Stories Without Chapters

by Lemons are Fun

Never thought I'd have a collection series, but I've found I've enjoyed them and decided to include not only completed stories, but also ideas or partial stories that may or may not have an additional life. Enter here, those that enjoy a fluffy Dramoine. Note that in some cases a Weasley or two and probably Dumbledore (and Ministry) may not be portrayed favorably.

A/N: Welcome to my first collection story of sorts. This will house primarily one-shots and incomplete ideas that I just had to put down (so they left my head). I offer nothing but gratitude for those that read what I post. I will mark this as complete and add chapters as I feel they are as done as I think they are going to get. This one is a complete story. Hopefully it's clear, but let me know if you get confused.

For those waiting on year 2, it's in process, I ended up redoing a bit of it as the story changed directions on me. I hope to start posting it by the end of this summer. Pray for me and my muse.

As for this, enjoy and I hope you find some humor seeing into just how my head works. It can be a scary place.~

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

What's Makes A Marriage

Hermione rubbed her eyes for the fifth time in two minutes and groaned when the numbers didn't change. It couldn't be denied any longer and she would have to be the one to tell the Minister. "You know that isn't going to change anything. You've been telling them about this for years, it's not your fault they doubted you. At this point in the history of magical Britain, no one should ever doubt you." The smooth drawl calmed her anxiety a touch.

"Be careful Malfoy, someone might get the impression you think highly of me." Her brown eyes then caught sight of an unexpected thing; Draco Malfoy was standing in her office door wearing khaki shorts, a crisp pink polo top and bright white converse trainers. She blinked again and, as with her report, nothing in front of her changed.

"Did you forget you had promised to escort me to Salcombe and inspect the newest yacht in the Malfoy fleet before we meet with our friends tonight?" The man was still just as pompous as he had been in school, except now he wasn't. She watched him in veiled amusement before she put away the reports, closed her laptop and slid it into her bag. After ensuring everything was in its place, the pair left the small office and headed home so Hermione could change.

Nothing would change now, it had been nine years since the Final Battle. But change would be required.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

** 1 Year after the Final Battle**

The first anniversary after the Final Battle found the Wizengamot enacting a new law requiring an annual census to count all magicals in the UK. Hermione soon discovered, that unlike muggle census records, magicals released the census result details quickly after the final numbers were verified. It seemed the Wizengamot assumed the results would support their rhetoric about how positive the future was for their world. Hermione took the first census in twenty years and documented it as a baseline. She would randomly look at the numbers and wonder what she could find in the coming years.

Immediately after the war, she had been offered any job she wanted in the Ministry, but even with the changes and Kingsley the new Minister, she had no desire to work for the government. Instead of resting on her laurels, she took accelerated classes, sat for her NEWTS, like a proper witch, before making any real decisions on her future. If Hogwarts with the classes and her extra-circular activities with Harry had taught her anything, it was to not rely on the government to make everything right. So instead of becoming a small cog in the grinding Ministry wheel, she set herself up as an outside consultant and resource. This allowed her to work on what she wanted and still get paid.

Her friends began to settle into their expected adult lives almost as soon as the dust settled after the Final Battle. Harry and Ginny were married in a small, but still overly reported wedding, a mere seven months after the battle over the yule holidays. Even though Ginny had returned for her final year, her studies and wedding plans didn't cause any undue conflict.

The rumors on the winter Potter affair were reported heavily for those seven straight months. Everyday there was a new rumor on color schemes, whether the groom would wear robes or a muggle suit, how would the bride wear her hair. For Hermione it got to be too much and charmed the paper to only show articles that were of merit. Needless to say, her mornings had much more time after that. Ron, on the other hand, read the paper and realized he needed to do something or he would be left to the side as his only friend moved on. The answer was simple for the red head. Harry may be the boy-who-lived-twice, but the wedding of two-thirds of the golden trio would be epic.

Hermione refused Ron's proposal in August saying it was too soon and the family was still mourning all their losses. She wasn't ready and she knew he definitely wasn't. He seemed to agree to wait and didn't have any issues with her leaving alone to locate her parents. Looking back she knew why, but then she was just pleased to not have to fight with him.

Others from their class and the ones that were older quickly paired off and The Prophet was filled with one wedding announcement after another. The Potter wedding would be the first and signal it was ok to move on from the darkness of the last few years. Once the new year rolled around there seemed to be at least one wedding every weekend. Hermione questioned some of the relationships, but never said anything. If they were happy than she was happy for them.

In the meantime, Hermione had located her parents and with some help from memory charm specialists, the Granger's memories were fully returned. They were not pleased with their daughter's unilateral and heavy handed decision, but came to understand her perspective as they learned more of the atrocities suffered by those who had remained in Britain. She alternated between Australia and Britain until a month into the New Year.

When she returned home, Hermione found Ron had planned an elaborate but surprisingly private proposal. With her parents and his present, she accepted and thought now she could move into her own future; however, the wedding never happened. About three months before the planned wedding day, Hermione left work a few hours early to meet with Ron, Molly and her own mother and make some final wedding decisions. She had picked up her mother and met Molly at the apparition point near the lovely home she shared with Ron. The home had room to grow, as Molly pointed out, with enough rooms for the two or three children Hermione desired. Ron hadn't really any thoughts on the number of children necessarily, but seemed more on the three or more bandwagon. Hermione knew it was something they needed to discuss just yet, but their relationship was under enough stress with the wedding. It could wait.

