Thank you again, again, and again, for your continued reading and reviewing this story! It definitely helps!
I've struggled a bit with this chapter wanting to include ALL the discussion between the reunited men, but also knowing most of their conversation would be repeats of what you've learned in previous chapters! Hopefully, this is a happy medium!
Some of you asked for longer chapters, so hopefully, this strikes your fancy :)
Enjoy :)
Hermione looked at Kingsley with shock on her face. Harry had stunned Sirius and Severus and walked right over their bodies and left the room. That was certainly not the reaction she'd been expecting.
"I think you'd better follow him, Hermione," Kingsley said, waving his wand to cast a finite on the two men stuck on the floor.
"Right!" she exclaimed, hurrying out of the room.
Hermione caught up with Harry as he marched into the DMLE, screaming for his team of Aurors.
"Harry, stop!" she shouted, "Why are you screaming for the Aurors?"
Harry whirled around, his face a deep red, rage in his eyes. "What the FUCK, Hermione? There are two men in there impersonating MY Godfather and SNAPE! And you're standing there like it's just another day! It must be polyjuice, so I'm going to get my team together and we're going to go interrogate them after the potion wears off."
Hermione raised her eyebrows, and softly said "Harry, do you think that Kingsley would have just sat there calm as a clam while god knows who impersonated two men he called friends?"
"He did! He told me to open the door and there they were!" Harry ranted.
Hermione grabbed his arm, pulling him into his office and slamming the door behind her. "Sit down, Harry," she said, pushing him towards a chair.
She sent a quick missive to Kingsley, using the enchanted wall map that she'd developed. She let him know that Harry had riled up the Aurors, and she had it under control here, just give them a few minutes.
When she approached Harry, she noticed the shaking of his hands, the tears in his eyes, and understood that he was more than angry with her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered gently. "I wanted to tell you sooner when I found out, but you know I'm held to strict confidentiality measures with my job. I only just found out about the law a few days ago and about Sirius and Severus just yesterday. In fact, I spent most of the day in Mungo's after fainting when they revealed themselves."
Harry grunted in response.
"It's not my place to tell you their stories, and I'm sure you have so much you want to say to both me, and to them, but you can't do that from here. I need you up there, Harry." Hermione explained. "This law is going to be a mess, and I need someone by my side who can help me. I don't know Sirius like you did, and I'm going to have to marry him. And SNAPE! Harry, I have to marry SNAPE!"
Harry bent over in the chair, shoulders shaking, and it took Hermione a moment to realize he was laughing, not crying.
"Oh my god," he gasped. "I get to have the brother talk with them!"
Harry rejoined the group in the Minister's office feeling much calmer than he was previously. He walked straight up to Severus Snape and held out his hand.
"Sir. Your memories changed the tide of the battle, and while the things I learned in them were quite shit, I mean finding out I had to die, that sucked, they were the reason we won. I know I'm forever in your debt for the numerous times you saved my ass over the years." Harry sucked in a breath, waiting for a response from the stoic man.
Severus just stared, slack-jawed, at the young man before him. He never expected the young boy he remembered from Hogwarts to grow up and become mature and understanding.
Sirius snorted loudly, "Language, Harry!"
Harry looked as though he couldn't decide between punching the man or hugging him, and when Sirius rose from his chair, he threw himself into his Godfather's arms.
Several hours later, the group emerged from the Minister's office. They had spent the time behind the closed doors with Harry raging, asking questions, crying, and finally accepting the circumstances laid before him. The five of the office's occupants had detailed what had happened in each of their lives since Sirus' passing through the veil, including the year on the run, breaking into Gringotts disguised as Bellatrix Lestrange, destroying Horcruxes, returning to Hogwarts (for Hermione) and Auror training (for Harry. Sirius described some of the healing magic he'd been working on in the DOM and Hermione demanded to review his research, naturally. Severus discussed his role in feeding information to the Ministry about Death Eaters that had remained on the run after the final battle. He spoke freely about his work in the DOM on potions, specifically those related to healing curse damage and preventing injury.
Harry tried to bring up the memories, again, and Severus shut him down, stating he'd not speak about those memories, now or ever.
Harry knew he'd be angry for a while to come, but couldn't find it in himself to shun the idea of having his Godfather back in his life.
The friendship between Sirius and Severus was baffling to Harry, and to Hermione, it was simply amusing.
It was clear the two had bonded over the years they had spent within the Department of Mysteries, and while it was shocking to not hear the classic "mutt" and "Snivellus" insults, it was relieving to Harry to know that the two men he admired most were friends, not enemies.
The group had spoken about the marriage law, both the spellwork and magical matching portions, and the legislation that would be implemented. Harry found it repulsive, but he understood the significance of a dwindling society and the need to ensure future generations.
"Kingsley," Harry said, after staring contemplatively at the floor for several minutes, "I think I can help."
It only took a few moments for Kingsley to summon the rest of the committee for a briefing, given that half the members were already in his presence.
As the committee gathered in the conference room again, Kingsley spoke up first.
"As you can see," he declared, "We have Harry Potter among us today. He has been told of the circumstances of the medical crisis, the genetic matching spell, and as you must be aware, we have reintroduced him to the Unspeakables, as well."
"We are not here, however, to talk about Mr. Potter, but rather an idea that Hermione came up with during her days of research, that we will hope to gain Harry's support in." he continued.
"Hermione spoke very bluntly with me about how the public will perceive this law, and we're all aware it won't be friendly. People are going to be angry, hurt, and scared. We're facing the possibility of a rioting society if we're not careful." Kingsley paused to let that sink in with the others. "That's where we are hoping Harry can help."
