Legally Binding

People I have been getting help with this fic. The credit goes to Dark_Lady_of_Slytherin. She has been helping me. She is a Child Psychology major and my major is Forensic Psychology. So you have two Psych majors working on this. So if we can’t make characters seem real then I don’t know who can.

Chapter 3


Arthur walked into the burrow. He looked at everyone sitting at the table; he didn’t have to be told that the law had already been made known to the people in his house. He could read it in the eyes of those present. The ones that bothered him the most was those of Harry, the boy looked vacant, a look that he had never seen on the lad before. Molly was trying to console him rubbing his back and telling him things would work out. When she spotted Arthur she pleaded with him with her hazel eyes.

“We’re going over this law with a fine tooth comb.” Arthur told his brood that was sitting at the table. He strode over to the table and placed the parchments down. “Lets start reading and see if we can’t find some loop wholes in this thing.”

Arthur passed each one a copy of the new law, he started duplicating the parchments. Hermione took hers and wandered over to a chair in the living room, all of the Weasleys stayed at the table. Harry didn’t even bother looking at the parchment that was placed before him.

Hermione started reading:

Procreation act; The Marriage Law; section 24658sp of the Wizarding Global Charter.

“Arthur this a global law, I thought this would only effect our local wizarding community.” Hermione could hear the concern that Mrs. Weasley voiced.

“I know, just read.” Arthur admonished her gently.

Hermione went back to the law:

The procreation act of the global wizarding community has been studying the phenomenon of child birth rates in the wizarding communities’ worldwide. These studies have been listed in the following pages; and have been the catalyst for the marriage law. Each community will be given the chance of setting these astronomical numbers of stillbirths, squibs, and barren children born in pureblood families right. A time of a set number of years are as follows. Each community will be listed as to the precedence of their numbers, and each community wilen ben be in charge of following the guidelines set within the global charter. Should a community fail to do as such, wizarding martial law will set upon that community and it will be forced to follow the rules or the community itself will be disbanded.

Hermione read the tables and the charts of each community and where they fell. It was no surprise that that where she lived would be the one place that had the highest numbers, given all the pureblood families in the area that wanted to stay as such. Muggleborns in this area didn’t marry into pureblood families; they stuck with their own until a family line was established before marring into those families if at all. Though, the cited cases came globally it didn’t bode well for the community she lived in. The tension in the area hadn’t settled down, Voldemort hadn’t been gone long enough to see that to happen.

The only saving grace Hermione found was that while she would be betrothed to a wizard, her legal guardians would be the one to choose. That was a load off of her, but she would have to explain things to her parents. She didn’t want to be married into a family that would treat her bad, it would be better off if she could choose her own life partner out of love, but with the way things were, it didn’t appear as if she had a choice. She also saw that the young witch or wizard in question would be betrothed in their seventeenth year of life and would be wed in their eighteenth year. They would be wed two days following their birthday. The law didn’t say anything about being allowed to stay in school if they were of legal marring age.

The law also established a courting time for the betrothed, that way they could still choose to break off one said betrothal for another if the betrothed had more than pet petition for them. Hermione could only think what would happen if you had a million, being at what Harry had just done, the news would not only be posted locally but would spread world wide. She continued reading and saw how each time period was split between how many betrothals came within the first two months of the witch or wizard turning seventeen. If only one petition came then that said witch or wizard would spend the whole time courting. If there were two it split everything for the remainder of the year in half and continued on. Everything made sense to her, but she still saw no way out of the law, there were no loop wholes, no way of getting around it. Andy aly also set an age restriction, anyone under the age of twenty could not marry unless it was a cross marriage of blood. Purebloods had no choice and neither did Muggleborn. They were all in the same boat. Anyone under the age of eighteen could not petition for a witch or wizard the head of the family had to do it for them, and only the head of the family could petition.

Hermione wondered just how far this year would be different, knowing that she would have to marry when she turned eighteen, knowing that she would only have Hogwarts, unless the wizard she married would allow her to go to University. She sat the parchments down, she was worried about Harry, but she was also worried about herself. Her mother and father had always told her that they wanted her to marry someone she was in love with and to follow her heabut but now in black and white even denied her of that right. Denied all the wizarding world of that right because of racial issues, not of outward appearance but one of blood.


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Albus sat in the war room, what the professors had affectionately called the staff room. The way they saw it, it was a war, one with teaching and the other with getting the children to learn. This impromptu meeting came about because of the marriage law. Each school had been sent a list of how to conduct those affected by the law, namely the courting phase of the law. Albus was furious; he never let anyone tell him how to conduct and run things in Hogwarts. Yet now he found himself having to do what was requested of him, or the global wizarding community would come in and do it for him. Fighting Fudge was one thing, but fighting the leaders of the global community of wizards was another.

“This is ludicrous. How do they expect these students to pass their NEWTs if they have to go to all of these courting?” Severus snarled out. He flung the parchment away from him.

The other professors nodding their heads in agreement and all looking to Albus Dumbledore to lead them through this crisis. “The courting are the least of my worries. Although you bring up a good point, Severus. House rivalry at Hogwarts surpasses any other wizarding school and I fear this will only make the rift that much larger. While we have been able to maintain some level of security for our students, I fear, we will have to have some more reinforcements to help quell any disturbances before they begin.”

“We’ll have problems, Albus. Gryffindor and Slytherin are always at each others throats, it’ll be even more so now.”

Albus looked over to Professor Flitwick, normally one who stayed away from house rivalry but he did see what Ablus was talking about.

“Yes, they are. But they had banded together at the end of last year, but I can’t see that one banding being able to hold through this new law.” Albus pressed his fingers down on the bridge of his nose trying to repress the headache that was coming on.

“What about getting Aurors to help?” Professor Sinistra asked.

“I’ve talked to Fudge about that.” Albus took his hand away. “He agreed that Hogwarts would need more protection. Fudge didn’t want this law to come into effect anymore than any other wizard or witch did. But it is out of our hands. We need to show the students we stand behind them and show them that none of them will be hurt, at least physically while they are in this school.”

“I agree as long as they remain in school, we can at least give them some measure of safety.” Minerva added.

“Normally we let the students fend for themselves on the train to and from school, not this year.” Albus looked around the room. “I want two professors on that train. Who wants to volunteer before I just choose someone?”

No one relished this job. Albus could tell with each passing second that it looked like he would have to pick the professors, he sighed. “Very well, Severus and Remus you now have this job. Between the two of you I’m sure you can keep the students in line. I’ll also make sure there are two Auror on the train. If there are no further questions, dismissed.”

Severus and Remus glared at Albus, a mutual distaste for being put on the train. tha that either one of them would have minded the train ride, it was what might happen on the train that left both of them feeling uneasy.

Remus looked over to Severus, “Guess we’re on the same side again. Professors against the students.”

Severus snarled at Remus. “This may be the last time we are on the same side.” Severus stood and left the room with his robes billowing behind him. He was still put off at Albus giving Remus the job of Defense Against the Dark Arts posn agn again. But the school board voted him back in, seeing as he was the only teacher in last six years that new what he was doing where that job was concerned, and overlooked his lycanthropy as long as he took the Wolfsbane Potion while he was at the school.