First Came Marriage

Very special thanks to Mirgon for editing this chapter.

To access the Spanish translation of this story, please visit s/12044884/1/First-Came-Marriage-Traducci%C3%B3n-al-espa%C3%B1ol

Many thanks to wonderful Doristarazona for translating my story to Spanish

CHAPTER 01

Today was the day. Harry sighed heavily and tossed himself lazily on his bed. He didn't want to get up, and he didn't want the day to start. He was not silly, he knew no matter what he was going to face the reality soon. With another big sigh, he got up and dragged himself to the bathroom.

It was three years after the second wizarding war, and he was twenty-one years old and an auror. But not even his reputation, his money, or his strength would help him in the matter. He was just as helpless as Ron, Hemione, and all the other ordinary unmarried witches and wizards. He looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror and shook his head in distress.

The Second Wizarding War ended resulting huge life loses from both sides. Many from the dark side had been sent to Azkaban. Population dropped dangerously low and so did the birth rate as everybody had left in shock and uncertainty about the future. Everyone's recovery was very slow. Two great wars within twenty years had been a huge damage to the society in every aspect.

Finally, the Ministry interfered and took everything into their hands to solve the population problem. Their two main aims were to avoid another war caused by blood status and increase the population. So they came up with a marriage law that gave the ministry the sole right to choose the life partner for every unmarried, widowed, and divorced witch and wizard. Purebloods were matched up with muggle born partners, half-bloods and partners from families considered as blood traitors. They made a deadline to get married and reproduce and anybody who would break the law, would be severely punished with a lifetime imprisonment for neglecting the well-being of wizarding society.

Almost everybody protested against the law, but some didn't bother. George Weasley didn't care. After losing his twin during the war he lived like a dead man without any dreams or hopes. On the other hand, Hermione took the lead in every protest to the law along with the help of Ron, Ginny and Harry. They didn't succeed. After all, they had had a very rough time during the war and because of this they were extremely tired and gave up easily. The law passed successfully, to everyone's disappointment, and they waited to receive the name of the prospective life partner by owl post on that day with all the other necessary instructions and documentation.

Harry took himself back to his room and lazily went through his wardrobe. He needed to be in 'The Burrow' within an hour as they had planned. George, Ron, and Ginny were supposed to receive their letters, and Harry and Hermione decided to join them and receive theirs at the same time to try to reduce the unpleasantness of the matter. They knew they couldn't avoid the misery but at least they could be there for each other when those horrible letters revealed their fate.

"Harry." A soft fatherly voice spoke to him. He stopped his work and looked at Sirius' portrait on the wall, who was giving him a comforting smile. "Don't think too much Harry, you never know. It may not that bad."

"What do you mean not that bad?" He snapped at his Godfather's portrait, "I lost my parents when I was one then forced to live in a hell with my only other relatives. After that for seven years I lived connected to Voldemort. Finally... finally when the war was over I thought I'm going to have a normal life, but..." he shook his head vigorously, "but it's never going to happen."

"Harry, son, don't talk like that. You are going to have a very normal life," Sirius smiled encouragingly, "Arranged marriages are much more common in the wizarding world than you may think. Plus it could be any pureblood, maybe be Miss. Lovegood? Don't you think you can live happily ever after with her?"

"It could even be Parkinson or Bulstrode," Harry snapped. "Can I have a happy normal life with either one of them?"

"Harry, matchmaking is done using a magical compatibility test and they won't assign you an unsuitable partner..."

"Thank you very much, Sirius, for trying to make me feel better. I'm sorry, but today it's not working." He replied while heading to fireplace.

"I know you are a little bit depressed about all of this, but assuming you are going to marry to a pure blood, I want you to find someone to negotiate the marriage terms with her family. You know some pureblood families have crazy values and conditions, and unfortunately I'm not in a position to help you."

Harry took a handful of floo powder and was about to shout 'The Burrow' to meet with his friends but after hearing Sirius' advice he shouted, 'Severus Snape's resident' instead and disappeared.

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The house was dark, just as he expected. All the blinds were drawn down as the former professor of Hogwarts didn't like sunlight very much. It was a miracle he survived the snake bite he had recieved. He was in a coma for more than a year and Harry played a major role in his recovery by the amount he spent on the best medication and treatments at St. Mungo. He visited Snape every day though he hadn't been aware of Harry's presence. Finally, after he recovered, he maintained his usual strange coldness toward Harry as before but the young man neglected his indifferent behaviour, as he knew the former professor was hiding his true self under his unfriendliness.

"Severus..." Harry muttered in uncertainty.

"Potter. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Snape sneered from a nearby chair.

Harry ignored the irony in his voice. "We are going to receive ministry letters today," he replied, still in the fireplace.

"So what? It's not one of my concerns."Snape casually shrugged his shoulders. "Thanks to that filthy snake, the ridiculous law is not affecting me."

"I know." Harry replied shortly

"Then what is the real reason for your uninvited visit?" Snape hissed. "Be quick. I don't have the whole day. After all, you have already interrupted my peaceful reading time."

"I-I think it's going to be a pureblood..."

"Isn't that obvious?" Snape furrowed his brow but continued, "I'm listening. Do you have anything sensible you wished to tell me? If not, feel free to go back and bother someone else."

The young man completely ignored his harsh words, "Depending on her family, I want you to represent me and negotiate the terms and conditions."

