Hermione Granger
September 1st, 2003, Hermione Granger's flat, Hackney, London
Hermione stared at the official looking letter in trepidation. She knew that she could turn down up to five matches but the letters were sent out according to the accuracy of the matches. If she turned down Number 1 then Number 2 would have a lower percentile. Of course she knew that high percentiles did not automatically mean happy marriages, the participants had to do their part as well.
"Get on with it, Hermione, dithering never helped anyone."
She used her wand to slice the letter open only to drop it in surprise. Rodolphus Lestrange! Bellatrix' widower was her top match? As she still sometimes had nightmares about her experiences at the witch's mercy in Malfoy Manor that might make for akward situations in the bedroom. Hermione tried to remember how the wizard looked like. She had only a fuzzy recollection of him. Having been under the Imperius since the break-out from Azkaban his trial had been another surprise in post-war times. He'd been a free man for some years now and had not appeared at any public functions. Hermione seemed to recollect an off-hand remark of Kingsley to the extent that Rodolphus Lestrange was working tirelessly to bring the Lestrange holdings back into shape. And of course Luna had married Rabastan Lestrange. The actual marriage had been a family affair but since then Hermione had received quite a few invitations. All of which she had not heeded, not out of malice but because she was working so much. The young witch shuddered when she realised to what extent she had let not only Luna but a lot of other friends, too, get estranged from her.
Thankfull an owl just then pecked on her kitchen window. It was a healthy looking animal of unassuming size and spezies.
Ms Granger,
I would be glad if you could tell me a time soon when we can meet to discuss our Ministry matching. As we are both persons of public interest my preference would be a place in the Muggle world but I will of course adhere to your wishes.
Kind regards
Rodolphus Reynard Lestrange
Well. That was quick. And surprising. Hermione saw no sense in keeping the man in suspense and asked the owl to wait for her reply.
Mr Lestrange,
I heartily agree to your suggestion to meet far far away from Rita Skeeter and her ilk. If you are free we could meet today. I left work early in order to read my scroll in private.
Best wishes
Hermione Granger
After she'd closed the window again she noticed that it was rather dirty. The rest of the flat also looked like it belonged to a hard-working woman not too keen on housekeeping. Hermione secured her hair in a headscarf, changed out of her work-clothes and started to clean her flat. Maybe it would see a visitor in the not too distant future.
Deliberating whether to transfigure a wooden spoon into a temporary bookcase she decided to stack her books in a corner of her bedroom. She had no intention to postpone her marriage if she thought Lestrange and her were indeed a good match, surely Lestrange Manor held enough space for her books. Attacking a particularly stubborn spot on the bathroom tiles she even joked that its library might be a deciding factor for herself agreeing to marry its owner. Just then a bear Patronus charged into the bathroom.
Would you like to meet in an hour in the London Review Bookshop in Holborn? It's behind the London Museum, close to the Apparition spot.
The voice was quite deep and cultured but held none of the affected drawl she knew from Malfoy and Nott. Hermione drew her wand and conjured her otter.
Thank you, Mr Lestrange, I will be there.
Abandoning her cleaning the young witch turned her mind to getting ready for a very important first meeting. She took a shower and used a charm to straighten her locks somewhat, then put her hair up in a chignon. To decided what to wear took far longer than usual. In the end she settled on a shortsleeved silk blouse in a russet colour, tan light cardigan and a dark-blue knee-length skirt and flats.