A/N: This is my first ever fan-fiction, so please bear with me. This story is inspired by, based off of, and is essentially a fan-fiction of Marriage, Babies and Hatred, written by cullenchick-25x. Big thanks goes to her for allowing me to write this story as well as being my beta-reader. This wouldn't have happened with out her. I also highly recommend reading Marriage, Babies and Hatred. Not only will this story make more sense if you do, but it is also an amazing piece of writing.

Summary: After the institution on The Marriage Law, Katie Bell is faced with the prospect of having to marry Draco Malfoy. Seeing no way out of her fate, she turns to the only person she can think of, her old boyfriend Arthur Smith. Together they fight the Ministry, trying to forge a future of happiness not only for themselves, but for the rest of the wizarding world.

Ok, so I don't know if the summary is that great, but I hope you get gist of the idea for this story. As I said, this is my first fan-fiction, so please read and review. Advice and constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated, but please, no flaming, bashing, or anything of that nature. Anyways, I hope I've covered everything and that you guys enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own or claim to own any part of the Harry Potter franchise or the song What the World Needs Now is Love.

Arthur Smith violently threw his copy of the Daily Prophet against the wall, leaning back in his chair and letting out a groan. He had just now had time to read it, but it seemed to only be filled with Ministry propaganda on The Law, how it was the only way to save wizarding kind and other crap like that. He had gotten himself worked up to a frenzy writing his latest article, and the last thing he wanted to read was people praising that idiot Shacklebolt's law. The only way my foot, he thought bitterly. The wizarding world would have been just fine without the Ministry thinking it had to solve every problem. Yeah, they'd taken some major losses, but did they think that because of that, the next generation wouldn't get married or something? And, why on Earth did they think they needed them to start having children so quickly? All of this was proving just how idiotic and incompetent politicians and the government in general really were. Arthur found himself wishing he had stayed in America instead of coming back and getting caught up in all this mess.

His plans, along with every other witch and wizard his age currently residing in the UK, had been blown to bits. He had been planning on staying in England for a few years, working, dating, and spending time with his mom before going back home to America and joining the military. Now he was at risk of getting stuck with a wife he didn't know, and being required to see her every two weeks. The least the Ministry could have done was let them choose their own partners but no, in their infinite wisdom, or stupidity in this case, they had decided to pair couples together randomly. It was just sheer idiocy!

Looking at his computer screen, and the half written article he had open in Microsoft Word, Arthur decided he had had enough for one evening. The clock on the computer said it was a little after nine, meaning that he had been writing for nearly four hours. Saving the article and turning off his computer, he got up and went over to his couch. Throwing himself down on it, Arthur flicked his wand at his stereo, prompting it to turn on. He needed to calm down a bit, and hopefully the music would help. Stretching out on the couch, fully intending on getting up in a few minutes to make a quick dinner before going to bed, Arthur quickly fell asleep.

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Katie leaned her head against the door to her flat, letting it all sink in. She was going to be a Malfoy. She was going to get married to Draco, and become Mrs. Katie Malfoy, and there was nothing she could do about. Tears had started to stream down her face. She was going to be stuck in that awful mansion for the rest of her life, raising his children, being his wife. She would never know what it was like to be in love, to have a husband that loved her, that wanted to marry her for who she was. Silent sobs started to rack her body. Malfoy didn't care about her. Maybe he was interested in her now because she resisted him, but once they were married, that interest would disappear. He was only marrying her because the law required him to. The rest of her existence was going to be horrible, and there was nothing she could do about it. She just wished she could run away from it all, from the Malfoy's, from the ministry, and especially from that stupid, horrible law.

Standing up straight and trying to stop her tears, Katie decided she wanted to do something. She wasn't sure what, but the last thing she wanted to do right now was go lie down and feel sorry for herself. If she was going to be stuck with Malfoy for the rest of her life, she wanted to do something, to have something bright and joyful to remember. On an impulse she Apparated… And found herself standing in front of the door to her old boyfriend's flat. They'd been friends ever since he had started at Hogwarts during their fifth year, and their friendship had grown from there. They had never really broken up. He had been away in America when the law had been passed, and after he had come back they hadn't really found time to talk, or write, or anything. Life had just been one big mess since the law had been passed.

