December
"Please," James wails annoyingly. He's hanging his head off the side of his bed, and his face is going red.
"I refuse," Sirius says crisply as he turns the page of the book he's flipping through. He's not even sure what it is, he's just trying to ignore James.
"It's your fault I've got a date with her in the first place," James grumbles. Sirius glares at James over the top of the book.
"In what world is it my fault? I didn't know she was going to cross the room, ask you out, and you'd accept," Sirius says, rolling his eyes at James's faulty reasoning.
"Oh please," James says as he rolls over and props himself up on his elbows.
"If you weren't dating her roommate, she would never have asked me out!" James pouts.
"Bianca and I are NOT dating," Sirius says firmly as he continues to pretend to read whatever this book is. James snorts.
"Oh, that's rich. She just HAPPENS to show up in your bed three times a week?" he snaps.
"Sleeping together? Yes. Dating? No," Sirius clarifies.
"There's a difference?" James asks incredulously.
"YES," Sirius says, exasperated by James.
"Well, if you didn't spend so much time with Bianca, Candace wouldn't have asked me out," James mutters.
"You didn't have to say yes," Sirius points out.
"I couldn't say no! Especially after what happened last year," James says with a wince.
"You mean when you accidentally went out with Candace and Bianca on the same day?" Sirius says with a smirk.
"Must we always relive my ONE big dating blunder?" James asks.
"Your reaction alone makes it worth it every time," Sirius says.
"Anyway. It's only fair that you and Bianca come out with Candace and me tonight. You owe me this," James snaps.
Sirius rolls his eyes, but now that he thinks about it, he could use a night out. December is always a depressing time for a person estranged from his family. Everyone's so focused on spending time with their loved ones; it's like a constant reminder that he doesn't really have those anymore.
"Fine. I'll ask Bianca. But if she doesn't want to go, you're on your own," Sirius agrees at last. James performs a victory dance and they make to go find the girls.
When they get to the common room, they find Parker and Satlynn sitting together in an armchair with Griffin and Penny sitting on the floor next to them playing exploding snap. Parker looks exceedingly bored, and his head whips up when he spots James and Sirius in their going out getup.
"Oi! You lot aren't going out without me, are you?!" Parker asks as he pushes Satlynn off his lap and scrambles to get up.
"Actually yes, we are," Sirius says, and James casts him a wary glance. It's never a good idea to bait Parker like that.
"Well, I'm coming!" Parker says stubbornly. He looks grateful to have escaped a dull night in with the fourth-years. Satlynn looks wildly between Parker and her friends.
"I'm coming, too, then!" she yells, standing up and striding across the room to join Parker.
"No! We're going out with these awful hufflepuffs—you really don't want to come," James insists.
"Hufflepuffs?" Penny repeats, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. "We're going, too," Penny says firmly as she stands up and yanks Griffin up with her. Griffin looks like he's about to faint.
"No," Sirius says.
"It's happening! We're all going out together!" Satlynn squeals. "Penny, we're finally plus-ones to quidditch players," she says in awe.
"I am a quidditch player, you dickweed," Penny says with a roll of her eyes.
"I don't know about this-" Griffin says quietly. For once, Sirius agrees with him.
"Oh, shut it, Griffin. It'll be fun," Satlynn says, and she grins at Parker, who looks like he's just been told his grandmother will be watching him have sex tonight.
"Well," James huffs, "if you must. But no drinking for the fourth years!" He gives Penny, Satlynn, and Griffin a stern look.
"Oh, James. So naive," Penny says, giving his arm an affectionate pat.
"I'm serious, Twitch!" James says warningly. She rolls her eyes.
"Fine," she mumbles. As if she's ever stayed true to her word when it comes to partying. Sirius shakes his head; Penny makes some of the worst choices of anyone he's ever met. And he's met Parker.
When they exit the portrait hole, Sirius is surprised to see Candace and Bianca already waiting for them. Bianca's got her usual grunge look going, sporting black jeans and sultry dark makeup.
"What's with the entourage of infants?" Bianca asks in her usual monotone voice when she sees James and Sirius flanked by fourth years.
"What are you doing here?" Sirius retorts. They hadn't agreed to go out with James and Candace. Bianca shrugs.
"I figured James would want us to come along," she says. Perceptive.
"Not sure why he decided to invite half the Gryffindor quidditch team, though," she adds, raising her eyebrows at Sirius, who just shrugs.
"We've invited ourselves," Parker says cheerfully as he opens the secret passage to get to Hogsmeade and they all follow him through it.
"Great," Bianca says, shooting Sirius a glare. He just throws his hands up defensively; it wasn't his idea for the entire fucking team to follow them out of the common room.
Of course, Bianca thinks it's all his fault that their coolness status will plummet from hanging round the younger students. The two of them walk in stiff silence through the passage and listen to the others (Satlynn) babble excitedly about how she's never been to the pub on a day that wasn't a pre-determined Hogsmeade day.
When they emerge on the streets of the village, Sirius hazards a glance at Bianca, and notices she's got a scheming look on her face. Sirius's heart pounds; that can't be good. When Bianca's plotting something, he never knows what could happen.
"Hey everyone," Bianca addresses the group at large, and the others turn to look at her expectantly. She shoots Sirius a sly smile, and he gulps.
"I have an idea," Bianca announces. "Why don't we go to London tonight?"
X
"What?!" James asks incredulously.
"You can't be serious." Bianca looks at him like he's a piece of slime she's had the displeasure of stepping in.
"I am," she says. "I've got my apparition license, and I like the clubs there better than these." She waves her hand disdainfully in the direction of the Hogsmeade streets, which Penny thinks are beautiful. They're all lit up with Christmas lights, and they look inviting and not boring in the slightest. Penny frowns at Bianca. She's a bit insane, just as Penny's always suspected. But then, so is Sirius.
