(Nobody Wants An) Out-Of-Order Wife
The oldest of the Malfoys, who lived somewhere in Great Britain, was a man with a rather cynical sense of humor. For instance, he married off his son to a woman named "Narcissa" because, Malfoy Sr. insisted, Lucius (for that was the name of the son) was a very narcissistic person. To be married to "Narcissa" would be more than fitting.
It was this cynism, perhaps, that moved him to add a clause to his will that set this as a condition on Lucius's family's inheritance: Lucius's only son, Draco, had to marry a Weasley, and for this he had a year; if the year passed and Draco hadn't managed to marry the Weasley, the Malfoys' fortune would be given away to one of the many Pro-Muggle projects that were in the making at the time.
By the time the attorney left Malfoy Manor, Lucius could barely stop himself from blasting the entire right wing of Malfoy Manor away. Indeed, his wife had to take away his wand and hide it. After he calmed down a little, "little" being the operating word here, he told his wife and son everything about the will, his tale not lacking a few insults directed to his old man. Narcissa and Draco couldn't believe it - such was their disbelief, they had to see the document with their own eyes to make sure Lucius wasn't playing with them (not that him joking about something like this would be likely). Narcissa was both surprised and horrified at Malfoy Sr.'s will, and her son was in the same state plus concerned, for he knew no Weasley would consent to marrying him.
"Ah, it doesn't matter," Lucius assured his son, "we'll curse the girl if needed, even if the curse will have a permanent effect on her." This concerned Draco even more, for if he wouldn't like having a Weasley for a wife, he would certainly hate having an affected by a curse Weasley for one. His mother supported him on this one, adding that what type of heir could someone affected by a curse produce? Eventually Lucius burst out: "Alright, you have six months to get engaged to this girl. If you haven't done it by then, I'll kidnap the girl and put her under Imperius for as long as it takes. I don't care if you have to suffer a forgetful wife for the rest of your life. Weasleys are horrid already anyway; you can't make them much worse." And with this, Draco set out to strategise. Or he would have, had he known where to start. He asked for advice, and his mother told him these wise words:
"Girls believe the man who truly loves them will do anything for them."
When the second semester of school started, Draco tried to get Ginny (for that was the name of the only Weasley female his age) somewhere alone with him, and, believe it or not, he managed it in under two days. He started to insult Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and the entire Weasley family in front of her (he was with Crabbe and Goyle, which was a lot like being alone). He watched as her expression slowly transformed into an angry one, then dismissed Crabbe and Goyle and asked her in a very nervous and worried voice if Ginny wanted him to stop insulting Harry, Hermione, and her family. She said he ought to get off their backs or else, although, in second thought, he could go on with Harry and Ron, for seeing them getting worked up was always funny, and maybe they would curse him (Draco) really badly one day, which would also be very funny. He agreed to do what she told him to do and joined Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin Common Room, where he gave them instructions to stop bothering Hermione and other Gryffindors. And from that day on, Draco didn't insult the Weasley family (except for the Ron part of it) and treated Hermione civilly.
As Valentine's Day approached, Draco wasn't nervous about not knowing what to do at all, for girls love flowers and chocolates and perhaps a sappy Valentine card and he knew that. Everybody did (know that). So he somehow trapped Ginny alone, gave her a chocolate box and a bouquet of roses with a sappy Valentine card inside it, and tried to look confused by his own acts. Ginny thanked him for the gifts and for doing what she had told him to do more than a month ago. Draco said "Anything for you" and made his facial expression turn into a confused one immediately after. This whole confused thing was part of his plan, as he figured a Malfoy had to be very confused to fall in love with a Weasley, which was what he was pretending to do. After the scene that was told two sentences ago, he left Ginny while mumbling "I have stuff to do."
During the following months, Draco did various things that made him look desperately in love with the youngest Weasley (Ginny). These things were as simple as obeying Ginny each time she told him to "Bug off" or as complex as having Goyle (or was it Crabbe?) successfully perform a hex that sent Ginny to the hospital wing for three days, seventy percent of which Draco spent at her bedside (fifty percent of the time he wasn't with her, he was running some errand for her). He also sent a rose to her every week (which eventually became every day), bought her stuff on their Hogsmeade visits, gave her a brand-new broom, told her some tips for surviving Potions class with Snape, gave her his (or rather, Parkinson's) History of Magic notes, sent her "I miss you" cards accompanied by sweets every day on Spring Break, and observed other small and not-so-small details. He even somehow managed to land himself and Ginny in the same detention, during which he did half of Ginny's job, much to her pleasure.
Right at the end of May, Draco gave the Weasley girl a serenade, complete with him singing and everything, on a rather deserted part of Hogsmeade. When the serenade ended, Ginny told Draco, not looking at his eyes but at his dyed-black hair (she had told him to dye it black the week before as a joke): "Why are you doing all these things for me? What is wrong with you, Malfoy?"
