A/N: Started this right away, since I made you guys wait so long for the previous chapter. It's pretty long but contains a bit more girls stuff, sorry.

Chapter 39: The Feast

So now Nora and Draco were back together again, finally, and the others had to admit that it was much more pleasant to be around them now, than before, though their lovey-dovey acting was a bit nauseating some times.

The eight of them were currently sitting in the Living Room in front of the fire, the stars twinkling brightly outside.

"Take a break and breathe, will you?" asked Hermione from her spot on the sofa with Terry as she looked down on Nora and Draco who had seated themselves on the floor in front of the fireplace. Nora glared at her best friend.

"Just because I have a love life now, doesn't mean you can get all jealous," she said playfully, then, after thinking it over, she added, "That made no sense at all, did it? Right, what I meant was: sorry, we'll try to be more sociable." Hermione chuckled and then smiled, but five minutes later Nora and Draco had started snogging again.

"What time is it?" asked Harry from his seat in one of the chairs, Lavender and Ron in the other one, looking at the others.

"Almost 11 o'clock now," replied Terry. "Why?"

"No, just wondering. This place is pretty boring, actually," Harry said, looking around glumly. Parvati, who was sitting in his lap, gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Oh, very entertaining," said Harry sarcastically. Parvati raised her eyebrows and kissed him passionately on the lips. "Much better," Harry told her, smiling.

"This place is sooo dull," muttered Ron 15 minutes later, stroking Lavender's hair absentmindedly.

"Tell me about it," said Hermione, snuggled up close to Terry. Ron gave her a confused look, but before he could say anything Hermione, Harry and even Nora, taking some time off of snogging Draco, all said: "It's just a saying, Ron." He frowned at them, feeling a bit stupid, but soon focused his attention on Lavender again.

"Does any of you know what Dumbledore was talking about, when he said we'd see many of our fellow students again soon?" asked Parvati.

"Not a clue," said Harry, and the others shook their head, except for Hermione.

"I think he was telling us that they'll visit us again soon," she said.

"But then who are all of the 'fellow students'?" questioned Lavender, frowning slightly.

"Maybe students from our year," suggested Terry shrugging.

"Yeah, maybe," muttered Lavender vaguely.

"All right, we're going to bed," said Nora as she and Draco stood up.

"Thank Merlin," muttered Harry and Ron, still not really used to the fact that one of their best friends was dating a Slytherin, even though he was on their side now. Nora glared at them and then marched off, dragging Draco with her.

"Goodnight!" he called just before Nora, who said nothing, pulled him out of the room.

"Goodnight!" replied the others, chuckling.

"We're going as well," said Hermione, unfurling herself and getting up and stretching. Terry got up too, bade them all goodnight and followed Hermione out of the room.

"Well, then there's not much use for us to stay here, is there?" asked Harry and the others shook their heads, so the four of them went to bed as well, all incredibly relieved Nora wasn't so depressed anymore.

~*~*~*~

The next morning Harry, Ron and Terry were waiting in the hall for Draco and Nora, who apparently hadn't woken up yet. Hermione, Parvati and Lavender were still getting ready and would probably be done soon. A door to the right opened and out walked Hermione, which left them waiting for Nora, outside her door.

"Are you waiting for Nora?" she asked after she had given Terry a kiss. Harry nodded, as Ron was too busy tapping his foot impatiently. "Then you two are waiting beside the wrong door."

"What do you mean?" asked Ron. "This is her bedroom, isn't it?" he indicated to the room he thought belonged to Nora. Hermione nodded and smiled.

"Yes, but I don't think she's in there," she said. When Harry and Ron continued to look confused, Hermione looked in the direction of Draco's door, which had just opened. Nora walked out, fully dressed already, carefully closing the door behind her. Harry and Ron's jaws dropped to the floor.

"NORA!" they both shouted, taking her completely by surprise, causing her to jump back in shock.

"What?" she asked looking at them befuddled. Harry and Ron gaped at her in disbelief. Hermione rolled her eyes and walked over to Nora, whispering something in her ear. Comprehension dawned on her and she laughed, which made the two guys goggle at her even more. Nora and Hermione both folded their arms and raised their eyebrows, looking very identical.

"Well, what did I do?" asked Nora, dying to see Harry and Ron making a fool out of themselves.

"Er. . ." said Harry and he nudged Ron, letting him do the talking.

"Erm. . . well, er. . ." he spluttered. "You, er. . . did, erm. . . it. . . with Draco," he finally managed to bring out, after another couple of nudges from Harry.

"What exactly did I do with Draco?" questioned Nora innocently, her eyebrows still raised and arms still folded. Hermione chuckled softly beside her.

"It," replied Ron. "You know! It!" He grumbled. "You had sex with Draco!" he finally shouted. Nora and Hermione both burst into laughter and Ron looked as if he had just ate a beet-um, turning completely red, as he watched the two girls making fun of him and Harry.

"What?" the two of them said indignantly, not knowing how stupid they were acting. Nora and Hermione regained a bit of control of their laughter and Terry watched in amusement at how this conversation was going.

"You seriously think that I had sex with Draco?" asked Nora, a big smile on her face as she tried to not laugh. Harry and Ron nodded.

"Yes!" they both said.

"You came out of his room, didn't you!?" asked Harry.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I had sex with him, does it?"

"Well, then what did you do?" asked Ron nosily.

"We just cuddled and fell asleep," Nora told him, wiping his prying look off of his face.

"Oh, well, that's all right, then," he said, trying to act like he hadn't acted so stupid.

"All right, who had sex," demanded Lavender as she and Parvati hurried over to the other four while Hermione walked back over to Terry.

"Yeah, we heard the word 'sex' thrice. Who's guilty?" Parvati asked, looking accusingly at the other four.

"Don't look at me," said Harry, raising his hands, "I was with you the whole time, and you'd know if we'd had sex. . . as would I. . . and I don't think we did, did we?" he asked, looking confused. Parvati chuckled.

"You mean you two have done it before?" Nora asked them in disbelief. Parvati shook her head.

"I was just joking," said Harry. "But you see, Ron and I didn't overreact when we thought you had sex with Draco," he told her. Nora shrugged.

"YOU HAD SEX WITH DRACO!?" shouted Parvati and Lavender in unison, goggling at Nora. Draco's door opened and he marched out.

"All right, who had sex with me and was it good?" he asked interestedly, looking around the group. Harry, Ron and Terry immediately took a step back.

"Hey, I stick to girls, mate," said Terry and Ron and Harry nodded.

"Harry and Ron just thought I had sex with you because I came out of your room," explained Nora.

"Oh," said Draco. "But we did have sex," he said. Ron looked as though he was about to faint. "I was kidding!" said Draco quickly, seeing the shocked faces of Harry and Ron.

"All right, enough with the conversation about sex," said Hermione.

"Yeah, no one got laid tonight or ever before," said Nora. "Well, except for Draco with Pansy, but let's forget that because: ew," she added, looking in disgust at the thought of her boyfriend doing it with that cow Pansy Parkinson.

"Right, let's have breakfast," said Ron unenthusiastically, having completely lost his appetite by the thought of Pansy doing it with Draco. He shook his head, trying to get the mental picture out of his mind.

