Hermione, Harry and Ron were busy helping redecorate the drawing room at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Professor Dumbledore had helped them to un-charm the last items that were fastened with Permanent Sticking Charms and during last term the walls had been stripped of their old coverings and scrubbed clean. Harry and Hermione were having quite a time teaching Ron and Ginny how to apply the new wallpaper that Molly had picked out while they had all been in school the previous term. Since the house was now Harry's, and finally free of the last vestiges of the Blacks (with the exception of Kreacher) they were attempting to give it a more homey appearance. Harry had simply turned his Gringotts key over to Mrs. Weasley and asked her to do her best with colors and furnishings, figuring she would be a better judge.
All the items patterned after serpents had been disposed of, many of them replaced by either leonal style equivalents where appropriate, such as the door knobs and the knocker on the front door. The old furniture with its thinning black and green velvet had been reupholstered in warm burgundies and gold, as well as having been given a little extra stuffing to make sitting more comfortable. The teens were doing quite well in applying the new wall paper, which was a rich burgundy with a subtle fleur de lis pattern, broken here and there with a strip of gold. With two walls already done, it was clear that the finished product would be far more welcoming than it had previously.
"Mum says she's making the curtains herself. She went on for hours about how designers these days try to rip you off by overcharging for what basically amounts to a sheet of fabric with a bit of trimming along the bottom." Ron grinned broadly and winked at Hermione. "I've never seen her happier. She's always loved bossing people around, especially if it accomplishes something. Redoing The Burrow would be a complete waste of time with all us kids, but this place is more for adults. Remus and Kingsley aren't likely to tear up the new cushions by having fights with them."
"But you're all nearly grown now, and there's only you and Ginny left in the house during holidays."
"Yeah, but we're all growing up and likely to get married, aren't we? She's getting rid of us, but she'll have a load of grandchildren to deal with soon, if the way Bill and Fleur are going at it is any indication. Two already and a third on the way."
"What about Percy and Penelope?" came Harry's voice as he stood on his tip-toes to run the wall paper brush over the top of his current piece, chasing out the air bubbles.
"Penny's told Percy he's sleeping on the couch until he cuts back his hours at work to spend more time at home." Ron gave a snort of laughter. "Dad said he heard him yesterday actually requesting a demotion and to be moved to another department for the sake of his marriage."
"Is Fudge going to let him?"
"Nope! Won't demote him, but did agree that he was working Perce too hard. Went on and on about how he remembered being a newlywed and how hard it was to concentrate on your job with a pretty wife waiting at home. Agreed to let Percy cut back to only sixty hours a week instead of eighty. Dad says Fudge only did it because he wants Percy and Penny to have a half-dozen children themselves so he can hold them up as an example of how much good that new law is going to do for us all."
Hermione made a noise a good deal like Crookshanks when he was particularly annoyed. Ron looked over at her with an arched brow. "Don't worry, 'Mione. Mum and Dad say Lizzie Snape is heading the campaign to have it repealed."
"Lizzie Snape?" Harry set down his brush and stretched out his shoulders. "She related to Professor Snape."
Ron gave a sly grin. "His step-mother. Caused a big stir a year or two before we all went to Hogwarts. She was a Hufflepuff and a muggleborn, top of her year and everything. Charlie said she was as pretty thing, too. Said she had all these golden blonde curls with bright blue eyes and a body that a bludger wouldn't have the heart to hit. Really out-spoken, too. A lot like you, 'Mione, always throwing her weight behind what other people would consider lost causes."
"What did she do that stirred things up?"
"Married August Snape, of course. Man's older than her own father, and a massive bloke, too. Could probably pick her up with one hand and hold her above his head. Snape's mum was a pureblood, and pretty as well. That whole family is one of the Old Families, one of those who can trace their bloodline back to nothing but witches and wizards for centuries. For old Snape to court and marry someone that young and a muggleborn was a scandal."
"She'd have to be younger than the professor!" Hermione gave Ron a look of complete and utter shock.
"Yeah, she is. And what's more, she's had three children since her marriage so it's obvious that it's not just 'in name only'."
Hermione got the brief image of a man who looked much like Professor Snape, only older and very obese, slobbering all over a pretty girl who looked a lot like a curly haired Barbie doll in a Hogwarts school uniform. She suddenly felt rather queasy. "Well, I'm glad that there's someone so respectable standing up against the Ministry regarding this. The entire thing is outrageous! And it doesn't just hurt muggleborns, but purebloods, too. Poor Pansy."
"Poor Pansy!? Just two years ago you were calling her a 'complete cow' and declaring that she was 'thicker than a concussed troll', and now it's 'Poor Pansy'?" Ron dropped his wallpaper brush in shock.
"Ron, look at it from her side. She doesn't want to marry Dean any more than he wants to marry her. Everyone knows she considered herself the future Mrs. Draco Malfoy, and now she's going to stuck the rest of her life with someone who doesn't want her. I only hope that Dean can be grown up enough not to be completely horrible towards her when we're back at school."
"Oh, Dean will be all right, Hermione. He and Neville are the only two gentlemen in the dorms."
"HEY!" Harry and Ron both glared at Ginny, who looked completely unrepentant.