An "I thought you'd never ask!" expression flashed across Draco's face before he dismissed the musicians. When he did, he told Ginny that he "really liked" her (he couldn't bring himslef to saying he loved her). Ginny, in turn, told him that couldn't be possible, unless he had been hit on the head during Christmas Break. After some minutes debating, Draco told her about his grandfather's will but didn't tell her about his father's wish for cursing her, something he would later regret. Ginny got a rather angry look on her face and said: "Well, you could've told me earlier - would have saved you a lot of trouble. It isn't happening, it was never going to, and now much less since I know your intentions. I enjoyed your services, Malfoy, but I'll do just fine without them from now on, thanks." And she left, but not before Draco had a chance to shout to her back:
"Think about it, Weasley!"
If she ever thought about it, Draco couldn't tell, because the only occassion she spoke to him was to tell him to bleach his hair because he looked like a vampire with his dyed-black hair. Draco kept being civil toward Hermione and refraining to talk about the Weasley family, but this was out of habit more than anything else - all other courtesies he dropped.
And so the end of school came and went, without Draco being able to get engaged to Ginny. The six months expired soon after and Lucius did what he said he would: kidnap the Weasley girl and put her under the Imperius curse. He also put her in an enchanted room in the Manor, just in case. Sure enough, Ginny managed to free herself from the curse from time to time; the third of these times occured five days after she was kidnapped. This time, Draco got a chance to see her in her lucid state and convinced her to agree to marry him voluntarily, because he really didn't want to have an out-of-order wife. Before voluntarily signing the "I wasn't kidnapped, I only ran away, don't worry" letter she had written under the spell but had been strong enough to refuse to actually sign it, she asked him if she could divorce him later. Draco thought for a moment, then told her that she could, but only after twenty years or twelve children, whichever happened second. This saddened Ginny, and for a moment she hesitated about signing the letter, but Draco's begs touched her heart, and she signed it. When Lucius came back to the Manor and saw Ginny in her lucid state, he quickly put her under Imperius; yet when his son showed him the letter and explained what had happened, Lucius freed Ginny.
Three months later they married (not without opposition from the Weasley camp), yet they didn't consummate their marriage until later, for being pregnant while in school wasn't very wise (also, they didn't like each other much at that time). Then they had eight children, breaking the one-child-only tradition of the Malfoys (the point was to avoid the revelry of second children), learned to love each other, and lived happily (together) ever after.
The End
Normally, I try to have my fics be as true to canon as I can get them, and have them be at least somewhat polished, as far as the writing style is concerned. Not with this one. I wanted this to be a bit like the early literary folktales, which weren't all that spectacularly written. At least not the ones I like the most.
It was this cynism, perhaps, that moved him to add a clause to his will that set this as a condition on Lucius's family's inheritance: Lucius's only son, Draco, had to marry a Weasley, and for this he had a year; if the year passed and Draco hadn't managed to marry the Weasley, the Malfoys' fortune would be given away to one of the many Pro-Muggle projects that were in the making at the time.
By the time the attorney left Malfoy Manor, Lucius could barely stop himself from blasting the entire right wing of Malfoy Manor away. Indeed, his wife had to take away his wand and hide it. After he calmed down a little, "little" being the operating word here, he told his wife and son everything about the will, his tale not lacking a few insults directed to his old man. Narcissa and Draco couldn't believe it - such was their disbelief, they had to see the document with their own eyes to make sure Lucius wasn't playing with them (not that him joking about something like this would be likely). Narcissa was both surprised and horrified at Malfoy Sr.'s will, and her son was in the same state plus concerned, for he knew no Weasley would consent to marrying him.
"Ah, it doesn't matter," Lucius assured his son, "we'll curse the girl if needed, even if the curse will have a permanent effect on her." This concerned Draco even more, for if he wouldn't like having a Weasley for a wife, he would certainly hate having an affected by a curse Weasley for one. His mother supported him on this one, adding that what type of heir could someone affected by a curse produce? Eventually Lucius burst out: "Alright, you have six months to get engaged to this girl. If you haven't done it by then, I'll kidnap the girl and put her under Imperius for as long as it takes. I don't care if you have to suffer a forgetful wife for the rest of your life. Weasleys are horrid already anyway; you can't make them much worse." And with this, Draco set out to strategise. Or he would have, had he known where to start. He asked for advice, and his mother told him these wise words:
"Girls believe the man who truly loves them will do anything for them."
When the second semester of school started, Draco tried to get Ginny (for that was the name of the only Weasley female his age) somewhere alone with him, and, believe it or not, he managed it in under two days. He started to insult Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and the entire Weasley family in front of her (he was with Crabbe and Goyle, which was a lot like being alone). He watched as her expression slowly transformed into an angry one, then dismissed Crabbe and Goyle and asked her in a very nervous and worried voice if Ginny wanted him to stop insulting Harry, Hermione, and her family. She said he ought to get off their backs or else, although, in second thought, he could go on with Harry and Ron, for seeing them getting worked up was always funny, and maybe they would curse him (Draco) really badly one day, which would also be very funny. He agreed to do what she told him to do and joined Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin Common Room, where he gave them instructions to stop bothering Hermione and other Gryffindors. And from that day on, Draco didn't insult the Weasley family (except for the Ron part of it) and treated Hermione civilly.
