"If I burn the house down, do you think I could get out of the party?" I asked, purposefully mussing my hair. It took a surprising amount of work to get that perfectly effortless-looking state.
"The party is outside, it would just become a bonfire," Draco replied, flipping a page in the book he held. I sighed, dropping my hands to my side. "It's not that bad, Theodore, it's one evening and then you can go back to being the brooding melodramatist you were meant to be."
"I can be a brooding melodramatist at the party," I argued, walking over and plopping down in the chair next to Draco's, picking up my drink.
'The party has already started, why are you even up here?"
"Why are you?" I shot back, though as soon as I said it, I regretted it. I knew why he wasn't out there. It was his first party since the trial since he very nearly found himself locked up for the rest of his life.
It had taken a lot to get him to agree to show up. I could understand why he wasn't ready to go downstairs and face a large crowd of people. At least Draco didn't try and explain himself, he simply went back to his book. I sighed and stood, feeling restless. I headed to the window and looked out at the partygoers. Nothing about this was actually for me. I didn't care for big parties full of people I didn't actually know or like.
Fireworks lit up the sky, I could hear the music, and I could see the people out dancing, but my attention was taken by a pair walking up to the party from the woods, a man and a woman-
"Selwyns," I growled.
"Excuse me?" Draco asked.
"The bloody Selwyns just walked up to the party." I stepped back, contemplating. My first urge was to go out and blast them both back to their home, my fingers twitched, ready to reach out for my wand and send them away-
"Interesting." Draco drawled, standing and coming to join me at the window, looking down. Now that they were with the crowd it was harder to pick them out but over by the buffet, there was the dark hair of Coco Selwyn. "Perhaps they will just get food and go home."
"Or they're here to cause trouble. That seems to be their usual modus operandi." I narrowed my eyes, watching as Coco walked away from the table, holding a plate.
"Leave it," Draco advised. "If they start trouble, then we will end it." He promised. I made a face but he was right, it did no good to be the ones to start the problem with the Selwyns.
Let the trash take itself out, I supposed.
"Did you invite the Selwyns?" The door to my suite opened and Brody walked in, yanking the door so it would swing shut behind him.
"What do you think?" I asked, exasperated, Brody paused, a slow grin spreading over his face.
"That Alistair and I are about to have some fun-" I held up a hand and shook my head.
"Broderick." The smile quickly turned to a scowl.
"They are uninvited guests." It was a good point, I looked back to Draco, who rolled his eyes.
"Who cares?" He walked past us and through the door to my bathroom.
"You know. He's been incredibly boring since his trial."
"Broderick," I repeated. Of the five of us, Brody and Alistair were the two who spoke their mind a little too openly. Brody was usually a little better than Alistair but today that seemed to be lacking.
He huffed and crossed the room to the table where Draco and I had just been sitting- picking up my half-empty glass and tossing the contents back.
Note to self- discuss with Draco and Blaise if we need to talk to him about his drinking problem. So far it wasn't that awful but it was only going to get worse with time.
But that was a worry for another day.
"Whatever man." Brody stormed past, pushing the glass against my chest as he passed by- leaving me to either take it or let it shatter on the floor. I opted for the former, my fingers closing around the cool glass. The door opened and shut once more as Broderick headed out- I had a strong feeling this was going to end with him fighting the Selwyns.
I sighed and banished the glass to the kitchen before walking out of my room and off in the direction I knew my friend had gone.
—-
I knew, technically speaking, I was not psychic, but the urge to play the lottery hit me hard as I walked out of the house to find, sure enough, Broderick had rounded up Alistair and Blaise- who I could only hope had joined to try and keep the other two from doing something too stupid- and they were at the buffet, confronting the party crashers.
I made my way past the people just in time to hear one of my friends encouraging the twins to leave- to let me have my birthday as if this party was something that was actually for me and that I would enjoy.
"And if I don't?" Came the smart-ass reply from not other than Coco herself.
"Then I'll make you." The three boys parted so that I could move between them.
Bastian and Cordelia Selwyn. Not complete social outcasts- but definitely on the outside of the social circles. I would almost feel bad for them, it was the result of things that were out of their control, however, they seemed to make it their mission to be as unbearable as possible, especially Coco, thus I lost any and all sympathy that their situation might have managed to extract.
