Chapter 1: Of Beasts And Betrothal
April 15, 1980
New Werewolf Legislation Sees Britain's Beasts Betrothed
by Pearce Nichols
Minister for Magic Millicent Bagnold spoke last night of a recently accepted change to the Anti-Werewolf Legislation Act.
"We are all aware of how dangerous [werewolves] are," Ms Bagnold addressed the crowd, "and this new law aims to cut their interference with non-cursed folk to a minimum."
She is, of course, referring to the law that was accepted by the Wizenmagot after several hours of deliberation yesterday, stating that all registered werewolves currently residing in Britain are to be matched by a Ministry-appointed official to a compatible mate, and the pair will then marry.
This mass betrothal is set to start today, with hopes to have the weddings finalised by August.
"I for one think it's a great idea," Wizenmagot member Bernadette Dresden states, "If they're married to each other then they can't marry people like us."
No werewolves were willing to make a statement at the time of printing.
Remus Lupin, a sandy-haired, tall, young man, hadn't realised how tight his grip on The Daily Prophet had become.
His three closest friends stood behind him as he read and re-read the article.
Sirius Black had his wand gripped tightly in his right hand, his grey eyes nearly burning a hole in the godforsaken newspaper.
He could feel the hot, bubbling anger inside of him reach past his stomach and in to his ribs.
James Potter, the dark-haired, glasses-wearing, surprisingly-quite-mature-when-he-had-to-be member of the group tore his glare away from the print, instead looking to Remus, concerned.
And little Peter Pettigrew, who was mousy and much shorter than the rest, tapped nervously at the table with his constantly-moving fingers.
"This... this is bad." James finally broke the edgy silence that had enveloped the group.
"No shit, Prongs." Sirius' voice was low, a slight tremor in his pitch gave away his anger in a heart-beat.
"But it's not the worst thing that could happen." James continued, eyeing Sirius in a silent plea that he wouldn't say anything to further upset Remus.
"How?" Peter asked, pausing in his table-tapping for James' answer.
"Well, it's not like they're sending Moons off to Azkaban." James knew it was a weak response, but he was always a fan of silver-lining.
"Well praise Merlin." Sirius frowned.
Unlike James, Sirius knew that clouds were grey, not silver. And grey meant storms.
Sirius hated storms.
"I'll bet you anything this has to do with Mulciber's promotion to head of Magical Creatures." James thought aloud.
"You think Death Eaters had a hand in this?" Sirius' grip on his wand tightened, and his eyes flew to the angry grey sky visible through Lupin's kitchen window. Just fucking great.
At the mention of Death Eaters, Peter's eyes gaped and his eyebrows shot up in to his hairline.
"Why would Death Eaters want werwolves marrying other werewolves?"
"Stumps me." James shot back, leaning against Remus' sink, "It just doesn't sit right-"
James was cut off as Sirius yanked him forward, just in time for an official looking owl to swoop gracefully through the window.
The bird landed on the table in front of Remus, who numbly lowered the newspaper and stared blankly in to the expecting eyes of the barn owl.
Sure enough, there was a Ministry-sealed envelope attached to it's leg.
As soon as it's letter was safely sitting in the shaking hands of Remus, the bird took flight and was gone.
The three other men watched on, holding their breath.
Lupin's fingers fumbled as he slowly un-peeled the envelope edge, extracting a brief letter.
To Mr R Lupin,
I am writing to inform you that you have been successfully matched with a suitable mate.
Name: Elke Herbst
Age: 17
Gender: Female
You are to required to attend a short information session at the Ministry of Magic, in the Atrium on the Ground Floor at 9.00am, April 19.
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding,
Seleena Grishop
Secretary
Department for Control of Magical Creatures
Remus stared at the letter for a long time, before silently handing it to James.
"Well, where's the photo?" James queried after speed-reading the note.
"What?" Remus asked slowly, his voice somewhat crackly due to the tightness of his throat, and the fact he hadn't spoken for about half an hour.
" 'Please find a photograph of your assigned mate attached.' " James read aloud, turning the page to see if perhaps the picture was on the back.
The four boys then snapped their gazes back to the envelope now sitting facedown on Remus' table.
Raising a tentative hand, Remus slowly pulled the cream coloured card towards him, taking a deep breath before glancing inside of it.
Sure enough, there was another piece of paper inside, smaller than the letter.
He held it with shaking fingers, slowly pulling it out.
But he hesitated.
He hadn't had a lot to do with werewolf women, but from those he had met, well. They left a lot to be desired.
Not to say that Remus was vain or shallow.
But the fact that he had no say in who he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with irked him.
He hadn't ever planned on marrying anyone.
With one final calming breath, Remus pulled the photograph out in to the light.
His mouth went dry and he swallowed. Hard.
He was immediately caught by her eyes. They were a light, icy blue, which stood out starkly in contrast to her dark eyelashes.
Her hair was black and straight, pinned back out of her face.
She was thin. Very thin. Probably too thin.
The singlet she was wearing in the photograph showed a vicious, angry red scar that enveloped her left shoulder.
Her bite.
It looked recent. It had barely healed over.
His eyes trailed back up to hers.
"Moony?" Sirius broke the silence, eager to see the photo.
Remus looked up at his friends for a moment, before placing the photograph of the girl – his fiancee – on the table for all to see.
Sirius let out a low whistle.
"Oh." Peter breathed.
"Moons." James raised his eyebrows with the hint of a grin visible on his features.
"Geez Rem," Sirius smirked, squeezing Lupin's shoulder as he leaned closer to the photo."I can only offer my congratulations."