Ginny Weasley stood at the edge of a small cliff overlooking the most spectacular valley she'd ever seen. Not that she'd seen many in her short seventeen years but, by all accounts, this location was known for it's rugged beauty as much as its brutal harshness. Isolated in the most remote, northern reaches of Scotland, the area was a popular location for summer tourists. During the winter, however, the area only supported a small village of hardy locals.

The brutal winter conditions made this an ideal location for the Auror Training Academy.

She took in the view of the valley before entering the town. The sun was now setting, casting long shadows and making the incredibly steep rocky terrain appear black against the lower valley's deep hues of green. Down the center, a river of cobalt blue carved its way and she noticed the dark silhouette of a dragon cut across the crimson sunset sky.

Breathing in the crisp fall air, Ginny felt overwhelmed by more than just the beauty of the view. It was, after all, a pivotal moment in her life. Part of her still couldn't quite fathom that she'd finally arrived here after months of planning.

She wasn't exactly sure how the plan had originated in her mind all those weeks ago and she also wasn't sure about exactly when she'd become so infatuated with this particular boy. Nevertheless, the one was driven by the other. Without question, her plan was a result of her unquenchable need to be near him and, at the moment, he was here.

The plan itself was completely insane if she spent any time really thinking about it. In her world, witches weren't supposed to pursue careers, especially not one as dangerous as being an Auror. And, truthfully, she'd never even considered taking up a career that would counter society. Not that she thought that such a limitation was exactly fair. She'd watched, over the years, as each of her brothers had grown up and gone off to Hogwarts, and later found jobs that suited them, while she had attended Nightingale's School for Witches to learn only about art and music and history and domestic matters. It had been frustrating to know that so little would be expected of her, beyond finding a husband, of course.

The fact that she hadn't studied many of the more advanced topics that were taught to the boys at Hogwarts was one of the bigger concerns with her plan. She'd dabbled in some spells, reading some of her brothers' books and such, but, truthfully, she had almost none of the necessary background to qualify for entry into the prestigious Auror academy. That was why she'd chosen a false identity from another country, hoping that differences in the basic school curriculum might provide her some leeway. Perhaps it was foolish of her, but she avoided focusing on the negative aspects of her idea, lest it cause her to lose her nerve.

She shook off her fear and tried to concentrate on the next step of her plan. She still had a day before she needed to report to the school and, before that time, she needed to change. Deciding to spend the next few hours becoming familiar with her new environment, she wandered down the path, away from the glorious view of the valley, toward the nearby village of Dragonshire.

As she entered the relatively quiet main street, her thoughts were once again drawn to her reason for being there. The image of the handsome Quidditch player that entered her mind helped quell her uncertainty.

She'd seen him for the first time at her brothers' school, Hogwarts, just over two years ago when she'd been there to watch her brothers' Quidditch match. She had always loved going to visit because she loved any reason to escape the confines of her own rather boring school, which was located in the heart of London. Hogwarts had always called to her because it had always seemed to be so much more interesting and challenging.

While she'd seen a number of her brothers' matches over the years, it was at that particular match two years ago that she had finally taken notice of him.

She was no casual observer to the game. In fact, she was considered to be quite good, although her experience had been limited to playing with her brothers in their own backyard. Still, she was aware that all her brothers were exceptionally good at playing, but nothing she'd seen before had matched the grace and sheer athleticism of the Slytherin Seeker. She'd found herself captivated by him throughout the match.

Gryffindor had won that day, due to Ron's friend Harry, but it had been sheer luck. She'd seen the skill of the opposing Seeker and almost regretted seeing her brothers' team win.

Since then, she'd become obsessed with learning more about him, traveling on weekends to visit her brothers to watch more Quidditch, or listening to any conversation where his name came up. The latter came quite frequently as, apparently, his family was quite well-known in social circles. Unfortunately, his name was rather scandalous because his family had also had some past affiliation with Dark Wizards.

But she knew nothing of that. She was, however, well-aware of the fact that her brothers hated him. She was quite certain that it was simply because they were jealous.

She stopped bringing him up in conversation after that, limiting herself to newspaper and magazine articles which covered either Hogwarts Quidditch news, or the occasional gossip article about his wealthy family. When she found that he had taken an intern position at the Ministry, she found herself looking for reasons to visit her father at work more often than was truly necessary.

Her father frequently came home from work with gossip about him. He was, after all, still considered to be under some suspicion due to his family name. But the tone of her father's words gradually changed over the summer, turning from cautious, to grudgingly respectful, to almost approving.

Ginny carefully read into her father's words and only became more enamored of the blond young man. He was working to start a new life. He was intelligent. He was clever. He was beautiful.

She found herself doubling her efforts to catch a glimpse of him after that, trying to manage her schedule so that she would see more of him at the Ministry, although too shy to actually bring herself to his attention. But then, there was that one time, where she'd run into him accidentally in the lift, quite literally, and he'd smiled at her. That was when she'd become quite certain that she was in love with him.

When she'd found that he'd applied for Auror training, she'd been thrilled for him. It only seemed to make him all the more perfect in her opinion. But then, she'd found out that the training was not only located in one of the most remote areas of the country, but that it would take at least a year. She'd been devastated. That was when she began to formulate her plan. She simply refused to accept that she would be apart from him for such a long period of time.

