♥ "Whole Wide World" for lei_che_sogna ♥
Title: Whole Wide World
Rating: PG for language
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: None
Summary: Draco had long ago given up the hope of finding his “one true love” on a tropical island. He wanted nothing more than to get through his friends’ wedding without sunburn - and then she came along.
A/N: We don’t know Blaise Zabini’s mother’s name, right? I felt like I had seen the same name in a lot of fics, but I couldn’t find a source. So she’s Xenobia. Also, I know I didn’t do Tahiti justice, for which I sincerely apologize!
Whole Wide World
Prologue
“Pansy? I don’t want to marry Pansy! She’s my best mate!” cried nine-year-old Draco Malfoy, looking up at his parents in horror.
Narcissa sighed, cocking an eyebrow at her husband. “Oh, honestly, Lucius, did you have to go and tell him that? No one’s getting married any time soon, Draco,” she promised, ignoring her son’s muttered “I don’t want to marry her ever.”
“Now why are you wearing that cloak? We’re going to the Bahamas, darling, not the Alps. Dobby,” she called to the waiting elf, “put Draco’s cloak away, it’s almost time to go!”
“I’m running away. As soon as we Portkey in,” Draco declared sullenly. “I’ll find my own wife.”
Lucius snorted indelicately; Narcissa pressed her lips together to hide her smile. “Of course you will, darling. I’m sure the perfect girl for is just waiting for you in the Bahamas.”
“Yes, because every man has just one woman in the world who’s right for him,” Lucius said scathingly. “What if you can’t find her on this vacation of ours?”
“Oh, he won’t stop until he locates her, of course,” Narcissa deadpanned.
Draco nodded emphatically, pleased his mother was agreeing with him. “Don’t think I won’t do it. I’ll travel the whole wide world to find her.”
“Draco Malfoy, you will marry whomever I please, and you’ll be grateful for it,” Lucius told him severely, pressing their joined hands to the Portkey.
“Well I hope you like my Bahamian girlfriend then,” he declared sullenly, as if the matter was settled. And then the Portkey activated, so for the moment, it was.
Seventeen Years Later…
Draco Malfoy didn’t much care for Tahiti. It was far too bright, the sun searing his mal-adjusted eyes as soon as the Portkey settled. He’d take London any day of the year, grey and rainy and subdued as it was.
“Why did you feel the need to get married in Tahiti? The Manor was open for anything you could have needed,” Draco reminded Blaise, who stood next to him, surveying the beach in front of them.
“Mother insisted we come to her. You know how Xenobia can be,” the other man replied, donning his sunglasses smoothly. “If she’s going to foot the bill, we’ll most certainly head to Tahiti. Plus, Pansy was thrilled. She said it would be like having two honeymoons.”
“Yes, because you two certainly won’t visit enough countries on your world tour,” Draco said drily, rolling his eyes. “I’m glad to see the two women in your life have you so whipped. I can’t wait until you have a daughter.” He looked behind them to see the Portkey attendants arranging their luggage like Muggles. Blaise glanced briefly at the notes in his hand before carelessly passing a handful back; the young men’s eyes widened. “Merci bien,” they said enthusiastically.
He merely gestured imperiously in acknowledgement before they strode out of the Portkey hub towards the hotel he had arranged. Blaise lowered his sunglasses just enough to glare at Draco. “As if you don’t run Narcissa’s errands at any time of day. The only thing keeping you from doing the same for your girlfriend is the fact that you can’t hold onto one for more than a week. And besides, the only thing you’re worried about is your precious skin burning.”
Draco looked at his friend with his mouth open, aghast. “It is like porcelain! You wouldn’t understand.”
Blaise sniggered at his friend. “No, I most certainly wouldn’t. I’ve eaten chocolate that lasted longer in the sun than you, porcelain.”
He sneered in response. “I hope you don’t expect me to accompany you to the beach.”
“I think I can make it on my own. But you’ll miss out on all of the festivities. You may as well have not come,” Blaise said, rolling his eyes. “You know the ceremony is outdoors, right?”
“I do know that. I can’t believe you didn’t take me into consideration when you agreed to that,” he said sarcastically.
“Yes, because Pansy certainly would have conceded to your demands. She definitely didn’t say, ‘Draco can burn for all I care,’” Blaise said drily.
“You’re all out to get me,” Draco grumbled.
“Yes, mate. This wedding is all about you,” Blaise scoffed, shaking his head.
“As I expected,” he nodded solemnly.
To Draco’s surprise, he found Blaise actually steering him to the beach. He grumbled half-heartedly, but knew that Pansy would never forgive him if he didn’t participate in all of her wedding activities.
When they arrived, Pansy was sitting with Millicent Bulstrode and three other women, one of whom he recognized from Pansy’s workplace. She was describing her dress to them until Blaise walked up. “Spying on me, Blaise?” she asked, grinning broadly at him.
He leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips, and the other women tittered like ninnies. Pansy grinned again and Draco rolled his eyes. “You still haven’t been able to sneak a peek at her dress?” She’d been teasing him about it for weeks, he remembered.
“Oh, I’d kill him,” Pansy said genially. The girls around her laughed, but Draco was fairly certain that she was serious.
