Chapter 6

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Normally, mail only arrived at breakfast time but today silence fell during lunch as a parliament of owls arrived before hysterical crying and exclamations of shock. Every muggleborn over the age of seventeen received one.

"Don't open them," Hermione yelled. "Don't open them!" She leaned over to the nearest muggleborn on either side of her and whispered urgently. "Pass the word, don't open them until after you've completed the ritual. We don't know what magic the ministry might have cast on them to make us comply with the matches."

Harry looked at his dorm mates, Dean and Seamus immediately moved along the Gryffindor table passing along the message while Parvati went to talk to her sister and Neville went to talk to Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. Neville really didn't want to talk to Hannah but he was the only Gryffindor in their year that spent any time with the Hufflepuffs and could pass the message without arousing suspicion from the wrong people.

There were a couple of people who hadn't got word in time and they were now crying in horror as they contemplated being forced to marry the witch or wizard the letters announced they were paired with.

Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione. "It means nothing now, they cannot force you to marry anyone," he whispered.

"You do it," Hermione said thrusting the envelope into his hands.

Harry opened the envelope with shaking hands. "Terrence Higgs," he said softly.

Hermione buried her head in Harry's shoulder for comfort. "I recognise the name but I can't picture him.

"The old Slytherin seeker, when we were in first year," Harry said wrapping one arm around Hermione's shoulder. "He was a brute. As mean as Malfoy on his worst day and nearly as thick as Crabbe and Goyle."

Hermione sobbed in relief that she wouldn't need to marry the brute.

Madam Pomfrey stood up and cast a sonorous. "Everybody who opened their letter please accompany me to the hospital wing for a calming draught," she said firmly.

"Who's Hermione have to marry?" Ron asked.

Harry quickly cast a muffliato around the three of them.

"Nobody, thank Merlin she married me last night, so she escapes this atrocity," Harry said. "The ministry paired her up with Terrence Higgs. The Slytherin seeker from our first year."

"You did the ritual with Hermione?" Ron yelled.

"Yes Ron, Hermione asked me and we completed the ritual last night. We were hoping to be able to get you alone to tell you today," Harry said.

"How could you do that to me? You knew I liked her," Ron said upset.

"The ritual didn't work for you and me and I was desperate," Hermione replied, getting up and leaving with the others on their way to the infirmary.

"The ritual worked for you and Hermione?" Ron asked shocked.

"Yeah, it did," Harry said, waiting for Ron's reaction.

"Why didn't you tell me you and Hermione were going to try to bond?" Ron asked, now sounding betrayed.

"Hermione didn't want to tell anyone in case it didn't work for her again," Harry tried to explain.

"I'm not anyone. I'm your best mate! You should have told me!" Ron retorted angrily.

"What about Ginny?" Ron asked starting to yell again. "She's your girlfriend. Wasn't she good enough for the great Harry Potter to marry?"

"Ron, it wasn't like that. Ginny has another two years to marry unless the law gets revoked and Hermione needed to get married immediately," Harry tried to explain.

"But Ginny is your girlfriend. How could you treat her that way?" Ron bellowed, furiously.

"Ginny isn't my girlfriend. We broke up after I tried to ask her to bond with me last week and she said no before I even got the words out. She wasn't ready to get married. Hermione and I told her that we bonded at breakfast this morning and she's pretty upset about it now, but I told her when she said no that I couldn't be with her anymore. I don't understand why she was so upset. She could have tried the ritual with me if she wanted to, she didn't. I warned her I couldn't wait for her. We broke up before you and Hermione attempted the ritual. I thought she was dating Dean again, I saw her kissing him the next morning, so she couldn't have been too upset about breaking up with me. But then Dean said she refused to try the ritual with him either, so he married Leanne Tinker last night," Harry said.

"So you and Ginny didn't even try the ritual?" Ron asked again.

"No Ron, we didn't. As far as I know your precious baby sister is still a virgin. Seems your sister thought she knew what she wanted better than you did. She wouldn't agree to participate in the ritual with me because she still wanted the dream of a big white wedding at home in the orchard in the late spring. She said she wanted to marry me eventually, just not right now when I needed her," Harry said. As he said it he realised he didn't feel at all angry or bitter at Ginny for her choice, he was actually beginning to feel glad that she'd broken up with him and allowed him to marry Hermione. But he knew he couldn't let Ron see how he felt.

"And you couldn't wait? You're not a muggleborn! And you're not seventeen until July. You and Ginny could've had the wedding she wanted next June and lived happily ever after like you were supposed to," Ron said angrily.

