Bathwater

Aftermath of Living

"Hermione—"

"No!" 

Ginny flinched at the loud, shrill noise that echoed off the corridor walls. She rubbed her ear with her fingertip, her eyes narrowing at Hermione. Behind her, their friends took a cautious step back when Ginny had been interrupted for the second time. 

"Hermione," she started saying again through her teeth, "I thought you said there was no point in fighting with Kingsley? That we had to go through the Wizengamot—"

"To hell with the Minister and his stupid, imprisoning, medieval council! They are going to marry me off to Draco Malfoy, Ginny! Malfoy!"

"All right. Fine. I get it, but—"

"No, you don't bloody well get it. None of you do," Hermione hissed, her brown eyes throwing daggers at her friends hiding behind Ginny. Luna tried to smile, but it faded away when Hermione curled her lip at her. "That sorting hat is wrong. I cannot be—I am not—suitable for marriage with Draco Malfoy. He hates me. I rather be off with Cormac Mclaggen and have a whole bunch of Mclaggen babies than to marry Malfoy!"

With a grunt, Ron stepped away from behind his sister. "Give it a rest, Hermione. It's done."

"How can you even say—?"

"I got Parkinson," it was Ron's turn to interrupt Hermione. Ginny let out a distasteful snort from beside him at the reminder. "She's just as horrible as Malfoy, but what else can I do? I told you, the Wizengamot doesn't change their mind on anything. So no matter how many tantrums you throw, this is going to happen."

"I can't accept that," Hermione let out with an uneven breath. "I can't accept this marriage, so how can you? How can you want to see me with him? How can you want to settle for Parkinson because the Ministry said so?"

Something crossed Ron's freckled features that almost reminded Hermione of the boy she had fallen in love with, but as quickly as it came, it left. Staring back at her was the man the war had made, the same one who had let her walk away with the shattered pieces of what they could have been.

"This is the aftermath of living, isn't it?" Ron said with hallow words that created no echo around the corridor, but that Hermione felt somewhere in her bones. 

With a clearing of his throat, Seamus broke what was already smashed between Ron and Hermione, making the two add more space between each other. "So, Susan Bones and Tracy Davies, huh? Who saw that happening?"

"Me," said Lavender with a laugh, grinning when the group of friends rose questioning brows at her. "I was looking for a compartment on the train and stumbled on a poorly warded one. Obviously, curiosity killed the Gryffindor, so I broke through those and found the two in a very compromising situation. Davies swore she'd kill me if I said anything, but you can't take anyone seriously when they're stark naked, can you?"

Ginny grinned. "That's amazing."

"Oh, they are in love," Luna said, another smile successfully tugging at her pink mouth. "Trace has been in love with Susie for two years and seven months."

"How come Davies gets the witch of her dreams and I get you?" Seamus demanded from Lavender just as she and Ginny questioned Luna exactly how she knew those details. He frowned as if she had somehow bribed the sorting hat in her favor. "That Ravenclaw girl was supposed to be the mother of my children!"

Lavender reached for his ear, tugging hard. "Respect me, you idiot, or I'll make sure you never have children. Got it?"

"That's enough from you two," Dean said, his arm carefully finding itself wrapping around Luna's shoulders. She beamed up at him, her fingers moving to play with the bracelet on his wrist one of his sisters had given him over the summer. "Remember that you were friends before this—always have been, yeah? We are not gonna let this marriage law ruin our relationships with each other, okay. We're better than all of this."