- Chapter 1 -

The entry door loomed over Ginny, its black surface gleaming. She grimaced at its gold and diamond trimmings before knocking. No matter how many times she'd seen it, she couldn't help but feel annoyed by the unapologetic opulence and a bit resentful that the slab of wood was worth more than her family's entire fortune.

It wasn't long before a house-elf cracked open the door. Its milky green eyes widened at the sight of her. "I is sorry, Miss Wheezy, but Master is busy right now."

She rolled her eyes and barged past the startled elf. "It's a Saturday morning, Bibsy. Of course he's busy. Draco does love his morning shags."

Muscle memory guided her effortlessly through the polished wood-paneled corridors, the flustered house-elf at her heels.

"B-but Master says he must not be disturbed!"

"Oh don't mind me. I'll just be in the library, though could you bring me a cup of tea and a hangover cure?"

A few moments later, Ginny was comfortably ensconced in a plush, blue velvet armchair by the fire. She heaved a blissful sigh as the potion went to work, easing away her nail-on-skull headache like a cooling salve had been spread across her scalp.

A drowsy stupor seeped into her limbs with the last sip of her peppermint rose tea, but before sleep could claim her, an all too familiar drawling voice cut through the room. "You should know that when I said 'make yourself at home,' it was a onetime deal."

Though surprised to see him so soon, she sent a ready smirk towards the speaker and didn't deign to reply right away. Instead she spent the next few seconds shamelessly admiring the strip of his pale, toned chest visible between the unbuttoned flaps of his pajama top. It was still strange to think that only a few months ago, she wouldn't have looked twice at him or allowed herself to admit that he was a rather attractive bloke—physically speaking that was. Back then, drunk on foolish, childish notions of love and destiny, her mind and her heart had belonged to only one boy. Ginny shuddered at the thought and hurriedly put the memories it dredged up out of mind.

Shaking her head, she spoke with mocked admonishment, "Tsk, tsk, Draco. Wasn't it you who told me to interpret terms freely whenever possible so as to benefit myself? And as you failed to mention the stipulation at the time, I'm afraid your invitation still stands."

He chuckled and crossed the library's marble floor to her side with his usual graceful strides. Without another word, he bent down towards her, and immediately guessing his intentions, she slapped her palm to his mouth and pushed him back, crinkling her nose in distaste.

"Don't even think about it. I don't want to taste your Tart Flavor of the Week. Who knows where her mouth has been before she got to you."

To her amazement, instead of diving into his usual indignant and cajoling routine to get his way, Draco swore and immediately pulled out a wand from the pocket of his trousers. He cast a cleaning spell and a refreshing charm on his mouth in rapid succession before letting the wand drop to the floor.

"Any further objections?" He breathed the question into her ear with one knee pressed onto the seat between her legs. His slim, sinewy arms gripped the armrests, caging her in.

She'd always thought there must have been a bit of love potion magic mixed into his cologne. That was the only way she could explain why she found its spicy, smoky scent so enticing as to prompt her to lean into his warmth, almost involuntarily, every single time he got near.

Her nose pressed into the crook of his neck. She breathed deep and snickered, the sound partly muffled by his skin. "At least pick one with a better taste in perfume, Draco. You smell like teenage girl." In truth, the smell was but a shadowy hint of jasmine underneath his overpowering scent, but she never missed an opportunity to vex him, not when it provided her with such amusement.

"Enough already," he muttered a second before he dragged his lips across her cheek and kissed her full on the mouth.

Ginny sighed into the kiss. For all his flaws and failings—and there were plenty—being a bad kisser wasn't one of them. She'd kissed numerous men since her infamous breakup with England's Darling and Savior, but Draco remained staunchly top on her list of best wizards to snog. Not that she'd tell him and feed that already inflated ego of his, though he could probably tell anyway from the wanton noises she couldn't contain and the way she pressed back into him, wanting it just as much.