“Ladies, this is Draco Malfoy, Blaise’s best man. Draco, these are my friends from work. You know Millicent, of course; the short blonde is Lucy and the taller one is Carol; and I’m sure you remember Ginny from Hogwarts,” she finished airily, as if it were an everyday occurrence for her to introduce a Gryffindor as one of her friends. But the glint in her eye belied her blithe attitude. She’d strangle him if he were rude to her guests. So Draco avoided Weasley’s eyes, swallowed his snark, and nodded cordially to them all. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
But Weasley - Ginny - snorted indelicately. “The pleasure is all mine,” she said, smirking at him. Draco finally looked straight at her and was forced to acknowledge that she looked - well, good.
For a Weasley, at least. She’d clearly been on the beach for a while, if her tan was any indication. She had a knit white shift over her bikini and a pair of big dark sunglasses on top of her head, pushing her messy hair out of her face. Her eyes were big and dark and laughing at him.
“I’m glad you’re both so delighted to see each other, because you’ve been volunteered to oversee the decorations in the garden and patio,” Pansy said as if it were the best job one could be offered. “So get going, see you both later!” She and Blaise pushed Ginny and Draco in the same direction. “Thanks so much!” Pansy called after them as they began to walk down the coast.
“Were they too cheap to hire professionals for this sort of thing?” Draco scoffed.
Ginny laughed, pulling her sandals off for the walk through the sand. “Of course they hired them, but you know they’d never trust them to get it right. Don’t think you’re up for it, Malfoy?”
“As a matter of fact, I do not want Pansy’s rage directed at me for misplacing a single flower,” he pointed out.
“Ah, yes. Much rather let the peons take the brunt of her anger,” Ginny said, smiling.
“Well, yes,” Draco confessed. “They are being paid for it, after all. What are we going to do? Stand there, uncomfortable that we’re forced to spend time together, bored out of our skulls.”
“Oh, Malfoy. You know you want to spend time with me. You can admit it. I won’t tell.” She winked broadly. When he opened his mouth indignantly she added, “Oh come now, lighten up. What shall we do instead?”
“We?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t we just split up?” He was reluctant to admit that he wasn’t much opposed to spending more time with her. She wasn’t half bad to look at, and seemed at least twice as intelligent as some of Pansy’s other friends - which, really, wasn’t saying much.
“Because then the chances are doubled that Pansy finds out we blew her off,” she pointed out. Draco admired her sense of self-preservation.
“Or we could just go to our separate rooms and agree not to come out until tonight’s dinner,” he tried to persuade her.
“What on earth would I do cooped up alone in my room? I’d go to the beach, that’s what. And then Pansy would find me, and I’d tell her it was your fault.” She grinned, but he’d bet she would actually do it. “Come on, Malfoy, I’m not that bad,” she said, mirroring his earlier thoughts.
He glanced sideways at her. “I haven’t had a chance to see my suite yet. We can get out of the heat, sit down and have a drink there,” Draco proposed, veering right towards the hotel.
Ginny smiled at him. “Draco,” she began, and he had to admire the way his name sounded falling from her lips. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re the only person who is remotely interested in staying indoors. It’s Tahiti! We’re supposed to be outside. It’s gorgeous.”
He glanced past their hotel at the mass of foliage. “Yes, gorgeous.”
“Oh, come now, it’s lovely and wild and free,” she gushed. “And the feel of sand between your toes - oh, and wait until you see the sunset on the beach. Even you’ll be able to appreciate that beauty.”
“I can appreciate beauty perfectly well, thank you very much,” Draco replied stiffly, eyeing her as she gestured at the wilderness around them. “I just don’t think this qualifies. I prefer to find my beauty in women, art, and fine clothes. Trees and sand - pfuit,” he snorted. “This island hasn’t worked for its beauty the way a model or an artist or a tailor has.”
Finally she shrugged, and they started walking towards Draco’s suite, though she couldn’t stop herself from continuing to speak. “Why is natural beauty any less legitimate? The colors, the lushness - I think it’s more striking that it hasn’t had to work for what it is. It’s beautiful in its simplicity.”
“Beauty isn’t simplicity,” he countered. “Beauty is complex. It’s more than just shite growing in the wild.”
They paused in the lobby for Draco to pick up his room key. “And here’s an extra copy for your wife, sir.” The counter attendant nodded at Ginny.
Ginny opened her mouth to protest but Draco merely and smirked. “Thank you,” he said, pocketing both keys and walking off.
She followed him. “When they see me coming out of my own room, they’re going to think I’m cheating on you or something.”
“You’ll just have to stay with me then.” Draco cursed himself for being cheesy, but didn’t let it show on his face.
For her part, Ginny peered at him, eyebrow cocked, then shook her head. “Whatever, you’d probably deserve it anyway,” she resolved.
Draco gaped at her. “Absolutely not. For my wife to be so carelessly obvious - pfuit! No man deserves that.”
She looked taken aback, but he failed to notice as he unlocked the door to his rooms. She followed him in. “You mean to say, you’d be less upset about me cheating on you as long as other people didn’t know?”
He paused to consider. “That’s the fashion of things,” Draco said carefully. “But no, I would not be okay with you having a man on the side.” He pulled out a bottle of wine from the mini-bar, inspecting its label before he poured them each a glass.
Ginny nodded, and they both sipped silently for a moment before she quipped, “That’s too bad, because that’s one of my requisites for marriage.”
Draco snickered. “And that’s the only one that I don’t meet, I imagine.”
