A little pretty long pre-note from me: Chapter 7!! Aw thank you for all the lovely reviews!! Yotama – glad you approve of my foul mouth! Louise – aw thanks honey – as many reviews as possible thank you!! LostAngel – thank you so much! I reviewed your original by way of thanks, and the Fat Lady knows everything. Think of her as that willow tree out of Pocahontas – I haven't seen that since I was 7 or something so excuse me if I'm entirely wrong. Lovely Foe – I'll try my best!! Finally, Hellbound – I'm not promising anything! I haven't decided what's happening yet and it may not live up to its R rating – but please keep reading just in case! Sorry it took so long to put this up, but it wasn't my fault! On the bright side, FanFiction being down meant I had time to finish up to chapter 8 and I have a fairly good idea where this is going now, but I'm still open for suggestions! I also wrote a short Buffy parody – please check it out! This chapter is kind of a light, funny fill-in but it was important to the story – I'll post the next one up soon though! Hopefully, anyway! P.S one week left of school!!!!!! Means I'll probably be able to get these written quicker and read your stories too!
Neville
Ginny Weasley was prone to insomnia, and this night was no different. Often she would come down to the Common Room in the middle of the night and pace the room, look at the sky or, on particularly restless nights, she would rummage through personal property that her classmates had happened to leave behind them. Tonight, however, she came down to hear a small whimpering voice in the darkness. She grabbed a lamp, the closest thing to her that had any density worth mentioning, and walked into the darkness.
"Who's there?" she asked warily.
"Ginny?" a small voice asked.
"Who the hell are you?" she asked, wondering why this person knew her name. She didn't recognise the voice.
"It's me." The voice pleaded.
"Well duh! Now show your face before I crack your head open!" she ordered. Instantly a nearby light came on and Ginny raised the lamp above her head, ready to strike.
She froze.
"Neville?" she asked incredulously.
"Hey." He said, blushing and offering a slight smile.
"Why didn't you say it was you?" she asked as she put down the lamp and flopped down on a nearby couch.
"I did." He said. Ginny looked at him, but decided not to argue at this time in the morning.
"What are you doing down here? It's 3 o'clock in the morning!"
"Well… you're here too." He stammered defensively. Poor boy, Ginny thought, nearly 17 years old and he still can't put up a good argument.
"Yeah I'm always down here." She shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm a bloody insomniac, aren't I? But you're not."
"Promise not to tell?" he asked.
Ginny looked at him. Do I smell juicy gossip?
"Course I won't tell! Now what is it, Nevvy?"
Neville looked upset.
"Please don't call me that, it reminds me of my cousins. They call me that and tease me for being useless."
"Oh your not useless, Nevvy – Neville." Ginny reassured him, playfully punching him on the arm. He seemed to tilt sideways from the force of the impact. She made a mental note never to do that again – he might break.
"Hermione thinks I am." He moped, putting his head in his hands.
Ginny felt uncomfortable. The last thing she needed was practically a grown man crying on her. Apart from everything else, she just might laugh which wouldn't exactly help the situation.
"Don't be stupid Neville." At this he burst into louder cries.
"SShhh, you'll wake everyone up!" she handed him a tissue, on which he blew his nose loudly. Ginny flinched. He was like a horn.
"Look, what makes you think Hermione thinks you're stupid, huh?" she asked.
"She told me." He stated bluntly.
"Ah." She said. Fair enough, the boy could be forgiven for misunderstanding if she told him so. It just didn't seem like Hermione though…
"What exactly did Hermione say to you, Neville?" Ginny inquired.
Neville sniffed and stifled a few sobs. "That…that I was pathetic, and, um, and stuff like that. She hates me! And she knows that I really like her!" he wailed.
Then it clicked. Ginny suddenly remembered the conversation she'd had with Hermione earlier. Someone had feelings for her. Hermione wanted to hate that person. It would explain why she was behaving so out of character.
"Neville!" she exclaimed.
"What?" he looked up, still sniffing away.
"Hermione doesn't hate you – she loves you!"
"What?" he asked, confused.
"It's true!"
"How'd you know that?"
"She told me so!" Ginny was getting a strange feeling of Dèja vu.
"Really?" Neville asked, perking up.
"Yes!"
Neville looked exceedingly happy, mixed with a fair amount of shock. They sat in silence for a few moments, only interrupted by the occasional sniffle from Neville.
"Never had a girl love me before." He stated happily, looking at her.
Now why don't I find that hard to believe? She thought. Instead she just smiled and made a kind of reassuring grunt noise.
"Hmm." He smiled. "Night Ginny, and thanks. Thanks a lot." He smiled gleefully and Ginny waved goodnight to him. He continued his 'Hmm-ing' all the way up the stairs, and Ginny relaxed back into the couch, smiling.
Hermione was going to love her for this.
*~*~*~*~*
"Why hello there Hermione."
Hermione stopped in the corridor. What? That hadn't been Draco's voice – it was too high. She turned around, expecting to see some sad first year playing a joke on her. Only first years could have such a high voice, the only other person she knew who did was –
"Neville!" Hermione looked at the boy who was a few inches shorter than her. He looked up at her, an odd smile appearing on his face. Was he trying to be seductive? No, not Neville. Oh please God, no, not Neville!
"Hey good lookin'" he croaked. He twitched his eye. Wait, no, it was a wink.
"What did you just say?" Hermione asked, completely bewildered.
"Look doll," Doll? Did he just call me doll? Someone's been watching too many Happy Days. "I know you like me ok? So I thought me and you -"
"You and I." she corrected.
"Ok, you and I, could get together sometime. What do you say chick?"
Wait, wizards don't have 'Happy Days'. Ok back to the matter at hand. Hang on did he say…
"I like you? What?" she asked.
"Hey, don't worry, Ginny told me."
"Oh she did, did she?" Hermione started thinking of painful ways to punish the Weasley daughter.
"Yeah, and I'm ok with it." Hermione looked at him. Ok with it? Who the hell did he think he was?
"You know Neville, Ginny wasn't actually telling the -"
"Hey, hey, hey!" he interrupted her. Hermione was slightly amused at his new attitude. Scared, yes, but slightly amused.
"It's ok! I like you too I guess, and now that I know you like me, we can make a go of it!"
Hermione froze. Now where had she heard that before?
"What the hell are they putting in the water round here?" she sighed dramatically.
"Huh?" Neville looked confused. "So what about it Hermione?"
By this stage a crowd had started to gather around them. Hermione blushed. God this was embarrassing.
"Neville," she began slowly. "Do you honestly think I would ever dream of-"
Hermione stopped short when she saw a familiar face making his way to the front of the crowd. That blonde hair, green robes, pale skin. Draco Malfoy. Then an idea struck her. Always make do with your resources.
"Ever dream," she continued loudly. "Of saying no to you? Of course I'll go out with you!"
Neville reached forward and hugged her as happy cheering broke through the crowd. Hermione responded to the hug, but she knew she felt nothing. She just felt normal, nothing like the way she had felt when Draco touched her…
Hermione scanned the crowd quickly. Speaking of Draco… amongst the cheering, Hermione found him at the front of the crowd, slowly shaking his head in disgust.