The Unbreakable Vow

by

Ash Darklighter

It all belongs to JK Rowling and I thank her for her inspiration – There are no galleons to be made from me. This little story is my first Harry Potter fic. It is AU and of course comments are welcome. My thanks to Tad and Mona for their help.

Part 12

The meeting of the Order of the Phoenix ran true to form with very little being decided upon. No one had heard anything of Voldemort and his activities since the battle in Hogsmeade four weeks earlier. There had been one or two stray Death Eater attacks on Muggleborns in under-populated areas but nothing more.

"They're planning something big," Moody noted, his magic eye spinning wildly. "It's the only reason that they've been so quiet. Have you heard anything, Severus?"

Snape shook his greasy black head, a frown creasing his forehead. He had to admit to himself that he was concerned. "No. I've not been called since the Hogsmeade debacle."

Remus sat up straight in his chair. "We lost a couple of good people in that 'debacle', Severus," he snapped.

"If you'd kept your wits about you, Werewolf, you wouldn't have," Snape retorted, his lip curling.

"Now listen here!"

"Gentlemen!" Dumbledore stopped the argument before it began. "Please." He turned to look at the former Auror. "Alastor?"

"Keep us informed, Severus. If you hear anything, no matter how unimportant it seems," the grizzled man ordered.

"I have been spying for some time, Moody," Snape sneered. "I'm not a fool."

Moody's magical-eye spun wildly for a moment before he gave a snort. "No, your foolishness is long past."

"Quite," said Snape.

"Constant Vigilance," Moody muttered, shooting a dark look at the hook-nosed man. "Constant vigilance."

Harry frowned. The big knot of guilt in the middle of his chest returned. He knew he was wrong to keep such momentous news to himself but he'd used an Unforgivable - even if it was on Voldemort. Would they send him to Azkaban? How would he survive there without his magic? Who would help Ginny? He again looked around the table at the tired faces and then his gaze connected with Dumbledore. He would tell him…soon. It was the right thing to do. He opened his mouth to blurt out the truth and then closed it again. He didn't know what to say and perhaps right this minute wasn't the best time to say it. But he wasn't mistaken, Voldemort had gone.

For the moment, at least even if it wasn't forever.

"Harry?" the headmaster said quietly. "You have something to say?"

"No, not really," he mumbled, ducking his head to avoid the headmaster's gaze. "I just wondered if you had anything else to add, Professor."

"No. I wish that I had good news. Merlin knows that we could all do with some." Dumbledore had little to give to Harry, Ron and Hermione on the current search for the Horcruxes but he'd quietly passed Hermione some extremely rare books, on that subject and others, from his own library. The search for the Horcruxes was solely between Dumbledore and Harry but the headmaster knew that it was inevitable that Harry would inform Ron and Hermione of what exactly they were looking for. None of the other Order members had been informed.

"Dobby has dinner ready in the kitchen," Harry said quietly, once the meeting was officially closed.

"Thank you, Harry," Dumbledore said. "We'll be down directly. Severus, if I could have a word?"

Snape's steady regard fell on Harry, before glancing at Dumbledore. "Certainly, Headmaster."

Harry shrugged. Something else he wasn't old enough or capable enough to be trusted with. "Come on, he said, pushing open the library door. "You know how excited Dobby can get when he has company."

Some of the witches and wizards immediately left for their other lives but the Order members still remaining in Grimmauld place trooped wearily down to the kitchen. Just as they did so, there was a whoosh of green flame and Fred, George and Ginny tumbled out of the fireplace.

Harry smiled for the first time since he had stepped back into Grimmauld Place, relief lighting up his face. "You got my message then, Fred."

"Dinner at eight- thirty," said Fred.

