The Austere Stonewall, Book 1: Hermione
Chapter 5: The Law
Hermione didn't sleep much in the days leading up to the law. The strange anonymous messages she'd received were not even the most prominent threat in her mind. The marriage law was being approved or denied today and Hermione had been in research mode. She'd learned about the history of the bill and when it had been created, enacted and repealed in the past. It usually followed a war of national crisis and hadn't been considered since Grindenwald was at large. Even then, it had been a law for no more than 3 years before it was repealed.
Unfortunately, Hermione could find no record of people who were married under the law therefore she could not ask anyone how things were handled the last time the law was enabled. It seemed that this law was something that the Ministry pulled out anytime they feared the magical community was dwindling. The only thing that Hermione could say positive about it was that the law did not care who married who aside from discouraging pureblood to pureblood marriage without being able to provide proof that their family trees had not crossed at all in the past 5 generations. The law had previously focused on forcing all able-bodied witches and wizards to produce children with someone else of magical blood.
Keeping herself busy was a task. During the days she visited bookstores and libraries, scouring the shelves for more literature to help her understand and to look for loopholes. The best thing she found was that citizens who were able to prove that they were naturally barren or that their being barren happened not in accordance to the law, were exempt.
Hermione wasn't barren, to her knowledge, but Madam Pomfrey did once say that Dolohov's curse got close to one of her ovaries, rendering pregnancy difficulties a possibility. Hermione hadn't been of age when it happened so she had not been given a proper exam so she still didn't know. It wasn't a thought that made her happy. She'd either marry someone she didn't love and have his babies or she'd never have children. Neither were a good prospect. Should she visit Poppy and ask to be checked now? If she was unable to bear children she shouldn't borrow getting married, right?
Then again, if Madam Pomfrey truly thought she was going to have difficulties, she'd have been more insistent on checking her over after coming of age, wouldn't she?
At night, Hermione found sleep elusive and so she played piano in the safety of the darkness surrounding her cottage. She cast a silencing spell that kept her sound from floating on the wind down to the village and played her heart out. She chose music from the radio and she did something she never had before: she wrote music. It was freeing to have thoughts on paper that were incomplete and random. To put all those thoughts together and play music to it gave her a release from having to be perfect, needing to be the best she could be. Her music was just for her.
Today, she was sure there would be a special evening edition of The Daily Prophet and she was a ball of nerves. She ran for an hour and then showered. She played music for a bit and then took off running again. She worked on her potion's garden and her brews. She paced. She tried to research and she got frustrated at finding no new information.
By the time she was pacing her front porch that evening, she spied the owl and felt her stomach drop. If the law wasn't passed, there would be no evening edition of the paper. If this owl was a special edition, it meant bad news. If it was another mysterious message, Hermione was beginning to worry that she had a stalker.
The minute the owl landed, she saw that it was a special edition and she tried to keep her hands steady as she opened it to see "BIRTH RATES DROPPING: MARRIAGE LAW PASSED" staring her in the face.
She scanned through the first few paragraphs explaining that at the rate the wizarding world had been producing children, they would be extinct in less that 200 years if they didn't bolster their numbers or do something drastic.
Her eyes skipped over the arithmancy calculations and the statistics. She couldn't find fault in them but forcing people to breed was a morally wrong approach.
The last half of the article explained the new law and the changes that had been made. The new amendments made the law infinitely worse. As before, witches and wizards ages 20-45 were to marry but now they were being encouraged to marry someone with opposite wizarding backgrounds in order to give themselves the best chance of having a viable, magical, pregnancy. Purebloods were implored to marry a witch or wizard that was a hlaf-blood or a muggleborn. If they had to marry a pureblood, then they had to prove they were unrelated in any way for at least 7 generations. This was so impossible that almost all pureblood families would be ineligible from marrying any other pureblood within Britain.
At the same time, muggleborns were asked to marry purebloods if possible or at least half-bloods. The only thing the law required was that 20-45 single witches and wizards married someone with magical blood without any crossing family lines for 7 generations.
Basically, from today's date forward if they were already 20 to 45, or from a person's 20th birthday, that person had 3 months to marry and begin complying with the law. Hermione was included in the later group as she would not be 20 for another week but all across the country, 20-45 year-old unmarried witches and wizards were now under the thumb of the law and would be required to marry before 3 months expired.
