This was written for Round Three of The DG Forum's 'Battle of the Drabbles' challenge. The prompt is listed at the end.

Ginny's Bad Day

"Stay down!"

Ginny removed her hand and was frustrated to see the same strand of red flick up like an insect antenna. She groaned and closed her eyes, holding back tears of frustration. Today was the big job interview, but she had somehow managed to sleep through her alarm, and then she'd stubbed her toe while walking to the shower, and then she hadn't been able to find her wand to dry her hair. Of course, when she finally did, her hair just wouldn't cooperate with her.

"I've tried putting you up, and I've tried putting you down," Ginny raged, glaring at the offending tresses of red. "Why won't you just look nice?"

Her hair had no response, though wispy strands were beginning to crackle free, making it look as if she had a frizzy halo. Ginny's shoulders slumped in defeat, but then she caught sight of the clock and a squeak of horror escaped her throat.

"I'm going to be late!"

Snatching up her bag from the bed, she slipped her feet into her heels and then Disapparated. Materialising at the designated point in the Ministry of Magic, she pushed past the other people and made a mad dash for the lifts. If she hurried, she still might be able to make it to the interview before they wrote her off completely. It was therefore a relief when she made it into the glass lift before the doors slid shut.

"Oh, thank Merlin," she breathed, clicking the button for the floor she wanted and then letting her head rest against the wall as she tried to catch her breath.

"Rough morning?"

"Terrible," she responded.

Then she actually looked at the other occupant in the lift and her expression soured. Only one person had such silvery blond hair, such striking grey eyes, and such handsome, angular features. It was Draco Malfoy.

"Brilliant," she muttered. "Could this day get any worse?"

Suddenly, there was a loud, metallic groan and the lift came to an abrupt halt. Ginny and Draco exchanged a surprised glance and then she reached over and clicked the button to get the lift moving again. Nothing happened.

"No!" Ginny exclaimed, pushing the button again and again. "No, no, no, no!"

"Move aside," Draco ordered. He pressed the switch that would allow him to contact the emergency repairmen. Again, nothing happened.

Ginny groaned and covered her face with her hands. "This is not happening! This can't be happening!"

"Stop being so melodramatic," Draco retorted. "This is a glass lift. People are bound to notice we're stuck eventually."

"You don't understand!" Ginny cried, staring up at him through overly bright eyes. "I'm supposed to be having a job interview right now; instead, I'm stuck in this lift with you." Her bottom lip trembled. "If only my hair had just cooperated with me this morning."

"What has your hair got to do with this?" Draco asked, justifiably nonplussed.

Ginny wasn't listening. She slid to the floor and buried her face in her knees, wondering how so much could have gone so wrong. This job had been everything to her; it was her chance to prove to her family that she could stand on her own two feet. But now she could see all of those dreams of independence and success being sucked away down the drain. No one would think twice about a person who couldn't even make it to an interview on time and whose hair looked like a frizzy red halo with antennas.

Draco eyed the redhead suspiciously. "Are you crying?"

"No."

But her voice was decidedly wobbly, and the snotty sniff that followed was just further evidence that she was far from happy. Draco sighed and sat down next to her on the ground.

"Here," he said.

Ginny looked up to see a handkerchief being dangled in front of her face. Her gaze shifted to the blond, but he wasn't looking at her and was instead staring straight ahead, just waiting for her to accept his offering.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"Least I can do," he muttered, still not looking at her.

Ginny was too busy blowing her nose to hear him, but that didn't matter. His unexpected gesture of kindness had soothed a lot of her distress, to the point where she was able to bestow him with a tremulous smile once she had wiped away her tears.

"Um, what should I do with—"

"Keep it," he said. "I can't say I relish the thought of carrying something with your snot all over it in my pocket." A faint smirk touched his lips. "Besides, it looks like you need it more than I do."

A light dusting of pink spread over her cheeks. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about that."

"It's fine." He leaned back against the wall. "I'd rather that than listen to you throw a pity party for yourself the whole time we're stuck in this lift together."

She elbowed him in the arm. "Git."

His mouth twitched and, for a moment, the two of them sat next to each other in comfortable silence. Ginny soon became aware of a cool, masculine scent teasing her senses, and she realised it had to be coming from the blond. She glanced up at him, taking the time to examine his profile. He turned to meet her gaze, and as she stared into his grey eyes, it occurred to her that he really was an incredibly attractive man. The realisation brought another blossom of pink to her cheeks.

"What?" Draco said, raising his eyebrow.

Ginny ducked her head. "Nothing."

She stared at the handkerchief in her hands, and a smile touched her lips as she saw the tiny D and M stitched onto the corner. By the time the lift started moving again, she no longer cared that she had missed her interview or that her hair looked like a frizzy halo with red antennas. After all, not everything had gone wrong for her that morning.

Prompt: A bad hair day

Genre: Comedy

Word count: 1000 words.