Chapter 2 – The Matches
For the next ten minutes, there was total silence in the Burrow.
Finally, it was broken by Hermione. "Oh, what a relief! Ernie Macmillan! At least he's a friend, and we do have a bit in common."
No one else seemed to share her optimistic viewpoint.
"Bloody hell!" Ron yelled, staring at his letter. "Marietta Edgecombe! That…traitor! How could that stupid Goblet give me her!"
"Tracey Davis. A Slytherin." George was scowling.
Percy shook his head. "I've got Cho Chang, and I hardly know her."
Harry glanced up. "Better than Daphne Greengrass, because I don't know her at all!"
Ginny burst into tears, threw her letter down, and rushed from the room.
Hermione picked it up. "Terry Boot. Well, that's not bad."
"She always wanted…someone else," Percy said delicately.
"No use, same Hogwarts House." Tact had never been one of Ron's virtues. Oblivious, he reached for another scone.
Harry hoped his face didn't reflect his relief. He and Ginny had been…awkward together, ever since the final battle. Still, he wasn't exactly pleased with the alternative, since, as far as he could recall, he'd never even exchanged a single word with Daphne Greengrass, a blonde Slytherin notable for her pretty face and aloof demeanor.
"Wonder who other people got?" Hermione was sounding much more cheerful, now that she knew she wouldn't be forced into marriage with the son of a Death Eater.
A knock on the door admitted Luna, bedecked in her radish earrings, and clutching her letter.
"Luna!" Harry jumped up and hugged his friend. "Who did you get matched with?"
She smiled serenely. "Dean. I've been dating him anyway, ever since our time at Shell Cottage, so for me he is the ideal choice. Neville was hoping for Hannah Abbott, but she would not be right for him. Instead, he has Susan Bones, much better. He's shy and Susan is outgoing so they will be good together."
"Who did Hannah get?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Theodore Nott. And Draco Malfoy got Katie Bell."
Ron groaned. "Poor Katie."
"It will be fine," Luna insisted. "The one that might not work out is Seamus Finnegan, because he got Pansy, and I've heard she is very unhappy."
Pansy was not the only one unhappy.
At that very moment she was pacing the terrace of Greengrass Manor, bemoaning her lot.
"They've no right to do this! How can they get away with sullying the blood lines?"
Tracey Davis frowned. As the daughter of a witch and a muggle, she had no patience for talk about contaminated blood.
"Never mind that!" Astoria Greengrass retorted. "They are matching us…some of us… with total strangers! I've never even spoken to Lee Jordan, and now I've got to marry him next month."
Millicent Bulstrode agreed. "I believe I've had only one class with Zacharias Smith. I think he's good-looking though."
"He's a pureblood, which is more important." Astrid Greengrass, mother to Astoria and stepmother to Daphne, stood in the doorway.
"But I'm not." A sly smile curved Millicent's mouth. For years, she'd been put down because she was a half-blood, and now she was the one to get the pureblood match. She exchanged a knowing look with Tracey.
Tracey jumped in. "I'm quite pleased." Ignoring the outcry from Pansy, she continued "I don't know George Weasley very well, but he is a war hero, and attractive. Probably the best match I could hope for."
Astoria and Pansy glared at her, but the others said nothing.
Daphne wasn't sure how she felt. What would it be like, to be married to the wizarding world's Saviour? She had grown up always knowing she'd be a typical pureblood wife, more trophy than partner. She was unhappy about her contract with Theodore Nott, but at least with him, she knew what to expect. Now that contract was voided, and she was cast into the unknown with Harry Potter.