♥ "The Party of the First Part" for calie15 ♥
Title: The Party of the First Part
Rating: PG
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: EWE, but otherwise I don't think there's anything to fear.
A/N: Thank you to C, for holding my hand throughout, S for being encouraging, and M for pointing out a fatal flaw that was resolved with extra Draco. I owe y'all my sanity.
To the readers: My so-called "knowledge" of the British legal system is limited to watching Law and Order: UK and New Street Law. Sorry if I messed it up; let's pretend it's because they're wizards.
Summary: Being sued is never a good way to start a morning. Finding out it's because you've been cursed since before your birth doesn't usually turn out well, but every rule has an exception.
The Party of the First Part
****
The party of the first part, Draco Abraxas Malfoy (hereinafter referred to as Malfoy) begs the Wizengamot for relief in the fulfillment of the contract made in 1642 between Septimus Weasley and Andronicus Malfoy (hereinafter referred to as the contract). The party of the second part, Ginevra Molly Weasley (hereinafter referred to as Weasley), has acted in violation of the terms of the primary vehicle for fulfillment of the contract as recorded in the Register of Curses and Magickal Bargains (vol. XCVIII, fol. 216), and thus triggered the annulment clause as detailed in paragraph three of the original contract. This assertion is supported by precedent as established by...
It didn't make sense, just as it hadn't the first three times Ginny had read it, but it had to be official - even if anyone could forge the seal of the Wizengamot, the jail time for doing do was far too long for anyone to risk it for a joke. She was definitely being sued, even if she didn't understand why.
"Did the milk go off? You look as if you ate something nasty."
She looked up, not really seeing Harry there. "Draco Malfoy thinks I broke a contract with him."
"What?" Gathering his cereal bowl, Harry came to the table and sniffed the milk before pouring it over his muesli. "When did you ever meet up with Malfoy, let alone sign a contract with him?"
"That's just it, I haven't," she said. "Although... Well, I mean, it's still not a contract, but I did see him once, just after Ron and Hermione got married."
Harry's eyebrows shot up. "You never mentioned that."
"There was no reason to," she said. "You saw him too - remember when we got that mob of reporters on the doorstep, asking if we were really living together? He was there, at the back."
"Weird. I didn't see him." Crunching on his cereal, Harry read over the paper and said, "Maybe your parents know something? It says it's an ancestral thing, right?"
Ginny shook her head. "I just got this. I don't know if I want to ask my parents, though, not if I don't have to."
At his look, she sighed. "I know you think that they're the most wonderful human beings ever created, but there's two possibilities. One, they have no idea what this is about and it'll just upset them and make them super-protective again, which wouldn't help. The other is that they knew and didn't tell me, and that... I'm not sure I could forgive them for putting me in this kind of position, you know?"
"So, don't tell them yet," Harry said. "Just find a solicitor and get them to look up this contract, right? Maybe it's something simple and Malfoy's just being a jerk because he can be."
"Yeah." She didn't sound very convincing, even to herself. Ginny folded up the paper and stood, telling herself to get under control. "Yeah, that's probably it. I'll just go and get it all cleared up."
"That's the spirit," Harry said. "But don't forget you need to be out tonight. I'm having a date over and I think tonight might be the night."
Snorting, Ginny said, "Sure it might. That's why the last time she was here, she was saying how nice it must be to spend all my time with someone so nonthreatening."
"You're a cow," Harry said. "And she's had a rough time. Someone nonthreatening is exactly what she needs."
"Sure, if you say so." Ginny dismissed his protestation with a negligent wave and went to her bedroom to get dressed. Maybe she could just go see Malfoy and clear it up - a solicitor would be expensive, even one who wasn't all that good. She'd read something about him having an office on Diagon Alley - in the poshest building there, naturally. It could all be cleared up in no time.
At least, it would be if she could get in. The receptionist in the lobby had taken one long, disdainful look at Ginny and dismissed her entirely. Nothing that Ginny said had budged her, except into threatening to call security. Ginny growled in frustration and stalked away, only to double back when a group of people went in. She followed the chattering mass until they were safely past the reception desk, then took a left to try to work out where she was and how she might find where she was going.
Frowning, she found a staircase and started climbing, thinking vaguely that the fanciest offices were always up top. At one point, she stopped and frowned, feeling like she shouldn't go any further. And it was only logical; these had been servants' stairs, in an old house converted to use for offices. The top floor would be quarters for the house elves and other servants, not for rich executives.
"This way," she murmured to herself, opening the door directly in front of her. She wasn't sure why, but it felt right. The fact that the floor was now covered in a carpet so plush that it felt like she would bounce with each step was promising.
The corridors were almost like a maze but she kept going, occasionally exchanging greetings with people who assumed she belonged. It was a bit surreal, especially when she turned around for no reason and ended up going into a corridor with no carpets and dim lighting, like somewhere that wasn't so much hidden as unimportant and forgotten. There was only one door off that corridor, and she opened it.
"I was very clear that there should be no interruptions." Her startled gasp made him look up, and her eyes locked with Draco Malfoy's for a split second that seemed to freeze her in place. "Well. So you came to deal with me directly, did you?"
Ginny was nodding before she thought. "I got your papers this morning."
"And? Surely you must have been expecting them."
He looked so cool and unruffled, just leaning back in his chair and looking at her in his superior way, that she had a hard time not lashing out for how grubby and small he made her feel. "How could I possibly expect to be sued for breaching a contract that I've never heard of?"
While she wouldn't have bet on him being capable of something so inelegant, the sound that came out of him was definitely a snort. "You've never heard of a curse on our families that activated on the day you were born? What do you take me for?"
"An idiot," she snapped. "How would I have?"
"You--" He looked nonplussed for a moment, then rallied. "Are you honestly trying to tell me that you never once asked your parents about knowing you were tied to someone?"
Even as she was drawing breath to reply, Ginny knew she was lying. "I never asked that. I knew no such thing."
"Didn't you?" It seemed for a moment like the air was electrified, full with the poised tension of the sky before a lightning storm, but then he pulled back, straightened up, and it was gone. He just sounded superior again, and maybe a little amused, as he said, "I suppose I should have expected no less. Still, it's almost over - I'll be as generous with the repayment terms as the Wizengamot allows me to be, since I don't actually give a damn about the money."
"What money?" She was beginning to think this had been a very bad idea, but she didn't know how to leave without seeming like she was running away.
Putting a hand to his forehead as if staving off a headache, he said, "You're either an incredible actress or the most clueless human being I've ever met."
"There's no need to be insulting," she said, crossing her arms. "Just because I don't know what this is about doesn't mean I'm stupid."
"Doesn't it? Well, I don't really have time to tell you stories," he said, standing up and crossing the room to a locked display case. "This is the napkin on which our illustrious ancestors originally sketched out the terms written in the official records and referenced in the papers you received."
She followed him to stand next to the display case as he opened it. Looking between the grubby scrap of linen and his eyes, she said, "It smells a bit like old beer."
"Probably because the old bastards were drunk as lords." Closing up the case, Draco said, "If you want to inspect it, I'll let you, but the gist of it is that Andronicus insisted on loaning money to Septimus so he could buy some land, and then your ancestor insisted that his first girl would be given as payment. Since at that point they were still friends, the terms included marriage."
"They were friends?" Ginny wondered why she wasn't more shocked. Maybe it was because it was still sinking in; maybe it was because, with six brothers and Harry, she had a great deal of context for the stupid things boys could do when drinking with their mates.
Nodding, Draco said, "Hard to believe, but they'd met up at school and got on well. Things might have gone fine, except that your ancestor became a Roundhead and decided to cheat rather than fulfil his bargain. Leading Cromwell's bloodthirsty goons to try to wipe out my family just made things worse."
"That's not true," Ginny said, trying to process what he was saying. "The feud with our families is because your ancestors tried to kill my entire family when the bloody Cavaliers were murdering every supporter of Parliament they could find."
Shrugging, Draco said, "What can I say? Andronicus left behind an extremely vengeful widow. And, of course, the rest of your ancestors continued to cheat and make sure they didn't have any girls, right up until your parents buggered things up and had you, the first Weasley girl since this napkin was signed."
"You realize this is insane, right?" Ginny held up her hands, almost as if she was pushing away the craziness of the whole situation. "What does it matter what our ancestors did? Who cares?"
He drew back, and it was only then that she realized how close he'd been standing. "Once the Wizengamot grants my petition, it won't matter. To either of us."
"Can't we work it out without lawyers?" she asked. "I don't want to hold you to anything, and you just said you don't care about the money."
"Magic doesn't work like that," he said. "Get Potter to give you the money for the solicitor if you can't afford it. I'm sure it's the least of what you're getting from him."
It sounded like a slur, and Ginny sucked her cheeks in to keep from gasping at the sting of it. Striving for dignity, she turned and strode for the door. Once there, she paused long enough to say, "Goodbye, Malfoy. I'd say it's been a pleasure, but you and your dirty mind made sure that would be a lie."
"See you in court," he said, and the door closed firmly behind her.
***
It was worse than she had thought. No, it was worse than she had imagined. Hiring a solicitor was easy enough; Harry did loan her the money, and the girl he'd been dating knew someone who could work at a discount. The problem was that the solicitor found out all of the details, and there was no good outcome. If she fought to keep the curse in force, Draco Malfoy would own her, body and soul. If she let it be broken, then her family had to find a way to pay back what Septimus Weasley had borrowed - a sum sufficient to buy all of the land he had bought, land which had been sold off bit by bit by generations of Weasleys. All that was left was the land the Burrow stood on, which would be forfeit immediately.
Her mother was bravely talking about how she'd always wanted a bungalow, packing up the house and pressing various children to take pieces of furniture or keepsakes. Her poor father just looked grim, locking himself away in the shed just as he'd done after Bill was injured and after Fred had died. Ginny couldn't even be angry over them having left her in the dark all her life, because she knew why they'd done it; they'd wanted to protect her. They'd always wanted to protect her, even when if it ultimately caused her more harm to be unprepared for whatever they'd tried to shield from.
"Do you remember, when I was little, if I ever asked about a boy?" She shouldn't have asked. She could see the shock and pain of it going through her parents, but now that it was out, she wanted the answer.
