Aria dreamed of dragons.
The dragons soared overhead, nearly blocking out the sun by their massive size and their numbers. Around her, she could hear people gasping and shouting in awe and terror. A green dragon swooped low, and she felt the warmth of its scales through the wind it created as it passed her by, her hair flying out of its braids and whipping about her face, and she turned to watch it fly towards the Black Lake.
"They are beautiful, are they not?"
Turning, she found herself looking up at a tall dark-haired older boy. He was cleanshaven with freckles all over his face. Piercing blue eyes followed the path of the dragon over the lake as the beast dived towards the waters and came back up with fish dripping from its claws. His clothes were black, including his polished boots, but the collar of his tunic and the decorative hem of his sleeves and bottom of the tunic were snakes alternating between silver and green. Around his waist was a neatly tied green sash with silver tassels.
"The dragons?" Aria asked.
"Aye," the boy answered. "They like the lake and all the magic in the air."
Aria turned slowly, eyes falling on Hogwarts, the stone gleaming new in the sun. Long standards flapped from the tops of the turrets and further pageantry hung long from the windows on either side of the great front doors.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" the boy asked.
"Hogwarts?" Aria questioned. The boy nodded, a grin spreading across his face. A dimple appeared on one side of his face.
"Yeah, she is," Aria agreed.
Another dragon soared overhead, a red dragon. A bright white dragon followed closely behind; the wind created by their wings ruffling Aria's hair again.
"Wouldst thou like to meet them?" the boy asked.
"The dragons?" Aria cried. "Would I like to meet the dragons?" The boy laughed, the sound carrying on the breeze.
"Aye," he said. "The dragons. I can call them to thee if thou wishes."
"I . . . yes. Yes! I want to meet the dragons."
The boy took Aria by the hand, and she followed him around the castle to the standing stones. Beyond the stones lay an open field, the cairn Aria was so familiar nowhere to be seen. Once past the standing stones, the boy dropped Aria's hand and threw his head back, face towards the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice in a language that reverberated off the stones and trees and made Aria's bones shake. His words held the weight of a hundred generations, the magic which poured out from his mouth left Aria breathless.
Within minutes the dragons came circling, their great wings beating at the air as they came to land before the boy. A red dragon, a white dragon, and a smaller green dragon. Each dragon lowered its head towards the boy, allowing him to run his hands over its snout.
"Come, Aria," the boy said. "Greet thy new friends."
Aria stepped forward, only hesitating a second before she touched the red dragon. Immediately warmth shot up her arm from the scales of the beast. The warm breath felt like a cozy hearth on a snowy day. The dragon snorted and she moved her hand to pat the white dragon next who head butted her hand in greeting. Lastly, the green one lowered its head onto the ground and let out a pleased puff of smoke as she scratched its scales.
"Aerona likes thee," the boy said with a smile. "I am glad. She was born only a year ago."
Aria pressed her forehead against Aerona's, and the green dragon snorted in amusement.
"Dost thou wish to fly?"
Aria spun about.
"Fly?" she squeaked. "On a dragon?"
"Aye, how else would thy fly? On a broom?" the boy laughed at the absurdity. "Come now, I have done it many a time!"
Aria gulped. She had been glad when flying class had ended in first year, wanting to keep her feet firmly on the ground, although she had allowed Harry to take her up on the Firebolt once. It had been a terrifying experience.
"I'm afraid," Aria confessed. "What if I fall?"
"Aye, my lady," the boy said, "a possibility. But what if thou don't?"
Aria dreamed of dragons.
Then she awoke.
Harry was not in the Slytherin dorms come morning. Aria hurried to dress and raced up to the Great all for breakfast, but discovered he was not at the Slytherin table either. Adrian Pucey, who was already eating with Cassius and Graham, motioned her over after a minute. She sidled up to the sixth year, certain that Teddy's cousin wouldn't hex her in the middle of the Great Hall, nor would Cassius, but Graham had a permanent scowl on his face whenever he looked at her as he was now.
"Potter's gone with the other champions already," Adrian told her. "Apparently there's a breakfast for them at the Champion's Tent."
Resigned, Aria settled at the table with Ginny who was the first of her friends to arrive. Hermione and Ron were the next to appear at breakfast and Hermione dragged Ron over to sit at the Slytherin table. It was clear that they were still at odds with one another, but Aria decided not to say anything to Ron. Instead, she grabbed the last sausage before he could and split it with Ginny.
