Hermione Granger stared down at the piece of paper that she'd been studying for exactly two years. She had given up everything to change what it said and what it meant and yet two years later she was staring down at the parchment that was going to dictate the rest of her life. She couldn't look away. She knew the law inside and out. She'd even managed to get it changed. At the time she thought she was buying time in order to revoke it altogether, but she failed. And now after two years of attempting to stall, stop and by any means necessary fight the law, she had to wave her white flag. It was over.
Five days ago she convinced herself that she still had a fighting chance of winning the case that she'd taken to the Wizengamot at least four times in the last two years, but it wasn't enough, and now she'd even managed to sabotage her backup plan. Of course she had a backup plan, after all she was Hermione Granger. At the time it even seemed like a good idea, but she never imagined the law would be passed, it was only a backup plan.
Five days ago:
I can't do this. She thought to herself in that small white room. But she had to, what other choice did she have? She was out of time, five days wasn't enough time to do anything. She'd fought the bill for two long excruciating years and she promised herself and him that if she didn't succeed then they would marry. She promised him she would do this, and a year ago it sounded like a brilliant idea. She thought back a year and how she'd gotten to this room, the conversation that sprang the commitment she never dreamed she'd have to make.
"We know each other, we're good together, we're friends 'Mione." He persuaded, but she was anything but convinced, there was a reason they hadn't worked out in the first place.
"I don't know Ron, I'm hardly in any shape to make that kind of commitment, and especially to someone I'm not even seeing." She shook her head, unable to clear her thoughts, the last six months had been hell, but she was fighting it. She had the necessary means now, and she managed to get the bill postponed for another year. When she made her case about the immature 18 year olds who would be affected the Wizagamot decided to listen. She had statistics about marriage and pregnancy, convincing them that spending your life with someone was not a decision to be taken lightly and the younger the teenagers affected were, the more problems the marriages would surely have. She'd hoped this would repeal the law altogether, but for the time being she would settle for the postponing, it would give her a good footing to fight the law on.
"I know we aren't seeing each other right now, but we could have a life together. We've always said that. I mean I'll date and you can date and fight that law, but if at the end of the two years if you haven't made progress and we're both still single, I'd much rather choose you than end up with someone that bloody hat decides on for me." He pleaded, looking desperate. She understood what he was saying, but she hadn't even allowed the thought to enter her mind. She was so determined to right this injustice that she hadn't considered the possibility that she would have to go through with it.
A small part of her wanted to refuse to let them dictate the time table of her life, all for the sake of repopulating the wizarding world. But it wouldn't be worth it. They would obliviate her and snap her wand, sending her into the muggle world. Even if she refused they would take her free will from her. Either way they won. So she decided to fight. But she wouldn't lose, she was sure of it, and just in case it all went wrong, she had Ron.
"Okay." She started hesitantly. "But I'm telling you that I will beat this law, so we won't be planning some big fancy wedding. We'll get married December 31st, 2002, because I will not give in until the very last day." She decided.
"Maybe we should do it a couple days before that." He grinned, but mostly he just looked relieved. She knew what she'd signed up for, but she also knew that it could never come to that. She would fight the Marriage Law and she would win.
But she didn't win. She looked into the mirror, smoothing down the non-existent wrinkles in her floor length white chiffon gown. But she didn't feel like a bride. It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair. She shouldn't have to marry a man out of fear of the unknown. In that moment it almost felt like perhaps the sorting hat might have a better idea of who to spend her life with than she did.
"I can't do this." Those whispered words in the silence of the small room cut through her like a knife. She couldn't spend the rest of her life lying next to Ron, bearing his children and not really truly loving him the way that she should. She didn't even want to start thinking about his feelings. She knew he didn't love her the right way either. She didn't want her kids to see that, she didn't want to wear a ring that he got her because she was his last resort. They were using each other, and right now anything seemed like a better reason to marry than that.
"Hermione?" Harry entered the room tentatively, closing the door softly behind him. She looked down, not wanting to turn around and face him, but she couldn't stall much longer. She needed to decided right now if this was how she would live her life.
"You married Ginny because of the law, right?" She spoke without thinking, needing him to say anything to reassure her, to tell her that she was making the right decision. With Ron she would have a loving family, with Ron she would have security and maybe she would even be happy. But she needed to hear it out loud. She needed to be convinced.
