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They finished the first of the rune circles and those who'd put the effort into drawing them were offered the first use and eagerly started performing rituals. As embarrassed as they were about having had sex while their friends were waiting outside the door, they were excited about the ritual and the feelings it caused as the bond completed. But when the first rune circle users discussed the outcome of the ritual with their friends, they realised that some of them were describing a light surrounding the couple and a feeling of warmth at the end of the ritual and others said they didn't feel anything.
Because the ritual involved sexual intercourse and had to be performed in the nude, nobody wanted to have an observer present while they attempted it to see whether the difference was in the ritual working or if those that didn't notice the light were just too occupied at the time, so the students who had researched the bond and were interested in healing found a diagnostic spell they could cast afterwards that would identify whether or not a marriage bond had formed. The couples that described the light and warmth were found to have a successful bond and those that denied those sensations did not. One couple who had failed to form a bond the first time volunteered to try again and they were successful the second time but when the others tried again none of them were any more successful than the first time, and even when one couple agreed to be observed by someone who knew the ritual well, the watcher couldn't find any errors in the rune circle or the words spoken, the bond just didn't form, and they couldn't explain why it was working for some couples and not for others. In desperation a group of them went to ask Professor Babbling if she knew what might be going wrong.
"Do you have time to talk to us privately? We have a problem with the ritual and we need your help to understand that's going wrong," Padma asked.
"What seems to be the problem?" Bathsheba asked.
"Well we've run three rituals in each circle now but sometimes the bond just hasn't formed and we can't work out why?" Padma said.
"Why doesn't it always work? It's not the runes because otherwise it would all be the same circle that failed and they say they're sure they pronounced all the words correctly," Hermione asked frustrated. She hated when she didn't have all the answers for something and she was frightened because she and Ron were one of the couples who had failed to form a marriage bond.
"If you've ruled out errors in the rune circles and you're sure that the chant was performed correctly, and penetration occurred at the correct time, then that only leaves intent to form the bond," Bathsheba replied thoughtfully.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"I should have thought of that! This ritual is partly intent based. Both of the couple involved have to truly want it to work, to want to form a marriage bond," Padma said. India used a lot more ritual magic than the western world so she had more knowledge of rituals than most of the group involved.
"So they need to be in love?" Hermione asked. As one of the couples who hadn't managed to form a bond she was a little desperate but if she didn't love Ron enough to bond she didn't know what she would do. She firmly banished the tiny thought that whispered in her mind that while she'd been crushing on Ron, she loved Harry as a friend more than she loved Ron as a friend.
"Not at all, the participants don't actually need to even truly like their partners, they just need to be ready and willing to make a lifetime commitment to them. That's why the ministry is using a wedding ritual bound by a third party, because very few people your age are ready for that, particularly with a stranger. I'm a little surprised how many marriage rituals have worked but fear is a powerful motivator," Bathsheba explained.
"How would it work if you didn't love the person?" Mandy Brocklehurst asked.
"Well, to use examples from your year level, Mr Malfoy believes in pureblood supremacy and wants to marry a pureblood, he's also almost fanatically loyal to his father and therefor would want to marry the pureblood witch his father chose for him. I believe he was betrothed to Miss Parkinson until the ministry declared that he would have to marry the witch they deemed most magically compatible. Miss Parkinson wants to become the future lady Malfoy and have access to the Malfoy wealth and social status, so the ritual would probably work for them whether or not they have any genuine affection for each other, even if they personally disliked each other so long as the desire to marry each other was stronger than their dislike. Many of the muggleborns are so afraid of what marriage to a pureblood chosen by the ministry would do to them that the ritual work for them with just about anyone they trusted so long as their partner wanted the marriage as well. The ritual would also be almost guaranteed to work for your friend Mr Potter if he was convinced it was the best way to save a friend, Miss Granger."
"But It didn't work for me and Ron, in spite of the fact we fancied each other and were on the brink of dating," Hermione said miserably. "And in that case, I know we got the wording and everything else right. I was quite impressed by him actually."
"From what I've seen, the youngest Weasley boy isn't mature enough to make a lifetime commitment to anybody," the professor said gently. In truth she was relieved that Hermione hadn't succeeded in binding her life to the lazy boy. He seemed to be a little too callous in the way he treated her favourite student, she would be much better off with her other friend if only the two of them would see it in time.
Though he had expected it, Harry felt an ache in his chest when he heard that his two best friends had attempted to complete the ritual together without telling him.
"What am I going to do. I could end up with someone like Crabbe or Goyle," Hermione said panicking.
"Professor Babbling said the ritual would probably work for us," Harry said hesitantly.
"But you like Ginny!" Hermione protested.
"That doesn't matter, we broke up and she's with Dean now," Harry replied. "He's muggleborn too so they'll probably try to complete the ritual. She didn't want to try it with me."
"Dean put his name down this morning to attempt to complete the ritual with Leanne Tinker," Hermione said gently. "Ginny will be single again if you wanted to try to win her back."
