A/N: Alright here we go, hope you enjoy this Scorose Marriage Law fic. This starts off about half-way through Rose's seventh year. If you want to know how I arranged the 2nd gen characters, age-wise and house-wise, there is some info in my profile.
I should be updating weekly, but I have exams coming up and I'm just an all roud lazy person so that probably won't happen. I'm going to upload the next Chapter tomorrow though, just to get things started properly.
Cover credit to Himu90 on deviantart.
Anyway off we go...
Chapter 1
I knew something was wrong the moment I woke up.
It was just a feeling in the air at first- I could almost smell it. Something was off, and it wasn't just because of the unusual silence.
Looking around I saw that the dorm was completely empty... at 8:30... on a Saturday. I was usually the first up on the weekends- eager to get down to the library and start my studying. N.E.W.T.s were coming up soon and I had been diligently revising for the last three months.
Sure, some of the other girls in my dorm, including Alice, woke up earlyish- so I wasn't too worried until I realised that Dom's bed was empty. Dominique- my most gorgeous, fiery and perpetually lazy cousin. She could easily sleep in until past midday on a weekend. And she almost always did.
I jerked upright and all but jumped out of bed, dragging my duvet with me in my haste to get up. I looked at her bed again, realising with a strangely worrying start that there were no pyjamas sloppily thrown across her bed- nor did her trunk look like it had been ransacked for clothes that morning.
There was once a time when I had believed that not even the Devil himself could compel Dom to go out of the dorm in her pyjamas. Perhaps that's why it worried me so much, you're probably thinking I'm being dramatic. But I already had an uneasy feeling in my stomach, and this new revelation was not helping.
I hurried down the stairs to the common room quicker than I care to admit. It was completely empty, a state I had hardly ever come across it in. It was always held atleast a handful of Gryffindors, from the early hours of the morning to late at night. Not only was I alone in the room, but half finished mugs of coffee and partially written essays had been just left on the tables.
That was all the affirmation I needed that something wasn't right. I left the common room as the strange feeling in my gut grew and grew. I hastened through the castle, still in my pyjamas and not even noticing my bare feet growing cold. There were other people too, wandering towards the great hall in a distressed yet almost dazed manner. Some of them were fully dressed. Some- like me- seemed to have been unnerved from the moment they woke and were still in their nightwear.
Usually, the racket in the great hall was detectable from at least the floor above. But there was nothing today, even as I came down the stairs to the room in front of the hall, not a sound came from behind those great oak doors. I was starting to think the castle had been evacuated whilst I slept.
It was only when I opened the doors to reveal the packed hall did my heart rate slow down.
Only to pick right back up again at the tense and anxious faces that turned my way. Half of the occupants were dressed the same as me, the other half had obviously thrown on whatever they could find before hurrying here.
I scampered to my habitual spot on the Gryffindor table and slid in; between Dom and Lily. Hugo and Alice sat across from me, but didn't say a word as I sat down- none of them did.
I was almost too queasy to speak at this point, but my confusion overwhelmed it and I asked my cousins, "what's going on?"
"Well," Dom began, not taking her eyes from the teachers' table. "We don't really know- McGonagall has an announcement."
"Well... it might be nothing big, why does everyone look so worried? It could just be about our N.E. ?" It was more of a question that a real reassurance.
"There are rumours going around," Lily said, turning to face me. "People are saying-" She never finished her sentence, as at that moment, McGonagall stood up and assumed her place at the front of the hall.
She began slowly, in fact for a moment she didn't speak at all. It seemed like forever to our distressed minds. Really, it must have been only a few seconds.
"Students, I... have an announcement to make." She seemed unsure how to say what she was trying to say. "The government has been... debating something for quite sometimes." As she clasped her hands together, I saw that they were shaking. It was only a slight tremble, indiscernible to most. But I had always had an eye for detail. It worried me, Professor McGonagall was never nervous.
"As you well know, there has been a severe drop in the wizarding population since the war twenty-six years ago." She paused again, "the number of squibs being born has risen distinctly due to the parents' post-traumatic stress." Whispers started up, but were silenced easily with an only half-stern look from the headmistress.
"This has created problems for the Ministry of Magic. A decline in the magical population will cause many more problems to the wizarding world in upcoming years. So." She stopped, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "They have introduced a marriage law that will affect people from ages seventeen to thirty. Those of you in Seventh year that are not yet seventeen will also be included."
