“You’re not serious!” Draco exclaimed at the musubiya’s announcement.
“I’ve never been more serious in my life, Malfoy-kun.” Shinju regarded him intently. She got up, went over to her desk, and rummaged through one of the drawers. When she returned, she handed a pair of rose-tinted glasses each to Draco and Ginny. “Put those on,” she instructed them. “Then you’ll see what I mean.”
Draco managed to choke back an oath at what he saw with the glasses. Dangling from the little finger of his left hand and looped around the same finger on Ginny’s right was a bright red thread knotted up in fifteen different ways.
“Can you tell how long these knots have been around?” he asked the musubiya.
Shinju narrowed her eyes as she drew closer to study the thread. Most of the knots had been sloppily tied, save for the one in the center of the thread. The musubiya held it up and grinned.
“This is the work of a master musubiya,” she declared. She tugged at the knotted thread. “It’s so tightly bound!”
Ginny turned to Draco, her brown eyes wide in shock. “Do you suppose Amihan did this?” she asked him.
“She probably did,” he replied thoughtfully. “But when would she have tied it?”
They stared at each other and exclaimed, “That detention!”
“What detention?” Hajime asked, his curiosity piqued.
“I was sixteen and Gin was fifteen,” Draco began. “We were still dating other people then. I provoked her into a fight one afternoon and ended up serving a detention with her.” He grinned impishly at Hajime. “Your cousin’s a sly witch if there ever was one. She probably saw the thread and tied the knot while we were working.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she did.” Hajime looked thoughtful. He held his hand out to Draco. “Mind if I borrowed those glasses for a bit?”
“Not at all.” Draco handed the glasses to him.
“Hmm…” Hajime was pensive as he studied the thread through the glasses. He looked at both Draco and Ginny. “Would you know anyone who wants to break your relationship?” he asked them.
Ginny made a face at that. “Some of my brothers do,” she replied, her nose wrinkling up in distaste. “My brother Ron, most especially. He and Draco were in the same year and they hated each other like the plague.” She turned to Hajime, puzzled. “Why did you ask?”
Shinju answered for him. “Sometimes, a musubiya is forced by circumstances to tie additional knots into a thread.” She sat back and counted the reasons on her fingers. “We only do that if there’s a danger of separation: wars, plagues, damnfool friends and relations, even hereditary infidelity. Some couples even request it for the sake of strengthening their bond.” She frowned. “Now, even with some pesky siblings, why would anyone want to pull you two apart?”
“Our families were on opposite sides of the fence when it came to the Dark Arts,” Draco explained. He sighed and Ginny squeezed his hand comfortingly. “I guess old hatreds die hard.”
“Don’t get gloomy about it, though.” Shinju dimpled playfully. “As long as you have each other, it doesn’t matter what the world says.” She picked up a pile of catalogs from a side table and began to leaf through them. “Of course, I know you two will want a formal ceremony and reception. So: let’s get down to business.” She grinned rather toothily at them. “Now that we have the actual binding out of the way, what motif would you lovebirds like?”
***
“We’re married!” Ginny exclaimed when they arrived at Draco’s flat early in the evening.
After the visit to Musubiya Seifuku, they went back to the apothecary and said nothing more about the afternoon’s discussion. Ginny helped the guys out for the rest of the day. Now, however, she wanted to talk about the whole thing seriously.
“Did you have your heart set on the whole ‘white-lace-and-promises’ scenario?” Draco asked her, raising an eyebrow in the process.
“No!” Ginny laughed and impulsively hugged him. “I don’t care how simple our wedding is. I agree with Shinju: it doesn’t matter what they all say so long as we’re together.”
Draco smiled as he held her close. His younger self would have sneered at the whole thing and demanded all the trappings of a classic pureblood society wedding. But now that he was a bit older and having survived the worst moments of his life, he just wanted to get the formalities out of the way so he could spend eternity with his red-haired goddess.
“Our mothers will demand all the fripperies, though,” he reminded his spouse. “You’re an only girl and I’m an only boy, so we may as well humor the old dears.”
“I know.” Ginny nodded and gazed up at him. “I won’t mind if you don’t.”
