Ron Weasley woke up on Monday and blearily looked for around for the clock. Seeing that he had woken up earlier than usual, he decided happily that he could use the cup of coffee that he normally didn't have time to drink.
After brushing his teeth, shaving, dressing and the like, he made a satisfactory up of coffee and sat down. Minutes later he opened the window to allow the delivery owl. Paying the customary five Knuts, he brought it back to the table.
He sipped his coffee, savouring the taste. Then his eyes caught the gaudy headline and he spat all of that wonderful liquid onto the paper.
_._._._._._._
Draco woke up, opening his eyes slowly. He smiled as he remembered what had happened yesterday. She loves me, he thought, Ginevra loves me He barely had time to brush his teeth when a pounding on his door was heard.
He groaned. Who on earth would be waking him up? He sighed and shuffled toward the door. He opened it to find a ruffled looking Blaise.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked.
"This is what's wrong." Blaise replied, handing Draco a copy of the Daily Prophet. "Look."
Draco's eyes widened as he saw the picture. His hand crumpled the paper mercilessly, dropping it on the floor.
_._._._._._._
Ginny was about to leave for work when she was suddenly bombarded by her brothers in the lobby. They were yelling something, holding Daily Prophets. A frantic looking Hermione seemed to be trying to pull the paper away from Ron, while Percy kept cleaning his glasses and looking at his paper. A crack sounded and Harry appeared, his hair standing on end, as if he had ran his hands through his hair too many times again.
He stared at Ginny. If she had looked closer, she would have noticed that he looked defeated, almost betrayed. Instead, all she heard was "Is it true, Gin?"
"Is what true?" Ginny wondered aloud.
Ron broke through to Ginny's side. They were making a loud commotion in the lobby and people were staring. Nobody noticed. "This," he yelled. "Are you dating Draco-effing-Malfoy?"
Without waiting for her reply, Fred and George spoke.
"You know Gin, after Seamus –"
"– we thought you could have had better tastes."
"Obviously not, since –"
"– since you're dating the bloody ferret."
"But if you're in need –"
"– of pranks and what not –"
"– you know where to find us."
They chuckled and bowed.
Percy, on the other hand, was much more serious. "Really, Ginny. Malfoy? Are you alright? Did he place a spell on you? Maybe a love potion or something. Or did he threaten you? It's okay to tell us, he won't hurt you or anyone." He sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "I would hate to start threatening him. It's terribly uncivilized."
Bill was there also, clutching his son, who had apparently taken a great interest in a nearby cat and was trying to crawl after it. "Gin, are you sure you know what you're doing? I know you're older than when you were with Seamus, but you know what happened before. Malfoy can't be trustworthy."
Ginny couldn't take it anymore. "Wait a minute. Just wait. How did you find out?"
Ron exploded. He shoved a Daily Prophet in Ginny's face. "That's how! Did you think we were going to never find out? When were you going to tell us anyway? When you were engaged to him?"
Ginny didn't hear anything Ron said. All she saw was a black and white moving picture. She smiled dreamily. It was a good picture. It was obviously taken yesterday, for in the picture snow was falling and the violinist was there while Draco drew her into his arms and kissed her. Pictures were really worth a thousand words, she thought.
Then she saw the headline, proclaiming 'Draco Malfoy: Taken?' Her mouth dropped open.
_._._._._._._
Narcissa Malfoy woke up late that morning. She couldn't sleep the previous night, worrying over Draco. He seemed detached lately, and definitely not interested in what she had to say about his future.
"Draco dear?"
"Yes mother?"
"Are you seeing anyone lately?"
Now that Draco knew his mother's secret, he could see a glint in her blue eyes. "No, mother." he lied.
"Really? Why not?"
"I quit the matchmaking program." His answer was terse and to the point.
"Oh." Narcissa seemed downhearted once again. "So how are you going to find a wife?"
Draco shrugged, chewing on a pastry. "Whenever it seems right." To Narcissa, who was studying her elusive son's face, a dreamy looked passed over his face, gone as quickly as it had come.
"What if it never seems right?" Narcissa pressed.
"It will." Draco looked into the glowing embers of the dying fire.
Sitting up in bed, she dressed and made her way to the dining room. She called for a house elf and asked for breakfast and the paper. I guess I can always look at the advertisements for Madame Malkins again.
But when she received the paper and read the headline, all thoughts of clothing slipped her mind.
_._._._._._._
Draco Malfoy: Taken?
