authorsnotes: quick uploads? lets gooo
the response to this fic was incredible! lovely words, follows and so many ppl pleased to see a harry/hermione marriage law, so thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope to continue to make you love this fic, and please do keep letting me know watcha think!
as always do enjoy, and follow/fav for updates.
songrecs: all these years - camila cabello (also the all these years/used to this mash-up she did on youtube, is perfect too)
Uproar, that was the only word to explain it.
Immediately Weasley's were on their feet, Charlie looking like he wanted to climb to the attic and jump from the window, Ron bright red and getting redder, Ginny stomping her feet, even Fred and George complaining (though she wasn't sure if it was in good nature). Mr. Weasley trying to bring calm, Mrs. Weasley brewing about 12 cups of tea, and in all the ruckus no one looks at her and Harry.
Both of them still sat down, both of them silent, their hands intertwined, their eyes locked on one another, neither of them has moved. The Prophet discarded to one side, her letter in her hand, Harry's too, but crumpled.
Neither blinks, only watches, watches each other.
Harry, her best friend, the person she trusts most in the world, the man she'd shared every significant moment with.
Her match.
She isn't' sure whether to be relieved or terrified, at the moment it's a toss-up. All she knows is that she feels something squirming in her stomach as she looks across at him, as he looks across at her. What is this feeling? She can't identify it.
Of all the things she'd expected when she'd read the article this morning … this certainly wasn't it.
She doesn't need to glance at the Daily Prophet, discarded to one side to remember what it had said.
'(This law) has been thoroughly thought out, as have pairings, Seer's, Felix Felicis and various coupling spells have been employed to match couples as best as possible, and the clauses surrounding the law ensure safety for everyone involved. We wish we did not have to do this, but the Ministry felt it had no choice'
She ignores the Ministries empty platitudes on how they'd had no choice and instead focuses on those words … 'thoroughly thought out', 'employed to match couples as best as possible'.
Those measures deem Harry to be her best match, Harry her best friend, what does that mean?
She remembers the last paragraph, the awful paper still speculating, Rita Skeeter's hasty registration making her unblackmailable now…
Who will be paired with the illustrious Boy Who Lived? Or the Weasley of the Golden Trio? Who will the dubbed 'golden girl' Hermione Granger end up with? What about the richest young wizard in Britain and redeemed Death Eater Draco Malfoy? Who will sweep up the international quidditch star and youngest Weasley? We imagine many young witches and wizards are waiting for the 10am letters up and down the country hoping for a good match! Good luck to all of you!
Who indeed…?
She hadn't thought this would happen, and she doesn't know how to feel about it, what to make of it, her, and Harry. Harry, who's emerald eyes are focused on her still.
Their gazes didn't stray, but neither spoke. They just looked at one another, Harry's green meeting her brown. They just kept looking at one another, she couldn't even fathom what else to do.
But looking at Harry, losing herself in his eyes did calm her. It reminded her of when they'd been horcrux hunting, Ron gone and hours with them spent in the tent alone, shivering, and hungry. How for hours they'd just sit together, knee to knee, trying to keep warm, in silence but completely comfortable with one another.
But this silence was different.
It had something to it, something charged. She wasn't sure if it was because of what they'd both read or because of them, fixed and silent whilst surrounded by noise, or both, but it was different.
Harry looked a touch nervous she realised, but as he had been ever since the final battle, he had a steadiness to him, a firm kind of surety in himself they hadn't been there before, she was thankful, he'd need it for both of them. She'd never felt less sure of herself in her life, and as she gripped Harry's hand, a lifeline above sea for her, she knew that to be true.
With a rush the floo went and it jolted her. She lifted her gaze up, to find the Weasley's still panicking, still flapping, and in through the floo had come Bill and Fleur, both looking alarmed but wanting to help. She turned back to Harry though, he was her focus.
Her focus and her match.
She didn't know what to think, her mind felt as though it had been submerged in water, everything felt a touch foggy. She didn't know how to process this. Her usually quick mind felt dulled, which she hated, but there was nothing to puzzle here, nothing to revise and perfect. This was how it was, and it wouldn't change. She just had to figure it out in her head.
And that was the hard part. Or was it?
In one sense she knew she was lucky and felt an acute sense of relief that she wasn't being forced to marry someone awful like Malfoy, or someone completely incompatible with her like Neville or any of the Weasley's. It was Harry, she knew Harry, she loved Harry (though perhaps wasn't in love with him), she knew he'd be kind and good to her. Her sudden pit in her stomach and wash of fear through her wasn't that this match would result in misery, she knew her, and Harry would get on okay…
Would they?
No, her fear came from a place of something else.
Harry is her best friend, and she his. After the horcrux hunt, weeks spent just the two of them, fighting, working, enduring, they had a closeness few others could replicate. They had become closer, much closer, so much so she doesn't think she could have ever been as close to anyone else; if she'd been matched with someone else, she didn't think she'd be able to be as close to then as Harry.
