Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Hermione Granger and the Weasley Wedding ❯ The Unbreakable Vow of Love ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8: The Unbreakable Vow of Love

 

Two weeks had passed since Ron's proposal, and Professor McGonagall was due at The Burrow any moment. Ron and Hermione were dressed back in their normal everyday clothes, their dress robes safely back in their trunks. Hermione had been ill that morning, and she had told Ron that she thought it was nerves about McGonagall telling them whatever it was she was going to tell them. Ron and Hermione were in the kitchen. It was a Saturday and everyone had gone to Diagon Alley for the day to give them the privacy they needed. Fred and George were releasing another new product in their shop, and Ginny and Harry wanted to see it firsthand. They had something called “Water Whooshes” that made you have to go to the lavatory so that you could get out of class and stay for a long time. They had thought it was excellent, but Hermione had to disagree. They were great pranks to play on people, but helping students get out of class was not exactly Hermione's idea of fun.

A puff of green smoke emitted from the fireplace, and Professor McGonagall appeared. She had traveled by Floo Powder. She brushed the greenish powder off her sleeves. “Well, let me offer my congratulations, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger.” McGonagall was smiling at them with a sparkle in her eyes. “However, in the wizarding world, there are more than just marriage licenses that bind our marriages. In the wizarding world, we take our own set of vows at the wedding. But one vow must be taken before the marriage can take place. This vow is called The Unbreakable Vow of Love.” McGonagall sat down at the table. “This vow is the most serious of all. Most of the time the couple that is getting married takes this vow together the day before the wedding. But, as I am here to tell you the rest of the rules about this vow, I should tell you more. Like many things in our world, there are exceptions for when this vow can be made. One rule about this vow is that you must say the words aloud. However, if such circumstances render you unable to do so, you must picture the person in your mind you are making the vow to, and think the words clearly, wiping your mind clean of anything else. Another exceptional feature about this vow is that if you are in trouble, and you say the words of the vow, whether you've made it before or not, this will alert that person to where you are by sending a message with the address on it directly to him or her.”

“Why would it have that feature?” Hermione puzzled.

“Well, the wizard that put this vow into existence was constantly getting into troubles and needed a way to contact someone who could help him or get help without the use of a wand. Often he was disarmed when he needed help. Also, if the witch or wizard is under any spell that is not one of the Unforgivable Curses, as soon as the words are uttered or thought with conviction, the spell will be lifted, and the persecutor will be unable to hex or otherwise put a spell on the said witch or wizard. It's sort of like an unspoken Finite Incantatem.”

“Professor McGonagall, how many times have you given this speech? That's a lot to memorize,” Ron stated.

“At least three times a year, Mr. Weasley. I have to give it every time a witch and wizard that I know personally are getting married. Sometimes it is more often. Thus far, though, Harry and Ginny is the only other couple this year. However, this vow does not apply to mixed marriages, meaning a witch or wizard marrying a Muggle.”

“But, Professor, why is it called unbreakable?” Hermione inquired.

“That, Ms. Granger, is because once you have made this vow, you are bound to the person you make it to for life. If you do ever break it, the consequences would be dire.”

“What kinds of consequences?” Ron squeaked.

“Well, if Ms. Granger was to make the vow to you and told another wizard or Muggle that she loved him in the same way she loves you and meant it; your emotional heart would break inside you. Many wizards in St. Mungo's suffer from this malady. Thus far, I'm afraid; there is no cure for a broken heart. However, only Dark witches and wizards have done this to people they do not care for. The people in St. Mungo's writhe in pain day and night and must be sedated all the time to keep the pain from them.”

“Excuse me, Professor, but couldn't they just have their memories modified?” Hermione asked.

“Believe me, they have tried. The people can't remember why their heart is broken, but it still hurts afterward. This is a very serious curse you would risk if you broke this vow. I wouldn't advise it. Now you must decide if you two are truly ready to take that step. When you get ready to take the vow, you must say the words `I make The Unbreakable Vow of Love to' and fill in that person's first and last name. I must return to Hogwarts. My job here is done. See you at the beginning of the school year, then. Good day.” McGonagall dropped a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace, stepped into it, and clearly said, “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” With a poof of green smoke, she was gone.

“Ron,” Hermione began, “are we ready for this? I don't want you to do it unless you are absolutely sure. I know we have another two weeks to think about it, but—”

“I love you, Hermione. I would take the vow today, if I could.”

“Oh, Ron,” she gushed, relieved to hear him say it. She wasn't exactly ready, but for Ron, she would do anything.

