The Ties that Lead to Trust

Disclaimer: Just like everyone else here, I own nothing, not even the basic plot bunny.
Note: At the moment I\'m not going for hardcore smut, but focusing on plot. One must be patient because good things come to those who wait.

Chapter 1~ Owls and Outrages

Hermione felt tears welling up in her eyes. The crumpled parchment in her hands held a message that to her seemed worse than any disaster Voldemort had wrecked.

Dear Miss Granger, August 20th
As you are aware, the Ministry of Magic Marriage Act 275 has been enacted to rebuild the British wizarding
population which has been suffering from a dramatically increased number of still births, squibs and barren
children. All Muggleborn and half-Muggle witches are required BY LAW to marry upon achieving the age of 18.
We have allowed a 10 month grace period for individuals who are still attending school, however, your grace
period is due to expire within the next 30 days. Your name has been placed on a list where pureblooded families
may read of your achievements and petition for your hand. If no petitions are received and accepted, a name will
be randomly selected from our list of eligible men. Failure to comply with the law will result in the revoking of
your witch’s licence and the breaking of your wand. All petitions received by the ministry will be forwarded to
you by owl.

Best Wishes,
Leander Brassworth
Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Marriage Division

Only the height of bureaucratic madness could have created such a horribly unjust law. Hermione was one for protesting, fighting for fairness and whatnot, but no matter how many times she read through the text of the damning Act, she couldn’t find a loophole. The idea of snapping her wand herself had crossed her mind several times already, but each time was followed by a fit of despair at what she would be losing out on by that option. Naturally her parents wouldn’t be much help. They didn’t understand the way politics worked in the magic world, nor did they appreciate how great a loss it would be if she simply left it behind and returned to Muggle life. Hermione desperately wanted to shove the letter she had received right up Mr Brassworth’s ... but she couldn’t do that either. In all likelihood making a big fuss would only make her situation worse. In her desperation, Hermione could only
think of one person to help her. Pulling out a fresh piece of parchment she wrote,

Dear Professor Dumbledore,
I write to you now in a state of great distress and seek your advice. Due to my experiences with the Time Turner, I
have passed my grace period allowed by the ministry for their new Marriage Act. I am highly opposed to the law,
as you can imagine, and was hoping to have my last year at Hogwarts as delay in the hopes of the law being
rescinded. As the ministry has informed me, I must make my choice in the next 30 days. I need your wisdom to help
me through this. I would like to know all my options. Any aid you can provide would be of great assistance.
Please do not contact my parents regarding this matter. They are unaware of the current situation and I would
like to find the right way to explain things to them.
Most Sincerely,
Hermione Granger

Sealing the letter she pondered how she would get the letter to Dumbledore without an owl. The ministry owl had arrived hours ago and departed immediately. Flopping back on her bed, Hermione sighed. Nothing was ever simple. Despite all odds, she had survived her first 6 years at Hogwarts. All odds being her friendship with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, who seemed bent on getting themselves grievously injured or killed every year since they met. Granted it wasn’t all their fault. Having the spectre of Voldemort looming large in their lives, these brushes with disaster were inevitable. It had been only a few short months since Harry had destroyed the Dark Lord. It was to be hoped that after the downfall of He-who-must-not-be-named, things might just balance out into some state of normalcy.

Not that anything was normal in the wizarding world. Yet Fudge’s refusal to budge on the misguided Marriage Act 275 seemed destined to crush her hopes and plans for the future. Early in her sixth year, Hermione first heard about the proposed law. It seemed ludicrous and too far fetched to believe in a time when Death Eaters and Dark Wizards ran rampant, but as the initial grace periods expired it became apparent that the ministry was indeed serious. She had heard of a few wand breakings beginning around Easter. She had tried her best to convince herself that somehow things would work out, but the complete ramifications of receiving her full witch’s licence as well as apparating license with her OWL results had not been lost on her. All the benefits of getting the licenses early faded away with the reality that she was not a child anymore and not protected from some of the unsavoury parts of wizard laws.

Crookshanks disturbed her musings when he sauntered into her room and leaped up on her bed. His insistentandsands for affection distracted Hermione from her worries. In the late afternoon she could hear the sound of her mother rattling around in the kitchen getting ready to make supper. The refrigerator in the kitchen hummed steadily, pots clanked and water streamed from the faucet. Closing her eyes she could almost pretend that life was normal. The only evidence that something was out of the ordinary was the incessant tapping at her window.

