Chapter 6
Disclaimer: Me no own. You no sue!
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Criticism is always welcome!
Ginny ran through hall after hall, each packed full of students. Breakfast had just ended and she was pushing and shoving her way between the many strolling students, the map still clutched fast in her grasp. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, her cheeks tinged pink from running all this way.
She had to find Dumbledore and tell him that Neville was nowhere on either Hogwarts or Hogsmeade grounds. She had no idea what had happened to him, the possibilities were endless. She reached the Great Hall and peeked through the doors, her eyes searching out for the wizened old man, cursing when she saw he had already left.
She picked up her pace again, her feet taking her to the floor of his office. She reached the office entrance, guarded by the two gargoyles and remembered that she had no idea what the password was. Her brows came together in concentration, thinking of any word that Dumbledore might use to guard his office.
"Ugh…Lemon Drop? Chocolate Frog? Bertie Bots Every Flavored Beans? No of course not!…Uhm…," and she continued, word after word after word that might describe the smart wizard. His favorite treats, people, friends. Anything! But it never opened.
She heard someone cluck their tongue in annoyance, and turned slowly to see Professor Snape standing directly behind her, eyebrow cocked at her.
"What are you doing, Ms. Weasley?" He asked, eyeing her disheveled appearance and the packet of parchment in her hand, which had by now turned white from holding it so hard. She swallowed thickly, whipping the sweat from her brow.
"I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore, now! It's urgent! But I don't know the password." He looked at her suspiciously, and she looked between him and the gargoyles expectantly. Giving an inward sigh, Snape moved closer to the door and leaned in, whispering the password under his breath. The gargoyles jumped aside to reveal a spiral staircase, and she thanked him quickly before sprinting up it.
When she arrived in front of the door, she hesitated only a moment before knocking. The hollow thud of her knock resounded through and down the spiral staircase, much louder than she intended, and she inwardly cringed. She heard movement behind the door and backed up a pace in the narrow hall before the door glided open. Looking up, she stared into the old eyes behind the half moon spectacles of the Headmaster. Well finally!
She stepped in, not waiting for him to invite her in, but he didn't seem to mind. He walked around his desk and sat. "Have a seat, Ms. Weasley." She complied, sitting opposite him in a comfy chair.
She opened her mouth to talk, but paused. She didn't even know what to tell him. She had been in such a rush to get here and explain to him everything, that she hadn't even planned it out. How was she supposed to explain the Marauders Map? And when she did point out that Neville wasn't on the map, what would he say? What was there to be done?
"Was there something you wanted to say, Ms. Weasley?" He asked, helping her along. She closed her still open mouth, swallowing, before starting.
"Sir, Neville isn't in Hogwarts…nor Hogsmeade." He looked at her with those glimmering eyes, a curious expression on his face as he slightly raised an eyebrow.
"And how would you know this Ms. Weasley?"
Ginny faltered. She didn't think she was even supposed to have the map. Should she lie? But then again, she had already brought the parchment in with her, and she didn't think that Dumbledore would fall for any of her lies. She sighed in resignation.
"The Marauders Map, Sir. Do you know of it?"
His eyes twinkled. "I've heard of it, yes. Would you care to explain it to me?"
She had a feeling he already knew what it was, but complied never the less. "It's a parchment, Sir," She held it up, opening it, "and when you say 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good' it opens itself and reveals to you all the occupants, where they are, on both Hogwarts and Hogsmeade grounds. When you said that Neville was missing, I just couldn't believe it, and I thought I could help. But when I looked at the map, he was no where in sight! I just…I just thought that if you knew, you could try and help. Or, at the very least, have people searching in wider ranges, seeing as he isn't anywhere here."
She passed the Marauders Map to the Headmaster, who took it in both of his hands, eyeing it. His eyes, though, didn't seem to twinkle or glimmer anymore. They seemed dull and weary as he looked over the parchment. She knew it was serious. His expression seemed to darken as he looked over each page, having no good result. At this moment, he no longer looked like the almighty Albus Dumbledore, greatest wizard of all time. He did not have that radiance that usually surrounded him. No, right now he just seemed like a very tired, very distraught old man who had come to the end of his rope.
The morning sunlight filtered through the windows behind and beside him, bathing him in light. His silvery white hair and beard shone with brilliance. The light seemed to amplify the lines around his eyes and mouth, and seemed to seep into the deep wrinkles on his face. He looked up from the map and sighed in defeat.
"You're right, Ms. Weasley. He is not here. I will have to contact the very little family he has left, and question them of it. And if they do not know where he is, I will have to contact the Ministry, and order a missing person alert. " Ginny nodded in understanding, her eyes connecting with the saddened ones of her Headmaster. "Ms. Weasley, if I could ask you something?"
Ginny was surprised at that, but nodded her head anyway. "Anything, Headmaster."
"I was wondering about the last time you saw him. I am well aware that he hadn't many friends, but you and him have always had a sort of connection. When was the last time you saw him, before he disappeared, Ms. Weasley?"
