Rightio... I had A LOT of trouble with this chapter, it is also my longest one yet and a lot happens...

I've just started my A-Levels so if the updates become shoddy, sorry, but I wont stop writing somehow or other unless it's exam time and I'm going mad with work! :)

Enjoy!

To Vow

Cynthia

Today was the twins' birthday, I know because the elves tell me the date every morning at my instance. May twenty-fifth. I remember the day they were born as if no time had passed at all. I remember being handed their tiny bodies, so light and precious, the way they fit perfectly into my arms. I saw their beautiful faces, their miniscule hands and the little strands of silver hair on their heads. I remember looking into their eyes and knowing that these tiny things, these beautiful little beings were the children I had carried inside me, that these two were a part of me. I loved them; I loved them so much it hurt. I knew I'd do anything for them.

I will do anything for them.

Soon… it's not long now, not long…

My mother used to be distant from me and my siblings when we were young too. When I married I swore that I would be different, so much for that plan…

My sister, Druella, hadn't cared, she was the middle child, the second born, and when she'd gone off to marry dignified Mr. Black she hadn't cared about the daughters she carried. I had seen that much. Sure, she loved them, in her own way but really they were just possessions, responsibilities. She was colder even than I used to pretend to be and I had seen my own children trying to avoid her at any family gatherings. Those daughters of hers had taken the effects too.

There was the eldest, Bellatrix, with her mad eyes and her cruel tones. Then there was Andromeda who had rebelled and suffered from her family hating her. Finally, the youngest, Narcissa who was cold, bland and didn't know to use that well formed Black spine of hers...

Yes, Druella had done well with them...

My brother on the other hand…

He'd turned out to be just as crazed and sadistic as my husband is now. He'd always been a pompous boy, being the first born, and he'd taken after our father. Too many times I had seen a glint in his eyes that whispered trouble and he'd been in the Dark Lords good books for much too long. It couldn't be healthy. His only son, Evan, was growing into a mini replica of him too…

I knew Evan Rosier was at Hogwarts now, a year older that mine, but there had been close to no interaction between the cousins, mainly due to my intervention.

There was a knock on my bedroom door but I didn't get up. I was too tired. I was too deep in thought. The covers were warm around my curled up form and the pillow was plump under my head. It was finally quite in this house. Finally I couldn't hear the pleas through the floor boards.

"Mistress? Would you like your breakfast now?" came the chirpy voice of one of the elves.

I didn't answer.

What was the point? I could get up now and go about the same thing I did every single day. I could push the covers away and put on the clothes I had worn last week and the week before. I could eat the food that tasted bland on my tongue and take out the book I'd already read. I could pretend to hope, pretend to be a noble woman that never existed. I could dream of running feet, dirty stockings and high pitch giggles. I could dream of warm hands, warm looks and warm beds.

What did it matter?

Was time even moving?

I was just waiting, just waiting.

I was…

I was here, still, again.

The same wall paper and the same carpet. The same pillows and tabled and chairs. The same view from my window. The same soap, towels and conversations. The same mindless motions in the same place with the same creatures and the same pains.

I was here, still, again.

Again…

Alex

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER! WE'RE SEVENTEEN! WE'RE OF AGE! ADULTS! ARE YOU AWAKE YET?

I groaned and pulled the cover over my head as Lara started jumping on her bed in her room somewhere to my left. Some distant part of her mind remarked briefly on the grumbles of her room mates. Unfortunately for them, the thought was so distant even I had trouble catching it.

Go away Lara; it's five in the morning…

GET UP LAZY!

Sometimes having a twin bond was no fun at all.

Well, I wasn't going to get to sleep now. Lara would never let me do that even if I tried to avoid the fact her very awareness would keep me up. I sat up in bed rubbing my head: she was still shouting, mentally of course.

WE'RE OF AGE! WE'RE OF AGE!

This was worse than the time she realised the Keeper from her favourite Quidditch team was coming to our annual ball. I was sure I was going to have a pounding headache for hours now. I shivered as cold morning air touched my arms and raised goose bumps.

