Business
By: OurLoveIsForever
"Don't you ever forget it, Draco Malfoy! You should remember forever how you made this end!"
Hmph. Well, if it wasn't for her loud mouth they wouldn't be in this position in the first place! Gently, he placed his wine glass down upon the white table cloth and ignored the irritated yet slightly worried glances of the patrons around him. Yes, she was quite the spectacle, especially when she was as angry as she had been when she left.
Some things never change.
Raising his right hand, he motioned toward the waiter, who approached with some vague amount of caution and truly, Draco had considered cursing him just for the foul mood he was in. That, however, would likely wound his already questionable reputation. No, he would save his consternation for the little girl who had walked out on him, for they would surely meet again.
"Check." He didn't say 'please', but that was hardly noticed by the already retreating young man. Honestly, what a pansy. Harrumphing at the obvious attention he was receiving, whether warranted or not, it made him sit straighter in his chair. The time stretched long enough for him to think over what had just occurred.
'Are you out of your mind?'
That had been her first question. The answer was a bit of a concern. Sometimes he wondered if that may be the case. It was more of a logic driven mind that he had and he was not necessarily 'out of it'. His mind was perfectly sound. He wasn't insane, if that was what she meant. He certainly wasn't barmy. Merlin, no. It seemed more reasonable that she was the one who was mentally distressed.
'Do you have any idea what this could mean?'
Of course he knew the implications. It would mean a better standing for his family. It would mean a rise in his social standing. It would be a most advantageous business acquisition.
'Is there any emotion left in that stone heart of yours?'
Oh, now her eyes were hurt when she said those words, sounding all small and insignificant. She was a pureblood, for Merlin's sake! She should know better than most that emotion was harmful to any and all business deals. It was easier to lock away all emotions, especially when bargaining as he was.
'Don't you see me as anything other than a tool?'
The truthful answer: no.
'Did you ever love me?'
If there was one thing about Draco Malfoy, it was that he was brutally honest. He had replied with his true feelings on the matter: a resounding 'no'.
Perhaps he should have thought a bit more about asking that forsaken question to Pansy of all people. She was bound to make things more dramatic than they actually were. Yes, she would drive him near madness, herself, with all of her whiny question and arguments. There truly hadn't been a silent moment of their latest, and supposedly last, argument.
His eyes lifted as the waiter dropped the check onto the table before him. As he gazed at the white slip of parchment, he noticed that the seat across from him was taken once more though now by an entirely different woman.
"Well, I must admit that was quite the show." Her tone was flat, with an underlying amusement that made him raise his eyebrows. "Parkinson looked fit to be tied. Just what did you do to her, if you don't mind my asking?"
Draco stared momentarily before sitting up and placing both of his elbows on the table. "I made a proposition of marriage though I fail to see how that is any of your—"
"A 'proposition of marriage'?" The woman laughed lightly at first but slowly, her giggles fell into full blown guffaws. Just what had this wench so amused? "Ah, you were proposing a business deal, weren't you?"
"What—"
"She turned you down because you don't actually love her. Pansy always was a bit of a romantic fool, as hard as she tried to hide it behind that pug face of hers."
"What are you—?"
"Though I can't really blame her…If you're going to fake a relationship, Malfoy, at least do it with style." Just who in the world did this witch think she was? Draco sat up straighter at her vague insult. She had waved her hand as if to punctuate her statement. Did she have any idea who he was? "It may have helped if you had just lied."
He snorted in complete disbelief. Well, to him it was disbelief. To her it may have sounded as if he was ignoring her meaning altogether. "Are you saying that it would be best to lie on a matter such as love? I thought women preferred honesty in such subjects."
She nearly mimicked his previous snort. Not many things shocked Draco Malfoy. No, he had seen too many things in his years to ever truly be surprised. Nevertheless, in this situation, conversation and moment the strangest of things occurred: he was completely flummoxed. Her head tilted to the side with an almost misleading innocent air. No, this woman was anything but innocent. One could tell that by simply seeing her eyes. "Honesty? Love? If you were truly interested in making a business deal, Mister Malfoy, you would not be thinking of such things. To simply entertain the idea at all betrays your true motives."
She held a self-satisfied smirk on her face as she stood up. He watched her do so with his mouth slightly open. What had possessed this woman? Was she completely insane? She didn't even know him and yet she had practically nailed him to the wall with her analysis of his motives and morals.
