A/N - Lengthy explanation of the marriage law in this chapter. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing and I hope you like it!

Chapter 12

13 July 2003

"Marriage laws?" Hermione repeated with a dawning horror about why she was married to Kingsley. "What do you mean marriage laws?"

Padma sighed. "Before I explain, anything I tell you about research done by the Department of Mysteries is already public knowledge. Well, Wizengamot knowledge at any rate, so I'm not breaking my vow. But there might be questions that I can't answer, so please don't ask me."

Hermione nodded in understanding.

Padma continued. "Since the end of the war, there's been talk about how the birth rate has been declining for years. After everyone that was lost in the first war, the birth rate never rebounded. And then, of course, during the second, we lost even more witches and wizards of child-bearing age.

People of our generation aren't getting married right out of school like they did previously. Well, some still are, but the numbers are much fewer. People want to have careers, or travel, or just date before they decide to settle down. This, of course, rankles the older generations who feel like it's our job to make sure the wizarding world repopulates." Padma rolled her eyes.

"And it's not just the loss from the wars that have impacted our numbers. It's also all the inbreeding that's been going on for decades amongst the Purebloods. Why are so many of our classmates only children, especially amongst the Sacred Twenty-eight? It's not as if those families only wanted one child, especially the ones that had girls. They would have wanted male heirs."

Hermoine snorted and Padma nodded in agreement. "Some members of the Wizengamot started getting more vocal about the low number of marriages amongst those under twenty-five and there were rumblings about enacting a marriage law, which would not only force anyone single under the age of forty-five to marry, but produce a child within two years, and a second two years after that. They even talked about coming up with some kind of spell to monitor that people were actually having sex regularly and, of course, contraception would be illegal. And the law would apply to everyone, they didn't care about anyone's sexual orientation, just that everyone gets married and start having babies."

"You can't be serious?" Hermione said.

"Unfortunately, I am. At first, it was just a small group but when they started gathering more support, Minister Shacklebolt decided to present the real issue around the declining birth rate, the inbreeding. He figured that most of the Purebloods would baulk at the suggestion that if they wanted to have more children, they should marry Muggleborns or Half-bloods and talk of a marriage law would die out. The DOM was charged with doing the research and presenting it to the Wizengamot."

"It backfired, I assume," Hermione said, unable to wrap her mind around the fact that her other self had been forced to marry by law.

"Yes, but not in the way that you'd expect."

"What do you mean?"

"What is the prejudice like in your world since the end of the war?" Padma asked, confusing Hermione with the abrupt change in topic.

"It's not as prevalent as it was before but there are those that will never change," Hermione said, glad that Padma appeared to believe her about jumping universes.

"Well, here, it's pretty much the same as it was before, just hidden better. It's more subtle now and there's always a reasonable explanation as to why a Muggleborn isn't hired or passed over for a promotion or what have you. But everyone knows. Minister Shacklebolt cleaned out the Ministry after the war of Death Eaters and known Voldemort supporters like Umbridge. But there were plenty of people left that were never Marked or never publicly declared their support for Voldemort's regime that still agreed with him. They were much harder to ferret out. And most of them weren't.

When the DOM presented their findings to the Wizengamot about the declining birth rate, as expected, that small faction of Purebloods thought it was ridiculous. Horrific, even, that they should be forced to marry Muggleborns and dropped their idea for a Marriage law. What the Minister didn't expect, however, was for some of the more moderate members to take up the mantle."

"What?" Hermione was horrified. It would have been one thing if the Pureblood bigoted faction had been behind this, but to know that it was actually those that she thought were reasonable was extremely difficult to believe.

"They didn't want all the ridiculous monitoring that had been suggested, nor did they think there should be a fixed timeline for producing children, although it wasn't as if couples could put it off indefinitely, there would still be rules. They were also willing to consider same-sex couples, but there were stringent rules around that, someone couldn't just all of a sudden announce they were gay to get out of the law. But they did want to be sure that the intermarrying stopped. They wanted strict guidelines as to whom Purebloods could marry. There was talk of making it illegal for a Pureblood to marry another Pureblood but then it was argued that in some cases, Purebloods could marry one another and be fine. Arthur and Molly Weasley were used as an example many times. They wanted the DOM to produce some kind of spell or potion that could test how closely related two Purebloods that wanted to marry were."