Ginny fidgeted under his gaze. "The night before the Hogsmeade trip. He asked me if I would like to go with him, but I already had plans. He went straight to bed after that, and for all I know, nobody's spoken to him since. You were right when you said he didn't have many friends."
That thought did disturb her some. What if she had gone with him? Would he still be here now? Was it her own folly and selfishness at not accepting his request the reason he wasn't still here? It made her feel terrible. What if she could have helped?
She groaned at herself. What has happened to him? All this apprehension was getting to her head. She just wanted to find him and have him back safely.
"Sir? What do you think happened to him?"
"There are many possibilities as to why he is not still on these grounds. First of all, if he left willingly. That may very well be the case, which is why I must contact his grandmother. It is his choice to leave, as he is of legal age. He could have gone to visit family or friends. He could have left and went anywhere. He could have been forced to leave, kidnapped or something along those lines. Or," here he paused, his face darkening even more, "he could be dead. I am very much hopping it isn't the latter, but one can never be certain. I doubt it would show one's body on the map, when the soul is not in it."
"But Sir, all the ghosts are on the map! Nearly Headless Nick and the Bloody Baron are dead and we can see them! Why wouldn't we see him?"
"Because they are still the essence of what they once were. It's still their soul and the image of their body." She frowned slightly but slumped her shoulders in defeat. Whatever had happened to him, it was now in the hands of the headmaster.
He turned his gaze one more time at the map, folding it up.
"Thank you, Ms. Weasley, for coming to me with this information. We may have never known he was not on the grounds if not for your help. Trust me in this, that I will continue to search for him, and have others keeping their eyes out for him as well. I will do everything possible in my power to find him, and insure that he is safe. Now, Ms. Weasley, you may leave."
Ginny nodded and stood from where she was still seated opposite of the man. She squinted at the sunlight, and turned her back on it, making her way to the door.
"Ms. Weasley?" She heard him call out, hand on the doorknob, and turned back to him.
"Yes, Sir?"
"You might want this back," He said, holding up the Marauders Map and extending it to her. Her eyes widened.
"I can keep it?" She honestly hadn't thought that if she had revealed something as special as that to him that he'd let her keep it. At his nod, she walked back over and took it, turning on her heel and exiting his office, closing the door behind her.
--
The rest of her weekend passed quickly. She, Draco, and Blaise had stayed outside most of the time, reveling in the warm sunshine, which she knew that in no time at all, would start to turn frigidly cold. There was already a cool breeze that drifted in across the lake, warning them of the fast approaching winter.
It was now Monday morning, and Ginny had just awoken, taken her daily shower, and dressed in her favorite outfit; the one she had gaped at in the window. It looked absolutely stunning on her, or so she thought, and she didn't often have thoughts like that.
She was no where near perfect. In her opinion she was too short, not even reaching to Draco's shoulders. She hated her too-red hair, and detested her boring brown eyes. She was by no means skinny, but neither was she fat. She was curvy. Voluptuous. Her chest and hips turned her form into an hourglass figure, and one that she was particularly proud of. And with these new school robes, they clung to her in such a way as to not reveal too much, but show off her great features.
She looked at herself once more in the mirror, admiring the new outfit. She'd definitely have to thank Draco for that one. She smoothed her robes and took off down the stairs to breakfast.
She thought she looked good in these robes, and apparently, so did the male population of Hogwarts.
As she walked through the halls, she saw boys in mid-sentence and mid-stride falter and stop what they were doing to turn and look at the new and improved Ginny. She felt their eyes on her from all directions. She blushed under their scrutiny, making her way to the Great Hall for breakfast, trying in vain not to notice all the gazes she felt in her back as she walked through the crowd.
She reached the Great Hall and walked in, making her way down between the tables to get to the Gryffindor table. Rumors were already spreading like wildfire about herself and Draco and Blaise. . Well, they weren't exactly rumors, but some people didn't believe it anyway. The last thing she wanted to do was get people started on more, even if that did mean sacrificing a few meals with the two. A lot of the students at Hogwarts didn't even listen to the preposterous rumors flying around the castle. Dating that came in threes didn't happen often, and most people refused to even think about a Gryffindor dating two Slytherins. It was unheard of!
People's heads began to turn as she made her way to the bench, sliding herself into the seat. Everyone was used to her wearing the Weasley's old hand-me-down clothing, knowing fully well she couldn't afford anything new or expensive. Just like the clothing she had on now. And apparently the guys of the school had just grown eyes and started noticing her. She ignored all the stares and glanced up at Draco who was scowling at almost every boy in the Great Hall. She laughed out loud at his possessiveness.
She turned back to her plate and began to grab some toast, when a hand got in her way.
"Let me get that for you, Gin." She looked up right into the eyes of Seamus Finnegan, who was currently only inches from her. He smiled and piled her plate up for her, taking the seat behind her and "inconspicuously" putting his arm around her shoulder. She gave him a smile that looked more like grimace, backing away slightly with an incredulous expression on her face. What? Could she not get her own toast? And why was he so close? She started to become uncomfortable with the closeness of their proximity and their low level of friendship and began trying to inch away from him before starting to butter her toast. She looked around, and saw others as well started to edge closer to her.
