If faced with a boggart, Molly Weasley is definitely sure that it would be the corpses of her family and Harry Potter. She was on the verge of a heart attack after receiving a fire--call from her third child, Percy. Her husband of more than two decades, Arthur, has collapsed while at work. Still unconscious, he was rushed to the hospital. She could not believe that her worst fear is coming true.
Without doffing her apron, she grabbed her purse and wand before quickly apparating to London. She stands in front of a dilapidated building, Purge and Dowse, Ltd . The ever under-renovation department store houses St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. After the mannequin's approval, Molly walks through the window and into the crowded reception area of St. Mungo's.
Looking for the Welcome Witch, she accidentally bumped into a tall slim body.
"Oh sorry dear." Her brown eyes widened when she realized she just apologized to none other than Narcissa Malfoy.
Recognizing that it could be the mother of the red-headed Weasley brood, Narcissa eyes the short plump woman with default disdain before she haughtily walks towards the emergency room.
Molly has no time for the Malfoys' signature arrogance. She has to see Arthur. The receptionist directed her to proceed to the same corridor as Narcissa.
Arthur's tall thin frame is lying limply on the last bed of the emergency ward. Their son Percy is sitting on the stool beside his bed, clutching his father's eye glasses. Seeing her unconscious husband, Molly finally broke down. After a minute or two, Percy pulls away from his weeping mother. He guides her to sit on the stool he just vacated.
"Perkins said that Dad collapsed while they were completing the inventory of bewitched muggle artifacts, " Percy informs a tear-stricken Molly.
"He assured me that none of the confiscated items is laden with dark magic," Percy hesitantly pats her mother's back before handing her his father's eye glasses.
"The healers already performed some tests. We are waiting for the results that would help them correctly diagnose Dad." Molly nods her head, fresh tears rolling down her face.
"You have to fill them in if they ask additional information later" Molly sneezes on the yellow handkerchief she pulled out from her pocket. She glances at Arthur's sleeping form. He has been overworking himself recently, joining raids to earn as much extra money as he could. They still have remaining debts to pay with two out of their seven children sent to Hogwarts yet to graduate.
"Mum. I need to leave now." Molly shifts her focus from her husband to her intelligent son, Hogwarts' prefect and headboy turned Junior Assistant to the Minister of Magic.
"I have to finish up the tasks I left behind. This is an important period for me. With Fudge at the end of his term, I have to seal in a good recommendation to the next Minister." Molly knows that she would have to be satisfied that this is the most filial piety she could get out of an ambition-clad Percy.
"I can call Fred and George so you won't have to be alone here." Molly shakes her head. The twins never got along well with their older brother.
"I'll contact them later. I'm fine here." Molly squeezes Percy's hand. "Thank you Percy dear."
--------
Half an hour has passed since Percy's departure but Arthur has not regained consciousness and no healer has come by to check up on him. Molly tightens her grip on Arthur's hand. She is getting anxious by the minute.
"What is wrong Arthur love?" She whispers to her sleeping husband. She gently arranges his hair that has become unruly and dull orange in color.
"Mrs. Weasley?" Molly looks up to see a wizard in lime green robes. "I am Augustus Pye, Healer-in-training."
"We already have the results from the tests we conducted earlier." He continues. Molly exhales deeply.
"How...how...how is he?" She dares ask. But Healer Pye just gave her a polite smile.
"We need to move your husband first to the fourth floor before we discuss it with you." Molly could not help but clutch her chest as if to still her rapidly beating heart. Is he talking about Janus Thickey Ward where patients of permanent spell damage are admitted?
Molly looks at Arthur but immediately shakes her head, expelling the thoughts about her husband sharing the same fate as the Longbottoms. She pushes the brake before she is consumed with overthinking. It could just be an incorrectly-applied spell.
A hospital aide came to wheel off Arthur's bed out of the emergency ward. Healer Pye quietly led them to the lift. Once they are all inside, he pressed button number 4. It is when Molly felt someone tugging her hand. She glances down to see that her husband has just woken up.
"Hey Mollywobbles..." He says hoarsely. Healer Pye checked his vitals and wrote them down on the chart he is holding.