"I'm down," Penny says, squaring her shoulders and looking Bianca dead in the eye. She's not afraid of anything; not even the city.
"Penny!" Griffin groans. Griffin, on the other hand, is terrified of everything.
"Absolutely not," Sirius says stiffly.
"No one is going to the city, alright?" James says, shooting panicked looks around at the rest of the group.
"Fine, just Prett and I will go, then," Bianca says, grabbing Penny's arm and preparing to disapparate.
Penny tries not to let her fear show; Bianca is remarkably unpredictable, and Penny wouldn't be surprised if she sidealong apparates Penny right off a cliff.
"I want to go!" Satlynn whines, looking pleadingly at Parker.
"I mean, I'm not opposed," Parker says. Relief washes over Penny; at least she won't be going anywhere alone with Scary Bianca.
"I'll come back for you," Bianca nods to them. Before Penny can even process what's happening, Bianca's apparating, and she's taking Penny with her. Next thing Penny knows, she's outside a crowded club, and there are cars honking and people yelling as they queue to get in. She looks up and sees Bianca smiling innocently at her.
"Be right back, Cupcake," she says sweetly as she walks to the back of the building. Penny hears the pop of her disapparating. Penny's jostled by the crowd, but she spots a bench by the end of the queue, and sits down gratefully. Bianca better be back soon, she thinks reproachfully as she sits on her hands to keep them warm. There's a light snow falling in the city, she notes as her teeth chatter slightly.
"Spare change?" she hears, and Penny looks up and finds a man with black teeth staring at her.
"Um, no," she says, realizing he wants her to give him muggle money, which she obviously doesn't have.
There's another problem Bianca didn't factor in: how are they expected to get into this club with no muggle money? Penny shakes her head; what a stupid idea.
"Penny?" she looks up when she hears Griffin's voice.
"Hi," she says brightly, trying to sound more excited than she really is.
"Oh, thank God you're okay!" Griffin exclaims as he sits down next to her and puts his arm around her shoulders.
"Of course I'm okay," Penny says irritably. As if she needs a man to help her.
"Well, you never know. Bianca Gonzalez is crazy," he whispers, his eyes wide. Penny nods.
"How did you get here?" she asks. Griffin definitely does NOT have his apparition license.
"Candace took me," he explains. "She's just gone back for the others."
Penny looks up again when Parker and Sirius appear. She forgot that Sirius is of age, too, and can apparate—with Parker, apparently.
"Oh, hey, guys," Penny says casually. Sirius looks angry and Parker looks like he's about to barf.
"I am NOT about this side-along thing," Parker mumbles. Candace and Satlynn show up next, and Satlynn's eyes are shiny with excitement. She's never gone to a real club before. But the rest of them haven't, either. Not that she knows of, anyway. Finally, Bianca shows up again, this time with James in tow.
"Hang on. I know how we can get in," Bianca says with a gleam in her eye that makes Penny uneasy.
"Come with me," Bianca says as she leads them around the corner towards the back entrance of the club. There's a scary-looking bouncer standing outside the door.
"Dustin," Bianca says, nodding towards the bouncer.
"Bia!" the huge dude exclaims when he sees her. "Good seeing you again," he says with a wink. Penny flinches; winks are always creepy. She glances at Sirius, but he seems unbothered.
"Friends of yours?" Dustin asks, motioning his head towards the rest of the group. He looks them over, and nods when he notices Sirius.
"Good to see you again, mate," Dustin says. Penny whips her head around to stare at Sirius. Again?! Meaning he's been here before?!
"Go on in," Dustin says as he opens the door for them. Satlynn is bubbling over with excitement as she drags Parker into the club, and James and Candace follow hesitantly.
"For your troubles," Penny hears Bianca say, and she whips around in time to see Bianca hand Dustin a small clear bag with something white inside. Penny's eyes bulge as she looks from Bianca to Sirius and back again.
"Something bothering you, Prett?" Bianca snaps when she sees Penny staring at her.
"Nothing," Penny says indignantly as she pulls Griffin after her into the dark club.
"Pen, did you see that?!" Griffin hisses once they're inside. They end up in a cramped hallway with bright red walls.
"She's crazy! Why are we here?! I need to go home! I've got my chess tournament on Monday," Griffin moans. Penny rolls her eyes.
"Griffin, this is no time to be a dork. We're here, and we've no way to get back, so we might as well make the most of it," Penny says firmly.
"We're trapped," Griffin groans, banging his head against the wall. "I refuse to go any deeper into this hell hole," he hisses. "I'm staying RIGHT HERE all night."
A tall man with an eyebrow piercing walks by, and Griffin practically shrinks as he flattens himself against the wall so the man can get by.
"There are freaks here!" Griffin whispers urgently.
"Rude. It can't be that bad. Bianca and Sirius have been here before, so-" Penny begins.
"Yes, but as we've already established, BIANCA IS INSANE," Griffin says.
"Oh, hi, guys," a sly voice says from behind them, and Penny's heart sinks as she turns around to find Bianca staring at them. Penny glares at Griffin; why'd he have to go and scream about her being insane?! Griffin gulps and looks like he's ready for the guillotine.
"Oi, remember what James said: no drinking for the fourth years," Sirius says as he shows up next to Bianca and stuffs his hands in his pockets.
"How would we drink, anyway? We haven't any muggle money," Penny points out.
"I've got something better than alcohol, anyway, if you're interested," Bianca says, raising her eyebrows at Penny. It's like she knows Penny can't back down from a challenge.
"No," Sirius says quickly. "Let me rephrase: no substances of any kind for the fourth years."
"I'm in," Penny says confidently, not taking her eyes off of Bianca, who's got an amused expression on her face.