"Yeah, like I'm starving now," said Harry sarcastically as the eight of them headed downstairs.

"I knew I never should have told you I ever did it with Parkinson," Draco muttered to Nora, who grinned impishly at him, when they entered the Entrance Hall.

"Aw, did I upset you? Anyway, it's not like it's that big a deal," Nora told him, giving him a peck on the cheek before entering the Dining Room after her friends. Dumbledore was already sitting in his usual seat when they entered and he smiled proudly at them all.

"Ah, good morning to you all. Did everyone have a good night's sleep?" he asked. They all nodded as they sat down in any seat they chose. "Very well. A good sleep is the foundation of a good day," Dumbledore told them cheerfully, his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles. The eight students exchanged glances and chuckled very, very softly. "Now, let's eat!" Food appeared on the table as usual and everyone helped himself or herself.

"Urgh, Ron! Quit it with the sound effects," said Hermione disgustedly after a while when her huffing still hadn't caught his attention.

"What?" asked Ron as he swallowed his food. "I'm not making any sound effects." Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Then what do you call all of the disgusting noises you make while eating?" she asked before taking a decent bite out of her piece of bread, as if showing him how you were supposed to eat decently.

"I don't know," said Ron, shrugging. Hermione was about to speak up again when Nora stuffed a bun in her mouth, tired of them bickering. Hermione spit the bun out and looked at her friend indignantly.

"I'll do it again, too, if you don't quit arguing," threatened Nora. Hermione folded her arms and chose to talk to Terry instead. Nora turned back to her conversation with Draco.

When breakfast was done Dumbledore spoke up again, having "some news that needed to be shared," as he put it. The eight students all looked at him intently, wondering what on earth he could share with them now.

"Yes, well, me and the Hogwarts professors have all decided to hold a feast for the five, which means you, Harry, Nora, Hermione, Ron and Draco," he added, seeing their slightly dazed looks. "This feast is to be held tonight and will start at 6 p.m. exactly. The ending time has not yet been specified."

"Ooh, will there be a theme? Or do we all have to wear dress robes?" asked Parvati excitedly. Dumbledore smiled.

"There will be no theme, but it is in Muggle wear, so dresses, or skirts, and suits are required," Dumbledore replied. Parvati and Lavender let out soft 'oooohs'.

"But how are we going to get formal dresses?" asked Hermione.

"Well, surely you all have something in your closest?" said Dumbledore. The four girls looked skeptically at him, their eyebrows raised. Parvati and Lavender even muttered "men."

"Excuse me, sir," said Parvati. "But we don't have formal dresses for such feasts just hanging in our closest. It is a known fact that we women buy one dress specifically for one feast." Dumbledore looked at her in amazement.

"Really? Well, another mystery unraveled here, then. But, unfortunately, I cannot let you girls leave this castle, or its surroundings, to buy a dress, for it is too dangerous. Death Eaters will be lurking everywhere," said Dumbledore, looking truly sorry. Hermione, Nora, Parvati and Lavender all pouted, looking completely sullen.

"Erm. . . so who's going to be at this feast for us?" asked Harry, tearing his eyes away from the depressed girls.

"Oh, many, many people. So you all have to look your best," replied Dumbledore.

"Like that'll work if we can't buy a decent dress," exclaimed Parvati and Lavender and they stormed out of the Dining Room with Nora and Hermione.

"You know, sometimes I don't understand women at all," said Terry, watching as the door slammed shut.

"Me neither," muttered Harry, Ron, Draco and, to their amazement, Dumbledore.

"Anyway, I expect you all to be ready by 5:45 and at 6 you will enter the room used for the feast. There I will hold a small speech, then the five will start the opening dance with their partners, and others will join, then at 8 dinner will be served and from then on more dancing," explained Dumbledore. "Now go and have some more free time, and see if you can calm the girls down just a tad bit," he added. Harry, Ron, Draco and Terry nodded and walked out of the Dining Room, in search for their girlfriends, but no matter where they looked and how many times they looked there, the girls were nowhere to be seen.

~*~*~*~

Huddled together in Hermione's room on her bed, were the four girls. They knew they would be looked for, but at this moment, none of them cared, for they were forming something highly top secret. Something that would need much attention and magic, something that would provide for them their dresses for the feast. Maybe the guys couldn't understand their 'weird acting', but apparently it was very important for the girls to show up in the nicest dresses, especially if the feast was for them and they would be seen by many, many people, as Dumbledore had put it.

"So what exactly is your plan, Hermione?" asked Nora, looking at her friend intently.

"Well, I was thinking about designing a piece of parchment that, if you draw on it, produces whatever you drew, and in the best way possible, so if you make a few flaws, they won't be seen," Hermione told the other three.

"So we draw the dresses we want to wear on that piece of parchment," said Parvati slowly.

"And then it'll appear in real life and correct all the flaws," finished Lavender. "That's brilliant, Hermione!" she exclaimed. Hermione beamed.

"But how will it correct itself?" asked Nora.

"Well, basically it knows how you want the dress because when you draw or write or whatever, you actually put your thoughts in the ink, but because you draw it, the picture never comes out how you want it. This piece of parchment corrects the flaws you made so it looks exactly how you meant it to be, because it reads the ink," answered Hermione.

"Merlin, how do you know all of this?" questioned Parvati in complete aw.

"I dunno, I saw it in some book a while ago when I was in Diagon Alley," replied Hermione shrugging.

"Wow," said the other three girls, their eyes wide.

"Yes, well, first we need a large piece of parchment," said Hermione looking around. "I think I have that," she added while getting up and walking over to her trunk. After a minute of rummaging she returned to the other three on her bed, holding a 12 inch long piece of parchment. "Alright, the next step is a bit more complicated. We need to get some powdered Unicorn horn and 25 milliliter of Dragon blood," Hermione told the others.

"We could try the kitchens, I'm sure the house-elves have got some," suggested Nora. Hermione nodded but she looked a bit unsure.

"We could at least try," said Lavender.

"All right. Nora and I will go down to the kitchens, since Apparating will be a lot more quicker, and you two can begin designing some dresses, there's extra parchment somewhere in my trunk," Hermione said and then Disapparated to the kitchens with Nora. Parvati and Lavender raced to Hermione trunk to get some more parchment; they loved designing clothes, and were quite good at it as well, having learned a few things during all those years.

~*~*~*~

"Out of the way, misses, Boomer is needing to get through," squeaked a highly stressed house-elf, not the least surprised by Nora and Hermione just popping in. The two girls jumped aside to let the frantic house-elf through and looked around. The kitchen was full of hurrying house-elves, running around, carrying all sorts of plates and goblets.

"Erm. . . I'm sorry, but what's going on?" asked Hermione, stopping a house-elf who was busy running around and checking everything. The house- elf stopped and panted a bit.

"We is getting everything ready for the feast tonight," she squeaked. "We is running very behind. We is not even decorating the Ballroom yet!" And then she ran away again over to a house-elf carrying a tray full of food.

"Never knew house-elves got so hysterical as well. I thought I was the only one," said Nora. Hermione chuckled.

