Weeks had passed, and it was soon Halloween. The day you had dreaded. You'd find out if Fred, George, or Cedric would be picked for the tournament.

There were stories about the deadliness and dangers of past tournaments, and it scared the hell out of you. You knew they were all more than capable, but it still worried you. Since your dates with the twins, you hardly saw them. You dug deep to remain focused on school work, and they wanted to respect your wishes.

The morning of Halloween, you woke up to Hannah standing over your bed.

"Merlin, Hannah. You're being awfully creepy," you said sleepily.

"Sorry! I was asked to give these to you. Excitement overcame me."

"Give me what?" you asked while rubbing your eyes.

Hannah handed you two folded pieces of parchment and waggled her eyebrows before leaving the dormitory.

You sat up in bed and unfolded one of the parchments.

Hey you,

Sorry to involve Hannah in our secret, but I know she's your friend and that she is trustworthy. I miss you dearly, and scarcely seeing your face these last couple of weeks have been torture. I keep thinking about your face illuminated under the lights of my firework magic. The way the highlights and shadows bounced on your face and made your features somehow even more perfect. I keep clinging onto that moment. Seeing your smile light up the entire castle grounds has been the only memory keeping me sane through Snape's lectures. I can't wait to see your face tonight at the feast. I hope you'll ditch your wonderful Hufflepuff friends and sit with us. I know Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione miss you too.

All my love,

Freddie

You smiled to yourself as you read his letter over and over. You tucked it away in the book on your bedside table before opening the second one.

Hi honey,

I know Fred is writing you a letter, so I couldn't sit back and let him have all the glory. Like him, I miss you dearly. We went to Hogsmeade a few nights after our date and knocked back a ton of rounds of firewhiskey shots. We talked about how special you are. The way your smile highlights every room, how your laugh is a resounding harp that we're obligated to dance to. We know it's been short, but you, my darling, make seconds feel like minutes, and minutes feel like hours. All while making it still never enough. Like Fred, I'm humbly requesting your magnifying presence at the feast this evening.

Fondly yours,

George

You clutched the note close to your chest before folding it back up and tucking it away with the other.

Thankfully, it was a Saturday evening. You knew the parties would rage tonight after finding out the champions. You wanted to get in a couple of hours of studying before the feast and the inevitable rager, so you dressed for the afternoon and headed to study hall.

On the way, you were pulled around a corner and dragged into an empty hallway closet.

"What the fuck?!" you screeched. You hadn't even had a chance to see who grabbed you, and you presumed it was one of the twins.

But you were wrong.

"Hello gorgeous."

It was Draco fucking Malfoy.

"What do you want? Another bat-bogey?" You crossed your arms in annoyance. Draco was blocking the doorway, and you knew that you wouldn't be let out until he was satisfied.

"Don't fuck with me," he warned.

"What do you want?" you asked again.

"You know there's going to be parties tonight."

"Yeah...And?"

"Of course Gryffindor will be having one. But I think you should come to the Slytherin one."

You scoffed at the prospect. "Malfoy. Why do you want me to come to a party?"

"I don't!" he hissed. "I mean, you'd have a bloody better time there than with those sniveling Weasley twins."

You snorted a little to yourself. "I'm sorry. Malfoy, do I detect jealousy?"

"No! Shut the fuck up. You can't see a good offer when it smacks you in the face."

"I doubt that. Maybe I like being smacked," you winked. It wasn't often that you were trapped one on one with Malfoy, but you wanted to toy with him. Watch him squirm. It was the least you could do for all the hell he's raised over the years.

Draco's eyes darkened as you said this, and his tongue rolled over his lips nervously. He cleared his throat and shook his head.

"Just come to the party. I have things I want to talk to you about."

"We're talking now, Malfoy."

"This dingy closet is hardly the place for these matters."

"Oh, and a loud, rumbling party is the place?"

"I'd pull you somewhere quieter," he whispered while meeting your eyes.

"Like your bedroom?" you guessed.

"...Yes. But not for that reason."

"Surprised you're not trying to shag me. That's growth Malfoy. Proud of you," you said while slapping your hand down onto his shoulder.

