10 AM Meeting

Another meeting down and quite a few to go, Ana sighed and sank into her chair as the people from the last meeting left. What she wouldn’t give for a break in between these matches at Hogwarts. These students were tiring to say the least, and Ana’s attitude wasn’t getting any better as the day wore on. It was only the second meeting of the day, but the hours felt like they were dragging on – as usual.

It would be easier, she mused, if they had just sent out letters and told everyone who they were with, when their wedding was, and expected them to show up. But Ana seriously doubted that anyone would go through with it. Or that the Ministry would consider that a job well done. So the meetings were a necessity.

Two files were put away before two new ones were brought forwards to be viewed. At least in this case both of the people arriving were students and not a combination of a student and an adult. That would make things easier, she knew, if only slightly. With an odd sense of determination, Ana sat back to await the arrival of the next two students. At least if anything went wrong, she had probably seen worse in their meetings. Accepting that fact, as well as her fate (the dramatic side of her was rolling her eyes), Ana glanced at the time and simply waited. Her eyes scanned over the pages but didn’t really take anything in.

It was pretty easy to tell that Jaybee was freaked out about everything that was going on. First the marriage law was passed, and now the decree that said Half-breeds had to leave the school. Though he didn't agree with the marriage law, he didn't mind it as much as he did the decree. Because of it, two of his closest friends had to leave the school.

That just wasn't okay with him. He didn't care that he was going to be matched with someone he didn't love, or probably know for that matter, he could learn to live with it. But when something affected his friends, that just didn't sit right with Jaybee. He wanted to find a way to help them. To help all those who were being affected by the decree.

One thing at a time Jaybee. You have to get through this meeting first. You have to find out who your wife is supposed to be.

His mind chimed in, reminding him that the problem right now wasn't the decree, as much as he would have liked it to be that. Right now, he had to make it through his meeting. He had to find out how everything was supposed to go, though he already had a slight idea of how it would go thanks to others who had already had their meetings.

As he approached the Guidance Office, the Hufflepuff took a deep breath and knocked on the door before entering. When he noticed he was the first one there, he didn't feel relief for some reason. Any normal person would feel relieved when they saw they were the first ones to arrive, it gave them time to process things a little longer. But for Jaybee it only meant more waiting and he didn't want to wait anymore, he wanted things to be over with already.

"Good morning Mrs. Levski." he greeted the woman politely before taking a seat and glancing at the door to see if his match would walk through the door at that moment.

Lily’s life had never been more complicated.

She had been forced to move from America so that she could act in accordance of the new marriage law, and then she had been left hanging, without a match, for months. In the meantime, she had transferred to Hogwarts. Almost immediately, werewolves were ejected from Hogwarts – ironic, as her lycanthropy was the very reason she had left England in the first place. However, no one knew of her condition, especially not the Ministry, so she could not act in accordance of this law. She did not know what would happen to her if she were discovered, so she was keen on obeying this stupid law while she was breaking the other.

It just seemed so complicated – by being forced to obey one law, she had found herself directly breaking another. Whoops.

She did not dress to impress – she dressed in a way that told the poor guy what exactly he was getting himself into. She was running a bit late – the anxiety of meeting with a Ministry official had forced her to take a quick smoke break on the way – but eventually, she found herself nearing the very place where her fate would be sealed. She fumbled to tuck the cigarettes and her lighter in her coat pocket, conscious that a Ministry official would probably have the nerve to confiscate them. She did not need trouble now – she was certain it would come later anyway.

She entered the room and stood in the doorway. “Am I in the right place?”

The words on the pages were starting to blur, swimming before her in her failed attempt at absorbing them. Ana glanced up at the entrance of the first of the two students she was expecting, greeted lightly by the Hufflepuff as he made his way through the doorframe and settled into his chair of choice. She offered a nod in return along with a, “Morning.”

Only moments later, as Ana was about to inform Mr. Brisk that they would need to give the girl a few minutes to arrive to be sure she wasn’t avoiding the meeting, the door opened once more. “Miss Potter? Yes, this is the meeting.” She did her best to keep from eying the Gryffindor warily upon noting the girl’s outfit. If it was a statement the girl wanted to make, she had succeeded at least minutely.

