Ginny's next day was just like always. She woke up, took a shower, dressed, ate the customary toast with butter and jam, and left for work. At work, she signed a few papers, performed a few matchmaking charms, met a few clients and drank a few cups of coffee. Just like always.
When it was nearing her lunch break, she called to Grace, "Grace, I'm going out for lunch, just leave any work on my desk, I'll get it when I come back." Grace nodded and she walked out the door, anticipating her lunch at one of the small shops lining Diagon Alley. Just like always.
_._._._._._
Draco left his flat around six in the morning for work. Since he had another meeting with that blasted matchmaking service around noon, he had to start work earlier.
"Morning Mr. Malfoy!"
"Good Morning, sir."
"Your cup of coffee, Mr. Malfoy." These were all customary salutations to the president of the company and he nodded at each person who greeted him. Then...
"Hey! How's it going, mate!" Draco looked up from the contract he was reading as he stepped into his office.
Blaise Zabini was lounging on the very comfortable sofa in the office. Almost too tall for it, his legs hung over one end. Blaise always joked that the sole purpose of the sofa was for Draco's conquests. Draco always laughed, but he never denied it. He knew it was just for him to take naps on.
"It's been alright." Draco made a face.
"The matchmaking, huh." Blaise's tone was resolute. Draco's expressions obviously wanted him to stop talking about it, but Blaise persisted. "Have you met anyone yet?"
Draco shook his head. "No, and today I think they're just going to explain things to me. How it works, and stuff."
Blaise smiled. Even though it had been almost five years since they had left Hogwarts, he was Draco's best friend. Draco had lost touch with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, mostly because they became Death Eaters and were now in Azkaban.
Blaise stood up and strolled towards the still-open door. "I better be going." Draco just nodded and he left.
Draco was in the middle of supervising some broom crashing tests when he noticed the time. "Oh shit! I'm going to be late." In actuality, he really didn't think whoever he was meeting at Soul Mates would mind that he was five minutes late or so, but he was a businessman now and his etiquette lessons as a young boy demanded punctuality at all times, in all situations. He apparated to Diagon Alley, in front of the brick wall.
At this point in time, Ginny was outside the door and contemplating where she should go. Should she go to the Leaky Cauldron, or should she just meander along the streets of Diagon Alley and see where it took her? She decided to go to the Leaky Cauldron. There was no time to get carried away with window shopping. There was too much work to do today.
Draco was walking briskly toward Soul Mates, looking at the shop signs, rather than where he was going, since he was still unfamiliar with the place. It was one of the newer buildings, after all. He was nearly in front of it when he collided with something. Or rather, it was a someone.
Ginny had turned to the right and suddenly she hit someone. She felt herself falling backwards and instinctively closed her eyes as if she could stop her fall. When she didn't feel the impact of the brick walkway, she opened her eyes again. And saw silver.
Draco immediately closed his arms around the figure when he realized it was a person and not a trash can or a mailbox, preventing his or her fall. As his arms went around the person's waist, he realized it was a girl. Her eyes were shut and her face screwed up, as if she thought she was going to be hit with an Unforgivable Curse. She did almost fall, he reminded himself.
But her face was slightly familiar. And that hair... Draco's eyes opened wide when he realized who it must be.
Ginny was still in shock. Here she was, in Draco Malfoy's arms in front of her matchmaking building. It was like something out of a very ironic and cheesy romance story. But suddenly everything in her body came alive and a voice whispered in her head, THIS one . She shook her head and struggled out of the tightly clasped arms, which was difficult.
Draco was still staring as the littlest Weasley ran off in the direction he came from.
Ginny on the other hand, was trying to reassure herself. She had never felt like that, not with Harry, hell, not even with him... It was like those eyes were reading her soul, however shocked or angry he probably had been. They were piercing. And that voice...
She shook her head in defiance. It was just natural selection and biology. All women with a working ovary probably saw Malfoy and thought this one. And with just cause too. Time had done him good. He was no longer scrawny with that ridiculous hair plastered to his head. It looked softer, more fine now. And that body... He was not bulky, but slender and toned.
Ginny nearly yelled in disgust when she realized she was admiring him again. And this time, it was his body. She was light headed from lack of food, she decided. She wasn't attracted to Malfoy, ferret face. But she couldn't help thinking, His face isn't like a ferret's at all, and growled to herself again for thinking those thoughts.
Draco recovered and went into Soul Mates, now contemplating what the Weaslette was doing outside Soul Mates. Did she need someone too? Nastily, he thought, Probably couldn't get Potter, and smirked. But that body, he had felt it, even though it was only for those few seconds before she ran off. Who would give that up?
