(Untitled)
Date: October 31st
Time: 3:45pm ~ Sunset
Location: The Pegasus Hotel, Crystal Ballroom - Diagon Alley
Characters Involved: Open to ALL who would like to join in on the fun!
Rating: Let's try to get it PG-13, shall we?
( Come and buy your next date! )
Time: 3:45pm ~ Sunset
Location: The Pegasus Hotel, Crystal Ballroom - Diagon Alley
Characters Involved: Open to ALL who would like to join in on the fun!
Rating: Let's try to get it PG-13, shall we?
( Come and buy your next date! )
He also was rather terrible at working up the courage to ask a woman out on a date, no matter how long he had known her.
Padma Patil was case in point. He had been an accountant at Gringotts for years - long before she arrived there. The day she walked into the acquisition vault, where he worked tallying values of items brought in by the Curse Breakers, he thought he must have died and gone to heaven. Never had he seen a more beautiful woman. Not only that, but her discussion with the bank manager escorting her around showed her to be intelligent and focused on her work.
Garrett was completely enamoured.
Of course, he worked behind a desk in a far corner, hidden behind numerous scales, stacks of parchment, mountains of tally-sheets, and strove very hard to be unnoticed. He had never exchanged more than the simplest of salutations with her. "Hello" or "Good find" when what he was thinking in his head was, "This is too dangerous a job for you!"
Her brief visits to the vault had been like sunshine, and he had ardently wished he had the courage just to truly speak to her - ask her to tea, anything!
The auction seemed like a gift from the Fates. He was several years older than she, and having nothing to do with his time but work constantly to earn money upon which he had nothing to spend, he was more than prepared to pay any price for one dinner with the object of his secret affections.
With a nervous twist of his gut, he raised his bidding paddle.
The Auctioneer acknowledged his bid with a flash of light against the paddle and began his chatter.
"Thirty, thirty, I got thirty, thirty five, thirty five, who will make it thirty five..."
Another flash of light somewhere to the left raised the bid, and again to the right and again, and again. Garrett was now far more jealous than nervous, and again he raised his paddle.
"Fifty, I got fifty, who will make it fifty five..."
Garrett was determined to win.
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"Seventy-five, I got seventy-five. Who will make it eighty? Eighty here. Come on, folks. Eighty's a deal. I've got eighty. Will anyone give me eighty-five? Eighty-five over here. Ninety, anyone?"
Ninety? Ninety galleons?! Who would want... Who would have that much money to spend on something like this? An irrational hope sparked in her heart before she beat it back down. He was in France. He wouldn't know anything about this. Don't be a moron, Padma.
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Or maybe that was just the stars in his eyes.
The other bidders were falling off, slowly but surely. Garrett didn't care. He would have bid all night long. Rarely did he spend money on anything which was not a necessity, simply because he was never away from his desk enough to want anything.
He wanted, now. With a determination which might have been better suited to a former Gryffindor than the former Ravenclaw he was, he raised his paddle at any time when he was not the highest bidder. He even rose from his seat in the back to make his way slowly closer to the stage, feeling almost triumphant when yet another bidder shook his head in disappointment and stopped raising his card.
"Sold to number 738 for one hundred fifty galleons," said the auctioneer at last, banging his gavel on the podium.
Garrett felt a thrill of victory the likes of which he had never experienced before in his life. Grinning like an idiot, he slowly made his way to the front of the room, off to the left of the stage, where he had seen other winners go and finalise the purchase. From there, he knew from watching other auctions, someone would meet him and take him to be introduced to Padma so the arrangements could be made for the day, time, and place of their date.
He was going to have a DATE with PADMA PATIL.
Someone could kill him now, and he would die the happiest man the world had ever known.
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As her eyes focused on the build on the individual she had that feeling of fainting all over again. Was it? It couldn't be. It... It wasn't. Her heart sank the second the man passed out of the glare into view. It wasn't Theo, but it... He did look familiar. Vaguely so, but there was still that nagging feeling that she'd seen him somewhere before. Wasn't he... He worked with her. Not with her, though. At the bank. What was his name? Garth? No, that wasn't right. Gareth? No, that wasn't right either. It DID start with a G, though.
