Hey, y'all! I had one more thing to add - I've got an online DeadJournal.
The URL is www.deadjournal.com/users/pikkle87 if you want to check it out.
Also - WEEZER RULES! =W=
Kay, got that out of my system now . . . lol . . .
-ElemmÃrë
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Disclaimer: It's not mine, Your Honor, I swear! Don't sue me!
CHAPTER ELEVEN - Muggle Music
The innocent maroon-and-gold tie, blissfully unaware of the damage it was about to cause, flapped in the sudden breeze that overtook the car. Malfoy felt as shocked as if he'd gotten drunk, passed out, and woken up in Potter's bed. No Slytherin - especially a Malfoy - got involved with a Gryffindor. He couldn't have her running around telling her little friends that he, a Malfoy, had snogged a Gryffindor.
But what to do about his current situation?
Quickly muttering an obscure hex under his breath, he grinned maliciously. The young Gryffindor wouldn't know what hit her. A snickering Malfoy turned back to the wheel, but stopped to gaze impassively at her for a moment . . . oh, crap. He let his head land heavily on the steering wheel. Damn it to hell, he'd have to watch himself. He'd almost gotten carried away.
His inner Slytherin wanted to justify the most self-deprecating - and guiltily pleasurable - experience. Mentally, Malfoy blamed it on the near- death experience and left it at that. When her newly acquired, flashy freckles caught his eye once more, he felt a moment of self-satisfaction.
"All right," he said, smug once more. She opened her eyes again, but this time he didn't stop her. Riley felt instant disappointment. She'd been sure he'd just ask for a few weeks' worth of homework, or something easy; instead, she'd been landed with a psychological mystery. She couldn't help wondering what the sudden change of personality meant, so - being Riley O'Connor and given to that sort of activity - decided to find out.
"That was kind of typical, wasn't it?" she asked sarcastically in an uncanny imitation of Malfoy's I'm-superior drawl. "You'd think the Great Draco Malfoy would be able to come up with something better than frantic groping in an ancient Ford Anglia. What will your 'Dark Lord' think?" He didn't reply, just pressed his foot on the accelerator once more and drove.
Unfortunately, none of this served to relieve Riley of her self- imposed debt to the guy who was the only attractive boy in Hogwarts that she'd never consider getting emotionally tangled with. Riley was feeling inclined to go back for another round with the Quintaped, save Malfoy's life, and have it over and done with. The thought of owing anyone anything, Malfoy in particular, made her anxious and uneasy. She sneaked a peek at his face, which was drawn and weary but as impassive as usual. Riley grabbed Galahad, who had been batting at the ancient fuzzy pink dice dangling from the rearview mirror, and placed him gently on her lap. He curled up, gave a delicate pink-mouthed yawn, and slept purringly.
Bored, Riley opened the dashboard compartment to withdraw the car owner's manual and a half-full bag of rotting toffees. After making a disgusted noise, she carelessly tossed the bag of toffees out of the car and into the Forest beneath them. An indignant exclamation made Malfoy slam on the brakes.
"Hey! What'd you do that for?"
"Who is that?" Riley whispered anxiously.
"I dunno . . . but it seems to be human."
The voice from below continued its irritated monologue. "It's really not nice to go around throwing disgusting, moldy candies at people! Look at me, I've got toffee in my hair! And it smells absolutely horrible!" The voice paused. "Well? Aren't you going to at least come and apologize?"
"Hang on, we'll be right down!" Riley turned to Malfoy. "Do you think you can maneuver the car down there?"
"I should say so," he replied, seemingly aggravated that she would even ask. "Do you doubt the powers of the great Draco Malfoy?"
"Only when other people are around." The car zoomed downwards and stopped neatly in front of the chubby, curly-haired Hufflepuff boy waiting indignantly below.
"I say, don't you at least have the decency to - ah, Rilsie-love! I haven't seen you in a bit. Whoa, where'd you get the car? I don't remember you saying anything about it, why didn't you tell us? And why're you riding around the Forbidden Forest with this, er, bloke?" He said all this rather quickly.
