She's In Love
(semi-inspired by the song by Mark Wills)
The Assignment:
Eight years after Hogwarts graduation, Draco Malfoy was sitting at his desk at the Daily Prophet Headquarters. There was an assignment sitting on his desk that lay forgotten as he stared wide - eyed at the wall. "How could this have happened?" he asked himself. The girl he had been in love with for 12 years was engaged to another man, and he had to cover the story for the Daily Prophet. "I guess that's what you get for putting down the family. Why couldn't I just take the Dark Mark? Oh yeah, I have a heart." Draco chuckled at his bickering conscience. Even if he had become a Death Eater, he would still have the problem of this girl being engaged to somebody other than him.
All the paper said was an address and a time, he had been given the information of what he was to be covering in advance. The engagement party was to be held at 12 Phoenix Place at 7:30 PM. There was a formal dinner before that press wasn't invited to. "Press, that would be me. Not old friend, not even acquaintance, press," he thought miserably. It was amazing how one little assignment, one little slip of paper could reopen years old wounds. He thought he had moved on, but upon hearing about the engagement, he knew he thought wrong.
He knew what he would have to do. He would have put on a game face and go down to the Phoenix Hall to the engagement party. He would pretend that he had never had feelings for her, and that he hadn't thought about her one bit since graduation. In truth, he had realized his feelings for her in the beginning of fourth year. Of course, she could never know of this, so he kept it a total secret from almost everyone (for it was impossible to keep a secret from all). He would just have to put up the front that he had in school whenever he was near her. Although, because eight years had passed, perhaps he wouldn't have to be quite so mean.
He had two days to mentally prepare himself to be in her presence again, and this time with the love of her life around. He wondered who she was engaged to. "Maybe, if I had listened to my assignment when Dukes was giving it to me, I might actually know who this mystery man was. But, no, I was too busy thinking about how I would get to see her again." It seemed like Draco's conscience was getting the best of him there. "O, great, I'll get to meet the love of her life while secretly wondering if she'll ever know that she's mine. Man, if I had only told her."
He had to keep telling himself to be professional about this. Approach this situation like the reporter he was instead of a man with unrequited love. This is just another story I have to cover for the newspaper. I love to write so it shouldn't be too hard, although he knew this particular piece was going to be so much more difficult than reporting on wizards impersonating Muggles. It would even be harder than reporting about the life of the famous Harry Potter without having any bias come through in the story. "It's just a story," he kept telling himself. Maybe if he repeated it enough times over the next two days, he might begin to believe it.
Saturday finally came around. After dreading the day for 48 hours, Draco knew it was time to face his fate. The one thing that told him this was not a normal story was he began to get ready at 4 PM. For any other assignment, he would maybe begin thinking about it 1 hour before and end up taking 15 minutes to get ready. He knew this would be difficult to do, so he gave plenty of time for emotional wars. He took an hour just to decide what to wear, knowing she probably wouldn't even notice, but going with the slight chance that she would. When the clock slowly rolled around to 7:15, he gathered his things and apparated to a street a few blocks away. He would use the extra time to clear his mind and prepare for seeing, but not properly, the girl of his dreams.
Draco walked up the front steps of Phoenix Hall very slowly. He still was unsure of this, but he knew he had to do it. He had to confront this, and not only for the sake of his job at the paper. He stood at the door for about 5 more minutes, trying to find the courage to open it, and when he finally did he was greeted by a beautifully decorated open hall. There were tables in a horseshoe around an open dance floor with white rose petals in the corners. There were white roses and lilies all over the room, suspended from the chandelier, hanging in midair, and some even floated around the room. What this girl couldn't do with a wand.
Somebody must have noticed him standing in the entranceway looking lost and came up to him. "Sir, press sign is over there," said girl a little younger than him pointing to a long table to the left of them.
"Oh, thank you," he replied snapping out of his stupor. "Is it that obvious?" he joked.
"Just a little," she stated then stared at him with a look that said she was figuring something out. Draco just started walking toward the press table without a word when it dawned on the girl.
"Draco?" she asked.
