NOTE: Thank you to everyone who has continued to drop a note. They're so encouraging, and they mean a lot. Beta credit goes to eilonwy! All mistakes are mine.
CHAPTER THREE
July 18
On a typical Thursday three months after being found on the Saône by Draco, Hermione was at work. She'd had no trouble finding work in Lyon upon settling there.
Lyon had been a center for resistance of the Nazi invasion of France during World War II, and the spirit of resistance, of innovation, of not settling, and of questioning the status quo, had so permeated life in wizarding Lyon that Hermione had quickly fallen in love with the city. It was absolutely beautiful, and she was enjoying getting to know the way Lyon wore summer.
She especially enjoyed the giant ferris wheel in the Place de Bellecour, and her coworkers warned her that it would come down for winter, but would be back the following summer.
Hermione had taken a job with the French Ministry as a liaison to all English-speaking countries except England. They'd welcomed her rebellious move to leave England and had given her leave from having to regularly deal directly with the Ministry there. If she had to liaise with her home country, she was allowed to use a fake name and change her appearance.
It was the most fun she'd ever had at a job.
This particular Thursday was like many before it. She was at her desk at ten in the morning, signing official documents and double- and triple-checking translated paperwork. At a little after ten, a memo arrived in her inbox informing her that she had just received mail.
Curious, Hermione immediately stopped what she was doing and went to the owlery. She rarely received mail—no one but her closest friends and her parents had any occasion to write to her—and no one had ever sent mail to her work.
The attendant in the owlery took the memo and matched it to a brown paper envelope tied with a white string. Hermione thanked him and took the thin package. Opening it, she discovered a copy of the Quibbler. Stuck to the front of the issue was a note from Luna, saying she hoped the issue found Hermione well.
Hermione couldn't imagine why Luna would send her an issue out of the blue. Puzzled, she removed the note and gasped at what she saw on the cover. There, in gold foil letters, was the headline for their feature article:
Dynamic Duo Fighting Marriage Law
It took every ounce of restraint she possessed not to sit down right then on the floor of the owlery and open the magazine. Instead, she forced herself to return to her office. There would be no point in trying to get any more work done until she'd read the article, so Hermione grabbed her wand and her purse and left for an early lunch.
She went to her favorite café on the Saône, the one where Draco had found her, and ordered her favorite sandwich and a cup of tea. With trembling hands, she leafed through the magazine until she found the article.
Hermione's eyes went wide as she read the summary. She'd picked up her sandwich to start eating, but it remained in her hand, forgotten, as she devoured the article, written by none other than Luna herself.
/
The Marriage Law has been on the books for nearly a year. It was heralded as the single piece of legislation needed to save the future of wizarding kind in England. Many on the continent have been watching closely to see if the Law can lead to the results it promises: fewer incidence of Squib births and a resurgence in the magical population.
The deadline for finalizing the matches granted in March of this year is fast approaching. At time of publication, only fourteen of the one hundred forty-seven matches granted have been sealed; one couple is already expecting their first child. With only three months remaining, it seems most of the couples should be focusing on their upcoming nuptials and therefore the fulfillment of the Law.
Two men, however, have been rigorously working to reverse the Marriage Law. For the last three months, these men have spent their days, every single day possible, at the Ministry, attempting to have their case heard. To date, not a single word of their efforts has been seen in the Daily Prophet nor any other news outlet. No one we polled knew of a movement against the Law. Clearly, the Ministry has quashed not only their efforts but also their voice.
The silence stops now.
Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini may seem an unlikely pair for this undertaking. I was surprised when they approached me and asked if The Quibbler would be interested in talking with them—after all, I knew nothing of what they were doing. After a brief conversation over coffee, we here on staff knew this was something we couldn't ignore.
Luna Lovegood: Thank you, Draco, Blaise, for beginning this important discussion, and welcome to The Quibbler.
Draco Malfoy: Thank you, Luna, for hearing us.
LL: So let's start from the beginning, since this is brand new for all of our readers. Tell me what exactly you're trying to do.
