Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I wish I did, but alas, I don't. I don't make money off of any of this, I wish I did, and then I could get my DVD player fixed. I don't own Kari, I just bother her all the time, and she tortures me by texting me that she's eating nacho's. There is a mutilated Buffy quote; see if you can spot it, if you can you'll get a gold star! I don't own Buffy either. There is also a Vampire Chronicles reference in here, two gold stars if you catch that one. Anne Rice owns that though.
A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, I just kept writing and writing and writing, and it seemed like there was no end in sight, but there was an end, I just had to get myself there, and I had to get to that end with a bunch of Slytherin boosting. Go Snakes! Ooo…also, I have read many a fanfic with Ginny's nickname as Kitten and I think it's incredibly cute, because I have a cat fixation. I can be seen everywhere with cat ears on. If anyone wonders how to say Ffyddiog, it's actually a Welsh word meaning "to have faith in" and it's pronounce "Fithiog" the "dd" is pronounced at "th" in Welsh. Ummm…this is also a bit PG-13 just have to warn you, its nothing bad, just some fondling and forced kisses.
Chapter 3
The Kitten and the Snake
Like Harry, I had been forced to take Occulmency lessons from Snape, but during my second year not fifth. Unlike Harry, there are only three people who know; Dumbledore, Snape and myself. Dumbledore had caught me one night in the Room of Requirement crying my eyes out. I told him that Tom still haunts me in my dreams and he offered me some solace in Occulemency. Professor Snape began to teach me shortly after that. His disgust with all things Gryffindor still permeated the lessons, but his hatred for me didn't run as deep as his hatred for Harry. Snape actually saw an adept student in me. He could sense Tom's soul and memories mingled with my own and saw great potential in me. He began to take me on more as an apprentice than just as a student. He began, not only to teach me Occlumency, but Leglimency, advance potion making, hexes, and duelling. Snape played off of Tom's strengths, none of which involved defence against the Dark Arts. There were times, down in that dank dungeon classroom where Snape delved too deep into his knowledge and started to edge into the Dark Arts. My confused soul screamed and yearned for the loosely familiar knowledge. Unbeknownst to any Gryffindor, Snape is my favourite professor at Hogwarts.
So, I spent most of my school years learning from Snape and studying with Colin. I felt like a double agent, idolizing a Slytherin and just being a Gryffindor, which means hating all things Slytherin. This is the only time I have ever said this aloud, but the Sorting Hat almost put me into Slytherin, but then it recognized that I was a Weasley and told me to 'move my freckled ass to Gryffindor.' When you think about it, I suppose that I would make a decent Slytherin; I can get away with just about anything, I used whatever means to get my way, I'm spoiled, and I'm pureblood.
But anyways, getting back to my situation, I walked into potions and was caught completely off guard by Snape's attack. The bastard attacked me as I walked into the classroom. I spent the entire class fighting him off with my mind while trying to brew my potion and not let on to the other students in the room. At the end of the double class, I dragged along and was left alone in the room with my secret mentor from the last three years of my life. "Miss Weasley," he hissed as he straightened the parchments on his desk, not looking up, "I would have expected better from you. You need to be prepared for anything. At present time you are in a war."
I scowled at the top of his head, which was all I could see. "I've heard this routine too many times, Professor."
He snapped, 'Miss Weasley! I should hope that you would understand what it is we are up against. This is a time of war and people are in two categories when it comes to the Dark Lord; those who are with him and those he must destroy." His eyes would have been shooting flames at me, if he had such a power.
I've known this man too long to be frightened by him, "Oh, and I suppose I should just give up on everything and prepare for the war, and I'm a fifteen year old witch. I'm not going to make a difference in this war! I'm going to live my life!" I glared back at him.
"You need to be prepared or you will die! If you can't protect those who are close to you, you might as well have killed them yourself! Every living body counts in this war, even children will die! Cedric was only 17, might I remind you!"
"Well, if the apocalypse comes, owl me!" I grabbed my things and stormed out of the dungeon. I had barely made it out the door when I collapsed and fell unconscious.
