Chapter One:Time to Face the Facts

Chapter One: Time to Face the Facts

"Professor McGonagall, may I see you after dinner, please?" Careful timing had ensured she met the headmistress on the way into the Great Hall.

"Certainly, Miss Granger. I will expect you at six-thirty," the older witch replied, curiosity flaring at her student's request.

"Thank you. That'll be perfect." As she joined her classmates, Hermione patted her bag, ensuring the carefully penned roll of parchment was safe. Reassured, she lost herself in the spirited conversation about post-war summer activities that was taking place.

Despite the horrors of the final battle, the relief and long sought after peace of mind found after Tom Riddle's demise had enabled most of the young participants to move on, albeit with a few disturbed nights along the way. Hermione had spent hours at the Burrow and Grimmauld Place with Harry and the Weasleys until their shared tears had washed away the worst of the pain. Once everyone had begun to pick up the threads of lives put on hold, she had Portkeyed to Australia to undertake the difficult task of returning her parents' memories. Ron and Harry had offered to accompany her, but she had felt her responsibility keenly and had known it was her penance alone.

Fortunately, after the initial shock, they had come to realise she had had no other choice and had acted out of love. Forgiveness had been accompanied by many hugs and tears, this time of happiness. She had spent the remainder of the summer reacquainting herself with her family and crossing off a few items on her 'Things I Have Not Done Yet' list.

"So, Hermione, what did you do in Australia?" asked Ron as he buttered his third roll.

"I told you. Sat around in the sun, drank rum and coke, and met the locals. I went water-skiing, snorkelling, saw all sorts of strange animals and fish, and Dad treated me to a bungee-jump when we visited Cairns. It was amazing!"

"What is a bungee-jump?" Neville's pure-blood background held no concept of adventure sports.

"You climb up a tall tower, have a long elastic cord tied to your ankles, and jump off. The cord is designed to stop you hitting the ground or water below so you bounce up just before you hit. It's a real buzz. I did it three times!" She grinned at the appalled look on her friends' faces.

"But you hate heights. You won't even fly a broom unless you absolutely have to," said a bemused Harry.

"I hate flying on brooms. Horrid, unstable things. Buckbeak and the thestrals were not much better. But I'm not afraid of heights as such. Bungee-jumping is straight up and down, and I knew it would be safe because I watched everyone else do it first," she explained.

"Didn't you have enough of dangerous activities last year?" Ginny shook her head in awe.

"But this time I chose to do it – just for fun," Hermione replied.

"I don't think I will ever understand you, Hermione Granger," muttered Ron.

"And that's why we will never be more than friends." She gently patted his hand.

"Just as well," added Harry. "He would never cope with your idea of fun. Whatever happened to the old, careful, 'books are my friends,' Mione?"

"She grew up and decided life was meant to be lived. After all, didn't we spend years fighting for the right to live how we choose?" she retorted spiritedly. Hermione was still a dreadful swot, but she was determined to be a dreadful swot who knew fun when it hit her in the face.

Hermione stood before the gargoyle at the base of the stairs to the headmistress's office and spoke the password. "Robbie Burns!" No one had ever suspected that Minerva McGonagall was a poetry buff.

"Ah. Come in, Hermione. Would you care for a cup of tea?" The headmistress was happy to relax formalities in the privacy of her office for her favourite student.

"That would be lovely, thanks."

"Now, what can I do for you?" the older woman asked once they had seated themselves comfortably, delicate china cups gently steaming in their hands.

"I wonder if I may have access to the school's current and prospective enrolment records for my independent Arithmancy research project. Professor Vector has approved of my study hypothesis as long as you are happy to authorise my access to the data I will require. I am willing to take a Wand Oath to maintain confidentiality of the information, of course," she explained earnestly.

"Just what is this research you have planned, my dear?"

"Well..."

Hermione's steps were light as she made her way back to her room some time later. After a full explanation of her project had satisfied Minerva McGonagall as to its value, she had been granted open access to any records she needed. They were not to be removed from the headmistress's office, and she was only allowed to work on them in Professor McGonagall's presence, but neither condition bothered her. Having the older woman there to field any questions was a bonus she hadn't expected. They had set up regular times for her research, which was to commence the following week.

Otherwise, the first few weeks of term had been predictable. Charms was unenlightening, mostly covering skills she had taught herself the previous year. Transfiguration with the new professor from France was a little different, but hardly provided a challenge except in understanding Professor le Blanc's accent. Herbology was a pleasant change of pace, and Ancient Runes remained fascinating. Potions was... Potions. Snape was mostly his usual surly, caustic self, only now he took points off all four houses with so little discrimination that even Ron was heard to mutter, "It's just not right. He should allow his own house a little leeway. What's the point of having a Head of House if he doesn't cut you some slack?"

At least Potions was interesting, and she had had no opportunity to practice her Potions skills whilst camping out in the tent. Snape even spent a little time discussing the various applications of the day's potion now and how it could be modified to enhance the efficacy. He almost seemed to enjoy teaching in the rare times he forgot to be miserable and allowed the man who had written the side notes in the Half-blood Prince's book to surface. She studied him at times and wondered what he would have been like as a teacher if his life had taken a different turn. Probably still a right grumpy bastard, she decided.

