Private between LadyNightfyre and Pere. <3

Pansy x Harry.

Contains Sensitive Theme (forced marriage) 

Dear Mr. Harry Potter,

In compliance with the new Marriage Law, ordained by the Minister Shacklebolt and approved by the Wizengamot, you have been chosen to partake in a matrimonial service with the most likely partner choice for you based on the formal examinations you participated in at the commencement of the year.

Your partner chosen is: Ms. Pansy Parkinson

Please initiate your nuptials as soon as convenient. If you have not taken part in a formal Wizarding Bonding ceremony by the 20^th of July, authority will take this as permission to check on both you and your chosen partner. Once you have completed your nuptials, more information shall be sent, outlining further details about the Marriage Law, as well as specifics regarding the duties and responsibilities of this marriage. If you have any further enquiries, please tap the Ministry logo below.

Miranda Nettle

Head of Department of Wizarding Welfare

=|=|=|=

Dear Ms. Pansy Parkinson,

In compliance with the new Marriage Law, ordained by the Minister Shacklebolt and approved by the Wizengamot, you have been chosen to partake in a matrimonial service with the most likely partner choice for you based on the formal examinations you participated in at the commencement of the year.

Your partner chosen is: Mr. Harry Potter

Please initiate your nuptials as soon as convenient. If you have not taken part in a formal Wizarding Bonding ceremony by the 20^th of July, authority will take this as permission to check on both you and your chosen partner. Once you have completed your nuptials, more information shall be sent, outlining further details about the Marriage Law, as well as specifics regarding the duties and responsibilities of this marriage. If you have any further enquiries, please tap the Ministry logo below.

Miranda Nettle

Head of Department of Wizarding Welfare

((Ok! That works! I'll start with Pansy. I think I'm going to have her be roommates with Padma Patill. Who would we pair her with? Ron?))

   "Seriously?" Pansy Parkinson flipped her long auburn hair behind her shoulder and sighed as she looked down at the piece of parchment in her hand. She sighed and reread the blasted letter for the third time. Her roommate, Padma, craned her head over Pansy's shoulder inquisitivly.

  "What is it Pans?" the dark haired girl asked. Pansy sighed and stood, throwing the parchment onto the table and almost hitting Padma in the face with her shoulder.

  "This! That damnable Marriage Law passed. What was Shackelbolt thinking? I cannot believe this!" she gave a little scream as she left the kitchen of their little flat and stormed into her room. She was rumaging through her closet, clothes and shoes flying madly through the room when Padma came to lean against the doorjam, holding the letter.

  "Pans, calm down!" the girl said, dodging a hot pink stilleto shoe. "Pansy! You got paired with Draco Malfoy, right? What's the big deal? You've been trying to catch him for years!" Pansy gave Padma a withering look as she emerged from the closet holding a black scrap of a dress and a pair of four inch turquoise heels.

  "Did you read that thing at all? I am not engaged to Draco Malfoy. Go on, read it!" she gestured for Padma to read while she wriggled into the dress and shoes. She sighed as she regarded herself in the mirror and watched Padma's reflection behind her. Pansy always felt better when she was dressed well. It was why she had chosen to open a fashion boutique selling her own designs after graduation. This dress made her feel much better. It was one of hers, a slinky black number that reached mid thigh and was constructed of silk and lace. The neckline was high on her throat, keeping the scandously short skirt from being trashy, while the sleeveless top allowed her to be cool. She was pulling a turquoise jacket to ward off the October chill when Padma looked up at her, agast.

  "You have to marry Harry Potter?"

((That's fine. :D I'm rather excited about this, getting out of a Hogwarts scenario. xD Nice post, by the way.))

"Drowning your sorrows in wine?" Hermione asked wryly when Harry downed his sixth glass of wine in half an hour. She made no attempt to stop him, though, knowing that he would curse her if she tried to take it from him.

"You would be too," Harry grimaced, "if you were going to marry a pug-faced whiny-"

"-girl," Hermione finished for him, looking pointedly at little Teddy Lupin, who was sitting in her lap and playing with his appearance, putting his Metamorph abilities to use. The fire in the living room of Andromeda Tonks' house crackled.

