"Ladies, having a good time? Mind if I join you? Those sorry sacks of Slytherin don't know how to have a good time like you guys." He gave them a charming smile and sat down before they could say no.
"Black, come and join us! I was just telling these ladies of my family's summer palace in France!" Lockhart said with his arm wrapped around Juliet who looked uncomfortable.
Regs lifted a brow and smirked "I have a better idea. How about you and I liven up the party huh? Let's give these old folks something to talk about."
Juliet leaned forward and nodded her head excitedly. Lockhart noticed her interest and agreed "Alright, what do you have in mind?"
Regs moved his chair closer to the table separating them and put two shot glasses on it and started to open a full bottle of fire whiskey. "A drinking game. Shot for shot, no stopping until one of us pukes or passes out. A real man's game."
Everyone within earshot came closer. "Ooos." And "Ahhhs." Surrounded them and some chanted Lockhart's name. "Don't wuss out!" He looked very uncomfortable and looked down at the small glass in front of him with a disgusted look on his face.
Juliet's eyes lit up and she smiled up at Lockhart and nodded. Her wand moved quickly above her head 'Well if you don't do it, I will!'
"OOOOOOHHHHHH!" her friend Mack called out and laughed at Lockhart.
Severus and his friends got up and moved closer to watch it all. Juliet saw Severus for the first time and smiled at him. He would have smiled back if she wasn't still wrapped in Lockhart's arm. Instead, he gave her a small nod and curled his lip at her companion. Soon it became a Ravenclaw vs Slytherin drinking game and the other houses called out that they wanted a representative from their own houses.
James pulled up a chair, and the Gryffindors cheered his name. "POTTER! POTTER!"
A brown haired 7th year sat down for the Hufflepuffs and took his jacket off. "COLLINS! COLLINS!" they cheered.
Regs looked over to Juliet and winked "Would the lady like to do the honors?"
Juliet grabbed the bottle, poured two more shots for the new contestants and pointed her wand in the air. 'READY. SET. GO!' a loud bang came from her wand, and they picked up their shots and downed them.
Dani and Mack helped her pour the shots quickly one after another. Amelia was smart enough to summon a bunch of trash bins in case they puked. One bottle down and Collins started to sway back and forth. Severus watched his friend continue the drinking challenge with interest. What the hell was he planning? If anything this just drove her further into the jackass' arms!
"What's wrong Lockhart? You're looking a little green there." Regs said after he took another shot. He was the best looking out of all of them. James was sweating and about to rip his shirt off, Lockhart was looking pale and almost gagging with each shot.
Juliet scooted farther away from him and kicked the trash bin between his legs. Potter downed a shot and kept leaning too far back. He fell out of his chair and passed out on the floor. His friends picked him up and pulled him to the side. Soon Collins puked into the can between him and Regs. Everyone moved farther away and said "Eww!", "Gross!"
The sight and smell apparently got to Lockhart and he started to heave into the bin between his legs. Slytherin cheered and patted their champion on the back. Juliet moved as far away from him as she could and clapped for Regs. Her friends sat by her and laughed with her.
Lockhart wiped his hand on the back of his sleeve and stood with wobbly legs, "Congrats to you, sir! Now, ladies? Who wants to come back to my place?" he fell back onto the couch he was sitting on and passed out.
Everyone laughed at him and cheered for Regs again. He stood, bowed and took another shot on his victory. "Alright, I'll take this sack of shite back to his dorm eh?" he slurred.
He picked up Lockhart who was still mumbling in his sleep about getting lucky tonight. Regs passed by Severus and winked at him they nodded to Juliet who was standing by the window with her friends. It clicked finally, Regs got rid of Lockhart completely and now it was up to him to make a move.
He took in a deep breath and walked over to her and her friends. Turning to greet him, she smiled and signed 'Hello Severus, are you having a good time?'
"I am missing some stimulating conversation, but yes. Are you?" Severus asked and nodded to his friends who were arm wrestling by the couches now.
She breathed out a would be giggle and signed 'Perhaps I can join you?'
He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded dumbly. "Of course. Can I get you another drink?" he held his arm out for her and she wrapped hers around it. He led her to where his friends were sitting and took up his previous seat.
Yaxley handed him two beers he just opened and bowed his head slightly to Juliet. "Snape, are you going to introduce your friend to us?"
"Juliet Ollivander, this is Corban of the house-" she cut him off.
'Please, don't think you have to be proper around me at all! I'm just here to have a good time like you guys.' She waved her wand.
Severus smiled and relaxed a bit "This is Corban Yaxley, that's Lucius Malfoy, Marcus Avery, Thorfinn Rowle, Theodore Nott, Nolan Mulciber and Regulus Black is the one who just left." He pointed to each of them who tipped their glasses to her when called.
'Hello, I'm Juliet. Nice to meet you!' she scooted closer to Severus on the couch when Rowle took up the seat next to her.
Severus looked down at her and asked: "So what made the little Ravenclaw come all the way from Rome?"
'I was home schooled by a family friend who taught my Papa. Unfortunately, they passed away, and my Papa thought it was time to come back home.' She signed as she put the beer between her thighs.
Her friends came over to see what she was up to. Juliet introduced them all, and soon the two houses joined for drinks. Some of the boys got up to let the girls sit down. Sophie sat next to Avery who began to smile like an idiot.