Draco Lucius Malfoy, Bachelor of the Year three times in a row, is a much wanted man. Seen with glamorous girl after glamorous girl on his arm, he is commonly portrayed as a well-known player. Yet his answer to each question regarding his reputation has been, "I'm not a player. I'm simply looking for my soul mate." Does his words come true this winter as he is seen with Ginevra Molly Weasley only just yesterday in a small town on the outskirts of London, where Malfoy lives?
The Weasley family and the Malfoys have been at odds with each other even before these two were born. It is safe to assume that neither family knows about the two lovers. "It was a common occurrence, to see the Weasley boy and Malfoy fighting in the hallways." says Lisa Turpin, a Hogwarts graduate in the same year as Malfoy, now a clothes designer. Both prominent lineages among the wizarding world, does the feud end now with this blossoming romance?
But this is the real question: how had this relationship come to be? We do not know. Still waiting for both parties to speak, we can only speculate with comments from classmates and friends of the couple.
Terry Boot, a former Ravenclaw, unbelievingly says, "I would have never thought of it. A Malfoy and a Weasley? Never."
Lavender Brown, a former Gryffindor who is now working as a Healer's assistant at St. Mungos has a much stronger viewpoint, "Ginny would never do that! How could she date such a guy? Even if he has wonderful abs..."
Hannah Abbot, a current employee of Weasley's matchmaking service, Soul Mates, comments, "Gin has never been on a date in three years. It's hard to imagine her with Draco Malfoy, especially considering all the men she has dated before."
Ginevra Weasley, more commonly known as Ginny to friends and family, has dated the famous Harry Potter (Merlin bless his name, The-Boy Who-Lived-and-Defeated-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) and well known Irish Quidditch player Seamus Finnigan. It is interesting to hear what Malfoy's past girlfriends have said about the pair.
"Weasley?" snorted Pansy Parkinson, one of Malfoy's first conquests, a former Slytherin and current model for Witch Weekly, "Not in a thousand years. He's much too well bred for that."
Another girlfriend of Malfoy who wishes to remain unnamed has a suggestion for Weasley. "Don't stay with this one. He'll make you fall in love with him and the next thing you know, he's leaving you. Do it now if you don't want to be heartbroken."
However, Weasley and Malfoy have been sighted around town many times by shopkeepers and restaurant owners. "Look, those two have chemistry going between them. You'd be a fool not to see it." observes Tom, the bartender of the Leaky Cauldron. Florean Flortescue of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor echoes Tom by saying, "It's real cute to see 'em eat ice creams. There was this one time when tha' girl got ice cream on 'er nose. When she went to wipe it off, the boy jus' stopped her hand and kissed her nose instead. I'm tellin' you, it's real cute."
Is Ginevra Weasley the one that Draco Malfoy has been waiting for all his life?
See A3 for more on the Weasley family under 'WEASLEY' and A7 for more on the Malfoy family, including the mystery of Lucius Malfoy under 'MALFOY'. On the Draco Malfoy's past four years, including his re-entrance into the wizarding world, look under 'DMALFOY' on A10.
_._._._._._._
Ginny finished reading the paper, a looked up at the silent congregation of brothers surrounding her, Hermione biting her lower lip and Harry with a strange look on his face.
"So is it true?" Harry whispered. "Tell me it's just the Daily Prophet having no big story for the first page." He chuckled miserably, already knowing the answer, his eyes conveying a sense of desperation.
Ginny looked at the newspaper again. She vaguely thought that if it hadn't had been in the Daily Prophet, she would have liked to have that picture. Harry looked out the window, wishing, simply wishing...
Ron clenched his fist. "It's true, isn't it Gin? Don't lie to me."
"It's true." Ginny looked up and met her brother's eyes squarely, defying his anger.
Ron looked away. "I won't have it!" he yelled. "No sister of mine is going to date Draco Malfoy. Doesn't everyone agree?" He looked around at his four brothers.
Fred glanced at Ginny. "Look, I was joking before, but I really don't think this is a good thing, Gin. I mean, look at his reputation –"
George continued, "and his promiscuity. You need a guy who can keep his," he coughed, "finer attributes in his pants."
Ron shot daggers at George. "Are you insinuating that Malfoy's done... done that with Ginny?"
Ginny decided she should interfere. "No, Ron, we haven't done anything."
"What kind of spell are you under?" He screamed, frustrated and angry. "Of course he's done something!"
Percy clarified George's comment. "Ron, I think George means that he might be cheating on Gin. Don't get your knickers in a twist." George nodded emphatically.
Bill covered his son's ears, muttering, "Too young for you, too young to know about such surly matters." He turned to Ginny. "Why?"
Ginny shrugged. "He was there for me –"
Ron's eyes flashed. "And we weren't? We weren't for three bloody years?"
