Title: Ginny From the Block
Chapter Fifteen
Disclaimer: Still don't own them…
Note: I'm back! And hopefully will be posting much faster now that I've gotten some problems in RL worked out. Thanks so much for the FEEDBACK! Your comments are what kept me working toward getting posting again. I would love to go in and comment on all the feedback, but then it would take me about a week or two more to get up the chapter...lol...so I'm sorry. I'll try to do better next time! This chapter is actually pretty short for my standards, but I hope you enjoy it. In the future I'll try to have them back to normal length again. PLEASE keep sending the feeback my way! You just can't know how much I appreciate it!
On to the chapter…
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Chapter Fifteen: The Art of Bait
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Location: The Great Hall
Date: 8:00 P.M.
Time: September 26th, 2003 (Tuesday)
The Prefects' Meeting broke up at almost exactly eight o'clock. This wasn't surprising as Hermione was running the meeting. That girl certainly knew how to prioritize. Ginny frowned at the thought. She could use a bit of that talent herself.
"So…as I was saying…"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Chris, who are you trying to convince here…me or yourself? I hope yourself, cause honestly?" She looked the older girl straight in the eyes. "You don't have a bloody hope in hell of convincing me. Also this whole conversation could be taking place in your head and would save me the bother of listening to it."
Chris looked highly offended. Ginny sighed. "Sorry, I'm just…a bit flustered. Too much running around inside my too little head."
That seemed to sooth her a little. "I understand that, Gin, but…what you said…"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I swear I'll never tell him."
Chris looked thoughtful for a moment, but then shrugged. "Good, cause if you do? I'll kill you and blame it on the vamps." With an ultra-sweet smile, she slipped her arm through Ginny's and led the way toward the doors.
"GINNY!"
A groan escaped Ginny's throat. What now? She reluctantly turned with Chris to watch Hermione hurry to catch up with them. "Yes?"
Hermione smiled, but Ginny didn't like the sparkle in her eyes. It was that 'I'm part of the ruddy great Gryffindor Trio and I'm definitely up to something' sparkle. Ginny really didn't like it directed at her. "Where are you off to now?"
Ginny frowned. "Mione, it's eight o'clock at night. I'm off to our Common Room." To change before heading out on patrol, but she didn't need to know that.
"Oh," her smile just widened and the sinking feeling in Ginny's stomach increased, "then that's perfect then. How about coming to Gryffindor Tower with me instead? I'd love to spend some time together and catch up." She paused. "I could fill you in on what happened last night as well, if you'd like."
Oh, Ginny knew what that last bit was, that was a big juicy piece of bait. Ginny had no desire to play the part of catfish, bass, or any other water creature thank you much. Hermione obviously hadn't forgotten Ginny's slip in the library earlier. Now Ginny needed to find a way to avoid the hook. What reasonable explanation would she have for not wanting to join in the Gryffindor Trio exploits? She'd always been eager to hear and be included before. Hmm…what do say…what to say…
"Don't you have that part backward?" Chris frowned.
Oh dear lord, no!
Hermione's eyes sharpened on Chris. "Whatever do you mean?"
Ginny gulped. "Uh…Chris…"
"I mean," Chris rolled her eyes, "don't you mean that Ginny can fill YOU in on what happened to her and Dawn last night? With the vamp and all?"
Well shit…
Triumph flashed through Hermione's eyes. Ginny prayed the floor would open up and swallow her whole. Hermione turned those eyes on Ginny. "What happened last night, Gin?"
"I…uh…well…" Great, now she was turning into a babbling idiot. This was not the time to give Willow a run for her title! "You see…uh…"
"Well, what have we here?" The sneering voice sounded behind them and Ginny could have wept with relief. "A conference of the hopelessly noble and annoying?"
A very uncharacteristic snarl escaped Hermione's mouth. "Bugger off, Malfoy." Then her eyes narrowed. "You know, you certainly seem to always pop up at the most inconvenient times lately, don't you?" She slid a shrewd glance from Draco to Ginny and back again.
"Shouldn't you be chasing Weasel around the Common Room for your goodnight snog right about now, Granger?" Draco shot back.
Hermione growled…she actually growled, well, it sounded more like an over-stuffed purr, but it was supposed to be a growl. "Go to hell, Mal-Ferret!"
Ginny lifted a brow. "You have been spending way too much time with Ron."
"Stop changing the subject." Hermione ordered. "What happened last night, Ginny? I know something's going on here and I know you're involved."
Ginny glared at the older girl. "What's your bloody point, Hermione?"
"Just tell me!"
Ginny's eyes widened in disbelief. "Why should I tell you anything? Because you were so helpful to me over the years? Because you always filled me in on the Gryffindor Trio's battle plans? A bloody joke, that!"
Hermione's eyes softened. "I know we didn't always tell you everything, Gin, but we thought you were too young to handle it. We thought…"
"Obviously you thought wrong." Chris snorted and shot Hermione a glare. "Ginny's been hip-down in trouble for the last year and she always pulls through. She and Dawn are the two biggest badasses in Sunstone. You think Seventh Years usually hang with Fifth Years? She and Dawn won our respect, not to mention saved our asses when vampires decided to bust up our Quidditch celebration at the Bronze." Chris pointed to her chest. "I wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for Dawn and Ginny."
"Bloody hell!" Draco cursed.
Hermione's face drained of color. She stared at Ginny in shock. "What have you gotten yourself into, Gin?"
"More than enough, Hermione," Ginny shot back, "and I didn't have the Great Gryffindor Trio there to save me."
Hermione flinched.
Ginny sighed. "Look, I don't want to fight with you, Mione. I love you like a sister, but if you want to know something about what's going on with me then you ask, you don't demand. Taking orders is not my strong point."
She paused thoughtfully. "Well, unless they're from Buffy, but that's different…her being the General and all."
"Buffy Dawn's sister?" Hermione frowned.
Chris smirked. "That would be the one."
"What does she have to do with this?"
Chris and Ginny shared a rueful grin.
"Red, don't you have somewhere to be?" Malfoy asked pointedly.