 

At dinner that evening, the family ate and chatted companionably. Bill and Fleur had finally gone home, taking Ellie with them. Charlie had gone back to Romania, and would return the day before the wedding. Harry and Ginny had gone to Grimmauld Place to get all their things settled and spend some time with Sirius Black before the wedding. Ginny's sickness was beginning to subside, and her clothes were beginning to fit a bit tightly around her waistline. Fred and George were showing up for dinner, but sleeping in their flat in Diagon Alley. No one said a word about The Unbreakable Vow of Love, although Hermione suspected Mr. and Mrs. Weasley knew about it, as they had to take it when they got married. When dinner was over, and everyone else had gone to bed, Ron headed up the stairs. Hermione told him she would be in his room in a little while.

She went back into Ginny's old room to get undressed. She pulled her hair free of its binding and let it fall past her shoulders. She shook it and brushed the tangles out. Ron liked her hair down when they were together at night. He told her all the time how beautiful she was. She thought that she was rather plain and that her hair was rather bushy, but apparently he liked plain and bushy. She laid her brush down on the dresser, and pulled her shirt over her head, and removed her jeans she had been wearing. She stood in front of Ginny's full-length mirror to do a self-inspection. She had thought that she was too skinny, but it seemed to her in the past couple of weeks that she had put on a few pounds. She turned from the mirror to get Ron's shirt to put on. Suddenly, from behind, she felt an arm snake around her naked waist and a hand clap over her mouth. She struggled hard against it, but the arm felt as if it were made of indestructible steel. Whoever her attacker was pushed her down on the floor and threw himself on top of her to pin her down. She was struggling so, she didn't get a good look at him. She only knew it was a man. He pulled out his wand and muttered, “Stupefy.”

Meanwhile, Ron was in his room wondering where Hermione was. It wasn't like her to take this long to come to his room. Perhaps she had been tired and fallen asleep downstairs. Ron eventually drifted off to sleep, thinking that she would wake him when she arrived.

 

“Enervate.” When Hermione came to, she was in a dark room. She was lying on an itchy mattress. It wasn't made any better by the fact that she was still wearing nothing but her under things. She sat up to look around, and could just make out a large figure, probably that of a man, sitting in a chair in the corner.

“It is good to see you again, Hermione.” The voice that reached her ears sounded strangely familiar, but she was still a bit disoriented.

“Who are you? Where am I? Where's Ron?”

“Oh, I can see already I am going to have to shut you up, aren't I? You ask far too many questions. Langlock.” A white light shot out of the end of his wand, and suddenly, Hermione found herself unable to talk. Her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth. She couldn't make a sound. All she could do was sit there and listen. Wait, she thought to herself, I can run. I can leave. She didn't have her wand, though, to cast any sort of spell at him. All the non-verbal spells she knew required the use of her wand. She decided to make a run for it. She jumped up and ran for the door. But her captor was the quicker one. “Locomotor Mortis!” he cried causing her to fall flat to the floor, her legs locked together. He laughed as he rose, picked her up, and threw her down onto the mattress. “I have some business to take care of, and although I'm sure those spells would be sufficient to keep you in this room, I can't go taking any chances. Petrificus Totalus.” He left the room, leaving Hermione with just her thoughts. She was in a full body bind, the very same she had used on Neville Longbottom her first year at Hogwarts. She now knew how he felt, poor boy. How long had it been since she had been taken from The Burrow? Would Ron realize that she was gone? Surely he would. These thoughts coursed through her head, and she felt tears leak out of the corners of her eyes. Would she ever see Ron again? How would he find her? She didn't even know where she was. The light leaking in the mostly-covered window told her that it couldn't still be nighttime. The man who had captured her had left her stupefied for who knew how long. It could have been only hours, but then again; it could have been for days. Her hopelessness made her think that there was no way out of there. Her eyes were adjusting to the dimly lit room. It wasn't bad or anything. There was a bed on the other side of the room. She assumed that was where he was sleeping. She was lying on a mattress against the opposite wall, and his chair was in the corner. There was a desk under the window, and she assumed that was where the chair went. This was all her limited vision would allow, as she was lying on her side and could not turn over because of the spell.

A little while later, but what seemed like an eternity to Hermione, he finally returned. As soon as he walked in the door, he removed the spells that had kept her immobile for so long. She was still unable to speak. “Now, to get down to business as to why I brought you here—you must know.” He moved a little closer, and had she been able to, she would have gasped at who was standing before her. “Yes, it is I, Viktor Krum. I have reclaimed my love. It is a good thing I did so before you took that ridiculous vow to that Ronald.” She realized now why she had not realized who it was. He had said her name correctly. Had he called her “Hermioninny,” she would have known right away that it was Krum. He was grinning at her, but suddenly something occurred to her. He had said something about the vow. He had gotten her before she took the vow. What all had McGonagall said that vow could do if taken? She wracked her brain trying to remember all the rules and regulations. All she could think of was Ron lying in St. Mungo's with his heart broken. Krum broke her train of thought when he continued speaking.

