Luck of the Draw

The Aftermath

Slowly but surely, the rest of the couples were paired. Not that it mattered to Athena, as she was far too concerned with her own situation. The group waited patiently for the official to speak once more.

"Now, Headmistress McGonnagal has seen to it that special rooms be made for the student couples. Your things

have been moved to those rooms already. For the teachers that have been matched, the ladies will be moving in with their respective gentlemen."Athena was the first to scoff. Her fiancé was the bloody astronomy professor, she'd be walking the entirety of the castle each day to teach.

"You will have one month to be married officially, with the marriage being consummated immediately, of course. From there, we will be doing monthly pregnancy examinations to ensure that the future of our race is being protected." Athena scoffed again. Minerva sent her a sharp look before nodded at the official to begin speaking again.

"The Ministry of Magic would like to congratulate you all on your new marriages, and we hope to see you all happy and pregnant shortly." Sirius chuckled as Athena rolled her eyes once more.

"Of course they do, they're not the ones in this situation, are they," He mumbled into her ear, making her chuckle darkly.

"When has the Ministry ever been known for their fairness? I figured that you of all people would understand that one." He gave her a cross look.

"I'll have you know that my second trial was very fair. Veriterserum and all." They both chuckled.

"Students, I'll be leading you to your new dormitories. If you'd just follow me," Minerva shouted over the crowd of voices. Athena waved at a few of the Hufflepuffs before motioning towards Sirius.

"Well alright then! I suppose you'd better show me where our new home is." Rubbing his hands together awkwardly, the usually over-confident Sirius motioned towards the doors before leading Athena out and up various staircases towards the Astronomy Tower. The two were fairly quiet as they walked, not entirely certain as to what to say to one another. Sirius opened his office door and allowed Athena in first.

"Our quarters are right through here," Sirius said, pointing towards a door on the opposite side of the room. She allowed him to open that door for her as well before entering the space.

"It's not much, but it's home."

"Better than Grimmauld Place I'm sure." Athena looked around awkwardly, noticing her trunk and various personal items placed in a corner neatly.

"Uh, don't be afraid to spread your personal things out. I'm sure this place could use something a little extra-" Sirius faded off, still feeling uncomfortable as Athena began to walk around the room slowly, investigating every item. Sirius had very few photos up, but she noticed that what he did have were all photos of his close friends and Godson.

"Harry really does look like his dad, doesn't he," She questioned, looking at the two photos he had sitting side by side.

"Enough to confuse me a bit in battle. Caught myself calling him James quite a few times. Are you alright, Athena? Not too disappointed are you? To have an ex-convict as a future husband?" Athena looked at him crossly.

"Are you kidding me? Marrying someone who's actually been to Azkaban might be the most rebellious thing I've ever done. My mother is going to have a heart attack." Sirius bowed deeply.

"Always happy to help, madame." With a soft sigh, Athena approached her pile of belongings and began to sort the items out. "Need any help there, love?"

"Don't think so. If I'm being quite honest, the only thing I had actually unpacked in my previous room was my office things. I'm afraid you'll find that I'm quite the procrastinator."

"As am I, or at least it would seem that way. I'll let you get settled then and I'll just be in the other room, working on my lessons. Remember, anything, anywhere you want." Sirius reached out and squeezed her shoulder in a comforting manner. She smiled softly and then reached into her trunk, pulling out the few photographs she had to add to the room. Smiling softly at the one on top of her and Tonks waving excitedly at the quidditch World Cup of '91, Athena decided that she had to write to her dear friend as soon as she was unpacked. She noted the small writing desk in the corner and added her stash of quills and stationary to it. Her stack of muggle records stored by the Grammaphone, something that she could tell was Sirius's pride and joy. She even stacked her favorite plants around the room, adding bright spots of greenery to the otherwise blank room. Her clothes came next, stacked neatly in the drawers and hung in the closet next to her fiancé's mostly black wardrobe. With a wave of her wand, the empty trunk was put away and she was finished. It was then that she heard a soft hoot come from the window. Recognizing the owl immediately, she groaned.

My Dearest Daughter,

As per usual, it would seem that your own stubbornness has put you in a bad spot. Forced to marry a man that the government is telling you to marry? I'm quite certain that you're wishing you had married the nice boy that your father and I had picked out for you in your seventh year. As soon as you've found out who you are to marry, you are to write us and inform us. We miss you darling. Try not to get matched with someone awful.

All of my love,

Mumsy and Daddy

Of course her parents had already heard of the Marriage Law being enacted. Her mother's gossip filled tea sessions with her friends had probably been filled with nothing but talk of it since it had been announced. Sirius re-entered the room as she sat down to write.

"Receiving letters already? Who from?" She groaned and slammed her head onto the desk.

"My god-awful, infuriating mother, that's who. Just can't wait to tell all of her stupid pureblood friends that I'm getting married, and of course, she tries to suggest that the government picking a husband for me is just so much worse than her and my father doing it. I swear, these pure-blood women are absolutely batty."

"Ah, so you were almost forced into an arranged marriage as well were you? Got to love that bit of pureblood hysteria. Who was yours?"

"Some Yaxley boy, I believe. Never got that far. I left home as quickly as possible and haven't been back since. Yours?"

"My cousin, Andromeda. My parents were quite insistent on keeping the line as pure as possible." Both shivered at the implications.

"How'd you get out of it?"

"Well, it certainly helped that Andy fell in love with a muggle-born and ran off with him, causing herself to be blasted off of our family tree, but I ran away first. Stayed with the Potters for awhile before I became of age." He rubbed his hands together anxiously. "You better get that letter written, you'd hate to keep her waiting." Athena sighed deeply again before dipping her quill in ink and beginning the letter.

Mumsy and Daddy,
Somehow, I'm not quite sure that an arranged marriage is really what a girl wishes for, no matter the circumstances (parents or government interference). However, you'll be pleased to know that my fiancé is in fact, a fellow pure-blood named Sirius Black. He is an astronomy professor at this school. I must be going. Sirius and I have quite a bit of wedding planning to be done if we are to be married within the month.
Your Daughter,
Athena

Once finished, she held it towards Sirius.

"You want me to read it," He asked incredulously.

"Well, I know your mother is no longer around to torture, so I figured you'd relish in the torture of mine." Both chuckled at their rebellious nature as Sirius read through the letter, chuckling at the last bit. 

"I have a feeling that this wedding is going to be quite the experience."

"I assure you that it will be completely normal as long as we get it all planned fast enough that Delphine Bailey can not get her hands on it."