Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine. Yup. That's it.

AN: Right. Uhh... I don't actually have anything t say this time. On with

it!

Not in the Least

By: Lioness Blackfire

In all honesty, I haven't the slightest clue why nobody else chose

her. She was intelligent and not completely unattractive either. But it

finally wound down to me and her.

"Malfoy."

"Weasley."

"So, an-an Advanced Ancient Runes project, eh?" She stumbled over

her words slightly, and I felt a smirk cross my face.

"Got a stutter, Weasley?" she looked over at me in surprise.

"Was that even relevant?" She fixed me with an unmoving stare as

it was my turn to be surprised. "Didn't think so. Anyways, did you have

any ideas what we could do this project on?" I shook my head. She rolled

her amethyst-colored eyes. "Well do try to think of something. We were,

after all, given the rest of the bell to come up with ideas." She paused

for a breath, began to say something but seemed to change her mind at the

last minute and looked back at her textbook. I mentally shrugged and decide

d that she had indeed found the best course of action and opened my own

book.

We spent the better part of the class that way - reading our books

in silence. But near the end an urge to get the project (and working with

the Weasley girl) out of the way caused me to speak up.

"The library."

"Pardon?" she replied.

"We should meet in the library to work on this. Will you be busy

after dinner?" She shook her head. "Good. I'll see you." And with that, I

turned back to my book. I could feel her eyes on me for quite a while

after that, and it disturbed me to realize that the situation wasn't

uncomfortable in the slightest. Her staring at me seemed to be the most

natural thing in the world.

~*~*~*~*~*~

A large book slammed down in front of me on the table. I jumped

before my mind comprehended that it was the Weasley girl.

"I found this on germanic runes last year." She stated simply.

"Since you never came up with an idea, I supposed it would be alright to

have a go at mine."

"And what could you possibly come up with, muggle-lover?" I

taunted and sneered.

"That exactly." She stated.

"What? You aren't making-" she cut me off.

"We are, for all intents and purposes, enemies. Correct, Malfoy?"

"... Yes..." I wasn't really sure where this was going.

"Good. You see, I was thinking that since I'd been paired up with

you, of all people, that doing this project would be hell."

"My sentiments exactly." She gave me a stern look and continued,

"So then I realized that there are tons of runes that are supposed

to create a 'peaceful atmosphere' and thought of the germanic runes book

Hermoine gave me last year when she finished all the Ancient Runes classes

and-"

"That mudblood?" Suddenly the left side of my face was all one big

hurt and a relatively calm-looking Ginny Weasley was standing over me, her

bright purple eyes blazing.

"If you don't mind, Malfoy, all I'm trying to do is get a decent

grade on this project. I'd assume you'd like one as well. So kindly cease

from insulting me and my friends until I have this explained!" she said in

a low voice not very much unlike the Slytherin hiss. I sat quietly, too

surprised to do anything else. When she moved to sit back down, I noticed

her right hand was burning red and that's when I realized she had slapped

me. She took a very controlled deep breath.

"Now." she began, "The project could be how much a certain

combination of runes could affect the atmosphere between two people who

dislike each other very much, worn over the span of the entire project." I

nodded my head for her to continue. "The two should make brief notes on

his or her attitude toward the other at the end of each day. Those notes

will be included with the final report but do not have to be in any

particular format, nor does the other of the pair ever need to see what

has been written.

"The informational bit of the report could be done on the specific

runes used, how they were bound, and whatnot. That work for you?" Her

sudden request for approval startled me and I had to struggle for my words.

"Yes. That works." She nodded and looked over at the clock.

"It's getting late and I've got work for other classes." She

motioned toward a shelf on the far side of the room. "There's a copy of

this over there, if you'd like to take a look at any of the runes and make

a suggestion." She stood and picked up the book. "Meet here tomorrow after

dinner?"

"Seeya then." I replied and she gave a brief smile and walked

toward the exit.

I ended up taking the runes book she had suggested and looking

through it later that night. A few even stood out enough that I marked

them to mention to the girl at our next meeting.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"What are those?"

"The diary-scrolls." The Weasley girl replied, brushing a strand

of her copper-red hair behind an ear.

"Why do we need those today?"

"Because today we're going to construct the runes and begin the

journals." She pulled out a short list of runes, their names marked next

to them. I reached into my bag and took out my own. "What's that?"

"I looked through the runes book last night." I muttered. "these

seemed to be the sort of thing you were looking for." She looked at me

then, her expression softened and she appeared to be genuinely surprised.

Then as quickly as that came, it left and se re-composed herself as she

sat across from me.

"Could I see...?" she asked a bit quietly. I pushed the list

toward her and she compared it to her own. "What do you say about using

Othala for the uh..." she flipped through the pages of her book.

