Chapter 58: Learning the Truth
The wedding was an interesting experience for Hermione who before now had not been exposed to true pureblood society. They had lavish dinners every night followed by dancing and cocktails. The luncheons were where the women spent the most time gossiping and she had so far been able to avoid breakfast. She was relieved when Mrs. Malfoy did not seem to mind that she was muggle born, nor did any of the other Slytherin guests. It seemed like all the pureblood families in the area were represented and Hermione was surprised at the welcome feeling for those guests not of pure blood.
"Tonight will be an informal gathering of most of the younger crowd as there are no festivities after dinner tonight and tomorrow night will be the last night single parties for both Draco and Gabrielle." Severus informed her as they made their way to lunch. "That means that the only very formal events you have left to endure are the actual wedding ceremony and the following dinner."
"I must admit that this is a tiring affair," she told him with a smile. "A whole week of small talk and being on your best behavior can get rough. I hope I won't be invited to any more of these week long wedding feasts."
"There are few who follow the old traditions anymore. I do not for see any of your other friends choosing this type of wedding." He told her with a smile. "Although I myself prefer the old traditions. If we let go of our traditions we begin to loose sight of who we are."
Hermione smiled at him, she liked that he stuck close to the old traditions and wondered how he would act towards someone he was interested in. "Would you follow the old traditions of courting and have a wedding like this?" She asked him, both afraid and curious of his response. She couldn't help but want to have someone court her in the old ways, it was so strict and yet romantic. She had always liked the old fashioned elements of the British Wizarding Society.
"Yes I would follow the old traditions in that regard. I would first request the woman's father's permission to court her and then make my intentions known to her." Severus told her while looking into her eyes, urging her to realize he spoke of her.
"I never understood that," She told him. "How can you know you like the person enough to want to marry them before you ever date or anything? I mean by all rights you may have never even had a conversation with the woman, let alone know if you could love her forever. I mean you can't even initiate a kiss between you if you wish to follow the tradition."
"There are ways around the courting traditions," he told her with a smirk. "For example, there is nothing keeping the two from spending time together before the man declares his intentions. As long as he keeps himself in check they can be together as friends."
"So how would you go about getting to know someone enough to want to court her?" She asked, hoping she could make him realize she was interested.
"Spend time with her in a group of mutual friends, perhaps ask her opinion on my research or something to maintain contact without being suspected," he told her. "I will not spend time or reveal myself to just anyone so she has to be intelligent."
"Have you ever thought of courting someone before?" She hoped she could handle his answer.
"Not until recently," he told her, watching her eyes flash with hurt and hopelessness. "I never thought of it during the war, it was too much of a liability. Besides the fact that I didn't think I would survive. I never wanted a wife when I was younger but I am open to that possibility now."
"What changed your mind?" She asked him.
"I met someone who fits all my criteria and who I find I am drawn to." He told her simply, noticing the sad look on her face.
"Are you going to ask her father then?" Hermione asked trying to keep her voice from wobbling.
"Perhaps." He answered vaguely. "As much as I adore her I am not sure that her family will agree with our match. It is a complicated situation and I plan on waiting at least another year before declaring my intent. That should be long enough to test the waters with her family and have some other things settled as well." Hermione only nodded and hurried into the dining room for lunch, she wasn't ready to hear any more from him today.
Severus spent the rest of the afternoon wondering if it was wise to wait until she finished school to court her. She never gave any indication that she knew he was interested; it was as if she thought he wanted someone else. "Good evening Severus," a voice said breaking him out of his thoughts. "I was hoping you would be here this evening. I haven't spoken much with you since I returned."
He turned around to see the Queen was the person speaking to him. "Good evening to you as well your highness. Perhaps you would like to dine next to each other this evening?"
"That would be splendid, I am sure Edward would love to speak to Hermione again as well, I heard you were her escort." She told him with a smile. She wanted to see how the two of them interacted; she also wanted to see if her granddaughter was ready for the truth to be revealed.
"I heard about the job you offered her," Severus said with a raise of his eyebrow.
"Yes, well I had to have a legitimate reason to have her around until the truth is revealed." Amelia huffed with a slight smile.