She saw Colin Creevey sit down opposite her, giving her a timid smile before trying to strike up conversation, which she blatantly ignored. Her and Colin got along well as friends, but nothing more. She was really starting to get irritated by this.
I mean, come on! I've been here all these years and they've never taken the time to even so much as look at me! And now, just because I have robes that actually fit and they can see what I look like, they start to care? They're not interested in me as a person at all! They only like what they see! And who do they think bought these expensive robes for me anyway?
She was just about to get up and tell them to shove off, when she felt a strong pair of hands on her shoulders, keeping her seated. She felt the person slide into the bench beside her, and when she looked over, she saw the ever arrogant Zacharias Smith. Once he was seated beside her, he put an arm around her, hand holding onto her waist and smashing her against him at his side.
Great, I'm being lugged around like some piece of meat from one prick to another.
"Hands off, Finnegan." He said, brushing off Finnegan's arm.
Ginny sat there frozen and tense. She really didn't want to make a scene but he was pushing it. How dare he just presume that he could touch her? Her anger started to build as she felt his hand slide down her waste and rest ever so casually on the round of her arse.
Draco looked over from where he sat at the Slytherin table, sending glares of pure hatred at anyone who had the audacity to look at his woman like that. He was quickly regretting buying her that outfit. She obviously didn't know how good she looked in it!
He also noticed that quite a lot of the testosterone filled dickheads started making their way towards her, moving closer or sitting beside her, looking at her like she was some piece of meat.
He saw that Finnegan kid stop her hand as she reached for food, helping her plate it up. He rolled his eyes in distaste, and huffed when he saw him try to place his arm around her shoulder naturally.
He looked over at Blaise who, he saw, had his eyes narrowed as well and seemed to be eyeing one the guys that had placed himself right beside Ginny. Blaise's eyes widened and he let out and indignant huff, his eyebrows coming together in rage as he stood up from his perch.
Draco followed his gaze, which was still on that one guy sitting beside her. What was his name again? Well it didn't matter anyway, because Draco saw his hand go from squishing her to his side down to her behind.
And that's all that it took to set Draco off.
He saw Blaise already storming over there, but beat him to it. He shoved himself out of the bench, practically snarling, before rushing over there.
She was just about to jump down his throat when she felt another pair of hands on her shoulders.
Oh Lord, when will this end? She looked to the ceiling in exasperation, her temper flaring.
She saw the other pair of hands shove Smith roughly away from her, prying his arm off her waist and his hand off her butt. She heard the deep growl and knew immediately it was Draco, almost smiling in relief.
He yanked her up out of the seat gently, glowering at both men who were sitting by her.
"Keep your filthy hands off of what's mine," He said, practically spitting at them. He dragged her backwards into her chest, putting her arms around her securely. He turned from Smith to Finnegan. "And I do believe she can get her own bloody toast. She has hands, if you haven't noticed. Idiots." He saw Seamus blush slightly and rolled his eyes at him, turning away with Ginny in his arms. Anyone who so much as breathed in his general direction got a hard glare from him as he made his way out of the Great Hall with her and Blaise.
Once they were out of the way from prying eyes she sighed in relief and they stopped in one of the hallways. Blaise leaned back against the wall and Draco had yet to let her go. She breathed in his scent which fogged her mind and slumped back against him. She tilted her head up, trying to see him, and felt his heavy breathing to one side tickle her ear. She leaned her head to the side, and felt his mouth lower onto her neck. She closed her eyes, a smile gracing her lips and she leaned back into his touch.
If anything, Draco seemed to be put into possessive mode, kissing and licking her neck as if to prove that she was really his, whereas Blaise was still furious.
She opened her eyes and looked over to Blaise who had a darkened look about him and was impatiently tapping his foot. It wasn't often that Blaise got mad, but she could tell from his expression he was dying to go back in there and teach them a lesson. She saw him quickly master his emotions so well like he always did. What she would give for a trade like that.
He looked up and met her eyes, scowling ever so much before taking a quick step towards her and yanking her robes closed over her chest, using magic to keep in there, covering her completely. She rolled her eyes but made no move to undo it.
She looked around as she heard the many footsteps of the students making their way to class. Well, it was time for her to be getting to class with them anyway. First period was Advance Defense Against the Dark Arts. She wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Its not that she wasn't really good at it, its just that it was quite boring. They had this new teacher, Mrs. Harper, who didn't hardly do anything with them. They read a whole lot and once in a while they'd try out an incantation or two, but for the most part it just put her to sleep.
They stepped into the room, which was still almost barren of students, and sat down at one of the tables, Draco and Blaise pulling Ginny in-between them both, wrapping their arms around her.
They sat silently as the room began to fill, people staring at them and whispering behind their hands about it. She knew that by lunch it would have spread through every house, and to every person in the castle. But, she found that she didn't really mind. Sure the whispering and pointing got a bit annoying, but she was kind of happy it was out. No more having to meet in secret or eat in the kitchens where no one would gawk. She was rather relieved all in all.
