"Redheads are absolutely stunning." Malfoy's words kept running through her brain. It made working with Malfoy a tad bit easier the rest of the day. As she punched out at the end of her shift she smiled inwardly, Malfoy was turning out not to be the person she expected.
Before she exited she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Your roommate just popped in the staff fireplace. Says its urgent." Estella had a goofy grin as if she was in on what this urgency might entail. Ginny raised suspicious eyebrows at Estella who only wished her a good time. "Tell me all the details on Monday!"
Ginny walked over to the staff room fireplace wondering what trouble her friend Regine was in now. Her roommate Regine was engaged to a healer Ginny herself had introduced. As the wedding loomed closer, so did Regine's worrying.
Last time they talked, Regine had fretted about an extra 10 pounds she had gained, wondering if she would ever fit into her dress. Ginny had taken her on nightly runs to keep her in shape. It was her duty as the maid of honor to do that sort of thing. A previous time she had worried over whether she had chosen the wrong color theme. Before that, Regine was in hysterics about what to paint the color of her nails for the wedding.
It was already giving Ginny a massive headache, although she would never let the bride know. Ginny vowed to herself that she would never get married if this much trouble went into the planning. Regine saw her as an expert in all sorts of marriage issues. That couldn't be further from the truth. Hadn't she called off her own marriage to the boy who lived? Of course, that had nothing at all to do with the wedding preparations. If anything, planning her wedding made her realize she wasn't ready to make the final step that would forever tie her to another person.
"I…um…." Regine bit her lip. For the first time Ginny observed her friend tongue tied.
"Spit it out Regine, I'm supposed to play a Quidditch game this afternoon, I'll be late." Ginny couldn't wait to be in the air again. It was Cook County Wizard's Preventive Care Clinic versus Lake Michigan Rehabilitation Center for Magical Beast Injuries. They were going to crush them once again and send them flying off their brooms to have a little rehabilitation of their own. Ginny was nodding her head not realizing she wasn't listening to a word Regine was saying.
"So you'll do it?" came the bobbing head from the fireplace.
Ginny was taken out of her daydreams of hurtling the snitch straight through the quaffle. She wondered how many people knew she had been drafted out of Hogwarts to play professional Quidditch. War changed a lot of things, including her perspective on what was important. Regine probably wanted her to deal with wedding related issues. At this particular moment, that was what was of importance. As her maid of honor Ginny sighed before saying, "Yes, but can you remind me again what I have to do?"
The horror didn't fully dawn on her until she realized what she had said yes to. First Estella with her interfering ways, now her own roommate. The words barely registered in her mind. "Philip has 2 tickets to the Weird Sister's Reunion Concert in Grant Park. He's on call tonight and I have this terrible cold. Phillip thought it would be such a waste not to use the tickets. Phillip has a friend who just moved here and he doesn't know anyone….. ……."
She was once again being set up on a blind date. This time bride to be or no bride to be, Ginny was going to set her foot down on Regine's overbearing ways. " No Regine! Absolutely not."
"You must be pretty upset at me right now?"
Damn right I'm upset. "I have a Quidditch game tonight and….." Ginny was pulling teeth with her next excuse, "I thought I might pull a double shift."
Regine cut her off, "I don't buy it Gin. C'mon please! Philip doesn't want his friend to be lonely, besides I am simply returning the favor."
Ok. So Regine had a point. Just a year ago today she had found Regine heartbroken in their apartment, having just been dumped by her boyfriend Eric. Ginny had always thought him a jerk, telling her what she could and could not wear among an assortment of other things. He had called her ugly and a waste of his time. Which in Ginny's mind couldn't be further from the truth.
Regine came from a long line of ancient Filipina witches.Ginny wondered why she didn't hex him on the spot, for spouting such hateful and untrue words. With her long black hair, brown skin and almond eyes Ginny felt rather plain by comparison. Finding another man shouldn't have been a problem for her at all. Unfortunately the abusive relationship had taken its toll on Regine. It had been up to Ginny to once again play mother hen. She had decided to introduce one of the healers that she had met playing in the hospital Quidditch League. Ginny had to give herself a pat on the back for the relationship working out so well. Although she gathered, they deserved some credit too. Being able to read people was her specialty. The gift came naturally to her. Ginny just wished it worked with everyone, especially a certain blond.
"Fine, but just this once. No more of your dating schemes. I am quite capable of finding my own man thank you very much. I'll floo over there in a minute."
With that Regine's head disapperead. Ginny grabbed some floo powder and was about to cast it into the hearth when she heard the very distinct voice of Malfoy behind her. It lacked the sweetness it had held earlier and sounded very much like the Malfoy of old. Maybe he hadn't changed at all. Probably wanted a few insults in before she left work. Sad really, he's never grown up. Ginny turned around to face him not expecting to be met with an angry gaze.
"Dropped this Weasley." He threw a piece of paper at Ginny that bounced off her chest and landed at her feet.
Before Ginny could protest, Malfoy held a finger in front of her lips. His fingers were quite feminine but oddly attractive on Malfoy. Ginny had to shake her head to clear the thoughts of Malfoy's fingers touching her.
"Any questions you have I suggest you ask me. Didn't know you'd stoop to sneaking around trying to get rid of me. Really Weasley I thought you had brains hidden underneath that carrot top of yours."
