Rose Among the Thorns

Chapter 10 Of Proposals

An owl rapping impatiently at the window woke Hermione from an extremely deep sleep. It was two o'clock in the afternoon as she rolled off the sofa onto the floor. She was very glad she had taken the day off.

"Ouch!" she mumbled, sitting up on the rug. She shuffled to the window, still in her dress from the night before, intent on throttling the offensive bird and returning to sleep. The owl sat on her windowsill and stretched out its leg, allowing Hermione to pull the parchment envelope off before setting off. She rubbed her eyes tiredly as dropped the envelope onto the counter, looked at the clock, and decided that now was probably a good time to get up anyways as she had slept nearly the entire day away.

Hermione removed her rumpled dress and threw it on the bed. After a long, hot, refreshing shower she put on a pair of jeans and a Beatles t-shirt and sat at her kitchen table eating a heaping bowl of cornflakes with fresh strawberries. She stood to put her bowl in the sink when she noticed an envelope on the floor. Picking it up, she realized it was the note delivered earlier that morning which she had forgotten about during her shower.

She ambled into the living room and flopped into the overstuffed chair as she turned the envelope over. M.oM was stamped in purple on the back. "Perhaps it's a 'you've only got two weeks left on the Marriage Law so you'd better haul ass' warning letter," she thought. Hermione opened the seal slowly and withdrew a piece of parchment.

Dear Ms. Granger,

This morning, at ten thirty-seven, the Department of Magical Matrimony and Progeny received a petition for marriage on your behalf from Mr. Gregory Rastaban Goyle. According to our records, Mr. Goyle's petition is the only one you have received, as of ten-forty this morning. On behalf of the Ministry of Magic, we congratulate you on your upcoming nuptials and wish you a happy and productive future with Mr. Goyle.

Sincerely,

Druella Pokliss,

Department of Magical Matrimony and Progeny

Hermione crumpled the parchment in her fist, then ran to the bathroom and was sick.

~~~~~~~

She sat, shaking on the bathroom floor when she heard the fireplace come to life.

"Hermione," Ginny's voice called from the living room. "Hermione?"

She could hear Ginny's soft footsteps padding across the carpet, onto the wood of her kitchen floor. "This isn't happening," she told herself. "This can't be happening." She laid her head on the cool tile floor.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked from the opposite side of the bathroom door. With a gentle push, Ginny opened the door and saw Hermione, curled on the floor, tears streaming down her face.

Ginny sat on the floor beside her friend and smoothed Hermione's hair out of her face. "What is it?" she asked.

Hermione silently handed Ginny the letter and began to quietly weep again.

Ginny quickly scanned the parchment and turned white. She looked at Hermione, who in the mean time had sat up and was wiping her eyes.

"Don't worry," Ginny told her, squeezing her hand. "We'll fix this."

Hermione looked at Ginny, and a fierce glare appeared in her eyes, replacing the tears. "You're damn right we will." She stood and strode out of the bathroom.

Ginny followed her to the living room. Hermione had drawn her wand.

"I need a revised list of all pureblood wizards who have not yet married," she said. A silvery otter whooshed from the wand's tip and flew out the window. She turned to Ginny. "Let's go to the Burrow. I could use some of your mum's comfort food."

Ginny nodded. "To the Burrow."

They each grabbed a hand of sparkling green powder from the mantle and tossed it into the fire.

~~~~~~~

Ginny and Hermione sat the kitchen table of the Burrow, large mugs of tea and plates of freshly baked scones in front of them. Mrs. Weasley paced the kitchen as her eyes darted across Hermione's letter. Hermione stared into her tea, silent. Ginny glanced between her mother and friend, unsure of what to say.

Mrs. Weasley collapsed into an empty kitchen chair as she finished the letter. She looked up at the brown haired girl, who returned the look with a defiant gaze.

She patted Hermione's hand.

"We'll think of something," she said reassuringly.

"I've asked Mr. Weasley if he could send me a list of everyone who hasn't married yet, so I'll be able to find someone else," Hermione told them, a neon orange haired Teddy Lupin in her lap driving a toy train across the table in front of them.

"Good thinking," Ginny told her.