"Come on, we really need to get those ingredients. I don't know how long it takes to make that piece of parchment," she said and walked around the kitchen, searching for a house-elf who wasn't as busy as the others, but apparently they all had something to do.

"Maybe we should call out that we need help or something," suggested Nora.

"All right, but you get to shout," replied Hermione, grinning. Nora rolled her eyes.

"Is there anyone who can perhaps help us!?" she called. Only a few house-elves looked up, but they did not walk over to them, instead they continued their work. Finally, after 15 minutes, during which the two girls looked around helplessly, a house-elf came up to them.

"You is needing help?" he asked, his round yellow eyes gleaming with eagerness.

"Erm. . . yes," said Hermione, taken completely by surprise that, all of a sudden, they were getting help. "We need two ingredients: powdered Unicorn horn and 25 milliliters of Dragon blood."

"Do you have that here?" asked Nora hopefully. The house-elf nodded vigorously.

"We is having almost everything here, kind misses!" he told them. Both Hermione and Nora let out a sigh of relief. "I is getting them for you right away!" and then he ran off, darting through the crowd of other hurrying house-elves.

"Do we need anything else, because we might as well ask for that, too, since we're here already," said Nora. Hermione shook her head.

"The rest is just magic spells," she replied.

"And you still remember what they are?" asked Nora in disbelief. Hermione nodded.

"Yup," she answered, beaming. Nora chuckled just as their helpful house-elf ran up to them again, holding the ingredients in his hand.

"I is having them right here!" he told them, handing the ingredients over to Hermione.

"Thanks," she said.

"You is both very welcome, but I is needing to be getting back to my work now. Bye kind misses!" he said and hurried off. Nora and Hermione both Disapparated and when they were back in Hermione's room they saw Parvati and Lavender both drawing keenly.

"What have you got?" asked Nora as she sat down on the bed again.

"Oh, loads," replied Parvati happily and she stalled out the drawings she'd made so far, joined by Lavender.

"Wow, these are great," said Hermione carefully laying the ingredients on her bed and sitting down next to them. "Oh, I like that one," she said, pointing to a strapless amethyst colored dress that was comfortably tight on the upper body and then got wide below the hips, kind of making it look like a medieval dress, but in a nice purple color.

"Yeah, we thought you'd like that one," said Lavender, writing 'Hermione' in small letters above the dress.

"We drew this one for you, Nora," said Parvati, pointing to a white dress below Hermione's. It had thin straps and was comfortably tight on the upper body as well, but it grew tighter near the knees, too, and then it began to widen as it made it's way down to the ground, which it completely touched, if you were wearing high heels, Parvati told them.

"I totally love it," whispered Nora, gaping at the dress she wanted.

"What are you two going to wear?" asked Hermione.

"I'm wearing a white t-shirt with thin diagonal stripes on it and a black skirt that reaches the floor," replied Parvati, showing them the picture.

"And you?" Nora asked Lavender, tearing her eyes away from the dress she'd wear, if everything went right that is.

"Black dress with straps that looks a bit like yours," replied Lavender, pointing to the picture.

"Nice," said Nora, but was cut off by Hermione.

"We really need to begin creating the magical piece of parchment, otherwise we might not get our dresses finished on time; it takes a while before the dresses from the parchment are transferred to us and you have to redraw them on the parchment as well," she said.

"But that doesn't take too long," said Parvati.

"No, but we should get started," Lavender agreed.

"All right, first we sprinkle the powdered Unicorn horn on the parchment while it soaks in Dragon blood. Do we have anything we can pour the Dragon blood in?" asked Hermione, looking around.

"The sink?" suggested Nora.

"That'll work, I think." And the four of them carried everything into Hermione's bathroom. They poured the sink full of the 25 milliliters of Dragon blood and then laid the 12-inch piece of parchment in it. After letting it soak for a minute the powdered Unicorn horn was sprinkled on it. The parchment glowed a faint yellow.

"Now I'll do all of the spells, because they're quite advanced, no offense, and it'll take to long to teach them to you," said Hermione, trying hard not to sound rude.

"Don't worry about it, we did our part by drawing the dresses," said Parvati, pointing to herself and Lavender, who grinned.

"Yeah, and I. . . helped get the ingredients," said Nora, feeling completely useless, as she hadn't done a single thing, except get the ingredients, but that really wasn't much of an achievement.

"Aw, but I'd never have been able to get the ingredients if you hadn't been there with me," said Hermione. "You're the one who was brave enough to shout out for a bit of help." Nora chuckled and grinned.

"All right, do your stuff so we can wear decent dresses to the feast," she said and Hermione smiled before turning back to the sink. She made a complicated movement with her wand and muttered something under her breath. A yellowish light shot from her wand and hit the parchment, which glowed a faint yellow again. Hermione turned around to her friends again and smiled.

"Done for now," she said quietly. The other three stared at her in disbelief.

"Done?" repeated Nora. Hermione nodded and touched the Amulet, looking a lot more refreshed and lively when she let go, telling Nora that that complicated little spell had drained most of Hermione's energy after she cast it.

"But you said it'd take a long time before it was finished," said Parvati from her seat in the empty bathtub.

"Yeah," agreed Lavender, sitting on the white rug next to the bath.

"It does: now the parchment has to soak in the Dragon blood with Unicorn powder and the spell I just cast, but the temperature has to be the same until the process is complete," answered Hermione. "I don't know when it's finished, but we'll know when it is," she added before anyone could ask.

"So how are we going to keep the temperature at the same height the whole time?" asked Nora. Hermione opened the cabinet under her sink, pulled out a thermometer and stuck it in the dragon blood.

"I always take one with me when I travel somewhere," said Hermione proudly. Parvati ran up to the sink to inspect it.

"What on earth is that?" she asked in wonder.

"It's a thermometer, it measures the temperature," answered Hermione then she turned to the others as well and added, "and when it gets too warm or cold we'll just cast a simple heating or cooling charm." The four of them sat on the floor, waiting for the parchment to get ready.

"So where did you guys learn how to draw so brilliantly?" asked Hermione.

"Well, we always loved drawing, but we weren't very good. We picked up a few things from pictures we saw," said Lavender.

"Yeah, Dean taught us the most, he could draw almost everything and perfectly, too," agreed Parvati. "It's really awful he died," she added whispering.

"Ain't that just the way that life goes down, down, down, down," sang Hermione, Nora and Lavender quietly at the same time, the three of them burst into giggles at this coincidence, leaving Parvati looking quite befuddled.

"What's that song?" she asked. "And why'd you sing it?" Hermione was the first to recover from laughing.

"It's this Muggle song by Lutricia McNeal," she said. "And I always sing that one line when someone says something downhearted."

"Me too," said Lavender and Nora in unison, then, because they had said another thing at the same time, the two of them burst into giggles again, even though it was hardly funny.

"It's really awful all of those students died," said Hermione, coming back to what Parvati had said, and Parvati nodded. Nora and Lavender said up straight and tried hard to avoid looking at each other, knowing that if they did they'd have to laugh again.

"Different topic," said Lavender cheerfully. "So, who do you guys think is coming for the feast for you five?" The others shrugged.

"I dunno," said Nora. "Ministry of Magic, maybe?"

"And maybe students from our year, because Dumbledore said we'd see them soon enough again," Hermione told them.

