Author's Note: Hello everybody! I have been checking out several of the Marriage Law Challenge fics and I decided to toss my hat into the ring! Hope you like what you see
Chapter 1
"Well, Hermione, today's the big day," Parvati mused as she looked out the window of their room. She had tied her dark hair back with a silver and green ribbon, to show some degree of respect to her future husband.
The Ministry of Magic had announced the passing of a Marriage Law. A ludicrous act that declared the necessity of arranged marriages within the wizarding world. Hermione and the rest of the school had been in complete upheaval about the subject-barely any schoolwork had been done since the announcement nearly two weeks past.
They had no idea of to whom they would be wedded, but a letter had come by owl to inform them that certain Gryffindor girls would be betrothed to a Slytherin, thus the color of Parvati's ribbon. Hermione feared being assigned to Draco Malfoy more than any other, a husband that referred to her as "that brainy Mudblood" was not what she wanted.
At least Lavender would be matched with a Hufflepuff!
The bleakness of the situation had settled in Hermione's stomach like a great ball of lead, weighing her down, slowing her thought processes. The anxiety was enough to kill, but the suspense added some measure of excitement to their otherwise boring school days-though because of Harry, Hermione's schooldays could never be called boring.
Whether they liked it or not, the girls and boys of Hogwarts were going to fall under the law.
Hermione sat on her bed, watching Parvati look out the window. Before the day was over, they'd both be affianced to a Slytherin. Seeing that they didn't have a choice in the matter, Hermione's only worry was if she would be selected for Draco or one of his thugs.
"Are you ready?" she asked hollowly.
"No, how could I possibly be ready for this? I can't believe Fudge has done this, it's insane!" Hermione groaned.
"You're right as usual, but we can't do anything about it now. And it may work out, who knows? We may get stuck with some rich, handsome, kind Slytherin boys. Or at least ones that won't drive us crazy." Parvati mused.
"No such creature exists." Hermione said flatly.
Parvati pulled Hermione to her feet and they headed towards the door. "Come on, Hermione, stranger things have happened."
The girls made their way down to the Great Hall, where the students, teachers and Ministry officials were all anticipating the announcements. Parvati went to sit with her other friends while Hermione took her usual spot between Ron and Harry.
They watched silently as the last students filed into the Hall and sat at their tables. Without missing a beat, Dumbledore rose from the center chair and every pair of eyes found focus on him.
"Students of Hogwarts, as I'm sure you know, times in the wizarding world are changing, and as such, we must change with it. The increasing rate of still borns and squibs produced from pureblood families has alerted to the Ministry of Magic the need for drastic measures to ensure the continuity of the race. As such, the Marriage Law has been passed, and Hogwarts is among the first institutions to fall under it. Spouses will be assigned tonight, and lives will be no doubt be changed forever-it's normal to be nervous, but I have faith in the Ministry's decision on the matchmaking. Mr. Fudge, if you would," Dumbledore sat down, handing the reigns over to the Minister.
"Thank you, Headmaster. Now, you all know why you're here, so let's not dawdle, eh? Now, Alan Newman shall be wed to Molly Jenkins…"
Hermione let her mind drift away from the barbaric scene before her. Arranged marriages to strangers-the Ministry had sunk to a new low.
She felt Ron jump beside her and realized that his name had been called. His face was even redder than his hair and he looked speechless. "Whose name was called?" Hermione asked an equally shocked Harry. "I wasn't paying attention."
"He's got to marry Gabby Stone." Harry said with a grin as he slapped Ron on the back in a brotherly way.
Hermione was surprised, to say the least. Gabby was a very pretty and very kind Ravenclaw-she'd always had her eye on Ron, and now he was her brand new fiancé. Ron turned in his seat and waved to her from across the Hall.
Gabby smiled back and batted her lashes.
"Wow. The Ministry finally did something right!" he said excitedly.
Hermione smiled and hugged Ron, happy for her friend, but still apprehensive for herself. Her name hadn't been called yet; now there were less and less Slytherin between her and Draco.
Fudge tore through the long list, and finally, near the end: "Severus Snape will be wed to Hermione Granger…"
The whole world seemed to stop. Snape?!
Not everyone was paying much attention to Fudge anymore now that their names had been called, but Hermione's friends definitely noticed. The color drained from Parvati's face as she looked at Hermione, Harry was completely speechless and Ron was now red for a different reason.
Fudge finally finished the list and was thanking Dumbledore for being such a generous host, and said that he must be on his way. Hermione saw him being escorted back to Dumbledore's office and she hazarded a glance at Snape's reaction.
