Disclaimer: Any character that you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling. Alexia and Sterling belong to me.
Prologue
It has been a year since the final battle. Lives were lost and true colors shown.
Harry had managed to kill Voldemort with the help of Ron and Hermione, both proved to be the part of 'what he had not before' in the prophecy, Ron adding strategy and Hermione adding intelligence to Harry's bravery and loyalty. With this and the love they held for one another, the Golden Trio was able to bring victory to the Order and the rest of the wizarding community.
Tragically, the Order lost Kingsley, Tonks, and Charlie Weasley. It was found that the side of good lost approximately seventy-four wizards and witches in the Final Battle, including Neville Longbottom, Padma Patil, and Hannah Abbot, among others throughout the events leading up to the end.
Most of the Dark Lord's followers had been killed in the Final Battle, but a few managed to survive and those that did plead that they had been under the Imperius Curse. While most were not believed to have been so and were sentenced to Azkaban, now with wizard guards rather than dementors, some managed to hold influence with their wealth and sway minds, such as Lucius Malfoy.
Severus Snape proved true to the Order and killed many Deatheaters. However, his wish to die in the Final Battle was not granted by the Fates as he is now deemed a hero. A title that he very much wishes he did not have. He still has not forgiven himself for all the harm he ever caused. Otherwise, he continues to live his life as before as the dreaded Potions Master of Hogwarts, but not considered evil anymore.
Other points of interest included Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy. Ginny proved to be a very powerful witch in her own right as she fended off and killed three Deatheaters on her own as well as other one-on-one duels. Even though Draco had received the Dark mark, he had turned at the start of the Final Battle. With a little Veritaserum, it turned out that he never really wanted to be one and had only done so rather than being killed, but had chosen to fight for his own beliefs in the Final Battle as he thought he should die on his own terms.
As for the Golden Trio, they preferred to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible afterwards and would now be returning for their last year at Hogwarts, filled both with grief and joy.
Chapter 1: An Unexpected Letter
Hermione sat with her trunk and her beloved cat/kneazle, Crookshanks, by the living room fireplace waiting for the Weasleys to pick her up. She had been invited to spend the rest of the summer at the Burrow when an owl started pecking at the window. She went over to receive the parchment.
'What do they want?' Hermione thought when she saw the letter was closed with the official Ministry seal. Quickly opening it, Hermione scanned the letter in disbelief, which read:
14 August 1997To All Unwed Witches, 16 years and older, and Unwed Wizards, 17 years and older;
This notice is to inform you that in light of recent events, the Ministry has established a new Decree, Number XIX: The Marriage Law. Said Decree is being enforced in order to ensure the preservation of the wizarding world as it has come to our attention that the continuous interbreeding of closely related purebloods as well as the many losses suffered has resulted in a devastating declination in the wizarding population.
As stated, said Decree applies to all unwed witches, who are of age (16 and older) and all unwed wizards, who are of age (17 and older.) Unwed wizards must apply with the Ministry for approval of courtship with an unwed witch. More than one unwed wizard may court an unwed witch, but the wizard may only court the one unwed witch.
After a year of courtship or one week after graduation from a deemed worthy wizarding educational institution, whichever is longer, the courted unwed witch must choose one of her suitors for marriage. The marriage will take place within two months of said choice. Within a year of the marriage, said couple must produce an heir. Failure to do so will result in the annulment of the marriage. Said witch and said wizard will then be eligible for courtship and marriage again.
The only manner in which an unwed witch will stay unmarried is in the event that no courtship proposals are received at the Ministry for said witch. However, if the witch receives only one proposal, then the witch must marry the suitor of the proposal. The unwed witch will have two weeks after this letter is received or after an annulment to receive proposals.
