Hermione stared at the door through which she had seen her husband vanish. His words were resonating in her mind.

'All you're feeling or think you're feeling is an illusion.'

'I never wanted to get married or have a family.'

'I want a girl that can tell me she loves me.'

A girl that loved him... No, she wasn't that girl. She had only ever wanted to become Ron's wife, not Draco's. Though she now was his wife regardless of what she wanted.

Just thinking of his name made her heart ache. She didn't want to have to do this any longer. She had been through too much in her short life. First she had been roped into fighting a Basilisk, then it was fighting Death Eaters at Hogwarts and to top it all they had been on the run in a desperate attempt to find and destroy the horcruxes.

She wanted to go home and don't have to bother about anything more exciting then the weekly shopping list. She didn't want to have to deal with Binding Spells and their inevitable effects on her life. She wanted to be together with the man she first had been having a crush on and then fell in love with, Ronald Weasley. He was the one man she wanted to be with.

Falling to her knees tears were starting to roll over her cheeks.

"Damn you, Draco Malfoy!" she screamed.

Her mind told her it was foolish to feel what she felt, if it wasn't real, but she couldn't help it. In this very moment she could hope and want for Ron all she liked, but the truth was that the only person capable of consoling her right now would be Draco Malfoy. Only in his arms would she find solace. Only his soft voice would comfort her. It was him her heart wanted, only him.

Through her tears she stared at the wooden floor. She didn't want to go back to her flat. Ron would most likely look for her there first. She didn't want to go to Harry either. He wouldn't say anything, but... Hard sobs hurt in her chest and her throat felt too dry to breath or swallow. Utter misery seemed to engulf her. There was nowhere she could go. There was no one she could go to.

Why was she punished like this? What had she done that she deserved this?


Harry was sitting in the Potions lab of the Auror Office and start at his cauldron. Everything seemed to have gone fine so far, seemed. A moment later the green concoction started to bubble and he had just enough time to through himself under the desk before an explosion shook the room and weirdly coloured, fluffy stuff was floating to the floor all around the room.

He peeked out from his hiding place. The walls were showing black patches and there was a small crater in the heavy stone slap where his cauldron had previously been.

"Merlin! Harry, what happened?" Neville suddenly asked behind him.

"I have no idea." scrambling to his feet Harry tried to read the rest of the instructions that were left of the singed piece of parchment, "No. I did everything correctly. Strange."

"Mr. Potter? There's a girl to see you at reception."

It was one of the filing clerks that worked in the administrative side of the Auror Office. Neville and Harry exchanged glances. That could mean one of two things, either Ginny wanted to surprise her fiancé with an invitation to lunch or something had happened between Hermione and Malfoy.

"Tell her I'll be right with her the moment I've cleaned up here."

"Will do."

'I just hope it's Ginny.'

"You go, I'll clear this up." Neville offered.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Whatever has happened might be too important as that you waste your time sorting a potion gone wrong."

"Thanks, Neville, I owe you."

"I'll remind you."

Harry sprinted to the reception and his hopes about lunch with his girl were gone in an instant. It was a distraught looking Hermione that awaited him.

She looked terrible. For starters was she wearing a pyjama. Which was rather odd as it was around mid-morning. Then again, technically she was on her honeymoon... Well, her actually having a proper honeymoon with Malfoy was as likely as a Harry getting the chance of seeing McGonagall drunk. Maybe she had had a good time with Ron... No. He called himself a fool for even contemplating this option. The Binding would never allow her to get frisky with anybody except her lawful wedded husband.

Looking at his friend Harry's heart sunk as deep as it could sink. Her eyes were red and tear filled, there were large damp patches on the ends of her sleeves and her face looked like she hadn't slept in a week. She was a mess. Whatever that damned ferret had done to her, he would make him pay!

"Harry!"

