This chapter is shorter than the rest, but it has QUITE the cliff hanger...
The next morning was weird, I wasn't hungover and that was never how I woke up after a party. I always had a pounding headache and a pleasant burn in my muscles from dancing. This morning my wrist hurt and I had a brief flashback from when I woke up with it broken, but this wasn't the same thing.
I looked at the clock sitting on my nightstand and realized there was about thirty minutes of breakfast left. It was Saturday sand we didn't have class, which meant I didn't have to put on my uniform or robes. I pulled on sweatpants and a hoodie with my hair pulled up and no makeup before I headed to the Great Hall.
It was odd walking to breakfast by myself, I was usually with Alexia and Austyn, but neither of them were in their beds this morning, I guess they hooked up with guys last night or something and were still with them. Lex probably went with Diego somewhere and Austyn was gorgeous, boys fell at her feet. I probably wouldn't see either of them until this afternoon.
I was in the middle of spreading marmalade on my toast when someone sat down on the bench beside me. I almost forgot Sev was a Slytherin, he was usually too busy or distracted to eat meals with the rest of the school. I figured he had the whole place wired and could accomplish pretty much anything he wanted with the teachers, eating in the Heads' common room included.
"Hi," I smiled, watching as he shakily poured orange juice into a cup. "I didn't expect to see you at the breakfast table this morning, or any morning really."
"Yeah, I reckon I'm not much of a public eater," he told me, sipping from his cup. "But what about you? I don't think I've ever seen you without your friends."
"My friends, yeah, about that, I had a moment of clarity last night," I explained after I finished chewing my toast. "In all the years Alexia and I have been best friends, she's never tried to understand why I am the way I am. You've known me for less than twenty-four hours and already asked."
"Scorp never asks about my anxiety, but he's still my best friend."
"If he doesn't ask, who do you talk to about it?" I asked, turning to face him with my hand on his arm. "Do you bottle stuff up like me?"
His ears tinged pink and he looked like he was having an internal debate about answering my question. Whatever he was about to tell me was either really bad or really embarrassing. With Sev I was pretty sure it was the latter, I don't think he did anything seriously bad in his life.
"I talk to the portrait of Headmaster Snape."
"You mean the portrait with the man with long hair that used to hang in Slytherin's common room?" I asked, tilting my head to the side in confusion. "It went missing at the beginning of this year, how do you talk to him?"
The rest of his face matched his ears now and it made something warm blossom in my stomach. "Uh, yeah, about that… I may or may not have smuggled it to the Heads' common room, but that's just between us."
Laughter shook my body so much I had to hold my stomach. My sides started to ache, but I couldn't pull myself together enough to stop. Albus Severus Potter stole a portrait right off the wall, probably with the use of the invisibility cloak James always talked about his dad giving to Sev.
"Yeah, thanks. That's how you should react to what I told you," he said after my laughter died down.
I wiped my face with the sleeve of my hoodie and looked over at him. There was a twinkle behind his eyes I hadn't noticed before. There was something about his face in general that was different, something I'd never noticed before.
"Since when do you wear glasses?" I asked, finally pinpointing what was different.
"Since always, I just usually wear contacts," he replied, pushing them up with his finger without thinking. "I'm running dangerously low on contacts and there aren't any optometrists in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade."
"Optometrists? I didn't think you'd even know what those were."
"That's cool, just judge me because I'm a pureblood. That's really nice, there wasn't a war fought to end blood prejudice or anything."
Scorpius sat down across from us with a barely concealed surprised expression on his face. He exchanged an unreadable look with Sev, at least it was unreadable to me. Judging by the expression on Sev's face, he understood completely what he was saying.
"Good morning, Ella. It's nice to see you, your party was wonderful," Scorpius said, finally addressing me after their unspoken conversation.
"You're a pretty good liar, Mr. Malfoy. The party was shit," I smiled, glad that he was making an effort to talk to me. "Thanks for helping me break up that fight."
"Flannigan's a hothead, especially when he drinks," Scorpius told me. Then he changed gears and said, "Rose, Sev, and I are going to Hogsmeade later, do you want to come?"
"Oh yeah, I was going to invite you to that," Sev told me, running a hand through his hair.
Wow, his hair was also unruly in a way I've never seen it. It was always coifed into a perfect styled look on his head. I didn't even realize it was curly until right now. Either he was having a mental break or he was trying to be a different person for some reason.
"You were?" I was curious what would happen if I teased him a little.
