Chapter 6 - The Skiving Snack Box Debacle
The day of the Malfoy Anniversary Ball dawned sunny and warm, as days in mid-June had a tendency to do. Ginny rose early to go to the manor to oversee the final preparations and ensure that everything remained on schedule. It was going to be a very, very long day.
Her mother, bless her, had prepared a nice breakfast for her which she ate quickly. She suspected that it would likely be her only chance to sit down and eat, and Ginny appreciated her mother's thoughtfulness.
“I do hope everything goes well, sweetheart,” her mother said, while Ginny hurriedly slapped jam onto her toast.
“No need to worry, Mum. It's just another event. The worst of it was in all the preparation...”
“I'll be so proud of you no matter how it turns out, dear,” her mother finished for her. Ginny smiled at her.
“I'll just be glad tonight when this is over. I think I'll be sleeping for a week.”
Molly frowned, still apparently worried about her daughter having to spend so much time over the last few weeks with people she didn't trust. “I'll be glad when this is over too,” she agreed.
“It hasn't been that bad, Mum,” she said, tiring of her mother's frequent reference to the project. “It's just that it’s a tough project. The Malfoys haven't been any worse to deal with than any other socialites I've seen or heard about at the office. They are all the same when it comes to planning these things. The impression they give is very important to them and that's why they hire us.”
“It’s good you have such a positive attitude. It's no wonder you're so successful at this job of yours.”
Ginny didn't miss the hint and gave a small grimace. Her mother meant no harm but, once again, with the tone of that last simple statement, she'd subtly mentioned that Ginny spent too much time on her career instead of settling down and starting a family. Ginny sighed and forced herself to ignore the slight.
“Mum, I really do enjoy my job.”
“Yes, dear, but you have to admit that spending so much time with people like those Malfoys can't be healthy for you.”
Ginny gave a sigh and paused to gulp down some juice before responding. “They've been fine, Mum, really. Actually, I'm a bit glad I've spent all this time with them. I think that it's given me a bit of a different perspective on how they've changed since the war.”
“A man like Lucius doesn't change, Ginny. Don't let them try to fool you,” her mother scolded.
“I've only seen him once, actually, and I'm not sure that that's true, Mum. He was different.. Rather quiet. He looked older. Narcissa has become almost tolerable now that I've learned to read her a bit, and Draco...”
“I certainly hope he's not treating you like he did when you and Ron were in school.”
“No, Mum, he's grown up, matured, I guess. He's still a royal arse, but I've actually had several normal conversations with him. He can be almost tolerable at times.”
“That's good to know.”
Molly seemed appeased, and Ginny was glad to see it. She really didn't want to be worrying about her mother while she was working that day. Finishing her food, she left for work before her mother could question her further.
- ~ -
Ginny's day turned out to be just as hectic as she'd imagined it would. When she arrived at the manor, most of her staff was already well underway, setting decorations and starting the early meal preparations.
Her first action was to meet with the reporter from the Daily Prophet. Being a society ball, it was expected that the evening would be covered in the newspaper's society section and Ginny had already arranged a press release. In addition, a photographer from the Prophet would be there to take the appropriate pictures of the Who's Who of the Wizarding socialites. It was all the more reason for Ginny to do everything possible to make sure the event ran smoothly.
By noon, the plan seemed to be coming together well, with only small adjustments being needed. The ballroom was filled with dozens of floating silver globes, each charmed to glow with silver and blue star fire patterns which would be used to light the room instead of candles for the evening. The walls were decorated in large silver tapestries, also charmed to sparkle with complementary patterns. After dark, Ginny expected that the room would look like a faerie tale princess' fantasy. She hoped it was all that Narcissa had expected.
By mid-afternoon, Ginny's feet ached. She didn't recall having the opportunity to sit down even once during the day as she raced to each location, verifying schedules and supplies and smoothing out any small discrepancies. She was so grateful she wore her most comfortable shoes but, even with an added cushioning charm, they failed to help her after six hours on her feet.
Narcissa made several appearances throughout the preparations to ensure that everything was still being done to her satisfaction. She would enter the room, stare coldly at the staff then give Ginny a curt nod. Ginny could only assume that Narcissa was satisfied.
