Woo new story! I still have my Hunger Games fic to finish, so these first few chapters will be a tester. Don't worry though, I will update regularly if this story is liked well enough, at least once a week. But my main energy will go into my other fic for the time being. :)

Please enjoy, and honest reviews please. I know Marriage Laws have been done so much but I really wanted to write one.

Chapter One

Looking at the calendar on the wall, Hermione sighed as it reminded her of the date. May 1st 1999. Almost a year since the defeat of Voldemort. While everyone else in the wizarding world was beginning to celebrate the great victory, as Junior Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Hermione was forced to sit in Kingsley's vast office as their latest meeting took place. She had sat in her extremely comfortable chair for at least an hour, and had spent the time peering around the office, looking at all of Kingsley's collectibles. Usually, she was not included in such meetings, but her boss Grant Cloverfield had permitted her inclusion.

Probably looking my opinion on some celebratory performance for tomorrow evening, she thought bitterly to herself. After the war, all she had wanted to do was forget the last year of her life and move on, intending to change the wizarding world for the better as a ministry official. Granted, her war-hero status led her to gaining such a prestigious position almost immediately. But it had it's drawbacks. She was constantly asked by every member of staff in her department, particularly Grant, to relive her memories of the war, something she'd rather not do.

Sighing once more, she tried to tune into what Kingsley was saying. She had a profound respect for the man, for out of the four Ministers that had held the position in Hermione's knowledge of the wizarding world he had brought about an enormous amount of peace-building and change in the year he had held the position. Catching his eye as he looked to her, she smiled at him. He was a good man.

A few seconds passed as a number of Departmental Heads raised their hands, leaving a minority without their hands risen. "So Minister, it seems we have a majority vote," Grant started, his voice booming beside Hermione. She didn't particularly like her boss. He was arrogant and tried his luck with Hermione every chance he got. Not that she gave him many. She tried to stay out of his way as much as possible. "The law is passed, then?" He said, excitement lacing his voice.

Kingsley frowned, Hermione noticed as he stood. "I believe so Cloverfield." He said, almost sounding glum.

"Excellent!" The man beside Hermione boomed, "I shall go alert the Prophet and have them publish the news tomorrow! What better a time than the anniversary of our victory!" He exclaimed as he lead the rest of the officials out of the room, those of whom did not raise their hands looking extremely disgruntled.

Hermione was at a loss though. Her lack of attention had led her to be in a vulnerable situation, something she disliked immensely. Chastising herself, she walked over to Kingsley, who was standing with his back to her, looking out of his window onto the magically produced scenery that lay outside. The Ministry was underground, so of course the view was a product of a charm. Turning slightly as he heard her approaching, he smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry Hermione, I had hoped that fewer people would have agreed with Grant. I can pull a few strings, see if I can exempt you three from it? Though it is highly unlikely." He told her.

"Truthfully Kingsley, I wasn't listening. You're office is too interesting." She told him, embarrassed. Kingsley's features remained grim, alerting Hermione that whatever had just happened was serious.

For Merlin's Hermione! Concentrate in future! She scolded herself.

"It's a marriage law Hermione. Every witch and wizard between the ages of seventeen and forty-five that are not yet married or engaged will be legally required to marry their most suitable partner, as chosen by the Ministry. Letters detailing this will be sent out tomorrow, and matches revealed no later than one week from today." He said, his voice no more than a whisper.

Hermione felt her jaw drop, every inch of her body feeling disgusted that she had witnessed such an abomination take place, and she hadn't even tried to stop it!

"As Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Cloverfield will devise a team this afternoon who's role it is to appoint pairings. I will try my best to make sure you are not a part of that team Hermione, in fact I'll request your undivided attention this week so that you cannot be involved. But don't be surprised if you are featured in the Prophet." He said grimly. "Now take the rest of the day off, go home, tell Molly and the family and you all do what you have too, do you understand?" He asked, his expression serious.

Hermione nodded fervently, knowing exactly what he meant. "Thank Kingsley, see you tomorrow," She bid him farewell and hurried down to her office to collect her handbag and jacket, hoping that she would avoid Grant on her journey, for his sake. Panting slightly as she rounded the corner to her office, she looked around one last time to make sure Grant was nowhere in sight. She really did not want to see his slimy face, not after what he had done in the last few minutes, for she would have no control over her wand if she had.