"What?" Ginny wondered and then it dawned on her. She groaned. "Patrol."
"Patrol?" Chris and Hermione echoed.
Chris spoke first. "What do you mean 'patrol'? You better not mean what I think you mean 'patrol', cause then we're going to have to have a talk." She put her hands on her hips and shot Ginny a glare.
"Do you mean Prefect patrol, Ginny?" Hermione spoke up next. "I didn't know you'd been assigned a patrol. I thought Sunstone was restricting that to Seventh Years."
"We are." Chris continued to glare.
"Then…"
"I'm not talking about Prefect patrol, Hermione," Ginny cut her off, "I'm assigned to patrol with a group of professors and outside security specialists for the next few weeks." She focused on Chris. "And I'm not really patrolling anyway, so don't get huffy."
"Then what are you doing exactly?" Chris questioned.
Ginny gave a resigned sigh. "I'm bait."
"BAIT?" Chris and Hermione barked together.
Ginny shrugged and gave them a smile. "Don't you think I make cute bait?"
Draco smirked. "I'd eat you."
Ginny started to give him a thankful smile, but then remembered Hermione and turned it into a glare. "Not bloody likely." Then the nastier connotations of that sentence sunk in and she yelped. "Hey!" And hit him hard on the back of the head.
"Ouch!" He glared at her.
"Who are these security specialists, Ginny?" Hermione asked politely this time. "And why did they choose you?" A frown curved her lips. "And how did Malfoy know about it anyway?"
Chris smiled widely. "Yes, Ginny, why don't you explain it to her?"
Ginny glared at Chris. "You're not helping."
Chris glared back. "That's the point."
"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Weasley…"
Ginny never thought she'd be happy to hear that voice, but there ya go. Will wonders never cease?
The group looked over to see Professor Snape glaring at them all from the doorway. "As you now have but fourteen minutes until you are due back in the Entrance Hall for tonight's activities, I suggest you both get to your Common Rooms immediately and change into suitable attire. Tardiness will certainly result in loss of house points." Without waiting for a response, he turned and was gone.
"Well, isn't he pleasant?" Chris smirked.
Hermione looked aghast. "You're doing this patrol with Snape?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "And Sirius Black and Dawn and two outside security specialists."
"And Malfoy's in this patrol as well?" She went on.
"Aren't you quick, Granger." Draco sneered. "Don't know why I ever doubted you before."
Hermione ignored the insult and continued trying to put the pieces together. "You and Dawn and Malfoy? However did they choose you three?"
Draco narrowed his eyes. "Well, ya see, Granger, the bait had to be desirable, so the choices were based on looks." He eyed her up and down. "For obvious reasons you were never in the running." Throwing a smirk at her gasp of outrage, Draco turned and strutted toward the doors. "See you in a bit, Red."
Ginny rolled her eyes at his retreating back before turning to Hermione. "Ignore him, Mione. He's been professionally diagnosed as terminally cranky."
"Terminally cranky my derriere," Hermione huffed, "Malfoy's a sodding arsehole."
Heaving a sigh, Ginny shrugged. "That as well."
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Location: Entrance Hall
Date: 8:29 P.M.
Time: September 26th, 2003 (Tuesday)
Ginny and Dawn were huffing as they ran down the main staircase into the Entrance Hall. Snape, Sirius, Draco, Spike, and Willow were already there waiting on them.
"Made it!" Dawn exclaimed with a smile and a cheery wave to Snape.
Snape pretended not to see her and Sirius snickered under his breath. Spike looked bored and was picking at his badly painted fingernails. Willow gave them both a smile and cheery wave of her own. Snape, seeing that, rolled his eyes in disgust at the lot of them muttering something about 'bloody Americans' under his breath. Willow heard him, turned and glared…but just ended up looking cute doing it. Spike and Sirius snorted.
Draco stood frowning at Ginny and Dawn's clothes. "What are you wearing?"
They both looked down. They were wearing complimenting Whitehorn outfits again. Ginny was in her blue form-fitting shirt with 'Whitehorns Rule' in silver writing. Dawn in her silver shirt with 'Whitehorns Rock' in blue writing. They were both wearing Capri pants, Dawn's blue and Ginny's silver (of course), and running shoes (so they could move easily). Sure, they were probably taking the twin analogy a bit far, but so what? What was the big deal?
Ginny frowned at Malfoy. "What? They're just our casual uniforms, Draco, for after classes."
"Casual uniforms?" His eyes widened, then he spun on Snape. "They get to have CASUAL uniforms?"
"Oh brother, " Dawn rolled her eyes, "here we go again."
"I can't bloody believe…"
"Enough Mini-Me!" Spike barked and Draco turned to glare at him. "Be a good little bugger and we'll buy you your very own bloody t-shirt later...if you survive." Before Draco could smart back, Spike looked to Ginny and Dawn. "Up for a spot a violence, sweets?"
"Suppose so." Ginny shrugged.
"I'm cool." Dawn nodded.
"Prepared?" Spike lifted a brow.
Ginny pushed up the loose sleeve on her right arm to show the stake stashed in her hand and pulled another one out of the back of her pants. She slipped the cross necklace around her neck into view and then put it back against her chest. Dawn echoed her movements from beside her.
"Where are your wands?" Snape growled in disgust.
Ginny glared at him. "We're the bait. Wands at ready aren't very appetizing to a vampire. We can use wandless as a last resort."
Both Snape and Sirius eyes widened. Sirius spoke first. "You can do wandless magic, Ginny?"
"Bloody right she can." Draco snorted. "Used it last night to call her wand. Pretty impressive, that, even to me."
Snape shook his head in disbelief. "The ability to call upon magic at will without the use of a wand is almost impossible. Very few can master such an ability these days. Only those…"
Holding up her hand, Willow called. "Stake." The stake in Ginny's left hand flew across the room to Willow's grasp. She looked to Snape and tilted her head to the side. "You mean like that?"
Ginny fought back a chuckle as Snape tried to pull his mouth closed. He stared at Willow amazed. It was not a look Ginny had ever seen on Severus Snape before.
"Bloody brilliant!" Sirius laughed.
