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The only change was Ollivander, who voted for the bill instead of against it. The Minister shot the old wandmaker a betrayed look. |
Percy intoned wearily, "Bill Number 523, 583 passes with a thirteen to three vote." |
The locks on the doors clicked open. The Minister, not bothering to wait for anyone else, stormed from the room. They could hear the sound of an office door slamming down the hall. |
Marley Flint wasn't far behind the Minister, though he left the room with far less emotion. |
They all started to get up from their chairs and gather in small groups talking together. |
Ollivander caught Draco's arm and pulled him away from his conversation with Theo. "I have done some reflection since yesterday," Ollivander started. His gaze flicked over to Hermione's chair. "I feel I may have done great harm when I said nothing all those years ago." |
"I understand that you thought you were protecting her," Draco said. |
"I'm glad that she'll be able to get a divorce," Ollivander continued. "Just remember an old wizard's plea from time to time, and think about the welfare of the children. I see so many pass through my shop, so full of excitement and magic. It would break my heart to see that light fade from their eyes." |
Draco nodded, and the old wizard shuffled his way from the room. |
Draco looked around for Hermione. He couldn't find her in any of the little groups around the room. Daphne caught his gaze, and her eyes flicked to the chair she was standing behind. Harry, Hannah, and Neville stood with Daphne, trying to carry on a conversation with one another, though all four looked concerned. |
Draco made his way quickly over to them. "What's going on?" he asked before he went over to Hermione. |
"I think she's just overwhelmed," Daphne explained. |
Draco moved past them to stand in between Daphne's and Hermione's chairs. He found Hermione sitting in a state of shock, staring blankly in front of her. Draco noticed that her hands were trembling in her lap. |
Draco tucked a curl behind her ear and Hermione startled. She turned her face up to his and smiled tremulously. |
"We won," Hermione said in disbelief. |
Draco grinned down at her. "Was there ever a doubt?" |
"I didn't dare hope that we'd win, and then Ollivander made that speech about the mental health of the children, and I thought for sure we'd lost." |
Hermione stood and wrapped her arms around his waist. Draco hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. |
"We really won," she murmured in his chest. "I'm going to be free of him." |
The group made their way out of the Wizengamot council chamber. The doors closed softly behind them. Shouting could be heard emanating from Shacklebolt's office. |
Draco knew that there was a lot of work to do to prepare for the bill to become available to the majority of Wizarding Britain on the first of February. Those that could prove they were in danger by staying with their spouses could be granted an immediate divorce starting now. The rest would have to wait. |
They had a department to set up, people to employ, and copies of the new laws made available to the lawyers. Judging by the shouting coming from behind the Minister's door, he would push the workload onto them in retribution for pushing this law through. |
But that was a problem for another day. They had won, and Hermione would be free of Weasley. Permanently and irrevocably. |
Theo made a dramatic show of looking at his watch. Draco already knew he lost the bet. He’d heard the chiming of the clock outside as Greg finished speaking. Greg surprised him today. He wasn’t one for talking about his family, especially his mother, to a room full of strangers. |
"It is currently half past twelve. I figure the doors didn’t unlock until ten after twelve, which means that you," Theo said, pointing dramatically at Draco, "owe me a thousand galleons." Theo held out an open palm and wiggled his fingers. "Pay up." |
Draco took out a black leather purse full of galleons and plunked it into Theo’s outstretched hand. Hermione rolled her eyes at the two of them. Draco thought he heard her mumble "idiots" under her breath. |
The door crashed open then ricocheted back to hit the angry wizard standing in the doorway. Kingsley Shacklebolt looked at the door like he wanted to incinerate it. He held on to the doorknob to stop the door’s movement. |
The Minister glared at Draco, Hermione, and Theo. He pointed menacingly at them. "You three can be responsible for getting the public and Ministry ready for the end of our way of life since you're so determined to tear it apart. Good luck finding the funding for this little venture." |
With that pronouncement, the Minister spun on his heel and slammed the door behind him. Hermione jumped at the noise. |
"What an arse," Theo mumbled. |
"No arguments there," Draco agreed. "I’m going to show Hermione her new office." |
"Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do," Theo called out as he walked away from Draco and Hermione. |
Draco guided Hermione over to her new office. |
Hermione tapped her wand on the family Coat of Arms and the last of the Lestrange Coats of Arms at the Ministry of Magic disappeared. The Granger Coat of Arms filled in the blank space and the door clicked open. |
