Disclaimer: Draco and Ginny and all other Wizard-ey characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I’m not gaining any money on this, nor do I already have any money that would be worth taking in a lawsuit. So don’t raise one. No copyright infringement is intended. I will be giving the credits for each Moulin Rouge song in each chapter. This chapter, it’s “Nature Boy” written by Eden Ahbez and sung by a bunch of people.

Ecole de Sorcier

~~~~~

“There was a boy,
A very strange, enchanted boy”

He’d always had power. That was never the question. The question was what he did with it.

It was usually nothing. He saved it; always kept a little in reserve, just in case. On the rare occasion that he did do something that wasn’t required for school, it was to hurt his enemies. He always had a large number of enemies, Potter being number one. Weasley was close behind. Which Weasley, one might ask? See, that was the second question. And perhaps the most important

Ever since he’d met Weasel the First, he’d despised him. Mainly because of the things his father told him. The Weasleys were scum, below them, part of the underworld that was filled with Muggle worshipers. He’d never even given it a second thought.

But then he’d met Weasel the Second. At Flourish and Blotts when he’d been shopping for his new school books. The problem was, she didn’t seem like scum to him. She’d showed up completely filthy, poor enough that she had to travel by Floo. But she’d still managed to be the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen with her glowing, fire-y hair and her gorgeous chocolate eyes. She’d captivated him; it was just something about her. Something that managed to make her look good despite her dirtiness. Something making her more...human, more real and down to earth.

And he hated her for it. A Malfoy should never be this besotted with a Weasley. It just wasn’t done. His father, among many others, would be royally pissed. So he had to hide it.

He mostly took his annoyance with the situation out on her brother, as they actually shared a few classes. It was much more convenient. And it put up the front that he hated all Weasleys. For a while, he was able to avoid showing his anger to the girl that still managed to captivate him after six years.

Six years in which she made him fall even more in love with her. He despised her for that. In his second year, her first, he had been completely stricken upon hearing that she’d been taken into the Chamber. This irritated him to no end; how could he be so worried about someone who was supposed to be such an enemy? It had been his own father that sent her to her death, for Merlin’s sake! He was above wondering whether the Weasel would be okay. And yet he managed to remain worried.

Then there was that time in his fifth year, her fourth, when she had stupidly run off to the Department of Mysteries to help Harry. Again, it had been his father that lured her there. Why couldn’t he agree with his father’s wishes? What was it about her that made him scared for her safety? He was a bloody Malfoy, and they bloody well did not like Muggle-lovers. It was a well known fact; one that he believed in profusely. But there she was.

And sodding Harry Potter did not help matters. The object of his affection happened to fancy the Boy-Who-Nearly-Killed-Off-His-Father’s-Master. A Master that he happened to care about as well. It was the most fucked up triangle he had ever seen. He was very much of the evil, with dungeons, blood, torture, brooding, and scowls. Whereas she was very much of the good, with fluffy bunnies, happiness, and love. He didn’t do love. But there she was.

“They say he wandered very far, very far
Over land and sea”

In his life, he’d seen many things. His father had made sure of that. “It’s important to know the world you will play a part in ruling someday,” he always said.

Meaning, they would often go to Muggle villages. For fun, they would sit on park benches and laugh at all of the Muggle children playing with such primitive, crappy toys. Monkey bars...honestly. Who would ever want to do something that associated them with a lesser primate? It just made no sense.

But he couldn’t help but think of her on the trips. She would have thought that these monkey bars were fun. Perhaps even gone on them herself. Which gave him mixed feelings; he wanted to go play on the monkey bars so he could be closer to her, and strangle himself for being such a pathetic sod all at the same time. It didn’t bode well for his sanity.

And he was always spoiled because of it. Apparently, his father had seen some of the wistful looks he’d given the Muggle playthings and made sure to stomp them out of him. Usually by buying many expensive, complicated Wizard’s toys. Those would always provide at least a day of distraction from the internal fight that was constantly brewing in his veins. Plus, they gave him bragging rights, made him able to one-up the whole Weasley family many times over. Reminded him that she was below him.

“A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he”