The only manner in which an unwed wizard can stay unwed is if the unwed witch does not choose said wizard for marriage. However, the unwed wizard must then continue to submit proposals for other unwed witches, until he is chosen for marriage. Said wizard is only permitted to submit one proposal at a time, meaning that he will have to wait until after the courtship before being eligible to submit another proposal if he was not chosen. If not chosen for marriage, said wizard must submit another proposal within one week of courted witch's choice.
Other stipulations for the courtship and marriage are as follows:
An unwed pureblood wizard may choose to court an unwed pureblood witch that is deemed distantly related enough, a half-blood, or a muggle-born.
An unwed half-blood wizard may choose to court an unwed pureblood witch, a half-blood, or a muggle-born
An unwed muggle-born wizard may choose to court an unwed pureblood witch or half-blood; they may not court another muggle-born
Failure to comply with these terms will result in the following - said witch/wizard must have wand broken by ministry official and will be banned from wizarding world to live among muggles.
Sincerely,
Emily A. Savary
Emily A. Savary
Ministry Marriage Decree AdministratorAfter examining the letter more closely, Hermione realized that all of the Weasley children, since Ginny just turned sixteen, as well as Harry must have received the same letter.
'I wonder what their reaction to this is,' Hermione pondered when she heard a loud crash in her kitchen.
Jumping to see what the commotion was and armed with her wand (she'd be damned, underaged or not, to be unprepared), she headed slowly to the kitchen. No matter how prepared she thought she was, nothing could prepare her for the site in her kitchen.
Hermione tried, she really did, but she just couldn't help bursting out in laughter. There was Ron Weasley stuck in her kitchen fireplace, which was much too small to attempt to floo through. It hadn't occurred to her when Mr. Weasley said he would be hooking up a fireplace in her parents' home that he would hook up the kitchen fireplace, but then she couldn't be sure he had known about the new addition.
One of her dad's hobbies involved cooking. If he hadn't been a dentist, Hermione thought he could have been a chef. Her parents had recently added a small fireplace into the kitchen for baking authentic pizzas and other treats. It really wasn't meant for bigger things, such as Ron, but there he was. His head was sticking out of the front of the fireplace with a very bewildered expression and Hermione could only assume that the rest of him was squished up the chute.
"Oh, Ron!" Hermione gasped through her fits of laughter. She was laughing so hard that she had to hold her sides and tears were running down her cheeks.
"A little help here?" Ron managed in his state. "This really isn't comfortable!"
After getting herself under control, Hermione rushed over to the fireplace oven to help pull Ron out. She grabbed underneath his arms and pulled. Ron popped out, landing on top of Hermione.
"Are you okay?" She asked in concern.
"Yeah. It's a good thing that Dad only sent me," Ron stated as he got up and extended a hand to her. "Things are hectic since we got letters from the Ministry."
"Oh, you mean about the Marriage Law?" Hermione said unpleasantly.
"Yeah. Mum is having a right fit over it. Afterall, Ginny just turned sixteen and is her baby. Now, how are we going to get back to the Burrow?" Ron asked changing the subject.
"We'll have to manage to go back the way we came. It's too bad we're underaged or we could just extend the fireplace. It's just as well; I don't think my parents would be thrilled about the change," Hermione said as she pondered the situation. "I guess the best thing to do would be to have one of us go in first, then my trunk and Crookshanks, and finally the other person. This way the first person in will be able to get the trunk out of the way for the other."
"Okay. Do you want to go first?" Ron asked trying to be considerate for once.
"No, you go. It will be easier for me to squeeze in there," Hermione stated as she headed towards the living room to gather her belongings.
A half hour later, Ron had managed to squeeze into a very uncomfortable position in order to get into the fireplace.
"The Burrow!" He shouted as Hermione threw some floo powder down for him.
Then, with the help of the kitchen table, Hermione placed her trunk and Crookshanks into the fireplace and sent them to the Burrow. Finally, she squeezed herself into a position in the fireplace that would allow her to throw down the floo powder.
"The Burrow!" She shouted.
A minute later, Hermione was in the Burrow and among some very gloomy faces and one very angry mother.