x x x Contractual Obligationsx x x
It was a solemn group that made their way to the Ministry. Dumbledore had chosen to accompany them, something Hermione couldn't have been happier for. It would have been awful to deal with just Snape in this matter.
Especially since she hadn't a clue what was going on. She'd been given the options and she'd made her choice. Draco wasn't the choice, no matter what his father wanted. Had her choice only been Draco she would have much rather renounced her ties with this world and moved on. Living as a battered witch didn't strike her mind as the ideal way to spend the rest of her life.
And now even that one choice, the only tiny spark in a day of gloom, was being contested. It figured, it really did. She crossed her arms sourly, glaring about the tiny room the Ministry had set aside for this hearing. There was nothing Lucius Malfoy could do, or so Dumbledore said. But Snape would be required to speak, most likely. As would she. Perhaps even the Headmaster himself would be taking the stand in defense of her choice, though she hoped it would not come to that.
She just didn't know.
She didn't even know the basis for the contesting, for that matter. All the owl from the Ministry had said was for her and her betrothed to arrive with haste at the Ministry for a hearing.
Well, here she was.
And the Ministry officials presiding over the hearing were no where in sight.
For that matter, neither was Lucius Malfoy.
Or Draco – if he was going to be here in the first place. She certainly hadn't heard as much from Dumbledore. For that matter she didn't think the Headmaster himself had much clue to what this was all about. After all, the letter was all he had to go on, as well.
"Just remember to keep your cool," she heard Dumbledore murmuring to Snape in a whisper she was sure she wasn't supposed to over hear. "I know how Lucius irritates you –"
Snape snorted, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. He had his legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. Long, pale fingers were intertwined in his lap. "Irritates –me-, Albus? I thought you were the one that got the urge to hex him every time he stepped in the room."
Hermione snorted, biting back her laughter at the last moment before it threatened to bubble from her lips. In a day of such solemnity it was far too amusing to hear her Headmaster spoken to in such a way. With such irreverence, almost jokingly. Like the two of them were friends, despite the fact that she'd never seen it before this point.
"Something amusing, Miss Granger?"
The witch froze, her gaze darting to Snape. Her husband to be was glaring at her, eyes dark. She could almost see it written on his face that he was irritated with having to waste this time here, or that he was even more so vexed because she had overheard him speaking to Dumbledore.
"No, sir," she whispered, shaking her head. She sighed, turning her attention back to the room. Cramped and crowded, it was nothing like she'd thought it would be. There was a long desk at the front of the room, with seven seats behind it. One large in the center, and three two either side. A narrow aisle led from the back of the room, where the doors were, to the front. On either side of that aisle were wooden benches. At the point where the aisle met the front of the room there was a small wooden podium. That was where those that were called to speak would stand, right there in front of the officials, looking them in the eyes while trying to put their best face forward.
It was enough to make her stomach lurch.
The door swung open, knocking back into the wall behind it. Almost as if previously choreographed, Hermione turned with Snape and Dumbledore, watching as the Ministry officials filed in, followed by a very smug looking Lucius Malfoy. She swallowed nervously, pushing down the bile in the back of her throat. No reason to be worried. She'd signed the contract already. It was a set deal.
At least – she hoped it was.
x x x
"Lucius Malfoy – you are here to contest the contract between Severus Snape and Hermione Granger?"
Snape watched through slitted eyes as the man he had once called his friend stood, toying with his cane idly, as if this entire matter were no big deal. As if he thought he would surely win his contest.
"I have, that is correct."
The high official for the proceedings, a tall dark-haired wizard that Severus couldn't recall the name of, nodded. "You are aware that a marriage contract, once signed, may not be broken except under extraordinary circumstances, of course."
"Of course," Lucius' smile grew. "And I believe that I can present just that, in light of the remarkable witch at the heart of the matter."
Snape felt the air choke up in his lungs, wondering how much pride and pain it had cost Lucius to say just that – about a muggleborn witch that his son had hated for nigh on seven years.
"Very well," the high official sighed. "Please state your case for contesting this contract."