"I…" he faltered, unsure of what to say. It was unlike Hermione to be so flustered, but all women were on their wedding day. She turned to look at him. He became uneasy seeing that she'd obviously been crying and they didn't look like the happy tears he'd seen so many times over the past few months. He'd been to dozens of weddings lately, and though the law angered him, he was glad to see that some people were actually marrying for love, like he had. Looking at his best friend now, he wasn't sure this match had been such a great idea, but she was out of time. He knew she hoped that the law would get repealed before she had to make any decisions, but it was airtight and if she didn't choose a spouse in the next five days, they would choose for her. And anything seemed better than being forced into a marriage. Maybe Ron and Hermione would work out a second time, he thought.
"I married Ginny because I love her. The law sped up the process." He shrugged, trying to keep his voice even.
"So you knew you would marry her anyway?" She asked, but it sounded as though she already knew the answer.
"Yeah, I did." He replied, taking a seat across from her. "What's going on Hermione?" She wrung her hands together and suddenly she felt very warm and flustered. Her breath was coming in huge gulps of air, she almost felt like she was suffocating.
And that was what the rest of her life would be like.
Suffocating.
"What about the kids thing? What if you didn't want to have kids? What if I didn't want kids? Aren't you angry? Aren't you upset that Ginny has to become pregnant within the first two years of your marriage?" She listed off the questions in a breathless string of nervousness and repressed anger. Her chest flushed in anxiety as she imagined herself with Ron's babies. She tried to like the mental picture it brought, but something about it didn't feel happy. It felt complacent, suffocating.
"The law happened. It's there Hermione. I'm not glad that they gave me a time limit but Ginny and I will love our kids, and I can't wait to have someone in this world that's part me and part her. It took a little getting used to. The idea of being a father so young was never something I imagined, but I'm okay with it, I'm excited for it." He tried to placate her, but it wasn't working. Hermione knew that she and Ron were nothing like Harry and Ginny. Couples like Harry and Ginny were the exception to the general objection towards the marriage law. Like Harry said, it didn't really change their plans, it only sped them along.
She didn't want to tell her children one day about her wedding and say that it was the most frightening, horrifying and suffocating experience of her life. She wanted to tell them that she was in madly in love with their father and walking towards him she wanted to run, and not in the opposite direction.
But if she walked away today, from a man who would provide and care for her and their children for the rest of her life, she would still have to be married. The ministry gave everyone two years to find their own spouse and marry, requiring them to have a child in the making within two years of their wedding date. She only had five days before the deadline, and if she didn't marry Ron tonight she would be called to the ministry first thing Thursday morning where they would use the sorting hat's magic to find her a spouse that it thought would be the best fit for her.
Even if she liked the guy that the hat picked for her she would only have a year before she had to marry him. She would have a year to date him, fall in love with him and plan a wedding with him. It seemed highly implausible to her that any outcome would be better than the one she had now. And just as the law stated, she would have to become pregnant within two years of their wedding date. No matter what happened, in three years Hermione would have to be with child. That hardly seemed like a love story to her.
No matter what way she looked at it she couldn't do this, she couldn't do any of it.
"Hey, Hermione. It's going to be okay." Harry attempted to console his friend, but she only stared ahead as the sobs began to wrack through her body, not attempting to conceal her state of anguish.
"I can't do this." She choked out. Harry acted as though he didn't hear her words, unaffected by them.
"You can. You're Hermione Granger and this is just a wedding, it's hardly your greatest feat." He was trying to tease her and lighten the mood, but his words struck a more serious chord.
"It's not just a wedding, it's a life sentence." She rationalized. "A divorce isn't even an option unless one party has committed a crime or is unable to have children, and even then you have to take your case to the Wizegamot. It's not even a wedding. It's not even a marriage. It's a life sentence." She tried to pull herself together, dabbing at her tears with the heels of her hands, though she hardly understood why she bothered, she couldn't go through with this.
"Hey, I'm going to go get Ron, you need to talk to him, but Hermione, I think you should do this. If you don't you could end up with anybody." Harry urged before leaving his friend in the room alone.
Hermione had a few brief moments to collect herself before Ron would come in, and she would fall apart all over again. She had to tell him. She knew that she would never be able to live with herself if she just ran. She took a few calming breaths, but they did nothing to ease her anxiety.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Ron made his way towards her, his eyes full of concern, but more than that, panic.