-----

Her timing as she entered the village could not have been better. The young Aurors were returning to their dormitories for the evening, after completing their day at the Academy.

She watched as the group of young wizards appeared at the end of the street and, almost before she realized, the area had become crowded with young women, eager to watch the future Aurors pass.

It was total mayhem.

She was hustled along with a horde of giggling, screaming girls as the trainees sauntered through the area on their way to the local pub. She found herself taken in by the sight, and it was quite clear that the young wizards were quite aware of their desirable status.

Watching them, she had to admit that she was a bit enamored herself. Each of the wizards was among the best of the best of their year. Auror candidates had to be intelligent, athletic and confident. No wonder girls were constantly hoping to catch their attention. Ginny was, however, surprised at the number of young witches who seemed willing to gather at this remote village to accomplish that task.

"There's Seamus Finnegan!" one of them squealed, bouncing up and down, grabbing Ginny's arm and pointing.

Ginny gasped in horror, hoping that she wouldn't be seen or recognized by one of the boys that she actually knew as one of her brothers' friends.

The girl's friend responded loudly in return, mostly to be heard over the din of the crowd, "I hear Marion has pictures of him!"

"Pictures?" Ginny asked incredulously.

"Of course!" the girl responded with enthusiasm. "We only get to see them when they come passing through town. The school is so far away that we have to make the most of our time while they are going to and from training."

"Oh, let's go look!" another girl said, as she enthusiastically turned to Ginny inviting her to go with them to see Marion.

What was more shocking than the overwhelming number of girls there trying to catch the attention of the Aurors-in-training, was the fact that Marion, an older, rather well-dressed witch, actually operated a vendor stand specifically catering to this unusual market. The stand offered a rather impressive variety of pictures of the young Aurors and, apparently, Marion did quite a lot of business.

These girls were obviously quite adept at trying to capture the attention of the most eligible bachelors in the Wizarding world. If Ginny was finally going to be noticed, she was going to need an edge. Fortunately, she'd already planned for that.

- X - - X- -

The next morning, Ginny walked into the Academy Training facility dressed the standard black and red trimmed robes of an Auror-in-Training. Her hair had been charmed short, in a boyish style, and changed to brown. She had also charmed her features to look a bit more boy-ish, her breasts were pressed flat by a tight wrapping around her chest and her trousers and shirt were loose fitting, to hide her hips and bum. She wondered if even one of her brothers would recognize her. She barely recognized herself.

The training facility was a short distance from the nearby town but deliberately kept isolated, due to the harsh and dangerous nature of the training that took place there. Ginny soon found out how dangerous as she hurried along the narrow path toward the small castle-like facility carved into the side of one of the mountains. She spent most of the journey dodging the attentions of a hungry dragon flying past.

Turning in her paperwork at the reception desk, she was directed to the lockers, where she would leave her personal belongings for the day while classes were in session.

She was more than a little nervous. The training session had actually started a month before, so Ginny was already behind in her studies, not to mention that all the other trainees had likely finished a full seven years of regular schooling. Ginny herself had only completed her sixth year at Nightingale's and her parents were currently under the impression that she was there now, beginning her seventh year.

But she was seventeen and of age to leave that school if she so wished, which was key to her plan. It had taken her a month to develop her alias and appropriate paperwork to be now known as Jon Wilson, thinking that "Jon" was close enough to "Gin" to minimize any confusion in hearing her name called.

She hoped she was ready for the physical aspect of the training. From what she'd seen of the boys as they'd walked past her yesterday, they were all more than fit. As a female, she would have to work twice as hard to compete among the men in that area. Fortunately, for an Auror, the vital requirement was in the strength of their magic and their intelligence in wielding spells. While the Ministry seemed to disagree that witches were capable of competing with wizards in that area, Ginny had studied diligently over the past few months, and knew in her heart that she could best any of her brothers and could compete with any wizard in a duel.

Shaking nervously, she walked into the locker room and frantically tried to locate an empty space to deposit her cloak. She was already late and the situation only added to her unease. Racing around the corner in her hurried search, she plowed headlong into a large body, causing her to bounce backwards. She gracelessly staggered back, barely preventing herself from a hard landing on her bum.

Looking up, she found herself confronting the one person she'd least hoped to see, Harry Potter. The boy looked surprised at first, but then, after a moment, his expression turned to suspicion. She stepped back in no small amount of fear, unsure of whether or not he recognized her as a Weasley, or at the very least, took notice that she was quite definitely female.

“I'm sorry...” she stammered, unable to contain the fear in her voice.

Harry was clutching his chest, still recovering from the hard impact. “It's all right,” he said, looking hard at her again. All the summers and holidays that he'd spent at the Burrow with her brother Ron and he'd barely looked at her, even though she'd adored him. Now, here she was, hoping that he wouldn't notice her, and now, here he was, studying her intently. It was just her luck.

Fortunately, his next words calmed her fear. “You must be the new transfer student, Wilson, right?” he said, almost accusingly.