His father was constantly pounding into him the rudiments of being a Death Eater. It was what he assumed Draco would be when he grew up, and the boy had never protested. For from what he knew, these Muggles deserved to be terminated. But then, why did her family hold them so dear?

He always kept that in the back of his mind during the lessons, causing him to be scolded many a time for lack of concentration. Eventually, the nagging thought forced him to subconsciously withdraw slightly from most of his house mates. They were always making comments on the lack of worth of the Muggles. And he couldn’t help but think to himself, what would her face look like if she heard what they said? It drove him mad, this obsession he seemed to have with her. He wanted to be rid of it.

But that was most definitely easier said than done. The harder he tried to put her out of his mind, the more she crept into it. It made him absolutely furious. She was unworthy of such a fascination. But a cutting voice in the back of his head told him that wasn’t quite true. That she was deserving of all of it. In his mind, as much as he hated to admit it, she was a Goddess. Often, he could be found gripping his head with a scowl on his face while he mentally debated this issue. No one dared ask.

He began to fall apart, torn between his current family and the one he wanted to be part of his future family. Yes, he’d finally given in and admitted that he wanted the littlest Weasel to be his wife someday. Oh, but his family wouldn’t like that. Neither would the other that he wanted to pledge his life to. They’d both take it about as well as getting a cute little puppy as a gift. And the puppy would be dead within hours.

He went on like this for almost a year, until his father was captured by the bloody fucking Ministry and taken to bloody fucking Azkaban. It had broken his entire home life. His mother was constantly close to tears, mostly unable to do anything but lay in bed all day. And since bloody Potter had lost them their house-elf, there was no one to take care of him. So he had to do the unthinkable: take care of himself. He hated having to cook all of his meals and clean up afterwards, but once the summer was done he grew to mind it less. It was rather liberating, this opportunity to be free of others’ command. To be able to do what he wanted, when he wanted. It allowed him to think more clearly. To, for once, think for himself.

Over the course of the following year, he lost nearly all of his friends. He just didn’t care about them anymore. Most had been appointed to befriend him by his father. But his father was gone, all of his memories sucked out by the dementors. So he stopped listening to the things he’d been told. Mostly. He still didn’t care for the Muggles, and was still determined to take the Mark, but didn’t want any of those idiotic goons for acquaintances. He preferred to be alone than to spend time with most of the idiots who made up the Slytherin house.

So he did. Instead of terrorizing small first years, he could usually be found in the library during his free time. It intrigued him, all of the things he’d been missing. He’d only ever heard one side of things, his father’s side. He liked to read about the other way of looking at the Muggles. It seemed...better, more humane. Not that he liked them, it just seemed a little wacko to blow them up for a hobby. Especially at someone else’s orders. It didn’t hurt that she was often in the library, so when he got tired of reading he could watch her. For some reason, he didn’t feel quite as guilty about it anymore.

“And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me...”

Rather, he was saddened by the fact that he didn’t know this girl better. She’d stolen his thoughts for many years, but he’d never properly spoken to her. That struck him as odd; he even had to think back to why he’d never approached her. Oh, yeah, she was his complete opposite. She was good, and he was bad. But he was starting not to believe that anymore. He was certainly not ready for fluffy bunnies, but he decidedly did not want to go and murder a bunch of people for some controlling, neurotic wizard anymore.

It was almost a relief to have finally determined that. He was going to do whatever he wanted. If he wanted his skin to be tattooed, he would damn well do it himself and pick a picture that he wanted. So there.

And if he wanted to be in love, he could.

But he still couldn’t get up the nerve to talk to her. He didn’t quite know why; he was definitely good-looking. And he was supposed to be able to do anything he wanted. He was a Malfoy.

It was rather ridiculous, this ongoing obsession that he never acted upon. It was no longer a complication, but a blessing. Sort of. Once he gave up on hating it, the feeling that he got whenever he saw her was rather nice. Why he ever contemplated giving it up just because of who her family was, he didn’t really know.

And he grew to adopt a new goal. It was no longer to become a Death Eater and further his father’s cause. He would leave the pathetic groveling to people like Peter. His new goal was her.

“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn
Is just to love, and be loved in return.”

end part 1

~~~~~

A.N: “Ecole de Sorcier” means “Wizard School” in French.

