How it all began
"Welcome, Harry," Voldemort hissed, his voice echoing through the trees. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist my... invitation."
Harry's gaze flickered to the edge of the clearing where Ron and Hermione were bound, guarded by Fenrir Greyback and Bellatrix Lestrange. Hermione's eyes were wide with fear, and Ron's face was a mask of fury and helplessness.
"Let them go, Voldemort," Harry demanded, his voice steady despite the fear coursing through him. "This is between you and me."
Voldemort's laugh was cold and mocking. "Oh, but it is far more complicated than that, dear boy. You see, there is a part of me inside you. But alas I have found a solution."
Something in the pit of Harry’s stomach dropped, it felt that time had stopped as his brain raced through trying to make sense of things. And a singular thought kept flashing, how did he know….
"And what is that?" Harry asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Voldemort's eyes gleamed and Harry felt a shiver run up his spine. "A binding ritual, Potter. "
Ron struggled against his bonds, shouting curses at Voldemort, but a silencing spell from Bellatrix rendered him mute. Besides him Hermione looked just as confused as he was before it clicked in him that there were only two binding rituals in the wizarding world..an unbreakable vow and a marriage..and because he and voldemort shared a soul the unbreakable vow wouldn’t work…
A sudden wave of nausea hit Harry, and he felt himself go green at that. Marriage with Voldemort, his parent’s murderer..the man who took ginny away from him…the man on whose orders Sirius, Dumbledore, was killed…the man because of whom Remus and Tonks would never see their son grow up…
“And if I refuse?”
Voldemort only smiled at that with too much teeth and malice for it to be anything else than a grin of a psychopathic mass murder like him. Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders and met Voldemort's gaze.
"Fine," he said, his voice firm. "I'll do it. Just let them go."
Voldemort's smile widened even more, a feat he would have though impossible even a second ago "Excellent choice, Harry. The ceremony will begin immediately."
“Wait what? Right now?” The bastard didn’t even dignify him with an answer, eyeing Harry as if he was a petulant child playing dress up with his parents’ clothes. Parents that he didn’t have because of this abomination standing in front of him acting as if marriage was something he did everyday and not a union of two souls.
Lost in his thought that he was he didn’t notice voldemory summoning a book until it slammed into his head” What was that for?” Harry asked sullenly. Voldemort just sent him a withering look and continued on ignoring him. What has got his pants in a twist, he’s the one who wanted this blasted this marriage not harry.
Fine if he wants to deny his existence then two can play the game.
Harry finally took a look at the book that Voldemort has summoned, it’s cover was a grotesque patchwork of human skin and bone and the pages inside were brittle with age, inscribed with blood-red runes that seemed to pulse with a life of their own. Overall, it was the most cliché dark wizard typesque book Harry had ever seen, it screamed look at me I’m a dark wizard who eats children for breakfast and drinks the blood of virgins in a dark fancy tower while I lord over my minions.
Harry was broken out of his thoughts when he heard Voldemort chant something in an irritating guttural tone which sounded alot like the squelching of chalk on a blackboard. Harry’s eye twitched and a vein popped in his forehead as Voldemort kept going on, damn it at this rate he was going to turn into uncle Vernon.
Voldemort raised his wand, and with a sharp flick, a circle of crimson light erupted from its tip, encircling Harry and himself. The ribbon hummed with energy and weirdly ozone seeming to have a mind of its own. The crimson circle tightened around them and as soon as it touched Harry’s skin, he felt a sharp, burning pain in his chest. He gritted his teeth, refusing to cry out as the magic took hold. If Voldemort experienced the same, he made no indication of it.
From the book, Voldemort extracted a silver dagger, its blade etched with runes. He approached Harry, holding the dagger aloft. "With this blade, I bind us," Voldemort intoned, "Blood to blood, soul to sou."
