Chapter 6:
"Have some cake dear" said Mrs Weasley as she served Hermione a large piece of delicious looking carrot cake. Ron was already devouring his piece but Hermione found that she had lost her appetite.
"Thank you Mrs Weasley, but I would prefer to wait for Harry to come back."
Ron's eyes widened as he looked at Hermione guiltily although he didn't stop eating. Ginny squeezed Hermione's shoulder in support as she poured out tea for everyone "Eat Hermione, I don't really know what's going on but we should be ready for anything when Harry comes back".
Hermione realised the wisdom in Ginny's words. She had been so naive to think that they were all safe. That their lives would return to normal since the war had ended. But now in the course of less than 12 hours, she was beginning to question everything. The minute the trial had ended and Narcissa had left the courtroom having caused a pandemoniac commotion by hugging Hermione, everything had gone to hell. The media in a moment of panic, unable to gain access to the jurors or Draco Malfoy, had come straight at them. Perkins had attempted to escort Harry, Hermione, Luna and Michael to the fireplace to access the floo but had only managed to make it outside the doors of the courtroom before a Witch Weekly journalist had grabbed hold of Hermione's arm. It was his own fault but Hermione couldn't help feel guilty for the three stupefy spells that hit the wizard on his chest. He should have known better than attack Hermione in front of two DA members. Perkins had stayed back to take care of the journalist while Luna offered to help Michael look for his mother and so Harry and Hermione had manoeuvred through the incredibly large throng of people who in the hazy aftermath of the confused finale of the trial were dawdling and babbling in the corridor making Harry and Hermione easy targets for the journalists they were attempting to avoid.
Luckily enough, they had almost immediately run into Percy who appeared out of nowhere and hastily snuck them into an empty broom closet. "Take this" he had whispered, shoving a single dirty paperclip into Hermione's hands. "That was no promotion they gave Dad. They wanted him away during this time" he added bitterly. "This will take you to The Burrow, Hermione but I'm afraid the Minister wants to see you Harry. He'll explain everything" he said in way of an explanation and before Hermione could question him further, she felt an uneasy nauseous sensation at the pit of her stomach and found herself sprawled across the front lawns of The Burrow. An unexpected portkey almost never went hand in hand with a dignified entrance.
Ron and Ginny had been helping Molly with de-gnoming the garden when Hermione had materialised seemingly out of nowhere. They had run over to make sure she was okay before they started laughing at her unusual entrance. Although when she had just finished explaining everything that had happened at the trial, they had sobered up pretty fast. And now this scene at the Weasley kitchen table was highly reminiscent of the war times - Molly staring at the Weasley clock, her face scrunched in worry, Ron stuffing himself with food to avoid thinking about anything and Ginny acting mature and serious, repressing her true carefree spirit. Hermione felt a chill pass down her spine. This was not how it was supposed to be.
Hermione stared at the tea and cake on the table. She picked up the cup and saucer gingerly and took a sip of her warm Assam tea. Ginny was right though. It wasn't time to wallow in pity, it was time to arm herself for any situation that came their way. But it was only as she took a careful bite of the carrot cake that she realised that Ron was right too. The food helped and although she had just had lunch, the sugar made her feel better. She felt ready now, ready to learn more.
"Mrs Weasley, what do you know about "Poena Magnus Matrimonium?" she asked, alert and curious.
Harry had never spent much time with Percy Weasley. Harry had initially thought of him as The Head Boy, then as Ron's surly brother they all teased. More recently he had been the wanker that made Mrs Weasley cry but since the battle, he knew that Percy had changed, that he felt terrible for everything he had done and that he was constantly repentant. He was back at The Burrow, forever helpful to his parents and siblings. He had been there for George when they all were mourning Fred and while Harry knew that he was trustworthy, he felt a certain level of awkwardness being around Percy. Harry also realised that he had never been alone with Percy before and was lost trying to come up with things to say. He was extremely perturbed when Hermione's portkey transported her away but he trusted Percy enough to follow him down an unused underground pathway.
"The house elves use this to transport food and cleaning supplies" explained Percy when Harry looked incredulously at the tiny safety helmets piled onto a corner at the entrance of the passageway. "There is a direct entrance to the Minister's office through this path so this may be the best way to avoid detection."
"Err Percy.." started Harry. "What's going on? Why does the Minister want to meet me?".
Percy stopped suddenly, making Harry collide with his back and forcing Percy into an almost comical ballet pose with one leg horizontal and one arm in front as he tried to maintain his balance. "Sorry, sorry" whispered Harry.
Percy stood up straight and brushed his robes. "Harry, it's better if the minister explains this but that deal they offered Malfoy basically involves you and I cannot believe they did this." He shook his head slightly as he said the last part unable to believe the audacity of the ministry. Percy continued down the path.
"But why would Kingsley do that? He's an Order member. What's this deal anyway?" Harry couldn't help himself. He needed to know.