"Or they could have just sent some blood off to a Muggle lab and have it tested." Hermione said with a snort. "Non-magicals have been doing genetic testing for years."

"Yes, well, you know how our world feels about Muggle science and things they don't understand," Padma said with a wry grin. "Anyway, the arguing amongst the Wizengamot went on for months until finally, that Pureblood faction shocked everyone by agreeing."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "They would never agree to that."

"That's what everyone else thought too, but they did. Or at least they appeared to. They said that they agreed something needed to be done and so they wrote up the law. Anyone between the ages of nineteen and forty-five, who was single, would have six months to marry. If they didn't marry in six months, or they preferred it, the Ministry would match people using a test that would be formulated by the DOM. Anyone currently under nineteen would have to marry within one year after finishing Hogwarts as long as they were eighteen. If not, it would be one year from their eighteenth birthday. The same rule about Ministry matching would apply if they didn't.

There would be no monitoring of sex and they agreed to provisions for same-sex couples concerning adoption and surrogacy. Couples would be expected to have two children within five years. This was also true for couples that were already married when the law was enacted if they didn't already have two children. Muggleborns would have to marry Purebloods and Half-bloods would have to marry other Half-bloods or Purebloods. The more moderate members were so happy to have gotten what they wanted, they agreed almost immediately. There were those who were still adamantly against it, of course, but there was a majority and the law passed."

Padma stopped speaking and they sat in silence for a few moments. Hermione's mind was whirling with information and what Padma had said about the Pureblood faction that had appeared to agree to the law. It took her a few seconds but she finally figured it out. She looked at Padma in shock.

Padma nodded. "They'd written in their own loophole. Muggleborns could only marry Purebloods and Half-Bloods could only marry other Half-Bloods or Purebloods. But the law didn't say anywhere that Purebloods couldn't marry other Purebloods. It had no specification for whom Purebloods could or couldn't marry at all."

"But surely someone saw that," Hermione said.

Padma shook her head. "As I said, most of the rest of the Wizengamot was so happy that they'd come to an agreement after so many months of arguing, they didn't study it closely. They assumed that because of the stipulations on Muggleborns and Half-bloods that also meant that Purebloods had to marry either Muggleborns or Half-bloods. Those that didn't want the law at all, regardless of how it was written, protested against it as a whole. If they realized that the Purebloods were getting what they wanted, they didn't mention it."

"When did they discover they'd been manipulated?"

"When the first Pureblood couple filed for a marriage license. It was Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass, actually. Their application was initially denied but when Malfoy's barrister presented their case, the moderate members of the Wizengamot realized what had been done."

"Why didn't they just repeal the law then?" Hermione asked.

"Because according to some ancient law that's never been updated, they needed almost unanimous agreement to repeal any law. Hardly any of them knew about it because laws are rarely repealed altogether. They're usually just amended or changed."

"And they didn't have enough votes to just change it," Hermione said with a sigh.

"Unfortunately, no," Padma said. "As far as I know, the moderates are still attempting to get some of the more liberal members on their side saying that the chances of repealing it completely are zero unless they make it unpalatable to the Purebloods as well. They want to amend the law to add that Purebloods can't marry other Purebloods. I think they figure if they can make the Purebloods hate it, they can repeal it altogether. So far, though, they haven't gotten very many on board. You know how politics works; everyone wants something in return."

Hermione nodded. That still didn't explain how she and Kingsley ended up together. Although, the comments that Harry and Arthur had made about Ron were making more sense.

"Do you know how Kingsley and I ended up married?"

"The six-month deadline was approaching. If you weren't married by then, you would have had to fill out the compatibility test and been assigned potential matches. There are still plenty of blood purists that would have been ecstatic to get a chance to take revenge on the Muggleborn of the Golden Trio that helped bring down Voldemort."