A.N: I am currently looking for some betas...I usually just read over it myself and do a quick grammar check...I’d rather have multiple views from some people I don’t know who will look at it completely critically. If you’re interested, please leave a signed review or e-mail me at the address in my profile.

Disclaimer: The song for this installment is not mine. It’s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” and it belongs to Jule Stynet and Leo Robin.

Diamonds

~~~~~

Ginny sighed. At the moment, she was sitting behind her desk at the Ministry of Magic, recovering from her most recent dumping. Oh, she wasn’t the dumpee. She was the dumper. But that didn’t make it any better.

The sleeze she’d just been dating was a very sweet guy; he always showed up early, showered her with attention, paid her brilliant compliments, and charmed her parents completely. And it wasn’t even Harry. Of course, he was only sweet until it came time to pay the bill whenever they went anywhere. The moment the check was set down on the table, his beeper would go off with an ‘emergency.’ Leaving her to, of course, pay the tab.

But after this happened on four dates in a row, costing her more than a hundred Galleons due to his insistence that ‘she deserved to be taken somewhere nice,’ she decided she wasn’t going to take it anymore. No man was worth this dent in her wallet. She liked to eat the other meals besides dinner, after all. And the rate this was going, that was SO not going to happen.

She allowed her head to drop down onto her desk. Perhaps she should just give up on this whole ‘finding love’ thing. It was definitely overrated. What were the chances that she would actually be able to find the person for her?

“The French are glad to die for love
They delight in fighting duels
But I prefer a man who lives
And gives expensive jewels
A kiss on the hand may be quite continental
But diamonds are a girl's best friend
A kiss may be grand, but it won't pay the rental
On your humble flat, or help you feed your pussy cat.”

Suddenly, a knock sounded on her door.

Quickly plastering a cheery smile on her face, she promptly answered, “Come in.”

“Hello,” an extremely familiar voice said. But it was a man she barely recognized that had just walked into the room. He stood near the chair on the other side of her desk. He was...softer than he used to be. Less tough; less rough around the edges. He still held an air of aloofness, but the small difference was immensely noticeable. “I know who you are, but I don’t believe we’ve properly talked before. I’m Draco Malfoy.” He held out his hand to shake hers.

She hesitated for a moment; this was a man she had grown to despise after what he did to her brother and what his father did to her. But it had been over a year since he’d left Hogwarts. From what she knew, he’d left her family alone since then. And, after hearing that he hadn’t ended up a Death Eater, she wasn’t quite as wary of him as she would have been otherwise. Still keeping her guard up, she stood, shook his hand, and cordially replied, “Yes, I remember you. Please sit down.” Once he did so, she added, “What did you want to see me for?”

He looked up at her, and she couldn’t help but be drawn in by his eyes. Like the rest of him, they didn’t seem nearly as cold as she remembered from school. Rather, they gazed at her softly, simply making proper eye contact. But why didn’t she see any revulsion? He’d hated them all so much....She suddenly snapped out of her mind’s questioning when she heard him speak.

“I was wondering if there are any job openings in your department. I’m interested in the whole branch of law; it’s extremely important that the government has a basic control of its surroundings.”

So that was what he wanted. Control. She was damn well not going to give it to him; regardless of the fact that he wore no Dark Mark, he most certainly did not seem above manipulating the courts to rule in the favor of actual Death Eaters on occasion. There was no way she could give him the chance. The remote semblance of safety they’d all worked so hard for was much too important to her. “I’m sorry, but there is nothing available right now. Perhaps you could inquire again in several months?” Her answer was slightly colder than it needed to be, and she couldn’t help but glare at him the tiniest bit. After all he’d done, he had the nerve to come ask her for a job in which he could continue to do more damage.

“Are you absolutely positive?” The set look on her face seemed to be enough of an answer for him. “Well, then, I suppose I should be going. Thank you for your time.” He stood up and turned away; but then, as though an inspiration had struck him, he returned back to a position facing her and gently picked up her right hand with his. Slowly, he leaned down and brushed his lips on the back of her hand, followed by a tender kiss. The small gesture sent a shiver throughout her body; however, she said nothing. It had simply been a noble thing for him to do. Something about his ‘higher class’ upbringing, most likely. So she said nothing. Until he was almost out the door.

“Mal–I mean, Mr. Malfoy?”

He quickly turned around at the sound of his name with a strange look in his eyes–was it wistful? No, that didn’t make sense–and stood waiting for her to continue.

“That won’t work. I don’t bend to flattery.”

As quickly as he turned, he left the room and shut the door without responding.

Ginny returned to some of her recent paperwork as though nothing had happened. Which was actually quite true; it had just been a business discussion. But then something occurred to her, making her look up with a start. Why had he bothered to do the whole hand-kissing thing to a Weasley? Sure, he wanted the job, but not that badly, right? He thought all Weasleys were below him. It must have tortured him to befoul his mouth in such a way. It just didn’t make sense.

“Men grow cold as girls grow old
And we all lose our charms in the end
But square-cut or pear-shaped
These rocks don't lose their shape
Diamonds are a girl's best friend”

On the other side of the door, Draco stood to catch his breath. He had just kissed her. Not on the lips or anything, but he’d been practically in love with the woman for seven years. Just the one kiss on the hand was wreaking havoc on his libido. And she’d felt something too. He was sure of it. But how to get her to admit it to herself? He’d already given her over a year to distance herself from the cruel things he’d done in his past. His ridiculously stupid past.

Which he happened to be overcoming to try for this position. Because to work in Ginny’s department and have the chance to show her he was not out to kill people anymore, that meant he had to work at the Ministry. Under Harry fucking Potter, the ‘best Minister of Magic ever!’

Completely ignoring the advantage of being near her, he actually needed the job. Said ‘best Minister of Magic ever!’ had authorized a Ministry repossession of all of his family assets as a punishment for all of Lucius’ crimes. Because apparently the Kiss wasn’t enough....

But it was all worth it if she could learn to like him. Hell, even just to not hate him. He’d take that for now. If he had to.

But he wanted her. As quickly as possible. With her consent of course. He wasn’t into being that cruel. That was so his father’s thing.

So perhaps a direct approach was the best. After all, it was possible she didn’t like waiting around. It would be much easier for her to find herself attracted to one of her greatest enemies if she knew he wasn’t out to hurt her, that rejection shouldn’t be something to fear. Because he would never hurt her. He simply loved her.

And he needed to tell her that.

“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”

A.N: Not mine. *sigh*. All JKR’s. Though the song, “One Day I’ll Fly Away,” belongs to Will Jennings and Joe Sample.

Fly Away

