. . . . . .
Speak you so gently? Pardon me, I pray you:
I thought that all things had been savage here,
And therefore I put on the countenance
Of stern commandment.
- As You Like It, act II, scene VII
. . . . . .
The Stewart home was an enormous granite mansion deep in the heart of Derbyshire. When Ginny and Draco appeared in front of it, it was all Ginny could do to keep from gasping. It wasn't as large as Malfoy Manor, but the house was obviously several hundred years newer, and looked, to Ginny's admittedly untrained eye, Elizabethan in style. Malfoy Manor, by comparison, looked like a medieval castle, hulking and foreboding.
Ginny looked around in delight at the well-manicured front lawn, the spacious park around the house, and the graceful columns and arches of the house. Music and light were pouring out of the windows and open doors, making the whole area seem warm and friendly. "You know, Malfoy," she said thoughtfully, "if Malfoy Manor looked this inviting, I think you'd have a lot less trouble getting girls to marry you."
"I'll keep that in mind," he said sarcastically, then grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a nearby bush, carefully pruned to look like a swan.
"Classy," she commented, looking up at the swan.
Draco just rolled his eyes and told her, "We can talk here- we're hidden from the view of the house and the Apparation point."
"Lovely," Ginny said. "So, how are we going to do this?"
Draco shrugged. "Well, Elise said there'll be toasts for the Stewarts near the end of the night. After everyone's toasted them, Elise will say that I have an announcement. Then I'll come forward and tell everyone that today, I have the great fortune to announce my engagement to Miss Virginia Weasley, of the Weasleys of Ottery St. Catchpole."
Ginny frowned. "First, I already told you that my name is not Virginia."
"Fine," Draco butted in. "I'll call you Ginny. Shall we go in?"
He made to leave, but Ginny caught his arm. "No, Malfoy, that was only my first point. My second point is that we are not going to announce our engagement. We're here to convince people that we are not engaged, remember?"
"Maybe that's what you intend to do," he replied, "but as for me . . ."
"Malfoy!" she interrupted him, shaking him a little. "Please don't do this! I do not want to have to get the Ministry of Magic involved in this. Then everyone will know that we were engaged, and my family will have a fit, and my friends will think I'm insane, and you'll be in trouble with the Ministry, and that would affect your standing with your job, and it'll be all over the papers, and people will give us funny looks in the street . . . let's just don't go there, Malfoy."
"But I want to go there, Ginny."
"Oh, honestly!" Ginny said in exasperation. "Look, I'm not going into that party until you agree that we'll tell everyone we're not engaged."
There was a long pause while Draco studied her, making Ginny rather uncomfortable. When he finally spoke, his voice held an undeniable hint of unfeigned frustration. "Look, sweetheart," he said, "you're not being very fair about all this. You don't want to marry me because you think that me and my kind are all terrible people. But you've never even met most of us. So, look, I'll make you a deal. Come into the party, act like you like me, spend some time getting to know me, meet my friends. And at the end of the evening, if you still absolutely hate me, I'll tell everyone that we decided mutually to call it off. I'll even come up with a really good reason for our breakup that doesn't make you look bad." He stuck his hand out.
Ginny didn't have to think very hard about whether or not to agree to the deal. All she had to do was spend a few hours at a fancy party, and she'd be freed from her oath. And it wasn't like there was any chance of her deciding not to call the engagement off at the end of the night. "All right," she said, shaking Draco's hand. "It's a deal."
He smiled. "Good. Now, before we go in . . ." He proceeded to give a quick lesson in proper etiquette for the party. Ginny listened attentively- after all, that information might come in handy later in life.
"Now," he said when he was done, "about your appearance." He gave her a quick once over, examining her dress robes and hair with a critical eye.
Ginny smiled as he did so. She knew that her robes were perfect for the occasion and very fashionable; a friend of hers who also worked at St. Mungo's and who was a fashion guru had picked them out for her on a recent shopping trip. "The perfect semi-formal robes," she'd called them.
After a moment more thought, Draco nodded. "The robes are fine," he said. "Decent color on you." Ginny felt, at that moment, very pleased with herself and very benevolent toward Draco, so she didn't even scowl at him when he asked, "But who did your hair? A garden gnome?" He pulled out his wand and studied her for a moment, frowning. "With these robes and your coloring, your hair should be . . ." He murmured a spell under his breath, and Ginny felt her hair sweep itself up into an elaborate style.
She just shook her head at him. "I'm not even going to ask how you know that spell." Then she stepped away from him and grinned wryly. "So, am I going to embarrass you too much?"
He shrugged. "Not too much," he said, and she scowled at him as he came up to escort her inside.
They were near the bottom of the front stairs when Draco reached into his robe pocket and pulled a small box out. "Almost forgot. I figured we ought to look the part," he said, showing her the silver band on his fourth finger.
Ginny opened the box he gave her to find a beautiful diamond ring inside. She had to fight back a gasp as she saw it. It was just what she would have picked for herself- simple and silver, with a square cut diamond flanked by two smaller diamonds.
"I bought it in Diagon Alley today," he told her nonchalantly, as though buying diamonds was an everyday occurrence for him. "It probably cost as much as your father makes in a year."
Ginny's first inclination was to stomp on his foot, but he had spent a lot of money on a ring for her, so she forced her anger back and looked down at the ring on her finger. "It's beautiful," she told him honestly.
He looked over at her then, a strange look on his face. "It's the same style as my mother's was. I figured you two would have had similar tastes." He paused a moment. "I think she would have liked you," he said, his voice soft, and for a moment Ginny didn't know what to say.
Then Draco shrugged. "Yes, Mum always did have weird taste in friends," he said with a feigned condescending sigh, then strolled off toward the front stairs. Shaking her head in exasperation and fighting back an insult, Ginny followed after him.
. . . . . .
The inside of the house was even more magnificent than the outside. It was all marble and columns and frescoes, and the furniture was all antiques that had been in the family for years. Of course, having known the Stewarts all his life, Draco barely even noticed what the place looked like anymore. When they entered, though, he was reminded of how beautiful the house was when he heard Ginny's quick intake of breath. When he glanced over at her, her eyes were full of admiration as she took in the front hall. She was doing it very discretely, though, and he was glad she had the sense not to gawk and stare as though she'd never seen a house this elaborate- which, he pondered, she probably hadn't. She'd seen Malfoy Manor, which was an old and rich house, but it didn't have the kind of elegance and charm that the Stewart home did.
