10:00 Meeting.

Ana had not attended school at Hogwarts, so finding her way around was slightly interesting. Knowing only that she did not at all want to have to talk to the Headmaster - their meeting had been less than pleasant; she was mostly glad that he couldn't deny them a room to hold the meeting - she arrived early and found her way to the second floor room marked "Guidance Office" where Elijah had said it would be.

Down the hall, the Charms classroom was empty due to it being the weekend and classes not being in session. The first students Ana would be meeting with were named Kaiden and Charlotte and were not in the same year. The woman hoped they knew each other - after all, how many students were there really? More than she expected, surely. Because that would just make things more difficult, and with things going so poorly thus far, Ana expected nothing less.

Pushing the door open to the office, she looked around and took in the desk, one swivel chair behind it, and two short arm chairs on the opposite side from hers. With a light sigh, she checked the time and saw that it was nearly time to start the meeting.

Seating herself behind the desk she could only wait and hope this one went more smoothly than the previous ones. She rather doubted it.

This sucked.

This just really sucked. And it was happening faster than he'd thought it would. He'd asked around, hoping someone else had already had their meeting, to give himself some type of peace of mind. But, much to his dismay, it didn't seem anyone else had had an appointment yet. Not that he'd asked too many people. He gritted his teeth, and shortly after breakfast in the Great Hall, he walked toward the Guidance Office on the second floor.

This is just great. I don't know who I'm marrying AND I might be the first victim. he frowned at his thoughts and sighed. There was no way he was doing this. He wasn't getting married yet, especially not to someone he probably wouldn't even like. Since he'd found out about the stupid new law, his life had been a living hell, especially by his parents.

They refused to let him marry anyone who wasn't Pureblood, and were currently trying to find him a Pureblood girl to marry, he'd thought he'd have enough time to weasel his way out of both situations, but time was up and there hadn't been enough. Kaiden arrived at the door and taking a deep breath he knocked on the door.

One thing was for sure, Kaiden Poliakoff was not going down without a fight.

Charlie wasn't pleased.

After years of comfortable single-dom she was not prepared to dive into a marriage with anyone, much less a perfect stranger. No, over the years Charlie had accepted that she would buy some cats and die an old maid. This future, while not everyone's ideal, was as good as Charlie could imagine life getting and she was reluctant to give her dreams away.

The redhead moved down the hallway towards the guidance office on the second floor as demanded in the directions sent to her by mail. Charlie still carried her schoolbag, filled to the brim with quills, books, and parchment from the classes she had just come from. Astronomy had let her out early (10:00 was in the middle of her block) which had only caught the attention of her peers. She had been able to feel their eyes boring into her back as she walked out of the room.

As far as Charlie was aware, she was the first. The first sacrifice. Just her luck.

The Hufflepuff came upon the door she was looking for and found herself standing next to a black haired Slytherin boy also waiting to get in. Kaiden Poliakoff was to be her husband? Charlie restrained a giggle of shocked amusement and passed it off as a smile to the older boy. "I hope you've been having a good morning, Poliakoff. Because I have a feeling it's about to get a whole lot worse."

Ana vaguely wondered how the students would act about the whole ordeal surrounding the Marriage Law. The adults hadn't been very friendly thus far, nor did she expect them to. By the time these students were older, they would likely be far less interested in keeping adults pleased with them. Those who were also adults seemed far less keen on listening to or respecting authority.

A knock at the door alerted Ana to the arrival of the first student. She was surprised, then, when she opened the door and found them both standing there. The boy looked rather put out, though the Hufflepuff girl seemed to be taking it rather easily.

"Please, have a seat." Ana said, gesturing to the chairs across from her chair behind the desk she had been given. "I need to go over the options you will be given, as well as the time frame in which the steps need to be completed. Then, I'll need to perform a fertility spell on each of you - nothing invasive - and then you will be free to go and perhaps talk about things, or whatever you'd like."

Looking between the two students she added, "Do you have any questions before we get started?"

Could things get any worse? Of course they could. In the back of his mind, Kaiden had been hoping that his match had been Addie. Now that he knew who his match was, he was anything but pleased. Maybe if he hadn't met Addie, this wouldn't be so hard for him but he had and now he was not going to allow himself to be married to someone he didn't know and probably would not like.

"There's no way this could get any worse." Kaiden muttered softly in response to Charlie's comment. Just then the door opened and he glared at the woman who stood in from of him and Charlie. Anyone could tell that he was angry. He wasn't going to let this happen, he was not going to marry her.

With every word that the woman said, Kaiden became even more annoyed than he already was. "No questions, but I have a comment." he said. "There's no way I'm going to allow a bloody fertility spell to be done on me." he said.

Slytherins were always so grumpy.

Charlie pouted slightly as Kaiden commented with distinct displeasure. If he wasn't going to be nice he should at least give her a snarky comment back. The annoying passive-agressiveness was completely unsatisfying in every way. If nothing else, Slytherins should be counted on to be a little feisty.

The Ravenclaw wit could be extremely attractive on the right person but too often the brains came along with books. That always led to dates in the library and them correcting you on your use of the oxford comma which was a buzz kill any day. Gryffindors were hotheaded and ridiculous. Good for a couple of laughs on a Friday night but not someone you would want to spend your Saturday brunch with. Hufflepuffs (as much as it pained her to admit it) often lacked that special spark. In her experience they made better friends than lovers.

No, it was Slytherins, the least desirable house, who tended to prove most desirable. They had a special blend of mystery, sass, toughness, and desperation that Charlie enjoyed immensely. Of course she hated the entire house with a passion. But they were excellent fun at the same time. Slytherins had a fire that she found deeply attractive. But from his one comment Charlie raised her eyebrows, suddenly aware that her Snake husband-to-be was going to be absolutely boring.