"I fear that the terms of this contract will inhibit one of the. . . brightest. . .witches we've seen in decades, your Honor," Lucius managed with a smile, though Snape could see that the effort of speaking so highly about someone he looked down on was beginning to take its toll. The other wizard had a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, and was grasping the edge of the podium with all his might.
"For instance. . . ?" The leading official prompted, clearly unimpressed by this rather vague assumption. From where he was sitting Snape could see that the Ministry officials looked decidedly bored.
"Her schooling," Lucius answered smoothly. "The contract that Alessander Snape has offered will limit her in a rather severe capacity – dictating not only where she must reside, but also when she must conceive by. This would almost certainly prohibit her from attaining any further schooling outside of that which she receives during her last months at Hogwarts. I believe I'm not alone in stating that this would be a tragedy to the wizarding world, to loose such a bright star."
Please, Severus thought acidly, feeling his stomach heave. Lucius would undoubtedly be washing his mouth out with a rather severe soap when he got home. Saying such things – and about a Gryffindor muggleborn, at that!
"Ah," the lead official nodded. He leaned to his left, listening as the witch on that side whispered into his ear. After a moment he sat back up, shaking his head. "It has been brought to my attention that your own contract does not contain matters so far as a child is concerned, however the residence is limited to any one of the Malfoy estates."
"Some of which are within easy traveling distance of the more illustrious Academies." Malfoy smiled winningly, flashing pearly whites at the officials, as if they were all made of clay that he could mold to his will. Severus bit the inside of his cheek to keep from snorting out loud. Lucius may have been a heavy contributor to many a Ministry campaign, but not for anyone currently sitting on the panel, with the exception of one – a wiry haired old man at the very end who was being all but ignored by his fellows.
"Very well, point taken," the official nodded, scribbling notes on the papers in front of him. "Professor Snape – have you anything to say in defense of the contract your father submitted on your behalf?"
He wanted, almost more than anything, to say 'no', that he had nothing to say in regards to a contract he had neither wanted nor seen prior to that morning. He wanted to tell them to summon his father here, out of drafty old Snape Manor, and force him to give his reasoning why his son was a better match than Draco Malfoy.
But he didn't.
Standing quickly, Severus moved to the podium, not bothering to glance at Lucius Malfoy. Or Granger. Let her wonder what he was going to say. Let it be a mystery to her up to the very point he opened his mouth and decided for himself.
"As you are all aware, my father submitted the contract on my behalf, just as Lucius Malfoy did for his son, Draco." Severus began slowly, meeting the eyes of the officials one by one. He leaned on the podium, hand to either side, staring them down just as he would one of his own students. "And there are certain stipulations that both myself and Miss Granger are aware of, however she has chosen to proceed despite those hinderances."
That should tell them something of who the Malfoys were, if they didn't already know, he told himself with a dark smirk. That this girl would rather marry her aged professor than a boy her own age said volumes in itself, without any testimony.
"And to Mister Malfoy's claims that Miss Granger will be unable to further her education under the terms of your contract?" One of the lesser officials queried, her voice high and trembling. "He is right in stating that she is a bright star among her peers – and we need witches like that in this day and age."
Severus ground his teeth together, breathing in deeply through his nose for a moment before speaking again.
"Though Snape Manor will be designated as her residence, just as it is mine, Miss Granger will be joining me in residence at Hogwarts – where I am ensured that there will be no lack of Professors willing to take her on as an Apprentice should she wish to continue her education."
"Including yourself?" The high official asked quietly. Severus met his grey eyes unflinchingly, though he dreaded the words that were to come from his mouth.
"Of course."
The officials nodded as one, murmuring amongst themselves. "Miss Granger – have you anything to say in regards to your decision?"
x x x
Hermione stood slowly, eyes to the floor as she moved to the podium. She was all too aware that Professor Snape was just a few steps behind her, his body between her and Lucius Malfoy should the sometimes unstable wizard decide to do anything untoward. She didn't know what she would say when this was all over to him for the defense that he provided seemingly from nowhere. Even to the extent that he agreed he would accept her in an apprenticeship if required.
