Marriage Law

AN: Due to my repost my reviews have been reset





AN: Due to my repost my reviews have been reset. If you add
all of them up, plus the few stragglers from the first post that aren’t being
archived anywhere (?!) this fic has over 50 reviews. I’m shocked. Thank you so
much and keep reviewing, your questions uncover plot gaps for me and I try to
fix them. And please, tell me if my fic starts getting dumb. (Yes, this will be
another epic. I seriously need another hobby…)

 

The Marriage Law Chapter 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Hermione stood behind Ginny as
soft music tinkled from the Great Hall. Ginny hugged her quickly before
starting a slow march through the double doors.

 

Hermione’s father stepped beside
Hermione and took her arm.

 

“He’ll take care of you,” said
her father gruffly. “From what I understand it was the best option. It was
between him and Mundungus.”

 

Hermione stifled a laugh at the
idea of being wed to a pile of rags. “I suppose so.”

 

“I’m sorry, kitten,” Hermione’s
father said, trying not to get emotional. Hermione heard the strain in his
voice.

 

“Dad, it’ll be alright,”
Hermione hugged him; not knowing whether or not it would be alright at all.

 

Her father wiped his eyes
hastily with a handkerchief and looked at her.

 

“You look beautiful,” he said
straightening her veil.

 

“Thanks, dad,” Hermione said.
She took his arm and they began the slow march up to the podium that had been
moved to the front of the Great Hall.

 

The long tables had been moved
to encircle the room where presents and food were stacked. The long benches
were positioned to watch the ceremony.

 

“Amazing what people can do on
such short notice,” Hermione whispered to her father, staring at the sea of
heads, not really recognizing anyone. He chuckled at her.

 

She coule Sne Snape as she
approached the front of the hall. He was wearing a high collared shirt and
black long coat. A burgundy ascot lay at his throat and a white flower was pinned
to his coat. His raven hair was caught behind his neck with a white silk
ribbon. Hermione couldn’t help but notice he actually looked a little handsome
when he decided to put forth a little effort.

 

Hermione felt her cheeks burn
and she stared at the long red carpet leading her to her betrothed. As her
father put her hand in Snapes she felt her veins burn cold. Dumbledore chanted
the binding spell that entwined them magically. Hermione heard herself recite
the appropriate words at the right time and heard Dumbledore close the book,
ending the ceremony.

 

Nothing prepared her for the
feel of his lips on hers. They were warm. Not dry at all. The gentle pressure
startled her and she jumped slightly.

 

Snape drew back and frowned
slightly for a split second. Then he turned and took her arm. He stalked down
the aisle, dragging her behind him. They left the Great Hall and he led her
down to the dungeons.

 

“Aren’t we even going to eat?”
Hermione asked.

 

“There is food in my quarters,”
said Snape. “Didn’t you see who was present?”

 

“No,” said Hermione crossly. “I
didn’t get to see much of anything.”

 

“There were several unsavory
persons from the Ministry that I wouldn’t put past the idea of slipping potions
into the food,” said Snape, frog.
g.

 

“Veritaserum?” Hermione asked as
a portal behind a statue of a large stone fish opened.

 

“Possibly,” said Snape bitterly,
stepping into his quarters. “If they felt particularly kind.”

 

A table was filled with platters
and bowls of the food that was available downstairs.

 

“I wish I would have gotten to
say good bye to my parents,” said Hermione, looking at the portal shrink
closed.

 

Snapes face softened. “I know
this is difficult for you, Hermione,” he said. “Your parents were told I would
be taking you away right away. They were told to mingle for awhile, and then
someone will bring them here. They have been told not to sample the food
downstairs.”

 

“Thank you,” said Hermione
softly. “I hear my dad gave you a hard time.”

 

Snape snorted. “Nothing
unexpected. I would have done the same thing for my daughter,” he thought for a
moment. “There would have been more fire, of course.”

 

Hermione stifled a giggle,
though not very well. Snape looked at her sharply. It didn’t help.

 

“That was a really funny
visual,” she said, trying to compose herself. A corner of his mouth quirked for
a split second before he scowled.

 

“Your quarters have been built
in here,” said Snape, walking to a portrait of a sleeping black cat. He meowed
at it and the picture stretched and rose.”Emicoatus.”