Unable to resist the temptation, Ginny tugged at her own magic and threw up her hand. "Stake."
Unfortunately, Dawn had the same idea at the same time. "Stake."
The stake zipped out of Willow's hand and back toward them, but couldn't decide which way to go. It suspended in mid-air directly between them. The two girls looked at each other then focused all their energies on the stake. Ginny tugged it toward her and the stake budged an inch in her direction. Dawn did the same and it slid back to the center. Pulling deeper for another tug, Ginny narrowed her eyes.
"Bloody hell." Spike jerked the stake out of the air and handed it back to Ginny. He gave both her and Dawn a glare. "Not the time to show off, sweets. Save it for the vamps."
Dawn pouted. "Spike, you're no fun."
"Okey-dokey, that's enough of that." Willow stepped up beside Spike. "Come on, gang, moonlight's a wastin'. Let's get outside." Spinning on her heel, Willow led the way toward the door. She was being very leader-y. Ginny and Dawn shared a grin.
Once outside on the darkened grounds, Spike turned to face the three students. "Okay, which of you three plays the nummy treat first?" He looked them over and rubbed his chin. "Ginger, you're looking rather fetching. Get out there."
Ginny huffed. "Why me? I got a broken back last night, ya know. Why can't Dawn go first?"
Snape opened his mouth, probably for some nasty horrid response, but Spike never gave him the chance to voice it.
"Ginger!"
The growl was an order and Ginny rolled her eyes. She huffed and strode out away into the clear moonlight. The rest of the group hung to the shadows. Ginny heard Willow cast a blurring incantation. Invisibility incantations were very difficult and touchy, but a blurring incantation made someone hard to see, especially if they weren't in direct light. This allowed the group to follow after Ginny as she strolled up and down the moonlight along the castle walls, but remained hidden from any watching eyes.
After about ten minutes Ginny got bored. This was exactly why she didn't like being the bait. You were stuck out all alone walking around like an idiot. Then she smirked as she got an idea.
As Ginny neared the end of one wall she stepped out dramatically and struck a pose. "Oh no!" She called out clearly. "Look at my poor neck!" She tilted her head to the side and slid her shirt down to expose as much neck as possible. "All bare and tender and…exposed!" She reached up a hand to run up and down said neck. "All…of that blood…just…pumping…away!" She drew the sentence out as she pranced around in a little circle to make sure the whole world got a view of that neck.
"What the bloody hell is she doing?"
She heard Draco's loud whisper and fought an attack of the giggles.
"Like any self-respecting vampire's going to buy that rubbish."
Sirius snorted. "She'll certainly never win any Wizarding Emmys."
Despite her best attempts otherwise, a giggle slipped out and Ginny clamped her left hand over her mouth. Another round of giggles sounded from the darkness and Ginny knew Dawn and Willow were rolling.
"Ha, bloody, ha, Ginger." Spike growled.
Ginny turned her head in the direction of his voice. She winked and blew him a kiss.
Then she froze…she forced the smile to stay put on her face, but she slowly strengthened her grip and readied herself to fight. Her slayer, or potential-slayer, senses were tingling. They'd struck vamp. Guess they really were that dumb.
She heard Spike move and sniff the air. Then she heard his low whisper. "Ginger…"
She nodded her head forward slightly and then resumed her merry little stroll in the moonlight.
Making sure to hold her steps light and carefree, Ginny hummed under her breath. "Dooby, dooby doo…feelings…" She drew on her magic and her senses as she walked on. "Whoa…oh…oh…feelings…boy I'm feeling really helpless…" She hummed the tune as she ran out of the words she remembered from some ridiculous horror movie. She stepped a few more steps out into the clear moonlight and around the corner of the castle.
Ginny knew the group was following as closely as they could, but they didn't want to scare the undead bugger off and they had to stick to the shadows. That meant for at least the first bit she was on her own.
"Grrr…"
When the growl sounded she was ready for it, unfortunately she wasn't ready for the large body that slammed into her back throwing her face first into the ground.
"GIN!"
"Two bloody nights in a row…" Ginny muttered to herself as she drew on her training and slammed her head backward into the demon's face. It shook him enough to let go slightly and she kicked at him and rolled away and out of his grasp. She came up in a crouched defensive position stake in hand.
"HELP HER!" Draco yelled again.
"STAY BACK!" Spike ordered the blonde Slytherin. He focused back on the fight. "Take him, Ginger."
The vampire snapped his head toward the voices in confusion. Panic flickered in his yellow eyes for a moment, but a quick kick landed to his jaw chased away any plans to flee. He growled again and started to circle Ginny. "Grrr…"
"Unoriginal," Ginny rolled her eyes at him, "at least the Sunnydale vamps come up with witty one-liners."
"I like my meals quiet." He hissed at her.
Ginny tilted her head to the side and curled her lips in disgust. "I said WITTY one-liners."
Losing what little control he had on his temper, the demon lunged at Ginny again. Ginny sidestepped out of the way and efficiently snapped out a leg to sweep his feet out from under him. The vampire slammed into the ground beside her hard and before the demon could recover from the fall Ginny buried the stake through his chest. He glared at her and growled before bursting into dust.
Heaving a putout sigh, Ginny stood back up from her crouched position and dusted at her clothes. "You're up, Dawnie, and be warned. The punnin'? Pretty much pointless with this group."
"Way harsh, Gin," Dawn shook her head as Willow dropped the blurring charm and the group stepped out of the shadows and toward Ginny, "he could just be like…the loser of he group. There could totally be some badass puns in there yet."
Ginny smirked at her. "I wish you luck." Then she turned side to side stretching out her back. Getting slammed into the ground repeatedly was SO not of the fun and it couldn't good for her spine. At this rate she'd definitely end up a crippled little old lady some day.
"Red, you alright?"
It took a moment for Ginny to realize that the voice wasn't Spike's and it was directed at her and not Willow. The fact that Spike was snickering in the background was a big clue. Ginny glared at the vampire before looking up into Malfoy's concerned eyes. "I'm fine. Nothing I haven't faced before. Hell, Spike and Buffy dealt out more damage during our training sessions."