"All right," he said, turning to Ginny. "Are you ready for this?
"No," came her quick answer, and Draco smirked.
"At least you're honest," he said, and reached out to thread her arm through his. "And do try to be a little more confident when you're in there."
"Fine," she replied. "But you remember that if people ask whether we're engaged, you're going to tell them that nothing's been formalized or announced."
"Fine," he retorted. "But if people ask you why you haven't snagged me yet, when I'm such a wonderful catch-"
"I'll feign a coughing fit and excuse myself to get a drink," she cut in drily. "Are you done yet?"
"Someday, my dear," Draco replied airily as he swept down the hallway, Ginny on his arm, "you'll realize that I'm never done."
"Corking," she replied drily, and they stopped to wait for the house elves to open the doors to the ballroom.
Through the heavy doors floated bits of voices and music, and Draco estimated that there was a full crowd inside, along with a small orchestra. Whether his ploy to announce his engagement worked or failed, there would be a lot of people there to see it. The doors parted, and, standing up straight and holding firmly to Ginny's arm, Draco entered the ballroom.
The conversations around them quieted immediately as everyone turned to see the redhead on Draco's arm. As other people noticed them, voices all over the ballroom began hushing as well, and Draco could see many heads turning to have a look at them. He didn't mind this at all- he loved the attention, and he loved seeing so many of his smug acquaintances looking so shocked.
As though nothing was amiss, he strolled into the crowd to find the Stewarts, so that they could pay their respects to the hosts. As he and Ginny walked, people started up their conversations again, but many people were still watching them. Ignoring their stares, he nodded at those he was friends with and looked nonchalantly around the large room.
The orchestra sat on a raised dais on one end of the room. On the other side was a small room just off the ballroom, in which was a huge table covered with food. The whole place was lit with many large pewter candelabras and a large candle chandelier. Paintings and photographs of the Stewarts at various times during their marriage were clustered near the food room, and the ceiling sparkled with stars similar to those at Hogwarts' Great Hall. The effect was, as everything Elise Stewart did was, simple and tasteful. Draco smiled. He was counting on Elise to show Ginny that some of his people could be sensible and respectable.
He was rethinking his opinion of Elise's sense several moments later, when their procession through the ballroom was stopped by a blur of blue and black that cannonballed into Draco's side. "Draco!" his attacker cried happily, latching onto his free arm. It was Elise, dressed in sparkling sky blue robes, her dark eyes dancing with happiness. Following behind her at a more leisurely pace was Elise's husband, a tall, sandy-haired man with a loping sort of gait. Draco grinned as he saw his old friend James, then looked pointedly down at the exuberant woman still clinging to his arm. James just smiled and shrugged as though to say, "You deal with it."
"Oh, Draco, it's so good to see you again!" Elise was saying happily.
Draco released Ginny's arm and turned to embrace Elise. "It's good to see you, too," he said.
She smiled, then glanced over at Ginny. Immediately her expression changed to one of surprise and embarrassment, and she released Draco quickly. "Oh, dear, I don't mean to be so rude," she said apologetically.
Turning around, she grabbed her husband's arm and pulled him over to where Draco and Ginny were standing. Then she smiled, obviously trying to compose herself to make a good impression on Ginny. "Well, Draco," she said cordially, as though nothing had happened, "aren't you going to introduce us to your charming fiance?"
Draco had to fight back a laugh at Elise's antics. The woman simply had too much energy for her own good. He was about to introduce Ginny when he remembered what she had instructed him to do. Figuring it was best to stay on her good side right then, Draco smiled apologetically. "Actually, what we told your father might have been a little hasty. We haven't entirely . . . formalized it yet. We're still not sure whether or not we're going to announce anything tonight." There, that ought to make the little spitfire happy.
Ginny seemed to have the same thought, because she after glancing up at him, she started talking to Elise and James in what he knew to be her most civil and polite tone of voice, as though to thank him for not telling everyone they were engaged. "We're sorry if you were counting on it tonight," she said, looking at Elise, "but we're both still a little unsure. This is such a big step, and we don't want to go through with it unless we're certain."
"I understand entirely," Elise said, smiling warmly at Ginny. Ginny looked surprised, but then she smiled, and Draco could tell that it was genuine. Then Elise looked back at Draco, raising an eyebrow in feigned indignation. "So, are you going to introduce us or not? I seem to remember asking you to quite some time ago." She looked conspiratorially over at Ginny and shook her head. "I declare, no manners. The way the man acts sometimes, you'd think he was raised by wolves!"
This time Ginny laughed, along with the rest of their small group. It was a nice sound, Draco decided, her laugh. He rather liked it. Unfortunately, when she was around him, her laughter was usually derisive and coupled with statements that were not fit for polite society. He decided he would have to learn to make her laugh like this.
"Elise, James," he said when the laughter ended, "this is Ginny Weasley, my . . . friend. And Ginny, this is Elise and James Stewart, two of my good childhood friends." Elise stepped forward with a smile. Ginny put her hand out, obviously intending to shake, but the other woman didn't seem to notice as she threw her arms around her. After a surprised pause, Ginny hugged her back. Draco grinned. Perhaps Elise would help win Ginny over after all.
. . . . . .
It had been a very strange night, Ginny reflected several hours later. She was standing by the doorway to the room that held the refreshment table, drinking a cup of the delicious punch they were serving. The punch was actually meant for the party's few younger guests, but Ginny thought she'd rather not chance the wine that was being served. The evening was surreal enough already without alcohol- she didn't want to think about what she might do or say if she got sloshed.
Draco was nearby, talking to a co-worker from the Department of International Cooperation. He was a tall, skinny fellow who reminded Ginny very much of her brother Percy, both in appearance and mannerisms. She could tell, from the time she'd spent with Draco, that her supposed fiance was bored stiff, but his companion was either very important or very rich, because Draco kept listening with an expression that, to the untrained eye, would look like interest. She shook her head. He really was a jerk, sometimes.
