The Pact

Another Monday comes too quickly, too bright and too early. Hannah sits on the edge of my bed, gently nudging my legs.

“Hey, Y/n, you’ve gotta get up. I don’t want you to miss breakfast.”

I wake up with a jolt, earning a concerned look from my best friend.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you,” she says softly, holding her hand out to help me sit up.

“No, you’re fine, Han. It’s not you. I’ve just been stressed out,” I reply, wiping the sleep from my eyes.

She scrunches her face up with worry. “I’ve noticed. You haven’t really been keeping me updated on the stuff with your parents recently. Should I be worried?”

Guilt spreads through my chest at her sincere tone, making me feel terrible for keeping so much from her. But can I really tell her? Wouldn’t it put her in danger if I did?

I promised to always be honest with her, and that side of me wins. I just have to make sure I can trust her first. Of course, I already know that I can, but I have to be really certain.

“If I tell you something, do you swear not to tell anyone else? And more importantly, can you promise me you won’t get involved?”

Her eyes widen just a little, a surprised confusion etching itself across her face. “I mean, of course, but… why can’t I get involved?”

I sigh, throwing the covers off of myself and sitting closer to her, holding both of her hands. “Because you’re my best friend, and I can’t hide this from you, but you even knowing puts you in danger. So you staying uninvolved and not telling anyone keeps you safe, because no one will know that you know about it.”

She nods her head slowly, steeling her gaze onto mine. “Okay, I promise.”

“Alright,” I say, taking a deep breath and squeezing her hands. I lower my voice considerably, despite no one else being in the room. “It started with that meeting my family had with the Malfoys. I didn’t know why we were there, but my mum slapped me, and Draco—yeah, Malfoy—actually saw it and helped me. Since then, things have been… complicated. My family’s hiding something big, and the Malfoys are involved, but no one will tell us what. And Draco… we’ve been having to work together to figure out what it is.”

I pause for a moment, swallowing hard before continuing. “So there’s this strange magic—something called a Blood Pact. It’s like this ancient bond between us, and it won’t let us hurt each other. I didn’t even know it existed until our parents forced me to duel him. My spell should’ve hit, but it just… stopped, because a magical shield blocked it. We accidentally activated the pact, and we both have family heirloom jewelry cut from the same diamond that’s laced with protective magic.”

I pull his pendant out from under my shirt and show her the runes etched into it, and the faint warmth it has from me wearing it. “We switched jewelry—this is his, and he has my ring—and the same white light that shielded him from me formed around both of us, and now no one else’s magic can hit us when we’re wearing the pieces.”

She stares at me with her mouth open, looking either terrified or intrigued. Maybe both. “I can’t believe you’ve been dealing with all of that alone.”

“That’s the thing,” I start, looking around once more to make sure no one is around. “I haven’t been alone, not really. Draco and I have this deep bond now that we can’t break, and we can literally feel each other’s pain and emotions. Except I’ve noticed we can only feel the negative emotions from each other.”

“Is that why you’ve been so up and down recently? You’ve been feeling his emotions?” she asks, looking like she’s finally pieced things together.

“Pretty much.”

She nods thoughtfully, studying my features. “So he’s been, like, helping you then? Working with you? I thought you two hated each other.”

“I’m just as shocked as you. But the pact makes us really protective of each other, since that’s what it was meant for. I can still get mad at him—which I am right now, by the way—but I can’t hate him anymore.”

Hannah watches me stand up, grabbing a brush from my bag and starting on my hair to occupy my hands. “All of that isn’t really important, though. I asked Hermione to help me research the runes on my ring, and then she pulled Harry and Ron into it, so they just helped us pull off a heist to find some more information.”

She tilts her head, leaning back onto her hands. “What did you do? Don’t tell me you broke into the ministry or something.”

“No, nothing that extreme,” I say quickly, holding up my hands defensively. “They snuck into my parents study at our manor while we hosted some networking event, and they found a bunch of files full of information about the pact, the stones, and their involvement with… the dark side.”

She stands up, walking over to me. “How bad is it?”

I give her a worried look, chewing on my lip. “Well, it starts with this letter…”

We get ready for the day, me still telling her the rest of the details while she interjects with the occasional question. I know I shouldn’t be telling her any of it, but there’s no doubt in my mind that she’ll keep it all close to her chest.

It starts to feel a little less like we’re discussing a secret plot and death eaters and more like we’re having a girl talk about boys as we sit down for breakfast.

“So, is that where you’ve been sneaking off to recently? To meet up with… him?” she questions, eyebrows raised and not saying Draco’s name to avoid suspicion.

“Okay, yes, but it’s not like… that,” I reply, taking a bite of my toast. “We have to discuss everything we find and come up with plans to, you know, take care of things.”

We keep the conversation vague and cryptic, but I can tell she’s catching on to the one thing I’ve been avoiding talking about the most.

“If it’s not like that, why were you so upset after that comment he made with your parents?”

