πΈπππππππππ
Act II - The Warlock of Hogwarts
Chapter 27 - Scandalous Betrothals Part 2
The quickest way to get someone's attention is to no longer want it.
It was a mantra that her Mum had taught her as a child. A mantra that had shaped her life, and one that she had religiously adhered to.
A mantra that had now failed her.
Ginny Weasley watched as Harry Potter excused himself and left the Great Hall. She hadn't missed the way the goblet in his hand had morphed into a metallic parchment, only to reform the moment he read the message within. She hadn't been able to see the contents, but given how his gaze darted towards the staff table, she had a good idea who the sender was.
A small, bitter smile formed on her lips. Even now, she remembered how she was back in her first year. A silly fangirl with a mindless crush on the Boy-Who-Lived. Seeing him interact with his brother like an equal and attend classes, play chess, ride brooms and play Quidditch had done a good job in shattering the mirage of the Boy-Who-Lived and replacing it with a concrete picture of a boy, one just like her brother. Maybe not as ordinary, but a boy nonetheless. The Boy-Who-Lived was a celebrity, but her brother's friend was the real thing. Someone she could talk to, someone she could touch, and maybe play Quidditch. She had thought that she'd get over her pointless crush and try to talk to him like Ron and Hermione, even if he'd see her as Ron's little sister.
Then the entire fiasco with the Diary happened.
He had gone into the Chamber of Secrets. He had saved her. And her hero worship had returned in full force.
She had not lied earlier about her mum erupting over the article. It had taken the next two years for her Mum to sit her down and talk to her. Even now, she remembered how she'd wake up in the middle of the night, screaming for Harry to protect her from Tom. Somehow, her mind had tied up whatever Tom did to her, the memory of the giant basilisk and Harry Potter, sword in hand, coming to her rescue together in an outlandish fantasy nightmare that plagued her dreams for months.
It had gotten so bad that after several failed attempts by the healers at St. Mungo's, her mum had looked for options abroad. Bill had contacted an Egyptian shaman who specialised in the aftereffects of possession. Ron and the others knew that they were on a vacation to see Bill, spending the lottery money her father had won.
Only Ginny knew the truth. And she hated herself for it. Hated herself for being weak.
Not again. She had told herself. She'd grow stronger, both in body and in mind. She'd get over it, and if she really needed to face her fears, she needed to believe that she didn't need Harry to save her.
She had to let go of her crush.
It had been difficult, but she had done it. For the entirety of the third year, she had maintained a distance from him. Not enough to look like she was avoiding him, but enough to make her look like she was her own person, and had her own circle of friends. She hated it when her friends group constantly chatted dreamily about Harry, with Vane and Robbins being the worst of the lot, and it grated on her nerves, so she began to look elsewhere.
And she had even succeeded.
Just last year, Harry had asked her for the Yule Ball. She wanted to say yes. A thousand times, yes. But she hadn't. Instead, she had decided to stay true to her word and gone with Neville. Harry had looked a little sullen, but Ginny didn't want to be that girl that'd ditch Neville for Harry at the last moment.
She might even have danced a jig that night, squealing in happiness. She had Harry's attention. Finally!
And then⦠the Third Task happened.
She had gotten a second-hand knowledge of whatever transpired. Fourteen people had been found dead, Cedric Diggory being one of them, and a man called Peter Pettigrew who had supposedly betrayed Harry's parents and framed Sirius Black and had been hiding as Percy's, and later Ron's pet rat. The idea that the animagus had lurked in her home, and several times in her room, that it might have caught her in different stages of undress, made her feel absolutely dirty and want to scrub her skin off with scalding hot water. She had heard from her dad how Harry had become Lord Potter and was acquitted in the trial.
Then she had met him at the party and Merlin, he had changed.
Gone was the scruffy looking friend of her brother. Gone was the reclusive, somewhat uncertain, bespectacled boy she had watched over the years. Instead he was dressed in rich robes, looking every bit of a pureblood lord. She had seen him hobnobbing with Susan Bones and her strict-looking aunt, Neville and his grandmother, Professor Dumbledore and a whole bunch of important people like he was naturally born to do it. She had been a little worried at seeing him interact with the Greengrass sisters and her father, but when he had introduced them as his extended family, she had felt a little better.
