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Everything Counts	By : DivineAngel Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 6126 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
AN:
A big thank you to all my reviewers, keep it up :-p This chapter is a
collection of small pieces, a glimpse into the lives of other
wizarding folk affected by the new law. I hope you like it.

Chapter
3 - Pieces of the Puzzle

Harry
took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy. He steeled himself
against the huge potential for rejection and with great resolve he
looked right into the big brown eyes of his dear friend, holding her
hand across the table. She was smiling. Why did she have to be
smiling? He would have to see it fall from her face before he'd even
finished. But he had to get it over and done with and then figure out
a plan b.

"I
wanted to talk to you about something." She cocked her head with
interest and waited for him to continue. "I've been thinking a
lot about what to do about the marriage law." Her smile slipped
away slowly, he felt his stomach lurch. He pushed his nerves deep
down and went on. "I have to marry a pureblood, and there
honestly isn't a pureblood witch I know that I would rather marry
than you. You have been such an amazing friend to me, especially
these last couple of years. And to be frank, you're so beautiful and
intelligent, there will be people you hardly know knocking on your
door to propose, you'll be pestered night and day by men much too old
for you and the Ministry will probably make an amendment to the law
preventing purebloods from turning down marriage proposals, just to
make you say yes to someone." She was smiling again, a shy,
pretty smile, full of her modesty. Harry felt encouraged, he shifted
in his seat to get a bit nearer to her and gripped her hand a little
more firmly. "So, I thought that it made good sense, that it
would be the logical thing to do."

Harry
gulped, he looked around the common room, it was still quiet but no
one was paying them any attention. He charged on. "What do you
think?"

"Harry,
are you asking me to marry you?"

"Yes,
yes I am. Because it's sensible and logical for both of us."

"I
agree. Like you said, we're good friends. Yes, I'll marry you."
A broad grin spread across Harry's face. "But, I want to wait a
little while, just in case the Ministry sees sense. And, obviously we
can't get married before my birthday anyway."

"Yes,
I'd thought of that." He bravely clasped her hand and brought it
to his lips, planting a firm kiss on the back of it. "Thank you,
Ginny."

~#~#~#~#~

Bill
wiped a heavy hand across his sweating brow. He pushed his chair back
from the kitchen table and stood up slowly. He took his mug to the
sink and put it down on the draining board. He leaned heavily against
the sink and hung his head.

"There
has to be another way." He whispered. He turned back to face
her, sitting so calmly at the table, her hands neatly folded and her
face as still as stone. He felt anger building in his gut. How could
she be so cold?

"Bill,
I wish there was anoser way. I truly do, but I muust return to
France. Ze Ministry will spleet us up, you know zey will." They
looked at each other for a long moment before Fleur spoke again. "Why
won't you just come wiz me?" Bill softened a little, there was a
slight pleading tone in her voice that gave away her feelings.

"I
can't. I have to stay and see this through, make the Ministry see
sense." He shook his head and stepped towards her, hoping to
hold her in his arms. But her face told him to keep away, icy
stillness fell over her like a veil. She stood up abruptly and walked
quickly from the kitchen without a word. Bill slumped back into his
chair and held his head in his hands. Fleur was leaving him, right
now she was packing her things and she would soon apparate away from
him and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

~#~#~#~#~

"Damn."
Tonks muttered as she stubbed her toe hard on a large plant pot, her
hands shot out to steady it as it rocked for a moment. The door in
front of her opened, a broad smile greeted her.

"Come
in Tonks."

"Why
can't I just once get to actually knock on a door before it opens?
Why do I always have to announce my presence by breaking something?"
She mumbled as she entered the Weasley kitchen. Arthur closed the
door behind her and chuckled softly.

"Don't
worry, no harm done. What can I do for you?" He offered her a
seat and she took it, slumping heavily into the chair and leaning on
the table. When no reply came, Arthur busied himself with the kettle.
"Tea?"

"Erm,
yes please." Tonks answered uncertainly. She rolled her tongue
around her mouth and pressed the balls of her palms into her eye
sockets.

"What's
the matter?" Arthur asked gently as he placed a cup of tea in
front of the pink haired witch.

"I
don't know what to do, Arthur. My parents have been useless, they
just keep saying, 'It's up to you dear' and refusing to tell me what
they think. It's so frustrating." She took a sip of the tea and
stared into the cup.

"No
one can can tell you what to do." Tonks looked at him with a
look that told him to change track. "But, I think it's advisable
to just find a friend and see how he feels about the idea of getting
married. Me and your dad go back a long way, I know he just wants the
best for you." Tonks nodded slowly.

"I
know that. I can't help seeing the irony of the situation. My mum was
disowned by her family for marrying a muggleborn, now I have to marry
a pureblood, quite possibly a member of her family by one link or
another. How exactly does that solve the inter-marrying problem?"
She let out a derisive snort of laughter. Arthur smiled weakly. It
was indeed, a ridiculous solution to a very serious problem. But what
other option did they have?

They
sat in silence for a few minutes. It was broken by heavy footsteps on
the stairs, the pair turned to see Charlie come into view and jump
the last two steps.

"Hi
dad. Tonks. You alright?" He patted his father on the back and
nodded to his old school friend.

"Yeah."
She murmured, returning her gaze to her tea. Charlie looked between
the two sullen figures and pulled out the chair at the head of table
and sitting down slowly.

"What's
up?" He asked, concern building.

"What
are you doing home, Charlie?" Arthur asked sleepily.

