A/N: The cure for writer's block is obviously to write something completely unrelated to your current project! Review? Please? :^^: This is the first D/G I've tried to write, which is probably evident in the terrible construction.
~clockwisevenus

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Ginny was thrilled--at the very pinnacle of happiness. It was impossible, she had decided, to be any happier than she was, right then, at that very moment. Why? Simple.

Because there was, more often than not, no Harry Potter in France.

There especially was no Harry Potter in L'Université de Échec. Of course, men could attend, but Harry Potter was most certainly not the type of man who would up and decide to go to a bloody school for women. He simply didn't think that way.

There would be no Harry Potter to screw over her entire college career--no Harry Potter to tell her how much he loved her and then abruptly break up with her on their anniversary.

God, she hated him.

Yum. Even the steps up to the front doors were lovely. She adored it already.

That is, until she was finally inside and she realized that she had no idea where to go.

"Excuse me," she said, tapping the shoulder of a tallish looking fellow who had entered before her. "I'm looking for the Advanced Charms classroom, and I don't quite know where to find it."

He turned around, smiling sympathetically at her. "Is it your first day?" he asked, surprising her with his sharp, American accent. "I was completely lost on my first day as well." He held out his hand. "I'm Will."

She shook his hand politely and nodded. "I'm Ginny, but I really must find this class--I don't mean to be rude, of course--"

"Oh, it's quite all right," he assured her. "I'll walk you to class; it's a bit confusing if you don't know the way."

Ginny shook her head furiously. "Oh, no, I don't want to trouble you--if you could just tell me where it is I'm sure I could find it."

"Actually," he said, "in addition to being Will, I'm Professor Jacobs, the Advanced Charms teacher. I'm heading there anyway."

Ginny blinked. "Oh," she said intelligently. "All right, then." She turned to look at him as he directed her up a staircase. "You're a bit young for a college professor, aren't you?"

"Good call," he laughed. "I graduated last year. I've still got some friends in their last years here, and some as my students. It's pretty strange."

"I can only imagine," she said.

"What about you?" he asked. "Where'd you come from?"

"Um," Ginny said, staring at him. If Will had green eyes he would have been the spitting image of Harry. Damn, where had she gone to school? She couldn't remember--oh! "Hogwarts," she said shakily. "I went to Hogwarts."

"Really!" he said, looking rather impressed. "You must know the famous Harry Potter, then."

Ginny glanced up at him, scowling. "Ugh."

"I'll assume that was a 'yes,'" Will smiled. "Not as wonderful as he's made out to be?"

"Oh, no," she said, her eyes wide. "He is wonderful! He's a great student, and he's excellent at Quidditch, and he's so very nice, it's just--well, do you ever read the papers?"

He nodded. "Of course."

"The Daily Prophet?"

"Yup, as often as I can find the time--I have a friend that reads it, and she lends it to me."

She grimaced. There was another resemblance to Harry, who only read the papers when Hermione gave them to him. "Remember that 'Harry Potter Dates a Commoner' bit they had going a few months back?"

Will's eyebrows rose, hidden under the dark, shaggy hair that fell over his forehead. "Ginny, everyone remembers that."

She sighed unhappily. "It was the first time I'd been in a front page story."

"You're Ginny Weasley? Hell, you're practically a celebrity!"

"Unfortunately, I'm portrayed as a pretty slutty celebrity," she said, unconsciously reaching up and pressing her bangs flat against her forehead, an odd habit she had picked up from Harry while they had been together.

Will nodded slowly. "So I take it you're not dating him anymore?"

"Totally not," she agreed vehemently.

"Good," he said.

Ginny stopped in her tracks, confused. "Excuse me?"

"Boyfriends are terrible things to have in college, you know. Relationships get in the way of studies." He turned and smiled at her. "Here we are: Advanced Charms with Professor Jacobs--me."

"Oh," she said, feeling a bit embarrassed for reasons she couldn't fathom. "Thanks."

He graciously held the door open for her and then stepped in, followed by a slew of other students coming in behind them.

