Bleeding Red and Gold REDUX

After not revisiting Bleeding Red and Gold for over four months while real life took me on a roller coaster of emotions, I came back, and was pretty dissatisfied with the results. I posted Chapter 18, but looking back, the story wasn't going the way I wanted it to. So, therefore, I'm rewriting it. Simple as that. There's going to be a lot of changes from the original. In fact, by the time I get to Chapter 18, there's probably going to be little to nothing that resembles the original. If you were a fan of the original, then I hope this one is better. If you disliked the original, well, I hope you give this a shot. This story was written in order to make the story less confusing, and answer a lot of questions, as well as clear up a lot of garbage that was going nowhere. I hope you all enjoy.

I sincerely thank each and every one of you who has supported my writing thus far. You guys are the best. I think that I may have took your criticism of the original too hard, and I may have been a little short-tempered. I'm sorry about that, and I will attempt to mediate my temper.

I reemphasize some points here: I am not bashing Ron. Harry is NOT a God. And some characters that appeared in the original may never appear here.

The best way to contact me is through PM. I DO read your reviews, but sometimes they are just… not worth responding to. Let's leave it at that.

Without further ado, here is the rewrite of Bleeding Red and Gold.

EDITED: 7-18-2014

Thanks wisebeyondyears for betaing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. They belong to J.K. Rowling. But, I do own all of her books :)

oOo

Dear Mr. Potter,

The Staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has been tasked by the Ministry of Magic to offer a repeat year for all students year 1 through 7 because of the improper curriculum used in the last year before the end of the War. The original first year students will remain in their house and new students will be sorted and become first years as well. It is required for all students to repeat the year if they wish to pass and move on to a higher year, and take any tests such as the Ordinary Wizarding Level Tests or the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests. Enclosed is a list of supplies and a train ticket for the train that will depart at exactly 11:00 A.M. from platform nine and three-quarters should you wish to repeat Year 7. We wish you the best.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Headmistress

Harry Potter was, to the casual observer, a normal young adult striding down Charing Cross Road. He was, to the non-magical population of Great Britain, a normal British citizen. Tall, fit, with his customary unruly hair and bright emerald eyes, he walked with his friends around him, namely a red-haired, gangly young man, Ron Weasley, and a pretty brunette witch, Hermione Granger. He garnered some attention from the women walking down the street, who discreetly ogled his rather fine physique. But, he was, in essence normal in the non-magical world. And that was what he preferred.

The trio of friends entered the Leaky Cauldron, a rather popular, albeit slightly run-down pub that had recently reopened for business after it had closed down during the rather nasty and economy-destroying Second Wizarding War. They walked to the back of the shop with a nod and a smile at the ever-present landlord, Tom. Tapping on the bricks in the back, they stood back as they watched Diagon Alley emerge. Before walking inside, Harry rapped himself hard on the head with his wand, and felt the familiar feeling of something running down the back of his shirt. The mild Disillusionment charm would hopefully suffice to hide himself from any of the ever-present reporters from hounding him. Especially Witch Weekly. Harry shook his head. He was eighteen, for Merlin's sake. In the Muggle world, he had just reached majority. He really didn't want to pose for any of their photo shoots, especially when he heard about the amount of clothing he would be wearing, or rather, the lack of it.

Ron, who during his school years, had often complained about being poor, finally had enough money for brand-new school supplies for himself and his younger sister Ginny, as he had received a large sum of money from the Ministry that was, in essence, confiscated money from known Death Eaters such as the Malfoy family, who had been sentenced to Azkaban.

Contrary to popular belief, Harry and Ginny had actually not resumed their relationship status after the war ended, to the delight of many witches. She was still hurt by him breaking up with her during Dumbledore's funeral, despite his reasons, and she wasn't ready for another relationship with him. In the end, she had decided to focus on her Quidditch skills, and was hoping she could make the cut and become a professional Quidditch player as soon as she left Hogwarts. A big ambition, to be sure, but Harry knew that Ginny was one hell of a Chaser, and that if anyone could make it, she could.

Harry was actually rather glad about the way their relationship had ended. Spending nine months in a tent with nothing to do really did help one think, and Harry had thought quite a lot about his relationship with Ginny, and had come to the conclusion that he didn't really love Ginny. At least, not in the way that a boyfriend should love his girlfriend. He'd realized that all he ever felt for Ginny was more of a sibling kind of love, and he now saw her as nothing more than a sister, and a good friend.

