Sorry about the wait. Lots of life stuff going on right now. New job. Moving to a new apartment. Writer's block. blahhh. anyways. Here you go. It's a bit short but I plan to have 8 rolling out in the next day or so and I plan for it to be longer.


"You look lovely," Blaise told her when she met him. She thanked him curtly with Pansy's words still fresh on her mind and they walked to Slughorn's office together discussing the guests that they were most excited to meet.

The decorations in the professor's office were a bit over the top for Astoria's tastes but she still appreciated the softness that the red light of the chandelier cast on the room and the witches and wizards within it. Momentarily after their entrance, Slughorn came over to greet the two of them and compliment Mrs. Greengrass' work on Astoria's dress telling her that he would have loved to invite the talented designer but had thought nothing of it because he typically invited former members of his club and Astoria's mother had not been. He then gave Astoria yet a second condolence and patted Blaise on the back asking Astoria if it was alright for him to borrow her date. He wanted to introduce Blaise to The Weird Sisters' front man, Myron Wagtail. At this point, Astoria made her way over to the refreshments and struck up a conversation with a man named Sanguini whom she quickly determined was not a man at all but a vampire rather and a very interesting one at that. He was nearly 500 years old and had the stories to accompany his age. Astoria found him rather delightful while Blaise had not and quickly returned to her side to supervise lest his date turn up 'missing,' conveniently.

"You'd think that you were a Christmas ham the way he was eying you," Blaise jested in her ear very hushed as he slid his hand around her waist and guided her away.

"Oh please," Astoria swatted the thought away glaring lightly up at him with a smirk.

"Can't say that I can truly blame him, human or vampire, you've been getting looks already Miss Greengrass," he stated nonchalantly with an amused smile.

"Well then, you should be delighted to have such a spectacle as your guest."

"I never said otherwise."

The statement brought a small pleased smile to Astoria's face before she took a sip of her mead.

"Go easy on that," Blaise noted protectively, "I don't want to have to carry you out of here."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes a bit before grinning and giving him a sweet, "as you wish."

It wasn't too long after, that the party was disrupted by Mr. Filch dragging Draco in to the party notifying Professor Slughorn that he had been trying to sneak in. Slughorn seemed not to be bothered by it at all and extended a welcome to Draco which made Astoria rather happy that she'd have someone other than Blaise to socialize with. She wasn't very fond of being Blaise's "accessory" for the evening seeing that every time she had a chance to go off and mingle on her own, it was short-lived since he was soon by her side to whisk her away to quietly listen in on Blaise's conversation with someone else. She had a comfortable feeling that Draco was the sort of party guest that didn't constantly need his date around him… not that people would get the impression that he was her date because he wasn't. The student attendees knew that and many of the adults had already recognized her as Blaise's arm-candy for the evening. Before casually spending time with Draco whom she had not seen in days (and noticed was thinner and paler) even became a possibility, Professor Snape escorted him out of the office with a scowl. She sighed in disappointment and turned her attention back to Blaise who looked concerned for his friend before shaking his head and muttering, "git" under his breath making her grin and nudge him with her elbow.

"Well, he is. He can never just let anything go. Dramatic sod… and he could do well to quit missing meals. Honestly. I'm his mate. Not his mother. I shouldn't be concerning myself with him as much as I do."

"You're a good friend," Astoria stated warmly, "that's what you do. You can't help it."

He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead lightly, "listen to you Miss voice of wisdom."

He then gave her hand a light squeeze and led her off to a secluded area of the party where he confessed that there had been something that he had been meaning to give her all evening before sliding his hand to the back of her neck and kissing her. It may have been the mead but she wasn't sure of it because her body felt warm at his touch and overly sensitive like she was a melting piece of chocolate dissolving right in to his embrace. She only remembered that they were actually in company when the sound of a fresh bottle of mead being uncorked somewhere startled her.

When Blaise let her go, she only knew one thing and that was that she was bored with the party and her mother's gorgeous dress was suddenly a burden that she needed to be freed from immediately. She grabbed another glass of mead and drank it quickly in comparison to her previous glass feeling the effects of the liquid faintly moments afterward. The room felt warmer and softer and the sounds all began to meld in to one muffled roar in the background. She liked the feeling and contemplated having another glass. She was just about to decide against it when Melinda Bobbin, a peer of Astoria's whom she had only spoken to in classes, handed her another glass and draped her arm over her shoulder guiding her away from her date whose touch still lingered. Astoria was only slightly annoyed but seized the opportunity to socialize with a girl her age that she had only ever been acquaintances with.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Melinda asked her.

Astoria nodded and asked her the same question.

"Very much so. I've had a few of these so I'm doing fairly well."

