Hannah had mentioned before that Brown worked for one of Ginny's brothers in Diagon Alley, so today he left the office and traveled a few buildings down. Draco stepped inside and began poking around. Someone approached him and started to speak.

"Can I-"

"Brown here? I'd like a word with her," Draco said, studying some hair color changing shampoo.

Logan shared a look with Nathan before making his way towards the back.

"Did you bring my-" Lavender frowned when the newest of the Wheezes' employees pushed open the door. "Where's Gerard?"

"There's some guy here to see you. Blond."

Lavender rose an eyebrow. Gerard had gone to get the group lunch. She had been taking a small break before she got back to training, and she had been looking forward to the biscuits he'd promised her. "Did you get a name?"

"He didn't give one."

"And you didn't ask," she said, standing. Throwing the quill down on the inventory she'd been working on, she led Logan back towards the front. Her eyes widened when she spotted Draco Malfoy perusing the stock, but managed not to pause in her path. "Mr. Malfoy," she said. "Were you looking for something particular?"

Draco gave her a look. "I was. You." Draco looked at the boy behind her. "Run along, junior. Grown-up time. Need to speak to you in private, Brown."

Lavender smirked before looking over her shoulder at Logan. He might be the newest employee, but he was also the oldest. He hadn't moved when Draco had spoken. That actually made Lavender like him a bit better. "It's alright."

"But it's Draco Malfoy," he replied.

"I'm aware," Lavender said with a smile. "We have mutual friends."

Logan gave her a look before nodding, joining Nathan behind the counter.

Turning her attention back to Draco, Lavender shrugged her shoulders slightly. "He's a Hufflepuff. Apparently I attract them. You needed something?"

"You are responsible for the plot that lands a beloved wizard in the grave, doesn't matter how many schools you open, you're still THAT Draco Malfoy. Maybe when I am sixty that riff will be old. But it's Draco Malfoy. No shit."

Lavender was looking at him expectantly.

"Right." Draco took the copy of the Prophet out of his long coat and slapped it down on the counter. "This is rubbish. She's not marrying that wanker. She sleeps in MY bed, and I want you to write about it. Well, not the bed part, obviously. Ginny would kill me, but she is NOT marrying that wanker. You write for the Herald, yeah? The new tag there should be... we report fact not fiction."

She knew exactly what article he was talking about without it being bandied about in her face. Lavender had had a rather loud laugh about it while reading. "I'm sorry, but why would you and Ginny Weasley shagging like bunnies be newsworthy? Why don't you just put out an ad in the Prophet with a picture of her with the words 'MINE' written across her face in bold letters?"

Draco actually considered it.

"I said I didn't want you to mention the shagging, just the living together. The shagging is implied. I'll pay you."

She leveled him with a look. "Does she live in your house? Sleep in your bed?"

"Yes," Draco said, brow furrowing, not entirely sure what she was getting at. "Of course."

"Does she tell you she loves you? Do you believe her when she says it?"

"Yes," Draco said, starting to understand. "Look, yes, we love one another and I trust her implicitly, but it's fucking Potter. Brown, wasn't there one person you could not stand in school? One girl who could set your teeth to grinding just by hearing her name? Would you be behaving rational if half the wizarding world suspected Justin had thrown you over for her?"

"One, I would kill Hermione Granger if she went anywhere near Justin. Two... I would kill Hermione Granger if she went anywhere near Justin." Realizing she'd said that twice, she waved her hand in the air while rolling her eyes at herself. "Me writing a story about how you and Ginny Weasley are blissfully happy wouldn't change the fact that that article was written. It's in people's thoughts now. That's what the Prophet's good at."

"It would make me feel better though," Draco whined. "And I can't kill Potter. Stop trying to put ideas into my head." Then he grinned. "Granger? Really? You know she's my silent partner for the school, right? Did she feel the same way about you? Because I'm sure your writing the article would bug her, know it all that she is."

Lavender's eyes narrowed. "Don't try to bribe me. I hated Hermione Granger, yes. But that was in school. I've outgrown that petty jealousy. You, obviously, have yet to mature that far. How do you think it looks? Draco Malfoy is so threatened by even the thought, false as it may be, of Harry Potter getting back with Ginny Weasley that he needs an entire article written about how in love he and Ginny Weasley are?"

"It's Potter, and yes, I am childish about my things. I wouldn't expect you to understand. I can probably count on one hand the number of people that would understand my motives here. Did I mention the paying? Do you want me to beg? Owe you a favor? What?"

