Hello, darlings. Since the PM function doesn't seem to want to work right now on , thank you all for reading. Thank you for the lovely reviews. To the worried readers: I get tested for COVID once a week, I am one vaccine down, with next one next Wednesday. I hope you are all staying safe, too. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Chapter Nine Release the Lists
Hermione plunked her packages on the library desk. Cassius looked up at her, "A bit of light reading?" he teased.
"Nope, resources to give us a working understanding of human genetics. Can't compare the effect of recessive genes on magical reproduction if we don't really understand how genes work." She handed him a softback yellow and black book.
"The Dummies Guide to Genetics?" he read.
"It is a series that takes possibly complicated topics and explains them in a way lay people can understand. I have a little background from muggle school. I may need a refresher." She pulled a second copy out of the bag, "so, I got my own." She smiled, "We're going to take a break from the old rituals. We know they don't work well. We need to know why, what about the magic made them so toxic to the body?"
"Good-bye, dusty hard to read tomes, hello, shiny unknown stuff." He reached for a writing pad. "Have I mentioned how wonderful these are?"
"Not this week," she sassed back. They settled in to begin learning more about the science of genes.
A few days later Hermione flooed into the Ministry to check on the unspeakables' progress. Kingsley insisted on treating her to lunch at a cafe nearby. Three young witches joined them in the lift, one had turquoise hair, one spring green, and the third, had cotton candy blue. Hermione snickered silently at the sight. Kingsley looked at her oddly, but she shook her head in the negative. On the next floor, the lift paused to admit two more witches. Kingsley introduced her to Edith Duncan, the head of the Marriage Department, and her deputy head, Marietta Edgecombe. Hermione tried not to smirk at the sight of the thick sapphire hued bangs covering her forehead. The skin around her lips was stained cherry red. "Edith, has your department been hexed?" Kingsley asked.
"The aurors say not, minister."
"Yet nearly every member of your staff has easter egg coloured hair. And three have red mouths."
"I am aware, minister. They have scanned the office and files a dozen times. They can't find anything that would explain this." She sighed. "I also had to reissue another warning to the license department that they could not sneak in any unapproved marriages. Would you please speak to them again?"
The two groups separated on the ground floor. Once the others were out of earshot Hermione stopped holding in her laughter. "All right, Granger, what do you know? Or rather, what did you do?"
"I did nothing. But answer me this, what do Harry, Ron, and I all have in common?"
"What the three of you have in common would fill books. Will fill books."
"In this instance, none of us like being gossiped about by strangers."
"Okay. That explains nothing."
"Next question, what do Harry and Teddy Lupin have in common?"
"Um," he thought for a moment, "I have no idea."
"They are both second-generation marauders. "Make the entire office swear extra oaths of confidentiality. Anyone with coloured hair wants to gossip about the answers, those with red mouths have."
"I see."
"I'm not playing, Kings, if I see, or hear, mention of preferred sleeping clothes or positions, I will sue the department and destroy anyone working in it. I have a scorched earth policy, and that goes for my friends' information, too." She paused, "No, you know what? That goes for everyone caught up in this stupid thing. We at least deserve to have our privacy protected. And those gossipy hags need to understand that those questionnaires are privileged information." She glared at Kingsley. "Those questions included our hopes, our fears, our flaws. I know Harry and I were both brutally honest. Most of our generation bear scars, physical and mental. No one deserves to be punished by the public for taking this seriously."
He nodded, holding open the cafe door. He remained silent as they ordered and took their seats. "I will talk to Edith. Beyond an oath, it might be best if we oblivate all of that from them. There might be things they don't want to know about some of you." Hermione cringed, "What? Too brutal, Ms. Scorched Earth?"
"Sort of, rather than ripping their memories out, why not try using another method? The past generations protected their secrets by carving runes for silence on the doorjamb. You could do silence and memory keyed to the information. They would remember what they needed to inside the office, but once they leave they can't remember unimportant things. Like if someone's turn-ons are murder and rape they would be able to tell the aurors, but Neville Longbottom's favorite plant.
"Why not suggest this before your prank?"
