An: Thanks for the reviews and thanks to my beta, heaven85.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry potter.
Chapter 10 - Shopping Extravaganza
Draco entered the mall with Delinda in tow and immediately surveyed the area. It was a habit he developed during the war and it had helped him survive numerous attempts on his life. He saw a map on a board and realised that it must be the floor plan for the mall. He studied the layout and found the specific store he was looking for. Draco then headed through the mall to what looked like a very pricey jewellery store. Delinda perked up even more at the sight of a jewellery store and wondered what Draco would be buying for her. Once inside the store, Draco took a quick look around and headed to the back of the store. Delinda followed him and looked at the showcase filled with diamond rings.
"Engagement rings?" Delinda asked confused
"Yes I am going to ask Ginny to marry me but I need a women's opinion on the type of ring I should get. If it were left up to me I might end up getting the most expensive ring I can find and she may not like that. Ginny grew up in a poor family, so unlike me, she doesn't hold money as the most important thing in life." Draco stated plainly while he studied the rings in the showcase.
"So you let me flirt with you like that even though you knew you were going to ask this girl to marry you?" Delinda asked a little bit outraged.
"As I said before, I needed help picking out a ring and you didn't seem to have any problem hanging out with me." Draco replied with a superior tone as he examined the rings in the showcase.
"What about the other two?" Delinda asked as Draco carefully studied the rings in the showcase.
"Other two?" Draco queried lifting his gaze from the rings to look at her.
"Yeah, Lola and Harriet," Delinda replied.
"Lola and Harriet? Do you mean Luna and Hermione?" Draco asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah those two. Why didn't you ask them to help you" Delinda asked as she crossed her hands in front of her chest.
"Because Ginny would notice that they were gone and then humbug them to know what they were doing. Luna would find some twisted way of telling her and Hermione would tell Harry, who would accidentally tell Ron, who would go berserk and try to kill me." Draco responded as he looked back at the rings. "Now which ring would be good for Ginny? That big sparkly one there," Draco said as he pointed at a ring in the back with a massive diamond in it.
Delinda scrunched up her features in disgust. "That's ugly. It's too big and gaudy. Besides I don't think a ring like that would suit your girl."
"You see I knew there was a reason I chose you!" Draco said as he looked at more options.
A store attendant soon made their way over to them and Draco now had closer access to the rings.
-*-
Sam pulled Harry and Ron straight to Victoria secret. Ron not being familiar with Victoria Secret was quite surprised and a bit embarrassed by the various pieces of women's clothing on display.
"They have a lot of lacy things here but personally I am a leather girl!" Sam said as she moved to the thong section.
Ron had no clue what she was talking about and Harry briefly whispered an explanation in his ear. Ron's face turned the colour of his hair. What made matters worse was that Sam turned around holding two thongs in her hand and asked them which one they thought would look good on her. Ron nearly fainted and Harry had to keep a firm grip on him.
"Uh Sam don't you think you should be asking someone else that question?" Harry asked uncomfortably. He was thinking along the lines of her asking one of the female workers in the store for their opinion.
"Oh that's right. I forgot you were different." Sam said innocently. "I guess you could probably picture Danny in one of these!" Sam said cheerfully as she turned to Ron with the two thongs held up.
Harry had a very disgusting mental picture and immediately decided to replace it with something more appealing. A picture of Hermione in the lacy pink thong that Sam had offered as one of her options, flashed into his brain and Harry found he was quite pleased with the picture. He then pictured her in the black thong and quickly decided that the black thong definitely looked better on Hermione. He wondered if Hermione was a lace or leather girl and immediately decided she was definitely lace.
"Harry bit of advice, stop thinking about Danny in a thong. The girls in this store will think you're some type of pervert." Sam said with a pointed glance at Harry's pants.
Ron was horror struck and gave Harry a disgusted glance.
"I'm not thinking about Danny." Harry said tensely as he quickly cast all thoughts of his best friend out of his head.
"You better not be mate." Ron replied as he placed a bit more distance between them..
