Disclaimer: All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way. (Though really, if anyone wants to pay me to write full time….I'd be able to produce more chapters)

Rating: M for language and eventual sexual content

Summary: Dani and Bill have been best friends for as long as anyone can remember. They've also butted heads for as long as anyone can remember. Throw in a lost king, a team of curse breakers and a good mystery, and you've got yourself a story.

Author's Note: Finally getting this one updated again! I'm a few chapters ahead here too, so you'll see several updates this week :) Thanks again for your patience!

I'm demonizing Fleur in this story. I like Fleur. I like her relationship with Bill, but this is not a Fleur/Bill story, it's a Fleur/Dani story, and we need a bad guy. Fleur is a convenient bad guy. Her character might be a little ooc, but I promise you, that it is for the betterment of the story!

…

Under the Desert Sun

ChapterSeven: Mḕ kheíron béltiston.(The least bad is the best)

This is how it works,
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't…
On the Radio – Regina Spektor

…

Dinner with Bill was not at all what she expected.

The restaurant he had picked was a nice one, nicer than the hole in the wall pubs or cafes that they usually met at. It should have been her first clue.

Bill was already there when she nearly collapsed on the seat across from him. "You will not believe the day I'm having," She told him sullenly.

"That bad huh?" He took a sip from his drink, which looked to be firewhiskey from where Dani was sitting. But Bill's gaze wasn't on her, it was set over her head, at the door. That should have been her second clue. He third should have been that he was dressed nicer than normal, her fourth should have been the fact that he had hardly glanced in her direction since she had sat down. But she wasn't paying attention, not enough to notice these things until it was much too late.

"Yeah," She grabbed his drink from the table the second that it touched the linen tablecloth and took a large swig.

"It was pretty bad then," Bill shot her an amused smirk, before refocusing on the door. And then, his face lit up, and he stood.

"What are you…" Dani's brow furrowed and she turned to see who Bill had spotted. A tall and skinny blonde, who was frankly, gorgeous, was smiling at her roommate, with a set of perfect white teeth and a sultry look in her blue eyes.

"I invited Fleur, I hope you don't mind," Bill offered as an explanation, before abandoning her to greet his girlfriend with a chaste kiss on the lips.

"No, of course not," Dani said shortly, before downing the rest of Bill's drink. She was being selfish, she knew, but when Bill had asked her to meet up for dinner, she'd imagined something different. She'd expected a nice and quiet meal with her best friend. She needed a nice and relaxing meal with her best friend after the day that she'd had.

She'd expected a drink or two, some good food, and then home, to watch telly, or listen to a radio program, or to just talk. And, since she'd gotten the idea in her head, losing that was a disappointment. She'd always considered herself to be a fairly flexible person when it came to plans, but a heads up would have been nice. She hated being blindsided.

She planted a smile on her face and stood up, just as Fleur and Bill reached the table.

"Hello," Fleur said curiously, glancing between Dani and Bill, "And who is zis?"

"Fleur, I'd like you to meet Dani, Danielle Pierce, my best friend," Bill said with a nervous grin, wanting the girls to like each other. "Dani, this is my girlfriend Fleur Delacour."

Dani decided to play nice, "It's very nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you," She offered the taller girl a hand.

Fleur, however, seemed to be taken aback, and turned to her boyfriend, "I did not realize William, zat when you spoke of your best friend "Danny," zat it was a woman," She said pointedly, in a very French accent.

"Oh," Bill blinked, at the realization of Dani's gender ambiguous name. "Well er… yeah…. She is." He said sheepishly.

Dani's hand fell to her lap, realizing that the French witch was probably not going to accept it now. "Well…" she said awkwardly, glancing back to their table," Shall we?" Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and led the short distance back to their table. She promptly ordered a drink.

Some time passed before Fleur spoke again, when she finally seemed to wrap her head around Dani being a girl, "Vat is it zat you do, Danielle?" She said coolly, manicured fingers dancing across the lip of her own drink.

Dani didn't like the way that Fleur said her name. "I work with Bill as a Curse Breaker for Gringott's," she said slowly, glancing to Bill and trying to keep an incredulous look off her face. Of all the girls in the world for him to think was perfect, it was this one?

"Really?" Fleur raised an eyebrow over her drink. "Zat….does not seem like a very fitting job for a woman." She said finally.