"One, Harry's prank, not mine. Two, nothing could have happened. They might have all been honourable. Edith's hair is brown and her mouth a normal colour."
"Point taken. We'll add the oath and the runes."
"After carving them, charge them with an incantation. Hmmm, 'To aid in duty sworn, the unimportant, the unneeded we take from you, now to fade from view.'"
Kingsley stared at her bemusedly, "Just like that?"
"What?"
"You created a ritual just off the cuff like it was nothing." She shrugged. "If we hadn't let the old ways fade what could we be doing today?"
Again she shrugged, "We can't live in the past, Kings. Though I was happy to hear Muggle Studies has been revamped and they added Wizarding Studies." She began eating her lunch. "Slowly, you're creating a better wizarding Britain."
"How is your other research coming?"
"Glacially slow. I told you it would. Every living ritual master has told you that. But I found something in Warwick Barrett's notes about the topic that connected with a notion of my own. It has us going down a new avenue. And that is all I will say on the matter. I told you, and the ICW, this cannot be rushed and I will not be pressured."
He held up this hands in surrender. "I understand. Forgive me for daydreaming about being the hero that could announce an end to this travesty before it begins."
"You're forgiven. I wish I could give you that."
"The lists go out the day after tomorrow, are you ready?"
"How ready can anyone be? I could get the names of five strangers, or five friends. I won't know how I'm going to cope until I see it. Though if Ginny Weasley ends up on Harry's list, I am oath-bound to stop them." Sensing the finality in her tone, he changed the subject for the rest of lunch.
Forewarned about the release of life-changing lists, Hermione gave Katie and Cassius the rest of the week off. "Enjoy your last day of true freedom, then take the times to come to terms with our fates, and take the weekend to regroup." They had laughed at her phrasing but agreed with the spirit of her meaning. Harry invited Ron to spend the night, just the three of them, so they could be together, leaning on one another one last time.
Kreacher prepared an elaborate feast for breakfast, but even Ron was too nervous to eat. At nine o'clock three tawny owls swooped through the window Harry opened for them in anticipation. They flew in and dropped envelopes in front of each of them. Ron reached for his, hesitated, then reached out again. He pulled his hand back. "I just can't. Hermione, you read mine."
Harry grabbed her envelope and shoved his at Ron. "Let's read each other's." He gestured for them to pick up the envelopes. "I'll read Hermione's, she'll open Ron's, and he'll open mine."
She picked up Ron's envelope and ripped it open. "Dear Mr. Ronald Weasley," she read, "based on the answer you provided and magical signature, the following four witches have been selected for your consideration. Please have your first encounter planned with each witch within a week from receiving this letter." She paused, taking a deep breath, "Ready?" He nodded weakly, "Natalia Flores, Moira Flint, Parvati Patil, and Lisa Turpin." She scrunched her nose, "Not her. She tried to trap the eldest Flint into marriage with a baby."
"Duly noted. Ready, Harry?"
"No, but when has that ever mattered?"
"Right?" teased Ron. "Here we go, skipping all that stuff, Cho Chang, Thalia Nickos, Annika Holgersson, and Marybeth Burgess."
Harry nodded blankly, then shook his head to clear it. "All right, that leaves you, Miss Yank the Plaster Off and all that. In no particular order: Maximilian Romanov, Nigel Livingston, Neville Longbottom, and Viktor Krum."
The nervous butterflies dancing in her stomach picked up speed. "Well, two of those names don't seem too bad."
"Two?" laughed Ron.
"I might not be interested in Neville that way, but at least I know I like him."
Harry groaned, "Can we keep the Cho Chang stuff just between us?" Ron raised an eyebrow. "Gin was always super jealous of her when we first started dating again after the war."
"Unless you can convince her to never be seen in public with you, it seems pretty unlikely Ginny won't find out," Hermione told him.
"Damn. At least I can say this was beyond my control. I didn't choose Cho over her."
Ron laughed, "Yeah, cause that'll soothe the savage beast."
"Honestly, unless she has changed in a major way since school, I doubt we click in a significant way." He took a bite of sausage. "And nice dodge there, Mione. Back to you and Krum, don't deny even Ron noticed the sparks there."
