A/N: This is just a one shot! I got the idea…and had to write it. Many thanks to the wonderful Costy for a beta!!! *hughugs*

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter or the Frog Prince fairy tale.

FROG PRINCE

By: VirtualFaerie

"Your project over the Christmas holidays is to pick one of the Muggle fairy tales that we've gone over in class the past two days and make an animated children's book. Tell me which story you picked on your way out of class," said Ginny's Muggle Studies professor, tapping her wand in her hand. She smiled. "Understand?"

The class mumbled back a garbled reply and their professor just continued to beam at them. "Great! Happy Holidays, you may leave early. Just don't forget to tell me which story you picked!" she called as they all started packing their bags and getting out of their seats.

Ginny put her Muggle Studies textbook in her bag and shut the flap, going over the stories they had read in the past few days in her head. She wasn't sure which one to pick... most of them were interesting to her. Ginny walked up to the front of the classroom, standing behind two other people who told the professor which stories they'd chosen. ("Little Red Riding Hood" and "Sleeping Beauty").

"Ginny!" the professor said brightly when Ginny stepped up. "And which story did you choose?"

Ginny wrapped her fingers around the strap of her bag that went around her shoulder and thought for one more moment. "I think that I'll do the Frog Prince."

"Excellent choice! Have a nice holiday, dear."

Nodding her head, Ginny said, "You too, Sir," and made her way out of the classroom.

Luna caught up with her after class. "So, what story did you pick?" she asked, her eyes holding their normal glazed look.

"The Frog Prince."

"Oh," said Luna. "I picked Snow White. It's very interesting that her step-mother would try to kill her so many times. I'm thinking that reading it will help me, should my father ever remarry. Don't you think?"

Ginny blinked, a smile creeping up on her lips. "Yes," she said. "It would probably come in handy."

Luna nodded vigorously. "She could give me a poison-tipped comb for Christmas and I would never know it."

"Mmhmm," Ginny murmured her assent. "Very good that you picked that story then."

"I think it's good that you picked the Frog Prince, as well," Luna informed her.

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

Luna grinned mysteriously and veered off towards the Ravenclaw common rooms without replying. Ginny frowned and continued on her way to the Gryffindor Tower.

-

Dust rose up into the air every time Ginny turned a page of the large tome of fairy tales she had found in the library. She sneezed and rummaged around in her pocket for a juice stained handkerchief. She wiped her nose and went back to the book.

Her lips moved as she read, " 'And why should I kiss you?' the beautiful princess asked. 'Because,' said the frog. 'If you kiss me, I'll turn into a handsome prince.' "

"Aren't you a little old for fairy tales, Weasley?" drawled a low voice behind her.

Ginny closed her eyes and slumped visibly. "What do you want, Malfoy?" She didn't know why, but Malfoy had a knack of showing up when she least expected him, and least wanted him to be around. Not that she ever did want him around. All he did was make her angry and annoyed. There was nothing good that came from being around him.

Malfoy smirked at her. "Nothing that you can give, don't worry," he said snidely. He glanced at the title of her story and raised one of his blond eyebrows. "Frog prince? Isn't that the one where the frog tricks some girl into kissing him?"

Ginny pursed her lips. "The frog doesn't trick her. He really does turn into a prince."

Malfoy snorted. "What princess would even kiss a frog? What was wrong with all the real blokes around?"

"What does it matter to you?" asked Ginny, closing the book and putting it into her bag.

"It doesn't," he said.

"Then why are you talking to me about it?"

Malfoy smirked. "Just to see your face turn red, of course."

Ginny glared at him fiercely. Unlike Ron, her face did not turn red when she was mad. It only turned red when she was embarrassed, and she was nowhere near embarrassed now. "My face does not turn red."

If anything, his smirk just grew wider. Ginny's hand itched to reach up and smack that smirk right off of his aristocratic face. And it seemed to do just that, by it's own volition. Only, Malfoy caught her hand before it got to his face.

"Feisty today, aren't you?" he sneered, pushing her hand down. "I'm afraid I'm not as easy to get to as you are, Weasley."

"Just leave me alone, Malfoy ," Ginny spat, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She pushed in her chair and started out the library, Malfoy following her closely. She whirled around near the double-doors leading out of the library and pointed a finger at him, her eyes narrowing considerably.