I decided to put the rest of my morning to good use and padded across the cold floor to the adjacent bed. Climbing in, Sirius moved slightly in his sleep and I rested my head on his shoulder. The warmth of another body wrapped around me and I snuggled in closer to the tanned skin. I tried to block out the screaming girl in my mind to no avail. After a few minutes (SEVENTEEN! Oops, sorry Tabby) my boyfriend slowly became aware of my presence.

"M-morning?" he yawned.

"Morning. Lara's being a bitch"

OI! I HEARD THAT!

I groaned again, clamping a hand to my head. As if that would work…

Sirius chuckled and started rubbing the back of my head slowly.

"How so?"

"She's overexcited and is screaming at me so I can't sleep" I said, pressing my face into his shoulder, breathing in his unique scent.

"Ahh… well you are seventeen" he said in a voice as close to reasonable as Sirius Black could get.

"Totally not the point…" I grumbled into his neck.

"LARISSA GREY! I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU" I heard Lily shout through Lara's ears.

Uh ow… RUN AWAY!

Remus

"You know Lily gave me some very creative threats this morning concerning controlling you? They nearly came to the same level as those she used to use on Prongs, I was rather impressed" I said casually as we walked to the lake where we were all meeting for lunch.

Lara chuckled as she continued to skip next to me; I shook my head in bafflement. I hadn't seen her this hyper since the party after the Quidditch match – and that had been when she was drunk no less.

I turned my head and saw Alex rolling his eyes with me; I noticed he seemed to be rubbing his head and smirked.

"And I still haven't ruled them out either" Lily said, taking up the rear with the blanket we were going to use for a picnic.

"Oh hush all of you" Lara teased and with that she ran to Alex side and tugged on his hand till they were both running down the hill. I saw Alex roll his eyes but grin nevertheless.

I watched the twins run off with a fond smile and felt Lily come to walk with me.

"Aww, Remy, You've got the sweetest 'I'm in love' face I've even seen" she joked, punching my arm teasingly.

I felt me face glow red.

"Yeah well... so have you" I whispered to her and she was instantly flushing with me.

Peter

"Hey, Wormy!" I turned around quickly and had to force down a scowl when I saw Sirius jogging towards me.

Somebody just had to interrupt me when I was in a rush didn't they?

"Where you off to? Are you coming down to the lake with us?" he panted as he caught up to me. I saw that he was carrying a large basket that was wafting the smells of food.

"The lake? Oh no, I have to study, you know, for that test on Tuesday?" I lied quickly, being a Marauder you quickly learnt to make excuses for something or other.

I saw his face fall but he shrugged.

"Oh... well, if you want a break you know where to find us. I was hoping we could catch up... I feel like I've hardly seen you" He said and he really did sound very sincere.

I knew though that he hadn't really missed me all that much. He'd been too caught up with his boyfriend to notice how I hardly spent any time around the loud group. He had hardly protested when I gave my excuse for full moon. They hadn't noticed when I used the same excuse more than once or if I came back later than I told them. At first I had been offended that they hadn't noticed but now I saw that really it was better for all of us. Only Alex made any indication that he had noticed. I had seen the way his head had turned to me sharply when I spewed the false excused, Lara too, if I made them near her. Those two thought stealers could jump on lies faster than a dog to a bone and their eyes glinted as they stored the information to use for themselves later. It was unnerving.

They had been... marble cool to me ever since full moon, though they hid it well, and I knew it wasn't just because I'd missed it.

"Just been busy is all" I said, which was true "I've been falling behind in class" which was also true, not that I was trying very hard to rectify that.

Sirius nodded, gulping up the reasons easily. I checked my watch, I was late.

"Okay, well I'll see you later?"

I nodded in assent and watched him turn and walk briskly away. I snorted and made my own way to my destination. I checked my reflection in a window and straightened my robes.

"You're late" a voice said as I slipped into the empty room, I smiled apologetically.

"I know, I'm sorry. Sirius got in my way" I told her as I slipped my arms around her waist.

She snorted and flicked her blond hair out of her blue eyes. She was a pretty girl with an oval face and long pale lashes and when she smiled she got little dimples in her cheeks. Caitlin was my perfect match, she was sweet, friendly and she always knew how to make me feel better. She understood my annoyance with my friends and she was sympathetic. I didn't have to settle for some muggle born or snobby, thought stealing girl or, Merlin forbid, guy. No, Caitlin was honest and had a dignified family and she saw me for me.

