Summary: When Ginny was accidentally zapped by a spell that turned her into an elf some crazy things started happening, including a marriage that no one, not even the groom could get out of because of an ancient law regarding a Celtic necklace.
Note: Expect Lucius Malfoy to be a bit differently described. If you don't like OOC then don't read this...I try to say IC as much as possible, but it’s hard so have a little understanding.
The Elvin Bride Chapter One
It wasn’t fair. She was always in the wrong place at the wrong time and this time her consistent bad luck and clumsiness had taken its toll. Sixteen-year-old Ginevra Weasley jumped up and down in an angry rage, showing her immense distaste for the situation.
"Ginny please quit throwing a temper-tantrum," Molly sighed rubbing her forehead in frustration, one hand on her hip.
She threw her head back and cried out with her arms stretched towards the ceiling. "I have ears!"
Ron, who'd been looking at his youngest sister in shock when she'd walked into The Burrow after a last minute school supplies trip to Diagon Alley, burst out laughing. He clutched his sides in a fit as he watched her hands slide up her long ears.
"Everyone has ears Gin," Percy said, trying to sympathize with his kid sister.
Ginny gritted her teeth. "I'm a bloody elf Percy! I have elongated ears and bleach blonde hair with roots...look at the roots; BLACK not RED, but BLACK! We're leaving for school tomorrow and there is no known way to lift an elf curse! Hell, Father didn’t even know that elf curses existed. If those stupid men hadn't been fighting in Knockturn Alley this wouldn't have happened," she ended, stomping her foot to the floor.
Molly’s lips formed an irritated line, her orange, frizzed, red hair drifted into her right eye as her frown deepened. “Yes well, if you hadn’t been where you weren’t supposed to be it wouldn’t have happened.”
Percy flinched at his mothers’ tone and then focused his attention back to his piece of yellow tinted parchment. “What were you doing there anyway?”
Ginny gave him a helpless look, her brown eyes pleading with him to understand, and shrugged her shoulders. “I got lost.”
Percy rolled his eyes and placed one hand onto his hip, all the while still holding his piece of parchment. “That is absurd! How long have you been going to—”
“Mother, have you seen how many alleys there are in that town?” Ginny questioned looking to her mother for understanding.
For a fraction of a second Molly almost looked speechless…almost. “Ginny you have been going to Hogsmeade for quite sometime. I wouldn’t expect that to be an excuse for—”
Ginny raised an eyebrow. “For what? I’m serious. I just took a wrong turn and instead of paying attention I was daydreaming. It’s not unheard of.”
“Oh, what rubbish,” Percy snorted, raising his nose up to the ceiling.
Hermione glared as she watched as Ron, clutching his sides on the floor, over-dramatized Ginny’s situation just to taunt her. He seemed to notice the heavy, heated glare of anger and looked up. His only response was to shrug his shoulders causing Hermione to roll her eyes and return her attention back to Ginny.
“Ginny, in the muggle world they have something called hair dye. You can dye your hair back to its original color and we can give you a new hairdo to cover up your ears. I can have my parents send it to me, but they insist on sending things the muggle way and since they’re on vacation in the Bahamas I’m not exactly sure when you’ll get it,” Hermione paused to stare at Ginny.
“What?” Ginny asked irritated.
“Would you please stop that?”
“Stop what?”
Hermione groaned. “That! You’ve been doing that since you came back here, fiddling with your ears, it’s very distracting.”
Ginny instantly stopped and frowned. “Sorry.”
“Now, I’d go and get the dye myself, but I just haven’t the time…”
“I could go.”
Hermione raised an eyebrow. “Um-no maybe Harry could?”
Harry instantly shook his head. “I haven’t even started on my school supplies list.”
Hermione frowned. “School starts in two days, really Harry, you and Ron must stop procrastinating. I honestly don’t understand how we get along…”
“Okay, okay,” Ginny said a bit too loudly.
