As You Wish - Chapter 7
The weeks leading up to the Event as it was ominously called went by a lot faster than either Draco or Ginny were expecting.
Draco had given Ginny free range of his apartment after Blaise got over himself, which worked out great since being a genie often meant having little social interaction and, boy, was Ginny itching for some social interaction.
Most of her mornings now consisted of her preparing breakfast for the little trio of friends? Former enemies? Frenemies? Master and master by proxy? It felt strange. Maturity had really done a number on all parties involved and they all kind of realized that whatever petty nonsense they hurled at each other during their teen years didn't hold up as adults. Ginny, whether she wanted to admit it or not, was stuck in a bubble before she became a genie. When you're dating Harry "The Savior" Potter, things are just kind of given to you in ways that Ginny had grown accustomed to. People assumed your good-heartedness and fell over themselves to say that they were one degree of separation away from the most famous wizard to exist.
But being a genie had forced the redhead to expand her worldview more than she thought was possible. She was able to travel the world and meet all sorts of people thanks to being the Bottle's latest resident, and the world was a much bigger place than she was anticipating. So the medieval thought of a blood feud between two Wizarding families, the cause of which the current descendants didn't even know of, became a silly thing in her mind. Why should she waste so much energy on something that served no purpose in her life?
And besides; Ginny was liking her morning routine of breakfast with Draco and Blaise, going through the tabloids with the pair of them to figure out which stories were close to what actually happened between the blond man and his "girlfriend". Ginny's favorite thus far was the one where Astoria Greengrass was implicated as getting in between the new couple and the audacity of Daphne's own sister to even try to stop such a lovely pair of reunited lovers! Draco later learned from Astoria herself that she had planted that one after Daphne went a little too far scolding her sister's dating habits. Which only amused the hell out of everyone who knew the truth. Everyone save Daphne, of course.
"Daph, are you still mad at me over that little fib I told Pans regarding me and Draco?"
Astoria pouted at her older sister from across the room. She knew Daphne was prone to hold a grudge, especially when it came to their sisterly bond, but this time seemed to go on much longer than the younger Greengrass liked. So what that she had planted her own little story in the Prophet? She was bored and Daphne was still getting on her case about her liaisons with some of her, ahem, fascinating choices in partners. She should have seen this coming, to be perfectly honest.
The elder Greengrass looked over her copy of that morning's Daily Prophet, done reading through the write up said Pans had done about her "date" last night with Draco.
"I don't know, Astoria. Whatever would give you that impression?" She knew her sister hated it when she played dumb.
The younger Greengrass huffed, keeping her mouth in a thin line. "If I say sorry, will you let me borrow those Blahniks of yours for the charity ball? You know the ones."
Daphne folded the paper in half before folding it again to set on her lap. She narrowed her eyes. "Only if you let me wear that Valentino dress."
Astoria rolled her eyes. "Fine, you can wear the Valentino dress."
The other woman perked up, knowing that it was as close as she was going to get regarding an actual apology from her sister since Astoria had no intention of actually uttering the words, which was fine. She had gotten her way and was wearing the Valentino dress to the Event.
"So explain to me how you plan on escorting me without alerting literally all of Wizarding England to your whereabouts?"
Draco was leaning up against the closed door to Ginny's room when he asked. At some point, he figured that she would enjoy being around him a lot more if she wasn't forced to go back into some bottle every time she had to sleep, so he provided her with the spare room in his home. And no; he would not be answering any further questions about why it made him feel good to do the youngest Weasley a kindness.
"You act like I've never heard of a Glamouring charm before," said youngest Weasley replied, her hair now a deep blue-black to cover up the tell-tale signature of her family.
She took another look in the mirror, making sure she was satisfied with what she put together for herself. Draco had told her that the Event was more of a cocktail hour, so with that in mind, she created a Bardot-style dress just a shade darker than emerald. The neckline and straps went across her shoulders; the bottom half was form fitting around the hips, ending just below the knee, with a slit and draping that ran along the left side to allow for movement. Her tits were hoisted and immaculate, and her ass was perfectly shaped.
Ginny allowed herself a small smirk. Harry Potter's Ginny Weasley wouldn't have allowed herself to indulge in this kind of expression of her femininity. But Ginny Weasley, the genie, was more secure in herself, more confident in her body, and more comfortable with herself now than she could ever remember herself being.
