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“All right, everyone, let’s bring it down to a dull roar.”
Ginny Weasley, who was chatting with her coworker Becca Sidebottom about the latter’s recent trip to Blackpool, stopped to look up towards her boss. Barnabas Cuffe had been the editor of The Daily Prophet for several years now, and many had speculated that he would retire soon. He never seemed to slow down or give any indication that the fast-paced world of running the primary news source for Britain’s wizarding community was too much for him, however.
Ginny became a correspondent at the Prophet after a bad ankle injury removed her from playing professional Quidditch with the Holyhead Harpies. She absolutely loved Quidditch, and to be able to play and be paid to do so had been her ideal career. Unfortunately, a test match against the Falmouth Falcons ended it all. The Falcons had a reputation for being a very violent team, and one of their chasers, Anjelica Broadmoor, seemed to have it out for the redhead that day. Ginny barely had time to register the bludger that hurtled toward her head before she turned just enough that it missed and hit her square in the leg instead. She received treatment immediately after, but the healers told her that the nerve damage done was quite severe and that if she were to hurt her ankle again, it might not be reparable next time. The manager of the Harpies had no choice but to let her go. It was one of the worst memories of her life.
Luna Lovegood had been the one that had come to see Ginny every day as she had sat at home in her flat and brooded, long after her family had grown sick of listening to her whinge. Luna convinced Ginny that, although she might not be able to play the game anymore, there was no reason why she couldn’t try to find a career that involved the sport she loved. Ginny cleaned herself up and, the very next morning, went down to the Prophet’s office to apply for a job as Quidditch correspondent. Excellent player that she had been before her accident, Ginny’s reputation preceded her, and she was hired that day nearly two years ago.
“We haven’t had a group meeting for a few months now; I wonder what the occasion is?” Ginny whispered to Becca.
“Perhaps it’s to formally introduce Mr. Malfoy to the staff?” Becca suggested, raising her eyebrows at Ginny.
Ginny snorted. Draco Malfoy had joined the newspaper’s family two months prior. Her memories of him were of a rich, spoiled, cruel young man who had bullied her and her brothers. To her surprise, he had yet to say a negative word to her since they had become co-workers, but that was likely due to the fact that Ginny had not run into him around the office. She did not have a problem with this. “Well if he thinks I’m going to applaud the hiring of that git, he can just kiss my…”
“WEASLEY! Sidebottom! Is there something you’d care to share with the rest of us?” Ginny was cut off mid-sentence by the voice of her editor. They both turned to find him staring, annoyed.
“N-no sir,” Becca spluttered. Ginny just shook her head.
“Then kindly be quiet, and let us come to order.”
“Yes, sir,” Ginny said.
There were small snickers around the room. Ginny looked away from her boss and happened to catch the eye of Draco Malfoy across the room. He had an eyebrow raised and looked highly amused. Fighting the urge to hex him, Ginny quickly looked down at her shoes.
“I’ll try to make this meeting quick, so you can all get back to work. As you know, Comic Relief will be starting up again soon.”
Comic Relief was a Muggle charity event held once a year in Britain to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia and other Third World countries. The wizarding prime minister heard about the event via his Muggle counterpart and discovered that the poorer wizarding countries could use help just as much. Money was raised through the comedic efforts of celebrities and everyday people, and all accumulated funds were donated to the cause. This was the “Golden Galleon Principle,” and corporate sponsors paid for the operating costs. Ginny was quite familiar with this event, because her brothers’ store, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, was often a significant sponsor.
The editor continued. “The Daily Prophet is always a strong supporter of this cause, with free publicity of the various events, and so on, but this year I’ve decided that we should be even more active. Starting next Monday, you are all invited to come up with ways to earn money for the charity.”
There was a rumble of noise from the crowd as everyone began murmuring to their neighbours.
“HOWEVER,” Cuffe started, in a voice loud enough to hush the room again, “there are a few stipulations. Whatever you decide to do must not distract you from your job, first and foremost. It must be legal.”
“Legal? What’s he think we’re going to do, prostitute ourselves? Sell illegal potions?” Becca whispered to Ginny.
“And finally, it must be approved by me. You can do this alone or combine your efforts into teams of two. The highest earner or earning team wins my time-share in Cornwall on the coast this year.”
“Sir?” Someone spoke up.
“Yes, Braithwaite, what is it?”
“How long would the stay be for?”
“Seven days and six nights.”
The crowd erupted into conversation again, everyone excited by the prospect of a free week-long vacation on the beach.
“I thought that might motivate you lot,” Cuffe said, smiling. “We’ll have another meeting Monday morning for everyone to share their ideas and for me to give the all clear. Now, back to work!”
The crowd dispersed, and Ginny went back to listening to Becca go on about her weekend holiday some more. She wasn’t really listening, however. Instead she was mulling over ideas for raising funds.
_____
The following morning Ginny went to the small break room the staff had for a cup of coffee – if the slop that was in the cupboard could be called “coffee.” She put the kettle on and thought of how a nice holiday to someplace warm and sunny was just what she needed right now. Shortly after her Quidditch career fell apart, so did her relationship of seven years. The two weren’t related, but it wasn’t the best timing either. She hadn’t actually been out with anyone since then, though Merlin knew Luna and some other girl friends had tried their best to set her up. Ginny had politely refused, saying she wasn’t ready yet. The truth was, she was more than ready, but she wanted to find a bloke on her own. How could her friends possibly know what kind of man would be best for her when even she wasn’t sure what she wanted?
Steam rose from the spout and the kettle clicked to let her know the water had boiled. She scooped a spoonful of instant coffee into her cup, poured in the water and stirred. Placing the spoon in the nearby sink, she began to carefully walk out the door and back to her desk. She was blowing over the top of her cup and not really paying attention when someone came down the hall and bumped into her.
“AAHHH!” She managed to hold the cup out slightly from her body, but a good deal of its contents landed on her blouse and neck. It burned.
“Oh shit, Weasley! I’m so sorry!”
Ginny looked up, not recognizing the voice, to see Draco Malfoy standing there in front of her…apologising. She stood there mutely and looked at him. He wasn’t smirking or looking at her with contempt, but instead appeared to be genuinely sorry and in a bit of a panic. She noticed there was a small crease in the middle of his forehead as he spoke. This is a different Malfoy than the one I remember, she thought.
“Weasley, are you all right? Stop looking at me like a half-wit and say something!”
Oh, wait, there he is. “Half-wit? I’m the half-wit?” she sputtered.
“Well, at least I know you’re not suffering from shock.” He took the half-full paper cup from her hand and tossed it into a nearby trash bin. “How much got on your skin?”
She looked down and saw the red spots on her neck and chest. “Just up here, I think. At least, that’s the only part that seems to hurt.”
Draco glanced down at her chest to confirm her prognosis, making Ginny blush slightly, then he grabbed her by the sleeve and started leading her down the hall.
“What are you doing? Where are you taking me?”
“To fix you up,” he said.
They entered a small office towards the end of the hall with a dark wood desk, black leather executive chair, and papers neatly stacked on the desk. Ginny noticed there were also some plants in the room. Draco shut the door behind her and then walked over to one of the plants, fiddling with the leaves. He broke off part of one and turned back to face her. “Have a seat and unbutton your blouse.”
“Excuse me?”
Malfoy rolled his eyes. “I’m not trying to be fresh, Weasley, but I need to get to the burnt skin to treat you. Unless, of course, you want your skin to blister.”
She thought about this for a couple of seconds before walking over to sit and hesitantly unbuttoning a few buttons. She had thrown on a slip that day because of how sheer the blouse was, luckily, so she didn’t feel as bared. Looking down, she noticed for the first time the dark coffee stains on her top.
“My blouse…” she groaned.
As quick as a blink, Malfoy pulled out his wand, muttered Evanesco and removed the stain. Ginny was stunned. He put his wand away and started to squeeze something out of the plant leaf onto his fingertips. He walked closer and stopped just before reaching her.
“Would you rather apply it yourself?”
She looked up into his eyes and noticed for the first time in many years that they weren’t as cold as she remembered—or cold at all, really—at least not right now. They were sincere and seemed to be asking for her permission. Ginny shook her head and brushed her hair back off of her shoulders to indicate that it had been granted.
He leaned down in front of her and cautiously touched her skin. His first touch was cold because of whatever he had applied to her skin. She hissed, and he automatically flinched and pulled back.
“Did that hurt?” He looked back up at her, and she noticed how expressive his eyes were of his mood. They showed worry now.
“N-no. I just wasn’t expecting whatever that was to be so cold. What is it, anyway?”
“Magical aloe,” he said, as the worry drifted away from his eyes. “Shall I continue?”
Ginny nodded, and he began to softly apply the salve to her neck. The hot feeling in her skin was soon replaced by a cooling sensation, and the sting from the burn was leaving. She closed her eyes while he continued to make sure all the visible red parts on her neck were covered. His hands were soft and slightly warm -- not at all what she would have expected. He gently rubbed the side of her neck by her left shoulder, and Ginny felt her lips part in a sharp intake of breath. He stopped suddenly, and she opened her eyes to see his gazing back at her.