"Yeah, probably," said Parvati thoughtfully. "Say, where do you think the feast is held?" she asked excitedly. "Maybe it's in some glamorous party room in some fancy hotel."

"I think it's here in the ballroom," replied Nora. "The house-elves said they hadn't started decorating the ballroom yet, so I'm guessing it's somewhere in this castle." Parvati's face fell.

"Really?" she asked, grimacing. "I don't really trust this place. It's kind of creepy." Nora shrugged.

"We've gotten used to it," said Hermione. "And it's not really as bad as it looks. Uh-oh, the Dragon blood's cooling, hold on," she said and then quickly got up to cast a mild heating charm on the contents in the sink.

"How'd you know that?" asked Lavender, looking behind her to see Hermione.

"I cast another spell that told me when the temperature changed," came the reply.

"Ah," said Lavender, sitting straight again. "So what do we do while we wait for the parchment to get ready?" she then asked. The others shrugged while Hermione sat back down on the floor with them.

~*~*~*~

"After 9 accidental make-out sessions!?" asked Lavender incredulously, trying hard not to laugh. Parvati didn't have as much success and she rolled around on the floor howling. Hermione chuckled and Nora sat very stiffly, her cheeks turning red.

"What about you Hermione?" asked Parvati, finally controlling her laughter. . . a little. "How did you and Terry get together?"

"Well, we met through the D.A. and kind of became friends then and on the first day back to Hogwarts this year he asked me out. Not that special really," she said.

"How sweet," said Lavender, her eyes shining. Hermione shrugged, blushing a little.

"Yes, well it's not as crazy as how Nora and Draco got together, is it?" she asked, grinning evilly at Nora, who immediately turned bright red again. Parvati instantly began howling with laughter again.

"Yeah, well at least I don't have trouble finding a boyfriend," shot Nora back, giving Hermione a matching evil grin.

"At least my boyfriend didn't break up with me for another girl," retorted Hermione, an evil glint in her eye now as well. Nora's eyes narrowed.

"That was way below the belt," she said half smiling. "Beside, that was all Crystal-Rose's fault, she cast some kind of spell on him or herself, I'm sure of it," she added.

"What? But Crystal-Rose is nice," said Parvati, who was in Crystal's group.

"Yeah, to you maybe, but I hate her guts," replied Nora simply.

"Ooooh," said Hermione as the room filled with a faint yellowish glow. She quickly got up and walked over to the parchment. She cast another complicated spell, Nora thought it was the same one Hermione had used before, and then pulled the completely dry parchment out.

"It's about time that thing finished," said Lavender, checking her watch. "What!? It's nearly three o'clock!" she exclaimed. "That means only three hours till the feast!" she frantically cried and the other girls stared at her in disbelief, all checking their own watches.

"Oh my god!" screamed Parvati. "This is a disaster!"

"Do you think that piece of parchment can get all of our dresses to us at the same time?" Nora asked Hermione, keeping her head cooler than the other two girls who were frantic.

"I dunno. We can try," replied Hermione. "All right, Parvati, Lavender, you two have to draw the four dresses now and try to hurry it up a bit, because otherwise we might not make it," she told them. Parvati and Lavender immediately calmed down and grabbed the pictures of the dresses off of the floor.

"You can sit at the desk in Hermione's room, if it's more comfortable," said Nora. The two girls nodded and walked back into Hermione's room, seating themselves at the desk, followed by Hermione and Nora. After 15 minutes Parvati and Lavender were already done drawing the dresses, in color, and they gave the piece of parchment to Hermione.

"Now what?" asked Nora. Hermione closed her eyes, frowning, trying to think of what came next. Nora, Parvati and Lavender watched her closely; the happiness of their evening depended on Hermione.

"I think I say another spell," said Hermione, opening her eyes again. She frowned again, thinking hard, and then, in a swift movement, waved her wand in a fashion none of the other girls could copy right away, tapped the parchment four times, once on each dress, and whispered something in Latin none of the other girls could repeat even if their lives depended on it. The parchment glowed a faint yellow once again and instantly four different colored lines appeared in the air and slowly, very slowly began making their way downward, in the form of the dress.

"IT WORKED!" squealed Parvati and Lavender and Nora grinned happily at Hermione, who looked quite relieved herself.

"Perfect," said Nora, giving her best friend a hug.

"Thank Merlin it worked," Hermione said while watching the progress of the lines. "But do you think they'll be done in time for the feast?" she asked.

"I think so, but it's best that we do our hair and make-up now, while the dresses are being made," answered Nora.

"Good idea," said Hermione. "Hey, you two!" she said loudly to Parvati and Lavender, who stopped dancing around the room.

"What?" they asked in unison.

"We're going back into the bathroom to do our hair and make-up," said Nora, before entering the bathroom again with Hermione, the other two following.

~*~*~*~

"Isn't it ready yet!?" asked Hermione frantically, checking her watch. "It's already 5:41!" she yelled.

"Careful, you don't want to ruin your hair," said Nora. "Especially after I spent so long braiding it with that gold," she added proudly. Hermione's hair had been made smooth with some very strong gel and Nora had braided it with small glints of gold. A few lose strands framed her face, like always done when attending parties or feasts or any formal occasion. Nora's hair was placed in a high elegant bun, a few strands sticking out of it, making it look a bit more creative. The lose strands framing her face had been curled. Parvati had her hair in a high plait, with thin silver strands in it. Lavenders hair hung loose behind her shoulders.

"Besides, they're almost done, Hermione," said Lavender calmly, though looking completely otherwise. But it was true, the lines that had been at the top in the beginning were now almost at the bottom and the dresses were completely visible, except for the last few cm. All four of the girls were longing to put their dresses on.

"Finally!" screamed Parvati frantically, 7 minutes later, jumping up from the bed. "They're done!" the other girls jumped up too, their eyes shining brightly.

"Really?" asked Lavender, not daring to believe it.

"Yes!" screamed Parvati as she ran over to her white t-shirt and long black skirt floating in the air.

"Oh, I have to get my white strapless shoes," said Nora and she exited the room, coming back a minute later, holding the high-heeled shoes that actually belonged to her previous Halloween costume. The four girls got dressed, careful not to ruin their hair or make-up. At 5:55 they were all set. Hermione had changed the color of a pair of strapless shoes from black to amethyst and had lent another black pair of high-heeled shoes to Lavender. Nora had lent one of her pair of black high-heeled shoes to Parvati, as the two girls didn't have fancy clothing with them; they were only staying for a few days.

"All set?" asked Hermione, butterflies nervously fluttering around in her stomach. The other three nodded and together they walked out into the hall.

"Erm. . . which way?" questioned Nora, looking around.

"Sir Cadogan?" suggest Hermione. Nora shrugged and the two headed towards the Grand Staircase, followed by Parvati and Lavender, ready to call for Sir Cadogan, but to their surprise Dumbledore stood there waiting for them.

"Ah, I see you four are finally finished. Well then, let us go to the Ballroom, everyone is waiting for you," he said. Dumbledore was wearing a very fancy black suit, and the four girls all thought he looked rather ridiculous in it. Robes suited him much better. "Might I add that you all look fabulous," he said.

