Ginny's world suddenly rocketed into uncertainty. She'd been so happy with her little birthday party project and the nice predictability that came along with it. Her stable little environment had lasted just over one week. All it took was one encounter with Malfoy and chaos now ruled.
Initial planning of the Malfoy event started immediately after her meeting with the man ended. She began by transferring her birthday party project to one of her peers, getting her staff in order, and making an appointment to meet with Narcissa Malfoy the next day.
Ginny would be the first to admit that the prospect of meeting with Mrs. Malfoy was more than slightly intimidating. She had only seen the imposing witch on a few occasions and had never directly interacted with her. In fact, with the exception of the day Harry had defeated Voldemort, Ginny had only had glimpses of the Malfoy matriarch and those had been when she was basically a child. Ginny remembered her as an incredibly beautiful woman, who had always appeared aloof, aristocratic and somewhat haughty. But Malfoy had said she'd changed, and Ginny tried to imagine how as she apparated to the front gates of the Malfoy family manor on that chilly, dreary Tuesday morning.
The atmosphere of the day did not improve after she entered the grand building. She was led to a parlor that Narcissa apparently used as an office, where she apparently managed affairs of the manor. The room was pristine and impeccably decorated with stately furniture. Neatly bound ledgers lined the bookshelf near her desk, which was neatly adorned with an obviously expensive parchment and quill set. A stately owl perched nearby as if ready and waiting to be called to duty. Clearly, Narcissa Malfoy was a woman who expected perfection. It did not bode well for Ginny and her lack of experience.
When the lady of the manor entered, Ginny almost felt the temperature in the room drop an additional ten degrees. She fought off an involuntary shiver.
The meeting lasted for most of the morning, and Ginny thought it may well have been the longest morning of her entire life. The woman was impossible. She was cross and stern and completely unyielding. She spent much of the meeting sniffing disdainfully down her aristocratic nose at each and every suggestion Ginny brought forth. She criticized Ginny's timetable, her staffing requirements, and even her personal clothing. No wonder Malfoy had practically had to blackmail Ginny into taking the job. Nobody else would want to work with this witch, and Ginny fully realized that it would be two months of absolute hell.
She suddenly wondered why she'd wanted to succeed in this industry in the first place.
- ~ -
The rest of her week was no less demanding. Ginny found that the preparation required daily meetings and, at minimum, two daily Floo calls with the difficult woman. Each time Narcissa spoke, it was harsh, demanding and abrupt, and Ginny dealt with each comment and demand calmly and graciously, ignoring her client's demeanor. It took a massive act of will and Ginny cursed her own stubborn nature, because, for some reason, she became more and more determined. Malfoy had undoubtedly known what type of situation he was subjecting her to and the more she thought about him, the more determined she became. She desperately wanted to succeed, if only to spite the git.
By the end of the week, she was exhausted and furious, but she had the satisfaction of knowing that she'd made some progress. She had at least gotten through the most important basics, such as colors, fabrics and invitations. She assigned the task of acquiring the materials to her staff, and moved onto scheduling meal samples and selections for the next week.
If the daily interaction with Narcissa Malfoy wasn't enough, Ginny soon discovered that the contract required that she have regular meetings scheduled with Draco also, to provide overview of the project and deal with finances. As she walked into the conference room on Friday afternoon for her first meeting with him, she was practically snarling.
“She's a love, isn't she?” he stated with a wide grin as soon as Ginny entered the room glaring at him.
“Good afternoon to you too, Malfoy. You did this specifically to torment me, didn't you?”
“Not at all, Weasley. I told you my reasons already. They remain unchanged.”
She scowled, as she collapsed into one of the chairs at the conference table. “You said your parents have changed.”
“I never told you how.”
“Arrgh!” she wailed, reaching her hand up over her face and pulling her hair. The git was impossible!
He laughed.
“I'd walk away from this right now, except that I'd never work in this industry again,” she muttered.
“I thought you liked a challenge, Weasley.”
