"Is it true, Oshun?" Da'Shylah's eyes were saucers.
"Is what true?" She stuffed her face with jam toast.
"That Malfoy and Fred fought over you at the party last night?" Da'Shylah pressed on, shoving Joaquin aside, so she was sitting in front of Oshun. "And you actually went to the party?"
"Bloody hell." Oshun groaned exasperatedly, shaking her head as she held her toast in one hand. "They didn't fight over me, for fuck's sake. Who keeps saying that?"
"Everyone that was at the party." Da'Shylah shrugged her shoulders and stole Joaquin's toast from his hand just as he was about to take a bite.
"Yes. I don't mind sharing, help yourself." He annoyedly snatched the toast back from her and shoved it all in his mouth. The crumbs sprinkled on his lap and chest of his shirt.
"If Malfoy hears that people think he and Fred fought over me, I'm a dead lady." Oshun barked a hollow laugh, stuffing more toast in her mouth.
She wasn't hungover this morning because she didn't drink enough to be drunk and have a hangover.
She just woke up with a bit of a hazy head, but after sitting on her bed for a good five minutes, staring at the wall, she was fine.
At the party, she had left after she saw Fred finally calm down. She didn't want to be a part of anything else, so she just left.
She also decided to never go to a party again.
She didn't enjoy the party, but she enjoyed talking to Fred. She could talk to him anywhere, it didn't have to be at a party. She was just glad she experienced a party, but never again.
"Have you spoken to Fred since then?" Forest asked, scooping some yoghurt into her mouth.
"No." Oshun shook her head.
"Really? Why not?" Forest asked, equally quizzical and dismayed.
"I left after he and Malfoy walked away from each other and calmed down," Oshun mumbled, and wiped the corners of her mouth. "I'm never going to a party again."
"Not your scene, huh?" Joaquin half grinned at her, spreading some jam on a new piece of toast.
"Mm-mm." She shook her head with the tiniest of smiles. "But I got to talk to Fred some more during the party."
Da'Shylah brought the goblet to her lips and tipped her head back to take a sip of pumpkin juice. "What did you guys talk about? Anything interesting?" she asked after swallowing, curious.
"Nothing much, really. We talked about random things like the best comic book, sweets, his new joke gadgets, food—random things." Oshun's lips spread into a wistful smile at the recall of her sweet time with Fred.
"So..." Forest inched closer, a playful smirk on her lips. "You want Fred, don't you? Between the two?"
Oshun ignored the blood creeping in her cheeks. "I want to talk to him some more," she clarified pointedly. "I mean, I've been his housemate for four years and we've never spoken as much in the whole four years than we did just last night."
"What about his girlfriend?" Joaquin asked, brows knitted together in puzzlement.
"Girlfriends and boyfriends don't really matter anymore, Joaquin," Forest droned, her eyes rolling. She plucked a plump raspberry between her fingers and plopped it into her mouth. "We're all going to get married to these random people anyway, whether we fancy it or not."
"I know, but I'm just saying that perhaps Fred could end things with Granger before starting things up with our sweetheart here." Joaquin shrugged his shoulders.
"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.
"Ah." She bowed her head in understanding. "Well, parties are a no for me."
"They're not for everyone, so that's okay." Forest's hand rubbed Oshun's leg softly.
_____
"I need to take a fat piss, Mavi." Oshun squirmed in her seat.
"No, I need you to help me with this first. Quickly, come on." Mavi slid her notes in front of her friend. Her fingertip tapped onto the parchment. "So does this make sense? Is my writing understandable?"
"Your writing is beautiful, Mavi." Oshun shifted to the edge of her seat, her legs bouncing under the desk. "It looks very aesthetically pleasing, if you may."
"And?" Mavi arched a brow.
"And," Oshun went on, "Your notes make sense, but I think you should organize them more... directly for the other students to understand them."
"But I understand them," Mavi insisted as she pulled her notes back in front of her. Her eyes lowered and she scanned her own notes.
