Change Your Mind

By: pengz

Disclaimer: Song is owned by The Killers and the book & characters to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Two

'Christmas would be a cheery affair,' Charlie thought to himself when the holidays found him on the doorstep of his childhood home, snow blanketing around him, 'if I wasn't supposed to get married against my will in about seven months' time.'

Three-and-a-half years after the death of Voldemort found the wizarding world in a slump. St. Mungo's was reporting a continuous forty-seven percent decline in birth rates while a twenty-six percent depression in marriages stuck out like a sore thumb in the figures of the Ministry's Department of Matrimonial Services. The last war had taken many able bodied witched and wizards with it as well as bloodlines and large wizarding families.

At first the decline was blamed on the year long reconstruction period of the wizarding world. Then, when marriage and birth rates did not accelerate from then, Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt let it slide a little further, not wanting to aim a bludger at the delicate balance the Ministry had just reinstated. But, as no improvement came worry began to ripple through the magical community. What if a new generation did not exist to Hogwarts to learn? What if this was the beginning of a recession? Were these the twilight years of magic?

So the Ministry answered these questions of concern with the medieval and highly dreaded Marriage Law.

It had time and again saved the magical world from extinction but was always a last resort. Minister Shacklebolt decided to act before it was too late and passed the Marriage Law with a few amendments added to it since its last use in the fourteenth century. The news came to the Wizarding world in the Daily Prophet as a holiday gift on Christmas Eve Morning

Charlie read the title of the front page the morning he was due to leave for the Burrow for the holidays and promptly choked on a piece of kipper.

"Minster of Magic Signs Medieval Marriage Law into Reality

The Amended Marriage Law of 2001 is as follows:

All witches and wizards aged 21 through 35 must comply to the Marriage Law of 2001. Any who contend with the said law will have their wand snapped, memories wiped, and will be placed into muggle society. This is a massive effort to stabilize and secure the future of the Wizarding World.

Eligible wizards must send an official proposal to the witch of their choice by midnight December 31st, 2001. Witches, who receive proposals, must in turn come to a final decision by January 31st, 2002.

In cases where witches have not made a decision or have not received a proposal to respond to by January 31st, 2002, the Ministry will default to choosing a partner for them. To ensure this unfavorable situation does not befall oneself, comply to the Marriage Law as soon as possible.

Once proposals have been finalized, the nuptials must take place within the following six months or by the 4th year anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, whichever comes sooner. By the one year anniversary of the said nuptials, the wedded party must have one healthy offspring."

The door opened to reveal the grinning, lanky figure that was his youngest brother, Ron.

"Hey Charlie! S'pose you read the Prophet already?" Said Ron, helping his brother with his bags by sending them upstairs with a flick of his wand.

"Yeah, some Christmas present from the Ministry, eh?" Charlie replied glumly as he entered the Burrow and hung his traveling cloak in the closet.

Ron grinned at this before leading the way to the kitchen. "You're taking it loads better than some. Hermione popped in from her delegation trip to Switzerland this morning, still in her bed clothes and holding the Prophet, ranting and raving about having to make herself a proper wife and putting her career at the Ministry on hold. And that was before she finished the article. Poor girl practically had a coronary when she found out she'd have to have a kid too."

Charlie laughed at Ron's truths about his best friend as they finally entered the kitchen to see their mother and Ginny fixing up what looked like a massive Christmas dinner. "So who will you be proposing to, little brother?"

The tops of Ron's ears turned red as Ginny let out a laugh.

"Oh, he's already proposed to Luna, haven't you Ron?" Their sister smirked as Ron's blush crept from his ears to his cheeks.

"You have? Any you've been keeping it quiet?!" Charlie thumped his brother hard in the back.

"Well he only did it a few hours ago, after he read the Prophet. Marched right up to the Lovegood's, in the snow, to ask Xenophilius for Luna's hand." Molly said, positively glowing with pride at her youngest son. "She said yes, naturally."

"Well done, Ron." Charlie said as he ruffled the younger man's hair affectionately.

Ron mumbled a small "thanks" before announcing he had an errand to run with Luna and would be back before dinner. When he disappeared towards the direction of his fiancee's home, Molly sat Charlie down with a plate of sandwiches and a glass of pumpkin juice.

"So, have you got anyone you'd like to propose to, Charlie?" His mother said in a delicately conversational voice.

For a moment Charlie considered going bout his usual route of 'Oh, mum, I'll settle down proper when I find the right girl' then realized that he'd be settling down in mere months. And he hadn't had any serious relationships...ever.

"Er... No, I don't. Haven't had time to look, have I?" Charlie said slowly, before swallowing half his sandwich.

"That's bollocks, Charlie." Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "You don't give time to look."