“I don’t and I daresay we can survive at least one major bash. Don’t you think so, Ginny?”
“I definitely agree.” She snuggled up to him. “I’d love to cling to you all evening, but I’d better take care of supper.”
Reluctantly, they let each other go and Ginny bustled to the kitchen. As Draco watched her go, he remembered the very first time he uttered the three little words that meant so much to them both.
***
“What’s wrong, Draco?”
Draco looked up to see his fellow Slytherins standing behind him. Earlier, he’d gone up to his favorite parapet to think about how complicated his life was getting to be.
“Oh, hi, guys.” He got up and saw that all the seventh years were there. “What are you all doing up here?” he asked, a trifle annoyed with the lot.
“Snape told us to go check on you,” Pansy replied. “He said you were a little green around the gills when he saw you earlier.”
“I’m fine!” he snapped at them. He began to walk away, but Crabbe and Goyle loomed large in his path. “Get out of my way!”
“Not till you tell us what’s been eating you, mate,” Crabbe rumbled at him.
Draco stared at them in consternation. Finally, when he realized they weren’t leaving him alone, his shoulders fell. “I’m in love,” he admitted.
“With Ginny.” Pansy smiled and turned to Blaise Zabini. “Pay up, Blaise; I win.”
“But it’s not going to work!” Draco wearily ran a hand through his pale hair. “She’s a Gryffindor, I’m a Slytherin, and our families have been out for each other’s blood since time immemorial.”
“And just because of that you think we won’t work out?” Ginny stepped from behind Millicent Bullstrode. She confronted him, her hands on her hips. “Draco Malfoy, I thought you had better sense!”
“How did you get in here?” he demanded of her.
“We snuck her in,” Goyle admitted. “We were getting sick of watching you mooning over her, so we decided to take matters into our own hands.”
And people think he and Vince are stupid! Draco shook his head at the thought. He placed his hands on Ginny’s shoulders, his silvery eyes meeting her brown ones. “I do have better sense,” he assured you. “I don’t want anyone hurting you because of me.”
“I don’t care!” Fiercely, she embraced him and tears began streaming down her face.
“I’m not a hero like Potter!” he protested.
“I don’t want a hero, Drae!” she cried. “I want you - just you and nobody else.”
That finally put things into proper focus for him.
“I love you, Ginevra Weasley!” he sighed as he pressed his forehead to hers.
“And I love you, Draco Malfoy,” she whispered in return.
Things would have turned to mush at that point if Blaise hadn’t broken the silence. “You know, you lot, I adore romantic moments like these,” he gushed. “But shouldn’t you do this indoors? I mean, we’re positively freezing our arses out here!”
***
“Drae!” Ginny called from the kitchen. “Would you mind setting the table for supper? I’ll be done in a bit.”
“I’m on it.” Draco waved his wand over the dining table and muttered a short spell. In seconds, the table was in perfect order. His mouth watered when he caught a whiff of what she was cooking. Mmm… Roast beef and Yorkshire pud; I haven’t had that since I left England!
It was more than the roast and the pudding that made it to the table. Ginny also made proper mashed potatoes, gingered carrots, and a cherry-and-almond trifle made according to her mother’s recipe. Draco looked upon the food approvingly.
“Looks like a feast for the gods!” he declared as he held Ginny’s chair out for her. He waved his wand in the direction of the cupboard where he kept a small collection of excellent wines. “Accio Cabernet!” He uncorked the wine with a bit of ceremony and poured a little into their goblets.
“To us, darling Gin!” Draco raised his glass to her as he took his place at the table.
“To many happy times!” Ginny replied, clinking her glass upon his.
***
But while Ginny made merry with Draco in Japan, someone in a dingy lab in England was grimly stirring something in a cauldron.
Ron loved his sister dearly, but he could not stomach the fact that she was in love with the man he and his friends had hated for so long.
“You’ll thank me for this someday, Gin,” he muttered to his absent sister while the contents of the cauldron bubbled ominously. His blue eyes narrowed at the mixture. “No sibling of mine is going to marry a Malfoy. I’ll make sure of that.”