"'universal folk soul and sense of togetherness'?"

"Alright." I leaned forward a bit and glanced down her list. "What

were you going to use that one for?" I then asked, pointing to a rune that

looked like two X's stuck together at the tops, called Inguz.

"Oh. Uh, as a bind rune." she glanced up at me. "And because it

can provide strong foundations and room to grow, both of which would be

very good in this sort of thing." she murmured something else after that,

but I couldn't quite hear it, though I didn't mention anything to her.

"Use that one too, then." There was a pause as she circled Othala

and Inguz and looked at me, something I couldn't quite place reflected in

her violet eyes.

"You sure are being agreeable today." she finally stated.

"Like you said yesterday, I want a good grade on this. Plus I've

never used germanic runes before and it seems like you have." She began

drawing the chosen runes on a sheet of scrap paper. "Suppose I was going

to trust your judgment." She looked back up at me, startled.

"Harry certainly doesn't ever mention you trusting anybody's

judgment in potions."

"You don't need to trust anybody's judgment in potions. The steps

are written out for you."

"Fair enough." She smiled slightly, and continued drawing the

runes. Othala (which looked like Inguz but missing the top half of the

uppermost X) inside Inguz, and then she glanced at me, back at her paper,

and drew what looked like two sideways V's, facing in, around Othala.

"What's that one, now?" She grinned outright.

"You sure do ask a lot of questions." I shrugged. "It's Jera.

Friendly, cyclical, generally a good feeling rune." She looked at it and

nodded in a satisfied manner before speaking again. "Now we need to

transfer this to the-" she stopped and rummaged through her bag

frantically. "Dammit. I need to go to the supplies closet."

"Forgot the blank rune necklaces?"

"Yep." She stood up to get them and I followed suit. "You don't

have to come." she said over her shoulder, stuffing the rune picture into

a pocket.

"May as well. It's my project too." We walked to the student

supply closets in silence and Ginny picked out two blank cherry-wood

medallions with simple strings instead of chains.

The rest of the night's work went rather fast. We each burned the

bound runes into the wooden charms and activated them, agreeing on meeting

the following day before heading our separate ways.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny's Journal (Day 1):

Okay, this is supposed to be short. How do I feel about Draco

Malfoy... He's an arrogant git who thinks he's the center of the universe.

Everything has to be the way he wants it to and if it isn't he'll ask his

dad who will bribe and/or threaten the people in charge into letting him

do it his own way.

He did surprise me today though, by showing interest in the

project. And ESPECIALLY by trusting my judgment with the runes. How he

could possibly trust another person with something so important is beyond

me. He did ask a lot of questions though... oh well. Maybe I knocked some

sense into him with that slap.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco's Journal (Day 1):

Brief, eh? Alright. Ginny is unerringly a Gryffindor. (that slap

yesterday really proved it) Her whole family is dirt poor and are muggle

lovers. Aside from that? I don't know, she's redheaded and when she stares

at you it can be really unnerving (probably because her eyes are purple).

But... yea I think that's it.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note: That whole rune thing was confusing, right? Sorry. I can't

draw it. It's just like our dear Draco described it though. Inguz is like

two X's stacked on top of each other (try drawing it if you're confused).

Othala is exactly like Inguz except the top half of the uppermost X is

missing. Othala is also inside the cavity of Inguz. Jera is kind of split,

like two sideways V's facing inward. Like... like HTML tags! Only

the tip of the first one is actually aligned with the corner of the seco

nd. And those are surrounding Othala inside Inguz. Sorry that was so

weird! And now to insert a time of year...

~*~*~*~*~*~

"You're not even reading that, are you?" I asked Ginny during our

evening session. A book in front of her was open to Jera. We had agreed

that I would research Othala, she would research Jera, and we could each

pick up information Inguz. But at that moment my partner was staring out

the library window.

"You're right. I'm not." She stood and stretched. "Would you like

to study outside?" I looked up, surprised at the suggestion. "It's really

very warm for early may."

"Sure. I don't see why not." So we both gathered together our

things and headed out to sit by the lake. "Aren't you worried what your

Gryffindor friends will think if they see you with me out here?" I asked

after we were settled. She looked at me and grinned ruefully.

"Half of Hogwarts knows I'm paired with you for the final Ancient

Runes project. They won't look twice."

"Half of Hogwarts?" I asked skeptically.

"Your house and mine." she replied, smiling.

I looked at her then, eyes creased at the edges as she was

smiling, looking out over the lake. It occurred to me that even though I

intermittently insulted her, her friends, and her family that she was

still quite nice to me.

We spent the rest of the time actually researching what we were

supposed to, and not really talking.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny's Journal (Day 2):

We decided to go outside to work today. ... Actually, I asked if

we could and he agreed. He didn't insult everyone I know as often today.

