Author: Ann Leony
Summary: A Walk in the Lions Den. (Part 2)
A/N: This was inspired by a picture of Draco Malfoy leaning on a stone wall during Care of Magical Creatures. The list, I tried to make it all man, but I have to include girls because I don't know that many characters, and you could only use original character that much. Have to do more homework and Cedric is not Dead cause he's too beautiful to die. I'm not going to do interviews on all the character as 1) I don't know that much about most them 2) the fic would be too long, as I like to have background story for the ones I do give interviews and 3) I just don't want you guys to get bored.

By the way, if they are any mistakes in name or spelling of some things, I apologizes beforehand. I'm at college and I don't have any of the books for reference. I'm living of other fictions.

I don't own any of the characters. All extended to Potter verse are the property of J. K. Rowling and her associates. I'm just playing around her brainchild.

Chapter Nineteen.

Neville was still heaving when he felt Draco's fingers settling on his arms, and Draco licking his lips. His icy, fair complexion was marred by the red stains on his cheeks and nose. His eyes glossy and for a minute, Neville wanted to lean in again and continue kissing those swollen lips. But he knew this was a one time thing and Draco had only promised one kiss. He peck Draco's cheek, whispered good luck in his ear and open the door and swiftly went out. Leaving a very aroused and confused Draco Malfoy in his wake.

"What the bloody hell just happened?" Draco squawk to no one in particular. Of course no one answered him. He sat down and decided in a very Malfoy fashion to contemplate the situation.

'WHAT SITUATION? WHY... did the bloody gryffindork have to complicate matters by kissing him into next Christmas?' Draco didn't notice he had stand up in his rage and stamped his feet in an effort to get the bad feeling of confusion out of his head.

"I like Ron, I like Ron." he chanted to himself and downed the Polyjuice in one gulp. 'Emm, tasty' he thought sarcastically. Draco felt the familiar burning on is body, the melting of his skin and the sharp pain in his stomach at the end that he had never felt while using Polyjuice before. He didn't think much of the pain as there are variants when the potions were made by different people. He was heaving by the end of the change and felt quite nauseous.

When he decided that he felt as normal as he could in a foreign body, he poked his head out of the closet door and checked to see if anybody is walking around during dinner. He saw Granger's back disappearing into the Hall and sprinted to the general direction that he usually saw the Gryffindors usually take. He saw a younger student walking back to the Gryffindor's common room and decided to trail after him.

The boy stopped in front of a portrait of a fat lady in a pink tutu like dress and whispered the password. He gave the boy a few minutes and approached the portrait. The lady smiled at him and that startled him. It was a minute later that he remembered the he's not himself but is Longbottom and was like by the general population of the septuagenarian. " Neville, the password dear?" she urged him like a halfwit and Draco's nostril flared.

Determined to test his acting skills, Draco adopted a meek attitude and said slowly, "Lion's Den" as the fat lady smiled indulgingly and opened the portrait, revealing a doorway into the common room. He smirked at the obviously easy ploy.

The furnishing was completely different from the the Slytherins. Where style and sophistication should be in the mind of the Slytherin's decorator, in the Gryffindor's, a homey feeling and comfort were first priority. No wonder the so-called-lions were such wimps. They would die if they have to live in the dungeons even for a day.

He assumed that the rooms placing was the same as in his own common room. Boys dorm to the left and girls on the right. Draco took the stairs to his left and found on the third floor a door labeled 'Fifth Years' and proceeded to open the door and walk in. Ron was laying on his bed trying to read a book he obviously borrowed from the library by it's tattered state and all the while chewing a quill. He lifted his eyes from the book and gave Draco a grin.

"Hey Neville, I know Potions is not your best subject, but could you take a peek at this assignment and see what's wrong. I think the books said a person will grow two brain after drinking the potion Snape going to assign to us. I just don't think that's right."

Draco rolled his eyes and wondered why he liked the weasel in the first place. He approached the bed and take a look at the book and then at the parchment. " It said here that it was only the feeling of having two brains, not actually growing two brains. For heavens sake, you have no perspicacity for subtlety, Weasel..ly." and he gave a cough to cover that up. He then instructed Ron to the correct pages of the book and sat silently watching him finish.

Ron wrote a few more lines and finished it with a flick of the quill. He sighed and packed his things into his school back and dropped it beside his bag." Thanks Neville. I can't believe I finished that at last. I could give you a kiss for helping me with that."

Draco, in his anxiousness, took that as an invitation, and grabbed Ron's shoulders and gave him a shy little kiss. He was surprised that he felt nothing for the kiss. No fireworks. No cramp-in-the-stomach wonderful feelings that he had not ten minutes ago in the arms of Longbottom. Dissatisfied, he bit on Rons lower lip gently and coax the boy to part his lips.

Ron responds, while somewhat belated, which Draco blamed towards shock rather than Ron not being attracted to him, was quite enthusiastic. Apparently that little fling with Brown had taught Ron something after all. Sure, he's a great kisser, obviously know how to apply pressure just enough to make the kiss heady but not getting out of control. Ron arms went around his back with practice and seems totally lost as to who he was administering a very fervently applied tonsil quidditch.

Pulling his own lips away from Ron's, Draco, while being totally uncomfortable using another person sets of lips (no matter how delightful when it was applied to his own) was just about to push Ron away when the high pitched chatter of Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil broke the silence only permeated by dry heaving and unsavory cackling from the fourth year dorm.

"No...?" followed by a giggle.

"Absolutely, I have to tell Seamus, Neville is dating Harry! Straight from Colin's mouth..." as the voice gets louder.

The dorm room was thrown open when all the occupants in the scenario froze. Lavender, her hands in the middle of an elaborate gesture was hung in the air as her scheming eyes took in the picture before her, Ronald Weasley had his arms around Neville Longbottom's waist, quite intimately, while Neville Longbottom's arms are draped on Ronald's shoulders and from the high colours on their cheeks and the bruised condition of their lips, they are obviously not studying.

She saw how Neville reluctantly push Ron away and immediately and practically ran away from the room. Ron was sitting down slowly on his bed and dropped his head in his hands, seemed unable to believed what had happened. Lavender grabbed the paralyzed Parvati and quietly steered her out of the room. There will be a lot of work tonight. First, she have to see Colin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Draco knew the hour was up when he starts walking back down to the dungeon. He grappled his stomach felt like he was going to be sick and slide down while his body turn back to his own. He shivers as the unexpected pain stroked his body, making him double up in pain. He seems to be sweating and after about ten minutes sitting on the cold stone floors, he felt he had enough energy to continue to walk back to his room.

In his mind, he was as confused as a hippogriff that got into a ferret's nests. He cringed at the example. He was in love with Ron. That kiss suppose to be everything and more. But, all Draco could remember was Neville's hand and lips instead of Rons. There must be something wrong with him. Neville is an incompetent, almost squib, fluffy Gryffindor. But there seemed to be a quiet fire burning in him that Draco never seen before. Maybe he just needs a good nights sleep to get his head back on straight.

He got his nights sleep although he toss and turns all night. He avoided Potter, Ron and Neville the whole day. It was easy as they have no classes with the Gryffindors, unknown to him the gossip that he had caused that was spreading fire in the Gryffindor common room and as he lay in his bed that night, he knows nothing could be worse that this.

TBC.

A/N: I hope nobody is terribly confused. And Harry is going to get another photo shoot for the magazine in the not so distance, but not so near future. Stay tune.