Draco Malfoy takes an unexpected detour on his path to self-destruction. Ginny Weasley just wants to escape - her world, her life, and most of all herself. Two unlikely drinking partners grow together - and apart.
Written for the DG Forum's 2018 Fic Exchange

Category: Works in Progress
Rating: Definitely Naughty
Characters: Blaise Zabini (boy), Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley
Compliant with: All but epilogue
Era: Hogwarts-era, Post-Hogwarts
Genres: Angst, Romance
Warnings: None
Completed: No
Series: None

Story notes: This story was written for Juliette Deschemps for the DG Forum 2018 Fic Exchange (her original prompt is below).
The Lonely Road won five awards for this exchange: Best Oneshot Overall, Best Prose, Best Characterisation of Draco, Best Banter and Most in Need of a Sequel. Thank you for everyone who read, reviewed, enjoyed and voted - I am so grateful to you all, and the fact that you thought this story was worthy of any awards besides Most in Need of a Sequel is totally surreal (I’m not crying, you’re crying)!
I plan to expand this story with an additional 2-3 parts, so I guess it’s safe to say it’s no longer a one shot. This story features substance abuse and trauma. Any reflections of mental disorders are not based on anyone in real life, except perhaps my own experiences.
This story was unintentionally inspired, in part, by the movie Bridesmaids, a book called The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (which is, frankly, a fantastic read and I highly recommend it), The Winston Brothers series by Penny Reid (one of my all-time favourite series and authors) and the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas. Please feel free to have a guess what aspects/themes/characters/whatever were inspired by these in your reviews. It was a challenging (and fun) mix of inspiration for me to draw on as I wrote, so I'm even more interested to see what you do/don't see of these materials in my writing!
Last (but not least), thanks to KieraRaelyn for being such a great beta during the exchange – your advice and feedback was invaluable, and I can tell you now that I would never have won half the awards I did if it weren’t for you!
Julie’s Prompt #1:
Basic premise: Draco finding Ginny when she's having a panic attack because of a boggart in the dungeons and is really curious as to why her worst fear is a Slytherin Head Boy whom he'd never seen before.
Must haves: Ginny Weasley recognised for the badass that she is. Draco Malfoy learning how to have friends. Hogwarts Era (the year doesn't matter).
No-no's: Bad ending that makes you wanna cry, Draco being shy and no Tom Riddle bashing.
Rating range: Preferably M. No need for any explicit smut, but shouldn't be a kids fic.
Bonus points: Draco Malfoy being a cute, clueless baby when it comes to actually having friends beneath all of his tough guy/bad boy exterior. "You have no idea how to do this, do you?"

1. Part One: Detour (Reviews - 4) 6547 words