Prompt: Serendipity.
For what felt like the thousandth time, Ginny ran her hands over her hair. She felt like a complete idiot. Not only was she wearing a ridiculously short, low-cut, turquoise dress that probably made her look like she was seasick, she was also sitting alone in a Muggle restaurant, Serendipity 3.
But that wasn't even the worst part.
She could not believe she had let Hermione talk her into this. Hermione had recently discovered a business called MagicalConnections, Inc. Apparently the company used a combination of magic and networking skills to find people's soul mates.
Somewhat unorthodoxly, MagicalConnections had told Ginny that she had three soul mates. Unfortunately, Soul Mate #1 was already engaged, so she was waiting at Serendipity 3 for Soul Mate #2, who, supposedly, she would recognize because they would be "incredibly handsome, wearing white, and the other half of your soul." She supposed the "wearing white" bit was mildly helpful.
Ginny suddenly realized that someone was walking towards her table. With a start, she recognized Blaise Zabini. How annoying. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with some stupid Slytherin while trying to connect with her soul mate. It was strange, though, that Zabini was wearing a white button-down shirt, a sharp contrast against his dark skin.
He had reached her table, leaving her no time to think.
"Damn," was the first thing he said. "You know, they said 'wearing a turquoise dress,' but I didn't think it would be an unbelievably hot turquoise dress."
"What?" blurted Ginny.
Blaise slid smoothly into the seat across from her. "You look good, Weasley."
"Not to be rude or anything," she said, "but that seat's reserved for my soul mate."
"Here I am," he said. "Wearing white, as promised."
Ginny blinked. He was wearing white, and he had said the thing about the turquoise dress… oh, no.
"No way," she said. "There must be some kind of mistake. There's absolutely no way my soul mate is a Slytherin."
"Come on, Weasley," he said. Turning to the waitress, he said "Two glasses of the lemon-infused champagne, please."
Ginny opened her mouth to say that she could order her own drink, thank you very much, when she remembered that lemon-infused champagne was her favorite drink.
She eyed Zabini suspiciously.
"How did you know that?" she demanded.
"Know what?" he said.
"What my favorite drink is."
"I just ordered two glasses of my favorite drink," said Zabini. "See, we have something in common."
"You're a Slytherin."
"Opposites attract."
"So you're the opposite of a dead squirrel?"
"Are you calling yourself a dead squirrel?"
"You're not attracting me."
"Really? Because you're definitely attracting me, and I get the feeling that this is a two-way vibe."
"Why don't I just leave right now?"
"Come on, Weasley," said Blaise. "You're attractive, I'm attractive, we have champagne, and the night is young. Why should we waste it?"
"You're just trying to sleep with me," said Ginny.
"You're my Soul Mate #1," said Blaise earnestly. "I'm trying to get to know you, have several deep conversations, get engaged, and then sleep with you."
"Get engaged?"
"I'm not going to sleep with my soul mate without marrying them. That would be ridiculous."
"Well, you're only my Soul Mate #2, so don't act all pleased with yourself."
"In all honesty," said Blaise, "you look gorgeous. I like the dress."
Ginny opened her mouth to retort, and then paused. She took a moment to absorb his appearance: skin like dark marble, chocolaty eyes, and a very finely shaped mouth, a mouth that was certainly very good at kissing.
"You don't look too bad yourself," she admitted.
"See!" said Blaise triumphantly. "That wasn't that hard. Now will you please drink some champagne?"
"What, are you trying to get me drunk?"
"Who are you, Mad-Eye Moody? What's with all the suspicion? You must have trust issues or something."
Very deliberately, Ginny picked up the glass of champagne and sipped it.
Blaise grinned. "That's more like it. You know, you should do your hair like that more often. It really emphasizes your cheekbones."
Ginny felt a faint blush spread across her cheeks.
"Aw, you're blushing," said Blaise. "That's adorable."
You want to play that game, Zabini? Well, I can play that game, too.
Ginny reached across the table and straightened the color of his shirt. "And you should wear white more often. It looks good on you."
He flashed her a charming smile. "I know what you're trying to do."
She flashed him a charming smile, too. "Oh, do you?"
Blaise smiled even wider. "So, can I kiss you yet?"
"Oh, I don't think so," said Ginny. "I think you'll need a lot more witty banter, and possibly a second date."
"You want to go on a second date with me!" Blaise exclaimed triumphantly.
"Well, we are soul mates."
"I bet every guy in this restaurant wishes you were their soul mate."
"That was incredibly cheesy."
"I am incredibly cheesy. Also, incredibly handsome." He gave her a ridiculously flirtatious look, eyelashes fluttering dramatically.
He was completely insane.
But then again, so was she.