The long weeks of the usually boring summer holidays rolled along and I was finally doing what I had dreamed of so many times in the past: I was brewing potions in the dungeon with my Potions Master. Professor Snape had a lot to do during the holidays and I was only too happy to settle into the role of apprentice immediately and help him with making potions. I didn't need a holiday or time to get myself together. I was ready, as I think I probably had been since I was eleven if I was honest, to devote the rest of my life to my beloved Severus Snape.
And it was absolutely great. The work was hard but not onerous, and whilst we didn't converse much while we were working, we got on really well. I was delighted when Professor Snape asked me to have dinner with him in his private quarters. We were brewing so many potions that we had utilised every available work bench in both his classroom and his private laboratory, and as some of them were time-critical it made sense to eat there rather than in the Great Hall, especially as Hagrid and the Headmaster were the only other residents still at school. Before long we were eating almost every meal there, conversing about potions or other matters of the day that we had read about in the Daily Prophet, which was delivered to us both every morning over breakfast.
One evening after a particularly long day of potion making, when we were enjoying a bottle of wine together, the conversation changed from the usual to something that really surprised me. It turned out that Lucius Malfoy had invited Professor Snape and me to his summer garden party. Remembering Lucius' reaction to me at the Ball and what Draco had told me about his "interests", I have to admit my stomach sank at the thought of having to spend any more time in Lucius' company. But Professor Snape told me that whilst he understood my reluctance it was rather a difficult situation and Lucius would be sure to be offended if I didn't go, which could potentially cause problems in the long run. He wasn't pushy, though, and said that the choice to go or not was mine; he would be happy to make my excuses if I preferred not to attend.
By that point my brain was firing on all cylinders and I could see that this was a potential opportunity to further cement both my relationship with Professor Snape, which whilst not yet romantic was going really well in my opinion, and to face down Lucius with the Potions Master at my side. So I agreed to go, but only on the strict understanding that I wasn't to be left alone with Lucius or Draco at any point. And I think I quite impressed Professor Snape with that decision as it showed I wasn't the wimpy Hufflepuff he had always assumed I was.
And so it was that on a lovely hot August afternoon, Professor Snape and I, he still dressed in his usual black robes which must have been baking, and I in a pretty pale green summer dress, left the school grounds so we could Apparate to Malfoy Manor. It was the first time I had ever travelled by Side-along Apparition. I found it to be slightly more disorientating than normal Apparating, but that might have been because my beloved Potions Master had wrapped his arm around my waist, so I was already rather light-headed.
To be honest, the garden party was a strange mixture of delightful and scary. It seemed that a great many of Lucius' guests weren't entirely sure what to make of Professor Snape and me. There was a good deal of whispering about us, which I found quite unsettling. Lucius was unstintingly gracious, immediately complimenting me on how beautiful I looked, although the look he gave me as he said it made my stomach curl and I wasn't entirely sure it was in a good way. Although nothing was said, the atmosphere between Lucius and Professor Snape was palpable from the minute they got together and continued building the whole time we were there.
Once we arrived, Lucius insisted on keeping us company for the entire party. I say us, because I took Professor Snape's arm during our first introduction to Lucius and refused point-blank to let go regardless of how much Lucius attempted to get me to. And he really did try. I have to give him credit for that. Initially he introduced Professor Snape to several new people and then tried to lead me away so he could have a conversation alone with me. But if there was one thing I was completely certain of, it was that I had absolutely no intention of spending even one second alone with Lucius Malfoy. Although he was incredibly handsome and I will admit his interest was very flattering in a strange sort of way — after all, who couldn't fail to be a little swayed at the knowledge that one of the most powerful men in the country wanted to make love to you — he really wasn't my type. And after what Draco had told me about what Lucius enjoyed doing sexually, I had no desire to be in a position where I would be on the receiving end of his attention.