“I’ve never been more serious in my life, Malfoy-kun.” Shinju regarded him intently. She got up, went over to her desk, and rummaged through one of the drawers. When she returned, she handed a pair of rose-tinted glasses each to Draco and Ginny. “Put those on,” she instructed them. “Then you’ll see what I mean.”
Draco managed to choke back an oath at what he saw with the glasses. Dangling from the little finger of his left hand and looped around the same finger on Ginny’s right was a bright red thread knotted up in fifteen different ways.
“Can you tell how long these knots have been around?” he asked the musubiya.
Shinju narrowed her eyes as she drew closer to study the thread. Most of the knots had been sloppily tied, save for the one in the center of the thread. The musubiya held it up and grinned.
“This is the work of a master musubiya,” she declared. She tugged at the knotted thread. “It’s so tightly bound!”
Ginny turned to Draco, her brown eyes wide in shock. “Do you suppose Amihan did this?” she asked him.
“She probably did,” he replied thoughtfully. “But when would she have tied it?”
They stared at each other and exclaimed, “That detention!”
“What detention?” Hajime asked, his curiosity piqued.
“I was sixteen and Gin was fifteen,” Draco began. “We were still dating other people then. I provoked her into a fight one afternoon and ended up serving a detention with her.” He grinned impishly at Hajime. “Your cousin’s a sly witch if there ever was one. She probably saw the thread and tied the knot while we were working.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she did.” Hajime looked thoughtful. He held his hand out to Draco. “Mind if I borrowed those glasses for a bit?”
“Not at all.” Draco handed the glasses to him.
“Hmm…” Hajime was pensive as he studied the thread through the glasses. He looked at both Draco and Ginny. “Would you know anyone who wants to break your relationship?” he asked them.
Ginny made a face at that. “Some of my brothers do,” she replied, her nose wrinkling up in distaste. “My brother Ron, most especially. He and Draco were in the same year and they hated each other like the plague.” She turned to Hajime, puzzled. “Why did you ask?”
Shinju answered for him. “Sometimes, a musubiya is forced by circumstances to tie additional knots into a thread.” She sat back and counted the reasons on her fingers. “We only do that if there’s a danger of separation: wars, plagues, damnfool friends and relations, even hereditary infidelity. Some couples even request it for the sake of strengthening their bond.” She frowned. “Now, even with some pesky siblings, why would anyone want to pull you two apart?”
“Our families were on opposite sides of the fence when it came to the Dark Arts,” Draco explained. He sighed and Ginny squeezed his hand comfortingly. “I guess old hatreds die hard.”
“Don’t get gloomy about it, though.” Shinju dimpled playfully. “As long as you have each other, it doesn’t matter what the world says.” She picked up a pile of catalogs from a side table and began to leaf through them. “Of course, I know you two will want a formal ceremony and reception. So: let’s get down to business.” She grinned rather toothily at them. “Now that we have the actual binding out of the way, what motif would you lovebirds like?”
***
“We’re married!” Ginny exclaimed when they arrived at Draco’s flat early in the evening.
After the visit to Musubiya Seifuku, they went back to the apothecary and said nothing more about the afternoon’s discussion. Ginny helped the guys out for the rest of the day. Now, however, she wanted to talk about the whole thing seriously.
“Did you have your heart set on the whole ‘white-lace-and-promises’ scenario?” Draco asked her, raising an eyebrow in the process.
“No!” Ginny laughed and impulsively hugged him. “I don’t care how simple our wedding is. I agree with Shinju: it doesn’t matter what they all say so long as we’re together.”
Draco smiled as he held her close. His younger self would have sneered at the whole thing and demanded all the trappings of a classic pureblood society wedding. But now that he was a bit older and having survived the worst moments of his life, he just wanted to get the formalities out of the way so he could spend eternity with his red-haired goddess.
“Our mothers will demand all the fripperies, though,” he reminded his spouse. “You’re an only girl and I’m an only boy, so we may as well humor the old dears.”
“I know.” Ginny nodded and gazed up at him. “I won’t mind if you don’t.”
