Disclaimer: I don't own any of this . . . well, actually I own Chris, but he ain't that great anyway.
AN: sorry this isn't that much, but I have a family reunion tomorrow and wanted to get it up before I had to go there. ONWARD!!!
Chapter 3: The Ink Well
The article about Hermione's engagement to Dean Thomas appeared in Monday's edition of the Daily Prophet. Surprisingly, Draco had remembered a great deal about the actual party, considering how distracted he had been by the presence of her. There was a stunning picture of the happy couple at the top of the page, and a brief description below. It was enough information to keep the gossipy witches satisfied. That was all it was about wasn't it? Satisfying the customer. Who cared how he felt?
"I saw her last weekend," Draco drawled lazily from his position on the couch while visiting with his friend Chris. He'd been trying to brush it under the rug so as not to dwell on how happy she looked with Dean. This tactic had been working quite unsuccessfully, so he just decided to tell Chris. After all, he knew all about Draco's unrequited love for Hermione. Although he had not attended Hogwarts, but Durmstrang, Chris had lived next door to Draco growing up, so they kept close through the years.
"And she would be," Chris said sitting down on the other couch while turning on the Muggle television. Chris, although he was a wizard, lived in Muggle London because he worked as a Muggle. He found Muggles fascinating.
"Hermione Granger, the one and only dude," Draco said as if Chris should have known who he was talking about.
"Wow, her again? How'd she look?" Chris asked. He obviously didn't get what Draco was suggesting.
"In love." That was all Draco needed to say. Chris knew how serious that was. Draco had never really been shown love at home, so he took how he felt about Hermione very seriously.
"Wow, I'm so sorry man, but these things do happen."
"Yeah, but it's like I never had a change with her. I know it's all my fault, but she is just so unapproachable. The closest I ever got to her was her sister. Believe me, Maggie's amazing, but she's nowhere near Hermione. Maggie even knew that I loved her sister and not her." Draco kept rambling on and on, until Chris finally stopped him.
"Draco, who was she with?"
"Her fiancé. Dean Thomas, richest person from my graduating class after high and mighty Potter."
"Do you think that's why?"
"No, she would never go for that. That's something a Slytherin would do, not her, she's too classy for that," he paused. "She was genuinely in love and very happy with it."
"Well, where did you see them? Were they out somewhere or what?"
"Her engagement party. Can we just not talk about this anymore?"
"No, woah, what were you doing at her engagement party? You weren't stalking her were you?"
"No way, I would never sink that low. It was an assignment for the paper. I had to go."
"Couldn't you have just explained to your boss the emotional pain it would cause you? Couldn't you get somebody else to do it for you?"
"Ha ha, me tell Rita Skeeter that I have emotions! Like that would go over very well, it would be smeared all over the front page. 'A MALFOY WITH FEELINGS!' I can see it now. That was not going to happen, and if I got somebody else to cover the story for me, I wouldn't get paid for it. I need the money."
"Ok, well, lets watch this," Chris said, pointing to the movie he had in his hand, Pearl Harbor. "We can get back to her when you feel better, if you want."
It wasn't until Thursday morning, when Draco was shuffling the papers on his desk that he remembered his date with Maggie on Saturday. There it was on a piece of parchment.
5:30, The Ink Well, Diagon Alley. (Go left from the entrance at The Leaky Cauldron). C-ya there! ~ Maggie
What the heck is The Ink Well. Maggie told me to pick her up where she works sometimes, but he had never heard of The Ink Well. "Must be a new shop I guess," he thought, "I'll find out on Saturday. Wait, that's two days. I guess I'll have to think of something to do on this reunion/date thing."
Just then, a short and somewhat chunky man walked in. It was Dukes, Rita Skeeter's assistant. "Draco, new assignment. You have to go to the grand opening of this new book shop in Diagon Alley on Saturday. See if you can get any background information on it before then so publish for publicity. It's a store that some writer is opening, called The Ink Well I think. Look it up." With that he was gone. "Guess I'm going to Chris's tonight to call Maggie on the phone. I'll get some information about The Ink Well and it'll help me and my job. Extra info means extra pay."
Draco was standing outside of Chris's apartment building trying to find which buzzer went to his apartment. "Ah, Chris Heard, 16 B," he said when he finally located it. "Hey Chris, it's me."