But his mental rampage was interrupted by one of the witches who probably worked there. At least, he hoped so.
"Hello, sir. Are you here to sign up, or are you here for the introductory meeting today?" She said with a pleasant but bland smile.
"The introductory thing."
"Of course. Did you read the packet we gave you the last time?" She continued as they walked down a long hallway.
"No." He had fallen asleep when he last tried to read the thing.
"Oh." The witch seemed offended. She stayed silent till they reached a room. "Here you go."
Draco walked in, and was met by a wizard with even larger packets in his arms. When Draco told the man his name, he was handed one of the packets and was told to sit down at any one of the tables. He moved to the back of the room and looked around.
There were a few other people in the room. Some of the men tried to look cool, as if they didn't need a matchmaking service. The women were flipping their hair around and applying makeup so excessively Draco wasn't surprised if their real faces were completely different from their current visages.
One of the women walked up to him and tapped his shoulder. "Are you Draco Malfoy?" She asked excitedly. Draco nodded hesitatingly and the girl squealed and ran over to her friends. They whispered fiercely and giggled in his direction. The next thing he knew all the women were crowded around him and the men were glaring daggers at him.
"Why are you here?" This girl was a disappointment to all blond haired people. Why else would he be here?
"Oh, can I have your autograph? I have some lipstick; sign my –" What the hell?
"Will you ask me out?"
"Pick me!"
"No, he was looking at me first, Sally!" This was embarrassing.
"Ladies, if you could sit down, we can begin." This was the wizard with the packets, though now he was packet free.
Draco put on a charming smile and winked at the girls. It didn't hurt to put on the Malfoy charm once in a while.
The man stood in front of the room. "You are all here at Soul Mates, hoping to find that one special person." That sounded like a line out of a romance novel, Draco thought. I hope the whole thing isn't going to be like this.
"You all have packets, and if you would open them right now – " Draco reached for his packet, which, compared with all he others, seemed excessively large. It was easily a couple of hundred pages thick.
"These are the profiles of the men or women you will be meeting in the next week or two. They are, obviously, your close matches." Close matches? He had the all the witches in the wizarding population in this folder!
"This means that they will have the same things they look for in their partner, what they like to do, so on and so on. It would be prudent to read through them before you actually meet the person." Draco was dumb with astonishment. He didn't have time to read all these! "We will now discuss how this company came to be and how couples are matched together."
"This company began just a few years ago with one very special young lady had a relationship that was nearly perfect. She wanted to share this sort of new found glory in such a relationship with others who may have had trouble looking for a partner."
Draco began to nod off. "She had gotten this idea of matching people up from muggles. Muggles also have this sort of system in their world. The idea was to match people with similar interests and ideas together. We all know that there are fairy tales, but they don't exist in real life." Fairy tales? Draco was intrigued. He remembered his mother reading him such fairy tales as a child.
"Our hope is that we can create such a fairy tale in the real world. One with the 'happily ever after' ending. This young lady studied relationships in both the wizarding and non-wizarding world. She took classes at a university in the muggle world on how relationships and love come to be."
Draco was astounded. How could one pin down the word love? Impossible. He listened to the man again. "She created a matchmaking charm to match people together. When you filled out those forms a few days ago, she performed the charm on the papers to see the best possibilities for partners. We then create those packets you are holding today. In a few minutes, she will come down here to welcome you all to Soul Mates, and speak more about the process."
Suddenly an owl swooped in the room and landed on Draco's shoulder. He recognized it as one of his company's owls. He took the letter and read it:
Sorry to bother you Mr. Malfoy, but we are having a major problem with the cushioning charm on the Silver Arrows. The broomsticks keep transforming into flamingos whenever our tester sits on them. We anticipate you as soon as possible. He stood.
"I'm sorry. My company has a small problem. I'll just be leaving." He walked out, ignoring the offended and astonished faces.
At the entrance, he saw a red haired figure speaking to a blonde haired girl with a big brunette holding the blonde's hand. As he walked past he could hear their conversation.
Ginny was asking, "So how is it?"
The blonde said in a dreamy voice, "Oh, it's wonderful! Jack and I are going Crumple Horned Snorkack watching in Scandinavia next week, for the Quibbler."
"I'm glad for you." Ginny smiled and though it wasn't directed at him, he felt his stomach turn over and all he could see was that brilliant smile. But, as he decided, nearly jogging to the front door, she was here for a guy, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be him.