As the women entered the house on that lovely afternoon, they were met with a distinct thumping noise and what sounded like grunts. The small group made their way down the hall and found the noises were due to Ron and Lavender Brown's activities in the bed shared by Ron and Hermione.

Hermione was actually too shocked to respond, but that didn't stop Molly. Ron still had a bit of a limp on particularly cold days. Lavender was ejected from the home sans clothes. Jean Granger pulled Hermione from the room and was able to get the stunned witch to the floo. Using the powder from the floo-pot and Hermione's presence, Jean called Harry and before too long the young wizard was packing everything belonging to Hermione. Molly was still berating her son as Harry escorted the sister of his heart and her mother to Grimmauld Place.

Hermione spent the first few days mourning the loss of the relationship, maybe not the romantic relationship so much but more the friendship. It was certain she would never trust the man again, and what was the point of friendship if there was no trust? Hermione found herself pleased to have dodged a bludger when four months later, two weeks after the pair would have returned from their honeymoon, Lavender announced her pregnancy on the front page of The Prophet.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

** 2 Years after the Final Battle**

When the results of the second census were released there was't much news coverage. It was quietly filed and the world continued to spin as it had for billions of years. Hermione found herself unable to let it pass. She took the results and added them to her database. There wasn't enough data to make any educated conclusions just yet, but the numbers didn't look good. Two data points make a straight line; however, it was unknown if the line actually showed what was really occurring.

After the debacle that had been her own engagement, Hermione settled into a hybrid life. She found a lovely townhouse just on the border between her two worlds. She walked to the muggle grocer and apparated to the magical apothecary. Her relaxed job gave her time to finish the projects she was hired to do and still allowed ample time to research her own interests. She found the place better suited for her job and where she was in her life. It was small enough for her, but was large enough for when her friends visited.

After obtaining the second census results, Hermione decided to spend her spare time researching how muggles responded after large all consuming wars. The reaction to the end of the majority of wars was to throw everything in to peace time activities which included copious amounts of children. However, based on what little data she was able to obtain in the years after the first British wizarding war, the magicals of the British isles didn't seem to do that. There had been a slight uptick in births, but nothing of significance when viewed against long term averages. In fact, the birth rate between the two wars was significantly lower than prior to the first war. Part of this was due to an increase in miscarriages that had been documented in the official records. Hermione wondered how many weren't officially reported.

The beliefs that led the British magical community to battle itself hadn't changed in the years after Voldemort's first death and so the community continued to turn in on itself throughout the 1980s. She wasn't ready to say the miscarriages were totally due to the lack of variety, but maybe the combination of that and result of wartime atrocities resulted in most families being lucky to have a single child. It wasn't only unforgivable curses that caused long term damage. Take enough stinging hexes to the groin and the wizard in question would have problems fathering children.

What the data showed was in complete opposition to what the Ministry and history said should happen. She just didn't see anything to support the opinion there would be an increase in magical family births. However, Hermione knew for a fact there were a half dozen couples who would have a child before the third census was initiated. Those six children would not make up for the losses from the Final Battle, let alone the years leading up to it. But hopefully it was a start. She would just have to wait to see what happened in the next few years.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

** 3 Years after the Final Battle**

The third year results reflected the new families and their offspring. While there were more than six children born, those births didn't come close to replace those who had passed the prior year. Hermione had just enough data to start running predictive formulas and what she was seeing wasn't comforting. Coupled with her private knowledge of her friends lives, she no longer believed the words coming from the Ministry. Lacking definite evidence, her doubts were merely based on her prior experiences. Now the data was proving her doubts to be accurate.

At the end of the prior year, Hermione watched the marriages of all her friends slowly deteriorate with no one willing to accept they hadn't made the best decisions at seventeen. Directly in the aftermath of an all consuming war. While they were still hurt from what they witnessed. What they were forced to do to survive. While they were trying to heal.

That was why Harry and Ginny's divorce rocked the wizarding world. James was born a mere eighteen months after final battle and seemed to harken the start of a great new world. Instead the baby's parents found they had drastically different ideas about how married life should be. Ginny didn't want to be a younger version of Molly and Harry really had no idea what he desired in a wife. In addition, his childhood had scarred him so badly he was literally afraid to touch his son. With neither of them able to explain their needs, their silence continued to grow.

The pair struggled with their internal demons for months until Harry broke down and told Hermione everything and the witch was not prepared for that. Shortly thereafter Hermione found Ginny doing the same thing. It's not that she didn't want to help her friends, but what they needed was someone completely impartial. After a bit of coaxing, she got them to attend therapy both individually and as a couple. It seemed to help and the pair started to act more couple-like again. That was until Molly started badgering them for more children.

In the face of pressure and insecurity, Harry found himself incapable and Ginny believed it to be her fault. Their therapist helped them through, but in the end they decided their marriage just wasn't strong enough. After the shock of the Potter's divorce started to wane there was a flood of other opting to divorce as well. Padma Macmillan filed for her divorce next. The request was received by the Ministry after Ernie had been found to be living with Pavarti instead of traveling for work as he had claimed.

Anthony Goldstein and the former Susan Bones were next to be reported. By the end of the year, it almost seemed to be a roll call of the students who had survived the war. Due to the numbers of divorces, The Prophet stopped reporting on them do to the space it took up. One of the divorces that was overlooked was between Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott. The couple quietly completed their paperwork and found the process relatively easy as there were no children. Even though Hannah didn't want it, Neville made sure his former wife was secure in her ability to care for herself. The funds were transferred into the witch's account and caused the only argument during the entire proceedings. The judge smiled at the witch's proclamation of not marrying Neville for his money. The wizard acknowledged the statement, but still thought it was the least he could do for her. They were still friends after all. The witch rolled her eyes and grudgingly accepted the overly large number of galleons.

