Insufferable Attraction
SeverusxHermione
Rated NC-17
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling
Insufferable Attraction
Chapter 1
Hermione smiled as she watched Teddy Lupin watch her Muggle television in awe, his hair changing colors to match the changing colors on the screen. Harry had asked her if she would watch Teddy for a little bit while he was at the Ministry. He had gotten a summon from Kingsley and he couldn't find a babysitter on such short notice. Hermione had been happy to take him as it was her day off from working in the Ministry's Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And Teddy was just a joy to have around in her little flat anyway.
Teddy turned to look at the brunette and asked, "Where da?"
The little Metamorphmagus had taken to calling Harry 'da' some time the previous year, having understood in his little mind that Harry was a father to him, seeing as he had him a lot. Andromeda hadn't been to happy to hear Teddy call Harry that, but Hermione explained to the woman that as far as Teddy was concerned at the moment, Harry was the only father he knew and had, and when he was old enough to understand, he'd know Harry was really just his godfather. That explanation had somewhat settled the older woman and she let the matter go.
Hermione got down in the floor with the little boy and placed him in her lap before answering, "He's in a meeting right now. Don't worry, he'll be back soon."
"Soon," Teddy repeated, his hair turning to be completely black and unruly like Harry's.
Just then Hermione's Floo sounded off, Harry stumbling through the green flames. Teddy squealed and the sight of the wizard and scrambled out of Hermione's lap, rushing to Harry and demanding to be picked up. Harry did so and gave him a greeting before moving to sit on the floor with Hermione, settling Teddy in his lap.
"How did the meeting with Kingsley go?" Hermione asked with a smile. However, the smile fell away from her face when she saw the troubled expression on her best friend's face. Becoming slightly worried she asked, "What is it?"
Harry hesitated to answer for a moment before finally saying, "We have to get married."
"What?!" Hermione squawked rather undignified.
"Not to each other. I'm sorry, I'm not going about this right." Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter with a Ministry stamp on it. He passed it to the witch and said, "This is for you. I told Kingsley I'd pass it along rather than have an owl send it to you."
Hermione frowned as she looked at the letter, hesitant to open it. She took a deep breath before reading the letter, her brown eyes widening as she took in every word the letter said.
Ms. Hermione Granger,
The Ministry would like to congratulate you on being chosen as an active participant of the recently passed Bloodline Restoration Act. This act has been created in order to restore dying Pureblood family lines.
Thus far, only three family lines are participating, and we are happy to tell that your future husband and family has been chosen for you. A meeting to meet your betrothed will take place in three days in Minister Shacklebolt's office.
Thank you very much for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
The Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Looking up at Harry is disbelief Hermione shook her head and said, "No. No, I-I refuse."
"Trust me, I refused too when Kingsley told me about this Act, but unfortunately I'm one of the "participating" families."
"I don't understand. How could Kingsley allow for this law to pass, and without either of our consent?"
"Pressure from Purebloods that are high in the Ministry that are concerned about Pureblood bloodlines dying out like the Black family did with Sirius."
"But Narcissa Malfoy and Andromeda are Blacks."
"Yes, but not male. Therefore, they can't keep that bloodline going like Sirius could have."
Hermione nodded understanding that. But what she didn't understand was why they wanted her specifically. She wasn't Pureblood by any means; it was one thing that was constantly thrown in her face no matter how much she overcame to prove she was just as good, if not better than any other Pureblood witch or wizard. Her marrying a Pureblood to continue the bloodline would produce Halfbloods, not Purebloods. The logic didn't make any sense in her mind, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that the Ministry didn't care if the future children were Halfblood. Just so long as the line continued, that was all that mattered.
Looking Harry in the eye she said, "This is ridiculous. Even if we are being made to participate in this, there is no way the marriages will work. I swear, Purebloods are so set in their ways they never see the bigger picture or how things will eventually fall out."
Harry nodded in agreement. He didn't want to partake in this ridiculousness either, but there wasn't much he could do. The ones that enacted the law were steadfast in their decision and Kingsley's hands were pretty much tied. He wouldn't tell Hermione this, but Kingsley had told him that Hermione was a popular pick in what family she would marry into. He had tried to get Kingsley to let him take on his best friend as his wife since they both were chosen to be a part of the Bloodline Restoration Act, but their betroths had already been chosen and Hermione wasn't his. All he had been told was that the women chosen were all close to him. And for his own personal sake, he hoped they hadn't paired him up with Ginny Weasley.
