Marriage Law Madness

Draco was sitting in the Slytherin common room, catching up with his father when Harry Potter knocked on the big wooden door. Severus let him in, and he handed Lucius the key to his new quarters in the astronomy tower, then headed to the girls dorm door to give Molly the new Slytherin ties to put away. She was helping the new girls get settled in, unpacking their trunks, showing them around, and sewing house patches on their new school robes.

The Slytherins had taken surprisingly well to having a mother to fuss over them. Even Draco and Zabini would do almost anything for one of her cookies. The girls from all four houses were delighted with their twice-weekly women’s club meetings when they all crammed into the Slytherin common room to learn how to make beauty potions, learn simple women’s spells or discuss how to put together a working wardrobe. Severus had even given a lecture on women’s potions down in the dungeons, showing them how to make their own PMS/PMT and menstrual potions. His reasoning was that even if the older ones were the only ones who could actually make their own, it would take a load off Madam Pomfrey and himself.

Tonight the pregnant ladies were resting while Tia showed the other girls how to do basic dueling. Even though she wasn’t dueling herself, of course, she was wearing protective gear over her abdomen to protect from a stray curse. All of the pregnant ladies opted for each other’s company, so they headed down to Slytherin. Pansy Parkinson was sewing name labels into Gabrielle, Florian and Fraise’s robes under Molly’s guidance after having a scathing fight with her now ex-boyfriend at Durmstrang, he having informed her, after Dumbledore had set up the Floo conversation, that her having gotten pregnant wasn’t his problem. He wanted nothing to do with her. She had informed him that they would be fine without him and broken the connection before bursting into tears. Severus had held her while she cried, and then gave her to Molly to put to work, saying, “If you’re going to be a mom, you need to learn how to do these things. Nothing keeps your mind off your troubles like work,” but thinking, ‘What is it with me and crying women lately?’

Minerva was telling some of her favorite Scottish legends to the four pregnant fourth years and her granddaughter over in the corner. The younger Minerva had her head in her grandmother’s lap, having had an interesting discussion with her father right after dinner. The last person he expected to pop through the Floo was the mother-in-law he had never met. Minerva had ripped him up one side and down the other, made him apologize to his daughter, then settled in to have a cup of tea with her daughter, whom she hadn’t seen in almost fifty years, when she was a very small girl. Bruce’s parents had fought for custody of her after Bruce had died, had won because of their money, and had never allowed her to see her again. Just before they came for her, Minerva had taken her daughter Cliodna, who she had named after the Scottish Celtic goddess of beauty, and placed a magic mark on her breast that would be passed through generations so she might know her or her descendants if she found them later. It was this mark that so excited Dumbledore that he sent for Minerva when the Beuxbatons girls had arrived.

Ginny was in the same corner, pouring over “A Witch’s Guide to What to Expect When You’re Expecting” that Lucius had bought for her at Flourish and Blotts that afternoon.
He’d bought both copies they had in stock, one for Ginny and one for everyone else to share until the two-dozen copies he’d ordered arrived. He’d also bought her several books on nutrition and pregnancy, also giving a copy to Dobby, who was in charge of the meal plans. In return for him making specially balanced meals, small kitchenettes would be added to all common rooms to hold pickles, ice cream and whatever the pregnant women were craving at the time so he could get some sleep.

Hermione had been asked to remain behind by Severus, and was brewing a large batch of Prenatal Potion with the ingredients Lucius had gotten that afternoon. Her reputation as a bookworm had served her well, as she’d managed to escape detection as an eligible female. Now, if she got an offer, she would be able to wait until after graduation to get pregnant, at least.

All of the other pregnant women were spread out over the room, along with some of the male halves. Malfoy and Neville were stuck helping Parvati wind pink, violet, blue, yellow and mint yarn into balls for Molly to knit several dozen pairs of booties with – 21 Hogwarts girls, 5 former Beuxbatons girls – three women were having twins, plus Tonks, Sprout and Umbridge. Madam Pomfrey had refused to divulge as yet who was pregnant with the twins. Bets were going around among the women as to who it was, and Severus decided to brew several large doses of the Headache potion when it became clear that his women were heavy favorites.

Hermione finished the potion and started ladling out doses. Severus gave each of the women a dose, and then ladled out one more and handed it to Hermione. “Down the hatch.”

“But I’m not…”she stopped short as he nodded.

“I know. But you will most likely be in the next six months or so. It won’t hurt at all to start taking it now. Plus, it keeps me from having to remember who is, who’s trying, and who isn’t if I make you all take it.”

All of the younger students came in then, as curfew was getting close. Severus suddenly realized that over ½ of them weren’t Slytherins. A young second year Ravenclaw went over to Lucius. “Sir, can you help me with my essay? Professor Umbridge assigned us a paper on the reasons why people may choose to join particular sides during a conflict. She suggested that we ask Professor Snape why he joined the Death Eaters, but everyone is going to be doing that.”

Severus was furious. It was just like that woman to fire a parting shot like this. A week from now she’d be off in her new little cottage and he’d have to deal with the repercussions. He expected Lucius to flat out refuse. Instead, he just sighed and said, “go get your classmates. I’m only doing this once. Molly, can you ask Dobby for a tray of biscuits and maybe some hot chocolate? If their mouths are full, they can’t interrupt me. This isn’t going to be easy. Even Severus doesn’t know all of it.”

