Chapter 11
Hermione POV
The ball wasn't a one day event. It was a three-day event. And the next day when she had gotten up, she was invited to partake tea with the King.
She went to find a sumptuous spread of crumpets, and scones along with the steaming pots of tea.
After yesterday, her hesitation around the King had gone away. When he invited her to take a walk through the garden after their tea, she asked him, "My Lord, you know about my background. I want to know more about my husband. And while you can tell me that he's the best person to ask about his life, I've tried and my husband's like a clam. He won't open up, other than telling me that he is your cousin. Will you tell me about his parents, and how he came to be your General?"
"Lord Voldemort's is extremely close to me, and he is the same age as me. His father is Lord Antioch, and like his father before him, his life is tied to serving the King as the General. He came to be my General because of his blood. His line has always been loyal Generals to the King."
"Wait, are you saying that you and my husband are the same age. But he looks older, and...", she trailed off. She couldn't continue her thought. She knew King Thomas was young. Younger than her, but if her husband was the same age as King Thomas, it meant that she was older than her own husband.
"He looks older because of the white hair," King Thomas joked.
As he turned to glance at her, he caught her stupefied look.
"What happened?" he asked her.
"I just realized that I am older than my husband."
"Hmm...how old are you, Hermione?", he asked her.
"I would rather not tell."
Walking to a bunch of crocuses, King Thomas just looked down at the blooms. Plucking one purple blossom from the ground, he turned around and before she could react, he had gently woven the flower in her hair, behind her right ear. Just as suddenly he picked up pace, and she was left blushing. Was he like this with every woman? His action was, strictly speaking, not inappropriate, but it bordered on the inappropriate. But she was conflicted. She usually got this feeling whenever any man touched her with any sort of lecherous intention. She had got that sort of icky feeling in her few interactions with Sir Ronald. But despite King Thomas's actions, she did not get any of the alarm signals she felt when somebody's intentions in touching her had not been right. She didn't know what to make of it.
By now King Thomas had already walked a few paces ahead of her before he realized she wasn't following. She hurried to catch up with his long strides.
"Hermione, you've made me curious about your age. You know I'll find it out one way or the other. If you tell me yourself, it'll just save me the effort."
She knew what he said was correct, so she told him. "My Lord you're 22."
"I am 23, but we're not discussing my age."
"I turned 30 this year, My Lord," she finally told him.
Without missing a beat he said, "I see. And just saying this took you a whole 10 minutes."
"My Lord, you don't understand. I was considered a confirmed spinster as I had not married in my 20s."
"That is absurd. What age you get married at doesn't define you."
"Perhaps for the males, My Lord. The world is not so kind in its opinions on how women must lead their lives."
A thoughtful silence reigned then, both of them absorbed in their own reflections.
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It was the third day of the ball, that Hermione encountered Ginny.
"You really are a trollop Hermione," Ginny had seethed at her.
Hermione really did not have patience to deal with Ginny right now. The woman was far too jealous for her own good.
"Since you couldn't get Harry, now you've set your sights on King Thomas."
"Ginny, don't be ridiculous. I'm already a married woman. And I am happy with my husband. Ginny, for Heaven's sake, please leave me alone."
She had left Ginny without engaging anymore with her, but when she had gone to one of the powder rooms to freshen up, Ginny's malicious gossip had already polluted the air.
The whispered voices of the ladies who tittered behind their hand-fans, reached her
...she is the King's Mistress. I came to know she's sleeping in the King's quarters. ...She's a nobody, a common mistress trying to reach above her station. Look at her clothes...what a vulgar woman. ...
It was happening again. Ginny had poisoned people against her. The problem was that earlier it was just Harry, but now, her maliciousness had reached another level for Ginny was trying to poison all the Silverhaven noble families against her. Hermione couldn't stay in this room another second, and as she moved towards the door, she felt a pull and heard a tearing sound. The hem of her sage green gown had been torn. A woman tittered at her, "Oops, didn't see you there."
