The Marriage Law

Midnight trip

Wilhelmina sat by the window, gazing at the moon. Her delicate pale hands clutched a book against her chest. The soft silvery wisps of light, illuminating the dark sky. The tiny twinkling stars seemed to be laughing and playing. The leaves fluttering and dancing in the breeze. The gentle wind blowing through the window and caressing her face felt soothing. The silence felt peaceful and relaxing, her thoughts echoed in her mind.

Tiredly she glanced at the clock and sighed. She had to leave. She tipped toed downstairs and swiftly went out of the house, releasing a breath of relief when no one heard her.
She wasn't new to lying and definitely not to hiding stuff. There were so many things that she kept hidden, no one knew of it. She doesn't enjoy doing it, but it was like a fantasy world hidden from prying eyes where she could let go of all the grief. These mysterious things kept her sane when she felt like the wizarding world would suck out her life and cripple her sanity.

But this was diffident, it wasn't about her world, it was about the entire wizarding community.
She didn't understand why she had to hide this, but she trusted Dumbledore.
She walked over behind a giant banyan tree and when she was certain that no one could see her, she apparated.

She smoothed her dress, and waited patiently in the shadows. She examined her surroundings, the place was in ruins. It must have been deserted for over a few decades, spiderwebs hung all around, the floor had heaps of dust, a broken chandelier sat just at the mouth of a giant staircase. Once it must have been a lavish place, full of glory. She closed her eyes and imagined, hundreds of lights lighting this place up, a glorious staircase with expensive carpet flowing down the steps, huge artistic flower stands lining up on either side of the carpet, a beautiful glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling, magnificent paintings decorating the walls. Men wearing luxurious suits and women wearing elegant dresses scattered around the room, chatting, laughing, eating, enjoying. She opened her eyes and saw the exquisite and grandiose place right there in front of her, coming alive.
She blinked, and the beauty vanished, once again stood before her, a tattered place which seemed to have been defeated by time.

A hand rested on her shoulder, causing her to let out a shrill scream. She turned to look at the unknown person.
"Ms Granger, it would be much appreciated if you practice the banshee scream elsewhere." Shape spoke in a monotonous voice.
She narrowed her eyes at him, "And it would be much appreciated if you practice your Dracula skills elsewhere" she replied.
"Enough, I have no intention of having a discussion with you." Snape hissed.
"And here I thought that you wanted to have an intimate conversation under the stars with me." He gave her a threatening glare, which to her looked more like a kitten hissing with its hair standing up.
"I am here to fetch you for Dumbledore" he spoke, impatience dripping in his voice.
"Well then let's go Sevy"
"Don't call me that"
"Or what snapey peppy?"
And with that he muttered a spell under his breath, Wilhelmina's eyes widened as no sound came out of her mouth. She tried to use the nonverbal counter spell but to her horror it didn't work.
He smirked at her when he saw her shocked and struggling face.
"Don't bother Ms Granger, this spell is created by me quite recently, so it's unlikely that you will know the counter spell. Now let's leave."

She puffed her cheeks and glared at him. He grabbed her hand with a victorious smirk and they both vanished.

They finally reached in a wide field, grass occupied every patch of land. She shivered when wind blew, leaving a lingering tender touch behind. Severus guided her through a narrow path, tiny delicate flowers bordering it. After walking for a few minutes they finally reached a clearing. She could see a large pond in the middle of the clearing.
She looked at Severus with confusion in her eyes, he ignored the look and took her wrist and dragged her behind him. She pouted at being dragged like a 5-year-old away from a candy store.

Suddenly he threw her in the pond, she would have screamed if she could, but her mouth wouldn't let out a tiny sound, all thanks to Snape. Her eyes were wide and full of surprise, her face looked like a terrified penguin. She closed her eyes, expecting to feel the water engulfing her. Yet, the only thing she felt was a giant bounce as she fell on a soft surface. She opened her eyes slowly to see herself on a couch.

She stood up and explained the room, small logs of wood burning in the fireplace, a table set with 3 steaming cups of coffee and a plate filled with croissant of different flavors. She turned around and jumped at the sight. Dumbledore and Snape were standing with amused expressions. She glared at them, annoyed to be woken up at an ungodly hour, asked to meet at an abandoned manor, speaking skills taken away, thrown into a pond like weird setup and then almost giving her a heart attack by acting like soundless ghosts.

Dumbledore and Snape walked and sat on another couch across Wilhelmina, after a minute of blankly staring at each other. A bulb lit in Dumbledore's head.
"Severus, I believe Ms Granger isn't fond of your spell. I suggest you remove it." He spoke with humor in his voice.
"That's such a shame, I liked her best this way" with disappointment on his face, he muttered the counter curse.
"WHAT THE HELL ? I WILL KILL YOU BOTH AND THROW YOU IN A SEWER" she yelled, both of the addressed men flinched at the loud voice.
"And what is this ?" She asked with a frown, as she sipped her coffee and then took a bite of the chocolate croissant. No matter how angry she is, she will still eat.

"This is a small house, it's a spell which disguises it, anyone looking from outside sees a pond and also feels aversion towards it. Just to make sure no trespasser dives into it." The old man explained.
"And you couldn't have told this to me like a civilized person ? Neanderthal, threw me inside it." She spoke with irritation, Severus just shrugged, he definitely enjoyed annoying the younger Granger. She had made his life hell at Hogwarts. Pranks, smart comments, defiance.

"Ms Granger, do you have anything ?" Dumbledore asked her expectantly. She directed her attention at him and nodded her head.
"2 deaths under mysterious circumstances, and 4 missing. Both of them who died were muggles, amongst the 4; one was a vampire, one a witch who had studied from beauxbatons, 2 werewolves both male and married to each other. No clues left, no witnesses, no suspects." She answered with a serious posture.
"It happening" Severus stated blankly. After an hour of discussion they finally decided to end the meeting and were leaving.

"Tell them all, soon, or I will" she warned them and went back.
She went in with extreme cautiousness and successfully managed to crawl back in without alerting anyone.

Author's note - Here comes the 7th chapter. I really hope that you like it. Thank you. Au revoir.