rarepair_shorts | Ficlet: The Marriage Ritual, Rabastan/Hermione, R

Title: The Marriage Ritual
Rating: R
Pairing: Hermione/Rabastan
Prompt: The witching hour
Length: 616
Warnings: sexual situations/overtones
Summary: Hermione and Rabastan are refused a marriage licence, and Hermione finds a way around through an ancient marriage ritual.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, everything you see belongs to JKR/Scholastic Books/Bloomsbury Publishing or Time Warner Inc.
Author's Note: Unbeta'd

Hermione and Rabastan had been refused a marriage licence on the basis that Rabastan was still betrothed to another witch. The witch in question had not been seen since the first war, and was presumed dead by the majority of the wizarding world. Many of them thought that Rabastan had killed her himself to get out of marrying her.

There was no proof of their accusations, and Rabastan denied his involvement fervently. Every time he had been asked about it by officials he insisted that he was fine marrying her and that she was perfectly fine the last time he saw her. He had also insinuated that she was looking forward to marrying him even though he was a Death Eater.

It was because of this Hermione Granger had cooped herself up in the Ministry library trying to find a way around the ruling. After many hours of work, she emerged with a triumphant smile on her face.

She had found an ancient ritual which used to be performed when a wizarding couple wanted to be married on an equinox, solstice, or Halloween. They would be taken to an ancient magical site and left to marry through sex; the ultimate union of a man and woman. The only other specification was that it had to occur during the ‘witching’ hour. A marriage certificate would automatically appear once the ritual was complete, which they would have to sign the next day.

Hermione went home to her lover and relayed what she had found.

“…the other research suggest that Stonehenge was the most ancient and magical place to do it. What do you think?” she finished breathlessly.

“I want you to be my wife, and if this is the only way then I will do it. Since it is ancient magic they won’t be able to undo it no matter how much they object to it.” He replied, kissing her forehead.

“Halloween is only a week away, and let’s hope that there aren’t any muggles around.”

Rabastan chuckled, “If they are then they will get a sight.”

The week passed slowly and Hermione was getting impatient the nearer the time came. She was also worried about what would happen if the whole thing didn’t work and there would be no way that she and Rabastan could marry. Rabastan, however, was very calm and reassured his lover that everything would be fine.

The night of the 30^th October rolled around and Hermione seemed to be more nervous than ever. She had calmed down about everything going wrong, now it was about being caught by muggles and being arrested by the police.

“Are you ready love?” Rabastan called up the stairs.

“Yes, I will be down in a minute.” Hermione answered. She glanced at the clock as it changed to 11:59; one minute to midnight.

She got up and walked downstairs and apparated to Stonehenge. When the two of them got there the whole place was deserted. They walked towards the centre of the circle where the magic would be strongest. Each removed their clothes and held onto each other for warmth. Rabastan laid her down on top of his clothes and made loved to her. They whispered sweet nothings into each other’s ears and continually repeated ‘I love you’. When they were finished thy apparated home and carried on their lovemaking through the night.

The next day when they entered the Ministry, many officials were running around in a frenzy. Harry was there to meet them in all the chaos demanding answers on how they got around the ruling.

“It was simple Harry; I went to the library and found an ancient marriage ritual that doesn’t need Ministry approval.”