The contract
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Hermione had taken a good shower and got ready slowly, after all, she had plenty of time since she had taken her compulsory leave from work. She changed her dress and shoes a few times, in doubt about which dress was the most appropriate for a business wedding. The thought of a wedding for business drew a low laugh of incredulity and derision from her.
"Who would have thought Hermione Granger would submit to that", the chestnut complained to herself in a low voice as she smoothed out her simple black dress out of pure custom, as her black clothes had been hair-free since Choorshanks' passing nearly two years ago.
She touched up her lipstick one last time and straightened the wavy locks that were falling out of her bun. She had time, but it had been a good few years since she had lost the will to do anything different with her hair. She didn't have the patience to extra curl her brown waves, and she was lazy to straighten her hair. The solution was always the good old messy bun, which, that day, gave her a totally tidy look. Satisfied with what she saw in the mirror, she slung a black woollen coat over her shoulders and left the flat, listening to the sound of her heels echoing through the corridors of the building.
Hermione lived in a muggle neighbourhood relatively close to the Ministry of Magic. She could clearly opt for a wizardly district, but that would ultimately make it difficult for her parents to visit. Not that her parents visited her often, since they didn't even remembered her, but the witch preferred to keep the hopes of them regaining their memories and the possibilities of a happy family reunion open. And she really liked where she lived. Her building wasn't very modern, in fact it was quite old, but very well cared for. It had an old library feel that had simply charmed the girl, and there were only a few flights of stairs to her flat, which was on the third and top floor.
The flat was spacious, with two bedrooms, a bookcase that took up an entire corner of the living room, and even had a ladder on a rail so that she could reach the books that were at the top. The veranda was large and had a round bistro table that Hermione had inherited from her grandmother, four chairs and lots of plants. The low, yellow light made that outside environment very comfortable and cosy during the summer to receive friends, which was also rarely the case. With Harry and Ginny living in Godric's Hollow and all the meetings taking place at The Burrow, Hermione rarely received visitors there. She would never admit it, but it made her a little upset. She liked having people over, and she liked sharing her own space with the people she loved, but it just never happened. Hermione loved her small home, but as time passed and Crookshanks died she realised that it was actually too big for just her.
Hermione walked briskly to the corner, looked around to make sure there was no one watching, and Apparated to the address Bill had indicated. When she arrived at the place, she wondered if she had got the address wrong. It was a dimly lit street with little traffic, and there certainly wasn't a restaurant nearby. She sighed nervously and searched inside her coat pocket for the paper containing the address again, to make sure she wasn't lost. She confirmed, frustrated, that the address on the paper was the same address indicated on the street sign, and started walking from one side to the other, paying attention to any movement.
"How can you walk so fast from one side to the other in those heels?" Bill's amused voice reached her ears and she turned to him, relieved. As soon as she did, Bill gave a low whistle-you look great.
"If I'd known you were going to bring me to the alley where you're probably going to kill me and hide my body, I wouldn't have come in heels" she replied and smiled back, stepping closer to him. Bill let out a laugh.
"It's not the most conventional place for a date, I must agree" he replied and held out his arm for her to wrap around his own. "Shall we?
"A date?"
"Well..." he scratched his head with his free hand, which caused a few strands of his hair to come loose from his ponytail. "We're here to talk about marriage, so I don't see a problem with calling it a date".
"You have a point" she replied thoughtfully as she felt Bill lead her to a dark little door at the end of the cul-de-sac.
Bill knocked three times on the little door and said some word she couldn't identify. It wasn't a spell, but it was definitely Latin. And as soon as he did, the hatch opened and he led her into the room, revealing an extremely cozy restaurant. The atmosphere was intimate, the tables were round and covered partially in red Italian tablecloths. Above each table, a large hanging sconce illuminated the plates and bowls, and Hermione realised she could only describe the place as 'romantic'.
The red-haired man pulled out a chair for her to sit in, and soon after he pulled out a chair for himself so that he was facing her, but close enough for their knees to touch. Hermione looked around and noticed that the audience in the place was somewhat diverse. At some tables there were elves, at others burly men who looked very reminiscent of Hagrid and at others, to the chestnut's surprise, some house elves wearing very flashy clothes. A sincere smile escaped Hermione's lips, and Bill noticed.
"How did you discover this place?" she asked delightedly, looking him in the eye.
"When I was attacked by Graybeck, not all places were welcoming" he shrugged. "So we used to dine here".
"We? You and Fleur?" Hermione asked, feeling strangely uncomfortable about being in a restaurant with Bill where he used to dine with his ex-wife.
"Of course not", he answered quickly, snorting as if Hermione had asked something absurd. "Remus and I. He introduced me to this place before the war. Fleur would never set foot in a restaurant with this crowd".