"What EXACTLY was the meaning of that?" Ginny turned to see Professor Snape glaring into Spike's unconcerned face. "Your presence at Hogwarts is to ensure the protection the students, not endanger them further by…"
"Oh look, Gin!" Dawn interrupted them with a grin. "Mr. Creepy Guy's like all concerned for you! That's so sweet!"
Snape paused briefly to shoot Dawn a disgusted look, before he spun back on Spike. "That display was entirely uncalled for. Miss Weasley…"
"Is a slayer-in-training, mate, and if she can't face down one vamp with us ten feet away and ready to run to the rescue then she's living with a very short expiration date."
Snape still looked ready to explode and Spike's expression lit up in challenge. Ginny knew the situation could easily turn very ugly. But she watched amazed as Willow stepped between the two men.
Willow threw her 'Back off, Mister' glare at Spike and calmly faced down Ginny and Dawn's professor. "Professor Snape, I can assure you that I would never have allowed any harm to come to Ginny. We love Ginny. She's become one of our family over the last year. I would have ended the conflict at any sign that she was out of her depth."
"And if you were too late?" He glared.
Willow continued to hold his gaze. "I wouldn't have been too late."
"I find that very hard to believe…"
Snape trailed off as Willow's hair bled pure white and her eyes glowed brightly. Power practically poured off the witch in waves. As Ginny, Dawn, and Spike were somewhat used to this sight they just rolled their eyes. Sirius, Snape and Draco were a different matter.
Enjoying the chaos she'd caused, Willow smiled sweetly. "Believe it." Then she took a deep breath and her hair and eyes returned to normal. Snape just continued to gap at her. "Now then," she sent a devious smirk toward Ginny and Dawn, "shall we carry on?"
Draco leaned toward Ginny to whisper. "Please tell me that was a glamour."
Ginny grinned. "I can tell you whatever you'd like, Ferret."
"Bloody hell. I'm surrounded by super-witches."
Dawn jabbed Draco in the side. "Yeah, but just think of all the others things we could be uber-talented at." She winked at Ginny.
Ginny was not amused.
The next hour and a half passed rather uneventfully. One more vamp did come out to try and bite Dawn, but he was quickly dispatched by the Key and the group moved on. Most of the assembled patrol team thought this was a good sign. They sighed in relief when Willow suggested calling it a night. Ginny knew differently. She moved slightly away from the group and stared out over the dark forbidden forest.
After a few moments, Spike moved up beside her. "Feel them, do you Ginger?"
"Don't you?"
"Course," Spike shrugged, "they're out there...watching. They're not ready to show themselves just yet."
"They're waiting." Ginny agreed. "They're waiting for him. It's coming Spike and it's going to be very ugly." She finally pulled her gaze away and looked up at the vampire. "I'm afraid. I'm afraid they'll ruin this place...make it ugly and dirty and..."
"Theirs," Willow's voice broke in. She walked up beside them. "We understand, Ginny, and we're not going to let that happen."
"Hey!" Dawn grinned as she came up on Ginny's other side and wrapped her arm around the redhead's shoulders. Ginny felt a good amount of her tension melt away as she accepted her honorary twin's comfort. "Nothing we haven't seen before. He's just another big bad, Gin. They're all big and ugly and scary, but we always kick their asses in the end. Moldy won't be any different. We're gonna have to fight for what's ours. What's new?"
Spike snorted. "Ain't that the bloody truth."
Willow snickered. "The Scooby way of life."
"What are you people on about now?" Annoyance dripped from Malfoy's voice as he walked up beside them. When they didn't appear eager to explain their conversation he rolled his eyes and looked to Ginny and Dawn. "Professors Snape and Black are ready to call this little party to a close. We've ten minutes to reach our common rooms or they start deducting house points."
Ginny met his eyes and a warm shiver went through her at what she saw there. She nodded her thanks and looked quickly away.
Dawn watched the byplay and smirked. "Thanks, Mal-Ferret, duly noted."
Draco lingered beside them until Spike gave a low growl and cut his eyes in the boy's direction. The Slytherin threw the vampire a patented Malfoy sneer before turning and stalking away.
"Gonna keep my eyes on that one," Spike drawled.
Willow smirked. "I thought that was Ginny's job."
Ginny turned wide shocked eyes on the older witch. "WILLOW!"
Dawn, the traitor, burst into giggles. Spike gave another low growl in his throat.
Nine minutes and several seconds later, Ginny and Dawn ran through the portrait hole and into the Sunstone Common Room. They grinned at each other. No point deduction for them. Then they looked forward and the grins faded. They were faced with three very annoyed Seventh Years...and Brad Langford.
Ginny gulped. "Hello. Interesting night?"
Dare lifted a brow. "Not yet, but it will be."
Dawn forced a smile. "Really? What's up? Late night party?"
Hunter shook his head. "Late night interrogation."
Ginny and Dawn shared a glance and a thought. Oh goody.
"So," Chris shot them a feral smile, "why don't you two girls come and make yourselves comfortable on these cushy couches? Then you can explain to us what exactly this patrolling involves and how it was arranged that you participate?"
"And then we can decide how to get ourselves volunteered as well because you're not doing this without us." Dare jumped in.
"Oh, and don't forget to mention exactly what purpose Draco Malfoy the incredible bouncing ferret had during this patrol." Hunter growled.
Ginny glared at Chris for that last one. The Seventh Year just smiled sweetly and shrugged. Ginny looked to Dawn. Dawn was staring confused off to the side...at Langford. Ginny looked the Hawkthorne's way as well. "And your purpose in this inquisition?"
He smirked. "To let you know that if you do anything to get yourselves thrown out of quidditch I'll kill you myself."
Ginny rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. "Right then. Let's get on with it, shall we?"
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End of Chapter!
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I hope you enjoyed it! PLEASE let me know if you did! I'm working on the next chapter now!
Hope to hear from some of you!
Jade Elise
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Next Chapter: Fallout from the semi-snog session, the Gryffindor Trio are now firmly on the scent of a new adventure, and more interesting Hogwarts classes...
