Disclaimer: Jo Rowling is queen. Okay, not really, but in the literary world, she pretty much is.


I should have said no. I should have told all those sleep-deprived, unreasonably old-fashioned Ministry officials—my parents and uncle included on that list—exactly where they could shove it. Then, before my mother could lecture me on respecting my elders, I should have stormed out, slamming the door for good measure.

But no. I, Rose Weasley, am bound by my desire to please everyone. Except myself.

And now, what do I have to show for it? An arranged marriage, currently being orchestrated by my parents, and the parents of my future husband: Scorpius Malfoy.

My life has officially gone to shit.

You're probably wondering why my parents, and the Malfoys, are resorting to such archaic measures of matchmaking. Well, a few years ago, there was this... incident with Mr. Malfoy. I don't know the details, but apparently he got into some serious trouble, and Dad and my uncle Harry covered it up. I still don't understand why; they hated Draco in school. He must have had a pretty damn good excuse for them to do all this for him.

Anyway, whatever it was, the press never got wind of it. But they did find out about the "co-mingling" of the two prominent families, and immediately, the speculations began. And believe me, they weren't pleasant. Most people were leaning toward the "Malfoys running out of money and turning to the next-richest family to bail them out" story. A select few believed that Malfoy was trying to make amends for his dirty deeds in the past. From what I hear, he used to be a Death Eater. Anyway, there were numerous theories, and most of them were... less than flattering. To the Malfoys, that is.

So, earlier this evening, they pretty much locked themselves in Harry's study, along with a few people from the Ministry, discussing all possible methods of convincing the public that there was nothing shady going on. And their brilliant idea? A bloody arranged marriage!

They came out of the room after three hours of talking, screaming, and presumably crying. Everyone, except for Scorpius and me, was told to go to bed. He and I went into the study, looking warily into the faces of the adults.

"Sit down," Harry said in that quiet, solemn voice of his that means that he's trying his best to be calm, but inside, he's as worried as you are. Not a good sign.

I obeyed quickly, sitting in the nearest chair. Scorpius followed, which put him in the seat beside me. At the time, I thought nothing of it; how was I to know what was coming? Right then, he was just some guy I sort of knew but never really talked to, even though he was sort of friends with Albus, my favorite cousin.

Briefly, Scorpius and I shared a look, one holding a mixture of confusion and dread. Then, we turned to the adults again. Harry was sitting at his desk, Ginny just behind him, a hand on his shoulder. Mum and Dad stood to his right, with Scorpius' mum and dad on the opposite side. The Ministry officials were scattered about the room, looking all... well... official. I felt like we were being shanghaied.

"Rose... Scorpius..." Harry began, folding his hands in front of him, "We've all talked about the situation in detail, gone over every possibility, and we think we've found a solution. You're not going to like it, but as I said, we've thought of everything else, and this is really the only option."

I paused, waiting for my uncle to go on. Scorpius, obviously much less patient than myself, blurted out, "So? What is the solution?"

My dad's face went purple, while Mr. Malfoy went white as a ghost. Both our mums were sobbing into handkerchiefs. Harry and Ginny just looked concerned, and a little apprehensive. Finally, Harry cleared his throat, and said, looking at Scorpius, "You and Rose have to get married."

And there it was. The end of my life as I knew it.

Unexpectedly, Scorpius threw a rather impressive fit; it wasn't until his mother put a hand on his shoulder and gently asked him to calm down, that he actually did calm down. Then, we all sat down around the desk, and had a nice, long talk.

First, we went over the arrangements. The wedding was set to take place in a week, on April 30, the day after my twenty-first birthday (happy birthday to me, huh?). It'll be a nice, quiet, private affair, to be held at the Ministry. The only people present will be our parents, Harry and Ginny, the Minister, and the bonder. Which brings me to the next item of our discussion: the stipulations.

In order to convince people that everything is hunky-dory, there are a few things both Scorpius and I have to do. We have to actually act like a married couple. In other words, we have to at least pretend we like each other in front of the public. Worse still, it's going be a magical ceremony—a bonding. I'm going to be bonded to Scorpius Malfoy. Then, due to the rules of the standard bonding ceremony, we have to consummate our marriage on the wedding night, otherwise the bond is declared null and void. And have to stay married. Forever. Bonded for life. No turning back.

As the Muggles say... FML.


A/N: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!