This was written for my own writing challenge prompt at the The DG Forum. Prompt was "Diversion".

Soundtrack: Gokurakujoudo - GARNiDELiA

Bang, Bang with a Kiss

The night was muggy: a thick cloak of humidity wrapping itself around his body. Draco regretted wearing jeans now. No one had told him that Japanese summer could be so awful. It had only been a few hours and he was already missing England; he missed the rain and the temperate climate, but work was work. Maybe in the past he could have talked—or, rather, threatened and paid—his way out of being shoved into unwanted jobs, but Draco Malfoy the ex-Death Eater didn't have jack when it came to social standing these days. He had to suck it up, shut up, and take what he could get.

Draco cast a surreptitious cooling charm over himself, breathing out a sigh of relief as it took effect. He wasn't supposed to cast magic unsupervised, but whatever. If the other people around him were bothered by the heat, they didn't show it aside from the fans fluttering to and fro. In fact, the river bank was swarming with festival goers: groups of friends and families sat on blankets on the grass, while lines of people all crammed together and walked on the path with an ant-like neatness to find better seats up ahead. Apparently, firework festivals were pretty popular here. Of course he towered over all of the people, sticking out like a big, blond, and decidedly foreign sore thumb.

He frowned and cast his gaze around the area. His new guard—or "partner" as the ministry liked to euphemistically say—was supposed to have met him at the base of operations upon his arrival in Japan, but he'd instead been given a folder with their target's information and told to come to this river bank. He could only assume his partner would meet him here. The rest of the details about the job had been pretty spotty. It made Draco wonder just what kind of person he had been shoved into working with this time. Judging from the writing style and tone, he expected someone like Mad-Eye Moody: gruff, didn't muck around with words, and probably old and ugly to boot. Ugh. This was going to be a pain.

Music started playing from somewhere—the Muggle kind, of course. This whole place was swarming with Muggles since his target had decided to go rogue and lose himself in Japan's Muggle society. Draco pursed his lips and continued to survey the riverbank. A whiff of fried food drifted to him. His stomach rumbled, telling him that the soba noodles he could see being cooked in the stalls or even just some takoyaki on a stick would be really good right now. Even those ice slushy things he could see people lining up to buy were tempting. At least it would help fight the heat.

"Hungry?"

He froze, fingers tightening on the wand concealed within his pocket. The feminine voice had come from directly behind him. The fact the person had spoken in English also set him on his guard. All he'd been hearing for the past half hour was Japanese.

Draco turned to see a woman wearing a traditional blue yukata. Flowers had been placed in her hair, which was a vibrant shade of red and had been braided and pulled to the side in a bun that flowed into loose curls. She was holding up a fan to cover half her face, revealing a hint of freckles and a pair of amused brown eyes.

"Hello, Draco," she greeted, and then she fluttered the fan shut. Now he could see her smile as well.

Red hair. Freckles. A damned annoying smile. This was almost worse than the gruff, Mad-Eye Moody figure he'd imagined. His lips twisted as if he'd just swallowed something sour.

"Ginevra." He relaxed his hold on his wand. "I take it you're my new partner."

"Got it in one." She bowed her head, though her smile remained cheeky. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

He rolled his eyes. "Spare me the civilities. We both know this partnership is going to be hell."

Amusement danced in her eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I, for one, am happy for our reunion. It's been, what, one year?"

"One and a half," he said shortly.

"Ooh, you've been keeping count. Did you miss me that much?"

He gritted his teeth.

Ginny laughed and linked her arm with his. "Come on, our target should be this way."

"And why are you clinging to me like a soul-sucking harpy?"

"Geta sandals are not that fun to walk in," Ginny admitted, choosing to ignore the insult. "That, and we're supposed to be a couple enjoying the fireworks together." She tightened her grip on his arm and flashed a smile. "So, suck it up and get your boyfriend face on."

Draco grinded his teeth. This woman was just as annoying as the last time he'd been stuck with her. She'd been one of his minders back then as well. They'd even slept together a few times, though it had never come to anything. One day she'd just left without a word and there had been no way to contact her. He'd felt a bit used, in truth, which was probably the reason why he couldn't stand the sight of her now. The whole situation made him pissy. Draco hated feeling like he was on the wrong foot, let alone to be forced to admit something as pathetic as feeling used by a Weasley.

Especially since she was acting like she had done nothing wrong.

A voice came over the speaker. The translation charm that had been cast on him upon his arrival allowed him to figure out that the announcer was saying the fireworks would start soon. Ginny urged Draco towards where most of the crowd had gathered. As they weaved their way closer to the river, she pulled out a small make-up mirror, which he recognised as a Foe-Glass. He supposed he should be glad that she was at least taking their job seriously.

"So, how are you enjoying Japan?" she asked, still keeping a half-eye on the mirror while also peering around at the crowd.

"It's hot."

A laugh escaped her lips. "That can't be all you think."

"It is."

She closed the mirror and glanced up at him. "I see you still haven't learnt how to enjoy yourself."

A crease formed on his brow. She opened her mouth to say something else, but then there was a massive boom and the words were lost in an explosion of sparks and colours. The crowd oohed and aahed; many of the people were trying to catch the whole thing on those little mobile phones Muggles seemed to insist on carrying around with them. He was startled when he felt Ginny's fingers grip his shirt and tug him closer. Her lips brushed his, soft and almost teasingly. It was like she was trying to get a response out of him.

Draco pulled back from the kiss. "The hell was that for?"

He didn't know if she heard him in amongst all the fireworks and music. Not that it seemed to matter; his irritation and confusion must have been clear on his face. She leaned up on her tiptoes to speak in his ear.

"We just lost our rogue," she said. "He caught sight of us and Disapparated. Looks like this isn't going to be an easy capture, huh? I guess you'll just have to stick around with me for now."

Draco met her eyes as she stepped back to her normal height. He was not stupid; he knew that she had purposely kissed him so that he would not notice their target was near. Diversion tactics were her thing. The only question that remained was why. Was it because she was bored and thought he was a good shag? Was it because she wanted to pursue something more serious with him, and this was her chance now that they had been reunited?

Honestly, the whole situation still made him pissy. He was used to being the one doing the manipulating—the one holding all the reins.

There was a lull in the fireworks as the organisers got the next batch ready. Ginny raised her eyebrow, as if to say "well, what's your verdict?" Draco rolled his eyes and pulled her in for a kiss. This woman was annoying as heck, but damn it if he wasn't crazy about her. He'd play her little game for now, but she'd soon learn that no Malfoy allowed himself to be twisted around a finger, no matter how dainty, for long. He'd get her playing by his rules soon enough. That was his promise to himself and to her. No way was he going to let her walk out on him again.

"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu" is a tricky phrase to translate into English, but used in this context it's basically like saying "I'm counting on you" or "let's work well together".

In any case, I started writing this fic with no real idea of what I wanted to do with it. I was just listening to music and was like "You know, I live in Japan. I'm going to write a DG one-shot based in Japan. Let's make it a fireworks festival. Cool." And that is how this came about.

Also, for the record, I actually love Japanese summer. The heat is my jam. Hanabi festivals are pretty damn awesome as well. I can't wait for summer to come around again.