“You probably need to get that bit for yourself,” he said, gesturing to her chest with his eyes.
She looked down and nodded, slightly confused by her disappointment at the lack of contact.
“Let me get you a new leaf. I’ve used this one up already.” He turned back to the plant to retrieve another and then handed it to her. She looked down at it, baffled.
“Uh...how do I…”
Malfoy chuckled. “I see some of us paid attention in Herbology class.”
Ginny fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him and scowled instead.
“You just need to squeeze it, like so,” he said, taking one of her hands with his own to demonstrate. She felt a strange tingle from his touch, but made no indication of it. Neither did he.
“Okay, I think I’ve got it.” She squeezed until some goo came out, caught it with her finger, and proceeded to rub it onto her chest. It was definitely taking the burn away.
She drained the leaf nearly dry and inspected herself as best she could. “Did I get everywhere, can you tell?”
Draco scowled and started to look her over. “No, you missed a bit under your arm, there,” he said, pointing.
“Where?” Ginny said, awkwardly trying to locate it.
“Here.” He gently raised her left arm and applied some aloe that was still on his finger to the spot. His hand lightly grazed her left breast as he pulled it back, and Ginny felt a shiver at the intimate contact go through her. She hoped he hadn’t noticed and then felt extremely confused. He seemed helpful right now, and he would have had to have been going through a lot of trouble just to cop a cheap feel. It was obviously unintentional, but was the effect it had on her also an accident?
Mentally shaking her head to rid herself of those thoughts, Ginny looked up at him. “That feels a lot better, Malfoy. Thank you.”
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. “Well, it was the least I could do, I suppose.”
“Yes, it certainly was,” she said, smiling back at him. She took this time to actually look at his face. It was lean with harsh planes, but there was nothing harsh about his eyes. Up close, they were a soft shade of grey, not the colour of steel, as she used to hear they were back during her days at Hogwarts.
He continued to look at her for a minute before reaching his hand towards her face and abruptly pulling back. Her smile fell as she felt her heartbeat speed up at the gesture. She cleared her throat awkwardly and stood up.
“Well, I guess I’d better get back to it.”
“Yes, I have a lot of work to do as well,” he said, rising to his feet and stepping out of her way. She walked towards the door and opened it but felt the need to say something else before she left.
“See you around, Malfoy.”
“You too, Weasley.” After she had closed the door behind her and walked away, he smiled.
Later that evening, Ginny met up with Luna for dinner. This was a weekly event, usually on Monday nights, unless one of them couldn’t make it. It gave them a chance to catch up with each other for the week. Ginny had ended up staying a little later than intended to work on an article and had just enough time to Floo home and change into a nice tan dress, then Floo to the restaurant. Luna met her at the entrance. They hugged and walked in to grab a table.
Once they were seated, a waiter came over to them to drop off a basket of bread and some menus. They gave their orders quickly, as they usually ordered the same thing, and started talking.
“So, how are things?” Luna asked.
“Not too bad, thank you. Work’s the same as usual right now, really. Oh, but Cuffe mentioned we’d all be doing something for Comic Relief next week.”
“The usual donations and whatnot?”
”No, he’s holding a contest, of sorts. We’re supposed to come up with our own ideas to make money, and the highest earner gets his time-share in Cornwall for a week.”
“Oh, that’s a really lovely area! Father and I went there when I was younger and scavenged for Blibbering Humdingers. They’re quite abundant there, you know.”
Ginny bit her tongue but asked anyway, “And were you successful?”
“No, unfortunately. You’ll have to take lots of photos for me, if you do see one.”
“I haven’t won just yet, Luna! Though, I must say, I really would love to get away from here for awhile.”
“Yes, it does sound nice,” Luna said, getting that dreamy look in her eyes that Ginny knew all too well. “OH, did I tell you that I’m interviewing Newt Scamander?”
“The Fantastic Beasts author? Well done!” Ginny smiled at her friend who was currently beaming.
“I’m really looking forward to picking his brain, you know. I also have all sorts of information on the many species that he left out of that book, for some reason. Perhaps we could work on an addendum or a second volume together.”
“Perhaps!”
Luna nibbled on the end of a breadstick and then cleared her throat. “Well then, we need to come up with a brilliant idea to assure your holiday and my Humdinger pictures.”
“Definitely, but let me get some butter for this roll first.” Ginny leaned forward to reach the butter dish, her top sliding lower in front as she did so.
“Gin, what happened to your chest?”
“What?” Ginny looked down. “Oh, I spilled some coffee on it, earlier.”
Luna chuckled. “It’s not like you to be so clumsy—at least, not since Hogwarts.”
“Well, I did have help. Luckily, Malfoy had a medicinal plant in his office, and stopped most of the burning. I’m sure it’ll be fine in the next few days.”
“Malf…Draco Malfoy?”
“I told you that he works at the Prophet a few months ago,” Ginny said, breaking off a piece of buttered bread and popping it into her mouth.
“Right. I guess it’s just a little odd, because I haven’t heard you mention him since then.”
“I haven’t actually run into him before now, literally or otherwise, and, spilled coffee aside, it wasn’t as bad as I expected.”
“That was years ago in school, Ginny. People can, and often do, change, you know.”
Ginny nodded and thought back to those first years out of Hogwarts, of her own doomed relationship, and couldn’t help but agree that people did change.
After a few minutes of quiet, Luna spoke up while Ginny was taking a sip of her wine. “So, is he still as sexy as ever?”
Ginny choked.
_____
After tea, the girls hugged and said their goodbyes, then Flooed back to their respective flats, agreeing to meet again next week. Ginny went into her bedroom and removed her dress to get ready for bed. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she noticed the red spot on her chest was actually more a pinkish colour now and didn’t hurt much at all. The same was true of the spot on her arm. She thought back to the aloe plant that Malfoy had used to treat her, and then her mind trailed off to his hands applying the salve to her skin. He had been very gentle, most unexpectedly. She then recalled his hand brushing her breast and instantly felt her face warm and a strange flipping sensation in her chest.
“Oh, just stop it!” she told her body, then turned out the lights and went to bed.
_____
The next day at work, Ginny was standing in front of her desk, going through her notes and memos for the day, when a blond head poked around the cubicle wall behind her. Distracted by her reading, she didn’t notice.
“Weasley.”
“AH!” Ginny shrieked, jumping and dropping the notes from her hands. She turned around to see Draco smirking at her. “You really have to stop doing that. I’m much too young to be dying of a heart attack.”
“Hmm...perhaps I need louder shoes?” Malfoy said, still smirking.
“Perhaps.“ She fought back a smile, knowing it would only serve to diminish her previous statement. “Can I help you?”
“I was just wondering how you were doing today.”
“You mean you were wondering if I was going to report you or sue you for yesterday’s incident, Malfoy?”
His smirk dropped and his lips formed a straight line. “Yes, naturally. That would be my main concern.”
“Well, then I guess I can tell you that you won’t be written up or have litigation pending today—at least, not from me.”
The corners of his mouth lifted. “I am glad to hear—”
“—Now tomorrow might be a different story, altogether,” Ginny cut him off, wanting to get the last word in. Draco crooked an eyebrow at this, which she found kind of cute, but dismissed that notion immediately after.
“So I should check back tomorrow?”
“That would be acceptable, yes.”
He turned around to leave before Ginny said, “Oh, and Malfoy?” He turned to face her. “Maybe wear those louder shoes you mentioned before?”
He nodded and smiled at her, and she couldn’t help but return it. In fact, she smiled nearly all the rest of that day.
_____
The next day was more of the same, as was the day after that. Ginny began to enjoy their brief moments of banter, and she had the feeling that Draco did as well. She was very confused about the newfound relationship, for lack of a better word, that they had developed, and about how she looked forward to their repartee. She tried to chalk it up to something that broke up the monotony of the work day but secretly wondered if there was more to it than that.
Friday came around, and Ginny was proofreading her articles for the weekend edition, all the while peering out of the corner of her eye for Draco and his familiar blond head of hair to appear. He eventually arrived with a cup of coffee in each hand. Not in Styrofoam cups either, but in proper, tall, paper ones.
Ginny gasped. “Malfoy, is that...could it be?”
“Your brown eyes do not deceive you, Weasley. I have real, honest to Merlin coffee here, not that caffeinated shite from our break room.”
“And you need two? Long night?” she inquired, half interested if this was actually the case.
“Well, one is mine, and the other could be yours, if you would do something for me.”
“Oh?” Ginny asked, intrigued. She decided to play stubborn anyway, and stood up from her chair. “Well, never mind then. You can just keep them both.” She turned and went over to her filing cabinet, effectively turning her back on him and the coffees.
“But Weasley, you don’t even know what I’m going to ask you to do yet.”