"I can't do this Ron." She mustered up all the confidence she had and put it into the one sentence she knew he deserved. No matter what else happened she knew that she had to be fair to Ron, she had to tell him the truth.
"What do you mean? We're here, we have to get married." He deadpanned, refusing to hear what she was telling him.
"Ron, I can't. I can't do this. I can't live my life knowing that I married someone out of fear of the unknown." She continued, grasping his hands, but he pulled away quickly, stumbling back a step before his eyes filled with frustration.
"You can't do this, you promised we'd get married. We have to get married." He said, his voice wavering slightly. Hermione shook her head slowly, tears slipping down her cheeks.
"I can't afford to let the ministry scare me into hastily spending the rest of my life with someone." She was shaking, her voice no longer even as she tried to keep her thoughts straight. Ron was going to lose his temper and she had to get out of there before he did.
"You can't afford to? What about me Hermione? You promised me a year ago, that's not hasty. We planned this. This isn't just your life! It's mine too!" He threw his hands up in exasperation, running his fingers through his hair. She could practically hear his frantic thoughts, he was panicking, but not because he was losing her. He was panicking because he didn't have any other options and that was exactly why she couldn't do this.
"I'm sorry." She said before disapparating on the spot, and not turning back. And she was sorry. She was sorry that he didn't have the right to choose a wife on his own time and she was sorry that the ministry was going to sort him with someone, but she wasn't sorry that she left.
So here she sat, at her kitchen table, five days later, staring down at the piece of parchment that ruined her life.
.
.
"Ronald Weasley!" Shouted the sorting hat upon being placed on Katie Bell's head.
"Well that's surprising." Blaise Zabini whispered to his pale friend.
"More like demoralizing. Poor girl, I'd be mortified too if I was sorted to a Weasley." Pansy retorted from his left side. Draco shuddered, silently grateful that Potter had decided to marry the only female Weasley spawn. He glanced briefly around the room again, disgusted by the amount of scared desperate witches and wizards in his midst.
"What is it Drakie? Regretting not taking me up on that offer?" Pansy sniggered in his ear. He snorted, rolling his eyes.
"Believe me that's the last thing I was thinking Pans." He deadpanned.
"I bet Astoria isn't looking so bad though now." Blaise commented with little malice. Draco would have hexed the dark skinned wizard if he didn't look so nervous himself. When Astoria married Nott last month Draco was hardly surprised, in fact he was almost relieved that it wasn't him after all, almost. Sitting in this position though, waiting to be bloody sorted to his future spouse, made the prospect of marrying Astoria more appealing than ever.
Two years ago, when he first received his letter about the impending marriage law he never dreamed that he would be affected by it. He was already engaged to be married to Astoria Greengrass, a young pureblood who his mother wouldn't bitch too much about. Their courtship was anything but romantic, in fact he approached it as he would anything else. She was a business interaction. At the time he didn't think much of it. He knew he had to be married young regardless of the law. Even though he and his mother were pardoned of their crimes after the war, their reputation as a family was in desperate need of an overhaul.
When his father was sentenced to the dementor's kiss the entirety of Malfoy enterprises fell on Draco's shoulders. The youngest Malfoy used the company as an opportunity to distract himself from the tumultuous nightmare that was the last few years of his life. He took it upon himself early on in management to abolish all the pure-blooded ideals that the company ran on, making it very much his own. Draco held very little tolerance for peers and employees that still held to their blood prejudices. He came far too close to spending his life next to his father in prison to even entertain the ideals on which he'd been raised. That chapter of his life only visited him in his nightmares.
Draco came out of the war confused. He didn't know what he believed, or how to go about adjusting to life post-Voldemort. Draco decided to absorb himself in his business, hoping he would find his footing in the world that way. Somewhere between changing everything about his family name to making Malfoy Enterprises profitable he became defined by the work he did. He didn't honestly know who he was without it. It was easy for him to get lost in his work and to start viewing everything in his life as an aspect of business, even his impending marriage.
Astoria Greengrass was well mannered, soft spoken and high maintenance. She was a typical pure-blooded, beautiful bride and a very obvious choice for him. Their courtship was traditionally impersonal and she demanded nothing of him but the key to his Gringotts vault. For a very long time nothing about the arrangement he had with Astoria bothered him. Although she moved in, the manor was so large they hardly saw each other and neither made a conscious effort to. They met once or twice a week at dinner for a meal and minimal conversation. He thought it was a good set-up. She didn't nag him, she didn't demand anything of him and she was a nice occasional shag. She was everything that he was supposed to want. He was supposed to want a quiet obedient wife that left him to his business and hung on his arm at events.
