Author's Note: All Harry Potter characters are owned by J.K. Rowling. In this alternate Harry Potter universe, Tom Riddle never became the Dark Lord and ended up as a simple pencil pusher working for the Ministry of Magic. Bellatrix Black married Rodolphus Lestrange as expected of a world where Tom Riddle is merely a Muggle born wizard. Anyway, I don't own any character besides my own.

Chapter 1: The Unbreakable Vow

In Chinese legend, it is believed that the gods tie an invisible red string around the ankles of men and women. The two people connected by the red cord are destined to be lovers regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The cord may be stretched or tangled but it will never break.

Do you believe in destiny? Where will love take you? How will you get there? Will you be ready when it comes? Will you realize it when it comes?

The Slytherin common room was filled with laughter as three boys sat around a fading fire, their cheeks flushed. Lucius Malfoy had pilfered Fire Whiskey from his father's liquor drawer and had sneaked it into his bags. He and his two friends had drunk themselves stupid and were sitting around the dying fire, cackling like mad, not caring if they woke up the other students or not. They were fourteen years old and didn't care. They thought they could do anything, be anything. They were young, stupid, and drunk.

Lucius suddenly pulled out a Galleon from his pocket and turned to Kenneth Kinsey on his right.

"Alright, Kinsey," Lucius guffawed, "heads or tails? The person who loses has to make an Unbreakable Vow."

"What on earth are you talking about, Malfoy?" Kinsey hiccupped. "What kind of vow?"

"Anything the winner wants," Lucius chuckled in response. "Are you doing it or not? Are you scared?"

"Absolutely not!" Kinsey exclaimed as their other friend guffawed loudly. "Flip the bloody coin!"

"Alright," Lucius said, tossing the Galleon into the air. "Heads or tails?"

"Heads!" Kinsey answered, watching the coin sail into the air.

The coin landed on Lucius's hand and his fist closed on it. The three boys leaned over Lucius's hand. Lucius opened his hand. Heads. The three boys exploded in laughter. Kinsey was pelted with throw pillows, the three of them laughing loudly all the while.

"Hey, hey, hey, Malfoy, remember what you said," Kinsey said through the barrage of pillows. "Give me your hand! Give it!"

Through his laughter, Lucius clasped his hand with Kinsey. Kinsey turned to their other friend, his eyes swimming in alcohol.

"You be the Bonder," Kinsey said to the other boy.

The other boy nods as he guffawed. He pulled out his wand and placed it on top of the Lucius and Kinsey's clasped hands. Tongues of fire wrapped around the two boys' hands. Lucius just continued laughing. Kinsey looked at him, the alcohol in his eyes turning into a fire.

"Will you, Lucius Malfoy, promise to ensure that our children's lives will be comfortable?"

"I will," Lucius answered with a hiccup.

"Will you, Lucius Malfoy, promise to do all you can so our children will be happy?"

Lucius hiccupped another time. "I will."

"Will you, Lucius Malfoy, promise to one day marry your own child with mine?" Kinsey asked.

Lucius paused for a second, blinking a few times at Kinsey's face. "I will."

Three girls ran through the halls of Hogwarts, hair flying behind them, the feeling of freedom pounding through their blood. Their emerald green robes shone in the bright sunlight. They are racing to the courtyard to join the other students in that year's graduation ceremony. They could almost see the sea of red, green, blue, and yellow in the distance. Suddenly, Aria Kinsey came to a skidding halt. The other two girls halted and turned to look at her.

"Hey, what are you doing?" a red head asked, looking at Aria. "Come on! They'll start without us!"

"Come on! I don't want to miss Dumbledore's speech!" the blonde said, pulling on Aria's arm. "My brother graduated last year and said he compared life to hippogriffs! I want to know what he'll say to us!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Aria said. "I forgot my mum's necklace in the dorm. I have to get it."

"Get it later," the blonde said. "We have to go!"

"I promised my mum I'd wear it for her," Aria said turning back towards the dungeons. "You guys go on."

