Procyon Mask - Prologue

Summary: Who knew a single letter could destroy Hermione's life in seconds upon opening it? She didn't, and she's not prepared for the Ministry's new law or the husband they picked for her. This all has to be one big mistake.

A/N: I'll start by clarifying that this fic is intended as a 'spiritual successor' to Lunar Embrace. It will keep the core attributes the same: Hermione/Barty focus, marriage law fic. It will also feature certain characters that were going to show up in Lunar Embrace but did not due to me losing track of that story a while ago. You may recognize parts of the Marriage Law article from Lunar Embrace as I still largely like it's format, but it has been tweaked to fit the story better. Everything else is a completely new storyline that I hope you will enjoy.

Please refrain from leaving comments on this story asking for updates to Lunar Embrace. It is simply not happening and I have put the fic to sleep for the foreseeable future. If on the off chance you would like to continue it's storyline you simply need to ask and I can put you as a co-author on the AO3 site. Do note that I started writing that story before I left notes for myself and no longer know how anything was connected and is one of the big reasons I can't continue writing for it, so you would need to make it up yourself as I can't help you.

Anyway, this introduction has gone long enough. Please enjoy the new story below, as I do seek to fix many of Lunar Embrace's 'flaws' in this fic and have it be more… realistic in terms of characterization and plot points. Basically if you had problems with the way Hermione acted before, you should enjoy this particular fic more than my last one (if you're still around looking at my fics for some reason… hi by the way to any returning fans of Lunar Embrace I hope you enjoy this more concise plot).

Now, buckle up and keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times.

/

Hermione flips a page in her book, staring down at the words she is supposed to be reading but finding it hard to concentrate. Today was the day she and everyone else got their letters from the Ministry after all and she couldn't stop thinking about what that meant.

It hadn't come as a shock that the Ministry was more occupied with the threat to the existence of wizards than the return of Voldemort. That was to be expected, they would probably still be in denial even if they had seen Voldemort themselves. What hadn't been expected was their push to stop the occurrence of squibs and the solution to the problem: a fucking marriage law.

Which Hermione barely met the age requirement for. She was a bit older than the rest of her friends, her birthday being in September so she was subject to this new 'experiment' of the Ministry's.

Essentially everyone between the ages of seventeen and forty were to be put in a pot and someone in the Ministry would dig their hand around and pull out two names. So long as those two names belonged to a female and male respectively they would be 'asked' to get married and procreate for the well-being of the wizarding world.

Okay, the ritual was probably more complicated than that, but this whole marriage law felt like the Minister had laced a goblet with cocaine, filled it with LSD and then pounded it back like a shot. From there he proceeded to write the most contrived piece of legislature she had ever seen.

She could still imagine the article The Daily Prophet had published perfectly a week ago when they first established the law and that it was coming into effect. Of course this meant giving barely anyone time to get used to the idea, much less prepared when they also announced that everyone in the age range had already been sorted and their letters would be sent out next week. Probably to stop people from having the chance to run and hide. Typically Ministry stuff, really.

A Brief Summary of The Higher Conception Matrimony Law

The Ministry of Magic has established a law for marriage of those between the ages of seventeen and forty as a way to help increase the birth rate, as well as lower the shockingly rising amount of squibs (particularly coming from the Pure-Blooded families), to help the current generation and ensure the Wizarding World continues to live on.

This will not come as a shock to those aware of our lowering birth rates of witches and wizards for the past decade, regardless of their blood status. It is believed mixing magic from different sources will help us grow as a society and stop squibs from ever being born again.

If you have an issue with your match because of them not having the same blood purity as you, you will be branded a follower of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, charged and convicted of terrorism, and promptly sent to Azkaban.

Not everyone will have this issue as we used a potion made for finding one's soulmate to ensure compatibility. Please do not act out before receiving your letter as you will be charged and detained.

There will be no way to change your match unless there is a genuine error in your letter, clerical or otherwise. If you come to the Ministry with a false complaint you will be fined Twenty Galleons. This number is multiplied for each offense.

The contents of the law are detailed below, it is highly recommended that if you fall into the age range (seventeen to forty) and are not currently married that you read these contents and familiarize yourself with the law so you do not unknowingly break any of the terms within.

This law will come into effect on September 28th, 1996.

The Higher Conception Matrimony Law

On September 28th, 1996 you will receive a letter detailing your chosen spouse, chosen for you through a potion meant to match compatibility and to ensure your children are born with the gift of magic.

1. You will marry your chosen spouse within a year of receiving your letter.

2. After marriage you will attempt to have children at least once a month, preferably during when the wife is most fertile.

