Striding over to the table, he slid into the side of the booth opposite the Weasley--who he now knew was the female Weasley.

"Hello, love. Meeting someone special?"

Ginny rose an eyebrow when Blaise Zabini sat across from her. Well this was... special. "That's not until later." She sat back in the booth. She'd been expecting someone older, someone wiser... someone not Blaise Zabini. "So I take it you're a potions master?"

He grinned.

"I'm a master at many things, one of which is potions, yes. You want me, then?"

She grinned back, taking a sip of her butterbeer. "It depends, entirely, on you I suppose. I'm just doing a little research right now, actually. Prices, ability, that sort of thing. How good are you, Mr. Zabini?" Ginny couldn't help goading him. She remembered what he was like during school. She remembered the stories. The things said about him in the dorm room at nights. He was giggled about. Had more flames than Fawkes, some said. She didn't believe them before. Now, though? Now she could see that charm.

"Prices aren't a problem. The money doesn't matter to me right now. I'm doing this just because I need something to do. As for ability," he leaned closer to her. "I have never had my ability questioned in anything."

"Promising, but I'll still need to test that for myself." She leaned closer to him, putting both her elbows on the table. "I'm looking to open my own healing practice. Possibly in Hogsmeade. I need a potions master on staff, someone I can get a hold of any time of the day or night, in case of emergencies. You not being worried about money is nice, but I need someone who's efficient, someone I can count on, someone who's not afraid of work. As a rule, that's usually not your kind. Why are you different?"

She was being slightly tactless, but she was worried about this. She wasn't sure if she could take this on without failing, and her insecurity sometimes came off as harshness. 

He smiled wickedly. "You're welcome to test my abilities anytime."

Blaise finally leaned back and crossed his arms. "As for everything else... if you need help obtaining a permit for a business, let me know. I can get one for you. And I can be at your side wherever and whenever you need me. If you 'know' my type so well, then you know that I'll have nothing but the finest ingredients. If you're wanting to know why it won't cost you, it's because people owe me, and I get my ingredients for free."

He snatched the butterbeer from in front of her and took a drink.

"And for your information, I happen to run a muggle investment and commercial business, so I'm very familiar with work and business. I'm different because it's me, love. I'm a Zabini."

"And I'm a Weasley. I don't gamble on what people think of themselves." She couldn't help but grin inwardly at the fact that he was going to come cheap, no matter how arrogant he seemed. She supposed it was just a trait of all Slytherins, if her encounter with Malfoy on Saturday meant anything. "If you're as good as you say you are, then I'll need a sample of your work. Something difficult. Something rare."

She rose an eyebrow. "Are you up to the challenge?" She was surprised to actually find herself flirting with him. She wasn't sure, though, whether it was just in a response to his laying it on so thick or the fact that she actually found him slightly charming.

Blaise rose his own eyebrow. "And what, my dear Miss Weasley, would you consider a challenge?"

"Felix Felicis. Hard to make. Disastrous to get wrong. I think that would be more than sufficient." She took her butterbeer back from him drank the last of it, setting the bottle back on the table. "Not too much, obviously. A little bit would be fine. Obviously I won't be using it at the practice, but I just want to know what you're capable of."

Blaise scoffed. "You call that a challenge? Shall I just pop home and bring you some I already have cooked up?"

Ginny laughed, leaning back in the booth. "You know, that doesn't actually surprise me. I knew all those stories about what you got up to at Hogwarts were due to something other than that face you have." She shook her head. "Wait until I tell all the girls the only reason you're so 'lucky' is because you take a potion to make it so."

He snickered. "Anyone told you that you can be a bitch sometimes?"

Ginny smiled. "Not often enough." She leveled him a gaze. "I'm not joking. When I do this, I want it done right. I want this to be as big a priority to the people I work with as it is to me. I want this to work. Having confidence is all well and good, but I don't want you doing this because you're bored. I heal because I have to. Because I can't not do it. Do you feel the same way about brewing?"

Blaise leaned back, his face serious. "You really are a bitch." Crossing his arms, he sighed. "I'm very serious about my brewing. For the amount of time I spend in my labs and for the amount of money I spend for my ingredients and supplies, I'm dedicated, knowledgeable, and good."

She nodded, her face matching the serious he wore on his. "Good." She smiled then. "I'm hoping to be open by the 20th. I have someone helping me look for premises. Not sure whether it will be in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. Depends on where the property is best." She motioned for Tom for two butterbeers. "Thirsty? My treat." When she saw Tom begin to make his way over, she turned her attention back to Blaise. "I'm a bitch when I need to be, but I've been told I have a rather sweet disposition. I just take what I do very seriously."

Blaise lost his serious expression and grinned. "You take it very seriously? Are you kidding me? I thought you were going to lunge across the table and scratch my eyes out if I said I didn't take my job seriously."

"Oh, I haven't scratched out any eyes in ages." She smiled at Tom as he set the bottles on the table before turning. "Well, I wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to make a mistake. Anyone who's brave enough to call a potential employer a bitch is interesting in my book. And I happen to like interesting." She raised her bottle towards him before taking a sip. "Not that I'd consider myself your employer, per se. Really, we'd be in business together. I would prescribe people, you would fill the prescription, we'd both get a cut of the profits, with a portion going towards the restocking of supplies and the maintenance of your labs, of course."

"Sounds like you have this all figured out then," Blaise said, taking a drink. "Do you need anything else then or can I be on my merry little way? I have an schedule, you know. I haven't fulfilled my puppy kickings quota for the week yet."

Ginny rose an eyebrow. "We're done." He was harsh. It would take some getting used to, but if his potions brewing ability was good, she could look past that. "I'll let you know as soon as we find premises."

"Alright, I'll keep in touch." Blaise saluted her with his drink and was turned to leave the booth, when he glanced back at Ginny. "May I ask who the other person in this 'we' is?"

"So far? The we refers to me and you. Is that a problem?"

He smiled. "No problem at all, love. Just wanted to know if I was going to butting heads with anyone but yourself. Although, with you I don't see it as butting heads. More like... building on our relationship."

Standing up out of the booth, Blaise took another drink and let the bottle clink back onto the table. "Ta, love. I'm just an owl away."

With that, Blaise turned on his heel and strode out of the Leaky Cauldron.

Ginny watched him leave before finishing the rest of her butterbeer. She looked up as Tom limped his way over. "That was-"

"I know."

"And he-"

"Yes. He did."

"Do you-"

"Know what I'm getting myself into?" She looked from Tom back to the door Blaise had just left from. "No. I have absolutely no idea. But that's part of the fun, right?" She looked up at Tom, who spared her a worried glance before making his way back behind the bar. "Right?" Ginny sighed when Tom ignored her yell. She shook her head before sliding out of the booth and tossing a few coins on the table. "Right."