Muffled shouts echoed up the stone staircase from the common room below. Every single one of my instincts screamed for me to stay put; to hole up in my bedsheets until the morning. But it would only make things worse to do that.
Still early on a Friday night, the corner table of the common room was littered with bottles of Ogden's and food snaked from the Great Hall. Students congregated in groups, the main gathering happening in front of the fireplace. Celine squealed, bouncing over at the sight of me.
"Feeling better, are you?"
I nodded, brushing her off quickly with the excuse of looking for a drink. A slight frostiness emanated from the couch as I passed by, Pansy and her crew scattered on the most comfortable furniture in front of the fireplace. I made a point not to acknowledge them, moving with ease over to the drink table. Pouring my cup, I examined the food. Meat pies and various sweets thrown haphazardly on silver platters. I scrunched up my nose, poking at one of the pies with a pinky finger.
"Not a fan, eh?" Blaise came up beside me, picking up the Ogden's and refilling his own cup.
"No. Not at all." I drank. My stomach rumbled from emptiness, regret at leaving dinner early sinking in.
Blaise reached into his pocket, pulling out a familiar thin cardboard box. My eyes lit up at the packaging. "I'll share. Just this once, though." He tipped the open end of the box toward me. I took a licorice wand out, biting off the tip. Its red sweetness filled me up with happiness.
"Thanks. I really needed that."
"I bet," he said, tipping his cup toward the fireplace. "I don't envy you girls. All the drama." He shuddered.
"Trust me, I don't want it."
"It follows you."
"I hadn't noticed."
Blaise chuckled, his smile crooked. I already felt that lightheaded rush of happiness that came with drinking on an empty stomach. I tipped the cup farther up to get the last drops of liquid into my body. I didn't want to risk it going away. Not yet.
"It isn't you. They've got nothing better to worry about, is all." I took another shot, only half listening to Blaise, who'd leaned into my ear closer than expected. "I mean, why would they? Pureblood girls grow up hearing about two things: men and gossip." I cocked my head to the side, intrigued by his insight. He lifted up a cheers after I drained what was left in the bottle into his cup. "I've got sisters." He downed the next shot with me in unison. The girls by the fireplace tittered. Blaise shook his head. "They all are like that. Except you, I've noticed."
"I haven't got any sisters." As if that solved the mystery. Lips tingling, head lolling, body rocking. I turned my body toward Blaise, closing off all sight to Pansy and her cohorts.
"And your mum?"
The warmth of the alcohol drained from my body, the stopper holding it in yanked without any warning. The happiness went along with it, the drunkenness in me feeling darker now. Dirty. "What about her?"
"You didn't hear her talking about those things with her friends at afternoon tea?"
I stopped bothering with the cup, taking an un-opened bottle of Ogden's by the neck. "No. Not exactly." I unscrewed the cap.
"You alright, then? Didn't know you went so hard," he said, noting the wobble in my stance. He held out his hand against the small of my back for balance. Genuine concern that I might fall over face first into the platter of pies.