Chapter Fifteen
Disclaimer: Still don't own them…
Note: I'm back! And hopefully will be posting much faster now that I've gotten some problems in RL worked out. Thanks so much for the FEEDBACK! Your comments are what kept me working toward getting posting again. I would love to go in and comment on all the feedback, but then it would take me about a week or two more to get up the chapter...lol...so I'm sorry. I'll try to do better next time! This chapter is actually pretty short for my standards, but I hope you enjoy it. In the future I'll try to have them back to normal length again. PLEASE keep sending the feeback my way! You just can't know how much I appreciate it!
On to the chapter…
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Chapter Fifteen: The Art of Bait
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Location: The Great Hall
Date: 8:00 P.M.
Time: September 26th, 2003 (Tuesday)
The Prefects' Meeting broke up at almost exactly eight o'clock. This wasn't surprising as Hermione was running the meeting. That girl certainly knew how to prioritize. Ginny frowned at the thought. She could use a bit of that talent herself.
"So…as I was saying…"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Chris, who are you trying to convince here…me or yourself? I hope yourself, cause honestly?" She looked the older girl straight in the eyes. "You don't have a bloody hope in hell of convincing me. Also this whole conversation could be taking place in your head and would save me the bother of listening to it."
Chris looked highly offended. Ginny sighed. "Sorry, I'm just…a bit flustered. Too much running around inside my too little head."
That seemed to sooth her a little. "I understand that, Gin, but…what you said…"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I swear I'll never tell him."
Chris looked thoughtful for a moment, but then shrugged. "Good, cause if you do? I'll kill you and blame it on the vamps." With an ultra-sweet smile, she slipped her arm through Ginny's and led the way toward the doors.
"GINNY!"
A groan escaped Ginny's throat. What now? She reluctantly turned with Chris to watch Hermione hurry to catch up with them. "Yes?"
Hermione smiled, but Ginny didn't like the sparkle in her eyes. It was that 'I'm part of the ruddy great Gryffindor Trio and I'm definitely up to something' sparkle. Ginny really didn't like it directed at her. "Where are you off to now?"
Ginny frowned. "Mione, it's eight o'clock at night. I'm off to our Common Room." To change before heading out on patrol, but she didn't need to know that.
"Oh," her smile just widened and the sinking feeling in Ginny's stomach increased, "then that's perfect then. How about coming to Gryffindor Tower with me instead? I'd love to spend some time together and catch up." She paused. "I could fill you in on what happened last night as well, if you'd like."
Oh, Ginny knew what that last bit was, that was a big juicy piece of bait. Ginny had no desire to play the part of catfish, bass, or any other water creature thank you much. Hermione obviously hadn't forgotten Ginny's slip in the library earlier. Now Ginny needed to find a way to avoid the hook. What reasonable explanation would she have for not wanting to join in the Gryffindor Trio exploits? She'd always been eager to hear and be included before. Hmm…what do say…what to say…
"Don't you have that part backward?" Chris frowned.
Oh dear lord, no!
Hermione's eyes sharpened on Chris. "Whatever do you mean?"
Ginny gulped. "Uh…Chris…"
"I mean," Chris rolled her eyes, "don't you mean that Ginny can fill YOU in on what happened to her and Dawn last night? With the vamp and all?"
Well shit…
Triumph flashed through Hermione's eyes. Ginny prayed the floor would open up and swallow her whole. Hermione turned those eyes on Ginny. "What happened last night, Gin?"
"I…uh…well…" Great, now she was turning into a babbling idiot. This was not the time to give Willow a run for her title! "You see…uh…"
"Well, what have we here?" The sneering voice sounded behind them and Ginny could have wept with relief. "A conference of the hopelessly noble and annoying?"
A very uncharacteristic snarl escaped Hermione's mouth. "Bugger off, Malfoy." Then her eyes narrowed. "You know, you certainly seem to always pop up at the most inconvenient times lately, don't you?" She slid a shrewd glance from Draco to Ginny and back again.
"Shouldn't you be chasing Weasel around the Common Room for your goodnight snog right about now, Granger?" Draco shot back.
Hermione growled…she actually growled, well, it sounded more like an over-stuffed purr, but it was supposed to be a growl. "Go to hell, Mal-Ferret!"
Ginny lifted a brow. "You have been spending way too much time with Ron."
"Stop changing the subject." Hermione ordered. "What happened last night, Ginny? I know something's going on here and I know you're involved."
Ginny glared at the older girl. "What's your bloody point, Hermione?"
"Just tell me!"
Ginny's eyes widened in disbelief. "Why should I tell you anything? Because you were so helpful to me over the years? Because you always filled me in on the Gryffindor Trio's battle plans? A bloody joke, that!"
Hermione's eyes softened. "I know we didn't always tell you everything, Gin, but we thought you were too young to handle it. We thought…"
"Obviously you thought wrong." Chris snorted and shot Hermione a glare. "Ginny's been hip-down in trouble for the last year and she always pulls through. She and Dawn are the two biggest badasses in Sunstone. You think Seventh Years usually hang with Fifth Years? She and Dawn won our respect, not to mention saved our asses when vampires decided to bust up our Quidditch celebration at the Bronze." Chris pointed to her chest. "I wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for Dawn and Ginny."
"Bloody hell!" Draco cursed.
Hermione's face drained of color. She stared at Ginny in shock. "What have you gotten yourself into, Gin?"
"More than enough, Hermione," Ginny shot back, "and I didn't have the Great Gryffindor Trio there to save me."
Hermione flinched.
Ginny sighed. "Look, I don't want to fight with you, Mione. I love you like a sister, but if you want to know something about what's going on with me then you ask, you don't demand. Taking orders is not my strong point."
She paused thoughtfully. "Well, unless they're from Buffy, but that's different…her being the General and all."
"Buffy Dawn's sister?" Hermione frowned.
Chris smirked. "That would be the one."
"What does she have to do with this?"
Chris and Ginny shared a rueful grin.
"Red, don't you have somewhere to be?" Malfoy asked pointedly.
"What?" Ginny wondered and then it dawned on her. She groaned. "Patrol."