She glared at him, only because any verbal response would have certainly gotten her sacked.
“Oh, come on, she's not that bad.”
With all her heart, she wanted to Avada Kedavra him right then and there. And the look on her face said it quite plainly.
He laughed again, clearly enjoying the moment. “Believe it or not, you are doing quite well. The last one didn't last through the first meeting.”
“You've already tried another service?”
“Of course!” he admitted, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Two actually. You didn't think that I would have practically blackmailed you into this if I had other, more reasonable options, did you?”
No, of course not. She should have known.
He continued, “I was quite at a loss of what to do until I saw you swatting those pitiful faeries, and something just told me that you had the right personality to handle her.”
“You've got to be kidding me.”
“Not at all. You handled Sullivan quite well. I've never seen him fail to come to blows with Harrison at one of those events. They live for it. And then you brushed off Hutchins like a true professional. I was impressed. Next to them, my mother should be easy.”
She dropped her head on the conference table with a dull thud and groaned.
He came over and sat on the table next to her, leaning over and looking down at the despondent girl.
“You can do it, Weasley. I have confidence in you.”
She looked up and stared at him balefully. And he laughed again, a hearty full-humored laugh, which she found oddly pleasant. He obviously was finding her distress to be extremely amusing. Damn him.
“If it's any consolation, she actually seems to have some respect for you.”
“I'll mark that in my diary as the high point of my week.”
“I'm trying to help.”
“Of course you are.”
“Truly, I am.”
She picked her head up off the table, took a deep breath and attempted to bring some sanity to the meeting. “Mr. Malfoy, if you have something useful I will be happy to listen, but if the only reason you expect to meet with me weekly is to gather some sort of entertainment, I think it's time to call this and all future meetings to an end.”
“Sorry, Weasley, can't do that.”
She sighed. No, she couldn't. He'd wanted the meetings as part of the contract.
“I told you, I'm here to help. I fully intend for this event to be a success, and you'll need my advice if you expect to handle Mother.”
“Is there any possible way we can do this without me actually meeting with you in person?”
“Nope.”
She wanted to physically wipe the smug look off his face. Preferably using a very painful hex. This was going to be a long, long project.
- ~ -
She was never so happy to leave work at the end of the week. She still had several tasks to work on over the weekend, but she still managed to spend most of her time flying around her backyard pitch, practicing for her new role as Seeker. She wasn't looking forward to facing Harry but, she had to admit, she was grateful for the change. Mentally, she found the new role on the team stimulating, and it was a welcome mental distraction from her worries at work.
Two weeks later, Oliver dropped another surprise at the end of their practice with one very unexpected statement.
“I want you to try out for a position on the Falcons, Ginny.”
“What!” Fred and George heard him also, and echoed her surprise.
Oliver smiled, and calmly repeated. “I want you to try out for Seeker on the Falcons.”
It took several moments before she was able to find her voice to respond. The magnitude of the suggestion was almost beyond her comprehension. She couldn't, could she? Her mind seemed to automatically come up with all the reasons why she shouldn't. “That's what I thought you said. Oliver, there's no way. I'm a Chaser. I always have been,” she countered.
“You can't be a Chaser on a professional team, Gin. No offense, but you just aren't built for it.”
She was surprised to realize she wasn't arguing about trying out for the team, but that her argument centered more on what position she'd play.
“There are women Chasers on the Harpies.”
“And they're big, Gin, even for women. You're just a bit to small for Chaser. You could get killed with a Bludger from one of those guys, but I think with a bit more training, you can be a brilliant Seeker.”
“You're serious, aren't you?”
He nodded and looked between her and the twins. “I'll tell you all something, but it doesn't leave here.” They nodded, all three leaning in closer. “It's not public knowledge yet, but my back is getting worse, and there's no way I'll be able to finish out the season. Our secondary Keeper is going to take my place. There are going to be a couple of openings on the practice squad. Coach Raymond is going to have open trials in June and I want you to be there.”
