Windbound 1/33

[herumtreiber]

Title: Windbound 1/33
Chapter: one
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: PG-13
Warnings: Sexual content
Epilogue compliant? Epilogue complaisant
Chapter length: 4,288 words
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

Windbound – A condition wherein the ship is detained in one particular station by contrary winds.

September 10th
1998 Hogwarts

Hermione Granger walked rapidly to the Library, adroitly evading Peeves' prank. She wore neatly her school uniform; her bushy hair was a bit tamed thanks to Ginny's advice. The petite redhead had read in Witch Weekly a new spell to tame hair, developed by Avernius Lockhart. This individual was the cousin of the Gilderoy Lockhart who was in St. Mungo's. He shared the same narcissistic qualities but Avernius used them positively at least.

Hermione still had to do the Ancient Runes homework. Unfortunately none of the Gryffindors took that class, except for Lavender Brown; she was determined to let the blonde bimbo flounder on her own.

The Library was almost deserted, only Susan Bones and Terry Boot were there. Hermione made her determined way to her favourite table and sat down. She soon heard a boy greeting Terry and Susan. That person put down some books next to her. She turned and looked at the Slytherin, Draco Malfoy. He still looked thin after having endured one year under the watchful eyes of Riddle Jr. He had cut his hair short and did not look as pale as he did before, having gone to Barcelona for two weeks.

Hermione remembered the scene ten days after the Battle, when she and her two best friends were having breakfast in 12 Grimmauld Place. They had witnessed the sudden arrival of a regal Eagle owl bearing an urgent missive from Draco, asking for their help to keep the Malfoys free.

Predictably, Ron was of a mind to let them fend for themselves. Hermione initially agreed with that viewpoint until Harry made an impassioned speech about extending olive branches to former enemies. The brunet made the point that the Malfoys committed grievous mistakes but in the end they abstained from battle, seeking only to help each other.

Having been moved by Harry's plea, Hermione concurred. Later the two of them would give their testimony at a plenary session of the Wizengamot. In a fit of pique, Ron decided to spend that day in the Burrow.

In front of the Wizengamot, the two Gryffindors spoke about the fact that Draco Malfoy kept their identity secret, that fateful day at the Manor. Harry pointed out that Narcissa Malfoy saved his life by outright lying to Voldemort in front of his Death Eaters. He also told them about Draco's shout in the Room of Hidden Things, which earned them precious seconds to escape Crabbe and Goyle's attack.

Facing the strong support of two of the Light's icons for the Malfoys, the Wizengamot was forced to declare them free. From that day forward, Harry and Hermione observed a relentlessly polite Draco. They started to accept, even enjoy the Slytherin's company and his somewhat tempered acerbic wit. Unfortunately Ron could not bury the hatchet and remained as contrary as ever, quite a different position from Harry's wisdom and depth of maturity.

oOoOo

Hermione was forcibly yanked from her reverie by Draco's cheerful voice. "What are you doing here, Hermione?"

She turned to the Slytherin and narrowed her eyes. "Why are you so cheerful, Malfoy?" She noticed he had an open book in front of him. "What are you reading?"

Hermione skilfully grabbed Draco's book and read the title. 'Magical Inheritance by Abo Gado.' Her eyes twinkled as she continued excitedly, "Hey, Magical Inheritance! Does this mean you are a Veela? Do you have to have a mate or you will die? Is it Harry?"

Draco blushed and then chuckled, trying to deal with an excitable Granger. "You're wrong. Not all blond people are Veelas or Scandinavia would be a giant love nest." He narrowed his eyes in thought. "On second thought, maybe they are Veelas!"

Grabbing back his book, he opened it and pointed at the yellowed pages. "This book is about Magical Inheritance, but refers to that of large estates." Draco patted the book whilst he looked sharply at the Gryffindor girl. "You see, centuries ago the Tudor and Stuart monarchs used Parliament to issue Bills of Attainder and grab hold of noble estates, which they would later use as they saw fit. Kind of like the Ministry of Magic today."

Hermione huffed. "The Ministry does things for the good of the people!"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Have it your way. As I was saying, many purebloods cast complex spells on their estates, binding them exclusively to their blood heirs. That way, if someone unlawfully seized their assets, they would be  magically put under Gringott's management to avoid the usurpers."

Hermione grabbed her quill and started taking notes, as was her wont. She looked at the blond. "Did it work?"