"You're going to miss it!" the blonde retaliated.

"Come on, Lizzy," the red head said, grabbing the blonde's arm. "You know how stubborn Aria is."

"But Jen," Lizzy whined to the red head but then followed up with a sigh. "Okay but you better not be late. Understand?"

"I got it. I got it,"

Aria turned and ran back towards the dungeons. She was muttering to herself as she ran. Why do you have to be so forgetful? Why do you have to be so careless? Why do you have to be so stupid? Aria thought all these things to herself as she ran through the halls. She barked the password at the Slytherin portal and ran towards the girls' staircase. She dashed into her dorm room. The thought that it would be the last time she would ever be in that dorm room barely passed through her brain as she grabbed the simple gold necklace on the bedside table and dashed out of the room again. Aria ran down the stairs, the necklace flailing in her hand. As she made her way to the door again, the necklace flew out of her hand and landed behind the ivory piano.

"Ahh, what the hell?" Aria screamed to herself as she hiked up her emerald green graduation robes and got down on her hands and knees and looked for the necklace. "Where are you, you damn necklace?"

Aria crawled and spied the glinting gold necklace near one of the legs of the piano. She grabbed the necklace in her fist. She was about to stand up when she heard the portal to the common room open. For whatever reason, Aria froze like a trapped animal.

"Pansy, we need to talk," Aria heard a voice.

Aria recognized the voice and lifted her head to see the Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson walk into the common room. Aria wanted to raise herself onto her feet and excuse herself out of the room but it was as if her legs were frozen and her throat was dry.

"What is there to talk about, Draco?" Pansy answered dryly, leaning against one arm chair.

"We have to talk about our relationship," Draco insisted on her.

"Draco, I'm leaving for France tomorrow," Pansy said evenly. "I told you I would be ending this relationship."

Aria's jaw dropped as she heard Pansy. Draco and Pansy's relationship was legend in Slytherin. It was the longest relationship in Slytherin to date. Most of the relationships in Slytherin usually ran around three to five months. At the very longest, one year. A three year relationship like the one Draco and Pansy cultivated was unheard of. Aria bit her lip. Jen and Lizzy are going to die when they find out, Aria thought to herself.

"I don't understand why you have to end our relationship."

"My parents are attempting to arrange a marriage between me and a rich French bachelor," Pansy answered.

Aria stifled a surprised gasp. Jen and Lizzy are going to absolutely die! A French fiancé? This was huge news. In Slytherin, Draco, Pansy, and their group of friends were like royalty. Rich people were odd like that, Aria thought.

"And why do you have to go to France for a husband?" Draco asked defensively. "Aren't I good enough? We've been dating for three years, Pansy! What is this suddenly?"

"That's right," Pansy said with a sigh. "We've been together for three years. Don't you think it's time for a change? Haven't we gone too far?"

"What are you talking about?" Draco exclaimed. "We have been dating for three years. The logical next step is marriage."

Aria put her fist in her mouth to prevent herself from yelling out in surprise. Pansy suddenly looked up at Draco, surprise written all over her face. Draco looked entirely serious and adamant.

"Draco, be careful with what you say," Pansy warned him, turning away from him.

"Pansy, we're graduating. The next step our parents will want to take is arranging our marriage," Draco said, frowning at Pansy's back. "I would rather marry someone I fancy rather than marry someone I don't know. Wouldn't you?"

Pansy sighed. "What we had these past couple of years was exciting," she said and turned to him. "But I have a plan and a vision for my life. Continuing this childish relationship isn't part of it."

Aria adjusted herself and the top of her head hit the bottom of the piano, eliciting a loud thud.

"Ack!" Aria exclaimed.

Draco and Pansy turn immediately to the piano. Aria placed her hand over her mouth. Shit, damn, bullocks, turd, excrement, feces, Aria thought to herself as she gritted her teeth. Draco's eyes lit on fire as he heard the noise. He turned his heels and stepped towards the piano. His mouth transformed into a scowl.

"Oy!" he shouted. "Who's there?"

