25. Balloon
Draco Malfoy sat on a park bench, eyes fixed on a distant point in the horizon. Passersby made note of his striking features, of his white-blond hair and pale skin, contrasting sharply with his finely cut dark clothing. He in turn remained unaware of the interesting picture he made, or even of the passage of time. He was thinking of copper-colored curls and gypsy eyes.
It had taken him some time to admit that he liked the witch; liked her a lot. Unfortunately, things weren't that simple. He wanted her – that part was not hard to figure out – but did he want to be with her? She was a Weasley, for Salazar's sake. What would his parents say? Could he bring her out to the various public events he was expected to attend? Or could he just bed her and establish some sort of casual arrangement by leaving things as undefined as they were now?
Yes, that's it. No flowers-and-chocolate type shit, Draco thought scornfully. And she can take it or leave it.
He rose from his bench and resolved not to see her today; he'd been paying her too much attention lately, and she might be getting ideas about a non-existent attachment on his part.
On his way out of the park Draco encountered a pimpled youth selling balloons, stuffed animals and similar rubbish. Draco's eye settled on a single round balloon in the Muggle fashion. It didn't seem to be doing anything in particular other than float; it didn't take on interesting shapes, didn't make any noises, and stayed blue the entire time he watched it. Rather simple, as balloons went, but the more he looked at it the more Draco felt it held a strange sort of charm in its very simplicity. Maybe because it didn't go around trying to please people; it was what it was, it did its own thing.
"I'll take that blue balloon," he informed the kid imperiously. He had a feeling Ginny would like it too. "And the falcon, while you're at it," he added as an afterthought, reaching into his coin bag.
"How about a rose, sir?" the kid inquired hopefully, displaying a row of single red roses, each artfully arranged with a wreath of baby's breath.
"Psssh. Absolutely not," Draco scoffed. Then, balloon and stuffed falcon in hand, he Apparated straight to Ginny's flat.
Prompt: Balloon
Word count: 400.
Pairing: Draco/Ginny.