Previously:
Maybe she would wake up tomorrow and this will all be a dream. . .
No such luck. She woke up the next morning without having had any dreams at all. So that proved that the nightmare she called a life right now was real. Just to make sure, she pinched herself. Yep, it's real.
She groaned, slipped out of bed, and pulled on a sweatshirt over her pyjamas. At some point during the night she had gotten up and changed, but she didn't remember it. She really was tired after all of the drama yesterday.
She padded into the bathroom and pulled her hair into a pony, brushed her teeth, and went down the stairs and into the kitchen. Molly was already making breakfast, and a sleepy-looking Harry was sitting at the table, gazing at the coffee in his mug like it was the most interesting thing in the whole world. Hermione sat down across from him and leaned forward, trying to catch Harry's attention. She waved a hand in front of his face and he jerked, a drop of the hot coffee slopping over the rim of the mug.
"Huh?" he mumbled, finally looking up and spotting her. "Oh, hey, 'Mione,"
"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing!" he said, a little too quickly. Hermione raised an eyebrow in response.
"Are you sure?" she asked again. He sighed dejectedly.
"Fine, I'll tell you." He raked a hand through his messy hair and peered out the window at the still dark sky. "It's just, Kingsley said that all the unmarried witches and wizards would be married to someone they possibly don't know. What if that happens to me? What if I'm not paired with Ginny, or another close girl firend, and I'm with someone I don't even know?"
"Harry, you have to think positively," Hermione covered Harry's hand with her own. "Kingsley knows you, and he knows that you love Ginny and she loves you back. He'll have taken that into account. With me, he didn't know that I was with Ron, so he paired me with Malfoy. Why he would do that, I will never know, because we get along horribly, and will probably have ripped each other's heads off within a week of living with each other."
Harry laughed a little. "Thanks. I think I needed that." Hermione shrugged.
"No problem. That's what I'm here for."
Molly placed a plate of eggs and toast on front of Hermione, and said, "You should be able to find a way out of this, Hermione. There's got to be a loophole in the law; there always is. You just have to find it." Molly smiled at her gently, then went back to the stove to make more breakfast for everyone else, because they could hear the sounds of people getting up and ready.
"Thanks, Molly. I'm actually going over to the Minstry today and see if I can get a copy of the law. You're right; I've studied so many laws in my lifetime, and there is always a loophole. They're just carefully concealed behind fancy words and phrases." Hermione said.
Ron plopped in the chair net to her, and dropped his head on his arms, groaning weakly. Hermione rubbed his back soothingly; even if this law was keeping her fron marrying Ron, they were still a couple. It was her job to find out what was wrong, although she had a good idea of what it was long before Ron lifted his head and gazed absently out the window.
"Rough night?" she said. Ron dropped his head back on his arms with another groan.
"I had a nightmare where I had to marry Pansy Parkinson. I couldn't sleep the rest of the night."
Harry shuddered and patted the redhead's shoulder knowingly. "I would have trouble sleeping after that too, mate. You just have to think of the bright side."
"What bright side? There is no bright side!" Ron whined, his voice slightly muffled ny his arms. Harry thought about that for a moment.
"Yeah, if that happens, there is no bright side." he finally said. "Enjoy the ignorance while it lasts, though, because sooner or later, the law will be announced, and you'll know who you're spending the rest of your life with. And if you get paired with a Slytherin, then you need to enjoy being a free man as long as you can, because there is no nway that you will not be treated like a chained dog in your married life."
Ron lifted his head long enough to glare at Harry, before retreating back into the darkness of his arms. "You are so helpful, Harry. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome!" Harry said brightly, either not hearing the thick sarcasm in Ron's voice, or choosing to ignore it. Harry stood up and walked away, smiling happily to Fred and George when they passed him.
Fred had been close to dying during the war, and for a while, they had actually thought that he was dead. But then George had realized his brother was still breathing, and they were able to save him. He was fine now; covered in scars, both ohysical and emotional, but fine. And now that they had realized just how close they came to losing each other, Fred and George were inseperable. If you saw one without the other, you would automatically assume something was wrong, because there was no way they would leave each other's side willingly.
George sat down in Harry's now unoccupied seat, and Fred sat down next to him. "What's up with Mr. Happy Pants today?" George asked.
Ron gazed at his older brothers for a moment, groaned, and, dropping his head against the table repeatedly. Hermione moved a washcloth to rest under Ron's forehead unconciously, and answered for Ron. "Harry just ruined any chances of Ron hoping to be paired with someone he knew and liked."
"Oh, really?" Fred said.
"Don't get any ideas, either of you." Hermione warned, practically reading their minds.
"Hermione, we would never do that. You wound us with your harsh words," George said, and to emphasize his words, they both put a hand on thet heart.
"You'll live." Hermione snapped. "Make sure he doesn't hurt himself; I need to get ready to go to the Ministry."
"You can count on us!" Fred said.
"I highly doubt it." Hermione muttered softly enough that the twins didn't hear her. But she got up anyways, and went up the stairs with heavy feet, dreading the fact that maybe, maybe there wasn't a loophole for this law.
A/N: WOOHOOO! Two chapters in one day! I feel like I should get a prize. Anyways, I decided to finish this chapter as well, because I want to finish all the unfinished chapters I have so I can start fresh when I come back from Michigan. Review please!