"The kings got the message and left us alone. Those spells are still active though, the estate always goes to the next in blood. There can be no obstructions. That is why some Wizarding families do not dare disinherit their own heirs; if they did, the money would evade their grasp and end up in Gringott's."

Hermione gently put the quill on the parchment. She frowned, recalling the story of Sirius Black.

Meanwhile Draco went on, "Those spells were the only thing that kept the Ministry from confiscating our estate. If we'd been declared guilty and sent to Azkaban, they would have had the right of seizure. Because we were declared free, the spells protected our ancestral wealth."

She pointed out the obvious flaw in his story. "But Sirius Black left the Black fortune to Harry. How could he have done that with this magical inheritance thing?"

Draco turned to watch Hermione carefully, sporting a smirk. "The Blacks were not among the families that enacted those spells; they were far too independent and eccentric to do that. They preferred to dwell in absolute splendour according to their motto, 'Toujours pur.'"

Hermione recalled the time she'd spent in Grimmauld Place. She mumbled, "Seeing that blasted thing they proudly called their family tapestry, I'm convinced some of them were crazy. To whimsically disinherit family members is stupid. A man was disowned for lending money to one of the several Blacks whose names were blackened on the tapestry. I wouldn't take that thing, even if Kreacher chased me and beat me with a serrated broomstick."

She noticed a curious parchment among Draco's documents, about 14 by 17 inches. She made to grab it but Draco was faster than her; he kept it at arm's length.

She pouted and waved her hand at the parchment. "What is that?"

"Can you keep a secret, Granger?"

She snorted. "Of course!"

Draco drawled, "When father and mother were at Hogwarts, they were very good in some subjects. Mother liked Charms and Father excelled in Arithmancy. In her First Year, Flitwick gave Mom an assignment and she asked the help of the Head Boy Lucius Malfoy."

He touched the yellowed parchment with pride. "The assignment having been finished, they continued on a quest of their own choosing. They came upon the idea of a drawing depicting where everybody was at Hogwarts."

Hermione gasped whilst Draco continued. "When Father graduated, Mother carried on the task. During her last year at Hogwarts, she was joined in that quest by the redoubtable Severus Snape, my godfather-to-be. Unfortunately, in June 1975 they didn't notice a small rodent, a traitorous rat, spying on their meetings. Wormtail later relished boasting to Father how he blabbed everything his friends discussed about their project to the young Marauders."

He put the parchment on the table and shrugged. "Unfortunately Remus Lupin was better at Charms than Narcissa, and they were able to finish their Marauder's Map before ours."

She frowned. "How do you know about the Map?"

Draco smirked whilst he took a sheaf of parchments from his bag. "Life under Voldemort was boring, Hermione. Wormtail liked to talk about his former friends and their exploits; to me it seemed as if he was in awe of them. Wonder why he betrayed them if he thought so."

Hermione glared at the table. "Because he was a slimy traitor, that's why!"

Draco picked a parchment and started writing on it. "At any rate, Severus graduated and left Hogwarts. Years later, when he returned to teach here, he developed a special potion that allowed the completion of their task."

Draco picked up his Map, caressing it as he presented it to her. "Hermione, here is the Schlangenkarte."

She lifted an eyebrow. "The Serpent's Map?" Hermione grabbed hold of an edge of the parchment and nothing happened. She peppered the blond with questions. "Why does it have a German name? How does it work?"

Draco answered with a shrug. "By the time he finished it, Severus was on a German kick. He learnt it in order to study ancient medieval manuscripts of the Holy Roman Empire. I guess they concerned alchemical methods like magical distillation and the basics of transmutation, the same texts which Nicholas Flamel perused in Aachen in 1541."

Hermione pouted. "You haven't told me why it doesn't work."

"I assure you that it does not work on the basis of something as plebeian as a silly sentence serving as password. It only functions when touched by the hand of a Malfoy, Black or Snape."

Saying that, Draco held the parchment in his hands. Hermione was astounded to note how the Serpent's Map became active. It didn't show a complete Hogwarts representation like the Marauder's Map. Instead she could only see the Library, the corridors in the North and West side, and some adjoining classrooms.

She remembered one time her father was talking to the architect in charge of building their swimming pool; she had watched his architectural drawings. The Slytherin's Map looked just like that.

Hermione noticed with amusement that the picture in the Map changed position according to how Draco moved his index finger. It acted like a pointing device. She was of a mind to tell Draco that his finger was a mouse, but she knew he would be baffled and then enraged, better to bide her time.

