Author's Note: Hey! Sorry about the delay in getting this chapter up. I've been working a lot and doing shows, so I haven't had a lot of time to write. I'm currently playing Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is a role I've wanted to play for aged :D

Also honestly my Supernatural fic is just easier to write than this one because, like most of my fics barring BWST and this one, the idea for it attacked me and demanded to be written, and I haven't run out of steam with the initial plot bunnies yet. I like this chapter quite a bit though, reading it back over, and I hope you do too.

I also want to dedicate this story to the victims of the Pulse Orlando shooting, with the knowledge that my very white, cis cast of characters in no way represents the majority of the victims of the event. When I began writing Bound With Silver Threads six years ago, and was establishing the attitudes toward LGBTQ+ individuals in the world of the story, I wrote basically from my own 2010 experience. I thought that in all likelihood we would have made quite a bit of progress by the time my story was actually taking place, but that perhaps the wizarding world, being a bit behind the Muggle one, would be about in that place that point. While it is not yet the 2020s, when BWST was set, not nearly as much progress has been made as I would have liked, and indeed it is looking as though this might be one area in which the Wizarding World is actually ahead of the Muggle one. Let us learn, then, from J. K. Rowling's messages of tolerance, and continue to spread it throughout our fandoms and our lives.

Love is Love

-SQ

Disclaimer: I'm not even sure yet what I think about all the more recent Potter info, I certainly don't own it

Chapter Three: Bet You Ass

Cassiopeia had to admit that Aaron knew how to decorate for a party. She had shown up early to assist him and Bryan with the final preparations. Dressed as La Llorona, alternatively known as a "woman in white," a character originally derived from Hispanic folklore, she was currently busy enchanting candles hovering above the party-goers' heads to flicker in a particularly spooky manner. Bryan, as usual eschewing a costume in favor of dressing thematically, this year in black dress robes and a skull-patterned tie and stockings, was lighting the candles in the jack-o-lanterns occupying the four corners of the unused classroom they were using, and also double-checking the sound-proofing charms; the last thing they needed was the party to be crashed by their professors. Aaron was nowhere to be seen.

"Where the bloody hell is Aaron?" asked Bryan, looking up from the final jack-o-lantern, a truly ghastly visage of a howling banshee with rats entangled in her hair. "I swear, if he's late to his own party—"

"Never fear, your most esteemèd host is here!"

Aaron stood in the doorway, dressed to kill. Literally.

"A vampire, classic," said Cassie with an appreciative nod.

Aaron flashed her a fanged grin. "Is everything ready?"

The other two nodded in affirmation.

"Good." He waved his wand and all of the regular lights in the room went out, leaving only the jack-o-lanterns and floating candles. His face was immediately thrown into shadow.

Cassie and Bryan took up positions on either side of the door to serve as greeters/bouncers and soon the first guests began to trickle in. Jenny and the Scamander twins arrived, Jenny sporting pirate garb and the twins apparently costumed as blast-ended-skrewts. An odd choice, but their friends expected nothing less.

Many people arrived with dates, and Cassie found herself missing her own girlfriend, who was busy establishing her apothecary business out in the real world. Cassie shook her head to dispel the melancholy thoughts. She was here with her friends, and she owed it to Aaron to enjoy his admittedly awesome party.

Cassiopeia was surprised to see a first year student hesitantly making his way toward her.

"Erm, is this Aaron Towler's Halloween party?" he asked hesitantly, pulling at the sleeves of his orange long-sleeved t-shirt.

"Yes, it is," said Cassiopeia kindly. "May I see your invitation?"

The child held it out to her; the name on the parchment read "Oliver Brown."

"Welcome, Oliver. Happy Halloween," said Cassie, flashing him a smile.

"Happy Halloween," muttered Oliver, looking more than a little overwhelmed. He glanced over his shoulder, as if contemplating making his escape, but then Aaron was suddenly descending upon him, cape swirling.

"Oliver! I don't know if you remember me—we bumped into each other a while back, literally—I'm Aaron and this is my party; let me show you around."

Cassie raised an eyebrow at Bryan across heads of the latest arrivals. "Your promise?" she asked as Aaron drew Oliver farther into the room.

Bryan nodded. "If Aaron doesn't scare him away."

Cassie laughed musically. "I approve."

When most of the invitees were accounted for (you didn't just not show up to an Aaron Towler party without a good reason), Cassie shooed Bryan out into the party proper. She didn't mind door duty; it was an excellent vantage point from which to observe the goings-on around her.

