Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you may recognize from the wonderful world of Harry Potter, they all belong to the revered JK Rowling; I just like to play with them a little.
BREAKING THE RULES
ANOTHER RULE
Ginny thundered down the staircases, cursing everyone she could think of and then some. She was late. The ramifications of her little announcement last night had come to light this morning, when everyone who knew her, and even a few who didn't, had something to say about her new boyfriend.
When she burst into the courtyard she didn't have any trouble finding Draco. The place was almost empty and he was waiting by the statue, looking displeased at best.
"Sorry."
"I was beginning to wonder if you were coming or not," Draco snapped.
"I was held up."
"Draco Malfoy, Slytherin," Draco said to Mr. Filch, who marked his name off on the long scroll of parchment. He turned to his girlfriend and looked expectantly. "Are you coming?"
"Yes, yes, of course," Ginny responded. "Ginevra Weasley, Gryffindor."
The moment the words had left her mouth Ginny felt the pressure of Draco's hand in the small of her back, guiding her out of the school grounds. Once beyond the school gates, Draco led her over to the side of the path leading to the village.
"What kept you?"
"Look, I said I was sorry," Ginny retorted. "I got held up, that's all."
"Who held you up?"
Ginny sighed heavily. He obviously wasn't going to be satisfied until she explained herself fully. "I sort of told Ron you were my boyfriend last night."
"And?"
"How do you think he took the news?"
"I'm hoping it wasn't well."
"I think that's an understatement, and it's not over yet."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I escaped last night while he was trying to process the information, but this morning he sent Hermione to harass me."
"What did Granger do?"
"Lectured me all morning," Ginny said flatly. "On the evils of seeing you."
Draco laughed coldly. "So, I'm evil?"
"Yes, according to them."
"Well, the solution is easy, Ginevra."
Ginny fixed the Slytherin with a glare. "If you call me that again I'll have to kill you."
"I must remember that." Draco grinned wryly. He'd found a soft spot, though he was not foolish enough to believe that if he overexposed said spot that he would live to enjoy it. "As I was saying, you can get rid of the annoyances easily enough by simply telling them to go to hell."
"You know nothing about Gryffindors, do you?"
"I do so! They're stupid and ugly and..." Draco trailed off and swallowed hard when he felt her glare burning into his soul. "Present company excepted."
"You're talking about my friends and family," Ginny reminded him harshly.
"Those same friends and family who have been making your life hell?"
"That's not the point!"
Draco held his hands up in surrender. "All right, forgive me for trying to help."
"If that's what you call help," she spat.
He took a deep breath and reminded himself, once again, that she wasn't like other girls. If this 'relationship' was to work it was going to take a considerable amount of effort. Draco regarded his girlfriend critically. She was angry with him in a way none of his other girlfriends had ever been; his girlfriends to date had been simpering sycophants who agreed with everything he'd suggested - Ginny Weasley was definitely not like them and he was going to have to remember that. Of course, the question he had to answer was whether he had the patience to pursue this any further?
Ginny folded her arms across her chest and continued to glower at the blond in front of her while she waited for him to respond.
A smirk tugged at his lips when she folded her arms to sit under her breasts, and he decided that he rather liked her angry look. She was hugging herself so tightly that her breasts were swelling over her arms. The memory of what they looked like unfettered danced through his mind, teasing him a little. It was then that he made a conscious decision to do whatever it took to keep her happy for the time being. At least with her, life wouldn't be boring and that was a bonus, not to mention she was sinfully sexy when she was furious.
He stepped towards her and carefully reached for her shoulders. "I'm sorry. All the other girls I've ever seen just want to rubbish the person who's upset them, and I thought that was just what witches did."
"Well, I don't do that."
"I know that now, and I won't do it again." He hazarded a kiss to her left temple. "Am I forgiven?"
"I suppose so."
"You don't sound convincing."
"What do you want me to do? Kiss your feet?"
Draco bit back the nasty retort burning on his tongue. Here he was lowering himself to make her smile again and she continued to make gratuitous comments. "Ginny, when you're annoyed with someone or something do you generally take your feelings out on the world at large?"
"I don't think so," she answered. "But Ron thinks I do."
As much as it irked him to admit, even to himself, he had a feeling Weasel was right about that. "Why don't we go into Hogsmeade and have a great day together?"