“Oh sure. You’re rich, famous, good-looking. All of the really important things in a husband,” Ginny said, rolling her eyes.
“If those are your requirements, I am your perfect match. Unfortunately I require a more discreet wife,” he said, his voice full of remorse but his grey eyes sparkling with humor.
“It’s really too bad, isn’t it?” she agreed, taking a hearty swig of her wine.
“Also, my wife would know how to drink wine properly. Honestly, I know you were raised a pauper, but surely Pansy has taught you wine,” he jibed.
Ginny laughed. “Oh yes, I know, you must smell and sip and savor - but honestly, give me a pint of beer any day. Not that this isn’t lovely,” Ginny amended.
“How vulgar,” he sniffed.
“Matches my taste in beauty, I suppose,” she said, grinning. “Oh, what time is it?”
“Half five,” he said, glancing at his wristwatch. “Somewhere to be?”
“Unfortunately, I must get ready for dinner.” She stood and knocked back the rest of her wine before heading out the door. “Thanks for the drink, Draco. I’ll see you later.”
You most certainly will, he thought.
They were seated together at dinner, which took place indoors, Draco noted thankfully. However, Pansy and Blaise were near them as well, and they dominated the meal’s conversation. Draco noticed that Ginny, who looked lovely in a simple blue and white dress, kept eyeing him as the meal went on, especially after a few rounds of drinks. He was unreasonably pleased and fought to keep that from showing to his friends, but he thought he caught a sly look in Pansy’s eyes.
Draco was aiming to seek her out after dinner and have her over again for drinks, but was circumvented by Pansy, who was bunching all of her girlfriends together for her last night free of the shackles of matrimony.
He didn’t see Ginny again until the next morning. Draco - and all of the men - had been banished from any part of the building Pansy was getting ready in, which Draco found particularly excessive, so he loitered outside the building, sweltering in his suit, confident that Ginny would seek the outdoors at some point.
He was wrong. Draco didn’t see Ginny until she was standing behind the altar across from him. He winked at her, and she smirked back, but then set her attention to the bride coming down the aisle.
For his part, he tried hard to look as if he were paying attention while sneaking glances at Ginny and hoping the ceremony would draw to a quick close.
Draco sought Ginny out at the reception and bullied her into a dance with him, but afterwards she ran off. “I’m so sorry, Draco, I have a Floo call I need to make.”
He grabbed her wrist as she pulled away. “Meet me back here later tonight,” he demanded.
“Is that an order or a request?” she asked archly, though her lips curved into a smile.
“Midnight,” he said in response, smirking. “Blaise and Pansy will have retired by then, and everyone else will have moved to the clubroom. We can be alone.”
“Alone? What on earth could you want me alone for?” She grinned cheekily, moving closer to him.
“Why, so I can kill you without witnesses, of course,” he said silkily, dipping his head towards hers.
“Well, Mr. Malfoy, I can assure you I’ll put up a good fight,” Ginny promised, looking up at him through her eyelashes.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he agreed. His mouth hovered tantalizingly over hers, but she pulled away.
“Until then,” she said over her shoulder as she pranced off, laughing to herself.
Draco danced with many other women that night, but remembered none of them. When midnight struck, he was waiting in the same spot in the garden, near the fountain.
She was not.
He waited calmly for fifteen minutes, expecting her to show up late, breathless and red-faced, to tell him she’d been out in the wilderness or picking up with the house elves or some similar, incomprehensible story. When she still did not arrive, he sat impatiently for twenty more. At the crack of an Apparition, he whipped around only to find an elf behind him. Binny, he remembered, had been helping everyone move in to their rooms.
“Master Draco,” he began.
Draco growled in response. “Leave me.”
“But sir -” he tried again, looking at the ground in consternation.
“I don’t need your help,” he snapped. “Go away.” He turned away and began to pace; the loud snap signifying the elf’s departure came only a few moments later. Unfortunately, no more noises alerted him to anyone’s arrival, and in the middle of his pacing Nott came out to smoke a fag.
“Malfoy, what’s up your arse?” he asked crudely.
Draco snarled at him and stalked off.
He was slated to leave the next day, and didn’t see Ginny at all - not that he was looking for her, or anything. Blaise and Pansy had set out on their honeymoon, and wouldn’t be back for three months. Draco was looking forward to a nice long break from social expectations, holing up in his apartment with his investment portfolios and Indian food.
He had been home for a week when an unexpected owl arrived; the return address said Ginny Weasley. Draco let the owl in but didn’t untie the letter from its leg, instead letting it perch on the back of his chair while he stood over it, scowling. On the one hand, he wanted to know she felt bad for standing him up. On the other, he didn’t want to read her platitudes. He didn’t need to let her feel better by explaining herself. If she didn’t want him, that was fine.
Finally he decided he didn’t care to hear her excuses, and threw the bird out the window without taking the note. It squawked in indignation and he felt a surge of angry justice. “Serves it right,” he muttered, “with an owner like that.”
Pansy and Blaise hadn’t yet been home for three days when Pansy arrived at Draco’s apartment, eager to hear how he’d been doing.
She let herself in to find him, unshaven, muttering to the business proposal in front of him. Draco barely glanced up when she arrived.
“What are you doing? How does Ginny let you become such a mess?” Pansy cried out in dismay, standing over his couch with her hands on her hips. “Don’t tell me you already managed to chase her away.”