"Yeah, and I'm completely oblivious with the emotional range of a teaspoon," he teased.
"A really big teaspoon," she offered. "I don't know, I think there might be something there on both our parts. But with the law looming ahead of us, neither of us said anything, at least I didn't. Viktor said something about me inspiring him to be better."
"And you didn't say anything?" explained Ron.
"He said it in Bulgarian, and since he doesn't know I speak the language. I assumed he wanted to say it, but didn't need a response."
"Wow, brave of him," said Harry.
Ron started to dig into the feast before them. "So, who's suppose to contact who?" he wondered.
Harry shrugged, "Dunno, good question. Maybe wait a few days, then send an owl?"
"Take the time to look over your own schedule, that way you know when you're available. Puddlemere made the playoffs, you're going to have to work a few of those Saturdays."
"Yeah," Ron rubbed the back of his head. He gave her a sheepish smile, "Help me make a schedule like your revision guides, please?"
"It doesn't have to be that complicated." She laughed, "But, yes, I will help you get organized."
"Thank you, Mione." Ron singsonged.
"Just pay attention so next time you can do this for yourself." The three friends laughed and teased each other while they finished breakfast.
That evening an owl delivered one red-tipped white rose. The note simply said 'Let me know when you are available I will make the time. Love, Viktor.' The owl did not wait for a reply. Smelling the rose, she couldn't keep a smile from spreading across her face. She pulled out the fancy stationery her mother gave her for graduation. She penned a response to send with her own owl, Joy.
'Your schedule is far tighter than mine with the playoffs. But
I know you are free Tuesday evening, dinner?" She hesitated, then signed it, 'Love, Hermione.' Then she marked Tuesday with VK on her calendar.
The next morning Neville popped in before breakfast, "Good morning, Hermione."
"Come in, Neville, breakfast?"
"No, thank you. I was hoping to talk to you."
"Sure, what's on your mind?"
Despite asking to talk, Neville fidgeted for several seconds. "Well, you see... The thing is..."
"You like me well enough, but there is someone on your list that you really hope you connect with?" she suggested.
Neville tensed up, bracing himself in case she reacted badly, "Yes."
"Me, too," she smiled at him, patting his hand.
He visibly sagged in relief, "Oh, thank Merlin."
"We still have to social interactions." She made air quotes around social interactions.
"I know."
"So, is there some dream date you want to pull off to impress this someone special?"
"She once mentioned wanting to go the muggle cinema, but that she didn't know how."
"Perfect. We'll go to the movies and I'll show you what to do, then once you're comfortable doing it, you sweep her off her feet by taking her to the movies."
"Wow, thanks, Hermione."
She leaned over to hug him. "What are friends for? And it'll be fun. I like going to the movies."
By the end of the second day, Hermione's first four dates were arranged. Harry reported the same success. "Ron mentioned he has all day Sunday free. He wants to know if we want to compare notes?"
"Before or after dinner at the Burrow?"
"Before."
"Sounds like a decent enough plan. Who are you seeing first?"
"Chang." He grimaced, "She is super eager. You?"
"Romanov, Monday was the only night he had left when he contacted me. We're having dinner at the Leaky."
"I how remark about the lack of originality, but he sounds foreign and Hannah's been working hard to make it classier since she took over."
"I get the feeling Romanov like to see and be seen."
"Poor Mione."
"I've survived worse."
"Will Romanov be surviving?"
"No promises. I reserve judgment."
Monday morning Hermione focused on genetics, especially the chapters on the relationship with birth defects and recessive genes. Her instincts continue to scream inbreeding as a big part of the problem, or at least a recessive gene somewhere. Just increasing fertility components and power hadn't been enough in the past. That afternoon she and Cassius headed to Nott Tower. Theo had finished clearing his home of dark artifacts, now he wanted to cleanse the ritual areas.
"Your mastery is bringing back their popularity." He told her at his appointment.
A quick inspection proved the space to be in good repair, "All you should need is to cast the actual ritual. Do you have a volunteer to be the fourth?"
