy jacked removed and resting over the back of his chair, while he slowly sipped on a glass of scotch with another untouched glass waiting for Harry.

"She's right you know, you look exhausted," Harry said as he took the offered glass and sat down in the chair on the other side of Jacques' desk, resting his cane against it, "When was the last time you took a day off?"

"Not since this damned White Fang movement began poking their noses where they don't belong," Jacques said with a tired yet frustrated sigh, downing his drink in a single gulp before moving to pour himself another, "I take it you've seen the news?"

"You mean about the S.D.C.'s sales dropping since the faunus boycott finally hit its stride, or the transports of refined dust seemingly vanishing before they reach any of the major kingdoms?" Harry wondered if he should hint to the man that he knew just who was stealing from him, but then again Jacques was the type of man to just pin the blame on those he could later take advantage of.

"You'd think they'd be grateful that we practically gave them their own country all to themselves, almost free of charge! Now they have the nerve to demand more and target my company specifically!" Jacques all but sneered, growing upset at the mere thought of some animal attacking the company he'd worked so hard to improve over the years.

"Now now, no need to get so upset," Harry hid his mocking tone rather well, "Give it time and all of this will blow over. Before you know it, it will be back to business as usual and the S.D.C. will be back to 100%."

Jacques seemed so slump in his chair, unaware that Harry had subtly calmed him with a rather simple spell, and took a deep breath, "I don't know how you do it, Harrison. Put up with so many things and yet not be the slightest bit stressed. I haven't had a full night's rest in weeks."

"Well, a glass of scotch before bed helps and I never drink coffee after dinner," to be fair, Harry didn't like to drink coffee to begin with but couldn't deny how useful it was for those nights that work needed to get done.

"Ha! Ever since Winter was old enough, I haven't been allowed to drink outside of my office. Willow doesn't want her to learn our bad habits. (Sigh) But enough about all that, we're here to conduct business and that's exactly what we should be doing," Jacques sat up a bit straighter, topping off his glass before activating the computer built into his desk.

"Agreed," Harry nodded, "I'd been wanting to talk to you about purchasing another one of your mines, now that we've both seen what I've been able to do with the last one. If I'm not mistaken, then the one located just outside the kingdom of Vale is reportedly running low as well."

"Oh really, that information isn't exactly public knowledge," Jacques pointed out, not necessarily upset but more so wondering how his newest business partner found it out.

Harry just smiled, "The information made known to the public holds all the clues one needs to figure such things out. Such as why Vale has started receiving shipments from outside its borders instead of the S.D.C. factory you built there. Or why there was a sudden influx of unemployment in Vale's faunus population just a few weeks ago."

"Hm, sometimes I think you are much too smart, Harrison. Still, nevertheless, you are correct about that particular mine running low on usable dust. The largest vein was depleted some time ago and no new one has been discovered to replace it," Jacques freely admitted, pulling up the reports from that mine before shifting the view on his transparent screen so Harry could see the numbers, "However, be that as it may, it's not yet to the point that I feel the need to sell it off entirely."

"Unfortunate, but understandable. Although we might be partners, we're both rival businessmen. Albeit rivals that have a certain amount of respect for one another."

"That being said, perhaps there is another matter you can help me with. A matter that would see me lose interest in this mine and be more than willing to part with it," the bait was cast on Mr. Schnee's part and now he waited to see if Harry would bite, but a fisherman should always be wary of what he's fishing for.

"An interesting proposal," Harry murmured, leaning back in his seat while resting one leg over the other, "I'm listening."

"Men in both of our professions sometimes find ourselves with problems that can't just be paid off or ignored. Like a tick, it buries itself deep into the skin and causes nothing but problems until you remove it with just the right amount of force. In these types of situations, that right amount of force just so happens to be another group of people in another profession far less civilized than our own," Jacques explained.

"And this problem of yours that you wish for my associates to take care of?" Harry inquired.

"While I can't cut off the head of the snake, at least without being bitten in the process, the snake can have its fangs removed. This group that has been making life and business difficult for me, the White Fang, has supporters within my various mines and factories. Now, I can deal with the ones in my factories easily enough, but it's the ones in my mines that I need help with. One mine in particular, the very one you wish to purchase for yourself, is causing the most amount of problems. If said mine was to have a rather disastrous cave in, let's say in one of the populated vanes, then I'd thus lose all interest in it and it would be yours for the taking."

"If your end goal is washing your hands of the mine, and thus the problems its workers have been giving you lately, then why not just sell it to me to begin with?" Harry inquired, finishing off his glass with one last sip before setting it down on Jacques' desk, "Unless there's another reason behind this?"

Jacques smiled at that, a smile that Harry didn't particularly like and made him want to smack the man, "I knew you were a sharp one, even before we got into business together. You're right about me having a side motive and that motive is I don't trust someone unless I know they're willing to get their hands just as dirty as mine. So far you've managed to stay relatively clean since appearing in Atlas, but that just makes me even more paranoid."

"Ah, I see now, you want something on me just in case I decide to one day turn against you. Something you could use to keep me in check. I must say, it's not a bad plan and I even admire it a bit," Harry said, a small grin on his face as sharp emerald bore into cold blue, "But in the end, all that matters to me is expanding my business and thus the profit I make. I'll contact my associates and have something prepared by the end of the week."

