The next week went by in a flurry, everyone so intently involved in organising the party and ensuring they had all work completed. The girls had all organised outfits, and had even managed to get the boys involved in their outing for clothes. The usual happy mood seemed to have restored in the Gryffindor house and was fast becoming intoxicating. Even the Slytherin house was happy and that was hard to achieve.
Unbeknown to Harry, Draco was not in the category of happy, in fact one could say 'devastated' was the word. He had not been to see Harry for a week, and he hated it. On top of that some rather unnerving news had come to light, and it weighed heavy on his conscience.
It was the afternoon of the party and Harry was sat in the common room with his fellow Gryffindors, Seamus and Dean. They were organising the beverages whilst everybody else got ready for the evening events. The party was to start at 7 when the 4 other houses were to meet on the 7th floor. There the Slytherins would be waiting to greet their fellow class mates and direct them to the party room – The wonderful Room of Requirements had been transformed into a large hall, much like the great hall minus the head tables. No time had been indicated for the ending as everyone knew they were to party till the sun rose, and judging by the amount of alcohol there was it was clear not everyone would remember this day.
Harry sat on the coach staring out of the window, his mind rapidly leaving the conscious world and letting him day dream.
"Hey Harry, feeling adventurous?" Seamus interrupted him with an amused smirk.
"W-what? Why?" Harry asked confused, looking back at Seamus still feeling dazed.
"Join us." Seamus motioned for Harry to come over to where he and Dean sat around the drinks on the floor of the common room. "We're going to start early. You need to perk up, here have this."
Harry looked at the two boys with a bemused expression. He took the fire whisky indicated by Seamus. Feeling a rush of adrenaline he started to uncap the drink.
"Not that I understand you, but I think this is a good idea. I need to be intoxicated to consider actually spending the night in the same room with a bunch of loud mouth, arrogant, drunk Slytherins." Harry agreed, bringing the drink to his lips, taking a large swig then passing it over to Dean.
"Gosh that stuff's strong." Dean moaned as he choked on the after feeling the fire whisky left. He passed the drink on to Seamus who chuckled and the three started up an idle conversation, continuously passing round the drink.
"It feels so good to just let go and relax." Seamus added, eyes transfixed on Harry as he downed the Whisky.
"Mm … Wouldn't have been able to last year ey Harry?" Dean stated. "What with You-Know-Who and everything."
Harry groaned and downed even more Whisky whilst glaring at Dean. "No." He spat out in annoyance. Why was it that every time he tried to have fun someone always remembered the war? Was that what he was doomed to be reminded of for the rest of his life? It was bad enough that the rest of the Wizarding World considered him a hero – 'the Golden Boy' was their chosen name as of late. It irked him that his fate had changed the way people felt towards him. He thought that school would be an escape but it seemed that that was too much to ask. In fact the only people who were treating him the same where Ron, Hermione and, would you believe it, Snape. (AN: Not dead- his character was wonderful for this story!)
Sensing the sombre thoughts running through Harry's head, Seamus quickly snatched the bottle back and continued the passing of drink with a more light-hearted conversation in hand.
Soon the three started to feel pleasantly buzzed, and lost track of time. All three intently involved in an intense conversation about who knows what. At one of Seamus' bad jokes, the three fell in to reels of laughter, only to be interrupted by an angry looking Hermione.
"For Godrics sake, you three are useless! Did any of you consider keeping an eye on the time?" Hermione bellowed, glaring at the three lounging on the floor casting a Tempus charm to prove her point – '7:45' it read. "The party started 45 minutes ago, and everyone's still waiting for drinks!"
"Oh …. Oh." Harry hiccupped, struggling to stand , clutching Hermione's robes for balance. "We jus' been havin' fun 'Mione!"
Hermione sighed, taking hold of Harry by the crook of his arm and dragged him towards the door.
"Yes, well, have fun with the rest of us. We want some drink too you know!" She spat light-heartedly, directing the boys out of the common room. Seamus and Dean stood clutching each other and followed-or rather stumbled haphazardly-after the pair.
Levitating the remaining drink, she muttered under her breath and dragged the three boys to the 7th floor. They soon approached, noticing the door was already open to grant access they stepped across the threshold.
The two heavy mahogany doors opened to a large packed room. Students from all years seemed to have united to enjoy the festivities, creating a large compact crowd. In the centre of the room a jet black dance floor could be seen, several Slytherins in the middle were heavily involved in providing entertainment, dancing together in quick succession, some even boldly venturing to invite others to join. The lead- a girl Harry vaguely recognised- was currently flailing around a fellow dancer, her emerald dress swaying in time to the music.
To the left of the room a large stage could be seen, this stage held the guest band for the night. Said band consisted of two 6th year Slytherins', one 7th year Ravenclaw and a rather handsome 8th year Hufflepuff. The foursome were currently in full swing, performing an obviously well know song, filling the room with loud heavy base music.
At the opposite side of the room, a large buffet table was laden with food and drink. Many chairs and tables were placed along the edge of the room, accommodating the tired, bored or just unwilling students. As soon as the four stepped in, cheers erupted around the room.
"DRINK!" A small black haired girl shouted, running towards Hermione and taking over her levitation charm.
