Harry waited at the foot of the stairs of Gryffindor Tower. Rory didn't want him coming by the dorm because Hermione was getting ready for her date with Cormac which had put Ron in a mood, which meant that Lavender was in a mood. This night was going to be long enough as it was without him having to be party to that pettiness. He'd gotten enough of hearing Ron sulk around their room all day as it was.

He wasn't over the moon about the party, and Rory had been even less so, but getting to meet an alchemist she was excited about had put her in a positive mood. And she was always excited for an occasion to put on a pretty dress, he'd learned.

"Sorry, I'm late," Rory said as she was coming down the stairs. She was wearing a fitted, black, velvet dress embroidered with sparkling, blue stars. There was a small cut out at the top of her dress giving it the illusion of a collar and the slightest hint of cleavage. The dress was short, riding high above her knees. It elongated her legs which were wrapped in patterned black tights and she wore strappy high heels in the same shade as the stars on her dress.

Harry was slack-jawed, staring at the way the dress hugged her. Even the way she'd styled her up in a messy bun, with loose curls falling to frame her face made her more alluring. She smiled at him and held out her hand.

"You look stunning," he said as he took her hand. He didn't think he'd ever used the word to describe her before, but it was true.

Rory kissed him. "You think I look great now, you should see what I look like with it off."

"Don't tempt me," he said. He kissed her again. "You sure we need to go to this party?"

"After you've made me go to all these dinners and be friendly with him? Yes, we're going," she said. "Plus I'm dying to see Hermione on a date with Cormac. It's bound to be a shit show."

Harry nodded and started to lead her down to the party when he caught sight of the back of her dress, or lack thereof. The back was almost completely open. Warm light brown skin was exposed leading a trail down to a pile of velvety fabric that was gathered gently at her hips. Three small straps of fabric connected to the open ends of her dress together, but they might as well not have been there at all.

Rory chuckled and pulled him close. She kissed him again and whispered in his ear. "If you go to this party, I'll let you take it off me. Think you can make it for two hours?"

"I suppose I'll have to," he sighed even as he was thinking that he would need a cold shower if Rory kept up with her flirting.

They walked hand-in-hand to the party. Plenty of their classmates had already arrived when they got there. There was a photographer there to take souvenir photos of them when they walked in the door. After they'd posed appropriately for photos, a house elf came by and handed them each a flute of champagne. They tried to ignore the fact that there was actively a reporter and photographer for The Prophet there as well, but Harry wasn't surprised. Slughorn loved to be celebrity adjacent. Why wouldn't there be press?

"There's my big sister."

They turned at the sound of Atlas' voice. Luna was beside him wearing a whimsical silver dress that only she could ever possibly pull off.

"Luna!" Harry said. "You look lovely."

"Thank you," she replied.

"I didn't know you were coming," Harry said looking to Rory.

"Atlas didn't have anyone else to bring," Luna said cheerfully, but Atlas corrected her quickly.

"I could have asked a lot of people, but only people who sucked. So I decided to bring my girl Luna because she doesn't suck," Atlas said. "I'm guessing Rory filled you in on the state of my romantic life."

"I didn't actually, because it would stress him out," Rory said.

"Why would it stress me out?" Harry asked. "You don't like Hermione too, do you? Or Lavender?" Then Harry had a thought. "Ron?"

Atlas laughed. "Valid, but no. None of the above."

Harry let out a breath of relief. "Then there's nothing you can say that going to stress me. Who you date is none of my business."

"I want you to remember you said that," Rory said, putting an arm around him and then placing a kiss on his cheek.

"That's not Rory Lupin is it?"

The group turned and Harry saw a man he vaguely recognized. Atlas and Luna seemed starstruck and Rory was trying to not appear as stunned as she was.

"Look how grown up you are," he said.

"Myron! I didn't know you'd be here," Rory said. She quickly embraced him before returning to Harry's side.

"Slughorn taught us just before he retired. Couldn't say no when he asked us to come round," Myron said. He looked at Harry and smiled cheerfully. "See you're still with Potter. Good on ya."

Rory laughed and squeezed Harry's hand. "Yep. Harry this is Myron Wagtail."

"Nice to meet you," Myron said, shaking Harry's hand.

"You too," Harry replied.

"And this is my friend Luna Lovegood; her father owns The Quibbler," Rory said.