It was around three o'clock that everything went to Hades in a hand basket.
As it happened, Ginny had been in the main ballroom working on relocating the dinner tables. The musicians had arrived, and needed more room than they'd planned, forcing her to adjust the seating plan. A problem, certainly, she thought, but nothing insurmountable. She was in the middle of floating one of the tables to its new location when Draco literally charged into the room and immediately marched over to her, looking disheveled and annoyed.
He hadn't been around all day, and Ginny had been grateful for the lack of interference. She'd been quite certain that he'd purposely spend at least some of his time making sure that she was ruffled, and she'd been prepared to have him forcibly removed from the area if he did. With that thought in mind, she gave a moment's thought of ignoring him as he charged across the room, but abandoned the idea when she realized that the look on his face held no hint of his usual teasing manner.
“Is my mother nearby?” he asked sharply, without offering any greeting whatsoever.
“I believe she's out in the garden, checking on the placement of some of the ice sculptures,” she answered, as she carefully lowered the aforementioned table into place.
“I need to speak with her, and you, immediately.”
She motioned to the nearest staff member. “Can you please find Camille and have her take over for me here?” As the woman nodded and began to comply with her instructions, she followed Draco out the back wall of glass doors to the outside patio.
Narcissa was there, as expected, looking as stern and unyielding as was usual for her. By contrast, the young man who'd gotten trapped with the duty of rearranging the area to her satisfaction seemed to be looking rather frazzled as he worked to move one of the larger stone items around the patio.
Draco ignored the activity and addressed his mother almost as shortly as he did to Ginny, “Mother, we need to speak.”
“Has something happened, Draco darling?” she asked.
“We can speak of it in your parlor, Mother,” he replied calmly, although Ginny could now see that he truly was upset.
Narcissa nodded sharply and turned to the harried-looking boy working on the patio. “You are dismissed. I'll attend to this later.” Ginny was almost amused as the boy practically ran from the area at the sound of her sharp tone. She made a mental note to give him some encouragement later.
Draco led the way down the hall, still looking worried. As soon as they entered the parlor, he closed the doors and began speaking quickly.
“Pansy won't be able to attend this evening, Mother.”
Narcissa said nothing, but Ginny could tell she was upset by the way her mouth set into a straight line and her complexion became just a shade lighter. Ginny took in a deep breath, watching the interaction between the two Malfoys. Apparently, since she had been asked to be present for this discussion, Ginny presumed that this little dilemma was somehow going to fall squarely on her shoulders.
“Draco, it's only four hours until the guests begin arriving. This is not convenient,” Narcissa stated in a clipped tone.
Ginny had to say that she was fascinated by the way these people spoke. From their point of view, this was a bit of a crisis, yet, the only sign of Narcissa's agitation was a minor change in her tone and facial expression. She couldn't help but compare the reaction to what she'd become accustomed to within her own emotional, high-tempered family.
“I understand, Mother. Unfortunately, there's been a bit of an accident.”
Narcissa's expression softened slightly, with what Ginny determined to be concern. “She's all right, I do hope.”
“She'll be fine, in a day or so, but I can't expect her to try to attend this evening,” Draco responded.
Ginny wondered why this was such a big deal. Pansy had been expected to escort Draco for the evening. He'd wanted her to hostess partly because of her long history as a friend of the family. The politics of the matter had seemed rather silly in Ginny's view, but it had a great deal to do with appearance and social standing in their high-society. All that Ginny had gathered during the planning was that Pansy was actually engaged to another wizard, so therefore, she could act as hostess, but not be viewed as being attached to the Malfoy heir.
“May I ask what happened?” Narcissa inquired.
“Well, it's a rather long story, I'm afraid...” he began, and then went on to explain that Pansy and her mother had been visiting Mrs. Parkinson's sister-in-law that day. During the visit, apparently, two nephews felt that it would be rather good fun to experiment with some joke items that they'd received by owl order recently. The children managed to slip several of the items, disguised as treats, onto the dessert tray at lunch where Pansy and her mother both ingested them and subsequently came down with some rather serious symptoms.