It seemed every marriage outside of a contracted one had ended badly. Some claimed this is what happened when a choice was given. There were no divorces in previous generations. The children of these marriages were quick to remind how miserable everyone in those relationships really were. It was also pointed out those same strong marriages were responsible for fostering hatred and wars fought by children.

The idea of arranged marriages mandated by agreements and parental desires had been dealt a serious blow when the Malfoy heir publicly refused to be bartered by his father. It was clear the young man was asserting himself as the head of the Malfoy family and daring his father to put one toe out of line. The older Malfoy stepped back, while the younger Malfoy discovered just how misguided his parent's beliefs truly were. He spent many an afternoon roaming the newly opened (to him) muggle world.

Hermione's research into the history magic continued and she found that before Grindelwald, the birth rate for muggles having a child with magical traits was one birth for every thousand or so magical parent births. With the number of magicals in the British isles, there were always a handful or so muggleborns starting Hogwarts every year. As the witches and wizards across the world started to die because of Grindelwald, the worldwide muggle born birth rate saw its first increase in a millennia. This data wasn't as supported as well as other topics, but Hermione was able to find enough circumstantial evidence to feel comfortable with her assessment.

Hermione's theory involved magic, magic itself wanted to survive and if the witches and wizards wouldn't do it, than magic would. She could never prove it of course, but if it was true, then there would be more and more magical children born to muggle parents in the coming years. When the birth rates were compared to other countries, Britain was the only country whose instances of muggle born births had not decreased since the 1950s.

The worldwide reaction to Grindelwald's atrocities, once he was neutralized, was shock and anger at being led so easily. The rest of the world reacted as expected and had baby booms. Very few countries were involved when Voldemort made either attempt at his domination of Britain. Why, well that was a good question. No one really knew, but most of the countries claimed there was never a request for assistance, official or otherwise. Another point in Hermione's favor for opting to avoid the Ministry at all costs.

Whatever the reason, the British magical population was the only one to greatly suffer during the two Riddle Wars. When the survivors of the second Riddle war did not immediately start to produce children, the excuses were immediate. The survivors were getting over the battle and then it was the young parents waiting to have a second child until the first was a bit older. After that, it was people dealing with the death of family members from their long term curses. Hermione supposed the next excuse would focus on the divorces. All the excuses sounded reasonable unless you actually spoke to those expected to have the children. It seemed the generation who were born to fight the previous generations battles had married for the wrong reasons. None knew what they really wanted and most had married within twelve months of the final battle. These marriages lead to a rush of births to people who may have just made it to their twentieth birthday.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

** 4 Years after the Final Battle**

Hermione returned to her home with the results from the fourth annual census and saw what she expected. The continued overall decline of the magical population with a definite increase in the number of muggleborn children. The increase in magical births noted in the second census appeared to be an anomaly. The witch considered that data and decided it would be identified as an outlier until the data supported a change to that decision. The number of births to magical parents was the lowest recorded in the, admittedly, small data set, but still was concerning. The decrease was beyond what had been predicted the prior year and seemed to predict the next years results would be even worse.

Hermione's personal theory on how magic would do what was required to survive was also proving true. The number of muggleborns had again increased when compared to the prior years. After reviewing all the data Hermione believed there was sufficient support to inform the Ministry of her findings. Her first meeting with Kingsley was difficult only in explaining how she came to her conclusions. By the end of the third meeting the Minister agreed with everything Hermione showed him. That support was meaningless when the Wizengamot refused to listen to the findings and told the witch to find something more important to do.

It seemed those esteemed members forgot what happened when someone told Hermione what to do. Kingsley took a copy of Hermione's results and used as a basis for some of the reforms he was working through the gridlock that was the Ministry. His efforts weren't shut down as completely as Hermione's, but they were still slowed or redirected as the Wizengamot wanted.

In addition to everything else, it had been quite a difficult year for Neville Longbottom. By the end of the previous year he was the only remaining Longbottom by blood or otherwise. His grandmother passed in the early summer and after telling his parents, Frank seemed to relax. A month later Neville decided his parents shouldn't hold on just for him. If they wanted to let go, they should. After a few one sided conversations, a lot of tears and promises to live the life they couldn't both Frank and Alice were wheeled into the same room and their hands were clasped together. The pair took their final breath and slipped from this life into their next. Neville prayed they were together.

It was that sort of love that drove Neville to ask Hannah about the divorce. After witnessing the death of her parents-in-law, Hannah agreed the love in their marriage was nothing like that of Frank and Alice. That was why there was no difficulty with the Longbottom divorce and it was finalized before the end of October that year. Neville and Hannah wanted to find the other person they would love like Frank and Alice loved each other. They also realized the likelihood of finding their match in country was slim. Both of their businesses could use some international influence so the now-friends discussed where they each wanted to travel and ensured a way for them to communicate. Each wanted to be assured of the other's safety.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

** 5 Years after the Final Battle**

Once the fifth anniversary of Voldemort's defeat had past, the British Ministry completed the annual census. As the years passed Hermione analysis of the numbers was aided by her purchase of the best analysis software the muggle world had created. Over the years, the data identified some very uncomfortable truths that were just starting to come to a head.