"So Ginny turned him down too," Harry said shrugging. "It doesn't matter, I'm not going to go and beg her to marry me when she's already said no. But if I don't do something the ministry will probably try to pair me with someone like Umbridge to control me. I want to help you Hermione, and we get along well. I think we could have a good marriage."
"They wouldn't, she's too old" Hermione exclaimed disgusted.
"Is she?" Harry asked cynically. "Even with the help of potions? Are you sure of that? She only has to be under sixty to qualify for the matching process. Even sex with McGonagall would be better than her."
Hermione shuddered. "I hadn't even considered adults" she said fearfully. "Will you marry me tonight Harry. Let's go book a turn in one of the rune circles."
Harry nodded his agreement and grinned as he got up to join her. "You know I always thought I would be the one who proposed" he said.
Hermione wrote their names on the list for the rune circle she was in charge of maintaining.
"Okay then, if you want to propose, you have until ten o'clock to come up with this proposal before we get married, " she teased her best friend.
Harry gulped. 'How was he going to make a proposal special with no notice, and no ring or anything? Especially when they weren't romantic with each other,' He asked himself. 'Good going there, Potter! Now she's expecting you to propose.'
Hermione laughed at the way he paled. "Don't worry, if you ask me, you know I'm going to say yes," she reassured him. Then she left for Arithmancy leaving him castigating himself for his smart mouth.
-o0o-
Harry didn't have a ring to propose with, not that it really mattered wedding rings weren't required for the bonding though it was traditional that bonded pairs wore matching gold rings, often etched with runes for love health and fertility. Gold couldn't be transfigured though and Harry really wanted something to give Hermione when he proposed. He thought about sneaking out to Hogsmeade but remembered that they'd all agreed not to make any special purchases that might tip off someone who could inform the ministry and a ring would definitely do that, especially if he purchased it. The seller would probably boast all over town about selling the-boy-who-lived an engagement or wedding ring.
Thinking about jewellery not made of metal, he remembered that his aunt had a really pretty glass pendant given to her for her birthday last summer, he wondered if he could make something like that. He was pretty good at transfiguration and if he started with sand it should be easy enough. He'd learned while doing Dudley's summer catch-up assignments that glass was made from sand. He went down to the edge of the lake and collected the sand into a small pile the size of a ring and concentrated. Hermione's favourite colour was blue so he concentrated on that and after a lot of trial and error made a ring he was happy with. It wasn't perfect but it looked like the imperfections made a deliberate if random pattern. He cast a resizing charm on it so that it would fit perfectly when she put it on but held off casting an unbreakable charm because he wasn't sure if it would interfere with the resizing.
He ran into Neville walking back from the gardens with a bunch of flowers. "Who's the lucky girl Nev?" he called cheerfully.
"Hannah asked me to bond with her" Neville whispered flushing slightly. "We have an appointment in the rune circles before dinner."
"Hannah Abbot the blonde Hufflepuff?" Harry asked.
"Yeah" Neville said.
"She's kind of cute, good for you Nev," Harry said supportively. Harry supposed that the blond was attractive enough though he also remembered her as being one of the first to turn on him in second year and also being particularly vicious with her insults after his name came out of the goblet of fire, but if Neville liked her he was willing to give her a second chance. "I didn't think she was muggleborn though. Is she turning seventeen soon?"
"Not until May, and she's a half blood but she said she was worried that I'll be targeted, for being your friend, and for being part of the DA" Neville replied embarrassed. He knew that the prejudices faced by his friend were unfair.
Harry nodded resignedly. "I think they'll target the Weasleys first since I've been known to visit them in the summer but if you want to marry her then you should go for it. We'll be up for normal selection soon enough anyway, and it might be harder to get married once the ministry knows about this ritual." Harry supposed it boded well for Neville that Hannah had asked his friend even though she wasn't on the list for the first round of arranged marriages.
"What about you Harry? You should ask someone. I know you wanted to bond with Ginny but even though she said no, you can't afford to wait. With Lucius Malfoy in the minister's ear you're likely to end up in danger if you leave it to them to choose your wife" Neville said anxiously.
"It's sorted Nev. Hermione and I have a booking tonight" Harry replied grinning.
"I thought she and Ron bonded a couple of days ago," Neville said confused.
"They tried, but the bond didn't take," Harry replied. "He's probably going to be pissed off if it works for us instead, but there's nothing I can do about that, it's his own fault anyway if he is upset. Hermione's already seventeen and she desperate to be married to be safe from the ministry allocations so it probably failed because he didn't want to be married. We haven't told him about trying, so don't say anything, we'll tell him tomorrow if it works."
"I'll keep it secret Harry. You can trust me" Neville promised. He was slightly disappointed. If he'd known that Hermione hadn't bonded with Ron then he would have asked her himself, he'd always had a bit of a crush on the smartest Gryffindor who so patiently tried to tutor him when he was struggling in class. Neville thought that Hermione deserved to be with someone who found her attractive, not just saw her as one of the guys. He didn't think Harry felt that way about her at all, even less than Ron did, he'd never seen him looking at her the way he looked at Cho and Ginny. Now even if it didn't work between Hermione and Harry, he would already be bonded to Hannah and would have missed his chance to be with Hermione.