I immediately regretted it, he looked like he was getting really worked up really fast. Without thinking I grabbed his hand under the table and laced my fingers with his. His cheeks turned red, but his breathing slowed and his eyes stopped being so glassy.
"I haven't been to Hogsmeade in forever! It should be fun," I said, trying to act like nothing just happened. "When do you all plan on leaving?"
Scorpius looked between the two of us but didn't say anything. "Uh, around noon probably. Rose isn't even up yet, I don't see her at the Gryffindor table."
"Speaking of Rose, are you guys together?" The look on his face was golden, a mix between shock and hopefulness. "I saw you together last night, dancing and stuff."
His normally collected expression faded and his face greatly resembled the strawberry preserves sitting near the bread. He was spluttering and trying to come up with an excuse, but it just made his hair fly out of its normal style.
"Oh, so you're not a thing? That's why you're freaking out and turning the color of jam?" I asked thought a giggle. "That's good to know."
"They've been in love since first year, Rose is too scared of her dad to ever make a move and Scorp uses that as an excuse to not make his own move," Sev explained, his hand still holding mine securely under the table.
"You're one to talk about not making moves, Potter," Scorpius hissed, tearing apart a piece of his bread.
Tension enveloped us so thick I couldn't breathe. "As nice as this is, I have to go find my friends and make sure they didn't make terrible decisions last night. I'll meet you all at the carriages at noon, right?"
Scorpius nodded and I excused myself after I gave Sev's hand a reassuring squeeze. Alexia and Austyn were in the dorms now, but they looked hungover as hell. There were blankets over each of the windows and the two of them had on sunglasses with sheets pulled over their heads. I did not miss waking up like this.
"Do you two plan on joining the land of the living today?" I asked, looking through my trunk for an outfit.
"Oi, fuck off!"
Well, I guess that was my answer.
I finished styling my hair and grabbed my wand. A simple stay-put spell would keep it looking like that until I showered tonight. I was just wearing a big jumper and jeans with ankle booties, nothing special. The crowning jewel was my septum piercing that I was allowed to wear as long as I was outside the walls of Hogwarts. I had a pretty good source that told me Sev really like it, too…
Alexia had taken the sunglasses off when I walked back into the dorm, but she still looked like she might vomit at any second. Austyn was digging sloppily through her trunk, probably looking for the anti-hangover potion. I took pity on her and did a quick Accio! And two of them flew to my hand.
"You're a lifesaver, Morgana," she sighed happily, gulping down hers and tossing the other to Alexia. "Drink that and live, my sister."
"I'm going to Hogsmeade with Sev, Scorpius, and Rose. Do you guys want to tag along?" I asked, tucking my things into my bag and hanging it across my body.
"You're going to Hogsmeade with them? What the hell happened between you guys last night? Did you have sex?!" Alexia question, jumping up and pulling her duvet tighter around her. "I want all the details? Were you his first? I bet you were his first!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I held up my hands to stop her intense questioning. "We didn't have sex, we're just hanging out. It's never a bad idea to make more friends."
Neither of them looked particularly convinced, but they let things slide. Alexia pulled herself from bed and I was surprised by all the hickeys covering her barely clothed body. I guess she was too drunk last night to put on clothes because she was in a pair of panties and a bra.
"Did you come back from Diego's room in that?" I asked, looking her up and down. "I mean, it's a cute set, but it's a bit revealing."
"I had clothes on, I guess I just stripped when I got back. I also did not realize he was sucking on my neck so much, but there's a million and four hickeys there so…"
I just grinned and headed out of the dorm, shaking my head at their antics. I knew better than to ask Austyn about her night, she was very hush-hush about whose bed she shared. I respected that, I just wanted to know what guys were her type. Wasn't that a best friend thing?
Bryn was sprawled out across a couch when I walked into the common room itself. I grinned and sat astride his hips. He grunted and looked up, smiling lazily when he realized it was me. I just had that effect of people, I suppose.
"So how was your night? Sleep with so many girls you were too tired to make it to your room?"
"Nah, I stayed after and cleaned up the party," he told me, his eyes clear of any semblance of a lie. "I tried to go with Micaela Hawthorne but changed my mind at the last minute."
"You changed your mind? Why?" I asked, standing back up and moving to sit on the arm of the couch. "She's cute."
"Don't act like you don't know why, Ella," he sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. "I'm in love with you. I don't want to play these games that we play anymore, I want to be with you."
Oh snap!