He slashed the dagger across his own palm, dark blood welling up and dripping onto the forest floor. Then, with a quick, precise motion, he did the same to Harry, drawing a line of blood across his palm. The pain was sharp, but Harry kept his gaze steady, meeting Voldemort's eyes. The blood from their wounds mingled and fell to the ground, sizzling as it touched the earth. The crimson circle flared brighter, and Harry felt a pull deep.
"By blood, we are bound," Voldemort continued, his voice rising. "By soul, we are tied. Let magic seal this union, forevermore."
The candles around them blazed with an intense, unnatural light. Harry felt a surge of power, dark and cold, flooding into him. The pain was excruciating, it felt as if someone had just He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms as he endured the agony. Finally, when he thought, he was going to pass out, Voldemort lowered his wand, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.
Harry's knees buckled as he dealt with the sudden whiplash, but he remained standing, his mind racing.
"Release them," Harry demanded, his voice hoarse.
Voldemort gestured to Dolohov, who reluctantly untied Ron and Hermione with a flick of his wand. They rushed to Harry's side, their faces pale with shock and fear. A soon as they were released, harry felt a mop of bushy hair slam into him and it took a moment for him to realize that Hermione was hugging him while Ron glared at Voldemort with pure unadulterated hatred in his eyes as if daring him to do something.
“Now, darling it’s time to go.” Voldemort said in a monotone voice almost robotically which made him almost miss the words before realisation came sweeping through..he had just married Voldemort…marriage required consumption..he was married to his parents’ murderer…he would need to consummate marriage with his parents’ murderer.. how in the absolute seven circles of hell did harry forget this detail…fuck this he wasn’t going…but Voldemort was going to murder Ron and Hermione in cold blood if he didn’t…
Harry felt himself go ghost white at that thought and he involuntarily began to shake like a fucking leaf. Looking into Hermione’s eyes Harry knew that she had also figured out the same. “He isn’t going” Hermione said in a quivering tone, almost a whisper but harry was sure that Voldemort had heard her because the very next second his eyes hardened imperceptibly.
Ron nodded vehemently, with a wild look in his eyes "Over my dead body."
Bellatrix let out a cackle at that and Harry was suddenly reminded of the fact that they were outnumbered, it wasn’t just Voldemort it was his entire fucking army who would not hesitate to maul Ron and Hermione to death.
“Ron, listen to me we are outnumbered They’ll fucking kill us.”
“And what about you? We are in this together, I’m not leaving you here with him”
“Ron I’ll be fine. Please let’s not pick up fights with literal serial killers.”
“Your fine is dead, decaying and six feet underneath and I’ll die before I’ll let that happen. We knew we were fighting with serial killers and rapists harry it’s not the first time that the thought came to our heads.”
Besides them Hermione just coughed, and Harry finally tore his eyes from Ron to look at the whole forest. There were at least a hundred wixen and God knows how many werewolves and vampires, it would not take them even a second to kill the three of them. Harry knew that Hermione was thinking the same, how could she not when she was the most logical out of the three of them.
Harry grabbed the two of them in a hug like their lives depended on it and when he felt the both of them melt into it just like the old days when it was just the three of them against the world depending on adrenaline, luck and Dumbledore to save the day and in some aspects it hadn’t changed even a bit but their luck had finally ran out and there were no more Dumbledores and Snapes to save their ass from impending death. Harry quietly said sorry and before Ron could ask what he was apologizing for harry pulled out his wand from his holster and stupefied him. Besides him, Hermione’s eyes widened but she didn’t say anything. He made a choice that day which would haunt him for the rest of his days but if he had to do it all over again he would do the same. Ron and Hermione were his everything, he couldn't survive without them.
Finally, Harry turned to Voldemort at asked, “You’ll let them live?”
“I’ll release them” Harry did not for a moment believe Voldemort but he had no choice, it was either they play with Voldemort’s rules or his friends die.
“I’ll come with you”
Voldemort just inclined his head slightly before extending his arm for harry to grab onto. The last thing that harry saw was Hermione’s tear streaked face before the world went black