Chapter 10: Slughorn's Poisonous Christmas Party

The semester was soon coming to a close as all everyone could talk about between class was the upcoming Christmas party that Slughorn was hosting. Many of the students were going to attend and the attending party was bigger than expected that Slughorn decided to host the Party in the Great Hall. Everyone who was talking about the party were discussing who they were going to take. Nearly everyone was excited to have a classy party before they were going home for the Holidays. It was a great distraction to what was going on in the outside world. Josh tried to be just excited as everyone else, but he knew what was going to come and all of them were going to have to really grow up as fast as possible if they were going to survive this war. He watched the other students laugh and have good times with friends. It was cheerful and he wished it didn't have to be this way. He'd always wondered if Voldemort just died that night he tried to kill Harry. How the hell did that dark lord survive his own killing curse? It was a mystery to the all. As for Josh's plans, they had come to a halt as they were now waiting on William for when he was ready to preform his new spell. Josh had decided to be patient and didn't want anything to go wrong. He couldn't lose another friend. He waned everything to go right, for Draco. And since things had stopped, Josh decided to spend all his free time with Daphne who was happy that he wasn't so busy. He showed her what he was doing as well as the rest of his immediate friends and they were all on board, especially Harry who thought it was a great idea to get a head start on the war. He too knew what was coming and wanted to be ready for it. Josh and Harry decided to come up with training solutions and ideas over the Christmas Holidays, then put them to the test when they arrived back at Hogwarts. Every member of the DA was informed and were all on board. They were all tasked with bringing in people who wanted to fight back and learn.

At that moment, Josh and his friends, with the exception of Ron, were hanging out in the Great Hall. They had just finished their last class of the semester and were just sitting in a table in the corner as Professor Slughorn watched over students and house elves decorate the Hall for his upcoming party the next night. They were discussing who Harry, Hermione, and Tracey were taking to the party.

"Maybe you could take someone from you're house?" Hermione suggested to Tracey. "Someone nice?"

"Nice?" Tracey repeated with her eyebrow raised and then scoffed, "Someone nice in Slytherin?"

"Maybe a nice Hufflepuff boy," Daphne then suggested, sitting next to Josh who was looking through a defensive spell book. "What about Ernie McMillan?" Tracey shrugged as they all took a look at the said boy who was putting up a large wreath up the Great Hall door, climbing down the ladder in satisfaction, taking a few steps to admire it. He flinched and covered his face when the wreath suddenly fell on top of him, only for him to go through the hole of the wreath, not harming him at all. He sighed in annoyance and climbed back up the ladder deciding to use magic to make the wreath stick.

"Go on," Daphne said, pushing on Tracey. "Go ask him!"

Tracey rolled her eyes and sighed, walking towards Ernie when Ron and Lavender suddenly entered through the doors. Ron was giving Lavender a piggy back ride and the two were giggling away. Tracey froze in her tracks as anger and jealously flew through her body. She clenched her fists and wanted to just wipe those smiles off their faces. "Oh, Hi, Davis!" Ron said cheerfully. "Going to Slughorn's party?"

Tracey suddenly feigned happiness and gave a wide smile. "Hey, Ron!" She greeted. "Of course I'm going! I was just about to inform my date on what we were going to wear."

Ron's smile almost faltered. "Your date?" He repeated and then cleared his throat. "Who's your date?"

"It's Ernie - "

"McMillan!" Ron scoffed out loud.

"Yes?" Ernie said, turning his attention to them when he heard his name coming from Ron. "Oh, hey Weasley, Brown, Davis." He walked over to the three. "What's up?"

"Ernie!" Tracey said excitedly, grabbing Ernie by the arm and pulling him to her side, holding onto his arm. "I was just telling Weasley here that we were going to go over what we wearing going to wear at Slughorn's party! You know, since we're going together!" The blond haired Ernie looked visibly confused, though Ron couldn't tell as he was sizing up the boy.

Tracey elbowed Ernie who gave out a grunt. "Oi!" He turned to Tracey who was desparately smiling, glancing between him to Ron and Lavender. Her eyes were pleading. Ernie nodded. "Right, of course," he said, catching on to what Tracey was getting at. "Sorry, Davis, I almost forgot."

"Oh you," Tracey replied, ruffling Ernie's hair. "Come along, let's do discuss our evening wear." Tracey smiled towards Ron and Lavender as she dragged Ernie away. Once the two left the Great Hall, Tracey's smile faded away and she let go of Ernie with a stressful sigh.

"So..." Ernie began as the two were slowly walking through a corridor. "Slughorn's party?" He smiled sheepishly.

"Oh right," Tracey spoke offhandedly, rubbing her temple. "Just wear whatever and meet me in the Entrance Hall at eight." She then parted ways with Ernie deciding to go somewhere to relieve some anger.

