A/N: There's a serious lack of good Draco/Ginny stories out there. So I'm either contributing to the solution or making the problem worse. And I'm going to continue it no matter what, because it's one of those things that won't leave you alone till you write it, but I WOULD appreciate feedback. It tends to motivate me to work a lot faster- okay, enough shameless review-begging here. For now. Now one thing I absolutely despise is good Draco, so you'll see none of him. He will become slightly... Dunno if nicer is the best word, but he won't always be this nasty. But the kind of Draco who gets along perfectly with Harry and Ron and instantly turns his back on his entire upbringing the instant he realizes he's always been wrong will never play a part in anything I write. And a lot of D/G shippers seem to support R/H- in just about every D/G story I've read there's R/H on the side. I am a rabid H/H shipper. Now I don't like fics that center on more than one couple, so Harry and Hermione are not especially central to this story, but they are together. So don't say I didn't warn you. Oh yeah, there's a reason Draco's a bit antisocial- not that he was especially sociable in the first place- but all will be revealed in time.

Chapter One

"Yes, they're sending me out on an actual assignment," Ginny repeated, wondering why this simple fact was so hard to comprehend. "Really Mum, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"I can't help worrying, Ginny. You're my youngest child, and my only daughter- oh do promise me you'll be careful."

"Ginny'll be fine, Mum," said the twin across from her who was claiming to be George, although Ginny had her suspicions- with the twins, you never knew for sure. "She's not a total incompetent, not like- er-"

"Not like Ron," supplied his identical counterpart.

"Is it really fair to make fun of Ron when he's not here?" Asked Bill, grinning.

"No," said Fred. "But he can't object."

"And it's so easy," agreed George.

Bill was on a month-long vacation from Egypt, and Ginny, along with the twins, didn't have any pressing appointments. So many family members being free on the same night was a rare occurrence in the Weasley family- all four were glad for the chance to catch up with each other.

"Dad," Ginny appealed.

"I'm sure Ginny can take care of herself, Molly," said Arthur Weasley. "She is twenty one years old after all, and she has gone through three years of training- I'm sure we can trust her."

"Thanks," Ginny said.

She was wildly excited, but also slightly nervous. Her three required years of Auror training finally complete- three long, dragging years that, at times, were absolute hell. She sometimes wondered if it had been worth it, if this was really how she wanted to spend her life. It wasn't as though she wasn't devoted and prepared to follow through- she just wasn't sure she was suited to the life she'd chosen. Ginny was more a thinker than a reckless action taker.

Still, she'd be doing something for the good of the magical community. And she was determined to do it as best she could.

No matter what.

***

No matter what came three days later, and made her doubt her career choice all over again.

She was summoned to the office of the head of her department- a balding man named Steward Graham whom she intensely disliked.

She almost resigned then and there.

***

Draco Malfoy had chosen to work for the Department of Mysteries for two key reasons.

First of all, no one is his family had been a member before, and several people had implied that he'd be horrible at it. Rather than wanting to prove them wrong, Draco still possessed in full the obstinate qualities that had made many people his enemies.

The second reason was that it meant he wouldn't have to talk to many people. That was what he'd been told, anyway.

He entered the office of the Auror that the memo on his desk had instructed him to Apparate to. Draco wasn't an Unspeakable; he didn't hold an especially high Ministry position, but...

That was the part where he was supposed to tell himself that he was happy anyway. He wasn't. It wasn't the money- he had inherited enough of that. He felt useless. Like he'd never done anything really worthwhile, and the one time that could possibly count no one knew about, and it was almost by accident.

So there was some case that required detective work and defense- it wasn't especially uncommon for the Ministry Aurors to help the Department of Mysteries. He swore under his breath as he walked down the hall- he preferred his anti-social office position.

There was a middle-aged man sitting behind the desk- Christ, hadn't the guy heard of hair-growing potion? Draco thought he'd go blind from the light shining through the window and bouncing off the man's head.

On second glance, he noticed the office had another occupant. A vaguely familiar redhead who was close to his age, looking as if she'd just been informed that she was to be escorted to Azkaban under full Dementor guard. Frankly, Draco would be happy to arrange it if it meant he would be left alone.

