A/N: Okay, so here goes. This is technically my second Harry Potter/Dramione fic, but also technically my first. This is the second one I started writing after a fellow fan, Courtney, posted on FaceBook about her own idea for this story, wanting someone to write it. So I decided to give it a shot. I decided to post this one as I complete each chapter and once it has been through my awesome beta, Frogster.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy it. My only gain from this is reviews and I sincerely hope that y'all like it as much as I have enjoyed creating it so far. This idea was unlike anything I had heard before and I hope I do it justice, Courtney. This is after all, for you. Without anymore of my babbel.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Prologue:

"No! Mine!" Seraphina yanked at the snake figurine, trying to wrestle it from Eldric's hand. The two toddlers were always fighting, perhaps a product of the discordance they always witnessed from their parents. At this moment, the toddlers' parents were doing what they did best-arguing. Though, this time, it wasn't over the building of the school. This time, it was over the two bickering toddlers.

"It is the only way to ensure the school stays in the right hands." This came from Salazar, with Rowena nodding in agreement.

"I agree, with Seraphina and Eldric being wed, the school will remain in the hands of the founders, so to speak, when we are no longer here."

Helga shook her head, "But we are taking away their choice to find love on their own. The way we have." She looked up at Godric, a smile on her face.

"We are essentially taking away their free will if we agree on this. But Helga, they have a valid point. Who better to continue to run the school in our absence than our own children?"

Helga's eyes drifted over to the golden blond hair of her son's head. "I do not like this one bit, Godric. And let it be known, that I think it is doomed to fail. But I will go along with it." Without looking away from her son, she pointed her wand at the parchment and magically signed her name.

XxX

The construction of Hogwarts was over halfway complete and upon the insistence of her parents, they were living in the completed wing of the castle. Unfortunately for Seraphina, so was her betrothed, and royal pain in her arse, Eldric. She tried her hardest to avoid him as much as she could. But there were only so many hiding places in a partially finished wizarding school.

That day found her sitting on one of the finished staircases, watching the wizards who were building the castle. Her eyes followed the movement of one particular wizard more than any others. He was the youngest of them all, closest to Seraphina's tender seventeen. And he was handsome. So very different from Eldric. They were both blonde, but that was where their similarities ended. Eldric's hair was golden, like a snitch. This wizard's hair was a blonde so pale that it was almost as if there were no pigment in it at all.

His nose was straight but it curved up at the end, into a point, giving him an aristocratic look. His fine nose, mixed with his high cheekbones, gave off the air that he was better than everyone around him. She was staring so intently that for a moment she didn't realize that he had caught her. A flush climbed up her neck and hit her cheeks. His eyes were a beautiful dark color, the likes of which she had never seen before, so dark they were almost fathomless. They would definitely float around in her dreams for the next few months. "What are you doing down here, Sera? We're supposed to be studying."

Seraphina jumped at Eldric's voice in her ear, standing from her seated position on the stairs. "I was hiding from you," she said scathingly, hurrying off in the opposite direction, embarrassment carrying her feet. She couldn't believe she had been caught. But she was glad that it had only been Eldric.

XxX

Seraphina looked around. It was the middle of the night and she was heading out to meet Thatcher Black, the wizard who was helping build the school. They had been secretly courting for the better part of three months now. She knew it was a bad idea, and went against her parents betrothal contract, but she just could not marry Eldric. He was selfish, arrogant and he was a git.

Glancing over her shoulder once more, she turned through a doorway and climbed a short staircase. Once in a large room, she looked around, but he wasn't here yet. This particular tower would become the dorms for future students of the Ravenclaw house, which was why she felt more comfortable coming here than anywhere else in the castle. Well, other than the dungeons, but they were cold this time of night.

She conjured a fire in the massive stone fireplace, warming the room instantly as she waited for her love. She paced to the windows, overlooking the beautiful grounds, her eyes taking in the forest on the edge of the property. The footsteps behind her had her turning, a smile on her face. "Thatcher." She quickly crossed the room, allowing herself to be pulled into his arms. Her own slid around his waist as she rested her ear against his chest, the sound of his heartbeat soothing her. "Oh, how I have missed you, Seraphina. It is getting harder to be away from you."

She pulled back to look up at him with a sad smile. "I know, my love. Sadly, I think Eldric is growing suspicious. We have to be careful."

Thatcher leaned down and brushed his lips gently against hers. "Run away with me. I love you. We'll get married. They can't make you marry him if we are already married."

A skeptical look crossed her face. "I suppose you are right, let's get married. I love you, too. So much, Thatcher. But when?"

"Now. I know a wizard who will marry us right now if we show up. I've got the galleons to pay for it too. Come with me. He even does soul bonding, if that's what you would want. My brother works in the Ministry-he can be the witness and hide the marriage certificate. So we could hide the marriage for a while." He blushed at the mention of that. Soul bonding was very similar to an Unbreakable Vow. Though, if it was ever broken, the fate would be far worse than death-the two would live on, in utter sadness, for the rest of their lives. "That is absolutely what I want. Let's go. Now." She smiled at him, her fingers linking with his as she waited for him to Apparate them to their destination.

