Characters: Draco Malfoy and Ginevra Weasley Location: Flourish and Blotts Date: Sunday, November 23, 2008 Time: early afternoon Rating: G-PG
Ginny hugged herself, bringing the warming spell on her cloak in closer contact with her skin, which was necessary for the gusts of wind that were making their way down Diagon Alley today. Quickly she entered a holly and ribbon decorated Flourish and Blotts, the holidays were inching nearer, and Ginny could feel the mix of warm feelings that came with the season and the dread that she would never be able to complete her gift shopping list. Today however wasn't necessarily a shopping day, unless she saw something that someone would absolutely love to have, but it was Ginny Weasley's day of rest. Her visit today was one of an idle sort.
She noticed the display of the newest and promoted books, and she contemplated going around to the different sections. However, per usual, Ginny found herself emmersed in the Charms section. It was her hobby, and other than Quidditch, it was her passion; it couldn't have been helped. She scanned the titles, occassionally picking one or two up to read the incerpts and back covers. "Hmm..." she said muttered, as she read the title 'Ancient Magick of the Isles'.
Draco entered the bookseller's doors and made his way over to the Charms section. He had been thinking about security charms that wouldn't alert ministry officials to look harder. The harder they pushed toward Integration, the more he began to wonder at his aunt's commentary. He wanted to ignore her, to discount her words of caution, but it was difficult to ignore her completely when there was at least a ring of truth to her madness. He could easily see how persuasive she'd been in her heyday. He hadn't caved into her influence, but he would be a fool if he claimed it wasn't enticing.
Rounding the corner, he came face to face, or perhaps face to hair with the one of the reasons he hadn't given in to his aunt's machinations. She had been a voice of reason, a beacon of hope that there had been others with whom he could connect since the first anonymous post. Now, she was more, both good and bad. Seeing her reminded him of the article he'd read last night. Perhaps it would be a good time to work on bringing Separatist sentiments public.
"Miss Weasley," he nodded to her, drawling, but lacking his usual venom. He thought about several other sentiments to express, but he chose against them after a moment. He left his comment at that then began looking at the titles in front of him.
Before turning, she knew who was speaking to her. His voice was as distinctive as the face and white-blonde hair that she turned to face. "Hello, Mr. Malfoy." She remembered bits of their conversation. The bit where they would at the very least pretend to be cordial to each other in public. To help him seem more Separatist than Isolationist. "How are you today?" That was pleasant without over doing it.
The thing was, the cordialness had come far too naturally for her. This worried Ginny a bit. She trusted him as her partner of thought and idea, but fully trusting someone that had in the past been so unfavorably willed towards you was probably not the brightest thing she could ever think of doing. Though, she had to admit, she'd done similar and stupider things.
This was different. She was twenty, not eleven, had much more experience in the way of the world. And he made her question things, things about herself and her beliefs. Of course, he hadn't changed them much, but asking 'why' became something of much greater importance than ever before. She noted that she was thinking far too much of the person standing beside her, and reopened the book to look at some of the spells listed.
Such pleasantries leaving her lips in regards to him indicated she really had been agreeable to their plans. They would appear civil, even polite in public. It would aid their cause. He would appear less extreme; she would change the face of Separatism. Yes, all normal discomforts aside, it was a positive choice. She would help him.
"I am doing well, thank you." If the sentiment was a little more stilted than his usual, it wasn't obvious. The greeting, in fact, was quite warm considering to whom it was directed. He allowed his cloak to fall open as he reached for a book on land charms. It hadn't been his intended study, though there was no point in disrupting the tenuous peace between the two of them. As he glanced at her, he wondered if she was wearing a long skirt or if she was wearing proper robes. Just the hem of which was visible beneath her cloak.
Draco smirked ever so slightly, "And you? The season doesn't have too much longer, does it?" He knew very well the regular season was nearly over, and that the Harpies had done well, though he felt admitting such too early would appear too artificial. And for once, or perhaps not once, but more certainly harder than his usual lapses, he was extremely concerned with what was thought of him, especially by the witch before him. It took effort not to frown.
