Bound By Love

"It's bad enough that I am already stuck with a Weasley. There's no way I am going to sink so low as to mingle with the Gryffindors," Draco pointed out.

"Gee! How surprising to hear you say that considering you are the lowest, vilest human that has ever existed," Ginny countered. Then, in an afterthought, she added, "Err...second lowest after You-Know-Who, that is."

"How dare you?" Draco fumed. "Do most people think of me as that?" he wondered angrily. "We are going to sit with the Slytherins. We are the best lot of people in Hogwarts," he insisted.

Ginny snorted in disbelief.

"That is a matter of opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, no matter how flawed they are," Hermione murmured. She was still trying to figure out how to solve this problem. Considering the unrelenting manner Ginny and Draco were both behaving towards one another, she knew it would be difficult to find a compromise.

"Thing are going to get even more complicated if we cannot find a solution soon," she realised with dread.

"We are going to sit with my housemates. You should be honoured that you have the chance," Draco told Ginny, interrupting Hermione's thoughts.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I am so bloody honoured to receive an invitation to sit with oh-so-superior Slytherins," Ginny drawled sarcastically.

Unfortunately, her sarcasm was lost on Draco, who was either too dense to notice or blatantly ignoring it, for he stated simply, "As you should be."

That simple comment sprang Ginny into action. Overwhelmed with fury, she lunged for his throat. "Sarcasm, you idiot. I was being sarcastic. How thick can you be?" Ginny shouted, her hands pressed tightly on his throat. Draco, who was obviously unprepared for her assault, was too stunned to protest. Even after he had recovered from his shock, he was not able to say anything for Ginny's hands, which were tightly pressed against his neck, was blocking air circulation to his windpipe.

"Weasel," Draco managed to squeak, his hands trying to pry his neck free from her hands. Students were starting to enter the Great Hall for their dinner and as they passed the struggling pair, they merely shook their head at the scene. To them, it was a typical Malfoy-Weasley scene though they were slightly surprised that it was the female Weasley who was involved and not her hotheaded brother.

"Like brother, like sister," some of the students snickered as they walked past.

"Get your filthy hands off him," Pansy ordered. She walked over to Ginny and Draco and tried to separate them. Her efforts, however, aggravated the whole situation for she accidentally elbowed Draco's stomach. A shrill, girl-like scream could be heard from Draco as he fell backwards, pulling Ginny with him.

"Oof," Ginny managed as she fell heavily onto Draco, who let out a loud yelp at the impact.

"It hurts," Draco groaned, closing his eyes. He had been stuck with her for less than a day and he was already having a splitting headache and a sore back to top it all off. He opened his eyes again to see Ginny frowning at him. Draco glared. "You are going to be the death of me," he said.

"I don't mind," Ginny quipped, momentarily forgetting that she was still sprawled on top of the person she loathed. Draco smiled wryly at the unexpected reply from her. It was then they noticed their closeness and the compromising situation they were in. However, neither seemed to want to do anything about it as they continued to stare at each other.

"Get off my Draco!" Pansy shouted, breaking the strange moment between them. Ginny quickly moved away from him to allow him to sit up. Draco shook his head furiously as he sat up.

"My headache must be getting worst. For a moment there, I actually thought she is beautiful. I have better taste than that," he thought.

"Both of you really need to control your temper," Hermione scolded. "You're lucky that none of the Gryffindors has arrived yet. Can you imagine what would have happened if they have seen you, especially Ron and Harry?"

Ginny paled. She had totally forgotten about them. "Another thing to add to my worries," she mumbled. Ginny then realised that they had still yet to decide where they were going to sit. "Back to square one and it is all his fault," she scowled.

Noticing the venomous look on Ginny's face, Hermione quickly decided to take charge before another argument started. "Ginny, you have to sit with the Slytherins," Hermione informed her.

"What?" Ginny exclaimed, looking at Hermione as though Hermione had betrayed her.