As the trio neared Gringotts, two young woman strode out of the bank. One was bouncing on the balls of her feet and seemed as if she couldn't wait to say something, whereas the other looked, to any casual observer, as if she was a doll. A perfect, porcelain doll. With a jolt, Harry recognized the girls as classmates and peers. Their names were Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis, two Slytherins in his year whom he had seen in class before, but never ever approached or talked to, and for good reason. Daphne was the Ice Queen of the school, feared for her icy glares and for her knowledge of rather painful hexes and accurate aim at an offending boy's private regions. Tracey was Daphne's best, and it seemed like only, real true friend. Harry never before had understood why Daphne chose to hide behind her mask, as he had never found her to be particularly attractive, but now, he was kicking himself for never paying attention to the gorgeous, blonde beauty who was walking away a hundred meters or so away.

'It had to be the school robes.' Harry mused to himself. 'They cover everything.'

Beside him, Ron's eyes were bulging, and it looked as if it was taking all of his self-control not to go up and do something rash like he did while trying to find a date to the Yule Ball.

Casting glances at Hermione and Harry, he whispered, "Who are they?"

Hermione, who had, up until now, not been paying any attention to her two friends as she was busy watching Florean Fortescue's son working hard to reopen his father's Ice Cream Parlour, turned, saw Ron's expression, followed his gaze, saw the girls, and snorted.

She turned to Harry, who while not having as ridiculous of an expression as Ron, still looked enthralled by the girls.

Hermione snorted and said, "Boys."
Harry was in shock. "She changed so much! What happened to her? She never, ever looked like.. well- that."

Ron rounded on his mate, "Will you tell me who the bloody hell that is?!"

Harry cringed at his rather loud voice. Thankfully, the two girls had already walked a fair distance away, although Tracey Davis did turn around and give Harry an appraising look before turning back and continuing to walk with her friend.

"That's Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis, Ron. They were in our Potions class for six years."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I'm impressed, Harry, I didn't know that you paid attention to any Slytherin except Malfoy."

Harry shrugged off her comment.

Ron was still staring after the gorgeous blonde and her attractive friend.

"Why can't they be in Gryffindor?"

Harry laughed at that. Trust Ron to let House divisions decide his opinions on everyone.

The trio proceeded into Gringotts to retrieve their gold. Unfortunately for them, they were being held responsible for the escaped dragon and the damages done to the bank despite the circumstances and the ongoing war. Thankfully, the goblins did not demand much in the ways of compensation: only the sword of Gryffindor, which was already returned, and two thousand Galleons for the escaped dragon. Damages done to Gringotts property had already been covered by the Ministry as compensation, so Harry did not need to pay for any repairs needed to fix the damage that the dragon had caused while flying out of Gringotts.

After exiting Gringotts, they proceeded through Diagon Alley, purchasing the supplies needed for the upcoming school year. Harry also bought a new Nimbus 2001, as his old Firebolt was lost during his flight from the Dursleys. It brought back painful memories, as the broom was a gift from his dead godfather, and Moody had also died trying to help Harry escape. Shaking off these dark thoughts, he decided to enter Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. After all, George Weasley was always able to lighten the mood, despite having lost his twin brother.

oOo

"Daphne! Come down to the study, there is something important I must tell you." Her father called.

With a sigh and an apology to her best friend Tracey, Daphne headed down the stairs. She and Tracey had been talking about how the Golden Trio, of all people, were the latest in a long line of admirers of Daphne. Daphne had told Tracey in no uncertain terms that she really didn't need the drama of having the Gryffindor Golden Boy and his little sidekick chase after her. She was hoping to get an "Outstanding" on her Potions NEWT, and she wanted to be able to return to Hogwarts someday and teach Potions. She knew that Slughorn would most likely retire soon. As there were very few competent potion brewers in their generation, for even she admitted that Snape was an absolutely terrible teacher, she knew that she would not have much competition over the post of Potions mistress. Still, she needed to work hard, and having the attention of the Wizarding World on her if the Chosen One started chasing after her was definitely not a good thing. She hoped that Tracey would be able to deter them. After all, Tracey was much more sociable than she was, and she was also good at dissuasion and distraction. Even a little bit of manipulation if the situation required it. In the end, Daphne had faith that her friend would be able to turn away her admirers, as she had done so many times in the past.

