Enough was enough.
She had suffered through being stuck with the dressmaker's pins. She had endured the pinching and incessant kisses on both cheeks from that woman's family. She had been stuffed into that frothy, ruffled nightmare of a dress three times for fittings. She bore the endless shopping trips for unnecessary accessories with grace. She remained silent when the bride told her with whom she would be paired with to walk down the isle. She was the epitome of calm when her mother announced the fact that her room was being taken over for the next two weeks, but this… this was the last straw. She was not going to let little miss 'I am zo much better zan you' tell her how to fix her hair, and she told her so in no uncertain terms. She had the sneaking suspicion that the Veela look-alike wanted to turn her into an identical twin of her sister Gabrielle, and was probably not above using Polyjuice to make her into a blonde.
Fleur sniffed disdainfully at Ginny's rebuff and walked away, leaving a little lavender bottle of nail polish on the table for her reluctant bridesmaid. Ginny swore. Apparently all their nails and toes had to be the same color, as well.
Ginny glared at the little bottle.
Nope. Not going to happen. It was time to take a stand, and that time was now.
Chucking the lavender polish into the bin, she reached into her bag and pulled out a cherry red color called 'Miss Behaving', and smiled.
Enough was enough.
Enough was enough.
He could not believe what had happened to him. He bore the knowledge that his father had led the insurrection of the Dark Lord. He was resigned to the fact that the lack of evil was making his father a little barmy. He continued steadfast when expected to help Harry effing Potter fulfill his destiny. He endured Granger's incessant prattling on about Horcruxes and potions, though he was thankfully able to tune out the SPEW rants. He put up with the fact that Potter and Weasley now called him 'Draco'. He said nothing when his father decided to host afternoon tea parties for the Goblins at Gringotts, but this… this was the last straw. He was not going to support his mother in this ridiculous business venture that she wanted to start. A wedding coordinator? It was absolutely unacceptable. It was beneath the station of a Malfoy. And he most assuredly was not going to fill in as her assistant until someone 'more appropriate' could be hired.
Narcissa swept into the room, placing a bag and some planning books on a table.
"Are you ready, darling?"
No. This would not happen.
Narcissa smiled at her son. "Darling, you're perfect for this. You have such a flair for decorating charms!"
Draco closed his eyes. "Mum, please," he said through clenched teeth.
"Draco, darling, we must make amends. You're father's peculiar behavior is still troubling to most people, so you and I will have to show the Wizarding community that the Malfoys are still strong, capable, and a force to be reckoned with."
"Right. And you'll be doing this by planning weddings?"
"Draco. Don't be smart with your mother."
Draco seethed even as he picked up Narcissa's things and followed her to the Apparition point.
Enough was bloody well enough.
Ginny sat wrapped up in her dressing gown on the battered overstuffed sofa in the sitting room of The Burrow. She may have been kicked out of her room, but she'd be damned if she were going to let it interrupt her lifestyle. She was determined that her life should carry on as normally as possible. What did it matter than all manner of people were running around obsessed with Phlegm's wedding? She didn't know any of them, and it wouldn't have mattered if she did. Enough was enough. She had several back issues of Witch Weekly spread out on the table, opened to various beauty articles. Her hair was wrapped up in a ragged, pale blue towel, and while she was waiting for the facial masque she'd applied to dry, she was painting her toenails. She had her feet propped up on the coffee table with little strips of cotton wool between her toes, happily humming to herself, reading her magazines as she sipped some tea, ignoring the people that traipsed back and forth through the room. When she heard unfamiliar voices in the kitchen, she didn't think much of it. Her mother had told her that Fleur's wedding planner was coming today, and had mentioned something about 'making herself presentable, for Merlin's sake.' As far as Ginny was concerned, that was what she was doing. She was in the middle of a massive beauty regime overhaul, doing exactly what her mother had asked.
The door opened and Molly ushered a beautiful blonde woman through the door, and stopped cold. Ginny froze.
Maybe if I don't move, they'll ignore me.
Molly smiled through clenched teeth. "Narcissa, this is my daughter, Ginevra. Ginny, do you remember Mrs. Malfoy? Cissy and I were at Hogwarts together."
Cissy? Ginny sighed. Here she was, looking for the entire world like the biggest troll on the planet in the face of the loveliest woman in Christendom. Molly glared at her.
"Yes, ma'am. Hello." Ginny put on a smile and felt her face crack through the masque. "We met at the Quidditch World Cup, but we've never been properly introduced. I'm Ginevra Weasley. I'm pleased to meet you." She almost felt like she should curtsey.
