A Love So Strong, A Promise Never Forgotten

DISLCAIMER: I am NOT J.K., though I wish I was, I do not own her charcaters (though some are my own) nor her world, I'm simply borrowing it for a little while. I am not making any profit off this story it is simply for your reading pleasure!

It is said that when one makes a promise that is born from pure love, it acts as a binding contract. Many a folk consider this to be pure rubbish. You may decide for yourself, but a story like this one makes you wonder…

A beautiful young girl, of about 19 years of age sat before her dresser brushing her long light-brown almost-curls. She heard the clock strike 11 and got up from her chair. She was wearing a magnificent dress of light blue and white, trimmed with golden threads. She wore a silver headdress with pearls delicately encrusted every few centimeters. Around her neck lay a long silver chain from which hung a silver disk and in the middle of it was encrusted a most magnificent gem which was a powerful violet in color with swirls of lavender. From it emitted a faint lavender glow, which only she could see. In fact the entire necklace itself was visible only to her for it was magical, visible only to the wearer. She walked to her bureau and took out a long black cloak and gently put it around herself raising the hood well over her head. She was sure it would make her nearly invisible in the dark, cold night.

She carefully walked out her manor using the servants' exit, which Justine had left unlocked for her, and silently thanked her. She was so glad to have Justine, her only true friend since childhood. As she passed the garden and walked through the gate she though to herself, Tonight's the night. I shall miss my family and my beloved Justine but I must be with him, for my heart yearns to have him at my side. But we will come back; I'll tell him we must. After our families see how important we are to them they will understand that we all can live together in harmony. She arrived at the banks of the river and saw him a few feet away, just stepping of the bridge. She ran to him and nestled in his embrace hearing his heart rapidly beating and knew hers was doing just the same. After 30 seconds they broke apart and he say: "My love, we must go. Dawn is near and we cannot risk a second more." And so they crossed the bridge hand in hand and began their journey.

They had walked for about half an hour when they heard some shouting behind them. They tried to run but it was to late. Suddenly someone seized the girl from behind, pinning her arms to her back and pulling her away from him. "HELEN!" He screamed and tried to run towards her but two strong arms held him back. He tried to squirm himself free but his captor said "No, Lawrence." Lawrence's eyes opened wide as he realized his captor was none other than his cousin Vaughan. Vaughan yelled, "Have you got her, Eavan?" "You know him?" asked Lawrence surprised at his cousin. "But you of all people, you, you despise breaking the rules, especially the one of contact with the human world…why?" "Because you, dearest cousin, broke a rule, and a big one, mind you. There was no other choice."

"Hey, come back here!" Vaughan's head shot up and Lawrence felt his grip on him relax. He took advantage of this and kicked his cousin's shin freeing himself and running toward were he though Helen would be. He spotted her, and she him, and she began to run toward him. They were a few feet away from each other when he detected some movement from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to the right and saw a man reaching for something inside his coat. Seconds later he heard a shot ring trough the air when "NO!" Helen screamed and ran in front of him and he saw her crumple to the ground. "HELEN!" He ran to her to her side and turned her around, her beautiful dress caked with dirt and blood. "Helen…" He whispered softly as tears filled his eyes. Suddenly he heard her gasping for breath. "Oh, Helen I'm so sorry" "no, don't be. I guess it wasn't meant for us to live happily ever after. "Oh, Helen please…don't talk like this…I …you can live…you will live. But there was no hope, for the bullet had hit her squarely in the chest and lodged in the right ventricle of her heart. "Lawrence, take my necklace, this necklace you gave to me as a sign of our love and remember me by it, never forget me." "Oh, I will never forget you," he said as he unclasped the necklace from her neck and held it in his left hand. She slowly reached her hand up and gently touched his cheek with her fingertips. They were cold as ice. Her time was up and they both knew it, but Lawrence did not want to admit it. He held her hand against his cheek and look softly at her brown eyes. "I love you," he said. "I love you too my dearest Lawrence…" and with that her hand fell to her bosom and her eyes closed for the last time.

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Lawrence held her body close to him, the hot tears finally streaming down his face. She was gone and he could not believe it. They had been so close… Suddenly he heard footsteps around him and looked up to see men surrounding him from all sides forming a circle around him and his beloved Helen, leaving him with nowhere to go.

"That's enough," a gruff voice said and Lawrence felt a hard thump on the back of his head. He was being dragged somewhere by a powerful man and the last thing he saw was a man picking up Helen's body.

Hours later he woke up in a dark, damp dungeon, his head throbbing. "Wha…Helen, he whispered as he opened his tightly clenched fist and saw the necklace.

Again he felt tears silently falling down his face as he remembered the events of the night. He gazed at the purple gem as he lost himself in his memories.