"Harry and Ron are not yet aware of your situation. If Malfoy sits at our table, Ron will make a scene. You know how hotheaded your brother is," Hermione explained.

"But he will still make a scene if I sit with the Slytherins," Ginny argued.

"I am going to wait here for Ron and Harry and tell them that we have a joint project to discuss so we will be sitting together with Malfoy and Parkinson tonight. They will be suspicious but at least, they will not react as badly as they are going to if they find out about the Soulmate Bands," Hermione continued.

"That thing," Pansy spat as she pointed accusingly at the bracelets. "Does not deserve such a name."

"You were the one who found it," Draco pointed out.

"They'll find out sooner or later. Better to get it over and done with," Ginny said.

"Ginny, if they are to react the way I suspect they will be, they will get in trouble. We don't really want that, do we? Besides, if we have our way, they don't need to know at all," Hermione tried to convince her sulking friend. More students were starting to enter the hall and Hermione moved to stand right in front of Ginny and Draco so as to block their view of the bracelets. "After dinner, we'll go straight to Professor Dumbledore and ask him for help. Hopefully, he will solve our problem by tonight," she added.

Despite himself, Draco did admit (to himself, of course. There's no way the mudblood is going to know) that Granger's plan did sound fairly reasonable. He looked at Ginny to see how she would react to the plan.

Ginny sighed. "Fine," she relented.

Hermione smiled. "You should go now. I'll wait for Ron and Harry and join you later," she said.

"Wait a minute, mudblood. Only purebloods can sit at our table. You are not welcomed," Draco sneered.

"I can't believe you," Ginny grounded out.

Hermione lifted her chin and looked at Draco defiantly. "I am going to sit with Ginny and you can't stop me," Hermione stated with finality.

"You are not welcomed," Draco repeated.

"I'll tell Ron and Harry the truth now. Let them beat you up in front of everyone. Consequences be damned," Hermione threatened.

"You are just bluffing," Draco said uncertainly.

"You wouldn't dare," Pansy said, her eyes widened at the prospect of Draco being bloodied by Potter and Weasley.

"We, Gryffindors, dare to do anything," Hermione announced smugly.

Draco frowned. "Even if what they are about to do is suicidal," Draco finished for her. He turned to walk into the hall, dragging the fuming Ginny with him.

Hermione sighed in defeat. "He has seen through my bluff," she thought.

However, just as Draco was about to enter the doorway, she heard him said, "We'll be expecting you at our table." Hermione smiled triumphantly. Ginny was her friend and she was not about to leave her friend at the mercy of those snakes. Leaning against the wall, she waited for Ron and Harry to arrive.

Ginny threw her spoon frustratedly on her plate and glanced irritably at Draco. Draco appeared not to have noticed her though for he was too busy grumbling as he had been doing for the last ten minutes.

"Stupid Gryffindors...fake bracelets...a soulmate coming from an eccentric family...death sentence..."Ginny heard him muttered between bites. Ginny glowered at the plate in front of her.

"Malfoys don't overreact indeed," she thought sarcastically. "At least he's not the one using his left hand to eat," she mumbled, looking forlornly at the food. She had been struggling to eat with her left hand and it was torturous. She wondered if anyone noticed. The only one who showed awareness over her discomfort was Hermione but there was nothing much Hermione could do except giving Ginny sympathetic looks.

Ginny looked over at Ron, who seemed to have gotten into his 'protective-big-brother' mood for he was glaring suspiciously at her. He looked tensed and ready to spring at any moment. "It must be taking all of self-control not to come over and beat Malfoy up," she observed wryly.

"Irritating Weasley...if only she hasn't meddled...busybody," Draco's words interrupted Ginny's thoughts. Ginny wrinkled her nose in distaste. If he was going to totally immature about the whole thing, she was going to do the same.

Ginny straightened and started grumbling the way Draco had been doing, "Idiotic Slytherins...obsessive Parkinson. If only she hadn't found the dumb bracelet, I would not have been stuck with a bloody ferret..."

