Miss Granger: The Marriage Act Part II
Shortly after lunch they were again all gathered around the Burrow's kitchen table with Ministry letters, this time unopened. The owl had delivered them a few minutes ago but no one had made a move to open them.
Molly took a deep breath and let it out. "Well, there's no use in putting it off. Ron, you go first."
Ron nodded nervously and broke the seal on his letter. He quickly scanned it looking for the name of his Ministry assigned intended. He smiled and announced, "Katie Bell."
"Oi, that's not bad at all, Katie's great," George replied as he made to open his letter. Like Ron, he scanned it quickly to find a name, but unlike Ron he didn't smile, but rather a little flush crept up the back of his neck and he gulped hard.
When he didn't announce the name, Percy prodded, "Well? Who did you get?"
"Angelina Johnson," George croaked out.
There were a few gasps around the table as everyone had fully expected Fred and Angelina to have married after the war, Fred's death obviously making that impossible. Now here was poor George being matched with her. It would be a huge emotional can of worms the two dear, still-grieving friends would have to work through if they were to have a happy future together.
Seeing how uncomfortable George was Molly refocused the group's attention elsewhere. "Hermione, what does yours say?"
She was about to open her own letter when the Floo activated and Arthur stepped through. He took a quick look around at the tense faces in the kitchen and said, "Ah. The matches have arrived? So tell me who've you all gotten paired with."
They quickly went around the table, Arthur nodding at each name. So far, no one was paired with anyone horrible. He looked to Hermione who hadn't said anything and asked, "And you, dear?"
Hermione lifted her still sealed letter. "I haven't looked yet," she said before she took a breath and broke the seal. She swallowed hard and announced, "Lord Xavier Lavigne."
Everyone started talking around her, excited that over the fact that he was a lord, but Hermione focused in on Arthur who said in awe, "Really? Lord Lavigne?"
Hermione nodded. She had no idea who Lord Lavigne was. "Do you know him?"
"Indeed, I do. He's a good man, Hermione, a bit sickly, but a good man none the less."
"How… old is he?" she asked in a wavering voice.
Gently Arthur replied, "About forty-five I believe. He was a first year when I was a sixth."
The bottom fell out of Hermione's stomach and she bolted from the table to reach the loo before she vomited violently.
A moment later Hermione felt her hair being lifted safely out of the way and a warm hand rubbing her back. Her tears started in earnest and she turned to see Harry there with love and concern in his eyes.
Harry handed her a wet washcloth to wipe her face, then a glass of cool water to rinse her mouth. She sat down on the floor next to the toilet and let her tears flow.
Harry sat next to her and took her hand in his. "Arthur says Lavigne is a good man. He's generous to different charities and donates a lot to Hogwarts, especially the library. I guess he's got a bad heart or something so he doesn't go out much, been that way since he was born. Maybe this won't be so bad, Hermione. I know he's older but he's not completely ancient."
"Why would they do that to me though? Surely there was someone closer to our age they could have matched me with?"
"I don't know. But it could have been much worse. There are a lot of Voldemort supporters who are falling under the law, even the Death Eaters in Azkaban aren't exempt. They're going to be married off and given conjugal visits. The Ministry is that afraid of what's happening to the magical birthrate."
Hermione sucked in a deep breath and huffed it out. "You're right. Perhaps I should talk to Arthur a bit more since he knows Lord Lavigne."
"I think that's a good idea… but maybe brush your teeth first," he added with a little tic of his head.
His purposeful deadpan delivery made her grin, his intention all along.
Hermione and Arthur retreated to his workshop to talk. He told her all he knew about Lord Lavigne, both public knowledge as well as his own interactions with the man. It was clearly evident that Arthur held him in high regard, very high regard, but he wasn't the one who had to marry him.
When Hermione's tears started anew, Arthur gave her his handkerchief and said, "I know I can't imagine what you're feeling, my dear girl, but Xavier Lavigne is a kind and gentle man. I can't imagine him being anything other than respectful and sensitive to you and your feelings over this whole thing."
Hermione nodded then wiped her eyes and tried to square her chin. She sniffed hard and teased the man she thought of as a surrogate father, "They couldn't have paired me with any of your sons?"
He clucked her chin and teased back, "Even Percy?"
She chuckled nd replied, "Even Percy. Don't tell anyone I said this but I had a little bit of a crush on him when I first started Hogwarts."
"Your secret is safe with me," he said as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a warm, fatherly hug. A hug she desperately needed and happily returned.
When Arthur and Hermione entered the kitchen a short while later they found two owls perched on the window sill. One was a large, imposing black and white Great Horned owl who held a sealed letter in his beak. The other was a small barn owl who was white with light tan head and wing feathers. This owl held no letter but had a thin red satin ribbon tied in a bow around her leg.