Just then Ron and Harry bounded down the stairs behind them. Molly stopped them.
"What are you two up to?"
"This and that, Mum. Nothing much," he replied, shoving something plaid into the pocket of his jeans. "AHH!" he yelled, looking at Ginny. "What is THAT?"
Ignoring Ron's outburst, Molly continued the introductions. "This is my son Ronald, and his friend Harry. Boys, this is Narcissa Malfoy."
"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Malfoy. How is your husband feeling?" asked Harry.
She smiled. "Oh, he has his good days. He's planning a Teddy Bear Picnic for the children of the neighborhood next Thursday, if you're interested," she explained, as if that summed it all up.
"Really. Smashing," Ron replied. "Did you bring Draco?"
Ginny's heart sank. Not Malfoy, too.
PleaseMerlinnodon'tdothistomeI'llbeagoodwitchfromnowon, she thought.
"Yes, boys, he's talking to your brothers, I believe," Narcissa replied.
Ron looked at Harry. "I'll go rescue him. There's no telling what Fred and George will do to--" He stopped abruptly, with what he supposed was a winning smile. "I mean, I'll go greet our guest."
Ginny began clearing up her mess from earlier; stacking the magazines and gathering up the sweet wrappers and cotton wool bits strewn about the room. Harry tried awkwardly to help her, making more of a mess than not. Why had she left her wand in the kitchen? Must keep wand with me at all times, she thought. Then she could clear all this up and wipe her face clean easily before Draco Malfoy came into her living room.
Narcissa and Molly moved out into the garden to discuss the table placement and position of the receiving line. Once they were out of earshot Harry said. "Nice face, Gin. Looks like you stuck your face in a cream pie."
"Thanks, Harry," she hissed. "Do you have your wand, or are you just going to stand there like an enormous lump while I do all this by hand?"
"Well, this is infinitely more amusing, Ginny," he said, laughing. He turned toward the kitchen door and bellowed, "Ron!"
Ron came through the door, followed by a sulky looking Draco. Ginny braced herself for the merciless teasing that was to follow.
"Yeah, Harry. What?"
"Ginny needs some help."
Ginny swore at whichever deity put her in this predicament. They would all make fun of her now. She was standing in her dressing gown, with wet hair and a face full of goo in front of Draco blessed Malfoy. Heavens, he's gorgeous. This is retribution. I'm getting payback for every hex and jinx I've ever dished out, she thought.
"Draco, you remember Ginny?"
Draco walked over to her and took her hand. "Enchanted," he said, kissing the back of it.
"Hello, Malfoy," she said guardedly.
Ron and Harry just kept pointing and sniggering, but Draco was standing there, face impassive, looking around as if nothing was amiss. He looked a little bored, actually.
Ginny gathered up her things, and giving him and incredulous look, sprinted up the stairs.
Later that afternoon, the decorating was in full swing. Ginny stood at the kitchen sink, washing dishes from lunch and looking out the window at the spectacle. You could say what you wanted about Narcissa Malfoy, she was a transfiguration genius. She had turned the old, long, battered, picnic tables into tasteful round ones, complete with starched tablecloths and beautiful floral centerpieces transfigured from stones on the ground. She had used the leftover firewood from last winter to create a raised platform for the ceremony, and an old grapevine that was half dead for a trellised arch for the bride and groom to stand beneath. Draco had even helped after Narcissa had put her foot down, and did a beautiful job with the place settings and china. It was nothing short of miraculous how the back garden looked completely different than it ever had before, like something out of a fairy tale.
She was taking an inordinately long time to get the dishes washed, her attention inevitably drawn to the blond boy outside. He was currently wrestling with some faeries, which were being belligerent about being forced to hover about in the shrubbery for the next twenty-four hours. He finally subdued them and glanced up at her, blowing the hair off of his face. Their eyes held for a moment, and then his mother called him and he rolled his eyes, gave the barest hint of a smile, and turned to walk where he was summoned.
The rehearsal and ensuing supper were orchestrated down to the last detail. The whole affair was almost more than she could bear. She didn't complain when she had to walk down the isle with her mum's cousin the accountant, (Bill had a soft spot for the man) who gaped, open-mouthed at the whole spectacle. She put up with Fleur's Uncle Gerard 'accidentally' brushing up against selective parts of her person, and even endured the fact that her future sister-in-law had her favorite brother completely snowed. She gritted her teeth and forced a smile when her mum forced her to dance with Harry, who apart from the fact that he had been in a horrific mood all summer, made it perfectly clear that he'd rather be playing Quidditch with the rest of the boys. And if that weren't enough, he had bad breath to boot. She made it through what she liked to call 'The Great Finger and Toe Fiasco', when Fleur went into full rant mode over her choice of nail polish. The French girl was somewhat cowed by Narcissa, who lured her away from Ginny with a wink, under the pretense of making a Very Important Decision. Ginny sank down into a chair at the edge of the garden, hoping for a little peace.