She would have continued her rants had Draco not cut in. "Shut up, Weasley. Your voice is spoiling my appetite," he snapped.

"You have been doing the same thing for the last ten minutes. I'll shut up if you shut up," Ginny retorted.

"No one tells me what to do. I'll do as I please," Draco told her.

"Fine. I'll do as I please too and you can't stop me," Ginny countered.

"Fine," Draco replied.

"Fine," Ginny replied.

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Stop it," Hermione whispered as she leaned towards the bickering pair. "People are starting to watch. My back might be facing your brother but I can feel his glare from right across the room," she warned.

Ginny stopped to look at Gryffindors table and true enough, Ron was glaring at them. Ginny gulped. She did not want her brother to cause a scene even though she would love to watch Draco being beaten to a bloody pulp by her brother.

"What? You are not arguing anymore?" Draco asked her, in a taunting manner. Ginny ignored him. "Can't win against me, huh? So you rather keep quiet than suffer the indignity of not being able to best me," Draco said in an arrogant manner. Even though, Ginny was not looking at Draco, she knew he was smirking. It was evident in his tone of voice.

"One more word from you and I will not hesitate to tear you limb from limb and from the looks of it, my brother will be glad to assist me in doing so," Ginny warned. Fortunately for Ginny, Draco had enough sense to keep quiet. The rest of their dinner remained uneventful as everyone tried to ignore each other and focused on finishing their own dinner.

"Are you sure Dumbledore will be arriving soon?" Ginny asked Hermione. They had finished their dinner a few minutes ago and were now waiting for Dumbledore in the hallway that led to his office.

Hermione nodded. "For all we know, he's already in his office. We might end up waiting for him the whole night," Ginny pointed out.

"No. He and the other professors always have a short meeting every Saturday evening. It will end in a few minutes time," Hermione explained.

"I hope so. He better be here soon," Ginny said.

"Can't wait to rid yourself of me, Weasley," Draco commented.

Ginny shot him a peevish look. "You're probably feeling the same way," she remarked.

"Do you even have to doubt?" Pansy cut in before Draco could say a word. Draco glared at Pansy. He had more brilliant comebacks for Ginny's remarks and Pansy had just deprived Draco the pleasure of using them by giving a comeback of her own.

"Students," Dumbledore greeted as he approached them.

"We need your help, professor," Hermione began.

Dumbledore glanced briefly at the chain between Draco and Ginny and nodded. "Follow me," he said simply and led them to his office.

"The Soulmates Band," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "How did you find it?" he questioned.

"I found it on my bed this afternoon. I have no idea where it came from," Pansy answered him.

"Strange," Dumbledore murmured. "What happened then?"

"Well...I...uh...I thought that it can be put to good use," Pansy started hesitantly, trying to avoid Draco's eyes who were definitely boring holes into her.

"Go on," Dumbledore prodded.

Taking a deep breath, Pansy launched into the whole story of how Ginny and Draco ended up chained together.

Dumbledore was silent for a while. Then he said, "It seems that the four of you have already found the solution to your problem."

"But we have already tried it. It doesn't work," Draco pointed out.

"Try again," Dumbledore told them. Then in an afterthought, he added, "Sincerely this time."

"Perhaps you don't understand, professor, how can we confess our so-called love sincerely when we don't even like each other," Ginny clarified.

"Well...it will take time but I'm sure that it can be done," Dumbledore said in a rather candid manner. "Besides, the Soulmates Band would never have closed itself around couples that are not destined to be together."

"What?" Draco and Ginny both burst out.

"Isn't there any other way to free them, professor?" Hermione asked.

"No. The wizard who created it made sure of that," the professor answered. The four students groaned miserably. "The Soulmates Band has never been proven wrong," Dumbledore added.

"There's always the first," Ginny muttered darkly.

"So there's really nothing you can do to help?" Pansy asked, looking slightly hysterical.