"I don't know too much about the details of the deal so I better leave that for Kingsley to explain." Percy continued slowly. "But essentially, I don't think Kingsley is behind all this. It's probably..", Percy lowered his voice as he whispered "..Selwyn, Farringer and the lot. They have it in for Malfoy although pretty much everyone seems to have it in for him."
"Why.." but just as Harry started questioning his role in the deal, Percy stopped in front of what looked like a dumbwaiter. He knocked on the metal door with his wand three times and whispered "praepositura" while drawing a strange rectangular pattern. Instantly, the dumbwaiter expanded as the doors opened to reveal a staircase leading upwards.
"This is where I leave you, Harry" said Percy. "I reckon Kingsley is in there waiting to explain everything about this ridiculous "Poena Magnus" to you. Oh and.." Percy reached into his pockets and withdrew a paperclip similar to one he had given Hermione. "Just in case you need it, you can activate it by expanding this bit here" he pointed to a slightly discoloured extension to the paperclip "and it will take roughly 30 seconds to transport you."
"Thanks Percy" nodded Harry, pocketing the portkey as he turned towards the stairwell. Percy stretched his lips into a smile that came out more like a grimace as he began closing the magic door behind Harry. As Harry cautiously made his way up, wand in hand, he could have sworn he heard Percy murmur "I wish Dad was here".
"The most recent well known "Poena Magnus Matrimonium" was between Ignatius Prewett, my uncle and Lucretia Black. You may have seen their names in the Black tapestry at Grimmauld Place." said Mrs Weasley. "Back then, these kind of marriages were fairly common. You may have even studied about the most famous historical example, the Wedding of the Hundred Roses it was called.
Hermione gasped loudly. Ofcourse she knew that. They had covered it in History of Magic in sixth year. "The civil war caused by the Burkes and the Gamps in 1379 because the Burkes destroyed the Gamp's rose garden."
Molly looked impressed that Hermione remembered that. Ginny vaguely nodded "Something to do with the dragonpox too right?" she asked.
"The plague, Gin, it made loads of people sick and so lots of people were buying roses for the ill and the Gamps were in the flower business and they were making lots of money but the Burkes got jealous and destroyed the gardens but then the Gamps told people that the scent of the rose was actually helping to alleviate the pain of the dragonpox and so the Burkes...umm got in a lot of trouble" beamed Ron despite his faltering ending.
Molly, Hermione and Ginny stared at Ron in disbelief. "Professor Binns made me write an extra report as detention and you actually helped me with it Mione" he added, a blush creeping up on his face.
"Well, colour me surprised" said Molly glowing at Ron. "You're absolutely right. So as punishment for destroying what was essentially a pain killer during the dark times, the heir of the Burke Estate, I cannot remember his name, had to marry a Gump daughter under the "Poena Magnus Matrimonium". It was a way of saying, now you are one family, you take care of each other and we put this behind us."
"That's terrible but I thought the Burkes had to give the Gumps ownership of their Scottish Highland" interjected Hermione.
"That's true, these deals are usually multilayered. When my uncle married Lucretia Black, I think the Blacks had to give up some of the family heirs." Molly looked thoughtfully at the cup of tea in her hand. "I think Muriel has some of them, a golden teacup, some diamond jewellery, although I bet some of them have dark magic in them."
Hermione in the meantime was trying to decipher what this meant for Malfoy. "So, in Malfoy's case, who is the other party? Is it Harry? What determines this?"
"I have no idea, dear. If anything, you mentioned that the boy was charged for his crime against Dumbledore so then Dumbledore should be the one doing the deal with Malfoy, but seeing as he is dead..." Molly drifted off. Everything set her off nowadays and Hermione caught her wiping away tears at the corner of her eyes as she pretended she wasn't stealing glances at Fred's photo on the mantlepiece.
"Mum, let me make you more tea." Ginny waved her wand at the kettle to heat some water while Ron walked over and wrapped an arm around his mother. For that entire minute, Hermione felt like an outsider as she watched Ginny make her mum another cup of tea and Ron gently comfort her. While she thought of the Weasleys as her own family, there were time such as these when she remembered that she was a Granger and she found her mind drifting towards Australia.
"So then why have they called Harry?" Ginny thought out loud, turning to Hermione and bursting her melancholic longing for her own parents.
"I don't know, but don't worry Gin, I doubt Harry would ever choose Malfoy over you" sniggered Ron as he helped himself to another slice of cake. Ginny shot a hex at Ron as Molly scolded her two children. Hermione leaned back with a smile. They would get over this together but first 'Where was Harry?'
Harry scowled at the Minister of Magic. "Why am I part of this weird Matrimonium thing again?"
Kingsley calmly looked at Harry and began patiently explaining once again "Because he was a deatheater and they are Voldermort supporters and you were Voldermort's archenemy, if you will, which makes you the other party extending this deal."
"But I didn't extend the deal, the ministry did" argued Harry for what felt like the umpteeth time. They had been having this circular conversation for the last 15 minutes and Harry wished he still had Hermione with him for moderation.
"Yes Harry, but the Ministry was acting in your name by appointing a lawyer to fight the case against Mr Malfoy and now they have mediated this deal between Mr Malfoy and you."