She nodded. “Yes, that's me. I just arrived today. I wasn't sure which locker I should use,” she said, motioning to her cloak and large bag.

“You can use any of them. It doesn't matter,” he replied, looking a bit irritated. “You don't have much time.”

She looked at the magical clock on the wall, pointing to “Late for class” and gasped. The last thing she wanted was to make a bad impression on her first day of Auror training. It would be hard enough on her to keep up with some of the physical demands of boys a year older than she. She turned and opened the locker directly behind her, shoving her cloak over another that was already in the locker, deciding it would be easier to apologize to the occupant later.

Slamming the door shut, she began scrambling down the hallway toward where she assumed her first class awaited. As she ran, she heard Harry's voice call after her, “By the way, where are you transferring from?”

“Salem!” she shouted back, running as fast as she could to her first lesson and away from curious eyes of her brother's friend.

- X - - X - -

She stood outside the classroom and took a deep breath. Inside was a roomful of wizards who had all completed perfectly normal schools and were completely not expecting a witch to be entering their midst. She was accustomed to how young men behaved; after all, she'd grown up with enough brothers to have learned more than she ever wanted to know about how boys thought. She'd even been able to keep up with them, especially Ron, while growing up. In many ways, she much preferred how boys were more open and straightforward.

She stared at the door and summoned her courage. She would do this and become an Auror despite what society thought of it.

She'd thought Auror training would be something like a university setting. In effect, it was more like a barely-controlled military school. Students were accepted shortly after finishing their secondary schooling and were brought here to become toughened in many different disciplines, including physical, intellectual and, of course, magical.

Being an Auror meant far more than simply being able to counter a curse in a duel. Aurors had to use investigative abilities to solve crimes, they might have to fend off spells that could control them, and then they had to be able to be able to physically defend themselves in case they ever found themselves without a wand. Ginny had thought long and hard about this before forging her application and she was willing to take on the challenge.

She'd never thought about how difficult it would be to face her fellow trainees.

She stepped into the room for the first time and greeted the head Auror, who went by the name of Mad-Eye Moody. She stopped abruptly when she saw the man for the first time and came to full realization of why he had such a nickname.

The look on her face must have been glaringly obvious, because the roomful of students erupted in a bout of laughter.

The professor gave her a curt nod. “I presume you're Jon Wilson, the transfer student?” he said gruffly, his magical eye rolling wildly as he looked her over.

She nodded, still a bit dumbfounded by the rather ruffled and unkempt appearance of what she'd expected to be a stately professor.

“Very well,” he said dismissively. He motioned for her to enter the room and turned to start writing his assignment on the chalkboard.

She noticed that every eye in the room was on her as she moved to take a seat, hearing more than a few whispers about her from the others in the classroom. Normally, their speculation might not have been a cause for concern, since there would be discussion about anyone new joining such an elite academy, but, at this point, she was still terrified of someone suspecting that she wasn't all that she appeared to be. Aurors were suspicious by nature, or so she'd heard, so any one of them might suspect her motives for being there.

She'd barely put her bag down when Professor Moody announced that he would be stepping out for a few moments.

As soon as he left, the curiosity of her fellow trainees turned to her.

“So, from America, are you?” She heard the rich Irish accent of Seamus Finnegan and made an attempt to look as casual as possible. She'd never been to America, only having read something of it in a few of her world study textbooks, since all witches in polite wizarding society were expected to be able to maintain intelligent conversation about general world topics.

“Yes, of course, Salem,” she said steadily, hoping that she'd disguised her accent well enough, and magically enhanced the tone to a proper level.

“You don't sound like an American,” another wizard said, a bit too knowingly. She silently cursed these junior Aurors and their suspicious nature.

She shrugged, trying to appear indifferent. The New England accent she had adopted was supposedly less distant than some of the other American varieties, but nevertheless, she knew she didn't sound very much like an American. She heard another make a comment that perhaps she had British parents, and decided to try to expand on that idea if questioned further.

Further inquiry into her questionable background was, fortunately, interrupted by the sound of the door to the classroom being thrown open.

“Who's cloak is this?” the person at the doorway said harshly, holding his arm into the classroom and waving a very familiar-looking garment.

Her face paled. It was hers. She suddenly felt much less fortunate about the means of the interruption. Apparently, the person whose belongings she'd shoved aside so hurriedly was not the forgiving type. It was clearly not a good way to start off her first day.

“It's mine!” she said as she stood up and made to hurry to the door to retrieve her errant cloak.

Seamus stepped out into the aisle, blocking her path, with a jovial grin. “Not a bright answer, mate,” he said jokingly, pointing casually over his shoulder toward the door. “With him, it's best to deny everything, preferably with a healthy amount of foul language.”

She ignored the boy and pushed past him, now rapidly running out of patience with the lot of them. Her temper got the best of her. At the very least, this rude boy could have given her the opportunity to apologize before being so very rude.

She snatched the cloak out of the outstretched hand and snarled, “Look, if you want a fight, I'll be more than happy to ...”

Then, her eyes focused on her rude accuser and she lost her voice before she could finish the sentence, her feet frozen in place as she felt her heart begin to pound maddeningly in her chest.

