Dedicated to all my reviewers

Chapter 2: Stay Home

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And it's off to the morning and back again
Same old day, same situation
The happiness is back as if to say
I wanna stay home today
Don't wanna go out
If anyone comes to play
Gonna get thrown out
I wanna stay home today
Don't want no company
No way
Yeah, yeah, yeah

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Stay home – Self

She didn't want to get up. Ginny lay, staring at the ceiling. It was one of those days when one felt so comfortable and warm just lying in bed that getting up was completely out of the question. She just wanted to stay home and relax all day.

It had been three weeks since the party. Today was Wednesday. She hadn't heard from Harry at all.

After half an hour of contemplating whether or not to get up she had to anyway. Because an owl was tapping at the window. She struggled out from under the blankets and opened the window. Hedwig alighted upon the table. Ginny smiled and took the letter. Feeding Hedwig an owl treat, she unrolled the parchment.

Dear Ginny,

Ron, Hermione and I are going to be in Hogsmeade today. Want to meet

up for lunch? Send Hedwig back ASAP.

                                                            From Harry

Ginny snatched a quill from the writing desk and scribbled,

Dear Harry,

                   I'd love to come. Meet me in my shop when you feel like it and we'll go to The Three Broomsticks. See you soon.

                                                From Ginny

As she tied the letter to Hedwig's leg, Ginny suddenly felt as if it had been worth leaving her comfortable bed. The sun shone through the window and Ginny started to make her breakfast.

Half an hour later she was dressed and walking down the stairs to the shop. It consisted of three large rooms. The one right at the back was where the robes and outfits were sewn. The second room was where they were stored. The one at the front of the building was the shop, with three smaller rooms coming off it. One was a small kitchen where they could have breaks and the other two were changing rooms. Two of the assistants were dressing mannequins to put in the window. Kathleen and Rebecca were close friends of Ginny's. She smiled at them.

"Good morning."

"Hi Ginny. Which robes do you want on this one?" Kathleen said. Ginny considered for a minute before saying,

"The blue ones. Where are the others?"

"Annabelle and Jack are on holiday. You gave them leave two weeks ago, remember? And Thomas called in sick." Rebecca told her. Ginny smiled and ran a hand through her hair.

"I've got the worst memory."

"We know!" The two girls said simultaneously. They all laughed for a few minutes, then Ginny went to put on the coffee machine.

Within an hour of opening they were busy. Several witches needed dress robes for a party at the ministry. One warlock needed new robes because his wife had given him a peacock tail in a fit of anger, and the potions wouldn't take effect for a week.

Ginny gave the two girls an early lunch break, so someone would be able to watch the shop when she went out with the others. Business tended to die down around lunchtime, before the afternoon rush.

Ginny sat on a stool at the counter sketching a new dress. She had decided to bring in some Muggle clothes too, because a lot of wizards and witches weren't sure what to wear in the Muggle world. She had already brought in jeans, jumpers, sundresses and winter coats.

She put the design in a drawer and pulled out a fresh piece of paper. Drawing absentmindedly, she started to design a Muggle ball gown. The shop bell rang as someone came in. Ginny glanced up, but the wizard had his back turned to her, examining some robes at the opposite end of the shop. Ginny watched for another minute, and then turned back to her design. There was an anti-thieving jinx on all of the products, so she needn't worry about it.

She examined her work. It was a nice dress. Large skirt, straps to hold it up… she put it in the design drawer and took out the design for Hermione's wedding dress, so she could show her at lunchtime. Feeling thirsty, she went into the kitchen and poured herself some coffee.

When she emerged from the kitchen she heard a voice that she had not heard in a long time.

"How long do I have wait to get served around here, Weasley?" said the drawling tones of none other than Draco Malfoy.

Ginny almost dropped her coffee mug. She recovered her composure and placed it on the counter. Malfoy leant on the counter casually and watched her. She put her hands on the counter and said coldly,

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Dress robes. I'd have thought that was obvious." He said smugly. Ginny gritted her teeth, and then folded her arms.

"Well, pick some then."

"I want a special fitting. And I want only the best. And from what I hear, that's you. I want you to personally design some robes for the Christmas Ball at Malfoy Manor. And…" he leant forward, "I'll pay whatever you want. How much do you charge for special fittings?"

"150 Galleons."

"I'll pay 500." He said, putting a bag of galleons on the counter. Ginny looked at them for a moment.

"It's 150 galleons. Not 500. I don't need your extra money."

"That's how much I'm paying. Do you want the job or not?" Ginny chewed the inside of her mouth for a moment.

She didn't really want to accept, but it wouldn't do much for business if she started turning away clients.

"Stand on that stool." She said, gesturing the stool next to the counter. Malfoy stood on it, picking up the design for Hermione's dress as he went.

