Chapter Thirty-Six

April 3rd, 2004

Hermione secured an unconscious Theo in their bathroom and locked and warded the door before running out of the room and down the stairs, far too distracted and emotional to Apparate within the manor. When she neared her parents' quarters, she drew up her wand and warded the area along with the strongest Notice-Me-Not she had in her arsenal, just in case Theo somehow broke out and went roaming. Death Eaters had been unable to locate her, Harry, and Ron during the last year of the war thanks to these wards, and she was certain it would keep Theo out as well.

"Protego Totalum, Salvio Hexia," she muttered as she cast the spells, turning in the opposite direction, facing her room with Theo before casting, "Repello Muggletum," to keep her parents away from the other side of the manor where a potentially dangerous Death Eater lay unconscious.

Once her parents were as protected as they could be, Hermione called out, "Pixy!"

The little elf appeared. "Mistress calls for Pixy?"

"Pixy I need you to stay with my parents. Don't let them see you unless they need something. But stay and keep them from leaving their room."

Pixy reached out and touched the air. "Mistress put up thick spells," she said with a frown.

"Pixy, can you do this?" Hermione asked, not wanting to leave Theo alone for very long. "I need you to do this."

The elf looked torn, but slowly nodded her large head. "Pixy does," she agreed and then watched as Hermione turned and fled down the hallway, back to her and Theo's bedroom.

Once inside, Hermione locked the room and took a slow, deep breath to calm herself. She had known this was possible, but thought there would be more time. Goyle hadn't begun hallucinating until the very end, within days of the anniversary when he took the Dark Mark. Theo was supposed to have months left. Hermione reflected on her conversation the day before with Astoria Pucey and she sighed. She had known Theo's time had been cut down, but not by this much.

One fact was very clear: he wasn't going to make it to their wedding.

She grabbed the hem of her blouse and lifted it to wipe her eyes before schooling her features and summoning in courage. She needed to get into the bathroom, cast a few diagnostic spells, wake Theo up and administer several potions to keep him calm enough so that she could figure out what to do next. What she didn't expect when she opened the bathroom door, was to see her wizard laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"Theo!" she screamed and ran to his side, noting that he was still unconscious thanks to her Stunning Spell. However, despite not being awake, the fingernails of his right hand had dug vicious-looking grooves into his left forearm, soaking his robes with blood. "Rennervate!" she said in a panic and watched Theo's eyes open.

He looked up at her with obvious recognition and stifled the need to cry. "I'm sorry," he said, looking utterly defeated.

"Theo, stop," she said when she watched as he tried to scratch his arm again. Forcefully restraining his right hand, pinning it to the ground with a temporary Sticking Charm, Hermione surveyed the damage. "What do you remember?" she asked him as she examined the wound, frowning at the deep scrapes and cuts that dug deep into his arm.

"I can't get it off. Hermione, I'm sorry, it won't come off," Theo said, all of his attention drawn to the bleeding Dark Mark. "It hurts. It burns." He fought against the Sticking Charm.

Hermione's eyes widened when she saw that he was about to dislocate his shoulder in the attempt to regain the use of his right hand. "Stop, stop, stop, stop! Theo . . . shit!" she screamed when she heard a loud popping sound and Theo yelled out in pain. She turned and dug into the cabinet behind her, grabbing her dittany and a Calming Draught. "Drink this," she demanded, uncorking the vial and holding it to his lips. Theo resisted. "Drink it!" she yelled. "I'll help you, I promise. We'll get the burning to stop."

He finally relented, swallowing down the potion which took effect immediately, allowing his body to sag back down. Hermione adjusted him to a sitting position so that she could administer a Pain Potion without him choking. Once that was properly swallowed, she frowned. "This might still hurt," she said and then winced as she aimed her wand and fixed his shoulder.

He seemed barely conscious when she turned her attention to the wound on his arm, applying dittany in small drops along the cuts, watching as it smoked and hissed, repairing the torn skin. He didn't even react to the pain. "It's like he's trying to summon me but I can't . . . there's nowhere to go," he muttered. "I hate him, I hate him, fuck! That bastard branded us like cattle and he killed my friends and now he's killing me," he said angrily, the Calming Draught already wearing off, being consumed rapidly by the curse. "Motherfucker!"

Hermione ignored the outburst and sealed the dittany back up. "Theo, sweetheart, stay with me, okay?" she said, cupping his face in her hands, trying to refocus his attention.

"Hermione?" he looked up at her and frowned. "Hermione, you're bleeding," he said, staring at the spots of blood—his blood—that had dried on her skin.

She sniffled. "I'm fine," she promised him. "I love you, I'll be right back, okay?"

He closed his eyes and winced. "Promise?"

"I swear on my life."

A moment later she stood in front of the fireplace of their drawing room, throwing Floo Powder into the grate and screaming, "Malfoy Manor!" When the green flames rose high, Hermione stuck her head inside and yelled, "DRACO!"

It was less than a minute before the annoyed blond approached from his side, wearing long night robes and designer Muggle slippers. He glared at the witch with her head in the fire. "Fucking Hell, Granger, give a man a heart attack," he said with irritation. "What the hell do you . . . is that . . . is that blood?" he asked, his tone lowering.

"We have a big fucking problem, Malfoy," she said. "I need you over here now!"

He nodded without hesitation. "Step back, I'm coming through," he said and waited for her to disappear before jumping into the flames and stumbling out the other side into the drawing room of Nott Manor. "Where is he? What happened?" he asked immediately, not even bothering to dust away the soot from his robes.

He followed as she sped down the hall. "He was hallucinating earlier," she told him. "Thought we were back in the war and I'd somehow either been brought to his house or sneaked in and he was trying to get me to leave to protect me . . . I stunned him so I could get my parents out."