The first time they kissed was at the Snake's Den, a dimly lit club with a shady reputation. He'd snuck up behind her as she swayed and undulated with abandon on the dance floor. She felt him place his large warm hands on her hip and made a split-second decision based on his scent alone. Merlin, he smells good, she remembered thinking. It was a nice change from the alcohol and cigarette smoke stench of her usual hookups. She relaxed into the curve of his body around her and allowed him to guide her through the familiar dance of seduction. Hands soon wandered and heads grew closer, turned, and sought out lips and tongues. When he finally spun her around to snog her properly, a flash from a strobe light revealed their identity to each other. He seemed as shocked as she was, but then she thought, this is perfect. She grinned at him, raising her chin in challenge, and after a beat, he quickly recovered and smirked right back. Their kisses after that had been vengeful, angry, and guilty—at least on her part. For weeks she'd been finding out that it felt so, so good, but at the same time so wrong being intimate with a stranger, but Draco Malfoy was more than that; he was the nemesis of her teenage years. The sense of wrongness had made her shiver along with his heated touch.

But now?

She sucked hard on his lower lip, and he made a sound half way between a growl and a moan. He paid her back by biting her upper lip before slanting his head and possessing her mouth completely.

The guilt now was practically nonexistent. The sense of wrongness all but faded. She enjoyed it shamelessly—the scrape of her nails against his muscled back, the hot, salty-sweet taste of his tongue sliding against hers, the sheer physical closeness of a fit male body. Best of all, there were no messy emotions getting in the way of blissful pleasure, no consequences to stress over. She didn't care about any of that now. Ginny Weasley had finally grown up. That little girl who dreamed of a fairytale wedding with her one true prince was gone. And good riddance.

"Alright there?" Draco had pulled back, his slightly swollen lips curving into a frown.

She pulled back from her thoughts and tried to recover her senses. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

He was staring at her in that intent way that she could never decode. "You had that look in your eye. Half a year since, and you're still thinking about that?"

She pushed him back, scowling. "It's not what you think, wise arse." He had to go and ruin the mood.

Draco narrowed his eyes, and she knew he was about to launch them into another tiring, pointless conversation. Before he could do so, she schooled her features into one of amusement and quickly changed the subject. "You're awfully keen this morning. Was she that bad?"

He hesitated, obviously taking note of her diversionary attempt and likely debating whether to pursue the issue. "That's not—"

A piercing voice cut him off, screaming, "What do you think you're doing?"

Ginny stuck her head out to look past Draco's body still looming over her. In the library's doorway stood a curvaceous witch with massive bed hair, the tangled red locks blooming in a cloud around her petite face. Even without taking in her attire, a sheer, pale pink nightie, Ginny could easily guess who it was.

She sniggered. "You know, Draco, I'm beginning to think you have a thing for redheads."

He whipped his head around to see the witch in question and shot an annoyed look Ginny's way. "She isn't even a real one."

"That just proves my point."

His eyes flashed with irritation, but before he could return fire, another shriek of rage echoed through the room.

"H-how dare you. I have never been so insulted. Not only did you leave me high and dry, but you had the gall to-to—"

Ginny smirked up at Draco. "You don't usually go for the clingy type."

"I don't," he said, glaring down at her.

"Well then, your judgment must be getting faulty." She stuck her head back out to watch the fuming witch.

"I wonder whose fault is that."

She looked back at him with narrowed eyes. "You couldn't possibly be implying that—"

"Don't you ignore me!"

Draco's wince mirrored hers. The woman's volume rivaled a screaming mandrake.

She was advancing on them now, punctuating each of her words with an angry stab of her manicured finger. "And you. You brazen hussy. You—why you're..." Her eyes narrowed to slits and then widened, growing round as headlights.

Ginny rolled her eyes, already bored with what was to come.

"You're Ginny Weasley! So all those rumors were true! Have you no shame? Have you any idea of the scandal you're causing your family?"

"Yes, yes I do. You don't have to concern yourself. My entire family—that is Mum, Dad, five brothers, sister-in-laws, cousins, aunts, uncles—they all make sure to tell me about it in excruciating detail. Every. Single. Day." The end of her reply tapered into a gaping yawn. She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms, feeling the crash imminent after an entire night out.

Draco shot her a look that nearly resembled concern. "You haven't slept?"

"Obviously. It's a Saturday morning, Draco. If I did, do you think I would be here at 7 a.m.?"

For the briefest of seconds, his blank expression told her that he hadn't registered that fact. Strange. Come to think of it. He's been acting rather differently today.