A magical engagement was made by a proposal and an acceptance. A symbol needed to be exchanged and a kiss to seal it. An engagement could be broken if both parties agree but it was a magical agreement so the agreement would stop either party from marrying another while already engaged. This was at least a relief to Hermione. She would not be able to be forced into marriage unless blackmailed into choosing it. An imperious curse could not change someone's intent, only their actions.
An engaged couple would be required to register their intent to marry and the Ministry would grant them an appointment before their 3 months were up. Before the ceremony, the officiant would check to be sure that the couple's bloodlines were not related as per the 7 generations detail of the amendment.
The Ministry approved officiant would put a spell on the symbols exchanged between the witch and the wizard to alert the Ministry if the couple failed to comply with the procreation law. Hermione did not know how they would be able to come up with a spell that could determine it, but she didn't doubt that they had done so. Otherwise, the entire law would unravel in a week. The Prophet stated that the tracking spell would alert someone at the Ministry if they had not complied with the weekly sexual relations clause. This amendment was new from the last time the law was approved and according to the Prophet, was to accelerate the birthing boom that needed to happen to save the wizarding population of Britain from extinction.
Her entire time in the wizarding world had opened Hermione's eyes to media manipulation and government propagation so she wasn't clamoring to marry in order to "do her duty." Hadn't she just helped rid them of a dark lord? This whole law seemed like a convenient time to have a pandemic to allow the Ministry to clean itself up behind the scenes.
The thought of the law left her feeling violated at the thought of having a tracking spell alert someone that she hadn't had sex.
After the birth of 3 children, the couple could be released from the tracking spell. Contraceptives were not allowed and would set off the tracking charm to alert that relations had not occured. THe law was requiring weekly sex between couples until three children were born and Hermione surmised that the goal was to get the population to produce children fast. If couples were wanting the tracking charm to be removed, they would be more likely to reproduce back to back rather than allowing years between children.
The Prophet anticipated the law would require marriages for about 5 years. After 5 years, the population would no longer be required to wed. Those already married under the law would have to fulfill the laws requirements. To Hermione this meant that all those currently 45 years old down to those who were 15 years old would be affected by the law eventually. The 45 year olds would be caught by it first and required to fulfill the law even after turning 46. The population that was currently only 15 years old would be caught by the law in 5 years time, just before the law was retired. The youngest participants of the law would start in 5 years and would be trapped until they produced 3 offspring.
What worried Hermione the most was that the article only said the tracking spell could be removed after a time. It did not reference a marriage bond dissolution. Hermione knew that there were some marriages in the wizarding world that were dissolvable and there were some that were not. She had a sinking feeling in her gut that the vows the Ministry officiant would be using would not be dissolvable.
The Prophet promised within the week to list all those currently of the age to be required to comply with the law. In a week, her name would be published for anyone to read in the paper. Being who she was, she knew that there would be no peace for her.
As much as she wanted to toss the paper in the fire, she knew she'd be reading it again and again in the next few weeks so she set it on the coffee table and sat down on her large charcoal colored squashy couch.
She pulled up her occlumency shields and felt relief at the sudden dulling of her emotions. She had begun occlumency practice when Harry had a few years ago. While she struggled at first, she made headway when combining the practice with yoga. She built up shields and walls to keep her secrets safe and practiced putting them in place when around other people at school, particularly during classes and while sitting in the Gryffindor common room. It had been her saving grace when Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured her. She very nearly cracked and gave up information about her parents, about the horcruxes and the Order of the Phoenix. It was luck that after an hour of Crucios and having her body carved up with a cursed knife, that Dobby showed up. Hermione had been close to the fate of the Longbottoms or from spilling out secrets.
Since then, she'd been using occlumency increasingly to lessen the negative emotions that were taking over her life. One side effect of shielding was that her emotions were numbed. She could throw up her shields and feel merely annoyed with Ron rather than angry. When she felt sad for Harry, her shields helped her to support him without crying.
Hermione suddenly felt like maybe she should find Ron and beg him but she knew that she was only panicking. She made this decision in his best interest and she would not ask him to marry her just because she had no idea how to go about finding a decent person to marry.