“The only option left would be to wait until we got to school. Now, I’ve never done a hair dying potion, I’m positive I can do it though. The longest it could take would be a month. Luckily your hair goes past your ears, if it’s all the same. All you have to do is remember not to wear your hair up. Oh—did you know your eyebrows changed as well? They aren’t blonde, but blackish brown.”
“Oh no, I’m doomed. If my life at school wasn’t bad enough, I mean people already think I’m an ugly freak. Loot at me now! I look like a monster,” Ginny gasped sniffling.
She hadn’t really been paying attention to anything else other than her ears, which were now pointed and elf shaped. Not to mention the burn mark she’d received on her cheek from where the spell from the fighting young men had zapped her.
“Oh Ginny, stop over-exaggerating, and you are not ugly. You are the furthest thing from ugly,” Molly smiled reassuringly patting her daughters back.
Ginny growled and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, tell that to the guys who won’t even say hello to me.”
Hermione jiggled her shoulders, cleared her throat, and sat up straight. “Actually Gin, that’s your brothers fault.”
“I partially already knew,” Ginny frowned slumping her shoulders.
“I don’t know, I’m not so sure Ron and Harry will be able to threaten those boys to stay away from you anymore,” Molly grinned raising an eyebrow to Harry and Ron.
Ron’s laughter, which had gone to an amused chuckle a while ago, had completely stopped.
“Well Ginny, look on the bright side. It makes you look exotic,” Harry said giving a small smile.
Ginny’s eyes widened and she gasped. “I have been waiting since I was eleven years old for you to give me a compliment, or some sort of sign that you noticed me, and finally you give it to me when I’m an ELF?”
Silence filled the room.
This is like a scene from a movie where you can here the crickets and grasshoppers. Hermione thought, holding in a chuckle.
Ginny slapped a hand to her mouth, her eyes bugging out in shock. Her cheeks flushed to a pink color and tears of embarrassment dripped over the rims of her eyes.
Ron straightened up from his position, leaning his back against the couch, and frowned up at his sister. Percy finally sat down, and Molly simply gasped, shaking her head back and forth at her daughters’ admittance.
At that moment Ginny knew it couldn’t possibly get any worse. “Why did I say that? I mean usually…I don’t say things like that! I have more self-control of what I speak and what I don’t. When I said it felt like I was sitting in the background while my doppelganger did my talking or something,” Ginny turned and glanced at Hermione.
She gave a nervous laugh and shrugged. “I don’t have an answer to this question.”
“Surprise, surprise,” Ginny mumbled.
Hermione clucked her tongue. “Hey—”
”Doppel-what?” Ron asked.
“Ron that response was way too late. A doppelganger is the mirror image of you—the reversed image,” Hermione sighed, speaking slowly as if she would to a child of three.
“Hermione—” Ron started and then jumped as Hermione squeaked.
“I-I remember reading something about elves while I was doing research on mermaids for Hagrid,” Hermione frowned and gave a nervous laugh. She brought one of her hands down and bunched it up into her pink jumper.
“Hermione, talk,” Ginny demanded impatiently.
“Well you see, elves are…well elves have this—”
Ginny almost did a double take as she heard Hermione stutter for the first time she had known her. “Y-you’re stuttering. Hermione I have never heard you stutter in all the time that I’ve known you now spit it out,” she croaked out.
Nibbling her bottom lip Hermione bent her head down. “You are going to find yourself saying things you would never say. The Elfin people are rather outspoken. Think of the elf as your doppelganger…the elf in you is going to speak everything you are thinking, full force, meaning it won’t hold anything back and considering elves are stronger than witches it will dominate. Your emotions will be a big problem, I hope you had them intact before this curse Ginny, or it’ll be too late to hold your secret feelings inside. The worse part about this is that after your doppelganger has spoken the real you resurface and you realize what you’ve said.”
“So I’m kind of two people then? Oh great, not only am I just the ugly duckling, but now I’m going to have two personalities. I know if I go to the cliché of saying ‘could it possibly get any worse,’ because knowing how my luck is it most likely can.”