Her face burned thinking of the naughty thoughts that had filled her mind earlier. Why was she even letting him in her fantasies when all he wanted to do was berate her? All that talk about stunning redheads was just that - talk. "How dare you…you albino!" Ginny gave him a rough shove wanting him to move out of her way but he wouldn't budge. Malfoy was now blocking her way to the fireplace.
"Out of my way Malfoy!" That didn't work. She'd try the nice approach, "OUT OF MY WAY….……..Healer Malfoy?" It was useless. Draco had locked her in with his gaze. Ginny couldn't move even if she wanted to. A strange sense of déjà vu struck her. She was back in 4th year and Draco had pinned her to the wall. Only in that instance she had caught him unawares and hexed him. It was too bad that hexes were forbidden on hospital property because she really needed to be rid of Malfoy. Ginny slowly bent down to retrieve the paper that had almost given her a paper cut and realized to her horror what it was she had dropped. Snape's note with his mention of Malfoy's Azkaban imprisonment.
"If it was in my personnel file, don't you think the clinic already knows my history? Do you really think that if I was a threat to you, they would let me get within 100 miles of Britain's Minister of Magic's precious daughter?"
Why should she feel guilty? He knew that she was quite aware of his history as a death eater. Ginny was just protecting herself and the people she cared about, wasn't she? Merlin only knew what Malfoy had done before she had ripped off that mask of his many years ago. Standing, she straightened her shoulders and cleared her throat, "I -I had to know if I could trust you."
His voice was quiet, yet held an undertone of cold contempt, "Are you afraid of me Nurse Weasley?"
Afraid? Ginny definatley felt something. Was it fear that made her stomach give a funny lurch as he stood not even a centimeter away from her? Yes, perhaps Malfoy was correct.
"I take your silence as a yes." Draco nodded and headed for the door his voice suddenly becoming quiet, "I'll look into having you reassigned with another healer…someone you can trust."
Ginny's eyes followed Draco as he left the door swinging behind him. Staring at the crumpled letter she placed it back into her pocket. She would read it another day when she didn't feel so awful. Ginny shook her head. Why should she feel bad for making Draco Malfoy angry? Malfoy was the one who sported the dark mark, not her.
Tonight she wouldn't let Malfoy invade her thoughts any longer. She would have fun on her blind date. Phillip and Regine would only introduce her to the best. So she needn't worry about dating a frog. Not that she based potential dates on looks. But it would definitely help.
****
"What do you mean you haven't met him?" Ginny snapped as Regine helped her take the curlers out of her hair.
"You have lovely hair, do you know that Gin? Why Red hair is all the rage right now and…." Regine continued to unroll the curlers, carefully applying hair spray to the appropriate places and completely ignoring Ginny.
Ginny felt the infamous Weasley temper start to surface. Take a deep breath Ginny, take a deep breath…
They both jumped when the doorbell rang, "I'll get it." Regine did the finishing touches on Ginny's hair before remarking, "Beautiful, just beautiful!" She clapped her hands together admiring her handiwork before running out to get the door.
Ginny heard a multitude of voices. One of them had to be him. Her blind date. Ginny crossed her fingers hoping that Philip had sent her a prince. Tonight she had plans to be shallow. She wasn't looking for a husband even though that was probably Philip and Regine's intention. No doubt they had been heavily influenced by Ron and Hermione's constant badgering about how she should settle down. This date she would enjoy herself. Perhaps even get a good snog out of it, but he better be a looker.
Regine walked in with Philip in tow. Ginny was beginning to believe that she had been had. They had probably been planning this for months. "I thought you said he was working on call tonight!"
"Change of plans." Regine said sheepishly as she started to apply eyeshadow to her friends face. Growing up with brothers Ginny had never been used to the feminine art of makeup. She was more apt to wear mud from a pickup Quidditch game than she was to wear lipstick. Usually when Regine would try to get Ginny to wear makeup, her response was to shoo Regine away. For once, Ginny was grateful for the fuss her roommate was making over her appearance.
"He's gorgeous Gin. If I wasn't engaged to Philip….I'd jump him right now!" Regine received a playful nudge from Philip. "I'm joking honey." She said soothingly, but whispered into Gin's ear, "I'm not!"
Things were sounding promising. One night stands weren't her thing but she was open to having her other needs met. Maybe she would get that snog after all. "So how do I look?" Ginny said as she modeled her green fitted dress with a plunging neckline that showed off one of her best assets.
"If I may have my turn," Philip eyes sparkled as he stared at Ginny, "If I find out he didn't spend the night with you, I will have to finally admit that he's gay."
Ginny rolled her eyes, "You're joking."
"He's not!" Regine whispered in her ear.
"What's he like?" Ginny asked as she put in her dangling earrings. She prayed to the gods that he didn't have a butterbeer belly.
"Sort of reserved, but charming. Did I mention good looking? Because we girls know that's what counts!"
Ginny perked up and shared a laugh with Regine as Philip groaned, "Is that all you ladies think about?"
Taking a deep breath Ginny followed Philip and Regine into the living room.
"This is Ginny Weasley, a very dear friend of me and my fiancée."
As their eyes met, she felt a shock run through her. Her mouth dropped open and his expression mirrored the same. The roses he held almost falling from his hands. Philip and Regine hadn't let her down. Attractive? Most definitely - just like her roommate had said. But why oh why did he have to be Draco Malfoy!
TBC