Lorcan and Lysander seemed to be choreographing their own blast-ended skrewt dance on the dance floor, moving completely in sync with one another in a series of strange movements that no one else could follow. Jenny had located Gregory Bones and was wasting no time in making her move, though as of yet she didn't seem to be making any progress. Aaron was keeping tabs on her out of the corner of his eye, but most of his attention was divided between the party at large and the first year standing next to him.

Oliver had yet to reject the half-protective, half-possessive arm that Aaron had slung around his shoulders. He wasn't the most talkative kid, Aaron reflected. Then again, it was a little loud in here for normal conversation.

"Hey," said Bryan, joining them. "Hi Oliver, I'm Bryan. You look a little overwhelmed."

"I…I'm okay," said Oliver, with a half-glance at Aaron. "How do you know my name?"

Bryan nodded at Aaron. "This one thinks he's my best friend or something," he joked. "It's nice to meet you."

"You're not wearing a costume," Oliver observed.

"Nah, I'm not much for elaborate get-ups, unlike Aaron here," said Bryan. "Seems like I'm in good company, though," he added, indicating Oliver's orange long-sleeve tee and black jeans.

"Oh…yeah…" said Oliver, looking down at his outfit rather self-consciously. "I didn't know what to wear…"

"You want me to paint your face like a skeleton?" Aaron offered. "I have a ton of makeup."

"You…you do?" asked Oliver, as though makeup was a completely foreign concept to him. "But…I mean…you're…you know…"

"Fabulous?" suggested Aaron.

"I think he means a guy," said Bryan. "Guys can have makeup. Aaron's collection rivals most of the girls' at this school."

"Oh," said Oliver, an unreadable look on his young face.

"So..,how about that skeleton? I do a wicked one."

"Er, no, that's okay," said Oliver.

"Bry?"

"I'll pass, thanks," said Bryan. "Some of us like our faces how they are: easy to wash!"

*****AMCW*****

"Oops!" said Jenny, 'accidentally' tripping and falling into Gregory Bones's arms. It was a bold and slightly tacky move, but the clock was ticking, and Aaron wasn't going to be over there chatting up that first year forever.

"Easy there, miss Pirate Jenny," said Gregory, catching her by the forearms and righting her. "One too many butterbeers?"

"I'm not a house-elf," snapped Jenny, then remembered she was supposed to be flirting. "Though I wouldn't mind serving you."

"Forward," Gregory observed. "And just what would you like to serve me, Miss Pirate Jenny?"

"Do you like chocolate ghosts?"

Gregory laughed. It was a sexy laugh. And, even better, he allowed her to pop a chocolate ghost into his mouth.

"These are good," he said, "you should try one."

Jenny obligingly opened her mouth. "Mmm."

"Care to dance?"

Huh, maybe she was wrong after all…

Gregory and Jenny moved onto the dance floor, which the Scamander skrewts had finally vacated in favor of the butterbeer. His hands were large and firm on her waist. She knew hers were supposed to go on his shoulders, but wondered if she could get away with touching his butt. She decided not to push her luck just yet. After all, if this went well, she would have other opportunities. After she cleaned up from the party.

"You're a good dancer, Pirate Jenny," said Bones, when the song ended.

"I'm good at a lot of things," she said cheekily. Though not, it seems, at winning bets. A fact she wasn't too put out about, all things considered.

"I'll just bet you are."

He leaned down and pecked her on the lips (okay, maybe he wasn't gay after all), then suddenly twin voices were shouting "EVERYONE ON THE DANCE FLOOR FOR THE MONSTER MASH!"

"Oh, I have to see this," said Gregory with a grin. "Those Scamanders are something else, aren't they?"

Jenny could hardly argue with that. Besides, she loved the Monster Mash, and so, ruefully admitting her defeat, she allowed her two best friends to drag her away.

*****AMCW*****

"So, what do you think?" Bryan asked Oliver, indicating the Monster Mashing party goers on the floor in front of them.

"It's…different," said Oliver carefully.

"Bad different?"

"No, just…different, different."

"I know what you mean," said Bryan. "It's not really my scene, but Aaron's my best friend, and you have to admit, he throws a pretty killer party. No pun intended."

Bryan's joke was rewarded with a half smile from the enigmatic first year.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you Muggleborn, or…?"

Oliver shook his head. "No, both my parents are half-bloods. Why?"

"You just seem a little out of place," said Bryan apologetically. "I'm Muggleborn, and you learn soon enough that it really doesn't make a difference, but I know how lonely it can feel at first."

"Mmhm," said Oliver noncommittally. "I think I'm going to get another butterbeer. Do you want one?"