"I still don't understand why you hang out with them" She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

I shrugged, she never could but then sometimes I didn't either. I was just a third wheel to them, or a seventh wheel more like.

"They're my friends. I just wish I could tell them about you, those Grey twins" I scowled "are getting infuriating, Merlin how I hate them"

She smiled sadly as she started to work the tie around my neck off.

"You know we can't. They are all too prejudice, they'd never understand"

I sighed.

"I know, but they don't know you yet and they don't understand what could be gained"

She nodded wisely in agreement before throwing the tie to the floor to join her green one.

Alex

Sirius joined us after fifteen minutes of getting food, James tagging on.

"Pete's studying, as usual" He said before setting down the large basket the elves had given him.

I frowned and exchanged a look with Lara.

No surprises there, she drawled.

"Bless him, I offered to help him the other day but he got all jittery" James said, grabbing a chicken wing from the basket.

Siri frowned and his thoughts were ticking.

"He's been a little odd lately, missing full moon and off at all parts of the day to study..." he sighed and I saw the other Marauders grumpily eye their food "I'm feeling a little worried for him"

They all nodded.

"I'll talk to him later" Remus said decisively "see if we can all help him catch up"

We all munched on our food while Lara and I communicated silently.

Perhaps it's our fault, Lara said throwing out memories of him glaring at us and his words 'worm even further into our group'.

I gave a metal shake of my head.

It may be a little but we have done nothing to him, his reaction to us is unfounded.

And is our distrust founded? She thought uneasily but I knew in the back of her thoughts that there were real reasons there.

He knows that he could tell them about this Caitlin girl, I added.

Whoever she is. Lara thought, drawing out the mental image of the petit blond.

But he doesn't, is there something else there?

We thought over it, hardly noticing how the others had started talking. What was it about him...?

It's not our place, we thought together, catching each other's eyes.

"Larissa"

We looked up at the foreign voice in surprise. Our friends fell silent and Sirius' face went dark. I exchanged another look with Lara as she stood slowly before the other student.

Regulus didn't look at anyone else but just kept his vision squared on Lara. His thoughts were hazy, unclear, with only the deep rooted thoughts visible as a clouded frenzy, unreadable. It intrigued me, this boy didn't know how to shield his thoughts but what he did know was how to shield them from us. I didn't want to think of the implications of that.

He clenched his jaw and pulled out a letter from his robes.

"This is for you" he said stiffly.

We all stared at his outstretched hand and the heavy expensive paper with an elegant script over it saying: To Miss Larissa Grey. I got to my feet to stand behind my sister, putting a hand on her shoulder, and I watched as she stretched out a hand to pluck the letter from the youngest Black. He looked at us blandly then his eyes slid to the birthday presents still unopened on the blanket.

"Many happy returns" He said blandly before nodding and walking away with one last look.

We kept standing, watching his walk away uneasily.

What is it with all these bad feelings...?

Beats me...

"Well that was odd" Lily said from where she was sitting next to James.

We sat back down slowly and Lara glanced at us all before breaking the unrecognised heavy seal.

She opened the letter and I read it through her eyes because she sat with the back of the letter to all of us.

Dear Miss Larissa Astra Grey

We would like to inform you, if you were not aware, that a magical contract was made by heads of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and The Gracious Family of Grey entitling that the children of the Black family and the Grey family were to be bonded. This contract, made at your birth, has been automatically activated due to your coming of age.

As the eldest of the Black family has been disowned and there are no other daughters under the name of Grey it has been decided that you and Regulus Arcturus Black are to be joined.

Despite any unwillingness at this point this contract cannot be terminated without the vow makers' cooperation. We cannot, in this document, reveal the identities of the vow makers so should you wish to remove this magical contract the decision must be made between the members of the two families.

The contract shall terminate and leave you and Mr. Black cursed should you not either marry before the year anniversary of Mr. Black's coming of age or re-establish the contract (for a maximum duration of five years) before that point.

Yours Sincerely,

Lucretia Nott

On behalf of The Pureblood Oath Society

Keeping the Traditions Pure

Lara went pale and stared at the letter in shock. I blinked unable to comprehend what was going on.

"No way" I said in disbelieve and I scooted to her side to make sure with my own eyes that I had heard right.