He was no longer at the table. She didn't know where he might have gone, but decided that it didn't matter as she rushed to catch up to Dumbledore and Fudge.
Running past her House table and through the corridors to Dumbledore's office was difficult, her legs felt like jelly. She reached the door and hesitated-she could hear voices inside.
"Who the bloody Hell do you think you are?! You paper-pushing moron, I will never marry-"
"Unhand him, Severus!" Dumbledore demanded.
"Not until he repeals the Marriage Law! You cannot force me to marry her, she was a student of mine, this is insane!"
"Release me, Professor, or I'll have you thrown into Azkaban!"
"REPEAL THE LAW!"
"I couldn't even if I wanted to!"
Hermione couldn't wait much longer, she had to speak with the Minister and reason with him before Snape broke his neck. She pushed the office door open, unsurprised to see Snape gripping Fudge by the lapels of his jacket while Dumbledore had drawn his wand on him.
"Why not?" she asked, the first thing that came to her mind.
All three of the men turned to her. "Why can't you repeal the law?"
"The law is binding to all parties considered; it cannot be broken or changed." Fudge answered.
Snape shoved Fudge away from him and scowled, "Didn't you consider the consequences at all?"
"Well of course we did, but your annoyance is of no significance when compared to the survival of our race." Fudge shot back angrily.
Snape advanced on him again, but Dumbledore moved between him and Fudge. "That's quite enough, Severus, you've made your point."
"The Ministry has made a huge mistake-" Snape cut in angrily.
"No! The Ministry does NOT make mistakes. The Marriage Law will remain in place for the next 1000 years if it has to." Fudge declared.
Snape raised his own wand and took in a breath to cast a spell, but Dumbledore cut him off. "No, Severus, put your wand away. If the contract is, as you say, Cornelius, binding to all parties, then I'm afraid all we can do now is try to make the best of the situation."
"There is no good side to this situation! I will not marry her, I can't! She's still a child, and there's no way-"
"Actually, she's technically 18, through use of a time turner used in her third year, so there should be no problem now regarding the differences in your age. The ceremonies will be held next month, so I suggest that you and your fiancé," Snape visibly winced at the word, "start getting to know each other. The more you get to be comfortable around one another, the better. The wizarding world will need little heirs and heiresses soon, so best to start early." Fudge said crisply to Hermione and Snape.
The dark wizard lunged at Fudge so fast that Dumbledore almost didn't react quickly enough. With a flick of his wand, the potions professor was instantly frozen in place, still as a statue.
"Thank you, Headmaster. And you, young miss, I hope that you have better coping skills than your future husband-I'd hate to see a pair like you breed unstable children."
"That's enough, Fudge. On your way." Dumbledore urged.
"As you wish."
Fudge vanished from Dumbledore's fireplace and both the Headmaster and Hermione turned to the still frozen Snape. A spell was muttered, a wand waved, and he lunged forward, landing on his feet.
"You should have let me kill him," Snape growled.
"Now, now, Severus, don't overreact. I know this is a delicate matter for both of you, but-"
"Why did we get assigned to each other? Why wasn't I selected for another student, at least?" Hermione demanded. The very idea of marrying her former Potions master made her stomach lurch.
"It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of! She's half my age! A student!" Snape bellowed.
"I have checked and rechecked the Marriage Law several times. There was no guarantee that you, Hermione would be selected for a student, only a Slytherin. And Severus is the Head of Slytherin House."
"This can't be happening." Hermione said in disbelief. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen, she was supposed to meet someone later on in life, fall in love and then get married when she was ready-not have her marriage dictated by the government!
And a marriage to Snape would be horrible, she knew it! He'd always been picking on her while she was in his Potions classes; surely he'd be the same way at home. She could see it now: Hermione would slave away doing housework while he insulted her work ethic.
Life would be Hell.
Fudge had also mentioned the need for children. She knew she wasn't ready for that sort of relationship yet, especially not pregnancy! Sex with Snape? No. Impossible, she couldn't be expected to come to his bed every night until a child was conceived.
The thought made her swoon.
Dumbledore steadied her while Snape didn't seem to notice, too absorbed in pacing the floor, deep in angry thoughts. His natural dark magic was coming off of him in small waves, crackling in the air.
"I think you should both just go to bed, you'll make yourself sick of you keep carrying on like this. Sleep will clear your minds and settle your nerves. I'll send an owl to you both tomorrow and set a meeting for when we can talk." Dumbledore said reassuringly.
Snape paused to glare at Dumbledore before stalking out of the room, the door slamming with an echoing crack.
"You see? This is never going to work." She said.
Hermione went back to her room, not knowing what to think.
