A/N: Well, here it is, the second chapter. I'm so glad everyone has been so
nice in reviewing. Sorry it took so long to put up, but first I was in
Pittsburgh, then school started. It's awful.
Speaking of school, now that it has started, updates are going to be fewer and farther between. I'm taking all honors classes and I just don't have enough time to dedicate hours a day to writing anything other than stupid reports, algebra, physics, articles and ucky health stuff. Sorry. Also, I tried to update yesterday, but it was really messed up (the DM did it, not me!) and so I couldn't. Forgive me?
Chapter Two: Considerations
Ginny sat cuddled up in her favorite chair in the Gryffindor common room, thinking. It was past midnight, and no one else was awake, or if they were, they weren't bothering Ginny. The last note from Harry was still in her hand, partially crumpled. She could feel it in her grip, could almost feel the weight of the words and what they meant for her. If Lucius approved of their marriage, there wasn't much Ginny could do to stop it. Sure, she could refuse to marry Malfoy, but it was not something she would do. No, she had a duty. Even if she was not an official member of the Order of the Phoenix, she would be in a few months, when she graduated from Hogwarts. She had spent the past few years dreaming of all the great things she would accomplish for the order, how she would become invaluable, one of the most important people in it. And if the Order was asking her to do this, then she supposed she would. After all, Ginny mused, there was no reason for them to talk or even see each other after they were married. Just a few words spoken to each other, then the marriage would be official and they needn't attend each other again. Perhaps she could even get her own little cottage or something -Merlin knew the Malfoys could afford it- to live in. Yes, Ginny thought to herself, that will work out very well.
The fire was dying down, and Ginny didn't feel like putting another log on. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she would write to Harry and tell him she would go through with it. There was nothing else she could do. Right now, things were at a stalemate. According to the stupid prophecy, they would stay at that impasse until Ginny married Draco Malfoy. She just hoped that she was doing the right thing. A fear nagged at her brain that she might be sending Harry to his death, causing her world to crash down around her. If she went though with the marriage, allowing Harry and You-Know-Who to continue on to their final confrontation, and if Harry somehow lost...Ginny shook her head. There was no way that Harry could lose. This was Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived that they were talking about. Every single year at Hogwarts, You-Know-Who tried his very best to kill Harry, and yet he was still alive. Ginny had every confidence that Harry would live. And the only way to give Harry a chance to win was to marry Malfoy. Ginny felt better having made a conclusive decision. She would marry him.
She sighed. At this point there was nothing that Ginny wanted more than someone to comfort her, to tell her that it would all be all right, that she made the right choice. Now she would never have a husband to do that for her. Well, she already knew that it would not be a marriage in the traditional sense- perhaps Draco would not be opposed to each of them having a lover? Ha, Ginny thought to herself a moment later, not bloody likely. Too much senseless Malfoy pride to hold up. This is going to be hell, Ginny muttered to herself. No, she corrected mentally, it will not. I don't know what the future holds, it might not even be that bad. Then she snorted, "Not bloody likely."
***
Draco sat down heavily in his chair. He was pissed. He was only a year out of Hogwarts, and here his father was already planning a wedding. Draco had figured he had at least a few years -perhaps a decade if he was lucky- to kill before he had to get married. But no, today his father had sat him down and told Draco that he would be married by the end of the summer. Bastard, muttered Draco. And the worst part of it was that Lucius wouldn't tell him yet who the lucky lady was- that alone made Draco suspect that it was someone especially awful. Millicent Bullastrode came to mind. No, worse than that he knew. Virginia Weasley. Who else could it be? It would be too much of a coincidence if- only days after Potter told Draco about this pitiful prophecy calling for him to marry Weasley- his father bid him to marry someone else. "Damn it!" he hissed under his breath. How the hell had his father found out about the prophecy? Draco himself had burned the paper Potter had sent, and even if Lucius had seen Weasley at the house, that in itself -though a notable occurrence- would have told him nothing. Draco found himself mentally reviewing the conversation he had with the girl. Very short, mentioned the prophecy, mentioned marriage, but no remark as to how the two were connected.