"Malfoy?" Asked the man whom Draco was forcing himself not to think of as Baldy.

It took him a second to realize the man was verifying that this was his name. He nodded.

"This is..." he'd obviously forgotten the redhead's name. "You'll be working together. I believe we were sent some documents pertaining to this case- show them to her, then she'll file them."

He turned his attention to his desk, dismissing them both.

Draco followed whatever-her-name-was out into the hall, wondering if she talked.

"It's Ginny," she said, answering his unspoken question. "Ginny Weasley." She spoke as though she had long ago resigned herself to people forgetting her name.

Pitiful.

"You're Draco Malfoy, aren't you?"

"Obviously," he replied. "I thought anyone would recognize that. Even your boss knows my name, which is more than you can say."

Ginny bit her tongue. "Maybe you should show me those papers," she suggested.

He shrugged and started walking. After a few steps, Ginny called, "You're going the wrong way."

He turned back angrily. Was the little weasel laughing at him?

"I don't want to be with you either," she said, picking up confidence. "So the faster we finish this assignment, the sooner we can ignore each others' existence."

"The best idea a Weasley ever came up with, I'm sure," Draco snarled, following her.

Draco and Ginny had never exchanged more than a sentence at a time, so his opinion of her had never moved through the various degrees of dislike he held for most people, other than the contempt he felt for all things Weasley. But now he hated her. Hated every hair on her head, every freckle on her face. Obviously no one here cared about their appearance- first Baldy, and now her. Couldn't she do something about those spots?

***

Aside from her working life, Ginny was generally happy. She didn't have a great number of friends from her year in Hogwarts, but it didn't bother her too much. She enjoyed solitude- being the youngest child and only girl in a family with six brothers had made her self-sufficient, dating back to the days when no one would play with her because she was a girl. Ron had once told his best friend, Harry Potter (whom Ginny had had a longtime crush on, until her later years of Hogwarts) that she never shut up- but that really depended on the person she was with.

A knock sounded on the apartment door. "It's open," she yelled.

Hermione Granger would probably never have become aquatinted with Ginny if Ron hadn't been one of her best friends. Luckily he had- they'd been around each other so much that they had managed to form one of those rare friendships where each felt completely comfortable in the other's presence.

"I could have been anyone, you know," said Hermione, looking around for Ginny and realizing that she couldn't see her because she was reading on the couch in the living room off of the kitchen where the entrance was.

"You weren't." Ginny placed her book on the end table and stood up.

"And if I was?"

"The door sticks when I open it so I leave it unlocked when I'm here. There's a stunning charm on it. I just have to point my wand and say the right words to activate it."

Hermione, who had come out on the wrong end of Ginny's stunning charms- which she was a bit overly enthusiastic with- once or twice in the past, winced in memory. "I brought back that book you lent me."

"When did I lend you this?"

"Oh... I don't know." It was an extremely thick encyclopedia volume, dusty with age- the other books in the set had either been long ago destroyed or lost, excluding the one that was currently serving as a coaster on the coffee table.

Ginny grinned. "How many times did you get through it?"

"Four or five."

Ginny placed it on the shelf, hoping she wouldn't need it for a while. Organize bookcase had been at the top of her mental 'to do' list for weeks, but she never got around to it.

"You in a hurry?"

"No," replied Hermione.

"Stick around then. I haven't seen you in a while."

Hermione sat down on a chair opposite the seat that Ginny had resumed. "How's the Auror thing going?"

"Horribly."

"Ron told me you were excited because you were actually getting to do something." She smiled. "His words, not mine."

"Yes, but guess who I'm being forced to work with?"

"I don't know. How bad can it be? Unless of course it's Malfoy or someone."

"Bingo."

Hermione looked startled. "Draco Malfoy?"

"The one and only."

"That evil-" she cut herself off. "He's not an Auror?"

"Department of Mysteries. Someone's been raiding the high-security Gringotts vaults and a couple of the missing items have turned up on Kockturn Alley. You still hate him?"

"I really don't know. I'm definitely not fond of him."

"Why would you be?"

"I don't know- Harry seems to have a certain ammount of respect for him."