"Arthur!" Molly exclaimed before hugging him tightly. She only let go when they arrived in the fourth floor. Teary-eyed, Molly still noticed that a man with a wavy blond hair is flashing his set of particularly shiny teeth against the small window pane of Ward 49. Could it be her former idol Gilderoy Lockhart? Molly sighed in relief when Healer Pye did not stop at that door but moved forward to the next labeled as 'Ward 50-VIP'.
Confused, Molly catches Healer Pye's attention before he taps his wand to the french doors.
"There must have been some mistake Augustus." Healer Pye turns to Molly. There is no way that the Ministry is paying for Arthur's hospital expenses. Medical insurance is not one of their desk-job benefits. Even if they do, it is impossible that they would place the head of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office in a private ward like this. He is not important enough.
"I don't think this is the appropriate ward for my husband". Healer Pye raised his eyebrows at her statement.
"We can't possibly afford-" But her explanation has been cut off when Healer Pye unlocked the doors and the aide pushed Arthur's bed towards a marble corridor. They quickly turned to the right wing. Healer Pye then paused to place the pointed end of his wand to the keyhole.
Molly's eyes widened when they entered a luxurious suite. There at the center of the natural wood and plushed fabrics is Lucius Malfoy, propped up on a queen-sized bed. His wife Narcissa is lounging inthe arm chair beside him.
-------
The aide walked out of the room right after Arthur Weasley's bed has been inclined and positioned across Lucius. Molly Weasley tentatively stands beside his husband's bed.
"Welcome Mr and Mrs. Weasley." The head healer greeted the couple who just came in. "I am Hippocrates Smethwyck, the healer-in-charge of this case."
"Augustus."The junior healer handed Hippocrates the charts. The senior healer remained standing in the large space between the two beds.
"We gathered the two of you here in one room..." Hippocrates shifts his gaze from Lucius to Arthur, "To discuss your shared condition."
"Based on the tests we conducted, both of you are inflicted with a special blood curse." With the healer's words, Narcissa instinctively reached out for his husband's right hand. Across the room, she could see that Molly Weasley has done the same.
"It is a serious blood malediction. Once casted, it slowly weakens the victim's body. They can remain asymptomatic for years before the effects resurface. In your case, you suddenly collapsed. The magic in your blood stream is diminishing. The prognosis is not good. This can actually lead to death."
Narcissa tightens her grip on her husband's hand. She could hear Molly Weasley 's sobs.
Hippocrates locked eyes with Lucius before asking, "Who did this?"
He then looked at Arthur waiting for the answer. The whole Wizarding World is aware of the family feud that has been going on between the Malfoys and Weasleys for generations. This is not the first time that they pointed wands at each other.
"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Weasley. This curse is an ancient, pureblood spell tinged with the Dark Arts." With Hippocrates' last statement, Narcissa felt Lucius chuckling. A few seconds after, he is laughing. A cold, evil laugh. Everyone turned their attention to him.
"Dobby!" Lucius bellows. His personal house-elf appears at his left side carrying a scroll stored in a golden tube.
"I think I know who and how it can be reversed." Lucius picks up the tube from Dobby's outstretched hand. "Any ideas Weasley?"
All eyes are now on Arthur's pale face. He is staring at Lucius.
Lucius continues, "Are you sure your father was not on the same house as mine? Because they sure do think alike."
"What does Septimus have to do with-" Molly's defense of her father-in-law halted when Lucius tapped his wand on the golden tube. The scroll inside came out and floated in the middle of the room revealing its content written in blue ink.
"Lucius! Abraxas did not...." Narcissa cried, finally losing her composure. Her memories of 15 years ago flashed on her mind.
It was the Spring of 1982. Lord Voldemort's downfall took place the year before. Lucius came home unscathed from his last trial with the Council of Magical Law. Bearing the connections and wealth of the Malfoy name, he was exempted from being shipped off to Azkaban. He successfully claimed that his Death Eater activities has been influenced by the Imperius Curse.
But instead of being welcomed with open arms by his father, Lucius received a hard slap. Narcissa pulled the then almost 2-year old Draco to her chest.
"Hello to you too Father." Lucius wiped the blood on his busted lip.
"Crucio!" Abraxas pointed his wand to his son. Lucius instantly writhed in pain.
Narcissa shut her eyes, hugging Draco tighter.
