A Girl's Best Friend, Part III - Amethyst
"Amethyst. Fortifies memory. Inspires suave dreams. Turns poisons into antidotes. Encourages temperance. Foils the charms and pernicious operations of a jealous person."
Ludvig Von Biernen, Study of mineralogy.
Germany, XVIth century A.D.
A few days flew by and they exchanged Owls to discuss their next meeting. Draco found himself busier than expected and unable to see Ginny, although the various contretemps that emerged allowed them to continue their aviary correspondence. Beneath the careful politeness of their exchanges, an unsuspected form of complicity began to emerge. Personal comments and sarcastic remarks weaselled into their conversations like ivy into a crumbling wall, until Astoria, annoyed by the constant fluttering of Owls inside her house, had to be appeased by a shopping trip. Draco was happy to oblige, and Saturday morning found them in Lavender's Lovely Lingerie, one of the many new shops that had emerged in Diagon Alley following the end of the war.
As Astoria gleefully ambled through the store, Draco cast a cursory glance at the women there. It was fascinating to see how women of any age, shape or form, found themselves here, gravitating towards different styles. He saw one whose stance and movements distinctly reminded him of Granger, and wasn't surprised to see her picking more conservative items - items that, in fact, couldn't even be deemed lingerie in his opinion. A witch who couldn't have been more than twenty years of age greedily snatched the raciest garments, bits of lace so tiny and colourful that he would have otherwise categorized them as confetti. Ironically, the wife of one of Draco's co-workers chose fairly similar undergarments, much to Draco's dismay as he imagined her flaccid skin showing through the supposedly sexy scraps of satin.
It took him a few minutes to realise he had lost Astoria. He asked the salesperson if she had seen a woman with long brown hair and fair eyes, doubting that such a description would ring a bell.
"Miss. Greengrass? Yes, sir, she's in the changing room trying on a few things. Would you care to follow me?"
The changing rooms, located at the back of the shop, were fairly standard booths with thick, velvet curtains. In front of each were a small, antique-looking divan and a low table, where customers could drop off their belongings as they tried on the lingerie. Draco found Astoria's booth easily, as the divan in front of it was covered with the bags and boxes of that day's shopping. Draco leaned against the booth and lifted the curtain a bit.
"How is it going in there?" he asked.
Astoria turned and gave him an impish smile.
"I don't know, you tell me…"
The pale-green ensemble Astoria wore was tastefully ornamented with crème lace and minuscule river pearls. It was absolutely ravishing, but for some reason the paleness of Astoria's skin was increased by contrast and appeared somewhat sickly.
"I like it," Draco said smoothly, "but I think the grey one over there," he nodded to where a pile of undergarments awaited her, "might be particularly interesting."
He added the last word with such intensity that Astoria's eyes gleamed and she snapped the curtain shut to try on the gray bra and panties. He leaned against the wall and was waiting for her to call him when he noticed, on the table right next to Astoria's booth, a small purse and a book. It took him a few seconds to realise that the book in question was the Malfoy Code of Conduct, and an additional few to note that the booth to his right was occupied by the temporary care-taker of that book.
Draco stared blankly at the bouquet of white lilies and gladioluses leaning against the divan in front of Ginny's booth. He looked at the flowers, and then at the curtain on his right; it was slightly ajar. He focused his attention on the flowers again. Then his eyes slid toward the opening of the booth. Draco shut his eyes, pressed the bridge of his nose with two fingers, and debated with himself. A few seconds later, he leaned in to peak into the booth.
Ginny Weasley stood there, as Astoria had minutes before, looking at herself in a full-length mirror. Expressionless, she twisted an arm to unhook her bra and dropped it on the floor. Draco watched intently as her gesture liberated two generous breasts, full but no longer as perky as they had been in her youth. He who had always admired opulent cleavages and found in Astoria's pointy breasts a daily source of attraction for the first time understood the beauty of a mature woman's body. There was something inherently fascinating about the fullness of her shape, the lightly padded belly and the roundness of her hip, about the resigned sadness with which she cupped her right breast with her hand and weighed it. Draco released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding.
