****I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters…I merely play around with them for my own enjoyment ***

This is my first story, so please bear with me. Feel free to leave suggestions, but go easy on me. I'm definitely not an English major. Reviews are definitely helpful ;)

I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. After my normal morning bathroom routine, I figured it was time to face the facts and head to the Great Hall for breakfast to await the Daily Prophet.

When I got to the Great Hall, most of the professors were already there, seated at a round table. I saw Hermione had her head on the table and looked miserable. I took a seat next to her.

"Nervous?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm afraid that I'm going to end up with some creepy old guy that's going to make me quit my job," she replied.

"My thoughts exactly. I can't help but hope that the Ministry knows what they're doing though. I mean, they're messing with people's lives here. Clearly, they have to know that there will be an uproar if it's too crazy."

"I really hope you're right, but in my experience with them, they think they know while they really have no idea," Hermione replied with a small smile.

I looked ahead of me at the food and grabbed a croissant, some eggs, and some bacon and made a sandwich. After looking around, I finally spotted some coffee and poured myself a cup.

"How can you drink that? It's so gross!" Hermione was astounded.

"I'm American. We drink coffee. I practically lived off this stuff in college. It's gotten to the point that if I don't have caffeine, I'll get a headache. But it's so worth it! I've never really been a fan of tea. Iced tea is fine but I really only drink hot tea if my throat is sore," I explained. "Plus, I put creamer and sugar in the coffee to dilute the taste a bit." Hermione smiled at this.

"Well, alright then." As Hermione said that, owls flew in and dropped a Daily Prophet in front of each of us.

I stared down at the paper for a moment before taking a deep breath and unrolling my paper.

Ministry Announces Marriage Law

This morning, the Ministry of Magic announced a new law to take effect immediately.

"Magical Britain is in trouble. Because of Voldemort and his Death Eaters, our population is severely depleated. The Ministry has decided to put into place a Marriage Law to help combat this problem. We understand that our citizens do not want to be forced into marriage, but please understand that this must be done. Magical Britain is in serious jeopardy of completely dying out and the Ministry has taken matters seriously. We've spent a long time coming up with options and getting everything squared away. We've had experts come up with ways to make sure that those who are affected by this law will marry someone they are completely compatible with. In most cases, you will marry your soul mate. However, in some cases, this is not possible, so you will marry the next best alternative. We realize that with so many having perished at the hands of Voldemort, not every person will be able to marry their soul mate. Please trust that the Ministry will make sure that you are happy in your marriage and you will not be forced into marrying someone that is not at all compatible with you."

Below are the guidelines of the new Marriage Law. Please read them carefully as the consequences of non-compliance are dire.

1. All witches and wizards between the ages of 19 and 60 are required to comply with the Marriage Law.

2. Every citizen that this law effects, whether currently in the country or not, will be sent an official owl with a form to fill out. You must place one drop of blood on the signature line as this will help the experts within the ministry to connect you to your soul mate.

3. Within a week, you will receive another owl from the Ministry, which will give you the name of your betrothed.

4. Once you receive the name of your betrothed, you have 3 months in which to marry.

5. Once married, each couple must copulate weekly. To ensure that the couple is copulating on a weekly basis, without contraceptives (both muggle and magical), a binding ritual is stated along with the marriage ceremony. The first night of marriage must involve intercourse to seal the magical contract. If this isn't followed, the couple will be fined, and will be forced to engage in sexual activity with an audience. Failure to conform to fidelity will result in painful blisters in the genital area. Infidelity is now a crime. Those married will be fined and imprisoned.

6. Once you have completed the requirement of marriage, you will be required to produce a magical child within 2 years with a second magical child within 5 years of the marriage.

7. As always, divorce within the British magical world is illegal.

8. All those who cannot conceive are exempt from the act. However, Healer documentation is required for exemption.

9. None of the produced children may be given up for adoption. Failure to adhere to this will result in imprisonment. If by any chance, a family cannot care for the children financially, the Ministry will support all income and necessities.

10. If any witch or wizard flees the country while the law is in effect, (pureblood or muggle born unless they are of dual citizenship) they will face a loss of magical powers.

11. Magical spells and potions may not be used on a child at any time. This includes potions for twins, triplets, boys or girls and the like. Magic used on children during their time in the womb may have dire consequences.

Wow. Well, at least I should be paired with my soul mate. Theoretically, this is someone whom I would have found and fallen in love with anyway. This would just make it a bit earlier and a little forced. I can handle this. This is not the end of the world. I have to believe that. My family should be alright with this.

"Wow. This could have been a lot worse. I feel like I'm missing something. I'm just waiting for something crazy to happen," Hermione said as she let out a sigh of relief.

