The Unbreakable Vow

by

Ash Darklighter

It all belongs to JK Rowling and I thank her for her inspiration – There are no galleons to be made from me. This little story is my first Harry Potter fic. It is AU and of course comments are welcome. My thanks to Tad and Mona for their help.

Part 7

Ginny stifled a gasp and ducked behind the tree clinging onto Harry as if her life depended on it. "What are they doing here?"

"I don't know," Harry muttered grimly.

For apparating into the grounds of The Burrow with Percy Weasley, were Lucius and Draco Malfoy. Percy, the third of the Weasley brothers, had been estranged from his family since the ministry had declared Voldemort's return was a lie created by Harry and Dumbledore to gain power. The Weasley family had believed Harry without question. Percy had not and had resented that his new promotion was an effort by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge to keep an eye on what Dumbledore was doing through the actions of Arthur Weasley. When it became evident that Voldemort had returned after all, Percy had not apologized to his family and former friends and remained apart.

Lucius Malfoy, pure-blood supremacist, known supporter of the Dark Lord should, in most right-minded witches and wizard's opinion, be in Azkaban prison. His son, Draco, with his pale pointed sneering face and cold grey eyes, was undoubtedly following in his father's footsteps. He'd been an enemy of Harry's since they'd met in their first year. Why would they arrive at the Burrow with Percy? Had Lucius an inkling that the dark lord was again missing his body?

The three unexpected visitors had an intense but hushed conversation just outside the front porch.

"Let me handle this," Percy said irritably. "This is my family and I know how they think."

"Really," Draco was heard to drawl in a bored but superior tone. "That's not what I heard."

"Draco, be nice," Lucius chastised languidly. "After you, Weasley." He smiled, stretching his lips without showing his teeth, and it didn't fill either Harry or Ginny with confidence.

The two young wizards waited until the strange group disappeared into the house. "Let's go in the back door," Ginny muttered. "There's something distinctly…off about this. We're blood traitors as far as the Malfoys are concerned. Dad always disliked Lucius intensely."

"I can't believe that anyone could like Lucius," Harry said darkly.

Why are they here?" Her gaze became panicked. "They wouldn't be here for you…would they? The Ministry have been interested in your whereabouts."

"If it was me they were after there would be others with them. There are too many able wizards in this house. So it's not me. What do they want here?"

"I don't know but Malfoy, he…" She gave a little shiver. "Harry…" Ginny paused. "I may be wrong but…" she hesitated.

Harry turned to face her and grabbed both her hands in his own. "Say it. It doesn't matter how daft you think it is."

"Ever since we got together and broke up again…"

"You know why we did that, Gin. I wish it hadn't happened but…"

"I still think you were wrong but Draco started to watch me then. And he never stopped. It was creepy. It's as if…" she stopped, her expression pained.

Draco was watching Ginny. Harry's mouth dropped open. A terrible thought had suddenly come into his head. No, he had to be wrong. Percy wouldn't do such a thing. Still, the words pounded inside his head. Blood traitors – blood! Ginny Weasley was a pure-blooded witch – a beautiful pure-blooded witch. But she was his witch.

One of Harry's strengths was his ability to think quickly in a crisis or perhaps, it was not to think at all, and he dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out a small silver knife. Slicing it across his palm he motioned to Ginny to do the same. She didn't know what he was trying to do with this, but held out her hand, palm up and let him make a small cut to match his. "Whatever happens," Harry vowed. "I'll not let you go through this alone. Whatever happens, I'll be with you." Pressing their palms together, they couldn't fail to notice the soft golden shimmer of magic which covered them both.

"Well," Ginny stated in surprise. "Something happened there,"

Harry's brow creased in concern. "Yeah, I'm just not exactly sure what did happen. But it was some form of blood magic. Hermione would know if I wanted to ask her, which I don't. I just acted on instinct and I know enough to gauge that it should give me the right to help you and your family if necessary."

"Help me!"

"I'm relying on you to do the same for me. It works two ways. At some point you have to help me back," Harry said, trying to smile. "Let's go in and see what's happening."

"Wait," Ginny ordered, pointing her wand at the cut on Harry's hand. With a quick incantation, the cut healed to a thin red scar. She then did the same to herself. "No use dripping blood through the kitchen and advertising what we just did," she murmured.

They slipped in through the back door to be met by an anxious Hermione, her eyes wide and filled with tears. "We saw them," Harry murmured.

