Love is a Ruthless Game
A Marriage Law Fanfiction
When Draco is paired with a Muggle-Born bride, Lucius takes matters into his own hands, bribing the Ministry and choosing his own daughter-in-law. But things don't go to plan when Lucius find himself irresistibly drawn to the girl who was meant to marry his son, the girl Narcissa is coming to see as a daughter already...Lucius/OC, with some Draco/OC. Rated M.
*Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended! All rights go to JKR*
Chapter One
"The Ministry of Magic wishes to inform you, Mr Malfoy, of a new law which has recently been passed concerning Magical Marriages. Due to the low birth rate of Pure or Half-Blood wizards and witches, the Ministry was compelled to consider possibilities to increase these important statistics. After much thought, we came to a decision.
"Henceforth, from this day onwards, all Magical persons between the ages of 16 and 45 will be paired up, as the Ministry in its wisdom sees fit, and will be given a two-week period in which to marry.
"Mr Malfoy, please find below the pairings concerning those Magical persons believed to be currently residing at your address. Please note, having read this letter, it has now become your legal obligation to ensure that these unions are completed before the appropriate deadlines.
Congratulations!
"Regards,
"The Minister for Magic,
"K. Shacklebolt"
*"Mr Draco Lucius Malfoy will marry Miss Olivia Charlotte Creevey forthwith."*
Lucius Malfoy scowled at the parchment in his hands, telling him that his son was to be married to Olivia Creevey. A 'muggle born'. He could feel his blood pressure rising. It was insufferable. The Ministry had to be joking, although it was far from funny. Dennis and Collin Creevey had remained largely off Lucius' radar in the time his son was at Hogwarts, luckily for them, he thought, unlike Granger. But this...No.
Lucius slammed the letter down on his desk and rose to his feet quickly, sending his chair screeching across the floor of his office. "Lexi!" he barked, and the house-elf appeared at his feet, quivering in the way she always did when he called. He couldn't imagine why.
"Fetch my cloak - I'm going out."
*.*.*.*.*
"Mr Malfoy," the amused voice of the Minister for Magic greeted him as he stormed into his office at the Ministry: "I presume you got your letter..." Lucius stopped short and glowered down at Shacklebolt, who met the anger in his eyes with a restrained grin. This clearly was a joke to him. "Have a seat..."
"Do not tell me to sit, Shacklebolt." Lucius spat the name, and gripped the back of the chair with one hand, his cane in the other. "Olivia Creevey?! What has Draco done to deserve that?"
Shacklebolt feigned incomprehension, shrugging his shoulders in a way that only served to infuriate Lucius further. "I don't know what you mean, Mr Malfoy. From what I hear, Olivia Creevey is a lovely young woman..."
"She's a-" Lucius lowered his voice. His views about mudbloods may not have changed, but government policy was becoming stricter by the day on, what they classed, 'discrimination'. "She's a muggle-born."
Shacklebolt nodded, again trying not to look too gleeful at Malfoy's disdain and discomfort. "That she is, and a fine witch too. I think she and Draco will get on swimmingly..." This time he couldn't help it; his face broke out into a wide smirk. Malfoy had been officially forgiven for his participation in the war, and Shacklebolt knew that he knew that he had to be careful not to push the Ministry too far. This resulted in endless amusement for Shacklebolt, who took great pleasure in putting the wizard in these sorts of situations, and watching him seethe. This time, however, he did have a further motive.
"Damn it, Shacklebolt," Lucius snapped, banging the chair down on the concrete of the floor. "What do you want?"
The Minister sobered, and sat back in his chair, steepling his hands in front of him as he contemplated Malfoy. "Actually, Mr Malfoy, there is an...opportunity...for 'maneuver' here. You see, I still haven't got round to sending Miss Creevey her letter." He reached into a drawer of his desk and pulled out a sealed piece of parchment. In reality it was blank, but he'd been keeping there, certain as he was that Malfoy would be along at some point. "I could always postpone sending this, if you had another bride in mind for Draco...?"
Lucius regarded him coldly, trying to gather his thoughts. What was Shacklebolt getting at here? It suddenly hit him. "You want my money. You want me to bribe you, in return for another choice."
"Not just another choice, Mr Malfoy, your own choice." Now Shacklebolt had lowered his voice too, and threw up a silencing charm around his office for added privacy. "I'll be straight with you - we're running low on funding this year. We have a whole host of new policies we need to implement, new staff we need to pay for, and not enough galleons." He got to his feet so that he was at Malfoy's height. "Quid pro quo, Mr Malfoy. A generous donation might see me burn this," he waved the parchment in between them, "And I'm sure I could convince the Ministers in charge of the law to accept a new choice for Draco..."
Lucius took a deep breath, trying to think through his options. It was clear that Shacklebolt wanted an answer now. Money wasn't an issue for him, and he was confident that Shacklebolt wasn't aware of the extent of his wealth, especially his income from property and investment abroad. He could give a generous donation, and hardly make a dent in his galleon supplies... "I'll do it."
*.*.*.*.*
{Author's note: this story was published a few years ago under my old pen-name; I recently came across the chapters and decided it was time to re-upload. As all the chapters are already prepared, I will be uploading regularly.}