Susan, Hannah, Justin, and Ernie showed up mid-way through breakfast, each of them with their faces painted in four colors, scarlet, yellow, green, and blue.
"Cedric and Harry are the Champions for Hogwarts," Susan declared seeing the rather scandalized looks from the Slytherins purebloods. "It's only right that all the houses are accounted for in our paraphernalia, not just Hufflepuff." Behind her, a Ravenclaw walked by with a POTTER STINKS badge.
Ginny suddenly gasped, surging to her feet.
"Charlie!" she shrieked, delight on her face as a red haired man appeared behind Ron and wrapped him in his arms, yanking him off the bench and spinning him around. Ginny ducked under the table to get at the man quicker, even as Ron hit the man's head with a playful scowl.
"Don't do that!" Ron cried. "Nearly scared me to death. What're you doing here?"
"Just dropping off something for your little tournament," Charlie answered, setting Ron down to spin Ginny around. "Merlin! Did you grow, Gin? Not allowed!"
"What could you be dropping off?" Ron asked. Charlie raised an eyebrow at him. Ron's face paled and his freckles seemed to pop off his face.
"Everyone," Ginny said as Ron teetered on his feet. "This is my brother, Charlie. He works in Romania at a dragon reserve!"
"A dragon reserve?" Cassius questioned from down the table. "So does that mean . . ."
"Harry's gonna face a dragon!" Ron's voice rose to a terrifying pitch it nearly disappeared. He spun around to Hermione and Aria. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Would've made you stop acting like a twat?" Aria asked.
"Oi! You acting like a twat to your friends?" Charlie asked, cuffing Ron's ear.
"Yes," Ginny said, wrapping her arms around Charlie's waist. "He's been absolutely horrid to Harry."
"Ginny!" Ron cried. Ginny stuck her nose in the air, unapologetic. Charlie sighed heavily and wrapped an arm around Ron's shoulders while he hoisted Ginny up under his arm.
"Let's have a talk, shall we?" he suggested, steering Ron towards the doors of the Great Hall. Aria tittered away with the rest of their friends at Ron's fate.
Stomachs full, the friends made their way towards the temporary arena that had been built 400 meters past the cairn and standing stones. With a promise from Hermione to save her a seat, Aria slipped away from the group and made her way around to the Champion's Tent, a large tent off to the side of the wooden built stands. Thankfully, even with people milling about, no one stopped her from arriving at the back of the tent and she found an open flap to poke her head through.
"Pst! Harry!" she whispered. Harry turned on the stool he was sitting on, relief crossing his face as he spotted her.
"Aria!" he greeted. The angry roar of a dragon startled them both. Harry leapt from his seat and Aria slipped into the tent, throwing her arms around Harry.
"Be safe," she whispered. "You've got your broom?"
"I hid it just before coming to the tent," Harry answered. "I should have no problem summoning it." Aria pressed her face into his shoulder.
There was a snap and a bright flash. Aria and Harry both jumped, startled, looking around wildly for the source. Harry frowned as he angled his body between Aria and the blond-haired woman standing a few feet away, a sickly-sweet smile on her face and a camera man behind her.
"Rita Skeeter," Harry whispered to Aria. "The journalist."
Aria remembered their housemates complaining about her. She had been the one to report on the Weighing of the Wands.
"What an adorable sight!" Skeeter cried, the Quick Notes Quill beside her head quivering excitedly over a piece of parchment. "Tell me, who are you, young lady, and what is your connection to Harry?"
"None of your business!" Harry said hotly, attracting the attention of the other three champions.
"Come now, Harry," Rita simpered. "My devoted readers want to know."
"He said it's none of your business," Cedric said, coming to stand beside Harry. Aria glared at the back of Cedric's head. She could speak for herself!
"Ms. Skeeter, so lovely to see that you can't follow simple instructions." Sirius' pleasant voice filtered around the boys blocking her, and Aria pushed her way between them. Sirius and Remus stood at the entrance of the tent with Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Madam Maxime, Crouch, and Bagman.
"Why, Lord Black, whatever gave you that idea?" Rita asked, fluttering her eyes at him. "I'm just doing my job. Everyone wants to know more about the Boy-Who-Lived!"
"Please leave," Sirius ordered, "you were told, like the rest of the press, to head straight to the press box." Rita huffed but left the tent, her camera man hurrying after. Sirius turned to Aria.
"You are also not where you're supposed to be," he said.