Taking another sip from her cup, she gazed around the room. The people here had really surprised her. Many of the people she'd met were evil and slimy, as a Slytherin should be, but just as many were good-natured people, the kind of people she would have been friends with. Of course, even some of the nice ones displayed little quirks and mannerisms that came, Ginny supposed, from being waited on, coddled, loved, worshiped, hated and feared so much over the last few centuries. All the same, though, they were many of them decent people. And some of the more arrogant and rude of the guests were, she could tell, good people at heart who simply happened to believe differently than she did. It was rather confusing.
The first people she'd met were James' parents, the Stewarts. After bidding James and Elise farewell- "I'm coming to find you later, all right, Ginny? I want to find out all about you!"- Draco had taken her to pay their respects to the hosts. George and Caroline Stewart were a sweet-natured old couple who reminded Ginny in a strange way of Hermione's parents. George was in his late fifties, Caroline a few years younger, and they seemed very proud of having made it through thirty years of marriage together. They held hands and joked together, and seemed to Ginny to be still very much in love.
"Mr. and Mrs. Stewart," Draco began, "this is-"
Mr. Stewart interrupted. "We've told you a thousand times, Draco, we don't stand on ceremony here. Call us George and Caroline."
Draco smiled. "Well, this is Ginny Weasley, my . . . friend."
Caroline stepped forward and smiled warmly at Ginny. "My dear, we're so glad to meet you."
Ginny found herself liking the woman immediately. With a smile of her own, she stepped forward to shake her hand. "Well, I'm delighted to meet you . . . Caroline," she said sincerely.
George grinned. "You picked that up faster than your young man here," he said, looking over at Draco.
Draco scowled. "Sure, take her side," he said, and both George and Caroline laughed.
The next few minutes were spent in friendly conversation, and Ginny found herself laughing with the Stewarts as though they were old friends. The older couple talked a lot about Draco. Unfortunately, both George and Caroline had nothing but good things to say about him, which wasn't exactly what Ginny wanted to hear. Of course, she reasoned to herself, they had known him since childhood and hence were inclined to exaggerate things in his favor, and to ignore any of the more unsavory aspects of his character.
Finally, Draco took Ginny's arm to indicate they needed to move on. Before they left, Caroline clasped Ginny's hand in her own. "You must come to tea with Elise and me some time."
Ginny hesitated, surprised. I won't be around long enough, she thought, but smiled at Caroline. "We'll have to see," she said.
Caroline beamed. "I'll get your address from Draco, then, shall I? It was absolutely delightful to meet you, dear!"
And then Draco had dragged her off to meet more of his friends. Many of them were just as kind and friendly as the Stewarts. Of course, she suspected that Draco was only introducing her to people who he knew would act that kindly toward her, but she was still pleasantly surprised by the general friendliness of the group.
Draco couldn't control everyone that she met, though. A number of people had come up to introduce themselves on their own- Ginny suspected they did this more out of morbid curiosity than politeness- and many of these were exactly what she'd expected Draco's friends to be.
Several, in Ginny's opinion, should have been in jail; they were Death Eaters that had managed, in one way or another, to wiggle out of trouble at the end of the war. Several were old, shriveled men with wicked grins and scars so strange that even Ginny, as a trained Medi-witch, couldn't have guessed where they came from. Some were men with voices as oily as their hair, who reminded her a great deal of Professor Snape. But most were simply rich couples in silk and furs and dragon skin, who looked at her in a kind of disgusted curiosity, as though she were some strange insect that wandered into the ballroom and they were wondering why no one had squashed her yet. But all of these people had two things in common: they all looked at her condescendingly, and they all made her feel distinctly uncomfortable.
The two people she didn't run in to, both of whom she'd been expecting some kind of confrontation with, were Severus Snape and Ian Zabini. She saw Zabini across the room a few times, but he staunchly avoided her gaze. Severus simply didn't show up, though she assumed he'd been invited. She was fairly sure Draco had spoken to both of them. That was quite a thought: Draco had been manipulating and bossing two men far older than him, all for her.
Ginny sighed into her punch cup as she took yet another drink from it. Although she could not presently decide what her final opinion of the party was, she was sure of one thing: it had been a very trying night, and she would be very glad to go home.
Draco was no longer in her sight, but that wasn't surprising because she was presently in the small room that held the food table, and portions of the ballroom were hidden from her sight by the wall between the two rooms. As she glanced around, she noticed chairs set up near the door, and she sank into one gratefully. She had been standing for quite some time now, and getting off her feet was pure bliss.
As she sank back further into the chair, she was suddenly surprised to hear her name said around the corner. She felt it was improper to eavesdrop, but her curiosity was too strong, and Ginny found herself holding her breath and waiting for the voice to speak again.
"I mean, it's really an embarrassment, bringing that pauper here. What could Draco be thinking? Honestly, if I were the Stewarts, I would be so mortified to have that Muggle lover here!" The voice was female.
"I don't know," came another female voice. "My brother met her, and he said she's very nice."
"It's an act," replied the first voice. "You can take the peasant out of the gutter-"
"But you'll probably get punched for your troubles," a low voice suddenly cut in, right in Ginny's ear, and she nearly jumped out of her chair. Spinning around, she saw Draco next to her, grinning. "Eavesdropping?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "How Slytherin." He offered his hand to her to help her up. "Come on. Elise has been asking for you."
Still blushing from being caught, Ginny took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. He threaded the hand he was holding through his arm, then led her out of the room. As they passed into the ballroom, both Ginny and Draco looked over to see who they'd been overhearing, and Ginny was shocked to see a rather portly and somewhat familiar looking young woman glaring venomously at her.
"Pansy," Draco said with a smile that was deliberately false, "fancy meeting you here. You look . . . well kept."
"Draco," Pansy Parkinson replied snidely, though somewhat unsteadily, and Ginny could see that she was in the early stages of intoxication. "Fancy you bringing your pauper girlfriend here. What, do you enjoy slumming so much that you decided to bring part of the slum home?"
"Goodbye, Pansy," Draco said, then nodded to the other girl. "Calliope," he said by way of greeting, then swept Ginny away. Hurrying to keep up with him, Ginny wondered if his abrupt exit was because they'd been insulting her, or if he was simply sick of talking to Pansy. She wouldn't blame him if it was the latter. Pansy was everything Draco had said she was, and she could see why he wouldn't want to marry her. Without thinking, she said as much to him.
