NOTE: I did not kill Sirius off
Chapter 5 – Letters of Doom
Molly had gathered everyone at the burrow to receive their letters from the Ministry. Sirius had insisted on being there too to support his godson. Everyone felt sick with nerves, even Fred and George who were usually full of happiness and hope were worried. They had found out that for the time being, Ron would be exempt from the marriage law until he makes a full recovery then he would be required to marry if he hasn't already met someone. However any relationship Ron did have in the future would be watched closely by the Ministry in case he abused them too. Molly and Arthur had voiced many a concern about the marriage law, especially to Kingsley whom they once classed as a close friend. Of course they won't the only people who had voiced their disgust about the law to Kingsley and other Ministry workers.
"I said to Kingsley that this is not a good idea on several occasions." Arthur stated, keeping his voice down. "I told him that everyone needs time to recover properly and the young people don't deserve to go through this."
"And what did he say?" Molly asked.
"That it needs to happen sooner rather than later." Arthur replied. "I wasn't the only one to voice their concerns to him."
"They're all far too young to be getting married and having kids." Molly stated, her eyes filling up with tears. "Let them live a little first, have some fun, finish their education."
"I know that Molly and I said that to Kingsley. They've all been through far too much, especially Harry. They need to just go back to being teenagers and young adults for a while." Arthur said.
"Oh Arthur. This really is horrible. Our poor children." Molly cried, clinging onto Arthur's jumper as she cried.
"I know love, it's not fair." Arthur replied.
******
Everyone had gotten up early at the burrow and were sitting around the table, nervously waiting on their letters to arrive. You could have cut the tension with a knife and no one was speaking. Hermione pushed a piece of scrambled egg around her plate with her fork while Ginny stirred the last of her porridge with her spoon. Bill seemed calm, as he sat reading the late edition of The Daily Prophet. Fred and George kept watching the window while Fleur read a book on pregnancy. Harry managed to distract himself by reading the Daily Prophet.
"I wish they'd hurry up." George finally said.
"I don't want to know." Ginny spoke.
"They'll come soon enough." Bill said. "Maybe Fleur and I should leave now so we don't have to listen to you all rant and shout."
"Bill you have to stay!" Ginny stated. "You're the best person at calming us all down."
"Yeah, we need our big bro here for moral support." George said.
"Of course I'll be staying." Bill said.
"Good because if you even think of leaving we'll put a full body bind curse on you." Fred warned.
The waiting was unbearable. They moved from the kitchen into the living room so Molly could clean up the breakfast dishes. Hermione offered to help in the hope that doing some chores would kill some time and take her mind off the waiting. Ginny, Fred and George had begun playing a game of exploding snap to take their minds off it. They had just started the game when a dark grey owl appeared at the window in the living room, tapping it's beak on the glass.
"Oh no." Ginny gasped.
"I'll go and get Hermione." Fred stated, jumping to his feet and running into the kitchen to get Hermione.
Hermione, Bill, Fleur and Fred dashed back into the living room to find George sorting out the letters from the owl.
"They're from the Ministry." George stated. "There's one for the five of us."
George handed Fred, Ginny, Harry and Hermione their letters.
"I don't want to open this." Ginny stated.
"At least they're not howlers." Fred said. "That's what the Ministry will be getting a lot of today no doubt."
"Look just get them opened, get it over and done with." Bill urged.
"Easy for you to say, mate, you're already married to your beautiful wife." George answered.
A small smile appeared on Fleur's pretty face at George's comment. Then again Fleur knew she was beautiful and didn't exactly need people telling her.
"Right, I say we open them all together." Fred said. "After four."
"1"
"2"
"3."
"4"
The five of them quickly and carefully ripped open their letters and pulled out the sheets of crisp parchment. Their eyes scanned the letters quickly as they tried to find who their matches were.
"I got Harry! I got Harry!" Ginny shouted, jumping to her feet and punching the air then practically pounced on Harry to kiss him before he even had the chance to finish reading his letter.
"That's brilliant Gin, I knew you'd get Harry." Hermione replied with a nervous tone in her voice.
"Thank goodness for that." Bill laughed. "Just let the man breathe though."
"Fred? George? Hermione?" Molly asked nervously.
Fred and Hermione exchanged looks but neither of them spoke.
"I got a girl called Laura Jones." George spoke up.
"Who's she?" Ginny asked.
"A Hufflepuff from our year at Hogwarts. She did play Quidditch at a time but quit due to a bad injury." George answered. "She's pretty good looking too."
"Who did you two get?" Ginny asked, curiously.
"I...I... got..."
"Me." Fred answered before Hermione could finish.
"Wait, What?" Ginny questioned.
"You two got paired?" George asked. "No way!"
"Yes, I got Hermione." Fred stated.
"I got Fred." Hermione added in shock.
"That's not so bad. At least it's not Ron or someone like Draco." Ginny said. "Plus I'll finally get you as a sister in law."