After a pause, her parents reached across the table to twine their fingers together, exchanging a look full of love and support before turning to face her. Her mother was the one who spoke, but it might as well have been both of them, given how united they were. "You did. Almost from the moment you could talk, you would tell anyone who'd listen about how you had a boy of your own. The stories you'd tell! We chalked it up to an imaginary friend, just like all the boys had. Even Fred and George invented little girls who were twins like them."
"When did I stop talking about him?" Ginny asked, although she thought she might know. She could remember, hazily, becoming convinced she'd discovered the identity of her boy.
"You didn't, really, you just named him Harry Potter." With a small laugh, her mother said, "It's a bit funny, now, how close you are with him after imagining him as a playmate all through your childhood."
Ginny didn't really see her anymore, her eyes distant as she murmured, "But Harry wasn't mine. He never was."
"Ginny..."
Shaking off her mother's hand, Ginny stood. "I've got to go. I think I have a plan."
"But--" Kissing her cheek and then giving her father a hug, Ginny said, "Don't buy the bungalow yet. I think I may get it all to work out as it should."
She apparated out before they could protest, her mind bubbling with plans. So far, Draco had had it all his way - it was past time to fight back.
***
Looking over his glasses, the magistrate general for the Wizengamot said, "Just to be clear - you, Mr. Malfoy, are asking for relief from the curse based on the fact that Miss Weasley was allegedly unfaithful."
"Yes, sir." Draco stood only long enough to speak, keeping his entire demeanor humble and respectful. Ginny wondered how long he'd had to practice to be able to do it.
"And you, Miss Weasley, counter with the allegation that your purity is intact, something which cannot be said for Mr. Malfoy." She nodded, trying to seem confident but demure. "And you're certain that's the story you want to go with?"
Ginny's lips tightened, but she nodded. Losing her temper with the man judging her case wouldn't do anybody any good.
"Very well. The court orders Miss Ginevra Weasley to submit to the medical examination of a wizard appointed by the court, to determine whether or not her claims of chasteness have any merit. The court will reconvene in ten days; between now and then, the defendants are to spend a minimum of five continuous days and nights in each other's sole company."
The outraged squawks from both plaintiff and defendant were cut off by their respective barristers taking hold of their arms and marching them away as soon as the gavel had fallen. They'd barely cleared the door when Draco's barrister, a thin man with shaggy hair and a Scottish accent, said, "For crying out loud, man, stop whinging and face reality. You'll do as you need to do and that's the end of it."
"That's excellent advice," said Ginny's laywer drily. "Do I need to give it to you?"
"No, I understood it already," Ginny said. "Although, for the record, I'm whinging on the inside."
Nodding, her lawyer said, "Just keep it that way. It's not unusual to order enforced togetherness when the Wizengamot gets a divorce case, and that's essentially what this is. Just grit your teeth, check into a nice hotel with Malfoy, and get through it."
Ginny sighed. "I suppose. Is there a way to stick him with the bill?"
"That's the spirit. Let me go consult with the solicitor and then we'll come back and mediate the terms for carrying out your sentence."
"Right, fine," Ginny said. "I'll be here."
"Chin up." The barrister left with her robe and wig flapping behind her, leaving Ginny feeling oddly bereft.
It wasn't long before Draco came over, sitting beside Ginny on the hard wooden bench and stretching his legs out in front of him. "Did you want to put off the togetherness or get it over with?"
"Up to you, I suppose," Ginny said. "I'd just need enough time to tell my family where I'm going."
"And Potter," Draco said with a sneer.
Nodding stiffly, she said, "Yes, and Harry. I wouldn't want him to worry."
"Of course not. It would be tragic if he missed out on your carnal services without adequate warning." His voice was so smooth, and his facial expression so pleasant, that it took her a split second to gasp as she realized what he'd actually said.
"I have never--" She cut herself off as she realized more than half of the crowd milling around outside the courtroom had turned to stare at her as she shouted. Glaring until they looked away, she used the time to compose herself enough to stay quiet when she turned back to him and said, "Don't you dare judge me by your standards. I've seen the gossip pages."
Drily, he said, "And presented them as exhibits four to five hundred and eighty."
"We thought it best to limit the evidence to only the most damning pieces." Ginny frowned as she saw Harry's girl move around the outskirts of the crowd to meet up with their lawyers. "What's she doing here?"
"The more important question is, what are we doing here." Malfoy stood, drawing her attention. Pulling out a piece of a paper and a pen that gleamed in a frightfully expensive way, he jotted down an address and said, "I'll be there when you're ready to start our prison term."
Looking down at the address, she said, "Why are we staying at your place?"
"We're not," he said. "I don't want you in my bed for this, any more than you want me in Potter's."
He was really, distressingly good at making her feel like she'd been suckerpunched just by saying things that sounded almost polite. "Precisely. I'll be there this evening so that we can get this over with."
Sweeping away, her head held high, she completely ignored him when he laughed and said, "Yes, madam. As you wish, madam."
"That man needs a sharp kick," she said, but no one was listening.
***
There seemed to be no reason to delay. Harry was still hoping he'd talk his girl into bed, although Ginny was starting to think it was just as well she'd never bothered to learn the girl's name, since it seemed vanishingly unlikely he'd ever succeed in his quest. She couldn't stand another moment of her parents being brave, and her brothers were just being crazy. While it was heartening to see George starting to come back to himself, some of the pranks he was coming up with to try on Malfoy were a bit extreme.
"Remember, the pink flowers get watered every day, but the red ones only once, day after tomorrow," she said. "And don't let anyone into my room while I'm gone - I'll know."
"Get Neville to come and look at your plants, got it," Harry said. "Just remember - if he tries anything, make him sing - solar plexus, instep, nose, groin."
Snorting, Ginny said, "Really? Bad enough that you watched Miss Congeniality with that girl, but now you're quoting it? Turn in your man card, Harry."
"It's good advice," Harry said defensively. "And she really likes me, I know she does. She's just shy."
"Harry. Literally thousands of witches would like to get acquainted with your pants. Why is it that you're so insistent on dating someone who will never, ever touch your naughty places? Because, face it, if she hasn't by now..."
Throwing a cushion at her head, he said, "Go away. You don't know anything about women, and that she's not panting for the Boy Who Lived is part of why I like her."
She sighed, wondering if she should stay and help him, but then he added, "Besides, now it's a challenge. If I can get her out of her knickers, I win."
"You're a pig," Ginny said. "I hope she gives you blueballs."
Sailing into her room to grab her bag, she snickered when he shouted, "Wait, those aren't a real wizard malady, right? Right?"
Still laughing when she apparated into the address Draco had given her, she came up short when he was there, looking up from a book to ask, "What's so funny?"
"Harry thinks wizards might actually get blue--" She stopped herself just in time, cleared her throat and said, "Might suffer from frustration as an actual physical condition."
"You won't be gone that long." He stood, snapping his book closed. Walking past her, he added, "And it's not as if Potter's ever shown any signs of understanding what fidelity means."
Ginny just stared at him for a moment. "Look, don't you think the silly school rivalry thing is kind of lingering a little too long here? Harry really hasn't ever done anything to you to earn this spite."
"Hasn't he?" The look he gave her froze the breath in her throat, and she thought that if he looked half as intense when he was making love, it was no wonder that the gossip pages were full of stories about his prowess.
"What did he do?" Her voice was small and weak, but it snapped him out of his strange mood and he shook his head, gesturing for her to follow him.
He led her through the spacious house, pointing out where to find the kitchen, the bathrooms, the library, and finally her bedroom. "I've arranged for a healer to see you as soon as our time in here is over, unless you want to give up that ludicrous claim."
"It's the truth," she said. "I've never been with anyone, and I'm sure the exam will prove that."
"You've lived with Potter for months," he said. "And before Potter, there was that Corner sod, and Thomas. It's not as if you stayed home on many Saturday nights."
Shaking her head, she said, "You're being ridiculous, I hope you know. A, just because I went out doesn't mean I did anything while I was out, and B, for the record, three boyfriends in a single lifetime does not make me a slut. If anything, having only had three boyfriends between puberty and age 22 makes me a dried up old stick."
With a dismissive wave, he said, "It's none of my business, or it won't be once the court has granted my petition."
"They'll be granting mine," Ginny said. "But you're right, it's none of your business."
"We'll see." Giving her a small bow, he said, "Goodnight, Ginny Weasley. Sleep well."
***
That night, she dreamed of being young, so young that she didn't know how to explain that she needed her boy, because he'd make everything better. She got older, but still no one understood, no one listened, and she started trying to leave, to go on an adventure and find her boy and bring him home. Her mother had been so angry when they'd found her, so angry and so scared, but Ginny had just howled and demanded they let her go so she could find him.
After that, the stories her mother told her at bedtime changed. Instead of brave heroines who set off for adventures, the princess always waited in the castle; the prince was the one who went searching for her. The princess was brave and steadfast, because wasn't it harder to sit still than it was to run around with her brothers? The tales got mixed up with the stories about the Boy Who Lived, until they were part of each other, and Harry Potter was rescuing the brave princess, who stalwartly endured untold tribulations until he arrived to rescue her.
The dream shifted and suddenly she was running, trying to escape from the feel of blood on her hands, from the whispers and promises, from the Chamber of Secrets and the suffocating coils of the basilisk, trapping her arms and legs and not letting her move. Sobbing with the effort, she fought to free herself, desperate to get away even if it meant not being brave because she hadn't held on for her hero to rescue her.
"It's just me, you daft cow!" The words were harsh, but they broke through her panic and then there were gentle hands helping her, freeing her arms and legs from the tangle of sheets they were in. "It'll be all right. You're safe now."
"Draco?" Still feeling confused and lost as she woke up and looked around the dim room, Ginny frowned. "What happened?"
His weight made the bed shift as he sat down, the light from a single candle on the nightstand casting flickering shadows over his angular features. "At a guess, I'd say you had a nightmare."
"I was dreaming about the Chamber," she said, rubbing her face with both hands. "The basilisk had me again, but this time..."
"This time, he was just made of sheets," Draco said, but he laid his hand over hers, letting her keep hold of it for comfort.
Running her free hand through her hair, Ginny said, "Why would your father do that? I was only eleven!"
Draco nodded. "And, if you'd died when you were eleven, it might have been another few centuries before the Malfoys were threatened with having a half-Weasley heir."
"That's--"
"Cold bordering on pathological," Draco said helpfully. "Welcome to the family."
Looking at their joined hands, Ginny said, "Are you like that?"