"Attention class!" The students fell silent as the middle aged witch addressed the class, her bright shock of white blond hair held back in a ponytail. "Turn in your textbooks to chapter seven. Today we will be covering the ancient methods of the Dueling Tournaments. I want you to read all of the chapter, and when everyone is done reading I will break you all into pairs and we will begin our own tournament." She turned away from the class, shoving her glasses high on her pointy nose and sat in her seat, observing the class as they did as they were told.
Ginny opened her text to the correct chapter and began to read. It was actually pretty interesting. Apparently back in ancient times, wizards would have Dueling Tournaments, in which several pairs of wizards and witches competed against each other. The winner of each duel got paired up with another winner, and so on until they had reached the final pair. There were no rules, and often wizards and witches used dark magic against their opponents. Ginny interpreted it as just a vulgar way of showing off ones power, as the final winner never won anything or received anything for their efforts.
So it was banned from the wizarding world only a few years after they began. Many people who participated in it died and it was outlawed as a danger to society.
So why were they doing it today?
Ginny had finished reading and observed the others who were done as well. They were all looking at each other in dismay, obviously thinking the same thing as she was. Is this woman mental?
Well, Ginny wouldn't exactly deny it. The woman vaguely reminded her of Professor Trelawney, except for the fact that she didn't interrupt her lessons by blurting out peoples deaths.
Once they were all done reading, Professor Harper stood, a smile firmly on her face.
"There is no need to worry yourselves, class. Today we will be doing a modern version of it. No dark magic. We will try to keep the injuries to a minimal level, but for the most part, if its not dark, there aren't any restrictions. And for the winner, they will receive an Outstanding and fifty points to their house for today."
She walked over to the door and opened it, glancing back over her shoulder when no one moved. "Well come on! You actually think we're going to do it the classroom?" She scoffed and moved on without waiting.
Everyone stood, looking at each other dubiously before grabbing their things and following the woman out onto the grounds, and in front of the lake.
"I'll call out the pairs, and we will begin." Her shrill, slightly hyper tone began to read out the many pairs, and when that was done they all spread out took their stances, the tournament commencing.
Ginny was first paired with Millicent Bulstrode, who was very keen on attacking first. Ginny put up her shield, blocking any attempts of spells that Millicent sent her way. For the first part of the duel, Ginny was very much on the defensive side, blocking and sidestepping curse after curse, not really having any time to cast her own. But after a few minutes she saw the Slytherin girl beginning to tire as she slowed down on her constant assault.
Ginny finally struck when she saw the girls weakness. Millicent tried to sidestep in her dueling stance, and winced when her leg gave out. Ginny guessed that her right leg wasn't so strong, and sent a Jelly Legs Jinx at her. Her legs wobbled and gave out, and she fell right on her face. She growled and gave the counter curse, trying to get shakily to her feet. Bloody Slytherins. Too much pride to give up that easily.
Ginny easily dashed out of the way of her Stupefy spell, rolling on the ground and sending her own spell at the girl.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
She watched Millicent try and throw up her shield, but was too slow and it hit her dead on in the chest, freezing her and sending her sprawling backwards.
Ginny smirked to herself, having defeated her opponent, and took the opportunity to look around at the battling students. No one was done except herself, having been the first to finish. Draco was battling off Crabbe with graceful skill and ease, looking slightly bored and not at all challenged as he blocked off every one of the bigger mans spells. Blaise was dueling with Lavender, and looked to be taking it easy on her. Seamus and Dean were going at it ardently, both giving their all, and seemed to be an equal match to each other as neither one of them had the upper hand at the moment. Pansy and Parvati were battling dangerously close to the edge of the lake, and Pansy seemed to have the upper hand on Parvati, as Parvati was already struggling to remain standing.
And the last couple was Goyle and Theodore Nott. To say the least, Nott was putting Goyle to disgrace. His easy grace slightly mocked the clumsy oaf, and his fast reflexes amazed her. He sidestepped a terrible excuse for a spell and hardly blinked as he sent a perfect Stupefy his way in one fluid motion.
Ginny watched the dueling continue with interest. Never before had she taken the time to actually examine a duel, but now her interest was captured. She was enraptured as she watched the people dodge and cast spells, using up all their energy and using all their strength not to be bested.
She watched as Pansy had Parvati disarmed, almost pushing Parvati into the lake. They were the third pair done dueling, and all the others were coming to an end as well. Blaise had set a body bind hex at Lavender, not trying to hurt her too much, and went over to her, grabbing her wand. Seeing as though there was nothing else she could do, she had to succumb to Blaise. Nott was collecting Goyle's wand, doing nothing to help him, and Crabbe seemed to be egging Draco on. She watched as Draco and Crabbe came into range of each other. Draco surprised everyone by dropped his wand and decking Crabbe in the face, making the much larger Slytherin crumble to the ground.
Well they never said anything about that in the rules.
The only battle that was still going was Dean and Seamus. They were no closer to being finished then when they had begun. Neither one looked scathed, just tired and exhausting from this never ending fight. They were both beginning to sweat, even with the cool breeze rolling across the lake. Seamus sent a quick Silencing Charm to Dean, who wasn't quick enough to dodge it. That meant an automatic win to Seamus since Dean could no longer speak to cast a spell.
