Harry had just reached the dance floor, stopping first to take off his party hat, not sure how to tell Kelly that he couldn't dance, when the door into the chamber opened again.
"Oh, you're here!" Serenity exclaimed, rushing over to meet one of the new arrivals and kissing him on the cheek. Ron burned with anger, and Harry, personally, was revolted Malfoy had been invited.
But that was the least of Harry's worries for a few, earth-shattering moments. McGonagall walked in behind Malfoy, followed by Dumbledore, Snape, and every teacher at Hogwarts, with the exception of Diane.
"Oh, Minerva!" Riles exclaimed, rushing over to her. "Albus! You don't mind some students, do you?"
McGonagall looked at Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Kelly. Harry was quite certain she did mind very much, but Professor Flitwick answered first.
"Oh, jolly good! The more the merrier!"
Kelly laughed, and Riles deliberately didn't look at her.
The band stopped playing, to Harry's relief, and walked over to the girls. Each guy seemed to know exactly where he was going, for each walked over to one of the girls, except for Serenity.
"Oy! Harry, Hermione, Ron, Kelly! Come over here!" Bunny invited.
Harry and the rest walked over, half-expecting what was coming.
"Hey, people, this is Eric, my boyfriend. He's an Unspeakable," Vikki said about the guy next to her, then left it at that. "Eric, this Kelly Damen, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter."
"Potter? Not the Harry Potter?" Eric asked. He had black hair that was spiked with shining gray eyes that stood out against the tanned face and dark hair.
"The Harry Potter," Vikki answered. Eric's, and the rest of the guys' eyes, moved to Harry's scar, then back down.
"Nice to meet you," Eric said, holding out his hand. Harry shook it—it was a strong grip. "I've heard all about you, of course."
"Haven't we all?" This time, a dirty-blonde man spoke: Bunny's boyfriend. "I'm Bill, but everyone calls me Billy."
"Hey, my brother's name is Bill!" Ron said, as though it was of great importance.
"Not Bill Weasley?" Billy asked.
"Yeah! Do you know him?" Ron asked, delighted.
"Oh yeah. Bill was my partner in curse-braking the tombs, but he went to a desk job for… other reasons," Billy said. He explained that he was on vacation from Egypt, and that's why he was here. He gave Harry the impression that he was in the Order.
The rest of the guys in the band were introduced. Riles' boyfriend was a handsome brunette with sparkling blue eyes that reminded Harry of Dumbledore. Riles grinned as she said he was an Auror. Though the youngest and most inexperienced on the team, even Harry thought he had the makings. He grinned as he thought that Brandon was a lot like himself.
Travis, another strong-looking brunette, was on vacation from Madagascar where he helped control dragons. May was delighted at everything her boyfriend said, though the fact that he had a slight burn mark just below his brown eyes, where he said he'd gotten too close to a dragon breathing fire, might have been an exemption.
Uriko's black-haired boyfriend, Rodger, worked in the Department of Magical Creatures. His beetle-black eyes had warmth that reminded Harry of Hagrid, though Harry was sure Hagrid was a little bit nicer. It was clear, however, that Rodger and Hagrid had the same love for magical creatures; the same, as Harry felt, bad taste.
Crystal had a blast introducing Gary. With pure-blonde hair and light blue eyes, it was easy to see why she liked the guy. Harry thought she'd gone into a little too much detail about his work for the Nimbus company, however. Gary didn't seem to mind though; in fact, he added little bits in her story of his part in broomstick making.
Nathan, Amber's boyfriend, had dark brown hair and eyes to match. On the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, he knew most counter-curses, since he had to work with them daily. Amber didn't cease her speech about him until Serenity gave a hem hem so much like Umbridge that they jumped.
"This is Draco Malfoy," Serenity said proudly. Malfoy puffed up his chest.
"We know, Seren," Vikki said, turning to Eric, "and his amazing job as a student."
"He's more than a student!" Serenity exclaimed.
"Oh, yes, you're right," Riles said, and Serenity turned to her, grateful for what she thought was an ally. "I forgot about the ferret."
Most people laughed. Serenity, Draco, Snape, and Dumbledore were not among them, though Dumbledore was smiling.
"Eh, come on. I want a marshmallow," Travis said, walking over toward the fire with his arm around May.
"Hoping to have a romantic dinner with her, eh, Travis?" Billy joked.
"Oh, yes," Travis agreed. "Roasted marshmallows are so romantic."
"I wanna play some air hockey. Who's gonna challenge me?" Uriko asked. She eyed Rodger expectantly.
"Ooh… but you always win against me!" he complained. "Why don't you pick someone else?"
"Because she can't win against anyone else. I'm going to the Jacuzzi. See ya there!" Riles said, walking over to it. She flicked her hand, changed her clothes into a red bathing suit, and got in while Rodger followed Uriko to the gaming zone.
Everyone looked at Brandon. "She wants me to follow, doesn't she?"
"Probably," Vikki said. Then she grinned. "Of course, she'll forever deny it…."
At this point, all the Secret Students, except for Riles, jammed their hands over their ears.
"RILES!" Serenity screamed. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN WHEN TALKING TELEPATHICALLY!"
"So you've learned how to talk through your minds?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yeah," Crystal answered. "It took a while, but we got there."
"Congratulations," Dumbledore replied, smiling, his eyes twinkling knowingly.
