Gravity

Chapter 2

Ginny returned as promised the next day, with Hermione in tow.

Draco watched with amusement through his peephole as they argued over who would knock. He waited until Hermione rolled her eyes and finally reached her hand up to knock, then opened the door before her hand could make contact. He put a scowl on his face as he swung the door wide. "Would you two please keep it down? I don't want trouble with the neighbors," he barked playfully.

Hermione looked at him as though he'd sprouted an extra nose, while Ginny glanced to either side of the house.

"You don't have neighbors, you git," said Ginny, shifting her weight onto one side of her body.

Draco grinned and leaned against the doorframe. He felt slightly nervous; he had never been in casual social setting with these women without Harry and Ron. "Your powers of observation are astounding, Mrs. Potter. How may I help you ladies this afternoon?"

Hermione gave him a small smile and Ginny said, "I've got the paint samples I promised. Would now be a good time to look at them?"

Draco cocked his head and looked at Hermione.

She shrugged. "I'm here for support."

He nodded and turned back to Ginny. "What exactly does looking at paint samples entail?" Then he held up his hand. "On second thought, it is nearly time for tea. Would you two care to join me?"

Ginny and Hermione both nodded and Draco opened the door for them to enter. They went into the kitchen and Draco Conjured two chairs for his guests. While he set a kettle on the stove, he reiterated his question to Ginny.

"Well, I've recently developed an interest in decorating," she began as she pulled stack after stack of paint samples, thin strips of stiff paper with a colour painted on each, from her bag. She also had a master paint book with all the colours printed in their colour families. "In selecting wall colour, usually you would just ... pick a colour you like."

Draco nodded. "Then you are here to leave those samples for me to look through?"

Ginny gave him a wary look. "Would you really do it?"

He considered the question and the fact that Ginny and Hermione were there. They obviously did not think he could be trusted to accomplish the task. As such, they were there. She was there. He guessed that Ginny planned to stay for a while and had convinced Hermione to come along to keep her company.

The kettle whistle went off and Draco prepared their tea, taking a few scones he had baked that morning out of the breadbasket and setting them on a plate. He levitated everything to the table and sat down.

"No, I do not reckon I would select paint for my walls, at least not in a timely fashion."

Ginny nodded. "That's what I thought. I also thought we could go through them together and pick colours."

"Okay," he said, putting a lump of sugar in his cup.

"Where do you spend most of your time when you're at home?" Ginny asked.

He frowned and started to ask what on earth that question had to do with paint colour when he was interrupted.

"Oh, these are delicious!" said Hermione, having taken a bite of a raspberry scone on which she had heaped a dollop of lemon curd. "Did you make them?"

Draco nodded, feeling a twinge of pride.

"Amazing ... and the curd tastes fresh too."

"I try to make a batch every week."