Working for the Dragon

Chapter 18. Envy & All that Jazz

"I had no idea that people who attended these tea parties were so arrogant and stuck up." Channy sighed tiredly as she put her head down on my table to rest.

"Now you know what I've had to put up with." I raised my eyebrows at her pointedly, as I examined a contract that Draco was currently in process of signing with another company.

"Yes madam and I salute you for that. Two jobs at once! I'm exhausted by the time the day ends. Oh wait, I already am." Channy moaned.

"Once again, welcome to my world."

"Shut up."

Choosing to ignore my best friend's unusual bout of crankiness I decided to enquire about the tea party.

-"So, how was the tea party?" I enquired casually. Surely, she had done a better job than me and she was definitely dressed for it.

She raised her head and thought about it for a moment. –"It was disastrous, though not for me. I had a blast. Blaise came by you know."

Ah, Blaise came by.

I smirked at her, "Ah, so that's why it was good."

"Oh no…"-She replied, probably not at all catching my implication. –"It was actually going terrible. You remember our classmate, Astoria? From Potions? Her mother…"

"Mrs Greengrass?" I interrupted confirming.

"Yep, that one. She is such an old bitch. There is really nothing nice to mention about her!" Channy looked absolutely annoyed, and with reason. I didn't blame her.

I nodded my head in agreement.

-"She treated me like I'm a social pariah." She sniffed, disgusted with the behaviour of the aristocrats.

Continuing, -"She kept taunting me on my sexual preference. Not that I care, but still. And when Blaise dropped by, she went all cougar on him. Thank all the gods out there that he dropped by. I tried to ignore him, play hard to get. But when he asked me how my day was. I told him everything."

She looked as though she was going to cry with gratitude over Blaise's concern for her.

"No one has ever asked me that…." When I cleared my throat, she added. "Except for you of course!"

"And then, when I told him everything. Over tea, somehow, he managed to pour Wasabi sauce in Mrs Greengrass's tea" My eyes widened.

"It was a sight!" She smiled at the memory. –"Narcissa was not that amused though. She knew it was Blaise."

"I love Blaise." I declared just as Draco walked into my cabin.

"Great. I shall let him know of your sudden sprout of undying love for my best friend." He commented dryly.

"Uh… Not like that…" I stammered, blood rushing to my cheeks. –"I just meant…"

"Doesn't really matter…" He shut me off just like that. I felt as though someone pinched me, hard. I looked at him with a hurt expression - why was he being so mean to me?

We hadn't had a proper conversation from the time that Channy had joined Malfoy Empire. Roughly around five days now.

What had I done wrong?

Did someone poison his mind against me? Audrina?

I had a sudden paranoid imagination of Draco and Audrina being intimate and it sickened me. Shuddering to myself, I stood up deciding that I needed some fresh air to be able to think properly. Reading all these Acts stated in the contract was making my mind fuzzy.

On my way out of Malfoy Empire, you would never guess who I met.

Blaise.

You genius!

"Hey Gin!" He greeted me warmly embracing me into a warm, friendly hug.

He looked really handsome today, wearing a navy blue, long-sleeved v-neck sweater and casual jeans with sneakers. His hair was all mussed up thanks to the wind, giving him a boyish, 'I-just-got-out-of-bed' look.

Seeing him, I was vaguely reminded of my statement and Draco's abrupt dismissal earlier. It still stung.

"Blaise!" I smiled right back. He had a really infectious smile.

"Leaving so soon?" He asked me, surprised. Office hours had yet to be over.

"Need fresh air." I shrugged, waving the file I held in my hand. –"They might as well write this in Greek."

-"You want some help with that?" Blaise offered kindly. He looked slightly disappointed when I had mentioned that office hours had not ended yet.

-"Nope, I am good. Draco is having a conference which should be over….."- I glanced quickly at my leather strapped watch –"Within the next ten minutes or so."

Blaise looked rather guilty. "Oh that's okay. I'm not here to see Draco. I think he is sick of me hanging around. I might drop in though. I'm here to see….." He paused.

"Channy?" I guessed, a little too brightly for my own good.

He looked even guiltier, confirming my guess. Well, at least somebody's love life was working out if not mine.

I chuckled remembering the Wasabi incident that Channy had narrated to me earlier.

"Great job with Mrs Greengrass, mate. I cannot even bring myself to feel remotely sorry for her." I smiled wickedly.

He smirked – Such a Slytherin – clearly proud of himself.