"At least I'm not taking pictures and being unpleasant," Aria answered. Several of the adults snorted with amusement.
"Come," Remus said, after giving Harry a hug, "let's go take our seats." He guided Aria out of the tent towards a special box in the stands.
"The VIP box?" Aria questioned. "I can go sit with my friends."
"Nonsense," Remus cried, "you're as good as Harry's sister now, what with me and your dad. Of course, you can sit in the VIP box. Unless you're dying to sit with your friends."
"No, I like the view here much better," Aria stated. The VIP box sat right over the entrance into the arena that came from the Champion's Tent. The arena was vast and rocky and there was a steep ravine in the middle that the champions were clearly going to have to navigate over. After surveying the arena, Aria pulled her wand and produced her fox Patronus.
"Tell Hermione I'm sitting with Remus and Sirius in the VIP box," she told the creature. Her Patronus head butted her chin before racing off through the side of the box.
"Was that a Patronus?"
Aria jumped up, startled. Several people had just entered the box, most unknown to Aria. The only one she recognized was Mr. Diggory from when he had come her first year to get Norbert. He was the one who had spoken, his eyes wide with shock. Beside him a woman eyed Aria, clearly impressed.
"It was," Aria answered, stepping closer to Remus.
"Amazing!" Mr. Diggory cried. "Cedric said that Harry Potter and several of his friends knew how to produce corporeal Patronus, but I did not believe him. Didn't I say so, my dear?" he turned briefly to his wife. "I said '4th years don't have the talent or power to produce such magic' but I stand correct! I stand corrected!"
"Thank you," Aria said, not knowing what else to say. Remus put a hand on her shoulder. The Diggorys glanced at Remus and, even though Mrs. Diggory's mouth turned down in a frown, they did not say anything.
"Good day," another jovial man greeted, stepping forward to shake Remus' hand. "I'm Aloysius Delacour. This is my wife, Apolline and our youngest, Gabrielle."
Aria recognized the girl as one of the younger years that had come with the Beauxbatons students. She had not been formally introduced but had seen the girl with Fleur a few times around the castle. The younger Beauxbatons students did not wander out much on their own.
"Very nice to meet you," Remus said. "I'm Remus Lupin, guardian of Harry Potter. His other guardian, Lord Black, will come soon. This is Aria. She's practically family to Harry."
"Lovely to meet you," Apolline said. "And it truly was an impressive display of magic for one so young."
Another couple came forward, shaking hands with the Diggorys, Remus, and Delacours. The man introduced himself as Stanislav Krum and his wife as Larisa. Viktor, Aria decided, looked like a near identical copy of his father. Fleur, on the other hand, took after her mother in looks and height. Cedric, it was clear, took after his mother in looks as well, and probably personality since Mr. Diggory was now bragging nonstop to Aloysius about Cedric and she had never witnessed the sixth year Hufflepuff boast in his life.
Sirius finally arrived with the heads of school and introductions were made again.
"They had to draw which order they would be going in," Sirius said as they settled in their seats. "Harry's going last. He drew the Hungarian Horntail."
Remus hissed.
"Mr. Diggory is going first," Sirius continued. "Followed by Mademoiselle Delacour, Mr. Krum, and Harry." A roar filled the arena as the dragon keepers moved the first dragon into position on the far end of the arena on the other side of the steep ravine. Aria watched as eggs were transported into a nest and the Swedish Shortsnout chained into place on the nest.
Cedric came darting into the arena, as quick on his feet as he was a broom. He took a moment to contemplate the ravine between him and the dragon before he slipped around to the far edge of the ravine, nearly under the spectator stands, and began transfiguring rocks and floating them above the ravine until he had created a path of three or four rocks. He began to hop from one rock to the next, floating the rocks ahead of him once he reached the end until he got to the other side. Once there he transfigured several rocks into a pack of dogs which immediately ran around the dragon, distracting it. The Shortsnout turned, its whole body intent on following the dogs and possibly eating them. Diggory darted forward, grabbing what appeared to be a golden egg from the middle of the nest, and dart back towards the far edge of the ravine. Unfortunately, the dogs he had transfigured began to run back towards him and the dragon spotted him.
Aria knew she was not the only one who screamed as fire erupted from the beast's mouth and caught a part of Cedric before he managed to get out of range. Mrs. Diggory would have leapt into the arena if her husband had not grabbed her.