Whoever Hermione ended up with, she decided that he must be someone that does not belittle her for being female, a muggleborn. Second, he must not interfere in her education or career. She had no wish to be a kept lady. And third, whoever her future husband was should be someone who could have a conversation with her without boring her to tears nor should she have to explain everything she says. To her, that list seemed fairly simple and small but to find a man to fit that bill, she knew she would be hard pressed.
Deciding she'd been inside dwelling too long, Hermione threw on her swimsuit and a cover, grabbed a towel and took a jog to the rocks and made her way to the beach. Her new wand holster was very handy for things like swimming: always at her fingertips, but not having to be held in her hand. Hermione swam out in the waves as far as she dared and then back a few times. She enlarged her towel and laid down on it, to get some sun on her back. The sun was warm and it felt nice on her muscles.
Going through the males she had known from Hogwarts, those in her year were out. She was the oldest student in the entire year and she was only up for the law due to time turner misuse. The law didn't say you couldn't marry someone older or younger than the 20-45 range but anyone younger than 20 would not want to marry until they had to and Hermione didn't blame them. The class in the year above her were up for the law but she didn't know many of them. Cormac McClaggen was a definite no. There were a few boys that she knew would probably allow her to finish school but she didn't know much else about them. She knew a few boys who could be ruled out simply because of her first rule. Draco Malfoy, for example, had belittled her for being muggleborn more times than she could count.
She thought about the year of students ahead of that one and came up with George. She wasn't sure that she could handle being married to a prankster. Fred and George always seemed to find her uptight ways to be a challenge. There was no doubt George, while he passed all three rules, would think of her as some innocent girl who needed him to loosen her up. He would eventually get bored of her rigid nature and her anxiety. Besides, he might be dating someone already and could she really reject Ron but then go for one of his brothers?
That thought led Hermione to rule out all Weasleys. If she wouldn't marry Ron, then all Weasleys were off the table. Her friendship with Ron made her respect that line not be crossed. It would be a blow Ron couldn't sustain.
With a sigh, Hermione rolled onto her back and closed her eyes.
She wondered where a person goes to meet other people. Pubs? She wrinkled her nose. School was normally where she would think was a good place to find a boyfriend but those boys weren't going to want to marry yet as they had time before the law kicked in for them. The time restraint of 3 months really put the pressure on to meet someone fast. She'd have to settle for finding someone available rather than appropriate for her or miss her deadline.
Shaking her head, Hermione resolved to get help. She would need someone to help her find a decent person that she could marry. Her options were limited. She had already been over her options to avoid the law and none of them were viable. She didn't fight for her freedom to spend the rest of her life hiding and never able to see her friends. But...did she really fight a war to be shackled to som man who wanted to use her as his weekly sex toy? A wife forced to stay home and take care of children and pamper her spouse?
A shadow cast a shape over her as she lay there thinking. Since her eyes were closed, it took a moment before she noticed the lack of warmth on her skin. Her eyes popped open to see what was between her and the sun.
"Harry!" she said, pleased to see him.
Harry grinned and took a seat on her towel next to her. "I saw the special edition of The Daily Prophet and since you're so much older than I am, I came to see how you're handling it."
She sat up and frowned. "Harry, I am actually much older than even I thought I was," she confessed.
Harry laughed until he saw that she wasn't joking. "What do you mean?"
"Remember the time turner I had third year?"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I might have used it a lot more than I planned. I'm turning 20 in a week."
His jaw fell open as he processed. "So you're-"
"Subject to the law almost immediatley, yes."
Silence. "Look, I was going to tell you. I only found out a few weeks ago. Professor McGonagall met with me to let me know of the upcoming law as a favor since she thought I was turning 19 and a piece. She mostly thought she'd give me a few extra months of a head's up but I actually used the time turner so much that I'll be 20 the same day that Ginny turns 17."
He nodded in sympathy with her. They stared at the beach where the sun was beginning to set across the waves. Hermione felt cold now that the sun was disappearing and she slipped her cover up back on. He asked her about the details of the law and she explained what she knew. Harry tried to think of a way to avoid the law, but he came to the same conclusions she had already reached.
