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Marriage Vows	By : selened Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 23722 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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
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Marriage Vows

Disclaimer: This
story was inspired by the Marriage Law Challenge on WIKTT. All Harry Potter characters belong to JK
Rowling and those with whom she has agreed contracts. This story was written for practice not profit.

Chapter Four Meeting
the Parents.

On leaving Diagon Alley, later that afternoon, Severus and
Hermione transfigured their robes into light raincoats and walked through
Muggle London. s"> Hermione rang her
parents from a payphone to say she was coming to dinner with a friend. They were surprised to hear from her on the
second day of term but accepted her assurance that she needed to speak to
them. Hermione had some muggle coins
and took Severus on a bus journey to her parent�s house. She let herself in with a key and took him
into the sitting room to wait.

It was the first time Severus had been inside a Muggle
dwelling and the electrical appliances fascinated him. Hermione was reminded of the times Arthur
Weasley had visited.

�I take it you didn�t do Muggle studies at Hogwarts,� she
ventured.

�Certainly not. I
have avoided Muggles all my life. I am
prepared to make an exception for your family but I have no intention of
pretending to be other than what I am.
That does not preclude my being interested in technology when I run
across it.�

�Mr Weasley likes Muggle artefacts. He and Mrs Weasley often meet up with my
parents. It took my Dad a long time to
get used to Mr Weasley�s academic interest in him.�

Severus smiled. �I
can imagine. I suppose Molly takes them
in her stride.�

�Somehow you don�t seem to notice her magic until you see
her housework. She blends in more.�

�I think the �mother� element in her transcends the
boundary. She is a strong witch
though. The children have his brains
and her power. She can be proud of most
of them. How do your parents feel about
you being different?�

�Proud I think. They
worried at first particularly when I floated things as a toddler. Then the magic stopped for a long time
because I learned what I shouldn�t be able to do and when I was eleven we got
the letter ahey hey had to change their worldview. They cope with Diagon Alley and Gringotts. They take the Prophet nowadays and keep an owl.�

�Floating things when you�re so young is a sign of
power. Many pure-blood children can�t
do anything until they get a wand. Do
you realise I can feel your power? It�s
tangible to me. The closer I stand to
you the stronger it gets. Lucius feels
it too, most likely�Ah I think I hear your parents�

The door opened and Hermione�s parents bustled in and
embraced her in turn. Severus stood
awkwardly at the back of the room.
Eventually they turned to look at him.
Severus decided to take the initiative.

�Good evening, I am Professor Snape. I teach at your daughter�s school.� He gave a formal bow and continued, �I have
come with Hermione today because a new law has been passed by our government
which has a direct bearing on young women such as Hermione, whose parents are
not from the Magical Community.
Details of this law will be published in our newspapers tomorrow but we
felt you needed to have a full explanation as to how Hermione will be
affected. Hermione do you wish to
explain or shall I continue?�

�I�ll try Severus.
Mum, Dad, the new law is concerning marriage customs. Our government is worried because the birth
rate is falling drastically in our community.
We lost a lot of younger witches and wizards because of Voldemort and
the pure-blood families are tending to show the results of too much
intermarriage like the Romans did. The
new law forbids pure-bloods to marry each other and says they have to marry
people like me.�

�But you aren�t getting married Hermione. You�re at school.�

�If I may interject Mrs Granger. In our community a form of marriage exists which does not require
the consent of the bride. In essence
our government has assumed the role of parent for Muggle-born women it deems to
be of marriageable age and is offering them to potential pureblood suitors. They have made a concession that a woman with
more than one suitor may choose between her suitors but she cannot elect to
remain single. Hermione was notified of
a suitor this morning who is not to her taste.
His father is a man with a track record of abuse against women I cannot
bring myself to explain to a lady.
Faced with the prospect of marriage into this family Hermione sought out
a friend to propose to her. That friend
was myself. I have proposed to your
daughter and she has accepted me.�

�What the hell has been going on at that school!!!� yelled
Mr Granger. �You�re paid to teach my
daughter not seduce her! She�s
seventeen for God�s sake! How many
other children have you done this to?�

Mr Granger bounded towards Snape, and for a moment Hermione
feared bloodshed. Severus drew his wand
and stood straight. The sight of the
wand sobered Mr Granger somewhat and he contented himself with squaring his
stance.