It was when his business settled into a routine that he began to think about his future. He'd never given it much thought until he wasn't incessantly needed in the office. With his free time he began to imagine the silent meals that would fill his evenings and the son he would be expected to produce.
With the marriage law in place Draco would be forced to have a child within two years of his wedding date and though Astoria was the perfect wife for him on paper, it didn't make her the perfect mother. He began to have nightmares about a young, pale-haired boy whose mother and father greeted each other only when leaving or entering their home. In the dreams the boy's father was cold and mean and the mother never offered him any affection either. He was far too familiar with that life, and it was not something he would wish upon anyone, let alone his own heir.
It wasn't until then that he realized he was going to repeat history. Perhaps his son wouldn't grow up being taught that muggles were lower than dirt and that muggle-borns had filthy blood, but with Astoria as a mother it wouldn't be a far off thought. He had no idea how to love a child or give it affection. He was miserable as a child; his own parents nearly ruined his life ten times over. He loved his mother very much, but she had been exactly what Astoria was. She was quiet, soft spoken and obedient until the very end of the war when she spoke up and saved his life.
He grew more and more panicked at the prospect of his impending fatherhood by the day. He began to wonder if he could take a different wife, one who was maternal and passionate. He cringed at the thought because he was trained to, but wondered what would be so bad about it. He realized that in choosing the right woman he may not be doomed to silent meals and complacency in all his personal affairs. Perhaps he could turn to his wife for passionate sex, rather than conducting an affair as his father often did.
Draco hadn't made any real decisions about whether or not he would leave Astoria until the wedding was 6 months away and the impending marriage law was 8 months from taking effect.
He was sitting in his study late one night after work, and Astoria who'd recently been moving her things into a separate wing of the manor knocked tentatively on the door. Sometimes he wanted to throttle her for being such a mouse. Her obedience was borderline ridiculous. A fiancé should feel free enough to barge into his study and throw herself at him. She should have been enthralled with him physically and even emotionally. She should have wanted to spend every moment with him to the point where it was beyond annoying. But Astoria would never be that way and he knew it.
"Come in." He spoke through gritted teeth. She took two small steps into the room, before she spoke.
"What are you doing?" She asked. He glanced up, surprised at her sudden interest in anything that had to do with him.
"Going over mergers for the company. Why?" He replied defensively.
"It's nothing, I was just seeing how you were." She said quickly. The following silence enveloped the room around them, but she remained where she was. He waited a moment, continuing to work until he spoke again.
"Did you need something Astoria?" He drawled, wondering why she'd come to see him in the first place.
"Your father would be proud Draco." She said with something resembling a smile on her face.
And that was it. That was the moment he knew that he could never spend the rest of his life with this woman. If there was anything he never wanted to be, it was his father. He didn't want to see his wife as a business arrangement anymore. He wanted love. Maybe not for him, but certainly for his child. He wanted a mother for his child and a wife that could keep up a conversation about something. He spent a long time making sure that the Malfoy name would mean something different now. He changed the entire force of the company and every corner of the manor. He changed his ideals and beliefs, but if he married Astoria, the changes would all amount to nothing.
He knew then that Astoria wanted a life that he could never want. She was happy with spending the rest of her life the way she did now. Draco wasn't happy, and he never really expected himself to be. He didn't know what would make him happy, or even what that feeling was like, but it wasn't this.
He convinced himself that it was for his future child. Even if he didn't have a connection to his wife the way that he should, his heir should be loved and taken care of properly. Maybe the right wife could help him learn to show love to a child as well. He convinced himself that in time he would learn to live differently than he was taught to. He was also convinced that he would never be able to do so if he took a wife like Astoria.
After seven months of failed attempts at dating Draco felt like if he never saw a woman again it would be too soon. Unfortunately for him today he would become eternally linked to one. He didn't understand how that bloody hat would know who was a suitable choice for him, he hardly knew what he wanted, and if he couldn't figure it out how was the hat supposed to? He shifted in his seat, holding onto the hope that the sorting hat would match him today as well at it had when he was eleven.
.
