A/N: Merry Christmas Everyone! I wrote this fic as a gift for Anise in the DG Forum's secret Santa 2018. Hope you like it. :)
In which Ginny runs a coffee shop and Draco is the handsome customer who drops by every evening.
It is early evening when Draco slips into the quaint cafe in Diagon Alley on another chilly December day, instantly thankful for the warmth inside the tasteful little shop. There are only a few people there at this time of the evening, another thing he is thankful for, because both the Cafe and it's Owner are quite popular in this part of London. He sits at one of the tables near the fireplace decorated with festive Tinsel and mistletoes as casually as he can, raking his eyes over the place in search of the admittedly cute redhead who runs the best (according to him) coffee shop in town.
He doesn't see her for a moment, and wonders if she's out but then he sees her emerging from behind the counter in her golden dress and finds himself tongue-tied. He's annoyed at himself, really, for having this happen so many times. Everytime the woman (he knows her name is Ginny but he wouldn't call her that until they had a proper conversation) comes over to take his order he can only fumble for words for about a hundred seconds before managing to form coherent words. She makes him feel like he's a thirteen year old schoolboy again, instead of a twenty-eight year old businessman. And it's not like he hasn't had any experience in women–this wouldn't be the first time he wonders why this happens only when he is in her proximity and not otherwise.
He fumbles through his order again–a strong black coffee, like always. His face is burning with embarrassment, and he's pretty sure she can see it. He has translucent skin that goes red at the slightest provocation. He imagines he's about as red as her hair right now. He dares to look up, and sees she's only smiling a little and he thinks he smiles back at her, although he's not quite sure. She goes up to the counter then, and Draco settles back in his chair looking into his laptop–which he has managed to turn on sometime in between–and wonders just how much of a prat she must think he was.
Ginny has been sneaking glances at him from the very moment he'd entered her shop. He's become a regular customer now, and she knows he drops by every evening between 5 to 7 and stays for about an hour before leaving. She also knows she has a crush on him. And it's not even like she can help it–he's just that cute, and the added awkward is a plus.
She fancies that maybe the like is mutual. It hopefully is, if his long glances are anything to go by, but what does she know, boys can be weird. She can still hope, though. She frowns into the pot she's set to boil before she looks around her for the jar of coffee. Maybe she should be the one to initiate the conversation instead. She's jerked out of her thoughts by the sound of the shop's bell signalling the arrival of more customers and hurries with her preparation of his cup before going over to greet the new arrivals.
The water has boiled when she comes back with the new orders, and she pours it into the green and gold mug that she had prepared. It's on a chance that she looks at the festive cupcakes she had made that afternoon and adds it into the tray that she carries back to the blonde man who quickly pretends to be engrossed into his laptop. Ginny laughs. He really isn't good at this.
He looks surprised at the cupcake she places before him along with his coffee, but before he can say anything, Ginny is quick to tell him that it's her treat. He only blinks at her, and she has to smile at his dumbstruck expression. She winks at him conspiratorially and walks back towards the counter, wondering just how she had dared to do such a thing. She cocks her head to a side. Well, at least now its either yay or nay. Much better than being stuck in the middle, if you ask her.
Draco is still looking at her when she gets back to the counter and starts working on another order. He honestly doesn't understand what just happened. Okay, it was just a cupcake. Her treat, though? And that smile? And that wink? And could he just take a moment to say just how much it sent his brain into overdrive? He spends the next hour drinking his coffee and wondering about what had happened in a daze. Perhaps he's just reading too much into the situation. That's probably it. But what if the gesture did really mean something? He leans back into his chair and looks up at the ceiling covered in a fine golden wallpaper and decorated with more mistletoes. He should just sleep on it and see what needs to be done. But first... He looks back down towards the cupcake again, which is sitting innocently covered with green and red icing.
_/\(* - *)/\_
When he wakes up the next morning, Draco decides that even if the cupcake was just a friendly gesture (he hadn't been able to determine its intentions afterall) he had to do something about it. The situation really is getting pretty ridiculous. He'll do it the old school way, he supposes, with roses. He doesn't know why so few people use roses when courting women, they're such beautiful flowers, quite fitting for such beautiful women.
He's somehow both excited and nervous at the same time about going in for his evening coffee there, as has become usual for some past four months. He makes a stop at the florists', taking his time to choose the best red roses he can find before making his way towards the cafe, so it's late evening when he finally reaches his destination. He sits on the same table as before, and looks around nervously. It takes him a few minutes to spot her, talking to a guy with messy black hair and striking green eyes sitting on a table at the very back. He guesses the strange feeling he gets when he sees the two of them is what is called envy. He feels it slowly dissipate, however when the guy gets up and begins to leave.
She's coming towards him after that, and Draco has to remind himself to keep breathing and stay calm because he has to do this right. So when she comes up to him, he's quick in getting up and smiling down at her (he hadn't realised she was this short). He thinks she's taken aback at first and is ready to apologize, but then he sees colour pool her face and realizes she's blushing and holy shit she's even cuter now. He likes to think that he is the one who says 'Hi' first, but it's her, and it's so low he doesn't even hear it. He extends his hand to her then with confidence he doesn't know he possesses and says,
"Draco Malfoy, it's wonderful meeting you"
It's probably the only time he has ever meant those words. Her reply,
"Ginny Weasley",
is just as low as her greeting and then she looks up at him looking at her intently, and Draco realizes that it's not a good idea to look into someone's eyes, because you truly can get lost. It's a few minutes later that he remembers the roses and presents them to her, with a thank you for the cupcake from yesterday.
It's another few minutes until he remembers his manners and has her sit down, and sits opposite to her, and they begin to talk.
They talk, and they haven't stopped talking since.