"Short of giving them a permanent love potion that might speed up the whole process, I'm afraid there's nothing else I can do," Dumbledore admitted.

"How disappointing," Draco murmured softly, but loud enough to be heard by the rest. Everyone turned to him. He had a look of mock disappointment on his face. Draco, realising that he now had everyone's attention, he continued on, "My father has always told me that you are an incompetent wizard."

"Malfoy..." Hermione warned.

Draco pressed on, his eyes shining with what Ginny swore could be described as disillusionment, "But I thought otherwise. I have never really given credit to what my father says. After all, you are the only one the Dark Lo...uh...you-know-who...has ever feared."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "He is being too dramatic over this. Then again, what do you expect from someone who had pretended to be severely hurt by a hippogriff just so that he could cause Hagrid to lose his job," Ginny thought.

"Enough of this, Malfoy," Hermione scolded and tried to pull him and Ginny out of the office. "Thanks, professor. We better get going now," Hermione said quickly.

"But you can't even release us from this simple thing," Draco finished, mock sadness on his face.

"Mr. Malfoy, I thought the last five years in Hogwarts would have thought you that even the greatest wizard cannot do everything. Voldemort fails to accept that and that itself will eventually destroy him," Dumbledore said. "Now, I think you might want to spend some time discussing about your sleeping arrangements and probably even your classes since both of you are in different years. You don't have much time as the curfew is starting soon."

Both Ginny and Draco paled when they realised the many complications that they were going to face now that they knew they would be stuck with each other for quite a while.

"Let's go," Hermione urged them. "Thanks again, professor," she said as she pulled Ginny and Draco out of the office.

"I'll inform the other professors regarding your circumstances so that they will know what is going on," Dumbledore called out.

"How could you be so rude?" Hermione asked, shooting Draco a reproving look.

Draco shrugged. "I was trying to make him feel as guilty as possible," he replied.

"There probably must be no other way. We'll just have to wait and see," Hermione remarked thoughtfully.

"Wait and see?" Ginny echoed in disbelief. "Do you know how long that might be?" she cried.

"We can't do much about it now, Ginny," Hermione reasoned with her.

"The whole school will know. Ron will know. How about where to sleep or whose classes to attend?" Ginny said, looking agitated.

"The curfew is in a few minutes time," Hermione reminded them. "We have to go back to our dorm now."

Ginny and Draco looked at each other.

"I'm going back to the Gryffindor tower," Ginny informed Draco, her face set with determination.

"You can try but I'm going back to my room," Draco shot back. To prove his point, he started to walk in the direction of his dorm.

Ginny gave a yelp of protest. "Oh no, you don't" she growled and began walking in the opposite the direction. It was a tug of war between them.

"Weasley," Draco protested, tugging harder and harder at the chain.

"No!" Ginny cried, refusing to give in to him.

"Going to your dorm is like asking for an early death. Your brother, Potter and the rest of those Gryffindors are going to beat me to death," Draco said.

"Scared?" Ginny taunted.

"No," Draco answered. They were now facing each other but they were still tugging at the chain between them.

"You are probably scared that my brother is going to rearrange your pretty face," Ginny teased, pleased to have the upper hand.

To Ginny's surprise, Draco's scowl turned into a smirk. "So you think I have a pretty face," he said.

"What?" Ginny exclaimed, clearly not expecting his reaction.

"You think I have a pretty face," Draco repeated, looking rather pleased with himself.

"I didn't mean it in a good way,"" she huffed.

"I'll take it in any way I can and in this case, I think you have just given me a compliment," Draco mused.

Ginny raised her eyebrow. "Was he really desperate for a compliment?" she wondered. Aloud, she said, "In your dreams, Malfoy."

"I don't have to. It has already happened in reality," Draco pointed out.

"Why you insufferable, irritating, taunting...."Ginny ranted.

Pansy closed her ears with her hands. "Their fighting is getting boring," she whined.

