A Wizard's Misgivings

CHAPTER TWELVE

Waking up was probably the worst part of any party, Phil decided. He awoke with a groan, which managed to hurt his throat. His tongue felt thick and heavy, and his mouth tasted worse than the time when he was six and convinced that his toothbrush was actually alive and trying to pull out his teeth. He managed to pry his eyes open (with a gross, sticky feeling, left over from slept-in contacts) and took a look around the room, trying desperately to ignore the throbbing at the back of his skull.

The Slytherin common room had never been so full. Being Slytherins, no one would normally dare fall asleep in the common room. Not unless you wanted to wake up and realize that you'd been horrendously pranked. Phil had witnessed many of these in his time, including but not limited to, the time Joshua Hancock was stuck to the ceiling with a Sticking Charm, the time Peruvia McGlean was tied to her chair and then shoved into the corridors, and the time Peter Valinsky's cat was stuffed into a decorative vase.

Nobody seemed to have been pranked overnight, however, seeing as they were all too exhausted or drunk to do anything. Phil couldn't believe that all the students from other houses had let themselves fall asleep here either, as if any of the Slytherins had been less intoxicated, those people would've been the first to wake up with their hands tied. Various people slept around the room, in varying levels of comfiness. There were those who had actually snagged the couches and chairs, and those who had fallen asleep against them or on a clear stretch of ground, but there were also those forced to scrunch into awkward and uncomfortable positions. Dan Howell being one of them.

Phil sat up quietly, and smiled in amusement. Dan was stuck firmly between Louise and Zoe, who were both facing him and cuddling him as hard as possible. Louise had both her arms flung around Dan, and Zoe had one of her arms laid across them both, with her legs tangled with Dan's (Phil would be sure to tease her about this later). Dan was sleeping quite peacefully, his chin tucked into his own chest, his arms pillowed beneath his face. Phil was less alarmed than he should've been to find that he thought Dan looked absolutely adorable, with his mouth hanging open slightly, and his hair falling over his eyes.

Of course, being cuddled by two attractive girls was any straight man's dream. Dan Howell wasn't straight, however, so this was probably wasn't too spectacular for him. And, if Phil were to be completely honest with himself, it probably wouldn't be too spectacular for himself either. He wasn't brave enough to actually touch some fluxweed venom and find out (he wasn't a Gryffindor, after all) but if Phil had to guess, he'd wager that he'd be completely fine even if he was submerged in a pool of the venom. And looking down at the three people beside him, it was clear which one he would most want to cuddle. (Of course, this wasn't in any way possible, seeing as cuddling for him would just be pain for the other.)

"Hmm?" Dan mumbled, which also happened to be one of the cutest things in the world. Phil then realized that he'd never had the pleasure of seeing Dan wake up, and so, creepily, he watched with rapt attention.

Dan frowned as he started to slowly wake up, and he tried to roll to the side, only to be blocked by Zoe. His eyes were still closed, but his frown deepened in confusion, and he tried to shift to the other side, but bumped into Louise. He then seemingly became aware of the fact that he was completely entangled with other people, and he gasped. His eyes shot open, darting from side to side.

He seemed to relax, realizing that it was only a couple of friends, but he still seemed kind of flustered at the prospect of being cuddled. He tried, gingerly, to pry one of Louise's arms off him, but she only tightened her grip, pulling Dan even closer to her, so he was smushed against his chest. Dan let out a minuscule kind of squeak, and tried to back away, but Zoe had noticed the movement and scooted closer in response, effectively trapping Dan between the two of them. He struggled fruitlessly for a few moments, before sighing and slumping into Louise, admitting defeat. It was then that Phil snickered.