"Penny..." Griffin moans weakly. Bianca pulls out another bag full of a crushed up white powder. Without taking her eyes off Penny, Bianca licks her middle finger, coats it in the powder, and licks it off slowly, sure to leave her finger up longer than necessary for Penny to see. Penny narrows her eyes and licks her pinky, then dips it into the bag that Bianca holds out to her.
"Penny-" Sirius says warningly, but Penny ignores him and stares Bianca down as she licks every last bit of powder off her finger.
"Well, here we fucking go, then," Bianca says, eyebrows raised in amusement.
"I'm taking it, too," Sirius insists, motioning for Bianca to give him the bag. She hands it to him without preamble, then takes Penny's arm and leads her through the hall and onto the dance floor.
The bass is thumping, and Penny watches Bianca lose herself in the music. She's wild, but Penny is, too, she decides as she imitates Bianca's dance moves. She's torn between hating Bianca for being so fucking weird and pretentious and admiring her spontaneity.
The club's larger than Penny expected, and the floor is crowded with people bobbing up and down as they watch a DJ on the stage. When she looks back at Bianca, she's surprised (well, not that surprised) to see that she's got two shots in her hands.
"Here," she says, shoving one at Penny.
"I don't know if I should be mixing things," Penny says. She did tell James she wouldn't drink, after all.
"Ah, so you're a pussy," Bianca says as she knocks back one of the shots. Penny narrows her eyes.
"No. And I don't think of calling someone a vagina as an insult, because I think vaginas fucking rock," Penny says haughtily as she grabs the remaining shot from Bianca and takes it in one gulp. Bianca smirks at her.
"Well, it sure seems like you felt insulted," she points out, and Penny frowns. Why isn't Bianca in Slytherin? Jesus.
"Ugh, and while we're on the subject of pussies," Bianca says disgustedly, rolling her eyes and motioning her head towards Griffin, who's making his way through the crowd to find Penny. Penny glares at Bianca, who just grins back and says, "I'll leave you to it." As she bounces off to ruin someone else's night.
"She can fuck right off," Penny says when Griffin gets to her.
"I wholeheartedly agree," Griffin yells over the music.
"What happened to 'not going any further into this hell hole'?" Penny asks him. Griffin shrugs.
"I didn't want to be alone with the freaks. Let's go find James. He'll know what to do," Griffin says.
Penny nods and lets Griffin pull her off the dance floor towards the bar, where they find James and Candace, as well as Parker and Satlynn. They've congregated in a corner. A bit loser-ish, Penny thinks. Bianca definitely wouldn't approve. Not that she cares what Bianca thinks.
Parker and Satlynn have acquired some shots, and Penny's relieved to see that Satlynn has also broken the "no drinking for fourth years" rule.
"Penny's on drugs!" Griffin announces the moment they join their friends. Penny hits him in the arm.
"Shut it," she hisses to him, and Satlynn shoots Penny a curious look, but she doesn't comment on it.
"Vodka?" she asks as she hands them a tray of shots.
"No, thank you," Griffin says stiffly.
"Might as well," Penny says, watching the edges of her vision go fuzzy already as she reaches for one of the shots. Satlynn gives her a concerned look.
X
They spend most of the evening like that, confined to their little corner; Penny and Satlynn have a great time getting drunk and getting to know Candace, who turns out to be great fun. Griffin looks bored, but thankfully, he's brought a comic book, and he finds a seat at the bar to read.
Halfway through the night, Satlynn starts snogging Parker like her life depends on it, so she stops being quite so fun to be around.
"I'm off to the loo," Penny slurs, annoyed by her friend's preoccupation with Parker. Penny barges through the crowd towards a neon sign directing her to the restrooms. She's had quite a few shots now, and she feels like she's generated enough pee to fill a five-liter bottle.
She stumbles into the bathroom and watches the graffiti on the wall blur around her as she searches for an open stall. Penny opens the door to the first stall, and tries not to yelp when she finds a couple, half-naked and snogging furiously.
"Uh...sorry," Penny hiccups as she goes to close the door. Then she notices the black jeans and pretentious beanie.
"...Bianca?!" Penny says in disbelief. Bianca just throws her middle finger up at her and continues making out with — that's when Penny realizes: she has no idea who this person kissing Bianca is. They've got a bright green Mohawk. Stunned, Penny finishes in the loo and sets off to find Sirius and let him know the grim news.
X
String lights twinkle across the dance floor as Penny makes her way towards the thickest part of the throng where she's sure she'll find Sirius. The music is so loud and her mind is so fuddled with drugs and drink that she can barely focus on what she's doing.
She pushes past the hordes of belligerent clubbers and at last, she spots Sirius's mop of black hair. He appears to have lost his tie, somehow, and has unbuttoned most of his school shirt. Penny rolls her eyes at his lack of respect for school attire. He's dancing with a random couple who both have facial piercings. Sirius looks happier than he was earlier; he's probably had a few drinks since she saw him last, and she feels guilty that she's about to bring him bad news.
"SWITCH!" Penny yells. It's far too loud in this hot, cramped club. She can hardly even hear her own voice as it's drowned out by excessive bass. She pushes past the couple and grabs onto Sirius's forearm to get his attention. He whirls around and breaks out in a grin when he sees her. His blue eyes look startlingly dark — his pupils have dilated from whatever muggle drugs they've both taken. Penny wonders if she has the same creepy look.
"Guys, this is Penny!" he yells to the couple he's hanging out with. They just nod and continue to bop to the music. Penny notices that they look quite a bit older, probably in their late twenties. She frowns at Sirius; what kind of friends is he making, exactly? He just beams and yanks her arm towards him.
"Dance with me!" he yells.
"No, Switch, I have to tell you something," Penny shouts as she maneuvers her way away from him. His grin ebbs away as he waits for her to explain. Penny takes a deep breath.
