As You Wish - Chapter 11
Ginny could feel Narcissa staring at her and with good reason. She was hacking away at the dirt in front of her with an aggression that Ginny knew was probably not the best for gardening. Or at least the kind of zen gardening that Narcissa was accustomed to.
The blonde woman was much more deliberate in her movements, using her small rake to push down hard into the soil, before slowly dragging it back, ensuring that there were clean lines in front of her.
This neatness made Ginny feel bad. She shouldn't be taking out her frustrations on this poor garden, but she was frustrated and it was just dirt.
"What has my son done this time?" Narcissa announced, breaking the silence. She was still focused on her patch of soil, using her hands to create little wells for the seeds she was planting.
"Oh, nothing. Just completely ignoring me, locking himself up in his room, staying longer at work because he knows he has a bed there. You know, basically pretending that I don't exist." Ginny's voice was becoming frantic with each passing word and it surprised her. Did she really value whatever it was that she was to Draco Malfoy of all people that much that she was getting this worked up over it? Apparently, the answer was yes because she thought they had moved past the petty nonsense they had when she first became his genie.
Narcissa sighed before leaning back to sit on her heels. "He's trying not to ask you about something important." She wiped her hands together, shaking off the soil on her gloves. "He's been like this since he was a child. My son is almost 30 years old. He now runs the family business, for Merlin's sake. If he can have a difficult business conversation, then he most certainly can have a conversation with you."
At that, she sprung up, taking her gloves off and wiped her hands on the back on her pants. Ginny paused what she was doing, curious as to what Narcissa was about to do.
"Is everything okay?" the genie asked, putting down her gardening tools.
"It's not, but it will be, if I have any say in it." She held out a hand to help Ginny up off of the ground. "Come along, dear. I think it's time I paid a visit to my son."
Something seemed off when Draco arrived back home from work. It was entirely too quiet. There was no loud, obnoxious noise coming from his living room, indicating that Ginny was watching something on her TV. He placed his shoes in his hall closet before making his way to the living room.
"Bloody hell!" he gasped, startled at the sight of his mother and Ginny sitting on his sofa in absolute silence. His mother raised a teacup to her mouth to take a sip.
"Draco, darling. Please, take a seat." Narcissa was still dressed in her sun hat and gardening attire, pants smeared with dirt marks, looking not at all like the imposing figure most people expected from her, and yet Draco knew that he had deeply fucked up.
With a quickness that only came from Quidditch, he immediately sat down at the chair placed in front of the sofa. "What seems to be the problem, Mother?" Though he was dutiful, he couldn't think of a single thing from recent memory that would cause his mother to act this way.
"The problem, Draco, is that you seem to be avoiding Miss Weasley." Narcissa's tone was calm and measured. She placed the teacup and its saucer back on the coffee table in front of her. She didn't lean back into the sofa, instead keeping her back ram rod straight.
"I don't believe I am. I've simply been busy with work." This was obviously a lie that his mother was going to call him on, but it was nice to believe that one day he could pull a fast one on her.
"That's a load of bollocks!" This time, Ginny spoke up, lifting her upper body up from its relaxed position on the sofa. His mother instantly placed her hand on top of Ginny's chest and gently pushed her back down. Since when were they the best of friends?
"Sweetheart, you know I don't like it when you play dumb. It's never suited you." Narcissa paused, taking another sip from her tea. "Now, being your mother and all, it seems to me that you need to speak to Miss Weasley about something. Would that be a fair assumption?" She waited for a nod of acknowledgement from her son. "And it would also be fair to say that this was something that you don't feel entirely comfortable discussing with her?" Another nod. What was this? The Wizengamot? "Then how about you use me as your mediator for this discussion? It seems like Miss Weasley is tired of you avoiding her and it does seem to make things uncomfortable for your little arrangement, doesn't it?"
Draco sighed. "You're right, Mother."
"I know," she replied, with a close-lipped smile, cutting him off before he had a chance to continue. "So what is it that you need to talk to Miss Weasley about?"
The master couldn't bring himself to look at his genie just yet. "It has to do with something Daphne has requested."
Ginny perked up at this, bringing herself up again, only this time, she rested her elbows on her knees and placed her chin in her hands. "Oh my god, has she gotten serious about you?"
Against Narcissa's better judgement, and not being able to resist gossip, she whipped her head around to face the young woman next to her. "You don't think so, do you? I thought this was purely for sport for her."
Draco cleared his throat loudly. "May I continue?" He waited until both women turned back to face him. "As I was saying, the last time I met with Daphne, she asked me for a favor and since I wasn't really focused on what she was saying, I kind of agreed to it before I realized what she was asking."
"And it has to do with me?" Ginny asked. Draco nodded in reply. "Why would Daphne need me for anything? I'm your — oh." She stopped, understanding what it was that Daphne Greengrass had asked of her master during their last date. Draco began nodding more, willing Ginny to say out loud what she was thinking. "She wants you to use one of your wishes for her."
"Yeah," Draco breathed out in reply.