Hermione sank down beside her. "Hey, Gin? How goes it for the sister-in-law bridesmaid?
Ginny laughed wryly, glancing in the direction Fleur had gone. "Hell on Earth. Where are the guys?"
"Oh, they're off who knows where," Hermione replied. I thought that once Ron and I started dating that it would be different, but you know them."
Ginny nodded. "Boy's club."
'The rehearsal was nice, though. The dinner was fabulous," Hermione commented. "Mrs. Malfoy really seems to know what she's doing. Having dancing is nice, huh?"
"Sure, for those who get asked. And kindly do not point out that I've danced. Dad, Charlie, Harry, and the token Muggle do not a stellar dance card make," Ginny replied.
"Would you dance with me?" asked a voice to the left of her.
Draco Malfoy stood resplendent in dress robes holding a hand out to Ginny. Hermione gave her a little nudge and a nod, and Ginny took his hand, allowing him to lead her to the dance floor.
"You look lovely this evening."
She smirked and looked up at him. "Better than this morning, you mean?"
He looked down at her. "Different."
"I should say so. All that effort made all this possible," she said as she gestured in the vicinity of her hair and face.
"Well worth the effort, I'd say," he replied. "But you'd have looked lovely in any case."
She gaped at him, speechless.
"What?" he asked.
She found her voice and whispered, "I was just wondering if this was what 'Malfoy minus evil' looked like."
"Oh, I'm still evil," he murmured, twirling her.
"Yes. Kissing hands and wrangling faeries and dancing about… that's all terribly evil business. My mistake."
He smiled slightly. "It's subterfuge. Straight from the 'How to Be an Evil Git' handbook. I'm planning a coup to take over the wedding, abduct a bridesmaid and send all of the guests to Outer Mongolia."
"Fascinating. Fleur will have an aneurism. How can I help? Do I get to be the one abducted?" she asked coyly.
"Oh, no," he said seriously. "Gabrielle. I only abduct annoying French brats. You'll enjoy Mongolia, though. I hear it's lovely this time of year."
She swatted his chest.
He got the oddest look on his face for a moment, but then he chuckled and spun her around.
She looked at his face. It was softer than she remembered it being in school. She supposed that having a lot of the stress in his life evaporate had a lot to do with it. He looked content, almost. Maybe happy. Happy for him, at least.
"Malfoy," she said, interrupting the silence, "your mother is watching us."
"Mmm. So is yours."
Ginny huffed. "She should be watching my brothers. They're off doing something horrid, no doubt."
"Oh, I've absolutely no doubt. They were all huddled around something, trying to charm it."
Ginny swore. "I'm sorry," she said as the music ended. "I need to make sure that they're behaving. Or at least misbehaving properly. Thanks so much for the dance, Malfoy. You're… graceful."
He raised an eyebrow.
"And evil, of course. Good luck with the coup/kidnapping thing. Let me know what I can do to help."
"Will do."
She walked away, feeling irritated with her brothers and Harry. She'd much rather be dancing with Malfoy, holding on to his shoulders and being pressed up against him. But, in the interest of getting Fleur exactly where she would feel it the most, she'd best go see what they were trying to do.
"Molly, are you doing it right?"
Molly scowled at the woman standing beside her. "We got the same marks in Charms, Cissy. Don't backseat jinx, please."
Narcissa looked sideways at her old school friend. "Yes, Molls, but I've had a bit more practice jinxing and hexing than you have over the last few years, you know. You'll want to flick your wand a little more at the end, there."
Molly stopped and looked at the blonde woman. "Fine," she snapped. "You do it, you control freak."
"Now, Molls, be sweet. These are our children we're talking about. And we do want to get it right. When was the last time you cast a spell like this?"
Molly smiled. "On you and Lucius. Before everything went wrong," she said wistfully.
Narcissa managed a tricky little wave of her wand and softly said an incantation, and a jet of light whooshed out from her wand, hitting her intended target. "There. All taken care of. Are you sure this will be all right?"
Molly laughed. "Shouldn't you have asked that before we meddled in our children's lives?"
Narcissa smiled down warmly at her friend. "Just like old times, eh?"
"Very much. It's good to have you back, Cissy."
"It's good to be back, Molly."
"Oh, blast. They stopped dancing."