Hermione threw herself into his awaiting arms and started crying. Harry sighed. Whatever could go wrong seemed to be going wrong since last Friday. First the row, then Hermione having to consummate her marriage in order not to succumb to literally mind destroying pain and a slow death and he didn't even want to know what Malfoy had done now in order to reduce her to this state.

"Shh. Everything is going to be okay, you'll see."

"I'm nothing to him! He doesn't want me. He never wanted me. It was all a lie."

'Hold on!' Harry frowned unseen by his crying friend, 'Why does she suddenly care about what the ferret is thinking about her? Or if he loves her or not? Why... what's...?'

"Hermione? What was all a lie?"

"He's said that he loves me, but he never wanted to get married or have a family."

"Right?"

"He doesn't want me, even so he told me I have ignited the fire within him."

Nothing of what she was saying made any sense, not in any way her friend could comprehend any way She was rambling, he knew, but he would have expected her to at least explain what had happened.

"I'll bring you home."

"NO!" she shrieked, "He'll come and find me and I can't see him. I can't tell him..." the rest was lost in more sobbing.

Harry sighed. So much for not getting involved in the love life of his friend anymore. He was already involved in it up to his ears.


Draco was sitting at the desk in his room. He hadn't bothered getting dressed, or having breakfast for that matter. He just sat there and stared at the book in his hand. He knew it by heart and there was nothing in there that gave any consolation or even the hint as how he could escape the pain in his chest he was feeling.

He had been sobbing like a little boy while his mother had been trying to comfort him. None of her words had brought any comfort though. They had only reminded him why he was in the situation he was in. He had been given the chance to do right by Hermione and get a proper Reversal performed, but for some reason he had been the king of procrastination and now he had to deal with the fallout. He had been a coward. It would have been better to give her the chance of choosing the man she wanted to spend her life with, not having a spell decide it for her.

He wasn't sure why he hadn't done what his mother had told him to do. No, that wasn't true. He knew exactly why he had been so reluctant to come clean and tell her to her face that she was his Binding Partner the first time they had met in her office. He had just intended to mess about a bit. It had all been a game. She was Granger and he had been playing pranks on her for so long, it had become second nature. Now he was paying for his childishness.

A truly grown-up man would have faced the situation and acted accordingly. He wouldn't have just hidden behind brash behaviour, flowers to convey his thoughts and he would certainly not had that row with his wife only hours after having got married. The fact of the matter was, he wasn't a grown-up. Deep within he was still the spoilt, frightened little boy who had never had the chance to make proper friends or find a person he could trust. He had never had the chance to experience the giddy feeling because the girl he had a crush on was smiling at him. He had never had the chance to fall for a witch that saw right through him and knew what he really was like underneath the snotty exterior.

The pride that had him becoming a Death Eater had also let him to edge of sanity. If he didn't pluck up the courage and for once in his life did the right thing, she would hunt him down and bestowing the mercy of a fast death wouldn't be in her plans, only endless suffering.

Tears slowly dropped onto the pine, oak and mahogany inlays of the desktop.

'Face it, you love her and she hates your guts! You could have had her and a happy future, but instead of listening to her concerns and taking them seriously you wanted to force your will upon her.'

The voice in his head wasn't any more complimentary than his mother had been not so long ago. She had told him that he needed to make an effort to win the witch he had been destined to marry. She had told him to woo Hermione or, if he found himself incapable of doing so, at least propose to her in a way she would want the wizard indenting to marry her to do.

'There was the chance of happy-ever-after for you and you idiot had nothing better to do than blow it.'

Hearing these words from his parent had been bad enough, but now his... was it his conscience? It was using them as well. Seemingly there was no escape for him.

Her saw her laughing face before his inner eye, reminding him of them dancing together last Friday. She had been holding on to him as he had whirled her through the room. The happiness she had felt had been visible in her eyes. She had been content to be with him, to be his wife. It didn't last. He had managed to destroy all his mother, Potter and even Weasley had been working for, Hermione's happiness.

