Wanna Be Saved

- TWENTY ONE -

Chapter Twenty One
The three stages

Bronwyn shuffled her way back to the common room that evening, her grip tight upon the chess set she had been gifted. Her mind running at a thousand miles an hour. She couldn't believe what had just happened, but there was physical proof of the conversation, of everything in her own hands. She was holding onto the promise. 

She, her, Bronwyn Weasley was desirable. Someone wanted her. Someone she wanted back. 

It was a thought her brain could not comprehend, something she could not believe was happening. She thought back to where she was prior to the summer this time last year. Where she was still arguing with Harry, torn over the entire state of the Tri-Wizard tournament. Where, she lost the pillar she held herself upon, when she started to see the world different. When she had turned to the more unusual books as an escape from her current reality. When she was introduced to the world of pureblood tradition. And here she was experiencing something she hadn't even heard of a year prior. But there was no going back. Bronwyn couldn't even fathom the thought of going back to the person she was a year ago. She wanted anything but that. 

Bronwyn cast her eyes to the group of students who sat around the fireplace upon her entrance to the common room. She caught the eye of Harry, who for a second looked keen to speak to her. But Bronwyn couldn't bring herself to stop to even give him an opportunity to speak to her, she was too elated to bring her spirits down by speaking to him. Rather she ignored the people sat, whom appeared to have been other members of the DA most likely lamenting about their detention. Rather heading straight to her dorm room. 

Opening the heavy wooden doors, Bronwyn was greeted by the other three occupants of her dorm room. The girls were currently sat on a combination of blankets and pillows on the floor a handful of copies of 'witches weekly' being passed between them. Bronwyn smiled at the sight, this was something that they had begun to do properly now, and something she would have missed out on was she still stuck in Potter Land as Parvati had once called it. She noted that they had left her usual seat her navy blue blanket gently folded and her soft grey pillow, a new purchase they had all had part of when starting the blanket season, left aside for her to join. 

"Winnie you're back!" Lavender greeted the ginger witch as she sat herself up fully placing her copy of the magazine down. Hermione looked up quickly from her own copy, the oldest witch looked down again intending to not say anything before she paused. 

"What's in your hands Win'?" Hermione questioned her eyes zoning in on the box, an attempt to see what was inside.

"A chess set." Bronwyn attempted to be casual about the ordeal unsure how her friends were going to react. She was aware that other than Hermione they were all pure-blood wizards. However, she was also aware that the idea of courting in the modern day wasn't exactly pushed upon children. Well, it definitely wasn't something Lavender stood by but she was unsure whether Parvati's family were under that idea either. 

"And where'd you get that from?" Hermione continued to question, aware that her best friend wouldn't share anything without a push. A side effect of her upbringing where Bronwyn was under the belief that her thoughts and feelings did not matter as much as her other siblings. 

"Blaise Zabini." Bronwyn mumbled hoping that the three other girls would not hear her. But this would not be to her luck. 

"Zabini got you that?" Parvati spoke up first being the closest seated dorm mate to where Bronwyn was currently. Before making grabby hands and smiling with glee when Bronwyn handed the boxed set over. "Holy shit." She swore before passing the box onto Lavender.

"Fuck me Winnie." Lavender exclaimed passing the box on again.

"I don't get it, it's a nice gift." Hermione stated staring down at the chess set which had been returned to its original packaging before Bronwyn had returned to their dorm. Hermione paused for a moment realising there was something she didn't know. A shocked gasp came from Lavender as all three girls turned to Hermione with their full attention.

"The know-it-all doesn't know it all." Lavender teased and received a joking shove in response. Hermione gave her a look before the four of them giggled at the exchange. 

"Seriously though someone please clue me in, I hate this." Hermione grumbled the last half.

"Bronwyn has just received a courting gift from Blaise Zabini." Parvati gushed leaning over the small distance between them to give Bronwyn a side hug. Something that the group had slowly worked upon to get Bronwyn used to accepting. 

"A courting gift?"

"There's three stages involved in courting which are shown through gifts." Bronwyn started wondering why she wasn't feeling at all embarrassed like she thought she would having to explain it. "The first, is intended to show that the person gifting has interest, that they had payed attention to the gifted, their interest the things they desire."

"The second gift is from the family of the one proposing the courting, a symbol to show that they have been accepted by the family. It could be a comb, hair clip or perhaps cuff links. Courting can go either way though traditionally it is initiated by the male in a heterosexual couple. In other couples it can often be seen started by the magifolk who's the wealthiest." 

"And the final gift is the courting ring, similar to a promise ring. It symbolises that the courting has been accepted and the couple are now together." At her finished explanation Bronwyn looked at her muggle born best friend awaiting some sort of reaction. Yet Hermione remained in the same expression for a while. 

"Does this mean you'll be Bronwyn Zabini now?" Hermione teased and Bronwyn went to pick up her grey pillow and throw it at her best friend. 

"Be careful otherwise I'll set you up with Malfoy." At Bronwyn's words her pillow hit her in the chest.

"Like a stab right to the kidneys there 'Mione." 

As the night passed on, the four teenaged girls returned to their preplanned activity, their minds distracted from their previous detention that afternoon by both the magazines which chortled which member of the Scottish Quidditch team was their soulmate. Bronwyn might have completed her version of the magazines questionnaire to figure it out, but her mind was elsewhere. 

For now she had received the courting gift she had to come to terms with something. And that was that eventually, she would have to tell her parents. She could see her father not really having much to say about it. He seemed to always silently support his children, so that wasn't an issue. Actually she could see him boasting about it to his work colleagues. Anything to get under the skin of the stuck up pureblood's he worked with. It would be more iconic if it was Draco Malfoy, Bronwyn would have paid to see her dad rub it in Lucius Malfoy's face. But she couldn't stand the blonde haired ferret so it was probably a good thing. 

But it would once again be Bronwyn's mother where the issue would lie. Bronwyn could see the look upon Molly Weasley's face the moment she heard the news. She could see the crocodile tears which would fall down her mother's face as the news broke and Molly had to realise that there was now no hope of Bronwyn marrying Harry. Then all the screaming of Bronwyn marrying a death eater, or a potential one, or just someone from a dark family. There would be threats of disownment, of being kicked out, of leaving all of her inheritance to Ginny. To the talks of Molly only having one daughter.

As much as those thoughts initially hurt, Bronwyn soon found herself caring little about them. She could not shake the excitement of receiving a courting gift. And not from the boy she was sure she was starting to really like. And that in itself was more important than anything else her mother told her. 

She also thought it would be kind of iconic that in the future, the possibly pretty far future, that she would have the same initials as her husband.

A/N. Please do take the moment that this book pulls on the ideas shared by invisibleuntilyousee of which I have permission to take her courting ideas and use within this book.

And a kind reminder that most authors on here are happy for people to take inspiration and ideas from their books and use it in your own as long as you ask permission. :) 

S.