“Merlin, I thought those ministry goons would never leave.” Theo sighed dramatically, as he flopped down across the fainting couch, a hand thrown haphazardly across his face.
“Gee, Theo, it’s almost as if you think you’re important or something.” Draco drawled, filling glasses with fire whiskey and elf wine at the wet bar in the corner.
“Oh, Darling, you should know better by now, I practically ooze importance.”
Pansy rolled her eyes from her spot on a sofa beside Neville, whose hands were surprisingly…active. His left hand was gliding up and down her back, every so often, slipping around her front to caress her abdomen, his thumb skimming the underside of her breasts. His right hand was sliding along her thigh, from knee to hip and back again, every so often dipping down to caress her inner thigh.
Pansy for her part, looked quite like the cat who ate the canary.
It would seem Dora isn’t the only one who had garnered extra attention tonight.
“Theodore, behave, or else the Blacks won’t let you come back. Surely, you remember at least an ounce of your etiquette lessons?” Pansy drawled.
“Oh, but of course, Pansalina, I remember quite well, when you threw the entire pitcher of lemonade down Madame LeFou’s dress robes when she told you that your abrasive personality would not only be a stain on your family’s ledger, but also it would surely lead you down the path of becoming an old maid.”
“That wench had it coming for her. She was a right cow.” Pansy glowered.
“Blaise bloody smooth talked her out of lessons all the bloody time.” Theo grumbled.
“Yes…for him. The rest of us still had to endure her wretchedness.” Draco sighed.
“Be lucky you didn’t have to take etiquette lessons from my Gran,” Neville mumbled, his body breaking out into a full-body shiver. “I was taught the OLD ways of chivalry…such as those rules pertaining to knighthood and the ilk…not sure why it mattered, not like we live in medieval times or anything.”
“Nev, are you sure your Gran never partook in Flamel’s Elixir of Life?” Harry jokingly asked.
“Honestly? I wouldn’t put it past her.” Neville shrugged.
“Right then, who wants a drink?” Draco offered as he levitated the glasses of fire whiskey over to the group.
“Send one my way, mate, in fact, go ahead and pass me the bottle too, I’m aiming to be positively sozzled.” George grimaced as he entered the parlor room we had absconded to and sat beside Harry. “I just walked in on my brother with Sirius…and fuck me, Godric, but that was some unbelievably kinky shit that I never expected from either of them…may need an obliviate as well.”
“Sharing is not always caring George.” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. Harry’s face was screwed up in disgust as well and he mimed gagging.
“Haha nice! Good for Sirius, Cissa has been all over his arse this week to get this place properly fixed up in time for the Ball…he definitely needed somewhere to dip his wick, if you know what I mean.” Theo chuckled.
“Oh, no. You misunderstood…Charlie was doing all of the dipping…and Merlin, but I saw way too much of my brother's Dragon-sized fuck tool. Also, if anyone ever wondered, yes, Sirius does have daddy issues.”
“GEORGE! I SWEAR TO FUCKING MERLIN! / FUCK NO, WE ARE NOT HAVING THIS CONVERSATION.” Harry and I exclaimed at the same time, Harry looking about as queasy as I felt.
Theo and pansy were cackling in delight, while Draco was soothingly rubbing my back.
“Uh…anyways, I think mother had a muggle record player installed in this room at the behest of Aunt ‘Dromeda. Perhaps we could…see which records are available?” Draco intervened, effectively stopping the current line of conversation.
“Oh, I wonder if there’s anything recent.” I gasped, standing up and pulling Harry with me to inspect the available collection.
“Merlin, I never wanted to know that about Sirius…” he sighed, carding his hand through his unruly hair.
“That makes two of us.” I grimaced.
We were sorting through the records, lots of rock from the 60’s and 70’s; Queen, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Lynard Skynyrd and Aerosmith primarily with a smattering of The Beetles and The Beach Boys more popular albums. There were even a few more recent bands like Guns N’ Roses, Smashing Pumpkins and Foo Fighters.
“Oh, Merlin.” Harry whispered, lifting a record from the stack. “One of these things is not like the others.” He joked, waving the album.
Unlike the rest of the bands, which were primarily rock, Technotronic’s, Too House to Handle, was decidedly, NOT rock n’ roll.
Not unless pigs were flying somewhere over the States.
“Oh, hell, Theo would probably dig the shit out of this.” Harry sighed.
“Just like he loves The Spice Girls and N’Sync.” I sighed.
We exchanged glances, sighing simultaneously when we both knew which album would be the winner of tonight’s chaos.
