Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks to my muse for finally returning to me, to JKR for letting me play in her sandbox, and most importantly to sshg316 for coming on as beta.

Ginny walked into Danio's restaurant wearing her best business robes. They were a brilliant sapphire blue and had been ridiculously expensive. Her hair was pulled up into a smart French twist that showed off her lucky sapphire earrings. This was the first time one of the twins had asked her to handle a business meeting, and she wanted to make a good impression with their potential client, as well as hoping the twins would trust her with more responsibility. Fred had made all the arrangements for lunch.

"Good afternoon," the maitre d' wizard greeted Ginny as she walked in. "How many in your party this afternoon?"

"Two. I'm meeting someone here. His name is Toliver Forrest. Do you know if he has arrived yet?"

"Not yet, ma'am. I can seat you while you wait."

Ginny nodded her head yes and followed him to a table near the front window. After being seated in the chair that allowed her to watch the door, she ordered tea.

After twenty minutes, Ginny became irritated. She signalled for the waiter.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but has anyone rung for Ginny Weasley – a Toliver Forrest?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, no one has called looking for you."

"I'm very sorry for having taken a table during the lunch rush. If you could please bring me my bill ...." She left the statement unfinished, unsure of what to say.

She stepped out the front door of the restaurant, thinking about what she was going to say to her brother when she returned to the shop. She turned left, not watching where she was going, and slammed into an immovable object. Two arms caught her waist preventing her from falling over as she put her hands up to steady herself and found a very muscular chest under them.

"I'm so sorry," she said, looking up into the face of the man who still had his arms around her waist. "Oliver! What are you doing here?" she said, flustered, as Oliver helped her find her footing.

"I was supposed to meet Fred. He wanted to talk to me about a new product. He said to meet at the coffee shop next door, but he never arrived. And you?"

"Fred asked me to meet a new client for the owl order business, a gentleman named Toliver Forrest. But, he never showed ..." Her eyes narrowed. "Or did he? Are you sure Fred said the coffee shop, or did he mean the restaurant next to the coffee shop?"

"You know, he was talking so fast, maybe he did say restaurant."

"I think you are Toliver Forrest, and my meddling brother set me up." Ginny started pacing. "When I get my hands on him ..."

"Ginny," Oliver started.

"... both of them will wish they had never tried to interfere ..."

"Ginny," Oliver began again, watching Ginny pace back and forth in front of the restaurant.

"... can't believe they think I need them to ..."

"Ginny," Oliver said firmly, reaching out to grasp her arm and stopping her tirade. "Let's go get something to eat. I don't believe your brother is safe at the moment."

Ginny stopped short and looked at him. "I'm not certain he will be safe for quite a while," she finally said with a glint in her eyes.

"Do you know of a quiet place that we can get some lunch? I think we need to decide what to do about my scheming brother."

"I know just the place. Do you mind if I Apparate us there?"

"Not at all," Ginny said, grinning. Oliver smiled at her as he put his arms back around her waist as she settled her head under his chin.

~oOo~

Before she could fully comprehend how comfortably they fit together, Ginny found herself standing in a hallway in front of a blue door.

"Where are we?" Ginny asked as she stepped away from Oliver.

"My flat." He touched his wand to the door knob to release the wards and opened it.

"I thought we were going to eat?"

"The place I have in mind is in Muggle London. I thought you might like to Transfigure your robes. Or I could get take away if you would prefer?"

"No, I can manage, if you could please point me to your loo?" Ginny asked, not sure she was ready to be alone with Oliver and hoping a restaurant would be a safer option.

"First door on your left," Oliver responded as he pointed down a hallway.

After Ginny finished Transfiguring her outfit, she walked back to the flat's main room, finding it empty.

"Oliver?" she called tentatively.

"I'll be out in a minute. Make yourself comfortable."

Too nervous to sit, Ginny wandered around the room. What was she doing here? She was so angry at Fred that she had found herself agreeing to have lunch with Oliver before she even thought about it. She had not heard from him in the weeks since their fishing trip. She wasn't sure how she felt about Oliver. Angry, confused, hurt ... and now she would have to try to be pleasant through an entire lunch. When she returned to the shop, Fred was going to be regret ever becoming part of the Weasley family.

