A/N: Wow! It's been a long time since I've written a story, but I have lots of more time here in college. I've pre-written a bit of this story so it will get out quicker. Hopefully you wonderful people will respond as well to this fic as you did to my last! Also, I'm not a great self-editor, so are there any interested betas in the crowd? Thanks!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, you fools! If I did, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction!
FYI: This is written for a marriage law challenge! Yes, it is one of those fics, but with some action and adventure a little further in!
The End of a New Life by MyKonstantine.
Rated T for slight sexual references, swearing, and violence.
Chapter 1: Decree Dilemma
Hermione Granger awoke lazily from a long slumber. Since the end of the war, the nights when she truly slept well were few and far between. Even now, almost two years later, she still was startled awake by vicious nightmares that quite often left her in a cold sweat.
Even as she lay in her own bed in her own flat, it took time for her to process that she was not in a hospital bed in St. Mungo's, where she'd most of her time after Harry had destroyed the Dark Lord. The only one of the trio who had been seriously injured was Harry himself, but he had been healed in a matter of weeks.
The only reason they had been kept so long was so that fool of a Minister, Rufus Scrimgeour, could run tests on the trio. The Ministry simply didn't believe that Voldemort's powers lay within horcruxes. They concluded that only magical phenomena could destroy the most evil wizard in the world, and the phenomena must be Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Thus a few weeks of healing and resting became ten restless months of magical poking and prodding in a room that was impossible to leave ("There are still Death Eaters out there who want you dead!" Scrimgeour told Hermione when she had objected. "We have to keep you and the others separate and under tight security!") The only moments Hermione had seen Harry and Ron during those months was when they were escorted by Aurors to test areas together.
A chill went up her spine when she thought of it now. It was all the ministry's cruel way of getting back at them for refusing to co-operate during the war.
But she was home now. She could smell the fresh morning air seeping in from the fairly woodsy neighborhood outside. She could see Crookshanks lazily bat at the sleeve of a jumper she'd left hanging on a chair the night before. Downstairs, a strange popping noise was followed by a noisy CRASH!
It took Hermione a moment to process that this was not part of a normal morning routine.
"What the bloody…" Hermione whispered to herself as she quietly lifted herself out of bed. Crookshanks also stood attentively as Hermione reached on to the bedside table to gather her wand.
BANG! Whoever was in her flat wasn't even attempting to be quiet. Perhaps they were just foolish. Or perhaps they were strategic. Was somebody trying to lure downstairs?
After a few moments, Hermione decided that she needed to investigate. Somebody may be waiting to attach her downstairs, but she had learned to fight through fear long ago.
"Watch your step." She mumbled to herself as she tiptoed down the stairs. "Stay light on your feet." Reviewing these fighting tactics never really calmed her horrid nerves, but she always used them anyway. "Wand at the ready."
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, a flash of blue light came from the left. Somebody was in her kitchen.
Hermione threw her body around the corner and roared "Immobilus!" She hadn't even taken the time to look at who she was freezing, and now she felt like a complete git.
Ronald Weasley stood perfectly frozen next to Hermione's refrigerator with a bottle of milk still held up to his lips.
"Oh hell!" Hermione groaned before pointing her wand at Ron to make him mobile once again.
Ron's body slammed down the milk bottle and turned straight towards her. "Merlin, Hermione! Do you immobilize every bloke that comes into your flat, or am I just lucky?"
"It's nine o'clock in the morning!" Hermione waved her hands up in exasperation. "You barged into my home uninvited and unexpected!"
"It's nine thirty, actually." Ron let out a heavy sigh. "And I did not barge into your house! Harry and I ran out of milk at our place, so I just came to borrow some."
Hermione let out a snort. "You and the milk made an awful racket!"
"Well, that's because I spilled a bit." Ron's arms gestured towards the area of the floor directly in front of him. "When I went to get my wand to clean it, I slipped and fell against the counter."
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, easing up on the fact that one of her best friends had just broken into her home.
Ron shrugged. "Hit my head on the corner. No big deal."
"Here. Let me see it." Hermione slowly made her way toward Ron, outstretching an arm toward his head. Ron was quick to retreat. "I'm fine, Hermione!"
"Just let me look at it!" At these words, Ron went to step back again, but Hermione leaped forward and latched her hands on to the back of his head. While he sat disgruntled, Hermione carefully observed every inch of scalp beneath Ron's ginger hair. After a minute she noticed a small but bleeding gash. "Ron, stand up straight so I can heal this properly."
Ron spun around with such a force that he almost lost his balance. "No bloody healing a little scratch! It's not going to bloody well kill me!"
Hermione pointed her wand up a Ron's head. "I could immobilize you again first, if you'd prefer."
"Hermioooonneeee!" Ron whined as he slowly gave in and showed Hermione the back of his head once more. "This is not necessary."
However, Ron received no answer from Hermione. All he got was a strange tingling sensation beneath his hair follicles. Hermione felt quite smug. She always did when she got her way in a debate with Ron.
Her swarm of pride didn't last too long. An odd rapping noise on the window next where she stood with Ron changed all that. Hermione immediately moved to let in the large tawny owl that stood at full attention on her window sill.
"Whose post owl is that?" Ron questioned as it entered.
Hermione detached the letter from the owl's scrawny leg and it promptly flew back into the morning sunshine. A chill ran up her spine. She stared at the return address so long that her eyes began to blur and water. Then her focus moved to the word stamped across the envelope in large red letters: URGENT.
"Who's it from?" Ron's interrogation continued, now with a strain of worry in his voice.
"Scrimgeour. Apparently it's urgent."