Hermione grimaced. That was true in plenty of universes, she was sure. But why Kingsley? "Do you know where Ron fits into all of this? It's only, Harry and Arthur made comments about him last night."

"All I know is that the two of you dated for almost two years after the war. Ron's dated plenty of women since, and, if the rumors are to be believed, some while the two of you were still together. When the law was passed, the two of you hadn't been together for over two years. I don't know if you contemplated marrying one another and he refused or you did or you both did but it didn't happen, obviously."

Given what Harry had said and how Arthur had apologized, Hermione suspected it was Ron's decision not to marry her.

"I don't know many specifics, we're really not friends," Padma continued. "But it was reported in the press that you and Kingsley took the compatibility tests and were matched. I'm guessing that bit was for show and it was more about protecting you from ending up with someone horrid or dangerous or both. There had already been one suspicious death of a Muggleborn."

Hermione looked at her in surprise. "What?"

Padma sighed. "It was never proven, but Marcus Flint married Emily Taylor a few weeks after the law was passed. I don't know if you remember her but she was a Hufflepuff, Muggleborn, three years ahead of us. The Flints have always been blood purists so it was a shock to many. A couple of Emily's friends even insisted that she go into the Ministry to be tested for potions or spells, because they hadn't known she and Flint were even dating. According to Emily, they'd been dating in secret for months because of Flint's family's views. She agreed to the testing just to make her friends feel better and she was cleared.

But a month after they were married, she fell down the stairs at Flint manor and broke her neck. She died instantly. There was an investigation but the fall was ruled an accident. And, I have to say, that Flint was properly torn up at her funeral. If the reports in the press are any indication, he's either actually grieving or he's an exceptionally good actor. That doesn't mean someone else in his family didn't do it."

"Oh my god," Hermione said, horrified by what might have happened to the young woman. "But why hasn't that motivated the Wizengamot to act? You would think a suspicious death would make them want to work together before it happens again."

"No one can prove anything and the fact that Flint seems truly devastated by what happened makes it even easier to believe it was just an accident."

The two fell silent for a few minutes. Padma took a few half-hearted bites of the sandwich she'd ordered. Hermione had ignored her food completely. She couldn't even think about eating after everything that Padma had told her.

If her marriage was truly about safety, what Kingsley had said to her last night about not pressuring her made sense. Although, he hadn't seemed opposed to the idea of being invited into her bedroom. Quite the contrary, in fact. Had he harbored a secret crush on her, or the other her rather, like Hermione had on him? Unlikely.

Still, he had married her. If it were just about safety, surely there were other wizards that she could have married. Someone else in the D.A. or even one of the Weasleys. Charlie was still single in Hermione's universe. She wondered if the law applied to him, given he didn't actually live in England. Perhaps not. Or maybe she had ruled out Weasleys altogether because of Ron. It was possible everyone else was already married or in relationships and Kingsley had been the only option. And he'd had to marry as well, under the law, given he was only forty-one.

"Who did Ron end up with then?" she asked.

"No one yet," she said. "The six-month deadline is next week. He may just be waiting to see who he gets matched with."

Hermione nodded absently. She wondered how her other self felt about the fact that Ron refused to marry her but might marry a virtual stranger instead. Not that Hermione would really want to be married to him, and she had no idea what the other Hermione's feelings were on the matter. But to her it would have made more sense for the two of them to marry and wait for the law to be repealed. It's not as if they had to have children right away. They could have been roommates basically and just worked to get the law repealed.

She shook her head. That wasn't her problem and whatever Ron wanted to do was his business. She did understand why Harry and Arthur were so upset now, though.

"What about you?" Hermione asked. "Are you married or are you waiting to get matched?"

Padma gave her a sad smile. "I'm married but it's more for convenience's sake."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine, it's just," she sighed. "Do you remember Mandy Brocklehurst?"

"Of course," Hermione said. She'd been another Ravenclaw in their year. Hermione had done a project with her in Ancient Runes in her world.