"I heard that Granger and Weasley were getting married." He commented. Ginny snatched the design back and stuffed it into the drawer. She pulled out a measuring tape and threw it at him. It stretched out and she wrote down the measurements as it went, all the while not saying a word. Malfoy looked around the shop, taking in the robes and clothes hanging from the rack.

Ginny finished taking the measurements.

"Colour?" She asked briskly.

"Green."

"Any special items?"

"A snake. Here's the design." He said, pushing the piece of paper towards her. She glanced at it, then attached it to the clipboard with the measurements.

"I'll send you a few designs. You can pick which one you want and I'll make it." She told him, scribbling a few notes.

"I'm going to try on some robes." Malfoy told her.

"No one's stopping you." She said. He selected a few robes, and went into the dressing room.

A few minutes later he emerged, and laid three sets of robes on the counter. 

"I'll take these." She dotted up the bill on the till, and he handed her some money.

"Weasley, I'll believe you are supposed to be pleasant to your customers."

"I am, to the ones I like."

"You haven't changed." Malfoy said, leaning on the counter as she put the robes into bags.

"Neither have you."

"How do you know? You haven't given me a chance to be nice." She gave him a cynical look.

"The day you're nice, Cornelius Fudge will make a good decision."

"Really, Weasley. That's not a very good attitude, is it? Why not give me a chance?"

"I didn't throw you out of my shop. That's as good as it's going to get for you."

"Let me take you out for dinner."

Ginny very nearly had a heart attack. She stared at him.

"What did you say?"

"I asked you to have dinner with me."

"Did you do drugs?"

"Honestly Weasley! I ask you to have dinner with me, and you insult me. So, how about it?"

"Um, no." she said, holding out his bag. Malfoy raised an eyebrow.

"May I ask why?"

"You may."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like you."

"That's rather hurtful." He said. Ginny shrugged.

"Truth hurts."

"Will you consider it?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I still don't like you."

"Give me a chance. I've matured since Hogwarts."

"I find that very hard to believe." Ginny told him. Malfoy stretched his arms, pushing himself back from the counter.

"Is there someone else?"

"Maybe. It has nothing to do with you." She said, cursing herself for blushing.

"There isn't, is there?"

"Malfoy, you have your robes. Why aren't you leaving?"

"I'm not leaving until you say yes."

"You have to leave. My brother is going to be here soon." Ginny told him. His eyebrow twitched and a smirk spread over his lips. 

"Your brother? Why do I not feel particularly threatened? Just say yes, and I'll leave."

Ginny cast an eye at the clock. She knew that it couldn't be long before they arrived.

"Fine. Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes, I'll have dinner with you. Now get the hell out of my shop!"

"Certainly." He smirked. The bell rang as Hermione, Ron and Harry came in. All three stopped as they saw Draco Malfoy. Malfoy glanced at them, and then turned back to Ginny.

"I'll owl you with the details."

"Whatever."

"It was a pleasure doing business with you." He said, turning.

"I'd say the same, but it really wasn't." she called after him. He half-turned and smirked at her, before striding straight past the frozen trio.

Once the door had closed Ron strode up to the counter and said angrily,

"What the hell was Malfoy doing in here?"

"Buying robes. That's what most people do in here."

"And you're serving him?"

"I can't turn clients away. It's bad for business. I just have to design some robes and send them to him."

She wasn't about to tell him that she had just agreed to go on a date with Malfoy. She didn't think he would ever recover. Hermione put a hand on Ron's arm.

"Forget it, Ron. Ginny can't be picky. If she turned away someone who is as well known as Malfoy, business would drop."

"Let's just go for lunch." Ginny said, seeing Kathleen and Rebecca enter the shop. 

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The Three Broomsticks wasn't too crowded. Once they had ordered, Hermione turned to Ginny.

"Did you do the design?"

"I have it here." Said Ginny, pulling the wedding dress design from her bag. Hermione gasped with delight.

"Oh, Ginny, it's perfect!"

"Where?"

"Ron, you can't see! It's bad luck!" Hermione insisted. Ron sulked, but cheered up once the food arrived. Harry turned to Ginny.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. You?"

"Knackered. Moody's working us like metaphorical house-elves." He said, grinning at Hermione.

Ginny had a lot of fun with the three. After lunch she returned to the shop in a very good mood, allowing Kathleen and Rebecca the rest of the day off. 

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When she closed the shop she took the designs upstairs and sketched some ideas for Malfoy's robes. After three hours work she had six designs ready to send. Ginny called her owl, Kara, to her and tied the parchment to her leg.

"Take these to Malfoy Manor, OK?"

As she watched Kara fly away, she saw another owl flying towards her. She stood back and the haughty eagle owl landed on the table. She took the letter and it flew away.

Dear Weasley,

                        I'll pick you up on Saturday night. Say eight in the evening. Wear an evening dress.

                        Draco.

She threw the letter onto the desk. What on earth had she let herself in for?

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I hope you enjoyed it. Don't worry; it's not a Ginny/Draco fic.

Lotsa luv 'n' huggles

Katie