Written for the Houses Competition, Year 2, Round 10
House: Hufflepuff
Year: Prefect 1 (Stand-in)
Category: Themed
Prompt: [Color] Yellow- [Event] Big get together
Word Count: 2451
Betas: Aya, Magi
Susan walked nervously through the crowds of her former housemates. The room was almost completely yellow; the tablecloths, the streamers, the napkins, the Muggle balloons that Justin had introduced them to, and at the back of the room was a banner displaying a large badger. Someone bumped into Susan, causing her to bump into poor Megan Jones, who almost fell into the perfectly-prepared yellow cake that was made for the occasion.
It was Ernie's idea for the whole thing; a Hufflepuff house reunion. She thought he was only inviting the people in their year, but instead he'd invited pretty much everyone who was in Hufflepuff from the past twenty years. He knew how she got during big events with lots of people and crowded rooms. But yet, he insisted that she go.
Not that she'd didn't want to go, but she was naturally socially awkward. The only people she could make herself talk to were Hannah, who she hadn't see in forever and who had told Susan about her new position as landlady of the Leaky Cauldron and her engagement to war hero Neville Longbottom. Then there was Leanne, who was already on her second marriage; and a man who was a year below her when they were in Hogwarts whom she had little clue about.
She never had much to do with her housemates after graduation, except maybe the occasional owl to Ernie. She got a job at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the same place where her aunt worked so many years ago. She dated a Muggle man for a short period a few years ago, but otherwise had no interest in dating. A few months ago, she got an owl from Ernie, wanting to plan a get-together. She helped with most of the planning, along with Ernie and Justin. She never thought that Ernie would invite so many people, but she was wrong. She just wanted to slip out of the room and Floo back home, but she knew that she should stick around. She wouldn't have dedicated her time into this if she wasn't going to enjoy herself.
She made her way through the crowd and to the refreshment table, where she grabbed herself a glass of lemonade. She didn't feel like one of those fancy yellow cocktails that Justin was mixing up. She made her way to a small yellow-clad table in the corner , where she sat and slowly sipped on her lemonade, watching as the floor opened up and music starting playing: it was the start of the after-dinner dance.
She watched as Ernie took to the floor with his new girlfriend, Sally-Ann Perks, who Susan shared a dorm with for their Hogwarts years. She couldn't believe that once upon a time, she had a crush on Ernie. In their third year, throughout their fifth. After her aunt was murdered, Susan moved on from stupid girly crushes and got ready for revenge. Of course, in time, her aunt's death was well avenged. She missed her aunt all the time, but had to be grateful that she wasn't like Hannah, whose mother was murdered back in their sixth year was pulled out from Hogwarts soon after. She missed her friend greatly after that, and wished that she could comfort her. But that was in the past.
She sipped up the rest of her lemonade and got up to get more when she heard that the cake was being cut, and got in line for the cake at the very back. By the time that she got up to it, there were just crumbs left.
Today was not her day.
Justin shot her an apologetic look. She sighed, and decided that she needed some air. She slipped out the door of the hall that they decided they'd use for the event, and down the adjacent hallway that connected the hall to the rest of the building and headed to the exit. She breathed a sigh of relief as she opened the door and took a deep breath of fresh air. She took a seat on a nearby bench and looked around. She heard an owl hoot as she saw the bushes nearby rustle and out jumped a rabbit. She stared at it for a minute absentmindedly before it hopped away. She turned her attention to the stars above. She took note of how well they were visible here in somewhat the middle of nowhere compared to London.
She got up and decided to take a stroll. She walked around the side of the building to the little park right next to it, sitting down on a swing at the little play structure there. She gave a kick at the ground, causing the swing to slightly move. She remembered when her aunt would take her to the Muggle park as a kid and push her on the swing. Suddenly, it became too much for Susan and she quickly got off the swing as she felt tears coming into her eyes.