~~~~~

“Ginny?” Harry’s voice asked as he poked his head into her tiny office.

She groaned internally. He’d hurt her plenty when she’d been rejected at the end of Hogwarts when he decided he like Hannah Abbott better. And she’d moved on, gotten over it, already burned that picture. “Yes, Harry?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me this Friday?” he said confidently. He was sure she’d say yes. Well she wasn’t going to. What the hell would possess her to put herself through that again? It was just a little crush and it had done its crushing.

“I’m sorry, I’m busy,” she then pointedly looked down at the next form and began the report on Mr. Kettleby’s spell that had turned himself black rather than his old rusting cauldron.

But Harry was going to be persistent today. “How about Saturday then?”

Ginny just shook her head.

“That’s odd. It’s almost as if you don’t want to come spend time with one of your oldest friends....No, that can’t be right. If you’re busy this weekend, I suppose I can squeeze you in on Thursday.”

Resting the extremely strong urge to get up and strangle him, she sweetly replied, “Alright then. Thursday it is.” Anything to get the arrogant bastard to shut up.

With a smile, Harry left the office and went back to his important Minister jobs, which usually consisted of publicity events due to his status as the Boy-Who-Lived-and-Will-Protect-Us-All-When-Voldemort-Decides-to-Attack-Us-Again. Right, like he was spending all that time signing pictures thinking about the best way to turn the bastard into a puddle of goo. If you asked Ginny, upon Lockhart finally being declared permanently insane, Harry had decided the former winner of Witch Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award needed a replacement.

