Chapter 4: The Power of the Will
"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride," proclaimed Dumbledore. "On second thought, You may not kiss the bride because public displays of affection are against school rules. Sorry."
"Oh it's quite alright professor," said Hermione. "What matters is that Draco and I are legally married. We can spend the rest of our lives together." She gazed dreamily into Malfoy's eyes.
"Now then sugar dumpling," said Malfoy. "Where would you like to go for the honeymoon? Father will pay for it."
Hermione's eyes lit up at the thought of all the dusty museums of magical history and culture at her finger tips. "Ooooh," she gushed. "How about China? We could visit the Museum of Chinese Magic and Meditation in Beijing. Or better yet, we could visit Rome! First hand experience at the ruins of ancient Rome would be an informative supplement to my reading on magic during the classical age. Or maybe Australia. I've read that the aborigini wizards were capable of--"
"Um, honey?" Malfoy interrupted. "The point of the honeymoon is to relax, not to do research and add pages to your already novel-length homework assignments."
"Scoff all you want Draco Malfoy," said Hermione indignantly. "I maintain that a trip of such an interesting nature is an oppurtunity to learn and expand one's horizons."
"Please tell me you're joking. I won't spend a week sitting in the corner of some moldy old library. This is our honeymoon! We're supposed to enjoy each other's company. That's going to be rather difficult if I die of boredom three hours into the vacation."
"If I'm so boring then why did you marry me?"
Dumbledore smiled bemusedly as he watched the quarreling couple. It was going to be an interesting night.
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Harry couldn't see. The black, billowing clouds of smoke made him cough and choke, but what was a little smoke if it meant disqualifying the Slytherins from the Quidditch Cup? He flew aimlessly through the smoke when suddenly, the air cleared.
Below him, in the stall in the girls' bathroom was Ginny, an old evil-looking book in front of her. She was muttering some incantation and dropping smelly herbs into a cauldron that was pouring black smoke out of the stall and into the corrider. Harry felt a stab of annoyance and a hint of betrayal. Why was Ginny trying to sabatoge their chances of winning the cup? Perhaps Tom Riddle had found some way of contacting her and was forcing her to help the stinking Slytherins. Yes, that was probably it, Harry decided. After all, Tom Riddle was himself the most dirty and stinking Slytherin of all.
Just then, Ron appeared out of the smoke. He looked at the sight of his sister supposedly undermining at the Quidditch Cup and hung in midair, shocked at the sight before him.
"Ginny!" he yelled after recovering. "What's gotten into you? You're a member of the Gryffindor quidditch team! How dare you create a smoke screen to lessen our chances at the cup? Did the Slytherins put you up to this? Those evil slimy gits."
Ginny looked back at him, utterly bewildered at the sight of her brother and his best friend on broomsticks in the girls' bathroom in the middle of the night and apparently thinking they were in the middle of a Quidditch match.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked, looking at them in distaste. "Why are you always thinking about Quidditch? I'm trying to heal a broken heart and you're on about the cup and how I missed practice. Now of you'll just leave me alone and let me brew this potion, I'll heal myself in no time and be back to your stupid quidditch practice."
Now Harry was definitely very annoyed. "Stupid quidditch practice"? Quidditch was certainly not stupid. Evidently Ron felt the same because he started ranting on about his own sister stabbing him in the back and ridiculing only the greatest sport ever known to mankind.
"You just wait Ginny," he was yelling. "You'll be thrown out of the wizarding world for saying things like that. Insulting our culture and our way of life. Even the Slytherins don't sink low enough to criticize quidditch! Why I haven't felt this betrayed in my life. It's like Scabbers all over again..."
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Meanwhile, Fred, George, and Professor McGonagall had checked the Gryffindor tower for Ginny and found that she was neither in her dormitory nor the common room. When the stepped out into the corridor they saw the same black smoke that Harry and Ron had seen.
"What's burning?" asked George, sniffing the air. "Did Hermione set the house elves off their cooking?"
"Don't be a prat," said Fred. "Hermione wouldn't dare break the rules by sneaking out at night, even if it was for the welfare of elves."
Professor McGonagall was already striding down the corridor, tracing the source of the suspicious smoke.
"Oi wait up professor!" Fred called after her. "Ginny's our sister and we want to find her too."
"Very well," said Professor McGonagall. She conjured two red and gold leashes and fastened each one to one of the twins. She surveyed her work and realized with a jolt how many years she'd been wanting to restrain the twins like that.
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"I won't be addressed like that Draco!" Hermione was shrieking. "Even if you do consider it an affectionate nickname."
"Oh come on Hermione. Being called 'the mudblood of my heart' is just like being called 'sweetie pie" or 'sugar dumpling'," said Malfoy. Hermione gave him a dubious look. "Or 'my lovely little witch' or 'the apple of my eye'..."
Hermione looked like she might be about to forgive him, so Malfoy seized the opportunity. He leaned in and kissed her passionately on the lips. After a second, she returned the kiss, forgetting that Dumbledore was still there.