The Map showed the same level of detail as the other one with some notable exceptions. She studied the circle denoting Susan Bones and saw a small icon depicting a seemingly hallucinating badger, under it were her name and the initials HB. Likewise, Terry was represented by an image denoting a dyspeptic eagle and MB. She frowned angrily when she noted that her own icon was a psychotic lion which had the initials MB, Malfoy was shown with a drawing of a smirking snake and the letters PB.

She asked irately, "What's with all the initials, Malfoy?"

Draco put the Map down, brushing his fingers over the smooth surface. "You have to understand the time when they made the Map and who did it. They believed completely in Riddle's ideals, which had been circulating in Hogwarts for years. So they decided the Map would show who was Pureblood, Half-blood or Muggleborn."

"That's outrageous!" Hermione stared angrily at the piece of parchment.

The blond nodded sagely. "It was a waste of time to design the Map so. The thing could show much more useful information. If only I could direct or program it as they did!"

She mumbled low under her breath, "Stupid pureblood prejudices!"

Draco looked down at the floor. "Unfortunately, I once believed the same thing. Until I was brutally shown how stupid they were when… "He trailed off as a shudder passed through his body. Finally he continued the story. "I witnessed Voldemort killing people notwithstanding their heritage. Living under the shadow of death, I made a vow with myself, that I would be free. If not doing what I wanted, at least free from their imposed prejudices."

The blond sighed wistfully, putting the Map back on his bag. "But enough of my maudlin thoughts. I should've had the Map for the entirety of my school career, but my esteemed godfather decided it would be better if I got it later. As if I would have abused the privilege!"

Hermione quickly hid behind a book as she rolled her eyes, imagining the mischief Draco undoubtedly would have caused if he'd had the use of the Map earlier. She imagined Harry would've been attacked by Slytherins, making his leisure way to the kitchen in Third Year. She pictured the Trio suffering heinous curses as retaliation for the attack on Draco at the end of Fifth Year. It would have been difficult for them. Thank Merlin Snape proved wise!

As Draco continued ranting about Snape's unfairness, Hermione couldn't help but observe how sad he looked, how he hunched his shoulders when he spoke of Severus. Clearly the Potions Master was sorely missed by his godson.

Seeking to distract him, Hermione asked, "When did you get the Map, then?"

Draco visibly brightened as he answered, "Last year; it was clear from Severus' demeanour when he gave it to me that he hoped I'd use it to escape the Carrows' iron grip."

His lips curved upward in a smirk. "I believe I used it wisely. You can ask Ginny if you want."

She brushed aside a curl, frowning. "Ginny, what does she have to do with it?"

Draco stared at her earnestly, pointing down to his bag. "I used the Map to spy on the Carrows. They detested Ginny for being a Weasley and Longbottom for defying them so. When I surmised that Amycus or Alecto were on the way to torture them, sometimes I'd manage to interrupt their sessions with important messages I made up."

She shuddered, imagining Hogwarts under the heinous rule of the crazed Death Eaters. "Did it work?"

Draco shrugged, twirling his quill between his fingers. "Couldn't use that tactic always, but it was enough to deflect a little the insane Carrows."

After he took out the parchment from his bag, touching it as if it would connect him with his godfather, Draco stared at the windows of the Library with a faraway look in his eyes. "In the Map, I witnessed the confrontation between Severus and the Heads of Houses when they cornered him and forced him to jump out the window. It was the last time I ever saw Severus, as I noticed his name flicker and vanish on the Map he created, flying away from Hogwarts. Leaving the school for the last time."

oOoOo

They were interrupted by the arrival of Harry, Ron and Ginny. Hermione noticed that Draco unobtrusively put the Map beneath all his other parchments.

Ron sat at the other end of the Library. He appeared to be studying intently a book he'd taken from his school bag. He didn't look as thin as he had when they came back from the horcrux hunt. He had filled up; undoubtedly due to the gargantuan meals Mrs. Weasley had been cooking lately, trying to deflect her sadness due to Fred's loss.

Ron still had black rings under his eyes, a sign that he slept poorly. He had thrown himself into school work to deal with the loss of Fred. He tried to preserve some sense of continuity, and of course one way to do that was his enmity with Malfoy.