“I follow the night
Can’t stand the light
When will I begin
To live again?”

Harry had really started to get bloody annoying. He seemed to think that because she was single, and it happened to be convenient for him, she wanted to date him. That was a no. He always made her feel inferior, as though she was lucky just to be near him. But she didn’t want anyone like that. If she was going to spend her time with someone, it would damn well be someone who made her feel something other than ‘please let me leave now.’ Someone that made her blood boil, a person who actually made her feel. She hadn’t really done that in a long while.

And she had an idea that she wouldn’t for a long time to come.

“One day I’ll fly away
Leave all this to yesterday
What more could your love do for me?
When will love be through with me?”

But she was thinking more and more that it could never happen for her. Even if ‘the one’ was out there somewhere, was it really worth all of this trouble? Hell, if she claimed herself a celibate, then no one could mooch money off of her or bother her when she didn’t want to be bothered. They would just leave her alone.

She allowed her head to fall on the desk, but promptly picked it back up again and rubbed the small bump it had created. Apparently self-mutilation didn’t help her current delightful mood very much.

Maybe it was all just pointless.

“Why live life from dream to dream?
And dread the day when dreaming ends.”

~~~~~

A.N: I know, this is a really short chapter. But it’s where it decided to end. I will hopefully be following it shortly with a small bit from Harry’s point of view. Because he’s really not trying to be the asshole that Ginny thinks he is at the moment. I promise.

A.N: This chapter’s song is “Because We Can” from Zidler’s Rap; it belongs to Norman Cook and was originally performed by Fatboy Slim.

Because You Can

~~~~~

“Cause you can can can!”

Harry was in a particularly good mood today. He’d just ended it with his recent girlfriend of two years, Emma. Which probably should have made him a little more depressed, but he wasn’t. The new sense of freedom was overpowering the sadness. Made him feel lighter.

In his newly found confidence, he felt like doing something he hadn’t done in a while. And that happened to be visiting with a certain younger Weasley that he liked so much. Sure, he’d seen her at Ministry events, but not much more than that. He missed her. Just as a friend, mind, he didn’t feel that way about her, but he still missed her.

Later that day, he leaned his head into her office. Just for a chat. “Ginny?”

She seemed to be stressed. There was a slight frown on her face, and a large amount of unfinished paperwork strewed across her desk. After a moment, she replied, “Yes, Harry?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me this Friday?” he asked. He’d only come to talk to her for a minute or two, but she looked like she needed to get out, go somewhere fun, and get completely pissed. She needed to loosen up. And, as her boss, let alone her friend, he was going to take this opportunity to help her out. Because otherwise, he suspected one of his favorite employees would be sleeping at her desk rather than writing on it from the stress.

“I’m sorry, I’m busy,” she answered tersely. Wow, she was going to need more drinks than he thought....

“How about Saturday then?”

She didn’t even bother replying to that one; all she did was shake her head.

Harry was beginning to feel the need to loosen his tie just from the stuffy air her office created. It was as though she hadn’t heard a joke or laughed properly or even had PEOPLE in this room in a long while...he took it upon himself to remedy that with an attempt at humor. “That’s odd. It’s almost as if you don’t want to come spend time with one of your oldest friends...No, that can’t be right. If you’re busy this weekend, I suppose I can squeeze you in on Thursday.”

It worked. Sort of. She accepted, but with reluctance. Almost as though what he said was true...perhaps she didn’t want to spend any time with him. They had grown apart in the year after he’d left Hogwarts, but he didn’t think it was that much.

He smiled anyways in a last attempt to cheer her up. But the indifferent facial expression she’d adopted by the end of the conversation remained intact. Once he was sure she’d turned her attention back to her desk, he took a last glance at her. He’d really forgotten how pretty she was....But that would come another day. Right now, all he wanted was her friendship again.

“Because you can can can!”

~~~~~

A.N: This is really more of a second part to the last chapter; that’s why it’s so short. Homework permitting, there shall be more this weekend....