"I don't think so," he said softly. "But my father would say that he's a devoted family man, nothing more."
She didn't know why it was important to get a straight answer, but it was. "Would you hurt a child because you didn't like her family?"
"No," he said. "If I can't achieve my goals without risking Azkaban, I will reassess my goals to factor in the opportunity cost."
"How pragmatic of you," she said, the corner of her mouth turning up in amusement at how uncomfortable he looked. "Nothing to do with morality or ethics, of course. Just self-interested common sense."
Squeezing her hand, he said, "Don't underestimate the power of applying a bit of sense to your daily actions. It's so rare that it practically grants superhuman abilities."
"You're being nice to me," she said. "I could almost call you charming and funny."
Arching an eyebrow, Draco said, "Yes, and? Many people would call me both, and add that I'm incredibly handsome."
She laughed; she couldn't help it. "Of course, if you say so. It's just... I don't know why."
"Why not?" For all that he sounded casual, he stood and dropped her hand, moving away. She missed the contact a lot more than she should have. "Might as well give you a treat before we part ways."
Part of her wondered if she should be offended, but she was already laughing again. "I appreciate your generosity."
He smiled, and she almost choked at how it transformed his features. He really was just as good-looking as he'd said he was. "Get some sleep. We've still got four and a half days to get through."
"Thank you," she said. "For coming to rescue me from my nightmare."
Snorting, he said, "Keep your hero fixation well away from me, thank you very much. I have no interest whatsoever in damsels that need rescuing."
"I'm not a damsel." She drew herself up, hurt by his words but trying not to show it. "And I was just being polite."
"Of course," he said, bowing to her again. "Good night."
He left, taking the candle with him, and she sighed as she turned over in the too-soft bed and tried to get her mind in order. Draco Malfoy was a jerk, but he'd tried to help her and he'd held her hand. So maybe he wasn't just a jerk; whatever else he was, he was definitely confusing.
The confusion only grew the next day, when she realized her vague idea that they'd just avoid each other wasn't shared by him. He sat down at breakfast and made polite small talk, moving smoothly from talking about the weather to telling amusing anecdotes and drawing her into conversation. He retreated to his library after the meal, but didn't object when she came in for a book and ended up talking to him again when she got bored with the novel she'd chosen.
"Come on," he said when they finished the lunch the house-elves had brought into the library.
"Where?" All right, so she was already following him, but it was still a fair question.
Looking at her over his shoulder, he said, "I can't concentrate with you fidgeting, so we might well go flying."
Grinning, she said, "Got a practice snitch? We can go best two out of three for who catches it first."
"So sure you're going to lose the first one?" He held the front door open for her and pointed the way to his broomshed. There was nothing around for a long ways but neatly trimmed grass and a border of trees - no houses, no commercial buildings in the distance, nothing but the blue of the sky and green all around.
"Just want to make sure you don't run off pouting too soon." His broomshed didn't look that different from the one at the Burrow, a comfortable clutter of old sticks, polish kits and discarded twigs. Granted, the old brooms here were several cuts above anything the Weasleys had ever owned, but still. "What was your favorite book, growing up?"
Tilting his head, he said, "Is this a trick question?"
"Yes, but answer it anyway," she said, picking out a Valkyrie FTL to try out. She'd read reviews, but had never gotten to see one in person.
"The official answer is Paradise Lost," he said. "And I did read it, more than once. I went through a very dramatic phase as a teenager."
Snorting, she said, "Didn't we all?"
Mounting his broom, he said, "I'll give you a real answer if you win."
"You're on."
They finally had to call the third game when it got too dark to see. As they were heading inside, Draco said, "I don't remember how I got a hold of it, but I ended up with a muggle book back at school, and that was my favorite. It was odd, but I liked the characters."
"Really?" She didn't think she believed him - Draco Malfoy liking a muggle anything, let alone back in school? But then, why would he lie? It wasn't as if he wanted to impress her.
He nodded, holding the door open for her again as they walked inside. "I've still got it - and all the rest of the author's books. You can read them, if you like."
"Yes, I'd like that," she said. "Can I grab one now? I'll start it after I get out of the shower."
With a grin, he said, "You want to get it now just so I don't sneak out and buy something to fool you."
"Kind of obvious, I suppose, but I stand by my failed attempt at being sneaky."
"I'd say it's a sign of the deviousness of your mind that that would occur to you." Leading the way into the library, he tapped his wand on a shelf to make the books on it switch themselves out. "Here they are - you feel free to explore them, as I'm off to take my own shower."
She frowned as she watched him leave, still trying to figure him out. He'd been rude and insulting the day before, and then today he'd been... Well, he'd still been caustic, but it hadn't felt vicious or hurtful. For the most part, it'd been funny, and when she'd been waspish in return, he'd laughed.
Picking out a book, she shrugged and went to her room. It didn't really matter if she understood him or not; they just had to get through another four days together and then they never had to see each other again. And no, the thought wasn't at all depressing.
***
The time together passed faster than it should have. They played quidditch, talked about books, and even watched movies together after Ginny had shown him what to order and helped him set up a new home theater system. More than once, she'd had the thought that she'd have really liked to date Draco Malfoy, if they weren't currently embroiled in competing lawsuits.
It was their last night, and Draco was working on some accounts while she read near the fireplace. It was peaceful and easy, but at one point she found herself saying, "Can I ask you something?"
Her voice had broken the stillness, but now the only sound was the crackle of the fire as he looked at her contemplatively, his quill still in hand. "I take it the question is of more importance than whether I think real werewolves are like the ones in the book you're reading."
"No, it's nothing like that," she said. "It's about us. Or, well, our situation."
"Somehow, I think trying to explain how muggles think despite never having met one might be easier." He sighed and put the quill down, folding his hands on the desk and looking at her gravely. "Go ahead."
She tried to think of how to ask what she wanted to know, but now that the moment was on her, she had no idea what to say. "You seemed angry, before. In court, and when I went to your office."
A nod was his only answer, and she sighed. "You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"
"Am I supposed to?" he asked. "I don't see how, given that you still haven't gotten to anything that remotely resembles a question."
"Why?" That was basically what it all boiled down to. He had that look on his face, though, the one he got when he was going to say something cutting and superior, so she kept going rather than let him point out it was too broad a question. "Why were you angry? Why did you decide to go to court rather than talk to me? Why did you start acting like... like a real person, like someone nice?"
Looking offended, he said, "I have never in my life been anything as bland as 'nice.'"
"You know what I meant." Crossing her arms, she said, "You've been great company and fun to be around. What sarcasm you've indulged in has been more dry wit and less cutting bitchiness."
"That's quite a way with words you have." She just looked at him steadily and he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine. But first, answer me this - are you asking me because you want to confirm what you already know, or are you really so spectacularly unobservant that you don't know?"
Only the certain knowledge that he was trying to distract her by sparking her temper kept her from snapping at him. "I genuinely don't know, and I don't want to guess."
Standing up abruptly, he pushed away from the desk and looked as if he was going to pick her up from her perch on the sofa, but at the last moment he stopped and shook his head. "You're so frustrating." Stepping past her, he leaned against the mantle and stared into the fireplace.
"Since we had to spend this time together, I thought I might as well be myself, and let you despise me on my own merits," he said. "And here you are calling me nice, so something went terribly wrong somewhere."
"If you wanted me to despise you, acting like you did at school would've been a better bet," she said. "Or even like you did when I came to your office, all cold and superior."
Still staring into the fire, he said, "I knew you had red hair, because my father would rant about the Weasleys from time to time. I wondered, when I was very little, if it was the kind of red that looked like a fire or if it looked more like copper, or even carrots."
Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him, looking so haunted and distant that she wanted to hold him and apologize for anything and everything, until he smiled and said something cutting to let her know he was all right.
"I always knew that you were out there, that you belonged to me," he said. "And I always knew that I belonged to you. It didn't matter to me who your family was - you were never a Weasley to me, because you were mine."
"What's wrong with being a Weasley?" she asked sharply, and he looked up.
With a small smile, he said, "What's wrong with being a Malfoy? And how would you have answered that back in school?"
Grudgingly, she said, "I take your point."
"Thank you." Turning away from the fireplace, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "So, that's the gist of it. My girl insisted on following around some stupid boy with a scar on his head, just because he was famous. Why wouldn't I be upset?"
"That was years ago!" she said, focusing on the mundane elements of what he said so she wouldn't have to contemplate the enormity of what lay behind it. "And it was never because he was famous."
Draco looked at her for a moment, then looked away as if he couldn't stand the sight of her. "You live with him, Ginny. I don't know who you think you're fooling with this nonsense of a countersuit, but... I'm done. Once the courts come back with their ruling, we'll both finally be free."
Her heart racing, she said, "But it's not like that, it never was."
"So I've been told," he said. "But my agent is a little too young to remember how the two of you were at Hogwarts, and she confirmed that Potter's not gay."
"Your... agent? You had me investigated?"
He hesitated for just a fraction of a second, just enough for her to feel it had been confirmed, before saying, "I'm going to bed. Since our time will be done by morning, I expect I'll see you again when we get to court."
"You--" Ignoring her sputtered protest, he stalked out, leaving her feeling overwhelmed and unhappy. She was part of something timeless, and she'd never known; she was being judged wanting for breaking a bond she hadn't been part of making. It was confusing and she didn't know what she wanted, not really.
One thing she did know, though, was who had spied on her for Draco. Checking her watch, she saw it was more than half an hour past the exact time to mark five days of her presence, and she grabbed her wand to apparate out. They'd agreed to wait until morning, just to make sure, but what was the worst case scenario? Another week spent with Draco wouldn't exactly be a hardship, and maybe it would give her time to figure out what she wanted, and how to tell him.
Unfortunately, getting home early did nothing to help her; Harry didn't have the home address of the girl he'd been dating, and the mobile number she'd given him was disconnected. Ginny tried to apparate back to the house she'd been sharing with Draco, but she bounced off the wards. It didn't hurt, not physically, but she felt thoroughly rejected.
"Join the club," Harry said. "Can I go to sleep now?"
"Look, it's different," Ginny said. "All you wanted from that girl was to feel like you'd won - you didn't care, not really. If you had, I'd at least know her name."
Holding up a hand, Harry said, "Two points. One, her name is Chloe, and two, does that mean you care about Malfoy?"
"What's her last name?" Ginny wasn't going to answer the second question, especially given the sinking feeling in her stomach that the answer was yes.