�I assure you Mr Granger I have committed no impropriety
with any child in my care including Hermione,� said Snape with disdain.

�Are you inbred then?� enquired Mrs Granger.

�No Madam I am not.
My family has made a tradition of choosing foreign brides. It is where British families have married
each other over centuries where the problems have arisen.�

�How can this be allowed?� said Mr Granger. Hermione is bright. She needs to finish school. What about her career?�

�I have promised to take over your role in ensuring her
education and career prospects. I am
humiliated by the backwards nature of this law. This type of marriage was virtually disused for over two
centuries until the followers of Voldemort revived it. I have offered to marry Hermione in the
modern form for her protection and future happiness. I feel I should stress
that Hermione has had a very difficult time over this and our decision was not
made lightly. This business caught us
all unawares and I assure you marrying her Potions teacher was not figuring in
her thoughts until today.�

�Is this true Hermione?� Asked her mother.

�Yes,� replied Hermione.
">
�There was nothing between us until today. We only found out about the law this morning. I had a tremendous shock especially when I
found Malfoy had put in a bid on behalf of Draco. He is an evil man Mum, but nothing seems to stick to him. He�s too well-connected. People are scared of him�. I will kill
myself if I have to go to him.�

�Hermione!!! Don�t say that. Is he really that bad?� asked her father

�I�m afraid he is,� stated Severus. �I have strong reason to believe he killed
his own sister eighteen years ago. She
was seventeen years old and pregnant at the time. He was a member of Voldemort�s inner circle and he discovered she
was working on a project that could loosen Voldemort�s influence over his
followers. It will just be a short ceremony followed by
a formal dinner in School. Severus
thought you might help me choose my dress.�

�How can we get to Hogwarts?� asked her father. It�s not on any normal maps is it?

�I may be able to help there. Let me write this down for you.
Now this Muggle town is quite close to Hogwarts. If you go to this address by car I will meet
you at six o�clock and guide you towards the school. We won�t be able to take the car onto the property but I will
show you where to leave it. If you come
tomorrow evening that will give you time to go shopping with Hermione on the
Thursday.� Severus handed the paper to
Mrs Granger.

�Is that all right Mum?�

�Your father and I were planning to fly up to Scotland
anyway for a long weekend so we won�t actually need to cancel any appointments.
We were going to hire a car so I suppose we will see you tomorrow.�

Severus stood. �I am sure your parents would like to discuss
things together privately Hermione. We
should go now. You will see them
tomorrow. Emotions have run high today
and I think we all need some time for quiet reflection. Oh incidentally Hermione tells me you are
friends with Molly and Arthur Weasley.
I have known them for some years.
I have taught all their children.
They may be able to reassure you of my character. Hermione say goodbye to your parents.�

Hermione rose and embraced her parents again and the two
made their way to the door. Once
outside Severus leaned down and whispered, �Let�s go to Grimmauld Place. I think the Weasleys are in residence at the
moment and Dumbledore may be there tonight.
We need to see Arthur and I�m sure Molly needs to see you.�

Moments later the two apparated inside the hallway of Sirius
Black�s family home. He had left the
house to Harry in his will and it was still used as the headquarters for the
Order of the Phoenix. Molly and Arthur
were living there to allow the twins and their recently acquired wives some
privacy at The Burrow. Molly had
finagivegiven in to the idea of the business and was using her skills to help
them develop the production side.
Arthur was now employed in a more senior position at the Ministry and
tackled it with his trademark enthusiasm.