"Justin, hey!" Riley said happily as she opened the door for the Hufflepuff to get in. Justin Finch-Fletchley was the same year as Riley and Malfoy, and had often worked with Riley during Herbology. She got along with the forward, over-enthusiastic Hufflepuff quite well, although his cheeks did turn a bit pinker whenever a certain Hermione Granger was around.
"I'm sorry about the toffees, but I really didn't realize anyone else would be in the forest at this time of night, let alone you. What were you doing, anyway?"
The Hufflepuff's usually ruddy face paled slightly. "N-nothing," he stuttered, nervously pulling at the side of his robes. "I . . .was out for a walk and . . . got lost. Yeah, I got lost."
Riley raised her eyebrows, but then decided that she shouldn't push the subject.
"What is that on your nose, Rilsie?" Justin asked quickly, hoping Malfoy wouldn't ask questions as well.
Riley's hand reached up to examine the appendage in question. "On my nose?" she repeated. "What d'you mean, what's on my nose? Is there something I should know about?"
"Only a dozen or so little emerald dots," said Justin, who was very amused. "What, you didn't know they were there?"
Riley pulled down the passenger-side mirror so she could see exactly WHAT Justin was on about, and just as he'd said, thirteen small lime-green freckles were prominently displayed on Riley's usually pale nose. She licked her thumb and tried to rub them off, until she put two and two together. "Malfoy?!?"
He was the proud owner of a convincingly straight face. "Don't you like it? I always thought green would be a good look for you."
"Get stuffed," she muttered sullenly.
Before the minor disagreement could become a knock-down, drag-out fight, Justin - with unusual presence of mind - created a diversion.
"What's this?" he asked with a seemingly innocent countenance, jabbing a small button on the dashboard. Riley scrambled to prevent him from twisting the knob, but it was too late.
"DON'T! That's the - "
The wail of a screaming guitar filled the formerly silent night air, as the three teens were knocked backwards by the sudden blast of horrifically loud rock music.
"Turn it off! Turn it off!" Riley yelled over the incredible din.
"I can't!" shrieked Justin, who had landed ungracefully in the back seat.
"What the hell is this stuff?" Malfoy managed to get his two cents in, though the 'music' was blaring hard enough to pop eardrums.
Riley's ears, unused though they were to sounds of such volume, strained to catch a few snippets of song. " . . . me understand it, I've been crawling in the dark looking for the answer - is it something more . . ."
"Hoobastank!" she yelled, with some relief. If the music was too loud, at least it wasn't crappy.
"Not as bad as you do!" Malfoy shot back indignantly.
Riley rolled her eyes and finally managed to get her fingers on the stereo knob. The music was suddenly much less intrusive. "No, Hoobastank," she said. "They're a Muggle rock group."
"No they're not," said Justin, offended.
"What do you mean, they're not?"
Justin shrugged. "Well, I grew up in a Muggle home and I've never heard of them."
"That's because they're an American band. Just listen for a moment - they're really good." They listened. While Malfoy pursed his lips and shook his head, Justin had to agree. Or, to be more specific, Justin was suddenly reduced to a crazed fangirl.
"Oh my GOD! This is fantastic! This is absolutely unbelievable!"
Riley was startled by Justin's sudden show of enthusiasm. "I, ah, have the CD. You know, if you'd like to borrow it sometime. It's true, they're pretty good . . . although personally I like Incubus and Weezer better . . ." she trailed off as the next song began, much to Justin's disappointment.
The tune was very familiar, but before it could register with Riley she heard Malfoy begin to sing in a low, husky voice.
"We get it almost every night And when that moon gets big and bright It's supernatural delight Everybody dancin' in the moonlight . . ."
Both Justin and Riley stared at him, eyes round with disbelief. Malfoy shrugged as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "What?"
"You . . . singing . . . Muggle music." Justin shook his head rapidly.