“Fortunately, Mrs. Parkinson's fever has gone down, but Pansy still is covered in hives,” Draco concluded.
Ginny was torn. Part of her wanted to giggle at the image that popped into her head. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself, since the others present obviously did not see the humor in the situation.
“Where in the world would children get something so vile?” Narcissa asked indignantly.
Ginny felt her face go white. The description of the symptoms was quite clear to her. She'd sold countless numbers of the items while working at her brothers' joke shop. The Skiving Snack box, invented by none other than Fred and George Weasley, had claimed another pair of victims.
“Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes,” Draco replied, giving Ginny a glance that showed all his annoyance about her brothers' shop.
“Oh, Merlin,” Ginny felt herself mutter, forcing herself not to hide her face in her hands. She suddenly became certain, beyond any doubt, that this incident was going to impact her directly. She just didn't know how just yet.
“The items are generally harmless,” Draco continued. “But Pansy is absolutely distraught and doesn't want to be seen in her current condition.”
If the situation hadn't seemed so dire for the Malfoys, Ginny might have found it amusing. Her only consolation was that it would be quite funny to recount the incident to Harry and her brothers at the next family gathering.
“I'll just have to host by myself, Mother,” he said with resignation.
“You'll do no such thing,” his mother stated, without room for discussion. “You know full well what will happen if you don't have someone to accompany you. I'll not have you being pulled in every direction by every single female in the room. This is an evening for your father and myself, and I need you to handle matters. I can't have your attention focused on some trivial social climber who decides to corner you.”
So there was the problem, Ginny gathered. Draco Malfoy, young, handsome, wealthy, and extremely unattached was definitely considered to be quite a catch. Their concern was that every available witch would clearly be taking the opportunity to capture his attention. The situation would obviously cause nothing but problems with Narcissa's carefully planned evening. Narcissa clearly wanted him to handle hosting the event, so that she and Lucius could enjoy their evening as the guests of honor. Hence, the emergency about Pansy's sudden cancellation.
“Yes, Mother. But, my choices at this late hour are rather limited...” he began to say, but stopped without completing the statement. After a moment's pause he turned his gaze from his mother to focus directly on Ginny.
The pause in the conversation was quite noticeable.
“What?” Ginny asked.
“Of course!” Narcissa agreed, also looking at Ginny. “Good choice, my son.”
“What?” Ginny repeated again, feeling a bit like she was being cornered for something dreadful.
“Ginevra,” Draco asked calmly, almost politely. “Would you care to escort me this evening to the ball?”
Her mouth opened in a big “O,” as in to begin stating “oh no,” as emphatically as possible. She tried to process what she'd just heard, and decided that she must have imagined it. She stammered for a moment. Then, realizing that Draco was looking at her for an answer, the words, “I couldn't,” finally fell out of her mouth.
Draco continued looking at her steadily, as if willing her to say more, so she did. “Surely, you could find someone better than me, I mean, I know you could easily find someone...”
“No,” Narcissa said firmly. “He can't. You don't seem to understand, Miss. Weasley.”
“No, Mrs. Malfoy, I don't think I do.”
“Actually, the fact that you didn't immediately accept says a great deal about why you are the most suitable candidate,” Narcissa explained.
“I still don't understand,” Ginny said slowly, feeling both Malfoys stare at her intently.
“What my mother means, Ginevra, is that I can't ask just anyone. I need someone who won't read too much into this event. First, asking on such short notice doesn't bode well for appearance but, given the circumstances, I could probably still get by. However, most witches I would ask would take this opportunity to assume that there is some sort of attachment involved. The event will be publicized and I can guarantee that my escort will most certainly generate a great deal of speculation.”
Ginny couldn't help but take a small amount of offense at the explanation. “And I somehow won't generate this same speculation?” Ginny asked.
“Oh, you most likely will, dear Weasley, but it will probably die down quickly. Partly, because of your employment, and partly because you aren't the type to use the opportunity for your personal advancement.”
She looked down on her simple, conservative black dress. It was work attire. She looked prim and neat and completely appropriate as a staff member but completely wrong for a guest at such an event, much less, the hostess.
