𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 (𝖽𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖿𝗈𝗒 𝗑 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋)

chapter thirty-five

Bringing nothing but snow and excitement, December came quickly. The students were all bubbly, ready to take a break from the constant studying and pressure from the teachers. Most of the students were returning home for the holidays, and Harry and I would be joining the Weasleys at the Burrow.

As exciting as going home was, there was something even better coming: Professor Slughorn's Christmas party. The only people invited were those in the Slug Club, Slughorn's group of what he called elite students. Each member was allowed to bring another student, but I wasn't sure who to invite.

The first people I asked were Draco and Star, but when they both politely refused the invite, I realised how little friends I actually had in this school. Eventually, I decided to go alone.

The night came quickly. All of the students were giddy since it was the last night before returning home, except for Star, who helped me get ready for the party. Despite my endless pestering, she wouldn't explain what was bothering her. She won in the end, since I had to leave to meet Harry outside of the Slytherin area.

"You look lovely," Harry noted as I walked up to him. A blonde Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood, stood on his other side, wearing a beautiful blue dress.

I laughed and thanked him. "You're not too bad yourself. As to you, Luna."

Slughorn's office was in the dungeons, not too far from the Slytherin House. We entered the office unnoticed, due to the distractions the room held. The ceiling and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson, and gold fabrics and streamers. There were different coloured lights strung about, casting the room in a beautiful light. Fluttering around the lights were real fairies, each hosting their own bright speck of light.

When I finally tore my attention from the ceiling, I was drawn to the actual room. Loud singing and some sort of uncommon instrument sounded from the corner of the room, barely audible over the chatter of the people. I recognised many students, but there were also multiple older wizards and witches I didn't know.

Something gently bumped into my leg and I heard a small apology. When I looked down to see what hit me, I saw a House-elf holding a silver platter filled with food. I then noticed many other House-elves, roaming around and serving the partygoers.

"Oh, look!" Luna said, her voice light and dreamy. "There's Hermione."

I looked up to see Hermione Granger duck under a table, her pale pink dress doing nothing to help her blend in with her surroundings. I walked over to the table, which held punch and cups, and bent down to greet her. She scowled at me at first, but when she saw Harry next to me, her face softened and she came out from under the table.

"Sorry," she said to Harry, "I'm trying to stay away from Cormac McLaggen. I invited him instead of Ron and now I regret it." Hermione glanced at me, then back at my brother. "Is everything alright with you two again?

"Yeah," Harry answered as I nodded.

"That's good," Hermione responded. "I love your dress, Luna. Oh! There's Cormac. Quick, um, help," she said quickly, ducking back under the table.

We leaned against the table, shielding her from sight. McLaggen approached us, looking confused. "Have you guys seen Hermione?" he asked.

"No," we answered in unison.

"Oh."

He left, and Hermione emerged once more. "Let's go somewhere else."

Luna, Harry, and I followed her through the office, moving around quickly to avoid Hermione's redundant date.

As we were moving behind a curtain, the office door slammed open, crashing into the wall and bouncing back. Filch pushed the door out of his face once more and walked in, dragging a very pale and exhausted-looking Draco behind him.