Harry's mouth opened and closed, but finally he said, "That's not the point."
"Go to bed," Ginny said. "I'll attempt your reeducation on the subject of how to treat women sometime when I'm feeling stronger."
"Or we could give that a miss," Harry said with a yawn. "If you couldn't do it while you had Hermione and Ron here backing you up, I don't think it's going to happen now that you're on your own."
Grimacing, Ginny said, "Just you wait. They can't stay with Charlie forever - sooner or later they'll be back, and I'll have reinforcements."
"Sure, whatever." Ruffling her hair, Harry said, "Goodnight, Gin. I'm glad you're back - I really hated being here alone."
"Goodnight," she said, smiling lopsidedly as he went off to bed. Whatever Draco thought, Harry had been a good friend to her. Hopefully she could make him understand that, because she really wanted to have both of them in her life.
***
As Ginny had suspected, she didn't have to put forth any effort to find Draco's investigator. She showed up the next day, sliding into the seat across from Ginny as she sat at her favorite restaurant and picked at her lunch. "Sorry for the intrusion. I just wanted to talk to you."
"Did Draco send you to do some more spying?"
"Good, you know." With a flashing smile, the girl said, "I was really starting to lead poor Harry on at the end there, and I didn't want to have to start that again."
Ginny looked her over, trying not to sneer. "Using Harry to get to me was kind of despicable."
"You looked just like Malfoy just now. You should watch out for that - disdain isn't a good look for you." Resting her chin on her interlaced fingers, Chloe said, "And, for the record, just because we didn't click doesn't mean I didn't give him a chance."
"Fine." Gesturing for the check, Ginny said, "I take it you're checking on whether I've suddenly been overwhelmed by Harry's charms? Draco's not exactly reasonable on that score."
Nodding, Chloe said, "You have a talent for understatement."
"Is there any way you can convince him of the truth?" It had seemed like a good idea to enlist his investigator in proving to Draco that she and Harry were platonic friends when she'd apparated out of Draco's house, but now Ginny thought it wasn't likely.
"No," Chloe said, staying in her seat as Ginny stood. "I just thought I'd warn you, since we're sort of on friendly terms - he's going to exercise the option to have a representative at your virginity check, and his barrister's going to get it thrown out if it supports your case - there's precedent showing at least five spells for restoring the physical signs."
Surprised, Ginny said, "Are there really? Why would anyone want to?"
"Cases like this," Chloe said. "And yes, there are - I found them myself."
Wrinkling her nose, Ginny said, "I think I need one of you on my side."
"You couldn't afford me. I can recommend someone almost as good, though you'll have to borrow money from your rich roommate to pay his fee."
Distantly, her mind racing, Ginny said, "Say that again."
"Borrow from..." Chloe trailed off. "I see where you're going, but I'm not sure that's the best idea."
Ginny stood. "Thanks for the advice - and if you lead Harry on any more, I'll break your legs."
Not bothering to wait for an answer, Ginny hurried out and went directly to her solicitor's office, then home to talk to Harry, her rich roommate who could loan her money - it just had never occurred to either of them to think that way. She'd have talked to Draco, but her owl was returned unopened, and so she had to wait until the hearing the next day to see him, looking sophisticated and remote as he sat with his barrister.
"I understand that counsel for Miss Weasley has some motions to present to the court."
Her lawyer stood and spoke, detailing the fact that Ginny was dropping her countersuit, and that she was going to pay back the full amount of the loan her ancestor had accepted, making the marriage clause of the agreement null and void. It had been a blindingly obvious solution to the problem of the lawsuit once it had been brought to her attention, and Harry's, that he had more than enough money to pay Draco.
Ginny wasn't listening; her whole focus was on Draco, watching him closely to make sure she didn't miss any minute reactions he might have to what was said.
She needn't have worried. Draco shot to his feet and said, "Are you insane? You don't have that kind of money, you can't do that."
"Order! Mr. Baddock, please instruct your client as to how he should behave in my courtroom!"
"Aye, sir. Sorry, sir." Draco's lawyer pulled him in for a fierce, whispered conference, but Ginny could see from Draco's face that it wasn't going well. Finally, the lawyer himself burst out with, "For fuck's sake, then, lend her the money yourself, you paranoid, jealous git!"
"Mr. Baddock!"
Turning to the magistrate, he dipped his head and said, "Aye, sir. Sorry, sir. Shall I pay the usual fine on the way out, sir?"
Ginny couldn't help snickering, which finally made Draco look at her, an answering smile on his lips. Their eyes met and she thought he could probably see the hope and fear she was feeling. She couldn't read his expression, and she clasped her hands tightly together as she waited to find out what he would do.
With a bang of his gavel, the magistrate said, "All right, Mr. Malfoy, it appears the choice is now yours. The curse is to be broken; the exact details of payment can be handled between your solicitors and my clerk. Case closed."
"Well. That went better than expected." Patting Ginny's shoulder, her barrister said, "Good luck - I'm just down the hall if you need me, but I get the impression you and Mr. Malfoy can settle the rest of the details on your own."
Nodding, although she was only vaguely aware of what had been said, Ginny moved forward until she was standing directly in front of Draco. "I tried to come back. And I tried to owl."
"I know," he said. "But can we talk now? Even though I was..."
"Rude and intransigent?" He winced, but she put her hand on his arm and said, "Yes, Draco. Please."
After a brief exchange with his lawyer, Draco took Ginny's arm and said, "There's a conference room across the hall we can use."
She'd been hoping to go back home with him to talk, but at least they had some privacy. She'd intended to launch into her rehearsed speech as soon as they were alone, but he beat her to the punch by asking, "Why?"
"Because I needed you to be free," she said. "You said it yourself - that you'd always belonged to me. I don't want to own you."
His face froze, but before he could withdraw, she took his hand and brought it to her lips. "I want to date you. I want to get to know you, and have you get to know me. And, who knows, maybe it will lead to marriage and children and growing old together, but it will be your choice to be with me. Just like it's my choice to want to be with you."
"What about Potter?" His voice was cool, but he'd turned his hand to caress her cheek.
Rolling her eyes, she said, "Your barrister had a point. What about Harry? He's my friend, nothing more. We live in the same flat, but we don't live together, and never have."
"The two of you were all over each other at Hogwarts," Draco said. "I had to watch you fawn all over him, had to stand by as you followed him around and spent every mealtime practically crawling on his lap."
Grimacing, she said, "All right, so we dated. The only reason it lasted as long as it did was the circumstances. As soon as there wasn't the ever-present danger involved, we realized that we bored each other to tears in terms of chemistry."
Draco shook his head. "You just don't understand. You never felt like I did - you don't know what it was like for me. And, may I add, it's criminally unfair that you got to skip that whole part about unrequited feelings."
"Skipped? I grew up always hearing about how Harry Potter was this great mythic prince, only when I met him, I thought something was wrong with me for not being bowled over by him!" Poking him in the chest, she said, "I spent my whole childhood pining for someone who never even existed, so stop being a self-pitying drama queen and pay attention."
His eyebrows shot up. "Did you just call me a drama queen?"
Witheringly, she said, "If the shoe fits..."
Snorting, he said, "All right, I'm listening, although I'd like it stated for the record that insults are a strange device for persuasion."
"The past is done," she said. "And, yeah, maybe we're both of us a little strange. The point is, what are we doing now?"
"Arguing?" He was smiling, though, the small tilt of his lips that said he was enjoying himself, and so she felt hopeful that she was getting through to him.
Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "You have a choice to make, Mr. Malfoy. You can cling to your bitterness and misconceptions, and die old and unhappy and alone..."
"Surely I'd at least get a trophy wife," he murmured.
"Who would cheat on you and give your children stupid, trendy names," she said, jabbing a finger in his chest. "Or - and this will be the good choice, so make sure you're paying attention."
Taking hold of her finger, he said, "I'm breathless with anticipation of your every word."
"As it should be." Stepping closer to him so they were almost nose to nose, she said, "You can choose to believe me when I say that you're the only man I want, and tell me that you want me just as much."
"I don't--" He broke off when she drew back. Letting out a deep breath, he said, "Yes. Yes, I want to be with you, as long as you're with me."
"We're going to work on your jealousy," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're going to have to get it through your thick skull that there's no reason for it."
Draco leaned his head down until their foreheads touched, his hands going around her waist to hold her firmly. "At least I've only got the one flaw for you to fix. Really, it's a selling point - it keeps you from being intimidated at my perfection."
She laughed, still smiling as he kissed her. It felt like coming home, and she never wanted it to stop. The door opened behind them, and suddenly they were back in the library where they'd spent so much time together, and she pulled him down to the sofa and set about kissing him just as seriously as she knew how.
"I need to ask you something," he said between kisses.
"Yes, I'll go out with you," she said breathlessly, arching her neck to let him lick the skin behind her ear.
With a low chuckle, he said, "That's good, but not what I was actually going to ask."
"What was it then?" His hair was amazingly soft as she ran her fingers through it, and she wondered why they were wasting time talking when there were better things to do with their lips.
"I want you to let me pay myself the money from the curse," he said.
Pulling back abruptly, she looked at him and said, "Come again? Why?"
"This all started because of a loan," he said. "And I don't want my daughter to end up with Potterspawn because you borrowed money from him."
Ginny started laughing, until Draco tickled her and soon they were back to kissing, and Ginny thought that later she'd tease him about liking the way her debt-related curse had turned out. Much later, though, because right now all she wanted to think about was how right it felt to be in his arms.
***
Original Prompt that we sent you:
Briefly describe what you'd like to receive in your fic: Takes place a few years after the war/death of Voldermort. A curse, cast centuries ago, to settle a debt the Weasleys owed the Malfoys, called for the marriage of their first born daughter to a Malfoy. With magic, the Weasleys have avoided a girl child until Ginny. Also, I'm a sucker for jealous Malfoy and an oblivious Ginny.
The tone/mood of the fic: Mostly light hearted with romance and humor. But some angst is always appreciated.
An element/line of dialogue/object you would specifically like in your fic:"The curse is broken Mr. Malfoy, now the choice is yours."
Preferred rating of the the fic you want: R
Canon or AU? Preferably canon up to at least book 5, but AU from there is fine.
Deal Breakers (anything you don't want?):Character death, Harry/Ginny romance, mean Harry, an unhappy ending, really sweet Draco, OOC, nice Lucius, intercourse, overly dramatic Ginny.
