Merely Business

"Cordially Invited" My Arse

Ginny graciously accepted the letter from Hedwig, already knowing what it was. She opened it and read.

You are cordially invited

To witness the marriage of

Harry James Potter

&

Hermione Jane Granger

On the morning of Monday,

The fourteenth of May

Two thousand and one.

Ginny stared at the invitation, a feeling of undeniable anger bubbling in her stomach. Part of her just wanted to rip the invitation into a million little pieces and then burn them. But Ginny knew the risks of going about doing things like that. Any revenge on Hermione had to be well thought out, sneaky.

Ginny forced herself to neatly put the invitation on top of the rest of Fred and George's mail. With all luck, they would lose track of it by tomorrow.

The door of the flat opened and George stood in the doorway. 'That bloody git,' he grumbled, slamming the door behind him.

'What's wrong?' Ginny asked dully, sitting down at the table with her cup of tea.

'That stupid, bloody prat just asked Verity to be his date to Harry and Hermione's wedding,' George roared, sitting down at the table. 'He always gets the girl.'

Ginny immediately understood. She and George often talked about this. 'Fred?' she said.

'Yes, Fred,' George huffed. 'He knew I fancied Verity! He knew and he asked her!'

'Didn't you go through this in school? Before the Yule Ball? With Angelina?' Ginny asked casually.

'Yes,' George muttered through gritted teeth.

'So why haven't you learned to keep your big mouth shut?' Ginny shot at him. 'I can't blame him if you make it that easy for him to make you angry.'

'You're one to talk,' George shot right back. 'You've fancied Harry for - what - nine years? And now, who's marrying him?'

'Shut up, George,' Ginny muttered.

'Oh, that's right,' George teased her. 'Hermione's marrying him.'

'Shut up, George,' Ginny repeated a bit louder this time.

'She did see you when you two dated, right?' George continued. 'And she knew that you never truly got over him, correct? I mean, you're best friends and all.'

'George!' Ginny yelled uncontrollably. Tears were welling in her eyes. She bowed her head. George must've known she was upset because he fell uncomfortably silent. 'Get out,' she whispered.

'But, Ginny,' he said delicately. 'I didn't mean to -'

Ginny looked up. 'Just get out,' she said simply.

George hung his head shamefully and left the same way he came. Ginny wiped the tears from her face. She hated when she couldn't control her emotions in front of her brothers. It was embarrassing. They always thought of her as one of the guys until she did something like that. It happened alarmingly often since her fifth year at Hogwarts. But only one of her brothers truly respected her when she was upset, and that was George.

Ginny pounded her fist on the table, causing her cup of tea to shake and a bit of the tea to overflow. Enough was enough, she decided gravely. She would have to be done with Harry. No more crying over him. No more wishing for a miracle that would never come. It was time to face the facts. Harry was marrying Hermione, and there was nothing she could do to -

Ginny had a brilliant idea. If she could make Harry jealous and get revenge on Hermione at the same time... Ginny knew exactly how to make it work. If Hermione could break the rules, then so could she.