"It's Bianca. She's...she's cheating on you," Penny says. She gives him an apologetic look, but he just shrugs and starts dancing again.
"Hello! I just said Bianca is cheating on you!" Penny repeats, annoyed by Sirius's lack of reaction. Has his drug consumption affected his ability to comprehend new information? Why isn't he freaking out over the news?
"No, she's not," Sirius says firmly as he runs a hand through his tousled hair.
"Yes, she is!" Penny insists. "I've just seen her snogging a person with a Mohawk in the loo!"
Sirius leans down a bit so he doesn't have to yell and tells Penny, "Bianca and I aren't exclusive. She's allowed to snog whoever she wants." Penny gives him a horrified look. Whoever she wants?! How can he possibly be okay with this? Bianca is in the bathroom right now doing God knows what with God knows who, and Sirius doesn't even have the decency to care. She could be in a potentially dangerous situation!
"Bianca can handle herself. She goes to clubs alone all the time," Sirius says with a shrug. "And who am I to tell her what to do, anyway?"
"Well, aren't you her boyfriend?!" Penny yells, crossing her arms stubbornly. Sirius just waves his hand dismissively.
"Eh, 'boyfriend' is such a strong word. Besides, it's not like Bianca's taking advantage of me, or anything. I'm allowed to kiss whoever I want, too." Penny freezes and stares at him. Whoever? Whoever he wants? The thought unexpectedly freaks her out.
"But-" Penny stutters, but Sirius just shushes her and says, "the beat's about to drop!"
Penny groans; she can't resist a beat drop. It's a dubstep remix of Ellie Goulding's "Anything Could Happen" — a song Penny doesn't even like, mind you. And yet here she is, losing her damn mind over the beat drop.
She gets a sense of Deja Vu as Sirius grins and pulls her close. It's like Halloween all over again — only this time, she's significantly less fucked up — and she actually knows who he is.
If only they were playing the good stuff. (Britney Spears.) Once again, Griffin is nowhere to be found. Bianca was right: whatever this powder is, it's making Penny more sentimental than usual.
"ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN, ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN!" Penny screams, putting her worries about Griffin and everyone else aside for a moment as she loses herself in the moment and lets some random girls join her in singing and bouncing up and down. She's fucked up and she just wants everyone to be on her level. There's nothing like this: being in the middle of a crowd, filled with anticipation for what the night could still hold. Anything really could happen.
When the beat finally does drop, Penny feels it in her soul as she jumps up and down with Sirius and the three girls — who are her new best friends, apparently. They're on her level. She grins wildly and feels herself grinding her teeth together. Probably a side effect of the drugs she's taken.
"Who's your hot friend?" one of the girls, who has bright pink hair that's shining under the strobe lights, yells in Penny's ear. Penny rolls her eyes.
"You wouldn't think he was hot if you got to know him," she yells back. These girls are supposed to be her new best friends, but apparently they're only interested in Sirius, which is annoying.
"Oh, I think I would," the pink-haired girl replies with a smirk. Penny folds her arms; this girl is really harshing her vibe. She just wants to dance and let loose, and here are these girls coming over and ruining it. She should tell them Sirius is NOT available; then she remembers that Bianca is making out with some random human with a bright green Mohawk and realizes that that's not exactly true. Penny has no idea why she does it, but the next thing she knows, she's telling the girls a string of lies.
"Also, he's my boyfriend!" she yells to the girls, and the intense-looking one with a brunette bob gives her a skeptical look.
"Aren't you, like, twelve?" she asks. Penny juts out her chin.
"Sixteen," she lies. The girls shoot each other questioning looks, then dance away, looking surly. Penny nods, satisfied that they got the message and left Sirius the fuck alone.
Penny hesitantly makes her way back over to him; did he hear any of the total bullshit she just told those girls? He just flips his hair out of his eyes and gives her a lopsided smile, giving no indication of whether or not he overheard her conversation. She smiles sheepishly back at him and watches as the strobe light bathes the right side of his face in blue light.
He's got quite the dance moves. Something about the way he moves his shoulders in perfect time with the music. She can see part of his stupid dragon tattoo peeking out of his school shirt, which he's stupidly unbuttoned and - well, maybe the pink-haired girl was right and he is hot. Penny feels her face flushing at the thought, and suddenly she feels like she's got to get away from Sirius and away from "Anything Could Happen," as quickly as possible.
She whirls around, but she's had so much to drink (and otherwise consume) that the room spins. Just like on Halloween, though, Sirius is there to keep her upright. She tries to ignore the way her heart rate increases when she leans her body into his.
"I'm your what, now?" he whispers into her ear. Shit; he's heard what she said earlier. Penny gulps and whips her head around to stare at him, expecting to see a satisfied smirk and some teasing comment about how she "clearly wants him" or something, but she's not at all prepared for his dead serious expression.
"Ummm..." she says, speechless from the intense way he's looking at her. She can't stop staring back at him, noticing his earnest expression, his strong Cupid's bow, his prominent Adam's apple. According to her earlier assessment, she thinks he's "hot" now. It must be the drugs; it has to be the drugs. She's watched Sirius get stupid drunk once a week for the past year; she knows how he treats girls.
"I could be, you know," he says, sounding surprisingly sincere. He could be... he could be her...? Penny can't comprehend what's happening. Now not only is Penny seemingly incapable of speech, but she's evidently also lost all capability of movement; she recognizes dully that she's still got her back pressed against Sirius, and now their faces are close.
ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN, ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN- Why does Ellie Goulding have to REMIND Penny that anything could happen?! She's fully aware that anything could - and it seems like something probably will - happen.
