Chapter Seven
A/N: Sorry, I've hit a writer's block with this chapter. Just know that no matter how long between updates I won't abandon a fic. -Bree
All rights still belong to Jk Rowling all I own are my plots and the bunnies that follow them.
Harry and Ron were ecstatic about their first actual mission as official aurors. Harry had been top of his class, with Ron falling in as a close second. Kingsley had gotten an anonymous tip about some rogue Death Eaters hiding out near Chislehurst caves. Harry and Ron's mission was to capture and hopefully bring them back alive.
Harry and Ron apparated to a spot a little ways out from the caves.
"Should we set up here mate?" Ron asked Harry.
"Here's fine," Harry replied. They went about setting up camp with Harry starting on assembling the tent while Ron worked on the many wards to keep them safe. He set up wards to turn people away, muggle and wizard alike. He also muttered out protection spells to disillusion the area and to keep any conversations private. Ron had found that he had a natural knack for warding. He turned and watched Harry who was levitating the tent into its place. "I wonder which ones are hiding out. The Malfoys were cleared. Dolohov was cleared. Mum took care of Bellatrix. Greyback was killed he tried to escape capture," Ron mused.
"I don't rightly care but we should wait till dark to scope the caves out," Harry said gruffly. He sighed. He missed Ginny and he missed Hermione. Ron was great and all, but he couldn't compare sitting in the woods in a tent with Ron to cuddling his girlfriend or having Hermione to talk to when he felt down and out.
As night fell, the two made their way stealthily towards the caves. They entered into one of the larger caves where Harry whispered a "lumos" lighting the area up. There was a ring of ash where a fire had been and the dirt was all scattered where someone had obviously been sleeping.
"Well, someone's been staying here but it looks like they've packed up camp. We'll check out some of the other caves," Harry said quietly. Suddenly Harry went into defense mode and shoved Ron behind him as two shadowy figures walked into the cave.
"Well, would you look at this Rodolphus? We have guests, very special guests," Rabastan said to his brother. Rodolphus grinned wickedly. "We've been waiting a long time for this." He smirked, pulled out his wand and pointed it at Harry. Rodolphus yelled out "Crucio!" as Harry brought up a shield and bellowed out "Incarcerous!" Ropes shot out of his wand and around Rodolphus. He quickly shot a "petrificus totalus" at him effectively petrifying him in place. Harry could hear Ron and Rabastan battling as well. He walked up to Rodolphus and slapped a portkey on to him, keeping him in eye shot as the portkey activated and sent him directly to a holding cell in the ministry.
He turned to Ron and caught his eye as Rabastan sent a nonverbal spell at Ron that he didn't see. "RON! WATCH OUT!" Harry screamed. Ron spun around and seen the bright light from the spell hurtling towards him before it made contact, he fell and black was all he saw.
Harry growled angrily and sent a "stupefy" at Rabastan which Rabastan blocked. "Sectum Sempra!" He yelled, the same color shooting out of his wand as the spell that hit Ron. Harry blocked it narrowly. They went back and forth with this dance until both were breathing hard and sweating profusely from the overexertion of magic. Harry hit Rabastan with a jelly legs jinx which caught the death Eater off guard which gave Harry the opportunity to finish the job. He shouted out a "Petrificus Totalus" followed by "Incarcerous" and "Stupefy" for good measure. He slapped the second portkey onto the remaining LeStrange brother and watched as he was forced away.
Harry ran to Ron and apparated them both to St. Mungos. Ron had a multitude of deep gashes across his body and was bleeding heavily as they arrived. Harry handed Ron off to the mediwitch. Unknown spell, most likely sectum sempra from the looks of it he said. She levitated Ron into a room and pushed Harry out to the waiting room. Harry paced and paced the waiting area. He ran over as a multitude of medi witches started hurrying into Rons room and an alarm started wailing.
"What's going on." He demanded of the medi witch he'd manage to grab. "Mister Potter we don't have time" was the answer he received as she shoved by him.
About an hour later the head of the mediteam approached him. "Mister Potter we are deeply sorry but there was nothing more we could do. There is no counter curse that we know of for Sectum Sempra. The only one who would know of one is it's creator and we can no longer ask him." The mediwitch rambled
"What are you saying exactly?" Harry growled.
"Mister Weasley has passed on, you have our condolences" The mediwitch said. Harry's emerald eyes filled with tears as his knees gave out. Someone pushed a potion into his mouth and he passed out.
Minerva's cat patronus found its way to Hermione at Prince Mansion. Draco and Hermione looked up at it. "Hermione you are requested at my office immediately. This is an emergency." The cat boomed in Minerva's voice. Immediately Hermione apparated back to hogsmeade and ran back to the castle, up to the Headmistresses office where Ginny was sitting there listless, crying. The moment she seen Hermione the younger girl ran and wrapped her arms around her. She was trying to say something but Hermione couldn't understand her through her tears. She looked at McGonagall imploringly. "Sit down dear. There's been an accident with Harry and Ron." She told her. "Are they alright? Where are they? Can we see them? What happened?" Hermione began firing off questions at the headmistress.
"Hermione.." She said sadly "Mister Weasley has passed on. Harry is fine. It seems they were on a mission where things went badly. You and Miss Weasley are expected at the Burrow as soon as you're able. I'm truly sorry Hermione."
