One Week and a Day Later
Draco woke up to the annoying beeping of his alarm clock. It was Saturday, his one day of the week off from training. Even though he did not want to wake up early, he had a busy day ahead of him.
He felt a little ashamed of himself, he had not stuck with the pact he made with himself, for the past week he had done what he had done before, looked at the woman through the window like a coward. Luckily, she had only noticed him standing there twice.
She probably thought he was stalking her. Great.
He groggily sat up and turned off the alarm. Rubbing his eyes he threw the blankets off of himself and stood up. Making his way to the closet he picked out a pair of black trousers, black button up shirt, and an off-white tie.
After dressing himself he combed through his hair. Deciding he looked presentable he tromped down the stairs, he quickly grabbed a muffin and apparated to the busy streets of London.
He arrived just outside a large department store. In need of more casual clothes, he went inside. There were many muggles shopping inside. The store looked a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside. He quickly made his way to the men's section.
After picking out a few pairs of jeans and a few shirts he went into the dressing room to try them on. He decided to buy two pairs of blue jeans and three V-neck tee shirts.
Making his way to the cash register he noticed a couple women looking at him. Yeah, he knew he was attractive, but he never flaunted it. When he got to the register the teenaged girl behind the counter smiled sweetly at him.
He paid for the clothes with the muggle money he had gotten at Gringotts the day before. Leaving the store he figured he should probably drop the items off at his home. He quickly went into a nearby alleyway and disapparated.
Setting his bags on the kitchen table he apparated to Diagon Alley for his next errand.
. . .
Looking at her watch, Aurora groaned, it was only ten in the morning. All she wanted to do was leave, but Saturday was always their busiest day.
Children were milling around looking in awe of all of the Weasley's products. They actually had to bring in extra help for Saturdays, but she wouldn't exactly call Ron help. He just played with all of the products.
That, or him getting visits from his new fiancé, Hermione Granger. Aurora couldn't count the number of times she had caught them snogging in the stock room. She had to admit though, they were a cute couple.
They were her age and were already engaged, it seemed a bit soon to her but oh well. Man, I need to get going on this boyfriend thing, she thought to herself as she propped her chin on her palm. Now that she thought of it, she was the only one working at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes who didn't have a significant other.
George had Angelina, Ron and Hermione, Ginny and Harry… This is depressing she thought. But then she remembered that man that she had seen outside the store a few times. Why hadn't he come in to say hello? Maybe he's shy, she thought.
Either way he must not be that interested, she had only seen him twice, and he was probably just on his way to and from work. But she had never seen him in any of the stores. But it didn't hurt to dream, he was pretty dreamy.
He must work somewhere important, he was always in fancy clothes or a suit. Aurora's family wasn't poor but they certainly weren't rich. Now that she was on her own she didn't have all that much money. But that was just fine with her; she didn't need money to be happy.
For the next few slow and grueling hours Aurora struggled to get through to the end of the day. Today was just not her day, she barely got any sleep because of her nightmares, a little boy knocked over a whole row of stink bomb potions, and to top it all off her only help, Ron, had disappeared with Hermione after lunch.
George seemed to be busy upstairs with new products, or at least that's what she hoped those sounds were, so she didn't want to bother him with her problems. She looked at her watch, five o'clock, one hour left. Thank god, she thought. She just wanted to go home and curl up in her bed.
Her thoughts then drifted to her brother, Ames. She missed him dearly. They hadn't been around each other for most of their teenage years because of the different schools. But they had been very close in their early childhood.
They were only two years apart. But, they really didn't look alike. Ames had dark brown hair and green eyes, and Aurora had blonde hair and blue eyes. He had always been popular with the ladies; he seemed to always have a girlfriend.
Her, on the other hand didn't, she had only barely kissed a man in her sixth year over Christmas break. But, it was only because of the mistletoe above them. It was a boy she barely knew at some Christmas party.
Someone tromping down the stairs to George's office tore her away from her thoughts. She looked toward the doorway, and was surprised to see Angelina instead of George.
"Hi Ang." She said.
Angelina walked up to the counter to her. "Hey, have you been here all day?" She asked.
"Unfortunately yes. Ron left with Hermione sometime after lunch." She explained.
"He did, did he? Well I suppose I will have to inform George of that." Angelina laughed.
Aurora noticed that Angelina's clothes looked recently crumpled. Ah so that's what was going on up there, she thought and she snickered to herself.
"Well you can go now if you'd like, I can close up. You look a bit tired." Angelina said.
"Yeah, I didn't sleep very well last night." Aurora grabbed her bag from under the counter.
"I didn't sleep at all last night." Angelina joked as she winked at her.
She laughed and winked back. Brushing a stray hair off her forehead she made her way out the door. Diagon Alley was at its busiest with witches and wizards running errands and children buying their school supplies.
Making her way down the steps she decided that to cheer herself up she would go to Flourish and Blotts to get herself a new book. Aurora had always found pleasure in reading, it took her mind of things.
She maneuvered her way around the crowded streets to the book store. When she finally got there she opened the door and walked in. The store had only a few people in it and the books were towering over them.
Finding an empty row of books she started to browse. A Witches Guide To Wizards, Hmm I don't think so, she thought. She wondered why there were so many books on romance and dating. Deciding she didn't want an educational book she moved to the fiction section.
Skimming the rows she looked at a few books that looked interesting. There were so many to choose from. She finally decided on one called The Triumphs and Trials of Veronica Miles.
She found her way back to the register and set her book down. After waiting for a few minutes an old woman came out of the back room to help her.
"Hello dear. Did you find everything alright?" The old woman asked sweetly.
"Yes I did, thank you." She replied.
Aurora paid for the book and went on her way out of the store. The alley was a bit less crowded then before so she easily walked toward her home above Ollivander's.
