Theme: Link 'Em Up
Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Ginny Weasley
Prompts:
[Action] Tripping over something
[Trope] Fake Dating
Word count: 2,718 words

Dear Ginny Weasley,

I hope this letter finds you well. I know this seems strange since we have never been friends and indeed have not spoken since you hit me with that Bat hex in my fifth year (ouch by the way), but I have a proposal for you (not that kind of proposal) that I am hoping you will accept. It could be a solution to a problem you are currently having and would certainly help me a great deal.

If you have not already incinerated this letter and are willing to meet with me, please send a reply with Xerxes my owl. I will be at the Rose and Crown in Wiltshire on Saturday at 7 PM. It's a Muggle Pub so we won't be seen by people we know if that is a concern for you.

D. Malfoy

Draco sat nervously at a booth in the back of the Pub. It was only five minutes past seven. Weasley wasn't terribly late yet, but he was feeling insecure about this meeting. He took the note out of his pocket and scanned it again. He knew what it said, having read it what felt like a million times up to that point.

Malfoy,

At first, I thought this was a joke from George, but he would never own such a tetchy owl. Curiosity doesn't just kill the cat; it might kill this witch too because I'm dying to know what problem you think I have and how you think your mysterious proposal can fix it. I'll meet you at 7 PM. But if this is some kind of trick, my Bat-Bogey Hex will be the least of your worries.

-Ginny

At least he wouldn't have to worry about her wand. This wasn't a trick. A glance at the headline of the day's Daily Prophet folded on the table next to him showed how serious her problem was and just how he could fix it.

Harry Potter's New Lady Love
How did Ginny Weasley manage to fumble the quaffle this badly?

The headline was accompanied by a photo of Harry Potter and Megan Jones, a former Hufflepuff classmate, locked in a passionate embrace in front of The Leaky Cauldron. The movement in the photo showed the lightly falling snow flurries. The by-line showed that Rita Skeeter had somehow managed to turn the once-respected newspaper into another tabloid. Draco sneered at the headline feeling disgusted at his younger self for having collaborated with the reporter in his youth. Time and wisdom gained from being on the receiving end of her poisoned pen had changed his view of her methods.

A server had just brought over menus and Draco ordered another pint of ale. As the server retreated Draco saw his supper guest arriving. Ginny Weasley had grown in presence, if not height. She was still as petite as he remembered her in his final year at Hogwarts, but confidence and accustomed celebrity status allowed her to command a room. Several persons noticed her arrival even if they were unaware of who she was and the significance of her presence. Her auburn hair curling lightly under a navy-blue hat with a white pom at the peak. Her camel boots and matching coat had light snow resting on it. It seems the snowfall had picked up outside.

"Malfoy!"

She greeted him with a single word. He nodded to the seat across from him by way of reply. "Thank you for meeting me. I wasn't sure you would come."

Ginny took off her hat and coat, her hair sticking up for a minute before she patted it back into place. Then she took the seat across from him.

"I said I would," she replied, glibly.

"Still -"

Whatever he was going to say next was lost as the server returned with his pint. Ginny ordered a steak and kidney pie and a glass of white wine. Draco ordered the same. Left alone, the silence grew awkward for a moment until Ginny noticed the headline on the newspaper and sneered. Draco chuckled and said, "that's the problem you have that I can help with," before taking a pull of his ale.

"Planning to help me murder that Skeeter woman?" A perfectly arched brow punctuated Ginny's question.

"Let's call that Plan D for now," Draco chuckled again.

"Then what is it then? I must admit your letter made me curious."

"I think we should fake date," Draco replied as if it were the most obvious suggestion in the world.

"That is the stupidest idea I've ever heard. I thought you were smart, Malfoy. At least that's what Hermione always said."

"Granger thinks I'm smart?" Draco couldn't keep the astonishment out of his voice.

"Not the point," Ginny returned. "What problem do you think I have, exactly?"

"Harry Potter. Or rather, headlines about Harry Potter that drag you into it."

"Fair. But how do you suppose you can help?"