"I was just about to go retrieve Hermione, we shall see you at dinner my lady," he told her before hurrying up to his rooms to make sure Hermione was wearing a proper outfit to sit beside the royal family.
Dinner was an interesting affair as most of the purebloods were wary of the Queen they had not seen in so long. Narcissa was in top form and practically glowing that the King and Queen accepted her invitation to dinner. Hermione was nervous, she didn't want to embarrass Severus or herself, but King Edward helped her relax with his light and witty conversation.
"If you do not mind my saying it sire, you remind me of my own grandfather." Hermione told him and wondered at the smile on his face. They had been discussing his granddaughter again; Hermione could feel how proud he was of her. "He is away this summer and I haven't been able to see him. I was hoping that now that he knew I was a witch that we could once again spend more time together."
"I am sure he misses your company as well, you are an enchanting girl." Ed told her, wishing they could end the charade right there and tell her the truth. He had agreed to leave the decision to Phillip but he was regretting keeping her in the dark when it was no longer necessary.
"Well you two kids enjoy your evening," Amelia told them after dinner. "Perhaps we will chat again at the ceremony."
There was a large group of teenagers in the drawing room that night. Their normal group was there along with a few additional Slytherins, the notable ones being Blaise, Millicent and Sly. They were all glad to be away from the adults for a while. "Man, I thought I'd go nuts if I had to be polite for another whole night!" Blaise whined and they all laughed. The laughing was cut short though when the adults of their group, plus Charlie's girlfriend, joined them. Those not in the group thought their fun had just been spoiled by the four professors that just arrived.
"We brought the alcohol!" Bill told them happily and started unshrinking the crates of different beverages. "I figured we have been way too good lately."
The newcomers were still unsure how to react to the friendly adults that seemed to be so relaxed around them. "Are we in trouble or something?" Sly finally asked them.
"Nope," Tonks told him with a grin. "But you might be when we start playing the game!" She told them happily pulling the black ball from her robes with a flourish.
"Do you take that everywhere?" Harry asked her, laughing along with those who knew what she was talking about. "I thought we would get a week long reprieve from the game."
"Do you honestly think I would let my dear friends get married without playing the game one more time?" Tonks asked innocently and then proceeded to explain the game to the extra party guests.
The game was fairly tame in comparison to their last one since everyone was out to have fun over trying to get Severus and Hermione together. As it was Sylvester's turn he yelled out to Tonks, "How do you get it to let me snog the most beautiful girl in the room?" He received a smack from Millie before grinning and reading his question out loud, "Kiss the one person you most want to kiss in this room."
Severus wanted to ring the boy's neck when her hurried over to Hermione and planted a big, wet, sloppy kiss on her mouth. He already knew he had to take the alternate dare since he couldn't kiss Hermione, she could kiss him but he couldn't kiss her. "Way to go Sly, I think she needs a bib now!" Draco laughed at the younger boy as Hermione wiped her mouth off with the sleeve of her robe. She had hoped he would get over her knowing she was here with someone else but no such luck. He had flirted openly in front of Severus on many occasions and she was starting to really dislike the kid for his horrible manners.
"Tell us the truth Hermione, just where does Sly rank in all the kisses you've gotten or gave?" Gabrielle giggled; she had had a few glasses of wine trying to relax from the stress of the wedding feast.
"He isn't number one but he's not in last place either," Hermione told them trying to be polite.
"Which number is he exactly?" Draco asked with an evil smirk. "For example, how does he compare to those you have willingly kissed in this room?"
"I'd say he is about even with Ron," Hermione told them with her own evil smirk. Ginny and the other girls started laughing as they had heard her talk about how unentertaining it was to kiss Ron.
"How does he compare to the last Slytherin you kissed?" Millicent asked around her chuckles.
"Well no one compares to him. I don't think there is a man on earth that could be a better kisser so Sly really was out of his league." Hermione said with a smile.
"Oh god, please tell me you are talking about someone other than Professor Snape," moaned Blaise, he couldn't help but feel sick thinking about his former professor as a snogging champion.
"I would have to agree with Hermione that Severus is a wonderful kisser," Tonks piped up along with the other girls who had kissed him as well. "Of course Hermione is the only one of us who has kissed him outside of the game."