Before she could ask him about it, the bloody banshee had started up again. Ginny clapped her hands over her ears. "For Merlin's sake, get rid of her already before our ears bleed."

Draco called for Bibsy. After receiving his instructions, the house-elf disappeared and came back with a bundle of clothing and a wand before Apparating away with the furious witch.

They simultaneously sighed in relief, and Draco moved to perch on her chair's armrest.

"So what brings you then? Other than finding me utterly irresistible that is."

She snorted. "I'm not sorry at all to break it to you, but you don't even come close to being able to attract me away from my bed this early on a weekend morning." Ginny paused and glanced about the room as she continued in a light tone, "Anyway, I may have been kicked out of my house and possibly need a place to crash until I can find a flat."

When her eyes found his again, he was staring at her with open disbelief. "Your parents threw you out on your arse? I would have never thought they had it in them." He sounded rather impressed.

She shrugged. "I pretty much pushed them to desperation. Scolding and bribery didn't work, so they're finally trying out the tough-love act. Even my brothers are in on it. To be fair, I made it harder on myself, as usual."

He chuckled. "So they were going to give you time to move out and possibly help you get settled, but you said, 'Fuck it. If you want me gone, then I'm gone.'"

"Pretty much. You're getting pretty good at guessing what I would do."

"Honestly, it's not that hard." Before she could retort back, he continued, sounding just a tad resentful, "You have a lot of nerve. Do you realize you haven't seen me in a month? And now you've come here asking for a favor?"

Her brows shot up in surprise. "Did you want to see me? You could have owled."

He shifted and resettled himself on the armrest. "That was never necessary. We always seemed to be running into each other."

She laughed. "Aw, did you miss me?" At his scowl, she only laughed harder. "At ease, Draco. I know your cold little heart can't even comprehend such a mushy sentiment, much less feel it. We didn't have much luck running into each other this month, did we? It's probably because I've been forced to try new places and switch them up often to actually enjoy my night." Her amusement sharpened into a grimace. "The media's gotten pretty persistent. You would think I'd be of less interest to them now that I'm no longer dating Golden Boy, but if anything, I seem to have become more infamous."

"Of course you have. You're the Girl-Who-Broke-Saint-Potter's-Heart." An angry heat underwrote each word.

She sighed. Draco was one of only a handful of people who knew the whole story of how the breakup went down, and she suspected that, aside from Luna, he was probably the only other person who actually believed it. She'd told him the sordid tale one drunken night. It was the fifth or sixth time they'd met up, and after a particularly trying day, she'd been feeling desperate for an ally. If there was one person she could always count on to take her side against Harry, it was definitely Draco Malfoy.

"That's all in the past now, Draco. And thank goodness for that."

He opened his mouth and hovered for a moment but only snapped it shut again. For the next few seconds, he puckered his lips while in deep thought—a habit she'd taken note of and found rather endearing, which was not a word one often associated with a Malfoy. He seemed to have come to some decision unbeknownst to her, for he nodded to himself before returning the subject to her earlier request.

"So why me?" he asked in a careless tone that almost sounded bored. "You're certainly not lacking in number of blokes to shack up with."

She gave him a pointed look. "Where is your brain today? You're usually so sharp on these things."

He scoffed. "Please. Of course I have my theories. I'm just waiting for you to prove me right."

"Now that's more like it. Ever the humble Malfoy." With a shrug, she proceeded to answer. "I figure you'd be the one I would inconvenience the least. It's not like you're cramped for space in this mansion of a flat, and it's large enough that you wouldn't even have to see my face if you didn't want to. More importantly, you're the most likely to not take my request the wrong way."

He raised an eyebrow. "The wrong way?"

"Yeah. Like the bloke I've been seeing for this past week. After three non-dates, he's convinced himself that he loves me." Her nose crinkled at the thought. "Your bad night was nothing compared to mine. Not only did the guy become an emotional wreck after I broke things off—gently, mind you—but I had to haul his drunk arse home so he wouldn't splinch himself, and this was after he'd already puked on me. Then I come home to an honest to goodness war tribunal hosted by my dear family. Though I guess I should've only been surprised that it didn't happen sooner."

"Well, I would tell you to make yourself at home, but you already did."

