A Redheaded Evans

And so they established a routine. Julia rose first every morning and fixed them breakfast and then drove Draco to work. He worked until three while she cleaned the house or took care of other chores in preparation for school, and then she picked him up. They would practice some driving, do the grocery shopping if necessary, and go home. Julia fixed supper and taught Draco how to cook, and they would end the evening watching a film or talking or even reading, the two of them isolated in the separate worlds of their books but comfortable in each other's presence. On weekends they would go for drives or walks or play soccer in the local parks.

In the last week before school, Draco earned his driver's license, and they went for a drive up the mountain to celebrate.

"Are you ready for school?" Draco asked.

Julia shrugged. "As ready as I can be. When we're done here I'll give you a copy of my schedule and show you around campus so you can find me in an emergency since I turn off my cell phone while I'm in class."

"Thanks."

They stood in silence side-by-side at the top of the mountain, gazing down at the valley below.

"It doesn't really look like England from up here," Draco said. "It's too rough and spread out. England is neat and rolling and green. From up here it would look like a ragged patched quilt."

Julia smiled. "My mother always said the same thing about England, usually as we were landing after a long flight. Are you happy here, Draco?"

He stared out at the valley for a moment longer, then turned to her, gray eyes dark and serious. "I am content here. You've been wonderful to me, and I don't know what would have happened to me without you. I have a job and a house and a wife who is my best friend." He sighed. "But it's not really home. I may not have enjoyed being the Malfoy heir, but the manor was home, its drafty halls cool and familiar. And I'll admit that I miss the feeling of magic running through me as I use it."

"It's been a month," Julia said. "I think that's the best anyone could expect out of you." She reached out and drew Draco into a hug. After that hug their first day together they had more or less refrained from much physical contact, and Draco hesitated for a moment before he hugged her back.

Julia glanced at her watch. "Well, congratulations on passing your driving test, but we ought to get back before dark."

Draco grinned triumphantly when he held up the keys and unlocked her car.

"Just be glad that I called the car insurance company and remembered to add your name to my insurance policy," Julia said as she slid into the driver's seat.

Draco started the engine. "That's why I married you - because you're so brilliant."

"Well, I married you because you're good-looking and wealthy. Someone in this relationship has to have the brains," Julia replied smoothly.

Draco laughed and began to guide the car down the mountain.

It was already dark when they got back into town, but Julia directed him to the university campus, and they parked and got out.

"So this is your prison, then?" Draco asked. The campus was small and neat. There were plenty of walkways and lawns upon which students could lounge and study between classes, and the gardens, flowerbeds and trees added a charming air to the place.

Julia led him across the large grassy quad and up the hill. "The English building is up here - I'll be here more often than not."

Draco stood and studied the tall, brick building. Then he glanced at the older building next to it. "What building is that? I feel something...odd...emanating from it."

"Well, the ambassadors do always tell the freshman that building is haunted." Julia grabbed his wrist and tugged him over to it. They stood in the middle of the circular mosaic and gazed up at the building.

"They say that on a full moon or on Halloween, at midnight, you can see the ghost," Julia said.

Draco shivered slightly. "I wouldn't try anything if I were you."

"I did it my first year, but more as an excuse to run around campus at an unreasonable hour than to actually find a malevolent spirit." Julia smiled at the memory. "Now come on - the other building is here." She led him further up the hill to a tall, nondescript orange building. "If my schedule says I'm in French then I'm in the basement of this building."

"So all your classes are near each other, then," Draco said. "No more mad chases back and forth campus from one end to the other, eh?"

Julia groaned as if remembering the agony. "No. That was just my first year." The she perked up. "You want to see the dorms where I used to live?"

Draco grinned. "Sure. It's always good to place a scene with the crime."
Julia swatted him in the shoulder and led him back down the hill.

"Hey Jules," a boy said when they stepped into the lobby of the old dorms. "I thought you were over in the nice dorms this semester."

"Actually I'm living off campus," she replied. "I just brought my friend by to see the dorms."

The boy smiled up at Draco. "Hi, I'm Andy. Julia and I were friends here last year. Pleased to meet you."
Draco shook his hand politely. "Hello. I'm Draco."

"Draco. That's an interesting name. So are you a student?"

"No, just an immigrant."

Andy looked up at Julia. "What will Nicola say when she finds out you abandoned her?" He smirked. "Oh, wait, she moved in this morning and stormed over here cursing the air blue looking for you."

