choose

Throwing himself under the stairs with a throwing spell and breaking his neck.Just when he thought his sinful life was coming to an end, Lucius saved him once again.

Severus had no idea why he had survived, other than to testify for Lucius.

Of course, now there is another reason: since Lucius chose to save you first, and lost his heir as a result, you are obliged to pay him back a son.

Severus grinned wryly as he rubbed Lucius' letter in his hand.He understood that what Lucius wrote in the letter was well documented, and his confession, his apology, was completely sincere.However, Lucius has never been a person who expresses his feelings casually. When he expresses his feelings, it is often when he asks for something.Now, what Lucius wanted was simple: an heir.

Severus couldn't find any reason for himself to refuse the request.After the trial of Lucius' case was over, Severus would naturally resign from the position of headmaster of Hogwarts (it's ridiculous that he had fought for this position for many years), and honestly went to give birth to Lucius.

Therefore, when the double-sided mirror that communicated with Lucius rang, Severus calmly said to the confessing man opposite the double-sided mirror: "Lucius, you know, you want me to do anything, there is no need to use your feelings .—Oh, I know, of course I know it's all true. But, if you don't talk about feelings, isn't it easier for you and me?"

[HP/Awake][LM/SS] selection - 9

9. Awake

Awake

Holding the hot phone, Lucius continued the process of arguing with the customer service of his car insurance company: "No, I have already explained that my husband has not committed any malicious or irresponsible behavior while driving. When he saw the mannequin, like a law-abiding citizen should, he hit the brakes and the car lost control. From our point of view, my husband and I have no fault or subjectivity Malicious, this accident should be covered by car insurance."

A mouthful of curry-scented English came from the other end of the phone: "Mr. Britten, I am not implying that you or your husband are at fault. What I am saying is that since you have also admitted that this accident was caused by a crime, we More evidence is needed. At least until the final police report is out before we can process the related payouts."

Lucius flew into a rage: "Listen, I'm a detective, and I've dealt with car accidents for years. I know full well that my car insurance covers the victims. - don't talk to me You can sue the criminal for compensation, what you should do is to pay my loss, and then you sue the criminal for compensation.”

The curried English continued: "Mr. Britten, we need more documents before we can..."

"Forward my call to your superiors - for God's sake, transfer me to someone who works in the continental United States, not someone who answers in Bangalore!" Lucius cut off the customer service agent impatiently.

The waiter on the other side of the phone was embarrassed and said: "I will transfer your call to my boss, please wait a moment."

A mechanical female voice sounded on the phone: "Dear customer, your call is very important to us. Your calls will be answered in the order they are called, please wait patiently."

Then, there is the endless sound of music.

Lucius sighed, continuing to struggle with the numbers on his several accounts on his laptop.

——Even if the car insurance company pays us the money immediately, we don't know if the money we get will be enough to pay off the car loan.Although I bought that car for more than a year, the mileage is a bit high...

Facing the figures on the account, Lucius was completely unwilling to believe that the sum of the two people's savings accounts was only more than 3 US dollars.Now, he regrets his spending habits very much: I am an idiot, why do I like those flashy things so much? Where did Severus spend the pre-tax income of 50 in the past year?

Doing the math, Lucius found that federal income taxes, Social Security taxes, and Medicare taxes took about 30.00% of Severus' income, and state taxes took 5.00%.Biting his pen, Lucius realized that the $50 that sounded like a lot turned into $32 after paying taxes.

—Fuck, and $28 in malpractice insurance.Now it's only $[-] left.

— and mortgages, home insurance, and estate taxes. . .

Lucius subtracted nearly another eighty thousand dollars from Severus' income.

Looking at the remaining less than $21, Lucius subtracted about $[-] for Draco's private middle school and various extracurricular activities, and $[-] for Draco to go to college, And $[-] in car loan, car taxes and car insurance...

Lucius clutched his pen, realizing that only $[-] was left.

——For this, Severus also saved the IRA up to the upper limit that the hospital could match last year, which was another thirty thousand dollars in savings.

