The Lesser Of Two Evils

The Lesser Of Two Evils

Written in response to "The Marriage Law" Challenge on WIKTT.

Chapter One - Unwilling

Severus Snape could not remember ever having felt more tired in his entire life. Over the last twenty-four hours it seemed that the two most powerful wizards in the known world - Dumbledore and Voldemort - had decided to set aside their differences long enough to play him a little prank. And Minister Fudge had wanted to join in, just to make the party complete. The Potions Master sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. That very same morning it had been made public knowledge that the Ministry had passed the most ridiculous of all the inane laws ever to be published - including Educational Decrees numbers twenty-two to twenty-eight (much to Filch's disappointment, ED29 had never made it past the Ministry) - the Marriage Law. According to this idiotic 'Marriage Law', any pure-blooded wizard or head of family could petition for the hand of any (single, widowed or divorced) muggle-born witch in marriage. Oh, yes, the idea behind the law was lovely - to turn the world as they knew it into a 'friendly' place for muggleborns, to ensure that 'proper' wizarding families didn't kill themselves through inbreeding... he'd heard all of the theories. The truth of the matter was, it would be turning a great deal of unmarried witches into nothing more than breeding mares, and a few more married ones into widows within the blink of an eye. Nevertheless, however much he disagreed with the indescribably ill-conceived law, he had most definitely not expected to find himself so entangled in it that his life would never again be the same. He had not expected to find himself betrothed before the end of the day.

When he had felt the searing pain of a summons in and on his left forearm, he had been sure his day could not become any worse. That, of course, until he had gone to a Death Eater gathering where he had heard the Dark Lord command Lucius Malfoy, recently fled of Azkaban, to order his son to claim Hermione Granger's hand. And, presumably, the rest of her body as well. It was Voldemort's view that, being one of Potter's close friends, her betrothal and subsequent abuse at the hands of his childhood enemy would serve to either dampen his spirits or fuel his rage to such a level that he would commit a fatal mistake of some sort; Severus was more inclined to believe the latter.

It had been with some effort, and a great deal of longing for a headache-relieving potion, that the spy had managed to inform the Headmaster before his longed-for collapse in bed. The ensuing conversation had driven all thoughts of sleep from his mind.

"Severus, this is tremendously serious. Young Mr. Malfoy will kill her, you understand? But not before having utterly destroyed her."

"Yes, I am aware of that, Albus. Which is why I brought this matter to you. All we need to do is have Potter, or even one of the Weasleys, claim her for himself and..." He had stopped upon seeing the elderly wizard's saddened eyes and his shaking head.

"No, Severus, don't you see? Whichever Weasley claimed her, she would find herself widowed in three weeks. Our only valid option would be Harry, but Harry is already married, and-"

"Married?!? Potter got married?!?"

"Yes, Severus, just this morning. Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley were afraid that the Ministry's next move would be to outlaw weddings between purebloods altogether and got married in a hurry."

Severus resisted the urge to sigh dramatically. Yes, he could see the point. Any Weasley would be neatly disposed of if he so much as dared think in her direction now that the Dark Lord had made his mind. Remus Lupin's petition would never hold, Sirius Black was dead, Harry Bloody Potter married - married! What idiocy could have possessed the boy to get married at eighteen, just a year after having finished school, not to mention to someone who had only left Hogwarts not a week ago? -, and any other pure-blooded-wizard he could think of was either too weak, in league with Voldemort, or already married. It seemed Hermione Granger's fate was already sealed. Then he noticed the unsettling glimmer in the headmaster's eyes.

"Unless... Yes, of course! We have a solution right before our eyes, Severus! You shall marry her!"

The burnt out spy looked at the man sitting across from him as if he had just lost his mind. He opened his mouth to protest but the Headmaster carried on, oblivious to his Potions Master's distress.

"I shall floo the Ministry immediately for the papers. You must sign them at once-", the white-bearded wizard had just thrown a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace with a clear 'Ministry of Magic, Department of Marriages' - "lest Mr. Malfoy makes his move sooner than we anticipate - ah, yes, Ermengarde, my dear, could I possibly trouble you to floo me a petition form? Thank you, I shall floo it right back. It is a rather urgent petition," he added conspiratorially, "I would be most pleased if you could floo me the approval as soon as possible. Thank you, dear." And he cut off the connection, turning at last to face Severus.

