Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

All the Best in Your Future Endeavors	By : IfICouldLoveDraco Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 9211 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: All recognizable Harry Potter content is property of JK Rowling. I do not make any profit from this story.

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THEY WANT US TO DO WHAT?!” Ron bellowed.

            Those gathered around the table at the Burrow flinched at his volume. Since the final battle every conversation tended to be held in hushed tones. There was no energy left for much emotion between the grief and celebration.

            “Hush, Ron. Let’s hear all of what we are dealing with before we decide how to react,” Hermione pleaded, gently tugging him back to his chair.

            Arthur looked wearily around the room at his gathered family. They were a motley band; the biological relatives made obvious by their flaming red hair, his “adopted” children (who had made the Burrow their home since the war) settled about the table. Brothers and sisters made so by the love of friendship tempered by the flame of war. With them gathered so closely together, the holes in his family were made incredibly obvious: The empty chair next to a blank faced George; The baby with the shock of blue hair, currently being hushed soothingly by a distracted Molly. The damage inflicted by the war was reflected in every healing cut and yellowing bruise. His daughter’s white knuckle grasp on Harry’s hand. The way Harry’s other arm wrapped around her protectively. The detached look on Bill’s scarred face. Ron’s untameable anger.

            His youngest son was momentarily quieted as Arthur cleared his throat to resume speaking, “As I was saying: The decree was passed based on the findings of a global council that came together immediately after the battle. They came together to discuss major issues that were placed on the back burner during the war. One of the most immediately pressing was the astronomical decline in the magical birthrate. According to my sources present at the summit, this decline has been attributed to the poor compatibility of magical signatures in many couples. In the old days Arithmancers and Seers would assess an individual’s magical signature at birth to arrange for a suitable betrothal for the families. When the Age of Prophesy came to a close, this method fell out of practice in Europe in favor of more monetary alliances. There were countries that maintained the practice though, and it has been found that they have not demonstrated a declining trend. The council assigned master arithmancers to assess the methods of determining magical compatibility and the results were encouraging, astonishing even.”

            “How so?” Inquired Hermione.

            “Well, you see, a magical signature is like a frequency; and when a witch’s signature resonates perfectly with a wizard’s not only does their union produce magically viable off-spring but the children also tend to become exceptionally gifted.”

            Ron’s fury again bubbled to the surface. “So the Ministry just gets to pass it into law that we have to submit to this test and shack up with a stranger? I don’t think so!”

            Before anyone could reply, Ginny voiced her opinion. “I... I don’t like the idea either. I mean, Harry died once,” Her voice quavered, “and I almost lost him. I’ll be damned if I am going to lose him to some girl just cause some equation says she would make good babies.”

            Harry used the arm around her shoulder to pull her closer and place a kiss on her temple. “I’m not going anywhere, Gin.” He pressed his lips close to her ear and whispered, inaudible to the rest of the room, “You’re the only witch I’ll let have my babies, law or no law.” Ginny smiled.

            Arthur was glad to see his daughter reassured, but also a bit worried, “I feel obligated to warn you that the Wizgamot passed the proposed bill into law tonight. It will be in the paper on Sunday. The consequences of non-compliance are fairly steep. We need to carefully weigh our options. I think the Order will be looked too as an example of how to react, which is why I’m coming to you early, before the news hits the press.”

            “What bloody options?” Ron again, “It sounds like they have us pigeon holed pretty well!” Teddy began to cry.

            “Ronald Weasley! Look what you’ve done! Mind your language.” Molly snapped waspishly as she attempted to sooth the squalling baby. Ron scowled at his mother and removed himself from the table, storming up the stairs. Hermione muttered an embarrassed apology and hurried after him.

            Upon reaching his room she found him hurling furniture about. She paused briefly at the doorway, momentarily afraid, before her Gryffindor courage bubbled to the surface allowing her to confront him. “Ron, Stop that right now! You ought to be ashamed.”

            “Fuck you, Hermione. You’re my girlfriend, not my mother,” He shouted.

            “We’ll you are certainly treating me with the same amount of respect you showed her downstairs,” she bit back coldly.

            “How can you not be angry about this?” he sneered, “You don’t even want kids.”

            Hermione ignored the jibe and tried to reason with her boyfriend, “Ron, this isn’t about having kids. It’s about magic. WE need to weigh our options. If we don’t comply to this for now, they’ll take our wands and exile us before we can overturn the ruling.” Sadly, reasoning had seldom been a successful tactic in all her years of knowing him.

            “Options? Comply? It sounds like you’re just chomping at the bit, ready to spread your legs for some stranger!” Ron spat, “at least in exile we’d be together.” He was shouting, inches from her face now. Hermione stood stiff as a board, fury rolling off her in waves.

            “Mione, I’m sor..”

            *SMACK*

            She was equal parts satisfied and horrified as she watched the red handprint spread across his cheek. She’d taken his verbal abuse calmly for weeks, hoping that the anger inside him would just run out. This was Ron, her best friend, fighting just came with the territory. At that moment Hermione realized that something inside Ron had been truly broken during the war. If she continued to stand by him as his temper grew his apologies would only become more frequent. She turned and left the room leaving a stunned Ron alone in her wake.

