On Marriage

Hermione felt somewhat better after the meeting with her parents. It had been an awkward afternoon, to be sure, but she had been left with the hope that her fiancé would not be spending the remainder of his life attempting to make the remainder of hers as miserable as possible. Considering their past, that was saying quite a lot.

Since the bulk of the visit to her parents' house had been devoted to assuring them of the appropriateness of their decision, Hermione had hoped that she would have the chance to speak to Severus again when they were securely back at the house on Grimmauld Place. Once they Apparated into the library there, Hermione barely had the chance to comment that their visit had gone better than she'd expected when Severus grunted and said he had business back at Hogwarts. He Disapparated again almost immediately, leaving Hermione to answer the questions her friends had as to the outcome of their visit. She was surprised to admit that she found his sudden disappearace something of a disappointment.

A week later, Hermione, Harry and the two youngest Weasleys were scrambling to get their things together for the beginning of the new school term. Hermione had, in fact, received the Head Girl badge and she pinned it nervously to her uniform while Ginny dashed around their bedroom, throwing the last of her things into her school trunk.

Hermione rubbed her fingerprints off of the shiny badge, then pulled her hair back into a clip. She turned away from the mirror. "What do you think? Do I look like the Head Girl?"

Ginny, who was kneeling on the floor in order to fish a shoe out from beneath her bed, looked up and smiled. "You look great, Hermione. Perfect for the job."

There was a brief knock on the door and Ron stuck his head into the room.

"Nice badge, Hermione." He grinned, making a point of polishing his own Prefect badge. He saw Ginny on the floor, shoe in hand, and looked startled. "Hurry up, Ginny. Mum says it's time to go."

Hermione grabbed the last of her things and moved the door, Ginny limping behind, trying to get her foot into her shoe as they headed down the stairs.

* * *

As Head Girl, Hermione had no need to scramble to find herself a place to sit on the Hogwarts Express. She was tucked into a compartment with Ernie Macmillan, who had been selected as Head Boy, well away from the madness that encompassed finding a seat with her friends.

The train had no sooner left the station than the Prefects began to arrive for their first meeting of the term. Ron and Ginny had stowed their luggage and arrived early, a fact that Hermione was grateful for when the Slytherins showed up in a tight, scowling knot.

Draco Malfoy put a voice to his sneer as soon as he'd stepped through the door. "That's an interesting ring you're wearing, Mudblood," he sniped. He turned to his cronies and grinned evilly. "No one needs to ask how she got to be Head Girl." As a group, the Slytherins began whispering amongst themselves, shooting Hermione dark glances and punctuating their barely disguised remarks with mean laughter.

Ron bristled and stepped forward, moving as though he was about to pull out his wand, but Ginny grabbed him by the arm and held him back. Draco laughed.

"What's the matter, Weasley? Upset that your Mudblood girlfriend didn't want to marry you?"

"Why you-" Ron tried to wrench himself free of his sister's grasp, much to the amusement of Draco and his supporters. Ernie stepped forward.

"That's quite enough of that, all of you," he said, in a commanding tone. Hermione decided right then that he had been an excellent choice for Head Boy. Ernie might have had a tendency towards being overly pompous, but he did get things done. "We have business to attend to here."

With that, the meeting got under way. While Ernie discussed the duties of a Prefect - so that the newly-elected fifth year students would know what was expected of them and the returning Prefects could have a reminder - Hermione looked over the crowd. She was surprised and saddened to note that she was not the only girl wearing either an engagement or wedding band. Even one of the Slytherin boys had a ring on his finger. Idly, Hermione wondered how many of them were bound to other members of their group.

A squabble in the hallway interrupted her musings on the subject and propelled the Prefects into action. Ginny and one of the returning Ravenclaw Prefects slipped out to break up the argument between several second year boys, while Ernie wrapped up the Prefects meeting. Hermione handed out the patrolling assignments as everyone trickled out of the compartment. She caught a few whispered comments as the Slytherins left but pointedly ignored them.

Later, after the lunch cart had come and gone, Ernie said something about going to check on the Hufflepuff Prefects and slipped out of the compartment. Hermione pulled a book from her trunk, thinking it would be her last chance for leisure reading for the foreseeable future. Half a chapter into the book, she heard the door open. She glanced up, expecting to see Ernie again, but Ginny slipped into the small room and sat down across from her.

"You handled the meeting very well, Hermione," she said.

"Thanks, Ginny. It wasn't that much trouble; Ernie did most of the talking."

Ginny smiled and shook her head. "I meant Malfoy. He and his snobby group of followers have already started harassing a lot of the students who have gotten caught up in this marriage business."

Hermione grimaced. It made sense. Prior to the law, nothing had managed to pinpoint bloodlines quite so well. She felt horribly for any Muggleborn Slytherins. At least everyone else could look forward to the respite of their own common room.

"Hannah said she was cornered at the train station by a group of girls who said that the only reason she was still a Prefect was because she was engaged to the Head Boy."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. Hannah Abbot and Ernie Macmillan were engaged? She quickly told herself that that particular bit of news shouldn't have been surprising. Hannah and Ernie had been close friends for years. If they were going to be forced to marry anyway, it had to be a relief for both of them to be in a situation where they already knew they were very comfortable with one another.

"That's just foolish," Hermione said, very nearly giving an indignant snort. "Hannah has done well as a Prefect. Anyone with an ounce of sense knows that that's why she was invited back. I suppose it's going to be a difficult term for all of us, with accusations like that being thrown around."

Ginny grinned at her friend.

