A/N – Hi, I am new author (due to general awkwardness of people I know in real life reading my stuff). This is an idea I've had for a while and just wanted to do. It's canon minus the epilogue in case you wanted to know. I'm in no way infallible; criticism is welcomed (although so are follows, favourites and reviews…) so thank you for even choosing to read this.

Disclaimer – I own none of Harry Potter.

A Walk in the Park - Chapter 1

Hermione Granger sat on the sofa in her small flat, engrossed in the pages of a thick book. Her eyes flickered across the pages as she sat in silence, pausing occasionally to take a sip of tea. Her legs were tucked under her and she was wrapped in a large jumper. The weather had been appalling for the past few weeks and the howling gale outside her window had only just started to ease up.

She had been sat like this for almost an hour when a gentle tapping sound caused her to jerk up, slopping the mug of tea she cradled in her hand. As the tea was nearly cold, it did little damage and Hermione merely sighed as she siphoned away the liquid, removing the mess.

Once she had finished, she remembered what had startled her initially. Looking over at the window, she saw an owl waiting patiently outside, its feathers ruffled by the wind.

She hurried over to the window and let the owl in quickly. She didn't recognise it, but she had many wards to stop dangerous mail. Ron always laughed and called her paranoid; she liked to think that she was prepared. She stroked the top of the owl's head with the back of her hand as she reached into the pot of owl treats that resided by the window. The owl accepted its gift happily and held out its leg obediently. She removed the letter and opened the window again, unsure if the bird wanted a reply.

"Clearly not," she smiled, as the bird flew away without a second glance.

She closed the window quickly; the wind was still harsh and cold. Walking back to the sofa, she looked at the envelope in her hand.

It had the Ministry of Magic seal. Unusual, but not unheard of for her. Although usually when anyone wanted to contact her out of office hours they didn't use the seal, and generally expected a reply.

Hermione scolded herself gently for overthinking this. The intelligent thing to do here would be to just open the letter. And so she did.

As her eyes scanned the contents they widened. Her hands started shaking and she sunk deep into the sofa, her hand running anxiously through her hair.

She couldn't do this. She couldn't. She couldn't inflict herself on anybody, let alone who it might be. And Merlin, who could it be?

Within the next six months, Hermione was going to have to get married. To a pureblood of the Ministry's choosing.

The Burrow was in uproar. Mrs Weasley paced anxiously around as her many children conveyed their anger through shouting and in the case of some, the smashing of plates.

Hermione sat in the midst of this chaos. Her head rested in her hands. What if she ended up with someone she had fought against in the war? Someone who treated her like the scum they viewed her to be? She would have to have children with this person, how? How did any government have the right to do that to their people?

Not everyone suffered though. Bill and Fleur were already married and had a child. They would be allowed to continue their lives with the person of their choosing; the person they loved.

Percy was also one of the lucky ones. He had proposed just weeks before to his girlfriend of several years, Penelope, and had applied for the marriage license, thus exempting him from the law.

Charlie was abroad and having lived in Romania for over three years had no obligation to return and be married. If he decided to return to Britain however, he too would be under the jurisdiction of the new law. Somehow, Hermione suspected the dragons would be the choice here.

George was pacing frantically. He was barely ready to live life again, let alone be forced into a marriage. It had been three years since Fred had died and still he looked lost without him. He now came along to family events, but there was no way he was ready for this. Hermione's heart wrenched as she caught the word 'Fred' from his quiet muttering.

Ron too was not happy with this new law. He had been decidedly single since the end of the war, he and Hermione having decided that they weren't suited to be together. Hermione winced; some poor girl was going to have to put up with him chewing with his mouth open for the rest of their lives.

Harry and Ginny sat quietly in the corner, entwined in each other's arms, Harry having finally persuaded Ginny to stop destroying all of the Weasley's crockery. Hermione knew Harry had planned to propose this spring and had retrieved his grandmother's ring from the family vault in preparation. It was a disaster that he had not made this decision earlier or he and Ginny might not have suffered under this new law. Sadly, their fate, like Hermione's was in the hands of the ministry.

Each member of the wizarding population between the ages of 20 and 40 were subjected to this law. Increasing numbers of squibs born from too much interbreeding from purebloods and the war meant the wizarding population of Britain was at an all-time low. All witches and wizards within this age range would have to undergo a series of tests from which a suitable spouse, by both bloodline and, with luck, personality would be chosen. By this time next week, she would know the identity of the person she would be spending the rest of her life with.

The tests were fairly simple. A medical and then some brief questions about what she enjoyed doing, her aspirations and other generic questions. Hermione was astounded that such a tiny set of questions was being allowed to dictate the future of half the wizarding population. She had half a mind to send a letter of complaint in, but knew this would have little effect. The ministry had received so much mail over the last few days, she doubted it would be read, let alone taken into account.

This whole situation emotionally exhausted her, as well as physically. She had spent the last three nights reading over the small print in the bill, trying to see a loophole. However, no matter how hard she tried, she realised the ministry had put a lot of effort into making sure this bill was watertight. There really was no way out.

Three days later, just a week after she had received the first letter, another arrived, bearing the name of the man whom she was to marry.

Hermione felt nauseous as she detached the letter from the owl's leg, her eyes unfocused as she offered the owl a treat.

This was it.

She broke through the thick wax seal, gritting her teeth as she pulled the paper from the envelope.

Her eyes scanned the page desperately, skating over the legal jargon as she tried to find her partner.

Finally, she saw the words she had been looking for.

George Fabian Weasley.

A/N – I hope that was okay. Please follow/leave reviews if you can – it makes my day. I hope to update within the next couple of weeks. However, please don't quote me on that… Thank you for reading.