The hall was in an uproar before she was even halfway through the first sentence. Dominique was on her feet beside me, yelling and shouting profanities that were all but lost in the clamour. I was just stunned into silence, now positive I was dreaming.
Or having a nightmare.
The hall was silenced once more when Professor McGonagall raised her hand. "Your counterparts will be chosen by the ministry, based off of estimated compatibility and likelihood of creating magical children."
"WHAT THE FUCK", Dom screamed then, as the howls and shouts of protest restarted louder this time, and I was pretty sure even Professor McGonagall couldn't get the room back under control.
I was motionless, shocked into submission. Could they do that? Surely there was some sort basic human right that conflicted with this. I looked over at the Slytherin table and searched for my cousin, Al. He seemed to be stunned, just like me. Scorpius Malfoy was beside him, on his feet, but not shouting. Just silently fuming.
In any other situation, I would have revelled in Malfoy's aggravation. The more prejudiced side of me might have thought something snide. 'Daddy can't help you now, Malfoy,' for example.
As it happened, I wasn't exactly feeling it in the moment.
Lily took my hand and turned concerned eyes on me. She was a fifth year, not subject to this law yet, but I was sure it would still be in practice when she turned seventeen.
That thought provoked the first flash of real anger in me. Lily was the most innocent, caring, gentle and yet bold and passionate girl ever, I felt a protectiveness over her that I didn't feel for my other cousins, despite how much I loved them.
And Lucy, my youngest cousin... I felt it for her too. I looked over at the Hufflepuff table, but she was lost amongst the mob of angry students.
Hugo's head was in his hands. I wanted to reach over and comfort my brother, but the table was too wide and the hand that Lily wasn't holding was balled into a fist that I couldn't undo.
My other cousin, Louis would be all alone and I could tell from the way Dom kept looking towards the Ravenclaw table that she wanted to go to him.
McGonagall returned to her seat then, obviously deciding there was no point trying to persist with her speech.
I let my gaze fall to the wooden table in front of me. This law- it was finally registering that it didn't just affect us. My cousins out of school would be bound to it too. Molly, Fred, James, Roxy- all of them. Even Teddy and Victoire, who had pretty much been joined at the hip since before they could walk and had now been dating for about seven years.
I thought of Lorcan last, Lorcan Scamander. My- well, I suppose I must reluctantly call him my boyfriend. It's what he was, but I had never liked the word, it seemed so frivolous. I... would never say I loved him- I still thought I was too young for that, despite my technically being an adult.
I cared for him, though, abundantly and completely. And I loved being with him, the last month or two that we had been 'dating' had been some of the happiest of my life.
I turned to search for him amongst the Ravenclaws. I found him straight away, already watching me. He shot me a sad smile when our eyes met, and I sent a confident one back. I wanted to reassure him that this changed nothing.
Really, I didn't feel very confident at all.
"Letters will be sent to each of you tomorrow morning, the content of which will be more information on the specifics of the law and the names of your soon-to-be spouses," McGonagall informed us, after resuming her position standing at the front of the room. "You may return to your families tomorrow and stay for a week, but for today you must remain on the grounds. My announcement is now over, you may stay and have your breakfasts or go and continue your days as normal."
I almost laughed, continue our days as normal. It really was quite comical. This information would dictate the rest of our lives- it hadn't even sunk in yet. We would all be paired up with someone we didn't choose, married off and then forced to produce little magic babies for the ministry.
I got up and left the hall with most of the school, I don't think many people had much of an appetite after what they'd just heard.
Lorcan caught up with me as I was walking up the stairs, pulling me to the side."Rose..." He began, then trailed off. But I suppose there wasn't really much else to say.
"It'll be ok." I told him, smiling that deceitfully confident smile again, "I'm gonna go see my family, can we talk later?" I asked. He nodded of course, and I turned, pulling my hand out of his and continuing up the stairs.
My family was already huddled together when I swung aside the portrait hole and clambered into the common room. Louis and Lucy had come too, and so had Al. Alice was sitting on the other side of the room, with her brother Frank.
I sat down on an armchair and realised with a strange sort of shift that me, Al and Dom were the parent generation now. The oldest members of our family in Hogwarts. We had been at school for half a year already, but this was the first time I had noticed it. Our younger cousins would be looking to us to make the situation better. And I didn't know how.
"It almost seems like a big joke." Hugo said bitterly.