"We were good friends. She married Ernie Macmillan a few years ago and they had a baby last year. Six months ago, Mandy was visiting her Muggle grandparents and they got into a car accident. Mandy and her grandfather were killed."

"Oh my god," Hermione said. "I'm so sorry."

"Even though he had just lost his wife, and had an infant son, Ernie was told that the law still applied to him." Padma looked disgusted and Hermione couldn't blame her. It was horrible.

"Ernie and I dated briefly right after we left Hogwarts. It didn't work out at all," Padma said with a laugh. "But I knew that he and Mandy would hit it off. I was the one that set them up, actually. When the law was passed, I was single and had no real interest in anyone or in getting matched to some stranger, so I suggested to Ernie that we get married. He was grateful not to have to go through the whole process while he was newly grieving. We're hoping that the law is eventually repealed and we can go our separate ways before we're forced to have children. In the meantime, I'm helping him raise Sam. He turns one in two weeks."

Hermione smiled at the thought of the little boy, then shook her head. "I can't believe they were going to force him to get married after he'd just lost Mandy."

"No one is exempt," Padma said with a disgusted shake of her head. "Unless you can prove that you can't have children."

Padma pushed her plate away. Hermione still hadn't eaten anything. She took a half-hearted bite of the salad she'd ordered but she had entirely lost her appetite. Looking around, Hermione caught their server's eye.

The woman made her way to the table, then looked at their plates with a frown. "Was it not to your liking?"

"Oh, no, everything was fine. I just decided I wasn't hungry after all," Hermione said.

"Shall I box it for you?"

"Yes, please. And the bill if you don't mind."

"Of course." The young woman took their plates and walked towards the kitchen.

Padma looked at Hermione. "Do you have time to come back to mine? We can discuss this more." She tapped the top of the box that held the universe hopper.

"What about Ernie and the baby?"

"Ernie and Sam went to visit Ernie's parents for the weekend. They won't be home until after supper tonight."

"All right then," Hermione said, just as their server returned with the bill and their boxed food. Hermione waved Padma off and pulled some bills from her handbag. The money had been in the bag when Hermione had taken it from the wardrobe this morning. Apparently, the other Hermione still spent time in the Muggle world. It made Hermione wonder what the situation was with her parents in this universe. She doubted Padma would know.

After they'd paid, Padma stood and picked up the boxes of food while Hermione tucked the Universe Hopper back in her bag. She followed Padma from the café towards the alley so they could Apparate.

"Hermione, is that you?" Kingsley called as Hermione came out of the Floo.

"Yes," she called, cursing under her breath that he had made it home before she did. She'd spent more time at Padma's flat than she'd intended but they'd had a lot to talk about. Hermione had given her a more detailed explanation of her time in the other universes, along with all the information they'd discovered about the Universe Hopper. Padma had made extensive notes.

Kingsley walked into the sitting room as Hermione was siphoning the ash from her clothes. He smiled at her. "Have a good afternoon?"

"Yes, I'm sorry I'm so late. I lost track of time."

"Don't apologize. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

"How was your day?" Hermione asked.

He gave her a wry smile. "Not as pleasant as yours, I'm sure."

Hermoine chuckled. "Problems?"

"Oh, the usual," he said with a wave of his hand. "Always one crisis or another."

She nodded, knowing, even as his wife, she wasn't going to be privy to all the innerworkings of the government.

"There is something I wanted to talk to you about," Kingsley said.

"All right."

He led her to one of the couches in the room and they both sat, turned slightly to face one another. Kingsley took a breath before he looked at her. "Ron received his matches today."

"Oh," Hermione said. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about that. Or how the other her was supposed to feel about it, rather. Hermione, herself, didn't really care one way or the other. For a moment, she was almost surprised by that fact. A month ago, she would likely have cared very much. She supposed it was a testament to all she had experienced in the last few universes that she was truly ready to be done with Ron. "Is that information you normally get?"

He gave her a wry smile. "No. But I'll admit that I asked the Marriage Law department to keep me informed when Ron filed for his match."

Hermione nodded. "And?"

"He was matched with two witches. Emma Dobbs, a Muggleborn three years behind you at Hogwarts."