She cast one final look in the mirror. Her brown eyes were now a vibrant shade of blue and she minimized the amount of freckles on her face — another Weasley tell. Now Ginny allowed herself a full smile.
"Yes, I think this will do just fine," she whispered to her reflection.
He didn't know what to expect when Ginny opened the door to reveal herself. But he would later recall that it most certainly wasn't what he saw in front of him.
He could feel his mouth go dry as he realized that his genie was, in fact, a woman. A living, breathing, real woman with features that he couldn't think about right now because he was supposed to be dating a woman who was not her. And, really; maybe he was just reacting this way because there was no red hair, no freckles, and she wasn't covered up by that stupid, god-forsaken Snuggie that she was so fond of wearing. That had to be what it was. She just looked like every other beautiful witch that he had seen in his days. It made perfect sense that he reacted the way he did.
This train of thought allowed him to minimize the mild hysteria bubbling up in his mind as it really wouldn't do to show any hint of a reaction at this particular juncture.
Instead he allowed himself a "And who are you supposed to be tonight?"
Ginny laughed, pleased with herself and pleased with the look Draco gave her. A look that told her that he was trying very hard to not show any indication as to how he felt about her current Glamoured state. "Crystal," she said, walking into the hallway. "Like the champagne."
She started walking downstairs, heading toward the living room. "Where's Blaise?" she asked over her shoulder.
"Well, Crystal, he should be showing up any minute now. I'm supposed to be leaving soon to go pick up Daphne so we could make our 'grand entrance' together." Draco used air quotes and suppressed an eye roll. He was a month in and the sooner he could finish this ridiculous farce (Ginny included), the better.
A knock on the door alerted the pair to their third's presence.
"It's open!" Draco shouted. "We're in the living room!" Once again once the door opened.
Blaise rounded the corner, eyes alighting on Ginny upon entering. He let out a low whistle. "Well, well, well. Who do we have here?"
Ginny rolled her eyes as she stood up from her spot on the couch. "Crystal Summers. A pleasure." She held out a hand, prompting Blaise to place a light peck on her knuckles.
"She forgot to add 'like the champagne' when she told you her name," Draco mentioned behind her, trying to stifle laughter.
"Of course," Blaise nodded in solemn understanding. "I would expect nothing less. Are you ready to get this event over with?"
Ginny inhaled deeply through her nose. "Might as well!"
Draco was nervous.
Picking up Daphne had been a breeze, but actually being at the entrance to the Event brought up a wave of nerves he wasn't anticipating.
Daphne stole a glance at her date and could tell. Poor thing, she thought, frowning. He would never fully admit to being nervous, of course, but it was there nonetheless.
Things had been going well, press-wise, the elder Greengrass had made sure of that, but she knew that this gathering was different. Pansy and her writers had been hinting at Draco and Daphne making their grand debut at this event for at least a week now and local wizarding gossip was in a tizzy at the thought of seeing the somewhat reclusive Malfoy heir out in public again.
She looked back at her date and he looked at her, each providing the other with small, knowing smiles. If they could make it through tonight, then the next few months would be an absolute cake walk.
Daphne gave Draco's arm a light squeeze. "You'll be fine, you big baby," she whispered before turning her attention back to the entrance. Tits and teeth, her mother would tell her daughters once they were old enough to start giving a shit about how they looked to people other than themselves. And equipped with that knowledge, Daphne raised up her chest and flashed the widest grin she could manage.
The show was about to begin.
Draco and Daphne walked into the Event and a hush fell over the room. The moment had come and all of Wizarding England's high society could not keep their eyes off of the couple. The pair took their time walking through, making their way through the crowd of curious witches and wizards, observing the whispers and sideways glances they received.
Pansy Parkinson turned from the bar to see the couple walking through the room and downed her drink. "Shit!"
This was earlier than she had anticipated and she ran over to them in order to intercept their walk.
"Hello, Daph, Pansy Parkinson, Daily Prophet, love. You know the usual." The reporter walked next to Daphne, shortening her pace to keep up with her former classmate. As Pansy approached, she couldn't help but notice that the collective breath the Wizarding Elite had been holding was released and the crowd seemed to go back about their business.
The other former Slytherin nodded in acknowledgement. "Lovely to see you, Pans. How can I help, darling?"
"Mind giving an exclusive? And a quick little photo op?" Pansy waved over her photographer and pulled out her notebook and her Quick Quotes Quill.