"Only time will tell if I made the correct decision this morning," she addressed the Ministry's panel with a voice that she was proud to say didn't waver so much as a fraction. "However I believed it then, and still do, to be the best choice for my future. As Professor Snape stated, there are any number of professionals that I may learn from at Hogwarts."
"Neither contract is what I would have chosen for my life, however given the current circumstances and the law that was enacted, I may only make what decisions are available. I stand by my choice of Professor Snape."
The head official nodded, regarding her without mirth. "We are all too aware of the difficult position that you have been placed in, Miss Granger. And you have sympathies from most of our number."
It took every ounce of composure she could summon not to yell and scream that they were amongst the very same law makers that had helped pass the bloody law. She wanted to spit in his oh so 'compassionate' face, smack him, do anything to wipe that falsified emotion from him.
But she didn't. She stood still, waiting for him to continue, aware of Dumbledore and Snape also waiting. Malfoy would be gloating, as he was wont to do. He just had that eternal cocky optimism that came from getting everything he wanted in life. This could only go his way, of course; at least in his eyes. She wasn't so sure. The officials hadn't seemed all that impressed by his reasoning.
"This was a fool's errand, Mister Malfoy. The contract has been signed and there is nothing within it to persuade this council to overturn it. Therefore we rule that the contract submitted by Alessander Snape will proceed as previously agreed upon."
It was a victory, she realized. A real victory. Yet, it felt like a consolation prize in her eyes. She didn't have to wed Draco. She still had to marry Snape. And the world was still turning. Only a couple hours until dinner and then she'd be telling her parents after that.
Her life could still, very well, fall apart.
She turned stiffly, making her way past Malfoy and out of the room without a word of thanks to the councilors what had they really done, in the end, other than uphold her sentence – life in the prison known as matrimony. Her jailor? Professor Severus Snape.
x x x
"I'll be along in a minute, sir," Severus murmured to Dumbledore, inclining his head ever so discreetly to where Lucius waited, still sitting, on the other side of the room.
"What game are you playing, Snape?" the blonde haired wizard hissed the moment the room had cleared. "Our Lord will not be pleased by this."
"No more so than if you'd allowed Draco to marry the mudblood," Severus sneered, rolling his eyes. "Is it my fault she chose myself over your lout of a son? Perhaps if he had not made her life miserable for these last years."
Lucius' face reddened. "And why should he have been nice to –her- of all people? She's friends with Potter. A mudblood. A good for nothing little Gryffindor. What do you propose to do with her, hmm? She'll sic the crazy old man on you the moment she finds out what you really are."
"So I don't let her find out. Did you think it would be any easier for your son? Keeping her in Malfoy Manor like some toy bride while our associates reveled below? I think not." Severus glanced around sharply, as if suddenly paranoid of where they stood. He was surprised that Lucius, for all that he was usually so careful, would dare speak of these things in the Ministry itself, as if he were above reproach. "We speak too openly here."
Lucius frowned, but his own eyes darted around. "You're right, of course. This isn't over, Snape."
Severus bit his tongue, lips spreading into a tight thin line as he watched his one time friend sweep from the room. He had no doubt that Malfoy would stir up some spot of trouble for him before the next meeting. And there would be pain, he was sure of it.
"Everything taken care of?" Dumbledore muttered under his breath as Severus rejoined their group. Granger was standing a few meters away, arms crossed over her chest. She looked as though at any moment she would either throw a fit or cry. He wasn't sure that he wanted either, as they'd both result in nothing less than an ever worsening headache at this point.
"You know Lucius and his threats," he nodded. "There'll be hell to pay come the next revel. I wouldn't be surprised if my marriage is the center of festivities."
The Headmaster, he noted, had the good grace to pale, at least. Festivities at a revel often meant torture, or worse.
"But we'll deal with that when it comes," he smiled thinly. His day was ruined. His life ruined.
And the night was only going to get worse.
x x x End Partx x x