“I don’t and I daresay we can survive at least one major bash. Don’t you think so, Ginny?”
“I definitely agree.” She snuggled up to him. “I’d love to cling to you all evening, but I’d better take care of supper.”
Reluctantly, they let each other go and Ginny bustled to the kitchen. As Draco watched her go, he remembered the very first time he uttered the three little words that meant so much to them both.
***
“What’s wrong, Draco?”
Draco looked up to see his fellow Slytherins standing behind him. Earlier, he’d gone up to his favorite parapet to think about how complicated his life was getting to be.
“Oh, hi, guys.” He got up and saw that all the seventh years were there. “What are you all doing up here?” he asked, a trifle annoyed with the lot.
“Snape told us to go check on you,” Pansy replied. “He said you were a little green around the gills when he saw you earlier.”
“I’m fine!” he snapped at them. He began to walk away, but Crabbe and Goyle loomed large in his path. “Get out of my way!”
“Not till you tell us what’s been eating you, mate,” Crabbe rumbled at him.
Draco stared at them in consternation. Finally, when he realized they weren’t leaving him alone, his shoulders fell. “I’m in love,” he admitted.
“With Ginny.” Pansy smiled and turned to Blaise Zabini. “Pay up, Blaise; I win.”
“But it’s not going to work!” Draco wearily ran a hand through his pale hair. “She’s a Gryffindor, I’m a Slytherin, and our families have been out for each other’s blood since time immemorial.”
“And just because of that you think we won’t work out?” Ginny stepped from behind Millicent Bullstrode. She confronted him, her hands on her hips. “Draco Malfoy, I thought you had better sense!”
“How did you get in here?” he demanded of her.
“We snuck her in,” Goyle admitted. “We were getting sick of watching you mooning over her, so we decided to take matters into our own hands.”
And people think he and Vince are stupid! Draco shook his head at the thought. He placed his hands on Ginny’s shoulders, his silvery eyes meeting her brown ones. “I do have better sense,” he assured you. “I don’t want anyone hurting you because of me.”
“I don’t care!” Fiercely, she embraced him and tears began streaming down her face.
“I’m not a hero like Potter!” he protested.
“I don’t want a hero, Drae!” she cried. “I want you - just you and nobody else.”
That finally put things into proper focus for him.
“I love you, Ginevra Weasley!” he sighed as he pressed his forehead to hers.
“And I love you, Draco Malfoy,” she whispered in return.
Things would have turned to mush at that point if Blaise hadn’t broken the silence. “You know, you lot, I adore romantic moments like these,” he gushed. “But shouldn’t you do this indoors? I mean, we’re positively freezing our arses out here!”
***
“Drae!” Ginny called from the kitchen. “Would you mind setting the table for supper? I’ll be done in a bit.”
“I’m on it.” Draco waved his wand over the dining table and muttered a short spell. In seconds, the table was in perfect order. His mouth watered when he caught a whiff of what she was cooking. Mmm… Roast beef and Yorkshire pud; I haven’t had that since I left England!
It was more than the roast and the pudding that made it to the table. Ginny also made proper mashed potatoes, gingered carrots, and a cherry-and-almond trifle made according to her mother’s recipe. Draco looked upon the food approvingly.
“Looks like a feast for the gods!” he declared as he held Ginny’s chair out for her. He waved his wand in the direction of the cupboard where he kept a small collection of excellent wines. “Accio Cabernet!” He uncorked the wine with a bit of ceremony and poured a little into their goblets.
“To us, darling Gin!” Draco raised his glass to her as he took his place at the table.
“To many happy times!” Ginny replied, clinking her glass upon his.
***
But while Ginny made merry with Draco in Japan, someone in a dingy lab in England was grimly stirring something in a cauldron.
Ron loved his sister dearly, but he could not stomach the fact that she was in love with the man he and his friends had hated for so long.
“You’ll thank me for this someday, Gin,” he muttered to his absent sister while the contents of the cauldron bubbled ominously. His blue eyes narrowed at the mixture. “No sibling of mine is going to marry a Malfoy. I’ll make sure of that.”
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