"Just
popped in to see my parents. That a crime?" He looked thoroughly
put out at the lousy reception. "Just apparated in upstairs to
see Percy. He's busy with something for work, he wasn't very
welcoming." Tonks looked up, a puzzled expression fixed on her
face.

"It's
a Saturday. Why is Percy... never mind." She realised it was
pointless to ask why Percy was working at the weekend, this was Percy
after all.

Charlie
took advantage of her looking up at him and made eye contact with
her, holding it firmly in order to attempt to coax her out of her
shell. It wasn't like her to be so quiet. The effect she was having
on his father was undeniable. He needed to know what was bothering
them both before his mood was dragged down too.

Tonks
looked into those familiar eyes with slowly dawning comprehension.
She and Charlie had been friends at Hogwarts, in Gryffindor in the
same year. They had both been on the Quidditch team together and had
been pretty close. Since leaving school they'd drifted apart a lot,
mostly because he'd been in Romania for a large portion of that time.

"Arthur?
Can we have a minute?" With a slight look of surprise, Arthur
glanced at the two youngsters and with a nod of understanding and a
big smile he left them alone.

Charlie
gave her a smile and waited patiently for her to go on. "Charlie,
we've known each other a long time." He nodded.

"Yeah.
Over thirteen years." They both exhaled slowly, it didn't seem
that long. Tonks noticed for the first time how similar their
mannerisms were and she let a small giggle escape her lips. Charlie
seemed to realise the same thing, because a wide grin appeared on his
face, the Weasley grin that he shared with his younger twin brothers.

"I
came to ask your dad for advice."

"Hmm?"
Charlie leaned towards her.

"About
the marriage law." She looked down at her now empty cup, afraid
to see rejection in his eyes. Instead she felt his hand reach for
hers across the table and she looked back at him. He was smiling
reassuringly.

"I
think it's the perfect solution." He said quietly but with
confidence. Tonks beamed at him, screwed up her nose and with a 'pop'
she turned her hair luminous green to express her relief and
happiness. They both started laughing, holding hands tightly and
affectionately.

~#~#~#~#~

Hermione
braced herself, resolve growing in her chest. She held her head high
and walked briskly across the sloping lawn in front of the castle. It
was a warm day, warm for March anyway and lots of students were
enjoying the first sure sign of summer outside. Terry Boot was
sitting on his own with a book under a tree near the lake. Hermione
approached him, running over her speech in her head and stopped a few
feet from him, wiping her clammy palms on her jeans.

"Terry?"
He looked up from his book and smiled broadly at her. She stepped
closer and sat down next to him and sat down in the shade, playing
nervously with a blade of long grass.

"How
are you Hermione? I haven't spoken to you for a while."

"I'm
ok. Thanks. You?" Terry nodded slowly.

"I'm
fine, yeah."

"I
was actually wondering about something." Hermione's voice
wavered slightly and she took a deep breath before continuing. "I
wanted to know if... I feel a bit silly, I had this whole speech
prepared, but it seems so insignificant now I'm trying to say it."
She laughed nervously and Terry couldn't help smiling at her.

"I
think I can guess what this is about." She looked into his face,
worrying her bottom lip. "It's about the law isn't it?" She
nodded and looked at him expectantly. "Why don't we go on a date
or something? Ease the tension, see what happens." Hermione
breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, reaching a hand out for his
arm, wanting some sort of contact to bring her back to reality after
the roller coaster her emotions had her on. She felt his firm bicep
under his shirt sleeve as he took her elbow and guided her closer to
him, bringing her into a tight hug. "You needn't be so nervous
with me, silly." He chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

Hermione
felt herself tense up a bit again. They had never been in such close
proximity before. They were friends, sure and had been alone together
studying from time to time, but they hadn't really had much physical
contact. It was unfamiliar territory and she wasn't sure how she felt
about it. He showed no sings of loosening his grip on her and she
began to settle into the crook of his arm as he went back to his
book.

They
sat like that for a long time, until a chill wind came up from across
the lake and the sky began to darken slightly. It felt nice, she
thought, and they shared some light conversation, delving a little
deeper than ever before. He asked her about her family and what she
felt strongly about. They talked about the marriage law and how it
was going to affect everyone. Terry told her a bit about his
ancestry, it didn't really interest him that much, but his father had
always impressed upon him how important it was to remember where you
came from. He didn't get along very well with his father, he had been
quite strict as Terry was growing up and not around that much. He was
close to his mother though, she sounded like a very warm person and
had taught Terry herself before he started Hogwarts, rather than
hiring a tutor.

Hermione
felt quite hopeful about where this might lead, but at the same time,
she felt nervous and hoped that feeling would pass with time.

~#~#~#~#~

Snape
sipped his black coffee and watched the students scurrying like ants
over the castle grounds below the staff room window. He saw a
familiar head of once bushy hair bounce across the lawn to a tree by
the lake, he could just make out Terry Boot, a reasonably competent
Ravenclaw, sitting there. He watched as the pair exchanged a few
words before Miss Granger sat down beside him. He'd never seen them
socialise before, his curiosity was peaked and he leaned closer to
the window to get a better view. The pair were hugging, that
surprised him. Miss Granger was leaning against the boy, they seemed
to be chatting light heartedly, with long stretches of what seemed to
be comfortable silence.

He
must have watched them for an hour before he realised it and suddenly
moved away from the window and drained his cold coffee in the sink in
the corner. Why on earth had he been so fascinated by the bizarre
mating rituals of two of his students? Two students not even in his
own house. He shook his head and set off for his dungeon office to
mark some homework.
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