Hermione nodded. They were running out of time and Filch might have already started his nightly rounds. "This is for your own good," she muttered and pointed her wand at the arguing pair.

"Silencio," Hermione shouted as sparks shot out of her wand and hit Draco and Ginny.

Both Ginny and Draco jumped slightly at the impact. "What the..."Ginny tried to say but no sound came out. She clapped her hand over her mouth and stared at Draco. He too had the same shocked expression on his face. He opened his mouth to say something and like Ginny, nothing was heard. Realising what had happened, they both turned to the culprit who was smiling sheepishly at them.

"It's you," they mouthed, glaring at Hermione in an intimidating manner.

"Both of you are getting too noisy," Hermione justified her action.

Draco and Ginny were advancing on Hermione, their expression clearly indicated that they were ready to do bodily harm to her.

"We will be going to the Gryffindors dorm tonight," Hermione said quickly. "I don't want to leave Ginny alone with your lot." Ginny stopped and smiled gratefully at her friend. Draco, meanwhile, looked as though he was about to protest but he could not say anything. Hermione smiled triumphantly. "Hmm...the silencing charm really works like a charm. Remind me to use this on you again when you become an insufferable git," Hermione said smugly to Draco.

Draco took a step towards Hermione but Ginny held him back. "Both of you should take turns. Ginny has already sat with your housemates just now," Hermione explained. "We have to let Ron know of this situation too. If he finds out from anybody else, he'll just end up getting a twisted version and starts to hunt you down. So, it's best if we face him now."

Draco still looked as though he disagreed with her. Hermione was about to continue with her explanation about the merit of her plan when Draco nodded unhappily.

"Good," Hermione decided and released the pair from her silencing charm.

"When we get out of this fiasco, Granger, I'm going to make your life a living hell," Draco threatened.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "As if that's something new," she said dryly.

"I'm coming with you," Pansy told them.

"No, you can't," Ginny disagreed.

"Why not?" Pansy asked.

"You just can't," Ginny repeated simply.

"If Granger can sit with us just now, why can't I go to your dorm?" Pansy questioned.

"Because because because!" Ginny shouted in exasperation.

"What good reason indeed," Pansy said sarcastically. Ginny merely let out a humph and looked away.

Pansy took on a hopeful expression. "So can I go to your dorm?" she asked.

"No!" Ginny, Draco and Hermione shouted. The three girls turned to Draco in surprise over his outburst but Draco merely shrugged.

"Why?" Pansy asked again.

Hermione let out a dramatic sigh and said, "If you even have to ask Pansy, I'll doubt you'll even understand."

"Huh?" Pansy managed, looking bewildered.

Draco shook his head. He did not know that being with these three girls could give him such a headache. Usually, he would love to be in the company of girls but as he looked at the three girls who were still arguing..."A whiny, obsessive girl, a muggle-lover and a know-it-all mudblood who knows she is a know-it-all and knows how to flaunt it," he went though in his mind...he decided that this just had to be an exception.

"...the rest if the girls will not be happy to have you there and they'll cut your hair till you're bald while you're sleeping and..." Ginny was trying to convince Pansy and by the looks of it, Pansy seemed to be buying it.

"Girls," Draco called. "It's already curfew time. We need to get going," he informed them.

"Right," Ginny agreed. "Let's go then," she urged as she started in the direction of her dorm. Draco followed her.

Hermione turned to Pansy. "Don't worry. We'll ensure that your precious Malfoy will still be intact by tomorrow," Hermione reassured her and waved her off.

"He'll better be fine or I'll set Crabbe and Goyle on you and Weasley," Pansy relented.

"Deal," Hermione said. She then turned and walked away. As she caught up with Ginny and Draco, she sighed. "One problem over. Now, to face Ron and the rest of the Gryffindors. All the best, Malfoy," she thought as a mental picture of Draco being surrounded by furious Gryffindor males crossed her mind.

To be continued...