"At least anyone with half a brain knows that Snape wouldn't have bought you your Head Girl badge," she said.

Hermione laughed. "He'd probably rather the title had gone to someone else, just to spare him the speculation," she agreed.

Sounds of discord from the next compartment interrupted their conversation. Ginny sighed as she got to her feet again. "It sounds like the second year students are going to keep us quite busy this term."

* * *

As the Hogwarts Express neared the Hogsmeade station, Hermione didn't have a chance to give any doubtful whisperings about the origin of her badge a second thought. The group of second year boys had been a handful the entire train ride and it had taken constant supervision to keep an all-out dueling war from breaking out right there on the train.

With Hogsmeade in sight, there were nervous first year students to corral, while keeping an eye on the Prefects, who were doing their best to keep everyone else organized and in line. Hermione was surprised by the amount of relief she felt when she'd successfully handed off the wide-eyed new students to Hagrid - who, almost surprisingly, had only good things to say about her impending marriage. That brought Severus right to the forefront of her mind and as she watched to make sure that all of the older students got into their carriages without incident, she found herself wondering if she was going to have the opportunity to speak with him anytime soon. He hadn't been back to Grimmauld Place since the day they'd visited her parents, and she hadn't received so much as one terse note.

* * *

Of course, she did get to see Severus that very evening. He was present at the feast, seated at the staff table and scowling down at the hall full of noisy and excited students. Hermione managed to catch his eye once, and received an almost imperceptible nod in acknowledgement as she took her seat at the Gryffindor table.

Hermione watched the Sorting Ceremony with interest, applauding with the rest of her house when McGregor, Jessica and Prodmore, Phillip were sorted into Gryffindor. As soon as Zilker, Philomina took the last seat at the Gryffindor table, Dumbledore stood up and welcomed everyone back for the new term. Hermione was a bit thrown when his usual beginning of term speech included a slight adjustment. Dumbledore concluded his welcome by requesting that a list of students - all seventh years that he called by name - meet with Poppy Pomfrey directly after the feast. Even more surprising to Hermione was that her name was on that list.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" Ron asked around a mouthful of glazed ham shortly after the feast began.

Hermione frowned. "I can only imagine."

'What it was all about' turned out to be birth control.

When Hermione arrived in the hospital wing as requested, she very quickly became aware of the fact that all of the students present were either already married or had recently gotten engaged. Lavender and Seamus stood together, as did Ernie and Hannah. Mandy Brocklehurst and Justin Finch-Fletchley hovered near one another, and Hermione was surprised to note Susan Bones and Wayne Hopkins holding hands as they waited to see why they had all been called to speak with the mediwitch. Only Hermione and Daphne Greengrass seemed to be there without their respective partners.

Madam Pomfrey stepped out of her office with a stern expression on her face. Dumbledore followed, looking mildly amused. The group of seventh year students looked nervously at one another.

"You have probably noticed that everyone here this evening has been affected by the Ministry's new marriage law," the Headmaster began, taking a moment to meet the eye of each of the students. Hermione noted that his smile seemed quite sincere, which was enough to relieve the air of tension in the room. "You have all been called here this evening to discuss some...preventative measures that have been taken in light of that fact."

"Preventative measures?" Hermione asked, taking the initiative and voicing the question that flashed across the faces of her classmates.

"Preventative measures," Madam Pomfrey repeated shortly. "You have a year left of school with difficult classes and NEWTs to study for. The last thing any of you needs to worry about is a child."

As a whole, the group of students blinked at her and turned various shades of pink as they studied the walls of the hospital wing or the tops of their shoes with a previously unseen air of fascination. Not even the married couples seemed able to make eye contact with one another. Dumbledore seemed to find this highly amusing.

"At Madam Pomfrey's insistence, strong preventative charms have been cast over the married quarters," Dumbledore explained, continuing as though he were speaking to a rapt audience as opposed to a group of captive students. "She would like to verify that no one is currently expecting and will provide you all with an anti-pregnancy potion and some literature for you to look over. All of you will need to return once a month for another dose of the potion."

The only response was an uncomfortable shuffling of feet.

"Miss Greengrass, I have already received an official document from your fiancé verifying that you are not currently with child, so you may return to your dormitory as soon as you take the potion and pick up your paperwork," Madam Pomfrey said tersely. Daphne turned a brilliant shade of red and nodded. "Miss Abbot and Miss Brocklehurst are likewise excused. Take the potion and your paperwork and you are free to go. Gentlemen, you may leave once you've had your potions or stay and wait for your wives. Ladies, please follow me."

With that, Madam Pomfrey turned on her heel and headed towards a sectioned-off area of the ward. The students blinked at one another and began to shuffle off in different directions, Lavender Brown-Finnegan and Susan Bones-Hopkins following Madam Pomfrey and everyone else moving towards a cart that held small vials of a blue potion and a stack of thick pamphlets. Only Hermione stood where she was.

"Madam Pomfrey?" she called, halting the mediwitch's progress across the room. "I think there's been a mistake. I'm not married yet, either. May I be excused after taking the potion?"

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips together. "There has been no mistake Miss Granger. I required the presence of all engaged and married couples. Since your fiancé refused to attend or to accept the literature I have prepared, with the explanation that he was 'well aware of how it all works', I can only assume that you have already consummated your relationship and I must, therefore, verify that you are not currently pregnant."

Hermione gasped in surprise, and felt a blush of anger creep over her. The way several of her classmates recoiled in horror at the thought of Hermione and their Potions Master together had not gone unnoticed, either.