.
Hermione was twitching. She hadn't been able to stop since they made the first match, although it hardly seemed as though the room was thinning out at all. They were calling names in a seemingly meaningless order, regardless of age and gender. Once your name was called they placed the hat on your head and it would call out the name of another witch or wizard in the room, who was to exit with you so you could properly meet as future husband and wife.
"Cormac McLaggen!" The hat shouted the moment it touched the hairs on Lavender Brown's head. Hermione scoffed, those two were certainly meant for each other. So far the matches seemed pragmatic. She was surprised when Ron was matched with Katie Bell, but she felt a great relief that she hadn't doomed him to a life with someone completely insufferable. Aside from a few displeased grimaces no one made a scene. She half wished that someone would throw a fit right there, just to protest, but she knew it would be of no use.
"Blaise Zabini!" Shouted the hat as it made contact with Luna Lovegood's head. Draco's head snapped to the right, where his fellow former Slytherin and friend had just been making jokes about who would end up with the bizarre woman.
"You're bloody joking." Blaise whispered, his eyes wide with shock.
"Looney Lovegood?" Draco whispered incredulously. So far the sorting hat hadn't done anything too insane, but he could hardly picture Luna and Blaise together, it had to be a joke. Lovegood skipped from the stage serenely, pausing to wait for her new fiancé to join her in exiting.
"Good luck." Zabini growled in Draco's direction before promptly leaving the large room behind his future bride.
Draco inwardly flinched when they called Pansy's name and she threw him a wink before heading to the front of the room with her head held high. Like himself, Pansy had been frantically dating these last few months to avoid this very moment with no avail.
Draco and Pansy remained friends after the war, finding solace in shared silences that very few would ever understand. He'd never felt any romantic feelings towards Parkinson, but that didn't mean he didn't consider her a friend. He shuddered again, thinking about the incident at a bar 6 weeks ago that nearly led to lifelong mistake.
It started innocently enough, they'd both had enough of the ridiculous amounts of dating they were doing, and after getting a bit pissed, one of them suggested that they themselves the trouble and just marry one another. After hours of heinous laughter and sloppy drunken reasoning they decided to get it over with and get hitched, thinking that surely they would be better for each other than anyone that old sorting hat chose for them. Thankfully they didn't make it far, and the next morning they made a mutual decision never to speak of it again on her way out the door.
"Adrian Pucey!" The hat spoke with conviction, and the look on Parkinson's face was priceless. She pursed her lips so tightly that it looked like they'd disappeared. Pucey had been one of the first dates Pansy went on after hearing about the marriage law. Considering the fact that they weren't married now Draco knew it hadn't gone very well at all. He could have laughed. In fact if they hadn't just called out his name to be sorted next, he might have.
He stood up and stiffly made his way to the front of the room. He wore a mask of indifference, determined not to let his bride to be see his anxiety over the situation. His heart was beating faster than was healthy as he situated himself on the stool before the hat was carelessly placed on his head. He was filled with an odd sense of deja-vu at the experience, but unlike his only other encounter with the sorting hat, it didn't speak right away. It hemmed and hawed for a few moments, mumbling uselessly atop his head.
"Hermione Granger!" It spoke. The color promptly drained from his face.
Hermione was frozen. One moment ago she was almost excited to who could have possibly deserved a lifetime sentence to Draco Malfoy. Then she heard her own name.
No.
No. She thought. No, no no no no. It had to be a practical joke, a prank orchestrated by George Weasley to make her squirm. The absolute silence that enveloped the room was deafening. She felt hundreds of eyes on her and the pale haired ex-death eater at the front of the room. She refused to believe it. It was a joke, it had to be. Two seconds ticked by and then the ministry official plucked the sorting hat from Draco's head, shooing him in the direction of the exit.
No. She thought. It couldn't be him. She would have rather married anyone else in the room, including Ron. Oh Merlin, Ron. She thought, unable to tear her eyes from the blonde that was looking just as shell shocked as she was. I should have married Ron. But it was too late, her fate was sealed. It took every ounce of dignity she had left to stand up and follow her worst enemy out of the sorting room. She fought back the tears she felt rising in her eyes with every step.
.
.
