Harry Potter and The Marriage Law

The Secret Meeting.

Hermione stared at the letter in her hand in complete and utter shock, she hadn't expected him to reply, especially after this length of time. She just remembered sending the letter to him in shock and anger after finding out about her arranged marriage and at the time she didn't know who it was going to be. But now here she was, married to Charlie Weasley and somewhat happy, then he has to send a letter like this and potentially screw everything up. She clutched the letter tightly in her hand, knowing exactly what she had to do. 

Hermione grabbed some parchment and her quill, writing a quick reply. She had to make this inconspicuous and as a discreet as possible. 

Dear Secret Admirer

I don't mind the fact that you took longer than expected to reply because, surprisingly, I am enjoying my marriage to Charlie Weasley. Even if it was brought about in such an archaic matter, I wholeheartedly agree that the law should be overturned. It's not fair. People should have the right to find love on their their own, without the unnecessary intervention of the Ministry. 

I agree to meet up with you, but only on the terms that we are in it to attempt to reverse the Law? We could try find some loophole of sorts to allow the people who are unhappy in their pairings to get out of it. My heart breaks for those in a loveless marriage. 

Please don't get your hopes up about anything happening between us. That ship sailed a long time ago and I'm happy now. And I hope that we're able to find a loophole in this law so you can be happy again too. 

Meet at the Leaky Cauldron at 7pm tomorrow night. I'll be the one in white. 

Sincerely, 

Dove

Hermione took a deep breath as she slipped the parchment into an envelope, she truly hoped this work, she wasn't trying to get herself out of her marriage, Charlie made her happy. But she still found the Law unfair of forcing people into arranged marriages, she understood that the population had declined due to all the losses in the War but surely there should be another way. 

As she finished putting the parchment into the envelope she gently opened the door, listening carefully for the sound of footsteps on the stairs, but after a moment or two all she could hear was the quiet echoes of someone laughing. She crept across the hall and found Errol in Percy's old bedroom. Since they had moved out after their wedding Mrs Weasley used the room as an extra storage space, and kept Errol and Pidwigeon here. 

"Errol, deliver this immediately and come back with a response. Also, make sure to give the sender a nasty nip for me" Hermione smiled, giving the owl a few treats and watched as he too flew out into the darkness of the night sky. After a few moments, she left the room and joined the others back in the living room, she returned to her spot on the sofa beside Charlie and picked up her book, but again she couldn't focus. And this time, her thoughts were on her secret admirer. A slight pang of guilt hit Hermione in her gut but she knew what she had to do and she hoped that Charlie would understand when he finds out. 

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The next day seemed to drag on forever, it was as if the heavens were cursing Hermione for going behind her husband's back. She knew she wasn't doing anything bad, but she didn't want people jumping to conclusions. First she wanted to ensure their plan was foolproof and that they had found an actual way to rid the Wizarding world of the magical law. As the clock rung 6pm Hermione felt the nerves wash over her and suddenly she wondered if she actually was doing the right thing, a number of doubts flew through her mind but after calming herself down she knew this was the right thing to do. 

She glanced at her outfit in the mirror, it was a plain set of black skinny jeans with a white long sleeved polar neck shirt paired with some knee high boots. She slipped on her jacket before making her way to the fireplace. What she didn't expect to find was Ginny sitting in the living room, trying her hand at knitting a pair of baby boots but failing miserably. 

Ginny glanced up from her yarn mess to find Hermione standing before her, looking quite sheepish. "Hey Mione, going somewhere?" 

Hermione gulped, she always had been a terrible liar but she had to think of something believable. "Yes, actually" She smiled, pulling her jacket closer to her body. "I'm going to Diagon Alley. Flourish and Blotts are having a late night sale and I wanted to pick up some new reading material" 

Ginny paused for a moment before nodding, not even surprised that Hermione wanted to go shopping for books at this time. She would spend all night in a bookstore if she could. "I would offer to come with you but my ankles are so swollen it hurts to walk" Ginny frowned, glancing down at her feet, which now resembled two hams. 

"It's okay Ginny, you stay and...uh...Keep practising your knitting" 

"Oh do you like it?!" Ginny perked up, holding the bundle of purple wool in her hand. "It's taken me forever to even knit one arm, but it's keeping me preoccupied"

Hermione forced a smile onto her face, "It looks great Gin, you'll have it finished in no time" She glanced at the clock, wanting to make sure she wasn't going to be late. "Sorry Gin but I really have to go now. I'll see you soon" 

With that Hermione grabbed a handful of floo powder, stepped into the grating and shouted. "Diagon Alley!"

Bright green flames engulfed her and before she knew it she was being transported through various fireplaces before she landed in the right one. She stepped out and dusted herself off, she had decided to arrive at the Leaky Cauldron, her eyes scanned the scattered crowd sitting in various places but could not find the eyes she was trying to seek. With a sigh she went to take her place at the bar before glancing at the time, it was only 6:30pm so he still had time to arrive. 

Knowing that she had time to kill Hermione left the Leaky Cauldron, stepping out into the fading daylight and making her way across to Flourish and Blotts, she did tell Ginny she was going there after all, better to make it the truth so she didn't feel as bad lying to her best friend. She stepped inside and sighed happily at the scent of the books surrounding her. A book shop never failed to cheer her up. She wandered up and down the small aisles before finding a number of books that caught her eye. One in particular was a book regarding Wizarding laws and what would constitute as going against not only those laws, but human rights also. 

After thanking the sales assistant she made her way back to the Leaky Cauldron and resumed sitting at the place she had when she first arrived. With still some time to spare she opened up the book of Wizarding laws and began to read. The further she got into the Laws the more interested and curious she become, she hadn't realised how fascinating the laws had been. They were much more interesting than Muggle ones. 

Hermione was so engrossed in her book she didn't realise a figure taking the seat next to her, ordering them both a drink and watched her silently for a moment or two. His eyes scanning right from her head to the bottom of her toes. She hadn't changed one bit, and that's what he loved about her. Especially when she was absorbed in a book, she would lean on the palm of her hand, tuck a piece of hair behind her ear and when she was really interested in what she was reading, the tip of her tongue would peak out between her lips. 

He sighed wishfully as he took a sip of the fire whiskey that Tom had handed to him, leaning back into his seat and wondered if she would even notice him now that she had a book on front of her. 

After what seemed like a lifetime he finally decided to break the silence. "My, my, my. Look what we have here" He smirked as he saw her flinch, her shoulder's tensed and her back straightened up as she realised that she had company. 

Her brown eyes met his and he felt the butterflies erupt in his stomach, after all this time she could still make him feel like that. He felt like an idiot though for not responding to her before they were both married maybe then things would have been different. But nevertheless here they were together again, and ready to get back to some mischief like they had done when they were at Hogwarts, although no one else seemed to know about their adventures and truly he didn't mind that. What he did mind was the fact that Hermione had never faced up to her true feelings, and now he was ready to fight for her and for them. Even if it caused a lot of people pain. Both of them knew what pain was but for all the wrong reasons. And he was determined to make it right. 

"Let's get to work shall we?"