Ginny nodded and started off down the path to the village, ignoring his offered hand.
"Is there anything you have to do while we're there?" Draco asked, catching up with her in just a couple of strides.
"No."
"There are a couple of stops I have to make, but they won't take long."
"All right."
"Are you okay now?"
"Yes."
"Again, you're not convincing me."
"Why am I not convincing?"
"You don't sound happy."
"You don't know me well enough to know when I sound happy."
"While you have a point, I like to think I'm perceptive enough to know if you're not smiling, you're not happy."
Ginny turned and faced him, baring her teeth in a hideous parody of a grin.
"Go back to frowning," Draco muttered. "It's less frightening."
She only just turned her head in time to hide the real smile that had forced it way through her mood.
As they walked through the main street of the small village, many Hogwarts students stopped to stare at the odd couple. Ginny began to feel distinctly exposed. "What are they staring at?" she hissed.
"Just the most beautiful witch at Hogwarts," Draco answered confidently. Compliments always soothed women, or so his father told him.
Ginny smiled softly at him for the first time that day and something inside his stomach fluttered in a sort of nice, but uncomfortable way. Draco reached for her hand and was pleased when she didn't pull away - he would take this gesture as affirmation that he'd been forgiven without having to hear it from her mouth again. Of course, now that they were holding hands the stares and comments from other students were becoming more obvious, not that she seemed to be bothered any more.
"Wait right here, I just have to place an order in Dervish & Banges," Draco said, placing a lingering kiss on his girlfriend's mouth and giving her backside a tight squeeze.
"All right, but don't be too long," Ginny warned with mock sternness.
She wandered over to the shop window when Draco disappeared inside the store, absently examining some of the items of display. Through the crowded window display she could just make out Draco standing at the counter. He appeared to be handing over a list of some sort to the owner and then her eyes almost left her head when she saw him pull his bag of gold out. It wasn't that she didn't know he came from a wealthy family, because everyone knew that, she'd just not given it any active thought before and it was only now that she realized her boyfriend was, to put it bluntly, rolling in it.
"Ginny!"
"Oh my God! What are you doing here?" Ginny squealed as she was picked up and spun around.
"I just thought I'd come and visit you."
"This is wond-" The sound of someone clearing their throat nearby distracted Ginny just long enough to look over her shoulder and see her clearly furious boyfriend. Ginny frowned in confusion as she was placed on her feet. "Draco, this-"
"Yes, do tell me who that is, Ginny," Draco snarled, pinning the older wizard with a murderous glare.
"Oh, you think-" Ginny started to laugh heartily.
Draco turned his cold glare on his new girlfriend as she almost doubled over with mirth. "This is not in the least bit funny, Weasley."
Ginny sobered at the sound of her surname being used. Draco hadn't called her 'Weasley' since the day before yesterday when they'd decided to see each other exclusively. "Draco, this is-"
"I don't think I care to know now," Draco sniffed as he turned on his heel.
"Oh for goodness sake, you big git! Charlie is my brother!"
Draco stopped, mentally kicked his own arse and then turned around. "Your brother?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, my second oldest brother. Now would you like to come back, so I can introduce you?"
"For the sake of propriety, I will."
"You'll have to forgive him, Charlie, he's an insufferable git at times," Ginny explained to her brother.
"Jealousy will do that to a bloke," Charlie muttered amusedly.
Ginny giggled lightly at her boyfriend's expense, earning herself a withering glare. "Draco, this is Charlie. Charlie, this is my boyfriend Draco."
Charlie offered his hand to the younger wizard. "Malfoy isn't it?"
"Yes," Draco admitted proudly as he shook the man's hand.
"Ron has told me all about you."
"I can assure you, anything Weasel has said about me is entirely fabricated."
"He might have said something nice about you," Charlie suggested.
Draco snorted. "If Ronald Weasley ever said anything nice about me, I'd be the first to have him committed to St. Mungo's locked ward."
"So, what are you doing in Scotland, Charlie?" Ginny asked in an effort to shift the conversation away from Ron. The last thing she needed was Draco telling Charlie exactly what he thought of his youngest brother.
"Like I said, I thought I'd come visit you and meet the new boyfriend Ron's been ranting about."
