DISCLAIMER: HARRY POTTER IS THE PROPERTY OF JKR. I DO NOT OWN IT...
Thank you very much GilboBaggins, KingDaemonBlackfyr, Sherman Black Lannister and aless92 for adding my story to your favourite list.
Thank you very much Amaugustine, gginc, michelle. , Jormugand, Jurian Coetzee, haikki, kristjans, KingDaemonBlackfyre, Sherman Black Lannister, Rachel Lopez, D4ni3l, Beijing28 and aless92 for following my story...
Thank you very much Finkles 89, NTA123, gginsc, KingDaemonBlackfyre, Goose and guest reviewers for your valuable reviews.
Many many more special thanks for finkles89, Goose and the Guest reviewer for constantly asking for an update and motivate myself to write.
Sorry, I took nearly two years to post another chapter. My life is pretty busy with a full time job and 4 very young kids. I hardly get five hours sleep per day and always busy with something. So, please pardon me for any errors and mistakes as this is an unedited copy. Thank you so much for your continuous support , I always greatly appreciate it…..
CHAPTER 03
Ron kept his head down and lazily skimmed through the next parchment on the desk. Even though it was way past his working hours, he stayed behind to finish off assigned tasks as much as possible as he won't be coming to work the next day. Unless if it was an urgent or unavoidable circumstance, Ron would never take a day off as a habit, but the next day happened to be one the most important days in his life and a day off would be inevitable.
A very faint noise of opening the door to his chamber made him abruptly stopped in the middle of a sentence. It was barely perceptible and would have gone unnoticed by any other ordinary person than a skilled auror like him. Oddly, he sensed that it was caused by another equally experienced professional like him. Ron was not frightened; on the contrary, he was curious to know the reason the other sneaked upon him. He slowly raised his head and locked his eyes with his nervous-looking best friend.
"Hi, Harry." Ron greeted him, hiding his concern.
"I'm very sorry, Ron." Harry nervously mumbled, aiming his wand at Ron. Without giving a slightest opportunity to react, he quickly muttered an incantation and eagerly waited for his best friend's reaction.
Ron faced the spell without a fuss, then sighed and rubbed his forehead after keeping the parchment he held aside. Furrowing his brows, he shook his head and clicked his tongue in utter incredulity.
"You too believe that crap?" he questioned disappointedly.
"Well." Harry shrugged, guilt-ridden.
"Did you know that you are the tenth person who performed the exact spell on me?"
"Well, err…. Not really…." Harry muttered sheepishly
"Did you find anything?" Ron raised his brows with a fake inquisitiveness
Harry shook his head, avoiding his best friend's eyes. Ron sighed
"Who sent you here? Is it happened to be my mum again?"
"No, not her, it's just Arthur." A reply came out reluctantly.
Ron exhaled soundly.
"Look, Harry, just go and tell him I'm not under any nasty spell or have consumed an illegal potion." He said firmly. "I can't believe he sent you after I have told them more than a hundred times that I'm fine and nothing wrong with me."
"You can't blame them, Ron. Don't you think it is rather suspicious? I mean, Arthur told me you never wanted to visit Parkinsons at all. You went there any way for the sake of unavoidable tradition. Even before you left, you told them that you are going to reject the proposal after the formalities and going to be back soon. Still, you didn't return as quickly as you promised and even after returning, you went to your room without talking to anybody and locked yourself in there for the rest of the day, then sent a formal acceptance to girl's father without even consulting your parents. Suspicious! Very suspicious….." Harry said matter-of-factly.
"I have my reasons, Harry." Ron frowned.
"Are those the same lame excuses you have given to Hermione?"
"They are not lame." Ron hissed stubbornly
"They are not convincing either." Harry hissed back
"Forget it, Harry. No one is willing to understand me."
