Chapter 2

Fudge stood, the list in his hand. "Alright, so these are the final pairings we've decided so far. Harry Potter and Bellatrix Black. Hermione Granger and Lucius Malfoy. Ronald Weasley and Dolores Umbridge. Ginevra Weasley and Lord Voldemort..."

"Please make sure my name is listed as Tom Marvolo Riddle," Voldemort said, "Weasley in particular is much more afraid of Tom Riddle than she is of Voldemort."

"Alright, then, Ginevra Weasley and Tom Riddle," Fudge corrected. "Neville Longbottom and Millicent Bulstrode, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Narcissa Malfoy, Nymphadora Tonks and Rodolphus Lestrange. Skipping Alastor Moody and Remus Lupin for the moment until we find some more detestable half-blood witches."

"I have no objection," Voldemort declared.

"Then this is our plan of action. Lucius, you can see the Minister sometime tomorrow. I'll talk to the Wizengamot people who are on our side. One of us should talk to Rita Skeeter about giving us some favorable coverage. In a couple of days, we should be able to get this law enacted."

"Excellent!" Voldemort hissed excitedly, red eyes gleaming. "Shall we meet in four days, then, same place and time?"

"Okay."

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The rest of the plan went very smoothly. Rufus Scrimgeour quickly agreed to join Voldemort's side in exchange for a 5,000 Galleon payment, which Lucius duly delivered to him.

As Lucius and Scrimgeour shook hands at the Ministry building, the fireplace at the Burrow lit green and Nymphadora Tonks popped forth. She was looking for Harry. Her timing had been excellent, as Harry was just coming down the stairs.

"Harry!"

"Oh, hi Tonks!"

"We have an urgent message for you," Tonks said, drawing a rolled parchment from her robe. "A warning about Voldemort's next plan, from Severus!"

"You still trust Snape?" Harry demanded incredulously.

"He didn't kill Dumbledore willingly," Tonks explained. "Sometime last summer, Draco Malfoy took the mark. His very first assignment was to kill Dumbledore. Mrs. Malfoy knew that her son was no match for the Headmaster, so she tricked Snape into taking a magically binding unbreakable vow to help him. Snape didn't know that he had to kill Dumbledore until the day Hogwarts was attacked."

"Oh." Harry wasn't the only one who now understood; by now all the Weasleys, plus Hermione, were crowding around them to listen.

"Just a few minutes ago," Tonks said, "we received this message from Snape's Patronus. He says Voldemort and Fudge are allying with Minister Scrimgeour to make our lives miserable. Their plan is to pass a Marriage Law to arrange marriages between purebloods and non-purebloods." Tonks read off the parchment in her hand. "According to their plans, the law will be passed within the next few days. The people they plan to force into marriage include you, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Kingsley, Neville, and myself. In addition, they are also going to have Luna declared insane and sentenced to life in St. Mungo's."

Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys all had shocked expressions on their faces when she had finished.

"D-do you know who they're going to stick us with?" Harry asked shakily.

"I don't know if you'd want to hear…" Tonks trailed off.

"We should know," Hermione said, "That way, we can prepare ourselves better."

"All right," Tonks reluctantly read from the list, "Harry Potter and Bellatrix Lestrange—"

"NO!" Harry screamed in anguish. "I'll die before I marry that bitch of a Death Eater!"

Tonks shook her head. "You asked for it," she said tiredly. "Anyway, Ron, you will soon be betrothed to Dolores Umbridge…Hermione, you get Lucius Malfoy—"

Ron was looking very pale and ashen-faced, seemingly on the verge of vomiting. Hermione temporarily had a disgusted expression on her face, but waited patiently to hear the other pairings.

"Ginny, you get Lord Voldemort," Tonks said, "and I get Rodolphus Lestrange."

"They can't force us to marry convicted Death Eaters…can they?" Hermione asked doubtfully.

"I don't know," Tonks replied. "Severus speculates that they're planning to claim that they committed their crimes under blackmail or Imperius, just like they did after the first war. They're going to bribe Rita Skeeter to write articles to support them. Severus thinks that they'll get everyone exonerated in the court of public opinion in the next couple of days before they get the marriage law enacted."

"Including Voldemort? How is he going to be exonerated?"

"He's not, Severus says that Voldemort's using the name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' for the duration of this law. Few people have ever heard Voldemort referred to by his original name. In the mind of the public, Voldemort is the Dark Lord, Riddle is nobody." As she mentioned Voldemort's original name, the pale faces around her became impossibly paler.

"There must be a way out of this," Hermione said firmly.

"I hope there is," Tonks said. "I'll be going now. I must inform Kingsley and the others about the new threat." She disappeared, making a loud "pop" that echoed through the room.

"Now what?" Harry asked desperately.

"We might be able to see Skeeter," Hermione suggested. "We still have that on her, remember?"

In fact, they didn't.