Mrs. Harper gathered the winners from the first round and paired them up with another winner. Most of the losers sat themselves on the ground, staying to watch, and only Parvati left to wander around until her next class.
Round two Ginny got paired with Blaise. She was excited and hoping for a good fight from him, knowing full well that he could put up a fight with ease. She glanced over to see Draco bow to Seamus, and Theo to Pansy.
Ginny nodded to Blaise with a little smile on her face, turned her back on him and walked a few paces away, turning around and bowing to her partner as he bowed back. Ginny was hardly out of her bow before she sent a quick stunning spell at him, which he easily deflected with a flick from his wand.
All Ginny's excitement at this duel with Blaise went downhill. He just stood there the whole time, not uttering a single curse in her direction. He looked uneasily at Mrs. Harper, who stood there watching him expectantly, waiting for him to make a move as everyone else was well into their battle. He sent a pathetic looking spell at her, which was wispy and hardly even a hex at all, and which dragged along at her at a slow pace. She rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance.
"Come on, Blaise! What's wrong with you?!" She was expecting some great show down and all he gave her was this?
She sent a fast spell at him, which he easily sidestepped, still looking between Mrs. Harper and herself. She could tell he didn't want to fight her. But why? She just couldn't think of why he wouldn't fight her when he had all that talent! It's not as if he's going to hurt me!
That's when it finally dawned on her that that was the problem. Does he honestly think he's going to hurt me? I mean, sure he's good, but that's just insulting! On one side she was giddy at the thought and thought it was adorable and sweet that he cared for her that much, but at the same time she was pissed. Did he really think her that weak? Did he really think that she couldn't hold her own? Its not as if this were some life-threatening, even remotely serious duel!
Her cheeks flamed as she thought of what a wimp he must think she was.
I'll show him! She wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily! She was going to show that she was strong enough to beat him!
She abruptly held her head high, straightening up to her full height and he quickly realized she was well beyond angry. Before he could even mutter, "Oh crap," she had spell after spell fired at him. She was using any spells that she could think of and sent them his way one right after the other, giving him no time to block himself or dodge all of them. He managed to escape a few of them, but then was hit dead on with one of her infamous Bat Bogey Hex's. He screamed and dropped his wand, which she quickly Accioed to her. She watched in amusement as he ran around screaming and flailing his arms. Never in a million years would she expect to see this suave man to loose control.
She saw the professor beckoning her to her, as the other battles were already concluded. She cast the counter curse at Blaise who immediately stopped, glaring at her, and made her way over to the teacher.
It was time for the final round, but there were only three contestants left. The fact that their had been six pairs of students originally, which left three on the last round, meant that there were three finalist. Draco, Theodore Nott, and herself.
"Ms. Weasely, you will be paired with Mr. Malfoy first, and the winner of that round will face off against Mr. Nott here."
Ginny nodded and took her stance opposite Draco. Whereas she thought this would be a difficult match, it proved very simple. It seemed Draco was thinking along the same line as Blaise was, and refused to cast anything at all in her direction. She wanted to ball up her hands and stomp on the ground. Good Lord! Why had she chosen two possessive gits?
He blocked every attempt she made to hex him, sidestepping, dodging and reflecting anything that came remotely close to him. She didn't understand why though. If he wouldn't get hit by one of her spells, and was unwilling to send any, this fight would go on forever! She was getting very exasperated with all this crap. They needed to stop acting as if she would break. She was just as smart and talented and fast as them, and they weren't giving her any opportunity to prove herself.
Ginny sent a hex, "accidentally" around Draco and missed him, which hit a nearby tree and bounced back off it, straight into Draco's back.
Ginny smiled at her own tact, glowing with pride and wanting to rub it all in the boys face, but decided that could wait until later.
It was now just between her and Nott, whom she hoped wouldn't go easy on her either. She was getting tired of all of it. They took their positions by the lake.
Nott proved to be a definite challenge. As they were bowing, he began to shoot curse after curse at her, not waiting for her to get out of her bow. She had no time to react and one of the curses hit her dead on, sending her flying back into the water.
She sloshed around in the water, trying to getting her bearings and sputtering as the water drenched through her clothes, but she didn't give up. She still had her wand in her hand, and even in the water she sent an Expelliarmus at him, which he deflected. She saw power radiating about him. He was fast. She'd give him that. And he had power in his spells. But she still wouldn't back down.
She tried to slowly inch her way towards the shore, sending curses at him all the while. One of hers just barely grazed past his head, and she saw his eyes narrow in fury.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" He screamed it, thrusting his wand at her. She felt herself fly through the air, shivering as the wind ripped through her soaking robes. He thrust his wand to the shore, and the thought of landing on ground made her happy, but instead he veered his wand and slammed her against a nearby tree.
Her head cracked against the tree, sending her mind reeling and she had to blink several times and shake her head to rid herself of the fogginess. Ginny now had a terrible headache that radiated throughout her head, clouding her thoughts. She blinked and looked up and saw him approaching, keeping her pinned against the tree with his wand. She struggled to raise her wand, but he had her arms pinned at her sides.