Ginny looked to her brothers, and they were both nodding eagerly. Her shock left her speechless. Oliver looked confident, the twins had started grinning with unrestrained joy.
“You can do it, Ginny!” George said encouragingly. Both of the twins had encouraged her to do this in the past, after she'd left school and, at that time, she'd thought that they were joking. She never went after that dream and had spent the last four years regretting it. Now, another chance had been dropped soundly in her lap. Her brothers had always been firm believers that, with enough nerve, anything was possible and they wanted her to believe that as well. She loved that about them.
“Yeah, sis, you would be incredible! Think about it,” Fred said, his voice, for a rare moment, lacking all traces of humor. She looked at him letting the thought sink in, then she looked back at Oliver and saw his expression also held no trace of humor. He was quite serious.
“Being her brothers, we'd be famous, Fred,” George finally said, disrupting the serious moment.
“Absolutely, George!”
She laughed.
“But seriously Oliver, you don't think I'm too old to try out? I mean, most players are cast before they're eighteen. I'll be twenty-three in August.”
“I'd be more worried about you being a Weasley. After all, the team is owned by Malfoy, and Coach Raymond is as Slytherin as you'll find. Your family doesn't have a good history with that lot, right?”
“We could disguise her,” George offered.
“Yeah, change her hair color, and a false name, at least so that they'd give her a fair chance,” Fred said.
Oliver nodded in agreement, then turned back to her. “So, what do you say, Ginny? Want to have a shot at playing professionally?”
She looked among the three enthusiastic faces in front of her and felt her heart lift with happiness. They believed in her. She was good. She was really that good. How could she not give it a chance?
She smiled at the three of them and nodded vigorously. They would help her, and she would get the chance she'd always dreamed of.
There was only one major issue that seemed to be in her way. Trials were scheduled to be in June, and she had the Malfoy ball to work on at the same time. The timing could not be worse. If she didn't make the team, she'd still have to worry about maintaining her career. Something told her she'd be getting very, very little sleep in the next few weeks. But, truthfully, at the moment, she didn't really care.
Initial planning of the Malfoy event started immediately after her meeting with the man ended. She began by transferring her birthday party project to one of her peers, getting her staff in order, and making an appointment to meet with Narcissa Malfoy the next day.
Ginny would be the first to admit that the prospect of meeting with Mrs. Malfoy was more than slightly intimidating. She had only seen the imposing witch on a few occasions and had never directly interacted with her. In fact, with the exception of the day Harry had defeated Voldemort, Ginny had only had glimpses of the Malfoy matriarch and those had been when she was basically a child. Ginny remembered her as an incredibly beautiful woman, who had always appeared aloof, aristocratic and somewhat haughty. But Malfoy had said she'd changed, and Ginny tried to imagine how as she apparated to the front gates of the Malfoy family manor on that chilly, dreary Tuesday morning.
The atmosphere of the day did not improve after she entered the grand building. She was led to a parlor that Narcissa apparently used as an office, where she apparently managed affairs of the manor. The room was pristine and impeccably decorated with stately furniture. Neatly bound ledgers lined the bookshelf near her desk, which was neatly adorned with an obviously expensive parchment and quill set. A stately owl perched nearby as if ready and waiting to be called to duty. Clearly, Narcissa Malfoy was a woman who expected perfection. It did not bode well for Ginny and her lack of experience.
When the lady of the manor entered, Ginny almost felt the temperature in the room drop an additional ten degrees. She fought off an involuntary shiver.
The meeting lasted for most of the morning, and Ginny thought it may well have been the longest morning of her entire life. The woman was impossible. She was cross and stern and completely unyielding. She spent much of the meeting sniffing disdainfully down her aristocratic nose at each and every suggestion Ginny brought forth. She criticized Ginny's timetable, her staffing requirements, and even her personal clothing. No wonder Malfoy had practically had to blackmail Ginny into taking the job. Nobody else would want to work with this witch, and Ginny fully realized that it would be two months of absolute hell.