Daphne headed down to the study, lost in her thoughts. As she entered, she was surprised to see not only her father, but her mother in the room as well. Generally, 'important' things, which was really just a fancy word for Pureblood things, was handled by her father.

"What is it?" Daphne said, getting straight to the point.

"Daphne, this is a marriage contract." Her mother started.

Daphne's face paled instantly. "You didn't…"

Her father sighed. "You are in a marriage contract. This was originally not our idea. A few days ago, I found a contract in our vault. It had been signed by your great-grandfather, who had negotiated this deal. Apparently, it stated that a marriage must be made between the families of Greengrass and…"

Daphne narrowed her eyes. "Who am I contracted to? And why didn't somebody before me already marry and fulfill the contract if this was from my Great-Grandfather's time?"

Daphne's mother, Lyla, cut in here, "You are contracted to Ronald Weasely."

Daphne choked when she heard this, and spluttered, "WEASEL? Why? What the hell Mom, Dad? Why?"

Cyrus Greengrass knew his daughter would take it badly, and rightly so. Ronald Weasely, in his opinion, was an absolute pig, a blood traitor, Gryffindor, and as bad at magic as a Squib. He didn't wish to give his daughter to that prat. Unfortunately, the marriage contract explicitly stated that the eldest eligible daughter of the Greengrass family was to be joined with the eldest eligible son of the Weasley family. At first, Cyrus was sure that it would be one of the two eldest sons, Bill or Charlie, but that idea had gone down the drain. Bill had gotten married to the Veela, Fleur Delacour. He was out of the picture. Charlie had gone off to Romania to tame dragons. As such, he had also escaped the contract as the contract had stated under the eligibility clause that the person had to be living in England when they reached age 21. Charlie had not. He had left England and rarely came back ever since he graduated. Percy Weasley had gotten engaged to one Penelope Clearwater. Fred Weasley had died. George Weasley had also gotten engaged to his once teammate, Angelina Johnson. In reality, most of the Weasleys, trying to find solace in their lives after the tragedies that struck their family, had realized how important their romantic partners were, and now they were all either engaged or married. This left only Ronald to fulfill the contract.

While Lyla explained everything, Cyrus was racking his brains on how to get his daughter to at least tolerate the youngest Weasley, as the marriage was inevitable, unless one of them died. However, the contract had ensured that neither side could kill the other in an attempt to get out of the marriage. This made it impossible for Cyrus to "dissolve" the marriage.

Daphne was stunned. She had just learned that she was obligated to marry Weasley, one whom she considered the biggest idiot at Hogwarts. She also despised the way that he had been looking at her earlier that day. It was like she was a piece of meat and he was a dog. At least Potter had some decency and didn't drool over her. She wordlessly turned and ran out of her parent's study, up the stairs, and threw herself onto the bed. Tracey took one look at Daphne, and realized that something was wrong. She walked over quickly and sat next to Daphne's form.

"Daphne, what's wrong?"

"My stupid parents contracted me to the WEASEL!" Daphne sobbed.

"This is a joke right? This is a really bad joke? Haha, Daphne, very funny. Now tell me what really happened." Tracey weakly replied, already feeling bad for her friend.

"I thought it was going to be the stupid ferret, and that I'd have to go fetch him out of prison or something to marry him! Then, my mom said 'Ron Weasley'. Why can't my life go the way I want it to for once?! I just want to live my life without any gods damned interference! What the hell does Fate have against me?"

Tracey had nothing to say. It was known throughout Hogwarts that Ron Weasley was an ignorant prat who used the walking magical encyclopedia Granger to barely scrape a passing grade in his classes. After their falling-outs, everybody could see Ron suffer the displeasure of his teachers because of his failed schoolwork. His multiple detentions and point deductions made it obvious to all. The fact that Daphne Greengrass, one of the hottest girls in the school, was contracted to that idiot had only one single benefit: the jealousy of all the boys in the school. Tracey expected quite a few hexes aimed at the redhead this year, but she couldn't help but feel for her best friend.

All Tracey could do was offer comfort to her friend. The shock was wearing off, replaced by anger and a determination to break the contract.

oOo

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