Windbound 3/33

[herumtreiber]

Title: Windbound 3/33
Chapter: three
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: 3486 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 two - part 2

AN: "Later a geas took the aspect of a taboo or prohibition. A geas can also be compared to a curse or, paradoxically, a gift. If someone placed under a geas breaks it, the infractor will suffer dishonor and even death." From wikipedia

Draco sat down across from Hermione and Ginny. He took out two sets of papers from his stack. He put them side by side, turned them around and pushed them towards Hermione. He motioned to the parchments to the right and said, "This is a copy of the entire Marriage Law, as it was presented and approved by the Wizengamot."

Then he pointed at the papers on the left and said imperiously, "You might be interested to read and compare these papers. They are part of a new Bill that will be introduced in the House of Commons. It is the same as the Marriage Law, verbatim."

Ginny gasped, and Hermione just sat there, jaw agape, until she replied, "I don't believe it, Draco! How can there be a Bill in the Commons about Purebloods, Half-bloods and Muggleborns? Who would betray the Statute of Secrecy so blatantly?"

Draco replied with icy calm, "It is very easy, Hermione. You see, cunning is not restricted to Slytherins. The wording of the Law was so ingeniously wrought that to the uninitiated eye, it could very well deal with the breeding of rare animals in order to keep them in stock. You know, the handling of pureblood horses, prized mares and studs."

"This is what we are to the Ministry! Animals to be husbanded and bred as they see fit!"

Draco took out a copy of an ancient page in which a very curlicued red P immediately caught the eye. He pushed this paper towards Hermione and said, "Study this carefully with your keen eye for detail, Granger, and tell me what you see!"

Hermione observed minutely the page and answered, "It is in Latin, obviously. It deals with oaths of fealty. The letter P and the curious arrow pointing upward intrigue me. Wait a second!"

The brunette stood up and went to an aisle in the middle of the Library. After browsing for some minutes, she came back with a heavy tome titled, "Runes: The Elder Futhark by Herum Treiber." She studied the table of contents and opened the book near the end.

After Draco consulted a Muggle law book Lucius had sent him, he was impatiently tapping his fingers against his wand, until Ginny slapped his arm. Draco glared half-heartedly at Ginny and they both waited for Hermione.

She cried out excitedly, "It's the rune Tiwaz! It represents honor, justice, leadership and authority. It is used to magically seal a bond between a vassal and a liege lord. Where is this page from, Draco?"

"According to father's covering letter, this is a facsimile of Magna Carta, signed by the Barons in the meadow at Runnymede on June 19th 1215."

"This concurs with Malfoy oral tradition. According to that, among the rebellious Barons there were numerous Wizards. When the denouement was clear, they decided to add their little twist. It seems they managed to insert these runes into the documents they signed and oaths they swore. Their intent was to force the other Barons and the King into submission."

"In effect, they intended to cast a geas, a huge Obedience Vow involving the whole of England."

Hermione countered, "It couldn't have worked. There are other protection runes they should've employed."

Draco replied, "Exactly, fortunately they were not as adroit as they thought, they behaved rather like ancestors of Crabbe and Goyle. Needless to say, the expected effect did not materialize."

"However, this brought about changes that would decide how the Wizarding World would interact with the Muggle one. There's a curious balance of power among the different factions due to that interference so long ago."

Hermione continued, her voice shaking a little, "What this means to us right now is that if the same law is approved by the Wizengamot and the Commons, it would become a Metamagical Law. It would be binding both within the Wizarding World and outside it."

Ginny asked worriedly, "What do you mean, Mione?"

"Let's say that I wanted to disobey this Law. I would of course withdraw my money from Gringott's and flee to the Continent. As long as I didn't use any magic that could be traced and I kept away from Wizards I would be all right."

Ginny said, "Except for the fact that if the Muggles approved that law, it would become binding in their territory, the Muggle world. There would be no place you could escape to without being wanted by the authorities, and eventually imprisoned, magically bound and obliviated."

Draco continued, "Worse, the law having been approved by both Realms, the geas would apply to you and would force you to comply or suffer a grievous fate and die."

"You see then what relentless forces we face."

HDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHD

Hermione was terribly pale. She nervously wrung her hands and asked timidly, "Can't you go to them and tell them that you are gay? Then they won't force you to marry Lavender and perhaps you can choose who to wed."

