Chapter 21- Rumor Has It, Part 2
A women’s scarf was folded carefully beneath the clear page cover, its light orange dye subdued but eye-catching. Ginny couldn’t help but smile as she gladly let herself get lost in the memories.
Ginny walked into Blaise’s office without knocking and closed the door sharply behind her. She threw a legal pad down on his desk.
“We have a problem.”
“Hello to you, too.” Blaise pulled the pad toward him and flipped through a few sheets but didn’t see anything that alarmed him. “Doodles and nearly-incoherent scribbles?”
“Yes.”
“So the Ministry needs to be more discerning in its hiring of new members to the secretarial pool. You considered this an emergency?”
“Of course not—well, yes, actually. Have you been down the west corridor on the second floor recently? That whole section is a cloud of disgusting perfume and cheap nail polish.”
“Between the Gaming Commission and Magical Mishaps? That area is known clandestinely among the higher-ups as the floor of toxic fumes.”
“Clever.”
“We like to think so.”
“But that really wasn’t the emergency that brought me here.”
“I should hope not. I’ve been tolerating them every day for four years; I think you can handle once a week.”
“Can we return to seriousness, please?” Ginny waited for Blaise’s gesture of acquiescence before sitting. She leaned forward and tapped the legal pad in his hand, drawing his attention back down to it. “The secretaries on this floor all have one of these, and they’re all charmed to be linked together. It’s like note passing at Hogwarts, but much lazier.”
“I’ve known about this for years, Ginny. It’s harmless office gossip.” Blaise dropped the legal pad and started to sit back, then caught himself and amended his statement. “It’s usually harmless office gossip. What have they done now?”
“They’re talking about us. I ran into some very pointed questions on the way up today about my constant appearances here, about the hours we spend alone in your office. We were doing alright in the rumor mill until now, but these secretaries are killing us.”
“The rumor mill until now being that we were doing the dirty?”
“Yes.” Ginny couldn’t stop the tiny smile that quirked up the side of her mouth. “Sorry, you said ‘doing the dirty.’ It’s funny coming out of your mouth.”
Blaise smiled wryly. “I know you wish we were, Ginny, but try to focus.”
Ginny just rolled her eyes. “So the problem is that now the secretaries have gotten together to start ganging up on me for hooking up with you.”
“They don’t like you being such a loose hussy?”
“And they don’t like me letting you take advantage of me. They say I have too much influence over the younger generations, that I’m not being a good role model, and their opinion is starting to spread and draw too much attention.”
“So basically, if you weren’t such a damned inspirational symbol of hope and morality to the good little children, we would still be fine.” Blaise sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I knew I hated Gryffindors for a good reason.”
“Aw, and here I thought you didn’t care.”
“If only I didn’t.” Blaise glanced up and saw Ginny’s raised eyebrow. “About this assignment, I mean. About you, I really don’t care.”
“Keep up that warm gushiness, Mr. Sunshine; I’m sure it’ll convince the secretaries we’re more than fuck buddies.”
“Touché.” Blaise reached behind him and passed her a butterbeer. “How do you want to handle this?”
Ginny popped open her butterbeer and took a swig before answering. “Well, I told them that we’re dating, so there aren’t a lot of places to go from there. We have to become less discreet, and quickly, or there will be more questions. Walking through the corridors together, a few public appearances, being dates for the occasional official dinner… anything to make it appear that we are, in fact, a couple.”
Blaise made a face. “It’s intolerable enough going to those dinners when I know I’m going to get a shag out of my date in the coatroom; it’ll be completely insufferable going celibate.”
“Your sob story tugs at my heartstrings.” Ginny sighed and drummed her fingers on his desk. “What do you really think of this?”
Blaise shrugged. “The whole reason we’ve continued meeting here is so we’d have a viable excuse if and when these types of questions came up. I’m not thrilled that I’m now in an obligatory, sexless relationship, but it is what it is.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Ginny clinked her glass against Blaise’s and downed another gulp. “As long as we’re on subjects that are no fun to talk about, we need to chat about Draco.”
Blaise raised his eyebrows and gestured for her to continue.
“Why did you bring him to the club the other night?”
“I needed a drink, the club was there. I can’t lie, they have good booze.”
“Blaise, please.”
Blaise set down his butterbeer. “What do you want me to say, Ginny? This life that we lead… it’s hard. Sometimes you want to drop the professional façade, sometimes the lines get blurred.”
“But the lines can’t get blurred, Blaise, not with us.” Ginny paused and drew a breath, the weight of her job laying heavy on her. “Bringing him to the club… it made things difficult for all three of us. I know he’s your best friend, but that doesn’t mean you can skirt the rules for him. If he doesn’t believe we’re really together, then he’s going to come after me, and I’m going to let him, and then our whole ruse is ruined.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“You’re the sneaky Slytherin. I’m sure you can figure out something.”
Blaise rubbed a hand down over his face, looking older than he was. “Alright. I’ll figure something out.”
“Good.” Ginny bit her lip, letting the silence settle for a long time before speaking again. She purposefully injected her tone with more positivity than she felt. “I don’t feel like exchanging our information for the week now. You?”