He had an insufferably evil smirk as he sauntered up to her. She looked around him and saw Draco visibly enraged and an ever (forcibly) collected Blaise restraining him from storming over to Theo and pounding the shit out of him.
He had just reached the tree and she glared hatred at him. He placed one had on the trunk of the tree on one side of her head, leaning against it and bringing his wand hand up. He brought his wand up to her neck, caressing it. He leaned forward to her ear, flicking his tongue over the lobe. She shivered from disgust and tried to pull away. He slipped his wand over her neck to her pressure point, slightly digging into the skin and applying pressure. She winced in pain.
"You can just give up now, Weasley, and I'll think about going easy on you." He said in a too-sweet voice, punctuating it with a sharp jab at her neck.
"Fuck you, Nott!" She snarled at him, twisting her neck away from him. He just smirked arrogantly and pulled away from her ear, looking down at her face and his eyes focusing on her lips. He moved his wand from her neck to her lips, running his wand over her bottom one.
"Do you kiss your mum with that mouth, pretty little Weaselette?" He questioned. Ginny growled at him and spat in his face.
His face contorted in rage and a snarl erupted from his throat as he reached for her neck with his own hands.
Ginny was afraid she'd gone too far this time as his hands descended on her neck. She started to panic and before he could squeeze her throat, a blast forced itself out of her and sent him flying twenty feet back, sprawled on the ground, unconscious.
She felt the magical bonds holding her to the tree release, and she shakily got to her feet, using a drying spell to dry her robes. She walked over to Professor Harper, rubbing the back of her head with one hand, which when she pulled it away was covered in blood.
"Uhm…so I guess I won?" She gave a nervous smile, her face going pale. Right now all she cared about was winning. The teacher was looking dumbly at her and to Nott who was still knocked out on the grass. The teacher just deftly nodded her head, turning towards Nott and back again.
"How did you do that?" She asked in awe. Never before had she seen something like that. She hadn't been in this field long, but she had never encountered such power. Ginny shifted from foot to foot nervously and shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know, it just happened. Why didn't you try to stop him anyway?"
"I said in the rules no dark magic, and he didn't. I didn't have any reason to stop him in this duel. He was winning, and probably would have if you hadn't…," She stopped. She didn't even know the proper term for what Ginny did to Theo. She just shook her head and sighed. "Fifty points to Gryffindor and an Outstanding for the day. Get yourself to the Infirmary." And with that she stepped past Ginny and over to Nott, levitating him behind her to the Hospital Wing. As she passed with him, Ginny noticed the burnt edges of his clothing and the singed ends of his hair.
She put her hand back to her head and winced as the pain shot through her. She felt rather than saw Blaise walk up to her from behind, hold her head steady and heal it. He used a scourgify to clear the blood from her hair.
Ginny turned around when she felt him pull away, and saw Draco and Blaise who were watching her with surprised expressions on their faces, their eyes wide. She sighed and rolled her eyes, walking by them and back up to the castle. She didn't know what she had done to Nott, and didn't feel like trying to explain something like that. She slowed when she heard their footfalls getting closer to her, letting them catch up, their momentary lapse of speech obviously forgotten. They didn't seem to want to talk about what she did anyway.
"Now that was hot!" Blaise put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her to him. She looked at Draco who was still fuming and muttering under his breath something about, "that ass," and "Oh, he's going to get it." Ginny rolled her eyes at him, and suddenly remembered something. She wriggled out of Blaise's grasp, standing in front of them with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.
"And what was that about anyway? Why wouldn't you fight me?" She saw Blaise sigh as he leaned forward, grabbing her and turning her around so he could pull her back into him. He stroked his hands down her arms, kissing at her neck, but she didn't fall for it. She knew he was just trying to distract her.
"Oh come on, Red. We just didn't want to hurt our favorite Weasel." Her eyes narrowed and she pulled out of his grasp.
"Hurt me? Hurt me? Please, you should be happy you didn't actually try. If you had gotten me all riled up, you might've ended up like Nott over there." She started to walk away but Blaise grabbed her again, pulling her back to him so she was facing his chest.
"Aww, we promise to make it up to you, love," He said in a suggestive voice, nipping lightly at her ear and making a shiver go down her spine as Draco came up behind her and pressed himself flush against her. He nuzzled his face into her hair.
She harrumphed, knowing she would give in.
Gits.
--
After their Advance D.A.D.A class, they had headed to the library for her tutoring lessons. She had actually been getting better with all their help, and her grades were slowly rising. She was able to do the potions she had struggled with before with ease, and her stress was gradually melting away. She had two great tutors, who went over her problems over and over again, and it was thanks to them that she had been making progress.
She also used the time while she was there to look up what had happened to Nott. It was hard to explain, but the blast had just erupted from nowhere, using up some of her strength. She didn't know what she'd call it, but she kept looking until she found it.
