Thank you, everyone, for your wonderful and supportive reviews, they've kept me going over the last couple weeks

AN: If you're interested in seeing pictures of the home I've chosen as Hermione's parents'. Check here. : )
http : // kiristeen . 6te . net / hp / baby /
(Remove the spaces, of course. : ) )

My website is not completely up yet -- by any stretch of the imagination -- but I'm getting there. LOL

xxxxxxxxxx
Chapter Seventeen
xxxxxxxxxx

Hermione sighed in relief as the door to their new quarters closed behind them. It had been an incredibly long day and she was very glad it was over. She turned to face her new husband, and almost laughed. He looked like she felt. He was leaning back against the closed door, his eyes closed and his shoulders slumped in weariness. She winced.

"I hope my parents didn't shock you too much," she said, feeling a little sympathetic. Her parents could be a little much sometimes, especially for people who didn't know them well.

Draco snorted in laughter. "I don't think shock quite covers it," he replied, shaking his head; though, he was smiling a bit. He lifted his head and opened his eyes. "Are they always so . . . direct?"

Now, Hermione laughed. "Mum is," she told him. "Dad is usually the more conservative one."

"Merlin!" Draco breathed, now very worried. "That's conservative?" No wonder the muggleborn students were so easy to pick out from the crowd!

Hermione laughed again. "Well, no, that was him stretching his limits. I get my bluntness from Mum and my love of books and learning from Dad."

"Oh, good," he replied, sighing. "You know, if your mother came from a wizarding background, I think she would have done well in Slytherin, despite her bluntness."

Hermione gaped at him. That was high praise indeed, coming from him.

"That would actually work in her favor, it really covers up a very subtlely devious mind."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. That was a good description of her mum. "And my dad? He would have fit in quite well in Gryffindor."

Draco snorted. "So . . . what? We're just following family tradtion, then?"

Laughing a third time in as many minutes -- something that still felt odd to her, at least in response to something Draco said -- she nodded. "I guess you could say tha--" A yawn cut off her words. "Sorry."

Draco shrugged. "It's been a long day," he admitted.

She nodded her agreement, taking the time to look around the common room -- anywhere but at Draco. It was about a third the size of the one for Gryffindor, but then, it was designed with only two people in mind, so she supposed it was actually quite big. "And school starts tomorrow," she said absently, beginning to explore. The first door she tried led to a bathroom. She gaped. It looked heavenly. It wasn't nearly the size of the prefect's bathroom, but the idea of having to share it with only one other person, made it beyond perfect. The tub was certainly big enough for-- She cut off that line of thinking and abruptly turned away from the room.

The only other door led to a bedroom. She blushed as she stepped inside it. It only had one bed.

"We should get to sleep," Draco called from the main room. "Somehow, I don't think tomorrow's going to be any shorter, what with needing to go to your house before leaving for the Hogwarts Express."

Hermione didn't answer.

"What's wrong?" he asked, coming up behind her. "Oh!" he answered himself.

He was silent a moment. "We can handle this," he said decisively, slipping past her. "If we can't handle lying in the same bed," he continued, "I don't hold out much hope for the rest of our marriage."

"Good point," Hermione replied, shaking her head. She really shouldn't have expected anything different. They were married, after all -- a rather mind boggling thought that she had not, as yet, had time to truly digest. Besides, if either of them were to have guests, two beds would look odd, considering. "Start as we intend to go on, then?" she asked, making her way toward the dresser.

"Exactly," Draco replied.

Hermione darted into the bathroom the moment she had her night things collected, undressing there. She briefly contemplated taking a shower, but realized she was merely stalling. She'd had one just before she'd dressed for the bonding. All too soon she was ready for bed. She bit her lower lip, staring at the door between the bathroom and the bedroom, unsure of the protocol. If they'd married for the more usual reasons it wouldn't really matter, but this was different, and she really didn't fancy walking in unannounced on a half undressed Draco Ma-- Eep! Granger. Draco was a Granger! It didn't seem real.

Gathering her courage, she knocked on the door and waited.

Draco called out almost the moment she'd done so. "Come in."

Awkward half-grins and complete silence were exchanged as the two climbed into the single queen-size bed, Draco waving the light off before setting his wand on the bedside table. Hermione pulled the covers up practically to her ears, hoping her face wasn't as red as it felt. She didn't dare look over at her bedmate -- even if she wouldn't be able to see him all that well.

They both lay flat on their backs, a rather large space separating them. They passed several minutes in absolute stillness and silence before Hermione giggled suddenly, clamping her hand over her mouth in horror.

"What's so funny?" Draco asked in the darkness and Hermione could hear a hint of laughter in his voice.

She shook her head. "We're being silly," she replied, hesitating then rushing forward, "and it just struck me as funny."

"We are, aren't we," Draco agreed, chuckling now. "I mean, I've carried you to the loo, of all places. We've slept in the same room before. We should be able to sleep in the same bed without any problems."

