Make it a great sword.

 

Kusanagi
/10char

 

There is no way in hell to make a multi chapter fic out of a marriage contract. Even is the whole emo "Oh voe is me I'm being forced to marry someone against my will" shtick is something you go for, the conflict will just run out after the first arc.

The only way I can see I marriage contract working is for it to serve as an ignition point to a bigger conflict. For example it could be used to start a Harry vs. ministry of magic fic. Ministry tries to force Harry to marry someone, Harry tells them to fuck off, they send aurors to enforce the law/decree/whatever and from there on it could escalate. I've always thought that something along these lines is the way to go for a Dark Lord Harry fic.

 

You guys are fools. The Marriage Contract plot device just has to be morphed into a situation that actually makes sense for both characters without completely changing canon. The thing is, it can't truly benefit them until WAY after it happens.
Ex:

OoTP ends with Voldemort murdering Fudge and Dumbledore being framed for it without any Death Eaters on the premises. The Order of Phoenix is wanted for Fudge's murder (Umbridge has taken advantage of the public panic and is now Headmistress at Hogwarts). Snape wants to leave Hogwarts, but Dumbledore and Voldemort both need him there. Slughorn never comes out of retirement; Dumbledore asks for his assistance (and offers his protection) but Harry doesn't join him, and Slughorn declines, choosing to go his own way.

Luna, Neville, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron are all wanted by the Ministry, so they are unable to return to Hogwarts. The gifts Dumbledore planned to give to Harry remain in Albus' possession, and Harry knows nothing about the prophecy or the horcruxes. The students are forced to be quarantined in Grimmauld, with the exception of Harry, who must return to the Dursleys.

Of course, he doesn't want to be anywhere near Grimmauld Place in the absence of Sirius, but he'd much rather be there than with his friends than at the Dursleys alone. Unbeknownst to him, however, he is not alone at Grimmauld; there are many unseen observers, including Tonks, Remus, Mundungus and occasionally Alastor.

One night, Tonks inspects the second bedroom to find that Harry is not there. Freaking out, she follows his tracks to the park. Unfortunately, he's been grabbed by the Ministry, but Harry wriggles away from the man just in time for Tonks to dispatch him. She rants about him leaving the house, to which he blames her for blindly following Dumbledore and leaving him in danger rather than putting him at Grimmauld, where everyone seems to be safe. He knows he's a target of Voldemort's for som reason, and that they share an obvious connection as a result of his mother's sacrifice, but he still questions the reasons behind it, for which she provides no answers.

From this point, Alastor, without Dumbledore around to take directions from, decides to flex his power by taking the boy to Grimmauld anyway. Molly begins teaching lessons despite the griping from her two children, but she turns out to be a better teacher than they expected; not only is she a deft hand with Potions, she's far more patient than any Professor and not very likely to take points. The others chip in with defensive and offensive spells when they can, and by the end of the year, they are actually much improved - though admittedly bored with the constant instruction to keep their minds off of being fugitives.

The Order is supremely aware of Lucius Malfoy's rise to prominence in the absence of Cornelius, and the pro-Pureblood movement has never been stronger; by the end of the first semester, Lucius, the board of governers and Umbridge have already pushed a two thirds of the Muggleborn population from the school, and the rest are constantly bullied by Pureblood students and the new Professors. Flitwick has resigned and keeps in touch with McGonagall, who is the only Professor to stay in an attempt to circumvent Umbridge's scourge of the school. A pro-Death Eater being elected in Cornelius' wake makes it far more difficult for anyone to mount a resistance, and Voldemort systematically begins offing the ones who do.

Harry is glad to be learning alongside his friends, but wishes he could make a difference. He can't Apparate for quite some time, and every spell he casts outside of Grimmauld could lead to his capture. While discussing their own misfortune, Luna makes the comment that, since there are even numbers of them, everyone should get married, which would not only remove the trace on each of them, but give them freedom of travel as well.

Hermione is of course insulted by the thought of marrying just to get an early start, though she blushes at the thought of being with Ron. Ginny initially claims that she'd be all for it, especially as it would give her and Luna a big heads up on others their age; of course, Ron is totally uncomfortable with Harry and Ginny being married and scoffs at the idea. They eventually pass it off as a silly conversation, but the thought remains in Harry's mind, and he notices Luna watching him that evening.

Time passes and eventually Dumbledore comes to visit, calling an Order meeting for the first time in months. His hand is mottled black and white. He takes Harry aside after the meeting and explains the prophecy, the meaning behind it, and also, why he has been away: hunting horcruxes. He says that he will drop in from time to time to explain the source of Voldemort's longevity. He also wants to take Harry with him on the journey, but not until everything has been explained and Harry is old enough to Apparate. During their conversation, Dumbledore, despite his amazing proclivity for magic, does not notice a single set of Extendable Ears at the door, nor the blonde head holding them.


When Harry goes to bed that night, he is not aware of the blonde girl standing over him, waving her wand and holding his hand before sealing the world's most quiet marriage ceremony with a kiss. As a strange glow overtakes him, he wakes, only realizing what has happened after Luna admits it plainly.

EDIT:

Harry reacts as if she's robbed him of his only chance at happiness, and everyone gets angry at Luna(who passively takes it, though even Harry recognizes she's emotionally affected) but after an additional conversation with Dumbledore, Harry reconsiders and even apologizes to Luna. She tells him that he's really her only friend, and she couldn't bear to see something terrible happen to him if he couldn't properly defend himself. She explains that it was also a choice she made to protect herself. Luna also tells him (falsely) she doesn't care who he ultimately ends up with, claiming that she would divorce him if he wanted as soon as he comes of age. He takes her at her word, barely refraining from mentioning that this is something he really wants because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings.