"Thanks," the girls replied.

"So do you, sir," said Parvati and Lavender cheerfully as they walked up the stairs. Nora chuckled, but quickly stopped, trying hard to concentrate on walking normally while wearing high heels.

"Having trouble?" asked Parvati mockingly from behind her.

"Yes," growled Nora frustrated as she wobbled around and grabbed Hermione carefully for support. After a few minutes of walking though, she seemed to be doing much better and let go of her friend.

"Seriously, it's like watching Bambi learn how to walk," called Lavender from beside Parvati. Both Hermione and Nora chuckled but Parvati asked confused: "Who's Bambi?"

"Never mind," replied Lavender.

"Is it much further?" inquire Hermione, growing a bit tired of walking so much.

"Not much, no," came Dumbledore's cheerful reply.

"Where are the others?" asked Nora.

"Well, they finished dressing quite some time before you so I already led them to the ballroom. And may I ask how you managed to get such lovely dresses?" asked Dumbledore.

"We made a 'Sittybus Magus'," replied Hermione.

"The Magical Parchment. I'm impressed," said Dumbledore in aw as he stopped in front of a brilliant set of doors. "Now here is my plan. You four will go into a side chamber, and when I call you out, you will walk out of it as Harry, Ron, Draco and Terry walk out of the other side chamber. You will walk toward each other and when having reached your 'other half' you will turn to the guests and. . . smile or something. Then I will announce the five and they will take a step forward and after that I explain your part in Voldemort's defeat. Everything clear?" asked Dumbledore. The four girls nodded and he smiled before walking toward a small but magnificent door, leading them inside. "That door on the other side of the room will lead to the Ballroom," explained Dumbledore and then he left. The room they were in was rather small with a wooden floor and deep red walls, from which torches hung.

"Do you think we'll be able to hear him when he calls us out?" whispered Lavender, looking around the room.

"Probably," said Hermione and sure enough a second later Dumbledore's voice was heard as clearly as if he were standing right next to them.

"I am about to announce eight people, five of whom are of incredible importance. Some of you may already have noticed their absence and can guess who they are and, as I know you all are just dying for me to leave and let the feast begin, I will call them out right away," said Dumbledore. There was a hearty laughter; Dumbledore knew his students too well. "Here they are," he said and Hermione, closest to the door walked out of the small room and into an incredibly large one, followed by Nora, Lavender and Parvati amid applause. They were walking on the raised platform, on which the band would be playing songs, and made their way to the middle where Dumbledore stood. When they reached him the guys, who had joined them, quickly walked over to their girlfriends.

The Ballroom was even more beautiful than they could have guessed. The large windows showed a pitch black sky with brightly twinkling stars, making it feel as if it were a whole lot later than it actually was, and the walls were a deep ruby red. From the high ceiling hung diamond chandeliers and on the round tables that seated 4-8 were white candles that never died out, unless extinguished by a person. There were many, many round tables, covered in ruby tablecloth, along the walls and scattered all over the Ballroom except for in the middle, where the dance floor was, which was now filled with all of the Hogwarts students.

"This feast is thrown for five students. These five have the most important duty and are more important than anyone in the world so far," began Dumbledore, he indicated to the five that they were to step forward, so Harry, Ron, Hermione, Nora and Draco all took one step ahead. "They are all part in the defeat of Voldemort." Half of the students shivered at the name, many of them gasped that those five were responsible for the defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and one boy even toppled over. The eight students on the platform beside Dumbledore could guess it was Neville; always clumsy, he was. "The Second War will be starting soon and these five students, all in sixth year, will be in it. This feast is thrown as a last celebration to them, for it may be the fact that they will be dead when we throw the victory feast, or mourning feast, if Voldemort is or is not stopped." Many gasps and muttering filled the room, but Dumbledore was not annoyed by it. In fact he seemed pleased the students were taking this so seriously. "Tonight I expect you all to forget your problems and just have a good time, for the sake of the five." A slow song began playing and the eight students on the platform walked off of it to the middle of the dance floor and began the opening dance. There was a lot of muttering as Nora and Draco passed the crowd holding hands, and the dreaded uncomfortable feeling of guilt and disgrace began to settle itself in Nora's stomach.

The opening dance was to a slow song and Nora began to feel more and more uncomfortable with every dance step she took with Draco. The four couples were soon joined by many more and it wasn't until Dumbledore waltzed by them with a flustered looking McGonagall that they noticed all of the Hogwarts teachers were there as well. . .well except for Professor Spring, who was murdered by Death Eaters that forlorn night in January. And Hagrid was absent as well, but maybe Dumbledore had sent him on a mission for the Order again.

"Well, they're having fun, aren't they?" asked Draco as he saw Professor Snape dancing sullenly with Trelawny, who seemed to be predicting all sorts of things. Nora snorted and then pointed to Professor Sprout, trying to dance with Professor Flitwick. Draco laughed.

"Oh, Crystal-Rose," muttered Nora sourly, glaring at the blond girl dancing with some Slytherin 7th year. "She copies me in everything, doesn't she?"

"What?" asked Draco, following her gaze.

"Well, I was going out with Dean, and then she went out with him, after stealing him away, mind you. And now I'm dancing with you, a Slytherin, and she's dancing with a Slytherin as well," replied Nora, still sour.

"It could just be all a coincidence," said Draco, trying to get some sense in her. Nora looked at him. "All right, no coincidence. But there's one thing that's very different about you two," said Draco. Nora looked skeptically at him as Dumbledore and McGonagall waltzed by again, knocking a couple of first years to the floor in the process.

"What's that?" she asked while the first years struggled to get up.

"You look a million times more beautiful than she does," replied Draco softly, not liking how sappy he was becoming. Nora smiled.

"This is totally not your style, but it still makes me feel better," she told him before giving him a quick peck on the lips and leaning her head on his shoulder. Draco wrapped his arms fully around her, not wanting this moment to ever end.

"Urgh, this is so weird," muttered Ron as he watched Nora and Draco.

"What's weird, sweetie?" asked Lavender, following his gaze. "Oh, that. Well, it just needs some getting used to, I guess," she told him.

"It's still weird," said Ron stubbornly. Lavender rolled her eyes and put her head on his shoulder again; there was just no arguing with Ron about some things.

A faster song followed the first slow one and Nora, not feeling like being watched even more, walked off of the dance floor, followed by Draco, glaring at everyone who gaped at her, which was half of the population of Hogwarts. Nora sighed while plopping down in a seat at one of the tables somewhere in between many others, which were currently unoccupied. Draco sat down next to her and looked at her intently, tilting his head sideways a little.

"I hope you're not planning on sitting here like this for the rest of the feast," he said after a while. Nora shrugged, fidgeting with her dress, avoiding Draco's eyes. "Well, I'll get some Butterbeer." And then he got up and walked towards the bar at the other side of the Ballroom. Hermione almost immediately took Draco's place.

"They're not judging you," she said instantly when she sat down. "Most of them don't even know you had been dating Dean."

"Maybe not, but they still think I've gone mad to be going to this feast with Draco Malfoy, the cruelest and snootiest Slytherin," replied Nora glumly.