"I'm just going to put my stuff in my room before we eat," Harry said, holding up the chemist's bag and moved away from the group. "I'll only be a minute." No one saw him slip a small bag to Ginny as he brushed past her or saw the redhead immediately shrink it down and stuff into the pocket of her blue jeans. In it was a small purse containing some Muggle currency, a map, a brass key and a bottle of brown hair dye. "Ginny," he whispered. "Carry this with you at all times. Just in case."

Ginny gave a brief nod. The decision when to go was up to her but there was no turning back where she was concerned now. They had a plan.

By the time Harry returned to the kitchen, Dumbledore had joined them, seated at the end of the long scrubbed wooden table.

"Ah, Miss Weasley," the headmaster said as he dug into one of the many pockets in his purple robes and produced the marriage parchment. "This belongs to you. I had Professor Flitwick test it but unfortunately…"

Ginny, her face impassive, turned her head and glanced at Harry. He gave a miniscule shake of his head. "I don't want it," she announced. "Give it to Hermione or Ron or to the twins. In fact tear it up and throw it in the fire."

"There will be copies, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore said gently, "…as well as a protective charm. The fire will merely spit the parchment back out."

"Copies?" repeated Hermione.

"Magically created at the same time. The groom's family will have one very similar to yours. You have to accept the inevitable."

"I will not accept anything of the sort. Not until Draco Malfoy and I are side by side in the marriage bed and not even then," she spat vehemently. "It will never be a true marriage in my eyes."

Dumbledore looked at the grin on Harry's face. He was going to have to speak to the boy again. It was a magical contract not a piece of Muggle paper. As soon as Ginny Weasley had touched the scroll, the magical spell was complete and she was officially bound to Malfoy forever. He didn't consider that there could be older more potent forms of magic at work here or that Ginny hadn't yet laid so much as a finger on the parchment. "You shouldn't be encouraging her, Harry," he said regretfully.

"I don't need to encourage her, Professor," Harry said proudly. "She's quite capable of keeping this up all by herself. It's Gryffindor stubbornness, I think."

Ginny tilted her chin, her normally bright gaze flat and cold. "This has nothing to do with Harry, Professor Dumbledore. I dislike being used as a pawn to further everyone's schemes. My life and my choice have been removed from me against my will. The Malfoys will regret binding me. I will make sure of it."

The silver writing on the parchment gleamed faintly in the firelight. "Miss Weasley…" Ginny turned away. Dumbledore sighed and rolled it up again and handed it to Hermione, who put it in the pocket of her robe.

Harry resisted the temptation to do what Griphook had told him to do and look at the parchment. There wasn't anything different about it from what he could see. He glanced at the witch by his side and noted her unhappy scowl. "What is it?" he asked her gently, his sixth sense where she was concerned flaring into sudden life. She was justifiably angry about the betrothal but something else must have happened. He knew his Ginny.

"She's unhappy because Percy owled her to say that Aurors would be coming to collect her tomorrow at noon," Hermione explained sadly.

"What!" the smile vanished from Harry's face and a hint of panic entered his voice. "But she has a month…or at least three weeks before…"

"No, no, it's not the wedding." Hermione gave Ginny a wary glance as if she thought the redhead might do something extreme at any moment. "She's been ordered to meet Narcissa Malfoy tomorrow to pick out her wedding robes."

"It should be my mother that helps me," Ginny snapped bitterly. "Not that…snotty…excuse of a Death Eater wife. But my mother's in St Mungo's because of Death Eaters like Lucius Malfoy and I've been sold to the very people we're fighting against." She glanced at Tonks. "I'm sorry," she muttered as she remembered something. "I forgot that she's your aunt."

Tonks shrugged unconcernedly. "You can call Narcissa Malfoy anything you like, dearie. I'm a half-blood and because of that she's never acknowledged me. The Blacks cut off all contact when she married my father."

Hermione motioned Harry aside and whispered. "Narcissa Malfoy contacted Ginny by floo and stated that she be dressed like the Malfoy bride should be and not some Weasley blood traitor as they were going to be purchasing her wedding robes. The Malfoy family were an old and highly respected pure-blood line and she wasn't going to see her reputation tarnished. Her daughter-in-law would not be married in second-hand robes."

