herumtreiber

Title: Windbound 2/33
Chapter: two
Author:herumtreiber
Genre: post DH, slash, romance, adventure
Disclaimer: The world and characters of Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling. Nor do I make any money from the writing of these stories.
Rating: R
Warnings: Sexual content
Epilogue compliant? Epilogue complaisant
Chapter length: 3748 words
Beta: None.
Summary: Draco/Harry, Ron/Hermione, Hannah/Dean, Justin/Daphne, Ginny/??? My take on the Marriage Law. Should they obey the government’s edict or fight it the Muggle way? This leads to marriage equality. Plus there’s a twist exploring how a Horcrux operates. Good!Lucius, finally:) Hufflepuff house is amply represented here.

Table of contents

Part 1

After spending a rather strained morning with Hermione, Ron and her fiancé, Ginny decided to call it quits and head back to Hogwarts.

When she walked past Zonko's, she wiped a tear from her eye as she fondly remembered Fred. Ginny heard the sound of Apparition and found herself looking at a bespectacled wizard with red hair. Ginny hugged her brother, Percy returned the hug stiffly and nodded austerely. They started talking about the family and how Molly was faring. Percy asked casually how Ron was doing in school.

Ginny mentioned that Ron appeared to be doing well, apart from the occasional tantrum. When she informed him of Ron's upcoming nuptials, Percy did not seem overly surprised. Indeed he confided in her that he would marry his longtime girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater. They chatted about their friends, and Ginny informed him that the Trio were in the Three Broomsticks. A bit later they said goodbye and Percy continued down to the Post Office and the other end of the town.

Ginny returned to Hogwarts and arrived at Gryffindor Tower, stopping in front of a glaring Fat Lady that had been happily dozing when she murmured the password, 'All your base are belong to us.' Ginny was ready to hex the halfwit Muggleborn that had come up with that grammatically incorrect and inane saying.

She made her way up to the stairs stealthily, used to going places without being heard or else having to suffer her stubborn brothers following her. Just as she made it to the door, she heard a soft whisper in the other dorm; Lavender, Parvati, and Hermione's room. She opened her door and was about to enter when she could have sworn she heard the name 'Draco.' Being a sister of the infamous Twins, Ginny was prepared with some pranking artifacts.

She took out the Extendable Ears, deployed them and prepared to listen. She could hear a strange conversation between Lavender and Parvati.

"I'm sorry you'll have to marry that poor sod, Parvati. You could come and live with me in Malfoy Manor."

"Will your husband allow that?"

"It won't matter what he says. It'll all belong to me then. If not you can live with Padma. Seamus, Padma, Retta and I, we will be set up for life!"

Ginny was so shocked that she fell back against the door on the other side of the corridor. She just had time to grab the Ears, bolt to her room and close the door before Padma came out to investigate the sudden noise.

Ginny spent the rest of the day and part of the night pondering what she had heard. It all made no sense whatsoever.

The next day, during lunch, Seamus Finnigan came up to the Hufflepuff table, where Draco was seated, and wanted to know if Pansy was still a virgin, how many guys she had slept with, what her tastes in men were like; all this delivered with condescension and self-righteousness. Seamus seemed to think that as a member of the Light, he was entitled to some fun; after all, to the victor goes the spoils.

Draco was incensed and wanted to yell at Finnigan and punch his snobby face, when his arm was stopped by Harry, who had rapidly approached them when he sensed trouble brewing.

Harry said, "There is no need to be so smug, Seamus. What Pansy has done is her business. Your business is to take care of her, not demean her. As for your attitude, you have to remember that hundreds of people fought at the Final Battle. Your contribution, though appreciated, was simply one of many."

Finnigan left with a sour mien. Meanwhile Draco wrenched his arm from Harry and asked him bitterly, "Why did you stop me, Potter? I would have loved to throw a punch at that smart ass."

"Don't waste your time on him, Draco. He's always been a little dimwitted, I remember him making my life difficult because his mother thought I was a menace. He's always displayed a fickle temperament. Leave him alone and let fate decide."

"I'm going to the Room of Requirement to practice, care to go with me?"

Draco turned inquisitive eyes to Harry and announced a little grandly, "Sure, I'll go, Harry."

Susan Bones added herself to their small group with studied nonchalance. She thought she might forget for a while her horrible fate to marry Etienne. Draco's reports about the unbecoming conduct of Zabini concurred with the story told by Grunhilde Maval, a friend of hers who almost got her heart broken by the good-looking git. Like many of the Zabinis, Etienne was very handsome.

They got to the tapestry of the ballet-dancing trolls and Harry paced back and forth, concentrating on what he wanted.

The door appeared and they entered. The Room was furnished with tatamis and a collection of impressive swords on the walls. Harry waved his Elder wand and temporarily transfigured his uniform into loose and sturdy trousers and shirt.

Draco and Susan followed suit. When Draco approached the wall and made to remove a sword, Harry interrupted him saying, "I'd like to start with spells, Draco. I suppose you must know many different spells and curses which could be considered grey or Dark. I'd like to learn to defend against them more rapidly, if possible."

Susan piped up, "Yes, teach us that, Draco! If only uncle Edgar or aunt Amelia could have learned that in time to save themselves! I will not allow myself to become another victim of dark wizards." Susan shoved her plaited hair aside with an energetic gesture and directed piercing brown eyes at Draco.

The lesson duly started and Harry had to admit to himself that Draco was a good teacher. He would pronounce slowly the incantations, show the required wand movements with grace, and he liked to expound a little on the history of the spell, citing when it had been discovered, or what it had been originally used for.