"Why'd you guys stop playing?" Mack asked.
"Didn't want to offend the ladies," Mulciber smirked.
The girls looked at each other and laughed. "Offend me? I'm Irish. Let's play." Mack replied.
"I don't want to hurt you, sweetie." Mulciber put his hand up for her to stop.
"Sweetie? Bring it, Snake." She challenged. She tightened her pony tail, chugged her beer and put her elbow on the table.
Juliet leaned over to Rowle and waved her wand. 'Wanna get that she beats him?'
He threw his head back and barked out a deep laugh. Pushing his hair from his face, he nodded. "You're on Ollivander. A galleon?" he asked and held his huge hand out for her to shake.
Juliet looked at Severus who had his brow raised then to Rowle who was smirking down at her. She shook his giant hand and pulled out a galleon from her pocket and put it on the table. Many other galleons joined theirs as people placed their own bets.
Severus saw Rowle over her shoulder trying to tell him something. 'Put your arm around her.' He mouthed and mimicked it with his own arm. He lifted his arm and she seemed to know what he was doing, she leaned forward and let him put his arm around her. Rowle winked at him and opened another beer.
"How do you like Hogwarts so far?" he asked her quietly as the rest of the party carried on around them.
'It's beautiful here. The weather is a lot wetter than I'm used to, but I like the rain. I like my classes so far. I'll let you know about history of magic though.' She accepted another beer from him when she put her empty on the table.
"Are you having any problems with anything? Like getting lost… or the classes?" Or Lockhart? He wanted to add.
She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head no. 'My friends have made sure I don't get lost. It's too soon to tell with the classes though.'
He rubbed his thumb against the bare skin of her arm. "Do you miss anything from home?"
She bit her lip and cutely scrunched her face. 'Pasta.'
He chuckled, "We have pasta here."
She shook her head firmly. 'No you don't. I can make pasta! What you have here are macaroni and cheese!' Her hands came up in a very Italian fashion with an attitude.
He threw his head back and laughed. "I'm sorry to have offended the lady of House Ollivander." He tipped an imaginary hat off his head.
She gave him a small shove in his chest with her hand. 'I'm passionate about food. I love to cook.'
He nodded in agreement at the thought of her soup and sandwich. "You're very good at it. Perhaps you can show me what real pasta is one day?"
Nott had told him earlier to ask a lot of questions to keep them talking. He told him that nothing got a girls interest more than talking about herself. Then to ask open-ended questions that involved future plans. Nott also called himself a female guru but that was neither here nor there. Severus said there were no females to prove that he was. Nott countered with there weren't any to prove he wasn't.
'I would love to cook for you. I wish I had access to a kitchen here, but I guess it will have to wait? Will I see you again this summer?' She asked and put her hand on his thigh. Perhaps Nott was right?
He gave her one of his rare smiles and leaned into her ear. "I don't know if I can wait that long to see you again." He felt her shiver against him, so he tightened his arm around her.
She tilted her head up and leaned into his ear and breathed, "You can see me whenever you want to."
He bit his cheek and leaned into her a bit more. "What if I told you that I could get you access to a kitchen?"
She perked up at his words. 'Can you?'
He smirked down at her then looked away. "Depends."
That got her attention even more so. Not was right after all. 'Depends on what? Please tell me.'
"If you're going to make me pasta." He said and took a long sip of his beer.
'Of course! I could make you all sorts of pasta!' she was leaning into him so much that she was practically in his lap now. Most of her was pressed against his side and she even brought her right leg up over his.
He laughed and continued their conversation Once her friend beat Mulciber, Rowle handed her the winnings of their bet and tipped his head in defeat. Mack seemed to be just getting started with her night. She had other challengers try to take her on.
Lily watched him practically cuddling with Juliet on the couch. She saw their smiles and little whispers and touching from her spot on the "Gryffindor side." Everyone was having a good time but her. James' had woken up and started to liven up the party with his friends. He even tried to cheer Lily up but she wasn't having any of it.
She got up and left the party by herself. She tipped off peeves and Mrs. Norris about the party and it's entrance on her way back to her common room. If she wasn't going to have a good night, no one was! The voices of McGonagall and Filch were heard from the other side of the party door and everyone panicked. People ran for their lives through random doors the room of requirement provided.
Severus jumped up and grabbed her hand. He pulled her off the sofa and tugged her through a nearby door. It opened up to the corridor on the 7th floor so he pulled her with him down its path. His friends and random students followed close behind them. He looked back at her and saw her face lit up with a huge smile and big eyes. He never had so much run running away from authority.
Some people split off down other halls towards their rooms or a different short cut. He stopped at the hardly used staircase by the entrance hall. Her dorm was up, and his was down. Her friends called out to her to keep following them as did his.
"I'm afraid this is where we must part." He said with a disappointed tone.
"We're leaving Snape!" His friend called out over their shoulder.
She hugged him and buried her face in his neck. She pulled him down so she could whisper in his ear. "Goodnight Severus, I had a lovely time with you."
He was about to tell her he did too but the feeling of her lips on his skin caused him to groan instead. She kissed his pulse point below his jaw. His knees went weak, he turned his head to kiss her but she already pulled away. He watched her run down the hall towards her friends. She turned around briefly and blew a kiss to him before turning the corner.