Dani scowled, a sore topic struck. "Well," She said, overly exaggerating her W. "I seem to get by alright." She said coldly. Bill shot her a pointed glance, a warning. She knew she should play nice, for his sake. Merlin knew why, but he liked this witch. She owed it to him to attempt to like her too…or at the very least….put up with her. "What do you do Fleur?"

"I am currently trying to get a job with the wizarding fashion review in London," Fleur said pride in her tone. It was true that the witch was certainly dressed well. Probably in the latest fashion trend. Dani wondered what Fleur thought of her worn leather jacket and jeans.

"Ah…" Dani said, taking a sip of her drink, "That sounds….fascinating." Where was that waiter to take their orders? Bill said something, that Dani missed, but it did prompt Fleur to ask her another question.

"So how long have you and William known each other?" She looked between them again, suspicion flashing in her gaze.

"Oh…we went to school together," Dani explained, wondering exactly what Bill had told his girlfriend about his best friend, if she didn't know that they'd been school friends, or…that she was a girl. Knowing Bill, the two probably didn't do a lot of talking.

"Ah," Fleur relaxed ever so slightly, "You went to Hogwarts as well?"

"Yeah," Dani nodded, glancing to Bill, who smiled encouragingly. "Where did you go?"

"Beauxbatons," Fleur said with a smug smile, "It vas not so…. Liberal as Hogwarts, but it vas a good school."

Dani ignored the slight on Hogwarts, and tried to keep her temper in check, "One of my best friends went to Beauxbatons, did you know Elizabeth Edwins?"

"I have heard of her," Fleur said with a frown, "But I am not familiar vith her personally," She explained with a careless wave of her hand. 'She was….several years above me in classes."

Dani raised her eyebrows, Liz was a few years younger than Dani was. How old was Fleur?

Bill cleared his throat, "Ah…I don't know if you remember Dani, but Fleur was in the triwizard tournament with Harry."

"Oh!" Dani said, eyes widening slightly, "You're that Fleur."

"Do you know Harry?" Fleur seemed interested.

"Through the Weasleys," Dani brushed it off, "So… you're how old, 21?" She looked between Fleur and Bill. Bill was shooting her a dangerous glance, all but telling her to shut up.

"I vill be 22 in a few months," Fleur replied defensively, silently daring Dani to challenge her.

"Oh," was all Dani could manage to say. She considered how angry Bill would be if she got up and left, if she stood up right now, and marched away from the table.

There was a long and awkward silence, and Dani looked around for the waiter again. Her drink was empty, and she forced herself to take a few long and calming breaths instead.

"I forgot to mention at work Bill," Dani focused her attention on her best friend. Bill was safe, Bill wasn't currently glaring daggers at her. "The landlord floo'd this morning, our water will be off on Thursday until 3." She told him.

"Alright," Bill nodded, wincing slightly, "About time he's fixing it though." He added thoughtfully. His girlfriend, however picked up on something different entirely.

"Vait a minute," She looked between them, and then directed her anger to her boyfriend. "Ze two of you are living together!?" Her voice was shrill, and Dani couldn't help but wince.

"I…er… um…" Bill looked to her helplessly, and then glanced to Dani.

"Is there a problem with that?" Dani snapped back. She was close to snapping, she knew it. And right now, she could hardly garner an attempt to care. Fleur wasn't the only offended party here, and Dani found herself on the defensive.

Fleur seemed to be having a similar problem with controlling her temper, and she when she spoke, she growled. "Vell…At least all of ze classy women zat I know, do not live with a man unless zey are married to them." She said roughly, eyes flashing in anger.

"And I suppose you'd know all about what it is to be classy," Dani snapped back, eyes flashing to Fleur's manicured nails, and perfect hair.

"Guys…Maybe we should…" Bill tried, he really did, but it didn't seem to get him anywhere, it was too late to try and salvage the situation. And he looked helpless.

"I do not know vat you are implying, but I do not like it!" Fleur said loudly, drawing the attention of the tables around her.

"You're suggesting that living with a man implies sex," Dani supplied, as if she was talking to a child in primary school. "I'm saying that you don't need to be living with a man to sleep with him. And you'd know all about that, wouldn't you."

"You are nothing but a rude, jealous little woman," Fleur crossed her arms, accent becoming more defined the angrier she got.

