alluringly entwined | f.w, d.m

12

"Yeah, that's true." Forest nodded and stuffed more berries into her mouth.

"Speaking of..." Da'Shylah's voice trailed off, her gaze directed to the Great Hall doors.

Oshun's eyes followed her friend's and saw the handsome redhead strolling into the Great Hall with Hermione by his side. She seemed to have been blabbing about something as she held his hand.

As the couple walked by, Oshun's eyes met the golden one's and she smiled subtly at him.

Fred's face was stone-cold.

Oshun's smile fell as the couple strolled off and went to sit at their usual spot down the table.

Joaquin winced and shook his head, but he winced again when Da'Shylah's palm collided with the back of his head.

"Stop wincing at times like these before I give you a good damn reason to wince," she drawled towards the boy.

"Threatening me now?" Joaquin blinked at her, offended. "Blimey, Jones."

"Zip it." Her fingers ran across her lips in a gesture of zipping her lips.

"Maybe... maybe you were talking to George last night and not Fred." Forest was so obviously trying to make her friend feel better.

"I can tell them apart easily," Oshun mumbled, and crossed her forearms over the edge of their table. Her face was absolutely crestfallen. "It was Fred I was talking to at the party."

"It's okay, Oshun." Da'Shylah reached her hand over to rub her friend's arm comfortingly. "It's only the first day of November."

Forest nodded quickly, encouragingly. "Surely there'll be more time for you and Fred to talk things through and get on the same page," she soothed.

Oshun nodded. "But anyways. How was the party for you guys?" she perked up. "Did you guys have fun?"

"Mavi said she quite liked it," Da'Shylah mentioned with a heartfelt smile. "She stayed with Luna, Padma, Cho, and I."

"That's good." Joaquin nodded indulgently as he buttered up some more toast. "At least she figured out she fancies parties now rather than later."

"Yeah, I saw her having fun," Forest chimed with smiling eyes. "She really looked like she was enjoying herself. I've never actually seen her that loosened up before."

"It's the alcohol," Da'Shylah said, stifling a slight laugh. "She was a bit tense at first, but once she did a few shots, she wasn't so tense."

"Alcohol tends to have that effect." Oshun laughed and grabbed her fork to put some fruit onto her plate. "Are all the parties always like that? Loud? Wild? Chaotic?" she mused.

"It depends, honestly," Joaquin answered, and the toast crunched between his teeth as he bit into it.

"Some parties are different, depending on the location," Forest explained, and plopped a fluffy pancake onto her plate.

"Slytherin common room parties are always wild and messy." Da'Shylah crossed her forearms over the edge of the table, leaning forward a bit. "Hufflepuff common room parties are more put together, but still wild. Ravenclaw parties are the most euphoric and chill since most of the drugs come from my housemates. Gryffindor parties are like Slytherin ones—messy and wild."

Oshun nodded as she attempted to keep up with her friend's rapid words. "And what about the Room of Requirement?" she asked, and jabbed a cubed mango with her fork.

"The parties in that room are the most chaotic because it's more of a bigger space, so more people tend to come," Joaquin said as he brushed his hands off to the side, dusting off crumbs.