Julia's eyes went wide. "Andy! You jerk!"

The boy laughed.

Draco had to resist the urge to curl an arm around Julia's waist possessively.

"Well, speak of the devil," Andy drawled.

A cool blast of air hit their backs, followed by,

"Julia! You friggin' ditched me!"

Julia spun around, eyes wide, but the rage drained out of Nicola as she stopped short.

"Draco? What are you doing here?"

Draco ran a hand through his hair and favored her with one of his cold, arrogant smirks. "I figured that if I was going to come to America I might as well live near people I know. After all, Nicola, you are such scintillating company."

"Sarcastic jerk," Nicola muttered, causing Draco to just smile more brightly. Then Nicola turned her dark gaze on Julia. "But you! What is this about you living off campus? And how do you know Draco?"

"I told you that my dad was bugging about me being independent, so I decided to move out of the dorms," Julia said. "As for Draco...he's sort of my housemate."

Nicola's eyes went wide. "Malfoy, if you do anything to my little sister - "

"Does 'anything' include or exclude what we've already done?" he asked slyly, slipping an arm around Julia's waist.

Nicola goggled.

Julia rolled her eyes.

Andy watched the whole exchange with great amusement.

"We haven't done anything, Nicola," Julia said patiently. "We sleep in separate rooms, and he's at work while I'm at school."

"You know that just means that you're both home at the same time," Andy pointed out unhelpfully.

Nicola shot him a withering look. "Okay, this is weirding me out a little. I'm not sure that it's good that you two know each other, but I trust you two."

Draco said, "I'm a Malfoy. We're perfectly trustworthy."

"You're about as trustworthy as a pickpocket in a wallet shop," Julia said promptly. She bit her lip and looked at Nicola. "Um, Mom doesn't know yet. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Tony yet, you know?"

Nicola nodded and winced. "Yeah. I don't think you and Tony would get along, Draco."

Draco arched an eyebrow. "Tony? Oh, Julia's insufferable git of an ex-boyfriend. Of course we won't get along. I never get along with people who are insanely jealous of my good looks."

"Blonds have more fun," Andy piped up, again unhelpfully. "So what's with the accent? And how do you know Nicola?"

"He's a kid from the town where I work every summer in England," Nicola said.

Draco frowned, offended. "I am not a 'kid'. If anyone resembles a baby goat, it's Julia's buffoon of a former lover."

Andy and Julia laughed, and Nicola just sighed and hung her head. Draco had followed her to America.

"By the way, Nicola, we can stay up all night RP-ing if we want, because there's no curfew at our place," Julia said.

Draco nodded. "Yes. I am curious about these dice games of yours."

"Would you play?" A mischievous expression crossed Nicola's face.

"If you can convince me," Draco said loftily.

Julia handed Nicola a scrap of paper. "Here's the address and phone number. I was just showing Draco around, but we have to get home and get some sleep."

"We'll consider getting it alone," Draco called over his shoulder as Julia led him out of the dorm lobby, leaving Andy gaping and Nicola spluttering.

Nicola collected herself long enough to call out, "I'm glad you're all right, Draco."

He smiled sadly, then vanished into the darkness.

The next day before Draco set off for work Julia handed him his lunchbox and a folded piece of paper.

"On here is my schedule," she said, holding it out.

Draco just stared at it.

"If you need to find me, this will tell you where I am on campus. I wrote my cell number on there just in case. Now have a good day at work, all right?" She gazed at him anxiously.

Draco continued staring at her.

Julia smirked and reached out. Draco yelped when she slid the paper into his back pocket and pinched his bottom before spinning on her heel and striding into the house.

He remained gaping in the front porch for a few moments before glancing at his watch and realizing that he was late. He dashed for the car, cursing under his breath.

Julia's laughter followed him. She enjoyed having Draco has a housemate. He was funny and sarcastic and sweet in this odd sort of way. Mostly when he was tired and it was very late at night and he didn't feel like being such a Malfoy because it took so much effort.

Julia had a slice of toast and a glass of milk for breakfast before she scooped up her books and headed over to the campus to start her semester. Her first class of the day was French. She smirked to herself as she strode into the class; Draco's family was originally French and so he spoke the language flawlessly. It would be good to have help with one of her tougher subjects.