"I like it here" Hermione replied, her eyes busy on the table of house elves drinking Firewhisky and a smile playing on her face. "and I miss Remus".
"Me too", he replied, complicit, playing with the napkin on the table and bumping his hands, now and then, into Hermione's. She watched his movements carefully and felt the hairs on the back of her neck shiver at his careless and sudden touch. "He was a good friend and helped me a lot when I needed it".
The witch had no time to reply, for soon a tall wizard with numerous scars on his face and arms appeared to take their orders. Bill ordered, as usual, a rare steak and a glass of beer, and was surprised when Hermione ordered the same, but requesting that the steak came medium rare. The orders arrived relatively quickly and, after taking the first sip of beer, Hermione broke the silence.
"Were you serious?", she asked.
"About what?"
"Marrying me", she explained, nervously clasping her palms together as if in prayer. "I know my reasons for marrying you, but you accepted so quickly. Why?"
"To be honest, I had accepted it as a joke", he answered nonchalantly, throwing himself back in his chair, and Hermione's eyes widened. Her cheeks reddened, completely embarrassed, the brown-haired girl stood up from the table and was about to leave, when Bill was quicker and held her hand on the table. "But then I thought about it and came to the conclusion that it's actually a great idea".
Hermione was not convinced, but sat back in her chair. Bill still held her hand tightly. He was staring at her intensely and something stirred inside the witch's stomach. Bill was certainly one of the most handsome men she had ever seen. His red hair, which reached just above his chin, was tied back in a messy ponytail. His beard was longer than the last time she'd seen him, and it all contrasted with his clear blue eyes. Bill was magnetic.
"Why me? I know I'm not the only available bachelor" he asked, and Hermione knew she couldn't lie to him. She sighed and relaxed in her chair, and Bill loosened his grip on her hand but didn't release it.
"Because I trust you", she replied. "I've spent most of my life with your family and fighting alongside Harry and Ron. You are one of them, even if you are more distant than the others, you are family, my family. I know I won't marry for love, I know I don't have time to find love anymore, and I know the Ministry won't allow me to be happy alone. So you are the only possibility that I see of not being unhappy. You're my only chance of feeling safe".
Bill dragged his chair closer to her and gently wiped a single tear from her eye with his napkin. Hermione could smell his perfume mixed with the smell of the cigarette he had probably smoked before he met her. The red-haired man took advantage of the fact that his hand was already next to Hermione's face and stroked her cheek.
"I married for love, until love ended", he said, his voice very soft, as he rubbed his thumb on the witch's cheek. "And I could live alone, the Ministry wouldn't mind, but I don't want to. I don't want to live alone, at least not knowing that I could have prevented your unhappiness. I don't want to live alone and find you at dinner parties at The Burrow with a husband who deprives you of living. I can't guarantee you that I will be happy and that you will be happy, but I can protect you and I know I can make it possible for you to live your life the way you want to live it. That's why I think this idea of yours is actually a very good idea".
Hermione let out a low chuckle and he laughed with her. He pressed his forehead to hers and closed his eyes.
"Do we have a deal?" he asked, raising his little finger, inviting her to make a little finger promise. She smiled and crossed her pinky with his.
"Yes, we do".
"Is it weird that this is the smoothest date I've ever been on in my life?" he asked amused and she smiled, wiping the rest of the tears from her face.
"Then you've had some pretty shitty dates" she replied and he laughed. Noticing the closeness between them, Hermione moved away, dragging her chair back. Bill repeated the gesture and started eating his food.
Hermione started to eat her steak and noticed that Bill was eating very fast. She was still halfway through her plate, while he already had his cutlery crossed over his plate and was sipping his beer. She saw him nod to the waiter, ordering another beer, the scarred man approached, taking the empty glass and plate and leaving a new glass overflowing with the golden liquid in front of Bill.
"Is he a werewolf too?" Hermione asked interested.
"What do you mean 'too'?" Bill asked, amused. "I'm not a werewolf, at least not completely".
"You know what I mean, William", she answered.
"Ouch", he replied. "Yes, he is a werewolf. It's not just the public that's quite diverse here, the people who work here are too. In this world people like Remus and him don't have decent job opportunities. I'd probably work here too if I'd been completely infected".
"It's simply unfair", Hermione pointed out, looking annoyed and dropping her crossed silverware on top of her now empty plate. "The Ministry never gave opportunities to wizards like Remus, and yet they had the nerve to feign surprise when a large part of them allied themselves with You-Know-Who. The wizarding world perpetuates the racist ideas of Grindewald and You-Know-Who in a conscious way!"
Bill let out a loud laugh, and Hermione glared at him.