At one point Professor Snape asked him where his wife was and Lucius' smile faltered for just a second. He rallied magnificently, though, and completely changed the subject, suggesting that he and I should take a walk around his gardens as they were in spectacular and colourful form and were definitely worth seeing. The inference was that we would go alone, the tour being of no interest to Professor Snape who had surely seen the gardens many times, but that wasn't happening either. When I replied that "we" would love to see the gardens, and with Professor Snape showing no sign of leaving me, Lucius changed his mind.
Obviously realising that he wasn't going to separate me from my Potions Master to spend time with me, Lucius then suggested that I go and talk to Draco whilst he discussed some private business with Professor Snape. Normally I would have been happy to talk to Draco, even though we weren't supposed to be friends, but I didn't want to be separated from Professor Snape. I had a suspicion that I would suddenly find myself alone, and not with Draco but with his father. However, wanting to give him a few minutes in case he really did want to talk business, I headed over to chat to a group of middle-aged women who were sitting at a table drinking punch, thinking I would be safe with them.
I soon discovered that I was talking to the mothers of some the Slytherins I'd gone to school with, including Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson's mums. They were all fascinated by me and especially by my relationship with Professor Snape who, according to these women, anyway, had never brought a woman to one of Lucius' parties before and was notorious for having no interest in relationships; or at least not ones that lasted longer than one night. Depending on who you spoke to, it seemed Professor Snape was either a monk or a bit of a slut. I wasn't sure which fascinated me more.
True fact: there's nothing like a bunch of sexually frustrated woman for gossiping and it was pretty clear that these women were exactly that. They were determined to weasel out of me what our relationship really was. Having had a few glasses of the rather strong punch that was being doled out a little too freely, and thus feeling a tad wicked by that time, I may have given the impression that there was slightly more to the relationship between me and Professor Snape than was strictly true. Of course they jumped on it and before long I was confiding, in the strictest confidence of course, that Severus Snape was a truly wonderful lover. My Potions Master's stock rose dramatically as far as the women were concerned and I could see several of them giving him appraising glances as they breathlessly hung on my every word, excited to hear how considerate and kind he was and how hard he made me come — every time we made love. I honestly thought that at least two of them were going to faint from excitement when he came over to join us. I had no choice but to change the subject, hence reminding the women that our conversation was supposed to be confidential.
That really was the best part of the afternoon, as far as I was concerned. With the tension still building between Lucius and Professor Snape, we left fairly shortly afterwards, having stayed for as little time as we could politely get away with. I didn't really think any more about what I had told the women as it had just been a bit of a joke. But in the end it actually turned out to be quite useful.
But then two days before school was due to start, everything that had been going so right suddenly went completely wrong.
The day began well enough. The teachers had returned to the castle and it was, so Professor Snape told me, the custom to have a breakfast meeting with the Headmaster to discuss what lay in the year ahead and talk through any problems remaining from the previous one. It was as we were relaxing after the meal that the post owls arrived and we had the first inkling that something was up. We all received copies of the Daily Prophet and on opening them we all saw the huge banner heading and article that took up the whole of the first page. It was the announcement of the introduction of Lucius' new marriage law.
It was weird to see in print something that Draco and I had talked about what seemed like so long ago. It was also a little troubling. For starters, I hadn't expected it to come into force quite so quickly. Draco had given the impression that it was going to be many months if not years before it would be agreed upon, let alone implemented. As I scanned the article I was a bit worried at how biased it seemed to be towards pure-bloods — although I suppose I shouldn't have been, knowing who was behind it. I wasn't keen on the part where it said that a pure-blood would have full legal power over a Muggle-born; that sounded suspiciously like we would be subjugated by this new betrothal contract. They didn't even call it a marriage, because it so clearly wasn't going to be the equal partnership that marriage implies.