"Leave. Me. Alone." she said, each word punctuated with a jab to his chest with her index finger.

Malfoy looked at her bemusedly. "And that's supposed to influence me?"

"You insufferable—" Ginny fumed and pulled her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at him. " Transferus amphibias! "

Malfoy's eyes grew wide as her spell took effect over him. Ginny gasped and dropped her wand to the floor, covering her mouth with her hands as laughter bubbled out of her mouth. Malfoy was no longer towering over her.

He was sitting on the floor as a slimy, green frog. Ginny giggled and kneeled down to the floor, picking him up in her hand. He struggled, jutting out his hind legs, trying to jump from her grasp, but she just held onto him more tightly. "Uh-uh, you aren't getting away," she said to him.

"You better turn me back!" Malfoy's voice croaked out of his new frog mouth.

Ginny's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, you can talk. Well, damn."

If possible, Malfoy's frog eyes glared at her viciously. "Change me back, Weasley," he demanded. "Now."

Ginny nearly toppled over with laughter. Hearing Malfoy's voice coming from the little green frog was hilarious. "I don't think so, Malfoy," she said, tucking him in her robes' pocket. "You get to stay like this for awhile, I think. Shouldn't be a problem for you, should it?" she asked, patting her pocket. "You're already used to being a slimy, good for nothing Slytherin."

He started croaking madly from her pocket. Ginny grinned to herself and decided it was time for bed.

-

By the time Ginny woke up, breakfast was already over in the Great Hall and the 6 th year girls' dormitory was empty. She stretched in her bed, and looked down at the little plastic cage she'd transfigured out of an old shoe box. Malfoy was sitting in it, staring at her grumpily.

She straightened her old Chudley Cannons t-shirt and grinned at him. "Sleep well, froggie?"

"You're going to be in trouble once everyone finds out what you've done," Frog Malfoy said.

"Oh, am I?" Ginny asked, yawning. "Were you going to go home for Christmas or something?" She saw a look flit across Malfoy's froggy face and grinned. "Ah, so you aren't. Then, who's going to miss you? Your fellow Slytherins? They'll probably just think you changed your mind and decided to go home after all." She tapped a finger on her lips. "Hmm…seems you're stuck with me."

"You're forgetting that I can talk," pointed out Malfoy.

"That's a problem easily fixed," said Ginny. "All I have to do is use a silencing spell on you."

"Then why haven't you done so already?"

"I like tormenting you this way," said Ginny, grinning maliciously. "After all, it's only fair, seeing as you tormented me just as badly."

"I never turned you into a frog," Malfoy said sourly. Ginny just smiled and tapped his cage, sending it swinging around crazily. Malfoy croaked at her as she got out of her bed and made her way towards the showers.

-

Later, after Ginny had gotten her shower and placed a silencing spell on Malfoy and tucked him into her pocket successfully (it certainly wouldn't do for one of her dorm mates to find him in her room), Ginny made her way back down to the library to work on her Muggle Studies project.

When she flipped through the book she had been reading the day before, Malfoy remained rather still in her pocket. She just assumed he was sleeping. But, later she got up and looked for another fairy tale book to see if the story was any different in another version. As she was perusing the aisles, Malfoy took to jumping around in awkward places.

At first she thought it was an accident, and just let it slip by, only jumping slightly as it startled her. But then he did it again, and again.

"Malfoy," she hissed at her pocket. "Stop that right now." She batted at the pocket with her hand, but he persisted, jumping where he didn't belong, sending waves of warning throughout her body. "I said stop ."

He ribbited and continued his jumping. Ginny slapped her hand at him again and walked to the most abandoned corner of the library that she could find, where she slipped him out of her pocket and onto a shelve, pulling out her wand and reversing the silencing spell.

"What nerve . What the hell did you think you were doing?" she demanded, glaring at the green Malfoy.

She wasn't sure if it was possible, but Frog Malfoy smirked at her. "What did it feel like I was doing?"

Ginny blushed to the roots of her red hair. "You're a jerk."

"This is not news," Malfoy shot back.

Ginny scowled at him. "If I turn you back, will you leave me alone?"

"Yes," said Frog Malfoy.

