Chapter 8

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"This is shit," Penny complained, tossing a bundle of clothes onto her bed. "Everything I own is terrible. I can't wear it tonight."

A week had passed, and it was now the night of Adrian's toilet-meade party. I had been studying medical magic until my eyes bled almost every free chance I got. My notebook of paintings remained untouched this week. As I dressed for the evening, I could almost hear it calling to me from my bookbag, begging to be painted in again; but I had made a promise to Draco that was cemented in my brain. It played over and over like a bad song.

I have to be prepared to heal him. Whatever he needs, whether that be a burn, a cut, a jinx, I have to know how to fix it all. I knew it was a daunting task the second I asked Madam Pomfrey for her recommended readings, and she listed off at least twenty titles, all encyclopedias. Of course, she thought I was studying out of my own interest. My promise to Draco was our secret.

"You can borrow something of mine," Evelyn offered. She was wearing a cream blouse that accented what little curves she had. Otherwise, she was practically a rectangle. She was using her wand as a curling iron on Greta's hair.

Penny scoffed at Evelyn's offer. "No, I can't wear something of yours. It would never fit." She gestured to her chest, which was quite honestly the biggest of all of ours. "Greta, let me see your clothes."

"O-okay," she gestured Penny to her wardrobe, but Penny was already on her way there. She rifled through the clothes. "Ugh, is this really all you have?" She turned around to look at me sitting on my bed. I was ready and just waiting for everyone else. "Is that what you're wearing, Erica?"

I looked down at my denim pleated skirt and striped sweater. "Yes," I replied, unsure what was the matter with it. I had even brushed my hair, and put on a bit of makeup, something I neglected to do most days.

Penny sucked her cheek. "That sweater is a bit conservative, don't you think?"

I replied, "W-well I have a top on underneath. I just didn't want the prefects to see me in the halls and suspect something." That was a lie. I had no intentions of taking off my sweater tonight. It wasn't that cold out, but the thought of everyone seeing me in the tank top I was wearing under my sweater didn't sit right with me.

Penny considered my words. "Shit, that's smart," she said decisively. "If someone sees us looking like tramps we'll be caught for certain."

The boys had told us to come at half past ten, because that was when most people were either out already or asleep. We managed to head over right on schedule, even though Penny changed her outfit three times and Greta almost left with mismatching shoes. We tried to be sneaky, since girls going to the boys dorms was forbidden; but I knew people did it anyway. I kept my wand tucked into the waistband of my skirt just in case.

Penny knocked at the door three times. Adrian opened the door right away, and as soon as he did the smell of something horrible hit my nose.

"Heeey," Adrian greeted Penny, looking her up and down. "Come on in, ladies." We all filed in, each of us being subjected to Adrian's scans. I tugged the hem of my skirt down when I walked by.

The boys' room was the same as ours; stone walls and floors, with four-poster beds with Slytherin tapestries hanging from the walls. There were no windows so the only light was from their bedside lamps and a teal lava-lamp on a shelf. Adrian's roommates were seated in the center around a table and a decanter of some brown liquid. "Well, well," Penny said, "What do we have here?"

"Homemade meade," Adrian said proudly, shutting the door firmly and locking it. "My own recipe."

Evelyn, Greta and Penny all shed their outer layers and took seats around the table, sandwiching themselves between Adrian's roommates, Dimitri and Robbie. Adrian took a spot right between Penny and Greta that I was eyeing, but a seat was left open next to Cade, which I assumed was meant for me.

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