Unintended Consequences
Standard Disclaimer: No, I don't own anything of the Harry Potter empire. Not my circus, sandbox or monkey. Everything is owned by JKR and her minions.
This story was inspired by a meeting taking place midway through chapter 2 of Raspberry Dream's story 'The Last Attempt to Save the Pureblood Family Lines', used with permission. Text in italics are quotes from her story that led into this additional scene.
Timeframe: November of 1996. The same timeframe as RD's story. AU. Voldemort is history, DE's in prison, Dumbledore, Sirius and Snapes are alive. This is a Marriage Law fic.
Warning: Some discussion of rampant bigotry.
Chapter 1: The First Meeting
Hermione approached the runes' professor at the end of class the next day. She'd been volunteered for the task as nobody would be suspicious of her wanting to stay and talk to a professor after classes, until they'd started researching the marriage law she'd done it with nearly all her teachers at least once a week. Padma stayed with her.
"We just wanted to say thank you for the assistance you gave us with our rune projects, and ask why you are helping us Professor?" Hermione asked curiously.
"None of the professors approve of forcing students to marry, or of students your age being married at all, to be honest. But I believe it will be less traumatic if you at least know and trust your husband or wife. And to be honest I'd rather help and ensure the runes are correct than risk something going wrong. Rune rituals can be extremely dangerous if not done properly" Professor Bathsheba Babbling replied. She didn't mention that she wasn't the only professor popping in to spend an hour or two drawing runes for the ritual circles.
"So, can we use the circles more than once without redrawing the runes? Is it safe?" Padma asked.
"Yes, so long as none of the runes have faded or become smudged by people entering the circle" Professor Babbling said. "You will need to check every rune in the circle very carefully between each use."
"That's still going to be a lot quicker than erasing it and redrawing all those runes," Padma said pleased.
"Yes. but you need to make sure whoever checks the circle is extremely thorough," Professor Babbling warned seriously. "I, or should I say, we may have a way around that issue, and perhaps you can help us too. Can you both please come to my office this evening after dinner? And can you please bring Mr. Potter and Mr. Finch-Fletchley with you, and please don't be seen? I have heard rumours that Mr. Potter has a means to help with that. I'll explain when we meet."
Both girls nodded, and said they would attend and bring their friends if possible. They quietly wondered why the professor had requested a further get-together, how they might be helping Professor Babbling (and others? – she had used the plural form and the hyperclever girls very much doubted it had been a mistake), and why the boys had been invited.
That evening, Hermione, Padma, Harry and Justin arrived at Professor Babbling's office. They had come in three separate trips, with Harry escorting the others one at a time under his invisibility cloak.
Entering the office, the students were puzzled to see not only Professor Babbling, but also Professors Flitwick and Sinistra.
Professor Babbling greeting the group. "Thank you all for coming to meet us. Professor Flitwick tells me that there is a charm which should protect the runs form being erased due to what we this evening shall call strenuous activity. This should free up time your teams have spent so far repairing them. In addition, we would like to use one of the ritual circles ourselves, if you can fit us into the schedule."
The eyes of all four students widen at this announcement. Looking at the three instructors, Harry gulped and asked, "All three of you? Together? Is this one of those obscure and hidden wizarding customs that they won't tell us muggle-bornes and muggle-raised about?"
The three professors looked at each other in shock. Professor Sinistra started to giggle, which led to Professor Flitwick guffawing, and Professor Babbling blushing fiercely as she groaned. Babbling shook her head, saying "Oh God. I hadn't thought how this would look!"
Sinistra laughed and replying, "Come on Babs. This should have been obvious, if we weren't so worried about the situation and the secrecy. This was great!"
Babbling (Babs) turned to her colleague and said "Shut up Ro! I haven't been this embarrassed since you were the prefect who caught me and Freddy in the broom closet in fifth year."
Having broken the ice, as it were, she turned to the students while still blushing and chuckling (over the laughter of her fellow profs). "No, we are not proposing a threesome. That's just not done in wizarding society. Well, at least, not openly."
"No, I doubt that you know that Fil and I have been together for some years. Because he is part goblin, the Ministry refuses to allow a marriage license for us, and refuses to accept a goblin marriage ceremony as valid. Consequently, Aurora and I are caught under the same marriage law as you are yourselves."
Padma frowned and said, "I thought most of the Hogwarts' staff were exempt or old enough that the law wouldn't apply."
Professor Sinistra (Aurora or Ro) responded "If you are trying to ask us our ages, know that it is not considered polite to ask a lady her age. However, as it is relevant, I am forty-seven and Babs here is forty-five. Filius is seventy-two, so he would be exempt, but the bigots at the Ministry would consider him exempt anyway because of his ancestry. The only other staff member in the affected age-group is Severus Snape."