There, standing in front of her, holding her cloak and obviously angry, was Draco Malfoy, his long blond fringe carelessly dropped low over his eyes, looking every bit as exquisitely beautiful as she remembered.

- X - - X - -

Of course, he was a total prat, telling her that she shouldn't use a locker with his name on it. Of course, he was rude and condescending, and she couldn't care less. She was thrilled to finally be in the same room as he. She could barely contain herself from staring at him adoringly.

Then, she realized that she had the tiniest problem. He thought she was a boy.

As she moved to the back of the room, noticing that he had rather rudely moved her things and took the seat that she had just recently occupied, she started to sulk. His personality was nothing like what she had expected. He was egotistical, regal and brooding. She tried to hide her disappointment.

Her thoughts were interrupted by another of the trainees. “So, I hear that you have the record at your old school for catching the Snitch in a one-on-one challenge.”

She felt her whole body tense at his words. She'd stolen this identity, after all. There really was a Jon Wilson somewhere in America and she'd used one of her visits to her father at the Ministry to nick a folder from one of his co-worker's files. She'd had no idea that the wizard had any sort of reputation.

“I... uhhhh....” was all she could say.

Seamus Finnegan seemed to be more of an instigator than most, taunting her a bit too enthusiastically. She briefly wondered why her brother Ron liked the Irishman so much.

“Obviously, you must be in good shape,” he said. “Tell me, what kind of training do you do?”

“He's hardly bigger than a girl!” another wizard chimed in.

“That's because to be a good Seeker you have to be small. It's all about aerodynamics. You get more speed from a broom if you're able to cut down the drag of the wind against you,” a tall, rather geeky looking boy said knowingly.

“I still think it takes raw strength,” another bellowed from across the room.

Her gaze bounced back and forth about the room, trying to follow the conversation as they babbled all around her.

“No, no, no. Strength is nothing without stamina. You need stamina for a full match. It means nothing in a one-on-one chase!”

Something told her that this conversation wasn't going to go well for her at all.

Finnegan turned to her again. “So, do you think you're up to testing those incredible Quidditch skills against a dragon?”

“What?” she said, slightly panicked at the idea of flying amongst dragons, if that's what he was implying.

Suddenly, the incessant banter was interrupted by a bored, superior sounding voice. “You've all been screeching like a bunch of Howlers for a while now.”

“C'mon, Malfoy, we know you think you're superior. We're just having a bit of fun,” Finnegan jibed.

“I'm not superior. You're just immature,” he responded, sounding haughty and looking bored.

Actually, she had to admit that she agreed with him. Here were the best, most capable candidates for the most prestigious positions in the Wizarding World and they were acting like children.

But, she had to admit that she was more than a bit curious.

Professor Moody returned shortly after, ending the conversation and beginning her first class on some of the deadliest spells and curses known to exist.

If that wasn't frightening enough, she soon found that flying among the dragons while chasing a Quidditch snitch was indeed a very real tradition among the young Aurors. Apparently, they felt that it built some sort of character, or perhaps it was intended to frighten away anyone who lacked the nerve to truly survive being an Auror.

Ginny had a terrible feeling that she was going to learn a lot more about this tradition than she ever wanted to know.

A week later, she'd only had one encounter with Draco, where she had chased him down to thank him for his timely interruption on her first day. He'd simply looked at her as if she was completely mad.

During that first week, she'd only made one friend, and that was Harry Potter. It was rather odd, him being her brother's friend and her childhood crush, but, nevertheless, she appreciated having someone who helped her learn her way around her new environment and it was helpful to know that he definitely only saw her as a boy, alleviating her fears that her disguise might not be adequate. To her dismay, however, on the few occasions that she brought up Draco, hoping to learn more about him, Harry quickly changed the subject.

Fortunately, she and Harry were able to practice a bit, so that, at the very least, she could hone her Quidditch skills to be the best they could be prior to the upcoming challenge. Unfortunately, she still felt woefully inadequate, having lacked any formal competition experience. She could only hope for a bit of luck on the day of the match.

When that day arrived, she was once again nervous and worried. Walking over from the dormitories to the steep cliff overlooking the valley, she once again was taken by the overwhelming beauty of the location.

“You all right, mate?” Harry asked, noticing her paleness.

“I'm fine, really,” she replied looking gratefully at her new friend.

Just at that time, Draco walked by. “I always knew you were a poufter, Potter. I wonder if the dragons have a preference for the two of you,” he said, giving Ginny a bit of a smirk.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance at him, and once again chastised herself for having started things with him so badly.

“Just ignore him, Jon. He hates everybody.”

“Why is that?” she asked.

“Not sure, exactly. I think he just thinks he's above the rest of us. Had everything as a child and it was all taken away because of his family's dealings with the wrong sort. He's a bit bitter, I suppose.”

She nodded, feeling an overwhelming feeling of sympathy for Draco, wishing that she could find a way to help him somehow.

As they made their way to the starting location, Ginny found herself looking forward to the day. She was going to get to see her beautiful Seeker fly again, and that was thrilling enough for her to cast aside some of her worries about her personal performance.