And then she saw her.
Fleur Delacour.
Veela.
And as if a curse had been cast, everything began to fall. Her entire worldview had begun to shatter like a house of cards.
It had started from his speech, thanking Sirius Black and Mr. Greengrass. He had talked about Hermione and Ron, and everything had felt normal.
Then he mentioned her.
About how she had been her friend. About how she had been there for him over the summer. How she had helped him in trial.
In hindsight, Harry had mentioned Greengrass too, but she had been too focussed on the more immediate threat, and ignored the subtle word play on his part.
He had said that Daphne Greengrass, a girl he had not even known during his last four years at Hogwarts, and yes, Ginny knew that for sure. A girl from Slytherin house that did not even talk to any of the Gryffindors and hanged around Pansy Parkinson of all people, that girl β Harry said that Daphne Greengrass taught him the meaning of strength.
She should have known that Harry Potter did not make such statements lightly. She should have seen that something was wrong, something was happening behind the scenes that she was not privy to. Instead her whole focus had been on Fleur bloody Delacour. Bill stomping home and slandering Delacour for being all over Harry had only pushed her towards focussing more on the veela.
And then Harry showed up on the train, and Pansy Parkinson of all people, had claimed Daphne Greengrass as his fiancee.
It was a doozy like nothing else.
Parkinson was lucky she hadn't cursed her with her infamous Bat-bogey hex right away.
She had wanted Harry to refute back, claim her words as lies and walk away. Instead, he stayed. He had asked her, respectfully, to go meet her friends and he'd join her soon. He had even talked smack to Parkinson and shut her up, and even kept his word later. But it didn't undo the truth.
Harry Potter was betrothed to Daphne Greengrass, and there was nothing that she could do about it.
The rest of Hogwarts might be reacting to it now that it was all over the front page of the Prophet, but Ginny had stewed upon the harsh truth since the start of the term. She wasn't surprised or anything, but seeing it felt like someone had just ripped the bandage off an old wound.
"-nny! Ginny?"
Ginny shook her head, and ruthlessly crushed her feelings, and looked to her side to see Hermione looking at her. She registered the open aggression in her face and instantly schooled her features.
"Uh, yes?"
"You don't think Harry has really been potioned, do you?"
The question took her by such a surprise that her brain actually rebooted, just to settle itself in a proper context. "Err, what?"
"I said, do you think she's potioned him?"
Ginny blinked. "You're talking about Greengrass right?"
Hermione scowled. "Who else? Unless you too think she's too pretty to do anything like that?" She glared at Ron, all but telling Ginny the source behind that comment. Clearly she had biassed views about Greengrass and had talked about it more than once with Ron.
"I mean, just look at him. Harry's completely changed. I thought I noticed something in the party, but he's like a completely different person."
"Hermione," Ron tried, "Harry's not changed. He's a Lord. He's got responsibilities now."
Ginny wondered if she had been thrown into an alternate Reality where her brother was the one that was being the rational one, while Hermione was being near-psychotic.
"Responsibilities?" Hermione screeched. "He's getting engaged. He's fifteen, for God's sake. He should be studying and preparing for his OWLs. Instead he's arranging parties and getting engaged to a girl he's never even talked to once over the last four years. And suddenly they're in love and getting engaged?" she snapped her neck at her so fast that Ginny feared she might have sprained it. "You're telling me none of that sounds weird to you?"
"Eh, actually, Hermione," Lavender interrupted her tirade. "It's not as unnatural as you're making it be. Most pureblood boys and girls get contracted or engaged by the time they've achieved their OWLs. You know Cho Chang, right? She was engaged to Diggory right after the Second Task. Even Parkinson was betrothed to Malfoy since they were five."