"Jealous?" Dani laughed bitterly, "You're the only upset that I live with my best friend…though I guess you do know Bill and I used to date, did you?"

"Vat?" Fleur gasped at her, and then turned on her boyfriend. "William, I do not think zat I am alright with Zis!"

"Well god damn it, Bill," Dani annunciated her best friend's name, "I don't think that I am either." Dani snapped.

Bill looked even more helpless, "Maybe we should just start over," he said trying to placate their anger, trying to calm them down.

"You like fiery women Bill," Dani said tauntingly, "You brought this on yourself."

Fleur meanwhile was muttering to herself in French. Maybe it was to vent, or to let off steam, but she was clearly unaware that Dani spoke the language well, and was picking up on everything that the girl was saying, which was currently something along the lines of calling Dani an 'uncultured whore,' and a few places where she wished the smaller girl would go.

"Well, as it happens, you are a manipulative bitch," She replied in perfect French, smiling blithely at the girl. "And…he will never love you the way the he loved me."

Fleur stared at her surprised for several seconds, before flushing and scowling. "You are right, he will love me more," She growled, "He is mine, and I will keep him, if only to spite you."

"We'll see about that," Dani stood up, and pushed her chair back, donning her leather coat and leaving without saying another word. What the hell was Bill thinking, being with someone like that.

…

She couldn't go home, not with how angry she was, not when she was wound up and fuming. Instead, she went to the dig site, which was nearly empty except for a smattering of interns and local workers on late shift. No one that would bother her if she didn't want them to.

She went immediately to her tent and grabbed her work bag, setting it on her desk and pulling out a document she needed to translate for Gringotts. At first, she couldn't focus, her mind racing in a thousand different directions, but the work was slow and steady, and after a while, succeeded in calming her down.

Bill would come looking for her when he got home from the disastrous dinner. When he saw he wasn't at their shared flat, he'd come and find her. He always did. He would be worried, and would come to make sure that everything was okay, that she was okay. He would hug her and tell her that everything would be fine.

She glanced down at her watch….Any minute now, he'd walk through that tent flap. He might be angry with her, but they'd work through it. Any minute now….

….

Dani woke up at her desk around six the next morning. There was a crick in her neck and her back her, but that was all insignificant compared to the startling fact that Bill had never came. It shocked her, it sent a sick feeling into the pit of her stomach, and it hurt. He'd always come before. The only thing that had changed was Fleur. He had picked the French witch over his best friend, and it hurt.

She set her head in her hands and took several shaky breaths. It was going to be a long day.

Bill was late for work, but when he did arrive, he didn't even look at Dani. It made Dani wonder what sort of lies Fleur had told him about their heated French conversation. Perhaps Dani had been a little harsh on the other witch, but she was defensive and snappy, already coming off a long and bad day, she was just as blind sighted by the meeting as the French witch had been.

It was made abundantly clear though, that Bill, who had always had her back in the past, always been loyal, her best friend, had chosen another girl over her. It hurt more than any argument that they'd ever had. It hurt more than Dani could even put into words, and she felt like crying for most of the day. She felt like throwing up, or going home and hiding under her blankets for the next week.

Both Jake and Ted realized that something had happened immediately, but other than a few exchanged glances at the morning meeting, no one spoke of it. Still, Dani was relieved when Jake split them into teams for an easy day of classifying artifacts and writing up providences of them for the London Museum of Magic. Jake and Bill worked together at the opposite side of the camp from Ted and Dani.

"You alright?" Ted asked her immediately when they were alone. Dani could feel his gaze on her, but ignored him, focusing on a stone carved scarab, charmed to flutter about the area, in her hand.

"I don't want to talk about it Ted," Dani told him stiffly, and she didn't, not now, probably not ever. She and Bill had made an agreement to not bring their team into their fights a long time ago, and this was one of their worst ones yet. It wouldn't be fair to impact how well their team worked together with personal drama. They'd always been good about pausing every fight they'd ever had enough to be professional at work. Otherwise it'd be unfair to everyone involved.

And besides, she was liable to break down in tears at any time if she did. Hell, she was liable to break down in tears just thinking about it. And as much as she loved Ted, she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't know what to do with her crying. He'd panic, and probably worry.

He seemed to consider what she said for several minutes before sighing. "Alright," He got the message, and held up an artifact. "I've got a strange purple rock. How the hell do you itemize that?"

…