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Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of the characters, I just like to play with them
Distraught
Sirius looked up the staircase at the teenagers, he paused to let his eyes fall on Hermione. He turned, pulled on his coat and left. He had a few issues to work out at a local pub. The look he had given Hermione wasn’t lost on any of them. Hermione herself didn’t know quite what to make of it, was it guilt, pity? It seemed more a combination of the two and it left her feeling very unsettled.
“What was that about?” Harry looked Hermione over like he was checking for an extra head or arm.
“I don’t know, weird though.” Hermione gave a little involuntary shudder, something was wrong and it involved her.
The other Order members filed out more slowly, it seemed few were staying for supper, even those who normally would. Just as Sirius had done, they each turned into the hallway casting their eyes upward, letting their gaze rest on Hermione before moving toward the door. Sensing Hermione’s discomfort Ginny took her by the arm and led her into their bedroom. Hermione was very quiet, seemingly staring into space but Ginny knew better. Hermione’s mind was working through what she knew about the war and about herself.
“Muggleborns,” murmured Hermione thoughtfully.
“Hmmm?” Ginny had heard her quite clearly but was prompting Hermione to voice her thoughts.
“There’s some new law regarding muggleborns and it must be particularly horrendous for me to get those sorts of looks.”
There was a soft knock on the bedroom door, Mrs. Weasly stuck her head in. “Dinner dears,” just as all the others had she let her gaze fall on Hermione giving her a very pitying look.
“What’s going on? I know there is something the matter and it has something to do with me.” Hermione’s worried eyes sought answers in the face of her surrogate mother. Mrs. Weasley had schooled her expression blank although she suspected she had given too much away already.
“We’ll talk about it after dinner. We’ll tell you everything but let’s just get through dinner for now.” Mrs. Weasly closed the door softly as she turned to head back down the stairs.
Hermione and Ginny shared an ominous look; together they made their way silently down the stairs to the dining room. Joining them for dinner were only Remus and Tonks. When she walked into the room the two adults regarded her silently for a moment before resuming their meal. Mrs. Weasley set a steaming bowl of stew in front of her and proceeded to serve the rest. Arthur Weasley joined the make shift family a few minutes later and they shared a rather quiet meal. Ron was conspicuously absent but the atmosphere in the dining room didn’t encourage questioning his whereabouts. When dinner was over Mrs. Weasley ordered Harry and Ginny upstairs and closed the door quietly behind them. Hermione sat stock still in her chair, waiting to hear what all the fuss was about. The silence in the room was deafening, the seconds seemed to pass like hours.
Remus was the first to break the silence. “Hermione, the ministry is about to enact a law which will affect all muggleborn witches who are of age.”
Hermione nodded, her gaze never wavered from his face, the others in the room were relieved he had broken the quiet and were loath to take his place.
“The law states that muggleborn witches who are of age must marry a pureblood wizard within one month of the law’s inception or her birthday.”
The blood drained from her face straight away; there was a loud buzzing in her ears. To keep from fainting she had to grip very tightly to table in front of her, “Wh-why?”
“We believe it is an attempt at mass incarceration of muggleborns and little else. The punishment for noncompliance is a year in Azkaban. The majority of muggleborns are witches so it is an easy way to reduce that segment of the population. There is a compliance deterrent built into the law. Those witches who found pureblood husbands are forced to have intercourse once a week thereby eliminating the possibility of sham marriages.”
Hermione let out a long breath, “So, you’re telling me to get ready for a year in Azkaban? I think not, I’d sooner run for it or renounce magic altogether.”
“No, no one expects you to go to Azkaban.” Remus paused, “If you’re agreeable we’ve found a pureblood bachelor who has agreed to marry you. It’s not an ideal solution but it is a plan that would allow you to stay in school.”
“Who?”
“Sirius has agreed. He knows something about Azkaban and has offered to protect you.”
“Aren’t there any better options? I don’t really want to go on the run or give up magic. It’s just I’ve never…I mean to say…I haven’t, erm…oh, never mind,” her voice trailed off, uncomfortable putting words to her fears.
Molly Weasley let out a quiet sob, the barbarism of the situation overwhelmed her. This was tantamount to planning the girl’s rape in her view.
“I suppose it isn’t the first arranged marriage in the history of wizard kind, I just never saw myself set up in one. If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to spend a few days at home with my parents. I’ll go pack up, I’ll just be a few days. I’d like to speak with Sirius, Remus. Can you pass that along to him? It can wait until I return.” Remus nodded to Hermione, who turned and left for her room.
“She took that better than I expected.” Tonks was impressed with the maturity Hermione displayed, she could have screamed or cried but instead she handled it with dignity.
