Hot Gimmick
Mei Queen
Chapter 4- When Draco's Away, Neville Will Play
Neville hoisted his wand a little further above their heads so they could see more of the dark passageway.
"Have you been through here before?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Eh…once. It was a long time ago, though," Neville said softly, noting her how pretty her chocolate eyes looked in the light.
"Oh. I used to come through here a lot with Fred and George…but when they left, it just wasn't that fun anymore."
"I bet. Are they your favourites out of all your siblings?" Neville asked, head cocked to one side.
"Well…I guess it's not fair to play favourites," Ginny said with a twinkle in her eye, "but when was I ever fair? The twins, Bill, and Charlie are my favourites."
Neville chuckled. "Poor Ron and Percy, they never knew they were so unloved."
Ginny laughed and held up her hands as a sign of giving up. "That's not what I meant at all, Nev! Well, with Percy, yes, of course that's what I meant. But with Ron…Ron's main downfall is that we're so close in age. I have to put up with him, year after year…his whiny antics lose their fun after a bit, you know?"
Neville smiled sadly. "I wish I had a sibling or two to irritate me."
"Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to offend you," Ginny started in quickly.
"No need for apologies, Gin. It's not your fault I'm an only child, 'sides, I've got Gran and all of bloody Gryffindor to keep me company."
"And you will always have that, Neville. Even when you try to get rid of us, you will always have that."
The couple soon reached Hogsmeade, and carefully escaped into the busy Honeydukes. Ginny was finding it hard to admit to herself, but she was actually having fun on this little outing. (She couldn't wrap her mind around titling it a "date", so it was, naturally, an "outing". Big difference, of course.)
They happily looked over the exotic candies…Acid Pops, Cockroach Clusters, all sorts, before finally settling on some Sugar Quills and one piece for each of them of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum; Neville insisted on paying, and Ginny was finding it more and more difficult to keep from calling this a date. They left the bustling candy shop for a quick butterbeer at The Leaky Cauldron.
Over the frothy warmth, Neville mentioned perhaps starting up on the formidable walk to the Shrieking Shack afterwards. Indeed, he seemed truly desperate to know if it was as really as scary as it sounded.
"I've never gone, Gin. It could be…I dunno, cool to see."
"I guess…I've gone a few times before, so it's not that exciting for me to see. But I guess I've never really gone at night before."
Neville smiled, pushing back his chair. She wanted to go. "See, there you go. We're both benefiting from this little side-trip."
Ginevra smiled in response, getting up from their table. "You're right. Let's go."
All of a sudden when they reached the top of the mountain, Ginevra remembered why she, in fact, had not gone to the Shrieking Shack at night before.
It was dead scary, that's why.
There was actually a light on inside the building and a lot of clanging going on. It was loud and intimidating, but before she could request to go back, or more likely, run away screaming, she realized Neville was pushing her inside.
"What the hell, Neville? Stop!"
Ginny tried to fight against him, but she soon realized that the muscles she had admired just days ago were much stronger than hers. Soon she realized she was right in front of the door, and Neville was nudging it open while fighting against her.
What she saw made her stomach feel like she had drunk too much Firewhiskey, it churned her stomach so much. Oh, dear Merlin.
Draco nodded coldly as a person entered his chamber. Maybe it's Ginevra. She was supposed to be here an hour ago.
The previous night when Ginny had come to his chamber, they found themselves basically fighting the whole time about his treatment of Pansy. This battle she was fighting was one of the most ridiculous Draco had ever encountered. Pansy hated the girl. So why did Ginny continue in her virtuous battle?
Draco just couldn't understand it.
But looking up from his book ("The Prince" by Machiavelli, naturally), he noticed that the person at the door bore not even the slightest resemblance to Ginny.
It was, in fact, Pansy Parkinson, the object of Ginny's outbursts lately.
"Hi Draco," Pansy began in the snivelling voice she seemed to think was seductive.
"Yes?" he asked curtly and coldly, hoping she was getting the message that he had no desire, now or ever, to associate with her on a more-than-acquaintance basis.
Pansy caught the cold tone, and brought her spine upright so she was standing at her very tallest, and looking down on him with irritation.
"I just thought you might want to know a bit of gossip I just heard, that's all."
"Well, you would have thought wrong. You may leave." Draco said fiercely, looking up from his book to nod quickly towards the door.
Pansy took a step back with her most aggravated expression, but finally gave it up and sighed. "Draco, I wouldn't be bothering you, but I heard that Ginevra Weasley has lately been the object of your affections."
When there was naught but silence to neither affirm nor deny the statement, she seemed satisfied to continue.
"I've also heard that Ginny has something against your treatment of me, and it's been causing fights between the two of you."
Once again, silence, but Draco deigned to look up from his book now. Quirking an eyebrow up at where she could possibly be going with this, he indicated she might continue.
