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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 Six The
In-Laws

Severus swallowed his mouthful of chicken and wished he were
a million miles away. He had had more
tolerable bouts of Cruciatus than this excruciating dinner party. Around his transfigured table sat Hermione
looking sick with nerves, her mother looking close to tears, her father looking
as though Severus were the devil incarnate.yes"> Hermione, escort your mother to her room. I will see you in the morning. Potter, Weasley take your puddings with you
if you must but leave now. Mr Granger
you will remain here until I have spoken some sense into you.�

The tall wizard loomed menacingly from his seat as everyone
present scuttled to obey his orders. Mr
Granger sat in his seat looking terrified.
Severus retrieved two tumblers and a bottle of firewhisky from his
cabinet and ushered Mr Granger over to the upholstered chairs by the fireplace.

�Now,� said Severus sternly, �Hermione and I are getting
married in two days time. That is a
fact. I am not seeking your permission
or your blessing. This is an an easy thing for either of us. My chief concern is that Hermione does not
suffer unnecessarily. In view of that I
am not sure that inviting you here was a good idea. She has enough to contend with without her family�s disapproval
of our lifestyle. I know you are not
happy about things but I would hope you love your daughter enough to support
her at the expense of your own feelings.
I am aware it must be difficult to hand your daughter over to a complete
stranger so I am prepared to answer any questions you may have about me. Fire away.�

�What do you get out of marrying my daughter?� spat Mr
Granger.

�I get an intelligent, gifted and powerful witch for a
wife. Next question.�

�How old are you?�

�I am forty one.�

�You said you are a powerful Wizard. What is it that makes you different from the
others?

�All people with magical ability are capable of learning
several branches of magic to a reasonable standard. Some branches of magic require special skills, which are
rarer. My skill with potions is
dependant on precision, method and intellect as is the work of a scientist in
your world. In addition to this I am
what is referred to as a Legilimens, which means I have an innate ability to
view the thoughts and emotions of people around me. This is a rare and prized gift.
I have worked to refine and control it.
I also practice Occlumency, which shields my mind from other Legilimens. Hermione is a powerful witch. Her track record here rivals and indeed
exceeds mine in some areas. Her
learning has been extensive. She may
have powers, which have yet to be identified.
There is a great deal more to Magic than is taught at Hogwarts�

�Is that what this other man wants her for.�

Severus looked at him and sighed. �It may be so. Draco
Malfoy, his son, let slip that Lucius was the instigator of the new law. I made an enquiry of Arthur Weasley this
morning and found that Hermione was the only witch to receive petitions. This suggests that the whole thing has been
set up to legally tie Hermione to the Malfoy family. I don�t know what the reason is but given the number of women I
have witnessed him rape and butcher over the years I really couldn�t bear him
to get her.�

�Is he what Hermione would call a �Dark Wizard�?�

�Yes he is, as I once was in my youth.�

�What makes a Dark Wizard?�

�A Dark Wizard is one who practices magic in order to harm
others or harms others to do his magic.�

�I don�t follow the last bit.�

p;

�I could mix a potion to restore a baby who has died during
his mother�s labour. However I would
need to ritually sacrifice a perfectly formed child of less than a week old in
order to have the ingredients to hand.�

�Have you ever done that?�

�No, childbirth is safer now than it has ever been but in
days gone by it would be common when a wealthy woman gave birth, to sacrifice a
healthy peasant child as a precaution.

�You said you are a powerful Wizard. What is it that makes you different from the
others?

�All people with magical ability are capable of learning
several branches of magic to a reasonable standard. Some branches of magic require special skills, which are
rarer. My skill with potions is
dependant on precision, method and intellect as is the work of a scientist in
your world. In addition to this I am
what is referred to as a Legilimens, which means I have an innate ability to
view the thoughts and emotions of people around me. This is a rare and prized gift.
I have worked to refine and control it.
I also practice Occlumency, which shields my mind from other Legilimens. Hermione is a powerful witch. Her track record here rivals and indeed
exceeds mine in some areas. Her
learning has been extensive. She may
have powers, which have yet to be identified.
There is a great deal more to Magic than is taught at Hogwarts�

Severus looked at him and sighed. �It may be so. Draco
Malfoy, his son, let slip that Lucius was the instigator of the new law. I made an enquiry of Arthur Weasley this
morning and found that Hermione was the only witch to receive petitions. This suggests that the whole thing has been
set up to legally tie Hermione to the Malfoy family. I don�t know what the reason is but given the number of women I
have witnessed him rape and butcher over the years I really couldn�t bear him
to get her.�

�Is he what Hermione would call a �Dark Wizard�?�

�Yes he is, as I once was in my youth.�

�What makes a Dark Wizard?�

�A Dark Wizard is one who practices magic in order to harm
others or harms others to do his magic.�

�I don�t follow the last bit.�

�I could mix a potion to restore a baby who has died during
his mother�s labour. However I would
need to ritually sacrifice a perfectly formed child of less than a week old in
order to have the ingredients to hand.�

�Have you ever done that?�

�No, childbirth is safer now than it has ever been but in
days gone by it would be common when a wealthy woman gave birth, to sacrifice a
healthy peasant child as a precaution.
There are many other potion ingredients which cannot be come by without
serious breaches of ethics.�

