Marriage Law (d.m)

~ chapter 2 ~

Madelyn woke up and saw Hermione still laying in bed. She sat up and swayed her legs off so they were dangling from the bed. The sunlight came through the opening of her curtain and landed on one of her legs. Her finger moved it up and down the stream as she thought of meeting her future husband later that night. She got off her bed and walked towards the bathroom to shower for the day. She made sure she was not making too much noise as she didn't want to wake Hermione. She didn't want to have to talk about her feelings towards the law—Madelyn knew she hated it and there was not much more to say. 

After her shower, she put on a grey sweater and a pair of vintage-looking skinny jeans with rips in the knees. She took her hairbrush and brushed her dirty blonde hair from the top to the bottom continuing till all the knots were gone, blow-dried it till it was smooth, then grabbed her makeup bag. Madelyn put a little bit of makeup on to cover the dark circles and mascara to make her green eyes pop. When she walked out of the bathroom, Hermione was nearly ready for the day. 

"Madelyn, how are you doing?" Hermione asked, looking over to Madelyn as she sat on her bed. 

"Pretty great—I'm being forced to marry a man I don't love and I'm not even sure of who it is," Madelyn said sarcastically as she finished putting her shoes on. She sat up and looked at Hermione who looked upset.  "I'm sorry Mione. I just hate this law. I don't have anyone. You guys all have someone to comfort you and someone you are likely to end up with. I have nobody. For all I know, I'll get paired with someone I've never even spoken to before." Madelyn explained as she walked to Hermione. "Look, I don't want to talk about it anymore. I want to try and have one more normal day, free of all shit thrown at us."

"You're right. Let's make the most of our last day as single women," Hermione said, winking at Madelyn. Madelyn knew she was technically dating Ron but she understood what she meant. 

For the day, they walked around the castle and explored places they hadn't been before. Ginny, Ron, and Harry joined later. After, they walked down to the lake, forgetting about what was to come. The boys skipped rocks on the lake, splashed water at each other, and all talked about things normal teenagers talked about. Neville and Luna ended up joining a little later since Luna was also having a difficult time with the news. It just felt like they were a group of teenagers having fun. But soon, nightfall came. 

They all ate their dinner in the Great Hall and eventually, McGonagall came up to the podium. 

"Everyone but the seventh and eighth-year students can head back to their dormitories." Madelyn could feel her heart racing and began shaking her leg up and down as fear struck. Hermione grabbed her hand to help calm her down.

Someone came in from the Ministry and explained how the matching would go. All the females will get pricked on the finger and a drop of their blood will go in the cauldron which will dispense a name on a piece of parchment. 

The lady from the Ministry began calling last names. As each girl walked up, each one shrieked at the prick of their finger. Some were happy with their matches while some were confused. There were also a few uncomfortable claps after the couples were made since no one knew how to react. 

"Weasley!" Ginny let go of Harry's hand and walked up. After the prick, a name was thrown out of the cauldron.

"Harry Potter!" Ginny ran over and hugged Harry. Their group clapped as they watched.

Many more names were called, then Hermione was next. She walked up with confidence and her head held high. 

"Ronald Weasley!" Ron got up from his seat with a huge smile as Hermione ran over to him. They all clapped again.