Rating: PG
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: EWE, but otherwise I don't think there's anything to fear.
A/N: Thank you to C, for holding my hand throughout, S for being encouraging, and M for pointing out a fatal flaw that was resolved with extra Draco. I owe y'all my sanity.
To the readers: My so-called "knowledge" of the British legal system is limited to watching Law and Order: UK and New Street Law. Sorry if I messed it up; let's pretend it's because they're wizards.
Summary: Being sued is never a good way to start a morning. Finding out it's because you've been cursed since before your birth doesn't usually turn out well, but every rule has an exception.
The Party of the First Part
****
The party of the first part, Draco Abraxas Malfoy (hereinafter referred to as Malfoy) begs the Wizengamot for relief in the fulfillment of the contract made in 1642 between Septimus Weasley and Andronicus Malfoy (hereinafter referred to as the contract). The party of the second part, Ginevra Molly Weasley (hereinafter referred to as Weasley), has acted in violation of the terms of the primary vehicle for fulfillment of the contract as recorded in the Register of Curses and Magickal Bargains (vol. XCVIII, fol. 216), and thus triggered the annulment clause as detailed in paragraph three of the original contract. This assertion is supported by precedent as established by...
It didn't make sense, just as it hadn't the first three times Ginny had read it, but it had to be official - even if anyone could forge the seal of the Wizengamot, the jail time for doing do was far too long for anyone to risk it for a joke. She was definitely being sued, even if she didn't understand why.
"Did the milk go off? You look as if you ate something nasty."
She looked up, not really seeing Harry there. "Draco Malfoy thinks I broke a contract with him."
"What?" Gathering his cereal bowl, Harry came to the table and sniffed the milk before pouring it over his muesli. "When did you ever meet up with Malfoy, let alone sign a contract with him?"
"That's just it, I haven't," she said. "Although... Well, I mean, it's still not a contract, but I did see him once, just after Ron and Hermione got married."
Harry's eyebrows shot up. "You never mentioned that."
"There was no reason to," she said. "You saw him too - remember when we got that mob of reporters on the doorstep, asking if we were really living together? He was there, at the back."
"Weird. I didn't see him." Crunching on his cereal, Harry read over the paper and said, "Maybe your parents know something? It says it's an ancestral thing, right?"
Ginny shook her head. "I just got this. I don't know if I want to ask my parents, though, not if I don't have to."
At his look, she sighed. "I know you think that they're the most wonderful human beings ever created, but there's two possibilities. One, they have no idea what this is about and it'll just upset them and make them super-protective again, which wouldn't help. The other is that they knew and didn't tell me, and that... I'm not sure I could forgive them for putting me in this kind of position, you know?"
"So, don't tell them yet," Harry said. "Just find a solicitor and get them to look up this contract, right? Maybe it's something simple and Malfoy's just being a jerk because he can be."
"Yeah." She didn't sound very convincing, even to herself. Ginny folded up the paper and stood, telling herself to get under control. "Yeah, that's probably it. I'll just go and get it all cleared up."
"That's the spirit," Harry said. "But don't forget you need to be out tonight. I'm having a date over and I think tonight might be the night."
Snorting, Ginny said, "Sure it might. That's why the last time she was here, she was saying how nice it must be to spend all my time with someone so nonthreatening."
"You're a cow," Harry said. "And she's had a rough time. Someone nonthreatening is exactly what she needs."
"Sure, if you say so." Ginny dismissed his protestation with a negligent wave and went to her bedroom to get dressed. Maybe she could just go see Malfoy and clear it up - a solicitor would be expensive, even one who wasn't all that good. She'd read something about him having an office on Diagon Alley - in the poshest building there, naturally. It could all be cleared up in no time.
At least, it would be if she could get in. The receptionist in the lobby had taken one long, disdainful look at Ginny and dismissed her entirely. Nothing that Ginny said had budged her, except into threatening to call security. Ginny growled in frustration and stalked away, only to double back when a group of people went in. She followed the chattering mass until they were safely past the reception desk, then took a left to try to work out where she was and how she might find where she was going.
Frowning, she found a staircase and started climbing, thinking vaguely that the fanciest offices were always up top. At one point, she stopped and frowned, feeling like she shouldn't go any further. And it was only logical; these had been servants' stairs, in an old house converted to use for offices. The top floor would be quarters for the house elves and other servants, not for rich executives.
"This way," she murmured to herself, opening the door directly in front of her. She wasn't sure why, but it felt right. The fact that the floor was now covered in a carpet so plush that it felt like she would bounce with each step was promising.
The corridors were almost like a maze but she kept going, occasionally exchanging greetings with people who assumed she belonged. It was a bit surreal, especially when she turned around for no reason and ended up going into a corridor with no carpets and dim lighting, like somewhere that wasn't so much hidden as unimportant and forgotten. There was only one door off that corridor, and she opened it.
"I was very clear that there should be no interruptions." Her startled gasp made him look up, and her eyes locked with Draco Malfoy's for a split second that seemed to freeze her in place. "Well. So you came to deal with me directly, did you?"
Ginny was nodding before she thought. "I got your papers this morning."
"And? Surely you must have been expecting them."
He looked so cool and unruffled, just leaning back in his chair and looking at her in his superior way, that she had a hard time not lashing out for how grubby and small he made her feel. "How could I possibly expect to be sued for breaching a contract that I've never heard of?"
While she wouldn't have bet on him being capable of something so inelegant, the sound that came out of him was definitely a snort. "You've never heard of a curse on our families that activated on the day you were born? What do you take me for?"
"An idiot," she snapped. "How would I have?"
"You--" He looked nonplussed for a moment, then rallied. "Are you honestly trying to tell me that you never once asked your parents about knowing you were tied to someone?"
Even as she was drawing breath to reply, Ginny knew she was lying. "I never asked that. I knew no such thing."
"Didn't you?" It seemed for a moment like the air was electrified, full with the poised tension of the sky before a lightning storm, but then he pulled back, straightened up, and it was gone. He just sounded superior again, and maybe a little amused, as he said, "I suppose I should have expected no less. Still, it's almost over - I'll be as generous with the repayment terms as the Wizengamot allows me to be, since I don't actually give a damn about the money."
"What money?" She was beginning to think this had been a very bad idea, but she didn't know how to leave without seeming like she was running away.
Putting a hand to his forehead as if staving off a headache, he said, "You're either an incredible actress or the most clueless human being I've ever met."
"There's no need to be insulting," she said, crossing her arms. "Just because I don't know what this is about doesn't mean I'm stupid."
"Doesn't it? Well, I don't really have time to tell you stories," he said, standing up and crossing the room to a locked display case. "This is the napkin on which our illustrious ancestors originally sketched out the terms written in the official records and referenced in the papers you received."
She followed him to stand next to the display case as he opened it. Looking between the grubby scrap of linen and his eyes, she said, "It smells a bit like old beer."
"Probably because the old bastards were drunk as lords." Closing up the case, Draco said, "If you want to inspect it, I'll let you, but the gist of it is that Andronicus insisted on loaning money to Septimus so he could buy some land, and then your ancestor insisted that his first girl would be given as payment. Since at that point they were still friends, the terms included marriage."
"They were friends?" Ginny wondered why she wasn't more shocked. Maybe it was because it was still sinking in; maybe it was because, with six brothers and Harry, she had a great deal of context for the stupid things boys could do when drinking with their mates.
Nodding, Draco said, "Hard to believe, but they'd met up at school and got on well. Things might have gone fine, except that your ancestor became a Roundhead and decided to cheat rather than fulfil his bargain. Leading Cromwell's bloodthirsty goons to try to wipe out my family just made things worse."
"That's not true," Ginny said, trying to process what he was saying. "The feud with our families is because your ancestors tried to kill my entire family when the bloody Cavaliers were murdering every supporter of Parliament they could find."
Shrugging, Draco said, "What can I say? Andronicus left behind an extremely vengeful widow. And, of course, the rest of your ancestors continued to cheat and make sure they didn't have any girls, right up until your parents buggered things up and had you, the first Weasley girl since this napkin was signed."
"You realize this is insane, right?" Ginny held up her hands, almost as if she was pushing away the craziness of the whole situation. "What does it matter what our ancestors did? Who cares?"
He drew back, and it was only then that she realized how close he'd been standing. "Once the Wizengamot grants my petition, it won't matter. To either of us."
"Can't we work it out without lawyers?" she asked. "I don't want to hold you to anything, and you just said you don't care about the money."
"Magic doesn't work like that," he said. "Get Potter to give you the money for the solicitor if you can't afford it. I'm sure it's the least of what you're getting from him."
It sounded like a slur, and Ginny sucked her cheeks in to keep from gasping at the sting of it. Striving for dignity, she turned and strode for the door. Once there, she paused long enough to say, "Goodbye, Malfoy. I'd say it's been a pleasure, but you and your dirty mind made sure that would be a lie."
"See you in court," he said, and the door closed firmly behind her.
***
It was worse than she had thought. No, it was worse than she had imagined. Hiring a solicitor was easy enough; Harry did loan her the money, and the girl he'd been dating knew someone who could work at a discount. The problem was that the solicitor found out all of the details, and there was no good outcome. If she fought to keep the curse in force, Draco Malfoy would own her, body and soul. If she let it be broken, then her family had to find a way to pay back what Septimus Weasley had borrowed - a sum sufficient to buy all of the land he had bought, land which had been sold off bit by bit by generations of Weasleys. All that was left was the land the Burrow stood on, which would be forfeit immediately.
Her mother was bravely talking about how she'd always wanted a bungalow, packing up the house and pressing various children to take pieces of furniture or keepsakes. Her poor father just looked grim, locking himself away in the shed just as he'd done after Bill was injured and after Fred had died. Ginny couldn't even be angry over them having left her in the dark all her life, because she knew why they'd done it; they'd wanted to protect her. They'd always wanted to protect her, even when if it ultimately caused her more harm to be unprepared for whatever they'd tried to shield from.
"Do you remember, when I was little, if I ever asked about a boy?" She shouldn't have asked. She could see the shock and pain of it going through her parents, but now that it was out, she wanted the answer.
After a pause, her parents reached across the table to twine their fingers together, exchanging a look full of love and support before turning to face her. Her mother was the one who spoke, but it might as well have been both of them, given how united they were. "You did. Almost from the moment you could talk, you would tell anyone who'd listen about how you had a boy of your own. The stories you'd tell! We chalked it up to an imaginary friend, just like all the boys had. Even Fred and George invented little girls who were twins like them."
