Over My Head

Chapter 10: Temptation Waits

You come on like a drug

I just can't get enough...

I never needed anybody like this before-Garbage

She was still there when I woke up. I can't remember liking anything so much as whatever I felt when I woke up with her beside me. Her hair was spread out behind her, her hands clutching at me as she slept, and the first traces of morning light filtered through the curtains, falling on her.

I didn't want to wake her. She was so peaceful, her eyelids faintly blue, her lips slightly parted. I disentangled myself slowly and shut the door behind me quietly.

I took a long, cold shower. When I was dry again, I heard screaming from the boys' tower. I dressed quickly and ran over, followed by sleepy girls in dressing gowns, including a petrified Hermione, holding her hissing and squirming cat.

Ron was, unsurprisingly, the one screaming. I couldn't tell why at first, but I quickly discovered that the floor of his and Harry's room was covered in spiders. Six-inch-tall spiders, actually, that were spitting something silvery that looked vaguely poisonous. Other than the spitting, however, they were not moving. I looked up to see Harry standing on his bed, his wand drawn, staring intently at the floor.

"Impedimenta?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I haven't cursed them. They were like that when I woke up." I looked over at Ron.

"I haven't cursed them either," he whimpered.

"Well that's interesting." I walked forward, right up to one of them, and squatted in front of it. It stopped spitting for a moment, and I used the spare time to fling out my hand. Within seconds, the students cowering in the doorway ducked and I held a cup and a small vial of holy water. "Damn," I muttered, realizing that whatever I'd just done, I'd done too much of, for I'd only wanted the cup. Oh well. The next time the spider spit, I caught it.

"What are you doing?" Ron cried out. "Get away from them. They're evil!"

"Maybe. But I'd rather associate with them than with you." I smiled to myself. Ron was glowering.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're fatuous."

"I am not fat."

"Fatuous, Ron. I'm using big words again. Better run and tell Hermione on me."

"It means stupid." Hermione sighed from behind me. Ron glowered a bit more.

"What are you doing, Ginny?" Harry asked as I poured the holy water into the cup.

"Not much, actually." Nothing happened for a few moments, but then the clear liquid seemed to eat right through the spit. "Well. That's also quite interesting."

"What does that mean? Does it have to do with...you know-"

"Yes, Harry. These spiders are in fact spitting out vampires." I put the glass closer to my face, trying to figure out what it did mean.

***

"Well of course it's bloody demonic!" I cried in outrage at Snape's decision.

"I'll need the body of the creature before I can be certain what it is."

"We already told you it was a spider!" Ron said from his spot beside me. We were standing with Harry and Hermione before Snape's desk, waiting for Dumbledore to bring the spiders down.

"Shut up, you git," I hissed.

"Five points from Gryffindor for insulting a classmate," Snape said icily, smiling at his own genius. How could Draco respect this man? Not that I cared about house points anymore. In fact, that was entirely why I could not respect Snape at the moment. It was obvious that he had intended to anger me, but he had done such a trivial thing and had acted like it mattered.

I remembered then that to most students, it did. Why didn't it matter to me anymore? Yes, I disliked Harry and Ron and a few others, but when had I stopped caring about house points?

Even as I asked myself this, a little voice in my head muttered Oh, maybe, first year?

"But he insults the school everyday," I said calmly, without any malice apparent.

"Ginny, what are you doing?" Hermione whispered urgently from my other side. I ignored her.

"How, exactly, do I do that?" Ron asked.

"By coming here, thereby proving the obviously lowered standards of the school."

"Ten points from Gryffindor." I could have sworn I saw him mouth Although I do agree with you.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, I suppose in an attempt to defend his very dear best friend.

"Ronnie, what does fatuous mean?" I smiled as he visibly shook with the effort of containing himself.

"Shut up," Harry replied for him.

"Ten points."

"What Harry? Can't Ronnie here fend for himself? Or does he need our brave little hero to keep the ever-more-numerous wolves at bay?"

"Ten points."

Harry looked helplessly at me, not wanting to lose our house more points. Snape looked like not only had his birthday come early, but Remus Lupin had jumped out of the cake. I wondered when I had decided that a man with such poor personal bathing habits was gay. Then I tried to shake the image of Remus jumping out of a fake birthday cake from my head.

"Do you remember Quidditch? You had to see what it was like when you couldn't help your poor little Ronnie-boy. Awful, wasn't it?"

"Five points."

"Only five?" I turned to Snape.

"I'm feeling quite generous."

I smiled brutally at Harry. Poor, helpless Ron, standing there ineffectually with his equally helpless hero.