When Andy and Fiona stepped into the room, Julia heaved an internal sigh of relief. Her French professor was an absolute bore - in an odd, making a useless spectacle of himself sort of way - and Julia needed someone to keep her sane. It helped that both Fiona and Andy were part of Nicola's circle of gamers.

"How was your summer?" Fiona asked, keeping an eye on the door for when the professor would show up.

Julia opened her mouth to speak, but Andy cut in with a sly smirk.

"She moved out of the dorms and earned herself a hot British boy as a housemate."

Fiona's eyes went wide. "Oh, when do we get to meet him?"

Julia rolled her eyes at Andy, then said, "As soon as Nicola can get her chronicle back together. She wants to use our place as the gaming headquarters since there isn't a curfew."

"So you're living off campus? Where?" Fiona's blue eyes glinted wickedly.

"Just in a small house. Dad was bugging for me to become 'independent', so I moved out of the dorms and found a house up four hundred west. Draco, my housemate, was looking for a place to live and we agreed to split duties and whatnot."

"Draco? Isn't that a constellation that looks like a dragon?" Fiona raised one eyebrow.

Julia laughed. "Yes. Every time someone mentions that he starts to gloat about his 'stellar' good looks. I like to remind him that it means 'snake' in Latin, but it doesn't bother him at all."

"Is he stuck up, then?"

Andy shook his head. "No, just snarky. You'll love him."

"You've already met him?" Fiona asked.

Andy nodded. "Jules brought him around on a campus tour last night."

Fiona giggled. "We'll just have to see about this housemate of yours, then."

Professor Hendricks chose that moment to enter, so the three students turned their attention on him. Julia tuned it out when he began introducing himself in rapid French; she'd already endured his biography once before in French, and twice in English, so she could answer any of his questions. She told herself that she had to take this class if she wanted to graduate, and that all she had to do was have patience. And maybe get some much-needed help from Draco.

She was jerked out of her trance when she heard Andy mutter, "Who's Julia Malfoy?"

Julia lifted her head sharply and saw Hendricks scanning the students. She had forgotten about her name change. Hendricks was about to mark her absent when she raised her hand.

"Yes, Julia?"

"Sorry, that's me. Julia Malfoy. I'm still not used to answering to my new name is all..."

Andy and Fiona pinned her with intensely curious looks.

"Ah." Hendricks made a note of his roll sheet. "I wondered why I saw you here and didn't see an Evans on my list. Something interesting happen over the summer?"

He raised his eyebrows and Julia slid her left hand quickly into her lap.

"Something happened," she stammered.

He pinned her with a look, then went on calling the roll.

"What the hell was that about?" Andy hissed.

"I'll tell you later." Julia sat back and felt fear curl into her stomach like a cold fist cocked to punch. Her next class was with Kenneth's father; would he notice the name change as well? She hoped that he wouldn't tell Kenneth. Maybe Julia and Draco would have to break the news to everyone sooner than they had thought.

Julia made it all the way through to lunch with only an odd glance from Professor Thompson. She had managed to escape from French without answering any more of her friends' questions, and now she had to find some way to get hold of Draco and talk to him about this problem. They had managed to keep their marriage quiet for two months, although they had only been living together for one month. What would she tell her parents? Draco was her friend and she cared about him, but there was no way she could explain Draco's situation without getting him into some sort of trouble.

Half of her solution presented itself when she strode into the rotunda bearing a lunch tray. Draco was sitting at one of the small round tables, his lunchbox on the spattered gray tabletop.

"What are you doing here?" Julia asked, coming to sit with him.

He shrugged carelessly. "Your lunch hour and mine coincide every day of the week. Even if no one knows we're married, I would like to at least see you during the day."

Julia searched his gaze, and he met her searching frankly. She could see the sadness and loneliness that lingered in those silver-gray eyes. She slid a hand across the table and let it rest comfortingly on his.

"Hey, you're my friend. It's good to see you, too."

He smirked, then, a classic Malfoy smirk. "It's always good to see me."

Julia remembered why she had wanted to see him. "Um, we have a bit of a problem."

His eyes narrowed immediately. "What is it?"

"Well, I had to change my name after we got married so I could hold onto all my scholarships. Well, I have every class with at least one friend, and now they all know that my name has changed. They're going to be suspicious. I have a class with Nicola, and she knows what your last name is." Julia bit her lip.