I awoke to find Malfoy's groupies, Crabbe and Goyle, groping and fumbling around to undress me. I slapped them both across the face and struggled to get up. They pinned me to the ground and one of them started to kiss me. I gave him a quick knee to the groin and pushed him off, then tried to kick the other which he blocked, but I poked him in the eye. I fumbled to stand up and put them both in full body binds. I kicked them both in the ribs then stomped off to the tower, where I started to write this. I need a shower!"
~*~
Forty-five minutes later, a very wet Ginny Weasley fumbled out of the shower. She wrapped herself in her forest green bath robe and plodded back to her dorm. She pulled on some familiar pyjama pants with snitches, brooms and other quidditch equipment on it, and an old faded small Chudley Canons T-shirt. She checked the clock and it was almost six in the evening and she stumbled to the common room with at book and a bottle of black nail polish.
Ginny found a lot of muggle comforts over the summer; some were jewellery and make up. During one of the regular outings, she had gotten her belly button pierced, which anyone had yet to discover, except for maybe Snape from his earlier attack. She was currently sporting a red flower in a gold setting.
Ginny sat on the couch in front of the fire in the empty common room, everyone else being at dinner. She curled up and started to paint her toenails and read a novel. She had watched a couple of movies based on the works of this author and decided to pick up some of his books. While reading "Christine" and "Thinner" she figured that Stephen King must know something of the magical world, and if he didn't, it gave her some awful sinister ideas. But currently she was involved with "Eyes of the Dragon" which she had read once before and fell in love with. She applied some more paint on her fingers and toes and continued to read until she fell asleep.
She woke up about quarter to nine, sweating, her body tingling all over. She looked around the common room to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting at their regular table. Harry was grimacing and rubbing his forehead. Shivering as her bare feet touched the cold stone floor. She ran to grab her trainers and cloak and left to walk around the grounds.
She picked a spot not really near anything and lay down to watch the stars. She had closed her eyes for a couple of minutes to take in the smells and sounds of the crisp autumn night.
"Little Weasels shouldn't be out this late at night. I should take points." A voiced drawled from above her.
She kept her eyes closed, as it was obvious who it was, Draco "Bloody" Malfoy. "Ferrets shouldn't be either." She gave a theatrical sigh, "But alas, I'm a fifth year and I can be out this late, and I'm also a prefect, and we can't take points." She cracked an eye open to look at him. "Kinda ruins your fun, don't it?"
The Slytherin was hanging a couple of feet above her, lying lazily on his broom. He raised an eyebrow as he looked her over. "Depends on what you consider my kind of 'fun,'" He growled.
"Well, I don't see any kittens or first years to torture, so I think you're out of luck."
"Touché, little weasel, seems like you actually have a backbone."
She looked up in his pale eyes, "I've always had a backbone, and I just sharpen my claws when it comes to Slytherins. I'm not afraid of you." Ginny closed her eyes and crossed her arms behind her head, as she smirked.
"Ah," he sighed, "even kittens with sharp claws should be scared of snakes." She heard him finally fly off. She opened an eye to watch Malfoy leave, satisfied that she could finally stand up to him.
The week passed uneventfully and the first Hogsmeade weekend was soon upon the students of Hogwarts. Ginny met William in the entrance hall and passed Filch's sneer (mostly at Ginny). The black Hogwart's cloaks swarmed over the village like ants at a picnic. Ginny insisted on stopping into Zonko's, where she lightened her pockets by slipping 'Weasley Wizard Weezes' flyers into the customers' pockets. Stepping back out of the crowded shop, William asked Ginny, "What was the objective of that?"
She shrugged, "Nothing like some healthy competition, especially when it keeps me supplied with spending money." He laughed and grabbed her hand leading her off to Honeyduke's.
Ginny giggled upon entering the shop. Leaning on the counter was Remus Lupin, chatting with the pretty counter girl, Kari. Ginny smiled as she saw the girl giggle and blush. Ginny started to walk to the counter only to be pulled back by William. She rolled her eyes at him, "Oh come on! He's not going to bite." She smirked as she dragged him to the counter.
