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Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes bustled with excitement. Wizards and witches of all ages scrambled through the store, seeking their favorite products. George had this annual sale every summer before the Hogwarts term starts, trying to encourage the youth to cause as much havoc around the school as possible. Based on the amount of business they had it appeared to be successful. Ginny and George expertly navigated through the crowds, ensuring all the shelves were stocked and all customers could pay and leave in an efficient manner. By the time they were done they were exhausted.
"Wow, Gin! We hit a record in sales today!" George exclaimed, admiring the pile of money that sat ahead of him.
"That's great, but after that chaos, I would prefer you saying we made enough to retire," She said sarcastically, but with a genuine smile, "Congratulations, George, you've really created some brilliant here."
"Well, I didn't do it alone..." George said pensively, and Ginny knew he was thinking about Fred. She walked towards her brother and gently squeezed his shoulder in comfort. George seldom discussed Fred as it brought on too much pain, so Ginny tried not to press the issue anymore.
And as predicted, George's comedic personality shined bright again, "Ah, enough with the dramatics! How about a drink to celebrate?" And Ginny nodded her head in approval. George walked to the refrigerate and pulled out two bottles of ale, handing one to Ginny. "Cheers to no longer living in poverty!"
"Cheers to that!" They slammed their drinks together enthusiastically.
"Oh hey, I saw you talking to that bloke, Malfoy." George said, and Ginny instantly gasped.
"Oh, dammit, dammit! Luna is waiting for me at home, I completely forgot!" Immediately after Draco had invited her out for drinks she sent an owl to Luna that read: MEET ME AT MY FLAT TONIGHT. EMERGENCY.
Ginny ran around flustered, collecting her possessions. She had been so busy at work she completely forgot about her encounter with Draco.
"Why is Luna waiting for you at your house this late?"
"Because your dear sister is having a bit of a crisis." She stated, causing George to raise an eyebrow clearly expecting more information. Ginny sighed, "Okay, if I tell you, you have to promise not to tell mum. Or Ron. Or anyone, really..."
"Cross my heart."
"Well today when Malfoy came into the store he..." Ginny couldn't look her brother in the eyes as she said the next bit, so she anxiously began dusting the shelves around her, "He sort of asked me out for drinks..."
"He what!?" George half laughed and half shouted this response, “YOU are going on a date with Draco Malfoy?”
“Ugh. I don’t know what it is okay? But I need to leave! Lord knows how long Luna has been there,” She finished collecting all of her stuff and quickly hugged George, “I’ll catch you up on everything as soon as I find out, I promise!”
Ginny apparated to the outside of her flat. She lived in a nice, affordable neighborhood in London, just a few blocks away from Diagon Alley. It was mostly a muggle neighborhood, but due to the close proximity to Diagon Alley there was certainly a wizard population as well. Her flat itself wasn’t anything special, but after putting countless hours into decorating it, it had become Ginny’s new home. It was filled with beautiful plants, some magical some not, she turned the spare bedroom into her potions lab, and she even caved and bought a muggle television. Her favorite part of the apartment was a considerably large balcony which gave her a beautiful view of the city.
“Luna!? Luna, are you here!?” Ginny called out the second she walked into the house.
“I’m outside!”
Ginny walked outside onto the balcony to find countless candles surrounding her friend who seemed to have made herself at home, as she was in the middle of a “yoga session”, as muggles call it.
“Am I interrupting?” Ginny asked, laughing at her dear friend who was in the middle of a downward dog pose.
“You won’t be if you join me!” She said breezily, as she expertly shifted into a new position in a blink of an eye.
“Fine,” Ginny said reluctantly, “but I’m only doing corpse pose and I’m doing it with wine.”
“Oh! Wine!” Luna paused her routine and her eyes lit up, “I can take a break for wine!”
Ginny poured the two a glass of wine and they sat at Ginny’s small dining table.
“You know what’s always confused me?” Luna asked airily, “How was everyone so thin in Hogwarts? I mean- the only form of exercise we would do was flying or Quidditch. Which can hardly be argued as a cardiovascular sport considering we are literally flying. You see muggles jogging everywhere constantly to try to stay fit! And yet Hogwarts students seemed immune to any weight fluctuations.”
“Wow, Luna…can’t say I have any idea,” Ginny chuckled at Luna’s speculative thinking, “but I guess we are just lucky?”
“Anyways, enough with my ramblings, why am I here?” Luna asked excitedly, clapping her hands together. Clearly she had been eagerly anticipating Ginny’s news all night, it had been a long time since she used “EMERGENCY” in an owl.
“Umm…so this is going to be sort of hard to believe, but I think I’m going on a date with Draco Malfoy tomorrow night…” she took a large sip of her wine immediately after trailing off from her sentence.
“WHAT? With THE Draco Malfoy!?” Luna looked shocked, “That is an emergency!”
“God, I know! What the hell!” Ginny shrieked, feeling blessed that she was finally with her best friend so she could finally express her feelings on the topic. “I don’t really think it’s a date, though? You see, he seemed fairly confident he would be able to help me with my potions training. Which is so weird! I mean, why would he want to help me? I haven’t seen him in five years!”
“That is strange…did he seem, you know, pleasant?”
“Yes! Like, too pleasant, where I felt like I was being the jerk for once! He actually called me Ginevra, Luna. He called me Ginevra.” She emphasized her words to fully describe how strange it was.
“Wow. Yeah, I’m not sure what to make of that. How is he going to help you with your potions?” Luna asked while pouring another glass.
“I have no idea. I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow.”
“Are you excited?”
“That’s the strangest thing of all! I kind of am! I mean, don’t worry, you couldn’t pay me to sleep with the man. But I am kind of intrigued to hear what he’s been up to since the war…and it’ll be nice staring at some eye candy for an evening.”
“Ohh, does he look even better than he did in high school?” She asked earnestly, probably getting tipsy from being on her second glass so quickly.
“YES! Oh god, Luna. I hate how he has to be such a prat, because god, he looks amazing.” She put her head on the table and groaned, “Why are all the beautiful men always prats?”
“How do you know he’s a prat? Like you said, he was pleasant!” Luna argued, “And besides, like you said, you don’t even know if it’s a date. Treat it as a business meeting with an old friend. That way you won’t feel as nervous going into it and you won’t spend the entire evening imagining him naked.”
“Oh, wise, Luna. What would I do without you?” She lifted her head off the table, “Ugh, what am I going to wear? I think the place we are meeting is reasonably classy. I’ll need a cocktail dress.”
“After this bottle we can dig through your closet, I’m sure we can find something you’ll look marvelous in.”
The two girls stayed up late gossiping as typical 21-year-old girls do, drinking their wine, and modelling the clothes in Ginny’s closet. Ginny was eternally grateful that she remained friends with Luna after Hogwarts. Ginny often felt like she was a balloon filled with anxieties ready to burst at any second, but Luna was always the calm and rational friend that would deflate Ginny’s worries and put her in perspective.

