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Marriage Vows	By : selened Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 23720 -:- 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 Five Going
Public

Hermione sat at table in the Great Hall at breakfast with
Harry and Ron. She had woken early in
the morning and been unable to get back to sleep. Her trials of the previous day had been replayed and she knew there
would be no let up during the course of the day. Harry and Ron were quiet, neither of them quite knowing what to
say.

Albus stood up to make an announcement.

�Before the owls come in this morning I should make you
aware that a new law has been passed by the Ministry for Magic. Details will be published in the Prophet
this morning, which I know some of you will read. This new law is going to have quite an effect on the lives of
some of you. With this in mind I have
called a meeting for all students in years five, six and seven to explain the
law fully and also some changes that will be happening immediately. First period is cancelled this morning. Younger children will return to the common
rooms and older students and staff will meet in here. Please inform any students who are not here at the moment of this
change.

A buzz of excited chatter rose around the room. Harry leaned over to Hermione. �It�s all going to be out in the open soon,�
he said. �Are you going to be all
right?�

�I honestly don�t know.
I�m just glad I haven�t got to face anyone in class this week.� �It�s alright Hermione, everyone will know
you haven�t got any choice,� said Harry.

�Professor Snape doesn�t want anyone to think that,� she
said.

�What, is his ego bruised that this is the only way he can
get a wife?� commented Ron sourly.

�No it�s because everyone thinks that Muggle-born witches
are going to be abused by their husbands.
He doesn�t want anyone to thinkabusabuses me.�

�Let�s hope he doesn�t.�

�I don�t think he will.
We�re going to make out that we grew close during the war but weren�t
going to do anything until I was out of school, but the new law enabled us to
bring it forward.�

�Do you think anyone will buy that?� asked Harry.

�Well if they don�t the Slytherins will be treating me like
I�m his whore all year and I don�t think that�s going to be comfortable for any
of us.�

�No, you have thought this through haven�t you?�

�Well our hands are tied a bit. It�s the only way to keep me away from the non-reformed Death
Eaters. He is being decent though. He doesn�t speak to me like he does in
class. He treats me like an adult. He wants us to make the best of it. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are in
favour and they know him quite well.

Professor McGonagall wants to see me before the meeting so
I�m going to go now before the blasted owls get here. I�ll try to see you later.�

�Bye �Mione,� said the boys.

An hour later the meeting was convened. Hermione sat at the staff table and the
other children sat on benches facing.
Hermione surmised from the number of glances she received that many
children had seen the list. The
headmaster rose and the Hall fell silent.

�Now children I know many of you will have read the news
reports this morning. For those of you
who haven�t I will summarise briefly.
The Ministry has passed an emergency law prohibiting the inter-marriage
of pure-blood wizards and witches with a bloodline of seven generations or
more. Wizards with a long bloodline are
now only permitted to marry witches who come from non-magical families and
vice-versa.�

A burst of chatter came from the benches and Hermione
noticed confusion in the Slytherin ranks.
Obviously not every pure-blooded family was in on it. Dumbledore tapped his water glass to regain
attention.

�This will obviously have come as a shock to some of
you. Please note that there is some
considerable opposition to the law and it is not expected to be in force for
long. However some people are going to
be affected immediately. As some of you
will already know, the Ministry acting in a parental role, is arranging a
marriage for Hermione Granger. I am
pleased to be able to announce therefore that Miss Granger and her intended
Professor Severus Snape��

He paused for a second to accommodate the stunned gasps and
exclamations that arose from his audience.

�� will be married at Hogwarts on Friday. As many of you will know the two of them
worked together as comrades in the Order of the Phoenix and fought side by side
in the final battle. The marriage is
taking place sooner than expected due to the requirements of the new law but I
am sure you will join with me in wishing them every happiness in their lives
together. Professor Snape, would you
like to say a few words?�

From the look on Snape�s face it was the last thing he
wanted to do. However he rose and
regarded his audience darkly. He spoke
quietly with the knowledge everyone was hanging on to his words,

�I would like to thank Professor Dumbledore for his kind
words, my colleagues for their good wishes and my future wife for her bravery
akinaking me on. Since she already
holds an Order of Merlin first class I am sure she will prove equal to the
task. Hermione and I will be taking
time out this week to see to arrangements for the ceremony and spend time with
her parents but we intend to resume classes as usual on Monday. Written work has been set for those missing
classes with nd Ind I expect it to be completed.�

Dumbledore stood up again.

�It is now my intention to allow you some time to discuss
this new law amongst yourselves.
Members of staill ill be available, in their rooms, for anyone wishing
to speak to an adult. Classes will
resume next period.�

The staff and Hermione rose and left the Hall in a hubbub of
noise behind them.

Snape turned to Hermione.
�Do you want to hide out in my quarters?� he asked.

�Yes please,� she replied �I don�t think I could stand an
interrogation from the entire senior school at the moment.�

She followed him to the entrance of Slytherin and through
into his office. It was a comfortably
furnished sitting room done in rich greens and silver, the Slytherin colours.

�This is where I speak to students in my capacity as
Housemaster. pan>pan>It is linked with my
quarters via a staircase through the door over there. The stairs lead down to my dressing room and provide access to my
other chambers. If any of my students
wish to speak to me I may have to ask you to go downstairs. If Draco decides to seek an interview I
think you might like to stay.