Firstly, an unexpected but definite decline in the overall population was significantly larger between the second and fourth years than was noted between either the first and second or the fourth and fifth census. The decrease was chalked up to individuals succumbing to wounds obtained during the previous two wars. Frank and Alice Longbottom were the poster children for this theory.

Hermione's prediction in the decline of births to magical parents indeed came true. This also impacted the overall population as the number of births lagged behind the number of deaths. Hermione's analysis, predictive formulas and charts did nothing but show a bleak future for wizarding Britain. The only demographic showing a progressive upward trend were muggleborn births and while Hermione was perfectly fine with muggles having magical children, it put the entire magical world in a precarious place. There was only so much of the budget dedicated to this group and it was already stretched beyond acceptable.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

** 6 Years after the Final Battle**

When the results were released the next year, Hermione again stood in front of the Wizengamot and questioned what they were planning to do. She was told people were still mourning their losses. Losses the witch couldn't understand as her family hadn't been at risk. The only reason the individual making those statements wasn't hexed so badly his never to exist grandchildren felt it was because the Minister took her wand, the Savior of all Magic silenced her and the recent (and now official) head of the Malfoy family carried the deathly still witch from the room. All knew her wandless and silent curses were even more deadly now and wanted nothing do with that trial. The idiot who dared to claim the witch didn't understand was then subjected to memories provided by the witch as part of the Ministry re-education program.

Hermione silently sat scowling at her best friend and Draco Malfoy. The duo were behind multiple shields, wards and protection spells while the witch cooled off. Draco was continually tweaking and adding more protective charms unique to the Malfoy family while Harry tried to reason with her. It wouldn't be the first time they had been hexed before she removed the silencing charm. "Listen 'Mione, he's an ass and I'll make sure he understands exactly what we all sacrificed while he was in France. He is a coward and I will call him out on it. Just calm down please?" She sat completely still glaring daggers at the pair. After a few more hours she finally huffed and Harry smiled widely at her. Still keeping all the protections in place, the dark haired wizard removed only the silencing charm. Draco wasn't too sure she had calmed sufficiently so he had his wand hidden behind Potter's back.

"Put your wand away Draco. Fine, I may have overreacted a little. I just don't see how the predictions are wrong. This isn't a prophesy, and if people don't change their ways we are in trouble. And get my wand back from Kings." Draco smiled before lobbing the requested item at the witch.

"I know 'Mione. There are only three kids younger than James in the day care here. We all know it, but one of the worst hit groups were the people five to ten years older than we are. They should be the ones having kids. Instead they are in the ground and we are, again, left to save the world. It can be really tiresome saving these people again and again." It was intended to cause a laugh but it was just too close to the truth to really do that. Hermione had a small smile while Draco leaned his head against the wall.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

** 7 Years after the Final Battle**

After seven years, magical Britain was in a precarious position. The overall population was at a dangerously low level, while the number of muggleborns had increased significantly. The Ministry was unsure what would happen in a few years once the toddlers started to really show their ability. The department responsible for the tracking of accidental magic was given an increase budget in order to hire and train dozens of new employees. The Wizengamot was rethinking laws surrounding muggleborns and when to inform the parents of their child's ability. Hermione had been ticked to discover the Ministry always knew about her, but felt she didn't have to know she was a witch until she was almost eleven. Bloody bastards. She was discovering more and more reasons that her choice to not work at the Ministry was correct.

Hermione was settled in her office thinking about what the numbers were really telling her when Kingsley appeared and asked for assistance. He knew her theories were more than likely accurate, but he could do little until the Wizengamot agreed there was a problem. His request was not a direct Ministry request. Both knew whatever alternatives the witch discovered would drive how the Ministry eventually handled the situation. It was probably a good thing she had spent all these years researching this in her free time. Now she could dedicate all her time.

Options were neither plentiful nor appealing. After getting frustrated with the numbers, she spent a few months researching and obtaining information on how the magical world worked prior to getting stuck in the 1890s, and there was quite a difference. She wasn't sure exactly how it happened but it seemed the world created by Queen Victoria not only sparked the muggle world wars but also stifled the progression of the wizarding world. Before the Victorian beliefs regarding marriage and child bearing took hold, witches and wizards formed committed relationships and those may not last their entire lives. Children were born and most witches had at least three children in her lifetime. Once marriages were seen as socially required, parents set about arranging them. The result appeared to show the number of children born decreased. Probably more due to the husband and wife not actually liking each other than any other reason.

It was during this time that many of the old families charmed themselves to ensure a son was the first born. That little trick actually helped the population as it started to require families to look outside of Britain to find a wife. Those charms had been broken at some point, maybe something with the dark mark and putting Riddle over family. She had noticed the families who did have a son first (or at all) were discovered to have doubts or turned spy against the dark once Voldemort returned after her fourth year at school. Hermione looked at the families without a son and realized if the charm had broken because of the dark mark, that was a rabbit hole she didn't want to investigate just yet.

As she worked through options she found an interest in the family trees of those around her. After discussions with the purebloods that were now part of her close circle, she found a litany of information as well as actual family trees. She spent six months mapping out everyone from her class at Hogwarts and found the majority of them were more closely related than she was comfortable seeing. That would have to be addressed as well.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

** 8 Years after the Final Battle**

The results of the eighth annual census sent the Ministry into an absolute a panic. Those that had said there were no real problems, continued their same rhetoric but it was nothing more than lip service now. Hermione glared and said nothing. She returned to a seat that was saved for her in the audience knowing she made sure everyone saw the truth. However, no one knew exactly what could be done.

