Disclaimer: I don't own it. Canon characters belong to J K Rowling and her publishers and even several of the fanon elements are adapted from other fanfics. Thank you for allowing me to have fun with them.

Chapter Warnings: Brief mentions of rape and murder/suicide. Skip Neville's story to avoid these triggers.

Also, please note that the opinions shared in this fic (and there will be many) are not necessarily those of the author. I will be touching on several real world hot topics within this fic and it is not meant to solve anything for our world. It is meant to give the characters dimension and growth. Any apparent parallels to the real world are coincidence and should be left up to the individual reader's imagination. I'm writing with this fictional world in mind, not our own. If you choose to share an opinion about one of these topics in a review - that is your prerogative - please be respectful as you do so.

Hermione relaxed on her favorite chair in the common room and seemingly didn't notice as her friends sat down around her one at a time. Once she did look up, it was to see Ginny's face of concern. She glanced around to gauge the rest of the group. Harry looked reluctant and his gaze kept shifting from Ginny to the floor by Hermione's feet. Ron's face was red tinged - whether from anger or embarrassment, Hermione couldn't quite tell. She decided to just close her book and wait for one of them to say what they came to say.

It didn't take long before predictably, Ginny spoke up. "Hermione, we're concerned with how you're handling this. Harry says you were furious when you first saw the law, but now you're just… calm."

"Is there a problem with being calm and rational about something?"

Ginny threw up her hands and leaned back, but before she could speak, Ron asked desperately, "You have a plan, don't you? You have to have a plan. That's why you're not worried, right? You've found a way out of this stupid law and you're just waiting for the right moment to reveal it."

Harry looked up hopefully, staring at Hermione's eyes for the first time this conversation. Hermione frowned and dreaded the words she was about to say because it would crush that hope.

"There's no plan, guys. I've tried everything - well, everything I'm willing to try anyway." Hermione couldn't hold back her blush at the thought of what she had considered.

Ginny noticed. "You did! You asked for Ron's help over the summer. You weren't asking him to volunteer for the Pureblood draw. You were -" she gasped, unwilling to continue.

The boys noticed Hermione's look of shame and knew Ginny had figured something out that they were still in the dark about.

"How else was I supposed to help her?" demanded Ron.

Hermione's blush deepened but she quoted, "Exemptions include prior betrothal, engagement, or marriage agreements filed with the Ministry no later than July 1st, 1998; prior health issue confirmed by Head Healer Arkin and registered with the Ministry no later than September 1st, 1998; prior pregnancy confirmed by Head Healer Arkin and registered with the Ministry no later than October 21st, 1998-"

"No!" Harry came to the same conclusion Ginny had reached and stiffened in his seat.

Ron still looked confused and insisted, "It was too late to offer to marry her at that point…"

Ginny sighed and after an apologetic look toward her friend, she explained, "The only option left was pregnancy. Hermione was asking you to - er…"

"Impregnate me." Hermione pushed past the embarrassment clearly showing on her face and spoke as clinically as possible. "I had considered it since following through with the law will land me in a similar position in 'no more than 3 years' but… after my first attempt to, er, request assistance failed, I did some more research. I've determined that waiting even just those 3 years allowed will be easier on my body and my mind in the long run. I'm happy with my decision to abstain."

The boys just gaped, blushing furiously. Ginny, although also blushing, managed to contribute, "I'm glad you're happy with your decision."

That seemed to snap Ron out of his stupor because he muttered, "I- I could… I mean, if you still want to…" He trailed off due to his sister's glare.

"Thank you, Ron, but I really think it's for the best if I just submit to the law and make the best of it."

"No way, Hermione!" Harry bolted out of his chair and started pacing in front of the fireplace. "We can still fight this! There have got to be options we haven't explored besides… that. You're a war hero! I'm sure they'll allow you an exception. You've got to at least try, Mione."

"Harry, calm down. I have tried that. It's actually because I'm a war hero and so accomplished that they want me to participate so badly." Trying to lighten the mood, she added teasingly, "Also, I see you have no problem using my fame to benefit me. Try it yourself sometime."

