A/N: Okay, I think in this chapter the story really kicks off with the evil stuff. Oh well, see for yourself. And review! And congratulate me for catching up with the wizarding world. I've just finished book six and so the result is my fic officially becomes an ultimate AU. Hah, so much for surprises. I knew I shouldn't've read the book until I finished this fic. But I will do my best to keep this fic sane, all right? Bear with me! And gosh, I actually cried at Dumbledore's funeral…

I feel like this all needs an explanation for my fic is awfully AU even for me. So, let me reset the several last events in book six to the pleasure of my fic. Draco did not try and kill Dumbledore. Just Snape, all right? And Draco's not a Death Eater. Think that'll do for the moment. I'll add several stuff when I encounter problems. Hope you guys don't find it irritating!

By the way, I would like to thank the following peepz (new reviewers): Zesuit, and SierraPotter. Thanks for the compliment and I hope to get more reviews from you guys! Heheh... Now, onto the story...

Chapter 19: The Wedding Charm

"Will he be fine?" came Hermione's nervous voice from not far.

"Well, I hope so. Look, he's coming to himself now," said Ron's voice.

Harry opened his eyes. He was in his room. He was breathing hard and he felt cold sweat on his forehead. He sat up and saw Hermione and Ron sitting beside his bed. They looked relieved that he had sat up.

"Harry? How are you feeling? Anything aching? Do you feel tired? What – "

"Hermione," Ron cut her, handing Harry his glasses. "Harry, how do you feel?"

"I'm – fine, I guess. I don't get what happened, though."

"Yes, it bewilders me just as much, Harry," Hermione responded.

"What? What happened?" Ron blinked.

"Ron, honestly!"

"What?"

"When he read the words below the note, he fainted!"

"I didn't faint right away. I felt a chill first – "

"Chill? What do you mean chill?" Ron now asked.

"Like the one I feel when Rose touches – hang on, did Rose come when I fainted?" Harry suddenly remembered the face he saw before he fell into unconsciousness, and he realized that it belonged to Rose.

"Yeah, she came. She didn't stay for long, though. She just asked what happened to you and then she went off again," Ron explained.

"Went off?"

"She was in some kind of hurry, like she just dropped by to see what had actually happened."

Harry remained silent. Had he been imagining Rose's sneer?

Harry was still deep in thought with Hermione and Ron sitting noiselessly around his bed when his bedroom door flew open and in came –

"Malfoy?" Hermione asked in a confused, high-pitched voice.

"What're you doing here!" Ron automatically leapt off his chair and started towards Malfoy.

"Ron!" Harry and Hermione both yelled.

Hermione grabbed Ron by the back of the robes just in time. Malfoy dashed toward Harry's bed. For a moment, Harry thought he was going to attack, but he explained as he approached.

"We seriously need to talk, Potter."

"What?" said the three in unison.

"Ditch your excuse, Malfoy. What do you want?" Ron said aloud. He had just voiced out exactly what Harry was thinking.

"You heard Harry was injured and you thought it's the best time to get rid of him, didn't you?" Hermione said.

"Injured?" Malfoy repeated. Harry noticed, however, that Malfoy's voice, for the first time, did not contain mockery or the like. "What happened?"

This did not prevent Harry from replying in the way he had been so used to, however. "What? Concerned about me now, aren't you?"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "You sure have guts, saying that. What with all the business your girl has been doing – "

"What do you mean?" Harry was not able to hold himself back.

"Seems your friends don't want me to tell you about it at all, so never mind." He waved a hand casually, turned around, and started walking towards the door.

"Wait!"

"Harry?" Hermione turned in Harry's direction now.

"I, er, I've got to hear what he has to say… I mean, if it's about Rose – "

"I won't tell it in front of your friends – "

"He just wants to get you alone – "

"What're you planning, really, Malfoy – "

"I want to hear it if it's anything related to – "

"He's just bluffing! He'll just try to – "

"Whatever, Weasley. If you don't think – "

"Enough!" Hermione yelled shrilly. Harry, Ron and Malfoy stopped talking at once. "Listen, Harry. I completely think Malfoy's lying. May be absurd by maybe he's trying to get you alone to – try and hurt you. But it's your choice and – "

"I want to hear it. It's not like he can kill me right here – "

"What if I could, Potter?" said Malfoy maliciously, sneering as he put his hand in his pocket. Harry was under the impression that he was fingering his wand.

"You're not exactly helping things, Malfoy – " Harry started.

"Well, why would he? He's just here to – "

"You can say it in front of Ron and Hermione, Malfoy," Harry said, raising his voice so that it drowned Ron's. "I'll tell them about it afterwards if you tell me alone anyway."

Malfoy gave a small shrug. "If you want to be embarrassed, my pleasure, Potter."