"Right on," Myron said. "Cutting edge that paper. Been a loyal subscriber for many years."

"My dad will be happy to hear that," Luna said shaking his hand.

Harry still had no idea who this man was or why his three companions were so stunned by his presence. Harry couldn't place where he knew him from.

"And this is my brother, Atlas," Rory said.

"Whoa! That's right," Myron said. "I read you had a brother and thought it had to be made up, but here you are."

"Here I am," Atlas laughed as he shook Myron's hand. Harry hadn't known Atlas for a long time, but he'd never seen him flustered or embarrassed like he was now. "And I hate to be a fangirl—"

"Oh, feel free. I'd probably die without people giving me attention," Myron admitted.

"Dude, same," Atlas said. "Were you Slytherin?"

"Oh, you know it. You as well?" Myron asked.

"Yep," Atlas said. "Rory had me convinced that Gryffindor was the only respectable house in this school, but personally, I think she just got stuck with kind of a crummy batch."

"So true," Myron said.

"But, I was about to lavish you with praise," Atlas said.

"I won't stop you."

"Your vocals on 'Bloodsucker' are phenomenal. And I read that you did piano on 'The Darkness' and that literally got me into music," Atlas said.

And that's when it hit Harry. This man. Myron Wagtail was the lead singer of the Weird Sisters, the band that had played at the Yule Ball two years ago which had caused all of his classmates to lose their collective minds. And he was standing here greeting Rory like an old friend.

"Musical family then?" Myron asked.

"I mean, I don't sound like her," Atlas said.

Myron scoffed. "Mate, I don't sound like her."

Rory looked like she might implode from the compliment.

"But I learned a bunch of instruments. Mostly piano stuck. Which I never should've told my sister because now she kidnaps me anytime the school choir needs accompaniment," Atlas said.

That was true. Three performances the choir had done this year and Atlas had been on piano for all of them.

"But we appreciate it," Rory said giving her brother a tight hug.

"You two should play something for us tonight," Myron said. "I'm sure ol' Slughorn is going to force us to. Share the load."

"Oh, no," Atlas said. "I'm not a performer. And the only song we've practiced together is not school-appropriate."

Myron scoffed. "School's almost out, innit? Go out with a hurrah." He gave Atlas a firm pat on the back. "Mister Potter, do you mind if I steal your girlfriend for a moment? I'm sure the band would love to see her."

"I'm sure she'd love to see them too," Harry said.

"I'll be right back," she promised before walking off.

Once Rory and Myron were gone Atlas let out a breath.

"I thought I was gonna piss myself. Fucking Myron Wagtail just casually catching up with my sister?" Atlas said.

"I'm glad he's a fan of the paper," Luna said. "Dad always says we're not mainstream enough, but I think this will prove him wrong."

By the time Rory was finished mingling with the Weird Sister and found Harry again, the party was in full swing and Hermione had found him.

"Where's Cormac?" Rory asked.

Hermione groaned. "I've lost him for now. Left him standing under the mistletoe. It'll be easy to spot him coming from this corner though."

"Date number two is going well I see," Harry said. "I look forward to hearing about your next date."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "There won't be another. Trust me."

"You said your Hogsmeade date went well," Rory said. "So did Dean."

Hermione's face flushed. "That date was not nearly as bad as this one."

"So your first date was bad?" Harry asked. "Why'd you go out with him again?"

"I gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he wouldn't talk about himself so much all of the time here," Hermione said, her face reddening by the second.

"And he's a good kisser?" Rory teased.

Hermione twisted her empty champagne flute around in her hands. "Not a good enough kisser to be as handsy as he's been. Grawp is more of a gentleman than McLaggen."

"He's not giving you trouble is he?" Harry asked, concern evident in his tone.

Hermione shook her head quickly. "Not that kind of trouble, promise. I do think I am going to avoid him the rest of the night if I can. And— oh, shoot."

Hermione dropped down quickly and scurried off.

"You remember last year when everyone probably looked at us and thought 'boy have those two got some problems?' Now I feel like we're the only sane ones," Harry said putting an arm around her waist.

"Everyone in our orbit is kind of in the middle of a romantic shit show," she said.

"Glad we're not. I think we deserve a break," Harry said.

"Agreed," she replied. She planted a kiss on his cheek. "I love you."

