Chapter Eleven: Something Wicked This Way Comes

The Halloween feast that Saturday evening was as splendidly decorated as ever. Swarming live bats formed clusters of dark clouds just below the rageful thunderstorm roaring throughout the enchanted ceiling. From every tucked corner of the Great Hall, an abundance of pumpkins, large and small, sneered sinisterly. More impressive still were the large trays set out in front of the students containing extravagantly prepared dishes and a wide assortment of desserts, all in thematic presentations, of course.

Unfortunately, Xander was far too absorbed in the book he'd been reading to pay any of it much attention. The Dark Side of Potioneering was not the sort of literature one could've easily found in the library as the dark arts continued to be forbidden knowledge at Hogwarts. Xander, however, had always held a certain curiosity for the prohibited subjects and was deeply intrigued by the content within the pages that laid unfolded before him.

"Is that the book you've borrowed from Reagan?"

Xander gave a small jolt. He had just entered the chapter detailing the many uses of unicorn blood and had failed to notice Caroline as she came to sit beside him.

"Erm-" He'd thought of denying it, but there'd be no point to it. Caroline sat besides Xander during Potions. She had watched him as he had stared at the book sitting on the corner of Reagan's desk, immediately intrigued by its title. She'd also stayed by the door, waiting for Xander, when he'd stayed behind class to ask Reagan if he could borrow the book, promising, of course, that he'd neer practice any of the magic inside. "Yeah, it is."

"It must be quite a read," said Caroline amusedly. "You looked really invested in it."

Xander neither confirmed nor denied this. Instead, he said, "You look nice tonight."

He meant it too. The Halloween feast was one of those occasions in which everybody came out looking their very best. The younger-years came in colorful costumes, their faces hidden behind thick layers of face paint and glitter. The older teenagers came out in sparkly outfits, appropriate for whatever after-hours party they would be heading towards after the conclusion of the feast.

"Hailie Pickles forced me into this." Caroline wrinkled her nose as she looked down at the dark blue dress she was wearing.

Hailie Pickles, who was as new to the Quidditch Ravenclaw team as Caroline, had become one of her closest friends this year. From what Xander was able to make out, the sixth-year enjoyed making a project out of Caroline, dressing her up in tighter clothes and putting make-up on her face. Caroline complained about it endlessly but Xander sometimes got the feeling that she quite enjoyed it, as well as the attention that it brought her.

"They want me to go to the party down at the dungeons with them after the feast." Caroline had made an abstract head gesture towards the Ravenclaw table that Xander took to mean a few other of her teammates and their group of friends.

"Apparently the party's geared to be this highly exclusive thing," she went on, eyes cast down at the cupcake she was toying around with in her hand. "Not a lot of people were invited. The four Quidditch Captains were given a select number of invites to pass along, and - Oh, don't give me that look," she added, laughing at the expression on his face. "I'm well aware that it's ridiculous but it's also very on brand with the Slytherin thought process, isn't it?"

It sounded more like Edward Ballard's lack of thought process, but Xander figured that if he said his name at all, all the bitterness he'd been feeling towards him the past couple of weeks would come pouring out.

"On the plus side," Caroline went on, "all seventh and sixth year Slytherins are automatically invited."

Xander couldn't help but roll his eyes then. Of course they were. Slytherins were automatically marked worthy by their house placement, just like purebloods were automatically marked worthy due to their blood status. "Slytherin's meant to be the house of the greats," Xander mused out loud, "but we're unfortunately plagued by the short-sightedness of bigotry."

Carolien frowned. "What does that have to do with the party?" Then she tugged at his sleeve before he could answer. "Nevermind that. Come to the party with me tonight. You might even find it fun after all."

The snort that escaped him was a knee-jerk reaction. "I highly doubt it."

Caroline opened her mouth once again, but whether or not she responded to his comment, Xander never found out. There'd been a sort of collective movement throughout the tables as heads turned in the direction of the trio of girls entering the hall. The three of them were coming in late as always and prettier than ever in high heels and skin-tight silk dresses.

Caroline scowled at the sight of them. "They're always purposefully late, just for attention." She rested her head on his shoulder. "I hope Hannah and Hugo think to dock them points."

