Contrivance

Draco was desperate. He would have done just about anything to get out of marrying that Callista, even if it meant suicide. He was willing to push it that far. He made it to his room in record time, and after that he shut the door quickly. He didn't want anyone interfering with his thoughts. He needed to think, damn it!

"Draco." It was Snape.

"What do you want? I'm trying to think."

"I know. But I have a feeling you are going to hurt yourself."

"You're probably right."

"Then let me in. I can't let you do that."

There was a silence, and then the door clicked open. Snape pushed it open a little more and entered. The room was dark, and the roses were drooping. An empty champagne bottle lie near the bed, and some clothes were strewn about. He closed his eyes quickly, trying not to imagine what pleasures occurred the night before. It didn't work.

"There is no way I can get out of marrying her, is there?" Snape was pulled back to reality and looked at the man before him. In the course of two days, Draco had gone from a boy to a man. It was amazing. His mind thought of the question and found an answer.

"Yes, there is a way. But I'm not sure if it can be done safely. You might be better off just marrying her and doing what your father asks of you." Snape cringed at his words. It was the easiest way out, and he knew how Draco would respond before the rage exploded from his lips.

"You are mad! You know that I am… " Draco lowered his voice to an intense whisper. "Already married. It would be adultery, and that is one of the biggest sins I have come to learn of. I love Ginny, and I wouldn't do that to her." Draco stopped in his rage and stared at Snape. "There's no way that you know of?" Snape sighed.

"Yes, there's one, but you need to go see Dumbledore about it, because I can't give it to you. Only he has the power to give it to anyone, and even then it isn't in his jurisdiction to give."

"Tell me what it is."

"Go to him and find out for yourself." Snape glared at Draco for a minute before moving to the door. "Just ask him about the bells." With those last words, he slipped out of the room.

Draco was left standing in his room with a blank expression on his face. There was nothing that he could do other than find his cloak and leave at once for Dumbledore's house in Hogsmead.

It was well into the afternoon, and the heat of the day was at its hottest.

Callista moved about Hogsmead with distaste. She had never liked England. It was either too hot or too cold. Or it was too dry or too wet. Not anything like Greece. Now there was a country. It was always nice and warm, and the weather was always agreeable. Sometimes, during the summer, she might even travel to Egypt and visit the family down there.

"Beep!" a little boy shouted as he raced passed her. She flung her hands in the air as she pressed herself toward the wall. They were so rude here, too. Ugh. Disgusting pigs they were.

Callista flung her blonde hair over her shoulder. She had ditched that ugly red hair and had changed it to a more suitable color, something that better fit who she thought she was. Her eyes were different colors too, they had been changed to a blue by the best cosmetic wizards France had to offer. Her skin was still pale, and she still had a few freckles, but other than that, no one who hadn't seen her in a while would believe that it was still Callista. She turned up her dainty, pointed mouth and smiled. Her sharp teeth showed from under the pink flesh and she turned her head to look down the street.

There was a cloaked figure coming her way. She might have a bit of fun with this person. She smiled and stepped back into the road. "You there," she called. The figure looked up, and Callista beheld a very attractive man.

"Who, me?" The man pulled back his hood and let the air cool off his head.

"Yes, you." Callista eyed the red head before her. He was tall, and very strong looking. His eyes were… green, and he had countless freckles on his face. His smile was very nice, though, and his voice was pure and good.

"What can I help you with?" Ron stared at the foreigner and laughed to himself. She was beautiful, but she held a Death Eater aura to her. She was definitely evil.

"I'm lost," she whined softly. "Where would I find the Leaky Cauldron?"

Ron sighed and rolled his eyes in the back of his head. Yep. This person had never really been to Hogsmead before. "All right. You see that sign? Yes, that one. Take a left when you get to that sign, and then walk all the way down that street. If you see a fountain, you are going in the right direction. Then, you should just look at all of the signs until you see the one with "The Leaky Cauldron" written on it."

"Thanks," Callista said breathlessly as she turned in his direction. Now he, he was a man she wouldn't mind marrying. But no, she was going to marry Draco. According to her sources, he was a vicious, vile man who would do whatever it took to get his way. Sounded like her kind of a guy. Plus, he was blond, and he had silver-grey eyes. Handsome, too. He was the perfect man. Callista sighed.

"Good morning." A man in a shop nodded at her as she passed. She nodded back. She sighed and let her footsteps fall as they would in the direction given to her. Suddenly, there were pounding steps behind her, and she turned around to see who it was. The man in the shop shouted, "Draco, slow down, you're going to kill someone if you run that fast."

Draco?

Strange, it seemed as if there was only one of that name in the world. Callista needed to talk to him, to meet him, to behold what she was going to marry. Draco was rich, very rich, and she wanted to know if he was as handsome as he was in her mind. "You!" she shouted to the darting figure. It stopped and turned around slowly.