"You too," he said. "Not that it matters, but you're easily the loveliest girl here."

Rory giggled. She always felt a little silly getting embarrassed when he complimented her like this. And yet, she still did.

"Potter, Lupin."

Rory's little bubble of happiness popped as Cormac's voice flooded in.

"McLaggen," Harry said. "Can I help you?"

"You two seen Granger around," he asked.

"Didn't she come with you? You are her date, aren't you?" Rory asked. "Why don't you know where she is?"

"She's a slippery one, your friend," Cormac said. "But she'll come 'round, yeah?"

Rory shrugged. McLaggen scoffed and looked to Harry.

"You know how girls can be," McLaggen said.

"I don't usually have to hunt Rory down at parties," Harry said. "Sorry."

Cormac either didn't hear this or translated it in a way that was not meant to sound insulting because he laughed.

"Keep an eye out for her, for me," he said. And he walked off.

"What a twat," Rory said.

"I'll say," Harry agreed.

They made rounds and said hello to a few other friends who'd come, but it wasn't long before Slughorn caught hold of them and ushered them to meet someone. Snape and Trelawney were there, standing with a tall, thin man.

"Harry, Aurora, I'd like you to meet Augustine Goosander," Slughorn said.

Rory took in the tall, white-haired man before her.

"Harry and Aurora are taking my Alchemy class this year. Miss Lupin in particular rallied quite hard to make sure there were enough students to get it on the roster this year," Slughorn said. "Wonderful that she did. She's the best alchemy pupil I've had in all the years I've taught."

"A pleasure," Goosander said, shaking her hand.

"The pleasure's all mine, sir," Rory said. "I read all three of your books over the summer. I was telling my cousin all about 'Alchemy in the Modern Age' just a few days ago. He's excited to give it a read as well. I thought it was brilliant."

She realized she was talking a lot, and a nervous energy danced through her.

"Well, thank you," Goosander said. "You enjoying the class as well, Mister Potter."

Harry chuckled, lightheartedly. "It's not my particular cup of tea, but I think I do alright most of the time."

"Yes, Harry does a fine job in Alchemy, but he's much better suited to potions," Slughorn said. "He's my star pupil this year."

Snape eyed Harry with obvious (and semi-warranted) suspicion.

"Really?" Snape asked.

"Yes. Day one of class and he brewed me a draught of the living death that I don't think I could have accomplished," Slughorn said.

"Did he now?" Snape asked, sneering.

"Guess I paid better attention in your classes than I thought," Harry said.

Rory drank deeply from her champagne, downing the rest of it. She looked to Trelawney who was pretty sloshed.

"Shame that you're not taking Divination anymore," Trelawney said. "Of course, you'd probably be in his class now wouldn't you?"

Rory had tea with Trelawney three times since she talked to Tonks in Hogsmeade. It was helpful to review the fundamental of Divination, to give her some focus. And even though Firenze thought most of human divination was silly, for once, Rory found Trelawney's more focused method to be better for her purposes.

"You said so yourself that it would be a waste for me to continue taking divination," Rory said. "I do enjoy our chats though."

"You have any interest in pursuing alchemy as a career?" Goosander asked. "Horace thinks you could be exceptional."

"I have no idea what I want to do when I graduate, actually," Rory said. "I thought for a while that I might just do something for the Ministry."

"Miss Lupin has excellent scores. Managed to sit for the Ancient Runes OWL without ever having taken the class and is in the NEWT level class this year. Can you imagine?" Slughorn laughed.

"You take astronomy as well?" Goosander asked. Rory nodded. "Potions, Ancient Runes, and astronomy will really give you a leg up on Alchemy."

"I noticed. And Transfigurations has helped me make sense of the more difficult concepts," Rory said.

"What about you?" Goosander asked, turning to Harry.

"Harry, I hear, is studying to be an Auror," Slughorn said.

Snape rolled his eyes at this too.

"Well, if you really take to alchemy it's a woefully under-researched field," Goosander said. "You should consider it."

"I will, thank you," Rory said.

There was a commotion from the front of the room and in came Filch, dragging a reluctant and irritated, Draco Malfoy.

"Sir," Filch said, coming right up to Slughorn. "Caught this one trying to sneak in. Didn't have an invitation."

Rory didn't know what came over her, but she immediately jumped in.