"I need an answer!" Sam exclaimed mischievously as she moved closer to Ron.
"The pink one!" Ron blurted out hastily. Ron had been wondering which colour would have been best for Luna. He thought the pink would have looked rather quite on her and Sam's advances caused him to say the first thing on his mind.
"Oh," Sam said as she eyed Ron. She returned the black thong to the shelf and continued to walk through the store.
Ron moved forward and picked up the black thong. Harry arched an eyebrow at him. If it were humanly possible, Ron would have blushed even more. Harry made a mental note of the location of this store. He might want to come back later to pick out some stuff for someone, though he briefly wondered if buying your best friend sexy underwear was allowed in a strictly friends relationship. While Sam was distracted in the bra section Ron quickly paid for his purchase and took it away in his pants. Once Sam was finished, Harry and Ron eagerly encourage Sam out of the store only to bump into Delinda and Draco, literally.
"Hey watch it!" Draco yelled at the person he bumped into. He quickly cast his hand into his pocket to make sure that a certain little box was still there.
"Jeez Draco, no need to be a prat." Harry replied as he helped Sam off the floor.
"Oh it's just you." Draco said as he bent down to pick up the Victoria Secret bag that Sam had dropped. She looked like she was ready to have a go at him until she noticed Delinda's presence.
"You couldn't wait for me?" Sam asked glaring at Delinda.
"Since someone couldn't be on time, we decided to come in and take a look around. We don't have all day you know. The concert starts at 8. It's already almost five and we still have to pick out our clothes!" Delinda said in a prissy tone.
"Uhm, cat fight!" Draco said as he leered at the two women.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy!" A voice bellowed from a few shops down.
Draco physically stiffened and a slight fear could be seen in his eyes. Ginny never used his full name as everyone despised his middle name. Sam and Delinda turned to look down the corridor and were greeted with the sight of an angry red head making her way towards Draco.
"Gin, sweetheart, there you are. I've been looking all over for you!" Draco said in his most charming tone.
"If you were looking for me you would have waited for me." Ginny replied as she stopped right in front of him. She crossed her hands in front of her chest and tapped her right foot madly.
"Ginny, I thought you were inside. You know how excited you get when we come shopping." Draco explained sweetly.
"Like hell and what are you doing in front of this store with them?" Ginny asked as she cast a look towards Delinda and Sam.
"Sweety, I just found them here." Draco answered exasperatedly. He was beginning to lose his patients with Ginny.
"Then what are you doing with that bag in your hand." Ginny said pointing to the Victoria secret bag Draco was holding.
"It's Sam's, she.." Draco tried to explain
"And what Draco, you were just holding it for her!" Ginny said sarcastically. "Enough lies Draco. I'm fed up of all the witches chasing after you. Our relationship is going nowhere. I'm fed up of waiting for you. We have been seriously dating for three bloody years Draco! It's over." Ginny shouted angrily as water started to gather in her eyes.
"You always called me a fool for crushing after Harry for all those years. You said I should have moved on and forgot about him. Well I'm taking your advice Draco. It's time for me to move on." Ginny continued with her face flush and angry tears flowing freely from her eyes.
"Good bye Malfoy." Ginny said harshly as she turned around and ran down the corridor.
Draco stood there dumbfounded and he absently reached his hand into his pocket and stroked the velvety box there. Before he could do anything, Ron grabbed him by his collar and flung him up against the wall.
"What did you do to my sister?" Ron said menacingly.
"Nothing Weasley. You saw what happened yourself. She assumed I bought this." Draco said holding up the bag.
"I don't even know what so big about this bag anyway." Draco said as he reached into the bag and pulled out the black thong that Sam had bought. A silent oh escaped Draco's lips as he placed the item back in the bag and tossed it at Sam.
"Yes I saw that but what were you doing with her?" Ron asked indicating to Delinda.
"Shopping," Draco replied shortly.