“Knowing you, I’m sure it’s something scandalous or unbecoming. You’ll want me to eat mud, or kiss a Horntail, or give you my firstborn or something.”
Malfoy’s eyebrows rose. “Your firstborn, eh?” He acted as if he were mulling the suggestion over.
She closed her file cabinet and walked back over to her desk to face him. “See what I mean? No, there’s absolutely no way. No deal.”
He placed the cups on her desk and removed the lid from one, leaning the cup out towards her and passing it under her nose. “Are you sure about that, Weasley?”
Ginny inhaled the glorious scent of well-brewed, proper coffee. Her mouth started to water. “Now, that’s just playing dirty,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You…you…snake!”
“Slytherin,” he said, but he might as well have said, “Duh!”
“All right, all right! What do you want in return for the coffee?” She closed her eyes and waited to hear what awful request he’d have.
He replaced the top on the cup and set it in front of her. “I want you…” He left a dramatic pause to goad her, but she kept quiet, even as her heart pounded. “I want you to start calling me by my first name, instead of my surname.”
Ginny opened her eyes slowly. “Really? That’s – but why?”
“Frankly, because any time you address me, I keep looking around expecting to see my father enter the room.”
Ginny chuckled. “What an awful thought.”
“Indeed,” Draco agreed.
“All right, I’ll do my best. Does this mean you’ll be doing the same?”
“Yes, of course—if that’s allowed?”
“Y-yes. Yes, it is.”
“Okay, then.”
“Okay.”
“Good,” he said. They looked at each other for a few seconds more, and then he picked up his own coffee cup. “Well, then…”
“Err…yes,” Ginny said, growing flustered. She cleared her throat and sat back down as he turned to walk away. “D-Draco?”
He turned back to face her.
“Thank you for the coffee.”
“My pleasure…Ginny.”
_____
Ginny spent the weekend at the Burrow degnoming the garden, having a nice dinner, working a few hours at her brothers’ store, and tidying up her flat. All the events were so tiring that she was actually thankful when Monday finally arrived. She had just hung up her handbag in her workspace when Becca appeared around her wall.
“Cuffe wants to speak to all of us in five minutes.”
Sighing, she followed her friend. They walked to the communal meeting area, Ginny listening to Becca go on about her weekend, as usual. Stopping at the designated area, they found places to stand in the small crowd that had gathered.
“Oh, there’s Hannah! I have to tell her something before I forget. Back in a minute, Gin.”
Becca dashed off, leaving Ginny to look around at her coworkers, all waiting for the editor to arrive.
“Have a good weekend, Wea…Ginny?”
She turned to see the finely tailored shirt of Draco standing to the right of her. She had no idea when that had happened; he always seemed to move so quietly and quickly.
“It was busy, but not too bad. And yours, Draco?” She smiled when she said his name, as did he.
“Fairly uneventful, actually. Lounging in the lap of luxury and whatnot.”
Ginny laughed and looked up to see if he was kidding or not but abruptly stopped when she noticed he was looking at her lips. His grey eyes seemed to be studying them. Instinctually, her eyes darted down to his. Her mind was racing with various ideas, and her body impulsively started to move ever so slightly…
“Looks like I’m back just in time,” Becca said, coming back to her place on Ginny’s other side. “Hi, Malfoy.”
This interruption seemed to break Ginny and Draco both out of their temporary trance. Draco nodded towards Becca and focused his eyes back on the front of the room. Ginny flushed but did the same, as Cuffe was making his way in that direction.
“All right, when I call your name, please announce what your fundraiser activity will be. Once approved, my assistant Ted will be writing them down.”
Oh bugger, I forgot all about the contest! Ginny thought. She started wracking her brain, trying to think of ideas, all the while listening to others share their own. At least four other people were going to be selling baked goods, so that idea was out. She was still trying to come up with something viable when her name was called.
“Weasley! What will you be doing?”
“Uh…” Ginny said, biting her lip nervously. “I will be, uh…” Think, Ginevra, THINK.
“Nevermind, we’ll come back to you. Malfoy, you?”
“A kissing booth,” Ginny and Draco said simultaneously, then looked at each other, shocked.
“Fine. Ted, Weasley and Malfoy will be partners running a kissing booth.”
“Partne…wait! We’re not…” Ginny sputtered.
“Braithwaite, you?” Cuffe went on, ignoring her protests. She glanced to her side to see Draco looking at her, scowling slightly.
Once the meeting was over, Draco leaned in to Ginny and whispered, “Something wrong with the idea of me as a partner, Weasley?”
She realized he seemed affronted by her remarks, and that wasn’t her intention. “No, NO! I just wanted to win on my own, so I’d have the extra ticket to—”
He cut her off, “—Because, you know, I didn’t fancy partnering with you, either.”
Ginny frowned. “Why, do you think I won’t be any good? Think I can’t earn as much money, if not more, than you?”
He laughed without humour. “No, I don’t.”
“Fine! I‘ll wager that I can make more than you before the week is up.”
“That’ll be the day. Just to make it interesting, the loser has to give up her ticket after we’ve won the contest.”
The use of “her” was not lost on Ginny, but she ignored it. “You’re that certain that we will win?”
“Well, I’m positive that I will win, and since you’re tagging along with me…” he said, smirking at her.
“You’ve got a bet, Malfoy,” she said. They shook hands and went their separate ways.
Ginny was briskly walking down the hallway back to her cubicle when Becca caught up to her. “What was that all about?”
“Nothing. We’re partnering up for this contest along with our own challenge on the side, which I fully intend to win.”
“I gathered that, Ginny, but there’s obviously more to it than that. I thought you said you were getting on well lately.”
“We were.” She reached her chair and flopped down. “Or so I thought. I don’t really know what just happened.” Becca looked at her sympathetically, which in turn made Ginny lay her head on her arms on top of her desk. “Merlin, WHY did I think of a kissing booth? And why did he think of the same thing?”
“Given the way you were staring at each other beforehand, do you really need to ask?”
Ginny groaned.
_____
Cuffe sent out an interdepartmental memo about an hour later with a listing of all the employees and their designated choices of fundraisers. Ginny decided she had better set up a sign and bowl for the donations, should anyone come around seeking a kiss. She made a little sign that read, “Kisses for a Galleon,” and set it behind an empty old sweets dish at the front of her desk, then she tried to get some work done.
Around lunch time, she had a visitor—and not one that she was eager to see, at that point in time.
“A galleon a kiss, Weasley? Don’t you think that’s a little steep?”
“Why? How much are you charging, Malfoy?”
“Well, a galleon of course, but mine are undoubtedly worth that and more.”
Ginny’s face started to flush as she held back her quickly rising ire. “What do you think I should charge, then?”
“I don’t know...a knut, maybe?” At this point, her face had become nearly as red as her hair. He noticed but opted to not remark on it.
“You-don’t-even-know-what-you’re-talking-about,” she stammered, fighting the urge to pull out her wand and jinx him to the coastline and back.
His eyebrow rose, along with the corner of his mouth. “I guess we’ll see.” He walked away, leaving Ginny behind to simmer.
_____
That week saw plenty of people willing to pay for kisses from Draco and Ginny alike. By Thursday, Draco had noticed that Ginny was earning as much money as he was and was treating her with more respect. No more sneering at her in the hallway or if they happened to be in the same room together. Ginny was still sore at him but was glad that this was the case, whatever the reason.
Around three o’clock that afternoon, he decided to pay her a visit. She was busy reading her notes again and didn’t notice his presence until he spoke.
He walked up to her desk and looked down at her bowl. It was full of shiny galleons, similar to his collection jar.
“I see you’re doing quite well.”
Ginny broke off from her work and looked up at him questioningly. “Beg your pardon?”
“With the fundraising, I mean. That’s a nice bit of pocket money you have collected,” he said, nodding towards the dish.
“Oh,” she said. “Yes I suppose I’m not doing too badly after all.” She stared at him, waiting for a cutting remark of some sort.
“Weasley – Ginny…I’m sorry. It was incredibly rude of me to even insinuate what I did and daft of me to think that you couldn’t earn good money as well as I. I just thought that we were getting on so well, and then when you didn’t want to be my partner…I suppose my pride got wounded. I do hope you can accept my apology.” He looked at her intently, and she thought he seemed to be…holding his breath?
Ginny’s mouth feel open. He’s apologising, again! Who knew he was capable of doing that once, let alone twice? “Well, all right, Malfoy. Draco. I accept.”
He seemed to visibly relax and smiled at her. “So, between you and me, have you actually enjoyed any of the kisses you’ve had to give?”
Ginny giggled. “Have you?”
“No, not a one. One of the biddies from housekeeping has donated probably half of my earnings, as well as hers, this week. It’s revolting.” He shuddered. Ginny’s face flushed a little and she started to say something, but he cut her off. “And before you start going on about how I think she’s ‘beneath me,’ and so on, it’s because she’s old enough to be my mother, smells of cabbage, and has a moustache.”