"Patrol?" Chris and Hermione echoed.
Chris spoke first. "What do you mean 'patrol'? You better not mean what I think you mean 'patrol', cause then we're going to have to have a talk." She put her hands on her hips and shot Ginny a glare.
"Do you mean Prefect patrol, Ginny?" Hermione spoke up next. "I didn't know you'd been assigned a patrol. I thought Sunstone was restricting that to Seventh Years."
"We are." Chris continued to glare.
"Then…"
"I'm not talking about Prefect patrol, Hermione," Ginny cut her off, "I'm assigned to patrol with a group of professors and outside security specialists for the next few weeks." She focused on Chris. "And I'm not really patrolling anyway, so don't get huffy."
"Then what are you doing exactly?" Chris questioned.
Ginny gave a resigned sigh. "I'm bait."
"BAIT?" Chris and Hermione barked together.
Ginny shrugged and gave them a smile. "Don't you think I make cute bait?"
Draco smirked. "I'd eat you."
Ginny started to give him a thankful smile, but then remembered Hermione and turned it into a glare. "Not bloody likely." Then the nastier connotations of that sentence sunk in and she yelped. "Hey!" And hit him hard on the back of the head.
"Ouch!" He glared at her.
"Who are these security specialists, Ginny?" Hermione asked politely this time. "And why did they choose you?" A frown curved her lips. "And how did Malfoy know about it anyway?"
Chris smiled widely. "Yes, Ginny, why don't you explain it to her?"
Ginny glared at Chris. "You're not helping."
Chris glared back. "That's the point."
"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Weasley…"
Ginny never thought she'd be happy to hear that voice, but there ya go. Will wonders never cease?
The group looked over to see Professor Snape glaring at them all from the doorway. "As you now have but fourteen minutes until you are due back in the Entrance Hall for tonight's activities, I suggest you both get to your Common Rooms immediately and change into suitable attire. Tardiness will certainly result in loss of house points." Without waiting for a response, he turned and was gone.
"Well, isn't he pleasant?" Chris smirked.
Hermione looked aghast. "You're doing this patrol with Snape?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "And Sirius Black and Dawn and two outside security specialists."
"And Malfoy's in this patrol as well?" She went on.
"Aren't you quick, Granger." Draco sneered. "Don't know why I ever doubted you before."
Hermione ignored the insult and continued trying to put the pieces together. "You and Dawn and Malfoy? However did they choose you three?"
Draco narrowed his eyes. "Well, ya see, Granger, the bait had to be desirable, so the choices were based on looks." He eyed her up and down. "For obvious reasons you were never in the running." Throwing a smirk at her gasp of outrage, Draco turned and strutted toward the doors. "See you in a bit, Red."
Ginny rolled her eyes at his retreating back before turning to Hermione. "Ignore him, Mione. He's been professionally diagnosed as terminally cranky."
"Terminally cranky my derriere," Hermione huffed, "Malfoy's a sodding arsehole."
Heaving a sigh, Ginny shrugged. "That as well."
==========
Location: Entrance Hall
Date: 8:29 P.M.
Time: September 26th, 2003 (Tuesday)
Ginny and Dawn were huffing as they ran down the main staircase into the Entrance Hall. Snape, Sirius, Draco, Spike, and Willow were already there waiting on them.
"Made it!" Dawn exclaimed with a smile and a cheery wave to Snape.
Snape pretended not to see her and Sirius snickered under his breath. Spike looked bored and was picking at his badly painted fingernails. Willow gave them both a smile and cheery wave of her own. Snape, seeing that, rolled his eyes in disgust at the lot of them muttering something about 'bloody Americans' under his breath. Willow heard him, turned and glared…but just ended up looking cute doing it. Spike and Sirius snorted.
Draco stood frowning at Ginny and Dawn's clothes. "What are you wearing?"
They both looked down. They were wearing complimenting Whitehorn outfits again. Ginny was in her blue form-fitting shirt with 'Whitehorns Rule' in silver writing. Dawn in her silver shirt with 'Whitehorns Rock' in blue writing. They were both wearing Capri pants, Dawn's blue and Ginny's silver (of course), and running shoes (so they could move easily). Sure, they were probably taking the twin analogy a bit far, but so what? What was the big deal?
Ginny frowned at Malfoy. "What? They're just our casual uniforms, Draco, for after classes."
"Casual uniforms?" His eyes widened, then he spun on Snape. "They get to have CASUAL uniforms?"
"Oh brother, " Dawn rolled her eyes, "here we go again."
"I can't bloody believe…"
"Enough Mini-Me!" Spike barked and Draco turned to glare at him. "Be a good little bugger and we'll buy you your very own bloody t-shirt later...if you survive." Before Draco could smart back, Spike looked to Ginny and Dawn. "Up for a spot a violence, sweets?"
"Suppose so." Ginny shrugged.
"I'm cool." Dawn nodded.
"Prepared?" Spike lifted a brow.
Ginny pushed up the loose sleeve on her right arm to show the stake stashed in her hand and pulled another one out of the back of her pants. She slipped the cross necklace around her neck into view and then put it back against her chest. Dawn echoed her movements from beside her.
"Where are your wands?" Snape growled in disgust.
Ginny glared at him. "We're the bait. Wands at ready aren't very appetizing to a vampire. We can use wandless as a last resort."
Both Snape and Sirius eyes widened. Sirius spoke first. "You can do wandless magic, Ginny?"
"Bloody right she can." Draco snorted. "Used it last night to call her wand. Pretty impressive, that, even to me."
Snape shook his head in disbelief. "The ability to call upon magic at will without the use of a wand is almost impossible. Very few can master such an ability these days. Only those…"
Holding up her hand, Willow called. "Stake." The stake in Ginny's left hand flew across the room to Willow's grasp. She looked to Snape and tilted her head to the side. "You mean like that?"
Ginny fought back a chuckle as Snape tried to pull his mouth closed. He stared at Willow amazed. It was not a look Ginny had ever seen on Severus Snape before.
"Bloody brilliant!" Sirius laughed.