On the second day of classes, Ron taunted Draco and intimated that his mother was a shared commodity amongst the Death Eaters. Then he punched Draco, expecting he would walk away scot-free like the time he hit Draco during the Final Battle. Instead he faced a very irate Slytherin and Ron came away with a broken nose.

After staying in the Infirmary, having been thoroughly chastised by an irate Madame Pomfrey, the two returning students were led to the Headmistress's office. Ron expected McGonagall would be lenient towards him. After all, he was a hero of the Light. The Head of Slytherin, Slughorn, would defend Malfoy weakly. They all knew Slughorn secretly favoured Gryffindor.

Ron faced instead a stern McGonagall and a woman she introduced as Liz Lehmke. The Headmistress said she was Hogwarts' Ombudswoman whilst she glared ferociously at Draco.

Ron remembered his father and Percy talking about some abstruse condition the Slytherins had requested in order to return to Hogwarts. As if the slimy snakes had the right to do so!

Percy had calmed his incensed father, explaining that the Slytherins felt McGonagall would be too partial towards Gryffindor. After all, she had thrown them in the Dungeons during the Battle. Matters of punishment at Hogwarts should be reviewed by an Ombudsman appointed by the Ministry who would have the final say. Otherwise the Slytherins threatened to withdraw themselves from Hogwarts. The school would undoubtedly suffer from this drain of resources, added to the costs of war reparations.

When the Headmistress punished Slytherin for the fight with the loss of 100 points due to Malfoy's outburst, Lehmke quickly took 200 points from Gryffindor, explaining that Ron provoked and started the fight.

After losing his house so many points, Ron tended to avoid Malfoy as much as possible, keeping his distance from him, even in the Library.

Ginny went to their table. Brushing her fiery red hair aside, she said mockingly, "Oi, ferret!"

Draco answered with a mock bow. "What's up, fair Weaselette?"

Ginny' defiant stance made her look like a Scandinavian maid of yore. The kind of girl who would promptly join her man as he sailed to the end of the world, the woman who would prove adept in caring for their offspring. The willowy redhead had strong, intelligent features. She liked to banter with Draco.

The two had shared a very rough year in Hogwarts, the scant time when Draco was around. Ginny felt he always seemed to appear at the most unexpected moments, when she was about to be tortured. It was unsettling for the redhead, but it made her reappraise the pale boy and realize that he had changed.

Ginny looked around, scowling. "Where's Finch-Fletchley? I need to discuss with him our plans for Hogsmeade."

Harry sat down next to Ginny, pointing to the back of the room. "Saw him five minutes ago talking to Susan." He shrugged, lifting his glasses with his index finger. "Must be Head business."

Ginny growled. "They are up to something!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Come on! They are good Heads."

The redhead narrowed her eyes and answered rebelliously, "Harry should have been the Head Boy, or at least Ron. I don't see why they had to go and choose Justin. The world's crazy, I tell you."

Apparently Ginny did not respect the curly-haired Hufflepuff at all.

Harry replied softly, "They were the best choice, representing the best of both settings, the Muggle and the magical world. They are what is left of our innocence. Remember that they fought for the right side. I reckon it's time they enjoy the fruits of their labour. To me, they are the side of Hogwarts that works quietly in the shadows. Like the roots of a tree you know, providing support and succour."

Harry looked like a prince among men. Like Ron, he benefited from Mrs. Weasley's culinary skills. He wore the customary school uniform, his frame having filled at last. His unruly hair as wild as ever, he'd nearly been convinced by Ginny to get contacts but decided to keep his glasses. Harry had a healthy tan because of the hours he'd spent in the sun helping the Weasleys to degnome the garden.

When the excitement of the victory over Voldemort's forces died down, Harry asked Ginny if she'd go out with him again. To his surprise, Ginny declined the chance. Ginny made the telling point that she had been really devastated because he broke up with her and left for his hunt without inviting her along. Surely she was on Voldemort's death list already for being one of his friends and a Weasley; so his reasons for breaking up with her seemed facile to Ginny.

Ginny wasn't sure she should acquiesce to his wishes this time, only to be brutally yanked from her dreams when his insecurity reared its ugly head again.

So Harry and Ginny were just friends. There was a subtle tension between them but Ginny was comforted by the fact that Harry behaved like a perfect gentleman, as was his wont.

