Draco knew he was in big trouble when he saw the red envelope on his desk when he got to work. It was a howler. Addressed to him. It had to be from Ginny, she must have figured out what he had done, and was a bit angry. Perhaps he deserved it. Draco paced in front of his desk, staring at the bright red letter, his name in Ginny's elegant scrawl across the front. In the end Draco charmed the name to read 'Ron Weasley' and sent it off to the Auror Division.
He decided to go and see Ginny himself, to apologize, and to invite her to the Ministry Ball. All women loved to dress up, and he couldn't wait to see the looks on his colleague's faces when he walked in with Ginny on his arm.
Draco had Miss Heywood send three dozen roses to Ginny's work, and another three dozen to her flat, and made sure that he had a dozen when he left the office. He was sure the flowers would have calmed her temper by now, and felt perfectly safe going over to her flat.
When he arrived at Ginny's door later that evening, she opened it and had one hand on her hip, and the other resting on the doorjamb, drumming her fingernails in a steady rhythm. "Come in," she said in a clipped voice.
Oh yeah, he was still in trouble. Draco swallowed hard and leaned in to kiss her, but Ginny bent back as far as she could to avoid his kiss. Draco extended the roses to her, and she pointed at the table. Draco saw that all the roses he had sent had had the tops cut off, and the petals were lying all over the table and floor. He took the hint and took a seat on the couch. Baby ran out from the bedroom and began barking, but then immediately seemed to get a signal from Ginny and took the barking to a low growl.
"Forget something last time you were here?"
"My coat?" he chuckled.
"NO! Try again."
Draco heaved a dramatic sigh, and then tried giving her the sad eyes that always worked on his mum. "I am so sorry Ginny. I didn't mean to hurt Baby. I just, I wanted to spend time with you, alone, and I thought that a simple, completely harmless charm…I didn't mean to upset you. I guess I should leave."
Draco stood up and headed to the door where Ginny still lingered, waiting for her to call him back. And waited. He reached the end of the hall before turning around and calling to Ginny, "this is the part where you say 'Draco I understand where you are coming from, why you did what you did, and I forgive you' Gin?"
Ginny stood in the doorway and waited for several seconds before crooking her finger at him for him to come back. Draco felt relieved that things were back to normal between them. Ginny grabbed his tie and pulled him forward for a kiss.
Draco was enjoying himself, when Ginny bit down on his bottom lip rather hard. She pulled away from him slowly, his bottom lip still captured between her teeth. She finally let go and looked up at him, twisting his tie tighter around his neck. "Don't do that again, Malfoy." Alright, he conceded, that was a check in the Baby column. Draco one, Baby one.
Draco raised an eyebrow as he stared down at her. His lip was pulsing where her teeth had bitten him, but he was definitely turned on. "Yes, my little vampire."
Draco came in and sat down, ignoring Baby's barks and growls as he watched every move Ginny made. He was so in love with this woman. She was perfect for him, except for her three pounds that she needed to lose…
"Ginny, will you come with me to the Ministry Ball on Saturday evening?"
"I can't. I have to be at a fashion show in Milan. I was actually going to ask you to watch Baby for me."
Draco laughed, expecting Ginny to join in, but she just stared at him expectantly. "I'm being serious, Draco. My Parents are going to the same ball, then off for that vacation I told you about it, and my brother's won't watch her for some reason."
Draco couldn't think of one reason why her brother's wouldn't want to watch her, but kept his mouth shut. This could be his chance to make amends with Ginny for what he had done, and maybe to finally get Baby to like him. He wanted Ginny in his life, and yes, he was willing to dog-sit for the little monster if he had to.
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Draco had taken Baby to work with him on Friday; humiliated beyond anything he could ever dream of, carrying Baby in a hot pink Louis Vuitton Pet Carrier. Ginny had told him she brought Baby to work in the carrier everyday, and that she was well-behaved, all she needed was food and water, and a short walk. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't this. He had gone that morning to pick her up, meeting Ginny outside of her flat, where she was waiting curbside for her cab to the airport, her luggage piled around her.
"Take good care of her Draco, I don't want to come home and find that you've lost her!" Ginny half joked.
