It'll Do A Lot For Inter-Familial Relations

Author Notes: Dedicated to Zsofi, in memory of good times with not-so-very-hot-but-slightly-cute debating guy.

This is relatively plotless, slightly based on my own feelings and experiences but sadly my tale will probably not end with such happiness. This story also got away on me a bit. It was supposed to be one-hundred percent fluff but I ended up with seriousity in it. Please read and review. I actually can't tell if it's any good or not.

Summry: Twenty-five year old Ginny Weasley, top wizarding lawyer, is roped into doing a debate for the Gryffindor Old Girls debating squad by Hermione Granger. Feeling resigned to losing a night on an important case, she goes along and gets more than she bargained for in more ways than one. Features G/H, G/D and R/Hr.

It'll Do A Lot for Inter-familial Relationships

Twenty-five year old Ginevra Weasley sighed as she looked around her one-bedroom flat overlooking Sourcière Way. Being a top Wizarding Advocate had its perks - the apartment in a prime location and large vault at Gringotts - but it left little time for socialising. And right now, she was swamped in the case of Terence Boot who had illegally smuggled love potions into France. Tonight would have been a brilliant time to review his case, before a relaxing bubble bath and early night. But it was awfully difficult to refuse Hermione, especially when she was recruiting a team for the Gryffindor Old Girls debating squad.

"But we need you to do this debate, Gin," Hermione had said, taking a sip of her cappuccino. "Angelina's pulled out, Puddlemere have an away match, and all the others are useless. You know you're the best."

"I don't know, 'Mione," Ginny had said, stirring her Latte. "I've got so much on..." she trailed off. Hermione was looking upset.

"I know," Hermione had sighed, biting her bottom lip. "I haven't had a night with Ron and the girls for weeks. More and more stuff keeps piling up at the ministry. But I've committed myself to this and I can't back out. Do this for me."

Ginny had shrugged her shoulders and rubbed her eyes. "Alright, but third speaker, no preparation."

"Deal," Hermione had said, cheering up. Ginny couldn't help but feel that she had been duped.

Ginny glanced at the clock and jumped up in horror. She needed to leave and she wasn't ready. She frantically pulled on a pleated grey skirt and a white muscle top - the cleanest clothes lying on the floor - and did a quick appearance check. Her red hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, her brown eyes were rimmed in dark circles and her freckles stood out in her pale face. She pulled a lipstick from her handbag and attacked her lips with it, before grabbing her keys and outer robes and running out the door.

The debate was down at the old town hall in Diagon Alley. Cursing herself for wearing heeled boots, she ran through the twilight shoppers in Diagon Alley and down to the town hall. She waited outside for a few seconds to collect herself and regain her breath. Who were they debating? She realised she didn't even know the moot, let alone the team they were against. This was going to be a disaster.

She pushed back the old wooden doors and swore quietly. The other team was dressed immaculately in suits and ties despite the hot summer evening. She recognised one of them as being Michael Corner, a Hogwarts boyfriend from some years back, but while the others looked familiar, she couldn't place them. Hermione came rushing up at that point.

"Ginny! The debate's starting in two minutes. Do you have paper?"

Ginny grimaced. "Don't shoot me!"

"I have spare parchment and quills," Hermione said, laughing a little. "But you don't normally need them. You've thought about the moot?"

Ginny grimaced again. "Yeah, a bit."

"You do know what it is?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Of course!" Ginny said impatiently. "I'm not that scatterbrained, Hermione."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "It's that magical restrictions around Muggles should be lifted. We're negating."

Ginny smiled weakly. "Thanks, darling."

She spotted Ron in the audience with their two daughters. Molly had short red hair and large front teeth and Cassie had Hermione's brown curls and a devilish grin. Ginny waved at her brother. "This a compromise?" she murmured to Hermione who grimaced.

"Would all the debaters take their seats?" the chairperson called. Ginny and Hermione rushed to their seats, on either side of Parvati Patil.