"Sure," said Bryan, letting his lingering concern go unvoiced for now. "Thanks."

*****AMCW*****

Bryan seemed to be keeping Oliver entertained, so when Aaron saw his opportunity with Gregory present itself, he took it. Between Oliver and the Scamander twins he had managed to miss the outcome of Jenny's attempt, but he didn't see her anywhere near the Hufflepuff hunk, so he could still get lucky. Or unlucky, depending on whether his goal was the guy or the bet.

"Need another drink?" said Aaron, coming up beside Gregory and holding out a butterbeer.

The other boy took the drink with a nod and sniffed it. "Spiked?"

"No," said Aaron, shaking his head. Then he produced a flask from his hip pocket. "But I can fix that."

"Don't mind if I do," said Gregory, taking the flask and adding a liberal amount of its contents to the bottle in his hand."

"Don't spread it around, eh?" said Aaron, tipping a smaller amount of the liquor into his own bottle (he was a lightweight and he knew it) and then pocketing it once more. "I don't need everyone and their one-night stand trying to hit me up for a buzz."

"Ah, so I get special treatment?" said Gregory, with a very sexy grin.

"Would you like some?"

Gregory laughed. Also sexily. "It seems I'm popular tonight."

"Oh?" Aaron feigned ignorance. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just that you're not the first person to hit on me at this party."

"I see. And am I the first person you've hit back?"

"Nope," said Gregory. "Do that bother you?"

Aaron considered for a second. Granted, it kind of fucked with their bet, but…

"Nope."

*****AMCW*****

"So," said Aaron, vaguely acknowledging that Felix Felicis may be liquid luck, but whiskey was definitely liquid courage, "I, erm, don't supposed you're looking for a relationship?"

"Actually," said Gregory, "I'm already in one."

"Pardon?" said Aaron, scrambling off of Gregory's lap and looking over his shoulder as though Gregory's boyfriend or girlfriend might be watching them get a little more than friendly.

"Relax, it's an open relationship," Gregory clarified. "I'm poly."

"You're what now?"

"Polyamorous. I'm dating someone, but we also see other people. Sometimes separately, sometimes together. But you don't seem quite ready for that," he added.

"Erm, no," said Aaron, who had yet to be in a relationship with one person, let alone multiple people at once. "I mean, good on you, really, but I think I'm a one man at a time kind of guy."

"Well, Juliet isn't exactly a man," said Gregory, "but I don't think that increases your interest, huh?"

"Not so much," agreed Aaron.

"No hard feelings?" said Gregory.

"Well…" said Aaron, glancing down at his groin. Both boys burst out laughing.

"Looks like the party's winding down," Gregory observed, glancing around. "And honestly I'm knackered. Thanks for the fun; I'll see you around, yeah?"

"Yeah," Aaron agreed. And then, because it was the best opportunity he'd probably ever have to say it, and he was still feeling the effects of the alcohol, "You have a nice butt."

"Thanks," said Gregory, and Aaron was sure the view he had as the Hufflepuff walked away was quite intentional.

Jenny appeared at his shoulder and nodded appreciatively. "Well," she said.

"Well," Aaron agreed.

"He definitely likes girls."

"And he is most certainly into guys."

They looked at each other and then at the mix of decorations and empty butterbeer bottles surrounding them.

"Start at opposite ends and meet in the middle?" Jenny suggested.

"Works for me."

*****AMCW*****

Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were standing on their heads in the middle of the entry hall. This was earning them quite a few odd looks, though not nearly as many as it would have earned another pair of Hogwarts students engaged in the same activity. The reason behind their inversion was simple; they had been practicing headstands earlier in the common room and, on their subsequent walk down to dinner, Jenny has asked them which one of them could hold it for longest. Not knowing the answer to this question, the twins had taken the only reasonable course of action to find out.

"Alright, what's this all about?" said a tired, but good-natured voice from the main doorway. The students shuffled to the sides to allow Neville Longbottom, the Herbology professor, to pass through their midst. When he caught sight of the reason for the crowd of spectators, he tilted his head to the side and considered the scene for a bemused moment.

"Good afternoon, Lorcan, Lysander," he said mildly.

"Good evening, Professor," they replied in unison.

"Goodness me, is it really that late already?" said Neville, glancing down at his watch.

"Yep," said the twins. "It's dinner time."

"And yet a large number of the school's student body has yet to enter the Great Hall."

"Apparently," the boys agreed.

"Could that be because the two of you are distracting them by standing on your heads in the middle of the Entrance Hall?"

"Could be."

Neville chuckled. "My I ask why you are standing on your heads in the middle of the Entrance Hall?"