“She’s always been more mature than the others. I’m not sure how she’ll react when the shock wears off. I think she was wise choosing to spend time with her family, her mother will help her cope.” Remus wondered how her parents would react to such news, might they pull her from the wizarding world altogether?
Molly stood from the table, wiping the tears from her eyes, “I’ll go see if I can help her pack.”
Arthur stilled his wife’s move, “I imagine she’ll want to talk with Ginny, don’t you think?”
Instead of sitting back down she began clearing the table and cleaning up, she had to do something with herself. The others moved off to give her some space, she’d already had to repair one broken dish and none wished to find themselves in her line of fire.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Hermione spent the next few days with her parents, she found comfort in the sheer muggleness of home. She and her mother talked through her options but in the end she allowed her daughter to make up her own mind. Her parents expressed a desire to meet her future husband, so Hermione sent along an owl to Sirius. The shock did indeed wear off and in its place was a weighty feeling of impending doom. Hermione returned to Grimmauld Place a little less than a week before September the first.
She had been worried that seeing Sirius would be awkward and uncomfortable but she needn’t have been concerned. Sirius was rarely at home these days, he returned occasionally to recover from a hangover but was gone before anyone got a chance to speak with him. Hermione felt for him but at the same time wished she could speak to him. This was a joint problem, they were in this together, she wanted to feel he was her ally. Instead she had a growing feeling of emptiness, a vast sense of being all alone in her problem.
Hermione and Ginny spent a lot of time in their bedroom talking about her upcoming nuptials and the thing that weighed the heaviest on Hermione’s mind; sex.
“I’ve not thought a great deal about it before now, I’ve only ever kissed one boy.” Hermione was talking about Viktor Krum in her fourth year.
“I’m rather curious about it myself. Sirius is a good looking man, it could be worse.”
“Is he? I guess I never really thought about him like that. I was hoping this year maybe me and Ron would start dating. Poor Ron, I really feel for him.” Hermione let her voice trail off thinking that if Sirius would show his face for more than five minutes she would have to give him a better look. “I guess I’m curious as well, what’s it supposed to feel like?”
Ginny lay a conspiratorial hand on Hermione’s arm and a smirk on her face, “I’ve heard mum and dad at it. There’s a lot of groaning and grunting involved, fairly noisy event, really.”
Hermione looked horrified, “Groaning and grunting? Oh Merlin, what am I getting myself into?”
Ginny laughed, “Well, mum doesn’t sound like she hates it or anything.”
There was a loud knock on the door before Harry and a thoroughly beaten looking Ron barged through the door. The boys eyed her nervously, seemingly unsure of what to say, only knowing they wanted time with their friend. Ginny picked a safe topic, quidditch, and they conversed happily, steering clear of any and all discussion of Hermione and Sirius or Ron and his future wife Griselda. Ron was in a terrible mood and for some reason was taking it out on Hermione.
“What exactly is your problem Ron?” He had just asked her a question about the Cannons in an oddly aggressive tone of voice.
“Well if you were a real fan you’d have known that was an excellent save.”
“I’m not a real fan Ron! You love the Cannons, remember?” Hermione wished he would deal with his feelings of frustration in a more adult manner.
“That’s your biggest problem, you know that Hermione?”
“Really? I thought my biggest problem was having to enter into a marriage I don’t want. I would think you understood that.” There, she thought, its on the table. We can deal with this as friends.
Instead of dealing with it, Ron stood and left, slamming the door behind him. Harry gave her a sympathetic look and followed after. Hermione threw herself on the bed in a fit of sobs while Ginny left the room with a murderous look in her eye. She found Ron in the sitting room with Remus and Sirius, walked right up to him and slapped him hard across the face. She left without uttering a single word, storming back up to Hermione. The occupants of the sitting room stared at each other in open mouthed shock. Ron recovered first, rubbing his cheek and casting a dark look at Sirius before leaving. Harry followed after privately thinking about the foolishness of getting on Ginny’s bad side, the red head had quite a temper.
Sirius took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Looks like I’m not the only one struggling with this.”
“I always thought something was there between Hermione and Ron, he goads her so much.” Remus considered all the lives this law affected, hoping it would be overturned sooner rather than later.
“I goad her Remus, doesn’t mean I wanted to date her.” Sirius sat back in his chair and let his head fall back to stare at the ceiling.
“They’re all too young for this sort of decision. Oh, I meant to tell you, before she left for her parents Hermione asked to speak with you.”
“That poor girl, she can’t possibly be ready for all that this entails. As fucked as the ministry surely is I never thought something like this would pass.” Sirius’ voice contained a note of bitter resignation. He had finally come to terms with what he must do although he still couldn’t bring himself to discuss it. “I’ll be sure and speak to her. I’ve not been avoiding her so much as the situation. Probably should have spoken to her days ago.”
“Have you spoken with her parents yet?”
“Fuck!”