DM: Simply put, we're trying to get the Marriage Law reversed.
LL: Why? What's wrong with it?
Blaise Zabini: There are many problems with it. It's designed to help one subset of the wizarding population while paying no mind to the others. It unfairly favors the pure-blood families. It encourages and perpetuates the blood prejudices which helped lead to two wars in the last forty years. And finally, perhaps most terribly, it suggests that a governing body has the right to interfere in such personal matters as whom a witch or a wizard chooses to marry.
DM: It does a bit more than suggest it.
BZ: It asserts, then. The Law takes away the right of the witch or wizard to choose, and that is flat-out wrong.
LL: Let's talk a bit about why you're doing this. Draco, your match, famous war heroine Hermione Granger, fled the country to avoid the law. Or was it to avoid you?
DM: {chuckles} She left before the match process even began, so my pride is salvaged on that point.
BZ: {snorts}
LL: Your case is in something of a limbo. There's no precedent for this in all the history of the Marriage Law.
DM: Yes, I've got the undesirable distinction of being jilted a year before a wedding that must still go on, bride or not.
LL: And you haven't been in touch with her?
DM: No one knows where she went. If they do, they certainly haven't volunteered that information to me.
LL: What did you think when you first learned she was gone?
DM: I found out a few weeks after the Law was passed in August of last year. We used to work together in the Department of Mysteries. She'd told me and everyone else for at least two motnhs that she had planned a holiday for the end of August. So I thought nothing of her leaving. When she didn't return, I started to wonder.
LL: How was it confirmed?
DM: After the match process was complete, and the Ministry had made multiple attempts to find her, they declared that she was in violation of the Law. They conducted a show trial and convicted her of sedition. Also, her friends told me she wasn't coming back.
LL: How did that make you feel?
DM: It was… unpleasant. I'd grown to care for Hermione through working with her over the year or so before the Law. It's why I'd put in for her. At the time, I could have easily seen myself falling in love with her.
LL: Yet here you are, alone, with only three months until the deadline. What have you been doing since the Match?
DM: A lot of thinking. A lot. She talked about the Law quite a bit before the vote. Also, her friends shared some of her thoughts with me.
LL: And what did you realize in all your thinking?
DM: That the Law is absurd.
LL: Let's get back to that in a minute. First, Blaise, we want to hear what brought you to this point.
BZ: Like Draco, I went through the Match. I put in my request, and it was also granted.
LL: You requested Anna Webber. How did you know her?
BZ: I met her at Hogwarts. She was—is—two years younger. I'd always thought she was pretty, and I enjoyed talking with her on a handful of occasions. After school, our paths crossed again while working in the Quidditch world.
LL: You, as the owner of the Puddlemere United, and she as a Beater for the Holyhead Harpies.
BZ: Yes. I thought she was interested, so I put in for her when the Law was passed. But apparently, that I'd done so without speaking with her first put her off completely. She won't talk to me and has stated repeatedly that the last thing she wants is to marry me.
LL: Has she threatened to follow Hermione?
BZ: Not seriously. I think the Ministry put the fear of Merlin into anyone who'd been considering it. Which, of course, was their aim.
LL: So now you stand to be in violation of the law, come March, as well. Is that why you're doing this? To get out of trouble?
BZ: I believe the Law is compulsory. Anna has no choice; if she doesn't appear for the ceremony, she'll be found guilty of treason. It's possible that's only a slightly worse fate than marrying me.
LL: You would end up married, then?
BZ: Yes.
LL: Then why fight this?
BZ: Because I want out. I don't want to marry someone who abhors the sight of me.
LL: Draco, are you fighting to get out of your match? As I understand it, you're unable to legally wed anyone else because you're promised to Hermione.
DM: I am not fighting to get out of my match. I am fighting because it is the right thing to do. No one—especially not the Ministry—has the right to dictate who marries whom.
LL: Haven't pure-blood parents been doing that for far longer than the Ministry?