"What? What's going on?"

"Lara? Alex?"

Lara was in shock, her brain not moving but just trying to drill in the meaning behind the words. This can't be happening. But there it was, there it was.

A magical contract. Are to be joined. Made at your birth. Re-establish. It has been decided. Despite any unwillingness. Terminate. Cursed should you not.

"Merlin..." I muttered just as Lara folded up the letter.

Who made magical marriage contracts anymore? What sort of curse? Who made the vow? Why didn't we know? What the hell could we do?

"What the hell is going on?" somebody shouted and we both looked up in a daze.

All of our friends were turned to us and looking nervous or scared.

I looked at my sister, and she looked at me. In that instance we were the twins who had grown up in each others thought more than ever. This was us now, us, and we were basically one. Thoughts flitted ceaselessly between us.

We nodded as one.

Lara lifted the letter off her lap and threw in to the middle of the blanket where it was instantly grabbed by Siri and opened. The other three all crowded around him. After a few seconds we heard everyone one by one gasp in shock while Lara and I just sat numb.

"They can't do that" somebody whispered.

Sirius looked grim and shook his head. He came from a strict pureblood family like us, he knew about these sorts of arrangements, it wasn't unheard of. James unconsciously tightened an arm around Lily next to him and she in return turned into his chest.

"Yes" we said "they can"

Remus got up and grabbed Lara before she could say a word and pushed his lips to hers. After a few seconds of intense pretty one sided kissing (it was a testament to how shocked I was that it didn't make me uncomfortable) he pulled back with an angry look on his face.

"We won't let this happen. We will find a way" he growled.

She stared at him with wide scared eyes.

"So wait, I don't get it, if you don't..." Lily started in confusion.

"If I don't marry Regulus by his eighteenth we'll both be cursed. We can extent it, by taking another vow that overrules the first, for five years but then the punishment is death should we not marry in the five years" Lara said blandly.

There was silence.

"Well shit"

"You don't say" our one voice said.

Darien

Mother pulled me along by my hand and I trudged up the gravely path, staring at my feet. It wasn't fair. I didn't want to be left at some random house with people I didn't know. Why couldn't mother and father just stay at home instead, I was more important.

"You are to be good, understand meDarien?" Mother said sternly as we approached the large house.

I looked up at it and scowled. It wasn't as nice as our house, it was too wide and the brick was the wrong colour. The gardens we too boring and the curtains didn't look as pretty as ours. I was going to hate it, I just knew it.

I wanted to grumble but mother hated it when I did that.

"I will" I muttered in reply and she continued to drag me up the path to the door.

I didn't look up as mother greeted the house elf that had been waiting for us. I just stared at the grey stone doorframe and the glass windows that glittered in the summer light.

"Welcome Lady Irvine and young Mr. Darien, Totsie is here to show you to the Mistress if you would like to follow Totsie" the elf squeaked and I sneered internally at the name Totsie. Our elves were called much better names than Totsie.

We followed the elf through the large bright entrance hall and into a living room.

"...Irvine"

"Cynthia darling, it is good to see you" Mother said in her 'posh' voice.

"Mathilda, welcome and this must be young masterDarien?" A woman said and I looked up to see a woman wearing a dark blue dress.

I nodded to the floor.

"Splendid" the woman said "Alexander and Larissa are just through that door if you want to say hello, they are both your age as well"

I looked up at mother and sent her one last pleading look.

"Why don't you go make friends with the Grey twinsDarienwhile Cynthia and I catch up?" she said and my eyes stung in rejection.

I don't want to!

Mother's look was hard and I sighed before walking to the door that the weird Lady had pointed to.

Inside was a glass conservatory room which looked out onto the expansive garden. I heard a voice coming from behind one of the chairs and I uneasily walk forward till I was peering around the side of it.

"Irvine?"

There were two other kids there, lying on their bellies under the table. They were pocking little magic people who kept charging at each other across the battle field between them. They both had weird silvery hair and pale skin. The girl had hers in long pig tails and the boy had a braid down the centre of his back.

"No fair Lara!" the little boy shouted and I saw one of his little men fall to the floor in defeat, a little white flag appearing in his hand.