"Right," said Xander absently.

Lily's dress was an emerald green that matched her eyes. It cowled on her neckline and fluttered on her thighs. Her dark hair covered her shoulders and reached out for her hips, like the flame on top of matchstick, ready to set the whole castle on fire - already setting him on fire.

The three girls took their seats in their usual place at the center of the Gryffindor table, where the rest of their friends greeted them with bright smiles. Lily wasn't looking at any of them though. She was looking up at the enchanted ceiling, staring at the bats flying high above them. They were there every year, the bats, but she was watching them with eyes full of curiosity.

Xander brought his eyes back into his book and stared at the pages until the words grew blurry.

It's only just a chemical reaction inside your brain, he tried to remind himself as he struggled to keep his breathing steady and sure. It will pass. It will pass. It will pass. But then a smaller voice whispered back at him, taunting and cruel, But then, what does that explain of the burning inside your chest?

()()

Lily sat staring up at the live bats, bewitched by their magnificence. They were flying unfettered around the enchanted ceiling, unbothered by the thunder that raged above them. And why would they be bothered? The way they flew about, so close to one another, they looked rather like a hurricane themselves, large and powerful.

"Unacceptable, is what it is. This is our last Halloween at Hogwarts!" Nia had been in a mood ever since Lily had mentioned the Slytherin party and was ranting about it still. "We should've been the ones throwing the party, not the Slytherins. Lily - I can't believe you've let Edward Ballard take this away from us just because you're dating him now."

Hugo had been deep in conversation with Hannah but now spun towards his cousin, looking entirely taken by surprise. "You're dating him?"

"No," said Lily, shooting Nia a look. "We're mates, that's all."

Syana raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Does Ballard know that?"

"Speaking of Ballard," said Oscar, craning his neck towards the Slytherin table. "Where is he?"

"He didn't come to the feast," said Lily. Edward had found her earlier to tell her this and they had both agreed that it'd be quite already to simply meet down at the dungeons instead. "There were some last minute things he needed to grab for the party."

Oscar snorted, "Right. I bet he's getting sloshed with his mate." Lily shrugged carelessly. She didn't care if this was true. She'd taken a few shots with the girls while they'd been getting ready too. Oscar shuffled at her hair playfully and laughed when this finally merited enough of a reaction from her to earn him a slap on the hand. "I like him if you like him, Lils," he said, not for the first time that day, or even that school year, "but I'll hate him forever if he hurts you even just a tiny bit."

"Well there's my favorite lions pride!" Mason Fleet's cheerful voice wedged itself between the group seconds before he, himself, wriggled into the tight space between Lily and Nia. Scrawny and yellowed-haired, he sometimes reminded Lily of a scarecrow, only he'd be one waving energetically at the crows and inviting them to feast on the crops. "I've heard you lot are going down to the dungeons tonight as well?"

"Unfortunately," said Oscar. Mason's face lit up and Oscar was very quickly adding, "But if you think that means I'll go along with you to Hogsmeade and help you smuggle back-"

"Excellent!" said Mason cheerfully. He turned to the others. "Anyone else would like to volunteer to come along? We could really use the help."

Navim and Syana agreed to it. Hannah and Hugo said they had head duties to attend and took the distraction as an opportunity to immediately break free of the table. Nia shook her head and said, "Pass," before shooting Lily a look that left her with no option but to also say, "I'll stay here with Nia."

Suddenly left to themselves, Lily went back to her dinner. She'd been so distracted by the conversation that she'd hardly eaten at all, but she now stabbed her fork into her spaghetti with meatballs, which had been properly themed for the night to resemble bloody brain material and eyeballs. "This looks gross," said Lily, through a mouthful, "but it's actually not."

Nia didn't respond, her gaze far away, and Lily looked up only to realize that she was staring at the Slytherin table. Xander wasn't sitting with Caroline Suffles, not anymore, but Kat Bulstrode had come to take her place, and was now keeping him company. Before Lily could think of the right thing to say (or to feel), Nia tugged at her arm. "Come on," she said. "Let's get on out of here already."

Lily followed her out of the Great Hall in silence. Once they reached the stairwell that led down to the dungeons, however, she asked, "Are we going to the party already?"

