TCOTP

Another Meeting

Chapter Seven

When Ginny arrived at the Burrow she was surprised to see her whole family sitting at the kitchen table. Every single pair of eyes landed on her the minute she stepped into the room. Molly was the first to speak, "Well, how did it go?"

"Geez, don't you people have jobs?"

"Now Ginny, don't be like that! We were all just worried about our baby sister."

"You weren't worried, you were taking bets on which one of them would come out alive," Charlie said to George.

"No, you're all just nosy," she haughtily retorted. "It went fine."

"We are all just concerned," her father explained.

"Yeah, it's not every day one comes face to face with the man who tried to kill you as a child," George explained himself further.

"Ginny dear, did he pressure you?" Molly asked.

"Look, I told him I'm only seventeen and not ready to fuck up my life just yet! Now if you will all excuse me, I'm heading to Luna's!" She turned and stormed out the door.

Within ten minutes of Ginny arriving at the Lovegood home, Neville Longbottom arrived also. Ginny took her time and explained the issues at hand to her friends. She wasn't looking for a solution, she just wanted to talk about it.

"So what are you thinking about doing?" Neville asked.

"I don't know. I mean, when I believed it was Draco it was one thing, but Lucius Malfoy?..."

"Ginny, you need to think about what's right for you, not your family. You have to do what will make you the happiest."

"But my family is part of what makes me happy. I mean, I don't think I could be truly happy married to Harry if I thought the boys could be happier without this curse."

"So right now you're leaning towards marrying him? Neville questioned.

"I don't know, I mean... Merlin, this is so unfair!" Ginny wailed.

"Ginny, you know he needs you as much as you need him. It might not be as bad as you're thinking," Luna stated.

Both Neville and Ginny looked at Luna like she was, well, loony. "Luna, you were kept in his dungeons, so how can you of all people say that?" Neville pointed out.

"Yes Neville, I was, but I could have been tortured or raped or starved or killed, but I wasn't. We all saw the Malfoys running through Hogwarts screaming and looking for Draco. I don't think he's going to ever win the Humanitarian of the Year award, but maybe if Ginny was to marry him they could at least come to some level of mutual respect for each other. In the end you might become quite comfortable," Luna summed up.

"Luna, do you think your father would mind if I spent the night here? I just can't be at home tonight."

"No, I'm sure he won't mind."

Ginny spent a couple of days at the Lovegood home. She just couldn't deal with her family. Finally on day three she returned home to find a changed attitude. Everyone, when they stopped by the house, would find their own subtle way of telling her they didn't expect her to marry Lucius. Three days before Ginny was to head to Hogwarts, she returned from town to find Bill over for supper. "Hi, Bill," she greeted.

"Hey, twerp! Mum said you made some banana cream pie, so I had to come by for some."

"What, all that French food Fleur cooks isn't making you fat enough?" Like most men, Bill had put on a few extra pounds since getting married.

"Well, Fleur has been visiting her mum this week," Bill explained. "It's been good. I've been spending my nights looking at the curse, and I will find a way to break it," he promised.

The rest of his visit was normal, but that night Ginny lay awake long into the night. She realized what was happening here; Fleur, who stayed with Bill after Greyback's attack, was now having doubts about her marriage to him. It's true that she was with him for life, but maybe she was now regretting marrying him because of how their life would be affected. She would then become bitter and Bill would feel that. They would grow to hate each other. And who would be willing to marry a man knowing full well that you would never have a child of your own? The brothers' choices for brides would be very limited to women who didn't want children or couldn't have children. That in itself seemed unfair to them.

The more she thought about it the more the idea made sense; if she married Malfoy, her brothers' lives would go on normally. Five happy brothers, five happy couples, and one unhappy person. Or, six people pretending to be happy. No, the needs of her family were more important than her own. If they were happy, then she could find things to be happy about. And Luna was right; Malfoy needed her, so they would have to compromise. Once her mind was made up she jumped up from her bed and penned a note:

Lucius Malfoy,

I request a meeting to discuss the matter of our betrothal. Please meet me at the Leaky Cauldron at three pm today!

Ginny Weasley

Once finished Ginny sent Candy, the owl she received her from her parents last year so she could send them letters from school, with the note. Once the bird took off Ginny lay down and tried to get some sleep. She finally fell asleep just before dawn and didn't wake up until noon. When she woke she rushed to the shower, but before she got there she met her mother. "Really, Ginny! Sleeping till noon two days before you start school! You should be trying to get yourself on a schedule."

