Chapter Text
Ministry of Magic's Halloween Costume Charity Ball
8:23 P.M.
As Hermione enters the vast ballroom, she makes a beeline for the bar, needing to start the evening off on the right foot.
To her delight, the bartender is a good friend: Blaise Zabini is dressed up as Cupid for tonight's event, complete with a silly bow and arrow set slung across his chest. Topless, his skin is oiled and painted in golden fairy dust, and his matching satin pantaloons hang low on his hips. He looks like a love slave with Veela-like wings, quite honestly, more fit for a BDSM dungeon than a Ministry charity event.
"Blaise, I didn't know you were a bartender, too!" she says as she takes a stool in front of him, then feathers through her newer, shorter style that Blaise had given her just that afternoon. “This cut is fantastic, by the way. I love how it makes me feel, so…”
“Naughty and free?” he suggests.
“Exactly.”
She's been his client for the last three years, and over that time, their rapport has been growing by leaps and bounds. It's been a wonder to discover there is more to this silent, talented wizard than just his house affiliation and his close friendship with Draco Malfoy, her irritating co-worker.
"The best hairdresser in all of Britain by day, moonlighting as a mixologist for the Ministry? How very mysterious you are, Mr. Zabini!"
Blaise shrugs one muscular shoulder and flashes a quick grin. "I'm Slytherin," he reminds her with a wink. "We are always full of surprises, Ms. Granger."
"Is that so?" she challenges him with a wicked grin. "Why don't you prove it by making me something as unique and unforgettable as this new haircut? Ply me with a menu of drinks guaranteed to end with my socks being knocked off!"
With a mischievous gleam in his dark eyes, he accepts her challenge.
"I do believe I've got just the thing for you, Ms. Granger…"