Nia's arm looped into her own. "I'd never let us be early. We'll be all the prettier if we give those boys a proper chance at a few more drinks." This made Lily laugh, and Nia smiled contently at her. "Let's just walk around for a bit, yeah? It's never just you and me anymore."

Lily agreed, trotting down the dungeons steps, and letting Nia lead her towards empty corridors instead of the one leading towards the Slytherin common room. "You want to know something funny?" Nia then said. "My mum's moved to Bamberg."

Lily blinked, surprised. "New boyfriend?"

"New boyfriend. Same old insanity."

Mrs. Siles always had a new boyfriend, in that she always had a boyfriend, and he was always relatively new. She'd divorced Mr. Siles five years ago, keeping with her half of his fortune and his last name, though not their daughter. This didn't mean Mrs. Siles never saw Nia, of course. Only that she didn't keep much in touch when she was in the whirlwind of a new relationship.

"What happened to Antoine?" asked Lily. The two girls had spent a number of weeks this past summer holidaying with him and Mrs. Siles in Paris. "She seemed to have fancied him."

"Must've gotten bored of him all, as per usual. Good riddance too. He was too young for her."

She didn't mean that. Nia had liked Antoine. So had Lily. He had been great fun, taking the girls to fancy, grown-up dinner parties and teaching Nia how to properly hold a cigarette.

Lily's arms went around her, and Nia immediately groaned, "Ugh, Lily - you're smothering me," even as she tucked her head into the curve of Lily's neck, making their walk together unbalanced and awkward but somehow more meaningful than before.

"It's such a shame we'll never get to see that man in those tiny swimming trunks again, isn't it?" said Lily. Antoine's tiny swimming trunks and the way they had made the length of his manhood painfully obvious had made Lily blush to her hairline but her mention of them made Nia burst into laughter - and that made Lily smile too.

"Miss Siles - Miss Potter." The two girls had been about to turn the corner when Professor Reagan had come around it first, heading towards his classroom door, which was right behind them. "Where exactly are the two of you heading?"

There was nothing in the rules that said they couldn't be down in the dungeons on a Saturday night. It was against the rules, however, to attend a party that had not been approved by the headmistress, especially one where illegal substances would be carried about abudentally.

"Erm," said Nia, exchanging looks with Lily.

Reagan shook his head at the both of them, clearly displeased by their presence. "Twenty points from Gryffindor each then."

"For what?" Lily demanded indignantly.

"For loitering around when you are so severely behind on your Potions homework," said Reagan, quite meanly, "and another twenty point deduction for failing to be honest about your intentions for the night."

"That isn't fair!" Lily cried out. "We haven't done-"

"Go on arguing, Miss Potter, and I'll make sure your Head of House receives a Notice of Misconduct."

A Notice of Misconduct meant detention but Lily was furious enough to pay the price. "That's such a bunch of-"

"Actually, Professor," said Nia, her reaching out to give Lily's hand a tight squeeze, "Lily and I were here to see if we could go discuss those assignments with you… We've been quite unable to carry past the equations, you see. Of course, only if you have the time."

Professor Reagan's eyes narrowed on them, but then he sighed and turned around to unlock his door. "Very well then," he said. "Come on inside."

[][]

"Bulstrode - I've already said no," said Xander, managing to reign in his impatience so only that the slightest bit of annoyance dangled out of those words.

Kat had come along to show him that the arithmancy homework he had done for her had received a neatly stamped 'O' on the top right corner before making a formal request to have him do next week's assignments as well, which he'd promptly turned down.

"Why not though?" There was such stubbornness to her tonight, Xander was starting to believe she was being difficult for the sake of being difficult alone. "I can pay, you know. I was only giving you a hard time the other day." Everyone knew Kat Bulstrode had enough money to pay for a great deal of things so Xander didn't bother giving that particular remark a response. Kat responded to his disregard by snatching the book away from his hands and placing it on her other side. "Vandenberg - I'm being serious. I can't fail that class."

