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Chapter 1

When it rained in London, it poured. Draco normally loved the rain, it was quite romantic and peaceful, but it wasn't as peaceful when he'd forgotten his umbrella. He quickly ducked into the nearest shop. It wasn't until he'd run inside of the store he realized what it was: a hole-in-the-wall type bookshop. Draco's favorite kind of place.

A cheery voice rang out from the door behind the counter. "I'll be with you in a minute!"

Draco slowly walked down the shelves. He noticed a number of discount signs hastily taped to the shelves. The place must be going out of business, Draco thought bitterly. Being driven out by e-books and the like. Draco much preferred the feel of real paper.

The voice from earlier emerged from the doorway behind the counter. "Sorry about that, had some inventory to deal with. Welcome to Phoenix Books!" The clerk greeted.

Draco felt his heart stop at the sight of the young man. He had messy black hair with bright, round, green eyes that looked wonderful on his lightly tanned complexion. He had a sideways grin on his face that made him look all the more adorable.

"Is there anything you were looking for in particular today?" He continued.

"Ah- No, no, sorry I just ducked in from the storm, awful weather today, you know?" Draco rambled.

The man laughed a cheery laugh, like bells. "Of course, feel free to browse or whatever until the storm lets up."

The young man walked behind the desk and sat down. He pulled out a copy of "Much Ado About Nothing" and began reading. Draco felt a smile tugging at his lips, that was one of his favorite books. Everything keeps going wrong until someone figures who's the instigator and everyone lives happily ever after. Stories like that don't happen in real life, at least not in Draco's. He turned back to the shelf of heavily discounted books and began to browse. He found a copy of some fantasy novel and took it over to the checkout. He set it down on the counter and the clerk began to ring it up. Draco took this opportunity to try and make some small talk. "So, are you the owner?" He asked.

The clerk shook his head. "No, it's owned by Mr. Flourish and his business partner, Mr. Blotts. Unfortunately, the book industry has been slowly declining, so their going out of business soon." He said grimly.

"Ah." Draco said dumbly. Of course it is, you ninny. He tried again. "What's your name?"

The clerk looked up smiling. "Harry Potter." Harry stuck out his hand.

Draco smiled and took his hand. "Draco Malfoy."

Harry's eyes lit up in recognition. "That's why you seemed so familiar! You were in the paper today, one of the youngest CEO's in London."

Draco grimaced and internally cursed that ruddy paper. "Yeah, that's me..."

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad. I just thought it was impressive." Harry commented.

"Really? Even though I only got it because of nepotism?" Draco jokes dryly.

Harry tilted his head. "Why don't you sell it if you clearly don't want it?"

The realization struck Draco like an arrow. Of course he could sell it, it was his business. "I... hadn't thought of that." He answered quietly.

This got a chuckle out of Harry, so it wasn't a complete loss to Draco. "Oh, looks like the storm let up. I should let you be in your way." Harry handed him his book.

Draco internally swore at the storm for not lasting a few minutes longer so he had a reason to stay a little longer. He paid for his book and turned to leave. Now or never, he grimaced and turned back to Harry. "Would you like to have dinner sometime?"

Harry's face went pink. "Sure."

Draco practically skipped out of the store onto the now wet sidewalks. He walked back to the parking garage to get his car and drove hope with a song in his heart.

(A.N.: put a little twist on Draco's hand shake. ;) Thanks for reading lovelies! Hope you enjoyed.)