Hello, here again with another story. Hope you like it as much as the others.
Chapter 1- when the past catches up with you
Bachelor of the year
CEO and Entrepreneur Draco Malfoy
What? You didn't know that Witch Weekly gave out such an award? Well we usually don't, but after the lovely Rita skeeter met Draco Malfoy, owner and CEO of Diagon Alley's fastest growing empire, Malfoy Holdings. She decided it was time.
Wealthy, gorgeous and the most noble of Slytherin since Salazar himself. Draco Malfoy is the kind of hero we see in our boy who lived. You'll know why when you hear his story.
It was after the war, he who must not be named had finally met his end with our young Harry Potter. The people were safe and all was right with the world once again.
But the people were left with far too much destruction and many slipped into poverty. Due to the goblins siding with the dark lord. Many death eaters had ransacked Gringnotts and much of it fell away along with everyone's money.
Determined to help bring back order Mr. Malfoy decided to rebuild the bank. Sinking his own fortune into the plan at great risk. Then three months later Malfoy announced the opening of Malfoy Holdings.
With it came new jobs and new hope. With a new bank and a chance people were able to live again. Draco Malfoy helped many witches and wizards get their life back.
Maybe it's time we gave Mr. Malfoy some help in return. Ladies want to know how? Our feature story tells you exactly why Witch Weekly has named this man our very first Bachelor of the year…
At seven on a Tuesday morning in September Diagon Alley all was quiet. Many of the shops were just getting ready to open, while others had been opened a while ago.
Ginny Weasley walked from the nearby inn, passed a pub called Dragon, open for breakfast, and decided she'd go back there and wait over coffee if the office at Malfoy Holdings was unattended at this hour.
On edge about the coming confrontation with Draco she almost hoped it would be. No such luck, she soon discovered.
Draco Malfoy had always been an early riser, which must have been an asset in his business success. Through the glass doors she saw a woman behind main desk frowning at a screen, and when Ginny dipped the handle and opened the door, ringing a bell.
"Good morning" The woman was young, twenty-two at most and her voice sounded impossibly perky at this hour. Behind her head, a blonde ponytail swung keeping a beat with her words.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
Ginny nodded and smiled "I'm here to see Mr. Malfoy" she said
"Are you wanting to make a withdraw? Making a deposit? Questions about the bank? Give me your name, and…" The blonde began.
"Actually none of those, it's personal" Ginny said
"Well give me your name…" This time she enunciated slowly, as if she dealt with too many people who weren't all that bright.
"Ginny" she told her. No point in fighting it she thought. "Last name?" the blonde asked again with a slow rate.
"He doesn't need my last name" Ginny bit out trying to keep her smile from falling.
"O-Kay" Miss perky ponytail shrugged and walked off down a short corridor in the direction of a closed door. She moved as if she was allowed to venture anywhere she pleased and she didn't knock at the door.
The door surely must had been Draco's private office but instead she walked off into another room, from which Ginny soon heard various clinking and gushing sounds which suggested that coffee was being made.
She took a couple of deep breaths, lost deep in emotions that were too strong and too complex to fully understand. Why shouldn't this be easy?
She traveled the miles primed for this moment and coolly determined. She really hadn't expected to feel so messed up about it.
Trying to center herself, Ginny leaned her elbow on the front desk. Her gaze idly wanders over the surface, taking in a pile of glossy printed papers, some pens and some muggle mints.
And then she saw it…the magazine that had brought her to Diagon Alley, right there in front of her. Draco's face grinned up at her. Handsome as a Greek god. His blonde hair begged for a woman's fingers to tidy its waves.
Even though she'd seen it countless times now, the image and the four words that captioned it in bold red letters still made Ginny catch her breath with shock and self-doubt.
Not to mention a healthy dose of anger, and something else that she didn't want to put a name on.
"Bachelor Of The Year!" trumpeted Witch Weekly's headline. As for the three-page feature inside, Ginny knew it almost by heart.
It told of Draco's success with the bank and how he helped the world get back to normal life. It quoted locals and Malfoy Holdings staff praising him in wonderful terms, and guesstimated his growing wealth in the tens of millions.
Finally just incase the cover had left any woman in London in doubt; it included several more photos that proved his good looks and stunning physique.