She blinked up at him. In honesty, she'd gone here with only half a plan in her head, still reeling from her parent's ultimatum that she'd firmly pushed aside to worry over later. For some reason or other, Draco had popped into her mind almost immediately, and the more she considered it, the more apparent it became that he was her best option. She didn't want to think about how she became so isolated in her world that the only person she could bear to see in her current state was someone who'd once been considered an enemy. And if there was one thing Ginny was good at, it was suppressing unwanted thoughts . She'd had a lot of practice after all. After the Chamber, it had become a necessary skill to maintain her sanity.

"So I can stay?"

"Yes, Ginny, you can stay, and you better remember this the next time you feel tempted to call me a selfish, unfeeling brat. I'm not even going to ask for any sort of compensation, but that's mostly because I know you'll give it to me anyway." He leveled a knowing smirk at her.

She punched him in the arm, hard enough to elicit a hiss of pain. "Cheeky bastard."

He clutched at the injured area, looking exaggeratedly aghast. "Is that any way to treat your benefactor?"

"Yes. Especially when he's being particularly indecent or just plain annoying. If you don't like it, then I could just find somewhere else to—"

"Ungrateful witch. Get up, and I'll show you to your room. Maybe you'll act more well-mannered when you're not so sleep deprived, but I'm not getting my hopes up."

He stood up, and she followed after, stretching with another gaping yawn.

"By the way, Draco. I should inform you that, having had one particularly bad experience, I make it a point never to sleep with housemates." She pressed her lips together to stifle the giggle at the outrage flashing through his eyes. Their subsequent journey through the corridors was relatively quiet, but she could tell from his calculating gaze that he was pondering what it would take for her to overlook her rule.

They finally stopped at a room she recognized as being across from his.

She grinned at him. "You sure about this, Draco? They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, while I'm almost certain that proximity will just drive us both insane if we don't kill each other first."

"I'm sure something else will distract us before that happens." If exhaustion hadn't filled her limbs with lead, his heated gaze would likely have had more of an effect, drawing her to him for a snog. Instead, she made a beeline for the glorious bed, plopping gracelessly face down onto its silken covers. She was hardly surprised to hear the rustle and feel the dip of the mattress as Draco lay down beside her.

Her eyes closed as if weighted with sand, but before she could fully drift into dreamland, Draco was speaking again. "Are you honestly fine with it?"

She didn't need to ask what he meant by 'it'. "Why wouldn't I be, and why do you care?" she mumbled into the sheets.

He didn't reply right away but eventually said, "Because you're under my roof. If anything happens I'll be on the next available boat to Azkaban before you can even say, 'fair trial.'"

She groaned. "If you want me gone, just say the word."

"That's not it. Don't put words in my mouth."

Somehow she found the energy to roll onto her back and looked over to catch his irritated gaze. "I'm fine, Draco. What do I care if they're cutting me off, or if they don't understand why I'm doing this? What do I care if they won't even miss me? I certainly won't miss them." Her throat caught on the lie, and no more words could get past. But no, her lips were most definitely not trembling from any emotion. It was just cold in this drafty manor passing as a flat. She was also definitely not crying. The dust from the unused room was making her eyes water, that's all.

Wordlessly, he scooted closer to her and folded her into his chest.

"What are you doing?" she asked warily against the hollow of his throat.

He said nothing and only continued to hold her, one hand moving to rub faint circles on her back. Seconds passed, and exhaustion gave the final push for her to relax against him. With the comforting presence of another warm body close by and the gentle motions across her back, sleep rapidly tugged at her. Her thoughts grew fuzzy as cotton, and a languor coated her senses. So when Draco muttered something into her hair, she couldn't be sure she heard him right, but it sounded like he said, "I would miss you."

If she had been more awake, those words would have rung alarm bells in her head. Instead, her last twinge of consciousness merely protested weakly before being submerged into sleep. When she woke, the words were only a half-memory that she was convinced she either imagined or heard wrong. After all, denial of an unpleasant truth had always been Ginny Weasley's forte.

Author's Note: Written for Lia's (chromeknickers') challenge at the DG forum for the prompt "Gossip" and for the Transfiguration School Subjects Competition on the HPFC forum. Feedback is always welcomed, especially as I'm considering expanding it further, I would love to hear what you thought of it. Thank you Pam (cherryredxx) for looking this over.