They've achieved a closeness few others can. Yes, they were still the trio, both still adored Ron, but something had shifted in the dynamic now, for her and Harry to become the closer pair.
So, is this a good thing? She'll never be able to replicate what she has with Harry. Is them being matched good? Her match won't have to play second fiddle to her best friend, as it is Harry himself. Isn't that good?
She tries to imagine being married to someone else, them being okay she still can't sleep in a separate room from Harry, not after months spent curled up next to her, tries to imagine a potential husband understanding the two of them holding hands as they walk, always watching one another's back. She tries (and fails) to envisage any potential suitor okay with the way they talk, in a whisper, or not at all, always understanding one another without needing words. She knows they wouldn't, none could.
So, isn't it good? To be paired with the person she's closest to in the whole world? Isn't it?!
She has literally no idea.
But none of that matters, what she thinks could have been, as this is it, her and Harry. This is the reality; she remembers the words on the second page of the article.
'Unfortunately, we have had to put harsh measures in place to ensure compliance' Head of the DMLE Russell Davies said, firm but looking a touch uncomfortable, 'Any seeking to flee this law will see their wand stripped, their magic bound, and they will be exiled to Muggle Britain' 'Clearly the public can see how dire our circumstances are, when we are considering such radical measures' Indeed the public must! The idea of being exiled to muggle Britain? Reprehensible even for the muggleborns in our society I'm sure!
There was no escaping this, distasteful as Rita was, she was right, even Hermione wouldn't accept exile, few would. This was going to happen, she was going to marry Harry, her best friend.
She was scared, scared this would ruin that, their friendship, their closeness. Ruin the easy silence and comfortableness they had around one another, ruin the level of trust and complete and utter faith they had in one another. Ruin this bond they had. She loved Harry, he loved her, but not like that, she knew that.
She knew Harry had never felt that way, and other than a tiny crush in first year and possibly the smallest of yearnings when they'd been alone in that tent, cold and miserable and just for a short while she'd wished her and Harry had something more, for how easy it would be, she didn't feel that way either.
She was terrified this would ruin them, twist their deep bond, and make them miserable. Ruin what they had.
And then, what did Harry think? Did he hate this? Would he hate her? Her hands near shook at the idea. Out of everyone in her life, she'd be devastated if she lost them, but Harry? She'd be broken.
Trembling a touch, she felt Harry tug on her hand and realised she'd been staring at him but not looking, caught up in her own head as always. He cocked his head to the side, to the floo tucked away in an eave she realised. She glanced back at the Weasley's, still panicking and now more people were coming through the main floo, it was too much.
She knew she and Harry needed to talk, just them, process this together and so she nodded, and quick as a flash they both stood up and hurried to the smaller floo. They needed to be alone to discuss this, just the two of them.
She hadn't even begun to consider how the Weasley's would feel about this.
Just weeks after the battle she and Ron had broken up, both agreeing they were better off as friends (and their friendship was thriving for it), and then a few weeks later Harry and Ginny had called it quits too, that being a touch sorer. Now, they were still embraced by the Weasley's, but things were a touch different.
It was acknowledged now that neither of them would be becoming Weasley's and so yes things were a bit more strained. She hadn't even thought about how they'd take this news. Ron, she knew would support them, after he had returned to them on the horcrux hunt his loyalty had been unquestionable since. Ginny she wasn't so sure, she knew she still harboured feelings for Harry, as he had been the one to break it off.
She didn't know, but she knew any conversation her and Harry needed to have needed to be away from here, alone.
She glanced around the room, everyone was so absorbed in their own news, in fact as Percy emerged from the main floo (living in London now), it was the perfect final distraction for them to get away.
She didn't hesitate in stepping in beside Harry, but as his arm went around her waist to steady them, as his nose brushed her hair from how close they needed to be, it felt different.
Not good or bad different but different.
It hit her quickly, that this wasn't just Harry anymore, her best friend whose easy touch she could lean into with a smile. This wasn't Harry who smelled like treacle tart and broom polish, who's jumper she realised she was wearing, the large 'H' splashed across it for Harry not Hermione, indicated by the snitch stitched under the H, a Weasley finest. This wasn't just Harry anymore, but her match.
Not just her match, her future husband.
That thought consumed her – Harry, match, husband, all one in the same now. That thought stuck with her as he tossed the floo powder, called out Grimmauld Place and in a whirl of green flames they were gone.
sooo thoughts?
ooooo
I needed an introspective hermione chapter here, but next chapter? oof it's action time.
now pov wise this will be primarily hermione but there will be some harry and others, but primarily hermione - this is her love story! harry's too yes, but mainly hermione pov.
I do hope you enjoyed, and do stick with me, this will be a bit of an angsty slow burn, but there will be fluff! this couple has a long way to go and I'm sure we'll all enjoy the journey...
do follow/fav for updates, review (as I love them!)
speak soon