Disclaimer: As mentioned before, I just own this fanfic and OC Cynthia. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling. No copyright intended!
Ch. 14
Pansy's Worst Nightmare
Professor Snape was still a bit terrified, even when breakfast time was approaching. He wasn't sure if he was even able to eat breakfast anyway. Pansy didn't sleep well due to the fact that her father was bound to read that article. She knew she was also bound to face retribution for her supposed passionate snogging session with that Ronald. Draco also realized that his father will give him corporal punishment again, this time for 'having the hots' for the Weasley girl. Ron was uncharacteristically rendered somewhat sleepless due to Hermione berating him over dreaming about her while snogging Parkinson.
(Ron's flashback)
After leaving the Great Hall, Hermione dragged Ron over to an empty classroom and cast the locking spell and silence charm on the door. Then she flashed a dirty look at the youngest male Weasley, making him cower a bit.
"Do you care to explain why you snogged that filthy snake while dreaming about doing the same to me?" asked Hermione in a no-nonsense voice.
"I-I was i-in a deep s-sleep," said Ron sheepishly. "H-How was I-I…"
"Uh huh, sure," said Hermione irritably. "Perhaps you're gonna start comparing the two of us now, hmm?"
She had her arms crossed as she continued glaring at Ron.
"I was horrified when I was fully awake," said Ron. "When I saw that I'd been snogging Parkinson. It wasn't my intentions."
"It still happened, you prat," snapped Hermione. "Now stay away from that snake at all costs."
"Yes, your majesty." said Ron.
"And don't let me hear you say that again." Hermione snapped again.
"Yes, I g-g-got it." said Ron nervously.
(End of flashback)
Ron came out of the memory. He was beyond determined to steer clear of Parkinson. Maybe in time, everyone will forget that the whole misunderstanding ever happened. Ron had no idea that he and Pansy were bound to be in for more surprises, maybe not right away but still inevitable. Ginny, on the other hand was being pestered by the other Gryffindors about how her snogging session with Draco went. Of course, she denied them but nobody except Ron and Hermione paid any attention to her. Likewise, Draco was also asked how snogging Ginny went and he denied it, but nobody except Pansy and Flint listened to him. It was ten minutes into breakfast time when the double doors opened and in walked a furious looking man. Pansy cowered in fear because the man was her father and that made her determined to stay out of his sights. Pansy ducked under the table, her heart beating with fright. Ron kept his head down as Lord Parkinson passed by him at the Gryffindor table. The angry lord marched up to Albus sitting in the headmaster's chair up at the staff table.
"Albus Dumbledore," barked Lord Parkinson, holding up a copy of the Daily Prophet article of his daughter's snogging Ron at the headmaster. "Do you care to explain the meaning behind this?"
"I have none, Lord Parkinson," said Professor Dumbledore. "I wasn't in Hogsmeade when that happened."
"Well where is Ronald Weasley?" demanded Lord Parkinson.
Alot of the Gryffindors pointed their fingers at a terrified looking Ron. Lord Parkinson marched right over to the cowering redhead as the others backed away. Even Hermione and Ginny backed away in fear. As Lord Parkinson cleared his throat at the redhead, Ron timidly turned around to face the irritable pure blood lord before him. Pansy was partially relieved that her father didn't spot her, but she knew it was bound to emerge.
"What made you think it was alright to snog my daughter?" Lord Parkinson asked Ron, in an agitated voice.
"I-I-It was an accid-d-dent!" Ron squawked in a high voice, getting more and more frightened.
"Something that is done passionately is never accidental, Mr. Weasley," snarled Lord Parkinson. "To snog Pansy without my consent is begging for trouble in my book. Speaking of Pansy, where is she?"
As Lord Parkinson looked over at the Slytherin table, the decent Slytherins pointed over to the spot where Pansy was hiding.
"Alright Pansy," said Lord Parkinson irritably, as he approached the Slytherin table. "You can't hide forever, now come out and explain to me why you snogged someone without permission."
Pansy's arms and legs trembled as she crawled out from under the table (albeit slowly). Once she managed to get up onto her feet, Pansy faced her angry father (who was giving his daughter a dirty look).
"What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" asked Lord Parkinson with contempt in his voice, and his arms crossed.
Pansy was too terrified to speak in her defense, realizing there was no way out. Ron felt his life flash before his eyes as he anticipated what was going to happen next. Lord Parkinson pointed a finger at the redhead.
"You must follow me," Lord Parkinson insisted, then he turned his attention to Pansy. "You, young lady better follow me, too."
