Trigger Warning: this chapter contains content within the topic of sexual assault, if you are uncomfortable reading this topic please skip this chapter
I was the first champion out of the forest which meant that I was also in first place, in the whole competition. Dimitar came out second and Cordelia was last. She got out panting, looking frantic and full of sticks in her hair. I thought she might of had a nasty encounter with some centaurs or something else equally as dangerous.
The Hogwarts students were feeling euphoric and excited that I was winning which always meant that we were going to throw a party. Someone stupidly shared the Gryffindor Common Room password to the whole school, and almost everyone turned up. That kid was going to get scrutinized tomorrow. But the party was pretty good at the beginning.
Someone, and by someone, I meant James and Sirius, had brought in butterbeer, firewhisky and crisps just for the occasion and another had put tunes on the record player. To be a good sport, I had a shot but after that, I wasn't really in the mood to drink. Instead I took a butterbeer and settled in the corner with some friends to watch the fun.
"Spin the bottle! Everyone gather 'round!" James yelled from the top of the stairs, waving an empty bottle of firewhisky. I laughed as he bounded down them and gathered a group of teens who all looked equally as drunk as James. He spotted me and motioned for me to come. I rolled my eyes at him but grabbed Lily and a few of the other Gryffindor sixth year girls and we all took a seat in the circle.
"I want to go first!" Sirius called out as the bottle was placed in the middle of the large circle. He reached into the middle and spun the bottle so that it went around a few times before landing on a girl from the fifth year. A few girls looked a little sad as he went over and gave her a kiss. A few people including his other Marauder friends cheered as they broke apart; the girl was bright red. She looked over in our direction and I winked at her at which she became even more flustered. I guess being the Hogwarts champion made you a bit more known. Next that girl went and landed on another person and so forth, it continued. I hadn't even been picked once yet, which was weird, and also kind of boring.
"I'm getting a drink, I'll be back, call me if it lands on me." I told Julia as a Hufflepuff sixth year who I shared a few classes with spun. I got up and walked over to the table that held the punch, spiked with something, I'm sure. I filled my cup up and took a drink, definitely detecting some alcohol. This was my first mistake, letting my judgement get the better of me.
"Evans!" I looked over to see the circle staring at me and noticed that the bottle was pointed at my spot.
"Who spun?" I asked as I got back to the circle. James got up and pointed to himself all proud. Drunk James was so cute. I looked at Lily for a second who's eyes narrowed a bit but I truly didn't think she would care that much, she still thought he was extremely annoying.
"Come here, James." I said with a laugh as I held out my arms. When he came over I wrapped them around his neck and planted my lips on his. It was still the same as last year in feeling, It felt as if I was kissing a brother. Some people cheered at us as we pulled apart and I kissed him on the cheek before pushing him in the direction of his spot and tipping the bottle to make it spin. I watched it go around, six or seven times before it landed in front of someone. I followed the spout and looked up to see that it was pointing at Sirius who, coincidentally was locking lips with the girl beside him. James hollered his name and they broke apart, Sirius, had a smirk on his face as he looked around.
"Sorry, mate. I was a little busy. What do you want?" He asked.
"It landed on you, Black." I told him. He looked at the bottle and his face broke out in a grin.
"Alright, who do I get to snog?" I rolled my eyes at his statement and pointed to myself. He gave me a playful look and crawled over to where I was sitting in the middle with the bottle. With one look, he placed his hand on my cheek and brought my face to his. Now, this kiss was a little different. It didn't feel like I was kissing a friend, or a brother, but it did feel familiar, like we had done it before. When we broke apart, Sirius had a glint in his eyes, as if he wanted me to say something, or know something. But I had no idea how to respond.
Sirius spun the bottle after than and soon later, people got bored and started to walk off with a few friends. Sirius left with the girl that he was kissing before, no doubt to go and resume where they left off. I went to the drink table again, but not to drink anymore, just to get some water. I was feeling a little bit cloudy in my mind, if that made any sense.
What I wanted more than anything was to go to bed, but I couldn't well do that at a party in my honour. I would have to wait it out for just a few hours. Instead, I went up stairs to the little hallway that acted like a balcony and watched from the top, where it was less crowded. That was my second mistake that night.
My third and hopefully final mistake took place shortly after I left the overcrowded common room to find some quiet. The one thing you have to know about boys is that they can be incredibly sweet or majorly beastly. The ones I was talking about have done things before; horrendous things which shouldn't even be talked about. My Bulgarian ex-friends had crashed my party.