"Is that why you turned Ron down?" Harry asked her quietly.
Sometimes she forgot how perceptive Harry could be when he was focused.
Swallowing, her throat felt dry. "Partly. I know we're opposite personalities and while I could probably spend a lifetime with him and deal with it, I know he'd resent me for not being solely reliant on him as a husband. His insecurities need that from a partner. He wants a couple kids and he wants to give them everything he never had growing up which is all anyone ever really wants for their children but he also wants a wife that lets him bring home the money; he needs to be the hero. I have a hard time relinquishing control and our natures will always struggle against the other."
She chanced a look at Harry. "If we were dating, he'd be proposing right now, playing the knight in shining armor. He might still try to. I don't know. It depends on how badly his feelings were hurt."
Her best friend dug his toes into the sand as he sat next to her, her sounding board. She loved Harry for his easy to be around nature so much. He was even easier to spend time with now that Voldemort's soul was out of his head.
Standing up, Harry reached out for her hand. He tugged her up to him and placed a hand on her waist. He held the other up for her to take, a silent offer for a dance. Just like he had months ago during the darkest time of either of their lives. Smiling, she took it and allowed Harry to dance her around in circles on the beach with no sound but the waves and the wind.
Swaying side to side, Hermione looked up at him, realizing how much taller he was. It seemed like he had grown two inches since the last time they danced. She was sure it was partly her own lack of attention to it and partly late growth from his youth being stunted by malnutrition.
"You know I'm not going to let some awful man marry you and treat you badly, right?"
With an ironic laugh, she replied, "I'm not sure how much choice either of us will get but that means a lot to me. I'm pleased that you have a beautiful witch who is perfectly happy to be with you. It makes me feel better that at least you and Ginny will be okay. Yes, the law will apply to you both but it won't dictate who you marry. Just when. It's one less stress on my mind," she admitted to his shoulder.
Another sway from one side to the other and Harry twirled her away from him and yanked her back in. She yelped a laugh as her foot dug into the sand during the spin and they both lost their balance for a moment.
Righting herself, he swore to her, "I will do my best to make sure that whoever you marry is worthy of you."
They were both quiet for a moment, lost in thoughts.
"Well, what are we looking for in a man?"
"WE?"
"We."
"Well," she started, "First and most importantly, he cannot call me a mudblood or have views that find muggleborns lacking. Same goes for the female sex. Any one who is racist or sexist is out."
Agreeing, Harry said, "Yeah, so definitely no death eaters, nazi sympathizers or bigots."
"Second," Hermione continued, "he cannot interfere with my education or career. I'm probably going to end up with someone older than I am. Whoever he is needs to be someone who will allow me to do what I want in that regard. If I want to work a job selling shoes or becoming the Minister for Magic, he needs to allow me."
Raising an eyebrow, Harry asked, "You don't want support?"
"Support would be ideal," she agreed, "but I'm being realistic. I just want a man that isn't going to be antagonistic toward me on the most basic of foundations of my life. Any man that orders me about with my life decisions is not a man I want to marry," she said, with a shiver. "Who knows what else he would order or demand of me if he won't even allow me to attend school or choose a job for myself."
She slid her arm from his shoulder and he dropped her other hand. The sun had set and so she picked up her towel and spelled the sand off of it.
"What else?" Harry called down to her from the first step up the cliff where he was already climbing back to the house, his shoes and socks in his hand.
Jogging to catch up to him so she didn't have to shout, Hermione held up three fingers. "The third and final stipulation is that I want someone who I can talk to and not have to explain what I mean nor should I be bored talking to him. We may never speak to each other more than necessary but when I do speak to him, I don't want to have to explain my every thought or meaning."
Grinning, Harry gave her a hand up to the next boulder jutting out from the cliff of the pathway he had carved out recently. "Not Ron and my quidditch talk then?"
Groaning playfully, Hermione shook her head. "I'll always support my friends who play the sport, but talking about maneuvers and old games bore me to tears. I wish for something more with whoever I marry."
"Well," Harry said brightly. "You've kept your conditions to a scant "3" and they are basic. I'm sure we can find you a nice man that meets the criteria."