"Albus, surely you jest! I will most definitely not marry that whelp of a girl! Let Moody do it, they will never have the courage to turn down his petition!"

Dumbledore adjusted his half-moon spectacles. "Would it be that I could, Severus. Alastor's mother was a muggle. He cannot save Hermione. Now if we act quickly, and if you sign these now you can make Voldemort believe I had them waiting for you upon your return, in order to keep Miss Granger protected from more...unsavoury characters. If, however, you linger, you may be dooming her. My only hope is that Mr. Malfoy will wait for the morning. If the Ministry were not running this particular Department on a twenty-four hours a day basis I am sure we would not be so lucky."

Severus was not exactly sure who the headmaster was referring to as 'we', but he was certain he could not be included in that merry group. And he had a nagging suspicion that neither could Miss Granger.

"I will give you the time you need to decide, Severus, but please bare in mind that it is a luxury Miss Granger does not have. I am sure that I need not remind you where Draco will have learnt his way towards muggleborns."

Yes. Yes, he knew. And he also knew that, given his proficiency in Occlumency, if he told the Dark Lord he had been given no choice, he would be believed. He would suffer one or two extra bouts of Crucio just to be on the safe side but, in the end, his position in Hogwarts was far more important to Voldemort than that ill-devised plan of his. Almost on auto-pilot he reached for the papers and signed them before he could think the better of it. At least he could take comfort in the fact that he was marrying someone with half a brain instead of a complete dunderhead.

"There, Albus. I feel quite certain the blasted situation will not change however much I think about it. Goodnight."

He had left without another word and returned to his chambers only to realise he was too tired to be able to sleep. It was tossing and turning in his bed that Albus found him an hour later when he flooed him the approval papers. He was now officially betrothed to Hermione Granger.

---

Unlike Severus, Hermione had had a normal day. If, of course, one considered being dragged out of bed at seven o'clock on a Saturday morning by one of one's best friends to be informed that he was getting married 'normal'. She had had no time to prepare, to choose wedding gifts or to get a good night's sleep before, and it had been the most exhausting day but, all in all, totally made worthwhile by Harry and Ginny's joyous faces. Now, at midnight, all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and not wake up until at least noon. Which was, however unknown to her at the present moment, not going to happen.

She had been deeply asleep for at least two hours when the noise started.

BANG! BANG! She covered her head with the blankets. BANG! BANG! Gods, it was a good thing her parents were at that dental congress, or they would be calling the police by now. Who could be making such a noise outside, in her relatively safe neighbourhood?

BANG! BANG! BANG! Wait a minute... it wasn't outside, it was on her front door! Someone was banging on her front door!

Hermione opened her eyes and sat on the bed, trying to shake off sleep. The noise had suddenly stopped. Had there been any noise? By now she couldn't really tell if she hadn't been dreaming. She tried to listen. No, there was certainly no BANG! now - POP! Someone had just Apparated into her house. Merlin, now she was really scared. Picking up her wand from the dressing table, Hermione made her careful descent into the living room.

"Miss Granger, could you kindly stop the theatrics and come down the stairs at a regular pace? I haven't got all night, you know?"

She could recognise that voice anywhere.

"Professor Snape??? What on Earth are you doing in my house at - what time is it, anyway?"

"A quarter to three in the morning. And I did knock."

Deciding that she really didn't want to start an argument over proper etiquette with her former Potions Master, Hermione hurried down the stairs. When she flicked on the switch and looked at his face, she knew something was terribly wrong.

"Why are you here? Is it my parents? Is it-"

"No one is hurt, Miss Granger, or in any immediate danger."

She exhaled slowly, allowing relief to fill her. She managed to calm herself down enough to gesture the professor onto an armchair and sat across from him.

"So, Professor, if no one is hurt, I ask again, why are you in my parents' house at three in the morning?"