"Only for you," Daphne purred. She paused her steps and wheeled Draco to face Pansy. "Draco, darling, of course you know Pans. Ready for some quick photos?"
The blond man looked down at his date, nodding. "Of course," he flashed Pansy a grin, but the other witch noticed that it didn't quite reach his eyes. She was tempted to make a note of it, but dismissed it, assuming that he was just nervous.
The next few moments were a blur for Draco. He remembered taking some photos, meant to illustrate how glamorous and in love him and Daphne were. He remembered mostly Pansy talking to Daphne, only asking him the odd question or looking to see if he agreed with the previous statement. He felt distracted, knowing that his full attention should be focused on the moment and the woman in front of him.
He could feel his thoughts start to wander. Was Blaise keeping his shit together? Was Ginny having a hard time with him? Was this really the right thing to be doing? Where were they? Draco felt his eyes linger away from the two women in front of him as he tried to search for his friend and his genie. He could feel himself instinctively looking for the Weasley sign before realizing that she'd given that up for the night in order to blend in.
He tried to ignore the thought in his mind that was trying to creep up, encouraging him to acknowledge that he was beginning to like the particular shade of red Ginny's hair had and was upset that she had to hide it to experience life right now. But, yet again, Draco decided that he wasn't going to fully acknowledge those thoughts because not only were they not appropriate, but they were not going to lead him toward the path to success. Daphne was the path to success; the path to being able to go about his day with relative ease.
Luckily, he didn't have to let his mind wander for too much longer as he was interrupted by the very sharp sound of Astoria Greengrass laughing entirely too loud.
Astoria Greengrass couldn't help but eye Blaise Zabini as he walked into the event hall.
She shimmied her shoulders to relieve the tension she felt building in them. She knew what she told Daphne about Blaise, but maybe she did want to repeat herself? What was the harm in trying again with him? Who cares that he was on her rotation with other men? Who cares that he only stopped seeing her because he realized he wanted something more serious and she was definitely not ready for that level of commitment? Certainly not Astoria. Today was a new day; she could make it work.
Tits and teeth just like her sister, the younger Greengrass began to walk over to the bar that Blaise was headed toward before she stopped dead in her tracks.
The older man seemed to have a date with him tonight. A raven-haired woman with a deep emerald dress and a certain sway to her hips that seemed to be a little too much for Astoria's liking.
Astoria moved through the crowd to try to get a look at the other woman, but kept barely missing her face, only catching glimpses as she got closer to the bar.
Bright blue eyes, a classic red lip, a little kitten flick of eyeliner. The brunette took it all in, but couldn't place her. She had to get closer.
"Hullo, Blaise," she purred, pouting out her lips as she spoke, trying to emphasize their plushness.
Blaise turned at the sound of his name, already knowing who spoke it.
"Astoria." He was curt and only provided her with a head nod before turning back around. Blaise knew Draco had no ill will toward the youngest Greengrass sister, but also made sure to keep her at an arm's length after her last liaison with his best friend went to hell in a hand basket.
"Lovely looking date you've got there, babes. Mind introducing me?" Astoria asked, motioning to the woman next to him.
Blaise allowed himself a chuckle before addressing his ex again. Of course Astoria needed to know as much as she could about the women he surrounded himself with. Even though she was the one who didn't want anything "serious," she just had to know how she measured up.
He leaned down to Ginny, whispering, "Just go along with this," before grabbing her arm to turn her around to face the other woman.
"Oh, I'm surprised you noticed anyone other than yourself," Blaise replied. "Crystal, this is Astoria Greengrass. Astoria, this is Crystal Summers." He had emphasized the -al in his date's name, drawing it out like the name of the champagne.
Crystal Summers? Who in the bloody fuck is named Crystal Summers? Astoria had to hide the disgust and confusion at the other woman's name. Whoever the hell she was, she certainly wasn't a pureblood.
This Crystal held out her hand for Astoria to shake. "It's a pleasure. I've heard so much about you from Blaise and Draco."
Astoria's eyes flicked to the other woman's face for the first time. The brunette stared as she shook her hand. She had seen her somewhere before. "Have we met before, Crystal dear?"
Ginny took a hard gulp before replying. "I don't believe we have."
"Are you sure? I could've sworn that we went to Hogwarts together. What house were you in?" Astoria was persistent. She could feel it in her jellies. Something about the woman's face felt so nostalgic.