"I'm allowed to kiss whoever I want, too." his words from earlier bounce around in her head and she can't think- it's like her brain is clouded by their proximity and yes, of course, he's hot, how could she not realize how fucking hot he is until now? Penny is positively terrified; she watches as Sirius's (still very dilated) eyes flicker towards her lips, and she feels her heart hammering; she wonders for a split second what the fuck she's doing, but then he's leaning in and —
"PENNY!"
Penny jerks away from Sirius so fast, she nearly loses her balance. Satlynn comes barreling out of nowhere and has a horrified look on her face. Penny's heart plummets. Is Satlynn freaked because she saw whatever was about to happen?
"It's Parker!" Satlynn wails.
"He's gotten into a fight with a muggle! Griffin and I tried to help, but we don't know what to do! Griffin's no good in a crisis," she says, shooting Penny an accusatory look, as if to say 'thanks a lot for having a completely useless boyfriend.'
"Please help, I can't find anyone else— where the fuck is everyone?!" Satlynn asks, throwing up her hands in frustration.
"Well I know where BIANCA is-" Penny mumbles.
"I need JAMES," Satlynn says. "He always knows what to do when Parker is... you know. Parker."
"I'll find James," Sirius says. "You two go back to Parker and make sure the situation doesn't escalate."
Satlynn nods and grabs Penny's arm and leads her outside the club, where Parker's evidently been kicked out. Penny's head is reeling; too many things— too little time to process. She'll think about it later, she decides.
Penny gasps when they get outside and she sees Parker- the entire left side of his face has swelled up, and there's blood dripping from his nose. He's got a pile of snow pressed against his nose. How professional. Griffin's seated next to him, looking grim.
"I found Penny and Sirius on the dance floor. Couldn't locate the others, though," Satlynn sighs as she plops down next to Parker.
"On the dance floor?" Griffin repeats, shooting Penny a suspicious look. Oh lord, not this again, Penny thinks with a shake of her head. Although maybe he has a reason to be suspicious, Penny reminds herself guiltily. Fuck. She'll think about it later, she remembers.
The door of Club Jolt bursts open, and the rest of the party appears. Penny notes that Bianca looks disheveled and irritated, as if she just got pulled out of a hook-up session. James and Candace thankfully don't look as drunk as everyone else. Penny just ignores Sirius's presence, feeling a surge of heat rise to her face as she inadvertently notices him in her peripheral vision.
"Right," James says as he assesses Parker's damage. "Candace, can you side-along him back to the school? Then come back for Satlynn. She'll take him to the hospital wing."
Candace nods. Penny can see, suddenly, why everyone thinks James will be made quidditch captain next year. He really is remarkably level-headed. Unlike Vince, who tends to lose his mind any time they have a game.
Candace tenderly grabs Parker's arm and takes out her wand. She pulls him around the corner to disapparate out of view of the muggles mingling around the entrance to the club.
"Satlynn, what happened?" James asks once they're gone.
"I don't know! We were just hanging out by the bar and some bloke kind of jostled Parker a bit and then it just got out of control," she explains, chewing on her lip nervously. James sighs and shakes his head.
"So Parker started it?" he asks, exchanging a glance with Sirius.
"I guess," Satlynn says, examining her nail beds guiltily.
"I thought they were going to kill me," Griffin moans, looking queasy as he leans his head against the wall of the building.
"You were there?" Sirius asks.
"Yes! They thought I was Parker's accomplice, or something, but thankfully those bouncers stepped in before they could get to me," Griffin says, looking shaken.
"Why don't you take him back?" James says to Sirius, inclining his head towards the uneasy-looking Griffin. There's a pause, and Penny forgets her ban on looking at Sirius to cast him a glare. He flickers his eyes towards her for a moment and clears his throat.
"Yeah- yeah, of course," he says. Penny watches Griffin stand up shakily and follow Sirius around the corner.
"This blows," Bianca mutters as she lights up a cigarette and walks away from Satlynn, James, and Penny.
Penny tries not to let out a groan; Bianca's just made out with some random all night, and now her only concern about the fight that's broken out is that it's an inconvenience to her. She's so irritating with her stupid motorcycle boots and grunge-looking beanie. Everything about her reeks of pretentiousness.
"Why don't you take Satlynn back, Bianca?" James suggests in a polite tone.
"I thought Candace was taking her," Bianca says as she plops down on the curb.
"Right," James says, "But I just thought - you know, you've got your apparition license, too, so you might as well-"
"I think I might stick around the club for a bit," Bianca interrupts with a shrug.
"Oh. Okay," James says, looking helplessly at Penny and Satlynn, like 'I tried.' Penny scowls at the back of Bianca's head; she's taken their tragedy of the night as an opportunity to have a cigarette, and then she's going to go right back to the thriving party inside as if nothing happened. Why does Sirius waste his time with such a — Penny wills herself not to finish that question. What Sirius does is none of her concern, she reminds herself sulkily. She hears a pop and sees Candace reappear.
"Griffin's taking Parker to the hospital wing. I'll take Satlynn and she can catch up with them," Candace says briskly, and James nods as Satlynn follows Candace around the corner.
"You see what happened?" James asks Penny after they leave.
"Er- no," Penny admits. She supposes it's a bit odd that Griffin, Satlynn, and Parker were all in one place and she wasn't.
"I was — well, I was in the bathroom," she explains, shooting an irritated look towards Bianca as she remembers what she found in the bathroom.
"Oh," James says, and they sit in silence until Candace reappears, followed shortly by Sirius. Penny shoots up from her spot on the bench and walks quickly toward Candace.
"Can you take me, too?" she asks her abruptly.
"Oh! Um, sure," Candace says, shooting James a look. She probably thought she'd be taking James (who doesn't have his apparition license yet) with her, but there's no way Penny's going to go with Sirius, so she insists Candace take her back. To Penny's relief, Candace agrees, and soon they're back just off the school grounds.