Well, Draco reasoned, maybe it wasn't my fault. If Potter could discover the prophecy, than it was probable that the Dark Lord could as well. And You-Know-Who could have told Lucius. If it was an order from the Dark Lord, then Draco's father would be keen to marry his son off to the girl the Dark Lord commanded him to. And Draco was willing to bet 100 galleons that the girl was Virginia Weasley. So, finally, here was a chance for the son who had been less than exceptional in his current assistance -or lack of it- to the Dark Lord to finally prove his mettle. Here was his chance to shine, and to make his son shine, to make a contribution to the Dark Lord's troupe, one that would have a lasting value. So, without any consideration of Draco's feelings about the whole mess (it was his life, after all, that was being determined) Lucius had written Potter, and now a wedding might be underway. "Bloody hell," muttered Draco. He had to admit, he was shocked that his father would let him marry a Weasley -Muggle-loving, red-headed, penniless filth that they were- and have future Malfoy generations be tainted by their blood. Apparently, nothing was too much to ask for when it came to You-Know-Who.
Draco found himself considering her. She wasn't bad looking, that was for sure. Her looks were more classic, not flamboyant in the least. When you first looked at her, you didn't notice her face, exactly, (just her hair, Draco thought snidely) but the more you looked at her, the prettier she became. If it weren't for her damned red hair, Draco would have said she was beautiful. But he didn't. At least she wasn't Millicent Bullastrode.
Married. For Merlin's sake he could barely even stand to thing about it. Yet what could Draco do to stop this upcoming terror? Nothing, nothing at all.
***
"Hey Ginny!" Harry called out as she walked into number four, Grimwald place. Ginny smiled back faintly. "Hi Harry."
"How was your match?" he asked, sitting himself down in on of the chairs in the parlor.
"Well, we won." The Gryffindor quidditch team had not been having a very good year. Harry was gone, the best Seeker the team had seen in almost two and a half decades. Ginny was playing Keeper, but with her rather preoccupied mind this year, she wasn't always very good. Still, after her decision made a week ago to go through with the marriage, she had become more focused.
"Well, that's good. What was the score?"
"210 to 230."
"Not bad, not bad."
Ginny smiled. "Though not as good as when you were playing."
"I have to admit, there is just about nothing more that I like more than quidditch...Ah well. What brings you here Ginny?"
"I was just visiting. Cant I stop in to see my family anymore?" she said jokingly.
"Then why did you come here instead of the Burrow?"
"Harry, you know as well as I do that my family probably spends more time here than at the Burrow. After all, they're all in the Order, except Percy and me." She looked at him significantly, as if to say, "but that will be changing as soon as I get out of school, right?" Harry just smiled. "Plus, this way I could see you and Hermione too." Harry just kept looking at her, not saying a word. "Oh, fine! I also wanted to see if you heard any news about you-know-what?" Ginny didn't feel like saying the actual words; it sounded much better this way.
"You know I would let you know if I had." Harry paused. "Gin, I'm really glad that you decided to do this." She just shrugged. "And I think that the sooner you two get married, the better. We should step up the communications process a bit, to hurry things along. Maybe you could sit down and have a meeting-"
"Me? Shouldn't you be there too?" Harry frowned.
"Gin," he started, speaking very slowly. "After seeing Lucius Malfoy in those Death Eater robes after Cedric died, how can you expect me to sit down calmly and plan a wedding-"
"And how can you expect me to marry that?" cut in Ginny angrily.
"Ginny, I don't mean to set a double standard, but it's different. Lucius Malfoy is -and we know this for a fact- one of Voldemort's staunchest supporters. How hard would it be for him to just kill me off right then and there, saving a lot of problems? Now that the Malfoys have started owling me -well, actually they only did it once- I have had to inspect every single owl I get, hoping its not jinxed or hexed to kill me right then and there. Do you really think Lucius Malfoy would hesitate to kill me?"
"Then what about just Draco?"
"I have long suspected he followed in his fathers footsteps, and I can't be too careful."
"But once again- I am supposed to marry that!"
"But the difference is that they need you, Gin. They need you to be alive to fulfill the prophecy."
"But if you're dead, then they wont need me! What's would happen then?"
"But I have to die before that will happen. And who knows, maybe by then you'll have made yourself invaluable to them."
"How?"
"Maybe by being the mother of the next Malfoy heir? I doubt they would ever allow anything to happen to you then."