Tap, tap, tap...

Looking up, Hermione saw a familiar white owl hovering at her window. Jumping up, she opened the window and let her in. “Hello there Hedwig. You have a letter from the Burrow for me?” Hedwig hooted softly as she allowed Hermione to untie the letter from her leg. “Hold on a minute please. I need to send a letter to Hogwarts. Will you do that for me?”

Hermione smiled as the bird ruffled her feathers in a dignified manner before extending her leg again. Harry’s owl was always so proper. Crhankhanks moved from the bed to her desk, looking intently at the owl. It seemed for a moment that they were communicating with each other, but Hermione shook her head at that. Regardless of her cat’s dubious pedigree, he wasn’t that talented. Nipping at Crookshanks’ whiskers in a friendly way, Hedwig turned and flew out the window into the hazy afternoon light. Shaking her head, Hermione could only laugh. The owl and the pussycat indeed. Feeling a bit relieved that her letter was being delivered and advice would soon be on its way, she sighed. Crookshanks had always been more fond of Pigwidgeon, but the tiny owl had gone missing over six months ago now, and it was assumed that the message he was bearing had been intercepted by Voldemort’s supporters in an attempt to garner information about Harry and the people close to him.

As always, thinking about Pig led to thinking about Ron. Those thoughts particularly stung today. Had Ron survived, she likely wouldn’t be as upset over the whole marriage act business. Shortly after their fifth year had ended, they had begun dating. It had been a relief in many ways to the tension that had been building between them for over a year. Harry had seemed pleased about it and she had been welcomed with open arms by the rest of the Weaselys. Last summer she had apparated over to the Burrow nearly every day, but now she couldn’t even bring herself to go over to visit with Harry and Ginny. Like the silly, thickheaded, wonderful, loyal prat he was, Ron had stepped in front of Harry to shield him from a killing curse, aimed by none other than the rat Peter Petti, an, and left Harry the open shot he needed at Voldemort. Harry hadn’t even realized it at the time, so focussed on the task before him.

Voldemort crumpled as a jet of green light hit him... a ghostly smoke rose over the body... a blinding flash of red light burst from Harry’s wand... the smoke bursting apart in a loud explosion... Harry rolling over the crumpled heap to reveal the youthful face of Tom Riddle... blank eyes... pale skin still warm... the tears in Harry’s eyes has he looked up... he’s gone... it’s over... Ron, Hermione, Ginny... it’s over... Ron? Ron!

Harry’s frantic voice still rang in her ears. She too had been focussed on giving Harry a clear path and hadn’t seen Ron fall. Chaos reigned around them as dozens of people registered the defeat of the Dark Lord. Death Eaters frantically fleeing the scene, Aurors stunning and capturing those not swift in their escape, students madly embracing each other in joy at the fall of darkness. In the madness around them, Harry, Hermione and Ginny stood stock still at sight the red-headeguregure face down and unmoving on the ground. Harry moved first and for the second time turned over a body to reveal a youthful face in death. Ginny wailed and fell crying into Harry’s arms on the ground beside her brother. Harry seemed stunned, but clutched her back fiercely, tears streaming unchecked down his face, and she... Hermione stood for a long moment just looking at the body before turning around and walking shakily away from the chaos. Unthinkingly she made her way back to the gates of Hogwarts, up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room and sat down by the fire. She couldn’t bring herself to think about what had just transpired. Sitting on the table beside her was the textbook she had been studying from prior to dashing out of the castle bent on defeating a dark wizard. Picking it up, she found the paragraph she had left off at and began reading. Outside of the castle the chaos began to die down and people managed to find their way back to the school. Most stayed in the Great Hall late into the night. Harry and Ginny had taken refuge from the bombardment of questions and congratulations in the Room of Requirement and only Dumbledore noted Hermione’s absence and thought to look for her. Slumped over in her chair, Hermione had fallen asleep with a book open on her lap.

