An hour later Eloise found herself sitting in the Seventh Year boy's dormitory, nursing a butterbeer. Around her, her fellow Gryffindor Seventh Years milled around the room, conversing and giggling. She was on the floor, leaning against the bed frame of a surprisingly tidy bed. Mind you, the boys' dorm was rather tidier than she expected, but then again, they probably knew a bunch of girls would be spending the night in their dorm.
"What's going on in that little head of yours, Jones?" A voice said from above her. Eloise looked up to see Nathan Sigmour grinning down at her, his fluffy hair hanging lightly around his face as he stared at her from his spot hanging over the edge of the bed frame.
"I'm relaxing. Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing tonight?" Eloise said, her tone light. Nathan swung himself over the bed frame, narrowing missing hitting Eloise in the head.
"You look bored." Nathan noted, taking her Butterbeer from her and taking a swig. Eloise gently took the bottle back and dangled it between her raised knees.
"Not bored. Pensive. Relaxed." She mused, leaning her head back against the bed frame as she glanced around the room. Gabby and Darcia were chatting away with William Barnes and Samuel Ross, all piled on Will's bed. Dominique and Emma were giggling away with Liam as they joked was pulling an extravagant pose that had Dominique and Emma clutching their stomachs in laughter. The three had sunk straight into a bottle of Firewhiskey as soon as they had barged into the dormitory, and were decidedly tipsy. There were a group playing Exploding Snap in the corner, shrieking dramatically as they crowded around a makeshift tabletop from a closed trunk. There were couples and groups, such as Nathan and Eloise, scattered around the room, their voices gently overlapping. Eloise was relaxed. She didn't mind the ambience, the calm buzz radiating around the room. This was exactly what she'd needed, just a time to float, to bask, to enjoy.
"But you're alone. Usually you're alone." Nathan noted. Eloise turned and looked at him, arching an eyebrow.
"So what? Maybe I like being alone." She challenged.
"You know, fair. People are annoying." Nathan grinned, reaching over and taking her Butterbeer from her again and taking a swig, wriggling his eyebrows at her. Eloise rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance, but it was definitely an act. Secretly, Eloise liked that Nathan was comfortable enough to joke around with her.
"Do you guys normally hang out like this? Or is this purely a 'N.E.W.T.s are fucked' thing?" Eloise cringed inwardly as she asked the question, hoping she didn't sound jealous or angry about it. But at the same time, the idea of her whole year getting together without her didn't fill her with warm fuzzy feelings.
"Well we used to do it occasionally during Sixth Year, only once we could get down to Hogsmeade and get Butterbeer and that. I think this is purely a teenage rebellion to protest the nastily exhausting hell they're putting us through." Nathan replied solemnly. Eloise snorted, nodding along seriously.
"Nastily exhausting hell. Fitting." She told him.
"I thought you loved to study. You literally always have a textbook open." Nathan noted, turning to look at Eloise with a curious eye.
"That's because I'm the opposite of smart. Smart would have been to have taken a sane amount amount of courses, like that being none." Eloise joked, making Nathan snort in laughter. "I don't mind the studying though. It just gets…"
"Boring?" Nathan offered, taking a sip of Butterbeer.
"I was going to say monotonous." Eloise said.
"What a mood." Nathan said mock-seriously, nodding. He drained Eloise's Butterbeer and jumped to his feet. He turned to Eloise and offered his hand out. "C'mon, your Butterbeer is out."
"Yeah, that's because you drank it." Eloise grumbled. Nathan laughed, grabbing Eloise's elbows and pulling her up.
"You ever had Firewhiskey?" Nathan asked, pulling her towards the trunk that had been designated as the bar. Eloise shook her head, allowing herself to be towed along.
"Nah, I'm mostly a wine and tequila gal."
"What's tequila?" Eloise laughed at the question, only to realise he was serious.
"There's an age-old Muggle saying about tequila, you know. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor. I think that pretty much sums it up."
"That is something I can get behind. Do you have any?" Nathan grinned, looking eagerly at Eloise.
"Oi Nathan! Where's James?" Darcia called out, bounding over to them. She had a cup in her hand, full of some sort of alcohol Eloise assumed. Darcia's face was flushed and she had an insanely wide smile on her face.
"Oh hey Eloise! I have elderflower wine! Do you drink?" She asked enthusiastically.
