Going Wrong
Background
I've been toying with the idea for a long, complex Harry Potter story for a while. In it, Harry may get love/soul bonded to a number of witches. That's the plan, but for reasons that should become apparent, I'm considering discarding it. Anyway, I hit upon the idea of adding an OC to Harry's girls. She is a Hufflepuff, muggleborn, devotedly Christian and has considerable difficulty reconciling her bond with her views on marriage. This causes considerable tension. The following scene is a possible conclusion to that. However, I don't want it to end like this, and if I can't find a better way to shape that character I'll just have to cut her, and possibly the whole bond idea. For the purposes of this publication, I've named her Ana Steele. To set the scene, Ana and Harry are both sixth years. It's around Easter time, and Ana has just been forced to turn down Harry's marriage proposal in front of the whole school, as Harry couldn't wait for her to explain in a more private setting.
Harry pulled his invisibility cloak on as he followed his Ana. Her rejection was totally illogical. After all, with the magic of the Bond, they were practically already married. What was so wrong about publicly declaring it? The other girls had all said yes, after all.
Ana was muting the mind link. She'd been doing so ever since he'd proposed to her the previous evening. He had no idea where she'd disappeared off to all day, but it must have been somewhere awful for her to turn him down as soon as he pressed her.
He caught up with Ana just as she slipped into a disused classroom. He only just managed to get in before she slammed the door and hit it with a barrage of locking charms. Then she slumped down on the floor, leaning against the wall, wand next to her on the ground.
She sat in silence. Harry could feel his other bond mates watching through his eyes, and reaching out to Ana, who kept her defences up. Harry gently requested that his girls give them some privacy, and felt them retreat.
As the clamour fell silent, Ana leant forwards, curling her torso around her clasped hands. Her lips moved soundlessly, unspoken words tripping from her tongue. Cautiously, Harry reached out for her thoughts, and for once, found them.
-don't know how long I can last. I'm so scared of what they might do, but I'm even more scared of letting you down. Why did you put me here, Lord? Why are you testing me like this?
Harry's first thought was of Voldemort, but that didn't quite fit. Then who was this Lord?
I need you. God, I need you so much. I'm not strong enough, and you are the only one who can strengthen me. Only you can bring me through this, only you, my God, my Lord, my redeemer, my King-
"My Jesus, my saviour," Ana started singing. As she worshipped, Harry realised that was who she'd been thinking to; that Jesus she was obsessed with.
The song changed, to one about Ana loving Jesus. With each line, Harry could feel the love she felt building up, and all directed at the absent god she didn't seem capable of doing without. The love, that by their Bond should have been Harry's, wasted on some phantom. A massive surge of jealousy burst out of him-
The song halted. Ana bolted to her feet, scrabbling for her wand. He saw her glance around, then close her eyes and consult the Bond. She quickly picked out the jealousy, followed it to its source, and opened her eyes. "Come out, Harry," she said coolly.
Harry dropped the cloak. "Ana-" he started.
"I see you've finally noticed," Ana interrupted. "No matter how I feel about you, God comes first. I've only been trying to explain it for months."
"Is that why you won't marry me? Because you'd rather be some nun?" Harry demanded, temper rising. "Rather waste away singing songs to a figment of a lunatic's imagination than actually accomplish something by my side?"
Her wand was up so fast Harry could only blink at it. "Insult my Lord again, and you will regret it," Ana snarled. "Actually, I'd planned to accomplish something for His glory, by your side if that is His will. As I had planned to tell you, we are too different to commit to marriage now. I was willing to see if we could compromise, but-"
"Compromise? Fine! Give up this delusion, this god of yours!" Harry demanded.
Ana blinked at him in shock. In the back of his mind, he heard some approvals, some suggestions that he could have phrased it better, and then-
Hatred, and disgust. All flowing from Ana. "Never," she said simply. "You may have saved my life, but he saved my soul. We're finished, Potter. I cannot be your wife. I cannot stand before my God, and ask him to make me one with a man who would tear me from Him."
Ana shot a spell past Harry. The door clicked, and she stormed out.
As you can see, Harry doesn't come across quite right, and Ana is a little one dimensional. If I were continue with this, she'd withdraw from Hogwarts, return to the muggle world, and either spend the rest of her life ignoring the Bond, or eventually form a tentative friendship with Harry when he wises up enough to apologise. She would never marry him, though.