"I'm going to kill him," Ginny snarled with conviction.
"You know you should really keep those thoughts to yourself, little sister, or someone might think you're serious."
"You know I'm serious."
"Yeah, but someone might hear you," Charlie warned. "You wouldn't want to be locked up before you've had time to make him suffer, would you?"
"Ginny and I were going to get some lunch," Draco interjected. "Would you care to join us?" All this talk of causing Ron Weasley pain and killing him was getting his hopes up a little too much, so he thought a change of subject was better than the disappointment when nothing happened.
"Sounds good." Charlie grinned. "Err-you weren't thinking of going to Madam Puddifoot's, were you? Because if you are, I might give it a miss."
"Of course not," Draco answered indignantly. No wizard worth their reputation would be caught dead in that teashop, unless they'd erred on the side of having to grovel to make it up to their girlfriend and Draco didn't ever grovel, he just got himself a new girlfriend. "We were heading to The Three Broomsticks."
"Excellent!"
Draco tried a several times to walk next to Ginny as they made their way up the street, but each time he smoothly tried to slip in beside her, her brother thwarted him. By the time they reached the inn, Draco was in quite an agitated state and he was struggling not to make his displeasure known. He simply wanted to hold his girlfriend's hand. Was it really too much to ask?
Charlie, being the gentleman that he was, held the door open for this sister. Once she was safely inside, he quickly stepped in front of Draco to block his path. He could have been mistaken, but he could have sworn he heard the blond teenager growl. Charlie chuckled to himself. This was far too easy.
"Go right to the back," Charlie suggested to his sister. "I reserved us a table earlier on the off chance you wanted to have lunch."
Draco followed Ginny and Charlie through the establishment, passing many empty tables. He was beginning to wonder if Ginny had forgotten what she was looking for when she came to an abrupt halt near the rear of the pub. With Charlie immediately taking up residence on one side of her, Draco thought carefully before moving closer. He didn't want to repeat the ridiculous dance they'd been doing all the way here, so he stepped up behind her. When he was finally close enough to her, he slipped an arm around her waist and leaned in to nibble on the delicate shell of her ear. She was speaking to someone, but he didn't much care who at that point - he was finally next to her again.
"Oi! That's enough of that!"
"Geez, Ron, you said he wasn't very bright, but that was downright stupid."
Draco's eyes flicked up to find the person who had insulted him, and his heart leapt into his throat. He'd been so determined to get next to Ginny that he'd somehow failed to notice the five redheaded men sitting at the table in front of them. He didn't need to be told that this lunch was probably going to be not terribly good for his health. Either physically or mentally, it didn't matter; all that did was that he would undoubtedly suffer at the hands of her brothers.
"Malfoy kindly invited me to lunch," Charlie announced. "You don't mind if the others tag along, do you, Draco?"
He'd been had. That was all there was to it, and he only had himself to blame. After all, it was he who extended the invitation for lunch. Draco cleared his throat and prayed that his voice would come out sounding normal. "Not at all."
"Excellent! Take a seat," George offered.
"I'm starving," Fred added.
"Before we sit down I'll introduce you to everyone," Ginny offered happily.
"All right," Draco answered hesitantly, even though he didn't see the point of getting their names, because he was not only unlikely to remember them, he also hoped to never come across any of them again.
"This is my oldest brother Bill. Next is Charlie, who you met before. You might remember Percy; he was Head Boy when I was in second year. The twins you'd have to remember - that one is Fred and this one is George. Of course, you know Ron." Ginny smiled brightly at him.
"Pleased to meet you all," Draco ground out with a tight smile.
"You can slide in here, Ginny," Bill offered.
Draco watched in barely concealed horror as his girlfriend slid into the chair next to her oldest brother and left him to take one of the spare seats on the other side of the table, which would also mean he'd be sitting next to Charlie. Given that one of the chairs was on the end, Draco quickly scrambled for it, so he would only have to sit next to one Weasley.
"Draco, can you move up one? It's a bit hard to squeeze in there." Charlie looked expectantly at him.
"Err-sure." Draco looked to his right. One of the twins, he couldn't remember which, was regarding him with a decidedly wicked grin. He didn't trust any of them, but he'd heard rumors about the twins during their time at Hogwarts and he trusted them even less.