"Lucius. What is the Malfoy family motto?" Lucius did not answer. Abraxas flicked his wand again, tightening the invisible ropes around Lucius. Narcissa's husband yelled in pain.
"Answer my question." Abraxas ordered firmly.
"Sanctimonia Vincet Semper" Lucius replied in between breaths.
"And what does it mean?" Several cuts appeared on Lucius' arms and legs. Narcissa was trying her best to control the shaking of her whole body.
"Purity will always conquer" Lucius answered hoarsely. With that, he was thrown to the wall behind him.
"If it is not poor memory, should I assume that it is your ignorance that made you blindly follow your so-called Dark Lord?" Abraxas questioned icily.
"The Dark Lord was all for the purification of the wizarding race. He was creating a world rid of Muggle-borns with us pure-bloods reigning supreme." Lucius' confident response.
Abraxas chuckled sarcastically, "Before you risked the thousand years of Malfoy legacy, did you ever stop to check your Master's family tree?"
"Lord Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin, Father." Abraxas continued laughing like a maniac.
"Yes. Yes. But my son...Despite the noble heritage of his mother's family, he was just an impostor half-blood." Abraxas sneered at the stunned faced of Lucius.
"Half-blood? What are you talking about Father?" Abraxas threw the stack of papers from his desk in front of Lucius.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle. His father was a muggle drugged with a love potion by his mother Merope Gaunt. He was an orphaned half-blood who lured the true pure-bloods like you with his false immortality." Abraxas summarized the papers currently crumpled on his son's hands.
"Tell me Lucius, was it worth it?" With his wand, Abraxas lifted the chin of his son so that they could be eye to eye. "To be a pawn of a king defeated by a baby?"
"Malfoys should at least be the knights behind the winners. Always remember that."
Ten years later, dying of dragon pox, Abraxas Malfoy handed Lucius a magical scroll. Written in blue ink from the blood of the heads of two ancient pureblood families:
"We, Abraxas Malfoy and Septimus Weasley, have agreed to our families' joint peace and solidarity against darkness. As a token of our promise to be the pillars of light of the Wizarding World, the Malfoy heir, Draco Lucius Malfoy will marry the first Weasley daughter in seven generations, Ginevra Molly Weasley before he turns 17. Their love and purity will bind our two powerful families eternally, cleansing our lands of atrocities and evil.
In the event that this vow has been broken, we offer the blood of their fathers, Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley. May their deaths be enough to prevent others from dying."
--------
"Sanctimonia Vincet Semper" Lucius Malfoy continued, "These were my father's last words to me. You see, he chose a blood traitor to be married to the Malfoy family. Because despite your love for muggle-borns and muggles, you retained the purity of your blood line. Not only he could join forces with the light, the winners, he could also punish me and prevent me from going back to the dark."
"What a splendid plan right? Nothing less from a Slytherin." Lucius sneered at Arthur. "That is why I wonder if your father had just been wrongly sorted to Gryffindor or it was that same courage that made him agree to this."
"My father has always advocated for peace and unity even if it has to be with our sworn enemies." Arthur grasped his forehead, massaging it with his left hand.
"I just did not expect that it would come to this..." His open palm turned into a fist.
"I have warned you before Weasley. But did you listen?" Lucius barks from the other side of the room.
Arthur recalled their altercation at a bookstore that escalated into a fistfight. Lucius approached him while their kids were picking out their school books, revealing to him their fathers' agreement.. Being both angry that their children were being cornered into it., they first threw insults to each other followed by punches.
"When I discovered it five years ago...I tried fixing it. I even consulted my son, a curse breaker." Arthur bumps his fist on the bed.
"What did Bill say?" Molly pulls Arthur's left elbow, pleading with her eyes for him to say that this would be resolved.
"That time, he only knows that the curse is not on the scroll itself but in another medium." Arthur's sad reply.
"They casted it in our blood stream Weasley! And we are suffering the consequences." Lucius said sarcastically.
"There must be another way." Molly shakes his husband.
"Ooh I tried. Merlin knows, I tried my best to save my only son from this fate. I used my connections. I even stoop low and reached out to Dumbledore. I consulted experts. But even the Department of Mysteries could not decode a different answer." Lucius exclaimed. Molly turns to the healers.