Lucius was mortified to find that last year only a measly $[-] was left at Severus' disposal.

——Oh, not $1, besides the $[-] he gave me in petty expenses every month, he only had over $[-] left to spend freely.

Thinking about it now, Lucius found it a miracle that Severus was able to save seven thousand dollars in his personal account last year.

Lucius suddenly understood why Severus insisted on bringing his own food for every meal and why he never bought any luxuries.

In the past, Lucius used to complain about Severus, saying that after paying utility bills, gas bills, garbage disposal bills, cable TV bills, Internet bills, and cell phone bills for the whole family with the fifteen hundred dollars a month he gave him as an allowance, what was left Seven or eight hundred dollars is simply not enough to buy food and daily necessities.Then, Lucius will start to explain at length how he used his poor police income to pay for food and daily necessities, clothes for the whole family, money for family vacations, and money for going out with two people. of.And Severus, an unkind miser, actually insisted on paying off the mortgage in 20 years instead of the usual 30-year loan repayment period, which was simply underpaying his family's expenses.At times like this, Severus usually smiled apologetically, assuring Lucius that he would work harder to earn money so that the whole family could live better.

Thinking about it now, Lucius felt like he acted like a spoiled child.

In all fairness, under the care of the powerful police union, Lucius' salary was not low, and the benefits he enjoyed even surpassed that of Severus, who was the director of the Hogwarts teaching hospital.Just salary income, Lucius has more than 8 US dollars, which does not count the more than 3 US dollars earned by Lucius in the stock market.After federal and state taxes, Lucius' gross income was more than $5000.After paying for various household expenses, Lucius, who takes out the money he earns from the stock market for daily consumption from time to time, has a monthly disposable income of up to four to five thousand dollars.

Lucius thought in shame: So the money I spend recklessly every month has caught up with Severus' annual disposable income, and I'm still complaining about Severus being stingy. Merlin, not to mention depositing money in a savings account, even a tax-refundable retirement account, relying on the pension provided by the state police system, under Severus' repeated urging, I only deposited two or three thousand dollars.

After calculating the income and expenses for a year, Lucius had to admit the reality in the face of a savings account that only added up to more than 3 U.S. dollars: If I don’t get the car insurance compensation as soon as possible to pay off the car loan, the car loan alone will And mortgages, three or four months is enough to squeeze out our deposits.

—Oh no, God or Merlin, we have an emergency expense right now.I'm going to have to save up to the $5000 limit in Severus' tax-deductible personal medical account this year to cover future medical expenses.Fuck, I have to shell out $1750 right now in order to save $5000 in federal taxes next year, and that's a hell of a lot.

Lucius groaned in his heart, and looked at the stock account that he got from the divorce, and the income could often subsidize the family.Looking at the figure of more than 20 US dollars above, Lucius silently bid farewell to this account: Well, goodbye, my stocks that are rising.If I sell you guys, I might be able to support it for a while longer.I just don't know how much tax I have to pay this year if I sell you guys...

Lucius knew he had another possible source of income, the $15 in Draco's college tuition account.However, as a father, he really didn't want to imagine his son applying for a loan.God, when he showed up at Severus' door 17 years ago with his newborn Draco in his arms, his Severus, his Severus, who was a celebrity chef, was eating bread in cold water—but the black-haired Grandet didn't want to take on more student loans with outrageously high interest rates.At the time, Lucius was so pissed off by the situation that he recklessly used his inheritance from his grandmother to help Severus pay off his student loans.However, there probably wasn't another person who would be willing to empty their account to help Draco pay off the loan and tuition now.What if, this kid Draco has potentially inherited Severus' stingy habits, what if he fills his stomach with plain water and bread?

With a sigh, Lucius once again regretted his behavior of pestering his lover to buy that Ferrari under the pretense of celebrating Severus becoming the hospital director: If I insisted on driving the six-year-old car that had just paid off the loan BMW, instead of taking on that 20 loan to buy that Ferrari whose car insurance and motor vehicle taxes are so expensive, Severus could have saved at least an extra $[-] to $[-] a year last year, right?