"Why?"
"I have no idea. Something happened a few years ago- right before Harry defeated Voldemort. Malfoy was involved. Harry won't talk about it."

"Wonder what it could be?" Ginny mused. "Must be pretty big if he won't even tell you about it."

"He doesn't tell me everything."

"Oh?"

"He's incredibly paranoid about those secret Quidditch strategies- which is fine with me. Which of your brothers is visiting? Bill?"

"Yeah. He keeps saying I should come see him- I couldn't last year, when everyone else did, because of that stupid training. Maybe I will. Sometime."

"Where in Egypt?"

"Somewhere... I don't know really. It changes. There's a fairly large magical community springing up there, mostly because of the Gringotts branch- they've discovered some new source of gold- I don't know much about it- that they have a lot of people working there."

"I've read about that. They just opened up a school there."

"Reestablished it. One of the first schools of magic there were; built in a pyramid or something."

"Interesting. I'll look it up in the library at Hogwarts."

"Ah. How's that going?"

"Sometimes I love it and sometimes I want to strangle the little monsters with my bare hands. All of them."

"Well Arithmancy is a hard subject-"

"And the Slytherin class is the biggest set of demons you'll ever lay eyes on."

Ginny laughed. "And to think Malfoy came out of the same house."

"If he's as bad as any one of them," Hermione said, "I can't blame you for hating him."

"I do, I do."

***

Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. Everyone who was anyone in magical society (and most who weren't) knew those names.

They'd been together since Hogwarts days, the closest thing to a perfect, romantic couple a pair of Slytherins could be.

Or so everyone thought. Including Pansy herself and even Draco at times.

After all, he'd achieved what every appearance-obsessed wizarding aristocrat needed; A house with so many bedrooms it was inconceivable what you'd ever need them for, enough money to help a poor South American family live rather extravagantly for several generations (and absolutely no desire to do so) and a girlfriend who was as rich as he was.

So why, sitting in the most expensive restaurant Hogsmeade had to offer, with one of the most sought-after people in society, did he find himself incredibly bored?

She was doing all the talking. Draco sometimes amused himself during these conversations by counting how many times he had to respond. He could usually get by with one or two-word answers- Pansy never realized the difference. Indeed, she thought Draco was a wonderful conversationalist.

He glanced at his watch, figuring he could last another half an hour before falling asleep.

"Draco?"

"Yes?"

"Did you here what I said?"

"Yes, I did. I agree with you."

"Really. I mean, look at how the Ministry's gone down hill. Didn't you tell me you're working with one of those Muggle-loving Weasleys? The youngest one? What's her name?"

"Ginny."

"Right. How is it? Working with her?"

"She almost never talks. Probably couldn't carry on an intelligent conversation if she tried."

Then again, he thought, I've yet to have an intelligent conversation with Pansy, and she never shuts up. Which is worse?

"Muggle-lovers like that shouldn't be allowed to do such important jobs. They should be kept among the pure-bloods."

"The Weasleys are pure-blood." He wasn't defending them. Just stating a fact.

"Yes, but-" unable to think of another contradiction, Pansy changed the subject.

Draco managed to get through two more hours saying less than fifty words before he was able to go home.

Why do I do this to myself?

Do what?

Put up with Pansy. It's not like you're in love with her.

Stop that. You're a Malfoy. Hardened.

And if I'm not?

Then you'd damn well better act like it if you don't want to disgrace your entire family.

He fell asleep after several hours, briefly wondering if it mattered that he had no family left to disgrace just before he dozed off.

***

Miles away, Ginny couldn't sleep either.

It was one of those restless nights when you desperately want to sleep, simply so that you don't have to think anymore, but your thoughts are so involved that they won't let you sleep...

Rain was spattering heavily on the roof- her apartment was on the top floor of the building. She wouldn't have slept even if the night had been clear, yet now she had a reason. Or an excuse.

A burst of thunder came seemingly out of nowhere, and she stiffened. The last thing she wanted was a storm- thunder had terrified Ginny more than anything when she was younger- she still wasn't overly fond of it, though not many people knew this. It was completely irrational, as Percy had told her a thousand times. There was absolutely no reason to-

A loud cracking sound ripped across the sky and she whimpered.