Draco stood up forcefully and started pacing to and fro. He moved his hands wildly as he laughed bitterly. He replied, "You have lived in this place for many years and still you don't get it, do you? You can't understand the depths of hypocrisy of the Wizarding World."

"Homosexuality is casually accepted here, but not condoned; in the same way that inter-species breeding is allowed, but the people resulting from those unions are looked down upon. Believe me, this is an ingrained belief that I've struggled to get rid of."

"This is the same Wizarding World that slavishly follows Harry as the Savior, until someone publishes a libelous story and the tide turns. Then people believe that Harry is insane, or evil, or whatever strikes their fancy."

"This is the environment that blithely condemns a quarter of the students because they belong to Slytherin, no matter that they are only 11 years old, they are looked down upon because they are in the house of the snake. Whatever the other houses do to us is allowed, because we are Slytherins and therefore deserve to suffer."

"In the Wizarding World, you are guilty until somehow you escape and prove your innocence, or die trying. The Wizengamot sentenced Sirius Black to Azkaban without a proper trial, based on flimsy evidence. The Minister can easily order someone to be Kissed and no one raises an eyebrow, like Fudge did with Barty Crouch Jr."

"We would stand a much better chance in the Muggle world. Sure, there are some places which do not allow same-sex unions, but there exist other countries that are more liberal."

Draco scowled fiercely and continued, nervously grabbing parchments at random and seemingly perusing them while he spoke, "Voldemort was truly daunting, an evil madman. Still, during the time he made his headquarters in Malfoy Manor, I had a unique advantage. I knew the Manor inside and out, every secret room, every hidden path."

"I used this to covertly enter the madman's rooms. It was there that I discovered strange books about Wizard and Muggle history."

"Hermione, did you know that the Ministry of Magic was established just a little time after the office of the Muggle Prime Minister came to exist?"

Hermione shook her head, taken aback, and Draco continued. "The first attempts at giving magical species some freedom came after the Muggle Enlightenment. The new philosophy that spoke about the voice of reason somehow managed to infect a little the dimwitted wizards."

"You see, one of the putative reasons Voldemort attacked the Muggleborns and Muggles so intensely would be because he was afraid they would contaminate Wizarding culture. In reality he was vastly more afraid of connotations that spoke about power and how to wield and conserve it."

"Voldemort knew that he could never eradicate the Muggles. There are billions of them versus scant millions of ours. What he desperately wanted was to create a breach between the Wizarding and Muggle worlds so deep, that it would be impossible to cross."

"He wanted the Wizarding world isolated because the Muggle world is where the impetus for reform and ethics generally originates."

"I'm sure that in the Muggle world Sirius Black would have had more chances to be proven innocent. In the Muggle world the constant harassment of Slytherins would eventually be noticed and dealt with, there the right of marriage between people of the same sex would exist, at least in some places."

Hermione made to speak but Draco held up his hand, indicating that he had more to say. "Hermione, I'm sure that you were going to tell us that there is unfairness everywhere, and I agree. Despite the best intentions, sometimes errors are made and people suffer."

"Still, Sirius Black would have had opportunities to appeal his sentence, perhaps employing more Aurors to garner evidence instead of relying on hearsay to shut a man away for life."

"The constant harassment suffered by Slytherins at Hogwarts for decades, like for example being forced to face an enraged werewolf as a 'prank,' or consistently being attacked just for exchanging harsh words; these acts would surely get the attention of competent caretakers and would be investigated. In the Wizarding World, however, it is allowed because it is done to lowly Slytherins."

Ginny said furiously, her cheeks flaming red, "And marriage reserved to straight people is such a staple of tradition that it won't be changed unless the Wizards see the effects firsthand in the Muggle world. You must have noticed how traditional we are. Imagine then a world without the influence of the Muggles and you would have a barbaric situation, worse than the Middle Ages, when the powerful imposed their will ruthlessly."

Ginny continued more calmly, "A situation where people are forced to be little more than animals and mate with whomever the Government considers fit."

Hermione said, "Looking at the whole situation like this, this Ministry handles affairs little better than Voldemort did."

Draco took a look at some parchments, and without changing his expression, continued nonchalantly, "We got off track, time to go back to the Arithmancy equations I was talking about, Granger, where the root number is directly related to the phases of the moon."

Draco pushed the parchments towards Hermione and pointed at them. Hermione, exasperated and wanting to know what the hell Draco was talking about, looked at the papers and almost gasped. Draco was holding the Serpent's Map!

