𝚡𝚟𝚒𝚒. 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎
❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜
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BELLA WENT TO THE KITCHENS with Ginny, Fred, and George to get food and drinks for the afterparty while Harry talked with the other champions about what she could only assume were stupid champion things.
She hadn't been to the kitchens at all yet that school year, so she was utterly surprised when, after tickling the pear and entering the room, they were greeted by Dobby, the house elf who'd insisted on keeping her brother from Hogwarts her first year.
"Bella Potter!" the house elf squeaked, running up and latching his arms around her legs quite tightly. "Dobby has been waiting to see Bella Potter since he got to Hogwarts! Dobby hasn't yet seen Harry Potter or Bella Potter, but Dobby is now seeing Bella Potter!"
"Dobby, what are you doing here?" Bella asked, ignoring the strange looks the three Weasleys were giving her and gesturing for them to gather what they'd come for.
"Professor Dumbledore has offered to pay Dobby!" the house else absolutely shrieked in excitement. "Dobby has been struggling to find work since Harry Potter freed him, because nobody wants to pay house elves, but then Professor Dumbledore said he would pay Dobby to work at Hogwarts! And Dobby gets to see Bella Potter!"
"Dobby, that's wonderful," Bella grinned at the elf, gently unwrapping his arms from around her legs. "How much is he paying you?"
"One galleon per week," Dobby said proudly.
"That's it? That's not much at all."
Dobby seemed aghast at this. "Well Professor Dumbledore offered more, but Dobby could never take so much money! One galleon a week is alls I need!"
Bella thought about this for a moment, a sly smile overtaking her face as an idea popped into her head. "Dobby, how would you like to join spew?"
It was another twenty minutes before they finally left the kitchens, and Bella was acutely aware of the glares coming from all three of the Weasleys, due to the fact that her long-winded conversation with Dobby was the main – well, only – reason for the holdup.
On the bright side, though, Bella had managed to recruit Dobby to the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, and she was sure Hermione would be thrilled.
"Ginny, it's our duty as historian and parliamentarian to help get new members, or our cause will never get off the ground," Bella defended herself earnestly as they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. "In fact – Fred, George, how would you like to join spew?"
Fred scratched his head. "What is it, again?"
"The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare," Bella supplied quickly, grinning at the obvious manner in which Ginny had just tried to suppress a groan. "Quite a mouthful, though, really, so we just say spew. Or, I do, Hermione hates it, but I don't see why something with a perfectly good, pronounceable acronym should be spelled out letter-by-letter instead."
"Bella, if I have to hear your stupid acronym argument one more time..." Ginny threatened, not having to finish her sentence before turning her attention to her brothers. "And the two of you better not even think about joining! We're really only doing it to placate Hermione – the only house elf who questions his welfare is Dobby, and he's being paid now!"
"I am absolutely aghast at that assumption, Ginevra," Bella placed a hand over her heart dramatically. "I don't know about you, but I take my duties very seriously as an officer in this organization, and I care deeply about the promotion of Elfish Welfare."
She paused for a moment, furrowing her eyebrows at her own words, gathering her thoughts before she continued. "And, seriously, they're all brainwashed! Just because this is the way things have always been doesn't mean it's the way things should have always been."
Ginny just shook her head, ignoring Bella's sincerity for the most part, her attention mainly focused on the twins, who seemed interested, if only to spite their sister. "I swear if you two–"
"We're in," they interrupted in unison, grinning whole-heartedly. "How exactly do we join?"
"There's a two-sickle membership fee, and then you get a badge," Bella told them, surprising herself with her excitement – perhaps she was more passionate about this than she thought. "I don't mind paying for the two of you though, since you've recently come into hardship regarding your finances."
Ginny furrowed her brows. "Hardship?"
"Don't worry about it, dear sister," George said quickly, patting her on the head, then gave the password to the Fat Lady, and they all became distracted by the task of handing food through the portrait hole before they could all climb through.
Luckily, they'd made it back before Harry, so they were able to contribute to the setup process and admire the posters that Dean Thomas had been able to draw rather quickly before Harry got back. Of course, once he did, the party was immediately in full swing.
Lee had set off Filibuster's Fireworks, and after some much needed pleading from Ginny and Bella, he got out his enchanted radio, which was much better than the one they'd been using for Open Mic Night, so the air was thick with smoke and the sound of the Weird Sisters, and everyone was eating and drinking and laughing and dancing, and Bella was having so much fun that, for one, she didn't feel it necessary to try to get a word in with Harry.
She didn't even care when Harry opened his egg and it began shrieking. She found the whole thing rather funny, which apparently was the wrong response, as Neville thought it sounded like someone being Crucio'd.
"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," George told him in response. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing... maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Harry."
Ginny nodded vigorously in agreement next to Bella, and a quick look at her friend told Bella she might have had one too many firewhiskies. Bella couldn't really judge, though – it was very possible she was in the same boat.
"Want a jam tart, Hermione?" she heard a voice next to her, and jumped at the sight of Fred on her side. When had he gotten there?
He seemed to notice, because he laughed at her before Hermione could answer. "Careful, Bells, it'd be quite embarrassing for you to topple over right now."
"Shut up, Fred."
"Did you lot get all these from the kitchens?" Hermione asked as she cautiously took a treacle tart, and Fred and Bella both nodded.
"How do you get in there?" Hermione asked, and Bella had to stifle a giggle at the way she tried to sound casual about it.