Healer Smethwyck just shook his head, "As I mentioned earlier Mrs. Weasley, this is a special blood curse. And an ancient one at that. We can only delay the curse for a little bit but it won't save them from their deaths. The real antidote as it turns out is fulfilling the vow. The fushion of the two bloodlines will cleanse the blood of your husbands."
Molly cried on his husband's shoulder. Across the room, Narcissa gently wipes the tears on her face. Her hand intertwined with her husband's. She knows what she has to do.
--------
The healers recommended that Arthur stay for the night. Depending on his response with the potions they prescribed to him, he might remain hospitalized for another two or three days. After the big revelation, Arthur was transferred to another suite on the left wing of the VIP ward. Despite their protests to be moved to a public ward, the Malfoys insisted that it is for everyone's privacy and safety that Arthur be treated as VIP. Besides, the Weasleys won't need to spend a single knut on Arthur's hospital expenses.
Once her husband has already settled and asleep on his private room, Molly stepped out and proceeded to the 5th floor of St. Mungo's. She has agreed to meet Narcissa in the VIP Visitors' Tea Room.
"It has been a long day." Molly reaches out for the cup of chamomile tea in front her.
"Indeed." Narcissa sips her tea gracefully. Despite the recent events, she seems unaffected. "But I believe we have a wedding to plan."
"How much time do we have?" Molly tentatively asks.
"Less than two months." Narcissa replies, taking another sip from her tea. "Draco's 17th birthday is in June".
Molly never thought that she has to organize another wedding this soon. Her eldest, Bill, just got married the previous summer. She just did not expect that the next child she would have to give away is her youngest, Ginny.
"I don't know how to tell this to the rest of the family. More so with Ginny. Everything is just happening so fast." Molly is trying her best to hold her tears in front of Narcissa. This cold and proud woman has seen enough of her vulnerability today.
"First, you have to secure the ring." Molly's brows furrowed.
"Your father-in-law must have given you a ring before he died. It is paired with the ring that Abraxas left with the scroll. It has MW as initials." Narcissa explains. Recognition dawned on the red-head.
"So MW means Malfoy & Weasley? I thought it was for me." Narcissa shakes her head at Molly's naivety.
"I just hope you did not pawn it..." Narcissa said in a low voice. Molly looks like she has been stunned. Is it because she was insulted or she lost the ring? "If you thought it was yours, then you should know where it is, right?"
--------
"Ginny,
Your father was in St. Mungo's for three days. He got discharged yesterday. He is fine and back at work now. Do not tell Ron about this news. Both of you need not worry anymore. Just focus on preparing and passing your O.W.Ls. "
Across from her, Ron is seated beside his new girlfriend but long-time bestfriend, Hermione. They just started dating recently. One reason that they left Ginny and Harry alone in Hogsmeade. The other reason is that they are playing match-maker. Both of them encouraged Harry to finally pursue Ginny after Dean was out of the way. The seeker that he is, Harry continued being nice and sweet to Ginny even after their Hogmeade excursion which she later realized was the trio's elaborate plan for a date. He would subtly walk her to class, wait for her after Quidditch practice, and sit beside her during meals.
"Also do you happen to know where I put the ring your Grandpa Septimus gave you before he died? It is very important that I find it. Please write back immediately if you are aware of its current location.
Love,
Mum
P.S. As much as possible restrain yourself and Ron of being in bad terms with Draco Malfoy. Please do this for us. "
Why was her dad in St. Mungo's? Do they need the ring to pay off the hospital expenses? Do all these have something to do with the prat's family. Ginny chanced a look at the Slytherin table.
"My Dearest Draco,
I apologize if I am not able to send your usual box of sweets with Euri today. I was pre-occupied. Your father was hospitalized for three days in St. Mungo's. He is back in the manor now. Nothing for you to concern about. I hope that you are healthy and doing well in your studies.
Your father and I miss you so much.
P.S. Son, I know you do not get along well with Ronald Weasley but I am asking you to do your best and be kind to him and his sister Ginevra. I know that you won't disappoint us."
Draco scowled at his mother's last statement. Why does he have to be nice with those red-heads? Did their fathers get into an argument again?
Draco glances at the Gryffindor table. There sitting beside Saint Harry Fucking Potter, is Ginevra Weasley staring back at him.
