A/N: I would just like to apologize for this chapter. I know it's weird, but keep in mind that it was three in the morning when I wrote it. Please excuse what I've done to poor Draco in my sleep-deprived state.
Chapter 4: Orders to Kill
After a night filled with plotting and maniacal laughter that would do Salazar Slytherin proud, Draco decided that maybe the direct approach wasn't the best plan when it came to the Weasley chit. The first thing he needed to do was a little research on this girl. Well, when he said, "he needed to do research," he really meant he needed to find someone to do it for him. He immediately knew who he wanted to help him. Now he now had a course of action.
The thought of having a semi-descent, half way acceptable beginning to a plan that didn't involve boggarts and easy cheese, had Draco running around the room looking for something to wear. He was half dressed when he realized he hadn't showered. He groaned, stripped, and padded off to the bathroom. Opposed to popular belief, Draco really wasn't as "put-together" as he liked people to believe. When he got excited about something, which really didn't happen often, his behavior turned a little, well, strange to those who didn't know him. The "People That Know Me" list currently contained three names, one of which was his mother, so he had to be careful about the whole "excited" thing, lest people find him odd. Most of the wizarding world believed that he was always calm and collected, and he'd be damned to let them think otherwise.
Satisfied that he was, in fact, clean, he tried getting dressed again. It worked much better this time. Looking in the mirror to make sure he was wearing everything he should be and nothing he shouldn't be, he grinned to himself and apparated to his best friends' house.
~~~~~
Ginny was running late… again. She needed to leave the house at 7:30 in order to run all of her errands and make it to lunch with Harry at 11:45. She needed the entire afternoon to finish Ben's costume.
She jumped out of bed at 7:08 with an "Oh, crap!" and ran around the room looking for something to wear. (Ginny had more in common with Draco than she really wanted to know.) She threw on some robes and a pair of shoes and put her hair in a messy bun.
She then ran through the bathroom to Ben's room to wake him up. This was a task easier said than done. Her prodding earned her a rather nasty glare for a three-year old, and Ben just rolled over and decided to ignore the insane woman who dared to wake him.
Ginny groaned and went to his closet to find him something to wear. She hoped that maybe he would decide to get up if she promised he could wear his favorite outfit portraying scary dragons eating a village. Ginny found the garment a little disturbing, but it had been a gift from Charlie, and it was Ben's favorite.
The bribing and pleading fell on deaf ears and Ginny had to take desperate measures. She braced herself and picked up the child who immediately started kicking and screaming.
"Ben, you are really getting too old for this, now stop," Ginny said in her "mother voice." This earned another glare and the screaming resumed.
Ginny thought that those doctors who thought Ben had developmental problems were daft. This child knew exactly what was going on. He just didn't like it.
A headache and several bruises later, Ginny and Ben were ready to go.
This day was already going swell and it was only 7:40.
~~~~~
Draco apparated to his best friends' dining room expecting to find Blaise and Pansy at breakfast. This was not the case. Being in the completely calm and rational state that he was, he decided that the best thing to do was stand in the middle of the living room and call for Blaise at the top of his lungs.
"He has got to be kidding me," Blaise mumbled as he disentangled himself from the sheets and his fiancé.
"Blaise, honey, kill him," came Pansy's muffled response from under her pillow.
"Will do," Blaise said as he staggered from the room in only his pajama pants.
He made his way to the stairs and found Draco waiting impatiently at the bottom. Draco looked at Blaise's pajamas, messy black hair, and sleepy eyes and had the nerve to ask, "I didn't wake you, did I?"
Blaise glared at his friend and replied, "It is 7:00… in the morning… on a holiday. What do you think?"
"Oh, sorry about that. I need your help," Draco said as he made his way to Blaise's study.
"You do know I'm under strict orders to kill you," Blaise said as he relented and followed his half-crazed friend.
"How is Pansy, anyway? I haven't seen her all week," Draco asked ignoring the death threat.
Blaise sighed and flopped down on his leather sofa and said, "Well, she isn't thrilled with you at the moment, but other than that, fine."
"That's good. I need a favor," Draco said feeling that small talk could be had later.
"If I say I'll do it, will you go away and let me go back to bed?"
"Well, it may take a while to explain."