She found it in a book called "Mysterious Mishaps." It said that when a particular person gifted in the strength of magic struggled or panicked, an explosion of the raw essence of their power was concentrated on attacking or destroying the one thing that had unsettled its owner.
Ginny had been surprised at that, but knew that was what had happened. She had definitely panicked, and the power that was emanated from her was enough to completely wipe Nott out.
She was a bit uncertain about that power, but begrudgingly accepted. Hell, if she hadn't had the capability to do that, she didn't know what Nott would've done to her!
She told Blaise and Draco what she had read, but they hadn't really talked it over, for which she was glad. She didn't know what to say anyway. So they had sat in companionable silence for a while, before heading back.
They were now in Blaise's head boy rooms, using the time to study and get their homework done. The work had been piling up and everyone in seventh year had been scrambling to get it all done. They usually worked quite well together, often testing one another on the subject, reading out loud to each other, or just completely ignoring each other and doing their own thing.
Ginny had taken up residence on the bed, having her things sprawled out all around her and using a large sturdy book to write on. She was supposed to be writing a two foot essay on the effects and consequences of too much intake of a substance for potions. I mean, how much can your write on that? She thought it was a dumb topic to be writing a two foot essay on, but at least it was easy. She almost finished with it, being halfway through the second foot of parchment, but she was stuck on what else to say. She had presented all the basics and important facts, elaborating and detailing everything to help take up more room, but she still had a half foot left and she had currently run out of words.
She let out a groan and flopped onto her back, staring at the ceiling with tired eyes.
"Break time!" She called out, startling the two boys who were also silently indulged in their work. Draco was seated at the window seat and put down his quill and stood up.
Blaise let out a huge yawn, covering his eyes with his hand and rubbing at them tiredly. He got up from his desk by the fireplace, and looked at his clock, sighing.
"Looks like you two are staying here for tonight. It's already passed curfew. Studied too long."
Ginny shoved all her papers off the bed, scattering them to the floor and making room for the two boys who came over to her.
"Good, I'm tired anyway. I'd rather fail that complete that essay right now. Why do we always get the boring stuff?" She flopped back and closed her eyes. She felt the bed dip on either side of her, and smiled contentedly as she felt two warm bodies encircling her.
She still couldn't believe how lucky she was to be with these two. It seemed to good, and felt as if it were some dream. She still thought about it time to time, wondering how they came to be. I mean, one day they're enemies, and the next they're all buddy buddy? She thought at first it must've been some sort of joke or trap, but she could see the sincerity in their eyes and the way they looked at her.
She didn't believe they loved her anything like that, but it was obvious that they cared for her. She just couldn't figure out why. She kept waiting for some sort of clue or hint as to why they had chosen her, but nothing had come up yet, and she wasn't willing to ask.
Then again, there were a lot of things she wasn't willing to ask. They still had their distances from each other. They weren't completely close, and they kept their guard up most of the time. She thought of it as a hassle to get closer to each other, but she could understand why. These two seemed so…deep. They were filled with mystery and she didn't think she could ever get to the bottom of them. She could live with them having secrets, keeping to themselves and not telling her everything, as long as they didn't lie to her, or as long as it wasn't some sort of offence against her.
She absent mindedly began fondling the locket at her throat, something she did whenever she was deep in thought. It was more of a habit than anything.
"What's this, little Red?" She opened her eyes and saw Blaise leaning over her as he took her locket from her hand into his.
She blushed a little. "Just a locket."
"No, Really? I would've never guessed." He rolled his eyes and a light smile graced his lips. "It seems important. You're always touching it. Was it from your mum or something?"
She felt her face go red and looked sheepishly at Blaise as he rose a perfect eyebrow.
"Uhm…not exactly."
Draco became interested as well and took it from Blaise. "Ever heard of opening it?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Ginny grabbed at his hand and tried to stop him from opening it, but Blaise held her back with a curious expression.
She swore she was going to die.
Inside the heart-shaped locket was a miniature picture of Harry and herself, deep in a snogging session. Draco's eyebrows rose incredibly far, before he narrowed his eyes in anger, whereas Blaise just started laughing.
"What're you laughing at?" Draco all but yelled at the other boy.
"I just love seeing your expression." He started laughing again.
"What's so funny about my expression? And why are you taking this considerably well?"
"Well, we all know Red and Scar Head had their "thing" the other year, but it's obvious that she doesn't like him anymore. And it's hilarious that you got so mad over something so petty. And," he held up the locket in front of Draco's face, infuriating him even more, "he cant even kiss right."
When Draco looked closer at the picture, he knew Blaise was right. Potter really had no technique. He was still mad though. Even if she didn't care about Potter anymore, then why was she still wearing it? And that's exactly what he asked.
"I dunno, Draco, I've had it forever. I just never thought about taking it off before," She said innocently.
"I don't see why you'd mind. She's with us now." Blaise slipped an arm around Ginny's side and smiled his arrogant smile.
"Of course I would mind! She's my girlfriend!" He replied in a haughty tone.
"Well she's my girlfriend too and you don't see me getting all worked up about it!"
Draco scoffed. "Please, I'm more of her boyfriend than you are anyway."