Everything the politicians suggested were focused on the individuals in their twenties. None of those in power wanted to admit the extended life span of magical folk would mean they could still safely have children decades after their muggle counterparts couldn't. They really just wanted the power and not the responsibility. Hermione grumbled to herself that even after two wars, nothing had changed. Power was for those that would grab it.

The muggleborn witch who had been warning everyone about this for years, settled into her seat with a look of grim satisfaction. She wasn't happy about it, no not at all, but now these idiots were backing themselves into a corner. Kingsley sat and watched Hermione Granger as she whispered something to Draco Malfoy. The young aristocrat smirked, but it was't quite as believable as one he normally wore. Finally, the young wizard just nodded. During the short interaction, Draco's attention never wavered from the chaos that was this meeting. Draco, Hermione and Kingsley knew this particular meeting would be pointless, but it had to happen. The witch had some alternatives, but everyone had to be in a true panic before they would even listen to her ideas. Kingsley watched as the pair stood and left the hall. Hermione looked back once before shaking her head and walking through the door held open by Draco.

"So next year you'll swoop in and save the day?"

"There is no saving the day this time. Our generation was born to bear the sins of our fathers and suffer much for them. This isn't any different."
Draco shuddered. He knew it was true but had hoped that for once he and those who had survived would be spared. It wasn't to be.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

** 9 Years after the Final Battle**

Hermione stood in Kingsley office three days before the results of the ninth census would be presented. The man looked at the charts and final report before sighing. "What are our options Hermione?" The witch listed the three most likely to succeed. The man was shocked to say the least. "There is nothing else?" The witch shrugged before shaking her head. As she reached the door to leave the office, she turned back to look at the wizard she still looked to as a father figure.

"I'll make the presentation Kings. This needs to be something that isn't tied to your tenure. This isn't the result of anything you've done or not done, but what those before us did. I want to make sure they all know whose at fault and I won't be blaming Grindelwald or Riddle for this." Kingsley nodded and watched as the witch quickly wiped a tear from her eye.

Two days before the meeting, Hermione was changing from the casual outfit she had worn to Salcombe that afternoon into something more appropriate for the discussion that would happen in an hour. She would have rather stayed on the yacht and avoided the coming storm, but storms seemed to find her. An hour later she was standing in front of her friends. Some of those in the room she would die for, some were merely acquaintances, but for better or worse they were the results of thirty plus years of hate.

"Thank you for coming everyone. As you are all well aware, we are at a crossroads for our kind. The Ministry or more specifically, those in charge of the Wizengamot have failed our generation and those after us again. The results can no longer be denied. I showed them to Kings yesterday and he agreed. So before this is presented, we need to be prepared." Hermione spent the next couple of hours going through the numbers, her research and what options she had discovered. She begged her friends to have a different idea, a better idea, something more cunning that would be better than the horrible options she had laid before them. By the end of the night, no new options were found and the group made the grim decision on which option they would prefer. All left shocked and by the next morning all had some sort of plan in place. They would not be caught by surprise this time.

On the morning of the meeting, Hermione stood in her bedroom and adjusted her skirt for what seemed like the hundredth time. "You look good Hermione. Let's get some food before we go and destroy our world." Draco held his hand out to Hermione who grabbed it tightly. "It will be fine eventually. And maybe some of us will get what we've always wanted." Draco squeezed her hand before rubbing her fingers gently and leading her to the small kitchen in the townhouse. After ensuring she had eaten her fill, Draco pulled two insulated mugs from the cabinet and went about preparing some to go drinks. "I'm going to grab my jacket and bag. I'll be back in a couple." The wizard nodded while continuing to work on the drinks.

Hermione pulled the jacket from her side of the closet and slipped it on. Entering her office she grabbed the packet she had prepared the day before, her laptop, small projector and slid everything into her shoulder bag. This would be day that Hermione Granger, smartest witch of her age, one third of the golden trio, and muggleborn extraordinaire wasn't able to save the day. It was hard for her to accept.

"Hermione?"

"Coming."

The pair were met in the Ministry atrium by their friends. One of the few things the war proved to everyone was just how powerful a group of like minded witches and wizards could be. It didn't always mean you won if you had more on your side, but the opponents would give pause. Kingsley stood at the chamber doors and saw almost every student who had survived the second wizarding war standing together. He hated seeing how small the number actually was; forcing a fake smile, he waved the group in. "Hermione what do you need from us?"

"Nothing right now Kingsley. I will give the details, present the options and let them discuss. We have decided which option we find least abhorrent and will fight for that. If we have proved anything in our short lives, it's that we all will fight for what we believe." Kingsley gave her a sad little smile before pointing to where she should set up.

After getting the projector set up and testing it would work, she settled in the provided chair and turned to face those behind her. Without their support she wasn't sure exactly what she would do, but in the end, the Ministry had failed them yet again. Draco leaned forward and clasped her hand in the way he knew she found comforting, the two sat silently listening to the chatter around them while finding support in the other.

When Kingsley called for attention Hermione reluctantly turned and faced the Wizengamot, she should be used to this by now. It had been nine years since the war ended and the magical British community was on the brink of extinction. "I call Hermione Granger to present the results of the annual census and predictions for the coming year." Hermione stood before clicking on the projector and smirked at the murmurs of those in the room. She had charmed her muggle electronics to work around magic. It was what she did on her downtime, when she wasn't trying to figure out how to again save the world she almost died fighting to save, multiple times.