Draco was spared from answering when their food arrived. They tucked into their very delicious pies for a few minutes and the break gave Draco a moment to organise his thoughts. Admittedly, he hadn't really considered how he would articulate his idea in such a way that Ginny would agree. He hadn't really put much thought into this scheme at all. That uncharacteristic short-sightedness was coming back to bite him now. Plates clean and their beverages refilled, and Ginny looked across at him expectantly. Taking a deep sigh, he tried to explain himself.

"Right now, Skeeter is painting you as the scorned, bitter woman and Harry as the Golden Boy who had found his next Golden Girl. But you're not any of those things, right?" Draco paused, Ginny nodded, and he continued. "So, change the narrative. Date someone that will change the narrative, guaranteed."

"Is that where you come in?" Ginny sounded skeptical.

"That's where I come in," Draco said, with confidence. "There's literally no one alive Harry Potter hates more than me. The whole Wizarding World knows this."

"But won't they say I'm just dating you to get back at him? Instead of bitter, it would just be relabelled as petty. How is that better?"

"We make it look natural. It cannot be a planned debut otherwise they will know you're trying to make a statement. It has to look like we were trying to hide it and got caught. Like it's a dirty little secret–"

"Well, that's something we can agree on," Ginny interjected. Draco's narrowed eyes were his only response. She just smiled and shrugged in reply. He shook his head and carried on.

"We make a series of appearances, some public, some relatively private, they talk about it but there's nothing salacious to say, and then after a reasonable amount of time we break up amicably and go our separate ways." Draco took another pull of his ale to punctuate his big finish.

"What's in it for you?" Ginny asked, archly, swirling the wine in her glass.

There was a pregnant pause as Draco tried to get out the words that seemed to be stuck in his throat. "Being associated with you will raise my public profile. The shareholders seem to think that I'm not serious about my position in leadership. Apparently, my unstable romantic life demonstrates that I am flighty, and it raises concerns about my leadership ability and my capacity to make decisions." That last part was said in a voice that was clearly supposed to be an imitation of someone with an extremely high-pitched voice. At the end of Draco's spiel, he heard an unnatural cackle come from his dining companion. If the Pub hadn't been so noisy, he was sure they would have attracted the attention of every single patron. As it was, only a passing server looked in their direction.

"Are you quite finished?" Draco asked. His voice was stern but there was a shadow of his usual smirk on his lips.

"Yes. I just think it's funny that after years of strutting around the castle like a snooty king, you need my celebrity status." Ginny shrugged.

"Well actually it's more of your Weasley name but believe me, the irony isn't lost on me either." He met her gaze and held it. "But clearly I'm willing to accept when I need help, which is a far cry from the boy I used to be." That last part was said in a contrite voice. Ginny took it as an unspoken apology and nodded.

"I think we can try it for a month, see how it goes. This meal wasn't a complete disaster, and it helps that we have a history, even if it was one of tension and animosity in the middle of a war," Ginny said, nonchalantly. To seal the deal Ginny raised her glass in a toast. "To real fake dating." Draco raised his pint and tapped it against her glass. "To real fake dating," he agreed.

They finished their drinks, Draco paid the bill and they stepped into the cold January night. The snowfall from earlier had stopped.

They walked up the road exchanging bits of information about themselves. If they were to convince people that they had been dating for a while in secret, they would need to know things about each other. Draco learned that Ginny owned a small house in Devon near her parents but rented a small flat in Wales that she shared with her Harpies teammate, Felicity Gordon. She wanted a cat but couldn't keep a pet right now because of all the traveling she had to do for job as a quidditch player. She learned that he owned a townhouse in Chelsea but spent one weekend a month in Wiltshire with his mother. His father had died in Azkaban. His company had a number of subsidiaries, but his primary concern was a recent acquisition of a potions research and development

The conversation was flowing easily until Ginny suddenly put out, "I think we should kiss," at which point Draco, caught off guard, tripped over his own feet and almost went face first into the snowbank before he caught himself. Ginny's peals of laughter echoed across the night. After she recovered, she continued. "We're going to have to be somewhat physical if we're going to be convincing and we can't kiss for the first time in front of a bunch of people. It's going to be awkward and that will be a dead giveaway." Draco nodded his agreement, but his confidence had faltered a bit somewhere between him tripping and her laughter. After a short time, Ginny said she had to leave, she had an early practice. As she began moving away to apparate, Draco stopped her with a hand on her arm, leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to hers. Startled, she froze for a second before relaxing into the kiss. They stayed like that for a minute before they pulled away, their breathing heavy and their breath visible in the cold air between them. With a small smile, Ginny stepped away again and this time Draco let her. With a small 'pop' on an empty country road, she was gone. Draco continued on his way back to Malfoy Manor and his mother.

