The pool party was an immediate success. Tee's iPod was set up once again, though right in the corner, far away from the water. The main bath was huge – bigger than your average swimming pool and definitely big enough to accommodate the remaining Gryffindors and the dozen Hufflepuffs. The twins had gathered a supply of food from the kitchens and everyone had generously donated alcohol. Empty and half empty bottles littered the room.
"We may have to assign cleaners," said Hermione Granger to no one in particular.
Kayley, Marie and Sumayyah were crowding round Cedric and one of his friends with curly hair in the shallow end; Rose and George were sat on the side talking quietly between themselves; Tee was making out with Sam again in the deep end; and Fred was having fun with all the different taps, occasionally bombarding Harry and Ron with thick foam.
"Now this is a real party!" exclaimed Marie, who'd now managed to coax Rose over into their little Cedric-based group. George had gone to join Fred in foam-and-bubble mayhem.
"I'm not sure if I agree with the whole drinking-till-you-puke, making-out-with-everyone ideal though," said Rose.
"Who's drinking till they puke?" asked Cedric's curly-haired friend.
"No one yet, as far as I know. But it's only a matter of time with this much alcohol around," stated Rose.
"It'll probably be Sum first," laughed Marie.
"Hey, why me?" protested Sumayyah.
"Well remember that time we came to yours? You drank till you made yourself sick," Kayley pointed out. "And I had to clean it up!"
"Sorry, Kayls," apologised Sumayyah. "At least I'm not as bad as Marie though. She's drunk every day and going at it with any guy she sees."
Marie laughed at the over-exaggeration. "Well I'm not as bad as Tee!" she exclaimed, pointing out Tee and Sam.
Cedric and his friend laughed. "That's a shame. I think Tom quite liked her," said Cedric.
"Trust me; it isn't a permanent thing," reassured Rose, resisting the urge to laugh. "It wouldn't surprise me if she's snogged him as well by the end of the night."
"Is this a bit of a regular thing then?" asked George, who had reappeared at Rose's side.
"It's what you do at parties," said Marie casually. "Well, what we do anyway. It's just a bit of fun."
"And you don't go in for that much?" Cedric asked Rose directly.
Rose went very red and forgot what her answer would be. She came to her senses after a few moments and realised what an idiot she must look, so she shook her head furiously.
Before Cedric could say anymore, George interrupted. "Come on, Rose, come for a swim."
Rose let herself be led back down further to the deep end, trying not to look back at Cedric. She registered with a grin that Tee was now sat at the side of the bath, talking to Jensen. Sam had probably gone to cool off.
"You've turned my buddy into a man-whore," Jensen had said with a grin when he'd sat down beside Tee.
"Why; does he make out with everyone?" asked Tee.
"No, it's only when you're around," laughed Jensen. "You're a bad influence."
"Only when there's a party and/or alcohol around," grinned Tee, toasting him her nearly empty bottle. "He doesn't take it seriously, does he?"
"No, don't worry," reassured Jensen. "Like I said, it's just you that turns him into a man-whore."
Tee laughed. "Good-o!" She drained the last of her cherry vodka mix. "So what about you? How come you're not pursuing Rose anymore? I'm sure she enjoyed it."
Jensen smiled. "I don't think her boyfriend would be very happy about that."
"Boyfriend?" Tee repeated, frowning. "What boyfriend? Rose hasn't got a boyfriend."
"Sure she has," said Jensen, pointing out George to her.
"George? No, they're just friends," explained Tee simply. "Everyone knows the four of us always hang out together."
"I dunno about that," said Jensen with a shrug.
Tee didn't get the chance to think anymore about it though, because she was suddenly pushed roughly into the water. Surfacing, it didn't take a genius to figure out the culprit. "Fred Weasley, I'm gonna kick your ass!"
She scrambled out of the water and over to where Fred was stood, still laughing at her. She tried to wrestle him towards the edge, but her attempts were futile. It only resulted in her getting pushed back in again.
"You're a fat bully," complained Tee after surfacing again, though she couldn't help laughing. Laughing didn't help when she was trying to clamber out of the pool again – she was failing miserably this time.
"No, you just overestimate yourself, Kittykat. You forget you're like half my height," grinned Fred, taking her hands and hauling her out of the pool. He looked at her in surprise. "You're really light."
Tee laughed. "Well, I should think so if I'm only half your height."
She suddenly noticed a golden opportunity. They were pressed quite closely together and he was still holding her hands. Gripping his more tightly, she simply let herself fall backwards into the pool, pulling him in with her.
"Okay, now that was just rude," laughed Fred, brushing wet hair out of his eyes.
"It's called payback, dear," Tee grinned.
Rose and George had now joined them in the deep end. "Having a breather, Tee?" asked George.
Tee smiled sheepishly. "Just for a bit. What about you, Rose? I saw you hanging around Cedric for a while."
Rose blushed in front of the boys. "That was Marie's fault – she dragged me over there."
"I had to go rescue her," joked George. "Hey, you fancy a piggyback, Rose?"
"Okay!" agreed Rose happily. She climbed onto George's back, twining her arms around him. "We should have a piggyback race."
Fred raised his eyebrows. "And who's the other piggy?"
"Take a wild guess," said Tee, jumping up onto his back and wrapping her arms round his neck.
"Hey, try not to strangle me, okay? I get enough of that in Herbology," grumbled Fred.
"Aww, you know you like having me on top of you really," teased Tee.
"Tee!" giggled Rode. "Let's keep this to a PG rating – there's third years around."
"Oh. Sorry, little threebies," Tee called to Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were now sat at the side. They all looked quite amused.
"Let's get this race underway," said George.
Hermione agreed to referee the race and counted them in before they ploughed down to the shallow end. The Cedric groupies quickly waded out of the way, shrieking. Cedric and his friend laughed and casually stepped aside, away from the manic splashing. George and Rose reached the end of the pool first. Rose slid down into the water happily and George did a mocking victory dance.