"You were great out there, Eliza." I thanked them out of reflex before I knew who I was dealing with. I turned around to be faced with what made my dreams haunted.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked them as I took a step back. It wasn't all of them, just Kosta and Aleksander, the worst of them all.
"We came for the fun. Someone told us the password and we decided to come and pay you a visit, see how you were doing." Kosta said. It seemed genuine, through my clouded semi-drunk state, but my subconscious that hadn't been numbed by the alcohol knew better.
"I'm fine, now you can leave the same way you came." I told them; my voice was confident sounding but inside I was screaming with anxiety. Then the cold-blooded smiles came out.
"But didn't you miss us, Eliza? We certainly missed you." Aleksander replied to my comment. I backed up, looking down at the mass of people dancing, drinking, all oblivious to me and my situation. I looked back to see Aleksander right in my face, he kissed me.
"Tell me you don't miss that. We can have fun, you and I, trust me." He whispered and tried to kiss me again. My hand rose and slapped him in the face, with enough force for him to step back as I stumbled, right into Kosta.
"That wasn't nice." He said as I tried to struggle out of his grip, but it tightened. All I could think was, not again. I didn't know why it had to be me, why they hadn't had enough and needed to harass me again. They could have had anyone, willingly too. Many girls thought they were fit. But they chose me and I felt weak, crippled and frozen in my spot. Why I couldn't help myself, I had no idea. I wasn't like this, I was strong, I battled griffins and the forest for an hour! I was the Hogwarts champion yet I couldn't defend myself against two beasts of boys. I was useless.
I looked over at Aleksander who was very angry to say the least. I had never known this side of them other than that one, unspeakable, time, and I couldn't see how they could become these people. They used to be kind and thoughtful and wonderful, but now I wondered if they had always wanted me like this, and if it had been all an act. They were shameful.
"Eliza, you want to cooperate now. We don't want to hurt you. Come one, let's just have some fun." He told me again. This time, I found my voice.
"No." It was quiet at first, but then, I tried again, "No! Get away from me!" I shouted in their faces as I tried to back away. They laughed and my burst of confidence faded away and was replaced with doubt, and cloudiness and regret that I was ever in this situation. Why hadn't I just gone to bed before, I would have avoided all of this.
I looked over to all the other people, searching for my friends, but they were all not paying attention to anyone other than the select few in their vicinity. Lily was with Alice and Mary talking to some Ravenclaws, James was with Remus and Peter, trying to get a first year to each a cockroach cluster and Sirius, my knight in shining armour, who had come to my rescue before, was no where to be seen. I was all alone.
Aleksander tried to kiss me again. I almost didn't feel anything. I wanted to get out of this situation but I had no idea how I was going to get out of it. There were too many possibilities for my escape to go wrong. I could get hurt, more than I was already.
"Hey! Get off of her! What d'you think you blokes are doing?!" My rescue was here. A seventh year boy with, presumably, his girlfriend had headed upstairs.
"None of your business, get out of here." Kosta told him. Bad idea, I thought to myself and he still had his hands on me. This seventh year looked big and he could probably take both of them.
"Did you consent to this?" The lad directed the question to me. I shook my head quickly as Aleksander and Kosta shot me a resentful look.
"Well, there's your answer, let her go!" He stated as both the Bulgarian boys tried to square up to him. The girl that was with the boy quickly motioned for me to go over to her. I was able to squeeze out of the conflict and rush over to her, who wrapped her arms around me as I let out involuntary tears spilled out of my eyes.
"Are you okay? Did they try anything on you?" She asked me concerned. I shook my head unable to talk. She took that as a cue that I just wanted to be quiet and stood with me for a bit, just rubbing my back. I didn't even know this girl, but she still helped me when none of my friends knew what was going on. Soon Kosta and Aleksander backed down, knowing that they would probably lose and walked away, giving me looks as they passed, heading downstairs. The boy came over to us and asked me again if I was okay, to at which I nodded again. When they knew I was safe, they left and I ran to my room. When I got there, I headed to the bathroom and spewed the contents of my stomach into the loo.
What had happened to me. I was strong. I wasn't supposed to be weak like I was tonight, I was better than that. My world had been tipped upside down and I had no one to share it with. As I laid in my bed, feeling empty and isolated, I cried again, unaware of what else to do.