Ginny has a meltdown and doesn't trust Luna anymore. Hermione, likewise. Ron is rather impressed with the audacity though he doesn't say so. Neville barely speaks to anyone, as his grandmother has been killed and he blames himself for not being there for her. Surprisingly, this brings Neville and Harry closer together, as they are both effectively alone in the world.

Dumbledore continues to tutor Harry in the horcruxes, Remus is back to being Professor Remus while he and Tonks continue to play hot and cold with each other. Alastor and Dumbledore have a rift as a result of the way he's handling Harry - if he's going to be a target in the war and a weapon used to fight Voldemort, he needs to actually learn how to kill. There are no excuses now that he's an adult, and Dumbledore finally relents, reluctantly promising to give Harry help as he can. Tonks and Harry are closer too, as she starts to see him as a young man rather than a child.

Finally, Dumbledore decides that Harry is ready to join him on the hunt; they reach the cave with the inferi. They escape with the false locket, even more confused as to where the real one may be. There is no battle at Hogwarts, however, as Voldemort has decided to let Umbridge run the school into the ground (since she's virtually purging it of Muggleborns anyway). That way, the Minister can force her to resign as a total laughing stock from the former regime and renew the public's hope in the school.

Umbridge finally screws up royally, cursing one of the Pureblood students; the Minister then installs Snape as Headmaster, and the lauds him as a brilliant, hard-working Professor who deserves every bit of it.

On the night Dumbledore and Harry return, Luna comes to see Harry long after every one else has gone to bed, climbing into bed and wrapping her arms around him. He awakens and asks her what she's doing, but she explains that, since they are married, its not like anyone can say legitimately forbid them from being together. Harry feels her warm skin through her clothes, and goes crimson at the thought of being fully allowed to explore the girl's body. Torn between following his hormones or his brain, Harry decides to let her sleep in the bed with him until the morning, but wakes her before anyone can see.

Except for Ginny, who woke up early and went looking for Luna only to see her walk sleepily from Harry's bedroom.

That's the end of sixth year.

 

Why would marriage remove the trace? Why isn't there an easier way to remove the trace when they have Dumbledore? Eh, whatever.

 

I'd read that. /10char

 

Early marriage = adulthood in the eyes of wizarding community. Luna only knew about it because her father and mother did something similar (though they were in love at the time) to remove their own trace so they could practice experimental magic before the age of seventeen.

Dumbledore explains he can't remove the trace, only a Ministry official in that particular office (whatever its called, the one that sends the howlers when you're underage magicking) is authorized to make such a decision. Sirius is still Harry's guardian as he's not been proven to be dead in the Ministry's blind eyes. Furthermore, Dumbledore would have his own reasons (he thinks of Harry as a talented child, but not much more, which, to be fair, is an extremely accurate estimation of Harry). He would not want him to leave freely/practice Auror level curses etc. and quite likely get his friends (who would not be of age) into another OoTP-type situation.

As the year progresses and Dumbledore sees more of his favorite pupil, he realizes that Harry is becoming a man worthy of more responsibility, but the marriage thing really pushes him to accept that Harry is an adult, and that its out of his hands whether the boy wants to learn to fight or not -- he's going to have to eventually.

*shrug*

 

But there's no contract involved at all, right? There is no hint of any contract here.

And plus, I'd totally read that too.

 

Improper Use of Magic Office, headed by (in my opinion) the dumbest name in HP, Mafalda Hopkirk.

 

Fools, yes, undoubtedly.

"All you have to do to make it work is make it work." How could everyone have been so blind? All you have to do is move heaven and earth -and canon- to make any marriage contract fic work. Why, it was there all along!

Like calling for the assassination of Fudge, the framing of Dumbledore, Umbridge taking over Hogwarts (if the Minister is dead and she can so easily assume the headmaster position, why wouldn't she just make herself Minister, instead?), Luna being at Grimmauld Place, a magical marriage ceremony that can be performed by one participant upon an unaware/incapacitated individual, and ultimately never explaining why Luna (for example) would actually do this, except that she is loco en la cabeza.

Oh, for "protection." Well, that explains everything. I would submit that this could be better written than other such fics... but it would certainly be no less contrived.

Could this plot work? Stranger ones have.
Are people "fools" for not realizing this was the answer to all of their marriage contract plot contrivances all along?
Hardly.

Leg up.
It would give them a leg up.


Maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning -oxygen deprivation can do that to a person- but all I can absorb from this thread, at the moment, is that Sesc detests marriage contracts as a concept, and that people should be intimately aware of the difference between "no less" and "none the less/nonetheless" before using either in a sentence.

I know. I know... I blame the OCD contract my parents signed when they produced me.

I'm going to go be crabby while eating toast... or Halloween candy... or both.
Pumpkin English muffin it is, then. Happy Halloween!

 

Eat a Peanut Butter bar and enjoy yourself. No one should pick so many holes in something meant to be taken lightly. Every story is contrived in some way. The OP in the thread says:

I gave it a shot (though, admittedly, I did somewhat change it fundamentally). You don't like it? Fair enough, you're entitled to say so. My beef is that you're being a dick when I actually put forth effort writing something reasonably plausible. Go stuff your face full of chocolate and dress up like a real Warlocke should. Remember to wear gloves if you're OCD.

And the stupid ass "leg up" thing makes me want to put my "foot up" your ass where your head is. Go beat up some little kids and take their candy.

*disclaimer: I like Warlocke, everything's groovy.

 

That's what I think of the logical outcome of a post-Hogwarts marriage law story: Ministry tries to force Harry and/or the other people who just fought and beat Voldemort and his murdering scum into marriages, Harry and co. destroy the ministry instead of complying. Once you destroyed one government, destroying the next one gets easier.