"It's strange, is all," Riley added, feeling semi-foolish. The song went on, with Malfoy driving complacently and singing the bits that he knew. He offered no explanations.
* * *
"Unbelievable!"
Riley, who'd been dozing lightly for the past fifteen minutes, was jarred back into unpleasant reality by Justin's exclamation. "What?" she inquired drowsily.
"Nobody's out there! Not a single student nor teacher is out there looking for us!"
"I'd say that was a good thing if I were you. Means we haven't been missed, thank God. Unfortunately," Riley checked the clock on the dashboard, "this also means we're going to have to sneak into the castle."
"Why?"
"Because it got dark out ages ago, Finch-Fletchley, and the teachers will make hell if we don't get up to our respective dormitories all nice and quiet-like," said Malfoy irritably. "Now, we'll be on the front lawn in about three minutes, so this would be a good time to start thinking about how you'll get back to your House."
"Gee Malfoy, that was unusually decent of you."
He gave her a blatantly condescending look. "I wasn't trying to be kind, O'Connor. I merely pointed out that, if you or Finch-Fletchley here were to be discovered on the return from our little late-night adventure, you might oh-so-innocently inform one of the teachers that I, too, was involved."
Justin turned to Riley, a disgusted look marring his plump face. "Funny how he assumes he won't be the one caught." She nodded in response.
Malfoy parked the Anglia in the shade of the trees directly outside the Forbidden Forest. The three teens piled out of the car, Riley waving to the elderly machine as it trundled driverlessly back into the Forest. Justin raced up the lawn to the enormous double doors.
As Riley walked up to the front stairs, Malfoy snatched her elbow roughly. Urgently he whispered, "No one hears about what happened tonight."
"Think I'd let all of Gryffindor Tower know that I let you snog me? I don't think so, sweetheart. Not this millenium."
His grip tightened viciously. "Your sarcasm is going to get you into a lot of trouble one of these days."
She shoved him off. "Save it. It's late and this is the part where my narcoleptic tendencies take over. We can deal with that some other time."
Also - WEEZER RULES! =W=
Kay, got that out of my system now . . . lol . . .
-ElemmÃrë
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Disclaimer: It's not mine, Your Honor, I swear! Don't sue me!
CHAPTER ELEVEN - Muggle Music
The innocent maroon-and-gold tie, blissfully unaware of the damage it was about to cause, flapped in the sudden breeze that overtook the car. Malfoy felt as shocked as if he'd gotten drunk, passed out, and woken up in Potter's bed. No Slytherin - especially a Malfoy - got involved with a Gryffindor. He couldn't have her running around telling her little friends that he, a Malfoy, had snogged a Gryffindor.
But what to do about his current situation?
Quickly muttering an obscure hex under his breath, he grinned maliciously. The young Gryffindor wouldn't know what hit her. A snickering Malfoy turned back to the wheel, but stopped to gaze impassively at her for a moment . . . oh, crap. He let his head land heavily on the steering wheel. Damn it to hell, he'd have to watch himself. He'd almost gotten carried away.
His inner Slytherin wanted to justify the most self-deprecating - and guiltily pleasurable - experience. Mentally, Malfoy blamed it on the near- death experience and left it at that. When her newly acquired, flashy freckles caught his eye once more, he felt a moment of self-satisfaction.
"All right," he said, smug once more. She opened her eyes again, but this time he didn't stop her. Riley felt instant disappointment. She'd been sure he'd just ask for a few weeks' worth of homework, or something easy; instead, she'd been landed with a psychological mystery. She couldn't help wondering what the sudden change of personality meant, so - being Riley O'Connor and given to that sort of activity - decided to find out.
"That was kind of typical, wasn't it?" she asked sarcastically in an uncanny imitation of Malfoy's I'm-superior drawl. "You'd think the Great Draco Malfoy would be able to come up with something better than frantic groping in an ancient Ford Anglia. What will your 'Dark Lord' think?" He didn't reply, just pressed his foot on the accelerator once more and drove.
