Chapter 4 - Unpleasant Tasks
Morning found the Royal family gathered at the breakfast table, enjoying their meal in silence, the only sound coming from the cutlery hitting the fine porcelain. But unlike the other days, something was amiss, and that something had red hair, that matched her fiery temper. Ginevra wasn't having breakfast with them, she had sent no warning that she wouldn't be present, and this made the Queen wonder about what was going on with her son's bride. The answer came in the shape of a very worried and hysterical Parvati Patil.
"What's wrong with you, you creature?" the King asked surprised with such a dramatic interruption of his meal.
"I'm sorry, My King… but… but…" the girl could barely breath between sobs, which made it harder for her to speak. "She… I… not breathing…"
"Of course you're not breathing, you can barely stop sobbing! Take a deep breath and calm down…" Prince Draco ordered in a bored fashion, continuing with his meal.
The Queen rose from her seat and tried to calm down Parvati by rubbing her back. As soon as the girl showed signs of breathing normally, she tried to warn about what was going on.
"I went to Miss Weasley's room and woke her up, then I had to leave the room to fetch new towels and when I returned she still was in the bed. When I told her to wake up, she didn't move; I tried shaking her up, but she didn't... I panicked and tried to see if she was breathing. She is, but barely, and her body is burning up." The girl explained worried. "I'm sorry for not noticing sooner that she was sick…"
"It's not your fault. She probably got sick during the night. Send a Guard to call Professor Snape as fast as he possibly can and bring me cold water and some towels to her bedroom." The Queen ordered, watching the girl run as fast as she could towards the kitchen. The queen then faced her irate husband.
"Is that girl still here? What have I told you, Narcissa?" he yelled.
"She's staying because I've chosen her. I will not return her to her parents and that's final!" the Queen said furiously. "I have the right to choose my son's bride and you don't have to agree with me about my tastes."
"Narcissa…" the King started menacingly, but Draco cut him short.
"Father, Miss Weasley will be perfect for my image. Just imagine, the whole kingdom will be ecstatic that one of them is a Princess with power to change things for them. Except that she has no power, but what they don't know can't hurt them, right?" Draco grinned evilly. "We'll have them eating in our hand just because of her."
"Son, I like the way you think. You'll be a great King, just like me." The King said with a big smile towards his son, then walked out of the room, his robes and long hair flying behind him.
Draco sighed in relief for being able to stop another fight between his parents, but when he looked at his mother, he realised that he had just won his mother's disapproval.
"I expected more from you, Draco. Honestly, I never expected you to like Ginevra after spending five minutes in her company, but I didn't expect you to use another human being to make yourself popular and respected," Queen Narcissa said in barely controlled anger. "You're doing what your father usually does and I don't like it one bit!"
With that said the Queen quickly left the dining room and headed down the corridor to check on Ginevra, he was sure.
Had he truly meant what he had said about Ginevra being good for his image as King? Draco thought he had said that just to stop his parents' discussion, but maybe what he had said was what he truly thought of the whole situation. He was too confused to be certain…
*~*~*
Professor Snape had just entered the bedroom when another visitor opened the door, and Mrs. Potter came in, her face filled with worry.
"What's going on?" Mrs. Potter asked, looking at the sick Ginevra. "I came for our classes but Parvati told me Ginevra is sick."
"Good morning, Hermione. Ginevra is burning with fever and Professor Snape is trying to find out what's wrong." Queen Narcissa replied, placing a wet cold towel on the Ginny's forehead.
Professor Snape was a cold man with long black hair and black eyes, well known in the high-society and a very talented Potions Master, acting as a Healer when needed. Usually he didn't say much, excused himself from noisy events and was a rather private person, but his old friendship to both Lucius and, more recently, to Narcissa, made him try to be a little friendlier towards them. Trying to ignore both women, he performed the needed spells with smooth flicks of his wand and when the answer showed itself, he raised his eyebrows in fascination.
"So?" both women asked at the same time.
"This young woman is completely drained of magic!" Professor Snape said, confused and very astonished. "I've never seen such an occurrence in a woman…"
"What do you mean?" the Queen asked, clearly nervous.
"I mean, this girl used a huge amount of her magic, which caused a general breakdown on her body." He explained, conjuring a couple of potion bottles. "I'll give her a Pepper-Up Potion to wake her up and lower her fever. She'll need rest and plenty of nutrients to regain her strength back."
"But, how could she lose so much power? Women can't perform magic!" the Queen gasped, looking at Ginevra, hoping she would open her eyes and explain everything the older woman wanted to know.
The man shook his head as if to say he had no idea and gave the potion to an unconscious Ginevra. As soon as that was taken care of, Severus Snape said he would come back later and left the bedroom. He was sure a certain Draco Malfoy had the answers to his questions.
