A/N: Hello everyone! I finished writing this chapter from my vacation destination and couldn't wait to share it. Please feel free to leave a review, the door is always open.
ooOoo
The end of the century, I said my goodbyes. For what it's worth, I always aimed to please, but I nearly died. For what it's worth. Come on lay with me, 'cause I'm on fire. For what it's worth, I tear the sun in three, to light up your eyes
For What It's Worth- Placebo
ooOoo
Remy made her way to the library with the secondary letter from the Ministry in her hand, determined to work her way through the previous editions of the Daily Prophet to be found there. If Professor Dumbledore did in fact say they had been published about a month before, why had she not seen it? Granted, she didn't read the Prophet every day; she could have missed it.
But first, the letter. Professor Dumbledore had very kindly suggested she read it before anything else. Sitting at an empty table with a rather large stack of newspapers, she broke the wax seal, unfolded it and began to read.
Professor Dumbledore, it read.
As you very well know, Law 18486, the Magical Marriages and Repopulation Law, was enacted in the hope that Statute 658 would bring about a surge in the magical population, having dwindled significantly during the War. The Blood Status hearings that you refer to within Statute 658 are, as you rightly surmised, being used to determine any Muggleborn witch or wizard's ability to continue their magical bloodline, hence helping to recoup the loss. I do not say this lightly, as every eligible witch or wizard up to the age of 39 will be interviewed and subject to said hearings. That being said, it would usually be conducted after the person's birthday. With the student in question, Miss Coltrane's, birthday being the 17th of October, it is absolutely imperative that we see her and identify and treat any potential problems or impediments to seeing this law fulfilled.
Kingsley Shacklebolt
Minister for Magic
Remy looked at the letter in disgust, resisting (and very nearly failing to repress) the urge to rip the parchment into very tiny pieces. It was absolutely ludicrous: thinking that every eligible witch or wizard would actually comply with this ridiculous law. Were they hoping to repopulate the entire country within a year's time? It actually sounded as though they wanted to be using whomever was left as breeding chattel.
"I just… I don't understand," she said to the parchment. "How are they going to determine Blood Status and use that within a Marriage Law? If I received the letter, they already know I'm Muggleborn, what would be the point?"
Sighing heavily, she put down the parchment and moved to start looking through the previous editions of the Daily Prophet. There had to be something in these pages, even if it were only a sentence… perhaps it would help.
Three hours and sixteen editions of the newspaper later, including a marriage announcement between Seamus Finnegan and a young witch named Samantha MacDonald, and other announcements acknowledging all those who had lost their lives, she was still no closer to finding her answer.
Well, wasn't that just perfect?
What had Professor Dumbledore said once she'd read the letter? Right, speak with Professor Snape. But then, what could Professor Snape do to help? He did not have any sort of power at the Ministry, and he seemed more than content to live his life anonymously with very little contact from anyone, aside from Professor Dumbledore and the occasional meeting regarding school matters.
Wanting very much to strangle the Minister of Magic for this absolute travesty of a law, she picked up her books and made sure to return the Daily Prophets to their rightful place before making her way to Professor Snape's office. Having only been there once before (and quite accidently, she would silently add), it took her a few minutes to find her way.
Clearing her throat, she knocked on the door.
"Come," was the curt reply.
She pushed the door open to see him bent over a piece of parchment and quill scratching furiously over it. He looked up, nodded at her, and continued with whatever it was he was writing.
Remy took this to mean that she was welcome to sit in one of the chairs in the corner, and he would be with her in a moment. Doing so, she watched as he inspected his work, and set it back down.
"How can I help you, Miss Coltrane?"
"Professor Dumbledore said I should speak with you after I read the letter from the Ministry."
He nodded curtly. "And what did you discover?"
"That there is absolutely no record of this mandate regarding Blood Status and this new Marriage Law that I can find. Sixteen previous editions of the Prophet and absolutely nothing, sir," she answered. "Which makes me wonder why this is even an issue. If they want to repopulate, would they not just allow people to do so in their own time?"
"The Ministry enjoys nothing more than interfering in people's lives, Miss Coltrane. I thought that would have been an obvious conclusion." He got up and poured a glass of water from the pitcher on the shelf behind his desk. "Could I offer you some water?"
"Thank you," she accepted a glass from him. "We've already established that they enjoy interfering, but they already know I'm Muggleborn, don't they? I wouldn't have received the letter if they knew otherwise, isn't that correct?"
"It seems logical," he agreed.
"And why did Professor Dumbledore tell me to speak with you about it?" Remy asked. "Is there anything you might be able to do?"
He grit his teeth.
"I received a letter from the Ministry myself," he admitted, as though it physically hurt. "It seems that once you have had your hearing, the next step is to match you with another eligible wizard in order to expedite the process."
"See, that would have been useful information to have when I received the letter," she took a sip from her glass. "How did you know this if Professor Dumbledore wasn't willing to say anything more than he did?"
He hesitated. "Dumbledore did have this information. He felt, for whatever reason, that it would be better coming from me."
"That is one of the most confusing things I have ever heard in my life," she answered. "I have absolutely no connection to you, Professor, well, personal connection at any rate. Not that I don't hold you in some regard…" She drained her glass and held it on her lap. "And just who are they looking to match me with? Have they said?"
He bit the inside of his cheek.
"They have not, Miss Coltrane," he answered. "However, if you schedule your hearing, then I will do what I can to find out more. It might be possible for me to help you."
She nodded. "Thank you, sir." Handing him the glass, she went back out the door and back to her dormitory.
ooOoo
Severus Snape went back to Dumbledore's office once Ramona had dismissed herself. Of course, he had lied to her in not knowing whom they had wanted to pair her with.