Will, Ginny decided, was just as nice in class as he was outside of it. The class was smaller than she had expected at only about twice the size of the classes at Hogwarts. She found herself feeling strangely comfortable and at home in the new school. She had been scared that everyone in L'Université de Échec was going to be tall, blonde, gorgeous, and frightening beyond all reason--although that was mostly due to the general impression she had gotten from Fleur.

She was reminded of Neville when, during their review of basic charms, Will called upon a nervous-looking boy to perform a Cushioning Charm and he completely bungled it, turned scarlet, and looked like he was going to cry. Will laughed and told the boy he had done fine, reverted the spell, and then showed the class how it was properly done.

As her day continued, it kept getting better and better--her Muggle Studies class was a breeze, and her Elvish course was taught by an actual elf. She had seen magical creatures before--goblins and hags and the like, but she hadn't seen any humanoid creature so stunningly beautiful in her life.

Then, suddenly, in her last class, everything came to a screeching halt when she saw a familiar face--one she had hoped not to see again after she had graduated from Hogwarts.

Trying to be inconspicuous and wishing she didn't have such vibrant red hair, Ginny waited and prayed for the class to end. She sidled out the door, moving as quickly as she could without drawing too much attention to herself, but a hand reached out and grabbed the strap of her bag, yanking her back.

"Weasley!" Draco said, looking overjoyed. "I didn't know you were going to come here."

"Malfoy," she said, nodding with the most polite attitude she could muster. "What a surprise."

"You forgot 'pleasant,' Weasley. How's the infamous Potter doing?"

She scowled at him. "His name is Harry. Anyway, I wouldn't know. We've broken up." She sped up, trying to get away, but he pulled her back again.

"You mean he's broken up," he grinned. "I'll bet you had no part in it at all. Why do you keep trying to leave?" he asked, pulling her back for a third time and not letting go of her bag. "Scared of me?" he whispered gently.

Ginny sniffed and turned her face away from him. "I am most certainly not scared of you. I'm not twelve years old anymore, Malfoy."

"You should be scared," he said, glancing down at her. "Are you scared of Potter?"

She looked back again. "Yes," she said. "I'm terrified of him."

"Now, Weasley, why would that be?"

"Because," she said plainly, backing away from him, "if he ever asked for me to get back together with him, I would find myself compelled to say yes, and that is one of the most disquieting sensations possible. Now, Malfoy, if you will excuse me--"

"And what of me?" he said, the arrogant smile that aggravated her so much still on his lips. "What if I asked you to go out with me? What would you say then?"

She turned and stared at him, incredulous. "You're terrible!" she snapped, her jaw dropping. "You don't even bother to call me by my first name! I'm just Weasley, the Little Weasel!"

Draco shook his head. "Weasley, Weasley, Weasley...you condemn me for my actions, but did you ever stop to think that you've never been civil to me, either?"

Ginny blinked. "But--I..." She scowled at him. "You know that's not fair."

"Yes, well, anyway," he sighed. "I've really got to run. Studying to do, you know." He kissed the tip of his finger and tapped her cheek. "See you tomorrow, hm?"

"I--yes," she said, before she had time to think. He smirked and brushed past her. Disoriented, she turned around to walk the opposite way, not wanting it to seem as if she was following him, and she ran into Will. "Oh, shit," she muttered, slapping her forehead. "I'm sorry."

He was looking over her shoulder at Draco, who was still striding away. "Who was that?" he asked, poorly hidden displeasure lacing his voice.

"Malfoy," she said quietly, rubbing her cheek as if to cleanse it. "Draco."

"What, do you know him?"

Ginny shrugged, wondering why he was asking her such trivial questions. "You could say that, yes. We went to school together, but he was a year older than I--and, well...Harry's rival, of sorts."

He smiled. "Competing for you?"

Ginny almost choked, attempting to change the unladylike noise to laughter at the last moment. "Oh, God no," she said, embarrassed. "We hate each other."

Will nodded. "Ah," he said knowledgeably.

"No," she said sternly, "we really do. We've never been able to stand each other, ever--"

"I never said you didn't," Will laughed, patting her amicably on the shoulder.

Ginny sighed, rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably. "I'm just a bit paranoid, I suppose. I was hoping--well, to be honest, I was hoping not to see anyone from Hogwarts once I came here, and least of all him." She shook her head. "Anyway."