Xander let out a low blow of air through tight lips. The feast was, for all intents and purposes, over. The plates had long ago been returned to their immaculately clean state and half of the staff table contained empty seats. "I have a lot going on," he told Kat. "I can do a few of your assignments here and there but not all of them. Besides, you're still thinking of challenging the NEWT for Arithmancy, aren't you? You'll need practice before then."

Kat looked at him imploringly. "Tutor me before the next exam then."

"I don't have time for that," said Xander, which was true. He extended his hand out, palm up. "My book, please?"

Kat pushed it away even further, spitefully. When he drew his wand and quickly recovered it anyways, she grunted defeatedly. "Fine. I'll drop it. At least walk me back to the dungeons though? I don't know if you've realized, but we're the only seventh-year tossers still left in here."

Xander didn't want to leave, not yet. He was dreading having to cross his common room tonight. There was too high of a possibility that Lily would be there already, in that little green dress, with Edward Ballard by her side. But seeing as spending the night in the Great Hall was not exactly an option, he agreed, "Alright. Let's go."

Kat had also dressed up for tonight. She was wearing a tight sequined dress and heels high enough to nearly match in height with Xander. It might've been enough of a reason for the slowness with which she was walking but there was something about the hardness with which she was biting her bottom lip that made him think otherwise. "Kat," he said suddenly, "are you avoiding the dungeons?

"No," she scoffed, offended. Then she turned her head, interest piqued, "Wait - Why? Are you?"

"No," said Xander, but they were both Slytherin enough to know that everything meant was in everything not said.

Kat's arms circled around herself, as if suddenly cold and she said, "My friends think it's all very exciting, the fact that muggleborns are being poisoned to death."

She searched Xander's face, trying to find a reaction to her words. Xander made sure that he showed none, and she gave an exasperated sigh, like he'd offended her all the same. "You think I'm just like them, don't you?"

"Bulstrode," said Xander, as the two of them finished making their way down the staircase leading to the dungeons, "I don't think much of you at all." He hadn't said it meaningly, just meaning it, and Kat nodded, like she understood this and didn't mind the sincerity. "In any case," he went on, "I don't think my opinion of you matters, does it?"

"I suppose not," said Kat. She gave something like a shallow laugh. "I don't think my opinion of myself matters much either, if you want the truth."

They had been about to turn the corner when he spotted her - that unmistakable swish of red hair and warm laughter. Immediately, he reached for Kat, pulling her back towards him before either Lily or Nia could spot them in return. Kat poked her head out, recognized the two Gryffindor girls coming out of Professor Reagan's classroom, and then ducked back again, staying quiet until after the sound of their footsteps died away.

Once they were gone, she yanked back the arm Xander had stayed holding. "These are our dungeons," she scoffed at him. "Why are we the ones hiding?"

"I wasn't hiding. I just didn't want another row like the one from the other day, that's all." Except that now that he was so close to the common room, so close to Lily, he did feel like hiding, like slipping away into another room, another universe even, one where he'd never have to face her again - never have to feel a single thing for her again. "I just remembered…" Xander said, suddenly. "I told Hugo I'd meet him up with him tonight."

He was gone before Kat could even offer a response.

()()

There had been two things that had happened in almost immediate succession of each other and neither of which Lily would've been able to justify or explain: the first was that she'd somehow managed to lose Nia almost as soon as they'd stepped into the party, and the second one was that she was feeling a bit much too tipsy for it being so early in the night.

Less concerned with the latter point than she was with the former, Lily searched through the crowds of swaying, sweaty, dancing bodies, trying to find her friend - or even just a familiar face - but she did not, and soon enough there was something like dread flowing through her body, a warmness that felt claustrophobic and foreboding, one that she could not understand. After all, while the party was certainly chaotic, Lily normally thrived best amongst chaos.

On any other night, any other time, she might've enjoyed the fact that the common room was crowded beyond capacity. If she'd been amongst friends, instead of unfamiliar faces, she might've been able to lose herself in music that was pounding loud enough to drown away any pesky lingering whispers of inhibitions.

Tonight, however, without Nia, without Oscar, without a sense of direction, with unfamiliar faces calling her name, boys she did not know wanting to dance, girls she did care for giggling as she stumbled and took missteps, Lily was feeling increasingly flustered and frighteningly alone.

