Chapter 7

I woke up with a splitting headache and the dread in my stomach that let me know something horrific happened last night.

Or several horrific things. Fuck.

I quickly did a cheering charm and drank two hangover potions. Merlin, my head hurt.

Mother fuck.

I woodenly crawled out of bed, still in my clothes from last night. I showered, changed, and went downstairs, shielding my eyes from the light.

I looked at the clock – it was 8:30. Good. No one else should be up. I hurried down to the Great Hall and poured myself some coffee and buttered some toast. Now this would fix me right up.

I opened The Daily Prophet and started to read an article on some Ministry politics.

I heard someone yawn and say blearily, "Milla?"

I looked up. Charlotte!

She sat down next to me, wearing a sweatshirt and pajama pants. "Pass me the coffee, would you?"

I did and then glanced impatiently at her. "So?" I asked, imbuing the word with meaning.

She groaned. "Let's not talk about that."

"But … how! You and Ben –"

"Don't say his name. I'm so embarrassed. Oh, and Luke saw us. Oh my God. Fuck. He's going to murder me. And then Ben. Oh fuck, I was so drunk. I cannot believe I did that. I can't believe he let it happen. Oh, I'm so mortified." She looked so distraught I slung an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her tightly.

"I'm sorry. It's okay, I fucked up too. I'm never getting drunk again," I moaned, my face in my hands.

Of course, I always say this and it never happens.

Char looked at me questioningly. "What did you do?"

I pushed a hand through my hair. "I don't want to talk about it."

She gave me a look. "You can and you will. If I told you about hooking up with one of my closest friends, you can tell me whatever you cocked up."

I sighed heavily. "Okay, fine. Well I saw James snogging HRH, so I grabbed Nate Walters and started to snog him. Then I danced with him and James was staring. After we went to get drinks, I felt sad and started to cry so he hugged me, and James came furiously over and demanded what was going on. And we fought and then I stalked off and cried myself to sleep. Oh, and Miranda is mad at me for some reason unbeknownst to me."

Charlotte's eyes bugged. "What the hell?"

"I know. I don't even quite get what happened." My shoulders slumped and I felt despondent.

Charlotte hugged me, and I leaned against her. God, we were quite the pair.

Across from me I saw Ben sit down and grab a roll. Charlotte looked at him, panicked, and said, "I have to go." She stood up abruptly and left, leaving me with Ben. Great.

Ben looked upset. He ran a hand through his blond hair and glanced worriedly after Charlotte. "Fuck," he muttered.

I smiled grimly. "I know."

"Is she okay?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I think she's freaked out and confused."

Ben grimaced. "I know. So am I. how the bloody fuck did that happen?"

I shrugged again. "Don't know. Don't know anything about last night."

"Everyone saw?"

"Yep."

"Luke saw?"

"Yep."

Ben paled. "SHIT."

"Oi, keep it down. I'm hung over," I gestured to my coffee and toast.

He glared. "So am I."

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled miserably.

"What did Charlotte say?"

"Nothing much. Just what happened, which I saw, by the way. You two were going at it with a lot of gusto, I must say," I teased.

Ben scowled. "Shut up."

"I –"

Miranda appeared, her hair in a ponytail. She sat down next to Ben, without looking at me. She grabbed a slice of toast and some coffee and opened her Prophet.

"Miranda, I –" I began.

She looked up, her face hardened, and she stood up without a word and stalked out of the room.

Shit fuck.

Ben looked quizzically at me. "What happened there?"

I looked puzzled. "Beats the shit out of me. No clue."

Why was everything such a mess?

I was sitting out by the lake against a tree, staring at the water. It was a beautiful fall day with the crisp blue sky and light breeze. I took a deep breath and felt a calm wash over me.

Maybe I could take a nap? It was a Sunday, after all. I didn't have any work, and I didn't seem to be getting anywhere with anyone. Might as well sleep.

I stared at the water, little ripples created by the wind and felt relaxed. For once.

I felt my eyes drifting shut when I heard my name.

"James?" I said drearily, rubbing my eyes.

He had his hands shoved in his pockets and he was wearing a blue sweater.

"Milla," he said tentatively. "What happened last night?"

I crossed my arms defensively, looking away. "I don't want to talk about it."

"We need to talk."

"No we don't, James. We really don't."

"You have to tell me what's going on."

Anger flared up inside me. "I don't have to tell you a thing!"

"We're best mates. We should be able to talk about things!"

I glared. "Talk about what, James? Your constant PDA with your girlfriend. Your lack of time spent with me – with any of us? The way you behave around HRH – sorry, Lucia sodding Thomas? There's nothing to discuss!"

James looked baffled. I turned and began to leave – I was getting quite good at this stalking away thing.

"Milla! Camilla! Wait – "

I whirled around and with narrowed eyes said, "Do NOT call me Camilla."

I turned around and walked away.

I arrived in my room and screamed. Urgh! I was so frustrated. I punched my pillow, but still felt pure rage flowing through my veins.

"Er, Milla?" came Miranda's voice.

I stopped and looked around, and I saw she was watching me with a bemused expression.

"What?" I asked huffily.

"We need to talk. But first, are you okay?"

"I will be," I mumbled.

Miranda sighed. "Okay, look, I need to ask you something."

I looked up curiously. "What?"

"Why did you snog Nate Walters?"

I shrugged. Not this again. "I don't know. I was mad at James."

"But why Walters?"

That was a surprising question. "I don't know. First bloke I saw."

"Do you fancy him?" she asked tentatively.

"No!" I said indignantly.

She looked relieved. Wait a second. If she were relieved, then that meant that…

"OH MY GOD! You fancy Walters?" I shouted.

Miranda nodded mutely.

"I'm so sorry! That's why you were mad! Why didn't you say anything?"

She shrugged. "I don't know," she said morosely.

"I'm sorry," I said and hugged her.

Merlin, these past twenty-four hours had been surprising, to say the least.

"I just picked the first bloke I saw, and just started snogging. I was drunk. I'm so sorry," I explained ashamedly.

Miranda nodded, her face clear with relief. "Good."

I said, "Can you believe this about Ben and Charlotte?"

Miranda's eyes widened. "I know. It's shocking."

And we spent the whole afternoon dissecting what happened.

In the common room that evening, things were incredibly awkward. I completely ignored James, who was staring into the fire sullenly. Luke wasn't talking to Ben because he snogged Charlotte.

Char wouldn't look at Ben and sat pretending to do work by me. Miranda and I were talking in hushed voices and Ben kept shooting Char looks. Poor sod. This was going to ruin everything.

I glanced over at James, and felt my heart swell with fondness for the dejected bloke, but I reminded myself firmly that I was angry. I couldn't just give it up.

Ugh, how long could I keep this up? I could hardly stand not talking for him for three hours!

I missed my best mate.