Three months later

Independent Arithmancy Research Project – Hermione Granger

INTRODUCTION: It has become apparent to this student that each year the number of wizards relative to witches in the first year intake has decreased. My intention was to determine if this is a true trend and to extrapolate this to future years, using current and prospective enrolment records. With this information gathered, I plan to demonstrate Arithmantically my proposed solution to the imbalance...

Minerva McGonagall read on for some time and then looked up at the young witch before her. "Merlin. You were correct. Down to twenty-five percent wizards this year, and no-one else had noticed. Ten percent in five years, according to the list we have so far. What on earth is happening?"

"As you can see, Professor, my investigations show a distinct trend. I looked at parental ages and found that wizards under forty-five years of age are three times more likely to produce male offspring, but as they age they father more female children. During Voldemort's first reign of power in the 1970s, the young men of that generation suffered a lot of losses on both sides during the raids, and more decided to put off starting families until later. It fell to the older men, who were less involved in the fighting, to continue with their family lives, as can be shown by the ages of the fathers of the new entrants over the last decade or so. The year I started was the last year when there were equal numbers of witches and wizards in first year. You can see the average age of first-years' fathers has gradually increased along with the proportion of witches in each year." She pointed out an Arithmantically derived curve showing the correlation of the two trends. A further projection, which was the key to her project, demonstrated the figures for her alarming conclusion.

My calculations and projections have shown that, unless the current cohort of twenty to forty-five-year-old wizards do not start families within the next few years, there is every likelihood the numbers of male children born will drop below the critical figure needed to continue the existence of the magical population. We need to strongly encourage wizards between twenty-five and forty-five years of age to marry immediately, and those between eighteen and twenty-five to marry within three years and start families to have any chance to redeem the situation.

"Oh, my. Are you sure of these figures, Hermione?" The headmistress removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes as if to erase the damning facts.

"I have run the numbers against every sort of Arithmantic calculation I can find. There is no doubt; unless these younger wizards get a move on, we may be looking at extinction of our kind in Britain within decades. I have made some preliminary inquiries, and it appears there is a similar pattern appearing in Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Hopefully, America has not been so affected, but I suspect that will not help us here."

"This is extremely important work you have done, my dear. It needs to be brought to the attention of the authorities as soon as possible. May I send a copy of your conclusions to the Minister of Magic once Professor Vector has graded it?"

"Of course, Professor."

Little did either woman know, their naïve faith in the current Ministry's wisdom was about to be shattered. Despite the repercussions of ignoring the evidence of Voldemort's return, the Ministry remained an unwieldy, arrogant institution, which remained out of touch with the community it served. Kingsley Shacklebolt, whilst a man of integrity, was finding the reins of power unwieldy and delegated far more than was wise. The simple matter of a worrying report done by a Hogwarts student was passed onto the Department of Magical Population, which for once acted promptly. Hermione's conclusions were passed as law within one month of the report being sent to the Ministry.

The Daily Prophet: 5th January 1999

Miss Hermione Granger, Order of Merlin, Second Class, has once again proven her value to the Wizarding community. Her work on Hogwarts enrolment statistics has demonstrated a significant risk to the world as we know it. The new Marriage Law, passed today by the Department of Magical Population and detailed on page seven, is a direct result of Miss Granger's research. Furthermore...

Hermione quickly flipped the pages to find the information on the new law, which had been passed without objection by the suddenly efficient Ministry. She suspected that few people had been aware of the full implications of the law as it was rushed into being.

MARRIAGE LAW PASSED BY MINISTRY

There will be no exceptions to this law; the future of the Wizarding world is at risk.

"Holy Merlin. What have I done?" Hermione looked up at the sudden silence in the Great Hall to find all eyes on her. As the momentary lull burst into a cacophony of noise, her eyes found the enraged face of her Potions professor. Oh, fuck. Snape is thirty-eight. I'm so dead.

"Hermione? Hermione! What the hell were you thinking?"

She turned to meet the astounded faces of her housemates.

"What makes you think we want to get married and have bloody kids before we are twenty-two?" shouted Ron. Nods of agreement from most of the other older Gryffindor males confirmed their opinion of the new law. The girls were not particularly impressed either; after all, it affected them as well. Harry alone was undisturbed. Everyone knew he and Ginny were planning to marry as soon as they finished school. Knowing Harry's desire for his own family, children would be following soon afterwards.

"I... I..." She did not know what to say. It was her fault, even though she had not personally been responsible for the draconian new law. "I simply discovered the trend. The Ministry acted upon it." She knew her fellow students would not understand. Once a know-it-all, always a know-it-all. Her propensity for excessive swotting had not endeared her to any but her closest friends, and even they were unhappy with the result of her endeavours. Deep inside, she knew her findings were as important as the Daily Prophet had claimed, and something had to be done. The fact that her recommendations had been reborn as legislation was unfortunate, but would provide the solution. She just hoped the wizards affected would eventually understand their vital role in saving their community and embrace it as enthusiastically as they had fought the late, unlamented Tom Riddle.

Prompt: 1. Something Old. The Marriage Law Challenge. Many thanks to karelia for the beta.