Chapter Thirteen:

So that was it, then. She was under house arrest. Grounded. For Merlin knew how long. The pink pamphlet proclaiming 'Mudbloods and the Dangers They Pose to a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society' glared at her from the kitchen sill.

"So, Lee went missing this morning? Are you sure it's an attack?"

Severus raised an eyebrow and muttered, "For the third time, yes. I doubt that the potion given to you by that insufferable Healer would affect your auditory system and if you believe that my answer will change with every iteration, I would advise you to save your breath."

"But he isn't even Muggle-born!"

"I'm sorry but I hardly have any say on who they're going to target next."

"That's not what I meant…. What do we do now?"

"You must stay here as much as you can and not go out alone. I cannot emphasise enough how important it is."

"I can take care of myself, if that's what you mean."

"I did not say anything to the contrary. You may not always have the most recent order updates so you need to-"

"I'm an order member! I do not see why I should be treated as anything less, especially in times like this-"

"And what I fail to see, Miss Granger, is why you continue to remain stubborn in the light of recent events instead of doing what's best for you and everybody else."

"Miss Granger?! I'm your wife, for Merlin's sake. Your equal. Not some student who you can boss over and be snarky and…. You know what, I'm off to Ginny's."

Ginny was a snotty, puffy-eyed mess when Hermione Flooed in. A picture album lay on the floor, and photos of her and Fred were strewn all over the place.

"Oh, Ginny, what's the matter?"

Her forehead crinkled with worry as she saw Harry patting her friend's back in a hopeless attempt to calm her down.

"She found the album Fred gave her on her birthday," Harry nodded towards the leather-bound book, which was undoubtedly home to countless happy memories.

"I used to tell them they were my favourite among all my brothers when I needed something done from them…." Ginny hiccoughed, as Hermione lit up a roaring fire with a flick of her wand. "I remember this one time when I wanted Fred's bat to try a hand at the Beater position, I told him he was the best brother ever when he gave it to me. I never managed to return it back." She sobbed into her hands.

"Hey, c'mon, Ginny, you're stronger than that. You know he probably never wanted it, or he would have pestered you to Azkaban and back till you gave it to him. You've got to be brave, alright? And you know what the best part is?"

Ginny blew her nose and shook her head.

"He went believing that he was your favourite brother. That's rather comforting, isn't it?"

The redhead threw her arms around Hermione, catching her by surprise. The girls tumbled to the floor and they were all in splits of laughter soon enough. It was a moment of sheer, unadulterated happiness; happiness at being together, at having someone to count on and laugh with. The moment, like all such things, came to an end, but it left them all, and Hermione in particular, with a lighter heart.

"Harry, what's this insider information Ginny mentioned?" Hermione asked once they had settled down with steaming cups of tea.

"Oh yes, that. Well, we have reason to believe that the Ministry is being influenced by former Death Eaters and uh, Muggle-haters, and that the Marriage Law was not an independent, unanimous decision. Kingsley, like he said, has his hands tied. The Wizengamot was coerced into passing the law."

"How do you know all this?"

"Oh, don't bother, Hermione," Ginny spoke up. "He's not willing to divulge his sources. Says he can't risk it."

"Are you kidding me?"

Harry shrugged.

"Well then, have you told the order?"

"Yeah, I spoke to McGonagall. I s'pose she's told the others. We think the attacks are related to this. Lee is an order member. Apparently they aren't bothered about blood status when it comes to one of us."

"And why the inter-blood-status marriage rule?"

"Snape thinks it's to weaken the Muggle-borns. They're counselling-"

"You spoke to Severus? When?"

"Had to. McGonagall insisted that he be there too. Anyway, as I was saying, they're counselling the half-blood or pure-blood spouse to subdue the muggle-born. Discreetly, of course. They aren't calling Snape because he's not going to do any of the stuff they tell him to, but they call the ones they think will follow what they say."

"Subdue?"

"Keep checks on who they meet, minimise their Muggle interactions, basically rule their lives."

"That's insane!"

"Which is why you need to listen to Snape. Lee was targeted because he wanted to marry one of his male mates. The Ministry obviously disapproved. You're Muggle-born and your husband isn't going to give a hairy troll's backside about where you go and what you do, like they'd want him to. For all you know, they'll want to get to you. You've seen the pamphlets, they're going all Umbridge over us. Just, listen to him, okay? I know I would never want to, but you're Hermione. Please?"

"Oh alright. You will be the death of me, you will. I'm going to get Ginny to make you dance to 'Do The Hippogriff' one of these days."

"You know I don't like that."

"Precisely why."

"Alright, the two of you, that's enough," Ginny said, pulling Hermione to her feet. "I need you to see this dress and tell me if it's fine for wearing to Hogwarts. Harry's giving me a headache with his absolute pig-headedness. He doesn't want to wear dress robes. Hmph, men, I tell you. One of these days…."

Shaking her head, Hermione let herself be led into a room, where she would inevitably spend the next couple of hours trying to turn down every dress she was handed and giving in to the least decorative one she could lay hands on.

Author's Note: Hello there! Huge shoutouts to everyone who reviews, I live for your them. Anyway, I'm off to college today, and my first year is gonna be extremely intense, so I really don't know when I'll write next. Sorry about this, I promise to try my best, but apologies in case I'm unable to write for a long while.

Keep the reviews.