"No, I may not be muggleborn, but according to the ministry I'm an attention seeking liar who they want to shut up and control," Harry said. "I guarantee I will be the first half blood caught up in this mess and they will find a way to ignore the fact that I'm not seventeen yet. Besides I had to try to protect Hermione. I couldn't let her wait and be stuck marrying someone like Terrence Higgs! You should be glad that she was already married before she opened that letter. You could feel that it was soaked in magic. There are probably spells on it to stop her from doing anything to try and prevent the marriage now. Surely you didn't want her to be stuck marrying him!?"

Ron looked torn like he still wanted to be angry but had to agree with Harry. He was glad that Hermione was safe, and if he was honest with himself there was a small part of him that had been secretly glad the ritual hadn't worked for him and Hermione, he really hadn't wanted to marry her himself yet, though he'd always thought that's what he wanted in the future. He'd always believed she would be there waiting for him when he was ready for her, and he wasn't ready to let that go. Harry should have known that Hermione was his, even if the bond didn't work the first time. He'd spent the last few days trying to build up the will and courage to ask Hermione to complete the ritual with him again, even if there was a small voice inside him telling him that he still wasn't sure he really wanted it to work. That small voice was now telling him that it was a good thing that Hermione was safely bonded with Harry and that knowing they were bonded eased the guilt he'd felt when he overheard enough to know it was his fault the bond didn't form between him and Hermione.

Unfortunately for their friendship, Ron had a lot of experience in ignoring that little voice. It was the same little voice that had tried to tell him that Harry hadn't wanted to be in the Triwizard tournament, that he wasn't a cheat and that he'd never lied to Ron about anything before. It had taken the shock of watching Harry nearly be killed by a dragon before he'd been prepared to listen that time, and there was no dragon looming on the horizon ready to make Ron listen to his conscience or see sense here and now. He stormed off.

Harry watched him go for a moment, then sighed and went looking for Hermione in the hospital wing.

-o0o-

"What are you doing here, Harry? You weren't supposed to get a letter," Katie asked as he joined Hermione.

"I didn't get one but I opened Hermione's," Harry replied.

"After she told us not to?" Katie asked amused.

"Well yeah, we're already bonded and the spells on the letter weren't aimed at me, we thought it would be safe enough," Harry said reasonably.

"Why'd you tell us not to open it?" Hannah asked Hermione.

"I could feel magic on the envelope. After Harry opened it, I scanned it for spells. There is a charm on the letter preventing you from doing anything which would interfere with the marriage they've arranged, and a simple chastity charm to prevent girls from trying to get pregnant before the wedding, which looked like it could be removed easily enough. There might also be an alert charm to notify the ministry when it was opened and I was worried that attempting the ritual might be impossible or illegal after reading that letter," Hermione explained. "I think it should be safe to open if you've already successfully completed the ritual but I'm not sure. There's one more charm too but I don't know what it does."

Leanne Tinker reached over and cast her own revealing charm. "It's a dark curse of some kind, with a delayed trigger," she said. "You should take it to one of the professors. If I were you and I was warned in time, I wouldn't have opened mine until someone finds out what that curse is."

"So, I can't open it and see who I'm paired with before I make a decision," Lisa said frowning.

"You might be safe enough if you wore your dragonhide gloves," Leanne suggested doubtfully.

"Why would you want to?" Harry asked.

"They said they'd choose the most magically compatible person," Mandy said.

"Of the purebloods who voluntarily agreed to have themselves matched with a muggleborn," Harry said cynically. "Mostly old guys and jerks or near squibs who can't get a date any other way, or who are such chauvinists that no respectable witch would put up with them."

"And this is the ministry who knows whether the selection has been influenced by bribes or blackmail. I know my Aunt is an honest and honourable witch but she herself has told me she is battling the system trying to wipe out the corruption embedded in the ministry and the Wizengamot. I couldn't be comfortable that the matches haven't been influenced. I don't want them making the decision of who I marry," Susan Bones said.

"Those comments almost sound Slytherin," Justin Finch-Fletchly said.

"They paired me with Terence Higgs, the Slytherin seeker who Harry said was a mean brute, thicker that Crabbe and Goyle and Katie tells me was so stupid he had to repeat seventh year twice and still only managed to pass a single NEWT. I doubt we have a single thing in common and he was a huge bully, and a pureblood bigot," Hermione said bluntly. "And if some of the new laws Malfoy and that lot are trying to put forward are passed, we'd end up little better than slaves to our pureblood spouse and his 'real' wife."

"He was a misogynist too, it was his decision not to let girls try out for the Quidditch team and the prefects warned us all to stay away from him or tell him that we were betrothed, because he didn't respect girls at all. I'm glad you don't have to marry him," Tracy Davis said.

"You're right I don't want to marry someone like that," Mandy said sighing. "I want to try the ritual again. But it hasn't worked with my boyfriend or my best male friend. What should I do?"

