Disclaimer: We all know Harry Potter and Co. belong to J.K. Rowling, anything you do not recognize is from my mind.
Summary: Draco and Ginny are in an equally disliked marriage together. However, over time she comes to love the cold hearted Slytherin, but he appears not to notice her. Or even care for that matter. He isn't the most faithful of husbands and she's had enough, and decides two can play that game.
Author: Mrs. Noodlemantra, That's So Raven, Chammy (All the same person)
Chapter: Five, "Grand Opening"
Green with Envy
"It was just a shag."
The words ran through her head continuously, making her feel dumb for not realizing this before. Who had she been kidding? She was married to Draco Malfoy, acclaimed Slytherin Sex God for Merlin's sake. The sex bit had crossed her mind more than a few times, but she never knew how to go about with it. She wasn't a virgin, but he didn't know that. They barely even spoke, how were they going to go about doing something so intimate? Well, intimate in her mind, but to him, it was probably a nightly ritual or some bullocks like that.
Ginny sighed, knowing that it shouldn't have been such a surprise to her, but never did she imagine that she would see the hag on her doorstep, kissing him goodbye. She should have done something; she should have been more aggressive in their relationship instead of just letting things happen. There were many opportunities for her to talk to him, like over dinner or if she could catch him on his way to work.
The sound of a distinct pop brought a groan from the Witch's lips. Lifting herself up from the sofa, Ginny looked around and realized she was in the library. She saw a little green house elf walking towards her tentatively. Furrowing her brow she wondered if she looked crazy, because the elf looked afraid of her.
Reaching her hand up she wiped at her eyes, but felt nothing there. No tears had slipped out of her eyes. For all the hurt and anger she felt, she didn't shed one tear. "Yes?" She called out, wondering if the elf planned on saying anything.
"Master Malfoy is wishing to see you, missus."
"Draco? What the bloody hell could he want with me right now?"
"Not Little Master, missus." The elf said, obviously fearing for her. He nodded his head towards her before quickly disappearing.
The House Elf must have been on the receiving end of Lucius' temper more than once to be that afraid for her. The only thing on her mind now, was wondering what he could possibly want. He always seemed to be away on business, much more than his son, and if he was at home, he was no where that she knew of.
Ginny she didn't want to show anyone that she might be hurting from something . Lucius was a very frightening man, and for her to hold a conversation with him would be tough. He seemed to be able to read anyone with his silver-grey orbs, a trait his son must have picked up on.
Opening the door of the library she walked out, not even knowing where to begin, so she followed the corridor, not really searching for him but if he popped up, so be it.
"Ginevra, love?" Narcissa's voice (which she was able to recognize now) called. It was amazing, and often made her wonder if the Malfoy's were part Veela. When she spoke, it made Ginny feel as if things would be alright, and as if she shouldn't have a care in the world. "Lucius would like a word with you."
"Yes, I got the message; do you know where I could find him?"
"Perhaps in his study?"
Another Study!? Ginny thought to herself. She knew the Manor was big, but she just didn't know how big, exactly. "Where might that be?"
"Where might what be?" Came the voice of Lucius as he walked into the room, looking as though he had just stepped out of a business meeting.
"Oh, nothing, dear. Ginny was just wondering where she could find you, is all," Narcissa told him, before curtly nodding at both of them and exiting the room.
"Have a seat," Lucius instructed, and Ginny felt herself taking a seat, her legs crossed as she fiddled with her thumbs, feeling a little uneasy around him. After all, who could blame her? She shook the thoughts from her head, that stuff was in the past. "I must congratulate you with how well the Orphanage is coming along. Children's Youth Orphanage, yes?""
"Yes and thank you," she replied politely, wondering if Narcissa went to bed at night with a report for Lucius on how things went because he seemed to know everything, yet he was hardly around.
Lucius sat down across from her, his lips planted in a firm line making it hard for Ginny to understand what kind of mood he was in. "I have arranged for the press to be there the night of the opening," he told her, "Do not let my son forget that he is attending it with you."
Ginny furrowed her brow, did Lucius know of his son's behavior? Probably so, he could possibly be where Draco got that awful marriage behavior from. "I won't, but I doubt he will care what I say to him."
