Ginny collapsed onto the chair in the kitchen, exhausted and feeling lost. Maude gave her a quick glance, then elbowed Molly to go and look after her daughter. Molly looked up from what she was doing, wiped her hands on her apron unnecessarily, and bustled over. Maude provided a cup of tea for the woman to bring over.

Ginny took the tea thankfully and gave her mother a wobbly smile.

"Tell me what's going on, Ginny," her mother said quietly. "Snape's been in here brewing things, Hermione's all a flutter, Malfoy is staying in a room in your premises…" Molly looked worried. Ginny desperately wanted to share her problems with her mother, like when she was a girl, safe in the knowledge that she would know what to do. All the times when her mother had helped her swum in her mind, and she was on the verge of spilling the whole sordid story when Maude dropped a pan on the bench with a clatter, startling them all.

Ginny pulled herself together a little. There was no way that she could share the whole story with her mother. But she really should say something. "Mum, I'm… Gosh, Malfoy talked to me yesterday. He looks really sick, and he said that he's dying. Someone stole an item enchanted to him, so he came to ask if I had any contacts who might be able to find it for him. After all, us lower class people are so much closer to criminal scum than he is…" Ginny trailed off, saw her mother's eyes narrow, and kept talking. "Snape was here, so I got Malfoy to stay nearby so that he can help him. He said he would pay me well," she added. Molly frowned.

"He really took after his parents, with their superior attitudes. We don't need his money, Ginny," her mother added, "so why are you helping him?"

Ginny sighed inwardly. "I'm a nice person, mum. He's dying, and I might be able to help. He doesn't deserve to die just because he's a snob."

Molly searched her daughter's face for a moment, then seemed satisfied. "Ok, dear. I'll make sure I send up some chicken soup, then."

"Don't make too much effort, mum. He's still Malfoy."

Molly gave her a grin over her shoulder. "I know, dear."

Ginny shook her head. There really was no question where the twins got their mischeviousness from. The familiar twinge in her gut at the memory of her dead brothers pinched hard, and she drank from her cup in an effort to avoid thinking about it more.

Hermione entered the kitchen carrying a brown paper parcel and a smile on her face. She sat down with Ginny. "The prototypes of the potions are done," she announced. Her eyes were shining with the exhilaration of finishing the daunting task. "These are the samples we're giving to St. Mungo's. Once this is done, all that's left to do is cross our fingers and wait. How did this morning go?"

Ginny grimaced. "Pansy wants a husband."

Hermione shrugged. "So find her one."

"I'm pretty sure she has standards."

"They can't be very high… She is Pansy, after all. She followed Malfoy around like a puppy dog for the seven years we were at school."

"Have you any way to get in contact with Blaise?"

Hermione frowned. "No, I don't. Maybe Severus does. But what a horrible fate to try to talk him into!"

Ginny pulled a face at her friend. "What a horrible fate for me if I don't get that ring," she replied.

Hermione nodded in reply. "There is that."

Ginny gazed over at her mother and Maude, bustling around the kitchen, filling orders and putting them up for the waitresses to take out to tables. "I could try to talk Ron into marrying her," she said absently.

Hermione's face closed into a blank mask. "You could," she said neutrally.

Ginny eyed her friend carefully. "Was he really that bad?"

Hermione looked away, her cheeks flushing. "You don't want to know, Ginny," she said finally.

There was a long silence. Ginny reached over the table and squeezed Hermione's hand. When Hermione looked back up at Ginny, there were tears in her eyes. Then Hermione was up and putting her coat back on. "Must get these over to the hospital. Shall I come back for supper?"

Ginny nodded. "Sounds good, Hermione. I'll see you around 8 then?"

Hermione agreed, then left. Ginny frowned after her. Time to talk to Ron, she decided.

Ginny helped behind the bar for the afternoon, and then bustled around tables during the beginning of the dinner rush. Hermione came for supper, and they enjoyed the Cottage Pie with a glass of red wine. Snape arrived before dessert, and Ginny was surprised that his conversation was interesting, and his characteristic scowl rarely made an appearance. Eventually talk turned toward business, though Ginny would have much preferred that it stay abstract.

"So, Pansy?" Snape asked. Ginny sighed.

"She wants a husband."

"Good luck to her."

"She was going to force Malfoy to marry her. Her father's will won't give her access to her inheritance until she's married."

Snape grunted. "So?"

"She'll give up the ring if I find her a husband. Do you have any contact with Blaise?"

Snape frowned. "Won't work."

"Why not?"

Snape levelled a dark glare at Ginny. "Because he's got a woman already," he said.

Both women looked at him with interest.

"I'm not permitted to tell you, so just keep the conversation moving along. Zabini is out of the running. I assume that there is a pureblood stipulation?"

"She wasn't explicit, but I assume so. I am fairly sure that most of the purebloods from school are married already."

Snape frowned, and Hermione hummed in thought. Ginny just sat. She already knew that no other purebloods were unmarried. With the uncertain political situation – and the major losses sustained in Voldemort's downfall – many people had jumped into marriage early. That left Ron.

Which was the exact point to which Snape came. "Your brother," he announced. Ginny nodded wearily. Hermione's eyes glazed over. Snape took her chin gently in his hand. "It was the drink. You know it. And he's gone from your life now." He turned her face to his and wouldn't let her drop her chin until she met his eyes and nodded. She took in a deep breath. "And we need your inside information to get this to work," Snape added. Hermione grimaced at the table and blew the breath out.

"Don't have any idea how I'm going to convince him," Ginny muttered, "but Pansy would marry anything with pure blood and male anatomy."

Snape grinned nastily. "And she will get exactly what she deserves."