The game they would play only vaguely represented Quidditch. The commonalities being that the wizards flew brooms in an attempt to capture a golden Snitch, beyond that, there were no rules. There was, however, one rather drastic complication, most notably that dragons ruled the skies over this wild glen, and dragons loved to collect hordes of shiny things.

In this particular game, once the Snitch was released, the dragons would also be quickly drawn to capturing the fluttering golden object, as well as several wizard-sized meals, making the task of a Seeker not only difficult but extraordinarily dangerous. Only the best Seekers could even attempt such a stunt and, apparently, Draco Malfoy was one who not only regularly attempted it, he excelled at it.

Half a dozen among the small group of trainees were taking the dare this particular morning, while the others remained behind, placing various bets among themselves. Ginny, unfortunately, was being pushed to be one of the former by her alter-ego's reputation as an amazing Seeker.

“I'm counting on you, Wilson!” she heard a shout from the crowd as she nervously mounted her broom.

With no preamble, the Snitch was released, and the six athletes took off in hot pursuit, Ginny madly hoping that the thing would be caught before the dragons joined them in the activity.

Unfortunately, dragons seemed to be incredibly astute creatures, because they appeared less than a minute after she'd taken to the air. That was when the game became outright deadly. Not only was she looking for a Snitch, but she also had to avoid becoming a potential meal while attempting to capture the very thing that the dragons wanted.

Shouts came from all around her as the other Seekers pushed their skills to the limit in an attempt to win the game. Harry, who had also been among them, was taken out of the competition quickly when the tail of his broom brushed through a dragon's breath, catching fire. Two of the others quit shortly after that, tiring and becoming too dangerously slow to remain in the air. Ginny found herself tiring as well, but refused to give up. She'd had a terrible first week, obviously failing to fit in. If she could at least succeed in this, she felt she'd gain some respect.

She ignored the others, bringing her broom close to the ground, buzzing along the riverbed with Snitch in sight. There were two dragons circling, but she didn't think they'd caught sight of the elusive Snitch just yet. She also found that her low position made her a more difficult target for the dragon.

Then, she was distracted for just a moment. Draco was flying in from her left, also with the Snitch in sight, and she took a moment away from her focus on the dragons to watch him in all his elegant glory. He always carried himself with a particular grace, probably from his aristocratic upbringing, but whether he was walking to class or flying, he was simply a thing of beauty to behold.

She smiled when he seemed to shout at her, pulling her from her daydream. It took her a full second to realize that his shout was not a greeting, but a warning. She looked up to catch a glimpse of brilliant crimson-colored scales as one of the dragons swooped down towards her. She tried to evade the beast by spinning to the side, but her second of hesitation had cost her dearly, allowing one of the talons to graze along her side and back.

Stunned from the sudden pain, she did her best to fly up along the cliff walls toward safety, pursuit of the Snitch gone from her mind. The dragon had moved to circle back for a second attack and she knew that, injured, there was no way she could out-fly him.

The dragon swept in for another pass, apparently losing interest in the golden prize now that it had drawn blood and found a greater interest in lunch. She drew her wand, hoping to have the patience to wait until the ideal moment to send a hex at the beast, but she was unsure of what hex to cast.

In mere moments, it was on top of her, and she was in the process of contemplating the fact that she was likely going to die, when she saw a flash of green light. Then, miraculously, the dragon gave a frustrated growl and flew off. Her attention once again not on her flying, she looked forward just in time to brace herself before her broom harshly impacted the ground.

She was grateful that, if she was going to fall, that it was along the sloping banks near the river where the ground was soft, covered in grass and newly fallen leaves. She gave a groan in pain as she tried to push herself up, realizing that she had broken something in her wrist during the crash. Knowing that she would need to move quickly before the dragon returned, she once again struggled to get up but the gash in her side and the newly formed bruises from her crash made the effort difficult.

“Get up!” she heard a voice command. Looking up, she saw him, as he dismounted his broom and came running to her side. Seeing the blood on her shirt, he quickly checked her for other serious damage before hauling her to her feet.

Still stunned from the fall, she could only comply when he ordered, “Run!” and half dragged her along with him to a cave in the side of the hill.

The cave was large, and Ginny worried that it might be a dragon den, but Draco hauled her deeper into its depths, apparently quite familiar with the twists and turns. He made no effort to stop or slow down until they came across what seemed to be a crack in the wall, then, without hesitation, h pulled her into the narrow opening, just barely wide enough for a human to enter. A few feet into the crevice, it widened, and, with authority, he lit his wand to generate enough light to see and indicated for her to sit on a bench-like piece of fallen rock.

She was confused and disoriented enough from her wounds to not bother to argue. If anything, she was simply in awe of how quickly and efficiently he'd commanded the situation, and, there was little doubt that she needed his help if she was going to get fixed up enough to return from this particular adventure.

He began to move the material of her torn shirt away to clean the gash in her shoulder and she impulsively stopped him. The rip in her clothing had also torn through the wrap that she'd used to hold her breasts down and, despite her injuries, she was unwilling to to forego her modesty. She looked away from him, blushing furiously.

“I think it's the wrong time to be keeping up with the pretenses, don't you?”

The words snapped her from her slightly disoriented state. “Huh?” was all she could say.