Raising her hand to knock, she paused. This was probably a really stupid idea. It would only make matters worse, at least for her. Seeing him again would only make the prospect of marrying Malfoy even more horrible. Then again, he probably would be furious to know she had gone to see another man. With that thought in her head, she gave the door three sharp knocks. She waited for a few moments, listening for any movements inside. She turned and was about to leave when she heard someone on the inside start to fiddle with the locks.

She turned around just as the door opened. Standing there, silhouetted in the doorway was Arthur Smith. His hair and his clothes looked slightly dishevelled and he was blurry eyed, like he had just woken up. For some reason her heart chose that moment to beat faster.

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"Katie," Arthur stated lamely, pleasantly surprised to find who was knocking on his door. In his grogginess at being woken up by the first knock he had been afraid it was some Ministry officials coming to arrest him or something absurd like that. Seeing Katie was such a pleasant surprise. They hadn't seen each other since he had left for America in mid-June, and he'd been so busy trying to fight the law since he got back that he hadn't found time to write her or anything. Seeing her standing there, as beautiful as ever in her black dress robes, made him feel guilty for not going to see her sooner, especially since she had obviously been crying.

"I'm sorry I woke you," She said, blushing slightly, "It was stupid of me. I'll just go now and…" She trailed off on the last part, looking down at her shoes. Arthur could see tears starting to form again at the corner of her eyes. Something was obviously wrong. He and Katie had been friends at Hogwarts and had been dating since they graduated, but he had never seen her looking this upset.

"No, no, you're fine, come in." Arthur said, opening the door wider to let her in. She came in and stood there awkwardly, still looking at her feet, as he closed the door. Arthur felt a little awkward himself, not knowing what to think of their relationship now that the law had changed everything. Gently grabbing her arm, he felt her stiffen at his touch; he guided her over to the couch where she sat down, still looking at her feet. He thought of making some sarcastic remark about how fascinating her feet must be, he and Katie used to razz each other a lot, but he decided that now would be a very bad time. Sitting down on the couch, Arthur looked at her, concerned. She was still staring at her feet, and he could see more tears rolling down her cheeks. Finally after about a minute, which felt like an eternity, Arthur reached out and touched her shoulder. "Katie, what's wrong," He asked simply, obvious concern in his voice.

As soon as he said that, it was like a dam had burst. Katie threw her arms around him and started to sob uncontrollably. In the midst of her sobbing Arthur could hear her say, "I can't marry him, I just can't."

Arthur just sat there and held her, rubbing her back. "It's okay, Katie," He murmured to her, hoping to help calm her down, "I'm here. I've got you. I won't let anything happen to you." He searched through his brain, trying to remember who the Ministry had assigned to be her partner. He knew he had read who it was at some point, he just couldn't remember who. But whoever it was, Katie was obviously upset about it. One thing became very clear in Arthur's mind though. He wasn't going to let the Ministry force Katie to marry someone she didn't want. Katie was a very dear friend, and the last thing he wanted to see was her unhappy.

Arthur wasn't certain how long he had been holding Katie as she cried. He kept rubbing her back, trying to soothe her, but his mind was also full of thoughts about what could be done about the Ministry. Lost in thought, it took him a while to realize that Katie had stopped crying. Looking at her, he saw that she had fallen asleep. Standing up slowly and carefully, Arthur lowered her head to the couch, making sure not to wake her. He then lifted her legs up so they were no longer hanging off the cushion and removed her shoes. Going into his bedroom, he grabbed his comforter, which he gently wrapped around her. She might be mad at him in the morning for not waking her so she could go home, but what she obviously needed was sleep. He could hear music playing from the stereo he had turned on earlier that evening.

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone."

Arthur couldn't help but smile at the irony of the song. The entire wizarding world was trying to recover from a terrible war. Love was what they all needed right now. It was a pity that what the Ministry was doing was only making things worse. Looking down at Katie, he thought once again about how beautiful she was. Brushing her hair out of her face, he bent down and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. As he stood up, he saw her smile in her sleep and couldn't help smiling himself. "I'll see you in the morning beautiful," He whispered softly before heading to his room to get some sleep of his own, flicking his wand at the stereo on the way, turning it off.