Draco shrugged noncommittally. "She's not terrible when she's not drunk. She's one of my few school friends who are still around." At this his face became very quiet, and Ginny remembered that Draco had lost most of his friends from school in the war. Goyle and Nott had both been killed while fighting for Voldemort. Crabbe was in jail, a convicted Death Eater. And Elise's younger brother Blaise Zabini, who had never joined Voldemort, had been seriously injured in an attack on Diagon Alley by the Death Eaters, and was still in a special medical clinic in Spain.
Without thinking, Ginny reached over with her free arm to lay a comforting hand on his arm. He looked at her with one contemptuous eyebrow raised, and she suddenly realized what she was doing. To pull her hand away, though, would mean that she found him intimidating, so she kept it there, looking defiantly at him and pretending she'd meant to have her hand there all along. After a moment of looking at her, Draco shrugged again, rolling his eyes, and continued to lead her across the floor.
They found Elise and James standing near the main doors of the ballroom. After exchanging greetings- and hugs, in Elise's case- James asked Ginny how she was enjoying the party. It took several moments of consideration before Ginny felt confident about answering this. "It's been . . . different than I expected," she answered. "But I've enjoyed myself. I've met a lot of nice people, and the music and food is all wonderful."
Elise beamed like a child at this, and Ginny felt, at that moment, that the dark-haired woman was someone she wanted to be friends with. So she smiled and said, "It really looks lovely in here. You did a brilliant job arranging this, Elise." If it was possible, Elise's smile grew even larger.
At that moment, their conversation was interrupted by noises out in the front hall. They could hear house elves shouting, mixed with loud footsteps and laughter. Ginny stiffened. Whoever it was that was laughing was obviously very drunk, and she wondered what they were doing at such a high brow affair.
The doors were suddenly thrown open, and Ginny found herself facing, to her great embarrassment, a small group of people she recognized all too well, all very drunk, all yelling loudly, and apparently intent on crashing the party. She recognized them because a few of them had been in her house at Hogwarts, though they were all five and six years older than her. She could only imagine what all of her detractors in the room were thinking just then: And these people pretend to be so noble. And then they wonder why we dislike them!
The leader of the group was Richard Moore. Ginny knew him because he'd been in Percy's year, and Percy had constantly complained about how often he'd had to reprimand him for his behavior. She hoped desperately he didn't notice her and single her out, further embarrassing her in front of all of these people. To hide her face from him, she turned and began looking around the room. Several large wizards were storming to the front doors to throw the intruders out. George and Caroline had come forward to see what the disturbance was, and Caroline looked shocked and upset. Ginny felt, if possible, even worse than she had.
At that moment, she heard an unsteady voice behind her. "Ginny. Ginny Weasley, is that you?"
She turned around slowly to face Richard, who was swaying slowly on his feet in front of her. "Yes, Richard," she said, hoping her cold tone of voice would clue him in to how angry she was, "it's me."
The drunk man's eyes widened. "What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise. Before she could reply, he turned to Draco, his bleary eyes suddenly focused very hard on the blonde man. "What did you do?" he demanded angrily, his voice becoming more slurred. "Did you bring her to this scummy party without her knowledge?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Go home and sleep if off," he said dismissively.
Richard would not be so easily brushed off. "I've going to take her with me," he said, his words jumbling together. "If the Weasleys were here, they'd do the same for me."
Draco just sighed. "Don't make me pull a wand on you," he said boredly.
Richard was too busy rolling up his sleeves to hear. "Someone's got to put you in your place," he said, and Ginny began to fear that he really was going to start a fist fight. Unable to bear the thought of the Stewart's party being ruined that way, she stepped it front of Draco and glared at Richard.
Forcing herself to calm down, she told him firmly, "Thank you for your concern, Richard, but I came by choice with Mr. Malfoy to this lovely party, held by some of the loveliest people I've ever met. Please leave before you embarrass yourself further."
Richard blinked at her a few times, then nodded thoughtfully as though he'd known she was there by choice all along. A large wizard in dress robes grabbed his arm, and the drunk man stumbled out the door to where the rest of his friends had been rounded up. The house elves pulled the door closed, and Ginny found herself sighing in relief.
Many people were now looking at Ginny, and as she turned her face away from their gazes, she found Draco, Elise and James all staring at her, Elise looking shocked. Ginny smiled apologetically. "I'm so sorry about that. I'm . . . I'm so embarrassed to even know those people."
Elise just smiled. "Thank you for telling him off, though," she said.
Draco leaned over and murmured in her ear, "So, the noble Gryffindors attack the evil Slytherins at their wedding anniversary. Is this the way it goes?"
Ginny turned angrily toward him. "Stow it, Draco," she said sharply, and to her surprise, he did.
It was nearly ten minutes before the party started back up full swing. Ginny spent most of that time staunchly avoided the gazes of everyone around her. She very glad that the party was almost over. All that was left was the toasts, which were beginning just then.
Toasts. Announcement. Her engagement! Ginny looked up quickly. What was she going to do? She had to decide right then what her answer was. I mean, she corrected herself, of course the answer is no, but . . .
But as she stood there thinking, with the toasts going on around her, she couldn't help but remember the exact deal she'd made with Draco: 'And at the end of the evening, if you still absolutely hate me, I'll tell everyone that we decided mutually to call it off.' At that moment, she could not honestly say that she absolutely hated Draco. He had proven himself to be a clever, funny, and occasionally good-natured, although often obnoxious and smug, companion. But I'm still going to say no, of course, she thought. Because even if she didn't absolutely hate him, that didn't mean she loved him, and she was still holding out for that childhood dream of the happily ever after and that one person she would love for the rest of her life.
As she mechanically echoed the final toast, she realized that Elise was looking significantly at her, asking if there was to be an announcement from her and Draco. She looked over into the grey eyes of her companion. "So," he asked, "do you still hate me?"
She opened her mouth to answer, but it wouldn't come. Her head was spinning, and instead of answering him she found herself saying desperately, "I need some fresh air." Picking up her skirts with one hand, she turned and pushed one of the heavy doors open, and with one glance back, she disappeared into the front hallway, leaving a bewildered Draco behind her.