“I'm afraid, even if I did agree to this, which I do not, by the way,” she babbled, “I don't have anything appropriate to wear, and I'm quite sure I couldn't acquire a proper outfit on such short notice.” There. That should get her out of this, she thought to herself.
“That's not a issue,” Narcissa explained. I can have Madam Malkin over here immediately.
Immediately. She felt herself feeling just slightly lightheaded and briefly wondered if fainting was a valid possibility.
Ginny was debating on how to explain that she couldn't afford a new dress when Draco interrupted. “We'd put that on the account as part of the banquet expense, of course,” he stated. She stared at him, trying to figure out if it was an insult, but there was no malice, not even a teasing glint in his eyes. He seemed to be genuinely trying to persuade her to agree.
She looked between the two of them, both obviously expecting her to agree, and she couldn't, she simply could not. “Look, Mrs. Malfoy, Draco, there is no way I can agree to this. I'm very honored that you thought of me, but I simply don't think it's appropriate. First of all, I'm your employee for this event, and the idea of being a paid escort, no matter how proper the situation, is simply not something I want to be considered. Second, you may recall that my last name is Weasley, and I'm quite certain you'll regret your choice in the very near future from a social standpoint.”
Ginny had chosen her words carefully when it came to that ‘second’ reason. In actuality, she'd said that they would regret working with her, but the truth of the matter was that she didn't know how she'd ever deal with being seen associating with them. She felt a small amount of guilt, since that was exactly the situation that this party was supposed to be alleviating.
“Nonsense,” Narcissa snorted. “You are a lovely, young woman. I've seen you handle yourself quite well these last several weeks and you have an excellent command presence, as I've seen as you deal with your underlings. You would be an excellent match, and I insist.”
Ginny felt a small amount of panic. Narcissa had just 'insisted', making her options very, very limited, considering the determination of the woman. She was only able to come up with one last, desperate, excuse. “Mrs. Malfoy, I still have to coordinate the events for the evening...” Ginny started to say, looking at Draco, as he sat silently, with no expression on his face.
She never got to finish her sentence as Narcissa had already begun to voice a response. “I'll contact Ms. Tinkerton myself and arrange for your duties to be reallocated.”
Ginny sighed in defeat.
Fifteen minutes later, Ms. Tinkerton herself and Camille, who would be her backup, were in the parlor. Ginny had no choice, though she still considered this entire situation to be rather humiliating. Ms. Tinkerton would hear none of her excuses, reminding Ginny, once again, that this was a very big client, and she wanted to ensure the success of the event. So, once again, for the sake of her future career, she was being forced into doing a job that she truly did not want to do.
As Ginny handed her notes, action items and the final schedule to Camille, she gave a resigned sigh.
“Goodness Ginny, why do you look so glum?” Camille finally asked.
“I just think this is wrong, that's all.”
Camille looked at her as if she'd just grown an extra appendage. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, you must be joking.”
Ginny looked at her, feeling confused by the other girl's remark.
“Anyone of us would simply die to be you right now!” Camille continued.
“Camille, do you have any idea what my family is going to say to me after they find out?”
“Oh, who cares, Ginny? Stop being such a stick in the mud! They might be angry, they might not. It's not like you're marrying the man. Though who wouldn't?”
Ginny gaped in shock at her friend's words. “But...”
But Camille continued unabated. “You've got an opportunity of a lifetime! Don't spend your time worrying about what might come of it tomorrow. For tonight, just enjoy it and, for goodness sake, make sure you come in early on Monday to tell us all about every last detail, yeah?”
Camille's rant brought Ginny a great deal of peace. Her friend was right. She was getting a wonderful chance to view an extravagant event from the other point of view, as a guest, instead of her usual position as a staff member in the shadows. She owed it to herself and also to her co-workers to enjoy every minute of the evening and bring back every last detail to share. A Cinderella evening. Ginny let the thought soak in and heaved a heavy sigh of resignation.
There was no getting out of it, so, Ginny, being a practical sort of person, came to the conclusion that Camille was right. She decided to stop complaining. She was going to be gracious and enjoy every minute. It was least she could do for herself after having to deal with Malfoy for the last two months.