"When did I stop talking about him?" Ginny asked, although she thought she might know. She could remember, hazily, becoming convinced she'd discovered the identity of her boy.
"You didn't, really, you just named him Harry Potter." With a small laugh, her mother said, "It's a bit funny, now, how close you are with him after imagining him as a playmate all through your childhood."
Ginny didn't really see her anymore, her eyes distant as she murmured, "But Harry wasn't mine. He never was."
"Ginny..."
Shaking off her mother's hand, Ginny stood. "I've got to go. I think I have a plan."
"But--" Kissing her cheek and then giving her father a hug, Ginny said, "Don't buy the bungalow yet. I think I may get it all to work out as it should."
She apparated out before they could protest, her mind bubbling with plans. So far, Draco had had it all his way - it was past time to fight back.
***
Looking over his glasses, the magistrate general for the Wizengamot said, "Just to be clear - you, Mr. Malfoy, are asking for relief from the curse based on the fact that Miss Weasley was allegedly unfaithful."
"Yes, sir." Draco stood only long enough to speak, keeping his entire demeanor humble and respectful. Ginny wondered how long he'd had to practice to be able to do it.
"And you, Miss Weasley, counter with the allegation that your purity is intact, something which cannot be said for Mr. Malfoy." She nodded, trying to seem confident but demure. "And you're certain that's the story you want to go with?"
Ginny's lips tightened, but she nodded. Losing her temper with the man judging her case wouldn't do anybody any good.
"Very well. The court orders Miss Ginevra Weasley to submit to the medical examination of a wizard appointed by the court, to determine whether or not her claims of chasteness have any merit. The court will reconvene in ten days; between now and then, the defendants are to spend a minimum of five continuous days and nights in each other's sole company."
The outraged squawks from both plaintiff and defendant were cut off by their respective barristers taking hold of their arms and marching them away as soon as the gavel had fallen. They'd barely cleared the door when Draco's barrister, a thin man with shaggy hair and a Scottish accent, said, "For crying out loud, man, stop whinging and face reality. You'll do as you need to do and that's the end of it."
"That's excellent advice," said Ginny's laywer drily. "Do I need to give it to you?"
"No, I understood it already," Ginny said. "Although, for the record, I'm whinging on the inside."
Nodding, her lawyer said, "Just keep it that way. It's not unusual to order enforced togetherness when the Wizengamot gets a divorce case, and that's essentially what this is. Just grit your teeth, check into a nice hotel with Malfoy, and get through it."
Ginny sighed. "I suppose. Is there a way to stick him with the bill?"
"That's the spirit. Let me go consult with the solicitor and then we'll come back and mediate the terms for carrying out your sentence."
"Right, fine," Ginny said. "I'll be here."
"Chin up." The barrister left with her robe and wig flapping behind her, leaving Ginny feeling oddly bereft.
It wasn't long before Draco came over, sitting beside Ginny on the hard wooden bench and stretching his legs out in front of him. "Did you want to put off the togetherness or get it over with?"
"Up to you, I suppose," Ginny said. "I'd just need enough time to tell my family where I'm going."
"And Potter," Draco said with a sneer.
Nodding stiffly, she said, "Yes, and Harry. I wouldn't want him to worry."
"Of course not. It would be tragic if he missed out on your carnal services without adequate warning." His voice was so smooth, and his facial expression so pleasant, that it took her a split second to gasp as she realized what he'd actually said.
"I have never--" She cut herself off as she realized more than half of the crowd milling around outside the courtroom had turned to stare at her as she shouted. Glaring until they looked away, she used the time to compose herself enough to stay quiet when she turned back to him and said, "Don't you dare judge me by your standards. I've seen the gossip pages."
Drily, he said, "And presented them as exhibits four to five hundred and eighty."
"We thought it best to limit the evidence to only the most damning pieces." Ginny frowned as she saw Harry's girl move around the outskirts of the crowd to meet up with their lawyers. "What's she doing here?"
"The more important question is, what are we doing here." Malfoy stood, drawing her attention. Pulling out a piece of a paper and a pen that gleamed in a frightfully expensive way, he jotted down an address and said, "I'll be there when you're ready to start our prison term."
Looking down at the address, she said, "Why are we staying at your place?"
"We're not," he said. "I don't want you in my bed for this, any more than you want me in Potter's."
He was really, distressingly good at making her feel like she'd been suckerpunched just by saying things that sounded almost polite. "Precisely. I'll be there this evening so that we can get this over with."
Sweeping away, her head held high, she completely ignored him when he laughed and said, "Yes, madam. As you wish, madam."
"That man needs a sharp kick," she said, but no one was listening.
***
There seemed to be no reason to delay. Harry was still hoping he'd talk his girl into bed, although Ginny was starting to think it was just as well she'd never bothered to learn the girl's name, since it seemed vanishingly unlikely he'd ever succeed in his quest. She couldn't stand another moment of her parents being brave, and her brothers were just being crazy. While it was heartening to see George starting to come back to himself, some of the pranks he was coming up with to try on Malfoy were a bit extreme.
"Remember, the pink flowers get watered every day, but the red ones only once, day after tomorrow," she said. "And don't let anyone into my room while I'm gone - I'll know."
"Get Neville to come and look at your plants, got it," Harry said. "Just remember - if he tries anything, make him sing - solar plexus, instep, nose, groin."
Snorting, Ginny said, "Really? Bad enough that you watched Miss Congeniality with that girl, but now you're quoting it? Turn in your man card, Harry."
"It's good advice," Harry said defensively. "And she really likes me, I know she does. She's just shy."
"Harry. Literally thousands of witches would like to get acquainted with your pants. Why is it that you're so insistent on dating someone who will never, ever touch your naughty places? Because, face it, if she hasn't by now..."
Throwing a cushion at her head, he said, "Go away. You don't know anything about women, and that she's not panting for the Boy Who Lived is part of why I like her."
She sighed, wondering if she should stay and help him, but then he added, "Besides, now it's a challenge. If I can get her out of her knickers, I win."
"You're a pig," Ginny said. "I hope she gives you blueballs."
Sailing into her room to grab her bag, she snickered when he shouted, "Wait, those aren't a real wizard malady, right? Right?"
Still laughing when she apparated into the address Draco had given her, she came up short when he was there, looking up from a book to ask, "What's so funny?"
"Harry thinks wizards might actually get blue--" She stopped herself just in time, cleared her throat and said, "Might suffer from frustration as an actual physical condition."
"You won't be gone that long." He stood, snapping his book closed. Walking past her, he added, "And it's not as if Potter's ever shown any signs of understanding what fidelity means."
Ginny just stared at him for a moment. "Look, don't you think the silly school rivalry thing is kind of lingering a little too long here? Harry really hasn't ever done anything to you to earn this spite."
"Hasn't he?" The look he gave her froze the breath in her throat, and she thought that if he looked half as intense when he was making love, it was no wonder that the gossip pages were full of stories about his prowess.
"What did he do?" Her voice was small and weak, but it snapped him out of his strange mood and he shook his head, gesturing for her to follow him.
He led her through the spacious house, pointing out where to find the kitchen, the bathrooms, the library, and finally her bedroom. "I've arranged for a healer to see you as soon as our time in here is over, unless you want to give up that ludicrous claim."
"It's the truth," she said. "I've never been with anyone, and I'm sure the exam will prove that."
"You've lived with Potter for months," he said. "And before Potter, there was that Corner sod, and Thomas. It's not as if you stayed home on many Saturday nights."
Shaking her head, she said, "You're being ridiculous, I hope you know. A, just because I went out doesn't mean I did anything while I was out, and B, for the record, three boyfriends in a single lifetime does not make me a slut. If anything, having only had three boyfriends between puberty and age 22 makes me a dried up old stick."
With a dismissive wave, he said, "It's none of my business, or it won't be once the court has granted my petition."
"They'll be granting mine," Ginny said. "But you're right, it's none of your business."
"We'll see." Giving her a small bow, he said, "Goodnight, Ginny Weasley. Sleep well."
***
That night, she dreamed of being young, so young that she didn't know how to explain that she needed her boy, because he'd make everything better. She got older, but still no one understood, no one listened, and she started trying to leave, to go on an adventure and find her boy and bring him home. Her mother had been so angry when they'd found her, so angry and so scared, but Ginny had just howled and demanded they let her go so she could find him.
After that, the stories her mother told her at bedtime changed. Instead of brave heroines who set off for adventures, the princess always waited in the castle; the prince was the one who went searching for her. The princess was brave and steadfast, because wasn't it harder to sit still than it was to run around with her brothers? The tales got mixed up with the stories about the Boy Who Lived, until they were part of each other, and Harry Potter was rescuing the brave princess, who stalwartly endured untold tribulations until he arrived to rescue her.
The dream shifted and suddenly she was running, trying to escape from the feel of blood on her hands, from the whispers and promises, from the Chamber of Secrets and the suffocating coils of the basilisk, trapping her arms and legs and not letting her move. Sobbing with the effort, she fought to free herself, desperate to get away even if it meant not being brave because she hadn't held on for her hero to rescue her.
"It's just me, you daft cow!" The words were harsh, but they broke through her panic and then there were gentle hands helping her, freeing her arms and legs from the tangle of sheets they were in. "It'll be all right. You're safe now."
"Draco?" Still feeling confused and lost as she woke up and looked around the dim room, Ginny frowned. "What happened?"
His weight made the bed shift as he sat down, the light from a single candle on the nightstand casting flickering shadows over his angular features. "At a guess, I'd say you had a nightmare."
"I was dreaming about the Chamber," she said, rubbing her face with both hands. "The basilisk had me again, but this time..."
"This time, he was just made of sheets," Draco said, but he laid his hand over hers, letting her keep hold of it for comfort.
Running her free hand through her hair, Ginny said, "Why would your father do that? I was only eleven!"
Draco nodded. "And, if you'd died when you were eleven, it might have been another few centuries before the Malfoys were threatened with having a half-Weasley heir."
"That's--"
"Cold bordering on pathological," Draco said helpfully. "Welcome to the family."
Looking at their joined hands, Ginny said, "Are you like that?"
"I don't think so," he said softly. "But my father would say that he's a devoted family man, nothing more."
