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"Oh that's just great," came a drawling voice from somewhere in the back (it was too dark to see). "Just fantastic Potter! Now what do you suggest we do?"
"How should I know?" snapped Harry. "Just watch it Malfoy or I swear I'll-"
"You'll what?" came an annoyed voice.
"Hermione?" Harry asked faintly. "You don't want me to beat the living crap out of this git?"
"Of course I do!" Hermione said impatiently. "My point is though, that we won't get out of here by attacking each other Harry and you know it!" Everyone heard Harry grunt reluctantly in agreement, and suddenly there was a huge bout of laughter from all the Gryffindor occupants.
"What the hell?" Pansy's voice asked in annoyance.
"S-sorry!" gasped either Fred or George. "It's just-ha!-he sounded like-"
"-one of Malfoy's idiots!" finished the other twin, still chuckling.
Crabbe and Goyle, having landed either side of Pansy, frowned and were about to grunt menacingly before realizing that that was what they were being laughed at for. Finding no other option, they sat in silence.
"Will you all kindly shut up and spare me the migraine?" Draco asked, snarling. No one bothered to listen to him. Well this is new, he thought to himself. "Lumos." The tip of his wand lit up to reveal the occupants of the train carriage. Draco scanned his company and quickly decided that the situation was hopelessly impossible. He was stuck in a pitch black Hogwarts Express train carriage with basically the annoyances of his school life. He scowled and sat down quickly, causing an 'oof!' to come from underneath him.
He looked down sharply. "Ah, umm…" his ear tips turned pink, not unlike the Weasleys are known to do when embaressed. A red headed girl looked up at him, frowning.
"Kindly get your fat arse off of me Malfoy!" she said, fighting a smile. Wow, he's cute when he's embarrassed…but not as cute as Harry of course, added Ginny in her thoughts hastily.
Ron looked over and stopped laughing immediately. "Get the hell off of my sister Malfoy!" he said, scrambling to get up. "If you've hurt her I'll-"
"Ron!" Hermione grabbed him by the robes and pulled him down. "I think Ginny's got the situation under control! Calm the hell down already!" Ron snarled and wrenched Hermione's hands off of him. Draco slid off of Ginny, smirking. Pansy's face looked livid, so Draco scooted over to her to stop her from hexing anyone.
"So what do we do?" Harry asked to everyone. Silence.
"PARTY!!!!!!" came the twin's voices, delighted with the new opportunity. Everyone turned to look at them, lighting up their wand tips.
"What?" Fred asked, smirking because he was perfectly aware that no one knew which one he was. "It's a perfect chance! The whole train's shut down, the trolley's probably just in the next carriage and no one can stop us!"
"One problem Weasley," Pansy snapped, straightening out her shirt. "Look out the carriage window, will you?" Fred and George frowned and looked out the window.
"What about it?" George asked, looking at the very boring grass knoll outside.
"There's no other carriage here," Pansy hissed. "We've broken off the rest of the train!" The statement sank in and the thoughts buzzed around the occupant's heads like bees in a hive.
'Oh good Lord, I'm stuck in a carriage with the Dream Team for God knows how long! I'll lose my mind!' Draco thought wildly.
'So the party's a bust, but I'm sure Malfoy and his cronies could use with a Heavenly Helper or two,' Fred and George thought simultaneously.
'God forgive me if I kill Malfoy by the end of this,' thought Ron darkly.
'Great, just great, now Voldemort might come and finish me off,' Harry thought, frowning.
'Hey this isn't so bad-I'm stuck in a carriage with Dr-Harry! Harry Potter!' Ginny thought, confusing herself.
Oh no, what if we miss school! Maybe I can work ahead in the book in here', thought Hermione in a panic.
'Hey, maybe Draco will rescue me or something…like a damsel in distress or some shit…maybe this is my chance!' Thought Pansy, losing all reason.
