The Diary
By Nirvana
A/N:: Okay. This takes place two years after Ginny and Harry get together… The letter is enclosed in punctuation marks. I tried using italicized words, but it won't appear properly on ff.net…
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Chapter 3 – Shopping
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Two years later….
It has been two years since Potter became Virginia's boyfriend. If you do your math right, you'd know that I graduated from Hogwarts. Yahoo! I now live in a small house in Hogsmeade. Until my 7th year, I lived in Malfoy Manor with mother. That was until she committed suicide.
Yes, the vain Narcissa Malfoy commits suicide. With a muggle weapon to go with it. She shot herself with a gun, not handling the fact that her husband died in Azkaban. Don't get me wrong, I love my mother. It was nature's duty for me to love her. And yep, you guessed it. I mourned for her death. But I did not cry in public. I would have died of humiliation. Only Virginia saw me cry. It was her shoulder I cried on the night I found out she died. And no, I still did not tell her how I feel.
If you're wondering why, it's because she's too in love with Potter to completely comprehend what I will say. She will just assume that I meant I love her as a friend. It would be useless, really.
Anyway, I now own a shop in Hogsmeade. A bakeshop. Surprising, no? But I am full of surprises. It also probably came as a surprise to you to find out that I sold Malfoy Manor. Why? Simply because I am not very fond of the memories I have there. True, I inherited millions of galleons, but I did not pay attention to any of it, for the reason that I found out that there is more to this world than money and power. And that is friends.
Speaking of friends, Virginia was made Head Girl in her 7th year. Bravo! It's her birthday in a week, and I can't help but wonder what she and that Potter will do on that special occasion. Most likely, he'll forget it. He's still stupid as always.
I admit I was jealous every time the two of them would walk inside the Great Hall holding hands. It was either that or Potter had his arm around my best friend's waist. I was glad though, that her relationship with Potter did not affect our friendship. We would still meet everyday and would talk about anything. But most of the time, she would talk about Potter. I miss the days when she would not utter his name, or not zone out dreaming about the boy who lived. Bloody Potter.
I am on my way to my bakeshop, where I would give my workers their pay. When this business started, I was the one who baked the goods, with house elves for help and a few squibs. But as the business grew, I had to find more people to work for me. Now, I have about 5 shops in England.
I walk down the crowded streets of Hogsmeade. I remember I don't have a gift for my best friend, so I quicken my pace. I open the door to my shop and I find Manuel, my most trusted employee, cleaning the counter. I call his attention.
"Manuel," I say. "Give the pay to the house elves and the other workers. I will be back shortly. I will just buy something and I will come back. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Master Draco." He replies. He goes back to cleaning the counter and I leave.
As I walk, I mentally list the possible gifts I could give her. I pass by the jewelry shop. Had she been any other girl, I would have bought jewelry. But she did not like jewelry and other fancy things. She would make me take them back eventually.
I think about giving her a broomstick, as I pass the Quidditch shop. Nah. She didn't need it. She was bloody scared of broomsticks and Quidditch. A new pet? No. She already had one. She didn't need another pet to look after, and I already gave her an owl before.
I sit down in one of the benches, suddenly having a headache. My fingers were in my temples, rubbing them gently, willing the pain to go away.
Shit. Was it this bloody hard to find a proper gift for a girl? Jeez. What does she like to do? Read? She had thousands of books already! Most likely, Granger will also give her books. Cross that out from the list. Drawing? Nu-uh. She can't even draw a bloody leaf! Writing? Bingo! I will give her a diary! My, my, my. You, Draco, are finally thinking. As if heaven answered my prayers, my headache slowly disappeared.
I make my way to the bookstore, hoping to find them selling diaries. Angels were singing hallelujah as I saw an entire aisle dedicated to diaries. I scan the shelves for a diary that would knock Virginia's socks off. I pick one. A clerk appears beside me and started babbling about the thing I was holding. It was red velvet with gold lettering in the cover. The clerk says that it was to be embossed with the bearers' name. Perfect. But it was not just the cover that made me want to buy it; it also contained many pages to fill her thoughts.
