DISCLAIMER: All canon characters and the Harry Potter-verse belongs to J K Rowling, and all "Malfoy Ambition" related things belong to Goddess Blue. Everything else belongs to me.

WARNINGS: Female Harry, Draco/Harry pairing, spoilers from possibly all the Harry Potter books, slight OOCness, cliches, and a bit of coarse language that will appear here and there.

CHAPTER THREE: OF RINGS AND ENGAGEMENTS

Draco was most rudely awakened from a wonderful dream – which had involved a pair of beautiful eyes that had reminded him of a lush rainforest and filled him with a feeling of possessive protectiveness and overwhelming warmth – by a simultaneous burning and freezing sensation in his finger. He shot up in his king-sized bed with a rather undignified yelp, clutching the fingers of his left hand with his right. As the painful sensation eventually subsided from his ring finger, he realised that the agony had been caused by his engagement ring. He stared at it but it looked innocently normal as if it had not nearly burnt/frozen his finger off not ten seconds ago.

Something's happened!

Duh, added the untamed part of his brain that dared to use such colloquial terms.

In one swift motion, he had pushed the soft covers off his body and swung his long legs off his bed. Two minutes later, he stood in front of the large doors of his mother's suite, still dressed in black satin pyjamas. He knocked urgently on the mahogany doors, resisting the powerful urge to just knock the obstacle down with a blast of magic and barge into the room uninvited; he was that anxious. For reasons that remained inexplicable, Draco had become rather fond of the idea of having a mysterious fiancée that was perfect for him in every way imaginable, as if made just for him; and the thought of something bad happening to the unknown girl or the rings or anything that that could bode ill for the engagement made him feel worried and upset.

And he had only been wearing the ring for less than twenty four hours before which he had been positively repulsed by the idea of marriage at such a young age! Go figure.

'Come in,' his mother's musical voice came floating through the polished wood. Draco did not waste a moment. He threw open the doors and hurried inside.

His mother gave him a shrewd look from across the room where she had been gazing out through the large windows at the sun-bathed gardens of their manor. Draco had to admire her great gift of perception when she remarked in a concerned tone before he could even open his mouth, 'You're up early, Dragon, and your forehead is creased; what is troubling you?'

Pushing aside his admiration for his mother's shrewdness, Draco quickly explained what had happened earlier, trying as hard as he could to appear calm and collected as opposed to nervous and worried. Narcissa listened with a completely neutral expression on her face before her face broke into a sudden smile at the end of his narration.

'You have nothing to worry about, Draco; that pain has happened once and there will not be a repetition of such an episode. Do not fret.'

'But, Mother, why did my ring hurt my finger like that just now?'

Narcissa chuckled. 'Oh, come now, love, you are an intelligent young man. You do not need any explanations from me. Surely you can guess what has happened?'

Draco gazed at his mother. Now that she had said so, he did think that he knew the answer. Perhaps he had known even back in his bedroom but had been too anxious to acknowledge it.

'The other ring has located my fiancée.' It was a statement, not a question.

'That is exactly right,' Narcissa beamed at him. 'The feeling of being burnt and frozen is an effect the ring evokes in you to inform you that your bride-to-be has been successfully found.'

'So there really is such a girl out there?' blurted Draco before he could stop himself. He flushed slightly when his mother chuckled with amusement at his startled outburst.

'Of course, darling; whatever made you feel otherwise?'

He coloured again. Because I did not think that there would be such a woman out there who could be happy with me and vice versa?

Before he could come up with a reasonable reply, his mother smiled at him and said, 'I think I understand, Draco. But you need not worry so. The deed has been done; the ring has accomplished its quest. Now, all that is left is for the girl to reveal herself.'

Draco began to return her smile when the implications of her last sentence made themselves horribly clear to him and his face promptly resembled a black thundercloud. 'The Daily Prophet?' he asked tonelessly.

'Yes, Draco,' his mother answered sympathetically. 'I know it is frustrating, but it must be done. Otherwise, the girl might never know what the ring that had suddenly appeared on her finger is or what to do about it. But, it will be over and done with soon,' she added comfortingly when Draco's mood did not appear to improve.

He sighed. 'I know, Mother. So, when shall we inform them?'

Narcissa made a small face that might have possibly been a grimace as she straigtened her silk nightrobe. 'We might as well do it sooner rather than later. I shall inform them today itself.'

Draco's heart sank. He did not want to contemplate the reception he would receive when he arrived at Hogwarts on the first of September, especially from the female population of the school. But, it was just like his mother had said; it could not be helped. He would just have to endure the field day they would be having at the Daily Prophet and all the gossip about him that would travel faster than the speed of light.

'Very well then, Mother.'

Narcissa smiled gently at him and gave him a small nod in dismissal. Draco made to leave but his mother called him back again. He faced her curiously.