Baby was wearing a t-shirt that read 'Rebel with paws' and Ginny gave her several kisses before she put her in her case and turned to kiss Draco goodbye. "I'm going to miss you," she whispered.
"Remembered I'm here, have you?"
"Draco, don't be silly. I could never forget you. But Baby can't take care of herself, and you, well…" Ginny ran a hand over Draco's chest, "You are a big, strong man, and are certainly capable of taking care of yourself."
Draco and Ginny were locked in a passionate kiss when the cabbie honked and leaned out the window. "You ready, love?"
Draco gave the cabbie a dirty look for addressing Ginny as 'love' then helped Ginny into the car. "Ginny, be careful, and keep in touch, will you?"
Ginny leaned out the window for one last kiss and asked Draco if he wasn't forgetting something. Did she want him to tell her he loved her? He felt that he did, but wasn't it a little soon?
Ginny yelled "Baby!" as the taxi sped away, and waved through the back window at him. Draco went to grab the carrier, and as soon as Ginny was out of sight, apparated to the Ministry.
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Draco thought perhaps he could pawn Baby off on his secretary, especially after a humiliating walk to his office. He wished he had an invisibility cloak! He had lost count of the times he had said "Girlfriend" nodding to the growling bag on his shoulder. He knew he wouldn't be able to live this down…He finally got to his office and dropped Baby onto Miss Heywood's desk. "Take care of her, will you? She only needs the food in the side pocket and fresh water, and a short walk, thank you."
Draco tried walking away, but Miss Heywood covered her mouth and extended the carrier as far away from herself as possible. "I apologize Mr. Malfoy, but I have allergies to animal hair, I can't watch the dog."
Draco eyed her suspiciously. "I don't remember that detail in your resume."
She dropped Baby off and closed the door behind her, Baby beginning to bark furiously. Draco felt like a complete idiot, but since no one could hear him, he felt safe. He began to use that irritating baby-talk that Ginny used. "It's alright Baby. Good girl, be quiet now." Baby began to bark louder, and Draco baby-talked, "Fine you bloody little pain; I'm going to fix this, just relax."
Draco put Baby back onto his shoulder and headed to the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, he knew that Arthur Weasley would be more than happy to help. Draco tolerated the stares and snickers as he made his way to the office, only to find that Arthur was out of the office.
He tried Percy Weasley next, but he said he was "Far too important and busy, and had no time to dilly-dally with dogs." Draco kept his opinion to himself, and decided that as much as it chafed, as much as he hated it, he had no choice. For the second time in less than a year, he had to go to the Auror Division to ask for help from Ron and Harry.
When Draco stepped into the office, he was greeted by his cousin Tonks, who said hello to Baby, who wagged her tail happily and licked her fingers. "What are you doing down here, Malfoy? Auror division sort of out of your league isn't it?"
"Actually, I was looking for someone," Draco said, turning Baby around and heading to Ron and Harry's office. Tonks shrugged and walked away. Of course Baby loved Tonks! She was a complete stranger, and she hated Draco, although he had tried again and again to befriend her.
Draco opened the office door to find Ron pouring over a file, alone in the office. "Morning Weasley," he greeted warmly. Ron was immediately suspicious, and looked up slowly from his paperwork.
Ron took in the pink bag and Baby's head poking out and easily knew why Draco was there. He laughed under his breath, and said, "No way, Malfoy…Unless you have Chudley Cannon tickets up your sleeve? Or maybe in one of your cute little pink pockets?"
Draco had to remind himself not to rise to the occasion. He needed a favor, and if he could convince him to take her, it would be worth it. "As a matter of fact, I happened to come across two box seats to the next game, against…" Draco tried hard to think of a team, of a quick lie, and blurted out "The Pride of Portree"
Ron looked at Draco, and then smiled. "Nice try Malfoy, they played them two weeks ago. It was a slaughter. Besides, why would deprive you of the joy of watching Gin's 'Sweet girl' now? After all, why would I help you, after that howler you sent me?"
Damn, he forgot about the howler. Draco stomped his foot in impatience and asked, "Fine! Where's Potter?"
Ron smiled even wider. "On a mission. Won't be back until tomorrow, possibly. Now if you don't mind."
Draco gave Ron a rude hand gesture and stormed out.