Harry scrunched his face up for a second. "Hang on, you didn't tell me what he looks like, or his age or anything like that."
She waved her hand in the air with indifference. "That doesn't matter. I'm not into a "type." I can find him attractive enough if the three rules I described are met and as long as he practices basic hygiene. Besides, if I said he'll need to be tall, dark, and charming, that combined with my three rules will eliminate 98% of my pool of choices at least."
"Oi! I pass your three test rule and I'm tall, dark, and charming!"
"And also very, very taken, Mr. Potter," Hermione teased as they walked the trail back to her cottage.
"And happily, so!" Harry announced brightly.
She giggled and laid her head on her best friend's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her waist and squeezed her tightly. He dropped a kiss on her forehead."
"Are you telling anyone else about your age or waiting on the paper to out you?"
Thinking, Hermione said, "I imagine I'll have to. I think it best to head it off before the paper announces it and people start hounding me about it being a misprint."
Hermione offered Harry some water and they had a cold chicken salad for dinner. Harry told her about finding a pair of lacy underwear in one of the guest rooms at Grimmauld Place after his birthday and not knowing whose they were and they had a laugh over it. Hermione thanked him again for his gift of the piano and assured him that it was keeping her sane lately.
Harry told her that he was planning Ginny a surprise party for her birthday and that he would need her help getting it all together.
"I'll stop by tomorrow for the guest list and to use your library," Hermione told him before he apparated away.
Her house seemed eerily quiet after having Harry there for a couple hours.
Of course, there were always the nightmares to keep her company.
The next day she was ensconced in the library at 12 Grimmauld Place, sending out invitations by owl post and also searching the Black library for information on wedding and matrimonial magic and bonds.
She had finished copying the last invitation to the party and had Kreacher set to pick up all the things that would be needed for it when the floo in the drawing room lit up. Ron's tall form unfolded from the green flames and Hermione set her quill down and stood.
"Oh, hey," Ron muttered as he looked at the carpet.
"Good morning," Hermione said politely and she hated the stiffness in her voice.
"Harry in?"
Shaking her head, Hermione told him, "He left me sending invitations for Ginny's party. I've them all done, I just need to send the rest of them. I think Harry went to pick up his new broom. He said something about coming to the Burrow tonight for dinner and wanting to have it for a game."
Ron's face brightened the way it always did when quidditch was mentioned. "Blimey, he went without me?!"
Shrugging apologetically, she said, "He's only been gone 20 minutes. You could catch him still."
"Good idea. Do you...need any help, though?" he rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away from her after speaking.
Pleased that he was making an effort even though things were awkward. "Would you mind posting these at the Owl Post?"
"Sure," Ron said.
Hermione summoned a handful of sickles from her bag and gathered up all the invites. As she handed them to Ron, she paused, not letting go.
"Ron…. I'm turning 20 soon."
He blinked. She could see him doing the math as his eyes darted side to side. "Are you sure? You won't be 19 until September, right?"
"I used a time turner," she reminded him softly. "I'll be 20 in a week. I just wanted you to know as a courtesy since I'm subject to the law. The Prophet will soon have my name added to the weekly list it publishes of those the law applies to."
Ron blanched at the thought, as reality hit him.
"You did hear about the special edition last night?" Hermione asked gently.
He nodded mutely. It was likely a topic of conversation among the Weasley's last night but since Ron wouldn't be affected for over 2 years, he probably hadn't processed much about how the law would be affecting things.
She released her hold on the invitations. "Thanks for posting those. Here's yours, just so you don't mix it in with the others."
Ron pocketed his own invitation and walked to the front door to apparate to Diagon Alley.
"What's the plan?" he asked, turning around with his hand already on the door knob.
Sighing, "I don't have one. I'm just hoping for someone who isn't a controlling bigot and has a brain."
He nodded and left without another word. Hermione wasn't sure whether to feel glad that he hadn't proposed on the spot or sad that he hadn't considered the possibility of what lie ahead for her in the future.
Later that day Hermione was in the garden shed brewing her newest creation, a potion that acted as a 12 hour mouthwash, when she felt the wards alert her to an arrival. She hadn't heard anyone apparate so it must be the floo. She continued working since the wards had tingled pleasantly, meaning it was someone that she'd keyed into the wards already. A moment later, she heard Ginny's voice from the back of the house calling for her.