"Thank you Kingsley, as you can all see, the results of this year are consistent with what has been reported in previous years. A predictive analysis shows without something drastic the British magical community as we know it will be unable to recover and will potentially lead to the end of the entire wizarding world as we know it. The only thing that will save magic in Britain is the births of magical children to muggles, those births have been increasing each year. The threat isn't in the children, but in how we handle the parents. It has been debated in this hall for years, the Magical Accident department is working overtime and already had their budget increased twice this year. There is nothing we can do to stop this short of increasing the birth rate among those of us with magic." There was a murmur of surprise, no one expected that.

"My generation has been asked to save the wizarding world multiple times, and it seems again we are the ones to take the brunt of the curse the previous generations forced on us all. Those generations found it more important to marry within their class and birth rates dropped. Their children were indoctrinated to believe the same thing and the birth rates dropped even more while miscarriages increased. As the acceptable pool of marriages decreased parents refused to look beyond our borders and began to force marriages between those that were closely related leading to more miscarriages. Then take into account two major wars fought over social class. In the end, the generations who participated in those wars willingly set the stage for what we see today."

Hermione took a moment to look at each member of the Wizengamot before turning her gaze to those in the audience. The only group of people that were unsurprised were her friends. Their faces held the same rage as Hermione. The blame for the mess that was their world was placed firmly at the feet of those that should have been trying harder.

"Since the future of the wizarding world is now in crisis again, I have determined there are really only three viable options at this point. If the number of magical births to muggles continues at this rate, eventually the statute will be broken and magic will be discovered by all muggles. When this happens you will be to blame. No other country in the world is experiencing what we are. These children are your chickens coming home to roost." Her anger was palpable and coming off her in waves. If he was so upset and if she wasn't so spectacular, Draco would be worried.

With a click of the remote button the presentation slide changed to one titled OPTIONS. "As I said, we don't have many options at this point. Maybe if this had beed addressed five years ago, but we were told it was nothing. So the first identified option is to remove the muggleborns from their parents and have them raised in the magical world. The children would be assigned to individuals based on appearance and projected power. The muggles would have their memories altered to believe their child had passed away. Keep in mind this action will not address the low birth rates for at least twenty years. This will be an ongoing practice and some sort of explanation will need to be determined in order to explain the rash of deaths in the muggle world." With a click option one on the slide appeared,'Kidnap'. It was a harsh but accurate description of what this truly was. At this point she needed the esteemed members of the Wizengamot to see just what their pride had caused. After a few moments of deadly silence Hermione continued.

"Option two will take a bit of explanation for those not familiar with muggle biology and genetic advances. When the magical world was falling in love with Tom Riddle's new persona, muggles were identifying ways to conceive children outside of the marriage bed. They eventually were able to fertilize and implant those eggs into woman. These children are no different from others children conceived in more traditional ways." Draco just rolled his eyes. He wasn't a fan of this one, he wanted his children to be conceived in a decidedly more traditional way. Preferably on silk sheets.

"This option will require wizards and witches to provide…let's call it samples of themselves. The samples will be matched based on a number of things including family history. Individuals related closer than four generations will not be paired to produce a child. The embryos will be carried by willing witches and the children will be raised in a group home. These children will not carry the names of their biological parents. They will select a name for their family once they graduate from Hogwarts." Those in attendance watched in stunned silence. What was the point in having children if not to continue family lines?

"We are in this position due to the two wars based on tradition and a distorted view of family. This option would negate family traditions as the children would be raised as siblings. The Ministry would provide a secure home, caregivers who gave their time and love to the children and the children would be tracked to ensure none married a sibling or close cousin."

Option two 'Test Tube Baby' appeared on the screen. The witch's eyes were hard and gave not an inch to those who wished to complain. The inclusion of muggle technology made it difficult to dismiss. To do so they would need a very good argument or alternative and right now none in the room had that. Hermione seemed a bit reticent to continue. Not that the first two options were appealing, but still this was something she couldn't believe she was proposing.

"Option three is probably the most difficult one for me to offer up for debate. Not because it is worse than the other two. As I said before, all three options are reprehensible but this one would impact me directly. Option three is to require all witches and wizards between the ages of twenty-five and eighty to marry. In addition to marry, marriages will be required to have a designated number of children. The younger the couple the more children they will be required to conceive. Those impacted will be grouped by age unless a mutual request is made. In other words, there will be no old wizards forcing themselves on a young witch. Matches consented to by both the witch and wizard will be accepted if they meet certain requirements. For those impacted and not in an acceptable arrangement, the Ministry will make blind matches based on multiple factors including family history." After explaining in vitro fertilization to a group that had difficulty discussing the monthly cycles of woman, she no desire to delve into genetics. Those in the audience were still stunned and hadn't reacted to anything she'd said, yet. With a click 'Marriage Law' appeared as the third option.

"In the second option, I mentioned the couples would be no closer than four generations apart. This is based on muggle laws regulating marriages between cousins. It has been found when individuals who are closely related continually intermarry their offspring aren't as strong and suffer from maladies. However, if a couple is related but are only 4th cousins the shared ancestor would be their great-great-great grandparent and ensures enough distance to provide variability in the child and reduces the chance the child having issues. This will be difficult for a certain portion of our world, due to the desire to only reproduce within the Sacred Twenty-Eight, the relationships within these families are all too close to meet the guidelines." That was when the yelling began.