"Girl," Harry agreed. 

"You'd think the Ministry would let the Boy Who Saved Our World get off," Ron muttered, shaking his head. Harry nodded in agreement, throwing a longing look at Ginny, who was sitting quite comfortably with Blaise Zabini, curled up in his lap. "And his best friends as well."

When they had all gotten letters from the Ministry owls that fateful morning, there had been more than their fair share of tears, tantrums and curses. Only a few were very happy with the Ministry's ministrations, Ginny and Blaise being one of the only couples. They had already been dating seriously since the war two years ago, so this was only one step further in their devotion to each other. In that time, Harry had managed to date and drop more than twenty girls who wanted to be a trophy on the Saviour's arm.

Ron hadn't been enthusiastic about his partner, but he wasn't too mournful either. Padma Patil was a good enough looking girl, and she was smart as well, since she had been in Ravenclaw back when they were in school. She had been part of the DA too, so it wasn't altogether a big loss. 

Hermione had been less happy about her match. Draco Malfoy was still the arrogant git he had been during their younger years, but she had resignedly accepted him as her partner and the person she had to spend the rest of her life with. He had turned to the right side in the end, she supposed, and since then had donated generously to a number of noble causes. She was filled with amusement at the thought that Pansy was matched with her long-time crush's rival, though. 

Neither Ron nor Hermione had been dating anyone at the time, but they were furious at the fact that the Ministry was arranging marriages for them, regardless of whether they were seeing someone or not. Lavender and Seamus had been split up, and so had Parvati and Dean. Ironically, the two girls had swapped partners, but that wasn't the point. However, nothing they said could change the Ministry's minds, not even Harry's weighty opinion. They reluctantly trusted Kingsley's judgement, though, knowing him in the way they had.  

"I'll be glad when I'm married to the...girl and we can just have babies and then stay the hell away from each other," Harry muttered. "The Ministry is being totally unreasonable. A child in the first two years of marriage? With the couples they're putting together? Ridiculous."

"You could have avoided this by becoming Minister," Ron replied mildly. Harry sent him a scathing look.

"He'd probably have been pushed to do it anyway," Hermione said knowledgeably, jiggling Teddy in her lap, "the wizarding birth rates being so diminished. If we keep going at this rate, there'll be future empty First Year grades at Hogwarts."

"You don't seem to concerned about your partner."

"Believe me," Hermione said, almost sneering, "I want nothing to do with him. But if it's going to ensure that the Wixarding World is to continue, who am I to complain? It's what we were trying to save in the last war, right?" Harry thought it was a bit rich for her to say that, but he kept his mouth shut.

"You're meeting Parkinson tomorrow, aren't you?' Ron said, changing the subject. "At that little boutique of hers?"

"Yep," Harry grimaced. "We've only got a month before the deadline to marry. We won't be able to have a grand wedding like she probably wants, but who cares?"

"Who cares indeed," Hermione agreed. "Might I come with you, though, Harry? I rather like those dresses of her's."

Ron and Harry gaped at her.

"What?" she asked defensively. "They're quite nice."

"If you're a harlot," Ron said under his breath. Hermione ignored him.

"Uhm...of course," Harry replied, still looking a bit astonished. "Yeah, sure. I'm heading over there after lunch. I've still got paperwork to finish at the Ministry."

"Being head Auror does take a lot out of you, doesn't it?" Hermione teased.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, absently. He was staring at Ginny, who was now involved in a passionate embrace with Blaise. Standing up rather abruptly, he announced, "Going to bed now. Night you two, Teddy."

And he left.

"What did we say?" Ron asked ignorantly. Hermione, seeing who he had been staring at, just sighed. 

((Thank you! I think this is really going to be a fun one!))