DM: {laughs} There have been countless arranged marriages, that's true. But it's simply different, in one extremely important way: both parties have a say in the matter. With this Law, that isn't the case. The pure-blood party makes a "top three" list. Based on some arbitrary criteria, a team at the Ministry decides who goes where.
LL: You got your first choice, correct?
DM: Some of that arbitrary criteria is money. So yes, I did.
LL: But why so vehement in this effort? Tell me how it got started.
DM: After I recruited Blaise to my cause, we went to the Ministry to request an audience with someone—the Minister, the Wizengamot, the janitor—anyone. It took two weeks to see the Minister, and he basically dismissed us. We hired a solicitor who drafted a proposal he claimed they couldn't ignore.
BZ: They still did.
DM: I had to physically carry the proposal into the Minister's office—by appointment, which I had waited two weeks for—and stand there while he read the entire thing. He then sent me to the Lesser Court to make an appointment to speak to the Right Honorable Witch. That appointment took two more weeks and three reschedules before I finally saw her. I also had to wait while she read the entire proposal, which she hadn't read, despite me sending it to her weeks before, as well. She reluctantly told me to make an appointment to speak to the entire Lesser Court and sent me to their secretary.
BZ: All the while, we're … helping things along, understand.
LL: Please explain what you mean, Blaise.
BZ: We had to grease more than a few palms.
LL: To be clear, are you saying you had to bribe Ministry officials in order to access the system that is ostensibly free to all?
BZ: Yes.
DM: The amounts would stagger you. No one but the most wealthy could hope to fight this.
BZ: Tell her about your meeting with the Lesser Court.
DM: {scoffs} I waited four hours to speak to the Lesser Court secretary, and she told me it would be another three weeks before they could fit me in. All the while, I'm looking at a blank calendar as she couldn't seem to find me a spot.
LL: Did you finally speak with them?
DM: The day of my appointment, not one of the members of the Lesser Court turned up.
LL: This is egregious.
DM: {chuckles} Oh, I didn't let it go. I demanded they see me. I called the Prophet. I called the wireless. I did everything I could think of to force them to listen. In the end, I had to return to the Minister and remind him that I had every right as a member of wizarding society—a member who, specifically, helps contribute in such a way as to keep the Ministry functioning, if you catch my meaning—to be heard by the Ministry and if he didn't require the Lesser Court to hear me, I'd be knocking on his door the next morning to speak with his wife about the matter. She's Muggle-born. He did not like my threat, but he didn't call me on it, either. The entire Lesser Court heard me the following day.
BZ: Draco doesn't play around.
LL: Indeed not. Nor should you. How did that meeting go?
DM: It took the better part of an hour. By the end of it, every one of them was squirming in his or her seat, but they wouldn't budge. They said the Law was absolutely necessary for the betterment of wizarding society and all of the tripe they used to sell the Law in the first place.
LL: That was the week before you reached out to us, right?
BZ: Yes. The Ministry's got a severe gag order on everything Draco and I have been doing. There's no official record of us even being there.
LL: What else have you been doing besides appealing to the Ministry?
BZ: While Draco was handling things from an official standpoint, I've been attempting to drum up support, both financially and physically, for our position.
LL: And how has that gone?
BZ: As you'd expect. The people who don't want the Law aren't in a position to fight it. A few of them stand to benefit from their match and aren't keen to make waves that might hurt them in the end.
LL: One hundred forty-seven couples matched, only fourteen already married, leaving one hundred thirty-three. Have you spoken to all two hundred sixty-six people?
BZ: Almost. Not Hermione, of course. And a few others haven't wanted to talk.
LL: So what happens now? The Lesser Court rebuffed your efforts.
DM: We keep at it.
LL: Just like that? No hesitation?
DM: None at all. I'm more convinced now of this course than I was when we started.
LL: What are your plans, then?
DM: The Lesser Court will hear me again.
BZ: I'm going to collect signatures of those who oppose the law and wish to see it overturned.
LL: You're going to need more than two hundred sixty-six signatures if you want a Ministry lift operator to listen to you, much less the Court.
BZ: We're hoping that this interview will help us in that endeavor. We're going to reach out to those beyond those most directly affected by the Law.
