"So you're saying there's nothing we can do?" Hermione rolled her eyes from Minerva, to Severus, then back to Minerva, the both of them shaking their heads slowly, Minerva appearing heartbroken while Severus had sat there with a stone jaw, his piercing eyes glued to Hermione with conviction. She allowed herself to slouch in the chair as Minerva folded her hands if only to fiddle her thumbs back and fourth in an earnest attempt to slam them about her desk.
"He runs the Ministry now and thanks to Professor Dumbledore's decision to have protected Severus, allowing to remain in the castle, we can be lucky that you aren't being charted off to some unknown slum—"
"—We do not live in slum." Severus interjected, Minerva bit her tongue and he turned to address Hermione. "Miss Granger, it is understandable for you to be hesitant about accepting what is, but it is important to remember that he chose not to kill the both of us." He shrugged. "A small price to pay for our lives."
"I'll be forever grateful to you for saving my life, Professor, but there has to be a way around this." Hermione's mind reeled with possibilities. "You're close with him, aren't you? Can't you go to him and explain the situation to him?"
"You think the Dark Lord would allow an excuse such as that to undo a bond of a law OF WHICH he, himself, has put into place?" Severus arched an eyebrow. He knew Hermione knew the answer and he did feel sorry for her as much as he felt sorry for himself, but she was in denial. And for good reason. If he was in her shoes, he'd be damned to wake up and find out he was married to someone he was only forced to respect, let alone married at all. Hermione pressed her lips together and sat upright, turning her knees in her seat to face Minerva.
"Professor," She said to Minerva, "Isn't there anything you could do? Surely the Order has some protection about this kind of thing or a reference of some sort that would—"
"—Had the Ministry remained in the hands of the Order, most certainly, but with the take over there is not much power we have over it. The most we'd be able to do is pick out an expensive wedding gift and be sure it gets delivered promptly."
Severus snorted, hiding it with a cough and his hand. Minerva sent him a wink, but Hermione, mortified, covered her face with her hands and bent over her knees.
"I'm going to be sick." She said.
"Hermione." Minerva said gently. "I've known Severus for longer than you've been alive. Had I not approved of this union, I would be furiously putting my own life at stake so as to end it. He is a good man, one that will respect and take care of you. There's far worse people you could have been bonded with."
"There's no need to urge this on, Minerva." Severus scowled. "Kind words are appreciated, but it's beginning to sound you're actually supportive of this."
"A little support is needed right now, for the both of you."
"Miss Granger is already petrified and possibly scarred to life due to it. As much as you think she needs it, perhaps a simple 'I'm sorry,' and 'I'm here for you,' will suffice? And what about me? I'm not exactly thrilled to be in this position either. Marriage was not one of my life plans, especially to Hermione Granger—no offense." He made eye contact with Hermione who shot her head up at her name.
"None taken. None at all." Hermione replied. Minerva ignored it and continued.
"Are you saying my best Gryffindor isn't good enough?" Minerva asked. "It sounds to me like you're willing to be killed to bring an end to this."
"Don't make this about Gryffindor. The option to die is out the door, I would not consider it in the slightest over an eternity now chained to her, but you're jumping the broom. Offering wedding gifts?"
"What would you have me say, then, Severus?" Minerva was growing red in the face. Severus lifted his hands in a shrug.
"Oh I don't know, something more along the lines of 'I'll look into it.' For Merlin's sake, Minerva. This is a situation a little lie isn't going to sour."
A silence fell in the room as Severus and Minerva ran out of things to say, only the sound of a sniffling Hermione who still had her head in her hands over her knees that went on for the better part of a minute until Minerva stood, her chair scraping backward, and approached the girl. She knelt down beside her, an arm over her back, the other hand brushing through her hair and she glared at Severus over her spectacles.
"Your wife is crying." She pointed out sarcastically. "Yet I'm the one consoling her."
Severus let out an audible sigh and made a scene out of standing. In two steps he was also next to Hermione, though he did not hold her. Instead he stood there awkwardly, his fingertips hesitantly patting her shoulder. It was then Hermione lifted her head and dropped her hands enough to look at him. She let out something between a sob and a laugh and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hands, shrugging the both of them off.
