"This has got to be a sick joke." I sobbed, glaring down at the single piece of paper I held in my hand, "There is no way. This isn't happening."
"I'm sure everything will be just fine. We were expecting this." Mrs. Weasley offered, sitting beside me at the table and giving me a one-armed hug, "We can make this right."
"How can we make this right?" I sobbed, "I've been matched! If I don't come up with someone on my own before my wedding date, I'll be marrying Dean Thomas."
"Worse things could happen, Darling. You may be one of the only ones that hasn't been set to marry a Death Eater." Molly admitted, "So you don't love him. You could learn to."
"I don't want to learn to love someone, Mrs. Weasley. I want to do it in my own time. Is that too much to ask?"
Mrs. Weasley sighed, standing to go back to her washing, "I wish it were that simple, Hermione. But that isn't the world we live in anymore."
"How are George and Ginny doing?" I asked, once I'd gotten my tears to subside.
"Ginny isn't too worse for wear. She has Harry, you know. They were planning on marrying eventually anyway. It's a little soon, they say, but they're managing.
"George isn't doing too well, though. He has Angelina, you know, but I think he'd always imagined Fred being his best man.
"Ron is the one I'm worried about. He hasn't had much luck recently. Not since the two of you -"
"Mrs. Weasley, please understand that our breakup was two-sided. We both felt like we needed to end things. It just wasn't going anywhere. He understands and we'd both appreciate if you would be supportive. He's a kind lad - I'm sure any girl would be happy to have him. Who's he been paired with?"
"Luna Lovegood. Strange girl, she is. Very strange." Mrs. Weasley sighed, "I only wish he could find someone before their match is made. He has only two months until his wedding date."
"I've got three."
"Three months to fall in love with someone. What a feat." Mrs. Weasley continued, her thoughts clearly still on Ron, "I only wish my boys were happy. I just don't know if Ron will be happy with Luna."
In order to change the subject, I opted for a rather neutral Weasley, "And what of Percy? What's his stance in all of this?"
"He's being dutiful to his Ministry. He's agreed to marry the girl he's been paired with." Her entire face suddenly dropped as she continued to manually wash her dishes, "He's been paired with Pansy Parkinson."
"Pansy. Oh, no. He can't - she's got connections to the Death Eaters."
"But she isn't one. He's been paired. He's a good boy and he'll be a dutiful husband." She seemed genuinely upset, but pushed to find the good in the situation.
"Mrs. Weasley, you can't be happy about this. Isn't there anything we can do? Arthur and Percy both work for the Ministry. Can they not find some kind of caveat? Is there really nothing else?"
"Nothing." Mrs. Weasley sighed with a purse of her lips and shrug of her shoulders, "So, if I were you, I would get to know this boy Dean. Because after your engagement period, you'll be spending quite a lot of time together."
I wiped the tears from my eyes and pushed myself away from the table, "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. If you don't mind, I'm going to find Ginny."
"It's getting late. We've got an early start in the morning." She called after me, as I charged up the stairs.
=^..^=
Comments, anyone? Like it? Hate it? Let me know what I can do to make this better. Is my SPaG okay?