"You may."

"Alright," said Neville, doing his best to keep a straight face. "Why are you standing on your heads in the middle of the Entrance Hall?"

"To see which one of us can do it the longest."

"Ah," said Neville, "I see. Well, that sounds like an important question to answer, I'm sure, but maybe you could figure it out after dinner. I, for one, am hungry."

The twins blinked at him as though he had provided them with hitherto un-thought-of wisdom, then righted themselves and continued into the Great Hall as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Be sure to let me know who it is," Neville added as he passed them on his way to the staff table.

"We will," they assured him. "Enjoy your dinner, Professor Longbottom."

"Enjoy your dinner, boys, and send your mother my regards."

*****AMCW*****

It turned out that Lorcan could stand on his head for exactly three and a half seconds longer than could his brother, but this was a fact none of them found out until the next afternoon, standing on one's head with a stomach full of pudding being deemed unadvisable by all involved. Jenny joked that they finally had a way to tell the two of them apart, until Bryan pointed out that standing the boys on their heads every time someone wanted to know who was who wasn't the most practical solution.

"Practical shmactical," said the twins.

"Where do you come up with these phrases?" said Jenny, shaking her head.

"It's a muggle thing," said Bryan. "It's like…it's hard to explain. You add an 'sh' to the beginning of a word to imply that you don't take it seriously."

"That makes sense," said Aaron. "I never take 'sh' seriously." Then, "Hey look, it's Oliver. Hey, Oliver!"

They boy looked distinctly uncomfortable at being called out in front of his year mates by a fifth year, but to his credit he returned the salutation rather than making the situation even more awkward by refusing to acknowledge the obvious. Actually, some of the other first years looked rather impressed that Oliver was on hailing terms with Aaron Towler and co.

"How's it going?" Aaron asked the younger boy, slinging an arm around his shoulders as soon as he was in range.

"Erm, fine. You?"

"Peachy keen." Oliver gave him an incredulous look and Aaron burst out laughing. "Good, I'm good. Lorcan can stand on his head for three and a half seconds longer than Lysander can."

"Erm, that's…interesting…?"

"No, it's really not, don't worry," said Bryan.

"Hey!" protested the twins. "We are very interesting."

"Eh," said Jenny, "the jury's still out."

"Ooh," said Aaron. "Are any of them hot?"

Oliver looked around and inquired, "Where's…what's her name? The blonde girl?"

"Cassie," said Jenny. "She's at Quidditch practice. Does someone have a crush?"

"Well, you can't say he doesn't have good taste," said Bryan.

"No, no, I—I just…I liked talking to her."

"It's alright," said Bryan kindly. "She has that effect on a lot of people."

"She has a girlfriend though," said Aaron. "Sorry to break it to you."

"She's a…a lesbian?"

The twins shook their heads. "Cassie doesn't like labels. She's definitely dating Lily, though."

Oliver chewed his lip, but said no more on the topic.

*****AMCW*****

When he got the chance, Bryan pulled Oliver aside. "Oliver," he said carefully, "you seemed surprised when Aaron said that Cassie had a girlfriend. Do you have a problem with that?"

"What? No. No!" said Oliver, shaking his head vigorously. "No, no it doesn't matter to me like that. It doesn't matter to me at all, because I don't have a crush on her either, for the record. But I also don't have a problem with her liking girls, I swear."

"But you were surprised." It wasn't a question.

"Well, yeah," said Oliver. "I just…she's so…feminine."

"Sexual orientation and gender expression don't always line up as neatly as the stereotypes, or Aaron, would have you believe."

"Erm, sorry?"

"Right, you're only eleven. Who people are attracted to, boys or girls, that's called sexual orientation. How people present themselves—how they act and dress and what kinds of things they're into, and whether those things are considered traditionally 'masculine' or feminine,' that's called gender expression. The two don't have as much to do with each other as you might think."

Oliver stared at him, wide eyed. "How do you know this stuff?"

Bryan shrugged. "I have a lot of queer—that means not straight—friends. And it's interesting."

"But you're straight?"

"Yeah. Not that it matters."

"And Lorcan and Lysander?"

"You'd have to ask them; I make it a rule not to speculate about other people's gender preferences. Why are you so interested?"

Oliver shrugged non-committally and stared at his shoes. "No reason."

"Okay."

AN: I know this fic hasa pretty niche audience, since half the main characters are OCs at this point, and the main canon characters are only post-book canon, but that just makes you loyal readers even more valuable and awesome! Thank you for your readership, and for your reviews. Please keep them coming!

-SQ