Ginny gazed at her body with heavy-hearted resignation. There had been a time when, admiring her shape in the mirror after Quidditch practice, she had dreamed of sparking desire in a man, of turning their friendship into rock-solid love, of carrying a child to her breast and being fulfilled by the life of her family. In the past years, however, as she let sadness gnaw at her and her cynicism push back slews of men, she had become accustomed to the idea that she would grow old amidst her precious stones and jewellery. The irony of it was not lost upon her, as she who had grown without wealth but never desired it now found herself with more than enough money, but none of the things she had dreamed of as a child. The war had taken that away from her. As far as she was concerned, Voldemort had won.
The young woman shook her head and banished these dark thoughts. She picked up another bra and in one, deft movement, had it clasped. Coiling arabesques of brown cloth wound around her torso, similar in shape to those that surrounded her hips. Coppery threads laced through the brown bra and panties, and a small, leaf-shaped piece of amber sat right below Ginny's left hip-bone. This was by no means the racy material Astoria purchased on a regular basis, but, without being ostentatious or spectacular, it was incredibly alluring. Draco promptly glanced away, just in time for him to hear Astoria's whisper.
"Come look."
She now donned a corset the colour of Autumn Damask roses, strung with small diamonds and silvery threads. It was not the gray he had recommended, but, quite frankly, Draco was not about to complain.
"Well? What do you think?"
"I think that if we don't leave the store within the next five minutes, Miss. Brown will have to kick us out for indecent behaviour in her changing- rooms."
Astoria giggled and snapped the curtain shut.
***
During the following week, Draco did not have much time to think about what he had seen in the changing rooms of Lavender's Lovely Lingerie. The expansion of Heaven On Earth to France and Italy left him with little time on his hands, so that he regretfully postponed the last appointment scheduled with Ginny. Astoria appeared to find his absences increasingly difficult to bear, and he found with much regret that though they did not fight, tension mounted between them. His disillusioned attempts at broaching the topic were met with moodiness and snappy retorts like, "It doesn't matter- this whole Heaven stuff will be over with soon, right?" He tried explaining to her that the "stuff" she mentioned was, in fact, the bulk of his work, and unlikely to vanish from their mutual future, but she would not listen. He eventually settled with accompanying her to a dinner with the Zabinis, and later that week to a charity cocktail, as a tentative way to placate her.
Draco and Astoria arrived fashionably late, as was expected of them. They were immediately greeted by Rebecca Rosenthal, the CEO of the Parkinson Foundation for Magical Orphans, a charity that addressed the needs of orphans of all species - including but not limited to wizards, giants, dwarves, and more. Draco hoped to avoid his ex-girlfriend for as long as he could, but Astoria, with her usual luck, found Pansy Parkinson within a few minutes of their arrival. They immediately began chatting, a fact so unwelcomed by Draco that his only solace came from the fact that Pansy was steadily ignoring him. After five minutes of polite attentiveness, Draco kissed Astoria on the cheek - she did not even notice, as she was busy admiring Pansy's new necklace of amethysts - and left the two women, hoping to run into business associates, or, worse comes to worst, friends from Hogwarts. Around him, couples hopped from group to group, the women in floor-length gowns and the men in designer dress- robes, their footsteps resonating lightly on the impeccably waxed wooden parquets.
When he caught a glimpse of red hair, his first instinct was to smoothly walk away, as he did not particularly fancy a chat with Arthur Weasley - who for some reason was often eager to chat with him - and even less so with the man's sons. When he noticed that this was none other than Ginny Weasley speaking with Catalina Zabini, he decided he could perhaps casually head over in that direction. She had her back turned to him, and he immediately decided he liked the way her black dress left her entire back bare. The dress itself, otherwise of a conservative - if flattering - cut, gained much from the audacity of the exposure.
"Ah, Draco, how lovely to see you," !" Catalina Zabini exclaimed as soon as she caught a glimpse of his blonde hair. She raised her arm in greeting and wrapped it around his shoulder as he bent to kiss her cheek.
Ginny had taken a step to the side and was looking evenly at the newcomer, noting that the dress- robe he wore was undeniably flattering. The light from the crystal chandelier gave her the best view of his gray eyes yet.
"Draco, this is Ginevra Weasley. Ginevra, my dear, Draco Malfoy, a charming lad."
Ginny acknowledged him with a distant smile and was about to offer him her hand, since that seemed to be his preferred means of greeting her, when he smoothly kissed her cheek instead. The smell of his cologne made her heart skip a beat; he, on the other hand, regretted having chosen this course of action, as the softness of her skin under his lips had ignited a desire for more. However, this was not the first time a woman's flesh had tempted him since beginning his relationship with Astoria, and he was confident he would not give in-- his foolish eagerness to get closer to Ginny Weasley merely needed to be smothered in the nest.
