Pansy looked great. Ginny was sitting opposite her in a sunny room in the dark-haired woman's huge house. Ginny felt somewhat self-conscious: Pansy was wearing a sleek black skirt and a gorgeous cream coloured blouse. Ginny was sitting in black pants and a green shirt. The difference in quality of materials and craftsmanship was obvious. At this distance, Ginny couldn't even see the stitches of the other woman's garments.
"Well," Pansy smiled, showing beautiful even white teeth. Charmed that way, Ginny thought to herself. "What brings you here today, Ms Weasley?"
Ginny smiled back. Be polite, she told herself. "I have been tracking down a certain item for an... acquaintance of mine. I was…"
Pansy cut her off with a curt movement of her hand. "I was wondering when someone would come." Ginny sat back, astonished. Pansy continued. "Draco sent you. I wonder why… But it doesn't matter. If he wants to regain his health, he can come here and marry me." Then the woman sat back, her long dark hair sliding over her shoulders.
Ginny struggled to overcome her amazement. "I am afraid that the female ring is also missing…"
Pansy eyed the redhead. "Well, find it then. He's not getting the one in my possession until I have the female one on my finger." The tone of certainty in the woman's voice made Ginny's shoulders slump.
"I can't do that," she said softly. Pansy looked at her curiously. Ginny raised her left hand for the other woman to see. Pansy frowned, looked about to speak, then grabbed Ginny's hand with alarming speed. Staring down at the seemingly-copper band, she ran her fingers over it. She grabbed the ring and gave it a huge tug.
"Ow!" Ginny exclaimed, pulling her hand back. The ring had not moved in the slightest, but Ginny's finger had nearly given way.
"Chop the finger off," Pansy commanded, looking as though she fully expected Ginny to do so.
"Even if that would work, I wouldn't do it," she replied, cradling her injured hand in her lap. Pansy looked as though she might do the job for her, then, just as suddenly, collapsed in on herself and began to cry. Her tears were not polite, manufactured tears to get what she wanted; they were deep, choking sobs that stole the woman's breath.
Ginny sat silently, embarrassed, and drank her cup of tea. After a couple of minutes, Pansy seemed to regain her composure. Ginny drained her cup and put it down. Pansy wiped her face carefully, not looking at the redhead.
"Does Draco know?" The brunette asked quietly. All the fierceness and strength seemed to have left her.
Ginny snorted. "Do you think he would have sent me if he had known? No." Her shoulders also slumped.
"You didn't know? You didn't know what the ring would do? What it was?" Pansy asked, clarified.
"No," Ginny admitted.
Pansy looked out the window. "So you get what I always wished for. Merlin, I hate you for that." But there was no malice in her voice, just empty sadness. "But now… Now I wish I had not pushed Blaise away."
"You want to be married?" Ginny asked.
Pansy snorted. "Not particularly. But my inheritance doesn't come to me until I am married."
Ginny looked down at her hand. "I wish I could give it to you."
Pansy laughed shortly, without humour. "Oh, don't worry. Feel free to have Draco. He's painfully opinionated, never admits he's wrong, hurts people rather than injuring his pride… Loves his money more than anything; except, it seems, his life. I only made my plans for him because I knew this way to force him… But even that seems to have backfired. I will have to find some other way to support myself."
"Your parents…?"
"Father died in the war… Mother passed away last year. I've been living on very little. Father wrote the clause in the inheritance. Mother couldn't change it. And now… I suppose I will just have to find some guy off the street to marry."
Ginny frowned. "I have brothers, you know."
Pansy scrunched her nose. "They're all married. I checked."
Ginny paused. That was true, she supposed. "Ron isn't married anymore."
Pansy laughed. "Oh, Weasley was always one doomed to failure at whatever he put his hand to…"
"Hey, that's my brother you're talking about," Ginny warned.
Pansy looked unrepentant. "He followed around Potter's robe-tails for most of his Hogwarts time; he couldn't play Quidditch; it took Granger hitting him over the head to notice that she liked him… They disappeared out to the Muggle world, didn't they? Couldn't even hack being a wizard during this time…"
Ginny gritted her teeth. The worst part was that it was all true. "I should probably say something to defend my brother," she ground out. Pansy looked over at the redhead, noticed that she'd perhaps gone too far.
"I'm sorry; I do tend to be blunt about people's failings. It's probably a way of avoiding looking at my own," she gave Ginny a sad smile. "Because my life hasn't been very successful either."
Ginny, hearing the bitterness, shrugged. "Why don't you come to the Leaky Cauldron and see Malfoy? He can make a plea for his ring."
Pansy looked out the window for a long minute. "Draco and I were never that close. But I suppose I might go and see him."
Ginny gritted her teeth. "How can I get you to give me that ring?"
Pansy looked surprised, met the other woman's eyes. "Well," she mused, "you could find me a husband?"
Ginny sighed inwardly. Why couldn't life just be simple?