DISCLAIMER: HARRY POTTER IS THE PROPERTY OF JKR. I DO NOT OWN IT...
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Thank you very much laiscarus, finkle89, dvali, dkrish, windninja1000, Vaughnilla, Stuartbiggie, Rommel209, PurpleWingedBlackIris, NTA123, JC RH, , Debs1990, Chofrog456, Arwengeld and AFWidget for following my story...
Thank you very much Lady Ylla, Steven Weasley, finkles89, JC RH, Lady Mage, Arwengeld, Debs 1990, NTA123, dvali, PurpleWingedBlack Iris, laiscarus and guest reviewers for your valuable reviews.
Many many many special thanks for NTA123, finkles89 and the Guest reviewer for constantly asking for an update and motivate myself to write.
A very special thank you to wisecrackerme for editing this chapter.
CHAPTER 02
Ron shifted in his chair uncomfortably. The glamorous parlour he was seated at was filled with most comfortable and luxurious furniture. However, none of that made him feel cosy or welcomed, all he wanted to do, was to get away from the place as soon as the family elf showed him in. Impatiently he waited for the arrival of the family's patriarch to get the mandatory meeting done and get out of the place within the next second, but it seemed like he was running behind schedule. Ron expected to meet the older wizard in his study and was surprised when the elf brought him here. The parlour looked like a lady's private parlour rather than the family's main room where they would greet their guests. He might be in Mrs Parkinson's private Parlour, and she might be joining them for the meeting which would certainly be more awkward as Ron was planning to reject the proposal politely.
Luckily or unluckily he didn't have to wait any longer as he heard footsteps clacking towards the room he was seated in. Taking a deep breath, he prepared to greet his host.
"What are you doing in my parlour Weasley?" someone bellowed. Ron turned around and came face to face with the world's most obnoxious witch at their time.
"Well, you would have to ask your father, I was invited by him." He snapped.
"You must be joking! He would never invite you."
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but he did send me this." He replied by waving the scroll in front of her face.
Blood drained from her face as if she had been seeing a ghost.
"No! No!" she exclaimed. "This can't be happening. He would never do this to me! He would never humiliate me like this."
"What are you talking about?" He questioned trying to control his anger.
"He would never stoop so low by sending that to a blood traitor, especially to a Weasel." She spat venomously making Ron's blood boil.
"What did you say?" He asked threateningly.
"You heard me, now get out from here! I don't have time to waste with a pauper."
Her words made him loose every ounce of patience he had within him.
"A pauper? Huh!" Ron gritted his teeth.
"Do you think I have time to waste for a foulmouthed slut? If your cunning father didn't feel desperate to send this as a traditional offer, I wouldn't have even thought of setting my foot here. If this had been received by a normal post, it would have certainly been in the rubbish bin as soon as my dad opened it." He said venomously.
"What did you call me?" She hissed.
He completely ignored her. "Who on earth wants to connect with the Parkinsons? No man in his right mind would ever want to marry you." Ron added in his boiling rage.
"What did you call me?" She barked.
"Why? Isn't the 'Slytherin slut' your pet name?" he mocked.
"I think more than ninety per cent of the country's wizarding population knows you by that name rather than Pansy Parkinson. Ask your father to be quick and find someone out of the country for you. Otherwise, your credentials might soon spread out of the country. By then, it would be hard even to find you a suitor among the muggle-borns."
"The Slytherin slut!" She let out a hysterical laugh. "It's bit rich coming from a man. There wouldn't be many promiscuous women in this world if all the male population acted like gentlemen."
Pansy locked her eyes with him in pure hatred. At her heated look, Ron desperately wanted to avert his eyes from that death glare, but straightening his back, he bravely continued to return her stare without breaking the contact.
"Men are cunning and opportunistic, and women are naïve and stupid!" She added.
Although her expression of anger, hatred and rage didn't alter her voice even the slightest, Ron felt the pain exuding from her voice. He sensed her broken and shattered heart through her words.
"I don't know if love has any meaning to wizards, other than being a four lettered word. But for witches, it resonates everything." She muttered as if no one was around to listen.
"When a witch falls in love, she experiences heaven, she has everything, and her life is complete. Does a wizard feel the same?" She snorted.
"I don't think so." She shook her head. "If you love someone, you would be prepared to do anything for him. You would even dare to break all your traditions and go against the way you have brought up. If getting into bed with the man you love makes a woman a slut – Yes, then I am a slut." She exhaled soundly.
"Women dream about their future and plan their wedding while the men is busy using her body, satisfying his needs. While she is thinking about their future children together, the man tries to come up with the best plan to ditch her." Ron winced at the sudden hysterical laugh she lets out.