“Right. First, Mr. Brisk, this is Lily Potter. Lily, Johan Brisk.” Ana gestured between the two once Lily had settled herself in the office properly and was no longer lingering in the doorway. “Now, provided neither of you have any real objections, here is how your next month is going to go. You’ve two weeks to get to know each other before you need to set a date for the wedding. By that time if you have any questions, you’re welcome to contact myself or the law department of the Ministry to set up another meeting. By the end of four weeks, you’ll need to have officiated the marriage and filed with the Ministry. It doesn’t need to be a big ordeal if you’d rather just have a civil union of sorts.”

Glancing between the two students, Ana wondered vaguely after how much of a rebuttal she was going to receive. Equally, she wondered which would object first, or the most loudly. “Any questions so far?”

As Mrs. Levski began to speak, telling them how the next month was supposed to go for them, Jaynee found himself thinking about Kasumi. He hadn't known her as long as he'd liked to and he wondered what happened to her. He hadn't seen her around as often anymore. Maybe she left for some reason? If that had happened he wished she would have at least said goodbye to him.

They were starting to be friends after all. At least that was how it worked in his mind. Maybe things were different in her mind. As he thought Bout her, the Hufflepuff began to wish it was her he had been matched with. Being unable to think of anyone else, he was pretty sure she had been the person he put down in his application. He really wished that had been taken into consideration.

But it wasn't like he could change anything now. Not that he could at all. And honestly, even though he really wanted to fight back, he wasn't going to. Not because he was afraid of the consequences, it was just because he didn't think it would help at all. It would only cause problems with the Ministry and he could end up being sent to Azkaban because of it. Okay, so maybe there was a little bit if fear there.

As the woman finished speaking, Jaybee shook his head slightly. He wondered if she noticed that he wasn't really listening to her. But it wasn't like he completely tuned her out. He just kind of already knew what she would say, his friends had already had their meetings before him and they'd talked about what she said to them.

"Yeah," she grunted, as her name was spoken. She sighed - damn, so she was at the right place. She slumped over to the seat and collapsed in it, one leg caught on the arm of the chair, dangling over as she propped her other side up by resting her elbow on the other arm. And she was supposed to be rearing a child within the next year? If this sight did not prove the Levski how fruitless this effort was, surely nothing would.

The Levski woman went on a long tirade and Lily slowly looked over at the boy that was supposed to become her husband. Oh boy, Hufflepuff. Lily was surely going to break him. He seemed unable to comprehend what was happening to him. He was staring off into space, eyes slightly glazed over, some other information playing over in his head.

Was there any questions?

Lily stared at Levski for a good few moments and then glanced over at the boy who looked like he was waking up after a long nap. Lily thrust a hand up in the air and jerked the other thumb at the boy. "Could I get a live one?"

Ana frowned at the pair of them, wondering how she had managed to find two awkward students in one meeting. Usually she at least had an angry one, or a pair of shy ones; these seemed like they were determined to make the other feel as uncomfortable as possible. She supposed it was easier than arguing through the meeting, though, so she would take it if she had to. It was strange, though, that neither seemed to have any claims to make or objections to put forth. Ana certainly wasn’t complaining.

Frowning at Lily’s question, Ana didn’t quite know how to respond, instead looking over at the Hufflepuff as the girl gestured in his direction. Pursing her lips, Ana just kept quiet for a minute before charging on in her attempt to get this over with quickly.

“Now that the next month is plotted out for you, let’s look at today and the next couple years,” she began, twining her fingers together and resting them before her on the desk. “Today I’ll need to administer fertility tests for the pair of you to ensure that, within the three years specified in the law, you will be able to have a child and fulfill the rest of the law’s requirements. We can start that right away if you two will stand, as I have to cast a spell to do so.”

She nearly stood, but worried that they might try to object or finally start speaking past a greeting, so she waited and watched the pair of them for any sort of response – preferably positive. Even if they didn’t want to let her do it, they really had no choice unless they preferred the company of dementors over each other.