Hermione vaguely remembered her. She thought Emma had been a Ravenclaw. Kingsley fell silent and didn't continue. Obviously, whomever the other witch was, the other Hermione wouldn't have liked it.

"Who is the other?"

Kingsley sighed and looked at her solemnly. "Megan Jones."

Hermione frowned. Megan Jones had been a Hufflepuff in their year but Hermione didn't know much else about her. Megan and Ron had never really interacted at Hogwarts as far as Hermione was aware.

Kingsley reached over and took her hand. "I know that we've never really spoken about it and it's still not my business unless you choose to share it. But given the high amount of speculation concerning Ron and Megan just after you and he broke things off, well. I just wanted you to know before you were confronted with it in the Prophet if they choose one another."

Hermione remembered Padma's comment about the rumors of Ron dating other witches while he and the other Hermione were still together. Megan Jones must have been one of those witches. Hermione glanced at Kingsley who was looking at her in concern. It was rather sweet that he was worried about how she would react to the news about Ron. And regardless of how the other Hermione had felt about Ron's refusal to marry her, for she was convinced that's what had happened, she was married to Kingsley now. And he deserved better than her pining for Ron. Or her other self pining. Gods, she was starting to think of them as the same person sometimes.

She squeezed Kingsley's hand. "Thank you for telling me. But what Ron chooses to do is his business. Nothing about him concerns me anymore."

The genuine smile on Kingsley's face told Hermione all she needed to know. At the very least, he cared about the other Hermione. She wondered just how deeply those feelings went. And how long he'd been harboring them. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. "I'm glad to hear it."

She returned his smile and they sat and stared at one another for a few moments. Hermione could feel the tension rising in the room and found herself staring at his lips, wondering what kind of kisser he was.

"Tea is being served."

Hermione jumped as Jinx appeared, a tray levitating in front of her. Hermione shifted back, not even realizing she'd been leaning slightly forward. Kingsley cleared his throat and dropped her hand. Hermione wondered if he'd been leaning towards her as well as he shifted on the couch.

"Thank you, Jinx."

Jinx looked between the two of them and then nodded before setting the tray on the table in front of them. With a sly glance at Kingsley, the House Elf popped out of the room. Hermione looked down at her lap, grateful for the distraction. She had a perfect excuse not to get physically involved with Kingsley while she was in this universe. After what he'd said the night before, he obviously wasn't expecting it. She'd leave that to her counterpart after Hermione had jumped again, hopefully home this time. She ignored the voice inside her head that just laughed.

14 August 2003

"What are your plans today?" Kingsley asked as they ate breakfast. There had been a bit of awkwardness between them the night before. After tea, Kingsley had retired to his study until supper. Then after they'd finished eating, Hermione had excused herself to her suite, feigning tiredness. In reality, she just wanted to put a bit of distance between them. Kingsley hadn't seemed to mind.

This morning, things seemed to be back to normal. Or as normal as this situation was anyway.

"I'm not sure," she said. "I thought I might run a few errands, maybe make a trip to Flourish and Blotts."

What she really wanted to do was find some back issues of the Prophet and try to make sense of what had happened in this universe after the war. She wanted to know who had survived the Final Battle for one. It was obvious that it was different here, as Remus and Tonks' survival could attest. And she wasn't going to lie to herself. She was curious about everything that had happened between her and Ron. Or at least what the press thought had happened. At least then she'd have a frame of reference when people spoke about it. If the press were anything like they were in her world, Hermione was sure the Daily Prophet loved to report on the lives of the 'Golden Trio'. She hoped that Flourish and Blotts would have copies.

She also planned to meet Padma over Padma's lunch break. She didn't intend to tell Kingsley that, however. She was certain he would wonder why she was meeting someone she wasn't really friends with two days in a row.

"I don't suppose I can convince you to take a security detail with you," Kingsley said.

Hermione stared at him. Security detail? She remembered the Kingsley of her universe having an Auror guard with him whenever he went out in public for about a year after the war. But once the rest of the rogue Death Eaters had been caught and the trials were over, she'd thought that had ended. Why on earth would she need one?