Hermione grinned, nodding. She rolled onto her side, determined to face the man in her bed. She grinned when she realized he'd just finished rolling on to his side as well. She swallowed heavily, her grin fading a bit as the full weight of reality settled in on her. "It's different now, though. Isn't it?" She could just make out Draco's nod.

"Yeah, it is. It . . . feels that way, anyway."

"Merlin, Draco," she breathed, slightly panicked suddenly. "We have to face the other students tomorrow!"

Draco let out an explosive breath in response. "Well, we just have to stick to the plan and make them think we wanted this all along."

Hermione's chest warmed at his wording. Before she could truly enjoy the feeling, however, a new thought hit her. "Um, Draco?"

"What?"

"We've got one more problem."

Draco sighed. "What have you thought of now?"

"If we're sticking to the 'we got married in June' story, how come we haven't had sex yet?"

"Bloody hell!" Draco exclaimed. "That blows the headmaster's 'month' to shreds!"

Hermione nodded, waiting, sure Draco could come up with an answer. He was Slytherin after all. If he didn't, though, she would. She was not about to end up under Lucius Malfoy's control for even a moment.

x-x-x

Professor McGonagall was leading them to the suite in which they were going to spend the night. "This place is incredible," Jane told the austere woman. "I think I might envy my daughter the chance to attend school here, just a little."

The professor smiled at that. "It is a very magical place, Madam Granger," she replied. "It opens the children to so many new experiences, ones they couldn't get anywhere else."

"The architecture alone is absolutely fascinating," Ian said and Jane smiled softly. That was her husband's hobby, obsession really.

"Hogwarts is over a thousand years old, founded by the four witches and wizards, for whom the four houses are named."

Jane smiled at her husband as they listened to Hogwarts' history, his full, rapt attention on the woman's words. It was a full hour later before her husband let the woman leave.

Jane leaned into him, wrapping her arms around him and laying her head on his shoulder. "Our baby's married," she whispered faintly. It just didn't seem possible. She was so young, not even 18 yet.

"Yes, she is," Ian replied just as quietly, barely breathing the unbelievable words. "She's going to be a mother."

Jane could feel the grin as it formed on her husband's face.

"You're going to be a grandmother."

Jane pulled back suddenly, mock slapping his arm and pouting. "Don't forget, you're going to be a grandfather."

The grin she could now see, widened even more. "So I am," he replied, leaning forward and capturing her mouth with his.

x-x-x

"Well, that went about as expected," Albus said as he sat behind his desk.

Severus snorted. Yes, Lucius had acted precisely how they had predicted. Thankfully, they had covered every immediate loophole. Now it was up to the two newlyweds to make sure the rest were closed in time. "I think that Dr. Granger was right about his future actions, as well," he replied, instead of voicing his thoughts.

Albus nodded. "Agreed. Lucius is not one to beat his head against the wall." Albus chuckled before amending, "at least publicly."

Smirking, Severus nodded. The smirk faded almost as quickly as it had come, however. "Those two have a long rode ahead of them."

"Indeed, they do, Severus," Albus agreed, "but, you have to admit, if any two people are stubborn enough to make it work, it's those two."

Severus laughed, just as he was certain Albus had wanted. "How long do you think it will take Lucius to discover our little . . . glitch?" he asked, knowing it wouldn't be very long. The Malfoys had a cadre of lawyers working for them at all times, and he suspected that almost every one of them would be working on finding a way out of this for the wizard.

Albus shook his head, his amusement dying quickly. "Not long. I've got 48 hours before I must file the bonding parchment at the ministry and I intend to use every second of that."

Severus nodded knowingly. "Good idea. I doubt it will be more than 12 hours after it's filed before he discovers Miss-- Mrs. Granger's . . . status."

"Agreed," Albus replied, "but it will at least give them over two days in which to breathe."

Snorting, Severus shook his head. "I highly doubt the other students will allow them that," he denied, arching a challenging eyebrow at the older wizard.

"Well, if nothing else, tomorrow should prove very . . . interesting."

"I never thought I would see the day that I would look forward to the start of term, but I find myself anticipating the two of them setting this school on its collective ear."

Albus laughed, then. "Yes, that should be quite entertaining at that," he said, then sobered. "The delay will also give us time to get area appropriate wards up on the Granger's home."

Severus almost smirked. He was looking forward to seeing the order's reaction to the Grangers' home. The chit certainly had almost never given off that 'old money' vibe. Her father certainly had, though. He had handled Lucius Malfoy like a professional. "Will I be assisting with the wards?" he asked.

"If you like," Albus replied.

"What all are you planning on putting up?"

"A modified wizard repelling field, a dark mark barrier, an anti magic-detection shield, anti-floo, apparation, and portkey wards, as well as making the place unplottable."

Severus' eyebrow crept upward as the list of wards grew. "So, basically, you're making the place pretty much impenetrable, as well as disallowing underage magic use detection?"

Albus grinned, popping a sherbert lemon into his mouth. "Precisely," he replied. "The underage magic use is academic in any case. Mrs. Granger will be of age a few days from now, and as her husband, Mr. Granger's age does not apply.