"Fine, fine. On with it."

"Rose and I talked last night," Malfoy began casually. "Well, it was her who knocked at my bedroom door when I was about to dress up for sleep – "

"Really?" Ron said, narrowing his eyes.

"Tell Weasley to shut up, Potter."

"Don't go ordering me around, Malfoy."

"But really, Ron, don't interrupt – "

"You're siding with him now, Hermione?"

"No!"

"Shut up!" Harry yelled. Malfoy smirked contentedly.

"Of course, I was surprise to see her standing outside my room. I mean, as far as I'm concerned she sleeps in your room every night – "

"What are you trying to say?" Harry started heatedly.

"Shh!" both Ron and Hermione hissed at him.

"So anyways," Malfoy continued. "She said she needed to talk to me…"

-- Flashback --

Draco was already getting ready for bed when a knock on his bedroom door broke the silence of the night.

"Wha – Rose?" he said, stunned at who had requested his presence from behind the door. Rose nodded curtly. "What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk?" Rose replied simply.

"S – sure," Draco replied, stunned. He stood back to let Rose into his room. Rose entered, but did not sit down. She waited for Draco to close the door, which he did quite slowly out of nerves, before talking.

"Can't ya turn off th'lights?"

"What?" Draco asked, unable to believe what he just heard.

"Turn off th'damn lights. Am not used tah too much lightin' these days," Rose replied and smiled slightly. Oh how pretty she looks when she does that, Draco thought.

"Okay." Draco turned and switched off his bedroom lights, smirking to himself as he did so.

The flourescent lamps all over the building ran with electricity, since Bridgework wanted to keep things as Muggle-like as possible, and Draco was irritated with switching them on and off all the time. But not tonight, though. If Rose wants him to switch lights on and off forever in the Muggle way, he gladly would. Draco felt a strange quivering feeling in his stomach.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" he asked, drawing up a chair from the corner of his room. He motioned for Rose to sit on it, but she instead settled on his bed. The quivering feeling again.

"Potter," Rose replied indifferently, just as Draco was about to sit down on his bed. He ended up with a stupid stumble on the sheets.

Draco was caught stunned for the second time tonight. Rose had just called Harry Potter, her boyfriend, "Potter." Had the world suddenly begun spinning backwards? Why was everything topsy-turvy tonight? But hey, this must be my lucky night, Draco said to himself.

He decided to ignore Rose's use of "Potter," and reply casually. "What about him?"

"D'ya know wha' he's plannin'?"

"What do you mean, Rose? I don't quite follow," Draco replied politely, careful not to blow up Rose's mood.

"His plans for defeatin' Voldemort."

Draco shivered at the name, but ignored it just as well. There were more important matters. He was not sure where the conversation was going, but a feeling told him Rose was trying to help Draco, or moreover, he was trying to help the dark side.

"Well, of course I don't. Opposite sides are to keep their plans secret from each other, aren't they? But I think our side has a good vision of what he's going to do."

"An' tha' is?"

"I'm not allowed to tell," Draco replied, taken aback. Maybe Potter actually sent Rose to spy on the dark side, knowing that she was Draco's weakness.

"Ya act jus' like Potter, d'ya know tha'?"

"No," said Draco, indignantly.

"Ya dunno how tah trus' the righ' people." Rose smirked. "Well, Potter did have a point. He shouldn't've trust'd me, then."

"Rose, are you – are you trying to say that – you're faking Potter? You're not on their side?" Draco asked, straightening up and peering at Rose intently.

"Do I look stupid enough tah be on their side?" Rose replied.

"But I thought – "

"Ya thought what?" Rose cut him. "If I'd been on their side, I would've broken our charm by now, which, mind ya, is awfully plain if ya ask me. Am not plannin' tah marry you, Draco," she added when Draco's face started looking dazed. "But am not breakin' the charm for the time being. It'll help me when the Order finds out I'm workin' with Voldemort."

"You work with the Dark Lord? No, seriously, Rose. No jokes, please," Draco said. He was trying to plead Rose into getting back into her usual self; bad, but not evil.

"No wonder ya dunno. Am the top secret agent," Rose replied, smirking. "List'n. I can't get outta Bridgework righ' now, 'coz they're all watchin' me. I dunno, maybe suspectin' me already. But anyways, I would've delivered the information mahself, but since you're on constant communication wi'them, I need ya to tell them for me."

Rose told Draco all about the prophecy made by Trelawney, down to the end which Voldemort had not gained knowledge of. She also told Harry's plans of finding the Horcruxes to defeat Voldemort, and how he had planned not to go to school just to find them.

"So what made him come back to school?" Draco asked.

Rose shrugged. "Tha', I dunno. But am bound tah find out sooner or later. There's nothin' he – "

"Wouldn't tell you?" Draco finished her sentence helpfully.

