Merely Business

Changing a Malfoy Black

As January came to a close, Ginny found herself actually looking forward to May. She wanted to skip February especially, because with February came Valentine's Day.

Although Ginny was "dating" Draco, she knew better than to expect any form of affection. Not that Ginny wanted any affection from him. She could tolerate him, maybe even like him, but never fancy him.

Ginny was pondering all of this when George burst through the door of the flat.

'Ha! That'll show Fred!' he exclaimed to no one in particular.

'What did you do this time, George?' Ginny asked disapprovingly.

'I have decided to throw a Valentine's Day party!' George said proudly.

'And?'

'And I invited Verity to be my date,' he explained.

'And?' Ginny said once more.

'And if Fred can round up a date, he can't come,' George said boastfully. 'Or, rather, he won't come. What buffoon shows up to a Valentine's Day party without a date?'

Ginny fell silent, thinking over what George had said. 'Well done, George.'

'Of course, the circumstances are different for you,' he added hastily. 'No one would think it odd if you didn't have a date. There's no shame in it. I mean...'

'No, don't worry about it,' Ginny said with a slight grin. 'I'll have a date.'

'Brilliant,' George said, a bit taken aback by Ginny's decision. 'I'll just be off then. Got to make invitations and what-not.' And with that, he Disapparated to God only knew where.

Ginny's high hopes, in an instant, melted into pools of unreal dreams. She couldn't believe she had told George that she'd have a date. There was no telling what Draco would say to this news. He was to attend a Valentine's Day party with a Weasley. Better yet, he was to go to a Valentine's Day party held by a Weasley. Even better that that, he was going to a Valentine's Day party where nearly everyone there hated him.

Ginny slumped onto the sofa, feeling utterly depressed at her conclusion. But then, another bit of reality hit her in the face: she was giving him what he wanted. She was giving him Pansy.

Without another thought on the subject, Ginny decided it was time to visit Draco to arrange their first "date". Quickly, she turned on her heel and Apparated to #12 Grimmauld Place.

She stumbled as she landed in the middle of the Black Potter kitchen. Ginny knew better than to think that she would ever find Harry, dead or alive, in the house. The last time he had been in the house was two years ago, when he, Ron and Hermione had gone off Horcrux-hunting (a concept Ginny had never quite grasped). That day, he had vowed to never again set foot on the premises.

Perhaps it was that Sirius had hated the house and had been a prisoner for most of his youth, along with most of his adulthood, inside its walls. For the most part, Ginny was sure that it was because somebody else inhabited the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Draco Malfoy, the youngest Black descendant was living there, in hiding. Harry agreed to allow Draco to stay there as long as he needed. More over, Harry was the house's secret-keeper. Draco, if ever again tempted by the Dark Arts, could never tell the whereabouts of the house to any of Voldemort's old followers.

'Malfoy!' Ginny called through the house without thinking. Like a Muggle burglar alarm, Mrs. Black's portrait started wailing.

'Oh, bugger!' Ginny muttered to herself, clapping her hands over her ears. She made her way toward the portrait, hoping to close the curtains before her eardrums burst.

Ginny was surprised, yet somehow charmed, by a very shirtless and very drowsy Draco Malfoy, who was forcing the curtains to Mrs. Black's portrait shut.

'It's got to be eight o'clock in the morning. Don't you sleep?' Draco nagged.

'For your information,' Ginny said snootily, 'it's nearly ten. Besides, I had to work this morning. Normally, I wouldn't be up until around one.'

He smirked, finally getting the curtain closed. Silently, Draco motioned toward the kitchen. Ginny followed him into the kitchen, where they could talk in normal voices. 'What are you doing here?' he asked.

'You haven't forgotten our arrangement already, have you?' Ginny said as sweetly as she could manage.

'But, of course not,' Draco said in a similar fake-sweet voice. 'However, the wedding is in May; May fourteenth if I'm not mistaken.'

'Draco,' Ginny said quaintly. 'May I call you Draco?'

'If I said no, would you stop?' Draco inquired.

'No,' Ginny said shortly. 'Surely, you must understand the concept of making the--shall we call it--the enemy believe that you have no hidden motives.'

'Meaning...?' Draco said slowly.