“I’d prefer not to at this particular moment.”
“Alright, then what shall we do?”
Blaise watched in bemusement as Ginny leaned back and propped her feet up on his desk, looking at him expectantly. “I do have a job here, you know.”
Ginny batted her eyes innocently. “But I’m your girlfriend and we’re secluded in your office. If I come out too soon people will assume the worst and then I’ll have to come up with a new excuse for being here every week! Really, Blaise, it’s for the good of the job.”
Blaise held up his hands in surrender, unable to bite back his grin. “Fine, you win. What do you want to do?”
Ginny’s smile widened as she drained the last of her butterbeer and stood. “I think we should really give the gossips something to talk about.”
Looking back on it later, Blaise wasn’t sure when he’d lost all sense of propriety. He thought it might’ve been around the time that Ginny tossed her cloak in the corner and unbuttoned the top few buttons of her black silk blouse. Then again, it also could’ve been when she’d pulled his shirttails out of his pants and put her scarf around his neck. Eventually, he concluded that the catalyst for his uncharacteristic behavior had been when she’d tousled her hair and pulled her skirt up to an indecent length, stretching out on his desk invitingly. In any event, when a knock sounded at his door, it was no hard task to sound distracted.
“Go away.”
Ginny giggled at the roughness of his voice, and they were both sure of how that giggle was interpreted on the other side of the door.
“Mr. Zabini, there’s someone here to see you.”
Blaise groaned convincingly from his position next to the door, double-checked that Ginny was in position, and wrenched the door open in a show of aggravation.
“What?!”
The blood drained out of Blaise’s face as he took in the sight of Draco Malfoy standing outside his office. He watched his best friend take in the room, take in Ginny’s appearance and his own, and reach out one finger to pull Ginny’s orange scarf out from around his neck.
“Draco, I know this-”
“Nothing is going on with you?” Draco’s voice was coolly formal, his face and eyes were expressionless. “I see you wore her down.”
“Draco-”
“I left the forms you asked for with your secretary,” Draco interrupted. “But I’m afraid Malfoy, Black, & Associates will be unable to go over them with you today as planned. Excuse me.”
Without waiting for a reply, Draco turned on his heel and stalked away, looking for all the world like a cool, collected, and dangerously offended version of his father.
“Shit!” Blaise slammed the door as he reentered his office, desperately trying to think how in the hell he was going to explain what had just happened.
A women’s scarf was folded carefully beneath the clear page cover, its light orange dye subdued but eye-catching. Ginny couldn’t help but smile as she gladly let herself get lost in the memories.
Ginny walked into Blaise’s office without knocking and closed the door sharply behind her. She threw a legal pad down on his desk.
“We have a problem.”
“Hello to you, too.” Blaise pulled the pad toward him and flipped through a few sheets but didn’t see anything that alarmed him. “Doodles and nearly-incoherent scribbles?”
“Yes.”
“So the Ministry needs to be more discerning in its hiring of new members to the secretarial pool. You considered this an emergency?”
“Of course not—well, yes, actually. Have you been down the west corridor on the second floor recently? That whole section is a cloud of disgusting perfume and cheap nail polish.”
“Between the Gaming Commission and Magical Mishaps? That area is known clandestinely among the higher-ups as the floor of toxic fumes.”
“Clever.”
“We like to think so.”
“But that really wasn’t the emergency that brought me here.”
“I should hope not. I’ve been tolerating them every day for four years; I think you can handle once a week.”
“Can we return to seriousness, please?” Ginny waited for Blaise’s gesture of acquiescence before sitting. She leaned forward and tapped the legal pad in his hand, drawing his attention back down to it. “The secretaries on this floor all have one of these, and they’re all charmed to be linked together. It’s like note passing at Hogwarts, but much lazier.”
“I’ve known about this for years, Ginny. It’s harmless office gossip.” Blaise dropped the legal pad and started to sit back, then caught himself and amended his statement. “It’s usually harmless office gossip. What have they done now?”
“They’re talking about us. I ran into some very pointed questions on the way up today about my constant appearances here, about the hours we spend alone in your office. We were doing alright in the rumor mill until now, but these secretaries are killing us.”
“The rumor mill until now being that we were doing the dirty?”
“Yes.” Ginny couldn’t stop the tiny smile that quirked up the side of her mouth. “Sorry, you said ‘doing the dirty.’ It’s funny coming out of your mouth.”
Blaise smiled wryly. “I know you wish we were, Ginny, but try to focus.”
Ginny just rolled her eyes. “So the problem is that now the secretaries have gotten together to start ganging up on me for hooking up with you.”
“They don’t like you being such a loose hussy?”
“And they don’t like me letting you take advantage of me. They say I have too much influence over the younger generations, that I’m not being a good role model, and their opinion is starting to spread and draw too much attention.”
“So basically, if you weren’t such a damned inspirational symbol of hope and morality to the good little children, we would still be fine.” Blaise sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I knew I hated Gryffindors for a good reason.”
“Aw, and here I thought you didn’t care.”
