"Gods, but this place is crowded for a Thursday night," Pansy complained, removing her cloak. Draco pointed to a booth against the far wall.
"There's a table over there." They hurried over to it and slid into the seats; Draco and Ginny sat together facing Ron and Pansy.
"I've never seen it this crowded, except during Quidditch matches," Ginny remarked, looking around. Her eyes fell on a mop of unruly dark hair, and she stiffened. Draco felt her go rigid and followed her gaze. His eyes darkened.
"Potter's here," he murmured. Pansy and Ron both craned their necks to look. Ron snorted derisively.
"And look," he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "He's not here with Padma. Big surprise, isn't it, Gin?" Ginny's eyes widened as she saw who Harry's arm was around.
"He's with Hermione now? But you two just broke up two days ago. He must be doing it for show, Ron."
"I don't think so," he said, turning his attention back to his sister. "But then again, I don't care, either. So let's change the subject." Draco eyed Ron thoughtfully.
"It doesn't bother you that Potter's here with your ex-fiancée?"
"It does, and it doesn't," Ron shrugged. "It bothers me a little that it only took two days to move in on her, but I'll get over that. If I still loved her, it would bother me a helluva lot more."
"You have no feelings left for her at all?" Ginny asked.
"Of course I do," Ron said, his ears turning pink. "But not enough to marry her, or to let her keep me from my family."
"Speaking of family," Pansy said, giving Draco a quick glance. "Won't your parents and your brothers be upset when they find out that you've been consorting with the likes of Draco and I?" Draco raised his eyebrows but remained silent.
"I don't think Dad will be too happy about it, but he'll live," Ron said dismissively. "Once he sees that Ginny is happy, he'll be fine. Hell, Mum will probably try and marry her off." Pansy started to laugh, but when Ron shot her a questioning look, she bit her lip and pretended to cough instead.
"Your father and my father loathe each other," Draco said, moving his arm so that it was behind Ginny's shoulders. Immediately her cheeks flushed pink. "But you're telling me that he'd forget their quarrel with each other if he saw that Ginny was happy with me?"
"I think you're giving Dad far too much credit, Ron," Ginny said, shaking her head. "He's stubborn. That's where we get it from, remember?" Ron took a deep swig of the butterbeer that the waitress had just brought, then looked up at her.
"Dad's different, Gin. The war is changing him. Not having his kids around is changing him. I think he'd do damn near anything to keep what's left of the family in tact."
"Hell's bells," Pansy swore softly. All eyes at the table swung to look at her. "Potter just saw us." Draco looked over at Harry's table, not bothering to conceal the fact that he was looking. Harry met his gaze unflinchingly and frowned before he turned and whispered something to Hermione. Draco watched with growing interest as Hermione's eyes fell on Ron and Pansy. She quickly turned away, her face turning scarlet as she did.
"He doesn't seem to mind too much," he drawled calmly. "If he did, I imagine he'd be storming over here and demanding what we thought we were doing here."
"So what should I expect at this wedding?" Ron asked, abruptly changing the subject.
"You should probably expect a lot of strange looks, to begin with," Pansy said, brightening considerably. "I'll bet that everyone will be surprised to see you and your sister there."
"There won't be any trouble if we show up, will there?" he asked, concern seeping into his features.
"Not as long as Pansy and I are with you at all times," Draco said, shaking his head. Ron relaxed a bit.
"What sort of dress is it?" he asked, fidgeting a bit.
"Very formal," Pansy answered. Ron nodded curtly.
"I still have to buy something, so if you'd like to come along with me," Draco offered lazily. "We could pick up something for you as well." Ron carefully considered the offer before answering.
"All right. When?"
"I was going to go tomorrow afternoon."
"That's fine." Ginny watched the exchange silently, wondering where Ron was going to get the sort of money it would take to buy a suitable outfit. She knew that the Malfoys only shopped at the most exclusive, most expensive stores. How was Ron going to be able to purchase anything new?
"What are you doing tomorrow, Ginny?" Pansy asked.
"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I hadn't really thought about it."
"Why don't you and I get together and do something, since the men are going to go out?" she suggested. Ginny smiled.
"That'd be nice, thanks."
"I told the two of you already," Draco teased, poking Ginny's shoulder gently. "You're not allowed to conspire against me." Pansy batted her eyelashes innocently at him.
"Would we do something like that?"
"Yes, you most certainly would." Pansy laughed, and Ginny smiled.
"Right, and you aren't allowed to tell him any stories about me as a child, Ron," Ginny instructed. Draco chuckled.
"Hey, now. That's not fair."
"It most certainly is," Ginny said sweetly, tilting her face up to smile mischievously at him. "If we can't talk about you, then you can't talk about us." Draco leaned down, stopping when his mouth was almost touching hers, and her smile faded. She waited for him to kiss her, but instead he moved to whisper in her ear.
"But I want to know everything about you." His breath was warm, and it made her shiver. "By the way, it's only fair to tell you that when you look at me like that, it makes me want to forget about the conversation we had this morning." He pulled away and reached for his butterbeer, not missing the telling color of her blush-stained cheeks as he did. Ron and Pansy pretended not to have seen anything, and continued talking.
"So, do you like Quidditch, Pansy?" Ron asked, after clearing his throat. She nodded.
"I do, but I don't really know all of the technical terms or names of plays or anything." Ron shrugged.