"If that is the case, just send him down to me," Lucius said, a slight smile on his face, making Ginny have to do a double take. It was one of the faintest smiles she had ever seen, but it was a smile none the less. "This is a great photo opportunity; the pictures will be in every Wizarding magazine. That being said, dress appropriately and you will know by now that money isn't an object for you, anymore," he couldn't help but smirk as he said it, making Ginny want to pull out her wand and yell the first thing that came to her mind.
The thought of spending money on things she knew she wouldn't ever need or use crossed her mind. Though she wouldn't ever do that, she didn't play around with money like the Malfoy's did, and she never would, no matter how much of it she had.
"Well, if that's all," Ginny said, standing up and smoothing out her skirt. She just wanted to get away from this man, go back into her room or the Library and forget that this day happened. She knew she would always remember it, but she just wanted to forget about it for now.
Lucius just waved a hand at her, signaling that she could go.
The days seemed to pass by very slowly, the Orphanage taking her mind away from the reality of her home life. That is, until the opening drew near and she found herself patiently waiting outside of Draco's study after lightly rapping on the door. She heard the door being unlocked and rolled her eyes, was that even necessary?
He let the door swing open and looked down at his wife, a wondering look on his face. She hadn't spoken to him in a week, not that they really talked before but he at least got the occasional hello, goodbye and how was work.
"I didn't expect you to remember, so this is my reminder. The opening is Friday, tomorrow, and you said you would come. At this point in time I could care less if you didn't, but apparently your father won't have it any other way." She said, remembering the lovely conversation she had with her father-in-law.
"Malfoy's don't forget things," Draco replied stubbornly.
"Bullocks, you seemed to forget you had a wife, capable of…" Ginny trailed off, not even wanting to waste her breath on it. "Never mind, just be ready by two," she told him shortly before turning around and walking down the hall, "Prick," she muttered to herself, the word becoming her new nickname for him.
~~~G-R-A-N-D-O-P-E-N-I-N-G~~~
"When the press arrives they will be asking you questions, so please, answer to the best of your ability," Lucius said, putting his wand inside of the cane, making sure that it was securely locked before putting it on the ground.
"Yes, love, no idiotic responses."
"That goes for you as well, Draco," Lucius said to his son.
Ginny smirked, wanting to stick her tongue out at him, but refrained from doing so. She and Draco started up the few steps to the Orphanage; he casually reached for her hand, holding it softly in his. It was an unusual gesture, but she couldn't help but realize how her small hand melded together so well with his.
She waved at her mum who was standing by, along with her brothers, their wives and bunch of little Weasley's. There were also a few reporters' there, from the Daily Prophet, the Quibbler and even Witch Weekly. She smiled softly at each of them.
"You and I don't want to be here together, so put a smile on, and let's do what we have to. The faster we do, the sooner we can leave." Draco said in a hushed voice, as they stood in front of the door, a large red ribbon the only thing stopping them from walking inside.
"I do want to be here, maybe even with you if I actually knew something about you," she replied, looking down at the ground.
"You don't care to know anything about me, be honest with yourself. Neither of us is in this marriage for anything real."
Ginny shook her head, there could be something real, but he was so caught up in his own little world that he would never see it.
"Oh look, I do believe that's the photographer now," Narcissa said, walking to her son and daughter-in-law, looking them both over before deciding that all proper hairs were in place.
"Ah, Clive, is it?"
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy," the young photographer replied, his camera hanging around his neck.
"We'd just like you to take a shot of the ribbon being cut, duplicate it and perhaps sell it to the other magazines, as we can't wait for all of them, now can we?" Lucius said, guiding Clive to where his family stood.
"No, we can't," Clive replied, knowing that Lucius was definitely a business man.
"Ginevra, if you would please say something and then proceed with the cutting," Lucius said, walking to stand next to his wife, a smile on his face, for the people.
Ginny nervously bit her bottom lip and dropped Draco's hand to walk in front of the open doors. She had never been good with speeches or oral presentations, anything that required her standing in front of a large group of people and talking. She took a deep breath as she scanned the crowd with her eyes.