Stretching, Will shifted his binders from one arm to the other. "So are you living on campus, or what?"

"I have a little apartment around the corner," she said. "It's a bit cramped, but I can't afford much else, and I'd really rather live by myself now. I lived with eight other people almost my entire home life, and there were lots of people in the dormitories at school, of course."

"Eight people!" he choked. "How many brothers and sisters do you have?"

Ginny laughed. "I've got six brothers and no sisters. It was a bit hectic."

He nodded. "Well. I'll let you get on home, then. And don't forget to bring your book to class tomorrow. You're going to need it."

"I'll remember," she said, turning to trudge down the stairs. "I promise!"

~^~^~^~

Mental note, Ginny told herself. Purchase automobile. The walk home was a relatively short one, with the building only a block and a half away, but with all her books she was considerably loaded down, and the walk was made much more difficult.

Damn, she sighed inwardly when she reached her door and the knob turned easily in her hand. I forgot to lock the bloody door. Stepping into the apartment, she glanced up and screamed.

Draco looked up from where he had been sifting through the items in her bureau. "Hallo," he said pleasantly.

"What the hell are you doing in my apartment?" she yelled, dropping her books and bag and slamming the door.

"Oh, do you live here?" he said indifferently.

Sitting down on the tiny sofa in front of her bed, she sighed. "Yes, Draco, I live here. What are you doing here?"

"Well, if we're going out to dinner tonight you're going to have to have something to wear. Obviously, however, you've spent all your money on tuition. Do you realize that almost all of your knickers are black?"

Ginny dropped her face into her hands. "This is not happening."

Pulling out a nearly transparent shift out of the closet, Draco scrutinized it and held it out to her. "What do you think of this?"

"That's a nightgown," she said, exasperated. And who said I would go out to dinner with you, anyway? I believe the record shows that I loathe you."

He snorted in an undignified manner that seemed to Ginny to be quite unlike him. "I did," he said. "What, don't you want to celebrate your first school day?"

"Of course I do," Ginny sighed. "Just not with you."

"You're a moody one," he said, holding out the gauzy nightdress. "Here, put this on."

"I will not," she said indignantly. "It's hardly appropriate--"

"It would be if you'd just bloody cooperate and put the damn thing on!" he frowned.

Growling, Ginny snatched the hanger from him and sulked her way into the lavatory.

"You could change out here, you know," he said happily, sitting down on the couch and making himself comfortable. "I promise I don't mind."

"Belt up!" she yelled, slamming the door. A scant while later, Ginny stepped out the door, a heavy towel wrapped around her shoulders to conceal herself, looking mortified. "I am not wearing this in public."

Draco nodded, pulling his wand out of his pocket. "Of course you are. Come here."

She complied, and he reached out, tapping the strap that peeked out from under the towel and closing his eyes in concentration.

"There," he said, looking highly pleased with his handiwork as Ginny opened the towel and stared down at the fluid black fabric that pooled around her feet. "That's better."

"Wow," she said simply, shaking her head in wonder. "That's--" she broke off, catching herself. What was she thinking? She had almost complimented Draco-bloody-Malfoy, The Insufferable Git. "Thanks," she said instead, feeling that the word was harmless for the most part.

He smiled, although she couldn't tell if it was a genuine smile or his normal derisive smirk. Cheeky bastard. "You're welcome."

"So. Where are we going for this dinner you're dragging me to?"

"Well, if you really don't want to go--I just thought it would be polite of me--"

"And unexpected, and most disquieting--"

He continued, ignoring her. "To take you out to dinner. There's this absolutely lovely restaurant right down the street."

Ginny frowned. "What kind of food?"

"French, of course, what else would it be? Luckily it doesn't get tiring too quickly, and even when it does they make absolutely wonderful wine, so you can just get smashed and forget about the food." He stood up and began to head for the door. "It makes it much easier."

She didn't talk on the way to the restaurant; she just listened avidly as he pointed out various buildings and what they were. She had been hoping for some time to explore the city, but she hadn't expected it would be with Malfoy.