Ginny's patience was growing short. 'Meaning that sometimes you must resort to drastic measures in order to achieve a certain goal.'

'In laymen's terms...' Draco said dully.

Ginny could tell he was trying to bother her. And she had to admit, he was turning out to be rather successful. 'In order to be successful in our agreement, we must make my family and friends believe that our relationship is real.'

'Weasley, our agreement said nothing about dates,' Draco reminded her.

'Whoever said it was a date?' Ginny said innocently. He raised an eyebrow at her. 'OK, so it is a date...to an extent. It's actually a party.'

'A party,' Draco repeated.

'My brother, George, is throwing it,' Ginny continued. 'And...people will be there--people like Harry and Hermione and some friends from Hogwarts.' She paused; Draco looked mildly interested. If she was lucky, she could sneak in the bit about Valentine's Day any second now. 'There will be food and drinks, of course. He's actually throwing it because of Valentine's Day, and--'

'No,' Draco said, shaking his head.

'But, Draco--'

'No,' he repeated, more forcefully this time. 'I don't do Valentine's Day.'

'Then, just think of it as a party that just happens to fall on February fourteenth,' Ginny said, sounding almost as sickeningly sweet as Umbridge. But when his expression didn't change one bit, Ginny knew she would have to resort to grovelling. 'Draco, please,' she begged. 'Surely, you must know what it's like to know you're meant to be with someone and know that they're falling asleep next to the wrong person.'

'Wait, do you know something about Pansy that I don't?' Draco asked curiously.

'It's a figure of speech,' Ginny said curtly.

'Oh, well, er, yes, I suppose I do,' Draco admitted.

'Then, will you do this for me?' Ginny asked hopefully.

'Not really like I have much of a choice now, is it?' Draco said glumly. 'But we should lay down a few ground rules.'

'I agree,' Ginny said briskly. 'First, you will not say anything rude about the guests or friends and family of the guests at the party.' Ginny thought for a moment. 'Except perhaps my sister-in-law. But not around her or my brother.'

'Fine,' Draco said, 'but you won't say anything about anyone I know either.'

'Deal,' she continued. 'And you may put your arm around my waist, but I swear to God, if you touch my arse--'

'Like I'd want to,' Draco interrupted, completely revolted. 'Anything else, Weasley?'

'That,' she said sharply.

'What?'

'If you want this to be believable, then you'll have to quit calling me by my last name,' Ginny said. 'It's Ginny.'

'Fine, Ginny,' he said through gritted teeth.

Ginny stared at him for a long moment before saying, 'Smile.'

'Pardon?' he said, blinking blankly at her.

'I said, smile,' Ginny repeated delicately.

'Why would I want to do that?'

'It's what people do when they're happy,' Ginny informed him most rudely. 'You might want to try it sometime.'

Draco contorted his face into some sort of grimace, and Ginny couldn't help but giggle.

'What?' he barked.

'Soften your face,' Ginny explained. 'Your face is so tense.' She poked his cheeks, trying to get him to relax. 'You're trying too hard.'

'If you'd just tell me how to do this...' he muttered.

'Smiling isn't something that can be taught, Draco,' Ginny said, massaging his cheeks in an attempt to loosen them from his smirk of doom. 'It's something that comes naturally.'

Once Ginny finished playing with his face, Draco took a deep breath and managed to form a genuine smile. And though Ginny would never say it out loud, he did have a sort of magical glow around him when he smiled that way.

'OK,' Ginny said at last, trying to pull her attention away from his perfect teeth. 'You keep practising that. I'll be over on Saturday to pick you up. The dress is casual; Muggle casual, you know?' She looked him over and smiled to herself. 'Just don't show up the way you're dressed now.'

'Ha ha, very funny,' Draco said sarcastically.

'Well, I had better be off,' Ginny said, glancing at her watch. 'Fred and George are going to want me to man the shop soon.'

'I thought you said you worked this morning,' Draco said confusedly.

'What can I say?' Ginny said proudly. 'I'm their best employee. Good-bye, Draco.'

'Good-bye, Weas--Ginny,' he said, practising his already perfect smile.

Ginny turned on her toe, knowing that if she looked at him any longer she might as well have been petrified on the spot, and Apparated back to the flat. She was quite sure that no one would have a more surprising date than her.