The day of the Malfoy Anniversary Ball dawned sunny and warm, as days in mid-June had a tendency to do. Ginny rose early to go to the manor to oversee the final preparations and ensure that everything remained on schedule. It was going to be a very, very long day.
Her mother, bless her, had prepared a nice breakfast for her which she ate quickly. She suspected that it would likely be her only chance to sit down and eat, and Ginny appreciated her mother's thoughtfulness.
“I do hope everything goes well, sweetheart,” her mother said, while Ginny hurriedly slapped jam onto her toast.
“No need to worry, Mum. It's just another event. The worst of it was in all the preparation...”
“I'll be so proud of you no matter how it turns out, dear,” her mother finished for her. Ginny smiled at her.
“I'll just be glad tonight when this is over. I think I'll be sleeping for a week.”
Molly frowned, still apparently worried about her daughter having to spend so much time over the last few weeks with people she didn't trust. “I'll be glad when this is over too,” she agreed.
“It hasn't been that bad, Mum,” she said, tiring of her mother's frequent reference to the project. “It's just that it’s a tough project. The Malfoys haven't been any worse to deal with than any other socialites I've seen or heard about at the office. They are all the same when it comes to planning these things. The impression they give is very important to them and that's why they hire us.”
“It’s good you have such a positive attitude. It's no wonder you're so successful at this job of yours.”
Ginny didn't miss the hint and gave a small grimace. Her mother meant no harm but, once again, with the tone of that last simple statement, she'd subtly mentioned that Ginny spent too much time on her career instead of settling down and starting a family. Ginny sighed and forced herself to ignore the slight.
“Mum, I really do enjoy my job.”
“Yes, dear, but you have to admit that spending so much time with people like those Malfoys can't be healthy for you.”
Ginny gave a sigh and paused to gulp down some juice before responding. “They've been fine, Mum, really. Actually, I'm a bit glad I've spent all this time with them. I think that it's given me a bit of a different perspective on how they've changed since the war.”
“A man like Lucius doesn't change, Ginny. Don't let them try to fool you,” her mother scolded.
“I've only seen him once, actually, and I'm not sure that that's true, Mum. He was different.. Rather quiet. He looked older. Narcissa has become almost tolerable now that I've learned to read her a bit, and Draco...”
“I certainly hope he's not treating you like he did when you and Ron were in school.”
“No, Mum, he's grown up, matured, I guess. He's still a royal arse, but I've actually had several normal conversations with him. He can be almost tolerable at times.”
“That's good to know.”
Molly seemed appeased, and Ginny was glad to see it. She really didn't want to be worrying about her mother while she was working that day. Finishing her food, she left for work before her mother could question her further.
- ~ -
Ginny's day turned out to be just as hectic as she'd imagined it would. When she arrived at the manor, most of her staff was already well underway, setting decorations and starting the early meal preparations.
Her first action was to meet with the reporter from the Daily Prophet. Being a society ball, it was expected that the evening would be covered in the newspaper's society section and Ginny had already arranged a press release. In addition, a photographer from the Prophet would be there to take the appropriate pictures of the Who's Who of the Wizarding socialites. It was all the more reason for Ginny to do everything possible to make sure the event ran smoothly.
By noon, the plan seemed to be coming together well, with only small adjustments being needed. The ballroom was filled with dozens of floating silver globes, each charmed to glow with silver and blue star fire patterns which would be used to light the room instead of candles for the evening. The walls were decorated in large silver tapestries, also charmed to sparkle with complementary patterns. After dark, Ginny expected that the room would look like a faerie tale princess' fantasy. She hoped it was all that Narcissa had expected.
By mid-afternoon, Ginny's feet ached. She didn't recall having the opportunity to sit down even once during the day as she raced to each location, verifying schedules and supplies and smoothing out any small discrepancies. She was so grateful she wore her most comfortable shoes but, even with an added cushioning charm, they failed to help her after six hours on her feet.
Narcissa made several appearances throughout the preparations to ensure that everything was still being done to her satisfaction. She would enter the room, stare coldly at the staff then give Ginny a curt nod. Ginny could only assume that Narcissa was satisfied.