"Definitely worth the tongue-lashing I received." He was referring to Narcissa.

I shook my head. Blaise was such an imp.

"You're no better." He teased. – "Nina told me that you sent her that Howler during the party. She finally confessed that she wasn't actually … well, not straight."

I probably forgot to mention, I was the only person in the world who could refer to Chanina Giovanni as Channy. Everyone else knew her by Nina. Channy was the nickname created to rhyme with Ginny.

Don't judge, we were twelve.

"Well, she wanted me to. So I did." I shrugged as though breaking off her alliance with a prominent someone was of no big deal to me.

Remembering the reason that he was here for, I approached the matter casually trying to dig in for more info.

Channy will definitely thank me for this, later.

"So…Channy, huh? You interested?" I casually wondered.

Blaise took a moment to think before he replied. I could tell that he was seriously thinking his answer through before he said anything.

"I am… to be frank. She is really interesting. Not at all like those high society girls. Stuck up and prissy. Nope." He smiled a little… his thoughts definitely on Channy.

"Want me to put in a good word for you?" I teased.

"Sure." He answered, to my surprise. –"She hardly seems interested which makes her all the more intriguing. Drives me crazy to know what's on her mind. And she is hot!"

Interested? Oh dude, if only you could read minds right now. I briefly reflected back to all the times she had spent swooning over Blaise back at Hogwarts.

If Channy knew what Blaise thought of her, she will definitely go crazy. Shortly, I imagined her screaming and jumping around in my cabin. Mentally, I noted that I might have to place a Silencing Charm in my cabin when I broke the news to her.

"She thinks you are cool." I replied... And smart, dashing, rakish, divine, romantic…

Blaise sighed, "Just cool? First time someone has blatantly dismissed me. There was you, but you have the hots for my best friend so that does not count."

What? I stared at him in shock. How in the world did he know that?

He misread my stare. "Oh wait! You HAD the hots for my best friend. You are with that Potter bloke now."

What the hell?

"Potter?" I managed after failing at trying to put the pieces together in my head.

"Harry Potter? The Boy Who Lived to Defeat Voldemort? Your boyfriend. C'mon, you wrote him that Valentine…." I shushed him before he chose to recite the cheesiest, corniest poem ever written.

"I am with Potter? I mean, Harry?" I finally processed everything. –"How the hell did you come up with that?"

Now it was Blaise's turn to be puzzled. He studied me bemusedly.

"We saw you together the other day at King Neptune's. You were hugging and kissing…" He informed me as I had a flashback of the time where Harry and I were walking down the official streets of Corporate Alley.

We?

"Who is in this we that you speak of?" I asked, slightly irate.

"Draco…" Blaise replied impatiently, looking at me as though I was a mere toddler who had yet to understand the complexities of the English language.

Continuing, -"Pity you are with Potter. I was hoping that I could ask Nina out and then we could double-date and get to know each other. Draco – You, Nina and I."

I was silent, processing each and every word he had said. My mind raced to a panic when I realised that Draco thought that I was no longer single.

Merlin! Draco thinks that I am with Harry! Crap! How am I going to clear this with him when he is behaving so coldly towards me?

I practically wailed mentally.

Something chose that very moment to occur to me. Was that why Draco was behaving so antagonistically towards me?

"Blaise?" I phrased my question very carefully.

-"Is that why Draco is behaving with me as though I … Oh I don't know. Like that?"

Some way of phrasing that question, huh?

Thankfully Blaise seemed to understand what I had meant.

He looked rather amazed in fact, peering at me thoughtfully.

"You know, I am amazed that you have understood Draco's emotions in such a short period of time."

That sentence confirmed my dilemma.

Draco was hostile with me because of Harry.

-"Draco is rather… attached to you, you see. He doesn't like to share… If I really have to put it that way. And not with Potter at the very least. Really, Gin? Potter?"

Draco was jealous of Harry.

The thought of that made me feel all warm and fluttery inside. I could not stop myself from feeling pleased at it. Apparently that much was evident on my face.

"Are you crazy, Gin? You like Draco and Potter!" Blaise exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock.

I nearly slapped him. "What kind of tart do you think I am? I like Draco! Bleeding idiot!"

-"Harry is with Luna! You know, Luna Lovegood from Ravenclaw? He walked me the other day to confess because he thought that I would mind since Lu is my best friend! Ughh… Men are so frustrating. Always jumping to conclusions!" I sighed frustrated at the end.