"Don't flatter yourself." He turned away from you and placed his hand on the doorknob but stopped. He turned his head over his shoulder to say one last thing. "Password's 'mutton chop'."

With that, Draco stormed out of the closet leaving you dumbfounded and breathless.

You swallowed hard and left the closet, returning your way to the study hall.

Diving into your textbooks gave you the much needed distraction from all your thoughts. After your self-promised few hours of studying passed, you mosied back to your common room to change. You knew the parties would start almost immediately after the feast, so whatever you wore to dinner needed to be party ready.

You pulled on a pair of light wash, high waisted shorts that worked perfectly with your favorite light gray, long sleeve, turtle neck crop top. And of course, your favorite pair of high top converse. You did light makeup with a dark red lippy and tied up your hair in two symmetrical high top buns. A few strands of hair hung in front of your face, and you felt perfect.

Upon entering the Great Hall, you locked eyes immediately with Cedric at the Hufflepuff table. You watched his eyes scan you up and down and mouth something to himself. But the bitter memory of how you last left things was too powerful, and you marched over to the Gryffindor table.

You found Harry, Ron, and Hermione and sat with them.

"Bloody hell, look who it is!" exclaimed Ron.

"I know, I know. Long time no see. Doesn't help we have no classes together."

Hermione leaned over and hugged you from the side. "Don't listen to him. We're glad you're here now. Tell us how your year has been!"

"It's been good! Yeah. Just, you know, studying hard."

"I think Hermione can relate," giggled Harry.

"Oh, I'm sorry for taking my education seriously," laughed Hermione.

"It's the only thing you take seriously sometimes," chided Ron.

"Leave her alone," you piped up.

"I'm just saying she could loosen up a bit. Everyone's snagging dates to the ball, but she's too preoccupied with her books to get one herself," sneered Ron.

"Ron! You're being incredibly rude right now. What the hell is up with you?" you asked.

"Nothing," he scoffed. His eyes looked pained as they remained drawn to Hermione, but her own pained expression caused him to look down.

The tension grew thick and awkward but was quickly diffused when Fred and George finally plopped down. George sat next to you, and Fred sat across from you and next to Ron.

"Woah, what happened to the vibes here?" asked Fred.

"Don't ask," you muttered. He shrugged it off and started to pile food onto his plate. Hermione, Ron, and Harry all pushed their food around awkwardly.

"Where's Ginny?" you asked. Everyone shrugged. "No one knows where she is?" Something tugged at your heart. You had a feeling she was upset somewhere, but you had no idea where.

Thankfully, Dumbledore took his place at the podium and began his speech before announcing the champions.

"Happiest of Halloweens to you all. As you know, tonight is the night we will choose the three champions to compete in the Tri-Wizard tournament."

Like at the back to school feast, the goblet was sitting behind him emitting a gorgeous blue flame. Dumbledore gestured to it eagerly as he continued his speech.

"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for," he continued.

He waved his hand towards the goblet, and the flames turned into a pinkish red. Small sparks shot out as one slip of parchment flew out of the flames. Dumbledore caught it gracefully and read off the name with vigor.

"Viktor Krum!"

Another paper flew out reading Fleur Delacour's name. Like with Viktor, there was a raucous applause to congratulate her. All that was left was the Hogwarts champion. Your stomach twisted into knots.

"Cedric Diggory!"

Cedric stood up to stand with the other champions, and you instinctively shot up at your table as well. You flew up so fast that Cedric paused and made eyes with you. Your mouth flew open in surprise, and you realized that the dying cheers were turning into eyes on you, so you sat back down. George squeezed your shoulder and assured you that he would be alright.

Dumbledore began to speak again of the coming first task in just a few weeks time. He had to be as vague as possible but still wanted to elicit excitement. Suddenly, he was interrupted by the goblet stirring in color again and shooting out yet another paper.

What the hell?

You thought there was only supposed to be three champions.

Dumbledore grasped the paper in his own state of confusion. "Harry Potter," he muttered. "Harry Potter!" he repeated loudly. Every face turned to Harry in shock. He shouldn't have been able to enter. He wasn't a sixth year. Hermione beckoned him to get up and join them, and Harry shuffled up awkwardly. He looked just as stunned as everyone else.