She made her way back to the doors, taking one last breath of the misty night air before heading back in. She walked towards the bathroom, feeling the need to go, before, as if out of nowhere, a pair of arms seized her.
She jumped in fright as one hand covered her mouth and the other arm put her in a choke-hold. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. She was dragged into the dark, empty bathroom as her hands frantically searched for her wand. The person who forced her into the room pushed her down on the ground, muttered a Leg-Locking curse, grabbed her wand, used his wand to tie a rope around her hands, and shoved a gag in her mouth. She fussed and screamed and yelled, but nothing could be heard with the gag in her mouth.
A "Lumos" was muttered as her attackers' wand lit up and Susan saw the identity of her attacker. She may have only been able to make out basic facial features, but she knew exactly who they were.
"It's about time that you've got what's coming for you, Susie." sneered the voice as they cast a Muffliato Charm and took the gag out of Susan's mouth. She screamed. Her attacker laughed.
"No one's going to hear you, love," they said, and a smirk was visible on their face.
"What do you want from me?" Susan snapped, tears of fear falling down her face.
"You, beautiful," they said, stroking their hand across Susan's cheek, making her cringe. They noticed this, however, and cut her cheek with a blade. She winced in pain.
"For the last time, I will never go out with you! I'm sick of you asking! Every day, since the day I left Hogwarts, you've been owling me. You've been stalking me, and I've had it! I rather die than date you!" she shouted, crying.
"Well, if that's what you wish, sweetheart," they sneered. The tears ran faster around Susan's face as her attacker pointed their wand at her, muttering the two most unforgivable words to exist.
"Avada Kedavra."
Ernie had to admit, he may have gone overboard.
He supposes that he got a wee bit carried away with the invites.
.
At least there was almost enough cake for everyone.
Him and Sally-Ann had been dancing on the floor for at least an hour together. They were almost the last ones on the floor. Everyone else had taken a seat and rested while drinking champagne or one of the yellow cocktails that Justin had spent all night making. He himself was getting a little sweaty and Sally-Ann's face was severely flushed, as if she were to pass out. They left the dance floor and stopped by the bar, where Ernie grabbed waters for the both of them. They sat at a table where Zacharias and Leanne were already hanging out at. Leanne was laughing and Zach looked uncomfortable.
"How are you guys doing?" Ernie asked as he sat down.
"Zach was just telling the most funny joke ever." Leanne giggled flirtatiously.
"Stop flirting Lea, you're married." Sally-Ann joked.
"Yes, but let's be honest, this one won't last long. It's always good to have a back-up." Leanne gave a very un-Hufflepuff-like smirk.
"I'm not interested in you, Leanne, even if you were single." Zach grumbled. Leanne ignored this and continued flirting.
"Are you interested in anyone, Zach?" Ernie asked.
"No. Relationships make me feel uncomfortable."
"You're so uptight!" Leanne exclaimed.
"And a bit of an arse," Sally-Ann added. Zach glared at her.
"That's an understatement." Ernie laughed. Zach mumbled under his breath as he got up, presumably for another drink.
Suddenly, a high-pitched scream was heard as Hannah Abbott burst into the room. The room went silent as everyone looked at her.
"What's wrong, Hannah?" Ernie asked.
"It-it's, oh Merlin, it was dreadful, I-I can't believe it..." Hannah stuttered in shock. Ernie got up and guided her to a chair. She sat down, took a big sip of Leanne's firewhisky, and started crying. Almost everyone rushed to her side to comfort her. Ernie patted her back as she sobbed into his shirt.
"Come on, Hannah, tell us what happened." Megan Jones, who was one of the first to rush to Hannah's aid, said soothingly.
"It-it's... I can't" Hannah sobbed.
"You can. Come on, sweetie. It's okay." Megan said calmly. Ernie doesn't know how she does it.
"It... It's Susan..." Hannah weeped.
"Susan... I haven't seen her in hours, have any of you caught a glimpse of her recently?" Leanne asked, now suddenly concerned. Everybody shook their heads.