"Ciao," Parvati said, grinning to Ginny. "You ready to give some pride to us Gryffindor has-beens?"

Ginny smiled. Parvati was as exuberant as ever. Ginny was extremely jealous of Parvati in many ways. She had a well-paid job as a healer, a handsome, Quidditch-playing partner, Roger Davies, and she still managed to look flawless. Her dark hair was bouncing around her shoulders and her large brown eyes stood out in her clear dark skin.

"I would like to welcome you all to the debate today," the chairperson said. "I am your chairperson, Lisa Terpin. This is the third round in the Toastmasters competition and the moot is that magical restrictions around Muggles should be lifted. Affirming the topic are the..." Lisa droned on, giving the names of the debaters and talking about how her authority was absolute. But Ginny wasn't listening. Nor was she thinking desperately of ideas. She was watching the members of the other team.

Michael was first speaker and his dark eyes were twitchy and nervous. The second speaker, who, due to the blond curls could only be Zacharias Smith, was stretched out lazily. Ginny could tell that the ex-Hufflepuff chaser was extremely nervous, only because he kept smirking and shaking his curls. Ginny had no idea who the third speaker was. He had shoulder-length blond hair tied back with a velvet ribbon and his warm grey eyes were half closed, giving him the appearance of a cat. He was several years older than her, Ginny decided, due to his weathered face. Although, Ginny noted guiltily, it could have simply been because of the war.

The doors of the hall burst open, just as Michael was about to begin. In came Harry Potter, green eyes dancing behind designer spectacles and black hair as messy as ever. Hermione gave an open squeal of delight and Ginny noticed the third speaker curl his lip up but brushed it impatiently out of her mind as she waved to Harry. He slid into a seat beside Ron and scanned the row of debaters.

Michael looked towards the chairperson, who nodded, so he began his argument. "Ladies and Gentlemen, today we the affirmative team are here to demonstrate that we should definitely lift the magical restrictions around Muggles..." He droned on in the monotonous deep voice Ginny had found mildly impressive when she was fourteen. Now it was just irritating. Knowing Hermione would kill her if she fell asleep; Ginny kept herself awake by people watching.

Cassie, Hermione and Ron's eight-year-old daughter, was clearly her mother's child. She was sitting upright and listening attentively to Michael blunder his way through the argument. Molly, their six year old, had the attention span of a teaspoon and was fidgeting with the hem of her 'Uncle' Harry's robes.

Ron and Harry were whispering discretely. They didn't see each other as often as they would have liked - with Harry as a top Auror at the Ministry and Ron managing the Hogsmeade branch of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes - and used any time that they could for a chat. The adjudicator was staring at Michael, a bored expression on her face. Zacharias Smith was leaning forward in his chair, trying to look alert and the third speaker wasn't even pretending to be interested. He noticed Ginny looking around and mouthed "I'm bored" to her. Ginny raised her eyebrows and mouthed "Me too."

Finally, Michael finished his speech and Ginny tried to remember what he had been talking about. Something about forming unity, she scribbled down on a scrap of parchment. The next three speakers passed in a blur - Hermione reciting clauses and subclauses like they were the alphabet, Zacharias making several unpleasant comments about their team and the debate in general and Parvati retaliating with comments about the difficulty of rebutting the first speaker due to acute boredom during his speech.

"I will now ask the third speaker of the affirmative team to continue his team's case," Lisa Turpin said, smiling.

The third speaker raised his eyebrow and, gracefully, moved to centre stage. "The opposing team," he drawled, and Ginny found herself strangely attracted to the tone. "Have told us that were we to change the law, we would be endangering Wizarding society and culture. They have told you that this would affect about...a thousand clauses. But what they did not tell you was...." He continued on and Ginny sat enthralled as pulled their argument to pieces. About a minute towards the end she woke up from her dreamy state, flexed her fingers and got ready to pull the debate apart with her bare hands..