Ginny looked up from the entry on 'White-Flamed Fire' and towards him once again. She offered a bit of a grin. "Yes, it is. There are three exhibition games lined up so that we don't get out of shape, but it should be wrapped up before Christmas." She'd known Draco had played as Seeker for Slytherin in Hogwarts, mostly because he often played opposite Harry, which meant Ginny wasn't really sure of his actual skill, but she was rather certain Slytherin usually beat Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw in her school years, so he couldn't be that bad. She still had no idea that he had kept up with Quidditch, though she could probably have assumed as most wizards tended to fanatical about it, or really liked it to some degree. What was most puzzling about it was that Ginny was even thinking it at all.
"But, I'm good, as well." She suddenly realized that she had no clue what Draco did with his time when he wasn't scheming about Separatism. He had to do something even if his family was as bleeding rich as the sultan of small, but wealthy country, perhaps somewhere in Arabia, she thought.
Wanting to continue the conversation, Ginny looked at the book in his hand. "What kind of land charms are you interested in?"
Exhibition games. Perhaps Draco would have to attend one of those games, purely for political reasons of course. He could almost convince himself of that if he tried hard enough. "Perhaps I'll have to make an appearance. After all, they tend to be very entertaining." He didn't quite keep the flicker from his face this time as he realized how much more than simply cordial he seemed.
He glanced at the title, then shrugged. "I am mostly interested in ancient protection charms, things that tie to the land. We have so much ancient forest around the manor." He shrugged again. It wasn't a lie. He was simply telling a selective truth. "Of course, sometimes I run across land charms in my business, though most of those tend to be darker than anything I'd find here."
He glanced at her sideways, wondering how she would react to this comment. He hadn't told her what he did, though perhaps his mother was right and he should publicize it at least a little more. A dark wizard turned curse breaker would be rather juicy fodder.
"And you? I'd never pegged you for being quite so studious in obscure charms." It was said with something akin to amusement and teasing, a very unusual attitude toward her, but one that seemed fitting considering it had been her charm that had allowed them to duplicate the pamphlets, though the anti-tracking charm had been his.
Ginny smiled. The exhibition games WERE entertaining as the rules were pretty lax, and many interesting things in the stands that were prohibited during normal season. Ginny kind of wished Quidditch was always like that. "Well, two are travel games, the one in England is played against Quibberon Quafflepunchers, if you're interested." Though she couldn't imagine he was being anything, but polite. This was his choice after all, he was just making their conversation seem very, very cordial, and Ginny would try her best to do the same.
"The more obscure the better, actually. A witch has to have her hobbies," Ginny said catching his eye. The allusion to their charm-sharing for Separation hadn't escaped her. She turned more toward him then, after reaching for another book. She wasn't sure what she had gotten, it had been more out of having something to do, really. "What kind of business do you have, exactly?"
She looked down at the book in her hands Bedroom Charms, oh Merlin. She thought she could replace the book quickly, on the shelf, but instead thought that might look rather childish. So giving it a once over she put it back on the shelf as nonchalantly as possible, and grabbed Hexes to Avenge. A bit darker than she'd normally go for, but better to have in your hands than the first one, well, perhaps.
He nodded blandly. Quidditch was fun, but for him it was a hobby. The thought came unbidden that she shouldn't consider it a long-term career, but he forced it aside with considerable force. She was a Weasley. Despite her being a pure-blood, such a career was still a step up societally speaking.
"Indeed. You would find quite a number of ancient charms still on the land around the Manor, though I imagine there are plenty around your home in Devonshire as well." That she lived in the same general area of the country that he did was no secret. Their general area of England was only surpassed by some areas in distant Scotland for ancient magical activity.
To cover for his apparent slip into too much civility, he turned to the question she'd asked. "I have a curse breaking business," he answered calmly. It wasn't that he'd kept it an active secret, but keeping it a secret passively was far too easy. As he looked at her to determine her reaction, he noted the book in her hands with wry amusement, but he kept his acerbic wit under tight reign. As she changed books, though, he did chuckle slightly. "And is your infamous bat bogey hex in there, Miss Weasley?"
Ginny gave him a curious look. "Oh, well I live in Scotland now, but yes, I imagine there is a lot of protective magic around home." Not only ancient, but new, her family had become very well acquainted with protective and security magic over the years.