She had deliberately stepped on her gown. There was no point in engaging with these women, but the onslaught of tears she had could not be abated. She had scarcely reached her appointed room, when the door opened behind her. Thinking it must be the maid assigned to her she said, "Go away."
"Why are you crying? What happened?"
It wasn't the maid. It was King Thomas himself. She groaned out loud. She did not care if she was being rude, but she told him, "I do not wish to see anyone right now. Please leave me alone."
He did not leave her but instead she was soon embraced by him, and after a moment the dam of her tears broke. She sobbed against his chest. She couldn't keep it in.
"What happened Hermione?" he asked her again, and this type the story spilled out of her.
He was silent for sometime. Then he told her. "Get changed into a new gown."
"I don't want to attend anymore."
"Not attending would just give the gossip-mongers more satisfaction. In this situation, you need to show indifference. Not attending would give those ladies more ammunition. Please get changed. I'll be waiting outside for you."
"But if you accompany me, won't it raise more rumours about us."
"I'll deal with those rumours in my way. In fact those rumours would die a swift death today."
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Sometime later, Hermione had accompanied King Thomas back to the ball, this time wearing an even heavier rust colored gown. The rust color brought out hidden depths of red in her brown hair, and made her eyes sparkle with an inner light, and not for the first time, Hermione wondered about who had set up her wardrobe with all the gowns that complemented her figure and fit her so perfectly.
They were halfway through the night, when King Thomas called attention to everyone to make an announcement.
This day was giving her one shock after another for the announcement concerned Hermione directly.
"Let me introduce to you all, Lady Hermione Granger, from Briarwood, who is also my beloved consort and Silverhaven's Queen."
She did not know who was more stunned by this, she or the congregation. There was only a brief lull before congratulations rang in the air.
It was Ginny who broke up the celebratory atmosphere.
"King Thomas, why are you lying. Lady Granger is not your wife. She is the wife of your General, Lord Voldemort."
A hush fell at this revelation. For the first time, Hermione agreed with what Ginny was saying, but the circumstances could not have been worse. First the falsehood by King Thomas, and now its exposure by Ginny could not have come at a worse time. She herself was tongue-tied, for how was she to contradict Ginny, when for the first time Ginny was right.
But King Thomas had no such compunctions as he said, "You're mistaken, Queen Ginerva. Hermione is my wife. She has always been married to me, and Lord Voldemort merely stood as my proxy."
"Lies. All lies. Hermione is not married to you."
"My dear Lady. You're unnecessarily creating a scene. Why would I lie about my own marriage? Besides, you know the marital bond can be easily checked between the couple."
He had scarcely finished saying this, than Harry came forward. "We can test for the marital bond. If indeed they're married, the bond will reveal their relationship."
Hermione was feeling light-headed, and she soon found herself clutching the King's arm. Not a moment later, he pulled her against him. As he squeezed her to him, he murmured near her ear. "Don't panic. Trust me. It'll be fine."
He must have an ace up his sleeve, or he wouldn't be so nonchalant about it, Hermione thought. She focused on taking deep breaths. Her thought going to the young one in her womb. She would not stress about this. It was not good for her baby.
A Senior Magistrate was called, and he performed the bond revelation spell. Despite telling herself to calm down, Hermione found herself clutching King Thomas's arm tightly again.
The simple incantation of 'Revelare matrimonium vinculum' left her surprised as well, for a clear golden bond connected her left hand to King Thomas's right hand. It was a clear golden throbbing bond that sent the feelings of her partner to her. The bond throbbed with the warm feeling which she could only describe to herself as 'loyalty and care'.
The existence of the bond shut up the crowd. She watched Harry dragging Ginny outside the ballroom as she kept shouting, 'They're lying.'
After Ginny was taken out, the gaiety was soon re-established, but Hermione was left in a state of utter confusion. How could the marital bond exist between her and King Thomas, when she had clearly married Lord Voldemort. Come what may, she would get her answers tonight, after the ball.