LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hey guys, I know I have a lot of other stories going and all but I just need to take a break. I've already been on a very long hiatus, I know but trust me, I've been trying to write the last chapter to "The Tales of two caffeine addicts" the entire time and I am completely STUCK.
I don't know if it's just me but I normally tend not to read blocks of text right off from the beginning of the story but I couldn't help it. I'm not talented enough to embed themes throughout the story so I had to lay it all out there in the beginning. Please bear with me!
If you need any clarification (as one story of mine apparently has no plot whatsoever…)
Summary: This story is mainly about elitist societies. Most of that is explained in the beginning but basically, Ginny's the black sheep of the family since after the war, the Weasleys became almost royalty in the wizarding world behind Harry Potter. Draco's immersed in society as well for his old money and name but finds trouble completely fitting in as he's from another class of elite.
Enjoy and review!
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Every society carries its own social class of the elite. No matter how perfect, no matter how equal. Before the war were the purebloods, and though the ministry was under a façade of equivalent privilege, it was naïve to say such elitist class never existed. They held the wealth, the name, and the power. It was talent that made one successful but it was the elite who decided what talent was.
After the war was won, the world went into tranquil harmony, righting the wrongs done in wicked conformity. The ministry ran strictly by rule of love, peace, equality, and justice, fervently and almost unutterably bent on creating a society so free of evil and trouble that perfection would no longer be impossible.
Unbeknownst to the creators of this ideal era, the heroes and victims of war inadvertently created another society from the ashes, a secret, inevitable elite society they never foresaw or ever intended to create. And though everything had changed from the terrors of war, some things would never change.
Now the question is, where doe true power lie? In the hands of the old generation or the new generation? Old money or novel fame?
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There was no doubt that Ginny Weasley was the black sheep of the family.
The Weasleys, though a pitiful name, was almost royalty in the ministry. Ronald Weasley was best mates of Harry Potter and remained ever so loyal to the new minister of magic as the head of the Auror department. The twins (A/N: yes, I'm still in denial.) created an empire of their small jokeshop. Charlie Weasley was the head dragon keeper and one of the finest, sought after bachelors. Bill Weasley and Fleur came to manage Gringotts as the top curse-breaker in wizarding history. Percy Weasley worked in legislation with his sister-in-law, Hermione as the forerunners in brining equality and justice to the ministry.
So flushed Ginny sat at the ministry luncheon as high ranking officials and their wives awed and sang in praise for the coveted Weasleys.
"And if it isn't the Weasley's only daughter!" A fat man whose name Ginny could not remember strolled by her table with a champagne glass in hand and a nosy wife on the other.
"Oh goodness! I just heard from Miranda that you were back from the states! What were you doing there?"
Ginny curled her lips. Four hours back in London and she was already being bombarded by the Weasley Fanclub. "Getting some fresh air. A little sunshine."
"Oh, Belle was just there, wasn't she? Do you know Belle? Splendid girl, she works with Dean Thomas at the law firm."
"No, I don't know Belle but I did date Dean Thomas for a while back in school." Ginny smiled widely, drowning down another shot of tequila… or whatever it was in her shotglass.
The woman chortled uncomfortably. "Well what brings you back here?"
"America got too stifling. One man wanted to get married. Another wanted to move in together. I had an affair with a married man. I ran out of money. And I could not breathe, you know?"
The couple stood in awkward silence before her before making some mumbled excuse about saying hi to Miranda. They scurried away from Ginny's table of wrath.
"Why must you do that every time?"
"Colin, my love, save me." Ginny flung her arms around her old friend and poured another shot of… whatever it was now.
"Ginny, please, I'm engaged. People talk like bees around here." Colin laughed, pulling her heavy arms off him.
"I know, I know, stupid Susan Bones. I don't know what you see in that child."
"She's not a free flying, uncontrollable devil like you, that's for sure. And why don't you just tell people why you were really at the states?"
"What, and make myself so much more boring than I already am? Attempting to teach magic at Salem was the biggest mistake of my life. I am not cut out to be a teacher—I just have no patience. And that tidbit about the married man was true but on my defense I had no idea he was married."
"Every magazine will want to print stories about you if you keep that up."
Ginny shrugged. "I'd like to see what it's like to be wrapped up in a scandal."
"Well I doubt you'll ever get your chance. Those magazines will probably be burned to hell if ever actually printed. Nobody'd believe a Weasley's actually a slut."
"I am not a slut! I have class! I can be a geisha."
"I am very sorry for your mother."
Laughing, Ginny summoned the waiter for a butterbeer. "Look, I'm dying here, Colin. I've only set foot back in London for four hours and it's already suffocating me. I swear it's gotten worse since I left."
"You'll die wherever you go, Ginny. You can't stand one place for too long. And with your brother's promotion and all, your name is being shot through the roofs now."
"Which brother? The amazing one or the fantastic one? Or Harry Potter's best friend one?"
"The last. Have you spoken to them at all yet?"
"No. I only saw my mum and she sat me down here in this funny lacy number and told me to make new friends."