So he knew her family lived in Devonshire, not that it was any secret, but she just didn't imagine her family's whereabouts being something that he would have comitted to memory. She didn't want to think about how he had gotten this sort of information, or if it had just been common knowledge. There were groups in the not so distant past that would definitely have known where the Weasleys lived and found it of great importance. That Draco used to be in that group was something she had a lot of trouble acknowledging. It was almost as if the person she knew as Draco now and the person she thought as Draco then were two seperate entitites. It was good to keep it that way for sanity's sake.
"My brother's a curse breaker," she offered finding it worked well in transitioning her thought processes. She'd heard the chuckle, and decided to ignore it, until he said something that brought on a chuckle of her own. "So I see you remember that particular spell fondly, Mr. Malfoy."
Her brother was a curse breaker. Somehow Draco didn't figure that his freelancing had all that much in common with any Weasley brother. He allowed that thought to remain unstated however. Still, it obviously wasn't an insulting occupation to her if one of her brothers was in the business as well.
He inclined his head at her tease. He remembered it far too well, which was more than slightly disturbing. He'd experienced far worse at the hands of people who had far more worth, and yet it was her talent with a wand that had begun changing his views. She had forced him to accept she was talented. In his moments of deepest honesty, he'd admit that she would be a truly formidable dueling opponent. That her mother had killed his aunt in a duel only solidified it in his mind. Now if only she weren't so bloody idealistic.
"I am not sure if fond is quite the appropriate word, but I remember it distinctly shall we say?" He scanned the shelves and picked up another book, this one titled Blood-Bound Surveillance Charms. "Your skill with a wand is memorable. I would be a fool if I did not admit that. The skill and speed of one who has grown up with magic cannot be missed. It is one of those regretful disadvantages that those who were not raised in our world must overcome." It was said as if they fully shared their political views. He had carefully avoided stating that they would always be at a disadvantage. After all, Scarhead and Granger had proven themselves, but they'd had to fight hard to do so, a feat he couldn't appreciate as a show of strength of character. He could only see it as another reason something had to be done about wizards and witches growing up outside their world.
Ginny had to continuously remind herself that this had all be apart of a plan. That they had agreed to civility in public, that he simply wasn't being nice to her because he wanted to be nice to her. The sincerity in which it was presented made her want to double-think the scenario unfolding in front of her, even if she knew what was really happening.
"Distinct, memorable, I suppose those at least get the point across," Ginny looked at him. The look should have been telling. Their differing views were beginning to showcase and that was their main area of discord. Of course, if the two ideas in which the conflicted could be reconciled, Ginny most certainly couldn't see how at this moment. "I think speed and skill are little tied to whether we were raised in our world or the Muggle world. It is the cultural things that are learned that may be of some disadvantage, but ability--no, they are magic."
She nodded towards him courteously, but her eyes were bright. She wasn't going to bend or break from her own beliefs too much, and it was time to show him that as well as any.
Draco was in no mood to argue the merits of the interlopers as he often thought of them. He simply had wanted to praise her, and she still continued to vex him. Would she never appreciate her status? The advantages granted her by growing up in their world?
"Would you allow me to rephrase then?" he asked, trying to sound polite, but not fully keeping the edge from his voice. "I had simply meant your comfort level with magic as a solution. For example, your friend, Miss Granger," he managed not to pause too long, "reacts first by physical violence as opposed to a hex.
"I meant no disrespect. Simply that I have an appreciation for a witch who is as comfortable with who she is as you showed that day." He tempered the kind words with the ice in his voice, ensuring that she understood he was not complimenting her as a way of flirting. She was simply someone with whom he shared a project and a goal.
She could hear the steel in his voice. "Oh, well, thank you. I was just making a distinction." She wondered if they really had it in them to continue to do this successfully, at least at that very moment. She figured it might be best to leave it as it was, a successful first attempt.
"Well, I should probably go visit my brother now," Ginny stated, although she hadn't really intended to visit George today at all. She might as well since she was in Diagon Alley. "I enjoyed the conversation."
She looked at him, before taking a step towards the check out counter, two books in hand.