Five minutes later the future Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy sat uncomfortably far apart on the small loveseat provided in their marital advisor's office. They had yet to utter a single word to one another and Draco wished to keep it that way. Only couples who were sorted to be together were required to meet with a ministry appointed marriage advisor, which was another annoyance he'd not considered when he gave up on dating a few days ago. Immediately following the sorting each couple was to meet with their advisor to discuss the finer points of the marriage law, discuss the ramifications and to determine what kind of pre-marriage plan the ministry would hold them to.
The pre-marriage plan was also a giant nuisance. Because the ministry expected many sorted couples to have trouble adjusting to the idea of spending the rest of their lives with their match they instated several pre-marriage plans highlighting how many times a month the couple should see each other and what decisions had to be made regarding the wedding by which deadline to ensure that each couple would become well acquainted with one another and have less problems in the marriage down the road. Draco hardly thought the plan would work, especially when the tension in the room was so fucking suffocating.
He stole a glance to his right at Hermione. He could practically feel the anger emanating off her. After the initial shock they avoided eye contact, obviously she didn't want anything to do with him either. This was a huge mistake. He would have rather married Astoria a hundred times over. Granger was literally the last person he had expected to be paired with. In fact he hadn't thought she would be sorted at all. He didn't sit and think about her much, but if he took the time to, he would have imagined she'd wed herself to Weasley before subjecting herself to a sorting like this.
Then again Hermione had been in the paper a lot over the past two years. She was the driving force behind the opposition of the marriage law. Draco knew that she'd fought it tooth and nail, he heard she even quit her job for it. He almost let out a dry laugh in spite of the situation. Granger would have been infuriated no matter who she had to marry. After spending the last two years fighting the law she would resent anyone who she would be forced to spend the rest of her life with, but spending it with him? It was almost like the ministry wanted her to be as miserable in a marriage as possible for fighting them so hard.
Hermione glanced to her left at the blonde wizard she grew up hating. She would terminate this marriage. She didn't know how, but she would do it. She would rather spend the rest of her life alone than be married to Malfoy. There were very few circumstances in which she could petition her marriage and they were very complicated. The one thing she was counting on was the fact that Malfoy couldn't be any more pleased than she was with the situation, and was probably willing to do whatever it took to get their marriage revoked as well. She held onto that and took a deep breath, readying herself for their marriage advisor. She had to at least put on a brave face.
"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy." A tall thin woman Hermione knew as Mrs. Powell entered the room, sitting promptly at the desk in front of them. Hermione narrowed her eyes. Mrs. Powell was one of the administrators of this law, she was definitely far above the position of a marriage advisor. A sense of dread filled her as she realized that the ministry expected Hermione to be difficult. Powell definitely would make any plans of rebellion that much more unreachable.
"I'm sure you're wondering how the two of you came to be in this position and what it means for you." She wasted no time straightening her glasses and getting down to business. Draco stared at the older woman, unsure of what to think. He paid close attention, deciding if he was going to have to manipulate her he had to figure out how best to go about it.
"I hate to waste your time, so I'll jump right into your obvious questions." She cleared her throat. Hermione flinched. She'd worked against this woman enough to know how vile and obnoxious she was. She was thoroughly enjoying watching Hermione squirm.
"I've been appointed as your marriage counselor because you two are very special couple, with very special circumstances." She beamed up at them, unaffected by both sets of grimaces thrown her way.
"You see, the ministry really needs you two." She repeated. "In order for these sorted couples to transition smoothly into marriage, they're going to need role-models." She began. Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, she was toying with them. Her mind was spinning with the barely hidden malice in Powell's voice. This was no coincidence, Powell was sent to make sure they both comply by any means necessary.
"Sorry to bust your bubble, but we're not exactly thrilled with the situation, I hardly think we'll be your poster-child for how lovely the new marriage law is." Draco huffed. Hermione glanced at her former enemy. If she didn't hate him so much she would have been pleased with his audacity. Mrs. Powell smiled tightly.
"You don't really get a choice, now do you? The law says that as a sorted couple you are automatically under investigation. You are to follow the ministry pre-marriage plan designated by your advisor and if you don't you risk losing your wands and being exiled from the wizarding community." She said with a hint of a threat in her voice. Before Hermione could protest or at least get in a good jab, Draco's beat her to it.
"You're bluffing. You might snap my wand in two, but you'd never take away Granger's. She's the brains behind the Dark Lord's death. The public would massacre you for it." Malfoy snapped. Hermione glanced towards him again, wondering why he would defend her and if there was any truth to that statement.
