Windbound 2/33

[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

Chapter one

True to Skeeter's report, over the weekend owls started arriving bearing the news of who would be married to whom.

Draco found that Justin's fiancée was Daphne Greengrass. Luckily for both of them, they liked the choices selected for them, Justin had even asked Draco for tips on how to woo Daphne, and she appeared entranced by the curly-haired would-be Etonian. Daphne commented to Draco she was very afraid of who would be chosen for her sister, Astoria. The beautiful blonde was home-schooled in the West Midlands and therefore did not attend Hogwarts.

Draco reminded Daphne that the silly Marriage Law specifically stated the minimum age would be 18 years old, so Astoria had some time before she was forced like all of them to enter an unwilling yoke.

Susan, for whom Draco had a soft spot, had been selected for Etienne Zabini, a cousin of Blaise's. Unfortunately the blond knew that Etienne was a vain cheating bastard, and he despaired of having to see the gentle Susan tie the knot with that character.

Hannah, the brunette Hufflepuff, was betrothed to Zacharias Smith. Again Draco felt a lot of rage at the Ministry, for forcing sweet Hannah to marry that foul-mouthed git. Ginny had once jokingly compared Smith and Draco, saying that they were both blonds and gits. In reality, however, Draco had changed and was not a complete bastard, even if only to those he cared about; while Smith continued antagonizing everybody in the school, including his own house.

These and many other couples had been notified on Saturday. They were also told they had until January 12th 1999 to comply and get married, or else.

Draco's contacts at the Ministry suggested that the second wave of notifications should arrive on Sunday. They would have to marry before January 20th.

The blond ate timorously his breakfast, waiting for the menacing owls to appear. As if answering his mental summons, several barn owls flew over the tables and went to selected individuals. Draco saw Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Harry and Terry get owls.

A particularly stubborn-looking owl landed in front of him. Draco disdainfully untied the parchment and gave the owl some bacon, which the bird ate surprisingly daintily before flying off.

Draco opened the parchment and read:

Dear Mr. Draco Malfoy:

On behalf of the Department of Magical Nuptials and the Ministry of Magic, it is my pleasure to inform you that Miss Lavender Brown is your future wife. You are expected to marry her before January 20th 1999 and produce at least one baby out of this union by January 20th, 2000.

We remain courteously at your service,

Sincerely

Ernest M. Bradsee

Head of DMN (Department of Magical Nuptials)

cc. Mr. Kingsley Shacklebolt

Minister of Magic

cc. Woodgrinder

General Manager of Gringott's

Draco was enraged. How did they dare pair him up with that ditzy Gryffindor? How in hell would Lavender be a great Mrs. Malfoy? What were they thinking?

More importantly, why did they have to send copies of this message to Shacklebolt and Gringott's? They should not be interested at all, unless…

Draco took out a parchment and his last quill from his school bag and wrote a letter to his father:

Father,

I'm sure you know by now about this farce of a Marriage Law and who is supposed to become your daughter-in-law. I suggest we join forces, because the continuance of the Malfoy family is at stake, something for which we have endured so much, something we love beyond life itself.

I'm sure you still have good contacts at the Ministry and elsewhere. One thing that surprised me is that the fools sent a copy of my message to Gringott's. I can only surmise why they did that. I'm sure we could meet in Hogsmeade at the Hog's Head the next Saturday.

Your son,

Draco

Draco took out his Hawthorne wand, dutifully returned by Harry. He swished it energetically over the parchment and used a spell which would substitute each word for its equivalent numerical value according to Arithmancy, and then would scramble the numbers, acting like a cryptographic device. The numbers – and words – could be unscrambled only by the counterspell of a family member.

Draco left to the Owlery to send the letter with his bird Osiris.

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Ginny received her parchment from a very energetic owl, a little like Pig, but bigger and less exuberant. She read the notice and her face fell.

Hermione turned to look at Ginny, ready to tell her the news of who her partner was, when she noticed Ginny looking subdued. The brunette asked, "What's wrong, Ginny?"

"You won't believe who they have paired me with!"

"Who, Malfoy?"

"No, in a sense that would have been better. My future partner is the one and only Boy Who Lived, Vanquisher of Voldemort!"

"Aren't you happy, Ginny? I thought this was what you wanted."