"We both know very well he's not cruel," said Hermione and, after thinking it over she added, "and he's not as snooty as he used to be." When Nora continued to look all glum and sullen Hermione became serious. "Look, I know about the dreams you kept having, the ones with Dean telling you that you were meant to be with Draco, and I think that that really is Dean telling the truth," she said. Nora looked at her, frowning.

"How did you -" she began, but Hermione was already tapping the Amulet impatiently. "Oh, right."

"I read a long time ago that the dead will sometimes visit people to give them hints and clues to their fate and that this is done mostly through dreams, so I think that really was Dean telling you what your fate with Draco was. Besides, people aren't judging you because you're going to this feast with Draco; he's one of the five to defeat Voldemort, right? He can't be evil if he has to kill the most evil wizard in our time." Nora thought this over and slowly the sadness crept away from her face, replaced by happiness.

"You're right," she said resolutely, sitting up straight. "It's silly to get all down cast over something like this."

"There you go, you should be enjoying this feast, it may be the last one you ever attend," said Hermione. Nora looked at her.

"Right, 'Mione. Like that's to cheer me up even the littlest bit," she said. Hermione chuckled.

"Yeah, sorry. But enjoy this feast, ok?" said Hermione, smiling. Nora nodded and gave her friend a hug.

"Butterbeer," said Draco, arriving holding two bottles. "Sorry it took so long but there was a really long line, apparently the Slytherins wanted to get drunk already," he told Nora and Hermione a bit embarrassed by his House.

"No time," said Nora and she grabbed the two bottles, set them down on the table and dragged a very confused looking Draco back to the dance floor, though this time, making Nora think maybe she had imagined it, there was a whole less staring at the two of them, but that might have been because everyone was too busy watching Dumbledore waltz around with a very unhappy looking Professor Snape.

Slowly the time went by and the longer the students were all in that beautiful Ballroom, the happier they seemed to get, forgetting about all of their troubles, like Dumbledore had wanted them to, and just having a good time.

"I think we should take a break as well," panted Nora as she saw couples walking past them off of the dance floor. Draco agreed and he led her to an unoccupied table in the midst of many other tables. When they were both seated they looked around.

"I love the windows," said Nora. "All of those stars, twinkling at us even though outside they're not to be seen yet." Draco looked at her and smiled. "What about you?" she asked.

"I love you," he replied simply. Nora chuckled, looking into his beautiful blue gray eyes.

"I love you too, but if you become even mushier I'll whack you over the head with a chair," she told him and Draco laughed, his hair falling casually over his eyes now that it wasn't as full of gel as it had been in the first few years at Hogwarts. Nora liked it when Draco laughed. It made her feel blissful inside. Hermione soon joined them, her face flushed, with an exhausted Terry by her side.

"Mind if we sit?" she asked not really waiting for an answer and sitting down next to Nora, Terry seating himself across from Hermione and next to Draco, who is then obviously sitting across from Nora.

"Erm. . . no, go ahead," Nora told Hermione who was already sitting comfortably beside her. Hermione chuckled.

"So what kind of music does this band play?" asked Terry. "I keep hearing songs I've never heard before and songs that I do recognize."

"Muggle and Wizard songs," replied Nora. "This way everyone hears songs they know."

"What's the song playing right now?" asked Draco, listening. "I don't recognize it," he said after a while, pouting. Nora, Hermione and Terry listened as well.

"I want you to want me. I need you to need me," sang the witch on the raised stage.

"Don't know it," said Terry.

"Didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you crying? Oh, didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you crying?"

"Oh, I recognize this song. It's really good, but I'm too exhausted to dance," said Hermione pouting.

"Then we'll just listen," Terry told her simply, completely exhausted himself and hoping he didn't have to get up again until some time.

"Padma!" shouted Nora, startling Hermione. Padma, who had been dancing with Justin on the side of the dancing floor looked around and finally spotted Nora, who had got up and waved at her.

"Hi! You certainly look like your doing a lot better," Padma told her, walking over with Justin. Nora beamed and gave Padma a big hug.

"I feel a lot better," she replied. "Hi, Justin," she said before giving him a hug too. By now Draco had gotten up and was being hugged by Padma. When she finally let go he and Justin shook hands rather formally before grinning and giving each other a hug too.

"Long time no see," said Justin and Draco nodded while Padma was whispering with Nora.

"Yeah, it's certainly been a while, hasn't it?" agreed Draco.

"So. . . I heard you two er. . . broke up the day you left us to stay here," said Justin, trying to sound casual. Draco nodded, but he couldn't help grinning.

"Yeah, -" he began but was soon cut off by a squealing Padma who gave him a big hug.

"Congratulations!" she exclaimed letting go of him. "I just knew you two would get back together sooner or later, though I had hoped sooner," she added a bit threateningly in both Nora and Draco's direction. "But congratulations!" she squealed again. Justin just stood beside them looking confused.

"They're back together again, sweetie," Padma told him a bit impatiently.

"Really? Well, that's great," said Justin, slapping Draco on the shoulder and giving Nora another hug.

Hermione had left with Terry to go and find Hannah and Timothy, the other members of their group. It took a while, but they found Hannah dancing with Ernie McMillan and Timothy standing by the bar.

"It was all right, a bit boring maybe, without you," Hannah told Hermione as the two walked over to Terry and Timothy by the bar. "So, are you scared?" she asked, intently watching Hermione, who shrugged.

"Not really, but I know that'll change when the Second War does finally come," came her reply. "So what did you do while I was away?" she asked. Hannah immediately began listing off every single place they had traveled to and what they had done there, while Terry and Timothy just talked about what the feast was like so far.

Apparently Harry and Ron had decided to look their other group members up as well because they were now talking to Crabbe, Goyle, Crystal- Rose and Mandy about how they were supposed to defeat Voldemort, Parvati and Lavender getting some drinks. Nora hurried passed the group but was called back by the one person she definitely did not want to see or speak to: Crystal-Rose Conally.

"Yes?" asked Nora politely, walking back up to the group. Harry and Ron gave her encouraging smiles as they took a few steps away with Crabbe and Goyle, feeling they'd rather not be so close to the two enemies. Mandy on the other hand remained, probably to referee the fight.

"I was just wondering: are you going out with Draco Malfoy? There are all these rumors going around and I just wanted to know if they were true," said Crystal-Rose, in the same very polite manner, though she had a sneer on her face that told Nora exactly what she had feared: Crystal-Rose thought that she had gone out with Dean for fun, or something like that, and that she had begun dating Draco right after Dean had been murdered. 'Oh, the bitch,' though Nora heatedly. 'She's going to spread all sorts of horrible rumors about me, I just know it.'

"Well, is it true? Are you and Malfoy together?" asked Crystal. Nora felt her temper bubbling up inside her, but she remained calm, at least on the outside. On the inside it was like a volcano ready to burst.

"Yes," she said through clenched teeth. "It's true. I'm dating Draco." Crystal looked as if Christmas had come a day early. The evil smile just said it all.

"Well, isn't that a surprise," she said, trying to act as if she wasn't going to tell everybody all sorts of lies. Nora shrugged.

"Yes, I was rather shocked, as well," she replied, wishing she could be anywhere but here talking to that slimy cow who had ruined weeks of her life.