"That's where you're wrong again Mr. Malfoy. How better to send a message to all the couples thinking of rebelling against the law? In fact if it were up to me I would have snapped Miss Granger's wand two years ago when she first stormed in my office and decided to make my life a living hell." She threw them both a sickeningly sweet smile before continuing.
"But the minister insisted that we do it this way instead." She concluded.
"What exactly is this way?" Hermione demanded. She felt as though she would be ill. Powell was too prepared for this moment, it was as though she'd expected all their protest and was trained to know exactly how to handle them. Hermione felt vastly unprepared.
"You two will be the face of the law. You'll be the couple that all the others strive to be. You'll set the example to the couples struggling with their differences. You will be married and have children and those children will be the definition of everything this law is striving to provide. Who can argue with the ministry when Hermione Granger, the witch who lost everything fighting the law and Draco Malfoy, ex death eater and former foe of Harry Potter, found love and happiness when they complied?" She grinned.
"So you matched us on purpose then?" Draco deadpanned. She ignored him, pulling out a parchment to place in front of her.
"You're on the most rigorous pre-marriage plan the ministry has instated, because we feel you're a couple who needs plenty of guidance. And of course I've tweaked it a bit for our particular situation." She cleared her throat. Hermione's heart was beating through her chest, her mind racing, trying to get a grip on the new developments in this situation.
"This month, January of 2003, you are required to meet at least once a week face-to-face for a minimum of four hours each time." She began. "You will also be required to decide on a date for your upcoming nuptials." Hermione's jaw would have dropped if it wasn't hanging open already. This was going too far. The ministry was literally trying to control where she went and who she saw. It was ridiculous and uncalled for. She knew that the pre-marriage plans existed, but she never had time to look into them, she figured she would never have to cross that bridge.
"In addition to meeting these requirements, the two of you will have the extra assignment of going out in public as a happy established couple near the end of the month. Make sure I hear about it." She smiled again, clearly enjoying our silent outrage.
"Now, if you'll both just sign this document, stating that you plan to comply with the pre-marriage plan under your advisor's guidance and you've been informed of the certain consequences if you fail to meet the requirements, I'll let you get back to your busy day." She grinned. Hermione's hands twitched toward the wand in her pocket.
"Violence towards me, Miss Granger, will not help your case." Powell said smoothly. Hermione grit her teeth together, desperately thinking about how to get away without being forced into signing the parchment in front of her.
"I suppose not signing this document puts us in violation of another law?" Malfoy drawled beside her, his face emotionless as he stared at the woman across from him, making no move to take the quill from her outstretched hand.
"Let me make myself clear to both of you." Her voice became dark with a looming threat that would have been intimidating if Hermione had not faced much worse.
"It is my job to make sure that the two of you make down the aisle within the next 12 months with shit-eating grins on your faces. Then it will be my job to ensure you bring a Malfoy junior into the world well before that particular deadline. It's my job to make you role-models. If you continue to be this difficult I will make this infinitely worse for you, and not just by snapping your wands. If you think you have no control now, you have absolutely no idea how far I'm willing to go. But it doesn't have to come to that." She said darkly. Hermione's heartbeat picked up again, this was much bigger than upholding the laws of the ministry. This was completely corrupt and the minister of magic was approving of it himself. She couldn't fight against this law fair and square and she certainly had no hope of fighting it now. Fear coursed through her, but she kept a mask of indifference, she couldn't let this woman know she was intimidating her, it would give her the upper hand and Hermione refused to be belittled.
"Was that supposed to be a threat?" Malfoy snorted. Hermione almost smiled at him, at least he had the same mindset she did, so far. Mrs. Powell gained her composure and sealed the quill in his hand with an impressive non-verbal spell.
"You should hope it doesn't come to that." She replied.
a/n So that's the first chapter! I know marriage law fics can be pretty over-used but I hope you give it a chance. I thought the direction for this one was a little different than anything I've ever read and I hope to make it quite unique in plot. For those of you who've followed me from my other fic "Oblivious" thank you so much! Your support has been truly wonderful and I can't wait to get your feedback on this. My writing style will be a bit different in this fic, I think its important to test out different things and this is a perfect place to do it. Please review and let me know what you think, that always makes me get up the next chapter faster.
You can expect the next chapter in the next few days, if not then in the next week! Thanks! -Onalee