"Why were your parents here?"

She growled and snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Focus, Malfoy! I came back and he was in the bathroom with his left arm clawed up like a piece of meat! He did it while still stunned! He's trying to scratch the Dark Mark off of himself. He's in . . ." she frowned, obviously close to breaking but relying on the strength she'd used to carry her through war to keep her upright now. "He's in too much pain and . . . he can't wait any longer. We need to be bound tonight. Right now."

Draco stared at her. "What do you want me to do, go kidnap a Ministry Official and bring them here?"

She slapped him on the shoulder. "You are a Ministry Official, prat!"

"I don't know the spell," he said as they walked into the bedroom.

"I do," a serene voice said from behind them and both Draco and Hermione jumped and screamed, turning to see Luna standing there, soot on her white dressing gown. "Hello, Hermione."

"Luna . . ." Draco said with a heavy sigh. "Luna, go back . . ." he tried to tell her to return to Malfoy Manor but she ignored him completely and made her way into the bathroom. "Fucking terrific," he growled.

"Hello, Theodore," Luna said with a smile.

Theo looked up at his best friend's wife, a hand resting on her stomach as she approached him. "Luna . . . get back . . . the baby . . ." he said and tried to scoot away from her but unable to move properly, slipping in blood anytime he leveraged himself against the floor. "Get away, I'm fucking tainted."

Luna ignored Theo's attempts to flee from her and her unborn child and, instead, reached out and took his right hand—the left looked a bit worse for wear—and placed it palm down on her stomach.

Almost instantly, Theo relaxed, his eyes regaining clarity and understanding. He leaned back against the edge of the tub where Hermione had placed him, a calm but focused expression on his face as though Luna had magically removed his unease and paranoia. He glanced up at Hermione and Draco who stood in the doorway, both looking gobsmacked at the sight. Draco winced when Theo pulled his hand away, leaving a bloody print behind on Luna's gown.

"How?" Theo asked the blond witch.

Luna smiled. "The unborn have innocent magic. They're kind of like unicorns that way. They can't fix curses, but they can help ease the burdens of the mind and heart."

Hermione moved completely into the room and knelt down in front of her wizard, taking his right hand that still lingered in the air. "Theo, we need to be bound, immediately."

He frowned and shook his head. "You deserve better than this."

"I deserve to have you alive."

Defeated, Theo nodded in acceptance.

"Do it, Malfoy," Hermione ordered.

"Fine, fuck," Draco hissed as he stepped into the bathroom, studiously avoiding the puddle of blood and the red footprints on the floor. He looked for a place to stand or sit and then just sighed irritably before jumping up onto the counter near the sink, his legs hanging over the edge like a toddler. "Okay so . . . we are gathered here—"

"Just the bonding ritual," Hermione swiftly interrupted. "We're still having a wedding later. Daphne and my mother would kill me if we didn't."

Draco rolled his eyes and cleared his throat as Luna leaned close to him, whispering the ritual words in his ear. "Right . . . with full awareness, do you, Hermione Granger enter into marriage with this wizard, to willingly bind yourself to him, knowing that from this moment forward your lives are one, your hearts are one, and your magic is one?"

Hermione smiled and squeezed Theo's hand, bringing her free palm up to cup his jaw. "Yes," she said.

Draco waited for Luna to say the next part and then repeated it. "Do you swear this on your blood and your magic?"

Hermione withdrew her wand and released Theo's hand to inflict a small cut in the center of her left palm. "I so swear it," she vowed. As she spoke the words, a golden light encircled her bleeding palm and wrist. She leaned forward and rested her forehead against Theo's, stroking his face when he sighed.

"Good," Draco said. "Now, with full awareness, do you, Theodore Nott enter into marriage with this witch, knowing that if you don't, your best friend will follow you into the godsdamned afterlife to drag you back kicking and screaming by your bollocks?"

Luna tilted her head to the side and blinked her large eyes. "Are those the traditional vows?"

Theo growled. "Mate . . ."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine. Do you willingly bind yourself to her, knowing that from this moment forward your lives are one, your heart is one, and your magic is one?"

"Yes."

"Do you swear this on your blood and your magic?"

Theo reached for his wand and sighed when it was a struggle to hold it with either hand. He opened the palm of his right hand, inflicting the cut in the center of it magically, and then sighed in relief when it hit its mark on the first try. "I so swear it," he said and watched as a golden light covered his wrist and hand the same way it had Hermione's.

Draco raised his hawthorn wand and aimed it at the pair, whispered, "Alligatura," and watched as the two golden lights drew their palms together as though they were magnetised. "Right then. By the power vested in me—evidently—as an official of the Ministry of Magic, I proclaim you now bonded for life," he said and watched as the light glowed brightly before releasing their hands, the cuts on their palms healed over.

"Congratulations!" Luna said excitedly, throwing a handful of dried flower petals and wood chips that had been sitting in a basket of potpourri above the toilet as though it were traditional rice; as though Hermione and Theo weren't just married, on the floor of their bathroom, sitting in a puddle of his blood.

Draco put his wand away and then groaned as he wiped his hands down his face. "Fuck, this has been the longest couple of years of my life."

Theo, who was busy staring at Hermione and marvelling at the way she smiled back, smirked. "We've had worse."

Draco slowly nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I suppose. Well, now it's done," he said and hopped down off of the counter. "Life debt fulfilled, Granger. Much obliged."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I didn't owe you a—"

"Come on, love," Draco said, holding his hand out to Luna who took it and skipped over the coagulated blood on the floor in front of her. "Our part is over with but these two need to finish the ritual alone." The blond wizard smirked. "Unless . . ."

"Get out, Draco," Theo and Hermione said simultaneously.