Harry's eyes widened. "Oh, no!" Ginny was a fiery, intelligent and independent witch and wouldn't take kindly to the slurs being cast on her and her family. The Weasleys had never had much money but in Harry's eyes had always possessed something far more valuable – their love for each other. "Ginny refused, I take it?"

Ron nodded, his face red. "I didn't know she was capable of such language," he admitted a little indignantly. "She's definitely been hanging around with the wrong people."

"That would be us, you dimwit," muttered Hermione.

"Oh, well yeah," Ron looked sheepish. "Anyway, it was only a matter of time before an owl came from Percy. He didn't risk another home visit. The Aurors will pick Ginny up for some compulsory shopping. I thought you women…" he gestured to Hermione, "liked shopping."

"Ronald!" Hermione said. The exasperation in her face and voice was clear. Ron was one of her best friends – almost closer than a friend really but he still possessed the emotional range of a teaspoon.

Ron shrugged and glanced at Harry, who had closed his eyes at his friend's words. "You okay, mate?"

"Me?" Harry looked startled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Snape's potion worked wonders. Come on, help yourselves to something to eat. Dobby may be a free elf but he still worked hard to prepare supper and I'll have to spend the rest of the evening trying to stop him punishing himself because we didn't eat the food."

"Harry," Hermione chided reproachfully.

"Eat," he said, sitting down between Remus and Ginny. "Dobby did this because he wanted to and I'm paying him. He has a choice, Hermione."

"We should try and make a Marauder's style map of Malfoy Manor for you, Gin," Ron said suddenly.

Ginny's mouth dropped open as she processed the words her brother had just said. "What!" she breathed, her fork clattering onto her plate, the sound ringing around the suddenly quiet kitchen. "What did you just say?"

"You could help, Remus," Ron said, blithely unaware of the anger on the faces of those around him.

"Do you, in your idiotic pea-brained fashion, really think that Lucius Malfoy is just going to let Ginny wander around Malfoy Manor clutching a map?" derided Fred. "Oh, come on. Here's the layout to the building, Ginevra. Why don't you snoop around and see if you can find any charmed dark artefacts and spy for the Order of the Phoenix.'"

Ron flushed. "It's an idea."

"I think Ron may have a point," murmured Hermione. "Although I don't think that snooping around Malfoy Manor would be wise even as a member of the family. Surely the Ministry would have plans of the place. They certainly tried to raid it on a number of occasions. I remember your father talking about it and it was also reported in the Daily Prophet."

"Magical buildings can change," said Lupin with a deep sigh. "And Malfoy Manor is certainly that. Not on the scale of Hogwarts, of course but…"

"Tonks…" murmured Ron carefully. "You're related to them."

"Not by choice," the young Auror said darkly. "Mother married a Muggle, remember. I told you that the Malfoys and the Lestranges have never acknowledged that I existed. We were burned off the family tapestry and I'm glad of it. How my mother is related to those harpies I will never understand. My mum always says the best day of her life was the one where she met my father."

"Severus?" Lupin asked.

The Potions master stopped eating and glared at the assembled company. "This is a foolish suggestion. I have been a guest at Malfoy Manor many times but there are rooms even I have not been invited into. They do, however, have a well stocked potions lab. Narcissa was quite good at potions when she was at Hogwarts. Her son has inherited her talent."

"Malfoy Manor has a potions lab?" asked Hermione.

"And an extensive library," Snape said silkily. "Several definitive works on the Dark Arts are stored there. They are the only copies of these texts in existence and are extremely valuable. Security at the Manor is extremely…tight."

Ginny looked more disgruntled than ever. "I can hardly wait," she muttered. "It's not as if my new husband's family will let me sit my NEWTs."