After searching the young man in the dinning room and main living room, without any success, Professor Snape found him in a small office where Draco had learned everything he needed to know as a small child. They were bookshelves against the walls, two large windows allowing some amount of light to bathe the room and a large desk where he had taught the boy about the mysteries and wonders of Potion's brewing.
"You look upset." the Professor said, surprising his former pupil.
"Professor Snape, I didn't expect to see you. How are you?" Prince Draco asked cordially, his face filled with worry.
"Miss Weasley had a breakdown due to a great loss of magic. What happened with the girl?" the older man asked with a cold voice.
"Why do you think I know, Professor?" the Prince smiled slightly, wondering how his Professor always seemed to know when he was in trouble.
"Draco, I believe your worried eyes and the twitch in your left eye is clue enough. Besides, she had a button in her hand, very similar to the ones on your usual outfit." Professor Snape sneered. "What happened?"
Sighing in defeat, Prince Draco told his former Professor about the previous night when Ginevra had performed the spell with his wand and what had happened after that.
"You allowed her to use your wand? Draco, you know women shouldn't perform magic because of your ancestors' law on the matter." The Professor commented. "She did perform magic, but she lost control of it and that single spell absorbed a large amount of her power. It might take a few weeks for her magic levels to go back to normal."
"Do you think women are as powerful as men? Do you think they can perform magic, just like us?" Prince Draco asked, feeling confused for finding evidence of Ginny's ability to perform magic.
"Women are equal to men, except for the sexual organs. They have magic in their blood just like men, and they can perform magic as well, but they are not allowed to have wands or to perform simple wandless magic." Professor Snape said is true opinion, surprising his former pupil. "At the moment, we are ignoring many talented witches, and your bride knows that."
Prince Draco remained silent, looking out one of the windows and thinking on what he had just heard. It was a delicate issue, but maybe it needed to be considered a little bit more. So lost in his thoughts, he never noticed his old Professor leave the small office.
At lunchtime, Queen Narcissa ate in silence, once in a while engaging in light conversation with Mrs. Potter, but always ignoring both her husband and son. She was relieved to know that Ginevra was feeling better, although a bit weak, but she was a healthy girl, and she would be ready for the Engagement Ball in two days. Feeling left out, Draco tried talking to his mother several times, but she was still mad at him for what happened that morning.
The Queen's afternoon was spent with Mrs. Potter making arrangements for the ball, choosing flowers and visiting their favourite clothes designer to order their new dresses. Just before dinner, Ginevra woke up and both the Queen and Mrs. Potter went to visit her, although the young woman refused to tell the origin of losing her powers. Leaving her to rest, Mrs. Potter returned home and the Queen went to the dinning room to have dinner alone.
*~*~*
Weak and childish, that's how she looked like, wrapped up in the white linen bed sheets, her long hair surrounding her pale face and the freckles standing out from her nose and high cheeks. Prince Draco had never been one to visit sick people and he wasn't about to start now, so he remained leaning against the closed door, watching his bride from afar.
Ginevra rolled in her bed, lying on her side facing him, but her eyes remained closed as the sheets slid down her arm to pool at her waist, revealing her nearly see-through white nightgown. She was beautiful, there was no need to deny such an obvious fact, and had he found her in town before this whole mess, he would have surely tried to get under her skirts.
Further thoughts was erased from his mind as Ginevra's eyes started fluttering open and she fixed her soft gaze on him, first confused and then cold.
"What do you want?" she groaned, sitting up against the headboard.
"Nothing, I just came to see if you had already died." He replied, still leaning against the door, arms crossed in front of his chest. "So, how do you feel?"
"Like I want to be alone…" she replied coldly, not facing him.
"Professor Snape says you've lost a great amount of magical power but with time and a rich nutrition you'll be as good as new in a few weeks." The Prince commented, watching her comb her tangled hair with her fingers and then braid it, her slender hands working elegantly with the soft strands of red hair.
"I already knew that. Can you leave me alone, now?" she sighed tiredly.
"Of course, Milady." He replied sarcastically and then left the room, wondering if it would always be this hard to have a civil conversation with her. Apparently, each time they were together they ended up being sarcastic and angry at each other.
The new day brought new challenges that Ginevra preferred not to take. Both the Queen and Mrs. Potter entered her room in the middle of the morning, followed by ten young women with scared faces, their bodies covered with the familiar white dress and their heads covered with colourful scarves.
"Why are they all here?" Ginny asked, confused, as she sat against the bed headboard to properly face the girls.
"You must choose five girls to become the Prince's personal Bedmaids. "Queen Narcissa said tiredly, looking much older than she was.
"No, you can't make me do this! Please! It's hard enough that I have to marry him, but to choose his mistresses? That's insane!" Ginny gasped in shock and outrage. Apparently both the Queen and Mrs. Potter agreed with her on that, but that didn't change anything.