"I will now ask the third speaker of the negative team to speak," Lisa said.

Ginny stood, leaving her notes behind, grinned cheekily at the opposing team and stood in centre stage. She smiled out to the audience and spoke. "Imagine if you were a Muggle," she said, her voice taking on an eerie, storytelling quality. "And your eight year old daughter had leukemia. You are scared. You don't want to lose her at such a young age. So you take her along to the local Wizarding Hospital. You ask for treatment for her. They have the ability to cure her but can't. With the majority of the Muggle population flocking to Wizarding Hospitals, these places of healing are overcrowded and short staffed. Imagine that you are a chief of medicine at one of these hospitals. You are worn to the bone and frazzled beyond belief. You have no time for your family, you own children, your own life. You end up dying at a young age because of a stress-induced heart attack. Ladies and Gentlemen, if we relax magical restrictions, this could be our future."

She continued on, the adrenaline pumping through her brain and getting increasingly worked up as she went along. "The affirming team have stated that in order to achieve the perfect world, Magic and Muggles must unite. However, we are in no way a perfect world and there is no way that we will ever achieve a perfect world since perfection is an unattainable goal. That's why I've never found the right man!" Everyone laughed. "And they have told us that eighty-seven per cent of Wizards want to relax the laws that have been the fundamentals of our society for the past five hundred years. Where did they get this statistic from? The We Heart Muggles society, which, coincidentally, my father co-runs." The third affirmative speaker snorted loudly.

"Finally," Ginny said, as the six minute bell rang, "I would like to point out that if we lift the Magical restrictions around Muggles, your entire lives will be changed. You will be hugely affected. Do you want your life to be disrupted because a few individuals at the We Heart Muggles society think that Muggles would benefit in our society? Ladies and Gentlemen, we must think with our heads not with out hearts. We should not lift the restrictions on magic around Muggles."

She sat down, breathing heavily. Her face was lit up and her brown eyes were dancing. She had forgotten the rush debating gives you, forgotten the fun of debating men, particularly attractive ones, and running them into the ground. She had forgotten how much she missed this. They had done mooting at law school but it had always been so regimented. She loved being able to say whatever she wanted and it not affecting someone else's entire future..

The leaders did their summaries and the adjudicator went off to another room to decide on the debate. Ginny, Hermione and Parvati were left to 'mingle' with the opposing team. Ginny chatted to Michael for all of thirty seconds but he was still an extremely boring person. Zacharias said something nasty about her beacon of red hair and Ginny was reminded about why he was such an utter bastardisation to the human race.

"Ginevra, was it?" the third speaker said, smiling down at her. She always had been short, although he couldn't have been much taller than Harry.

"It's Ginny to my friends," Ginny said, smiling, well aware that she was flirting atrociously.

"You're a brilliant debater," he said, his mouth twisted into a smile as though the words hurt him.

"I'm a lawyer," Ginny said. "It's pretty sweet compared to the clients I get." She was aware that she was using the most dreadful slang, picked up from her year in Australia three years back. Next thing, she'd be swearing like a trooper as she often did when she was flustered.

"Yeah?" He raised an eyebrow. "Impressive all the same. Healing doesn't quite have quite the same background. I was roped into doing this debate for my old Quidditch club."

"Yeah? Hermione Granger duped me into doing this." Ginny laughed.

"She's you friend?" he asked, lip curling slightly.

"One of the few that stuck around me after I became a complete workaholic. You know her?"

"We've met," he said stiffly.

At that point, the adjudicator walked up onto the stage. Ginny and the third speaker went their separate ways, back to their tables. "That was a really brilliant debate," the adjudicator said, smiling at them. "Michael, you need to add a bit more colour to your tone. It was a little monotonous. Hermione, excellent material, rebuttal and presentation. There were a few too many facts that could have been spread out and you should watch your time.. Zacharias...you need to watch what you say about the other team. It was rather nasty at times. And Parvati, you had a great speech but it's better if you don't retaliate to that sort of thing. I was particularly impressed with the third speakers of both teams. Draco, you just bowled in there and very carefully and smoothly built another wall around your team as well as tearing the negating team's very strong wall down. Ginevra, you had an amazing presence and completely knocked the affirming team's argument down. You seemed very fresh and really seemed to be arguing, as opposed to reciting." She paused. "I have given the debate to The Gryffindor Old Girls and best speaker went to Draco and Ginevra."

