Summary: All women in the magical world are now considered unequals and will have their rights taken away. They are only to be used to produce babies, and must marry a wizard or face execution. Hermione, although hating the idea, must be protected. And two men offer their services... But who will she pick?

Set after the War- obviously not compliant with actual series as everyone is alive (yay!)

I do not own anything- all rights belong to the wonderful J.K Rowling and Warner Bros.

Rated: M for violence, language, sexual implications/scenes etc

Pairings: Hermione/Sirius, Hermione/Lupin. Other ones will be revealed later.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

Ut infantes

~Prologue~

"Why, Sirius Black, you are positively sinful."

The tall, dark haired man chuckled quietly under his breath, bending his head so he gently nudged his companion's forehead with his long nose. "I am nothing of the sort."

Her deep, coffee brown eyes flashed with amusement as she peered up at him through her thick jungle of eyelashes, a delicate eyebrow rising as she inhaled a deep breath before murmuring: "Playing innocent doesn't suit you in the slightest."

Nevertheless, her hand rose to rest against his hard, warm chest to caress the bare skin revealed by the top of his shirt buttons being undone. Then, slowly, she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his stubbly jaw.

"I hate this hiding sometimes Hermione," Sirius mumbled with a small sigh as he wound an arm around her waist, pulling her close and burying his nose and mouth into her thick tresses. "It's effort."

She couldn't help but laugh at that, giving him another affectionate kiss and then pulling away, lifting his rough, calloused hands away from her waist. "Yes, well, that's just tough isn't it? Now come on, we can't keep ignoring Mrs Weasley's calls for dinner."

Sirius only grunted in annoyance but obliged her, moving towards the door to open it and beckon her to walk ahead of him as they started to hear the loud, energetic voices from downstairs.

When they entered the kitchen, Hermione had to step back as the Weasley twins jumped up and practically on her.

"Granger! Just the girl we wanted to see," Fred started confidently- or was it George?

"You… did?" Hermione asked suspiciously, still backing away from them both warily. The other twin chuckled.

"Of course. You're the perfect-

"-Well, the only-

"Girl we know-

"-And therefore can use-

"-For our little experiment."

"Hello," Ginny Weasley interrupted with annoyance clear in her tone, but managing to send a sympathetic look to Hermione. "I happen to be a girl."

"Yes, but-

"-Boys, boys," Mrs Weasley rolled her eyes and urged them back into their seats at the kitchen table. "Leave the poor girl alone. Hermione, love, come sit. You too, Sirius," She added, turning back to the stove to stir the contents in the large pot.

Hermione looked over to try and spot a spare seat and smiled gratefully at none other than her ex professor who indicated for her to sit next to him by patting the table gently. His beautiful toffee eyes brightened when she slid into the chair beside him and he turned to her with a devastatingly handsome smile of his own.

"Hermione," Lupin greeted quietly with a small nod. "Working hard?"

They heard a snort from the corner and both turned with an amused glance towards Sirius, who was sipping some water and sending a wink Hermione's way.

"Yes," Hermione replied swiftly with a glare towards Sirius. "I have been, actually. I was researching more about that case you told me about, you know with-

"-The Hungarian werewolves? Yes, I thought you might like my notes on the case about Phyllis Reginald in the year 1976, were they useful to your research?"

"Of course! It was extremely thoughtful of you, Professor," Hermione smiled at him gratefully as everyone started to help themselves to the soup that Mrs Weasley had placed in the centre of the table.

"Hermione, call me Remus, please," Lupin chuckled as he poured some soup into his own bowl before passing the spoon to Harry. "It has been about three months, and you still insist on calling me by a title I do not deserve, or hold."

"You do deserve it," Hermione argued quietly, taking a piece of bread and flicking her wand so a bread knife rose to butter it. "You were one of our best Professors."

"Alright, you two," Harry yawned and stretched before grabbing his own piece of bread and munching on it, not noticing how Lupin's cheeks warmed a little at Hermione's compliment. "I really don't need to hear all your intellectual debates now."

"Bad day, Harry?" Mr Weasley asked, a concerned smile on his face. Harry only sighed and nodded as a reply, too tired to elaborate, but luckily Ron decided to chip in.

"Was awful," he started, talking as he continued to eat his food, causing Mrs Weasley to tell him off with a stern 'Ronald, close your mouth!' "Sorry mum."

"Yes, well, Auror training wasn't meant to be easy," Sirius patted his godson on the back before stretching his legs out lazily, examining his dirty nails. "Just have a good night's sleep, eh?"

"I agree," Mrs Weasley cut in loudly, narrowing her eyes at Sirius's lazy posture and clicking her tongue. "Right, children, as soon as you're finished, off to bed-

"-They're hardly children anymore Molly," Sirius gave a heavy sigh but managed to wink again at Hermione whilst the others continued to eat and talk amongst themselves.