"Oh, hey Draco, I didn't think you were coming by today."
"I was just wondering if I could stop by to use your telephone."
"Umm...yeah, hold on. Kathryn's here, I'll let you up in a minute."
Great, thought Draco. I'll be standing in the cold for about 15 minutes before he remembers I'm out here. But it wasn't long before the door opened and he went inside. He went over to the elevators, not in the mood for climbing 16 flights of stairs. "For not having magic, Muggles sure do find ways to make life easier." He reached into his coat pocket to be sure that he had the slip of paper with Maggie's phone number on it. He normally would have thrown it away, not having a telephone himself, but he actually kept it this time.
"Chris," Draco called while pounding on his door. The music was coming loudly from inside, and he was pretty sure he knew why. "Man, he knew I was coming up!" Draco groaned. He decided just to take a seat on the floor by the door. Chris would eventually remember that he was coming. After a few minutes, he couldn't tell how long it had been, a very familiar looking girl walked by. It couldn't be, but somehow it was.
"Hermione?" he asked. She turned around to see who was calling her name, and looked around bewildered then turned her head to go. While doing so, she caught sight of Draco leaning against the wall and sitting on the floor. "Draco," she questioned.
"Yes, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I was going to visit my sister. Why are you here?" she asked him.
"Actually, I was going to call use Chris's phone and call your sister, but since it appears that she lives here, it would be much more convenient just to talk to her. There's no telling how much longer it will be before I actually get let in there."
"Follow me then," Hermione said while offering her hand to help him stand up. When he clasped her hand, he went cold, and he knew she felt it too. A jolt went through them both, but he just stood up quickly as if nothing had happened. "Better not to let her know," he thought, "She's getting married soon. Don't want to interfere with that." He followed her down the hall where they stopped at apartment 16 J. "Maggie!" Hermione called as she knocked on the door. "I'm here and I found somebody surprising in the hall way who wishes to talk to you."
When Maggie opened the door she was surprised to see Hermione standing there with Draco Malfoy. "Hey Hermione," she said while hugging her sister. "Draco, how did you know I live here?" she asked instead of saying hello.
"I didn't. I was sitting outside my friend's apartment waiting to use his telephone to call you. He lives in 16B," Draco kindly explained.
Maggie invited them both in and closed the door behind them. "Well, what did you want to talk about?" she asked rather politely. Hermione quietly excused herself to the bathroom to give them privacy.
"This place that I'm meeting you on Saturday, The Ink Well. What is it?"
"You'll see when you get there."
"I'm writing a story on it, and I kind of need some information to publish to get people to come to the grand opening on Saturday. I'll be there then, and if I have previous information, I'll get paid extra, and I really need the money."
"Ok, I'll tell you some then. It's a bookshop that is going to be opening. It's owned by a quite accomplish author of wizarding romance novels. She's written some recent best sellers such as A Wicked Spell, Lovers Potion, and Charmed. It'll be quite a shop actually. It'll have tons of books by Muggle and Wizard authors. Is that enough information for publicity and a bonus?"
"It should be, but why did you sound like an advertisement?"
"I guess it's just a gift," she joked.
"Well, I'll be going and let you and your sister enjoy your dinner."
"Bye Draco, see you Saturday," she said while giving him a hug goodbye.
Chris opened his door to find nobody. "Odd, I thought Draco was coming up to use the telephone." He looked down the halls to see if Draco had gotten bored and gone for a mini-walk and he saw him walking out of an apartment while hugging a girl. "Hmm..." he wondered. Draco had finally gotten down to his end of the hall.
"Draco, who was that?"
"Oh, just some girl I know."
"Oh, ok, didn't you need to use my phone or something?" Chris asked, acting like he had just gotten called up and it hadn't been about half an hour.
"Actually, no. That was the person I needed to call. Did you know that Hermione's sister lives on your hall?"
"No, you mean I might actually get to see this girl in person?"
"Maybe. Oh, and you missed a button."
Chris looked down at his shirt and blushed. "Thanks bud, haha. I'll see you tomorrow. Come by even if you can't stay."
"I will. Catch ya later, dude. Tell Kathryn hey for me." With that Draco waved bye and walked off towards the elevators, leaving Chris with a few questions about apartment 16 J.