She had confided her troubled feelings to her friend Hermione. The brunette offered encouragement and in turn talked about her own ambivalent feelings towards Ron. She liked him a lot but she felt there were quite a number of barriers to overcome before they would be ready to marry. Their constant fights were distracting at best and depressing at worst.

oOoOo

On Friday, they had pineapple jam, Harry's beloved flavour. He was enjoying it when the owls bearing messages swooped into the Great Hall. He squinted up at the beautiful birds. Hermione, Ginny and Ron had urged him to get another owl but Harry couldn't bear to replace Hedwig.

Draco was eating breakfast at the Hufflepuff table. Surprisingly enough, he was friends with Justin, Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones and Terry Boot. Draco's main bone of contention had been with the Gryffindors, so it was easy for the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws to accept him. One of the aftermaths of the war was that most people were tired of fighting. They adopted the motto 'live and let live.'

Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and several other Slytherins had transferred abroad. Draco occasionally regaled his new friends with stories of their adventures in Durmstrang, like the time Goyle took the wrong boat at the Lake and ended up in Yokohama instead of Gdansk, or Pansy's trouble in following the inane tales of History of Magic. It would seem that class was fated to be boring even when living persons imparted it.

Blaise Zabini was studying his final year in Beauxbatons. He wrote lyrical letters to Draco about life in beautiful Languedoc.

The blond still bristled easily. He remained a caustic observer, much more sure of himself lately and able to tolerate differences of opinion with other people that would have enraged him before.

Of course there were many students disgruntled with Malfoy and his role in the war. Draco didn't react as strongly as before to their taunts, though.

One morning Zacharias Smith had started taunting Draco on the corridor in front of the Potions classroom, wondering aloud how they permitted cowardly Death Eaters to study at Hogwarts. Ginny jumped to Draco's defence, something which surprised Smith. She pointed out that the Malfoys had saved Harry's life at least three times and as for the cowardly tag, Draco had been in the Final Battle whilst Smith turned tail and ran.

Several students snickered and laughed when they heard that. Smith snorted and countered that he very much doubted that information. Ron said forcefully, "It's true that Malfoy was there. I know because I punched him right after a Death Eater attacked him!"

When they fought with Draco, he replied in kind. If they ever hexed him, his response was brutal. After all, he had been living with Death Eaters for quite a while and knew many painful, legal spells.

More than once he was saved from McGonagall's draconic punishments by the unflappable Liz Lehmke. Seeing that the Headmistress had the knack of letting the other parties walk away free and concentrate her ire on Draco, the Ombudswoman warned her that if bigotry got the better of her, Lehmke would report to the Ministry and McGonagall would be dismissed as Headmistress.

oOoOo

Hermione took the newspaper offered by the owl and put the coins in its pouch. She opened the page and began to read, her eyes widening. The constant whispering and murmuring in the Great Hall ceased completely and a deathly quiet descended upon the Great Hall.

Hermione read:

Marriage Law approved by the Wizengamot

The Government, worried about the decline in population due to the past wars, have taken measures to counteract this. The Wizengamot proposed a measure which Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt enthusiastically signed into law. This will ensure the survival of the Wizarding World.

Taking into account the constant and debilitating resentment caused by blood issues, it has been decided that all Wizarding subjects currently unmarried, aged 18 to 40, will be duly wed and should be expecting a child within one year of their marriage. The unions will take place in such a form that a Pureblood will marry a Muggleborn, a Muggleborn a Pureblood or Half-blood, and a Half-blood either one of the others.

In the next days, the happy couples should receive notifications regarding their future spouses. The couplings were done using the Goblet of Truth, a foolproof magical device.

Failure to comply with the provisions of this law will result in loss of magic and complete obliviation of Wizard memories.

These harsh actions are taken to ensure the renewed growth of our decimated society. When asked to comment, Minister Shacklebolt replied succinctly, "It's for the common good."

Reporter
Rita Skeeter

Draco noticed the sudden silence and turned to look at Susan. She and Justin appeared to be absorbed in reading the Daily Prophet. Draco turned to his other side, stole the paper from Terry and proceeded to read the article, after Terry extracted a promise from him regarding the Arithmancy homework. Who would have guessed that Ravenclaws could be so devious?

The blond paled as he read the dreadful news. He discreetly looked around and noticed that many of his classmates were slack-jawed. Hermione and Ginny were pale and seemed about to faint. In contrast, Weasley fleetingly smirked. After reading the distressing news, Harry nodded benevolently to Neville Longbottom.

Chapter two