Ron and Pansy began following Lord Parkinson out of the Great Hall, with fear in their respective eyes. Everybody began wondering what was to become of the unlikely pair. Draco was in utter disbelief over what he just witnessed. Harry and Tori were eager to find out if Ron and Pansy were going to be forced to marry. Neville and Daphne, too were anxious to find out, but Hermione and Ginny refused to believe anything like that. Meanwhile, Lord Parkinson was leading Ron and Pansy over to an empty classroom. Once they were in, he cast a locking charm on the door and then a silence charm. Ron and Pansy cowered a bit once more when Lord Parkinson glared them again.
"So," he said to Ron. "Since you were nutsy enough to snog my daughter, the both of you will be getting married."
"What?!" exclaimed Pansy. "I don't wanna marry…"
"You don't have any choice now, Pansy," Lord Parkinson told his daughter. "Your mother isn't happy with you either."
"But dad…" Pansy pleaded pathetically.
"But nothing," said Lord Parkinson firmly. "I expect the both of you to prepare for the wedding. A date hasn't been determined yet, but you're to expect one, too."
"I can't marry, I'm…" Ron tried blurting out.
"Tough," said Lord Parkinson in a 'that's final' voice. "You snogged Pansy, now you'll have to marry her."
Once Lord Parkinson dismissed the now terrified unlikely couple, Ron and Pansy went back to their respective common rooms to get their school stuff for classes. The second and third year students had a free period before lunch. This gave Ginny the opportunity to 'confront' Tori for 'corrupting' Harry.
"Alright snake," said Ginny, seething in anger. "Do I need to remind you to quit corrupting my Harry?"
"Harry isn't corrupted and he never was," said Tori, then she came up with another trick. "I heard that you flashed your natural beauty for Draco last night."
"I wouldn't do…" Ginny started saying, but then.
"Ginevra likes to flash her natural beauty for Draco?" blurted a random student.
"Oh yes, she does, and I'm sure Draco enjoyed every second of that!" blurted another random student.
The hallways were filled with laughter from the passing students. Ginny turned red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment while Tori giggled. The jealous redhead stormed away, giving up for now. Meanwhile, Harry was wandering around the grounds under his invisibility cloak. This was the time he'd be in Divination, but he'd already quit the class and he couldn't have been happier. Harry got out the marauder's map, recited the phrase to activate it and checked it to see if Ginny was anywhere close by. Luckily she wasn't, but Harry spotted Draco's name right by Tori's. Knowing what Draco was doing, Harry recited the phrase to wipe the map clean and began making his over to the room where Draco and Tori were. Harry saw that Draco was preventing Tori from leaving (the ferret didn't bother to close the door). Making sure he had the invisibility cloak on, Harry tiptoed into the room.
"You're not going anywhere, Astoria," said Draco firmly. "Until you agree to stop hanging around with Potter."
"I can hang out with him any time I want to, ferret," said Tori defiantly. "It ain't your concern who I'm friends with."
"Ohhhhhh yes it is," claimed Draco. "We're snakes, he's a lion and we're not supposed to hang around with one another. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes, you've proven that you all don't wanna stop living in the past," said Tori. "Now quit pestering me or you'll be sorry."
"Ha," said Draco with arrogance in his voice. "Father will make sure I don't get punished, so don't go claiming that I'll be sorry."
Draco began walking slowly closer to Tori and as soon as he did that, Harry pointed his wand at the ground under Draco (as another opportunity to prank the ferret). Harry whispered a charm and Draco began feeling rumbling beneath his feet (Harry made sure Tori would be unaffected by the spell).
"What the…" said Draco as he looked at the ground all around him, trying to find the source of the rumbling.
Even Tori was surprised, though she didn't feel the rumbling. She could still hear it while Draco felt the rumbling getting more and more violent. Then the floor opened up under Draco in trap-door style.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhh…" Draco screamed as he fell into some sort of void.
Then the floor closed back up, as if nothing ever happened to it. Tori started darting her eyes around room, wondering who might've caused the floor to open up. Then Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off to reveal himself, which relieved Tori.
"Did you do that, Harry?" she asked.
"I did," said Harry. "Seeing the ferret walking toward you gave me another opportunity to prank him."
"Where did he go?" asked Tori.
"In some kind of void," said Harry with a smirk. "I read another spell that allowed that to happen. The ferret will also be sliding through the void as if he's on a water slide. With some other surprises."
"I see," said Tori, then she walked up to Harry and gave him a hug, and he returned it. "Thank you Harry! The ferret could've done something bad if you hadn't intervened."
"I'm more than happy to make sure you're okay." said Harry.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you find me?" asked Tori.
"It would be best if I told you in the Room of Requirement." said Harry.
"Okay." said Tori.
