From this day forward every member of the magical community, without exception, will be engaged to be married before the twentieth anniversary of their birth. If by that date they are not engaged to the person of their choice, they will be paired with another unmarried witch or wizard of comparable age through the use of a Ministry approved Compatibility Determination Charm henceforth referred to as a CDC. Regardless of how the pairing occurred, every couple will be married within 6 months of the younger partner's twentieth birthday or pay a fine of 1,000 galleons. The couple will also be fined if a child does not result from the marriage within the first three years. This fine will be equal to one fifth of the household's monthly earnings to be paid each month until a child is conceived unless Ministry healers determine that a pregnancy is impossible or life-threatening. All unmarried members of the magical community currently between the ages of 21 and 35 will be sent the results of their CDC and are expected to marry before January 1st or face consequences up to and including a fine of 5,000 galleons and one month jail time to be served…

The declaration continued but Hermione had read enough. She had heard whispers of a marriage law around the Ministry but she couldn't believe that it had actually been passed. It was no secret that Kingsley Shaklebolt had stepped down as Minister of Magic because of a disagreement with the Wizengambot about proposed legislation and Hermione was willing to bet that this law was the one behind it all. She sat at her kitchen table with her head in her hands, listening to the rain beat against the window. All unmarried members of the magical community currently between the ages of 21 and 35… There was no doubt that the 22 year old witch fit that description but how could she get married? She had never wanted to get married before her career was stable and interning at the Department of International Magical Cooperation did not count as stable employment much less a career.

The sound of two owls tapping on her kitchen window roused Hermione from her thoughts. Both owls were sopping wet so she lay out a towel before letting them inside. The first owl was a common barn owl she didn't recognize, probably just a post owl. The second was a friendly tawny owl named Puff who belonged to Ginny Weasley. Hermione took both letters and gave the owls a couple of owl treats to munch on while they dried off. The post owl ate his quickly, hooted his thanks, and took off back into the storm. Puff, it seemed, was keen to stick around for a while so Hermione closed the window against the cold. The letter from the post owl was thick and addressed rather formally so she opened Ginny's letter first. It was short and to the point. It read: Need to talk. Will floo at 6:15. Hermione glanced at the clock. She had ten more minutes before Ginny was going to be there so she sat down to read the other letter.

When she flipped it over to find the Ministry of Magic crest stamped on the flap of the envelope, she had a sinking feeling she knew what it was. Well, she thought, better just see what it says. No point in putting it off. She slipped her thumb under the seal and pulled the parchment out of the envelope. She skimmed the cover page, noticing that it was very similar to the proclamation she had already read in The Daily Prophet. It wasn't until the second page that she found something addressed specifically to her. She was still skimming, catching only tidbits and phrases from the letter.

Ms. Granger… Ministry employee….. responsibility to set an example…. enclosed…preliminary CDC results….married by December 1st…. termination of employment….

That was where Ginny found her, sitting in the kitchen with a look of utter disbelief on her face and a letter in her shaking hands.

"Hermione!" The witch didn't respond.

"Hermione!" Ginny said, shaking her by the shoulders. "Hermione, what's the matter?"

Hermione roused herself and burst into tears, shoving the letter into Ginny's hands. Ginny read it slowly, her eyes widening as she understood what the letter was saying.

"They're telling you that you have to get married in less than a month or they're going to fire you?! Bloody hell, Hermione… You've got it worse than the rest of us." Ginny sank into the second kitchen chair. The two sat in stunned silence for a few moments, occasionally broken by a stifled sob from Hermione.

"What are we going to do, Ginny?" she whispered. "What am I going to do?"

"Well Harry and I talked about it earlier and we couldn't see a way out of it. That's why I came to you. I mean, we know we want to get married someday so I guess we'll just have to do it sooner than we would have hoped. But you Hermione, I don't know what you're going to do. I know you want to make a difference in the Ministry, but is it really worth this?" Ginny gestured with the letter, the three pages rustling together.

"I don't know. I really just don't know Ginny." She sighed. "Let's see what the charm had to say I guess."

Ginny flipped to the last piece of parchment and gasped. Hermione saw her eyes well up with unshed tears and felt a wave of dread wash over her as her heart dropped to her knees.

"What?! Who is it?"

Ginny slid the parchment across the table. There, in bold black print that stood out cold and sharp against the white page, was the name

HARRY J. POTTER

Author's Note: Please review! I don't know how I feel about this story yet so your feedback is EXTREMELY important.