DM: This goes beyond just a Marriage Law. It speaks to our civil liberties, and we believe others will agree with us.
BZ: My goal is to get a thousand signatures.
DM: If we can generate enough interest, the Ministry has to listen. If we can generate enough buzz, people will talk. If people listen... we might just have a chance.
LL: Are you trying to have the law overturned by the marriage deadline in October?
DM: That would be ideal, but we're aware that it might take much longer than that.
LL: What will you do, then, when the deadline passes and you remain unmarried?
DM: Blaise will marry Anna. They have no choice. As of yet, I'm under no obligation to do anything about my status. It's really the last thing on my mind.
LL: If Hermione were to return next week, how would that change your efforts?
DM: I'd like to think she would join me in this fight. She left England to avoid the Law, after all.
LL: Let's revisit Hermione for a moment. You said before that you could see yourself falling for her. Did you? Ever? Fall for her?
DM: We were friends. I fancied her.
LL: Enough to want to marry her.
DM: At the time, there was no one I would have rather entered that union with.
LL: And now?
DM: She's gone. I may never see her again, may never even hear another word about her. I've had time to reconcile with this reality.
LL: So you aren't doing this so that she'll come back to England?
DM: I think I know where you're going with this, so let me save you the trouble. This work we're doing has to be done. The Marriage Law is fundamentally flawed. When I decided to go forward with this, I relinquished in my heart any claim to her happiness—not that I ever held it. With that said, I am doing this so that she can return to England because this is her home and she deserves to be here, to live, to love, and work here, in any way she sees fit. However, I'm also doing this so that Anna has those same rights. And for one of my best friends, Pansy. For Dean Thomas, one of Hermione's former classmates. Let me be crystal clear: I am not doing this in an effort to "win" Hermione's attention, affection, or admiration. This process could take years. She could marry someone else before we win—and we will win—and completely move on with her life. This really isn't about her.
LL: You have no hopes for a happy ending for you two together?
DM: I had to check all of my hopes when I started this.
LL: Are you seeing anyone?
DM & BZ: {laughs}
DM: Honestly, I've got no time for that right now.
LL: Blaise? What about you? Any hopes of Anna returning your feelings?
BZ: None. I think there's a greater chance of the moon being made of actual cheese. She told me she used to fancy me, but that she also thought I respected her. Making a move for her without her input convinced her I could never make her happy. Perhaps she's right. We'll never know.
LL: If you have to marry before the law is overturned, what would you do?
BZ: In our… demands, if you will, we're asking for a complete annihilation of the Law. All of the marriages that result will be annulled, unless a couple specifically applies to remain married. She'll walk away with a clear slate and, hopefully, only a little time spent unpleasantly.
LL: Why the annulments?
BZ: I want to marry for love. And I want to stay married for love, through the hard and unlikeable times. Through the work. I've seen more marriages fail than most people read the paper. I don't want that. This marriage isn't one of love for most of us, pure-blood or not, rich or not. It is species propagation tied up in a neat, tidy package, nothing more. I for one want to move forward with a blank page.
LL: What can you tell me about others' reactions? You've told us the Ministry has tried to dodge you at every turn. What did the Minister say? The Right Honorable Witch? What about friends and family? Do any of them stand with you?
DM: The Minister didn't have much to say the first time I saw him. When I, um, suggested that I'd talk to his wife, he seemed to falter, though just long enough to tell me he'd make it happen and to get the hell out of his office. The Right Honorable Witch was a bit conflicted. I reminded her that her husband is a pure-blood, and as a pure-blood herself, how would she have felt if a Law demanded that they both find other partners? It's ridiculous that I've had to remind these people that the freedoms they enjoyed are being taken from my generation.
BZ: We largely have the same circle of friends. Most of them want to be supportive but ended up with mostly favorable matches. A few worried that they wouldn't find anyone otherwise.
DM: None of them is ready to publicly stand with us. Family pressures, especially for those whose families were involved in the war, are intense. Any hint of disagreement with something the Ministry is doing is unacceptable.