"And don't worry about yourself, either. I overheard Mum and Dad talking the other night, about what to do about you. Dad's going to 'switch sides', withdraw from the committee so it doesn't hurt Mum's creditability any."
"Why's Dad doing that?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Because, you idiot, he's going to camp outside the Ministry of Family Affairs door on the 19th of September so he can be there when they open. That way he'll be able to sign for Hermione before any of the other families have a chance."
"Your Dad's going to apply for a contract on me?"
"Of course he is! The Order decided it," added a new voice from the doorway. All four students turned to see Fred and George enter the room, one carrying a glasses and a pitcher of pumpkin juice, and the other carrying a tray loaded with sandwiches. "Mum asked us to bring you some lunch."
Harry gratefully claimed a sandwich. "Why would the Order interfere with this?"
"Obvious, isn't it?" Fred gave an uncharacteristically solemn look as he poured the pumpkin juice. "Hermione here is the brightest witch of the century, and even Dumbledore admits that with a little experience and time to broaden her studies she'd give even him a run for his gold."
"And the Order's worried that some Death Eater would try to use this law to kill two snitches with one stone. Take Hermione away from the Order by locking her into marriage with one of their brats and at the same time ensure that their own family continues to thrive with a dozen or so healthy, clever children." George gave Hermione a roguish wink as he handed her a glass of pumpkin juice. "But don't worry your clever little head over it, my dear. As head of the family Dad can request an open betrothal, just linking you to the family rather than to a single wizard."
"And with four unmarried sons, you'll have plenty of choices. If you like the strong, rugged type, you can settle down with Charlie."
"Or if you want someone whose light hearted and will always make you laugh, you can choose one of us."
"Or both of us, if you'd rather. We're not opposed to sharing."
"That's sick!" Ron glared at the twins over his glass. Fred grinned and carried on.
"But if you want someone you can boss around and who you can control entirely, there's always Ickle Ronniekins."
"Hey!" Ron jumped to his feet, his glass sloshing in one hand, his other hand knotting into a fist. His face was turning a brighter shade of red than his hair. Ginny started to giggle uncontrollably and even Hermione and Harry were trying not to smile.
"If I were you, I'd choose George, Hermione."
"But aren't you George?" Hermione asked, frowning.
"Yep, and if I were you, I'd definitely choose me."
"It would serve you right if I took you up on that."
"Please do! All those smarts at my beck and call? The advancements we could make in the business would be unbelievable." He gave a far off, dreamy-eyed smile.
"And besides, I'm going to marry Angelina," added Fred.
"What!" Ginny stopped giggling to goggle at her brother. "Are you really? Or is this like the Yule Ball back in my third year and you haven't even asked her yet?"
"Nope, I've asked her. We're taking Mum and Dad out to dinner tomorrow night to tell them officially, so don't say a thing to either of them."
Ginny leapt up from her spot on the floor, eyes bright. "Oh Fred! This is wonderful! Mum's going to be so happy!" She threw her arms about her brother with a loud squeal. Ron grinned at Fred, his fist unknotting.
"Congratulations, Fred. Maybe Angelina can manage to make an honest man out of you."
"Not likely, since she's almost as big a prankster as I am." Fred let go of Ginny and smiled at them all. He looked as though he might faint at any moment. "I won't lie and say I wasn't scared. With everything that's been going on, I was afraid that she wouldn't want to do it just yet, might want to wait until the war's over. She wants to go ahead with it all though, only she wants to keep things small and private so we don't draw any unwanted attention. Her folks have a little cottage outside of Hogsmede with a rose garden and…"
He was cut off by the sound of something coming down the chimney. They all turned in unison to see a large, tawny owl come swooping out of the flue. Thankfully it had been swept recently, so there wasn't a large amount of soot to endanger the rolls of wall paper that were stacked neatly beside the hearth. It soared over to where Hermione was standing by a burgundy and gilt chair, fluttering down to land beside her and held out its leg.
Hermione untied the envelope from the owl's leg and it immediately took off again. She frowned at the wax seal on the silver-white envelope. "It's from the Ministry of Family Affairs."
The room went deathly quiet. Ron gazed at the envelope and swallowed. "It's not a death notice, they put those in black."
"You don't think…" Ginny couldn't finish the thought.
"Can't be," said George. "Hermione's not of age until September 19th. They have to wait until she's at least seventeen."
Hermione swallowed hard and broke the seal with a trembling hand. Everyone else in the room watched her as her eyes moved quickly back and forth across the parchment. The color drained from her face and before Ron could get out a concerned "Hermione?!" her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell to the floor in a dead faint.
Ginny bent down and snatched up the parchment. She opened it and began to read aloud. "Dear Miss Granger, the Ministry of Family Affairs is pleased to inform you that, pursuant to the recently instated Wizarding Family Preservation Decree Number 274, your hand has been betrothed in marriage. An official copy of the contract is available to you upon request, signed by Augustus Ignatius Snape on the behalf of his son… SEVERUS AURELIUS SNAPE!?!"
All four Weasleys and Harry stared at one another in shocked silence for exactly five seconds before they knew what had to be done.
"MUM!!!!!"