An Unholy Alliance

An Unholy Alliance

Part 1 of 2

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Summary: A chance encounter, archaic laws and really bad luck result in the attorneys Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley being partners. Everything is apparently, probably kind of going okay, surprisingly, until Ginny herself is being sued and Draco has to help her. Watch as chaos ensues.

Author’s Note: This is a silly little idea I got while watching the German TV show "Edel & Starck" a while ago. I just had to turn it into a fanfic. So, the basic plot outline is not mine, entirely, although I just 'stole' the basic idea. Most of it is still mine ;)

Have fun reading

Somehow, deep down she had always known it would come to this. She’d been naïve all those years she’d put into studying, really.

It didn’t really matter that she’d spent her holidays working every job she could get, it didn’t matter that she’d chosen to live at home with her parents and endure her mother’s slightly overbearing nature in order to save money.

Little Ginny Weasley would never, ever be able to pay the 40.000 galleons that the Magical Board of Attorneys demanded if you wanted to work as an independent lawyer instead of wasting away in the Ministry.

Somehow, with joint effort from her whole family, Ginny had been able to realize her dreams and get her degree in Magical Law, something she would have never been able to do had her brothers, Fred and George not managed to turn their joke shop “Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes” into a success.

The fees that the Academy charged were affordable for most people, but there were still very small numbers of graduates every year because it was well known that, in order to work on your own in the end, you needed two things: money and a partner.

Magical law was ancient and rather archaic in some aspects, in Ginnys opinion. She did not understand why she should not be allowed to work on her own as an attorney, but that’s how it was. It wasn’t the big problem at hand anyway. She’d probably find somebody who would be willing to open an office with her.

No, the problem at hand was the money, and she knew that she’d never get that together. She’d already been to Gringotts, but apparently Goblins had extra policies regarding Weasleys, and she’d been adamantly refused the credit she’d been asking for.

One day, she’d decided that it just wasn’t worth the effort anymore. It had been a painful realization, and she’d nursed it with a bottle of Firewhiskey.

The next day found her waiting in front of an office at the Ministry of Magic, leaning against the wall with a defiant expression and a hangover to rival a Dementor’s attack.

She pushed her dark sunglasses back up her nose in order to dim the unusually bright light of the corridor, ignoring the way her stomach sent strange messages to her brain.

And that was when he had decided to speak up, to turn her life as she knew it upside-down.

“Weasley, it’s so fucking dark in here I can barely see my own shoes, there is exactly one torch guttering and we’re in the basement. Put those ridiculous sunglasses away.”

She knew that voice from somewhere, but she couldn’t place it. Something in the tone of voice told her that the speaker was most likely sneering, and even though that rang a bell, she couldn’t say why.

And for some strange reason, she couldn’t see who had spoken.

“Okay, this isn’t funny. Where are you?” Ginny asked, frantically turning her head, scanning the empty corridor. “Are you wearing an invisibility cloak? Show yourself!”

“I’m standing about three feet to your right, as you’d be able to see if you removed the sunglasses,” the unidentified and as of yet bodyless voice said exasperatedly.

Hesitantly, Ginny pulled the sunglasses down to her nose tip, wincing at the glaring brightness that hit her.

But now that she was peering over the rims, there really was someone standing to her right, and when she spied who it was, she groaned in frustration.

“What the hell are you doing here, Malfoy?” she asked, not sure whether she wanted to know the answer.

“None of your bloody business, and now shut up,” he snapped, looking away.

“Excuse me, you were the one who was so intent on talking to me just a minute ago,” Ginny huffed.

“And now I’m telling you to shut up”

“You cannot tell me to shut up, Malfoy. Every wizard and witch has the right to speak their mind whenever they want.”

“Which doesn’t mean they have to exercise that bloody right whenever nobody else is talking, and I know your rights so there’s no need to lecture me. I happen to have a law degree,” was the sulky answer she got.

“You what?” Ginny asked, perplexedly.

“I what what?” Malfoy replied.

“You have a law degree?” Ginny clarified.

“Yes.”

She couldn’t believe it. Who on earth would want to hand that…that criminal a law degree? Oh, he’d probably bought it anyway. She’d never seen him around at the Academy. But then again, she’d seldomly met people outside of her year.

“What are you doing here, then?” she asked with genuine curiostiy in her voice. And indeed. What was Draco Malfoy doing in the basement of the Ministry of Magic waiting in front of a dusty office? He had the money after all, he could easily afford the 40.000.

“What does it look like?” he snapped, his cheeks colouring pink.

“Are you blushing?” Ginny asked, instead of replying, her mouth agape. This wasn’t the Draco Malfoy she knew.

“No. It must be the light.” When she noticed a muscle in his jaw jumping, Ginny noticed that he must be really tense.

And that’s when it hit her. The epiphany of the century.

“You can’t find a partner, right?”

At his panicked look, she knew that she’d hit a nerve.

“Who would want to work with the son of a convicted Death Eater, after all? Not good for the reputation, hm?” Somehow, she was enjoying rubbing salt in the wounds of her brother’s life-long enemy. It made her forget her own misery.

