The Marriage Law

Telling Everyone

Hermione's POV

My hands are shaking as Ginny leads me back into the living room. Everyone instantly turns to look at me when we walk in. I clear my throat, steeling myself for their reactions.

"Alright, no one freak out, but I got paired with..." I swallow, procrastinating telling them. Especially Harry. "I got paired with-"

Suddenly, there's a loud knock on the door.

"Oh goodness, who could that be?" Mrs. Weasley frets. She goes to open the door and my view is blocked of who's standing there. But I hear a low voice say,

"Good morning, Molly."

"Sirius! Come in!" She steps back to reveal (oh, curse my heart for fluttering) Sirius. He steps in and his eyes sweep across the room before coming to rest on me. We stare at each other for a second before Harry says,

"We weren't expecting you today, Sirius. What brings you here?"

Sirius snorts.

"The marriage law. What else?"

Harry's green eyes widen.

"Wait-you're not exempt? I would have thought-"

"No, Harry, I'm not exempt. Despite my being...rather unpopular in the wizarding community, I'm still within the age group."

"Sirius, dear, who did you get matched with?" Mrs. Weasley asks, her face filled with concern. "You must not want to be with her if you're here instead of with her."

Sirius turns to face me again, surprised.

"You haven't told them?"

I shake my head a minuscule amount as I will myself not to blush.

"I was just about to. It...it was a lot to process."

"Hold up." Harry's eyes dart between me and Sirius like he's watching a tennis game. "What are you two talking about? You're not...matched...are you?"

Sirius moves and puts his arm around me and I involuntarily tense at his touch. He sighs lightly and says to his godson,

"Yes, Harry. Hermione and I are matched."

Harry looked like he was going to pass out. And it wasn't just him who was shocked. Everyone burst out talking, yelling over each other to make their opinions heard. Fred and George both jumped up, protectively putting their bodies between me and Sirius.

"This is-" started Fred.

"Absolutely ridiculous." George finished.

Ron was immobile on the couch, muttering bloody hell over and over again. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both rushed over to me and Sirius, talking over each other as they tried to make their opinions heard. Finally, Bill yelled loud enough to be heard over everyone.

"ENOUGH!" Everyone went silent. Bill, still seated with his arm around Fleur, continued, "Hermione, Sirius, how do you two feel about this? Is there anything you want to say?"

"First, I want you all to know that I feel the same way you do about this," I tell them. "This is incredibly weird for us too."

"Weird." Harry snorts. "That's the best word you can come up with? This is absolutely insane! Has the ministry lost their minds? Having an 18 year old witch marry my 30-something year old godfather? This is ridiculous, even for them."

"I'm sure the ministry did what they thought was best, Harry." Ginny says consolingly.

"But why would this," Harry waves a hand at where Sirius and I stand, Fred and George still standing resolutely between us. "be what's best?"

"Because Sirius still isn't widely accepted in the Wizarding community, the ministry wanted to match him with someone that already knew him." I tell Harry.

"And someone who I would get along well with," Sirius added. "Hermione was the best option."

Molly quickly changed the subject before Harry could protest further.

"Well isn't all of this exciting?" She smiled brightly while pouring us all cups of tea. Her attitude was cheerful, but I noticed that her hands were shaking slightly. "Six weddings to plan...and seven grandchildren within two years!"

We spent the rest of the day talking about weddings and babies. Fred and George made an effort to always be sitting in between me and Sirius, which I was grateful for. Facing Voldemort, I could handle. Breaking up with Ron? Easy compared to even looking Sirius in the eyes.

Sorry for the short chapter! Life's been a bit hectic lately. I promise the next one will be longer.