Perhaps she could just walk up to him and ask him to remove it. Ginny was staring at the back of Malfoy's blond head, cursing his very existence. Maybe if he was dead the charms would end. But staring daggers into his back was very different from actually sinking one into his flesh, and Ginny knew that she would never kill another living thing. Not since the chickens in her first year. Not since the basilisk. Not since Tom.
He was eating lunch at a fancy café, the kind that most people could ill afford to patron these days. The food on his plate looked almost scandalous – steak and asparagus, potato salad and tomatoes out of season. Ginny thought of her own dinner the night before, which had consisted of the Leaky Cauldron's house stew and some two-day-old bread which the cook had been about to throw away.
Forcing herself to turn away, Ginny walked back toward the Leaky Cauldron. Diagon Alley was not as colourful as it usually was, but times were hard. Walking through the pub, Ginny merged into the muggle crowd on the London street, intent on selling the other wedding band. It would bring in at least some revenue, maybe it would help her parents to avoid destitution while her father was still intent on pursuing his pointless quest of saving the Ministry of Magic.
Muggle London was everything that English wizarding society wasn't at the moment. This area was affluent to the point of stupidity, and the strange assortment of high class styles allowed Ginny to not feel too out of place. The pawn shop on the corner was sure to give her a decent price; she had sold other items there before. She was half-certain that the man behind the counter knew she was a witch, and had a suspicion that he himself was a wizard. But they didn't talk about it. They only talked business.
"Well, this is a nice piece," the man said in beautifully rounded tones. His shirt was not flashy, but Ginny knew it to be silk. His watch was a Rolex, though he could have passed it off as a fake downtown. His own wedding band was plain and unadorned, but his hands told that he had never done a day's hard labour.
"Yes, I am lucky to come across some nice pieces at garage sales," she replied, knowing that her accent gave away her origins. She didn't fidget but stood confidently, hands clasped in front of her so that he couldn't see the ring's partner still stuck on her hand.
"Looks like a family heirloom," he said, glancing up at her from the ring.
"Well, it was deceased estate, so I assume that if it didn't go to the closest relative, then there was nobody to give it to." Praying to whatever god would give her luck, Ginny hoped that the man was no wizard, because every wizard knew the names Abraxas and Lucius as Malfoy names.
With a small smile, the man straightened. "This is pure platinum, good quality emeralds and beautiful etching. I hope you paid a lot for it, Madam, because it is worth a lot. I will give you five thousand pounds for it."
Ginny forced herself to smile lightly, wishing that the ring on her finger was in the pawnbroker's hand and trebling the price. "That sounds like a fair price, sir." As the man wrote out a cheque, she forced herself not to fidget. Taking the piece of paper carefully, Ginny thanked the man and left, keeping her left hand in her pocket. A glance at the sky told her she had about an hour until she started her shift, and she still had to eat dinner. Rushing back to the Leaky Cauldron and its entrance to Diagon Alley, Ginny could feel a flush of success urging her on.