He had had much the same reaction she did when he had received a letter informing him that was to be part of this farce. The dunderheads at the Ministry thought it a good idea to pair him with Ramona Coltrane, a young woman who, until the day before, he had barely spoken three sentences to outside of a classroom.
Then again, this was happening with the majority of people affected by this new law. Granted, he had long since been identified as a Half-Blood wizard, but this sounded just as absurd to him as it did to Miss Coltrane. He would have been content to live out the rest of his life alone, but it seemed he had little choice in the matter. He did not know exactly what had been written in Miss Coltrane's letter, but his had explicitedly stated that the alternative would be to surrender his wand and live out his life as a Muggle.
Well, he could live as a Muggle if he so wished, but he much preferred his status as a wizard. He still had the house at Spinner's End, but Cokeworth was still not a place he wished to be spending any significant amount of time. It had not changed in the years he had lived there. It was still dilapidated, cold, and dirty, as it had been when he was a child. No person should want to live there, except those who did not have a choice.
"Headmaster, why did you think it prudent to send her searching with only half the information she would have needed to make the same conclusion? Miss Coltrane is scheduling her hearing as we speak, and yet I am forbidden from telling her that the Ministry is seeking to pair her with me."
"I thought it might help, Severus, in allowing you and Miss Coltrane a little more contact if you are to be subject to this law."
Severus bit the inside of his cheek so hard he swore he could nearly taste blood.
"I am certainly no good match for a seventeen year old girl," he insisted. "Would it not serve to pair her with someone who is closer in age?"
"And who would you suggest, Severus?"
"No idea," he answered. "But certainly not me."
ooOoo
Remy heard no more about Blood Status hearings until the first week of December, which was the only time the Ministry had in which to see her, for her own hearing. Not feeling in a particularly charitable mood at that moment, she resolved to go and get the entire thing over with, and then head home for the Christmas holidays, where her mother was expecting her to stay for at least three weeks.
She made her appointment for a Saturday, and duly informed her Head of House that she had been summoned to the Ministry, in case someone should ask. Steeling herself for a long, drawn out hearing with a gamut of Ministry officials, she took a deep breath and waited to be called before the council.
In the end, though, she realized, it was merely a formality. It figured. Each time one seems to replay almost impossible scenarios in one's head, thinking that a meeting or some other thing that needs to be done is going to be worse than it actually is, it suddenly does not turn out to be so. This seemed to be one such instance. She had been called to the Minister's office, and sat down with Minister Shacklebolt.
"Well then, Miss Coltrane, I see you've decided it's best to meet me just before the deadline. Now, I need you to confirm that you understand the need for this hearing. That with the wizarding population dwindling, there is an urgent need to repopulate our world."
"Urgent as in, we could all die out tomorrow?"
"Not quite that urgent," the Minister answered, "but a need nonetheless. Now, we know you are Muggleborn, daughter of Sophie and David, correct?"
"Yes…"
"Only child? You have no siblings?"
"No, sir."
"Accepted Hogwarts at age 11, graduating end of this year, correct?"
"Yes, Minister. But I still don't see…"
"Planning to have children?" he interrupted, seemingly not willing to listen to any other questions.
"Well someday yes, but not immediately…"
"Then you're willing to continue the magical line, correct?"
"It's not a question of willing if we are being forced to," she reasoned, hoping to catch a breath in between answers. "Wait," she put up a hand. "Minister, isn't there also a need to consider that any magical person runs the risk of producing a Squib, just as there is a possibility of any Muggle family having magical children?"
"That is a very minute possibility, we do not consider that a grave concern."
The questions came on and on for well over an hour, in the end concluding that Ramona Coltrane was indeed fit to carry on a magical bloodline, despite her Muggleborn status.
Why did she suddenly feel as though she needed to take a shower?
When she returned to Hogwarts, there was an owl waiting by the window in her dormitory, another letter tied to its leg. While she was still not in a charitable mood, she could not just ignore the poor thing. Remy took the letter, and sent the bird on its way.
Miss Coltrane, it read.
Congratulations! The Ministry has concluded that you are eligible to continue your magical bloodline. Attached with this letter, you will find a list of eligible wizards who the Ministry feels to be an appropriate match for you.
Hoping you are well.
Mafalda Hopkirk,
Department of Magical Marriages
Was this really something to be congratulated on? She couldn't resist rolling her eyes. The only purpose she could see that the hearing served was to determine that she, Ramona Coltrane, had a functioning uterus. Oh joy and happy day!
She proceeded to read the second piece of parchment and realized that the Ministry had only listed three people who could possibly be a match. Severus Snape, Michael Corner, and… did that say Neville Longbottom? Hadn't he been engaged to someone else? What sort of criteria had they based these options on, simply pulling names out of a hat?
Seeing as none of these options, marrying any of these men or surrendering her wand appealed to her, she decided that she would delay things for as long as possible, providing Professor Dumbledore agreed to such. She was sure that in his wisdom, he would at least try to do something to make the Ministry see sense. How could any seventeen year old be expected to fall in love with someone they had been matched with, and then forced to marry?
Granted, she understood why they were implementing these laws, but she did not, in any way, agree with it.
Wait, she told herself, picking up the parchment and rereading it for a third time. Did that say Severus Snape?
As in Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts?
As in twenty years older than her, didn't seem to enjoy anyone's company no matter who they were, dark and brooding Professor Severus Snape?
Well that's just perfect, she groused, folding the letter and falling backward onto her four poster.