"You did say you were more of a wine girl," Nathan said teasingly, before turning to Darcia, "James is doing his Prefect rounds."
"Oh I hope he brings up some pudding!"
"Darce, where's your wine?" Nathan asked. Darcia grinned and dug around in the trunk, whipping out a half-empty wine bottle. She grabbed an empty cup and filled it, eagerly shoving it in Nathan's hands. When he passed it over to Eloise, her eyes widened dramatically. She burst into giggles and clapped her hands enthusiastically, accidentally sloshing her wine over the side of her cup.
"She's a 'wine and tequila' girl, our Jones." Nathan whispered conspiratorially to Darcia, who gave Eloise an impish grin.
"A girl after my own heart." She declared, pulling Eloise into a sloppy hug. Nathan laughed at Eloise as she tried to keep her cup from spilling over Darcia.
"There any Firewhiskey left, Darce? Or did Liam get to it?" Darcy looked between the two in front of her with an even wider grin (if that was even possible). She turned back to the trunk and pulled out an amber coloured bottle and wiggled it at them.
"One Firewhiskey coming up!" She giggled, popping the cork somewhat nimbly for a one-handed intoxicated teenager. She pulled the bottle up to her lips, took a generous swig, and scrunched up her face as she passed it to Nathan.
"Oh, the burn!" She groaned. Nathan, pulling the bottle away from his mouth, nodded in agreement. He passed the bottle to Eloise, who eyed it apprehensively. She took a deep breath, snatched the bottle from Nathan and quickly took a swig.
Fire. The warmth flooded her throat, warming her to her core. Then the burn that came from drinking cheap alcohol quickly came, followed by a more intense burn.
"Fuck, I thought Fireball was bad." Eloise groaned, coughing. Nathan took the bottle of Firewhiskey from her and corked it, chucking it unceremoniously into the trunk.
"What's that?" He asked.
"Muggle alcohol. Cinnamon whiskey. Absolutely disgusting, the bane of my existence. After Firewhiskey, that is." Eloise groaned. Nathan looked at Eloise with a new light.
"And here I was, thinking you were a stick in the mud."
"That's because you don't know our Eloise like we do, Nathan." Darcia giggled, wrapping her arm around Eloise and pulling the taller girl closer to her. Eloise laughed at the silly face Darcia was pulling at Nathan and took a decent swig of her wine.
"God, this is so much better than Firewhiskey." Darcia grinned and pulled Eloise in tighter in glee.
"Thank God! No one else will drink wine with me!" She squealed in excitement. Releasing Eloise, she bounced over to Gabby, probably to brag. Eloise paused, looking back at Nathan. The boy simply wiggled his fingers at her and wandered off. Probably to go find Liam. Eloise took his cue, following after Darcia. She stood at the end of the bed, unsure. Should she worm her way onto the bed, would that be rude? In her hesitation, Gabby turned and looked at her over her shoulder.
"Having fun, girly?" She asked, fully rolling over so her whole body was facing Eloise.
"Definitely." Eloise grinned back, taking another swig of her wine. Gabby beamed in response, shuffling her body over and beckoning Eloise in.
"C'mon dude, come lay down. You've met Will and Sam, right?" Eloise carefully climbed onto the bed. The last thing she wanted to do was be the awkward girl who spilled wine over some poor boy's bed. Although with a quick glance at the way Darcy was swaying next to Sam, her eyes closed as she danced along to whatever tune she was hearing, told Eloise that she wouldn't have been the first tonight.
"Yeah, I reckon Jones and I did a project together in Fourth Year. Arithmancy, wasn't it?" Sam asked. Eloise widened her eyes in surprise- he was right.
"That's right! Fourteen, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, something like that." Sam replied, shrugging. Eloise nodded awkwardly, not knowing what to say. Luckily, Gabby came to the rescue.
"Wanna play Bertie's Roulette?" She asked eagerly, shaking a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Darcia and Sam groaned, while Will grinned eagerly back.
"Hell yeah!" He cheered. Eloise looked around in confusion, before turning back to Gabby.
"Roulette? I thought that Berties was pretty much that anyway."
"Gabby figured out a way to turn it into a drinking game. Pretty much, you eat or drink." Sam explained with a repulsed look on his face. Gabby giggled at him and shook the box of beans teasingly at him.
"He ended up with a vomit flavoured bean last time and literally spent the rest of night vomiting." Gabby said teasingly. You know what, fair, Eloise thought to herself, swirling her wine around in her cup.