---

Not for the first time Severus Snape wanted to damn whatever was left of his noble instincts to Hell. Why, sweet Merlin, why hadn't he accepted the headmaster's offer to let him be the one to inform Miss Granger? Why had he felt he needed to explain the situation to her himself? He must have some Gryffindor genes in his family to have been that foolish! Well, he was here now, so he supposed there was only one way to say it.

"I came by to inform you that we shall be wedded tomorrow at four o'clock in the afternoon. That gives you a little over twelve hours to do whatever it is you women do to get married."

He had expected many things. A fit of rage. A burst of tears. A string of simultaneously accusing and questioning half-coherent sentences thrown his way. Perhaps even a slap or, Gods forbid, a hex. He had not expected laughter.

"Ma... married? Oh, Gods!" She doubled over in laughter, clutching her stomach with one hand while attempting to wipe her tears with the other. "Oh, Gods, oh, Gods, oh, Gods! This has got to be the weirdest dream I have ever had. Harry won't believe his wedding caused such a reaction! Pro... Professor Snape, sitting in my living room, telling me we're getting married! Oh, that's rich!"

Severus waited her out. He knew that, given a few minutes, she would figure out on her own that she was not having a nightmare. Eventually her laughter died down and she wiped the last of her tears from her eyes. He watched as her expression closed and turned incredulous all at once.

"I'm not dreaming, am I? What kind of sick joke is this, Professor?"

"No, Miss Granger, you are not dreaming, you are quite awake. And this is not a joke. I believe you are aware of the Marriage Law? Well, then," he continued at her dazed nod, "tomorrow at four, under it, you will become my wife."

He could tell she was still in a state of shock.

"Why? What happened to make you of all people use that stupid law to get married to me? WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!?"

"It was either me or Draco Malfoy, Miss Granger. Although, if you do prefer that option, I will gladly step aside."

Hermione shivered, the truth just now beginning to sink in. Gods, no, she did not 'prefer that option'. She had become painfully aware of exactly what Draco Malfoy was capable of when he had raped her just after graduation. She could still feel him, her back pressed to a tree in the Forbidden Forest and her arms painfully frozen by a binding curse. Then he had patched her up, good as new, and had gleefully told her that he couldn't wait for her to press charges - that was sure to bring Harry Bloody Potter's anger on him long enough for other, far more experienced people to finally bring the Boy-Who-Shouldn't-Have-Lived down, didn't she think so? Yes, she thought so. So she hadn't pressed charges, and she hadn't told a soul. Which meant there was no way the Potions Master knew just what sort of painful memories he was stirring within her with his comment.

"Why?", she asked again, barely audible this time. "I'm a mudblood to him, why would he petition to have me for a wife?"

"Because the Dark Lord believes it is a fine way to lure out Potter."

Of course. Harry. Always Harry. Was she really destined to have other people ruining her life because of Harry? Now, as in her graduation day in the forest, Hermione wished fervently that she had never met him.

"Potter would have been our logical choice of husband for you, of course, but he had already gotten married. I am sure that you realise your friend Ronald Weasley wouldn't last three days if they decided he was a big enough obstacle. Which left me to do the dirty work. I expect you to be ready by tomorrow at half past three when the Ministry official comes to collect you. Goodnight, Miss Granger." And he Apparated out.

---

Hermione hadn't slept for the rest of the night. She had contemplated running away, but the price would be too high. If her escape were to be successful she would have to live as a muggle for the rest of her life, as magic could be easily traced. She could no more give up being a witch than to give up breathing. So she had packed up her belongings and scribbled a note to her parents letting them know she had gotten married. She supposed there were better ways of telling them than leaving a note on the fridge, but she was in no emotional state to do better.

And so half past three in the afternoon found her fully packed, dressed in blue jeans in an act of childish defiance, trying to banish from her mind a vision of Snape advancing in on her at night, greasy hands touching her skin, saying 'Come, now, Miss Granger, we're married now. Just relax, and I'm sure you'll find it in you to enjoy this. Now come to bed at once.' And she would have no choice of turning him down: that abhorrent marriage contract would see to that, binding her to his will through powerful magic. Stopping just short of enslaving her. Marriage contracts signed under the Marriage Law were different from all other wizarding marriage contracts, they were medieval at best. Still, better him than Malfoy.