Harry waved her words away with his grumbled, "This isn't about me. We can't let them do this to you. It isn't fair and we need to fight it."

Hermione lowered her eyes, but the others seemed to be fired up by their unofficial leader's words.

"Together we'll figure it out," Ginny soothed and placed a hand on the brunette's knee.

"I wasn't sure what to do at first, but we didn't win the war with Voldemort just to let them discriminate against Hermione again! I'm telling you, it's the Muggleborn Registry all over again! We do need to fight it. I'm not -"

"No…" whispered Hermione through tears no one had noticed as Harry's rant picked up steam. It was so quiet but all eyes turned to her in surprise. Hermione raised her head to reveal tear stained cheeks, and stated louder this time, "No. I'm done fighting. No more fighting. This law… it's surprising… it's not what I would have preferred, it's convoluted, it's contrived, it's barmy, it's almost definitely doomed to fail, at first glance it doesn't make any sense… it's - well, it's just like the wizarding world."

By the end of Hermione's outburst, she was smiling and her three friends were frowning and confused.

"Don't you see?" she continued when it didn't look like they were capable of responding yet. "This is my chance to belong. I spent the first part of my childhood in muggle schools, knowing that I didn't belong somehow. Then at 11, I finally understood why, but Hogwarts turned out to be not much different really. I did find acceptance by you two and the rest of the Weasley's, and some of the Gryffindors, but… I still don't belong. I've pushed through life, fighting tooth and nail to make this world accept me as a muggleborn, but it's never mattered how good my marks are, or how many dark wizards I've helped capture - hell, saving the world with you didn't work. I'm still Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's Muggleborn friend." Hermione was the one up and pacing this time. She added in a high pitched imitation voice, 'Isn't she just brilliant - for a muggleborn?'

"Well, I'm sick of fighting on my own terms. It hasn't worked and I finally realize it never will. I'm not going to fight to find a loophole only to have others in the wizarding world resent me for it. Then if I have to bring children into this world, well, I hardly want them to have to fight the same endless fight. No, I'm taking this 'obstacle' and turning it into an 'opportunity.' The misguided fools at the Ministry are providing me the perfect opening to change things from the inside. I'm going to be the poster-child of cooperation and by doing so, I'll make this world a better place for my hypothetical children's generation, so they don't have to deal with bigotry and stupid laws to fix the bigotry."

Breathing heavily but feeling somehow so much lighter from getting all of that out in the open, Hermione stopped pacing to study the expressions of her friends.

They appeared, in a word, flabbergasted. Ginny's mouth was hanging open and her hand still dangled where it had fallen when Hermione had stood. Similarly, Ron's jaw was dropped and his brow was furrowed in further confusion. Harry, conversely, had his jaw clenched and his nails were likely digging crescent shaped dents in his palm from his tight fist.

"How?"

Hermione slumped down into the armchair closest to her, and admitted, "Well, I haven't worked out all the details yet. I really don't have a plan."

Ron looked shocked.

"...more like an un-plan," she said sardonically before continuing "I don't know all the rules yet. I need more information on my situation before I can plan properly. But to start with, I need to research wizarding etiquette. I dismissed it early on as unnecessary pomp and circumstance, but now I see I was mistaken. Those in places of power within the wizarding world put a lot of merit into 'the old ways' and they're not going to accept change that is posed to them without respect to those ways. The problem is, I have no idea how to show that respect."

"That's our Hermione!" Ginny seemed much more enthusiastic now.

Ron made a face at the thought, but suggested, "We have some old books on manners that Mum used to read to us as kids. I could owl her to see if you could borrow them, if you want."

Hermione's resulting smile stretched all the way to her eyes, "Thank you, Ron. I-" she hesitated but ventured, "I hope you aren't insulted by this, but I'm surprised by your easy understanding of my decision. I honestly thought you'd be the most opposed."

