The Burrow was full of noise that Sunday morning. It had been six month since the battle of Hogwarts and Fred was finally coming home from St. Mungo's. Molly and George had gone to the hospital before first light in order to help arrange things to bring him home. After the wall collapsed they had all thought Fred would never light up a room again, but somehow, thanks to a certain curly haired witch, he managed to hold on until they got to Mungo's. He had been healing nicely thus far and had been walking again for about two months. The media itches agreed that he could return home but only if he stayed in his family home for at least the six following months to ensure someone was always there to help take care of him.

While Molly and George were helping Fred to the exit, the rest of the Wesley's were busy preparing breakfast. They wanted everyone to feel relaxed since the final red-head was finally returning home. Arthur was helping Ginny and Ron cook the bacon while Percy, Bill, and Charlie set the table. Harry and Hermione joined them making toast and coffee for everyone. It was a small breakfast but Molly usually handled the harder aspects of the family meal.

Once the table was set the entire family sat down together, waiting for the final three members. They did not have to wait long as the floo sounded and there was a small crash from the living room. George came into the kitchen smiling widely and completely covered in ash. Behind him Fred and only followed, much cleaner than the first boy. Molly smiled as she took her place next to Arthur at the head of the table. Finally, her entire family was together.

"Bill, where is Fleur?" Bill smiled at his mother, he was pleased with ow close the two witches had grown over the past year, it was the one good thing that had come out of the war in his opinion.

"I am 'ere," came her gentle voice. She was still in the earl stages of her pregnancy but unfortunately morning sickness had started to take its toll upon her. She settled in next to Bill and the entire family started talking at once. It was as though there had been no chance from nearly six years ago when Ron, Fred, and George stole the car. Molly smiled content looking at her large family. Even Fred, who had been slightly quieter since the events at Hogwarts was speaking animatedly to Hermione about a new product he had thought of for the shop.

"Have you tried using the bat bogey hex as a base?" Hermione asked and Fred's calculating eyes lit up slightly. He knew that she would know exactly what to do to fix the problem. Next to him George smile too, happy to see that Fred was returning to his pre-war mindset.

Arthur stood up at the head of the table, obviously planning on saying something. The room fell silent as he cleared his throat.

"I would just like to say that today has already turned out to be one of the best days of my life. I am so pleased that my entire family is finally under one roof together. Harry and Hermione, that includes the two of you as well. You might not have red hair but you are still Weasleys to me and I hope that has been clear to you since the first time you entered this house." The entire family cheered and Molly wiped away a small tear. Now it was Fred's turn to speak, he did not stand as that was still a struggle for him but instead set off a small fire cracker to draw everyone's attention to him.

'So, I have a few things I wanted to say. First off, Ron I saw you crying that first night at St. mungo's and I will continue to hold that over your head until the day I actually die," Molly glared at him obviously displeased with the route he was taking in his speech. "Secondly, I would like to thank The Boy Who Keeps on Living for killing Voldemort quickly so I could make it to the hospital on time. Finally, I would like to properly thank Hermione here for her quick thinking and her excellent wand work, without you I would not be here right now." At this the room cheered again and Hermione and Ron both turned red.

The rest of breakfast continued uneventfully, with most of the family discussing their jobs and the like. Just as things were wrapping up three ministry owls flew into the room and landed next to Arthur. Between the three there were ten envelopes addressed to Hermione, Harry, Ron, Arthur and Molly, Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, Ginny, and Bill and Fleur. The official seal of the Ministry marked each one.

Arthur and Molly opened their first and read it aloud to the room.

The Ministry of Magic is pleased to announce the Marriage Law

Following years of unrest in the magical community the Ministry has decided to create a law which will allow the wizarding community to recover from the devastating losses associated with the war against He Who Must Not Be Named. In order to do this Wizarding Decree 10673894 states that every witch and wizard must be married by the time they turn twenty years old. This applies to all currently unmarried witches and wizards and there will be a one year grace period where individuals between the ages of twenty and ninety seven must be married or face a sentence in Azkaban of ten years. Any witch or wizard who fails to comply with this law will face a similar sentence. In the following weeks a list of potential matches will be sent to each eligible witch or wizard so they may decide who they will marry.

Sincerely

Kingsley Shackbolt

Minister of Magic

The room erupted as Arthur finished reading his letter. The remaining letters were torn open and contained the dates by which each of the children were to be married by. Bill was the first to speak following the revelation.

"At least you get to choose who you get to marry," he tried to sound optimistic. Molly silenced her oldest with a glare. Harry was holding Ginny's hand trying to comfort her. She was the only one well under the age limit for marriage but Harry was turning twenty in only a few short months. There was a significant chance the two of them would not wind up together after all.

Percy turned to Charlie and George and the three began discussing the situation quietly with one another, they would have to get married swiftly as they were both well over the twenty year age limit. Fred threw his letter onto the table.

"I have an extra six months to get married due to my injuries sustained in battle," was all he said. He caught Hermione's eye and he could see the fear there, Fred wished to comfort her as she had comforted him following his injury. Instead he shrugged at her and looked away, he had a lot of unresolved feelings there, which had only grown the more time he spent alone recovering, but that was something he would focus on at a later time.

The family excused themselves from breakfast but Hermione and Fred hung back. She was still gripping her letter tightly in her hand and he gently touched it, hoping to force her to release her grip.

"Muggleborns are being asked to marry purebloods," she said quietly, causing Fred's heart to drop. Many pure blood families discriminated against muggleborns to begin with, he could only imagine what would happen if one as independent as Hermione was forced to marry in to a family like that.

"The Weasleys are technically purebloods," Fred responded. "Marry Ron before the matches come." Hermione shook her head.

"We're not dating Fred, Ron and I have nothing in common and were simply victims of proximity." Fred felt something loosen on the inside, something that he had not realized he had been holding on to. He felt incredibly hopeful all of the sudden.

"Well he's not the only Weasley," Fred smiled slightly. "Perhaps Percy will marry you and you can have a nice boring life full of bookshelves and parchment." Hermione laughed and met his eyes for the first time. He could see the traces of tears there but did not comment, she was going through a lot and did not need someone else to point that out to her.

"I guess all we can do is sit and wait."