Merely Business

Breaking the Rules

After two long days of searching, Ginny found out where Viktor Krum was hiding. After losing the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament in 1994, he only played one more game, winning the game 150 to 0 in the first two minutes of the match. Following the match, he announced his retirement from Quidditch, went into hiding, and hadn't been seen since.

But Ginny had found him. He was living in England under a new identity, but he was still the only boy Hermione ever dated before Harry.

Upon finding him, Ginny sent him an owl, telling him to meet her at the Leaky Cauldron. The thing that worried Ginny was whether he would show up or not. It wasn't as if they actually knew each other. Besides, he was an international celebrity, and she was the ex-girlfriend of the famous Harry Potter.

He would probably look at the name on the letter and think she was some crazy obsessive fan, but when she entered the Leaky Cauldron, she spotted him sitting at a table in a dark corner, wearing a hood so that his face was covered.

Ginny grinned to herself and came to a stop in front of the table. He looked up. 'Viktor,' she said, sounding very business-like.

He stood up, holding out his hand for her to shake. 'Ginny, I have heard much about you from Herm-own-ninny.'

Ginny took his hand, but instead of shaking it, he kissed it. Ginny faked a smile and pulled her hand away as quickly as she could without looking impolite.

They sat down across from each other at the table. 'Ginny, vhat do I owe this honour?'

'I actually had a favour to ask of you,' Ginny said sheepishly.

Viktor raised a wary eyebrow at her. 'Vhat?'

'Well, you see, since Hermione is getting married -'

'Married?' Viktor repeated in shocked. 'To whom?'

Ginny could see that Viktor was not at all happy about this. In fact, he looked a bit - if it was possible - jealous... Ginny knew it would shock him to hear that Hermione was marrying, 'Harry.'

Viktor sat in stunned silence for a few moments before speaking. 'Harry?' he repeated. Ginny nodded. 'Harry Potter?' Ginny silently nodded again. Viktor's face was slowly turning a deep shade of red, much like her father's ears did when he was embarrassed. She was quite sure that he was forcing back the shouting that he wanted to let out. 'I thought they were just friends,' he finally managed to say.

'They've been dating for two years now,' Ginny said cautiously. 'I thought Hermione would have told you.'

'She never mentioned it,' Viktor said bitterly. 'She has told me about the var. Her last letter vas shortly after Ronald's death, saying that she missed him terribly. In fact, she told me that she loved him.'

Ginny's entire body tensed at the mention of Ron's death. If only he was still alive... but he wasn't. And Ginny knew she shouldn't dwell on the past.

'I am very sorry about your brother,' Viktor said. 'I didn't know him very vell, but Hermione spoke of him quite often.' Something about the way he spoke made Ginny feel like he actually meant what he was saying. She usually couldn't stand when people apologised that Ron was dead. The only person Ginny wanted to apologise was Antonin Dolohov. He had killed Ron... But the way Viktor spoke, the way he said it... It didn't make Ginny the slightest bit angry.

'Thanks,' Ginny, unable to meet his gaze. She was sure that if she did, all her mixed emotions would cause her to cry.

Viktor seemed to sense this tension and changed the topic. 'Vhat is this favour that you ask of?'

'Well,' Ginny said, taking a deep breath. 'You see, Harry and Hermione's wedding is in May, and, honestly, I want to get revenge on Hermione. I can't really explain it well, but since you're Hermione's ex, if I were to go out with you, it would be breaking this kind of pact that we made when you were actually dating.'

'So all of this is to get back at Herm-own-ninny?' Viktor said.

'Yes,' Ginny said nervously. 'Is that terrible?'

'Yes,' Viktor said. Ginny bowed her head shamefully. 'But,' he said, causing Ginny to look up quickly, 'I'll do it.'

'You will?' Ginny said, her eyes widening.

He nodded. 'Revenge sounds like a good idea to me as vell.'

'Begging my pardon for asking, but why do you want revenge?' Ginny asked curiously.

'Vell, Herm-own-ninny, as you may or may not know, broke up vith me via owl,' Viktor said. Ginny grimaced. She had only been dumped once, and that was in person. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be dumped by owl.

'But,' Viktor said abruptly, 'it is really Potter that I vant to get revenge on.'

'Why do you want revenge on Harry?' Ginny asked instantly.

'Potter has alvays gotten vhat I have vanted. First the TriVizard Cup, now Herm-own-ninny...it's an outrage!' He got so angry that he threw his bottle of Butterbeer onto the ground, the glass smashing into tiny pieces.

Ginny suddenly felt uneasy and, quite honestly, a bit frightened. She had always known Quidditch players to be rough and competitive, but she had never known them to be violent.

Ginny was unable to remain by his side as he smashed bottles and broke tables. She silently slipped out, leaving Viktor waving a broken Butterbeer bottle at anyone who came near him.

