Harry had been in the midst of reading something when her lightning scar suddenly sent pain shooting through her body. She dropped to the floor and screamed, only for the pain to stop a few seconds later.
She had remained sitting on the floor for a while, shaking every few seconds, phantom pain making her wince, when Lucius Malfoy strode in. He quickly waved her down as she began to scramble to her, then started bluntly with:
"The dark lord has returned"
Harry stared.
"He will come to you in a year"
Harry stared.
"And form an ancient marriage bond with you"
Harry stared.
"It will require consummation and will force you to do whatever he says."
Harry stared. Lucius cleared his throat uncomfortably, before offering his apologies and excusing himself.
Harry just stared at where he had been.
She stared as her magic flooded out of her, ripping her books to shreds.
She stared as the bed cracked in two.
She stared as the windows shattered and curtains tore and the chandelier came crashing down.
And then she grabbed the nearest piece of paper, and blindly wrote down everything Lucius had told her, then clicked her fingers and the note disappeared, heading to Hogwarts.
And then she hurled her guts up.
o - o - o - o - o
When the letter appeared out of thin air in front of Draco two days before the Yule holiday, it caused quite a stir. However, Draco knew it could only be from Harry so he unfolded it and read it. And read it again. And again.
And only when he was certain his brain was reading the words properly did he allow himself to process what they meant.
Voldemort was going to marry her.
Voldemort was going to marry her.
Voldemort was going to marry her.
He was going to force Harry into an ancient marriage ritual; one that required consummation; one that would force Harry to do whatever Voldemort wanted.
Draco couldn't breathe; he could feel his magic straining to be let free; to tear everything to pieces. He breathed in and out and in and out, until he wasn't going to destroy the great hall. But his magic still wanted to break stuff; his anger was at boiling point. So he shoved his way out of the great hall, not caring about his worried housemates or the curious teachers. He walked until he found a door, and he pushed it open and walked in, the door locking behind him. It was a perfect room for his fury; nothing for him to break. And break things he did, as he let himself collapse, his magic rushing out of him in a great, shredding wave. If anything had been there, it would have been torn to pieces.
o - o - o - o - o
For the last two days at school, Draco didn't utter a word. His exit from lunch hadn't gone unnoticed, and he was bombarded by questions about the letter he received, but he would just shove past the asker. Even Professor Snape asked if he was alright; to this he replied with a sharp shake of his head before moving to his next lesson.
What broke Draco's silence, however, was none other than Harry. When Draco arrived home for Yule, he strode straight to Harry's room to see how she was.
As he walked into her room, the first thing that struck him wasn't the destruction, but the magic; Harry's magic swirled in the the angrily, originating from the girl curled up on the floor. Draco released his own, familiar magic to soothe her, before walking over and picking her up in his arms. She was shaking. He then strode straight back out of the room, and down long corridors, ignoring his mother as he passed her, until he finally reached his room. He quickly sat down on the bed, cradling Harry in his arms as she shook, whispering comforting things in her ear.
Eventually, she faded into a fitful sleep, but Draco continued to sit their, rubbing her back. As if sending that Harry was asleep, a faint knock came from the door, and Narcissa Malfoy walked in.
"What." Draco growled, trying to keep his tone civil, but his mother seemed to pick up on his mood and frowned.
"What are you annoyed at me for? I merely came to ask if you and your girl are alright." His mother questioned. Although she was completely aware of the girl's fate, she hadn't thought through exactly what an ancient marriage rite entailed.
"No, Harry is not alright! She's been curled up on the floor of her wrecked bedroom for days, surrounded in her own vomit, and no one bothered to move her. This only happened because you and father handed your lives over to Voldemort! Get out of my room!" Draco shouted, sounding remarkably like a moody teenager, but the topic was more serious than anyone his age should have to deal with.
His magic shoved his mother out of the room, and locked the door behind her, and then Draco turned around to see Harry staring at him, her unnaturally green eyes dull. He curled up next to her, and she fell asleep with her head on his chest.
o - o - o - o - o
It was three days before Harry got out of bed one afternoon. Draco was immediately at her side, but she just stepped away from him.
"Teach me how to duel." Harry demanded.
If Draco were anyone else, he might have asked why she wanted to learn how to fight instead of studying ways to get out of ancient marriage rites, but Draco knew that Harry had to feel like she was doing something; she couldn't sit idle. She was passing the burden of researching to Draco, but he was more than happy to shoulder it. So he simple replied "sure" to her question. And so began a series of the strangest duels in wizarding history.
o - o - o - o - o
"I don't know how well we'll duel; normally there's some fancy stuff about wand brandishing, but we obviously can't do that. I guess you'll more be learning about aiming and good combat spells." Draco started, flexing his fingers to warm them up before he started teaching. Harry only nodded.
"So, lets get started with some aiming. I need you to fire piercing spells as that wall, the one with the target on, until you hit the yellow ten times in a row." Draco continued, gesturing towards the wall in his bedroom he had painted like a huge archery target. Harry nodded again, and cast a piercing spell at the wall; it only hit the black bit, so she frowned and tried again, and again and again.
o - o - o - o - o
After a day of target practice, Draco was curled up in bed with the one of the books about ancient binding rituals he found in the house, but there weren't many. Harry, who has decided to sleep in his room from then on, was still practicing her aim.
When he was halfway through, he looked up and realised it was already midnight, so cancelled his lumos and went to sleep; Harry only saw it as an opportunity to practice in the dark.
o - o - o - o - o
By the time Draco went back to school, he had read four books on ancient bonding rituals and still found nothing, whereas Harry had improved her aim substantially - every 9 in 10 shots would hit dead centre - but she still wasn't satisfied. While Draco was away, he knew she would practice until she was dead on her feet, until she hit every time she cast a spell. He'd also left her a list of spells she should learn how to cast while he was away; although it was two pages long, he knew she'd learn to cast them all.