Hermione hid a smile.

They continued to chatter amongst themselves and Hermione laughed heartily with the others as they talked of trivial matters- even participating in a talk of Quidditch, although it bored her greatly. It didn't help that everybody seemed interested in the damn subject.

She stood to take her bowl to the sink, ignoring Mrs Weasley's protests and assuring her that she wanted to help out, only resisting the older woman when Sirius coughed loudly. Glancing slyly up at him, she noticed he was staring right at her and shivered, feeling her spine tingle in anticipation.

The corner of his mouth lifted into a small smirk but when she blinked, he was lounging in his chair, laughing with Lupin as they chatted.

"I'm going to bed," she announced, smiling as they all said 'goodnight' to her and leaving the room. She rounded the corner at the end of the hallway and waited with a knowing, smug look on her face.

She turned when she heard heavy footsteps echoing off the dirty walls of Grimmauld Place and raised a hand to rest it languorously against the wall as she leaned forward and, with a smirk, called slyly: "Took you long enough, Bl- Oh! Profess- I mean Remus. I mean-

Lupin chuckled as he came into view, leaning against the wall on his side as he looked at her through the darkness. "Well, Miss Granger, aren't you full of surprises. I never thought you'd have it in you."

Hermione blushed a deep, scarlet red and started to mumble an apology but Lupin only chuckled again, opening his mouth to say something before another, familiar voice weaved through the hallway.

"So, baby, how about we- Oh." Sirius stopped and shoved his hands deep into his pockets, clearing his throat. "Er- hello there, Moony. What are you… I mean. Er. I wasn't talking to… Hermione-"

"-Yes, Padfoot, old friend, because you would call me your baby," Lupin raised an eyebrow, but his amused smile stayed on his face- was it strained? Hermione couldn't tell. Sirius rubbed the back of his neck and shifted from one foot to the other, the awkwardness slowly setting in...

"I'll er… just go," Hermione stammered, practically flying away before either of the men could stop her. Sirius and Lupin turned to each other.

"How long have you known?" Sirius asked first in a low voice.

Lupin shrugged, pretending not to care at all for the matter. "A while. You ought to be careful. She is-

"-Young, I know," Sirius dismissed as both men turned to watch her still walking away. "She's a wild minx, Moony."

Lupin forced himself to bite back an instant roar of insults, calming himself down and merely nodding once before gritting his teeth and replying: "I bet."

Sirius glanced sideways at Lupin, watching him carefully. "Moony…"

"Goodnight, Sirius," Lupin slid on a too-big smile and patted Sirius on his back before walking away, leaving a very confused and curious best friend behind.

Hermione yawned and shuffled into the kitchen sleepily, rubbing her eyes before stopping in her tracks when she spotted who else was in the kitchen.

"Good morning," Lupin smiled at her, holding a steaming kettle in his hand. "Tea?"

"Please," Hermione groaned, moving to sit at the table whilst Lupin chuckled and placed a mug in front of her before seating himself opposite her.

"Long night?" He couldn't help but ask, causing Hermione to shoot a glare at him. He hid a smile and sipped his own tea. "Sorry, sorry. Couldn't help it."

She hesitated. "I'm sorry for last night."

He looked up with a frown. "Sorry for last night?"

"Yes… you… in the hallway. I mean-

"-Hermione," Lupin reached over to pat her hand gently. "It's perfectly alright. You shouldn't feel sorry for anything."

She moved her hand away promptly, the apples in her cheeks glowing a peachy pink. Lupin couldn't help but watch her, feeling his breath constrict in his throat. She really was quite lovely- her beautiful hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, her perfectly shaped eyes dark and mysterious, her full lips smooth and plump, all finished with unblemished skin and a small heart-shaped face...

She looked up just as he was staring and he quickly looked down, pretending to have an overwhelming interest in his tea. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, Sirius barged in angrily.

"Have you seen this?" He snarled, raising his clenched hand so they could see what he was holding. He thrust down the wad of paper onto the table and watched as they both leaned over to read it with matching frowns on their faces. Hermione only had to read the headline to understand- gasping when she read it.

THE DAILY PROPHET

'New Minister's Proposed Law Confirmed- Women are to be little more than second class citizens.'

A/N: Just a tease of a first chapter- it's only the prologue after all. The story will be complicated to write- the new laws that'll affect all of the women will be explained and explored, but I can't promise the whole of the story will be happy. It won't be all gloom and doom either! But be warned if you don't like sad themes, you really are in the wrong place.

I am also thinking of a beta. I have one already but feel cheeky asking her to be mine for this one, so it all depends who's interested- PM me if you are.

Thanks for reading! Reviews would be so very, very appreciated.