'Weasley, what are you doing here?' a familiar voice said from behind her.

Ginny wheeled around and found herself looking at a brunette with tan skin. Upon first glance, she would have never been able to put a name to the face. But she was quite sure she recognised his voice. A first look at his eyes made her realise his true identity. A cold, light, icy grey...

'Malfoy,' she breathed through a laugh.

'Black, actually,' he said. 'I'm going by Drake Black now.'

Ginny, without realising it, smiled. Draco really wasn't as bad as she had once thought. He had joined the Order shortly after Dumbledore's death, changing his identity and passing along some useful information that eventually led to the downfall Voldemort.

'What's going on in there?' Draco asked, peering inside the dirty windows of the Leaky Cauldron, where the outline of Viktor Krum, waving his Butterbeer bottle could be seen.

'I just told Viktor Krum that Hermione and Harry are getting married,' Ginny said matter-of-factly. 'Did you hear?'

'Just got the announcement this morning in the post,' Draco said. 'Can't say it didn't surprise me though. I could have sworn that several years ago there was something going on with you and Potter. I might have been busy trying to...fulfil my mission for the Dark Lord, but I wasn't blind. I must have been one of the first people outside of the Gryffindor common room to know. I spotted you two snogging out in the grounds after the match.'

Ginny smiled half-heartedly. That was probably the only happy memory she ever used to produce her Patronus. It was the only one she had left...

'I always assumed you two would fall in love, get married, have mad, passionate sex, and make little ginger-haired scarheads,' Draco added with a chuckle.

Ginny couldn't help but smile. Draco was always the go-to guy for a good laugh at even her own cost.

'I suppose the bushy hair will cover up the scars though,' Draco said, making Ginny actually laugh this time. He grinned at his success. It was hard to get Ginny to smile nowadays, let alone laugh. But somehow he managed.

'So, what were you doing with Krum?' Draco asked. 'I've never known you two to be friends.'

'We're not,' Ginny said quickly, looking over her shoulder at the window of the Leaky Cauldron. Tom must have got Viktor under control because there was no longer any smashing and screaming from inside.

'Trying to get him to beat up Potter for you, then?' Draco smirked.

'Something like that,' Ginny said quite seriously.

Draco stared at her, a confused and slightly taken aback expression on his face.

'So,' Ginny continued. 'You would be going to the wedding, I presume?'

'I would be,' Draco said, 'if I had actually been invited.' He shrugged. 'Not that I honestly expected to receive one. Potter and I aren't exactly best mates. We aren't really even mates... Actually, I was surprised to even get an announcement.'

Ginny grinned. 'What if I could get you in there?' she said mischievously.

'What are you talking about, Weasley?'

'I'm talking about you escorting me to Harry and Hermione's wedding, you prat,' Ginny said dully.

'Why would you want me to go with you?' Draco asked sharply. 'More importantly, why would I want to go with you?'

'No Malfoy - better yet - no Black would miss the wedding of the century,' Ginny said, her mouth curling into a wicked grin. 'More importantly, this will make Harry so jealous that he'll have to come crawling back to me.'

'So, you were meeting Krum to get him to go to the wedding to make Potter mad?' Draco said, trying to straighten out what was going on.

'No, I was meeting Krum to make Hermione mad. But this is even better!' Ginny was positively ecstatic. 'Harry, well, Harry hates you. And Hermione, well, she honestly doesn't really like you either. Not to mention the rules!'

'Rules?'

'Oh, it's nothing. It's just that Hermione and I made this set of rules and one of them was that you were completely off-limits,' Ginny explained. 'Actually, all Slytherins are off-limits, but you had a separate rule of your own.'

'Now, was this because I was devilishly handsome, or because you truly thought I was the scum of the Earth?' Draco asked, hovering between pride and disappointment.

'Scum of the Earth,' Ginny muttered. 'But this has to be the perfect plan! Everyone hates you -'

'I'm honestly not seeing what is in this for me,' he said pointedly.

'Please,' Ginny begged, getting down on her hands and knees. 'If this works out and everything changes, I'll - I'll -'

'Stop begging and possibly never talk to me again?' Draco offered.

'I'll convince Pansy to come back to you,' Ginny said, not exactly sure how she'd manage it.

Draco's face sank. After he had gone undercover for the Order, no one had ever heard from him outside of the Order members. Pansy's family had made big money and she was currently the most eligible witch in Wales. According to Rita Skeeter, who was now writing for the Daily Prophet again, she had been spotted "sucking face" with Blaise Zabini at Madam Puddifoot's in Hogsmeade.

'Deal,' Draco said darkly, holding out his hand.

Ginny took it firmly in hers and squeezed it just as hard as he squeezed hers.

Ginny's mind was flooded with ideas. She had a plan, a brilliant one. This would do the trick and she would be back in Harry's arms in no time.