"Easy – concealed door behind a painting of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear, and it giggles and –" he stopped, seeming to suddenly realise that she might have ulterior motives. "Why?"
"Nothing!"
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," Bella muttered under her breath, slightly giggly.
Fred gestured a thumb at her. "Yeah, what she said. Planning on leading a house elf revolution?"
"You talking about the Society we've joined?" George butted into the conversation, popping up on Hermione's other side and thoroughly shocking the bushy-haired girl. It only took a moment before a smile spread across her lips.
"Are you serious? You've joined S.P.E.W.?" she asked incredulously, as if she didn't dare to hope.
"Yeah, Bella recruited us," Fred grinned, looking between Hermione who was smiling, and Bella who was raising her eyebrows slightly drunkenly as she was only just now catching up to the conversation. "Well, with the caveat that we're allowed to refer to it as spew."
"Oh, I'm so happy I don't even care what you call it!" Hermione squealed, rushing over to Bella and pulling her into a hug before the younger girl could stop her. "Thank you, Bella, thank you so much!"
"Oh, uh, yeah, anytime, 'Mione," she quickly said back, hoping Hermione wouldn't be able to tell she'd been drinking. She pulled away as soon as it was allowable and shot her a grin before rushing away, pulling Ginny in tow and muttering something about more dancing.
And, dance they did. They danced and drank more and celebrated their victory like they didn't have any other worries, and it was wonderful. The crowd had been thinning since midnight, and it was nearly two in the morning when Bella left the circle she and the rest of the girls in her year had created to get another drink and was approached by Jack Sloper. Of course she was approached by Jack Sloper, she didn't think she could do anything without him coming up to her.
"Jack, what do you want? Are you just here to pointlessly flirt with me again?"
He seemed surprised that she'd beat him to the punch. "...maybe?"
"Merlin..."
Bella might have been incredibly inebriated. Well, incredibly may have been a strong word, but that night was certainly in the top five most drunk she'd ever been, and, as such, she was feeling... reckless. And Jack Sloper was right in front of her, trying to flirt with her, and she really wanted a solution, and maybe she thought it was a little nice that he still liked her.
But, no, she was trying to put a stop to that stupid liking once and for all.
Whatever the reason, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. And she didn't really have a second to think about whether it was right or not, because obviously he kissed her back, because he'd been waiting for this forever, and Bella knew that, and oh, wow, she'd never kissed anybody before, and now they were properly snogging in the Common Room, and she wondered for a moment if anybody could see them, but then she figured this might be the first and last time she kissed somebody for a long time, so she might as well enjoy it.
She finally came to her senses and pulled away from him after what must've been minutes. The boy looked absolutely breathless, and Bella had to force sobriety into herself, as that was the only way to prevent giving into the urge to kiss him again, because that would be rather stupid, wouldn't it?
Instead, she said, "there, satisfied?" and walked away before he had a chance to gather his bearings or attempt a response. Her eyes grew wide as soon as her back was facing him and she immediately went off in search of Ginny.
At least it seemed like no one had seen.
She finally found her best friend, still laughing and dancing in the throng of girls, and pulled her out and away before she could protest.
"Bella, what are we doing?" Ginny asked, highly confused.
"Going to bed," the Potter grumbled back, not giving Ginny a chance to argue.
She dragged her up the stairs and to their dormitories, which, luckily, were empty. That most likely meant Victoria was keeping watch over Eva and Angel was keeping watch over Valerie. All that really mattered was that they weren't there.
"IkissedJack," she tumbled out all at once as soon as the door closed behind them, so quickly that anybody other than Ginny, and possibly Harry, would've only heard nonsensical garble coming out of her mouth.
Ginny knew what she said immediately. "You what? Why?"
"I don't know!" Bella groaned, flopping dramatically on her bed. "I'm drunk and he was being Jack and flirting with me again, and I thought he might get over his stupid crush if I just finally let him have something."
"That is so stupid," Ginny laid down next to her, and Bella rolled over so that her face was buried in her pillow. "That is so, so stupid."
"Thanks, Ginny," Bella rolled her eyes, her words muffled as they were being spoken into a mattress.
"Just so incredibly stupid."
"I think I got that part."
"I... I'm too drunk for this."
"You're too drunk for this? I just kissed a dumb boy for the first time! We, like, snogged!"
"So stupid."
"What am I supposed to do now? Do you think it worked?"
"I can't believe you've had your first kiss and I haven't."
"Oh, God, of course it didn't work. Jack probably likes me even more now, doesn't he?"
"Should I kiss somebody? Who would I even kiss?"
"I can't believe I did that. I shouldn't be left alone when I've been drinking."
"I think Neville would kiss me, but... oh, no, I can't kiss Neville."
"Jack's definitely got the wrong idea now."
"What about Simon? He's nice enou–"
The dormitory door opened, quickly filling the room with the sound of girls giggling and putting a swift end to Ginny and Bella's nonsensical, entirely one-sided conversations.
"Let's just go to sleep," Ginny finally said cautiously, her voice a whisper in the strange hopes that might negate the loud way they'd been previously talking.
Bella nodded in agreement, but neither of the girls moved, perfectly content with falling asleep a mess in Bella's bed, still in their school robes, clad in everything from bras to mary janes. That was the nice thing about getting drunk, Bella thought – it made her sleep much better.
But perhaps they needed to stop partying so much.