After Tracey had left with Ernie, Ron and Lavender had joined the group who were discussing the upcoming holidays. "I'm actually going back to my parents, so I can spend some time with them," Hermione spoke to her friends. "Maybe I can convince them to move to another country for a while, at least until the war is over. I will join you after the Christmas day. I do appreciate you inviting me over, Daphne." Daphne smiled and gave her a nod.

"I am ready for a break," Josh spoke up. "I could use a nice rest before..." He didn't want to finish. Everyone looked away knowing what was going to come after that. No one wanted to talk about what was going on outside of Hogwarts, at least not right now. It wanted to be ignored, forgotten, but they all knew in their minds of what was coming and how it was all going to effect them.

"So, when do you guys want to meet up?" Ron asked, changing the subject.

"How about eight?" Hermione suggested, "Sounds like a reasonable time." Everyone nodded in agreement.

The next afternoon, Josh was back in the Chamber of Secrets putting his strongest wards up to keep the whole school from finding out that he would be practicing battle scenes with other students next semester. Once he was done, Josh decided to test it out. He pulled out his map of Hogwarts glancing at the professors in their offices, not moving, with the exception of Slughorn who was in the Great Hall, no doubt finishing up on his decorations for his party.

In his right hand, Josh held his Ebony wand in the other, tightly gripped. He pointed it at one of the buildings. He jabbed his wand at it, shouting, "Confringo!" The curse soared and hit the building which exploded, ringing out extremely loudly, and catching fire. The Chamber shook as Josh took a look at his map, glancing down at a few of the names of the Professors. They all looked to be un-moving and undisturbed. Josh smirked to himself. His charms were perfect and holding strong. He waved his wand towards the fire in the building which went out slowly. He waved his wand towards the building again to reverse the damage that had been done to it, going back to the way it looked before. He turned and looked back at his map where a few names caught his eye. He furrowed his eyes towards the first name which was Cormac McGlaggen, up on the seventh floor, but he wasn't alone. He was with Elladora Evans and Inigo Elphick. There were standing close together until Mcglaggen walked into the Room of Requirement, where his name disappeared. What were those two doing with McGlaggen.

Josh thoughts were interrupted when one of the benches on the street was destroyed. He jumped and turned to the culprit who destroyed it. It was Tracey, looking angry and frustrated. Her hair was a mess and her anger was visible upon her face. "Are you alright?" Josh asked.

Tracey glared towards Josh. "If I keep walking in on Weasley and Brown snogging one more time," she began. "I swear I'm gonna use this curse on his arse!"

Josh sighed through his nose. "Tracey," he said in a calm voice. "If it bothers you so much, why not just move on and date some other boy?"

"Easy for you to say, Black," Tracey retorted. "You've already found your soulmate."

"Yeah, through trial and error," Josh replied, pocketing his map. "Just be patient, Tracey. Go out with someone else or don't date at all. Ron and Lavender are temporary. Ron's not her type. It's the first girl he's ever snogged and he'll eventually get tired of her. They're going to end up breaking up by the end of the year."

This seemed to calm Tracey down a bit. "You think so?" she hopefully asked.

"Yeah," Josh nodded, "And maybe you'll be over him by then." Tracey shrugged, suddenly feeling a bit better. She still didn't like seeing those two together, but she guessed she was going to just have to deal with it and suffer in silence and just try to do what Josh said. Move on. "Come on," he said to Tracey. "Let's get get ready for the party, yeah?" Tracey smiled and nodded as she followed Josh out of the Chamber. Josh, however, had something else on his mind. What could McGlaggen, Evans, and Elphick be doing together?

Sirius fixed the wand holster he had strapped to his forearm, holstering his wand, and pulling down his sleeve to cover it up. He stood up and leaned back against the stone wall. He was in Diagon Alley and and on patrol that day. He wasn't alone as his partner had left to grab some coffee. He was patrolling the Alley as a few death eaters who have escaped Azkaban had been spotted there. He sighed and began walking down the Alley. He figured the sighted death eaters would most likely have been spotted in Knockturn Alley. He decided to head that way. A few moments later, Sirius entered the dark alley, looking around every now and then, slightly looking bored. He did notice a couple of wizards sneakily exchanging purchases. He flashed his badge and they quickly left in an instant. He looked up to see that he was in front of Borgin and Burkes. He stepped inside without another thought and began browsing the store. He began looking through all of the dark and mysterious items, coming across something interesting every now and then. When he finally stopped in front of a tall and dark colored cupboard. Tilting his head, Sirius examined the cupboard. It looked familiar to him for some reason.

"Ah, Mister Black."

Sirius snapped around to see the owner of the shop, Burke, looking gleefully towards him. "Been a long while. Last time I seen you, you were here with your mother and younger brother," Burke said, leaning on the counter. "Look at you now. All grown up and working as an Auror, rebelling against your parents." Sirius didn't say anything turning back to the cupboard. "I can assure you that nothing here is illegal." He watched Sirius examined the cupboard. "Don't mind that there. It's just an ordinary piece of furniture. I just like the way it looks. Thinking about using it for some storage."