Blaise put his head on his arm that was on the arm of the couch and let out a groan that greatly resembled a sob and motioned for Draco to continue.
~~~~~
Four false starts and half an hour later, Draco had finally related the contents of the will. Blaise, who was currently in a state of uncontrollable laughter, managed to ask, "So, to get your inheritance, you have to marry Ginny Weasley!" This was too great as far as Blaise was concerned. It was just the thing to wake him up. "Doesn't she have a kid?" he asked as he tried to hold back the tears of mirth.
"I don't see why you find this so funny, and how did you know about the kid?" Draco asked as he looked uncertainly at his friend.
Blaise, sobering himself, asked, "Doesn't everyone know about that?"
"Well obviously not!" Draco hissed.
"Oh, come on. It was in the papers for weeks," Blaise said as he looked at the other man strangely.
"It most certainly was not. I think I would remember that."
"No, really. It was about a year and a half ago, I guess."
"Would this happen to have been during the three months I spent in France?" Draco almost yelled.
Blaise stopped and looked thoughtfully into the air. "Now that you mention it, I think it was."
Draco let out a groan of frustration and said, "Well, why would it be in the paper anyway… and that kid looked much older than a year."
"All I know is that she adopted some child after the war. Nobody wanted to let her do it, but then Harry Potter got involved, along with the media, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop her."
"Why would she adopt some random child?"
"I'm not really sure. I know that no one else had wanted him. I guess she felt bad for him."
"Well, who were his parents? What happened to them?"
"See, that's the thing. No one knows. When the aurors found them, they were too badly mutilated to tell who they were. They weren't from Britain, and there were no reports of a missing couple with a baby. They're pretty sure that Death Eaters killed them, but what the main question on everyone's mind is why didn't they kill him, too? He doesn't have a scar or anything. It's like they didn't even try to hurt him. They just wanted to kill the parents. Usually, Death Eaters will take out the entire family."
"That is strange. That really doesn't sound like something they would do. Do you know anything else?"
"Not that I can think of except that the boy should be about three now. Oh, and his name is… Ben I think. Yeah, his name was embroidered on his blanket along with his birthday."
Draco, yet again, cursed his father, and Blaise looked at him with a smirk plastered across his face. "What?" Draco asked impatiently.
"You're going to be a daddy," his voice not at all hiding his amusement.
"Shut up! Don't even say things like that. And I'm not going to be anything unless I convince Weaslette to marry me. I cannot believe this is happening!"
"You know, you don't have to do it," Blaise said completely serious.
"What do you mean? Do you think there may be a loop hole?" Draco asked, getting excited again.
"That's not what I meant. I meant that you could just refuse."
"And lose the inheritance? Have you lost your bloody mind? I don't know how to be poor. Besides, even Weasley looks good compared to poverty. That would make me… one of them," he said with his face set in absolute horror.
"You know I wouldn't let you live like that. That would be inhuman. You could always work for me," he said grinning like a mad man.
"As wonderful as working for you and having to buy robes off the rack sounds, I'll have to decline. Besides, maybe being married to the chit wont be so bad after all. I mean... she's hot. That's something. And it's not like we'll actually have to see each other, except in public anyway. She can take the east wing with the brat, and I'll stay in the west," Draco said as he was mentally drawing borders throughout the manor.
"Well, none of that'll be a problem, unless she says yes. Have you talked to her at all?" Blaise said drawing him out of his mental doodling.
"I tried to ask her out to coffee, but she wouldn't even hear me out," Draco said looking very indignant.
Blaise held down a smirk and looked at the man who had always boasted to be able to get any girl he wanted and said, "Well, do you have a plan… anything. Do you even know if she's already dating someone?"
"I was hoping you would know. I don't know a thing about her. How am I supposed to come up with a plan to get her to marry me, if I don't have a clue what she likes? Have you heard any rumors… anything about whether or not she's seeing someone? I really don't want to have to deal with another guy."
"How would I know? I don't read the gossip columns. You'll have to ask Pansy. But I really wouldn't go yelling after her like you did me," he hastily added. "She actually carries out death threats. Besides, she deserves to sleep in; she's stayed up studying for exams all week."
After the war, Pansy had been particularly interested in the trials that went on and decided to go to law school. Not really being known for intelligence, everyone was stunned to learn that Pansy actually held down a respectable 3.9 GPA. When she found something she liked, she worked hard at it. The wizarding world really didn't have many lawyers, but they were becoming increasingly popular.