"But you're tutoring three first years who might not understand the things the way you understand them," Oshun said, looping her fingers upon the table they sat at in the library.
"So?" Mavi blinked at her friend.
"So," Oshun said pointedly, "You need to simplify your notes for them to understand easier."
A hum rumbled from Mavi's pursed lips. "You're right." She nodded vigorously and pulled out more parchment from her book bag. "I need to simplify it."
"So I can go now? To pee?" Oshun asked slowly, still squirming in her seat.
"Oh, yeah, go on." Mavi waved a hand, her dark eyes stuck on her notes as she began to rewrite them. "Don't piss yourself on your way there because that'll be a horror story for you to remember."
"I'll be sure not to." Oshun rose quickly from her seat and rushed out of the library.
She headed for the closest bathroom, but she did not make it to the bathroom before her spine collided with the stone wall.
She gasped under her breath, the smell of teakwood, mint, and a woodsy cologne intoxicating her lungs.
His two strong arms were planted on either side of her head, trapping her. His face was nearly touching hers and the rage was fuming from him like a done kettle.
Oshun felt like her heart stopped beating for a brief moment, but she quickly felt the way it was already pounding in her chest. Her breaths hitched in the back of her throat.
He was so close to her, she could see every detail on his face and truth be told, she thought he was very handsome.
Everything on the outside was dashing. But his personality was the ugliest thing about him.
"Why the fuck did you tell people that I was fighting over you?" Draco's tone had unmistakable disgust and fury mixed within it. "Like I would ever fight over a filthy blood witch."
"I didn't—" She paused, swallowing the huge rock in her throat. "I didn't tell people you were fighting over me. I didn't say anything." She cowered under his intense gaze.
His features soured and his eyes dimmed. "Your fucking blood-traitor started the fight," he growled, nearly spitting the words like they were poison on his tongue. "Your fucking blood-traitor swung first."
Her heart was pulsing in her ears like drums. "Because you don't know how to keep your mouth shut," she bit out firmly, ignoring the pit in her tummy. "You always feel the need to make snide comments."
"I'd watch myself if I were you, Takahashi," he sneered, his lip curling up in disdain. "One wrong move, and I will make your life fucking hell." His jaw clenched tightly, and one of her curls grazed the skin on the side of his face.
"You're a real dick, you know that?" She sounded small as her throat threatened to shut completely. "You're such an infuriating prat and I feel bad for you."
He was practically shaking in his wrath. "Watch your filthy fucking mouth, you insufferable bitch." His voice dropped dangerously lower, his breath fanning against her mouth.
"I pity you, Malfoy." Her voice was quiet and pathetic right now, but her words were the leverage she had. "How low is it for you that a filthy blood witch pities you?" Might as well use the insults when it benefitted her.
He looked like he was about to explode. "You'll—"
"I'll what?" She surprised herself with her own snarks, though her voice was still hushed. "I'll regret it? I'll just be waiting for what's to come then, Malfoy." Her chest was rising up and down as shuddering breaths escaped her parted lips.
Draco's jaw was unbelievably tight as his cold eyes pierced into hers. A sound like a growl of fury rattled in the back of his throat as he slammed a fist in the wall by her head.
She nearly flinched, but she didn't.
She just shrunk under his gaze, a tremor running through her breaths and heart racing in her chest.
And then like a man-child, he stormed off with large strides.
Oshun slid down the wall with a heavy exhale of air. She brought her knees to her chest and buried her face into her hands.
She only realized just how hot and bothered by the blond boy she was when she felt how warm her face was against her palms.
Her fingers laced into the roots of her hair, brushing her curly hair out of her face as she took deep breaths. She shut her eyes and inhaled through her nose, exhaled through her lips.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Her heart fell into the pattern of an even pace in her chest and her breaths soothed. But her shoulders were still tense.
Oshun was worried she would piss herself during that little confrontation, but she was ever so glad she didn't.
That would have been embarrassing.