The blush returned but lighter than before as the redhead shook his head, "Hermione, you're the smartest witch I know. If you couldn't come up with a better plan, then this is the best plan - or unplan. I learned my lesson many times over and I don't intend to doubt you anymore. I'm just here to help however I can - though, admittedly, I think it's best I didn't understand your meaning over the summer. I don't think any of us could handle little mini-me's running around already."

It was Hermione's turn to blush, but before she could respond, Harry threw his arms up and shouted, "Yes, let's all just compliment each other and blush! This is ridiculous. I can't just -ugh" He cut himself off with an annoyed grunt, spun on his heel, and stormed through the portrait hole.

Ginny worried her lip in the silence before muttering, "I should probably go calm him down." She stepped over to give Hermione a hug and whispered, "I'm happy to help too. Just let me know what you need. I'm always available to talk."

As Ginny headed after Harry, Ron piped up, "Hey Hermione, can I borrow some parchment to write to Mum? I'm all out."

Ron's characteristic query eased the tension and Hermione couldn't help but chuckle lightly before gathering the requested parchment. Some things would never change.

The next day in the library

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for here, Hermione?"

Hermione held back a laugh as she watched Ron slump forward and toss down his quill. Normally, him giving up after only 5 minutes in the library would have frustrated her beyond belief. Today, however, she felt lighter than ever before and decided that it was all her mentality. It felt like all her life she'd been desperately swimming upstream and now that she decided to go the same direction as the stream, she could finally breathe! Sure, she had a lot of preparation to do so that when she reached the next bend in the river, she would have the tools needed to stay afloat, but that was a lot easier to do when her mental 'hands' didn't have to focus on constantly paddling just to stay above the undertow.

Deciding her mental analogy had gotten too weird for even her to follow, she responded to Ron's query, "I'm not really sure. We're not looking for anything specific, just familiarizing ourselves with the wording of the law so there won't be any surprises down the line. There could also be ways to use the law to our advantage."

"Like what?" groaned Ron

"I don't know. That's why we're looking," Hermione answered back saucily.

Ron's head dropped to the table with a loud thwunk.

Later that day

Hermione gave a frustrated sigh and closed her book with not a small amount of force. She looked around the common room while internally fuming at the wizarding world's ridiculous traditions. The books she'd received from the Weasley family had opened her eyes to just how much work she had ahead of her. It had also given her more questions than answers. How could a pureblood child be expected to navigate the strange intricacies of Wizarding etiquette?

She found herself wishing for a pureblood whose brain to pick. Ron and the rest of the Weasley's were out since their family clearly didn't follow the traditions she needed to learn. Her eyes roamed across the common room again until they landed on Neville. The once unfortunate looking boy had grown into his own and now cut an imposing figure even as he now sat hunched over an essay. A stranger would likely even consider him intimidating, but Hermione easily continued to see him as the shy and amicable boy she attended school with for the past 7 years. It was in the way he worried his lip as he considered what to write next and the fact that he'd taken the uneven chair at the table so no one else had to deal with it. Neville was her answer. He had been brought up by a traditionalist grandmother. He was studious and well read, but also friendly.

Before approaching the boy though, she'd have to do some planning. A list and an overall goal would be a good start. Then she would approach him for his help. With that, she pulled out the emerald journal and started to write.

A few days later

Getting Neville to help her had turned out to be harder than Hermione had thought - not because he didn't want to, but because he thought he couldn't. It took some coaxing but eventually she'd convinced him to meet in the library.

"Thank you, Neville," Hermione was pulling out her parchment and quill even as she sat down at the table across from Neville. "Ron gave me the Weasley's etiquette books, but they just made everything more confusing. I'm really hoping you can clear up a few things."

Neville's eyebrows raised and he muttered, "That explains it then."

"What?" Hermione looked confused.

Neville blushed but explained, "Well, it was when you asked to see my family books that I realized I did have something I could teach you."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I noticed that. That's why I suggested you use them as a guide for what to teach me. I figured you might, er, need a little push."

Neville shook his head, "It's not that - well, not just that." He seemed to steel himself a bit before continuing, "You were rude, Hermione."

