Chapter 5

After Leaving the Ministry

Hermione walked along the streets of Diagon alley at a brisk clip, ignoring the lingering anger simmering over her. When Malfoy had left her in the lobby it had taken more than a minute to regain her senses. And to stand normally. He was just trying to make her afraid of him, and it wasn't going to work.

She turned into the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes without even turning her head. The brightly colored shop only dimmed her mood further.

" Mione!" Ginny sat up at the counter, " I'm glad you're here, it's a been a really slow day!"

" In a minute, Gin," Hermione set down her huge packet on the counter with a thud, " Have you read the paper this morning?"

" No, I haven't," Ginny turned from lax to panicked in the space of a second, " What's wrong? Did something happen to Harry?"

" You really don't know about the Marriage Law?"

" Marriage law? When was it announced?"

"This morning, the prophet said. I was just at the Office of Marriage and Family it was in complete chaos!"

" What? RON, do you have the paper?" Ginny's voice was so loud it grated on Hermione's last nerve.

" The Prophet?" Ron yelled up from the storeroom beneath the store.

" Yeah?"

" No, don't think so! Is that Hermione?"

" Yeah!"

" I'm coming up!"

" Listen, Gin, before he comes up, do you remember in fourth year… erm, my fourth year, when we snuck into the library after dark?" Hermione whispered, hoping Ron had a lot of store room business to attend to before he came up.

" You'll have to be more specific, Mione," Ginny joked.

" When we tried that charm, the one that name's your soulmate?"

Ginny's eyes were as round as saucers, " 'Mione…"

" Mione!" Ron popped his head out of the trap door that led down to the store room. A pencil was tucked behind his ear.

" Ron, have you read the Prophet this morning?"

" No, why?"

" Both of you really need to keep up on your current events, you know that?" She said, exasperated.

Ginny at least had the good nature to look sheepish, but Ron just rolled his eyes, "Alright, I'll go down to the corner and buy one. Catch me on the one day I don't read it, I tell you."

Hermione waited until he exited the store to let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

" 'Mione you said you went to the ministry, what did they say?"

" Well before he comes back you may as well know the worst," Hermione resisted the urge to collapse in misery onto the counter, " The ministry knows that we did the spell, and what's worse, they know who it was."

" How can they know that?" Ginny cried.

" Probably the Department of Defense. Or Underage Magic, But that's not even the worst of it," Hermione sighed, " Malfoy was in line behind me, and he heard the whole thing. Oh Gin, I don't think I can tell the boys, but I don't know what to do."

" It'll be alright. What does it mean, the law?"

" I don't know yet, they gave me this huge packet to read, and an appointment to 'confirm' my 'match,'" Hermione growled, " Oh I could kill that pureblood prick with my bare hands."

" How did Malfoy react, when he heard the news?"

"Typical Malfoy, he accused me of putting some sort of horrible charm on him to trick him, or something," She waved Ginny off.

" 'Mione, you're blushing!"

" I am not," She was, but she'd never admit it, " He just said something to rile me up."

Ginny was all ears, " Oh yeah, What did he say?"

" Don't do that, okay? Don't make this a cute gossip thing. He said something about having sex with me, a joke of course, to make fun of me," Hermione shook her head, " And he kept commenting on my bum."

Ginny raised her eyebrows.

" He's disgusting!" Hermione waved her off, " Now I have to get to this packet. If there's any clue to get out of this, it's in here."

" I'll help. Let me get you some tea," Ginny disappeared and left Hermione alone with the packet.

She stared down at it. The wizard and witch cooed over their newborn and smiled obligingly at the viewer. What a slap in the face, Hermione thought. She opened the packet to the first section and began to read.

It began with an innocent enough summary of the losses sustained in the war, projected population growth, the percentage of the population put away in Azkaban. Hermione swallowed hard as she read the casualties on the losing side. Black masks hurtled through the dark of the forest, killed by her hand, and another hundred swarmed to take their place. She blinked away the memory and read on.

Then it described the Maritare charm, and how it would speed up the process of matching considerably. In cheerful, public service announcement language, it talked about how the spell was never wrong, that muggle or stranger, the Maritare charm always matched those "most magically compatible in every way!"

Hermione slammed her hand down on the counter, Wrong. This was so wrong.

The door burst open, " Bloody Hell, 'Mione, is this for real?"

She glanced up at Ron's stunned face, " I think so."

He walked behind the counter in a daze, setting down the prophet in front of her.

" Where's Gin," He asked listlessly.

" Making tea," Hermione replied.

" Good. I could go for some good strong tea right now. Or a whisky," Ron shook his head, " Oh, that would be just perfect right about now."

" I know, I'm still shocked. I went to the ministry, and they gave me this huge packet on how the Maritare charm is just so handy for finding who your "perfect person, witch or wizard" is," Hermione couldn't help a the hint of contempt and sarcasm that crept into her voice.

" Well that's true. Fleur and Bill told me about it when they were planning for their wedding. They said they just wanted to be sure, and well, they were," He stared down at the newspaper so intently, Hermione was sure it was going to burst into flames, " And I told them they were fucking nutters."

"Exactly, Ron, thank you," She smiled up at him, " They made their choice, so who cares about some old charm."

" Well yeah," He echoed, " And not only that, imagine if it said someone else? You couldn't marry someone knowing they weren't your soulmate. Can you imagine? Every second I'd be thinking 'I wonder if my soulmate would understand me better' ' I wonder if my soulmate would take better care of me when I was sick' 'I wonder if my soulmate wouldn't snore.' You alright, 'Mione?"

She covered what must have been an expression of total fear by rubbing her eyes with her hand, " Yeah, I just didn't sleep well last night. And then to wake up to this…"

"I understand. So did they have you do it, the charm I mean?"

" No, not yet," She said as calmly a she could, " I have an appointment. Next… friday morning."

" Well fuck. Oi Ginny, where's that tea?"