Ginny pointed to the door and through in the front room, they could hear an angry chorus of raised voices.

"Oh, Ginny…Harry," she said.

"What's happening?" Harry asked, his hand, still throbbing a little from the cut, tightening in Ginny's grasp.

"You'd better go through Ginny. This concerns you." Hermione's face paled further as she spotted Harry and Ginny's joined hands.

"Concerns me?" Ginny echoed. "What concerns me? Tell me."

Hermione's lips trembled and she shook her head.

Harry gave Ginny a supportive nod as she opened the door and stepped through. The scene in the Weasley's living room was one of angry hostility. Fred, George and Ron were all on their feet shouting furiously at Percy. Her estranged brother stood stiffly, his ears red with anger as if he couldn't believe such verbal attacks on a ministry representative. The Malfoys stood, blonde hair gleaming, impeccably groomed, just inside the door as if they couldn't bear to contaminate themselves by entering further into the room, their pale, sneering, pointed faces enjoying the argument.

As Ginny entered the room, Percy switched his attention almost gratefully to his sister. He hadn't seen her for several months and was astonished at how grown-up she seemed. Draco's gaze immediately latched onto the young redheaded witch and a faint triumphant smile crossed his lips. Harry noted, with concern, the barely concealed possessiveness in Draco's eyes directed straight at Ginny. This didn't look good at all.

"You've got no business here," Ron snarled as he turned away, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. There was a horrible silence.

"Happy birthday, Ginny. This is an auspicious moment in your young life – that of young adulthood in the eyes of wizarding law," Percy said pompously. Moving forward he attempted to kiss Ginny on the cheek as a brightly wrapped package appeared in his hand.

Ginny stepped back abruptly and Percy's attempted kiss landed in mid-air. "What are you doing here, Weatherby?"

Percy reddened at the reminder that his first boss at the Ministry failed to remember his name, and placed the gift on the table behind him. "I am here as the senior Weasley family member to wish you a happy birthday."

"You're not the senior Weasley," she said coldly. "You don't deserve to be. Bill is the eldest son, followed by Charlie."

Percy brushed a speck of dust from his immaculate pinstriped robes. "But neither of them are currently in the country which makes me de facto head of the family."

At this statement Fred and George began yelling again. Ginny held up her hand and the brothers quieted. "If you don't want an example of my favourite hex you'll explain exactly why you are here and the meaning of the undesirable guests."

Percy scowled. "You need some guidance in your life, Ginevra Weasley. Instead of hanging around with wizards of dubious temperament and morality – he threw a vicious look at Harry. "We're here to settle your future."

"You have some nerve!" Ginny snapped. "I'll settle my own future."

"In the light of your status as an underage witch lacking proper guidance, the Ministry has decided to accept a petition for your hand in marriage."

"Without consulting me!" Ginny spat, her eyes flashing with loathing. "The Ministry has no business meddling in my life. This is an archaic practice that fell out of favour decades ago. I refuse."

"You cannot refuse," Percy said smugly. "And as for 'out of favour', think again, Ginny. It's becoming rather popular once more."

"I don't care how 'popular' it is. I refuse. Try to make me do it." Ginny exploded forward her hands raised in furious fists.

"No, Gin," Harry said quietly, catching her by the waist and pulling her back. "Don't touch him. It will only make things worse." Hermione moved to her other side in support.

"I don't have to 'try', Ginevra," Percy said, in a supercilious voice. "You'll find that you have no choice but to do it."

"Perhaps I may interrupt," a cold voice drawled. Lucius Malfoy stepped forward and pulled a piece of rolled up parchment from his pocket tied with a green silk ribbon and held it out to Ginny. "My petition for the hand of Ginevra Molly Weasley for my son, Draco Lucius Salazar Malfoy, was accepted…"

"I didn't accept it," Ginny cried. "I won't accept it." She surged forward again only to be held back by both Harry and Hermione this time.

"Don't touch the parchment," Harry whispered in her ear, unheard by everyone apart from Ginny as he caught one of her flailing fists. "It's a magical contract."

Ginny's brown eyes widened and gave Harry a miniscule nod, letting him draw her back by his side. She didn't know much more about them than had been covered in some of her classes at Hogwarts but knew they weren't things to be taken lightly.

