***
A dark figure trudged down the flooded sidewalk. Iced water hung around the ankles, swirling the tips of the maroon cloak. Tainted raindrops slid off the roofs of buildings, pulling dirt and slime to the asphalt. Tiny shops lined the well-worn street. The doors to each and every one of the shops were locked, lights off. Brightly colored signs were still shining despite the darkness of the night and the clouds from which rain fell. The cloaked person had their head bowed, covered by a hood.
"Danielle! Please stop!" A man hollered. He ran down the flooded street, water squelching in his leather boots. His silver-blonde hair was soaked, sticking against his scalp. The black tips of his hair flew behind him, pulled by the wind. His jacket was barely kept on his arms, the black suede wishing to be free. Black, sagged pants threatened to trip him, though he didn't care.
The maroon figure stopped, turning to face the man. He stopped sprinting a few steps away from the woman, gasping for breath.
"Dani, what the hell is wrong?" he asked harshly.
"What's wrong? Honestly, I just decided to go out with my friends for a few drinks and you flip, John," she replied, pulling her hood down and putting her hair into a tail. Danielle's red hair curled about the rubber band. Her pale cheeks were set aflame by her freckles and the bite of the wind. She stood six inches shorter than the man before her.
" 'A few drinks?' You were completely smashed!" he hollered.
"Yes, and thanks to you, everyone knows!" she yelled back.
"Thanks to me? Hey, Deb was the one who brought up the topic! And what difference does it make? Most everyone in that house already knew!" he yelled, pointing down the street.
"What? No they didn't! God, do you want me to quit drinking, ignore my friends and become an old woman? Damnit, why can't you just accept me? I am Danielle Smith. What more do you want?" she asked, looking up, fighting back tears. She stomped her foot on the ground.
"I don't want Danielle Smith! I don't want Danielle Coopersmith, and I sure as hell don't want the Danielle I'm talking to now! I just want Dani, the girl who loved me, if only for a moment. That is who I want," he snarled. His translucent skin was flushed red, his eyes narrowed.
"Damnit, John! I am Dani! Not Danielle Coopersmith! Why can't you just let that go?"
"Because you slept with him! After I proposed! I mean, do you honestly think that I will ever forget that? Well?" John screamed, his strong glare holding Dani fast.
"I know it's hard. I wasn't thinking! Dammit, I never should have said yes to you!" She gasped as soon as the words left her mouth.
John stopped. Everything around him froze, her words echoing in his mind, in a perpetual loop.
'Never should have said yes… never should have… never… never…'
His shoulders fell from their proud position, his snarl fell from its anger, and his eyes took on an eerie look of pain and fear. Raindrops slid down his silver hair matting the black to his head. The tiny droplets glistened upon his worn jacket.
Danielle took two short steps forward, stopping only a few inches from John. She reached up to caress his face. He caught her hand before she touched him, pulling the hand back down to chest level.
"If you wish it so," he whispered. He pulled the wet ring from her finger. Tears were cascading down her cheeks. Slowly, John backed away, keeping his eyes on the ring he held. He turned and began sprinting up the road. Danela watched in horror the entire time, unable to move. It wasn't until he righted his motorcycle before she was free. She slowly began to walk, her speed steadily increasing.
Pulling his helmet on, he snapped the visor shut, placing the platinum ring into his pocket. The engine roared to life as the young man sped down the street. Danielle kept walking, watching the taillight on the bike disappear before the urgency of the matter struck her.
"John!" she screamed, sprinting up the road. "Wait!" But he pulled a turn, vanishing down an alley. Danielle collapsed in the road, shaking and sobbing.
"Cut! That's a wrap you guys!"
'Danielle' pushed herself out of the road, hurrying to where the crew was.
"Good job, Gin!" a man said, patting her on the back.
"Thanks, Jim! You were a pleasure to work with, as always," she replied with a smile.
"I know! I'm the worlds best camera man!" Ginny smiled at him and continued down the street to her trailer. She smiled and graciously accepted compliments, stopping only once or twice to savor the looks of disbelief on her co-stars faces.
"Great job, Drake! I didn't know you had it in you!" Jim said happily.
