The Cruelty of the Past

Chapter Three

Everyone Finds Out

Lucius Malfoy sat in his personal study, reflecting. The last five days had been difficult to say the least. His wife of twenty-five years was dead, unexpectedly. There had been a funeral to plan, and have, and now it was time to return to the business of living. He was going through his mail. There were a few invitations to parties, but in light of Narcissa's passing it would be in bad taste to accept any of these invites. Lucius was sorry his wife was gone. She had been a good friend and companion, and while they had fallen out of love many years back they still had remained faithful to their wedding vows.

He finally came across a letter on Ministry letterhead. He could not fathom what the fools at the Ministry wanted with him now. He had already given all kinds of information against men he once called friends. Of course, this had all been in an effort to remain a free man himself. His freedom was one more thing that his late wife had played a part in, and for that he was truly thankful. Once he opened the letter from the Ministry, he began to read:

Mr. Lucius Malfoy:

This letter is to inform you of a marriage betrothal that has been in the Ministry books for eight generations. The time has come for the first unmarried Malfoy male under the age of fifty to marry one Ginevra Weasley, who turned seventeen on August 11, 1998. The betrothal is of a cursed nature in that if the marriage does not take place, neither family will have any offspring. This curse went into effect the minute she was born and will continue until a child has been conceived.

Miss Weasley has already been informed.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Alfred Jefferson

Department of Magical Betrothals

Lucius was hit by two revelations; one, Draco would hit the roof when he was told of this, and two, why hadn't Arthur Weasley shown up already? Was the family in that bad a financial state that they couldn't fight this and therefore force Draco to go through with it? Well, if that was the case Draco had better get used to the idea because the only chance to avoid this was either allow both families to die off or if the heads of both families rejected the idea. Once he read the letter a second time he decided to call Draco down to his study and get this over with.

When Draco entered the room Lucius said, "Draco, pour yourself a drink; you're going to need it."

Draco nodded and poured himself a Firewhiskey, then sat down across from his father. "Yes, Father?"

"Draco, this has been a hard week on you, and unfortunately it's about to get a whole lot worse." Lucius handed Draco the letter. He watched with great interest as Draco's eyes scanned the letter.

"Father, I can't..."

"Relax, Draco. I'm sure that Arthur Weasley will be wanting to reject the idea. And if he does not, I seem to remember that Miss Weasley was quite attractive. I don't believe it would be too much of a hardship having her in your bed."

"But Father, she's a blood traitor!"

"She may be that Draco, but in light of recent events some might call our family the same."

"No, Father. What we have done was in the interest of protecting our family."

Lucius looked at his son reassuringly. "It's all in how one looks at it. Now, before you start to worry I will Floo Arthur and see if there is any need to panic."

The last four days had been hell for Ginny. She and her parents had decided not to say anything to her brothers until they spoke to the Malfoys. Despite her father's reassurances, she was still really worried. To have the fate of her whole family in her hands was scary, to say the least.

She had realized that if she could not get out of this it would affect all of her brothers. Once word of the curse got out she was sure it would limit their options for marriage partners. After all, most witches would want a child of their own body. She knew Harry longed for a blood relative that he could be close to. In the end, he too would most likely end things with her over this.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized she only had one choice: to marry Draco Malfoy. Really, if she understood things right, all she had to do was marry him, have one child, and then the curse would be done with. Yes, she could do that. He might be an ass, but if the rumors were true he was considered a sex god. Besides, he was as trapped as she was in this. If she refused, the Malfoy family would die out, too. Hopefully, he and she could come to an understanding.

Ginny had not told her parents she had come to terms with things. There was no reason to upset them, yet.

Arthur and Molly were sitting at their kitchen table when Lucius Malfoy's head popped into their fireplace. Lucius wore his most diplomatic expression. "Arthur Weasley?"

Arthur got up and made his way to the fireplace. "Lucius, I have been waiting to hear from you."

"Then you are aware of this ridiculous betrothal business?"

"Yes, we are."

"What is your intent with this?" Lucius inquired.

"I had hoped we would go before the Wizengamot and have it removed from the books," Arthur answered.

"For once we see eye to eye on something."

"I will check to see if we can get in this week. I will let you know when we can plead our case."

"That will have to do." Lucius then cut the connection.

Ginny was sitting in her room when Arthur called her downstairs. As she reached the bottom of the stairs she smiled at her father. "You wanted to see me, Daddy?"

Arthur smiled back at Ginny. "Yes, my dear. Have a seat." Ginny took a seat next to the head of the table where her father always sat.

"Lucius Malfoy Floo'ed here about ten minutes back. He and I are in agreement about this betrothal. I also spoke to the Wizengamot. We go before them on Monday afternoon."

