Draco woke up later than he expected. It was 10:30 and he was late for work. It was a good thing that he owned the place, otherwise he would have been fired ages ago for being late too much. He quickly took a shower and dressed in his dark green robes. They were embossed with his initials in silver on the sleeves and had always been one of Draco's favorites. He grabbed a bagel before apparating into the back room of his store.
When he got there, Liz and Bernie were both in the back stacking comic books, in a heated argument.
"If you weren't so messy we would find things easier!" Bernie yelled.
"If you would stop using your pathetic cleaning charms, the boxes would stop exploding and we could actually get something done around here!"
"There's nothing wrong with my cleaning charms?"
"Oh yeah? Then why does the cat run away whenever your wand goes up?"
"Silencio," Draco said unenthusiastically, for he did this usually every morning. Bernie and Liz had what you would call a loud relationship. It seemed they were always fighting about something every morning when they had to stack the new books in every morning. Oddly enough, whenever they came out of the back room they were both happy as clams, though somewhat flustered looking. Draco never tried to figure out what went on in that back room.
As Draco went to the front of the store he put a toasting charm on his bagel. He had taken a large bite of his bagel when he came into the room and looked at his creation. He had started it a few years ago, a few months after getting out of Hogwarts. His father had almost killed him, but his mother had intervened. Not that he even spoke to his father anymore. When he opened the store they had had a huge row, and his father had basically disowned him after that. He was ashamed that his son was in a business so low as to sell books, and infuriated that he had no interest in siding with the Dark Lord as he had when he was Draco's age. He had said that Draco was an utter failure within the family and that he would be unclean because he served mudbloods. He kicked Draco out and told him to never come back. His mother, having no choice but to side with Lucius, only cried when he left. But she did send letters to him without Lucius' knowledge, sending him money and the name for the comic book store. He spent most of the money buying the small property for his business, and kept the rest in savings. His mother kept sending cash, though he told her not to.
The Crazy Comic Cave may not have had the best name, but inside it was quite nice. Though it was having a little trouble financially, it had everything a good comic store would need. A comic book rack had been placed everywhere there was room. There was even a charm keeping some on the ceiling (though those tended to be the less popular selection). Draco kept all kinds of comic books, from Qudley Quadditch's Quidditch Adventures, Wally Wizard, and even Gardener Woman(the older witches in the town seemed to look up to her, and came by every week in a large pack to pick up copies). He of course had a selection of sweets also, which sold just as fast as the comics did. He didn't know how Bernie and Liz did it, putting up with all of those annoying children running around all day in the store, asking stupid questions. He thanked himself every day for the fact that he didn't have to personally wait on anyone, he just owned the place and made sure things were in order.
Draco did a few cleaning charms to spiff up the place and turned the sign on the door to "Open." He then went back to the storage room and took the silencing charm off of Bernie and Liz as he was leaving, who didn't seem to notice. They never did.
Draco wondered where to go for lunch as he stepped back into his room. He had to change back into muggle clothing as he decided to eat out of Diagon Alley. He threw on some slacks and a silk button up shirt as he thought. Though he disliked muggle clothes, he had to admit they were somewhat stylish, if you bought the right thing, of course.
It was a nice day. The sun cast a warm glow on the street as Draco walked lazily down the sidewalk. He passed the muggle stores, casually window shopping at the places selling different candy, furniture, clothing, etc. He passed his favorite clothing store, Jeaques' Dress Wear, and his rivalry bookstore Dutton's. After a few blocks at a leisurely pace he was in unfamiliar territory. A park and dog walk replaced small shops. Across the street there was a dance studio proclaiming "Put on your Boogie Shoes! Disco dance Lessons nightly!" and a nearby video store had posters plastered all over its large windows. Then he thought of something. He scanned the posters and saw a familiar face...Hermia Grant.
He ventured to go inside. As he approached the door he realized it had nothing to open it by. Maybe it was closed; no, he remembered Blaise telling him about this, it was some kind of special door. He walked closer and was surprised to see the doors open on their own. Some kind of sensor, he guessed.
He went up to the nearest employee, whose nametag said in capitals, "HI! MY NAME IS GREG!" and asked about Hermia Grant movies.
"Hermia Grant? Sure, we got lots of them. Her new movie Trendsetter just came out on video and DVD, so they're guaranteed in stock. She has about five other movies, but most of them are usually rented. She's quite popular." "GREG" led him over to a wall with what looked like a large bookshelf. Except instead of books, there were small plastic boxes with the same covers on them: Trendsetter. Hermia Grant was pictured in a business suit, cell phone in one hand. Her other hand held a globe perfectly in her palm. Small words below the title read: It's time this business executive shows the world who's boss.
"Would you like that on DVD or video sir?" Greg's voice cracked as he asked.
"Umm...I just got a new... don't know whether...I'll take both."
"Would you like any of her other movies in that are in stock?" Greg fumbled as he picked up a thick chunky box and then a larger, more slender one off of the shelf.
"Sure. I'll take all the ones you got."
Draco sighed as he entered his apartment. It was a good thing he had his muggle "credit card" with him or he would have never gotten out of there. He got out a beer and took his movies to the couch.Okay, let's see how long it takes me to do this. Draco took out the thicker, smaller box that was the movie Daughters and Sons and opened it. He took out the cassette and stared at it for a moment. He looked at the TV. Fascinatingly enough, there was a hole at the bottom of the box that looked like the box could go into. He gave it a try.
Ha! That wasn't so bad! The box slid in easily and clicked shut. Now what? He stared at the TV for a moment, then realized there must be more to it. This could take a while...
About a half an hour later, Draco had finally gotten the movie to play. It took him the majority of the time to figure out that it had to be on channel three for the movie to work. He sat through the previews and was trying to figure out the uses of the controller when the actual movie started. It was about two people that were both divorced with kids and they were getting married. Hermia Grant played the oldest daughter. She was a few years younger in this film, and her blonde hair was not blonde, but more of a frizzy brown. Draco wondered if this was her natural hair color. She looked beautiful either way.
Draco stayed up all night, watching all of the movies he rented. In all of them Hermia Grant was amazing, and with each new film he felt he knew her more and more. By the time he had finished them all, he felt he knew exactly who she was, her habits and her expressions. He slipped into bed in a daze. He had work tomorrow, no, in a few hours, it was already 4 AM. As he was drifting off to sleep, the last person he thought he would think of popped into his head, and he wondered whether Priscilla knew of any new Hermia Grant movies coming out. Maybe he would go out with her again...
Until next chapter... thanks so much to all of my reviewers; you guys are awesome! For next chapter: Draco goes to a party, of sorts...