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It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was partly shaded by clouds and a gentle breeze blew. Lawrence was on the other side of the river, taking a walk in a nearby forest. Here he knew he would not be bothered by anyone who knew him, for all the people of his kind did not dare cross the bridge for fear they would be sent to jail or even be sentenced to death. Lawrence, you see, was a wizard. Contact between wizards and humans was strictly forbidden. Lawrence was not one to break rules and did not intend to do anything of the sort when he first set foot in the forest, but he did not know he was to break the greatest rule yet.

That same evening a girl by the name of Helen snuck away from her manor and disappeared into the tangle of branches. She had felt lonely lately, as if something were missing from her life, something she couldn't bear to not have. But what it was she did not know. She didn't know why but ever since the day she looked out her window and saw the dewdrops glistening against the leaves of the trees of the nearby forest she felt drawn to it, as if it somehow held the answer. Ever since the day she had first snuck away to the forests to find what so fervently felt she needed she had not ceased to go visit them daily. The afternoon was perfect since her mother and father were never home at that time, her father dealing with political problems and her mother either shopping in the city simply or wandering about. It was all thanks to Justine, though, that she was able to take her afternoon walks, for the young servant girl always covered for her. She smiled as she thought of Justine, not just a servant, but also her friend since childhood. She was singing a lovely tune she had heard a few days ago in the market when she stopped dead in her tracks. She had heard a noise and saw some rustling across the shallow stream. She gasped as she saw the face of a man appear amongst the bushes and she began to walk backwards but tripped on a raised branch and fell back.

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Lawrence was tired. He was tired of seeing the same people, of knowing nothing else of the world but his room and the university at which he studied. That morning he woke up knowing today held some unexpected surprise. Not only he could he feel it but Bratmer had mentioned Mars was looking particularly red. He woke up at dawn and opened his window. The forest looked magnificent, streams of sunlight bursting from behind it, reflecting from the many beads of dew that were splattered amongst it. He walked out his room, gently closing the door so it didn't make a sound. "Lumos," he said, as he took out his wand. He walked out the building and softly but rapidly ran to the forest. He immersed himself before anyone could see. And there he spent his day, studying his books and reading wonderful stories of potions and spell gone wrong. He ate his lunch, which he conjured up in seconds and took a nice long nap. He woke in the early afternoon. He was gathering his things when he heard a beautiful voice. He put all his things, his wand especially, in his satchel and walked to where the voice came from.

Helen saw that the young man was kind; she could se it in his ebony colored eyes and in the warm smile his thin lips formed. "Yes, you just startled me that's all." She placed her hand in his and immediately a warm feeling spread form her fingers to her entire body. "This is it," she thought. "This is what I've been waiting for, what was destined to happen."

Lawrence felt a warm feeling rippling through his body as he placed his hand in hers. As he helped the beautiful young maiden up he thought, "they never fail. Neither my feelings, nor Bratmer's astronomical signs."

They introduced themselves and decided to finish their walk together. In less than an hour a love of the deepest and most passionate kind bloomed between them. The young couple knew they had to be together forever.

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FOUR DAYS LATER.

"Lawrence, you have not eaten."

"There is no point in life any more, cousin. The only thing that mattered was taken from me. Now I lie in this dungeon as I'm condemned to do, and you expect me to eat?"

"It had to be done! You were breaking a law. I know I was to, but did you think we did not mingle with humans at all? How were we supposed to find those witches and wizards born of pure muggle families? But you! You should have never talked to that girl!"

"Just leave me. Nothing you say matters any more." Lawrence watched his cousin place the food inside his cell and walk away. He did not make a move to get it. Seconds later it swarmed with rats. His stomach hurt, his throat was dry. He knew he would not last much longer. For four days he wasted away but he did not care. "Helen, my love. My end is near, I can feel it. It has to be this way. I could not save you, and if I lived the thought would haunt me forever. I know you can hear me. I'm sorry. I wish I could change what happened."

Lawrence grabbed his stomach and lurched forward; the smell of the food nauseated him. He felt his esophagus burning as bile rushed up it and he vomited. He felt so weak.

"I promise. I promise you Helen! As long as those of my blood continue to live, they shall always protect those from yours. They will do upon your descendants as I could not do for you. Lawrence drew upon his last beat of strength. "PROTECTO ULTIMATUM!" He shouted as a green beam of light burst from his chest. He placed the necklace in front of it and the small, silver disc sucked up the light. The beam ended suddenly and Lawrence fell to the ground, his last breath escaping his lips.

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Vaughn discovered his cousin's body at noon. He pulled the door open and went inside. He checked his pulse, thought there was no point for he knew he was dead the moment he entered the jailhouse. He felt himself compelled to look at his cousin's right hand. Upon his cousin's hand lay a long, thin silver chain from which hung a silver disc in which a violet gem was embedded. He picked it up and read "Snape shall protect Granger forever" The chain suddenly began to float. It clasped itself around Vaughn's neck. He felt the disc burn against his skin and saw it left a white circle squarely in his chest and immediately Lawrence's last moments flashed through his mind.

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And so the deep connection between the House of Snape and House of Granger began. A connection that would last an eternity, for a spell of this nature could never be broken.