LL: Yet here you two are, not only going up against the whole Ministry of Magic, but seeking this interview. You want this published.
DM: I'm not afraid of the Ministry. I've got some things going for me in this world, namely my name and all the prestige and power it wields. That I'm attempting to use it for something worth fighting for only makes me more determined.
BZ: And I've got nothing to lose. My mum's in Congo; the Ministry can't touch her or me or our money.
LL: That money and position are even required in this venture is despicable. You should have access to the democratic process just like the people who proposed the Law in the first place.
DM: Careful, dear. You're getting awfully close to sharing an opinion.
LL: You're right. Forgive me. Tell me about your families.
BZ: Like I said, my mum's in Congo.
LL: But if she were here, what would she say?
BZ: {chuckles} My mother is not the sort of woman who likes being told what to do. And being told who to marry? In case you've forgotten, she's been married seven times before her current husband. I'm fairly certain she would side with me.
LL: How do your wishes for your future compare to what you grew up with?
BZ: I'm only interested in marrying once. That's all I'll say about that.
LL: All right, then. Draco? Your parents must have an opinion on what you're doing.
DM: That's putting it mildly.
LL: Tell us more.
DM: {sighs} They don't see anything wrong with the Law. They want me to fight to have Hermione forcibly brought back to England. They aren't happy with what I'm doing.
LL: So they don't support you.
DM: I've tried using the argument on them that I used on the Right Honorable Witch, but they seemed disinterested in even thinking about it.
LL: Your manner would suggest that this upsets you.
DM: Of course it does! They're my parents! I had hoped that they'd want to see me happy above all. They still claim they want that, but I'm not sure they can really see this issue the way I do. I only see it this way because of what happened with Hermione. I've had a lot of time to think about it, to try and see it from her perspective. They haven't.
LL: We are almost out of time. Tell me what's next?
BZ: We continue to gather support. We start by collecting signatures. We've prepared the requisite documents, and anyone who wishes to sign our petition can do so with a special piece of parchment that either Draco or I carry at all times. Whenever someone signs this piece, it's recorded in the official document on file with the Ministry.
LL: For our readers, we've provided a blank piece of parchment at the conclusion of the article. If you sign it, your name will be added to the petition.
BZ: Thank you, Luna.
DM: Yes, that means a lot to us.
LL: It's nothing. Least we can do. Thank you, Draco and Blaise, for speaking with us, for reaching out to us. We here at the Quibbler wish you all the best in your endeavor with the Ministry of Magic.
DM: Thank you for granting us the interview.
Do you agree with Draco and Blaise? If so, please sign their petition below. We'll be checking in on them as they go through this process, and we've been granted exclusive access to interviews with both men. Stay tuned!
\\\
Hermione stared at the last word of the article, willing it to keep going. Of course that was silly, and after a moment, she realized she was still holding her sandwich. She quickly set it down and skimmed the article again, then again.
"Excuse me?"
Hermione looked up, startled at the interruption. She'd been so focused on the interview that she'd failed to notice the waiter approach her. "Yes?"
"Is there something not to your liking?" he asked.
"Pardon me?" she asked, confused.
He sheepishly indicated her full plate. "You've not taken even a bite."
"Oh!" Hermione felt a blush light her cheeks. "I—I got caught up in something." She checked her watch. "And now I'm quite behind. May I have this wrapped?"
The man nodded and whisked the plate away, returning after mere moments with her sandwich wrapped in paper.
"Thank you," she said, genuinely flustered as she took the package. She gave an awkward wave and left the café.
Her stomach rumbled as she hurried back to her office. She took a single bite of her sandwich and pulled out a piece of parchment to write to Luna.
Luna – Please send me any and all issues with anything about this case.
She received a reply from Luna later that night, when she was settled in her flat to read the article yet again.
Hermione – Of course. I'll send them personally, as we don't want to add you to the official mailing list. We miss you. Draco is quite charming, and Blaise is rather the gentleman. I hope they are successful so that, among other things, you can come home.
AUTHOR's NOTE: Thanks for reading!