She fully laughed at this point, feeling slightly bad for Draco and for the older woman who seemed to be using him for her jollies. After a few seconds, he joined in with her.
“I’ve not really had anything as interesting as that, no, and as far as enjoyment goes…my lips are sealed on that one.”
He gave her an impatient scowl as if he wanted to press her for more information, but he ultimately didn’t. They talked for a few minutes more about the upcoming Quidditch matches and other things they had missed while not talking for nearly four days.
“I really should be going, I suppose. I’m leaving a little early today, because I need to hide from Doris.”
“Doris? Oh, the hot lips housekeeper?” Ginny asked, smirking.
“Yes, her. Did I mention that she tried to grab my arse on Tuesday? Since then I refuse to get out of my chair until I’m sure the coast is clear.”
She stifled her laughter, though it was difficult.
“See you tomorrow?”
She nodded and smiled, happy they were on speaking terms again.
He looked at her and started to walk away then quickly turned back around, as though he had overlooked something. “Oh, I nearly forgot.” He started fishing around in his pockets, then pulled out a shiny galleon and plopped it in her collection dish. “My contribution.” He smiled and turned to walk away.
“Hey, wait!” She came out from behind her desk and quickly walked towards him. “You have to get your kiss.”
“It’s not a big deal, really.”
“No, you paid for it. Come on.” She placed her hands on his collar and pulled his face towards hers for a quick peck.
“Look Ginny, you don’t...”
He was cut off by her lips meeting his and felt like he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. She felt the same thing, and her lips instantly tingled. This reaction surprised the both of them, and they broke apart rather quickly and looked at each other, Ginny’s breathing erratic and Draco’s heavier than normal. She looked up at his eyes and noticed that they sparkled with something that wasn’t there a moment ago, but she didn’t know what it was. He stared at her fixedly, his brow furrowed, as if he were trying to solve a difficult equation, then stepped back and walked away.
She stood there for a minute before raising two fingers up to touch her lips. She felt the tingling transfer into them. “Wow.”
___
Ginny met Luna for tea that evening and was listening to her talk about the interview she’d had with Newt Scamander the day before.
“We had the most informative talk, and he really is a very interesting man—one of the few people that I’ve been able to discuss Crumple-Horned Snorkacks with on an academic level, aside from Father. His grandson took me home, and he was a very sweet man as well, not to mention very easy on the eye, and…Ginny, you’re not even listening!”
“What?” Ginny said, coming out of her daydream. “No, no, I was. Snorkacks, good looking grandson – got it.”
“Has something happened recently? Something blond and Slytherin, perhaps?” Luna asked with a gleam in her eye.
“Well, we…that is to say, I kissed Draco today. You know, for the charity thing,” Ginny said, waving her hands to dismiss it as not a big deal.
“You’re kissing Draco for charity?”
“NO, I’m selling kisses this week for Comic Relief. He dropped in a galleon and started to walk away as though it was nothing, but I insisted that he get what he paid for, and I kissed him.”
“So, how was it?”
Ginny smiled, remembering it. “Rather nice, actually.”
“Any tongue?”
“Luna!” She blushed. “It wasn’t a full-frontal snog; just a little peck.”
“That must’ve been some peck, to have you so spaced out. You’ve been smiling all evening.”
“Oh, have I?” Ginny asked, attempting to be nonchalant.
Luna giggled and sipped some of her wine. Ginny grabbed her glass to do the same.
“I’ve always wondered about the Slytherin boys, you know, particularly Blaise Zabini. Do you remember him? He certainly was one fine piece of…”
For the second time in two weeks, Ginny choked on her wine.
___
The next day was Friday and the last day for the fundraiser and contest. Ginny decided she wasn’t in the mood for kissing any of her coworkers today, save maybe one, and took her sign down early. Cuffe had arranged for everyone to turn in their earnings at a three o’clock meeting.
Ginny kept her head buried in her work but occasionally looked out of the corner of her eye for Draco. Unfortunately, he seemed to be keeping busy, as well.
Three o’clock came around, and Becca came by to see how much Ginny had earned.
“Sixty-three galleons – not bad! I only made twenty-seven.”
“Hey, that’s more than respectable, and it all goes to charity, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, that is true. I suppose I can’t feel bad, since I’ve already had a few holidays on the shore this year. I’ll be pulling for you instead!”
“Thank you, dear,” Ginny said, hugging her friend.
They walked up and stood in a line in front of the table at which the editor and his assistant were seated. Ted stood up and announced, “Please make sure to come up with your partners, if you have them, so we can count your total earnings.”
Ginny looked around for Draco and spotted him coming towards her from the other side of the room. He had a jar in his hands with a significant amount of money in it. Ginny held her dish in her arms.
“Hey,” she said when he reached her side.
“Hey, yourself.”
“I made sixty-three galleons. How about you?”
“Why don’t we just wait and see?” he said, smirking at her.
Still as cocky as ever. “All right, Mr. Big Earner.”
They finally reached the front of line and Ginny placed her money dish on the table in front of Barnabas. “Weasley and Malfoy. Total?”
Ginny said, “I earned sixty-three galleons.”
Ted wrote that down. “And you, Malfoy?”
“One hundred thirty-seven galleons.”
Ginny’s jaw dropped.
“Wow, two hundred galleons total for you two? Well done. Well done, indeed!” Cuffe said, seeming very pleased.
“Thank you, sir. It really was a team effort,” Draco said, looking at Ginny. She made no move to go, so he lightly grasped her by the elbow and led her out of the line so that the next team could give their totals. The next thing she knew, she was back in his office. He closed the door.
“One hundred thirty-seven galleons, Malfoy—I mean—Draco? Merlin, that’s a LOT of snogging!”
“Hey, it was for charity! And I earned every single sickle of it. The housekeeper alone was probably half of it.”
Ginny stared at him after his proclamation, then burst out laughing. “You’re right. I’m sorry. You did what you had to do, clearly.”
“Thank you for agreeing,” he said, playing as though he was hurt by her assumptions.
“Well, assuming we win...”
“Oh, we will win. I’ve asked around, and no one even has close to what we do.”
“Then I guess that means you’ve got two tickets to Cornwall for yourself.”
“I guess so, Ginny.”
”A bet is a bet, after all.”
“That’s true,” Draco said, walking closer to her.
“And you won. Rightly so,” Ginny said, stepping closer to him.
“That I did,” he said, standing about a foot away from her. “Though, you did pretty well yourself, but I wouldn’t have expected otherwise.”
“Well, I would’ve had only sixty-two galleons if not for your gracious donation, yesterday.”
“Sixty-two? Did you not get any donations today?”
“I stopped taking donations yesterday...after I gave you your kiss.”
“Oh?” he said, smiling widely. He reached out, as she remembered him doing before, but this time he cupped her face, his thumb running slowly along her cheek.
“Yes, Draco,” she said, leaning into his warm hand.
“Any chance of getting another?” he asked, while looking at her lips.
”I don’t know...do you have a galleon on you?” she asked jokingly. “Because, if not...”
His hand slid around to the nape of her neck, pulling her closer, and he leaned down and took her mouth with his. The contact rocked both of them again, the electrical feeling as strong as before. Her lips parted in welcome, and she met his tongue with her own when he slipped it into her mouth. As soon as her tongue touched his, he groaned, nearly making Ginny weak in the knees at the sound of it. Her palms raced up his chest to rest behind his neck, her fingers weaving into his hair. His free hand grasped her at the waist in an attempt to hold them both steady.
Eventually they parted for air. Draco rested his forehead against Ginny’s as they both attempted to catch their breath.
“Wow,” he said.
“Ditto,” she replied, smiling up at him.
They stood there for a moment, embracing and looking at each other as if they were the only two people of consequence, until there was a knock at Draco’s office door.
The sound broke them out of their reverie.
“Do you think that if we ignore them, they’ll go away?” he asked.
”Maybe. Unless it’s Doris, back for seconds, or fifty-thirds, or whatever number she’s up to.”
Draco scrunched up his face in disgust, and Ginny laughed softly. Even that was adorable on him. “Yes?”
“Malfoy, is Weasley with you?” It was Ted. “Cuffe wants to see you both in his office about the contest. You’ve won.”
Ginny broke into a huge grin, and Draco gave her a smug, I-told-you-so look. “We’ll be right there.”
They reluctantly removed their hands from each other and stepped apart. Ginny did her best to straighten her clothing while Draco looked as perfect and put together as he usually did. She stepped forward to open the door.
“Ginny?”
She turned around to face him. “Yeah?”
“I believe the tickets for the holiday aren’t due to be used until summer, which is still a few weeks away. Perhaps you know someone who might be interested in joining me?”
“I might be able to think of someone who would like to go, but you’d have to bring along some of that aloe for when her fair skin gets burnt from lying on the beach,” she said, then winked at him before strutting out of the office. He trailed behind her with a huge, silly smile on his face, suddenly very eager for June.