�Hermione sweetheart,� cried Molly as she entered the
Hallway, �I heard about the list. I�m
so sorry!� By this time she had reached Hermione and encircled her in a warm
hug. �Hello Severus. I hope you�re well.�

�Very well thank-you Molly.
We were hoping to see Arthur or Dumbledore if he�s here.�

�Oh yes, go on through to the sitting room. They�re talking about the new law. It�s a disgrace. How can they do this to the Muggle-borns?�

�Quite, now if you will let go of Hermione we can bring you
up to date with the latest developments.�

Without further ado the trio went into the sitting
room. Dumbledore, Arthur and Remus were
sitting nursing glasses of sherry.
Severus reached for Hermione�s hand and led her to the unoccupied
sofa. Dumbledore twinkled at Snape�s
gesture.

�Headmaster, I have news,� announced Severus. �While Hermione and I were in conference
this morning we received a petition for Hermione from the Malfoys. Obviously it is inconceivable that she
should marry into that family so I have offered to marry Hermione myself and
she has agreed. We have decided to have
the ceremony on Friday if that is convenient.�

Hermione caught full sight of the reactions of the group and
fought down the waves of hysterical laughter that threatened to engulf
her. Dumbledore alone seemed
unsurprised. �Thank-you Severus,� he
said gravely. �I admit I hoped that you
would see your way clear to providing an escape for Miss Granger. You are an honourable man and I know you
will take your new responsibilities seriously.�

His s ses seemed to have a sobering affect on the other
members of the party and helped them over the initial shock. Remus recovered first and offered his best
wishes. Hermione set about reassuring
the speechless Molly with a smile.

�We hope you will all come to our wedding,� stated
Severus. �I am concerned that the
affair passes with due ceremony. I want
no one to suggest that I am taking Hermione with anything less than utter
respect. Her parents will be joining us
tomorrow to help with Hermione�s preparations.
I thought your presence might reassure them Molly. They know you and you know me. It will not be easy for them to cope. Arthur I came to you because I am concerned
Malfoy may interfere with us.�

�Does he know about your engagement yet?�

�Sadly yes. He
cornered Hermione this afternoon when we were in Hogsmeade. He was breathing his foul insinuations all
over her. I told him that we were to be
married and by the looks of him he did not take it well. He will interfere if he can I am sure of
it. I have brought you a copy of our
paperwork. I have submitted it already
but I would hate for the acceptance certificate to be �lost� so to speak.� He handed the papers to Arthur who inspected
them carefully.

�This seems to be in order,� said Arthur. �I will log it personally tomorrow and put
myself forward as Ministry witness for the ceremony. It should be watertight.�

�I hope you�ll stay for dinner,� said Molly.

�Thank-you, I was hoping you would ask. We have had a very eventful day.�

Later that night Severus and Hermione returned to Hogsmeade
and from thence back to the castle. The
hour was late and Severus insisted on escorting Hermione to the Gryffindor
staircase. When they got there Severus
paused, seemingly embarrassed. �I have
heard that when Muggles agree to marry the woman receives the gift of a ring.�

�Yes,� said Hermione.
�It�s a modern day custom.�

�We don�t have that custom but I picked this up in the vault
earlier and I thought you might like to have it.� He held out his hand to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. Hermione gasped. �It was originally a gift from my great-grandfather to his wife
when she gave birth to my grandmother.
It is charmed to fit the wearer.
Albus is going to assemble the senior children tomorrow to explain the
law. I have asked him to announce our
news. I thought it might help if I did
the muggle thing. Some people might
expect it. What do you think?�

�It�s beautiful Severus, really beautiful. Thank you so much. You have been so considerate today. I owe you so much�. Severus?�

�Yes?�

�You kissed me earlier.
Could we kiss again?�

�I don�t see why not.�
He tilted her head up and stooped to meet her lips. The kiss was more affectionate than dominant
this time but Hermione felt its electricity flooding to her nerve ends. Severus pulled away to breathe and followed
with a peck to her cheek. She glowed up
at him. He stepped back and bowed to
her formally. �Good night Miss
Granger.�< sty style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Hermione became aware of the
fat lady tutting behind her. With a
blush she whispered the password and entered her house.

�You can come out now Minerva,� said Severus calmly.

The cat sauntered from its position in the shadows and
Minerva resumed her human form.
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Marriage Vows