"Yeah, well that makes two of us," Draco replied with a small smirk. Ginny turned, walking towards her characters love interest.
"Mr. Malfoy, can I bring your bike around?" an assistant asked.
"That'd be great. Thanks," he said,
"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, may I worship the ground you walk on?" Ginny asked, laughing slightly. Draco sneered at her, though faint amusement hung in his eyes.
"You? No."
"Hey!" she exclaimed jokingly. "I have to pretend I'm in love with you for a year and a half and you're not even civil to me?"
"Well, you are the sister of one of my greatest enemies, you're lead singer of a pop group, and I had to pretend I was in love with you for a year."
"That's unfair! You're my brother's, fiancé's, and best friend's worst enemy, you're the bassist of a punk band, and you ate my doughnut!" she said. By the last sentence, she was yelling, something which didn't really effect anyone on the set.
Ginny Weasley, or Ginger West as she was called in the muggle realm, had a blooming career. Not only was she making her screen debut, she had guest starred on many hit sitcoms and a few made for television movies. But it was singing in her group, Three Angels, that introduced her to fame.
Three Angels was a pop group, in which she was lead singer, and two muggle girls, Jessi Moore and Lisa Grenn who both sang back up and occasional leads. The three girls hit it big with their first single 'In your shadow,' which went number one on the charts. They were readying for the release of their third album, which already boasted two hits; the feminist anthem 'Free," and the bouncy 'Star,' which both showed no signs of losing their popularity in both the muggle and wizarding worlds.
Now, Draco Malfoy was at the other end of the musical spectrum. Soon after leaving Hogwarts Draco, in a rebellious mood, ran away from home to London. Soon after arriving, he slipped into muggle life and punk music. It was in a dingy pub that he met the three other members of Golden Boys. Witty name, of course. Despite the riveting name, the band was pretty well known in the underground until "Wonder Boy" was released two years ago. It was released as a national single in the United States, as one of the Boys, Rick, had a cousin who was friends with an aid whose sister's best friend's boyfriend worked for Surf Dog record label. Somehow, their single ended up in the right hands, and negotiations quickly opened. At first, the man with the power to sign the Boys was dead set against it. The company couldn't afford to constantly fly the Boys to the states for meetings and recording. But Draco, or Drake Malloy as he was known in the muggle world, assured him that everything could and would be taken care of in twenty-four hours.
It was done in six.
Drake Malloy, Rick Strants, Jamie Nicbach, and Justin Witner, or as they were known onstage, Mickey, Joe, Ted, and Bob, had a label. While the bands straightforward lyrics and head-bobbing beats drove the main force of their fans, a good chunk would readily agree that they just went to the shows for the bassist and the drummer. Draco and Bob were always sullen about being plucked out of the background for pictures, but the Golden Boys must go on.
The two stars had, at first, almost refused to be in the movie when they learned who their love interest would be. As a matter of fact, Ginny only agreed because she wanted to break in on the movie scene with a serious flick.
Draco agreed to piss people off.
While the two had come to tolerate each other, there wasn't any chance of Ginny inviting Draco over to meet the family.
"Mickey! Hey man, you forgetting about you band already?" Draco turned, smirking when he saw Bob.
Bob looked a great deal like Draco. They both had silver blonde hair, blue eyes, and porcelain complexions. Both were close to six feet, but Bob was very muscled whereas Draco was muscled enough that he'd filled out fine, but not so much that you'd think twice about attacking him.
"Ah, shut up! We don't have practice for another hour!"
"Right, but 'Cains is doing two for one's right now!" Bob yelled form his side of the set.
"Shit, you know I'm there!" Draco called back.
"Hurry up, Mick! The chicks are getting tired of waitin'!" Bob yelled. He grinned at Draco with a wave before trotting off the set.
" 'The chicks?' Hmm… and who might they be?" Ginny questioned, smirking.
"You mean you don't know?" Draco asked, a tone of irony very evident in his voice.
"Well of course I don't!" Ginny scowled.
"Well they are your band mates after all," he said with a smirk. Ginny's jaw dropped.
"You're kidding!"
"Naw. Apparently the blonde thinks she's got a chance with Bob," Draco said with a laugh.