Slipping on her jacket and grabbing her handbag, a Christmas gift from Ginny to replace her purple beaded one that was destroyed in the war, she caught sight of a lavender coloured envelope on her pile of paperwork sat in the middle of her desk. Must take that home with me, she thought as she lifted the envelope. It even smelt of lavender, the scent filling Hermione's nostrils and sending her into a calm state. Reading the elegant writing on the front, she read her name before delicatly opening the letter.

Herbert and Hyacinth Brown warmly request the pleasure of

Hermione Granger and Guest

to attend the marriage of their daughter

Lavender Rose Brown to Ronald Bilius Weasley

on

June 18th 1999

in the grounds of the Brown Mansion

Clutching the back of her desk chair, Hermione felt her heart shatter into a million pieces.

Ron had left last September to travel the world. He had started his Auror training alongside Harry in July, but left two months later, wanting to just relax after the war. And so he packed his bags, and with his healthy war money, set off to Australia. He and Hermione had ended things before he left on an open page, and she had always thought they would pick up where they left off once he returned. He hadn't even came home yet.

Whether he had intentionally left with Lavender, or had met her on his travels, she did not know. What she did know was that she was truly heartbroken. Sending ahead a patronus to The Burrow, telling everyone to gather in the kitchen, she felt tears prick at her eyes. Everything that had happened in the last fifteen minutes crashed down on her. Lifting the large pile of paperwork and her bag, she turned on the spot.

Re-appearing in the kitchen of the Weasley household, her blurry eyes focusing on the eight bodies sat before her, she set her paperwork and handbag down and walked to the table. "I have news," She whispered, hoping no one had noticed her tears yet. Accepting the cup of tea Molly offered her, she cleared her throat, catching sight of their worried expressions.

"A Marriage Law passed today. Anyone between the ages of seventeen and forty-five are to be paired with one another by the ministry, and are to marry. A letter will come to each of us tomorrow, and another containing our match by the 8th. Bill and Fleur, you are obviously exempt. And I guess Ronald is too." She whispered, the invitation falling from her hand onto the table as she let her tears flow and excused herself from the kitchen, and up to her and Ginny's shared bedroom.

Curling up in a ball under her blanket, she allowed herself to break down. She had not cried like this since the last time Ron had left her. Except this time, he wasn't coming back to her. He would belong to someone else.

Minutes passed and the tears kept flowing. Minutes soon turned into hours and Hermione found herself waking up with a body either side of her, Harry on her right facing her and Ginny behind her, her hand gently sweeping Hermione's wild hair from her soaked cheeks. "We're so sorry, 'Mione," Harry whispered as he pulled her into a hug. He loved both Ron and Hermione as dear siblings, but it hurt him exceptionally so to see Hermione this hurt as a result of Ron's actions. "We had no idea, honestly," He told her as she pulled back and wiped her eyes. They felt puffy and painfully sore, and she wanted nothing but to forget this day.

"He's a git, I've warned the both of you about him many times," Ginny said, frowning as her anger build as she thought of her brother. He would be lucky if he was alive to get married once she was through with him. They had all been sent invitations that morning as well, along with a letter for Molly saying he was due home on the 8th. The news of the Marriage Law had sent them all into overdrive. Upon hearing her mother's voice calling for her, Ginny hugged Hermione and left the room to find her mother, leaving Harry to comfort his best friend.

After sitting there together for a while, talking about nothing in particular, Hermione sighed. "I genuinely thought we would get married." She said, tears threatening to spill over when Kingsley's instructions popped into her mind. "The law isn't being announced publicly until tomorrow. You still have time to propose Harry! But only for tonight, unless you want to see if you are ideally matched by Ministry standards, which you probably would be regardless. But you have a ring already, so do it tonight!" Hermione whispered fiercely, forgetting her own woes and urging Harry to go get ready for what could be the biggest moment in his life.

