Chapter Two: Smoke in the Bathroom
Five years had passed, and two girls stood in the first floor bathroom that was the frequent hangout of the ghost named Moaning Myrtle. The two of them were rolling cigarettes and talking speedily, as if they only had a short time to talk about as much as possible.
"Shi, Lighter please darling" Nikole said to the other girl, flicking her permanently straightened newly black hair over her shoulder, and grabbing the lighter from her friend so she could light her cigarette.
"Cheers baby" the other black haired girl said, taking back her lighter, and using it to light her freshly rolled smoke.
"What are we supposed to be in?" Nikole muttered as she inhaled, this was a usual occurrence, the once studious girls now spent their class time in .
"Arithimancy." Was the reply, and Nikole nodded.
"I'm surprised, in our three years of wagging at least one class a day, we've never been caught, and we've always passed our exams. What did you get on your O. again? 10 O.? Same as me." Nikole said, shrugging. Shinae nodded, and flicked ash off the end of her smoke with a smile.
"But Sarah always comes up with good excuses for us" Shinae said, and Nikole nodded again. Sarah, how ever much she disapproved of their rule breaking, made up excuses to tell the professors so that Nikole and Shinae wouldn't get in trouble.
"So, how are things with Blaise?" Shinae continued, looking at Nikole mischievously and then laughing at her facial expression.
"He's to busy drooling over Sarah's innocent cleavage to notice me. I'm way hotter than her!" Nikole wailed, and took another puff of her smoke. Shinae giggled again. There was no way Sarah and Blaise would get together. For one, she didn't drink or smoke like he did, and she totally disapproved of it, and two, she didn't date very much at all.
"I know Nik. Move on. Draco Malfoy is way hotter!" Shinae said. Shinae had sported a small crush on the Slytherin Prince for almost a year now, and had recently told her best friend of a little meeting on the train, where he had actually been looking for her to have a conversation with.
A couple more girls entered then, and the two girls already in there smiled at the newcomers, who were fellow Slytherins, though they were a year older.
"Pansy! You owe me a smoke!" Shinae reminded the seventh year Slytherin, who extracted a tailor-made cigarette from her school skirt pocket, and handed it to the sixth year. All of the girls in the bathroom had shortened their uniform skirts to above the knee, a good three inches shorter than the knee length requirement. Their blouses were tight, and they each wore a long black singlet under the blouse that bunched around their hips. They wore knee high socks and ankle boots, except for Millicent, who wore knee high black leather boots.
"Millicent!" Nikole shouted, and she hugged the girl standing behind Pansy, and then hugged Pansy. The girls were welcomed in quickly, and the door shut before the smell of smoke could linger in the hallway and revealed their presence in the out of order bathroom.
"Blaise Zabini is a better fuck than Draco" Pansy said, initiating that she had heard the end of Nikole and Shinae's conversation. Millicent grinned widely at Pansy, who shrugged off the fact.
"You'd know, right Pansy?" Nikole commented, and the three others laughed. Pansy was known throughout the school for her sexual activity, as apart from her pug nose she was rather pretty, with shiny black hair and a figure to die for. Nikole had only become friends with Pansy and Millicent in the last year, after she had broken friends with Ginny Weasley, Romilda Vane and Demelza Robins, who were all Gryffindors.
"Very True" Millicent nodded, poking her tongue out at her best friend and fellow Seventh year.
"What class are you two supposed to be in?" Shinae asked the older girls, who had just shrugged their school satchels off their shoulders and onto the ground, before sitting up on the sinks, which had been applied with cushioning charms at the start of the year by the girls.
"Herbology" they muttered at the same time, and the other two girls nodded, Herbology was the girls' least favourite subject purely because of the fact that they got soil under their nails and could break them so easily right after a perfect manicure.
"Arithimancy" they replied before Pansy and Millicent could ask. All was silent while the girls all lit up cigarettes, Shinae and Nikole on their second. The door opened, and all of the girls tucked their burning cigarettes behind their backs, not knowing who could be coming in here at this time of the period.
"It's only me girls!" someone called, and they all recognised the voice and pulled their smokes back out and resumed smoking.
"Hi Lillia!" Shinae called out to her dorm mate, Lillia Yaxley, who had also come in for a smoke.
"I really couldn't be bothered with Ancient Runes" she said, and the other's nodded in pity. Nikole and Shinae hadn't taken the subject, but they'd heard complaining from Lillia for the last couple of years.
"Lighter anyone?" she said, after searching her pockets for her own one. Three of the girls pulled out their lighters, and Lillia took Shinae's which was closer.