"In the shed!" Hermione hollered to her.
"What in Merlin's name are you doing out here?" Ginny asked as she ducked into the garden shed.
Ginny's eyes widened a bit as she looked around. "Well, this isn't a garden shed at all."
Hermione spared her a glance as she continued stirring in the mint leaves, the last step in the prototype. She held up her fingers to indicate she needed a moment.
When the last stir was completed, Hermione set her stirring rod down and sat on the lab stool she'd created that morning for herself.
"Hello, you've got good timing. I need to test this potion," Hermione informed her.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Well, I've got plenty of practice at that. The twins always told me rather than Ron about new creations in case something went terribly wrong. I can keep my head a little better in chaos."
Hermione gave her a 'cheers' with the potion vial before swishing it around in her mouth. She jotted down that the eucalyptus essence was a bit strong and that the liquid seemed a bit gritty before gargling deeply.
Ginny gave a repulsed start as she watched Hermione gargle. Magical folk cleaned their teeth with spells so she'd probably never witness a muggle using mouthwash.
Spitting into the lab sink, Hermione made a note to make the potion consumable to eliminate gargling, based on Ginny's reaction.
"What in the Samhain is that?" Ginny asked, picking up a vial and inspecting it.
Pausing in her inspection of her teeth using her tongue and a conjured mirror, Hermione told her, "New 12-hour breath freshener."
Beaming, Ginny said, "Brilliant! Need another tester?"
She weighed the odds and shrugged. "There's really not much in it that can cause a negative reaction but I've not proved it works yet. It's mostly muggle components with a few magical potion ingredients to increase the efficacy and extend the lifespan. You'll need to hold it in your mouth for at least half a minute to allow it to work. If you really want it to work, you'll need to gargle it in the back of your throat. The back of your tongue is where the bad breath comes from so if the potion doesn't reach the back of your throat, it can't help with the breath freshening aspect."
Ginny followed suit and did her best gargle, choking on it and spitting it out sooner than she should have in an effort not to accidentally swallow it. Ginny added a couple notes to Hermione's for her to study on for the next brew.
"I'm going to be working on making it consumable so it doesn't have to be gargled," Hermione explained as she read over Ginny's note.
"Let me know tomorrow after the potion wears off. I want to know if it stops suddenly or slowly wears off et cetera," Hermione instructed as she cleaned up her lab and bottled the rest of the potion.
In Hermione's kitchen, she and Ginny sat at her little two person table with a cup of tea as Hermione shared with her the details of how she came to be nearly 20 already and what she was going to do.
"Well, I guess we can start with all the wizards we know. Figure out which of them are single, willing, and a good candidate. If none of those work out, we can start shopping for men!"
She appreciated Ginny's willingness to help and her enthusiasm but she didn't have much faith in her ability to solve the issue by systematically listing all the men she knew. It must have shown on her face.
"I assume my brothers are all out?"
Nodding, Hermione explained. "Well, I turned Ron down for dating so I don't think it would be fair to him to look to one of his brothers for help. I kind of think of them all as brotherly and I don't see how marrying any of them would be better for me than just marrying Ron. I also don't know many other men."
Ginny shrugs. "Well Granger, we'll need to dress you up and start going out more. You can't meet men stashed away in your house. You have, what, 3 months?"
Ginny suggested some venues Hermione could try but none sounded appealing to her other than dressing herself up, browsing books at Flourish and Blotts, and waiting for the perfect guy to reach for the last copy of her favorite book right as she was reaching for it.
After Ginny left, she received a summons to Hogwarts at her convenience with permission to floo straight in if arriving today so Hermione didn't bother with a reply owl.
Upon her arrival, she was immediately aware she had stumbled into a meeting. After clearing away her floo ashes, she turned to see Professor Snape sitting in the chair across from the Headmistress.
"I'm so sorry, Headmistress. I didn't mean to interrupt. I got your invitation faster than you probably intended since I've moved into my cottage not far from here. I can return another time-"
"That's not necessary, Miss Granger," McGonagall said. She waved her wand and produced another setting for tea and scooted up a chair for Hermione to sit next to Professor Snape.
