Written for the Magical Law & Government class at Hogwarts: Write about a strict rule being broken (prompt: forbidden), The FRIENDS Competition (TOW George Stephanopoulos) and The Mortal Kombat Challenge (Liu Kang)
A/N: AU in which Amortentia is illegal.
"In modern wizarding society, Amortentia potion holds the same potential as the rest of the unforgivable curses, leading it to hold the same punishment. Anyone found to be using the Amortentia potion on another human being will, without regard to the individual's status, spend the rest of their life in a maximum security cell in Azkaban."
-An expert from, "Offenses and Crimes of the Wizarding World" by Reginald Bones.
...
On the mornings where the sunshine streams through the windows of the cottage, Merope dreams. Chin tucked into her hands, Merope sits on the porch and lets the sun soothe her tired bones.
Eventually, her father and brother will make up and Merope's moments will end. She knows, without a doubt, that they will break her the way they do every day and she will cry herself to sleep and piece herself together the next morning out of necessity and a little bit of spite.
But for now, it is just her and the outdoors, the glory days. Merope dreams of the kind of balls her father talks about when he gets drunk and starts screaming about their stolen fortune and broken legacy.
Merope imagines herself as a princess, adorned in the finest of jewels. Perhaps she will even have the kind of dress that flares out behind her as a handsome young wizard spins her, eyes adoring.
For now though, it is only a dream, the only thing her family cannot steal.
...
There is a boy who lives not far from her, who fits her dreams like he was made from one. He is tall and handsome and a Muggle.
Merope cannot help but frown at that. He is still a muggle, no matter how her heart soars when she spies him riding his horse near their home. But surely, love is more important than her family's strict rules? After all, he is the one she has fantasized about for years.
They will be happy, she and Tom, she's sure of it. He may not love her yet but she will be the best wife he has ever even dreamed of it. They will never leave each other sides.
She swears it.
...
"Filthy little Squib," Her father hisses and Merope cannot tell what language it is until she sees the ministry official winces and gets a tighter grip on his robes. She has dreamed of this too, her father and brother bounded and unable to hurt them.
She is no squib. She is a Gaunt and a witch and she will show them all. She will be greater than they have even dreamed off. Unlike her father, she will marry for love and not blood. Her happiness will be her revenge.
"Goodbye," Merope says quietly, but her voice carries in the room. There's no sight better than the back of her family's head.
...
She finds the potion buried in her father's trunk, alongside many other forbidden substances. They are lucky, her father and brother, that the ministry official did not search the house. Or unlucky, perhaps, because she will break their reality against their expectations.
There are old artifacts, cracked and broken, shattered like her family's dreams. A stacks of books tetters, unbalanced. It catches her eyes, a book with pages ripped out, broken and cracked.
"Moste Potente Potions," her future written in pages of the darkest potions available.
...
She meets Tom at the edge of the river's stream. His horse is luscious and stretches his head when he hears her approach, neighing lightly.
"You're the Gaunt girl, aren't you?" Tom asks suspiciously when he sees her standing, mouth dropped open at the sight of him.
Merope blushes. "Yes, I am."
Tom looked away in disgust but Merope saw him look at her from the corner of his eye. He looked almost curious and Merope's breath caught in her throat. She didn't dare dream but could it be that he may actually be interested in her?
Well, there was only one thing she could do about it. Taking a deep breath, Merope spoke, "Would you like something to drink?"
Tom looks her over before shrugging. "Fine."
Merope grins, lopsided and happier then she has ever been.
...
Tom fiddles disgustedly around the cottage while Merope makes herself busy. She gets the cleanest cup she can find and pours the potion into it. Then, she takes a minute and walks to her destiny.
Tom looks horrified at the state of her home but he chugs the cup down snobbily and she can almost pinpoint the moment where his entire demeanor changes.
This is where her future begins.
"Would you like another cup?" Merope asks, uncertainty bleeding into her voice. "Or to stay over perhaps?"
"Yes!" Tom exclaims and Merope feels like a princess, no matter how far from one she really is.
Tom is her prince and together, they'll have the happily ever after of her dreams, no matter what is takes.