"Thanks darling" Lillia said to Shinae, handing her back the lighter and inhaling deeply on her smoke.
"So, where's the party at tonight? Room of Requirement again?" Pansy asked, and the other girls all nodded.
"I managed to get 100 Galleons worth of Firewhisky. Nik got some pot off her cousin. We even managed to get muggle music. Everyone loves muggle music, especially Rock and Country." Shinae said, and all of the girls nodded in agreement.
"Good pot this time? The stuff Lillia got was shit!" Millicent said, and Pansy shrugged half-heartedly, not wanting to hurt her friend's feelings.
"I didn't know it was laced!" Lillia exclaimed, and Millicent looked away guiltily and the other girls laughed quietly.
"I must get Mother to send me my Faith Hill and Martina McBride CDs, I can't believe I left it home without my country CD collection" Nikole said, taking a long drag on her smoke and shaking her head in disgust with herself.
"Oh, make sure you get Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn too!" Shinae reminded Nikole excitedly and the other girls muttered in agreement.
"My mum got me an AC/DC DVD for my birthday, its brilliant!" Lillia said, and Nikole squeaked.
"AC/DC! Oh my god! I love them!" Nikole said her voice high.
"Excuse me girls, Sorry to break up the little party, but you should all be in class!" a mans stern voice was behind them, and all of the girls spun around, smokes still in their hands.
"Ah. So sorry Headmaster" Pansy said, and Millicent, Shinae, Nikole, and Lillia nodded.
"Pure bloods, with a fetish for muggle music?" he said, sounding confused.
"Yeah" the girls all muttered, blushing.
"What do you guys think of Bon Jovi?" he asked, smirking.
"Oh My God! Don't you just love them! They're legendary!" Shinae exclaimed, and the girls agreed slightly. Bon Jovi was Shinae's favourite band, but the other girls thought they were alright.
"Indeed. Back to class, please girls." Snape said, and he smirked again, as all the girls rushed past him, reeking of smoke.
That night, was a Thursday, and even though there was a full day of classes tomorrow, the girls were still going to have their party, as usual. Shinae, Millicent, Nikole, Pansy and Lillia were in the Room of Requirement, smokes in one hand and a bottle of Firewhisky in the other. All the hundred or so bottles had Refilling charms on them, and shot glasses were stacked up on a table in the corner. Couches had lined the room, like they always did at the girls' parties. The girls themselves were all in mini-skirts and tank tops.
People were starting to come in now. Some of the first people to come were Draco, Blaise, Theodore, Max and Patrick. All of them had little square packages of smokes in their pockets. The guys were in their muggle best also, baggy jeans and tops. Draco was wearing a black logo hoody and Blaise looked damn fine. Nikole was practically drooling onto the floor. He had on a black singlet, that looked tight and emphasized his Quidditch body, and an open white shirt patterned with black skulls on the collar.
"Hey Blaise" Nikole said nervously, and Shinae muffled her giggles.
"Hey, Nikole?" he said, and she nodded. He remembered her name!
"Shinae" Draco stated, and she smiled at him in a flirty way.
"Draco" she stated in the same tone, and Millicent and Nikole rolled their eyes at each other.
"Are your groupies coming Nikole?" Draco asked, and the boys laughed
"Groupies?" Nikole asked, raising her eyebrows at the blonde boy.
"That goody-two-shoes chick in our house and that ugly Hufflepuff" he said, and Shinae and Nikole laughed.
"Sarah and Laura? How are they my groupies?" Nikole asked, slightly confused
"They like worship you." he replied, and looked her up and down. Nikole shook her head at him, offended for calling her friends groupies. Shinae glared at her as if to say 'He's mine!' and Nikole gave her the slightest nod.
"So, what music ya got?" Blaise asked and Nikole lead them over to the muggle music player in the corner, which had been magically amplified.
"Bon Jovi! AC/DC! Guns N' Roses! Mean!" he said enthusiastically, and Nikole nodded.
In less than an hour, the music was blaring loudly, and everyone was either wasted, stoned, or both. People were grinding up against one another to the music, and cigarettes and empty bottles littered the ground. Nikole was stuck between Draco and Blaise, with Shinae on Draco's other side as the stood on a table, she felt Draco lean forward to start kissing her neck, but she brushed him off delicately before running her hands all over Blaise's chest to show both boys of her intentions. She could hear Shinae giggling as she skulled back more fire whiskey. Blaise lit a cigarette and offered it to Nikole, who took it and watched him light another with his wand. Nikole didn't even realise that Draco was no longer pressing his hard muscular body against her back, he and Shinae were sitting on a couch, drinks and cigarettes in hands, talking. Shinae looked frustrated, and Draco looked somewhat apologetic for what he was telling her.