"Can't imagine why." Sam grumbled sarcastically. He looked around the room and smiled slightly at the look that Eloise didn't realise she'd been giving him.
"You were so sure it was gonna be butterscotch." Gabby teased. Darcia giggled manically and snatched the box clumsily from Gabby's hand and threw it unceremoniously to the middle of the bed.
"Eloise! You first!" She declared, leaning back on the hand not holding her wine delicately in her hand. Eloise looked around at her classmates, who were all grinning and laughing at the look of apprehension on her face. She glanced at Sam, but their brief comradery was seemingly gone. Cautiously, as if inching towards a bomb (a move that had Darcia and Will roaring in laughter), Eloise reached out and pulled out a mint green bean. She instantly relaxed. What looked this good and tasted so bad?
"I'll eat." She announced smugly, causing her peers to cheer and holler. She popped the bean into her mouth and she was right, toothpaste flavours flooded her mouth. Not the best, but certainly not the worst.
"Your turn Sam!" Will urged, shaking the box his way. Sam groaned and squeezed his eyes shut and jammed his hand into the box. He opened his eyes to reveal a deep, rich brown, in which he threw away in horror.
"I am NOT eating that." He protested.
"You never know, it could be chocolate." Eloise said teasingly, making Gabby snort with laughter beside her.
"Drink! Drink! Drink!" Darcia, Will and Gabby chanted, all laughing. Sam took a rather large gulp of his drink. The game continued on, with the most memorable bean coming from Will, who had turned a relatively spectacular shade of green after eating a rotten egg bean. Eloise herself had tasted a celery, gingerbread, bubblegum, malted barley, sausage, balsamic vinegar and turnip beans. Although admittedly, she had chosen to drink on many of the beans too. She was definitely more relaxed than before and she found herself way more at ease with her peers than she'd been earlier in the night.
"Why did you suggest this?" Darcia moaned to Gabby, holding out half of a lavender soap flavoured bean in distaste. Gabby's response was drowned out by some hoots and cheers. Eloise turned around to see James Potter strolling into the dorm, hovering trays of sweets in front of him.
"Pudding!" Darcia cheered, throwing her bean onto the bed. Ignoring the indignant cry from Will, Darcia skipped her way over to the floating trays.
"Oh hush Will, just banish it you twit." Gabby laughed, nudging him in the shoulder. Will simply shrugged and hauled himself off the bed and went to greet his housemate.
"Has somebody cast Silencio yet? I wanna dance." Gabby asked, looking at Eloise.
"Somehow, I feel like I'm the last person you should ask."
"Right, dorm party virgin." Gabby chuckled, turning to Sam. "Dude?"
"Ugh, I'll go do it now." He groaned, rolling himself over the edge of the bed and pulling himself to his feet. Eloise and Gabby giggled at his dramatics.
"Enjoying yourself?" Gabby asked, peering at her friend. Eloise looked back, a warmth filling her as she saw the genuine curiosity and a level of concern in the girl's eyes.
"Yeah. It's been nice to be surrounded by people and not books for once." Eloise joked. Gabby grinned and rolled her eyes.
"Dude, you gotta make your personality about more than books." She said, nudging her shoulder teasingly. Eloise chose to ignore the topic, changing the subject.
"How's your brother taking to Hogwarts?" Gabby took a sip of her drink, nodding. A part of Eloise wondered how the bloody hell she managed to do that without spilling it all over herself.
"The little turd is a social butterfly. He's like that cute little kid at your OHSC or something, all the older years love him. It's weird."
"At least you know people will have his back when you graduate." Eloise pointed out. Gabby turned and faced her, her face turned up in thought.
"You," she said, pointed her finger at Eloise, "Are a genius. Way to look on the bright side! What do they call it? Silver edge or something?"
"Silver lining." Eloise supplied, pleased.
"That!" She agreed, standing up. Eloise looked up to see Sam heading towards them, a grin on his face. Gabby jumped up and down in excitement, grabbing Eloise's arm and yanking her towards another wall. There was a Wizarding stereo against the wall, next to a table where James had laid out all the sweets. Gabby fiddled with the stereo while Eloise gazed at the table. While there was things like chips and nibbles, there were also Pumpkin Pasties, cakes, a peppermint slice and, most importantly, sticky date pudding.