"Yeah, but who could blame me?" Hermione said winking at the man in question.
They continued the round and everyone laughed as Hermione wasted no time in kissing Severus, who kissed her back until they had to break for air earning applause from the group and a scowl from Sly.
"Why are you taking the alternate dare Professor?" Sly asked with his Slytherin smirk. "Not man enough?"
"I refuse to force my attentions on anyone. I have no problems with returning the affections bestowed upon me but I will not take advantage of a lady by kissing her against her will." Severus told them and Hermione wondered at his reasoning. He had kissed Tonks and Fleur in one of the previous games so there must be another reason. "My alternate dare is to give neck and shoulder massages to the women in the room." He told them and stood and started with Gabrielle, since it was her wedding they were celebrating.
"I say we switch to I Never," Charlie suggested, "We are not getting drunk enough yet! And let's play by Harry's revised rules again, that was more fun."
"The revised rules are that you can say something you've never done, something you don't know, can't do or have never seen." Harry told those who had not played last time. "Charlie gets to start since it was his idea."
"Fine, I have never played professional Quidditch!" He said with a triumphant look on his face and all those out of the loop watched in fascination as Harry drank, scowling at Charlie.
"I go one!" Fred told them with a laugh. "I don't know who the princess is." He laughed along with his twin at their dumb joke. "I figured we should see how many rounds we can go without anyone drin…" he paused as he saw his sister and Severus both take a drink, hoping to not be noticed while he was still talking. "What the hell! You know who the bloody princess is and haven't told us!"
"I am under a wand oath not to reveal anything," Ginny told them with an apologetic look to Harry, who she hadn't said anything to. "Not even to Harry." Everyone nodded their understanding as you would loose your powers if you broke a wand oath.
"Severus?" Hermione asked him. It made sense now that she thought of it. The night he had been talking to Albus about his love life he mentioned that the woman he loved was royalty. That would also explain why he thought he had no chance.
"I wish I could tell you," he told her looking deep into her eyes, willing her to believe him. "I also gave my word I would not reveal her identity. The Queen can be most persuasive."
"Is she hot?" Blaise asked him, wagging his eyebrows trying to lighten the mood some more.
"The most beautiful woman in the world," Severus responded still staring at Hermione, this time with a soft smile.
"I meant the princess you oaf!" Blaise yelled, the alcohol getting to him.
"As did I," Severus replied with a smirk, confusing the rest of those gathered and making Ginny grin like a Cheshire cat.
"How did you find out Ginny?" Susan asked her.
"I have certain talents for finding out stuff like that," Ginny answered vaguely and those who knew her seer powers realized she had a vision.
"I thought the royal family was under Fidleius," Jasmine (Charlie's girl) stated confused. "No one should be able to figure out who she is that way."
"I will just say that the reason I figured it out was because the royal family made some mistakes. I noted the inconsistencies in their story and was able to draw the correct conclusion." Severus told them trying to take the heat off Ginny; he didn't want anyone new to learn of her ability.
The game ended an hour later once the first two people passed out, those being Blaise and Ron. Hermione was feeling quite tipsy herself and Severus half carried her to their rooms. "I wish the princess wasn't beautiful," Hermione told him pouting, drunk enough where she was in danger of saying things she would normally keep to herself.
"Why is that?" Severus asked confused, that was an odd wish to have especially since he knew she was talking about herself.
"If she wasn't maybe I could compete with her," Hermione told him as he lowered her onto her bed.
"Why do you need to compete with her?" He asked, hiding his amused thoughts of her fighting herself.
"Because you love her…" she said as she finally passed out.
"Yes my dear I do love her, but you have nothing to fear from her." He told her softly and kissed her forehead before heading to his own room to think. He didn't understand how she knew he was in love with her, or the princess rather. It took him another hour before he remembered his talk with Albus during his memory charm recovery, and how he admitted to the old man that he was in love with Hermione. He had been giving Albus reasons why it was hopeless and had mentioned her being royalty. Hermione must have heard him… "That's why she was crying!" He said out loud to himself. He remembered that night because of the anguished look on her face. He had been sure that something had happened to Remus and was surprised when she told him it was that she couldn't find a cure.