"Ah. Then no wonder the dream team's running here as if they're recapturing Voldemort." Colin nodded to Hermione, Ron and Harry as they attacked Ginny. He heard Ginny sigh before she was under an overly excited Hermione Granger.
"Ginny! You're back from America!"
"Yeah I am, Hermione. Great to see you too!"
"Tell me it's not true what you told Mr. and Mrs. Minsk!"
"Is that their name? And that's not the reason you all came at me like bees is it? I thought you guys were actually happy to see me or something!"
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, of course we wanted to see you, sis. How was Salem?" Ron asked, hugging Ginny, gently this time.
"Dreadful. It says something when I'd rather be here than there."
"I heard lots of things about you while you were there," Harry said, smiling suspiciously.
"Oh please tell me they were bad things or those three years of my life would have been an absolute waste." Ginny hugged him in a friendly manner and ignored his hand that seemed to linger on her waist longer than it had to. "But I must say I am flattered to know that even stories about me reach the Harry Potter."
"Well I make special efforts to hear about those I care about." Harry smiled sheepishly.
"Harry, I'm not getting back together with you. According to Colin, I've become a slut."
Harry laughed. "That's not true. You look great."
"Harry, he's here."
The laugh in Harry's face melted as he cocked his head toward where Ron had nudged him. He excused himself and promptly strode over to the man standing by the ornate door with Ron and Hermione behind him as always.
"Who is that beautiful man?" Ginny asked, a weak hand on Colin's arm.
"Ginny, you've been gone for too long. That's Draco Malfoy."
Ginny's stare did not falter. "I must have him."
"Ginny, it's Draco Malfoy. Why would you want Draco Malfoy when you have Harry Potter in your hands?"
"So I can put him naked in a glass case and stare at him all day… I can't believe he's still alive. I thought he died… how the hell could he survive in this hellhole?"
"Well it does help that he's phenomenal at what he does. And he's got the old money that the ministry really needs for this progressive era. Potter's gringott's vault alone can't save the world."
"What does he do? Model?"
"He's the ambassador to the muggle world and to all wizarding countries. Potter's been waiting on him for over a week now since Malfoy got delayed in France. He's planning an alliance of all the major…"
"Is it strange that I am jealous of Harry for touching him?" Ginny interrupted as she swallowed another shot of firewhiskey—as she deduced.
"A little."
"Dance with me, Colin, I've got too see his face more clearly."
"I'd love to but I was just about to head home. I have to go see the bakery about the cake with Susan."
"You're leaving? Traitor! You're the only friend I have here!"
"Go talk to Harry. Or even better, flirt with Draco Malfoy, though I doubt you'll get nothing out of him."
"Leave, you wretched foe." Colin leaned down to kiss her cheek and apparated away. She distracted herself with the blonde Greek god by the door, his cool grey eyes resting on Harry as he spoke animatedly and ruffled his unruly black hair like the good days. Draco Malfoy looked excruciatingly bored with a slight tint of a frown in his lips, those soft pink lips Ginny wanted to grab and devour whole. His black suit was very befitting of him but before Ginny could travel further down, she was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.
Turning around, Ginny was greeted by a bouncy brunette with her perfectly stylized curls and colorful chiffon dress. "Hi, Ginny Weasley?"
"Yes?"
"I'm Belle. Mrs. Minsk told me you came back from America recently too, right?"
"Yes." Ginny smiled politely and glanced back at the door and sighed.
"He's gorgeous, isn't he?"
Ginny turned back around surprised since she thought that she'd lost the cheerful stranger. "What?"
"Draco Malfoy. I could stare at him all day."
"And that's what I intend to do."
"I can never get any work done whenever he's in the office."
"Weren't you that girl who worked with Dean?"
Belle nodded. "You know?"
"That woman told me. I tend to retain useless information like that and not so much people's names."
"Yes, well I'm very lucky that our families are very close. Our parents are speaking of marriage."
Ginny choked on her tenth-ish drink. "Married?"
The girl flushed a rosy pink hue and smiled. "It's only at the talking stage now. But I'm hopeful."
"They still do that in this century? Arranged marriage?"
Belle stared with a small frown on her face. "I've known him since birth. But my parents are letting me explore a little and all so nothing is final."
"Letting you? It's your right to explore all you want—oh you're one of those…"
"One of what?"
"Old society, old money, old blood… If there's a society I hate more than this one, it's yours." Ginny gulped another shot and pulled her hair into a quick ponytail, feeling the summer breeze on her bare neck and shoulder. Belle stared in horror at the fiery haired, alcohol chugging, snappish woman before her wondering if she could really be a Weasley. She stood up and opened her lips to retort and say something clever but was at a loss of words.
She was saved by a low, husky "Miss Casein?"
Both women turned and grinned—though Ginny with more impure thoughts.
"Mr. Malfoy, it is great to see you're back from France." Belle held out a hand for him to kiss. He ignored it and Ginny snorted.