"It does," agreed Louis from his place on the sofa next to Dom, holding her hand.
"Maybe Fred and James are behind it," Al suggested, smiling slightly and clearly making an effort to get the mood up.
"Well, we can ask them tomorrow. McGonagall said we're allowed to go home." I said, already feeling better at the thought of seeing my family tomorrow. I assumed we would all go back to the Burrow- to be with the everyone.
There was silence among us for a few moments, before Dom spoke. "They can't do this." Her anger hadn't faded since her outbursts in the Great Hall.
"They just did," Louis said dryly, whilst absent-mindedly picking at the frayed material of his pyjama top.
"I wonder what happens if we refuse." I looked to Dom, perhaps we should have been shocked by the utterance. But we had all been thinking it, I was sure.
"Maybe we'll find out on the letter tomorrow," I suggested, feeling my stomach twist in knots at the idea of reading that damned piece of paper.
"When I get that letter, there's only one thing I'm looking for, and it won't be that," Dom replied. We fell into silence again. We spent maybe ten minutes just listening to the oddly calming rhythm of the rain tapping on the window panes.
"Let's play exploding snap," Lily suggested eventually. We all sat forward; eager, glad for the distraction.
We spent the day together- there were a few times I thought of going to Lorcan, but I could never bring myself to get up and do it. Besides, I told myself, Lorcan would understand that I needed to be with my family.
We missed lunch, but by the time dinner came all of us were desperate for food so we headed down to the Great Hall together. How any members of our family lasted almost a whole day with no food is still a mystery to me.
Al and Louis returned to their respective tables when we entered the hall, but Lucy stayed and sat with the rest of us on the Gryffindor table. As soon as the food came out- we were on it like flies. We ate like proper Weasleys, and when it came to returning to our common rooms most of us were complaining that we could hardly walk.
Nanna Molly would be proud.
I went to bed as soon as we got back- it was only seven. But what can I say- it had been an emotionally straining day.
I woke up at around midnight and couldn't get back to sleep. I tossed and I turned, and I tossed some more. But I was wide awake and there was no chance of sleep for me very soon.
Eventually, I gave into my sleeplessness and curiously empty stomach, and slipped out of bed.
I padded quietly through my dorm, slipping on a jacket and my slippers and casting a quick look over my shoulder at Dom's sleeping form before I slipped out the door. I knew where to step on the stairs to avoid the creaks and I did my best, earning a strange sort of satisfaction as I jumped silently from the last step and into the common room.
It wasn't empty, a couple sat by the fire with their heads together, conversing in hushed tones, and three fourth years sat in the corner playing wizards chess. None of them cast me a second glance as I made my through the room, past the plush armchairs and slightly moth-eaten sofas to the portrait hole. I swung the painting aside and jumped through.
The Fat Lady was asleep- thank Merlin. She would have screeched up a storm if she'd seen me, and then Filch would have come running.
On the subject of Filch, I decided, better be safe than sorry. I cast a quick disillusionment charm over myself. And then I set off- I decided to go to the kitchens first. My stomach was growling, despite the ample meal I had had just six hours ago.
It was a long way to the Hufflepuff basement where the kitchens were. But I didn't mind; walking through the castle at night calmed me. It was the only rule I broke regularly- the curfew. I had always had trouble sleeping, which meant I'd been exploring Hogwarts in the dark since around year three. When I had taught myself the disillusionment charm.
When I reached the Hufflepuff common room I kept going, past it until I stood directly in front of an ornate painting of a fruit bowl. Unsuspicious and ordinary to most people, but I had learnt a trick or two from my Uncle George.
I removed my disillusionment charm, before reaching up and tickling the pear. Smiling in amusement as it began to wriggle and move under my touch so much so that it began to wiggle out of the painting and change shape. Until, quite suddenly, a green doorknob had replaced the ticklish pair.
I grasped it and swung the painting open to reveal the kitchens.
The first time I had gone down here was with Fred and James in second year. I had been shocked by the sheer size of it then- and I still was now. It was as big as the Great Hall above it, with a blazing fire and the biggest kitchen I had ever seen. On the other side was where the house elves slept and lived whilst they weren't cooking. Their living areas were quite luxurious- and I remember my mum proudly saying she had played a part in that.
Half of the house elves were awake still- leaving me to wonder how much those beds actually got used. They rushed towards me, chattering excitedly and obviously eager to start cooking.
