The Arrangement: Theo Nott Short Story

1-Sundays

Sunday was always her favorite day. It reminded her of everything positive in her life, even after the war. Sunday is when she would have butterbeer with Hermione and Ginny in Hogsmeade. Sunday is when she would wake up early for breakfast because they were serving french toast. It's also the day that she would go with Ron to Honeydukes at exactly 2pm, so they could get the first of the restocked sugar quills. 

Sunday use to be her favorite day. Use to be. 

However ever since her floo lit up green this morning she found herself starting to hate the day more and more. 

"Can I get you some tea?" She asked the lady from the Ministry. She came to know her name was Victoria Monroe. 

"No thank you. Miss McKinnon please have a seat. I don't mean to rush but we are dealing with a time sensitive issue here." The lady's voice seemed regretful which peaked her curiosity. 

"Please, call me Kat." She smiled brightly at the witch, causing her to frown. 

She quickly took her seat on the adjacent love-seat in her living room. The atmosphere became uneasy, which caused her palms to sweat. Wiping her hands on her jeans, she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, what is this about exactly? I didn't know Ministry members made house calls." She said nervously. 

"Only if it's urgent." She explained, taking a deep breath before finishing. "As you may know, after the Wizarding War, the population of witches and wizards has decreased. Gods rest their souls. Now coming from non-magical parents means there may be some laws you aren't familiar with." 

"Laws? I'm sorry, did I do something wrong or something?" Kat felt sick, wondering if she had broken a law unintentionally. 

"No my dear. You see when the wizarding population drops to a certain number, an arrangement law is put into place. It requires the witches and wizards of non-magical parents or half-bloods to join together to help repopulate." The lady spoke slowly and calmly.

Or maybe Kat's brain was just on overload so it seemed slow. She felt disgusted at the thought of such an old law still taking place. Mostly she was panicked. Did she get to pick? Maybe she could ask Molly to finally set her up with Charlie. She would feel safe with someone she knew. 

She wanted to scream but she didn't have all the facts yet. Maybe this wasn't so bad and once everything was explained then she could go back to her normal life. Wait she said repopulate? As in babies? Kat felt her head begin to spin and she found herself struggling to breathe. A glass of water was held in front of her face and she wondered when Victoria had even gotten up to get that. Kat offered a small thank you but was still having trouble. 

"Do I even get a choice on who it is? Why did you leave out Purebloods? Do they not have to partake in such horrid laws?" She snapped quietly. 

"Unfortunately the Arrangement Law requires those of Pureblood families to be the opposite spouse. Unless specified from a certain family the sorting is at random essentially. However your partner is chosen by compatibility. So this person's magical core will match your own. You will be encouraged to produce a male heir."

This was all too factual. Kat felt anger rise in her chest as a sweat almost broke out on her forehead. This has to be a sick joke or something. There's no way the Ministry is essentially selling off people to Purebloods just so they can continue their prejudice lifestyle. She began to wonder if it was too late to talk to Molly or Charlie. 

"This is disgusting! Do I even have time to talk to anyone about this? I'm not doing this! Take me off whatever fucking list you have! I'm not interested so have a nice day." She felt her skin crawling as she stood up from the couch, walking over to the floo.