Author: Ardelis_fari
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, belongs to JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. Everything else (general plot, ideas, twists and turns, etc.) is the product of my ingenious mind!
Classification: Romance / Mystery / Suspense
Pairing: D/G
Rating: PG-13 (might go up in the later chapters)
Summary:
Excerpt:
"I don't associate with Muggles, half-bloods and Muggle-lovers. Which part of this do you not understand?" he jeered.
"I didn't ask for this to happen," she spat and glared at him so viciously that he involuntarily took a step back. "But unfortunately we have to do this together."
"Yes," he gave her another contemptuous look, "and the sooner it's over, the better."
"I couldn't agree with you more."
Warning: I started writing this before the sixth book came out, so my story contradicts it completely. There are two options we have: either accept the book and then modify its plotline to our liking, or pretend that it never happened. Incidentally, I prefer the latter. So, just ignore the HBP, i.e. Dumbledore didn't die in it, Ginny never dated Potter, Malfoy never was a cold-blooded bastard and coward, etc.
CHAPTER ONE
The legacy of an old coot
"Miss Weasley, please sit down," a middle-aged man with a balding head motioned to a chair. "I'm Philibert Greycliffe, the notary public representing Pembroke & Bells law firm."
Ginny sat down and crossed her legs. Her elegant handbag was perched in her lap.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Greycliffe," Ginny replied, inclining her head. "I must say I was surprised to receive your letter. I'm still not sure what I'm doing here."
"Yes, I realize that very well, Miss Weasley. I was going to discuss this in person, as it is a very private matter."
"You have the utmost of my attention, Mr. Greycliffe."
"Well, I'm afraid we are missing someone else here. We cannot start until he appears."
"Another lawyer?" Ginny inquired.
"Oh no, Miss Weasley. There is someone else involved in this delicate affair. As a matter of fact, you might be acquainted with that fine gentleman. It's Mr. Malfoy."
Ginny raised a thin brow. "Mr. Malfoy? As in Draco Malfoy?"
The notary nodded stately.
"Are you sure?" Ginny asked in surprise.
"Yes, Miss Weasley. Mr. Malfoy is expected to be here too."
"Well, we'll have to wait for him then, won't we? But I assure you, Mr. Greycliffe," Ginny snorted, "that the definition of a 'fine gentleman' does not apply to Draco Malfoy!"
She leaned back in her chair and prepared to wait. For the lack of a better pastime, she looked about her. The office of Mr. Greycliffe was a very standard jurist's office. Most of the space was occupied by a large mahogany desk. Upon it tiny ink-bottles were arranged in a line and the finest quills were kept in a silver case. High bookcases and filing cabinets were pushed against the walls. Just like many Ministry offices, this one had a window that was charmed to look like it had a view upon the street. Above Mr. Greycliffe's head was hanging a portrait of substantial size in a heavy gilded frame. It depicted an old wizard in a dark purple mantle and an odd-shaped hat. On both sides of the portrait two framed diplomas were pinned, announcing that their holder had received the best possible juridical education one could get in the wizarding England. When there was nothing left in the office worth a curious glance, Ginny uncrossed her legs and crossed them again, this time the left leg on top.
She glanced at her watch and smirked. "He's late, of course. He's so busy, he can't spare a minute. Obviously, good manners don't come with a bank account at Gringotts."
The notary shifted in his seat uncomfortably and dropped his eyes. He could sense a tinge of animosity in her voice when she talked about Draco Malfoy and that made him feel slightly ill at ease.
The next moment there was a knock on the door and in came Draco Malfoy. He greeted the lawyer and shook his hand. The fact that Ginny Weasley was present in the same room had been barely acknowledged. He didn't even spare a glance in her direction and Ginny refused to look at him too. When he didn't even apologize for being fifteen minutes late, Ginny's low opinion of him was confirmed for good.
"Mister Malfoy, you are here at last. We can begin," the jurist announced.
"Can you tell us now why we are here?" Ginny asked impatiently.
"Yes, certainly. The thing is that both of you are mentioned in the now deceased Albus Dumbledore's will. You, Miss Weasley and you, Mr. Malfoy, are the so called coparceners."