  Pansy gave her customer a dazzling smile. The woman was overweight and ill tempered, and had ripped the seams of the last dress she had tried on. After a dash through the racks and a few moments of charming condensation, Pansy had the woman beaming and leaving the boutique with a large bag of clothes and a considerably lighter pocketbook. When the doorbell rang, indicating the woman's departure, Pansy went back into the office she shared with her bookkeeper and flopped into her desk chair, sighing. "Rough customer?" Padma asked from her own desk, a sympathetic smile on her face. Pansy tiredly dropped her head into her hands and sighed.

  "Yeah. Mrs. Battiers. You know how she is." The two young women shuddered in shared recolection. 

  "How many dresses are you going to have to fix this time?" Padma asked, finishing her notations on the tablet in front of her. Pansy groaned as she stood up and moved to the rack of clothes they kept in the office, searching it for a new outfit.

  "Only one, thank Merlin. I managed to interest her in some of our strech stuff before the situation got to bad." She stepped away to the miror holding a long brown skirt and creamy sweater. "What do you think?" she asked, holding the clothes up in front of the mirror.

  "Oh, that's right! Harry is coming for lunch today, right? I think it's pretty. And it's certainly cold enough for that." The doorbell jingled and Padma stood. "Go ahead and get changed. I'll get it." So saying, she walked out into the store front closing the thin door behind her. "Oh, hi, Hermione!" came echoing back. Pansy quickly changed, sighing with satisfaction at her new look. The chocolate colored skirt fell to the floor in a sensous wave, flowing softly over her ample curves. The creamy sweater was pettably soft and fit closely, with a deep V neckline that exposed a tempting glance of clevege. She smiled as she pulled the sleves up to her elbows and brushed her hair out of its braid and into a riot of auburn waves. 

  "There. I think this is appropriate." After slipping on a pair of butter soft knee high suade boots that were exposed by the slit in her skirt, she walked out of the office to see Hermionie Granger and Harry Potter talking with Padma. Padma was showing Hermione one of the new pieces and they were laughing while Harry stood back looking lost in thought. Pansy stood for a few moments, taking in the sight of her new fiance. For all his annoying qualities, he had grown into a good looking man. His stance had broadened and he had certainly shot up in hight. The wild black hair was attractivly mussed and she hid a small grin at the brightly colored leaf that was stuck in it. With a sigh, she glided forward and adressed everyone. "Hello, Hermione, Harry. Welcome to 'La Belle'."

"Pansy," Hermione said graciously, "it's nice to see you again after so long. You've certainly grown to be a thriving business woman, with such a successful business." She internally winced at how old she sounded at that. She knew she was more mature than most people her age, but she had probably spent too much time with her Professors. 

"Pansy," Harry nodded, "How are you?" He looked the girl - no, woman - up and down. She didn't look as pug-faced as she used to be; she was actually rather pretty. If he was the type to like curvy women, he'd probably be on his knees, begging her to marry him this instant, so abundant were her curves. However, he liked lean, slightly muscular women. An image of Ginny came to mind, and he shook his head angrily. It would do no good to be thinking about what he could not have.

  Pansy smiled at the brown-haired girl. "It is good to see you as well." She extended her hand to shake Hermione's. "Thank you. I have worked very hard here. It has been an exciting road. Harry," she turned to him, seeing the angry look on his face. She had heard enough whispers to guess the truth. "It's been a long time. Thank you for coming." Her voice was low and calm, betraying none of her aggravation. "It is so nice to see you. Are you ready for lunch?" She turned to address the other two. "Are you ladies coming with us?" Padma threw up her hands and backed away.

  "Oh no!" she laughed, indicating the garments in her hands. "We were just discussing engagement dresses for Hermione here." Pansy gave Hermione a speculative look.

  "Hmm... That's right. You're to marry Draco," she gave a little laugh. "Good luck with that. Padma, show her the new line we've been working on. I think that emerald green silk would be beautiful with her coloring."

Harry sent Hermione a pleading look, begging her to stay with him, but she conveniently didn't see. 

"That sounds wonderful, Pansy, Padma," she said warmly. "I'll see you later, Harry. Have fun!" And she disappeared into a back room with Padma, chattering with the black-haired girl the whole way.