"I don't need to be consoled every time I cry." She stated, more to Severus than Minerva. "I'm just trying to figure things out. I'll be okay."
"I really am sorry this happened to you, Hermione." Minerva said. "I'll be here for you if you need anything." There was a smirk on her lips from being able to use the line Severus had fed her and Severus shook his head.
"What am I? Chopped liver?" He shook his head, straightened his frock, and directed himself to the door. "I'll be in my classroom." He said before slamming the door closed behind him.
"Marriage isn't all bad." Minerva said and Hermione offered her a smile in return.
"If I need that pep talk, I'll be sure to come visit you." She said, wiping her face once more and taking in a deep breath. She stood, making sure she had gathered her belongings out of habit. "I think we just need to speak alone and get an understanding."
"Good luck, Miss Granger." Minerva said as she rose and watched Hermione leave, closing the door softly.
Hermione must have stood outside of the potions classroom door for at least five minutes before deciding to push it open. Her mind had been racing with questions and words she wanted to say to Severus, all of them sounding harsh and unnecessary in her mind until she softened them up and turned them into something easier to hear. Being thankful he saved her life was genuine; she was forever in his debt and she was glad he did so. Having traded a life she knew over to marriage, however, that is what irked her more than anything about this situation. She had no choice, instead having been thrown in it without a say. She was barely even alive again before the decision had been made, which felt unfair and absurd to her. She'd just have to continually plant the doubt of making this a civil union in his mind and instead turn it into just an understanding, put up a wall between a forced marriage and what they both wanted from it, if anything at all.
Just as she was about to push the door open, it opened on its own. Severus stood behind it, his dark eyes immediately glancing over her and caused her to shrink back; all that powerful motivation she had spent building disappearing in the second she saw him. He reached a hand for her, bringing it around her shoulders and scooped her inside. With one final look up and down the corridors, he shut the door. Hermione chewed her lip nervously as he blocked her way out.
"Was it your plan to stand at the door all night?" He asked and Hermione wrung her hands.
"What? Oh, no, I was going to come in, I was just...I just wanted to be sure..."
"Miss Granger, if you are going to be around me more than as a student, I suggest you learn to keep your stuttering at a minimum." He looked over her once more and then stepped away from the door, crossing his arms and slouched against the wall, taking on a lesser looming position. Hermione stopped wringing her hands and instead held them together loosely at her waist.
"I'm sorry." He said. It came out quick, as if the words tasted bad. "I've to learn to be patient."
"You're fine." Hermione sighed. "I'll have to learn to not fear you."
His head tilted.
"You fear me?"
"Yes. Well, no. I mean—"
"Stuttering again, Miss Granger."
Hermione took in a breath and tried again. "I don't fear you as if I'm scared of you. I just respect you greatly and the pressure of making myself look like an uneducated fool is what happens."
Severus twitched his head, the hair that fell into his eyes shimmying off his face.
"You think that I, the one who often refers to you as a know-it-all, would think you uneducated? How interesting."
"It made sense in my mind."
"Hmm." Severus blinked. He stepped away from the wall, dropping his arms, and allowed his cloak to billow out behind him as he made his way to a door on the back wall; his own personal living space. Hermione watched him as he entered through the doorway, leaving the door open. Deciding it was an invitation to follow, she did.
Behind the door she found a windowless room that seemed to fit the Professor as she knew him, charcoal grey walls and black accents. The furniture had been modern, surprisingly comfortable looking save for a rocker chair next to the fireplace on the far wall. An open kitchen to her left with a small island and high-set wooden dining table big enough for four. Severus was hunched over, searching cabinets and clinking glass together. These rooms seeming as one was small, but not too small as to make her feel suffocated. A short hallway to her right led to two doors, the door on the left side of the hallway closed and dark, the one at the end of the hallway was cracked open, a soft warm glow escaping. She could just make out the corner of a poster bed. The place was immaculately clean and tidy and didn't smell at all like the potions classroom, no trace of dampness or dungeon, that had all been left at the door, which she closed softly behind her only when she felt safe in her surroundings. No, his quarters had smelled of a spicy cologne, manly, comforting and fresh laundry.
