As It Was *Complete*

76. Ginny Going To Marry You From Prison?

"What the hell was that?" Draco gasped looking to the fireplace where Blaise's mother just disappeared and Astra. "How did you do that?"

Astra looked nervously around the room. "I've no idea." She began to panic.

"Sometimes, your magic can act out when you are feeling a strong emotion," Remus shrugged. "It's been known to happen to children quite a bit before they even get their magic."

Astra turned to Blaise. "I'm so sorry Blaise. I don't know what I did. I don't know how I did it. I didn't mean to. I'm really so-"

He lunged forward and pulled the girl into a bone crushing hug, making her gasp. "You did amazing!" He laughed setting her on her feet and kissed her cheeks. "Now her outsides match her insides."

"Bitch can't actually do that can she?" Astra said twirling around to the adults in the room. "Break them apart?"

Narcissa sighed and nodded. "She can, actually. She can object to the match. She has already voiced her concerns to the Ministry and they said they would rectify the issue after Christmas break. She also put that Belina's name down as his new match and said they were childhood sweethearts and were engaged. I mean that's all she can do but Belina was with her when she did it so it would have been believed."

"So I have no say?" Blaise cried out, his emotions were hard to keep in. Great big tears spilled over his eyes and down his cheeks. Maddi was sobbing her little heart out as she clung to him.

"Not much," Andromeda scoffed. "Remember arranged marriages are still a thing so she could set this all up behind your back and the Ministry would be none the wiser. She just needs to find someone ordained to marry you both."

"Ord-what?" Draco asked.

"It used to be that only a Ministry official could marry you but these days it is anyone who had been vetted by the Ministry," Remus shrugged. "Someone in a position of power. There are quite a few people who could do it. Headmasters, doctors, Office Heads in the Ministry to name a few."

"But doesn't she need permission to perform a marriage?" Astra gasped at how absurd it all sounded.

"Yes but as she stated she would be willing to use a curse to get Blaise to bend to her will," Narcissa pointed out. "And she has done so in the past. How do you think she managed to get 11 men to marry her?"

"Is it 11 now?" Andromeda gasped. "I stopped counting after 6."

"It is unfair and downright horrible but it is not illegal. All you do is say a few words and then sign a bit of paper. You only need to have two witnesses to do it." Remus frowned.

"Remus and I were witnesses for James and Lily and Dumbledore married them as he was Headmaster at the time," Sirius explained. "James was gunning to be Head of the Auror department and he was going to marry Marlene and me."

"Professor McGonagall married Tonks and I the year Dumbledore died. There were a few weeks when she was 'acting headmistress' so she had the power. Andi and Ted were our witnesses." Remus smiled at the memory.

"The Minister married myself and Lucius at the time," Narcissa explained. "We were in our final year at Hogwarts." She laughed. "We had our own room in the Slytherin dorm."

"I never loved my husband," Esme frowned. "I was in love with a boy who was in love with someone else." Astra could have sworn she cast her eyes but to glance at Severus quickly and then dropped them again. "My parents wanted me to marry Andrew and I knew this boy would never love me like he loved her so I married him as I didn't want to be on my own."

"But you were never happy. You never loved daddy," Maddi cried.

"No, but it wasn't a horrible marriage. We made it work. And having you was our greatest accomplishment in the few years we were married." Esme wiped her eyes as tears spilled over. "And when your father met Niamh, he fell in love and we decided to mutually separate. He wanted to be with her and who was I to stand in the way of true love."