There were the stupid psychotic lion icons representing her and Ginny, next to Draco's insufferable smirking snake. But not 15 feet from them there was another crazy lion icon with the name: Ronald Weasley, and the letters PB.

Hermione chanced to look in the direction where Ron was according to the Map and didn't see anything. She had doubts that maybe the Map was defective and Snape wasn't really that genius in potions, when she realized the truth. Ron was spying on them using the Invisibility Cloak!

Thinking rapidly, Hermione continued the charade, adding, "You're right, Malfoy. The roots respond to the moon, but we only have to worry about the secondary effects. I will take into consideration your proposed solution and will contact you."

Ginny was looking at the blond and the brunette as if they had lost their minds. Hermione managed to catch her eye and she lifted an eyebrow, unconsciously copying the Malfoys.

Hermione grabbed her books and things, stuffed them in her bag, and said to Ginny, "Want to go to the Lake and talk?" Ginny nodded and was forced to swiftly pack her things as hurricane Hermione was leaving the room.

After the Gryffindors left, both the visible and the invisible ones, Draco checked continuously the Map looking for spies under cloaks. He saw that Hannah Abbott was rapidly approaching the Library.

The petite Hufflepuff stormed into the room as she went and sat next to Draco. The Hufflepuff was a bit irritable, maybe because she had dyed her blonde hair into a brown shade. The Slytherin was a bit nervous around the brunette. Her mother had been killed in the same year he had the fateful mission from the madman Voldemort.

She was now a year below them due to having missed two years in her education, and Draco couldn't help but admire her pluck and courage for going expressly to Hogwarts to participate in the Final Battle. It made him ashamed of his part in that Battle, just wanting to survive.

It also fueled his resolve to lead his own life, no matter what other higher powers wanted – or needed.

Hannah and Susan Bones had both suffered grievous losses, yet they continued on and lived the life their departed family members would like them to live. To him they symbolized the main characteristics of Hufflepuff house: loyalty to friends, and a hard work ethic. The house he dismissed earlier in his Hogwarts career was now the place in which he felt most comfortable, not the cold dungeons – although they offered succor in the storm. Not the lofty aeries of Ravenclaw or Gryffindor Tower. Hufflepuff felt like home to him, and it was a place where he could relax, among the company of his friends.

One of the aforementioned friends talked very nastily about her supposed fiancé. Draco offered words of encouragement, but they weren't enough. Luckily though, Justin Finch-Fletchley walked by, saw a disturbed Hannah, sat down and talked with her. He managed to engage Hannah in deep conversation about – of all things – the British Parliament.

Draco's ears pricked up when he heard about the Prime Minister's intent to radically curtail the Lords' powers. Apparently Justin wanted to begin a political career after he graduated Hogwarts and attended Oxford, and his father Jason Finch-Fletchley was a Member of Parliament. Draco casually invited Justin to a meeting he was having with Lucius in Hogsmeade. He carefully suggested that Mr. Finch-Fletchley should join them there.

At any rate, Terry Boot interrupted this discussion when he arrived. The Ravenclaw companionably slapped Draco's shoulder. Terry had been one of the first to accept Draco's change. He supported Draco constantly in a way that neither Crabbe nor Goyle could have done.

Terry wanted to be a scientist, but not any old kind. He wanted to become a Magician Scientist. Draco had accused him once of trying to fulfill the dreams he'd read about in Science Fiction books. Terry had responded nonchalantly – smirking infuriatingly – that Draco liked to peruse those same books.

Draco waited until he had their attention, checking constantly on the Map for magical trespassers, he cast Privacy charms anyway and informed his friends about the gist of his conversations with Hermione and Ginny.

Draco and Harry, occasionally joined by Susan, continued their practice in the Room of Requirement; they had sessions every Monday and Friday. If Harry arrived first the Room appeared in colorful Gryffindor colors, if Draco got there punctually the Room turned out to be silver and green. Susan's early arrival signaled a brilliant yellow and purple atmosphere.

They had run the gamut of Light to Gray spells and Harry begged Draco to teach him the Dark ones.

Draco said, "I'm going to start with a slightly innocuous spell, it's called Sectuminutae and essentially causes wounds that stop bleeding in a few minutes. Severus expanded this spell and created Sectumsempra, where the wounds do not heal unless a special herb or a counterspell is used."

Harry asked, "Can I practice on you?"

Draco fumed, "Are you crazy, Potter? Do you think that after suffering the effects of your dark spells I will let you cast another on me willingly?"