So Harry called for Dobby and Winky to take himself and Tori to the Come and Go Room. Once they were there, Harry pulled out the marauder's map and showed it to Tori.
"This is the marauder's map," said Harry. "My dad was one of the inventors of it. I was initially using it to make sure Ginevra wasn't close by."
"Oh okay," said Tori. "How does it work?"
"I'll show you," said Harry as he pointed his wand to the map. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."
The map started revealing itself, much to Tori's surprise and fascination. Seeing the names of the other students and teachers made it even more fascinating. Then she saw the names of Ron, Hermione and Ginny in one room, making her suspicious.
"I wonder what those backstabbers are up to now." said Tori.
"Huh," said Harry as he looked for himself. "I'll bet they're waiting for Professor Dumbledork, for yet another discussion with this Greater Good plan."
"That's my hunch," said Tori. "It probably also involves the Amortentia that the weaselette keeps planning to use on you."
"Yeah, it seems like it," said Harry, then he turned to Dobby, Ozzy and Iggy. "Do you three think you can keep an eye on Ronald, Granger and Ginevra. Find out what's going on with them."
"Of course, Harry Potter sir," said the three male house elves. "Shall we's stop them or shall we's spy on them's?"
"Just spy on them for now," Harry instructed. "Since I don't know the full plan yet."
"Yes sir, Harry Potter." said Dobby, Ozzy and Iggy. They snapped their fingers and apparated away.
"In order to hide the map's contents," Harry told Tori, as he turned his attention back to her. "You just point your wand to the map and say 'mischief managed,' otherwise the wrong people could use it to their advantage."
"That would be bad," said Tori. "If the ferret ever got his hands on it, then he'd be able to find me with near effortless ease."
"One bonus is that if one of the users of the map approaches an entrance with a password," said Harry. "It appears in bubble form above the entrance. Another bonus is that the map will insult anybody who tries to read it without reciting the right phrase."
"It'd be funny if I were to see the ferret try that," said Tori as she began smirking. "Any insult toward him will shock him to the extreme."
"Yep, and he definitely needs that," said Harry. "He's always so full of himself."
Meanwhile, Draco was still sliding through the void caused by Harry's spell. He was sliding through some kind of slide that was protected by some kind of tube with net designs surrounding him. To make it worse for Draco, he also had to keep dealing with the number Ginny holograms that kept popping up.
"GET ME OUTTA HERE!" screamed Draco desperately, as he kept on sliding.
He was getting tired of seeing the Ginny holograms. Some of them declared her love for him, some said that she and Draco would make a great couple, and some of them even mentioned that Draco loved the Weasley girl deep down. Meanwhile, Pansy was on her way to the Great Hall for lunch and the other students kept asking her questions regarding her relationship with Ron. This was another futile attempt to convince everybody that she didn't love Ronald because nobody listened. They would just advise Pansy to not be afraid to admit her feelings for him. Harry and Tori sat down at the Gryffindor table, seconds later they were joined by Neville and Daphne.
"Harry, you'd better not take anything Ginny offers you," said Neville. "Daphne and I overheard her, Hermione and Ron talking about spiking your drinks with persuasion potions and Ginny giving you more Amortentia spiked drinks."
"Thank you Neville," said Harry gratefully. "If only we have enough proof to get…"
"Oh Harry," said Ginny as she approached and stopped behind him. "I've been looking all over of you."
"Shoo fly, don't bother me." said Harry, trying his best to ignore Ginny. That remark resulted in giggles at the Gryffindor table.
'Harry belongs to me, not that snake in the grass who keeps corrupting him,' thought Ginny as she glared at Tori. 'She'll be sorry and I'll make damn sure of it.'
"Oh hey Malfoy." said Tori, pretending to notice Draco right behind Ginny.
Ginny looked behind her and saw that Draco wasn't there, resulting in more laughter from the Gryffindor table. The redhead wasn't very amused that she had been tricked.
"Made ya look!" taunted Tori as she, too began laughing.
"Looks like Ginevra misses Malfoy too much!" blurted a random student.
Ginny ran out of the Great Hall, even more embarrassed as laughter continued to echo in her ears. Professor Dumbledore saw that, confused as to what's going on. Then the headmaster turned his attention to Harry chatting with Tori.
'No, no Harry, that won't do,' thought Dumbledore. 'Miss Greengrass is not a suitable choice for you. You need Miss Weasley.'
Dumbledore decided that he needed to speak with Harry once lessons ended for the weekend. The headmaster had no idea that he was going to bite off more than he could chew. He'd also have Harry get escorted to his office with Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Even the three Gryffindors were also on the verge of barking up the wrong tree.
To be continued!