"So," Harry said awkwardly, "where do you want to, er, go?" He looked around the little shop, at the pristine tiles, the marble, the tastefully placed pot plants...anywhere but her. He fidgeted with his cufflinks. He had assumed they were going to lunch somewhere upscale, and so had decided to wear something upscale, too. However, he felt very overdressed when he saw Pansy's light clothing.

  "I think you'll love it, Hermione! Thank you, Padma!" Pansy called after the retreating pair. She turned her gaze on Harry and gave him a smile. "I know a sweet little cafe just down the street. It's frequented by a lot of businessmen, so neither of us would look out of place." She moved past him, sending a glance over her shoulder as she reached the door. "Are you coming?" With that, she walked out, leaving Harry to follow behind her. Outside, she luxuriated in the cool air, admiring the brightly colored leaves of the trees in the park beside her building. Turning her face up to the sky, she allowed the sunlight to lovingly caress her skin, unaware of the vulnerable look on her face.

  "This is it, Hermione. What do you think?" Padma held up the silk gown. It was made in a Grecian style, falling in a soft emerad waterfall to the floor. The neck was a bateu, with the shoulders held together by short lengths of silver chain. The same chain spanned the waist. "If you like this one, you'd be the very first to wear it."

Harry followed Pansy out into the street, and saw her enjoy the beautiful sunny day. She seemed to almost...glow in the sun, a sort of ethereal quality coming about her. He was filled with a sudden moment of awe, before shaking his head. He didn't want to marry Pansy. He didn't. He wanted Ginny.

But as he continued to watch her, he thought that maybe marrying Pansy wouldn't be quite so bad.

"Shall we head off to the cafe, then?" he asked, offering Pansy his arm in a gentlemanly fashion.

~

"Oh, Merlin," Hermione breathed, "it's absolutely beautiful! I love it!" The dress looked like a masterpiece, and was something she'd probably never be able to afford. Looking slightly uncomfortable, she asked it's price. She knew Draco had enough money to probably buy the whole boutique, but she didn't want to rely on him. They weren't in a willing relationship, after all. 

  Pansy came back to herself and gave him another slow smile. "Yes, let's go." She linked her arm with his and led the way to the cafe at a sedate pace. Inside the cafe she was greeted by an overly excited waitor.

  "Miss Parkinson!" the young man called enthusiasticly. "Welcome back!" Pansy gave him an indulgent smile.

  "Hello, Michael. Thank you. May we have a table on the porch, please?" The waiter led the way, staying obnoxiously close to Pansy. After they took their seats, he leaned close over Pansy to lay down their menus. Pansy rolled her eyes and gave a frustrated huff as the waitor walked away with their drink orders. "I apologize. If the food was not so good, I would avoid this place. I just never know when he will be here. Now, Harry, I feel I must apologize, for everything. I know you have no desire to be forced into this marriage. Honestly, neither do I. But I am afraid there is nothing we can do. I propose a truce?" Her voice trailed off as the waiter came to fawn over her again. Trying mightily to ignore the young man, she continued when he had gone. "Surely we can get along?"

   Padma smiled at Hermione. "Pansy means this as a gift. We've been friends for a long time, and I know her. She doesn't sugest that I show customers things from unreleased lines unless she means it as a gift. Go on! Try it on!"

Harry was rather struck by this very forward proposal. "Oh, um, sure," Harry said, flustered slightly. "Yeah." He didn't really know what else to say. "Do you, er, want to discuss the rules and stuff of our arrangement?"

He didn't exactly know how to broach the topic of keeping away from her after they had had a child.

Harry felt rather ashamed, and very, very selfish. Why hadn't he thought of that? He had grown up in a loveless childhood, and deep down, he had always known he'd never want that for any future children he had. He sighed.

"Of course." He tried a smile. "Call me Harry. I know it will be hard for us to maintain a strong relationship, but we can be friends, can't we? It's not as good as loving parents, but...I think it's all I can give at the moment." He threw her an apologetic look. "May I ask one favour of you, though? Because I know neither of us wants children, at least not with the people the Ministry has put us with."