Draco followed Hermione inside the office and the smell of musty air greeted them. Empty cherry wood, built-in bookshelves lined one wall. A matching scarred and battered, cherry wood desk that nobody wanted took up the center of the room. Those were the only furnishings left in the office. Canary yellow paint covered the walls. The room was a bit nauseating. |
After her perusal of the bare room, Hermione turned to face Draco with a smirk on her face. Draco closed the distance between them. He cupped the back of her neck and pressed his lips to hers. Draco poured every feeling he had for her into that kiss. His love and desire. Admiration. |
Hermione responded eagerly to his ravaging. She massaged his tongue that snaked its way into her open mouth. Her fingers carded through his hair and her body pressed up against him as she tried to get closer to him. |
Draco reluctantly broke the kiss . His face broke out in a grin when Hermione whimpered at the loss of contact. He wanted so much to keep snogging her and to make use of the desk behind them. People would come looking for them soon though and Draco didn’t fancy getting caught "doing the dirty" as Luna would say in a Ministry office. |
Draco and Hermione exited the office. Hermione’s hair was a little wilder than when she’d arrived at the Ministry. Her lips were noticeably more swollen as well. |
"That’s a nice shade of lipstick you’re wearing, Draco," Daphne called from across the way. |
Draco wiped at his mouth with he cuff of his shirt. |
Daphne sat behind the assistant’s desk in front of her office wearing a smirk as she looked over at Hermione and Draco. Theo was half sitting on the desk looking over his shoulder at them. He was having a hard time not laughing at the two of them. Draco didn’t bother to try to correct their assumptions. |
"Now that the office is christened," Theo began, "we still need to make a statement to the press. Hopefully, we’ll have a flood of applicants in the next few days so that we can set up some semblance of a department to get us off the ground." |
Harry came stomping back down the office space looking irritated. "Where the hell have you been, Hermione? The atrium is still crowded and everyone refuses to leave until you make an appearance." |
"Tone, Potter," Draco growled. |
Harry stopped, took a deep breath, and forced his face to relax into a more amiable expression. "Sorry." |
Hermione explained, "Draco was showing me my new office." |
"Let’s get going before the crowd starts rioting to see Hermione," Theo said jokingly. |
"We still have the matter of a divorce to deal with," Hermione said before they could head off toward the elevator. |
"And who’s going to break the matrimonial bond?" Theo asked. "I know how but I’m not exactly comfortable using you as my first test subject." |
Hermione waved the comment away and Draco tensed. "We won’t need anyone for that. The bond broke the night before Ron attacked us." |
Stunned silence followed the pronouncement. |
"How?" Daphne asked as if she were afraid that broken matrimonial bonds were common. |
Hermione moved to set her bag on the desk Daphne was still sitting behind. She shrugged. "I’m not exactly sure, but my theory is that it has something to do with Draco and I acknowledging our bond as soulmates and the way in which we did." Hermione blushed crimson as she stated the last part but continued on in the same light tone, "I think it destroys any other romantic bonds." |
"I don’t want any details," Harry said, holding up his hands and looking sickened. |
"So, divorce," Draco said, trying to speed up the proceedings and redirect the conversation. |
The sooner Hermione divorced Weasley, the better. Then Draco could ask her to marry him, which he’d only been putting off because she was still technically married to another man. |
Draco saw the smile Hermione hid at his eagerness as she dug around in her purse for something. She pulled out a roll of parchment with a small sigh of satisfaction. Hermione unrolled it and set it on the desk. The words "Divorce Decree" headed the top of the scroll. |
"So this states that I get everything," Hermione started. "Considering Ron’s prison sentence, I receive all monetary and property assets. I also retain sole parental rights of Minerva and Rose." |
"Wait," Draco protested. He felt a little hurt by this knowledge. He was going to help raise Minerva and Rose. He’d already adopted Minerva and fully expected to adopt Rose when she got old enough to understand the ritual. "What about me? What about my rights?" |
Hermione placed a hand on his arm. "This removes all legal rights Ron has to Minerva and Rose. Magically, you are already Minerva’s father and you know that Rose thinks of you as her father. This is just a formality that means Ron doesn’t have a say in how they’re raised or if they’re adopted by another wizard." |
"This document isn’t about your relationship with Hermione. It’s about ending hers with Weasley," Theo broke in. "Don’t get hung up on the wording." |
Draco nodded and Hermione squeezed his arm. |