She didn't know why it was important to get a straight answer, but it was. "Would you hurt a child because you didn't like her family?"
"No," he said. "If I can't achieve my goals without risking Azkaban, I will reassess my goals to factor in the opportunity cost."
"How pragmatic of you," she said, the corner of her mouth turning up in amusement at how uncomfortable he looked. "Nothing to do with morality or ethics, of course. Just self-interested common sense."
Squeezing her hand, he said, "Don't underestimate the power of applying a bit of sense to your daily actions. It's so rare that it practically grants superhuman abilities."
"You're being nice to me," she said. "I could almost call you charming and funny."
Arching an eyebrow, Draco said, "Yes, and? Many people would call me both, and add that I'm incredibly handsome."
She laughed; she couldn't help it. "Of course, if you say so. It's just... I don't know why."
"Why not?" For all that he sounded casual, he stood and dropped her hand, moving away. She missed the contact a lot more than she should have. "Might as well give you a treat before we part ways."
Part of her wondered if she should be offended, but she was already laughing again. "I appreciate your generosity."
He smiled, and she almost choked at how it transformed his features. He really was just as good-looking as he'd said he was. "Get some sleep. We've still got four and a half days to get through."
"Thank you," she said. "For coming to rescue me from my nightmare."
Snorting, he said, "Keep your hero fixation well away from me, thank you very much. I have no interest whatsoever in damsels that need rescuing."
"I'm not a damsel." She drew herself up, hurt by his words but trying not to show it. "And I was just being polite."
"Of course," he said, bowing to her again. "Good night."
He left, taking the candle with him, and she sighed as she turned over in the too-soft bed and tried to get her mind in order. Draco Malfoy was a jerk, but he'd tried to help her and he'd held her hand. So maybe he wasn't just a jerk; whatever else he was, he was definitely confusing.
The confusion only grew the next day, when she realized her vague idea that they'd just avoid each other wasn't shared by him. He sat down at breakfast and made polite small talk, moving smoothly from talking about the weather to telling amusing anecdotes and drawing her into conversation. He retreated to his library after the meal, but didn't object when she came in for a book and ended up talking to him again when she got bored with the novel she'd chosen.
"Come on," he said when they finished the lunch the house-elves had brought into the library.
"Where?" All right, so she was already following him, but it was still a fair question.
Looking at her over his shoulder, he said, "I can't concentrate with you fidgeting, so we might well go flying."
Grinning, she said, "Got a practice snitch? We can go best two out of three for who catches it first."
"So sure you're going to lose the first one?" He held the front door open for her and pointed the way to his broomshed. There was nothing around for a long ways but neatly trimmed grass and a border of trees - no houses, no commercial buildings in the distance, nothing but the blue of the sky and green all around.
"Just want to make sure you don't run off pouting too soon." His broomshed didn't look that different from the one at the Burrow, a comfortable clutter of old sticks, polish kits and discarded twigs. Granted, the old brooms here were several cuts above anything the Weasleys had ever owned, but still. "What was your favorite book, growing up?"
Tilting his head, he said, "Is this a trick question?"
"Yes, but answer it anyway," she said, picking out a Valkyrie FTL to try out. She'd read reviews, but had never gotten to see one in person.
"The official answer is Paradise Lost," he said. "And I did read it, more than once. I went through a very dramatic phase as a teenager."
Snorting, she said, "Didn't we all?"
Mounting his broom, he said, "I'll give you a real answer if you win."
"You're on."
They finally had to call the third game when it got too dark to see. As they were heading inside, Draco said, "I don't remember how I got a hold of it, but I ended up with a muggle book back at school, and that was my favorite. It was odd, but I liked the characters."
"Really?" She didn't think she believed him - Draco Malfoy liking a muggle anything, let alone back in school? But then, why would he lie? It wasn't as if he wanted to impress her.
He nodded, holding the door open for her again as they walked inside. "I've still got it - and all the rest of the author's books. You can read them, if you like."
"Yes, I'd like that," she said. "Can I grab one now? I'll start it after I get out of the shower."
With a grin, he said, "You want to get it now just so I don't sneak out and buy something to fool you."
"Kind of obvious, I suppose, but I stand by my failed attempt at being sneaky."
"I'd say it's a sign of the deviousness of your mind that that would occur to you." Leading the way into the library, he tapped his wand on a shelf to make the books on it switch themselves out. "Here they are - you feel free to explore them, as I'm off to take my own shower."
She frowned as she watched him leave, still trying to figure him out. He'd been rude and insulting the day before, and then today he'd been... Well, he'd still been caustic, but it hadn't felt vicious or hurtful. For the most part, it'd been funny, and when she'd been waspish in return, he'd laughed.
Picking out a book, she shrugged and went to her room. It didn't really matter if she understood him or not; they just had to get through another four days together and then they never had to see each other again. And no, the thought wasn't at all depressing.
***
The time together passed faster than it should have. They played quidditch, talked about books, and even watched movies together after Ginny had shown him what to order and helped him set up a new home theater system. More than once, she'd had the thought that she'd have really liked to date Draco Malfoy, if they weren't currently embroiled in competing lawsuits.
It was their last night, and Draco was working on some accounts while she read near the fireplace. It was peaceful and easy, but at one point she found herself saying, "Can I ask you something?"
Her voice had broken the stillness, but now the only sound was the crackle of the fire as he looked at her contemplatively, his quill still in hand. "I take it the question is of more importance than whether I think real werewolves are like the ones in the book you're reading."
"No, it's nothing like that," she said. "It's about us. Or, well, our situation."
"Somehow, I think trying to explain how muggles think despite never having met one might be easier." He sighed and put the quill down, folding his hands on the desk and looking at her gravely. "Go ahead."
She tried to think of how to ask what she wanted to know, but now that the moment was on her, she had no idea what to say. "You seemed angry, before. In court, and when I went to your office."
A nod was his only answer, and she sighed. "You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"
"Am I supposed to?" he asked. "I don't see how, given that you still haven't gotten to anything that remotely resembles a question."
"Why?" That was basically what it all boiled down to. He had that look on his face, though, the one he got when he was going to say something cutting and superior, so she kept going rather than let him point out it was too broad a question. "Why were you angry? Why did you decide to go to court rather than talk to me? Why did you start acting like... like a real person, like someone nice?"
Looking offended, he said, "I have never in my life been anything as bland as 'nice.'"
"You know what I meant." Crossing her arms, she said, "You've been great company and fun to be around. What sarcasm you've indulged in has been more dry wit and less cutting bitchiness."
"That's quite a way with words you have." She just looked at him steadily and he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine. But first, answer me this - are you asking me because you want to confirm what you already know, or are you really so spectacularly unobservant that you don't know?"
Only the certain knowledge that he was trying to distract her by sparking her temper kept her from snapping at him. "I genuinely don't know, and I don't want to guess."
Standing up abruptly, he pushed away from the desk and looked as if he was going to pick her up from her perch on the sofa, but at the last moment he stopped and shook his head. "You're so frustrating." Stepping past her, he leaned against the mantle and stared into the fireplace.
"Since we had to spend this time together, I thought I might as well be myself, and let you despise me on my own merits," he said. "And here you are calling me nice, so something went terribly wrong somewhere."
"If you wanted me to despise you, acting like you did at school would've been a better bet," she said. "Or even like you did when I came to your office, all cold and superior."
Still staring into the fire, he said, "I knew you had red hair, because my father would rant about the Weasleys from time to time. I wondered, when I was very little, if it was the kind of red that looked like a fire or if it looked more like copper, or even carrots."
Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him, looking so haunted and distant that she wanted to hold him and apologize for anything and everything, until he smiled and said something cutting to let her know he was all right.
"I always knew that you were out there, that you belonged to me," he said. "And I always knew that I belonged to you. It didn't matter to me who your family was - you were never a Weasley to me, because you were mine."
"What's wrong with being a Weasley?" she asked sharply, and he looked up.
With a small smile, he said, "What's wrong with being a Malfoy? And how would you have answered that back in school?"
Grudgingly, she said, "I take your point."
"Thank you." Turning away from the fireplace, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "So, that's the gist of it. My girl insisted on following around some stupid boy with a scar on his head, just because he was famous. Why wouldn't I be upset?"
"That was years ago!" she said, focusing on the mundane elements of what he said so she wouldn't have to contemplate the enormity of what lay behind it. "And it was never because he was famous."
Draco looked at her for a moment, then looked away as if he couldn't stand the sight of her. "You live with him, Ginny. I don't know who you think you're fooling with this nonsense of a countersuit, but... I'm done. Once the courts come back with their ruling, we'll both finally be free."
Her heart racing, she said, "But it's not like that, it never was."
"So I've been told," he said. "But my agent is a little too young to remember how the two of you were at Hogwarts, and she confirmed that Potter's not gay."
"Your... agent? You had me investigated?"
He hesitated for just a fraction of a second, just enough for her to feel it had been confirmed, before saying, "I'm going to bed. Since our time will be done by morning, I expect I'll see you again when we get to court."
"You--" Ignoring her sputtered protest, he stalked out, leaving her feeling overwhelmed and unhappy. She was part of something timeless, and she'd never known; she was being judged wanting for breaking a bond she hadn't been part of making. It was confusing and she didn't know what she wanted, not really.
One thing she did know, though, was who had spied on her for Draco. Checking her watch, she saw it was more than half an hour past the exact time to mark five days of her presence, and she grabbed her wand to apparate out. They'd agreed to wait until morning, just to make sure, but what was the worst case scenario? Another week spent with Draco wouldn't exactly be a hardship, and maybe it would give her time to figure out what she wanted, and how to tell him.
Unfortunately, getting home early did nothing to help her; Harry didn't have the home address of the girl he'd been dating, and the mobile number she'd given him was disconnected. Ginny tried to apparate back to the house she'd been sharing with Draco, but she bounced off the wards. It didn't hurt, not physically, but she felt thoroughly rejected.
"Join the club," Harry said. "Can I go to sleep now?"
"Look, it's different," Ginny said. "All you wanted from that girl was to feel like you'd won - you didn't care, not really. If you had, I'd at least know her name."
Holding up a hand, Harry said, "Two points. One, her name is Chloe, and two, does that mean you care about Malfoy?"
"What's her last name?" Ginny wasn't going to answer the second question, especially given the sinking feeling in her stomach that the answer was yes.
