Chapter 1 - The Contract

"Honestly Harry, it's not really a big deal," said Hermione, rolling her eyes at her best friend. Really, Harry should know by now that Professor Snape wasn't going to change his methods, even if he did treat the Lions slightly better than before, which was an unexpected bonus. "I thought after the War you would have gotten over trivial things such as House Points. Does it really matter if Snape took 30 points from Gryffindor?"

Harry glared at Hermione, ignoring the fact she was right which she was most of the time. Though he couldn't stop himself from imagining Hermione crying over points if she had lost them. Instead, he focused his anger onto his neglected lunch by repeatedly stabbing it with his fork. Deciding he was hungry after all, he shoved the mashed potatoes into his mouth and ate. Hermione giggled at Harry's expense, and smirked at him knowingly. This only intensified Harry's glare, who had still not gotten over his traumatic experience in Potions.

"Well, it wasn't THAT traumatic," thought Harry, furrowing his eyebrows together to form a sulky-looking face. He just didn't appreciate losing points for breathing. He thought Snape would have been different now, ever since he and Harry had come to a mutual decision to lay off each other during the endless amount of Order meetings during the War. Well, maybe that agreement was no longer in place since Voldemort had been killed off, and was no longer alive to ruin people's lives.

The rest of Harry's first week back as an Eight Year had been very peaceful, which was a welcomed relief. He could finally spend a normal year at Hogwarts without the threat of a Dark Lord looming over his head. When his letter from McGonagall had arrived during the summer at Grimmauld Place, he had been more than happy to find an excuse to leave the dreary place. Maybe he would be able to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, since being an Auror was no longer of interest to him. Harry could no longer picture himself chasing down Dark Wizards for the rest of his life; he wanted a peaceful life, thank you very much.

"You guys ready for our first lesson of Defense?" questioned Ron, chewing his food very loudly as he spoke. Beside him, Hermione made a face of disgust and slapped Ron's arm. Sensing the oncoming argument, Harry quickly formulated a response.

"Not too sure yet," Harry replied, leaning towards his two best friends. "What if we have another teacher like Umbridge or something?" Weary at the thought of another frilly, pink, toad-like creature, Harry shivered and tried his best to get the nauseating images out of his head.

"We probably won't have another Umbridge," Though Hermione tried to sound positive, Harry could tell she was worried about the identity of the new Professor as well. "I doubt Professor McGonagall would hire someone detrimental to our education." Rolling his eyes at Hermione's response, Harry sighed. The Defense teachers were usually always bad, except for a few exceptions, like Remus.

"Well, we should go now before the bell rings," said Hermione, finishing off her lunch as she searched the ground for her schoolbag. Harry and Ron nodded, and got up as well to do the same. After locating their possessions, the trio headed towards their Defense classroom. All three were nervous to see who would be teaching them.

Walking into the classroom, Harry immediately noticed the vast array of strange devices scattered around the room. Moving towards the strange objects to examine them, Harry was quite confused by what they were. They were all unique, and some of them just looked to be trinkets, like the ones he saw in Dumbledore's office in his Sixth Year. One of the objects looked like a Sneakoscope, but instead was very large compared to the Pocket Sneakoscope Harry owned. The device radiated a light blue, and had a shiny, silver ball in the middle.

"What do you think it is?" asked Ron, eyeing the hefty object with thinly veiled suspicion. Ron had learned since the Diary to be apprehensive of any mysterious, magical objects. After all, he did not want another memory-Voldemort to come along and possess his sister or any of his friends.

"I'm not sure, but it's probably a better version of the Sneakoscope, since that's what it looks like," said Hermione. Hermione was confused by what the item was, and she couldn't remember seeing the intricate device in any of her Defense books.

Before Harry could respond, a handsome, tall man walked into the classroom, and answered Hermione's question. "It is simply a device to guard against dangerous dark creatures, but yes, it is quite similar to a Sneakoscope." said the man, giving the students a charming smile. The man's eyes flickered between the three, and when they landed on Harry, his eyes flashed in recognition, though it left as soon as it came.

Harry pretended he didn't notice, and instead looked his new Defense teacher over. The Professor had dark brown hair, light brown eyes, and prominent cheekbones. Overall, he was very attractive, and Harry couldn't stop the blush that crept onto his face. Choosing to ignore his current situation in hopes of it going away on its own, Harry asked the Professor what his name was instead.

Grinning, the man introduced himself as Professor Thornwell, and shook all three of his new students' hands. "It's nice to meet you three, but you don't need to introduce yourselves. Everyone in the Wizarding World already knows your names," explained Professor Thornwell, giving them a gentle smile. Smiling back at the kind Professor, the group moved towards a desk. Before Harry could get comfortable, Professor Thornwell interrupted him.

"Though I'm sure you're very excited to start Defense with the rest of the class Mr. Potter, I have instructions from the Headmaster to tell you to head off to his office for an important matter he needed to discuss with you," explained Thornwell.

Harry immediately blanched. Usually when it came to him, important matters were deadly situations which he needed to prevent and take care of. Sighing, Harry nodded his head, and grabbed his school bag to take with him to Dumbledore's office. "I'll see you two after class is over then," said Harry.

A few moments later, Harry arrived at the gargoyle which led to Professor Dumbledore's office. Realizing, he had forgotten to ask Professor Thornwell for the password, it took Harry a few seconds to guess the correct password. After saying 'chocolate frogs' out loud, Harry moved quickly up the spiral staircase, and knocked on the door, waiting to be allowed in. Hearing Dumbledore telling him to come in, Harry opened the door and was shocked to see some of the people inside.