She suddenly wondered why she'd wanted to succeed in this industry in the first place.
- ~ -
The rest of her week was no less demanding. Ginny found that the preparation required daily meetings and, at minimum, two daily Floo calls with the difficult woman. Each time Narcissa spoke, it was harsh, demanding and abrupt, and Ginny dealt with each comment and demand calmly and graciously, ignoring her client's demeanor. It took a massive act of will and Ginny cursed her own stubborn nature, because, for some reason, she became more and more determined. Malfoy had undoubtedly known what type of situation he was subjecting her to and the more she thought about him, the more determined she became. She desperately wanted to succeed, if only to spite the git.
By the end of the week, she was exhausted and furious, but she had the satisfaction of knowing that she'd made some progress. She had at least gotten through the most important basics, such as colors, fabrics and invitations. She assigned the task of acquiring the materials to her staff, and moved onto scheduling meal samples and selections for the next week.
If the daily interaction with Narcissa Malfoy wasn't enough, Ginny soon discovered that the contract required that she have regular meetings scheduled with Draco also, to provide overview of the project and deal with finances. As she walked into the conference room on Friday afternoon for her first meeting with him, she was practically snarling.
“She's a love, isn't she?” he stated with a wide grin as soon as Ginny entered the room glaring at him.
“Good afternoon to you too, Malfoy. You did this specifically to torment me, didn't you?”
“Not at all, Weasley. I told you my reasons already. They remain unchanged.”
She scowled, as she collapsed into one of the chairs at the conference table. “You said your parents have changed.”
“I never told you how.”
“Arrgh!” she wailed, reaching her hand up over her face and pulling her hair. The git was impossible!
He laughed.
“I'd walk away from this right now, except that I'd never work in this industry again,” she muttered.
“I thought you liked a challenge, Weasley.”
She glared at him, only because any verbal response would have certainly gotten her sacked.
“Oh, come on, she's not that bad.”
With all her heart, she wanted to Avada Kedavra him right then and there. And the look on her face said it quite plainly.
He laughed again, clearly enjoying the moment. “Believe it or not, you are doing quite well. The last one didn't last through the first meeting.”
“You've already tried another service?”
“Of course!” he admitted, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Two actually. You didn't think that I would have practically blackmailed you into this if I had other, more reasonable options, did you?”
No, of course not. She should have known.
He continued, “I was quite at a loss of what to do until I saw you swatting those pitiful faeries, and something just told me that you had the right personality to handle her.”
“You've got to be kidding me.”
“Not at all. You handled Sullivan quite well. I've never seen him fail to come to blows with Harrison at one of those events. They live for it. And then you brushed off Hutchins like a true professional. I was impressed. Next to them, my mother should be easy.”
She dropped her head on the conference table with a dull thud and groaned.
He came over and sat on the table next to her, leaning over and looking down at the despondent girl.
“You can do it, Weasley. I have confidence in you.”
She looked up and stared at him balefully. And he laughed again, a hearty full-humored laugh, which she found oddly pleasant. He obviously was finding her distress to be extremely amusing. Damn him.
“If it's any consolation, she actually seems to have some respect for you.”
“I'll mark that in my diary as the high point of my week.”
“I'm trying to help.”
“Of course you are.”
“Truly, I am.”
She picked her head up off the table, took a deep breath and attempted to bring some sanity to the meeting. “Mr. Malfoy, if you have something useful I will be happy to listen, but if the only reason you expect to meet with me weekly is to gather some sort of entertainment, I think it's time to call this and all future meetings to an end.”
“Sorry, Weasley, can't do that.”
She sighed. No, she couldn't. He'd wanted the meetings as part of the contract.
“I told you, I'm here to help. I fully intend for this event to be a success, and you'll need my advice if you expect to handle Mother.”
“Is there any possible way we can do this without me actually meeting with you in person?”
“Nope.”