Across from him Ron Weasley sat looking incredibly pleased with himself and it suddenly occurred to Draco that there was something very wrong. He pinned Ron with a meaningful look. "Aren't you supposed to be in detention?"
Ron laughed heartily at the idea.
Charlie slapped Draco on the back heavily. "Old Professor McGonagall loves me, so when I told her all of us were getting together for lunch she couldn't keep him locked away."
"I see." Draco couldn't quite believe it. Everyone accused Professor Snape of being too lenient on his students, yet Professor McGonagall let Weasley off and he physically attacked him.
"I wish we knew she loved you so much," George whined.
"Yeah, we could have saved so many days detention," Fred agreed.
Charlie snorted loudly. "No one could have saved you two."
"Come on-" Fred started.
"We weren't-" George continued.
"That bad," Fred finished.
"Your behavior at school was always appalling," Percy reminded them pompously. "Neither of you finished."
Fred looked across the table at his odd brother. "We didn't-"
"Need to." George nodded his head once resolutely.
"Because we're brilliant," Fred reasoned.
"All right, you three, give it a rest," Bill ordered.
"Someone has to remind them of the embarrassment they cause the family," Percy stated sanctimoniously.
Bill leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and looked at his opinionated brother. "If you don't watch yourself, I'm going to let them use you as a test subject."
"You wouldn't," Percy responded confidently.
"Yes, he would," Charlie assured him. "And if he doesn't, I'll use you as a snack for Rosie."
Ginny sat up excitedly. "Oh, do you have a new one, Charlie?"
"I do! She's so beautiful."
Draco looked at the man sitting next to him with unmasked horror. "You're going to feed your brother to your girlfriend?"
Charlie frowned and tried mightily not to laugh in his sister's boyfriend's face. "Rosie isn't my girlfriend."
"May as well be," Ron interjected.
"You're so funny, little brother," Charlie responded sarcastically.
"What is she, Charlie?" Ginny asked eagerly.
"Hungarian Horntail."
"Oh, wonderful!"
"A dragon?" Draco scooted over as far as he could in the opposite direction of the wizard with the odd dreamy expression on his face. "You have a pet Horntail?"
"She's no pet," Charlie countered.
"Then-"
"She's as wild as they come," Charlie continued.
That confirmed it for Draco: the whole family was insane, with the exception of Ginny, of course, but even she had her moments, as he was fast discovering.
"Charlie is studying dragons in Romania," Ginny told Draco across the table.
"Oh," Draco uttered. This just confirmed his diagnosis. For the life of him, he couldn't think of a good reason for getting close to a deadly beast and here was a man actually studying some of the most deadly. You could get killed doing something like that. Not that one less Weasley in the world would have bothered him.
"Do you like animals, Draco?" Charlie asked.
"Not particularly," Draco responded with a grimace.
Ron sniggered into his hand. "He's not very good with them."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Draco asked haughtily. There wasn't anything he couldn't do or that he wasn't good at; and the thought of Weasel saying otherwise rubbed him the wrong the way.
"A certain Hippogriff didn't find you particularly nice," Ron reminded him smugly.
"That was an out of control wild beast," Draco snapped.
"Hardly! Buckbeak was harmless," Ron retorted. "He even let Harry ride him."
"Hippogriffs are harmless," Charlie added. "You just have to remember to keep your manners about you - they're easily offended."
"That's where his problem lies," Ron observed almost seriously. "He has no manners."
Draco glared across the table. "Unlike you, I was raised properly, and I have impeccable manners."
Through Ginny's gasp and several feral growls, Draco could hear Ron snort with laughter.
"Any last wishes, Malfoy?" Ron asked amusedly.
Draco suddenly became very much aware of the men sitting at the table, the very angry men. He couldn't believe he'd allowed himself to be baited by Weasel of all people. There was only one thing he could do to try and save his life. "What I meant was, I paid attention to my mother when she was teaching me etiquette, unlike you."
"Sure you did," Ron answered smugly.
A quick glance around the table assured Draco that none of the others had believed his attempt at amending his statement either. All he could do now was continue, because it was too late to back out, and there was no way in hell he was apologizing to this lot. "Anyone who knows you would agree."
"He might be stupid," George noted.
"But he has a point," Fred pointed out.
