The Contract

The Contract: Chapter Eleven -- Research and Understanding


by rdwind

Author’s Note: I have asked someone to look over my chapters and he has agreed – but I may have just guilted him into it. Whatever – as long as he helps me. Thank you Michael. And for Samayel, thank you for your suggestions. Homemade chocolate chip cookies should be sent out any day… Much love – RD


Chapter Eleven – Understanding and Research

Ron Firecalled his father while Hermione went in to check on Mrs. Weasley. She apologized to the Stunned figure and kept her promise to Ron. Studying the features of the woman, she saw a lot of Ron in her face. She was shocked when the spell hit her, and that look had remained firmly in place. Hermione shuddered involuntarily when she thought of what would happen when they released this spell.

She left when Ron called her into the kitchen. Arthur walked in from the living area and sat at the kitchen table. Ron got them all a cup of tea and the teens watched as he sipped it. “So, you felt it necessary to hex your mum? Not quite what I expected to happen today.” He had the hint of a smile, but also a bit of a concern.

“Dad, she was going to go after Harry. She told us about the contract and she was planning to remove Harry from it. I couldn’t let her do it, and…well…I didn’t know what else to do.” He finished a bit lamely.

“Mr. Weasley, would it be so bad for her to go just check on Harry?” Hermione asked with a bit of trepidation.

The two men ignored her completely.

Ron pushed Harry’s letters across the table to let his dad read them both. “Those came after you left.”

He watched his dad read them both. When he finished, he took a sip of his cooling tea. “It seems as though Harry is clearly asking for his family to trust him and give him some time for the bond to settle. I don’t think that is an unreasonable thing to ask. If he were not safe, I believe at this point, there is not much we could do about it.”

Ron seemed relieved while Hermione was fighting to keep her mouth shut about Harry’s rights. She couldn’t understand how this could happen, and how they were just going to sit by and allow it without doing something.

“Ron, take Hermione to the library at the Ministry. I’ll give you passes for research. Take your quills and parchment. You should probably not be here when I Enervate your mother. I doubt it will be a pretty sight and I believe that if I don’t have to protect you, it will be easier. Stop by the joke shop and ask the rest to stay away until supper.” He wrote out passes and sealed them with his wand.

The teens went to their rooms to get ready while Arthur poured himself another cup of tea. 'I cannot believe one of my sons is going to have to live with that bastard of a Wizard, Lucius Malfoy.,' he thought savagely. He and Molly may not have given birth to Harry, but he was their son. And he hated Lucius Malfoy on general principle. But he also knew that his son, Ron, was right. It was high time that he trusted Harry to let them know when it was acceptable. And if Lucius Malfoy did anything to prevent them seeing their son when he was ready, well, he would have something to say about it. And woe betide the man that came between him and his children. Even Molly had never attempted it.

With another sigh, he finished his tea and went to see about his lovely wife.

Ron and Hermione flooed to the Ministry, checked their wands, and were escorted to the library. While Ron was a bit overwhelmed, Hermione was in her element. She understood exactly how to get the books they needed, so while she did that, Ron took the supplies and found a quiet table. Ten minutes later, she returned laden with books about life debts, bonds, and male pregnancy.

With a long suffering sigh, he pulled the top book off the stack and began to read about Life Debt Contracts.

“Molly, dear, I am going to release you.” She did not reply. And with a smile, he removed the Stunning Hex.

Sitting straight up in bed she let out a howl that reminded Arthur of a Banshee. “Molly, calm down.”

“Where is he?” She shrieked.

“Ron or Harry?”

Her eyes flashed dangerously, “Ronald Bilius Weasley. When I get my wand on him, I will spank him like a three-year old!” She made to stand up, but Arthur sat next to her.

“Molly, you cannot spank Ron for protecting Harry. You were in the wrong love, and he did the only thing he could by Stunning you. I found it to be a brilliant course of action.”