"Hmm. Well, have fun," Ginny said, turning to walk off. Draco grabbed her arm.
"Do you… well, do you wanna come along?" he asked nervously. "I mean, I don't want you to be stranded with nothing to do," he quickly added. Ginny smiled.
"I'll be fine," she said, before glancing back and forth. No one was around them. "They're opening a new club in Diagon Alley," she said in a whisper. Draco raised an eyebrow.
"I thought that wasn't going to open until next month," he whispered back.
"Well, it was scheduled to open the day after our movie release, and since the hype is so big, they decided to open it early. They extended an invitation to you through me, said they were opening it early in our honor and wanted us present. I was going to check it out. Hang out with the gang, you know," she said. "Wanna come? The wizarding world hasn't seen your face for quite sometime." Draco pulled his hands out of his pockets and ran them through his still soaked hair.
"I don't know. I gave up magic three years ago, and I haven't any real desire to go back," he said, sneering at his wet fingers. "Besides, I'm soaked."
"Honestly, Malfoy. Have you forgotten that I still do magic?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms.
"And who said I'd let you?" Draco shot back. Ginny scowled.
"Fine! And here I was just trying to be nice to you-"she began, walking off. Draco growled at himself, before jogging to catch up with her.
"Look Gin, I'm sorry, okay? I'll go to this club with you, all right?" he said. Ginny kept walking, but turned her head to glance at him.
"Good. Meet me out in front in thirty minutes. I have to make it look like I'm using a hairdryer," she said, before turning to her right and going into her trailer. Draco smiled wryly at her back, before making his way to his trailer. Looks like the band will have to do without me tonight.
***
"Bob?"
"Drake? 'Zat you?"
"Yeah, can you hear me?"
"Well, you're kinda fuzzy, the whole cell phone thing you know." Draco laughed into his gray phone.
"Anyway, I'm not going to 'Cains tonight," he said, grabbing his leather jacket as he started out of his trailer.
"What? Ah man, you bailing already?"
"Yeah. Sorry, but some... old friends came about," he said. He heard Bob pause.
"Old friends?"
"Not them."
"Okay then. Check you later." Draco snapped his phone shut, slid on his jacket, and jammed the phone deep into his pocket. He pulled the collar up, shielding his neck from the cold air as he walked quickly. Magic was always faster than muggle means, and Draco didn't like to keep people waiting.
He didn't like to keep people he was working with waiting, at least.
"Drake Malloy!" Draco spun around, and grumbled when he saw a most unwelcome woman walking towards him.
Her white pumps clacked loudly, even on the busy set parking lot. The cream skirt she wore traveled down to her knees, and the matching long white leather jacket reached down mid-calf. The silk saffron dyed shirt she worn loosely hung on her shoulders, complimenting her torso. Dark black hair was pulled into a French twist over her head and black sunglasses were perched before it. Her bright hazel eyes were set in her pale face and she threw her Gucci bag further up her shoulder while waving with the other hand. The effect was exactly what she wanted: an elegant woman to stun all males into a stupor.
"Drake! I can't believe I finally found you!" she said, throwing her arms around him when she got close enough.
"Hi," he said dully, patting her quickly on the back. She pulled away from him, frowning slightly at him.
"Are you not happy to see me?" she asked, placing a hand on one hip.
"How do you always seem to hit the nail right on the head?" he asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. She scowled, destroying her male-numbing persona.
"Damnit, Drake! Can't you just let it go?"
"You ran out on me with a model after trashing my bike!" he exclaimed. She pouted, sliding her hands onto his shoulders.
"Come on, Drake. That guy meant nothing to me," she said, smiling hopefully at him. Draco wasn't amused.
"And you, my dear Clarice, mean nothing to me," he said, pulling her hands off his arms, and walking off.
You can't just ignore me, Drake Malloy!" she screamed after him, stomping her foot on the ground. With a smirk, Draco turned around, and continued to walk backwards.
"I think I will." And with a wink, Draco spun about and made for his meeting spot.
******
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the muggle-ness, as well as the other-ness. I promise that a plot will either a.) show up eventually or b.) just leave. Oh well. ::sigh:: I love feedback, by the way...