Penny rubs at her eyes tiredly. She couldn't be happier that this night is ending.
"I think your friends have gone to the hospital wing if you want to join them," Candace says gently, and Penny casts a grateful smile in her direction.
"I'm going to go back and make sure everything's alright," Candace adds. Penny nods and begins her trek back to the castle.
X
Griffin feels positively defeated as he walks through the halls with Satlynn, supporting Parker between them. Why is it that every time he goes out with Penny, something goes horribly wrong? This is partially her fault, too— if she hadn't fucking disappeared, she could have calmed Parker down. She usually tells him something like "I swear to god, if you start a fight, I'll hex your balls off," but she'd gone AWOL and Griffin and Satlynn clearly have no idea how to deal with Parker when he's buzzed out of his mind.
But no, apparently, Penny had been on the dance floor with Sirius, Griffin remembers, and he grits his teeth. Somehow, that's always where Penny ends up. And she wonders why he worries about her.
"What in Merlin's name happened to Mr. Banks?" a sharp voice asks, and Griffin's heart sinks when he looks behind them and sees Professor McGonagall striding towards them. Griffin exchanges an uneasy glance with Satlynn.
"He and Griffin got in a fight," Satlynn explains. Griffin shoots her a look; way to throw him under the bus!
"Mr. Vaughn did that to him?" Professor McGonagall says skeptically.
"He's stronger than he looks," Satlynn mumbles, and Griffin flushes at the obvious lie. Professor McGonagall sighs; she clearly doesn't believe them.
"Very well. Take him to Madame Pomfrey. Ten points from Gryffindor for both of you," she says firmly. "And five from Miss LaRue for being out past curfew."
Satlynn nods grimly and stares at her shoes. Griffin is relieved when the professor whisks away to continue her rounds; it could have been much worse. At least she didn't notice that they smell like a night club.
Luckily, Madame Pomfrey doesn't ask many questions when they get there. It obviously looks like they've gotten in a muggle fight, so there's not much to tell. She tells them that she'll keep Parker for the evening, then sends Griffin and Satlynn back off to bed.
Griffin could not be more ready to be safe and sound again. He's never even been to the city before, and now that he's seen the club scene, he never wants to return. And of course, Parker had to go and do something insane so they're probably never allowed back in Club Jolt again, anyway.
"Satlynn, I don't know if Parker is a good guy to date," Griffin muses as they walk, zombie-like, back to the common room.
"Oh, please. You think I don't know that?" Satlynn says with a roll of her eyes. "That's, like, 90% of the appeal. My mum, grandmother, and great-grandmother all despise men; think they're the absolute scum of the earth. This is my rebellion."
Griffin looks at her, shocked by her confession. "What, so you're just... using him?" he asks, stunned.
Satlynn shrugs. "I don't know. It's kind of exciting, I guess. He's popular, he's a quidditch star. I like the attention he gives me, and I like the attention other people give me when I go out with him. I mean, we're not official, or anything, but," Satlynn shrugs, "it's fun, I guess."
Griffin nods numbly, still processing this information. Satlynn sends an uneasy glance his way.
"Um...I'm not sure if..." she begins, then trails off, a guilty look spreading across her face.
"What?" Griffin asks tiredly. Whatever it is, he can handle it. This whole night has been a shitshow, anyway.
"Well, since you told me you're not sure about me and Parker, I thought I might as well say that I - I'm not convinced about you and Penny," Satlynn admits with a wince. Griffin stops dead in his tracks.
"What?! Why?" he asks with a frown.
"I'm just not sure she wants to...commit," Satlynn says, avoiding Griffin's gaze. Griffin breathes a sigh of relief.
"Well, I'm not asking her to commit to anything; we're fourteen, after all. If it lasts, it lasts. If not, we move on," Griffin says with a shrug. Satlynn continues to look at the floor.
"Right," she says awkwardly.
"What?" Griffin asks. "Why are you acting so weird?"
Satlynn takes a deep breath. "When I found her tonight on the dance floor-" she begins, then she glances at Griffin.
"What? When you found her, what?" Griffin asks sharply, remembering suddenly that Satlynn had said earlier that she'd found Penny and Sirius on the dance floor.
"You should talk to her," Satlynn urges, staring at the floor again. Griffin's heart hammers in his chest. Something happened. Something happened with Penny, and Satlynn's not going to tell him what.
"Satlynn," he pleads.
"Talk to Pen," Satlynn says firmly, and Griffin tries not to panic as they continue their walk in silence.
X
Penny wakes around 7:00 the next day. Luckily, she'd beaten Satlynn back to the room last night, and when she'd come in, Penny had pretended to be asleep. She didn't want to stay up and have the obligatory nightly recap conversation Satlynn would undoubtedly want. It's Sunday today, and Penny wonders if she can feasibly stay in bed all day and avoid Sirius. She squeezes her eyes shut, feeling her stomach twist as she thinks of him.
"I could be, you know."
Penny feels a shiver run down her spine. She's never thought about him that way before. Well, she reminds herself, that's not exactly true; when she first joined the team last year, she'd done her best to ignore how infamously attractive her beater counterpart was—and after a while, she'd forgotten about it. Sirius had become her friend, her teammate, and more than just his good looks and bad reputation.
Penny sighs and flips onto her back to stare at the ceiling. Sirius has always had a reputation that involves being confident, attracting girls, and promptly breaking their hearts. He's always seeing a different girl, but he never has a girlfriend. He'd even seemed annoyed at Penny's suggestion that he was Bianca's boyfriend. But he'd readily suggested that he could be Penny's boyfriend.
