Strings

By Teldra

An AU Harry Potter fanfiction. All for fun, not for profit.

Warning: This will be my first story of any length and I'm not sure how long it will end up. The story is being written in my spare time so we'll have to see where it goes! I'm terribly slow so this will take awhile. One big warning though—this will be SLASH. If that isn't your type of thing I suggest you turn back now. Enjoy.

Chapter 1

Twenty-one year old Harry Potter told himself there was nothing to be nervous about. Everything was normal. It's not as if they ever make mistakes with these sorts of things.Well, he was almost positive. After all, he'd have heard about something like that.

Really.

"Hermione..?" Harry muttered, fidgeting with his wand. An inquiring eyebrow had him stuttering. "Have there e-ever been mistakes made? With…with the process I mean?" he asked apprehensively. The witch was quite touchy about her work sometimes.

"Only once," she answered absentmindedly as she perused his personal information. "A fluke I believe," she continued whilst tapping her wand on the scroll a few times."There was no reason for him not to be matched. I suspect he wasn't being totally forthcoming with all his preferences."

Hermione frowned at his scroll work once more before looking up at her friend. "Harry, you don't look so good, are you feeling well?" the bushy-haired young woman asked worriedly.

"Yeah," he croaked out with a slightly green cast to his skin. "I'm fine."

"Oh Harry," Hermione chastened gently, "Don't worry! It'll all turn out for the best. I've complete confidence in finding your perfect mate. Trust me!" she beamed at him enthusiastically.

Sad green eyes stared at her.

"What if I end up like the bloke that couldn't be matched? I'm not really sure I'm ready for this…" he trailed off sighing.

"Pshaw. I told you it was only one person and that was over twenty years ago. The process is much more refined these days," she stated with a firm nod of conviction. "Why, just look at me and Ron! We totally adore each other and neither of us saw it coming," Hermione said with a fond look on her face at the thought of her husband.

Harry had to admit she had a point. The two of them did belong together. Of course, he had known that since he was six and Ron had willingly shared his toy broom with the bright-eyed little girl. After all, there were some things a sane bloke didn't share.

"Oi! Wait a minute," he squawked indignantly as a thought occurred to him. "I thought the ritual has been exactly the same for hundreds of years?" Harry eyed her narrowly.

"Well…ok it has, but there's still nothing at all to worry about," she said rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Just let me do my job. You'll see," she patted his arm reassuringly.

"Right," he replied glumly. "When do I need to come in?"

"Next week, same time," the witch stated, neatly writing the appointment on her calendar with her favorite quill. "We'll have you married in no time!"

Harry gave her a sickly grin.

"That's what I'm afraid of."