This story takes place in a completely alternative universe.
In this universe, there is no Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, and the prophecy that helped to influence Voldemort's downfall was never made. The first war never ended, and Voldemort is in control of the wizarding world. There are still a few factions working to fight against him, namely Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix, but they have gone completely underground and have become more myth than reality to the majority of wizards. Dumbledore himself has disappeared, and many believe that he has been killed.
Hogsmeade has become a huge city, the centre of all wizarding activity, more populous even than Diagon Alley in London, still existing beyond the knowledge of Muggles. All of the richest and most prestigious wizarding families live there and send their children to Hogwarts.
Hogwarts has undergone a number of changes after Dumbledore's disappearance. It only accepts pureblooded students, and has been known to even reject purebloods whose families are considered 'undesirable'. For example, none of the Weasley boys were accepted, and had to be sent to school elsewhere. Money, support for Voldemort and bloodlines are all taken into consideration before a student is accepted. The house system still exists, although most students wish to be sorted into Slytherin, where the most popular and powerful always seem to end up. To be a Slytherin to be an elite member of society.
Gryffindors are becoming few and far between, and are generally ignored by the other three houses. Students no longer board at school, the government powers fearing that grouping such young and impressionable minds together would provide the opportunity for those resisting the new order to start some kind of coup. It is no longer the diverse and accepting school that it was before Voldemort began to assume power, but a place where power and money are the most important attributes, and the sons and daughters of the most important families are worshipped by other students, and favoured by teachers because they are the ones that will be assuming the positions of power once their education is complete.
Ginny Weasley is the only Weasley of her generation to be accepted. Her parents, both working grunt jobs at the Ministry, pushed her to go, vowing to do whatever necessary to spare the expense for her to go, knowing that an education from Hogwarts will be invaluable to her future. She boards in a very small one-room apartment over Honeydukes, and works part-time as a waitress at The Three Broomsticks, to help pay her tuition, which is unreasonably expensive - a measure to help limit the 'type' of students who are able to attend, and her living expenses. She is in her 6th year, and has been counting down the days until she can graduate and rejoin her family again, escaping the phoney and pretentious world of Hogwarts.
Anything that conflicts with canon is probably not a result of sloppiness or mistake, but a change that I've made in order to develop the AU in which this story takes place. Also, a great deal of the premise of this story has been inspired by the manga/anime/live action series called
Hana Yori Dango. The entire time I was watching it, I could only think that it felt exactly like a D/G fic brought to life, so I decided to attempt to
write that D/G fic.
The fallout from the love-triangle Ginny has accidentally found herself embroiled in continues, while things grow more dangerous in Hogsmeade.