Marriage Law

AN: SZ: You’re right. If I’m going to plod with the plot the
chapters have to be longer. I don’t like reading very long chapters usually,
but I think its getting neces.

Nia: The only Mary Sue here is Hermione. I’m glad I’m close
to canon :)

Thanks to all for the reviews, and if you haven’t: REVIEW!!!

Marriage Law Chapter 26

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Remus Lupin sat at the large wooden table in the kitchen of 12
Grimmauld Place drinking a cup of cocoa and
reading the Daily Prophet. He was just getting absorbed in an article on a new
Irish chaser when green flames leapt up in the hearth.

“Hello, Remus,” Charlie Weasley said as he walked into the
kitchen.

“Hello,” said Remus setting his paper down. His sleepy eyes
crinkled around the corners when he saw Charlie.

“Is mum around?” Charlie asked.

“No,” said Remus. “She went shopping for supper. Anything I
can help you with?”

“Just wanted to tell you all bets are off,” said Charlie. “Mum
would kill us if she knew.”

“Really?” Remus said, his eyebrows raised. “I thought ‘Mione’d
hold out until at least July.”

“They went to the ballet,” Charlie rolled his eyes.

Remus shook his headhalfhalf-smile playing around his lips.

“So who won the pool?” Remus asked. “I know I lost 2 Knuts.”

“Fred and George,” said Charlie. “It figures, they were
always good at divination.”

“I don’t know why Mundungus let them bet at all,” said
Remus. Charlie shrugged and sat down at the table.

“I wouldn’t have let them, but I know better,” Charlie said,
glancing at the front page of the paper.

“Well, I’d better go tell Dung so he’ll have a head start
when they begin looking for him,” said Remus rising from the table. “Give me an
hour.”

“Will do,” said Charlie, waving his wand and watching a cup
of cocoa float to him. “It’ll give me plenty of time to read the paper.”

***

Dumbledore was sitting on the balcony of his home in Switzerland
sipping a glass of mint lemonade when a large owl swooped down and landed next
to him.

“Hello, pretty boy,” Dumbledore said reaching for the
parchment attached to the owls leg. “What do you have for me?”

Dumbledore unraveled the parchment and began reading. His
face paled as his eyes ran over the page. His pallor turned red as his eyes
reached the end of the page.

“Damndable woman!” he thundered, startling the owl on the
railing. “Of all the pig-headed, stubborn-,” he flapped his arms helplessly for
a moment as his mind searched for words. He bellowed in frustration instead.

“Can I help you, sir?” asked a small squeaky voice.

Dumbledore looked down to see a small house elf, slightly
cowering behind a chair.

“No, Tiddles,” said Dumbledore. “This is something I have to
handle myself.”

He raised his wand in the air and a loud crack sounded. He
was gone.

***

“Madame?” a young witch said tentatively as she knocked at
the door to Sophia’s office.

“The door is open, you’re more than welcome to come in,”
said Sophia over the top of her silver rimmed spectacles. “You’re new, aren’t
you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” said the witch. Her short black hair curled
out in all directions and her red toga made her light skin and dark eyes stand
out. “My name is Helen.”

“Odessa’s girl?”
Sophia asked. “I hear you do well in charms.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Helen, looking nervous. “Unfortunately
I’m not here for a pleasure visit.”

“Out with it girl,” said Sophia frowning. Helen looked a
little nervous.

“There’s a- well,” Helen looked pained. Sophia raised an
eyebrow.

“There’s a man outside demanding to see you,” blurted out
Helen quickly.

“Ah,” said Sophia taking her glasses off and folding them
up. Her hands were shaking slightly as she pushed them into a worn brown
leather case. “I should have been expecting that. Lower thedge,dge, I’m going
out.”

“But ma’am,” Helen said. “How did he find us?”

“He followed his line,” said Sophia shaking her head.

Helen looked confused, but Sophia said nothing more as she
used her cane to rise to her feet and toddled out of her office.

***

Dumbledore tapped his foot impatiently on the floating piece
of ice in front of the floating fortress and watched as the drawbridge lowered.
He knew better than to storm in, as much as he wanted to. He assumed this place
had the same type of wards the Mystics had.