"You know, it took a lot of effort and time to go get these. The least you could do is take one." A voice said from behind Eloise. While the words sounded angry, there was a chronically joyful tone that had Eloise relaxed as she turned to face the voice. James Potter stood behind her, a large grin on his face as she watched her. He moved past her, grabbing a napkin and looking back at her.
"So, what's your poison?" He asked, gesturing at the sweets.
"Sticky date." She supplied automatically. She watched as he reached towards it and quirked an eyebrow, "So after all that time and effort, you're also serving the cakes?" She queried. James, now with the sticky date in hand, turned around and grinned at her.
"No, just wanted your recommendation." He said cheerfully. He grinned and winked at her, walking away. Eloise stared at the table in confusion, wondering what the actual fuck had just happened. She reached forward, grabbing a slice for herself too. Music filled the room and Gabby was quickly by her side once again.
"Dude, wolf that down and let's dance!" Gabby exclaimed. Eloise grinned at her excitement and quickly finished her desert, banishing her napkin. Really, what would they do without magic?
Gabby led her a clear space and started moving her body to the music. Eloise was hesitant to follow, letting herself sway and bop to the beat. Gabby moved around her, shimmying and shaking. Gabby threw her head back and laughed, taking Eloise's arms and moving them with her.
"Dance!" She sang, bouncing on her toes. Eloise glanced around them and realised that nobody was watching them. The nibbling edges of anxiety faded away and Eloise smiled back at Gabby and swayed her hips more animatedly. A familiar tune came through the speakers and Eloise grinned, raising her arms in the air. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the music, feeling her body move to the beat. Eloise felt a presence behind her and spun around to see Nathan dancing behind her.
"Do I look bored now?" She challenged, quirking an eyebrow and wiggling towards him. He threw his head back and laughed at her teasing wiggle. He ducked down to her height, beckoned his arm towards her and swayed his hips in the same manner as Eloise. Eloise giggled and drained the last of her cup.
"Definitely not. Lemme grab that." Nathan deftly swept the plastic cup out of Eloise's hand and stretched over to put it on the lid of a closed trunk. Returning to Eloise, he offered his hands to her. She placed her hands in his and suddenly, she was spun around and dipped. Laughing, Nathan pulled her up.
"You haven't seen dancing until you've danced with the Nath-King." He joked, pulling her arms dramatically side to side.
"Does anybody actually call you that?" Eloise raised up her arms and snorted as she watched Nathan duck awkwardly to spin under it.
"Admittedly no, but if you started, it could catch on!" Nathan said enthusiastically.
"No." Her rejection was coupled with a deadpan look and Nathan pouted. Eloise spun him around again, this time outright laughing at his awkward demeanor. Suddenly, Chelsea was by their side, a bottle of Firewhiskey in her hands. She shook it enticingly towards Nathan, who grinned and took another decent swig of the bottle. He then passed it to Eloise, who took a much more subdued sip, wincing at the burn - really, who enjoyed this stuff?- and passed the bottle back to Chelsea.
"Dance with us!" Eloise found herself saying, reaching out to her. Chelsea grinned and joined the duo, dancing around under their arms. As the dance floor grew, Eloise found herself drifting away from the couple, dancing with her housemates, or simply alone. One minute she and Gabby were jumping around to an Alohamora Hearts song, singing the lyrics loudly into each other's ears. The next, she and Chelsea were swaying their hips together and laughing as they shared swigs of the Firewhiskey bottle. The next, she and Nathan were competing for the most ridiculous dance move (Nathan won, of course).
The trio were soon joined by Dominique, Emma and Liam. Emma joined Gabby and Eloise, giggling away as they clumsily danced together. Eloise felt her heart grow full as she looked around her, finally feeling like there was a place for her after all.
Cheering startled Eloise, and she turned to see Nathan and Chelsea locking lips. She whooped along with her classmates as she watched Nathan pull her closer.
"Get a room!" Will called jokingly. Chelsea stuck her finger up over Nathan's shoulders and Eloise laughed along with the rest of her friends.
Eloise was lying before. She didn't need to sit down and relax away from her books. This is what she needed. To let her hair down and let loose! It was invigorating, intoxicating, and Eloise wasn't sure why she hadn't done this before now.
Maybe Mary was onto something, after all.
Sorry this update took a while! So a little of James there, I promise there's more to come!
Thanks for reading!