She wanted to physically wipe the smug look off his face. Preferably using a very painful hex. This was going to be a long, long project.
- ~ -
She was never so happy to leave work at the end of the week. She still had several tasks to work on over the weekend, but she still managed to spend most of her time flying around her backyard pitch, practicing for her new role as Seeker. She wasn't looking forward to facing Harry but, she had to admit, she was grateful for the change. Mentally, she found the new role on the team stimulating, and it was a welcome mental distraction from her worries at work.
Two weeks later, Oliver dropped another surprise at the end of their practice with one very unexpected statement.
“I want you to try out for a position on the Falcons, Ginny.”
“What!” Fred and George heard him also, and echoed her surprise.
Oliver smiled, and calmly repeated. “I want you to try out for Seeker on the Falcons.”
It took several moments before she was able to find her voice to respond. The magnitude of the suggestion was almost beyond her comprehension. She couldn't, could she? Her mind seemed to automatically come up with all the reasons why she shouldn't. “That's what I thought you said. Oliver, there's no way. I'm a Chaser. I always have been,” she countered.
“You can't be a Chaser on a professional team, Gin. No offense, but you just aren't built for it.”
She was surprised to realize she wasn't arguing about trying out for the team, but that her argument centered more on what position she'd play.
“There are women Chasers on the Harpies.”
“And they're big, Gin, even for women. You're just a bit to small for Chaser. You could get killed with a Bludger from one of those guys, but I think with a bit more training, you can be a brilliant Seeker.”
“You're serious, aren't you?”
He nodded and looked between her and the twins. “I'll tell you all something, but it doesn't leave here.” They nodded, all three leaning in closer. “It's not public knowledge yet, but my back is getting worse, and there's no way I'll be able to finish out the season. Our secondary Keeper is going to take my place. There are going to be a couple of openings on the practice squad. Coach Raymond is going to have open trials in June and I want you to be there.”
Ginny looked to her brothers, and they were both nodding eagerly. Her shock left her speechless. Oliver looked confident, the twins had started grinning with unrestrained joy.
“You can do it, Ginny!” George said encouragingly. Both of the twins had encouraged her to do this in the past, after she'd left school and, at that time, she'd thought that they were joking. She never went after that dream and had spent the last four years regretting it. Now, another chance had been dropped soundly in her lap. Her brothers had always been firm believers that, with enough nerve, anything was possible and they wanted her to believe that as well. She loved that about them.
“Yeah, sis, you would be incredible! Think about it,” Fred said, his voice, for a rare moment, lacking all traces of humor. She looked at him letting the thought sink in, then she looked back at Oliver and saw his expression also held no trace of humor. He was quite serious.
“Being her brothers, we'd be famous, Fred,” George finally said, disrupting the serious moment.
“Absolutely, George!”
She laughed.
“But seriously Oliver, you don't think I'm too old to try out? I mean, most players are cast before they're eighteen. I'll be twenty-three in August.”
“I'd be more worried about you being a Weasley. After all, the team is owned by Malfoy, and Coach Raymond is as Slytherin as you'll find. Your family doesn't have a good history with that lot, right?”
“We could disguise her,” George offered.
“Yeah, change her hair color, and a false name, at least so that they'd give her a fair chance,” Fred said.
Oliver nodded in agreement, then turned back to her. “So, what do you say, Ginny? Want to have a shot at playing professionally?”
She looked among the three enthusiastic faces in front of her and felt her heart lift with happiness. They believed in her. She was good. She was really that good. How could she not give it a chance?
She smiled at the three of them and nodded vigorously. They would help her, and she would get the chance she'd always dreamed of.
There was only one major issue that seemed to be in her way. Trials were scheduled to be in June, and she had the Malfoy ball to work on at the same time. The timing could not be worse. If she didn't make the team, she'd still have to worry about maintaining her career. Something told her she'd be getting very, very little sleep in the next few weeks. But, truthfully, at the moment, she didn't really care.
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