She frowns and folds her arms; he must have been messing with her. He was probably trying to annoy her or trying to gain some validation by getting her to make out with him. Penny grits her teeth at herself for falling for it. How could she possibly fall into the exact trap that she's watched Sirius set for girls before?! What is wrong with her? She knows exactly how he operates; she should have seen this coming.
She's always thought that Sirius trusted her, though; that he respected her. That he didn't think of her as another girl he could seduce. Oh god, what has she done? And what more would she have done if Satlynn hadn't shown up? How much did Satlynn see, anyway? Penny hazards a glance at her friend's bed. Her blonde hair is spilling out across her pillow, and Penny can hear her steady breathing. She's asleep.
Maybe Penny can claim a terrible hangover and stay in bed all day. Ziph can sneak her some food from downstairs. Penny really doesn't want to see Griffin — she's worried he'll catch on to her guilty conscience. But she hasn't done anything wrong, Penny reminds herself. Not technically, anyway. Thinking about kissing someone and actually kissing them are two very different things.
Not that she was thinking about it, Penny mentally berates herself. She wouldn't have actually done it; she wouldn't have actually kissed Sirius. Even if Satlynn hadn't shown up, Penny cares about Griffin too much to hurt him like that! At least, that's what she tells herself. Her stomach feels knotted, though.
"Well, I see tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumb-fuck finally found their way home last night," Ziph drawls sleepily, and Penny looks over to see her friend staring crossly at her.
"Sorry," Penny says with a wince, "we should have told you we were going out."
"Imagine my surprise when, after coming back from the library, I realize that you two are nowhere to be found! Then, imagine my reaction when it's PAST TWO IN THE MORNING and you lot still have yet to return," Ziph says, and she gets up out of bed to flail her arms emphatically. Satlynn stirs in her bed on Penny's other side, and Penny watches her eyes flutter open.
"I'm sorry, Ziph! We didn't plan on going out— it just sort of happened. We would have told you about it if it hadn't been such a spontaneous thing," Penny attempts to explain.
"Oh, sure! Like I believe that. You're always trying to get rid of me so you can hang out with your boyfriends. I knew this would happen. I knew the moment my friends started dating boys, they'd forget about me. And would you look at that, Griffin and Parker were also nowhere to be found last night," Ziph says bitterly as she pulls her Gryffindor Gobstones Team sweatshirt over her head.
"Okay, yes, we were out with Griffin and Parker last night, but we didn't purposely not invite you!" Satlynn says, sitting up in her bed now.
"Yeah, right," Ziph says. "You probably went to some sort of couples-only event. They don't let any single bitches in," she says as she heads towards the door.
"I'm going to breakfast. Maybe I'll find some new friends who actually put their hos before their bros," she says sourly as she slams the door behind her.
"Ziph-" Satlynn starts to say, but she's already gone. Satlynn sighs and gets out of bed.
"We'd better go talk some sense into her," she says resignedly, but Penny doesn't move.
"Uh-I think I might just stay in bed today," Penny admits. "I don't feel so well."
Satlynn shoots her an annoyed look.
"Neither do I, but you don't see that stopping me," she says as she throws a pair of jeans and a bra at Penny.
"Get dressed. Ziph's in a mood and we have to let her know that she's still important to us. Not to mention, we've got to see if Parker's alright," Satlynn orders, but Penny just puts her blankets over her head.
"I don't have to see if Parker's alright. I'm not the one that's seeing him," Penny says stubbornly. Satlynn throws Penny's blanket off and glares at her.
"If you'd been there when the fight happened, you could have calmed him down!" Satlynn says, accusation heavy in her voice.
"Oh, so now I'm not allowed to leave Parker's side in case he blows up?! It's not my fault he's a moron," Penny snaps as she attempts to pull the blanket towards her, but Satlynn whips it away from her.
"But it is your fault that you ditched us to go be a slut!" Satlynn snaps. Penny lets go of the blanket in shock, and Satlynn stumbles back a bit.
"What do you mean?" Penny asks, trying not to panic. How much had Satlynn seen, exactly? How close had Penny been to doing — whatever she was about to do — when Satlynn showed up?
"Never mind," Satlynn mumbles. "Let's just go find Ziph."
Penny frowns, but she doesn't push the subject. She really doesn't want to talk about it, anyway. Or think about it, for that matter. Penny winces and forces herself to get out of bed. She'll just have to avoid Sirius; it can't be that difficult. If she avoids the common room and spends as little time as possible in the great hall, she should be fine.
Penny follows Satlynn out of their room and isn't surprised to find the common room empty; after all, it's 7:00 AM on a Sunday. Most people are asleep at this ungodly hour. When they arrive in the Great Hall, Ziph sees them and immediately stands up.
"Gotta go!" she says, cramming a piece of toast in her mouth and bolting away from Penny and Satlynn.
"Ziph!" Satlynn calls after her, but she beelines out of the room without another look at her roommates. Penny's stomach growls as the smell of sliced ham and breakfast potatoes wafts towards her.
"As long as we're here, we might as well have some breakfast," she says sheepishly, and Satlynn looks hesitantly towards the door. Then she looks at the table, laden with food, and reluctantly sits down.
"Might as well," Satlynn agrees, and Penny sits down and begins gratefully piling her plate with ham and beans.
She looks up and down the Gryffindor table, hoping no one from last night has shown up yet. She's relieved to see that the only other people at the table are first years and Marty Incellio, who doesn't seem at all concerned that Parker (his roommate) didn't come home last night. Penny and Satlynn chat about school for a bit, then they finish up and decide to go to the hospital wing to check up on Parker before dealing with Ziph.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Penny says reassuringly to Satlynn as they walk out of the great hall. "His wounds looked pretty minor."
"Yes, because you're such a wound expert," Satlynn snaps, and Penny's surprised by her harsh tone. She doesn't reply, though, because she hears the sound of people arguing around the corner.