Ginny Weasley, who was chatting with her coworker Becca Sidebottom about the latter’s recent trip to Blackpool, stopped to look up towards her boss. Barnabas Cuffe had been the editor of The Daily Prophet for several years now, and many had speculated that he would retire soon. He never seemed to slow down or give any indication that the fast-paced world of running the primary news source for Britain’s wizarding community was too much for him, however.
Ginny became a correspondent at the Prophet after a bad ankle injury removed her from playing professional Quidditch with the Holyhead Harpies. She absolutely loved Quidditch, and to be able to play and be paid to do so had been her ideal career. Unfortunately, a test match against the Falmouth Falcons ended it all. The Falcons had a reputation for being a very violent team, and one of their chasers, Anjelica Broadmoor, seemed to have it out for the redhead that day. Ginny barely had time to register the bludger that hurtled toward her head before she turned just enough that it missed and hit her square in the leg instead. She received treatment immediately after, but the healers told her that the nerve damage done was quite severe and that if she were to hurt her ankle again, it might not be reparable next time. The manager of the Harpies had no choice but to let her go. It was one of the worst memories of her life.
Luna Lovegood had been the one that had come to see Ginny every day as she had sat at home in her flat and brooded, long after her family had grown sick of listening to her whinge. Luna convinced Ginny that, although she might not be able to play the game anymore, there was no reason why she couldn’t try to find a career that involved the sport she loved. Ginny cleaned herself up and, the very next morning, went down to the Prophet’s office to apply for a job as Quidditch correspondent. Excellent player that she had been before her accident, Ginny’s reputation preceded her, and she was hired that day nearly two years ago.
“We haven’t had a group meeting for a few months now; I wonder what the occasion is?” Ginny whispered to Becca.
“Perhaps it’s to formally introduce Mr. Malfoy to the staff?” Becca suggested, raising her eyebrows at Ginny.
Ginny snorted. Draco Malfoy had joined the newspaper’s family two months prior. Her memories of him were of a rich, spoiled, cruel young man who had bullied her and her brothers. To her surprise, he had yet to say a negative word to her since they had become co-workers, but that was likely due to the fact that Ginny had not run into him around the office. She did not have a problem with this. “Well if he thinks I’m going to applaud the hiring of that git, he can just kiss my…”
“WEASLEY! Sidebottom! Is there something you’d care to share with the rest of us?” Ginny was cut off mid-sentence by the voice of her editor. They both turned to find him staring, annoyed.
“N-no sir,” Becca spluttered. Ginny just shook her head.
“Then kindly be quiet, and let us come to order.”
“Yes, sir,” Ginny said.
There were small snickers around the room. Ginny looked away from her boss and happened to catch the eye of Draco Malfoy across the room. He had an eyebrow raised and looked highly amused. Fighting the urge to hex him, Ginny quickly looked down at her shoes.
“I’ll try to make this meeting quick, so you can all get back to work. As you know, Comic Relief will be starting up again soon.”
Comic Relief was a Muggle charity event held once a year in Britain to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia and other Third World countries. The wizarding prime minister heard about the event via his Muggle counterpart and discovered that the poorer wizarding countries could use help just as much. Money was raised through the comedic efforts of celebrities and everyday people, and all accumulated funds were donated to the cause. This was the “Golden Galleon Principle,” and corporate sponsors paid for the operating costs. Ginny was quite familiar with this event, because her brothers’ store, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, was often a significant sponsor.
The editor continued. “The Daily Prophet is always a strong supporter of this cause, with free publicity of the various events, and so on, but this year I’ve decided that we should be even more active. Starting next Monday, you are all invited to come up with ways to earn money for the charity.”
There was a rumble of noise from the crowd as everyone began murmuring to their neighbours.
“HOWEVER,” Cuffe started, in a voice loud enough to hush the room again, “there are a few stipulations. Whatever you decide to do must not distract you from your job, first and foremost. It must be legal.”
“Legal? What’s he think we’re going to do, prostitute ourselves? Sell illegal potions?” Becca whispered to Ginny.
“And finally, it must be approved by me. You can do this alone or combine your efforts into teams of two. The highest earner or earning team wins my time-share in Cornwall on the coast this year.”
“Sir?” Someone spoke up.
“Yes, Braithwaite, what is it?”
“How long would the stay be for?”
“Seven days and six nights.”
The crowd erupted into conversation again, everyone excited by the prospect of a free week-long vacation on the beach.
“I thought that might motivate you lot,” Cuffe said, smiling. “We’ll have another meeting Monday morning for everyone to share their ideas and for me to give the all clear. Now, back to work!”
The crowd dispersed, and Ginny went back to listening to Becca go on about her weekend holiday some more. She wasn’t really listening, however. Instead she was mulling over ideas for raising funds.
_____
The following morning Ginny went to the small break room the staff had for a cup of coffee – if the slop that was in the cupboard could be called “coffee.” She put the kettle on and thought of how a nice holiday to someplace warm and sunny was just what she needed right now. Shortly after her Quidditch career fell apart, so did her relationship of seven years. The two weren’t related, but it wasn’t the best timing either. She hadn’t actually been out with anyone since then, though Merlin knew Luna and some other girl friends had tried their best to set her up. Ginny had politely refused, saying she wasn’t ready yet. The truth was, she was more than ready, but she wanted to find a bloke on her own. How could her friends possibly know what kind of man would be best for her when even she wasn’t sure what she wanted?
Steam rose from the spout and the kettle clicked to let her know the water had boiled. She scooped a spoonful of instant coffee into her cup, poured in the water and stirred. Placing the spoon in the nearby sink, she began to carefully walk out the door and back to her desk. She was blowing over the top of her cup and not really paying attention when someone came down the hall and bumped into her.
“AAHHH!” She managed to hold the cup out slightly from her body, but a good deal of its contents landed on her blouse and neck. It burned.
“Oh shit, Weasley! I’m so sorry!”
Ginny looked up, not recognizing the voice, to see Draco Malfoy standing there in front of her…apologising. She stood there mutely and looked at him. He wasn’t smirking or looking at her with contempt, but instead appeared to be genuinely sorry and in a bit of a panic. She noticed there was a small crease in the middle of his forehead as he spoke. This is a different Malfoy than the one I remember, she thought.
“Weasley, are you all right? Stop looking at me like a half-wit and say something!”
Oh, wait, there he is. “Half-wit? I’m the half-wit?” she sputtered.
“Well, at least I know you’re not suffering from shock.” He took the half-full paper cup from her hand and tossed it into a nearby trash bin. “How much got on your skin?”
She looked down and saw the red spots on her neck and chest. “Just up here, I think. At least, that’s the only part that seems to hurt.”
Draco glanced down at her chest to confirm her prognosis, making Ginny blush slightly, then he grabbed her by the sleeve and started leading her down the hall.
“What are you doing? Where are you taking me?”
“To fix you up,” he said.
They entered a small office towards the end of the hall with a dark wood desk, black leather executive chair, and papers neatly stacked on the desk. Ginny noticed there were also some plants in the room. Draco shut the door behind her and then walked over to one of the plants, fiddling with the leaves. He broke off part of one and turned back to face her. “Have a seat and unbutton your blouse.”
“Excuse me?”
Malfoy rolled his eyes. “I’m not trying to be fresh, Weasley, but I need to get to the burnt skin to treat you. Unless, of course, you want your skin to blister.”
She thought about this for a couple of seconds before walking over to sit and hesitantly unbuttoning a few buttons. She had thrown on a slip that day because of how sheer the blouse was, luckily, so she didn’t feel as bared. Looking down, she noticed for the first time the dark coffee stains on her top.
“My blouse…” she groaned.
As quick as a blink, Malfoy pulled out his wand, muttered Evanesco and removed the stain. Ginny was stunned. He put his wand away and started to squeeze something out of the plant leaf onto his fingertips. He walked closer and stopped just before reaching her.
“Would you rather apply it yourself?”
She looked up into his eyes and noticed for the first time in many years that they weren’t as cold as she remembered—or cold at all, really—at least not right now. They were sincere and seemed to be asking for her permission. Ginny shook her head and brushed her hair back off of her shoulders to indicate that it had been granted.
He leaned down in front of her and cautiously touched her skin. His first touch was cold because of whatever he had applied to her skin. She hissed, and he automatically flinched and pulled back.
“Did that hurt?” He looked back up at her, and she noticed how expressive his eyes were of his mood. They showed worry now.
“N-no. I just wasn’t expecting whatever that was to be so cold. What is it, anyway?”
“Magical aloe,” he said, as the worry drifted away from his eyes. “Shall I continue?”
Ginny nodded, and he began to softly apply the salve to her neck. The hot feeling in her skin was soon replaced by a cooling sensation, and the sting from the burn was leaving. She closed her eyes while he continued to make sure all the visible red parts on her neck were covered. His hands were soft and slightly warm -- not at all what she would have expected. He gently rubbed the side of her neck by her left shoulder, and Ginny felt her lips part in a sharp intake of breath. He stopped suddenly, and she opened her eyes to see his gazing back at her.