You'd be pretty mean to suggest that Draco Malfoy hadn't earned the Bachelor of the Year label. Ginny had only one small problem with it, herself.
She was already married to him.
Miss ponytail had made the coffee. With a big milk less mug of it in her hand, she finally reached the door and knocked. Then without waiting for an answer, she called, "There's another one, Draco"
Ginny heard his still familiar voice through the door "Early bird says the worm" he laughed.
"Yeah, already squirming. Does she want to make a deposit? Or is it a tour of the bank? He asked.
Miss ponytail opened the door a crack, leaned in and dropped her voice, but didn't drop it low enough. "No, she's going with the it's personal angle. Won't give her last name. Thinks that's an original game plan, just like the other forty-seven women who have tried it"
"And is she pretty? He asked chuckling. "I'll let you be the judge" she rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. Draco couldn't help but laugh.
"Okay. Okay. So what's the first name?" he asked after settling down. Rolling her eyes again Miss ponytail shrugged "Ginny"
Thick silence. Ginny discovered she stopped breathing.
"Here's your coffee, by the way…oops!" Miss ponytail said.
Appearing in the doorway, Draco had almost made her spill it, but they both recovered in time. He didn't take the hot beverage, however instead, his gaze arrowed over Miss Ponytail's head and reached Ginny.
Lord in the flesh he was better looking even than in the photo's. She realized at once, as she took in a long slow drag of air. Better than all her memories.
And he looked at her as if he'd half expected her but didn't fully believe she was here all the same.
"Ginny" he said.
"Got it in one" her tone came out flip and unnatural. The tensions in the room made both of them feel slightly uncomfortable.
"You haven't changed much in eight years". His guarded expression didn't telegraph his opinion on any of the changes that had occurred.
"You have Draco" Ginny blurted out.
He'd filled out his strong frame over the past few years, and success and maturity had given him a confidence of bearing that made his jaw look as strong as iron and his gray eyes as steady as the moon.
And as Ginny knew very well, he hadn't ever lacked confidence, even in his early twenties.
"I guess this one was right" Miss Ponytail said. "You really didn't need her last name"
"Becky, can you go check that the minister's withdraw is ready for him?" Draco asked, not looking at Miss Ponytail.
His eyes seemed to have the power to heat Ginny's skin like a lamp, and oh, she suddenly remembered in such vivid, physical detail all the reasons why she'd loved him so much.
Why she believed so completely in what they had, why she fell apart when it ended.
"You might have to handle things on your own, this morning," he said. "And can you dump the coffee?" he added.
"Sure" Miss Ponytail said. Becky apparently. She disappeared back into the room and Ginny and Draco were alone.
Alone.
For the first time since the take it or leave it, marriage busting conversation that Ginny remembered every word of, even after eight years. Draco had left for outer London that same day, and hadn't been back since.
They hadn't even spoken on the phone. They should have though; they should have never let it drag out this long.
"I guess I know why you're here," he said. He looked wary, and ready to be angry if the right trigger was pulled. Ginny's heart beat fast her chest. "Do you?"
Draco sighed, "I wondered if you'd see the magazine." "If I'd see it?" She laughed briefly. "Sometimes I feel as if everyone in London has seen it"
"You could have called." He mimicked a voice every bit as perky as Becky's. "I saw the cover story. Photos came out great. Congratulations."
Perky, but with a metallic edge.
"You know that's not why I'm here." Her voice sounded scratchy, and not nearly as strong as she wanted it to be.
"Wait a minute," he drawled, in mock surprise. "You're not here because of Witch Weekly?" "Don't do this." Okay that was better. Harder. "Yes, I'm here because of Witch Weekly. Of course I'm here because of Witch Weekly. But not to…"
The bell rung again and the front door opened, and Draco took a step back into the doorway. Then froze as if it might be dangerous for him to move in either direction.
A woman stepped awkwardly into the building. She looked to be in here mid thirties. "Umm I was wondering about opening an account here," she said shyly ducking her head.
"Sure" Draco answered cheerfully. He wore the same smile showcased to affect the front cover of Witch Weekly, but he still didn't move.
To Ginny it looked as if he might make a run for it when he did.
"And will those accounts be handled by…uh…by you personally. Um. Or will someone else handle them?"