"Ginny, the least you could have done was pick someone with some functioning brain cells," Bill commented offhandedly.
"Ron and Draco aren't exactly friends," Ginny mentioned.
"More like worst enemies," Ron declared.
Ginny shot Ron a deadly glare. "What I was trying to say was they're always at each other's throats."
"Is this relevant?" Bill asked.
"Yes, because anything that is said in the heat of the moment shouldn't be counted. They're always insulting each other and it doesn't necessarily mean that they believe what they're saying about the other."
Bill considered his sister's explanation for a few moments as the two younger men scoffed. "All right, we'll let that go as normal behavior between those two."
Ginny smiled brightly at her oldest brother before sending her boyfriend a cheeky wink. What she missed was Bill leaning back in his chair casually, coughing lightly and giving a sly nod to the twins.
"I think we should order some food," Charlie announced.
"Yes, grand idea," Draco agreed quickly, thankful for the change of subject. He knew he came close to not making it out of The Three Broomsticks alive for that little slip.
The table was suddenly full of noise as everyone decided and discussed what they were going to have for lunch.
"Right, has everyone decided?" Charlie asked over the din.
Percy extracted a quill and piece of parchment from his pocket, fussily placing it on the crowded table. As everyone called their orders out, he carefully noted their preferences and then passed the parchment to Bill.
The oldest Weasley brother scanned the order quickly. "Draco, you've not ordered anything."
"Couldn't get a word in edgewise," Draco mumbled.
"Not to worry, you can accompany me to the bar," Bill responded.
Draco got the distinct impression that refusing the suggestion wasn't an option. He sent Ginny a tight smile and followed Bill to the bar. This was not how he'd envisioned today going, but then he knew he shouldn't have been surprised - after all he was now dating a Weasley.
When they reached the bar, Bill handed the order to Madam Rosmerta and Draco added his own order.
"Before we return to the table I want to have a private chat," Bill said leaning on the side of the bar.
Draco bit back the urge to tell him to go to hell and nodded to show he was listening.
"Rosmerta, can we have a couple of Firewhiskies," Bill called.
The innkeeper eyed the blond Slytherin warily.
"I turned seventeen in June," Draco said with a heavily sigh.
"Right then." Rosmerta put two tumblers on the bar and filled them a third of the way with Firewhisky. "But I'm warning you, you're not getting drunk here."
"I have no intention of over indulging," Draco assured her haughtily. He could only imagine what would happen to him if he didn't keep his wits about him while in the company of the Weasley wizards.
Bill took a mouthful of his drink and waited for Rosmerta to move away. "You'd best listen up, because I'm not in the habit of repeating myself. I know who your father is and the type of upbringing you've had. My sister is not one of your toys to be discarded when you're bored. If you hurt her, I will kill you and then Charlie will feed what's left of you to Rosie. Do you understand?"
Draco stared at the man next to him. He was having quite a time believing his life had just been threatened in such a way. It wasn't that he didn't take the man seriously, quite the opposite actually. Bill was so calm that Draco had now doubt he would follow through with his threat. "Yeah," Draco responded, taking a large mouthful of Firewhisky.
"Good. Now smile, Ginny's coming."
Draco glanced over his shoulder and sure enough his girlfriend was on her way to save him - not that he needed saving per se - with a not so happy look on her face.
"That's enough, Bill."
"What are you on about, Ginny?"
"You know exactly what I'm on about." Ginny eyed her brother dangerously. "Now leave Draco alone."
"Well, that's just charming!" Bill sighed affectedly. "I buy a bloke a drink and get accused of harassment."
Ginny shook her head at him. "Go back to the table."
Bill picked up his Firewhisky, rolled his eyes at his sister and sauntered back to the table quite pleased the boys had been able to detain Ginny long enough for him to get his message across.
"Are you all right?" Ginny asked.
"Of course." Draco smirked confidently at her. "Your brother is a real gentleman - he bought me a drink and then threatened my life."
"I should just kill the lot of them," Ginny seethed.
"Don't worry about it," Draco insisted. "Things like this are expected."
Ginny sighed and shook her head. "Can you put your testosterone back in your pocket for a moment?"
Draco snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her against him, suddenly unmindful of where they were. "I'd rather put it in you - I mean your pocket," he corrected quickly.