"I see you two know each other," Catalina Zabini commented slyly.
"Let's just say that Miss Weasley is helping me with… a surprise for Astoria," Draco said, and the eagerness that coursed through Mrs. Zabini's eyes left no doubt as to the fact that she had well understood the meaning of his words.
"Indeed. Ginevra truly knows where the keys to a woman's heart lie."
"Luckily for me, she agreed to hand over one of these keys to me," Draco replied unctuously.
He saw that Ginny, utterly unaffected by the discussion that was taking place, gazed calmly at their surroundings. Draco admired the graceful curve her slender neck made with her shoulders, left free of sleeves and straps by the cut of her dress. Some part of Draco wanted to take her away from this setting in which she did not seem to be having a good time, though he could think of no reason why she was there in the first place.
"Catalina, would you mind if I borrowed Miss. Weasley? There are some details we still need to settle and -"
"But of course! Go, go, go," the elder woman said, waving them away with a flick of her wrist. Her fingers shone with an impressive display of rings and two massive bracelets, so that Draco had no difficulty guessing in which capacity she was familiar with Arthur Weasley's daughter.
As they strolled towards the buffet, Draco expected Ginny to thank him for his improvised rescue. She did not reward him with so much as a smile, her eyes still lost in the crowd, her features oddly emotionless. The chandeliers above them cast glittering light on the heavy carpets and wooden panes, enveloping the guests in the beautiful but muted hues of glass and gold.
"What brings you here tonight?" he finally asked.
"I support the Magical Orphans' cause," she said, turning to answer him with limited enthusiasm.
She had abandoned her glasses, which allowed for the light dusting of freckles on her nose and cheeks to be more visible. A single earring hung from her left ear. It was a small sphere of a black, gleaming stone, engraved with colourful designs the nature of which he could not determine. He wondered if she had lost the second earring and failed to notice it, but figured it might be rude if he pointed it out and decided not to do so.
"It's a worthy cause," he observed.
She smiled at him with a hint of sarcasm.
"Obviously," she said.
"Champagne?"
"Please."
He took two flutes of champagne from a waiter's silver plateau and handed one to her.
"Thank you. This," she nodded to the glass, "always makes this," her eyes roamed the assembly once again, "easier."
"What do you mean?"
She did not answer but finished her glass in a few sips. From the low hum of the crowd rose the haunting sound of a violin, soon accompanied by cellos' soft wails. Ginny obtained another one easily and turned back to Draco, a smile on her lips but with the same distance in her posture.
"So you've been busy?"
"Let's speak of this elsewhere, ; I would rather no one heard of my plans with Astoria."
"Yet you told Mrs. Zabini…"
"If the woman did not know how to keep a secret, I am not sure she would still be here today."
"Rather than in jail?"
Draco nodded.
"It is true that I have made two new engagement rings for her in the past ten years," Ginny acknowledged, amused. "The balcony?"
Draco nodded again, and linked his arm to hers to escort her there. It was a familiar gesture, one that he used frequently with his mother's friends or even Astoria's cousins, but he realised it may not have been appropriate in this context. Outside, the air was warm - the day had been particularly hot and the stars shone like diamonds in the summer sky.
Ginny went to sit on the stone -railing, and then lifted her legs so that they, too, could rest on the railing.
"Not afraid of heights, are you?"
"I would have made a horrible Chaser if that had been the case," she retorted dismissively.
"I had forgotten."
She smiled sadly at him, and he knew that she was not thinking of Quidditch when she murmured, "It's so easy to forget…" Not even the soft breeze that blew then could dislodge a strand of her hair from her typically tight chignon. Absently, Ginny played with her earring, and then addressed Draco once again. This time, though her tone was serious, it no longer held the distress some of her earlier expressions had conveyed.
"If you don't mind, I would like to meet with you one more time before I complete the engagement ring. Your relationship with Miss. Greengrass has given me much to ponder, but I am not ready to forge the ring just yet."
"I'm sorry, but did you just say `forge'?"
Ginny smirked.
"Of course. Did you expect me to make a few designs and leave the rest to some ruffians who may improperly interpret my notes, my intentions? No, Mr. Malfoy, I single-handedly create each and every piece of my jewellery."
"And the stones? The metals?"
