A/N: Here's another chapter. Enjoy :))

Chapter 141: September 1st

In the morning of September 1st, Selene woke up in Draco's room; it was still dark outside, she laying on her back on top of his back, while he was laying diagonally. For a moment, she didn't move, trying to remember what had happened that led to this.

What actually happened was: the twins had left some pretty spiked cake for the adults to eat when they left after Bill's and Fleur's wedding, but the kids didn't know; so she ate quite a lot of it, along with Ron, Hermione(on which the alcohol didn't seem to have any effects) and Ginny. That left Hermione, Harry and Draco to get them all to their respective rooms, but before Selene's fiance had the opportunity to get her through the door, she stumbled in his room instead and threw up on the floor. After he cleaned up, they cuddled until she eventually fell asleep.

However, the only thing she could remember were fireworks tingling her tongue, a couple of spinning rooms and someone caressing her back.

Someone groaned under her and she felt it through her ribcage. She rolled over until she felt the soft material of the bedsheets unde her arms instead of skin.

"Dray? Are you awake?" A pair of eyelids fluttered a bit and then opened halfway, until grey irises could be seen through the slits.

"I guess so. How are you? Feeling any better? "

"About that. How did I end up here? I can't really remember much about last night."

"You got drunk because of some cake, I tried to get you to your room but you came here and threw up. I felt like you needed someone to calm you down and since Ginny was in a similar situation, I didn't think Hermione could handle the both of you. So you fell asleep here. Shouldn't we go down? You should really eat something, I think your stomach emptied itself fully last night. "

"Now that you said it, I do feel hungry."

"What about the hangover? How bad is it?"

"Honestly, I don't feel anything other than mild confusion. My head doesn't hurt and I don't feel nauseated either."

"Weird. But very good. It looks like it's still pretty early, though the sun seems to be rising. I think you should go to your room, or who knows what your brother might think." The girl got up and started walking towards the door.

"Don't worry about him. Though we should indeed get up and go eat something. Come on. Just put a shirt on first." she said when he made a move to follow her out of the room.

It looked like they weren't the only ones to wake up so early. When they got to the kitchen, Ginny was there as well, holding a steaming cup of what looked like tea tightly in her hands, her eyes closed and brows furrowed.

"Morning Gin."

"Shhh, stop yelling. Ugh, this headache is a real bitch. I don't understand why people would willingly do this to themselves. First off, I can't remember anything from last night, then I woke up early as hell and the worst thing is the hangover. On what planet does the short lived happiness outweigh all the cons? "

"I don't know either, but I do know that we should have a serious talk with the twins about warning us next time they do something like that. We are kids for Merlin's sake. It was obvious that we'd eat the damn cake."

"I'll talk to them for you. It was a really stupid thing to do. " Hermione said from the doorway, holding her head in her left hand.

"You're hungover? But you were so fine last night. "

"Shhhh" Draco was shushed by both Ginny and Hermione.

"Just because I was thinking clear last night doesn't mean that the afterwards effects aren't the same for me as they are for everyone else. Though Selene seems to be doing really well."

"I am. Not sure why, but I am."

"I think I know exactly why. Or maybe not exactly but partially." Harry and Ron were the last to enter the kitchen. My brother had spoken, looking rather confused, but in too much pain to complain.

"But Dray said you didn't drink. How are you hungover?"

"Shhh. I don't really know how it works, but the current theory is that it somehow transferred from you to me because you were already feeling unwell."

"I heard you throw up last night. " He added as soon as he spotted my confused look.

Soon enough, Mrs Weasley had woken up and gave them each a cup of the tea that Ginny had in her hand, which apparently was a mix of herbs that was actually the matriarch's very own hangover cure.

After they drank their teas and finished packing their things, the trunks were sent to Minnie's office at Hogwarts through the Floo, along with the animals and other possessions. The kids on the other hand, already dressed in their uniforms, lined up in front of the opened door, next to the adults, so they could Side Apparate to King's Cross.

"Okay now, listen carefully. " Mr Weasley turned to them as soon as they had put their things in the train. "The Ministry has been, for the most part, taken over by Voldemort. And that means the schoolboard, as well as the appointing of the new DADA teacher is under his control. The school is no longer as safe as it used to be, what with Dumbledore dead and everything, even though most of the teachers are still on our side. So you have to stick together. And just be safe. If anything comes up you go to either Severus or Minerva. Or the Room of Requirement and straight to Grimmauld Place if anything goes sideways. This year is going to be trying for everyone, but you still have to go to school. Tell Minerva to send me a letter after you know what is done. " he looked suggestively at the twins, referring to their little Horcrux problems.

"We will Mr Weasley. We'll be very careful, don't worry. "

"Well, I'm a parent, I'll always worry about all of you kids." In the tense situation, he didn't seem to realise just what kind of effect his words had upon the children that were not his own. They felt happy. The kind of happiness a toddler feels when they see a butterfly for the first time, the one a grandparent feels when they see their grandchild or even the kind a parent feels while watching their little kid sleep peacefully. That special kind of happy.

And so they were off to Hogwarts again, after a round of bone crushing hugs from Mrs Weasley and now Fleur as well, as she seemed to have adopted her mother in law's predisposition to do that.

Just as Mr Weasley had said, it wasn't going to be easy, but at least they had each other.