"Ask a muggleborn. There must be someone else who got a letter this morning and wants a partner, that you trust and get along well enough with," Harry said.

"Will opening my letter prevent me from completing the ritual to bond?" Mandy asked, before slamming her hands over her mouth and looking at the other girls apologetically, but none of the professors looked surprised or confused by her comment.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Babbling examined one of the letters while Madame Pomfrey cast several diagnostic charms on Mandy.

"I will need you to take a flushing draft to remove all external magic. But be aware that this will negate any birth control charms or protection charms you have on you," Madam Pomfrey replied going to the cabinet and beginning to hand out the drafts.

"Should those of us who have completed the ritual take a flushing draft as well?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, you should but unfortunately, I don't have enough for all of you. I will start brewing more as soon as you leave so come back tonight. I'd suggest that some of you return to your dorms or other bathrooms before taking your draught as I don't have enough toilets to cope with this many students," Madame Pomfrey replied.

"Is there any way to speed this up? We need to get the rituals done before someone comes to claim their betrothed," Susan asked.

"Only if some of you are prepared to miss class to fix the rune circles this morning, so we can start the rituals again as soon as possible." The rune circles were used each night until they were damaged and then fixed by the students who had the knowledge during their free periods ready to be used again each evening. It was sheer luck that when the first one broke the night before they were able to find Hermione and Padma still up and willing to come fix it immediately.

But now that the letters had arrived the muggleborns who were still waiting a second or third turn after their first was unsuccessful were increasingly anxious and several students who hadn't attempted the ritual, not believing that the ministry would actually follow through on forcing students to marry were all clamouring for a chance to complete the ritual as soon as possible as well.

"I know I am willing to help, I've got Runes second this morning. I'm sure professor Babbling would be prepared to overlook my absence to help maintain the circles" Hermione said.

"I have Herbology but I'm sure Madam Sprout would understand if my friends told her I was too upset to attend classes this morning," Lisa Perkins said.

"Let's get these circles up and running again and see if we can get everyone a turn today," Hermione said.

"Aren't we taking a risk doing it during the school day?" Someone asked, Hermione didn't bother looking to see who had spoken.

"It isn't going to stay a secret much longer now that the letters have arrived. Who knows how much time we have before the prospective grooms turn up to claim us," Hermione said. "My appointment to get married is this Saturday morning. I think we should try to be done for everyone before then."

"Does that mean we can tell our families? It doesn't feel right to have such a big secret from them," Su Li asked.

"Not to mention that it gives them another week or two to calm down before we arrive home for the holidays," Kevin Eintwhistle commented.

"Speak for yourself, it will only give Mom and Dad another week to stew about it. I'm not going to tell them until I get home and can introduce them to my husband," Katie said.

"I think we should all hold off on telling anyone until Saturday. By then the ministry will have noticed that we're not turning up for the weddings, and it will give us a couple of days peace to settle into the bonds," Parvati said.

"Okay folks, the charm preventing you from telling anyone will last until I destroy the parchment once all of the bondings are done. It's up to you if you wait until Saturday or not to contact your non magical relatives but we want to avoid parents storming the castle until the weekend," Hermione decided.

-o0o-

All the muggleborns were excused from all their classes that day along with the others who had been maintaining the rune circles, and with the help of Professors Babbling and Sinistra they managed to maintain all the rune circles in spite of heavy use well into the night. Harry couldn't help with the rune work but did his part by visiting the kitchens and delivering food to the rune experts and after a quick chat with Professor Babbling, Madam Pomfrey also came by and delivered each of them a pepper up potion so renew some of the energy they'd expended recharging the repaired rune sequences.

The students waiting their turns had taken over the last classroom in that hallway, unsuitable for a rune circle of its own due to its odd shape, so there was no delay between rituals other than having the circle checked and Harry used his cloak and his map to help students escape detection as they returned to their dorms after the rituals. By dawn everyone who asked had had a chance at the rune circles and nearly all of them had succeeded. Those that failed had waited in the room and made connections with others that failed and tried again either with the same partner or a different friends and finally everyone who had pit their name down was bonded. Harry was almost carrying Hermione back to the Gryffindor common room and finding all the couches full of newly married couples levitated her up the stairs to tuck her into his own bed for the rest of the night, sealing the curtains closed he sat up against the footboard watching over her sleep.

Luckily it was Thursday and they both had the first hour free, so Harry cancelled his alarm charm letting her sleep through breakfast. The need for secrecy was over, and his wife was exhausted having worked all day and night to keep the rune sequences maintained, catching only a couple of fifteen minute catnaps all night. Once the dorm was empty he slipped out, spelling the curtains shut behind him and went to take a shower before calling Dobby to bring them both some breakfast.