"It seems familiar to me," Sirius spoke up. He knew he had to have seen this somewhere. Why does this particular cupboard seem so familiar to him.

"Eh, it's nothing really," Burke replied with a shrug. "Can I interest you in an actual enchanted cupboard that keeps all your things protected and whoever tries to take them other than you curses that person?"

Sirius turned away from the cupboard, deciding to ignore it, shaking his head. "No," he cleared his throat. "Everything seems in order." He made his way over to Burke. "Haven't seen any death eaters, have you?"

Burke shrugged. "Don't know," he answered nonchalantly. "Anyone could be a death eater these days. Some are even coming back from the dead," he added, slightly smirking. Sirius lightly glared at the older man, knowing who he was talking about. Sirius didn't say anything, deciding to leave the shop. "Have a good day, Mr. Black. Tell the missus I said Hello." Sirius rolled his eyes and exited the shop.

Burke smirked as Sirius left. "He's gone," he announced. Suddenly, a door opened and two figures in dark robes exited a back room. One of them was tall wit blond hair and a handsome face, while the other was short with dark hair and rough features. Burke turned to the two death eaters.

"How's that cupboard coming?" The tall death eater spoke.

"He's getting pretty close to fixing it," Burke revealed. "I'm sure it'll be ready in no time."

"You better hope so," the short death eater said. "Because if not, you won't be answering to us, but our Mistress." Burke's eyes widened and visibly gulped.

Meanwhile, Sirius exited the shop and walk a little ways down the Alley, turning back around and placing his vision back on Borgin and Burke's. Even though the place felt dark and brooding, it still felt off, so he thought he'd stake it out for a few minutes, just in case. "There you are," spoke a voice. Sirius turned to see his partner. A young wizard, fresh out of training, walked up to Sirius holding two cups of coffee. He handed one of the coffees to Sirius who nodded in thanks. "Dorian."

Dorian nodded back. "What's going on?" the Young Auror asked, turning to look at Borgin and Burke's.

"I have a feeling they're harboring some Death Eaters," Sirius informed. "Burke seemed a little off, more creepier than usual. And smug. Absolutely smug."

"Alright, he's smug," The young man said, "That could mean anything. Maybe he just doesn't like you and thinks that he's above you. Don't know if that's enough to tell that he's hiding something."

"Or someone," Sirius said, nodding forward. The young wizard turned back to the shop to see two dark robed figures exit the shop. Looked around for a moment, and then began making their way deeper into Knockturn alley. "Thorfinn Rowle and Amycus Carrow. Let's go." Sirius tossed down his coffee and began to follow after the two death eaters. Sirius and Dorian followed the two death eaters into the depths of Knockturn, turning and going down, towards the deeper and darker parts of the alley. Sirius stopped and pulled Dorian behind a wall when Amycus had stopped and turned to look behind him. Sirius and Dorian hid for a moment and then Sirius decided to peak out.

Suddenly a curse struck the wall near Sirius's face. He yelped as he jumped back, a piece of stone cutting his cheek. "I knew we were being followed!" One of the death eaters bellowed. "I bet it's Black, Amycus!"

"No doubt," Amycus growled his wand at the ready. Rowle had his wand out as well. "Come on out, Black! I want to see your face when I kill you for trying to get in our way."

Sirius angrily sighed, blood trickling down his cheek. He wiped it way as he whipped out his wand. Dorian followed sui\t. "On my ready," he whispered to Dorian who nodded. A few more curses and jinxes struck the wall Sirius and Dorian were hiding behind.

"Come on, Black!" Rowle growled, "Afraid to die!? Don't worry. I'll make it quick! Don't know about my partner here. He likes to make death slow!"

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Now!" he demanded as he and Dorian popped out from behind the wall with their wands out and sending out stunning spells. The death eaters ducked from the spells, and the double dueling began. The Aurors traded spells with the Death Eaters, neither yet hitting their mark. Sirius and Dorian were using nonlethal spells while the death eaters where using deadly ones. Sirius and the Aurors were informed as of late to use stunning spells and capture death eaters so they could be interrogated. Though, the death eaters were doing well and holding their own.

"We need another strategy," Sirius informed to his partner, but before he could come up with something, Dorian jumped out and shot a barrage of spells. Sirius shook his head and followed suit, shooting stunners towards the Death Eaters who dodged or blocked the spells. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Sirius was struck in his back with a cutting hex. "Argh!" He growled in pain, falling to the ground. He looked up on the roof to see another death eater smiling evilly.

"Gotcha Black!" He exclaimed and thrust his arm forward. "Avada Kedavra!"