Draco's smile tightened a little. A stranger might not have spotted it but Ginny did and she was stunned at how well she remembered details about him like this.
"Not sure, at this stage," he said. "Because I'd rather be handled by you personally." She told him. "I'm sure you would." He sighed.
"Oh!" The woman suddenly clapped her hands to her mouth. She blushed and laughed. "I didn't mean that to come out the way it did! I'm so sorry!"
She took several steps closer and reached out, as if itching to give to give him an apologetic squeeze. "I'm really so, so sorry"
"We're actually closed right now" Draco said quickly, "Could I ask you come back at eight, when the bank opens, and give your details to my assistant?"
"Oh, of course" she reversed direction like a wind up toy, and the hands went back to her mouth, muffling another set of "I'm so sorry"
She backed up to the door, dragged one hand from her mouth long enough to open the door and left. The ringing of the bell protested as if it, like Draco had showcased its skills for too many similar women in recent days.
Draco sighed. "Can we close this place up and go grab coffee somewhere else? He said to Ginny. "I appreciate that you want to talk"
His eyes flickered over her taking in probably the way she aged, and the conservative outfit of matching skirt and top that she wore.
Them seemed appropriate, in her room this morning, for an assertive confrontation with her husband. Now they had her feeling plain and staid.
"Talking makes sense," Draco was saying. "We've both been stubborn about the situation for far too long. But it's obvious we'll never be able to do it here"
"No?" Ginny wasn't sure that she liked the idea of being with Draco in public. Even if "Public" did mean the quietest corner of the café she passed on her way here. On the other hand, a more private location had its downside, also.
"You think that lady was the first?" Draco drawled. He leaned his elbow at head height against the doorjamb, as if he already reached the end of a long day.
"Uh, not from what your assistant said, no. But I'd have thought the extra traffic was good for business" she said.
"Extra traffic? The whole of Malfoy Holdings has been under siege from the day Witch Weekly hit the homes. He glanced through the full- length front windows and spotted a pair of female figures moving toward the bank.
"Out the back way. Now. I'll lock," he growled.
This time, Ginny didn't argue. Didn't even say, "Serves you right" although she couldn't help thinking it. And that really was mean of her.
Get a grip, Ginny. Cool down.
Draco locked the front door, dimmed the front lights and ducked into the back room, all in the space of seconds. Ginny followed him, hearing a disappointed, "Oh, they're not opened yet." Through the glass door behind her.
"Let's go" Draco said.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her around the side of the small desk, so they could escape out the back. His palm and fingers felt warm against her skin, and his grip was a strong as ever.
He'd tried to pull her to London in exactly the same way. Grab, roll, go where I want, never mind your own plans.
Back then, on that issue, she'd objected. This time since it was just coffee and a long overdue conversation, she didn't.
His hand on her arm felt better than she wanted it to, however and the way he moved was like a charge of energy that overflowed into her own body and brought her back to life.
They covered forty yards in what felt like five seconds, and her heartbeat sped up.
"Here we go," Draco said and pulled Ginny into Dragon, the place she noted earlier. "Hey, Mr. Malfoy" said another perky girl.
He didn't flinch, so Ginny guessed the girl was an employee, not one of the stalker girls he mentioned. This must be the place described in Witch Weekly as part of his extensive and still growing empire.
"We'll take the corner table," he told the waitress. "And can you…like…move the plotted plants, or something?" he asked. "The dragon statue?" she suggested.
"Perfect" he said nodding.
"I'll get Thomas to move it" she called for Thomas and he moved the statue with a wave of his wand. The case was shifted so that it did a good job of blocking the corner table from general view.
Nobody seemed surprised by the move, which made Ginny believe Draco's claim that Malfoy Holdings was "Under siege".
Once seated, he didn't wait for a menu and ordered a Danish and black coffee for himself "Just keep it coming Natalee"
While Ginny asked for a muffin and a coffee. Both orders arrived rather quickly which meant they didn't have to spend long pretending they had nothing important to talk about.
Natalee left to serve some new guest, and Ginny seized her opportunity, because there had already been enough interruptions.
"Please don't pretend that you don't know exactly why I'm here," she said. Draco shrugged "Tell me straight out, and neither of us should have to pretend anything."