"I was just helping him pick out something." Delinda said as she tried to separate the two. She was feeling guilty. She had just helped Draco pick out the most gorgeous ring and now his girlfriend dumped him. He was so happy when he bought the ring but now he looked absolutely dejected. Delinda couldn't pry Ron off of Draco and she glanced helplessly at Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes, a habit he picked up from Hermione. "Ron get off of him."
Ron didn't budge.
"Ron!" Harry warned.
"Alright fine." Ron said as he backed away from Draco.
"What were you shopping for?" Sam asked letting curiosity get the better of her.
Draco thought about answering the question honestly, but it really didn't matter anymore if he told them the truth. Ginny just broke up with him.
"I was looking for a ring." Draco said as he pulled the box from his pocket and shoved it in Ron's hands. "Here maybe you might be able to use it for Loony." Draco said as he sadly walked off in the opposite direction to Ginny.
Ron stared at the box in his hands before Sam quickly took the box from him and opened it.
"Wow that's a beautiful ring!" Sam exclaimed
"I helped him pick it out." Delinda said beaming at Sam.
"What are you so happy about Delinda, you just caused his girlfriend to dump him?" Sam said unbelievingly.
"Me, if I remember correctly, he was holding your Victoria Secret bag." Delinda countered.
"Girls as much as I like cat fights, now isn't the time to fight about this. We need to fix this." Harry said taking the box from Sam and tucking it safely away. He needed Hermione. She was always good at fixing things.
"Anybody know where Hermione and Luna are?" Harry asked
He received shrugs from everyone and his Auror skills were kicking in.
"Ok, Ron and I will go after Draco, you girls find Hermione and Luna first, then find Ginny. We're probably going to have to modify the travel arrangements back to the Montecito." Harry explained.
Harry and Ron headed in the same direction that Draco walked off in and Delinda and Sam were still glaring at each other with the same "It's your fault!" expression.
-*-
Hermione was currently working on her matchmaking plan. So far everything was going smoothly. Mary had chosen to wear a short white skirt and Hermione made sure they hit a shoe store. Every time she tried on a new shoe Danny couldn't help but admire Mary's legs. Mary was very aware of the looks she was getting from Danny and she would blush slightly. Hermione was satisfied with the reaction and next suggested a clothing store.
They were now in Charlotte Ruse and Danny thought Hermione was torturing him. She kept picking out all these sexy tops for Mary that made Danny want to ravage her in the dressing room.
"What are you doing?" Danny asked Hermione in a hush tone as Mary went into the dressing room to try on another revealing top.
"What? You don't like seeing Mary dressed up?" Hermione asked in a nonchalant tone.
"Of course I do but this doesn't appear to be helping me." Danny replied in a heated whisper.
"Trust me it is. Your face looks absolutely adorable when you look at her and she hasn't noticed the look." Hermione said with a big smile.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Danny asked.
"Women like to be wanted. Your face says you want her. That's good." Hermione explained.
"I would think the engagement ring I gave her also said that I wanted her!" Danny replied sarcastically.
"Yeah well maybe she had doubts?" Hermione answered
"Doubts what doubts?" Danny asked incredulously.
"I don't know maybe she thought when you came back you were so traumatized that you wanted someone and she was just the easiest person for you to get. Maybe she wanted you for so long that when she finally got you she panicked. Maybe she thought she wasn't ready. It could be a variety of reasons Danny. Give me time to figure it out." Hermione said quietly just before Mary re-emerged from the dressing room.
"Uhm, Danny what do you think." Mary said as she noticed Danny and Hermione close together in the corner of the room. Jealousy instantly flared as images of what they were possibly doing together raced through her mind. Mary could feel her anger rising.
"It looks great Mare" Danny replied. Hermione had picked out a flaming red blouse that had a plunging neckline and most of her back exposed.
"Did I interrupt something?" Mary asked in a very clipped tone.
"No, I was just trying to convince Hermione that maybe she should spoil herself a little and actually buy some clothes for herself!" Danny replied casually trying to cover up his conversation with Hermione.
"I told you. None of these tops would look good on me. They are all for beautiful people like Mary." Hermione protested.
"Nonsense!" Mary replied. "Here" Mary said as she pulled out a beautiful black halter top. "Try this on." Mary then proceeded to shove the article of clothing in her hand and push Hermione into the dressing room. This got rid of Hermione and gave her some time alone with Danny.
"So do you really like the outfit?" Mary asked as she drifted closer to Danny.
"Yes you look great in it!" Danny said truthfully.
"So I should wear it tonight?" Mary asked coyly as she stopped right in front of Danny.
Danny nodded as he looked into her eyes. His face started drifting dangerously close to Mary's. He took a quick glance at her lips and briefly saw her tongue dart out to moisten them. The sight caused a similar reaction in his. He glanced back at Mary's eyes and found them closed. His eyes again looked at her lips and they were slightly parted in anticipation of his. Danny inched forward tilting his head slightly until he could feel Mary's breath on his lips. As he was about to close the small distance to her lips he was disturbed by a distressed voice.
"There you are. I have been looking all over for you, where is Hermione and Luna?" Ginny asked as she stormed to the back of the store. Ginny had been running through the mall briefly scanning the stores looking for Hermione or Luna. She had spotted Danny and Mary together at the back of the store and had hoped that Hermione or Luna was with them.
Danny looked up in disbelief. He had been this close to kissing Mary again, something that only happened in his late night dreams, but as he looked over the red head he realised something was wrong. Her face was red and her eyes were really puffy.
Mary wanted to kill Ginny. She had interrupted her, just as Danny was about to kiss her. Oh how she longed to feel Danny's lips against hers. Mary thought she probably did it so Hermione would still have a shot with Danny but as she took in the dishevelled appearance of the red head, she decided against that thought.
"What happened?" Mary asked kindly.
"I need to find Hermione or Luna!" Ginny stated again.
Hermione came flying out of the changing room towards Ginny. She had been peeking through the crack in the door to observe the scene between Mary and Danny. She had realised that Mary wanted her gone so she could get time alone with Danny. She was quite pleased to see that they were about to kiss and wanted to curse Ginny when she interrupted them.
"Ginny, oh my god what happened?" Hermione said as she embraced her friend.
"Draco and I broke up!" Ginny said as fresh tears broke from her eyes.
Danny and Mary looked at each other. They were both clearly thinking the same thing, Delinda!
Mary couldn't help herself, she had to ask. "What happened?"
Hermione broke from her hug with Ginny and glared at Mary. Ginny didn't seem to mind the question though as she broke out into an explanation.
"I found him with her in front of Victoria Secret. He had her bag in his hand. He bought her Victoria Secret." Ginny said as more tears leaked out of her eyes.
"Her?" Hermione questioned as Hermione gave her another tight hug.
"Delinda?" Danny and Mary asked together. They were pretty sure it was Delinda she was talking about.
"No, the other one, the Casino hostess who's been sucking up to Draco since we got here." Ginny replied
"Sam?" Danny said in disbelief.
"Yeah Sam" Ginny replied venomously.
Danny, Mary and Hermione all exchanged puzzled looks, each in turn wondering how Draco could leave with Delinda and end up with Sam at Victoria Secret.
"That miserable git, I should hex his balls off!" Ginny declared
Hermione looked horrified at Ginny. Mention of the magical world in Las Vegas was strictly prohibited and they had enough trouble with Ron and Lt. Fairweather. Fortunately, Danny and Mary thought nothing of her phrasing.
"So have you found anything to wear yet for tonight?" Mary asked trying to turn the conversation away from break ups. The tactic worked. Ginny appeared to have a miraculous recovered.
"No, but Hermione you look gorgeous in that!" Ginny said as she looked Hermione up and down.
"The top goes with the pants. You so have to wear this tonight. You will definitely score big!" Ginny said as she glanced towards Danny. If he liked the outfit Harry would definitely go bonkers over it. She needed something to take her mind off of her break up with Draco. Hermione's non-existent love life was exactly the kind of project she needed.
Mary noticed Ginny's glance at Danny and immediately felt threatened. She would definitely have to make her presence felt at the concert.
After about half an hour Danny emerged from the store with an impossible number of bags. Even he had no clue how he was carrying so many. Mary glanced at her watch and commented that they should be getting back if they wanted to be ready on time. Danny was afraid to mention that he came with Draco. He didn't know what Ginny's reaction would be. Before he could raise the topic of finding the others, a page went through the mall for a Mr. Ronald Weasley to go to the security office.
"Oh great what did that idiot brother of mine do now!" Ginny exclaimed exasperatedly.
"I don't think he did anything Gin. They wouldn't be paging him if he did. Maybe Harry is looking for him so he paged him. Let's head to the security office." Hermione said as she proceeded to head off in the wrong direction only to be tugged back by Danny.
"The security office is this way" Danny said indicating in the opposite direction.
"Oh" Hermione said as she blushed slightly.
Naturally, Mary didn't appreciate Danny tugging Hermione anywhere and she conveniently placed herself between Hermione and Danny. She then picked up the pace with Danny and left Ginny and Hermione trailing behind.
-*-
The security office was a small office off to the side of the mall. The walls were painted a boring white, with dull grey chairs lining the waiting room. There was a desk with one guard seated at it idly reading the newspaper. Behind him was another door, which Danny guessed, led to the surveillance area. The guard behind the desk was being stubborn and refused to reveal if Mr. Weasley had turned up yet or who had paged him. Hermione then asked if she could page him.
"I'm sorry ma'am. Persons can only be paged for emergencies." The guard replied tonelessly as he looked back down at the paper in front of him.
Hermione glared at the guard. Mary pushed Danny forward to see if he could do anything. When he turned to look back at her she replied through clench teeth "Ask him, you're in security, bond with him or something."
Danny sat casually at the end of the desk. "So been busy lately?"
"Are you deaf sir? I told you, I couldn't reveal that information. Now if you don't have anything important here, I will be forced to remove you from the premises." The guard responded.
Whatever patience Danny had with the man wore out quickly. Danny grabbed the man by his collar and pulled him across the desk towards him. He held him at face level and looked straight into his eyes. "Listen here, Mr. Weasley is a good friend and I really need to get in contact with him. So either you let us know if he has been here yet or you page him again. If not I will make sure that your nice cozy desk job, ain't cozy no more!" Danny said as he let go and pushed him roughly back into his chair.
Danny turned around to the approving gazes of Mary, Hermione and Ginny. Both Mary and Hermione seemed to be proud of him but what he saw in Ginny's eyes scared him. She looked like she was ready to jump him right there in the office. In fact she started stepping slowly towards him.
"That was amazing!" Ginny said in a very husky voice as she edged closer to him.
Before Danny could panic he was saved.
"Ginny what's wrong?" came Ron's voice from the doorway as he came running in with Draco and Harry behind him.
"Gin, are you ok?" Draco asked in a very concerned tone. He wasn't sure if he could hold her so he kept his distance.
"I'm fine Malfoy." Ginny replied coldly to Draco.
Harry immediately headed for Hermione and gave her a once over. She appeared fine but who knows what trouble this Danny character could have gotten her into. He pulled her close to him and whispered into her ear, "everything ok?"
"Yes, but Ginny and Draco broke up." Hermione whispered sadly as she placed her hands around his waist and hugged him.
"I know." He replied as he felt her relax against him. He cast an eye at Danny and hugged Hermione just a little bit tighter. He loved how well she fit against him and he loved the smell of her shampoo. He slowly ran his hands in circles on her back
Ron gave a very confused look at Ginny. If nothing was wrong with her then why did they page him?
"Why was I paged?" Ron asked the man at the desk.
"I believe I can answer that question," said a short stout man who emerged from the door behind the guard. "I am Mr. Kendall, Head of mall security. I believe you know a Miss Luna Lovegood?" He said
Ron felt his heart drop into his stomach as the man asked him about Luna. "Yes, I know her."
"I'm afraid there has been an incident involving your friend and an unknown assailant." The security head said in a somber tone.
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