Hermione woke up, and the events of yesterday flooded into her mind. She was being forced into a marriage and had to go to a marriage class today. Hermione checked her watch and was satisfied when she knew she still had a couple of hours before having to go to the class. It gave her time to get ready and have breakfast in the Great Hall.

Hermione walked over to the bathroom to take a shower and freshen up. Once Hermione was done in the bathroom, she changed into her school robes, packed some parchment and ink into her bag, and proceeded to the Great Hall.

Hermione found her usual place at the Gryffindor table next to Ginny, who seemed to beat Hermione to the Great Hall.

Hermione smiled. "Hey, Ginny."

"Hey Hermione," Ginny replied and then gave Hermione a look. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept well. Thanks for asking." as Hermione wondered why Ginny was asking, she got an answer a second later when Ginny replied.

"How was it, having the bed all to yourself" Ginny chuckled. Seeing Hermione's shock that she knew Malfoy hadn't slept in the bed, she continued, "it's a pureblood thing. It's a sign of respect to your partner to not sleep in the same bed until you have reached a certain point in your relationship. It's mostly something the fathers teach their sons. I remember my dad always having those talks with my brothers. I would always ask dad about it, but he would tell me it wasn't something that I had to worry about; it was something the boys had to learn."

Hermione thought to herself and realized this must have been why she and Malfoy didn't have an argument over the sleeping situation. The more she thought about it, the more curious Hermione got. "What's the point at which they start sharing a bed?"

"I don't know the specifics about it. I just know it's a thing that purebloods do. My family doesn't do the pureblood traditions, but my dad seemed adamant about the boys learning that one." Ginny said thoughtfully. "Oh, when do you see the new professor because I have to see her at 10 in the morning today."

Hermione looked down at her watch. "I have to see her in twenty minutes."

"I wonder what the class will be like," said Ginny.

"Probably just as bad as Divination," joked Hermione.

Ginny chuckled, "I don't think anything else could be that bad for you."

"Probably not." agreed Hermione. "Well, I'll see you later, Gin. I'm going to get there early."

"Bye, Hermione," replied Ginny

Hermione left to find her way to the classroom. It wasn't hard to find. It was on the third floor in a small alcove off one of the hallways. Hermione glanced down at her watch; she had 10 minutes before she had to be there. Hermione sat down on a bench across from the classroom door and proceeded to wait until she had to go in. When 5 minutes had passed, Malfoy came strolling into the alcove the classroom was located in.

"Hey, Granger. Are you ready for the class?" Joked Malfoy.

"I'm thrilled for this useless class." drawled Hermione.

Malfoy laughed, "You're not even a little bit excited for a new class?"

Hermione thought that she probably would have been excited to start learning something new before the war, but now, after all the things she had been through, Hermione stopped having excitement over the things she used to. The last time Hermione felt excitement was when they had won the war. Realizing she was probably taking too long to respond, Hermione finally answered, "No, not in the slightest."

The door to the classroom suddenly opened and out walked a petite woman with brown straight shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. This must be the new Professor Hermione thought to herself.

"Hello. I'm Professor Holly. You must be Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger." Greeted the Professor kindly.

"Yes, ma'am. It's nice to meet you." Malfoy stood up and reached out to shake the Professor's hand.

Isn't he just the proper pureblood, Hermione thought to herself as she watched Malfoy shaking hands with the Professor. Thinking she should say something, Hermione introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Hermione. It's nice to meet you." Hermione stood up and walked over to both of them.

"It's nice to meet the both of you too. How about we head in and get started." Professor Holly pushed the door open more and motioned for them to enter as she held the door open for them. Malfoy let Hermione go in first and followed after her. Once they were both in the classroom, Professor Holly closed the door behind her. "You both can have a seat on the couch."

As Hermione walked over to the couch, she started thinking about how the classroom didn't look like a classroom; it looked more like an office. It had a desk and chair in the back left corner of the room as you walked in. There was a bookshelf on the front left side of the room filled with what seemed to be medical books, Hermione thought. A light gray couch was centered on the right side wall with two end tables on either side. A fluffy white rug in front of the couch separated it from the matching chair placed across from the couch. Hermione and Malfoy took a seat on the couch, and Professor Holly sat in the chair across from them.

"As you both know, I'm Professor Holly. I'm the new Professor for this makeshift class. Today will just be an introduction between us and what will happen in this class. We need to go over things about this law, so I would like to start there." Professor Holly turned in her chair, grabbed a couple pieces of long parchment off her desk, and handed them over to Hermione and Draco.