“Actually, since you were already beautiful before you turned into an elf—their breed is naturally exotic and alluring. It’s a genetic material that’s inside every one of them. You just aren’t used to looking like an elf and the burn on your cheek that you keep rubbing will wear off. Elves tend to be tall with a slim physical build, which basically means you might be getting taller, not much if any because you already had the height mind you,” Hermione took a breath and walked over to Ginny who was leaning up against the kitchen doorway. “If you look in the mirror you’ll see that your eyes have slanted down just a tiny bit, giving you that almond-shape, and your features have sharpened. This is what characterizes an elves.”
Hermione smiled down gently at Ginny and cupped the sides of the younger girls face. “You already looked cute and impish. The only things that have changed on your face are the tiny inch of slanting in your eyes and your ears. On good news, you’ll become even more agile.”
Ginny frowned. “Where there’s good news there’s bad…”
Hermione shook her head. “No more wrestling with Ron and your brothers. The slim build of the elves make them a very frail race and you already have trouble with them. I’m not saying it lightly either because I don’t know for sure so wrestling is completely out.”
“Hey—” Ginny started.
Molly sighed and looked to Ron, and the twins, who’d been in the corner of the couch whispering back and forth to each other. “Do you hear that? No more wrestling with your sister, do you understand? I will not have my baby harmed.”
Fred and George frowned. “She starts it anyhow,” George mumbled.
“Yeah,” Fred countered leaping up from the sofa and walking towards Ginny, “even ask her, it’s her favorite sport beating up Ron, it is,” Fred grinned and punched his sister in the arm, who in turn punched him even harder back.
“She couldn’t beat me up if she tried,” Ron retorted proudly.
Fred, whom was still rubbing his arm, chuckled. "Ouch Gin. Ron, she doesn’t have to try all she has to do is curl a finger."
Ron lifted his lanky body up off the floor, combed a hand through his ruffled red hair and grinned devilishly as he too walked up to his sister and pinched her side. "Look on the bright side Gin, all that baby fat you have will finally go away."
“Wisely changing the subject,” Harry commented sarcastically, pushing his glasses back up onto his nose.
Ginny thumped Ron in the chest. "I do not have baby fat!"
Ron balanced his body wait on the heels of his feet while he rubbed his chest and grinned.
Hermione sighed impatiently, “As I was saying…”
“Say’s the woman who claimed to not have an answer,” Harry said smiling up at Hermione.
She glared and turned her head towards Ginny. “Elves are descendants of the faerie races, they are blessed with,” Hermione paused to think, “…night vision, which makes it capable to see in the dark. Another good thing is if you're going to be stuck as an elf, well, elves tend to live to an older age than others and therefore live worry-less lives. That's one reason why they are so outspoken. They're a haughty race and view others of the realms with a tolerant attitude, very much if an example is need like a mild version of the Malfoy family. On another good note, elves are extremely carefree and flighty. They have a great love of nature, magic, and music."
"Great, so it's like a whole evil kin of Malfoys!" Ginny sniffled and rubbed her running nose.
"Last I saw, Malfoy didn't have any elf ears," Hermione said drolly. "Which means Elves may be carefree, flighty, and a tad stuck up but they have a great amount of love, hardly any hate, and they see good that others rarely see. It's why elves are always known to be in wooded areas. Nature holds wondrous beauty. What we don't see, they do."
Ginny lifted her eyebrow. "Ah-huh, oh yeah. I'll need to charm my mouth shut, Miss I-know-everything!" She bit her lip. "Sorry I didn't mean that."
Hermione licked her lips as she tried to compose her slightly irritated response. "That's the thing, everything you say, you mean. It's the..."
Ginny rolled her eyes and made a suggestion. "Elf in me?"
“The ‘elf in you’ is your sub-conscious level of your thinking—for the people who don’t want the doppelganger theory—something you know you would never say would be shut off completely in your mind, so our conscious level wouldn’t know about it because it’s almost non-existent, but your sub-conscious knows. Is that about right ‘Mione?”