"– in a way that you guys couldn't."
Hermione covered Ron's mouth with her hand. "Gin, I know you know what you're doing." She looked tenderly at the younger woman. "You are a beautiful and mature young lady who is in love." She held up a hand to stop the protests coming from the rest of the boys, keeping an eye on Ron, who glared at her angrily. "I accept you and Draco, Ginny." Nobody missed her use of Draco instead of Malfoy.
Ron tore Hermione's hand off of him. "How can you say that? Malfoy tormented you and made your life hell from the moment we met him!"
"Don't you see Ron?"
"See what?"
"Gin's so happy, Ron. We've all noticed it." Hermione spoke to all the Weasleys and Harry now. Harry simply looked back at Hermione and nodded, understanding already. "She's hasn't been like this since Seamus. Who are we to deny her that? She's in love."
_._._._._._._
Draco after dropping the newspaper on the floor was suddenly aware of a loud commotion coming faintly from far underneath him. He instantly thought of Ginny and her million brothers and was about to run down the hallway and stairs when the shrill voice of his mother sounded from his open door in which Blaise stood still looking at his fireplace.
"DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY! YOU COME HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT OR ELSE!"
Draco winced. He had forgotten how horrible his mother's voice sounded when she yelled. He did know that he had to show up within the next few seconds at his mother's manor. He sighed and stepping back unto the stairway, he apparated.
Blaise stooped to pick up the crumpled newspaper. This was one of those times when he did not envy Draco in the slightest.
Draco arrived in front of the gates and ran up the sloping front yard. He rang the doorbell still panting and didn't expect a perfectly composed Narcissa with the newspaper in hand.
"Have you read this?" When Draco nodded, she continued. "So my insistence on calling you here is clearly explained?"
"Yes, mother."
They sat in the sitting room, Draco shifting uncomfortably in his armchair.
"So you lied to me."
Not anymore than you did to me, Draco thought. But he said, "I did." It was always better to admit that he had done wrong with his mother.
"So why didn't you want me to know?"
"I wasn't sure if she would be received with joy. She is a Weasley."
"The Weasleys are fine people. Imagine if it was the Parkinson girl again." Narcissa shuddered. "I have nothing against the Weasleys. Your father, on the other hand, did."
"I see." Draco tried to elaborate further. "Ginevra was nervous about meeting you."
"I can understand that. It's quite intimidating."
"But it's just you though. I still don't quite get why she's so scared."
"I hear she has five, no, six brothers? Do you want to meet them?"
Draco shook his head. "But that's different. That's six brothers and Potter. She just has to meet you."
"It doesn't make a difference," Narcissa explained gently, smiling, "It's just the fact of meeting someone so important in your significant other's life. It's always frightening."
Suddenly, it seemed the distance between Narcissa and Draco that had widened ever since Draco found out about Narcissa's plot just lessened that tiny bit.
_._._._._._
Ginny sat in her flat. She didn't dare go to work today. Besides the fact that there were probably reporters swarming around Soul Mates like they had nothing else to do, she was tired. After Hermione had said her bit everyone had erupted, quite possibly even louder than before. Only Bill had come remotely close to accepting the relationship. Harry just stared out the window and Ginny couldn't figure out why he was so stoic in the matter.
"She can't be in love with that git! HERMIONE!"
"Ron, stop behaving like a baby."
"I'll stick him in on of the caldrons I'm redesigning. It's terrible to be stuck in a caldron, but he deserves it."
"Hey George, what do you reckon, that new product that makes you the size of an ant, or the Ton Tongue Toffees?"
"No, try one of the first Canary Creams that we made. You know, the ones that –"
Fred laughed. "The ones that didn't make you change back until –" The twins started laughing again.
Bill fought his way through his brothers, dragging his son with him. "Gin!" he called, "Are you sure?" He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Are you sure that he's the one?"
Ginny nodded. "I didn't even feel like this with Seamus."
"I can see it, in your eyes, you know. And I have this feeling that the others do too, but they just can't get over the fact that it's Malfoy." He shrugged his shoulders. "Just as long as you don't get hurt..."
When they had finally left, Ginny didn't even look for Draco. Either he didn't know about the newspaper, but that was unlikely. She didn't want to face him right now, whatever the case may be.
Unfortunately, fate worked against her, for in the next few minutes she heard a knocking on the door. As she opened the door she hoped that it wasn't the press, so she was relieved when she saw Draco standing there. Then the butterflies came back.
"I guess you heard?" He said, looking at the paper still clutched in her hand.
"Yeah."
"I didn't even read it, I was so angry."