“And who would give a poor, lowly Weasley 40.000 galleons?” he countered, obviously having guessed her reasons for being there.

Without thinking, she then spoke the sentence that would forever change her life.

“Someone who cannot find a partner otherwise?”

She instantly clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes going wide.

Oh, no, I did not just say that, I did not just say that.

After a long silence, he finally spoke. “Cunning, Weasley.”

Ginny blinked. “What, that’s it? You’re not gonna insult me?”

“Why would I insult my future partner? It’s not a good omen for teamwork, is it? Come on, you need a hangover potion, and then we need to file a couple of requests to the Board…”

And with that, she was whisked away to do exactly as he’d said.

That’s how the weirdest partners in the history of Magical Law found each other. If she’d had any time to contemplate it before signing everything, Ginny would have probably chickened out, thinking that she’d prefer the most boring Ministry job ever to the horror that would ensue if she worked with Draco Malfoy.

And indeed, on the evening of that very same day, after everything had been arranged, she’d lain in bed wide awake, feeling like she had just signed her soul away to the devil. She had always wanted to become an attorney and help people who sought justice, and now she was stuck in this unholy alliance with an arrogant, criminal prick. She’d probably spend the rest of her life trying to argue Death Eaters out of Azkaban.

As it turned out, it was not at all like that. Surprisingly, Malfoy agreed to handle civil law cases, and so, instead of arguing Death Eaters out of Azkaban, they argued pets into flats, reprimanded catty neighbours for letting their trees grow over the fence, tried to keep couples who were getting divorced from killing each other in court and attempted to find a way to prevent further lawsuits against their most frequent clients, namely Fred and George Weasley, Ginny’s very own brothers.

It took time, and when she finally noticed it, Ginny was surprised and shocked at once, but somehow, she found that she could really work with Draco Malfoy. Somehow, they managed to establish some sort of collegial respect for each other and the work they did.

It was probably because he’d grown up enough to realize that if he wanted to work as an attorney, he needed her as his partner, which required some degree of civility. He never outright insulted her, and stuck to being honest instead. If he didn’t like something she did, he’d tell her, but in a reasonable way. He didn’t like a lot of things she said and did, really, but Ginny didn’t mind so much. Her hair (“garish”), the way she walked (“like a three-legged cow”), her skirts (“are you trying to advise or seduce our clients?”), the way she greeted clients (“they’re clients, not new family members”). She’d gotten used to it, though, and despite all this, she somehow counted him among her circle of friends, albeit in a very weird he’s-a-Malfoy kind of way.

When Ginny had suggested to employ her good friend and flatmate Luna Lovegood as a secretary, he had not even protested that much. She had learned that “Weasley, you must be absolutely bonkers if you think that I will let that madwoman touch anything regarding my work,” was really just his way of stating that he thought Luna was a little unfocussed at times.

Oh, yeah, and there was that. Even after three years of working with each other, they still called each other by their last names, despite dealing with each other on a daily basis.

Three years, five months and twenty-four days to be exact. That was when the owl addressed to Ginny fluttered onto Draco’s desk.

Rolling his eyes at the owl, he got up to hand the letter to his partner.

“Here, Weasley, you got mail from the prosecutor’s office,” he said, tossing her the envelope while pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Ginny thanked him and ripped it open, fully expecting it to contain information on the date and place to be in court for a client. It didn’t. The actual contents made her jaw drop and her eyes would have probably bulged, if that were possible.

“What’s up?” Malfoy asked, eyeing her strange reaction curiously.

“Nothing. I need to get to work,” she answered hastily, motioning for him to leave her office.

“Is there a problem with a case?”

“No, it’s nothing, just forget it,” Ginny replied absently.

“It can’t be nothing if it’s from the prosecutor’s office,” he insisted.

“Believe it or not, even the prosecutor’s office can send out unimportant mail,” she finally snapped, losing patience with his nosiness. It wasn’t any of his business anway. She didn’t dare think of what he might think of her if he knew.

He clenched his fists and set his jaw at her reply, and then turned and stalked out of her office.

Ginny had to smile despite herself and even allowed herself a small chuckle. His very manly display of insultedness was just too cute. The chuckle died in her throat when she realized just what she had just thought.

When she was finally alone, she shook her head and dropped into her desk chair gracelessly.

“I can’t believe he’s doing this…” she murmured to herself.

***

“You did what?” Luna screeched when Ginny confided the contents of the letter and the story that went with it later that day.

“Shhh,” Ginny shushed her friend. “Don’t talk so loudly. He will hear.”

“Okay then. You did what?” Luna asked again, quieter this time.

“I already told you. I hit Paolo over the head with a 2-kilo dumb-bell,” Ginny replied petulantly.

“Wow. You hit our fitness trainer over the head with a dumb-bell. I can’t believe it,” Luna said, still trying to grasp what her friend had just told her.

“Yes, well, what am I supposed to do now? He’s suing me, for God’s sake!” Ginny sighed and sank onto the floor, leaning against Luna’s desk.

“Well, you need to get yourself an attorney, for starters,” Luna said, smirking when her friend glared at her.

“I don’t wanna tell Malfoy,” Ginny whined.

