Unbridled Ache | Remus x Hermione

CHAPTER ONE: ABSOLUTE

"I do not know where you're running to
I'm your finish line, I'm the one for you"

Hermione traced the lines on the palms of her hands with anxious eyes. They did it. They really fucking did it. She had been holding out hope that such a law would be overturned before penalties started to occur.

Now here she was sitting in the Ministry, waiting for them to deliver her life sentence. That's what Hermione viewed it as. They were stealing her choice, her autonomy of self. She had a whole list of things she wanted to do before ever beginning to think of marriage. And yet, here she sat.

The new millennium was celebrated within the Ministry by drafting a law to ensure a way to rebuild the already dwindling wizarding population. The Wizengamot felt that this law was critical to the survival of the magical community. The Wizarding Expedited Repopulation Order, or W.E.R.O. for short, was passed by the end of the year.

The legislation outlined in W.E.R.O. was simple. Any unwed individual over the age of 19 would have two years to find a suitable partner and wed. Existing couples were able to continue their relationships to the point of matrimony. However, the Ministry also offered compatibility testing to secure more suitable matches. Some folks refused to use the service provided by the Ministry, a small form of rebellion in a time where they felt powerless. Others rushed to be tested, breaking off relationships quickly, desperate for someone they could claim was their true match.

Hermione had spent those two years furiously working on a way to overturn such a preposterous law. She had refused to simply line up so she could be paired off and used like a broodmare. Although there were many people who agreed that W.E.R.O. was a stain on their human rights, few did a thing to rise against the injustice. People passed by as she protested in the Atrium of the Ministry. The Wizengamot buried Hermione in bureaucratic red tape, ensuring that her pleas to overturn the law were never heard by those who might take her seriously. It felt as hopeless as her S.P.E.W. efforts in fourth year.

Although she would never admit it, Hermione was glad that the Ministry did not go as far as regulating the consummation of these marriages. It was enough that they were taking away the autonomy of choice when it came to getting married in the first place, Hermione didn't want to think of the sickening possibility of the Ministry ensuring that each couple was having regular sex in attempts to concieve a child.

When all her attempts to overturn W.E.R.O. had failed, she had even briefly entertained the idea of fleeing England, of going anywhere where her freedoms wouldn't be ripped from her grasp. One late night in a panic she had even drafted an entire escape plan, detailed with the allocation of funds, what she would need to pack, and who in her life she should warn of her departure. When she awoke in the morning she crumpled the parchment and threw it at the wall in anger. Because dammit, she had fought for wizarding England to be a home where she felt safe existing. She had seen so much horror, so much death. Not once had she thought of giving up back then.

Nowadays, she just felt so fragmented. As if each monstrosity from the war had broken a sizable piece off of her, chipped away until she resembled a statue left to weather time. Sometimes Hermione was sure she could see her eyes cracking at the edges, giving way to the void that had made its home under her skin following the war.

So really it was no wonder why Hermione Granger abhorred this stupid law.

But eventually even mountains bow to the destruction of time.

With less than three months remaining until the deadline Hermione finally had to face reality. She had booked the day off work with an air of annoyance, fuming that she had to put aside something she actually cared about in favour of fulfilling the Ministry mandate.
There were gasps as Hermione was seen purposefully stomping through the Atrium. The war heroine still drew many looks even years following the war. Onlookers speculated on her reason for coming to the Ministry. Was it to see her close friend, Harry Potter, in the DMLE? Or perhaps to have a chat with the Minister of Magic himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt? These were a few of the inane questions that people considered. However, no one stopped to question why Hermione looked angry and determined enough to rip the Ministry apart brick by brick.