"Thank you all for coming to join us today," she started, smiling as she tried not to look as nervous as she felt. "It has always been a dream of mine to give back to the Wizarding community and be able to help out children in some way. There were many times during the war where I never knew if I was going to see my parents again, and I am so thankful that they are still here with me today," she glanced back at Arthur and Molly. "I can only begin to imagine how the many children here feel, living without parents, but hopefully with the opening of Children's Youth Orphanage all of the members in the Wizarding Community can change that." Ginny smiled before turning around, pulling her wand out and moving it down the middle of the ribbon.
She could see the camera flashes going off, but it was all so silent when she stepped over the red ribbon and walked inside of the building, a staircase immediately to the right and a hall going down the rest of the room.
"Very well done, Ginny," Narcissa said, as she walked up behind her, pulling her in for a hug.
Ginny was snapped out of her little observation and looked at the people starting to walk in, and the sound of children was brought to her ears. She smiled, nodding her thank you to Narcissa.
"Would you like to take us on a tour?" Clive said, waving the camera in his hand.
"Yes, of course," she said, "you all don't have to feel obliged to come, there are drinks and refreshments in the cafeteria," she added with a curt nod before motioning for the reporters and photographers to follow her up the stairs.
"Coming up right off the landing is the baby room, from new-borns to the ones that are able to walk," she said, opening the double doors to let them look in, "There are babies inside sleeping right now so we can't all go in."
"Mrs. Malfoy, is this orphanage restricted to Witch and Wizard children or are Muggle children allowed as well?"
"I would love for it to be a mixture of both, but that could prove to be a problem with the Ministry, however. So for now, it is restricted to anyone with magic in their blood. Also, if Muggle-born children are to come to Hogwarts but need a place to stay for the summer, they are more than welcome here."
"May we?" One of the photographers asked.
"Oh, go right ahead," she told them with a smile before the started snapping pictures of the room for the youngest children.
Ginny led them on a tour of the entire building. The toddler play room and bedroom and then she worked her way up the levels, explaining the rooms and what they were used for. The tour ended with them going back downstairs and into the cafeteria rejoining with the other adults and even some few children, aside from the Weasley lot.
"How was it, Ginevra?" Lucius asked, walking up to her and handing her a glass of water.
"It was great, many pictures were taken and I answered the questions quite well, even threw in a few things about Draco and I," however false they may have been, she added to herself.
"Very good, very good." He said, a look of appreciation on his face, "well then I'll just go attend to them for a few moments before heading back to the Manor. This is a lovely place you set up, really," he told her, as he lifted her hand to his lips, kissed it.
So there was some sort of soul within Lucius? A person that was capable of saying nice things, and actually mean it. "Bye," she replied softly just before he turned around and walked in the direction of a few reporters.
"Gin, you can't even begin to imagine how proud we are of you," her ears perked up, hearing the voice of her eldest brother, Bill. His arms enveloped her in a warm hug, making her feel warm inside.
"Thank you, I'm so glad you made it, I haven't seen you since the wedding, it feels like it's been ages," she said, pulling back from the hug.
"Speaking of wedding, is the bloke treating you good?"
Ginny looked around the room, seeing Draco talking to some reporter who seemed to be trying to flirt with him, her hand was on his arm as she tilted her head back in laughter. Her breath caught in her throat when Draco's gaze turned to her, looking her dead in the eyes.
"Yes," she lied, waiting a few seconds before looking up at her brother. "He's treating me very well."
She knew well enough that with just one word her brothers would beat Draco to a pulp. But she didn't want that to happen. This was her own battle, and she was determined to win it one her own.
~~~A-W-E-E-K-L-A-T-E-R~~~
Ginny sat in her office, she was in a great mood and absolutely nothing was going to ruin it. There wasn't even anything special going on, just the afterglow of the opening and all the attention the Orphanage was getting.
"Mrs. Malfoy, someone is in here to see you," her secretary said, as she walked into the room and placed a couple pieces of parchment in front of her. "These letters came in a little earlier for you."
"Thank you, Katherine," she replied, just getting used to the idea of actually having a secretary. "And please, tell the visitor to come right in."
Katherine nodded her head and turned around, motioning for the person to come in.