Chapter 4
Distraught
Sirius looked up the staircase at the teenagers, he paused to let his eyes fall on Hermione. He turned, pulled on his coat and left. He had a few issues to work out at a local pub. The look he had given Hermione wasn’t lost on any of them. Hermione herself didn’t know quite what to make of it, was it guilt, pity? It seemed more a combination of the two and it left her feeling very unsettled.
“What was that about?” Harry looked Hermione over like he was checking for an extra head or arm.
“I don’t know, weird though.” Hermione gave a little involuntary shudder, something was wrong and it involved her.
The other Order members filed out more slowly, it seemed few were staying for supper, even those who normally would. Just as Sirius had done, they each turned into the hallway casting their eyes upward, letting their gaze rest on Hermione before moving toward the door. Sensing Hermione’s discomfort Ginny took her by the arm and led her into their bedroom. Hermione was very quiet, seemingly staring into space but Ginny knew better. Hermione’s mind was working through what she knew about the war and about herself.
“Muggleborns,” murmured Hermione thoughtfully.
“Hmmm?” Ginny had heard her quite clearly but was prompting Hermione to voice her thoughts.
“There’s some new law regarding muggleborns and it must be particularly horrendous for me to get those sorts of looks.”
There was a soft knock on the bedroom door, Mrs. Weasly stuck her head in. “Dinner dears,” just as all the others had she let her gaze fall on Hermione giving her a very pitying look.
“What’s going on? I know there is something the matter and it has something to do with me.” Hermione’s worried eyes sought answers in the face of her surrogate mother. Mrs. Weasley had schooled her expression blank although she suspected she had given too much away already.
“We’ll talk about it after dinner. We’ll tell you everything but let’s just get through dinner for now.” Mrs. Weasly closed the door softly as she turned to head back down the stairs.
Hermione and Ginny shared an ominous look; together they made their way silently down the stairs to the dining room. Joining them for dinner were only Remus and Tonks. When she walked into the room the two adults regarded her silently for a moment before resuming their meal. Mrs. Weasley set a steaming bowl of stew in front of her and proceeded to serve the rest. Arthur Weasley joined the make shift family a few minutes later and they shared a rather quiet meal. Ron was conspicuously absent but the atmosphere in the dining room didn’t encourage questioning his whereabouts. When dinner was over Mrs. Weasley ordered Harry and Ginny upstairs and closed the door quietly behind them. Hermione sat stock still in her chair, waiting to hear what all the fuss was about. The silence in the room was deafening, the seconds seemed to pass like hours.
Remus was the first to break the silence. “Hermione, the ministry is about to enact a law which will affect all muggleborn witches who are of age.”
Hermione nodded, her gaze never wavered from his face, the others in the room were relieved he had broken the quiet and were loath to take his place.
“The law states that muggleborn witches who are of age must marry a pureblood wizard within one month of the law’s inception or her birthday.”
The blood drained from her face straight away; there was a loud buzzing in her ears. To keep from fainting she had to grip very tightly to table in front of her, “Wh-why?”
“We believe it is an attempt at mass incarceration of muggleborns and little else. The punishment for noncompliance is a year in Azkaban. The majority of muggleborns are witches so it is an easy way to reduce that segment of the population. There is a compliance deterrent built into the law. Those witches who found pureblood husbands are forced to have intercourse once a week thereby eliminating the possibility of sham marriages.”
Hermione let out a long breath, “So, you’re telling me to get ready for a year in Azkaban? I think not, I’d sooner run for it or renounce magic altogether.”
“No, no one expects you to go to Azkaban.” Remus paused, “If you’re agreeable we’ve found a pureblood bachelor who has agreed to marry you. It’s not an ideal solution but it is a plan that would allow you to stay in school.”
“Who?”
“Sirius has agreed. He knows something about Azkaban and has offered to protect you.”
“Aren’t there any better options? I don’t really want to go on the run or give up magic. It’s just I’ve never…I mean to say…I haven’t, erm…oh, never mind,” her voice trailed off, uncomfortable putting words to her fears.
Molly Weasley let out a quiet sob, the barbarism of the situation overwhelmed her. This was tantamount to planning the girl’s rape in her view.
“I suppose it isn’t the first arranged marriage in the history of wizard kind, I just never saw myself set up in one. If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to spend a few days at home with my parents. I’ll go pack up, I’ll just be a few days. I’d like to speak with Sirius, Remus. Can you pass that along to him? It can wait until I return.” Remus nodded to Hermione, who turned and left for her room.
“She took that better than I expected.” Tonks was impressed with the maturity Hermione displayed, she could have screamed or cried but instead she handled it with dignity.
“She’s always been more mature than the others. I’m not sure how she’ll react when the shock wears off. I think she was wise choosing to spend time with her family, her mother will help her cope.” Remus wondered how her parents would react to such news, might they pull her from the wizarding world altogether?
