"So, what'd you guys want to talk to me about?" Ron asked as he sat down in the living room with his parents, "Because for the record I did not break Dad's favorite muggle toy. Did Ginny try to blame that on me? She did didn't she! That's a lie! We both broke it and I cannot believe you guys are going to punish me for it and not…"
"Ron, please!" Molly interrupted him; "We don't care about the muggle contraption."
"Now I wouldn't go that far, Molly, that moose was very dear to me. I still don't know why they would call it a moose. Why, it doesn't even look like a moose. In fact, if I had to compare it to any animal I would have to say that it most resembles a mouse. I must say, muggles are very odd, indeed. Just the other day while out on an assignment…"
"Arthur I swear! There are more important matters at hand."
Molly looked quite upset as she turned to address her son.
"Ronald, we have a very important issue to discuss with you. And I know that it may seem unfair to you, because it is, and I hate that it's come to this, and I hate your father, and I hate his ancestors for this, and I hate myself for giving birth to you a day before I was due, and I…"
"Molly, stop. You're scaring the boy. Here, take this handkerchief, and please, stop crying, it's not that bad."
"Not that bad! Our baby's being forced to marry that conceited, hateful girl and it's not that bad! I always thought that he would marry Hermione, even one of the Patil sisters, or Madame Bone's daughter Susan even, but not her!"
"Woah, back up a bit. You want me to do what?"
"We don't want you to do anything, son. This is something that you have to do."
"But, Dad…"
"Please, Ron, just listen to my story without interrupting and then you can say whatever you want." Arthur sighed and kneaded his forehead with his hands before continuing, "Hundreds of years ago your great grandfather many times over, Roman, was born. A girl, Sophia, was born on the same day. Years later they met and fell in love but Sophia was already promised to another wizard. Still, Roman did everything he could to try to convince Sophia's father to break her marriage contract with the other wizard so that they could marry. He offered him everything he owned, which was quite a bit, as the Weasley's were still a pretty wealthy family in those days. But her father refused, it was pretty scandalous to break marriage contracts in those days and her father was a very proud man."
Ron couldn't help but interject, "If they wanted to get married that badly then why didn't they just run away together?"
"They couldn't. The spell binding her and her fiancee barred her from marrying any but him. Roman finally gave up hope of ever being able to marry Sophia, but decided to sneak into her father's castle to see her one last time before her wedding. It so happened that on that very day a band of criminals attacked Sophia's fiancee while he too was on his way to her father's castle. During the fray Sophia's fiancee's wand was snapped in two and he most certainly would have been killed if Roman had not happened upon the scene at that very moment and saved him. Sophia's fiancee now owned Roman a life debt. In today's society nobody pays attention to them but back then they regarded them very highly."
"So, what? Did he give Roman Sophia to make up for it?"
"That certainly would have made sense. In fact, that is what everyone thought he would do. But this man hated Roman, and Sophia's family was very powerful, something that this man craved greatly. Instead, he offered half of his personal fortune. But Roman would not take it and Sophia's fiancee would not offer anything else. After many weeks of stalemate it was actually Sophia, who had never had a say throughout the whole ordeal, who came up with the solution."
"She suggested that two things be done. First, her fiancee would give Roman ¼ of his possessions. The second stipulation was a rather odd one. Sophia claimed to have had a vision that directed her that a marriage contract much like her own should be made. This contract would state that the first direct male descendant of Roman and the first direct female descendant of Sophia and her fiancee (who had to be an only child) born on the same day would be legally bound to be married before their sixteenth birthday. After much pleading from Sophia both Roman and her fiancee agreed to her plan and the marriage contract was drawn up. I hate to have to tell you this Ron, but your name has appeared on the contract."
Ron sat thinking for a long moment, as if he didn't know what to yell about first, before he finally found a suitable subject, "HOW COULD YOU WAIT UNTIL A MONTH BEFORE MY SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY TO TELL ME ABOUT THIS? SHOULDN'T YOU HAVE THOUGHT OF THIS WHEN YOU DECIDED TO HAVE SEVEN KIDS?"
"I'm sorry Ron I didn't even know it was real until a few days ago. I'd only heard the story once from my father when I was very young and had thought it was just a story he made up. In fact, I bet my father just thought it was a story too. If we had known, we would have tried to avoid it."
Ron only seemed slightly less upset, "So how'd you find out about it then?"
Last week Lucious Malfoy and Lawrence Parkinson tried to have a marriage contract created for Draco and Pansy, but it failed because Ms. Parkinson was already entered in another contract. When they investigated they found the contract I just told you about."
If Ron had been upset before, he was down right distressed now. His freckles stood out in stark contrast with the whiteness of his face as he shakily asked a question he didn't want the answer to.
"You mean the other person in the contract, the girl you want me to marry is..." Ron could not find the will to say the name and merely gulped in anticipation of his father's reply.
"Yes, Ron, you must marry Pansy Parkinson."
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"I won't marry him!" Pansy screamed at her parents, "Break the contract, can't you just pay them off? His family is so poor I bet it would take next to nothing."
"Pansy," her father replied harshly, "we've told you the contract can't be broken by anyone but the original drawers of the contract, both of whom are long dead. You have to marry him."
"I won't," Pansy answered her father defiantly, "I just won't marry him, you can't make me."
"If you don't marry him by your sixteenth birthday you will die!"
Pansy was shocked by her father'srevelation but could not bring herself to believe it.
"That can't be true, the ministry wouldn't allow it!"
"Your right, this current ministry would never let a contract such as this be drawn up, but this contract is hundreds of years old, because it was legal when it was drawn up it is legal today. There is ancient magic binding you to this contract and nothing could break it."
"I'd rather die then!" Pansy proclaimed foolishly.
"I thought the same thing. It would be much better than giving you over to those muggle lovers but your mother has interceded on your behalf."
"Lawrence, don't lie to the girl. None of your deatheater friends are here to appreciate your dedication to the cause," the last bit of Rose Parkinson's statement was practically snarled at her husband.
"Pansy, it will be hard for all of us to see you marry that Weasley boy, but in the end all that matters is your safety. At least this way I'll still have a daughter, even if you are living with those people."
"But Mum, can't I just marry him and then come back home and pretend it never happened."
"Pansy you know you can't do that. It would be an absolute scandal, marriage is not looked upon lightly."
"But if nobody knew…"
"It's too late for that dear, someone from the magical contracts department has already leaked the story to the press."
"Why would they care? I'm sure they discover random unfair contracts that ruin people's lives everyday."
"Yes, but not many involve Harry Potter's best friend and the girl who was supposed to marry Lucious Malfoy's son." Pansy's father reminded her, "I tried to keep it out of the papers but it was no use. It will probably be in tomorrow's Daily Prophet."
For the first time in what seemed like years, Pansy let her self assured expression slip and looked like a lost fifteen year old girl as she resigned herself to her fate.
"I have to marry Ron Weasley," she moaned to herself.