Mr. Granger, that was very . . . odd in relation to his godson. He shook off the thought, knowing he would get used to it sooner or later. "Of course the floo and portkey wards will be tied to a password release, so they can escape should the worst happen."

Severus nodded. He had expected as much. That last was fairly standard in this type of situation and had, in fact, become all too commonplace during the last two 'wars' with the dark lord. "What time will we be leaving?" he asked, rising. He knew it would be early, what with school starting tomorrow.

"Five AM."

Severus groaned, knowing now that he wouldn't get much sleep tonight, but there wasn't much he would miss this for.

x-x-x

Standing beside him, Albus Dumbledore smiled broadly, his eyes dancing with humor brighter than usual. "Well, I say," he offered merrily, "this place will be far easier to protect than I anticipated."

Severus snorted his agreement to the vast understatement. The house itself sat nearly dead center of at least thirty acres of forested, nearly untouched wildlands. As near as he could tell only the center five acres or so had been cultivated; though, it made up for that by being as cultivated as any pureblood estate had ever been cultivated. It was impressive when one stopped to think that it had all been done without charms or spells of any sort. The beautiful grounds spoke of hours upon hours of pure, hard, physical labor. Added to that very handy privacy feature, the entirety of the estate was surrounding by good, solid, stone fencing. Stone held wards and shielding far better than any other material bar metal -- and the gated entrance to the Granger estate was wrought iron, and would tie the fencing wards together into a nice, neat package.

Filius and Minerva were still a bit shocked at the size of both the home and the estate, something that had Severus smirking -- though, he kept that private for now. Tonks, on the other hand, was gaping openly.

"Did anyone else know that Hermione was rich?" she asked, once she managed to get her jaw to function.

Minerva shook her head, chuckling a little. "No, but I imagine Mr. Ma-- I mean, Mr. Granger will be pleasantly surprised.

Severus laughed at that. He'd been present the moment that his godson had realized that Miss Granger wasn't exactly two steps from the poorhouse. Even so, he was reasonably certain that the young man had no clue that he'd married into a family that was as well off as the one he'd married out of. He didn't see him able to understand the concept of muggles being as rich as pureblooded wizards; it simply didn't mesh with what the young man had been taught about them.

Severus returned his attention to Albus as the wizard began doling out 'assignments' and order members began spreading out to begin casting the wards. They would complete the anti-transportation wards, the magic detection shield, along with the dark mark barrier -- with him as an exclusion -- before the Grangers, both sets, arrived. The family would need to be present in order to key them into the other wards so they weren't repelled from their own home -- or kept from finding it. Of course, the 'unplottable' magic tended to prevent magical means of finding the place, not muggle ones, so that probably wouldn't be a problem in any case.

x-x-x

"Just to make sure I've got this right," Draco began, as they were getting ready to head to breakfast. "We wanted to get married in June, which is why I sent the message to Greg."

Hermione simply nodded.

"Unfortunately, we ran into problems, muggle technicalities that prevented us from following through."

Again, Hermione nodded. "Yes, exactly."

"What technicalities? Sixteen is the age of consent in the muggle world right?"

"Yes, it is, but there are other legalities that have to be followed," Hermione explained, "blood tests that have to be completed, a license that has to be purchased. Also, the fact that you don't have muggle identification wouldn't help. In fact, that alone, might have been enough to stop us."

Draco frowned. "Identification?" he asked. "You mean like a witness who knows who I am?"

"No, it's legal paperwork that proves who you are, so you can't just pretend to be anyone."

"Why would anyone try to do that?" he asked, confused. "It would be so easy to figure out the truth."

"You're forgetting, Draco; the muggle world isn't anything like the wizarding one."

Draco snorted. He had really not forgotten that!

"For one thing," Hermione continued, oblivious to his incredulous thought, "there are literally billions of muggles. The only way to keep them all sorted out -- legally speaking -- is to have proof that everyone accepts. Also, there are cases of more than one person having the same name. There can be five, sometimes more, people in the same city with the same name -- at the same time. So, muggle ID has your picture, name, age and address on it -- all of which has to be proven before you can get the id in the first place. You're assigned a number that the rest of your personal information is tied to, like when exactly you were born, where, and to whom."

Draco frowned thoughtfully as he listened to his new wife explain just what it took to actually get identification in the muggle world. It sounded like a pain in the arse to him, and was even more grateful for being born a wizard than he'd ever been. He couldn't even imagine billions of people, not truly. Besides, his small taste of 'going muggle' this summer had been enough to last him a lifetime. He liked magic and could not imagine living his life without it at his beck and call -- any time he wanted to use it.

As far as he was concerned, however, it seemed a workable plan, as long as the senior Grangers believed it would work. They were certain to know, after all. Opening the door to their suite, he waved Hermione through. Together, they made their way up to the great hall; though, Draco paused at the doors, for just a moment, to square his shoulders and take a deep breath. He nodded firmly to Hermione, ready as he would ever be to face the muggles who were now his 'in-laws'.

TBC
Kiristeen ke Alaya
Feedback: Definitely craved

AN: I'm finally beginning to recover from being sick. So, hopefully, no more really long delays between chapters.