Hermione started to look over the parchment when she realized that it was information about the marriage law. "How much information about the Marriage law was left out when the Minister announced it?" Hermione noticed how Professor Holly seemed to get slightly irritated at this.

"To the annoyance of us in charge of making sure you are okay during the magic of the marriage law, they barely gave those affected any information at all. I have personally written down everything known about the marriage law at this time and am giving you the information you should know." sighed Professor Holly. "Do you see anything on the list you wanted to talk about first?"

Hermione scanned the parchment until she found what they should talk about first. "What events happened at the beginning for them to know the marriage law was triggered?"

"The first event that happened was it only rained over the Black Lake, and a couple of days following that, all the water in the Black Lake made a wave so huge it crashed in on itself. Those events alerted the ministry that the law was enacted," stated Professor Holly.

"How were those events able to alert the ministry that an old marriage law enacted itself? They aren't events that would be uncommon in the magic world," asked Hermione, confused.

"The ministry has stated that extreme energy levels spiked at those times, and the energy levels signaled that something had been triggered. The ministry started looking into it when they came across a marriage law that seemed to have been forgotten about. While looking over the law, they realized the population had dwindled more than half from the war, and the law enacted itself because of it." replied Professor Holly.

Hermione didn't fully believe what Professor Holly was saying. Everything seemed to have been found too quickly to Hermione, but she didn't want to voice that to Professor Holly, so she found the next thing on the list to talk about. "What do you mean by no one affected by the law can get out of it because of elemental magic?"

Professor Holly seemed to be thinking about how best to answer Hermione's question. "Those affected by the magic are under the influence of elemental magic, so there is no way for anyone to not do what the law intended because the magic will keep getting stronger until you have completed what the law wants. It's powerful and complex magic."

Hermione took in all of the information she was just told when she heard Malfoy start talking.

"So the ministry won't have a way to reverse the magic before the law is finished running its course?"

"If they can even find one at all," grumbled Hermione.

"They will find a way to reverse it." Professor Holly seemed too hopeful to Hermione, making her feel uncomfortable.

Hermione heard Malfoy change topics and was thankful for it. "It says here that there will be side effects from the magic. What will those be?"

"That is where I come in. I will be helping each of you through the side effects of this magic. Unfortunately, I can not say for certain what the side effects will be. It will be different for each person. Some may be physical effects such as being tired, aches and pains, gaining strength, or mental effects such as anxiety or gaining a better sense of self. The side effects are almost always positive; normally, they will be negative because the pair aren't compatible, which will be highly unlikely. After all, the Sorting Hat made your matches." Stated Professor Holly confidently.

Hermione, slightly annoyed with Professor Holly's hopeful attitude, asked rudely. "And what makes you qualified in being able to help us?"

Professor Holly, unfazed by Hermione's attitude, seemed to get excited when asked this question. "I am a family therapist at the top of my field specializing in parenthood, marriage, and soul ties. Now since I specialize in everything pertaining to the law, Headmistress McGonagall thought I was the only person qualified for this job."

Hermione was satisfied once she knew McGonagall was the one to assign Professor Holly her job, not the ministry. On the other hand, Malfoy couldn't shake something Professor Holly said.

"What does specializing in soul ties do with this marriage law?" Malfoy was very concerned.

"Well, since elemental magic is being used to make marriages, there will be a soul tie between the partners. Of course, the soul ties made from this law will be stronger and more powerful than normal soul ties couples can do," answered Professor Holly.

"So no one will be able to get a divorce because a soul tie is being made?" Malfoy asked

Professor Holly seemed slightly surprised at hearing this. "You must know a little about soul ties. You are correct that you won't be able to get a divorce. Most people don't realize that soul ties won't allow for divorce. The soul ties will cause the side effects, but as I said earlier, they will be positive effects, not negative ones."

"I think we talked about everything on the list; the rest is just information we already know." Hermione was ready to leave this class; she looked down at her watch and realized they still had fifteen minutes left.

"Not quite. McGonagall wants me to tell everyone that those going through the marriage law will have their own section in the Great Hall to eat at. We also have to go over this class, and then we will be down for today" Professor Holly stood up and walked around to her desk, where she got a journal and a piece of parchment. She went and sat back down in the chair. "I will be guiding you through your relationship to make sure that you have all the resources you need to have a healthy relationship and help teach positive parenting styles. I will also help guide you through the soul tie and the side effects that come with it." Professor Holly handed them the parchment.