Cedric leaned heavily against the side of the arena. The students in the spectator stands leaned over as much as they could without falling into the arena. The Seeker took a moment, clearly shaken and hurt, before he began hovering rocks again to get to the other side.
"Merlin, his stamina is astounding!" Remus cried. "To do that kind of magic while in such pain . . ."
Once to the other side the crowd erupted in cheers and Cedric stumbled the rest of the way back to the entrance of the Champion's Tent. Aria nearly gagged seeing him at the closer angle. The champion uniform he wore was burnt and the entire right side of his face was burnt. She hoped magic could fix a burn that bad. A Muggle would have either been horrible disfigured or dead.
The Swedish Shortsnout was taken out of the arena by dragon keepers along with its eggs and another set of eggs was set out, followed by the second dragon.
The second dragon roared, causing many students to scream. Aria too felt like screaming. All she could focus on was the green dragon, how its roar no longer sounded joyful or carefree, but angry and frightened. She recalled the feeling of the sun on her face and the wind in her hair and how she had clung to the ridges along the dragon's back as she had flown high above the towers of Hogwarts, a boy by her side on his own red dragon.
"Aerona," she whispered.
The Common Welsh Green roared at Fleur as she entered the arena. The crowd gasped as Fleur approached the steep ravine, taking in the area before she made any kind of move. With precision, she carefully began moving rocks, floating them together until they fused and became a crude bridge across. She hurried across, her work holding long enough for her to cross, then it collapsed. Apolline gasped, grabbing Aloysius' arm.
Fleur ducked behind a large stone as the Welsh Green turned its head towards her. For a moment the arena held its breath then she popped up and shouted something in French. A bright blue light shot from her wand to hit the dragon's head. Aria gasped, afraid that Aerona would be hurt, but the dragon merely yawned and curled up around her eggs. Fleur waited a moment before darting forward, grabbing one of the eggs from the nest, a bright golden egg that was nearly as large as Fleur's torso. As she hurried away from the nest, the dragon gave a sleepy snort and a small fireball escaped from the beast. Students screamed as did Gabrielle before she realize Fleur had already doused her burning Triwizard Champion uniform with water. Fleur had to make another bridge over the ravine and when she reached the entrance again, there were cheers.
Aria let out a heavy breath, unsure when she had begun to hold it, and realized with embarrassment that she had been clutching Remus' arm. The man laughed seeing her realization and ruffled her hair which made her hit his hands away.
The dragon keepers came into the arena. It took a few minutes, but eventually the Welsh Green and her eggs were maneuvered out. Sadness fell over Aria as she watched the beautiful beast disappear to wherever they were keeping her. The echoes of unrestrained laughter rang in her ears, mixed with the unintelligible yet bone aching words of whatever ancient language the dark-haired boy had spoken that day overlooking the Black Lake.
The red dragon was brought out next.
"A Chinese Fireball!" Sirius cried with astonishment. "Don't see many of those outside Asia nowadays. I wonder how Crouch and Bagman got permission for that!"
Aria noted that the Chinese dragon looked very similar to drawings she had seen when she was in primary school, with a long body and legs, though the Chinese Fireball had wings. A brief thought wandered across her mind; did all breeds of Chinese dragons have wings or only some of them?
Viktor decided to cross the ravine in a similar fashion to Fleur, though his rock bridge was sturdier and did not disintegrate the moment he was across. He was swift to duck behind a rock before the Chinese Fireball could burn him to a crisp and was swifter at throwing a spell at the dragon. The light of the spell hit the dragon in the face and the dragon roared, rearing its head high, writhing as if in pain. Viktor darted forward, scooped up the golden egg, and hurried back, nearly getting crushed by the thrashing dragon. To Aria's horror, the dragon stomped on two of the real eggs in the nest.
"That'll cost him points," Aria heard someone in the box say, but she could not tell who it might have been.
The Chinese Fireball gave a roar that sounded more like a cry of mourning as whatever spell Viktor had hit it with cleared and it discovered the crush eggs. Aria covered her ears, hoping to block out the gut-wrenching sound.
"Aria?" Remus grabbed her by the shoulders. "What's wrong?"
"She's sad," Aria cried, flinching as the dragon cried out again. She could not watch the dragon keepers come and take the creature and its eggs away. "She didn't mean to step on them! Can't you hear how sad she is?"
Remus shook his head.
