Draoidh University, London, England
Luna Lovegood sat on her friend Juniper's bed. She was still a little bit upset about the night before. She did not like it when her friends fought. She fixed the hem of her flapper dress. According to Juniper who found out from Rose who found out from Luis, the theme for the party was roaring 20s. Her hair was in a loose braid and decorated with lots of pearls and feathers. Juniper was doing her makeup in the mirror. She was wearing a mauve flapper dress and had styled her hair into a teal updo, meant to look like a bob. She looked very pretty. She was a little nervous but Juniper was excited. They were going to meet Parker and Rolf at the party.
"Ready Luna?" Juniper asked
"Yes," Luna said. The two friends walked to the house. It was an older one, looking like it belonged in Victorian London, it looked very old and elegant, it matched the theme of the evening. Luna saw Parker and Rolf standing at the entrance, waiting for them. They were both wearing sleek, old fashioned suits. They greeted each other before entering the house. Luna never loved big crowds or loud noises but she didn't mind them. That was before the battle. Now she could hardly stand them. She noticed that Ginny, Neville, Harry, Ron and Hermione were the same way. She wondered if that would fade with time. In the commotion of music and people, they had lost track of Juniper
"Juniper's gone" Luna observed
"She's probably getting drinks or something" Rolf mused
"Or found someone to snog" Parker suggested
"Maybe we should find her?" Luna asked
"I'm sure she's fine, Luna, she has her phone, if something happened she would let us know. Ok?" Rolf asked gently
"Ok, if we can't find her before we leave can you call her?" She asked
"Sure Luna" They made their way over to the side of the room. Luna didn't particularly like parties like this, even when they had fun themes
Juniper Bennet looked around when she realized that her friends hadn't followed her to the dance floor. She laughed lightly, knowing them, they were probably in a corner talking. They weren't party people but they liked to humor her at least. Juniper started to dance, she could feel the rhythm in her feet, carrying herself away from an old Victorian house to a mansion in the 1920s all of the colors and rich fabrics were alluring. She was trapped in her own little world until she slipped on someone's drink. She felt herself slipping as a hand reached out to catch her own. She looked up at the hand's owner. The women had pale, ivory skin, bright blue eyes and long dark curls. She had a resting smirk. She was wearing a bottle green, low cut, short flapper dress. The women smiled. Juniper's heart skipped a beat. She was definitely gorgeous.
"Astoria Greengrass" she said as she helped Juniper up
"Juniper Bennet, but almost everyone calls me June"
"Nice to meet you June" Astoria had a northern posh accent, it was nothing like her own Devon accent.
"You too" Astoria looked her up and down.
"So do you go to parties like this a lot?" Juniper asked her
"Not really, this is my first"
"It's my second, do you like it?"
"If I knew what beautiful women would be here, I would have come to one of these sooner" she said looking over to Juniper. Juniper blushed
"So your gay?" Juniper asked her hopefully
"Yup, I'm one fully homosexual bitch" she grinned "guessing I'm not the only one?"
"Yeah" she said choking on her drink
"This place is kinda lame, want to get out of here?"
"Yeah, sure, ugh let me text my friends first"
"They worry about you?"
"Yeah, especially Luna, she'd freak if she thought something happened to me"
"That must be nice"
"What?"
"To have friends who care so much about you"
"Don't you?"
"Not really" she shrugged "but I thought you said you wanted to have some fun?"
"Oh yeah" Astoria took her hand as she finished her text, leaving the party behind
Malfoy penthouse, West London, EnglandJuniper Bennet woke up to the sun shining on her face, in a stranger's bed. She froze for a moment, pulling the sheet over herself as she tried to remember where she was. She looked around the room. It was large, way larger than any dorm she had ever been in. It was even larger than some of the apartments she had been in. The room was luxurious, no doubt about that. Everything about the art to the bedding and sheets that she currently had in her hand screamed wealth. There were multiple doors throughout the room, most notably the large black, glossy double doors. One of the other doors opened. A young woman stepped out, Astoria Juniper thought. Her heart skipped a beat, as memories from the night before rushed back. Astoria smiled at her and walked over.