All was silent on Ron's end. Hermione thought this would comfort her, but instead it made her even more anxious.
The letter was slammed down on the table so hard that the slapping noise echoed sharply throughout the flat. "I'm not opening it!" Hermione declared. "No bloody way am I doing this again!"
Ron didn't seem too taken aback by Hermione's outburst. She knew that Ron could understand where her rage was coming from. Still, her better judgment was not working normally, and he realized that as well.
"This is the Ministry!" He reminded her with a cautious tone of voice. "You can't just ignore them. You could be fined, maybe arrested."
Hermione let out a deep sigh. "Then what am I supposed to do?"
Ron slid his hand through his hair in anxiety, trying to think of a solution to this dilemma. "If you got a letter, Harry and I must have too." He postulated. "Let's got back to my flat and the three of us will open the letters together."
It was not the ingenious solution Hermione had been hoping for, but it was something. At least she would be in the same situation as Ron and Harry.
"Okay." She agreed. "Wait here."
A baffled look covered Ron's freckled face as Hermione turned away. "Wait here? Why am I waiting here? I thought we were going to my flat!"
"I am not going anywhere in my pajamas." Hermione protested.
"It's not like we've never seen you in your damn pajamas before." Ron groaned. "If you want to figure this out so badly, just hurry up."
Hermione walked over to Ron again, snatching up the letter as she went. "Fine! Let's go to your flat. If Harry doubles over because I'm still in my pajamas, I will hex you into the next century!"
She apparated into a very familiar home without another word. The satisfying 'POP' that she heard just after informed her that Ron had done the same.
The flat was a fair size but poorly cared for. A pile of dishes lay in the sink unwashed and letting off a strange odor. Numerous papers and small gadgets covered the countertops and table space. There were a few plants in the midst, but they looked quite dreary. This flat was so obviously owned by men.
"That is not milk, mate." A confused voice rang out from the table across the room. Harry peered curiously over his round glasses at Hermione, who he obviously hadn't expected to see so early in the morning.
"Hermione," Harry said slowly, "why are you still in your paj-"
Ron waving his hands frantically behind Hermione made Harry stop mid-sentence. What Ron didn't know was that Hermione could see him out of the corner of her eye. It became increasingly difficult to hold back a smirk of defeat as the seconds ticked by.
"I mean, what are you doing here so early?" The green-eyed man amended quickly. "It's the weekend; you should be having a lie-in."
Ron walked to the table and began to search among the chaos that lay upon it. "Did we get the post yet?"
"Yeah." Harry said quite casually. Then his ears suddenly perked up as if he'd remembered something of utmost importance. "Pig came back with the Cannons ticket for the game against the Wasps, if that's what you're looking for."
As Harry dug through a small pile, Ron looked back at Hermione with an odd look on his face. Hermione couldn't tell if it was fear, sadness, or Ron's primal need to protect others that gave him an expression that was fierce yet comforting at the same time.
"You mean you never got anything from the Ministry?" Hermione said in what was almost a whisper.
Harry's reaction to these words was not surprising. His bright green eyes glared at Hermione as his face covered itself in a rosy blush. His fists clenched and his muscles became rigid where he sat. "Why the fuck would the Ministry of Magic dare send Ron or me a letter? They know what we think of them."
"Well, they sent me a letter. An important letter." Hermione lifted the envelope in the air so Harry could read it properly. He beckoned her over to the table, where she opted to sit down with Ron and Harry.
"Hermione, you need to open it or get rid of it." Ron declared after his short period of silence. "If you want, I'll get rid of it so you're not in any trouble. I could give less of a damn what the Ministry thinks about me."
Hermione seriously contemplated this for a moment, but she knew in her heart that she'd never put Ron in the path of prospective danger by choice. Plus, this probably wasn't that urgent at all. What the Ministry considered 'urgent' was probably a simple trifle to her. After all, she was one of the best witches of her time.
"No." Hermione resolved. "No, I have to just open it." She took the letter back from Harry and began to tear at the seam, reassuring herself aloud. "I doubt it's really anything of importance."
Dear Miss Hermione Granger,
In the days of Lord Voldemort's reign, muggles, muggleborn and half-blood wizards and witches alike were threatened by prejudice and violence. During the war, many brave and strong wizards and witches of all types fought and died to protect our world from such hatred.
However, it still exists to this day. Voldemort's followers have proven themselves to be worthy opponents to the Ministry of Magic's elite Auror force. Hate crimes are still carried out regularly against those witches and wizards with muggle heritage. Now, the Ministry has taken action that will stop predators from categorizing and preying on people like you.
By order of Ministry decree 4865, all witches and wizards with at least one-half muggle lineage must find a pureblood partner with which to be wed to within the next six months. If not, the Ministry will present the witch of wizard with a series of fines and a brief sentencing in Azkaban prison before they are presented with a partner at random. This decree allows the Ministry to list all muggleborns and half-bloods as part of a pureblood family, seriously decreasing their risk of being tracked down by anti-muggle criminals.
Since you are considered a special interest case, we ask that you marry within four months rather than six before Ministry repercussions begin. Please understand that this is for your on safety and well-being.
Sincerely,
Rufus Scrimgeour
Hermione tried to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes and she carefully folded up the letter and placed it back into the envelope. Ron's concerned voice asking "What was that all about?" sounded distant and cold. The world was slipping away from her. Her senses were just out of her reach. She said the only words she could get out.
"It's all over. My life is over."
So how'd you like it? Was it a bad start? Were the characters believable?
If you review, I'd give you a cookie, but I'm a poor college girl who has no cookies. So you know what that means.
POP TARTS AND RAMEN NOODLES FOR ALL!
Please review, darlings!