Mine to Save

Hey folks, here is a Harmony fic I've been working on. I've read a lot of Snamione Marriage Law and Snarry Forced Bonding and it got me thinking- I've never read a Harmony one. So, here it is. For those of you who follow my Avengers piece, I have no abandoned it. But with over 20 chapters completed of this I figured it was time to start posting it.

As always, all Harry Potter related persons, places and things are the property of our beloved JK Rowling. Anything else is mine. I make no monetary profit from this story, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter One

Harry stared at the Monday Morning edition of the Daily Prophet, disbelief on his soft features. Surely this had to be some kind of a sick joke. Or someone had fed the Prophet some false information? Harry looked up at the Headmaster but all he saw was a sour look on the older wizard's face. Apparently, this was not a joke.

He looked to Hermione, his best friend's face ashen, eyes filled with fear for her future. He re-read the article in the hopes that there was something he could find that would allow his friend to be excluded- but after reading it four times already he knew that he would find nothing.

"This reporter has information on the new law introduced by the Ministry of Magic that is being made effective as of today. This new law states that all Muggleborns ages sixteen and over must marry a pureblood or half-blood witch or wizard within four weeks- the start date for the countdown is September third. It is apparently in an effort to boost the number of magical infants. It has been reported and confirmed in recent numbers that many of the infants born into pureblood families are squibs. This number has been on the rise since the early 1800's and is becoming alarmingly high. The reason found for this is down to pureblood traditions that they marry their own, thus causing the magical blood to become too concentrated as many pureblood families now are related in some form and narrowing the gene pool drastically. Any Muggleborn not married by the deadline will enter into an arranged marriage sorted by the Ministry, with no exceptions- including anyone betrothed, the law supersedes this. Each couple is expected to produce their first heir within two years, and a second within 5 years. Unless they can prove infertility, if this clause is not met, there will be serious repercussions, including, but not limited to a fine, investigation by the Ministry, or incarceration in Azkaban. Is this a carefully thought out plan to help the wizarding world, or the half-hatched scheme of a Minister under pressure? We do not know, but one thing is for certain, this reported will be the first to let the magical community know.

Story by Rita Skeeter. Full report and figures on page 3."

Ron nudged Hermione gently in the ribs and grinned. "It's not bad at all, Herm. It just speeds up my plans to have you marry me."

Harry saw his bushy haired friend narrow her eyes and say nothing, but her gaze said it all- no. He was aware of the problems they'd been having, especially in that Ron had become blunter and more demanding than his usual relaxed demeanour. But, surely things were not that bad? Not enough that she didn't want to try to work things out.

Ron didn't seem to notice, or maybe didn't care, about her lack of response and Harry certainly didn't want to draw attention to it. Instead he turned to the figures page and read up on the statistics on page three. It seemed the figures for squibs being born was indeed on the rise. In the six years Harry had attended Hogwarts he had not seen the steady, almost unnoticeable, decline in the number of first years.

For his fifth and sixth years he could easily have blamed it on the war and Voldemort's return, especially for the lack of Slytherin's, but now he knew there was something else causing it. Now, on the first day of his seventh year Harry knew that all he would be hearing about was the new damn law.

He could already feel the beginnings of a headache thumping behind his eyes. Harry massaged his temples in an attempt to stall it, but small, cool hands took over and he sighed in relief.

"Hi, Ginny," he said softly.

"Hi, Harry. First day and you already have a headache?"

He chuckled dryly. "What can I say?"

The redhead sat down and smiled cheerily. "I think you just like getting massages out of me."

"Hmm. It seems my dastardly plan has been rumbled."

Ron went red and spluttered. "Harry! That's my bloody sister!"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Ron!" Hermione snapped. "You know full well she's in a relationship with Luna!"

Ginny turned to her brother and glared icily at him. "I don't think you're in any position to be calling people out on anything after what you said to me at the weekend."

Harry folded the newspaper up, the tension rising. Hermione looked at her flushed boyfriend and raised an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know?"

"You mean you haven't blabbed that out like you did in front of mum?" Ginny sneered. "He decided to inform our mother that I was gay. She wanted to know if I had any nice boys in mind, and Ronald kindly decided to blurt out that the only thing I would be chasing was anything lacking a cock."

