Present day, 8 years after the war:

Hermione wasn't sure why she was going to a "dark party." Maybe it was because Harry's life changed when he went, or maybe it was because she had been on over 50 first dates since the war, but something was calling for her to go. She didn't even believe the Unspeakable's revelation about the dark and the light. Maybe someone was just trying to keep them from destroying all the darkness left. But, there was something that made her decide to go. To see for herself, whether or not she'd be matched. It was better than the alternative, which was letting the ministry match her on her 30th birthday so she had time to have children. She definitely wasn't taking the chance of falling in love before seeking them out, her heart would break in a million pieces if she was unable to marry the person she loved because they weren't a match.

She stopped to think. What if she was matched at the party? The magical contract stated, "Enter at your own risk, for once matched, forever fated." It's true she could be sealing her fate. The idea upset her briefly before another feeling overwhelmed her. Was it excitement? She thought about her last date. Oliver Wood of all people. When Ron had set them up she assumed it was because he felt badly about how it ended between them. If she couldn't have one Gryffindor keeper then she should have another one. Since she just loved Quidditch and all.

The date was so dull she contemplated leaving before her entree even arrived. There's only so much she can stand when it comes to Quidditch and he had been droning on for an hour. Possible sex, wasn't worth this. She rolled her eyes. No, she wasn't meant to be with a Gryffindor, that much she learned after her last 20 dates. The thing that terrified her more than being matched, was what if she wasn't matched? What if there wasn't anyone for her dark or light? What if she was destined to spend her days with a cat? Now that was a depressing thought. Even more in the back of her mind she thought about the one dark wizard she ran away from almost 4 years ago. Would he be there tonight? Was he her match? If he was, there was no way he'd ever forgive her. That terrified her the most, being matched with him, seeing him again, remembering him again, and remembering who she was when she was with him…again. Her thoughts were interrupted by the floo activating. Out stepped a redhead to join her, ready to see what fate had in store for them at the dark party.

—

1 year earlier, 7 years after the war:

Hermione sat down in a small café waiting for her. She knew she would notice her right away. The last time they met she wore a bright orange dress with a daisy chain wrapped around her hair and neck. Not to mention her bright purple boots that she wore with everything. It became kind of a game for Hermione: spot Luna in a crowd. She chuckled as her dear friend approached her.

"Luna, how are you? You're looking quite lovely." It was the truth even though Luna did not dress in a conventional way. Today she was wearing moss green dress robes with her purple boots and Muggle sunglasses in the shape of stars. She must have come straight from the ministry to be dressed in robes. Even with her Muggle accessories.

"Hermione! It's so good to see you, my oracle told me to come right away once it was discovered. I've been waiting for months for the discovery you know."

Hermione paused taking in Luna's statement. She always thought delicately before allowing Luna to continue on one of her strange tangents. This was perhaps harmless so she decided to entertain her.

"What discovery Luna?"

"About the light and dark magical levels within each wizard or witch"

"What?" Hermione knew that this could actually be something Luna learned at her job as an Unspeakable and now she was curious.

"My team has been searching for the answer for years. Once we pulled the magic out of each person, it was quite obvious."

"What was obvious Luna?"

"That each person has a center of magic filled with both dark and light magic. You might be 80% light magic with 20% dark magic and so forth. When paired up with your spouse the magic shifts toward darkness or light depending on which magical field is the most saturated once you are bonded. If a person has over 50% dark magic and they pair up with another person that has over 50% dark magic, well the results lead to two dark wizards."

"Luna that makes no sense. Of course all people sometimes struggle with darkness in their lives, but it's the choices we make that determine if we are dark or light witches and wizards. It's not based off of some silly math equation! If you strive to make good choices and stay away from dark magic, then you will be a good witch!"

"No Hermione. We have discovered that it all comes down to a silly math equation. That is why so many of the pure bloods were prone to dark magic. They interbred until the levels were always saturated into darkness. Every single couple we studied on both sides fit."

"What about Professor Snape? He never married. What does that say about his magical levels?"

"If he had married someone with a higher percentage of light magic, like Harry's Mom, he would never have been tempted to be a death eater. Because he was alone, his own magical field couldn't level out. He was left with a higher percentage of dark magic than light."

"Luna, I disagree. I don't think you're coming at this from all the angles. I need to do more research but I'm sure there are flaws to this way of thinking. How did you even pull out the magic from a person in the first place? What is the ministry going to do with this information?"

"Hermione, you know I can't tell you anything more than I've already spoken of. The only reason I could tell you this much is because the prophet is running the story later this week. The ministry is going to start checking couples for magical levels to make sure they're balanced or saturated toward light magic. If a couple's magical balance leans towards dark magic, they won't be allowed to marry."

"What about the single people? How will they monitor that? What about the people that have lost their spouses? What about people that are already married? And what if someone with predominantly light magic wants to marry another person with predominantly light magic? Will that be allowed?"

"They're creating a marriage law of course, everyone will be required to marry if they are between the ages 20-35 so that the new generation of children will have a balanced magical field. If you're already over that age then you don't have to marry but you do have to get your magic checked, and if your magical field is saturated toward darkness you will have a trace put on you for the safety of the wizarding community. That will be the case for couples already bonded with a dark saturation level and people that wish to remain single. Contraceptive potions will be mandatory for all witches of childbearing ages until you have been bonded. They also have a way to ensure compatibility with your match. So it's really a good thing, and the whole point is to balance the darkness so no, they won't let two light wizards marry. Not until the next generation at least."

"So I just have to marry by age 35?"

"Well technically, although if you want a family it only gets more challenging after 30, especially if you want more than one child. I'd say you've got 5 years to get married and start having children. If you wish to have them."

"What about you? What do you intend to do?"

"Oh I'll be a part of the introductory focus group. My oracle suggested this would be the best way for me. I'm mostly light magic you see, so it won't be hard to be matched, they'll basically just be looking for compatibility. I'm quite looking forward to it. Your magic increases when bonded you know."

This was a lot for Hermione to take in. Not that the ministry was interfering but the basis with which they were doing so. They were obviously still greatly affected by the war and fearful of it happening again. They also were obviously concerned about the wizard population. Did she want children? Yes… but she was only 25. She hadn't really thought about it in all honesty. It was such a relief after the war not to have her life planned every moment. She was still contemplating her career. That had been the focus since she finished traveling and after she got over her few years of rebellion. She tried not to think about the dark wizard she spent 6 months with. She hadn't spoken to him in over 3 years. Not since she ran away from him.