Looking down at her shirt and running her necklace between the fingers in her right hand, she let out a breath shakily. "I just…I appre-…I like…I mean…I guess, I think it's cool that she cares about how I'm treated. And I feel obligated to tell you now that I heard something this morning when passing Gryffindor House on my way back from bloody Divination."
It seemed that Pansy had, indeed, reached the point she was most anxious to discuss and relate, because her eyes were roughly the size of saucers and fixed intently on Draco.
He nodded for her to continue, his eyes getting a little bigger as well. What in the name of Merlin could a Gryffindor have possibly done? What dumb thing did she overhear Ginny say now? Ginevra, for all her beauty, can be quite a liability with that mouth…
"It was that boy who always loses his toad…he's a Seventh Year, too," Pansy said softly.
"Longbottom?" Draco prompted quickly.
"Yes, him. He was talking to…oh, you'll never believe it…" Pansy trailed off again, her entire face looking white.
"Get to the bloody point, Pansy!" Draco shouted harshly.
"He was…off in the shadows making a deal with bloody Crabbe and Goyle!" she yelled quickly, as if regretting having to be the messenger of such news, and feeling that maybe the news would be less painful if it were revealed all at once. (Quick pain…like a Band-Aid)
"A deal…what do you mean, a deal?" Draco asked gravely. It was very rare that the imbeciles were ever able to walk without him, let alone go off on their own to meet Gryffindors and make deals.
"I mean…he's giving them Ginevra. Tonight," Pansy said softly, trailing off at the end, because she knew how upset Draco would be when he heard the beginning of the sentence, anyway.
And indeed, he was upset. By "Ginevra", he had already arisen and pulled on his shoes, and by "Tonight", he was at his door.
"Where are they, Pansy? Do you know?" Draco asked urgently.
"I don't know for sure, but they talked about Hogsmeade. I'd probably guess the Shrieking Shack, that place is usually pretty deserted."
Draco was just about to run into the hallway when he met Pansy's eyes. "Thank you. Ginny was right about you."
Ginevra, at the moment, didn't feel right about anything, however.
In addition to Crabbe and Goyle, Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini were there as well. Ginny screamed as much as she could, but of course, she soon realized, she was in the "Shrieking Shack". No amount of screaming here could amount to anything but a few renewed superstitions.
She looked behind her to at least yell at Neville, but she realized he had fled.
And locked the door from the outside.
"Oh…my…God," she whispered softly, as the boys circled her like hungry vultures.
"Aren't you the pretty one?" Nott asked with derision, reaching out his hand to run it across her face.
She reached up to slap him, but realized Crabbe was actually, for once, too quick for her. "Mobilicorpus!"
Ginny closed her eyes in pain and frustration as all her limbs were bound and she floated a few inches above the ground. "Let me down," she said softly.
"We're not letting you down until we've had our way with you, naturally," Goyle said with his trademark grunt.
"You sick bastards," Ginny said, spitting at Crabbe.
Wiping the spittle off his face as if it had burned him, Crabbe turned to her with eyes flaring angrily. Putting the wand at her neck, he muttered, "Do that again. I dare you."
Ginevra's face paled. The reality was hitting her. She was all alone in a room with four very unruly and frightening boys. Everyone at the school thought she and Neville were both sick and had gone to bed early. Ginny was quite literally backed into a corner with nowhere to go.
Blaise smirked at her as he ripped along the bottom hem of her skirt, coming up with a fabric to use as a gag. "There now, you won't be spitting or irritating us with your chatter anymore."
Be strong. Don't give in to it, the conscience in Ginny's head was shouting. Show you're better than them. Show them this doesn't bother you in the slightest. Somehow though, she couldn't bring herself to follow her own advice, and felt a hot tear begin to make its way down her cheek.
She had lost all hope.
As Crabbe came forward to begin to unbutton her blouse (Ginny was hysterically crying by this point), she thought she heard a faint click.
Maybe I'm imagining things…I guess since it is such a terrible situation right now I'm hallucinating and trying to find ways to make it better? She thought to herself softly. I mustn't hope…it'll just disappoint me more.
So she ignored the click, and the boys certainly didn't act as if they had heard anything. Of course, by now, Crabbe was almost to the bottom of the shirt, exposing her bra, which was making the boys lose focus entirely.
She thought she heard the door jiggle a bit.
The shirt slipped off. Now Ginny was just left in her bra and ripped skirt, bobbing uncomfortably against the wall.
"Skirt next!" Goyle called out merrily. "Zabini, honors?"
Blaise smiled with the recognition and strode forward proudly. "Nice tits," he muttered with derision.
Now it sounded like someone was trying furiously to twist the doorknob.
It was taking all of Ginny's energy not to cry even more. She felt like it was truly time to lose all hope. Her mind raced, for lack of anything better to do, to try to remember what pair of underwear she had put on today. Ginny bitterly hoped it was laundry day and she was wearing granny panties that could ruin the boys' libidos forever, but from the cut of the panties, she could feel they weren't her favourite old granny ones.