"I think your true thoughts were expressed the first time," Ginny observed with a cheeky grin.
"It was a mere slip of the tongue," Draco assured her. If he knew how she'd react, he wouldn't have been so worried, but fear of the unknown had him steering this relationship down the path of innocence for the time being or trying to at least.
"That better had be all that slips."
Draco stiffened as someone growled in his ear. He swallowed heavily as he shot his gaze sideways to meet the eyes of Charlie Weasley. "I-it-"
"Save your stammering," Charlie said indifferently. "I know what you're thinking. I used to be your age."
"Oh, for goodness sakes, Charlie, leave him alone," Ginny demanded.
"Now, if I did that I wouldn't be doing my job as your big brother."
Charlie's cold smile sent chills down Draco's spine. He quickly decided that the man in front of him was the most dangerous of all the brothers.
"Charlie," Ginny warned.
"As for you, it doesn't do a brother's temper any good to hear you talking like that. We might just start killing off your boyfriends before those thoughts can even form in their tiny little brains," Charlie informed her. "Now, why don't the two of you come back to the table?"
"Where you can keep an eye on us?" Ginny enquired sarcastically.
"Precisely!" Charlie beamed at his sister. "I knew you were smart. Come on."
Ginny rolled her eyes in an exaggerated gesture, grabbed Draco's hand firmly and started back in the direction of the table. "I can't believe the way this lot are acting," she hissed over her shoulder.
"They're your brothers, they're supposed to be obnoxious idiots," Draco returned in a whisper.
"Oi, I heard that!"
Draco stopped and turned to face Charlie Weasley. "Well, then you'd have ascertained that I was agreeing with your conduct, because Ginny is your sister and you see it as your job to protect her," he stated haughtily.
Charlie laughed heartily. "I think you're getting a little defensive, mate," he said as he pushed his way past the ticked off blond and walked to the table, still chuckling.
"We'll eat lunch and then we'll escape," Ginny promised.
"They're not going to just let you walk off into the sunset with me," Draco responded flatly.
"Well, if they try to stop us they're going to meet with the pointy end of my wand," Ginny growled.
Draco ran his hand down her side and around to cup her bottom. "Have I told you how irresistible you are when you're threatening to hex someone?"
Ginny's eyes flashed mischievously as her hand wandered up to his neck. She encouraged him to bend a little and when he was close enough she ran her tongue along his lips. Draco tried to pull away from her, but she kept a firm hand on the back of his neck. "Kiss me," she whispered.
"They'll kill me," Draco countered.
"I won't let them," she murmured, nipping at his bottom lip.
"I must have a death wish." Draco claimed her mouth without further argument.
He could hear her brothers complaining loudly in the background, but every time he tried to pull away she tightened her grip on him, then did something utterly wicked with her tongue. The thought that she might be trying to have him killed crossed his mind a couple of times. They might have been "good" wizards, but he was under no illusion - if they needed to kill someone they could force themselves not to enjoy it too much.
A heavy hand finally landed on Draco's shoulder. It wasn't entirely unexpected; in fact he was a little surprised it had taken so long to arrive. "Enough, Ginny, one of your brothers has his hand mere inches from my neck," Draco mumbled around her busy tongue.
With a huff of indignation Ginny pulled back, eyed her youngest brother dangerously and walked off to take her seat.
"Lunch has arrived," Ron informed Draco with a feral grin.
Draco narrowed his eyes at Ron. There was something not quite right about the way the other wizard was acting at the moment. He certainly wasn't conducting himself in his usual bumbling manner and that was a worry. Still, with lunch going cold on the table he wasn't about to worry about such things now. Draco took his seat between Charlie and the twin he was forced to sit next beside.
"I saved these from Ron's stomach," George said, passing Draco something under the table. "Madam Rosmerta brought them out for each of us. Those are delicious. Ron almost nabbed yours."
"Thank you," Draco intoned genuinely, looking at the treats in his hand.
"I'd enjoy it now, because someone is sure to pick them up if you leave them on the table," George whispered.
Draco nodded and quickly popped one into his mouth, while the other was stuffed into his pocket. As promised, it was delicious, but halfway through chewing it he began to feel a little odd.
"Draco, are you all right?" Ginny asked, concern clear in her tone.