"No!" Dorian shouted, sending a blasting hex towards the roof where the Death Eater was and jumped towards Sirius. The large explosion rang out, causing debris and dust to spread throughout the alley.

He stared into the darkness, steadily breathing, though not too hard as any big inhales gave him pain. He expected a broken rib or sternum. He had no idea what time it was or what day it was. It could be morning for all he knew. It didn't matter. All he knew was that he had had to have been here for months. Though it seemed like years for him. Every now and then, there would be light, but it only brought that arsehole with it. McGlaggen, who would come in and continue to torture Draco and tried to get inside his mind. Draco wouldn't let him as he fought back, but it was fighting for too long as his mind barrier was starting to crack and he was becoming weak. Part of him wished that McGlaggen would just get frustrated so much that he would end up killing Draco, so he wouldn't have to bare anymore torture. He lasted as long as he could. At least he was able to keep some strength up with the food they supplied him with, which was bread, some kind of meat, and water. Enough to keep him going. He leaned his head against the wall. He wished he could taste something sweet one last time. He wished that he had some strawberry treacle tart.

Draco inhaled, his eyes widened as a sweet smell met with his nose. It smelled like strawberry treacle tart, but how? Has his mind already broken? It couldn't be real, but why did it smell so real. He suddenly sat up. Draco opened his eyes wider as that would help him see better in the dark, to find what was making that smell. If only he had a light. Suddenly, a small light appeared above Draco who squinted towards the light. A waited a little bit for his eyes to adjust. Once they were set, he finally took a look around in the plain room he was in. He smelled the sweet treat but he didn't see it until he looked down in front of him. There it was. The strawberry treacle tart. But how did it get there? He looked around though he didn't see anyone. He looked back at the tart and reached over to touch it. It felt real. He picked up a piece of it and stuffed it into his mouth. It tasted real as well. Draco didn't understand. How did it get here? He finished eating the tart, smiling to himself when he was finished. This little treat suddenly gave him hope and more will to keep on striving.

The door suddenly opened to reveal Elphick who was surprised that the light was on. "Hmm...McGlaggen must've let it on," he muttered, holding a plate of bread and a glass of water. He walked over to Draco who had closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Elphick kicked Draco in the foot. "Oi, Malfoy, wake up!" He hissed. Draco slowly opened his eyes, blankly look up at his housemate. "Here." Inigo place the plate of bread and water next to Draco and noticed the other plate. He looked at it with confusion on his face. "Did I leave that there?" he muttered to himself, pointing at the plate. He shook his head, grabbing the cleared plate, and then took his leave, but not before turning out the lights, leaving a smiling Draco.

The night of Slughorn's Christmas Dance and Malfoy Memorial had finally arrived, two days before it was time to head home for the holidays. The school was a buzz once more, but only because of the upcoming party. Many of the students were dressing in their best dresses and robes to look their best. Josh, Harry, Ron, and many other boys were dressed in their ordinary black or blue dress robes, standing in the entrance hall, waiting on their dates. The trio of boys were patiently waiting, and discussing strategy with other DA boys. They were asking ideas on what they could learn for the upcoming semester. After a few minutes, Josh saw movement out the corner of his eye. He turned towards the steps to witness a gaggle of dressed up girls come down the entrance hall steps. "They're here," Josh quickly announced. All of the boys heads turned towards the stairs, most of them lighting up to their dates' appearances, stepping forward to greet them.

Josh watched many of the girls appear, looking for his girlfriend, but he couldn't find her. He witnessed Lavender run and jump into Ron's arms and kiss him. The then walked into the Great Hall with wide grins. "Are you looking for someone?" said a silky voice. Josh turned and was surprised to see his super elegant looking girlfriend. His eyes lit up and smiled widely. Daphne was wearing a night blue starry patterned dress with cap sleeves. Her hair was braided up as her face had light make up on it.

"Wow," he gasped, "Daphne, you look amazing."

"Thank you," Daphne thanked with a dashing smile. "You looking pretty dashing yourself, Mister Black." Josh smirked and pulled his girlfriend in for a light kiss.

"Oh wow, Daphne!" Daphne and Josh turned to see Hermione walk up to her. Harry was next to her. "You look amazing!"

"Yeah, you look great," Harry added.

"Thank you both," Daphne replied with a smile and hugged Hermione. Hermione was wearing a light pink silk dress. "You look beautiful, Hermione." Hermione smiled in thanks.

"Yeah, she looks amazing," Harry said with a deep smile. He looked up at Josh who was smirking at him. Harry quickly dropped his smile and cleared his throat. Hermione, on the other hand, blushed at Harry's words.

"So, where's Tracey?" Hermione asked, looking around for the brown haired Slytherin.

"Oh, she's still getting ready," Daphne answered, latching onto Josh's arm. "She said she wants to look better than she did that day on Josh's birthday. She told me to tell us to go ahead and that she'll meet us inside." Josh and the others nodded.