The young genie stood up and began pacing around the room, hands on her hips, deep in thought. She paused and placed her left arm out to her side, hand open as though she were waiting to grab something. Her master ducked for cover a moment later as a bottle of Firewhisky whizzed above his head and right into Ginny's waiting hand. She pulled it toward her face and began speaking with it.
Behind her, Narcissa leaned over to her son, confused by this recent development. "Is - is she alright?"
"Oh, I see what's going on. Nothing to worry about, Mother."
"Draco, love, she's talking to a bottle of Firewhisky. In my experience, that is never a good thing."
"And normally, you'd be right, but that's the Bottle. Since Ginny's uncertain if Daphne can use one of my wishes, she's trying to figure out if that would be allowed."
"Question," Ginny announced, still holding on to the Bottle. Draco and Narcissa stopped their conversation to look at her. "if you were to make a wish on Daphne's behalf, would it mean needing to work with her on something?"
"Yes," Draco replied. "She wants to wish for your help with putting together a winter gala at Malfoy Manor. I'm assuming you would be using your magic to help decorate and organize."
"And when was I going to be notified about this?" Narcissa asked, now facing her son again.
"One thing at a time, Mother," he replied, keeping his gaze upon his genie.
"Right," the genie stated before turning back to continue her conference with the Bottle. As she spoke, her master turned back to his mother.
"I figured that you would be okay with hosting as you've been going on for years now about how much you miss hosting yearly events. And how things have been so different because of father's imprisonment."
"Yes, well, I thought that it would be something I would start doing again on my own terms, darling, and not because Daphne Greengrass has decided to commandeer my home." Narcissa finally took her sun hat off and flicked her hair off of her shoulders.
"Would it help if I told Daphne that you had to be involved?"
Narcissa straightened her back and crossed one leg on top of the other. "It may."
"We can discuss it with her during our dinner with her parents." Draco ran a hand across his face. He was exhausted and dealing with all of this after coming home from work was less than ideal. Did it need to be done? Of course, but his mother and Ginny both shared the same penchant for dramatics and the pair of them together was too much to handle.
"Alright, it's settled." Ginny waved a hand around the Bottle and it disappeared back to whatever kitchen cabinet Draco had placed it in. "The Bottle and I have agreed that Draco can make the wish on behalf of Daphne and I would still be able to assist. Just like his first one, it would need to be rather vague so we don't get caught up in too many specifics. As to my working with her, the Bottle also felt that as long as I concealed my identity that it shouldn't be too much of an issue."
Draco sighed, feeling some of the weigh being lifted off of his shoulders. "I still need to wish for it, don't I?"
His genie nodded her head. "I'd say that yes, now would be the time."
"Ginny, I wish for you to help Daphne Greengrass plan her New Year's gala."
Ginny snapped her fingers, another red plume of smoke coming up from them just as before. "As you wish."
Draco leaned back in his chair, relieved, before another realization sinked in. "So who would you be when working with Daphne?" he asked, sitting back up before he began to rub his temples.
"Crystal, duh."
"Oh, right; yes, that makes sense." He leaned back in his chair and was rewarded with a glass of actual Firewhisky floating on a red wisp next to him. He motioned the glass toward Ginny before taking a sip. "Mmm, that's good. And you're okay with all of that?"
"I feel like that's kind of a loaded question when you consider that I'm contractually obligated to fulfill your wishes. Am I excited to decorate for a major event? Yes. Do I want to work with Daphne Greengrass on it? Mm, the jury's still out on that one."
Narcissa nodded in understanding at Ginny's last statement, prompting an eye roll from her son.
"Well, the good thing is that it doesn't have to start right away," he advised.
Ginny let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding, immediately slumping her shoulders. "Oh, thank Merlin." She went to plop down back on her normal spot on the couch before a jolt of realization hit her. "So, uh, how am I going to explain myself to Astoria?"
Draco rubbed his face again and placed the cool glass next to his right temple. "Oh, fuck," he whispered, earning a slap on the arm from his mother.
"Language!" she instinctively admonished.
"Mother, I'm twenty-nine and you're not helping."
To her credit, Narcissa at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish, sitting back in her seat again.
"I guess I could tell Astoria that you allow me to do stuff on my own so I'm not bored, which is actually true." Ginny had her hands on her hips again, lost in thought. "And since your wish specifies me only helping Daphne for the winter ball, it's not like I would have to do random shit for them. Or, we could tell her that I'm simply a party planner for this so I don't even have to bring up the whole genie thing."
"I like that second idea more. Astoria doesn't need any more ammo for her nonsense than she already has."
The older woman snorted. "That's for damn sure."
Her son smiled wryly. "Is it my turn to remind you of your language, Mother?"
"Oh, hush. You're my son and I love you, but you can be a right pain in my arse sometimes."
"And I wonder where I got that from?"
"Clearly from your father's side," Narcissa finished the back and forth by flicking her hair off of her shoulders again.
Satisfied with the plan in front of her, Ginny finally collapsed down in her usual spot, leaning back until her head was against the arm rest.