"I can't wait for you to be our Minister, Hermione", he replied, pulling a cigarette from his pocket. "And I just remembered when Ron and the Twins told me you founded the S.P.E.W., by the way".
"Ugh, that never worked", she huffed. "And a lot of my ideas get rejected by the Council. I sincerely doubt I'll actually become Minister in the future".
"I'm sure you will" he replied. "Whatever you want, you get. Especially when it's to protect the people you love. I admire that about you".
Hermione blushed and drank the rest of her beer, and Bill motioned for the waiter to bring a second glass for the witch, and a third for himself.
"Well...", she started to speak. "Since we're really going to do this, we have to work out the practicalities".
The waiter came with the two glasses of beer and dropped them on the table, and Bill leaned towards Hermione.
"I'm listening".
"Are you moving into my flat or am I moving into yours? I'd really like to stay in my flat", Hermione spewed the words, just like she did at Hogwarts. "The guest room has never had guests, so it's practically ready for you, if you want it. I can get rid of some things to accommodate yours as well, so it wouldn't be a probl..."
"Calm down, Hermione" Bill interrupted her, laughing. "I believe we should sign the contract first, shouldn't we?"
"Yes, you're absolutely right" she answered looking down, as if wondering how she hadn't thought of the obvious before.
"As you are one of the Supervisors of the Department of Magic Enforcement, I will let you handle the contract" Bill pointed out.
The red-haired man watched as Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but gave up and lowered her face, sighing.
"But I believe your flat is bigger, so I can move in" he replied, finally drawing a grateful smile from the brown-haired girl. "And I think it would be wise to talk about my... situation".
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"My lupine situation".
"Oh", she exclaimed, understanding what this was all about. "Do you have any special needs that I should know about or that we should prepare for?"
"Weren't you the know-it-all who reassured my mother that I wouldn't become a werewolf?" he asked, feigning incredulity and letting out a loud laugh.
"I just repeated what Remus had said" she explained, her face very red and shrugging. "I've been looking through the books on werewolf infections, but I couldn't find anything like you".
"Well... Besides the raw food, I have very strong sexual urges during the full moon", he explained calmly, but Hermione knew he was taking delight in making her completely embarrassed. "Sometimes I get a little violent, possessive".
"Lock my door, then?" she asked, swallowing hard, and he laughed.
"It won't do any good", he answered and stared at her with piercing eyes. "Even now that it's two weeks before the full moon, I can smell your perfume from blocks away. With you inside the same flat, it's not a door that's going to stop me".
Hermione felt her cheeks catch fire, but she went from embarrassed to angry when she saw a mocking smile pass Bill's lips, showing that he was having a great time with the situation. She then leaned forward and said, very seriously:
"Then you can arrange a hotel for those days, what do you think?"
Bill cracked a smile for good. He was having fun teasing her and had clearly loved that she had gone headlong into the teasing. After all, playing alone was no fun at all. Hermione couldn't stand it and burst out laughing. The two of them laughed for long seconds, until the girl looked at her watch and saw that it was already late. She intended to go to the Ministry the next day and get the necessary documentation to make her marriage official with Bill, and for that she needed to sleep.
The red-headed man didn't let her pay the bill, and the two of them left the restaurant onto the dark street.
"Can I walk you home?" he asked, with his hands in his pockets. "Strangely, I feel as if this is the last night before a new life begins, and I don't want it to end now".
Hermione smiled and nodded positively, and the two started walking side by side down the street. The chestnut asked him about his years at Hogwarts, about his travels and his life. As while she seemed to know Bill almost her entire life, very little did she really knew about him. And the feeling was mutual. Bill only knew about her what others told him, he had never engaged in a long conversation with her. The two of them talked a lot about Remus. Hermione missed her former teacher very much, who had become a great friend. She didn't know it, but Remus was constantly talking about her to Bill, and it was through him that the red-haired man learned most of the things he knew about the witch.
The subject flowed naturally, time and again the two of them laughing and their arms touching, and before they knew it they were in front of Hermione's building. The girl climbed the small flight of stairs from the building's entrance and turned to him.
"I really enjoyed tonight", she said. "And thank you".
"No need to thank me", Bill replied, winking at her. "And could you do me a favor?"
"Sure, what?"
"Don't ever call me William again", he replied, and she giggled.
"But it's your name, you call me Hermione!"
"Then I'll have to invent a nickname for you", he replied, and climbed a flight of stairs. They were two steps apart and were the same height.
"Do you want your jacket back?", she asked.
"No need, soon all my things will be here too. All my things and miself" he replied with a smile, and she smiled back.
"Good night, Bill" she said, leaning forward and placing a kiss on his cheek.
She turned towards the building and, before she could close the door, she heard him reply a 'good night, Mione'.