BLACK MOON ⍋ Remus Lupin

Chapter Fourteen - The Ten Galleon Bet.

The girls forced me into one of the few dresses I owned and I was able to fight them against curling my flat hair, I didn't want to look too different and cause attention to myself.

I heard music start from downstairs in the common room and people pile in through the fat lady's door. Just like the girls said, party started when it got dark. 

I glanced out of the dorm window and it was pitch black, the crescent moon only casting blue toned fog on the forbidden forest in the distance. 

Alice, Lily and Marlene all hung onto each other's arms and went down to the party after I protested I'd join them in a few minutes. I needed time to get out of this dress.

Once they all left, I quickly ripped the dress off of my body and replaced it by my everyday clothes and my red muggle shoes, the converse. 

I knew that the girls were going to be mad at me for not sticking to the "only wear a dress, this is a party Arty!" rule. I just couldn't do it, this was my first party and I needed to ease into it one step at a time. A dress wasn't involved in that first step.

Anxiety rippled through my body as the noise from downstairs only grew louder and louder. I paced around the room, giving myself a prep talk "It's just a party" I started "Just a party"  I repeated. 

My pace around the room increased and I almost bit onto my bottom lip so hard with nerves that it bled.

"Ok, Ok. I can do this! Talk to people, ask about interests and...the music! The music is a great conversation starter, right?" I spoke nervously to myself "Compliment people's outfits and ask about the Quidditch game" I continued "and have fun" I smiled sarcastically at my reflection in the mirror I found myself staring into "Oh Merlin..." I felt sick to my stomach. Like a war was blowing up in the pit of my stomach, bombs rattling my ribcage causing my organs to shake.

I took a final deep breath in and patted my sweaty hands against my dark coloured jeans. I gave my reflection a reassuring nod and stormed out of the dorm door before I could change my mind and throw myself under the covers of my bed for safety.

The common room was packed full of people from all different houses. I saw some familiar looking Hufflepuff's from herbology and a few Ravenclaw's I recognised from Potions class and also surprisingly, a good amount of Slytherin's that I knew from being associated with the Black family. 

There was a mixture of every house, all different blood types and different skilled students all crammed together in the space of the Gryffindor common room, getting along as if everyone was best buddies. It was a nice sight, but also slightly unsettling when you realised that some of the, now giggling and dancing partners, will go back to talking bad about each other by tomorrow morning.

There was a make shift bar in the corner of the room, inside of the large fireplace (without fire though, of course) I wonder how they've managed to create a bar in the common room without a teacher batting an eyelid? I continued to stare ahead, lost in thought.

"It's amazing what Sirius can get away with, he can be insanely clever when there's a motive involving alcohol" Someone said beside me, I turned my head quickly and saw Peter, looking a little too smiley, standing next to me.

"What?" I asked him.

"You wondered how there was a bar in here? If you can even call that a bar" he responded, "Yeah you said that out loud" He laughed at my confused face "Not loudly though" he playfully bashed his shoulder against mine and I awkwardly laughed.

We stood for a while in silence, observing everyone chatting, dancing and laughing with each other.

"You look nice by the way" He smiled up at me, as I was slightly taller than him.