"The parchment is for you to fill out in your own time. I will ask for it when I believe you are ready as a couple to start getting into those topics. It is mostly about parenting, so it will be long before I need that parchment." Professor Holly handed them the journal next. "In this class, you will be doing exercises between the classes. I will have you write about the exercises in this journal to keep track of them, and your final grade will be determined by the percentage of exercises you completed. Are there any questions you have about the class?"

Hermione and Malfoy both seemed to be thinking if they had anything to ask before they both shook their heads no.

"Perfect! The first exercise that I want you to do is make your dorm a living space that both of you are comfortable living in, so communicate with each other about how you want it to look and how you will share the space, so all of your belongings have a place. Once you finish doing the exercise, write about how difficult it was to do and how you figured out how to communicate what you both wanted. Both of you must make an entry for every exercise given. Now you are dismissed, and the next time we will meet will be next Wednesday at four in the evening. I will see you then. I hope you both have a good week." Professor Holly kindly said.

"Thank you." Hermione and Malfoy replied.

Professor Holly walked them out and shut the door behind them.

Malfoy looked over at Hermione. "Do you want to go do the exercise and get it over with, considering neither of us has unpacked?"

"Sure. That way, we don't have to do it later." Hermione agreed and started in the direction of their dorm.

It took no time for them to walk up the couple of floors to reach their portrait and whisper the password. They walked down the corridor and went through the door to their shared dorm.

Hermione looked over. "So, Malfoy, what should we start on first?"

"How about the bedroom? I feel like it will take the longest." Draco suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Hermione walked into the bedroom. "How would you feel about taking the right side, and I'll take the left side of the room."

"That works for me because I only need a dresser and some bookshelves." Draco walked over to his dresser and started putting his stuff away.

Hermione lifted her trunk over to the dresser and started putting all her clothes away. Once everything was put away in the dresser, Hermione turned toward the vanity and began setting everything out.

Over the summer, Hermione began learning how to take care of her appearance. Hermione had found the proper routine for her hair; it was no longer the unmanageable, coarse, frizzy mess it used to be. Her hair was silky voluminous, bouncy chestnut-colored ringlets framing her face perfectly. Once Hermione got her hair to look the way she wanted, she started messing around with cosmetics and found she liked wearing mascara and lipstick. The mascara brought out her brown doe eyes, and the lipstick showed off her full lips. Hermione finally felt confident in her appearance. Hermione put the last bottle of hair product onto the shelf and was finally done setting up the vanity.

Hermione started working on putting all of her books on the shelves on her side of the room. She made it to the last bookcase, and all her books fit on the shelves with some room for growth.

"Do you have any blankets you want to put in the chest?" Draco asked.

Hermione was surprised he had thought of the same thing she had yesterday when she saw the chest. "Uhhh yeah, I do; just give me one second to get them." Hermione walked over to her trunk and pulled out the blankets she had brought. She carried the blankets over to Draco, who took them and put both of their blankets in the chest. "Well, I think that's it for the bedroom." Hermione thought to herself for a second. "Want to start the bathroom. That should be fairly easy. My stuff is already in there. We can just decide where we want everything."

"Sure. My stuff is in there too. We should just have to tidy up." replied Draco

Hermione walked into the bathroom and realized there wasn't anything for them to do. Their stuff was separated on the sinks, with Hermione's on the right side sink and Draco's on the left sink. Their shower things were placed neatly on opposite sides. Draco had stored the rest of his bathroom stuff in the top cabinet while Hermione's was in the middle cabinet, and all the towels were held in the bottom.

"Well, never mind, then the bathroom doesn't need to be done." Hermione chuckled to herself.

"I guess we will start in the common room then." Draco laughed. He couldn't believe they had set up the bathroom this morning without even realizing it.

They made their way to the Common Room and decided who would have which desk; Hermione chose the desk closest to the door. After putting some studying supplies in the drawers, Hermione started to look around.

"Those portrait frames above the fireplace are pretty." Hermione was intrigued by them for some reason.

Draco, still putting things away on his desk, was confused by what Hermione was talking about. "What portrait frames? I slept on the couch last night, and there were no portrait frames." Draco turned to look at what Hermione was talking about when he had finished with his desk. He was surprised to see two portrait frames above the fireplace right in front of where he had slept the night before. "Those frames were not there last night, Granger."

"I wonder when they got there then," said Hermione.

"It seems like things just like to appear in this section of the castle." Draco was curious about how this section of the castle went unnoticed by everyone for all those years and then just appeared out of nowhere.

"Maybe we will know one day, or it will just remain part of Hogwarts's mysterious magic." Hermione hoped they would learn how it had happened; she believed there was an answer. She was just going to have to figure it out.

