Shout it From the Rooftops
Ch. 1: Rain, Among Other Things
Pairing: Astoria/Draco
Prompt(s): rain, leaf/leaves, bus station.
Written for the wonderful Lara1221, as a prize for the Mix it Up Comp.
He walked unsteadily along the relatively empty pavement as the wind splattered fat, wet raindrops onto the back of his uncovered head.
The leaves swirled carelessly around his feet and he drew his scarf closer as to cover his neck from the unforgiving bite of the October wind.
He could see his destination over the high collar of his coat, and quickened his pace in anticipation of the warm air of the cozy little café.
It was a tiny building, tucked away in its own little corner. He loved it, and the coffee was to die for. He wasn't about to argue with that.
Pushing the door open, he smiling slightly into the warm air, carrying the smells of coffee and sweets, which greeted him as he wiped his shoes on the mat.
Still smiling, he began to unwrap the scarf from around his neck as he turned the corner heading towards the counter, suddenly crashing into something solid, hearing a gasp and feeling a hot, wet substance seep through his coat.
He looked down at himself. At his feet, lay an innocent paper cup. An innocently empty paper cup.
He was covered in hot, scalding coffee that dripped from the bottom of his black trench coat onto the floor.
He watched silently as the paper cup rolled slowly to another pair of feet, clad in women's boots. He let his gaze wander upwards, finally meeting a rather alarmed blue gaze.
"I am so sorry – I…" The woman bent down to retrieve her cup, a red blush staining her cheeks. "I will, um buy you another..?" She trailed off, lifting a shoulder helplessly.
He blinked. "Right, um –" he pointed at her, trying to regain his composure, feeling a blush that probably resembled hers creeping up his neck as he observed her appearance. She was a dark haired woman, with big, startling blue eyes and slight freckles across her nose. "You do that, I'm just going to go…clean up…" he gestured behind him and turned on his heel.
"Hello? Person?" he turned back to the woman, who was still holding the cup. "Bathroom's that way," she raised her eyebrows and pointed to his left, and he blushed even harder.
"Oh. Well – I…knew that." he muttered, pushing through the line.
…
He rested his head against the cool tile of the small bathroom. What the bloody hell?
He hadn't let a woman, a pretty face, get to him like that in, well, years. What was happening to him? Good God.
He straightened out his gray knit sweater, thankful no coffee had gotten on it. Giving himself one more glance in the mirror, he pushed open the door, and headed towards the counter, thankful when he didn't bump into any more blue-eyed brunettes.
"Stranger," He jumped as he heard a voice behind him, and turned to look. "Hey!" she smirked. "You actually respond to that." He scowled at her, and turned forward again, desperately willing the early morning line to move faster so that he could get his coffee and go. "Oh, no, did I hurt the poor stranger's feelings?" he rolled his eyes and tuned her out, focusing on the fact that there were only three more people in line. "Straaaanger." She whined, drawing the word out annoyingly. "Straaaaaaaaaaaaanger! Straaa –"
"What?" he asked sharply.
"What's you're name?" she cocked her head, raising one of her eyebrows. Okay. He could play her game.
"Who wants to know?" he smirked.
"Oh, so he does have teeth!" She stuck out her hand. "Astoria. Astoria Greengrass." He placed his hand in hers.
"Draco Malfoy. Pleasure –" he stopped as she rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Oh, come on. Don't bore me with all the posh details. Let me buy your coffee." He had hardly any time to protest, before she had budged in front of him in line and handed the confused clerk her credit card.
…
He frowned at Astoria. "You know, I can buy my own coffee," they were sitting at a comfy window booth that had the blue and white striped curtains to reveal the sun that had come out from behind the miserable, grumpy clouds to greet the better half of the day.
"Oh, I know, but I was doing you something called a favor, darling," she drawled, smirking at him. Suddenly, she pulled out a pen from her pocket and grabbed his hand.
As he tried to pull back, she shot him a warning look. "Don't. I'm not an axe-murderer, you know." Sighing resignedly, he let her take his hand and scribble something across it, jerking as she hit ticklish spots he didn't know he had.
She got up as he regained ownership of his hand. "Well, Draco, I guess this is where we say goodbye," she touched her chest mockingly as she grabbed her purse. He looked down at her hand to see a telephone number.
"Hang on a second, what is this?" he shouted to her. She was just pulling the doors open, and she turned back to wink at him.
'Call me,' she mouthed, holding her thumb and pinkie up to her ear.
And with that, she was gone, leaving Draco to stare at his hand perplexedly, and to wonder at this strange woman, who had swept him so completely off his feet in only half an hour.