"But I didn't agree to this deal!" groaned Harry.
Kingsley slowly clenched and unclenched his fists, the only sign so far that he was losing his patience. "I know Harry, but this is a very common practise. Once the ministry lawyer has been appointed to cover your case for you, they make the decisions for you. No one willingly enters the Poena Magnus".
"Aha, but this case was between Malfoy and the People" exclaimed Harry suddenly remembering the announcement made this morning. He expected Kingsley to look surprised or impressed that Harry had found a way out. Unfortunately the look Kingsley gave him was pure sorrow.
"You are right, absolutely right. But it was the broadest interpretation I could make. In these situations typically, unless a party approved by the Ministry takes responsibility for the Poena Magnus" Kingsley gestured to Harry, "the responsible party becomes the victim of the accused, which will be Dumbledore here." Kingsley continued to stare at Harry in despair.
"Why is that a bad thing?" asked Harry cautiously.
"Because, while Dumbledore does not have any living female relatives, he mentioned one living female in his final will and testament making her his direct beneficiary." lamented Kingsley.
Harry's eyes widened and he could feel his pulse quicken. "No way! Not Hermione. She's not marrying that, that jerk" Harry stood up abruptly and stormed over to Kingsley. "Well what's the alternative then?"
"If you take responsibility and since you do no have any direct female relatives, we may be able to find a muggleborn witch who is comfortable marrying Malfoy. In that scenario, all you will have to do is endorse her." blurted out Kingsley in a faster than normal pace. While he wasn't scared of Harry, he didn't want to get Harry on his wrong side.
Harry sighed deeply. "Why Kingsley? I thought you would be different. Why are you doing this?"
Kingsley got up without saying a word, walked over to his bookcase and retrieved a large red tome. He placed it in front of Harry and opened it. The inside of the tome contained moving graphics, charts and words. Kingsley used his wand to draw a white string from the middle of the book which magically transformed into a graph on inflation and interest rates.
Kingsley started explaining vigorously now, pointing to the constantly changing graphs floating above the tome on the table. "The economy is doing terribly. The war has left a massive impact on the country. We need to give hope to people but at the same time we need to be realistic." He emphasised on the word hope, trying to draw out its meaning.
"Draco Malfoy is the hardest case that the court has had to deal with. He is the youngest deatheater which makes him instantly despicable to most of the public, his unfortunate circumstances means that a proper trial would have acquitted him, eventually after placing him in prison for a few years first. But we cannot afford to keep him in Azkaban for so long, one because it would be wrong but also because of his last name, which means a lot to a lot of people - we need the Malfoys to help revive the economy, we need their Industries, we need their money. A suitable punishment would be do destroy what his family stands for "Sanctimonia Vincet Simper" -Purity will always conquer, by making him marry a muggleborn. Atleast that was the intention behind the Poena Magnus".
Kingsley stopped to take a breath.
"But?" asked Harry who could sense the hesitation.
"This plea deal was offered to Draco Malfoy, two weeks ago. The court, it was a sham meant to grab the media attention. This news, it will change public opinion, shame the Malfoys but also lead them to accept his acquittal which is exactly what we needed. " continued Kingsley.
"But?" Harry interjected again, a little bit more forcefully. He didn't like where this seemed to go.
"But, we have been unable to find any suitable muggleborn and..." Kingsley faltered once more. He suddenly looked tired and older than he had ever appeared. "Spellbound ran an article last weekend about your relationship with Hermione and this was after we made the deal with Malfoy. Do you remember what you said?"
Harry blinked. This was random. He wondered if they were still spinning Hermione and him as a couple. But he had been caught kissing Ginny at the Battle so everyone knew they were dating. "What did I say?" he asked Kingsley.
Kingsley pulled out a magazine from under his table. The headline of Spellbound read "Hermione's the sister I never had - Harry Potter". Harry felt the blood flow out of his face. He needed to sit down. "No way. Not Hermione again. Not to that horrible ferret. I will never let that happen" he breathed. "We'll find someone else. It's okay if we find someone else right?" he checked in with Kingsley.
Kingsley nodded. "I am deeply sorry" he punctuated slowly "and I will ensure that you have all the resources at your disposal".
Harry turned to Kingsley, his face a mixture of fury and conviction. "First, you still need to explain why we weren't informed two weeks ago. "
"Harry, let me tell you a little secret, the minister of magic holds no real power. I only got to know about this in the early hours of this morning. Kingsley explained, his voice strained and if Harry didn't know better, he might have thought that Kingsley looked embarrassed. "I promise, we are on the same side here" Kingsley added extending his arm to grip Harry's shoulder lightly albeit awkwardly.
Harry stared at Kingsley for a long moment before nodding once. "From here on, complete transparency and communication wherever we are involved?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Promise."
Author's note: Next up, Hermione and the Weasleys find out. Can they find a muggleborn witch to marry Draco? What's going on with Draco at this point. Please review and let me know what you like and what you don't.