Actually, he was almost nice at times. I almost don't want to admit it,

but he made me smile. In fact, I almost laughed.

Okay, okay, TRUTHFULLY he's rather pleasant to spend time with. In

fact, I think I may bring the rest of my schoolwork with me tomorrow.

Think he remembers sixth-year arinthmancy?

~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco's Journal (Day 2):

She suggested going outside today. we sat by the lake and

researched our assigned runes. I'm not quite sure, but I think I made her

smile today. She really grinned, too, not just a little smile.

I think I could get to like working with her.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey." I greeted the approaching redhead.

"Hey." she returned. "Find out anything new?"

"Nada. You?"

"Absolutely nothing." She sat down and looked out across the lake,

as I was already doing.

"So why didn't you find anything?" I asked without turning to see

her.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"You could..."

"And since when do you say 'nada'?" She turned to me, eyes amused

and questioning. I looked over, resting my arms around my legs.

"You know what? I have no idea. I don;t think I'd talk so...

comfortably... around anybody else, but-"

"You feel like I'm completely able to be trusted, I know." she

finished my sentence for me.

"And how do you-"

"I feel the same way." I was, needless to say, just a little bit

surprised.

"But I'm a Slytherin. You're a Gryffindor. Somehow I just don't

think that's done."

"Same goes for me. Since when do Slytherins associate with

Gryffindors?" I looked at her, and suddenly my heart was beating too fast

and my breathing came too hard. Her hair was blowing in the spring breeze,

falling in coppery waves down her back. She looked back over at me. "You

okay?" I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"Yea." I looked back out at the lake. "I guess we should start on

the project again."

"I guess." There was a long pause in which we both did not start

working.

"You don't really want to, do you?"

"Not really, no. For the sake of the grade and all, but..."

"Would you like to go for a walk?" She looked up at me as I stood.

"Yes. I would, Draco. Thank you." We walked along the edge of the

lake, covering quite a distance in an easy silence before I finally spoke.

"You called me Draco?"

"Well, may I? I meant to ask you, but-"

"I like it." She looked curiously at me. "Everybody calls me by my

surname. Calling me Draco is sort of like a... a nickname."

"And you wouldn't mind if I had a nickname for you?" Her amethyst

eyes were gravely serious. "I'm a little confused, Draco. How do you feel

about all this?" I sighed and sat on the damp grass at the edge of the

lake.

"Well... it's a little hard to say. I'm perfectly fine with it

all, if that's what you mean. I know this is all kind of sudden, but it

doesn't seem that way to me. It kind of... well, actually I'm a little

confused too." Ginny sat down directly next to me on the grass.

"So what are you confused about?" she asked quietly.

"Why I trust you so much, why I suddenly don't care about quite a

few things I grew up being taught to care about, and why" I could feel my

voice turn husky, "you didn't give up on me the very first day. That's

what I'm confused about." She leaned up against me and I could feel her

heart beating fast too.

"Maybe we can be confused together?" A comfortable warmth spread

through me, and a smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. My arm came

alive by itself and wrapped around her tiny waist.

"I'd like that very much."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny's Journal (Day 3):

Okay, so he's really nice. Before yesterday I wasn't even sure if

he had a heart and now... now I think I'd go out with him if he asked me.

We took a walk around the lake today, and talked about what's going on. We

just sat there together, on the opposite side of the lake, for a long time

before coming back in for curfew.

We didn't really get any work done today... Eh, oh well.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco's Journal (Day 3):

I don't know what to say that hasn't already been said today.

She's possibly the most understanding person I've ever had the fortune to

meet. We ended up cuddling, more or less, out on the far side of the lake

for a good couple of hours this evening.

There's only one more day of this project left, which means we

actually have to work tomorrow because it's due on friday. I'm not really

sure I want this to end. Maybe she'll agree to just doing schoolwork

together some days? One will hope.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Thursday found us finishing the final Ancient Runes project in

record time. After that, we went swimming in the lake and had what could

be the best time of my life.

"Draco?" I looked over at Ginny. She was laying in the grass next

to me, her Hogwarts robe over a purple one-peice swimsuit.

"Yea?"

"When this is over, do you want to keep meeting?"

"I wasn't sure you'd ask." She grinned, the smile lighting up her

whole face.

"And Draco?"

"Mm-hm?"

"Could you come over here?" I was a little confused (and more than

a little curious) but I sat up and scooted over to her. She threw her arms

around my shoulders and looked up into my eyes. Her bright purple ones

searched mine and suddenly her lips pressed against my own and the purple

eyes fluttered shut.

My heart was beating faster than I had previously thought

possible. She was the one who broke the kiss, almost gasping for air.

"And would you mind if I did that more often?" she whispered.

"Not in the least, Ginny. Not in the least."