'_______ ,' thought Crabbe and Goyle.
There was an awkward silence as everyone weighed the situation. Finally, Pansy broke the silence with a high pitched wail. "Oh Draco! What are we going to do?!?" She clung onto his arm, sobbing. Furious, he threw her arm off.
"Will you please stop?" Draco asked calmly, ignoring the strange looks he was getting. "I'm not too fond of your crying, to be perfectly honest." Across the carriage, Hermione giggled, and Pansy sat up glaring at her dangerously.
"Watch it Granger," she said under her breath. Hermione smiled sweetly.
"Always Pansy my dear," she replied, making Pansy angrier than ever before.
"Right, that's it!" she screeched, standing up. "I'm going to curse your Mudblood ass to h-" Draco clamped a hand around her heavily lipsticked mouth.
"Pansy, I'm warning you, this won't make anything any easier," Draco whispered in her ear. Wide eyed, she nodded and he let go disgustedly. "Ew, what is this crap?" he said, pointing to the red smudge on his hand.
"Honestly, whale blubber," Ginny said, "but we like to call it lipstick." Draco turned to look at her and then looked at his hand again.
"Ugh," he said, wiping it on a seat. Ron burst out laughing. "What Weasley?" Draco asked, snarling.
"Well, I would've thought that with your glorious reputation, you would've been used to having lipstick on you before Mal-ferret," Ron said, clutching his side. Getting him annoyed is almost getting too easy, Ron though happily. To his utter delight, Draco scowled darkly and sat down, far away from anyone. The next part, however, was not fun to listen to.
"My love life is far from your business Weasel, unless you want to be a part of it. In that case, I will tell you firmly right now that I'm not interested in you that way, or any way. Quite honestly, I think you are a colossal waste of space," Draco said spitefully, causing Ron to open and close his mouth in utter shock and anger. Despite himself, Harry started laughing.
"Harry!" Ron said, getting quite pissed now.
"Sorry Ron, won't happen again," Harry said, shutting up.
Hermione got up and walked to the compartment door. She ran her hands over it, muttering to herself and tapping her wand against it. Everyone looked at her curiously, right until she collapsed on a seat hopelessly frustrated.
"This is bloody impossible!" she cried, throwing up her hands. Draco smirked.
"So teacher's pet Mudblood Granger can't use her marks in the real world-shame really," he said. Ron's face darkened and he lunged at Draco.
"Don't call her that you bastard!" he yelled, punching Draco in the jaw. Everyone watched rather interested as they fought bitterly, punching and kicking each other. Unfortunately, Hermione soon came to her senses and wrenched Ron off of Draco.
"Come on Ron, he's not worth it," she muttered as Ron breathed heavily standing next to her. He had a black eye and his hair was everywhere. Draco had two great slashes going across his cheek, and both were glaring at each other with equally matched hatred dancing in their eyes. There was a very tense silence.
Draco looked to his right and saw Ginny, pale and horrified, looking at her brother like he had just sprouted horns. Draco grinned and sat down comfortably. He looked around and met the surprised stares of everyone. "What are you idiots gaping at?" he said smirking.
"Just not used to seeing the dark scum of the earth smile, that's all," Harry said, still looking at Draco curiously. Draco cursed silently. Did I really smile? Stupid stupid stupid stupid…
"I didn't smile, Potter," he said, scowling.
"Yes you did."
"No I-look, I don't feel like getting a verbal lashing as well as a physical one from your freckled sidekick, so I'm just going to stop this right here," Draco said snidely.
"So!" Everyone turned to look at Pansy in surprise. "What should we do? I mean, we can't get out, so we might as well do something to make the time pass by quicker, you know?" Grudgingly, everyone admitted she was right and started racking their brains to think of something to do.
"Do you guys want to play that American game, what's it called, BS?" Fred or George asked slyly. Everyone turned to look at him. Of course they knew it, it was the most popular card game at Hogwarts now. The evil plots began to form in everyone's mind.
