94AN: Not mine. Just playing in the HP sandbox. Yes I know it's another story but I couldn't keep it to myself. I'm still working on Messing with Morgana and Queen Hermione. It's just a little difficult to motivate my muse sometimes. But now that I have a little more time in the weekends due to quarantine I hope to catch up a bit. Hope you like it. I'm not a native english speaker and this is not Beta'd. All mistakes are mine.
"All students over the age of seventeen, please remain seated in the Great Hall. There will be an official announcement of the Ministry after dinner." Professor McGonagall said after she tapped her spoon against her water glass.
Hermione looked quite distressed at Ginny and Harry. She nibbled her lower lip. There had been rumours the Ministry came up with a solution to solve the magical population decline. There had been rumours of a marriage law. The other rumours weren't that much better. Some said an obscure ritual was being updated to make the matches.
The clock chimed, announcing the end of the evening meal. After a few minutes all the lower years left the Great Hall and the seventh and eight years were waiting for the announcement. McGonagall made her way to the front of the stage.
"Dear students, tomorrow the Quidditch pitch will be the scene of the ritual that will mould your futures. You are almost at the end of your career here and your life outside is waiting to happen. As all of you know due to the war a lot of magical life was lost. Especially for the women here, the possibility of only one man being matched with you is very small. As you all know the female population got a bit of a backlash from Voldemort's defeat."
A lot of people's head went down. They all knew women who succumbed to the high fever and their magic going haywire. Hermione looked down and fiddled with her fingers. Luna and Fleur were the only ones that she knew off that didn't survive the sickness but looking around the Great Hall a lot of spaces were left open. Hannah Abbot wasn't here, Tracy Davis was still fighting for her life the last time Hermione heard. Padma was sitting with her head down at the Ravenclaw table, Parvati was still fighting for her life at St Mungo's. And that were just the ones she knew off.
"My dear students. I know this isn't fair to ask this of you, to grow up so fast after everything you went through last year. But Hogwarts isn't going to leave you behind. I along with the teaching staff will be there for you tomorrow. Now please talk to your friends and get a good night's sleep. The ritual will commence at 9 o clock tomorrow morning. The house elves will make sure the clothes for the ritual will be at the foot of your bed."
Hermione was hopeful that Ron would be a possible match. She had saved herself for marriage and it would be nice to at least know one of her matches. She didn't know who else could be her match. She didn't think she was good enough for someone else. Even though she didn't think Ron was all that bad, even she wasn't blind. She knew they didn't have a lot in common but Ron had always been a good friend. That counted for something no?
Hermione sighed. Harry slung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side.
"It'll all be fine Hermione. I will always be there for you. You know we promised each other we would never be alone again. I'm sticking to that promise." Harry kissed the crown of her head.
Hermione smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. She knew tomorrow would be a mess but Harry would help her through.
Hermione got up bright and early that next morning. She needed a long soak before she was ready to face the day and become matched with someone for the rest of my life. As she was in the bath she didn't even know if she wanted to be matched with Ron at all. Could she really spend her life matched with Ron? Ron that made fun of her for wanting to read every evening instead of playing wizards chess? Ron who wasn't really open for using muggle technology even though Arthur was his father. But she still loved him, but was it enough?
Hermione wiped her wet curls out of her face and got out of the bath. As she dried off she still wasn't sure who she wanted to pair up with. How much she loved Ron as one of her best friends she didn't think she could marry him and just live with him day in day out for the rest of her life.
Hermione dried her curls and pulled them away from her face, they cascaded down her back. She put on the white toga that was laid out at the foot of her bed. She put on her gladiator style sandals on and made her way down to the common room. Harry was waiting for her already when she came down. Harry smiled and hugged her tight.
They made small talk as they went down to the Great Hall. Hermione was getting more anxious with every minute that ticked by. Hermione didn't see Ron around so she was curious where he had been the past few hours. She didn't even remember seeing him at dinner last night.
"Dear students, please make your way to the Quidditch pitch to start the ritual." McGonagall said. As the seventh and eighth year students went outside, the other students were murmuring and bets were made on which witch would get the most men.
When the students stepped towards the Quidditch pitch they already heard a lot of noise coming from the Quidditch pitch. Inside there was almost half of the current population of Wizarding Britain. She recognized Mr and Mrs Weasley sitting in the stands along with a lot of other parents waiting for the results of the ritual for their son or daughter. But the grass of the pitch wasn't visible anymore. People were standing so close together it made Hermione think of a can of sardines. She had just enough space to put her arms up. Harry was standing behind her. "Remus and Sirius should be somewhere in the masses. They both decided to see if they were magically matched with each other and they hoped to be part of a bigger household, mostly to be parents."
Hermione smiled and nodded. She knew that Remus and Sirius wanted to be parents most of all. Remus tried dating without Sirius but he didn't last more than a few dates per girl. Tonks was the one that tried the hardest because she was in love with Remus but when she knew Remus wouldn't let go of Sirius she decided to step back and let them be happy. They needed a witch that wanted to be in a relationship with both of them and not just one.
"Hello Hermione, Harry. Ron, not with you?" Remus asked, he dragged Sirius towards them. They looked good in their togas. Sirius winked at her when he noticed her eyes going down his body and over to Remus. Hermione's cheeks coloured slightly. She didn't even hear Harry respond.
'It wouldn't be bad, paired with them would it? I mean Sirius and Remus are sweet and they care for me? Maybe I should just wait for Ron to arrive to see if I'm compatible with him first?' Hermione sighed. 'Why did it have to be so complicated?'
Professor McGonagall made her towards the microphone. "My fellow wizards and witches, since minister Shacklebolt is standing in the masses I will explain the ritual to you. I want to ask all of the witches to go and stand in the middle of the Quidditch pitch. Due to enchantments placed on the grass, when you push you magic out, magic will go and find the most compatible magic inside the assembled male partners. So you will end up with minimum 2 wizards but the number of partners depends on the power of the witch, so it's possible for some witches to have 5 or more husbands. You will know when there are no more possible matches and you are asked to vacate the pitch and sit down in the bleachers. After the ritual has completed, the ministry will record all the matches and then you can go home and get to know your matches. Good luck!"
A modest applause came from the bleachers as the witches made their way down to the middle of the field. The ritual that would decide the rest of their lives was beginning.