He realized that she had lied about why she cried, she was crying because she thought he was in love with someone else! It made so much sense, how could he have been so stupid! He also didn't know how to fix it either.
The next day at lunch Sylvester Spinnet approached the Queen. "My lady," he said with a short bow. "May I have a moment of your time please?"
"Of course young master Spinnet, what was it you needed?" She asked wondering what the lad was up to.
"My title is important to me my lady." He told her, trying to gather his courage. "I would like permission to court a muggle born witch and still retain my title if she agrees to wed."
"A muggle born?" She asked him with raised eyebrows. That had been unexpected.
"Yes my lady, she is a remarkable witch." He told her with a smile.
"Have the two of you been together long?" Amelia asked wanting more information.
"We do not date my lady," he told her. "She is aware of my affections and I accompanied her to Hogsmead one weekend but I have not asked her father's permission yet. I want a chance to woo her."
"And does the young lady return your affections?" The queen asked with a smile.
"We are friends my lady, but I do not believe she feels the same as I. That is why I must try and woo her." He told her while sneaking a look across the room at Hermione.
The queen followed his gaze and realized that the stupid young man was interested in her granddaughter. The boy in front of her was not suitable for Hermione at all but she decided to give the boy his chance. It may just get Hermione and Severus together finally. "Very well, I give you my permission. If her father gives his consent you may pursue her without loosing your title."
"Thank you my lady," Sylvester said walking away with a triumphant look on his face. He proceeded straight to the owlry to post his letter to Dr. Granger requesting an appointment for later that day.
Sly arrived at the Leaky Caldron, the agreed meeting place, and saw Dr. Granger already talking with Tom. "Good afternoon Dr. Granger," Sly said holding out his hand. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."
"I am afraid I have another appointment this afternoon so if we could make this short please," Pip requested, he had been informed by his mother what this conniving little brat wanted.
"Mr. Granger I have fallen for your daughter and am formally asking your permission to court her with the intention of making her my wife." Sly said thinking that no muggle would pass up this opportunity.
"I am sorry Mr. Spinnet but that will not be possible. You see my daughter is already betrothed and I cannot give my permission for a second suitor without permission from the parties that created the contract. I must also tell you that the mother of the man my daughter is betrothed to has passed on and will not be able to give her consent, therefore I am unable to break the betrothal." Pip told him this with fake sadness when he was just glad he could keep the little creep away from Hermione.
"Hermione had never mentioned being betrothed before!" Sly said appalled, he would have left her alone if he had only known. "Why would she not mention that, as well as I have seen her date other men, would this not break the contract."
"The contract is only broken if she gives away her chastity. She will remain untouched until her wedding night." Pip told him firmly.
"I can't believe she would lead me on like that!" Sly said getting angry at not being able to get his way. He had been sure that Hermione would cave in to him once she realized her father had given his support. He stomped out of the pup without another word to Pip.
"Sorry about that there sir," Tom told him with a shake of his head. "I don't know what gets into teenagers nowadays. Besides I think he is a bit young to be thinking of marriage especially with little Hermione."
"Thank you Tom," Pip told him before heading back to Harry's.
That night the girls took Gabrielle and the guys took Draco for their last parties while single. Tonks and Fleur had organized the girls' party and Blaise and Harry organized Draco's. Overall they had a great time and everyone was excited for the wedding the following day. Severus was a naturally early riser and had gotten up early to read the paper before breakfast. He was shocked and saddened by the front page article and was unsurprised to feel tears slipping down his face. He had thought his life was getting back on track but now he realized he would never get what he wanted.
Hermione woke early to prepare her best robes to wear to the wedding and following banquet. She was surprised when Severus came into her room looking upset.
"What is it?" She asked him, leading him to the bench at the end of the bed.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked her with sadness and almost desperation in his eyes. It was a look she had never seen on him before and didn't understand what he meant until he handed her the morning's paper. The headline read 'Hero Hermione Granger Betrothed to Mystery Man'. The article told of a betrothal between her and some mystery man. The article quoted Sly on many points. The story told of how he went to her father to seek permission to court her and was rejected. It says how her father told him the betrothal was unbreakable. The paper then went on to ask why a woman who was betrothed would date other men without a care and questioned her character.