"Those are provided to me by dwarves across the world."
"I was not aware that dwarves exchanged goods with wizards," Draco observed.
"They don't, but I suppose it runs in the Weasley family to weave the most unlikely associations with magical creatures of all sorts - Bill with Goblins, Charlie with dragons, Ron - I don't even know why I'm telling you this."
She gave him an apologetic look, uncertain of the reasons that had pushed her to divulge that information to Draco Malfoy of all people. She was even more surprised when Draco returned her smile with ease.
"Are you free next Wednesday for tea?" he asked.
"Yes. If possible, I would like for us to meet at a place that is of significance to both you and Miss. Greengrass."
Draco thought briefly, an idea coming to him as the fresh scent of lilacs reached him from the garden below.
"Does it matter if I can't actually offer you tea there?"
"Certainly not. I will be content with water. Or Firewhiskey, even though I doubt I could find any in the locations you and Miss. Greengrass frequent."
"You'd be surprised," Draco said, casting her a meaningful look that made her laugh.
He decided he really liked her laugh and would have enjoyed hearing more of it. He was about to berate himself for the thought when, from the corner of his eye, he caught a silhouette walking promptly towards Ginny and himself.
"Draco!" Astoria snapped as she reached them. "I've been looking everywhere for you. I thought you were getting me a drink."
"I'm sorry, Astoria, I didn't -"
"What took you? Mr. Parkinson wants to speak with you, and at least three of the Board members from Piece of Heaven -"
"Heaven On Earth."
"Who cares?" she said shrilly. "They asked where you were. Do you know how ridiculous I looked when I couldn't tell them?"
"Darling," Draco said, tenderly wrapping his arm around Astoria, "you couldn't look ridiculous if you tried."
"Don't patronize me!" she screeched, shaking off his arm.
Ginny watched impassively as the couple before her fought, letting her instincts assess the situation so as to better incorporate that part of their relationship in the engagement ring. She was, after all, in an excellent place to know that disputes are a part of any relationship, and that only the strongest ties resist to the persistent gnawing of discord. Draco straightened and stared at Astoria, a muscle in his temple twitching. She, however, appeared positively livid.
"I have -" she began.
"You've been drinking," he said flatly.
"No. Yes. Yes, I have, because I had nothing better to do while you -"
Only then did she take note of Ginny's presence. She eyed her quickly, and a wave of anger hit her when she took in the jeweller's refined aspect, the sobriety of her demeanour associated with the sensuality of her shapes.
"Good evening, Miss. Greengrass," Ginny said politely, but the hint of amusement in her words went unnoticed by neither Draco nor, unfortunately, Astoria.
"Why, you…" she seemed to be looking for the right choice of words.
"Astoria…" Draco said, the note in his voice both pleading and cautionary.
Astoria's eyes darted back at him.
"'Astoria' what?" she barked. "Nothing. Astoria,`Astoria' nothing! Astoria can be left to wander alone while you and Weasley here have a chat?"
"We only just got here," Draco pointed out, his voice cold.
"I have been looking for you for the past half-hour!" she screeched. "Your own girlfriend, looking for you while you cosy up to a tramp too poor to buy a matching earring!"
Draco looked at Ginny in time to see her face to become void of emotions. The haunted look that appeared in her eyes then was only as impressive as the hateful disdain the rest of her features marked, and Draco knew Astoria had crossed a line whose existence she could not even fathom.
"Astoria," he repeated sharply, but she wouldn't listen, turning instead to face Ginny.
"What? Why else would she not wear the second earring?" Then, in a cooing, baby voice that turned increasingly venomous, she cooed, "Or did Weasley loose the other earring in the Chamber of Sec-"
"Enough!" Draco snapped, and seized Astoria in his arms. "You're drunk. We're going home. Miss. Weasley," he said, nodding.
"Mr. Malfoy," Ginny responded in kind. "Miss. Greengrass," she added almost as an after-thought, though her eyes were blazing like the fire in a forge, "I would watch my tongue in the future, lest you as well find yourself missing an important piece of jewellery."
Surprise shot through Draco's eyes, but he did not seek to further analyze Ginny's words. As he Apparated both himself and his intoxicated girlfriend away, the vision he had of the redhead allowed him to measure how much she had matured, and probably suffered, her beauty but a disturbing consequence of these processes. She was hard now, like a diamond - stunning and untouchable.
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