"They may surprise you. I will speak to Draco on your behalf. You can sit them at the Ministry after your marriage," Snape murmured, glancing from the corner of his eyes at Harry. The boy's hands had tightened angrily around the glass he was clutching. So the mention of Ginny Weasley in conjunction with Draco Malfoy finally dragged a reaction from the, up until now, rather blank-faced Potter.

"Don't bother, Professor. I doubt anything will make any difference." Ginny looked at Hermione spitefully. "A whole fully stocked library?"

"A remarkable collection of books," stated Snape.

"I can imagine," muttered Ginny, but there was no joy in her voice.

Hermione's lips tightened but she refused to be baited further and took her empty plate to the sink. She knew Ginny was dying to let go her frustrated anger at someone and she refused to let it be directed at her.

"Talking of libraries," Harry said, standing up and taking a last swig at his pumpkin juice. "We need to do an hour's research upstairs before you lot return to The Burrow. Many minds and all that."

"Albus, I am returning to the school," Snape declared. "I have remedies to brew for Poppy."

Dumbledore nodded. "I will accompany you. I'm expecting a call from Rufus Scrimgeour." He turned to look at Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Remember what I said, Harry. No more wandering around on your own. It is dangerous for you to do so."

Harry's mouth flattened into a thin line of displeasure. "You shut me up in Privet Drive every summer, Professor," Harry said coldly. "I refuse to be imprisoned in Grimmauld Place the way that Sirius was. He couldn't take it either." That was what was going to happen, Harry knew it. Dumbledore was aware that he couldn't use his magic to defend himself properly any more and was determined to protect him by locking him up and not telling him why.

"Harry…" Dumbledore said, suddenly looking tired and very, very old.

"If you're coming, Headmaster," murmured Snape. "If the brat wants to risk the safety of more people…" The look in his black eyes was malicious.

"Severus…" Dumbledore pressed his fingers against his temple. He'd hoped that Harry and Severus would one day find peace but it didn't seem to be possible. Perhaps things had gone too far. "This is not the time or the place for such comments. Please do as I ask, Harry. I will speak to you in a couple of days." He turned and followed the Potions professor into the fire. There was a flash of green fire and both figures disappeared.

Lupin glanced first at Harry and then at Tonks. "I have to meet Dung," he murmured. Dung was Mundungus Fletcher, a wizard with a rather dubious reputation. "He was on duty at…" He glanced warily at Harry again.

"Privet Drive?" asked Tonks.

"Yes. I have to fill him in on tonight's meeting and then take his place for a few hours. You know Dumbledore doesn't trust him to keep watch for any length of time."

"With good reason. I know he has useful contacts in the wizarding underworld but sometimes he's more of a liability than a help. The consignment of dodgy cauldrons he wanted to store here just emphasized that fact," the young Auror complained. "I'll come with you. My normal shift starts in an hour so I have to report to the Ministry first." She glanced at the group of teens before her. "I'll see you lot later."

"Sure," said Harry, ignoring the mention of Privet Drive. If Dumbledore had had his way, Harry would still be shut up there with his magic hating relatives. But part of him was glad that they were still being protected. They'd never wanted Harry there in the first place and despite everything they had given him a home of sorts.

Lupin stepped forward and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, please no more wandering off without letting someone know where you are. We're just concerned for your safety."

Harry stared up into the werewolf's tired amber eyes. "I'm not going anywhere tonight," he said softly. "But they can't control me forever and you know it."

Lupin's hand tightened and then, as he withdrew it, he nodded, recognising he'd get no further with Harry. "If you're ready?" He smiled at Tonks and the pair vanished from sight with a faint pop.

Harry glanced at Ginny and then at the others. "Library," he said.

Fred and George came up behind him and clapped him on the back. "Fancy doing a bit of research for us?"

Harry chuckled. "What is it this time?"

"We're extending our Skiving Snackboxes range. The Nosebleed Nougat and Fainting Fancies have been most profitable…especially during term time."