But then things got nasty rather quickly. Almost before we had finished reading the article another owl appeared, and it was carrying a letter for me. As I looked at the envelope bearing the official Ministry seal my heart sank. I was sure I knew what it was. Opening the envelope I scanned the contents and my heart sank even lower as I read the words that confirmed what I had been dreading: that Draco had petitioned for a betrothal contract and I had to go to the Ministry of Magic on 29 September to complete the ceremony. I was still trying to process what had gone wrong when Professor Snape, who was sitting next to me as ever, pulled the letter from my hands and read it out loud to the shocked teachers.
I wanted to be alone to think about what had happened and to contact Draco; instead I had teachers fussing around me, all being sympathetic and annoying, whilst the school nurse kept trying to give me a calming potion I really didn't need. Although I was shocked by the letter I wasn't surprised, if you know what I mean. Suddenly I could see my cunning plan, which had been going surprisingly well until now, crumbling around me. I hadn't spent anywhere near enough time with Professor Snape for him to feel protective enough to want to save me from betrothal to Draco. There was nothing I could do to get out of it. The article in the paper had made that quite clear. Eventually the Headmaster sent me back down to the dungeons, thankfully, to continue with making potions whilst he and Professor Snape took my letter and went to his office.
When Professor Snape returned some time later he sat me down to talk to me about the letter. He assured me the Headmaster was going to talk to the Ministry of Magic about the contract to see what could be done to stop it, and that they would update me as soon as they had some information. He told me he was sure there would be a solution and that I wasn't to worry. But to be honest, I was worried. Although Draco and I had agreed that he would apply for a contract, it was never meant to be as soon as the law came into force. He had agreed to wait until I told him my Potions Master was ready. The fact that this contract notice had come through now meant something had gone very wrong. I needed to talk to Draco to find out what.
As soon as I got a free moment I sent Gylfie to Draco with a note saying I needed to see him. It was a risk meeting up with him, because if I was seen it could cause all sorts of problems, but I needed to know why he had ruined our plan. As I thought about it further, a possible reason became clear, but it wasn't something I wanted to dwell on and fervently hoped wasn't right. The following morning I slipped out of school to meet him, Apparating to Diagon Alley where we were less likely to be spotted as it was far busier than Hogsmeade, especially the day before school was due to start, and we could blend in better.
As soon as I saw Draco I knew something was wrong. Within a couple of minutes of talking, the worry that had been eating away at me since the letter had come was proved to be justified. Lucius had put forward the petition in Draco's name, knowing I couldn't refuse. Once I was at Malfoy Manor I would be at his mercy, under his control, even if I was betrothed to Draco. His growing obsession for me, increased apparently by Professor Snape's earlier attempts to keep me safe, had reached fever pitch and he was determined to have me, whatever it took. Draco apologised to me profusely but I knew it wasn't his fault. I was the one who had conceived the stupid plan. Although it was Draco's actions that had brought me to his father's attention he had only done what I had asked him to do. I had taken a chance and lost and now I would have to pay for it. Although we didn't talk about it we both knew that if no way was found to break the contract Draco wouldn't be able to stop his father and my life would get much worse than I could ever have considered.
Back at school I fretted constantly about what was going to happen, running through every possibility in my mind. I actually laughed when I remembered how I had thought the worst thing that could happen was ending up married to Draco. Now that seemed like a wonderful opportunity, but one that wasn't going to happen to me. I would be his betrothed in name only. In body I would belong to Lucius. I have to be honest and say that at one point I considered talking to the twins, sure that they would help me as they, too, were pure-blood. But whilst they — and by they I mean probably George — would be more than happy to enter into a contract with me, I wouldn't be able to give him what he needed in return. I was in love with Severus Snape, and everything I had done had been to become his wife, not anyone else's. It wasn't fair to drag other people into my mess just because it wasn't turning out the way I had hoped it would. For a moment Blaise had crossed my mind, too, but really it was only a flicker. Nice as he was, Blaise hadn't even wanted to admit he knew me when we were at school, so he was hardly likely to want to marry me now. The truth was that I just had to accept the inevitable and gird myself in readiness for life as Lucius' mistress.