 

The cat yawned and its mouth
grew wider. So wide in fact, that it began to cover the canvas.

 

“Is this supposed to happen?”
Hermione asked Snape. He looked at her and nodded. He defiantly looked amused.

 

The wide grin began to stretch
the stone frame and all the color turned grey. When it finally stopped, it had
widennto nto an arched doorframe with two tiny points at the top.

 

“Who came up with this?”
Hermione asked, amazed.

 

“Helga Hufflepuff,” said Snape,
sighing. “These were her original quarters. I’m still not sure I’ve found
everything hidden in here. Apparently she had a fondness for animals.”

 

Hermione stepped in the doorway
and blinked at her room. The deep burgundy and gold was gone, to be replaced
with a deep midnight blue, accented with silver trim.

 

“You’d think I was a Ravenclaw,”
she remarked, frowning.

 

“We originally tried red, but
the house elves complained they were seeing pink after spending any amount of
time in here,” Snape said.

 

“I see,” said Hermione slowly.

 

“Dobby took it upon himself to
make sure it was up to his specifications,” Snape said, smirking.

 

“Oh dear,” said Hermione
wincing. “I hope he wasn’t too much trouble.”

 

“I daresay I wouldn’t have
thought of as many details had he not been involved,” Snape pushed a panel on
her wall and it opened into her bathroom.

 

Hermione had been looking at the
king sized canopy bed. The frame was wrought iron with silver vines painted
over it, twining up into the fabric. The comforter was velvet and such a deep
blue it was almost black. It was very soft to the touch and Hermione suspected
it was enchanted. Crookshanks was purring merrily in the center of it.

 

“Well, you’ve certainly made
yourself at home,” Hermione remarked to him. Crookshanks yawned widely and
pulled himself to his feet. He padded over to her and butted her hand with his
head. She stroked him for a few seconds and he flopped back on the comforter.
“Lazy,” she accused.

 

Hermione turned back to Severus
and he led her into a bathroom that looked as if it were carved from a single
piece of stone. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky, much like
the Great Hall. The bathtub was a piece of hollowed out granite. Water poured
from a small waterfall coming out of the wall. Small ferns and flowers grew in
small pockets of earth set in the stone. Her bathroom things were arranged on
stone shelves flanking a mirror above a carved stone sink. Celtic knot work
flowed around the mirror and sink.

 

“This is incredible,” Hermione
awed. “She took this much time to do a bathroom? Why aren’t you using it?”

 

“I don’t believe bathing should
be an out of doors experience,” he sniffed imperiously. “I understand she took
her bathing time seriously.”

 

“No kidding,” said Hermione
looking at the openmouthed frog fixtures. A soft knock resounded from the main
room.

 

“I think your parents are here,”
Snape said, shivering. Hermione stifled a grin.

 

Snape walked to his receiving
room and opened the door to his chambers. Dumbledore walked through the portal.

 

“Would you like some food,
Headmaster?” Hermione said politely, wondering where her parents were.

 

“Yes, thank you,” said
Dumbledore walking over to a tea service Hermione had not noticed on a cart
near one wall. He poured himself a cup of tea and went to fill his plate from
the assortment of food on the table. “Your parents will not be joining us,
however,” Dumbledore looked at Hermione over the top of his gold wire-rimmed
glasses.

 

“It seems your father was so
nervous he forgot the warning to refrain from eating,” Dumbledore quickly
glanced at Snape. He frowned.

 

“What happened?” Hermione paled.

 

“Nothing all that serious,”
Dumbledore said with a wave of his hand. “Just got hold of a prototype. He’ll
be fine in a few days.”

 

“A Weasley Wizard Wheezes
prototype?” Snape asked, his face turning stony.

 

“Yes, that would be the
company,” Dumbledore said quickly. “Muffin?” He held his plate out to Hermione.

 

“What happened?” asked Hermione.
“I’m assuming it was just a shape-changing spell. They’re working on pigs now,
aren’t they?”

 

“Actually, they’re working on
shrinking,” said Dumbledore.

 

“How big is he?” Snape asked interested,
reaching for a turkey leg. He picked at it with his fingers instead of biting
into it. Hermione was amazed at how neatly he could eat something so messy.