“Weasley? What are you on about?” he asked, perplexed.
“Haven’t you been seeing her? She was ever so excited about it when I talked to her after the reception,” Pansy mused. “Of course you’d be able to bungle it so quickly!” Her face creased into a scowl, and Draco knew he was in trouble.
“I didn’t do anything!” he protested, hoping to head her off before she built up steam. “We were supposed to meet after the reception. She didn’t show. Nothing happened.” Draco hoped he was playing it off coolly.
“Have you left this place in the past three months?” Pansy demanded. “More importantly, did you try to contact her at all?”
“No. She didn’t want to see me, that’s all. I didn’t need to hear it directly from her lips, thank you. Or her apology owl,” he added in a mutter, though he knew Pansy heard him.
“What are you, an idiot? She was called away for work. She sent a house elf to tell you!” Draco recalled Binny and grimaced. “Merlin, you could have at least written her back when she owled you, you ninny,” Pansy scowled. “Oh my god, you didn’t even read it, did you?”
Draco didn’t have to say it for her to read it in his eyes.
“Go right this moment to her flat,” Pansy demanded.
“Pans -” he tried to say, but she interrupted him vehemently.
“Nevermind! I’ll do it my damn self. Merlin knows you can’t be trusted to follow through. Honestly, men. Well, come on then!” And without letting him protest, she grabbed his hand and Apparated right away.
Draco found himself in the hallway in front of a shabby-looking flat, Pansy glaring next to him. “Where are we?” he asked, but she only scoffed, which he took to mean, “What kind of idiot are you?”
She knocked on the door in front of them, correctly intuiting that he wasn’t going to be the one to initiate anything. “Coming!” he heard from inside.
“Ta!” was all Pansy responded with, and without further ado, she left him all alone outside of the flat of the woman he - well, liked quite a bit, at the very least.
Ginny clearly wasn’t in the habit of checking her peep-hole, because when she opened up and saw Draco standing there, she turned bright red. Whether in anger or embarrassment at the mess her hair was, he had no idea. He hoped the latter.
“What are you doing here?” she said flatly.
“Pansy made me -” he began to say, but once again, he was cut off.
“Oh, she made you?” And Draco could already tell that she was getting fired up, but he had no idea how to stop it. “You couldn’t have made the trip without her forcing you to? Well you can just tell her thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need your apologies or your - your closure. There’s no closure to be had, in fact, because there was no opening. And that - well, that’s just on you!” When she stepped back to slam the door, he put his right foot through it - and immediately regretted his decision.
It didn’t stop her from slamming it, and damn, did that hurt.
He squealed - in the manliest of manners - and hopped forward, shoving her door open once more and entering her flat. “I thought you didn’t want to meet me.”
“Only Merlin knows why I did!” Ginny exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “You’re vain and conceited and snarky and you don’t even like the sun! And then you fault me for being called away on business. Journalism is a competitive field. I couldn’t not go, and you should be able to understand that!”
“I do understand that,” he said earnestly, advancing a few steps closer to her. “I never got your message. I just knew you blew me off. That’s why I didn’t open your letter.”
“You arsehole! Like I would just leave you there!” She put her hands on her hips. “Even if I had, you could have read my letter, rather than just ignore me entirely like a twit. How juvenile, Draco, really.”
“I’m sorry,” Draco said, coming to stand right in front of her.
She gaped up at him. “You’re - excuse me, could you repeat that? I don’t know if anyone’s heard those words from you in - well, ever.”
Draco smirked, drawing close. “I think you heard me,” he whispered, and pressed his lips to hers. His hands went to her hips, and hers to his chest. Ginny pushed at him futilely.
“If you think you can just come in here and kiss me and expect me to forget how big of prat you are, you are sorely mistaken,” she growled. Rather than respond, he merely kissed her again, and this time she didn’t resist. Ginny’s arms went around his neck, and he pulled her flush against him, feeling her warm lush curves against his body.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered again, against her lips. And then he felt her tongue against his own, and knew he was forgiven.
“You came at a good time,” she confessed later, looking up at him. “I’m leaving tomorrow for Monaco.”
“I would have found you,” Draco said confidently.
“Sure, with Pansy’s help,” Ginny replied, sighing long-sufferingly. “She’d have forced you to go.”
“She wouldn’t have had to force me,” he promised. “I’d go the whole wide world.”
“Just to find me?” she asked coyly, smiling slightly.
Draco leaned down to her, capturing her lips again. “I couldn’t just leave you to pine away for me in a heat-wave. That’s just not gentlemanly.”
“Neither is grabbing my bum like you’re doing now,” Ginny reminded him, chuckling, but he only shrugged guiltily.
“We’ll work on one thing at a time.”
Original Prompt that we sent you:
Briefly describe what you'd like to receive in your fic: Draco sees/meets Ginny (someone he's not previously considered romantically) in an unexpected place and falls hard for her.
The tone/mood of the fic: Humour/Fluff
An element/line of dialogue/object you would specifically like in your fic: I was listening to (I'd Go The) Whole Wide World, by Wreckless Eric and I thought it'd be a fun love song for the duo. If you could incorporate the feel of the song somehow (Not lyrics necessarily - I don't need songfic!), I'd be so pleased.
Preferred rating of the the fic you want: Anything, I'm not choosy!
Canon or AU? Either!