Pansy averted her eyes from the man sitting in front of her. "Bonding ritual never comes into man's mind when he takes the woman who loves him to his bed, but when it comes to the question of marriage; then, the only thing in his mind is the stupid bonding ritual."
"It's a rubbish ritual and doesn't carry any sense at all." Ron mumbled uncomfortably, and she ignored him.
"They are willing to bond with a virgin to secure a stronger heir, easily forgetting the woman who loved him more than her own life. The witch who did everything to make him happy. They treat their betrothed with care and respect, unlike the woman they have used and discarded.
"Believe me! That ludicrous ritual won't give a powerful heir." Ron interrupted her in exasperation.
"To secure a powerful heir people need to stop marrying among Sacred Twenty-Eight families. Years of inbreeding results only in Squibs, it has nothing to do with losing virginity out of wedlock." He muttered uncomfortably.
"Who are you to question the sacred bonding ritual followed by the purest of the families for centuries? Just because you are the pathetic sidekick of that famous half-blood, you, don't have the right to criticise our traditions and customs." She spat.
"I still think it is barbaric!" Ron said bravely. "It is just another way of controlling women through male supremacy. It is clearly treating witches as the inferior gender; otherwise why would it only be a requirement for witches to remain a virgin until their wedding day, a rule which doesn't apply for wizards?"
"That's because you idiot, only witches carry the offspring and wizards are not capable of doing so."
"Muggles don't follow nonsense like that, and they give birth to strong offspring." Ron argued.
"I'm not a muggle." Pansy hissed. "And muggles don't bond for a lifetime. They break off from marriages more often than anyone or they just never get married at all, although they live and have children together." She added in disgust.
"But – " Ron protested.
"There is no but Weasley! I think you should leave now without mocking a woman who has been deceived many times in her life, by the name of true love." She said firmly.
"Parkinson, can you please listen to me?"
"What else do you have to say to this slut?" She sneered. "Don't worry, your reputation would not be damaged in any way. No one from the wizarding world would ever know that you were here for a marriage proposal. We keep this matter as highly confidential and we won't do anything that harm your reputation."
"I'm not bothered about that."
"Then what else? This meeting is done, and I'm asking my elf to show you out."
"No! We are not done." Ron protested.
"Yes, we are. You don't have to hang around till my father comes home. Just send your letter of refusal through an owl, and he'll be fine with that."
"I don't-"
"For merlin's sake Weasley, just leave. I don't want to hear your lame excuses. I'm very well aware of the outcome of these meetings. So no hard feelings at all." She summoned her elf without giving Ron a chance to talk and instructed it to show Ron the way out, then apparated out with a loud crack without even bidding him a farewell.
As soon as she appeared in her bedroom, she jumped onto her bed and curled into a ball and started to sob. She didn't cry because of Ron or because of his insensitive comments. Merlin! By now she quite used and immune to those hateful comments and names. Today she cried for her broken heart, her damaged soul, deceptions and betrayals.
She knew the people behind those hateful rumours. They were the people she once trusted and loved most. They were the people who deceived and used her to satisfy their needs. From Draco Malfoy to Graham Montague they all made use of her, cheated her and laughed at her back. Before dumping her, they shared the most intimate details of their relationship with her with their friends and mocked her behind her back. They branded her as a high class prostitute and encouraged the others to have a temporary good time with her before their marriages.
She had been just an ordinary girl who was looking for love and understanding. She entered each and every relationship thinking she had found her true love, the love of her life, and that wizard would cherish her, protect her, understand her and respect her. But her dreams were mere dreams that never came true. One by one pureblood wizards entered her life seeking temporary pleasure. As soon as they felt she was expecting more, they avoided her and left her, all thanks to that sodding bonding ritual. Every time someone left her citing a lame excuse, her heart broke into tiny pieces and finally, she ended up with a broken heart which was now beyond repair.
Her father tried to find her a suitor among the purebloods but was left without luck. He even sent those proposals for the wizards who once claimed her heart and deceived her, though no one accepted his proposal. Almost all of them got married to properly brought up pureblood girls who were virgins at the time of their weddings. Few were even shameless enough to send her letters asking her to be their mistress as their marital life had become boring and dull compared to what they had had with her. Every time Pansy received such proposition she tried hard not to hex or Avada the wizard the next time she saw him.
Because of all these rumours, she had ended up without any friends. No decent pureblood woman wanted to be associated with her due to her reputation among their circle. Parents kept their daughters away from her company thinking she would be a bad influence. Witches her age avoided her like the plague and pureblood men came nearer for one reason only. She venomously avoided them after getting to know their true intention. At social gatherings, she was left alone without anyone to talk to. People ignored her and laughed at her, behind her back.
