RP: First Date Jitters Who: Ginny & Blaise What: Ginny has a date tonight and needs help with some choices. When: 9 April 2027 Where: Ginny's flat Warnings: NSFW Completion Status: Complete
Today had been a particularly busy day for Ginny Weasley, and she was trying to get reaccustomed to referring to herself as Weasley, considering the huge step she'd decided to take this week. Harry should have been served with the divorce papers today, and though she was certain it would be something of a shock to her ex, it was the right step. As much as she loved Harry and always would, their lives had long since taken different paths, and she could no longer see herself growing old with him.
The Birdie article last month had helped tremendously, really. While there still seemed to be some hesitation, men had started flirting with her while she was out, and if they were attractive enough, she certainly enjoyed flirting back. One particularly adventurous man had even dared to ask her on a date, which is why she'd left work a little early for a bit of pampering before she was set to meet him.
And she was doing said pampering in the cute little flat she'd acquired only a few weeks ago, around the time she'd met with a barrister about filing her divorce. She didn't want to stay in the home they'd built over the site of the home Harry's parents had shared, after all. Her flat was still rather sparsely filled, as she'd not wanted to start dividing up the things she and Harry had collected over the years without discussing it with him, nor had she wanted to fill the flat with all new things. No, it would be a blend of old and new, she thought.
Ginny stood in her closet, a short satin robe tied around her waist, looking through the clothes she'd brought over, pondering which look would best suit her first date in over twenty years. Merlin, such a strange thought! And she wasn't sure anything she had here was quite right. She stepped out of her closet, an idea brightening her brown eyes as she looked around for her phone. If there was one person who would absolutely delight in helping her choose what to wear for this momentous occasion, it was the one and only Blaise Zabini. She pulled up her messages and tapped on his name.
If you don't have anything better to do, I could really use your assistance in getting ready for my date tonight.
She attached a cute selfie of herself in the short robe, her expression rather more "come hither" than she'd realized, and sent the message.
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It didn't bother Blaise overly that Ginny completely didn't take his flirting seriously. He had fun, she had fun. And honestly, at this point in their lives they were friends and this just seemed like a natural extension of that, and at least he could be easy with her more than before because there had always been that niggle before, that he might have to deal with Potter at some point. He never feared the Savior of the Wizarding World; he just didn't want to be bothered by him any more than he already was.
So it was with a delicious bit of delight that he received Ginny's message requesting his assistance. It didn't even bother that it was for a date and not one with him. She was at least giving others a try! About time she let herself have some fun.
Plus, it would be SO deliciously fun to help her try things on... and off. He couldn't just stop being his naughty self.
On my way!
He shot the message off quickly, adding a return selfie of himself winking, because why not, and grabbed a few things from a few different wardrobes (his and some others he had lying around, because he was Blaise Zabini and OF COURSE he had things around), and then Apparated to a place near her wards. A quick rap of knuckles on her door, an anticipatory gleam in his eyes.
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Ginny had barely read the text before she heard the knocking on her front door. She went through the hall to open the door, completely unbothered by doing so in the thin, short robe. It didn't even matter if it was something other than Blaise on the other side of it; she was a single woman again, after all. But it was Blaise on the other side, and she offered him a welcoming smile as she took a small step aside, opening the door wider.
"Come on in, bossman," she greeted him cheekily.
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He gave her warm, appraising grin as he entered her flat. It was quite a nice flat, still a bit sparse but he was pretty certain he knew why. Besides, she should take her time making her own little haven now that she was on her own. She looked tantalizing in that thin, short robe, and he gave those legs of hers an appreciative look. He was a connoisseur... he noticed such things.
"Why thank you, Miss Weasley," he drawled just as cheekily as her.
"So tell me, darling, all about this date you're going out with tonight, so that we can sculpt you appropriately."
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Goodness, that gave her the most tantalizing shiver, hearing him refer to her that way. It made her feel seventeen again in the very best way. Once he was inside, she shut the door. "Hmm, well he is quite delicious. Scottish, which promises a certain level of enthusiasm," she quipped as she moved around him to start back down the hall to her bedroom, pausing briefly to toss him a cheeky look over her shoulder.
"His name is Callum, and he's a personal trainer." Not hers, but she had run into him at the gym and spa she preferred to go to when she didn't want to work out outdoors. "He's not told me where he's taking me, though he did tell me that it wouldn't be black tie, but I was welcome to dress up for the occasion," she explained as they walked into her bedroom. She tossed her phone onto her bed, which was all brand new, from the linens to the mattress, to the frame, and then she turned rather abruptly and bumped against his chest.
Ginny hadn't realized he'd been following so closely, and her breath caught in her throat as her hands lifted to his chest. "Oh, hello," she breathed. They'd flirted shamelessly since the Birdie had made the announcement for her, but she was still completely certain that it was simply because Blaise was a man who flirted with most attractive, single people shamelessly.
