The Magical Contract
Chapter 1
Hermione Granger and her boyfriend of nine months, Alex Johnson, were sitting on the balcony outside Hermione's apartment. Hermione was looking up at the starry sky. It looked quite romantic actually.
"I love you, Hermione," Alex said suddenly.
"I love you too, Alex," Hermione replied with a smile. Alex stood up, walked over to Hermione, kneeled on one knee, and took her hand.
He took a deep breath and said, "Hermione, will you marry me?"
"Oh, Alex," Hermione replied. "Of course I will."
Alex let out his breath, as he slipped the ring on Hermione's finger.
Hermione leaned down and kissed him under the starry sky.
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Under that same starry sky, Harry Potter and his girlfriend of one year, Lindsey Reeves, were sitting outside talking. Harry turned to Lindsey, and pulled something out of his pocket, but she couldn't see what.
"Lindsey, will you marry me?" asked Harry nervously.
Lindsey looked stunned for a second, and then replied, "Yes, yes, yes!"
Harry smiled and slipped the engagement ring on her finger.
When she saw it, she gasped. It was beautiful. It must have cost a fortune.
"Oh Harry, this ring is beautiful," she squealed happily.
"Just like you," he replied.
She smiled and said, "I love you."
"I love you too, Lindsey," he said as he leaned over and kissed her.
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When Alex and Hermione broke apart it was nearly midnight.
"I better go; I have to go to work tomorrow. See you later, Hermione," Alex said.
"Bye, Alex," Hermione replied. She opened the door to her apartment, and they went into the living room. She kissed him, and let him out.
After Alex left, Hermione was not at all tired. She was too excited. She decided to call Ginny to tell her the news.
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Harry smiled at Lindsey. She looked at her watch, and gasped.
"It's almost one o'clock in the morning," she said.
"Oh my," said Harry, surprised. "I better get home, so should you."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Lindsey replied.
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When Harry went inside, he couldn't sleep. His adrenaline was too high. He decided to stay up, and watch TV.
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"Okay, well, bye, Gin," Hermione said into the phone, and then hung up.
She was so excited, and Ginny, after getting over the fact that Hermione had woken her up at almost one o'clock, was thrilled.
She needed to tell her parents, but she would wait until later for that. She had to tell someone. She decided to call Harry. She knew he didn't have to go to work tomorrow because it's summer, and being the Headmaster of Hogwarts meant he didn't have to work. She was the Charms teacher, and Harry's girlfriend was the new Care for Magical Creatures teacher.
She picked up the phone, and dialed.
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Harry was finally drifting off to sleep, when the phone rang.
He picked it up, wondering who would call him at this time of night, and said, "Hello."
"Hi Harry, it's me, Hermione," she said.
"Hey, Hermione, what's up?"
"Nothing much."
"Then why are you calling me at 2 o'clock in the morning?"
"Oh, yeah, I wanted to tell you something."
"What? I have something to tell you too."
"Let me go first."
"Okay."
"Guess what happened today?" Hermione asked excitedly.
"What?"
"Alex proposed to me!"
"That's great, congratulations!"
"I know. I'm so happy. Now, what did you want to tell me?"
"I wanted to tell you that Lindsey and I are going to get married!"
"Whoa, really? That's awesome. Congratulations!"
"Thanks."
"This is soooo cool," Hermione squealed. "We got engaged on the same night."
"Yeah, that is kinda cool," Harry agreed, "but I wish Ron were here to see."
"I know, I miss him too."
"Well, I really gotta get to bed."
"Yeah, me too. Bye Harry."
"Bye."
Harry went to bed sadly thinking of Ron's death.
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The next morning, Hermione called her parents to tell them about her engagement.
"Hello, Granger residents."
"Hi Mum, it's Hermione."
"I kind of figured that when you said mum."
"Oh yeah. Get Dad on the other extension, I have good news I want to tell you both."
Mrs. Granger yelled to her husband to pick up the other phone.
"Hi honey."
"Hey Dad. Guess what?"
"What?" both of her parents asked in unison.
"I'm engaged!"
"Oh honey, that's wonderful! To Alex, right?" her mother asked.
"Yes," Hermione replied. "What do you think, Dad?"
"I think that's great! Congratulations!"
"Thanks Dad."
"Have you told anyone else?"
"Yes, Ginny and Harry."
"You told them before us?" Mr. Granger asked, mock indignantly.
"I told them at like 1 o'clock in the morning, and I didn't want to wake you up so early."
"Oh, good idea. I gotta get to work, but I'll talk to you later."
"Okay, bye Dad."
"I've gotta go too honey, I'll call you later. Bye."
"Bye, Mum."
Hermione smiled as she hung up the phone she was so happy.
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Later that day, when both Mr. and Mrs. Granger got home from work, they went up to the attic to look at old pictures. They looked at albums and albums full of pictures, seeing these pictures mad Mrs. Granger want to cry because her little baby was so grown up. She was engaged. She was going to be married soon.
"Look at this," said Mr. Granger, holding up Hermione's baby book.
"Oh, I haven't seen this since Hermione was a baby," she said starting to cry.
She flipped through the pages looking at memoirs from when Hermione was a baby. When she looked down at the last page, she gasped.
"What is it?" asked Mr. Granger.
Mrs. Granger just handed the book to him. He took it, and gasped also.
On the page was a piece of parchment, on it was printed:
This contract hereby binds Harry James Potter and Hermione Marie Granger in marriage. This is to coincide on or before the aforementioned people's 25th birthdays. If one or more of these people does not comply, there will be dire consequences for both. The following signatures show agreement to this contract:
James Potter
Lily Evans Potter
George Granger
Anne Johnson Granger
"Hey Mum, Dad, where are you?" called Hermione as she walked in the door.
"We're coming dear," Mrs. Granger yelled back. Mr. and Mrs. Granger went down to the 1st floor where Hermione was waiting.
"Hermione, what is Harry's full name?" asked Mrs. Granger nervously.
"Harry James Potter, why?" Hermione said. "Mum, are you okay? You look really pale."
Hermione was getting worried. Her parents both looked really strange.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked. She was really worried now.
"Were his parents Lily and James Potter?" Mrs. Granger asked shakily.
"Yeah. Why?" Hermione asked, worried.
Her mother just passed her the parchment silently. Hermione sat on a chair and read it. Her eyes widened with every word.
"Oh, my God," she whispered. She dropped the parchment, and just stared at her parents. She was trying really hard not to cry. After a few minutes, Hermione said with difficulty, "I'm going to call Harry. Is that okay?"
"Yes go ahead. Tell him to come over," Mrs. Granger replied.
Hermione went to the phone and dialed.
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Harry was just about to Apparate out when the phone rang. He was going to be late. He decided to let the machine pick it up. Someone started to leave a message. It was Hermione, and she sounded really upset.
He picked up the phone and said, "Hello."
"Hi Harry," Hermione said with difficulty.
"What's up?" Listen, I'm about to meet Lindsey, so could you make this quick?"
"Harry can please come over. If you don't I'll be really upset, this is something you have to know. Please come over," she begged.
"Um, I'm kinda late for a date with Lindsey," Harry said.
"Please Harry, this is really important. Please," she was close to tears again.
When Harry heard her voice, he broke. It did sound important, so he said, "Alright, I'll be right over."
"Thanks, Harry," she said quietly, and hung up.