All characters and canon situations belong to JK Rowling and I make no money from the writing or pubishing of this story.

**This story was written for Granger Enchanted's Marriage Law Challenge - 2010

A Perfect Match

By

AnneM

Chapter 1 – Present Time, Two Months after Chapter Two, if That makes Sense, Two Men Talking

"I can't bloody well believe this!"

"I know. It's hard to believe. I just had to tell someone. That's why I asked you to come."

"This was the reason everyone had to have that blasted blood testing done?" the first man shouted.

His friend nodded and said, "Yes, that was the first part of it."

"But this is ludicrous," the first man said. "I always thought the Minister was a bit daft, but surely he knows the Wizengamot is never going to allow this! They're bound to challenge it, as will every pureblood family out there!"

The second man laughed and said, "It's already a foregone conclusion, my friend. Not only has the Minister received the full backing of the high court, but the law has already been enacted, and the letters with the edict are going out tomorrow."

The first man staggered a bit and fell down on a chair in his friend's office. "Letters? What letters?"

His friend handed him a piece of heavy, vellum, cardstock parchment and said, "Here, read for yourself. You'll get your own soon enough, though."

The second man took the letter with shaking hands and read aloud:

Edict Marītus

By Order of the Minister for Magic

The following law now applies to all magical beings living in the combined colony of the British Isles.

The Reunification and Marītāre Law was passed this morning by a majority vote of the Wizengamot Government.

As of this date March 1st- 2005 all Muggleborn and Halfblood magical beings will be compliant to the newest law. Failure to do so will result in the binding of their magic and stiff monetary penalties.

By reading this edict- you submit to our law and agree to its terms.

Minister of Magic- Kingsley Shacklebolt.

He handed the parchment back to his friend and asked, "So tell me in simple terms, please, what does this mean?"

"Well," his friend began, "you're aware that since the end of the second war, there have been more and more squib births, due, undoubtedly, to all the inbred marriages of purebloods over the years. If England wants to keep their magical society strong, and compete with the rest of the world, they needed to do something drastic. All unmarried purebloods, half bloods and Muggle-borns, between the ages of 18 and 60 will get a copy of this edict tomorrow. The next day they will get another letter, stating that a choice has been made for them by the Ministry using an advance blood test that has found their perfect mate, and that mate will be named in that second letter. Then the third…"

He was interrupted when his friend said, "Oh my stars…Granger's blood test. The one she worked so hard on was used for this?"

"Yes, and she will be livid," his friend said, shaking his head. "I feel like I betrayed her, because I knew all along that her test would be used for this, but I couldn't tell a soul. Her blood test was brilliant, actually. Something akin to a Muggle blood test, crossed with a Muggle matchmaking personality test, all wrapped up with one little spell and one little potion. The person has their blood taken, it's put in a vial, matched with another's and poof, the stability of our world is once again at hand!"

"After the blood tests were conducted, a choice was made for each witch and wizard and that person will be named in the second letter, and another letter, the third, will go out and tell them what will happen to them if they refuse to comply with the law. They thought it best to send this in a separate letter, so not to taint the one with their future mate's name on it."

"What if they refuse to marry this person?" his friend asked. He picked up the piece of parchment with the edict and added, "Someone like Granger is already engaged! If Weasley isn't her blood match, will she be able to refuse?"

His friend slowly shook his head no. "No, not really. They'll be stiff penalties, restrictions, and use of their magic will be prohibited. They might as well go live as a Muggle. I can't see anyone refusing. After the third letter, a fourth will go out with congratulations to them, of all things, and setting up timelines for the marriage, etc. After two years of marriage, if they produce no offspring, they can petition for an annulment and the marriage will be null and void, but then they have to submit to another blood test, for a total of three tests in all."

Reading the edict quietly again, his friend said, "So in theory, someone could drag this out for six years?"

"But who would do that?"

"If they did, what would occur at the end of the six years?" His friend stood and went over to look out the window. He muttered, "Damn snow," even though they were underground and the windows were spelled to make it appear it was snowing, by magic.

"Six years later, I guess they wouldn't be married, but that's about all they would have, their freedom. They would have all the same penalties and restrictions leveled against them that they would have had if they refused outright in the beginning. No one will refuse. The law is airtight and due to be enacted in less than 24 hours."

"And who cares about the firestorm of backlash, right?" his friend shouted. "Fuck! I just thought of something. I had the blood test done! Who was picked for me?"

His friend looked uneasy and said, "I can't reveal that, you know that, besides, all the results are sealed. The letters are going out tomorrow by Owl and Floo, and then the second letters with the names are going out the day after, and they're being heavily guarded in the Department of Law Enforcement. There are at least two Aurors guarding them at all times!"

"But surely you know!"

"No, I don't! I don't even know who was picked for me, and frankly, I don't want to know. It makes me a bit sick."

"Well, I'll find out somehow!" His friend stormed through his office.

"Wait, how are you going to find out, and even if you do, what good will it do? You can't change this! It's happening!"

"If you didn't want me to do something, you shouldn't have told me about this, Adrian," his friend growled. "You know me well enough by now to know that I can't sit idly by and allow this to happen and not do something about it. What if I get stuck with someone awful?"

