Author's Note: First time writing Hermione/Severus, especially for public consumption, so hopefully I don't muck it up too badly! Critique and review are welcome!

Hermione Granger walked shakily through the Ministry, repeatedly taking deep cleansing atrium was filled with protesting wizards and witches, and even the Ministry workers looked haggard. Usually, Hermione would be right there with them, protesting the passage of the new (and very old) Marriage Law, and she had done, but not today.

Today her name had come up in the 'lottery,' supposedly at random. She knew better, of course. The Ministry wanted their war heroes to set good examples for the rest of the populace. She should be angry, really, but she was too tired, too sad, too jaded, and in too much pain to rail at the system any longer. Another jagged bolt of pain went through her as she took another step and knocked on Percival Weasley's door in a last ditch effort to make someone listen to her.

The usually impeccably put together Percy Weasley opened the door at her knock looking far less put-together than normal. His red hair was sticking up at odd angles, his tie was crooked, and from the black eye he was sporting, someone with a hell of a right hook had punched him in the face. "I can't help…" He paused, seeing who was at his door, and sighed, opening it wider. "Come on in, Hermione. At least you won't hit me." He shuffled back, attempting to smooth out his hair, before sitting back down at his desk, strewn with parchment...which based on the excessive amounts of ink, were probably angry letters.

"Thank you." Hermione said, gratefully falling into the chair across from the desk.

"I still can't help you get out of it, Hermione." Percy said with a sigh. "I know your feelings on how it is a violation of human rights, but all I can do is suggest that you marry and when it comes up for review, appeal it after the year is up."

"Percy," Hermione ground out, despite herself, as another shooting pain went through her and she winced, holding her hand to her chest. "I can't. I don't mean I can't as in I won't obey the law, though I probably would still be opposing it, I mean that I physically can't." She shuddered slightly.

Percy, haggard though he was, took a closer look at the young woman he had known since she sat down beside him at the Gryffindor table before her first class and wanted to know everything about Hogwarts that wasn't in Hogwarts, A History. She didn't look...well, and suddenly, he was concerned. "What do you mean, Hermione?"

Hermione grimaced and took a deep breath, ignoring the pain that caused, and flicked open two buttons on her blouse. She pushed aside a rapidly reddening piece of gauze to show him the black circle of runes on her chest, over her heart, that was weeping blood. "It's normally gold." She said, with a shake of her head. "But when the Ministry put the betrothal through, it turned black and it's been bleeding ever since. I've already taken half-a-dozen blood replenishing potions in the past two days, Percy. If I go through with it...If I try and marry someone...the fidelity vow will kill me."

Percy's face flushed in embarrassment at the sight of Hermione's chest, but his concern outweighed it, and he inspected the runic circle. "You're already married?" he said in disbelief, finding it hard to wrap his mind around that when he had known her for so long. Then again, he hadn't been in touch with his family throughout the war, until the end. "No one ever said! You should have told the Ministry to remove you from the lottery."

"I tried!" Hermione all but wailed, wiping fresh blood from the runes, before covering it again and doing back up her blouse. "They said because the battle of Hogwarts was over a year ago, I couldn't file for an exemption as a widow! That only those widowed in the last six months get an exemption."

Percy frowned at Hermione, suddenly realising why she had been so depressed since the war ended. He had thought it was merely time to recover, but this...this suggested far more, and his heart went out to the muggleborn who had done so much for his world and for his family. "Hermione, you're not widowed, you're married. Your husband is still alive."

Hermione shook her head, curls flying in all directions. "No, Percy." She choked out. "You don't understand. I tried. There was so much blood...I didn't have dittany...I had used it all... or antivenin...it was the middle of the battle…" Despite herself, she let out a raw, unsteady sob. "I see it every night, Percy. Every night...he died...and I knew who he truly was and I… the one person who should have been there, who should have stayed...and I left him there." Despite herself, fat tears were running down her face. She had never been able to talk about this with anyone. No one except Dumbledore had known, and he was long gone. She had been forbidden from grieving in any real way. She had sworn to keep his secrets, and it was the least she could do.

Percy had grown up in a large family, one with warm jumpers, lots of hugs, and warm soup when one was sick, but he had always been awkward and never learned the lessons well. He was too young to fit in with Bill and Charlie while Fred and George had their own bond no one could impinge on and Ron and Ginny had been too young. Still, he tried to comfort his friend, who had welcomed him back without resentment or ire after his momentous and terrible mistakes. "I'm sorry, Hermione." He said softly. "I can only imagine how hard this has been...you've lost your parents and then this." He cleared his throat and patted her back in a way that he hoped was soothing but felt robotic. "But you are still married."

Hermione let out a bitter, pained laugh, and quoted softly: "Shall I believe that unsubstantial death is amorous?" She wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

Percy felt unsettled by the way she spoke and shook his head. "Look, Hermione, I've spent the past ten months researching wedding and bonding magic for the Ministry. Yes, the istigh ionat bonding rites you used are ancient, so ancient they don't even register in the Ministry's marriage archives...which is probably why you chose it...but even the istigh ionat bonding doesn't enforce its' fidelity vow past death." He circled back around to his desk and pulled out a large book, opening it and flicking through its' pages. "I'm removing you from the banns and sending your partner to be reassigned due to your preexisting marriage."

"But Percy…" Hermione said weakly, shaking now, unable to help shaking at what he was telling her. "He's dead. I was there. All he wanted was to see her again and then..."

Percy put his quill down authoritatively, as the parchment clutched in the muggleborn's hand disappeared into ash. "Hermione, some magic..little charms and insubstantial bangs-and-smells parlour tricks can lie, but true arcane magic - magic wrought in emotion and between people, that can't be faked or fooled." He gave her a thin smile. "People can be deceived, even the Ministry, but…" He paused and tipped his head and smiled secretly in deference that he had figured out the true depth of what she had said. "No 'foolish wand waving' can trick those runes. Your husband is alive somewhere. You just have to find him."