"At least you both know each other and actually seem to get on." Bill said.
"Fred's not that bad, Mione." George said.
"I know. I'm just shocked that's all." Hermione finally said.
Fred appeared to be pretty happy and had a small smile etched on his handsome face. He shuffled nervously over to Hermione and kneeled down in front of her.
"Look this might not be so bad after all, ok?" Fred spoke. "Remember what we spoke about the other day?"
Hermione looked up at into Fred's pools of blue then nodded her head. The others were completely confused but took this as their cue to leave Fred and Hermione alone so they could talk in private.
"I know and I'm sorry if I'm coming across as upset but it's just the whole shock of it all." Hermione replied.
"I may not be your perfect guy in any shape or form but I will do everything I can to make you happy." Fred said. "I want us to at least be able to give this a go."
"I don't really know if I have a perfect guy." Hermione admitted. "At least we know each other and I enjoy being around you and of course we had our little moment the other week."
"Well that is a start. It could have been much, much worse. You could have got George." Fred joked. "And yes, I fondly remember our little kisses the other week."
"Maybe this won't be so bad after all. I mean you did suggest proposing to me the other day so we would maybe get out of this but we don't have to worry about that now." Hermione said, trying to be more positive about the situation.
"Well you already know how I feel about you and I'd be honoured to call you my wife. We can make this work, it will take time but hopefully it'll be worth it in the end." Fred said.
"What about George?" Hermione asked.
"That Laura girl isn't too bad actually. She used to play quidditch but after a bad injury stopped playing. George used to think she was kinda cute." Fred replied. "Obviously I'm worried about him in case they don't get on."
"I don't think I remember Laura." Hermione said.
"She was a Hufflepuff in our year, a muggle-born I believe." Fred replied. "Long brown hair, blue eyes and from Northern Ireland."
"I think I know who you're talking about now." Hermione said. "I'm so chuffed for Harry and Ginny. Harry deserves some happiness."
"About time eh?" Fred replied back. "At least I trust Potter so I know he's good for my little sister."
"Not that you have any say in the matter." Ginny stated, entering the living room with Harry in toe.
Molly followed Harry and Ginny into the living room to finally speak with her family. She didn't want to pounce on all of them straight away, wanting to let the news sink in first before she had her say.
"You'll finally be a part of the family, Harry and Hermione. Of course you always were a part of our family in my eyes." Molly chirped fulling Hermione and then Harry into a motherly hug.
"Thank you Mrs Weasley." Hermione replied.
"What do you think Mum, your prankster son having to marry Miss Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of the age?" George asked.
"I think it's brilliant actually." Molly replied. "But Fred, you better not break her heart and you better look after her."
"I think it'll be the other way around, Hermione will be the one to look after Fred." George chortled.
"Who did you get again?" Molly asked George.
"Laura Jones. She was a Hufflepuff in our year." George replied.
"Is that good or bad?" Harry wondered.
"Well I don't really know the girl but she is pretty good looking and she used to play quidditch but stopped before our NEWT year because of a bad injury." George replied.
"I think I know the girl you mean. She was a chaser on the Hufflepuff team, long brown hair." Ginny said. "Was friends with Cedric."
"That's the one. She's from Northern Ireland and a muggle-born I believe." George said. "I think she may have been the Hufflepuff prefect in our year too."
"You should send her an owl. No doubt she'll want to hear from you." Ginny suggested.
"Harry can I borrow Hedwig?" George asked.
"Yeah sure, two seconds." Harry replied before dashing up to his room.
He returned moments later with Hedwig standing on his arm. George took the snowy, white owl from Harry then left the room to owl his match.
"He's taken it better than I thought he would." Fred said. "I thought he would have wanted Katie Bell."
"He's maybe putting on a happy front but simmering underneath since you all are happy with your partners." Bill answered.
"I'll speak to him later." Fred said.
"Who did Percy get?" Bill wondered.
"Penelope Clearwater." Molly replied. "He's over the moon."
"Thank Merlin for that." Bill laughed.
"And Charlie?" Fred wondered. "We all thought he'd be exempt.
"A Diane Shaw." Molly replied. "So did we but obviously the Ministry thought different."
"She was in his year and a Gryffindor." Bill replied.
"He seems happy enough with her." Molly said. "At least he knows her."
"She works in St Mungos in the bites ward." Bill stated. "She would have been a trainee when Dad was in."
"Was that the young witch with blonde hair and glasses?" Molly wondered.
"Yes that's her." Bill replied.
At first Charlie was exempt from the marriage law due to him living in Romania. However due to the lack of pure blood witches and wizards, the Ministry felt that it was important that he was included in the marriage law. Charlie wasn't too impressed when he first received his letter but knew that if he wanted to stay in the UK with his family, he'd have to go ahead with it. He never once thought about going back to Romania to avoid it as he knew his family needed him more than ever and he needed to support them during this tough time. His younger siblings also needed him too and Bill wanted him to be godfather to their baby.