"Don't you worry, it will begin the next time he asks."
"Clever. That presupposes he'll ask her to dance again, Cissy."
"Oh, I know my only son, Molls. He'll ask her. I've seen the way he looks at her. He just needs a nudge."
Ginny walked up stealthily to the group of wizards huddled around a scrap of fabric and listened to their argument.
"But it has to be time released."
"Shouldn't we make it one word?"
"Yeah, but the counter curse can't be something that he'd think of right off."
"Bill doesn't deserve this."
"Yeah but she does. Have you seen how she's treated Gin?
Ginny felt a swell of pride as her brothers plotted against her future sister-in-law. "Need anything, boys?" she asked.
They snapped to attention and Ron hid what they'd been working on behind his back. Fred and George started to cover.
"What could we possibly need-"
"From our sweet sister-"
"Other than her complete and total happiness-"
"And the occasional batch of special brownies?"
"Save it," Ginny said. "So what are we doing to her? I want in."
Charlie grinned. "Yeah, okay, huddle up. We've charmed Fleur's going away dress to have a time-release temporary Sticking Charm. They won't be able to get it off until Bill says the correct words. We can't decide what the counter curse phrase should be. Ron likes 'Nice Bludgers', while George is fond of 'Veela's do it with magic', both of which I think are moronic."
"Her dress, huh?" Ginny asked.
Charlie nodded. "Yup. Ickle Ronniekins brought down Bill's underpants first, but we sent him back for something of Fleur's. Got to indoctrinate her into the family properly, you know. So. You got anything better than those silly arse counter phrases?" He hit his brothers on the back of their heads. "Idiots."
Ginny nodded. "I have to agree. Ooh! Why not have it be a song? He'd never think of that."
Charlie snickered. "Brilliant. What song?"
"How about 'God Save the Queen'?" drawled a voice from behind them.
Ginny looked up and saw that Malfoy had followed her out to her brothers.
Ron grinned. "Perfect, as she'll already be lying back, thinking of England."
Fred hit him on the back of the head again. "She's French, you idiot."
Charlie nodded and finished the incantation. "Done. Harry, you sneak it back upstairs. Mum will never suspect you'd do anything wrong. The rest of you… spread out, and act casual."
Ginny watched them all disperse. She was a little disappointed that Draco never asked her to dance again that evening, but then… there would always be tomorrow.
The day of the wedding dawned sunny and clear, as if Fleur would have stood for anything less. Ginny thought that somehow she must be channeling her Veela powers to get everything just the way she wanted it. She was truly an obnoxious bride, and Ginny couldn't wait for them to leave after the ceremony, so that Phlegm could get her just rewards for being such a royal pain in the arse.
The ceremony went without incident, and Fleur really did look beautiful. As Ginny sat by herself at one of the tables, she almost felt sorry for the trick the newlyweds were going to have played on them. She looked out on the festivities. Almost everyone was dancing, even Ron and Hermione. Harry, of course, was nowhere to be found. Off brooding somewhere, probably. She didn't want to suffer through all the scowling and halitosis anyway. Just as she was about to get up and look for Malfoy, he took the seat beside her.
"Hello, Ginny."
"Malfoy."
"Lovely wedding."
"Thanks to you and your mother. I still can't believe you know how to transfigure sticks into fish forks."
"You could keep that bit of knowledge to yourself, you know."
"Pfft. As if Harry and Ron aren't going to spread it all over the castle when school starts anyway."
Draco shook his head. "I honestly don't think they've noticed anything. Ron's too wrapped up in Granger and Potter's always off sulking somewhere."
Ginny regarded him. "So why is it that you can call my brother by his first name, but not Harry and Hermione?"
"I can call him Harry, just not when he's being a prick."
Ginny nodded. "I can respect that. And Hermione?"
"Old habits die hard. Yours do, as well."
"Pardon?" she asked.
"You call me Malfoy."
She squinted at him. "Do you want to be called something different?
"'Commander Malfoy' has a nice ring to it."
"You wish."
He looked at her seriously. "Or just Draco, really, would be fine," he said softly.
Ginny shook her head. "I've seen you actually flinch when Ron calls you by your first name, Malfoy. I call you that out of respect."
He looked at the tablecloth. "I wouldn't mind as much with you."
She frowned momentarily, and then her face relaxed into a smile. "Okay, Draco."
He returned her smile. "Okay, Ginny."
"So, Draco," she said giggling, "are you ever going to ask me to dance, again?"
He tensed for a moment, and didn't answer right away.
She flushed scarlet and got up quickly. "Sorry, Malf- erm, Draco, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'll just go, then."