"Five? Five? What kind of ridiculously backward β"
"It's tradition!" Lavender snapped, and Ginny winced. Hermione was a dear friend, but even Ginny would agree that she could be high-strung and absolutely opinionated about everything. Most girls in Gryffindor tower never said very much to her, because, firstly, she spent very little time with them, and second, because she was Harry's best friend, and the highest point scorer throughout the year. But her callous denigration of pureblood traditions did stick out like a sore thumb.
Hermione crossed her arms. "What tradition?"
Lavender crossed her arms and held Hermione's gaze. "Harry's Lord Potter. Not just that, he's now Lord of Ancient and Noble House of Potter, meaning he's Nobility. That ranks him higher than almost all families except the other Nobles. And then with Lord Sirius Black making him heir, and Mr. Greengrass acknowledging him makes him the direct heir to not one, but three Noble families. Do you even understand what that means? Do you understand why other families would see him as the best marriage prospect?"
"He's fifteen," Hermione defended. "He doesn't have to get married."
"Nobody says he is," Lavender shot back. "But he's a Lord and by definition, an adult. That makes him a legit prospect for betrothals. And with the heirship of House Black, it means he's obligated to marry not one, but two witches to continue both lines. Frankly, I'm not surprised Greengrass jumped him before anyone else did."
Hermione looked absolutely disgusted. "And you'd just agree to get married off just like that?"
"Married off?" exclaimed Parvati. "What are you talking about? My father sent him a marriage proposal offering both me and my sister. He doubted Harry would tie both House Black and House Potter with House Patil, so he sent both contracts for House Potter."
Hermione's eyes bulged. "You mean β"
Parvati shrugged. "Sister-wives. Me and my sister. I mean, he did take to the Yule Ball, if you remember. Baba thought he was interested in me, and well, Padma has my face."
"And sharing with another woman wouldn't matter to you?"
Parvati arched her brow. "I've shared everything with my sister all my life. And besides, before the luxury, comfort and status offered to a Lady of a Noble House, that is nothing. And plus, the Patils are an old pureblood House. Being associated with House Potter would bring my father lots of opportunities he'd otherwise be denied."
"You tell her, Ron," Lavender egged.
"Erm, yeah," Ron mumbled, clearly afraid of Hermione's reaction. "I mean, yeah, that's what mum said too."
'I don't believe this," Hermione grunted, and sat down, scowling. "This is so backward. It's like women are being sold off like cattle."
"Actually," Ginny said, "The other way around works too. It's just less common than guys marrying multiple witches, but that's probably because of male chauvinism." She glanced at the Slytherin table, particularly at Blaise Zabini. "And then there are women who keep remarrying, just to get rich."
"My family's actually matriarchal," Lavender said with pride. "No matter how the marriage is, the Lady is in power, so long as she has Brown blood. It's actually a tradition for us to consult astronomers for the right time and date to⦠well, ensure a female child will be conceived."
That shut Hermione up.
"But even then, Greengrass is just one woman, and she's marrying into the Black family," Parvati muttered. "Who's marrying into the Potter family?"
"Oh don't act like you don't know," Ginny scoffed.
"What? Is it Bones?" Parvati arched an eyebrow. "No wait, you can't be fucking serious. Delacour, seriously?"
"She can't be," Lavender said sagely. "She's a veela. The old House's got Charters. House Potter wouldn't allow a veela to marry into it. I mean, she's a halfβ"
She met Hermione's eyes and faltered.
"A what?" Hermione clenched her teeth.
"A half-breed," said Ginny, as Parvati winced at her bluntness. "The old Houses follow their charter, Hermione, and you've got to marry according to them."
"Yes, like look at Harry's mum, Lily Potter," said Lavender. "My grandma was surprised that the Potters allowed their heir to marry a muggleborn. Maybe that's why they aren't part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Because they don't follow the traditions."
"Well Harry is," claimed Parvati. "He's even betrothed to Greengrass following the proper ways."
Hermione growled.