It was around three o'clock that everything went to Hades in a hand basket.
As it happened, Ginny had been in the main ballroom working on relocating the dinner tables. The musicians had arrived, and needed more room than they'd planned, forcing her to adjust the seating plan. A problem, certainly, she thought, but nothing insurmountable. She was in the middle of floating one of the tables to its new location when Draco literally charged into the room and immediately marched over to her, looking disheveled and annoyed.
He hadn't been around all day, and Ginny had been grateful for the lack of interference. She'd been quite certain that he'd purposely spend at least some of his time making sure that she was ruffled, and she'd been prepared to have him forcibly removed from the area if he did. With that thought in mind, she gave a moment's thought of ignoring him as he charged across the room, but abandoned the idea when she realized that the look on his face held no hint of his usual teasing manner.
“Is my mother nearby?” he asked sharply, without offering any greeting whatsoever.
“I believe she's out in the garden, checking on the placement of some of the ice sculptures,” she answered, as she carefully lowered the aforementioned table into place.
“I need to speak with her, and you, immediately.”
She motioned to the nearest staff member. “Can you please find Camille and have her take over for me here?” As the woman nodded and began to comply with her instructions, she followed Draco out the back wall of glass doors to the outside patio.
Narcissa was there, as expected, looking as stern and unyielding as was usual for her. By contrast, the young man who'd gotten trapped with the duty of rearranging the area to her satisfaction seemed to be looking rather frazzled as he worked to move one of the larger stone items around the patio.
Draco ignored the activity and addressed his mother almost as shortly as he did to Ginny, “Mother, we need to speak.”
“Has something happened, Draco darling?” she asked.
“We can speak of it in your parlor, Mother,” he replied calmly, although Ginny could now see that he truly was upset.
Narcissa nodded sharply and turned to the harried-looking boy working on the patio. “You are dismissed. I'll attend to this later.” Ginny was almost amused as the boy practically ran from the area at the sound of her sharp tone. She made a mental note to give him some encouragement later.
Draco led the way down the hall, still looking worried. As soon as they entered the parlor, he closed the doors and began speaking quickly.
“Pansy won't be able to attend this evening, Mother.”
Narcissa said nothing, but Ginny could tell she was upset by the way her mouth set into a straight line and her complexion became just a shade lighter. Ginny took in a deep breath, watching the interaction between the two Malfoys. Apparently, since she had been asked to be present for this discussion, Ginny presumed that this little dilemma was somehow going to fall squarely on her shoulders.
“Draco, it's only four hours until the guests begin arriving. This is not convenient,” Narcissa stated in a clipped tone.
Ginny had to say that she was fascinated by the way these people spoke. From their point of view, this was a bit of a crisis, yet, the only sign of Narcissa's agitation was a minor change in her tone and facial expression. She couldn't help but compare the reaction to what she'd become accustomed to within her own emotional, high-tempered family.
“I understand, Mother. Unfortunately, there's been a bit of an accident.”
Narcissa's expression softened slightly, with what Ginny determined to be concern. “She's all right, I do hope.”
“She'll be fine, in a day or so, but I can't expect her to try to attend this evening,” Draco responded.
Ginny wondered why this was such a big deal. Pansy had been expected to escort Draco for the evening. He'd wanted her to hostess partly because of her long history as a friend of the family. The politics of the matter had seemed rather silly in Ginny's view, but it had a great deal to do with appearance and social standing in their high-society. All that Ginny had gathered during the planning was that Pansy was actually engaged to another wizard, so therefore, she could act as hostess, but not be viewed as being attached to the Malfoy heir.
“May I ask what happened?” Narcissa inquired.
“Well, it's a rather long story, I'm afraid...” he began, and then went on to explain that Pansy and her mother had been visiting Mrs. Parkinson's sister-in-law that day. During the visit, apparently, two nephews felt that it would be rather good fun to experiment with some joke items that they'd received by owl order recently. The children managed to slip several of the items, disguised as treats, onto the dessert tray at lunch where Pansy and her mother both ingested them and subsequently came down with some rather serious symptoms.