——Fuck, speaking of that BMW, didn't I also pester him to buy it in the name of celebrating Severus becoming a vascular surgeon and earning a lot of money?I'm fucking smug that I put a down payment on a Ferrari for the BMW!

——And the million-dollar house we live in now, if we follow Severus's intention and only buy one house under $50, with Severus' spending habits, I'm afraid we'll even pay off the mortgage by now, right?Moreover, for a house under $50, I don't have to worry about being kicked out of the house because I can't pay property taxes...

Detective Lucius Britten, with his head in his arms, finally understood the reason why he dreamed he was a wizard, aside from the convenience of potions and spells: if he lived in a world where the personal income tax was only 5%, there was no property tax at all, and he would not be In the wizarding world where all kinds of insurance are exploited, how could I worry about money so much!Moreover, if I were really rich enough to reach Lucius Malfoy's level, my little money for fashion pursuits would not have any impact on family life at all!

Gritting his teeth, Lucius Britten knew he had lived a life similar to Lucius Malfoy's for the first 25 years of his life.

Lucius, who was born in a wealthy family, went all the way from private kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, and went to Harvard. He has never worried about money.After graduation, he married Narcissa who was well-matched, entered the family business, and lived a life that everyone admired.Only he knew that ever since he had given up his relationship with Severus due to family pressure and his own cowardice since he had gone to college, there was always a piece of emptiness in his heart.

Lucius always wanted to go to Severus to rekindle their old relationship, but he also knew how deeply his decision to break up had hurt Severus: that stupid boy who believed in Catholicism devoutly, always felt that the relationship between two people that violated God's teaching was worth his death He will bear the fire of hell forever.However, one day suddenly, the person who had promised him that they would live together as soon as he entered college told him that everything was just a mistake and that both of them should confess to God.The black-haired child suddenly regarded all the pain he was enduring as the early arrival of God's fire, and almost collapsed.At only 14 years old, Severus dared not tell his heart to anyone, including his mother and Minerva, for fear that they would recognize his depravity and leave him far away.The child who was originally out of gregariousness became more withdrawn, and from then on he became more and more the target of bullying by James Potter and others who were jealous of his outstanding grades.

Peeping from afar and repeated hesitation made time fly by, and Lucius became a father in a blink of an eye, and was faced with the choice of whether to join the gang of Tom Riddle, who called himself Lord Voldemort. Lucius has always known that his business has shady links to Irish gangsters, but his father Abraxas has been trying to keep him from Tom Riddle.However, with Tom Riddle growing in power and Lucius officially being considered an adult with a son, Abraxas seemed to feel it was time for Lucius to join Riddle's gang.

Lucius didn't want to be a gang member, he wanted to give up everything to be with Severus.

But at this point, Lucius was no longer alone, he had a responsibility he had to shoulder: his son Draco. Lucius didn't know if he would be reaccepted by Severus, let alone if Severus would accept a newborn.

Hesitating at Severus' door, the dark-haired medical student snatched the crying baby from the scrambling new father. Severus changed the baby's diaper and solved the spit-up problem the way he had just learned in his apprenticeship.When the child calmed down and the child's father began to explain his situation to him and beg for forgiveness, the black-haired young man made two demands firmly: first, Lucius must divorce Narcissa; second, Lucius must never join the gang.

After some hesitation, Lucius decided to do it.As a result of doing so, Lucius was kicked out of the house by Abraxas.

Looking back now, Lucius is a little surprised how he changed from a son who never worried about money to a little policeman who calculates student loans, rent and utility bills all day long.However, he knew that the young man who liked to follow the trend had always been there, and he would show up whenever he had the chance. ——After Severus became a real doctor and earned a six-figure income, Lucius couldn't even save enough for the down payment on the house, and started talking about getting a new car, going on vacation abroad, and buying new jewelry and clothes.

