The Marriage Law - A Slytherpuff Story ✓

Chapter 2: The Announcement

Katherine was woken up by Annie the following day, urging her to get ready.

After she got dressed, they made their way into the Great Hall for breakfast, the most important meal of the day.

"Uh, I'm so hungry," Annie sighed, making Kat giggle. That girl sure loved to eat, but so did she, so she nodded at her with a smile.

They sat down at the Hufflepuff table, waiting for breakfast to begin.

Even if she loved to eat, Katherine kind of lost her appetite that morning, nervous about the announcement. She reminded herself of the previous night, knowing that her friends were going to be there, so she forced herself to eat. After all, she knew her body needed the energy, she couldn't starve herself.

After the students – except the 7th years – left, McGonagall began her speech.

"Now, as you all know, the wizarding population decreased... a lot, because of the war. Because of this, the Ministry announced a new law. According to this law, each and every one of you, sitting in this Hall, will have to be engaged by the end of the school year."

Students already began whispering, but after seeing the stern look on McGonagall's face, the room became quiet again.

"After that, you will have to get married, then you'll have to get pregnant-" she looked at the girls, "in a year."

People seemed too shocked to start a riot yet, so she continued.

"You will be paired with your future wife or husband tomorrow afternoon. Until then, you should use your time to process and accept this new law, because unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it."

There was dead silence for a few seconds, then everyone seemed to start shouting at the same time.

"They can't do this to us!" Seamus Finnigan, a boy from Gryffindor stood up.

"I'm deeply sorry, Mr Finnigan," McGonagall looked at him, "but my hands are tied, and so is everyone else's."

Katherine saw some couples exchanging worried looks, including Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for them. What if they get separated because of this?

The Gryffindor's seemed to be the most upset, followed by the Slytherin's, who also had angry looks on their faces.

The Ravenclaw's seemed quite upset as well, but they acted more mature in her opinion.

The Hufflepuff table seemed to be the quietest, including Kat.

Oh well, maybe this is the Universe telling me that since I could never get a boyfriend on my own, they are going to set me up with someone.

She didn't know what to feel yet, she would decide after she got paired with her future husband. She just hoped that they would get along.

They were told that they would get their schedules after the pairing, so they had a little free time to process everything.

"We are going back to the Common Room, are you coming?" Annie turned to her best friend, but she shook her head.

"I think I'll go for a walk, you know, to clear my head," she smiled. "But I will come find you guys in a while."

She nodded, hugging Kat, then her friends left the Great Hall.

She stood up, slowly making her way outside to get some fresh air. On the corridor, she saw someone coming towards her.

Pansy Parkinson.

She smiled, then began walking towards her as well.

"Hello, Pansy," she smiled, opening her arms.