Thankfully Draco and Blaise encountered no problems with buying the shop in Diagon Alley, and just over two weeks after Blaise had shown Draco the premises they were back in Diagon Alley to oversee the beginning of the construction work. Blaise was still finalising the details of the bar, but before they could begin anything the current fittings had to be ripped out. In fact the entire place was going to be gutted and cleaned out before they started to turn the space into the elegant place they were both envisioning.
As they oversaw the work, the pair talked about various ways to transform the building into what they wanted. They also spoke about what they were going to name the place, as that would have an effect on the décor and some potential fittings. Their club for example had the black element running through the entire place. All the business cards, posters and other paperwork were printed on a glossy black background with the diamond emblem. Even the club itself had its fair share of black fixtures and fittings, although it wasn't overdone and they did use other colours in their décor.
"I'm thinking red," Blaise said. "Red Diamond Wine Bar."
"Red could work," Draco mused with a nod.
If they used red, the sign outside would be red, all the advertising would be printed on red, and it would be easy enough to establish a red theme inside the bar. They could have a red bar, or red chairs and of course it was easy to incorporate red elsewhere in the décor.
"I think it's my favourite option," Blaise said. "I've considered a few other colours, but I think with the type of place we're wanting to set up, red is the best answer."
"I agree," Draco said. "Red it is."
"Excellent, we can start ordering fittings with the colour choice made," Blaise replied.
"We need to do a fair bit more before we order any fittings," Draco warned his friend. "We still need to finalise the design of the bar."
Nodding his head, Blaise started reeling off ideas as they stood in the doorway of the building, watching the place be stripped bare. Half an hour later they were starting to get a feel of how the place was going to look, so they decided to take a break and head outside to grab some air.
Diagon Alley was slowly changing, the existing shops were being updated and new shops were constantly springing up. The previous year the street had even been extended, and it was definitely a good place to be opening a new business. At the moment the street had a few cafés, but no bars. The only place to get an alcoholic drink was at The Leaky Cauldron, and while Diagon Alley had evolved, the old pub had not. It was still rather shabby and run down, and the only customers it did attract were those already shopping at Diagon Alley. However, Draco and Blaise were hoping that people would come to Diagon Alley especially to visit Red Diamond.
Out in the street, Blaise and Draco began to envision what the place would look like from the outside. As they were talking about potentially changing the windows so it was one long window, rather than the two separate ones it was now, they heard someone call their names from down the street. Even without turning around they recognised the voice as belonging to their friend, Pansy Parkinson, or Parkinson-Nott as she was now. Back in school both Draco and Blaise had gotten along rather well with Pansy, in fact Draco had briefly dated the raven haired witch, however since marrying Theo she'd turned into a complete and utter snob. Basically these days she was the perfect pureblood wife. But she was still their friend, and at the end of the day their friendship would still survive in the face of Pansy's snobbishness.
"Draco, Blaise," Pansy greeted, enveloping both wizards in a cloud of cloying perfume as she gave them both a hug and an air kiss to the cheek. "How great to see you both. What are you doing here?"
"This is our new place," Blaise answered.
"This place?" Pansy asked with a disgusted frown. "It's hardly high end, is it? I'm only here to pick up some ink for Theodore. I wouldn't come here for any other reason these days."
"Not everyone is a snob, Pansy," Blaise retorted. "Diagon Alley is still pretty happening, and it's getting better all the time."
"If you say so," Pansy sniffed, not sounding at all convinced. "Although I still don't think it's an ideal place for a nightclub."
"This isn't going to be a club, it's going to be a wine bar," Draco supplied.
"Oh, now that's different," Pansy said, changing her attitude at the thought of a wine bar opening up. In fact it sounded the ideal place to unwind after a day's shopping.
"So how are you, Pans?" Draco asked, deliberately shortening his friend's name. Back in school she had no problem with people calling her Pans, but since marrying into the Notts she'd adopted their policy of never shortening someone's name. Theo was now Theodore, and their poor son Max, always got his full name, Maximilian.
"I'm fine thank you, Draco," Pansy replied stiffly, frowning at the shortening of her name.
"And Theo?" Draco asked.
"Theodore is also fine," Pansy replied.
"And how's little Max?" Blaise asked with a mischievous grin. "Where is the cutie?"
"Maximilian is at home with his nanny," Pansy answered.
"That's a shame. It's such a nice day, I'm sure he would have enjoyed the fresh air," Draco said.
"He'll get fresh air at home, his nanny takes him out quite regularly," Pansy replied.
Draco had to sigh at the way Pansy just dismissed her son. Pansy wasn't a natural mother, and she'd palmed her son off onto a nanny almost as soon as he'd been born. Both Draco and Blaise knew she'd had a child as it was expected of her, and they both suspected her latest pregnancy was an accident on her and Theo's part. Not that either of their friends would admit such a thing, but it was blatantly clear that a second child hadn't been something either of them had expected.