"Hermione, you need to wake up, we have class in half an hour," Harry said shaking her shoulder gently.

"What are you doing here? How'd you get up the stairs?" Hermione asked sleepily.

Harry chuckled, "Hermione, wake up properly, you're in my bed not yours, I carried you back here when you fell asleep after fixing the last rune circle. I would have stayed down in the common room with you but the couches were already full of couples who'd just done the ritual," Harry said. "The others have all gone down to breakfast and not come back up yet."

"Oh!" Hermione said looking down at the blanket and blushing.

"It's okay Hermione, I slept up this end," Harry said anxiously. "Dobby has brought us some breakfast and then you can borrow my cloak to get back to your dorm."

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said sitting up and starting to eat ravenously but with perfect manners. "Do I have time for a shower?"

Rather than answer yes or no, Harry cast a tempus spell for her and said. "We have class at ten." He reminded her, having no idea how long Hermione normally took in the shower.

"I don't think bringing me up here was the best idea. Ron and Neville are both still a bit upset about our marriage, I don't want to rub it in their faces," Hermione said suddenly. "I better get out of here before one of them realises where I spent the night."

"It wasn't like that! It was either bring you up here with me or leave you on the floor in the common room. I couldn't wake you, you were exhausted and all the couches were already taken by couples who you helped last night and I can't get up the stairs to your room. I would've taken you down to Madam Pomfrey if we didn't have to keep what you were doing last night a secret. I have a pepper up potion for you to take now you've eaten. Ron's at breakfast he won't be back until just before classes and Neville is probably down in the greenhouses," Harry rambled nervously.

"It's okay Harry, I was just saying that this probably isn't something we can do again," Hermione said. "We will have to find an alternate place for when we want to be alone. Which might be difficult given the number of newly married couples in the school."

Harry nodded, unsure how much Hermione had thought about what she was saying. It sounded like she wanted to spend some time alone with him as a couple, but he wouldn't get his hopes up.

"Did we do it?" Hermione asked suddenly. "Did everybody succeed?"

"Yeah you did, Hermione. You did it. The last couple finished their ritual just after four o'clock this morning."

"Even Lisa Perkins?" Hermione asked. The sixth year had been hysterical after her third failure just after midnight.

"Yeah, on her fifth attempt, though I'll bet the ministry is going to object to that one. She married Mandy Brocklehurst, apparently they've been secretly dating for months," Harry said grinning.

"Oh Merlin! No wonder it didn't work with any of her male friends ad she was so traumatised by the attempts. I should have guessed that was the problem. I didn't think the ritual would work for a same sex couple though, particularly without penetrative sex," Hermione said.

"Can they have children?" Harry asked. "Is there a potion or spell that allows two women to make a baby?"

"I don't know, I'm not interested in girls so I've never looked into it. Perhaps some form of Polyjuice Potion," Hermione replied. "If they can't they might be in serious trouble with the ministry because of the law."

"Oh Merlin. I'm going to shave my head. Do you know a permanent hair removal charm?" Harry asked panicked.

"Yes of course I do, but you're not going to shave your head. This society exists back in the last century. Babies born out of wedlock have no legal claim on the father, and the mother is shamed and outcast. Single mothers find it incredibly difficult to get work in the magical world. Nobody would fall pregnant like that deliberately," Hermione said. "Particularly since you are irrevocably married and everyone would know that the baby couldn't have been conceived naturally due to the vows of fidelity in the ritual, therefore even if they could prove the baby was genetically yours unless they can prove you willingly donated the material for conception in some way other than sex, they would still have no claim on you and in fact no claim to custody of your child if you wanted to contest it."

"Okay," Harry replied uncertainly. "I still wouldn't want someone stealing hair or something from me to make a baby."

"They wouldn't use you, as much as you have some crazy fangirls, for something like this your fame would protect you. A sensible person would want to use someone who isn't able to cause a public outcry if they're caught," Hermione said reassuringly.

"And how many witches have you met that you would call sensible? Especially when it comes to me?" he asked cynically.

Hermione sighed and silently agreed with him, he could see it in her face.

"Yeah," he said tiredly. "You better get going if you don't want to be late for class."

He held out his cloak and she disappeared under it.

"See you at breakfast," Harry said as the door opened and closed seemingly by itself.

A/N: Thank you to caughtinblackseyes, The Wandmaker, Millie072, mwinter1, Shetan20, Tyler'sPrincess, katmom, animeromance1972, BMS, Ghostisreading, roon0, jkarr, Rori Potter, mikanMD, Jostanos, Firehedgehog, .Wonderland.8510 and all those who followed and favourited this story for your support.