"But you know what I've heard," asked Lavender in a gossip-Queen voice. "They say that Harry's associated with a coven of veela in France, and Delacour is actually the coven's official representative. I didn't want to believe it at first but it makes sense, doesn't it? The veela was acting like a nasty bitch all year around, and then she works for Harry at Gringotts? Like, Lisa was getting annoyed at her constant mention about how dark and dreary Hogwarts was and how fantastic Beauxbatons was in comparison. And now she joins the school?"
"That's bullshit," claimed Romilda Vane, who was just passing by. Ginny wondered when their little discussion had become a public debate. "Everyone knows the truth. Harry saved Delacour in the third task from Cedric. I even heard her statement on the WWN. She said Harry saved her life. I heard she's bound as his lifelong concubine andβ¦"
Ginny hesitated as Romilda's eyes met hers.
"Oh yes," said the girl, "now I know why that sounds so familiar. Harry saved you too back in your first year, didn't he? From being eaten alive by the horror in the Chamber of Secrets?" She paused. "Wait. Does that mean your dad's going to marry you off to him?" She clasped her hands like an awestruck fangirl. "You're so lucky, Ginny!"
Ginny wanted to find a wall and smash her head against it. "That's now how it works, Romilda. I asked my mum about it. She said that a life debt's formed when someone saves your life without any obligation to do it. I'm Ron's sister and he's Harry's best friend, and Harry stayed at our place in the summer that year too."
Romilda sunk away, disappointed.
"But he didn't have an obligation to save Delacour, did he?" asked Lavender.
Ginny shrugged. "I don't think so. Maybe there is a debt, or maybe not. Mum told me life-debts are pretty obscure magic, and work out in strange and unpredictable ways."
"Grandmother says we should always acknowledge it when someone saves our life," claimed Lavender.
"That's just tradition," said Ginny. "Nothing to do with magic"
"She's right," said Parvati, which surprised her. "Professor Trelawney says that life debts have ties to divination. If Delacour is under a debt, she might feel like she has something to do to Harry, or for him. Maybe if he makes a request or she knows that he needs help, she might not be able to keep herself from acting out. It's almost like prophecies. Somehow, somewhere, Magic makes it work that the life-debt is called upon in mysterious ways, and Harry was always a fascinating Object."
"Oh, don't get started with that rubbish again," snapped Hermione.
"You should be more interested in this, Hermione," said Parvati, looking slightly annoyed. "Harry and Ron saved you from the troll back in our first year, didn't they? So that means you too owe a life debt to both of them."
"Hippogriff dung!" said Ron. "I was the one that called Hermione aβ¦" he met her eyes and froze, "Um, whatever, she got upset and she went to the bathrooms. So that was because of me, so I put her in danger."
"Only Harry then," Parvati concluded.
Hermione snorted, flipping her hair. "That's rubbish. I told you, Divination is a load of crap, and Trelawney's a fraud."
"And even if she's right," said Ginny with a smirk, "it still doesn't matter. Hermione saved Harry and Ron's arses too many times to count."
A small smile formed on Hermione's lips. "I did, didn't I?"
And then the smile vanished, leaving a dull frown to take over. Call it gut instinct, but Ginny knew that something was wrong. She didn't know exactly what, why or how, but she felt that sudden frown meant something. And it had to do with Harry. And it explained why she was so irritated as of lately.
Whatever it was, Ginny only hoped that like herself, Hermione wouldn't make a mess of things.
The quickest way to get someone's attention was to not want it. That quote was only half-right. For once you had the attention, you also needed to be smart enough to use it. Because Opportunity knocks you only once. Take it, Ginny thought silently, or lose it forever.
If you enjoyed the chapter and our stories, you can support us by giving us feedback as reviews, favorites, and follows. You can also support us on π«πΆπππππ where you can read ahead and view our original works. If you want to talk to us directly, share feedback, or ask us questions, you may have you can join us on our Discord Server. We post six times a month.
You can find links to all of our stories, our π«πΆπππππ, and our Discord at:
ππΎππππ.ππ/theblackstaffandnightmare
π«πΆππππππ can read up to 'TWELVE' chapters ahead of the current release.
Thanks once again, and we hope you continue to enjoy our stories.
~The BlackStaff and NightMarE~