"Thanks," Amber said.
"Okay, okay," Brandon said, shaking his head. Everyone looked at him. "Riles is bugging me to go in with her. I'll see you later."
Riles turned to him. "I AM NOT!" This time Harry thought she was being truthful.
"Forever denial," Vikki said, grinning.
Riles glared at her. Where Vikki had once been wearing jeans and blue T-shirt, she now wore a bright, orange and blue, strapless Gator-supporting bathing suit with a small bottom.
"RILES!" Vikki screamed as everyone laughed. She changed herself into her normal clothes with a huge mound of anger on her face. She started to stomp toward the Jacuzzi to teach Riles a lesson she wouldn't soon forget, but Eric grabbed her arms and refused to let go.
"Go have a time-out, missy!" he said as he laughed.
The hosts and guests spread out over the party over time. While Ron and Hermione, whether they had wanted to become "dates" or not, went over to the gaming section, Ron hoping to find Wizard's chess, Harry and Kelly walked over to the fire for some roasted marshmallows. Riles, Brandon, Vikki, and Eric were sitting there, a large variety of expressions on their faces. Vikki was glaring at a smirking Riles. Brandon was trying not to laugh, and Eric was clueless as he looked around for why. It seemed Vikki had not yet noticed that Riles had turned her wand green with pretty pink flowers all over it.
After several marshmallows, the tension seemed to lift a little bit and some stories started. Eric, of course, couldn't say anything about his job, and it looked like he really wanted to. Harry felt he was doing a very good job at holding his tongue, because it looked like he was about to burst his secret. Brandon, however, had several interesting stories.
They were soon joined by Madam Sprout, who told an intriguing story of the time a Venomous Tantacular almost killed her in the greenhouse because Fred and George had fed it carrots. When McGonagall joined them, she told the story of when Holly Grandovitch transfigured her quill into a poisonous toad and how twenty-one people had been poisoned before the toad was caught. Thankfully, all twenty-one went to the Hospital Wing just in time for Madam Pomfrey to cure them.
Dumbledore, by far, however, had the most interesting stories. By midnight, everyone was gathered around the fire, listening to Dumbledore with rapt attention about the time he defeated the dark wizard Grindalwald in 1945, the time McGonagall had got a turtle wrapped up in her hairnet, and when Snape had accidentally set his hair on fire and couldn't get it out for ten minutes, all of which Dumbledore seemed to have been a part of.
Teachers were embarrassed, but so were students. Harry had had no idea that Bunny sleepwalked, or that while sleepwalking, she normally threw pie at people, which she honestly would have no memory of at all. He did know about Serenity's Care-Bear obsession, but did not know Uriko slept with her thumb in her mouth and holding on to her bright pink teddy bear (Crystal showed a video).
When McGonagall called time to quit at three thirty in the morning, it was not a welcomed goodnight. Dumbledore agreed, however, that since there were normal students who attended this school, it was time to end the party. They had a Quidditch game tomorrow to prepare for anyway, he said to Harry and Malfoy in particular. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Kelly said their goodnights and left, very much to their disappointment. Even Kelly seemed to have relatively enjoyed herself.
As they left the brightened fire of the party, however, sleepiness rolled over them. By the time they had reached the portrait hole, they were trudging at an extremely slow rate.
"Stinkersap," Hermione whispered, her eyes drooping.
If the Fat Lady had not been half-asleep, she would have been rather surprised to hear a voice but see no one awaiting entrance. She merely turned over and opened the portrait. They said their goodnights to each other and slowly walked up the stairs to their dorms, glad to be back in a familiar place. Harry fell down on his bed without changing and was asleep within seconds of Ron's immediate thump and snore.
A/N:
I'M SOWWY….
I haven't updated in forever. Bad Riles, bad! -hits self- There's a girl I know, May, who I usually talk over ALL my ideas to. She's my living pensieve, and enjoys the title because she gets to the hear the dramatic endings to all my stories. Well, I told her about the Teen Titans one I'm doing, and decided I'd let her read a great deal of what I had so far. That was one rather large mistake and blessing, I think.
I had gone slightly—well, okay, REALLY FAR—off the plot with this one event that changed everything, and May FLAMED it. I've told her to flame me if I need it, but I guess I've always been so used to her telling me it's great that it kinda… shook me up. Not the same shaken up as Tohru was in relation to Kyo transforming, but a different one. I can't really say any more, but I got really off balance after that, and even started drawing! THE GLASS IS STILL IN THE WINDOWS, PEOPLE! -ish happyful at that- But anywayz, tonight I just got off computer restriction, and was really eager to stay on the computer all night. So this is what I'm doing tonight! Editing a chapter for you peoplez.
So… here it is. -long pause- OH! NEXT CHAPTER! Ron's theory on how to psyche out a team, fraternizing with the enemy, and the first half of the Quidditch match. We shall see just how entertaining my Quidditch scenes are…. -vomits-
Ooh, ooh! I got this really cool desktop! -ish happyful with it- It's like… waterfulness, but kinda mixed…. I dunno. I found it at I love those strangeness things! They're so coolio!
So I'm happy about my desktop. But that's the not the question. The real question is…
ARE YOU HAPPY ABOUT YOURS?
Right! Now that that's over with… -pause- I really DO need to go to bed…. -pause- NAH!
Review! Make me smile!
Thankx,
Riles