Without doffing her apron, she grabbed her purse and wand before quickly apparating to London. She stands in front of a dilapidated building, Purge and Dowse, Ltd . The ever under-renovation department store houses St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. After the mannequin's approval, Molly walks through the window and into the crowded reception area of St. Mungo's.
Looking for the Welcome Witch, she accidentally bumped into a tall slim body.
"Oh sorry dear." Her brown eyes widened when she realized she just apologized to none other than Narcissa Malfoy.
Recognizing that it could be the mother of the red-headed Weasley brood, Narcissa eyes the short plump woman with default disdain before she haughtily walks towards the emergency room.
Molly has no time for the Malfoys' signature arrogance. She has to see Arthur. The receptionist directed her to proceed to the same corridor as Narcissa.
Arthur's tall thin frame is lying limply on the last bed of the emergency ward. Their son Percy is sitting on the stool beside his bed, clutching his father's eye glasses. Seeing her unconscious husband, Molly finally broke down. After a minute or two, Percy pulls away from his weeping mother. He guides her to sit on the stool he just vacated.
"Perkins said that Dad collapsed while they were completing the inventory of bewitched muggle artifacts, " Percy informs a tear-stricken Molly.
"He assured me that none of the confiscated items is laden with dark magic," Percy hesitantly pats her mother's back before handing her his father's eye glasses.
"The healers already performed some tests. We are waiting for the results that would help them correctly diagnose Dad." Molly nods her head, fresh tears rolling down her face.
"You have to fill them in if they ask additional information later" Molly sneezes on the yellow handkerchief she pulled out from her pocket. She glances at Arthur's sleeping form. He has been overworking himself recently, joining raids to earn as much extra money as he could. They still have remaining debts to pay with two out of their seven children sent to Hogwarts yet to graduate.
"Mum. I need to leave now." Molly shifts her focus from her husband to her intelligent son, Hogwarts' prefect and headboy turned Junior Assistant to the Minister of Magic.
"I have to finish up the tasks I left behind. This is an important period for me. With Fudge at the end of his term, I have to seal in a good recommendation to the next Minister." Molly knows that she would have to be satisfied that this is the most filial piety she could get out of an ambition-clad Percy.
"I can call Fred and George so you won't have to be alone here." Molly shakes her head. The twins never got along well with their older brother.
"I'll contact them later. I'm fine here." Molly squeezes Percy's hand. "Thank you Percy dear."
--------
Half an hour has passed since Percy's departure but Arthur has not regained consciousness and no healer has come by to check up on him. Molly tightens her grip on Arthur's hand. She is getting anxious by the minute.
"What is wrong Arthur love?" She whispers to her sleeping husband. She gently arranges his hair that has become unruly and dull orange in color.
"Mrs. Weasley?" Molly looks up to see a wizard in lime green robes. "I am Augustus Pye, Healer-in-training."
"We already have the results from the tests we conducted earlier." He continues. Molly exhales deeply.
"How...how...how is he?" She dares ask. But Healer Pye just gave her a polite smile.
"We need to move your husband first to the fourth floor before we discuss it with you." Molly could not help but clutch her chest as if to still her rapidly beating heart. Is he talking about Janus Thickey Ward where patients of permanent spell damage are admitted?
Molly looks at Arthur but immediately shakes her head, expelling the thoughts about her husband sharing the same fate as the Longbottoms. She pushes the brake before she is consumed with overthinking. It could just be an incorrectly-applied spell.
A hospital aide came to wheel off Arthur's bed out of the emergency ward. Healer Pye quietly led them to the lift. Once they are all inside, he pressed button number 4. It is when Molly felt someone tugging her hand. She glances down to see that her husband has just woken up.
"Hey Mollywobbles..." He says hoarsely. Healer Pye checked his vitals and wrote them down on the chart he is holding.
"Arthur!" Molly exclaimed before hugging him tightly. She only let go when they arrived in the fourth floor. Teary-eyed, Molly still noticed that a man with a wavy blond hair is flashing his set of particularly shiny teeth against the small window pane of Ward 49. Could it be her former idol Gilderoy Lockhart? Molly sighed in relief when Healer Pye did not stop at that door but moved forward to the next labeled as 'Ward 50-VIP'.
Confused, Molly catches Healer Pye's attention before he taps his wand to the french doors.