(semi-inspired by the song by Mark Wills)
The Assignment:
Eight years after Hogwarts graduation, Draco Malfoy was sitting at his desk at the Daily Prophet Headquarters. There was an assignment sitting on his desk that lay forgotten as he stared wide - eyed at the wall. "How could this have happened?" he asked himself. The girl he had been in love with for 12 years was engaged to another man, and he had to cover the story for the Daily Prophet. "I guess that's what you get for putting down the family. Why couldn't I just take the Dark Mark? Oh yeah, I have a heart." Draco chuckled at his bickering conscience. Even if he had become a Death Eater, he would still have the problem of this girl being engaged to somebody other than him.
All the paper said was an address and a time, he had been given the information of what he was to be covering in advance. The engagement party was to be held at 12 Phoenix Place at 7:30 PM. There was a formal dinner before that press wasn't invited to. "Press, that would be me. Not old friend, not even acquaintance, press," he thought miserably. It was amazing how one little assignment, one little slip of paper could reopen years old wounds. He thought he had moved on, but upon hearing about the engagement, he knew he thought wrong.
He knew what he would have to do. He would have put on a game face and go down to the Phoenix Hall to the engagement party. He would pretend that he had never had feelings for her, and that he hadn't thought about her one bit since graduation. In truth, he had realized his feelings for her in the beginning of fourth year. Of course, she could never know of this, so he kept it a total secret from almost everyone (for it was impossible to keep a secret from all). He would just have to put up the front that he had in school whenever he was near her. Although, because eight years had passed, perhaps he wouldn't have to be quite so mean.
He had two days to mentally prepare himself to be in her presence again, and this time with the love of her life around. He wondered who she was engaged to. "Maybe, if I had listened to my assignment when Dukes was giving it to me, I might actually know who this mystery man was. But, no, I was too busy thinking about how I would get to see her again." It seemed like Draco's conscience was getting the best of him there. "O, great, I'll get to meet the love of her life while secretly wondering if she'll ever know that she's mine. Man, if I had only told her."
He had to keep telling himself to be professional about this. Approach this situation like the reporter he was instead of a man with unrequited love. This is just another story I have to cover for the newspaper. I love to write so it shouldn't be too hard, although he knew this particular piece was going to be so much more difficult than reporting on wizards impersonating Muggles. It would even be harder than reporting about the life of the famous Harry Potter without having any bias come through in the story. "It's just a story," he kept telling himself. Maybe if he repeated it enough times over the next two days, he might begin to believe it.
Saturday finally came around. After dreading the day for 48 hours, Draco knew it was time to face his fate. The one thing that told him this was not a normal story was he began to get ready at 4 PM. For any other assignment, he would maybe begin thinking about it 1 hour before and end up taking 15 minutes to get ready. He knew this would be difficult to do, so he gave plenty of time for emotional wars. He took an hour just to decide what to wear, knowing she probably wouldn't even notice, but going with the slight chance that she would. When the clock slowly rolled around to 7:15, he gathered his things and apparated to a street a few blocks away. He would use the extra time to clear his mind and prepare for seeing, but not properly, the girl of his dreams.
Draco walked up the front steps of Phoenix Hall very slowly. He still was unsure of this, but he knew he had to do it. He had to confront this, and not only for the sake of his job at the paper. He stood at the door for about 5 more minutes, trying to find the courage to open it, and when he finally did he was greeted by a beautifully decorated open hall. There were tables in a horseshoe around an open dance floor with white rose petals in the corners. There were white roses and lilies all over the room, suspended from the chandelier, hanging in midair, and some even floated around the room. What this girl couldn't do with a wand.
Somebody must have noticed him standing in the entranceway looking lost and came up to him. "Sir, press sign is over there," said girl a little younger than him pointing to a long table to the left of them.
"Oh, thank you," he replied snapping out of his stupor. "Is it that obvious?" he joked.
"Just a little," she stated then stared at him with a look that said she was figuring something out. Draco just started walking toward the press table without a word when it dawned on the girl.
"Draco?" she asked.