Lupin and Kari laughed as Ginny and William reached the counter. "Well, good morning Miss Virginia." Lupin put on his most charming smile and pulled her empty hand up, brushing a kiss along her knuckles. William gently squeezed her other hand. Remus must have noticed him tensing as he dropped her hand and turned his attention to him. "Mister Ffyddiog." He said with a nod. Ginny gathered that it must have been mid-cycle for him because he looked good. His greying light brown hair was brushed back in a soft wave and the dark circles under his eyes were less noticeable.
Ginny played up to him and gave him a curtsey, "Professor Lupin, how nice it is to see you on this beautiful morn."
It was nice to see his face light up with laughter, she noted. Once his chuckling subsided, he gave her a serious look, "Ginny, I'm not a teacher any more, you don't have to refer to me as 'professor.' You can call me Lupin or even Remus." He gave a gentle smile. He motioned to Kari with his head. "Now if you kids would be so kind as to give Miss Honeyduke a personal reference for me, I would be forever grateful. You see she has some hesitations about letting me take her to lunch." He turned his attention to the blushing girl as she rung up a sale for a third year Hufflepuff.
William muttered under his breath, "I'd have some hesitations too, she might be lunch." Ginny elbowed him in the ribs as she saw Remus's smile fade.
Once Kari returned from her duties, Ginny beamed at her, "I can personally attest for Remus. He's a close personal friend of my family and I think of him as an extra uncle." Remus gave a shocked smile to her, and she grinned back, "He was an excellent Defense against the Dark Arts teacher a couple of years back, one of the best Hogwart's has seen for a while. So in conclusion," She cleared her throat," Mr. Remus Lupin is a caring, loving man who is good with kids and can protect you from any big bads. He also is very well read and can carry a good dinner conversation." She nodded in ending.
A slight blush crept along Lupin's pale face and Kari smiled, "Well, with a reference like that, how can I refuse." She looked at Remus.
"Wonderful!" Remus went back to lightly chatting with the brunette girl.
William shook their joined hands and mouthed to "Let's go" to Ginny. She followed his lead out of the store. He brought her to an alleyway around the side of the store, "Ginny, Lupin's a werewolf."
Unblinkingly she looked at him, "Yes I know, but he's also a human. The fact that he's a werewolf is inconsequential. Would you like to be treated a dirty, hated animal if you were bitten?"
He looked at her like she grew an extra head. "Ginny, he's dangerous," he sighed, exasperated.
Her face turned dark for a moment, "So am I." She said coldly.
He shivered, "That's different, and he's a monster. Once a month he turns into a killing machine."
She stuck a finger on his chest and started pushing him back with it, "look, that man is as good as family to me. Dumbledore trusts him, so do a lot of people. If you can't see past an out dated stereotype then you can go jump off the astrology tower." She had pushed him to the opposite wall. With one last poke in the chest, she turned heel and stormed out of the alley.
She stormed to the wooded area at the edge of the village and sat down at the base of a tree, fuming. "Kitten's been fighting, has she?"
"Bugger off Malfoy." She looked around for him, finding him sitting on a tree branch above her, smoking a muggle cigarette. "Wouldn't your father be mad about you using such a muggle convenience?" She sneered.
He inhaled, "It's my little rebellion." He smirked, "So Kitten is associating with wolves is she?"
"Spare me your pet names, please." She glared back out at the town.
"Everyone has to have a nickname in life." He started to count on his fingers, "There's 'Scarhead, the boy wonder, who was too stupid to die,' 'Mudblood, the annoying bushy haired sidekick' and 'King Weasel, the poor red-haired tag along git.' So, you should be honored to have a pleasant nickname such as 'Kitten'. "
She scoffed, "So in that case," She stood up and made some ceremonial hand gestures, "you shall forever be known as 'the pasty, rat faced amazing bouncing ferret, which can be shortened to 'asshole' or 'prick'. " She gave him a Cheshire cat grin.