"I completely agree. I mean, at least they're going to do their best to place us with our soul mates. I wonder how they're going to do that though with just a drop of blood," I mused.

"I'm not entirely positive, but I assume they have people in the Department of Mysteries working on it." Hermione noted.

"You're probably right. Well, I feel much better about this all. Oh I should go floo my dad and let him know. You should drop by my rooms later when we get the owls and we can do it together."

"That sounds great. It'll be nice to be able to do this with a girl. I mean, Harry's a great friend and all but sometimes I just need a little estrogen to keep me sane and I think I'll definitely need it then," Hermione sighed.

"I know exactly what you mean. Alright, I'm going to go read a bit. I'll have to call my dad this afternoon. This whole time difference thing is going to mess with my head. I'll see you at lunch." And with that, I went back to my rooms.

I started reading but couldn't concentrate. I went into my bedroom and pulled out my guitar. After strumming through a few of the songs I knew the chords for, I got up and looked for my easy guitar books. That definitely helped me to calm down. I was so into playing that I completely missed lunch and didn't notice until I felt my stomach rumbling. I stood and stretched a bit. After putting my guitar back in my bedroom, I sucked up my courage and bent down at my fireplace to floo my dad.

My dad's head popped in the floo almost immediately. "Hey baby. I'm assuming you got all the details on that Marriage Law? I talked to Gary and he gave me the rundown on it. It doesn't sound as bad as we thought it would. What do you think?"

"Well, ideally, whoever they put me with will be someone that I would have married somewhere down the road anyway. It could definitely be a lot worse. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders so far," I told him.

"I can understand that. I'm glad I won't have to worry about you too much then. Just know that no matter who you get paired with, the family wants to be there when you get married. I know you don't want to do a huge wedding. That's never really been your style. But, your mom's side, and Grandma Billette and your Aunt Mary and Uncle John will want to be there. Luckily, we won't have to tell my brother or his offspring since they don't know about magic," he said.

"Thank goodness. I've always said I didn't want Chuck or his kids there when I got married. Glad this gives us an excuse. Although, we'd eventually have to tell them why I suddenly show up at Christmas married," I noted. I've never been a fan of my dad's brother, Chuck, or his kids. His kids were jailbait. The oldest lived with our Grandma and would mooch off of her until she finally kicked him out. The second oldest of his kids stole from her. Who steals from their grandma? The youngest was the best out of them but even he had a record.

"We'll come up with something. Don't worry about it for now. Not like their opinion matters anyway. Hope all goes well with this thing you have to fill out. Let us know how it all works out and let me know if you need anything. Love you baby," he said.

God, I love my dad. He always knows how to calm me down. "I love you too daddy. I'll let you know what happens. Tell mom I love her. Bye," and with that I hung up my phone. I knew that I had the support of my family no matter what happened. That helped me feel a great deal better. After my stomach growled again, I figured I should probably head down to the Great Hall for dinner.

Once I got to the Great Hall, I sat between Hermione and Severus. Hermione was in an intense discussion with Harry and nodded her acknowledgement of me. I turned to Severus and gave him a small smile.

"Hello, Professor Snape. What are you making of all of this?" I asked.

"I don't like it. I don't like the Ministry having so much control over my life. However, I would greatly like to keep my magic and will therefore comply with this damned law," he gruffly replied after thinking through his response for a moment.

"I completely understand where you're coming from. I'm used to dealing with the AMG and not having too much interference in my life by them. While I don't like this law per say, I can see the necessity behind it. I'm just grateful that they're not just flat out picking our partners. If they were, it'd be just my luck that I'd get stuck with some old creepy guy," I said.

"Old and creepy like me?" he cooly replied with a raised eyebrow.

I was taken aback. Did he really think of himself like that? I mean, sure, he's not my age, but I wouldn't consider him old. As a magical person, he's likely to live twice as long as a muggle, which would mean he's not even middle aged yet. And he's definitely not creepy. He might be a little rough around the edges and stern, but not creepy. I told him as such and was rewarded with a nod and a hint of a smile. Soon after, the owls arrived with our forms. I stared at mine for a moment before picking it up and placing it in my pocket.

"Well, I suppose I must head to my chambers and deal with this. Good night, Professor Billette," Professor Snape told me.

"Good night, Professor Snape. Oh and please, call me Elle," I smiled.

"Very well then, Elle, please call me Severus," and with that he nodded at me and swept from the Great Hall with a flourish of his robes.

I watched him leave for a moment and then turned back to Hermione who was just staring at the form. "Come on, hun, let's go get this over with," I told her. She sighed and followed me to my rooms.

Hello all! Please let me know what you think. I would like your opinions on whom to put Hermione and some of the other characters with. Please, leave a review and let me know!

Thanks!

nwdani