13.1
After Party-
The wind howls around us. As do the cheers of students in the stands of their respective houses. If there's one thing that all four of the houses can agree on, it's Quidditch. Yellow and red-clad players fly past us as the game heats up. My arm is wrapped around Adelaide while we sit close to be able to hear each other. She yells out when Hufflepuff finally lands a point. I must admit that the crowd's screaming makes my ears bleed now. I used to be able to handle it, but recently, that hasn't been true. My girls are safe in the castle doing whatever they want while I'm stuck out here to make Adelaide happy.
The cheers of the Gryffindor stands are deafening as I watch their team score another point. Adding onto their inevitable win. The score is 80 to 20. I watch as the Hufflepuff keeper does a nosedive after what we can only assume is the snitch. The Gryffindor keeper follows him immediately.
It takes another hour for the game to come to a finish. Gryffindor won in a landslide, as per usual. The only other team that stands a chance most of the time is my own house. On our way down the stairs of the stand, I get a text. I ignore it for now. I wait to open my phone until we are back in the castle. It's from Remus, telling me my "girlfriend" and I are invited to the Gryffindor common room's after-party. I accept by sending him that we'll be there.
I lean in towards Adelaide and let her know about the party. I get a smile and nod in return. We move with the crowd. No one pushes us as we make our way to the Gryffindor Tower. Once there, we see the painting of the Fat Lady wide open and welcoming us. As we approach, we can see and hear the students in the common room celebrating. There is music and alcohol like at every party in the castle.
I let Adelaide lead me to the drink table. I observe the near full room. This is the first time I've been in the Gryffindor common room. I let go of Adelaide and let her go to Merlin knows where. Remus finds me in the packed room. He leans in and welcomes me to the party he and his friends sponsored. Remus leads me to an empty couch in the corner with a clear view of the entire room. I see Adelaide sitting on a sofa across the room, talking to people I don't recognize. Remus and I people watch while quietly commenting to each other about what others are doing or wearing. We get each other to laugh a few times before settling into comfortable silence.
"Is it true that you've been shagging Proff. Royale?" His tone is sarcastic, but it still catches me off guard. I burst out laughing at the question. I catch a glance of the boy's crooked smile as he watches me in my laughing fit. I calm down and go on to defend myself.
"Absolutely not," I wipe my eyes." Where in Merlin did you hear that from?" He throws his arm onto the back of the couch with his features showing humor.
"You know, just around." I shake my laughter off before he continues. "You are seen entering his office a lot from what I've heard." The tips of his fingers graze my shoulder.
I open my mouth to respond when, over the music, I hear Adelaide shout. I'm on my feet in an instant. Leaving behind a confused Remus, who follows behind me. Weaving through the crowd, I push my way to my friend. I quickly realize what is happening when I come to a stop. I see two girls on the couch yelling at each other about something I don't catch when I see Adelaide make a fist and try to launch towards the other girl. I react as fast as I can. Grabbing the fist mid-air and pulling her towards my chest in one swift motion. At first, she fights back until I whisper in her ear, trying to calm her down a little. I can clearly see that both girls are more than a little tipsy as I make my way away from that couch where people are still yelling.
"She-she called you a whore." She slurred while pointing back in the direction we just came from and at the girl who was shit-talking.
"Okay-okay," I twist her in my arms. The only thing on my mind was getting her to the Ravenclaw Tower and hopefully finding one of her friends to get her to her dorm safely. I have never been to her dorm, and I doubt she could give me directions in her state. I make it out of the common room while Remus is left behind, trying to calm everyone down peacefully.
Our pace is slow as we make our way through the school corridors. I walk slowly so that she can keep up with me. I decide to just carry the stumbling girl on my back as I hear footsteps approaching us from far away. I pick up my pace and reach the Ravenclaw tower without getting caught. As we make it further away from the commotion, her words begin to drift off. She talks about anything that comes to her mind. As we make our way to the tower, she tells me about her home life, which we never discuss. She tells me from behind my shoulder that her mother controls her appearance and weight.
"And- then she will hit me with a wood stick to correct my posture." She stumbles over her words when she realizes where we are. I answer the riddle without help from the girl on my back and enter the common room. I walk in to see a few people in the open room. That's when I made eye contact with two girls I recognized as the girls that Adelaide introduced me to. I set the girl down as the two girls approached us. They don't ask what happened when I hand her off to them and watch as they walk to the girls' dorms, where they are located.
I wait alone in the middle of the floor until I hear footsteps coming back from where they went a few minutes later. I see that it's Heather. She asked me what had happened, and I told her what I knew. She nods and tells me Adelaide will be okay in their hands for the night.
"You should watch her more when she drinks. She gets into fights before thinking." She tells me this before returning to where she just came from. I don't stick around any longer. I exit the tower before standing right in front of the statue. I don't want to go back to the party, but I also don't want to go to my one common room.
I start to walk mindlessly. I walk for a while before I realize where my mind leads me. I head up the stairs of the astronomy tower. Once at the top, I lean against the ledge and light a cigarette. I watch the stars as the green smoke from the lit cigarette flows upwards. I hear the door open as I take the last drag before crushing it on the ledge I'm leaning on. I debated about trying to hide from the person coming up the stairs, but I decided not to. I doubt it is anyone who can give me detention.
Even with my back turned, I know who it is once they take the final step. I smell the familiar scent of coffee, chocolate, and books and smile to myself. Remus takes his place at my side and leans beside me. We sit silently for a good while, simply staring at the night sky and the waxing moon. He doesn't ask me about the fight, and I don't tell him. I push myself away from the ledge and reach the floor below this one. He follows me down. I sit on one of the floor pillows, laying my bag on my right, and he sits on my right. We lean on the wall together.
"Why are you up here and not with your girls?" It's a valid question that not even I know, so I shrug my shoulders in response.
"Why are you up here and not with your boys?" He mimics me and shrugs. We're staring in front of us, neither looking at the other. We sit in comfortable silence once again.
"What have you been reading?" Comes out of my mouth before I think about stopping it. I get a small chuckle from him, and it makes me relieved I hadn't just fucked things up.
We talked to each other about the books we read recently. If there is ever nothing to talk about between the two of us, we always go back to this topic to keep each other talking. That is until Remus' phone goes off in the middle of him describing the plot of his latest find.
I see his phone for a split second and see the name "Padfoot" on the screen before he answers and puts it to his ear. On either end of the call, I can hear the voice of a sloshed Sirius talking about how he wants Remus to come back.
"I'm with Leon, mate; I can't." This gets the drunk Sirius to gasp and tell him to put him on speaker. I see Remus roll his eyes before he does as asked. I now hear Sirius moving around more clearly until we hear a crash, and he starts apologizing in the background before talking into the phone.
"You-you know that big black dog that used to sit with you while yo-you read?" He doesn't give either of us time to respond. "Yeah, that was Moi. I loved it when you read to me under the sun." "Okay, that's enough," Remus cuts him off, seeming a little panicked. I wish I could tell him that I already know, but that would lead to places I don't want to get into tonight. Remus hangs up on him without a warning. He avoids eye contact for a moment before meeting my gaze.
"Forget what he said. He is clearly drunk." Drunk words are sober thoughts. I just nod as I watch him get to his feet. "I need to ensure they haven't burned the tower down." Remus has a small smile when he tells me good night.
Now, it's just me once again.
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