A/N:
Credits go to Elaine, AJ, Gen and Cass for betaing. Thank you so much uwu
Sainsbury's
"I hate Sainsbury's. It's so bloody far away." Draco shoved his hands in the pockets of his black trench coat as he strode swiftly and purposefully down the London street. The gales slapped his hair off his forehead, curling it around his dark green earmuffs, making it flutter madly like bleached banners. "Remind me why we're out here again, Weasley?"
"Because I can't make eggnog, and Tesco doesn't sell the brand of eggnog that Albus likes," Ginny explained slowly, maddeningly exasperated, as if she was explaining Arithmancy to a Kneazle. "Now quit griping, unless you have a secret Malfoy eggnog recipe you'd like to share with us."
"Fine." Draco pouted and held the collar of his coat closed. It was so cold that he could almost see his breath fogging up before him when he exhaled. Next to him, Ginny's face looked almost as red as her hair. She shivered and wrapped her scarf tighter around the lower half of her face and neck.
"But why us?" grumbled Draco, wishing that he was anywhere but out on the street dying of frostbite. "I'm sure Potter would know where the place was. Or Granger."
Ginny plucked at the scarf around her face. "Let's just get it done and get back as soon as we can."
They shuffled along the street, Draco's blond head sticking up above the rest of the Muggles who rushed past, obviously eager to get home for the same reason that Draco was being so touchy.
Out of the blue, Ginny's hand grabbed his coat sleeve, the coarse yarn of her mitten slipping on the material. "There," she exclaimed, clearly relieved. "Let's go." She began to drag Draco by the arm through the throng of Muggles, eliciting protests from the passing people who got shoved aside in the process.
They reached the glass door, which was covered with a fine layer of mist and sprayed on with fuzzy white letters. Draco squinted to make out the message, but the door slid aside silently, inviting them in. Ginny moaned in relief and dragged the scarf off her face.
"Come on, Weasley. Let's get this over with." Draco discreetly pulled his earmuffs down, secretly grateful for the sudden blast of warmth that enveloped him. He supposed this was the Muggle equivalent of a fireplace. What had Longbottom called it? Heating?
They walked down the corridors, which were lined with shelves holding all sorts of Muggle necessities that Draco had never seen in his entire life. There were cube-like packs of matte material printed with floral motifs and feminine silhouettes and words that boasted "Extra thin", wide-bottomed white containers swirling with bluish liquid, and round metal cans with pictures of dogs on them, tongues lolling affectionately from their mouths.
"What in Merlin's name," breathed Ginny, her gaze fixed on a tangle of sparkly gold stuff twined around the top of the shelves. He found it oddly comforting to know that she was just as clueless as he felt. Though he would never admit to that - he was a Malfoy after all.
After a few more minutes of fervent searching (read: fascinated sightseeing) they found what they were looking for. Draco curled his fingers around the waxy paper, mentally cursing the designers of the package. Why had the Muggles made it so bloody sharp? He pinched it mournfully in his hand, the sharp edges of the carton pressing painful red lines into his flesh, as they made their way over to one of the queues extending from the counters.
"Don't hold it so tight, you Dungbrain," swore Ginny, clipping her carton under her arm. Muttering mutinously under her breath in a voice disturbingly reminiscent of Kreacher, she went over and prised Draco's fingers open.
"Who are you, my mother?" Draco huffed and set the carton of eggnog down on the counter with a thunk. The person manning the counter glanced up tiredly, a decidedly fake smile plastered on her face.
Draco stared down his nose at the thing that the salesgirl held in her hand. She aimed it at a section of black and white stripes on the first pack, and clicked the little black button under her finger. Beside her, the machine beeped, and a glowing sign on a stick flashed to eerie green life, displaying "eggnog" in almost illegible, blocky characters.
"Twenty-four pounds," the salesgirl chimed, sounding as relaxed and bored as if she'd just been drinking a glass of water. To Draco, her happy voice sounded very clearly forced.
Ginny handed over the money that Hermione had shoved at her before they left. The girl laid it in the small drawer that popped out of the convoluted machine.
"Merry Christmas," Ginny said, then jabbed Draco in the side with her elbow. He bit back a hiss and greeted the girl.
"Merry Christmas to you too!" The girl's smile looked a tad less fake now. It made Draco feel warm all the way to the tips of his hair.
Ginny nodded at her and started down the aisle, the white bag of eggnog swinging from her hand.
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"Oh!" Ginny smacked her forehead, nose wrinkled in self-loathing. "Merlin, I forgot the party hats!"
Draco heaved a dramatic sigh. "Good grief, Weasley. Come on then." Without looking back to see if she was following, he turned on his heel and walked back towards the grocery store, trying to slow down his pace.
"I thought you hated Sainsbury's." Ginny's eyes crinkled, and Draco knew she was smirking under her scarf.
"I thought you had enough sense to shut your mouth," Draco snapped, hoping she couldn't see his flush as he stepped through the door.
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House: Ravenclaw
Year: 3
Category: Drabble
Prompt: [Action] Shopping at a muggle grocery store as a witch/wizard.
Word Count: 941