She eyed Professor Snape expecting a complaint but he simply scowled down at his teacup in hand.
"Severus and I were just discussing how that new infernal law is going to affect Hogwarts," the headmistress said, lips thin.
Stirring her tea, Hermione agreed, "Yes, I imagine all the students turning 19 this year will be panicked at having less than 2 years before they will be expected to marry."
Minerva agreed, her lips pressed firmly. "I'm sure there will be a lot of dating and drama overriding the reason students are here in the first place. Severus and I were discussing the changes that will need to be required for student housing as well as the ramifications for our staff."
Hermione ducked her head to take a drink. Staffing...which staff member was subject to the marriage law?
She turned her head to look at the professor next to her.
"Yes, yes, I'm subject to the law. I'm 38 and fair game in the eyes of the Wizengamot."
"I'm sorry, Professor Snape. That's a horrible thing to have happen to you after...well, everything."
He didn't glare at her but he didn't say anything in response either.
"As my deputy headmaster, Severus and I were determining what to do about housing any students who might choose to marry ahead of the law applying to them personally. There may be a few students who decide to marry while still in school which would place married adults in the regular student dormitories. That would be inappropriate so we were brainstorming. I would love to hear from a student's perspective. What you think of this. It could help me anticipate issues," Minerva explained.
Hermione was surprised that Snape sat and drank his tea without protesting Hermione's addition to his discussion with the headmistress.
"Well, after the year we just had, I would assume that some of the older students will get engaged or sign an understanding out of fear of waiting too late. I doubt any of them will actually marry until after graduation. The only way I see a student marrying during the year is if they are dating a student older than them, old enough to need to marry. Well, that or if they are me. I'm the only unlucky student who has to marry by Christmas," she said glumly.
For all the years Hermione had known Professor Snape, he had always been smooth with his mannerisms. Never had she seen him with a churlish etiquette or a misspoken word but in that moment, she witnessed a surprised Professor Snape who promptly choked on his tea, spat it out followed by an expletive.
Professor McGonagall levitated a napkin to him without a word. Hermione stared at the headmistress to allow the potions professor a moment to clean up the mess he'd made.
When he had coughed enough and righted himself, Snape leveled Hermione with a scrutiny she was accustomed to.
"YOU are subject to the law as of now?"
Twisting her fingers in her skirts, she hedged, "I've got a few more days but then yes. The law will apply to me as I'll be twenty."
Appealing to the headmistress, Snape snapped his stare over at her, demanding an answer.
Without preamble, Minerva shared with Snape the circumstances that led to Hermione's age crisis.
He snorted after he'd heard the explanation. "Curiosity killed the cat, as it were. In this case I suppose curiosity caused the cat to prematurely age but you get my point," he said haughtily.
Feeling chagrined, Hermione drank her tea and didn't say anything. He wasn't wrong, afterall.
"Yes, Severus, she made a mistake but that's neither here nor there. She is subject to the law as are you which brings us back to the discussion of what to do with lodgings for any students who may find themselves married before school's end."
The conversation from there covered the idea of students flooing in from home, offering a remote schooling option via owl, or using guest quarters for all the married students to either use themselves or to share if their spouse was also at Hogwarts.
"But the details of the law will require consistent...access...to each other for students who are separated from their spouse. Will you have students floo back and forth for that as needed or will you have their spouse visit Hogwarts?" Hermione questioned, which in turn brought up a new issue of students who did happen to marry, turning up pregnant during the school year.
"But there are no bylaws that keep pregnant students from attending school. It has happened before and it will happen again in the future. I seem to recall the last student choosing to sit her NEWTs at the Ministry after leaving school to deliver. I believe she corresponded with her teachers via owl but considered herself to be doing independent study," Minerva recalled. "She did not technically graduate but she achieved her OWLs which was enough to get a decent job."
"Yes, but independent study is not our responsibility. Professors wishing to help students who choose that may do so but they are not required to help any student who chooses to go that route," Snape pointed out. "The independent study option is a current option to any witch or wizard regardless of the law. What we have to assume responsibility for are the students who do not choose independent study yet are here at Hogwarts anyway," Snape pointed out.