"If you had asked me that a year and a half ago, I would have answered with a resounding yes. Things change, though. At that time Harry hadn't left me to go on this quest of his."

"He had yet to break up with me for 'my own protection.' Tell me, Hermione, am I supposed to only obey his commands? Do I have to sit unseen, gathering dust, until he sees fit to notice me out of the goodness of his heart and takes me to the light?"

Ginny sighed and said, "I guess these will remain unanswered questions, for now I am to become Mrs. Potter. What about you, Hermione? Who will you marry?"

Hermione blushed and answered simply, "Ron."

Ginny replied somewhat bitterly, "Then you must be happy, you are marrying the love of your life, why aren't you prancing around like Lavender?" Ginny pointed at the blonde Gryffindor, who could be seen as she danced a victory dance.

Hermione answered, subdued, "I am happy, Ginny. It is just that I thought I would not marry straight out of school, I would go to University perhaps, or travel around the world for some time before settling down and marrying. Much as I love your mother, I don't want to be exactly like her."

Then Ron started guffawing loudly, and even the suddenly serious Harry chuckled once or twice. When asked by Ginny what was so funny, Ron answered, "Lavender! Lav-Lav is going to marry the ferret! Isn't it wonderful? They will have blond, ditzy ferrety gits!"

Ginny walked away, disgusted at his immature brother. If only he grew up, he'd be perfect for Hermione.

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September 19th, 1998

The Hog's Head, Hogsmeade

After breakfast, Draco made his way to Hogsmeade, where he was to rendezvous with Lucius in the Hog's Head. He proposed this place to his father knowing that his new friends loved the Three Broomsticks and could be counted upon to be there at some point in the morning. As he passed Scrivenshaft's he got in and bought some quills and parchment.

He'd had a headache because he'd spent most of the night listening to the woes of Susan, Hannah, and Terry, who had to marry Anastasia Warbeck, a niece of the Weird Sisters singer who was 39 years old. Fortunately he had time to grab an Anti-headache potion from the Infirmary, the last batch brewed by his godfather.

Draco entered the Hog's Head and instantly recognized Lucius's leonine mane. Malfoy was seated in a booth at the back of the establishment. Draco made his way there after staring a bit at the ominous tusks of the hog's head adorning the wall. As he approached the table he cast some privacy charms.

Draco nodded and smirked at Lucius, who smirked back. Draco took a seat across from his father. The owner, Aberforth Dumbledore, walked to their table and nodded imperceptibly to them. Aberforth's icy blue eyes stared fixedly at the two Malfoys as he took their order. The man did not have Albus's complete faith in the goodness of the Universe, on the other hand, he was considerably less manipulative, and therefore had a tentative friendly relation with the elder Malfoy.

Lucius imperiously raised an eyebrow and ordered some firewhisky. Draco wanted some elf brandy acquired from the fabled Alfheim. Then father and son got down to business and started comparing notes on the infamous Marriage Law.

Lucius drawled lazily, "My Muggle contacts tell me about a strange law that is going to be introduced to the House of Commons. I've made sure that you will receive one copy today, as well as a copy of the document presented to the Wizengamot."

Lucius continued, "My former associates tell me that the Marriage Law will also apply to young people who do not reside currently in Britain. Pansy Parkinson is to marry Seamus Finnigan, and Gregory Goyle should marry Marietta Edgecombe. Blaise Zabini will have to marry Padma Patil. It seems no one is safe, these are sorry tidings indeed."

To change the somber mood, Draco asked, "How is mother faring?"

Lucius smirked, took a sip from his firewhisky, and tapped Draco's shoe with his cane, replying, "She is as good as can be, Draco. She is mad about this outrage. I considered bringing her here but I knew that if she met someone she didn't like, someone like Aberforth, she might make a scene. You know your mother's temper as well as I do, Draco."

The elder Malfoy drawled, "It has also come to my attention that Gringott's seems to be preparing for an expansion, even if the current economic climate does not appear to warrant such conclusions."

"Draco, you'll do what you have to do to ensure that our family continues."

Draco and his father looked at each other intently. So many months they lived on the razor's edge, where a minor gesture could doom any or all of them to the reckless and mad disregard of Voldemort. They endured because they put family in first place.

Part 2