She knew whatever her father does, she wouldn't be able to find a pureblood husband from their common circle. She didn't want to get married to a half-blood or a mudblood, but she also knew her father wouldn't give up until he found a suitor even among muggles to protect the house of Parkinsons.
She never thought even in a million years her father would have had the courage to send a scroll to the house of Weasleys. She always hated them with a passion. She couldn't imagine herself being married to one of those poor ginger heads with no proper upbringing. She especially loathed the Harry Potter's annoying sidekick with passion since their schooling days. It made her furious to have had to spend her precious time in his company, all thanks' to her father's actions, when she had millions of other important things to attend to that day. She was used to getting rejected and humiliated by purebloods belonging to her class but rejection and humiliation by a poor blood traitor who was beneath her class just made her loose even the tiniest bit of self-esteem she had had within her.
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The Auror department was different from any other departments in the Ministry. Almost all the other departments were peaceful and quiet, functioned in order compared to the Auror department. It was the most chaotic department in the Ministry. All the yelling, shouting and screaming in frustration or anger was not an unusual or uncommon occurrence during most of the days.
It was on such a day Ron heard a heated argument happening on his floor, but he was too occupied with the report he was writing and hadn't bothered to pay any attention to it. On any other day, Ron would have left his chamber to break off the fight or to settle the argument, not today. He chose to ignore it due to being extremely busy. Yelling, screaming and threatening was not unfamiliar to him, but he was more curious than surprised when that awful tumult approached his chamber. It hadn't gone past his chamber as he had expected, and within moments the door to his chamber burst opened.
"WEASLEY!" Someone yelled in a shrilled voice.
Ron's Auror instinct kicked in. Without even making an attempt to raise his head from the parchment he was working on, Ron quickly flicked his wand and non-verbally summoned the wand of the intruder into his hand.
"WEASLEY GIVE MY WAND BACK!" Pansy demanded, stomping her feet.
"Why should I do that Parkinson? I have no intention of being hexed by you." Ron replied calmly.
Just as soon, a junior Auror barged in pushing the furious witch aside. "Mr Weasley, I am terribly sorry. We tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen." He said giving the visitor a death glare.
"That's alright Parker, she doesn't need an appointment to see me. You can leave now." Ron answered waving the man off, casually.
"But- but-." Confused, the Auror muttered, looking at both angry witch and the calm deputy Auror sitting in front of him. As an Auror, he was confident that the witch's intention of the visit was an evil one.
"Don't worry Parker, everything's under control. You may leave now." Ron assured the young Auror who was unwilling to go. "And please close the door behind you." He added in a calm and pleasant tone to convince his junior that he was not in any immediate danger.
"Why don't you take a seat?" He asked gesturing the chair in front of him as soon as his junior left.
"No thank you!" She hissed in a fury.
Ron placed the quill on the table and leaned against the back of his chair comfortably "Then, let me know the reason behind your visit, while you are standing." He added without losing his composure.
"You know the reason bloody well! Why did you accept it?" She barked gritting her teeth.
"Because I wanted to" He shrugged casually.
"you need to reject it." She demanded, stomping her feet.
"No, I can't. I sent a formal acceptance. If you don't want it, you should go and ask your father to break the contract." Ron said without taking his eyes off hers.
Pansy scrunched her face in bitterness. Her father would certainly never break the agreement for any reason. Arthur's reply arrived on the same day Ron visited, and the Parkinsons had been having their dinner when the Weasley's family owl arrived with that sodding reply. Knowing it's content, her father hadn't wanted to read it during the meal and left it aside, to burn it after their dinner. Curiously, the bird didn't leave after delivering it. In fact, it flew around his head hooting and pestering him to read it. For the sake of ridding the annoying bird, he opened it and skimmed through quickly. Suddenly, he gasped and started to read the parchment again with a new found enthusiasm. He read it once, twice and many more times. Still not believing his eyes, he, finally informed his family about the content of the letter happily. He was overjoyed and impatiently looked forward to the union with a well-respected family of war heroes while Pansy burnt in rage just thinking of it.
"Why did you accept it?" She barked again.
Ron sighed. "I have told you my answer already"
"Are you out of your senses?" She narrowed her eyes.
"Apparently not." He chirped, making her more furious.
"Then why the hell would you accept this, when you are in a position to gain something a million times better than this?" She asked in frustration.
"I am not sure about millions, but this is the only formal proposal I have ever received. I liked it, therefore I accepted it."
The Floo activated in the room, indicating the arrival of a visitor but both the occupants of the room were deeply immersed in the argument, and the visitor went unnoticed.
"Did you accept it because you felt sorry for me? We all know the Weasley's wear their hearts on their sleeves, but I am not one of your charity cases, and I do not need your pity." Pansy snarled.