"Harry, let me be clear on this one point. I. Am. Not. Having. Children. With. Draco. Malfoy. Is that clear?" Harry just smiled.
"But back to the beginning; you really should sit down and talk with them." Ginny just sighed.
***
'"Compassion...Cruel...Innocence...Corruption...Tainted evermore?' Ha! 'Better blend?' I think not. 'A tree and a gem?' Who came up with that one? 'Walking contradictions to each other.' That one I can believe. 'Complementing each other?...fair of face as fair of mind?' Must be her, couldn't be me. Ahh, I guess I'm the one who is 'striking and sharp in wit!"' Draco read over the prophecy, his response one of cynicism and amusement. "You have got to be kidding me!" he observed to his father. They were sitting in the elder Malfoys study.
"I'm not."
"Listen, you cannot make me believe this pile of horse hockey."
"Well, you don't have to. You just have to marry the girl. I don't believe most of it either, but our Dark Lord says that you will marry her, and so you shall."
"But a Weasley?" said Draco, trying to appeal to his father's family pride.
"I don't like it either, but who are we to question what our Lord says?"
"Father, I really don't think that this is a good idea. What if its just another one of Potters brilliant ideas to infiltrate the ranks of-"
"Once again, Draco, who are you to question the Dark Lords orders?" Lucius paused. "Also, He has sources that we know nothing of. If He says that this is the right course of action, then I believe Him. I have not gained my status as one of our Lords most trusted and loyal supporters by supposing that I know better. You would be well to follow that example." Draco was tempted to sneer, but wisely kept his expression blank.
"I see," he replied instead. "When is this wedding going to take place?"
"As soon as the girl is out of school." Draco's eyes widened slightly.
"But that is only three months from now!"
"Very observant, Draco." Lucius remarked sarcastically as he rose from his chair and walked off.
"Well, at least I get I corrupt her!" Draco muttered cynically.
AN: Thanks ArchArtist/Writer, RosyCheeks, cassie, snow-baby, Hplova4eva, LuSa, Faith Akiyama, kneh13, Electryone, bobcat, starryn1ght, and everyone else who reviewed for the first installment. Keep it up!
Also, sorry if this chapter was confusing. Just let me know if it was, I can fix it, if I need to!
Speaking of school, now that it has started, updates are going to be fewer and farther between. I'm taking all honors classes and I just don't have enough time to dedicate hours a day to writing anything other than stupid reports, algebra, physics, articles and ucky health stuff. Sorry. Also, I tried to update yesterday, but it was really messed up (the DM did it, not me!) and so I couldn't. Forgive me?
Chapter Two: Considerations
Ginny sat cuddled up in her favorite chair in the Gryffindor common room, thinking. It was past midnight, and no one else was awake, or if they were, they weren't bothering Ginny. The last note from Harry was still in her hand, partially crumpled. She could feel it in her grip, could almost feel the weight of the words and what they meant for her. If Lucius approved of their marriage, there wasn't much Ginny could do to stop it. Sure, she could refuse to marry Malfoy, but it was not something she would do. No, she had a duty. Even if she was not an official member of the Order of the Phoenix, she would be in a few months, when she graduated from Hogwarts. She had spent the past few years dreaming of all the great things she would accomplish for the order, how she would become invaluable, one of the most important people in it. And if the Order was asking her to do this, then she supposed she would. After all, Ginny mused, there was no reason for them to talk or even see each other after they were married. Just a few words spoken to each other, then the marriage would be official and they needn't attend each other again. Perhaps she could even get her own little cottage or something -Merlin knew the Malfoys could afford it- to live in. Yes, Ginny thought to herself, that will work out very well.
The fire was dying down, and Ginny didn't feel like putting another log on. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she would write to Harry and tell him she would go through with it. There was nothing else she could do. Right now, things were at a stalemate. According to the stupid prophecy, they would stay at that impasse until Ginny married Draco Malfoy. She just hoped that she was doing the right thing. A fear nagged at her brain that she might be sending Harry to his death, causing her world to crash down around her. If she went though with the marriage, allowing Harry and You-Know-Who to continue on to their final confrontation, and if Harry somehow lost...Ginny shook her head. There was no way that Harry could lose. This was Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived that they were talking about. Every single year at Hogwarts, You-Know-Who tried his very best to kill Harry, and yet he was still alive. Ginny had every confidence that Harry would live. And the only way to give Harry a chance to win was to marry Malfoy. Ginny felt better having made a conclusive decision. She would marry him.