"What???" they both exclaimed.
"It means," Mr. Greycliffe explained patiently, "that you two are sharing the legacy left by Professor Dumbledore, as mentioned in his will."
"I don't understand," Ginny snapped. "Why Professor Dumbledore mentioned me in his will is not surprising, considering how kind he always was to me and my family. But why he would mention him as well is beyond me! And make us share some legacy no less!"
Draco Malfoy remained silent as he turned away from her accusing manicured finger.
"I am going to read his will, if you don't mind," Mr. Greycliffe suggested.
Ginny nodded and folded her arms in defeat. The lawyer cleared his throat and began reading:
________________________________________________________________________
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
OF
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, a resident and citizen of Dolwyddelan,
Lledr Valley, North Wales, being of sound mind and disposing memory, do hereby make,
publish and declare this instrument to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking any
and all wills and codicils by me at any time heretofore made.
Item I
Real Estate
If I am the owner of any real estate at the time of my death, I instruct and empower
my Executor to sell such real estate, or to dispose of it, or any portion thereof,
as my Executor shall in his sole judgment determine to be for the best interest
of my estate.
Item II
Instruction Concerning Personal Property
I anticipate that included as a part of my property and estate at the time of my
death will be tangible personal property of various kinds, characters and values,
including all personal effects, books, paintings, magical implements and
other similar articles of tangible personal property held for personal use
and enjoyment. I hereby specifically instruct all concerned that my Executor,
herein appointed, shall have complete freedom and discretion as to disposal
of any and all such property so long as he shall act in good faith and in the best
interest of my estate, and his discretion so exercised shall not be subject
to question by anyone whomsoever.
Item III
Instruction Concerning Specified Items of Property
I hereby bequeath the rest of my property to Ginevra Molly Weasley and Draco
Lucius Malfoy. The said property includes a magical artifact called Liber Mysteriorum
or The Book of Mysteries, which is temporarily stored by my notary,
Mr. Philibert Greycliffe, and which I authorize to be given to the said beneficiaries
after my death. Under my last will and testament I appoint both Miss Weasley and
Mr. Malfoy to be coparceners of this item.
Item IV
Executor
I appoint as executor of this, my last will and testament, Minerva McGonagall.
I hereby direct that the said Executor shall be entitled by his last will and testament,
duly probated, to appoint a successor Executor of my estate.
If, for any reason, the said Executor be unable to serve or to continue to serve
as Executor, or if he be deceased and shall not have appointed a successor Executor,
by virtue of his last will and testament as stated above, then I appoint
Mr. Alden Pembroke of Pembroke & Bells law firm as successor Executor
of all estate required to be established hereunder.
In witness whereof, I set my hand this 25 day of March, 1998, at London, UK.
Testator: Albus Dumbledore
Witnesses: Philibert Greycliffe
Roland Bells
________________________________________________________________________
"You've got to be joking!!!" Ginny exclaimed and jumped out of her chair. "Give that to me!"
She snatched the paper from the stunned lawyer and read it herself. Her eyebrows knitted.
"I'm afraid this is genuine," Mr. Greycliffe said with a nervous smile.
"I can see that now," Ginny grumbled and threw the unsealed piece of parchment on the desk. "Still, this is very bizarre."
"I understand," the man nodded.
"You haven't said anything yet," Ginny asked, turning to Draco. "I suppose you are enjoying this farce?"
He looked at her for the first time. Long red hair. Freckles. Skinny, malnourished frame. Nothing had changed.
"I'm not too thrilled about this either, Weasley," he said through clenched teeth. "And you make it sound like it was my idea."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Ginny snorted.
"I have to disappoint you, but it is very much a surprise to me too. Now, if you sit down and keep quiet, maybe we can hear the rest of it."
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy. You are quite right. There are very precise instructions in the addendum of this will."
"There is more?" Ginny asked, immensely relieved that some kind of explanation would follow. Maybe last year's 25th of March felt like the 1st of April to Professor Dumbledore?