The girl giggled then suddenly they both gasped and span around to face me even though I hadn't made a noise. Identical grey eyes stared at me wide and I stood with my mouth agape. They didn't say anything just stared, completely still, there little men forgotten about. I shifted uneasily.

"Who are you?" They asked at exactly the same time.

Then the boy cocked his head.

"Darien" he said.

"Irvine" The little girl nodded back.

"Mother said before -"

"- that you'd be coming"

I blinked and said nothing, a little scared of the twins that talked together, not that I'd say so. I was anIrvine, we didn't get scared.

They crawled out from under the table and the magic men ran for safety as they were nearly trampled. They stood up in front of me and then they, instantaneously, broke into grins and stuck out little hands.

"She's Lara"

"He's Alex"

"Nice to meet you" they chimed.

I continued to gape and they both rolled their eyes and pulled back their hands. The boy was slightly taller than me and the girl slightly shorter and they both wore dark grey clothes- her a little dress and him a shirt and trousers.

"You're scared-"

"-but that's okay"

"Did you just get here?"

Yes, I tried to answer but I didn't have time before the girl nodded.

"We thought so"

"Would you like to play?"

"Irvine!"

I wasn't sure anymore, Mother said to make friends but I didn't like these twins very much. They were obviously weird and Father said people who were abnormal were not good and I was pretty sure abnormal was the opposite of normal, therefore weird. But he also said abnormal people were dirty and mother wouldn't ask me to play with dirty people. Anyway, they looked clean to me. I was also really curious at how they managed to talk like that. I wondered if they could teach me.

There was the sounds of voices from the door I'd come through and I looked up to see Mother and Lady Grey walking in.

"Darien, I'm going now. Trixy will be here when it's time for you to go to bed to help and I will see you in the morning" mother said and I nodded, upset again.

"Yes mother"

She looked at me firmly and I knew she was telling me to behave. Lady Grey looked at the twins.

"Alexander, Larissa?" she asked and I thought it odd she said little else.

"Yes mother" They said together after a few seconds and I got even more confused.

I saw slight surprise on mother's face as well.

"Okay then, bye bye darling" then they left and I turned to look at the twins who were suddenly looking at each other intently.

They both then turned to me and the boy smiled again then much to my surprise he grabbed my arm and started pulling me to the table.

"We're going to bestest friends, I just know it" He said and I could only nod mutely.

"But Muggles aren't as powerful as us!" -and they're stupid, I protested and the twins chewed they lips in contemplation. We were sitting on the bed in one of the spare rooms, an abandoned chess board between us. We didn't really like chess all that much, it was too complicated and never seemed to end but it passed the time. The pieces were scowling at us and would shout random insults when we jogged them.

We were currently hiding from my dense cousin Gerlinde who had decided she had to educate us young ones how much more superior she was to us because she could do magic.

"They're not stupid" they said.

"You should of seen the things they've made" Lara said and I sighed.

"Darien!"

"Like the trains"

"Or the Telephones they have"

"And the Televisions"

"All without magic" Lara concluded.

I looked between them and pressed a hand to my cheek. Mother and Father always said Muggles were stupid and like animals, even Mr. and Mrs. Grey said that too, so why were the twins saying otherwise? Granted, some of those things were pretty cool – not that I went near muggles.

"Father says that it's because of the Muggles that we have to stay in hiding" I said slowly and they shrugged.

"So does ours"

"But he's a bully"

I gapped at them and then snapped my mouth close, pretended I hadn't heard that would be better for all of us. I knew it was true but that wasn't the point.

"But Mudbloods" -they don't belong; I thought adamantly, this had been what we were talking about originally.

"Why?" They asked together and I frowned.

"For Salazar's sake! Darien Irvine, snap out of it!"

I blinked.

Regulus stood over me with a face to kill and I scowled as my dorm room came back into focus. I had been doing that a lot lately, getting lost in memories.

"What?" I snapped and the boy had the nerve to roll his eyes, no respect, honestly.

ThatIrvineis the result of slipping your mask; you lose all the reputation you worked on.

"Oh now you want to know" he sneered in typical Slytherin fashion.

These houses were so stereotypical.

"Get on with it Black"

He threw a letter to me and I caught it deftly. I looked from him to it and arched an eyebrow.