Lucius covered his face, not wanting to let his tears flow.Now that I think about it, he doesn't think he needs a new car, new clothes, or jewelry at all.During the years when Severus was a resident doctor, Lucius who was constantly worrying about the family's expenses could be said to be happier than Lucius who was staring at fashion magazines and buying clothes a month ago.At that time, Lucius worked hard to earn more overtime pay. At that time, Lucius went to the hospital to pick up Severus from work, just so that his lover could rest for a while on the way home. At that time, Lucius would not compare himself with other gays on the street. What to wear, and Lucius even saved a down payment on the house at the time!Now that I think about it, it’s unbelievable that Lucius, who spends every penny in his hand and complains all day long that his lover earns too little money, can proudly tell his lover and children that he has saved more than [-] dollars for the down payment on the mortgage, etc. The lover becomes a real doctor, and two people can buy a house!

Detective Lucius Britten took a deep breath, thinking it was time to call that "good" Lucius back and sell his shiny jewelry.

—Oh, by the way, my new pearl necklace that matches my hair color is not yet 30 days old, so I can return it for full price.

Thinking of the silver wyvern and sea snake inlaid on the pendant of the necklace, Lucius smiled wryly and found the source of his family crest with the wyvern and sea snake in his dream.

Somehow, Lucius Britten couldn't help thinking: If I were really Lucius Malfoy, I wouldn't have to return the necklace, would I?

As soon as this thought came up, Lucius slapped himself in the heart: Do you still think he is a good husband and father?Look at what Lucius Malfoy has done for money and power, you subconsciously envy him!

The author has something to say: The life of an ordinary Muggle is not a dream. Lucius who buys new clothes every season...

Note:

1. "Pension" in the United States:

Generally speaking, the American "pension" is actually divided into two types.

One is the "pension" commonly understood by Chinese people, that is, the government or enterprise that used to work after retirement gives the former employee a certain amount of money every month.There are very few companies that provide this kind of pension, and only the three major automakers with very powerful unions will provide this kind of pension.In addition, it is the government sector that provides this kind of pension that will rise with inflation.Such a pension policy is a good thing that can't be met in the United States. (In addition, the benefits of police officers in Massachusetts also include health insurance for themselves, their spouses, and children. For a typical middle-class American with one wife and two children, it is equivalent to saving more than $1000 per month. Such benefits are not taxable. The benefits are so cool. No matter where in the world, government workers will never forget to increase benefits for themselves...)

Another kind of "retirement fund" is not the "retirement fund" we usually understand, but employees themselves deposit money in two types of individual retirement accounts, IRA and 401k/403b, and use the money to invest in stocks or something, and then when they reach retirement age Only then can you withdraw the money you have saved from your retirement account, which is equivalent to saving your own money and investing it for your own retirement.Among them, the money that can be deposited in IRA and 401k/403b each year can be tax deducted to a certain extent, but there is a limit to how much can be deposited.Many companies will "match" part of the 401k/403b saved by a certain percentage of employees.For example, matching 50% of salary with a ratio of 5% means that if an employee deposits 5% of his income into 401k, the company will deposit 2.5% of the employee's salary into the employee retirement account.However, if the employee only saves 4% of his salary, the company will only deposit 2% of the employee's salary into the employee's retirement account; similarly, if the employee likes saving money very much and saves 10% of his salary, the company will Only 2.5% of an employee's salary is deposited into an employee retirement account.Therefore, many people in the United States deposit 401k/403b to the upper limit of the company's match to earn the employer's match part.

Generally speaking, employers who provide the first type of pension policy will not provide the "match" benefits in the second type of policy.However, if someone wants to put money into an IRA, that's fine too.

2. American taxes and middle-class depression

Every year when it comes to tax filing season, the entire United States scolds the Internal Revenue Service and the State Taxation Bureau.The main reason, of course, is that they take money out of the pockets of the masses.