"I know, Mum, but I'm sorry; I had a real hard time getting to sleep last night. By the way, I won't be home for dinner tonight. Luna, Neville and I have plans to have dinner together. You know, being that in a couple of days time he will be staff and we will be students, he doesn't want anyone to claim he's favoring us. We plan to try to hang out together only when school isn't in."

"That's a lovely idea. I take it you're heading out soon?"

"Yeah. Luna swears she saw a Crumple-Horned Snorkack hiding in the offices of the Quibbler. I promised I would go and have a look."

Molly rolled her eyes and muttered, "That family!" then continued at normal volume, "You're such a good friend to put up with her."

"Thanks, Mum!" In the shower Ginny went over what she planned to say to Lucius Malfoy, then put great care into her appearance. For today she chose to wear a butter-yellow sun dress and again wore her hair in a matching headband, but charmed it so the hair fell in big, loose ringlets. Once she was satisfied with her look, she headed out to London.

As she gazed at the Leaky Cauldron, she took a deep breath and then entered. She let her eyes adjust to the dim light that was such a contrast to the sunny day outside. She scanned the room, but didn't see Lucius there. That figures, he would he late.

"Miss Weasley?" She jumped, for Tom the barkeep had startled her.

"Oh Tom, you scared me!" she exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, miss, but there's someone waiting for you in the private dinning room." He pointed down a short hall off the main room.

"Thank you." She then made her way down the hall. As she reached the door, she sighed heavily. The next few minutes would forever change her life. She then knocked on the closed door.

The door swung open and inside was, of course, Lucius Malfoy. He looked very regal, dressed once more in black dress robes. Doesn't the man ever get hot? she asked herself. "Miss Weasley, seeing as how you didn't want me to send any owls to your home, I guessed you wouldn't want our conversation overheard by everyone who passed through here."

"I guess you're right," she replied, feeling less brave than she was last night.

"Would you care for something to drink?" He indicated to the wine that was sitting on the table next to him. Ginny looked at the bottle; she was not used to drinking. "I took the liberty of ordering a beginner wine, guessing at your age you're still not used to drinking wine."

Her mouth was suddenly very dry. "I guess that would be alright." He poured her a glass and offered it to her.

"It has a strawberry taste to it," he explained as she took a sip of it. "Well, Miss Weasley?" he asked.

"It's nice," she replied.

He smirked. "Yes. As I said, it's a beginner wine. So, you asked for this meeting. What is it you have to say?"

"Well, first off I want to know why you gave me Tom Riddle's diary?"

He sighed deeply. "It was not about you. Your father had just drawn up a Muggle Protection Bill and I needed to discredit him. What better way to do that than to have one of his children be responsible for opening the Chamber of Secrets. As a girl, you were more likely to write in a diary. I never understood fully the power of that book, though."

She nodded in understanding and appreciated that he did not delude the fact. "Thank you for being somewhat truthful. Now, I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and the way I see it, you are most likely willing to go through with this because you want Draco to be happy, and to continue your blood line. So if we are to do this, I have a few ground rules. First, I demand to be treated with respect, in every way. Second, the child we must have will not be taught that Muggle-borns are lesser people!" He snorted at that. "Third, I will finish my last year at Hogwarts for I plan to become a journalist. And finally, if we are to get married, it must be tonight." She knew she rushed through it.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Lucius asked her as he stole a glance at her young cleavage.

"Because if my family knows what I'm doing they will try to stop me. They won't understand that a little bit of time being upset now is better for them in the long run. If it's done before they know it, then there's nothing they can do about it."

"You realize that for there to be nothing they can do, we would have to consummate the wedding?"

"Yes," she spat. "I'm not I child, I understand that."

"And you're willing to do that?" he asked, still a little taken aback by her.

"I am, for my family's long term happiness. Look, I don't care if you have lovers..."

"Malfoys don't have affairs. I would demand the same of my wife." He watched as a look of disappointment crossed her face. "Relax, I'm told I'm an excellent lover."

"But how? I mean, one person..."

He couldn't help but smirk at her innocence. "The marital magic is based on a woman's virginity. I had lovers before my late wife," he calmly explained.

"Look, I really don't care. Are we doing this?"

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