"I see what this is. This muggleborn is just trying to finish off destroying the traditions of our world and to destroy purebloods." With a raised hand the witch in question quieted her friends.
"During the war you left your family and ran to France to hide. I'm sure that is exactly what Cantankerus Nott intended to happen when he came up with that misguided grouping. You are one of the main reasons we are here. For years you've said these numbers aren't a problem, that children will be born. You escaped Voldemort's fury but made no effort to help your own children, do not pretend to care for anything more than yourself. If I had my way, you would already be rotting in Azkaban for your failures to traditions and family. So I will say this once more, none of these options are desirable but they are the only ones due to your inactions. Stick with what has worked before, sit down, shut up and pretend to care. Your time in charge will be coming to an end soon." The wizard glared and against what everyone knew was the better option he opened his mouth again.

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, it's a promise."

The screen flipped one more time to a list of the children born in the last nine years. The list of fifty names remained on the screen as the witch sat down.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

** 10 Years after the Final Battle**

The sun was rising tenth anniversary of the Final Battle and for the first time Hermione was going to miss the memorial. The evening before Harry told her it was fine and that everyone understood. In fact, there were a number of people missing it. Hermione watched the light in the room increase as she grunted while trying to get more comfortable. Draco leaned against the doorway for a moment and watched the witch struggle until she looked at him that way. With a chuckle and smirk, the wizard walked over and helped her sit up. He then settled next to her before wrapping his arm around her. "You should still go Draco. You can represent all of us."

The wizard shook his head before rubbing the distended belly of the witch feeling it twitch. "Naw, I think I'd prefer to stay here. Scorpius will be joining us soon and I'd rather not find out when your otter shows up screaming at me." Pulling the witch a bit more, Hermione settled into his hug and shut her eyes. He had been correct, of course, and just about when Kings started his speech Hermione felt the first powerful contraction. She had been feeling them for a few hours, she just hadn't wanted to say anything.

Draco was unfazed when the contraction hit; he summoned her bag, picked the witch up and headed toward the floo. Walking into the obstetrics ward of St. Mungo's, Hermione felt another contraction. "Good day, my wife is in labor, the contractions are about five minutes apart now." The nurse summoned a wheel chair and pointed toward it.

"Please set Mrs. Malfoy in the chair and we will get her into a room. Follow me." Entering the private room, Draco frowned, it wasn't very homey but if all went well they would all be home in a day or so. "Up you go Mrs. Malfoy and into the bed. Mr. Malfoy can help you get comfortable. I've paged your doctor and he should be here soon." The nurse, while pleasant received a glare from the pregnant witch.

"Draco, help me." The wizard dutifully walked over and helped get her into the bed and a more comfortable position. He pulled out three books, a crossword puzzle, and dart board. With a sticking charm, the board was stuck to the wall and a few darts were set in front of the witch. "Not a good idea Draco, I might misfire and hit you." The wizard laughed and removed the potential murder weapons.

"Too true love. Do you need anything I can get you?" Draco had tried to be so caring during this whole thing and Hermione tried to not blame him, too much.

"No but before the next one hits, I do love you. Don't take anything I say over the next few hours that seriously." Draco brushed his lips over her forehead and held her face in his hands.

"You're giving my what I've wanted for years. I love you. Take whatever you need from me for this." Hermione pulled the man into a pretty intense kiss. "I'm going to be taking a lot of cold showers but it is worth it. He will be worth it. You are the most precious thing in my life and worth more than anything I can touch."

Scorpius took a bit of time but eventually he made a screaming entry into the world. He looked like Draco with the same blonde hair, grey eyes and smirk. Anyone would tell you the same thing until you looked a bit closer at the child. The baby's expressions were completely Hermione. After he was born he took to studying the room and everything in it. Draco chuckled when the babe glared at the nurse who used a word improperly. Seemed the boy had already picked up a bad habit or two.

The small family returned home two days after they left and settled into a comfortable routine. Scorpius wasn't the first baby to be born from the mandated marriage law. But he was the first to be born to a couple that had selected their partner. Hermione and Draco were engaged before the meeting with the Wizengamot. The day after the group of friends had decided to fight for the marriage law, Draco took Hermione back to the yacht for a day to just relax. By the end of the dinner, the witch was finally relaxed enough for Draco to ask for her hand. He had discussed it with her father months earlier and both men decided they needed to wait until after her census analysis was complete. When he saw the results and the options, he knew what would happen and wanted to make sure Hermione knew his proposal was for the right reasons.

Hermione did say yes that night, but it was only after a few hours of discussions on life, goals, dreams and some unexpected revelations when each discovered they truly loved the other. It shouldn't have surprised Hermione, the pair had been living together for the past two years. But, the witch admitted to the thought not even being on her radar. So discovering Draco had been planning his proposal for months was a shock only to be coupled with being told her father had given his blessing. Rich Granger confirmed everything the next time Hermione saw him. Their marriage had been relatively quick, all things considered and was final as summer turned to autumn. Discovering she was pregnant just after returning from their honeymoon was another surprise. Neither had expected it but were happy.

Hermione sold the townhouse and the couple moved their belongings to one of the Malfoy slightly larger properties. Draco refused to live in the Manor for a number of reasons. The first was just because of the war and everything that had occurred there. The second reason was more emotional. Lucius had passed away in the large home a little more than three years prior and his ghost still walked the halls. Lucius's death was the final bit of freedom Draco needed to chase his goals. A month after taking over officially as the head of the Malfoy family, Draco asked Hermione on what would be remembered as their first date.

