A/N: Here's the second chapter… Yes I know it's pretty soon, but I already had a couple of chapters written before I posted the first one. And I'd like to say a huge THANK YOU to the people who reviewed me! I honestly didn't expect to get reviews so quickly and I certainly didn't think that they'd be so nice. So thank you and I hope I will not disappoint you in the future!

PS Oh and I forgot the disclaimer for the 1st chapter – well, I don't own anything Harry Potter… Except for Aunt Georgina. She's mine :)

Chapter 2

'Malfoy,' Ginny said, taking an automatic step back.

'Indeed,' he agreed. He looked surprisingly handsome in a clearly expensive grey suit and had an air of arrogance and power around him. 'And what would a Weasley be doing in a place like this? I thought they'd be too poor to come within a cannon shot of "La Seine"'.

Ginny was about to retort, when she thought better of it. She raised her head up stubbornly instead.

'Well, appearances may be deceiving, Malfoy.'

'That's great to know, Weasley. Now, if you don't mind, I'll walk past you and take a seat while you go on doing whatever it is you came here for.'

'Actually…' Ginny drew her breath. 'Actually I wanted to talk to you.'

Malfoy's cocked one eyebrow in his typical way – Ginny'd remembered this from Hogwarts. A cold smile curved his lips.

'I do wonder what you have to say to me.' He measured her with his glance, no doubt taking into account her worn jeans and her simple shirt. 'You're a walking talking embarrassment, but I will let you speak to me.' He didn't give Ginny a chance to retort and went on, 'Shall we go in, then? Because right now I feel that we are making quite a scene for the waiters.'

'Um, yeah…' Ginny nodded.

'A table for two, Mr. Malfoy?' the same waiter who addressed Ginny before turned to Malfoy and Ginny was annoyed to discover that there was considerably more respect in his voice now.

Malfoy just nodded. The waiter led the way to a table in the corner. Ginny tried her best not to look around in awe while they were walking. The restaurant was really posh and there were all those rich fashionable people there… Ginny'd never get in there if it wasn't for Malfoy. The thought annoyed her even more.

The waiter seated them at a table in the corner, privately enough. The atmosphere was quite romantic, really: candles were lit, giving that special candlelight by which everything seemed prettier than it really was; some flowers on the tables were giving out a really peasant aroma. Ginny thought bitterly that it just had to be so that she was in such a place with a person like Malfoy. Life was definitely unfair.

Then again, considering what she was about to talk to Malfoy about, maybe this was an appropriate location.

Feeling very self-conscious in her cheap clothing, Ginny looked down at her menu for a while. Malfoy watched her for a few moments and then said:

'I suggest you tell me what you wanted. Otherwise your presence here is absolutely pointless. Of course, apart from the fact that you could be getting some quality food at my expense.'

Ginny's temper rose immediately.

'Just for your information, I'm not hungry. And Weasleys don't beg for food.'

'Oh they don't? Well, that's a relief. I'm glad they didn't sink to that level yet,' Malfoy said in a pleasant conversational manner.

Ginny gritted her teeth. She realized that her arguing skills were no match for Malfoy's. And whilst Harry and Hermione could fight him with words successfully, neither Ron nor Ginny ever managed it.

So Ginny decided not to beat around the bush and went straight into business, hoping to startle Malfoy.

'Why did you tell people that you were going to marry me?'

A pause followed. Malfoy's face didn't show any emotions whatsoever; only thoughtfulness or perhaps calculation.

'So this is what you wanted to discuss. So much the better, then.' He looked at her closely. 'Because that is what I was planning to do.'

'Excuse me?' Ginny thought she must have heard him incorrectly.

'You've heard me, Weasley,' Malfoy answered impatiently.

'You… you sit there insulting me and my family and then you say you want to marry me?'

'I never said I wanted to,' Malfoy said coldly. 'I just said that I will.'

'But… why?'

'I have my reasons, and that's enough for me.'

'Am I going to be asked at all?'

'Well, no. However, I am curious as to what you say to that idea.' Malfoy leaned back on his chair. 'You came here to talk to me and you don't seem very hostile to the thought of marrying me.'