Sure he defeated Voldemort, but Ginny was another force to be reckoned with in her own way, and it had to be perfect. Planting a sloppy kiss on her forehead, Harry jumped off the bed. "You really are brilliant Hermione. The wizard you are paired with will never be good enough for you, you know that?" He smiled as she smiled at his attempt to cheer her up. Leaving the room, he began humming off-key, a sign he was truly happy.

Smiling to herself, Hermione stood up and changed from her work-robes into a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt. Harry was always sweet to her and cared for her. He was the older brother she had always dreamed of having, even though he was almost a year her junior. But he had gotten it wrong, she would never be good enough for the wizard who she was assigned to.

Unless it was Malfoy.

The sudden realisation hit her, and it hit her hard. She could be paired with him, for she had no control over it. Her breathing grew irregular with the shock and soon she was hyperventilating, struggling to catch even the smallest of breaths. Stumbling to her bed in an attempt to calm herself, she failed to noticed the red-head that had appeared in her doorway.

"You okay Granger?" Fred asked, assessing the brunette. Realising what was wrong, and seeing that she was about to lie down, he raced to her side. "Stay standing if you can Hermione," He said, placing his hands on her waist to hold her steady, "It'll help you, I promise," He said softly as she looked at him quizzically. Well, as quizzically as one can do so when unable to breathe properly.

Sure enough though, she had calmed down enough that she could breathe properly again. She smiled gently at Fred, before realising where his hands were. Blushing slightly, she placed her hands on his and removed them from her waist, and lay down on her bed, inviting him to do the same.

The two lay in companionable silence. She had cast an exceptionally strong shield charm over Fred at just the right moment, meaning only a fraction of the wall had hit him and though it knocked him out, she had saved him in the Battle at Hogwarts. Since then, the twins and she had grown closer, to the point where she would often have lunch with them several times a week. Fred had gotten particularly attached to her whenever he regained his memory after waking up and remembered what had happened. "Where's George" She asked gently, as he charmed the lights to come on softly to lighten up the room slightly as the sun began to set.

"Oh, at Angie's. He caught on to your warning, gone to propose I think." He said, smiling at the prospect. "Is Harry going to do the same?" He asked her as she summoned a box of Chocolate Frogs from the far side of her room. With a quick twist Fred had disappeared, returning a few seconds later with a six pack of Butterbeer. It was routine now that once a week, either at the Burrow or the twins' flat that they feasted on Chocolate Frogs and Butterbeer and caught up with each other.

She nodded in reply to his question and tossed him a frog, accepting a freshly opened bottle at the same time. "How about you? Not have a lucky witch in mind to go and pop the question to?" She asked after taking a sip and lay back beside him.

"Nah. Think I'll just wait for this letter to come out. Can't be too bad. I hope." He told her, pulling a goofy face.

She giggled and the two lay there for a while, until all the Butterbeer had flowed and no chocolate remained. She was starting to drift off whenever she heard a door bursting opening from downstairs, causing her to jump up in fight and jolting awake a lightly snoring Fred. "MUM! DAD! BROTHERS! HERMIONE! IM ENGAGED!" Came the delighted shouts of Ginny, causing an excited cheer to erupt from Molly and a smile to spread on Hermione's face.

As long as her best friends were happy, she guessed she was too. Even if one of them had left her heartbroken.

"Come on you, we'd best go downstairs," She said, poking him in the side.

Before following, he spoke, "Herm-own-ninny?" He had never let her live that down after she told him about Viktor.

"Yes Fredrick?" She said, playing her own game in return.

"How do you know I'm Fred and George is George?" He asked, smiling slightly.

She paused before telling him. It was second nature to her now that she almost forgot how she could tell the difference. "Well, going by looks, you have a freckle just about your right eyebrow, that George doesn't have. And you have two ears," She said, gasping as if having two ears was a rarity. "And George is the better looking-twin," She told him, earning a glare. "Kidding, kidding. But aside from looks, you call me by my name when we're together, George always calls me 'Granger'." She said simply, smiling as she left the room.

Fred smiled too, happy she noticed the effort he put in. He followed her downstairs to see his newly engaged sister, waiting for George to return to give him the brotherly warning talk.

My longest chapter ever, in any fic!:o

Please review and tell me what you think!:)