This year, the minimum tax rate of the US federal personal income tax is 15%, and the maximum rate is 35%, which changes every year.In addition, the federal government collects Social Security tax (4.2%) and Medicaid plan tax (2.9%).State taxes vary from state to state. For example, several states such as Alaska do not charge state taxes. Massachusetts is 5.3%, and Oregon can reach up to 11%.In addition to state taxes, the county and city where you are located will also collect taxes.Some places tax on income, some on property (such as cars, real estate, etc.), and some on both.Taking Boston as an example, a new Ferrari with an original price of $25 has to pay $5625 in taxes; a million-dollar house has to pay about $1.3 in property taxes.The result of this is that the unemployed middle class, even if they have paid off their mortgages and car loans, will soon be evicted from their houses because they cannot pay their taxes.For the poor, debt collectors in Massachusetts cannot evict the homeowner if their home price is under $50 (about 80% of the median house price in the Boston metro area).Therefore, for people with very low income, zero deposits, and living in houses below the middle level, real estate is equivalent to tax exemption.Unfortunately, it was the middle class like Severus and Lucius.They bought a large house that exceeded the standard, and had savings for their children to go to college, but lost most of their income due to various reasons, so they waited to be squeezed out of their savings by property taxes and kicked out of the house.Since the marriage relationship between Severus and Lucius is not recognized by the federal government, the national tax must be reported separately.In terms of state tax, the tax rate in Massachusetts is non-progressive, so the difference between separate and joint reporting is not very big.Regarding the fact that the annual income of two people is 61 yuan, 23 to 39 yuan (~4%) was lost by various taxes, I even included all the tax reduction methods they can use, and it is not an exaggeration at all. from. (BTW, doctors in the United States have to buy medical malpractice insurance, and the average annual insurance premium for surgeons in Massachusetts is more than 1.2 US dollars. In addition, the average annual car insurance in Massachusetts is about 31 US dollars per car. In this way, a family with two One of them is a Ferrari SS and LM with super expensive insurance premiums. The insurance premiums will definitely make people half-dead. Therefore, the absolute fixed expenses of SS and LM are at least [-] US dollars a year.)

The reason why the tax bureau is scolded by everyone is that apart from taking money out of the pockets of the people, there are also unequal tax collections for the rich and the poor, various tax cuts, and tax returns are very troublesome.

For example, rich people often have a lot of long-term capital income, but the tax rate on long-term capital income is only 15%, which is much lower than the personal income tax rate that a doctor who relies on salary income has to pay.This result led to the example Buffett cited: his own income was many times that of his secretary, but his effective tax rate was lower than that of his secretary.

As for the tax reduction method, it can only be said to be a headache.For example, in terms of federal taxes, each person can deposit up to $5000 per year in an individual health account (HFSA), and the $5000 is not taxed as taxable income.With Severus taxed at 35% on the top portion of his income, saving the $5000 in the HFSA is equivalent to paying 35%*5000=$1750 less tax.However, if the "acceptable" health-related expenses for the year are less than $5000, the remaining money in the personal account will be confiscated by the IRS.For those who have a major accident like Severus and expect to have a lot of medical related expenses, of course the account must be fully deposited.However, if someone saves $3000 at the beginning of the year and actually spends only $100 on health, the remaining $2900 is forfeited by the IRS.Therefore, how much money to put into the HFSA each year has become a huge challenge for the middle class.There are countless similar headache policies.

[HP/Awake][LM/SS] selection - 9

9. Awake

Awake:

Lucius was figuring out how to get the most money out of his jewelry when his phone rang.

Lucius glanced at the name "Luciana" on the caller ID and almost didn't realize who it was.In Lucius' subconscious mind, he always felt that he should be the only child of his parents.Now, he couldn't explain why he had forgotten about the eldest sister who was so kind to him.Moreover, some part of his consciousness made him feel that Odin Nott's wife should be a strange witch who died after giving birth to her son Theodore, not his sister Luciana who was still alive and well.

"Luciana, hello." Lucius answered the phone.

A caring voice came from the other side of the phone: "Lucius, how are you doing now?"

"I'm okay." Lucius wasn't sure if the eldest sister had learned about his family's car accident through some channels.