As Valentine's Day approached, Draco wasn't nervous about not knowing what to do at all, for girls love flowers and chocolates and perhaps a sappy Valentine card and he knew that. Everybody did (know that). So he somehow trapped Ginny alone, gave her a chocolate box and a bouquet of roses with a sappy Valentine card inside it, and tried to look confused by his own acts. Ginny thanked him for the gifts and for doing what she had told him to do more than a month ago. Draco said "Anything for you" and made his facial expression turn into a confused one immediately after. This whole confused thing was part of his plan, as he figured a Malfoy had to be very confused to fall in love with a Weasley, which was what he was pretending to do. After the scene that was told two sentences ago, he left Ginny while mumbling "I have stuff to do."
During the following months, Draco did various things that made him look desperately in love with the youngest Weasley (Ginny). These things were as simple as obeying Ginny each time she told him to "Bug off" or as complex as having Goyle (or was it Crabbe?) successfully perform a hex that sent Ginny to the hospital wing for three days, seventy percent of which Draco spent at her bedside (fifty percent of the time he wasn't with her, he was running some errand for her). He also sent a rose to her every week (which eventually became every day), bought her stuff on their Hogsmeade visits, gave her a brand-new broom, told her some tips for surviving Potions class with Snape, gave her his (or rather, Parkinson's) History of Magic notes, sent her "I miss you" cards accompanied by sweets every day on Spring Break, and observed other small and not-so-small details. He even somehow managed to land himself and Ginny in the same detention, during which he did half of Ginny's job, much to her pleasure.
Right at the end of May, Draco gave the Weasley girl a serenade, complete with him singing and everything, on a rather deserted part of Hogsmeade. When the serenade ended, Ginny told Draco, not looking at his eyes but at his dyed-black hair (she had told him to dye it black the week before as a joke): "Why are you doing all these things for me? What is wrong with you, Malfoy?"
An "I thought you'd never ask!" expression flashed across Draco's face before he dismissed the musicians. When he did, he told Ginny that he "really liked" her (he couldn't bring himslef to saying he loved her). Ginny, in turn, told him that couldn't be possible, unless he had been hit on the head during Christmas Break. After some minutes debating, Draco told her about his grandfather's will but didn't tell her about his father's wish for cursing her, something he would later regret. Ginny got a rather angry look on her face and said: "Well, you could've told me earlier - would have saved you a lot of trouble. It isn't happening, it was never going to, and now much less since I know your intentions. I enjoyed your services, Malfoy, but I'll do just fine without them from now on, thanks." And she left, but not before Draco had a chance to shout to her back:
"Think about it, Weasley!"
If she ever thought about it, Draco couldn't tell, because the only occassion she spoke to him was to tell him to bleach his hair because he looked like a vampire with his dyed-black hair. Draco kept being civil toward Hermione and refraining to talk about the Weasley family, but this was out of habit more than anything else - all other courtesies he dropped.
And so the end of school came and went, without Draco being able to get engaged to Ginny. The six months expired soon after and Lucius did what he said he would: kidnap the Weasley girl and put her under the Imperius curse. He also put her in an enchanted room in the Manor, just in case. Sure enough, Ginny managed to free herself from the curse from time to time; the third of these times occured five days after she was kidnapped. This time, Draco got a chance to see her in her lucid state and convinced her to agree to marry him voluntarily, because he really didn't want to have an out-of-order wife. Before voluntarily signing the "I wasn't kidnapped, I only ran away, don't worry" letter she had written under the spell but had been strong enough to refuse to actually sign it, she asked him if she could divorce him later. Draco thought for a moment, then told her that she could, but only after twenty years or twelve children, whichever happened second. This saddened Ginny, and for a moment she hesitated about signing the letter, but Draco's begs touched her heart, and she signed it. When Lucius came back to the Manor and saw Ginny in her lucid state, he quickly put her under Imperius; yet when his son showed him the letter and explained what had happened, Lucius freed Ginny.
Three months later they married (not without opposition from the Weasley camp), yet they didn't consummate their marriage until later, for being pregnant while in school wasn't very wise (also, they didn't like each other much at that time). Then they had eight children, breaking the one-child-only tradition of the Malfoys (the point was to avoid the revelry of second children), learned to love each other, and lived happily (together) ever after.
The End
Normally, I try to have my fics be as true to canon as I can get them, and have them be at least somewhat polished, as far as the writing style is concerned. Not with this one. I wanted this to be a bit like the early literary folktales, which weren't all that spectacularly written. At least not the ones I like the most.