Title: The Proper Engagement
Characters: Draco/Ginny, Ron/Hermione
Rating: PG-13 for pottymouth
Genre: Comedy, a bit of Fluff at the end
Distribution: ff.net, FIA, obscurus, mugglenet, my LJ (all pending approval)
Disclaimer: I disclaim
A/N: Just a short little plot penguin that popped into my head....

~~~~~

“Dammit, Weasel! Just take the bloody money!” Draco yelled in a sudden outburst, completely killing any chances of furthering their discussion calmly.

“I do NOT need your charity just to buy Hermione the proper ring! I can work it out!” Ron yelled right back indignantly, his face starting to turn a bit red.

“You bloody well can’t. On those Auror wages, you’d have to sell your flat–if it can even be called that, it’s so ridiculously small–to start to consider buying her a ring with the large amount of a 1/12 carat diamond. At this point, you could barely afford half a gold band...”

“I resent that!” Ron sputtered. “You’re always trying to act so smug and superior just because you’ve got a bit more money...”

“A bit?” Draco interrupted, an amused smirk on his face. He could not resist proving his point by placing his hands in the pockets of his Very Expensive new pants that he was wearing with his Very Expensive new shirt and his Very Expensive new robe.

“Fine. A LOT more money. There? Are you happy now? But that still does NOT make you entitled to turn my impending engagement into a case of pity.” Ron’s own hands were clenched into fists down at his sides, occasionally threatening to move closer to Draco’s face.

“It’s not pity. It’s wanting to do something nice for you and Granger–Hermione.” He quickly changed his wording, noticing the glare Ron was giving him, and continued. “Besides, as much as I dislike saying anything of the touchy-feely sort, you are my family. And at least I’m bloody well trying to accept that I’m related to you. You could do the same and accept my offer.”

“Just because you came in and married my baby sister does NOT mean we are family!”

“The courts say it does.”

“Sod off, Malfoy.”

Draco sighed. “Fine then. If you won’t take the money from me, then borrow it from Ginny.”

“Ginny’s not even working right now, she’s so busy taking care of your precious son!” Though Ron was trying to remain angry, he was unable to refer to his nephew too harshly. “How would she be able to afford Hermione’s engagement ring?”

Draco just raised his eyebrow.

“Oh, no. You are not going to trick me into taking the money straight from your bank account just by telling me it’s from Ginny.” Ron shook his head.

“Well, technically, half of it’s hers. So it WOULD be from Ginny.”

“I don’t care. It’s still money that came from you and your family.” He spat the last word out, clearly referring to a certain father of Draco’s. “She’d be paying for ‘Mione’s ring with money made from the sale of dark objects such as the diary that possessed Ginny in her first year and gave her nightmares for bloody years!”

“So that’s the problem,” Draco said with an air not unlike that of a psychologist. “You’re still mad at Ginny for marrying me.”

“Yes, but that’s not the bloody point. How did you get there from where we were?”

“You still associate my family with the things that happened to Ginny her first year. But you know what? I may have been a right bastard back then, but I never would have let him do that to her if I’d known. That oversteps the line just a bit.”

“What line? Arseholes actually have a moral line?” Ron sneered.

“Yes, we do. But we’re getting off topic here. Will you take the money or not?”

“That would be a resounding HELL no.”

“Fine then. But don’t come crawling to me and Gin when Hermione takes one look at whatever pathetic excuse for jewelry you end up getting her and says no.”

Draco turned and began to walk away, but all it took was a few steps.

“Draco?” Ron asked timidly. Upon turning back to face him, Draco could see that this was clearly hurting Ron. The wince on his face was actually rather amusing.

“Yes?”

“Perhaps we could work out some sort of loan...?”

Draco nodded, and brought out a piece of parchment he had in his cloak so they could start working out the details.

~~~~~

“Ginny!” Draco yelled upon Apparating into their kitchen where there were scattered items all over, making it look as though a tornado had just swept through. It did, he noted, actually look a bit better than it had the previous day.

His wife came bustling into the room, one hand supporting the toddler she carried on her hip and her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail to keep it from assaulting her face. “Did it work?”

“Like a charm. He should be purchasing the ring any time now.”

She smiled. “Good. What did you do to get him to agree? He wouldn’t even talk to me about it.”

“Simple. There was a bit of yelling at first which didn’t actually help, but all it took was a little hypothetical situation.”

“Ah, my husband, the manipulator with the power to make any man fear rejection,” she said with a grin, catching on to what said hypothetical situation had been.

He tried to suppress the blood rushing to his cheeks and causing them to turn red, but failed miserably. Ginny just chuckled, gave him a quick kiss, and went to dig up her old bridal magazines. She had a feeling that Hermione would soon be needing them.