"Yeah? And how exactly do you plan on doing that one?" She asked. Her big blue eyes held a spark of challenge in them. My eyes trailed down to her full, pink lips then back up to her eyes. I took a step forward and her guard dog took a step up too- as if he was any sort of threat.
"Nott-"He warned.
"Last chance, Selwyn. Go." Nothing about the tone of my voice left room for argument - I hated how much I sounded like my father
"Come on, Coco." Baz proved he was the smarter of the two, grabbing her arm and guiding her away. As they passed by the punch bowl- I heard Broderick mutter the spell- sending the contents of the bowl all over the woman. A few people burst into laughter- specifically Daphne Greengrass who hadn't been far off with Pansy and Millicent. Coco turned to face us and I froze.
Coco Selwyn was the most annoying person on the planet but damn if she wasn't gorgeous. She had the kind of body most women would kill to have and while I hadn't been paying much attention to her body before- I was now.
It seemed she was wearing some kind of silk dress, which now clung to her body like a second skin, her nipples pebbled under the silk, the curve of her breasts impossible to ignore.
"what the fuck?" Baz was shouting, ripping me out of my lust-induced daze, I shook my head to clear my brain and Coco was smiling at us, now the one dragging her brother away from the party.
"Such a waste, that was good punch." Blaise mourned as we watched the spot where the two had stood before they apparated.
—
Fortunately soon after that, people started to say their goodbyes.
People filed out and headed either home or to another party, which was fine by me.
"Daphne, are you ready to go?" Astoria, Daphne's younger sister appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
"You can go, I'm going to hang out here." Daphne leaned in against my arm. I lifted my fresh drink to my lips and managed to avoid rolling my eyes even when Alistair grinned at me. It wasn't a secret that Daphne was pushing hard for some kind of promise of betrothal soon. We'd been hooking up for a couple of years now and I was pretty resigned to the idea that I was going to end up stuck with her until the end of time.
"But-"
"She can't apparate, Daphne, at the very least you have to take her home." I pointed out. Astoria blushed, looking away from the group as if the very crime of being underage embarrassed her. Daphne huffed but she got up and went to take her sister home
"You're so getting laid tonight," Pansy commented.
"Of course, it's his birthday. it's basically required." Alistair agreed, gnawing on the straw he had sticking out of his glass of- I wasn't sure what he had mixed but it looked vile. He seemed pretty happy with it though.
"It's not required," Draco argued. He had finally come out of my room as most of the partiers had left.
"What's not?" I barely avoided wincing as Daphne reappeared, taking her spot again, directly next to me, her body pressing to my side.
She was gorgeous, there was no question about that. I just found her to be too agreeable, our relationship was incredibly dull. Some might find that comforting, I found it simply boring.
"Nothing important." Draco shook his head.
"Younger siblings suck." she sighed.
"Wouldn't know." We all chorused. We were all lucky enough to be only children- well, some might argue unlucky enough. It meant our parents had to hang all their hopes and dreams on us. And for Pansy it was extra hard, she was a girl- she wouldn't be taking her family name with her. She did have male cousins, the line wasn't dead but her branch would be changing the name.
"I'm cold." Alistair declared and we all agreed, gathering our stuff and heading inside.
The seven of us headed to the library, it was the best place to congregate and there was already a warm fire roaring in the fireplace.
I took a seat in a chair- specifically so Daphne couldn't sit next to me, but for a moment I saw it in her eyes, she thought about sitting on the arm of the chair. Eventually, she did settle onto the couch next to Blaise and Pansy.
Blaise never wanted to sit near the fire. Draco told me what happened in the room of requirement, I can't say I blame the man.
"The party was fun, too bad you missed most of it," Pansy commented, looking at her nails as if it softened the blow behind her words.
"I couldn't name anyone outside of the people in this room."
"You could, Millie was there." Alistair was pouring himself a drink. "anyone else?" He asked. Blaise, Brody and Daphne all nodded and he poured three more, levitating them in front of him to get them to the recipient.
"At least Theodore managed to make it for the show." Daphne grinned. "I'm surprised it took you guys that long to kick them out of the party." She crossed her legs and took a sip of the drink. I knew it was straight fire whiskey but she didn't so much as flinch.