 

“About the size of a mouse,”
Dumbledore said.

 

Snape nodded. “How long until it
wears off?”

 

“A week,” Dumbledore said
cheerfully. “Your mother was just saying he needed to take some time off.”

 

“Where is he now?” Hermione
asked.

 

“St. Mungo’s,” Dumbledore and
Snape said in unison.

 

“It’s the only place with the
capabilities to care for someone that’s shrunk themselves,” Snape said.

 

“You would know all about that,”
Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.

 

“You shrunk yourself?” Hermione
asked Snape, trying not to smile.

 

“It wasn’t intentional,” Snape
snorted, picking at his turkey leg.

 

“During his O.W.L.s,” Dumbledore
said, shaking his head with a smile.

 

“Anyway, St. Mungo’s has
excellent facilities,” Snape said to Hermione. “He’ll have a fully functioning
home his size made out of balsa wood. When he expands he’ll just break out of
it. It was kind of fun,” he admitted.

 

“I take it mum went with him?”
Hermione asked Dumbledore. He nodded as he sipped his tea.

 

Hermione finally felt her
stomach lurch. She was married and she barely got to see her parents. She
looked at the table of food near her and her stomach growled.

 

“I heard that from here,” Snape
said. “Eat or you’ll make yourself sick.”

 

Hermione put a little turkey and
fruit on her plate. Snape looked displeased, but stayed silent.

 

“Well,” said Dumbledore, setting
his plate down and clapping his hands together. “This has been quite an
exciting day. I suppose you’ll want to get some sleep before classes tomorrow.”
He rose and Snape led him to the door.

 

“Goodnight, Hermione,” Dumbledore
said, waving at her.

 

“Goodnight,” she said weakly,
returning his wave. The portal shrunk silently behind him as he went. She was
alone with Snape.

 

Hermione had been alone with
Snape before, but never as a part of his household. She supposed she was going
to have to learn to adapt. She nibbled at her food, and discovered how hungry
she was. She looked up and realized Snape was cutting into a slab of vanilla
frosted chocolate cake. It was decorated with small blue rosettes.

 

“What?” Hermione heard Snape ask
as he realized she was staring at him.

 

“It’s just-“ she began. “That’s
my wedding cake. It’s all kind of strange.”

 

“Do you want to help cut it?”
Snape asked frowning.

 

“No,” she said testily. “I was
just remarking this was the last thing I was expecting when I went to bed last
night.”

 

“There was nothing else we could
do,” Snape said sitting beside her on the couch.

 

“I understand,” said Hermione.
“There’s only a month left until end of term, what will happen then?”

 

“We’ll figure that out later,”
said Snape shoving some of his cake onto her plate. “For the meantime we kept
you away from several unsavory elements.”

 

“Mr. Ollivander is a
Deatheater?” Hermione asked shocked.

 

“Gads, no,” Snape said. “He’s
just a lecherous old man in need of an heir. Or two. Or a dozen.”

 

Hermione shivered. Crookshanks
padded into the room and leapt on the couch between Snape and Hermione.
Hermione stroked his fur and he purred happily. He butted his flat orange face
into Snapes hand. Snape scratched him behind the ears.

 

“I have scrolls to grade,
kitty,” Snape said. Crookshanks purred louder and crawled onto Snapes lap.

 

“Is he always this distracting?”
Snape asked frowning at the content cat.

 

“It’s easier if you don’t let
him onto your lap until after you’re at your desk,” said Hermione shrugging.
She reached over and picked up her cat. “I’ll take him. I have a paper to
write, anyway.”

 

Snape rose as Hermione walked to
her chambers.

 

“Good night,” Hermione said as
she walked into the stone archway. It grew smaller and the guilded
frame began to reappear. The black cat completed his yawn and stretched. It
purred contentedly.

 

Snape turned to look at the
table of food. The elves would have it cleared by the morning. He did have
papers to grade. He cleared off a platter and took enough to last him through
the evening, including the cake.

 

Snape glanced back at the cat on
the wall. His wife was in there. He shook his body to ward off the chills he
felt coming.

 

One day at a time. They had no
choice.