Molly pointed to the birds and said, "Hermione, those are for you."
Hermione approached and the little barn owl happily started hopping up and down in excitement. It bobbed its head all around and was just being rather silly. She reached over and gave the owl a scratch and the happy little bird jumped on her hand and proceeded to walk up her arm to settle itself contently on her shoulder.
"I think she likes you, Hermione," Harry said from his seat at the kitchen table where he was playing chess with George. The two young men were trying to keep their minds off of the current state of affairs while Ron was off meeting Katie to discuss their situation.
Hermione smiled and reached over and gave the affectionate little owl another scratch before turning her attention to the other, more business-like owl and took the letter it held. He waited, apparently expecting a reply.
Her hands shook a little as she saw the Lavigne family crest embossed into the thick, rich paper of the envelope.
Still staring at the letter in her hands she sat down hard in the empty chair next to Harry. She swallowed nervously and turned the envelope over. It was sealed with a dark plum wax stamped with an elegant signet. She ran her finger over the wax and the elegant swirls and scrolls surrounding the prominent XL in the center. Hermione took a slow breath in and let it out before breaking the seal and reading the letter.
Everyone in the room was watching her reaction with bated breath. They saw her go from apprehensive to surprised to smiling and back to a neutral sort of expression, but one that was not entirely unhappy.
Dear Miss Granger,
To introduce myself, I am Xavier, Lord of House Lavigne. By now you will have received the same missive I have from the Ministry indicating that we are legally required to marry. There is nothing in all the etiquette lessons my mother drilled into me that quite deals with a situation such as this so I will beg your forgiveness in advance if I give you any inadvertent offense.
I know very little about you, to be honest, especially since I tend not to take much stock at all in the accuracy of the Daily Prophet, but I am aware that you are a lovely, driven young woman with a brilliant future before her, one who most likely had absolutely no plans to marry someone like me. While we may have to adhere to the letter of the law, we will not let it cage your dreams and aspirations and I promise you here and now that I will in no way hinder your ambitions and will, in fact, support you and your endeavors however I may. This is something I feel most strongly about, Miss Granger, and while I hope that my words here ease some of your fears of our future together I would be most willing to make an Unbreakable Vow with you to further alleviate any doubt about you dictating the course of your own career or further education. We will also ensure that it is included in our betrothal contract and, if you like, we can include it in our formal wedding vows in some way. I desire a wife who is my equal, Miss Granger, not one who is subservient or stifled and trapped like a rare bird in a gild cage.
Miss Granger… Hermione, if I may be so bold? You and I are both intelligent enough to understand that this law is a disaster in the making. But perhaps we can salvage something? A cordial friendship? An intellectual partnership of sorts? Or perhaps even some combination of the two? From what little I do know of you and from what I have read about your incredible exploits in the war, I believe we may have things in common upon which we might build the foundation of our future.
Honestly I am thankful we were paired with each other, in many ways we are quite lucky. I have heard about the morbidly awful pairings others are saddled with, some with absolutely no hope of finding a common ground between them. And I shudder to think of the other unsuitable men eligible under this law that they could have paired you with. Hermione, I know I am far from what you most likely ever envisioned as your husband, but had the pairings gone another way, you might well have been paired with a Death Eater, and that, quite frankly, is a thought so perverse given who you are that it goes most aggressively against nature herself.
In the past those with arranged marriages generally had an abundance of time to court and get to know one another before they were wed. Unfortunately, we do not have that luxury. I would, however, like to take as much time as we can to become acquainted and sort out our shared future. In that spirit, Hermione, I would extend to you an invitation to tea here at Lavigne Hall tomorrow so that we may meet one another. I understand you are friends with the Weasley family and I have known Arthur Weasley since we attended Hogwarts. So please feel free to have Mr. Weasley escort you if you like, in fact, bring anyone at all who will make you feel more comfortable. It is my hope that your first impression of Lavigne Hall will be a positive one and that you will enjoy inviting your friends and family here to our home in the future, all of whom will be most welcome.
Charbon, that far too serious Horned owl of mine, will await your reply. As I am unaware of your current living situation and whether or not you have ready access to an owl, the happy little barn owl is my gift to you and will facilitate our future communications. Her name is Sauterelle and I should mention that you have the exuberant five-year old son of her breeder in France to thank for that. She is a most affection little bird with a propensity for hopping about like a grasshopper when she is excited, hence her name.