Harry slid the record out of the sleeve and carefully placed it on the player, flipping the switch to make it spin and then carefully lifting the needle and lining it up with the edge of the vinyl record before setting it down.
It made a slight scratching sound, before it started playing the music.
PUMP UP THE JAM PUMP IT UP WHILE YOUR FEET ARE STOMPING AND THE JAM IS PUMPING LOOK AHEAD, THE CROWD IS JUMPING
“What the bloody hell is this beautiful noise???” Theo gasped, springing up from his dramatic pose across the fainting couch.
“That…would the dulcet techno tones of Technotronic.” I sighed.
George had also perked up at this point as well.
PUMP IT UP A LITTLE MORE GET THE PARTY GOIN’ ON THE DANCE FLOOR
“Oh, hell yes, I do believe this is my new jam! Back up Spicy Girls, Technoponies is my new go-to!” Theo exclaimed, jumping up excitedly. “Weasley! You’re not a snooty bumpkin like the others, shall we do the work of Merlin just as the song requires, and get this party ‘going on the dance floor’?”
Pansy gasped, offended by the inference that she would be anything less than the life of the party.
“Why, young Theodore, I do believe we shall!” he exclaimed, also jumping up to join Theo in the middle of the room.
“Oh, Merlin…” Harry and I sighed.
The two idiots began hopping, stomping, spinning and flopping around the room, flailing their arms around in crazy arcs as they swung their hips to and from to match the beat. At one point, they even swung each other in a mock waltz and, perhaps a rudimentary tango at best?
Draco shook his head exasperatedly at the two goofs.
“Salazar, but I’m certain this isn’t how my mother saw tonight ending.”
Theo and George had kept the party going for roughly an hour before they tired of listening to the same songs, and not wanting to dig through the impressive collection of records to find a new one to party along to, George had excused himself through the floo, promising to keep in touch and pulling promises out of us to visit him at his Hogsmeade location.
Pans and I had trudged up to my room, leaving the guys behind to deal with Theo and his exuberance, flopping down onto my large bed after changing into our sleep clothes; Pansy wore an emerald green acromantula silk nightie with a matching dressing gown, and somehow, Pansy had forced me into a matching periwinkle set.
“Oh, fuck me Salazar…did you SEE Neville in his dress robes tonight?! Ugh, he looked positively fuckable. That man is the absolute definition of puberty gone right.”
I giggled at her bluntness.
“Merlin, Pans, keep it in the pants.”
“That’s the problem!! He’s keeping it in the pants, and I want it OUT of the pants.”
“He didn’t look like he wanted to keep it in the pants for much longer.” I smirked.
“You mean before Theodore and Georgie made absolute arses out of themselves?” She cocked a brow. I chuckled and nodded. “Salazar’s Balls, I KNOW!! Whew. Do you know how difficult it was to act unaffected by his wandering hands?? His hands!! They have bulging veins from being a Keeper this year. Oh Gods. And his thighs. Merlin…broom thighs sure are something else, aren’t they?”
“Oh, they sure are…but seriously. Please don’t keep going down that path, I’ve known Neville since he was a bumbling first year, he’s practically a brother at this point…please don’t make me listen to you fawn all over his physical attributes…I get enough of that from Theo about Harry…and now those…lovely tidbits about Sirius and Charlie.” I shivered in revulsion at the reminder of my earlier trauma. “Merlin, I’m never going to be able to look either of them in the eye again.”
Pansy cackled at the reminder.
“Oh Merlin, your face when George said that! I thought I was going to suffocate from how much I was laughing!!”
“Is that so?” I asked, faux innocently, reaching behind me to grab a pillow and then swinging it around to smack Pansy in the side. She let out an ‘OOF’ as her eyes opened wide in shock.
“Oh, it is so on, Cousin.” She smirked, grabbing a pillow of her own and swinging it at me.
We both jumped up on our knees, swinging our respective pillows at each other, laughing and careless of who we may or may not be waking up with our racket.
I had gotten a particularly good swing on Pansy when a loud *POP* signaled the arrival of Mimsey.
“Mistress be telling Mimsey to tell yous to be quiet’s or she be having Mimsey wake yous up to help make breakfast at 6am. Is Mimsey clear?”
“Yes, Mimsey. Sorry, Mimsey.” We mumbled, properly chided.
“Mimsey be requiring a new necklace of diamonds or rubies or emeralds as payment for beings woken up so late.”