Hermione finished the article with a confused look on her face, "This must be some sort of mistake. I couldn't possibly be betrothed; my parents surely would have told me." She told him as she headed towards the fireplace to floo her parents. She was in the fire for less than a minute when Severus heard her yell out, "How could you do this to me!" After a couple more minutes of conversation he couldn't hear she emerged from the green flames looking horrible. Her eyes were bloodshot, she was crying and she looked like her life had crumbled around her. "It's true, oh god it's true, all of it." She said starting to sob. "My life is ruined by something that I never even knew."
Despite the fact that his heart was breaking knowing he could never have her, he pulled her close to comfort her. It was obvious she had never been told and now had to realize that she was to be married to a stranger. "How could they do this to me," she said sobbing. "I don't want to marry someone I don't love. Why wouldn't they tell me before I allowed myself hope of a happy future?"
"Perhaps you can cancel the betrothal," he suggested.
"Not possible, the contract is magical! My muggle parents bound me to a wizard when I was a baby, or even before I was born. The mother of my mysterious husband-to-be died and now there is no way to break the contract!" She told him while taking gasping breaths.
"We'll figure something out," he told her. "If we can cure the unforgivables and heal Remus then we can surely find a loophole in a betrothal contract."
"That's not the main problem," she told him. "If it were only because this woman died that we were stuck we would be able to. But my parents want me to marry this man. It was my grandmother who set the betrothal and she refuses to change her mind."
"Betrothed?" Ginny squealed as she red the paper the others had handed her that morning. Hermione had yet to appear and Draco had kicked Sylvester out of the house already for causing uproar on his wedding day.
"Ok, listen up everyone," Harry commanded. "We are going to put this article out of our minds today. We have a wedding to celebrate. We can figure out what this nonsense is about later, today is for Draco and Gabrielle and I won't let some stupid article ruin their happy day."
"I agree," Hermione told them from behind. "We will discuss this stupid thing later. Let's go show our friends how much we care about them."
The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a lot of fun, although Hermione and Severus were only going through the motions for Draco and Gabrielle's sake. "Good evening Hermione," Queen Amelia said greeting her granddaughter. "You look upset."
"There was a disturbing article in the paper this morning my lady," Hermione told her. "I have been unable to think of anything else."
Amelia had read the article and was ready to strangle both her son and the Spinnet boy. Her son, the one who wanted to keep her identity a secret, went and blabbed his mouth and made things even worse. "I read the article myself," she admitted, wondering what to do to make her granddaughter happy. "I was surprised that you had not mentioned that you were getting married to me."
"I didn't know until this morning my lady," Hermione said trying to keep her voice steady and her eyes tear free. "My father only agreed to tell me after the article. Who knows how long he would have kept this fact from me. I just don't understand how it happened, why would my muggle parents enter into a magical betrothal? Is there any way you can help me your highness?"
Amelia felt her heart constrict at the pain in Hermione's voice and eyes as she pleaded with her to help. "Why are you so opposed to this my dear? Are you not single?"
"I want to marry the man I love not some stranger that my parents picked for me when I was a baby," Hermione told her. "I'll never be happy in a loveless marriage. Besides, now I'll always pine after the man I'm in love with and wonder what could have been."
"You're in love?" Amelia asked surprised, she had not heard that she was dating anyone. "I was unaware you had a boyfriend."
"I don't have a boyfriend," Hermione sighed and took a seat to explain things to her new friend and Queen. "I have fallen in love with my best friend; he is the perfect man for me. He doesn't know my feelings and lately I have had reason to believe that a relationship between us may be possible. Please your majesty there has to be something you can do?"
"Oh Mia, I wish there was another way but I cannot break the contract," Amelia told her giving her granddaughter a hug and therefore missing her stiffen and the calculating look appear on her face.
"Thank you anyway," Hermione said, keeping her emotions hidden. "I guess I better go spend as much time as I can with who I would choose before I have to give my life away." She stood and hurried over to Severus.
"Did the Queen offer any advice?" Severus asked her, already knowing the answer.