Jacques actually looked a bit surprised at that, "So fast, that's rather impressive."

"Well," Harry's grin stretched just a bit more, "Lets just say the people I employ can just pop up wherever I need them to."

"Well then, I believe we have a deal," with that said, both men shook hands.

As promised, Harry once again returned to the Schnee residence the very next afternoon, just a few minutes before mid day. This time, instead of wearing a full and proper suit, Harry instead opted to leave the jacket at home and wear a black vest over his now red dress shirt; a tie wrapped around his neck with an intricate golden design to give it some flavor. Resting in his hand was also his original lion head cane, as compared to the raven one he had the previous night.

KNOCK. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK...KNOCK.

Harry tapped on the front door in a simple tune and smiled when Klein opened the door not a few moments later.

"Mr. Potter, good evening. Mrs. Schnee and Ms. Schnee are awaiting your arrival in the garden. If you would follow me, please," Klein said, the ever dutiful butler, as he led the way through the maze that was the Schnee manner without ever breaking his stride.

Upon arriving in the gardens, which was decorated by a brick path with rose bushes on each side and a gazebo right in the middle, Willow sat at a metal and glass table and seemed to be watching someone run through the miniature maze of flowers and trees with a smile on her face. Willow, much like Harry, had also toned down the fanciness of her dress for a more relaxed look. For she now wore a more simple white dress, without any extravagant designs, and even wore her hair down. For a moment the sun hit her just right and made her look like an honest to god angel.

"Madam," Klein spoke up as he and Harry approached the lone mother, "Mr. Potter has arrived."

Willow looked away from whomever she was watching, Harry assumed it was her daughter and nodded politely, "Thank you, Klein, let the cooks know to begin right away."

"Yes, Madam!"

Klein had already vanished back into the estate by the time Harry was invited to sit next to Willow, the married woman gesturing to the seat next to her while turning her gaze back towards the garden. You wouldn't know it by just looking, but the entire garden was temperature regulated by small amounts of fire dust, thus allowing it to remain warm enough for plants not native to Atlas to grow so high up in the sky. Harry supposed it was just another luxury for those that had the money to afford it, not that he'd ever done such a thing; that would be just so irresponsible.

"For a moment, I thought you wouldn't be coming," Willow spoke up, breaking the ice between them, "I'd have been most displeased."

"Well, I feared you'd sick little Winter upon me. After last time I fear what those big blue eyes could convince me to do," Harry chuckled, recalling the first time he'd shown the Schnee heiress one of his many magic tricks; the little terror all but demanded he become her own personal magician.

"Fair enough," Willow giggled into her hand, her eyes alight with mirth, "She's been an unstoppable ball of energy ever since I told her you'd be stopping by for lunch. I truly felt bad for Klein, you seem to have replaced him in my dear daughter's heart as the coolest person outside the family."

"Well I…" whatever Harry was about to say was cut off when a loud scream tore through the garden.

"Harry!" like a white bullet, Winter Schnee slammed into Harry with enough force to almost send the older man toppling back out of his seat, although fortunately for the both of them he was a lost sturdier than he looked.

"Winter!" Willow tried to admonish her daughter's lack of decorum, but it had little effect when she was also trying not to laugh.

"Harry! Harry! Harry! Do a trick! Do a trick!" Winter chanter, smiling up at him with her front two teeth missing, jumping up and down while using his knees for support.

Momentarily taken aback by the little girl's sudden arrival, it took the aged wizard a moment to get his bearings back. With a grin that would have done his parents proud, Harry clasped his hands together and focused his magic. When he opened them again, Winter's already excited eyes grew even wider when a miniature pony made of ice shot out of his palm, danced around her head a few times, before taking off into the garden. Needless to say, it didn't take long for Winter to go chasing after it with all the glee a child her age possessed.

"Well, that should keep her busy for a while."

Beatdown183: Maybe she is, maybe she isn't, spoilers and all that fun stuff.

EliteShadow: Well this is me giving you more and this is you wanting even more.

WearyCurmudgeon: All good points for me to think about going forward, also your right about the age and I should have been clearer on that. What I meant was that he looked fifty, not that he was fifty. Also, the reason I didn't have Harry marry Willow before the kids were born was because they likely wouldn't have actually been born; realistically at any rate.

Guest #1: Jacques is the type of man that sets himself up for a fall, so all Harry has to do is stand back and watch. Also, I'm not gonna let Jacques take the easy way out through assassination, because that would be obvious and I like a fun ride.

Lazymanjones96: And now you have more.

NazgulBelserion: I thought some people would like the cane idea and I did get it from playing far too much DMC 5.

EmeraldGuardian7: The main reason I made this story was to try and get an influx of new material, since most stories have a young strapping protagonist that joins the youngsters in their fight. So one day I thought to myself "Why not let the older generation give it a shot?" and now here we are with a refined Harry.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for all the support I've been getting on this story so far and I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter, even if it was a bit shorter than normal. Really it was just to set things up and move the plot along.