"Oh yes, it's all about you," Adrian mumbled. "Go; try to sneak past a horde of Aurors, through the largest department in the Ministry. You're not even a department head in your department! You don't have the credentials to get past the threshold!"

"You're a department head! This was your baby, your experiment; you were in charge of it! Tell them you have to check on something and come with me! Please!" His friend dragged him by the shoulders and then pushed him through the doors.

Adrian asked, "Gee, do I have a choice?"

"NO!"

"Fine, but only because I'd like to know who I get paired up with as well, but just so you know - this might not work. They might not let us in," Adrian remarked.

The man looked at his oldest and dearest friend and said, "If they don't let us in, then I'll think of something else."

To one man's surprise and the other man's chagrin, they had no problems entering the large department where thousands of envelopes were kept in boxes in a large holding room. Nevertheless, that was only one hurdle. Adrian explained to the Aurors outside the door of the holding area that he merely had some last minute alterations to make to the letters they were guarding. Since both Aurors were aware that Adrian was the one that helped deliver the letters to their department the day before, they didn't question him.

They did, however, stop his friend. "We can let you in, Mr. Pucey, but only you, not your friend."

"He's my guard," Adrian said nonchalantly.

"Your guard? Since when does the head of Potions and Spells need a guard? And doesn't he work for the…" the first man stopped talking when he spied Harry Potter walking down the corridor. The young Auror was in no way their boss, but he was much respected by all the members in the Magical Law Department.

"Mr. Potter," the first guard said in greeting. The second guard merely nodded.

Harry said hello and then to Adrian he asked, "What are you doing here, Pucey? Is something wrong?"

Harry was one of the few people, besides Adrian, the Minister of Magic, and the members of the high court, who were aware of the contents of the letters in the room before them.

"Nothing's wrong, Potter. I guess I'm just feeling a bit nervous about it all, and I want to check everything one last time," Adrian said. Harry thought he looked nervous enough, so he nodded.

"Fine, you can go in, but he can't, you know that, right?" Harry asked, regarding Adrian's friend.

"He's his guard," the second young Auror told Harry.

Harry snorted and said, "Yeah, right. Only you, Pucey, you know that." Harry walked away from the men. Adrian smiled a sad smile toward his friend, apologetically, and then he got a dastardly thought.

"Gentlemen," Adrian said to the Aurors, "I'll return, alone, in a moment, right?" He took his friend by the arm and pulled him out of sight of the Aurors, around the corner.

He slipped off his lab jacket, took his friend's coat right off his back, and threw his jacket toward the other man. "Right, go in there quickly. The letters are in alphabetical order. Take a quick look, but don't mess anything up. Look only for yourself. I'll let mine be a surprise after all."

He tried to put his white jacket on his friend, who swatted his hands away. "Adrian, you dolt. I think those young Aurors will know I'm not you."

Adrian made a disgusted noise, mostly at himself, and reached in his trouser pocket. "What kind of Potion's Master would I be if I didn't carry polyjuice potion?"

"I need polyjuice that will make me look like you!" his friend hissed.

"Yes, this is polyjuice potion that will make you look like me, idiot," Adrian said with a roll of his eyes.

"Why?" his friend asked, slipping on the jacket. "On second thought, I don't even want to know why you would need to carry potion for yourself that would make you resemble yourself. You're already one strange man in my opinion. Best not to shatter every notion I have of you."

Adrian thrust the vial into his friend's hand and remarked, "If that was a thank you, you're welcome. Now go. It won't last long."

His friend drank the vial of foul potion, made a face, waited a few moments, and when Adrian told him the coast was clear, he slipped back into the hallway where the guards stood in front of the doors containing the letters.

"Best get in there," he said, smiling awkwardly. He slipped past the men, looking at his reflection in the glass on the doors as he went. He cringed when he saw his best friend's reflection looking back at him. Not because his best friend was bad looking, but merely because he thought he was BETTER looking.

He went into another small room and there, in rows of boxes, sitting on at least ten tables, were a multitude of letters. After ascertaining which boxes contained the edicts, he passed by those letters for the boxes containing the second letters with the names of each person's perfect match.

He found his letter easily enough. He flinched and gagged when he saw the name. The girl wasn't that horrid, but there was no way he was being shackled to her for the rest of his life. He needed to find her letter, and then find someone to switch both of them with…when he thought of something.

Whom did Hermione's little blood test pick for her? He went to the boxes with the G's. Flipping through the envelopes, he said aloud, "Garman, Greene, Graham, Granger…there you are." He opened her letter and gasped louder than before. "No effing way!" He was infuriated when he saw the name of the man on her letter. Without another thought, he found the letter of her 'perfect match', and slipped that letter into his envelope and his letter into that man's envelope. Then he did the same with Granger's, slipping Granger's letter into the envelope of the woman meant for him and slipping the letter with his name into Granger's envelope. There. It was done and no one would ever know. It was easy. It made sense. Perfect sense.

Because he loved her.

Therefore, it was a perfect match.

*A/N: All will be revealed in a chapter or two. I wonder who the fellow is?