Chapter 3, for your reading pleasure featuring the first of many flashbacks :D

Yay!


One year ago...

Kingsley would like to think he was good at his job. As the Minister for Magic, he was expected to keep a calm head on his shoulders and react rationally in high stress situations. Most of the time, this part of the job came naturally to him.

That being said, Potter and Malfoy would be the death of him one of these days.

"I suppose congratulations are in order?" he asked dryly.

Auror Potter scowled and slumped into his chair. Meanwhile, Malfoy— an up and coming face at the International Affairs Department— regarded him with an expression that said in no uncertain terms that if he could get away with it, he would stab the Minister in the throat with a quill.

Kingsley raised an eyebrow at them. "What? Too soon?"

"So glad you're enjoying this, Minister," Malfoy growled. "I'm sure the Wizengamot will be most appreciative of your sparkling wit when I sue you and the thrice damned Ministry for every galleon you have."

"Oh, here we go..." Potter grumbled.

Malfoy's attention snapped to him at once. "You've got something to say?"

Potter sneered at him. He sounded exhausted, not to mention enraged. "Is that your bloody answer to everything?" he demanded. "I'm Draco Malfoy and I like to sue people!" He was affecting a high whiny voice now, a rather apt imitation of Malfoy if Kingsley did say so himself. Potter carried on, apparently on a roll. "If I get in trouble, I'll just bullshit my way out of it. No tea in the break room? Sue the Ministry! Can't find a quill? Sue the Ministry, of course! Enrage a Veela and get myself and an innocent bystander in a world of shite? Let's just sue the bloody..."

They were both on their feet now. Potter was still yelling and Malfoy looked close to apoplectic. "Me?" he hissed. "Me?! How dare you? You're the one who stumbled into a sodding mating ring! How stupid do you have to be..."

"You didn't need to follow me, you prat!"

"I was trying to get you out and avoid an inter-creature incident! If you'd got stuck in there with a Veela..."

"But I didn't, did I? I got stuck in there with you!"

Kingsley cut in before they came to blows. "I will assume that this is the point where the Veela in question cast the spell?"

They stopped glaring daggers at each other. Malfoy sneered. "It wasn't a spell. It was a sodding curse."

"You're a sodding curse," Potter grumbled.

"Merlin help me, I will smite you where you..."

"Gentlemen."

Kingsley fixed them with the stern, no nonsense expression that worked wonders on his six year old nephew. "The rest of the story, if you would be so kind? Need I remind you that unless we have all the facts, we can't do much for your situation?"

Potter shrugged. "There's not much to tell. The Veela caught us in the ring and threw a hissy fit— something about defiling a sacred ritual or something. There was a flash of light and next thing I know, I'm bonded to this pra—Malfoy."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "That's more or less it," he concurred. "Now can we please see a curse breaker and have this taken care of? I have a lawsuit to file."

Kingsley gave him a flat look before gesturing at the door. "I believe that's your cue."

"Thank you, Minister," Bill replied, nodding a greeting as he entered the office. His gaze landed on the sullen men sitting across from Kingsley and he greeted them politely. "Harry. Malfoy."

"Bill!" Potter exclaimed in relief. "Thank Merlin." He turned to Malfoy with a grin. "Bill's the best there is. He'll fix this."

Malfoy nodded stiffly, apparently unwilling to criticise the only person in the room who had half a chance of helping him. Smart man, Kingsley thought.

"So Bill," he said, turning to the oldest Weasley boy. "What's the damage? Can it be reversed?"

Bill cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Theoretically, yes. Mungo's had their medical records on file and it's pretty extensive documentation but I was able to..."

"What do you mean theoretically?" Malfoy interrupted abruptly. His voice was quiet—deceptively calm, in fact— but his fists were clenching and unclenching in barely suppressed agitation. Next to him, Potter was paling rapidly.

"You said theoretically," he confirmed. "What does that mean?"

Bill looked alarmingly sympathetic. "Harry, it's not permanent. I promise. But..."

"What does theoretically mean, Bill?" Potter snapped.

Bill sighed. "Okay, look. It's like this..."

He explained the situation. Or at least he tried his best. It was considerably difficult, what with the other two interrupting with angry shouts, cries of horror, shudders of disgust, threats of lawsuits and the like but Kingsley got the gist of it.

Veela magic.

Rare, but not unheard of. Extremely difficult to undo since it links easily with the magical core of the victims. Any attempt to lift the spell meant serious risk to the body and mind.

Mostly a variation of the commonly known 'soul bond' performed at magical wedding ceremonies. It encouraged close proximity, frequent...physical contact and fidelity. Resistance was dangerous, and certainly unpleasant.

On the plus side, the bond weakened with time. In this case, it would take about...

"A year?" Potter snarled. "You're telling me I'm stuck with him for a sodding year?!"

Malfoy wasn't faring any better. "Weasley! So help me Merlin, you fucking fix this or I will..."

"Let me guess. Sue him?"

"Shut up, Potter!"

Kingsley rubbed his temples, tuned the yelling out and scribbled a memo, requesting a scribe and a photographer from Internal Affairs. An incident report would have to be initiated; documents would have to be made; it was going to be a whole mess of paperwork. All this because some dunce had decided to put Malfoy and Potter within five miles of each other without adult supervision.

As soon as he had a minute to himself, Kingsley planned to write a very strongly worded letter to Human Resources.


Bill burst out laughing as Harry finished the story.

"Now I remember," he managed between chuckles. "I was pretty sure one of you was going to hex me."

Harry snorted. "You think that was bad? You should have seen what he almost did to that poor sap from Internal Affairs who 'suggested' we get married. I'm pretty sure that hex is illegal in several countries."

"Sounds like Malfoy," Bill agreed. "Wait, the Ministry told you to get married? I thought you came up with that one by yourselves."

"Really, Bill?" Harry asked flatly. "After what I just told you, do you really think Draco and I would have volunteered for that?"

"Point taken. So why..."

"They figured it would be less embarrassing than admitting to sending their employees on pointless missions where they get accosted by barking mad Veelas. Or at least, that's what the official said."

"And you two went along with it because..."

"We were joined at the hip. We couldn't exactly spend time apart, so working at the office wasn't an option. Short of quitting our jobs and sitting around glaring at each other, we didn't have much of a choice. Plus the Ministry agreed to pay us a generous 'living expense'. They got us this flat, they paid for the wedding..."

"The wedding! Oh, the wedding!" Bill interrupted excitedly. "Please tell me there are pictures of the wedding in that."

Harry raised an eyebrow but Bill was already rummaging through the scrapbook impatiently. "Yes!" he crowed, pointing happily at a snap. "Oh look, there's Malfoy shoving cake in your face."

"And there's Hermione yelling at us for starting a food fight," Harry grinned. "It was quite a night, yeah?"

Bill's eyes settled on a familiar blond figure hovering at the edge of the frame. His smile faded. A flick of golden hair and the slight shimmer of her gown was all the evidence that she had even been there. "More than you know, actually," he replied.


Thank you for reading! Reviews are always appreciated.