Author's Notes: This is a refined chapter!
Hi, I am Delilah Wise. Welcome to The Marriage Decree.
The Marriage Law Challenge was created in 2003 by chelleybean as 'how far a society will go to save their own skins', and forced Hermione to marry either Severus Snape or Lucius Malfoy. Obviously, the trope has evolved over the past twenty-one years, and The Marriage Decree very loosely follows the rules of the original challenge.
In The Marriage Decree, I explore the same theme: 'How far will the Minister/Ministry go to save Wizarding Britian?'. Yet I will also explore: 'How far will Wizarding Britian let the Minister/Ministry go?'.
I began writing The Marriage Decree in 2014 and first published it in 2016. Now, in 2024, I am in the process of refining and editing the earlier chapters. I will write 'This is a refined chapter!' in the author's notes of all updated chapters (see above). All Author's Notes after this one will be in the comments for the first paragraph of each chapter.
You can find me on Instagram ( delilah . wise ), where I post about chapter uploads, chapter refines, and ask for my readers' advice on plot and character arcs.
Here's Chapter 1 for you!
Enjoy x
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Friday 31st December 1998
Immediate regret floods Hermione's chest as they step inside the nightclub they had just spent ten pounds to enter - after queuing for forty minutes - and she wonders who's bright idea it was to go clubbing in Muggle London for New Year's Eve.
The music is thumping, the lights are erratic and the whole dance floor is full of hot, sweaty bodies brushing against each other as they dance. While content to find a secluded corner to occupy until midnight, Ron has other ideas. Taking her hand, he pulls her into the centre of the dance floor as the latest charting pop music blares through the speakers.
The experience quickly becomes too much for Hermione. A rising panic tightens her chest as she pushes her way through the crowd, until she burst out and stumbles towards a bar stool. After a few deep breathes, Hermione flags down a bartender, who signifies that he'll be there in a moment. Leaning back against the bar, Hermione watches her boyfriend and friends, still on the dance floor.
Harry and Ginny seem to be in a world of their own with their arms wrapped around each other as they dance close, whispering and laughing together. Not far away, Ron is double-wielding glow sticks as his awkwardly tall body flails around in his attempt at dancing, not that the circle of beautiful women he's attracted seem to mind as they get a little too close for liking.
"Happy New Year!"
Glad for the distraction, as she assumes it's her bartender, Hermione turns around, only to come face to face with a blond, tanned man dressed entirely in denim. His eyes hungrily roam the length of her body as he leers drunkenly towards her. Choosing to ignore him, she spins to face the bar, wondering if it will be a happy new year.
Nearly eight months after the war has ended, Hermione still feels a heavy sense of guilt whenever she finds herself enjoying life, instead of mourning those friends that won't get to see the end of the worst year in wizarding history.
Not deterred by her lack of interest, the denim man lays a sticky hand upon her thigh, gaining her attention.
"You look like you need a drink?"
Hermione tears his hand from her bare thigh. "I can buy my own," she assertively informs him, as the bartenders appears before her. "Can I get a vodka coke, please?"
YOU ARE READING
The Marriage Decree
FanfictionWhen all eligible wizards and witches are forced into marry in order to increase the population after the war, neither of them thought they'd ever have a chance at happiness again. Especially not with each other. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTE...