"I don't know if she can top that," Hermione told Daphne who shrugged as the walked next to each other and made their way towards the Great Hall.

Josh and Harry were walking side by side, behind Daphne and Hermione. "I see you decided to go stag," Josh noticed to Harry.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "There wasn't anyone I wanted to ask."

Josh rose an eyebrow. "No one?" he repeated, "There was no one in this entire school you wanted to ask?"

"There might have been one," Harry answered, and Josh noticed him glance towards Hermione. "But she was going to meet someone at the party already so that was a no go."

Josh patted Harry on the back. "Sorry about that mate," he comforted. As the the group near closer to the Great Hall doors, Daphne turned to Josh and linked her arm with his, smiling at her boyfriend who was smiling back.

The Great Hall doors were wide open and students were pouring in dressed in their best robes and dresses. All of them were smiling and laughing, looking excited to be at this party before some of them were to go home for the Christmas break. Josh and Daphne entered the Great Hall and were in awe at the magical decorations that had been set up for the party. The walls had been draped with emerald, crimson, and gold hangings, as the ceiling was bewitched to view an especially starry night sky which included shooting stars every now and then. The Great Hall was bathed in purple and golden lamps that floated beneath the magical night sky, with tables filling up half of the Hall and the other half looked to be empty space for dancing near a small quartet of strings and a piano that was playing elegant music. Over where the professor tables were, was filled with many foods, desserts, and a variety of drinks. Though there were also a few students dressed in uniforms handing out drinks and appetizers.

Josh, Daphne, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Lavender sat down at the same table together. A student came by and passed out some menus. "Here you all are," She said, wearing a nice looking serving uniform. "Just say what you want that's on the menu to the menu, and your food will appear." Josh and the others nodded as the serving Student left to another table to give out menus.

"Great! I'm starving!" Ron said, looking into his menu. Josh, Harry, and Hermione rolled their eyes and smiled bemusedly. The students began ordering their food and chatting amongst themselves, chatting about a few different things from classes to the Christmas holidays. Luckily it was kept light as no one really wanted to talk about the upcoming war.

Josh noticed his girlfriend looking around the Great Hall with concern. "What is it?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

Daphne sighed yet nodded. "I just haven't seen Tracey at all," she answered. "I wonder where she is."

"I'm sure she's alright," Josh assured, taking a swig of butter beer as his gaze was staring straight ahead as a certain seventh year Gryffindor trying to talk with Slughorn. "She's around here somewhere having a bit of fun I expect. Probably dancing with McMillan."

"Ooooh dancing sounds like fun!" Lavender piped up and stood up. "Come on, Won-won, let's go dance!" she pouted towards and pulled on Ron's arm. Ron let himself be dragged to the dance floor though his face look disinterested.

Harry turned to Hermione. "I thought you had a date," He said to her.

"Oh, er, he cancelled last minute," Hermione replied with a nervous smile.

Harry nodded. "In that case," he began, standing out of his chair and held out a hand. "Care for a dance?" he asked with a nervous smile of his own. Hermione nodded, blushing a little. She took his hand and the two walked out onto the dance floor.

Daphne turned to Josh, noticing him staring at another person far off. "Would you like to ask him to dance?" she cheekily asked.

"Who?" Josh nonchalantly replied before the words registered in his brain. He then turned to Daphne who was smiling with a raised eyebrow. Josh rolled his eyes as Daphne giggled. "Come on," He said, grasping his girlfriend's hand and leading her to the dance floor.

There was dancing and more laughing for a while. All of the students were having an amazing time. After a few dances, the girls sat back at their table while the boys went over to grab their dates some drinks. Harry, Josh, and Ron walked over to the table that had a few array of drinks line up for the students ranging from Oak Matured Mead to Wine to Butter Beer and other savory drinks as well as a variety of snacks and cakes. "This is a pretty fun night," Ron spoke as they trio of boys reached the table. "Sad to see it end and for things to turn serious." Ron grabbed a glass of Cherry Wine and took a long drink.

"Yeah, I know," Harry said, looking at everyone's smiling and laughing faces. "This might be the last time a lot of us are going to be happy."

"The calm before the storm," Josh added, grabbing a couple of Cherry Wines. "Let's not dwell on it right now. Let's keeping having fun. Enjoy it while we can." Harry and Ron nodded in agreement, but before they left the table, an arm wrapped around Harry's shoulders as well as Josh's.

"Ah! Mister Potter! Mister Black!" Boomed Slughorn's voice as he hiccuped a second later. "Two of my most prize winning Students! The Future Potions Master - " He shook Harry and then Josh. "And the future Curse Breaker! Come along, I have a couple of people for you to meet!" Slughorn then led an annoyed Josh and Harry away from the table. Ron shook his head with a chuckle, grabbing a chocolate biscuit and popping the whole thing into his mouth.