"I guess I'll save her the trip to Azkaban for homicide and let her sleep in," Draco said reluctantly.
"She'll be up soon. Come on, let's go see if breakfast is ready," Blaise said as he put his arm around his friend and led him to the kitchens.
~~~~~
As luck would have it, the house elves had just finished preparing breakfast. Blaise and Draco had just sat down to eat when Pansy entered the room, first glaring at the one who dared to take her at 7:00 in the morning, and then gazing lovingly at the man she called her "soul-mate." She wore a long lavender silk nightgown and a sheer robe of the same color. She was the personification of loveliness. Draco always thought she was pretty, but when she smiled at Blaise like that, she was absolutely stunning.
Blaise stood and greeted her with a soft kiss on the cheek, which she happily accepted and he asked, "What are you doing up so early, Love? It's only 8:30. You have another good hour or so before you need to wake up."
Pansy took her seat next to Blaise and answered, "The bed's cold without you there. Besides, I could smell breakfast and I'm starving." She grinned at Blaise again before loading her plate with sausage, eggs, and biscuits. "Mmm…" came Pansy's happy sigh as she tucked into her makeshift breakfast sandwich. Draco smiled amusedly at Blaise before filling his own plate.
Breakfast was filled with jokes and laughter as the three friends caught up with one another. Finally, Draco could take no more of the small talk and informed Pansy of the real reason for his visit.
Pansy listened with wide eyes as Draco told her of the contents of the will. As opposed to Blaise's outright laughter, she only released a quiet chuckle and her face broke into a satisfied grin. Her only response was, "Well, good."
Draco immediately ceased his ranting about the injustice of it all and stared disbelievingly at the only woman he ever called a friend. "What!?"
"I think it's good. It's about time you settled down."
"What!? What do you mean `it's about time you settled down?' I'm only twenty! That's way too young to be thinking of marriage." Pansy glared at him and he quickly amended, "Except for you guys of course. Anyone can see you belong together. You're in… love," he choked out. "Weasel and I can't even be in the same room without trying to hex one another."
"Just give it time. Ginny's a wonderful girl. Besides, I'm tired of seeing you with all those skanks who only want you for your money," Pansy said matter-of-factly and continued eating her breakfast.
Draco was about to make a comment about girls only wanting him for his money (I mean, surely part of it had to do with his body) when he stopped and slowly turned back to face her with a curious expression on his face. "You said… Ginny."
Pansy's eyes widened slightly, but she kept her focus drawn to the plate in front of her.
"Pansy," Draco said slowly with a smile on his face, "How well do you know the little Weaslette?"
She kept her attention focused on her plate and silently prayed that Draco would forget the miniscule slip of the tongue.
No such prayer was answered for poor Pansy.
"Pansy," Draco said in a singsong voice. "Do you know Ginny Weasley?" he asked as he sat directly across from her and folded his hands on the table in front of him.
Pansy sighed inwardly, still refusing to look at him, and hesitantly replied, "I may… know… Ginny Weasley."
At the moment, Draco didn't really care how Pansy knew Ginny, and Pansy prayed he wouldn't ask. His face broke into a Cheshire cat grin and happily stated, "Pansy, my friend, you have just become my favorite person in the entire world."
She groaned and put her face in her hands and all Blaise could do was silently rub circles into the small of her back while he looked on to the gleeful smile of his best friend and the helpless whimpers of the love of his life.
~~~~~
A/N: Alright, before I get flames screaming that Draco's OOC, and I watch as my sad little rating thing drops faster than previously thought possible, hear me out. I know you will all be shocked to hear this, but fanon Draco is OOC. You know it's true. To be honest, I find it completely possible for Draco to be a little spastic behind closed doors. Draco… behind closed doors… mmm… Sorry, back on topic. But seriously, does anyone else remember that happy little scene in the Forbidden Forest where Draco screamed like a banshee and ran as fast as his legs would take him? I swear most fangirls have blocked that out. Sure, he was only 11, but now we know he has it in him. And do remember that one of the best things about fanfiction is that you get to see your favorite characters through the eyes of someone else. Well, these are my eyes. Thank you for having an open mind. :)