Ginny smiled warmly as the man walked in, her eyes raking over his features. Even she couldn't deny that he was quite charming, the talk, dark, and handsome type. "Hello," she said in a soft voice.
"Hello," he returned, sticking a hand out in front of him, "Graham Ventimiglia," he said, with somewhat of an Italian accent.
"Mr. Ventimiglia," she said, shaking his hand and motioning towards the seat across from her to sit. "Ginevra W-Malfoy, it's a pleasure to meet you. What might I be able to help you with?"
"I'm with the Daily Prophet, actually, and we have been getting some wonderful feedback on the Orphanage. People sending in owls asking how they might go about adopting or foster care and things of the like," he sat a briefcase on the table, unlocked it and lifted it open. Reaching inside he took out a handful of parchment and handed it to her. "These are just a few."
Ginny's eyes glittered with excitement, "Oh, this is wonderful."
"Yes and congratulations."
"Thank you." She put the parchment down in front of her, only skim reading a few.
"We at the Prophet were wondering if you would at all be interested in having a column in our paper. In every issue there could be a new child featured and this way people could locate just what they were looking for or just get a feel of what kind of children are here," he said, closing his briefcase before clasping his hands together.
"That sounds really wonderful, Mr. Ventimiglia."
"Please, call me Graham."
"Well, that sounds wonderful Graham," she corrected with a smile. "Perhaps we could also add something in there about volunteering? It would be of great for some of the workers-"
"Sorry to interrupt but I came here on short notice…and I'm a bit late for something back at the office…this is terribly rude of me but, how would you like to discuss it over dinner? Or lunch, tomorrow?"
"Oh, don't worry about it and dinner sounds nice," Ginny said, knowing anything could be better than the silence at the table in the Manor.
"Have you ever been to the 'Posto di Italiano'?" He asked.
"I've heard of it, but I haven't gone to it, not yet," she replied, not able to keep the smile from her lips.
"Good, it will be your first time then, should we meet there around six?" He glanced down at his watch, double checking what time it was now.
"Six sounds good."
~~~M-A-L-F-O-Y-M-A-N-O-R~~~
Ginny stood in front of her full body length mirror, holding up a pair of pants and a skirt to her body, checking how it would look. She shook her head and tossed both onto her bed. She didn't want to dress like she was going for work, nor as if she were going on a casual lunch date. This was anything but casual, especially with a good looking guy like Graham.
She shuffled through her closet a few more times before finally deciding on what to wear, at 5:30, she rushed to pull on the black dress pants and black undershirt, followed by a collared white button up shirt. Nodding at her reflection she went to the vanity set in her room, brushing her hair straight a bit and moving her bangs out of her field of view.
There was a knock on her door to which she responded, "its open."
"The ch-" Draco stopped what he was saying, a confused look on his face as he looked at his wife, dressed to go somewhere, without him. "Where are you going?"
"Out to dinner."
"Dinner? With who?"
"No one that I suspect you know."
"I don't think father would be too happy with that, how would it look to the press if you were seen out to dinner with another male," Draco said, keeping his cool as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Ginny rolled her eyes, "but he would be happy at seeing you in the press with a two sickle whore?" She could really see the well defined muscles of his chin as he clenched his teeth.
"Who are you going to dinner with?" He asked again.
"I honestly can't see how it would matter, Draco." She buttoned the sleeves of her shirt before looking at her watch, "Bullocks, I don't want to be late." She walked over to her bed and grabbed her purse, "Don't wait up for me, kay?" She said, a false tone of sweetness in her voice as she stood on her tiptoes, kissing him lightly on the cheek.
~~~E-N-D-C-H-A-P-T-E-R~~~
Well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I wanted it to be a little longer but I've decided to leave you all wondering about this Mr. Ventimiglia fellow. A lovely Italian! Whom I choose to create after going over the Italian Renaissance. A large thank you to Brittany again, for without her you all would have been trying to read hieroglyphics. =P History joke…not funny? Bah Humbug! Don't forget to review my lovvies. You can also find my writing LJ at http://x-scriblen-x.livejournal.com/ for updates and things of the like. That's all for now!
[MRS. NOODLEMANTRA]