"What would you like, Miss Weasley," one of them asked, their large, globe-like eyes dancing with joy in the fire-light.
"Just some midnight snacks, Heekey," I replied to the house elf who spoke to me. "If that's alright."
She seemed delighted as she rushed off with about ten other house elves. I supposed she didn't get addressed by name very regularly.
The remaining house elves dragged me by the hands to a stool by the fire and sat me down. They started telling me stories of their recent escapades. Mostly food related, but I still listened intently. I loved being around them- they were never anything but happy and they always wanted to talk.
I had only been sitting there for five minutes before Heekey was back and was pushing a bag into my hands. A quick peek told me it was full of pastries, sausage rolls, pork pies and the such. The house elves, aided by their magical abilities, worked fast.
Then they were pushing me out of the door, waving a cheery goodbye and imploring me to come back again soon. I replaced the disillusionment charm and set off back through the castle once more, this time with no clear destination in mind.
I thought about going to see Lorcan, but as I moved through the dark corridors I found myself taking all the wrong turns.
Instead, I was heading toward the Slytherin dorm. I suppose, subconsciously I just wanted to see Al. My cousin- my best friend. Dom was my best friend too- of course, and Alice Longbottom. But Al was always the one to comfort me when I was down- or vice versa.
I ran my fingers along the wall of the dungeons in the dark as an attempt to find the way into the Slytherin common room. Not because there was any difference in the way the bricks felt- but I had done this a fair amount of times before- I knew roughly the number of bricks down the corridor it was until I reached the entrance.
40, 41, 42... 43. There we go, forty-three was about right. I stepped back and faced the wall.
"Parseltongue," I whispered the password at the wall I could barely see. It didn't move for a few seconds, and in the silence it felt much longer to wait until, eventually, there was a strange hissing noise and the wall slid aside for me. It revealed a room bathed in eery green light; how anyone could ever find it homely, I would never know.
I felt slightly sorry for Al as I stepped inside and moved through the common room, this wasn't cosy at all. He hadn't once complained, though- so perhaps he didn't mind.
There were a few more people in here than there were in the Gryffindor common room. Older students- in my year or sixth year. Most of them paid me no attention- one or two of the ones I had gotten out of sorts with in the past watched me warily.
I'm almost- but not quite- embarrassed to say that I had had... disagreements with quite a few of the Slytherins in my year. It wasn't on purpose- when I was younger I might have been a little prejudiced against Slytherin it's true. Especially after Al was sorted as a snake.
I had shouted at him- which is something I really am ashamed of. I told him I was angry because Slytherin was the evil house. I was younger then- but I still should have know better. Honestly, I don't think I meant what I said, even when I said them. I was just feeling hurt, Al was my best friend; we were supposed to be in Gryffindor together. Then suddenly he was running around dressed all in green and silver with his bestest buddy, Malfoy.
I had gotten over my hate of Slytherin. My hate of Scorpius Malfoy, however, still rung true.
At first, I admit, I had hated him because my dad told me to and because he 'stole' my best friend. But since then, I assure you, he's done more than enough to prove he's worthy of my hostility.
I reached the door of Al's dorm then. It was silent inside so I didn't bother knocking. Instead, I cracked the door open and slid through. Clicking it softly shut after me.
I heard Al snoring almost straight away- he had always been a loud snorer. I smiled to myself, remembering all the jokes that had been made at the expense of the pig like noises that he emitted whilst he slept.
I lay down on the side of the bed that he wasn't currently occupying. "Al," I whispered, "wake up." I knew he wouldn't mind me waking him up in the middle of the night- Al could fall asleep anywhere, anytime. He could be woken up- and fall back to sleep within seconds if he wanted to.
I, however, took hours to fall asleep and often didn't get to bed until 12 because of studying anyway. Let's just say if anyone woke me up for a situation short of a fire or a thief who was stealing all my books- I would not be happy.
He opened his eyes groggily after I tried to peel them open for the third time. Whispering his name would never have worked- of course not; he had Weasley blood. He slept like a hedgehog in hibernation.
"Rose?" He asked, squinting his eyes as if he thought he might have been hallucinating. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," I said, wriggling under the covers and hoping to Merlin he had some sort of underwear on.
"Why are you here?"
"Couldn't sleep." I confessed, looking at him, "and I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?" He asked, concern now creeping into his bright green eyes.
