I want to thank my beta reader again. She does wonders.

Downward Slope

Chapter 1: Only Seventeen

"I've been exempted."

"Exempted?"

I shuffled about my seat for a moment, suddenly finding it uncomfortable to sit.

"Yeah. Well. Uh," he stuttered. "We're so young, you know? I don't want to rush into anything. I'm -- I'm not ready."

"Oh," I said.

"Not that you are, I mean, maybe you are. I don't know."

"I see."

"You okay?"

I blanked. I had, what, a few months left to figure it out? I could find someone else. I could.

My head shook "no." It was a lie. Pure-bloods were few and far in-between, and most were loyal Slytherins.

"Hermione?" he said, looking curiously at me.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

I snorted mockingly.

"What's the cause of your exemption?" I asked.

"Oh," he said, a little embarrassed. "I kind of said I was, um, playing a different field."

"Excuse me?" I choked.

"Yeah."

"And when did you expect to tell me?"

"Oh, uh, I was just waiting for, er…"

"My magick to be gone, perhaps?" I said, raising my voice.

"No, Hermione! I just didn't know how to tell you, is all. Don't cry," he said, reaching out to calm me.

I slapped him hard against the cheek in response, leaving a reddened print against his skin.

He gasped. It wasn't like me to lash out, but I didn't want to be the only one sulking.

"Don't be like that," he said.

I felt my eyes start to water as I left the common room. It was after dark, but I had to walk out my frustrations. Mostly, though, I needed to be away from Ron.

I thought about the Ministry's law. I could still hear Dumbledore's voice reverberating around my head, even as I continued to stumble around the dark hallways.

"If you cannot verify full magickal ancestry, you are bound by law to marry someone who can. If you do not, your wand will be broken and you will be stripped of your magick."

I wandered mindlessly until I no longer recognised where I was. I stopped and leaned up against the wall. The waxing moon peered in through the windows, giving me light. I bowed my head, resting my chin against my chest, and tried to push the thoughts out.

"Out after dark, Miss Granger?"

I knew the voice better than anything: strong, slick, defiant.

"Yes, Professor Snape."

"Five points from Gryffindor."

"Yes, sir," I said.

He cocked his head to one side and furrowed his brows.

"What's wrong?" he asked tenderly, while still remaining somehow detached.

"I was just wondering," I said, "how the marriage law is fair."

"Is anything fair?"

"Well, yes, I'd like to think that some things are," I said.

"Then you're deceiving yourself," he said.

"Is life really that pessimistic?"

"I like to think so."

"I'm starting to believe it," I said.

He inhaled deeply and squinted as if deciding whether he really wanted to know.

"Ron doesn't want me," I continued anyway. "He's been exempted because he claims he's, um, how did he put it? 'Playing a different field'?"

"That explains a lot," Snape interjected thoughtfully.

I choked back a laugh with a look of surprise.

"Er, I just don't know what's going to become of me."

He scoffed.

"Do you really need to know?"

I frowned.

"Miss Granger," he said, "you're just another student who thinks she can wander the hallways at night and bother her teachers. Does any of it really matter?"

"I'm sorry to bother you then."

He eyed me for a moment, then sighed as if giving in.

"You really want to know what I think?"

I nodded.

"Be grateful Mr Weasley doesn't want to marry you; he's an imbecile. Stop moping and find someone else. Someone who deserves you.

"Now go back to your common room, or I'll take away more points."

I was speechless. It wasn't like Snape to be so kind. I walked back the way I had come until I found a hallway I recognised and took the rest of the way slowly in order to think things over.