As it turned out, their debut as a couple was almost instantaneous. Draco awoke the next morning to a blurry photo of his face plastered on the front cover of the Daily Prophet standing opposite a blushing Ginny Weasley. Over breakfast with his mother Draco read Ginny's latest message, a reaction to the headline:

Malfoy,

We continue as planned. At least now we can assume that damn bug woman is always watching.

-Ginny

After quidditch practice, Ginny left the Harpies pitch to find Draco waiting for her. They went to lunch in the village near the stadium. Based on the whispers at their arrival at the restaurant, news had traveled fast. People knew who they were and what their appearance meant but no one seemed to know that they were faking it, which was good.

Again, their lunch was jovial and pleasant and again they made the papers. This time they were locked in a smiling embrace. No one knew that the cause for that embrace was Draco stumbling on some uneven ground and Ginny bracing his fall. The photo was snapped just as she was laughing good-naturedly at his misfortune.

Over the next few weeks, they appeared to be inseparable with Ginny spending a conspicuous amount of time in London always conveniently near Draco's office or townhouse. The papers could never seem to actually catch her arriving or departing, but the gossips didn't need confirmation of a relationship. One embrace and a smile were all it took for speculation to run wild. They made a point to never be spotted together in wizarding establishments and only coincidentally be in the same place at the same time when they were among friends and family. The ruse seemed to be working as more and more articles about them were appearing in the papers and the articles about Harry Potter mentioned her less. There was now a strange competition being waged between the couples with the media trying to decide who was happier and who was in it for the long haul.

The true test of their fake relationship came on Valentine's Day when they had decided that they would make a soft debut as a couple. They would be spotted in London, not at a wizarding establishment but a Muggle restaurant that had frequent wizarding patrons. The hope was that someone would see and report without it looking like they were trying for the attention. Their friends and family were already asking questions, but Draco and Ginny were so far managing to be evasive about their responses.

Draco arrived early to the restaurant and the hostess seated him at a table in the back near the window. They strategically wanted to be seen but not appear to want to be seen. It was a tight rope to walk, this covert fake dating for the public. He had just gotten a bottle of red wine and 2 glasses when he saw the hostess returning with Ginny in her wake. Ginny was wearing a little black dress with black pumps. Her hair was in an up-do showing tiny emeralds in her ears. Her bracelet and bag matched her earrings. Draco thought she looked breath-taking and, in an effort, to stand at her arrival, stumbled against the table and spilled a little of his drink. Ginny gave him a small smirk. She was getting used to him being less than graceful in her presence. She greeted him with a kiss to the cheek, being careful not to leave any lipstick marks, and whispered in his ear, "Malfoy, I thought you were more graceful than this. Didn't you used to play quidditch and strut around the castle? How are you always tripping over things now?"

Draco chuckled affably and said, "this time it's the dress." Ginny took the compliment as intended and they seated.

Before, their dinner could get underway Draco filled her glass and cleared his throat. He didn't know how to approach the topic he had been thinking about for the last few days. Direct was best he decided.

"I think we should date."

"We're already dating Malfoy," Ginny said with a smirk. "The sneaky photographer across the street behind that streetlight will make sure everyone knows we were here tonight."

"No. I mean, I think we should date…for real."

"Our trial month is almost over, and I've enjoyed the time we've spent together, and I would like it to continue…for real. I was hoping this could be our first real date." There was no missing the hopeful look on his face.

Ginny played with the napkin in her lap not meeting Draco's eyes. After a long pause, she finally looked up and said, "I'd like that." Draco released the breath he didn't know he was holding. Raising his glass he made a toast. "To real fake dating." A memory of the night one month ago came back to Ginny and with a big smile she tapped her glass against his, "To real fake dating."

That moment was immortalized forever on the cover of the next morning's Daily Prophet.