. . . . . .
Speak you so gently? Pardon me, I pray you:
I thought that all things had been savage here,
And therefore I put on the countenance
Of stern commandment.
- As You Like It, act II, scene VII
. . . . . .
The Stewart home was an enormous granite mansion deep in the heart of Derbyshire. When Ginny and Draco appeared in front of it, it was all Ginny could do to keep from gasping. It wasn't as large as Malfoy Manor, but the house was obviously several hundred years newer, and looked, to Ginny's admittedly untrained eye, Elizabethan in style. Malfoy Manor, by comparison, looked like a medieval castle, hulking and foreboding.
Ginny looked around in delight at the well-manicured front lawn, the spacious park around the house, and the graceful columns and arches of the house. Music and light were pouring out of the windows and open doors, making the whole area seem warm and friendly. "You know, Malfoy," she said thoughtfully, "if Malfoy Manor looked this inviting, I think you'd have a lot less trouble getting girls to marry you."
"I'll keep that in mind," he said sarcastically, then grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a nearby bush, carefully pruned to look like a swan.
"Classy," she commented, looking up at the swan.
Draco just rolled his eyes and told her, "We can talk here- we're hidden from the view of the house and the Apparation point."
"Lovely," Ginny said. "So, how are we going to do this?"
Draco shrugged. "Well, Elise said there'll be toasts for the Stewarts near the end of the night. After everyone's toasted them, Elise will say that I have an announcement. Then I'll come forward and tell everyone that today, I have the great fortune to announce my engagement to Miss Virginia Weasley, of the Weasleys of Ottery St. Catchpole."
Ginny frowned. "First, I already told you that my name is not Virginia."
"Fine," Draco butted in. "I'll call you Ginny. Shall we go in?"
He made to leave, but Ginny caught his arm. "No, Malfoy, that was only my first point. My second point is that we are not going to announce our engagement. We're here to convince people that we are not engaged, remember?"
"Maybe that's what you intend to do," he replied, "but as for me . . ."
"Malfoy!" she interrupted him, shaking him a little. "Please don't do this! I do not want to have to get the Ministry of Magic involved in this. Then everyone will know that we were engaged, and my family will have a fit, and my friends will think I'm insane, and you'll be in trouble with the Ministry, and that would affect your standing with your job, and it'll be all over the papers, and people will give us funny looks in the street . . . let's just don't go there, Malfoy."
"But I want to go there, Ginny."
"Oh, honestly!" Ginny said in exasperation. "Look, I'm not going into that party until you agree that we'll tell everyone we're not engaged."
There was a long pause while Draco studied her, making Ginny rather uncomfortable. When he finally spoke, his voice held an undeniable hint of unfeigned frustration. "Look, sweetheart," he said, "you're not being very fair about all this. You don't want to marry me because you think that me and my kind are all terrible people. But you've never even met most of us. So, look, I'll make you a deal. Come into the party, act like you like me, spend some time getting to know me, meet my friends. And at the end of the evening, if you still absolutely hate me, I'll tell everyone that we decided mutually to call it off. I'll even come up with a really good reason for our breakup that doesn't make you look bad." He stuck his hand out.
Ginny didn't have to think very hard about whether or not to agree to the deal. All she had to do was spend a few hours at a fancy party, and she'd be freed from her oath. And it wasn't like there was any chance of her deciding not to call the engagement off at the end of the night. "All right," she said, shaking Draco's hand. "It's a deal."
He smiled. "Good. Now, before we go in . . ." He proceeded to give a quick lesson in proper etiquette for the party. Ginny listened attentively- after all, that information might come in handy later in life.
"Now," he said when he was done, "about your appearance." He gave her a quick once over, examining her dress robes and hair with a critical eye.
Ginny smiled as he did so. She knew that her robes were perfect for the occasion and very fashionable; a friend of hers who also worked at St. Mungo's and who was a fashion guru had picked them out for her on a recent shopping trip. "The perfect semi-formal robes," she'd called them.
After a moment more thought, Draco nodded. "The robes are fine," he said. "Decent color on you." Ginny felt, at that moment, very pleased with herself and very benevolent toward Draco, so she didn't even scowl at him when he asked, "But who did your hair? A garden gnome?" He pulled out his wand and studied her for a moment, frowning. "With these robes and your coloring, your hair should be . . ." He murmured a spell under his breath, and Ginny felt her hair sweep itself up into an elaborate style.
She just shook her head at him. "I'm not even going to ask how you know that spell." Then she stepped away from him and grinned wryly. "So, am I going to embarrass you too much?"
He shrugged. "Not too much," he said, and she scowled at him as he came up to escort her inside.
They were near the bottom of the front stairs when Draco reached into his robe pocket and pulled a small box out. "Almost forgot. I figured we ought to look the part," he said, showing her the silver band on his fourth finger.
Ginny opened the box he gave her to find a beautiful diamond ring inside. She had to fight back a gasp as she saw it. It was just what she would have picked for herself- simple and silver, with a square cut diamond flanked by two smaller diamonds.
"I bought it in Diagon Alley today," he told her nonchalantly, as though buying diamonds was an everyday occurrence for him. "It probably cost as much as your father makes in a year."
Ginny's first inclination was to stomp on his foot, but he had spent a lot of money on a ring for her, so she forced her anger back and looked down at the ring on her finger. "It's beautiful," she told him honestly.
He looked over at her then, a strange look on his face. "It's the same style as my mother's was. I figured you two would have had similar tastes." He paused a moment. "I think she would have liked you," he said, his voice soft, and for a moment Ginny didn't know what to say.
Then Draco shrugged. "Yes, Mum always did have weird taste in friends," he said with a feigned condescending sigh, then strolled off toward the front stairs. Shaking her head in exasperation and fighting back an insult, Ginny followed after him.
. . . . . .
The inside of the house was even more magnificent than the outside. It was all marble and columns and frescoes, and the furniture was all antiques that had been in the family for years. Of course, having known the Stewarts all his life, Draco barely even noticed what the place looked like anymore. When they entered, though, he was reminded of how beautiful the house was when he heard Ginny's quick intake of breath. When he glanced over at her, her eyes were full of admiration as she took in the front hall. She was doing it very discretely, though, and he was glad she had the sense not to gawk and stare as though she'd never seen a house this elaborate- which, he pondered, she probably hadn't. She'd seen Malfoy Manor, which was an old and rich house, but it didn't have the kind of elegance and charm that the Stewart home did.