Not paying attention to where she was going, she suddenly bumped into an unexpecting man. She dropped her book as she turned to apologize.
"Oh! I'm sorry." She said to the man who was now politely picking up her book.
He looked up and offered her the book. "No, it's my fault I-." He stopped.
It was him. The man she had seen outside the store. She felt paralyzed as he stood up holding out her book for her to grab it.
They both stood looking at each other for a moment in silence.
Feeling slightly embarrassed she took her book carefully.
"Thanks, um for picking up my book." She said quietly.
"You're welcome." He said and smiled.
Her cheeks flushed red as she turned away to walk home until he felt his hand on her shoulder.
"Wait." He said.
She turned back around to him.
"You never told me your name." He said.
Shyly she said. "Oh, well it's Aurora."
"Aurora." He said. "I'm Draco." He held his hand out for her to shake.
She took it and smiled back at him. "I believe I've seen you before. Outside the store maybe?"
"Yes, you probably have. I usually walk through Diagon alley on my way to work." He told her.
"And where do you work Mr..?"
"Malfoy. I technically work at the Ministry of Magic, I'm currently training to become an Auror." He replied.
"Really? My brother is an Auror. He's actually on an assignment at the moment."
"There seems to be much more recruits since the war, I suppose there are still many wizards they need to catch."
"Indeed there is." She said sweetly.
"So Aurora is there any chance you would like to have dinner or something with me sometime?" Draco asked and inside winced, afraid that she would say no.
Surprised, she maybe a little too quickly said, "Yes, of course."
He smiled. "How about tomorrow night then?"
"Sure." She said with excitement in her heart.
"And where should I pick you up?"
"Oh, I live in the apartment above Ollivander's. You can pick me up there, just tell him your there for me and he'll let you up." Aurora informed him.
"Alright I'll see you tomorrow night then."
"See you then." She said as he walked a few steps and disapparated. Smiling from ear to ear she made her way to Ollivander's and up to her apartment.
The Next Day
Aurora woke up as her alarm blared. For the first time in days she had slept soundly through the night without nightmares. Sitting up, she smiled; tonight she would be going to dinner with the mysterious man she had met the day before. Draco, she had never met anyone with that name before.
She wondered if George knew him, she would have to ask.
Happily putting her clothes on, she walked to the bathroom and brushed her hair. She carefully put on her makeup and smiled in the mirror.
Grabbing her bag she headed off to work. She felt so elated that she had a little spring in her step as she walked out onto Diagon Alley.
She strolled into WWW and put her bag behind the counter. Setting her chin on her palm she thought about Draco. He had such kind grey eyes. She sighed dreamily.
Since it was not yet nine, opening time, she went into the stock room to check on the availability of the products. Making sure no one was secretly snogging in there; she quickly looked through the rows and wrote down all of the items that needed restocking.
Grabbing the note she left the stock room and went up the stairs to George's office. She knocked a few times and waited for a response.
"Come in." She heard George say from the other side of the door.
Still smiling about her date later this evening she let herself in.
"Goodmorning." She said to him.
"Goodmornin' to you." He said as she set the list on his desk.
"Here's a list of the products were low on." She said as she was still smiling.
"Uh, Aurora, are you alright?" He questioned.
"Yes, I'm great actually."
He bit the end of his pen. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"
"Well… I don't know." She giggled a bit.
"Ok something is definitely wrong with you. Did you have a little 'fun' last night perhaps?" He asked jokingly.
"No, but I may have some fun tonight." She winked.
"My, my, my. Who is the lucky guy then eh?" He flirted.
"Oh… no one." She teased.
"Come on tell me." He demanded.
"Well I only met him just yesterday."
"Who is this mysterious man?" George questioned.
"He said his name is Draco."
As she said that he gripped his pen tightly and his face turned white.
"And what was his last name did he say?" George said while he gritted his teeth.
"I think he said it was Malfoy." She said, curious about Georges strange behavior.
He sighed heavily. "You certainly will not be having any 'fun' with that man."
"Why not?" Aurora asked.
"Just don't go with him… please. For your own sake don't." He asked trying to hold back his anger.
"Why the hell not?" She asked starting to get upset.
"He used to be a Death Eater, if he knew you were muggle born he would never speak to you again, his own father is in Azkaban for being a Death Eater! He's not a decent man." George warned her.
"You're wrong! He's going to be an Auror. All he's been is kind to me! It doesn't matter what his father did, they are not the same man." She protested.
"Fine, do what you want but don't tell me that I didn't warn you about that slimy ferret." George said, disgusted.
"I will prove you wrong George Weasley. He is a decent man."
Now very upset, she left the room and tried not to slam the door behind her. She stomped down the stairs in anger. When she got back to the counter all her anger was forgotten when she saw that something was left on the window sill outside.
A rose. She walked over to the window and opened it. Lightly picking it up she noticed there was a small card beneath it. It read:
-Draco Malfoy
She smiled. He must've left it here while she was arguing with George.
Closing the window she smelled the delicate red rose and went back to the counter. She placed the rose on top of the counter where she could look at it all day. She snickered; she had already proven George wrong.
. . .
Continuing on his way to training, Draco smiled. Placing the rose on the window through which he had looked at her for days was a brilliant idea.
He also knew exactly where to take her for dinner, a small restaurant in a wizarding village outside of Surrey. It had been the place his parents had their first date.
The thought of his father still stung a bit. Draco would not be able to tell him about this beautiful woman he met, he wouldn't be able to tell him about the date either. It will take a long time to get used to his father's absence.
But, of course, he always had his mother. The mother who adored him. He knew that he should probably visit her soon, perhaps tomorrow. She was fairly lonely without him and his father. Sure, she had the servants and house elves, but they were not family.
Someday, Draco hoped he would have his own family.