Ginny could tell Blaise put up his defense mode. "How do you figure?"
"Well I'm with her more than you. And we get along better. We talk more." Ginny was surprised that they were getting this way over her. It was actually quite amusing.
"Oh is that right?" Asked Blaise who cocked his head to the side.
"Yea, that is right."
Blaise eyes narrowed at Draco and, faster than she could react, he had Ginny pinned beneath him. She looked up at Blaise before he lowered his mouth onto hers. She let him guide her. Let him access her mouth with his tongue. She felt him move to her neck and moaned in surprise as he nibbled there. She felt his hands exploring the contours of her body, and she wrapped her arms around him. She felt him lower himself so his face was at her stomach, and she felt her shirt rise up. She felt him kissing and licking her stomach, and right when he was about to go lower, Draco shoved Blaise off of her and took his place. She saw a glint in Draco's eyes that told her that he was finding this amusing.
She felt Draco's hands over her breasts through her shirt, but before he could do anything, Blaise tackled Draco off of her and onto the bed playfully. He pinned Draco's arms on either side of him, not giving him any room to move. He leaned down over the blond boys form and brought his lips close to his without touching them in a teasing way.
Blaise licked his lips, letting his tongue "accidentally" touch Draco's lips as well. Draco whimpered and tried to close the distance between them, but Blaise pulled away, tsking.
"Maybe you shouldn't have been so naughty." He said, his voice husky.
Draco tried to reach up again, just falling short of the others lips, pouting.
"I'm sorry." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Blaise's lips came crashing down on his in intense passion.
She watched as they snogged each other senseless, and rolled her eyes. For such masculine men, they really were quite sappy. She smiled and sighed, getting up from the bed and walking over to Blaise's wardrobe. She pulled out one of his large shirts and put it on. She took off her pants so she was in the shirt and her underwear before walking back over to the two.
She climbed into the bed, tapping the two boys as she got under the covers.
"I'd actually like to be able to sleep tonight, so keep it down."
Blaise sighed into Draco's mouth before pulling away and stripping off his shirt and pants. He helped Draco up and he did the same. Blaise walked around to Ginny's other side and they both got into bed on either side of her, the lights automatically dimming for them. Draco snuggled up to Ginny's back, and Ginny to Blaise's. And in minutes, all three of them were like that, pleasantly asleep.
Ginny awoke to the feeling of something on her back. She groaned and squinted at the brightness of the sunshine filtering through the large window. She sighed tried to get her bearings. She felt something rubbing her back, and groggily looked around. She was sprawled across both Draco and Blaise, laying horizontally, and Blaise was resting with his eyes closed, his hand stroking up and down her back, a slight smile played on his lips.
She wriggled around on top of them for a second before taking a minute to stretch out their muscles. Her movements Draco up and he groaned, covering his face with his arm.
"Too bloody early," She heard him mutter from under his arm. Apparently he wasn't much of a morning person either.
She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes and stood, wobbling for a second before getting her balance. She made her way towards the bathroom, almost running face first into the wall several times before she actually made it through the door.
"Shower," She said out loud to them in explanation, and heard them grunt in response.
She was in the shower for a good half hour, luxuriously just standing there and relaxing her muscles before scrubbing herself clean. She almost feel asleep standing up a few times, and decided she should get out the shower before she hurt herself.
She wrapped a towel around her went body before stepping through the door and into the bedroom which, she noticed, was completely empty.
Must've gone down to breakfast.
She sighed and let her towel drop to the floor. She was just walking over to pick up her uniform that she had worn the other night when the door opened.
She immediately went red with embarrassment as Draco and Blaise walked in on her, quite nude. Blaise was holding a tray full of breakfast, and when he looked up to see why Draco had stopped, his eyes and mouth went wide, and he very nearly dropped the tray.
Ginny stammered and tried to cover herself with her hands, while the boys just stood there gawking. She gave them a pathetic attempt of a scowl before trying to cover herself up as much as possible before walking over to retrieve her clothing.
That's when they seemed to spring into action. Before she could put anything on, Draco was to her in less than three strides, pinning her to the wall. His lips went everywhere, kissing her lips, throat, down to her collarbone and over to her breasts. He licked and nibbled and caressed. She could practically hear her heart pounding in her chest as she kissed him back and racked her hand down him back. He slid her legs apart and lifted he knee in between them. He rubbed his knee back and forth over the place she needed him most. She moaned and bit her lip to stifle it.
Blaise came over and Draco handed her over to him for him to continue. Blaise placed Ginny on the bed, feeling her all over while Draco took off his shirt. She glanced over at Draco and her eyes widened and narrowed at the same time at what she saw.
"Draco what's that?" All feeling of passion and heat fled her in a second, and a feeling of fear and panic, the sound of her pounding heart raised up, practically choking her.
There, on Draco's left forearm, was the burnt black, disgustingly familiar brand of the Dark Lord.
--
Sorry it took so long to update!! Busy first week of ninth grade haha nerve wracking :) But now things should slow down a bit, and Ill hopefully be posting a little faster. And you know the drill. Want me to update faster? REVIEW :)