Harry asked, "So one of you is going to marry Snape?"
Flitwick almost fell off his chair laughing. "Can you allow the ladies some self-respect? No, neither of them, nor me for that matter, is hankering to marry Snape, and we pity the witch he will be paired up with. Bathsheba and I want to marry using the unbreakable ritual, because otherwise, the Ministry is going to line her up with someone of their choosing. Given they know about our relationship, they would likely pair her up with some real nasty bigoted and aged Wizengamot member."
"Aurora's need is different. She wants to get out of the country before the draws are made, but given the way the old fogeys are proceeding, there's no way she could get an international portkey."
Aurora spoke up. "For several years, I have been going to Australia during the summer break, which is in their winter, to work on southern astronomy. I have a standing offer of a permanent position at the magical division at the University of Western Australia in Perth which has a nice observatory north of there, with an adjunct position at the Uluru Dark Sky observatory. My problem is that I always used a legally obtained portkey, and don't really know how to travel in a way that the Ministry would not notice until I am well out of their reach. I just don't know how to travel as a muggle, and I hope some, or all, of you have traveled using methods I can use. I don't even know what muggles would wear while travelling, although the magicals in Australia wear more-or-less muggle clothing."
"I don't even know how much money I would need to pay for the travel, or how to get muggle money without some Ministry hack blowing the whistle on me. If it helps, I have been to London a few times, and in my student days I have taken the 'Tube' from King's Cross station to Charing Cross to go to the Leaky Cauldron. Scared spitless among all those hundreds of muggles, at the time."
Bathsheba snickered. "Yeah, Ro was a real wild one back then!"
The students put their heads together for a couple of minutes, then Hermione asked, "How are you intending to pay for the travel? I don't know of any travel agents who would accept galleons, so you would need some muggle money. Are you planning to take all your money with you, or can it be transferred to a bank in Australia? A lot of countries have limits on how much money you can bring into their country, so if you have a lot, you may have to leave some here."
Filius smiled. "I may be able to help with that. I happen to know that Gringotts has a branch in Perth, and we can arrange to transfer your vaults there. This kind of transfer happens all the time and neither the muggle nor magical authorities are told about it."
"Mr. Potter, I understand that you have a personal vault at Gringotts?" Harry nodded.
The professor said, "Good. We can transfer some galleons to your vault, and withdraw the equivalent in pounds and other currencies, so Ro can pay for the trip and have some on-hand funds as well. I can talk to some distant cousins and probably even get you a 'family' rate for the transfers and the exchange. We can blame you for getting the muggle money."
"As to the travel arrangements, what do you suggest?"
The students discussed it between themselves for a short time. Hermione had gone to France and Spain with her family, Padma had gone to India numerous times, and Justin had travelled around London and other parts of England extensively. Harry had only travelled a little as a muggle, but had traveled magically with family to the Caribbean.
Hermione took the lead. "We think that it might be a good idea to disguise the first part of your trip. From King's Cross, go across the street to St Pancras Station and get a ticket on the EuroStar to Paris through the channel tunnel (In Paris, you can get to the Charles de Gaulle airport to travel further). While still in London, take the Tube to Paddington Station and take the regular or express to Heathrow airport. From there you can get to wherever you are going. Go either way as you like, but having tickets for both will confuse anyone trying to track your movements."
"Alternately, you could take a train down to Dover, and then take a ferry to France, or go to Harwich and take the ferry to Hook of Holland in the Netherlands. Then to Paris or Amsterdam, to fly to Australia."
"As to travelling clothes, we would suggest something a lot lighter that the wizarding robes we wear here given the warmer areas you would be travelling through, although summer weight robes might work. If you are going through Dubai as a stop-over, robes with a possible additional of a facial scarf should disguise your movements in an Arabic country. If you do a stop-over or two, you might want to do a bit of wandering around in crowds, in case of the off chance that you are followed. You might even find facilities for magical travel, but if you go 'completely muggle' there would be much less chance of being noticed. Most pure-bloods we have encountered have no idea whatsoever on blending in with muggles – take a look at Mr. Weasley, and he is supposed to be the Ministry's expert."
Flitwick nodded. "Good. Ro, are you okay with those as a plan?" She nodded. "Now, as to the ritual, we will need able a half hour for the preservative charms, and then however long for the ritual itself." Smiling at Bathsheba, he added, "I very much suspect the bond will form. We will check the runes afterwards, but if the preserving works as I believe it will, that should save you several hours of repair work, so our time won't interfere with the others needing the ritual themselves."
Hermione and Padma, looked at the diminutive man and asked, "When shall we start of the charms? The sooner the better, we think."
As he stood, he said, "How about right now."