Luna was an interesting character. She was drop-dead gorgeous, with her crystal blue eyes and waist-length blonde hair, yet incredibly humble. Her intrinsic unique, quirky personality that so many people knew her for in Hogwarts was still present, however, over the years she had transitioned from spouting her Father’s bizarre ideologies and began forming her own individual beliefs and values regarding the world. She was fiercely independent, creating her own highly successful magazine where she attempted to merge muggle practices with wizarding practices. She had never dated anyone exclusively before, not because men weren’t interested, but because she claimed they were all boring. She would expertly predict that most men she would go on dates with would get irritated with her blunt honesty and her inability to conform to one’s ideals of how she ‘should’ act. Many times, the men she would date would attempt to reject her words of wisdom, tell her that her opinions were wrong, then proceed to get offended when Luna wouldn’t passively accept their ignorance. So, Luna learned that she did not have time for that sort of nonsense in her short life, and would simply stand up from the dinner table the moment she felt her date was being condescending, leave money for her portion of the meal, and walk away without ever looking back. It is a shame for those men, Ginny would often think, because if they simply took the time to learn to appreciate Luna and not try to change her they would be blessed for having the opportunity to date the most peaceful, empathetic, and rational girl they had met.

After trying on several various outfits Ginny finally settled on a simple and elegant strapless black dress with a sweetheart neckline and sat just above her knees.

“Are you serious?” Luna asked dumbfounded, “That was literally the first thing you tried on. We just spent hours searching for an outfit when we could have been done in minutes.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Ginny laughed, “I had to make sure it was perfect! At least you got free wine out of the deal!”

The two laughed together. Shortly after they hugged and said their goodbyes. Ginny promised to fill Luna in on all the details regarding her ‘date’ with Draco as soon as it was over before Luna left the flat. Ginny flopped onto her bed and was filled with anxious excitement. It wasn’t the typical nervousness she would feel before meeting a date because it wasn’t a date, nor was she particularly interested in Draco Malfoy. She was nervous because she was about to enter unknown territory. She had never had a civil conversation with Draco, aside from at the store earlier that day, and she was scared that he wasn’t as pleasant as he seemed.