Molly stood from the table, wiping the tears from her eyes, “I’ll go see if I can help her pack.”
Arthur stilled his wife’s move, “I imagine she’ll want to talk with Ginny, don’t you think?”
Instead of sitting back down she began clearing the table and cleaning up, she had to do something with herself. The others moved off to give her some space, she’d already had to repair one broken dish and none wished to find themselves in her line of fire.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Hermione spent the next few days with her parents, she found comfort in the sheer muggleness of home. She and her mother talked through her options but in the end she allowed her daughter to make up her own mind. Her parents expressed a desire to meet her future husband, so Hermione sent along an owl to Sirius. The shock did indeed wear off and in its place was a weighty feeling of impending doom. Hermione returned to Grimmauld Place a little less than a week before September the first.
She had been worried that seeing Sirius would be awkward and uncomfortable but she needn’t have been concerned. Sirius was rarely at home these days, he returned occasionally to recover from a hangover but was gone before anyone got a chance to speak with him. Hermione felt for him but at the same time wished she could speak to him. This was a joint problem, they were in this together, she wanted to feel he was her ally. Instead she had a growing feeling of emptiness, a vast sense of being all alone in her problem.
Hermione and Ginny spent a lot of time in their bedroom talking about her upcoming nuptials and the thing that weighed the heaviest on Hermione’s mind; sex.
“I’ve not thought a great deal about it before now, I’ve only ever kissed one boy.” Hermione was talking about Viktor Krum in her fourth year.
“I’m rather curious about it myself. Sirius is a good looking man, it could be worse.”
“Is he? I guess I never really thought about him like that. I was hoping this year maybe me and Ron would start dating. Poor Ron, I really feel for him.” Hermione let her voice trail off thinking that if Sirius would show his face for more than five minutes she would have to give him a better look. “I guess I’m curious as well, what’s it supposed to feel like?”
Ginny lay a conspiratorial hand on Hermione’s arm and a smirk on her face, “I’ve heard mum and dad at it. There’s a lot of groaning and grunting involved, fairly noisy event, really.”
Hermione looked horrified, “Groaning and grunting? Oh Merlin, what am I getting myself into?”
Ginny laughed, “Well, mum doesn’t sound like she hates it or anything.”
There was a loud knock on the door before Harry and a thoroughly beaten looking Ron barged through the door. The boys eyed her nervously, seemingly unsure of what to say, only knowing they wanted time with their friend. Ginny picked a safe topic, quidditch, and they conversed happily, steering clear of any and all discussion of Hermione and Sirius or Ron and his future wife Griselda. Ron was in a terrible mood and for some reason was taking it out on Hermione.
“What exactly is your problem Ron?” He had just asked her a question about the Cannons in an oddly aggressive tone of voice.
“Well if you were a real fan you’d have known that was an excellent save.”
“I’m not a real fan Ron! You love the Cannons, remember?” Hermione wished he would deal with his feelings of frustration in a more adult manner.
“That’s your biggest problem, you know that Hermione?”
“Really? I thought my biggest problem was having to enter into a marriage I don’t want. I would think you understood that.” There, she thought, its on the table. We can deal with this as friends.
Instead of dealing with it, Ron stood and left, slamming the door behind him. Harry gave her a sympathetic look and followed after. Hermione threw herself on the bed in a fit of sobs while Ginny left the room with a murderous look in her eye. She found Ron in the sitting room with Remus and Sirius, walked right up to him and slapped him hard across the face. She left without uttering a single word, storming back up to Hermione. The occupants of the sitting room stared at each other in open mouthed shock. Ron recovered first, rubbing his cheek and casting a dark look at Sirius before leaving. Harry followed after privately thinking about the foolishness of getting on Ginny’s bad side, the red head had quite a temper.
Sirius took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Looks like I’m not the only one struggling with this.”
“I always thought something was there between Hermione and Ron, he goads her so much.” Remus considered all the lives this law affected, hoping it would be overturned sooner rather than later.
“I goad her Remus, doesn’t mean I wanted to date her.” Sirius sat back in his chair and let his head fall back to stare at the ceiling.
“They’re all too young for this sort of decision. Oh, I meant to tell you, before she left for her parents Hermione asked to speak with you.”
“That poor girl, she can’t possibly be ready for all that this entails. As fucked as the ministry surely is I never thought something like this would pass.” Sirius’ voice contained a note of bitter resignation. He had finally come to terms with what he must do although he still couldn’t bring himself to discuss it. “I’ll be sure and speak to her. I’ve not been avoiding her so much as the situation. Probably should have spoken to her days ago.”
“Have you spoken with her parents yet?”
“Fuck!”
Chapter 4
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