Harry noticed Neville's frown and remembered that Neville had invited Hermione to the Yule Ball in fourth year before going with Ginny. He hoped that Neville wasn't regretting agreeing to attempt to bond with Hannah now that he knew Hermione wasn't bonded, and that his regrets, if he had them, wouldn't prevent a bind from forming.
Slightly awkwardly because blokes didn't normally like talking about their feelings he asked. "Would you have said no to Hannah if you'd known Hermione and Ron didn't succeed in bonding?"
"I don't know" Neville said miserably. "I might've thought about asking Hermione but I don't know if I would've found the courage before Hannah asked me and I might've said yes out of sheer relief that I didn't have to ask someone."
"Yeah asking for dates last year was bad enough. Imagine proposing and being turned down," Harry agreed shuddering.
"And yet you proposed to Ginny and to Hermione," Neville said.
"No actually, I didn't. Ginny told me straight out she wasn't willing to go through the ritual with me before I could build up the courage to ask her and then Hermione asked me," Harry said. "I made her a ring though. Would you like to see?" He held out the iridescent blue glass ring.
"It's beautiful," Neville said absently. "I wish I'd known that Ron hadn't married Hermione," he said more to himself.
"But you didn't know and now you need to put it out of your mind" Harry said sternly. "If you allow these thoughts to cause doubts in your mind whether you want to marry Hannah then the bond won't take."
"But I really don't know if I love Hannah like that. I was hoping that the bond forming or not would help me see if I could love her" Neville confessed.
"It doesn't work like that. Hermione told me that Professor Babbling explained to her that whether the bond forms had nothing to do with love, merely the honest and real desire to be bound to the other person for life no matter what the reasons for it" Harry said, sighing. He'd been upset when he found this out too, hoping that the bond forming would mean that he'd made the right choice and the girl he'd ask wanted to be with him Harry and not 'the-boy-who-lived', but apparently it wouldn't make a difference. Not that he had to worry about that with Hermione, she'd always seen him as Harry.
Neville looked shocked that his thoughts about Hermione could cause his bond to fail with Hannah even if they would've been destined for a happy marriage. Did he want that? Would he have wanted that if Harry and Hermione didn't manage to bond? There was no decent way of asking Harry let alone Hannah if they could swap spots so he could have another chance at ditching Hannah and asking Hermione to bond with him if the bond failed with Harry. And would Hermione even agree to try again after she'd failed to bond twice? That would be incredibly embarrassing and he didn't think he'd have the courage to try again, particularly if it hadn't been his own doubts that caused the bond to fail.
"What if I can't put it out of my mind?" Neville asked Harry worriedly.
"Then maybe you shouldn't be trying to bond with Hannah at all. Try to think about the reasons you wanted to bond with Hannah," Harry encouraged him. "She must really like you if she asked you to bond when neither of you are muggleborn or old enough for this round of matches."
The problem was that they main reason Neville had agreed to bond with Hannah was because she asked him to. He was flattered and Hannah was kind of cute and nice and all, but Hermione was beautiful and smart and generous and…"
"I think I need to talk to Hermione," Neville said.
Harry felt an unexpected pain in his chest. He wanted to bond with Hermione goddammit! But did he have the right to hide Neville's feelings from her, didn't she deserve to make the choice, herself. He wanted Hermione to be happy, and maybe she would be happier with Neville though Harry hated to even think about admitting it.
"Go and talk to her then," he said grudgingly. "But make sure you aren't overheard, not even by anyone who already knows about the rituals. This could hurt and embarrass us all if it gets out."
Harry went back outside and sat under a tree down by the lake out of sight of the castle and wrapped his arms around his knees squeezing his fist around the ring until it hurt, wondering why he felt so much like crying. He never cried. He hadn't cried since he realised it only gave his uncle, aunt and cousin happy and made the bullies hit harder.
"Please Hermione, please don't choose him," he whispered to himself over and over, not sure why he felt so distraught about the idea. He reminded himself that Angelina had offered to take him to Australia. Maybe he'd go with her if Hermione chose Neville, then he wouldn't have to see them together, but the idea of not seeing Hermione anymore didn't bring him any comfort either.
Neville raced up to the tower, left his flowers for Hannah on his bed, it seemed wrong to give Hermione flowers he'd picked for someone else and besides it would have drawn too much attention to his looking for her, and came back down asking if anyone knew where Hermione was. He wanted to talk to her before he met Hannah for their bonding. He had to know if he would've had a chance.
"She's on the ground floor working on her project," Ginny replied. "Why?"
"I need to talk to her about something," Neville replied rushing off.
Ginny looked after him, 'Neville and Hermione who would have thought' she said to herself with a grin. She knew Ron would be disappointed but she didn't really care about that. She thought Ron would be happier with a wife who wasn't such a bookworm always nagging him to study anyway.
A/N: Thank you to astridschuehle, Child of Dreams, Greysh, BMS, animeromance1972, Tyler'sPrincess, katmom, Millie072, Rori Potter, mother oracle, firebird-fenix and all those who followed or favourited for your support.