Twenty minutes later, it seemed as if the entire population of the castle was crammed into the Slytherin common room. Severus magically expanded the couches so they could fit three times as many people into the same amount of space, but they still had a lot of younger students sitting on the laps of the older ones and students all over the floor. Even some of the teachers had come down, as they had all been in the staff room when the Hufflepuff, Hannah’s little sister Samantha, stopped in on her way to the common rooms to let McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout know where their students were.

“Hermione, what can you tell us about the Muggle Riots of the 1970’s” Lucius asked. He was treating this as a classroom lecture. Maybe this way he had a chance of getting thru the story without breaking down.

“A lot of Muggles who were anti-magic started looking for magical people, killing all they suspected. It didn’t matter if there wasn’t any proof. Few of the Muggles were ever found and punished.”

Lucius nodded sadly, withdrawing an old and tattered photograph from his pocket. “When I was four, I was betrothed to the daughter of one of my father’s closest friends. So close that he had named her after my father. Looking down at a tiny baby in the cradle, I was more like an excited big brother than a potential spouse. At last I had someone to play with. We grew up together. She went to Beuxbatons, since they lived in France near our summer home. She was an English witch through and through, though, preferring to spend summers here with us. We fell in love slowly, but she was my lover and my best friend rolled into one. One night I got too drunk at a party and she and my sister left me there, telling the hostess she’d Apparate back to the Manor and get someone to come get me. They never made it. Those damn Muggles tortured them to death. I swore to find the Muggles who had done it. That led to my rift with Dumbledore, as he refused to allow me to harm one of them due to the fact that he was related to Harry Potter.”

“Uncle Vernon.” Harry said flatly.

“Yes. He had another sister besides Margery, named Martha, who we all called Marty. She was my sister’s best friend at Hogwarts. When she turned out to be a witch they disowned her, she lived with us until they sent for her after her sixth year. They killed her and made it look like an accident. Vernon met Petunia at an Anti-Magic rally in London. You ever wonder why they favored Dudley? They managed to squash the magic out of him where they failed with you. It’s still there, but he is classified as a Squib.”

Harry sat openmouthed at this piece of news.

“It was those three deaths that caused me to hate Muggles. I had, from my experience at home, a deep knowledge of the dark arts. My so-called friends used this to lure me into Voldemort’s trap. Voldemort promised me revenge on those who had wronged me. I didn’t find out until much later that he meant all Muggles or half-bloods. And once you join, you’re there until you die. I didn’t realize what a monster I had become until he tried to force my son into it, too. When I refused, he tortured my wife to death in front of me – the same way the Muggles had killed my sister.”

There was a dead silence in the room as they realized tears were falling from Lucius Malfoy’s eyes. It was Draco’s turn to stare at his father, since his father hadn’t told him the reason that his mother had been killed or that he’d been there when it happened.

Molly got up and handed Lucius her handkerchief, and poor Sam, regretting having made him relive this, climbed into his lap and put her arms around him. He sat a moment, seeming to draw strength from her embrace. “I had a lot of time to think in Azkaban. The first few weeks, before the Dementors defected, I was forced to relive all the horrible memories over and over again, day after day. Once they were gone and I could think on my own, I realized how disgusted Lucienne and my sister would have been with some of the things I did while supposedly avenging them. I’d still like to kill Dursley, though. That’s the only person I regret not killing, other than some of my Death Eater pals. But I left them to the Aurors.”

“I’m going to dedicate the rest of my life to improving relations between the two worlds. I still wouldn’t want my family to marry one, but I realized that’s the only way all the hate will end – on both sides.”

He sat there with his eyes closed, holding on to Sam. What would he see when he opened his eyes? Skepticism, hate, revulsion, or worse, pity? He finally dragged his eyes open. He saw pity, but he also saw sympathy. Some of the girls were brushing tears out of their eyes. He realized Sam was fast asleep. He picked her up, carried her out the door and up to the Hufflepuff dormitory, grateful for a reason to escape.

Dumbledore sent all the students to bed, and then turned to Severus and Molly. “Are you two free this weekend? I need some help. Molly, it could help you with your exams if you were going to study all weekend.”

“What do you need?”

“We’re going to remodel a whole wing of the castle. Once they get farther along, the girls aren’t going to be able to handle the stairs. I’m going to freeze all the moving ones and create a bunch of chairs to carry them up the stairs and to their classes. We’re also going to build a nursery for the children to stay in while the girls are in class, and a large common room attached to it that will be open to all students.”

Meanwhile, Ginny had climbed into bed with Malfoy. When Severus found them, he calmly asked, “having a slumber party?”

“What do you think about Lucia Molly as a name for your granddaughter, sir?” Malfoy asked seriously. “We thought actually calling her Lucienne might be too much for Dad.”

“I like it. Now go to sleep.” Severus said sternly.

“You aren’t going to make her leave?”

“If your roommates don’t have a problem, I don’t. The part I was worried about has already happened.”

“When are you taking me to meet my aunt, anyway?” Ginny demanded.

“Next week. I’m going with Fudge tomorrow, he wants to ask them something. Now go to sleep.”