We were all entirely silent until Dumbledore and McGonagall walked in, Hagrid behind them, holding a large sack that was presumably full of spiders.

"So what are they?" I asked as Snape examined them. "Wait, let me guess. Demonic."

"Oh such a clever girl," he replied without looking up. "They are designed to look like Scytodidae, common spitting spiders."

"Funny how they wound up in Nancy Boy's dorm," I muttered, looking at my nails.

"Hmm. Funny." He walked to the other end of the room and started pulling out some books. "You may all go. I won't be finished here for a while."

"Bloody figures." I think Dumbledore smiled. Creepy old guy.

***

"Ginny did what? Why would she do that?"

"Why do you think? Guess who's ahead now? Slytherin!"

"Oh god, you think she did that all for her boyfriend?"

"Why else?"

Ah, what a lovely mess awaited me in the Great Hall. It hadn't been five minutes, and already everyone knew I'd lost Gryffindor forty points. Oh well.

"Hey Weasley!" Draco called out, pointing at the seat beside him. I walked over.

"Hi."

"Nice move," Blaise purred from across the table.

"Thanks, I guess."

"Why didn't you call me over before you did it? I would have loved to see his face," Draco said.

"Well I didn't plan it out."

"Maybe not," Blaise said, "but you better plan your escape route. I see some Gryffindors are out for blood."

"Eh."

"Eh?"

"Eh, as in I don't care. I don't see myself running for cover anywhere."

"Ginny!"

"And here they come," Blaise whispered, as if delighted by it.

"What?"

Seamus and several other fairly buff boys had walked over.

"I think you'd like to come outside with us."

I smiled. How easy.

"Yeh, I think you're right." I started to get up, when I saw McGonagall heading over.

"Miss Weasley?"

"Yes?"

"Please follow me to my office."

***

It was seven o'clock. God, what a day. Draco walked beside me as I went out toward the forest.

"What are we doing Weasley?"

"We're walking."

"I see that."

"You wanted to talk, Malfoy."

"I was thinking of more of an inside setting, like a classroom, or even your bedroom..."

"I've got a job to do."

"Does this have to do with whatever you didn't want me to see?"

"It is what I didn't want you to see. Quick, hide over there." I pointed behind a rock. He looked at me, doubting for a second, before he went.

The demon walked out slowly as if trying to impress me. He stopped to stare. I think he was acknowledging that we were about to duel. Finally, he rushed at me.

The fight was short, choppy, uninteresting. I punched him twice, flipped him over, and staked him while he was on his back. Before Draco could even come out, another one was on me, trying to bite. I threw him off, against a nearby tree. He came back, got in one last kick before he was dust.

"Draco? You alright?"

"I'm fine." He walked out, looking strangely nervous. "Are there more of them?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"What-"

"Vampires. My new night job. I kill them so they don't kill students."

"Huh."

"Yep."

"Who else knows?"

"The teachers and Hermione."

"Granger?"

"Yes."

"Why does Granger know?"

"Because...we talk about things."

"Really?"

"Draco..." I looked him in the eyes. "I think I'm in love with her."

"What?!"

"I think I'm in love with Hermione."

"I got that...I'm just confused."

"We've been sleeping together for a while. Now I think...oh fuck. I hate this. You know what happened today? Remember when McGonagall took me to her office this morning?"

"Bloody hell. You didn't sleep with her, did you?"

"Oh god no! That's disgusting."

"Good. Jesus."

"The point is, she told me that I'm going to stop taking regular classes."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"Except that I have to start doing this weird specialized training with Harry. Can you imagine? Eight hours of personal time with my favorite Boy Wonder. On top of that, I'm in love with his girlfriend. Fuck."

"Right. Hermione. Are you really?"

"Oh shut up!" I punched his arm.

"Ow."

I hit him again.

"Ow. Stop that."

I laughed and hit him again.

"Ow!"

I laughed again. He pouted at me.

"I'm probably going to bruise now, Weasley. I hope you're happy."

"I think I almost am." I smiled for a second, but then it faded. "Oh, I also slept with Blaise. It was stupid."

"Lord, you're easy!"

"Shut up! I'm fully capable of being you into an incredibly unattractive bloody pulp."

"Yeh, I figured that one out a minute ago."

"Right, vampires. Sadly, they are the least of my worries."

"Well, I think it's safe to say you will never be bored."

***

"Hermione."

I walked into her room, where she was reading.

"I'm going to bed," I said.

"I...I have to study, Ginny. I'm sorry."

"Oh." I could feel my face fall. "That's okay. That's fine. It's not like it was a date or anything. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

I didn't fall asleep for hours. At some point, I thought I heard her door open and close, but I let it pass, figured I had only imagined it.