“You probably need to get that bit for yourself,” he said, gesturing to her chest with his eyes.
She looked down and nodded, slightly confused by her disappointment at the lack of contact.
“Let me get you a new leaf. I’ve used this one up already.” He turned back to the plant to retrieve another and then handed it to her. She looked down at it, baffled.
“Uh...how do I…”
Malfoy chuckled. “I see some of us paid attention in Herbology class.”
Ginny fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him and scowled instead.
“You just need to squeeze it, like so,” he said, taking one of her hands with his own to demonstrate. She felt a strange tingle from his touch, but made no indication of it. Neither did he.
“Okay, I think I’ve got it.” She squeezed until some goo came out, caught it with her finger, and proceeded to rub it onto her chest. It was definitely taking the burn away.
She drained the leaf nearly dry and inspected herself as best she could. “Did I get everywhere, can you tell?”
Draco scowled and started to look her over. “No, you missed a bit under your arm, there,” he said, pointing.
“Where?” Ginny said, awkwardly trying to locate it.
“Here.” He gently raised her left arm and applied some aloe that was still on his finger to the spot. His hand lightly grazed her left breast as he pulled it back, and Ginny felt a shiver at the intimate contact go through her. She hoped he hadn’t noticed and then felt extremely confused. He seemed helpful right now, and he would have had to have been going through a lot of trouble just to cop a cheap feel. It was obviously unintentional, but was the effect it had on her also an accident?
Mentally shaking her head to rid herself of those thoughts, Ginny looked up at him. “That feels a lot better, Malfoy. Thank you.”
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. “Well, it was the least I could do, I suppose.”
“Yes, it certainly was,” she said, smiling back at him. She took this time to actually look at his face. It was lean with harsh planes, but there was nothing harsh about his eyes. Up close, they were a soft shade of grey, not the colour of steel, as she used to hear they were back during her days at Hogwarts.
He continued to look at her for a minute before reaching his hand towards her face and abruptly pulling back. Her smile fell as she felt her heartbeat speed up at the gesture. She cleared her throat awkwardly and stood up.
“Well, I guess I’d better get back to it.”
“Yes, I have a lot of work to do as well,” he said, rising to his feet and stepping out of her way. She walked towards the door and opened it but felt the need to say something else before she left.
“See you around, Malfoy.”
“You too, Weasley.” After she had closed the door behind her and walked away, he smiled.
Later that evening, Ginny met up with Luna for dinner. This was a weekly event, usually on Monday nights, unless one of them couldn’t make it. It gave them a chance to catch up with each other for the week. Ginny had ended up staying a little later than intended to work on an article and had just enough time to Floo home and change into a nice tan dress, then Floo to the restaurant. Luna met her at the entrance. They hugged and walked in to grab a table.
Once they were seated, a waiter came over to them to drop off a basket of bread and some menus. They gave their orders quickly, as they usually ordered the same thing, and started talking.
“So, how are things?” Luna asked.
“Not too bad, thank you. Work’s the same as usual right now, really. Oh, but Cuffe mentioned we’d all be doing something for Comic Relief next week.”
“The usual donations and whatnot?”
”No, he’s holding a contest, of sorts. We’re supposed to come up with our own ideas to make money, and the highest earner gets his time-share in Cornwall for a week.”
“Oh, that’s a really lovely area! Father and I went there when I was younger and scavenged for Blibbering Humdingers. They’re quite abundant there, you know.”
Ginny bit her tongue but asked anyway, “And were you successful?”
“No, unfortunately. You’ll have to take lots of photos for me, if you do see one.”
“I haven’t won just yet, Luna! Though, I must say, I really would love to get away from here for awhile.”
“Yes, it does sound nice,” Luna said, getting that dreamy look in her eyes that Ginny knew all too well. “OH, did I tell you that I’m interviewing Newt Scamander?”
“The Fantastic Beasts author? Well done!” Ginny smiled at her friend who was currently beaming.
“I’m really looking forward to picking his brain, you know. I also have all sorts of information on the many species that he left out of that book, for some reason. Perhaps we could work on an addendum or a second volume together.”
“Perhaps!”
Luna nibbled on the end of a breadstick and then cleared her throat. “Well then, we need to come up with a brilliant idea to assure your holiday and my Humdinger pictures.”
“Definitely, but let me get some butter for this roll first.” Ginny leaned forward to reach the butter dish, her top sliding lower in front as she did so.
“Gin, what happened to your chest?”
“What?” Ginny looked down. “Oh, I spilled some coffee on it, earlier.”
Luna chuckled. “It’s not like you to be so clumsy—at least, not since Hogwarts.”
“Well, I did have help. Luckily, Malfoy had a medicinal plant in his office, and stopped most of the burning. I’m sure it’ll be fine in the next few days.”
“Malf…Draco Malfoy?”
“I told you that he works at the Prophet a few months ago,” Ginny said, breaking off a piece of buttered bread and popping it into her mouth.
“Right. I guess it’s just a little odd, because I haven’t heard you mention him since then.”
“I haven’t actually run into him before now, literally or otherwise, and, spilled coffee aside, it wasn’t as bad as I expected.”
“That was years ago in school, Ginny. People can, and often do, change, you know.”
Ginny nodded and thought back to those first years out of Hogwarts, of her own doomed relationship, and couldn’t help but agree that people did change.
After a few minutes of quiet, Luna spoke up while Ginny was taking a sip of her wine. “So, is he still as sexy as ever?”
Ginny choked.
_____
After tea, the girls hugged and said their goodbyes, then Flooed back to their respective flats, agreeing to meet again next week. Ginny went into her bedroom and removed her dress to get ready for bed. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she noticed the red spot on her chest was actually more a pinkish colour now and didn’t hurt much at all. The same was true of the spot on her arm. She thought back to the aloe plant that Malfoy had used to treat her, and then her mind trailed off to his hands applying the salve to her skin. He had been very gentle, most unexpectedly. She then recalled his hand brushing her breast and instantly felt her face warm and a strange flipping sensation in her chest.
“Oh, just stop it!” she told her body, then turned out the lights and went to bed.
_____
The next day at work, Ginny was standing in front of her desk, going through her notes and memos for the day, when a blond head poked around the cubicle wall behind her. Distracted by her reading, she didn’t notice.
“Weasley.”
“AH!” Ginny shrieked, jumping and dropping the notes from her hands. She turned around to see Draco smirking at her. “You really have to stop doing that. I’m much too young to be dying of a heart attack.”
“Hmm...perhaps I need louder shoes?” Malfoy said, still smirking.
“Perhaps.“ She fought back a smile, knowing it would only serve to diminish her previous statement. “Can I help you?”
“I was just wondering how you were doing today.”
“You mean you were wondering if I was going to report you or sue you for yesterday’s incident, Malfoy?”
His smirk dropped and his lips formed a straight line. “Yes, naturally. That would be my main concern.”
“Well, then I guess I can tell you that you won’t be written up or have litigation pending today—at least, not from me.”
The corners of his mouth lifted. “I am glad to hear—”
“—Now tomorrow might be a different story, altogether,” Ginny cut him off, wanting to get the last word in. Draco crooked an eyebrow at this, which she found kind of cute, but dismissed that notion immediately after.
“So I should check back tomorrow?”
“That would be acceptable, yes.”
He turned around to leave before Ginny said, “Oh, and Malfoy?” He turned to face her. “Maybe wear those louder shoes you mentioned before?”
He nodded and smiled at her, and she couldn’t help but return it. In fact, she smiled nearly all the rest of that day.
_____
The next day was more of the same, as was the day after that. Ginny began to enjoy their brief moments of banter, and she had the feeling that Draco did as well. She was very confused about the newfound relationship, for lack of a better word, that they had developed, and about how she looked forward to their repartee. She tried to chalk it up to something that broke up the monotony of the work day but secretly wondered if there was more to it than that.
Friday came around, and Ginny was proofreading her articles for the weekend edition, all the while peering out of the corner of her eye for Draco and his familiar blond head of hair to appear. He eventually arrived with a cup of coffee in each hand. Not in Styrofoam cups either, but in proper, tall, paper ones.
Ginny gasped. “Malfoy, is that...could it be?”
“Your brown eyes do not deceive you, Weasley. I have real, honest to Merlin coffee here, not that caffeinated shite from our break room.”
“And you need two? Long night?” she inquired, half interested if this was actually the case.
“Well, one is mine, and the other could be yours, if you would do something for me.”
“Oh?” Ginny asked, intrigued. She decided to play stubborn anyway, and stood up from her chair. “Well, never mind then. You can just keep them both.” She turned and went over to her filing cabinet, effectively turning her back on him and the coffees.
“But Weasley, you don’t even know what I’m going to ask you to do yet.”
“Knowing you, I’m sure it’s something scandalous or unbecoming. You’ll want me to eat mud, or kiss a Horntail, or give you my firstborn or something.”