"It's not that bad. Well, it's not that bad if you ignore the fact that my brothers came over and berated me about you." A smile tugged at her mouth.
Draco followed her inside and sat on the sofa, putting an arm around her. "So what do we do?"
"They're obviously interested in this."
"So is my mother."
"Hm? Your mother?" Ginny frowned.
"Yeah, she wants you over for dinner this week."
"But it's your mother. I'm not ready."
"It's nothing special. She doesn't bite. Just dinner, Ginevra."
"I can't," An idea surfaced. "Do you think – do you think if we cooled down a little –"
"WHAT? How can you say that, Ginevra?"
"But –"
"No, Ginevra, we're not running away from this." I've done enough running away from the things I truly want, he thought. "I'm not letting you go."
"If we just weren't –"
"No, No, NO!" He stood up, towering over her. "I love you, and you love me. If we can't get through this in one piece, what would that mean?"
Ginny looked at the carpet. "I just thought –"
"No, you didn't think. What about my mother? She's hell bent on meeting you now. What about your brothers and parents? We can't just break up, publicly or not." He started pacing. "It would mean that such a simple matter as facing the blasted press and our families is enough to tear us apart. We're stronger than that, right?" He titled her face up to his.
Ginny's eyes filled with tears. She didn't know if it was because of the way he was talking, or the fact that she had even contemplated leaving him just for the press to back off. Maybe it was both. "Yeah, we are."
_._._._._._._
Ginny chanced returning to work the following day. She was lucky she apparated straight into the building, or she would have been run over by the reporters trying to get to her. Even with some version of the Repelling Charm on the building, she could hear their questions and comments through the front doors.
"Miss Weasley, what is your favourite colour?"
"What do you feel about Mr Malfoy's past lovers?"
"Have you and Mr Malfoy been intimate, Miss Weasley?"
She groaned.
However, that didn't stop employees and curious people, whether they were customers or not, from stopping by her office to complain or comment on something and suddenly ask a random question about the relationship. Even Grace wasn't immune to the curiosity that inhabited the wizarding world about the truth.
"Here, Gin, the papers you sent for."
"Thanks Grace."
"Gin, so that's why you were so happy right?"
"What?" Ginny stared at Grace.
"You've been glowing lately, if you didn't notice."
"I have?"
Grace nodded. "So Malfoy, huh? Nice choice, even if you weren't enthusiastic to begin with." Grace chuckled.
"Yeah. It just happened."
"So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I'm meeting his mother sometime this week."
"Good luck."
"Yeah, I'll be needing it."
_._._._._._._
Ginny apparated to the Burrow after work. She had received a letter telling her to go there, written by her parents. So she wasn't surprised when everyone was there.
Nobody said anything during dinner, which was awkward for the first time in years. There had never been something so controversially big in the Weasleys since Percy's siding with the Ministry during her third year.
Ginny perched herself on the edge of a sofa and awaited a scolding. She was not disappointed.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley, how could you do something with your life like this? He is a MALFOY. Malfoys are simply not trustworthy." Molly shrieked.
Ginny winced at the use of her full name. It always meant trouble with her mother.
"You told me to stop grieving over Seamus, mum."
"That doesn't mean to run off with the next man-whore!"
"Draco is NOT a man-whore!"
"Ginny, if this is a way for you to gain attention from us, you can stop." commented Arthur.
"It is not. I love him, mum and dad."
Their jaws dropped. "What would you know?" Molly recovered. "You made a mistake with Seamus, didn't you?"
Ginny saw red. "It was different."
"I refuse to believe it. Whatever is up with you two," began Arthur, "I want it to stop."
Bill interrupted. "Dad, you can't just do that –"
"Of course he can!" Ron yelled.
"—it isn't fair to Ginny or Malfoy."
"And what is?" challenged Arthur.
Hermione's soft tone answered. "Get to know him first, if I know correctly, he has changed slightly from that slimy little ferret we all once knew. His father isn't even alive anymore."
"He can't change. Once a Malfoy always a Malfoy. How can you change so quickly? It doesn't make sense, Hermione!"
Harry turned to his best friend. "Ron, you agreed that Gin has been happy. We all saw it."
Arthur's face softened. It might have been the fact that Lucius Malfoy was no long a factor. Or that Hermione had always been wise. "We did. Well, Gin, it seems to me that if you had to keep this relationship a secret, there must have been something wrong with it. But I am," He ignored Molly's indignant cries of 'Arthur!' and continued, "allowing you to continue for now. On one condition."
Ginny hugged her father, "Thank you, dad. Thank you so much." She smiled.
"Bring him home on Saturday."
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