XxX

Thatcher hadn't been kidding when he'd said he had the Galleons to pay for the wedding. It was the evening of the same day, and they were laying in his bed. The house he lived in was immaculate; his parents were wealthy and had given him a large inheritance that he had gained access to when he had become a full wizard, reaching the age of majority, or seventeen. As they lay tangled together in the sheets, Seraphina couldn't help but dread what awaited her back at the castle.

XxX

When she returned at dinner time, her parents had been nothing short of irate at her disappearance. They all but yelled at her, asking where she'd been. "I just went into Hogsmeade. I wanted to see the progress made there as well." She and Thatcher had talked about this, knew her absence would have been noticed. The other family at the table sat in silence, eating their meal, but Seraphina could feel Eldric's eyes burning into the side of her head.

When dinner was over, she made her way to Ravenclaw tower, Thatcher was watching for her there. But when she arrived, he wasn't alone. Eldric was there, wand to his throat, while Thatcher was bound with tight black ropes, a strip of fabric between his lips and tied behind his head. "I knew the two of you had been seeing each other. I was willing to let it go on for some time, after all, you would be marrying me. The contract says so."

Seraphina was rooted to the spot, her wand left behind in her room. She could do nothing in the situation but watch. "Last night, I followed you here, listened in on your little conversation. When I ran in to try and stop you from apparating, I was too late. You were already gone." He sneered, dragging his wand down the side of Thatcher's face, creating a long gash on his cheek. She almost fainted at the sight. "Eldric, please! I love him!" But her pleas fell on deaf ears as he ordered her to follow him to the dungeons as he levitated her husband along with them.

XxX

It had been hours upon hours since she had last seen Thatcher. Once Eldric had brought them to the dungeons, he had separated them. She could hear Thatcher's screams echoing from elsewhere in the dungeons. When they had cut off abruptly, her fear had risen. Eldric returned shortly after, splattered in blood, his wand raised at her. He tortured her for what felt like hours. Her body torqued on the cold, damp stone floor, throat torn and bloody from screaming Thatcher's name. Finally, blissfully, she lost consciousness.

XxX

When she regained her consciousness, she looked around the dark dungeon, realizing she was alone. Eldric was nowhere to be found and she couldn't hear him rustling around. She slowly pulled herself to her feet, and went in search of Thatcher. From the appearance of Eldric earlier, she knew her love would be in no shape to leave the dungeons.

She searched them in their entirety, not finding a trace of him. Her energy flagged and she sank to the cold stone floor. Calling upon her core magic, she closed her eyes, bringing to her mind the enchantment for the soul calling spell the priest had them memorize. The spell would act as a beacon for a person's other half, should they become separated. As she recited the words, however, she didn't realize that she was slipping. Her heartbeat was slowing, her consciousness dwindling. Her body listed sideways as she slumped to the floor. As the incantation finished in her mind, Seraphina slipped into a magically induced coma.

She could only be awakened by the return of her husband's soul.

XxX

Eldric returned to the dungeons hours later after disposing of that filthy Muggleborn's body. Now Sera would be his, with no one to stand in his way. It would be as their parents wanted. He walked into the part of the dungeon he had left her to find it empty. A frown marred his features as he looked around. She couldn't have gotten far. Not in the state he had left her.

His feet carried him in search of her, flitting into room after room, coming to a halt inside the last room, his breath caught in his chest. "No…" He rushed to her slumped form, brushing her hair from her face. "Sera, wake up. Sera!" He shook her shoulders, patted her face, pointed his wand at her temple and shouted, "Rennervate!" But nothing worked. "Seraphina! Wake up!" He lifted her in his arms, and she hung like a piece of fabric, no tension in her limbs. "What have I done?"

He couldn't let their parents find out about this. He left the room, turning towards the unfinished section of the dungeons, and found a place to bury her within the stone walls. There was an alcove with a large stone bench, already in place, he laid her on the bench, in a peaceful repose, and then sealed up the space. He used every charm and ward available to him to ensure that it would never be found until when she awoke. Then he turned and fled, a plan forming in his head as to explain her disappearance.

XxX

"HE WHAT?!" Eldric cowered under Salazar's rage. "THIS IS WHY I WANTED NO FILTHY MUDBLOODS INVOLVED IN MAKING OR ADMITTED ONCE THIS SCHOOL IS UP AND RUNNING!" The air was crackling with magical energy and every hair was standing on end. "I took care of him. I killed him, but not before he had already…" Eldric choked out a sob before continuing, "disposed of Sera."

Rowena was sobbing in his mother's arms, and he couldn't bear to look at the sight. It hurt his chest to look at it. Of course, the cause for the heartbreak was mostly his fault. But he was a jealous git. He had wanted Seraphina to himself. He ducked as Salazar threw out a random curse, a hole exploding in one of the newly formed walls of what would be the Great Hall. Before the wizard stormed from the hall, the founder of Slytherin bellowed, "No mudblood will ever be allowed in my house. EVER!"

A/N: Alright ladies, and hopefully gents, there is was. I hope you enjoyed it. Please, please review and let me know what you thought.

All my love,

Elle.