Aria cursed over and over in her head and resisted the urge to slap herself silly. Aria looked at Draco's shoes and bit her lip.

"Meow," Aria said, hoping against hope that it would work. "Meow."

Draco and Pansy exchanged annoyed looks.

"What the hell is this?" Draco exclaimed and whipped out his wand. "Come out now or I'll hex you into next month. Oy! Do you want to die?"

Aria shot up from her crouched position. She had her hands raised in supplication. Draco scowled at her as she looked at him guiltily. Angrily, he raised his wand to her.

"Please don't kill me," Aria exclaimed. "I have so much to live for!"

"Who the hell are you?" Draco demanded. "You were eavesdropping on us, weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't!" Aria exclaimed. "I swear it!"

"Liar!" Draco said, walking closer to her, scowling at her ferociously.

"I know who you are," Pansy suddenly said, walking forward condescendingly as she folded her arms across her chest. "You're the twit whose cauldron exploded in Potions two weeks ago, aren't you?"

"That's right. That's right," Aria said, inching away from the piano and toward the doorway. "My cauldron exploded in Potions and that's why I'm a little deaf. I couldn't possibly hear what you were saying about marriage."

Aria shut her mouth quickly and closed her eyes nervously. She just can't keep her damn mouth shut. She wished she would stop spouting nonsense all the time.

"What did you just say?" Draco asked threateningly, walking back toward her.

Aria laughed uncomfortably as she inched toward the doorway. Draco raised his wand to her again. Aria looked at the tip of the wand, getting cross-eyed in the process. She laughs uncomfortably again. She inches closer and closer towards the door.

"Anyway," Aria said, inching closer and closer to the door, "there's a graduation going on. So I'll be going now. Have a good life."

Suddenly, Aria bowed to them. As she bent at the waist, her mouth dropped. Why the hell am I bowing? What the hell? Aria straightened up, red in the face, her eyes as large as watermelons. After staring at Draco and Pansy with wide eyes, Aria ran out the door. Draco and Pansy stared at each other, not knowing how to respond to what just happened.

Aria ran through the hall, trying to put as much space between herself and the unhappy couple. Why did she just crouch behind the piano like an idiot? Why did she listen in on their conversations? Why did she babble like an idiot in front of those two? And why the hell did she freaking bow to those two? Aria skidded to a halt in the middle of the hall and started jumping like an idiot because of her frustration. She messed up her hair, screeching like a banshee.

"AAAAAH!" she yelled. "I bowed. I. Freaking. Bowed! What are they? The king and queen of England?"

Aria started jumping in the middle of the hall in frustration again. She ruffled her hair angrily again, turning her hair into a tangled shrub. She screamed one more time in the hallway and raised the necklace to her face. She pointed at it, an angry scowl on her face. She starts walking towards the courtyard, pointing angrily at the necklace.

"You!" she shouted at the necklace. "This is your fault. All. Your. Fault!"

Aria stopped and turned her head back toward the dungeons. It sounded like Draco Malfoy really loved Pansy Parkinson. But she refused him. Aria's face suddenly turned into a frown. He must really love her to offer to marry her at such a young age. But she didn't want him. Aria felt sorry for him and suddenly felt her heart ache for him. Even though Draco Malfoy was a mean and incredibly annoying at times… okay, all the time… but he really loved Pansy Parkinson it seemed like. How cruel of her to just toss him aside like that. He seemed so sad. That was of course before he pointed his wand at her and threatened to kill her. Aria sighed. Maybe Aria shouldn't say anything to Jen and Lizzy about Draco and Pansy. She would treat it like a silent favor to the unhappy couple.

"Hey! Arianna Kinsey!"

Aria turned to find Jen calling out to her, her red hair flailing in the wind as she called her over. Aria waved happily at her, running toward her quickly.

"Jen! I'm coming! I'm coming!" Aria laughed as she ran to her.

"Come on, you idiot!" Jen yelled at her. "You take so long to do anything! Hurry up! This isn't your bloody wedding! Hurry up!"