He looked at her, his handsome face showing that he was cross and just a bit impatient. His hair was ruffled from the wind and physical exertion and her breath caught just slightly. He seemed oblivious to her reaction, however. “We don't have time to play your games today. I have to get you fixed up and out of here before Mathilde comes back from her chase.”

“Mathilde?” she repeated stupidly. Yes, she was definitely in some sort of shock, and she realized it at a logical level, but understanding why she was so useless at the moment didn't seem to help make her mind any less fuzzy.

He gave an impatient sigh and raised his wand to her. She stared at it in fear, wondering if he was planning to attack her in some way, when she heard, “Finite Incantum.”

At once, her hair returned to its long, flowing red color as the glamour spells lifted from her features.

She felt herself suck in a breath, trying to comprehend the fact that her disguise apparently hadn't fooled him at all. It didn't change the fact that she still needed his help. He motioned to the gash, and she gave a nod, giving him permission to do whatever he needed to do to repair her injuries.

He returned to her side, moving away the material from the bleeding gash. He worked quickly, casting healing charms to stop the bleeding and seal the gouges in her flesh. She winced as the magic stitched her back together, but forced herself to remain quiet through the somewhat painful process. He moved the material back into place, averting his eyes as she adjusted the remains of her ragged shirt.

At that point, she heard a voice come from the opening of the cave, “Is that you, Draco?”

Draco groaned, his expression looking pained. “Yes, it's me, Goku” he said, looking for all the world that he wished he hadn't been discovered.

A man came out of the shadows, and Ginny tried to look past Draco to get a good look at him but all she saw was his outline in the shadows. “I didn't expect you back so soon,” he said, directing his words to Draco.

Draco replied without turning to look at him, “I didn't expect to be back. I only need to be here for a few minutes.”

“Ahh.... I see...” the man said, smiling knowingly at the injured girl.

“Not what you think, Goku,” Draco said irritably, continuing to cast the necessary healing spells on Ginny's fractured wrist.

The man laughed, and Ginny looked at him curiously. “I take it you haven't found the item yet,” he said, as if Ginny wasn't there.

“I'll find it. It's only a matter of time,” Draco grumbled, as he turned to mutter another charm that healed the gash on Ginny's side. “You better go, Mathilde will be back soon, and I won't be able to defend the both of you if she finds us here.”

Goku nodded, leaving silently, an unusual grace about him. His departure causing Draco to become rather serious and silent.

“How did you know I was a witch?” she questioned, hoping to bring his attention back to her.

He gave a small smile at her question. “I figured it out the first day, actually. After you came to thank me and I first thought you were a pouf,” he said. He spoke while working to repair her injured arm. “Then, I started watching you more closely, the way you spoke, the way you walked, your build, your unusual transfer. It all added up quickly enough.”

“But you're the only one at the Academy who's caught on,” she said, quite certain that none of the others paid her enough attention to care.

“I guess I'm just smarter than the lot of them,” he said, giving her a slightly superior smirk.

“I guess so,” she said, feeling a bit tired and woozy from the loss of blood.

“Hey, no sleeping. We have to get back to the brooms and get out of here. Do you feel well enough to walk?”

“I think so,” she said, as he helped her rise to her feet.

They moved out of the tunnel and into the main portion of the cave, but Draco didn't move toward the exit. Instead, he moved in deeper.

“What are you doing?”

“You kept me from winning. I had to make a choice to save you or get the Snitch. I reckon I still deserve my prize.”

They walked into the depths of the cavern to find a rather significant heap of dragon treasure. Ginny's eyes lit with surprise. Dragons truly did manage to gather quite impressive hoards of the stuff. The amount of gold and jewels alone would make any wizard wealthy for life, but she also recognized quite a bit of shiny junk, such as buttons, broken glass and Muggle cookware.

Draco quickly located a Snitch sitting on the top of the pile, stuffing it into his pocket. Then produced a small bag and filled it with a variety of items, some valuable, some not.

“What...” she started to say.

“No time,” he responded, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the chamber toward the exit. She felt her heart drop when the light at the end of the tunnel was suddenly blocked by an enormous bulk.

He grabbed her at that moment, shoving her into a narrow crevice in one of the cavern walls, cramming himself into the small space with her. The two remained pressed up against each other, hardly daring to breathe as they caught a glimpse of the crimson dragon moving past.

Then, it stopped and moved back, as if to inspect the opening. Likely it smelled the blood on Ginny's torn uniform, she thought. She clung to Draco in fear, knowing that a single breath from the beast would incinerate them both.

Draco sighed, almost calmly pulling out the bag that he'd filled with items from the treasure pile as Ginny watched, mostly frightened, but also intensely aware of how closely she was pressed against him. He cast a quiet spell, causing the little bag to float out of the crevice and back down the tunnel they'd just left, after a few meters, she heard the sound of the items crash against the cave wall and sprinkle around on the ground.

The dragon stopped its investigation of their hiding place, turning its attention to the sparkling items now scattered around the tunnel. As it moved to collect them, Draco once again grabbed her hand as he ran to the exit of the cave.

Glancing up at the skies for more predators, they ran back to their brooms, mounting quickly and flying back toward where the others awaited the outcome of the match.