"Just open it will you" he sighed, slumping onto the high-backed chair, the one I hated because it was too stiff, too cold and too pure-blood.

Unfolding the letter addressed to Mr. Regulus Arcturus Black. My eyes scanned over the words and I let a small frown slip onto my lips before I pushed it away. Keeping my face black I looked back at the youngest Black and saw he was eyeing me intently.

I held out the letter for him slowly.

"Well?" he said in annoyance.

"Well what?" I asked mildly "there's nothing you can do about it"

He growled in annoyance and snatched the letter back.

"You should have seen her face when I delivered hers" he spat.

Gritting my teeth I rose to my feet and I snapped my fingers in front of his face.

"And you need to remember that that is the same girl you are going to betray. Sympathy is a worthless emotion in this world"

I strode from the room but paused before I left.

"I'd be thankful; this may be her ticket to staying alive"

Then I left and in my mind I was leaving a different boy behind as I slammed the door.

Alex

Sirius was staring at me. I was, to be blunt, ignoring him.

What? My sister just got sentenced to an unwilling marriage to my boyfriend's brother, I'm deep in thought.

"I've been thinking"

"Gathered" I replied, his brain hadn't calmed down once since he'd read that letter.

I felt his frustration and sighed.

"Right, sorry. Continue" I said and took his calloused fingers in mine.

He stared at our joined fingers for a moment and I could feel him weighing his words, a slow but precise action.

"It said the children of Black and Grey" he said slowly and I nodded, trying to figure out where this was going.

"So it doesn't apply only to Lara and Regulus" he added.

"… I guess not, no" I replied hesitantly "it could apply to my cousins too, maybe, though they don't have the surname Grey…"

He paused and he was biting his lip and staring at our hands.

"… Or it could apply to me" he said and I froze.

Thoughts travelled slowly and two possibilities occurred to me. Two trains of thought that my boyfriend might be thinking of.

"…Lara would rather not marry you Sirius, we may be close in mind but not that close" I said evenly and he looked up and quickly shook his head. I only felt a little relief.

"No. I'd never be able to marry Lara, too weird" he said "But…" he stared into my eyes and I tensed up.

I knew what he was thinking of.

Quickly standing I backed away, his hand falling from mine that the springs of the bed whining.

"Al?"

No.

No, I couldn't do it, I couldn't. I hurt, I remembered, I couldn't.

"Al, please"

No.

I turned quickly to the dorm door and it sprang open at a hasty stab of my palm. I felt him move behind me but I couldn't look back. Don't look back!

I can't. What he was considered, I just couldn't do it. There were other ways. Always other ways.

"Alex!"

No!

I ignored the voice and sprinted down the stairs two at a time.

He was thinking of marrying me and I couldn't…

Not like this –no! Never, I couldn't! Never could I think like that, it hurt too much. It already hurt, it had hurt, it did.

There were lots of people in the common room when I chased through and many looked at me as I ran. Lara, sitting with Remus in one corner, tried to run after me but I sent her a small silent plea to stay and she froze in her tracks.

The castle was still alive around me as I ran down the staircases while they still moved. I leapt over memorised steps and within five minutes I found myself in a deserted corridor. I couldn't feel Lara from here and for once I was grateful. Lara sometimes made me think too much and in ways I didn't want to consider.

That and I felt guilty.

I sunk into an alcove and pressed the balls of my hands into my eyes.

I saw Sirius' open, slightly hopeful, slightly apprehensive, eyes and mind. I heard the unspoken words.

But I'd marry you…

"I'd marry you"

"Ally…"

"Who cares what they think! They don't rule us"

"I can't… I want to…"

"Look Dari, if it's a matter of-"

"-I love you Ally, I do, more than my life…"

"So we'll run away" I chuckled "We'll elope"

"They can still find us"

"They won't care, we won't be apart of their families"

"… I'll think"

"Okay… I'm not ready to give you up Darien Irvine"

I can't do it again. I can't go through that again.

I ummed and ahhed a lot in this chapter and I'm still not sure if I should have done that contract thing... bit clichéd? I don't know... it just sort of came out and then whole other little things began to sprout from in in my head... Good / Bad? This is when reviews are vastly appreciated because well... to be honest I could do with some convincing that I haven't made the mistake of the story :)