"You are telling me that you two came to an arrangement on your own. Without any help from anyone or getting permission from her father?" Mrs. Weasley shrieked. She was rather old-fashioned, I could give her that much, "What are you going to tell her parents when you see them, Percival? Or did you even consider that?"

I didn't even consider that. My parents lived an entirely Muggle lifestyle. They knew nothing about this law. As a matter of fact, they knew nothing about the Weasleys. They didn't know a thing about anything that happened outside of summer vacation, when I lived with them. What were we supposed to tell them?

"I'll tell them what I've just told you." Percy snapped, standing stalk straight by my side, "I'll tell them that we've been seeing each other for a good while in secret and the time had come to make it legal."

"I find this a little bit disconcerting," Mrs. Weasley stood, beginning to pace in front of us, "It wasn't two days ago that Hermione got her letter from the Ministry and now you two are happily engaged." She knew completely what was going on. But Percy was a good actor. He could keep up appearances.

"Mother, I would appreciate it if you showed some civility to my bride." he awkwardly, stiffly, took a hand from where it had been pressed behind his back and pulled me close around the waist, "The time seemed right. That's all you need to know."

"Your father - "

"Will be happy for us when he hears the news." Percy interjected, "And I would appreciate it if you would do the same. I mean really, Mother. You were civil when Bill decided to marry Fleur. At least I've chosen to marry someone we can all tolerate."

"How very gracious of you." she choked, her face still pale, "You want to do this, then I give you my blessing, but it will be under a few conditions."

I could feel my muscles and his seemingly relax once she had given her consent, "Right. Conditions. Let's hear them." I sighed, removing myself from Percy's grip and once more sitting down at the dining room table, across from Mrs. Weasley.

"First of all, you two will floo in the morning to go see Hermione's parents and tell them the good news." I nodded. That was the least I could do for my parents. I couldn't imagine simply showing up for Christmas with a husband. I was positive that my parents would've not been okay with that.

"Secondly, you two will not do this the easy way. We will have a reception here and I will be the one to plan it. Lastly, Hermione, you will move into Percy's room at the end of the week."

"That's sounds fair." Percy sighed in relief, turning to me and nodding. We were both expecting some far more ridiculous conditions.

Mrs. Weasley nodded once more and continued on with cleaning up the dinner dishes in the next room over, "And for God's sake, get the girl a ring!" she called once more, causing both Percy and me to laugh.

"That's that then." he shrugged, "So, tomorrow morning we'll go into town and get an engagement ring. And then we'll go to your parents' and let them know."

"Sounds like a plan." I agreed.

"Do you want tea, Love?" he asked, going to the kettle and pouring himself a glass.

"What's my favorite color?" I retorted, with a humored glint in my eye.

He seemed to go into panic mode as he dug through the masses of information in his mind to try to think of the one possible time I might have told him, "Uh...pink?"

"Wrong. It's Yellow." I stood and gave him a bop on the head, "You don't reserve the right to call me 'Love' until you know things about me."

"I was close, though." he grumbled under his breath.

"No, not really." I countered, taking the cup from his hands and making my way back up to Ginny's room, where I was bunking.

"What the hell was happening down there? Was Percy arguing with Mum again?" Ginny asked, looking up from where she sat in the corner, reading from her latest magazine.

"No, no. Well, kind of. We were just working out some of the - finer details - of our engagement." I grumbled, collapsing onto my bed.

"Engagement." Ginny mumbled the word, letting it process for a time.

"Yes." I agreed halfheartedly, picking up my herbology textbook and thumbing through.

"Hermione Granger, don't think you're going to get away with just up and saying something like that. Explain." Ginny demanded, flying across the room until she was sitting right next to me, ready for some girl talk.

"There really isn't much to explain. Percy and I have been seeing each other for a while now in secret. The new law came up, so we took advantage of it. That's really all there is to it."

"You think I believe that? Hermione, you were hysterical when you heard about the law and I know it isn't because of Percy. I want to hear the truth."

"That is the truth." I faltered a bit when she placed her hand over my own, "Hermione, I'm not going to tell anyone."

I let a single tear fall once again. Ginny had that effect. I just cried around her - all the time, "After we talked, I went up to the roof to think and he was there. We talked about it for a while. We came to an agreement."

"Oh, Hermione, you can't do that. You're selling yourself. You can find yourself someone. Or really, Dean isn't that bad. I'm sure he'd make a good husband." Ginny continued to ramble, but I held my hand up for her to stop.

"Your brother is being very gracious to me. He'll be a good husband - a good father. And you know, if I have to go through this anywhere, I'd rather it be here at the Burrow with my friends. This may very well be the only place I could do this."

"But he's such a prick. Honestly, if he weren't my brother I would've scraped his eyes out by now with a dull spoon."

"He's really not, Ginny. We've talked and honestly, he seems just like any other guy. He's got that holier-than-thou shield up. But if you get him to really talk, it actually isn't half bad." I admitted, "And here I am talking to you about your brother, like you two are total strangers."

"I just don't see how this will work to your benefit. I mean, he's mean, backstabbing, and he can be a bit of a prude at times. And seriously, imagine how poindexter-ish your children will look. Honestly, I've always seen you as someone to be more interested in George."

"George has Angelina. And they're engaged now too. All of the men of your family are!"

"There's Charlie - "

"The law is void for him because he lives in Bulgaria. Honestly, Ginny. Can't you just be happy for me for two seconds? You were complaining that I was upset when I was subject to the law and now you're complaining that I'm happy. Can you just stop talking for five minutes and appreciate the fact that none of us are subject to the matching now?"

"You're right. Congratulations to you, then." she sighed, falling back once more against the pillows at the head of the bed, "So, are you not the least bit worried about the law now. I mean, the planning."

"Your mother will have it all planned out by morning, I'm sure."

"The wedding, though..."

"The only thing I'll have to do is walk down the aisle and look pretty. And I'm sure your mother will have orchestrated that to a tee as well."

"The wedding night - "

"Oh, really, Ginny!" I gasped, shooting up out of bed, "Don't be vulgar."

"It could be a real concern for you, though. Have you, you know...done the deed before?"

"Of course I haven't. I have this crazy idea that I'm going to wait until marriage." I scoffed.

"I thought that, too, at first. But really, if you're nervous, don't you think it would be best just to get it over with? Could you even imagine how awkward that would be? Having your first time be on your wedding night?" the younger girl guffawed. I was in shock with how freely she spoke about...that.

"Ginny, I'm really not comfortable with this." I choked, shooting out of bed quickly, making my way to the hall.

"You'd better get used to it! We're practically sisters!" she called after me.

That night, I stayed on the couch. I didn't want to go back and face Ginny's wrath. I didn't have anywhere to floo to, and under no circumstances was I going to go beating on Percy's door. So, I sat all alone, waiting for whatever was to come tomorrow.

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