"And how's the pregnancy?" Blaise asked, checking his friend out and finding very little outwards evidence that Pansy was expecting. Because he knew her well, he could see she was slightly bigger than normal, but to most people her pregnancy wouldn't be noticeable.
"It's just awful," Pansy moaned. "I've been trying to find a dress for my parents' anniversary party at the weekend and everything makes me look like a whale."
"I'm sure that's not true," Draco said kindly. Like Blaise he could just barely tell she was pregnant, so as usual it seemed like Pansy was just being a drama queen.
"It is," Pansy replied with a sigh. "You'll see for yourselves on Saturday night. Just look for the whale, and it'll be me."
"Saturday night?" Blaise repeated with a confused frown.
"Don't say you've forgotten the party, Blaise," Pansy scolded, giving her friend a harsh glare.
"Of course we haven't," Draco said, offering Pansy a smile as he took the heat off his friend. Chances were Blaise had forgotten the party as it wasn't exactly his scene. However, he'd received an invite along with Draco as they were friends with Pansy.
"We'll be there, Pans," Blaise promised, even as he was wondering just what excuse he could find the cut the evening short.
"Don't forget. I know Theodore is looking forward to seeing you both," Pansy said.
"And we're looking forward to seeing him," Draco returned. It seemed like an age since they'd last seen Theo, so it would be nice to have a catch up with their friend.
"I best be off," Pansy said as she checked the time. "I've got a manicure in half an hour."
"Ah, the life of a pampered pureblood princess," Blaise muttered as Pansy darted off to go about her business.
"And my father wants me to marry someone like that," Draco said with a grimace.
Just talking to Pansy was a reminder of everything Draco didn't want in a wife. He didn't want to be with someone who would spend their days shopping and pampering themselves. And he certainly didn't want a wife who would hand their son over to a nanny and ignore him all day. Not that Theo was much better as even though he was always complaining about the lack of time he spent with his son, he never changed things. He was happy to let the nanny take charge and if she told him he was disturbing his son's routine, he would just slouch away without spending time with his son. Although Theo had been brought up the same way with nannies doing the actual parenting.
For all their faults, Draco at least had to admit that his parents hadn't been that neglectful when he was a child. In many ways, Narcissa was the typical pureblood wife, but at least she'd looked after Draco herself and when Lucius had come home from work he had always spent time with Draco. In fact the only time Draco had spent with a nanny or babysitter when he was growing up was when his parents had gone out on an evening. Aside from that he was very much raised by his parents.
"If I ever get involved with someone like Pansy, do me a favour and kill me," Draco said to Blaise.
"Likewise," Blaise said with a chuckle.
Turning back to the shop, the pair were just about to head back inside to check on the work when they spotted a couple of redheads standing nearby watching the action inside the shop with curiosity. Even though Draco couldn't remember the pair's names, he knew the redheads were the Weasley twins. The twins had been well known in Hogwarts for their ingenious inventions, and that shop they'd opened up in Diagon Alley before Draco's sixth year was a roaring success. In fact, Draco had heard that the pair had recently expanded into Hogsmeade.
"Hi," Blaise greeted the pair with a friendly wave as he approached the two wizards.
"Hi," Fred Weasley returned with a friendly smile. "Sorry for being nosey, we're just checking out the new neighbours."
"Oh yeah, your shop is just down the street isn't it?" Blaise said.
"It is," George confirmed. "We're not going to have a rival business on our hands, are we?" He asked jokingly.
"Not unless you've started selling alcohol," Draco replied with a slight chuckle. "We're opening a bar."
"Excellent, somewhere decent to get a drink after work," Fred enthused.
"How do you know it's going to be decent?" Blaise questioned. "We might not be any good at running a bar."
"If it's anything like your club, it'll be great," George replied. "We were in there last week, and it's a great place."
"Thanks," Draco said. "Feel free to pop back once the work starts to see how things are taking shape."
"We will," Fred said. "And welcome to the neighbourhood."
"Nice lads," Blaise remarked as the twins said their goodbyes and headed off back to their shop.
"Yeah, they seem alright," Draco agreed.
"Better than their brother," Blaise said with a chuckle.
Draco and Blaise had been in the same years at Hogwarts as the twins' younger brother, Ron, and it was fair to say that they hadn't gotten on with the redhead. Tensions between the Malfoys and Weasleys were strong to start with, and Ron had taken an instant dislike to Draco. Not that Draco was over keen on Ron, and he spent his early years at Hogwarts doing his best to make his life miserable. However, by the time they'd left school the animosity had lessened, although Draco doubted he would ever be friends with the redhead. Not that it really mattered as he didn't see where Ron would ever enter into his life again. As far as Draco knew, he ran his brothers shop in Hogsmeade and was happily engaged to Lavender Brown.
"Let's get back on," Blaise said. "We've got work to do."
"Yes, we have," Draco agreed as he followed his friend and business partner back into their new building to check on the work. Between building a new business from scratch and keeping their current one running smoothly, it was going to be a busy time for the pair and they had a lot of work in front of them.