What was Malfoy doing now? She wondered out of the blue.

Oh God, can't he leave me alone?

Then,

I feel sorry for him.

What the hell?

But I do.

Ginny rolled over on her back.

There's no way I'm going to sleep tonight, she thought wearily. And she had to get up early tomorrow, her boss wanted her to investigate some shop on Knockturn Alley... with Malfoy, no doubt, he whom she both hated and pitied. Rather illogical, really; she Ginny Weasley, pitying Draco Malfoy. She didn't feel like thinking about it.

Ginny fumbled around the junk on her catchall bedside table before finding her wand, and whispering, "Lumos." With that, she shone it around the room to find the real light- Muggle apartments ran slightly cheaper than those in the wizarding world, so she could afford a more comfortable one this way.

She lazily flicked her wand at the switch. Nothing happened. The electricity must have gone off.

Lightning flashed and she counted the seconds between the flash and the inevitable roll of thunder that made her shiver involuntarily.

Using her wand to light the way, she stumbled blearily to the living room. She could have magically lit the ceiling lamps, but any Muggles on the street might find it suspicious.

She wasn't sure why she'd come in here anyway. She sank down on the couch and stared out the picture window- traffic below was the only artificial light she could see.

She stared at the bookcase, wondering if her restlessness was the motivation that she needed to get it organized. No. She wanted a distraction, not a chore.

She shone the beam from her wand along the rows of books, hoping one would appear interesting enough to pick up and read until enough time passed so that she could get ready for work, however early, or she slept. None appealed to her.

She stared blankly at the wall, not quite able to make out the pictures in their frames in the darkness, other than the basic outlines she'd memorized. In truth, this wasn't the first time she hadn't been able to sleep like this and ended up staring at the wall.

The one in the top left-hand corner was of her brothers, taken by herself at a picnic (her excuse to not be in the photograph). Next to that was one of her entire family in front of The Burrow. A couple people from her year in Hogwarts- she did have one or two friends she kept in touch with on a regular basis from her dormitory, then below it...

Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She was in the picture as well, but usually stayed in the background, almost as an after thought. It had been taken last summer, in front of some lake they'd been at for some function or other.

Lightning flashed again, briefly illuminating the room. In that instant, she could see the picture clearly. She was sitting outside the frame and only her left foot was visible. Ron was examining a mosquito bite swelling up on his arm. Harry and Hermione were the main focus of the picture at the moment. Their photographic selves seemed oblivious to anything other than each others' company, his left arm entwined with her right one, both smiling over some private joke.

She closed her eyes. Sometimes abandoning her bed for the couch cured her insomnia. Not tonight, however.

Harry...

It had been years since she'd forcefully abandoned her crush on Harry. Ironically, the week after she'd managed to convince herself that she did not care was the week Harry finally took notice of her as something other than his best friend's little sister.

She'd been fifteen. It was six years ago, and they'd dated for three months. She'd been more self-conscious in those months than ever before, and she'd discovered something then that she'd known but never completely believed.

Harry Potter was human. He had faults. And one of them was that he was annoying as hell as a boyfriend.

It wasn't anything he did, specifically. More of a basic personality conflict- although somehow he managed to get along perfectly with Hermione and she had more differences with Harry than Ginny ever had.

In the end, she'd been the one to break it off. And she saw the masked relief in his eyes- he'd been trying to think of a way to do it himself without devastating her. She annoyed him as much as he her, and he was rather self-conscious himself

Oddly, this experience had provided them with the ability to be comfortable around each other. Harry was wonderful as a friend, but thoughts of him in any other category were banished to the most wistful corner of her mind.

At the end of his sixth year, he and Hermione had finally swallowed their pride- they were perfect together, really. They got on each other's nerves at times, but less so than people who'd known each other for years usually do.

The loudest clap of thunder yet crashed wildly, so loud that she felt the vibration shake the building's sturdy foundation.

At that moment, she felt more alone than she ever had in her life.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the Ginny, the rest of the Weasleys, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and anyone or anything else existing in the Harry Potter books. I own this story and Steward Graham, whom I don't like, but he's mine just the same. And yes, the next part will be out relatively soon- reviews will be much appreciated. *Puppydog eyes.*