Ginny considered his words for a moment and then wondered whether she was dreaming or mad. She couldn't be having this conversation with Malfoy in reality.

'I came here because I wanted to know why you're spreading those rumours.'

'Is that the only reason?' Malfoy asked lightly, looking into her eyes.

Ginny blushed a little bit.

'Um… no,' she said boldly. 'I… I thought I'd clarify the whole marriage thing and see whether it suits me or not.'

'So you're actually thinking of agreeing voluntarily?' Malfoy sounded a little surprised. 'What is the problem? Did the Weasleys run out of money to afford having you at home or something?'

'You don't say why you want to marry me, so why should I tell you my reasons?' Ginny snapped.

Malfoy considered her for a moment.

'Ok let's leave it at that for the time being. However, you do understand that such sudden change of attitude makes me suspicious of your motives. For all I know, I could be marrying Potter's spy.'

'You won't be.' Something in Ginny's voice made Malfoy look at her with interest.

'Had a little fallout with Potter, didn't you?' He mused. She didn't respond. He looked at her for a while and then said, 'But of course. So you and Potter had a conversation, during which you discovered he doesn't love you as much as you do him. So you want to spite him by marrying me. Interesting, but fine with me.'

Ginny's face flushed with anger and embarrassment.

'It wasn't anything like that!'

'Yeah, sure.' Malfoy smirked. Ginny felt like slapping him, but at that time a waiter came along to take their order.

'One bottle of La Veuve Clicquot, two portions of escargots a la Bourguignonne and two foie gras de Canard rotie au four.' Malfoy said easily. Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but didn't get to do it, because the waiter bowed slightly and left.

'Did you just order for me?' She said furiously.

'Well, yes. I wouldn't expect you to know your way around these types of dishes anyway,' Malfoy sneered.

Ginny felt like slapping him again.

'Whatever you say, Malfoy,' she snapped.

'Aren't we the happiest couple you've ever met?' Malfoy noted sarcastically. That brought Ginny back to her senses.

'We haven't decided anything yet.'

'I have.'

'Well, I haven't.'

'I'm afraid that's not my problem.'

'What will you do if I won't agree to marry you?'

'Return to plan A.'

'And what is plan A?'

'Blackmail.'

One word, said with enough force, was enough to make Ginny stop in her tracks.

'You mean…'

'I mean I will blackmail you, Weasley, if I find it necessary.'

'What can you blackmail me with, I wonder?'

'Do you really want me to go into that?'

Ginny looked into his steely grey eyes, which were glistening maliciously.

'No.'

'I thought so. Now shall we go back to business?'

They didn't go back to business right then, because a waiter appeared with a bottle of what Ginny recognized as champagne.

'You ordered alcohol?'

'No, I usually drink fruit juice at dinner, Weasley,' Malfoy replied with sarcasm.

Ginny felt that she might kill Malfoy before the dinner ends, after all. Which reminded her – she still needed to go back to her family dinner. Ginny checked her watch.

'You aren't going before the deal is concluded,' Malfoy warned lightly.

'I wasn't going to. I will still need to return home soon.'

'Why?'

'There's a party in my house.'

'You sneaked away from a party to meet me? Impressive,' Malfoy smirked again.

'Don't feel so happy about yourself, Malfoy,' Ginny said with disgust. 'Honestly, one thing you'll never die of is modesty.'

'And thank god for that, may I say,' Malfoy concluded as a waiter brought their starter – snails. Ginny gaped at them. She'd never eaten snails in her life.

'You look as if you've been offered some raw Acromantula,' Malfoy remarked, seeing her face. 'These are only snails, Weasley, relax.'

'ONLY snails? How do you eat them?'

Malfoy rolled his eyes.

'Honestly, Weasley, I have no idea what kind of environment you've grown up in, but you'll need to change your manners once you become my wife. I trust you know how to use a fork?'

If looks could kill, Malfoy would be dead on the floor the next moment.

'No reason to curse me with your stare, Weasley, you might as well learn while I'm willing to teach you.'

And Ginny did learn, though grumpily. She'd used the fork that was brought with the snails – or escargot, as Malfoy kept calling them – and ate the sauce with pieces of bread which was served separately.