Lucius sneered at Harry but directed his words to Ginny. "As you brother said, you have no choice but to accept the marriage, Miss Weasley. It will take place one month from today. I bid you a pleasant evening. Come Draco, you'll have plenty of time to get to know your fiancée better after the ceremony." He handed the rolled up piece of parchment to Percy before sweeping out. Draco's eyes sparkled with malicious pleasure. He had finally bested Harry Potter in something. He had something that the boy-who-lived wanted. It didn't matter that he didn't particularly want her himself, he just knew that it would upset these blood-traitorous paupers. He would marry her, bed her and then if she proved unsatisfactory, he would get rid of her.

"You'd better remove your hands from the Weaslette. She's mine, Potter," he drawled, cold grey eyes gleaming with malevolence, and swept out after his father.

Percy gave a nervous cough. "It's for your own good, Ginny," he said condescendingly. "He's wealthy and you'll be well taken care of. You'll see it in time."

Ginny's eyes flashed warningly. "I'll never marry him. There's more to life than a vault full of galleons. But then Percy, you can't see that some things are above price. You couldn't see that your family loved you, your father died for the right cause, killed by the monsters you seem to be consorting with."

Percy hands tightened into fists. "As Lucius said, the wedding will take place a month from today," he said coldly, ignoring her words.

"Since when were you so friendly with the Malfoys, Percy?" she said accusingly. "You wouldn't have taken the mark, would you? Someone check his left forearm."

"Lucius Malfoy is one of the current major benefactors to St Mungo's hospital, where our mother is currently being treated…"

"How do you know that, Percy," snarled Ron. "You've never visited her."

"…and other Ministry charities. How dare you insinuate…" Percy's continued on, his face turning scarlet with anger and mortification. "You need…" he spluttered. "I would never…" He pulled himself up to his full height. "Ginevra Molly Weasley, you have just demonstrated that I was right in my actions. You need to show respect for proper authority."

"You pompous, stuck-up…" Ginny shrieked, breaking away from Harry to launch herself at Percy. Hermione threw her arms around Ginny and dragged her away from her elder brother with difficulty.

Harry stepped forward, green eyes cold with fury, his face set. "Do you realize what you have done?"

Percy took a nervous half-step backwards and then rallied, staring defiantly down his nose at Harry. Delusional liar or not, Harry Potter was still the Boy-who-lived and a powerful wizard. "I've done the best for my sister who obviously has no parental figure in her life at the moment."

"She has no 'parental figure' because of people like the Malfoys," Harry growled.

"I'm keeping her safe," shot back Percy stubbornly.

"From me?" Harry asked, his jaw tightening.

"Yes," said Percy defiantly. "No imaginary dark wizards or…"

"But Voldemort's no longer imaginary, Perce," Harry said tauntingly. "You saw him in the Ministry atrium just beside that stupid meaningless fountain. You were there."

"But it's you he's after and I want her away from you. She will be safe with the Malfoys. Their manor is well-protected."

Harry's anger spiked inside him, hot and strong at the man's answer and he quelled the urge to hex Percy into unconsciousness. It would do him no favours to hex a Ministry official. "No, you're not keeping her safe at all, Percy. I broke our relationship to keep her safe and look what has happened. You would give her to a Malfoy, a member of a family who have always looked down on and ridiculed your own house. I suppose you do recall that Lucius Malfoy was the one responsible for giving Ginny Tom Riddles diary? She almost died then and you thanked me for saving her life. You're a blind, arrogant fool and have possibly just signed your sister's death warrant," Harry stated brutally. "Remember, I told the truth about Voldemort while you and the rest of the Ministry stuck your heads in the sand. But no, according to you, I wasn't telling the truth and warning the wizarding world. I was a delusional attention-seeking liar. Voldemort's still around and the Malfoys' allegiance is to him." He ignored Percy's wince at the mention of He-who-shall-not-be-named. "You are a small minded, petty, incompetent bureaucrat who wouldn't see reality if it bit you on the…"

Percy went pale. "You're exaggerating," he managed to say through stiff lips. "She'll be safe from you and everyone else."

"No, she won't be safe. Listen to yourself. They consider her to be a blood traitor – a pure-blood traitor which, I suppose, is a bonus for you, otherwise they would have never sullied themselves with her presence at all. She'll be used to spy on your family, me, Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix – all those that are against Voldemort. You've just sold your sister to the Dark Lord's right hand man. I hope you're proud of yourself. What about your brothers and your mother's safety? They're just as vulnerable to attack as Ginny is – as your father was. Have you checked Lucius and Draco Malfoys left forearms? I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're sporting a piece of interesting art."