"Hey you" Blaise said, turning around and placing his hands on her waist and pulling her as close as possible. She smiled at him, before looking back over to the couch, where Draco was now sitting alone.
"I'll be right back" Nikole said, and she turned to move out of his arms. He held her there, leaning in for a chaste kiss before letting her go.
"Please rush" he said with his alluring slur, and she smiled widely. Inside, though she was confused, she'd had a crush on Blaise for months, and now that he wanted her too, she couldn't think of anything but Draco's apologetic face as he looked at Shinae, and now Shinae had disappeared. Nikole leaped off the table, stumbling as she hit the ground, and she dodged through people to get to Draco.
"Draco? What'd you say to her?" Nikole asked him, sitting next to him and looking up at him, where she could see a hint of a tear in his eyes.
"I told her that I didn't want a relationship with her. I know I should've told her when she was sober, but she was trying to kiss me, then she wanted to know why I wasn't kissing back. I couldn't. I told her that I like someone else" He sniffed, and she honestly thought she was going to cry.
"Where'd she go?" Nikole asked, and Draco looked over towards the door out to the seventh floor corridor.
"Pansy took her to her dormitory" Draco said, and stood up, leaving the half bottle of fire whiskey on the couch. "Would you like to accompany me back to the common room?" She nodded before thinking through the question. It wasn't until they were both walking down toward the dungeons that she realised what she was doing. She was glad that no-one had noticed them leaving together at the party, because Shinae would have been crushed.
"Do you wanna come up to my dorm and talk for a bit, I really don't want to sleep yet" He asked, and Nikole nodded as she sipped from the bottle of fire whiskey she had taken from the party before leaving.
They walked up to the seventh year boys dormitory and lay on Draco's bed, pulling the curtains before applying a silencing charm so they could talk without waking Crabbe and Goyle, who had come back from the party early after failing to score a girl to sleep with.
The two of them talked for hours, hearing Blaise slip back to the dormitory with a giggling girl, who with a peek from the curtain, was revealed to be some fifth year Slytherin who'd had a bit too much to drink.
"I can't believe I liked a guy who picked up a different girl as often as possible. I used to desperately want to be one of his many conquests, hoping that I'd be able to change his ways. I have no idea what the hell I was thinking." Nikole said in a whisper, forgetting that a silencing charm was applied.
"Thank heavens that tonight he decided to use a silencing charm. You deserve more than that, Nik. A hell of a lot more." Draco said, smiling when she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Did you tell Shi who you liked?" She asked quietly, feeling him run her fingers through her hair.
"I couldn't tell her, it would hurt her to much to know that I like one of her friends, and the girl I like would never date me, she'd be scared of betraying her best friend." He whispered into her hair, sending shivers down her spine. She looked up at him, confused.
"Lillia?" She asked and Draco laughed softly, his mouth never moving away from her ear, sending more shivers down her spine and his hot breath tickled her ear.
"No, not Lillia. And it's not Sarah, Laura, Millicent, Daphne or Pansy. That only leaves one person, I think" He said and she smiled to herself and looked up at him.
"Me?" she asked and he kissed her nose before grinning down at her and nodding. "But why?" she asked, and he shook his head.
"Your extremely modest you know. You're very pretty, and you never fail to make me laugh, and I love your laugh, so I try constantly to make you laugh, though my attempts at humour often seem to confuse you. You're not skinny, like the rest of your friends, you have curves, and I like a little something to hold onto. I think, most of all, you don't avoid me like a leper just because I've got the Mark. Not many people know about it, and when you spotted it, you didn't care, and you don't care about what people think of yourself and others, you try to make your own judgements of people." He said quickly, his pale cheeks burning scarlet. She smiled at him, looking surprised.
"You really think I'm all of those things?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Honestly, you're all that and more. Believe me; I've watched you for a long time. I am rather observant, I bet you haven't noticed that Patrick Parkinson's had his eye on Lillia for a long time, and Theodore's been trying all term to get Laura to notice him, and both Crabbe and Goyle adore Shinae, though she's way to good for them, and Max has his eye on her as well. Blaise, though would be the biggest surprise, he only brings those girls here with him hoping that Sarah will get jealous. When he asked her to Hogsmeade in third year and she said no, he's been crushed ever since." Draco listed, and Nikole watched him with wide eyes.
