Arranged Marriages Are Good....

Chapter 1: Bad Enough

~*~

Draco Malfoy looked around. Bad enough he had to get married, bad enough he had to produce an heir, but now he had to spend three weeks here? He took of his expensive sunglasses to inspect it closer, but was immediately blinded by the bright sunlight. Bloody sun, he thought.

It was a cruise, the very best and most expensive magical one Lucius Malfoy could find. Pools, bars, lounge-rooms, mini-bars, it had it all. Draco looked around the elaborate lobby. Two girls who were in their late teens or early twenties walked by in bikini tops and sarongs. Mmm...maybe it's not so bad.

He walked up to the desk. "Malfoy, we have Honeymoon Suite A."

The Malfoy name naturally imposed fear in almost everyone. "Of course, sir. P-please follow me."

Draco and Pansy walked together but separate. They stood next do each other, but said nothing, did nothing. They didn't hold hands or kiss or even look at each other. They looked like two strangers who happened to walk next to each other. They reached the suite and it of course only had one bed. Well, that wouldn't be a problem for Draco. He simply used a Cloning Charm on it and voila! There were two. As soon as he sat down on it, however, it crumbled and he landed with a thump onto the floor. There appeared to be a ward against that. Set up, no doubt, by the parents.

Covering her mouth with her hand, Pansy laughed at The Great and Wonderful Draco Julius Malfoy, who was sitting on the ground looking quite surprised and very foolish. "Shut up," he snapped, getting up and dusting himself off.

"I didn't say anything," she replied innocently. She noticed him walking to the closet. "What're you doing?"

"Getting my swimming trunks," he said shortly.

"Why?" she asked. She was trying to get him mad on purpose.

"Because I'm going to the pool," he said.

"Why?" she asked.

Slam. The walls shook with the force of the bathroom door. Pansy giggled. "Whoops. Guess I succeeded."

A moment later, Draco returned to the main room. He left the suite without so much as a backwards glance at his wife. My wife. What did I do to deserve this? He mulled that over for a moment. Okay, okay, maybe I shouldn't have stolen his boxers, too, but it was SO FREAKING FUNNY!

He arrived at the pool and looked around. He couldn't see the girls he had seen in the lobby earlier. Damn it, he thought, flopping onto a lounge chair. He stretched out and pulled his sunglasses back on. He had at least six hours before he had to get ready for the kick-off dinner.

~*~

Harry Potter wasn't exactly happy. He did not want to be a married man at the moment. Or in the next three years, for that matter. Right now, he wanted to be home. "Harry Potter," he said, giving the name to the manager.

The man inspected Harry (and his scar) before snapping his fingers at the bell boy. "Potter, Honeymoon Suite B." The bellboy also inspected Harry before taking them both to the top deck, where the Honeymoon Suites were located.

"Look at it this way, Ginny," Harry suggested. "A free vacation!"

"Yay..." Ginny muttered sarcastically.

"Come on, Ginny. Don't worry about it. After all this is over, we'll get it annulled. We can do what we want. We're adults now!" Harry said.

"Yeah...you're right," Ginny sighed. "I just can't believe my own family would do this to me!"

Harry thought for a minute. "I don't know." They stopped talking then, letting each other wallow in silent misery, because, after all, who wants to be forced into marriage when they're not even twenty?

~*~

By now, Draco was a little bit annoyed. His plan to people watch fizzled when he realized how ugly people were and the headline in the Daily Prophet did little to help his mood.

Harry Potter Weds Childhood Sweetheart!

Of course Draco knew this was a bloody lie. He had been an observer in Hogwarts, and the closest thing they had to a relationship was the valentine she had sent Harry in second year. Quite the funny one it was too. How did it go? His hair is as dark as a blackboard...or something like that. He nearly choked when he saw the object of ridicule in the flesh, checking in.

"What the fu-freak?" he gasped. That's it, he was jumping overboard. He had thought it was bad enough he was on this trip, but it really wasn't fair that they were on the cruise, too. Damn it, he cursed to himself. The ship was already moving.

~*~

At 4:30, Ginny began getting ready for the big kick-off gala that evening. At 5:30, she was ready in deep blue robes and an elegant French twist. "Are you planning to get ready anytime soon?" Ginny asked, hands on her hips.

"I guess," Harry muttered unhappily. He tossed on his green dress robes and tried unsuccessfully to comb his hair down. After a few minutes, he gave up, and they left.

In front of the ballroom, there was a table with cards for the seating arrangement. Harry and Ginny both grimaced at the "Mr. and Mrs. H. Potter" glaring back at them from the face of the card.

"Let's sit down, then," Harry suggested forlornly. Ginny nodded, and made their way to table 39, where they were not so pleasantly surprised to see Draco (and Pansy) Malfoy.

"What are you doing here?" they asked simultaneously.

~*~