'I'm nothing but a coward and a bastard.' he thought. Though there was nothing but sadness left within him. He had had his chance and he'd blown it. Big time.

His fingers were flicking through the page of the slim volume they were still holding. He randomly stopped at a page and read.

We as fathers have the duty to protect our daughters by not enslaving them with the Binding.

He been reading this bit before, but mostly skipped over it. He wasn't a father after all and he had never intended to be one. Well, at least he didn't think he would want to do it willingly. Though his curiosity was roused and he read on.

We might regard them as less strong willed or even weaker than our sons, but the truth is that they are the ones nature has intended to bear our next generation. They are stronger than most of us will ever realise. Their bodies can endure what our would break under. Their minds are a fortress. If we don't want to be kept out permanently by not caring about our daughters the way we should, they might never again let us in.

It is important to keep our daughters safe and keep them from harm in the form of uncaring young men, be they wizard or Muggle. Which in turn means we have to teach our sons. We cannot allow them to grow up into unthinking, uncaring, brutish creatures who value their way of boundless life higher than the possibility of finding a meaningful, fulfilling and true relationship with the other sex.

Our sons need to learn that only in a true bond to a daughter they will find salvation.

Never allow your sons to become commanding, sneering, vindictive or ridden by their own might. Might is ephemeral, only true love survives everything, even time.

Draco glared at the pages. What a load of... He threw the book across the room and scowled at it. It made him sound a right... His head was buried in his hands a moment later as a realised that he had become exactly what the book had warned he shouldn't be.

'True love will survive everything. Yeah, right! ' he thought. There was no way for him to find true love. Not any longer.

It took a moment before it really hit him. He had already found his true love. The only problem was that it had come in the form of Hermione Granger!


"She's asleep now." Ginny said as she settled next to Harry on the long bench in the kitchen, "What has happened, Harry?"

The wizard next to her looked thoughtful into his tea. What indeed had happened? He had been able to only get fragments information our off his friend as she had been mainly crying her eyes out.

"I'm not entirely sure, but somehow Malfoy has managed to prevent them both having to die a long and painful death somehow, without to actually consummate their marriage no less."

"I know she was terrified when she thought she had done the deed with him." Ginny agreed, "Though, what exactly has he done? I mean either to consummate your marriage or you don't. It's not that you can do it a bit..." her face went red when she looked at her fiancé. Who smirked a all too knowing smirk.

"You remember what we did in my last year at Hogwarts? We didn't consummate either..."

No, they hadn't. It had only been a precaution so that they could say they hadn't slept with each other should anybody ever really try to find out, probably using Veritas Serum while doing so.

"But that wouldn't be enough, would it?" Ginny asked. She wanted to believe that it would, but knew better.

He sighed.

"No, it wouldn't. What we did would never be enough to save them."

They both contemplated the fact that this left only one conclusion.

"She was on about him wanting to have a girl love him."

Ginny turned to face the wizard next to her.

"What?"

Harry looked into the deep eyes of the witch he would marry.

"Hermione was babbling about Malfoy wanting a girl who loves him. She apparently doesn't love him. Not the right way somehow."

"How can you love somebody the wrong way?"

"I don't know. It was something about her feelings being an illusion or something."

There was silence for a moment.

"Harry, the ferret loves her."

"We know that. I was at their wedding."

"No, no that's not what I mean. They got together because of the Binding Spell. Whatever happened in Ron's room on Friday, it made them think themselves in love."

"Though he doubts her feelings for him now?"

"Yes. That's because he now knows the difference. Malfoy truly loves Hermione. It must feel different somehow from before."

"Hm." he needed to think about that one. Although it made sense in a way, he wasn't sure what that meant for them. Or Hermione for that matter, "Do you think Hermione's aware of that as well?"

Ginny shrugged. She didn't want to tell the wizard looking at her with hopeful eyes that she had heard their friend mutter Draco's name in her sleep.