"Double shot of - whatever, really," she mumbled at the house-elf sitting behind the makeshift bar that had been set up in the back corner of the room. She blinked at him, suddenly realizing something, "You're not from the kitchens, are you? I don't think I've ever seen you before."

"Spend a lot of time in the kitchens, do you?"

"Ballard!" said Lily, relief washing over her at the sight of someone familiar and expected. He'd come over and was leaning casually over the bar top. She'd seen him at enough parties to know that the hazy look in his eyes meant he'd had his own fair share of double shots of something or another. His smile was as easy as ever though, and Lily found herself hopping over to the empty stool beside him and grabbing on to his folded forearms. "I've lost Nia."

Edward's eyes glimmered with amusement. "It's not a good party unless you lose someone or another. When did you get here anyways? I've been waiting for you."

"Only a bit while ago," said Lily, though she couldn't be sure of this. It felt like a century since they'd left Reagan's classroom. "You were - Oh thanks." The house-elf had just placed the small glass of amber-liquid in front of her, and Lily drank it down before continuing, "You were dancing with some girl."

Edward leaned forward, the shake in his head confirming that he had not been able to make out her words above the music. He smelled good, like cologne, and Lily found herself leaning into him as well, her voice up to nearly a shout, "I didn't want to interrupt - You were dancing."

He grinned at her. "For the record, you can always interrupt."

Lily pressed her hands on her cheeks. It really did feel warm down here, hot even. "Merlin, it's warm, don't you think so? I don't remember it ever being this warm down here before."

He looked down at her empty glass. "You want another one?" When Lily nodded, he looked over at the house-elf and said, "Two more, please." He turned back to Lily. "What were you doing in the kitchens?"

"Which time?" said Lily, confused.

This made him laugh for some reason. "Ever." Then his face turned into a frown, and Lily followed his gaze to Anthony Nott, who was busy snogging a small, delicate blonde against the back wall.

"Something wrong?" she asked him.

Edward shook his head, still frowning out at his mate. "Just - he's been a mess ever since Kat broke up with him."

"Didn't he cheat on her?" said Lily, remembering the incident during Potions.

Edward blinked and moved his gaze down to Lily. "Well - yeah," he said, as if she were missing the point. "But that doesn't mean he didn't care for her. Anyways, he's really hurt over the whole thing."

She looked back at Anthony once again. Surely enough, he was still tightly locked with the blonde. "He doesn't seem too wounded to me."

"We're Slytherins, Potter," he said, with an air of importance. "We do wounded a little differently." He'd rested a hand on her thigh, but Lily didn't quite mind, because he was smiling at her again, and she was beginning to realize just how easy it was to make him smile, not just when he was drunk either, but all the time.

She hated, therefore, the fact that her mind chose that exact moment to go searching for the memory of another smile, one that was more so a smirk, and so damn hard to earn, it sometimes hurt her soul. She finished the drink in her hand, letting the warm liquid burn her down and wash away any lingering thoughts of that rotten boy with that rotten dimple and that rotten temper.

Out loud, she said, "As a Gryffindor, I can't really relate. We don't do wounded at all."

Edward burst into a laugh. "Right," he said, reaching for a strand of her hair and twirling it around his finger. "You do the wounding, isn't that how it goes?"

Lily opened her mouth but suddenly it felt much too cottony for her to formulate a response. The warmth that she'd been feeling earlier had turned boiling hot, as if there was a fire running up and down her veins. It made her vision blurry - and her breathing stranded. She tried to stand but that proved to be a mistake as the ground beneath her had begun to part away from each other, a furious sort of fire erupting from underneath and reaching up to burn her whole…

"Hey - are you okay?" said Edward, and at first Lily thought he might've reached for her, but then complete darkness surrounded her, and she realized, too late, that it was she who had fallen into his arms.

[][]

Sometimes, when Xander really enjoyed a particular book, he memorized it, and tonight, as midnight enclosed around him, he was in the works of doing just that with the first few pages of The Dark Sides of Potioneering.