“If only I didn’t.” Blaise glanced up and saw Ginny’s raised eyebrow. “About this assignment, I mean. About you, I really don’t care.”
“Keep up that warm gushiness, Mr. Sunshine; I’m sure it’ll convince the secretaries we’re more than fuck buddies.”
“Touché.” Blaise reached behind him and passed her a butterbeer. “How do you want to handle this?”
Ginny popped open her butterbeer and took a swig before answering. “Well, I told them that we’re dating, so there aren’t a lot of places to go from there. We have to become less discreet, and quickly, or there will be more questions. Walking through the corridors together, a few public appearances, being dates for the occasional official dinner… anything to make it appear that we are, in fact, a couple.”
Blaise made a face. “It’s intolerable enough going to those dinners when I know I’m going to get a shag out of my date in the coatroom; it’ll be completely insufferable going celibate.”
“Your sob story tugs at my heartstrings.” Ginny sighed and drummed her fingers on his desk. “What do you really think of this?”
Blaise shrugged. “The whole reason we’ve continued meeting here is so we’d have a viable excuse if and when these types of questions came up. I’m not thrilled that I’m now in an obligatory, sexless relationship, but it is what it is.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Ginny clinked her glass against Blaise’s and downed another gulp. “As long as we’re on subjects that are no fun to talk about, we need to chat about Draco.”
Blaise raised his eyebrows and gestured for her to continue.
“Why did you bring him to the club the other night?”
“I needed a drink, the club was there. I can’t lie, they have good booze.”
“Blaise, please.”
Blaise set down his butterbeer. “What do you want me to say, Ginny? This life that we lead… it’s hard. Sometimes you want to drop the professional façade, sometimes the lines get blurred.”
“But the lines can’t get blurred, Blaise, not with us.” Ginny paused and drew a breath, the weight of her job laying heavy on her. “Bringing him to the club… it made things difficult for all three of us. I know he’s your best friend, but that doesn’t mean you can skirt the rules for him. If he doesn’t believe we’re really together, then he’s going to come after me, and I’m going to let him, and then our whole ruse is ruined.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“You’re the sneaky Slytherin. I’m sure you can figure out something.”
Blaise rubbed a hand down over his face, looking older than he was. “Alright. I’ll figure something out.”
“Good.” Ginny bit her lip, letting the silence settle for a long time before speaking again. She purposefully injected her tone with more positivity than she felt. “I don’t feel like exchanging our information for the week now. You?”
“I’d prefer not to at this particular moment.”
“Alright, then what shall we do?”
Blaise watched in bemusement as Ginny leaned back and propped her feet up on his desk, looking at him expectantly. “I do have a job here, you know.”
Ginny batted her eyes innocently. “But I’m your girlfriend and we’re secluded in your office. If I come out too soon people will assume the worst and then I’ll have to come up with a new excuse for being here every week! Really, Blaise, it’s for the good of the job.”
Blaise held up his hands in surrender, unable to bite back his grin. “Fine, you win. What do you want to do?”
Ginny’s smile widened as she drained the last of her butterbeer and stood. “I think we should really give the gossips something to talk about.”
Looking back on it later, Blaise wasn’t sure when he’d lost all sense of propriety. He thought it might’ve been around the time that Ginny tossed her cloak in the corner and unbuttoned the top few buttons of her black silk blouse. Then again, it also could’ve been when she’d pulled his shirttails out of his pants and put her scarf around his neck. Eventually, he concluded that the catalyst for his uncharacteristic behavior had been when she’d tousled her hair and pulled her skirt up to an indecent length, stretching out on his desk invitingly. In any event, when a knock sounded at his door, it was no hard task to sound distracted.
“Go away.”
Ginny giggled at the roughness of his voice, and they were both sure of how that giggle was interpreted on the other side of the door.
“Mr. Zabini, there’s someone here to see you.”
Blaise groaned convincingly from his position next to the door, double-checked that Ginny was in position, and wrenched the door open in a show of aggravation.
“What?!”
The blood drained out of Blaise’s face as he took in the sight of Draco Malfoy standing outside his office. He watched his best friend take in the room, take in Ginny’s appearance and his own, and reach out one finger to pull Ginny’s orange scarf out from around his neck.
“Draco, I know this-”
“Nothing is going on with you?” Draco’s voice was coolly formal, his face and eyes were expressionless. “I see you wore her down.”
“Draco-”
“I left the forms you asked for with your secretary,” Draco interrupted. “But I’m afraid Malfoy, Black, & Associates will be unable to go over them with you today as planned. Excuse me.”
Without waiting for a reply, Draco turned on his heel and stalked away, looking for all the world like a cool, collected, and dangerously offended version of his father.
“Shit!” Blaise slammed the door as he reentered his office, desperately trying to think how in the hell he was going to explain what had just happened.
Author notes: I hate to beg for reviews, guys, but I have to do it occasionally. Reviews are how I improve. If you like the story, say so. Tell me what parts are your favorites so I get a feel for my strengths. If you hate it, tell me. Constructive criticism is one of the best tools available, and I know I need it at times! Please and thank you :)
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