"There must have been some mistake Augustus." Healer Pye turns to Molly. There is no way that the Ministry is paying for Arthur's hospital expenses. Medical insurance is not one of their desk-job benefits. Even if they do, it is impossible that they would place the head of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office in a private ward like this. He is not important enough.
"I don't think this is the appropriate ward for my husband". Healer Pye raised his eyebrows at her statement.
"We can't possibly afford-" But her explanation has been cut off when Healer Pye unlocked the doors and the aide pushed Arthur's bed towards a marble corridor. They quickly turned to the right wing. Healer Pye then paused to place the pointed end of his wand to the keyhole.
Molly's eyes widened when they entered a luxurious suite. There at the center of the natural wood and plushed fabrics is Lucius Malfoy, propped up on a queen-sized bed. His wife Narcissa is lounging inthe arm chair beside him.
-------
The aide walked out of the room right after Arthur Weasley's bed has been inclined and positioned across Lucius. Molly Weasley tentatively stands beside his husband's bed.
"Welcome Mr and Mrs. Weasley." The head healer greeted the couple who just came in. "I am Hippocrates Smethwyck, the healer-in-charge of this case."
"Augustus."The junior healer handed Hippocrates the charts. The senior healer remained standing in the large space between the two beds.
"We gathered the two of you here in one room..." Hippocrates shifts his gaze from Lucius to Arthur, "To discuss your shared condition."
"Based on the tests we conducted, both of you are inflicted with a special blood curse." With the healer's words, Narcissa instinctively reached out for his husband's right hand. Across the room, she could see that Molly Weasley has done the same.
"It is a serious blood malediction. Once casted, it slowly weakens the victim's body. They can remain asymptomatic for years before the effects resurface. In your case, you suddenly collapsed. The magic in your blood stream is diminishing. The prognosis is not good. This can actually lead to death."
Narcissa tightens her grip on her husband's hand. She could hear Molly Weasley 's sobs.
Hippocrates locked eyes with Lucius before asking, "Who did this?"
He then looked at Arthur waiting for the answer. The whole Wizarding World is aware of the family feud that has been going on between the Malfoys and Weasleys for generations. This is not the first time that they pointed wands at each other.
"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Weasley. This curse is an ancient, pureblood spell tinged with the Dark Arts." With Hippocrates' last statement, Narcissa felt Lucius chuckling. A few seconds after, he is laughing. A cold, evil laugh. Everyone turned their attention to him.
"Dobby!" Lucius bellows. His personal house-elf appears at his left side carrying a scroll stored in a golden tube.
"I think I know who and how it can be reversed." Lucius picks up the tube from Dobby's outstretched hand. "Any ideas Weasley?"
All eyes are now on Arthur's pale face. He is staring at Lucius.
Lucius continues, "Are you sure your father was not on the same house as mine? Because they sure do think alike."
"What does Septimus have to do with-" Molly's defense of her father-in-law halted when Lucius tapped his wand on the golden tube. The scroll inside came out and floated in the middle of the room revealing its content written in blue ink.
"Lucius! Abraxas did not...." Narcissa cried, finally losing her composure. Her memories of 15 years ago flashed on her mind.
It was the Spring of 1982. Lord Voldemort's downfall took place the year before. Lucius came home unscathed from his last trial with the Council of Magical Law. Bearing the connections and wealth of the Malfoy name, he was exempted from being shipped off to Azkaban. He successfully claimed that his Death Eater activities has been influenced by the Imperius Curse.
But instead of being welcomed with open arms by his father, Lucius received a hard slap. Narcissa pulled the then almost 2-year old Draco to her chest.
"Hello to you too Father." Lucius wiped the blood on his busted lip.
"Crucio!" Abraxas pointed his wand to his son. Lucius instantly writhed in pain.
Narcissa shut her eyes, hugging Draco tighter.
"Lucius. What is the Malfoy family motto?" Lucius did not answer. Abraxas flicked his wand again, tightening the invisible ropes around Lucius. Narcissa's husband yelled in pain.
"Answer my question." Abraxas ordered firmly.
"Sanctimonia Vincet Semper" Lucius replied in between breaths.
"And what does it mean?" Several cuts appeared on Lucius' arms and legs. Narcissa was trying her best to control the shaking of her whole body.
"Purity will always conquer" Lucius answered hoarsely. With that, he was thrown to the wall behind him.
