Witches Are. Witches Do.

Chapter 5

Harry wasn't sure how long she sat on the sofa, her thoughts a mile away from all the hustle and bustle around her. She barely even registered Professor Prewett entering the common room to remind the students that it was a weeknight and that classes would not be cancelled the next day.

It wasn't until Hermione sat down next to Harry again, placing a gentle hand on her arm that Harry snapped out of her quiet state of shock.

"I'm so sorry, Harry," Hermione said, leaning closer to Harry so she could be heard over the continuous noise around them. "Here I am celebrating while you're now forced to marry Riddle." Before giving Harry a chance to respond, Hermione leaned even closer, now with a rather shrewd look on her face. "But perhaps there is a way out of the contract now. You told him to break Grindelwald's curse, after all, and we now know there never was a curse made by Grindelwald."

Harry's eyes widened as she stared at Hermione, a small spark of hope erupting in her chest. "That might be a loophole to break the contract." She jumped up, her whole body suddenly alight with purpose. "I'm not sure if that would work, but I know some wizards who probably do know if it's a valid loophole or not. I'll be right back."

Shoving her way through the wild crowd of Gryffindors, Harry managed to find the door almost blindly and once she stepped into the hallway she started running.

Regulus opened the door moments after she knocked, not at all surprised to see her. "Come, we have tea ready." Regulus stepped aside and waved Harry into their quarters.

"I think I've found a loophole!" Harry panted, flopping down on the sofa while her heart hammered in her chest. "I told Riddle he had to break Grindelwald's curse, but it's not a curse by Grindelwald at all as it now turns out, right?"

Severus rolled his eyes while he poured her a cup of steaming tea. "Magic works on intent, Harriet. Your intent was for Riddle to break the curse known as Grindelwald's curse the world over for about half a century. The contract will keep you to that intent, no matter who the curse's true creator turned out to be."

"Oh." Harry accepted the cup while her stomach sank. She barely managed a tiny smile. "Well, it was worth a shot."

"Certainly." Regulus gave her an even stare, face full of calm reassurance. "Now at least you know what to expect from your future. The snitch has been caught and the game has been played."

Harry chuckled at Regulus' choice of metaphor. He had played Seeker in his own schooldays, as he liked to remind Harry every once in a while. But the faint humour she felt disappeared quite quickly when she understood the true meaning of Regulus' words.

The Snitch well and truly had been caught. By Riddle. There was no way out for Harry now and a cold sense of dread seeped into her entire body at the idea of marrying Riddle in a year and a half and then being stuck with him for the rest of her life.

Regulus' smile was full of sympathy. "Harriet, stop worrying so much. Riddle might not be the man you'd have chosen for yourself, but he is the kind of man who truly treasures the things he cares about. He'll treat you well, if you let him."

"I'm not a thing," Harry snarled, voice cracking as her chest suddenly erupted in anger at the whole bloody mess she found herself in.

Regulus tsk-ed and shook his head in a disapproving way. "Don't go to war over semantics. So far the preliminary marriage contract is very favourable for you and Riddle both. You'll be able to do what you like for the most part."

Harry gritted her teeth as she clenched her fingers around her teacup. "But it won't have been my choice to marry him."

"You never had a choice," Severus said with a sneer, taking Harry aback. "The whole bloody system forced witches to marry wizards whether they liked it or not. Perhaps there was an illusion of freedom because you could at least pick the bastards you were forced to spend your life with, but the whole system has been one of sexual slavery for witches for decades now. Nothing more and nothing less."