Astoria laughed at her statement and took a large sip from her own glass before complimenting Melinda's shoes and then her face. This received a giggle from Melinda and a pat on the back, "You're a bit of a light weight, aren't you Greengrass?"

"A what?"

"A light weight. You haven't drank very much before, have you?"

Astoria shook her head, "just table wine at dinner, really. And I drink that much slower."

Melinda laughed and clinked her glass with hers, "Well, we'll have to break you of that. I'm glad you came, tonight. I was so relieved to see another Slytherin girl to be honest."

Astoria nodded in agreement and asked her who she had brought with her. Melinda sighed and brought a delicate perfectly manicured hand to her forehead, "Juuust me. I mentioned it to Graham Montague but he seemed disinterested in the whole thing. No matter, I can enjoy myself without a date."

Astoria liked her. She was very charming and made Astoria comfortable to be around her without even trying. They drank mead and talked freely for what seemed like hours and then Blaise came over to interrupt them, "I thought I told you to go easy on the mead," he reminded her with a laugh realizing that it was too late to scold her.

"Oh I did go easy on it, Blaaaise. I could have consumed it and itss entire mead family without a second thought but I am a benevol-volent drinker so I took mercy on them juss like you said," Astoria retorted airily with a light slur. She flashed him her most charming smile and she could have swore that his cheeks flushed which was a proud accomplishment for her. He then helped her up and the contents of her handbag fell to the floor with little clinked against the stone.

"Whoops!" Astoria mumbled biting her lower lip as she looked up at Blaise apologetically.

"You're a mess," he stated softly clutching her a bit tighter to stabilize her.

"I've got it," Melinda offered as she leaned down to pick up Astoria's belongings. She found the bottle of Felix Felicis and looked puzzled before looking on the bottom of the bottle for her family's apothecary symbol. She then gasped, "So that's why she bought this. For you."

"Oh yeah? Pansy bought it from you?" Astoria asked, "She said that she wanted me to have it cause I'd need it or some bollocks."

"I have no idea why," Melinda stated flatly, "You don't peg me as a luck user. I thought Pansy was getting it for herself to be honest. I usually ask my parents for a few cases at the beginning of the term for students looking for a bit of fun on rough days but you can't even hold your liquor for Merlin's sake."

Astoria smiled weakly, "You can have it back. Re-sell it. That'll show Pansy. Stupid pug-faced… butt."

Melinda and Blaise both smiled at each other in confused amusement then Melinda shrugged, "Nah. You keep it. A token of a new friend made and you never know when you could use a little luck."

"Thanks, Melinda. I'll see you around, yeah?"

Melinda nodded and excused herself from the two of them. Blaise then held Astoria's shoulders firmly and brushed her hair out her face, "Alright champ. Let's see if we can manage to get you past the professors and prefects without losing house points for your debauchery."

Astoria scoffed and blew her bangs up out of her face from where they had immediately fallen back in to place after Blaise had brushed them away, "I've got this."

She then straightened herself up and walked slowly in front of him in a surprisingly graceful fashion until she wobbled on her heel and Blaise had to catch her with a laugh, "just, hold on to me, okay?"

They made their way back to the common room and Blaise handed her a glass of water after she plopped down on the couch in front of the fire. He sat next to her and placed his arm around her then sighed as if something was bothering him.

"What's the matter? Are you upset with me?" Astoria asked him wide-eyed. Blaise's expression softened even more and he shook his head, "No. No, not at all. It's something else. Something I've been trying to get past all evening."

"What?"

"Nothing. We can talk about it another time. When you're not… you know."

"What is it? You can tell me. I won't be upset with you!"

"I'd rather not, Astoria. I think I'm just going to wait until you're feeling a bit more normal then go to bed."

"Is it something bad?"

"I think it will be."

"Then why not just tell me, now?" she asked a bit defensively.

"Because you're drunk. That's why."

"So. Why bring it up, then?"

"I didn't."

"You sighed."

"Yeah, so?"

"So you can control sighs, Blaise. I do it all the time."

"Fine. You want me to tell you what's been bothering me all night all as a possible thanks to you not drinking that potion?"

"Yes," Astoria answered apprehensively wondering what the potion had to do with anything.

"I know about the bet, Astoria."

With those words, Astoria suddenly realized why Pansy gave her the potion. Because she knew Astoria wouldn't use it. She knew it was twisted and she only wanted to mess with Astoria's head. At the same time, why would Pansy give her the potion with the chance that she might use it after all and end up having the perfect night? She was so angry and her mind was so fogged that she couldn't think straight. All she knew was that she wanted nothing more than to either crawl in a hole and die or gouge Pansy Parkinson's eyeballs out with her own fingernails.

She wasn't sure which one sounded more appealing but she was feeling herself leaning more towards the latter as she and Blaise stared intently at one another.