AN: sorry this isn't that much, but I have a family reunion tomorrow and wanted to get it up before I had to go there. ONWARD!!!
Chapter 3: The Ink Well
The article about Hermione's engagement to Dean Thomas appeared in Monday's edition of the Daily Prophet. Surprisingly, Draco had remembered a great deal about the actual party, considering how distracted he had been by the presence of her. There was a stunning picture of the happy couple at the top of the page, and a brief description below. It was enough information to keep the gossipy witches satisfied. That was all it was about wasn't it? Satisfying the customer. Who cared how he felt?
"I saw her last weekend," Draco drawled lazily from his position on the couch while visiting with his friend Chris. He'd been trying to brush it under the rug so as not to dwell on how happy she looked with Dean. This tactic had been working quite unsuccessfully, so he just decided to tell Chris. After all, he knew all about Draco's unrequited love for Hermione. Although he had not attended Hogwarts, but Durmstrang, Chris had lived next door to Draco growing up, so they kept close through the years.
"And she would be," Chris said sitting down on the other couch while turning on the Muggle television. Chris, although he was a wizard, lived in Muggle London because he worked as a Muggle. He found Muggles fascinating.
"Hermione Granger, the one and only dude," Draco said as if Chris should have known who he was talking about.
"Wow, her again? How'd she look?" Chris asked. He obviously didn't get what Draco was suggesting.
"In love." That was all Draco needed to say. Chris knew how serious that was. Draco had never really been shown love at home, so he took how he felt about Hermione very seriously.
"Wow, I'm so sorry man, but these things do happen."
"Yeah, but it's like I never had a change with her. I know it's all my fault, but she is just so unapproachable. The closest I ever got to her was her sister. Believe me, Maggie's amazing, but she's nowhere near Hermione. Maggie even knew that I loved her sister and not her." Draco kept rambling on and on, until Chris finally stopped him.
"Draco, who was she with?"
"Her fiancé. Dean Thomas, richest person from my graduating class after high and mighty Potter."
"Do you think that's why?"
"No, she would never go for that. That's something a Slytherin would do, not her, she's too classy for that," he paused. "She was genuinely in love and very happy with it."
"Well, where did you see them? Were they out somewhere or what?"
"Her engagement party. Can we just not talk about this anymore?"
"No, woah, what were you doing at her engagement party? You weren't stalking her were you?"
"No way, I would never sink that low. It was an assignment for the paper. I had to go."
"Couldn't you have just explained to your boss the emotional pain it would cause you? Couldn't you get somebody else to do it for you?"
"Ha ha, me tell Rita Skeeter that I have emotions! Like that would go over very well, it would be smeared all over the front page. 'A MALFOY WITH FEELINGS!' I can see it now. That was not going to happen, and if I got somebody else to cover the story for me, I wouldn't get paid for it. I need the money."
"Ok, well, lets watch this," Chris said, pointing to the movie he had in his hand, Pearl Harbor. "We can get back to her when you feel better, if you want."
It wasn't until Thursday morning, when Draco was shuffling the papers on his desk that he remembered his date with Maggie on Saturday. There it was on a piece of parchment.
5:30, The Ink Well, Diagon Alley. (Go left from the entrance at The Leaky Cauldron). C-ya there! ~ Maggie
What the heck is The Ink Well. Maggie told me to pick her up where she works sometimes, but he had never heard of The Ink Well. "Must be a new shop I guess," he thought, "I'll find out on Saturday. Wait, that's two days. I guess I'll have to think of something to do on this reunion/date thing."
Just then, a short and somewhat chunky man walked in. It was Dukes, Rita Skeeter's assistant. "Draco, new assignment. You have to go to the grand opening of this new book shop in Diagon Alley on Saturday. See if you can get any background information on it before then so publish for publicity. It's a store that some writer is opening, called The Ink Well I think. Look it up." With that he was gone. "Guess I'm going to Chris's tonight to call Maggie on the phone. I'll get some information about The Ink Well and it'll help me and my job. Extra info means extra pay."
Draco was standing outside of Chris's apartment building trying to find which buzzer went to his apartment. "Ah, Chris Heard, 16 B," he said when he finally located it. "Hey Chris, it's me."