She quickly sped away, intent on finding somewhere private to die of embarrassment. Why had she asked him to dance? Couldn't she have just been happy with him sitting next to her chatting? Hell's bells, he asked her to call him by his first name. Maybe she needed to take it slow with him. Ease him into her world of niceness. Now she was more of an idiot than yesterday with the wet hair and facial masque. Gods, his mother probably forced him to dance with her yesterday, out of duty, or something, anyway. She was a first class idiot, that's what she was.
"Where are you going?" A strong hand caught her by the arm and turned her to face him.
Draco Malfoy looked irritated and embarrassed. Ginny decided that it was a good look for him.
"Merlin, you're fast," he said. You were halfway across the garden before I realized you'd left me."
"Left you?" she asked.
"Yes, you asked me to dance, and then you started spouting nonsense, and then you ran."
"I did not run."
"Did you, or do you not, ask me to dance?"
"I did," she answered softly.
"Good," he murmured. "Are you sure you want to dance with me?"
He pulled her against his chest and wrapped strong arms around her waist. She could smell him, pine and soap and faint traces of cologne… it was making her a little weak. She wanted to dance with him more than anything in the world at that moment.
"Oh, yes," she breathed.
"You're sure?"
She nodded her head and he led her out to the dance floor. Soft music was playing and the faerie lights were twinkling and she was in his arms. Life did not get better than this.
All too soon, the music ended. She felt saddened, she wanted to stay here in this place with him forever, but the music had stopped. She sighed, and went to release him.
She found that she couldn't let go.
Another song started up, and she found herself again dancing with Draco. She didn't mind. After all, he was the best looking wizard at the wedding.
By the fifth song, she was getting a little tired and thirsty.
"Draco?"
"Yes?"
"Do you want to get something to drink?"
"I'd love to."
She exhaled heavily. "Well, okay. You're going to have to let me go, then."
"Can't."
Ginny looked up at him and frowned. "What do you mean, you can't?"
"I mean that we have been magically bound. Go ahead. You try."
Ginny stopped dancing and tried to let him go to no avail. "What happened?" She scowled. "My brothers…."
Draco shook his head as he looked over her shoulder. "It wasn't your brothers."
"Well then who?" she asked.
"Unless I'm very much mistaken, I'd say it was our mothers."
Ginny spun them around to look over at where Molly and Narcissa were watching them covertly, from behind the five tiered wedding cake.
"Why would they do this?"
He looked down at her and frowned. "Never had matchmaker played on you, Ginny?"
She looked panicked. "Well, no. What do we do? How do we fix it? What did they curse us with?"
Draco smiled a little. "Calm down. It's not a curse. It's probably a hex. A polite word would be charm… but still… is this so horrible, Ginny? Being with me like this?"
She looked up at him. "Oh… no. It's quite nice, actually. I just… didn't expect it."
"I did ask you if you were sure that you wanted to dance with me," he reminded her.
Realization dawned on Ginny. "You knew? You knew this would happen if we danced today?"
He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. "I had a good idea. I've seen this done to other people. I thought I felt something strange happen at the end of our dance yesterday."
"Oh," she replied. "Well, how do we break it?"
"You have to kiss me."
Ginny felt as if all the faeries in the bushes had settled in the pit of her stomach. All at once she was annoyed with her mother, a little proud that Mrs. Malfoy had endorsed this, and excited beyond belief that she was about to kiss Draco Malfoy. She shot a look over to the cake, and saw the two pairs of eyes peering out from between the layers.
She cocked her head to the side. "Well, I'm all for giving my mother what she wants. This time, anyway."
As they watched their children from across the garden, the two older witches burst into fits of giggling.
"Oh, my, Cissy. That didn't take long at all."
"No, no, it didn't. Oh, she is lovely, Molls."
"Yes, thank you. He's quite handsome as well," she said as she watched her daughter kiss the boy.
"Hmm. As if he wouldn't be. Our gene pool being what it is," Narcissa noted.
Molly gave a dismissive sound. "Enough of that prattle, Cissy."
The blonde witch grinned. "Sorry. Old habits… Say, Molly, haven't they been at that long enough?"
Molly looked at her daughter. "Yes, yes, I think that is definitely long enough. Let's go put a stop to this before it gets out of hand and we get owls home from Hogwarts next term about inappropriate behavior. Are you sure you did that charm right?"
Narcissa looked down at her old friend. "I think so… it was a tricky one, though. Whatever, I did, it worked, don't you think?"
Molly nodded and gazed at their children, wrapped in each other's arms. "Yes, Cissy, it did. It worked perfectly."
End.