The Marriage Decree

Chapter 22: How very Gryffindor of him

Hermione spends hours lying awake in bed, think about what Draco had said, before she decides she isn't going to get any sleep tonight and gets up, grabs a pair of jeans, a shirt and a pair of boots. What she needs right now is to go for a walk and clear her head. She gets dressed in the bathroom, leaving her pyjamas folded on top of the laundry basket before heading downstairs, grabbing a jacket and leaving the house.

It's still pitch black outside, with only a few lamps lighting up the streets. She locks the door behind her and turns left, having never been that way before. She doesn't know what time it is but it must be very early in the hours since all the houses she walks past are all encased in darkness.

'Maybe Draco's right,' she thinks as she turns a corner onto Delta Street. If one of her cousins really does have magic in their blood then she would, of course, take responsibility in teaching them about the wizarding world. She'd read, though, that Muggleborns are usually the only one in the family and extended family with magical blood. Then again, Colin and Dennis Creevey were both Muggleborns, but they were brothers. She'd also read that the majority of Muggleborns could be traced back to a squib at some point in their lineage. Could that squib be Karina Rowle for her?

No. She didn't want to think about it. After hearing about what Draco's great-grandfather did to muggles, who knows what else these pureblood families did for fun. The thought of her descending from one of the most powerful pureblood families in the wizarding world that may have killed her own just for entertainment makes her sick.

She tries to shake the thought from her head but it clings on. There must be a way for her to find out whether she really was descended from the Rowle family. Does the Ministry keep birth records from that long ago? She makes a mental note to finish reading the chapter in 'A History of the Departments of the Ministry of Magic' on the Ministerial Wizarding Register Department when she gets home.

She sets off walking faster, eager to get home and find out more about the Ministry. She decides that they should pay Percy and Audrey another visit to ask them what they know about the Ministerial Wizarding Register Department. She doesn't bother to lock the door behind her when she enters, instead, going straight to the bookshelf, where she puts the book last night when she was tidying up. She then takes a seat on the couch and begins to read.

She learns that in 1588, Minister Cedarus Abbott ordered all registration certificates to be alphabetically organised by surname and categorised by type of registration and then moved to sub-level 47 of the Ministry of Magic where they remain to this day. In 1750, Minister Albert Boot ordered that all certificates be reordered into thousands of filing cabinets, one cabinet per family, chronologically organised by date, which apparently sped up finding documentation on a particular person by 14%. By the 1950's most families had at least six filing cabinets and had taken over the entire sub-level which had previously also occupied three other departments.

Hermione sat staring at the book, wondering if there was a way the head of the department would let her in for a quick look at the Rowle's family filing cabinet but she doubted it. She's sure Kingsley would give her permission if she asked him but he'd ask too many questions that she didn't want to answer at the moment. She'd have to stick to questioning Audrey about the job at the ministry and whether she knows anything about the Ministerial Wizarding Register Department.

"Hermione, what are you doing up this early?" Draco asks making her jump.

"I couldn't sleep." She tells him as he comes around and sits down on the couch with a yawn. "I went out for a walk to think things through and I think we need to go talk to Audrey again. She was so close to telling us something on Monday afternoon." She tells him.

"Hermione," He sighs. "It's half five. It's too early to be thinking about this. Come back to bed and we can talk properly about this in the morning." He tells her but she shakes her head.