"Mind your mouth Ginerva." Molly chided before returning her attention to her second eldest son. "Your sister is right, Charlie. When was the last time you had a girlfriend?"

"Can we not talk about my love life or lack thereof?" Charlie groaned.

It was a red flag when a twenty-nine year old wizard talked about his romantic life with his mum, something Charlie would do anything to get away from.

"You haven't much time, Charlie, dear. Scarcely more than a month you have to get your act together and find someone. Look at your brothers and sister. Bill and Percy are both married, Fred is getting married in March, George is steady with Katie, Ron's just gone off to buy Luna an engagement ring, and Ginny's been engaged to Harry since Percy and Penelope's wedding... it's just you now." She paused her cooking to sit across from her son. "I don't want you to marry someone out of the Ministry's put you with; it might be someone you don't even relate to. What then?"

Charlie considered his mother's words as more people began to fill out the Burrow for Christmas Dinner. Surprisingly her words did not hold as much water as Ginny's did because she was so right and direct; he hadn't given the dating scene much time. He glanced up and down the table to watch the people in his family; everyone else was either with their significant other. The only exceptions were Percy and George; the newlyweds, as per tradition, were spending their first Christmas together alone while Katie was spending it with her family. Everyone was being so lovey dovey it slightly perturbed Charlie. If this was what he was missing in the dating realm, perhaps the nauseous feeling in his stomach was the reason why. Citing a bathroom break to leave the table for a few minutes, Charlie nearly bolted away from the scene and out to the snowy front yard.

In the prickly cold of Christmas Eve, Charlie wondered what it was like to find the one. Would it come slowly or all at once? Would the first thought in his mind, upon meeting her, be 'That's the girl I'm going to marry'? Was there some sign to see for certain? He sighed deeply, a great puff of hot air visibly mixing into the night air, if the one for him existed she'd need to show herself soon or else he'd have to marry a witch of the Ministry's choice.

The rest of Charlie's Christmas was blurred into nothing while his New Year was no better. As soon as he apparated back to his own home in Sibiu he did try a hand at finding out who from his Hogwarts years was still single. To his unbelievable luck, any girls he'd even consider were already married. Yes, yes, Charlie Weasley's luck was just not playing to his advantage. He had even looked for prospects, at most, two years younger than him (it was all he could stand, it wasn't his fault he didn't like witches who weren't at least around his own age).

When he only had one week before the final proposal deadline, Charlie decided to place a Floo call to the only witch he had confidence in due to her experience in matchmaking.

"Ginny Weasley, the Burrow." Charlie said after throwing some Floo Powder into his fireplace and kneeling before it. A moment lapsed before his sister's face appeared in the flames before him.

"Ah, hello, Charlie, how is the search going?" Ginny said.

"It's driving me mad, why couldn't the Ministry give us two months instead of one? What in the bleeding hell were those idiots thinking?" Charlie let out before he could stop himself. He heard a sputtering sound on Ginny's end and gave her a questioning look. "Is someone there with you? I'll call back some other time if you have company."

"No, no, it's just me, Errol was just snoring." Ginny replied. Before her could say anything else she was on top of his case. "You can't find anyone, too eh?"

"Yeah. Why? Who else hasn't gotten anyone yet?"

"A friend of mine. She's gotten a few proposals but she's a picky bird. But beautiful witches have that right, don't they?"

"Sounds more snooty than picky to me." Charlie said, wrinkling his nose.

"I'd say the same about you."

Charlie snorted. "So can you help me out, Gin? I'm running out of time."

His sister's face lit up with a mischievous smirk. "Well how about..."

Nearly and hour later Charlie was still in square one. Ginny had gone through her whole list of single friends, including some sexy teammates of hers from the Holy Head Harpies, but Charlie always found something wrong with each witch. This sufficiently frustrated Ginny.

"This is probably the first time I've had a straight wizard turn down a date with a Harpie!" She threw a calculating look at her brother. "You are straight, aren't you? Because if you failed to tell me such a vital piece of information, I will chuck this list at you right this very second."

"I have balls, Gin, and balls mean I'm a wizard who likes witches and not taking it up my arse." Charlie replied sourly.

All Charlie could do the last few days leading up to the deadline was hurriedly open the howlers his mother was sending him on a daily basis berating him for not being in touch with his emotions, chucking out every chance of finding himself a wife to be with his dragons... The rants went on and on and did not make Charlie feel any better about his situation. Some of his siblings tried to cheer him up with hopeful letters and such and Ginny even went so far as to say "perhaps the Ministry found your someone for you".