3. If you are having trouble conceiving after nine months you and your spouse will be required to do a fertility check. If it is found that one of you cannot have children while the other can, you will go through an internal process to rematch you (note that we cannot guarantee compatibility with this method). If you are both infertile you can arrange for a divorce or choose to stay together.

4. Trying to stop births at any time while this law is upheld will be punishable. Your punishment will be judged by the severity that you broke this law whether through potions, muggle contraception, or physical means.

5. You are required to spend at least seventy two hours a week with your chosen match, unless otherwise specified in your letter (this will largely regard students).

6. You are required to submit the date of your marriage and it's location to the Department of Marriages, Births and Deaths within four months of receiving your letter, unless your match is currently below the age limit. Once both of you are applicable this rule will come into effect. You cannot 'age out' of the law once you have a letter, you will simply wait for the younger person to come of age.

7. Fertility potions and spells are encouraged, but not mandatory. If it is found you are forcing your spouse to take these you will be punished according to the severity that you committed the crime.

This law has been made to ensure fairness among the spouses and their children. The potion used to match people is to ensure compatibility and that the child will grow in a safe and stable household. Therefore it is expected for you to follow rule 5 so you get to know your spouse even before marriage and continue to do so afterwards. If you cause harm to a child during the time this law is upheld you will be charged and detained depending on severity.

If one does not follow the law detailed here their actions will be punishable based on severity. Namely, refusing to get married, leaving the country before or after receiving a letter, or stopping one's marriage internally or another's externally.

This article has been written and approved by the Ministry and The Daily Prophet.

Any questions or concerns pertaining to this law should be directed to the Department of Marriages, Births, and Deaths.

Whoever had come up with the law seriously had a screw or two loose. Basically everything in the law or surrounding it was punishable to some degree if not followed.

The Ministry also never clarified what potion they were using to match everyone and make sure they were 'compatible.' The law seemed to imply that spousal abuse wouldn't be tolerated, but again didn't detail how they expected to stop it, other than assuming your compatibility would stop it from happening.

And how someone was considered 'compatible' wasn't detailed anywhere either. Did they mean physical attraction? Personalities built around each other? Somehow the article appeared thorough and filled with holes at the same time.

This law was absolute insanity.

Hermione sighs, tapping her finger against the book and gazing out at the window she was seated at.

What was even worse is that this all happened days after her birthday. It was not the surprise birthday present she was wanting, but now the 28th was here and she was waiting to see who the Ministry had matched her with.

Harry and the others were outraged at her expense, but there wasn't much any of them could do about it. She could try running, but it was unclear if she would simply be fined, thrown into Azkaban or something in-between. And she wasn't leaving Harry to deal with Voldemort and his return alone.

That would be another form of insanity.

There's a surprised shout from within the library and Hermione turns her head to see an owl had dropped a letter on a seventh year's lap. It was starting, then.

Damn it.

Was she supposed to pray that the potion actually ensured compatibility? Without knowing anyone else's match before her own, she couldn't even guess how accurate that statement was.

What if it tried to match her with Malfoy of all people? The article talked about mixing blood purity, after all.

Calm down, Hermine. It can't be that bad.

One of the girls is squealing in joy after ripping open her letter and immediately looking to the bottom of the page. Maybe that could be her, though she wasn't sure who's name she would squeal at.

An owl drifts closer to her, dropping a letter onto her desk as it passes overhead. Not so much as a hoot to warn her. Good thing she had been watching for it.

She stares down at the piece of paper. How could such a small thing be so intimidating? Oh right, because it was going to tell her who to spend the rest of her life with, unless she wasn't fertile.

She should get this over with so she can get back to the others and tell them if she was lucky or not. Maybe she would get paired with Victor Krum or somebody she knew rather than a stranger. Anything was possible.

Hermione picks up the letter from the table, taking in a breath as she stares at it. It felt… heavy for a piece of paper. Just how many pages were supposed to be in here? Did they send her a copy of the law in case she hadn't read that article? That would make sense and show they were trying to be considerate.

Well, here we go.

Hermione opens the flap, pulling the letter out, but it stops halfway. Her brow furrows. Was it getting stuck from the fold of the envelope?

She pulls again, frowning when it remains stuck. Hermione turns the envelope upside down and pulls. This time the letter slides out quickly, along with something else.

The circular object catches the light as it falls directly into her lap.

Hermione is still trying to process what it is and why it was in her letter when a snap fills her ears. And her body disappears from the chair in an instant.