Malfoy was watching her for a while and then concluded:

'Well you aren't hopeless. You could learn. That makes my prospects more optimistic. I guess the fact that you're a pureblood helps after all.'

Ginny guessed that it was a compliment, but she didn't know how to react, so she ignored it altogether.

'Of course, there are many things that we'll need to change about you, but I guess you're capable of looking attractive if you're taken care of properly… and dressed properly, too. You really lack style, but my mother can fix that for you. And your manners… well, you'll pick them up as you go, though of course my mother will be helping you with that too,' he added as an afterthought.

Ginny was furious.

'I don't – what the hell are you – no way! I'm NOT going to change just for your pleasure! I'm not taking style or etiquette lessons from your mother! Don't even think about it, Malfoy!'

'Oh, but you are,' Malfoy said and there was metal in his voice. 'You most definitely are. Do you expect me to allow my wife to look and act like a commoner?'

'Excuse me?'

'You're excused, Weasley.'

She glared at him for a while.

'You know what, Malfoy? I'm not marrying you.'

'You realize that you don't have a choice, right?' Malfoy asked lazily. Obviously he didn't even consider the possibility that he might not succeed.

'And what can you do to me?'

'I can do a lot of things to you. Stuff you wouldn't want me to do, trust me.'

'You… you can't,' Ginny said shakily.

'Let's see. Even if I spread such a little thing as you opening the Chamber of Secrets – which I know is being kept quiet so that your employers wouldn't be scared to hire you – it will have an impact on your future. And generally… you know who I am, right? You might want to keep on the good side of me and never cross my road, because otherwise you might find yourself wishing you'd never been born.'

Malfoy's face was harsh, there was steel in his voice and his eyes turned dark and stormy. That was when full realization of who was sitting in front of her hit Ginny finally. Good lord, she was with Draco Malfoy! The Draco Malfoy that had his people everywhere, that always got whatever he wanted, who was feared, respected, suspected of the most horrible things imaginable, but never caught doing anything wrong… the one who always got away with everything and found no obstacles wherever he went. Of course he could make her life difficult! Hell, he could make her life non-existent if he only wanted to!

What the hell was I thinking coming here, Ginny thought. Then again, though, if he wanted her, he'd get to her anyway. Maybe it's even better that she came to him. It made things easier for her, maybe… but only now did Ginny start to realize how difficult her situation really was.

She watched gloomily as the waiter took her plate away and brought the main course. It was several pieces of something on a plate surrounded by slices of apples and halves of grapes, apparently cooked, and all of it was in some sauce. Ginny was surprised to discover that she was actually hungry and then remembered that she didn't manage to eat anything at the dinner in her house – she felt like she'd throw up if she ate anything.

Ginny picked up the fork and knife and glanced automatically at Malfoy to see what he was doing with his food. Since he proceeded to eat it as any normal dish, Ginny did the same, thankful that Malfoy didn't notice that she looked up at him.

'Anyway, Weasley, my point is this. You will have to marry me and follow the rules I set for you. However, you will also get the benefit of your new position, so your life won't be as miserable as I'd like it to be,' Malfoy went on with a smirk.

'What rules?'

'Behavioural regulations mostly. After all, after you marry me, you become a Malfoy. And once you become a Malfoy, you've got to act up to the standard.'

'Oh and the standard is – have no conscience and no heart and no real friends and be the biggest moron you can get to be?' Ginny asked angrily.

'As a matter of fact, no,' Malfoy answered, apparently not bothered by her words at all. 'It will be slightly different, but I'm not going into details right here and right now. This is coming as mandatory after you marry me, so I don't see a point in discussing it.'

'Well but I do!'

'Well it's too bad for you then, isn't it?' Malfoy asked calmly, but with a touch of steel in his voice again. Ginny glared at him with pure hatred in her eyes. How, how could he always be so composed and cold, didn't he have nerves? What was he, a zombie?

'What do you want to talk about, then?' Ginny asked bitterly. Malfoy smiled coldly to himself, perhaps satisfied with how easy it was to pressure her into doing what he wanted.

'About details of our wedding: how it is going to be arranged, what is going to be said to your family and to the public and such,' he answered.