She noticed that the décor was nice, unlike the twins' flat, which seemed to be decorated in early bachelor, yet not as fussy as Percy's immaculately designed one. The settee was a tasteful brown leather and was flanked by two coordinating chairs. The walls were filled with framed vintage Quidditch posters, and an old racing broom hung over the fireplace. Bookcases lined one wall, the lower shelves holding an assorted collection of books. The upper shelves housed a collection of wizard photographs of Oliver with many of his friends and team mates and tourist attractions around the world.

Ginny was drawn to a picture of Oliver with a group of people in front of the Eiffel Tower. As she picked up the photo, Oliver waved and winked at Ginny while the woman standing next to him glared at Ginny before departing the picture.

"Shall we go?" Oliver asked a startled Ginny as he walked back into the room.

She hastily returned the picture to the shelf and turned to see Oliver standing behind her. He was wearing a pair of crisply ironed khaki slacks and a blue shirt that showed his nicely sculpted chest.

"I see you've met Sophie," Oliver said, pointing at the recently vacated picture.

"I'm not certain she likes me," Ginny smirked. "Maybe we should leave before she returns."

"Probably," Oliver responded as he opened the door for Ginny. "The deli is just around the corner."

~oOo~

"Yo, Ollie," Tony called as they walked in the door.

"Hullo, Tony, Joe. This is my friend Ginny. She's had a horrible morning, and I thought that she might need a treat."

"Sweetheart, wha'cha doin' wit' him?" Tony said with a bright smile. "If your day is that bad, maybe you should let me take ya out."

"Tony, did you just try pickup line number 185?" Ginny asked innocently.

Tony looked at Ginny with a combination of surprise and mild amusement.

"You will have to forgive my friend here," Oliver added as he draped his arm around Ginny's shoulders, "She has six older brothers."

"And my youngest brother wasn't exactly careful about where he hid his sourcebooks," Ginny added with a smirk as she stepped away from Oliver feeling slightly uncomfortable with the casual way he was interacting with her.

"But I think we might be able to make her day a little brighter with a meatball sub and a hoagie. If you could cut them in half, we'd appreciate it. This way we can share. Is that alright with you, Ginny?" he asked, turning to the woman standing next to him.

Ginny nodded, not completely sure what Oliver had just finished ordering.

"Why don't you find us a table while I wait for our food," Oliver added as he reached for two bags of American potato chips and two bottles of Coke.

Ginny walked to an empty table, automatically selecting one that allowed for a view of the door and was not near a window.

"Trying to avoid the sun, Ginny?" Oliver asked as he carried a tray of food to the remote table.

"Sorry, force of habit. I tend to select tables away from windows and in view of doors so I can see if the press has taken notice. Harry always hated having his meals interrupted, or worse, finding a picture taken through a restaurant window."

"That's part of the reason I like this deli – the Daily Prophet hasn't discovered it yet. But I certainly understand. Now, get ready for the most amazing lunch you have ever experienced."

Oliver tucked in and slid a plate with two sandwiches halves toward Ginny. She looked at them with trepidation. Picking up the hoagie, she took a bit into it. It was amazing.

"How's the sandwich?" Oliver asked as she swallowed the first bite.

"Good."

"The other one is a little messier but worth the sauce-covered fingers."

"I'm saving that one for a little later."

Oliver continued eating as Ginny picked at her sandwiches. Neither spoke for a while.

"Ginny," Oliver began, "is your lunch alright? Should we have gone someplace else?"

"No, it's fine," Ginny responded as she tore a piece of salami from her sandwich and took a bite.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"Ginny, would you please talk to me?"

"Where should I start?" Ginny questioned with a calm voice that did not match the wild look in her eyes. "Four months ago, my brothers managed to reveal my closest held secret to an entire roomful of people. Three months ago, my brother managed to accidentally feed me a love potion that left me snogging their best friend in the middle of the shop. And six weeks ago my other brother almost drowned you, and since then, you've been acting like a total prat."

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Oliver said, his eyes downcast as he played with the remnants of his lunch, wondering if he made a mistake asking Ginny to talk. "I can try to explain."

"Oliver, right now I'm furious with my brothers. Not only can they not resist interfering in my life, but today I thought they were finally taking me seriously as a part of the shop. I was so proud that they asked me to take this meeting today. I wore my best set of robes and everything."

