The Weasley Redhead and the Malfoy Beast

Chapter 2:

But presently she heard the Beast coming...

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Ginny didn't particularly want to go marry a beast. She'd much rather have settled down with a nice, professional Quidditch player, preferably so-and-so from this-and-that team. However, since the closest thing she'd ever get had she stayed on in merry England would no doubt have been a merry chimney sweep with a derelict sweep, she figured she might as well try her chances with a beast and cross her fingers for luck.

The Knight Bus Intl. had a slightly more expensive ticket than the regular one, but Ginny managed to bribe the conductor and the driver with a plate of cookies she'd baked in the shapes of snitches. It was no loss though; just being driven down the road of her street made her entire appetite fly through the window shield.

By the time they'd reached the English Channel and were preparing a crossover to Dunkirk in France, Ginny was looking really quite sick. However, she was prepared for this also, and slapped a Transderm Scop patch on herself grimly, meticulously avoiding looking at the other passengers, who all looked ready to hurl.

Fortunately, Ginny fell asleep soon afterwards, producing the occasional snore as the Knight bus swerved on dangerously slicked roads. Her dreams were peppered with scenes of her mother hyperventilating while her father tried to force-feed Ron a sandwich, but that was all she remembered afterwards. She was awakened when the conductor poked her with the stick end of a feather duster.

"Vienna Woods is to your left, ma'am. And may I say that your cookies were absolutely mouth-watering," the conductor hollered at her as he helped chuck her bags into the brambles lining the stop. With a large flatulent burst of exhaust, the bus lurched off again with such recklessness that Ginny swore the trees danced-no, leaped out of the way.

Coughing on the choking dust, Ginny wiped her eyes with her shirt and pulled her bags from the bushes, earning a fair amount of scratches. Nose running, eyes watering, she bravely turned left and walked on with a certainty she did not really have. What if she couldn't find the castle before nightfall? What if a bear attacked her? Was being skunked mandatory for one to find the castle? Oh Lord, she fervently hoped not. The stench would last for days. By now, Mum probably would have locked Dad in the tool shed with nothing but a pillow, blanket, and a gallon of tomato juice.

It was a pretty forest, but Ginny didn't bother to stop and look around. The fact was, Ginny didn't like forests very much. It looked alright in books or on the giant movie screens, where the heroines get lost and then rescued and then made love to in less than two hours, but actually being in a forest and wandering around aimlessly was quite a different matter. For one, it would probably take days to be rescued, much less made love to.

When Ginny's arm started aching, she stopped for a while, and dropped her bags besides her. She squatted down, not wanting to get too close to the dirty forest floor [ick! Dirt! Bugs! Decay!] yet wanting to lessen the pull of gravity on her body. Pretty soon, her legs went numb, and she fell back heavily on her bum, despite energetic waving of the arms to keep her balance. She made a face and stood up gingerly, flinching in pain as white hot needles jabbed furiously from under her skin. With both hands, she gripped the iron bars tightly, and gritting her teeth, jumped up and down furiously to wake her feet up.

And that was how the beast found her, hanging onto his black iron gate, jumping up and down like a monkey with a face that was apparently play-doh enough to mould displays of all levels of agony. No doubt, it wasn't a good impression.

"A-herm!" the beast coughed, smoothing out his white fur. Ginny, her feet having gone to that pleasant, slightly tingly stage, looked up with a slightly dopey expression, and gasped.

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa, WHOA. Oh. My. Whoa. HEL-lo." Ginny jumped back in horror and nearly tripped over her bags. The beast looked smug.

"Ah, do not be terrified, though I know my great and terrible presence can render anyone legless."

Actually, Ginny wanted to say, "Good God! Daddy was right! You really are a giant ferret!" but she deemed it unwise. Instead, she opened her mouth and tried to speak, but her throat had stopped working. The beast took this as her being in mind-numbing fear of him, and continued smiling. However, his smugness was soon curbed upon a closer look at the girl.

"Say...you aren't...a girl, are you?"

This unstopped Ginny's throat, and immediately, she exclaimed,

"Well, my father didn't suppose you were gay. I mean, not that I have anything against gay people; it's just that we never expected-"

"What are you talking about? I'm not gay," the beast cut her off with a puzzled frown.

"But...you said..."you're to give me one of your children, to be my wife!" didn't you? That's what Father said," Ginny asked slowly. The beast stared at her with incredulity.

"I never said anything of the sort. I recall saying "You'll now have to give up one of your children-for life," but that doesn't mention anything about a spouse. Besides, I'm too young to be married," he added petulantly.

For a moment, Ginny stared at the beast slack-jawed, and the beast stared back as the situation dawned on them.

"I don't want a girl to come! Go home; send a brother!" the beast ordered imperiously. Ginny blinked, astonished, then said angrily,

"Now, wait a minute! Hey-hey! Wait! Come back here! You!" She stormed angrily after the beast, hoisting her bags clumsily under her arms. "Wait! Wait!"

The beast ignored her, and instead climbed the steps to his palace door.

Ginny lost her temper.

"Stand your ground, you great big, mottled ferret!!" she shrieked, dropping her bags and making a run at the beast. As the beast stiffened in shock when the insult registered in his mind, Ginny flew into his back and brought him down in a great tackle.

"What the-!!"

"Er, sorry..." Ginny clambered up awkwardly, apologizing. She bit her lip as the white creature stumbled to his feet, dusting himself off with almost frantic gestures.

"What is wrong with you?!" the beast nearly roared. Ginny shrugged, and edged sideways nervously.

"Habit, habit. Goes with growing up the only girl with six brothers. Now- what were you saying about girls?! Say it again, and I'll brain you with my cookies!" Ginny growled, holding up a plate of gingersnaps threateningly.

"And what was that about a ferret?! YOU say it again, and you'll be buried under the outhouse!" the beast growled back.

For approximately three point two seconds, the beast and the girl glared at each other balefully. Finally, the beast spun around, nearly running into his own door as he did so.

"Fine!" he growled, throwing open the door. "Fine. You can stay. But any word, and I mean even the mention of anything furry, rodent, and household trainable, and you will be out so fast, that when you come to a stop, you'll be back home twice."

Ginny smiled grimly. "Agreed. Gingersnap?"

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