AN: You all have been so patient. Life as been kicking my ass, so I'm not updating as much as I'd like, so please bear with me.
I know, I know, another "cliffy" but it does give some vital information.
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"OPEN UP, MALFOY!" Harry bellowed.
Out of frustration, Harry picked up his fallen wand, preparing to blast the house down. There was so little time. Something needled in the back of his mind that the window of opportunity was closing. Draco had the answers, and Harry needed them.
He shot a curse at the Manor, watching as an unseen barrier absorbed it. He shot a stronger curse, making a spectacular bang, but nothing else.
Seething, Harry pulled up the sleeves of his robes. He had been at this for hours. Normally, this sort of exercise would give him time to reign in his temper, but he wasn't in the mood for these games. Not to mention that protection charms tended to grow stronger during the night. The more time Harry spent trying to disarm them, the less likely it would be that he would succeed in breaking through them.
Reaching into the back of his mind, he went back to his days of Auror training, recalling his sessions with Shacklebolt. His pronunciation was shaky, but an old African curse was strong enough to wear a small hole through the ward. He tried the same curse twice more before the barrier adjusted itself, stopping the curse before it could go through completely. The only benefit was that it was unable to repair the damage that had already been done.
Harry felt a predatory grin spread over his face. Maybe he was in the mood for games after all.
Changing his tactic, he tried a few of Bill Weasley's Egyptian curses- particularly the strong ones that had been used to counter wards on high-security tombs and pyramids. Then French, Russian, and finally an old nasty one from Viktor Krum broke through. He sent up a silent thanks that Draco Malfoy had never attended Durmstrang.
Approaching the door, Harry wasted no time. He did not just knock on the door, he pounded into it with his entire forearm.
"OPEN UP, MALFOY!" he bellowed again. The door was resolutely shut. A simple unlocking spell did nothing. Not that Harry expected it to be that easy. "DON'T THINK I WON'T PUT YOU UNDER ARREST, MALFOY!" He tried another unlocking spell. The handle jiggled, but didn't budge. "FOR WITHOLDING INFORMATION! ABUSE OF A MINOR! ABSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE! FOR-"
The door unlocked. Kreul, Draco's vindictive-looking house-elf answered. "Master is most displeased-" he sneered, "Master enjoys his peace and-"
Harry ignored him completely, storming into the Manor. "DRACO!" he yelled, lifting his head so he could be heard through the staircase. "DRACO! GET DOWN HERE NOW!"
He stood in the middle of the room, wand poised. Touching it to his throat, Harry muttered an incantation, launching his voice into a big, booming sound. "DRACO!"
"That will be quite enough!" Harry heard as he was knocked to the ground. He scrambled to his feet as he turned around, facing the pale face of Draco Malfoy. "This had better be good, Potter."
"Oh, it is, Malfoy. It is," Harry said with contempt. "It's about your son-"
Draco straightened his chin. "Really now? Causing trouble is he? Supplying Dung Bombs to Peeves again? Flooding the stairwells with love potion? Hardly the work of an Auror to sort out such trivial matters, but rest assured that now the great Potter has informed me, I'll be sure to put a stop to it. Have a nice day."
"Not so fast!" Harry shut the door that Draco was walking through before he could leave. "Have you been completely ignoring the messages Dobrinski's been sending or are you just that thick?"
Draco shot him a look. "Any correspondence that I have with the headmistress is private, Potter. My son is fine. That is the end of our discussion."
"Tell me about the Unbreakable Vow, Malfoy," Harry practically growled, his voice growing dark. Draco stopped cold.
"What Vow, Potter?"
Harry's eyes narrowed. "The vow. And on that note, who is Viedemal and why is Scorpius married to her?"
Draco's eyes widened. "How did you-"
"Never mind how I know," Harry spat. An armchair came soaring out of the study, scooping Draco off his feet and landing him directly in front of Harry, who planted his hands on both armrests and leaned in. Draco, suddenly looking slightly panicked, stayed where he was put. "You will tell me everything- about the Vow, Viedemal, the locket-" Draco looked a twinge confused. "She's sucking out the magic out of him on your permission, and I want to know why and how."
"Tell me how you know all this, Potter!" Draco said. His grey eyes tried to remain steady and focused, but he was caught off guard.
Harry ignored the demand. "For the past three months, your son has been in the infirmary more times than he has been in class. He's growing sicker and sicker and no one knows why. He's been disappearing off of school grounds. No one knows how." Harry leaned in further, his voice almost a whisper. There was a pause. "Don't think I won't use Veritaserum to get the answers I want!"
"You can't do that!" Draco hissed. "It's illegal! You'll lose your job and you know it!"
Harry gave a bitter, humorless laugh. "Do you honestly think I need the money, Malfoy? Between the money I inherited from my parents, Sirius and the investment profits from the Weasley's joke shop, I've never needed to work for the money. All I've ever wanted out of life is get rid of the evils of the world and right now you're at the top of my list. And I will do what I need to do to end this and if we don't stop this soon, he'll die."
"N-no!" Draco said. "I was promised that he would be fine." His eyes darted around, not meeting Harry's. "I was told he would be fine as long as we went willingly!"
"Well whoever made that promise lied. A few years older, and he might survive this as a disabled squib. But at sixteen, he'll be lucky to get out of this alive. When did you make this Vow to Viedemal?"
"I didn't make the Vow to Viedemal! Put that down!" Draco said, holding up his arm to defend himself as Harry drew his wand. "But it doesn't matter, anyway! No matter who I made it to, if I don't fulfill it, then I'll die! Either by magic or by her!"
Harry did not use wand. The punch, however, nearly broke Draco's jaw. "So that's it then!" Harry yelled. "What good is your son's life if you have a shaky promise and if you're allowed to live? You're just as much of the filthy, spineless coward that you always were; hiding behind your son-of-a-bitch father-"
"I'm not a coward!"
"You should have been rotting away in Azkaban with him!"
"Shut up!"
"Seedy! Worthless-"
"STOP IT!"
"WHO DID YOU MAKE THE VOW TO, MALFOY!"
"VOLDEMORT!"
The room went silent. Harry jerked away from the armchair as if it burned. "Voldemort?" he said quietly.
Draco bent forward, resting his elbows on his knees, burying his face in his hands. "Yes," he whispered. "Voldemort."
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AN: Given some of the responses I've gotten for this chapter, as far as I know, Rowling has never said that the person asking the bond has to still be alive. For example, in HBP, if Narcissa died before Snape carried out his promise, we still don't know if Snape would have been bound to keep the Vow. That bit of knowledge was never shared with us, but this is my universe, so I'm answering the question.
Depending on the strength of the person requesting the Vow and the weight of the Vow itself, the Vow can outlast them. Of course, the determining factor on a Vow is dependant on the witch/wizard who is magically required to fulfill it. As Draco will explain later (I'm playing nice since I'm not updating very quickly) the Vow he made to Voldemort is only lifted when one of three things happen:
A: The Vow is completed in full.
B: Draco voluntarily refuses to fulfill the Vow (but he will immediately die)
C: Draco is completely unable to fulfill the Vow (such as his own death)
I think that's pretty clear, but let me know if it doesn't make sense.
And if it turns out that Rowling did say "well, the Vow is voided when so-and-so dies", then well... too bad. Apparently Neville is married and boinking Hannah Abbot and living above the Leaky Cauldron, but that's obviously not happening here.
