Draco Malfoy wandered down the crowded street. Every store window he passed boasted a picture of a famous Auror. Harry Potter, Granger, Mad-Eye, Tonks, Lupin, numerous other heroes, and even his own face stared solemnly back at him. But not even the fact that he was up there with so many other great witches and wizards seemed to matter to the general public.
Oftentimes as he was walking down the street a wizard would give him a suspicious glance. Sometimes when he passed by a mother she would instinctively pull her children closer to her side. He hated going out in public anymore; it was just too much trouble.
Today wasn't any different. His mood worsened with every glance he received as he stormed up to 93 Diagon Alley, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
"Draco, how's it going?" George asked cordially as the young man entered the empty store. It was late on a raining Tuesday afternoon and the warmly lit shop wasn't very busy.
Before Draco could answer George, the group of kids standing at the counter recognized him and began whispering and trying to sneak glances at him without being noticed.
"Brilliant. Everything is just great," Draco said in a sarcastic voice. He spun away from the counter, black robe flowing out behind him, and headed down an aisle. He wandered around the cozy store until the kids had left. Then he went back to the front and leaned against the counter. George had disappeared. When he came back from the storage room a moment later, he found Draco reading a matchmaking application.
"You should sign up. It'd do you good to get out a little more often," commented George.
Startled, Draco dropped the parchment back onto the pile and looked up. "Weasley, I could easily get any girl in Britain without your help," he said with a sneer.
George just laughed. He had gotten used to Draco's cockiness by now. "Yeah, until your big head explodes in the middle of dessert. I doubt she'd stick around very long with your brains splattered everywhere," George joked.
Draco just shook his head, but George could detect a faint ghost of a smile on his lips.
"So what are you doing here anyway? I know you don't like going out anymore," George asked.
"I was going insane cooped up at home, I can't stand that house," he said, referring to Malfoy Manor. "McGonagall hired me as the new Potions teacher so I figured I'd better check out the pranks the brats'll try to pull on me. After all, there's no better place to scout out all the latest tricks," he said.
George nodded in agreement, then, realizing what Draco had said, he asked in a surprised voice, "You're gonna teach!"
"Yeah, McGonagall wanted an Auror around just to be on the safe side. Besides, I just need to get away from everything for awhile," Draco explained.
"Hell, if I were you and needed a break I'd head for a beach with lots of hot girls, not Hogwarts," George said grinning.
"Where do you think I've been the past two weeks? It was alright for a few days, but I get sunburned too easily," Draco replied seriously. "And Muggle girls get on my nerves for some reason," he added.
George was having a hard time imagining Draco lying on a beach towel, slathered in suntan lotion, red as a lobster with peeling skin. He chuckled at the mental image and said, "Alright, I can see why that wouldn't work too well. Which is exactly why you should sign up for our matchmaking services. You'll only get witches, no Muggles."
Draco snorted and replied, "Yeah, I can definitely think of loads of nice girls that would want to date the son of a Death Eater."
"So, Professor Malfoy, is it?" Fred said as he came in from the back room where he had been eavesdropping. He set a box down on the hardwood floor and said, "Did you and Hermione decide to get new jobs together or something? After all, I know how fond you two are of each other," he said with a smile.
"Are you saying that Granger is teaching at Hogwarts?" Draco said in a dangerously calm voice.
"Ah, well, that's what Ron told me," Fred said nervously.
Draco's sneer seemed to double in size at this remark.
"Come on Draco, she's not that bad," George reasoned. "Sure she's a bit of a know-it-all, but she's really a nice girl."
Draco snorted and said, "Yeah, she leaves the room whenever I come in, she tried to convince Harry I was a spy, and 'accidentally' hexed me the first time I came to a meeting of the Order. Sounds like the perfect angel to me."
"Hey now, don't be so hard on her. She doesn't know what went on. Remember, she was still in St. Mungo's recovering from those nasty battle wounds when you joined us," Fred said reasonably.
"What, and you're telling me that no one ever found the time to explain?" Draco said angrily.
"Well, she never really gave us a chance to explain, and then things were so crazy, you know how it was. There wasn't time to keep everything straight, we were doing all we could just to keep ourselves alive," George argued.
Draco sighed. "It's going to be a long year."
"If you're looking for a nice quiet job, I have a feeling you won't find it at Hogwarts. At least not with the two of you together, that is," Fred grinned mischievously.
"Dumb know-it-all," muttered Draco.
"Exactly," Fred replied.
"Well, I'd better be going. I'm heading to Hogwarts next week so I guess I'll see you guys around," Draco said and headed towards the door.
"Wait, you haven't filled out an application yet!" called out George.
Draco ignored him and pushed the door open. He was a Malfoy for goodness sakes. He didn't need the help of anyone to find girls. As he stood looking out into the rain, yet another random witch gasped as she walked past and recognized his face. He angrily stepped out into the rain and stormed down the street.
As George watched Draco stride away, he felt a wave of sympathy come over him. Poor bloke couldn't even go out in public anymore. He glanced down at the dancing hearts on the application. "I guess one more free trial wouldn't hurt business," George said to himself under his breath. Fred snickered as he imagined Draco's reaction when he discovered what George had done.