He saw a small hunched figure draped in green begin walking
towards him with aen oen or more girls in close ranks behind her. The older woman’s
descent was slow and the younger females had to pace themselves, but they
finally made it to the end of the drawbridge after what felt like an eternity.

He wanted to bellow at her. He wanted to smack her. He
wanted to shake her. She lifted her eyes and met his, her jaw set in the same
stubborn way he found so attractive so many long years ago.

“Why, Sophie?” he found himself asking quieter than he would
have thought himself capable of. He was surprised at how much the sadness came
out in his voice.

“We both had obligations,” said Sophia, her face softening
into sadness. “I didn’t see any reason to ruin your life.”

“We could have made that decision together,” said
Dumbledore. “I would have liked to have taken some part of it.”

“I know,” said Sophia softly. “I was going to tell you, but
years began passing and you began having all that trouble with Voldemort. I
didn’t want to bring attention to her. She was safer here.”

“But now sherownrown and not a child anymore,” said
Dumbledore. “And we’re in trouble again.”

“I can’t change what has happened, Albus,” said Sophia. “All
I can say is I was trying to protect you and our daughter.” She laid a hand on
his arm gently. She felt him tense up, but he did not pull away from her.

‘Our daughter.’ The words sliced through his chest and went
deep into his heart. He closed his eyes and willed tears not to fall. He opened
them and looked at Sophia.

The blonde hair had gone white and gotten much, much longer.
Her back was hunched and Dumbledore remembered her taller. Her heavy green
cloak was pulled around her to keep out the cold so he couldn’t tell if she had
kept her slight figure, but he guessed she had by her thin face. He shook his
head sadly at her.

Alexandra stood in the middle of the ranks of Amazons, her
wand at her side, her bow slung over her shoulder. She heard her arrows rattle
in their case as she began shaking. Her friend, Chloe, nudged her slightly with
her elbow. It wouldn’t do to become a shaking mess when she was supposed to be
setting an example of professional behavior to the new trainees.

She stared at Dumbledore and tried to memorize every detail
of him. Something stirred inside her that she hadn’t felt since she was a very
small child and her stomach began feeling queasy. Her head felt light. She
noticed she was chewing on the inside of her bottom lip and her jaw was
clenched. She was trying to convince herself that she was too old for this. Another
part of her screamed he was going to go and she was going to miss her chance.
Something in her broke as she saw him shake his head and her inner-child won.

“Father!” Alexandra cried and and pushed her way through the
ranks that hadn’t already turned at her cry. She didn’t know how he really felt
about all this. She knew he wanted to know of her existence, but didn’t know
about his opinion about being a father. At this point she didn’t care.

Dumbledore raised his eyes and saw a pretty red-headed girl
pushing her way through the ranks of archers. She vaguely resembled his mother.

“Mighty Merlin,” Dumbledore whispered stepping forward to
see her. “My baby.”

Alexandra wanted to hug him, to shake him and ask him where
he had been, to kiss his wrinkled face, to smack him for losing contact with
her mother. As she got closer to him she realized she didn’t know what to do.
She felt stark, naked and open.

Dumbledore made the decision for her by pulling her into a tight
hug. Alexandra was being held so tightly she was having trouble breathing, but
she didn’t care. Her eyes were wide open and tears were streaming out of them
but she wasn’t sobbing. The water ran freely down her face and pooled on the
purple velvet of his shoulder.

Alexandra vaguely thought she wasn’t setting a very good
example, but didn’t care. The other girls wouldn’t understand. They didn’t k
the
their fathers either, but most of them considered love to be an impractical
thing that happened to other people.

“Run along now,” Alexandra heard her mother say to the
troops. “We’ll be fine.”

Alexandra looked over her shoulder to see the troops walking
back up to the fortress in broken ranks. She caught Kari’s eye as her sister
looked over her shoulder. Her sister quirked a corner of her mouth at her.

“I think,” said Dumbledore carefully. “That we have some
catching up to do.”

***

Hermione sat in Severus’ laboratory with a black leather
covered book in her hand. She ate an apple as she turned the pages. An
otherwise hidden portal was open behind her and about a dozen books sat on a
shelf.

“Find anything interesting?” Severus asked as he walked into
the room, empty bottles in his arms.