Kingsley sighed. "I know that you're capable of taking care of yourself but it's Diagon, Hermione. There are plenty of places for people to hide and ambush you."

A security detail would ruin all her plans. Not only might they report to Kingsley what she was looking for in the bookstore, but she'd have to explain why she was meeting Padma again as well. Not to mention the fact that she couldn't imagine someone would attack the Minister's wife in the middle of Diagon Alley. It's not like they were still in the middle of a war.

"Do you honestly think that would happen?"

"I realize it's unlikely but there were people that were upset when we married."

"I'll be careful."

He sighed again. "At least swear to me that if you get into trouble, you'll call for Jinx. She can Apparate you out, even if there are wards."

"I will, I promise," Hermione said. She gave him a reassuring smile.

Kingsley tipped his head in acknowledgement. "When is your meeting with Bertram Dankworth?"

Hermione remembered the name from the schedule of events she'd found in the desk in her suite but she wasn't sure who he was. Considering she was supposed to meet with him the next day she should probably figure that out. "Tomorrow afternoon at two."

Kingsley nodded. "St. Mungo's would be lucky to have you." He smiled at her.

Wonderful. This Hermione was actually seriously considering becoming a Healer apparently. Dankworth must be the director of St. Mungo's. She'd look it up somewhere to make sure.

"I was also thinking of speaking to Minerva," Hermione said as she took a sip of her tea. She fervently hoped that Minerva was not only the Headmistress but that she had offered Hermione a teaching position in this world as she had in so many of the others.

"Oh?"

"Well, she's offered me various positions over the years. I thought I might see if there were any openings."

"You'd have to live in the castle then, I take it." While there was a neutral expression on his face, there was something in his eyes that made Hermione think he didn't like that idea.

"Not necessarily," she said, remembering what Neville had told her about living arrangements in the last universe. She felt a pang thinking about him and realized she missed him. "I might have to spend a night or two a week there if I had patrol or something. But I'm sure I could work something out with Minerva."

"If that's what you want to do, you should speak with her. I told you I would support you in whatever career you choose. And if you have to live in the castle, well, I'm sure we can find a way to navigate that." Kingsley smiled at her but he looked…disappointed.

Hermione realized that he didn't want her to live in the castle because he didn't want her to leave. Her thoughts from the night before about how deep his feelings went came back to her. There was definitely something there, on his part at least.

Before she realized what she was doing, she reached over and took his hand, clasping it in hers. "I don't want to live in the castle full-time. I don't even know if Minerva would have a job for me or if I want to take it. But if she does, I wouldn't accept if that were a condition of my employment."

Kingsley smiled and squeezed her hand. Hermione returned his smile feeling almost relieved. Which didn't really make sense because she hadn't intended to say any of that. Of course, she wouldn't want Kingsley to be upset, but assuring him she wouldn't take the job if she had to live in the castle wasn't at all what she planned to say.

Their hands remained clasped while they finished their breakfast. She hadn't intended to do that, either.

"Excuse me," Hermione said to the clerk behind the counter at Flourish and Blotts. She didn't recognize him and Hermione knew all the employees of the bookstore in her world. She hoped that the clerk and the other Hermione weren't on a first name basis. "Would you happen to have any back issues of the Daily Prophet?"

The clerk looked up at her, eyes widening as he realized who she was. Hermione bit back a sigh.

"Mrs. Shacklebolt, how lovely to see you! Yes, yes, we keep a month's worth over here, along with the past month's issues of Witch Weekly and Quidditch Times." The clerk led Hermione to a small area in the back of the store which held various newspapers and periodicals, along with several professional journals in various subjects, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and others.

"Nothing older than a month?" Hermione asked.

"No, I-I'm sorry but that's all we have." The clerk began to wring his hands in front of him, clearly upset that he was going to have to disappoint the wife of the Minister of Magic. Hermione held back an eye roll by the slimmest of margins.