She sighed. At this point there was nothing that Ginny wanted more than someone to comfort her, to tell her that it would all be all right, that she made the right choice. Now she would never have a husband to do that for her. Well, she already knew that it would not be a marriage in the traditional sense- perhaps Draco would not be opposed to each of them having a lover? Ha, Ginny thought to herself a moment later, not bloody likely. Too much senseless Malfoy pride to hold up. This is going to be hell, Ginny muttered to herself. No, she corrected mentally, it will not. I don't know what the future holds, it might not even be that bad. Then she snorted, "Not bloody likely."
***
Draco sat down heavily in his chair. He was pissed. He was only a year out of Hogwarts, and here his father was already planning a wedding. Draco had figured he had at least a few years -perhaps a decade if he was lucky- to kill before he had to get married. But no, today his father had sat him down and told Draco that he would be married by the end of the summer. Bastard, muttered Draco. And the worst part of it was that Lucius wouldn't tell him yet who the lucky lady was- that alone made Draco suspect that it was someone especially awful. Millicent Bullastrode came to mind. No, worse than that he knew. Virginia Weasley. Who else could it be? It would be too much of a coincidence if- only days after Potter told Draco about this pitiful prophecy calling for him to marry Weasley- his father bid him to marry someone else. "Damn it!" he hissed under his breath. How the hell had his father found out about the prophecy? Draco himself had burned the paper Potter had sent, and even if Lucius had seen Weasley at the house, that in itself -though a notable occurrence- would have told him nothing. Draco found himself mentally reviewing the conversation he had with the girl. Very short, mentioned the prophecy, mentioned marriage, but no remark as to how the two were connected.
Well, Draco reasoned, maybe it wasn't my fault. If Potter could discover the prophecy, than it was probable that the Dark Lord could as well. And You-Know-Who could have told Lucius. If it was an order from the Dark Lord, then Draco's father would be keen to marry his son off to the girl the Dark Lord commanded him to. And Draco was willing to bet 100 galleons that the girl was Virginia Weasley. So, finally, here was a chance for the son who had been less than exceptional in his current assistance -or lack of it- to the Dark Lord to finally prove his mettle. Here was his chance to shine, and to make his son shine, to make a contribution to the Dark Lord's troupe, one that would have a lasting value. So, without any consideration of Draco's feelings about the whole mess (it was his life, after all, that was being determined) Lucius had written Potter, and now a wedding might be underway. "Bloody hell," muttered Draco. He had to admit, he was shocked that his father would let him marry a Weasley -Muggle-loving, red-headed, penniless filth that they were- and have future Malfoy generations be tainted by their blood. Apparently, nothing was too much to ask for when it came to You-Know-Who.
Draco found himself considering her. She wasn't bad looking, that was for sure. Her looks were more classic, not flamboyant in the least. When you first looked at her, you didn't notice her face, exactly, (just her hair, Draco thought snidely) but the more you looked at her, the prettier she became. If it weren't for her damned red hair, Draco would have said she was beautiful. But he didn't. At least she wasn't Millicent Bullastrode.
Married. For Merlin's sake he could barely even stand to thing about it. Yet what could Draco do to stop this upcoming terror? Nothing, nothing at all.
***
"Hey Ginny!" Harry called out as she walked into number four, Grimwald place. Ginny smiled back faintly. "Hi Harry."
"How was your match?" he asked, sitting himself down in on of the chairs in the parlor.
"Well, we won." The Gryffindor quidditch team had not been having a very good year. Harry was gone, the best Seeker the team had seen in almost two and a half decades. Ginny was playing Keeper, but with her rather preoccupied mind this year, she wasn't always very good. Still, after her decision made a week ago to go through with the marriage, she had become more focused.
"Well, that's good. What was the score?"
"210 to 230."
"Not bad, not bad."
Ginny smiled. "Though not as good as when you were playing."
"I have to admit, there is just about nothing more that I like more than quidditch...Ah well. What brings you here Ginny?"
"I was just visiting. Cant I stop in to see my family anymore?" she said jokingly.