"I'm game," Harry said, drawing out a small red moneybag. "That is, if everyone else is," he added.
"I'm not too bad at card games myself, so deal me in," Draco replied, rifling through his robes for his own money. Ron extracted his money from the same bag Harry and Hermione had seen earlier, and Fred and George were already scrambling for their profits from the summer. Ginny and Hermione looked at each other hesitatingly and then sighing, brought out their own money. Ginny counted it silently.
OK, five Galleons isn't going to cut it. This is hopeless, I knew I should've helped Ron with those chocolate things! She thought miserably. "Count me out, I'll just watch." Her brothers looked up at her with surprise. Ginny Weasley was a devastatingly good card player, especially at poker. Ginny saw their faces and shrugged in reply. They all have so much money, I'd feel so stupid, especially next to Malfoy. I bet his robes are made of money.
"Whatever you want Gin," Ron said, raising his red eyebrow. She ignored him, so Ron turned to Hermione. "Herms?"
"Yeah, I'm in," she said quietly. He laughed.
"You know how to play poker?" he asked curiously.
"I pick things up," she said, shrugging and counting out money in her palm. Pansy looked up and saw Draco counting out his money too, and she shoved her hand in her pockets. A small silver moneybag came out. She smiled.
"I'm in," she said loudly, shoving herself in between Draco and Harry. They both looked at her with the same expression; extreme disgust. She ignored them and tapped her fingernails on the wood floor, sighing with impatience. Across the carriage, Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other and then grunted. Boulders have no use for poker, and neither did they. Crabbe picked up his moneybag and proceeded to use it like a dumbbell; it certainly was heavy enough. Goyle saw his new invention and happily picked up his own moneybag and did the same. They sat in the corner joyfully picking up their moneybags for the rest of the game.
Ginny sighed and rested her head on her arms as she watched them play on the floor of the train car. She skimmed her eyes over the tops of their heads. Hermione's newly straightened hair, absently resting on Ron. Ginny smiled; when would they just admit it already? Ron was looking at his cards with that expression that Ginny knew all too well, the Weasley Fake. It was supposed to be blank, but by looking in his eyes you could tell he had a great hand this game. People's eyes give them away every time she thought to herself, grinning. She looked at Pansy, and saw her looking up through her hair at Draco, who was scowling at his hand. She really does like him I guess, Ginny thought, looking at the older girl with a little more liking. Harry was pushing his glasses up his nose and waiting for everyone else to be finished looking at their cards so that he could lay down the first card; he was dealer of course. He does seem to always be pushed into leading things, doesn't he? She thought curiously looking at him. He looked up at her suddenly, and she flushed. He grinned and looked back at his cards. Fred and George were having difficulty hiding their glee at the cards they had been dealt. Lucky beasts, Ginny thought fondly, they get all the goods in our family.
They played silently. It was the weirdest card game Ginny had ever seen. All of her card memories were filled with baking and laughing and winning and smiling and this was…this was a death match! She watched from behind and watch Draco select a king and an eight on the pile, face down like you do in BS.
"Two kings." Ginny almost laughed at loud, but that would give him away for sure. Ron looked at Draco searchingly and then nodded. He believed him! Draco leaned back, smirking and hit someone's leg.
He looked behind him and looked up into the innocently gorgeous face of Virginia Louise Weasley. He didn't know this of course; this was Ron Weasley's little sister, who no doubt had all the qualities he hated from her brother. "Kindly get rid of your leg Weasley," he drawled. Ginny grinned, and Draco was taken aback. Grinning at him? No scowl? No look of hatred? No I-Hate-Draco-Malfoy look in her eyes?
"No." Draco stared.
"I must have misheard you Weasel, did you just say no?"
"I did and I'll say it again: No." Ginny looked with satisfaction at the growing alarm on the older boy's face. "What, scared? You should be-you just cheated in your card game and Ron hates cheaters." Ron snapped to attention at hearing that Draco cheated.