Deal Breakers (anything you don't want?): Death. No death, please!
Rating: PG for language
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: None
Summary: Draco had long ago given up the hope of finding his “one true love” on a tropical island. He wanted nothing more than to get through his friends’ wedding without sunburn - and then she came along.
A/N: We don’t know Blaise Zabini’s mother’s name, right? I felt like I had seen the same name in a lot of fics, but I couldn’t find a source. So she’s Xenobia. Also, I know I didn’t do Tahiti justice, for which I sincerely apologize!
Whole Wide World
Prologue
“Pansy? I don’t want to marry Pansy! She’s my best mate!” cried nine-year-old Draco Malfoy, looking up at his parents in horror.
Narcissa sighed, cocking an eyebrow at her husband. “Oh, honestly, Lucius, did you have to go and tell him that? No one’s getting married any time soon, Draco,” she promised, ignoring her son’s muttered “I don’t want to marry her ever.”
“Now why are you wearing that cloak? We’re going to the Bahamas, darling, not the Alps. Dobby,” she called to the waiting elf, “put Draco’s cloak away, it’s almost time to go!”
“I’m running away. As soon as we Portkey in,” Draco declared sullenly. “I’ll find my own wife.”
Lucius snorted indelicately; Narcissa pressed her lips together to hide her smile. “Of course you will, darling. I’m sure the perfect girl for is just waiting for you in the Bahamas.”
“Yes, because every man has just one woman in the world who’s right for him,” Lucius said scathingly. “What if you can’t find her on this vacation of ours?”
“Oh, he won’t stop until he locates her, of course,” Narcissa deadpanned.
Draco nodded emphatically, pleased his mother was agreeing with him. “Don’t think I won’t do it. I’ll travel the whole wide world to find her.”
“Draco Malfoy, you will marry whomever I please, and you’ll be grateful for it,” Lucius told him severely, pressing their joined hands to the Portkey.
“Well I hope you like my Bahamian girlfriend then,” he declared sullenly, as if the matter was settled. And then the Portkey activated, so for the moment, it was.
Seventeen Years Later…
Draco Malfoy didn’t much care for Tahiti. It was far too bright, the sun searing his mal-adjusted eyes as soon as the Portkey settled. He’d take London any day of the year, grey and rainy and subdued as it was.
“Why did you feel the need to get married in Tahiti? The Manor was open for anything you could have needed,” Draco reminded Blaise, who stood next to him, surveying the beach in front of them.
“Mother insisted we come to her. You know how Xenobia can be,” the other man replied, donning his sunglasses smoothly. “If she’s going to foot the bill, we’ll most certainly head to Tahiti. Plus, Pansy was thrilled. She said it would be like having two honeymoons.”
“Yes, because you two certainly won’t visit enough countries on your world tour,” Draco said drily, rolling his eyes. “I’m glad to see the two women in your life have you so whipped. I can’t wait until you have a daughter.” He looked behind them to see the Portkey attendants arranging their luggage like Muggles. Blaise glanced briefly at the notes in his hand before carelessly passing a handful back; the young men’s eyes widened. “Merci bien,” they said enthusiastically.
He merely gestured imperiously in acknowledgement before they strode out of the Portkey hub towards the hotel he had arranged. Blaise lowered his sunglasses just enough to glare at Draco. “As if you don’t run Narcissa’s errands at any time of day. The only thing keeping you from doing the same for your girlfriend is the fact that you can’t hold onto one for more than a week. And besides, the only thing you’re worried about is your precious skin burning.”
Draco looked at his friend with his mouth open, aghast. “It is like porcelain! You wouldn’t understand.”
Blaise sniggered at his friend. “No, I most certainly wouldn’t. I’ve eaten chocolate that lasted longer in the sun than you, porcelain.”
He sneered in response. “I hope you don’t expect me to accompany you to the beach.”
“I think I can make it on my own. But you’ll miss out on all of the festivities. You may as well have not come,” Blaise said, rolling his eyes. “You know the ceremony is outdoors, right?”
“I do know that. I can’t believe you didn’t take me into consideration when you agreed to that,” he said sarcastically.
“Yes, because Pansy certainly would have conceded to your demands. She definitely didn’t say, ‘Draco can burn for all I care,’” Blaise said drily.
“You’re all out to get me,” Draco grumbled.
“Yes, mate. This wedding is all about you,” Blaise scoffed, shaking his head.
“As I expected,” he nodded solemnly.
To Draco’s surprise, he found Blaise actually steering him to the beach. He grumbled half-heartedly, but knew that Pansy would never forgive him if he didn’t participate in all of her wedding activities.
When they arrived, Pansy was sitting with Millicent Bulstrode and three other women, one of whom he recognized from Pansy’s workplace. She was describing her dress to them until Blaise walked up. “Spying on me, Blaise?” she asked, grinning broadly at him.
He leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips, and the other women tittered like ninnies. Pansy grinned again and Draco rolled his eyes. “You still haven’t been able to sneak a peek at her dress?” She’d been teasing him about it for weeks, he remembered.
“Oh, I’d kill him,” Pansy said genially. The girls around her laughed, but Draco was fairly certain that she was serious.