"Nothing in particular," I replied nonchalantly- it was the truth. I just wanted to be around him and hear his voice. "Brought food though," I told him, grinning and holding up the bag Hookey had given me.
He returned my grin and sprung into a sitting position, grabbing the bag and peering into it eagerly. "Aw yes," he said, reaching in and grabbing a sausage roll, before proceeding to stuff the whole thing in his mouth. "My favourite," he told me around the pastry.
"You're disgusting," I complained, reaching over and taking the bag back. I got myself a pork pie and ate it heartily.
We did talk about nothing in particular- like I had said. We avoided talk of our impending marriages and spoke instead of quidditch, N.E. , and what we wanted to do after Hogwarts career-wise.
See, our older cousins had had it all sorted out very early on in their lives. Teddy had always loved dragons, he was obsessed with them when he was little. Now he worked with Uncle Charlie as a dragonologist. They travelled the world with a group of experts, discovering new species' and looking after existing ones.
Victoire had always wanted to go into fashion- and now she was. She worked with the best magical designers- creating dresses made up of 'butterflies' that flutter and dance, for example . Really, it was thousands of tiny butterfly-shaped bits of material. Charmed to move like the real thing.
When I was younger I had thought she was throwing away all her magical talent by going into fashion. She had always been a talented witch- and I had thought fashion magic was easy. It wasn't- it required really advanced charms- Vic did it beautifully.
Molly had been writing contracts and 'business deals' since before she could spell. Aunt Audrey once told me that Molly had made Lucy sign a contract saying that Molly would get her share of ice-cream, in return for lending her a doll. Lucy was two at the time, and Molly was eight.
Now she was working for the Minster for Magic, Kingsley Shaklebolt. His right-hand man- so to speak. Working weekends and weeknights. She was always on duty, but it seemed to be paying off. Some people even said she could be heading for Minister after Shacklebolt.
Then there was Fred and James- they'd been helping out at the Weasley joke shop for as long as I could remember. Now they were helping to manage it along with dad and Uncle George. Apparently, James came out of the womb laughing, and Aunt Angelina told me that Fred's first sign of magic was turning a five-year-old Roxanne's doll into a jack-in-the-box that popped out and made her scream so loud the neighbours came over to see what was happening.
On the subject of Roxy- she had only graduated last year, but was already on the reserves for the Holyhead Harpies. We were proud of her, of course- but this was no surprise either. She'd been a skilled quidditch player since she had got her first broom at seven. She was a beater- and had once hit a bludger so hard it had travelled into the stands, knocking out a Slytherin boy in her year.
She had claimed it was an accident, but I had heard rumours that she had caught that particular boy snogging a girl in a broom cupboard when he and Roxy were supposed to be having a midnight meet up on the astronomy tower.
So yeah, those were the cousins that had gone before us- every single one of them had dived straight out of school and into successful careers. And whilst I had been doing the best out of all of them academically (save perhaps Molly) I had no idea what to do after I left Hogwarts. And neither did Al.
"I'll probably just get some boring office job at the ministry and stay there for the rest of my life," Al said, indifferently. "A shit love life and a shit career, that's what's waiting for me after Hogwarts."
"No," I replied, shaking my head. "You're going to do something exciting with your life, I can tell." I tried to sound as genuine as possible- I really did believe it.
"Oh, so you can see my future now?" He chuckled, "I thought you hated divination. You called it, what did you say again? 'Imprecise codswallop that only human experiments in artificial stupidity would believe, let alone study,' were the exact words you used, I believe."
I blushed, remembering the day I had said those words... to Professor Trelawney's face; in the middle of a divination lesson; before walking out.
"And you weren't finished either," Al said, chuckling at the memory. "You kept going. What was it? 'This class is a few clowns short of a circus and-'"
"dumber than a soup sandwich." I finished, laughing now. "I remember. I stormed out after I said that. I will never forget the look on Trelawney's face. She hardly even looked surprised."
"She's never surprised. She sees everything before it happens in her mAgIc CrYsTaL bAlL." He spoke, moving his hands in exaggerated flourishes around an imaginary floating orb above him.
"Stop," I laughed, hitting him lightly on the arm. "How do you even remember what I said anyway. That was four years ago, but you can still say it word for word?"
"Oh, believe me, I am never letting myself forget that. I recite it to myself every night when I fall asleep- just to ensure I remember it until I die." He joked, chuckling.
I laughed with him, before scoffing another sausage roll and closing my eyes. That's how we fell asleep.