"This feast is over," stated Dumbledore as he took the champions away from the Great Hall, presumably to his office.

"What the fuck just happened?" you asked.

"Course. He's always going on and hogging all the glory," spat Ron.

"Ron! You've been such a prat today. Harry's your friend," you squeaked.

Ron excused himself from the table aggressively. "See you lot at the party."

Hermione sighed and trailed after him. "Sorry. I should see if he's okay."

That just left you with Fred and George. They looked at you expectantly. "What a night. Ready to blow off some steam?"

"Um, yeah. Sure. Actually, I'm going to go to the Slytherin party first. I got invited. I'm just going to go make rounds and then I'll come by."

"Who the hell invited you to a Slytherin party?" asked Fred.

"Slytherin's love us Huffs. Even if they deny it sometimes," you giggled. You didn't want to tell him that it was Draco. You knew they would fly into a fury.

They didn't push it further. After leaving the Great Hall, they separated to the Gryffindor common room while you went down to the dungeons. When you reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room, you provided the password that Draco gave you earlier.

When the entrance opened for you, the blaring of music and conversation overwhelmed your ears. You had been to a few parties before, but you usually tended to stay away. You scanned the entire common room looking for any familiar face.

"Hey!" shouted someone from your right. You turned to face the mystery person, and it was Blaise Zabini with two solo cups in his hand. He offered one to you, and you declined it. He took a long sip out of it and handed it back. "Feel better now?"

You rolled your eyes and silently thanked him for proving it wasn't tampered with. You took the cup and asked him why he was offering you a drink. "It's not like we've ever talked."

"Draco told me you were coming. Said to be on my best behavior. Didn't really understand it. Thought he hated you for that bat-bogey hex at the end of last year. But hey, who am I to ask questions?"

"Technically you just asked one," you laughed.

He laughed back with you. "I like you." He slung his arm around your shoulder and guided you towards the crowd. "C'mon. I'll make sure to fend off the creeps for you. Not that you can't handle your own. Just offering my assistance."

"Thanks Blaise," you giggled as you downed the rest of your drink. "Hey, where is he anyway?"

"Draco?"

"Yeah. He asked me to come by for some reason. This party seems great, but I promised my friends I'd also go by Gryffindor later."

"Already trying to ditch me?" he said with mock offense.

"Shut up, Blaise," you giggled.

"I jest. I'm just in a good fucking mood tonight."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"Probably all the tequila."

"Oooohh, you're a tequila girl?" you asked while you twirled around together with the music.

"What'd you take me for?"

"Something more posh! Gin and tonics."

You and Blaise laughed as he spun you out and back in before dipping you. You held onto his shoulders, and he held on tight to your waist. But it didn't feel ulterior or sneaky. It was like he just genuinely wanted to laugh and have a good time. It was nice to just relax with someone and not think about the romantic notions of it.

When he pulled you back up, he was still holding onto your waist as you both shimmied around. Even with all the noise, you heard the distinct sound of someone clearing their throat.

You turned around to find Malfoy staring daggers at the two of you.

Wordlessly, Draco held out his hand.

"Enjoy," said Blaise to you.

You took Draco's hand, and he led you off to his room, as you suspected earlier.

The silence in his room was such a stark difference that you felt like you could hear your own heartbeat. He walked over to his bedside table and pulled out a bottle of regular whiskey. He poured two glasses and handed one to you.

You downed it in one gulp.

"You've got nothing to prove," he muttered.

"Just trying to have some fun, Malfoy. You should try it. Then you might not have so many frown lines," you teased.

He just scoffed and rolled his eyes as he sipped on his drink.

"What is it you wanted to speak about?"

"Right to the point I see," he said. He tapped his finger against his glass. One of his rings made a continuous clinking noise each time he did. He almost seemed nervous. "The ball."

"What about it?"

"Go with me."

Now you were the one scoffing. You folded your arms for a moment and shook your head. You reached your glass back out to him for another pour, which he obliged. You downed it in one go again. You focused on the burning sensation in your throat to distract you from what he just said.

Surely, he didn't just say that.