Malfoy’s eyebrows rose. “Your firstborn, eh?” He acted as if he were mulling the suggestion over.
She closed her file cabinet and walked back over to her desk to face him. “See what I mean? No, there’s absolutely no way. No deal.”
He placed the cups on her desk and removed the lid from one, leaning the cup out towards her and passing it under her nose. “Are you sure about that, Weasley?”
Ginny inhaled the glorious scent of well-brewed, proper coffee. Her mouth started to water. “Now, that’s just playing dirty,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You…you…snake!”
“Slytherin,” he said, but he might as well have said, “Duh!”
“All right, all right! What do you want in return for the coffee?” She closed her eyes and waited to hear what awful request he’d have.
He replaced the top on the cup and set it in front of her. “I want you…” He left a dramatic pause to goad her, but she kept quiet, even as her heart pounded. “I want you to start calling me by my first name, instead of my surname.”
Ginny opened her eyes slowly. “Really? That’s – but why?”
“Frankly, because any time you address me, I keep looking around expecting to see my father enter the room.”
Ginny chuckled. “What an awful thought.”
“Indeed,” Draco agreed.
“All right, I’ll do my best. Does this mean you’ll be doing the same?”
“Yes, of course—if that’s allowed?”
“Y-yes. Yes, it is.”
“Okay, then.”
“Okay.”
“Good,” he said. They looked at each other for a few seconds more, and then he picked up his own coffee cup. “Well, then…”
“Err…yes,” Ginny said, growing flustered. She cleared her throat and sat back down as he turned to walk away. “D-Draco?”
He turned back to face her.
“Thank you for the coffee.”
“My pleasure…Ginny.”
_____
Ginny spent the weekend at the Burrow degnoming the garden, having a nice dinner, working a few hours at her brothers’ store, and tidying up her flat. All the events were so tiring that she was actually thankful when Monday finally arrived. She had just hung up her handbag in her workspace when Becca appeared around her wall.
“Cuffe wants to speak to all of us in five minutes.”
Sighing, she followed her friend. They walked to the communal meeting area, Ginny listening to Becca go on about her weekend, as usual. Stopping at the designated area, they found places to stand in the small crowd that had gathered.
“Oh, there’s Hannah! I have to tell her something before I forget. Back in a minute, Gin.”
Becca dashed off, leaving Ginny to look around at her coworkers, all waiting for the editor to arrive.
“Have a good weekend, Wea…Ginny?”
She turned to see the finely tailored shirt of Draco standing to the right of her. She had no idea when that had happened; he always seemed to move so quietly and quickly.
“It was busy, but not too bad. And yours, Draco?” She smiled when she said his name, as did he.
“Fairly uneventful, actually. Lounging in the lap of luxury and whatnot.”
Ginny laughed and looked up to see if he was kidding or not but abruptly stopped when she noticed he was looking at her lips. His grey eyes seemed to be studying them. Instinctually, her eyes darted down to his. Her mind was racing with various ideas, and her body impulsively started to move ever so slightly…
“Looks like I’m back just in time,” Becca said, coming back to her place on Ginny’s other side. “Hi, Malfoy.”
This interruption seemed to break Ginny and Draco both out of their temporary trance. Draco nodded towards Becca and focused his eyes back on the front of the room. Ginny flushed but did the same, as Cuffe was making his way in that direction.
“All right, when I call your name, please announce what your fundraiser activity will be. Once approved, my assistant Ted will be writing them down.”
Oh bugger, I forgot all about the contest! Ginny thought. She started wracking her brain, trying to think of ideas, all the while listening to others share their own. At least four other people were going to be selling baked goods, so that idea was out. She was still trying to come up with something viable when her name was called.
“Weasley! What will you be doing?”
“Uh…” Ginny said, biting her lip nervously. “I will be, uh…” Think, Ginevra, THINK.
“Nevermind, we’ll come back to you. Malfoy, you?”
“A kissing booth,” Ginny and Draco said simultaneously, then looked at each other, shocked.
“Fine. Ted, Weasley and Malfoy will be partners running a kissing booth.”
“Partne…wait! We’re not…” Ginny sputtered.
“Braithwaite, you?” Cuffe went on, ignoring her protests. She glanced to her side to see Draco looking at her, scowling slightly.
Once the meeting was over, Draco leaned in to Ginny and whispered, “Something wrong with the idea of me as a partner, Weasley?”
She realized he seemed affronted by her remarks, and that wasn’t her intention. “No, NO! I just wanted to win on my own, so I’d have the extra ticket to—”
He cut her off, “—Because, you know, I didn’t fancy partnering with you, either.”
Ginny frowned. “Why, do you think I won’t be any good? Think I can’t earn as much money, if not more, than you?”
He laughed without humour. “No, I don’t.”
“Fine! I‘ll wager that I can make more than you before the week is up.”
“That’ll be the day. Just to make it interesting, the loser has to give up her ticket after we’ve won the contest.”
The use of “her” was not lost on Ginny, but she ignored it. “You’re that certain that we will win?”
“Well, I’m positive that I will win, and since you’re tagging along with me…” he said, smirking at her.
“You’ve got a bet, Malfoy,” she said. They shook hands and went their separate ways.
Ginny was briskly walking down the hallway back to her cubicle when Becca caught up to her. “What was that all about?”
“Nothing. We’re partnering up for this contest along with our own challenge on the side, which I fully intend to win.”
“I gathered that, Ginny, but there’s obviously more to it than that. I thought you said you were getting on well lately.”
“We were.” She reached her chair and flopped down. “Or so I thought. I don’t really know what just happened.” Becca looked at her sympathetically, which in turn made Ginny lay her head on her arms on top of her desk. “Merlin, WHY did I think of a kissing booth? And why did he think of the same thing?”
“Given the way you were staring at each other beforehand, do you really need to ask?”
Ginny groaned.
_____
Cuffe sent out an interdepartmental memo about an hour later with a listing of all the employees and their designated choices of fundraisers. Ginny decided she had better set up a sign and bowl for the donations, should anyone come around seeking a kiss. She made a little sign that read, “Kisses for a Galleon,” and set it behind an empty old sweets dish at the front of her desk, then she tried to get some work done.
Around lunch time, she had a visitor—and not one that she was eager to see, at that point in time.
“A galleon a kiss, Weasley? Don’t you think that’s a little steep?”
“Why? How much are you charging, Malfoy?”
“Well, a galleon of course, but mine are undoubtedly worth that and more.”
Ginny’s face started to flush as she held back her quickly rising ire. “What do you think I should charge, then?”
“I don’t know...a knut, maybe?” At this point, her face had become nearly as red as her hair. He noticed but opted to not remark on it.
“You-don’t-even-know-what-you’re-talking-about,” she stammered, fighting the urge to pull out her wand and jinx him to the coastline and back.
His eyebrow rose, along with the corner of his mouth. “I guess we’ll see.” He walked away, leaving Ginny behind to simmer.
_____
That week saw plenty of people willing to pay for kisses from Draco and Ginny alike. By Thursday, Draco had noticed that Ginny was earning as much money as he was and was treating her with more respect. No more sneering at her in the hallway or if they happened to be in the same room together. Ginny was still sore at him but was glad that this was the case, whatever the reason.
Around three o’clock that afternoon, he decided to pay her a visit. She was busy reading her notes again and didn’t notice his presence until he spoke.
He walked up to her desk and looked down at her bowl. It was full of shiny galleons, similar to his collection jar.
“I see you’re doing quite well.”
Ginny broke off from her work and looked up at him questioningly. “Beg your pardon?”
“With the fundraising, I mean. That’s a nice bit of pocket money you have collected,” he said, nodding towards the dish.
“Oh,” she said. “Yes I suppose I’m not doing too badly after all.” She stared at him, waiting for a cutting remark of some sort.
“Weasley – Ginny…I’m sorry. It was incredibly rude of me to even insinuate what I did and daft of me to think that you couldn’t earn good money as well as I. I just thought that we were getting on so well, and then when you didn’t want to be my partner…I suppose my pride got wounded. I do hope you can accept my apology.” He looked at her intently, and she thought he seemed to be…holding his breath?
Ginny’s mouth feel open. He’s apologising, again! Who knew he was capable of doing that once, let alone twice? “Well, all right, Malfoy. Draco. I accept.”
He seemed to visibly relax and smiled at her. “So, between you and me, have you actually enjoyed any of the kisses you’ve had to give?”
Ginny giggled. “Have you?”
“No, not a one. One of the biddies from housekeeping has donated probably half of my earnings, as well as hers, this week. It’s revolting.” He shuddered. Ginny’s face flushed a little and she started to say something, but he cut her off. “And before you start going on about how I think she’s ‘beneath me,’ and so on, it’s because she’s old enough to be my mother, smells of cabbage, and has a moustache.”
She fully laughed at this point, feeling slightly bad for Draco and for the older woman who seemed to be using him for her jollies. After a few seconds, he joined in with her.
