100 REVIEWS! YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY! The party starts showing up…finally!
16:
Draco left compartment 80 and went back to where his friends were, already changed and putting away the few scraps from their snacks on the way over.
"We have sixty-three days until Halloween," he announced walking in. The others, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Zabini and Nott all looked at him oddly. "Traditionally that's our first party, but I want something sooner."
A glance passed around the group. "How much sooner?" Blaise asked, closing his compact mirror he'd been using to apply his eye-liner again.
"What do you say to October first?"
"That's barely a month away," Pansy said, her eyebrows raising.
"I know."
"Can we move that quickly? We'd need a setting-"
"-drinks-"
"-people-"
"-protection-"
"-a theme-"
"That can all be taken care of," Draco stopped Blaise and Pansy before they got too overwhelmed. "Just make it happen, I'll do most of it, but I will need your help."
"We'd also be planning the Eve of Evil at the same time…can we handle that, schoolwork and social obligations?" Everyone knew what Blaise was referring too. Keeping up the façade of Death Eater in-training.
"We're Slytherins, we can do anything," Malfoy said, he smirked and led them out as the train stopped. Outside the light was nearly gone but lanterns escorted students into horseless carriages. Draco made sure to shove a few under-years on his way to the foremost carriage. Behind him the Slytherin house was doing the same, the year was starting perfectly.
8 8 8 8 8
"Harry, where did you go?" Ron asked as his friend returned.
"I thought I saw someone I knew," he said, smiling.
"Who?" Hermione smiled interestedly.
"Ehm…a Ravenclaw I met in Diagon Alley a while ago," Harry said, trying to cover up the fault.
"Oh," Hermione obviously didn't believe him but said nothing. The train started to stop again and the trio moved to knock on doors to awaken the sleeping. A fun thing Sixth years liked to do sometimes.
"Hey guys," Ginny smiled at them, she opened her door just as Ron passed her and he rapped on her forehead, having meant to hit the door. Harry laughed and hugged Ginny, rubbing the red spot that was forming. Everyone laughed and Luna, Collin, Dennis, Dean and Seamus (all sitting in the compartment behind Ginny) waved.
"Seamus and I went to Dublin for the summer, saw some football, got really smashed a few nights ago and, I don't know about Ireland here, but I'm still a little," Dean held out his hand, palm down and tipped it side to side.
"Some people just can't hold a beer or two," Finnagen smiled proudly and rubbed Dean's shaved head, a thick peach fuzz was appearing already.
The group laughed and dismounted the train together, walking towards to the carriages. From the back of the train, they saw a wave of dark students, shoving a wide path through the younger years. At the head, illuminated by a white lantern, was Malfoy, blonde hair glowed dimly and his eyes could clearly be seen, filled with malicious intent.
Harry sense his friends tense and the snakes and themselves drew closer together. Hermione put a hand on his shoulder, meaning well, meaning to hold him back from beating Malfoy at the slightest provocation…but what she would more likely have had to hold him back from was kissing Malfoy instead. There was so little in his glare now, it looked the same to everyone else but to Harry it said "meet me later" not "rot in shite Potter."
"Let's go you guys, the stupid Slytherins don't scare us," Ron said, putting an arm around his little sister.
"Yeah," Collin and Dennis linked arms and Harry and Hermione did the same, then linking with Ron and Ginny. Luna attached to the Creevey brothers and they moved off to claim a carriage or two.
8 8 8 8 8
"Who's he?"
That was the question on every set of lips as they entered the Great Hall. Christopher Srene sat in a high-back chair, sneering at the students the way Snape did. He was a vampire. His skin was bronzed from his life before death and his hair was silver with a light sprinkling of white and black. He wore a complex looking silver robe hemmed in red with a high collar and belled sleeves. His lips were dark red, as if he'd used a coloring charm on them and his eyes were the same, vibrant green even from so far away.
"Sit, sit," Dumbledore motioned for silence and he got it.
"We'd like to welcome you to another year at Hogwarts. First we'll have the sorting, Minerva," Dumbledore motioned for her and she let in the herd of first years. She called them up after the song's finish, letting them be placed before calling another.
"So where'd you really go Harry?"
"Bronshmitz, Lisa."
"What do you mean 'Mione?"
"HUFFLEPUFF."
"On the train, no one was there when you ran off, you left the car completely. Where did you go?"
"Btonstik, George."
"I already told you, I thought I saw a Ravenclaw I'd met," Harry hissed at her, pretending to direct his attention to the Sorting.
"That's a lie, no one was there Harry. Tell the truth," Hermione urged him.
"RAVENCLAW."
"Shh Hermione, there's a sorting going on," Harry finally decided to just ignore her. She glared at him and then turned and whispered to Ginny.
It took a little while but they got their food and began to eat.
"Can you believe them?" Lavender appeared from nowhere a few minutes later.
"Who?"
"Slytherin house." She said as if they should have known what she meant. After receiving confused looks she sighed and told them. "They're planning to skip classes tomorrow so they can all get really smashed tonight."
"If they're not there and get in trouble for it, good, I don't want to spend any more time with them than I have to." Ron said, putting a baby red potato in his mouth.
"That's not all," Lavender said. "They're planning to raid Gryffindor tower during classes. They're going to steal everything."
"WHAT!" The group screamed in unison, drawing the attention of the whole table.
"They say it's Malfoy's idea," Lavender reported.
She looked about to say something else when a loud clapping stopped all noise in the hall. Everyone turned to see Malfoy standing on a bench with his goblet raised towards Hermione.
The bet.
Hermione looked stunned. She must have forgotten.
"Ms. Granger?" Malfoy raised his white eyebrows.
She stood stiffly and grabbed her goblet in a clenched fist, clasping it so hard it nearly shattered. "I'd like to propose a toast to Slytherin house, health and prosperity all around." She ground out the words like a vile taste. The snakes cheered and she slammed down into her seat.
"He's going down." Hermione's lip curled evilly and she let go of her goblet, letting a small stream of pumpkin juice dribbled down from a crack in the side.