His relationship with Ginny had been…well, rather lackluster. He had once believed he had been head over heels in love with the redhead and had even briefly envisioned marrying her, but he realized towards the end of their relationship that he wasn't in love with her and they didn't really have much in common other than Quidditch and Ron. Not to mention Ginny seemed to like the limelight and fame that came with being the Wizarding Savior's significant other. There had also been Molly Weasley pressuring for him to propose to her only daughter and for them to get married. It had gotten too much for Harry to handle emotionally and he broke things off with Ginny. Ginny, though she had initially been furious with him, took the time to understand Harry's reasoning and agreed to it, realizing that she hadn't been the best girlfriend and that they were probably just better off as friends.
Trying to lighten the mood a little Harry said, "Well, maybe whoever you've been paired with might make you happy. Ron certainly didn't, and I just want you to be as happy as possible."
Ron and Hermione's relationship had ended just the previous year, which wasn't a surprise for many people. The fame that had come to Ron after the war had consumed him and he basked in it, much like Ginny had but only worse. He completely disregarded his relationship with Hermione, seemingly forgetting that she was his girlfriend while being seen out publicly and unashamedly with other witches, kissing on them and groping them inappropriately. Hermione had confronted him several times about it, demanding to know how he could be unfaithful to her and disrespect her the way he did. Instead of answering, he accused her of being jealous before telling her that she was lucky to even be known as his girlfriend seeing as no other wizard would want her as their significant other. Hermione refused to be humiliated any longer by him and terminated their relationship then and there; Ron hadn't cared in the slightest.
Hermione nodded at Harry's words, deciding that he probably had a point. She hadn't tried dating again since Ron and his betrayal, but now she was betrothed to be married to some wizard whether she wanted to or not. She wanted to believe Harry's words about how she'll probably be happy with her future husband. Then again, she could be just as miserable.
Sighing Hermione said, "As unfair as this situation is, I suppose we'll have to make the best of it. But I am happy knowing we'll be supporting each other while going through with this stupid Act."
"Me too," Harry said with a smile.
Three days later Hermione was sitting in Kingsley's office, her leg bouncing nervously. Soon she would be meeting the wizard that she had been chosen to marry and expected to have his children. She didn't like this situation, but she decided to just take it in stride, no matter how much she was against it. Sitting across from her was Kingsley who was looking over a few documents, a look of concentration on his face. After a while he nodded and set the documents aside, giving his attention to the witch in front of him.
"I'm sorry we're meeting under these circumstances Hermione, but you do understand that my hands are tied," Kingsley said apologetically.
"It's alright, I've accepted the situation, though I'm completely against it," Hermione replied. "Though I must question what other families are participating in this new law."
Kingsley nodded and said, "As you already know, the Potter family is and that is why Harry is a part of this. The second family is the Lestrange family, and the third is the Prince family."
Hermione's eyes widened at hearing that the Lestrange family was taking part in the law. She couldn't possibly imagine being paired off to Rabastan Lestrange, the only living Lestrange left. She had been tortured by one and Neville's parents tortured into insanity by them. She was sure it would be doomed to fail instantly, especially with her being a Muggleborn. Her inner distress must have been obvious because Kingsley said, "Don't worry, you weren't picked for the Lestrange family."
A relieved breath left the brunette before saying, "So I've been chosen for the Prince family."
"Yes. However, the Prince family does not have any living Purebloods, but they do have one living descendent carrying their blood. He's a Halfblood and you're rather familiar with him." Seeing Hermione's frown he said, "I know, it sounds rather strange considering the law is about continuing Pureblood bloodlines, but it's believed that so long as the Prince family blood continues to flow through the veins of the offspring of the descendent, then the "flaw" can be overlooked."
Hermione tilted her head in confusion before closing her eyes and shaking her head. It was probably better by this point for her to not even think about it, she'd just give herself a headache. Instead she thought of the man she was about to meet. Kingsley said she knew him, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. A knock on Kingsley's office door caught her attention, causing her heart to beat in anticipation and nervousness in her chest. Looking back at Kingsley she saw him giving her a small smile, as if to reassure her that things would be alright.
"Just try to keep your cool when you see who it is," Kingsley said before calling out, "Enter."
Turning back to the door Hermione watched it open revealing her betrothed. Brown eyes widened in disbelief as they took in the tall figure standing in the doorway shrouded in black, jet black hair hanging down to his shoulders with even blacker eyes staring back at her with an unreadable expression on his pale face. The man that was standing before her, the man that she was set to marry, was none other than Severus Snape.