How on earth am I supposed to clear that little seed of doubt that was planted in Draco's mind?

"Oh…" Blaise stopped, thinking for a moment and then burst out laughing.

I glared at him as hard as I could. This was not at all funny.

"You've got yourself in a right mess, Gin!" He managed to get that much out in the midst of his laughter.

Oh well, only I could do that.

"Not funny, Blaise." I said as a hint of a smile began gathering on my face.

It did seem kind of funny though, now that I thought of it. The situation was something that would most likely end up on a sitcom or a muggle romantic comedy.

My life did seem like a drama series. I guess writers got inspired by people like me. Such things do happen in real life.

After joining Blaise, laughing at the story of my life, I felt much lighter.

"So what are we going to do now?" Trying to make sense of the statutes and other documentation present in that file were long forgotten.

"You mean what are you going to do, right?" Blaise corrected me wearing a mischievous smile.

He wanted something that much was confirmed.

"You are not going to help your friend become your future sister-in-law?" I gave him the most heartbreaking expression that I could ever come up with.

"Okay! Okay! I will. Just don't look at me like that. It's… creepy. It makes my heart… melt." Blaise shuddered and pulled his gaze away.

I smiled triumphantly. The power of the pouty face! No one could resist it.

"Great! So…What's the plan?" I asked brightly.

Blaise look thoughtful for a minute before he finally answered.

"Go to Draco's cabin exactly an hour before office hours are over. Leave the rest to me."

"Why do I get a bad feeling about this?" I narrowed my eyes, sceptical of his plans.

"Don't." He assured me. With a glint in his eyes, "It's the perfect plan; just agree with everything that I say, later."

Talking to Blaise had pretty much taken up whatever time I had taken out to go for that walk so I had no choice but to return. On the bright side, my mind was crystal clear and everything started to make sense. I was eager for the last hour but at the same time nervous.

Draco had the ability to make you feel like a Queen at one minute and then like a bag of dirt at the next.

The time had come. I smoothed out any creases on my dress and adjusted my hair. I wore a really simple sleeveless black dress to work today with plain cut out grey heels.

Knocking softly on his door, I entered his cabin. Draco looked right up at me expressionlessly. It didn't occur to me earlier but today, we matched. He was wearing a black suit with a grey t-shirt/sweater? I could hardly tell. The grey highlighted his eyes and as usual, he looked dashing.

"Draco….Er…Sir?" I began, unsure if I had lost my rights as to addressing him by his name.

-"I have read and scrutinized every inch of the contract, it is fair and within our budget. You can proceed with the signing." I placed the file on his table.

"What makes you think that I haven't already signed it?" Draco raised his eyebrows at me questioningly.

"The fact that you made me read the entire contract to check whether it is secure and safe for the empire…" I paused knowing that he had signed the contract and all my efforts had simply gone in vain.

"I had the privilege of signing the contract during my conference this afternoon."

WHY IS HE BEING SO FORMAL WITH ME? And he signed the contract! WHERE IS MY WAND?

I felt so stumped. Almost depressed… and really angry.

Before I could react or even open my mouth to say anything, Blaise entered the cabin.

"Draco! Hey mate!" He greeted his best mate cheerfully. –"Gin!" He pretended as though I had not met him at the entrance of Malfoy Empire.

I smiled at him - common sense told me that now was not the perfect time to get zealous with Blaise.

"Blaise…What are you doing here, mate?" Draco greeted his friend briefly. He was definitely not in the best of moods right now.

"Photo shoot finished ages ago and I got bored…Am I interrupting something?" He waggled his eyebrows at Draco implying that we might have just been engaging in….

Okay that makes me sound like a complete prude.

Draco gave him an irritated, snobbish look. "No. We are done here." He said, meaning that I should leave.

I was about to leave when Blaise stopped me. "What are you doing? Don't screw this up!"

Clearing his throat loudly-"Ginny, babe? Hang on would you. Do you have any plans for tonight?"

I scrutinized Blaise's movements to see if he will give me the signal. He shook his head inconspicuously.

"Er….No." I guessed looking at him for help.

"Fantastic! Let's all have dinner together! There is this new club in town. Let's go check it out. I have to cover it as well." Blaise said brightly, looking cheerful at the prospect of having company whilst at work.

Have I ever mentioned that Blaise is a freelance photographer? A jack of all trades, he is a very well-known photographer in the fashion world.