They sat in silence for several minutes. Finally, Ginny left to meet Harry and inform him of the terrible turn of events, but Hermione seriously doubted that the Ministry's gossip mill hadn't already spread the news for her.

A breathless Fleur came in the kitchen door, Louis on her hip and Victoire, and Séraphin following close behind.

"Bill told me what 'as 'appened!" she said, dropping into the chair opposite Hermione, Louis eating a biscuit in her lap. "Do not worry, Hermione, we will fix zis."

Hermione smiled faintly. "I know."

They sat playing with the children and helping Mrs. Weasley with dinner until the rest of the family returned home. Apparently a 'family emergency' had been declared so the entire Weasley clan, complete with adopted members, had decided to get together to strategize with Hermione.

After Harry, Fred, and George plotted dozens of ways to poison, strangle, decapitate, dismember and emasculate Goyle and Malfoy over dinner, Mrs. Weasley ushered them all into the sitting room.

"So," Mr. Weasley began. "I got the list you wanted," he told Hermione, handing her a small piece of parchment.

Hermione took it and began to read the names.

"Out loud, dear, if you don't mind." Mrs. Weasley requested. "We'll see if we can help you sort through them."

Hermione nodded and cleared her throat. "Cormac MacLaggen."

"Prat," mumbled Fred, with George nodding in agreement.

"He can't be any worse than Goyle," Ginny hissed.

"Quiet!" Mrs. Weasley snarled, glaring at her offspring until they cowered in silence. "Go on, dear," she told Hermione sweetly.

"Marcus Belby... Terence Bodkin... ..." "Mundungus Fletcher"

Harry sniggered loudly at the last name.

Hermione looked back at her parchment. There were only about two-dozen names in total, some she recognized as men twice her age. None seemed at all suitable. The very last name on the list caught her attention. She paled and looked up at the group.

"Who is it?" Remus asked kindly.

Hermione looked back down at the parchment in her hands, not wanting to see their faces.

"It's all right, Hermione." Mr. Weasley said. "Just tell us."

She took a deep breath. Still looking at her lap, she told them.

"It's Charlie."

Hermione wasn't sure how they would take it, but she soon found out. Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands to her breast, Mr. Weasley sat open mouthed; George fell off his chair, dragging Fred down with him. Everyone else just sat and stared.

"Oh, why didn't we think of that before?" Mrs. Weasley cried, leaping to her feet.

They were all chattering excitedly, all of them except Hermione and Charlie. She slowly looked up at him, terrified of what she might see. Disgust? Revulsion? Anger? Instead, she saw calm brown eyes staring straight back into hers.

Charlie stood and walked across the room to Hermione, Harry moved so he could sit next to her.

"This is what you want?" Charlie asked her seriously.

She smiled nervously. "Only if you want it."

They looked into each other's eyes for a moment then Charlie stood and looked at his father.

"Where do I sign?"

~~~~~~~

A small band of Aurors strode quietly up the walk towards Malfoy Manor, scattering a small flock of white peacocks into the shadows. A bespectacled, black haired man pounded at the front door. A house elf answered, and after a brief interrogation they marched down a corridor and burst through a set of dark mahogany doors.

A handsome, pointed-faced young man with shoulder length blonde hair sat behind a magnificent walnut desk. He looked up from the parchment he was poring over and smirked when he saw the bespectacled man.

"Listen here, Malfoy," Harry said. "Because I'm not going to say this twice. You or your mate Goyle touch, speak to, approach, think of, or in any way attempt to contact or harm Hermione you'll have hell to pay."

Malfoy stood, crossing his arms across his chest. "And how are you going to stop me?" he sneered.

Harry gave him a crooked grin. "Because I'm Harry Potter, bitch. I'm the Chosen One and the savior of the Wizarding World."

Draco paled slightly, then sneered again. "Whatever you say, Potter," he said, waving his hand. "It's not as if I actually care what happens to that filthy Mudblood anyways."

~~~~~

When Bandy the house elf entered Master Draco's study the next morning, she found a large, slimy slug lying on the floor behind the desk, dressed in Master Draco's favourite green velvet smoking jacket.

*******

notes: I couldn't resist adding the "I'm Harry Potter, bitch." line in. It just came out when I was writing this and I thought it was kind of funny so I kept it in. And I've finally got Hermione and Charlie together!