She gracefully made her way across the spacious suite and embraced him fondly. 'Happy eighteenth, darling,' she whispered with a brilliant smile.

Draco grinned down at her. 'Thank you.'

'Now, why don't you go and get dressed so I can give you your birthday gift?' There was a hint of playfulness in her voice as she spoke.

'Yes, Mother.'

As Draco left the room, he forced himself to push away the thoughts of all the juicy news that would soon be printed in the Prophet about him and instead concentrate on the girl to whom he might soon be married.

I wonder who she is. Maybe someone I know from Hogwarts?

Harry raised her hand higher to examine the ring more closely. It was extremely beautiful, she had to admit. The white gold was stunning as were the tiny gems embedded in the band, and the single hexagonal diamond in the centre that sparkled brightly in the light just took her breath away. Looking even closer, she realised that the edges of the ring were coated in a light gold. It was gorgeous and obviously very valuable and expensive; and, in Harry's eyes, it looked to be an engagement ring.

But what the hell is it doing on my hand?

She stroked it warily with a finger. The ring was quite smooth except for the places where the minuscule diamond gems were set in the white gold. She held her hand out in front of her and angled it in this way and that, admiring the smooth gleam of the band and the additional sparkles that came to the hexagonal diamond. It did not look bad on her, Harry decided, but at the same time it looked just so expensive and foreign that it did not feel like it belonged there. She had never owned anything expensive in her life before Hogwarts (whatever she had owned that had truly belonged to her, the most expensive would probably have not cost more than ten pounds tops) and even after her introduction to the magical world and her inheritance, she had not bought anything too costly for herself; thus having the ring on her finger was an alien sensation.

How did it get here?

Harry thought of that pleasant dream she had been having before sleep had abandoned her. It was the same ring, she was sure of that. But how did a ring that she had only seen in a dream suddenly appear on her finger? As far as she knew, such a thing was impossible. She had experienced her fair share of magic-induced visions in sleep, but mere dreams involving magic was something she had not heard of before; and the dream she had seen of the snake-turned-diamond-ring certainly had had no feel of a vision. What was going on?

Her mind still mulling over the mystery, Harry closed the fingers of her right hand over the ring, preparing to pull it off. No matter how pretty it was or how snugly it fit her, she could not just leave a ring of which she knew nothing about on her finger, period. And with that thought, Harry gave the ring one firm tug.

It did not budge a millimetre.

What the –?

She pulled harder this time, but it still did not come off. Harry stared at it with wide eyes, alarm bells of ring-stuck-on-finger-very-bad beginning to go off in her head. What the hell is going on?! She yanked at it again and again but her efforts were fruitless. The ring remained obstinately on her finger.

Great. She had a beautiful ring that had appeared from God knows where and the thing would not even come off!

This is not good.

Harry looked down queasily at the plate of fried eggs, sausages and toasts that her house elf had placed in front of her. She had no appetite and, frankly, the thought of stomaching anything made her want to hurl.

Her attention was caught by Kreacher who had observed the less-than-enthusiastic expression on her face. 'Mistress Hariah has not touched her breakfast. Does Mistress want something else to consume?'

'No, no, it's fine, Kreacher,' said Harry quickly, shaking her head slightly. 'I'm just not very hungry.'

How could she be? Right after she had "fulfilled her destiny" (trust the dramatists at the Daily Prophet to come out with such sappy phrases!), she was now faced with another complication. And as small a problem that the ring-that-just-bloody-refused-to-come-off seemed to present her, compared with all the others she had faced, it was still a problem! Had she not had enough of that to last her three entire lifetimes?

Even though she knew that it would not work, she half-heartedly tried to pull the ring off of her finger yet again. It clung as tightly to the digit as before. Harry had done everything that she could think of to remove it. She had twisted it this way and that, washed her hand with soap, poured some oil onto her fingers and when none of the afore-mentioned worked, she had even licked her finger all over in the hopes that saliva would be a sufficient lubricant. It was all in vain. Heck, she had even screamed at the accursed ring! The only thing she had not attempted was magic because the only spells that came to mind were Reducto and Diffindo, both of which presented the risk of losing her finger, which was not a thought that appealed much to her.

Damned ring!

Though the suspicion had arisen more than once, Harry did not think that the ring was a Dark artefact. It did not give off the aura of sinister magic that most objects associated with the Dark Arts did; nor had it really threatened her life in any way. But she could not wholly accept that it was one hundred percent benign either. It was stuck on her finger, for the sake of Merlin, and it did not even feel too tight! She should have been able to pull it off easily; but against all logic, she had failed. Obviously, something was amiss.