“You aren't going to claim you caught that, are you?” she said, as they flew along, motioning to the Snitch he had just stolen from “Mathilde”.

He appeared unaffected by her accusing tone. “I most certainly am. I would have easily caught it, but I decided to rescue you instead. Now we each have a bit of a secret, don't we,” he said, looking at her rather seriously.

“But what if someone else caught the real one first?” she asked.

“We were the only ones left. The others dropped out. They always do,” he said shortly. “By the way, you might want to put those glamor charms back, we'll be there soon. I'll watch the skies while you do it.”

She agreed, casting the glamors that made her once again look decidedly boy-ish.

“By the way,” he continued, as they arrived at the cliff near the school, “If you are going to play with dragons, it might be in your best interest to research proper charms to fend them off. I might not be around to save your sorry arse next time.”

She hunched her shoulders in disappointment at the reprimand as he walked confidently back toward the crowd, now ignoring her, and held the Snitch in the air in triumph.

Walking back to the dormitories, she avoided the usual group of girls along the way, lost in her thoughts until Harry caught up with her. She motioned to the girls. “They are just a bit annoying.”

“They'll go away, once the winter sets in, or so I've been told.”

She nodded, hoping it was true. Single women, desperate to find a successful husband in such a manner seemed quite sad in her view. Yet, she was hardly any better than any of them. She was just more creative about it.

“Speaking of avoiding people, you might want to avoid Seamus for a while, by the way. He lost a few galleons on you and he's a bit miffed right now.”

“Great,” she said tiredly.

“You put on quite a show, though. We thought you had a chance. Nobody's lasted that long against Malfoy yet.”

While the others went off to while away the afternoon in the village pub, Ginny returned to the common area of the dormitory, where she promptly slumped on the nearest couch and fell asleep, not even bothering to change into clean clothes. She had no interest in joining the others. Her workload was too much. She was already far behind the others in studies and she knew that if she didn't get enough rest, she would be asked to leave the training. Only about half of the trainees made it through the first year, even with a proper background, making her situation all the more pressing. Her main goal had been accomplished, in some odd way. Draco now knew she was a girl. He now knew who she was, although he didn't know that he had been her primary reason for attending.

Part of her desperately wanted to break the tradition that only men were considered worthy of such a difficult career. What truly intrigued her was that Draco did not seem to mind that she was attempting such a socially unacceptable goal. He was willing to keep her secret. It made her all the more determined to succeed. She dozed off, too tired to think of all the ramifications.

It was dark before she was shaken awake by none other than Malfoy.

“The others will be back soon, you might want to change,” he said, motioning toward her ripped shirt and the amount of freshly healed skin that was now rather exposed due to her tossing about in her sleep.

Sucking in a breath, she ran to get to her things and the showers, noticing Malfoy emit a laugh as she stumbled about.

“By the way, Finnegan is still miffed, and now he's drunk,” he called after her as she moved to the room she had been temporarily sharing with both Harry and Seamus.

She looked at him helplessly.

“Good God, Wilson, how did you intend to get by here? Didn't you think anything through?”

Well, no, actually she hadn't thought past gaining entrance to the school and being near him. She thought that everything else would simply work it's way out along the way. “Actually...” she started to stammer.

“Get your things,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I've got two empty bunks in my room. I suppose your company might be tolerable.”

She smiled gratefully and quickly levitated her trunk to his room, hoping to be out of sight before the others returned.

As she moved past him to put her things on the bunk on the other side of the room, he spoke again, “Don't think that this is a free favor. I'm going to want to know why you went to so much trouble to get yourself in here.”

Gulp. She hoped that he might be convinced by the story of her simply wanting to be an Auror. She was absolutely terrified of him knowing that she was there simply to meet him. Fortunately, he didn't press her for the information at the moment.

She showered and crawled into her bed, pulling out one of the books on curse breaking that she needed to study. She eyed him curiously as he returned to the room dressed in pajama pants and sat on his own bunk, staring at her.

“Would you please remove the charms when we're in here? It's rather disturbing to see you like that, knowing that you're female.”

She jumped, having forgotten that she was in disguise and raised her wand to remove the charms, giving him a small smile.

“I like you much better this way,” he said, flopping down on his own bed, no longer looking at her. “So, I presume that your name isn't Jon Wilson.”

“It's Ginny,” she said in response.

She curled up under the blankets, putting her book aside and staring over at him, not quite believing that she was here, with him, sharing a room together, and he actually knew her true identity.

Figuring that it was safe to initiate some form of conversation, she finally asked about one of the things that had been bothering her since he rescued her. “How did you know that dragon was a female, and her name was Mathilde?”

He turned his head to look at her. “I've been here for a month. Once you know a bit about dragons, it's not that hard. As for her name, I named her.”

“Oh,” she said, turning to him with admiration.

“You seem to know her quite well,” she said.

His expression turned suspicious, as he replied, “You're asking a lot of questions, Ginny.”

She knew she was pressing her luck with this rather reclusive young wizard, but she so wanted to know more about him. “I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but notice while we were in the cave, that you didn't seem all that afraid of her and you seemed to know exactly where she kept her treasure.”

“So?”

