Chapter 23

Spike followed Ginny and Draco through the halls, the twins having taken Blaise to the infirmary then gone to the Slytherin Common Room. He hoped the two in front of him knew where this room Dumbledore had given them was. Ginny babbled next to Draco, who listened with a lazy grin on his face. Mine, Spike thought possessively. He preened as he heard the whispers of interest and speculation and whistled slightly under his breath. Oh yeah. He was the Big Bad alright. Ginny laughed at something Draco said and Spike watched with appreciation the way her hips swung and Draco’s smooth strides that somehow seemed to have the same effect. Making him really, really horny. “Where are we going, pets?”

“My Common Room. I have stuff there I want. And I need to listen to some music before I go mad,” Ginny said theatrically. The two blonds chuckled.

“I thought we settled this? We’re all barking.”

“You two are, that’s for sure.” Spike raised an eyebrow as they turned to look at him with mock outrage.

“Grrrr,” Ginny growled at him. He let his features ripple over and growled back. That got a few screams. The three of them laughed, and then headed down the corridor again after Spike dropped one cigarette butt and started on another. Ginny’s steps started to slow as they got nearer to the entrance of the Gryffindor rooms and Draco nudged her with his shoulder.

“We’ll be beside you.”

“And if anyone looks at you funny, they’ll be in pain. Alright, luv?” Ginny nodded and sighed waveringly. Spike pulled her up into his arms, ignoring the people around them and kissed her hard, teeth grating against her lips, bruising possessiveness. “You’re *mine*. I always look after what’s mine.” And those I love, he added silently to himself but no need to tell them that. “C’mon, witch.” Ginny nodded and faced up to the Fat Lady who was watching the proceedings with thinly veiled interest.

“Caritas.”

“You know, that’s a karaoke demon bar in LA?” Spike said randomly as the portrait swung open to let them through. Azrael leapt in and ran up the stairs, obviously glad to be home. The murmur of voices drifted down the stairs, and Ginny squared her shoulders and stepped through the doorway.

“GINNY!” A chorus of gasps went up from the assembled Gryffindors, and then Draco and Spike stepped through.

“Right, get your things, love. Me and the boy’ll be right.”

“Who are you calling boy, Spike?”

“You, obviously, twit. I’m a hundred and twenty six. You’re eighteen. You’re a boy. Now, shut up and sit down.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” Draco sketched a salute as Spike flopped himself down in an armchair and propped his boots up on a table. The vampire chuckled. Ginny grinned at the two of them and went upstairs to her dorm room, leaving them to bicker amicably and annoy, shock and horrify all the Gryffindors.

“Brat.”

“Perhaps. That may need more discussion. Give us a smoke, Spike.” Draco held his hand out and Spike tossed the Slytherin his pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Draco lit up then threw them back. “Ta.”

“You can’t smoke in here! You’re not allowed to smoke on school premises. It’s against the rules,” Hermoine gasped.

Spike chuckled lazily, before deliberately breathing a stream of smoke up at the ceiling. “I’m evil. Not keeping the rules comes as part of the package, ducks.” He grinned.

“Of course, how rude of me. This is Spike, known more formally as William the Bloody,” Draco drawled, leaning on the high back of the chair Spike had sat down in. “Master vampire.” Spike obligingly flashed his game face. “Thank you for the charming visual aid, Spike.”

‘No problem, dragon.” Spike thought for a moment. “Charming?”

“Yes, charming. You could make a living selling used brooms. Unliving.” Draco made a dismissing motion with his hand that wasn’t occupied with a cigarette. “Whatever.”

“Oh, look. White knights in profusion.” Spike let his eyes drift along the students. “If I ate one of you, I’d go into hyperglycaemic shock. Vanilla, anyone?” Draco snickered and dragged on the cigarette he held between two slim fingers. Thudding of feet came from the stairwell, and then Harry and Ron burst into the room, breathing hard.

“Where’s Ginny?” Ron gasped out. Spike looked at Draco in query.

“Ginny’s brother.”

“And the other git?”

“The guy whose arse we’re gonna pull out of the fire.” Draco stubbed the butt of the cigarette out under his bootheel. Harry and Ron were glaring at him. “What?”

“What are you doing in our Common Room? Who is that? And where is my sister, you pasty blond freak?” Ron hissed angrily, before striding up to Draco aggressively. Spike had been watching lazily but at that move, he uncoiled himself into action. Ron found himself pinned up against the wall, two hands with black tipped fingernails clutching the material on either side of his neck and face to face with a snarling, gamefaced vampire.

“Mine! You don’t fucking touch what’s mine!” Spike slammed the back of Ron’s head into the wall. Draco watched, one eyebrow delicately upraised.