He grabbed her hand when she wasn't looking, causing her to jump, but he lifted it to push a cold and smooth glass in her fingers. She sniffed it, immediately coughing from the fumes of the liquid inside.
"A stiff drink is in order." He said. "You can't disagree with me there."
She raised her glass, tipping it to him in a cheers before taking a timid sip. It burned her mouth, warmed her throat, caused her to make a face. He sipped his as if it didn't bother him at all.
"I know we already covered this, Professor, but I was hoping, without Headmistress McGonagall here, you'd be more open to finding a way out of this."
Severus considered her for a moment before sighing. He waved a hand to the couches before going to them himself when she didn't move. When they were sat he took another sip from his glass and cleared his throat.
"I'm afraid it's still the same. There's not much we can do."
"I was afraid of that." She had hoped he'd at least lie, tell her he'd look into it, but that moment was gone. "In that case, and I think you'll agree with me, we need to only act like we're married when the occasion calls for it. Continue living like it didn't happen, fitting the roles of husband and wife when it's expected."
"I do agree." Severus said, smoothly. "Of course it's hard to say when those situations will arise."
"I'm sure they won't be too hard to point out."
"And when they do? How will one of us alert the other?"
"Oh I don't know." Hermione shrugged. "A touch, a hug, a wink."
"Mmm. You've thought this through."
Hermione scowled at him. "You agree." She breathed, eyes narrowing as she judged his honesty. "Sounds to me more like you're only amusing me."
"You catch on quick, don't you?" Severus said, his voice showing signs of amusement, but his face remained placid. He tipped the rest of his drink into his mouth. Hermione sniffed at hers again but couldn't bring herself to drink it.
"The least of Voldemort's worries is how we act as a married couple. He could care less if I show compassion toward you or ignore you completely."
"Then why does it matter that we're married?" Hermione asked. Severus looked at her glass.
"Not a whiskey girl?" He inquired as he raised his hand, the bottle of whiskey he had poured from, gliding through the air and into his fingers. He poured himself another drink.
"Pity." He said before downing it and poured another.
"Not a drinking girl." Hermione answered judging him as she watching him.
"Suit yourself." He muttered.
"If He doesn't care, then why are we married?" She asked again. "Or are you dodging the answer for a reason?"
"Because he's punishing me." He said simply, and when Hermione's face scrunched into a wrinkled ball, he explained. "He caught me practically kissing you and thought he'd have some fun." And when Hermione's face remained wrinkled, shot back his third glass of whiskey and winced at the liquid, proving he wasn't exactly immune to its fiery effect. "I brought a sworn enemy of his back to life. For whatever reason he figured a bond would be better punishment than killing me."
"And you weren't at all shocked with his decision?"
"I was. It wasn't intentional to have that outcome."
"I mean you've seemed to take this so well, you haven't been as angry about it as I would have expected."
"The Dark Lord's had this planned for some time, placing a marriage law in effect for his Death Eaters and followers after he took over the Ministry." Severus thought about filling up another shot, but decided against it and placed the bottle and his glass on the table in front of him, remaining with his arms on his legs, rubbing his fingers together and found great interest in them.
"That sounds like an unfair plan." Hermione said. Severus sighed.
"It's mainly to secure a worthy reproduction rate." He looked to Hermione. "That way any child produced from the marriage would be of worthy blood. If every one of his followers married and had a child—"
"—a world full of dark blood." Hermione finished his sentence. Severus continued to stare at Hermione as if waiting for something. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, staring at the caramel liquid in her glass and then her breath hitched.
"Oh." She said when it dawned on her. She looked up from her glass to Severus, trying to hide her mortified realization.
"Think of me what you will, Miss Granger, but please place no blame on me for this. I wish it could be reversed as much as you do."
"Oh Merlin." Hermione said breathlessly again, the more her mind lingered on the fact that they would have to reproduce, the more her stomach dropped. She lifted the glass to her lips and took the shot in one swallow, holding it out, waving the other hand. "Another."
"I thought you weren't a drinker." Severus teased, ignoring her glare as he handed her the bottle.