"What do you want?" the man growled.

"I want to see your face." Callista's voice held an air of authority, but the man didn't heed her. "Take off you hood!" she demanded.

"Why should I?" Draco hissed.

"Because I am Callista Zoë Paris, and I am going to marry you. I'd like to see your face before then."

Draco's mind reeled. He felt like he needed to vomit. This day was not going so well. He looked up at the girl through his hood, and he was shocked. She didn't have red hair, she didn't have green eyes. She wasn't shapely. In fact, this girl had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was as straight as a board. He stood up straight an pulled the fabric off of his head.

"I am Draco," he sighed. He was defeated for the time being. But he was in a rush, and he would leave before she could speak much.

"Oh my," Callista sighed. He was better than her vision. He was perfect. The perfect specimen.

"Yes, well, now that you have seen me, I have to get going. I am on business… "

"Oh, don't go!" Callista rushed forward and took his hands. "No, please don't go. I want to know so much!" She fell on her knees and gazed up at her future husband. He was so beautiful. She would endure this nasty England for him, if he wanted. "I know you love me… I see it in your eyes. You love me, don't you?"

"Sure, okay." Draco was fed up with this girl.

"Draco, I know you love me. I hear it in your voice." Callista hugged Draco's legs and wouldn't let go.

"Actually… " Draco needed an excuse to get away. "I'm very sad right now. See, my friend died, and I am still broken up about it. If you'll excuse me, I need to go."

"Oh, yes, I see it. You do look sad, come to think of it. Forgive me. I'll see you tomorrow, at the wedding." Callista let go and stood up.

"Yes." Draco smiled sarcastically and nodded.

"Right. See you later." Callista turned and began her way to the Leaky Cauldron again. Draco watched her leave, and then in a second, he turned back on his course to Dumbledore's. He ran right, left, right, searching for the house and the garden and the man. After 10 minutes of exhaustive running, Draco finally came on the small house, mostly by chance. Without knocking, he ran inside and out the back door.

"Dumbledore!" he called to the silent shrubs. He bent double and breathed quickly, trying to gain his breath back.

"Yes?" The old man was sitting in a chair around the corner. He stared at the troubled man before him and sipped his lemonade.

"I want to ask you about the bells." Draco looked up at Dumbledore, and watched the man's smiling face turn to one filled with horror.

"Who told you that?" Dumbledore set his drink down and stood.

"Snape. I am in real trouble, Professor. There is no way that I can get out of getting married see, and if I don't do something, I am going to commit adultery, which is a big sin, and I don't want to do that to Ginny, who is banished and doesn't know anything, other than the fact that I am going to come and get her."

"Stop!" Dumbledore cried. His head was spinning. "Okay! Sit down. Let me think."

"If you don't do anything, then I am going to take the only other way that I can think of out, and that is… " Draco gulped and pulled out a dagger. "Death."

"No." Dumbledore spoke quietly and gazed at the plants. "No, I can't let you do that to Ginny. You say you don't want to hurt her, well, your death would hurt her even worse. I don't understand why the youth of today wants to solve everything with death. Death is not always the answer."

"So will you help me?" Draco sat forward in the chair and stared at Dumbledore's back.

"Yes. But this is the ironic thing; I am going to help you by killing you."

"What!" Draco stood suddenly and rushed over to Dumbledore. "What do you mean? You just said death won't solve a thing!"

"Would you relax? You worry more than I ever did in all my life. Shish."

"So what do you mean?" Draco's eyes were intense and staring, and they peered at the old man, trying to pry the answer from his soul.

"The bells. You asked me about the bells. Well, this is what they are. The Bells of Death. They simulate death. I collect the nectar from the bottom of the flowers, and when administered to a body, they make your pulse almost nothing, you stop breathing deeply, your skin becomes pale and cold, the light goes from your eyes, and while you look dead and respond like a dead person, you are in fact alive and asleep."

Draco stared at the professor. On an impulse, Draco reached out and hugged Dumbledore. This caught the other man by surprise, and after a few seconds, the joyful Draco let go. "You are a true friend," Draco sighed as he walked toward the trees.

"Well, I just want you to be gone and leave me alone. Once you and Ginny are in Paris, I'll never have to hear from you again."

"But you will. You'll come down to visit, won't you?" Draco turned back around and saw Dumbledore smiling. "Oh, I see."

"I'll owl Ginny and tell her what we are planning, so she's not confused." Dumbledore moved inside and went into a room. Draco followed him inside, but stayed in the living room. "I want you to go home and help your family get ready for the wedding. Act like you are going to enjoy getting married. Then… " Dumbledore appeared in the living room with a small vile. "Tonight, when you go to bed, drink this. It is a drop of the nectar and water to take away the bite. It will keep you dead for a day. Tomorrow night, I will send Ginny to your family's burial ground to help you, and then you and she can go away forever."