“Really loving the over protectiveness, Spike, but you bang his head like that a few more times and he’ll lose the little sense he already had. Don’t you people know *anything* about vampires? Note, collar, bitemarks. Idiots.” Draco rolled his eyes in disgust. “Ginny’s got a nice set of ‘em too,” he added, just to be a mind fucking opportunist.

“WHAT?!” Oh yeah. That worked well. Draco smirked, and then Spike started to laugh, dropping Ron into a heap on the ground. For someone who shouldn’t have to breathe, he was gasping and wiping at his eyes and carrying on so, Draco thought.

“Oh, bloody hell. Should we run this from the top?” Ginny appeared at the top of the stairs, eyes wary as she considered the uproar in front of her. “Ginny, my lovely, come down here please.” Arms piled high with clothes and assorted junk, she made her way over to Spike, blinking slowly as she looked at Ron on the ground and Harry with his wand out at Spike.

“What happened?”

“Ron is an extremely lucky little red haired boy. If Spike hadn’t promised Dumbledore he wouldn’t eat anyone, he’d have his throat ripped out by now,” Draco said, smiling slightly.

“Oh, that all? Let’s go.” Ginny walked over to the door. “’M tired.” Spike ran his hands over her back , and she arched her spine and purred. “Mmm. Good. Bed now, please.”

“Why wait for a bed?” Spike said teasingly, just to watch the blush sweep over her face. She leant her head forward, then jerked it backwards, hitting him solidly in the middle of his chest, before continuing on with dignity. “Hey!” He said in protest.

“You deserve everything you get, Mr. I’m the fucking Big Bad,” she tossed back over her shoulder, red hair bouncing slightly. “Vampire.”

“Witcchhh,” he hissed after her, grinning.

“Bleached wonder.”

“Red.”

“Is this a game for two, or can anyone play?” Draco drawled in his upper class accent, slight smirk on his thin lips.

“Ohhhh, I don’t know. Can he play, Spike?”

“Only if he bites.” Spike ran his hands through his hair and turned back to face the room of shocked into silence Gryffindors. “Should I tell them, or should you?”

“If they’re so ignorant, maybe they deserve to be enlightened but seeing as how there’s first years in the room,” Draco heaved a melodramatic sigh, “probably not the time and place.”

“Oh, how sad. I’m gonna corrupt the littlies.” Spike got a wicked gleam in his eye, and Draco glanced at him, then looked back in horror.

“Hey, wha-mmph!” Draco was cut off by Spike’s lips. He bit down on Spike’s bottom lip in protest, and the vampire just growled and kissed him harder, hand holding his head in an unbreakable grip and other hand on the small of his back, pressing their hips together.

Spike broke off abruptly and Draco gasped for breath. “I forget. Humans, ya need to breathe.”

“I hate you,” Draco gritted out from between his teeth. “Hate you, *a lot*.” Ginny had by now disappeared down the staircase. Spike smirked and reached out to ruffle Draco’s hair. “Don’t. Or that hand will never touch anything again.”

“Fine, mate. Coming?” Spike turned and Draco, after a final snarl at the Gryffindors walked after him, black mood firmly ensconced on his shoulders. Ginny frowned at Spike, dumped her stuff in his arms despite protests, warning him if one thing got dropped, he would pay for it, Claimer or no, and grabbed Draco’s hands, curling her fingers around his.

“What’s wrong?”

“My rep’s shot to hell, that’s all. Stupid vampire, I bet all the bleach fries his brain.”

“Ah.” They walked in silence for a bit longer. “So, mind telling me what he did, exactly?” Spike was stomping and growling ahead of them, obviously able to hear everything they said to each other softly.

“Not going to, Red. Don’t ask.” Ginny just squeezed his hand and leant her head against his shoulder. He sighed, last remnants of his anger trickling away. “Wish we hadn’t had to come back. Didn’t have to be the coolly arrogant smart arse people expect me to be here. I could be myself. I say after this is finished, we all get the hell out. Go to another dimension, something, just go somewhere that isn’t here.”

“Good idea. What do you think, Spike?”

‘Sounds fan-fucking-tastic! My world though. But not anywhere near the Poof or Slutty.”

“I don’t know, I liked Anya and Wesley.”

“What, demon chit and the Boy Watcher? And that’s Boy Watcher as in Boy Wonder, not as in watcher of boys, though I think he might swing that way,” Spike concluded thoughtfully. “Now his soul’s permanent, peaches might actually do something about it.” They conversed about this until they reached the room, then argued about it some more. Then there was making up shagging. Then more argument, then it was time for dinner.

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