It was the morning she had been dreading since Albus had warned her two weeks prior. The Marriage and Repopulation Act would be passed and every witch age 17 to 60 would receive their letters informing them that they have little choice but to marry and produce offspring as quickly and efficiently as possible.

After the war, the magical community rejoiced and tried to rebuild their lives, but it did not create the population increase that the Magical Census Department expected. Thus the department wrote up a law and quietly passed it through the Wizengamot before the public had a chance to protest. Minerva herself wouldn't have even known about it without a warning from the Headmaster.

Slowly making her way to the great hall for breakfast, she mentally prepared herself in order to comfort those girls that were subject to the new law. There should be very few, as according to Albus the age requirement would be seventeen, so only a portion of the seventh years will be affected. That being said, she would prefer it not to affect them at all.

None of the staff would be required to marry other than maybe Severus, and she didn't see him proposing to anyone unless the Ministry ordered him too. Even then it was unlikely. The rest of the staff were already married or were old enough to be exempt. Minerva herself couldn't be more grateful for having reached the age of 63.

Even though she took plenty of time to get there, Minerva still arrived before the vast majority of students. That was probably due to today being Saturday, but it gave her a foreboding feeling none the less. It didn't help that all of the staff were already there either, but at least the morning post hadn't arrived yet.

Taking her seat, she noticed that the Headmaster was acting very peculiar, as if he didn't want to be there and kept glancing over at her as they waited for the post. Neither one had the stomach for breakfast, so they sat in silence waiting for the other shoe to fall.

There they are, she thought, as the owls flew through the room, delivering the Daily Profit, other mail, and those dreaded ministry envelopes. She carefully took her stack of letters and the newspaper from the owl that had sat itself down on her plate, and shooed it away. Leaving the letters for later, she opened the Daily prophet to see the Minister on the front page endorsing the new legislation.

Looking up from the paper, she watched as most of the students were reading the front page of the prophet, with shock written all over their faces. Only two Gryffindors had gotten a letter today, but the rest would be receiving their letters within the next few months if this law wasn't repealed.

As she watched the four tables of students, surprise turned into confusion, denial, sadness, or despair. If she had to categorize her own emotions, she wouldn't know where to start. It had just now started to settle down after the war and then the Ministry blind sides us with this law that will undoubtedly take away any chance of happiness for the younger generations.

Many of the students were leaving the great hall in search for privacy no doubt, leaving small clusters of younger students. For the first time in a long time, the breakfast foods look mostly untouched.

Sensing that no crises were to happen immediately, she went back to the newspaper that she was still holding. Leaving the front page for later, she flipped through the rest of the paper until she saw the title, "Most Eligible War Heroines: Hermione Granger and Minerva McGonagall." Seeing the Author was Rita Skeeter, she wasn't entirely eager to read the article, but it was a way to avoid the front page.

Just as the news of the Marriage and Repopulation Act becomes public, I bring to your attention, two very single war heroines. The first, Miss Hermione Granger at the young age of 18, is very eligible. As she spends most of her time reading or promoting house elf equality, this bachelorette should prove adequate for any wizard looking for a low maintenance wife. As far as previous experience, this girl's got it. Her past romances have included Victor Krum, Cormac McLaggen, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and countless others for sure. While many wouldn't say she's pretty, her assets have attracted famous names as mentioned above and she has never lacked male company since she started Hogwarts at age 11. Any wizard, who has even half her brains, would send a petition right away as I'm sure she won't stay single very long.

Moving right along to our second war heroine, we have Professor Minerva McGonagall. While Hermione is on the low end of the age range, Minerva McGonagall is far beyond her, just qualifying for the new law.

What? Although she would take that as a compliment if it weren't Skeeter, she had passed that particular birthday already. It wasn't like she was secretive with her age, but she was surprised that Skeeter had it wrong, as the woman usually has the base facts correct.

As Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts Scholl of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Minerva has had a steady job and income for over forty years. After a heartbreaking romance in her youth, Minerva has since cast aside any male attention. Don't let that deter you though, because as a Gryffindor she is bound to be a lion in bed, assuming of course that she is still physically capable. A woman of mystery, yet so predictable; Send a petition if you think you can tame this Lioness.

Next week we have more single witches in need of husbands as well as status updates on Miss Granger and Professor McGonagall.

By the end, Minerva would have liked to strangle that woman. Luckily though, she told herself, with the headlines today, nobody would probably even read Skeeter's article. Reminding herself that it was just Rita Skeeter's usual hokum, she turned back to the front page to read the prophet's report on the new law.

As the new law states, all witches between the ages of 17 and 65 are required to marry a wizard of their choice within 60 days of receiving their letters and produce at least one pregnancy within the next three years.

To facilitate the fulfillment of the new law, the ministry has developed a program for wizards to petition witches of their choosing. The witch in question will have the allotted time to select the petition that is most suitable in order to comply with the law.

If the witch in question chooses not to marry within the time frame allotted, the Ministry will choose a suitable husband. If the witch or wizard in that case chooses not to follow the law, the Ministry for Magic will take further action not limited to fines or imprisonment.

After meeting the marriage requirement of the law, each witch is required to produce at least one pregnancy. Contraceptive charms and potions, as well as muggle devices are strictly forbidden within this time. If after the first year, there is no sign of pregnancy, the witch in question will submit herself for an examination by a ministry appointed healer.

Setting the paper down, she looked over at Dumbledore to see that he was trying to hide behind the sports section of the prophet, which he never reads.

Snatching the paper from his hands, she turned it back to the front page, pointing out the first paragraph. "Tell me this is a misprint."

Obviously trying to avoid the topic at hand, he inspected his finger, saying, "I think you gave me a paper cut."

Not in the mood for his usual indifference, she spat, "It might not have happened if you weren't lying."

"I…I didn't know until later. The Minister brought in a healer to verify that the timeline was feasible, and he took it upon himself to inform them that the fertile period for witches was more or less age 14 through 70. At my insistence, they agreed that it was barbaric to include children, who cannot even legally marry without permission. There was little room for argument regarding the rest." He defended, finally daring to actually look at her.

"So you purposefully kept that particular bit of news from me." Minerva accused. "That is just as bad as lying in my book."

After a pause that was much too long, the only words that he could say were, "I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry."

She couldn't stand that pitying look any longer so she grabbed her things and left with as much dignity as she could muster.