"I'm sure Blaise or Draco would."
Hermione nodded, "Good, good, let Cassius know when you're ready. He'll schedule you in."
"Thanks, um, Granger? I do have another question."
"Okay."
"Your friend, Ginny, how do I impress her?"
"Seriously?" He nodded. "Be yourself. For your first date go casual. Save the money is no object dinner dates for next month. But don't go super cheap. Let her get to know the real you, not the public face everyone sees. Money won't impress her, but not spending somewhere everyone knows you have plenty will make her think you aren't taking her serious."
He nodded again, "I think I understand. Thanks."
She shrugged, "Good luck, she can be a firecracker."
"I know." He grinned at her.
At seven, Hermione flooed into the Leaky Cauldron. She waved at Hannah behind the bar. She looked around for a blond man holding a burgundy chrysanthemum. Seconds later he approached, "Good evening, Miss Granger, I am Maximilian Romanov. Please call me Max." He presented her with the flower.
"Hello, Max, call me Hermione."
"Thank you, Hermione." He kissed her knuckles. "I took the liberty of procuring us a table."
"That was thoughtful of you." She followed him to the table, sighing silently to herself when she realized it was in the center of the room. "So, what do you do for a living, Max?"
"I oversee the British office of my family's broom production company. We produce the Nimbus lines."
"How exciting."
"It can be, yes. What do you do?"
"I hold a dual mastery in runes and ritual magics. I conduct my own independent research and consultation business." She smiled with quiet pride.
"Sounds intense." He then changed the subject back to himself, making that the last time the subject of conversation came anywhere near being about Hermione. Though he had no issues being clear about his expectations for marriage. He wanted a trophy wife to look good on his arm, pop out children, and make sure his household ran perfectly so he never wanted for anything. No mention of what he intended to do for her, or any support for her career. As soon as possible Hermione made her excuses and fled, not even bothering to set up the next date.
"Disaster," she raved to Ginny, "complete disaster. He ordered for me without checking with me. Thank Godric Hannah remembered I'm mildly allergic to pecans. She delivered our food to assure me she didn't put any in."
"So, you're not hoping to be the future, Mrs. Romanov?" Ginny chuckled.
"Hell no. You're going to have some bad dates, too. No sympathy now means no sympathy later." Hermione flopped onto her bed.
Ginny abruptly stopped laughing. "I am so sorry, Mione, it sounded horrible. What a git. Is there anything can do?"
"That's better. No, there's nothing to be done. I simply have to suffer through seven more interactions with him. I think he might be meeting the twins next time." Hermione flashed her a feral grin.
"The time after that he can meet the big brothers. Charlie's here for the next two months to meet everyone and make wedding arrangements."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Really?"
"Been dating some bird from the reserve for the last four years. Says they weren't ready for any baby pressure, so they didn't tell anyone. Her name is Bea Haywood. Bill says they went to school together. She was a year behind him. She would have been a 7th year Hufflepuff your first year."
"Yeah, didn't meet a lot of older students outside of Gryffindor that year."
"Completely normal. But she sounds nice. She puts up with Charlie and his dragon obsession."
"That is crucial. If she went to school with them, that means Tonks might know her."
Ginny's eyes lit up, "She might. We need to find out." She plopped down on the bed next to Hermione. "Who's up next?"
"Viktor. Who's your first date with?"
"Dennis Creevy."
"No!" Hermione sat up. "Crazy."
"Not sure how I feel about younger men."
"Maybe he's matured. It has been five years."
"True, he was always just Colin's clumsy little brother."
"And Colin always came off as a camera obsessed fanboy." Hermione took a deep breath, "Who we should have stunned, hogtied, and flooed home that night."
"He had just as much right to be there as any of us. Not that any of us should have been fighting adults, I suppose."
"Alright, no more of this. Viktor and I are having dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in Wareham. This is the date I care about, I need to make him forget his own name."
Ginny gave her an evil smirk, "I can get behind that." She moved to Hermione's closet, "Let's see what we have to work with here, shall we?"
Author Note: I know, no Viktor this chapter. I wanted him to have his date to have it's own chapter. ;)