This story was written for starlit skyes's prompt in The DG Forum Fic Exchange – Winter 2010.
Of Best Friends and Marriage Laws
Dusk was just settling in when a young man walked into Lazarus Wizarding Jewelry. He walked with an air of arrogance and of culture, but when he approached the counter, it was also with the air of a man who lacked confidence.
Of course, Lazarus had seen much of that lack since the Prophet's early morning proclamation.
"I need a ring. I believe you are the premiere in jewelry, are you not?" the young blond asked.
xXx
Six Hours and Twelve Stores Before
Draco was ring shopping. Not just for any simple reason, but to find an engagement ring for his fiery best friend. Of course, there were problems with—well—everything.
His best friend was dating Theodore Nott and he was dating Astoria Greengrass. Of course, he also had the problem of having only until morning to get Ginevra Weasley to drop Theo and to say yes to him.
"This ring measures a nine point eight on our special scale. It only costs eighteen Galleons!" the saleslady in Every Witch Jewelry spoke loudly. Draco stared at the bland diamond ring and sighed.
"Can I see your hands?" Draco asked the saleslady. The woman was horrendously ugly but judging by the number of other Wizards in the Knockturn Jeweler, the rings were going fast.
"Oh dear! Of course!" she giggled at him. He took the woman's hand and sighed with exasperation.
"You have quite manly hands," Draco mused, "and they are nothing like hers!" The woman pulled her hand back in stunned embarrassment.
"Try mine!" a little slip of a girl exclaimed excitedly from the other end of the counter. She rushed over and forced her hand in his face.
"And you've hands that are much too small. She's not a bloody child." Draco snarled; stomping out of the store—ring still in hand.
"Stop! You still need to pay. That ring costs eight Galleons!" the manly witch exclaimed. The jeweler's security wizard stepped in front of Draco.
"You must pay for your ring, sir. Now." The dirty Squib told him threateningly. Draco snorted.
"They can keep the dirty ring!" he exclaimed, chucking the ring back into the store. It landed in the woman's hand but she quickly lost her balance and took a shelf full of expensive jewelry down with her.
xXx
An hour and two stores later, Draco Malfoy was no closer to finding the perfect ring for his girl. If he didn't find one soon, though, she would definitely have no chance to even be his girl.
"Hey kid. How is Astoria doing?" As he stood outside of The Royale Ring Shoppe, Draco turned quickly around to see Theodore Nott, close friend and mortal enemy.
"She's good." Draco said pathetically for lack of a better thing to say. Theo grinned.
"You must be among the masses looking for rings. I have been looking too. I've got a girl to make happy. I'm sure Gin would be right mad if I didn't ask her before this Marriage Law shite come into law in the next few days." Draco agonized over his friend's words and knew it was really time to get to business.
"The shop in Knockturn has a ring she'd love. It rings up 8.9 on their scale. She wants a simple diamond." Draco told Theo. The other boy lit up.
"She told you? Wicked. Mate, let me know if she says anything else. I've rings to look at." Theo smiled and merrily walked off towards the Alley.
xXx
Draco promptly apparated into Muggle London, in search of a jeweler who had what his Ginny had - Fire.
"Sir, I am looking for an engagement ring for my girl. Do you have anything that would fit a fiery girl?" Draco Malfoy put on his best Muggle friendly face and hoped he wasn't grimacing. Grimaces looked terrible on his noble face.
"I assume diamonds are not for this lass?" Lovely, Draco thought.
"Not for this one. She's not classy."
"What? I'm not classy?" Draco spun around to see a lovely blonde haired vixen with pale blue eyes with her arms crossed and a very pouty look on her face.
"Astoria! That is, you are." Draco stuttered. The man behind the counter seemed to be withholding laughter.
"So help me, Dray, if you have been spreading that shite about me I will fu—" Astoria stopped short when the jeweler and the other salesman burst into laughter. Her eyes darkened with fury and she stomped to the counter, her shoes clacking roughly. Draco half wondered how the skinny heel didn't snap in half.
Astoria pulled the man across the counter by his collar, her nails digging into his skin.
"I am a lady, sir. Not a bloody thing to laugh at!" Draco smirked at Astoria's forcefulness as she berated and hurt the man.
The humor was soon lost.
xXx
"I didn't have anything to do with the bloody bint attacking the man. I didn't even know she was behind me until she attacked me." Draco protested. Still, the inspector prodded him.
"You were followed into the store by a woman you admitted to be dating, and you didn't know she was there?" the Inspector asked. Draco resisted a very un-Malfoy like growl.
"I didn't even know she was back from Paris or whatever fashion capital she's enamored with these days. Frankly, I would have been happy if she didn't come back." The Inspector seemed to pick up on what Draco wasn't saying.
"You were seeing some little filly on the side?" the Inspector asked, a laugh behind his words.
"If you must know, I was going to propose to my best mate. Not my fault that bloody crazy bint had one too many and stalked me into the store."
"You're a queen, are you?" The Inspector laughed. Draco quickly angered.
"I'm not a bloody queer! My best mate's a girl."
"I'm sure he's a right fine girl—" The Inspector was interrupted by a man at the door.
"Inspector?" The Inspector left the room for a moment and returned to Draco with a sigh.