"She didn't go to Hogwarts, Tori," Blaise cut in, using the nickname Astoria hated. "Crystal went to Ilvermorny. Her parents wanted her to experience life outside of England." He looked to Ginny, who went a bit wide eyed before settling. "You may have seen her around my manor growing up since her parents are family friends."
The brunette grinned. Of course. Anyone who was comfortable sending their child to America would of course name their daughter Cryst-al. "Well, then, the fact that you've managed to still sound the same after living in that hell hole for as long as you have is simply a cause for celebration. Care for a drink, Crystal, darling?" She began to move toward the bar next to Ginny.
Blaise began opening his mouth to reply, knowing that Astoria and drinking was only going to lead in a direction that he knew Daphne was not going to want to deal with later, which meant he was going to deal with it later. He was stopped by a hand on his arm. He looked up into Ginny, no, Crystal's eyes to see the humor housed there. The genie had caught on to Astoria's little game and seemed down to play.
"That sounds lovely, Tori. I'll have whatever you're having," Ginny replied.
Astoria narrowed her eyes at the use of the nickname. Then something clicked in her beautiful brain and she did something that the other two didn't expect.
She laughed. Loudly.
"Oh, I think I rather like you, Crystal." The younger woman grabbed the two martini glasses the bartender had set down on the wooden bar top, passing one to the woman in front of her. They clinked them together before taking a sip. "I may actually have some fun at this party."
Ginny awoke the following morning feeling gross.
She rubbed a half open eye only to see eyeliner and mascara smudged across her hand. She looked down and noticed that her party dress was still on. Whoever got her back in her bed clearly felt uncomfortable with the idea of getting her into a pair of pajamas.
The genie stood with a groan, not used to the feeling of the hardwood floor beneath her feet so early in her day, before raising her hands over her head to stretch.
After a long, luxurious shower, complete with the longest hair and skincare routine she could come up with, the now back to normal Ginny Weasley made her way out of her bedroom. She felt like being unsociable today to ease the dull throbbing of the hangover induced by last night's activities, many of which she couldn't remember, and had dressed in the comfiest sweatsuit she could imagine. As she walked down the hallway to the living room, she pulled the hood up over her hair and yanked down on the cords to close it up as much as she could. Although she was about to be 28, she felt more like a 5-year-old today, hoping the halo of cotton around her head could drown out the too bright colors and too loud sounds.
Draco looked up at the hungover woman entering his living room and snorted at the sight before him.
"She's awake, it seems." He sat on his end of the sofa, feet resting on his ottoman, sifting through that morning's Daily Prophet.
Ginny's glare couldn't conjure up as much venom as she had hoped for, but her master had the good sense to pretend like it did. She sat down in her usual spot and stretched her legs out. The genie waved her left hand, palm up, to create a large mug of coffee and took a sip. "Oh, shove it, Malfoy. I slept in my makeup and dress all night and the last thing I remember is Astoria Greengrass dragging me back to the bar for yet another drink."
"Well, lucky for you, the Prophet was there to document last night's event." The blond man handed the redhead his copy of the society pages, peeking a glance at her as she read through it.
Ginny sat up a bit more, placing her coffee in the air next to her, knowing it would stay put. Her eyes roamed the front page of the section, taking in the photo of the pair of Slytherin lovers that everyone was gaga over these days — Daphne looking positively perfect in her (borrowed) Valentino dress and Draco, well. Ginny rolled her eyes as she admitted to herself that Draco did indeed look nice when he seemed pleased by his surroundings. The exclusive article by Pansy Parkinson was glowing and effusive, noting how complimentary their looks are, how patient Daphne is with Draco, and how much they appreciate "taking things slow" in their relationship. In short, Daphne was approaching sainthood and Draco was her perfect gentleman caller.
However, what really caught Ginny's attention was a photo and an article on page 2. Has Astoria Greengrass Found the Latest It Girl? Below the headline was indeed a photo of Astoria Greengrass, drink in hand, laughing, as she locked arms with…
"Bloody hell," Ginny breathed out, looking up with wide eyes to find Draco just tipping over into the throes of laughter. "Oh, sure! Laugh it up, you little shit! If it wasn't for you asking me to accompany Blaise, I wouldn't even be in this position!"
As if on cue, Draco grabbed the newspaper section away from Ginny, folding it up to gain better purchase on the article's page.