“I’ve not really had anything as interesting as that, no, and as far as enjoyment goes…my lips are sealed on that one.”
He gave her an impatient scowl as if he wanted to press her for more information, but he ultimately didn’t. They talked for a few minutes more about the upcoming Quidditch matches and other things they had missed while not talking for nearly four days.
“I really should be going, I suppose. I’m leaving a little early today, because I need to hide from Doris.”
“Doris? Oh, the hot lips housekeeper?” Ginny asked, smirking.
“Yes, her. Did I mention that she tried to grab my arse on Tuesday? Since then I refuse to get out of my chair until I’m sure the coast is clear.”
She stifled her laughter, though it was difficult.
“See you tomorrow?”
She nodded and smiled, happy they were on speaking terms again.
He looked at her and started to walk away then quickly turned back around, as though he had overlooked something. “Oh, I nearly forgot.” He started fishing around in his pockets, then pulled out a shiny galleon and plopped it in her collection dish. “My contribution.” He smiled and turned to walk away.
“Hey, wait!” She came out from behind her desk and quickly walked towards him. “You have to get your kiss.”
“It’s not a big deal, really.”
“No, you paid for it. Come on.” She placed her hands on his collar and pulled his face towards hers for a quick peck.
“Look Ginny, you don’t...”
He was cut off by her lips meeting his and felt like he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. She felt the same thing, and her lips instantly tingled. This reaction surprised the both of them, and they broke apart rather quickly and looked at each other, Ginny’s breathing erratic and Draco’s heavier than normal. She looked up at his eyes and noticed that they sparkled with something that wasn’t there a moment ago, but she didn’t know what it was. He stared at her fixedly, his brow furrowed, as if he were trying to solve a difficult equation, then stepped back and walked away.
She stood there for a minute before raising two fingers up to touch her lips. She felt the tingling transfer into them. “Wow.”
___
Ginny met Luna for tea that evening and was listening to her talk about the interview she’d had with Newt Scamander the day before.
“We had the most informative talk, and he really is a very interesting man—one of the few people that I’ve been able to discuss Crumple-Horned Snorkacks with on an academic level, aside from Father. His grandson took me home, and he was a very sweet man as well, not to mention very easy on the eye, and…Ginny, you’re not even listening!”
“What?” Ginny said, coming out of her daydream. “No, no, I was. Snorkacks, good looking grandson – got it.”
“Has something happened recently? Something blond and Slytherin, perhaps?” Luna asked with a gleam in her eye.
“Well, we…that is to say, I kissed Draco today. You know, for the charity thing,” Ginny said, waving her hands to dismiss it as not a big deal.
“You’re kissing Draco for charity?”
“NO, I’m selling kisses this week for Comic Relief. He dropped in a galleon and started to walk away as though it was nothing, but I insisted that he get what he paid for, and I kissed him.”
“So, how was it?”
Ginny smiled, remembering it. “Rather nice, actually.”
“Any tongue?”
“Luna!” She blushed. “It wasn’t a full-frontal snog; just a little peck.”
“That must’ve been some peck, to have you so spaced out. You’ve been smiling all evening.”
“Oh, have I?” Ginny asked, attempting to be nonchalant.
Luna giggled and sipped some of her wine. Ginny grabbed her glass to do the same.
“I’ve always wondered about the Slytherin boys, you know, particularly Blaise Zabini. Do you remember him? He certainly was one fine piece of…”
For the second time in two weeks, Ginny choked on her wine.
___
The next day was Friday and the last day for the fundraiser and contest. Ginny decided she wasn’t in the mood for kissing any of her coworkers today, save maybe one, and took her sign down early. Cuffe had arranged for everyone to turn in their earnings at a three o’clock meeting.
Ginny kept her head buried in her work but occasionally looked out of the corner of her eye for Draco. Unfortunately, he seemed to be keeping busy, as well.
Three o’clock came around, and Becca came by to see how much Ginny had earned.
“Sixty-three galleons – not bad! I only made twenty-seven.”
“Hey, that’s more than respectable, and it all goes to charity, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, that is true. I suppose I can’t feel bad, since I’ve already had a few holidays on the shore this year. I’ll be pulling for you instead!”
“Thank you, dear,” Ginny said, hugging her friend.
They walked up and stood in a line in front of the table at which the editor and his assistant were seated. Ted stood up and announced, “Please make sure to come up with your partners, if you have them, so we can count your total earnings.”
Ginny looked around for Draco and spotted him coming towards her from the other side of the room. He had a jar in his hands with a significant amount of money in it. Ginny held her dish in her arms.
“Hey,” she said when he reached her side.
“Hey, yourself.”
“I made sixty-three galleons. How about you?”
“Why don’t we just wait and see?” he said, smirking at her.
Still as cocky as ever. “All right, Mr. Big Earner.”
They finally reached the front of line and Ginny placed her money dish on the table in front of Barnabas. “Weasley and Malfoy. Total?”
Ginny said, “I earned sixty-three galleons.”
Ted wrote that down. “And you, Malfoy?”
“One hundred thirty-seven galleons.”
Ginny’s jaw dropped.
“Wow, two hundred galleons total for you two? Well done. Well done, indeed!” Cuffe said, seeming very pleased.
“Thank you, sir. It really was a team effort,” Draco said, looking at Ginny. She made no move to go, so he lightly grasped her by the elbow and led her out of the line so that the next team could give their totals. The next thing she knew, she was back in his office. He closed the door.
“One hundred thirty-seven galleons, Malfoy—I mean—Draco? Merlin, that’s a LOT of snogging!”
“Hey, it was for charity! And I earned every single sickle of it. The housekeeper alone was probably half of it.”
Ginny stared at him after his proclamation, then burst out laughing. “You’re right. I’m sorry. You did what you had to do, clearly.”
“Thank you for agreeing,” he said, playing as though he was hurt by her assumptions.
“Well, assuming we win...”
“Oh, we will win. I’ve asked around, and no one even has close to what we do.”
“Then I guess that means you’ve got two tickets to Cornwall for yourself.”
“I guess so, Ginny.”
”A bet is a bet, after all.”
“That’s true,” Draco said, walking closer to her.
“And you won. Rightly so,” Ginny said, stepping closer to him.
“That I did,” he said, standing about a foot away from her. “Though, you did pretty well yourself, but I wouldn’t have expected otherwise.”
“Well, I would’ve had only sixty-two galleons if not for your gracious donation, yesterday.”
“Sixty-two? Did you not get any donations today?”
“I stopped taking donations yesterday...after I gave you your kiss.”
“Oh?” he said, smiling widely. He reached out, as she remembered him doing before, but this time he cupped her face, his thumb running slowly along her cheek.
“Yes, Draco,” she said, leaning into his warm hand.
“Any chance of getting another?” he asked, while looking at her lips.
”I don’t know...do you have a galleon on you?” she asked jokingly. “Because, if not...”
His hand slid around to the nape of her neck, pulling her closer, and he leaned down and took her mouth with his. The contact rocked both of them again, the electrical feeling as strong as before. Her lips parted in welcome, and she met his tongue with her own when he slipped it into her mouth. As soon as her tongue touched his, he groaned, nearly making Ginny weak in the knees at the sound of it. Her palms raced up his chest to rest behind his neck, her fingers weaving into his hair. His free hand grasped her at the waist in an attempt to hold them both steady.
Eventually they parted for air. Draco rested his forehead against Ginny’s as they both attempted to catch their breath.
“Wow,” he said.
“Ditto,” she replied, smiling up at him.
They stood there for a moment, embracing and looking at each other as if they were the only two people of consequence, until there was a knock at Draco’s office door.
The sound broke them out of their reverie.
“Do you think that if we ignore them, they’ll go away?” he asked.
”Maybe. Unless it’s Doris, back for seconds, or fifty-thirds, or whatever number she’s up to.”
Draco scrunched up his face in disgust, and Ginny laughed softly. Even that was adorable on him. “Yes?”
“Malfoy, is Weasley with you?” It was Ted. “Cuffe wants to see you both in his office about the contest. You’ve won.”
Ginny broke into a huge grin, and Draco gave her a smug, I-told-you-so look. “We’ll be right there.”
They reluctantly removed their hands from each other and stepped apart. Ginny did her best to straighten her clothing while Draco looked as perfect and put together as he usually did. She stepped forward to open the door.
“Ginny?”
She turned around to face him. “Yeah?”
“I believe the tickets for the holiday aren’t due to be used until summer, which is still a few weeks away. Perhaps you know someone who might be interested in joining me?”
“I might be able to think of someone who would like to go, but you’d have to bring along some of that aloe for when her fair skin gets burnt from lying on the beach,” she said, then winked at him before strutting out of the office. He trailed behind her with a huge, silly smile on his face, suddenly very eager for June.
Author notes: Since this is my first foray into the Fire and Ice world, reviews would be excellent. Also, if inspired enough, I might write a sequel. Just a thought.
The End.
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