Harry was pulled out of her irritated thoughts when Kreacher began to insist that she should take in some nutrition. Smiling comfortingly, she assured him that she was just fine; she neglected to mention that she had a diamond ring – which looked suspiciously like an engagement band – that had appeared in the night. Harry had decided not to tell the house elf about it, considering that she did not want to make such a fuss about the situation and also that she felt rather embarrassed about the whole thing. Seriously, who ever heard of a diamond ring from a weird dream suddenly appearing on one's finger and stubbornly staying there? And was it truly an engagement ring as it seemed to be? Was she engaged to some unknown stranger right now?

The whole situation was utterly ridiculous!

No, she would not tell Kreacher about it, though she could see the honest concern in his eyes. Just as she was about to finish this off as her final decision, another thought interrupted her. What if Kreacher knew about magic that might involve dreams? After all, house elves had powerful magic of their own that varied greatly from that of wizards. Kreacher might know the what-why-how of her situation and, most importantly, how to get rid of it. He would know about magical arts unknown to her and others of her own race.

Harry contemplated the house elf that was clearing the table with a displeased frown on his face. Now that the possibility had occurred to her, she did want to question him. But she still did not want him to know the facts. So, how to go about it without him suspecting anything?

'Kreacher,' Harry began nonchalantly, 'what do you know about magic and dreams?'

'Magic and dreams, Mistress?' 'The elf looked up at her in unmistakable surprise. 'Kreacher begs your forgiveness, Mistress Hariah, but Kreacher does not understand.'

'I meant do you know if there can be a connection between dreams and magic? Is it possible for something one sees in a dream to be there in reality the next morning or something like that, through magic perhaps?' Harry looked at Kreacher earnestly, desperate for an answer to her queries.

Kreacher looked bemused by her strange inquiry but he answered nevertheless. 'Kreacher has not heard of such cases before, Mistress Hariah. Kreacher knows that magic can show visions to wizards and magical beings through sleep, but Kreacher has never heard of magical dreams.'

Harry's heart sank but she pressed on, 'What about what I said just now? Be it a dream or a vision, but is it possible for objects that a person sees while they're asleep to appear in real life later on?'

The house elf looked utterly bewildered. 'Kreacher knows not, Mistress. Kreacher has not heard of it.'

'Oh. Right, well, thanks anyway.'

She buried her face in her hands to hide her disappointment. She was aware of the house elf watching her, but she ignored him. A few seconds later, she heard him returning to his chores, respecting her space. Harry sighed into her palm. She was no closer to getting rid of the stupid ring than she had been before and she could not think of anything else to do.

There must be some way to get this thing off, there just has to be!

'Mistress.'

'Yeah?' Harry glanced up at Kreacher.

'An owl for you, Mistress Hariah.'

She looked at the window and, sure enough, there was a handsome tawny sitting on the sill, peering through the glass at her, waiting to be let in. Harry hurried to the window to grant it entrance. The owl flew to the table in what appeared to be a very tired manner. He held out his leg to which a letter was tied with string. As Harry removed it, she scrutinised the owl and realised that it looked utterly exhausted. It had obviously come a long way to find her. Who would send her a letter from so far away?

She swiftly unsealed the roll of parchment and unfolded her letter. A smile lit her face when she saw who it was from: Hermione.

Dear Harry

How are you, Harry? I do hope everything is alright. I am in Canberra at the moment, here to recover my parents. I managed to lift their memory charms and they are perfectly alright, thank Merlin! We're planning to return to Britain soon, possibly by the end of the month. How about all three of us meet up at Diagon Alley then? Ron seems quite up for the idea!

Which reminds me, have you talked to Ron yet? I heard from him that you're spending the remainder of the summer alone at No. 12 Grimmauld Place! It's not true, is it? Oh, Harry, you shouldn't stay alone! I'm sure the Weasleys will be all too happy to have you over. Please consider it.

I do not have much time, else I'd write longer, but I must leave now. I can't wait to see you and Ron again. I miss you two very much! Please take care, Harry and stay out of trouble. If you feel too lonely, please go over to Ron's. Being cooped up alone for too long can be extremely unhealthy!

We'll hopefully meet very soon.

Love,

Hermione

Harry had to smile. Typical Hermione Granger; she was in complete mother hen mode! Unlike Ron, she expressed her worry over Harry much more frankly. Harry was used to her insensitive bluntness when it came to Hermione's anxiety over her, but it still annoyed her ever so slightly. Really, her friend should know by now that Harry no longer tended to fall into depression or anger issues like after Sirius had died. But, in any case, that her friends cared for her so much was heartening to know.

Her smile faltered when her eyes landed on the tawny owl again. No wonder the poor thing looked so wasted! It had come all the way from Down Under to London! Gently picking up the owl, Harry left for Sirius' room, guiltily apologising to an irate Kreacher for letting such a good breakfast go to waste. In the bedroom, Harry put the tawny in Selene's empty cage. With a hoot of gratitude, the owl began to thirstily drink from the little water bowl while Harry proceeded to pen an answer to Hermione.