Unfortunately, none of this served to relieve Riley of her self- imposed debt to the guy who was the only attractive boy in Hogwarts that she'd never consider getting emotionally tangled with. Riley was feeling inclined to go back for another round with the Quintaped, save Malfoy's life, and have it over and done with. The thought of owing anyone anything, Malfoy in particular, made her anxious and uneasy. She sneaked a peek at his face, which was drawn and weary but as impassive as usual. Riley grabbed Galahad, who had been batting at the ancient fuzzy pink dice dangling from the rearview mirror, and placed him gently on her lap. He curled up, gave a delicate pink-mouthed yawn, and slept purringly.
Bored, Riley opened the dashboard compartment to withdraw the car owner's manual and a half-full bag of rotting toffees. After making a disgusted noise, she carelessly tossed the bag of toffees out of the car and into the Forest beneath them. An indignant exclamation made Malfoy slam on the brakes.
"Hey! What'd you do that for?"
"Who is that?" Riley whispered anxiously.
"I dunno . . . but it seems to be human."
The voice from below continued its irritated monologue. "It's really not nice to go around throwing disgusting, moldy candies at people! Look at me, I've got toffee in my hair! And it smells absolutely horrible!" The voice paused. "Well? Aren't you going to at least come and apologize?"
"Hang on, we'll be right down!" Riley turned to Malfoy. "Do you think you can maneuver the car down there?"
"I should say so," he replied, seemingly aggravated that she would even ask. "Do you doubt the powers of the great Draco Malfoy?"
"Only when other people are around." The car zoomed downwards and stopped neatly in front of the chubby, curly-haired Hufflepuff boy waiting indignantly below.
"I say, don't you at least have the decency to - ah, Rilsie-love! I haven't seen you in a bit. Whoa, where'd you get the car? I don't remember you saying anything about it, why didn't you tell us? And why're you riding around the Forbidden Forest with this, er, bloke?" He said all this rather quickly.
"Justin, hey!" Riley said happily as she opened the door for the Hufflepuff to get in. Justin Finch-Fletchley was the same year as Riley and Malfoy, and had often worked with Riley during Herbology. She got along with the forward, over-enthusiastic Hufflepuff quite well, although his cheeks did turn a bit pinker whenever a certain Hermione Granger was around.
"I'm sorry about the toffees, but I really didn't realize anyone else would be in the forest at this time of night, let alone you. What were you doing, anyway?"
The Hufflepuff's usually ruddy face paled slightly. "N-nothing," he stuttered, nervously pulling at the side of his robes. "I . . .was out for a walk and . . . got lost. Yeah, I got lost."
Riley raised her eyebrows, but then decided that she shouldn't push the subject.
"What is that on your nose, Rilsie?" Justin asked quickly, hoping Malfoy wouldn't ask questions as well.
Riley's hand reached up to examine the appendage in question. "On my nose?" she repeated. "What d'you mean, what's on my nose? Is there something I should know about?"
"Only a dozen or so little emerald dots," said Justin, who was very amused. "What, you didn't know they were there?"
Riley pulled down the passenger-side mirror so she could see exactly WHAT Justin was on about, and just as he'd said, thirteen small lime-green freckles were prominently displayed on Riley's usually pale nose. She licked her thumb and tried to rub them off, until she put two and two together. "Malfoy?!?"
He was the proud owner of a convincingly straight face. "Don't you like it? I always thought green would be a good look for you."
"Get stuffed," she muttered sullenly.
Before the minor disagreement could become a knock-down, drag-out fight, Justin - with unusual presence of mind - created a diversion.
"What's this?" he asked with a seemingly innocent countenance, jabbing a small button on the dashboard. Riley scrambled to prevent him from twisting the knob, but it was too late.
"DON'T! That's the - "
The wail of a screaming guitar filled the formerly silent night air, as the three teens were knocked backwards by the sudden blast of horrifically loud rock music.