Instead, she smiled, trying to reassure him. "That's all right, thank you." At least she might be able to find articles about her matching process with Kingsley or her wedding. Harry had said it had only been a few weeks.

"If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask."

Hermione nodded and the man gave her a little bow of all things before he walked back to the counter.

She turned to the stacks of the Daily Prophet. Sifting back to the oldest issue, Hermione skimmed through it. Nothing of interest caught her eye, except an announcement that there was just over a month remaining on the Wizengamot's deadline for all single witches and wizards. There were instructions on what to do if a person wanted to be matched by the Ministry process and a reminder that a Ministry approved official had to conduct all marriage ceremonies.

A few days later, there was a short article about her being matched with Kingsley. It was short on details and long on speculation about whether there had been anything between them prior to their matching. Hermione wasn't surprised.

Two days after that, however, Hermione and Kingsley dominated the news. They had been married in a small ceremony at Kingsley's estate with only a handful of guests. There was no mention of her parents, although from the tone of the article, it sounded as if they had probably released a statement to the press and no actual reporters had been at the wedding. Still, it made Hermione wonder what the situation with her parents was in this universe. She couldn't imagine either one of them being all right with their daughter being forced to marry. She wondered how her other self had explained it to them if they were, in fact, in her life.

The ensuing days covered everything from the fact that other Hermione had quit her job to speculation about how Ron had felt about her marriage. She snorted as she read that. Obviously, he hadn't really cared as he hadn't married her himself.

She didn't really learn anything new, however. There were mentions of other couples that had gotten married over the last few weeks, as well. Most had been matched by the Ministry. It made sense; Hermione figured most couples that were already dating or in situations like Padma and Ernie's would have gotten married shortly after the law was announced.

She wondered, though, about Harry and Ginny. Had they been dating all this time? Or had they already been married? Perhaps they hadn't even been together and just decided to marry one another to avoid ending up with someone they weren't familiar with. Hermione hoped that wasn't the case. Surely, if the DOM had developed the matching process, both of them could have ended up with someone more suited to them.

Finishing with the Prophet, Hermione decided she might as well look at Witch Weekly. She didn't expect to find anything of substance but it wouldn't hurt to check.

She was, therefore, surprised to find an article, complete with a few photographs, about the wedding in the issue from two weeks ago. Even the Prophet had only had one photo, which she again assumed had been submitted by Kingsley's staff. The article wasn't written by anyone she recognized but as Hermione peered at the credit for the photographs, her breath left her. Colin Creevey.

Colin had been killed at the Final Battle in Hermione's world. But here, he was alive, and still taking photographs it appeared. She had to take a few deep breaths to force the tears that threatened to spill. She could still remember walking down the row of the dead in the Great Hall and seeing Colin. He had looked so small and young compared to the others that were surrounding him.

Finally composing herself, she read the article. It was a well-done piece, nothing salacious or misleading. Hermione, of course, had no idea of the particulars but it seemed as if Witch Weekly had simply reported the events as they happened. She was sure that Kingsley's staff would have had to approve of the final article, but still.

There was no mention of her parents, nor were they in the group photograph that included what must have been most, if not all, of their guests. Hermione wondered if that meant they were lost to her as they had been in the last universe.

She studied the other photographs more closely. They were both of the other Hermione and Kingsley. One as they recited their vows and the other while they were dancing. If she hadn't known better, Hermione might have thought that they'd chosen one another and all of this. They both looked happy, although it could have been an act for the cameras, she supposed. Still, Hermione suspected that Kingsley's feelings weren't all one-sided.

Despite not getting all the information she wanted, at least she had been able to familiarize herself with the wedding if anyone asked. Not that she expected to be questioned about it, but she had no idea who the other appointments on her schedule were with. The last thing she needed was to be interviewed by a reporter and not know about her own wedding. She had the list with her and would ask Padma about it when she saw her this afternoon. Hermione hoped they were all career related.

She gathered up the newspapers and magazines and returned them to their previous places. Hermione decided she might as well browse a bit while she was here. If she bought a duplicate of something the other Hermione already owned, well, she'd just give it to Padma.