Hermione's draw dropped, but Neville wasn't done. "I mean, you've always been outspoken and a bit persistent… but you practically demanded that I teach you from my family library."

Now Hermione just looked confused again, "I- I suppose I was a bit bull-headed"

"Not even just that, Hermione. Even asking for access to the Longbottom Library is well…"

Neville faltered and Hermione recognized that this was one of those things she couldn't possibly understand… yet. And so she kept silent and waited for the pureblood to continue explaining.

Neville squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, but eventually continued, clearly uncomfortable, "I mean, I know you're a muggleborn, so I knew you didn't mean anything by it, but…

A few minutes later a blushing Hermione had her face buried in a book, for once not reading said book, but instead hiding her face in it. Neville sat awkwardly next to her, his hand hovering over her back then retreating to his side once more in his unsureness of how best to comfort the witch beside him.

Hermione didn't notice Neville's current predicament as she was too busy mentally berating herself and cursing wizards and their weird traditions.

"L-like I said, Hermione," piped up Neville, "I knew that wasn't what you meant…"

Hermione groaned and rolled her head to the side so she could see her classmate. The fact that he was also seemingly just as embarrassed as Hermione somehow bolstered the bookworm and she lifted her head, taking a deep breath. "Firstly, Neville, I'm sorry. I, in fact, did not know that requesting access to your library could be seen as a proposal of marriage or conversely a blood feud. I did not intend either. Clearly, I have my work cut out for me to understand why such an - asinine tradition exists in the world I am joining."

Silence greeted her attempted formal apology. A second later, Neville lost it and broke down laughing. Hermione's eyes widened and she immediately surrounded them in a bubble of silence, straining her neck to see if Madam Pince had taken note of Neville's outburst. When the strict librarian failed to round the corner toward their table, Hermione turned back to Neville and joined in his laughter, loosing some of her nervous energy within the safety of their now silenced nook.

With a smile, Neville eased them back into conversation, "Wonderful attempt at a formal apology. I think you still have some room for improvement."

"Does that mean you'll help me?" asked Hermione hopefully.

Eyes still glowing with mirth, Neville responded, "At the very least, I think you'll need my understanding of the proper elements of a formal apology. I'll give you a hint: insulting the society you'll soon be a part of is *not* one of the elements."

Hermione snorted lightly and felt a blush return to her face. She started to mumble an explanation or further apology, but Neville stopped her with a wave of his hand.

"Not necessary this time, Hermione. I know what you meant. Our traditions are a bit over the top - even for other wizards. Even Ron - a pureblood through and through - would agree with you. … but he was taught who he could express such thoughts with and when to keep them to himself."

"Wait, so you're telling me Ron actually has some self-control?" asked Hermione bemusedly . And thus began Hermione's first true introduction to Wizarding Etiquette as taught by the Longbottom Heir.

A full week of Necessary Wizarding Traditions sessions had already left Hermione a changed witch. Hermione had tried to give the nightly sessions a less distinguished nickname, but had been vetoed by Neville. The Longbottom heir had really surprised the studious witch and - unbeknownst to her - himself as well. He was not only well versed in Wizarding traditions, but he had quite effectively communicated not only the strange customs, but also the reasoning behind many of them.

"Okay, but I still don't understand why such barbaric spells are only used on the wives. I thought we'd established that sexism didn't apply to the old traditions!"

Neville sighed but corrected patiently, "Don't use the term barbaric, Hermione; that's rude. The Ancient Marriage Rites are time honored traditions held up by both genders. From my understanding of Muggle Studies, muggles have maintained sexism mostly due to the average woman's physical 'frailness' in comparison to the average man. In the wizarding world, magical power is just as likely to be held by a witch as by a wizard. So, you're sort of right. Just as we established previously, sexism just doesn't exist in the same way here in the wizarding world. I mean, I don't think it's gone completely, it's just very different. You can see a hint of it in this law - but not in the way you think."

Bystanders would have been shocked at the way the usually opinionated Gryffindor witch listened intently as Neville explained such a topic. As it was, the bubble of silence ensured that no fellow students could hear the two Gryffindors, but many still stared as they passed. The Longbottom Heir in 'teacher mode' was a stark contrast to his usual unassuming presence.