Percy opened and shut his mouth.

"They'll breed from her," Harry continued coarsely, "and then when she tries to do the right thing, they'll kill her. I for one, won't allow that to happen."

Ron nodded vehemently, too angry to say anything. Hermione stood beside him, her fists clenched so tightly that the knuckles were white.

"Nor will we." Fred and George had aligned themselves at Harry's shoulder in support, their wands outstretched. "Get out Weatherby. You're not part of this family and are not welcome in this house. Go and join your new Death Eater family. I'm sure V..V..Voldemort would love to have you for afternoon tea."

"I'm going," Percy snapped, grabbing his bowler hat, which he'd laid on the table next to the brightly wrapped birthday gift. "But let me tell you this. The Ministry of Magic is keeping an eye on you, Potter. If anything happens to my sister we'll know who to blame."

"Yes," Harry said coldly. "We will. It will be completely your fault and following that, the Malfoys." How could he ever have thought that Ginny would welcome this? He didn't know his feisty sister as well as he thought if he expected her just to submit to such a distasteful arrangement. He tried one last appeal to the uptight redheaded man. "Percy what's got into you? Think about Ginny."

Fred waved his wand in Percy's face. "We thought at first that he'd been Imperio'd but we just think it's his form of revenge on the family for not seeing how important he was. We know what a disloyal sod he really was. Prefects who gained power indeed. Gained it and then abused it. A bit like V…" Fred recalled a book Percy had read avidly during his tenure as Hogwarts' head boy.

Fred was as angry as Harry had ever seen him. The mischievous glint, so much a part of both the twins' expressions, was gone.

"You bastard!" Ginny, her eyes wet with tears and a steely hatred that Percy had never experienced before, walked towards them and stood next to Harry. Mumbling an incantation beneath her breath, she pointed her wand at her hapless brother and stood watching with grim satisfaction as he stumbled from the house, the bat bogeys flapping around him, before he finally apparated away.

Ginny turned to Harry and threw herself into his arms, burrowing her head in his shoulder.

"What are we going to do?" asked Fred, watching his sister worriedly.

Hermione sighed. "I don't know that there's anything we can do. I vote we contact Dumbledore. He'll surely have a better idea."

"I hope so. What do you really think, Hermione?" Ron asked. He didn't like the idea of his sister being with anyone but to have her forcibly married to Malfoy was just horrific.

She picked up the rolled up parchment and opened it. "Ginny…"

"I don't want that anywhere near me," Ginny declared, lifting her head from Harry's shoulder. He moved them both out of the way. "I don't want to see it or touch it or even think about it."

"But…" Hermione didn't blame Ginny for refusing to touch it but the red-headed witch was going to have to deal with it at some point and soon. Quickly scanning through the document, the bushy-haired witch bit her lip. "It's probably been drawn up by the best magical legislators in the Ministry."

"Or the ones in Malfoy's pocket," muttered Ron.

"Probably one and the same. This looks binding," she whispered. "It's no joke. If we can't find a way of breaking this, Ginny will have to marry Malfoy." She held out the parchment to Harry. He looked at it but also didn't touch it, holding onto Ginny with both hands. No one but Ginny noticed. "There's another clause here," Hermione noted. "Ginny will be drawn to Malfoy. Its part of the magic spell ensuring that the marriage will take place. If she doesn't submit willingly…" Hermione stopped and swallowed. "She could go insane or lose her magic."

"What!" the boys all exclaimed.

Hermione swallowed, her eyes narrowing as she continued to read. "Then there is a list of the things that the Malfoy bride should and shouldn't do."

"I'm not marrying the ferret and that's final," Ginny hissed and ran into the kitchen.

"I'll go and speak to her." Harry looked at the family. "George – contact Charlie and Bill. They also need to know. Bill's a curse-breaker he might know of something."

"What about Mum?" asked the twins in unison.

"Is she up to this?" wondered Harry.

"She'll be madder than some of our garden gnomes if she's not told," said Ron. "Father hated Lucius Malfoy probably in the same way that we hate Draco."

"Your father's not here to help any more," said Hermione. "If he had been, this situation wouldn't have happened. Your mum should be told. She may even have an idea." Her look at Harry told him that she doubted it.

"Then tell her but try and keep it low key. Ginny's going to need all her family around her." Harry nodded at them all and slipped into the kitchen after Ginny. There was no way that the Malfoys were taking his girl from him. Not now that he knew that he wanted her back.

xxxxxxx