Stepping down off the block as the attendants lead her away so they could bring out the next 'item', Padma was left dumbfound. Where the hell was she suppose to go now?
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"Come along this way, please, Miss Patil," she said, gesturing towards curtains off to the right of the stage. “You’ll get to meet the lucky winner over here where he is made to sign the contract in your presence. You will also sign an additional waiver and/or official request to have an Auror’s presence at your date.” She looked at Padma, “Do you have any questions before you go to meet your date?”
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"Greetings, sir," she said to Garrett who had been led to them by another Witch Weekly staffer. She looked down at the list of people and flipped over to see the name of 738. "Mr. Garrett Drake, this is Miss Padma Patil, and you have won her company for her date. Miss Patil is available for her date on November 5th. Do you have any conflicts on that date, Mr. Drake?"
Another assistant handed her the magical contract, with an extra spell-binding pen. There would be no getting out of this one for anyone. Without this contract, it would be pesky business dealing with liabilities.
Belinda read it aloud as she handed the quill to Mr. Drake.
"'Contract
I, the undersigned, agree to the terms listed below.
- I will not touch my date in an intimate manner without his or her express permission.
- I am willing to have the presence of an Auror at our date.
- The set time for the date is two hours, extended only at the agreement of both parties.
- I will treat my date with dignity.
- I will not hurt, injure, maim my date.
- I ensure the protection of my date during our specified date time.
- I agree that any misdemeanor or breaking of these laws are punishable by heavy fine not to exceed 12,000 galleons and three years in Azkaban.'
"And then you sign and date it, Mr. Drake. Please know that this is a magically binding contract."
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She didn't look particularly pleased, which sobered him rather quickly, restoring him to his former nervousness rather than excitement. This was why he'd never tried to speak with her before... what if he said something stupid or simply disgusted her??
Swallowing nervously, he turned his attention to the woman speaking, though he did spare a shy smile and nod to Padma as they were 'introduced'.
"No - the date is fine. Any date is fine. I would like it to be at Miss Patil's convenience," he said timidly.
He couldn't hide his expression of shock as he listened to the list of conditions - it was hard for him to believe anyone would consider hurting someone who was doing such a generous thing in the name of charity. Especially when the charity was benefitting children.
It merely added to her many perfections, to think she liked children.
Without hesitation, he signed the contract, though his hand was trembling and the signature was a little shaky.
"Hello, Miss Patil," he said at last, managing just enough courage to smile shyly again.
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She was able to offer him a slightly strained smile, though. She didn't want to seem rude. "It's a pleasure, Mister Drake. I do believe we've met before, if I'm not mistaken," She said before turning back to the attendant. "You said there was something I had to sign as well?"
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"I'm an intake accountant at the bank... I've seen you sometimes."
Daily, when she was no a good 'stretch' of acquisitions and the Fates were smiling upon him, but usually at least once a week.
He was all but bouncing on his toes in anticipation, and only slightly disappointed that the agreed upon date was not permitted to be more than two hours. Then again, considering his awkward social skills, he was equally fretful over how he would ever find anything to talk about enough to fill two hours!
Before she was given her bit to sign, he felt quite determined to make sure everything was to her liking.
"Is the fifth all right for you? You can pick any day you like, honestly. I'm not doing anything anyway - whatever works for you."
He had absolutely no idea how desperate and pathetic that made him sound.
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Taking the quill from the attendant, Padma signed the waver form. She didn't see any point in having an Auror there to watch them. He didn't seem like the type that would cause trouble, and besides, she could probably take him with one hand tied behind her back.
"The fifth is fine with me, Mister Drake. It is the date that I choose initially after all. Though, that was before I was told just what the date was for, but no matter. I don't have anything pressing other than work at the moment," Padma basically rambled as she handed over the paperwork before glancing up at Garrett. "Do you have any preference for a place?"
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