"Dad, I want the truth: is there any chance that I will still have to marry Draco?"

"Ginny, there are no complete certainties in life, other than death. But I think you'll be fine."

"Daddy, if we're going before the Wizengamot, then anyone at the Ministry could hear about it, right?"

Arthur nodded. "Then I think we should tell the boys tonight. Percy might not overreact, but if Ron or Harry hear..."

"Yes, you're quite right. I'll Floo everyone for a family meeting."

Ginny spent the rest of her day helping her mother cook. Once the boys started to arrive she began to feel sick. She knew she was being irrational. They would all react the same way; stunned, shocked, telling her that everything would be fine, then making plans to kill Draco so she would not have to go through with it. When Harry came in with Ron, he walked over to Ginny and wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her temple. This was met by two reactions; the first was Ron commenting,

"Hey! You may be my best mate, but she's still my little sister!"

And the second was Ginny pulling away. She wondered how Harry would feel if he knew she was planning on marrying Draco if there was no way out of this. Thankfully, Harry thought Ginny was only pulling away because of Ron's comment. "Come with me for a bit?" Harry asked.

Ginny smiled sweetly at him. All she wanted to do was head off and have a good snog session, but felt if there was a chance she would have to marry Malfoy, then it was wrong to string Harry along. "I promised Mum I would help with dinner," she countered.

"Later?"

"Yeah, maybe. Um, Ron? I thought Hermione was coming too?" she said to change the subject fast.

"Yeah, she will be here shortly. Something about a cousin's baby shower."

A half hour later, Arthur called everyone to the table. "Okay now, before I let you lot make all your mother and sister's hard work disappear, there is a matter that Ginny and I felt you all should know."

Harry suddenly looked at Ginny, thinking she had made up her mind about marrying him. A large smile crept onto his face. "On Ginny's birthday," Arthur continued, "she received a letter from the Ministry that she mistook for one last practical joke from Fred. The letter has been authenticated and it seems that eight generations back, your six times over Great Grandfather made a betrothal of the next born Weasley girl. Now, we and the other family involved are going before the Wizengamot on Monday to reject the betrothal. It's nothing really, but we didn't want anyone getting all worked up over it."

"Who is this betrothal to, Dad?" Bill asked.

"According to the letter's contents, Ginny is supposed to marry Draco Malfoy. And the betrothal is of a cursed nature."

Bill and Charlie seemed to understand what was not being said, but the others were in the dark. Hermione, who was standing behind Ron's chair, asked the question, "What kind of curse?"

"The curse will leave both families unable to produce any heirs," Arthur informed them. Fleur let out an involuntary gasp and Hermione took a step back from Ron's chair. The boys remained quiet, but Bill could be seen giving his wife's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Now relax, this is not uncommon, and once Lucius and I reject the betrothal the curse will be lifted."

"Have you spoken with him yet?" Ron asked. "I mean, being that he and Draco did not fight in the final battle, I would guess that Draco's choices for a Pureblood wife would be pretty low. And we all know how they feel about Purebloods."

"Yes Ron, we both feel the same way about this."

"Well then, there's nothing to worry about," Percy stated. The family decided to leave it for the time being.

Later, after dinner, Harry again asked Ginny, "Will you please come for a walk with me?"

"Sure." She got up and joined him. As he held the door open for her she gave him a smile. They walked in silence for the first while.

Harry finally couldn't take the quiet. "You're not convinced that your dad's right about getting out of this, are you?"

"Dad has never lied to me. I should believe him, but I guess I'm just scared."

Harry stopped her and pulled her close to him. "Gin, I promise you no matter what, Draco Malfoy will never touch you. I'll kill him first, if I have to."

"Harry, don't say that!" Ginny pleaded.

"Ginny, I've beaten him before. You don't have to worry," Harry reassured as he took her face in his hands.

"I know."

"Is this why you didn't say yes on your birthday?" Harry asked.

"No. I really thought that Fred had set this up months back, I mean, think of the reaction he could have got."

"You think you brother would do that to you?"

"Maybe. I know it always bothered him that he could never get me like Ron."

"Trust me, we will get married and have three children. I can see them now; James, Albus, he'll look most like me, and Lily, who will be as beautiful as her mother."

"I don't even get a say in their names?" she asked.

"You can pick their middle names," he teased.

"Okay, how about Sirius, Severus and Luna."

"Ginny, I will not have a son with Snape's name."

"No, Harry, it makes perfect sense. They're brothers, and James will always pick on Albus. It's a brother thing; that way we have James Sirius picking on Severus. Sirius would have loved it! But really, how many times did Snape risk his life for you? I think it's the least you could do."

Harry got more serious. "Dose this mean that you will marry me?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm still not sure. Can I just get past Monday before I try to plan the rest of my life?"