Disclaimer: I own nothing affiliated with the Harry Potter series – it all belongs to the wonderful J.K Rowling. I wish it did but unfortunately it doesn't. So please don't sue.
Chapter 2:
Beginning
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When Ginny finally came to, the first thought that ran through her head was, where the hell am I? It was now broad daylight and she was in a massive room that she had never seen before, and that could have held the whole of her apartment and The Burrow together. It was immaculately clean, with smooth white walls and antique furniture. It looked like it was some sort of living room.
Ginny tried to sit up but then winced as a shot of pain entered her head. She tried to remember what had happened: She'd entered a bar. She had had a few drinks – well quite a few drinks to be truthful, and then she'd met someone and all was blank.
"Malfoy!" she gasped as she realised just who that someone was. He must have been the one who had taken her here, wherever here was.
She thought back over her encounter. He certainly had looked good, there was no denying that. And he seemed to have filled out physically in the muscle department. He had that magnetism about him that simply attracted women. And even in her drunken state she could tell that he seemed changed not just in his appearance, but in his personality as well, compared to his days as a pain-in the-butt Slytherin bent on making her life hell at Hogwarts. But where had he exactly taken her and why? She bit her lip. Nothing untoward had happened, had there? If there had, she'd kill him.
Ginny staggered to her feet and stumbled around the room, slowly making her way to the exit so she could find Malfoy and wring his neck, assuming she could avoid the need to throw up first.
This search was soon stopped short when the man in question appeared with a highly amused expression on his face. "Not feeling too well, are we?" he asked.
"Shut up, Malfoy. Where the hell am I?" she spoke bluntly.
"You're currently in my home." Ginny gave him a blank expression till he added, "The Malfoy Manor."
Ginny nodded her head in recognition but then shrieked, "I'm in your home! You actually brought me here! Just what exactly are you planning Malfoy?" She looked around for another exit but saw that Malfoy was blocking the only door.
"What am I planning?" he echoed in confusion, and then burst out laughing as he realised just exactly what she meant. "Weasley, if you think that that was what I was intending, then you are seriously mistaken. The reason I brought you here was because I didn't know where you lived, and because you were passed out in the middle of a bar and I decided to take you somewhere safe before some drunken fool took advantage of you."
"Oh." Ginny said as his words sank in. It made sense, in which case, she should be thanking him. She knew he had changed, but thanking a Malfoy after all those years of being teased and picked on wasn't something that she wanted to do. "Thank you, Malfoy." She bit out with distaste.
Malfoy shrugged. "It was nothing."
They stood there in silence for a few moments, both unsure of what to say. Ginny was truly thankful to Malfoy, as much as she didn't want to admit it. And he seemed so different; it was more evident now than last night. He still called her by her last name, true (but then she still called him by his last name too), but there were no taunts there, no more Weasel or anything like that. She tried to think about what she had heard of him after the end of the war with the defeat of Voldemort. She'd still been dating Harry at the time, and he'd been very impressed with Malfoy – apparently he'd helped out. Him and his father had been working undercover for Dumbledore, or something like that.
Ginny was interrupted from her thoughts when Draco finally spoke. "I think I have a proposition for you that you might be interested in."
Ginny frowned, maybe he wasn't as changed as she had thought. What exactly was this proposition? Was he trying to come on to her? Oh Merlin. "Malfoy," she spoke clearly before he could say anything else. "If you want to have sex with me then the answer is no. I'm still pure thank you very much, and don't plan on changing that with you." Her head hurt more than before.
Malfoy looked slightly agape. "Where would you get that idea from?" Then he thought of something. "Pure? Are you saying that you're still a virgin Weasley? Even after all those years with Potter. No wonder he left you." He spoke the last part so softly but Ginny still heard it.
She froze as he brought up that painful subject. "Get lost, Malfoy. Just leave me alone."
She slumped back into her chair, her head in her hands. Malfoy shifted, trying to think of what to say. He hadn't meant to come off that harsh.
"Sorry, Weasley."
Ginny's eyes widened. Malfoy had actually apologised to her. Well that was a first. Malfoy could see what she was thinking and rolled his eyes. "A lot of things have changed since I left school you know." He paused. "And you might want to take some anti-hangover potion before you get any more crazy ideas into your head. Me proposing sex with you, honestly." He smirked as he produced a small bottle. "Here, drink this."
Ginny survey the bottle suspiciously.
"Go on, it's just an anti-hangover potion, nothing more. It'll make you feel better."
Ginny slowly drank it, watching Malfoy's face as she did so. He had better be telling the truth.
A few seconds later Ginny's headache had disappeared and she felt wide awake. "Thanks Malfoy, I feel much better." She inwardly gaped; she'd just thanked Malfoy. This had to be one of the most bizarre days of her life.
"Back to this proposition, Weasley. Apparently both you and I have suffered from severe break-ups."
Ginny nodded.
Malfoy continued, trying to figure out just exactly how he should phrase this. "And now our exes, Potter and Pansy, are getting married to each other."
She slumped at the reminder. She suddenly felt like drinking again.
"And they both expect us to just turn up at the wedding, single and miserable. In fact, everyone expects that."
Ginny again nodded dismally.
"Well then why don't we team up, go to the wedding together, and show them all that we're perfectly fine without them. Have some sort of revenge."
What Malfoy said made sense. In fact, she liked the idea. But there was one slight problem Ginny had with it. "Just what exactly do you propose we do?"
"Pretend that we're dating and completely in love, of course." He said calmly, hiding his nerves. It had seemed like a good idea when he had first thought of it, but he wasn't so sure now.
Ginny on the other hand mulled over what Malfoy had just said. Should she? She desperately didn't want Harry to think that she was still dateless after all this time. That she was still pining after him. He didn't need an extra ego boost. She wanted to show him, she wanted to show her family who always constantly reminded her of her failure to keep a man (basically, Harry), and who always supported him during their break-up when she was the one who needed support the most. Yes, she'd show them all and have fun doing it.
"Yes." She agreed.
Malfoy looked startled. "Yes? You actually agree?"
"Yeah, I want to show people that I'm not just some desperate female who has no life without Harry." She even looked surprised at what she said herself. "I want to prove them wrong. And so do you, it seems."
"Fine."
"Fine."
There was another pause. "Well I guess we had better shake hands on it, seal the deal, that sort of thing." Malfoy suggested and he extended his hand.
Ginny gingerly held out her own and shook it, sucking in air when she felt something electric flow through her as her small soft hand touched his strong hard one. Malfoy didn't seem to feel it, and just shook her hand, but Ginny couldn't help but notice that there was just something right about this. She then shook her head to clear her thoughts, it was just the alcohol from last night talking, there was probably still a remainder there even after the potion. This is nothing more than a business deal, and never will be anything more, she told herself.
"Well, I guess this is a deal then… Draco." She spoke his first name hesitantly; she'd never called him that before. Seeing the amazed expression on his face, she added, "If we're going to pretend we're going out, then we're going to have to call each other by our first names."
"You're right. It's a deal then… Ginny." He said gently. She felt slightly unnerved hearing him say her first name, yet she kind of liked it.
And she could tell that the month leading up to the wedding, was going to be a very interesting one indeed.
Author's Note: Thank you very much for the awesome reviews!
Replies:
jubli pebble: Thanks for reviewing. I think this chapter pretty much answers your question about Malfoy and how he convinces Ginny.
CCoLoMBiAnMaMi11: Cool, I sure will. Thanks for the review.
Tomsgirl2005: They definitely do fall in love! Thanks for reviewing!