"Thank you for entertaining me for the past few minutes, Mister Malfoy. It has been a pleasure."
"What's your name?" It slipped out of his mouth before he had a chance to pause the thought.
She stopped and turned around. "Ah, I think that you should find that out for yourself, sir."
"What—"
"Though I do give you some warning: I'm not open for negotiations."
With that she disappeared, leaving him in complete silence and unease. All thoughts of his failed business attempt with Pansy had disappeared into a replay of the virtual attack by that spitfire of a woman. Thin and tall, mousy brown hair, an unremarkable appearance. None of it made her stand out. None of it, except that mouth and wit. He tapped his fingers on the table before standing. His mind raced with the possibilities, with some strange form of new life.
-
"Draco, are you sure that you want to go this far?" Blaise asked beside the blond. Obviously, he didn't want to be pulled into something that didn't involve him. Not only that, Draco knew that the man beside him certainly had more important things to do. Namely a woman by the name of Tracey Davis.
Malfoy didn't deign to respond and instead slid into the chair beside the window with a huff. A whole month had passed since Pansy had turned him down. A month since he had met that mystery woman. Still, he had yet to track her down. Her looks were remarkably nondescript and try as he might; she just seemed to look like everyone else.
Nearly everyone he knew had some sort of physical characteristic that was defining. His platinum hair and good looks. Blaise's handsome face. Tracey's blue eyes. Theodore's wiry frame. Goyle's hulking form. Yes, everyone, but that mystery woman didn't have one that he could use. Whenever they would meet again: he would find something.
He rested his head on one hand, propping it up as he looked on the tiny café with a bored expression.
"You know how he gets, Blaise. He can't help but become intrigued by it." Theo was saying with a bit of amusement in his voice. "Sounds like she's already caught him."
"No one has caught me. I'm not even interested."
"There he goes again, denying it. Honestly, Draco, we've known you since you were born, since we were born. We know you want to find her again."
"I could really care less."
"Now you're just getting pissy."
He glanced up to glare at his companion and froze. It wasn't what was in the foreground that caught his attention. It was the head of hair in the background. He had watched her walk away so intensely at the restaurant that he knew that it was her. Theo's eyes widened in the foreground as he turned around to spy the woman behind him before turning back around to laugh at Draco's expression.
Not one to approach a girl outright, Draco cleared his throat. He would not stoop so low as to show his interested. Mostly because he wasn't interested. Not in the least. The woman could be a bloody mudblood for all he knew and he was simply not going to take that chance. Now, that would be different if she started the conversation first.
Nearly a minute passed and her conversation with the other woman across the table from her continued. He growled in frustration and cleared his throat louder this time.
Theo raised an eyebrow while Blaise grinned. Bloody assholes weren't helping any of this along and they bloody knew it. "You alright there, Draco?"
"Fantastic, Zabini."
"You look a little frustrated." That's because he was bloody frustrated! The woman was ignoring him so blatantly that it was taking every bit of self control he had to even remain sitting.
Perhaps something a bit louder. He coughed. It truly was a pity that he was reverting back to his teenage years. Coughing to get someone's attention? The last time that he even tried that he was sitting in Potions during fifth year. He tried to ignore the strange looks that his two friends were giving him.
Oh, pride be damned, this woman was ignoring him! There was no way that she didn't hear him. Even he companion had lifted her eyes to acknowledge him, if even with a skeptical expression.
"Hey, you!" What a perfectly marvelous way to get someone's attention. Classic yet absolutely unappetizing.
Draco ground his teeth together as the woman straightened her posture before he friend motioned for her to turn around. She did so, a sort of displeased scowl on her face. He immediately recognized her. She obviously knew who he was for she immediately grinned. "Ah, Mister Malfoy, I trust you have figured out my name?"
He glared at her as if she were speaking nonsense.
She merely laughed lightly and turned back around with a grin. The other woman at the table appeared shocked at her actions, but took them in stride with a large swig of tea. Ah, he figured that this woman required a bit more than tea and nothing less than dragon mead. "Are you ignoring me?"
"Certainly not, though I must say that I am in the middle of a very important meeting at this time."
It was at this time that he heard Blaise's snickering. He refocused to the man just in front of him before sending him a threatening look. The fool should know that the Cruciatus curse was still in his repertoire and he was more than willing to use it.
