Century #19
Prompt: Happiness
Words: 400
On the surface, Draco Malfoy was a blessed man. He had everything anyone else could ever want; wealth, power, looks, talent, etc. Of course no one is really that perfect, and Draco lacked one crucial life skill.
The poor boy couldn't flirt if he'd been Imperio'd. It seemed physically impossible for him. And it wasn't that he wasn't handsome or witty, or any of the other things that generally aided a good flirter. Many girls were drawn in by his charisma at first…
…And then after even just a single conversation with him, they all seemed to disappear. Some even gave him disgusted looks as though he had personally affronted them; when he tried to discreetly ask why, they merely scoffed.
It was infuriating.
Still, Draco had begun to make great progress on controlling his anger lately. His Life Coach (not that anyone knew; Draco would never leak any sort of need for one, so to the public they were just friends), Ginny Weasley, put much emphasis on that. His people skills weren't good on an individual basis; while he knew how to handle a crowd, one-on-one Draco was "manipulative and immature". So that was what they had been practicing together.
They most often did this by simulating dates. Ginny would grade Draco on how he spoke and acted, warning him whenever "too much arrogance shone through". The whole thing really ought to have been tiresome and humiliating, but Draco didn't mind. Going out on all the pointless dates was really quite fun. He enjoyed seeing how far he could tease her without lowering his grade, and since she didn't seem to mind, they practiced almost every night. Draco had yet to put what he was learning into practice, but for some reason it didn't exactly seem urgent. Spending time with Ginny was enough, better in some ways - girls always acted like he was committing some terrible wrong by trying to flirt with them anyway.
It was probably a good thing Draco didn't read tabloids, or he'd rapidly figure out why - splashed across almost every new Witch Weekly was another 'candid photo' of the two of them, laughing or holding hands or eating dinner at a dimly-lit restaurant.
Ginny read tabloids, but somehow the topic never came up. He kept asking her out on practice dates, she kept accepting, and both of them walked around with small smiles.
Words: 400
On the surface, Draco Malfoy was a blessed man. He had everything anyone else could ever want; wealth, power, looks, talent, etc. Of course no one is really that perfect, and Draco lacked one crucial life skill.
The poor boy couldn't flirt if he'd been Imperio'd. It seemed physically impossible for him. And it wasn't that he wasn't handsome or witty, or any of the other things that generally aided a good flirter. Many girls were drawn in by his charisma at first…
…And then after even just a single conversation with him, they all seemed to disappear. Some even gave him disgusted looks as though he had personally affronted them; when he tried to discreetly ask why, they merely scoffed.
It was infuriating.
Still, Draco had begun to make great progress on controlling his anger lately. His Life Coach (not that anyone knew; Draco would never leak any sort of need for one, so to the public they were just friends), Ginny Weasley, put much emphasis on that. His people skills weren't good on an individual basis; while he knew how to handle a crowd, one-on-one Draco was "manipulative and immature". So that was what they had been practicing together.
They most often did this by simulating dates. Ginny would grade Draco on how he spoke and acted, warning him whenever "too much arrogance shone through". The whole thing really ought to have been tiresome and humiliating, but Draco didn't mind. Going out on all the pointless dates was really quite fun. He enjoyed seeing how far he could tease her without lowering his grade, and since she didn't seem to mind, they practiced almost every night. Draco had yet to put what he was learning into practice, but for some reason it didn't exactly seem urgent. Spending time with Ginny was enough, better in some ways - girls always acted like he was committing some terrible wrong by trying to flirt with them anyway.
It was probably a good thing Draco didn't read tabloids, or he'd rapidly figure out why - splashed across almost every new Witch Weekly was another 'candid photo' of the two of them, laughing or holding hands or eating dinner at a dimly-lit restaurant.
Ginny read tabloids, but somehow the topic never came up. He kept asking her out on practice dates, she kept accepting, and both of them walked around with small smiles.