"There's nothin' he wouldn' wanna share with anyone who'd list'n."

Draco stared. Rose threw another insult at Potter. Was this true? Was Rose really on the dark side? It seemed so impossible to hear Rose talking about Potter like this when in front of everyone else, Rose acts like Potter is her world.

At the end of their talk, Rose got up from Draco's bed and switched on the lights before swinging the door open. She was about to go out when she turned back and faced Draco.

"By the way, have they found Severus yet?"

"What – oh, that – I – I don't know, actually. It has been ages since anyone saw him."

Rose's face turned into a somber expression. "Do ya think he's still… Y'know…"

"Of course he is!" Draco replied, accidentally raising his voice. "Sorry," he said as he approached Rose and put an arm over her shoulders, ending up in a tight hug. "I just meant, he's alive. I know it. He can't just – die. He won't just die."

"Yeah, guess you're righ'," Rose said. She broke free from Draco's arms and started out of his room. "G'night, then. An' watch out for them. They're suspectin' just anyone, honestly."

"Okay. Thanks, Rose."

Rose started walking down the stairs when Draco called after her.

"Hey, Rose!"

She turned in his direction.

"Since when have you been, you know, on our side?"

Rose smirked again. "Since five."

And she set off down the stairs.

-- End of Flashback --

"Why? What's with five?" Ron asked.

"It was the first time she met with the Malfoys," Malfoy explained. "I remember mother and father telling me to dress up when I myself was just five. I asked them why, and father told me that I would me meeting my future wife, so I had to look smart – "

"Enough of your sentiments, Malfoy," Ron cut him. "Tell us why she – "

"Future wife?" Harry repeated, his voice unusually high-pitched. Malfoy smirked.

"She's my fianceé, Potter – "

"Fianceé?" Harry said again. Malfoy laughed. "Since when?"

"Since we were five – "

"You've got to be joking me – " Ron started.

"That's very funny, Malfoy – " Hermione began.

"Will you two shut up?" Malfoy finally yelled.

"She doesn't like you," Harry said. "She said so on the train to Bridgework. She doesn't want – "

"I know."

"What?"

"She doesn't want to be wedded to me. I know that."

"But how come – "

"The Ashworths and Malfoys are very good friends, so it was only natural for them to decide on a thing like this. If I remember correctly, father said that it was a dream for the Malfoys and Ashworths to finally merge in marriage, and the dream had been, well, almost realized when Rose and I were born.

"Well, Rose didn't have a say at it at first. I mean, we were only five. Innocent and all – "

Ron snorted at the word, "innocent."

"Shut up, Weasley. Father and some other relatives came over to Castlerest after my first meeting with Rose – "

"What's Castlerest?" Harry asked.

"It's the only all-wizard settlement here in Japan," Hermione said.

"Where is it?" Ron asked.

"It's to the east of Bridgework," Malfoy said. "So, anyway, on our second meeting, my relatives performed a charm that bound us together – "

"That's unfair. Only your relatives?"

"Well, Rose did not have any relatives anymore, did she?" said Malfoy. "Since then we have been bound together. But we met only twice after the charm had been laid on us. Our last meeting was before I went to Hogwarts and her to Bridgework. It was then that she told me it was a big mistake and that she'd only realized it just then, and told me to try and find out how to break the charm. But I refused to do so. I mean, who would want to do that?

"She researched about how to break the charm, anyway. If she did not have to go to Bridgework, she would have spent her whole life researching. But yes, she doesn't want to be married to me. Happy now, Potter?"

"Hey, when did Snape disappear?" Harry suddenly remembered. Rose had not even told him this piece of information.

"The day she went to meet with him," Malfoy replied. "They did see each other, but after that, it looks like he went off the map."

Harry and Malfoy talked almost all night. Hermione and Ron excused themselves after some time, saying that they were awfully tired for the night, but Harry had the shrewd suspicion that Hermione had finally decided that she wanted to return Ron's feelings, and that they were off to spend some time alone.

Harry went down to the common room next morning and found Rose getting ready to go down to the dining hall just as well.

"Hey," Harry greeted. He was not sure whether he should remain enthusiastic in Rose's presence.

"Hmm."

"You going down to breakfast?"

"Yeah, an' you?"

Harry nodded. "Together then?" Harry tried to smile. Rose nodded.

Harry opened the door and stood back to let her pass. She waited for Harry to get out as well, before setting off down the corridor. Rose remained silent and Harry took the chance to hold her hand.

"Rose."

"Hmm."

"You never told me Snape was missing."

Rose stopped in her tracks, apparently stunned at what Harry asked. Harry had the feeling this was not going to be as simple as he thought.

A/N: Okay, long chapter for you there. Tell me what you think about it. Reviews! Chill! m/ punks not dead