Draco looked at him as though he was a baby mandrake. "Mate, I have to finish up…." Before he could finish that sentence, Blaise cut him. Their conversation was over before I could catch anything.

Draco walked out of the room and I turned to Blaise.

"Guess what, Ginny? Nina is coming too." He looked rather pleased with himself.

"You are not really helping me are you?" I guessed. If that was the case, I was going to be royally pissed off with Blaise.

"I'm killing two birds with one stone. You'll see and you will thank me later. Now go and pretty up!" He ordered.

Huffing, I went back to my own cabin in which I met Channy.

"Guess what?" She squealed excitedly. –"Blaise asked me out to dinner at this new club!"

"He asked me too." I replied absent-mindedly trying to figure out what Blaise had meant when he said that he was killing two birds with one stone.

"WHAT?" Channy shrieked.

"Oh yeah, Draco and I are going to be your chaperones." I said sarcastically.

"Tell me everything!" She demanded.

I filled her right in and she seemed more than enthusiastic to help Blaise out in his 'masterplan'.

I wasn't sure what else to expect apart from disaster.

The new club, The Dubloon was posh and hip, made for the rich and young to socialize. Dinners were normally not held in clubs but this place was rather different. There was a restaurant on the rooftop of the building and a live band playing sophisticated jazz music. The dance club area was indoors alongside the bar. There was another on the rooftop level.

All in all, it was really fancy.

I was glad that my simple black dress was good enough to get me inside. I don't know what Blaise would have done if that had happened. Channy as usual was dressed to her best, a white mini dress with black triangles and stilettos. The dress had been designed for office wear but I knew for a fact that Channy had shortened it.

We were encouraged by Blaise to order alcohol so I ordered my favourite, Cherry Martini.

"Honestly, Ginny… Why don't you order something else? This cocktail looks really good." She pointed to this strange looking cocktail on the menu whose name I was not even sure how to pronounce. She had ordered herself a Pina Colada.

Meanwhile, both Blaise and Draco had order a bottle of Firewhiskey. I vaguely heard Draco warning Blaise.

"Don't make me regret this, mate."

To which Blaise replied in all his cheeky glory, "Oh you'll be thanking me later, mate."

Channy and Draco made conversation over the various destinations that they had travelled to over the last couple of years. It was surprisingly friendly. I felt a tinge of envy when I realised that his antagonism was only directed towards me.

Blaise excused himself and walked off but not before nudging me under the table. I guessed that his signal was for me to follow him. I waited for a few minutes before I followed. Draco and Channy were so absorbed in discussing the perks of travelling to Seville, Spain that they did not acknowledge the fact that I had left the table.

I sighed to myself. This evening was starting to get gloomy.

A hand reached out and grabbed me from the corner.

"What the hell, Blaise?" I glowered at him for the stunt he just pulled.

"Anyone ever told you that you are a terrible actress, Ginny?" He grinned.

"Shut up, Blaise." I frowned, annoyed.

"We're going to go back to the dinner table and you are going to talk about your personal life with Nina." He commanded, looking determined.

"Okay." I shrugged. My life was an open book apart from the fact that my boss is Draco Malfoy, I had no other secrets.

Oh and that I had a major crush on him.

Back at the table, Channy and Draco were currently discussing Egypt. I had been there too.

I remembered the amazing time I had right after the Chamber of Secrets incident. I had jumped back fit and fine, forgiven myself and all that.

Blaise joined in the conversation too, diverting it to the investment and stock market part. The part that was practically Sanskrit to Channy and me. He kicked me, hard under the table and I stared at him furiously trying to prevent my eyes from watering.

"Are you okay, Gin?" Channy elbowed me, concerned. Clearly, while trying to absorb the pain from the nasty kick, I had zoned out.

"Huh? Oh sorry. What were you saying?" I asked her.

"I said…We should have one of our girl's night out soon! This place is great to catch up and party at the same time. Hmmm… Any idea when is Luna returning?" She took a sip of her drink.

"No clue. I could ask Harry though. He knows best." I had a sudden inkling as to where this conversation was headed to. Channy winked at me.

"Why would you ask Harry?" She pretended to look confused.

"Harry and Luna are together. Wouldn't Harry know best?" I shrugged casually trying hard not to overact.

Channy gasped dramatically causing Draco and Blaise to stop their discussion and look at her.

"What? Harry and Luna are together? When? Why? How?" She exclaimed, looking extremely shocked.

Pretending that I hadn't realised that we had the attention of the boys, I filled her right in.

