I believe this is what people call "on a roll". Enjoy a third chapter! In one day! I think I'm going to give up for the night, but I'll pick it up again tomorrow if I have some time.

"Hermione Granger, do you accept Minerva McGonagall to be your lawfully wedded wife from this day forward, until such time as you have together produced no less than two heirs, at which point this Ministry shall null and void your bonding?" a stout looking woman asked.

The young woman in question, wearing a simple white gown she'd transfigured from a dress she'd bought for a Ministry ball six months ago, internally groaned at the Ministries modified wedding vows. Outwardly, she forced a small small. "I will."

"And do you, Minerva McGonagall, accept Hermione Granger to be your lawfully wedded wife from this day forward, until such time as you have together produced no less than two heirs, at which point this Ministry shall null and void your bonding?"

Hermione stifled a giggle as she saw Minerva roll her eyes. "I will."

"Then I declare you lawfully wedded," the Ministry woman stated. "You may kiss."

Hermione gulped. She'd totally spaced this part of a wedding ceremony. She and Minerva had talked late into the night yesterday, ironing out the details of how to present themselves for the wedding; being that they were both highly public figures, and despite their own lack of enthusiasm about the Marriage Law, they needed to support the newly formed Ministry. For all Kingsley had done for the Order during the war, the agreed that they owed it to him to put on a good face.

They had also talked about what the next few years would look like. The Ministry expected them to get pregnant pretty quickly, so they knew that they'd have to begin trying for a baby pretty quickly. Being that Hermione had been a twin, they were hopeful for a set of healthy twins of their own, at which point they could in theory be married, and have said marriage null and voided within a year. At that point, they'd split custody of the children. If they did not have twins, then it would be two years, give or take, but with the same end result.

In all of their discussion, they had not breached the subject of being intimate. Hermione, for her part, kept hoping Minerva would bring it up. In retrospect, she expected that Minerva had hoped the same. It was an awkward thing to bring up for them. There was a considerable age gap, and Hermione had very recently been Minerva's student. While they'd fought as equals at the end of the war, it didn't change that their relationship had been something akin to paternal for seven years.

Minerva was the first to move forward, though Hermione could see the uncertainty in her eyes. The only thing they really knew of each other regarding sexuality was that they both preferred the company of other women. "Well," she whispered. "Shall we?"

"Um, yeah," Hermione stammered. "I guess."

"Just relax, my dear," Minerva urged gently, lacing a slim, soft hand behind her neck, fingers tangling into curly brown hair.

Hermione let out a sigh, the older woman's easy touch sending a shiver down her spine. "Humm…" she muttered, leaning in as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Her lips met Minerva's, and despite having never kissed this woman before, she felt as if she was greeting a longtime lover, not those of a nearly perfect stranger.

What could have simply been a cold peck on the lips quickly morphed into a chaste, yet soul stirring kiss. Hermione thought she might have just kept right on kissing those lips if the owner had not pulled away after a moment. Hazel eyes looked up to meet curious looking emerald ones. "Oh my," Hermione whispered.

"Indeed," Minerva replied with a soft smile. "Shall we return...home?"

"Uhuh…" came a squeak from her mouth.

They arrived at Hogwarts, directly into Minerva's personal quarters, with a muffled POP of side along apparition. The older woman let go of her...wife… as soon as they fully materialized. While Hermione has certainly been receptive to her kiss, Minerva didn't want to push her former pupil too far. Hermione had indicated that she would not be ovulating for another week, so she did not expect that they would have sex tonight, though they had already agreed to share a bed from the first night, if only to help make them more comfortable with each other.

They'd gone to dinner together after their four 'o'clock nuptials. They'd talked about Hermione's plans for the future, aside from their marriage. Minerva had been surprised to learn that her former pupil had spent the last year working not for the Wizarding Ministry, but rather for the muggle one. She was working as an Undersecretary for the Muggle Prime Minister, and hoping to convince him to change things so that more than just the Minister of the time is aware of the Wizarding world. She knew it wouldn't go well to have the whole world know, but if at least part of the cabinet were informed, she felt that it would allow for a support system for muggle families to develop in time, so that muggleborn witches and wizards would not be forced to maintain the statute of secrecy as strictly as it currently was.

After that, they'd agreed to return to the school. The had discussed just strolling down Diagon Alley for a while, but as well known as they both were, they were bound to encounter reporters - Rita Skeeter, for example. Neither of them were in any mood to deal with the likes of her.

"Would you be interested in a game of chess?" Minerva asked her bride, gesturing to the set she kept set up in her small, personal library.

"With tea?" Hermione inquired.

"I was thinking of a tumbler of firewhisky," Minerva admitted. "But tea is of course an option as well."

"No, I think you're on the right mark," the younger witch admitted. "I'll take firewhisky as well."

"As you wish."

Ten minutes later, the pair were seated in opposite armchairs, chessboard between them and tumblers of firewhisky in their respective hands. They played several games of chess; Hermione won two of the games, but the balance shifted in Minerva's favor as she pulled a close win on their fifth. By then, it was getting late into the evening, and they agreed to get ready to bed.

They agreed a lot, Minerva noticed. Hermione was, in fact, the most agreeable person she'd ever shared living space with. When Minerva had said she preferred playing black, Hermione had nodded and moved a white pawn two spaces ahead. When they both began yawning, Hermione asked if she'd prefer to use the shower first, offering to make the trip down to the four common rooms to check on the students. Minerva had mentioned to Hermione the previous day that she still, as Headmistress, checked the dorms before she went to bed. In this case, she'd told Hermione to go ahead and shower first, while she checked the students, and the younger witch had been perfectly agreeable to that as well.

As the settled into the large canopy bed, both showered and in modest sleeping attire, they bid each other sweet dreams, but neither made any move to instigate marital relations. Minerva was fine with that - expected it, even. What she had not expected was to wake up some hours later to find Hermione resting her head on her chest, with the younger woman's arm wrapped comfortably around the elder's waist.

Perhaps there was hope of this being a happy marriage after all, the dreary eyed Headmistress mused as she drifted back to sleep.

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