“Fortunately, Mrs. Parkinson's fever has gone down, but Pansy still is covered in hives,” Draco concluded.
Ginny was torn. Part of her wanted to giggle at the image that popped into her head. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself, since the others present obviously did not see the humor in the situation.
“Where in the world would children get something so vile?” Narcissa asked indignantly.
Ginny felt her face go white. The description of the symptoms was quite clear to her. She'd sold countless numbers of the items while working at her brothers' joke shop. The Skiving Snack box, invented by none other than Fred and George Weasley, had claimed another pair of victims.
“Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes,” Draco replied, giving Ginny a glance that showed all his annoyance about her brothers' shop.
“Oh, Merlin,” Ginny felt herself mutter, forcing herself not to hide her face in her hands. She suddenly became certain, beyond any doubt, that this incident was going to impact her directly. She just didn't know how just yet.
“The items are generally harmless,” Draco continued. “But Pansy is absolutely distraught and doesn't want to be seen in her current condition.”
If the situation hadn't seemed so dire for the Malfoys, Ginny might have found it amusing. Her only consolation was that it would be quite funny to recount the incident to Harry and her brothers at the next family gathering.
“I'll just have to host by myself, Mother,” he said with resignation.
“You'll do no such thing,” his mother stated, without room for discussion. “You know full well what will happen if you don't have someone to accompany you. I'll not have you being pulled in every direction by every single female in the room. This is an evening for your father and myself, and I need you to handle matters. I can't have your attention focused on some trivial social climber who decides to corner you.”
So there was the problem, Ginny gathered. Draco Malfoy, young, handsome, wealthy, and extremely unattached was definitely considered to be quite a catch. Their concern was that every available witch would clearly be taking the opportunity to capture his attention. The situation would obviously cause nothing but problems with Narcissa's carefully planned evening. Narcissa clearly wanted him to handle hosting the event, so that she and Lucius could enjoy their evening as the guests of honor. Hence, the emergency about Pansy's sudden cancellation.
“Yes, Mother. But, my choices at this late hour are rather limited...” he began to say, but stopped without completing the statement. After a moment's pause he turned his gaze from his mother to focus directly on Ginny.
The pause in the conversation was quite noticeable.
“What?” Ginny asked.
“Of course!” Narcissa agreed, also looking at Ginny. “Good choice, my son.”
“What?” Ginny repeated again, feeling a bit like she was being cornered for something dreadful.
“Ginevra,” Draco asked calmly, almost politely. “Would you care to escort me this evening to the ball?”
Her mouth opened in a big “O,” as in to begin stating “oh no,” as emphatically as possible. She tried to process what she'd just heard, and decided that she must have imagined it. She stammered for a moment. Then, realizing that Draco was looking at her for an answer, the words, “I couldn't,” finally fell out of her mouth.
Draco continued looking at her steadily, as if willing her to say more, so she did. “Surely, you could find someone better than me, I mean, I know you could easily find someone...”
“No,” Narcissa said firmly. “He can't. You don't seem to understand, Miss. Weasley.”
“No, Mrs. Malfoy, I don't think I do.”
“Actually, the fact that you didn't immediately accept says a great deal about why you are the most suitable candidate,” Narcissa explained.
“I still don't understand,” Ginny said slowly, feeling both Malfoys stare at her intently.
“What my mother means, Ginevra, is that I can't ask just anyone. I need someone who won't read too much into this event. First, asking on such short notice doesn't bode well for appearance but, given the circumstances, I could probably still get by. However, most witches I would ask would take this opportunity to assume that there is some sort of attachment involved. The event will be publicized and I can guarantee that my escort will most certainly generate a great deal of speculation.”
Ginny couldn't help but take a small amount of offense at the explanation. “And I somehow won't generate this same speculation?” Ginny asked.
“Oh, you most likely will, dear Weasley, but it will probably die down quickly. Partly, because of your employment, and partly because you aren't the type to use the opportunity for your personal advancement.”
She looked down on her simple, conservative black dress. It was work attire. She looked prim and neat and completely appropriate as a staff member but completely wrong for a guest at such an event, much less, the hostess.