"All right," he said, turning to Ginny. "Are you ready for this?
"No," came her quick answer, and Draco smirked.
"At least you're honest," he said, and reached out to thread her arm through his. "And do try to be a little more confident when you're in there."
"Fine," she replied. "But you remember that if people ask whether we're engaged, you're going to tell them that nothing's been formalized or announced."
"Fine," he retorted. "But if people ask you why you haven't snagged me yet, when I'm such a wonderful catch-"
"I'll feign a coughing fit and excuse myself to get a drink," she cut in drily. "Are you done yet?"
"Someday, my dear," Draco replied airily as he swept down the hallway, Ginny on his arm, "you'll realize that I'm never done."
"Corking," she replied drily, and they stopped to wait for the house elves to open the doors to the ballroom.
Through the heavy doors floated bits of voices and music, and Draco estimated that there was a full crowd inside, along with a small orchestra. Whether his ploy to announce his engagement worked or failed, there would be a lot of people there to see it. The doors parted, and, standing up straight and holding firmly to Ginny's arm, Draco entered the ballroom.
The conversations around them quieted immediately as everyone turned to see the redhead on Draco's arm. As other people noticed them, voices all over the ballroom began hushing as well, and Draco could see many heads turning to have a look at them. He didn't mind this at all- he loved the attention, and he loved seeing so many of his smug acquaintances looking so shocked.
As though nothing was amiss, he strolled into the crowd to find the Stewarts, so that they could pay their respects to the hosts. As he and Ginny walked, people started up their conversations again, but many people were still watching them. Ignoring their stares, he nodded at those he was friends with and looked nonchalantly around the large room.
The orchestra sat on a raised dais on one end of the room. On the other side was a small room just off the ballroom, in which was a huge table covered with food. The whole place was lit with many large pewter candelabras and a large candle chandelier. Paintings and photographs of the Stewarts at various times during their marriage were clustered near the food room, and the ceiling sparkled with stars similar to those at Hogwarts' Great Hall. The effect was, as everything Elise Stewart did was, simple and tasteful. Draco smiled. He was counting on Elise to show Ginny that some of his people could be sensible and respectable.
He was rethinking his opinion of Elise's sense several moments later, when their procession through the ballroom was stopped by a blur of blue and black that cannonballed into Draco's side. "Draco!" his attacker cried happily, latching onto his free arm. It was Elise, dressed in sparkling sky blue robes, her dark eyes dancing with happiness. Following behind her at a more leisurely pace was Elise's husband, a tall, sandy-haired man with a loping sort of gait. Draco grinned as he saw his old friend James, then looked pointedly down at the exuberant woman still clinging to his arm. James just smiled and shrugged as though to say, "You deal with it."
"Oh, Draco, it's so good to see you again!" Elise was saying happily.
Draco released Ginny's arm and turned to embrace Elise. "It's good to see you, too," he said.
She smiled, then glanced over at Ginny. Immediately her expression changed to one of surprise and embarrassment, and she released Draco quickly. "Oh, dear, I don't mean to be so rude," she said apologetically.
Turning around, she grabbed her husband's arm and pulled him over to where Draco and Ginny were standing. Then she smiled, obviously trying to compose herself to make a good impression on Ginny. "Well, Draco," she said cordially, as though nothing had happened, "aren't you going to introduce us to your charming fiance?"
Draco had to fight back a laugh at Elise's antics. The woman simply had too much energy for her own good. He was about to introduce Ginny when he remembered what she had instructed him to do. Figuring it was best to stay on her good side right then, Draco smiled apologetically. "Actually, what we told your father might have been a little hasty. We haven't entirely . . . formalized it yet. We're still not sure whether or not we're going to announce anything tonight." There, that ought to make the little spitfire happy.
Ginny seemed to have the same thought, because she after glancing up at him, she started talking to Elise and James in what he knew to be her most civil and polite tone of voice, as though to thank him for not telling everyone they were engaged. "We're sorry if you were counting on it tonight," she said, looking at Elise, "but we're both still a little unsure. This is such a big step, and we don't want to go through with it unless we're certain."
"I understand entirely," Elise said, smiling warmly at Ginny. Ginny looked surprised, but then she smiled, and Draco could tell that it was genuine. Then Elise looked back at Draco, raising an eyebrow in feigned indignation. "So, are you going to introduce us or not? I seem to remember asking you to quite some time ago." She looked conspiratorially over at Ginny and shook her head. "I declare, no manners. The way the man acts sometimes, you'd think he was raised by wolves!"
This time Ginny laughed, along with the rest of their small group. It was a nice sound, Draco decided, her laugh. He rather liked it. Unfortunately, when she was around him, her laughter was usually derisive and coupled with statements that were not fit for polite society. He decided he would have to learn to make her laugh like this.
"Elise, James," he said when the laughter ended, "this is Ginny Weasley, my . . . friend. And Ginny, this is Elise and James Stewart, two of my good childhood friends." Elise stepped forward with a smile. Ginny put her hand out, obviously intending to shake, but the other woman didn't seem to notice as she threw her arms around her. After a surprised pause, Ginny hugged her back. Draco grinned. Perhaps Elise would help win Ginny over after all.
. . . . . .
It had been a very strange night, Ginny reflected several hours later. She was standing by the doorway to the room that held the refreshment table, drinking a cup of the delicious punch they were serving. The punch was actually meant for the party's few younger guests, but Ginny thought she'd rather not chance the wine that was being served. The evening was surreal enough already without alcohol- she didn't want to think about what she might do or say if she got sloshed.
Draco was nearby, talking to a co-worker from the Department of International Cooperation. He was a tall, skinny fellow who reminded Ginny very much of her brother Percy, both in appearance and mannerisms. She could tell, from the time she'd spent with Draco, that her supposed fiance was bored stiff, but his companion was either very important or very rich, because Draco kept listening with an expression that, to the untrained eye, would look like interest. She shook her head. He really was a jerk, sometimes.