            She collided with Harry on the dark stairwell. Immediately he drew her into a tight hug. “He knows he isn’t enough for you, Mione. It’s no excuse, but that is why he takes it all out on you.”

            She reached up behind his back to wipe away a frustrated tear. “He knows I love him; that should be enough. What am I going to do?”

            “I wish I knew what to tell you. You’ll figure it out though, you always do. Gin and I will have your back no matter what you decide.” Harry released her from the hug, “About Gin and I, there is something I need to talk to both you and Ron about, I guess separately.”

            “What’s going on Harry?”

            Harry carefully looked around and then whispered, “I just finished speaking with Arthur; he gave me his blessing. I am going to ask Ginny to marry me tonight. Tomorrow I’ll go to the minister and tell him that I will leave Europe if he intends to make me his poster boy for arranged marriages: I’ll leave Europe with Gin, and you and Ron and whoever else will follow.”

            Hermione once again hugged Harry tightly, “It’s so wonderful that you are going to marry Ginny. If we don’t stay and fight this though, who will?”

            “We can’t always be their heroes. Haven’t we earned the right to a private life?”

            “I’ll think about leaving. Now, go share the news with your future brother-in-law, he’ll want to know.” She smiled wanly and squeezed his hand before making her way back to the kitchen.

            She sat between Charlie and George, the only two left at the table. “What did I miss?” She asked as Charlie slid a glass of firewhiskey in her direction. George indicated a pile of envelopes in the center of the table. Finding the one addressed to her. Hermione tore it open.

            Dear Miss Granger,

            The Ministry of Magic, the High Council of the Wizgamot, and the elected delegates of the Global Wizarding Council regret to inform you that, due to the dangerous decline in magical births across Europe and worldwide, a bill has been passed into law to mandate unmarried citizens to submit to an evaluation of their magical signature on the week of June 15^th. The law goes on to stipulate that individuals with abnormally high compatibility with another individual (86% or higher) will be required to marry and produce, at minimum, one magically viable child within an eighteen month period after their initial union. The ministry and its affiliates will release ALL research leading to the drastic decision, as well as transcripts of the meetings held by government officials, where within information pertinent to the law was discussed, in a special edition of the Sunday Daily Prophet.

            The minister has recognised the potential obstacles facing new couples brought together by the mandate and is working tirelessly to create new programs to facilitate smoother transitions. These programs include counselling and family planning. A new department of the ministry is also being formed to deal with the issues that may arise, the Department of Administration for Magically Mandated Marriage.

            Your exemption was considered, but in spirit of fairness we could not ethically impose a law on the least of our people that we would not impose on our most respected and esteemed individuals. Our transparency and candour in relation to this new ruling will be an effort on behalf of the government to assure citizens of the grave necessity of the measures taken in hopes that the people of Europe recognize their own responsibility to future magical generations to adhere to the law. We hope to further reassure you, as a hero of the war, that your match will not be politically engineered. Septima Vector has been approached to oversee the arithmancy and runework pertaining to the matches of the most esteemed war heroes. You are encouraged to examine, with extreme scrutiny, the arithmancy logarithms that will lead to any compatibility ratings between you and another individual.

            We beg your patience and understanding as we navigate these most sensitive issues. Your input would be greatly appreciated.

            Sincerely,

            Walinda McAffry

            Head of the Department of Administration for Magically Mandated Marriages.



            Hermione rubbed her tired eyes after reading the long letter, and wondered how similar it was to the others.

            “It seems genuine enough to me. What did you think?” Charlie inquired.

            “It’s going to take a lot more research before I decide if this is a justifiable course of action. I doubt any amount of research, transparency, participation, or patients will make me entirely comfortable with the potential outcome.” Hermione explained.

            “Maybe you won’t score high eenough to have to worriee about eet?” Fleur interjected from the door.

            “I don’t know, it might be kinda nice to not be alone anymore,” Charlie reasoned, “Don’t think I’d ever be able to pick a girl myself, what with all there is to choose from out in the world.”

            “Oh sod off, we all know you could pick any girl you’d fancy and she’d jump at the chance.” George grumbled.

            “Yes, but how does a man pick simply one girl? If someone did that part for me...”

            “You could end up with a sixty year old hag!” Smiled George, “In fact, I hope you do. The irony would be too fantastic.” George looked to his right as if waiting to receive comedic support from the seat’s former occupant and his smile was quickly extinguished as his shoulder slumped. He took a gulp of whiskey and attempted to regroup.

Hermione tried to divert Charlie’s attention from the tragic one-sided exchange, “I wonder what kind of age restrictions there will be? They can’t expect to pair us with people double our age, can they?”

A Note From the Author I really hate it when theres a *flashback* headline at the beginning of each chapter. I think I'll use a different font for past experiences.
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All the Best in Your Future Endeavors