Unwanted Bonds
�Drakie, I�m bored!�
�Well then, amuse yourself,� Draco said distractedly.
�But Drakie,� Pansy whined, wrapping her arms around his neck so that she was almost choking him, �you�re my boyfriend! We never go out anymore!�
�Who said I�m your boyfriend?� Draco asked coldly.
�You did, but I guess that was all a lie,� Pansy said, letting go of him and grabbing the silver chain that hung around her neck. �You can have your necklace back.� She tore the chain from her neck and dropped it on the table in front of Draco. �Goodbye!� She stormed off.
�Good riddance!� Draco yelled after her. Half the people in the common room were looking at him and he glared back. �What�re you looking at?� he asked in a dangerous voice, making them all turn away quickly. The one great thing about being Head Boy was the ability to scare the crap out of everyone.
Draco picked up the necklace that Pansy had dropped in front of him. It had a scarlet amulet on it, which, in the Malfoy family, was a symbol of love, if such a thing could exist in the heart of someone so cold. More often than not, it was used instead as a mark of possession, as, Draco suspected, was the case with the amulet his mother wore.
But neither of these reasons had been why he�d given it to Pansy. It had been just before the Yule Ball of his fourth year when he�d received the message from his father. In it, he had said that he and Pansy�s father had agreed that, once out of Hogwarts, Draco and Pansy would be married. Draco hadn�t been surprised, as arranged marriages were common in the Malfoy family. It was the only way to keep the bloodline pure without the risks of inbreeding.
So, Draco had asked Pansy to the Yule Ball. She, of course, said yes. He didn�t know if she had been told of the arrangement, but, at the time, it hadn�t really mattered to him. All that mattered was that he did as he was told. That night, he�d given Pansy that amulet. And now, she had given it back.
Draco shrugged indifferently and put the amulet in his pocket. He�d just have to hope that his father never found out about this. As for the arranged marriage, Pansy would no doubt see to it that it was canceled.
Draco picked up his quill and tried to get back to the History of Magic essay, which he�d been trying to work on when Pansy had come over. Now that he was once again working though, his mind was as blank as the parchment that sat in front of him.
�Damn our ancestors and their inter-house relations,� Draco muttered, throwing down his quill. As he did so, his sleeve was pulled up slightly and a flash of red caught his eye. He examined the bracelet that he wore around his wrist. If Ginny was wearing her bracelet right now, then she was perfectly all right.
But he knew that this was a long shot. More than likely, she hadn�t even kept it, much less worn it. She didn�t trust him. No, change that. She hated him. He might as well throw out the other bracelet for all it was worth now.
But he couldn�t bring himself to. Much as he tried, he couldn�t take it off. This bracelet was the only connection he had left to her, an anchor tying him to the one thing he recognized in the sea of confusion he found himself in. If he lost that anchor, he would drift away, losing what little knowledge he had of who he was.
~~~~~~~~~~
�That�s a nice bracelet.�
Ginny jumped slightly as Hermione sat beside her. �Oh, thanks,� she said stiffly, hoping she would go away soon.
�Where did you get it?� she asked.
�Hogsmeade,� Ginny answered quickly.
�Wow, that looks like tiger�s eye,� Hermione said, bending forward slightly to squint at the bracelet. �That�s very expensive. What store did you get it at?�
�Dementia�s Discounts,� Ginny said. She�d been there a few weeks early and knew they sold jewelry at cheap prices.
�Well, it�s beautiful,� Hermione said. �May I see it?�
�Um�sure, I guess,� Ginny said hesitantly, taking the bracelet off and handing it to Hermione.
�Hmm�� Hermione paused for a minute, turning the bracelet over a few times. When she spoke again, she sounded impressed. �Well, it is tiger�s eye, and tied with unicorn hair too. This is very valuable. You have a good eye for quality.� She gave the bracelet back to Ginny.
�Thanks,� Ginny said, putting it back on her wrist.
�I�d love to stick around, but I have a date,� Hermione said, grinning. �Are you going to Hogsmeade today?�
�Nah, I thought I�d just stay here,� Ginny said, picking up her quill. �I have to do my homework.�
�Okay,� Hermione said, �but don�t be staying inside too much or you�ll get as pale as Snape. I�ll see you later.� She got up and left the common room.
Once she was gone, Ginny dropped her quill. She had way too much on her mind right now to be worrying about homework. Even if that meant she might fail Potions.
Ginny sighed and looked down at the bracelet again. She didn�t know why she kept it. It meant nothing to her other than something that got in the way when she tried to put her watch on. She didn�t even care that it was valuable.
So why didn�t she throw it out? She really didn�t know. She just felt as if it was important and that she should keep it. It was almost as if throwing it away would be like throwing away a part of herself.
~~~~~~~~~~
Professor Erickson, this year�s Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, announced that class was over. Then, he turned to Draco. �Can you give me a hand getting the fairies back into their cage?�
�Sure,� Draco said. After all, what else was there for him to do?
�I�ll get these ones,� Professor pointed to a cluster of fairies on one side of the room, �and you get those ones,� He pointed to the other side of the room, where a couple of fairies were busy writing profanities on the chalkboard.
Draco nodded and rolled up his sleeves as he went over to the chalkboard. He was just about to grab one of the fairies when it dodged his hand and latched onto his wrist. He tried to shake it off, but it held on.
Then, suddenly, it flew up into the air, carrying Draco�s bracelet with it. It carried the bracelet up to its friend and whispered something to him. They both giggled and started swooping around the room, stretching the bracelet between them.