"It's good to be back," he replied tersely, eyeing the redhead behind her who was slouched over the table that was flooding with shot glasses and her simple white dress that seemed so out of place on such rebel of a woman.
"Ah, this is Ginny Weasley. She just got back from America last night." Harry said, taking a seat next to her. "How much have you been drinking?"
"A shot after every compulsive impulse to make a run for it. So, a lot."
"You've got to get up and socialize, Ginny. You're lucky that your mother is off dealing with your brothers that she hasn't come to scold you."
"Well you're doing a fine job of it, Harry. And you haven't been doing a good job introducing me to this strapping young lad here."
"You know Draco Malfoy," Harry said uneasily. "He went to school with us. Remember?"
Ginny chuckled and winked at a scowling Draco. "Yes, but I don't remember this Draco Malfoy going to school with me. If I'd known a Malfoy would turn out like this, I should have been put into Slytherin ages ago."
"Ginny! You've had way too much to drink. Come on, let's dance." Harry stood up and tugged her hand. Reluctantly, Ginny stood, glanced behind her with a devilish smirk one last time and made a mess of the dance floor.
"Such a brazen woman." Belle muttered, sitting back down in her chair. "Have you seen such audacity?"
"In a Weasley? Yes."
"I mean, as much as we are to hate them, I am almost sorry for the Weasleys for bearing such… child."
Draco did not respond—he barely listened to Belle ramble on and on and in the end, nodded out of her monologue and stiffly made his way toward the beverages. He watched from the corner of his eye the small, previously quite empty dance floor which now seemed to illuminate with fire. A boisterous, genuine laugh crushed over all trivial chatter—the first authentic laugh he had heard for a long time. Shifty, degrading eyes around him were all centered on the newest Weasley, the black sheep and mistake of the family. Her youth and shine was almost exhausting for him.
He waited by the drinks, making small talk with other ministry officials; talks of business, politics, foreign affairs… things that Draco hoped he never would have to do back when he was still in school and full of real dreams. But now he had no choice. It was this or shameful seclusion as half of his classmates and dorm mates had to turn to. He was lucky.
Minutes later, the bubbly laughter had ceased and an irritated voice substituted the little Weasley's joy, growing louder and louder as she and her mother drew closer, bickering.
"My goodness, Ginny, have some class! This is a proper affair. I cannot have you jumping about, creating such ruckus in middle of the room!"
"Mum, there's a dance floor. I'm trying to make the most of this gloomy ditch. Since you dragged me out here in the first place, why don't you at least let me enjoy some of it?"
"I did not bring you here to act like a drunken monkey!"
"Then what, mom? Why did you bring me here then? Why did you bring me to this godforsaken hole— you want me to socialize? Make friends? How the hell can I make friends when I hate most everyone in this room?"
"You don't even know these people! You haven't even tried to make an effort to involve yourself with the family! What happened to you, Ginny… you come back from America and you've turned positively barbaric!" Molly Weasley gave her daughter a stern glare before turning her heel and wandering off to meet and greet more women. The fireball stood in an enraged hiss, breathing heavily and wrinkling the sides of her dress. Sooner or later, she was standing next to him, simmering down with another fruity beverage.
"I'll go to hell for saying this but you're lucky your parents are dead."
He stared, almost in shock—emphasis on the almost, as Malfoys are never surprised—at her remark, something he had never heard before in his life. Indeed it was true his father had died rather publicly in the war, one of the grandest, most flamboyant moment in the final battle but not many realized that his mother still lived in the shadows, cleverly puppeteering Draco's every move.
"Merlins, Malfoy, do you talk? Speak words? Or do you just stand there looking pretty all the time?"
"There's not much I could have said to your statement."
"Ah, your voice is almost as pretty as your face. Too bad you never use it to string together so much of a sentence. It's okay… we'd never work out. I'd spend all our times just staring at you. It'd be very unproductive." Ginny glanced about quickly and put down her glass.
"Since you won't make a decent conversation with me, I'll trust you to watch my back at least. If my mother or anybody in my family asks you where I am, though I doubt they will, tell them I'm having trouble digesting and I'm in the bathroom, okay?" With that, she sank behind him and the last thing he heard of her was a crack.
"Ready to go, Mr. Malfoy?" Belle asked sweetly, holding out a small, gloved hand. Draco nodded, ignored her hand and treaded out the door.
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It's so sad that I spend MONTHS on one chapter of another story when this chapter came out of my ass in two days. This story is inspired from a movie I recently watched called "Mona Lisa Smile." It's not really based on it but I was fascinated by the concept of high society so I whipped this chapter up.
Anyways, if you read my other story, please forgive me. I'm not dead and I do not intend to throw my stories away. I would have posted a chapter a while ago but I really don't want it to end like shit, though as it's going now, that's where we're headed.
ANYWAYS, as you know, the first chapters for my stories are most important to me. They make me decide whether I want to continue or not so please, please, please review! You don't have to be nice! :D
On the side note, I just came back from watching Mama Mia and I am dancing all over the place. Now all I have left to do is to watch Dark Knight… --
Review and have a swell day!