Snape looked at him with suspicion. He couldn't believe his ears. "Why me Potter? You have many other friends far better than your handicapped ex-potion master. Even if you'd like, you could ask the minister himself to represent you. So why me?"

Harry looked into his former professors eyes and said, "Because I trust you. Because you are the only man on earth who is willing to sacrifice anything, even your life, to protect Lilly Evan's only son. Because of this I know you won't disadvantage me. I can't think of anybody else better than you for this."

He was careful enough to use his mother's maiden name, and that seem to have done the trick. Snape's face went white as though he had seen a ghost. Harry noticed his lips were trembling and his hands were shakier than usual. Without saying a word, he went back to reading his book and Harry waited patiently. After a couple of minutes that to Harry felt like years, Snape cleared his throat.

"Alright then, let me know the details when they are available. I'll do it for you" He replied without even taking his eyes off of the book.

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Harry could sense the tension in the atmosphere as soon as he stepped in 'The Burrow'. Although he didn't hear anyone's voice, he knew where to find everyone. As he expected, they were all at the dining table. Ginny and Hermione were talking to each other, struggling to hide their stress, and Ron was just sitting there grumpily. George was looking outside the window, without showing any emotion, and Arthur was reading a newspaper while Molly was stirring something on the stove.

"You are late." Ron said, frowning. He ignored his best mate and greeted the two girls and Mrs. Weasley with hugs.

"Come come Harry dear, have something to eat." Molly pointed the food on the table.

"I'm not hungry." He muttered.

Arthur shook his head. "Starving won't help you, children."

Hermione sighed, "I don't know why they are putting us through this. At least they should have taken Harry out of..."

"Never mind that Hermione, shall we talk about something else? I really don't want to torture everyone by going through this over and over again." Harry purposely didn't let Hermione finish what she was going to say.

Ron snorted, "Torture? The real torture will arrive in a couple of minutes. It doesn't matter whether we are talking about it now or after. It is still happening." He grumbled.

Molly rolled her eyes at her son, "Don't be so negative Ron. Neville, Luna, Terry, and lot of other nice pure bloods are waiting for their letters too. You never know, you all might be partnered up someone within them." She said, trying her best to cheer up sulking young ones.

Hermione shook her head, "I highly doubt it Molly. My gut feeling says they are going to partner up the light side with the former dark side. But you never know, you could be right."

"You don't have to worry longer; they are coming." George pointed his finger outside the window, and everybody looked towards the arriving owls.

Five owls flew inside carrying five packages and dropped them in front of the respective recipient and flew back without waiting for a treat. A pin drop silence spread through the house, and Harry could even hear Arthur's breathing, and he was sitting at the far end of the table. Nobody wanted to open their package. After a prolonged silence, George gave up staring and started to open his and everyone followed him.

Each package contained all the necessary legal documents, instructions, and deadlines. Harry skipped the legal part and found the letter containing his future wife's name and skimmed through it until he found the name.

Daphne Greengrass... he vaguely remembered the ex Slytherin. She was the pale blonde girl with blue-gray eyes who was happened to be Pansy Parkinson's best friend, and she was not from a death eater family. He sighed cursing his fate. Ex Slytherin from a top ranking pureblood family was the last witch he wanted as a wife. He desperately needed Snape's help with the negotiation before Greengrass' screw him over to the fullest.

Harry looked around at his friends. As usual, Hermione was reading instructions and legal documents before anything else. It seemed like George had already seen the name of his partner to be, but he didn't show any emotions, no happiness or particular sadness. He stared at the piece of paper and handed it over to his father before leaving the kitchen without even properly excusing himself.

His sister's reaction was the total opposite to him. She led an ear-piercing scream and tried to tear the letter into pieces. The letter was successfully rescued by Mrs. Weasley and passed to her husband. Ginny hugged her mother tightly and started to sob.

Ron's reaction was no different to his sister. He was shaking with rage and tried to burn the letter muttering like a madman, "...Hag... -therin slut..." were the only words Harry could understand from his constant babbling. Luckily, the Ministry had thought beforehand of all the possible situations that could arise and had put some anti-destructive charms on the paperwork so all of Ron's spells didn't work on them, making him even angrier. He kicked his chair with frustration and dashed outside dragging his broom with him. Undoubtedly, he was not going to be in for another couple of hours, probably not until dusk.

"Bulstrode, Parkinson, and Goyle." Arthur Weasley sighed, "Three top-ranking pureblood families and ex-death eaters from Voldemort's inner circle. We do need to sit down to negotiate with them." He continued, looking at his wife, who gasped in shock.

"Who was assigned to you, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked while trying hard to comfort her hysterically sobbing daughter.

"Greengrass... Daphne Greengrass." He rubbed his temples with frustration. "...and Snape is willing to represent me in negotiations."

"Good. You need someone like Snape on your side. It's an excellent choice," She replied and turned to Hermione. "...and what about you dear?"

Hermione was pale and shivering as though she had seen a ghost, "God is punishing me...God is punishing me..." She mumbled few times before passing the letter to Mrs. Weasley, her hands trembling.

Molly looked at her husband with horror. "Malfoy junior! Poor girl...she will need someone to take care of her negotiations." She hugged both girls tightly and started to sob with them while her husband looked at them helplessly.

That's it! Harry thought to himself. He couldn't take it anymore! Shaking his head he apparated out with a loud crack.

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This is my first Fanfiction story. Please review. Depending on your feedbacks I would like to continue. Thank you very much for reading. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...

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