"Cool," said Ron.

"So Metamorph Munchies it is," crowed George.

"And Laryngitis Liquorice," chortled Fred.

"Laryngitis Liquorice!" Hermione echoed. "They are safe?" she queried, with a disapproving frown.

Fred waved his hands in the air. "Almost. Lose your voice without the pain of a sore throat."

"Why would I want to lose my voice?" asked Hermione.

"Other people may want you to lose it," stated Fred, with a cheeky wink.

"That's not very nice," Hermione muttered indignantly. "That's the last time I look up a charm to help you two. If I'd realised what it was for…"

"And most helpful it was, too. We can test and look for new hexes at the same time," added George swiftly. "It'll be fun."

"I'll reserve judgement on that," muttered Hermione.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He heard the sound of increased flames in the hearth which could only mean that he had a caller but he chose not to acknowledge him until he was ready. It gave him a sense of power and therefore the upper hand.

"Severus!"

"Lucius!" The Hogwarts' Potions master lifted his head from the text he was studying to gaze at the head in his fireplace. Finally he might learn something of use to the Order. He placed the quill deliberately slowly upon the parchment on his desk. "I haven't heard from you for some time but of course, I realise that you must have been far too busy planning Draco's wedding to call," he said sneeringly. "What possessed you to affiance him to the Weasley chit?"

Lucius Malfoy's smile didn't reach his cold grey eyes. "She's a pretty witch and my son likes the look of her."

"Rubbish," Snape dismissed. "She may be a pretty witch but Draco cannot abide Miss Weasley or any of the rest of her ginger brethren and their Muggle loving friends. What is the real reason?"

"Insurance," Lucius snapped coldly.

"What kind of insurance?" Snape's black eyes narrowed. The Malfoys didn't normally go seeking insurance in the form of a blood-traitorous Weasley bride. Why would one of the richest and most powerful wizards in the entire country need that kind of insurance? So, he thought with mild astonishment, Lucius was worried about something. The flaxen-haired aristocrat would never say it aloud and unless you knew the blond wizard very well indeed, you would never guess at the turmoil which could seethe below the polished surface. Lucius was a master at hiding his emotions and also a decent Occlumens. He would not have survived in the service of the Dark Lord for so long if he was not.

"Something's wrong, Severus."

"Yes, you've got Draco engaged to the Weasley girl. Neither of them wants such a match. She's Potter's friend," he drawled, managing to keep his countenance from showing nothing more than slight irritation. "What demon possessed you?"

"She's a pure-blood, Severus and a useful levering tool…if things go wrong politically."

Years of spying had inured Snape to shocks of most kinds but this – he could only call it fear – in the voice of Lucius Malfoy, was new. Lucius was actually suggesting to another wizard, all-be-it a fellow Death Eater, that he suspected the Dark Lord was not as all-powerful as was claimed. This was tantamount to admitting the carrying out of a treasonous act and was certainly punishable by several rounds of Crucio finished off by an Avada Kedavra.

"Lucius…"

Malfoy's eyes lit with manic fervour. "We can use her to spy on Potter and his…"

"Lucius…" Snape interrupted. "Don't you think that Potter and his friends will have already thought of that?"

"There are ways…" Lucius said darkly.

"You'd better come through," Snape said wearily, interrupting the other wizard's words for the second time.

Lucius scowled. "I cannot. Narcissa is entertaining her sister this evening and I should not be absent from their company for too long." His sister-in-law was not his favourite witch. The beautiful Bellatrix Black Lestrange been captured and sent to Azkaban when the Dark Lord had fallen seventeen years ago. Bellatrix had, throughout her imprisonment, remained dedicated and totally loyal to Voldemort's cause and had immediately rejoined his side when she had escaped. Although Lucius and Bellatrix espoused the same cause, neither wanted to be in the shadow of the other. Bellatrix had sworn to serve the Dark Lord, as had Lucius, but the Malfoy patriarch thought of his own welfare first and always would.