He started with unconventional uses for Light spells and some Grey curses. Defending against such magic took its toll, though, and they were forced to stop after one hour. Susan easily took care of any lesions. She wanted to become a Healer, and was already quite proficient at many of the spells that Madame Pomphrey used.

After healing them, Susan left to go to the Library and do the Herbology homework with Hannah and Terry.

Harry and Draco were left alone. Harry swished and flicked the Elder wand with verve and accio'd some butterbeer provided by the Room. He motioned for Draco to get one of the glasses and they fell into easy banter.

They talked about Grimmauld Place, which Draco remembered visiting as a child. Draco asked about Teddy Lupin's welfare. Unfortunately all the letters that Narcissa had written trying to reconcile family differences with Andromeda Tonks were returned unopened.

Harry talked about his stay at the Burrow, dealing with the grieving Weasley family. He described being torn between continuing with Ginny or not, until the fateful letters arrived.

Harry took a sip of his butterbeer and asked excitedly, "Is your father an Animagus? I mention it because given that Snape was one, I supposed your father could be another. Maybe you have tips about how to become one?"

Draco poured a second glass of butterbeer as he fixed Harry with a penetrating stare, and he responded to the exuberant Gryffindor, "Yes, my father is an Animagus. He can become a Polar Bear."

Harry asked, "Then why didn't he become one in the Department of Mysteries?"

Draco responded, "I think he was too absorbed with what was happening and he forgot to transform. Even if he had done that, he would've been captured in the Ministry and his secret revealed."

Harry took out a Chocolate frog from his school bag, after catching it in midair and munching the head, he continued, "Has he instructed you on how to become an Animagus?"

"No, Harry. The thing with my father is that he gives you the least amount of information possible and expects you to connect the dots by yourself. Says it is good for your intelligence."

Harry groaned and replied, "Reminds me of someone I used to know."

Draco was about to tell Harry about his meeting with Lucius, and he mentally scowled as he imagined his reaction. Harry would react benevolently to the Marriage Law news, just as he reacted good-naturedly to everything else.

Living under Riddle Jr.'s mad and cruel antics could make anyone a little – or a lot – paranoid. Draco decided to keep this news under wraps for the time being. Maybe some time later they would discuss at length the repercussions of that law. For the moment he would only trust his father and allies with his innermost thoughts concerning it.

Finally they left the Room of Requirement. Unfortunately neither of them had their special Maps so they were unable to evade the rapidly approaching blonde until Draco felt himself embraced by a soft body, smelling of jasmine.

Lavender Brown smiled at Draco and said, "Here you are, my Dragon! I was hoping we could discuss the details of our wedding. I have already chosen Parvati as my maid of honor, and Dean Thomas as your best man. We could have the wedding at my home in Solsbury Hill, or we could have it at your Manor, of course."

Lavender smiled flirtatiously at Draco and continued, "The augurs agree with me that the best possible date is January 17th. Of course I will make a list of people to invite and…"

Draco looked beseechingly at Harry but the brunet had a contemplative look, as was his wont, and promised to offer little aid.

The Slytherin directed his searching gaze to a point in the corridor beyond Lavender, grimaced and shouted, "Peeves has a cauldron and is coming here! Better run!"

Lavender hurriedly made her way to the left, Harry and Draco to the right.

After running several yards, Harry turned his head and discovered that there was no Peeves following them. Draco just smirked at Harry's raised eyebrow and explained, "Good way to get rid of that Gryffindor, right? Just blame Peeves."

Unfortunately Nearly-Headless Nick heard that and relayed the conversation to Peeves. Later the enraged Poltergeist would spend the rest of the day composing a little ditty he'd sing honoring the traitorous students, "Lav-Lav and Drakie, sitting on a tree and getting married!"

On their way down to the Great Hall, Harry and Draco met their Potions professor, Horace Slughorn. The portly Head of Slytherin engaged them in conversation and invited Harry to the reconstituted Slug Club. Surprisingly, he also invited Draco.

The blond politely declined the invitation, citing his heavy school work. The Slytherin seemingly inadvertently mentioned the Arithmancy and Potions homework he still had to do.

After a disappointed Slughorn disappeared down the corridor, Harry commented, "Why did you decline, Draco? I would've thought you'd like to go to these meetings. They are very elitist, you know."

Draco replied, "During Sixth Year, Slughorn didn't care about me. He didn't ask me to join his so-called Club because the Malfoy name had been dragged to the mud due to my father's imprisonment in Azkaban. But now, after the Wizengamot declared us free, our name may be cleared in time."

"Predictably, Slughorn has decided to invite me now and maybe use my connections. I won't accept that!"

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At 7:00 o'clock, Hermione was in the Library all alone, finishing her pesky Arithmancy homework, when Ginny entered and sat next to her. The redhead cast notice-me-not charms and told Hermione about the discussion she overheard between Lavender and Parvati.

Ginny explained, "It was very weird, Hermione. Lavender offered Parvati the Malfoy Manor as her residence! She spoke as if she would have complete control over it. She also mentioned that she, Seamus, Padma and Retta would be rich."

A drawling voice answered sarcastically, "It's somewhat easy to explain, Weaselette. Fancy meeting you here with Hermione. I think it is time we had a little talk."

Draco Malfoy sat down on the chair next to Hermione. The brunette wondered how Malfoy had overcome the charms Ginny cast, when she noticed among the parchments Draco put on the table a very distinctive one, the Serpent's Map.

So that was how he found them, how he overcame the charm, and how he knew they would not be overheard.

Draco said, "I think it might be time for us to join forces."

Chapter three