"Are there bylaws to stop students from attending after they marry? If there are, then it's a simple case of only having to deal with teachers who marry," Hermione chimed in for the first time in a while.
After a brief pause it was determined that no, there was no law preventing a student from attending after they were married just as they knew there was no rule against pregnant witches attending.
They drank a second cup of tea and thought for a moment. Hermione came up with an idea that seemed to be plausible.
"What if we create a new dormitory for all of the 7th year students who are technically "8th year" students? We could put them all in a room of their own for sleeping. All these rooms would be connected by a shared common room and would have shared bathrooms. That would help with the overcrowding that would occur in the 7th year dorms as they were not built to accommodate the two year levels combined. Then, if any of the 8th year students marry another current student they would either move in together in one of the rooms in the 8th year dorms or, if their spouse was not a current student, they would at least have a place for their spouse to...visit...them when needed."
Both Snape and McGonagall admitted that her idea had merit but it brought up safety concerns of everyone and their dog flooing in and out of Hogwarts which was a security breach to have so many guests running around the castle. And so it was determined that students with a spouse outside of Hogwarts would have permission to floo home for the weekends provided they flooed in and out of the Headmistresses office at the predetermined time on Friday night and Sunday night. That left the professors the issue of creating an 8th year dormitory with enough single rooms for all the returning 8th years plus extras for any 6th or 7th year student who came of age and married before they themselves were subject to the law.
Minerva leaned back in her chair, a little more relaxed. "Thank you both for the help. I feel a mite more relieved with a plan to execute. That leaves us with only one major issue: who will either of you marry?"
Snape sighed. "They can take me to Azkaban, I suppose. I've no urge to muck about the country searching for a wife that I don't want. Seems a pity to have all the ruckus to pardon me for my crimes only to send me to Azkaban for failure to marry but there you have it. No one in this country is unaware of the role I played in the war and no witch will be eager to marry Albus Dumbledore's murderer so it seems inevitable."
Hermione's mind was racing. If he didn't marry, he'd be sent to Azkaban per the law. This would be a tragedy to her. To spend one's whole life trying to atone for wrongs only to finally free yourself from it all and be shackled into an unwanted marriage. Even though she was young and had more of her life ahead of her, Hermione felt Snape had the rawer side of the deal.
It was a strange thought as Professor Snape bid them both goodbye and went back to his quarters. Hermione and Minerva spoke for a few moments longer, ascertaining that neither one had an idea of a potential spouse for Hermione nor did they have any leads.
She opted to walk home as it was still a little warm outside and sunny enough to afford her some air to think with. It was when she reached the corridor of the Hospital Wing that the idea occurred to her. Professor Snape needed a wife. She needed a husband. She needed a husband who would allow her to finish school and to go on to have a career. Professor Snape had never given her any inclination to think him a closet misogynist. He needed a wife that would overlook his past as a Death Eater and his crimes. She needed a husband who would provide intelligent conversation when they spoke. She'd never heard Severus Snape use labels for people based on skin color, gender, or blood status. He's always put a stop to it when someone had been about to utter slurs in his presence.
She wasn't sure what he was looking for in a wife, but Hermione's feet carried her to the dungeons where his personal laboratory, potion's stores, office and classroom were located. Thoughts raced through her head as she thought through her idea. She felt a mixture of relief and nausea at this idea. She knew that being married to him would likely be eternal.
The thought of sex with Snape made her falter in her step. A quick consideration and she decided she could manage if it meant not being brutalized in every which way by some Death Eater sympathizer or being rutted daily by some simpleton. She only now considered the concept that with her name being in the paper every day, her fame might bring about boys wishing to ride her coattails as well as the creepy stalker she seemed to have acquired.
When she saw Snape's office door, she charged. She knocked briskly three times without giving herself a moment to doubt her decision.
"Enter," she heard him call out to her.
She pushed the door open firmly and walked into the dimly lit office of Professor Snape. He was sitting behind his desk with scrolls scattered about in front of him, quill poised in hand when he looked up to note who was at his door. She faintly noticed his desk chair had been replaced by a leather wingback armchair that looked much more comfortable than the old wooden chair she remembered him using.
"Marry me?" she said in one breath.