Draco ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I'm meant to be keeping a low profile. I suppose that's impossible for a Malfoy to do, especially one as handsome as myself." But the imperious tone to his words was softened by the worry in his eyes. "Julia, I don't want to make things difficult for you - "

She shook her head. "No. But maybe we should come clean about - "

"Come clean about what?"

Julia and Draco looked up and saw Lisa, Kenneth's fiancée, standing beside their table.

Draco smirked and curled his hand around Julia's. Then he met her gaze and said, "We should come clean about our passionate, forbidden love." He leaned across the table to kiss her, but Lisa reached between them and held them apart.

"Really, what's going on here? And who are you?" The second question was directed at Draco.

"I really am in love with Julia," Draco said, but the melodrama in his voice took the edge off the words - until Lisa looked into his eyes.

Julia was oblivious to the momentary exchange between the two of them.

"Hey, Lisa. Ignore Draco - he's just an attention hog. Draco, this is Lisa, one of the girls I would have been rooming with. She's Kenneth's fiancée. Lisa, this is Draco, my housemate."

Lisa stepped back and put her hands on her hips. "Yes, you abandoned us to the apartment. Now me, Nicola and Fiona are stuck living with Christie again. You go and shack up with a hot blond British guy and leave us with - with her!"

Draco pretended to preen. "Yes, I am a hot blond, aren't I?"

Julia swatted him in the shoulder. "I'm sure Nicola explained the situation to you."

"But you didn't have to move out of the apartment dorms!" Lisa leaned in and said in a low, angry voice, "Now Christie thinks she owns the place because she moved into your big room before Nicola could snag it."

Julia sighed and tried to think of a decent excuse and apology, but Draco asked,

"Who is this Christie character?"

"A stupid girl who runs around madly with Tony but swears there's nothing going on between them." Lisa shook her head.

Draco sat back and sneered. "Tony. Everything horrible seems to revolve around him, doesn't it?"

"That just proves that the universe doesn't revolve around you, then, right?" Julia asked, trying to lighten the tone of the conversation.

Lisa peered at Draco for a moment. "Oh, I know who you are."

He tensed. "Really?" Julia was impressed with the way he managed to keep his voice as smooth and imperious as ever.

Lisa nodded and smiled, satisfied. "You're the little British boy who hung around the pub where Nicola works over the summer."

Draco arched one eyebrow. "I am?"

Lisa blushed when she met his piercing gaze. "Well, you're not a little boy anymore, but you know Nicola loves art. She did a sketch of you and sent it home. I remember seeing it pinned up on her wall all last year."

Draco looked faintly surprised. "I didn't know Nicola drew. I know she was interested in photography, but she never seemed keen on other art."

"You're pretty cute," Lisa said.

Draco smiled. "Why, thank you. You are good-looking yourself." At Lisa's arched eyebrow, he added, "I would compliment you further, but I do believe that it would anger your fiancée."

Lisa laughed. "Yes, Nicola did say that you were sarcastic and uppity in that British way that only aristocrats are. Well, see you later tonight." She waved and started walking away.

"What's tonight?" Julia asked.

"Our first game of vampire!" Lisa waved a final time and trotted away.

"So I shall finally witness the infamous dice game tonight," Draco mused.

"Well, we actually have two groups going, because there are so many of us," Julia said, picking up her food.

Draco opened his lunchbox and began eating as well. He raised his eyebrows at her, waiting for an explanation.

"You've seen pictures of the whole gang, but you haven't met all of us. There's Kenneth and Lisa, Nicola and Steven, Andy, Fiona, Tony and Christie." Julia sipped some of her soda before continuing. "Nicola leads a group that includes me, Kenneth, Andy and Fiona. Steven leads the group that includes Lisa and Tony and Christie."

"From the sounds of it no one likes this Christie character much," Draco said.

Julia shrugged. "Well, we all try to stay civil with each other as best as we can. We all met first year and so we stick together."

"I thought you said that college wasn't like high school."

"College is meant to be place where you make your closest, longest-lasting friends. Doesn't mean those relationships will be completely apparent now. Probably won't be clear until after we graduate," Julia said.

Draco nodded, and they finished their lunch in silence.

"Well, I have to get back to work." Draco closed his lunch box and stood up. He gazed at her, and for a moment an indiscernible emotion flashed in his eyes. "Thanks for talking to me. We'll figure out what to tell your friends later."

Julia smiled at him. "It's good talking to you as well. See you tonight."

Draco waved and walked away.