A seemingly normal man walked determinedly into Rita Skeeter's office, finding Skeeter busy writing an article for her newspaper.

"Rita, there's something very important we must discuss," the man started.

"What's the matter?" Skeeter asked, without looking up or ceasing to write.

"The Ministry is preparing a Marriage Law in response to the recent report from St. Mungo's. We will be arranging marriages between purebloods and half-bloods or purebloods and Muggle-borns. We need you to provide us with favorable publicity. Write for us and you will be richly rewarded."

"How much exactly?"

Voldemort brought out a large pouch of Galleons and threw it on the desk. "We can offer you five thousand Galleons, plus immunity from prosecution. Yes, we know you are an unregistered Animagus. But in return for your assistance, we are willing to let that slide."

"I will do as you ask," Skeeter said quietly.

"Thank you." Voldemort took out another vial of Polyjuice Potion from his robes, drank it, and drew his wand, removing the locking charms from the door and window and then departing.

In his continued disguise, Voldemort left the building. As he turned onto the street he spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione approaching. Quickly moving to an inconspicuous place across the street, he watched his enemies enter the building. He chuckled to himself and left confidently. He had used Legilimency to assure himself that Skeeter was on his side, so he knew that whatever Hermione did now would not affect the next issue of the Daily Prophet.

Voldemort had one thought on his mind. He wanted to replace the Horcruxes that had been lost. Of his six horcruxes, three—his grandfather's ring, Salazar Slytherin's locket, and his diary—were already destroyed, and the parts of his soul that had been contained therein had been forced back into his own body. He knew already that Harry Potter was on a quest to find the remaining three. For his own peace of mind, he must create additional horcruxes—and to do so required him to commit murder.

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Finally, the feared day came. The Wizengamot, by a vote of 31-18, approved the Marriage Law. It was very much to Hermione's shock when the Daily Prophet ran a full-page article in support of the new law.

That afternoon, a pall remained over the Burrow, as if it was surrounded by Dementors.

Hermione and Ginny were both sitting on the couch, reading a copy of the newly passed law, searching for any loopholes. Neither of them had found any yet. The law was very unspecific; it simply required that each person marry their designated partner within two weeks of receiving the notices from the Ministry. The marriages were binding contracts that would be sent out with the notices and would remain in force if the law itself were repealed. Each marriage had to be consummated within twenty-four hours of the ceremony. Hermione had received her letter from the Ministry and a copy of the marriage contract to sign that morning by the owl post. A second owl later that morning had delivered the papers for Harry, Ginny, and Ron.

The Burrow's fireplace suddenly burst to life with a green flame and a familiar face appeared within. Harry recognized the face immediately.

"What do you want, Bellatrix?" he shouted angrily, although deep inside he already knew the answer.

"I got this notice from the Ministry," Bellatrix thrust a piece of paper into the fire so that Harry could see it, "It said they'd picked me for an arranged marriage. And they said they picked you as my partner."

"I'm sure that's exactly what you wanted," Harry spat.

Hermione listened, but didn't put down the parchment; her face was not visible from the fireplace.

"Actually, I don't know why they chose me," Bellatrix commented innocently. "I always thought Lucius's influence with the Ministry would keep all the Death Eaters off the list."

Well, she certainly has pretty good acting skills, Hermione thought, as she listened to Bellatrix speaking in a perfectly innocent voice.

Harry smirked at her. "Have you ever considered the possibility that Lucius's influence got you on the list? They're using you, they're using you to try and get information out of me. Why don't you go and—"

"Harry," Bellatrix interrupted, "the floo network isn't very secure. Can I come over?"

Harry looked meaningfully at Ron, then Ginny, then Hermione. Hermione grabbed the end of her wand under her robe and nodded to Harry.

"Okay," Harry said into the fire. Bellatrix tumbled through, rolling on the floor and jumped to her feet, finding herself to be still slightly shorter than Harry.

"Well, I'm sure you read the letter from the Ministry," Bellatrix said, "We have two weeks to get married. They suggested we use the time to get to know each other as much as possible…"

A tall figure walked down the street on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole, heading for a small house. His (its?) black robe billowed behind him, and he had an air of intimidation about him that made most people wary. Those who didn't shy away from his black cape were frightened off by his shadowed face, of which they could only see an unnaturally pale chin, cheeks, and lips, plus two gleaming red eyes. People walking on the streets fairly ran out of his path as he continued: everyone recognized Lord Voldemort on sight, and there was a large circle around him which no one dared to enter. Several wizards or witches fled to the nearest communication available to call the Ministry, be it floo fireplace or owl post.

Voldemort stepped up to the door, drew his wand, and whispered, "Morsmordre." Soon, he would splithis soul, and be able to create another Horcrux.The hapless Lovegoods were unaware of the Dark Mark floating over their house.

Next Chapter: The duel between the Dark Lord and a magazine writer; the Order of the Phoenix locates another of Voldemort's Horcruxes.