"He's never going to buy it."
"What, have you never lied to James in your life?"
Penny narrows her eyes at the second voice. She and Satlynn turn the corner and, just as she suspected, they nearly run into Bianca and Sirius. Penny's taken aback by their disheveled appearances: their eyes are bloodshot and their clothes — the same ones they were wearing last night, Penny realizes with a jolt — are rumpled.
"Well, if it isn't the ballsy fourth-year Gryffindor girls who think they can hang," Bianca says as she observes Satlynn and Penny with a smirk. She's awfully confident for someone who looks like shit, Penny thinks skeptically. She avoids looking at Sirius; he was just messing her around, Penny reminds herself. Nothing was really going to happen. She ignores the fact that her stomach did a flip-flop when he came around the corner.
"Are you guys just getting home now?!" Satlynn asks, a horrified look on her face as she looks Bianca and Sirius up and down. Bianca just continues to smirk at her.
"Maybe," she says with a shrug.
"What have you been doing all night?!" Satlynn asks, looking like she's about to be sick, she's so disappointed in them.
"You really don't want to know. It's more than your sweet, innocent heart can handle," Bianca says in a sickeningly condescending voice.
"We don't give a fuck what you were doing all night. Let's go, Satlynn," Penny snaps as she grabs Satlynn's arm and stalks off towards the hospital wing.
Honestly, Bianca thinks she's the hottest shit since Britney Spears's hit song "Perfume" came out (which, by the way, Penny thinks is an untouchable masterpiece). Bianca thinks she's all hot and mysterious because she does stupid things like drugs and partying, but Penny knows what she really is: she's just a sad teenage girl who tries to escape her problems by making terrible decisions. And Sirius apparently doesn't care enough about Parker to stop partying with Bianca. Some friend he is.
"They're crazy! What do you think she meant, 'too much for my heart to handle'? What the hell have they been doing all night?" Satlynn hisses once they're out of earshot. Penny just shakes her head.
"I don't know. Bianca's an asshole," she snaps. Satlynn gives Penny a suspicious look.
"So you don't like Bianca?" Satlynn asks. Penny purses her lips.
"Not really."
"Hm," Satlynn says, but she doesn't continue. When they arrive at the hospital wing, Penny's surprised to see that Griffin's already there. It's 7:00 AM, and Penny's already seen both of the people she vowed to avoid all day. She's glad to see that Parker's swelling has gone down considerably, but he's still got a black eye.
"How are you?" Satlynn asks breathlessly when she sees Parker.
"Better," Parker says with a shrug. "Sorry about the fight. Didn't mean to embarrass you lot," he says, nodding apologetically towards Penny, who usually yells at him for his aggressive episodes. Penny just shakes her head.
"Just glad you're alright," she says honestly. Griffin clears his throat and exchanges a look with Satlynn.
"Let's go for a walk," Griffin says to Penny, and she blinks at him.
"We need to talk," Griffin mumbles, and Penny glances at Satlynn, who's looking at the floor.
"Well...okay," Penny agrees, and she follows Griffin out into the hallway. Penny listens to his familiarly clumsy footfalls and waits for him to say something.
"So..." he begins awkwardly, and she glances at him. He doesn't look so good; going out never did agree with him. His strawberry blonde hair is messy and hidden in a green beanie, and his ghostly complexion is even paler than usual.
"Yes?" Penny prods when Griffin doesn't go on.
"Did you have a nice time last night?" he asks finally, and Penny has a feeling that's not exactly what he wants to talk about, but she nods and goes along with the conversation.
"Yeah, I suppose," she says slowly. "It's too bad it was cut short when Parker went and got us kicked out, though."
"Where did you disappear to? I feel like it might have been helpful if you'd been there when it happened," he says, and Penny swears she hears a hint of accusation in his voice. Why does everyone keep blaming her for Parker's bad behavior?
"It's not my fault that Parker's an impulsive idiot," Penny says defensively, avoiding Griffin's question about her whereabouts.
"Satlynn said you were dancing," Griffin says. Penny shoots him a sharp look; he's looking at his shoes.
"The truth is," Penny says, taking a deep breath, and Griffin looks up at her expectantly. He looks like he's anticipating a hurtful answer, so Penny frowns and changes course.
"The truth is, I don't remember," Penny says in a rush. "Everything after my third shot is gone. I completely blacked out."
She stares at Griffin's left ear. She can't make eye contact with people when she lies.
"Oh," Griffin says, furrowing his brow a little. There's a pause, then Griffin breaks the silence. "Then how'd you know we got kicked out?"
Penny hopes she doesn't look as panicked as she feels. "Satlynn told me this morning."
"Oh," Griffin says again.
"Do you want to fill me in on what happened? Satlynn said Parker got in a fight and then we had to leave, but I don't know the details," Penny says, hoping she sounds convincing. Griffin gives her a long look, but he eventually launches into an account of how Parker started a fight with a muggle and he and Satlynn tried to stop it.
"You disappeared about an hour before it happened, and James and Candace had just left, as well. If you or James had been there, it might not have gotten so bad," Griffin finishes, and Penny nods.
"Wow. Sounds crazy," she says. Griffin gives her a skeptical look, but he eventually nods, and they continue their walk back to the common room in silence. Penny tries not to feel guilty; what does she have to feel guilty about, anyway? Her memory really is a little fuzzy. It's not like she did anything bad. That's what she tells herself, anyway.
Notes:
When I reread this, I realized that this scene is very similar to the Halloween one, lol. Also "I think vaginas fucking rock" is the most cringe millennial thing I've ever written.
I make no excuses for Penny. I wrote her and I was a depressed toxic person. But the story is kind of fun, I guess.
There will be two more chapters, but they're not from Penny's perspective.
Thanks!
-Giant Squid