Ginny took a deep breath. "I'm still mad at you, too, but I suspect that if we are going to stay friends, we should wait to talk about this until I've calmed down. You mean too much to me to just throw whatever this is away over my brother's interference." Ginny looked at her half eaten sandwich. "I think that it might be better if we come back here another day, when I can truly enjoy this lunch. Right now, I need to take a walk."

Ginny stood and walked toward the door.

"Thank you, gentlemen," she said just before she opened the door. "Your sandwiches are a work of art."

Oliver cleared the table and followed Ginny out of the deli. He took her hand as they walked down the sidewalk.

"You know I've not forgiven you."

"I'd be disappointed if the 'Queen of the Bat Bogey Hex' let me get away with being a prat with nothing more than an acknowledgement of my actions. I fully accept that it shall take me several weeks of grovelling to properly make amends. I may also try apologies number 83, 155, and 283," Oliver teased, trying to ease Ginny's foul mood.

She glanced at him, fighting the urge to smile. "I don't think I've ever been so angry at the boys that I could not easily decide how I would exact my revenge." Ginny stopped walking and turned to look at Oliver.

Oliver smiled at Ginny with a playful look in his eyes. "I think our options are to convince the boys you found me and hexed me into oblivion, or that you and Toliver spent the afternoon having sex that Merlin himself couldn't rival and you are completely over me."

~oOo~

Ginny walked into the shop shortly before closing time. Her hair was hanging loose and wild around her shoulders, and she was surrounded by an aurora of calm and serenity.

"I expected you back from lunch hours ago, Ginny," George stated as he looked up from the counter.

"How was lunch with Mr. Forrest?" Fred asked from the shelf he was restocking, trying to sound causal. "Is he going to invest in us?"

"Fred, I really owe you. You forgot to mention how attractive he was. I really loved his blond hair. We spent the afternoon negotiating a contract in his hotel room," Ginny added with a blush that seemed to extend all the way to her toes.

George raised one eyebrow in question as Fred tried to resist responding to his brother.

Blond hair? Who did she spend the afternoon with? Fred thought to himself. "And will this contract change the course of our little shop?" he asked, still trying to keep the confusion from creeping into his voice.

"Sorry, Fred. I know that you really hoped that Mr. Forrest would change the way we do business, but it seems that we were unable to come to any long term agreements. It was not from lack of trying. We started negotiating in the main room of his suite and then moved to the master bedroom. Once we abandoned our negotiations," Ginny added as she leaned lazily against the counter, "we decided that we should shower before tea. We took tea on the balcony, and I must admit I will never see the view of London the same way again."

"Ginny!" George whinged while cover his ears. "I don't want to hear this."

"But don't worry, Fred. Mr. Forrest and I did decide that we would try to negotiate again the next time he is in town. I'm exhausted now. I think I'll pop home and take a bath. Night boys!" Ginny waved goodbye and Apparated out of the shop.

"I just wanted to know who she spent the afternoon with," Fred grumbled as he waved his wand toward the front door to close the shop. Lee Jordan walked in the door just before the sign turned to closed.

"Who who spent the afternoon with?" Lee asked as he sat up on the counter.

"Ginny," George stated as he was counting the money in the till so they could owl it to their Gringotts account.

"What was she doing today?" Lee asked the twins. "I saw her ranting and raving at Oliver Wood today. Oliver is either the bravest or stupidest bloke I've ever seen. Ginny is right scary when she's angry, so I went the other way quickly."

"Are you sure Ginny was with Wood?" Fred asked.

"Unless a duplication spell has been invented."

A slow grin appeared on Fred's face. "Mates, I think it's time we go upstairs and have a Firewhisky," he announced as he finished restocking one of the shelves. "We need to celebrate!"

"Just what are we celebrating?" George asked, clearly confused.

"We need to discuss what you will do at the picnic when I win this bet," Fred responded as he headed to the door at the end of the shop.

"I may have to make time to come to this year's picnic," Lee said with a smirk as he followed Fred out the door to the stairs to their flat.

"They aren't together yet," George reminded as he waved his wand to turn out the lights and followed Fred and Lee out of the shop.