"Oh… thank you… " Draco accepted the vile and was silent. There was not much to be left out. Everything would be taken care of… it was foolproof. He walked out of the house in a second he was back at his own room. He put the vile under his pillow and took off his cloak. He would do what Dumbledore said, and wouldn't worry about anything. Draco sat on his bed for nearly an hour, thinking of Ginny and the love he had for her.

Downstairs, Lucius, Narcissa, and Snape were giving orders to house elves for the wedding. Draco came walking down the stairs, a huge grin on his face. Lucius stopped in mid sentence and stared up at his son. "Have you decided to grow up?"

"Yes, father. I met Callista. She's a very lovely girl. I can't wait until tomorrow." Draco smiled a little less and hoped his charade wouldn't be seen through. It wasn't. Snape's eyes told what he was thinking – he knew. But Lucius and Narcissa were oblivious to the lie they he forced their son to live. They were very happy for him.

"I'm glad that girl talked some sense into you. See," Lucius turned to Narcissa. "He needs a girl to keep him level headed."

"Yes, I guess he does."

"Father, if you don't mind, I'm going to go get ready and pick out some clothing and what not for tomorrow."

"All right." Lucius nodded. "Snape, go with him. You have good taste."

"Sir, I… " Snape tried to say something, but he caught the look in Draco's eyes and nodded. "I just need to get something to drink first. Draco, please come with an old man and wait while he wets his whistle."

"All right. Sure." Draco smiled at his parents and followed the black clad man into the kitchen.

"He's something else, isn't he?" Lucius asked his wife as he watched Draco disappear around the corner.

"Yes, he is."

"You haven't said much today. What's on your mind?" Lucius set down his papers and approached his wife slowly. He took her in his arms and gazed into her cold eyes.

"I'm just thinking about when we were married. Do you remember?"

"How could I forget?"

"I just was remembering what if felt like – the fear, the nerves."

"Yes." Lucius' face came close to hers and he breathed her smell deeply. "I still love you, you know."

"I know." Narcissa sighed and leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. This was the closest she had been to him in nearly ten years. He was always so involved with the Dark Lord and everything, well, there hadn't been much time for her.

"Come here," Lucius purred as he lifted her face. He kissed her softly, and she smiled to herself. Maybe he did still love her after all.

Draco sighed as he cast his glance around the room. He had picked out something to wear. Great. He had stalled and avoided the questions Snape asked. He had waited until it was night before he would answer any of Snape's questions.

"Why won't you talk to me?" Snape sat in the chair, facing Draco.

"Because it's not quite night yet."

"Sure it is. It's dark outside."

"All right. Fine. Ask away."

Snape leaned forward and asked in a whisper, as though someone were going to come in and reveal them, "Did Dumbledore give you the potion?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to take it?"

"Not with you in the room."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Fine." Snape had waited hours to hear that response, and he was satisfied. He would leave Draco to do whatever he wanted, and decided that he would be surprised in the morning. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Or will you?" Draco smiled at his joke. He knew that Snape was worried, but it didn't faze him. He had a goal in mind, and he would see it through. Snape laughed nervously and left the room quickly. As soon as the door shut, Draco reached back and pulled out the tiny vile. He sat in the middle of his bed, gazing at the milky white contents. He shook it. It wasn't much. How could something so small make such a big difference? He shook his head. It didn't matter, as long as it worked.

"I'm not afraid," he told himself, even though he was. "I mean, I trust the professor that it will work. He wouldn't purposely poison me, would he? He has been out to get my family for a while. No! That is absurd. He wouldn't do anything to hurt Ginny, and I am a part of her now. What if it wears off before he can come and get me? Then I'll be stuck in that awful tomb with the dead air and all my dead relatives… ugh. I'll surely suffocate before he comes." Draco shivered and stared at the vile. "The ghosts of my ancestors are said to haunt that tomb… their cries can be heard on clear nights, like mandrakes freshly pulled, they say. My forefathers, rest their souls, were smart enough to build that circle of stones around the entrance to confuse others of the were-a-bouts of the tomb." Draco paused and closed his eyes.

Ginny, I drink to you, he thought. With her face in his mind, Draco pulled the stopper out of the vile and poured the potion into his guts. He felt the burning liquid enter his stomach and he doubled over. Draco felt a sweet stab of pain, and suddenly his world began to swirl. His head weighed a million pounds, and he fell on his back, his head on his pillow. Draco's breathing staggered and became short and raspy. The world tipped from side to side and his eyes lazed from side to side. The ceiling moved in a circle, and the last thing Draco saw was Ginny's sweet, smiling face.