"He was supposed to be my guest," Rory said quickly.

Filch, Trelawney, and Snape all looked at Rory incredulously. All three of them had witnessed Draco and Rory antagonizing each other so it was probably a sight to see her come to his aid. Harry was trying not to look surprised but was doing a poor job of it.

"Your guest?" Slughron asked.

"Yes," Rory said. "You told us all we could bring one guest and I didn't have a second thought about it because I was just going to come with Harry, obviously. But when you told me that Mister Goosander would be here right after I'd just finished talking to Draco about his book, it felt to me like a bit of a sign. So I told him, that he absolutely must come, but when I came to retrieve him for the party he wasn't there."

"Can't all be as punctual as you," Draco said as Filch released him. He adjusted his clothes.

"So this is your cousin?" Goosander asked.

"Uh, yes, yes. This is Draco Malfoy, another pupil of mine. Also excels in potions in alchemy," Slughorn said, still a bit flabbergasted that Draco had shown up here, and that Rory might have invited him. It was no secret that Slughorn didn't care for the Malfoys in the slightest, and it probably wasn't a good look having him hanging around. The Malfoys didn't have a good reputation at all these days.

"Rory hasn't talked about anything other than 'Modern Alchemy' for the last two weeks. Not sure I need to read it since she's explained it so thoroughly," Draco said.

"I'm going to take my cousin to get a beverage," Rory said. "Excuse us."

She took Draco's arm and pulled him away from the group.

"What the hell are you doing?" Draco as when they reached the refreshment table.

"Saving your ass apparently," Rory said handing him a glass of champagne. "A thank you would be nice. I probably just saved you from a week's worth of detention."

"I didn't need your help," Draco said.

"Then, by all means, walk all over there and call my bluff," Rory said. He scowled at her. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Gate crashing," he said taking a sip of his drink.

"You know I can tell when you're lying, right?" Rory asked.

"Heard you can read minds too," Draco said. "So why don't you tell me why I'm here." Rory pouted and took a sip of her drink. "Ah, so the rumors aren't true."

"Even I don't fully know what I'm capable of. I would stop listening to rumors," Rory said. "But if I could take a look around inside your head, I wouldn't."

"Why?" he asked, straightening. "Too much integrity or afraid of what you might find in there?"

"A little bit of both," she admitted. "I try to not even sus out whether people are being honest with me most of the time, except when I get told a lie so obvious that I can't ignore it, like now."

"So you don't use your insightful little powers to check in on your boyfriend?" Draco asked.

"I don't need. I trust Harry, and I give everyone I care about the benefit of the doubt. Even you," Rory said.

"I've lied to you plenty, Rory Lupin," Draco said. "And I'm sure Potter has to. Has before, hasn't he?"

Rory shook her head. She was not going to take this bait.

"Don't do this," she said.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Be a dick just because I'm making you uncomfortable. I know you've got a lot of shit going on. You look a little worse every single day. I don't want to know whatever it is you've got on. I've got a cult load of my own shit to deal with, but I…" Rory couldn't believe she was going to say the words. "But I'm worried about you. Genuinely."

"How moving," he replied, rolling his eyes before gulping down the last of his champagne.

Rory didn't know why she bothered trying to cultivate a relationship with this asshole. All he ever did was shut her out again and again and again. If things ventured award from school or superficial bullshit, he always snapped at her like this.

But she was going to keep trying, not because Dumbledore asked her to— if that had been her only motivation she'd have given up a while ago.

"We're going to need each other's help one day, Draco Malfoy," Rory said. "It'll be easier for you to make the decision if we're friends."

Draco scoffed and started to turn away from him. "We'll see about that."

"I haven't been wrong yet," Rory said. Draco paused and turned to her.

"What?" he asked.

"My predictions," she said. "I haven't been wrong about them yet."

Draco looked like he wanted to say something to her. She didn't know if he was going to tell her off or finally let a wall down, but she'd never get to know because Snape walked over to them.

"Surprising development to see the two of you getting on well," Snape said.

"I think we grow as people when we're able to let go of petty, childhood grudges, don't you?" Rory asked.

Snape sneered at Rory, as expected and then he turned to Draco.

"The corridor, now," he said. He walked off.

Draco looked back to Rory. "Thanks for the out."

"Anytime," she said. "Happy Christmas, Draco."