�Are they really planning marriages already?�

�Oh yes. The
Slytherins move in such closed circles you see. There are so few suitable candidates for marriage things are
often tied down early on. Millicent is
down to marry Blaise, Pansy wants Draco but will probably settle for
Goyle. They are raised to think about
this from early childhood. I don�t know
why that would surprise you, Longbottom and Miss Weasley are practically
engaged.�

�Yes but they love each other.�

�Love is not something your average Slytherin expects in
marriage.�

�What will you say to them?�

�I will reassure them that the ban is not expected to last
for more than about six months and that the pure-bloods are entitled to remain
single until things are back to normal.�

�How do you think they�ll react to your news about me?�

�I�m interested to see that myself. I think Albus was fairly convincing earlier.
With any luck most of them will take it at face value.�

�I hope so. Mind you
I don�t think some of them have the brains to work out that there�s something
fishy about it.�

A tentative tap at the door interrupted them. Severus shouted, �Come,� and the door was
opened. It was Draco Malfoy, with a
face like thunder. He walked into the
room and marched over to Severus.

�What the fuck kind of game do you think you�re
playing?!! My father didn�t set this up
for you to play house with a fucking Mudblood whore!�

�Good morning to you as well Draco. I feou hou have forgotten your manners. There is a lady present.�

�My father is going to be furious when he hears about
this�.�

�He had his opportunity yesterday when I introduced him to
my fianc�e in Hogsmeade. Had I known he
was the one to pave my way in my pursuit of Miss Granger I would have thanked
him there and then. Now there is simply
the matter of your insubordination and disrespect to consider. I feel fifty points from Slytherin will
suffice. Now get out before I throw you
out.�

�You will regret this Snape. My father won�t let this go so easily.�

�We are quaking in our boots,� said Hermione. �Run along and play before Severus loses
patience.�

Draco bit his tongue and stormed out.

�So now we know who instigated the new law,� said Hermione.

�Doesn�t it make you curious about how many proposals there
have been as a result of this?�

�I would guess somewhere in the region of two.�

�We must ask Arthur when he gets here. If we�re correct then he�s gone to very
elaborate lengths to get his hands on you and if I know Lucius he has a very
specific reason for it. There would be
no need to go to these lengths to simply attack you. If that were his aim he wouldn�t arouse our suspicions
beforehand.�

�What could it be?�

�I don�t know.
Perhaps a dark ritual of some kind or maybe a prophecy. We can look into it later. I think we need to focus on makthe
the
marriage secure as this seems to be a significant element in his plan. Arthur is sorting out the paperwork so
Lucius can�t interfere with that. We
should be able to keep Lucius off grounds so he can�t disrupt the
ceremony. I don�t have to take any
classes between now and then so I can escort you and your mother into Hogsmeade
and I dare say I couldn�t stop Potter and Weasley from guarding your person if
I tried.�

�Are you likely to try?�

�I have no plan to.
You may associate with your friends although I would prefer not to have
them in my quarters without prior arrangement.
We could perhaps have them over for dinner with your parents
tonight. You never know, it might
help.�

�I wonder how they�ll be about all this when they get here.�

�I think mothers generally distract themselves with planning
the ceremony. It�s your father who will
have the real difficulty and quite understandably.�

�What makes you say that?�

�A good father sees it as his duty to protect his female
children from predatory males. He
cannot stop seeing you as a child overnight.
He doesn�t know me and I am not what he would want for you. He knows what a man can do to a woman in the
intimacy of his bed and he knows you are not ready for it.�

�I�m not a child.�

�No Hermione you are not.
However you are not yet fully a woman.
I respect that. I will not push
you to run before you can walk but there needs to be physical intimacy between
us to complete our bond. Have you
considered that? You and I need to be
lovers in order for the marriage to be secure.�

�I hadn�t really thought about it. I mean I know Muggles have to do that but I hadn�t really
considered you and I� until now�. Oh God.�

�You are an innocent are you not? A virgin.�

�Yes. No one has
ever wanted me to.�

�Not even young Weasley?�

�We kissed but we never did anything more. Even the kissing didn�t feel right. It was expected I suppose but he never
pushed even though he�s done it with other girls. Does it hurt?�

�I understand that the process has some element of
discomfort for a woman on her first time but not enough to be scared of. Lovemaking is very pleasurable under the
right circumstances. I am sorry that
your circumstances are not more favourable.
I will do my utmost but we do not have the luxury of time. If I am to court you Miss Granger I will
need to do it after the wedding rather than before.�

�Are you going to court me?�

�I plan to try. We
will be married a long time. There is
no reason we should not try to enjoy it.
I know I am not what a young girl would wish for but if you could find
it in your heart to overlook that we may make each other comfortable
enough. I do not wish to pressure you
however. I will wait until you are
ready. If you should be of the opinion
that you will never be able to respond to me in that way please make it clear
when my attentions are unwanted.�

Hermione had an inkling of the effort it must have cost him
to expose himself this far and gathered her courage in both hands.

�I liked your kisses,� she said with a blush. �I like the
way you talk to me when we�re alone and I�ve always been fascinated by your hands
ever since I first watched you demonstrate chopping techniques in class. I have already said I would not deny you an
heir. When we are married I will let
you touch me.�

�I will be patient.�

Their conversation was broken by another tap at the door. Hermione made a move in the direction of the
staircase. He grasped her hand and held
her in place.

�Let them see us together,� he said, and raised his voice to
bid thrsonrson, �Enter.�

Pansy Parkinson stood in the doorway. �Ah Miss Parkinson,� he said. �Hermione please excuse us, duty
calls.� He lifted the hand he was
holding and pressed it to his lips before releasing her. Hermione noted the sour expression on
Pansy�s face as she made her exit downstairs to Severus� private chambers.
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Marriage Vows