"She looked like a drowned rat." Pansy snickered.
"You should have seen it, Malfoy, it was hilarious." Daphne insisted before commenting about needing to strengthen our wards. My mind flashed back to Coco, the way that silk clung to her body. My mind flashed to how it would feel to peel it away from her smooth tan skin, to reveal her body inch by inch-
"What the hell?" Blaise straightened- I jumped as if he might have become a master at occlumency when I wasn't paying attention but his eyes were on the fire.
A moment later it became apparent why when the fucking fireplace exploded. Sparks flew everywhere- Pansy started screaming, running for the door- at least I think that was what she was going for but in the confusion, she was running the wrong way.
Draco grabbed her arm and yanked her in the right direction, We all followed suit, running out of the room- Broderick started to close the door but Daphne pushed past him-
"Aguamenti!" She shouted.
"No!" It was too late- the water jetted from her wand, spraying over the fire in the fireplace- the still popping fireworks and all the books and furniture within range. The pressure of the spray left her out of control and she whipped around- managing to soak all of us before she got the water to stop.
"Daphne," I growled, barely audible over Pansy's shrieks
"yes?" she asked, chest heaving- her brown eyes wide as she gripped her wand so tightly her knuckles were turning white.
"Why would you do that?" I snarled.
"It was a fire-"
"They were the fireworks from the party-" Okay so I was making an assumption there, I didn't know for sure but it made sense. "They wouldn't have actually hurt anything."
"Oh-"
"Who the fuck-" Alistairs rage was cut short by the appearance of the one person I didn't want to see- two people really.
My father and Coco. Fucking. Selwyn.
At first, she seemed angry, trying to free herself from the grip of my father's hand on her upper arm- but the moment she saw all of us, sopping wet- her blue eyes lit up with joy.
"Theodore- I expect when you invite your little friends into my home, you'll keep an eye on them." My father shoved Coco in my direction. She stumbled and fell against my chest. Before I even got the chance to shove her away, she scrambled away herself.
"She isn't my friend. She's not supposed to be here-" She had changed clothes, trading the punch soaked silk for all black. Now instead of the spicy drink she smelled like vanilla.
"Did you do this?" My father asked Coco, gesturing to the mess.
"I spent the last several minutes being manhandled by a neanderthal, how exactly would I have done this?"
"She launched a firework into the fireplace!" Daphne accused as if she wasn't the one who actually soaked everything.
"I see." My father grew silent, I could see the gears working in his head. "What's your name girl?" Coco crossed her arms over her chest, pressing her lips together.
"Cordelia Selwyn," I answered for her. She wrinkled her nose, I wasn't sure if it was the use of the full name or just my voice.
"Selwyn." My father repeated, looking her up and down. Coco took a step back as if they would save her from the ferocity of my father's gaze. "Interesting. You've caused quite the mess, Miss Selwyn."
"I didn't do that." she gestured to us.
"Oh for the love of-" I pulled out my wand, and a quick muttered spell dried us all out. I would need to do the same for the library, but that would probably take a little more time.
"It was a consequence of your actions, Miss Selwyn."
"I cannot be held responsible for the rash actions of your son's idiot girlfriend, Mr. Nott." Daphne blushed at that comment. since she was the only one of us that hadn't been soaked- it was a reasonable assumption to make that it was she who did it.
"She's not my girlfriend." I answered automatically. My father didn't seem to register the words but Daphne did, her face falling. Coco seemed to catch it as well, the look on her face said she did at least.
"Oh, but you can." My father continued, Coco's smug expression dropped at the matter-of-fact tone my father took. "Go." He dismissed her.
"What?" Daphne squeaked out. My father did a double take as if he had forgotten she was there.
"Go, quickly, before I change my mind." Coco looked back and forth between us and my father- I was sure my friends all had the same confused expression that I did. She took a step back, and then another, and when no one made a move to stop her, she quickly disappeared down the hall towards the back door.
"that's it? You're just going to let her leave?" I asked, gesturing to our destroyed library. My father gave me a look that made it obvious he thought I was a fucking moron.
"You'll see son, you'll see."