"If you want a divorce, Draco, ask for a divorce. That's all you have to do. Don't advertise yourself in a national magazine as being gloriously available, and wait for me to draw the obvious conclusions, the way the entire town of mine has." She spat.
"You think this was about me wanting a Divorce? You honestly think," he began.
"I've had hints and innuendoes and the same tired jokes over and over, total strangers coming up to me in the worst of times wanting to know the exact status of… well our marriage, if there was one." She growled.
"Okay, for a start, your dad's been with the ministry for about a hundred years; you know no one in a town is going to see you as a total stranger. Your life is town property, and so was mine, before I left."
Ginny ignored him and went on "My brothers wont leave me alone, and dad was threatening at one stage to…" but Draco didn't need to know about her father's threats to his son in law safety.
"It's been very embarrassing Draco" she finished lamely.
"Embarrassing?" Draco echoed, on a laugh. "Yeah tell me about it" That lady this morning was more subtle than most. Trust me, Ginny, I'm winning in the embarrassment stakes, hands down!"
"Maybe you should have thought of that before you went out and did this article," she told him with a sharp edge. Draco's gray eyes narrowed.
"I never wanted this Gin! Is that the kind of man you think I am? Interested in that kind of cheap publicity? Hell, interested in getting dates for myself that way? Listen! The Bachelor of the Year headline was Rita Skeeter's doings not mine."
"You could have said no," she gasped.
"She said she wanted to report on the Bank and it's success. I had no clue she was going to turn it into match the perfect witch with Draco Malfoy" he spat.
"Let alone that it would bring this kind of response from them. This mess has just got started. You have no idea how hard this is!"
"Gee, all that extra money coming in the bank and your restaurant. Yeah, most people hate that good publicity, I'm sure!"
He frowned. "Don't do that thing with your mouth. It doesn't suit you."
"What thing?" she asked annoyed.
"It looks like you're sucking on a lemon." Still frowning, he reached across the table and tried to do something to her lips with his fingers, they way he might have brushed a crumb from a child's face. What on earth?
With his touch, Ginny could feel the tight muscles herself and wondered if that was why her face so often felt stiff and tired at the end of everyday.
Even before this whole mess with Draco and the magazine, she'd had so much on her plate. There was her teaching job at Hogwarts, Working with all those students and her brothers who depended on her greatly since their mother's death. And her father's health to monitor.
As well as his role in the ministry to support. She knew she needed some time off, but sucking a lemon?
Draco's fingers moved softly against her face, but she flinched away and spat "Gee thanks!"
"Gin, you're doing it again, please stop" he sighed.
"Maybe cause the compliments you're paying are so grand" she spit out sarcastically. "And again" he sighed.
"Draco, do you or don't you want a divorce?" she blurt out desperately.
"You wouldn't contest it?"
Okay, Ginny. Don't sigh. Don't suck on a lemon.
She lifted her chin, managed not to gust out the breath she was holding and said quietly, "No, of course I wouldn't contest it."
"You've had eight years to file for one, and you haven't," he said. "No, I haven't. Neither have you. But I want to now. It's way overdue, don't you think?"
Of course she was right, Draco told himself. About seven years and eight months overdue actually. He should have filed the papers himself; as soon as he'd realized that she called his bluff and really wasn't going to follow him here.
But he'd been stubborn about it. That was how he'd dealt with the hurt. He wasn't the one making their marriage impossible. He wasn't wrong about any of this.
Let Ginny take the steps to legally sever their union, if that was what she wanted. She never had.
He'd been so cocky at twenty- four, so sure of himself and his goals, of his decisions. "You know where to find me," he told her.
"And you know where to find me!" And the hurt and the disappointment had eased over time and hard work as it did with her too.
"If it's so overdue," he asked her at last. "Why haven't you done something about it before now? Why did it take some article to bring you here?"
She shrugged "Let's just say it opened my eyes shall we? Principles have a short shelf life"
"Principles?" the word startled him "Whose principles?"
"I'm not the one who walked out and wanted it to end. You did that Draco. So the divorce was you're call"
"I didn't walk out on us. I walked out on the god forsaken town." He spat. "It's the same thing isn't it?" she sighed.
"No, it isn't! I was clear on that before, I thought. There was no future for me there. Not one I wanted anyway. I needed this Ginny."
