DISCLAIMER: I do not own any characters. All J K Rowling's genius work.

This story was inspired by wishimight's Bella/Edward story, Dangerous Affections. Unfortunately, that story was pulled down, but I would still like to thank wishimight for creating such a lovely story, and inspiring my own.

Chapter Twenty-Four – Shopping As It Is

Ginny reached out an arm to stop Hermione from picking up one of the red supermarket baskets.

"Herm," she said strictly. "We are going shopping for your flat. I'd reckon you'd need trolleys."

"Hey! What's with the plural?" Hermione whined, but nevertheless dropped the supermarket basket and headed towards the trolleys instead.

She didn't notice the man with a black coat, black pants, and big dark sunglasses to hide his face. His blonde hair was covered by a black hat. He was watching them with his head turned another way; the glasses helped a lot. He proceeded to pick up a basket and followed them at a discreet distance.

Hermione, being too busy being chided by Ginny to pick up as much stuff as possible, never noticed the man. Ginny, however, became instantly suspicious by the man, and knew they either had a stalker, or it was Draco Malfoy.

"But Gin," Hermione's voice broke through Ginny's reverie, "I don't even like chocolate biscuits! They're too fatty. What about these seaweed crackers—"

"Why don't you get both?" Ginny smirked. "Once you have enough stuff in the house, I might come over more."

Ginny would have. She had an idea that the flat would once again become like a prison to Hermione, and she didn't want her friend to suffer, with possibly only the Slytherin Ferret for company.

And besides, no matter what Malfoy might have implied about being on the good side now, there was always the risk that he was lying. After all, he was a Death Eater. He would be an expert at manipulation and lies.

Ginny and Hermione proceeded to walk down the aisles, putting more and more into the trolley. Hermione felt like she was shopping for a family of five instead of just for herself and Ginny.

They bypassed the fresh produce section with only a few purchases, instead opting for canned and frozen goods. They stopped at the bakery, debating on whether or not to get cheese rolls or cheese and bacon rolls. In the end, Ginny once again pulled on the 'Just get both', and that effectively stopped their argument.

They picked up instant noodles and soup-in-a-cup. It was while Hermione was arguing with Ginny again about the flavour of the soup-in-a-cup that she was distracted by the man over Ginny's shoulder.

He looked awfully familiar, and the way he stretched out his arm stirred memories in her mind. Was he a friend of theirs from Hogwarts? Was he a co-worker? Who was he?

Ginny wheeled around to see who Hermione was staring at so intently, and her eyes landed smack dab on Draco Malfoy.

Draco, who was choosing which noodle flavours Blaise would want, noticed that Hermione and Ginny were staring at him. He peeked a glance at them, but only Ginny had the look of comprehension on her face; Hermione just looked downright confused.

He didn't want Hermione to know that he was following her around. He knew she wouldn't believe him if he said he was following her around because he was afraid for her physical and mental health. He was afraid of who might try and get her when he wasn't there, and he was afraid that she might break down due to some reason.

He pulled two chicken noodles from the shelf and placed them into the basket, a frown on his face. He turned his back on them and looked from the right shelf, then to the left shelf, and back again, trying to get Ginny to understand he didn't want to be known.

Thankfully, Ginny seemed to understand. He heard her say, "Come on, Herm, just get one of each and we'll try them."

He heard a small thump of cardboard on steel as Hermione dropped several small boxes of soup-in-a-cup and the wheels squeaking on the linoleum floor as Ginny pushed the trolley away.

He heaved a sigh of relief, and pulled out his phone. He knew Hermione would be a little suspicious if she saw him following them again. Considering the state of mind that she was in, he wouldn't be surprised if she saw him as the leader of the Death Eaters or something.

Blaise picked up on the second ring. "Draco?"

"Blaise," Draco said. "Change of plans. You need to be in, I need to be out."

"Why?"

"Hermione noticed me. I don't think she knew who I was, but it would be suspicious if she saw me again. So you're in."

There was a pause. "Losing your touch, Draco?" he teased. He laughed when Draco hissed into the phone. "Okay, I'll be there in a sec."

Draco hung up and pushed his phone into his pocket. He had just decided to add two more chicken noodles to the pile when Blaise came up next to him.

Blaise had gone through more of a disguise than Draco. His normal curly dark brown hair was straightened, and he had cut it in front of his face to form a fringe. He just had his left ear pierced, and it was now sporting a chunky silver square hoop. He had on a light blue, long sleeved shirt under a dark blue short sleeved shirt. He had on a pair of blue denim jeans and trainers.

He looked so far from his Death Eater look and persona—gone was the cold-heartedness of the Death Eater attire; instead he looked so… normal. He looked like he belonged in the normal world.

Draco instantly clapped his shoulder, pointed in a vague direction of where they had gone, and proceeded to walk out of the grocer's. He stopped outside, and sat on a bench, keeping his eyes peeled for any suspicious activities both inside and outside the store.

He breathed a sigh of relief when Ginny and Hermione walked out an hour later, their trolley loaded with shopping bags. He stiffened slightly when Ginny shot him a glance, but Hermione ignored him. Proceeding to unload the stuff into the boot of the Celica, Hermione laughed at some joke Ginny muttered to her.

Draco stood up to meet Blaise as he came out with his hands carrying about ten shopping bags.

"You owe me a lot of money," Blaise hissed at Draco as his friend helped to put the plastic bags in the boot.

Draco snickered. "I know."

Blaise made a pained face. "Seriously, Draco. Do you know how to shop? You just had to pick every flavour of milk there was. Are you going to drink them all?"

Draco shrugged. "The fridge was empty."

Blaise smacked his forehead as he walked back to the driver's side.

AN:

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