"I don't want to die a virgin," murmured Neville.
"Your timing, as usual, is execrable Longbottom."
Draco Malfoy, once heir apparent to the vast Malfoy lands and fortune, was currently lying in a dark and muddy ditch facing what likely would be a rather messy end.
"It wasn't my fault," mumbled Neville, shivering with the cold.
Draco hissed with irritation.
"Not your fault," he rasped. The cold definitely wasn't improving his mood. "You followed me here and blew my cover by blundering into the midst of a Death Eater meeting. Now, a dozen junior Death Eaters are happily traipsing through these woods with every intention of ending our lives in the most spectacular and horrific fashion imaginable. How the bloody hell is that not your fault?" he snarled.
"But I thought you were…" Neville began a bit weakly.
"Yes, the great traitor to the beloved Order, going to insanely plot with my scurrilous associates to bring about the downfall of all that is right and true," continued Malfoy with his best sarcastic tone.
Draco shifted a bit.
"Why did I even save your miserable skin? I should have left you there to entertain the troops," he continued savagely but in low tones.
"Well, how could I have known about that?" Neville said with no small amount of pique. He'd been trying to help—really he had.
Draco felt his blood pressure rise. He grabbed Neville's dirty robes and pulled him forward until they were almost nose-to-nose.
"You've ruined it. Months and months of planning and…" he said between clenched teeth.
Whatever he'd been about to say was interrupted by the sounds of his housemates, now minions of the Dark Lord, approaching their hiding place.
Pale light emanated from two wands held aloft in front of two shadowy figures. As they drew closer Draco and Neville could hear what they were saying.
"I'm telling you they've escaped," said one in a whiny voice.
"Not possible. They can't have made it out of these woods yet," replied the other in a hard tone.
"Zabini," whispered Draco into Neville's ear.
Neville's chubby legs began to shake a bit. He'd never been so frightened in his life.
After a few tense moments, the voices and bobbing lights began to drift off in another direction and the strain slowly eased out of Neville's body.
A thought occurred to Neville.
"Why can't we apparate out of here?" he asked.
"Because, you git, they still have the anti-apparation wards up," replied Draco. "You don't think they wanted the Order popping in on their initiation ceremony did you?"
Neville's heart dropped.
"If we could only get to our brooms," began Neville.
Draco squirmed a bit.
"We'd be shot out of the sky by a dozen hexes before we'd even reached the edge of the wood," he replied in a cutting voice.
Neville quietly edged closer to the other boy in an attempt to keep from freezing. Lying in a ditch in the drizzle and mud in March was an entirely uncomfortable experience.
"No," Draco said with a sigh. "Our only hope is that Dumbledore will send out the reinforcements, now that I'm officially overdue. Looking to recover my body I presume."
Draco rolled over on his back, futilely trying to get more comfortable.
'Trust Malfoy to have a cloak with a hood' Neville thought with a pang. At least with his hood up he wasn't getting any dirt into his hair. He might be a corpse soon, but at least he'd be a well-groomed one whereas Neville would inevitably look like he'd been pulled through a briar bush backwards.
For a few minutes there was no sound at all except for the wind rustling through the trees.
"Why now, Longbottom?" Draco said.
"Eh?" came the intelligent reply.
"Why did you have to choose this moment after six years of minding your own business to develop those asinine heroic tendencies that your House is so noted for?" Draco said irritably.
Neville thanked Merlin that Malfoy couldn't see the hot flush that suffused his face but he tried to answer the question seriously. He owed Malfoy that at least.
"Well, everyone's doing something important you know. Or, at least, taking part in the war effort but no has asked me to do anything," groused Neville.
"And you have to wonder why?" the blonde shot back.
Neville turned over and faced what he supposed was a very angry Slytherin.
"Just once I wanted be more than an afterthought. I thought if I could do something—anything for the cause. I might get a little respect" Neville's voice started to quiver a bit.
"In other words, if you caught the evil Malfoy and brought him to justice," Draco drawled.
"Well, yes."
"Instead we're both waiting here to die," Draco said, while rolling his eyes.
Neville said nothing but morosely contemplated his latest and most spectacular failure. Malfoy was right…he was a nonentity no wonder he was still a virgin. No one really saw him and, if they did, they dismissed him as unworthy of their attentions.