Hermione squealed loudly. Ginny frowned. Draco? Where had she heard that name before? But before she could think on it, Ron and Harry were up on the stage hugging her and Hermione.

"You were brilliant, Gin," Harry said earnestly. "You were so captivating." He looked long and hard into her eyes. Ginny tried not to wince as Ron pulled her into a half-hug. She loved Harry, but as a brother, and she couldn't forget the one disastrous year when they dated. Harry had proposed and she had had to tell him that it would never work. She had taken off to Australia after that.

"Well," she said brightly, pulling herself away from Ron. "I'd better get going. I've got a busy day tomorrow."

"I'll pop my head in tonight, okay Ginny?" Hermione said. "Girl business," she replied in response to Ron's puzzled looks. "Honestly, Ronald, you've been married for four years and you're as clueless as an eleven year old."

Ginny walked outside. It was nine o'clock and the sky was studded with stars. She shivered in the crisp night air. The streets were quiet and empty and she could hear her boots clacking at the cobblestones of Diagon Alley. Where had she heard the name Draco?

"It's not safe for you to walk home by yourself." Ginny jumped and spun around.

"Draco?" she asked. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, so you do know who I am," he said, drawling slightly.

"Only your name," Ginny replied defensively. He was making her nervous.

"Oh." He seemed to think about this. "Would you like me to walk you home.."

"I don't care, but if you really want to you can," Ginny said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

They walked in companionable silence until they reached Ginny's apartment. "Well," Ginny said, awkwardly. "This is me."

"Okay," Draco said. "Look, Ginny..."

"Yes?"

"Do you want to meet for coffee sometime?" His face was impassive but his grey eyes seemed to narrow up a little. It was clear that he didn't do this often.

Ginny grinned a little. "Why don't you come on in and I'll get you a drink?" She didn't know what had made her say it, but she felt like she'd known him for ages and you can learn a lot about a person by the way that they debate. He had been so calm and sarcastic, yet passionate about the topic. He seemed like a nice guy.

"Latte?" Ginny asked, poking her head around the living room door. Draco was looking at the photos on her crowded desk.

"Yes, thanks," he said shortly. "Wait! Come here." Ginny walked over, perplexed. "Who are all those people?" he said, gesturing to a large framed photograph. It was her family at the beach when she was five. Her parents were right in the hub, her mother with a protective arm around Ginny and her father ruffling her hair. The photo-Ginny was squirming and giggling silently. Her brothers surrounded them. Percy was reading a book, Bill was building a giant sandcastle for her, Ron and Charlie were playing chess and Fred and George were having a sword fight with pieces of driftwood.

"My family," Ginny said quietly. The photo reminded her too much of those lost - Charlie had died in the fight against Voldemort, Percy was living in the apartment block down from her and pretending that he didn't know her when they passed each other on the street and Molly Weasley had succumbed to heart troubles a few years later. She had never been able to cope with the loss of part of her brood.

"Quite a group," Draco observed wryly. Ginny blinked several times, trying to stop the tears. "Are you alright?"

"It's just that the family is so split up now. Mum died a few years back.. Charlie was killed in the fight against V-voldemort," she still shuddered at his name. "Percy has been disowned. Bill's in France with Fleur and Dad's travelling the world in a package holiday for Muggles."

Draco patted her shoulder awkwardly. "At least Charlie died fighting for the winning side," he said, and Ginny noticed a touch of bitterness in his voice. "My father, he was a Death Eater as you probably know, and he died fighting for the Dark Lord, the stupid prick that he was."

