Ship: Draco/Ginny
Name/Pen Name: Corrine/Romance Freak
Word Count: 1,305
Theme #/Theme: 6/The Ever Reliable Daily Prophet
Challenge count: 6/7 Finished
Content: PG
Spoilers: Books 1-5
Warnings: Harry/Hermione
Summary: It's a few years after Hogwarts, and Ginny is happily working for Draco. An article comes out and could make or break her career. In Ginny's PoV.
I sat at a table in the Outsider Café in Wizard, London. I was eating a salad, when Hermione came bursting through the door. She was supposed to meet me here about an hour ago. She came over and sat at my table. “You’re never late.” I said simply, she laughed.
“Well Ginny, working as an Unspeakable I can’t always make lunch dates,” She said “And something in the Daily Prophet stopped me.” I looked up.
“You don’t read it either,” I said, Hermione nodded “What happened?” She took a Daily Prophet out of her pocket. She unrolled it and laid it in front of me. I looked directly at the front page in front of me.
It said in black, bold letters across the top ‘As a Century Old Feud between two Families Ends.’ I briefly skimmed the article. One piece caught my attention, ‘Miss Ginny Weasley, the youngest in the Weasleys works in the Ministry of Magic as a Secretary for Mr. Draco Malfoy. It is now believed that the two don’t fight, as much and our resources tell us that are now secretly dating…’ I looked up.
“Draco and I are not dating, secretly.” I said answering the unspoken question.
“Un uh” she said “That’s what you want the paper to think.”
“We’re just business partners!” I almost shouted, Hermione being my best friend knew me inside and out.
“But, you couldn’t help falling helplessly in love?” asked Hermione, laughing slightly, she already knew this and now she was just throwing it back in my face. I groaned and put my face in my hands.
“I’m going to lose my job.” I said, about a year ago I would’ve given anything to be possibly get fired, and now I didn’t want to get fired. Hermione patted my shoulder gently.
“He won’t fire you, you’re the only person willing enough to be his secretary.” Said Hermione, I saw her glace at her watch. “Ginny you’ll be fine, but I might not if I don’t leave now.” I laughed, and Hermione left and apparated back to her work.
She was right, but I was pretty sure I would be jobless in the next 24 hours. I walked back to my flat, thinking about taking a long, long nap. I was kind of glad that I had the day off other wise, I would be jobless. I knew Draco wouldn’t fire people on their days off, he preferred doing it in person.
I laughed and clasped on couch, throwing my cloak and shoes to the ground carelessly. I waved my wand and the Wizarding Wireless clicked on and a bowl of candy came to me. I listened to the Quidditch game on. I could’ve not been in this predicament if I had only been a professional chaser. The only down side would be seeing my brother Ron, 24/7 for the rest of my working career. Once every month was enough for one person.
I must’ve been home for less then two hours when an owl came flying through the window. I knew then and only then that I was an acceptation to the never going fire somebody on their day off rule. I walked over and took the slip of paper from the owl. I was wrong. All it said was too floo to the office as soon as possible.
“Great,” I thought “He wants to fire me in person.” I flooed quickly to the Ministry, hoping to quicken the humiliation. I sighed and sat at my desk. It was cluttered with papers and pens. It looked as though a tornado had hit it. It always was like this, and that’s the way I liked it.
“Ginny?” said a voice, I quickly turned around in my chair and saw Draco standing there.
“Um, sir you owled me?” I asked, He nodded and motioned for me to go into his office. I walked through the door and he closed it behind me. He walked around me and sat behind his desk.
“Take a seat Ginny,” he said, I sat in one of the arm chairs. We sat in a silence for a few moments, my mind began to wonder to when we got a first name basis. “Ginny?” His voice brought me out of my thoughts. I looked at him, I noticed he was smiling and his pale gray, almost sliver eyes sparkling.
“Yes, why did you call me into the office on my day off?” I asked, hiding my fear pretending I didn’t have the slightest clue. He smirked, “What?”
“You really don’t know?” he asked, I nodded weakly, he laughed “The paper thinks we’re as they put it secretly dating.” He was still smiling.
“Sir, please don’t fire me! I’m sorry, it’s my entire fault!” I said, I put my face in my hands. He then laughed, he laughed. I looked up. “What is so funny? You call me from home to tell me this, I ask not to be fired and you laugh!”
He stopped and his face turned to stone. “Ginny, Ginny, Ginny” he said, shaking his head.
“What!” I shouted “Just fire me so I can leave.”
”I wasn’t going to fire you.” He said, I got up and walked over to the door before I realized what he was saying.
“I…I’m…I’m not fired?” I asked, he nodded “Why?” He threw the article at me.
“I was going to fire you tomorrow, but that changed my mind.” He said, I stood by the door, my hand on the door knob and the paper in the other.
“Why?” I asked, He was standing and now pacing the room, my eyes fallowing his every step. He stooped and looked at me, the sparkle back in his eyes, I blushed.
“It helped me realize something,” He said, our gazes still locked. He walked towards me, and now we were nothing but a mere few inches apart. “That no one else could put up with me. Or I could never love another.” I smiled and turned my head. He caught my lips with his. I gasped and kissed him back. He broke the kiss and I sighed. “I’ll take that as a yes.” I laughed, and nodded seeing as though I wasn’t fit to talk and I lost all coherent thought. He smiled before kissing me again.
***************************************************************
Three Hours Later
I sat at home with Hermione in my flat. We had finished eating dinner and now we were eating ice cream. She laughed as I finished telling her about my day. “I hate to say it, but I told you so.” Said Hermione, she continued laughing.
“I know, I know.” I said, I smiled and stirred the ice cream in front of me. I was deep in thought when an idea sparked. “Hermione?”
“What?” she asked.
“You know how in all those Muggle movies, well a lot of them. How the main characters, fall in love with their co-workers?” I said, she stopped eating and coughed.
“What are you implying?” she asked, her tone had become snappier.
“That, you and Harry are going to fall in love.” I said quietly, expecting her to slap me.
“Ha, like that could ever happen.” She laughed, she got and put her bowl and spoon away. “We’re just friends.”
“Just keep telling yourself that.” I said, she didn’t look at me as she went down the hall to her bedroom. I continued stirring my ice cream before putting it in the sink. I headed to my bedroom as well.
After I changed, I got out a slip of paper from my pocket and slipped it in a photo album and wrote in purple ink on a different sheet of parchment ‘The Article that saved My Career and Started My Life’. I smiled at my work before retiring to bed.
The End