“It’s all interesting,” said Hermione. “I’m just not sure
why anyone would want to do some of it.”

Severus shrugged. He looked a little uncomfortable. She
decided not to push it any further. She continued reading Divination by Reading Entrails by Marissa Lumpkettle.

“I thought you hated divination,” saiveruverus, glancing at
her.

“I do,” said Hermione. “But this seems a bit more scientific
than staring at a hunk of glass.”

Severus shrugged. “Not really.”

Hermione turned the page to see an illustration of a
vivisected muggle. She felt goose bumps rise on her arms and she closed the
book.

“Stopping already?” Severus said, and eyebrow raised.
“You’ve only been reading for three hours.”

“I feel like stretching my legs,” Hermione lied. “It would
be a shame to waste the day.”

“Like to see the grounds?” Severus asked. “We could go to
the lake.”

“So you could fish?” Hermione asked an eyebrow raised
mim
mimic of his.

“Well it would mean we could have dinner,” said Severus.

“Yes, we would starve if it wasn’t for your fishing
ability,” said Hermione sarcastically, a smile playing around her lips.

“We could, you know,” Severus shrugged but she saw him smirk
as he turned his back to her. She walked up behind him and shyly encircled his
waist with her arms.

“We can go to the lake if you want,” Hermione said gently.

“The carpet’s ready outside,” said Severus. “You should go
to the main library and get a book.”

“It will only take a minute,” she said as she trotted out of
the room.

***

Severus steered the flying carpet our of his mothers gardens
and started west to the lake.

“How large are your grounds?” Hermione asked startled.

“It’s an illusion,” said Severus. “The lake is behind that
crop of trees. Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t
there.”

Hermione squinted at the trees in the distance. The land
dipped a bit beyond it and Hermione could see where water must run off.

1:pl1:place>Lake?” Hermione asked. “It couldn’t
be bigger than a pond.”

“Well it looks large when you’re six,” said Severus.
Hermione chuckled silently.

“Is that when you and Pieter named it ‘The Lake?’” Hermione
asked.

“About then,” said Severus nodding as the carpet brushed
over the tops of the fruit trees in the orchard. He reached out and pulled an
apple off a branch and bit into it.

Hermione tried to picture Severus at six and couldn’t. His
mother had to have pictures lying around somewhere.

They soared over the fields past the orchards and brushed
the tops of the trees near the pond.

Hermione was delighted to see trees enchanted to grow in the
shapes of tables and chairs. A couch shaped tree with the trunk protruding out
of the back of it sat by the side of the pond.

Severus waved his wand and a golden dome surrounded the area
and the air began warming iiateiately. Herm sli slipped her fur cloak off and
shook the chill out of her.

Severus walked over to a tree with a huge base that seemed
to stop about a meter off the ground with a sprig tapering out of the center of
it and took what looked like blocks out of his pocket. He waved his wand and
they grew into preservation chambers. He slid the top off one and took out a
sandwich.

“This is very nice,” Hermione said. She slid the top off
another one to find it full of bait. “EW!”

“Oops,” said Severus, setting his sandwich down and closing
the top of the box she had opened. “That one’s mine.”

“Thank heaven for that,” said Hermione grimacing. There were
creepy things she had never seen in that box.

“The other should be safe,” said Severus walking to the
shoreline with his box of bait.

Hermione sat near Severus ascastcast his line eating her
lunch. When she was through she went over to a reclining tree and nestled into
a nook that seemed carved out just for the purpose of her reading place.

Hermione glanced up from her book from time to time to watch
Severus reel in a fish. After a few hours she got curious.

“Is the pond fit for swimming?” she asked.

“Yes,” Severus said over his shoulder. “It’s bottom is sandy
so you don’t have to wear shoes.”

“Perfect,” said Hermione, walking by him completely nude and
descending into the water.

Severus watched as his line wriggled itself away from her.
He was thankful it was enchanted to avoid anything but fish so he didn’t have
to worry about snagging her or untangling his line.

“Are you going to come in?” Hermione asked.

“No,” said Severus. “I don’t have a towel.” He smirked at
her.

Hermione suddenly wished she had planned ahead but tried to
play it off.