Taking another sip from her cup, she gazed around the room. The people here had really surprised her. Many of the people she'd met were evil and slimy, as a Slytherin should be, but just as many were good-natured people, the kind of people she would have been friends with. Of course, even some of the nice ones displayed little quirks and mannerisms that came, Ginny supposed, from being waited on, coddled, loved, worshiped, hated and feared so much over the last few centuries. All the same, though, they were many of them decent people. And some of the more arrogant and rude of the guests were, she could tell, good people at heart who simply happened to believe differently than she did. It was rather confusing.
The first people she'd met were James' parents, the Stewarts. After bidding James and Elise farewell- "I'm coming to find you later, all right, Ginny? I want to find out all about you!"- Draco had taken her to pay their respects to the hosts. George and Caroline Stewart were a sweet-natured old couple who reminded Ginny in a strange way of Hermione's parents. George was in his late fifties, Caroline a few years younger, and they seemed very proud of having made it through thirty years of marriage together. They held hands and joked together, and seemed to Ginny to be still very much in love.
"Mr. and Mrs. Stewart," Draco began, "this is-"
Mr. Stewart interrupted. "We've told you a thousand times, Draco, we don't stand on ceremony here. Call us George and Caroline."
Draco smiled. "Well, this is Ginny Weasley, my . . . friend."
Caroline stepped forward and smiled warmly at Ginny. "My dear, we're so glad to meet you."
Ginny found herself liking the woman immediately. With a smile of her own, she stepped forward to shake her hand. "Well, I'm delighted to meet you . . . Caroline," she said sincerely.
George grinned. "You picked that up faster than your young man here," he said, looking over at Draco.
Draco scowled. "Sure, take her side," he said, and both George and Caroline laughed.
The next few minutes were spent in friendly conversation, and Ginny found herself laughing with the Stewarts as though they were old friends. The older couple talked a lot about Draco. Unfortunately, both George and Caroline had nothing but good things to say about him, which wasn't exactly what Ginny wanted to hear. Of course, she reasoned to herself, they had known him since childhood and hence were inclined to exaggerate things in his favor, and to ignore any of the more unsavory aspects of his character.
Finally, Draco took Ginny's arm to indicate they needed to move on. Before they left, Caroline clasped Ginny's hand in her own. "You must come to tea with Elise and me some time."
Ginny hesitated, surprised. I won't be around long enough, she thought, but smiled at Caroline. "We'll have to see," she said.
Caroline beamed. "I'll get your address from Draco, then, shall I? It was absolutely delightful to meet you, dear!"
And then Draco had dragged her off to meet more of his friends. Many of them were just as kind and friendly as the Stewarts. Of course, she suspected that Draco was only introducing her to people who he knew would act that kindly toward her, but she was still pleasantly surprised by the general friendliness of the group.
Draco couldn't control everyone that she met, though. A number of people had come up to introduce themselves on their own- Ginny suspected they did this more out of morbid curiosity than politeness- and many of these were exactly what she'd expected Draco's friends to be.
Several, in Ginny's opinion, should have been in jail; they were Death Eaters that had managed, in one way or another, to wiggle out of trouble at the end of the war. Several were old, shriveled men with wicked grins and scars so strange that even Ginny, as a trained Medi-witch, couldn't have guessed where they came from. Some were men with voices as oily as their hair, who reminded her a great deal of Professor Snape. But most were simply rich couples in silk and furs and dragon skin, who looked at her in a kind of disgusted curiosity, as though she were some strange insect that wandered into the ballroom and they were wondering why no one had squashed her yet. But all of these people had two things in common: they all looked at her condescendingly, and they all made her feel distinctly uncomfortable.
The two people she didn't run in to, both of whom she'd been expecting some kind of confrontation with, were Severus Snape and Ian Zabini. She saw Zabini across the room a few times, but he staunchly avoided her gaze. Severus simply didn't show up, though she assumed he'd been invited. She was fairly sure Draco had spoken to both of them. That was quite a thought: Draco had been manipulating and bossing two men far older than him, all for her.
Ginny sighed into her punch cup as she took yet another drink from it. Although she could not presently decide what her final opinion of the party was, she was sure of one thing: it had been a very trying night, and she would be very glad to go home.
Draco was no longer in her sight, but that wasn't surprising because she was presently in the small room that held the food table, and portions of the ballroom were hidden from her sight by the wall between the two rooms. As she glanced around, she noticed chairs set up near the door, and she sank into one gratefully. She had been standing for quite some time now, and getting off her feet was pure bliss.
As she sank back further into the chair, she was suddenly surprised to hear her name said around the corner. She felt it was improper to eavesdrop, but her curiosity was too strong, and Ginny found herself holding her breath and waiting for the voice to speak again.
"I mean, it's really an embarrassment, bringing that pauper here. What could Draco be thinking? Honestly, if I were the Stewarts, I would be so mortified to have that Muggle lover here!" The voice was female.
"I don't know," came another female voice. "My brother met her, and he said she's very nice."
"It's an act," replied the first voice. "You can take the peasant out of the gutter-"
"But you'll probably get punched for your troubles," a low voice suddenly cut in, right in Ginny's ear, and she nearly jumped out of her chair. Spinning around, she saw Draco next to her, grinning. "Eavesdropping?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "How Slytherin." He offered his hand to her to help her up. "Come on. Elise has been asking for you."
Still blushing from being caught, Ginny took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. He threaded the hand he was holding through his arm, then led her out of the room. As they passed into the ballroom, both Ginny and Draco looked over to see who they'd been overhearing, and Ginny was shocked to see a rather portly and somewhat familiar looking young woman glaring venomously at her.
"Pansy," Draco said with a smile that was deliberately false, "fancy meeting you here. You look . . . well kept."
"Draco," Pansy Parkinson replied snidely, though somewhat unsteadily, and Ginny could see that she was in the early stages of intoxication. "Fancy you bringing your pauper girlfriend here. What, do you enjoy slumming so much that you decided to bring part of the slum home?"
"Goodbye, Pansy," Draco said, then nodded to the other girl. "Calliope," he said by way of greeting, then swept Ginny away. Hurrying to keep up with him, Ginny wondered if his abrupt exit was because they'd been insulting her, or if he was simply sick of talking to Pansy. She wouldn't blame him if it was the latter. Pansy was everything Draco had said she was, and she could see why he wouldn't want to marry her. Without thinking, she said as much to him.
