Chapter 1

Bad News by Owl

Hermione Granger yawned as she made her way to the breakfast table. It was summer, and she had been up late last night doing some research for her summer Potions essay about love potions.

"Good morning, darling!" her father greeted her. "I see you got a good night's sleep!"

"Very funny, Dad," Hermione said, yawning again.

"I just had a call from your cousin Emily," her dad began. "She says she's—"

"Mione, honey, that's an owl, isn't it?" her mother interrupted, peering through the curtained kitchen window.

Hermione lept up. "Oh my God!" she shrieked. "My OWLs!"

"But…honey, you don't have any owls," her mother said puzzledly.

"No, no, OWLs are Ordinary Wizarding Levels," said Hermione hastily as she shoved the window open. "They're those tests I took last year…oh no, and I know I missed question 34 on my Ancient Runes exam, that was the one about partnership and defense…stupid ehwaz…"

The beautiful black owl landed gracefully on the faucet, and delicately held its leg out. Not one, but two envelopes were tied on. Hermione shakily undid the string and the owl glared once about the kitchen, and swooped back out.

"I still haven't gotten used to those birds," Hermione's mother laughed. "Should I have offered it something to eat?"

Hermione didn't answer, as she was too busy puzzling over the envelopes. One had the Hogwarts crest on it, and the other was stamped with "The Ministry of Magic."

She opened the Hogwarts envelope first. A neatly folded piece of parchment fell out. Hermione anxiously scanned it, then collapsed onto her chair.

"I got all Outstandings!" she cried out. She gave a shaky laugh. "I guess I didn't do too badly in Ancient Runes after all."

She wondered how Ron and Harry did, and made a mental note to ask them in her next letter.

She turned to the Ministry of Magic envelope. Hermione frowned. She'd never gotten anything from the Ministry…was she, perhaps, in trouble?

Hermione pried open the seal and took out an official-looking piece of parchment.

"Dear Miss Hermione Granger,

As you may or may not have heard, the Ministry of Magic has recently enacted the Matrimonial Safety law, which pairs each of-age Muggle-born with a spouse of magic ancestry. This has been put through for the safety of all Muggle-borns. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is famously opposed to the existence of Muggle-borns, and it is imperative that registered Muggle-borns are placed under the safety of a witch or wizard with known magic ancestry. As marriage is lawfully binding, a Muggle-born married to and living with a pureblood is less likely to suffer the wrath of the Dark Lord.

Since you are to turn sixteen in September, you will be old enough to be considered eligible for marriage. You must be legally wed within six months."

Hermione took a breath. "This is ridiculous," she muttered under her breath. Then her thoughts turned to Ron. He had known magic ancestry! It wouldn't be too bad if she were paired with him. She smiled a little in spite of herself, then read on.

"The Ministry has decided that, in your best interests, you are to marry Severus Snape.

Sincerely,

Gavert Simon

Department of Public Safety"

Hermione dropped the letter. Snape?

Professor Snape?

Surely this was a joke!

She read it over again, trying to breathe normally. Yes, this was definitely a joke, most likely from Ron. She could imagine him, and Fred and George, laughing their stupid heads off putting together this letter. They probably thought it was a laugh, making up some cock-and-bull story to convince her that she had to marry Professor Snape.

"What is that, dear?" her father asked, peering at the back of the letter clenched in her fist.

"Oh, it's…a joke letter from one of my friends," Hermione said, laughing. "They're so silly…if they only put as much effort into their homework—that reminds me! I have to finish my Potions essay!"

"Have fun," her father said with a wry smile. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that your cousin Emily from America is visiting us next week."

"That's…great," Hermione said, already composing a furious letter to Ron in her head. She couldn't wait to tell him off!

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"…and I want you to know that I didn't fall for it at all! You, Ronald Weasley, need to do something more productive with your time!"

Hermione dotted the last exclamation mark with a sharp jab. She rolled up the parchment and realized that she had to wait until an owl came to deliver something, as she didn't have any owls of her own.

"Oh, Crookshanks," Hermione murmured, petting her orange cat. "Sometimes I wish you could deliver things too!"

A thump at her window alerted her to look up. A large gray owl teetered right outside her window.

"Errol!" Hermione cried. "Good timing!" She hurriedly pulled the window and grabbed Errol before he could fall down.

There was a sloppily rolled up scroll on Errol's leg. Hermione pulled it off. She recognized Ron's scrawl immediately.

"I got this weird Ministry letter saying I have to marry Parvati Patil! I thought it was from Fred and George, but George got one too, he has to marry Katie Bell. Did you get any of this marriage crap?"

The writing was messy and obviously hurriedly written. Hermione's heart dropped as the truth hit her.

It wasn't fake. She had to marry Severus Snape.

She recalled all the insults she'd heard Ron and Harry and Sirius—her heart dropped a little more—sling at Snape. "Greasy, slimy, ugly git," they said. She'd always admonished them for being so disrespectful, but now, as she faced the reality of a marriage with him, she couldn't help but want to call him names too.

"At least you get to marry someone nice, someone your age!" she hurled at the letter. "I have to marry Professor Snape, just because he's a lovely, safe pureblood!"

She flung herself onto her bed and dissolved in tears. The image of Snape, with his hooked nose and greasy black hair, swum through her brain.

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AN: Remember, I wrote this before HP6, so I didn't know Snape was a half-blood. In my story, he's pureblood.

AN2: REVIEW PLEASE! I spent a long time working on this story and if you took the time to read this you should at least say a little something.