Hermione smiled a little at Harry. “Yes.”
Ginny glared slightly at the tender look Harry and Hermione shared. "Oh Merlin! 'Harry lets go bonk each other' is what Hermione's thinking so why don't you do it? Rub it in my face that you're in love with Hermione, Harry. Don't mind my little crush at all…don't worry I'll be fine. Not bloody likely! Thanks for hiding it so well, really!"
Her outburst was so sudden that her mother had just sat there in her knitting chair and staring after her daughter with unbelieving eyes. Ginny’s eyes moved back and forth between Harry and Hermione, her eyes burning. She bit her bottom lip and turned to run up stairs.
Hermione brought one hand up to her lips and rested the other arm across her waist. Fred and George smirked, Percy had a disapproving look, and Ron just shook his head as he sat down at the dining table. Harry stole a glance at Hermione before his cheeks turned a rosy red.
Fred lifted the right side of his mouth. "Well that was fun!"
He failed at his attempt in humor and received a glare. Hermione sighed and looked to Molly, who in turn sighed heavily, and looked to Ron.
Ron rolled his shoulders in a circular motion, turning his neck from side to side. "I'll go talk to her," he walked away mumbling. "Why do I always have to talk to her? It's not like I'm a bloody counselor. Fred and George should be about doing this. Stupid talks."
"Ronald Weasley you watch your mouth and you know very well why you are the one to go and talk to her. No one else can understand her when she's upset!"
He knocked on his kid sisters' door. "Gin? Can I come in?"
Silence.
Gently Ron pushed against the door. It creaked opening slightly and Ron let himself in. "Gin, you know I'll always be here and at Hogwarts to talk with you."
"Mrughmd, murma, mauurma," Ginny moaned into the pillow, her words muffled and jumbled.
Ron sighed as he tried translating. "You plucked yourself?"
A gentle rumble slid though Ginny's body. Ron patted Ginny on the back before he realized it was a laugh that had made her body look like it was trembling.
"Embarrassed, not plucked."
Ron gave a sincere look. "Yeah, I thought that sounded a bit off."
Ginny snorted, only slightly amused, then a few minutes later frowned. "Ron, I know you're trying to help, but I really don't feel like talking at the moment."
He brushed his hand through her hair affectionately. "I understand, Gin. Why don't you come down to dinner now, though."
Ginny flipped on her back and gave her brother a pleading look. "I can't face Harry or Hermione for that matter."
Ron shook his head in understanding.
When did my git of a brother become so understanding? It’s refreshing to know he’s not completely clueless.
"I'll try talking mum into letting you eat up here. Yeah? How's that sound?"
Ginny gave a grateful smile and took a breath of relief as he walked out of her room. Gracefully leaning up to glance in the mirror above her bed she sighed as she pressed her fingers to the moon shaped burn on her cheek then bent the cartilage of her ears back and forth.
“Man oh man!” she whispered.
Why did this have to happen now?
Everything had been going fairly decent in the last couple of years after that horrid incident with Tom Riddles diary.A raindrop shaped tear made a splash on her mahogany nightstand. She lifted up a strand of her newly bleach blonde hair that had blackish brown roots, draped it over her peach rose colored face and almond shaped brown eyes.
“I’m like a magnet for chaos!” Ginny hiccupped. “If only…”
“Ginny? I’m setting your dinner outside your door,” Ron’s mellowed sleepy voice said from the other side.
“Thanks Ron!”
“I hope you…um never mind,” Ron said and Ginny could hear the muffled footsteps descend down the hall.
“Feel better?” Ginny finished.
She gave a cruel laugh.
_________________________________________________________________
"Draco? My father gave this to me when I was seventeen. Now it's time for me to give it to you. A Celtic priestess gave it to your great grandfather for his seventeenth birthday present and told him it would pick his perfect mate in life; it would pick your soul mate. The one person in all the world you were meant to be with," Lucius spoke as he looked down his nose at his son in their library.