“Of course, Mimsey. I’ll get you one of each, and Pansy will supply a bracelet to match all three, won’t you, Cousin?”
“Oh, certainly. Only the best for our favorite Elf.” Pansy smirked.
Mimsey nodded, properly cajoled.
“Good night, Missy Mi and Pansy. Breakfast being served at 9am, all family being required to attend.”
“Good night, Mimsey.” We answered simultaneously with matching beguiling grins.
Mimsey disappeared with another loud *POP* and Pansy and I were left to stare at the spot she had been standing in previously.
We turned to glance at each other and broke down into uncontrollable giggles for a few minutes. It took multiple attempts over the next several minutes to calm down, as any time we looked at one another, we broke down into another round of hysterics.
But, once we had properly settled down again, we rearranged the pillows and blankets and crawled into bed. The bedside clock was showing half past 2am.
“Merlin, it sure is late, and morning is going to come much too soon.” Pansy groaned.
“Mmm, I agree…” I yawned, reaching towards Pansy, blindly searching for her hand. Once I found it, I grasped her hand in my own and squeezed it. She squeezed back tightly.
“Good night, Cousin. Sweet dreams.” She sighed, the last bit going a bit slurred as she fell asleep.
“Night, Pans…sweet dreams to you as well…”
Flashes of scenes play out…vacant stares and empty pictures…’no please, I didn’t- I didn’t take it!’…the rattle of a swinging chandelier…’we didn’t take anything!’…the snap of a snake’s jaws…’please, please stop’…the glinting of light off a blade…’I didn’t take it!’…a flash of green light…’please, please! I didn’t take it!’
I woke up gasping, flailing my arms and feeling constricted and trapped by the sheets tangled around my legs.
“Hermione! Cousin! You’re okay, it was just a nightmare, you’re okay!” Pansy called out, reaching for my arm, but I only swung it away.
I could hear her, faintly, over the pounding of my blood in my ears, but I wasn’t registering what she said, still consumed by the fear of the hellscape of my nightmares.
I could scarcely make out the door to my bedroom being flung open as four sets of anxious feet clamored inside. Then a pair of strong, warm arms wrapped around me, holding me tight. At first, I gasped and struggled to get away, but then the soothing whispers started to trickle in, and a warm presence flowed into my subconscious, easing me out of my current state of fear.
“…Shh, Sweetheart, you’re okay, no one is going to hurt you, that wicked witch is dead, she can’t get to you ever again. Shh, it’s okay, shh…That bloody snake is dead too, Nev here made sure of that. Come on, Mia, slow, deep breath in, hold it for 5 seconds, and let it out. Good girl, do it again…That’s my brilliant, Little Witch.”
I calmed as the soothing words finally registered in my mind and I recognized the voice as Draco’s. I inhaled a few shaky breaths, sighed and slumped back against his chest, closing my eyes as I calmed my breathing to match his.
I opened my eyes and saw the worried visages of my brother, Cousin, Theo and Neville. I grimaced.
“I—I’m sorry for worrying all of you…it was a nightmare…a really BAD nightmare, but still just a nightmare.”
“Do you want us to…stay, with you?” Harry asked, gnawing on his lower lip, worriedly.
I shrugged my shoulders as well as I could with Draco still wrapped around me, bit my lip in contemplation for half a second, and then quickly gave in, nodding my head in the affirmative to his question.
“Yes, please…” I whispered.
Pansy and I scooted in closer to the middle of the bed, clasping hands. I whispered quiet words of comfort to her. ‘I’m okay, I promise. I’m sorry I scared you.’ And she responded with ‘It’s okay, I forgive you. I was just worried…because you’re my person.’ Our hands remained locked together.
Draco slid in behind me, getting as close to my back as he could and wrapping his arms tightly around my waist and shoulders. His upper left arm was tucked securely under my neck, and I felt a tingle go down my spine as our gold lines brushed together. Neville was in a similar position behind Pansy.
And Harry was being spooned by Theo at the foot of the bed, both of them close enough to wrap a hand around one of my ankles. Whether it was a comfort measure for them or me, was unclear…probably both.
I glanced down to see their eyes worriedly trained on me.
Yes, probably both.
“Sleep now, âme sœur, I promise to keep you safe from the nightmares.” Draco whispered against my ear, pressing a tender kiss behind it. I felt his mind magic brush softly up against my mind and knew he could keep his promise.
I closed my eyes, surrounded by some of my favorite people, and quickly fell back under the soothing lull of Morpheus.
Merlin, morning was going to come way too soon.