"Morning Love" She said
"Hey" Juniper pushed herself up in the bed, smiling like an idiot.
"I was thinking we could get Bruch before you had to go back to Uni"
"Brunch?"
"Like a proper date?" She bit her lip. She sounded almost insecure. She looked worriedly at Juniper, waiting for an answer
"Sounds great," Juniper said. She looked around and saw that her dress was still at the foot of the bed. Shoot. Based on everything around her, she guessed that a flapper costume would not be appropriate for wherever Astoria wanted to go. She looked over Astoria's outfit, a green ruffled dress, black heels and even formal jewelry. She looked down at her own flapper dress. Astoria seemed to pick up on her problem
"I might have something you can wear," she walked back into her large closet. She came back a few minutes later with a yellow wrap dress, a pair of heels and some gold jewelry "it's a little short on me so it should be perfect for you. I think this color would look great on you"
"Thanks, it's perfect" she walked into the bathroom. She tried not to gawk as she put on the dress and heels. She quickly checked her hair, which was still in its bob style updo. She walked out back into the main room, still trying to put in the pair of formal hoops.
"You look beautiful"
"Thanks" she couldn't help but feel giddy as someone so beautiful called her beautiful. She thought she heard something behind her. She spun around to see the two large doors opening. She froze, for some reason dreading whatever would happen next.
"Unbelievable," Astoria muttered. She walked forward with a huff. Before she could get to the door, a man walked through. He was pale, paler than Astoria, grey eyed and platinum blonde. Like the room around her, he screamed money and class. He looked visibly pissed. Well maybe someone like him wouldn't use the word pissed
"Astoria, what were you thinking?"
"What was I thinking about what?" She said asked nonchalantly
"Bringing a random girl home" he growled
"She has a name" Astoria gestured to her
"That doesn't change the fact that you don't know her" he hissed
"I know her, and she knows me but I guess I should introduce you? Draco, this is Juniper, the girl I slept with last night. Juniper, this is my very gay boyfriend Draco"
"I'm sorry, gay boyfriend?"
"First uni and now this? I told you to keep a low profile"
"I went to a party on the opposite end of town"
"My mother called me, asking why she found out from your sister that you went to a mug-mundane party and left with another woman. Tell me, how is that discrete?"
"What do you want me to say Draco? That I won't do it again? Or that I won't find beautiful girls to-"
"I just want you to be careful" he sounded defeated "if either of us are stupid, they will come after us"
"Oh please, you're still scared of them? they're behind bars, Draco and-"
"They're not all behind bars, they're rebuilding" he said shortly. Something changed in Astoria. Her shoulders dropped
"What?" She hissed. He looked pointedly at Juniper
"I'll tell you later" he whispered to Astoria. Astoria pursed her lips, lost in thought. She turned to Juniper
"I'm sorry but you need to leave." she said, before racing out of the room. She looked so hurt to say those words. Feeling more than a little rejected, Juniper grabbed her dress and purse from the floor, trying to brush away tears. She rushed out as Draco grabbed her arm.
"I'm sorry" he said
"Shut it" she mumbled
"Look, I'll explain this the best I can. Please just don't blame Astoria."
"Fine"
"Astoria and I both come from very traditional, powerful and dangerous families. If you couldn't guess, they aren't very accepting. They had wanted to arrange a marriage between Astoria and I. I found out she is a lesbian and she found of I was gay. We decided to go along, so we could have a chance to be ourselves and have someone to protect us. If anyone in either of our families found out, we would be disowned in a heartbeat"
"So why not just get disowned? Worried about money?" She said bitterly
"Well in my family, disowning is almost always followed by murder"
"W-What" She stuttered
"My uncle was murder by my aunt after he was disowned and married his husband. My Aunt survived but her husband, child and son in law were killed my parents and aunt's friends"
"But they're still free!?"
"No, but my free family members wouldn't hesitate to kill me, Astoria and anyone who could prove what we were up to. So please, just stay away" She ran out of the apartment, racing past Astoria on her way out. Her mind was racing.