"That’s it," Hermione continued. "And because of how we wrote the bill, I can get an immediate divorce with the signatures and seals of three Wizengamot members or three Ministry judges." |
Draco eagerly moved forward to place his wand on the document. |
"Nope, not you, mate," Theo interjected and placed a restraining hand on Draco’s wand arm. |
"Why not?" Draco asked affronted. "I’m a Wizengamot member just like you." Draco wanted to be one of the ones to set Hermione free from Weasley. |
"It will look bad if your name is on the decree," Daphne said. |
"A serious conflict of interest," Harry agreed. |
"And you signing isn’t a conflict of interest?" Draco retorted. |
"Considering I’m not planning on marrying Hermione and she isn’t currently carrying my children, I would say my conflict of interest isn’t nearly as severe as yours," Harry responded. |
Draco moved aside with a disappointed pout. |
"Don’t pout, mate," Theo said drily, "we’ll let you sign Hermione’s marriage certificate." |
"Funny," Draco responded with a glare, but the corners of his mouth quirked up in a reluctant smile. |
Harry stood with his wand poised over the scroll. He stopped before he was about to place the tip of his wand on the seal and looked at Hermione. "Are you sure you don’t want more people around to witness this? It’s the first divorce in Wizarding history. It’s a momentous occasion." |
Hermione shook her head. "No, let’s get it over with. I want to be free of Ron and move on with my life. And he doesn’t deserve any of the attention this will bring." |
Harry nodded his understanding and tapped his wand over the seal. The phoenix rising appeared in the waxy surface. |
"Me next," Daphne said cheerily. She tapped her wand over the seal and her dolphin appeared. |
Theo tapped his wand over the scroll without comment. |
The first divorce in wizarding history was done without ceremony or any big publicity, just signed and sealed on a borrowed desk in an empty hallway. She and her daughters were free of Ronald Weasley for good now. A jubilant smile broke out on Draco’s face. He wanted to dance for joy around the room like an idiot. |
Hermione looked up at him and the smile on her face was radiant. It may have been a trick of the lighting or Draco’s love for her, but she appeared to be glowing once again. Hermione didn’t share Draco’s reservations against dancing around the room. She grasped Draco’s arms and spun around with him once before kissing him soundly. She bounced over to Harry next and gave him a hug that knocked his glasses askew. Hermione went over to Daphne and they spun around holding hands and squealing in delight. She hugged Theo exuberantly but dizzily and Theo had to place a restraining hand on her back to keep her from toppling over as he handed her back to Draco. |
"I think I’m going to puke," Hermione panted and leaned over, clutching her stomach. |
"Yeah, me too," Daphne groaned. |
The idea of two puking pregnant witches marshalled the three wizards into action. Theo grabbed a wastepaper basket from behind the desk and thrust it between Daphne’s knees. Draco summoned a chair from behind a vacant desk and guided Hermione to sit in it. Harry grabbed another wastepaper basket and placed it at Hermione’s feet. |
"Hand me my purse," Hermione groaned weakly and made a retching noise. |
"I know what anti-nausea potion looks like," Harry said impatiently and started digging around in Hermione’s purse for the yellow vials of potion. "Good God, how much shit do you have in here?" he complained before he pulled out two vials with a triumphant "ah, ha." |
Harry popped the corks with a flick of his thumbs and placed the vials into the nauseated witches’ hands. |
Draco rubbed Hermione’s back as she downed the potion. She burped a little and relaxed into Draco’s side. |
Harry started rummaging again in Hermione’s purse and came out with a baggy of granola bars. He handed one to Daphne and another to Hermione and both started munching slowly on them. |
"You’re pretty practiced in dealing with pregnant witches," Draco said to Harry. |
Harry smiled a little. "Ginny’s on her third pregnancy. I’ve had practice." |
"Maybe you should lie down for a bit," Theo said to Daphne. |
"I’m fine. I just got too excited and I needed to eat something," Daphne soothed her worried husband. |
Hermione stood and Draco made a sound of protest. "I’m fine. I’m fine. Let’s get this press conference over with and go have some lunch." |
"Ooh, how about Thai food?" Daphne suggested eagerly. "I’m craving curry." |
"Did I hear someone mention Thai food? I’m starved," Tracey called as she came out of an office with Blaise behind her. Blaise was tucking his shirt into his pants, but his shirt was buttoned up wrong. |
"I wonder why," Draco teased good-naturedly. "Your shirt’s done up wrong, Blaise." |
They all laughed and Blaise fixed his shirt before tucking it back in to his pants. |
Tracey looked at Draco, then Hermione, and raised an eyebrow. "You have lipstick on your face, Draco." |
The atrium was still crowded with people. Their appearance brought with it a flurry of flashing lights from the cameras. The noise of all the witches and wizards rose to a deafening level. |
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