“Ladies, this is Draco Malfoy, Blaise’s best man. Draco, these are my friends from work. You know Millicent, of course; the short blonde is Lucy and the taller one is Carol; and I’m sure you remember Ginny from Hogwarts,” she finished airily, as if it were an everyday occurrence for her to introduce a Gryffindor as one of her friends. But the glint in her eye belied her blithe attitude. She’d strangle him if he were rude to her guests. So Draco avoided Weasley’s eyes, swallowed his snark, and nodded cordially to them all. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
But Weasley - Ginny - snorted indelicately. “The pleasure is all mine,” she said, smirking at him. Draco finally looked straight at her and was forced to acknowledge that she looked - well, good.
For a Weasley, at least. She’d clearly been on the beach for a while, if her tan was any indication. She had a knit white shift over her bikini and a pair of big dark sunglasses on top of her head, pushing her messy hair out of her face. Her eyes were big and dark and laughing at him.
“I’m glad you’re both so delighted to see each other, because you’ve been volunteered to oversee the decorations in the garden and patio,” Pansy said as if it were the best job one could be offered. “So get going, see you both later!” She and Blaise pushed Ginny and Draco in the same direction. “Thanks so much!” Pansy called after them as they began to walk down the coast.
“Were they too cheap to hire professionals for this sort of thing?” Draco scoffed.
Ginny laughed, pulling her sandals off for the walk through the sand. “Of course they hired them, but you know they’d never trust them to get it right. Don’t think you’re up for it, Malfoy?”
“As a matter of fact, I do not want Pansy’s rage directed at me for misplacing a single flower,” he pointed out.
“Ah, yes. Much rather let the peons take the brunt of her anger,” Ginny said, smiling.
“Well, yes,” Draco confessed. “They are being paid for it, after all. What are we going to do? Stand there, uncomfortable that we’re forced to spend time together, bored out of our skulls.”
“Oh, Malfoy. You know you want to spend time with me. You can admit it. I won’t tell.” She winked broadly. When he opened his mouth indignantly she added, “Oh come now, lighten up. What shall we do instead?”
“We?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t we just split up?” He was reluctant to admit that he wasn’t much opposed to spending more time with her. She wasn’t half bad to look at, and seemed at least twice as intelligent as some of Pansy’s other friends - which, really, wasn’t saying much.
“Because then the chances are doubled that Pansy finds out we blew her off,” she pointed out. Draco admired her sense of self-preservation.
“Or we could just go to our separate rooms and agree not to come out until tonight’s dinner,” he tried to persuade her.
“What on earth would I do cooped up alone in my room? I’d go to the beach, that’s what. And then Pansy would find me, and I’d tell her it was your fault.” She grinned, but he’d bet she would actually do it. “Come on, Malfoy, I’m not that bad,” she said, mirroring his earlier thoughts.
He glanced sideways at her. “I haven’t had a chance to see my suite yet. We can get out of the heat, sit down and have a drink there,” Draco proposed, veering right towards the hotel.
Ginny smiled at him. “Draco,” she began, and he had to admire the way his name sounded falling from her lips. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re the only person who is remotely interested in staying indoors. It’s Tahiti! We’re supposed to be outside. It’s gorgeous.”
He glanced past their hotel at the mass of foliage. “Yes, gorgeous.”
“Oh, come now, it’s lovely and wild and free,” she gushed. “And the feel of sand between your toes - oh, and wait until you see the sunset on the beach. Even you’ll be able to appreciate that beauty.”
“I can appreciate beauty perfectly well, thank you very much,” Draco replied stiffly, eyeing her as she gestured at the wilderness around them. “I just don’t think this qualifies. I prefer to find my beauty in women, art, and fine clothes. Trees and sand - pfuit,” he snorted. “This island hasn’t worked for its beauty the way a model or an artist or a tailor has.”
Finally she shrugged, and they started walking towards Draco’s suite, though she couldn’t stop herself from continuing to speak. “Why is natural beauty any less legitimate? The colors, the lushness - I think it’s more striking that it hasn’t had to work for what it is. It’s beautiful in its simplicity.”
“Beauty isn’t simplicity,” he countered. “Beauty is complex. It’s more than just shite growing in the wild.”
They paused in the lobby for Draco to pick up his room key. “And here’s an extra copy for your wife, sir.” The counter attendant nodded at Ginny.
Ginny opened her mouth to protest but Draco merely and smirked. “Thank you,” he said, pocketing both keys and walking off.
She followed him. “When they see me coming out of my own room, they’re going to think I’m cheating on you or something.”
“You’ll just have to stay with me then.” Draco cursed himself for being cheesy, but didn’t let it show on his face.
For her part, Ginny peered at him, eyebrow cocked, then shook her head. “Whatever, you’d probably deserve it anyway,” she resolved.
Draco gaped at her. “Absolutely not. For my wife to be so carelessly obvious - pfuit! No man deserves that.”
She looked taken aback, but he failed to notice as he unlocked the door to his rooms. She followed him in. “You mean to say, you’d be less upset about me cheating on you as long as other people didn’t know?”
He paused to consider. “That’s the fashion of things,” Draco said carefully. “But no, I would not be okay with you having a man on the side.” He pulled out a bottle of wine from the mini-bar, inspecting its label before he poured them each a glass.
Ginny nodded, and they both sipped silently for a moment before she quipped, “That’s too bad, because that’s one of my requisites for marriage.”
Draco snickered. “And that’s the only one that I don’t meet, I imagine.”