"The witches receiving these rites -" Neville gathered his thoughts then continued, unaware of the questioning looks they were getting from their peers, "it's actually intended as an honor and in a way, a protection - of their pureness and of the family legacy and the witch's place within it."

Hermione was pleasantly surprised when Neville showed his perceptiveness at the scrunching of her eyebrows. The question never had to leave her lips before Neville was rewording and explaining in more detail, "The intended is provided the protection of not being accused of any sort of infidelity along with the protection of not becoming a target by association. This rules out any attempts of line-theft, a witch already carrying the child of another line, or a witch being used against her will to harm the family she will become a part of. It truly is a way of welcoming a witch into the protection of the family. Before this ritual was developed, our society has stories of the intended of prominent lines being raped and obliviated only to have the sons they carried later being groomed to hand over the family fortunes to the witch's rapist. The Heads of the family and husbands could do nothing to protect their wives or their families once this happened."

Neville hesitated, but seeing that Hermione still didn't look convinced, he shared more, "There's even a tale of one line - the Wordrich Family. The Head of their house - he loved his wife and so refused to submit her to the ritual. They lived happily at first, gave birth to a beautiful son who was raised proper and loved. But when the son turned eleven and went to claim the Heir Ring, it was discovered that he was actually of the Line of Isdrel - a nearly extinct and disgraced family. The Wordrich family fought in the Wizengamot for rights to keep their family together even as their fortune was stripped from them - but inevitably, the laws that protect Noble Houses from line theft damned them and their then 13 year old son. After two long years of staying one step ahead of the law and keeping his son and wife out of the hands of his wife's rapist, the family was finally cornered and ordered to submit. The Head of the Wordrich family killed his wife, his son, and then himself rather than see them condemned to live with the rapist."

Hermione knew her shock and disgust had to be showing on her face, as Neville repeated this story with much too much familiarity for comfort. Neville laughed without humor and supplied as explanation, "Yeah, I thought they made for awful bedtime stories too."

After an awkward clearing of his throat, he continued, "So, yeah, after that, all Noble Families all but require the Ancient Marriage Rites and actually a fair number of the laws surrounding line theft were also changed because of that. In the last generation or two, the Muggle sexism issue has caused a few of the Houses to drop the Marriage Rites, but Longbottom is still going to require them - forever."

Hermione nodded mutely, but switched to shaking her head, "Hold on, that's still uneven. Why aren't the husbands protected…" she trailed off thoughtfully and Neville cocked an eyebrow, leaving her to connect the dots. "Guys can't get pregnant… but they can still be raped and obliviated. Then they could have an illegitimate heir…"

Neville snapped his fingers and jumped in, "Exactly. Illegitimate. With no marriage, the heir cannot have a claim that is greater than a legitimate heir. There's still risk if no legitimate heir is born, but nothing is perfect."

"But there's no marriage involved if the wife has a son of another house - wow, this is giving me a headache."

"That's where the change in the laws comes into play. It used to be worded in a way that allowed the child of the union to have rights to his father and mother's combined wealth and titles. That was apparently twisted by some very good retainers to mean that the houses of the wife, husband, and biological father of the child were all to be combined. The case of the Wordrich family also involved some political manoeuvring that allowed the Head of the Isdrel Line to claim superiority over the Head of the Wordrich family. But that's a whole 'nother lesson."

"Why do you know this in such detail?"

Neville blushed and bowed his head, "I made the mistake of telling Gran that the Ancient Marriage Rites were unfair."

"Barbaric," Hermione agreed cheekily.

Authors Note: I'm trying to introduce some appropriately ridiculous laws/traditions for the wizarding world while still giving them some basis in logic - though often bad logic. Let me know what you think of this first introduction to wizarding lore/logic's effects on traditions. Did you follow the twisted logic even if you didn't agree with it? And is it too confusing without getting all of the info about the Rites up front? I don't want to bog down the story with too much at once…

Thanks for reading!