Figures, Aria thought as the last dragon was brought out. A Hungarian Horntail, the fiercest and largest of dragon breeds left in the world. And this was the beast Harry was to face. Unlike the other three dragons, there was something different about this dragon. Dark and dangerous, an underlying feeling of maliciousness that added to the danger Aria knew every dragon carried, even Aerona.
"There's Harry!" Sirius cried. Aria and Remus joined him at the railing of the VIP box. Blood rushed to her ears as Aria watched Harry creep to the edge of the ravine before waving his wand in the familiar pattern of the Summoning Charm.
"What's he doing?" Remus asked. Aria tapped anxiously on the railing. Had the spell failed? Were they too far away for the Summoning Charm to work?
A sudden blur shot over the heads of the spectators. A broom slammed into Harry's outstretched hand. Aria whooped, jumping up and down, a grin splitting her face in half.
"He did it!" she cried, turning with delight to Remus and Sirius. "He did it!"
"Was that a Summoning Charm?" Remus asked as Harry mounted his broom. "How far away was his broom?"
"Is that the Firebolt I got him?" Sirius asked, pleased.
Harry rose high into the air, circling the head of the dragon who hunched over her eggs, eyeing the intruder with disdain. Aria bit her lip. She and Harry had not discussed what he would do once he got the broom into the arena. They had had no idea what their challenge was beyond the use of dragons. She hoped Harry was able to come up with something.
Harry dived several times, each time veering off before the Hungarian Horntail could snap him or burn him to a crisp. Aria peeked through her fingers, unable to fully watch. If she ever discovered who put his name in the Goblet of Fire, she would kill them for making Harry and her go through this!
Sirius was no better. He had a tight hold on Remus' arm. Both men's faces had paled and Remus looked like he was going to be sick.
Harry began flying around and around the dragon, causing it to swing its head in an attempt to follow him. He did this, getting faster and faster until suddenly, he was diving towards the ground in a move similar to the one Krum had pulled at the World Cup. The dragon lost track of Harry, but only for a few seconds. Aria screamed as the Horntail swiped its tail at Harry as he flew off with the Golden Egg, the barb on the tip of its tail slashing at Harry's shoulder. He went off course, nearly slamming into the spectator stands before managing to turn the broom just enough to avoid collision. Harry was quick to land by the tent entrance and disappear into the safety it provided.
Aria sank to her chair, entire body trembling as the adrenaline high began to dissipate. Remus pried Sirius' hands off his arm.
The champions came out of the tent to the cheer of the crowd. Cedric's face was slathered in a Burnt Paste and Fleur's uniform was still smoldering. Harry now sported a sling and a hurried bandage of some kind on his shoulder. They looked up at the VIP box where Dumbledore, Madam Olympe, Karkaroff, Crouch, and Bagman were. Bagman was clapping wildly for the champions and Crouch clapped too, but with less enthusiasm than his co-worker. Each champion stepped forward to receive their score from the 5 judges.
Cedric had taken the longest to complete the task, so he got his score first. He ended up with a combined score of 38 points. Aria assumed he was docked somehow for taking the longest and being injured, seeing as the maximum total amount of a points a champion could receive was 50. After him came Fleur who had taken the second longest. She was awarded a mere 35 points, which Aria thought was ridiculous, as did the Delacours and the rest of Beauxbatons. She had managed to come away from the encounter with her dragon unscathed except for a burnt uniform, so why was she being docked more points than Cedric? Madam Olympe had definitely given both Cedric and Fleur fair scores, but Aria felt that Bagman and Crouch did not like the French girl for some reason, and that Karkaroff was deliberately scoring the two champions low.
Viktor was called forward next, which meant that Harry had retrieved his egg that fastest. He was given a whole 40 points! As much as she liked Viktor, Aria thought he had no right to be in the lead at the moment after his spell caused the Chinese Fireball to crush her own eggs. And Karkaroff absolutely low-balled Cedric and Fleur because he gave Viktor a 10!
Harry, to Aria's delight, evened the playing field by tying with Krum. Again, Karkaroff gave him the insulting score of 4, but the others seemed fair in their scoring even though Bagman obviously had a favorite in Harry as he gave him a 10 and no one else did.
Once the scores were given, the families were allowed to leave the VIP box and make their way to the tent where the champions were. The Diggorys immediately made their way to Cedric, Mrs. Diggory fussing over Cedric while Mr. Diggory slapped him on the back and loudly praised him for such a show. Gabrielle spoke rapid French to Fleur, clearly upset on her behalf at her low score. The Krums spoke quietly with Viktor, clearly not a demonstrative family. Sirius scooped Harry up and held him close. Harry wrapped his arms around Sirius and buried his face in his godfather's neck.