"Oh," Ginny said sadly. Her mind processed. "Why would I know your father was a Death Eater?"

"Because you fought him with Potter and Granger. The name of Malfoy used to conjure respect. Now it just conjures up images of failure."

Ginny sat down suddenly, her head spinning. How could she have been so dense? Draco Malfoy, the kid who had been so insanely jealous of Harry at Hogwarts, the ferret-faced git that Ron so often swore about even now, the evil Malfoy. "But Draco Malfoy's evil!" She found herself saying stupidly.

Draco looked puzzled and upset. "I thought you knew who I was," he said, grey eyes staring coldly at her. The same grey eyes which had haunted her for the past eleven years. Draco Malfoy's eyes that had mocked her when she had been crying in her first year, the spiteful eyes that had mocked her about her Valentine, the eyes that had glinted greedily at the idea of a Weapon.

Ginny jumped up. "Keep away from me," she said, shakily holding her wand in front of her. Oh, what a fool I am, she cursed silently.

"Ginevra, Ginny," Draco entreated, his voice husky. "I am not evil. I was a wimpy, nasty git who chose not to pick a side in the war but now I'm not like that. I'm a different person from when I was at school. Just like you are. I would never have recognised you as the timid Weasley who was in love with Potter."

Ginny shivered. "Bastard," she said, hissing. "You know nothing about me.. You never did."

Draco looked confused. "I never said I did know anything about you. And everything I know now, I like." He started towards the door. "I'll let myself out."

"Damn right you will!" Ginny yelled after him. He flinched but didn't turn around. The door slammed shut. Ginny sank to the floor and began to cry, huge wracking sobs. Fumbling around in her bag, she found the mobile phone that Hermione had given her 'just for emergencies' and punched in a number.. "'Mione," she said, mumbling through her tears. "I need your help."

"I'll be right there, Ginny," Hermione said. "I just have to put the girls to bed. Give me half an hour."

Ginny hung up and sat in the middle of her floor with a box of tissues. She had never felt more alone. She couldn't stop seeing his eyes, his mocking smile, his blond ponytail. This is so ridiculous, she thought. I meet him two hours ago. But she couldn't stop crying.

The doorbell rang and Ginny rushed to open it, glad of the distraction. "Hermio...oh." On the doorstep was a huge bunch of Lilies. Ginny breathed in the fragrance. "They're gorgeous." She pulled out the card.

Ginevra,

I am so sorry about earlier. I thought that you knew who I was. I thought that you simply did not care. I should not have presumed as much. I know that my past is synonymous to fear, but I am not my father. I work as a healer so that I can save a few lives, lives like those that he destroyed. Please accept these as a token of my apologies.

DLM

"Bugger," Ginny said, her tears all dried up. "Now I feel like a complete prat." She looked down the street and saw a dark figure diminishing into the distance. Forgetting that she wasn't wearing shoes and that her face was stained with tears, she chased after it. It was definitely Draco.

"Draco," she said, wincing as she stood on a particularly sharp rock.

He didn't turn around. "Like I said, I'm sorry."

"Draco," Ginny said again. "Please turn around."

He did, slowly and reluctantly. His eyes were wet with tears. "Please accept my apology."

"I'm sorry," Ginny said quietly. "Your name has been one I have feared for so long. My brother died in the hands of people like your father. I was too afraid to see you as anything different."

Draco shook his head in a puzzled manner. He seemed lost for words. Then he began to swear, loudly and expressively. Ginny stood and watched in interest. His vocabulary was amazing.

"Draco," she said eventually. "Please shut the fuck up." And reaching forward, she kissed him. Almost instantly, he responded, kissing her ears and neck and breathing in the smell of her hair. They didn't notice Hermione arrive at Ginny's doorstep, nor did they notice her watching them with a small smile on her face.

"Well, it should improve inter-familial relations at any rate," she said and apparated home.