"What do you want me to understand?" Harry snapped. "Everyone in 'The Burrow' is like they are getting ready for a funeral. Your mum hasn't cooked for days and sobbing without stopping. Your father is looking through the window aimlessly. Even George is unusually silent these days."
"So you were at 'The Burrow' this whole time? I was waiting for you to come and help me with Westover case." Without replying his friend, Ron said in frustration.
"I didn't stay there for long, even though I should have done that to support them." Harry replied scornfully.
"Then why couldn't I find you at work?
"I was there only for a couple of minutes, and that's also because I couldn't say no to Arthur."
" He asked you to checked whether I'm under a curse?"
"No, He asked my help to deliver Weasley Tiara to Parkinson family."
Ron let a small chuckle. "In other words, you found a perfect opportunity to investigate Parkinsons for a foul play?"
Harry looked at his friend, sheepishly.
"Have you done a thorough check?"
Harry nodded his head
"Did you find anything suspicious?"
Harry shook his head, defeatedly.
"I told you before, you can perform every diagnosis test on earth, but you won't find anything because there is no black magic involved in my decision. I took this decision with my clear head."
"I highly doubt it."
"Why?"
"When I was there I just bumped into your future wife" Harry replied scrunching his face in disgust.
Ron chortled hard until tears ran down his face
"Seriously Ron, don't do this! She is a maniac who is waiting to ruin your life." Harry begged
Ron clicked his tongue. "Don't worry; she doesn't have the power to do so."
"She has the power or not; she is not worthy of being your wife. She doesn't have a single quality that a good woman should have. She is mean and arrogant, and most importantly, she doesn't care about you or respect you or love you. So, why do you want to trap in a loveless marriage?" Harry questioned in bitterness.
"I can assure there is nothing bad going to happen." Ron said firmly.
"After meeting her for a couple of minutes today, it's hard to believe that nothing bad going to happen. She hasn't changed a bit. Think about your parents and siblings. If you can't think about them, think about Hermione. She has become miserable since the day you made your decision." Harry pleaded.
Finally, as a last resort, Harry played his trump card. Hermione was the only magic word that affected Ron's stubbornness even that moment, Ron shook by his best friend's words but didn't show he was upset.
"I told her not to worry."
"She is your best friend, and she never stops worrying."
"I know that, but I'm a grown-up man Harry, I know what I'm doing. Trust me, nothing bad will happen."
"So, you won't reconsider your decision?"
Ron sighed and fixed his gaze on the floor, then slowly shook his head.
Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead in frustration. He knew he tried his best to talk sense into his best friend, but just like everybody else who was concerned and tried before, he failed. He realised nothing was going to stop Ron from ruining his own life. The realisation of that made him miserable and weak. With a heavy heart, he threw his self to the nearby chair helplessly.
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"You may have to force yourself on me if you were keen on consummate this sodding marriage." Pansy snarled at the man stood in front of her.
Surprisingly, without a major drama, the wedding was over. More than hundreds of guests attended the ceremony and the reception and, most of them were not there to congratulate the couple, but to find out whether the groom was under a spell or gone insane for some reason. When they first heard the news, people couldn't believe their ears. It was hard to accept that Britain's most eligible wizard was going to be married to a harlot like Pansy Parkinson. Many young witches ended up heartbroken, and many parents of suitable witches ended up disappointed. No one in the society believed that Ron was going to marry her willingly; everyone suspected a foul play.
Not only Weasleys, but also Parkinsons heard the rumours which were rapidly spreading through the society like a wildfire, but none of those rumours made Pansy's parents discouraged, in contrary, that encouraged them to have a lavish wedding to show off their victory. People pitied Lord Parkinson when he was on a mission to find a suitable match for his daughter. Those days, it appeared as a task that was impossible to achieve. Some even laughed at his back for his futile attempts. He became less and less popular among the pure-blood circle. Still, suddenly all thanks to Ron Weasly's connection, Parkinsons gained back their respect and popularity in the society and flourished better than before.