I shall close here and hope that I have not offended you in any way. Without knowing you better I can only imagine the makeup of the myriad of thoughts and emotions you must be experiencing, but know this, you are not alone in them. I, too, am nervous and a bit apprehensive about being married to a total stranger, but I intend to approach it, as I do everything, with an open mind and a willingness to learn and grow. It is my hope that we can find that common ground I spoke of and build a (dare I hope happy?) marriage with a foundation of mutual respect and kindness for one another upon which we can build all else.
I will await your reply to my invitation and am sincerely look forward to meeting you, circumstances not withstanding.
Yours,
Xavier
House Lavigne
Hermione was unexpectedly emotional after reading the letter.
Xavier had indeed eased some of her biggest fears with his heartfelt words. He wouldn't sequester her away from her friends, nor would he stop her from having a career. He didn't want her to be a little aristocratic puppet of a wife simpering at his feet. No, he wanted an equal, a partner, and he asked only for kindness and respect which he would reciprocate. It all sounded almost too good to be true.
She looked up from the letter to see everyone staring at her awaiting her reaction. Not quite knowing what to say, she bolted out of the room with a quick, "Excuse me," falling from her lips.
Hermione had all but forgotten Sauterelle sitting on her shoulder and the little bird gripped her shoulder carefully during Hermione's flight from the kitchen to the garden outside.
She made her way to the edge of the orchard and sat on the ground with her back against a large stone marking the entrance to the orchard. Sauterelle hopped from her shoulder down to her bent knee. The little bird was cooing happily and looking around with interest. A fat vole zipping around in the fallen leaves caught the birds eye but she didn't chase after it. She looked up to Hermione and back to the vole scurrying away.
Hermione smiled and said softly, "Go on, you can catch him."
Sauterelle nipped her finger playfully and launched into the air. After a merry chase through the orchard, Sauterelle had her prey and settled herself up on a branch to eat it.
Not wanting to see the poor rodent devoured, even though she knew it was a part of nature, Hermione turned and re-read Xavier's letter. His words sounded genuine and she sincerely hoped that he meant them.
She heard soft footsteps approach and turned her head to see Harry and Ginny. They sat down next to her and without a word she handed Harry the letter as Ginny gave her a squeeze in a one-armed hug.
When he was finished reading Harry handed the letter off to Ginny and said lightly, "Well… he doesn't sound horrible."
"No, he doesn't. I'm just afraid it's too good to be true and that I'm being wound up for disappointment."
Ginny finished reading the letter and added her opinion. "I don't think he would go through all the trouble of writing a letter like this if he didn't mean it and people don't throw offers of Unbreakable Vows around lightly."
Hermione let out a deep breath. "Will you two go with me to Lavigne Hall tomorrow?"
"Of course," Harry replied without hesitation.
"You know Dad would go, too, if you asked," Ginny offered.
Hermione shook her head. "I think it'll be fine with just the three of us."
"What about Ron?" Harry asked.
"No. You know I love him but sometimes his manners leave a little to be desired. I'd like to make as good a first impression as possible."
They all stood to head back to the house. But before anyone could say another word an elegant eagle owl flew overhead and dropped an envelope to Hermione.
The parchment envelope was plain and unadorned. It was sealed with a bit of emerald green wax and pressed with a signet design that was also rather plain and was comprised of a neatly typeset DM inside of a single circle.
It was a signet Hermione knew well as she had seen it grace Draco Malfoy's hand when they had both returned to Hogwarts for a final year of schooling after the war. Everything about Draco since the war had been about being unobtrusive and unoffensive. He was doing his veritable best to simply blend in and not draw attention to himself.
Hermione opened the envelope and pulled out a short note from Draco. He asked her to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron that evening and that it was important. It seemed an odd request, but given the oddness of the entire cursed day, it fit right in.
They walked back to the house and Sauterelle flew happily ahead of them to land on the windowsill.
Once they reached the kitchen Hermione faced the rest of the family still milling about the kitchen and said, "His letter was very kind and he seems… nice. I'm going to tea tomorrow afternoon to meet him. Harry and Ginny are going to go with me."
Mrs. Weasley stepped over and gave Hermione a hug. "Arthur said he's very good person. I don't think you have anything to worry about. It will all sort itself out."
Molly could say that, but then again, she wasn't the one being forced to marry a complete stranger more than twice her age.
After Molly let her go, Hermione quickly scratched out a reply to Draco and gave it to her cooing little owl and sent her off with a scratch behind her wing. She then took a moment to write out a more formal reply to Lord Lavigne accepting his invitation to tea and gave it to the other owl who was still patiently waiting.
That done, Hermione nodded then said goodbye to everyone and flooed back to Grimmauld Place, which she and Harry had been calling home since the war ended and neither had anywhere else to go. She wanted a little time alone to process her thoughts before meeting Draco at the Leaky Cauldron.
tbc...