Philibert Greycliffe began to read:
________________________________________________________________________
Miss Weasley and Mr. Malfoy,
I realize fully that this might seem strange to both of you and you will probably
question my decision. However, this idea is not a whim of mine and
I suggest you take this seriously. What I'm leaving behind is not an ordinary
legacy, it's more of a task. I bequeath you both with the most powerful
magical book of all times. This book, as the title implies, contains a mystery
that I entrust you to unravel. The condition of the will is that you two work
on it together. This mission might take a lot of your time and might at this
stage appear pointless, but I assure you that the results will be the most rewarding.
For now, I want you to think this over. If, for some reason, you are unable
or unwilling to work on this project together, then, alas, the secrets within
this book will remain undiscovered. If, however, you accept the conditions
laden upon you, you may begin on the book and quench your curiosity.
I sincerely hope that you will come to terms with this project some day and
maybe will even enjoy it. When you have made that decision, you will be
given the said book by my notary, Mr. Greycliffe.
I wish you the best of luck!
Yours truly,
Albus Dumbledore
________________________________________________________________________
Now both Draco and Ginny looked confounded.
"What does this mean?" Draco asked for the first time.
"It means that you have time to decide whether you want to accept these conditions," explained Mr. Greycliffe.
"We have a choice then?"
"Um. Well, um…I share the hope of the late Professor Dumbledore in that you might like this idea some day."
Ginny and Draco shared a sour glance in each other's direction.
"I shall give you five days for reflection," the notary announced.
Ginny and Draco nodded.
"Well, I hope to see you soon," he beamed at them.
His visitors did not return his smile as they said their goodbyes and left his office.
In the lift that was carrying them to the atrium, they occupied opposite corners, as far away from each other as physically possible in such a limited space. The hostility between them was so fierce that Ginny feared that the inter-department memo's flapping above their heads would be set on fire.
Once they were in the atrium, Malfoy marched past the spluttering fountain, towards the fireplaces embedded in the wall. Ginny lingered behind. He took a pinch of the floo powder and whispered the point of his destination. In a moment he was gone. Ginny breathed easily. After a moment's hesitation she Disapparated out of the Ministry into the Diagon Alley.
She Apparated right before the Gringotts Bank and almost got squashed by an overly excited gang of Quidditch fans that was hurrying towards the Quality Quidditch Supplies shop. She slowly made her way towards Florean Fortesque's ice-cream parlour, which she found full of witches and wizards who were chatting over a cone of ice-cream and showing off the goods they had just purchased in the Diagon Alley. Ginny settled behind one of the tables and ordered coffee.
Slowly sipping from a beautiful china cup, she mulled over the testament. There was no way in a million years that she would be collaborating with Draco Malfoy. She respected the memory of the beloved headmaster, but he was pushing the limits. He was senile! To suggest something like that! What was he playing at? The whole idea of coparcenary seemed rather foolish. But most importantly, why did she have to share that bequest with Draco bloody Malfoy?! Did it have something to do with The Book of Mysteries? She'd never heard of such book before. Maybe this was a book on dark magic, which Malfoy was undoubtedly very skilled at?
It's been a blissfully peaceful year since she last thought about Dark Arts and Death Eaters. In June, last year, Harry had finally conquered Lord Voldemort and everything that was ever associated with him fell into oblivion. From then on there were no ineffable names and no hooded figures in the dark alleyways. People like Malfoy, who alleged their loyalty to the Dark Lord, had lost their pivot and now looked more pathetic than intimidating. Most of them claimed that they pretended all along, for fear of being murdered; others blamed it on the Imperius Curse through which they acted upon Voldemort's wishes. Draco Malfoy wasn't either of those. He never admitted to have been mistaken or otherwise beguiled into serving His Lordship. He never apologized to anyone. After the death of his parents in the aftermath of Harry's victory over Voldemort, he simply retreated to his Wiltshire Mansion and rarely appeared in public. Only once Ginny saw him at a Ministry party that was held in the honour of the inauguration of the new Minister for Magic.