"Black thong, boys!" Blaise said with all the excitement of a five-year-old boy unwrapping a brand new train set on Christmas.
Before Blaise could completely unwrap the package, however, there was a loud "Alohomora" at the door.
Ginny looked up hopefully; completely uncaring that she was two pieces of fabric away from nudity.
The door swung open and revealed Draco stately leaning against the doorframe. "Having fun without me, eh, boys?"
The other guys seemed truly relieved that it was just Draco and invited him to join in the fun.
As soon as Draco walked in and shut the door, however, Ginny's heart gave a leap. She could see from the flickering of the old light above them that Draco's eyes were not their usual placid stone-grey. His eyes showed how truly angry he really was, something the boys failed to notice.
Crabbe smiled from the dusty maroon couch. "You can go next, Draco. Take it as an apology for not inviting you, you know? We were invited by that Longbottom, and he seemed pretty fierce about not bringing you."
Stepping forward to Ginny, Draco's eyes met hers. Determined not to look down and embarrass her more, Draco kept his eyes fixed on Ginny's face.
Leaning down to brush a kiss on her neck, he whispered in her ear, "What do you say we get you out of here?"
Ginny couldn't speak with the gag in her mouth, but her eyes lit up gratefully and she nodded.
"Finite Incantatem," Draco said softly, holding Ginny close to him as she fell and wrapping her in the extra cloak Pansy had given him for her.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, man?" Nott stepped forward, asking boldly.
"Stupefy!" Draco cast at Nott, sending Nott flying backwards into a wall.
"Let that be a lesson to you all," he began quickly, holding his wand out as a warning. "You will all be very lucky indeed if you're not expelled within the week. You can tell your pal Longbottom that goes for him, too."
With that, Draco ran his hands over Ginny's hair and hugged her closer to him. Holding his wand out, they Apparated right there in the doorframe.
Of course, they couldn't actually Apparate onto the grounds, so they found themselves right outside the gate, about a two-mile walk from the actual school.
"The thought was there," Ginevra said with a chuckle, hugging the cloak closer around her body.
"Where is your wand? We could summon your clothes," Draco volunteered quietly.
"I don't really know. I was pushed in there by Neville…I'm assuming he probably took it with him to be sure I wouldn't use it against them."
"I will hurt that kid so bad his grandmother will feel it," Draco said savagely, eyes flaring up. "What the hell was he thinking?"
"For that matter, was he thinking?" she responded with a smile. "He probably wasn't. The other boys, I don't care what you do with them, Draco…but Neville…please, just don't tell he was involved. I don't want him expelled."
"Ginevra, are you cracked? This boy was the reason you were just humiliated! He thought of the whole bloody thing! Those idiots could never have thought of such a diabolical scheme on their own! It was actually downright sadistic for a Gryffindor, really." Draco finished with a tone not unlike admiration, and Ginny shot him a glare.
"Of course, I don't think it's right what he did, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the fact that he had the whole thing plotted so well," he responded glumly. "I understand what you mean, in a very odd way. But please…don't tell on Neville. I want to find out why he did it. I want revenge…and I want to do it myself," Ginny responded resolutely, pulling the cloak a little closer to her body and holding her head high as they approached the castle.
Author's Note- Hope you liked…this chapter was surprisingly easy to write, but I feel bad for doing that to Ginny….eh, she'll be a stronger person now, I suppose. And we'll finally know what Neville's deal is, aren't you excited?! Tell me what you all think!
Sorry this will be long…
Thanks (on Portkey.org) to soulstealer6669 for your awesome review! I loved the fact that you ask questions…and yes, I believe Draco does have "virgin radar" =D. Thanks to glanch8087, because I never have faith in my writing, so it's really cool to hear it commended =D. And yes, PrettyPadfoot, Neville has gone evil…your review made me laugh! Muchas gracias to Smprsgrrl¸ I'm really glad you like how I write Draco…I just don't think he's capable of being completely evil or completely good…so I settle for hormonal ass, hehe. Lol, and as for Swim17, you thought a month and a half waiting for an update was bad…hehe, now it's been like three months coming! Sorry!
Thanks (on ff.net) to Too lazy to log in (lol), I owe you like fifty cookies for how long it's taken me to update…sincerest apologies. And yes, judging by the above chapter, you were right on the dot about Draco saving her =D. Thank you so much to heaven for your awesome review…to know that someone read the manga and enjoyed how I twisted the characters is really special to me! I'm thrilled you like it!
Thank you SO MUCH (on harrypotterfanfiction.com) to RoseB!!!! Your review blew me away! I'm so glad you liked it! And to fairgirl, thank you for your review, and that is pretty awesome that Hot Gimmick is now available in France!