“Oh sure. You’re rich, famous, good-looking. All of the really important things in a husband,” Ginny said, rolling her eyes.
“If those are your requirements, I am your perfect match. Unfortunately I require a more discreet wife,” he said, his voice full of remorse but his grey eyes sparkling with humor.
“It’s really too bad, isn’t it?” she agreed, taking a hearty swig of her wine.
“Also, my wife would know how to drink wine properly. Honestly, I know you were raised a pauper, but surely Pansy has taught you wine,” he jibed.
Ginny laughed. “Oh yes, I know, you must smell and sip and savor - but honestly, give me a pint of beer any day. Not that this isn’t lovely,” Ginny amended.
“How vulgar,” he sniffed.
“Matches my taste in beauty, I suppose,” she said, grinning. “Oh, what time is it?”
“Half five,” he said, glancing at his wristwatch. “Somewhere to be?”
“Unfortunately, I must get ready for dinner.” She stood and knocked back the rest of her wine before heading out the door. “Thanks for the drink, Draco. I’ll see you later.”
You most certainly will, he thought.
They were seated together at dinner, which took place indoors, Draco noted thankfully. However, Pansy and Blaise were near them as well, and they dominated the meal’s conversation. Draco noticed that Ginny, who looked lovely in a simple blue and white dress, kept eyeing him as the meal went on, especially after a few rounds of drinks. He was unreasonably pleased and fought to keep that from showing to his friends, but he thought he caught a sly look in Pansy’s eyes.
Draco was aiming to seek her out after dinner and have her over again for drinks, but was circumvented by Pansy, who was bunching all of her girlfriends together for her last night free of the shackles of matrimony.
He didn’t see Ginny again until the next morning. Draco - and all of the men - had been banished from any part of the building Pansy was getting ready in, which Draco found particularly excessive, so he loitered outside the building, sweltering in his suit, confident that Ginny would seek the outdoors at some point.
He was wrong. Draco didn’t see Ginny until she was standing behind the altar across from him. He winked at her, and she smirked back, but then set her attention to the bride coming down the aisle.
For his part, he tried hard to look as if he were paying attention while sneaking glances at Ginny and hoping the ceremony would draw to a quick close.
Draco sought Ginny out at the reception and bullied her into a dance with him, but afterwards she ran off. “I’m so sorry, Draco, I have a Floo call I need to make.”
He grabbed her wrist as she pulled away. “Meet me back here later tonight,” he demanded.
“Is that an order or a request?” she asked archly, though her lips curved into a smile.
“Midnight,” he said in response, smirking. “Blaise and Pansy will have retired by then, and everyone else will have moved to the clubroom. We can be alone.”
“Alone? What on earth could you want me alone for?” She grinned cheekily, moving closer to him.
“Why, so I can kill you without witnesses, of course,” he said silkily, dipping his head towards hers.
“Well, Mr. Malfoy, I can assure you I’ll put up a good fight,” Ginny promised, looking up at him through her eyelashes.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he agreed. His mouth hovered tantalizingly over hers, but she pulled away.
“Until then,” she said over her shoulder as she pranced off, laughing to herself.
Draco danced with many other women that night, but remembered none of them. When midnight struck, he was waiting in the same spot in the garden, near the fountain.
She was not.
He waited calmly for fifteen minutes, expecting her to show up late, breathless and red-faced, to tell him she’d been out in the wilderness or picking up with the house elves or some similar, incomprehensible story. When she still did not arrive, he sat impatiently for twenty more. At the crack of an Apparition, he whipped around only to find an elf behind him. Binny, he remembered, had been helping everyone move in to their rooms.
“Master Draco,” he began.
Draco growled in response. “Leave me.”
“But sir -” he tried again, looking at the ground in consternation.
“I don’t need your help,” he snapped. “Go away.” He turned away and began to pace; the loud snap signifying the elf’s departure came only a few moments later. Unfortunately, no more noises alerted him to anyone’s arrival, and in the middle of his pacing Nott came out to smoke a fag.
“Malfoy, what’s up your arse?” he asked crudely.
Draco snarled at him and stalked off.
He was slated to leave the next day, and didn’t see Ginny at all - not that he was looking for her, or anything. Blaise and Pansy had set out on their honeymoon, and wouldn’t be back for three months. Draco was looking forward to a nice long break from social expectations, holing up in his apartment with his investment portfolios and Indian food.
He had been home for a week when an unexpected owl arrived; the return address said Ginny Weasley. Draco let the owl in but didn’t untie the letter from its leg, instead letting it perch on the back of his chair while he stood over it, scowling. On the one hand, he wanted to know she felt bad for standing him up. On the other, he didn’t want to read her platitudes. He didn’t need to let her feel better by explaining herself. If she didn’t want him, that was fine.
Finally he decided he didn’t care to hear her excuses, and threw the bird out the window without taking the note. It squawked in indignation and he felt a surge of angry justice. “Serves it right,” he muttered, “with an owner like that.”
Pansy and Blaise hadn’t yet been home for three days when Pansy arrived at Draco’s apartment, eager to hear how he’d been doing.
She let herself in to find him, unshaven, muttering to the business proposal in front of him. Draco barely glanced up when she arrived.
“What are you doing? How does Ginny let you become such a mess?” Pansy cried out in dismay, standing over his couch with her hands on her hips. “Don’t tell me you already managed to chase her away.”
“Weasley? What are you on about?” he asked, perplexed.