Hermione turned an interesting shade of red as she exploded at him. "How dare you! Ginny had every right to tell her mother when she was ready! Thank you, Ginny, for giving me all I needed for this."

Ron looked nervously at her. "For what?"

She stood up and knocked Ron's drink into his lap. "We're over. I am done with your disgusting attitude and your behaviour. Find yourself some simpering witch who will let you walk all over her."

Harry watched her grab her book bag and storm off, hair flying behind her. He shook his head and grabbed his own bag. "You know, Ron, there really are times when I question how we became friends. Say hi to Luna for me, Gin."

He took off at a jog to catch his best friend up and gently tugged her into an empty alcove when tears overwhelmed her. She sobbed into his chest and clung tightly to him. Harry rubbed her back and did his best to comfort her, unsure of what to say that would take some of her hurt away.

"I've got you, it's all going to be alright," he soothed. He tried to trap her hair under his arm so it wouldn't get in his face but in the end, he found his nose buried in the curls, and whispering words of comfort.

-oo0oo-

The day went by mostly in a blur, despite Hermione's hurt at Ron's behaviour, she managed to remain civil with him so as not to disturb the classes and especially not in Snape's, who would no doubt take great pleasure in putting Gryffindor in a minus for House Points on the first day of school.

Dinner arrived swiftly, and with it was Harry's appetite. He sat next to Hermione, with Ginny on her other side so Ron couldn't sit and pester her. He'd spent the entire day trying to catch her eye and get her to talk to him, but she wasn't having it.

He was ignored most of the time with Harry trying to act as some kind of buffer. Ron was still his friend though he was annoyed at him. But it became clear that Ron was just becoming more belligerent as the evening meal wore on and storming out at the end with a muttered comment that no one paid attention to.

The article from the Prophet weighed heavily on his mind, his fear and concern for Hermione mounting as he realised there was nothing he could do. Only Dumbledore held clout and even as Chief Mugwump, he couldn't throw out the law. All magical laws were passed by majority vote, and apparently the headmaster had not been able to persuade enough people to oppose the law.

He ate mostly in silence, only really speaking when he was directly addressed. Luna came at some point and dragged Ginny off for whatever reason before curfew kicked in at nine. Unfortunately, with Harry having his back to the other tables, he didn't see Malfoy approach until it was too late.

"So, who's going to be saddled with the buck toothed Mudblood I wonder? Obviously not the Weasel. What's wrong, Granger? Not putting out for him?" The cold voice sounded from behind them.

Harry's hand curled into a fist and he rose from his seat. "Call her a Mudblood again," he hissed.

Malfoy glanced around, but Harry wasn't sure if that was to seek witnesses or backup. He smirked and shrugged. "It's not my fault she's a Muggleborn, Potter. She should have been more forthcoming with Weasley and she would have been safe. You best hope someone is willing to marry her because I'm quite confident my father would enjoy allowing me to have her."

Knowing it was completely worth the point loss, Harry cocked back his arm and struck Malfoy full in the face, feeling the cartilage of the blond's nose crunch under his fist and blood spurting out. "I hope you're very good at hiding, because if you ever threaten her again, I will destroy you," he said quietly so only Malfoy could hear.

Grey eyes widened in fear and he ran off, hand cupped over his nose. He glanced at Dumbledore who shook his head disapprovingly, but Harry felt no shame whatsoever. Malfoy had had it coming since his first year, his only regret was that Hermione hadn't broken his nose when she'd punched him in third year.

Hermione frowned when he sat back down. "Harry, as much as I appreciate you defending me, please don't waste energy on him."

Shocked looks resounded around the table when she didn't cite him chapter and verse about costing them points and no doubt receiving detention on the first day of school. Harry grinned and kissed her cheek with a wink. "I'm only defending your honour, dear."

She laughed and shooed him away. "Honestly. Go on, you know Professor Dumbledore will be wanting to see you after that little scene."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I know. Make sure someone walks you back to the dorm. I don't trust Malfoy and I don't want you being bombarded by Ron the second you enter the common room."

Hermione nodded and once again shooed him away. Harry laughed and made his way to Dumbledore's office for the scolding he knew he was going to get for punching Malfoy.