"Such language little Kitten," He took a drag and shrugged, "but I've had better." He leapt down from the tree and stalked around her, "Hmmm….let's see." He thought, "There is the obvious evil git, mini Death Eater, smirking bastard, the Ice Prince, the Prince of Slytherin, some weird mudblood calls me the Brat Prince, some fanatic girls call me the Slytherin sex god." She scoffed and he ignored it, "My favorite one passes every first years lips, 'the most noble and pureblooded Master Draco Malfoy'." He took a last drag from his black cigarette, and then tossed it on the ground, crushing it out with his heel. He looked up at her through the soft downy hair that fell in his face.
She scoffed, "I figured you Slytherins had some sort of hazing down in those dungeons." She glared at him, "Do you wake them in the middle of the night by pouring cold water on them? Do you steal their sweets from their mummy? Do you steal their Christmas presents?" She spat, venom dripping from her harsh words.
He looked as serious as she had ever seen him look, "Number one; we don't steal them, they are to offer them to us. Number two; in order to wake them in the middle of the night requires us to disturb our sleep and wake them, and its' just not worth it." He rolled his eyes.
"You torture them other ways." She declared harshly, crossing her arms in front of her.
"As much as you like to think of all Slytherins as the bastard children of Satan, there is no torture whatsoever. Slytherins believe in order. There is a hierarchy of respect down in those dungeons." He loomed closer to her as she backed up, "The happy frolicking dirt children of other houses wouldn't get that. It's brutal down there; kill or be killed, you're either in the good or you're left behind." He stalked toward her further. She gasped when her back hit a tree, and he slammed his hands on either side of her head. "It's cold, it's heartless, but it never lies to you. It teaches you just how the world works. It isn't just about skill, talent, or doing the right thing, it's about connections, money, reputation and doing what it takes."
Not taking her eyes off his, Ginny whispered out, "Greed, pride and ambition will be the end of the world."
He scanned her eye and saw the faintest flicker of fear and she saw him smirk as she mentally cursed herself. "Without greed, pride and ambition there would be no motivation, no progress. Wants are what people strive to achieve." He chuckled and gazed at her through slited eyes, "Slytherins just follow the progress of man; we take what we want."
Her eyes shot open in surprise as his shut and he pressed his lips against hers. She gasped in the sudden realization that Malfoy, bane of her school existence, was kissing her. He took the action as an invitation to invade her mouth with his tongue. She snaked her hands up and splayed them on his chest trying to push him away, but without the proper leverage she couldn't move the mass. He pushed his body full against hers and grabbed the side of her head, tilting it to the side, forcing the kiss deeper. She tried to bite his tongue in retaliation, but the pressure and angle of his kiss prevented her from doing anything. She tried clawing into his chest, but couldn't penetrate his robes. He kissed her harder, and it hurt. She was helpless. She was at his mercy, and she cried.
He let go of her face and took a vial from his pocket, collecting her tears in it. He backed away, releasing her, and bottled the vial. "You see, simple as that. I got what I wanted." She gazed at him, confused and silent. He walked up to her again and she pressed herself against the tree and clamped her eyes shut. "Oh, and Kitten, you might want to keep your shirt down when you wander around at night. That jewel on you belly is quite sexy. You might want to be careful; a less controlled boy might have trouble keeping his hands off." She snapped her eyes open only to see him nod and disappear into the forest.
"Fuck off Malfoy!" She spat on the ground trying to get his sweet smoky taste out of her mouth. She wiped the sweet clove taste off her lips with the back of her hand before stomping back off to Hogwarts.
A/N #B: So how was that chapter? It took me a while, with the holiday I was working a lot, so things were hectic. If you don't know, the cigarette Draco was smoking was a clove; which are very sweet and leave a great taste on your lips. I'm giving the next chapter to Draco, because he is a major player in this story. I will not fluff Draco up in this story; I am trying to keep him as the cruel little bastard that we all love. If Remus seems a little OC it's just cause he was trying to get a date and he's the geek out of the Marauder's, I figure that's how he would be.
Thanks to my beta sharks, Kari and Colleeny! Kari is doing the happy dance as I proof this; she's happy because she's in it now.
If anyone has anymore good nicknames for Draco, send them my way, I'll try to squeeze them in.
And if anyone cares "Eyes of the Dragon" is my favorite Stephen King novel, go read it! And it's a fairy tale, so it fits the theme.