Draco lifted his eyebrow at the looped Celtic design of the necklace surprised at what his father was saying. "I'm supposed to wear this?"
Lucius rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't be so skittish boy! Necklaces aren't only for the women-folk."
Draco held in a silent groan. "So, how will I know when it's chosen?"
"The pain is severe."
Draco's eyes, which normally held no emotion, widened. "Pain?"
"Not for you, you codswallop, for the woman. As I was saying the pain is so severe…well put it this way if she's in Slytherin you'll hear her. If she's not, most likely the young lass will be talking about it with someone. Gossip flies like a fly, most likely it'll be in the Daily Prophet. Now this Celtic pattern will be outlined in black among the woman, or man, whomever it may be."
"Man?" Draco's voice rose and he snorted in disgust, "I don't think so."
Lucius snarled, "Would you give it a rest? I personally hope it’s not a man as well…I’d like to have grandchildren." Lucius seemed to say as an after thought.
Draco's body tensed and he gritted his teeth. "Sorry father."
"Now, this design will be tattooed in the middle of her collar bone."
"What if I don't like the person?"
Lucius pinched the bridge of his nose. "It won't matter, you'll be married by law when that mark is imprinted on the girl."
"Not really though, right? I mean even in the wizarding world you have to have a marriage license." Draco said remembering his Muggle Studies.
It was then that he understood the meaning of the word ‘dread’. He suddenly felt burning bile rise up in his throat and panic seep into the core of his stomach; marriage was a disgusting trap for men. He felt a bead of sweat pop onto his upper lip as his breath accelerated and his eyes slightly widened.
"Yes really. You will have all the rights of a husband, she will have the duties of a wife, now she may not be too tolerable of them," Lucius with disdain glancing at his wife who lifted her nose up in defiance. "But even if she doesn't love or even like you, she'll have a need to take care of you. That wretched Dumbledore can't do anything about it or else he'd be breaking a sacred law that the Ministry had agreed so many, many years ago. We all know what breaking such a sacred law means; Azkaban."
Draco, feeling rather defiant, glanced at his father. "I'm too young to be married. I don't want to be secluded from girls because I already have the one."
"You've had plenty, more than even me when I was your age."
Yeah, because you were busy killing people!
"I won't do it," Draco whispered his gaze dropping to the floor so as to avoid eye contact.
A dark look crossed over Lucius' face. "Don't make me punish you. I hate punishing my own son, but you do need to be put in your place every so often."
Fear flooded Draco's gut. The torture chamber was the punishment Draco had been subjected to since he was small. They'd been getting worse and harder as the years went on, but every time Lucius had presented him reluctantly to the torture. It was an odd day when pain could be seen in Lucius Malfoys' demon eyes.
"If you hate it so much, why do you do it? It can't be just. You could just tell me I’m out of line."
Lucius sighed heavily and rubbed his temple as if showing the oncoming of migraine. "You will do this Draco, you will, and that's final."
Draco heaved a sigh in response. He felt the fight rising in him, but he forced it down. He knew a part of him wasn't dreading it as much as he thought. He wouldn't have been blackmailed into serving Voldemort that's for sure. It was a bit ironic that Lucius had been a good man that is until Voldemort had threatened to kill Draco's mother when he was eighteen. Lucius had loved Narcissa so much that he hadn't even hesitated.
Over the years serving Voldemort had hardened and even made Lucius cruel. There were two sides to that man, an evil malicious side, and a love or hate side, but the hate usually outlasted the love. Draco really didn't expect love to show through his father. He got enough from his mother, but the one thing both his parents and he agreed on was their disdain for mudbloods, Dumbledore, Potter, and The Weasley's.
Draco went to his room and flopped on the black satin sheets of his bed. His usually stiff hair was loose and rumpled; his gray eyes drooped as tiredness set in, ignoring the strand of stray hair that had flopped into his face.
"This is going to be a long year. Draco let his worry slip aside as he drifted to sleep.
To Be Continued…