"What does Bella think?" asked Snape carefully. "Has she spoken to the Dark Lord? She continues to hold his favour, insane though she is."

Lucius did not disagree with Snape's opinion of Bella's state of mind. His sister-in-law was at best deranged and at her worst - psychotic. "She has not seen or heard from him for over three weeks and is beginning to worry. No one has seen him. He's taken this latest setback very badly…"

"No one has seen him?" Severus froze, ice suddenly running through his veins. "No one at all? Bella hasn't and you haven't?"

"You haven't either?" Lucius drawled. "Of course you haven't. You are merely the Dark Lord's Potion maker not his confidante." They stared at one another in disbelief, the implications too great to comprehend. They hadn't seen or heard from the Dark Lord since the battle at Hogsmeade just under a month ago. Potter had survived again and they had assumed that Voldemort had retreated to rethink his tactics.

Suppose Potter had done more than survive another attempt on his life. Suppose… "You'd better snap that Weasley girl up very quickly," Snape sneered suddenly. "If what neither of us has dared to utter tonight is true, then she could be your only insurance against a lifetime in Azkaban. An Imperius curse is difficult to pull off twice. Many wizards didn't believe you the last time."

"At least my loyalty has never been doubted."

"No, the Dark Lord knows that you are truly on one side only - your own," Snape returned evenly. Lucius could bait him all he liked to no effect. He'd only stated the truth. All the slurs hadn't been forgotten but would be remembered when it was time to settle the score.

"My son will be wedded to the Weasley girl tomorrow, if that is what is needed to keep us all safe."

"What about the match with Pansy Parkinson? Draco won't…"

"He will if he still wants to be a Malfoy. The Parkinson alliance has been dissolved."

"I don't think it's the correct action, Lucius…" Snape declared. "Draco…"

"Is a Malfoy and will do what he has to and he was quite content to give up the Parkinson match. The marriage can be dissolved if necessary," he sneered coldly.

"Why have Draco marry her at all if she is so unsuitable?" Ginny Weasley would be considered expendable, Snape thought.

"She is eminently suitable." Lucius glanced behind him as if hearing voices. "I have to go, Severus."

"Of course. Do give Bella my regards, Lucius. But I never thought you would let her tell you what to do." Lucius glared at the Potions professor with something akin to real hatred and vanished.

Alone, Severus Snape released a shaky breath and carefully rolled up the fabric of his left shirt sleeve. The mark was still there but with a faint sense of surprise, Snape thought that it was fainter as if had begun to fade – the same way that it had faded seventeen years ago when the killing curse on Harry Potter had rebounded on its caster.

There was only one real explanation. Potter had done it again. He'd somehow managed to vanquish the Dark Lord and drive him from his body into a non-corporeal form during the attack on Hogsmeade. This placed Severus Snape into an even more difficult position than the one he currently occupied for reasons that he'd not yet told the headmaster.

"What have you done, Potter," Snape breathed. "And why haven't you said anything to anyone?"

It was possible that the boy himself did not know that Voldemort had gone but something told Snape, that Potter was quite aware of the Dark Lord's disappearance. The Potions Master was convinced that no one had been told of this. The Dark Lord had occasionally gone for as long as a week without calling his loyal Death Eaters to his side but never longer than that. Voldemort craved the attention and the power he received lording it over his minions. Fudge, Scrimgeour and the Daily Prophet were not shouting Voldemort's defeat to the wizarding public. It meant that no one knew.

No one apart from Harry Potter and the brat wasn't talking to anyone in the Order.

Snape needed to speak to Dumbledore immediately. The Headmaster would already know of Malfoy's visit and would be expecting a report. Feeling as if he'd aged a hundred years in a matter of minutes, Snape grabbed some internal floo powder from the pot on the mantelpiece and disappeared from his office in a puff of green smoke.