For Her Safety

A/N- I'm a little nervous as to how this chapter turned out. Please let me know what you think. I am giving a bit of thought to reworking it, but it's dependant upon what you all think of it. Enjoy!

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Sirius paled a little, looking back and forth from Harry to Hermione, swallowing hard.

“Sirius, what happened, can you tell us? Please?” Ginny asked him.

Finally Sirius found his voice. “No, I’m afraid I cannot tell you anything yet. Arthur and Molly want to talk to you about everything before anyone else does. And this time I think they are right in the way they are going about things.”

Harry frowned. He couldn’t recall an occasion where Sirius and Mrs. Weasley agreed about anything, really. In fact, Sirius was usually an advocate for telling them everything that he could. “Sirius… what’s going on?” Harry asked once more.

“Harry, I can’t say a thing right now. I’m sorry… I’m going to bed, I shall see you all in the morning,” Sirius told them as he looked nervously from face to face. “Goodnight.” Sirius walked to his room and closed the door quietly, locking himself in for the evening.

Harry and the rest went back into their room, closing the door behind them.
“Was it just me, or was Sirius acting a bit odd, mate?” Ron asked Harry.
“It kind of seemed like it, I mean, when has he ever agreed with your mum?” Harry said quietly.

“Something’s going on, something big!” “Huge, even!” Decided the twins.

At that point footfalls could be heard coming up the stairs, and then down the corridor. Everyone was silent, waiting to see if perhaps they would catch a snippet of conversation. They were surprised however, when the door opened and Arthur and Molly walked in.

“Mum, dad, what’s going on?! Sirius wouldn’t tell us anything!” Ron said as soon as his parents walked in.

Molly seemed to tense when Sirius’s name was mentioned, a fact that Harry noted. Though it was a typical thing seeing has they fought so very often.

“Hermione, dear, we… We need to talk to you. Would the rest of you please go to your rooms?” Molly asked shakily.

Everyone nodded and left the room, knowing that Hermione would tell them as soon as she could.

The door shut behind them. Harry, Ron, and Ginny waited down the hall. There were a few minutes of silence and then a loud shriek that they were sure could be heard by anyone on the upper floors. It seemed they didn’t have to wait too long to catch the conversation.

“WHAT?” Hermione shrieked. There were a few moments of silence then a, “I HAVE TO DO WHAT?” followed by a “HOW COULD THEY?” and an “I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS? I HAVE NO CHOICE?” By the end of the yelling it sounded as though she was in hysterics. There were moments of relative quiet where you could only here muted sobs. Ron, Ginny, and Harry looked back and forth at each other, not quiet sure what to say. They all just stood wide-eyed looking toward the door, waiting for something, anything.

After a few minutes of silence, the door opened and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stepped out. Both of them looked worn through. Neither of them said a word as they passed the group in the hallway, they simply went off to their bedroom without a word. As soon as their door was shut, Harry, Ron and Ginny rushed into Hermione’s room. All three stopped short as they saw Hermione sitting on her bed, her face tear-streaked face looking up at them. “Hi.” She said weakly.

“Mione, what’s the matter? You look like hell.” Ron said as he sat down next to her. Ginny sent him a death glare as she smacked the back of his head.

Harry knelt down in front of Hermione who was just staring at the floor. “Mione, what’s wrong. You know you can trust us. We’re here to help.”

Hermione looked up at him, sniffling just a little bit. “I’ve had a good cry now. I’ve yelled, and I do think I feel better.” She cleared her throat slightly before continuing. “I suppose you’d like to know what all the yelling and carrying on was about… Well, the ministry has passed another brilliantly archaic law. They have decided that anyone of Pureblood ancestry must marry a muggleborn or halfblood. It took effect today…”

Ginny gasped and looked angry. Ron looked like he was going to be ill, and Harry just sat quietly, waiting for her to continue.

“I’m coming of age officially tomorrow. But if you count the year with my time-turner, which the ministry does, I’m already of age. The Order says that I must marry right away to someone who they trust and who can protect me. They’re concerned that I’ll end up in the hands of a Death Eater, and that I’ll be used as a pawn to get to you, Harry. So they’ve found me someone in the Order. He’s agreed to marry me to keep me safe…” She trailed off, not really wanting to tell Harry just who she was going to have to marry.

“How soon till you’re married,” Ginny asked quietly.

“We’re to be married in two days. Dumbledore’s already obtained the papers we need…” She trailed off again.

“Hermione…” Harry started. “Just who are you going to marry? You said he was in the Order… Who is it?” He had to ask. He already had a pretty good idea of who it was, but he just needed the confirmation.

Hermione looked down at her hands and mumbled, “Sirius… It’s Sirius, Harry.”

Harry nodded and sighed. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about the situation, but he knew that ultimately it would keep her safe. Perhaps it would be good for Sirius to have some company around…

Harry got up and gave Hermione a quick hug. “It’s going to be okay, ‘Mione. We’re here for you, and always will be.” He smiled softly before grabbing Ron by the shoulder and dragging him off to their room, closing the door behind them.

Hermione sighed softly. “It just seems so very unfair right now, you know? I can’t remember life ever being this difficult… Just a year ago I had everything planned out. I was going to come out of Hogwarts with top marks, take an apprenticeship and become an accomplished potions mistress, THEN find the man of my dreams and start a family. But no… Instead I-I lose my p-parents in the war...”

She stopped to sniffle again for a moment before starting again. “And now I’m going back to school as a married woman. I don’t know what’s going to happen now…”

“Hermione, remember, Harry’s right. We’re here for you anytime you need us. Things will work out just fine, I’m sure. Besides, Sirius is a nice guy. He can be a bit of a big kid sometimes, but I think he really does mean well. And like they said, he’ll be able to keep you safe, and that’s what’s important, isn’t it?” Ginny said, smiling softly as she crawled into the bed for the evening.

Hermione smiled slightly. “Well, that much is true… I think I really did overreact earlier. They just caught me so off-guard, you know? He is a decent man… and he is quite dishy.” She laughed nervously, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she realized just what she had said.

Ginny just smiled at her. “Almost all women would love to be with Sirius Black now that his name has been cleared, you know… He’s one of the most eligible bachelors in the wizarding world, and a handsome one too…”

Hermione swallowed hard. That really hadn’t occurred to her. She was getting one of the most eligible bachelors in the wizarding world. How was she supposed to compare with anyone that he would have picked for a wife under normal circumstances? I mean… I know I’m decent looking, but I’m certainly not what men would consider pretty. I have a nice body, but again, it’s not perfect. Sirius could have had ‘perfect’ if it weren’t for this… if it weren’t for me. And he probably would have had ‘perfect’ too. Some gorgeous, sexy woman on the arm of that very handsome man… She sighed softly. He’s going to resent me because I represent everything that he could have had, but didn’t get.

“Let’s get ready for bed. You’ve had a long day and you could use a good night’s rest. C’mon, in bed with you,” Ginny said in her best motherly voice as she began getting herself ready for sleep.

Hermione got up and began to put on her pajamas and crawled into bed. For her it felt like she really wasn’t there. This is just some sort of bad dream. I’m going to wake up and things are going to be right again. I won’t be getting married. I’ll be going back to school and starting my life, just like I’ve planned.

“G’nite, Hermione.”

“Night, Ginny. Sleep Sweet.”