Chapter One

He glanced up from his glass of fire whiskey and gazed into the fire that danced merrily in its hearth. He leaned back against the soft padding that was the couch cushion and sighed heavily. He glanced over his shoulder, saw the sleeping form of his young wife, gazed back into the fire and sighed again, heavier this time. He could not believe that such an unorthodox law would come into effect. He closed his eyes and re-read his Ministry letter in his mind.

Severus Snape,

It has been brought to our attention that you have not, under decree number one-thousand and forty-four, also known as The Wizard Marriage Act of 1998, have not chose a bride-to-be. As we are sure you are aware, those who do not participate in the Marriage Law will, henceforth, be stripped of their wand and their place in magical society. As a half-blood, you have the option of choosing a pureblood or a Muggle-born to marry. With your wife, you must conceive within a year of the date of marriage.

Mr. Snape, you have fourteen (14) days to respond to this letter with a marriage proposal sent to the Ministry. Do not dawdle, Mr. Snape, as your wand could depend on it.

Sincerely,

Frendica Tolgander

Head of the Department of Wizard Marriage and Breeding

Since the Dark Lord was vanquished, the Ministry had be cleansed of all the Death Eaters and those loyal to Voldemort, and were replaced with those in the Order, Kingsley Shacklebot acting as Minister. The first issue to be addressed to the Ministry was the dwindling Wizarding population. It took months after Voldemort was defeated for the Wizarding families to return to England and even so, many chose to remain in the countries that hid them from the wrath of the Dark Lord and his supporters. This fact astonished the Ministry and, as the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures.

The Ministry enacted a law, much to the outrage of many Wizarding families, that stated that those from ages sixteen to fifty, unwed, widowed or otherwise departed from a spouse serving a life-sentence in Azkaban, must choose a spouse by proposal sent to the Ministry. The Wizarding world had thirty days to decide a spouse or give up their wand for good.

Many students of Hogwarts, like Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley for instance, saw this new law as an opportunity to marry and spend the rest of their lives together. However, an addition was added to the law with the many, many proposals that were sent to the Ministry were purebloods wanting to marry other purebloods. The Ministry denied these proposals, stating that the number of Squibs produced from pureblood families is the highest it's been since 1506. The new addition to the law stated that: "… because of the umber of rising Squibs produced by interbreeding amongst pureblood families, decree number one-thousand and forty-four, also known as The Marriage Act of 1998, has henceforth banned marriages between purebloods, as well as marriages between muggleborns. The marriage between a wizard and a muggle is also banned…." This came as a blow to Harry and Ginny, as both were pureblooded wizards, it was, however, a necessity. The Wizarding race depended on it.

He took one last swig of Firewhiskey, stood up from the dark, emerald-green couch, and tossed his shot glass onto the couch behind him. He wiped his mouth with his bare arm, grimaced as the after-taste of the alcohol rudely invaded his senses, and approached his wife. He stared down as her beautiful face, her dark brown curls falling over her lips. Sitting beside her, he tucked the curls behind her ear. She groaned and rolled onto her back, the sheets smoothing themselves around the bulge that was her stomach. He looked at it and, for the first time in quite a long time, smiled, although sadly, and then laid next to his sleeping wife as she rolled again onto her side, her back to him. He then turned onto his side, pulling her to him. He buried his face in her honey-smelling hair and slowly fell asleep.

AN: Okay, so I know that Harry is a half-blood, but he's not in my story! J Tell me what you all think! Thanks for reading!