"What all happened?" Zach asked.
"W-well, I was headed to the bathroom, and n-noticed that the lights were off, so I turned on the s-switch, but the lights still wouldn't turn o-on, so I used Lumos, and made m-my way to a cubicle, but in the middle of the floor, oh it was horrible! H-her, Susan, on the f-floor, dead." Hannah wept. The room was silent. Some gasped, some shook their heads in disbelief, some started crying.
"Susan? Not Susan. No." Leanne said, slowly sitting back down in her chair in disbelief.
"Will you take us to her?" Megan asked Hannah. Hannah shook her head. Megan stood up.
"Ernie, Justin, Zach, come with me. We need to check this out." Megan said. The three men followed her out of the room, down the hallway, and into the woman's loo. It was darker than night in there.
"Lumos Duo" Megan said, and a bright light came from her wand, illuminating the room.
Like Hannah had described, Susan Bones' lifeless body was sprawled on the ground.
Untouched, with no marks other than a cut on her cheek. No evidence of a murder, yet it seemed the most logical cause of death.
"She was murdered." Megan said.
"Like that wasn't obvious!" Zacharias snapped.
"Stop that. Our friend is dead, you git." Justin almost shouted, tears streaming down his face. He just couldn't believe it. One of his best friends, gone.
"Let's go tell the others. We'll need to get her body out of here before she stinks up the place. We don't want to get sued." Zach said.
"And yet again, you say things like that. Zach, come on. It's Susan. Susan's dead." Ernie sobbed. He could've sworn that Zach teared up a bit as they left the room with her body. They laid her out by the front door until they could get more professional equipment to get her out of the building.
Megan blinked back tears, grasped Ernie's hand briefly, then nodded. "Let's go tell them."
They walked back into the hall, where everyone was eagerly awaiting their return. Ernie took a deep breath, then spoke.
"Susan has been murdered." Everyone stared in shock at the four.
"She must have been killed by someone among us. Everyone, pack up. Party's over." The room was soon bustling with nervous chatter. Many people were in tears at the news.
"Are you sure about that, Ernie?" Megan questioned.
"Has to be. Susan never communicated with anyone outside our house much, and I highly doubt that it was a Muggle." Ernie said. Megan stared at him in awe.
"Why aren't you an Auror?" She asked.
Just then, they heard a loud crash from outside. Sally-Ann jumped and clinged to his arm.
"What was that?" Justin said nervously.
"We'll go see," Megan said and walked to the door, Ernie, Justin, and Sally-Ann following close behind. She opened the door, to find that the hallway lights had been turned off. Megan illuminated the tip of her wand once more, and they investigated down the hallway. When they got to the front door, they found Susan's body moved around the corner, right by a shelf, where half of the contents were broken on the floor.
"Someone tried to dispose of her body," Justin breathed.
"Obviously they didn't do a good job..." Megan said.
Sally-Ann screamed loudly and pointed. The three others looked where she was pointing and Megan directed her wand in that direction. A figure was standing, frozen.
Before anyone could react, a voice shouted out, "Avada Kedavra!" as the figure pointed their wand at them.
A flash of green light came from their wand and hit Megan square in the chest. She fell over, lifeless. Ernie gasped and rushed to her body, as the figure cast the same curse. It hit Justin, then Sally-Ann. Ernie tried not to cry as the green light came flying towards him.
"Where are they?" Leanne exclaimed impatiently. Hannah whimpered as Oliver Rodgers rubbed her back.
"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves; we better get ready to leave," Oliver said. Leanne stiffened up.
"I'm not going anywhere until they come back!" she snapped.
"Is it because you're too drunk to Apparate?" Eleanor Branstone questioned. Leanne hesitated, then slowly nodded.
All of a sudden, the lights in the hall turned off. A chorus of Lumos were heard. Someone screamed.
Standing there, in the wandlight, was Zacharias Smith. He laughed to himself as he shouted "Confringo!" and the room went up in flames as it exploded.