I groan, the memory of the arranged marriage meeting and the fight I had with Draco after flooding into my mind. “It’s about the principle, Han. I thought we were closer than that, but he made it sound like he was disgusted with the idea of me.”

“Closer, hm?” she asks, wiggling her eyebrows.

I roll my eyes. “Quit that. He wants nothing to do with me outside of business.”

“I knew it!” she exclaims, quickly lowering her voice when she draws the attention of several students nearby. “You’re hurt because you like him!”

I wince, sighing as she sees right through me. “Would you keep it down?” I mutter. “I’ve been avoiding him for weeks now, I don’t need you telling everyone in a ten kilometer radius that I fancy him.”

Hannah pops a strawberry into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. “I can’t believe you’re into him. He’s a terrible person.”

I close my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I know it looks that way, and believe me, I’m not thrilled about it. But it’s hard not to fall for someone who keeps saving you and putting themselves in harms way just for your sake.”

“What if he’s doing that for his own benefit, though? I’d hate to see you get taken advantage of and left for dead when he gets what he wants.”

“We both want the same thing, though,” I sigh, placing a hand over his pendant under my shirt. “It’s not about us, it’s about stopping our parents from doing something… dark.”

“Oh come on. I know you better than that.” She takes a sip of her drink and turns to face me fully, one leg on either side of the bench. “Can you honestly tell me you wouldn’t be disappointed if he stopped talking to you once everything is over?”

I meet her gaze, a weight pressing down on my chest. “I don’t know. What if I don’t feel the same after… it’s broken? What if it’s just the magic?”

“I don’t think it’ll change. Especially because he started worrying about you before it even got activated.”

At that moment, something clicks into place.

She was right. I hadn’t even thought about it before, but she was right. The magic of the pact wasn’t doing anything the first time he took care of me. That was a decision of his own free will.

“Do you think… when we fought that night, he said he cared about me. Do you think he meant that?”

Hannah looks over at the Slytherin table, studying Draco from a distance, before turning back to me. “I can’t be sure. I’m all for second chances, but… be careful about trusting snakes. They bite.”

Before I can respond, the sound of Dumbledore’s voice rises above the chatter in the Great Hall, drawing everyone’s attention. His calm yet commanding tone instantly silences the room.

“Good morning, students,” he begins, his eyes twinkling as he surveys the hall. “I hope you are all feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead. I have an exciting announcement that I believe many of you will be quite pleased to hear.”

I glance at Hannah, who shoots me a curious look, her fork frozen mid-air.

“Due to the overwhelming success of last year’s Yule Ball,” Dumbledore continues, “we have decided to host it once again this year. Preparations are already underway, and I am delighted to share that, in the spirit of camaraderie and magical exchange, we will be welcoming students from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Institute to Hogwarts over the next few weeks as part of this celebration.”

The hall erupts into a mixture of cheers and excited whispers. Hannah’s jaw drops, and she turns to me with wide eyes. “They’re staying here? This is going to be amazing!”

Dumbledore raises his hands for silence once more, his expression growing just a shade more serious. “Our guests will be arriving this evening and will be joining you in classes, meals, and activities throughout their stay. I trust you will all extend the warmth and hospitality for which Hogwarts is known. Let us make this a memorable experience for everyone involved.”

The applause that follows is thunderous, and as Dumbledore takes his seat again, the buzz of conversation resumes at a fever pitch.

Hannah nudges me with her elbow, her grin practically splitting her face. “This is so exciting! I wonder if we’ll get to partner with any of them for the ball.”

I smile faintly, though my mind is already racing. I couldn’t care less about Durmstrang, but… Beauxbatons?

Hannah leans closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Hey, didn’t you go to Beauxbatons before Hogwarts? Maybe someone you know will show up.”

I stiffen slightly at her words, my hand reflexively moving to my necklace under my shirt. “Maybe,” I murmur, though the thought fills me with an odd mix of excitement and dread.

“Well,” she says, popping a strawberry into her mouth with a smirk, “if you see anyone you fancy, I expect full updates. And don’t even think about hiding it from me this time.”

I roll my eyes but can’t help smiling. I had a lot of friends at Beauxbatons, and part of me is ecstatic to see them. The other part… well, I don’t know how to tell them why I left.

After a moment, my face lights up and a warmth spreads through my chest. “Hannah!”

“What?” she asks, startled at my sudden outburst.

“You get to meet my guy best friend from France! The one I write to every week?”

She smiles, her eyes lighting up. “Aurélien? No way!”

“You’re gonna love him,” I say excitedly, pulling my bag over my shoulder. “He’d be like… a Raven-puff. Super sweet but also really witty and classy. I’ve known him for years.”

“I can’t wait,” she says with a toothy grin, standing up with me to head to class. “If you love him, I’m sure he’s amazing.”

I walk to class buzzing with anticipation. I don’t exactly know how the Yule ball and Aurélien will fit into the big picture of what I’m dealing with right now, and it might end terribly. But on the bright side, the whole middle part is going to be awesome.