Theo grimaced his mouth felt furry and his head was pounding. The carpet felt odd under him. He kept his eyes closed. There was no doubt that light would not be his friend this morning.
He shifted and realized he was naked and lying in some sort of grass. Gods and goddesses, this was not good.
He opened his eyes and the world was a blurry, bright hell. He fought the urge to close his eyes again. Hiding from the situation would not help. He managed to focus on his hand, but it was shining in the sunlight. He groaned and sat up.
He took a deep breath. The air was heavy with the scent of flowers and ripe fruit. It was sweet and cloying in the back of his throat. The sun was quite a bit higher in the sky than he expected it to be.
"You needed the sleep." Luna's voice came from somewhere behind him. "I think you spend far too much time buttoned up."
He turned and blinked to clear his eyes.
Luna was perched on a large, iridescent ball which was odd enough, but her skin shimmered in the light. She looked like she had been sprinkled with tiny flakes of silver and gold. Her clothing, well, what there was of it, appeared to be made of flowers. The same flowers that poked out of her hair in a random riot of color.
"It's pollen from my pixie lilies." Luna smiled with a small twist of her lips that made him nervous. "It has a soothing effect on those that come in contact with it, but it looks like muggle glitter."
"Pixie lilies?" Theo managed to get the words out past the cotton wool in his mouth.
"They're one of my experiments. I like herbology. It's a nice area of study, but Hermione let me read her books on botany and opened up whole new avenues of thought." Luna pulled one of the flowers from her hair. "Muggles do all sorts of things with plants that we never imagined doing. Neville is studying the science of it, but I tried a few ideas. Odd that. A Ravenclaw bring the bold one."
She shrugged and giggled. She looked like a character from a little witch's tale, golden and riding a bubble as she played in the garden. She was enchanting. He realized that his head wasn't hurting any longer.
"You don't seem to be the typical Claw, love." Theo smiled up at her. "Where are my clothes?"
"You vanished them." Luna giggled. "You spilled some of my wine on your shirt and you made a face, then poof... no clothes."
"How did we wind up here?" Theo gestured to the field he was sprawled in.
"We danced here." Luna floated five flowers in the air, making them move in an intricate pattern.
Theo shook his head. Talking to Luna was an adventure. You never knew which way a conversation would take you.
Ginny stared ahead blankly. Her mother was sobbing and her father wasn't even in the house. Harry was wandering about with her remaining brothers and picking up the detritus that remained from the chaos of the night before. She couldn't think of a thing to do.
The scent of baking bread drifted up the stairs. Fleur was busy in the kitchen. She didn't want to socialize.
She stiffened when she heard footsteps on the stairs, but relaxed when Percy appeared below her. He wasn't going to chide her for sitting up here. It wasn't his way.
"Budge over." Percy pushed her hip and waited while she slid to the side before plopping down next to her. "Hiding from it won't help."
"Hiding from what?" Ginny frowned at him.
"The mess you made." Percy patted her knee. "The others haven't figured it out, but they will. They'll go over everything and they will see you."
"I didn't make Ron cheat." Ginny pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.
"No, you encouraged Lavender in her pursuit of him though." Percy shook his head. "Since I've realized that, I'm sure there is more."
It was the more that had her hiding. Harry would not be happy with her. No one would be.
Millie danced around her room. Her father had informed her that the wedding planning could begin over breakfast. Greg was going to be her husband. It was wonderful, and she owed it to the Gryffindor Princess. She would never have imagined that they could even converse without vitriol.
Now, she was one of them. Not the beautiful Greengrass girls, not the powerful Tracey Davis, not the sly Pansy Parkinson. She had girl friends for the first time.
She looked over at the picture of her mother in its silver frame. She had been a true beauty, but she hadn't been strong. Millicent plucked up the frame and settled on the settee by her window.
"I'm marrying the man I love, Mum." She traced her finger along her mother's cheek. "I've finally found some real friends. They're wonderful. We danced the witch's waltz last night, and it worked."
Millicent pulled the frame up to her chest and hugged it.
Blaise woke up alone and in need of a potion for his aching head. He didn't much care for sleeping in the guest room, but Susan wasn't ready to share a bed.
He flopped flat onto his back. Truth be told he wasn't ready either. His magic had found its home, but he needed some time to adjust. He wasn't going to run mad like Malfoy.
The door creaked open revealing Susan with a tray. He smiled at the hangover potion sitting next to an assortment of breakfast foods.
"I thought we might have breakfast in bed." Susan raised one ginger brow.
"Brilliant." Blaise smiled at her. It wouldn't be long before he was ready. Not long at all.