“Now, you will take that vow to me, and you will belong to me forever!” he crowed. He removed the Langlock spell. “Now say the words. Say it!” he commanded.

“Never!” Hermione screeched at him.

“Crucio!” he cried. Hermione felt the most agonizing pain she had ever felt. She screamed and writhed with the pain. It felt like her insides were imploding, and she wished for death. He lowered his wand and the pain subsided. “Now, say the words.”

“I won't…do it,” she gasped. Suddenly a knock on the door broke through the roaring in Hermione's ears.

“Petrificus Totalus,” he muttered, rendering her incapable of movement. He threw the blanket over her quickly so that she was hidden from view.

He opened the door, and Hermione heard the words “room service” from a lady outside the door. This meant that they were at an inn of some sort. “Not now. Please come back later,” Krum responded politely. The door shut, and he pulled the blanket off her and removed the spell. “Now, as I was saying,” he continued as if nothing had happened out of the ordinary, “say it!”

Unexpectedly, it was as if a spark went off in her head. She smiled up at Krum. She had decided to take the vow.

 

Ron had awoken to no Hermione. That was rather unusual, but he couldn't very well voice his concern to his parents. He was talking to Harry about it. “Yeah, Harry, I'm sure that would sound wonderful. I could just say, oh by the way, Mum, I think something's wrong with Hermione. When she asks why, I'll just up and tell her, well she didn't come to my room last night and make love to me. We've been at it for about a month now. Didn't you know?” Sarcasm was dripping from every word of this.

“You're right, Ron. Why don't you just go upstairs and knock on her door?” Harry asked. Ginny was at Grimmauld Place. Harry had come when Ron had put his head in the fireplace and told him to get there immediately.

“I've done that about a million times. She won't answer.”

“So go in the room and see if she's there.”

“Oh, all right.” Ron traipsed up the stairs and opened the door to Ginny's old room. “Lumos,” Ron muttered, as it was dark in the room, and the curtains were pulled over the window. The bed had not been slept in. Hermione's shirt and pants from the day before lay on the floor in front of the dresser. There was something over by the closet, glinting from the floor in the light from his wand. He walked over to examine it. It was an emblem of some kind that appeared to have possibly been pinned to a piece of clothing and fallen off. He didn't think it was Hermione's. He turned it over to look at the front. What he saw emblazoned on the front made his heart drop to his feet: VK

Ron only knew one person with those initials: Viktor Krum. “Harry!” Ron called, terrified of what had become of his Hermione. Harry was by his side in less than an instant, and Ron showed him what he had found. Harry and Ron turned to go downstairs to discuss this when the room filled with white light. Ron squinted against its brightness. Hermione's face was smiling at him through the light. “What do you suppose it means?” he yelled to Harry. Harry just shook his head. A piece of paper floated into Ron's hand. It read:

The Leaky Cauldron

Room 13

The light disappeared, and Ron handed the piece of paper to Harry. “Want to come with me?” he asked.

Harry shook his head. “I think you've got to do it alone, mate.”

 

“How could I be so stupid?” she said more to herself than to him. McGonagall had said that once made, The Unbreakable Vow of Love would protect against his spells and tell Ron where she was. Krum was smiling, thinking that she was about to make the vow to him. She pictured Ron Weasley just as clearly as she could in her head. Her image of him was sweet. He was putting the engagement ring on her finger. She spoke the words, “I make The Unbreakable Vow of Love to…” she paused, and Krum looked eager. “I make The Unbreakable Vow of Love to Ronald Weasley!” she cried. Suddenly the room was filled with a bright white light. It was so bright that Hermione had to shut her eyes against it. Ron's face appeared in the light. The light changed to a red shower of sparks, and just as it did, the door to the room burst open.

“Expelliarmus!” Ron cried from the doorway pointing his wand at Viktor. Viktor's wand flew to where Hermione was sitting on the mattress. She grabbed it up and pointed it at Viktor as he lunged at her.

“Impedimenta!” she cried. He stopped dead in his tracks looking dumbfounded. “Petrificus Totalus!” she cried again. She threw his wand down on the mattress and rushed at Ron. She nearly knocked him over, because she hugged him with such force. “Let's get out of here!”

“Wait, Hermione. I have one more thing to do.” He walked over to Viktor and stomped his foot on Viktor's face just as hard as he could. He felt bone's breaking under his foot, but he didn't care. He then pointed his wand at each of Viktor's legs and arms and used Lockhart's bone removing spell. “Have fun drinking Skele-Gro!” Ron crowed, and he and Hermione Disapparated.