The Marriage Law

Mad Ministry

At 1 pm

Wilhelmina and Hermione were standing outside the ministry. Both were agitated and reluctant to go inside. They might have not gone in, if a ministry worker had not come to escort them in. Hermione's head was filled with different theories while Wilhelmina was just waiting for it to get over.

They soon entered a room, the floor was emitting blue smoke, there was a drop in temperature and in the middle of the room was the famous 'Goblet of Fire'. There were some people surrounding it, Padma and Parvati Patil was among them, all of them looked just as nervous as the Granger twins, they all had something in common; it seemed that all the pairs of twins from the wizarding world were present here.
Kingsley noticed their presence and greeted them in a stern manner.

"Finally, we were waiting for you" he spoke as he cast a spell and the door closed with a bang; it made several people jump. This was enough to put Wilhelmina on edge, she had a feeling that ministry was up to no good, she had an uneasy feeling in her gut. However, she kept her face blank and stood tall. Kingsley, either didn't see the nervous looks on everyone's faces or simply couldn't bring himself to care and continued speaking.

"So today we have gathered here for a very important purpose, after the loses that the wizarding world suffered a month ago, the ministry has made some significant decisions. You all are aware that the population of the wizards and witches has dwindled drastically, to overcome that, a law has been made, one of its objective is to minimize the birth of non-magical offsprings that we all know as squibs.
The feeling of dread was blooming in Wilhelmina's stomach, and she noticed that he was trying to speak in circles, and she could no longer stand it.

"Just say whatever it is, and stop trying to stretch it" Wilhelmina spoke loudly, she felt Hermione pinching her waist, Kingsley had a distasteful look on his face; he clearly did not like to be interrupted. He composed his posture once again and started speaking.
"So the ministry has come to a decision, according to which all the muggle born pairs of twins are to marry a pure blood or a half blood within a span of 4 months. Two partners will be chosen by the goblet for each one of you, and you will be selecting any one of them." The moment he finished speaking, cries of denial and defiance erupted in the room.

"What if we don't agree to marry at all ?" asked Hermione in a loud tone, with a tense look etched on her face, everyone around her ceased speaking and were now waiting for an answer.
"Miss Granger then the wand of the witch or wizard will be confiscated by the ministry, and they will be forbidden from keeping contact with any witch or wizard; even if it's their family.
Kingsley answered, all the young faces paled and a dead silence spread through the room. Granger twins froze at this revelation, they couldn't believe their ears.

"Now everyone put your names in here and by tomorrow morning each one of you will receive a letter declaring your two choices." Kingsley told them. Everyone started putting their names reluctantly. Soon everyone was done putting their names; except for the Grangers. They both were standing still and blankly staring at the goblet. One of the most important decision of their lives was now in the non-existent hands of the goblet. They stood there for what seemed like ages, their trance was broken when they were nudged by the Patil twins. After they came to their senses, they took slow and painful steps towards the goblet.

They were gripping each other's hand tightly, to reassure themselves that it would be fine as long as they have each other, they will get through it. After they were done putting their names and were dismissed by Kingsley; they sprinted towards the exit. They were still holding hands but kept silent.

Wilhelmina's mind was swirling with thoughts, this all felt like a nightmare. She couldn't believe that her right to choose her partner was snatched away, and it was all because of a stupid law. She hated this, she knew that she will have to get out of this.
Hermione's mind was in a similar predicament. It all felt unreal to her, after the war ended she was looking forward to her bright future, her aim was to bring changes for house elves and to improve other aspects of the wizarding world. She had planned her future: graduate with flying colors, get a respectable job in ministry, eventually rise to the position of minister, bring positive change and make a difference. She always thought that she would marry when she is financially stable and independent and not when she is merely 17 years old.

After they reached home, where now the entire Weasley family, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Harry Potter and the Granger twins lived together. They went straight to their rooms, not speaking a word to each other. They were glad that no one was home, some of them were at work while the others had gone to visit the Longbottoms.

Wilhelmina was going out of her mind, for the first time in her life she was completely clueless. She was raging, she had punched a wall multiple times and her knuckles were now bleeding; she was standing in the middle of her destroyed room, her hair was wild, her face was sweaty, her breaths were ragged. Soon she fell asleep in the middle of her destructed room.

Completely opposite to Wilhelmina, Hermione was sitting in her room with books surrounding her, she was furiously searching for a way to get out of this, with tears leaking out of her eyes. After looking through all the books related to ministry and laws, she was filled with disappointment. There was nothing that could save them. She continued her quest for solutions and lost track of time.

Evening

Hermione's attention was broken by a knock on the door. "Hermione come dinner is ready" Ginny called.
"Yeah, I will be there in a few minutes" Hermione answered. She had lost her appetite and did not want to face anyone, but she knew that it would raise suspicions, so she got up and muttered a spell that would hide her state.
"Okay, bring Wil with you" Ginny said and went down for dinner.

After knocking multiple times at Wilhelmina's door when Hermione received no answer, she muttered Alohomora and went in. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the state of her room and her twin. The room looked like it had endured a storm and her sister was asleep on the floor, dried blood coated on her hands. In an instant, Hermione was by her twin's side, shaking her awake.

"Wil your knuckles are hurt, what were you thinking ?!" Hermione's tone was loud and laced with worry. She quickly took Wil's hands and started using some spells to heal them, she then proceeded to bring back her sister's room back to its original state. Only when she was satisfied with her work, she turned towards Wilhelmina.

"What the hell is this ?" She asked with annoyance coating her voice.
"I was just so angry at this situation that I needed to vent so I did" Wilhelmina answered, the usual joy missing from her voice. Hermione sighed and shook her head
"Wil, we can't do anything, I tried to think of every possibility, there's no way to get out. Let's go down for dinner." Hermione grabbed Wil's hand and pulled her along.
"Let's not tell them, tomorrow when we receive the letters from hell we can tell them then." Wilhelmina spoke with finality in her tone. Hermione gave a small nod and together they went for dinner.

The dinner was exhausting for Wilhelmina, as everyone kept questioning about the twins afternoon, for Hermione it took a lot of effort to keep herself from snapping at everyone. Everyone wondered about the strange behaviour but thankfully stopped bombarding them with questions.

At night when everyone was sound asleep, two girls lay awake in their rooms. Hermione was still looking through books for solutions, while Wilhelmina was looking out from her window, staring at stars. Both of the girls were restless and scared. Scared for what their future held for them.

As the night passed and the sun rose high in the sky, Wilhelmina knew what she was going to do. She had made up her mind and her heart held a decision.

Note - Second chapter is here. I hope that it's not bad and you like it. I promise that it will get interesting after a few chapters. Thank you!!