"You can not buy my services," Lavender said with an exasperated sigh. However, her brain flashed back to the conversation she'd had with Justin. A house. Adopted children. We don't even have a couch. She leaned on the shelf to her right, looking down at her feet. "Exactly how... much, are you talking about?" The second the words left her mouth, she shook her head and rose a hand to stop him from revealing the amount. If it was high enough, it might be too hard to turn down.

"Malfoy... What would you even want me to write about? 'Ginny Weasley, who is definitely not dating or marrying Harry Potter, comes home every night to cook dinner for Draco Malfoy, who she is madly in love with.' That's not an article. That's a sentence."

Draco snapped his fingers. "You can write about the clinic... or do a piece on the residents of Ottery St. Catchpole... or how we kept the child of one of the missing women... pick one, I guess. Or... or... the modern couple's tendency to just live together rather than get married."

"You're not planning on getting married? How long have you guys been dating now?" She deliberately said nothing about how her next article was going to be on the clinic anyway.

"Well not yet. I don't want to rush anything. I mean, yeah, one day, I'll ask her and stuff. We've only been together for like a year or something. I don't know. I have plans. I just don't like to be rushed. Things are good like they are."

"Do you think she wonders if you'll ask soon? Like, do you think she's expecting it any day now?"

Draco made a face at her. "No. Why? Has she said something to you? She should be saying things to me if she's not happy with the situation. I thought we were fine, happy."

Lavender was laughing heartily on the inside. It was almost too easy. However, she'd always been a good read on people and it was obvious that Draco Malfoy was having some very serious issues. She supposed the fact that his best mates were getting married didn't help things, and she was capitalizing on that fact.

"Weasley and I don't really talk all that much," she said after a moment of enjoying the terrified look on his face. "But I could understand if she was thinking about it."

Draco frowned. "Explain."

"She's a girl," Lavender said. "We think about those things. You're with a guy for so long and you start to wonder if he's thought about it... How your first name sounds with his last name... What of her things will be staying when she moves in with him. Those are the types of things girls wonder about." If she wasn't enjoying the look on his face, Lavender would have stopped this by now. Though, now, she was wondering if this was actually helping him.

Draco frowned. "I've already named our first four children. I think about it. I just don't want to scare her, you know? All things in their time and all that rot."

Smiling, Lavender nodded as she pushed off the shelf. "I suppose." She heard the bell above the door jingle and nodded towards the couple as they came in. "Well, Malfoy, it was nice talking to you, but now I have to go to work." Flashing him one more smile, she turned and headed towards the counter.

Draco moved quickly and blocked her path. "Well? Will you write something? I'll pay. Or buy you something? Make a donation to the paper? What?"

Dammit. She had underestimated his persistence. "What on earth would you buy me? I mean, Gods forbid someone saw you buying something and they wrote an article about how we were set to be married."

Draco started laughing at that. Especially the horrified look on her face. "What do you need? Want? Shoes? A dozen pair? A new bed? Curtains? What? I draw the line at underthings. I don't want Finch-Fletchley trying to kill me. Platonic gifts only."

"If I were a lesser person, or if it was five years ago, I might take you up on the offer to supplement my wardrobe. However, I am a journalist who doesn't write fluff pieces strictly because someone is insecure."

"Surely there's something you require. Besides, don't have the article be about me. Just mention that it's me and not Harry that Ginny comes home to," Draco said. "That's all I want. I don't want anyone to know you wrote a fluffy article about my love life, and neither do you. I realize you only write real stories."

"Now. I only write real stories now," Lavender corrected, holding a finger up to him. "And trust me Malfoy, what I require there is no way in hell I'll allow you to give to me. Now, if it will make you feel better, the Herald has been doing a series on businesses in Hogsmeade and I think Weasley's clinic is next on the chopping block. If you'll excuse me, I have my other job to attend to."

Realizing she'd played around with him for longer than necessary, Lavender felt better having given him a little of what he'd come to the shop for.

"Is that a yes or a no? And you did not mention what you needed? Some small thing perhaps? A bottle of wine? A blender? Plastic sporks?"

"I don't want anything from you, Malfoy. And yes, when I write the Gods damn article, I will mention that she is very much in love with you and not marrying Harry Potter." Lavender sighed as she turned. Merlin save her from men who had to hear things out loud.

Draco grinned and left the shop. He needed to pick up a box of sporks and owl them to her after the article came out.



{SUMMARY} Draco asks Lavender for a favor.