She wasn't surprised to see him there. While he was playing a recluse, he still was one of the prominent members of the Ministry circles and often endowed it with lavish donations. Every time he reappeared in public view, people resumed their speculations of his supposed remorse, then took in the consideration the tragic death of his both parents, which would have aggrieved anyone, and finally came to a conclusion that he wasn't such a bed fellow after all and especially such a handsome orphan deserved a second chance. Good looks or not, Ginny didn't buy it. To her, he was still a haughty, cruel bully who ruined her school years whenever an opportunity presented itself. She heard many a tale of self-flagellation, she saw many crocodile tears and didn't seem to care. She just didn't want to mingle with that sort of people ever again. And now she was made to do so. In accordance with the will, she had to work together with Malfoy.
Seething with anger, Ginny emptied the third cup of coffee and left the ice-cream parlour.
***
It was Friday, and like every Friday, Ginny was supposed to show up at a weekly family dinner at the Burrow. She welcomed these Friday evenings as a distraction from her strenuous work at the Ministry. Ever since she left home after graduating from Hogwarts, she barely got a chance to visit her family. She considered herself extremely lucky when she got a glimpse of her father in the Ministry corridors during the week. That's why she was always looking forward to the regular family dinners.
"Is everything all right, darling?" Mrs. Weasley asked when she saw Ginny glaring at a spoonful of mashed potatoes.
Ginny started and realized that she was attempting to use her spoon as a voodoo doll representing a certain person. "I'm fine, mum."
"Having a hard time at work?" her father asked, concerned. "By the way, I saw you leaving the notary's office on the fifth floor a few days ago. There isn't any trouble, I hope?"
Ginny blanched visibly at his words. The twins looked at her, thrilled at the prospect of hearing some gossip, but her parents looked worried.
"You'll never believe what happened," Ginny sighed.
"Someone is suing you?" Fred suggested with a wide grin on his freckled face.
"No. Someone has left me an inheritance," she said sadly.
"If you don't want it, we'd take it gladly. Wouldn't we, George?" one of the twins winked mischievously.
"I doubt you would," Ginny grumbled.
"But who left you the inheritance, dear?" Molly asked.
"Professor Dumbledore."
Everyone looked confused.
"What did he leave you?" Charlie wondered aloud. "A house?"
"It's not real estate," Ginny shook her head. "It's not something I can sell or exchange."
"Well, what is it then?" her brother was surprised.
"It's a book."
Her family looked puzzled.
"You inherited a book," Bill ascertained calmly. "Anything special?"
There were no shortcuts and she had to start from the beginning. So she did. When she finished, everyone at the table gaped at her.
"Why on earth did he make the two of you joint heirs of his property?" voiced Ron an obvious question.
Ginny shrugged. "I wish I knew."
"Are you going to accept it?"
She wasn't anxious to see Malfoy again and she doubted that she would ever enjoy working together with him.
"I don't know," she sighed. "But I'm curious to find out what Dumbledore's intention was."
That night when she lay awake in her old bedroom in the Burrow, she was still weighing the pros and cons of their partnership. Professor Dumbledore had formulated that addendum in such a skillful way that it was hardly possible to feel compelled and yet Ginny was sure that there was no way out of this noose.
"Soon," she promised to no one in particular. "It'll be over soon."
***
A long way off, a young man was anxiously pacing the sitting room of his two-storey mansion. It started to rain. Tiny rivulets splattered against the window panes, as the thunder rolled overhead. Three more steps to the opposite wall and then back. The anxiety was increasing and he found it hard to just sit or stand still.
When he was crossing the room for the fiftieth time, he looked out of the window. For a brief moment he watched the bleak hills around the mansion getting soaked in rain-water. Then he closed his eyes. Agonizing thoughts raced through his head. Dumbledore. The Book. Ginny Weasley. It all came like a bolt from the blue and disrupted his carefully constructed routine.
What should he do?
At last he turned away from the window and strode toward the door. The corridor beyond it was dark and he lit his wand. He followed the familiar route, until he arrived at a door. He fumbled in his pocket for a key, then finally fished it out and unlocked the door. It swung open with a creak and he stepped inside. Then the door closed behind him and the corridor was once again pitch-dark.