"As a heads up," Draco announced. "Astoria is under the impression that Crystal had to go back to America for business. Did you ever tell her what you did for a living?"
"I think she just assumed I was rich and fabulous, so she never asked. In fact, most of our conversations ended up going back to her."
"That checks out," Narcissa chimed in.
The master looked over at his genie. "Are you sure you're going to be able to handle being Crystal longer than intended? I know you didn't mean for her to be a recurring thing."
Ginny cast her gaze up toward the ceiling. "I mean, it's easier to have me present myself as someone they already know, kind of, than to create yet another new persona for this. It's less fake backstory for me to remember and less ways for me to get too caught up in maintaining some made up nonsense. I don't have to get too friendly with Daphne and Astoria if you don't want me to."
"Plus, if you have me there assisting, I can keep an eye on everything to ensure that nothing gets out of hand." Narcissa supplied the last bit, looking expectantly at her son. She did genuinely love hosting events and, if things were to head the direction that she thought they were heading, it may be good to spend some quality time with Miss Weasley.
"You do have a point," Draco conceded.
"I knew I did," his mother replied, shrugging. She stood up, feeling satisfied that she was able to help her son with his ridiculous predicament. Again dutiful, said son stood up shortly after she did, knowing that she was about to say her goodbyes for the evening. "I'm so glad we were able to figure this out, darling." Narcissa held out her arms, embracing Draco in a hug. Upon release, he stepped away, giving her a peck on the cheek in response.
The older woman turned around, looking down at the young woman seated before her. She cleared her throat, calling Ginny's attention to her.
"Oh, right," the genie said, popping up to give Narcissa a hug.
The blonde pulled away after a tight squeeze, looking all over Ginny's face, searching for something. "Is everything alright, dear? You seem distracted."
Ginny smiled. "I'm fine, I promise. I'm probably just overthinking the arrangement with Daphne. I'll be fine once I sleep on it."
The other woman narrowed her eyes, knowing that Ginny wasn't "fine", but decided not to prod further. The young woman's behavior today all but confirmed for Narcissa that something was brewing between her son and his genie. While she may have been skeptical about their arrangement at first, continued contact with Ginny let her know that there was nothing to be skeptical about. Ginny was passionate, protective, and smart. Narcissa knew from all the times that Draco complained about her his fifth year that she wasn't afraid to give as good as she got and if there was ever a moment in her son's life where he needed someone to give him a little pushback, it was now.
Daphne was fine enough, but she was temporary. And if her son was smart, then he would realize that what he could have with Ginny could very much be a more permanent arrangement. So Narcissa let go of the redhead, knowing that she would have to continue biding her time, waiting with bated breath for the day when her son and his genie recognized what was actually going on between them.
"I'll see you again for dinner with the Greengrasses, darling," Narcissa announced before Apparating out of her son's home.
Draco released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding in, only to find himself getting smacked on the arm.
"Really? Your mum had to get involved for you to ask me about Daphne bloody Greengrass?"
The blond slunk down in his seat, stretching his legs out, his arms hanging off the sides so his fingertips grazed the wood flooring. He pouted and was trying not to feel churlish all things considered. Ginny (and his mother) had a point. Why did he need Narcissa to come to his home, make him feel like he was in short pants, and set things right before he could have an adult conversation with another adult who was magically required to follow his every whim? "You're right," he mumbled before taking another sip of his Firewhisky.
That seemed to knock the wind out of Ginny's sails since she, too, slunk back down to her position on sofa. "Thank you."
"I'm sorry."
That one she wasn't expecting and it caused her to sit up a little bit. "Oh, um, apology accepted."
Again, Draco found himself wanting to elaborate more. Wanting to acknowledge that asking Ginny about helping Daphne wasn't the only thing he was avoiding. After their last time at the Manor and Ginny's guided tour of his childhood rooms, he was finding it increasingly difficult to avoid how he truly felt about her.
At this stage, it was easy for him to simply brush it off as a fleeting crush. Did he really find her attractive, or was it that he hadn't dated in so long that he appreciated her interactions with him? Did he really find her attractive, or did he find her as Crystal attractive? Did he really find her attractive, or was he just tired of dealing with Daphne? It was easy to put up these mental roadblocks when he'd spent most of his life not needing to be too introspective. If anything, it was a mental victory to even admit to himself that he found Ginny attractive after weeks of plausible deniability. He didn't need to let himself think on it too much deeper than that, though, as there was still plenty of time before Daphne's big winter gala. He needed to keep up appearances and all that.
It helped Draco that Ginny was at about the same stage in her introspection as he was.
Did she really find him attractive, or was it that she hadn't dated in so long that she appreciated his interactions with her? Did she really find him attractive, or did she find the idea of him attractive? Did she really find him attractive, or was she simply tired of being hung up on Harry? It was another small victory that she decided that somewhere along the way, she had become attracted to Draco Malfoy, of all people. But, just like him, there was still work to be done before she could allow herself to fully indulge in her budding feelings.
A/N - Thank you for reading! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter :)