Here's chapter 2 everyone
I know that this one is kind of short, but I have had so much work to do
please read and review, I really appreciate your comments! :)
I am still without a Beta, so please bear with me!
What an Outfit!
Ginny woke up late on friday, relishing the fact that she could have a lie in as she didn't have to go to work. She was usually up at 7.30 and leaving for her office at The Quibbler, Luna's father's magazine, by 8.30. Being able to wake up at 9 was a complete luxury. It was as she was lying there, thinking, that she remembered the ball the following evening. The biggest society event of the year, where there would be hundreds of witches, all elegantly dressed in the latest fashions, on the arms of the most famous and influential wizards in the world. She could just see it now, hundreds of beautiful women twirling around the dance floor in the most elegant gowns on the arms of dashing men. She could almost hear the musicians strike up a Schubert waltz.
Suddenly terribly panicked she cried "Oh god, I haven't got a dress yet!!" With that errant thought she leaped out of bed, all thoughts of a nice lie in vanished, and raced to the phone to call the best shopper she knew.
20 minutes later she bounded to the front door, half dressed and with very wet hair. She had heard the distinctive 'pop' signifying that her friend had apparated onto her doorstep and she threw open the front door and launched herself at the surprised person standing there. "Hey Gin," smiled Luna Lovegood through Ginny's hair.
Over the last few years Luna had changed quite a bit. She was still eclectic in certain ways, her radish earrings were still popular, but she was now quite content to leave her ideas like the crumple-horned snorcack to other people and had single-handedly turned The Quibbler from a load of nonsense to a revered publication in the wizarding world. This was something that her boyfriend Ron was unbelievably happy about, he'd stated that he couldn't have coped with humouring her strange ideas any longer.
Luna was now the best dressed and most clued-up person that Ginny knew and she could always spot a bargain, plus she was oodles of fun to be around. "You ready to go Gin?" Luna enquired, smiling inwardly at Ginny's haphazard appearance. Ginny ran into her bedroom, threw on jeans, a green t-shirt and a white sweater. Then she raced into the kitchen, grabbed her handbag and keys and ran through the front door, slamming it shut behind her. This whole process took her less than 5 minutes, to her great surprise. Luna chuckled, "I'll take that as a yes then," as Ginny impatiently grabbed her arm and Luna felt the familiar squeezing sensation as together they apparated to muggle London.
Ginny was terribly fond of muggle London. She loved shopping there, but unfortunately she didn't get to go very often, so this was a real treat. She and Luna spent the best part of three hours rifling through racks in almost all of the shops on Oxford street with no luck whatsoever. By now Ginny was getting tired and depressed and Luna was having a hard time keeping her upbeat and hopeful.
"We're never going to find one Luna, I vote we just give up. It's a sign, I was never meant to go to that ball." sighed a dejected looking Ginny. Luna stood and stared at her with an incredulous look on her face.
"Ginevra Weasley," Ginny winced at the use of her full name coming from her usually even tempered friend's mouth. "We are going to find you the perfect dress if it kills us!" and with that statement Luna dragged Ginny off the main street and they started searching the side streets and shops. After another two hours of fruitless searching, they were both about ready to give up before Luna suddenly noticed a cute little vintage boutique, Mabel's. "Here," she cried. "I just know this is the place," and Ginny found herself being dragged into the small, brightly decorated store. Luna was already heading for the lengthy rack labelled "Formal Wear", and Ginny found herself getting slightly more excited on seeing the beautifully decorated dresses on display.
As she searched, she envisaged the perfect dress. Green, full length, with green jewels sewn around the corseted bodice and along the length of the full skirt. She could see herself in her mind walking into the ballroom dressed in the mst beautiful gown, on the arm of the most handsome man in the place. She shook herself quickly, pulling her mind out of her daydream. There was no way that she would ever find a dress like that, plus there was the fact that she was completely and utterly single. Although this was not for lack of trying. She remembered how she'd dated various wizards in the last year, but they just hadn't worked out. Her last date, Dean Thomas, had been a disaster from start to finish. She had been terribly glad to get home that night.
"I am so sorry Ginny," Dean uttered, again. "I never believed she'd act like that. I'm really sorry." Ginny just smiled at him and told that it was perfectly alright and that he shouldn't feel so bad about it. She walked in her front door and collapsed on her sofa. Dean's ex-girlfriend had unfortunately turned out to be working as a waitress in the restaurant Dean had taken her to. When she'd seen Dean with Ginny, the woman had gone nuts and Ginny had ended up with a plate of Pasta Carbonara thrown at her head and a large rent in her new dress where the woman had attacked her. Dean had finally managed to subdue the crazy witch and had immediately apparated Ginny home, apologizing profusely all the way.
"It wasn't one of my better nights out," Ginny thought. "Not just the mad ex, but he was half an hour late picking me up. Definitely a dud of a date."
As she finished the rack she was searching she turned towards Luna, and her jaw dropped. Behind Luna, perched on the end of a rail, was her perfect green dress, in her size. Luna smirked, "I knew that this place was the right place," she said as Ginny ran her hands all over the dress, trying and failing to contain her excitement.
10 minutes later they exited the shop with a large bag containing the dress and all the accessories, including a beautiful cream mask. Ginny wore a smile that stretched from ear to ear, and she beamed at everyone she saw, which unnerved some of the muggles they met along the way. Luna watched her out of the corner of her eye and smiled to herself, Ginny was like a child at Christmas clutching happily at her newest toy.
When she got back to her flat, Ginny immediately hung up the dress and plonked herself down on the sofa with a hot chocolate, totally unable to believe her luck. She had the perfect dress, the perfect shoes, the perfect bag and the perfect jewellery. All she was missing now was the perfect boyfriend.
Draco sat in his father's high backed wooden chair in his study. For the last two days he'd not been able to concentrate on his work. He had obtained a high powered job in Malfoy International, his father's company, right out of school. This was to no one's surprise, although he never mentioned that he'd gained the job under his own merit and had in fact not been the first choice for the job. He had only been given the position when the man that Lucius had chosen had told Mr. Malfoy that he couldn't possibly take the job unless the pay was higher. Naturally Lucius had said no and had given the job to the next best candidate, who just happened to be Draco.
Draco was now in charge of researching any new products that MI might be interested in backing and advertising. His eyes swept over the extremely large, ever growing pile of applications that he had to review and for the millionth time he cursed Blaise Zabini under his breath. In his mind his restlessness was all Zabini's fault for making him send that invitation. He had been panicking for days that she wouldn't show up tomorrow evening.
Yet again he thought about what a nightmare it would be if she wasn't there. Draco Malfoy was a young, wealthy, handsome man. Unfortunately these were qualities that were favoured by almost every society witch and so he often found himself being propositioned countless times during events like the Ministry Masque. He knew that most young witches at those events wanted to marry him, and were plotting to do so, but he also knew that many were only interested in his money and connections. The same could be said for all of their parents, desperate to make a good match for their daughters. He wanted someone to love him for him, not his wealth and status. Here his mind paused, the only girl he really liked, hated him. He stood no chance as he doubted she would ever love him for him either and he couldn't blame her. He might as well marry a society bint and live with it.
For the third time in as many minutes Draco cursed Zabini for making him send that invitation. He sighed deeply, realising that he was never going to get any work done until after the Masque at the earliest and he unlocked his desk drawer and placed the applications in there. He'd come up with some excuse to give his father as to why he hadn't dealt with them yet.
With that he wandered out of the study, still brooding on his predicament and headed in the direction of the kitchen. Some delicious smell was wafting through the house and he was instantly reminded of how hungry he was. Dinner was well overdue.
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