Inside the office sat Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy. Though the latter seemed angry and annoyed at being in the Headmasters' office, Lucius and Narcissa were at ease, and pleasantly said hello to Harry. Though Harry knew Lucius was a spy for the Order, he couldn't help but feel on edge when he was around the older man. Harry didn't know Narcissa quite well, but he assumed she was a nice enough lady, though probably a bit snobbish which was expected from someone who was a part of the Malfoy family.

"Er, hello Professor," mumbled Harry nervously. "Did you need anything from me?" Harry heard Malfoy snort derisively, but the boy stopped smirking after his mother gave him a long look.

"Well, you see Harry, the Malfoy family has recently been going through their estate over at Gringotts, and they found an ancient blood contract, which needs to be dealt with," explained the Professor.

"What do you mean? And what's a blood contract?" asked Harry in confusion. Dumbledore sighed, and rubbed his hands together tiredly. After a few moments of silence, Dumbledore responded. "A blood contract is an ancient ritual in which two parties form an unbreakable contract through the use of their blood. Blood contracts are like any other regular contract, except you lose your magic if you defy what you agreed upon. Blood contracts can be enacted at any time, and may be passed down within ancient families. Because of this, sometimes these contracts are then enacted by the descendants of the original people who signed the contract," explained Dumbledore.

Though he now possessed the knowledge of what a blood contract was, Harry was still confused by why he had to be there with the Malfoys. Needing answers to his confusion, Harry announced his thoughts to everyone in the room, and that is when Lucius Malfoy stepped into the conversation to explain the situation.

"As you know Mr. Potter, though the Malfoy family has been saved from Azkaban due to our loyalty and service to the Order of the Phoenix, some of the general public still view us as Death Eaters, and have treated us as such, which is why you come in." Lucius knew he was being blunt, but it was the best way to tell the boy in front of him; no lies, just the truth. Though he did not know the Potter boy personally, after hearing many complaints and stories from his son, he assumed this was the best way to approach the matter. After all, he was not a master manipulator like Dumbledore.

Harry blinked stupidly at what he just heard. "How am I supposed to help?" thought Harry. The War had just ended, and people were already expecting more from him. What more did he have to do to get people to let HIM run his own life? He had done his duty as the so-called Saviour, and now he just wanted to live his life the way he wanted to live it, but something always had to get in the way of his happiness.

"What am I supposed to do to help? I already showed up at your Wizengamot hearings with Professor Dumbledore," said Harry, irritation seeping into his voice. Everyone in the room must have heard it as well, since they all flinched a bit, except for Malfoy.

"My boy, Lucius has found an ancient blood contract between the Malfoy and Potter families, dating back two centuries to when Henry Potter, and Deimos Malfoy united the two families in a short-lived friendship. You see Harry, the Malfoy and Potter families have always been rivals, though this rivalry had ended long enough for a contract to be made when Henry and Deimos were still friends for a short period of time. This blood contract was a special kind of contract. It was the Iunctum Pactum."

Harry was shocked by what he had just heard. "The Potters and Malfoys were friends at one point!?" He couldn't help but doubt the tale. It seemed way too unlikely to have actually happened, but then again, Harry had been through many unlikely events. Snapping out of his shock, Harry quickly asked Professor Dumbledore about the Iunctum Pactum.

Before Dumbledore could give an answer, Mrs. Malfoy stood up and answered for the man. "It is a marriage contract, Mr. Potter. We found it when we were going through our family vault, and we have decided to enact it."

Not believing what he had just heard, Harry was shocked that Dumbledore was doing nothing to stop this from happening. "No! I won't marry HIM just because you told me too, and because you want to use me to look good again!" shouted Harry, his face flushed in anger.

"Though we know you are apprehensive of this situation Mr. Potter, Lucius has already enacted the contract, and you have to agree to the terms otherwise you will lose your magic." said Narcissa calmly. Seeing the oncoming tirade, she once again tried explaining the ordeal. "Look, Harry, we know it's not the ideal situation but we can offer you something great in return, a family." Though it may not seem genuine, Narcissa was honest in what she had said, and she knew she could love Harry as her own son in the future.

Harry had seen the genuine look on her face, and saw that she was honest in her claims of him joining their family, but there was one big problem. Malfoy and him hated each other and he did not want to marry him. "Me and Malfoy hate each other, and I don't want to marry him," said Harry.

Finally saying something, Malfoy calmly agreed with Harry. "Yes, Potter. We do hate each other but I have a duty to fulfill, and whether you like it or not, we will be married. Or you can lose your magic." Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Malfoy didn't even care that they were about to be doomed into a loveless marriage. He had expected a tantrum from the other boy, but was shocked not to hear one.

"Though we would love to give you more time to think this over Mr. Potter, Narcissa and I have other important matters to deal with also, so could you please fulfill the contract? We know it's not the best situation for you at the moment, but our offer is genuine. We could learn to be a family together."

"Fine, I'll do it. Give me the stupid contract." said Harry. Narcissa and Lucius both smiled, while Draco rolled his eyes instead.

"Excellent. Please sign here," Lucius pulled out an old scroll, while Narcissa handed him a blood quill similar to the one he had used during detention with Umbridge. Harry quickly signed his name at the bottom of the scroll, and at that moment, he knew his life was about to change drastically.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! I'm WrackspurtInDisguise and this is my first ever Harry Potter fanfiction. I would really appreciate you guys leaving a review, and telling me what you think. Please be free to tell me what you liked and what you hated. And any suggestions would be fine too! I will try to update at least twice a month or even more but no promises can be made since I am really busy with school and other things. Also, please do tell if this chapter was too short. I will make the next one longer! Thanks for reading!

(P.S. I don't have a beta so there may be a few spelling or grammatical errors. Please point these out if you notice any. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!)