"I don't think I can survive this tournament," Sirius murmured. "I can't bear to see you go through such things."
"Yeah, I don't think this is what your healers meant by taking it easy," Harry agreed, trying to lighten the mood. Sirius cuffed him gently upside the head before handing Harry, literally, over to Remus.
In the future, when students were asked to remember how it happened, no one could say for certain, but somehow, a victory party for both Hogwarts champions ended up being hosted in Slytherin and students from all houses were found in the Slytherin common room. No one knew how any of the other houses knew where Slytherin was, it was not as if students walked past the Slytherin entrance to get anywhere, and while it was not against the rules to let people of other houses into the common rooms, all four houses kept the strict unspoken rule that it just did not happen outside holidays.
Harry and Cedric were paraded around the common room on the shoulders of their housemates. Adrian and Cassius had the honor of carrying Harry. Even though scowling friend Graham managed to seem pleased as he popped open a bottle of butterbeer that the Weasley twins had somehow procured.
There were a few noticeable absences. Zacharias Smith and his cronies were not at the party. Aria wondered if, somehow, they had not been given the location of the Slytherin common room. And it wasn't as if they wouldn't have been run out anyway, being the creators of the POTTER STINKS badges. Cedric had, after all, set one of fire apparently in the Hufflepuff common room.
"Three cheers for the Hogwarts champions!" Beatrice Haywood shouted, holding a butterbeer bottle aloft. A riotous and confusing three cheers arose in the common room.
"Let's see the eggs!" Terry Strickland called, slinging an arm around Beatrice that she, for once, did not throw off. Harry and Cedric held their Golden Eggs aloft, pleased grins crossing their faces. Cedric's burn was slowly fading, and his face was set to be back to normal by the morrow. Harry's scratch from the Hungarian Horntail had been easier for Madam Pomfrey to fix. A picture of Veruca Salt in her red dress singing about wanting a golden egg flitted across Aria's brain before she shook it away. Now was not the time for Muggle videos.
"Open it!" someone called.
"You want us to open them?" Cedric cried.
"Yes!" every shouted. Harry and Cedric grinned at each other and, on a count of three, opened their eggs together.
Aria screeched along with everyone else as the piercing shrieks filled the common room. Everyone covered their ears and flinched away from the two champions who nearly dropped their eggs in their haste to close them. A silence fell over the Slytherin common room, no one certain how to respond to whatever had come out of the eggs.
"Was that a banshee wail?" someone asked.
"Sounded like someone getting tortured!" Neville cried, looking visibly pale and sick.
"Well, we're certainly not opening them any time soon," Cedric said, setting his egg on a table. Harry set his beside Cedric's. "That's a problem for another day."
Thankfully, someone put music on the phonograph and the party slowly resumed. Aria watched from across the common room with Hermione as Ron awkwardly sidled up to Harry's side and the two boys held a stilted conversation before Harry patted Ron on the shoulder and gave him a bottle of butterbeer.
"Boys," Hermione muttered, a bit disgusted.
"Only one boy really," Aria corrected her.
"I suppose now that Harry's forgiven him we're going to have to forgive him too."
"That is what friends do, so I'm told." Aria and Hermione giggled and were immediately distracted by Lavender, the Patil twins, Ginny, Daphne, and Tracey coming over for chats and a play-by-play retelling of the First Task from their points of view. They all had questions about being in the VIP box and that she had met all the parents and Remus and Sirius.
The party continued for a few hours, only dissipating when Professor Snape burst into the common room, black robes billowing, and chased every non-Slytherin out of the common room with threats of detention and sharp warnings of "that better not be firewhiskey" shot at the Weasley twins who were legging it out the portrait hole with the remaining crates of drink.
Unfortunately, for Professor Snape, there was far too much laughing and giggling from the students for them to have been properly cowed. Aria and her friends dashed up to their dorm room, leaving Snape berating the prefects for allowing outsiders into the common room and then berating the portrait of Salazar Slytherin for allowing people in, password or not.
Tracey and Millicent had snuck several butterbeers into the dorm room and so the girls, even Pansy, gathered on Daphne's bed with the bottles and the latest editions of Witches Weekly and Teen Witch and stayed up into the early hours of the morning.