Thirty minutes later, Hermione left Flourish and Blotts, two new books shrunk and in her pocket. As she still had nearly an hour before she was supposed to meet Padma at her flat, Hermione decided to take a stroll through Diagon Alley. Most things looked the same but there were a few shops that weren't present in her world and vice versa.

Eventually, she found herself in front of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and hesitated. George had been in the photograph from her wedding but Fred had not, so she assumed he had been killed here as he had in her world. However, Ron had been working with George in her world and Hermione had no desire to run into him. She didn't know how she was supposed to act around him, given everything that had happened. Was the other Hermione even speaking to him?

She turned to walk back to the Leaky Cauldron. She didn't have much longer to wait to Floo to Padma's anyway. As she turned, she ran straight into someone.

"I'm so sorry," she said immediately.

"Hermione," a voice said.

Hermione swore in her head. "Hello, Ron."

"What are you doing here?"

"Just doing a little shopping," she said with a shrug.

"Right," Ron said with a snort. "Like you're shopping here."

"I never said I was shopping here," she said indicating the twins' shop. She would never consider it George and Ron's shop. Although, she resented the implication that she wouldn't shop there. She had bought things from WWW from time to time in her own world. "I was just shopping in general and happened to pass by."

"Living a life of leisure now I see," he said snidely.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. If Ron hadn't refused to marry the other her in the first place, she likely wouldn't have married Kingsley. Meaning she wouldn't have had to quit her job. "Actually, no. I've been doing research on what I want to do now that I've had to quit my job."

It wasn't a complete lie. She had actually purchased a book on Healing. She figured she should at least have some idea of what she was doing when she spoke to Healer Dankworth the next day.

"Research. Hermione Granger's favorite pastime."

He'd said the same thing to her in her world more than once but it had always been in a teasing, affectionate manner. This Ron was condescending and hurtful. Hermione wasn't sure what to make of it. Yes, her Ron could be an arse and had been at various times during their friendship, but this Ron seemed arrogant and almost…cruel.

"I have an appointment to get to," she said instead.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," Ron said, grabbing her arm when she went to walk away.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Hermione glanced around, hoping no one was watching them. The Alley was relatively quiet this morning, thankfully. The last thing she needed was to cause some scandal for Kingsley while she was here.

"Right," Ron scoffed.

"Let go of me, Ronald."

"You need to stay away from me, Hermione. I've gotten my matches from the Ministry and I don't think my future wife will want you hanging about, hoping I'll change my mind."

Hermione couldn't help it. She started to laugh. As if she would ever beg Ron Weasley for anything, in any universe. Ron scowled at her and dropped her arm. It took Hermione a few moments to compose herself. "In case you've forgotten, I'm already married. Happily, I might add."

Ron snorted. "Happily? Marrying someone twice your age that you barely know and you're happy? Sure, Hermione."

She shrugged. "Think what you like but I'm glad that things didn't work out between us. Kingsley is a wonderful husband and a much better match for me." She turned to walk away, then looked over her shoulder, unable to help one last dig. "In fact, I think pretty much anyone would be a better match for me than you." She smiled sweetly. "Have a nice day, Ron."

Walking away, Hermione's feeling of satisfaction was short-lived. She didn't want to ruin anything for the other Hermione. Not that Hermione thought her other self wanted to be with Ron, but she didn't want to cause issues with any of the other Hermione's other relationships. Ron tended to make himself out to be the injured party in situations like this.

And honestly, where had that come from? Yes, she'd always had a bit of a vicious streak, Marietta Edgecomb and Rita Skeeter came to mind, but Hermione had never treated Ron that way. She'd nagged him and been exasperated with him, yes, but never petty like that. Although, if the way he had acted towards her was anything to go by, they'd clearly had a rather large falling out. But she hadn't intended to lash out at him like that. It made her wonder again just how much influence the other Hermione still had over her own body.

It did make her a bit sad, though, to think that they might not be friends in this universe. Ron, for all his faults, had been one of her best friends for half her life. How did they get to this point? Shaking her head, Hermione made her way back to the Leaky.