Ginny nodded and smoothed her robes before pointing her wand at him. " Reversa Transferus! " She waited, but nothing happened. Malfoy was still sitting on the bookshelf, a green frog, staring up at her plaintively. "Uh oh," she said, covering her face with her hands.

"You're an idiot, Weasley," came Malfoy's sneering voice.

"I know," she moaned into her hands. "I know."

-

As Ginny was walking out of the Great Hall, having just eaten lunch, Malfoy's muffled voice came out of her pocket. "Take me out to the boggy part of the lake," he said.

Ginny blinked and lifted him out of her pocket. "To the lake? Why do you want to go to the lake?"

Frog Malfoy grimaced. "I have this sudden craving for flies."

Ginny grinned and started out of the castle and down towards the lake. As she walked down the hill to her destination, snow crunched under her shoes and she shivered as her thin robes blew around her in the wind. She kept Malfoy cupped in her hands and close to her chest.

" 'Lo Ginny!" Hagrid called to her as he stepped out of his cabin, and Fang shot out before he had a chance to close the door.

"Hi Hagrid!" she called back, lifting one of her hands to wave at him. Fang ran across the snow to Ginny and pushed her down with his big paws and started licking her face as a greeting. Malfoy was tossed down her robes, croaking angrily all the way. "Oof." Ginny let out a breath of air. "Ge'roff, Fang!" she said sternly.

Fang hung his head and stepped away. Ginny stood up and shook the snow off of her robes, but her back was already soaked. Her teeth chattered as she petted the top of Fang's head. Malfoy tried jumping back out of her robes.

Ginny let out a little screech as his cold, slimy skin touched her warm stomach. "Malfoy!" she cried. "Stop moving, you prat!" Malfoy seemed to listen and rested on her hip. Ginny reached down in her robes and pulled him out, cupping him back in her hands. "I-I don't think there are going to be any flies out here," she said, teeth chattering from the cold.

Frog Malfoy could see that her lips were turning blue, and he was about to freeze himself. "We're going to my dormitory," he said.

"What?"

"You heard me. I'll give you directions." Ginny grumbled and started walking back towards the castle.

Malfoy directed her to the entrance to the Slytherin common room; it was guarded by a portrait of a menacing looking man. The man stared at Ginny coldly. "What do you want, girl? You aren't a Slytherin."

"Ignore him," said Malfoy. "Password is: belladonna. He has to let you in if you know it."

"Belladonna," Ginny said to the portrait. The man sneered at her, but swung open to let her in. Ginny stepped in slowly and looked around the common room cautiously, checking for other people before going up the stairs Malfoy directed her to. As she climbed the stairs, she came upon a door with Malfoy's name on it.

"There's another password," he said when she stopped in front of it.

"Well, are you going to tell me?" she asked as he squirmed around in her palm.

"It's Red," he said slowly.

Ginny grinned. "Red? Why would you choose Red as a password?"

"Shut up and go in," Malfoy said as the door to his dormitory unlocked.

"Interesting that you would pick that word for a password," said Ginny, stepping into his dormitory. It was decorated in Slytherin colors, with dark furniture. And it smelled just like him. It was an exotic smell that crept up her nose and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Let's not talk about my password," said Frog Malfoy. "Open my trunk and take the robe that's on the top."

"Why?" asked Ginny curiously, as she pulled his trunk open.

"Because, yours is soaked."

"Since when do you care?"

"I don't," he said. "But, if you get sick, how are you going to find a way to change me back?"

"Oh," said Ginny, disappointment tingeing her voice. She pulled the dark, heavy robe out of his trunk and set it on his bed. She set Malfoy down next to the robe and she pulled her own robe off, letting it drop to the floor. She was wearing a green sweater and her uniform skirt beneath her robes, and knee socks that had bunched up around her ankles. She pointed her wand to the fireplace that was in his room and started a fire, setting her robe out to dry next to it.

She picked his lush robe up off of the bed and pulled it around her, shoving her arms through the sleeves and fastening the buttons. It enveloped her completely. She had to push the sleeves up her arms and then roll them up, and the bottom of the robe was puddled on the floor.

"Well, now what?" she said, sitting down on the bed next to Malfoy.