"What's 'this'?" she hooked her fingers around the word to make a notion.
"The bank, the restaurant, a chance to make the world better after the war. The way to make a future for myself in place where I wasn't just the orphaned son of dreaded death eater Lucius Malfoy who may stay on the good side if the love struck daughter of the great Arthur Weasley could keep him honest"
"But you still don't understand that do you?" He argued. "No I don't Draco. My father or our friends never saw you that way" she sighed.
"No, just everyone else did" he growled.
"A family is not something you can throw away Draco, my family was not something I could just walk away from."
Draco sat up straight "I was asking you to walk away from your family" he defensively cried.
"Would you just listen to us," she sighed.
Ginny did the lemon thing again as he searched for an answer. Yeah they were falling back into the pattern again. She was right a divorce was the best step.
She had been so beautiful when he married her twelve years ago. Her graceful figure. That wide, wonderful mouth. The red silky hair, flowing like a waterfall down her back.
Those big brown eyes, and she was still beautiful. The hair was the same only shorter now but she was beautiful. She looked tired at certain moments and he found that heartbreaking.
Draco drank some coffee and took a bite of his food, wondering how he could handle a divorce. They had no kids in their four years together.
Ginny had never been the greedy type on the contrary she was far too generous for her own good at times. She would never stake claim on his wealth he had acquired since they split.
"There's no reason why we can't do this quickly and painlessly," he said. "No reason at all" she agreed.
"Then it's settled, we will get this divorce started before you head back home"
"I'd appreciate that Draco" she said " No fuss"
"You're right I…" he began.
"Draco Malfoy" said a female voice that he recognized and he didn't get to finish his sentence.
It was Rita and he wasn't thrilled to see her, not now, not with Ginny sitting here uptight as she was. Before he could say anything she sat down at the table.
"Rita" he said hiding what he was feeling behind a fake smile. After all, the article had brought him some great money but it also brought Ginny, with her necessary wake up call.
"It's great to see you again" he lied.
"It's great to see you too" Rita grinned. She eyed Ginny with curiosity, masked as a smile then turned to Draco. Ginny gave an uncertain smile in return and pretended to be intrigued by her muffin.
"I should have called I know, but I was dying to hear your thoughts on the article. We've had a ton of great responses, let me tell you" She gave a little laugh.
"Their all dying for a follow up story" she grinned.
"What more could you say in a follow up story? He asked her a little too strongly.
"Well, the reaction, of course. The woman. Witch Weekly is primarily a celebrity gossip magazine Mr. Malfoy and you're a celebrity now." She grinned even bigger.
Like hell he was!
"My fifteen minutes of fame as they muggles say" he smirked.
"A lot longer than that if you leave it all to me" She talked it all out in detail while he called for another cup of coffee. It appeared this would change his life.
No thanks. He liked his life just the way it was, apart from the small problem of needing a divorce.
"Can I get back to you on that?" he asked regretting he already did the first article. He should have seen it before it came out then he could have put a stop to all of this madness before it started.
"I guess I should catch you later when we have more time to talk" Rita stood up not even bothering to look Ginny's way.
"This is where I'll be staying" She handed Draco a piece of paper, which Ginny could see some address scratched on it. "But I'll call you so we can set up a time to meet"
She laughed "Maybe I'll even open a account while I'm here"
No. This whole thing had to stop and now.
And he had to stop it at the source with something that neither Rita nor anyone else could ignore. Across the table, Ginny had brought back the lemon thing and Draco knew she wasn't impressed.
And then it hit him. She was the only obvious, tangible, workable solution to his current problem. If he didn't act at once, though it would be too late, it wouldn't be real enough.
He had to say it now, or not say it at all.
"Before you go Rita," he said, his voice smooth and casual as he could make it. "I want you to meet Ginny, the most important woman in my life and, I should tell you the reason you wont be able to call the next article Bachelor of the Year II."
"Oh, really?" Rita said with a clueless smile. Clearly, she was still a couple of steps behind.
"Yes, really." He reached across the table and grabbed Ginny's hand. He would have caressed it if he weren't sure she would snatch it away.
"Because" he smiled "Ginny is my wife."
Okay guys chapter one is here. Let me know good or bad….