“You’re not going to tell him!” Luna said immediately, astounding Ginny with her firmness. “You’re gonna ask Dorian. He’ll handle it brilliantly. He’s devious and cunning, he’ll get you out of this in no time at all. Draco will never know.”

Ginny nodded reluctantly, thinking it funny how her secretary called the boss by his first name while his own partner stuck to last names.

Said man chose that exact same moment to emerge from his office.

“Loony, I need Mr. Petersen’s address and floo connection, can you leave those on my desk. I’m out to meet a client,” he half commanded while grabbing his cloak and leaving.

“Bossy little bugger,” Luna chuckled, not minding the derogatory nickname at all. Ginny didn’t understand that about Luna. But the girl collected stray animals and believed that there was some good in everybody, even Death Eaters, and stuck to looking at those good sides first and only paying attention to the bad sides if she absolutely had to.

In Ginny’s opinion, only an absent or working Malfoy was a good Malfoy, so she didn’t know what Luna was seeing when he treated her like this.

“Oh, well, I’d better floo Dorian, then,” Ginny said while getting up from her uncomfortable position on the floor.

She’d been in the same year as Dorian in the Academy, and she’d seen him in court more than once, mostly while counselling the other party. She knew that he was every bit as cunning and devious as Luna had said, so he really was an excellent choice. Graduated with top honours, charming, good-looking Dorian, she mused. Married Dorian, her traitorous little mind screamed. Draco had better manners than Dorian. If he decided to show them, that is. It had taken her quite a long time, until the first time they’d attended Judge Meyer’s annual Christmas soiree, to discover this. She’d always had a soft spot for well-mannered men… which is absolutely not important at the moment her mind screamed again.

***

“You’re being sued with bodily harm because you hit your fitness trainer over the head with a dumb-bell?” Dorian asked while preparing his salad, amusement twinkling in his blue eyes.

“A 2-kilo dumb-bell, yes,” Ginny mumbled, arranging her own lunch. Dorian had agreed to meet her, and now they were discussing her dilemma in the canteen of the Magical Law Court.

“Why did you do that?” he asked, suppressing his grin and trying his best to be professional. Ginny knew it must be hard. If a colleague of hers would approach her with this story, she’d probably have a hard time remaining calm herself.

And so she retold the story, from how she’d asked him to show her the stomach exercise they’d done again, to how he’d tried to kiss her, and kept doing so despite her negative feedback, to how she’d finally had to hit him with the dumb-bell to get him off her.

When she’d finally finished, he was not laughing anymore, but listening like the professional that he was, instead.

“Have you spoken to Draco about this?” he asked, seriously.

“No,” Ginny replied.

“You should really talk to him,” Dorian insisted.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Ginny mumbled, avoiding his intent gaze.

“You’re afraid he’s going to laugh at you and call you names, right?”

That was indeed what she thought, but admitting it didn’t feel right.

“Tell you what… you’re going to tell him, and if he’ll help you, let him help you. He’s your partner, you should be able to trust each other. If he acts like a jerk, you can still ask me.”

Ginny put her fork down and stared out of the window for a moment.

“All right then,” she finally said, her heart heavy at the thought of having to tell Malfoy everything she’d just told Dorian. “Thank you for the advice, Dorian.”

“No problem. And hey, I won’t even charge you for it,” he said with a grin, waving her good-bye.

***

“That…that sick bastard!”

Ginny winced. She knew that her partner could get really loud if he wanted to, but she ususally avoided him when he was in a mood that said he was likely to do so.

“He basically raped you! You’re the victim here, and not him! How dare he even sue you, a poor, innocent, defenseless woman!”

She didn’t know whether she should be relieved that he was angry with Paolo, happy that he would help her or scared by his outburst.

“That little good-for nothing Italian probably thinks he’s God’s gift to women, huh?” Malfoy turned around to face her aprubtly. “Is he?”

Ginny blinked. “God’s gift to women?” she asked for clarification.

Malfoy nodded.

“Oh, nonono, he’s really small, and bald, and ugly and he has a belly,” she quickly explained.

“Asshole”

“Yes”

“I’m starting work on your defense right away”

Ginny nodded, bade him good night and went home.

What awaited her there was Luna Lovegood who looked like she wanted to give her a good bapping with the big wooden spoon that was part of the strange collection of items her mother had left her when she’d passed away.

“Didn’t I tell you not to tell Draco? Ginny, you can be so stupid sometimes…” she sighed exapseratedly.

“Why? I mean, he’s my partner. It’s a matter of trust,” Ginny said defiantly.

“Forget it,” Luna muttered.

“What?” Ginny asked.

“Nothing, I said forget it. You’re obviously even more…just forget it,” Luna said while replacing the spoon. “Let’s just hope that everything turns out to be right. When do you have to appear in court again?”

“Day afa t’morra,” Ginny mumbled around the large chunk of apple she currently had in her mouth.

“This is going to be a catastrophe,” Luna prophecised morosely while retreating to her bedroom.

Silently, Ginny agreed.

~end of part 1~

I hope you're having fun reading this, and they'll leave me a review :) I'll try to have the 2nd part out as soon as I can.