Merely Business

Why Him?

The remainder of the week moved by slowly and uneventfully, except for two horrific events: George tried to bake heart-shaped cookies with pink icing and sprinkles, which resulted in almost burning down the building and very burnt icing--Ginny, fortunately, put out the small fire in the oven with a wave of her wand--and Fred announced on Friday that he had invited Angelina Johnson, who was playing as chaser for the Wimbourne Wasps, to come to George's Valentine's Day party. Of course, Ginny had to hold George back as he struggled to march into the shop and beat Fred into a bloody pulp. With Fred's date and the burnt cookies, George was in a foul mood even in the days following the unfortunate events.

Ginny, however, had more important things on her mind than burnt cookies and Hogwarts sweethearts like Fred and Angelina (however cute they happened to look together). Harry and Hermione would be at the party, and she had to be sure that nothing went wrong. Draco had to be a perfect gentleman and Ginny a lovely lady--no flaws.

Saturday, February fourteenth, arrived a bit earlier than Ginny would have wished for. Ginny was awoken by the faint smell of burning chocolate and she knew right away that George was cooking again. Groggily, she rolled out of bed and, muttering swear words under her breath, Ginny entered the kitchen, where smoke was pouring out of the oven, burying George behind it.

'George!' Ginny yelled, taking in a breath of smoke and coughing in an attempt to clear her lungs. 'What--are--you--doing?'

George yelled something in return that sounded strangely like, 'Saving the cake.'

Ginny pulled out her wand. 'Evanesco!' The smoke cleared instantly.

George was standing next to the oven, covered in ingredients and looking like he had just come down a chimney. He was wearing a chef's hat and oven mitts and was holding a brownish-black chunk of, what Ginny assumed, used to be cake.

'I thought you learned your lesson about Muggle cooking,' Ginny said. 'Why don't you just use magic?'

'Have you ever used a cooking charm?' George asked irritably.

'Yes,' Ginny said, rolling her eyes.

'Can you make me a bloody Valentine's Day cake before I burn the bloody flat down?' George asked, chucking the burnt cake in the bin.

'Fine,' Ginny said grudgingly. She truly didn't like the picture in her head of George standing next to the burnt-down flat explaining to Muggle firemen that he didn't know how to bake cookies and tried to use magic. 'Go get cleaned up.'

George left the kitchen, and Ginny pulled out her wand and began making a Valentine's Day cake.

By noon, Ginny had finished the cake, helped George decorate the flat, and downed four bottles of Butterbeer to cool her nerves. After preparing for the party, Ginny finally changed into a denim skirt and a pink tank top with matching pink sneakers--the only pink clothing she owned.

'So, Ginny,' George said a bit too casually for Ginny's liking, 'who's this mystery date of yours?'

'I don't think that's any of your business,' Ginny said very politely.

'Is it someone I know?' George continued.

'In a sense,' she said awkwardly.

'Is he someone that I don't particularly care for?' he asked in a way that made Ginny very nervous.

'Er...'

'And does he happen to have blond hair, grey eyes, and answer to the name, Malfoy?' George said through gritted teeth.

'No,' Ginny said forcefully. George stared at her. Very quietly, she said, 'His hair's brown now.'

George sighed angrily. 'Why Draco Malfoy?'

'How did you know?' Ginny asked.

George stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out an envelope. 'He sent this.'

Ginny, at a loss for words, blurted out, 'You read my mail?'

'Puh-lease,' George said with a laugh. 'I don't need to read a letter to recognise that giant bird of his--always flying down into the Great Hall with sweets from his Mummy. Arrogant git.'

Ginny felt herself relax. The last thing she needed was George reading every letter she ever received.

'Ginny, why him?' George whined as if in pain. 'He's a Slytherin...'

'And the last person Harry and Hermione would ever approve of,' Ginny noted.

'This is all just to make them mad?'

Ginny thought about how awful it sounded and then, very quietly, said, 'Yes.'

'And you're doing this because you still fancy Harry?' George continued.

'Yes.'

'And you think this will make him jealous? And he'll want you back?'

Ginny frowned. She wasn't quite sure if it would work, but that was her intention at any rate. 'I don't know,' she sighed, collapsing on the couch.

George sat down next to her, taking her hand. 'Ginny, please don't cry.'

'I wasn't going to,' Ginny said abruptly, pulling her hand out of his grasp. She stood up and walked past him. 'I'm going to pick up Draco.'

'Fine,' George huffed unpleasantly. 'But I swear if that conceited prat utters so much as two words to me, I'll hex him into next Tuesday.'