Unable to resist the temptation, Ginny tugged at her own magic and threw up her hand. "Stake."
Unfortunately, Dawn had the same idea at the same time. "Stake."
The stake zipped out of Willow's hand and back toward them, but couldn't decide which way to go. It suspended in mid-air directly between them. The two girls looked at each other then focused all their energies on the stake. Ginny tugged it toward her and the stake budged an inch in her direction. Dawn did the same and it slid back to the center. Pulling deeper for another tug, Ginny narrowed her eyes.
"Bloody hell." Spike jerked the stake out of the air and handed it back to Ginny. He gave both her and Dawn a glare. "Not the time to show off, sweets. Save it for the vamps."
Dawn pouted. "Spike, you're no fun."
"Okey-dokey, that's enough of that." Willow stepped up beside Spike. "Come on, gang, moonlight's a wastin'. Let's get outside." Spinning on her heel, Willow led the way toward the door. She was being very leader-y. Ginny and Dawn shared a grin.
Once outside on the darkened grounds, Spike turned to face the three students. "Okay, which of you three plays the nummy treat first?" He looked them over and rubbed his chin. "Ginger, you're looking rather fetching. Get out there."
Ginny huffed. "Why me? I got a broken back last night, ya know. Why can't Dawn go first?"
Snape opened his mouth, probably for some nasty horrid response, but Spike never gave him the chance to voice it.
"Ginger!"
The growl was an order and Ginny rolled her eyes. She huffed and strode out away into the clear moonlight. The rest of the group hung to the shadows. Ginny heard Willow cast a blurring incantation. Invisibility incantations were very difficult and touchy, but a blurring incantation made someone hard to see, especially if they weren't in direct light. This allowed the group to follow after Ginny as she strolled up and down the moonlight along the castle walls, but remained hidden from any watching eyes.
After about ten minutes Ginny got bored. This was exactly why she didn't like being the bait. You were stuck out all alone walking around like an idiot. Then she smirked as she got an idea.
As Ginny neared the end of one wall she stepped out dramatically and struck a pose. "Oh no!" She called out clearly. "Look at my poor neck!" She tilted her head to the side and slid her shirt down to expose as much neck as possible. "All bare and tender and…exposed!" She reached up a hand to run up and down said neck. "All…of that blood…just…pumping…away!" She drew the sentence out as she pranced around in a little circle to make sure the whole world got a view of that neck.
"What the bloody hell is she doing?"
She heard Draco's loud whisper and fought an attack of the giggles.
"Like any self-respecting vampire's going to buy that rubbish."
Sirius snorted. "She'll certainly never win any Wizarding Emmys."
Despite her best attempts otherwise, a giggle slipped out and Ginny clamped her left hand over her mouth. Another round of giggles sounded from the darkness and Ginny knew Dawn and Willow were rolling.
"Ha, bloody, ha, Ginger." Spike growled.
Ginny turned her head in the direction of his voice. She winked and blew him a kiss.
Then she froze…she forced the smile to stay put on her face, but she slowly strengthened her grip and readied herself to fight. Her slayer, or potential-slayer, senses were tingling. They'd struck vamp. Guess they really were that dumb.
She heard Spike move and sniff the air. Then she heard his low whisper. "Ginger…"
She nodded her head forward slightly and then resumed her merry little stroll in the moonlight.
Making sure to hold her steps light and carefree, Ginny hummed under her breath. "Dooby, dooby doo…feelings…" She drew on her magic and her senses as she walked on. "Whoa…oh…oh…feelings…boy I'm feeling really helpless…" She hummed the tune as she ran out of the words she remembered from some ridiculous horror movie. She stepped a few more steps out into the clear moonlight and around the corner of the castle.
Ginny knew the group was following as closely as they could, but they didn't want to scare the undead bugger off and they had to stick to the shadows. That meant for at least the first bit she was on her own.
"Grrr…"
When the growl sounded she was ready for it, unfortunately she wasn't ready for the large body that slammed into her back throwing her face first into the ground.
"GIN!"
"Two bloody nights in a row…" Ginny muttered to herself as she drew on her training and slammed her head backward into the demon's face. It shook him enough to let go slightly and she kicked at him and rolled away and out of his grasp. She came up in a crouched defensive position stake in hand.
"HELP HER!" Draco yelled again.
"STAY BACK!" Spike ordered the blonde Slytherin. He focused back on the fight. "Take him, Ginger."
The vampire snapped his head toward the voices in confusion. Panic flickered in his yellow eyes for a moment, but a quick kick landed to his jaw chased away any plans to flee. He growled again and started to circle Ginny. "Grrr…"
"Unoriginal," Ginny rolled her eyes at him, "at least the Sunnydale vamps come up with witty one-liners."
"I like my meals quiet." He hissed at her.
Ginny tilted her head to the side and curled her lips in disgust. "I said WITTY one-liners."
Losing what little control he had on his temper, the demon lunged at Ginny again. Ginny sidestepped out of the way and efficiently snapped out a leg to sweep his feet out from under him. The vampire slammed into the ground beside her hard and before the demon could recover from the fall Ginny buried the stake through his chest. He glared at her and growled before bursting into dust.
Heaving a putout sigh, Ginny stood back up from her crouched position and dusted at her clothes. "You're up, Dawnie, and be warned. The punnin'? Pretty much pointless with this group."
"Way harsh, Gin," Dawn shook her head as Willow dropped the blurring charm and the group stepped out of the shadows and toward Ginny, "he could just be like…the loser of he group. There could totally be some badass puns in there yet."
Ginny smirked at her. "I wish you luck." Then she turned side to side stretching out her back. Getting slammed into the ground repeatedly was SO not of the fun and it couldn't good for her spine. At this rate she'd definitely end up a crippled little old lady some day.
"Red, you alright?"
It took a moment for Ginny to realize that the voice wasn't Spike's and it was directed at her and not Willow. The fact that Spike was snickering in the background was a big clue. Ginny glared at the vampire before looking up into Malfoy's concerned eyes. "I'm fine. Nothing I haven't faced before. Hell, Spike and Buffy dealt out more damage during our training sessions."