"Ginevra, you have to do it, no matter how hard or unfair it is. The Queen and I have been through the same situation and in the end each of us got different results in our marriage. The Queen was replaced with Bedmaids and I was successful in keeping my husband away from them, because we love each other. Nowadays they work as maids cleaning the house and cooking our meals." Mrs. Potter whispered in Ginny's ear, to avoid being overheard. "If you manage to win Draco's love and fidelity, these girls won't be a problem."
"The thing is, I won't have his love or fidelity, and he will use these innocent girls that I chose, and he'll destroy their perspectives of the future." Ginny complained, feeling guilty that she had to destroy five innocent lives to please her husband.
"It has to be done," Mrs. Potter sighed and sat next to the Queen, on a small couch. The ten girls remained standing, all of them looking nervous and scared, their eyes staring at Ginny as if pleading for her not to choose them.
The next hours were spent interviewing each girl, asking their wishes for the future, their plans, their family situation, everything that could help Ginny make her decision. Initially Ginny wanted to choose the ugliest five girls as a way to get revenge from Prince Draco. No one likes to have an ugly bed partner, right? Unfortunately the ten girls had been carefully picked out and were beautiful. The selection was then made considering their backgrounds. The girls who wanted to get married with the men they loved, have kids and work hard to give their children a future where left out; the ones who didn't have an idea of what they wanted were chosen. This way, there wouldn't be a waste of strong willed women.
As soon as the five girls were chosen, Parvati took them to their new quarters where they would be receiving their `education', whatever that implied.
Spending the rest of the day in bed, alone most of the time, allowed Ginny to think about how much she missed her family, her house, and her simple life. It was interesting how easily she had adapted to all the luxury surrounding her, but if she gave it some more thought, it wasn't that surprising. It's harder to have everything and lose all of it, than to have nothing and win it all. One thing, though, she didn't have now what she had had before -- the love of her family. Yes, she still had it, but she couldn't feel it now that she was away from her loved ones.
At last, the day of the ball arrived and Ginny was feeling ready to face the vipers Mrs. Potter had warned her about. After spending the whole day getting accustomed to being out of bed and on her feet again, she wasn't feeling sick anymore and was feeling quite relaxed after a warm bath.
"I'm nervous," she sighed as Parvati combed her wet hair.
"That's perfectly normal, Milady," Parvati smiled amusedly. "You'll be the centre of gossips, tonight."
"Oh Merlin, I can even imagine what people will say about me; probably that my hair is too red, my skin too tanned and my body too fat." Ginny mumbled, covering her face with her hands as Parvati finally finished pulling up her hair in a nice French twist, that showed off her elegant neck.
"Your hair is ready and, don't worry, Milady, they'll be blind with envy. Here you are, living in the Palace, being a close friend to the Queen, marrying the most beautiful Prince you could ever imagine, wearing gorgeous dresses and jewellery… they would give anything to be you, right now!" Parvati said truthfully, feeling happy when her words brought back a smile on her lady's face.
"Thank you for being here, Parvati. You've been a wonderful companion and friend since I arrived here." Ginny whispered, hugging her maid.
"It's my honour to serve someone so deserving, Milady. Now, let's get you into that corset, shall we?" Parvati smiled, picking up the offending garment, receiving a displeased groan from Ginny, but still, she knew she had to be perfect tonight… well, as perfect as she could be. Obediently, Ginny went over to her bed and held on to one of the posts while Parvati tried to suck the life out of her lady's lungs with each pull she gave on the tying strings of the corset. At last, the corset was on and so was the huge skirt that would give volume to the dress.
"Parvati, what will I wear tonight? I don't remember the Queen saying anything about it." Ginny asked worried, but Parvati simply smiled, approaching her with a large gown in her hands.
It was a beautiful dress made in a beige natural silk with beaded designs on the corset and bottom hemline. The cleavage was a bit lower than Ginny would have liked to wear and the dress had no sleeves, showing off her slightly tanned shoulders and arms, from spending time outdoors. The dress fitted perfectly, like all the other dresses in her wardrobe and Ginny wondered who made those clothes for her. A pair of high-heels, made with the dress' same fabric, completed the ensemble.
"You look astonishing, Milady." Parvati smiled warmly.
Ginny nodded, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her slightly tanned skin contrasted with the light coloured dress, the corset pulled up her breasts slightly above the dress' cleavage and her waist was even thinner from the corset's tightness.
"Ginevra, you're divine!" gasped Queen Narcissa upon entering the room, wearing a beautiful silver coloured dress and a crown on her head, holding her hairdo in place.
"Thank you, Milady, the dress is beautiful." Ginny smiled thankfully.