�What made you become a Dark Wizard?�

�Empty promises, I suppose.
You must understand Mr Granger, the Wizarding world is a small one in
comparison to the Muggle one. We are
grossly outnumbered, and however comfortable we make ourselves, we will always
live in hiding. We live in hiding when
in reality we are more powerful than those we hide from. Ambitious Witches and Wizards rally behind
one who promises to redress the balance.
Ethics and rules may be laid asidepurspursuit of the ultimate goal. Once a group have gathered together to
reject the rules of their society they goad each other on to worse excesses, on
a temporary basis of course. Eventually
there are no rules, no decency; we are but animals. I was an ambitious man as a youth. I was not popular with many of my contempories but my skills won
great admiration from those who wanted to use them. I am a disciplined man. A
society without rules and order is abhorrent to me and as a Legilimens I could
not be blind to the suffering of random innocents. The debauchery of the Death Eaters very quickly became an end in
itself and that was not something I wanted to achieve.�

�How can I trust you with my daughter?�

�How can any father trust a man with his precious
child? Malfoy killed my wife, his own
sister and my child, which she bore. I
do not yet know Hermione well enough to know if I will love her or she me, but know
this, I will never harm her or damage her in any way. Everything shall be as she desires it. The marriage will take place.
As soon as our bond is complete Malfoy cannot dissolve it. Hermione will be safe.�

�Can I trust you?�

�I give you my word as a man of honour and one who has saved
and been saved by Hermione on a battle field that I will honour and protect
her. I can say no more than this.�

Mr Granger finally appeared more relaxed and gave thought to
his next questiop>
p>

�So you said you make medicines?�

�Yes, I am not on call constantly as is Madam Pomfrey. I find it easier to set aside times when I
can tend a long brewing potion than she does.
Mostly the work is mundane enough until we end up wracking our brains to
reverse something a child has managed to do to itself.�

�Well not all children are as skilful as Hermione I
suppose.�

�Unless you count the time she turned herself into a
human/feline hybrid. If she hadn�t
stolen her potion ingredients from my private store I might still be trying to
work out how she did it. Tremendously
advanced work for a twelve year old of course.
I was secretly quite impressed.�

�Really?�

�Oh yes. Very few
seniors could have done it. Later that
same year I had to restore her after she was petrified by a basilisk. Although that was not, strictly speaking,
her fault.�

�It seems we already have much to thank you for.�

�I know my duties and I always carry them out. Hermione tells me you are a tooth
medic. Perhaps you would like to see
one of my potions� come this way!�

Severus led the way into his private lab and a mollified Mr
Granger followed.

Meanwhile Hermione was upstairs trying to talk her mother
around. Mrs Granger was sitting on her
bed venting her feelings about Severus and the house elves.

�He�s an awful man Hermione, awful. How can you even think about marrying
him. Did you hear the way he spoke to
us and those slaves of his. How can you
bear it?�

�Mum, the house elves aren�t exactly slaves. I was upset at first when I found out about
them but they aren�t human and they can�t survive without allying themselves to
a wizarding household. Some of the
elves here are descended from those who came here when the castle was built a
thousand years ago. Professor
Dumbledore takes in homeless ones who have been cast off and pays them wages if
they ask. Some wizarding families treat
elves badly but the ones here are really happy.

You were really rude to Severus, Mum. He never has people in his private rooms and
yet he threw a party for you. He even
invited Harry and Ron. The elves were
thrilled to be involved. They made sure
to give you your favourite foods. They
were really excited and now they�re upset because you weren�t happy and Severus
is angry.

What am I going to do if he decides to call things off? What if he thinks it�s all too much
bother? Have you seen this ring? It�s a family heirloom. Wizards don�t have engagement rings but he
wanted to keep a Muggle tradition for me.
We are getting married if he�ll still have me and let me tell you right
now I�d crawl to him on my hands and knees to stop him changing his mind.�

�Does this man mean something to you Hermione?�

�I don�t know but I think he is beginning to. It�s hard.
Even when we were preparing for the final battle he was always still the
irritable teacher you didn�t dare cross but on the other hand I saw some of
what he went through then. He was so
brave Mum. He was the only Death Eater
to betray Voldemort. The one who got
close enough to do the damage. He began
to prepare for that war before you even had me. Now I can see him as a man and a husband and in my situation I
really need him. He didn�t spell it out
to you but his first wife was Malfoy�s little sister and Malfoy killed
her. He tortured her until she
miscarried her baby and died from blood loss and she was younger then than I am
now. He wants to look after me and I
trust him. Can you accept him Mum or am
I going to have to send you away?�

�Would you do that to us?�

�I don�t want to, but I will if I have to. I belong in this world Mum. I have to go along with the laws and the
customs. I would have needed to marry
some Wizard at some point to be part of our society and there are that many who
would choose a Mudblood like me. I have
to make my decisions based on the realities of this world and if you can�t cope
with my world then I can�t come to you any more but you�re my mum and I love
you.�

�Well I suppose I have to wish you luck with him then don�t
I?�

�Do you mean it Mum?�

�I suppose I have to don�t I? I am proud of you Hermione.
I know you�re too young to marry but you know that too and I have to
admit you�re dealing with it as well as you can. You always have a home with us if you need it but you are what
you are and I wouldn�t change you.�

Mother and daughter sat side-by-side on the bed and
embraced.

A/N

GEmory- Thank-you for taking the trouble to leave such
thoughtful feedback. I am a teacher by
profession and I think that colours my view of Snape. Often very strict teachers make wonderful colleagues and in a
story where he is a principal character I think he can show characteristics
beyond those we see in the glimpses we find in canon.

Crissy- Thank-you for yourry. I can�t give you a straight answer because the uncovering of
Lucius and Draco�s motivation is a significant element of the plot. At the moment Draco is primarily annoyed
because Severus has thrown a spanner in the works. Rest assured that all does become clear eventually. I can state that with authority because the
story is written in its entirety, all thirty-two chapters. I�m just uploading in small chunks so it�s
in a prominent place on the board for a reasonable amount of time.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Marriage Vows