The New Law

The Law

A.N: I hope you'll enjoy this story. Comments are appreciated as well as votes ;)
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Draco Malfoy was a changed man. He was not the same kid he had been in Hogwarts, talking trash to everyone he saw as being beneath him. He did not believe in blood impurity anymore, he had seen first-hand the pure blood coming from someone he was brought up to believe not to have it. Seen the blood oozing from her arm and looking exactly like his own. It was all lies he had put behind him and taken a step away from.

His parents had recently passed away, his father in Azkaban and his mother in the hospital suffering from an incurable disease, her passing was the hardest. He was alone in the world a far as family went, the closest thing he did have to a family was his two best friends Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott.

Now, Draco was still not the perfect man, he could be quite arrogant and full of him self when he saw fit, but he was loyal to the people who mattered to him and he would always have their back, no questions asked.

Some people thought it was all an act though, that he was secretly the leader of the death eaters that were still left and was plotting some kind of revenge on the ones who helped kill Voldemort. It was one of the rumours that Draco despised most because he had and still did hate Voldemort for ruining his childhood and for destroying so many lives. He hated that he had ever been his servant.
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Hermione Granger was doing quite well for herself following the war. She had finished her Hogwarts education and she had gotten a great job at the ministry working with magical creatures and helping them get the best lives possible. She had dated Ron Weasley for almost a year after the war, but things hadn't really worked out and they decided they were better suited as friends.

She was also doing well at work, she had good friends around her and her parents were back safely with their old memories restored. All in all, life was good. What Hermione did not know was that life was about to become one heck of a lot more complicated. Life was never going to be the same again.
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It was early morning and Hermione was excited to start her day. She went into her little kitchen in her cosy little apartment and made herself a cup of tea, some toast with strawberry jam and went to give crookshanks some food as well.

Just as she sat down by the kitchen table an owl came flying in through her window with today's issue of The Daily Prophet. She put some coins in the little pouch around the birds leg and gave the bird a little owl treat she had standing in a jar on her table. The owl hooted contentedly before taking off again out her window. Hermione leaned back in her chair as she rolled open the paper to see what was new in the world today while she took a sip of her tea.

Hermione spit her tea out in shock. This was not for real was it? It had to be a joke! I mean, come on, how could the ministry do this? A marriage law? Why? Yes the wizarding population had sunk considerably during the war, but it was surly rising back up again at a good pace wasn't it? It had been four years since the war ended; people must have started having babies. That's what usually happened after a war, a baby boom as many liked to call it. Apparently this was not the case in the aftermath of the wizarding war. And now everyone between the age of seventeen and thirty had to meet at the ministry of magic to receive their designated spouse because the ministry apparently had found a way to match everyone up with the perfect person for them. It was absurd. Absolutely horrendous. And why on earth hadn't she heard of this before now? She was working at the ministry, how could they have kept her in the dark? Hermione was fuming with anger. It wasn't fair!
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Draco sat staring at the front page of The Daily Prophet that was laid out on his desk. He had gotten up early and gone to his office and when the paper arrived he had taken a break from his paperwork to read it. It was absolutely preposterous! Draco wanted to smack the minister for magic right in the face for being so bloody stupid as to believe that this would solve anything. He would have an uprising on his hands, that's what he would have, not a solution to the population issue. Hopefully the ministry would see reason once they saw that no one would take part of this ridiculous new law.

Draco got up in a hurry, finding his coat and putting it on before he apparated to the ministry of magic. Chaos was everywhere when he arrived. People were shouting insults at the minister who stood on a tall pedestal in the middle of the entrance hall at the ministry all the while he was trying to get them all to stop screaming so he could talk to them and most likely come with some bogus explanation as to why this stupid law was a necessity.

"If everyone could just CALM DOWN FOR ONE MOMENT" minister Shacklebolt boomed, his voice magically amplified. The hall went quiet except for a few mumbling voices here and there.

"I understand that you're all very upset by the news you have all received. I must warn you though, that there is no point in trying to resist this, it is the only way to solve things.
We are a dying race, there aren't enough little witches and wizards being born so we have to do what we believe is the only way to save the wizarding kind. If you do try and resist we sadly have to send you to Azkaban. Hopefully this will be enough to make you not want to try and get out of this. I expect none of you want to go there. The ministry and myself are sorry to have it come to this, but we don't see any other options being effective enough."

Draco scoffed. This had to be a joke. Was there seriously no other options? And why did they have to be matched, could people not be allowed to choose whom they wanted to marry on their own? This could only end one way and it was not good.

"You will have to marry your assigned spouse within a year and within six months of marriage you are obliged to start trying to have children. Any hospital bills will be paid by the ministry in case of any problems before, during or after pregnancy. You will all be matched with someone who is believed to be most compatible with you; both as a person, but also in getting healthy babies. You have all been charmed with a location charm the moment you stepped into this hall so we will know where you go if you try to run. This same law is being put in action all over the wizarding world so there is really no point in running away"

Draco had had enough. He just wanted to go home and dive into a book in the library at the manor and pretend none of this had ever happened.