November 3rd, 2000

When Draco arrives for his morning shift, Granger is already there, sweeping the floor of the shop while a tune mites from a round object perched on the register countertop. She's wearing a short cut skirt, her hair is braided down her back and the idea of him pulling it causes him to smirk.

"Morning, Malfoy," she says, not looking up at him. "Oh my gosh, you're actually here before your shift. Congratulations."

"Thank you," he replies, unbuttoning his jacket as she whispers a charm and the pile of dirt disappears. "Do I get a prize? And what is that God awful noise?" He sees her pause, the wheels in her head calculating her answer.

Clutching the broom, Granger steps towards his way until she's standing in front of him, her head level to his chest, and he realizes their height difference is enormous. "On days that I wear a skirt, or dress..." she mumbles, her voice soft and he strains to listen. "I want to come. On days I'm wearing shorts or pants, you leave me alone. And that's an MP3 player." She pauses, flattening the hand not holding the broom against the hem of her skirt and tugs it slightly. "Understand?"

Loud and clear.

"What's an MP3 player?"

She shakes her head in exasperation. "It plays music. You can store music in it and play it on the go."

He nods, watching her expression closely and trying to keep it neutral, and she turns away, the material of her skirt swaying around her caramel legs as she walks away, flipping the 'Closed' sign to 'Open.'

He always had a thing for caramel.

-

For a Friday shift, it's dreadfully slow, and Draco finds himself counting and recounting the copies of A History of Magic. He also catches himself gazing longingly at Granger's legs as she walks from one end of the shop to another.

"Delivery is here," she says, approaching the counter where he stands and places her bonded journal beneath it on a lower shelf. "Can you go to the back and bring in the boxes?"

"Sure," he replies, glancing around before he slips his right hand beneath her skirt and grazes her knickers. She yelps, slamming her mouth shut and he waltzes away with a triumphant grin on his face.

Opening the back door, he sees five separate boxes lined up near the waste cans and picks two of them up, one on top of the other, before bringing them inside. He walks to the register, placing them in front of it, and Granger leans over, looking down at him crouched beside the boxes.

"Guess you'll be needing a reward, yeah?" she inquires, and he rolls his eyes before standing to retrieve the rest of the boxes.

He grabs the boxes, tenitavely balancing the three of them as he enters the shop once more, trying to peer around them. Granger is no longer at the counter and he crouches to place the boxes down.

"Excuse me, mister?" A witch, probably no older than him, is standing behind him, holding out a piece of parchment. "Can you show me where I can find these books?"

Draco straightens and pales as he sees a pair of black knickers laying flat on the surface of the counter. He snatches them up as she approaches him, shoving them into his pocket and turns around. "Sure, I'll show you." He says, and the woman hands him the parchment, thankfully oblivious to the scandalous article of clothing that had been left behind.

"Thanks. My mum-in-law suggested that I get these for motherhood, but I can't find them," the woman explains. "I've looked all over the place, but still nothing."

Draco looks over the parchment, his eyes scanning the neat handwriting. "Weasley?" Draco asks, citing the last name at the bottom of the parchment. "You're a Weasley?"

The woman stares, her large blue eyes blinking rapidly as she nods, twisting her fingers in her hands, then Draco notices the bump. "That's my mother-in-law," she replies, and stoutly sticks out her hand. "I'm Fleur."

Draco narrows his eyes and tries not to sigh, biting the inside of his cheek and turns away, walking down the aisle of books. It was like a cruel prank, being subjected to not a Weasley but a Weasley's wife. Thankfully, there is obviously no blood relation, just marital, so she hasn't been given that God-awful hair.

He stops in front of the paternity section, turning to Fleur and says, "I believe this is all we have on the subject. It's not an overly sought after topic."

"Really?" Fleur replies, looking over the books, to which Draco hands her back the parchment. "That's a shame."

Granger enters the isle and shoots Draco a knowing, catlike grin, crossing her arms over her chest. Her expression changes when she spots the pregnant witch Draco stands next to, and she reaches out to her, nearly tripping over her feet.

"Fleur! My goodness what are you doing here?" she gasps, and the two witches clasp hands.

"'Ermione!" Fleur exclaims, her face a large smile. "I didn't know you work here."

"And I didn't know you and Bill were expecting! Congratulations, that's absolutely wonderful," Granger gushes, turning to Draco. "I can help her here. Did you get my reward?"

Her tone is innocent but her eyes are dark, and spins back around to speak to Fleur once more before he can reply.

Sneaky bitch.