"Who said I'm marrying you out of pity? I have been offered a substantial dowry that I don't wish to reject." He smirked, knowing that would drive her even crazier.
"You are pathetic!" She hissed venomously.
"Thank you." He bowed his head to irritate her further.
"And I hate you." She yelled.
"I don't care." He shrugged calmly.
"For how much is he selling me to you" She demanded.
"One-fourth of the Parkinson's assets." Ron answered casually.
"That's ridiculous!" Pansy barked. "So you accepted it because of money?"
"Remember, I'm a pauper?" He reminded her exact words jovially.
"The best thing is, it will increase to one third with the arrival of the next Parkinson heir. He wants to give his family name to the first born son and make him the next heir. Well, there are already loads of Weasley's, so I don't mind naming my children Parkinsons." Ron said gleefully.
"In your dreams Weasley! I would never give you a child. Not a single one. I refuse to bear any spawns of yours!" She spat.
"Too bad for you then, you will be disowned. There is a clause in the contract. If you are unable to give a child due to no medical reasons, you will be disowned, and the Parkinson's inheritance will be passed on to your paternal aunt's second son."
"That's never going to happen!" Pansy shouted.
"Well, it wasn't me who decided it. I didn't write that clause." He shrugged enjoying the drama.
"I hate you." Pansy hissed.
"Nothing can be in done by hating me."
"Reject the proposal" She forced him.
"How can I reject something that I have already accepted?" He questioned.
"So there is no way out?" She asked in desperation.
"Unless, you, ask your father to withdraw his proposal." He said knowing her father would never consent to that.
"If not?" She raised her brow.
"Then get ready for the wedding in three weeks." Ron said coolly.
"THREE WEEKS!"
"Yeah, in three weeks' time you will be getting married to me at the Parkinson estate."
"No, no. That cannot be possible!" She shook her head vigorously.
"Say that to your father." He genially replied.
Pansy didn't want to admit defeat. "Don't you dare think even for a moment that everything would be fine after we get married. I'll make sure you regret your decision." She warned him.
"You can try" Ron shrugged with a challenging smile, making her even angrier.
"Be ready! I am going to make your life a living hell. I'll make sure for that." She hissed venomously, and dashed out without looking back.
Ron watched her dramatic departure calmly with a slight smile. He was preoccupied with his thoughts and had been left without an awareness of the other presence in the room.
"Ron!"
He turned his head towards the uncertain panicked voice.
"Hello Hermione, I didn't notice you there." He greeted his best friend calmly.
"So it's true then. The news that you are going to marry her?" She questioned in worry.
Ron let a sigh. "Yes." He answered after a few seconds.
"No, don't do that. You deserve a much better person." She pleaded.
"What's wrong with her?" He questioned innocently
"You know what's wrong." She quirked her lips.
"When did the caring and compassionate Hermione start believing in rumours." Ron asked playfully.
"I don't believe the rumours, but she does not suit you. She is evil, arrogant, foul-mouthed and rude. You deserve some one gentle and kind." Hermione replied stubbornly.
"She is a bit different." He shrugged.
"Bit different?" Hermione hissed "You call that bit different?"
"Are you out of your senses Ron! I can't believe you! Are you really marrying her for the money?" She asked in fury.
"I thought you knew me than anyone else in the world." He simply replied to her.
"I know, I never thought you'll do such thing, but then why? Why her? Especially, when there are other witches million times better than her?"
"She needs me." He answered avoiding her eyes.
"Needs you? Are you marrying her because you pity her?"
Ron let a sigh in exasperation. "No Hermione, I don't pity her, but I have my reasons."
"Then, are you marrying her to rescue her from someone?" She questioned without giving up.
"Probably." He shrugged again.
"From whom?"
"Maybe from the society. And her inferiority complex." He answered calmly.
"Are you going to sacrifice your happiness for someone like her?" Hermione barked. "You just heard her. She vowed to ruin your life and make it a living hell."
Ron let a soft chuckle. "No one else can ruin our lives other than us, Hermione. Our happiness is our responsibility, and we don't need everyone's approval to be happy. And certainly, we shouldn't waste our time expecting others to make us happy. So, I can let her try, but I highly doubt that she will achieve her target."
"So you are not going to change your decision?" She asked in desperation.
"No." He said firmly.
"What if I persuade you to reconsider?" She looked at him hopefully.
"I love you Hermione, but it won't change anything."
"What if-."
"Shhh." He gently placed his finger on her lips and stopped her. "Regardless of anything, I'm not going to change my decision. As my best friend, I need you to trust me and support my choice" He locked his calm eyes with her tearful ones and firmly requested her support without giving her a chance for reasoning.
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Thank you very much for reading. Please review and let me know whether I should continue.