"Nice party, don't you think?" Someone asked as Ron took another sip of wine.

Ron turned to see who spoke to him and almost spit out his drink in shock and in front of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "Tracey," Ron choked and coughed. "Merlin, I'm sorry." He reached for a napkin and handed it over to Tracey as he had spit up a little bit of wine over Tracey's emerald dress. Though it was a beautiful dress with a princess scoop neck, floor length tulle gown with ruffle lace. Ron thought it made her look like a Princess. Her hair was let down, wavy and shiny, showing off how beautiful the color brown could be. She wore emerald colored diamond earrings and a silver thin necklace. "I didn't mean to spit up on you! I'm so sorry!" He apologized again as a giggling Tracey lightly dabbed her dress. "I didn't ruin your dress, did I?"

"Of course not," Tracey answered, handing Ron back the napkin. "Thank you." Ron nodded. "You like nice Ron."

Ron smiled. "Thanks," he replied, "B-but you, you look breathtaking. I mean, Merlin. Indescribable really. I-I mean in a good way, of course." Tracey giggled and blushed at Ron's words.

"Thank you, Ronald," Tracey thanked. Ron blushed when he heard his full name. Unlike when Hermione said it, he actually liked when Tracey said his whole name. The two teens shyly stood in front of one another, not sure what to do or to say next, laughing when they tried to speak at the same time.

"Ron!" Lavender called from the crowd. "Ronnie, where are you?"

Ron winced and apologetically smiled towards Tracey who's smile had disappeared from her face. "I-I should get back to my date," he said to her.

Tracey nodded. "I should too," she said, "Enjoy the party."

"You too," Ron said after she walked away. He watched in a daze as Tracey glided away from him and through the crowd. Something inside Ron had finally clicked.

"Won-won!" Lavender suddenly appeared and jumped onto Ron, hugging him. "What's taking you so long, huh?"

"Oh," Ron said, not looking at her or hugging her back, instead looking at where Tracey had disappeared to. "Nothing."

Meanwhile, other students too were enjoying their night of fun. Neville and Ginny were happily dancing on the dance floor, laughing with one another. Dean, Seamus, and the Patil twins were sitting with each other laughing and sharing stories as well as other students. Slytherins were mingling with not only Slytherins but with Hufflpuffs, Ravenclaws, and even some Gryffindors. Crabbe, Goyle, Terry Boot, and Marcus Belby were sitting with each other sharing sweets and others foods, trying to find out which ones tasted the best. There might have been a couple of other students who were too happy to be there. Cho Chang was there, though she wasn't happy that she had to be at the party with someone else and watch a muggleborn dance with the boy she was supposed to be with. Mcglaggen was annoyed as he was trying to talk to Slughorn but he was blown off by the Professor once he saw Potter and Black. McGlaggen couldn't wait to get them out of the picture. Elladora was more annoyed that McGlaggen was ignoring her and didn't want to do anything fun with her. All he cared about was getting on Slughorn's side and having her put out some stupid Mead for a gift for the rest of the students.

There was also another student who was having a good start at first, but like Josh, he couldn't stop watching McGlaggen's every move. He knew it was McGlaggen. He didn't care about the proof anymore, he just wanted to hurry up and take the Gryffindor out. But he couldn't. Nott knew that Draco wouldn't want that. That he would want to do things the right way. Nott stood up and turned. He had a person to talk to and stormed through the crowd.

At that moment, William was standing there by the wall, next to a few other Ravenclaws. His heart was beating fast and his palms were a little sweaty. This was his chance. If he missed it, there probably wouldn't be any other opportune moment for this. William swallowed, inhaled and let out a shaky breath. "On foot in front of the other," he said to himself. He slowly towards a table where Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bullstrode, and Tracey were sitting, chatting and laughing with each other. He stopped in his tracks and gulped again as his nerves were over loaded. I can do this, William thought to himself. Look at her beautiful smile. You have to do this! You fancy her and you might not get another chance. Stop thinking so much and just do it! William continued walking and was standing in front of the table moments later.

The girls noticed the nervous looking William. "Hey, Nielsen," Tracey said, "How are you?"

"Hi," William gulped, rubbing his index finger with his thumb. "I'm o-okay. H-having fun?" He glanced over towards Pansy who was looking curiously over at him.

"Yes we are," Tracey answered as Millicent and Pansy nodded in agreement. "Are you?"

William nodded. "I-i was wondering," he began, wishing he wasn't stuttering right now. "I-if you'd like to d-dance with me?"

"I actually just go off the dance floor," Tracey began looking apologetic. "Maybe in a few minutes?"

William waved his arms. "Oh, No, sorry," he said quickly, and then waved over to Pansy. "I meant Parkinson. Sorry, Tracey." He looked over to Pansy. "Would you like to dance?" he asked, this time, not missing a beat.