Professor Erickson, who had already gotten his fairies into the cage, pointed his wand up at them and muttered a spell. A jet of white light struck the fairies and they fell slowly to the ground. Professor Erickson picked them up and threw them into their cage. Then, he brought the bracelet back to Draco.
�Thanks,� Draco said gratefully, putting the bracelet back on.
�No problem,� Professor Erickson said. Then, he added, �It�s enchanted, isn�t it?�
�How�d you know?� Draco asked, surprised.
�First of all, fairies like to steal magical items,� Professor Erickson explained. Then, he continued, giving a little laugh. �Second, I�ve never known a boy to wear a regular bracelet unless it was a present from a girlfriend.�
Draco nodded. He understood now. The fairies had detected the tracking charm and latched onto it.
�You�d better go,� Professor Erickson said, picking up the fairies� cage. �You don�t want to be late for your next class.�
�What are you going to do with the fairies?� Draco asked as he picked up his books.
�Release them into the forest,� Professor Erickson said. �That�s where I caught them, so they�ll be able to get back to their homes easily.�
�See you later Professor,� Draco said, waving as he walked to the door. He walked out of the room and right smack into someone, stumbling and almost falling over.
�Watch it Malfoy,� Ginny�s cold voice met his ears, making him wince slightly. He looked up in time to see her storm off, her footsteps echoing loudly in the empty hallway.
Draco sighed heavily and kept walking. He didn�t have time for this. He had to get to Charms class.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ginny stomped off, facing downwards so that no one would see her face. Then, she turned down a hallway and looked to make sure no one was around. Once she was sure she was indeed alone, she leaned against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor, covering her face with her hands.
�I can�t deal with this right now,� she whispered, her voice choked with tears that she held back. She felt a heavy weight on her wrist and lifted her sleeve to look at the bracelet.
She saw this as the reason for her misery. It was the thing that tied her to Malfoy and made her think about him. If it were gone, she would be able to move on.
Ginny fumbled with the bracelet, taking it off her wrist. She raised her arm to chuck it down the hall, but couldn�t bring herself to. Instead, she briefly held the bracelet over her heart and then put it back on. She didn�t know why she couldn�t bring herself to throw away something that should�ve meant nothing to her.
~~~~~~~~~~
Draco stumbled into the Charms room, breathing heavily. �I�m sorry I�m late Professor.�
�That�s all right Mr. Malfoy,� Professor Flitwick said cheerfully. �I was just about to ask everyone to hand in their projects. I trust you�ve finished yours.�
�Of course Professor,� Draco said, going to sit down.
�All right,� Professor Flitwick said, clapping his hands together and climbing down from his stack of books, �I�ll be coming around to each person to grade your projects.�
Draco pulled out the original set of bracelets he�d made along with the paper explaining what he�d included and set them on his desk. Then, he waited as Professor Flitwick slowly worked his way over to where he was.
�A nice idea,� Professor Flitwick said to Pansy Parkinson as he held up the flimsy, flowery hat she�d made, �but a little conspicuous and not something that would hold up in the long term. I�ll give it a six out of ten.�
And then, he was by Draco�s desk, reading his paper and examining the bracelets one at a time. �Hmm�� he turned the bracelet the second bracelet over in his hand, �very nicely constructed, made with unicorn hair, nice touch, and a difficult charm to break too. They also look like ordinary bracelets, and expensive ones at that. And the charm is very creative, to warn when the person wearing the other is in danger. A perfect score, Mr. Malfoy, for a nicely concealed tracking charm.�
�Thank you Professor,� Draco said, a bit surprised. He�d known that it would get him a passing grade, but a perfect score?
�If it�s all right,� Professor Flitwick added, �I would like to keep these to show to my students next year as an example.�
�Sure,� Draco said shrugging, �you can keep them.� After all, he didn�t need them now that he had one of his own that he probably didn�t need.
~~~~~~~~~~
�On time for once I see, Miss Weasley.�
Ginny didn�t say a word as she took her seat at the back of the Potions room and set her bag down on the table.
�Today class,� Professor Snape said, �I will be grading your sleeping potions that you made last week. You will be silent for the rest of class time. If I hear one peep out of any of you, it will be a detention for each word.� He went to sit down at his desk where he�d lined up bottles of potion that he�d collected from them last week.
Ginny leaned back in her chair and sighed quietly. It was great to finally have a moment where she didn�t have to either work or pretend to be working. Plus, with the no talking rule, she was guaranteed some peace and quiet.
This thinking only lasted for a few minutes however, as Ginny soon became bored. She opened her bag and tried to find something to do. Unfortunately, all she�d brought with her were her Potions supplies. She was just about to go back to just sitting there, but then something caught her eye.
The knife she used for the class had fallen out of its case. As she picked it up to put it back, she shivered involuntarily. For the second time that year, Ginny pulled up her sleeve and stared at her exposed wrist, marveling at how the veins were so easy to see and so vulnerable.
It was so much better than the poison in that it would be harder for someone to save her, even if she was found in time. There was no antidote and, even if the wounds were healed, it would likely be too late. And besides, this time she wouldn�t be stupid enough to stop right outside a common room.
Ginny tried to convince herself that she was just letting the bad voice get to her, but there was one problem with that. The voice didn�t exist, and she knew it. The voice was her own. Now that she had realized this, it was replaced with a single thought that she knew all too well. Only this time, rather than being fleeting and easily dismissed, as it had been, even at the time she�d taken the poison, it stayed in her mind.
And this time, there was no arguing with it.
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Author's note: I know, I know, it's a bad time for a cliffhanger. I probably won't have a new chapter on this for at least a couple weeks 'cause I'm going to start just working on my Order of the Phoenix story so I can try to finish it before June 21st. Still waitin' for reviews!
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