The marriage law was poorly written on purpose, but the Minister refused to allow it fall to the side. He set up a division of aurors whose responsibility it was to follow up with witches and wizards. They would also provide the newly founded Department of Marriage, Child Birth and Rearing (DMCR) the names of witches or wizards who were in need of assistance. The members of the Wizengamot impacted were aghast when they found their law would be enforced and they were now required to abide by their own wording. It was justice in some respects. One of the major failures of the law related to the timing of events. The law hadn't included a mandate on when children would be born, just how many were required for the couples. Those couples whose spouse was selected by the Ministry decided to start their families as quickly as possible. In order to be able to ignore the unwanted spouse once they fulfilled their obligations to Merlin and country.

The decision on the marriage law had been generally unpopular, but the inclusion of so many people gave everyone a universal complaint. Anyone who had children prior and still married to the same person were excluded from the law but due to the high number of casualties there were more widows that wives. In deference to the law, many individuals went abroad to find their spouses. It was actually a good thing, genetically speaking.

With the advanced notice, Hermione's friends used their personal resources and connections to ensure they each had a prospective spouse before the Wizengamot made their final decision. The timing of the weddings varied, again there was nothing mandated on how long the couple could date before marrying. Most took a bit of time and made sure the prospective couples complimented each others goals.

For those who found their spouse locally, muggleborns were identified to be the most desirable match in the new world as they were identified with having extremely powerful children and absolutely no relationships that would potentially have the Ministry rejecting the marriage claim.

Narcissa Malfoy, now Podmore after a surprising match with Sturgis, the former first apologizing for her husband's part in the latter's six month stint in Azkaban, had requested her spouse be matched by the Ministry. Her two year mourning period had expired and the witch found herself in a new world with few anchors beside her son and daughter-in-law. Narcissa grasped onto those two until Hermione brought Andromeda back into her life. Narcissa spent a month living with Andi and Teddy and found the muggle world wasn't as scary as she had been taught. When the Ministry finally provided Narcissa with her match, she immediately packed her belongings and moved in with the man. The pair were married two weeks later only surrounded by their small family.

It had taken a while for a match to be found due to the Black marriage tendencies. This made Narcissa related to just about everyone in the British wizarding world. Those families who weren't related either had no sons in the correct age bracket or were in Azkaban for their deeds during the wars. Narcissa had politely requested to not be paired with anyone who held onto her former beliefs. She wanted to raise her next children in a home without that ideology. Due to her role in the war, the Minister took personal responsibility for finding a match.

One month after marrying Sturgis, Narcissa wanted to discuss something that had been worrying her since the law was passed. Miscarriages. It was a common concern for her generation and Narcissa explained how lucky she had been to carry Draco to term (and even then the babe was still a bit early but too stubborn to not survive) and wanted to know if there were any muggle techniques that would be useful. After determining there was no issue with attraction between the pair Hermione had Narcissa meet with a half-blood healer who was supplementing magical theory with muggle techniques.

Draco found it a little odd when he realized his mum would have at least another child if not two more. She was only in her late forties and still had a couple of decades before being a mother would pass her. It didn't bother him too much. Narcissa's pregnancy hadn't been completely smooth sailing but in the end a healthy Lyra Anne Podmore was introduced to her half brother. Draco held his sister and introduced her to her nephew Scorpius.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

When the eleventh census was presented a decision was made for the annual results to be complied and presented every five years. It seemed those in power were quite sensitive to what Hermione's predictive analysis showed. The Wizengamot slowly started to experience the long desire turnover and the next generation to lead was the same generation who fought in Final Battle and they were found to be extremely protective of their life. While the marriage law wasn't widely popular, it was doing what it was intended to do.

Fifteen years after war and the population of British magicals had started to grow. The number of muggleborns had decreased for the first time in ten years and the magical world sighed into relief. While there was a relief, the number was still much higher than other magical populations and needed to be watched closely.

New laws had been mandated on how to handle magical children born to muggles. A monitoring system was established and when their magic started to manifest a team from the DMCR informed the parents of their child's special skills. After the discussions, the DMCR would determine if the child was at risk. Most parents were quite reasonable and had many discussions with other parents in the same situation. There were some whose personal beliefs; however, would put the child in danger. Those families were watched closely and when needed, the children were removed from the home. It was rare, but when it happened the child was placed in a home that would provide love and support. The muggles were monitored to ensure no additional magical children were born to them.

Twenty years after the end of the wizarding war saw Hogwarts adjusting their curriculum to meet the needs of the incoming classes. Muggle Studies was compulsory but pointless for those raised in the muggle world. For those students a class on wizarding history and culture was created. It provided students with an understanding of the world they were entering.

Twenty-five years after the final battle found magical Britain thriving for the first time in a century. The relationship between the isle and the rest of the magical world had been getting stronger since the introduction of the much hated marriage law. Many new families moved to replace those lost to the stupidity of hatred. Most of the pureblood mania had fallen to the side. The families that still existed were no longer pure, but found they still had power. But more importantly they found what it was to be a family again.

The unpopular marriage law remained on the books and remained so until the children of the children of those who fought in the Final Battle were in power before the law was actually retracted. It took nearly one hundred years before the predictive results showed a stable and healthy population. While Hermione was no longer responsible for the work nor were her friends on the Wizengamot, one of the lasting memories of the muggleborn witch was her fierce desire to save her world. Her children and grandchildren continued to ensure her name and work were only used for the betterment of their world.

/*\\*/ /*\\*/ /*\\*/

A/N2 - So there you have it, the marriage law trope has been marked off the list.