"Beautiful, but incomplete," the Queen smirked, showing the velvet box she held in her delicate hands. "This has been passed from generation to generation, to the soon-to-be Princesses. It is now my turn to give it to you and one day it will be your duty to pass it on."
Opening the box, the Queen chuckled at the look that crossed Ginny's face. Inside the box was a beautiful ring, surrounded by black velvet, made of platinum with an emerald surrounded by small diamonds. It was breathtaking and something Ginny had never dreamed of having in her fingers.
"Are you sure I can wear it? I don't want to lose it," Ginny mumbled, not daring to touch the ring.
"You won't lose it, as the ring will link itself to you and no one but you will be able to remove it. Go on, try it." the Queen said, extending the box towards Ginny who obeyed, slightly shaking. As soon as she slid the ring on the fourth finger of her left hand, it readjusted magically to fit.
"It's absolutely gorgeous, Milady." Ginny mumbled, mesmerized with the jewel.
"I would love to have you wearing the matching necklace, but tonight you must show your natural beauty, and not the jewellery that can make you stand out and be the centre of attentions." The Queen said, taking a last look at Ginny, and then smiled widely. "You're ready and looking absolutely perfect. Now, follow Parvati as she will take you to the library, where you'll wait for someone to fetch you for the party."
Ginny nodded in understanding and followed Parvati towards a room near the Ballroom, the soft music echoing in the hallway, blended with the chatter of the guests. Parvati left her at the library's door with a smile and went back to the main part of the palace, so Ginny entered the room.
The library was quite large with several windows, covered by rich green velvet curtains, giving it a cosy environment. There were bookshelves on every wall and a few more aisles around the room, providing great hiding places and privacy. On one side of the room were two large desks in front of the marble fireplace, as well as two green armchairs just waiting for someone to seat and read a book. Ginny hoped she would be able to do so, very soon.
Her intensive study of the room was soon interrupted by the sound of a book being dropped, quite violently, on a desk.
"Merlin, you've scared me!" she gasped, placing a hand on her chest, right over her wild beating heart, trying to calm herself. It was just Prince Draco. That fact alone explained why he didn't bother to apologise to her. "Prat."
If he heard it, he gave no reaction and sat by the table, reading the book he had previously dropped. Ginny tried to ignore him as well and began to walk around the bookshelves reading titles and making mental annotations to read this book or that one. When she stopped by a mahogany shelf to leaf through a copy of `Healing Potions', Ginny found her gaze diverted to a certain silver haired young man.
His blond hair wasn't very long, just brushing the tips of his ears and his forehead; the silver-grey eyes looked focused and slightly worried, his thin lips set in a scowl. Apparently he wasn't pleased with something…
Only when he cleared his throat, quite noisily, did Ginny notice he was staring back at her, and she blushed, lowering her gaze to stare at the rug.
"What were you looking at?" Prince Draco asked with a sneer, very interested in her answer.
"Nothing worth your interest," she replied with a slight tremble in her voice, replacing the book on the shelf. The reply made the Prince scowl and he was about to start an argument when someone knocked on the door and a butler, whom Ginny had never seen before, entered the room.
"My Prince, the guests await you and your bride," the butler said with a bow and then walked out the door, leaving it open as a clear sign for the couple to follow him.
The Prince remained by the desk, reading the book as if the interruption had never happened.
"If you're thinking about hiding in here, for the rest of the night, you're very mistaken… If I have to endure this, so you do. Shall we go?!" Ginny ordered in a serious tone, holding his arm with one hand and pushing him up, to stand on his feet, slightly towering over her.
Prince Draco just stared down his nose at her, anger clearly sparkling in his eyes, but then he leaned over her and touched her ear lobe with his lips.
"As you wish, Milady," he whispered in a soft, menacing voice, taking her hand to place it on the crook of his elbow, and then led her out of the library.
Later that night, Ginny wondered what the corridor looked like during their walk to the Ballroom, but she couldn't remember. Her mind had been completely shut down after the sensation of having that gorgeous young man whispering in her ear.
******
Hello my dearest readers…
Here is another chapter, I sure hope you are enjoying the story so far and I hope you'll on like it in the future.
This chapter was somewhat a transition for what's coming next, and I sure expect to have that chapter finished really soon, but the ideas are having a little trouble coming out on paper.
Big Big BIG thank-yous to VioletJersey, my wonderful Beta who always has something to say to help me improve my plot… Her ideas and corrections have saved me several times already. Thank you!
Thank you to those who have been reading and reviewing, your words mean the world to me.
Oh, by the way, I've recently read two books from one of my favourite writers, Nicholas Sparks, and I hope you find the time to read them, because they've made me cry my eyes out… They are both fantastic and one his the Sequel of the other:
"The Notebook" and the Sequel: "The Wedding"… They are both MUST READs.
Lots of love,
Carina
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