"Me?" Pansy said, a bit taken aback. "You want to dance with me?" William nodded eagerly. Pansy looked towards her friends who were smiling at her and nodded at her to go. "Okay," she said, standing up. William let out a relieving breath as he held out his hand. Pansy smiled as she took his hand and the two walked over to the dance floor. It was a fast paced song which suddenly ended and turned into a slow song. William and Pansy shyly looked at another, grabbing each other's hands and began to slow dance with each other. The two flowed together and moved in sync around the other slow dancing students. Smiling and stealing gazes at one another. "Why me?" Pansy suddenly asked, curiously looked up at William. "I mean, I don't understand. I bullied you."

William smiled. "That was in the past," he answered, thinking about what to say next, "You've grown and become a wonderful woman. I've seen you helping out the younger students with their magic or schoolwork. I even seen you save a spider from being squished, letting it back outside. You have compassion and empathy. I fancy that in a person."

Pansy smiled. "Don't think I haven't noticed you either," she told him. "You're very intelligent for someone your age. Always going the extra mile for his friends. Always there to help out." William smiled at her words. "You're a true friend, Nielsen."

"William," He corrected.

"Pansy," Pansy said as she moved closer to William and leaning against his chest. Suddenly, William was ripped away from Pansy. The two were surprised to see it was Nott who looked a little to hot. "What the hell, Nott?" Pansy hissed.

Nott ignored her and turned to William. "We need to talk," he demanded. William gulped nervously.

"We're kind of in the middle of something!" Pansy growled, stepping in front of Nott.

"We have business to attend to," Nott replied, reached over to grab William, but Pansy pushed his arm away. Nott sighed heavily and lightly pushed his housemate, causing William to clench his fists. "This doesn't concern you, Parkinson," he said aggressively pointing at Pansy.

"I'll go," William said courageously, and this time he stood in front of Pansy. "Just don't touch her." Pansy looked up at William and blushed, her insides flopping around at his words.

Nott looked straight up at William with a raise brow and smirked. "Alright, let's go find Black," Nott said.

William nodded, turning to hold Pansy's hands one more time. "I'll be right back," he said, "I promise." Pansy nodded and watched as William turned to follow after Nott.

At another part of the Great Hall, Slughorn led Josh and Harry over to a couple of men standing amongst themselves and chatting. "Eldred, my boy!" Slughorn said as he reached the two men. "Meet a couple of my students." He gestured over to Josh. "The is Joshua Black, Brightest Wizard of his age! And of course, You know who this is - " Slughorn gestured over to Harry.

Eldred quickly stepped forward to eagerly shake Harry's hand. "Mister Harry Potter!" Eldred introduced himself. "Eldred Worple, Author of Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst Vampires. I'm sure you've read it!"

"It's on my list," Harry joked with a raised brow, causing Josh to lightly snort.

"You must meet my friend," Eldred said waving over to the tall and emaciated man with dark shadows under his eyes and pale skin. "This is Alaric Sanguini, my Vampire friend. Yes he is a real vampire." Josh raised a curious brow towards the Vampire who was staring longingly at a couple of seventh year girls. Eldred continued to talk to Harry about an autobiography of himself as Josh stepped forward towards the Vampire.

"You're an actual vampire?" Josh asked at the man, still unconvinced.

Alaric turned his boring gaze over to Josh. "As the man said," he told Josh, turning his gaze back to the girls.

"How old are?" Josh asked, sizing the man up.

Alaric sighed. "Old," he answered.

Josh nodded and then asked, "Have you ever been to war?"

Alaric turned his gaze back upon Josh. "More than you've ever been alive," He answered, boring his eyes into Josh's eyes. And before Josh could ask another question, Alaric walked away. Thought to Josh, it looked like he glided away. Josh sighed and decide to go back to his girlfriend. He moved through the crowd smiling once he laid his eyes on Daphne, who noticed and waved him over. She was at a table talking to Tracey and Pansy. Josh continued his way over to her, but was suddenly stopped when Nott and William stood in his way.

"We need to talk," Nott demanded. Josh rolled his eyes.

"What?" He asked.

"I'm tired of waiting," Nott said, "We need to hurry up and go through with this plan."

Josh sighed. "William's not ready," he replied. "I don't want to mess this up, do you?"

"We have to take that chance!" Nott argued. "We need to do this now. The longer we wait, the longer McGlaggen gets away with it!" Josh clenched his jaw and shook his head. "Look if you don't do it! I'll do it! Give me the spell and the potion. I'll do it on my own!"

William quickly shook his head. "I can't let you do that!" he said. "If it doesn't work, it could backfire and you could lose your memory, or maybe something worse. You could never remember anything ever again!"

"I don't care!" Nott growled. "Draco deserves justice, doesn't he!"