"Not one to be upstaged by her older sister," he began, getting up from the sofa to get out of Ginny's reach, "the young Astoria Greengrass may have found Wizarding England's newest It Girl among the crowd at the Ministry's charity event last night. Not much was learned about this mysterious raven-haired beauty, but our roving reporters were able to determine that the young witch's name was Crystal Summers." He made his way over to the kitchen when he saw her stand, hoping to gain some distance as he read.
"When pressed for comment at the event, Miss Summers could only tell us that she loved being back home in England after living abroad for a majority of her life. The two witches were seen drinking and laughing all night long before being escorted out by Miss Summers's date, the dashing Blaise Zabini."
Upon finishing, he placed the paper down on the countertop next to him and looked up, wondering how he was suddenly eye level with Ginny. He looked down at the floor only to find that she was hovering above it, cross-legged in front of him, arms over her chest.
"Fucking Merlin, Weasley! Since when can you float?"
The genie looked down, realizing what she had done in her exasperation. "Sorry, I forgot. People get all weird when they realize I can float due to being a genie and all." She shrugged before uncrossing her legs and lowering herself back down to the ground. "Someone decided to ruin my morning malaise and I forgot to control it, okay?"
Regaining composure, Draco steadied himself with a hand on his countertop. "Yes, well, it's nearly noon, so we'll have to cut your morning malaise, as you put it, short. There's some other things I need to show you."
Crystal, babes,
Last night was so much fun! Did you see the write up they did of us in the Prophet? Daphne's not too thrilled about it, which means I just have to go out with you again.
Are you available for lunch and some shopping next Saturday?
Kisses,
Astoria
"As you can see, Crystal made quite the splash last night." Draco had provided Ginny with a stack of letters that had been coming in since early this morning. Requests for interviews, dates, event invites — just an ongoing stream of various owls dropping things off on his kitchen counter, awaiting a reply from the mysterious Miss Summers.
The genie sat across from him, slowly going through each piece of mail, sorting them by what they were. She knew she couldn't realistically reply to a majority of them. It was too dangerous for her to be constantly out and about with people she didn't know. It would also be hard to keep any part of Crystal's story straight the longer she went around as her.
In the pit of her stomach, she knew that helping Draco out like she did last night was a bad idea. She should have never agreed to accompanying Blaise.
"You don't have to keep doing this." The words were soft and low, only meant to be heard by the space in between the genie and her master. She didn't expect him to agree with her and she lifted her head, puzzled by what he said.
"Seriously, you don't. It's going to be too hard for you to manage it all," he continued.
"I mean, it's not like I have to reply to all of them. And I think I can handle Astoria Greengrass," she interrupted. Ginny had to bite down on her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything else. She knew that she could handle just entertaining Astoria's whims here and there, but that's all she would do. She was too afraid of getting caught up in the lie.
"Are you sure? I know how careful you've been about calling attention to yourself." He couldn't bring himself to look directly at Ginny, instead settling his eyes somewhere to her right.
Ginny grabbed her master's cheeks and forced him to look at her. "Yes, I'm sure, you bloody idiot." She let go, noticing the hint of pink that graced the tops of his cheeks and ears. "Would it make you feel better if I informed you of what I was doing before and after each meet up?"
Draco heaved a sigh. "I suppose," he grumbled, feeling rather churlish all of a sudden.
"Great!" the redhead beamed at the reply. "So I'll just write back to Astoria and that'll be it. I'll make sure to let you know where we go and when. Scout's honor." Ginny raised her right hand, keeping her pointer and middle finger together in a salute she had learned from a different Muggle master, and she placed her left hand over her heart.
Draco didn't fully understand the whole "scout's honor" thing, but he supposed it meant Ginny was keeping her word.
Ginny began to walk out of the kitchen, before pausing at the doorway. She turned back to look at Draco, still leaning against the island in the middle of the room. "I appreciate you looking out for me."
As soon as the words left Ginny's lips, she knew that it was going to bring about a change. The sirens had come back and she quickly turned away from her master, realizing that her face was getting hot. She wasn't sure what the change was going to be and she didn't want to think about it too much since Ginny was still perfectly okay with avoiding introspection. Instead, she sped out of the room and back to the couch, knowing that her coffee would be there and wouldn't judge her.
It was for the best that Ginny had turned back around as quickly as she did, otherwise she would have seen poor Draco, just as red as she was, staring at her with wide eyes.
"Oh, balls," he whispered to himself, knowing that as time went on, it was going to become increasingly harder to tamper down on the same kind of introspection Ginny was running from.
A/N - Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you'd be so kind. :)