"Wow. I would've never guessed. But that does make my theory right." Nikole said dreamily, and he looked at her, waiting for an explanation.
"Oh, once I've got an impressive name for it I'll tell you. It wouldn't be as amazing if I didn't have an equally amazing name for it." He laughed at her passion. She lay sleepily on his shoulder as he talked quietly about other things he had observed, like Millicent's crush on Goyle, the better looking of Draco's two revolting henchmen. Just as he was about to mention an invitation to his manor over Christmas he realised she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He slid down the bed, careful not to wake her up, and he smiled and kissed her forehead, pulling her close and falling asleep himself.
Nikole awoke at day break, and felt a huge guilt at seeing herself in Draco's arms. He was awake, and had been watching her sleep.
"Can we not tell Shinae about this? I hate sneaking around behind her back, but I don't want to hurt her." Nikole said urgently, swigging from the bottle of firewhisky on the nightstand to wash away her morning breath.
"Depends if we could hang out later" he said with a smile as he watched her drink from the bottle. It was before seven, and she was already drinking.
"I would like that. And don't look at me like that, I have Dark Arts first" she said, and he grimaced in sympathy.
"Maybe we could hang out in the Room of Requirement later, and do a little study." He said with a smirk, and she laughed.
"I know what you're kind of study is. I'll meet you there right after last class." She grinned and kissed his cheek, leaning into him when he pulled her down to peck her lips.
"I'll just study your face. That'd be enough to last forever" He said, and she laughed again.
"Smooth. I might see you at breakfast" She said, and she vanished from the room quickly, turning to wink at him at the doorway. She found Shinae asleep on one of the common room couches, Max Avery lying on the floor next to her, holding her hand. Nikole shook Shinae softly, and smiled brightly, despite the slight hangover when her best friend opened her eyes.
"Time for breakfast!" she said eagerly, and Shinae grinned. The first thought of Nikole's every day was food. She looked at the clock on the wall, and saw that breakfast would start in 10 minutes.
"Let's go get changed and then head down. Pansy's got some hangover potion, but it won't be ready until break" Shinae replied, and the two girls headed out of the room, and headed down to their dungeon common room. Sarah was in their room, and she was getting dressed.
"Fudge, you guys look stuffed" she commented, looking at her friends with concern. Sarah, as a Christian, refused to swear, and 'Fudge' was one of her replacement words.
"Thanks. We love you too" Nikole replied groggily, and started to pull new robes out of her trunk.
"Sarah, can you wait for us, we'll walk to breakfast with you." Shinae said, as she stumbled across to her trunk.
"So where did you two end up last night? Or, shall I ask you whose bed did you end up in?" Sarah said with a smirk, and Nikole blushed brightly.
"I slept on a couch in the common room" Shinae said quickly as she dressed in her school uniform, failing to mention that Max had kept her company.
"I actually ended up in the grounds, how that happened I have no idea. I remember walking with a Ravenclaw boy though, but his hands got a little to frisky" Nikole said with a laugh, and Shinae joined her. Sarah looked at Nikole suspiciously.
A minute later, they were ready, Nikole and Shinae looking a little worse for wear. Laura was already at the Hufflepuff table when they arrived and she rushed over to the Slytherin one to sit with her best friends. She gave Sarah a tiny hug, and shoved Nikole, one of her normal morning customs.
"What the fuck did you do that for?" Nikole shouted, as she tried to sit back up. Nearly every eye in the hall was on them, including the teachers, but slowly every eye left her. Laura glared at Nikole and the group sat down. Nikole and Shinae both filled their plates with their favourite hangover breakfasts, Shinae's dry toast, and Nikole's bacon, eggs, and toast and began eating. Nikole spotted Draco down the table, only to see that he was looking right back at her. She winked at him, and he flashed his trademark smirk at her. Laura had been watching the exchange, and raised her eyebrows at her friend, who shrugged.
"Do you reckon we've got time to have a smoke before Dark Arts?" Shinae mumbled into her toast and Nikole shrugged.
"Sarah?" Nikole asked to see if they had time. None of the girls had a watch, but Nikole and Shinae just assumed that Sarah would know the time.
"Smoking kills" was all she said, shaking her head.
"Excuse me, it's not Smoking that kills, it's the diseases in smoking that kill." Shinae quipped, and Nikole stood up.
"We should have time, lets go" Nikole said, and after waiting for Shinae to delicately stand up, the two headed off to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, leaving the goody-good Slytherin to shake her head in disgust, alongside her best friend.