Two letters arrived the morning after the deadline passed, a day off for him. They were apparently supposed to be read in a particular order seeing as the lighter of the two in weight was stamped "1" and the heavier one "2". With apprehension buzzing in his fingertips he sat down on the sofa in his living room and ripped open the first one.

Dear Mr. Charles Weasley,

Our records at the Ministry of Magic show that you have not offered a proposal of marriage to a witch, in compliance to the Amended Marriage Law of 2001. This letter is to inform you that your inaction has resulted to the default in which the Ministry will choose your life-bonded partner for you.

Enclosed in the envelope 2 is the identity and a few facts about your future wife. Please arrange contact with her as soon as possible to allow for adjustments and plans to be made.

If you feel that this letter has arrived in error, please inform the Ministry immediately.

Thank you for your time and good luck in your marriage.

Sincerely,

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Minister of Magic

"Well, I figured that's what it would be..." Charliesaid to himself.

Setting the notice aside he reached out to the second envelope that held the identity of the witch who would, in six months or less, become his wife. Did he even want to find out who he'd be spending the rest of his life with?Who was the witch who would bear him his firstborn (and, maybe only-born, if they didn't get along)? Had he ever met her before or would this be the chance to make a first expression to last a lifetime? Sighing soundly to himself he opened the second envelope.

The first piece to come out was a colored, moving head shot of a chestnut haired, brown eyed witch. Charlie's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates in shock.

"Merlin's left testicle..." his whispered, fumbling with the envelope to get the data sheet inside.

Name: Hermione Jean Granger

Date of Birth: September 19th, 1979

Parentage: Muggle-Born

Education: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Years 1-6.

Occupation: Head of Department of International Magical Cooperation

Miss Granger played a vital role in the downfall of the Dark Lord and served in the Battle of Hogwarts alongside longtime companions Harry James Potter and Ronald Bilius Weasley.

"I'm going to marry Hermione 'Bossy Boots' Granger." He shook his head before glancing back down at the photograph. True to her real-life counterpart, the picture-Hermione was picking invisible lint off her pressed-stiff robes. Charlie watched as she gave a huff and patted down her curly, no longer bushy, mane. Then she simply walked out of range of the frame.

To say that Charlie knew Hermione personally was a gross overstatement. In truth he knew, perhaps, two colors of her spectrum (he assumed she wasn't a black-and-white personalitied person, no witch was ever that simple) that Ron and Harry had always been privy to. He thought that the color he knew of her was a pleasant pink one for she had always been nothing but proper and nice to him. The other color would have to be Gryffindor's maroon as it was a symbol for her bravery driven determination displayed throughout her years at Hogwarts, in the final battle, and at the Ministry. Surely she had an impish green streak somewhere in her seeing as she had been best friends with two boys for nearly half her life, but Charlie had yet to see it in live action.

It was good to know basic things like this about one's future wife but Charlie could scarcely remember ever having a lengthy conversation with her. Then it hit him like a curse to the face; he had six months to learn everything about her.

"I mean, you have to know a person well enough to marry them and well move in with them... and do other things with them, don't you?" Charlie asked of thin air. "Bloody hell...I have to have sex with a girl seven years younger than me...?!"

Let one thing be known, Charlie Weasley was very far from a virgin. Charlie Weasley had a number of drunken one-night stands... and relationships that only had to do with getting off (not really a relationship but anyway). Was she a virgin (she didn't seem like the one who would give it up without thorough thought)? Would she just want to get roaring drunk on their wedding night, conceive their one child (he supposed, because both of them were so career oriented they'd only have one), and forget they ever have sex? What did she look like without that those stuffy Ministry robes? Without any clothes? What was it like to reach out and touch her? Was she a moaner or a screamer?

WAIT.

Was he thinking about having sex with... Hermione Granger? Ickle Ronniekins' best friend? Charlie looked down at his crotch where a tent made of his pants was half-pitched. He gulped audibly at the sight and suddenly felt like a dirty old man preying on pubescent girls.

SiuanSedai: Thanks for reviewing and for the correction! I'm so retarded sometimes.

another stars hallow freak: Thank you!

QuakingQuibbler: Thanks! I'll get to it as soon as I've got time.

Jolie71: Thanks! That happens to me too. Yay for wiggle room!

Katyes: You're perceptive! Yes, I love Charlie too. Thanks for R&R-ing!

starsinthesky123: Thank you! Remembering him in our work keeps him alive.

Winters'Darkened'Reflection: Hahaha... he was a bit drunk, yes. Thanks for R&R-ing.

lemonicelolly: Thank you!

A/N: So, how'd you like it? And yes, this is my take on the Marriage Law, how else would I get these two together?
Thanks everyone for R&R-ing, I had not idea people actually liked this pairing that much... See you all next chapter!

xxx
pengz