“Why didn't you just take her treasure? It was enough for a lifetime.”

He laughed harshly. “Maybe your lifetime. I've got much bigger plans.”

“Tell me about them,” she said, looking at him imploringly.

He stared at the pretty girl hiding in his room and seemed to consider answering her. Leaning back again, he gave a heavy sigh. “That wasn't her entire cache. She's got much more hidden somewhere else and I need to find it. If I take what she has, I'll forfeit what little trust I've established with her and I'll never find it.”

“There's something special in her collection, isn't there,” she said.

He seemed to appraise her before continuing. “You're bright, a bit brighter than most of the other morons here. You have more nerve than they do as well,” he said, but didn't address her question. Nevertheless, she continued to look at him, her eyes wide and awaiting his next words.

“I'll tell you what, Ginny,” he said, drawing out her name. “If you help me, I'll help you keep your little secret. We'll call it a partnership, of sorts.”

She looked surprised, but hopeful. “Really?”

He chuckled at her enthusiasm. She was cute, naïve, but cute. “Really.”

They both lay back in their respective beds, each staring at the ceiling for a several silent minutes.

“Draco?”

“Yes, that is my name. I did say you were bright, didn't I?” he said rather teasingly.

She ignored his comment and continued, “What is it that you are looking for?”

“Nothing big, just something that's been in my family for generations.”

“Oh,”' was all she said leaving a long pause between them.

He couldn't help but think that he was feeling pressured, even though she said nothing. Finally, he simply said, “It's called a dragon ball.”

“A what?”

“It's a device that can be used to summon a dragon,” he responded.

She turned back to him, lying on her side to see him better, now very interested. “Not just any dragon, I suppose,” she said.

“No, not just any dragon. His name is Shenron.”

“But, if it's been in your family, why are you searching for it here?”

“My mother hid it up here to keep it from Voldemort. If he knew its potential power, he would have used it, and it wasn't his to use.”

She looked over at his handsome profile, wondering how she could have thought of him as arrogant and pompous. She was, without question, completely smitten. “She gave it to Mathilde?”

He nodded, looking over at her, his eyes shining like silver in the dim light of the room. “I didn't expect that Mathilde would be so clever about hiding it. I think she somehow senses it's more valuable than her usual treasure.”

She felt honored that he was sharing this information with her. Somehow, it was creating a bond between the two of them, and the thought made her stomach flutter as if a thousand butterflies had suddenly taken residence there. He was being so open, that she couldn't help but press him for more information. “And how does Goku fit into this?” she asked.

“Goku is a Muggle, first of all. He can't get to this particular object because it's hidden in the magical world. He approached me to help him find it.”

“He's a Muggle? But, how did he get into the cave? The valley of the dragons is in the magical world.”

He gave a deep sigh and she thought he might be losing patience with her.

“I'm sorry if I'm being too nosy about all of this. You don't need to answer.”

He shook his head, closing his eyes as if thinking about his answer. “No. I suppose you know enough that if I'm in for a sickle, I might as well be in this with you for the whole galleon, or pile of galleons, since we're talking about a dragon's entire keep.”

She smiled at the small attempt at levity.

“The cave has two entrances. If you work your way through the maze of tunnels, the other end opens into the Muggle world. Goku has been trying to help me by watching Mathilde's habits, and trying to track her when she leaves the cave. We think she might go out into the Muggle countryside once in a while.”

“Why is it so important?”

He looked at her once again, seeming to study her intently, as he considered answering her question. Finally he said, “There are things happening that are much more powerful than you realize, Ginny. Evil beings that are almost beyond imagination and they are trying to take over the world.”

“Are you talking about He-Who-Mustn't-Be-Named?” she asked, her eyes wide in shock. The world had been quiet since the dark wizard, known as Lord Voldemort, had disappeared so many years ago, leaving an infant Harry Potter alive, but with a scar from the killing curse that had been cast at him. Draco's father had been a strong supporter of the wizard, which was why the Malfoy name remained heavily tarnished. If this evil wizard was now trying to return, it would be terrible for everyone. Ginny shuddered.

“I think so. There are indications that he wasn't destroyed when he gave Potter that scar.” he said. “If I can help Goku, I can stop him and I can help clear my name. I need to do this. What I need to know is if you are willing to help me, or do I spill your secret and send you home?”

“You wouldn't!” she said, slightly outraged at his threat. Now that she was here in the academy, she wanted to stay and prove herself, and, more importantly, she wanted to help solve the mystery around this boy and his quest.

“Maybe, maybe not, but if you won't help, then I'm not sure I can trust you not to interfere with my plans. So, do we have a deal, Ginny Wilson?”

She didn't have the heart to tell him that Wilson wasn't her real last name. Not that it would matter right now. He'd asked her to help him and, ultimately, she couldn't deny him anything. “We have a deal,” she replied, reaching out to offer her hand.

He took her hand, shaking it in agreement to solidify their deal. He seemed to hold onto it for just a bit longer than necessary, making her grateful that they'd lowered the lights enough to hide her blush.

She smiled, as she lay back down in her bunk, finally willing to drift off to sleep, ready and more than willing to follow him into what was sure to be a grand adventure filled with dragons and treasure.