Those words hit Josh harder than ever. Draco did deserve justice. "Of course he does, Nott," he spoke, and then nodded when he came to a decision. "Okay, I'll do it."

"What?!" William and Nott exclaimed in shock.

"I preform the spell and take the potion," Josh confirmed, glancing between the two. "After Christmas break," he continued, looking at Nott. "Can you wait that long?" Nott nodded and shook each other's hands. Josh finally walked over to Daphne, hugging one another and smiling.

Suddenly, the music stopped. "Ahem!" Slughorn cleared his throat and magicked his voice to be louder. "Attention students of Hogwarts." Everyone's gaze turned upon Slughorn. "I hope you all have enjoyed my Christmas Party. It is an amazing spectacle to see all my students and friends having an amazing time considering certain circumstance. As you all may know, dark times are ahead but we must cherish the memories that we make here and the ones that make us happy. These memories will help keep you strong and help you to keep moving forward." It was silent for a moment. "We have lost an exceptional student this year. And as I say this, i know many hearts are heavy for this student's loss, as is mine. So we raise our glasses." Slughorn raised his glass as well as did the rest of the Slytherin House. "To the memory, of Draco Malfoy."

Josh noticed that other students from other houses didn't raise their glasses. He grabbed one of the glasses from the table and raised it. "To Draco Malfoy," he repeated as a few students turned to him. Daphne smiled lovingly at her boyfriend. A few more students raised their glasses.

Harry was next to raise his glass. "To Draco Malfoy," he said, followed by Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the DA, and soon enough, everyone throughout the Great Hall had their glasses raised to the Memory of Draco Malfoy.

"To Draco Malfoy," Slughorn said once more, taking a drink from his glass.

All of the attendees followed suit, taking drinks from the glasses. There was a moment of silence, and then, someone began coughing very violently. Heads turned and a few people spread out to reveal that Justin Flinch-Fletchly was coughing widely, falling to the ground. Some of the students began to kneel to help him when another two students began to cough violently. Heads turned to see that one of them was Cho Change and the other was her date. Harry quickly ran over to Cho as she and her date feel to the floor coughing. Soon, a few more students began coughing which included Millicent Bullstrode and Marcus Belby and then more students started coughing including Terry Boot and Mandy Brocklehurt and a couple of seventh year students, and a couple more students including Elladora Evans began coughing violently, and falling to the ground. No one noticed the cold look McGlaggen was giving her. All of the students that were coughing soon began to cough and spew blood all over the place. Many students around them were kneel and some where shouting for help, some yelling out for Slughorn and his invited friends to help. Slughorn stood their frozen, unsure of what was happening or how it could be happening. He was horror struck. There were many screams of shock and terror as no one knew what was happening. A few students had left the Great Hall, presumably to go get some teachers or Aurors. Anyone who could help the students.

"Josh!"

Shocked, Josh turned towards the sound of his name. It was Dean. "Josh, quickly!" He shouted. Josh ran over to Dean who was next to someone, and that someone was Seamus and next to him was Padme. Both of them were violently coughing up blood like the rest. "Josh!" Dean yelled, tears in his eyes. "Help him!" Parvati to was crying as she held he coughing sister. Josh knelt down next to Seamus unsure of what to do. He racked his brain for any poison that had these effects, but he didn't have an answer.

Suddenly, he heard a scream that sounded just like Daphne. "Noooooo!"

Josh stepped up and ran over to his girlfriend to see her holding onto Tracey who was keeled over coughing and spewing blood. "Tracey," he breathed out in horror.

Ron appeared from behind him, horror upon his face as he ran over and took Tracey from Daphne and into his arms. "No, no, no," Ron cried, "No, you can't. Not now." Tears began flowing from his eyes. "I didn't get to tell you!" Ron hold her as close as he could as many of the students were clueless as what to do. Josh turned to Hermione to look for answers, but she just shook her head. He looked to Daphne who was crying her eyes out, to emotional and distraught to think. Josh racked his brain and thought, many things ran through his mind, many antidotes. And then it suddenly hit him.

Josh pulled out his wand and thrust it forward. "Accio Bezoars!" Everyone watched Josh and suddenly look hopeful. Hermione let out a breath as it clicked in her mind. Seconds later, a small box flew into the Great Hall and soared into Josh's hand. His heart beating fast, he opened it to reveal the bezoars that he had magically called. Took one out and passed it on to Hermione who quickly ran to the nearest person that was poisoned. Josh knelt next to Ron and Tracey, sticking the bezoar in her mouth helping her chew it and magicked some water into her mouth to help her swallow, but with her coughing this proved difficult.

As soon as this had all started, it stopped. The coughing and blood spewing others had stopped at once and the ones who were poisoned had stopped moving. Josh, Daphne, Ron, Pansy, William and other students looked down at that students who were given bezoars, hoping that they were given in time to help them, or that it was definitely what they needed save them with.