"Oh, hey Draco, I didn't think you were coming by today."
"I was just wondering if I could stop by to use your telephone."
"Umm...yeah, hold on. Kathryn's here, I'll let you up in a minute."
Great, thought Draco. I'll be standing in the cold for about 15 minutes before he remembers I'm out here. But it wasn't long before the door opened and he went inside. He went over to the elevators, not in the mood for climbing 16 flights of stairs. "For not having magic, Muggles sure do find ways to make life easier." He reached into his coat pocket to be sure that he had the slip of paper with Maggie's phone number on it. He normally would have thrown it away, not having a telephone himself, but he actually kept it this time.
"Chris," Draco called while pounding on his door. The music was coming loudly from inside, and he was pretty sure he knew why. "Man, he knew I was coming up!" Draco groaned. He decided just to take a seat on the floor by the door. Chris would eventually remember that he was coming. After a few minutes, he couldn't tell how long it had been, a very familiar looking girl walked by. It couldn't be, but somehow it was.
"Hermione?" he asked. She turned around to see who was calling her name, and looked around bewildered then turned her head to go. While doing so, she caught sight of Draco leaning against the wall and sitting on the floor. "Draco," she questioned.
"Yes, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I was going to visit my sister. Why are you here?" she asked him.
"Actually, I was going to call use Chris's phone and call your sister, but since it appears that she lives here, it would be much more convenient just to talk to her. There's no telling how much longer it will be before I actually get let in there."
"Follow me then," Hermione said while offering her hand to help him stand up. When he clasped her hand, he went cold, and he knew she felt it too. A jolt went through them both, but he just stood up quickly as if nothing had happened. "Better not to let her know," he thought, "She's getting married soon. Don't want to interfere with that." He followed her down the hall where they stopped at apartment 16 J. "Maggie!" Hermione called as she knocked on the door. "I'm here and I found somebody surprising in the hall way who wishes to talk to you."
When Maggie opened the door she was surprised to see Hermione standing there with Draco Malfoy. "Hey Hermione," she said while hugging her sister. "Draco, how did you know I live here?" she asked instead of saying hello.
"I didn't. I was sitting outside my friend's apartment waiting to use his telephone to call you. He lives in 16B," Draco kindly explained.
Maggie invited them both in and closed the door behind them. "Well, what did you want to talk about?" she asked rather politely. Hermione quietly excused herself to the bathroom to give them privacy.
"This place that I'm meeting you on Saturday, The Ink Well. What is it?"
"You'll see when you get there."
"I'm writing a story on it, and I kind of need some information to publish to get people to come to the grand opening on Saturday. I'll be there then, and if I have previous information, I'll get paid extra, and I really need the money."
"Ok, I'll tell you some then. It's a bookshop that is going to be opening. It's owned by a quite accomplish author of wizarding romance novels. She's written some recent best sellers such as A Wicked Spell, Lovers Potion, and Charmed. It'll be quite a shop actually. It'll have tons of books by Muggle and Wizard authors. Is that enough information for publicity and a bonus?"
"It should be, but why did you sound like an advertisement?"
"I guess it's just a gift," she joked.
"Well, I'll be going and let you and your sister enjoy your dinner."
"Bye Draco, see you Saturday," she said while giving him a hug goodbye.
Chris opened his door to find nobody. "Odd, I thought Draco was coming up to use the telephone." He looked down the halls to see if Draco had gotten bored and gone for a mini-walk and he saw him walking out of an apartment while hugging a girl. "Hmm..." he wondered. Draco had finally gotten down to his end of the hall.
"Draco, who was that?"
"Oh, just some girl I know."
"Oh, ok, didn't you need to use my phone or something?" Chris asked, acting like he had just gotten called up and it hadn't been about half an hour.
"Actually, no. That was the person I needed to call. Did you know that Hermione's sister lives on your hall?"
"No, you mean I might actually get to see this girl in person?"
"Maybe. Oh, and you missed a button."
Chris looked down at his shirt and blushed. "Thanks bud, haha. I'll see you tomorrow. Come by even if you can't stay."
"I will. Catch ya later, dude. Tell Kathryn hey for me." With that Draco waved bye and walked off towards the elevators, leaving Chris with a few questions about apartment 16 J.