Her reply was, more or less, the same as the one she had written to Ron. After greatly assuring Hermione that she was fine and not feeling lonely in the slightest, Harry once again politely turned down the invitation to meet up at Diagon Alley. It was not because she did not want to see her two closest friends, but because she wanted some solitude. Harry could not explain it; what she knew was that she really needed some me-time before re-entering the hectic Wizarding World again.

This was also the reason why she was refusing to go to The Burrow and spend the remainder of the holiday with Ron's family. Apart from that, she did not want to intrude; she knew that they were still mourning the loss of Fred Weasley. Harry herself had still not come to terms with his death, especially after having known him for nearly seven years.

The guilt began to arise again and she immediately pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. Harry was about to seal the letter when her eye caught the sight of the diamond ring on her finger. For a moment, she deeply considered telling Hermione about it. As the smartest witch of her age with a brain that was brimming with the knowledge she had gained from countless books, Hermione was bound to know how the ring came to her and how to remove it. But Harry changed her mind at the last second. The last thing she wanted was to worry her female best friend by telling her about that dream she had had. If there was one thing that could push Hermione's anxiety into overdrive, it was Harry having strange dreams.

However, it was with regret that Harry sealed the letter and put it aside for the owl to deliver it once it had recovered; she really wanted answers about the ring, but it would have to wait until she finally met her friends again.

Suddenly, September the first seemed just too far away.

'Ginny, calm down! I'm sure she's alright.'

'But we haven't seen hide or hair of Harry ever since the funeral, Ron! How do we know for sure that she's alright?'

'Gin, I showed you the letter she sent the other day, didn't I? Harry says she's doing fine.'

'Damn it, Ronald, this is Hariah Potter we're talking about! Of course she'd say that even if she were an inch from death! You know what she's like.'

'Oh, for the love of Merlin!'

Ron Weasley buried his face in his hands, grinding his teeth in frustration. Did his little sister think that he did not care for Harry as much as she did, if not more? Ginny's tirade was not helping his nerves in the least. He was as worried about his best friend as Ginny and Hermione were combined, but if Harry wanted to be alone, who were they to intrude? He had seen enough of Harry Potter's need for privacy to know when to stay well away from her. But his little sister was obviously not going to follow his example.

'I'm going to visit her,' Ginny declared abruptly, standing up from the kitchen table on which she had been perched.

'Ginny, I'm telling you, leave her alone,' Ron growled through his teeth, looking around when he heard the gentle tap against the window which indicated the arrival of an owl. Getting up, he quickly made his way to the window. It was the owl that delivered the daily newspaper.

'But Harry's all alone in London! We have to check up on her!'

'Ginny,' Ron fought down the urge to rip out his hair as he unfolded the Daily Prophet with forced calm, 'I know Harry, OK? She just needs to be alone. I can tell. She's fine.'

'But –'

'Look, I'm worried about her, too, OK! I've been her best friend for over six years! But she wants to be on her own. Think what she's been through in this war, Ginny! After all that, don't you think Harry would need some space to get her head back together? She's OK, Gin, really!

'Besides, she's with Kreacher. He'll make sure she eats; you know what house elves are like when it comes to their owners. And we'll see her on the Hogwarts Express soon, too. Please listen to me, Gin, just leave her alone. She wants to be alone. Let her be.'

Ginny stared at her older brother for a few moments with a surprised expression before remarking wryly, 'Never took you to be one to use tact, Ron.'

Her brother merely scowled at the implied insult before turning his attention to the front page. His mouth fell open.

'What?' asked his sister curiously, noticing his goldfish expression.

'What the ... um, er ... damn, Ginny, you gotta see this.'

'What is it?' She peered over his shoulder and stared at the page for a moment before her own jaw hit the floor as well.

The headline screamed:

MALFOY HEIR ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED!

WHO COULD BE THE MYSTERY GIRL?

'Bloody hell!' murmured brother and sister in unison.

A/N: Fast update, eh? And the reason for that is right above: this was a short, transition chapter that needed to happen to make things more realistic before the next could be written - and thus, not really worth a long wait at all. The next chappy is where things begin to kick in; but don't expect that update to be this fast, ne? It would probably take me more time to get on with that ;)

To keep confusions to a minimum: these first three chapters take place around Draco's birthday (4th and 5th June [?]), but there will be a time-skip of around three months in the next chapter which takes place on 1st September (you know what that means, right? ::wink::) As the fic progresses, I'll add these little time reminders so that things won't get too muddled for readers to keep up with. :)

Anyway, despite the shortness and all, I hope this chappy was not all that boring. :) Till next time, ja ne!

COMING UP NEXT: CHAPTER FOUR - Train Ride Conversations (I really need to get a little more creative with chapter titles :P)