"Then why did you come here instead of the Burrow?"
"Harry, you know as well as I do that my family probably spends more time here than at the Burrow. After all, they're all in the Order, except Percy and me." She looked at him significantly, as if to say, "but that will be changing as soon as I get out of school, right?" Harry just smiled. "Plus, this way I could see you and Hermione too." Harry just kept looking at her, not saying a word. "Oh, fine! I also wanted to see if you heard any news about you-know-what?" Ginny didn't feel like saying the actual words; it sounded much better this way.
"You know I would let you know if I had." Harry paused. "Gin, I'm really glad that you decided to do this." She just shrugged. "And I think that the sooner you two get married, the better. We should step up the communications process a bit, to hurry things along. Maybe you could sit down and have a meeting-"
"Me? Shouldn't you be there too?" Harry frowned.
"Gin," he started, speaking very slowly. "After seeing Lucius Malfoy in those Death Eater robes after Cedric died, how can you expect me to sit down calmly and plan a wedding-"
"And how can you expect me to marry that?" cut in Ginny angrily.
"Ginny, I don't mean to set a double standard, but it's different. Lucius Malfoy is -and we know this for a fact- one of Voldemort's staunchest supporters. How hard would it be for him to just kill me off right then and there, saving a lot of problems? Now that the Malfoys have started owling me -well, actually they only did it once- I have had to inspect every single owl I get, hoping its not jinxed or hexed to kill me right then and there. Do you really think Lucius Malfoy would hesitate to kill me?"
"Then what about just Draco?"
"I have long suspected he followed in his fathers footsteps, and I can't be too careful."
"But once again- I am supposed to marry that!"
"But the difference is that they need you, Gin. They need you to be alive to fulfill the prophecy."
"But if you're dead, then they wont need me! What's would happen then?"
"But I have to die before that will happen. And who knows, maybe by then you'll have made yourself invaluable to them."
"How?"
"Maybe by being the mother of the next Malfoy heir? I doubt they would ever allow anything to happen to you then."
"Harry, let me be clear on this one point. I. Am. Not. Having. Children. With. Draco. Malfoy. Is that clear?" Harry just smiled.
"But back to the beginning; you really should sit down and talk with them." Ginny just sighed.
***
'"Compassion...Cruel...Innocence...Corruption...Tainted evermore?' Ha! 'Better blend?' I think not. 'A tree and a gem?' Who came up with that one? 'Walking contradictions to each other.' That one I can believe. 'Complementing each other?...fair of face as fair of mind?' Must be her, couldn't be me. Ahh, I guess I'm the one who is 'striking and sharp in wit!"' Draco read over the prophecy, his response one of cynicism and amusement. "You have got to be kidding me!" he observed to his father. They were sitting in the elder Malfoys study.
"I'm not."
"Listen, you cannot make me believe this pile of horse hockey."
"Well, you don't have to. You just have to marry the girl. I don't believe most of it either, but our Dark Lord says that you will marry her, and so you shall."
"But a Weasley?" said Draco, trying to appeal to his father's family pride.
"I don't like it either, but who are we to question what our Lord says?"
"Father, I really don't think that this is a good idea. What if its just another one of Potters brilliant ideas to infiltrate the ranks of-"
"Once again, Draco, who are you to question the Dark Lords orders?" Lucius paused. "Also, He has sources that we know nothing of. If He says that this is the right course of action, then I believe Him. I have not gained my status as one of our Lords most trusted and loyal supporters by supposing that I know better. You would be well to follow that example." Draco was tempted to sneer, but wisely kept his expression blank.
"I see," he replied instead. "When is this wedding going to take place?"
"As soon as the girl is out of school." Draco's eyes widened slightly.
"But that is only three months from now!"
"Very observant, Draco." Lucius remarked sarcastically as he rose from his chair and walked off.
"Well, at least I get I corrupt her!" Draco muttered cynically.
AN: Thanks ArchArtist/Writer, RosyCheeks, cassie, snow-baby, Hplova4eva, LuSa, Faith Akiyama, kneh13, Electryone, bobcat, starryn1ght, and everyone else who reviewed for the first installment. Keep it up!
Also, sorry if this chapter was confusing. Just let me know if it was, I can fix it, if I need to!