"Yea, I guess we will see." Draco thought they would have to figure it out themselves to get answers. Draco looked at his watch and realized that it would be dinner in about thirty minutes. "Is there anything we need to do for the kitchen, or are we done because it's almost time for dinner, and we still have to make journal entries."

Hermione was surprised when she saw the time on her watch. "Wow. We worked on this through lunch, and I don't think there is anything to do in the kitchen. We can make our journal entries now and then head down to dinner."

Hermione let Draco make his entry first and then started on hers. She talked about how well they worked together on the exercise and how smoothly it went. Hermione also described what the rooms looked like when they had finished them, but she felt she shouldn't talk about the portrait frames above the fireplace. Once Hermione was done, she and Draco headed down to the Great Hall for dinner.

They arrived in front of the doors to the Great Hall when McGonagall called them over.

"I just want to let the both of you know that you will have your own section to eat in the Great Hall. There are round tables that seat ten students. Just head in and find the table that is assigned to you. Have a great dinner." stated McGonagall quickly and was off to find the next students to tell of the change.

Hermione walked in to find where they would be sitting when she heard Ginny.

"Over here, Hermione. You sit with us." Ginny yelled over the Great Hall.

The pair approached the table. Hermione looked around the table and realized she would be sitting with Ginny and Blaise, Pansy and Harry, Ron and Tracey, and lastly, Luna and Theo. The two seats next to Ginny were open, Hermione took the chair next to Ginny, and Draco sat on the other side of Hermione.

The food on the table appeared once everyone was seated. As Hermione was dishing food onto her plate, she realized how nervous everyone at the table looked except, of course, Luna, who took that time to ask everyone the question that they were all dying to know.

"So, what does everyone think of the marriage law?" Luna seemed to be in another world as she asked everyone.

"It's absolutely ridiculous," Harry growled.

There were murmurs of agreement that could be heard around parts of the table.

"I don't actually mind it," said Ron sheepishly. He looked unsure if he should be saying that out loud.

"How can you not mind, Ron? Your choices are being taken away," said Ginny, who seemed to get a little annoyed by this.

"Come on, Gin, it's me. I don't make the best decisions by myself so the sorting hat choosing the best match seems to be a good option to me," replied Ron.

"That makes sense for you, Ron." agreed Luna. "I don't mind either. I'm happy either way."

"I didn't just fight in a war so the ministry could take my decisions away." Said Harry, who seemed to be the angriest about the whole situation.

"I don't mind not having to make the decision. I'm quite glad to be out of the arranged marriage my parents made." Said Tracey relieved.

"Well, I didn't just get out of an arranged marriage just to have the decision of who I will marry taken from me." Pansy was seething in her chair.

Hermione couldn't help but notice how Harry and Pansy sounded exactly alike when talking about the marriage law; it was just that their reasons were different. She was brought out of her thoughts when the next person made their reviews known.

"I personally couldn't care either way," said Blaise.

"Same here." Theo nodded his head in agreement.

"How can you guys not care?" Draco continued on sarcastically. "The ministry is trying to say that our magical society is facing extinction."

"I don't understand why they think the magical society would face extinction. It's like they believe muggles won't have any magical kids anymore," said Hermione.

"Muggles and magical couples will still continue to have kids. That is why this is so fucked up. The magical race won't die off, so this law is idiotic," replied Draco.

"Well, it can't be stopped since the law was enacted with elemental magic. We get to ride the magic out until it ends. Won't that be fun?" Luna chirped.

Hermione had just finished eating and decided to go back to her dorm. She was tired of the discussion about the marriage law. "Well, I'm tired, so I'm going to head back to my room. See all of you tomorrow."

"I'm going as well." Said Draco, who had just finished eating as well.

They both said goodbye to everyone and headed to their dorm. As Hermione and Draco were almost to their dorm, Draco decided that now was a good time to see what Hermione thought about what Luna had said.

"So, do you think Lovegood is right that there is no way to stop all of this?" Draco hoped that there would be a way, but he was unsure.

"I'm not sure. I don't know much about elemental magic. The minister made it seem like the magic could be reversed before the magic finishes what it is intended to do, but Luna made it seem like it can't be reversed until after the magic is done. I will have to research it to get some answers." Hermione walked past the portrait after Draco said the password and continued to their dorm.

Draco opened the door to their dorm and let Hermione go in first. "I'll help you research."

"Sure, and maybe we can learn how to reverse it, so no one else has to be forced into this stupid marriage law," said Hermione.

"Finally, we can get started." said a voice in the room that startled them.