Not Quite Dark Magic

Bind, Band, Bound

Chapter Text
"I've got to admit, I didn't think either of you capable of pulling a fake death scandall off on me." Draco was sitting now, hands folded in his lap to hide their shaking. In just a few hours he would find himself thrust into a magical ceremony that would bind him to one the witches he hated most. To top it off, he was now sitting in front of his two best friends he had thought were killed off years ago. To say his nerves were shot would be a gross under exaggeration.

Theo merely shrugged before passing Draco a cup of tea. He brought it up to his lips and smelled the faintest hint of Calming Draught. He sent a silent thank you to the man across from him.

"Leaving you behind was the hardest part. I wanted to bring you with us, but Theo said you would never have listened at the time." Pansy's eyes were still red from crying.

Apparently neither her nor Theo were privy to Draco's scheduled appearance. The little swot had insisted it was because the council didn't want to get their hopes up that he was here to stay, but Draco couldn't help but snap at her about old prejudices still lingering. Too bad she had long disappeared by then.

"We knew eventually you would come round and see things the same way we did, but at the time you were climbing ranks so quickly. You were practically high off the power."

Draco couldn't think about how naive he was at the time. "And how did you see things, Nott?"

"That we were fucked six ways til Sunday if we stayed with the Dark Lord."

Despite the high stress that had been the past few days, Draco laughed. Leave it to Theo to make light of war.

"So, are you two both part of her crazy experiment?"

Pansy nodded. "It was their way of ensuring our loyalty. At the time we thought they were barking mad. If we had true intentions to betray them then a silly little spell couldn't stop us."

The implication clouded the atmosphere. "And now?"

"Well, it turns out it was a great strategy on their part," Theo began. "I can hardly stand going a whole day without seeing my partner, never mind fighting on the other side of a war."

Draco raised his eyebrows and clicked his jaw shut once he realized it was hanging open. "And who's your partner?"

"The small Weasley girl."

Draco gaped once again, but turned to Pansy who was averting her eyes. "What about you?"

"Oh, I have Longbottom." She waved her hand nonchalantly. "Draco, let's talk about you and the binding ceremony that's coming up. Perhaps Theo and I could help you prepare—"

"Longbottom? Are you kidding me?"

Pansy threw her arms up in surrender. "I didn't choose my partner, the diagnostic did!" She waved her wand over her head and Draco saw a glaring B1.8 pop up. She then did the same to Theo and noticed an A7.8 floating above him.

"Ginny is a A7.3. We are nearly perfect when it comes to our magical cores pairing up, and frankly there's no use disputing that when you see it on the field."

"Do you enjoy your time with the Weasley then?" He didn't attempt to mask the disgust in his voice.

Theo glared, leaning back against the couch and crossing his leg over the opposite knee. "If you're talking romantically then I kindly ask you to remove your head from your behind. Ginny and I are strictly platonic." He paused, pursing his lips. "But, pretending like you aren't a giant arsehole and were merely inquiring of how the binding has treated our relationship, then I point you to the statement I made earlier. I don't like to be away from Ginny for more time than necessary."