"If it is not poor memory, should I assume that it is your ignorance that made you blindly follow your so-called Dark Lord?" Abraxas questioned icily.
"The Dark Lord was all for the purification of the wizarding race. He was creating a world rid of Muggle-borns with us pure-bloods reigning supreme." Lucius' confident response.
Abraxas chuckled sarcastically, "Before you risked the thousand years of Malfoy legacy, did you ever stop to check your Master's family tree?"
"Lord Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin, Father." Abraxas continued laughing like a maniac.
"Yes. Yes. But my son...Despite the noble heritage of his mother's family, he was just an impostor half-blood." Abraxas sneered at the stunned faced of Lucius.
"Half-blood? What are you talking about Father?" Abraxas threw the stack of papers from his desk in front of Lucius.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle. His father was a muggle drugged with a love potion by his mother Merope Gaunt. He was an orphaned half-blood who lured the true pure-bloods like you with his false immortality." Abraxas summarized the papers currently crumpled on his son's hands.
"Tell me Lucius, was it worth it?" With his wand, Abraxas lifted the chin of his son so that they could be eye to eye. "To be a pawn of a king defeated by a baby?"
"Malfoys should at least be the knights behind the winners. Always remember that."
Ten years later, dying of dragon pox, Abraxas Malfoy handed Lucius a magical scroll. Written in blue ink from the blood of the heads of two ancient pureblood families:
"We, Abraxas Malfoy and Septimus Weasley, have agreed to our families' joint peace and solidarity against darkness. As a token of our promise to be the pillars of light of the Wizarding World, the Malfoy heir, Draco Lucius Malfoy will marry the first Weasley daughter in seven generations, Ginevra Molly Weasley before he turns 17. Their love and purity will bind our two powerful families eternally, cleansing our lands of atrocities and evil.
In the event that this vow has been broken, we offer the blood of their fathers, Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley. May their deaths be enough to prevent others from dying."
--------
"Sanctimonia Vincet Semper" Lucius Malfoy continued, "These were my father's last words to me. You see, he chose a blood traitor to be married to the Malfoy family. Because despite your love for muggle-borns and muggles, you retained the purity of your blood line. Not only he could join forces with the light, the winners, he could also punish me and prevent me from going back to the dark."
"What a splendid plan right? Nothing less from a Slytherin." Lucius sneered at Arthur. "That is why I wonder if your father had just been wrongly sorted to Gryffindor or it was that same courage that made him agree to this."
"My father has always advocated for peace and unity even if it has to be with our sworn enemies." Arthur grasped his forehead, massaging it with his left hand.
"I just did not expect that it would come to this..." His open palm turned into a fist.
"I have warned you before Weasley. But did you listen?" Lucius barks from the other side of the room.
Arthur recalled their altercation at a bookstore that escalated into a fistfight. Lucius approached him while their kids were picking out their school books, revealing to him their fathers' agreement.. Being both angry that their children were being cornered into it., they first threw insults to each other followed by punches.
"When I discovered it five years ago...I tried fixing it. I even consulted my son, a curse breaker." Arthur bumps his fist on the bed.
"What did Bill say?" Molly pulls Arthur's left elbow, pleading with her eyes for him to say that this would be resolved.
"That time, he only knows that the curse is not on the scroll itself but in another medium." Arthur's sad reply.
"They casted it in our blood stream Weasley! And we are suffering the consequences." Lucius said sarcastically.
"There must be another way." Molly shakes his husband.
"Ooh I tried. Merlin knows, I tried my best to save my only son from this fate. I used my connections. I even stoop low and reached out to Dumbledore. I consulted experts. But even the Department of Mysteries could not decode a different answer." Lucius exclaimed. Molly turns to the healers.
Healer Smethwyck just shook his head, "As I mentioned earlier Mrs. Weasley, this is a special blood curse. And an ancient one at that. We can only delay the curse for a little bit but it won't save them from their deaths. The real antidote as it turns out is fulfilling the vow. The fushion of the two bloodlines will cleanse the blood of your husbands."
Molly cried on his husband's shoulder. Across the room, Narcissa gently wipes the tears on her face. Her hand intertwined with her husband's. She knows what she has to do.