During the ceremony, nearly almost all guest were disappointed when Ron showed no abhorrence or avidity towards the marriage. He took part in the rituals with a very neutral and pleasant expression, but no one could say the same for his bride. By the look of her, pure-bloods recognised that she was under a behaviour controlling potion which she had taken willingly or unwillingly. As most of the pure-blood marriages happened not based on love, but based on agreements between senior members of families, there were many incidents where young people rebelled against their parents' decisions. To avoid unnecessary problems during the wedding, the bride and the groom were given a special potion to keep them under control until they consummate the marriage. Although Pansy followed the steps of the ceremony without a fuss, even letting Ron having his arm wrapped around her waist, her eyes were filled with hatred and anger just like everybody else who rebelled before her. Million times she tried to fight off the potion to gain her control but failed without the slightest success. Every time she failed, her new husband looked at her with commiseration, making her even angrier.
All thanks to the potion, the function ended without a major drama, and the newly wedded couple retired to their bed chamber but as soon as they entered the room, Pansy fought the potion thousand time harder than before until her nose started to bleed. Ron gave her a sympathetic stare from a distance when she held her head with both hands and shuddered violently. Finally, when blood flow increased and stained the wedding dress awfully, he stepped forward with a handkerchief. Without accepting it, she snapped at him in hatred.
"Sorry?" He said in disbelieve.
"I said, you have to force yourself on me if you wanted to consume this marriage" She repeated gritting her teeth, and Ron sniggered driving her completely insane.
"Are you out of your mind?" She hissed
"Me? No, I'm not, but I think you are out of your mind." He chuckled hysterically.
"How dare you!" she darted to slap him, but controlled by the potion, she lost her balance and fell. Luckily, Ron caught her before she hit the floor. She tried to free herself from his clasp, but he didn't release her.
"Look, Pansy. I have no intention to force myself on any woman." He said firmly.
"Why, are you that weak?" She mocked him crunching her face.
"I don't consider that a weakness." he said, increasing the pressure of his grip.
"It's definitely a weakness." She quirked her mouth with disgust. "A real man should claim what belong to him regardless of anything, even by force."
Ron let a laugh. "Really? Is that what men in your society doing or do you really need your head examined."
"Release me!" Wriggling she demanded
"I'll release you, but first listen to me carefully." He said firmly. "Number one, A real man never ever force on any woman or gain anything by force. Number two, a real man never treats a woman like a lifeless object; he always treats a woman with respect and dignity.
"LET ME GO!" she snarled. Ron was uncomfortably close to her, and she winced every time she felt his breath on her face.
"I told you I would, so stopped wriggling!"
"I won't! if you can, make me stop!"
"Don't think that I can't stop you, but I won't do it, not because I am weak." He hissed. "If you don't know yet, a woman like you carried me inside her for nine months. It was not easy for her. She threw up constantly, and she had heartburns, backaches, stretch marks, swollen feet. She couldn't even walk or breath properly just because I was growing inside her. Then she gave birth to me, enduring the world's biggest pain ever. Her suffering didn't end from there; she sacrificed a lot went through a lot by bringing me up. You can call me weak, but I never ever disrespect or abuse another woman like her. You are not an angel like my mother. You are the cruellest, meanest and rudest witch I have ever met, but you are still a woman like her, because of that I won't ill-treat you. Please keep in mind, it is not because I am a coward, but because I am a real man." Stating that he released her, then gestured towards the door after unlocking it by wandless magic. "You can go back to your old room now. If this marriage is ever going to consummate, it will happen when you are ready and willing. Otherwise, it will never be going to happen ever regardless of anything." Ron declared before turning around and walking away from her.
Pansy, who never ever expected to hear something like that from any man on earth, including Ron, stood there few more seconds with her mouth agape in disbelief, then turned around and ran out of the room as fast as she could as if Ron would change his mind soon.
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Thank you very much for reading. Please review and let me know whether I should continue.