The clerk starts babbling again and tells me that it never runs out of pages. You just say a certain spell and it would add more pages, not affecting the thickness and the weight of the diary. Marvelous.
I head to the counter, ready to pay when I saw a box of quills sitting in one corner. The annoying clerk returns and tells me that these were quills designed especially for diary writing. It would magically change color, depending on your mood. Blue if you're down, yellow if excited and happy, and red if you're in love. I grab them and include them in my list of purchases. Uh-huh, my best friend's diary would be a multi colored one.
I had it gift wrapped, and paid for the diary and quills. I head back to the bakeshop, wondering if Virginia will like the gift.
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A few days later…
It has been three days since I bought Virginia her gifts. It was now sitting in my desk, surrounded by bits of parchment and quills. I was currently eating my breakfast (bacon and eggs) when an owl flew inside and perched itself on one of the chairs. I stop eating and take out the rolled up parchment that was tied in one of its legs. I give him a sweet and it goes away. I opened the letter, and it read…
'Dear Draco,
Hey! How's my best friend? Anyway, I'm gonna leave for Christmas break the day after the Yule Ball. What are you doing nowadays? I bet you're probably wondering why a school owl delivered this instead of Athena, right?'
I momentarily stop reading. Why indeed? Athena was the owl I gave her last Christmas. She was always the one delivering letters from Virginia. I continue to read her letter.
'…Well, Athena's leg is broken, and she can't possibly deliver letters in that predicament. Poor baby. To move on, Snape is being a git (I doubt that'll change), McGonagall is still the same, and Professor Sprout commended my 'extraordinary skills to define any plant'. Jeez, what's with these people? Anyhow, the Yule ball is tomorrow and… Harry can't come! Why can't they grant our graduated boyfriends access to the ball? That is so unfair! So, I'm stuck with Kenneth Holding as my date. Yuck. I don't know why I picked him though. I could've picked Richard McKenzie… he was cuter (read: blonde hair, blue eyes, and a body to die for. *Drool*… but I'm still loyal to Harry, mind you). Oh well, too late to back out now.
Holy guacamole! You should see my dress, Draco! It's strapless, and it really goes well with my figure! Its color is dark red, and it's silk! My god, it's even better than what I wore to the Yule ball last year!
I gotta go… Madison's been pestering me all day yesterday to accompany her to buy clothes…bye… It's time to teach my female best friend a thing or two about fashion!
Love always,
Virginia
*end of letter*
I smile slightly at her ending remark. Love always. I could already imagine her with that dress… it's a pity it had to be wasted on that Kenneth guy. I know that it will only be in my wildest fantasies when she will wear that dress for me and kiss me tenderly, with passion and love. She's with Potter now, I remind myself.
I finish my breakfast and leave for work. This was gonna be a long day.
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Two days after, 11:00 p.m.
The next, next night, I was absolutely exhausted. One of the customers ordered 5000 cookies, 30 cakes, and other pastries for a party. I baked and I baked, with help from my numerous employees. Needless to say, we finished the task easily.
I take a quick shower and I dress in my nightclothes – boxers. I dive into the satin and silk sheets, with nothing on my mind except sleep. I close my eyes. I hear a resounding thud downstairs.
"Shit." I mutter. My eyes open. So much for a good night's sleep. I grab my wand from the nightstand and tiptoe quietly to the door of my bedroom. What I saw when I flung open the door surprised me.
What I saw was my best friend in tears.
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A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed! Good golly, I slept 3:00 am just to write this chapter! That afternoon, I already planned a chapter and it was already carefully crafted. Then, at around 12 o'clock midnight, I couldn't sleep. I HAD A BRAINSTORM!! So I spent the next three hours writing this before my laziness would kick in. Voila! The third chapter is done!
A/N: I agree with all of you. DAMN THAT HARRY POTTER!
Kaitlin-Scott- yes, I share your thoughts with that one. I hate Harry in most fics… when he gets the girl and Draco is left without one... Damn. We'll see what'll happen in the next chapter! Keep reading and thanks for the review!
To Champagne, Glumfrog, Mike Brownbill, Keita, stiffy-wood-23, SaintlySmile, Dizzy Flower and Crystal, thanks!