Once the drink came in to view the crowds horded towards the small group, each grabbing drinks and passing them around to their friends. All too soon the room was filled with laughter, loud voices and the occasional voice straining in its attempt at singing.
As Harry joined in the party, he found himself submersed in the mingling bodies, centred and surrounded. The music grew and soon the teens were all jumping in time to the erratic beat of the music.
An hour passed, and the boy found himself withdrawing from the crowds, exhaustion setting in as he sat down at one of the tables. Unfortunately for him Hermione noticed and made a bee-line, grabbing his arm and hauling him up.
"Oh no you don't Harry! We're just going to play truth or dare, so get your arse over to Ronald and sit down." She directed, pushing Harry towards Ron who looked up with a wide grin. To anybody it was obvious that the red haired man had had one too many.
"Harry!" Ron slurred, grabbing Harry in a bone crushing one-armed hug. "Sit."
Harry did as he was told, glancing round at the group as he did. Blaise Zabini sat opposite to Harry, with Pansy Parkinson right next to him. Both Slytherins were eyeing Harry with distaste; Pansy focused one of her famous icy glares at him until Harry gave up and looked away. 'Some things never change.' Harry thought as he stared directly at them. Next to the pair sat a blonde boy. Said boy looked up at Harry slightly and flashed a crooked subtle smile. A blush rose to Harry's cheeks as his stomach did somersaults.
Harry continued to search the rest of the group identifying every member: Ginny, who was sat with a large group of giggling 7th year friends, Seamus and Dean, who sat close together whispering conspiratorially, Neville sat holding Luna's hand, Terry Boot, Lavender Brown, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and Hannah Abbot were scattered amongst the crowd. As well as the known 'friends', Harry noticed a few unknown Ravenclaws, Several Hufflepuff, and one solitary 4th year Slytherin joined the circle.
"Right, let's get started." Hermione ordered, standing in the centre of the circle waving her wand around them all. "I've cast a truth telling spell over us all, we just need a forfeit for those who don't like their dares …"
"How about you have to go hug Snape and declare you're unrequited love for him?" One of the small Ravenclaws suggested smugly.
"Ew!..." Hermione paused, resting her hand on her chin and thinking furiously. Finally she smirked and glanced back at the girl in question who had been staring at her intrigued and minor trepidation. "That, my friend, is perfect. Now let's get to it!" Hermione whole-heatedly agreed, walking to take her place.
With that the game began. Due to the truth telling spell a lot of secrets we're revealed to the crowd, some more embarrassing than others. The worst truth had come from a distraught Neville who had to admit that at 18 he still hadn't been with anyone intimately. The Slytherins sneered for a whole 15 minutes; some had even been rude enough to laugh at him – Neville sat stuttering with a red face the entire time.
Dares ranged from the simple 'Jump on the spot 10 times' to the daring 'Strip to your boxers and walk around the black lake without a heating charm.' The latter had been received well by a heavily intoxicated Blaise who seemed very willing to show off in front of his house mates. It seemed his Slytherin pride increased tenfold under the influence of alcohol, much to everyone else's chagrin- the boy was smug enough at times.
"Harry, truth or dare?" Dean asked, looking intently at the raven haired boy. A slight twinkle in his air had Harry on edge as he could only start to think what malicious thoughts the small boy was considering.
"Erm … Dare." Harry mumbled bravely, looking Dean head on as to show the air of superiority.
"Well, well, well. I dare you …" Dean said thoughtfully, racking his brain for inspiration, glancing over at Seamus he grinned. "I dare you to kiss Seamus, full on for a whole minute."
Shocked, Harry stared at Dean incredulously with slight questioning. As he looked at Seamus he noted a smug smile gracing his features. It was then Harry realised that this had been their plan all along. Next to him he noticed Hermione tense and look over at Draco. 'Ah.' He thought to himself, 'That's who caught us last week.'
Panicking, Harry looked over at his blonde boyfriend with an apologetic look as he stood and walked towards the Irish man. He knew that everyone was aware of his sexuality as he never felt the need to hide after all the years of trouble he'd been subjected to. The only thing he kept from everyone was who he was seeing. Harry failed to notice the look of disgust his boyfriend threw at him or the colour that drained from his face as he realised that Harry was going to go through with the dare.
Once in front of Seamus, Harry gracefully dropped onto his lap and looked in to the boys eyes. Noting the excitement mixed with lust, Harry decreased the space between them. Taking a deep breath Harry placed a hand on the nape of his neck and he pulled their lips together in a gentle kiss. As the kiss began, Harry felt arms hook around his waist drawing him in. The once gentle kiss soon became harsh as Seamus brutally deepened it when he let his lust consume him.
Suddenly, the two found themselves being flung apart as a crack sounded through the air. The lighting in the large room flickered and a harsh wind picked up. It was clear that someone's magic had lost control. Harry looked around abruptly just in time to see a small blonde stand and run purposely towards the door.
Harry, it seemed, was the only person to notice this and quickly realised that it was Draco's magic that had caused him and Seamus to be separated. As the thought dawned on his he felt his heart clench tightly. Suddenly feeling ashamed, Harry stood up glancing around the bemused group and mumbled his apologies and followed the distraught blonde boy out.
AN: Thanks for reading & sorry for the wait!
I'll try and update sooner but I've got loads to do. xox
R&R please :)