The anxieties began running high as her brain fed her worst-case scenarios. What if we end up getting into a row after five minutes and we cause a huge scene and get kicked out of the lounge? What if it is incredibly awkward and we sit in silence for 2 hours until one of us is polite enough to go our separate ways? What if this is just an elaborate prank and Draco is going to stand me up then proceed to humiliate me in any way possible? What if his plan to help me with my potions is in exchange to be his personal servant and will magically place a binding contract in which I can never escape and I am doomed to be trapped in his service until I die!?

Oh, my god, Ginny, shut up. None of that is going to happen. She told herself attempting to calm her nerves. She decided to drink one of her homemade draughts of peace potions to help her sleep, seeing as it seemed her anxieties were ruling her mind that night.

Time was going by entirely too fast the next day. She was supposed to meet at the pub at 8:00 and before she knew it her watch read 7:50. She frantically put the finishing touches on her hair and makeup before apparating to the bar. Not before looking at herself in the mirror and repeating Luna’s words as her own personal mantra: This is not a date. This is a business meeting between two old peers. This is not a date. After taking three deep breaths she apparated outside of the pub.

She was still 5 minutes early. She awkwardly stood outside of the main doors, about to enter then stopping herself, then awkwardly paced to the side of the building so no one could see her through the windows. I can’t be early! I don’t want to seem too desperate. But I also don’t want him to see me standing outside in the corner alone…She thought to herself. She mentally kicked herself and promised herself that one day she wouldn’t be an awkward mess. At 7:59 she decided to walk inside of the pub.

She instantly saw him before he noticed her walk in. He was sitting at the bar, wearing a crisp, white dress shirt with a black tie loosely hanging around his neck, with a pristine looking suit jacket draped over the back of the chair. She also noticed that he was casually eating fish and chips while reading the newspaper. He’s eating before I’ve even arrived? Definitely not a date. This calmed Ginny’s nerves slightly and waltzed up to him.

“Hello!” She said cheerfully, though wincing at how high her voice went.

“Oh, hello! Nice to see you finally come in!” He said with a huge grin, pulling out the barstool beside him, motioning her to sit.

“Wh-what?” Ginny asked nervously.

“I saw you pacing back and forth through the windows,” He said laughing, “Was beginning to think you were going to stand me up!”

Ginny turned a bright shade of red, “Oh, you saw that? Umm, I was just...umm…” she racked her brain searching for a proper excuse to explain her weird behavior but failed, “I don’t know. I didn’t want to be too early.”

Draco laughed, “You’re here now, that’s what matters! Can I get you a drink?”

“Sure. Vodka and soda, please.”

As Draco ordered her drink from the bartender Ginny examined the pub they were in. It was far less classy than she anticipated. It was your typical muggle English pub; with dark walls, maroon chairs, dart boards, and a few dusty television sets that didn’t appear to be functioning. Ginny looked down at her little black cocktail dress and high heeled shoes and suddenly became very self-conscious of how overdressed she was. As if Draco could read her mind, he handed her the drink and gave her a sly smirk, “You look very nice tonight.”

“Oh, Thank you.” She blushed, “I don’t know why but I expected somewhere a little fancier which is why I’m so dressed up…” She instantly cringed realizing how rude that sounded, but thankfully Draco simply laughed. Ginny was so surprised by how genuine his laugh was because the last time she heard him laugh would have been in Hogwarts, where it was likely mockingly or caused by him bullying someone weaker than him.

“Say what you will about this place – It has the best food in London.” He said, finishing off the rest of his meal, “Are you hungry? Their fish and chips are brilliant.”

“Oh, no, I’m fine! I ate before I left.” This was a lie, but Ginny didn’t want Draco to know that she was kind of expecting the standard dinner “date” where they would eat together. She took a sip out of her drink and decided to try to put the small talk and get to the point of their meeting. “So, you said you would be able to help me with my potions? How?”

“Lets discuss that later.” He said brushing it off, “For now, how have you been lately? Have you done anything exciting since Hogwarts?
Ginny internally cringed. She hated when people asked her that because she hasn’t really done anything exciting compared to her peers. “Umm, not really. Luna and I helped restore neighborhoods that were destroyed after the war, that took a couple of years. And since then I’ve just been helping George out with the store.” She quickly wanted to direct the conversation onto Draco, “How about you?”