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He chuckled, a deep and rumbling sound. Scottish, indeed. Well, that was a reasonable deduction at least in his experience and possibly in hers as well. He followed her down the hall, smirking at her when she looked back at him. "Personal trainer, hm? Well, that definitely has promise in it for you," he said.
As she turned and bumped into him, he grinned down at her even as he steadied her, fingers cupping her elbow as he inhaled the pleasant scent of her. "Well hello there, Miss Weasley," he murmured, his head dipping just slightly, closer into her personal space. Just because he was helping her get ready for a date didn't mean he wouldn't take advantage of delicious circumstances to continue to flirt with her. He didn't quite lean down close enough to kiss, just the tantalizing hint of maybe and possibly.
"So how far on the 'wow' scale do you wish to go? Do we think we can give that personal trainer a heart attack?" he said, eyebrows rising as he teased and insinuated.
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There was simply something about him that left her breathless at times. He certainly was doing so now. Her fingers brushed downward on his chest briefly, and a thousand quips zipped through her mind but caught in her throat. How should he be able to disorient her so? She was in her bloody forties, for Merlin's sake, with three grown children! And he was hardly serious. It wouldn't do to let him get to her so. Even if she were increasingly curious about how his lips would feel against hers, so tantalizingly close.
His question pulled her back to reality, perhaps a bit disappointingly, but she was rather excited about her first date in over twenty years, so she lowered her hands and took a tiny step back so she could move around him. "Oh Merlin, I'm not sure! Though I don't think giving him a heart attack would do me any good." Not if things escalated beyond first date etiquette. "My closet's through here," she added as she reached her bedroom door to lead him through her bathroom.
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He was terribly tempted to kiss her right then and there, but he knew from experience that the tantalization and wait always made things even sweeter in the end. Plus, he had far too much fun teasing her. He knew that she didn't take him seriously at all, and that was all right for now, but it just gave him more of a challenge. It was fun. She was sassy and smart and he really liked that. Convincing her that he wasn't just in it to fluster her was definitely a fun challenge to be had.
Blaise definitely didn't move when she did, though the back and forth of getting in her way was definitely something he would try at some point. Besides, he did not mind in the least that she had to skirt close to him in order to pass. "I don't know, it would definitely add to your reputation," he said cheekily as he followed not quite on her heels as he went to her closet. "Let's see what you have to choose from, and I can present a few possibilities as well."
His gaze wandered around the closet and its myriad of options before going back to her, and his gaze once again raked warmly over her from top to bottom. She was amazingly attractive, and age hadn't tarnished any of the appeal she'd had since she started coming into herself in school. He hmmmed thoughtfully and started to rummage through her dresses before presenting her with one. "How about we see this one first?" he suggested. It wasn't his favorite, but he definitely didn't want to hit it out of the park with his first choice, or he wouldn't get to see her in multiple outfits.
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Ginny gasped playfully at that. "My reputation? Is there something you know that I don't?" she asked teasingly. She'd been an upstanding citizen all these years, and she'd never done anything to tarnish the public image of her relationship with Harry...until outing their separation to the Birdie, that is. But if there was one thing Ginny was not worried about, it was her reputation. Let people say and think whatever they wanted--she was finally living for herself, and she wasn't going to apologize to anyone for it.
While he considered the options hanging in her closet, she considered him. Over twenty years working together, and she'd never considered what it would be like to have him so involved in her personal life. She had been so utterly devoted to Harry that she'd never seriously considered that anyone else might be interested. Could it be that Blaise was genuinely interested? But perhaps that was a thought to consider another time.
She was pulled from her thoughts when he held out one of her dresses. "Sure," she agreed easily, and without a thought, she turned her back to him, opened her robe and let it fall from her shoulders, leaving her in just lacy knickers. She slipped the dress on over her head and then shifted her hair out of the way and glanced at him over her shoulder. "Would you?" she asked, indicating the zipper. She could do it up with a spell easily, but it was rather more fun this way.
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"I always know something you don't," he replied easily, but his eyes held a twinkle of amusement. He actually really enjoyed that she didn't give a flying flip about her reputation currently, because it could lead to so much fun. Especially with the birdie. He never minded when he got pulled into his own gossip column because it didn't matter to him since he knew the truth of things. Plus he absolutely loved messing with people.
They had always been coworkers, had been quasi friends but didn't really socialize outside of work, though they had gotten along quite well as the years passed. But he was really enjoying having her around more, as he'd always suspected he would.
His eyebrows raised a little bit as she uninhibitedly dropped her robe, leaving her in her very nice, date-ready knickers. He should have expected it, but somehow he hadn't, and so it was a pleasant surprise and a very enjoyable sight. She was still very fit, and that arse of hers was very pleasant to stare at. "But of course," he murmured, stepping right up behind her. His fingers brushed the base of her spine before he grasped the zipper, and he slowly zipped it up to the top, tempted to drop a kiss at the nape of her neck just to see what she would do, but refraining for now because this subtle back and forth was so enjoyable.