"I'll ask him tomorrow or tonight after the feast," Oshun said as she and Forest sat at their table for the feast. "This has to be a mistake."
"It can't be a mistake," Forest said evenly, "Because why would they send the cards out without looking at them to reread them."
"But—"
"They don't look at the cards and find a mistake and then just leave the mistake," Forest went on. "That's very irresponsible. Especially for the new law."
"But, this is a mistake," Oshun protested firmly. "It has to be. I can— I— no way— I can't have gotten those two."
"Your card says otherwise..." Forest said slyly.
"Everyone only got one." Oshun's eyebrows pinched together, befuddled to the beyond. "Why did I get two though? Fred has a girlfriend and not once has he ever spoken to me. And Malfoy... the guy hates me."
"I don't think boyfriends and girlfriends matter much at the moment," Forest murmured in a quiet tone. Then she made a tentative sound. "But then again, I don't think anyone will actually listen to the law instantly. Perhaps people will still hookup with other people."
"Forest," Oshun whined. She dropped her head into her palms, elbows resting upon the table. "This is horrible. Why couldn't I get Joaquin?"
Forest made a sound of disdain. "No, that is actually disgusting. He sleeps with socks on. You should know that. And he sleeps in jeans sometimes—when he's too lazy to change."
"But at least I know him and have trust with him and a connection with him," Oshun said quietly, deflated.
"Get me for what? What's going on?" Joaquin asked as he settled himself in front of the ladies. "Why's Oshun freaking?"
"She got two guys," Forest replied, putting a gentle hand on Oshun's thigh. She rubbed it comfortingly.
Joaquin's brows shot up in an instant. "Is that so?" He seemed intrigued. "Why? Who did you get?"
"Malfoy and Fred Weasley," Oshun answered, her voice sounding small. "This is wrong. It has to be a mistake."
Joaquin winced, shaking his head. "Malfoy and Fred. That's going to be rough for you," he muttered, and poured himself a goblet of water.
Forest's dark eyes shot daggers at her twin.
Joaquin's eyes flickered in start as he cleared his throat. "I-I mean," he stammered. "Everything will work out, Oshun." He sent a forced smile at Oshun, his eyes fearfully darting to his sister.
Oshun just made a strangled sound of exasperation, shaking her head against her hands.
No one in the Great Hall was talking about their spouses, so perhaps they all went with the choice to keep it amongst their friends and themselves.
"Who did you get, Joaquin?" Forest asked, inching closer to Oshun to comfort her.
"Pansy Parkinson." His voice lowered for their ears only. "I wonder who Da'Shylah and the others got."
Oshun didn't understand why she got two people because everyone else only got one. There was only supposed to be one for everyone.
What made this even worse was that she got two guys that absolutely hated her—for what? She had no fucking clue.
She didn't even speak a word to either of those guys. Though, she might have had an idea as to why Draco hated her. His stupid Pureblood fetish.
"Hopefully there's a change for the gays." She made an attempt to drag her mind away from her own stress and problems. "If we're being forced by the law to marry random people, it'd be nice for everyone to marry who their hearts desire."
"If they don't allow the gays to be with who they fancy, I'm starting a fucking riot." Joaquin voice wracked with contempt as he folded his veiny forearms over the edge of the table.
Oshun smiled at that. Under the table, she held Forest's hand for comfort.
Oshun was close with all her mates. She loved them all dearly as well, but in a friend group, there was always the one friend someone was closer with.
Forest was that person for Oshun and vice versa. They both knew each other well and matched each other's vibe so effortlessly. Considering they were roommates, it was understandable.
"Welcome back!" Dumbledore's thunderous voice boomed throughout the room. "Now, I'm going to assume that the lot of you are talking about the new law with arranged marriages. So I will be talking about that first since you are all so eager to know more."
The room fell dead silent and everyone listened, on the edge of their seats. A pin dropping could be heard with the heavy silence.
"I understand that some of my students do not fancy the opposite sex," Dumbledore said in a warm voice. "So because of that, the Ministry and I have come up with something fair for everyone. For the homosexuals, there will be surrogates and donors for your marriage and pregnancies."