His mental threat however did nothing but cause the Zabini heir to laugh even harder.
"A fine rebuff, I must say." Theo mused just loud enough for his laughing companion to hear. It only seemed to fuel Blaise's humor…and Draco's ire.
Which he placed upon who deserved it most- the mystery woman, herself.
"Ah, well, I wouldn't waste my time with you anyway." He said loud enough for her to hear.
She didn't bother to turn toward him. "Pity." Only with her tone of voice, it sounded as if she were commenting on the dry weather. The other woman hid her mouth behind her hand but he could instantly tell that she was smiling by the way her eyes crinkled. This bitch was making fun of him.
"Are you laughing at me?"
"Now why would I do a thing like that, Mister Malfoy?"
"Why, indeed?"
She didn't bother to turn around though he really had hoped she would. He needed something defining about her besides that mouth. He needed some physical aspect, but nothing seemed to stick out. "You're the one who is bloody coming on to me."
The reaction that elicited was not one that he had expected. "Really?" He could practically see her eyebrow raised in question. The woman was infuriating, but that only made the…game more fun. Yes, this had become a game and he was determined to win. Malfoy's always won and he sure as hell wasn't going to lose to this silly girl.
He was Draco bloody Malfoy and any woman would be crying to simply be in his bed, much less receive the attention she was currently receiving. What in hell was wrong with this girl?
Intent on learning what he could of her, he ceased in trying to make conversation and listening in on their conversation instead, hoping to learn whatever he could of her.
"—won't let that rule pass and you know it. All they have to do is place a limit on the visiting hours."
The other woman, he took in her appearance now, nodded her slightly graying head. She looked much older, perhaps already in her middle years. "Well, you know he said that you shouldn't leave in the middle of it all."
"Ah, yes, so he said."
"You ignored him?"
"I chose to disregard his order on a professional basis."
The older woman laughed lightly and shook her head. Her eyes flashed over to him before he looked to Theo and Blaise.
His woman's voice piped up with a mildly amused tone that made him smirk into his coffee cup. "Resorting to eavesdropping, are we? I thought you a bit more creative."
"Any means—"
"—achieve the ends. Yes, I know." She began to stand, drawing up to her full height before turning to face him. She really was unremarkable. Unremarkable brown hair, unremarkable green robes, unre—no, her eyes were different. She narrowed them at him slightly before she smiled. Her eyes were the key. He knew it immediately. They were the bluest eyes that he had ever seen. Not in the blue color sense, but more like the sky that was draped over them. They were a clear sky blue that made him want to scream in success. Finally, his task would be easier. How could he have missed the detail before?
He leaned back, more relaxed now that he had found something to work with. His hands went to his pockets as he looked up at her with an almost bored expression.
"Mister Malfoy, Mister Nott, Mister Zabini, always a pleasure."
They watched in silence as she left, the older woman following after her by a few feet.
It took a few moments before Blaise spoke up. "Draco, my friend, I believe you have met your match."
-
"Astoria Greengrass."
She turned around slowly as if shocked at his declaration. Oh, he had been waiting three months to see that expression-to see her blue eyes wide with disbelief. She had thought herself a ghost, something that couldn't be trapped or found. Well, how wrong she had been proven.
"Your name is Astoria Cassandra Greengrass. Your sister was in my year at Hogwarts. You are only two years younger than me. You work at Saint Mungo's and you are horribly in love with me."
"What the—" She started, but he moved forward faster than she could react.
They were in the middle of Diagon Alley. He had spotted her finally, after weeks of trying to catch her out and about, leaving a small candle shop. It had been at that moment that he knew what he had to do.
He slipped his arm around her waist and lifted his right hand to cup her face. She looked far to shocked to even respond for a long moment, but then her features became calm and collected once again.
"So, what, Mister Malfoy? It took you quite some time to figure out who I am."
"It is always a good idea to research a business partner before closing a deal."
She raised an eyebrow and began to speak. "You—"
"Don't misunderstand. There will be no negotiations. This is a seizure of assets and nothing more."
Slowly, she began to smile. Her grin was slightly contagious, but he couldn't help but smirk as well. Laughing she acquiesced. "Ah, checkmate, indeed."
A/N: Oh, just some messing around. This just amused me. Hopefully everyone else enjoyed it, too! Please leave me some feedback.