Laws of Engagement
Chapter Two, Law Letter:
Hermione woke earlier than usual that morning. When she heard sounds coming from the kitchen she decided she would have her morning cup of tea with Mrs. Weasley and, seeing no need to get dressed yet, padded downstairs in her long pajama pants and camisole.
"Hermione, I half expected to see you up. You always were an early riser." Mrs. Weasley said putting some water on the stove.
"Morning Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said sleepily smiling as she sat down at the table. Mrs. Weasley turned to get a good look at her before saying,
"Hermione, dear, you look so grown up! I can't believe you're the same little girl Ron invited over one summer." Hermione blushed and grinned.
"Ron isn't so little either." Hermione said.
"Yes, him and Harry have grown tall over the years." Mrs. Weasley said turning back to making tea. Once she was finished she set a cup in front of Hermione and drank hers while she cooked. Hermione sipped hers gratefully while she sat there in a comfortable silence. Just then an owl came and tapped on the kitchen window.
"I'll get it." Hermione offered setting down her cup and going to the window. She untied the letter and sent the owl off. Closing the window she looked curiously at the letter.
"It's from the Ministry." Hermione stated with a look of concern, "It's addressed to… Every one."
"Go ahead and open it then." Mrs. Weasley said, if Hermione hadn't known better she would say that Mrs. Weasley knew what this was about, but she couldn't… could she? What if this was the bad news every one might possibly be here for? She carefully broke open the seal on the envelope, half afraid of what she might find. The letter read:
To the Wizarding Community,
It has been brought to our attention that there has been a great decline in the wizard and witch population due to the war. Now, we at the Ministry believe, we need to rebuild in a way. So there has been a new law passed to solve this problem. The Minister of Magic has issued the new law, The Marriage Law. This law states that any person between the ages of 17 and 30 must be wed within seven weeks from today's date and must have at least one child within four years. The marriages cannot be pureblood and pureblood; this is to prevent the upbringing of a certain group. Also all couples will need to see a Ministry official at our special ward in St. Mungo's. If for any reason someone has not married within the seven-week time frame the Ministry will choose a randomly selected partner for him or her. If said person has had a proposal but has not married for any reason they will be forced to marry that person. Any one who fails to comply with this law will face strict punishments.
Sincerely,
Rufus Scrimgor
Minister of Magic
Hermione stood there shaking with anger. "They can't do this!" Hermione screeched.
"I'm afraid they can, dear, Arthur has been trying to find a way out of it all month. And if we don't, well lets just say it's better this law than Azkaban." Mrs. Weasley said with a pained expression.
"I suppose your right." Hermione said sitting back down. "But now I have to think of who I'll marry! I know Harry and Ginny will probably get married, and then Ron has Lavender. But what about me, who would want to marry me?" Hermione started doubting whether or not she could go through with this.
"Hermione, who wouldn't want to marry you?" Mrs. Weasley said with a motherly smile.
"You're right!" Hermione said, "There's… Victor Krum for instance!" Mrs. Weasley nodded as a signal to keep going. "Or maybe say, Seamus Finnegan? I guess I do have a lot of options." Just as she said that another owl was pecking at the window. This one had a superior air about it; it was a sleek light brown owl with speckles of white. Hermione looked at Mrs. Weasley questioningly as she opened the window. Mrs. Weasley just shrugged.
"I'm not expecting anything else." Mrs. Weasley added.
"It's- it's for me." Hermione said looking at it before she quickly tore it open. Mrs. Weasley was watching her carefully as her eyes darted over the parchment. Hermione turned a ghostly pale and emitted a high-pitched scream before she promptly fainted.
Hermione woke up but didn't open her eyes when she heard voices.
"There you are, your mum wants you to wake Hermione." Harry said to someone. Whoever Harry was talking to said something softly before knocking on the door.
"Hermione?" Ginny whispered. Hermione cracked her eyes open. "Good, you're up." Ginny smiled.
"How long have I been out?" Hermione asked pinching the bridge of her nose to ward off a headache.
"Only an hour, don't worry." Ginny said before her face suddenly turned grim, "Hermione, Mum and Dad want to talk to everyone in the living room. Something bad is happening isn't it?"