"You don't have to know that stuff to enjoy the game. Do you have a favorite team?" Draco shot Pansy a knowing glance and snickered. She turned pink and rolled her eyes.
"Shut up, Draco," she said, shaking her head. She turned back to Ron. "He makes fun of my team all the time, mostly because they've never beaten his team before."
"Well, who is it?"
"Promise you won't laugh," she said. He nodded and ran his fingers over his chest in the shape of an X.
"Promise."
She took a deep breath before muttering, "The Chudley Cannons." Ron's mouth fell open, and his eyes brightened considerably.
"You're kidding," he breathed. She shook her head. "That's been my favorite team since I was little."
"Really?" Pansy asked, a smile spreading across her face. Ron nodded. He was seeing Pansy in a whole new light; Hermione had never cared for flying, let alone Quidditch – but here was Pansy, a girl after his own heart.
"Would you like to go out sometime?" he blurted. His ears immediately turned scarlet, and Ginny gaped at him. Draco arched an eyebrow, amused at the turn of events. Pansy nodded.
"Yes." Ron looked considerably relieved. "Don't you consider us going to the wedding as going out?"
"I hadn't thought of it that way," he admitted. "What about tomorrow night?"
"Sure," she breathed, smiling. He grinned at her, then reached for his butterbeer.
"Wait," Draco said, shaking his head. "So, you and I are going shopping tomorrow afternoon," he said, gesturing between the two of them. "And then tomorrow night you're taking Pansy out?" Ron nodded.
"I guess so."
"Is there a problem with that?" Pansy asked, frowning. Draco shook his head.
"Since we're all going to be spending the day together in one way or another anyway, why don't we go out together tomorrow night?"
"You wouldn't mind sharing Ginny with us?" Pansy teased. Draco smirked.
"Ginny is staying at my house right now, remember, Pans? I can spend all the time I want alone with her." Ginny hid her grin behind her hand as Ron narrowed his eyes at Draco.
"I hope you're not saying that you'd do anything improper with my sister," he said testily. Draco stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing. Harry and Hermione turned and stared at them incredulously.
"You're worried that I'm going to try and ravish her?" he laughed. Ron frowned. Pansy and Ginny exchanged puzzled looks.
"Why is that funny?" Pansy asked.
"I'm just amused that he's so concerned about her. No, Weasley, I wouldn't dare try anything that would call her virtue into question." Ron looked confused for a moment.
"He means he's not going to try to have sex with me," Ginny reassured him. Ron's mouth dropped open, and Pansy roared with laughter. Draco was laughing so hard that tears were squeezing out of the corners of his eyes.
"Ginevra Weasley!" Ron hissed, scandalized. "I can't believe you'd say something like that in a public place!"
"What did I say?" she asked innocently, taking a sip of her butterbeer.
"As fun as this has been," Pansy began. "I think we'd better be getting back to the Manor. I'd like to freshen up a bit before dinner."
"That sounds like a plan," Draco said, reaching into his pocket for money. Ginny held her hand out and shook her head.
"Let me." She placed some money on the table and stood. Pansy watched Draco direct an adoring gaze at Ginny before his expression closed off again, and she sighed. It was good to know that her best friend was finally happy again.
Ginny reached for her cloak, but Draco already had it in his hands. She turned her back to him and let him place it around her shoulders, not missing the fact that his hands lingered a little too long on them than was proper.
When the quartet had left the Three Broomsticks, Harry turned to Hermione with a worried look. "It's worse than I thought, Hermione. I can see that there's no going back now. We're going to have to take drastic measures."
"Like what?" she asked, holding out her hands. "It's not like he's just going to hand them over, if he's using them for something. And they looked pretty happy to me, Harry, so I don't think they'd come to us willingly."
"I don't care what they want anymore," he said angrily. "They've deserted us, and they've deserted the Order. We have to do something for our own safety." She searched his face for any signs of what he was thinking.
"Are you suggesting that we're just going to let them go to Malfoy's side?"
"Not without taking care of some things first."
"Like what?"
"They're both extremely dangerous to us at this point, and you know it just as well as I do. They know all of the Order's weaknesses, and they've both been included in all of the top secret information Dumbledore's trusted us with."
"What are you suggesting, Harry?" she asked, with no small amount of trepidation. Harry's expression hardened.
"We're going to have to modify their memories." Hermione looked horrified.
"No!" she shook her head vehemently. "You know what kind of side effects memory charms have, and the kind that you'd need to use on Ginny and Ron –" she swallowed hard. "Well, I know that you'd wind up probably damaging them permanently!"
"That's why I'm not going to perform the charm – you are." Hermione snorted.
"And just how, exactly, do you think either of them is going to let me close enough to them to do it? They'd know what I was about to do the second I opened my mouth."
"Not if you stun them from behind before you do it. They don't have to be awake for the charm to take effect."
"They do for that strong of a charm!" she protested. "I'd have to look both of them in the eye while I erased their memory." She looked saddened. "I'd be erasing all of Ron's memories of us together."
"They might know what you were doing while you were performing the charm, but afterwards they wouldn't know what had happened. Think about it, Hermione. You could have Ron back. Things could be like they were before Ginny left us." Hermione's expression softened, and Harry felt a wave of triumph.
"Fine, you get them to me, and I'll do it."