"Malfoy. You're a terror and an asshole. Why would I go with you?"

"Because I'm cute."

"Draco Malfoy. You did not just use the word cute."

"You're right. I didn't. So if you ever tell anyone I did, I'll hex you."

"I don't know, Draco. This is pretty out of nowhere."

"Well, considering the Diggory boy is taken, as well as those twins you fancy, I'm your next best choice."

Your stomach tightened into steel. "What do you mean they're taken?"

"Didn't hear? Diggory's taking Chang. Fred's taking Angelina. No surprise there. And George is going with Alicia Spinnet." He tapped his ring against the glass twice before putting his glass down. He closed the gap between you in two large strides. "Please don't make me go with Pansy."

You swallowed hard. Did they all really have dates, or was Malfoy fucking with you to get you to say yes? You needed confirmation.

"I'm sorry. Can I get back to you about it?"

"Sure, whatever."

You shouldered past him and picked up the whiskey bottle and chugged straight from it. You slammed it down a littler harder than you wanted to, but you couldn't help it.

"Let's get plastered tonight, yeah?"

"Thought you needed to head to the other party?"

"Fuck the other party," you seethed.

Draco's lips turned upward into a smirk. He held out his hand again and led you back to the party. He went around to get you both another drink, and you tried to pace yourself just a little bit. You both hung back and participated in idle conversation. You even made Draco laugh a couple of times.

It was a miraculous sight.

He wasn't half bad, prejudices aside. You were somehow seriously considering his offer, but you wouldn't let him know that. If you said yes, you had some conditions. Mainly apologizing to all your friends.

"Want to dance?" he asked as he recognized that you finished your drink.

"You?! Dancing?!" you teased.

"Shut up. Offer is leaving in 3...2..."

"Okay fine!"

He led you back into the crowd and you swayed together to the upbeat tune. You kept some distance between you, but soon the overcharged feelings in your heart coursed together with the alcohol in your blood. Before you knew it, you were grinding back into Draco and oblivious to a few of the surprised stares.

You didn't care.

You felt loose and happy.

If the other men in your life could flaunt around with other people, why couldn't you?

Draco's hands moved from your hips to the subtly exposed skin between your shirt and shorts. His fingers grazed under the hem of your shirt like he wanted to explore upwards, but he restrained himself.

You lost yourself to the moment and the tantalizing sear of Draco's fingers on your skin, but you were quickly snapped back to reality when someone appeared out of the corner of your eye.

When you looked towards the common room entrance, you realized it was more than one someone.

Cedric, Fred, and George all stood together watching you dance with Draco. You stopped moving, and he gave you a quizzical look. He looked over to where you were staring just a moment ago.

"Fuck," you whispered.

"You're a free agent. Don't let them get to you."

"Sorry, I should go," you muttered as you pushed him away. You marched clumsily over to them. The room was swaying, and you knew all your words would come out slurred and angry. So, you took a deep breath to ground yourself when you stood in front of them.

"Hi."

"Someone's cozy," stated Fred dryly.

"Yeah, well you lot can't all be mad at me about it," you spat back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Cedric.

"Okay, what is this? You've all been weirdly at each others throats the last few months and now you're all playing buddy cop together?"

Cedric crossed his arms, and George just looked at the ground. Fred held his gaze sternly.

"Why are you dancing with him?" seethed Fred. "He's a fucking prat. Where's your loyalty?" He put extra emphasis on loyalty. You may be a Hufflepuff, but that didn't mean you were a perfect one. And if Fred and George truly did have dates, they surely didn't have the courage to tell you about it.

"I'm a free agent!" you yelled. "Why are you so worried about who I'm dancing with? Go worry about your ball dates," you spat aggressively. You shoulder through Cedric and Fred hard and out of the common room.

Tears started to stream down your face.

What the fuck was happening?

Were you about to lose everyone you held dear?

I hope this longer chapter makes up for the recent shorter ones! AHHHHH. What the fuck is happening?! The drama! I couldn't resist sneaking in some intimate moments with my baby Draco.

Also, yes. The slapping is DEFINITELY a reference to Filthy by babynaomi. PLEASE go read it. It's utterly perfect.