"Turn it off! Turn it off!" Riley yelled over the incredible din.
"I can't!" shrieked Justin, who had landed ungracefully in the back seat.
"What the hell is this stuff?" Malfoy managed to get his two cents in, though the 'music' was blaring hard enough to pop eardrums.
Riley's ears, unused though they were to sounds of such volume, strained to catch a few snippets of song. " . . . me understand it, I've been crawling in the dark looking for the answer - is it something more . . ."
"Hoobastank!" she yelled, with some relief. If the music was too loud, at least it wasn't crappy.
"Not as bad as you do!" Malfoy shot back indignantly.
Riley rolled her eyes and finally managed to get her fingers on the stereo knob. The music was suddenly much less intrusive. "No, Hoobastank," she said. "They're a Muggle rock group."
"No they're not," said Justin, offended.
"What do you mean, they're not?"
Justin shrugged. "Well, I grew up in a Muggle home and I've never heard of them."
"That's because they're an American band. Just listen for a moment - they're really good." They listened. While Malfoy pursed his lips and shook his head, Justin had to agree. Or, to be more specific, Justin was suddenly reduced to a crazed fangirl.
"Oh my GOD! This is fantastic! This is absolutely unbelievable!"
Riley was startled by Justin's sudden show of enthusiasm. "I, ah, have the CD. You know, if you'd like to borrow it sometime. It's true, they're pretty good . . . although personally I like Incubus and Weezer better . . ." she trailed off as the next song began, much to Justin's disappointment.
The tune was very familiar, but before it could register with Riley she heard Malfoy begin to sing in a low, husky voice.
"We get it almost every night And when that moon gets big and bright It's supernatural delight Everybody dancin' in the moonlight . . ."
Both Justin and Riley stared at him, eyes round with disbelief. Malfoy shrugged as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "What?"
"You . . . singing . . . Muggle music." Justin shook his head rapidly.
"It's strange, is all," Riley added, feeling semi-foolish. The song went on, with Malfoy driving complacently and singing the bits that he knew. He offered no explanations.
* * *
"Unbelievable!"
Riley, who'd been dozing lightly for the past fifteen minutes, was jarred back into unpleasant reality by Justin's exclamation. "What?" she inquired drowsily.
"Nobody's out there! Not a single student nor teacher is out there looking for us!"
"I'd say that was a good thing if I were you. Means we haven't been missed, thank God. Unfortunately," Riley checked the clock on the dashboard, "this also means we're going to have to sneak into the castle."
"Why?"
"Because it got dark out ages ago, Finch-Fletchley, and the teachers will make hell if we don't get up to our respective dormitories all nice and quiet-like," said Malfoy irritably. "Now, we'll be on the front lawn in about three minutes, so this would be a good time to start thinking about how you'll get back to your House."
"Gee Malfoy, that was unusually decent of you."
He gave her a blatantly condescending look. "I wasn't trying to be kind, O'Connor. I merely pointed out that, if you or Finch-Fletchley here were to be discovered on the return from our little late-night adventure, you might oh-so-innocently inform one of the teachers that I, too, was involved."
Justin turned to Riley, a disgusted look marring his plump face. "Funny how he assumes he won't be the one caught." She nodded in response.
Malfoy parked the Anglia in the shade of the trees directly outside the Forbidden Forest. The three teens piled out of the car, Riley waving to the elderly machine as it trundled driverlessly back into the Forest. Justin raced up the lawn to the enormous double doors.
As Riley walked up to the front stairs, Malfoy snatched her elbow roughly. Urgently he whispered, "No one hears about what happened tonight."
"Think I'd let all of Gryffindor Tower know that I let you snog me? I don't think so, sweetheart. Not this millenium."
His grip tightened viciously. "Your sarcasm is going to get you into a lot of trouble one of these days."
She shoved him off. "Save it. It's late and this is the part where my narcoleptic tendencies take over. We can deal with that some other time."