NOT WHAT I EXPECTED

Hermione Granger eyed the owl-delivered envelope from the Ministry with some trepidation. Supposedly, the name of her future husband was contained within it. She sighed because at just twenty-two years of age, she really had no desire to marry anyone, yet. She wasn't really against the idea of marriage. She just wanted to wait until she found someone whom she could love and who could love her back. However, she wasn't really being given the option to do that, now. Due to the Ministry's fears about the decreasing Wizarding population, a damn Marriage Law had passed and all witches and wizards of reasonable child bearing age were expected to comply – or be forced to leave the wizarding world forever. Of course, Hermione had put a contingency plan into place as soon as the rumors had started (She was the brightest witch of her age, after all!). She could easily live as a muggle, but she really did not want to give up all of the knowledge and power for which she worked and fought for so hard and so long. Therefore, there was an untraceable wand, an unregistered international portkey, a full set of legal wizarding documents under the name of Mia Wilkins, and a sackful of galleons waiting for her in a safety deposit box in a muggle bank in Muggle London – just in case.

In spite of all this, however, she didn't really want to leave Wizarding Britain. Her friends were here. Both Harry and Ron, as well as the rest of the previously unattached Weasleys, had all gotten married in the last couple of years. However, they were all still close to her, and she didn't want to leave the comfort and security of those longstanding relationships. This was especially true since her parents were still lost to her due to the irreversible Obliviate that she had placed them under several years ago in order to save them from Voldemort and his crazed followers. They were still alive, and apparently happy, in Australia. However, they had no memory of their daughter and, unfortunately, that was the way that it had to stay!

Therefore, she was willing to give this Marriage Law just one shot. She would stay long enough to see to whom she was matched and to see if a relationship with this unknown person had any chance of working at all. She rationalized that if it didn't work out, then she could still be gone within twenty-four hours! She wasn't really hopeful about the man, even though he was supposed to be her closest match in both personality and pure magical skill and power, at least according to the powerful eHarmonious spell. She had to admit, though, that she was really quite curious as to whom this referred. She knew that things like compatibility could possibly change over the years, depending on life experiences, etc... As of right now, she didn't know of anybody her own age, or any student in any year (with whom she had attended Hogwarts) to whom this description could apply. Realistically, she guessed that it could also be someone she had never heard of: someone who had attended school out of the country or who had been privately tutored. It could even be someone in the older generation. That was a thought! The age range for the marriage law was wide enough that the most of her friends' and classmates' parents would be eligible, too - if they were single. Hermione wasn't against the idea of an older husband, though. Far from it! In fact, she really thought that it would be a more likely scenario for compatibility than someone near her own age. Therefore, she really felt that she couldn't leave the country – not yet – at least until she knew for sure. Deep down inside, she knew that she was holding onto a faint tiny hope that somehow it would all work out. As unlikely as the dream was, she was hoping that she could stay here, near her friends, with a husband whom she could really care about and who would care about her in return.

She looked down at the envelope in her hand again. She couldn't believe that her happiness and her future depended so much on its contents! She slowly opened it and shook out the letter. She glanced at the name inside and then quickly released the breath that she didn't even realize that she was holding with a loud "Oomph!" After all of this time…this is unexpected, she thought, and she sat down as her legs gave out with surprise. However... I think… I can work with this! She thought about the man who was listed as her perfect match. She thought about their tumultuous history. Then she thought about his loyalty, his bravery, and his intellect and skill. She nodded in relief. Yes, I think he will be the one person who could really understand. Maybe we can make this work… Then she smiled, a bit grimly, as she thought about what his reaction to the news would be. Remembering him as she did, she was sure that he would not be pleased at all, especially at first, and she wondered what steps he would take to try to get out of the match. Knowing him, she was sure that he probably had a contingency plan set up, as well, just like she did. In fact, she thought that he would probably try to get her to reject him outright, in order to buy himself some more time to put his plan into motion. At any rate, she was certain that he would try to fight it every step of the way – unless she managed to get him to change his mind! Fortunately, she thought gleefully, one thing that the war taught me is that I'm VERY good at fighting!