Dumbledore was twiddling his thumbs, staring off into space. He had a feeling something rather interesting was about to happen. And far be it for silly school rules to spoil the fun.
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When the twins and Professor McGonagall finally made it to the source of the smoke, they found a rather red faced Ron arguing with his infuriated little sister and an annoyed looking Harry who was still wondering why someone would utter the blasphemous words "stupid quidditch practice".
"What is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall questioned angrily. "Ms. Weasley, don't you think you've caused enough trouble for one day? What on earth are you concocting at this hour?"
"Erm, well..." said Ginny, searching desperately for a valid explanation.
"She thinks that her little break up with Seamus was enough reason for her to cut practice and insult the noble sport of quidditch," said Ron, still fuming.
"And I suppose that this personal issue is also the cause of this foul potion and tonight's assorted strange occurrences?" said Professor McGonogall.
"What strange occurrences?" asked a bewildered Ginny.
"For one thing, you've made us blind Gin," said George irritably. "What kind of spell did you do?"
Before Ginny could answer, Harry attacked the golden faucet on the sink.
"Ron!" he was yelling, "Ron! I reckon I've got it this time. There's no hiding from me little snitch, you're going to win me a Quidditch Cup."
"What's gotten into him?" Ginny asked, frowning as Harry circled the faucet like a predator ready to pounce. "He seems to be obsessed with quidditch. More so than usual anyway."
"Hello? Ginny? 'Fred and George, you don't see anything. Hermione and Draco, you should get married', ring a bell? Everything you said is coming true," Fred accused.
"Oh, oh!" exclaimed Ginny guiltily. "And I told Harry and Ron that they should play quidditch forever. It's my power of the will spell! It must have worked!"
"Well unwork it!" snapped George.
She flipped frantically through the book in front of her, looking for the counterspell. Finding what she wanted, she held up the book and read, "Let the healing power begin. Let my will be safe again. As these words of peace are spoken, let this harmful spell be broken."
There was a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder.
Harry stopped two millimeters short of crashing into the faucet. Ron hung bewildered in midair, trying to remember why he was doing on a broomstick in the girls' bathroom.
"Say, you ARE a good looking fellow," said Fred to George, surveying his twin with newly restored vision.
"And you, sir, are quite handsome yourself. How DO the girls resist you?" returned George.
"Wonderful, I'm sure," interrupted Professor McGonagall dryly. "Now that the anomalies have been rectified, I believe some punishment is in order."
Ginny cringed. She was at fault this time. Even Fred and George were innocent victims. Looking at what her spell had done, she couldn't help but feel a stab of guilt. She deserved a months worth of detentions for putting her friends and family in danger. She hung her head.
"A detention tomorrow, Ms. Weasley. Next time, do try to cope with heartache in a less dangerous fashion will you?" said Professor McGonagall.
Ginny looked up, stunned at the professor's lenience.
Professor McGonagall sighed. "I know it's hard to deal with heartache Ms. Weasley. I was your age once too, however difficult that is for you to believe. Now, I trust that you will all return to the tower and try to get some rest."
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Hermione and Draco were still kissing passionately when Ginny stopped the spell.
It was quite comical, really, Dumbledore thought. They froze mid-kiss. Their eyes bulged rather amusingly, and they let go of each other as if each had just been kissing a blast-ended skrewt.
"What the BLOODY HELL?!" Draco exclaimed, frantically wiping his mouth.
"Ugh, ferret lips, lips of the ferret," Hermione muttered, attempted desperately to wipe her mouth with a handkerchief.
"Uh-oh," said Draco, frowning. "Headmaster, did you actually... write a marriage certificate?"
"Oh God," Hermione gasped, her gaze falling onto the piece of parchment in front of her on Dumbledore's desk. "Oh no no no no no. He did. I-I want a divorce!"
"Oh so soon Ms. Granger?" asked Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.
"Yes so soon," Malfoy answered for her. "If you don't nullify that marriage right now, I'll have father come to the school. I'll have him rip that marriage license to shreds. I'll have him--"
"The license is fake," stated Dumbledore simply. Hermione and Draco stared at him, dumbstruck. "You didn't really think I could marry two sixteen year-old wizards without parental consent did you? Really, I expect better from two prefects."
"You knew?" Malfoy demanded. "You knew that we would... how could you... trick us into thinking..." he sputtered angrily.
"Would it have made a difference if I had told you no?" Dumbledore asked. That silenced Malfoy. Hermione was apparently too appalled at the thought that she might have been married to Malfoy to say anything.
"Now," said Dumbledore. "It's very late. I think you two should return to your dormitories. Maybe I shall choose some other prefects to plan the ball." He shooed them out of his office, and closed the stone gargoyle.
It really had been a rather amusing evening.
Author's Note: Yes, this story was taken from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Something Blue". The plot (most of it anyway) belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. The characters/setting belong to JK Rowling and Warner Brothers. We're just having a bit of fun with them. Hope you enjoyed the story, sorry for effectively falling off the face of the earth for a year or two J ~Kedavra (formerly known as Nickzchick)