Ginny felt a bit taken aback. Somehow she hadn't considered that side of the matter yet. Now Malfoy's words brought up the thought of telling her parents and she felt positively horrified.

'Malfoy, this isn't going to work.'

'What isn't going to work? You might want to speak without the drama and the mystery if you want to get your point across,' Malfoy said impatiently.

'I cannot tell my parents that I'm marrying you. This is going to kill them.'

'I'll arrange for the funeral,' Malfoy promised ironically. 'Don't be such a fucking drama queen, Weasley. Try to force your pathetic little brain to be realistic for a second,' he went on, ignoring her attempts to interrupt him. 'Your parents will need to know. They'll know whether you tell them or not, because my marriage is going to be all around the newspapers.'

At that, Ginny went pale. She'd never considered that either. Now she realized that he was right, of course – he was Draco Malfoy, the Draco Malfoy, which meant that his bride and his wedding would get as much publicity as possible. Probably even more than Harry's own wedding, because the public got a bit tired of his good boy image and now Malfoy was the hottest item in the magazines. Damn and he had to decide to get married right then…

'Malfoy, I…'

'I'm not interested in your whining. You can do that some other time with someone else,' his tone could freeze better than ice. 'So you will tell your parents that you have been dating me for a while and you didn't tell them because you were scared of their reaction.'

Which I am, Ginny thought miserably.

'If they start telling you, "But this is Malfoy", you will say that this is exactly what you expected from them and that this is exactly why you didn't tell them,' he went on. Ginny was a little surprised at how well he imagined her family's reaction and how he accepted that they'd be horrified. 'You'll tell them that we're getting married in two weeks.'

'Two weeks?!' Ginny repeated, aghast.

'My mother will arrange everything,' Malfoy continued as if she hadn't spoken. 'The marriage will take place in the Malfoy Manor. It will not be big; I don't want a lot of guests. It will be a private ceremony uniting two people, who want intimacy and not hundreds of strangers tramping over their happiness,' Malfoy said sardonically and Ginny understood that this was how the newspapers were going to explain it.

She also resolved to keep her mouth shut because the more she tried to argue the crosser and more humiliating Malfoy became. She was sure she wouldn't think up a comeback good enough …

'My mother will arrange for the dress as well. She'll be nice to you, I suppose, because she will already consider you as part of the Malfoy clan. However, do not expect either of us to be pleasant with any of your relatives in private. Publicly, we will say lots of nice things about them,' he added.

'That's hypocrisy,' Ginny noted. Malfoy gave her a strange look.

'That's PR,' he said. 'Do you think I just decided to marry someone like you, with no sense of style, someone so boring and unattractive, from a family as low as yours – for my own fun? You underestimate me greatly, then.'

'Will you stop insulting my family?' Ginny exclaimed, her face red, throwing her fork onto the plate.

'No,' Malfoy answered simply. 'And by the way – you will be dead nice to the Malfoys in public. And don't forget how much you love me, by the way.'

'I will never – why me, then? Why did you decide to marry me?' Then Ginny's face lit with a sudden realization. 'You want to get close to Harry or my family, don't you? You want to harm them through me!'

Malfoy looked at her in surprise for a while and then started laughing. Ginny's eyes widened in shock.

'Now that's one good theory,' he said, still laughing. 'First time I see you try to use your intelligence – and what a miserable failure it is.'

'Don't try to lie to me, I can see right through you!'

'Yeah, that's obvious,' Malfoy said with heavy sarcasm. 'I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't give a damn about either Potter or the Weasleys. Come on, you can do better than that, Weasley. Get over the War. The Dark Lord's gone for good, nobody's going to jump at you and kill you anymore, quit that paranoia.'

'Why do you want to marry me so badly, then?' Ginny squinted.

Malfoy looked at her again, calculating something. Then he sighed.

'Fine. I want to marry you because I need to convince certain people that I'm a good guy to some extent. By marrying someone like you, I do a great deal to show how I'm different from my father and how I'm trustworthy after all. Also, since you're a pureblood, I do all that without seriously offending anyone from my class.'

'And are you really a good guy different from your father?' Ginny dared to ask. Malfoy glared at her.

'No.'