Malfoy spoke again.
"You know Longbottom, I thought you had more sense than this," the Slytherin said.
Neville winced. He probably deserved no less than one last tongue lashing before they both died.
"I've watched you for a long time you know. Lying low, diverting attention from yourself—well, outside of Potions that is…you'd have done better in my House you know."
If Neville hadn't already been lying down, the shock would have dropped him like a rock.
"Whaaaat?" he whispered incredulously.
"Take, what I assume, is that dumbfounded expression off of your face," Draco said.
Draco growled low in his throat.
"You don't understand our House at all, do you?" Draco accused.
"I know you're about cunning and deceit," Neville said hotly.
"Wrong Longbottom, we're about survival first and foremost," he said coldly.
"Then what are you doing out here?" Neville asked curiously.
Draco sighed.
"Believe me Longbottom; I'm only here out of necessity. If my father hadn't bollixed things up, I'd happily have kept my nose out of this business," he replied with a trace of bitterness.
Neville pulled his legs up close to his body, trying to warm himself a bit more.
"If my father hadn't decided to follow He-Who-Must-Have-A-Screw-Loose, my family fortune and good name wouldn't be currently hanging by a thread. I was forced to make a decision about how to rectify the situation and becoming one of Dumbledore's bloody assets happened to be the best I could come up with. But I never wanted to do any of this."
"Oh."
"The point of the exercise is to survive, Longbottom. And you just lowered your survival odds by becoming involved tonight. Don't make that mistake again. If we live through this you can go on with your studies, marry some earnest little Hufflepuff girl…"
"But, I like boys," Neville blurted out and then squeaked with horror at what he'd admitted.
"As it happens…so do I," Draco replied.
Neville's mind boggled with the implications of that simple statement.
"But, I've seen you…with girls," he said.
"I like girls too."
"Oh."
"Is that all you have to say, Longbottom?" Draco asked.
"Umm…"
Neville yelped as he felt Draco's hand running over his buttocks.
"Quiet! We can't risk a silencing spell without drawing unwanted attention."
Neville bit his lower lip trying to keep silent.
Draco squeezed Neville's lush backside several times.
Neville whimpered.
"Nice," Draco growled close to his ear.
"What are you doing?" Neville said with a gasp.
"I should think that would have been obvious even to you Longbottom. I'm trying to deflower you!"
Draco pushed Neville over on to his back and Neville flailed like an overturned turtle.
"Hold still you idiot," Draco said, crawling on top of him.
The weight of Draco felt nice even if it was a bit hard to breathe.
Neville felt cold lips gently brushing his. A warm tongue then traced the outline of his lips. Neville gasped and his partner sealed the sound by applying himself diligently to trying to drive his tongue down Neville's throat.
Neville squirmed, digging himself deeper into the mud beneath him. His arms went around Draco in a bold move, pulling him into closer proximity and he could feel himself hardening.
This was nice. This was better than nice—this was hot. Neville had only imagined what this would feel like with another boy but the reality was so much well—more.
Draco placed one leg between Neville's and the touch caused minor explosions up and down his spine. Neville arched up and began to mindlessly hump Draco's leg like a dog.
"Good…very good," croaked Draco.
Suddenly, shouts and wild noises were heard reverberating throughout the woods. Draco detached his mouth and slid off Neville's body in split second.
"No…" Neville whined.
"Our rescue squad seems to have arrived," Draco calmly said.
"Gah," came from Neville.
"We'll continue this discussion later Longbottom, I promise you," said Draco with a smirk in his voice.
"Really?" said Neville.
"Yes, really," said Draco.
Neville could hear Professor Lupin's voice calling for Draco.
"We're over here," Draco shouted back.
"One more thing, Longbottom," he said.
"Yes?"
Draco grabbed Neville's head and, pushing hard, drove his face into the mud. Neville tried to breathe but only sucked mud into his nostrils and started to panic.
"Don't ever do this kind of thing again you've no talent for it," he hissed and then released the sputtering Neville. "Understood?"
Neville wiped the mud off of his face with his sleeve.
"Yes, okay."
"Good."
END