"Right," Harry spoke up. "We all know I'm the wonderous boy-who-lived-twice and that I can't even go to the Alley without the papers flashing cameras in my face. If the law has public proponents and supporters, who the community already idolizes or respect for whatever reason, I think that will help the legislation be better received."
"Having two-thirds of the so-called Golden Trio support the law, we believe the public perception may be a bit tamer," Hermione interjected, "But we also want to approach upper-level Order members, and members of the Ministry and St. Mungo's."
"Who do you have in mind?" Healer Pye asked.
"Well, to start with, I believe everyone in the room, Harry excluded, should recast the magical matching spell. With the changes I've made to the spell and the legislation, matches could very well be different or extended." Hermione continued. "I've already recast and there were no changes to my matches, but there could very well be changes to yours."
There was a murmur of general agreement around the room, and Kingsley nodded, "Good idea, Hermione".
"Second, I believe we should call all of our matches into the Ministry to explain the situation, and ask them to support the legislation with us. I believe I'll have a bit of a hard time with Malfoy, but maybe seeing his Godfather will loosen him upon on it." she chuckled lightly. "After we have met our matches, we should call in those we'd like to support the law with us and repeat the process of their casting and talking with their matches. With any luck we could have 12 - 15 couples step out in support of the law."
"You know Severus and I will not be able to speak publically until the Minister is able to clear our histories with the Wizengamot, although I expect that won't be hard for you to figure out," Sirius winked at Kingsley as he spoke, "And we'll have to figure out what is still in our names as the last to our lines. Severus will have to claim the Prince line with Gringotts and I left the Black estate to Harry, but"
"Wait," Harry interrupted. "I haven't touched it. It never really felt right, and I have the Potter vaults and the Order of Merlin money, and I am more than okay. I've been living in Grimmauld though, if you want it back I can move - I'll get the Black estate returned to you as soon as possible!"
"Harry," Sirius smiled gently at his godson. "You couldn't pay me enough galleons to live in Grimmauld again. If you want it, it's yours. The vaults... well I'm going to have some kids to support, aren't I? I wouldn't argue with having them back if you insist."
"We can definitely discuss all of that in private, I think," Hermione took over the conversation, "But we should cast today, share our matches, and call those people in. Harry can meet with the Order members we are going to ask to support the law if they agree they can cast next week, and we'll bring in their matches after that."
She turned to Harry, "I know this is probably the last thing you want to think about, after all the shocks of today, but because you and Ginny aren't married, you'll have to decide if you'll marry and then cast as a couple, or cast separately. If you cast separately and you aren't matched... well... It would be very difficult."
Harry looked solemn. "Yes, I was thinking about that earlier in Kingsley's office. Not that it's anyone's business in this room, but I suppose we're all about to know more information about each other than we'd prefer, but I am going to cast alone. I'll talk to Ginny tonight."
Hermione stared at Harry with confusion on her face. "Harry..." she whispered.
"Not now, Hermione," he demanded, a blush rising on his cheeks and ears. "Not here."
Croaker cleared his throat and spoke up, eager to move the conversation along after that awkward stalling point.
"Miss Granger, I do think you've got a point. We should all agree to recast." He handed parchment to each person in the room. The silence hung thick in the air, each person weighing their future in these moments.
"Remember," Hermione spoke up, "That your intention will be read by the spell. It will match you to the gender, or genders, that you prefer, you won't have to speak it out loud, but you also can't fool the spell. That will need to be clear when we address this with the public."
She was stalling, she knew.
"Right then," Kingsley said with a sigh, "I should go first."
"Let's just all go" Sirius laughed, "It'll take the pressure off us, you know."
Each person in the room prepared to cast the spell, slicing their finger and drawing it across the parchments in front of them. The incantation geneticae spatium was spoken by each.
As results showed up on the parchments, looks of curiosity, anger, and maybe a bit of fear, shone on most faces.
"Who wants to begin?" Kingsley asked.
"Well, once again, I've matched with Hermione. No one else." Sirius said.
Severus spoke next, "I've also matched again with Hermione." There was a pause, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "And Draco Malfoy."
No one spoke to that, aware this was incredibly personal information that Snape would not share in ordinary circumstances.
Kingsley revealed his match, Gwenog Jones, the muggle-born captain of the Holyhead Harpies.
Mr. Croaker was paired with Isabella Malone, a half-blood who works in the Department of Records.
Healer Pye looked nervous but spoke up "I didn't cast last time, as I was outside the original age range, but... I've matched with Minerva McGonagall.
Tiberius Ogden was another who did not previously cast, but he spoke quickly after clearing his throat. "I've matched with Abigail Frond. I believe she works at Flourish and Blotts. She's a muggle-born, I think."
The room quieted as the only one left to share their results was Harry.
"I... I wasn't expecting this," he stuttered, "I mean Ginny is pureblood so I assumed I'd match with her since I'm half-blood, or at least with... someone else, someone..."
Hermione reached across the table, gripping his hand in hers, "It's okay, Harry. You cast alone for a reason. No one here is going to say anything."
"It's... well there's two. Ella Wright. I think she was at Hogwarts with us, wasn't she Hermione?" he asked.
"Yes, two years below. She was in Hufflepuff, a muggle-born."
"Right, so her. And...," he grew quiet, his cheeks blazing. He handed the parchment to Hermione.
Hermione gasped, "It's Narcissa. Narcissa Malfoy."