"You know she didn't," Hermione said through clenched teeth. "I couldn't figure out why you said she wouldn't help until I talked to her. Of course she's not going to help when she set everything up in the first place!"
Severus looked at her in shock, had she figured out the secret? He saw that she looked ready to explode and decided a quick exit was in order. "Let's go back to our rooms and discuss this." He told her, already leading her out of the ballroom.
"Tell me that you knew nothing about this," Hermione begged once they were back in her room. "You knew who I was so please tell me you didn't know this!"
"I was never told this piece of information," he said pulling her close into a hug. He could see she was ready to mentally collapse with all the information she had learned that day. "Now tell me how you found out."
"It was my grandmother's fault," Hermione told him as they sat on the bench at the end of the bed. "She called me by my nickname that only she and my mother call me. No one else even knows what it is. It was a give away and it made everything make sense. I had always wondered why my parents had no problems with me being a witch and why they were so excited to read the paper and any books I brought home. Then the strange reaction of my grandparents when they found out, it was as if they knew already. I had just thought it was because they were in shock, but thinking back they were way too comfortable with floo travel and people popping into their living room to be muggles!
"Have you realized all the implications of this?" He asked her carefully, hoping to help her talk through it.
"I am the bloody princess! What other implications are there?" She yelled before breaking into sobs and collapsing into his chest. "How could they keep this from me?"
"I am sure they were trying their best to protect you from Voldemort," he told her kissing the top of her head and rubbing circles on her back.
"I had a conversation with my grandfather or the King rather, about how he hoped his granddaughter would forgive him. I couldn't understand his fears, I was thinking of course she will they are family and she loves him! Now I understand why he talked to me about it. I guess I understand the need for secrecy, but why not tell me the truth once the war was over?" She rambled.
"I was not told when they would tell you only that I was not able to reveal what I knew." He told her sadly, wishing he could have saved her the pain she was going through.
"I guess the betrothal makes sense now. Of course they would bind me to some pureblood, wouldn't want to contaminate Merlin's bloodline! I should just spite them and go off and marry a muggle or worse refuse to marry at all and the line will die out!" She was getting angry now that she thought of everything she was lied to about.
"I know you don't want to think about it now, but I think you'll make a fantastic queen. You get along with everyone and they all respect you for what you've accomplished. When the world finds out who you are they will be relieved that they finally have someone they can depend on to lead them." He told her gently, hoping she would calm.
She sat there for a moment contemplating that and another light went off in her mind. "Is that why Voldemort was afraid of me? Did my powers emerge that day on the battlefield?"
"Yes, they emerged when you got angry that he cursed me, after he tried to kill you I might add. You had the purple glow and the wind whipping around you, a truly beautiful and terrifying sight. He knew what it meant and knew you were royalty and was afraid. He had not counted on another royal in his way that day and after you resisted his attempts at the unforgiveable curses I am sure the fact that you were the princess made him wet himself." Severus told her with a proud smile on his face. "I hated keeping this from you. I wanted to tell you from the moment I learned the truth but they bound me to my word, please forgive me."
"There is nothing to forgive," she told him with a gentile smile. "I know you would have told me were you able. The fact that you still treated me the same after knowing the truth means more than I can say. I can't image many Slytherins who would not take advantage of the situation to gain more power for themselves. You truly are a remarkable man."
"I don't care what you are, only who you are. You were just as important to me as a muggleborn as you are as my princess." He told her, using all his willpower to resist the urge to kiss her.
Hermione was not interested in resisting her urges and pressed her lips to his in a very tender kiss that although short left them both breathless. "Severus, will you help me find a way out of the betrothal? I cannot marry someone I don't love and I refuse to give up the chance to be with the man I do love."
"I would do anything you ask," he told her softly and honestly. He just hoped his instincts were correct and that she loved him as much as he loved her. "What are you going to tell your parents?"
"Nothing," she told him with a smirk. "If they want to keep secrets, let them. While they sit around thinking their secrets are safe I will be trying to get out of the contract. I refuse to tell them that I know before they come clean with me."
Severus was surprised by this but was willing to go along. "We should go back down before anyone misses us." He told her and pushed her towards the bathroom to freshen up.