"What EXACTLY was the meaning of that?" Ginny turned to see Professor Snape glaring into Spike's unconcerned face. "Your presence at Hogwarts is to ensure the protection the students, not endanger them further by…"
"Oh look, Gin!" Dawn interrupted them with a grin. "Mr. Creepy Guy's like all concerned for you! That's so sweet!"
Snape paused briefly to shoot Dawn a disgusted look, before he spun back on Spike. "That display was entirely uncalled for. Miss Weasley…"
"Is a slayer-in-training, mate, and if she can't face down one vamp with us ten feet away and ready to run to the rescue then she's living with a very short expiration date."
Snape still looked ready to explode and Spike's expression lit up in challenge. Ginny knew the situation could easily turn very ugly. But she watched amazed as Willow stepped between the two men.
Willow threw her 'Back off, Mister' glare at Spike and calmly faced down Ginny and Dawn's professor. "Professor Snape, I can assure you that I would never have allowed any harm to come to Ginny. We love Ginny. She's become one of our family over the last year. I would have ended the conflict at any sign that she was out of her depth."
"And if you were too late?" He glared.
Willow continued to hold his gaze. "I wouldn't have been too late."
"I find that very hard to believe…"
Snape trailed off as Willow's hair bled pure white and her eyes glowed brightly. Power practically poured off the witch in waves. As Ginny, Dawn, and Spike were somewhat used to this sight they just rolled their eyes. Sirius, Snape and Draco were a different matter.
Enjoying the chaos she'd caused, Willow smiled sweetly. "Believe it." Then she took a deep breath and her hair and eyes returned to normal. Snape just continued to gap at her. "Now then," she sent a devious smirk toward Ginny and Dawn, "shall we carry on?"
Draco leaned toward Ginny to whisper. "Please tell me that was a glamour."
Ginny grinned. "I can tell you whatever you'd like, Ferret."
"Bloody hell. I'm surrounded by super-witches."
Dawn jabbed Draco in the side. "Yeah, but just think of all the others things we could be uber-talented at." She winked at Ginny.
Ginny was not amused.
The next hour and a half passed rather uneventfully. One more vamp did come out to try and bite Dawn, but he was quickly dispatched by the Key and the group moved on. Most of the assembled patrol team thought this was a good sign. They sighed in relief when Willow suggested calling it a night. Ginny knew differently. She moved slightly away from the group and stared out over the dark forbidden forest.
After a few moments, Spike moved up beside her. "Feel them, do you Ginger?"
"Don't you?"
"Course," Spike shrugged, "they're out there...watching. They're not ready to show themselves just yet."
"They're waiting." Ginny agreed. "They're waiting for him. It's coming Spike and it's going to be very ugly." She finally pulled her gaze away and looked up at the vampire. "I'm afraid. I'm afraid they'll ruin this place...make it ugly and dirty and..."
"Theirs," Willow's voice broke in. She walked up beside them. "We understand, Ginny, and we're not going to let that happen."
"Hey!" Dawn grinned as she came up on Ginny's other side and wrapped her arm around the redhead's shoulders. Ginny felt a good amount of her tension melt away as she accepted her honorary twin's comfort. "Nothing we haven't seen before. He's just another big bad, Gin. They're all big and ugly and scary, but we always kick their asses in the end. Moldy won't be any different. We're gonna have to fight for what's ours. What's new?"
Spike snorted. "Ain't that the bloody truth."
Willow snickered. "The Scooby way of life."
"What are you people on about now?" Annoyance dripped from Malfoy's voice as he walked up beside them. When they didn't appear eager to explain their conversation he rolled his eyes and looked to Ginny and Dawn. "Professors Snape and Black are ready to call this little party to a close. We've ten minutes to reach our common rooms or they start deducting house points."
Ginny met his eyes and a warm shiver went through her at what she saw there. She nodded her thanks and looked quickly away.
Dawn watched the byplay and smirked. "Thanks, Mal-Ferret, duly noted."
Draco lingered beside them until Spike gave a low growl and cut his eyes in the boy's direction. The Slytherin threw the vampire a patented Malfoy sneer before turning and stalking away.
"Gonna keep my eyes on that one," Spike drawled.
Willow smirked. "I thought that was Ginny's job."
Ginny turned wide shocked eyes on the older witch. "WILLOW!"
Dawn, the traitor, burst into giggles. Spike gave another low growl in his throat.
Nine minutes and several seconds later, Ginny and Dawn ran through the portrait hole and into the Sunstone Common Room. They grinned at each other. No point deduction for them. Then they looked forward and the grins faded. They were faced with three very annoyed Seventh Years...and Brad Langford.
Ginny gulped. "Hello. Interesting night?"
Dare lifted a brow. "Not yet, but it will be."
Dawn forced a smile. "Really? What's up? Late night party?"
Hunter shook his head. "Late night interrogation."
Ginny and Dawn shared a glance and a thought. Oh goody.
"So," Chris shot them a feral smile, "why don't you two girls come and make yourselves comfortable on these cushy couches? Then you can explain to us what exactly this patrolling involves and how it was arranged that you participate?"
"And then we can decide how to get ourselves volunteered as well because you're not doing this without us." Dare jumped in.
"Oh, and don't forget to mention exactly what purpose Draco Malfoy the incredible bouncing ferret had during this patrol." Hunter growled.
Ginny glared at Chris for that last one. The Seventh Year just smiled sweetly and shrugged. Ginny looked to Dawn. Dawn was staring confused off to the side...at Langford. Ginny looked the Hawkthorne's way as well. "And your purpose in this inquisition?"
He smirked. "To let you know that if you do anything to get yourselves thrown out of quidditch I'll kill you myself."
Ginny rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. "Right then. Let's get on with it, shall we?"
============
End of Chapter!
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I hope you enjoyed it! PLEASE let me know if you did! I'm working on the next chapter now!
Hope to hear from some of you!
Jade Elise
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Next Chapter: Fallout from the semi-snog session, the Gryffindor Trio are now firmly on the scent of a new adventure, and more interesting Hogwarts classes...