He was mentally repeating the words to himself, once, twice, three times, and then closing his eyes, and once again repeating those same words inside his head, quietly, firmly, making sure that they became something that could stay with him. He was doing so now, shutting his eyes tightly, and whispering to himself, "The effects of unicorn blood on the human body are largely dependent on the dosages being administered. While an ounce of fresh intake of unicorn blood could delay the effects of breaking an Unbreak Vow for up to six months, it will do so at the expense of a painful deterioration of the-"

"'ey, mate." Hugo had just walked into his bedroom and was looking at Xander through a puzzled expression on his face. "I didn't know you were coming by tonight."

"The dungeons were loud," said Xander.

Hugo nodded, seemingly understanding enough. "Right." He kicked off his shoes and bounced into the spot next to him, taking the book from his hand and then groaned loudly at the title. "Fuck's sake, Xander - Do you always have to be such a bloody Slytherin?"

Xander leaned back to take a better look at the bedroom door that had stayed opened and then back at the scowl in Hugo's face. "Where's Archer?"

"She decided to go to the Slytherin party, after all," said Hugo morosely. He was skimming through the pages of the book and shaking his head. "What are you reading this shite for anyways?"

"Curiosity," said Xander airly.

"You know what that did to the cat, don't you?"

He smirked at him. "I'm no cat."

"Slytherins haven't fared much better, you twat."

Xander laughed. "Come off it. I am only curious about the magic behind such things. I'd never actually practice any of it."

"Hm," said Hugo, his frown deepening the further along he read.

Xander didn't really mind the look of disapproval on his face. For one thing, Hugo and Xander saw learning differently. Hugo saw knowledge as something meant to be used for something purposeful and, preferably, good. Xander saw knowledge as something that made him more so than the people who did not have it - and less than the people who had more of it than himself. For another, it was clear to Xander that Hugo's discontent was not really stemming from the book he was holding in his hands but from the absence of Hannah Archer.

He cleared his throat. "Did you get in an argument with Archer?"

Even as he asked it, Xander thought it a ridiculous question. Hugo hardly ever argued with anyone, but he especially did not argue with Hannah. In his eyes, everything she said became the right thing to say and everything she did became the proper thing to do. Still, it was odd that Hannah had not come back with him tonight. She hardly ever left his side these days.

Hugo shook his head. "No."

Xander sighed. He wasn't one to go on prying on other people's business but Hugo still looked rather miserable and while Xander was normally quite content with leaving people to their own misery, this had never applied to his best mate. "Well then? What happened?"

"Nothing," said Hugo. "Nothing happened." Xander stayed silent then, because he knew that Hugo wasn't avoiding his question but rather giving him the answer to it. "We were just patrolling on the third floor and…" Hugo had closed the book now but was still staring intently on the cover as if confused by the shape of it. "We were alone, and we were talking about, just random things, really, but then she stopped talking all together, and sort of gave me this look, like she was expecting me to…" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I just… froze. I think it hurt her feelings."

"Oh," said Xander, starting to understand. Hugo had never snogged anyone before. It wasn't like there weren't willing contenders either. It was just that he'd never been interested in any of them. He was, however, interested in Hannah Archer, which made things a bit more difficult to comprehend.. "You… didn't want to…?"

Hugo's ears had gone dramatically red, and Xander quickly took his gaze away from him, not wanting to make him feel like he was being stared at. He focused, instead, on pulling on the hem of his own trousers and then muttering a spell underneath his breath to lengthen them when he realized they'd started to fit him short again. When Hugo still did not speak, Xander offered, somewhat casually, "Obviously we don't have to talk about this. Not unless you want to."

Very quietly, Hugo consented, "I don't know." Xander looked at him now. His eyebrows were knitted so closely together that they were forming one, long, bright red line. "I don't know if I want to kiss her, or anybody else, and I don't know if I want to talk about it or not." He gave Xander a self-deprecating smile. "I know - I'm a bloody mess."

"Of all people," said Xander sincerely, "you're not."

Hugo's whole face screwed together. He looked like he was about to say something else but then a clamor of noise right outside the bedroom made them both jump.

"Hugo!" Hannah had come into the bedroom, her face flushed and sweaty from running, and so heavily panicked, Xander immediately knew there had to be something terribly wrong. "It's Lily," she said, gasping between tired breaths. "Something's happened."