"Ugh, should've known! Why didn't I say anything, you could've had twenty more cards added to your hand!" Ron groaned, putting his head in his hands. Draco smirked.
"Don't worry about it Weasley, us Malfoys are incredibly cunning when we need to be; it wouldn't be the first time I've gotten away with anything," he added maliciously. Ron ignored him. What is the world coming to, Draco thought wildly, where Weasleys aren't even angered by my insults? I need to lie down!
Pansy looked up at him, her eyes shining. "Sly and quick, like a snake then Draco?" she asked eagerly. Draco looked at her.
"If that was supposed to be intelligent, it came out wrong," was his answer. Pansy's face feel briefly, but then she just turned away, blinking her eyes rapidly. Harry looked at her and, startled, noticed the tears that threatened to brim over her long lashes. He almost found himself being sympathetic. Good God Potter you've lost it now, he thought, sighing and running his hands through his messy hair. He triumphantly pulled out four cards.
"Four aces!" Hermione snorted.
"No way. Bull shit!" Harry laughed and lifted the four cards. Four aces blinked up at her and Hermione looked at them in shock. "guess the pile's mine then, eh?" she said weakly, picking up the large pile. Ron goggled at all the cards.
"If you want 'Mione, I'll take some," he offered kindly. She looked at him sharply, but nodded her head gratefully. He took half of the cards and sorted them in her hands.
"Oh, are we witnessing a moment then?" Draco sneered. "How touching." Ron flushed the shade of a tomato and Hermione blushed deeply. Harry glared at Draco and Ginny decided that a swift kick in the ass was in order. "Ow! What the hell?" Draco whirled around the find Ginny laughing. "You-"
"Too tempting!" Ginny gasped.
Draco muttered some curses under his breath and flicked his wand. Ginny shrieked.
"My hair! What the hell have you done to it Malfoy?!?" she yelled, scrambling for a mirror. Lost for words from laughing, Pansy handed her her compact. Ginny's scream shocked Crabbe and Goyle from their weightlifting in the corner even. "IT'S THE BLOODY UNION JACK!!!!" Draco congratulated himself silently.
"My, you are ungrateful. That was a tricky curse to perform you know," Draco said lazily, turning around to admire his handiwork. Ginny's red mane was now an exact replica of the British flag, the red cross on the top of her head. Ron snarled and was about to jump on Draco when the strangest sound came from Ginny. Laughter.
"Dammit Ginny, why are you laughing?" Fred asked, still furious at Draco for turning his little sister's trademark hair into a flag.
"I laugh at things that are funny Fred!" she said, giggling. Draco looked at her oddly, and then smiled. No one saw but Ginny, and she shut up really fast.
"Why'd you stop?" Harry asked, confused.
Draco turned around, plastering on his Malfoy smirk. What was he thinking letting a little Weasel make him smile like that? Ginny looked at the back of his head, puzzled.
"Err…a fly flew in my mouth," she said, pretending to spit it out. Fred and George looked at each other, and then smiled their Twin Grin.
"Flying chocolate!" they yelled in delight.
"Here we go…" Hermione said, rubbing her temples as the twins chattered excitedly about their newest invention to be. In the corner, Crabbe saw a cockroach scuttling on the floor and squashed it with his huge bear-like hand. Goyle grunted in approval, and they soon set about squashing the bugs that were now steadily streaming into the carriage through the crack in the floor...
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A/N: thank you all for reviewing for me!!! Shoutouts to Reania, Dani L. Servo, Aaren, Jedi Tess of Gryffindor, Lee Velviet, casper, and The Dark Faerie. I'd write individual thanks, but I don't have any time so….yeah.
For my other story, the Seven Deadly Sins, I'm writing the next chapter. Sorry if I'm making anyone wait!!
~Raven Black~