Harry replied calmly, "It's Ok if you don't want to, Draco. I'll just find something else to practice on. I just think you should move away from fears like this that may keep you pinned."

Draco stomped away as he glared at a particularly disturbing red and gold sofa. He was glad that Harry had changed and no longer used him as a human hexed pincushion, on the other hand, the newly calm and collected Harry could get to his nerves faster than the manic Potter of yesteryear.

He was also nervous because he had caught Harry earlier giving him shy admiring glances. Was Potter gay or bisexual? Then what about his girlfriends: the beautiful Cho and the Weaselette?

So Draco was of two – or maybe three or four – minds about this Harry Potter. He wanted to smack him, or even kiss him. It was a far cry from his earlier, simpler school rivalry with the Gryffindor. Those were the halcyon days of donning a Dementor robe and trying to scare Harry! Admittedly, the prank hadn't worked and it was Draco who fell. Anyway, it had been fun.

Meanwhile, the enterprising Harry had cast an old specialty of Draco's, Serpensortia. Harry hissed to the giant boa constrictor that appeared to stay put and he cast Sectuminutiae on it.

Harry saw Draco's look of awe as he cast the spell and watched him eagerly follow Harry's wand waving. Unfortunately Harry had to listen to the unlucky boa hiss and curse all damned Warmbloods who harmed lofty Coldbloods like herself.

Ultimately the kind-hearted Harry healed the wounds of the serpent – who turned out to be called Issimiraha23 – with Episkey. When Harry asked about the serpent's weird name including a number, the serpent nodded, showed her fangs in what could be considered a threatening gesture or a smile - although maybe for snakes the two are the same - and replied that she was the 23rd egg to be hatched, and proud of that.

Harry decided to allow Issi to live in the Forbidden Forest and went to open the door. Harry cheerfully informed the boa of his decision. Draco's ears pricked up and he stopped him, saying, "What are you doing, Potter?"

Harry replied, "I'm inviting the boa to live in the Forbidden Forest."

Draco sneered and replied cuttingly, "Have you forgotten where we are, Harry? We're in Scotland, near the beginning of Winter. I doubt any boa would find the environment congenial."

Draco grabbed Harry's arm and they went to the serpent's side, where she looked at them as if they might constitute a healthy meal consisting of a weasel, or a ferret.

Draco said imperiously, "Translate for me, Harry! Where do you usually live?"

Issimiraha23 hissed a reply, "I live in Brazil, near that delightful silver river."

Harry continued translating the exchange between the human snake and the serpent snake.

"Do you know the name of the river?"

"Mason, Amazon, Macon, something like that. The Warmbloods just run away when they see me, so I couldn't ask. Not that that would be any help, as hardly any Warmblood can listen to our speech except the present company. Like the one with black tendrils and antennae in his eyes that is speaking now."

Harry sputtered and hissed, "Antennae! Tendrils! Of all the nerve…"

Draco hid a smile as he continued, "Know the name of any nearby town?"

"I've heard the name Belem once or twice."

"I will use magic and send you to the town Belem, near the Amazon, where a boa called Issimiraha23 used to live. Ok with that?"

Issi wrapped herself around the blond's legs. Draco was a little afraid at first; after all, his interactions with giant snakes had been with Voldemort's pet, Nagini. Yet with Nagini, there was always this aura of death and despair, which was notably absent from Issi. The seemingly snobby snake projected an aura of coiled power, resolve, and need to protect her young.

Eventually Draco patted Issi. The snake hissed, "This Warmblood is not as hot as you, dark-tendriled one!"

Harry lost his new composure and coughed. He also blushed. When he was back in control, he hissed, "What do you mean?"

"His skin is colder than yours. His white tendrils appear more pleasing to me, his eyes are as silver as that of my home river."

After Harry dutifully translated this, the snake seemed to inwardly laugh at his discomfiture.

Draco swished and flicked his hawthorne wand and intoned, "Zurückkehren!"

The serpent disappeared, after flicking her tongue at Harry.

Harry asked, "What was the language of that spell?"

"It's German. The spell is used to return things to a specific location. You have to know the name of the object to return and the approximate location where it came from."

"I thought all spells were in Latin."

"Most of them are. However, there are several in other languages. There are no limits to spell creation as regards language. Only, you have to create a spell with intent, with a specific pathway delimited by the first caster."

Chapter four - part 1