A Darker Shade of Red

Mud-Slinging and Strip Poker

"Kids, dinner!" hollered Mrs. Weasley upstairs.

It sounded like a heard of wild Hippogriffs running past her door as Ginevra's brothers (and company) made their ways down. She creaked open the door and casually descended the stairs, closely followed by Laura, T.J., and Cole.

As them reached the crowded table, the four took seats inbetween the two eldest Weasley boys and dug into the meal. Earlier, Gin had been amazed to find out Nicole and Charlie had met up in Romania two years or so ago and the two had really gotten along famously seeing as she reminded him of Gin when he got home-sick.

"So, Nicole... Do you even own any real clothes that don't make you look like a harlot?" Granger inquired, cocking her head to the side.

"Hermione, luv, I'd much rather look like a harlot, then to actually be one." Cole shot back, smirking all the while.

"Gothic wench."

"Back-stabbing whore."

"Snake-loving slut."

"Snape-groping hooker."

"Slytherin fucker."

"Hufflepuff sucker."

"Punk-rock... bitch."

"Oh that really hurt, you little cunt wipe."

"And the Trash-talking champ is, Nicole Lupin!" Gin and Charlie said at the same time.

Cole wiped a fake tear away and held her fork like one would a trophy.

"Thank you all, I'm so happy!" she burst into fake tears just as her friends, Bill, Charlie, and the Twins burst with laughter.

"Humph!" Granger started pouting and stomped upstairs to Harry and Ron's room, closely followed by her love-slave.

"Hey, Scarhead! Don't forget to use PROTECTION!" T.J. called upstairs.

Gin snorted. Laura coughed. Cole snickered in her mug. And Charlie laughed so hard, he blew milk out his nose. Hell, if Gin hadn't known any better, she would have thought he was a teenager again.

"Oh, good LORD!" Molly admonished, "Taylor, Nicole, that was NOT very nice."

"That's why I said it, Molly."

After the evenings hilarious events, Gin and her friends had ventured off to her room for a good night's rest.

...Yeah. Right.

"You guys wanna have some fun?" Gin asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Duh." they chorused.

"Good. Get dressed, we're going out."

"Gin, this is by far the worst idea EVER." Laura hissed.

"Gin, this is by far the best idea EVER." Nicole whispered. Charlie and T.J. both nodded.

"Thanks, I thought so."

The five would sneak out of the Burrow, seeing as is was utterly boring there, and leave to go to Goyle's flat in London and hang out there. Problem was; they didn't have any wheels, and only Charlie and Nicole had appearation licenses (You had to be sixteen for a license in Romania).

Solution? The two Romanians would appearate in a car lot and boost a car, then drive back and pick up the other three girls.

Which they already had done, and now the trick was to get to the door of his house without setting off an alarm of some sort.

"Oh, screw this!" Nicole said, "HEY GREGGY! LET US IN!"

The others looked at her like she was bloody insane until the door opened to reveal a broad-shouldered seventeen-year-old.

Gin couldn't contain her laugter as she saw what the man was wearing.

"Nice underwear, Tracey!" Nicole said, jumping up from behind the hedge and bounding towards the Slytherin.

When she was mere inches away, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed the tip of his nose.

"Where's Greggy-boo?"

Davis grinned in that 'you sly little minx' way and pushed her into the house. "Down the hall and to the right, Lupin."

"'Kay," she said, "C'mon in guys!"

Gin and the others filed into the flat. When T.J. passed Tracey, she popped him once on his yellow daisy-covered ass.

"Nice choice."

When she entered what seemed to be the living room, Gin was met with the sight of three almost naked Slytherins and one blue-haired twenty-two-year-old woman wearing a Foulmouth Falcons jersey. The Slytherins? Draco Malfoy; Gregory Goyle; and Blaise Zabini. The blue-haired woman? Alexandra Goyle, Greg's slightly older cousin.

"Hey Xandra, Greg, Blaise... Draco." Gin said.

"'Ello girls, guy. C'mon, pull up a milk crate, We're playin' strip-poker." Xandra replied, Irish accent and all, "The boys're losin' rather badly."

"I don't mind him losing," Nicole said from her seat on Goyle's lap, "'Tis pretty compfortable."

Charlie started making gagging noises and Laura sniggered at his antics. Cole sent them a death glare.

"Aw, shuddap you two, it's bloody senseless to try to stop teenage attraction." Xandra said.

Gin smiled and sat right in between her and Draco. Charlie sat on Xandra's other side. Laura took to Blaise's right and T.J. sat in between Blaise and Tracey, who was next to Draco.

This was gonna be one fun night.

Three Hours Later...

Gin was glaring. Everywhere. She was clad in a set of pink laced nickers and white bobby socks. Nicole was grinning broadly. She had on her black underwear and blue tube-top and was still sitting on Greg's lap. Greg was still fully dressed. Turns out the youngest Goyle wasn't retarded after all. Charlie, Blaise, Tracey, and Draco were nude with towels over their laps, by request and plea of Gin, T.J., and Laura. The latter two wore matching silk black underwear sets. Xandra was also grinning and fully clothed.

"Full house, one peice of clothing each!" the aqua-haired girl said.

Nicole pulled off a mitten and T.J., Laura, and Gin slipped off a sock each.

"I despise you." the latter three said to Cole.

"Nice to know."

"Shut up, NIKKI." T.J. said.

Gin rolled her chocolate eyes and 'shh'ed them, once again. The two raven-haired girls had been bickering since Cole mentioned that Tracey's towel had oddly resembled a tent when Teej had taken off her shirt.

"Oh you just had to bring that up, didn't you, Tay Tay?"

Gin turned around on the narrow staircase and glowered at the two of them. "Shut. Up." she growled, "Or I'll rip your tongues out."

They exchanged a glance once before their palms snapped over their mouths. Gin sighed and began creeping along again. She silently envied Laura for staying at Greg's with Blaise.

A couple of goodbyes, two smacks on the head, and a stubbed toe later, the three teens had effectively made their ways to Gin's room and collapsed onto her bed in a heap.

"Your bro is really cool, Red." T.J. said.

"Yeah, Charlie-boy rocks." Cole said, "Just like his little sister."

She smiled to herself, still gazing at the ceiling. She was oddly reminded of when they first met on the train. "He is pretty cool, isn't he?"

End Chapter