"Really? Parvati told me you two decided to get together after nine 'accidental' make-out sessions," said Crystal-Rose, smiling ever so sweetly and Nora knew it had been a really bad decision to tell the two most gossipmongers how she and Draco had gotten together.

"So we did, what does it matter?" asked Nora coolly, wishing someone would come and drag her away, whether in a polite manner or in a brutal one that maybe slaughtered Crystal-Rose in the process.

"Well, nothing much, really, but one would almost think you do not care about Dean's death as much as some of us," said Crystal, pretending to be on the verge of crying in such a fake way that Nora wondered why she even tried.

"Who says I don't care about Dean's death? Besides, even if you really, really loved a person, it's very unhealthy, and not to mention fake, to mourn over him as much as you do," replied Nora, wiping the fake I'm-on-the-verge-of-crying-please-feel-sorry-for-me expression off of Crystal-Rose's stuck-up face.

"We both know he never loved you and that you never loved him like I did," she whispered threateningly. Nora raised her eyebrows and folded her arms.

"If you loved him so much than why did you cheat on him with some ugly 7th year Slytherin?" she asked, not bothering to keep her voice down. Crystal-Rose opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it again. A few more minutes went by where she perfectly imitated a goldfish and after a while Nora got sick of it, not that it wasn't entertaining, and decided to speak again. "We both know you're a complete fraud and if you ever mention Dean in front of me again I'll see to it that you'll be able to go and visit him in heaven, or hell, and ask him which one of us he likes better. Now can I leave? You're making me nauseous," spat Nora and she walked past Crystal making sure to roughly bump into her on her way over to Seamus, the one she had wanted to go to before the snooty bitch had called her back.

"Hi," said Nora, finally reaching him. Seamus turned around and smiled.

"Hey, how are you doing?" he asked.

"Much better than before, and you?" questioned Nora.

"Same," he answered.

"So, have you found a new best friend yet?" Nora asked him. Seamus chuckled.

"Well, Morag's the only guy in my group and we're getting along pretty well, so I guess you could call him my friend, but I'm not sure about 'best' yet," he replied. "What about you? Have you found a new boyfriend yet?"

"Well, it was tough, like you said, but I have a new one, yes," Nora told him, smiling. Seamus put his Butterbeer down on the table they were standing beside.

"Really?" he asked. "Who?"

"But don't judge me, because others have," said Nora. Seamus shook his head.

"No judging," he told her. "Who is it?" Nora looked a bit unsure at him, but she knew he'd find out anyway, even if she weren't the one to tell him.

"Draco," she said, trying hard to not look away from him.

"Draco Malfoy? Really? That's great," exclaimed Seamus and Nora frowned at him.

"What?" she asked, not receiving the reply she had expected.

"That's great. . . isn't it? I mean, he's nice, isn't he?" said Seamus, a bit unsure himself now.

"Well, yes, but how do you know? You've never really gotten a chance to see what he's like," Nora told him.

"Well, I guessed if he had to help defeat Voldemort, he couldn't be the cruel Malfoy he was in 1st through 5th year," Seamus answered.

"That's exactly what Hermione said earlier," said Nora, chuckling.

"So, you four all have to help Harry defeat Voldemort. Who would've guessed?"

"Not me," she muttered.

"I bet, if he knew it up there, he'd be proud of you," Seamus told her. Nora smiled at him.

"He better be," she said.

~*~*~*~

At 8 o'clock Dumbledore stood on the raised stage and cleared his throat, ready to address them all.

"As it is now 8 o'clock exactly, dinner will be served," he began, when everyone had finally gone silent. "I assume you all know the procedure: just pick up the menu and tell it what you wish to eat," he explained before walking off the platform and to a table where all of the other teachers were sitting. There was a lot of movement as everyone went to a table to sit with their friends. Nora quickly said goodbye to Seamus and Morag, who had walked up to them a while ago, and made her way to Draco who was waiting for her with Padma and Justin at a table where four unknown fifth years sat.

"So where do we sit?" asked Nora. Draco, Padma and Justin looked at the table. "Here?" They nodded and took a seat. Nora looked around; trying to see where Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting but Draco soon pulled her down into her seat. The four unknown fifth years didn't really pay much attention to them, so they guessed it was all right if they sat there.

Dinner passed happily during which everyone chatted animatedly over the soft classical tunes that the band was now playing, the vocalists on a break, and when dinner had ended about an hour later the lead singers returned and couples made their way to the dance floor again.

The longer the feast went on the more drunk and sillier the students got. A couple of Slytherins had apparently put some alcohol in most of the drinks, affecting many people. Harry, for one, had run up on the stage, grabbed the microphone from a vocalist and begun singing very loudly, and very out of key, 'Stood up for love'. He was soon joined by Nora who was later pulled back down by a bit soberer Draco, after she had, fruitlessly, tried to take her dress off, with the zipper still up. A couple of Hufflepuff girls were wobbling around the Ballroom, giggling persistently, tripping over their own feet the whole time. Ron had run around screaming like a girl for fifteen minutes when a mob of, drunk, Slytherin first year girls had begun chasing him, all declaring their love for him. By then Harry had run up on the stage again and begun singing 'Why do birds suddenly appear', much to the amusement of the others. Hermione had grabbed Terry and was now snogging him somewhere in a dark corner, though she had earlier said not being guilty of ever snogging in public. Professor Snape, who had had a couple of highly alcoholic drinks himself, had pushed Harry off of the stage and begun singing 'It's my party and I'll cry if I want to', a song apparently known by wizards as well. A hiccupping Dumbledore soon joined him.

Needless to say, the feast was becoming more and more amusing as the students, and teachers, got more and more drunk, McGonagall had even been seen letting her hair out of its tight bun, something that had never yet been witnessed by anyone. Hermione and Terry were still hidden in some dark corner, as well as many other couples, and they were snogging happily while Harry formed some kind of karaoke.

But there were a few times when Harry took a break to go get some more alcoholic drinks, and during these songs every one would dance peacefully again, those who weren't having a make-out session in some secluded corner, that is. This was one of those 'alcohol breaks' as Harry called them and he sat down at the bar, hiccupping happily, all drunk and talking about his youth problems with completely unknown other drunk students.

And I'd give up forever to touch you

'cause I know that you feel me somehow

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't want to go home right now

Nora and Draco were dancing as Harry filled up on more intoxicating drinks. It was a rather slow song, Iris, by the Goo Goo Dolls, and they were so close together it seemed they were attached and couldn't let go.

And all I can taste is this moment

And all I can breathe is your life

'Cause sooner or later it's over

I just don't want to miss you tonight

The two of them had their eyes closed, listening to the words as other couples did the same, a few hiccups and drunken giggles heard here and there.

And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

Nora felt as if this song described everything she had been feeling at the beginning of this feast. Now she wasn't so troubled anymore. Alcohol made all of those worries seem unimportant as you wobble around unsteadily, searching for more alcoholic drinks. But of course, women do that without alcohol as well, damn high-heeled shoes!

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming

Or the moment of truth in your lies

When everything feels like the movies

Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive

It was rather peaceful, all of those students up on the dance floor, dancing with each other, the stars, which were now to be seen outside as well, twinkling brightly through the enchanted windows.