Hermione looked almost sad when she said, "Yes, you might as well know, that's why they've asked all your brothers here. Don't tell anyone I've told you but, the Ministry has issued a marriage law." Ginny's face turned to that of complete shock.
"But they can't-" Ginny began,
"Girls." Mrs. Weasley called cutting her off. Hermione gave her a reassuring smile before they both got up off the bed and walked downstairs.
Everyone was seated around the living room, the two oldest Weasley brothers had grim faces that seemed to say that they knew what was going on, and the twins and Harry and Ron all had confused looks on their faces. Hermione and Ginny took a seat on the couch along with Harry and Ron when Mr. Weasley began,
"Now I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, the Ministry has issued a new law stating that anyone seventeen to thirty has to get married and have at least one child." Mrs. Weasley handed the twins, who were sitting closest, the letter to look over before passing it around.
"What does this mean for us?" Fleur questioned when she had a turn to read the letter.
"It means that you that are already married or engaged have to have a child within two years." Mr. Weasley said, his voice not masking the extreme fatigue from being over worked the past few days. Fleur looked down at her stomach with a halfway amused expression.
"But now they're giving all those Deatheater kids that they wouldn't let us put away a opportunity to rebuild!" Ron burst out.
"No, they've made sure of that. The law says that there can't be any purebloods marrying purebloods." Mrs. Weasley said with a tiny hint of relief in her voice. Every one was quiet for a moment before Mrs. Weasley said that dinner should be ready. At the table the mood had lightened considerably, most likely due to the food, and every one was chattering on about whom would marry whom, every one except Hermione.
"Hermione, did you hear that? Ron is going to ask Lavender to marry him! I mean really, can it get much worse? But I suppose I am a little happy for him." Ginny said smiling. When Hermione merely nodded Ginny knew something was wrong. "Hey, we need to talk after dinner." Ginny said looking at her friend with worry.
After dinner Fleur said she would help Mrs. Weasley clean up so the girls could leave, obviously every one was worried about Hermione.
"Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione said before her and Ginny left the room, "Do you know where that letter is? The one for me." Hermione asked timidly.
"Yes, the boys tried to read it but don't worry not even I did." Mrs. Weasley said pulling the letter out of one of her pockets and giving it to Hermione with a worried smile. "Are you okay dear?"
"I'm fine." Hermione said. Mrs. Weasley nodded before going back to work in the kitchen.
"Hey, Ginny." Hermione said walking into the room. Ginny looked up from her place on her bed before patting the spot next to her. Hermione sat down and handed Ginny the letter.
"This is it, huh?" Ginny said opening it. As she read it her face got redder and redder, and by the end of it she noticed Hermione was sobbing. Hugging her friend Ginny consoled her.
"It'll be all right we'll find a way out of this." Ginny whispered.
"Ginny, if I don't find someone before the seven weeks are over I have to marry Draco Malfoy!" Hermione said wiping her face with a tissue Ginny had handed her. Then they heard a loud crash come from above their heads.
"Ugh! Come on." Ginny said pulling Hermione along with her. They ran down a hall and up the stairs to Fred and George's room, Ginny didn't even knock she just opened the door. They were met with a cloud of fog creeping along the floor and two twin boys scrambling around to find something on the floor while yelling angrily at each other.
"Oi! What're you doing here?" Fred said looking up and spotting them.
"We heard a crash." Ginny said eyeing them suspiciously. Only just then George seemed to notice they were there.
"Crash eh? From where, and how'd you know it was us?" George asked.
"Your room is the only one above mine for one you dolt!" Ginny said, "Now what's all this?"
"This, is a case of 'Fog Feathers'" Fred said motioning to the mess.
"Why's it here?" Ginny asked.
"Fred got mad and knocked it over!" George said quickly before his brother could blame it on him.
"Oh really, what about?" Ginny asked not believing him for one minute.
"I hate this law! I hate that I'll probably end up marrying some stuck up girl that hates anything funny!" Fred burst out regaining some of his earlier anger, "I hate that George and everyone else have already found who they want to be with!"
"Who says you have to?" Hermione asked quietly. Everyone seemed surprised to see her standing there.
"Where'd you come from?" George asked her taking in her disheveled appearance.
"I've been standing here the whole time." Hermione said in the same quiet whisper as before.
"So if you're so smart who do you think I should marry?" Fred snapped at her.
"Me."