“But Arthur,” she began, her eyes filling with tears, “they have our Harry. He is going to be enslaved to that… horrid… egotistical, self-centered, arrogant boy for his last year of education. I can’t even bring myself to think of what they will do to him… Please we have to save him.”

He held her while she cried. In over thirty years of marriage, he had learned to let her have her say, then her cry, then they could talk like adults and rationally come to a conclusion. Before the first two steps however, it would be useless to even attempt to give his view point.

After a time, she settled a bit. Sniffling, she took the offered handkerchief and blew her nose. “Molly, lets get you some tea and talk for a bit, shall we?” She nodded and followed her husband into the kitchen.


********************

They had been in the library almost two hours, Ron was reading silently when he heard Hermione gasp. Looking up, she moved to sit next to him and began to read in a whisper that only he could hear. It was maddening for him to have to look at her mouth to catch the words, because every time he looked at that mouth, his mind just sort of went ‘clunk’.

…a bond is sacred when consummated with blood. Only a few drops are needed to seal the bond and it is usually done with a sacrifical knife, but there are other ways, depending on the end result…”

She read to herself for a moment, then gasp again, “…if blood is drawn during the loss of virginity, the second coupling will result in pregnancy. “ They looked at one another.

“Hermione, you don’t think that they… but Remus told Mum and Dad that Lucius promised James that they would… we need to go home now.”

As they left the library, she pulled Ron into an alcove. “Ron, no matter what happens, we will support Harry...right? If there is a baby, he will need us more than ever.”

He looked at her in the half-light of the alcove, knowing she was saying something again, but as always was lost in those perfect rosebud lips. He tried to pay attention. He honestly did. He agreed with her and before she could move away, he grabbed her arm and gently pulled her against him.

She looked into those caring blue eyes for a moment, before settling into the embrace. He whispered that whatever happened, he promised to support Harry, the ferret, and her with everything he had in him. He could feel her nod. When he released her, he was glad of the robes he had worn over his jeans.


********

As Molly and Arthur sat at the table, they reviewed everything they knew. She acknowledged that she had no right to rush off to Malfoy Manor if Harry didn’t want her to, but also expressed her feeling of uselessness. She was afraid for him. She had been so sure he needed her that she did not stop to consider that perhaps it would be better to allow the magic to keep him safe, rather than the love she felt for him.

The conversation lasted hours until they were interrupted by the Floo. Hermione stepped out first, followed by Ron. Both looked at his parents and then each other, each willing the other to speak.

Finally, it was Ron who told them, “We have found something you need to see.”

Hermione showed the book to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, pointing to the passage regarding pregnancy. Terror filled her eyes as Molly read the passage. “How did you find this? This book is ancient.”

“It was in the Ministry library. I always do thorough research, Mrs. Weasley.” She said as a matter of fact.

“I wonder if Lucius read this at some point in the past few weeks…”Arthur’s train of thought veered down the same track everyone else’s did.

“It would make sense, dad. If Malfoy makes Harry bleed during the consummation,” and he said this with a straight face, “then the second time he is uhm, taken, he will get pregnant. And a pregnant servant loses his name and property to the heir he carries. Right?”

“Not quite Ron, but close. If the term of the contract is a set amount of time, the servant loses nothing. It is all put in a sort of holding pen until the end of the contract. If he decided to continue the relationship, which knowing how much Harry wants a family, he would. Then the holding pen is opened and they will then go to the master. In this case Malfoy.”

“And because Lucius owes Harry a life debt, he is hoping that Harry will carry his grandchild and agree to continue his relationship with his son?” Molly asked incredulously.

Arthur thought for another long moment, but it was Hermione that answered. “It isn’t about the money, it is about the power. His son would be well placed if Harry decided to release a father in law from a life debt. It is about Lucius Malfoy not being in debt to Harry.”

And with that declaration, the four bent their heads together to decide their next course of action.


~~~~~TBC~~~~~