The very thought of the word husband sent a little shudder down her spine. Nope nope nope nope. Marriage was not in the plans. There had to be laws against this. Laws countering the laws. She was sixteen, not even of age. They couldn't force her to shag some stranger just to get more magical babies. Besides, wasn't her spawn contaminated with beastly werewolf blood? They would probably pop out with little fangs and claws.

Charlie rolled her eyes when Kaiden spoke to Ana but secretly agreed with him. She would find a way to fudge the test results - she had to. Get Baird to make her a potion that would show she was as barren as the desert. That might stop them.

Ana's eyes narrowed at the grumpy Slytherin standing before her, allowing his sharp tongue to run off with him. “I'm afraid, Mr. Poliakoff,” She began, words short and frustrated, “that you've no choice in the matter.”

Moving from the doorway, she allowed the Slytherin and the Hufflepuff to enter, waving a hand at their chairs as she stood behind her desk. Ana leaned forward over the wooden top of the desk, hands pushing against it to give her a rather superior stance – one she had manufactured and practiced until she was sure it caused nervousness in the party she faced.

Her eyes flicked to the Hufflepuff, a Miss Dyllan, who seemed quite different than the other Dyllan Ana had had the misfortune to be involved with in a meeting. The girl was oddly quiet, though the Slytherin wasn't overly vocal, either. Just the one snappish comment which Ana hoped he realized wasn't acceptable.

“I've brought you both here to talk about your options, your future, and the timeline you'll have to work your way through the steps we require you to fulfill. Then we will,” She shot a serious look at Kaiden, “conduct the tests.”

She sank slowly into her seat before starting to explain. “You'll have two weeks with which to get to know your partner, before another meeting where we will assist you, should you need it, in choosing a date for your wedding. You will have two weeks after that meeting to marry before a follow-up meeting. So, essentially, you'll have four weeks to get things together and get to know each other.” Ana's gaze moved from one student to the other as she spoke, trying to gauge their reactions as she did. “There is a new section of the castle made available to students, which will be specifically for the couples made through the matching system. Have you any questions?”

Kaiden didn't want to do this. That was more than obvious. It was stupid and he didn't want to marry someone he wouldn't love. No matter what he was told, as he was sure he would be told, he wasn't going to end up loving this Dyllan girl after they were married. Kaiden already loved someone, as much as he wouldn't admit it to her face, or to anyone else for that matter, Kaiden already loved Adrienne. There was no way he would learn to love the girl who sat next to him.

"I'm not doing this." He spat. "I will not marry her. I don't care what you say. I won't learn to love her, I won't be a good husband for her, much less a good father for any children you'd want us to have. I won't do it." He told Ana. "I don't love her, I will never love her. I love.." he stopped before he finished his sentence and cleared his throat. "If you want, send me to Azkaban. Do whatever the bloody hell you want with me, its better than having to marry a girl I won't love or be able to live with." He continued.

Kaiden's hands were clutched into fists and he could feel his nails digging into his skin a bit. He wasn't doing this. He didn't care if he ended up in Azkaban or if he ended up dead or anything. He wasn't going to marry Charlie. Everything he said was true, he didn't love you. He wouldn't learn to love her and he loved someone else. He'd rather spend his life in Azkaban.

But that wasn't going to happen either. He had a plan. It was going to work, he just needed to get out of this meeting and see Adrienne. But with what he'd just said, he was sure he was leaving, but he was also sure he was going to be leaving with an escort to the Ministry.

"No need to be overdramtic, Poliakoff." Charlie sneered over at the Slytherin boy. She couldn't lie - it stung a bit how certain he seemed about choosing Azkaban over having to spend some time with her. Love had nothing to do with any of this. From the moment Charlie had received her letter thoughts of being in love her future husband hadn't even crossed her mind. In this mad world that was no longer an option and Charlie didn't intend to torture herself thinking it was.

Besides, even if she was allowed to marry whoever she chose, she had no one. There had been boys at parties which had resulted in fun nights but no contact the next day. There were friends who she loved dearly but wasn't in love with. And then there was the one boy.. the only one who she had even had genuine feelings for. But if Charlie somehow managed to get him and broke his girlfriends heart it would be as bad if she had broken her own. No, there was no one that Charlie loved. No one for her to marry even if she had a choice in the matter.

Kaiden seemed to be feeling differently. He kept rattling on about love and many nos were thrown him, making his speech sound a bit like a temper tantrum to Charlie's ears. Though his determination hurt, she couldn't help but feel a bit glad for it. Even if there were no alternatives she wasn't overly enthusiastic about marrying Kaiden either.

Charlie turned to Ana before she could respond to Kaiden. "I have a question. If Snake-boy goes to Azkaban can I still get one of those promised Couple Rooms?" she shrugged, smirking at Kaiden. "It would be so comfortable all alone and I'd really love the extra space." Charlie raised her hand slightly, a sarcastic smile building on her lips. "I actually quite like this idea. Let's let Poliakoff here go to prison for love" she made air quotes "and I can stay here with all the wedding gifts. It'll be a win-win."

Ana's eyes narrowed at the Slytherin, regarding him with disdain. He started spouting off the idea that this law was based on love. Frankly, she understood his cautiousness with the whole thing, but it wasn't about whether or not he loved the girl he was matched with. It was about the fact that wizards were becoming less and less powerful as they married those of the same blood status as them. He trailed off and Ana's eyebrow lifted.

The Hufflepuff snapped at Kaiden before Ana could comment, but the woman nearly laughed at Charlotte's question. For a Hufflepuff, the girl really was quite snarky, Ana noted. Holding up a hand at the end of Charlotte's argument, she looked between the two of them sharply. This was a bit more hostile than she had expected.