"I'm hungry," said Malfoy. "You could find me something to eat."

"Like what?"

"Flies would be nice," suggested Frog Malfoy.

Ginny blinked. "And where am I going to find flies in the middle of winter?" She pushed her thick red hair away from her face and looked down at Malfoy. "Hmm?"

"Haven't you been taking Transfiguration?" he snapped at her.

"Oh, right," said Ginny grumpily.

-

"It's been three days," Malfoy said plaintively. Ginny had decided that a walk around the castle might help her think of some way to turn Malfoy back. "Three days and tomorrow is Christmas. Am I going to be a frog on Christmas day, Weasley?"

"I'm thinking ," said Ginny. She tilted her head to the side and bit her lip. "Why did I turn you into a frog in the first place?"

"Because I wouldn't leave you alone?" Malfoy offered.

"No, no," said Ginny, shaking her head. "I didn't mean that. What I meant was, why did I turn you into a frog as apposed to any other animal?"

"You were reading that stupid fairytale."

"OH!" said Ginny, her eyes lighting up. "Maybe we could turn you back the same way the princess turned the frog back into a prince!"

"And how did she do that?" asked Malfoy, warily.

Ginny grinned. "She threw him against the wall."

"You aren't throwing me against the wall."

"Why not?" asked Ginny. "Are you scared?"

"Not particularly. I just would rather not be an obliterated mess on the wall on Christmas day."

"Oh well," Ginny shrugged. "I'm sure it wouldn't have worked anyways." She leaned her back against a wall and slid down to the floor, setting Malfoy down next to her. "What do you think we should do?"

Before Malfoy could answer her, the girl in the painting across the hall started giggling. Ginny glared at the portrait. "What's she laughing at?"

Malfoy's large eyes followed the girl's line of vision to above their heads. "It could be the mistletoe."

Ginny's eyebrows knitted together quickly. "What mistletoe?"

"The mistletoe hanging above our heads," Frog Malfoy sneered at her. "Guess this means you'll have to kiss me."

Ginny's eyes widened. "Uh-uh, you're a frog."

"Yes, I know. I've been completely aware of the fact that I am a frog ever since you turned me into one. I've been a frog for three days. Kiss me, Weasley."

"No." Then realization dawned on her. "You know, in one of the versions of the Frog Prince, the princess turned him back by kissing him."

"You're no princess," said Malfoy. "But it can't hurt to try."

Ginny made a face and picked him up off of the floor and held him at eye level. "Good gods, I can't believe I'm about to do this. Not only would I be kissing…well, you, but…a frog. Blech."

"Shut up and kiss me, Weasley."

Grimacing, Ginny swallowed and brought him closer, placing her lips on his thin, cold, slimy ones. Just when she was about to jerk him away from her and try flinging him against the wall, his lips started to grow fuller and warmer. Instead of holding Frog Malfoy in her hand, she was resting her hand on his shoulder. She opened her eyes as Malfoy's lips began to press against hers gently, to see his face in front of her.

"Malfoy!" Ginny said into his mouth, pushing him back. "I think it's okay to stop now."

The corner of Malfoy's mouth turned up. "Actually, I think my toes are still feeling a bit webbed. Kiss me again, Weasley." Ginny opened her mouth to tell him off, but he leaned forward swiftly and placed his lips on hers, cutting off anything that she might have said.

Ginny rolled her eyes before shutting them and began to kiss him back.

Several minutes later, between kisses, Ginny said, "You know, you're not much of a prince, Malfoy."

"You're not too much of a princess yourself, Weasley."

She waved her wand threateningly at him. ""You wouldn't want a repeat of the last three days now, would you?"

Malfoy grinned disarmingly "Well, now you know how to turn me back, it wouldn't be that bad, would it. It would mean you'd have to snog me again, after all."

"I'd really rather not have to snog a frog again, if at all possible."

"Then you'll just have to snog me again while I'm human." He smiled, and she closed her eyes as his face got closer, and his warm, human lips settled on hers. He wasn't a Prince, but hey, you couldn't have everything, and she'd settle for what she could get.

A/N: In case anyone is wondering about my other fics... none of them are on hold as of now. I do plan on finishing them, I am working on them, I just don't know when they'll be updated. I'm trying my best! Honest!