"You're free to go, kid. I'd prefer not to see you again."
xXx
It was approaching dusk when Draco found a Jeweler who was still open, and Draco was weary. There was a chance that Theo had already proposed and that Ginny was engaged.
Once he entered the store, he realized one simple thing. He was in Lazarus Jewelry, the best Wizarding Jeweler in England and the location of which was a highly kept secret.
"I need a ring. I believe you are the premiere in jewelry, are you not?" Draco was nervous but this had to be the right spot.
Draco stood quietly as the old man appraised him. "You. . . are not proposing to my niece, I don't believe. No. That girl is not for you. She needs a fire just as much as you. There is a girl you yearn for. I have the ring you are looking for."
Lazarus leant down and pulled a ring box from beneath the glass counter whilst Draco wondered how the man used Legilimens without him noticing. "Sir!"
"This is the Fire Sprite. I believe you know what to do with it."
Draco knew he had to buy it. He needed her to say yes, needed it.
xXx
"Draco. I just saw Theo. He. . . he proposed and I told him. . . I told him-" Draco interrupted, looking very solemn. It was a decidedly different look for him.
"Ginny, do you remember what I called you when we were first friends?" Draco knew by the way she looked that she didn't understand and Draco knew that she has said yes to Theo.
"You. . . you called me your little Fire Sprite. Why would you bring that up?" Ginny was baffled and more than confused.
"I went ring shopping today. It was so bloody hard. I didn't know what size of ring to get and all the girls I asked to look at their hands thought I was proposing to them."
Ginny laughed, but she still didn't understand. Why was he telling he and not proposing to Astoria?
"Astoria was apparently following me and got us both arrested by the Muggles. She thought I said she was classless. Hah. As if. They let me go just before four. I kept going into shops when I found Lazarus's Jewelry." Astoria was arrested? Why on earth was he still shopping for rings? What was going on? Draco could practically hear her thoughts.
"Lazarus? You found the hidden store?" Ginny exclaimed. Draco watched her carefully as she slipped onto the counter and dangled her legs in front of him. Then he handed her the red leather box and watched her eyes light up as she admired the ring. He watched her pick up the ring of dark burnished gold, watched her fingers glide softly over the amber colored topaz and citrine jewels. He felt his chest tighten a little when she cupped in her hand hands and watched the magic of the ring light up like fire in her palms.
"The Fire Sprite!" Draco couldn't hide his surprise at her knowing the name of the ring.
"You've seen this ring before?" he exclaimed. Well, wasn't this fantastic. All that bloody time and for what? A ring she's already seen.
"My father's great grandmother was given this very ring when she was proposed to. She was forced to sell it when her husband died. Draco, you found my ancestor's engagement ring!" Ginny couldn't hide her excitement. And then, she couldn't hide her sadness.
"You're proposing with this ring, aren't you?" Draco didn't speak. He took the ring from her hand and slipped in on her finger.
"Ginevra Weasley, will you be my wife?"
"No!" Ginny exclaimed. Draco tried to sit down but missed the chair and landed ungracefully on the floor.
"What?" Draco couldn't help it, his world was falling apart.
"You're scared because you think Astoria will say no!" Ginny all but screamed at him.
"I never wanted to propose to her! I've been in love with you for years!" Draco couldn't help but yell.
"You're still with her." Ginny said quietly after a moment of silence. Draco looked up at her.
"Not anymore."
"Well I refuse to marry anyone I haven't dated for six months." Ginny told him, getting off the counter and pulling a bowl from the cabinet.
"Ginny. The Marriage Law." Draco said. Ginny turned quickly and slipped on the end of her skirt, careening on the floor next to Draco, milk and cereal arcing in the air above them.
They sat for a few minutes, covered in milk and sogging cereal, before Ginny spoke up.
"The Prophet was cited and fined for their idea of an April Fool's Joke. There is no Marriage Law."
Draco and Ginny looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.
xXx
Theodore Nott sat at a table with Astoria Greengrass, both of them grinning at each other.
"I knew it would work. How much trouble are you in over the article?" Theo asked her, putting his hand over hers.
"Oh, I no longer have a job. They fired me as soon as they got the fine. We got Draco and Ginny to finally admit they liked each other, and got half of Wizarding Britain laid, so I'm not upset."
xXx
Six months later, Ginevra Weasley and Draco Malfoy announced their engagement. Theodore and Astoria Nott were the first to know.
Starlit's Prompt:
Basic premise: Draco has decided to ask Ginny to marry him. Now he must go ring-shopping.
Must haves: Humor, and lots of it. Insecure!Draco who tries to act all confident. I'm talking slightly crazed with love!Draco. He's still smooth and suave, but he needsthis to go right and is going a little insane trying.
No-no's: No talk about the War, and no Weasleys. This fic is more Malfoy centric.
Rating range: Anything, really.
Bonus points:
-Draco searching for people with 'fingers like Ginny' so he can see which ring would look best.
-Draco losing his temper in a jealous rage because he thinks someone - it's up to you who - is deciding to propose to Ginny as well. Whether this is Draco being suspicious, or someone actually IS going to propose to Ginny, is up to you.
-Ginny ending up there as well for a completely other reason, and being totally clueless as to what Draco is up to.