“Haven’t you been seeing her? She was ever so excited about it when I talked to her after the reception,” Pansy mused. “Of course you’d be able to bungle it so quickly!” Her face creased into a scowl, and Draco knew he was in trouble.
“I didn’t do anything!” he protested, hoping to head her off before she built up steam. “We were supposed to meet after the reception. She didn’t show. Nothing happened.” Draco hoped he was playing it off coolly.
“Have you left this place in the past three months?” Pansy demanded. “More importantly, did you try to contact her at all?”
“No. She didn’t want to see me, that’s all. I didn’t need to hear it directly from her lips, thank you. Or her apology owl,” he added in a mutter, though he knew Pansy heard him.
“What are you, an idiot? She was called away for work. She sent a house elf to tell you!” Draco recalled Binny and grimaced. “Merlin, you could have at least written her back when she owled you, you ninny,” Pansy scowled. “Oh my god, you didn’t even read it, did you?”
Draco didn’t have to say it for her to read it in his eyes.
“Go right this moment to her flat,” Pansy demanded.
“Pans -” he tried to say, but she interrupted him vehemently.
“Nevermind! I’ll do it my damn self. Merlin knows you can’t be trusted to follow through. Honestly, men. Well, come on then!” And without letting him protest, she grabbed his hand and Apparated right away.
Draco found himself in the hallway in front of a shabby-looking flat, Pansy glaring next to him. “Where are we?” he asked, but she only scoffed, which he took to mean, “What kind of idiot are you?”
She knocked on the door in front of them, correctly intuiting that he wasn’t going to be the one to initiate anything. “Coming!” he heard from inside.
“Ta!” was all Pansy responded with, and without further ado, she left him all alone outside of the flat of the woman he - well, liked quite a bit, at the very least.
Ginny clearly wasn’t in the habit of checking her peep-hole, because when she opened up and saw Draco standing there, she turned bright red. Whether in anger or embarrassment at the mess her hair was, he had no idea. He hoped the latter.
“What are you doing here?” she said flatly.
“Pansy made me -” he began to say, but once again, he was cut off.
“Oh, she made you?” And Draco could already tell that she was getting fired up, but he had no idea how to stop it. “You couldn’t have made the trip without her forcing you to? Well you can just tell her thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need your apologies or your - your closure. There’s no closure to be had, in fact, because there was no opening. And that - well, that’s just on you!” When she stepped back to slam the door, he put his right foot through it - and immediately regretted his decision.
It didn’t stop her from slamming it, and damn, did that hurt.
He squealed - in the manliest of manners - and hopped forward, shoving her door open once more and entering her flat. “I thought you didn’t want to meet me.”
“Only Merlin knows why I did!” Ginny exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “You’re vain and conceited and snarky and you don’t even like the sun! And then you fault me for being called away on business. Journalism is a competitive field. I couldn’t not go, and you should be able to understand that!”
“I do understand that,” he said earnestly, advancing a few steps closer to her. “I never got your message. I just knew you blew me off. That’s why I didn’t open your letter.”
“You arsehole! Like I would just leave you there!” She put her hands on her hips. “Even if I had, you could have read my letter, rather than just ignore me entirely like a twit. How juvenile, Draco, really.”
“I’m sorry,” Draco said, coming to stand right in front of her.
She gaped up at him. “You’re - excuse me, could you repeat that? I don’t know if anyone’s heard those words from you in - well, ever.”
Draco smirked, drawing close. “I think you heard me,” he whispered, and pressed his lips to hers. His hands went to her hips, and hers to his chest. Ginny pushed at him futilely.
“If you think you can just come in here and kiss me and expect me to forget how big of prat you are, you are sorely mistaken,” she growled. Rather than respond, he merely kissed her again, and this time she didn’t resist. Ginny’s arms went around his neck, and he pulled her flush against him, feeling her warm lush curves against his body.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered again, against her lips. And then he felt her tongue against his own, and knew he was forgiven.
“You came at a good time,” she confessed later, looking up at him. “I’m leaving tomorrow for Monaco.”
“I would have found you,” Draco said confidently.
“Sure, with Pansy’s help,” Ginny replied, sighing long-sufferingly. “She’d have forced you to go.”
“She wouldn’t have had to force me,” he promised. “I’d go the whole wide world.”
“Just to find me?” she asked coyly, smiling slightly.
Draco leaned down to her, capturing her lips again. “I couldn’t just leave you to pine away for me in a heat-wave. That’s just not gentlemanly.”
“Neither is grabbing my bum like you’re doing now,” Ginny reminded him, chuckling, but he only shrugged guiltily.
“We’ll work on one thing at a time.”
Original Prompt that we sent you:
Briefly describe what you'd like to receive in your fic: Draco sees/meets Ginny (someone he's not previously considered romantically) in an unexpected place and falls hard for her.
The tone/mood of the fic: Humour/Fluff
An element/line of dialogue/object you would specifically like in your fic: I was listening to (I'd Go The) Whole Wide World, by Wreckless Eric and I thought it'd be a fun love song for the duo. If you could incorporate the feel of the song somehow (Not lyrics necessarily - I don't need songfic!), I'd be so pleased.
Preferred rating of the the fic you want: Anything, I'm not choosy!
Canon or AU? Either!
Deal Breakers (anything you don't want?): Death. No death, please!