Harry's mouth opened and closed, but finally he said, "That's not the point."
"Go to bed," Ginny said. "I'll attempt your reeducation on the subject of how to treat women sometime when I'm feeling stronger."
"Or we could give that a miss," Harry said with a yawn. "If you couldn't do it while you had Hermione and Ron here backing you up, I don't think it's going to happen now that you're on your own."
Grimacing, Ginny said, "Just you wait. They can't stay with Charlie forever - sooner or later they'll be back, and I'll have reinforcements."
"Sure, whatever." Ruffling her hair, Harry said, "Goodnight, Gin. I'm glad you're back - I really hated being here alone."
"Goodnight," she said, smiling lopsidedly as he went off to bed. Whatever Draco thought, Harry had been a good friend to her. Hopefully she could make him understand that, because she really wanted to have both of them in her life.
***
As Ginny had suspected, she didn't have to put forth any effort to find Draco's investigator. She showed up the next day, sliding into the seat across from Ginny as she sat at her favorite restaurant and picked at her lunch. "Sorry for the intrusion. I just wanted to talk to you."
"Did Draco send you to do some more spying?"
"Good, you know." With a flashing smile, the girl said, "I was really starting to lead poor Harry on at the end there, and I didn't want to have to start that again."
Ginny looked her over, trying not to sneer. "Using Harry to get to me was kind of despicable."
"You looked just like Malfoy just now. You should watch out for that - disdain isn't a good look for you." Resting her chin on her interlaced fingers, Chloe said, "And, for the record, just because we didn't click doesn't mean I didn't give him a chance."
"Fine." Gesturing for the check, Ginny said, "I take it you're checking on whether I've suddenly been overwhelmed by Harry's charms? Draco's not exactly reasonable on that score."
Nodding, Chloe said, "You have a talent for understatement."
"Is there any way you can convince him of the truth?" It had seemed like a good idea to enlist his investigator in proving to Draco that she and Harry were platonic friends when she'd apparated out of Draco's house, but now Ginny thought it wasn't likely.
"No," Chloe said, staying in her seat as Ginny stood. "I just thought I'd warn you, since we're sort of on friendly terms - he's going to exercise the option to have a representative at your virginity check, and his barrister's going to get it thrown out if it supports your case - there's precedent showing at least five spells for restoring the physical signs."
Surprised, Ginny said, "Are there really? Why would anyone want to?"
"Cases like this," Chloe said. "And yes, there are - I found them myself."
Wrinkling her nose, Ginny said, "I think I need one of you on my side."
"You couldn't afford me. I can recommend someone almost as good, though you'll have to borrow money from your rich roommate to pay his fee."
Distantly, her mind racing, Ginny said, "Say that again."
"Borrow from..." Chloe trailed off. "I see where you're going, but I'm not sure that's the best idea."
Ginny stood. "Thanks for the advice - and if you lead Harry on any more, I'll break your legs."
Not bothering to wait for an answer, Ginny hurried out and went directly to her solicitor's office, then home to talk to Harry, her rich roommate who could loan her money - it just had never occurred to either of them to think that way. She'd have talked to Draco, but her owl was returned unopened, and so she had to wait until the hearing the next day to see him, looking sophisticated and remote as he sat with his barrister.
"I understand that counsel for Miss Weasley has some motions to present to the court."
Her lawyer stood and spoke, detailing the fact that Ginny was dropping her countersuit, and that she was going to pay back the full amount of the loan her ancestor had accepted, making the marriage clause of the agreement null and void. It had been a blindingly obvious solution to the problem of the lawsuit once it had been brought to her attention, and Harry's, that he had more than enough money to pay Draco.
Ginny wasn't listening; her whole focus was on Draco, watching him closely to make sure she didn't miss any minute reactions he might have to what was said.
She needn't have worried. Draco shot to his feet and said, "Are you insane? You don't have that kind of money, you can't do that."
"Order! Mr. Baddock, please instruct your client as to how he should behave in my courtroom!"
"Aye, sir. Sorry, sir." Draco's lawyer pulled him in for a fierce, whispered conference, but Ginny could see from Draco's face that it wasn't going well. Finally, the lawyer himself burst out with, "For fuck's sake, then, lend her the money yourself, you paranoid, jealous git!"
"Mr. Baddock!"
Turning to the magistrate, he dipped his head and said, "Aye, sir. Sorry, sir. Shall I pay the usual fine on the way out, sir?"
Ginny couldn't help snickering, which finally made Draco look at her, an answering smile on his lips. Their eyes met and she thought he could probably see the hope and fear she was feeling. She couldn't read his expression, and she clasped her hands tightly together as she waited to find out what he would do.
With a bang of his gavel, the magistrate said, "All right, Mr. Malfoy, it appears the choice is now yours. The curse is to be broken; the exact details of payment can be handled between your solicitors and my clerk. Case closed."
"Well. That went better than expected." Patting Ginny's shoulder, her barrister said, "Good luck - I'm just down the hall if you need me, but I get the impression you and Mr. Malfoy can settle the rest of the details on your own."
Nodding, although she was only vaguely aware of what had been said, Ginny moved forward until she was standing directly in front of Draco. "I tried to come back. And I tried to owl."
"I know," he said. "But can we talk now? Even though I was..."
"Rude and intransigent?" He winced, but she put her hand on his arm and said, "Yes, Draco. Please."
After a brief exchange with his lawyer, Draco took Ginny's arm and said, "There's a conference room across the hall we can use."
She'd been hoping to go back home with him to talk, but at least they had some privacy. She'd intended to launch into her rehearsed speech as soon as they were alone, but he beat her to the punch by asking, "Why?"
"Because I needed you to be free," she said. "You said it yourself - that you'd always belonged to me. I don't want to own you."
His face froze, but before he could withdraw, she took his hand and brought it to her lips. "I want to date you. I want to get to know you, and have you get to know me. And, who knows, maybe it will lead to marriage and children and growing old together, but it will be your choice to be with me. Just like it's my choice to want to be with you."
"What about Potter?" His voice was cool, but he'd turned his hand to caress her cheek.
Rolling her eyes, she said, "Your barrister had a point. What about Harry? He's my friend, nothing more. We live in the same flat, but we don't live together, and never have."
"The two of you were all over each other at Hogwarts," Draco said. "I had to watch you fawn all over him, had to stand by as you followed him around and spent every mealtime practically crawling on his lap."
Grimacing, she said, "All right, so we dated. The only reason it lasted as long as it did was the circumstances. As soon as there wasn't the ever-present danger involved, we realized that we bored each other to tears in terms of chemistry."
Draco shook his head. "You just don't understand. You never felt like I did - you don't know what it was like for me. And, may I add, it's criminally unfair that you got to skip that whole part about unrequited feelings."
"Skipped? I grew up always hearing about how Harry Potter was this great mythic prince, only when I met him, I thought something was wrong with me for not being bowled over by him!" Poking him in the chest, she said, "I spent my whole childhood pining for someone who never even existed, so stop being a self-pitying drama queen and pay attention."
His eyebrows shot up. "Did you just call me a drama queen?"
Witheringly, she said, "If the shoe fits..."
Snorting, he said, "All right, I'm listening, although I'd like it stated for the record that insults are a strange device for persuasion."
"The past is done," she said. "And, yeah, maybe we're both of us a little strange. The point is, what are we doing now?"
"Arguing?" He was smiling, though, the small tilt of his lips that said he was enjoying himself, and so she felt hopeful that she was getting through to him.
Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "You have a choice to make, Mr. Malfoy. You can cling to your bitterness and misconceptions, and die old and unhappy and alone..."
"Surely I'd at least get a trophy wife," he murmured.
"Who would cheat on you and give your children stupid, trendy names," she said, jabbing a finger in his chest. "Or - and this will be the good choice, so make sure you're paying attention."
Taking hold of her finger, he said, "I'm breathless with anticipation of your every word."
"As it should be." Stepping closer to him so they were almost nose to nose, she said, "You can choose to believe me when I say that you're the only man I want, and tell me that you want me just as much."
"I don't--" He broke off when she drew back. Letting out a deep breath, he said, "Yes. Yes, I want to be with you, as long as you're with me."
"We're going to work on your jealousy," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're going to have to get it through your thick skull that there's no reason for it."
Draco leaned his head down until their foreheads touched, his hands going around her waist to hold her firmly. "At least I've only got the one flaw for you to fix. Really, it's a selling point - it keeps you from being intimidated at my perfection."
She laughed, still smiling as he kissed her. It felt like coming home, and she never wanted it to stop. The door opened behind them, and suddenly they were back in the library where they'd spent so much time together, and she pulled him down to the sofa and set about kissing him just as seriously as she knew how.
"I need to ask you something," he said between kisses.
"Yes, I'll go out with you," she said breathlessly, arching her neck to let him lick the skin behind her ear.
With a low chuckle, he said, "That's good, but not what I was actually going to ask."
"What was it then?" His hair was amazingly soft as she ran her fingers through it, and she wondered why they were wasting time talking when there were better things to do with their lips.
"I want you to let me pay myself the money from the curse," he said.
Pulling back abruptly, she looked at him and said, "Come again? Why?"
"This all started because of a loan," he said. "And I don't want my daughter to end up with Potterspawn because you borrowed money from him."
Ginny started laughing, until Draco tickled her and soon they were back to kissing, and Ginny thought that later she'd tease him about liking the way her debt-related curse had turned out. Much later, though, because right now all she wanted to think about was how right it felt to be in his arms.
***
Original Prompt that we sent you:
Briefly describe what you'd like to receive in your fic: Takes place a few years after the war/death of Voldermort. A curse, cast centuries ago, to settle a debt the Weasleys owed the Malfoys, called for the marriage of their first born daughter to a Malfoy. With magic, the Weasleys have avoided a girl child until Ginny. Also, I'm a sucker for jealous Malfoy and an oblivious Ginny.
The tone/mood of the fic: Mostly light hearted with romance and humor. But some angst is always appreciated.
An element/line of dialogue/object you would specifically like in your fic:"The curse is broken Mr. Malfoy, now the choice is yours."
Preferred rating of the the fic you want: R
Canon or AU? Preferably canon up to at least book 5, but AU from there is fine.
Deal Breakers (anything you don't want?):Character death, Harry/Ginny romance, mean Harry, an unhappy ending, really sweet Draco, OOC, nice Lucius, intercourse, overly dramatic Ginny.