The quiet, dark haired man appeared the next day in reply to Ginny's letter. She greeted him and ushered him through to the room. He waved her away, and she went to fret whilst washing dishes. An hour later, he returned.
"This list of clients is complete?" he asked. She nodded in return.
"As complete as I could make it."
He nodded. "I will take this information to Mr Malfoy. You may hear from him at a later date. Thankyou for your cooperation."
Ginny saw him out, collapsing on a stool at the bar once he was gone. Her knees trembled, and she could barely hold the mug of coffee that Maude brought to her. There were questions in the woman's eyes, but Ginny was grateful that she didn't ask them.
Time wore the adrenaline away, and Ginny got on with the tasks associated with running the pub. Hermione came downstairs mid-morning, and Ginny put her to work in the kitchen with Maude. The increased clientele meant the woman was almost overwhelmed, however stubbornly she insisted that she didn't need help.
Late afternoon saw the two women relaxing in a back room in the lull before supper.
"It went ok this morning?" Hermione asked, pushing a strand of hair that had worked its way out of her ponytail off her face.
Ginny grimaced. "It's done. I think he suspected something, but I may just be expecting to be caught. I always got the same feeling when I was playing pranks with the twins…"
Memories caught her for a moment, bittersweet memories of happiness that her brothers had caused before they had been killed. Everyone had cried at the funeral – the whole wizarding world, it seemed. Even in the midst of battles with Death Eaters, Fred and George had found some way to laugh, some mischief to spread. And the world seemed a bleaker place without them.
Ginny shook herself. Hermione was looking at her warily, unsure of what to say. Ginny managed a weak smile. "It went fine. Now, let's just forget about it, and get on with running this pub."
Hermione nodded, and the women busied themselves preparing food for supper.
Sometime after the supper rush had subsided, Snape appeared in the doorway. Hermione flinched visibly, but Ginny faced him with a calm smile. Her mother would have been impressed, she was sure. He sat himself down at the table they were occupying, gave Hermione a nasty grin and turned to Ginny.
"Seeker was satisfied with the results?" He kept his voice low, Ginny wondered who he was worried would overhear.
"Yes," she replied softly, "though I am not sure if his employer will be satisfied with him. We will have to see what happens." Snape nodded at her once. "Would you like some food?" Ginny offered, and Snape nodded again. Hermione sent a desperate glance to her, but Ginny pretended she hadn't seen it. She left to get some dinner for Snape.
When she was returning, she paused at the bar to watch the man. He was gaunt, his skin looked as though it needed a few good weeks in the sun, and his clothes still appeared to need a wash. He was grinning slightly as he threw comments at Hermione: her friend's temper seemed to be about to burst through. Her replies were short and her jaw was set in a stubborn way. Ginny grinned as Hermione slapped the man. She looked as shocked as he was, and began apologising immediately, but Snape laughed at her. Hermione's expression began to turn dark again, and Ginny decided to save her friend.
"Here's your dinner, Snape. I hope you've been playing nice since I left?" she asked lightly. Snape raised an eyebrow at her and began to eat as though he hadn't eaten since yesterday. Ginny supposed that he might not have. Hermione said nothing either, her jaw set and her hands clenched in her lap. Ginny began a light conversation with Hermione, drawing her out of her defensive mood and finally making her laugh.
When Snape finished his dinner, he pushed the plate toward Hermione and waved a hand at her. The brunette stopped mid-sentence, glared, gave Ginny a longsuffering look before taking the plate away.
"You do know how my brother treated her, don't you." Ginny gave the man a long, even look. He met her gaze blandly.
"I am aware. She is… tame, compared with her youthful self." His eyes traced Hermione's path to the kitchen, then returned to regard Ginny. "I may return next week. If you encounter any more problems with… our contract… then I expect to be contacted."
"Of course. When you return, I will feed you again. You look as though you need it," she replied. Snape gave himself a derisive glance, and shrugged an awkward shoulder before he drew his composure around himself again and glared at her. Ginny just smiled calmly and waved goodbye. The man stood abruptly and left.
Hermione returned from the kitchen. "Oh, good, he's gone," she sighed. Ginny gave her friend a warm smile.
"Now that the immanent crisis is over, we need to get back to distributing those pearls."
Hermione perked up, frowned and ticked off people on her mental list. "Neville and Hannah have one; we don't know where Luna is; Blaise still needs one. Then I've got one and you've still got ten."
Ginny nodded. "I'm going to give one to Susan Bones, one to my dad; maybe one to Harry, if he'll let us visit him. One to Zacharias Smith, one to Justin Finch-Fletchley." She trailed off, trying to think of more people she felt safe giving the powerful artefacts to.
Hermione pursed her lips. "That's quite a list to start with. We can find some more people after we finish with these ones. Maybe it's a better idea to give the pearl to your mum, not your dad… He's a great man, but…" Hermione trailed off, looking guilty.
"He's a bit idealistic," Ginny finished for her. "You're right. Mum's the more practical option. Well, we can start on that tomorrow. I think I'll turn in now." Hermione stood and gave her friend a kiss on the cheek in parting.
"I need some rest as well, especially after dealing with Snape tonight…" She shook her head. Then she gave her friend a rueful smile. "It's almost fun, yelling at him. It's a good release." Shaking her head at herself, she went up the stairs before Ginny. It was probably for the best, because Ginny wasn't quite sure if she was keeping the grin off her face.