A wave of relieved and excited murmurs flooded around the room until they were silenced by the Headmaster.
"For further information and to switch your spouses, come see me at my office tomorrow morning," he announced sternly.
Everyone's attention gawked at the old man.
"And this goes for only those who fancy the same sex," the Headmaster clarified pointedly. "You all will have one year to fall in love and connect with your spouses. After the year is over, you will marry. Whether or not you fall in love or make connections, you'll be forced to marry."
Dumbledore went on with the other announcements. Oshun tuned it out, not caring much to listen.
She should write to her parents, tell them that she had two options. But maybe she would wait until she figured out why she got two.
She planned to speak with Dumbledore in private about this.
_____
"Who did you guys get?" Joaquin asked as the group of friends settled in Oshun and Forest's dorm. He took his seat at the chair at the desk.
They were passing around two blunts. Everyone was smoking it except Oshun. She didn't smoke, never tried it either.
"I got Nott." Mavi didn't seem to be thrilled about this and Oshun understood why.
Joaquin grimaced at the name.
"One of the Purebloods with the Pureblood fetish." She dropped into the armchair by the desk, her legs dangling over the arm.
"I got Forest." Tavius grinned at said girl, getting comfortable on Oshun's bed. He crossed his legs by the ankles and arms behind his head. "Lucky me."
Forest smirked as she exhaled smoke out of the side of her lips. "Lucky you." She crossed her legs, sitting upon her bed, as she got off her bed to pass the blunt to him.
"Gio and I are getting ours switched," Da'Shylah said as she sat on Forest's bed, hands propped behind her and long legs dangling over the edge.
"So you didn't even open your cards?" Joaquin mused, eyebrows bunched together. He brought the blunt to his lips and inhaled before he tipped his head back to exhale the smoke.
"Nope," Giovanni and Da'Shylah answered in unison.
Oshun remained silent, sitting next to Tavius on the bed. She didn't plan on telling her other friends about her choices because she just wanted to talk to the Headmaster first.
"Who did you get, Joaquin?" Giovanni asked as he sat on the floor, leaning against the food of Oshun's bed. He took a long hit of the blunt, blowing out circles with the smoke.
"Pansy Parkinson," said boy replied, and rummaged curiously through the drawers of the desk.
"I'm really fucking glad they're letting us gays marry who we're attracted to." Da'Shylah heaved a heavy huff. "It's the least they could do."
"One year." Mavi scoffed sardonically, twirling a dark curl around her finger. "How the hell are we supposed to fall in love in one year?"
"You'd be surprised how many people fall in love in less than a year," Giovanni said evenly, raising his shoulders in a shrug.
"My spouse hates anything and anyone that isn't a Pureblood," Mavi grumbled as Baloo hopped onto her lap and rubbed his head against her stomach, demanding attention.
"He likes the kind he's related to," Oshun joked, chuckling under her breath. "Keeping the bloodline in check." Her laugh died down instantly. "Okay, no. I'm just kidding."
"Ew, Oshun." Giovanni pulled a face in disgust. "Don't put that in our heads because when you think about—"
"Gio, no!" everyone except Oshun interjected in unison, mortified by the topic.
Giovanni blinked at everyone. "Right, then. Topic change." He cleared his throat and got to his feet to sit at the foot of the bed. "Let's talk about..." He shook his head. "Now I can't stop think about how Purebloods are—"
"Right, so when are you guys going to tell your parents who you got?" Da'Shylah changed the top and everyone almost melted in relief. The blunt hung between her lips and she inhaled, held, and then exhaled.
"I'll write to my parents tomorrow," Forest said, her back resting against the dark wood headboard.
"I'll write to Mum and Dad tomorrow too, I suppose," Joaquin said as well, nodding.
"My parents will approve that I've got a Pure..." Forest stopped herself at the blood status talk and quickly said, "I'll write to them tomorrow."
"Enough about the marriage law," Oshun piped up, her fingers toying with the jade Buddha pendant that hung on a gold chain round her neck. "Isn't it crazy how we're already in our fourth year of Hogwarts?"