“Not a lot I guess,” He said and Ginny was momentarily relieved until he started speaking again, “I spent a few years travelling the world. I spent a fair amount of time in North America, that was pretty exciting. I worked at a wizarding bank there as a financial advisor for a couple of years, it was much different there. There were no goblins. And then I returned here a few months ago and am temporarily working at the ministry now, in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. I’ll only be working there for another month; I was summoned to takeover this position while the previous employee finishes her maternity leave. Once I am finished there I intend to pursue a different career path.”

Ginny gawked at him. “Wow, that is quite the résumé. You’ve experienced more than some people do in a lifetime during a 5-year period.”

He shrugged, “I won’t deny that I have been very privileged in having some of the opportunities that I have had. But a lot of those 5 years were spent just aimlessly trying to find my footing in life and typically drinking far more than I probably should.” This made Ginny giggle and feel more comfortable, it was nice knowing he struggled with being a young adult as well. He took a sip of his scotch before asking, “So, are you still with Potter, then?”

This caused Ginny to immediately choke on her drink. HOW did I ever get the impression that there was a slight possibility that this was a date!? He thought I’ve been with Harry this entire time! She thought, mentally kicking herself.

“No, no, no, I haven’t been with Harry since I was 16! I mean, there have been the odd nights where we’ve, you know, since then. But no, absolutely not with Harry.” She assured him, though wondering why she felt the need to imply to him that she had hooked up with Harry since graduating. “I’m very much single. How about yourself?”

“Yeah, I’m not seeing anyone special, at the moment, that is. I go on a few dates a month, usually, but no one really captures my attention.” How could they? Ginny thought to herself, He’s the most interesting and attractive man in London… She felt confused feeling so enamored by Draco Malfoy. But it was beginning to feel more like a little girl crush rather than him ever being a potential romantic prospect. He was so confident and surprisingly kind and funny. He appeared to be an entirely different person since the war has ended. Ginny’s curiosity regarding what exactly caused such an improvement in Draco was incredibly high, but she felt it would be too intrusive to ask for any details.

“You said you were going to pursue a different career path earlier? What career were you thinking?” She asked instead.
She saw a glimmer in his lit-up eyes and a sly smile emerge on his lips as she said the simple word, “Entrepreneurship.”

“What? Like, you want to start your own business? What do you want to create?”

Ginny instantly noticed his eyes focus behind her head and he stood up from his chair. “Ah, Perfect timing. I was just about to tell Ginny our plan without you.” Ginny gave a look of pure confusion as she turned around to see who Draco was talking to. When she saw the familiar man her jaw dropped. “Ginny, you remember Blaise Zabini from Hogwarts, right?”

“Y-Yes. Hello.” She extended her arm out for a handshake which Blaise accepted happily.

“Ginny Weasley. What pleasure to see you again. You look spectacular!” He sounded incredibly genuine. Ginny’s felt dizzy from all the surprises that have taken place in the past two days. She was currently out at a pub with two Slytherins whom she previously hated, and then they treat her as if she were a long-lost friend? And not to mention – both men were insanely handsome! Ginny couldn’t help but stare at Blaise’s perfect cheekbones and jawline, his perfectly strait white teeth, and flawless tanned skin which made his dark chocolatey eyes appear even more beautiful.

“Th-Thank you. You as well.” She replied politely, though unable to conceal her confusion completely, “What is going on…?”

“Ah, yes, I suppose I have been quite vague regarding the purpose of this meeting. Shall we move to a table?” Draco led the two to a three-person table from the bar. He pulled out Ginny’s seat for her like a gentleman and she couldn’t help but blush a bit. Blaise sat in front of her and Draco sat beside her.

“Would you like to begin, Draco?” Blaise asked, and Draco sighed and nodded in agreement.

“Ginny, you said you want to learn how to become more advanced at potions, correct?” Ginny nodded, “Well, Blaise and I are starting up our own business. I will be handling the business side of things while Blaise handles the production. We are starting a potions company, however, think of it more as a pharmacy rather than a typical apothecary. We want to produce the highest quality potions to cure a variety of ailments, from common colds to hangovers. And we want to sell them at an affordable price to the public.”

Ginny listened to his proposal and tried to comprehend it, “I don’t get it. There are plenty of shops where people can buy pre-made potions. What makes this idea any different?”