Hermione shook herself mentally once again. It did not do well to mope about the past. She had done her grieving and was moving on. It was over now and life has its ways of forcing you to get on with your life. She still missed Ron, (it had only been 3 months), but there were plenty of other problems for her to worry about. Seeing Harry’s forgotten letter on the desk, she opened it and read,

Dear Hermione,
I hope you are well. You should really come to visit. Everyone here misses you and is worried. I understand if you
feel uncomfortable, so I won’t push you, but all the same... Well almost everyone has gone home again. Charlie is
staying for a little while still, but is planning on going back to Romania next week. Mrs Weasley is managing
pretty well, but things are quiet around here now. If you won’t come here to visit, I’d like to go there to see you.
Just talking, you know... At the very least, will you meet me and Ginny in London next week to get our school
things? Let me know.
Give Crookshanks a pat for me.
Harry

Hermione and Ron had an unspoken agreement when the Marriage Act first came about that they would marry each other if the law hadn’t been rescinded before she was bound by it. Granted it was a big decision early in their relationship, but she knew he would respect her individual plans for the future and support her decisions. Things might not have ended up exactly as she wanted, (when do they ever?), but overall it was not a bad option. All the Weasleys were well aware of their intentions then. Now they were equally aware of Hermione’s ticking clock and had endeavoured to bring her into the family. Though he was still shocked by Ron’s death, George had showed up at her house two weeks into the holidays and told her he would take on the task if she wanted him to or needed an avenue to evade the ministry. A couple weeks following that, when she was in Hogsmeade for Harry’s birthday, Charlie, too, had taken her aside and made a proposal. Although far better than being trapped with some stranger she hardly knew or worse someone she hated, Hermione had politely turned down both offers. The Act didn’t impose any stringent deadlines on pureblood males and she couldn’t bear the thought of being with a substitute Weasley simply because they felt obligated to offer because she was stuck in a trap.

“Not only highly ridiculous, this law was blatantly sexist,” she mumbled to herself. The days of believing in equal rights and equality were long past. Hermione got up and moved towards the bathroom. After washing her face and performing a glamour charm to conceal her puffy, red eyes from her parents, she made her way downstairs to help her mother with dinner.

*********
It was nearly midnight when Hermione heard the familiar tapping of an owl on her window. She stopped pacing the floor behind her desk and threw open the window. Hedwig was back and the handwriting on the front of the letter was distinctively Dumbledore’s. Hermione fetched a dish of water for her and rummaged around in her desk. “I know there’s some owl treats in here somewhere... there they are”

Retrieving a small bag of treats, she opened it and gave one to Hedwig saying, “Stay a bit. I might need to post something again and I still need to write a note for Harry.”

Hedwig gulped the water appreciatively, while Hermione opened the letter.

Dear Hermione,
I understand your problems regarding this issue. I do have some counsel for you that is best delivered in person.
As Head Girl this coming school year, you are provided with private living quarters. Might I recommend you
come to the school tomorrow with your things. Then you can settle yourself and we can discuss your options for
the coming year. You are welcome to stay for the remainder of the summer if you wish.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore.

Hermione felt conflicting emotions after reading the letter. She was glad that Professor Dumbledore would give her advice and hopefully some options, but his letter had by no means reassured her that there was a way out of this situation. She did, however, feel calm enough to sleep. In the morning, she would pack her things and travel to Hogwarts to meet with Dumbledore. Jotting a short note for Harry, she told him that she might not be home, but she would floo him about the trip to London. Smiling at Hedwig, she told her, “Rest as long as you like. When you leave, take this letter to Harry.”

After she had changed and crawled into bed, she picked up a thin book from her night table and skimmed a few pages. Now exhausted and knowing she had plenty to do tomorrow, she gave up and set the novel down. Just as she was about to turn out her bedside lamp, she heard the whisper of wings at her window. Hedwig was still sitting on her desk, but perched on the back of her desk chair was a large eagle owl. Only knowing one person who owned such and owl, she felt a lump of ice settle in her stomach. Tentatively, Hermione removed the letter and broke the seal.

Dear Miss Granger,
It has come to my attention that you are now eligible for marriage under the Marriage Act 275. News of your
accomplishments has reached me and I wish to request your hand for my eldest and only son, Draco. I look
forward to your response. Please avail yourself of the use of my owl, Nero. He is obedient and will wait for your
response.
Sincerely,
Mr. Lucius Malfoy

Hermione’s hand clenched into a fist and crumpled the letter into a ball and moaned, “Oh Bugger!”