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The healers recommended that Arthur stay for the night. Depending on his response with the potions they prescribed to him, he might remain hospitalized for another two or three days. After the big revelation, Arthur was transferred to another suite on the left wing of the VIP ward. Despite their protests to be moved to a public ward, the Malfoys insisted that it is for everyone's privacy and safety that Arthur be treated as VIP. Besides, the Weasleys won't need to spend a single knut on Arthur's hospital expenses.
Once her husband has already settled and asleep on his private room, Molly stepped out and proceeded to the 5th floor of St. Mungo's. She has agreed to meet Narcissa in the VIP Visitors' Tea Room.
"It has been a long day." Molly reaches out for the cup of chamomile tea in front her.
"Indeed." Narcissa sips her tea gracefully. Despite the recent events, she seems unaffected. "But I believe we have a wedding to plan."
"How much time do we have?" Molly tentatively asks.
"Less than two months." Narcissa replies, taking another sip from her tea. "Draco's 17th birthday is in June".
Molly never thought that she has to organize another wedding this soon. Her eldest, Bill, just got married the previous summer. She just did not expect that the next child she would have to give away is her youngest, Ginny.
"I don't know how to tell this to the rest of the family. More so with Ginny. Everything is just happening so fast." Molly is trying her best to hold her tears in front of Narcissa. This cold and proud woman has seen enough of her vulnerability today.
"First, you have to secure the ring." Molly's brows furrowed.
"Your father-in-law must have given you a ring before he died. It is paired with the ring that Abraxas left with the scroll. It has MW as initials." Narcissa explains. Recognition dawned on the red-head.
"So MW means Malfoy & Weasley? I thought it was for me." Narcissa shakes her head at Molly's naivety.
"I just hope you did not pawn it..." Narcissa said in a low voice. Molly looks like she has been stunned. Is it because she was insulted or she lost the ring? "If you thought it was yours, then you should know where it is, right?"
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"Ginny,
Your father was in St. Mungo's for three days. He got discharged yesterday. He is fine and back at work now. Do not tell Ron about this news. Both of you need not worry anymore. Just focus on preparing and passing your O.W.Ls. "
Across from her, Ron is seated beside his new girlfriend but long-time bestfriend, Hermione. They just started dating recently. One reason that they left Ginny and Harry alone in Hogsmeade. The other reason is that they are playing match-maker. Both of them encouraged Harry to finally pursue Ginny after Dean was out of the way. The seeker that he is, Harry continued being nice and sweet to Ginny even after their Hogmeade excursion which she later realized was the trio's elaborate plan for a date. He would subtly walk her to class, wait for her after Quidditch practice, and sit beside her during meals.
"Also do you happen to know where I put the ring your Grandpa Septimus gave you before he died? It is very important that I find it. Please write back immediately if you are aware of its current location.
Love,
Mum
P.S. As much as possible restrain yourself and Ron of being in bad terms with Draco Malfoy. Please do this for us. "
Why was her dad in St. Mungo's? Do they need the ring to pay off the hospital expenses? Do all these have something to do with the prat's family. Ginny chanced a look at the Slytherin table.
"My Dearest Draco,
I apologize if I am not able to send your usual box of sweets with Euri today. I was pre-occupied. Your father was hospitalized for three days in St. Mungo's. He is back in the manor now. Nothing for you to concern about. I hope that you are healthy and doing well in your studies.
Your father and I miss you so much.
P.S. Son, I know you do not get along well with Ronald Weasley but I am asking you to do your best and be kind to him and his sister Ginevra. I know that you won't disappoint us."
Draco scowled at his mother's last statement. Why does he have to be nice with those red-heads? Did their fathers get into an argument again?
Draco glances at the Gryffindor table. There sitting beside Saint Harry Fucking Potter, is Ginevra Weasley staring back at him.
Author notes: This is the hardest and longest chapter I have to write so far, not only for this story but for the rest of my fanfiction works. It felt like I tackled something big. The magical agreement, the blood curse, the face-off. I thought of the blue ink because pureblood can be compared to a royal blood, symbolized as blue. I got the concept of the ring for each family from Goong/Princess Hours. Everything Harry Potter- characters, jargons, and places belong to J.K. Rowling. HP Lexicon and Harry Potter fandom websites serve as my reference. The rest is the product of my neurons working really hard.
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