Hermione felt the air rush out of her. Ron was gone? It couldn't be. Everyone was mistaken. Tears ran down her face as she held onto Ginny like she was her lifeline. Both girls were crying inconsolably when Arthur showed up. "Minerva" He said politely. His face blotchy and his eyes we red and puffy from crying. "Arthur" Minerva acknowledged. "I'm truly sorry." She said as her voice quivered and the emotions she was hiding threatened to explode. Arthur nodded his head as he walked over to the girls and wrapped his arms around them. "Come on, let's get you home" He murmured. "Minerva?" He questioned looking at the fireplace. "Of course" She sniffled, handing him the cat shaped jar that held the floo powder.
He threw it in the fire clearly saying the Burrow before sending Ginny first, then Hermione and finally himself.
The moment they stepped from the floo Molly grabbed them up tightly. "Oh, girls.." She wailed, tears flowing down her face. "Where's Harry" Hermione tentatively asked. "He's in his and R-r-ons room" Molly informed her. Squeezing her shoulder Molly let her go. She climbed the stairs slowly and opened the door to find Harry curled up on Ron's bed crying. "Oh Harry" Hermione sniffled closing the door. Harry's watery eyes found hers. He opened his arms to her as she walked over to him, letting him envelope her with his arms as she did the same to him. They both laid on Ron's bed letting his comforting scent wash over them as they both silently comforted each other. Neither knowing what to say as the golden trio became the golden duo. They were asleep on Ron's bed wrapped around each other when Molly came up to check on them an hour later.
"They're out" Molly informed the rest of the crew coming downstairs. Ginny nodded knowing Harry needed Hermione as much as Hermione needed him at that moment and it wasn't something she should intrude on, girlfriend or not. The three of them had always been inseparable, they may fight or disagree but it was always those three against the world and now one of them was gone. Ginny understood what they must be going through. She understood because Ron was her brother and she felt like a piece of her was missing. She had her family though where as much as the Weasleys considered Harry and Hermione family; Hermione was Harry's closest family.
Draco was in the process of clearing some of severus's old junk out when he suddenly dropped to his knees. The feeling of heartbreak and loss almost overwhelming his consciousness. Unbidden tears flowing down his cheeks. He thought about what the hell that could be and suddenly it dawned on him. It was a bond. Draco wanted to test this theory. He tentatively tried to push feelings of peace and comfort through what he perceived was a bond and almost immediately got a reaction. The feelings of loss and heartbreak was still there but dulled quite a bit and the feeling of peacefulness was the strongest feeling returned. "Well, fuck." he muttered.
He knew at that moment he'd found the missing Dolohov. He'd found his betrothed. He had found Mia. The only problem was Mia was Hermione Granger, one third of the golden trio and Harry Potter's best friend. Draco himself didn't care about any of that but his father might and Dolohov might. He wasn't exactly sure on how reformed the two were. He wouldn't risk Hermione's safety until he was sure. He had to be careful here. Hermione's life could depend on his ability to keep this to himself. He understood now though all the feelings he'd been having and how he could be falling for a witch so soon after breaking up with leaving Astoria had been so easy. It was their bond waking up and becoming active and stronger after being dormant for so long.
Draco called out to one of the house elves. "Joldry!"
"Yes, Master Draco" came the squeaky reply.
"I need to do some research, Does the library here have books on magical bonds?" Draco asked.
A loud pop was Dracos reply. A few minutes later another loud pop sounded indicating Joldrys return. The house elf handed Draco a stack of old books. The covers were old and worn. They looked on the verge of falling apart, yet when Draco opened the top book he was surprised to find that the pages were all intact and indeed still readable. Draco looked over st the house elf waiting for his next orders. "That will be all, please return to whatever you were doing" He said softly. "POP' Joldry was gone.
Draco sighed, picking up the first book off the stack and walking over to Snapes desk. He conjured up a comfortable chair, set the book onto the desk and opened it to the index. He ran his finger down the page until he seen something that might be what he was looking for. Chapter 12: Marriage Bonds. . Pages 3,045- 3,060. He flipped to the marked page and leaned back into the chair and started to read. He was so focused that he didn't notice the time go by or the sun starting to set. He didn't notice the candles flare to life.
What felt like an eternity later Draco sat up and rubbed his temples. Sighing loudly he realized that this was a bigger mess than his parents explained to him. The two of them never had a chance. The moment the bond was sealed so was there fates to each other. It seemed that no matter what they would find each other, which explained why his parents had never seemed to worried about Mias disappearance, The only way out of a blood bond as this was literally death and not only would that kill him but it would take Mia out as well. Natural death would leave the other alive but taking his own life would kill the both of them instantly. Not that Draco was particularly opposed to the match but he felt that Hermione would fight this tooth and nail on the principal of her choice in marriage being deemed for her. This would not sit well with her. Not at all.
Draco would have to think very carefully on how to play this out. Hermione would have to be told. It would only piss her off to find out later that she'd been kept in the dark. He'd teach her occlumency first though. He couldn't risk his father finding out what he knew or that Hermione knew. If his father found out then so did Dolohov and Draco didn't trust them nor did he want to deal with that mess until he and Hermione sorted out the mess that was now their life.