“I’m glad you asked that, Ginny!” Blaise piped up, “What makes our company different are two things: The consistency of our product and franchising our business. You see, all those little shops that sell pre-made potions are all family owned. The people who brew the potions use different recipes than other family owned shops, and each person who brews the potions have different skill levels. More frequently than not you get a low-quality potion because the brewer either isn’t as skilled as they should be, because they were running low on certain ingredients so improvised the recipe, or they were having a bad day, there are tons of reasons! Our potions will use the finest ingredients, we will never run low on stock, and each potion we create will be the exact same consistency as every other batch we made. Are you following?” He asked, and Ginny nodded.

Draco began talking again, “And second, we are going to franchise the fuck out of this business. Have you ever noticed that muggles always have tons of restaurants and grocery stores that are found everywhere throughout the world? You can’t walk five blocks without running into a McDonalds in North America, even in most areas of the world they’re everywhere! Now, have you ever noticed a single wizarding business be franchised? No. They are almost all family owned businesses that are not nearly as successful as they would be had they franchised. So, our 5-year-plan is to focus our business in the London area, then as soon as we gain momentum, we will start expanding to other continents.”

Ginny was slowly processing everything. She had so many questions. “So…what does any of this have to do with me? How is this information going to help me with my potions?”

“Because, Ginny, we want you to be part of our team.” Draco said and Ginny’s jaw dropped for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

“Wh-what?”

“Yes!” Blaise said enthusiastically, “You see, Ginny, I don’t mean to boast, but I am an excellent potions master. I have been practicing the act since I was a child, and I have yet to find a potion better than my own. Except for Snape’s or Slughorn’s, that is. Although I’m positive I would be better than them now. I would love to train you to be on my level of brewing. We will not start making any advances in the business for another month, that is when we will start meeting with potential investors. So, I was hoping to spend every other night with you, training you how to be a novice in the art of potions. Then you will join me in overseeing the production, until we gain enough momentum to hire and train other people to our level of expertise.”

Ginny stared at them, wide eyed and silent for a minute, as she tried to string together her thoughts. “I don’t understand. Neither of you hardly know me. I’m hardly an expert at potions. Why do you want to work with me of all people?”

This question caused Draco to shift uncomfortably, which caused Ginny to raise an eyebrow at him. Finally he explained, “See, the Malfoy name is still fairly tainted since the war. Several people, especially future franchisers, view Malfoys as being evil despite us spending the years trying to redeem ourselves. As someone who hated muggles more than anything his entire teenaged life, I now admire and respect them for their methods in business and economy. I am so fascinated by their ways of life, I have learned that incorporating certain muggle customs in my life has been the most fulfilling thing I’ve done. But…people don’t see that about me on the surface.” He looked Ginny in the eyes, “Ginny, we want you because you’re a Weasley. When people find out that a Malfoy is business partners with a Weasley it is stone cold evidence that I have changed from my old self.”

Ginny narrowed her eyes in offense, “Oh, I see. You’re just using me for my last name!?”

“No!” Blaise started, “Well, I guess, sort of…”

“BUT, I also remember you, Ginny. I remember you in school. You’ve always been an incredibly talented, intelligent, and fast witted witch. I know that you’re the kind of person we need on our team, even without your last name.”

Ginny pondered everything. She didn’t fully believe that they wanted her for anything other than her last name, but they were also offering her her dream career on a silver platter. “I’ll have to think about it, I guess…”

“Ginny, listen,” Draco put his hand on top of her hand, “Take as much time as you need, but really understand what we are offering you. We are offering you more wealth than you could ever even imagine. We are offering you the chance to travel the world and experience the different cultures. We are offering you a chance to escape the monotony of life, to live an adventure not many people get the opportunity to pursue.”

Ginny bit her lip nervously. This really was a dream opportunity for her and she knew she would never get another chance like this again.

“What do you say?” Blaise asked eagerly.

“Well…” She shifted her gaze between the two boys and eventually sighed, “I’ll do it. I’m going to have a bugger of a time explaining this to my family, but I’m in.”

Blaise and Draco cheered in excitement. She had to say, she was quite pleased that these two men were so ecstatic about being her future coworkers. “I’ll go get us a round of drinks!” Blaise shouted and ran to the bar. Draco looked at Ginny smiling widely.

“What?” Ginny asked, unable to refrain from smiling back at him.

“You just made the best decision of your life, Ginny Weasley. Congratulations.” Once Blaise returned they all shouted their cheers before clinking their glasses against one another and drank the first of many drinks the three of them would have together.