Everyone was more than glad to get into the conversation of their years at Hogwarts and Oshun was glad to have the topic thrown off the new law.
"It's actually sort of a bummer because I still haven't got a clue on what I want to be in the future," Forest said grimly. "Mum and Dad want Joaquin and I to join the family business, but I don't fancy it."
"Don't you guys do business with the Malfoys and Notts and basically everyone that is important in the Wizarding World?" Mavi stroked Baloo's back as he rested upon her lap.
"Yeah. But Forest and I don't have much of a choice for our future," Joaquin said as he got the blunt passed to him. He took a drag and as he blew the smoke out, he said, "Our parents have our whole lives laid out for us."
"I wouldn't like that," Oshun said honestly, nose slightly scrunched. "I wouldn't like having my future laid out in front of me—especially if I don't have a say in it." She tucked her feet under her and leaned against the pillow, closer to Tavius.
"I don't think anybody fancies that," Mavi clarified.
"I need to bring up this marriage thing really quickly." Giovanni cleared his throat and crossed his legs by the ankles. "When the one-year deadline is up, do we just get married in a courthouse?"
"That's actually a good question." Forest nodded quickly, brows together in intrigue.
"Right?" Giovanni nodded in agreement. "Would we have a big wedding? And will we have to do it on the exact day the law was placed, which is today? Because if that's the case, we have school one year from today."
"I've no idea," Da'Shylah said with a huff escaping her plump lips. "The Daily Prophet barely said anything, but I reckon when the time comes, our parents will know what to do."
"Oh, bloody hell, you know what this means?" Forest gasped loudly and her eyes went wider at a realization that dawned upon her.
"What?" Mavi asked, and propped her elbow on the armrest of the chair, chin dug into her palm.
"Our parents might want to meet and get to know our spouses," Forest said, looking a wee bit mortified by the realization. "Which means either on the winter holiday or summer holiday, we go to our spouses house and vice versa for our parents to meet them."
"That's if parents want to meet their kid's spouse," Tavius clarified as Baloo moved to lay on his hard stomach. "Some parents might not want to because like most of the students, they don't agree with this new law."
"The population in the Wizarding World decreased because of people just marrying people in the Muggle World and completely ditching our world, right?" Giovanni asked, more for confirmation as he took a long drag of the blunt.
"That's what my mum said." Oshun nodded as Baloo went to her for some more attention. She stroked his stomach when he flipped onto his back.
"Dad said the same thing to us. Right, Joaquin?" Forest's eyes flicked over to her twin.
Joaquin nodded subtly. "Mhm."
"But I don't get why people would want to ditch the World of Magic," Oshun mused, ever so slightly puzzled.
"Some people don't want magic in their lives," Da'Shylah said, passing the blunt to Forest after taking a drag. "Some people see magic as some huge liability. I mean, in a way, it might be a bit of a liability. But in other ways, magic is brilliant."
"I doubt some people will follow the law at the moment," Tavius said coolly, gliding his tongue against the inside of his cheek. "I mean, no one's going to drop their relationship—if they have one—and run to their given spouse."
"Surely people will just go as they please until the time gets closer," Da'Shylah said, agreeing. She checked out her well-manicured nails for a second. "Or if they actually do end up wanting to get to know their spouse, then they will."
"Do you lot reckon you'll fall in love with your given spouse?" Joaquin asked curiously, brushing his fingers through his messy dark hair.
"Not a chance." Mavi unleashed out a wry scoff.
"Da'Shylah and I have to get ours changed, so this question doesn't stand for us right now." Giovanni put his hands up, the blunt hanging lazily between his lips.
"I don't know if Tavius and I will fall in love," Forest said, her dark eyes steering over to said boy. "We have a strong connection already, but we'll see. Right?"
Tavius nodded with a lazy smile. "We'll see."
"What about you, Takahashi?" Joaquin jutted his chin at the quiet one. "You think you'll fall in love with one of your choices?"
Oshun huffed a dry laugh. "Nope."