When they reached the doors of the restaurant, Ginny stepped away, staring at the monumental structure. "Oh, God," she said, "I can't go in here--I won't fit in--"

"You'll fit in perfectly," he reassured her, taking her arm and coaxing her inside. "Just trust me for once."

"For some reason," she sighed unhappily as he pulled her through the doorframe, "that just makes me more nervous."

Draco guided her through a maze of tables and chairs and aristocratic people to a secluded little booth in a corner, waiting for her to sit down and then following suit, sitting across from her. Well, she though, surprised, perhaps he does have manners after all.

A waiter came by a little while later and said something Draco that Ginny couldn't understand, and Draco rattled something right back--in French. There were obviously things about Draco that Ginny hadn't known before.

After the waiter was out of earshot, Ginny leaned across the table. "What on earth did you just say?" she said, amazed.

"I ordered food," he said, looking confused. "It was just French." She noticed that he was looking uncomfortable and decided to drop it.

She was astounded by the way he kept the conversation alive throughout dinner, while she happily shoved whatever the hell he had ordered for her into her mouth. She hadn't realized how hungry she had been until the smell of food had awakened her senses. Ginny had always known he had an acidic, sarcastic personality, but she hadn't ever realized how damned funny he could be sometimes.

When it was time to go, he reached into the pocket of his robes and spilled some Galleons effortlessly onto the table (she, however, gawked at the amount of money) and stood up, stretching languorously.

"Coming," Draco asked, raising an eyebrow, "or am I going to have to leave alone?"

With one last astonished glance to the gold glittering on the table, she stood up and walked quickly to catch up with him--he had already started to head for the door.

"Well," she said after they were back at her apartment. "Thank you." She turned the doorknob behind her back, and took a step inside.

A smirk playing on his lips, Draco followed her, tilting his face to plant a kiss on her temple, brushing her hair away from the side of her face and leaning more to whisper in her ear. "What," he said, "don't I get a goodnight kiss?"

"Absolutely n--" she started, as he tilted her chin up and captured her mouth beneath his. "Um," she said, swallowing, after his lips parted from hers, his face still close. "Maybe just a little one--" and then he was kissing her again, gathering her up in his arms, his lips moving down her jaw line to tease the base of her neck.

Suddenly his hands felt far closer to her skin than they had been a moment ago, her dress less covering.

"Oh," he said. "The Transfiguration's worn off. Here, I'll do it again," he added helpfully.

Unfortunately, before his wand could touch the fabric, there was a small pop, and the slow realization came over Ginny that she and Draco were not the only two people in the room any longer.

She pivoted on her heel and found that she wasn't too surprised to see Harry standing in her room with an expression like he had just tried to eat a lemon.

Ginny dove frantically for the towel that still hung over the shoulder of the couch and wrapped it around herself, blushing scarlet.

"Hello," he said to Ginny, although his eyes were on Draco. "It's been a while since I've seen you in that."

"No, we--he Transfigured it into a dress so we could go--"

Harry held up a hand. "You don't have to make excuses for me, Gin. Your mum sent me; she wants you to owl her as soon as you can."

"Well, why didn't she come herself?" she frowned.

Harry stared at her. "You know why."

"I suppose so," Ginny said sadly.

"I'll tell her you're--" he looked to Draco. "Busy. But I certainly won't tell her who you're with." He frowned disapprovingly at her and then disappeared with another pop.

Ginny collapsed onto the arm of the couch after he disappeared, clutching the towel around herself. "God, I hate him," she said, and her voice sounded like it was about to break.

"I'm sorry," Draco said, struggling with the unfamiliar words. "Here, I'll--" he started to say again, touching her shoulder.

She caught his hand and looked up at him, her eyes bright. "Don't bother with it," she said quietly. "It's not necessary."

Draco's eyes widened as her meaning dawned on him and she pulled him down by the collar of his robes. "Okay," he said, reminding himself to keep breathing, before he opened his mouth to hers and they tumbled over onto the couch.

~*~*~*~

OBLIGATORY QUOTE BOX:
"I believe the record shows that I loathe you" is Penny Arcade's "I believe the record shows that I loathe the undead." Not implying, of course, that Draco is an extremely sexy zombie. Although he could be. Hahahahahahahahaha.