And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

More peacefulness.

And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

There was a bit of a commotion as Harry tripped, and giggled, while making his way back to the microphone, but he'd take a while longer before actually reaching it at last; he was really, really drunk.

And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

Harry finally reached the microphone, a bit quicker than expected, and sang the last three lines himself.

I just want you to know who I am

I just want you to know who I am

I just want you to know who I am

People had to admit, even though Harry was really liquored up, he could sing rather well, but then again, their hearing may have been affected by either all of the alcohol or Harry's awful singing, or both. Anyway, at this moment Harry was a good singer. Somewhere a clock sounded, telling them it was 12 o'clock. Many of the more sober people turned to look at Dumbledore, who was skipping around the extra food table somewhere, to see if the feast was over now, the other more drunk students just wobbled around, giggling and laughing.

To everyone's annoyance someone had cleared all of the drinks of alcohol and they would now have to do with whatever toxics they had stored in their bodies.

~*~*~*~

"Urgh, I have a major headache," muttered Hermione around 3 o'clock as she sat down in the first chair she could reach, with her head in her hands.

"Same here," said Nora as she sat beside Hermione, resting her head on the table. "Don't you have a spell against hangovers or something? My head's killing me."

"I do, but I don't want to move. I ache all over," replied Hermione, not looking up.

"Well, then you shouldn't have snogged in such uncomfortable places, but please, I beg you, cast that anti-hangover spell, pleeeaaase," whined Nora, wincing when Harry sang a particularly loud key.

"All right, all right," said Hermione sighing. She raised her head with difficulty and shot the spell in Nora's direction, who immediately smiled, relieved that all the pain in her head had vanished. Hermione cast the same spell on herself and smiled as well, feeling so much better.

"My head!" screamed Draco collapsing in Nora's lap, clutching his head.

"How much have you had to drink?" asked Nora. "Even my head didn't hurt that much." Draco made an unknown gesture and Nora guessed it was supposed to be a shrug.

"I dunno," he replied in a whiny voice. "I played a few drinking games with Harry when he was on his 'alcohol break'. Argh, my head!" he screamed again. Hermione cast the anti-hangover spell on him to and he gave a sigh of relief.

"I could kiss you, 'Mione, but I won't. Instead I'll go snog Nora somewhere secluded," he told her, flashing a perverted grin, and before Nora could protest, he dragged her away. Hermione laughed and got up to find Terry.

~*~*~*~

It was clear that the feast was coming to an end. Almost everyone had cast anti-hangover spells on each other to relieve the pain and the tiredness they were all feeling was clearly visible. A couple of first years had even fallen asleep.

At 5:45 in the morning, almost 12 hours after the feast had started, Dumbledore stood up on the stage again, no sign of drowsiness visible.

"Alas all good things must come to an end, and this feast will finish at 6 o'clock exactly. I suggest you all find your friends and say goodbye, and I hope all of you will remember the five, Harry, Nora, Hermione, Ron and Draco, who might not survive the Second War. 15 minutes until you leave, Parvati, Lavender and Terry included," Dumbledore told them and everyone hurried around to find their friends. Nora, who was standing with Draco to the side, could see Hermione trying hard not to cry as she said goodbye to Terry, after all, this may be the last time she ever saw him again. Parvati and Lavender were rather tearful themselves, and Nora felt guilty that she didn't need to say goodbye to the one she loved, since Draco was one of the five. But then again, Nora had already had to say goodbye to the one she loved before.

"I'm going to go see Seamus for a second, all right?" she asked. Draco shrugged and nodded before Nora gave him a quick peck and went to find her fellow Gryffindor.

"Well, hello there, Dracy-poo," came a drawling voice Draco knew all too well, unfortunately.

"What do you want Parkinson?" he asked, turning around, his voice as cold as it had been those years before. Pansy's eyes narrowed.

"What did I just witness before the mudblood walked away?" she demanded. Draco shrugged.

"I have no idea. Please tell me what you saw," he told her in a bored voice, his eyes wandering around the room, wanting to look anywhere but at her ugly face.

"You and the mudblood kissed. In fact, you've been hanging around that piece of filth throughout the whole feast. And why is it, that you have to defeat Voldemort?" demanded Parkinson. Draco shrugged again.

"I don't know why I have to defeat Voldemort. I just do," he lied.

"Then why did you and the mudblood kiss!?" shrieked Parkinson.

"Why?" asked Draco. Was Pansy really that stupid and hadn't noticed yet that he and Nora were going out? Merlin, she was dumb.

"Because it is my business," she replied. Draco sneered at her.

"I think not," he replied and walked past Parkinson, who had decided to go over to the feel-sorry-for-me tactic. She grabbed his arm and said:

"But I love you! You were my first, and I was yours." Draco grimaced.

"Which I fully regret," he muttered. "Look, Parkinson, I want nothing to do with you. Now can I leave? I want to use the last few minutes to say goodbye to everyone." It wasn't really true; he just wanted to get the hell away from her.

"But, but, Dracy-poo!" whined Parkinson. Draco pulled his arm out of her grip.

"Don't call me that and piss off you hideous cow," he said rather aggressively before marching off towards Nora, ready to tell her how much he really appreciated her. He shuddered at the thought that he had ever been with Pansy Parkinson. When Draco finally reached Nora, who was still talking with Seamus, he gave her kiss on the cheek and she looked at him, frowning.

"What?" he asked.

"What was that for?" asked Nora suspiciously.

"Just to say how much I really love you," replied Draco, smiling innocently, but when Nora continued to look suspicious he added, "I just ran into Pansy Parkinson."

"Ah," said Nora, smiling at him in understanding.

"1 more minute," Dumbledore told them. Nora turned back to Seamus, who was smiling at her and Draco.

"Well, bye," said Nora, a bit awkwardly. "I guess I'll see you around, maybe." Seamus nodded.

"Definitely. I just know you guys can defeat You-Know-Who," he replied.

"Thanks," said Nora. She gave Seamus a hug. "Hope you and Morag become best friends," she told him grinning. Seamus laughed.

"And I hope you guys stay together, which I just know you will," he said.

"You sure know a lot, don't you?" asked Nora playfully. Seamus winked at her and then shook hands with Draco right before everyone in the Ballroom disappeared. Harry, Nora, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Dumbledore and the teachers were left standing in the large room. There was silence for a few seconds before Hermione slumped to the floor and began crying.

A/N: I know this took really long but I have excuses:
I received my report card and it was awful. My grades had totally plummeted and so now I'm spending way more time on my homework.
Depression followed the bad report card, because of it, and just really didn't feel like typing for a while. (I'm so, so sorry!)
And, worst of all, I figured out, by myself, that I probably inherited this heart disease from my mum, so I was completely thrown off by that.
Once again, I'm terribly sorry, but I hope that the length of this chapter makes up for it at least a bit. Hope you guys like it.

Dumbeldave - Ha, I updated, see how you like that! But of course, if you've gotten this far, you've caught up again. . .

Skins Thunderbomb - Yes, they are back together again! Glad to see you're so happy about it, oh and by the way, the plot bunnies you sent me really, really helped, THANKS! =D