Sure enough, the woman on the other side of the phone began to blame her younger brother for not telling her the news of the car accident earlier, so she didn't know the news about the car accident of her younger brother's family until her son Theodore chatted with Draco on the Internet.

Lucius had no way to say "I forgot you" to the elder sister, so he could only answer in a low voice, hoping to fool his elder sister.

At this time, the woman on the other side of the phone announced again: "Lucius, which ward do you live in? My car is almost at the hospital."

Lucius felt even more guilty: "Luciana, you... You came here from California when you heard the news?"

"I heard your news, of course I have to come here right away! I changed the ticket for three days later to today, and now Odin and I will arrive soon." Luciana replied.

As soon as Lucius heard that his brother-in-law was here, he immediately limped towards the bathroom, ready to check his appearance: "Odin is here too? This is really troublesome for you. ——Besides, no matter what you mean, you two Coming soon?"

Luciana became very surprised: "Father hasn't told you about his surgery yet?"

Lucius found his palms sweating: "Surgery? What's wrong with father?"

After experiencing the dream of losing his father at the age of 17, Lucius Britten has been thankful that although he is estranged from his father, at least his father is still alive.

"God, I thought that since he and Draco had been seeing each other regularly, your relationship had eased. God, my father got back in touch with me after Theodore was born." The woman on the other end of the phone exclaimed.

Lucius coughed and said awkwardly, "Father always sends a driver to pick up Draco from Narcissa."

Thinking of this, Lucius felt a grievance in his heart: For the sake of God, Merlin, or something else, I am the son of Abraxas Britten, why would he rather meet his ex-daughter-in-law who has remarried than me What about meeting?

Apparently, Mrs. Luciana Nott was choking on such news.She ended the topic abruptly, and said instead: "We'll see you in three to five minutes, let's talk about it when we meet."

"Okay, I live in Ward 203, Area A." Lucius hung up the phone.

Lucius looked into the gray-blue eyes in the mirror and remembered why Luciana didn't appear in the dream he called "Lucius Malfoy".In the dream, 26 years before Lucius Malfoy was born, Abraxas and Abril Malfoy had a premature girl, but unfortunately the girl died before the full moon. Lucius knew that the reason why he was given the name "Lucy", which could be nicknamed "Lucy", was to commemorate the sister Luciana who had no chance to meet.Moreover, the reason why the parents used the potion-curse method to give birth to themselves under the pressure of bearing heirs at the age of fifty was because the mother injured her body when giving birth to Luciana.

In Lucius Britten's memory, his sister Luciana, who was only six years older than himself, was indeed a premature baby born seven months pregnant. great.Even his nephew, Theodore, was obtained by the Notts through surrogacy.

Speaking of it, it was somewhat similar to the situation in the dream. After giving birth to Luciana, the mother had several pregnancies and miscarriages before she successfully conceived Lucius.When giving birth, she encountered dystocia.Fortunately, a timely caesarean section saved the lives of both mother and child.Even so, the mother in Lucius' memory was always pale and died when he was 12 years old.

Recalling the childhood of himself and his sister, Lucius still couldn't help being a little annoyed that his sister liked to dress himself up as a girl and let him play house with her sister Tao.

Those pretend games ended after the mother died, and Luciana began to think of herself as the mother of her younger brother.She cared about Lucius' food, clothing, housing and transportation, and piled up a lot of toys, new clothes and jewelry around his younger brother, hoping that this could replace the lost maternal love of the two.

To be honest, when his brother-in-law Odin Nott, who was 19 years older than his sister, abducted his sister to elope, Lucius, who was covering them for them, secretly had a feeling of "liberation".God knows, Lucius felt like he was being suffocated by his sister's love at the time.

When Lucius came out and eloped with Severus, Luciana believed that it was her fault that her brother became gay: if she hadn't dressed her brother as a girl, if she hadn't eloped, if she hadn't been too focused on giving birth to her own child through surrogacy Son Theodore, take care of your younger brother, will Lucius still be the pride of his father?

Lucius had repeatedly assured Luciana that even if she hadn't beaten him back then,