So obivously I've already read loads of 'Marriage Law' fics, some great, some not as much. This is my own version of it, and though the name 'Marriage Law' doesn't apply in this case, it's still there I got the idea from.

I'll be ignoring the fact that Fred died in DH, as I really wanted him in this story and I'll also ignore the epilogue;)

Oh and yes, the first few chapters will probably be really short, but I might make them longer later on.

All usual disclaimers apply, i.e. I own nothing but the plot.

Has the ministry gone totally bonkers? Or has it made its wisest decision in 20 years?

by Rita Skeeter

Early this morning, the ministry announced its latest decision, to pass the so-called "Marriage Bill", a bill that will certainly develop to be this month's most discussed controversial topic.

According to the bill, all unmarried witches and wizards of age will be recorded in the ministry, and a profile will be created with personal information, such as character traits, hobbies or school reports. How the ministry will gain access to this information, officials neglect to reveal.

In the end, each wizard or witch will be matched, according to their profile information. So, you single ladies and men out there, expect to get post from the ministry quite soon. The letters will not include the name of your match, but also personal information, though not their complete profile.

"No one will be forced to do anything with it", ministry official Charles Hunt announced. "We just want to give people a push in the right direction, having their best interests at heart."
The whole thing seems harmless enough. You get a letter with a name and a profile and you're free to do with it whatever you want. But the ministry's motives aren't as innocent as it wants to make the public believe. Decreasing birth rates and the great number of deaths in the Wizarding War are threatening the Wizarding community. It has greatly diminished and statisticians predict that if the marriage rate will not increase in large numbers, the wizarding community will die out within the next two centuries. So, the ministry only has its self-interest in mind, to put it mildly.

An insider revealed that the ministry had planned to go even further than that. In the original discussion, the suggestion was not that of a "Marriage Bill", but rather of a "Marriage Law" that would have forced everyone to marry their match within a certain amount of time. However, due to protest from many of the ministry officials, the law was changed into a bill and passed in its milder form.

"Still, the bill represents an intervention in our personal lives", says Hermione Granger, muggle-born witch, part of the Golden Trio and recipient of the Order of Merlin, first class. "The ministry now has an excuse to collect personal information on every single one of us, and no one can know for sure what exactly it uses it for." And she is certainly right, duty of security has already been a controversial topic and this bill will only serve to fuel the flames.

And for Miss Granger there is yet one more important issue. "It seems that the ministry has learnt nothing at all. We just defeated the darkest wizard of all times, whose primary aim it was to kill all muggleborns and to spread his ideology of pureblood racism. And yet this bill excludes marriages between muggles and wizards. What did we fight for?, I find myself asking."

Of course, Miss Granger can hardly be regarded as objective in this respect, as she is a muggleborn herself. And yet it seems ironic that Voldemort might postmortem achieve his ultimate goal in a way, with the help of our own ministry.

So what to do with those little letters? "I'm going to destroy mine without even looking at it", says Miss Granger, "and I'd advise everyone else to do the same."

While this might be an honorable approach, I'm sure that most wizards and witches will be far too curious as to whom they were matched with. "There's still enough time to destroy the letter afterwards, if you don't like the person whom you were matched with", says Hannah Abbot, recipient of the Order of Merlin, third Class. And she is certainly not alone in her opinion; most people seem to be thinking along the same lines.

"I think, Miss Granger is exaggerating", says Mark French, Ministry official. "We are very careful with the handling of private data. And nobody forbids her to marry a muggle, if she so chooses. We're only asking people to read the name, they're completely free to do whatever they like afterwards."

One thing is for sure, discussion will not die down too quickly. And yet, general acceptance seems to be dominant only a few hours after the ministry's decision.

(For more information on the 'Marriage Bill' see page 2, 3 and 4).