“Suit yourself,” she said gathering all her courage to float
on her back.

Severus watched Hermione float on her back and sighed
contentedly. She certainly was a pretty girl, if not infuriating at times. On
the other hand if she weren’t so infuriating she wouldn’t be running through
his mind half as much as she did.

“Hermione?” Severus called out.

“What?” she asked righting herself, her toes sinking into
the sandy bottom of the pond.

“I’ve never had any reason to do the Bubble-Head Charm,” he
said. “Do you understand its theory?”

“Of course,” said Hermione. He was slightly annoyed at her
matter-of-fact attitude, but he had been out of school for some time and she
had just left.

“If you wanted to encapsulate another part of your body in
air would it be plausible?” he asked.

“Well,” Hermione said, screwing her face up as if she were
trying to recall a textbook page. “I don’t see why not, but whauld uld the
point be?”

She was his wife, for heaven’s sake. He shouldn’t be so coy
when asking for something so minor. He felt the color creeping into his face
and hoped she was too far away to see it.

“I understand a woman’s natural lubrication has the annoying
habit of washing away underwater,” Severus said reeling in his line. “I
wouldn’t want anyone to get injured.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Hermione blushing furiously. She had to stop
that; it was getting out of hand.

She watched as he disrobed and he applied the Bubble-Head
Charm to his pelvis. She began giggling hysterically as he entered the water.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded as he swam to her and wrapped
his arms around her. He hoped it wasn’t him.

“I’m not sure that’s the head they had in mind,” Hermione
said unable to control her laughter.

“How would you know that?” Severus said pulling her closer.
She had an enchanting way of squirming in his arms when she laughed.

“Practicality?” suggested Hermione as she felt him nudge her
under water. She wrapped her legs around him and put her hands on his
shoulders. She was no where near ready to receive him but she sighed at his persistent
nudging as she felt herself begin to smolder.

“OW!” said Severus, dropping her.

Hermione came up spluttering and resembling a wet sheepdog.

“Are you alright?” asked Hermione concerned, between coughs.

Severus brushed the hair out of her face and patted her on
the back. As his hand went by her face she sablacblack skull and snake etched
into his skin. She grabbed his hand and stared at the burn.

Severus didn’t know what to do. Perhaps she had forgotten he
had it. Did she find it repulsive? Did she now find him repulsive?

“It looks like it was really branded into you,” Hermione
said, her fingertips hovering above the mark as if she wanted to touch it.

“It was,” said Severus.

Hermione looked at
the crinkled skin around the brand.

“It doesn’t look as if it’s healed. Why does it look fresh?”
Hermione asked.

“It’s frozen in stasis,” said Severus, dipping it under the
water. The cool water eased the burning a bit. He raised his arm so Hermione
could see it, but the water covered it. He’d never really shown it to anyone
before like this. “It’s hidden inside the body and when the spell is woven it
‘wakes up’ as it were.”

“Does it hurt?” Hermione asked.

“What do you think?” Severus said dryly.

“Well, that was a silly question,” said Hermione. “Never mind.”

“I think we should get back in the house,” said Severus
looking at the sky. Hermione looked up and failed to see anything unusual.

Hermione and Severus climbed on the carpet with just their
cloaks wrapped around them and flew back to the manor.

Hermione followed Severus through the basement levels to get
to his laboratory. He pushed on a picture of a Mandrake and Hermione was
startled to see a small fire burning cheerfully in a cubby hole in the wall.
Severus threw a pinch of brown powder in the fire and stuck his head in.

Cherv padded in the room with a change of clothing for
Severus and Hermione. He smiled cheerfully and waved but didn’t say anything
while Severus talked to someone in the wall.

“Hold tight,” Severus said indignantly as he pulled his head
from the flames. “The Dark Lord is on the loose and he says ‘hold tight.’”

“Who?” asked Hermione.

“Lupin,” said Severus. “Apparently Dumbledore is off
somewhere and no other news has arrived.”

A small silver bell started ringing and a small glass orb on
a shelf began glowing orange.

Hermione watched as the little color Severus had drained
from his face.

“What’s going on?” asked Hermione, her voice quivering.

“The Ministry’s under attack,” whispered Severus.