Ginny's heart dropped. She'd hoped, against hope, that he wouldn't be as bad as his father was. She'd hoped that there was something human in him. She hoped she wasn't marrying a Death Eater, a monster…

'So… you were a Death Eater?'

'No.' There was clearly doubt on Ginny's face, so Malfoy said in a bored voice, 'Oh for fuck's sake, Weasley, I wouldn't be able to lie about that. It's self-evident. I don't have the Dark Mark.'

'Oh,' Ginny's face brightened up. Malfoy laughed harshly.

'Don't be so happy. I only didn't become a Death Eater because I was too young to take the oath. It comes in handy these days, of course.'

Ginny's chest tightened. Ok so she was going to marry a Death Eater or a person who was as good as a Death Eater. Wasn't it just great…

Suddenly, her delicious meal stopped tasting so good. Malfoy eyed her amusedly.

'I see I've given you something to think about.'

She didn't respond to that. They sat in silence for a while. It wasn't even an uncomfortable silence; it was rather thoughtful. Each had a lot to consider.

Then suddenly, someone stopped near their table. Ginny lifted her head up to see a stunning-looking young woman. She was a brunette, one of those posh girls with a lot of extra self-confidence. The brunette gave Ginny a fleeting look and then her eyes settled on Malfoy, who also looked up.

'Good evening, Mr. Malfoy,' she drawled in such a way that Ginny immediately understood that her and Malfoy had known each other quite intimately and were definitely on the first-name basis. She even blushed a little at the thought. Malfoy, in the meanwhile, smiled at the woman and something appeared in his eyes – something Ginny had never seen in them before.

'Good evening, Ms. Vartell,' he answered in a similar manner. 'You look wonderful tonight, may I say.'

'You certainly may,' the woman gave a short seductive laugh. 'I gather you are busy?'

'Nothing important,' Malfoy smiled at her charmingly – to Ginny's surprise and annoyance. She was nothing important? 'I will be joining you shortly… Ms. Vartell,' a small smile curved his lips as the woman licked hers.

'I will be waiting, Mr. Malfoy.'

With that, she gave him a final glance and departed. As soon as she went out of the range of hearing, Ginny exploded:

'Your future wife is nothing important then, huh? What about the love you're declaring in the newspapers? Don't you think you'll need to alert your…' She couldn't bring herself to say any word describing his lovers. Malfoy smiled, amused by her outburst.

'Calm down, Weasley. My private life has nothing to do with you, that's for one. The people in this restaurant in general and Vivienne in particular do not need to know that you're my future wife, because that'd embarrass you in front of them forever – just look at yourself now. That's the second reason. Thirdly, I will indeed be alerting MY,' he mocked her expression. 'However, you do not expect me to block them all out of my life, do you? Unless you're ready to give me what they are giving me.'

Ginny's face flushed when she understood what he was implying.

'No – there will be nothing like that between you and me!'

'That's what I thought.'

'But you said that your marriage with me is all about PR! These… they will not help your PR.'

'I can be careful enough when I need to, but thank you for your concern anyway,' Malfoy answered, cocking an eyebrow. That deepened Ginny's blush, because she realized that her outburst must have sounded childish and jealous.

'Look, I don't give a damn what you do…'

'Then stop trying to meddle with my life,' Malfoy cut in. 'unless you're looking for problems.'

There was a short pause.

'Anyway, I will be going, as you surely understand.' He smirked. Ginny moved to stand up from the table.

'This was a horrible meal – and you're a horrible person – and I would never agree to marry you if it wasn't for the blackmail.'

'I thought you were quite willing when you came,' Malfoy noted and went on, 'and I also thought that you'd have enough manners to at least thank me for the meal.'

Ginny glared at him.

'Goodbye, Malfoy.'

'No "thank you's", then, huh? We'll definitely need to work on your manners,' Malfoy said with mock concern and smirked. 'I'll send you an owl sometime soon, Weasley, you and my mother will need to work on your wedding dress. Besides, you'll need to report to me how your talk with your family went.' It was an order. Ginny thought of saying something mean, but could find no words – she was way too angry.

'Ciao, Weasley,' Malfoy said as she turned around and went out of his sight.