“I'm afraid, even if I did agree to this, which I do not, by the way,” she babbled, “I don't have anything appropriate to wear, and I'm quite sure I couldn't acquire a proper outfit on such short notice.” There. That should get her out of this, she thought to herself.
“That's not a issue,” Narcissa explained. I can have Madam Malkin over here immediately.
Immediately. She felt herself feeling just slightly lightheaded and briefly wondered if fainting was a valid possibility.
Ginny was debating on how to explain that she couldn't afford a new dress when Draco interrupted. “We'd put that on the account as part of the banquet expense, of course,” he stated. She stared at him, trying to figure out if it was an insult, but there was no malice, not even a teasing glint in his eyes. He seemed to be genuinely trying to persuade her to agree.
She looked between the two of them, both obviously expecting her to agree, and she couldn't, she simply could not. “Look, Mrs. Malfoy, Draco, there is no way I can agree to this. I'm very honored that you thought of me, but I simply don't think it's appropriate. First of all, I'm your employee for this event, and the idea of being a paid escort, no matter how proper the situation, is simply not something I want to be considered. Second, you may recall that my last name is Weasley, and I'm quite certain you'll regret your choice in the very near future from a social standpoint.”
Ginny had chosen her words carefully when it came to that ‘second’ reason. In actuality, she'd said that they would regret working with her, but the truth of the matter was that she didn't know how she'd ever deal with being seen associating with them. She felt a small amount of guilt, since that was exactly the situation that this party was supposed to be alleviating.
“Nonsense,” Narcissa snorted. “You are a lovely, young woman. I've seen you handle yourself quite well these last several weeks and you have an excellent command presence, as I've seen as you deal with your underlings. You would be an excellent match, and I insist.”
Ginny felt a small amount of panic. Narcissa had just 'insisted', making her options very, very limited, considering the determination of the woman. She was only able to come up with one last, desperate, excuse. “Mrs. Malfoy, I still have to coordinate the events for the evening...” Ginny started to say, looking at Draco, as he sat silently, with no expression on his face.
She never got to finish her sentence as Narcissa had already begun to voice a response. “I'll contact Ms. Tinkerton myself and arrange for your duties to be reallocated.”
Ginny sighed in defeat.
Fifteen minutes later, Ms. Tinkerton herself and Camille, who would be her backup, were in the parlor. Ginny had no choice, though she still considered this entire situation to be rather humiliating. Ms. Tinkerton would hear none of her excuses, reminding Ginny, once again, that this was a very big client, and she wanted to ensure the success of the event. So, once again, for the sake of her future career, she was being forced into doing a job that she truly did not want to do.
As Ginny handed her notes, action items and the final schedule to Camille, she gave a resigned sigh.
“Goodness Ginny, why do you look so glum?” Camille finally asked.
“I just think this is wrong, that's all.”
Camille looked at her as if she'd just grown an extra appendage. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, you must be joking.”
Ginny looked at her, feeling confused by the other girl's remark.
“Anyone of us would simply die to be you right now!” Camille continued.
“Camille, do you have any idea what my family is going to say to me after they find out?”
“Oh, who cares, Ginny? Stop being such a stick in the mud! They might be angry, they might not. It's not like you're marrying the man. Though who wouldn't?”
Ginny gaped in shock at her friend's words. “But...”
But Camille continued unabated. “You've got an opportunity of a lifetime! Don't spend your time worrying about what might come of it tomorrow. For tonight, just enjoy it and, for goodness sake, make sure you come in early on Monday to tell us all about every last detail, yeah?”
Camille's rant brought Ginny a great deal of peace. Her friend was right. She was getting a wonderful chance to view an extravagant event from the other point of view, as a guest, instead of her usual position as a staff member in the shadows. She owed it to herself and also to her co-workers to enjoy every minute of the evening and bring back every last detail to share. A Cinderella evening. Ginny let the thought soak in and heaved a heavy sigh of resignation.
There was no getting out of it, so, Ginny, being a practical sort of person, came to the conclusion that Camille was right. She decided to stop complaining. She was going to be gracious and enjoy every minute. It was least she could do for herself after having to deal with Malfoy for the last two months.
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