Draco shrugged noncommittally. "She's not terrible when she's not drunk. She's one of my few school friends who are still around." At this his face became very quiet, and Ginny remembered that Draco had lost most of his friends from school in the war. Goyle and Nott had both been killed while fighting for Voldemort. Crabbe was in jail, a convicted Death Eater. And Elise's younger brother Blaise Zabini, who had never joined Voldemort, had been seriously injured in an attack on Diagon Alley by the Death Eaters, and was still in a special medical clinic in Spain.
Without thinking, Ginny reached over with her free arm to lay a comforting hand on his arm. He looked at her with one contemptuous eyebrow raised, and she suddenly realized what she was doing. To pull her hand away, though, would mean that she found him intimidating, so she kept it there, looking defiantly at him and pretending she'd meant to have her hand there all along. After a moment of looking at her, Draco shrugged again, rolling his eyes, and continued to lead her across the floor.
They found Elise and James standing near the main doors of the ballroom. After exchanging greetings- and hugs, in Elise's case- James asked Ginny how she was enjoying the party. It took several moments of consideration before Ginny felt confident about answering this. "It's been . . . different than I expected," she answered. "But I've enjoyed myself. I've met a lot of nice people, and the music and food is all wonderful."
Elise beamed like a child at this, and Ginny felt, at that moment, that the dark-haired woman was someone she wanted to be friends with. So she smiled and said, "It really looks lovely in here. You did a brilliant job arranging this, Elise." If it was possible, Elise's smile grew even larger.
At that moment, their conversation was interrupted by noises out in the front hall. They could hear house elves shouting, mixed with loud footsteps and laughter. Ginny stiffened. Whoever it was that was laughing was obviously very drunk, and she wondered what they were doing at such a high brow affair.
The doors were suddenly thrown open, and Ginny found herself facing, to her great embarrassment, a small group of people she recognized all too well, all very drunk, all yelling loudly, and apparently intent on crashing the party. She recognized them because a few of them had been in her house at Hogwarts, though they were all five and six years older than her. She could only imagine what all of her detractors in the room were thinking just then: And these people pretend to be so noble. And then they wonder why we dislike them!
The leader of the group was Richard Moore. Ginny knew him because he'd been in Percy's year, and Percy had constantly complained about how often he'd had to reprimand him for his behavior. She hoped desperately he didn't notice her and single her out, further embarrassing her in front of all of these people. To hide her face from him, she turned and began looking around the room. Several large wizards were storming to the front doors to throw the intruders out. George and Caroline had come forward to see what the disturbance was, and Caroline looked shocked and upset. Ginny felt, if possible, even worse than she had.
At that moment, she heard an unsteady voice behind her. "Ginny. Ginny Weasley, is that you?"
She turned around slowly to face Richard, who was swaying slowly on his feet in front of her. "Yes, Richard," she said, hoping her cold tone of voice would clue him in to how angry she was, "it's me."
The drunk man's eyes widened. "What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise. Before she could reply, he turned to Draco, his bleary eyes suddenly focused very hard on the blonde man. "What did you do?" he demanded angrily, his voice becoming more slurred. "Did you bring her to this scummy party without her knowledge?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Go home and sleep if off," he said dismissively.
Richard would not be so easily brushed off. "I've going to take her with me," he said, his words jumbling together. "If the Weasleys were here, they'd do the same for me."
Draco just sighed. "Don't make me pull a wand on you," he said boredly.
Richard was too busy rolling up his sleeves to hear. "Someone's got to put you in your place," he said, and Ginny began to fear that he really was going to start a fist fight. Unable to bear the thought of the Stewart's party being ruined that way, she stepped it front of Draco and glared at Richard.
Forcing herself to calm down, she told him firmly, "Thank you for your concern, Richard, but I came by choice with Mr. Malfoy to this lovely party, held by some of the loveliest people I've ever met. Please leave before you embarrass yourself further."
Richard blinked at her a few times, then nodded thoughtfully as though he'd known she was there by choice all along. A large wizard in dress robes grabbed his arm, and the drunk man stumbled out the door to where the rest of his friends had been rounded up. The house elves pulled the door closed, and Ginny found herself sighing in relief.
Many people were now looking at Ginny, and as she turned her face away from their gazes, she found Draco, Elise and James all staring at her, Elise looking shocked. Ginny smiled apologetically. "I'm so sorry about that. I'm . . . I'm so embarrassed to even know those people."
Elise just smiled. "Thank you for telling him off, though," she said.
Draco leaned over and murmured in her ear, "So, the noble Gryffindors attack the evil Slytherins at their wedding anniversary. Is this the way it goes?"
Ginny turned angrily toward him. "Stow it, Draco," she said sharply, and to her surprise, he did.
It was nearly ten minutes before the party started back up full swing. Ginny spent most of that time staunchly avoided the gazes of everyone around her. She very glad that the party was almost over. All that was left was the toasts, which were beginning just then.
Toasts. Announcement. Her engagement! Ginny looked up quickly. What was she going to do? She had to decide right then what her answer was. I mean, she corrected herself, of course the answer is no, but . . .
But as she stood there thinking, with the toasts going on around her, she couldn't help but remember the exact deal she'd made with Draco: 'And at the end of the evening, if you still absolutely hate me, I'll tell everyone that we decided mutually to call it off.' At that moment, she could not honestly say that she absolutely hated Draco. He had proven himself to be a clever, funny, and occasionally good-natured, although often obnoxious and smug, companion. But I'm still going to say no, of course, she thought. Because even if she didn't absolutely hate him, that didn't mean she loved him, and she was still holding out for that childhood dream of the happily ever after and that one person she would love for the rest of her life.
As she mechanically echoed the final toast, she realized that Elise was looking significantly at her, asking if there was to be an announcement from her and Draco. She looked over into the grey eyes of her companion. "So," he asked, "do you still hate me?"
She opened her mouth to answer, but it wouldn't come. Her head was spinning, and instead of answering him she found herself saying desperately, "I need some fresh air." Picking up her skirts with one hand, she turned and pushed one of the heavy doors open, and with one glance back, she disappeared into the front hallway, leaving a bewildered Draco behind her.
. . . . . .
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