"Wait a minute. Potter and Lovegood are together?" Blaise interrupted. I nodded my head, confirming this fact.

"Harry confirmed it the other day when he walked me to Corporate Alley." I answered related the accounts of what had occurred.

"Awww….I'm so happy for them."Channy smiled.

Mission accomplished.

Both Blaise and Draco looked at each other. For a second there, Draco looked relieved but then his expression changed to one of guilt.

Dinner was done. Over the meal, we skimmed through other topics which kept everything casual and fun. Draco kept silent though. The conversation was mainly dominated by Channy and Blaise with occasional inputs from me.

"This place is really nice, don't you think?" Channy asked me as we gathered our items. I nodded my head in agreement. This place felt a lot more pleasant than it had in the beginning.

We had an argument over the bill, eventually Blaise paid for it.

"I don't even know why you try to argue. You should know that it's not going to happen right?" Blaise said in referral to our little battle over the bill.

"Independent women always pay their own bills." Channy sniffed, indignant.

"A gentleman always pays for the bills. Especially with a lady." Blaise replied, charming the pants off Channy.

I bet this month's salary that Channy was swooning inside.

He held the door for both of us as we walked out.

"Nina, if you would allow me….May I escort you home?" He requested sounding truly charming and concerned.

Channy's eyes widened and she squeezed my hand, "Sure, Blaise. Walking down the streets of Diagon Alley can get rather scary at this hour."

I looked at my wristwatch, time had flown so fast. It was indeed, late.

"I guess I'll head off to the Point." I said, referring to the place where I would apparate to the Burrow.

I hugged Channy and wished her a soft good luck.

And then I hugged Blaise who whispered, "Thank me later."

"Good…." I turned to bid Draco but got cut instead.

"I am walking you to the Point." He said. I knew it was pointless to protest.

Secretly though, I was pleased. The walk there could get really quiet and dark. Not something I particularly enjoyed.

We walked slowly in awkward silence. I felt comforted by Draco's presence. The air was cold; it was a rather chilly night.

I shivered, wishing that I had brought my leather jacket or a shawl with me.

Attempting to take out my wand from my hand bag was pointless because I would probably lose it thanks to constant shivering. I shuddered from the cold once more before I was wrapped in …..Draco's coat.

"Wear it. You are freezing." He insisted.

Who am I to deny such a request? I thought to myself dramatically.

My heart fluttered like it usually did whenever Draco did something like this. I could feel my insides glowing with that little joy one had when one's crush did something nice for them.

I had dreamt of this moment for so long.

"Thanks." I wrapped it around me, further like a huge blanket inhaling his scent. A combination of musk and citrus.

"You were cold." That was his way of acknowledging my thanks.

The silence between us continued until Draco broke it.

"Ginny?" His voice pulled me from enjoying the warmth and comfort of his coat. And the dreams that it brought with it.

"Hmm?" I responded, dreamily.

"I've been saying this often lately especially to you. In fact, only to you… I'm sorry." He sounded really apologetic and sincere.

"No harm done. Except for the contract part…. Do you know how long it took me to understand that?" At first, I was soft about it, but remembering what he did with the contract made me blow.

"I didn't want you taking half day…." He muttered. If only there was enough light, the street ones were too dim. I would love to see his expression right now.

"Why Draco?" I asked, wanting to hear the reason from his mouth.

He hesitated. This was the second time that I had seen Draco so uncomfortable. It was adorable.

-"Does it have anything to do with the reason why you've been mean to me for the last couple of days?"

"I was being selfish. Let's just leave it at that. And yes." He admitted.

I stopped in the middle of the road and did something I never thought that I would have done.

I threw myself in his arms on a complete impulse and gave him a big, tight hug. My body was pressed against his hard muscles. His body was like the Placebo effect, I felt safe, warm, protected and happy.

Initially it was awkward because he probably was too shocked to return the gesture. When he did, I felt as though I was on fire with his hands around my waist. He hugged me tight too, protectively. It was as though I belonged to him and him only.

I pulled away, my eyes meeting his under the dim light. His hand still lingered on my head.

"Next time Draco, please ask." I touched his cheek gently.

This night had taught me so much more than I had ever expected.

He never said it and he didn't have to because I knew. He liked me too.

There you go! An update!

I'm so excited to read your reviews for this chapter so please review and let me know what you think ASAP!

Lastly, wishing one of my anonymous reviewers a very Happy Birthday! You know who you are!

Once again – thanks for everything! XOXO