He swallowed the sweet concoction as quickly as he could and tried to respond to his girlfriend's question, but found he was unable as the odd sensation intensified. All he could do was sit there and watch Ginny's face contort into an expression of disbelief.
"Oh my god! You gave him a Canary Cream! I don't believe you two!"
The laughter from the six men at the table was just about deafening. Draco looked down to where his lap used to be, but all he could see was feathers - snowy white feathers.
"Calm down, Ginny, he'll molt soon and you'll have your ferret back," Ron choked out through the tears of laughter spilling down his cheeks.
Sure enough, before the merriment of the others began to calm, Draco found himself sitting in a pile of feathers. "What was that?" he ground out.
"That was one of our most successful lines!" Fred responded proudly.
"The Canary Cream," George informed him.
"Brilliant-"
"Aren't they?"
"We sell-"
"A ton of them-"
"Every day-"
"Though we've-"
"Never seen-"
"Someone turn-"
"White before."
"Can't either of you finish a full sentence?" Draco snapped irritably. He was getting an almighty headache from trying to keep up with those two. The notion that they shared a brain was indeed a very real possibility.
Fred and George looked at each other and then with broad grins looked directly at Draco. "No," they answered in unison.
"If I suffer any side-effects-"
"Don't worry, there aren't any known side-effects," Charlie assured him. "Otherwise they wouldn't be able to sell them in Diagon Alley."
Draco merely growled under his breath. If only there weren't so many of them.
"Let's just eat lunch before the food goes cold," Bill suggested. "You two have had your fun now, so no more. Clear?"
The twins put up a token protest under their breath, but neither made a scene over the demand from their oldest brother.
Draco was surprised that this lot of miscreants could actually eat in a civilized fashion. Lunch actually passed with no further incidents or snide remarks, and he was astounded that they were actually conducting an intelligent conversation during the meal - not that he joined the discussion after what they'd done to him.
The moment he placed his cutlery back on his plate Ginny announced that it was time for them to move on, much to the vexation of her family. For the sake of propriety, Draco shook hands with each of the men - a gesture he would regret for the next month as his right hand was squeezed and pumped far more vigorously than necessary each time.
As they walked out of The Three Broomsticks, Draco stuffed his aching hand into his pocket to protect it from the elements. He frowned and pulled his hand from his pocket, examining the item he'd found within its confines. After the lunch he'd just endured Draco thought the sweet in his hand was just what he needed to put today back on track. Without thinking twice, he popped the sugary treat into his mouth.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ginny marched back into The Three Broomsticks furious at her brothers and even more annoyed with Draco for putting anything in his mouth that they'd given him. She hadn't even seen him eating something until it was too late and then when she was trying to ask him about what he had his eyes had simply rolled back in his head. There was no question in her mind about who was responsible for this turn of events.
As she approached the table where her brothers were still sitting they started laughing so hard not one of them could sit up straight. Even Percy was having trouble breathing.
"George, give me the antidote!"
"Can't," George answered between great guffaws.
"George, I swear if you don't hand it over now you're going to start wishing you'd never been born," Ginny growled.
"I don't have it," George swore.
Ginny's eyes went straight to her other twin brother. "Fred?"
"Aww come on, Ginny, it's just a bit of fun."
"It's not funny when you slip that stuff to unsuspecting victims."
"What's wrong with you?" Ron looked at his only sister like she'd changed personalities with someone he didn't know. "You used to find this kind of thing funny."
"Well, I don't find it funny when my boyfriend is the victim."
"Fred," Bill said nodding towards Ginny.
"Fine." Fred retrieved a small sweet from his pocket. "Here you go."
Ginny took the sweet and stowed it safely in her own pocket. She looked at each of her brothers in turn. "Don't think for one minute that you're going to get away with any of this. I'm telling Mum."
Her threat was met with yet another round of raucous laughter. Not that she stayed around long enough to let it get to her. She had a boyfriend to revive.
Back on the street Ginny knelt beside Draco and slipped the antidote into his mouth. Moments later he blinked at her as he started to wake up.
"What happened?"
"I've got a new rule for you," Ginny started patiently. "Never, ever put anything in your mouth that one of my brothers has given you."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Thanks to Rainpuddle13 for her amazing beta skills!
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