"Virginia! Where are you, my love?"
Virginia Weasley did not answer her mother's calls. She was sitting in her chamber, on the window-seat, gazing out across the grounds. She did not turn even when the door opened, and her mother bustled in.
"There you are! Come along, the carriage is here, we must go!"
"I am not going," Virginia said stubbornly.
"What?" Molly Weasley's voice faltered slightly. "Don't be silly, darling! Of course you must come, the Malfoys will be expecting us!"
"I am not going," Virginia repeated. "I will not go and be presented to Draco Malfoy like a trophy; it is an insult to my father's memory."
"Don't be so ridiculous!" cried Mrs. Weasley. "Your father would have been happy to see you courting such a fine gentleman as Draco Malfoy –"
"My father is no doubt turning in his grave! He disliked the Malfoys with a passion I have never seen before – I will not go!"
Mrs. Weasley surveyed her daughter's fiery face with some disapproval.
"Very well," she said coolly. "I will tell I. Malfoy that you are ill; but next time I will make no excuses for you!"
She turned on her heel and flounced from the room. Virginia remained on her window-seat until she saw her mother leave the house and the coach set off down the great driveway. Once the coach was out of sight, she left the window-seat and hurried downstairs into the kitchens.
"Has Harry been in today?" she asked the cook eagerly. The cook thought for a moment.
"Why, yes – he came in at dinner-time, begging me for some food. I gave him some scraps left over from breakfast."
"Where is he now?"
"I don't know!" the cook said crossly. "Out with the horses, I shouldn't wonder, and then he'll come back in here, trailing mud and dirt everywhere..."
Virginia left the cook to her ramblings and dashed outside, to the stables. She quietly opened the door and slipped inside; she could see Harry grooming her own horse, a fine black stallion with a glossy coat.
"Harry," she said softly. He jumped, and turned, and smiled.
"Virginia," he said, nodding. "I thought that you were visiting the Malfoys today." Virginia made a small noise of contempt.
"I told my mother that I would not be presented to Draco Malfoy like a trophy."
"Am I to presume that she did not take the news well?"
"Yes. She told me that she would inform the Malfoys that I am ill, but next time she will make no excuses." Virginia sighed. "I wish that I had not been born a Weasley."
"Now, Virginia; you must be grateful for what you have. Your family is rich, and healthy, and well-respected."
"Yes, but I continue to be trapped, like an animal in a cage. It should not be like this, Harry! I should not have to sneak out to visit you like this!" She embraced him, and they exchanged a lengthy kiss. "I wish that I could marry you, Harry. Any day now, my mother will come in and announce my engagement to Draco Malfoy. I will have no choice but to go along with it."
Harry looked as though he was going to speak, but someone called his name.
"Potter! Where are you, boy?"
It was the groom, Snape; a bitter, bad-tempered man who liked nothing more than to punish Harry for the smallest of offences.
"You had better go," Harry whispered, fear in his eyes. "If Snape finds you here –"
"Of course," Virginia said. She kissed Harry on the cheek. "I will be back tomorrow –"
"Go!"
"POTTER!"
Virginia hurried from the stables and hid behind a wall. Looking over the top, she saw Snape dragging Harry from the stables. Harry's face was twisted with pain; Snape had him by the ear.
"Stupid – foolish – boy!" he was snarling. "Just like your father – you lazy, arrogant little worm!" He threw Harry to the ground, and Virginia could stand to watch no longer.
"Leave him alone!" she shouted, standing from her hiding place. Snape looked up, surprised. Harry peered from the floor, and his eyes widened as he saw Virginia. "All day and all night, you throw this poor boy around as though he were a rag doll!" she scolded Snape, helping Harry up off the ground. "And what, may I ask – what crimes has this poor boy committed?"
"He is a lazy, insolent brat!" Snape spat. "He was neglecting your horse, Miss Virginia!"
"Be that as it may," Virginia said coldly, "he deserves not to be treated like this. Perhaps I should throw you around and beat you – I wonder how you would like that! Be gone with you, Snape! And you, Potter – go into the kitchen, and tell cook that I sent you for some soup."
Snape stalked away, cursing, and Harry smiled at Virginia before walking into the house. Virginia watched him go, a smile of approval on her face.
If I can't have him, she thought, then at least I can make him happy.
***
Mrs. Weasley did not return until late into the evening, and when she did arrive, she was accompanied by Mr. Lucius Malfoy and his son, Draco. Virginia, who was sitting quietly reading, had no chance to escape. She was forced to endure their company, Draco sitting uncomfortably close to her.
"And have you any plans for marriage, Virginia?" Mr. Malfoy asked. "You are nearing your twentieth birthday, after all – time is of the essence."
"I am very well aware of that fact," Virginia answered frostily. "However, in my opinion, I have plenty of time to find a suitable husband." She glanced meaningfully at Draco, as though suggesting that she would not dare marry him. Mr. Malfoy noticed this, and a slight look of anger crossed his face; Mrs. Weasley cut in immediately.
"What Virginia means, Lucius," she said, smiling, "is that, should the right man ask for her hand in marriage, then of course she would accept. Up until now, nobody has asked, and so she has not found the right man."
"Then she is in luck," Mr. Malfoy said.
"What do you mean?" Virginia asked, although she knew full well what he meant. She felt Draco's hand on hers; she turned to look at him and longed to slap his smirking face.
"I am suggesting," Mr. Malfoy went on, "a union between the houses of Malfoy and Weasley; a marriage between Draco and Miss Virginia."
"A wonderful idea," Mrs. Weasley gushed. "You agree, don't you, Virginia?"
Virginia jerked her hand away from Draco's and glared at him.
"I will marry who I want, when I choose to," she said, furiously blinking back tears. "I do not wish to marry a Malfoy."
"You should be grateful that a Malfoy even considered marrying you!" Mr. Malfoy snarled. "Molly, talk some sense into your daughter! We will be back in the morning. Come, Draco."
Draco stood, and Mrs. Weasley saw them out of the house. Before she came back, Virginia ran upstairs and flung herself onto her bed.
"I won't do it!" she sobbed, half to herself, half to anyone who might be listening. "I won't do it!"