Belle loved Hogwarts.
She loved everything about it. The feasts, the freedom, and the faculty. She absolutely adored her dorm and common room, and she felt welcomed in her small group of friends she had made. Everything was going incredibly smoothly, and she was acing all of her classes. She'd even managed to earn her house some points from being studious in class.
She was happy.
Belle, Lily, and their roommate Eileen all crowded around a table near the back of the library, trying to finish up their homework before the weekend. All three girls were considered the 'nerds' of their year, but they didn't care. They would benefit in the end, right? They'd be the ones getting good jobs at the Ministry, and everyone else would be working for scraps at the Leaky Cauldron.
Belle slammed down her quill onto the table, leaning back into her chair. The other girls jumped, Lily clutching her chest as she glared at Belle. In one swift motion she smacked Belle on the arm with her book, causing the girl to yelp. Madam Pince glanced out from behind her romance novel, sneering at the group of girls making noise in her precious room of books.
"SHH!" The librarian hissed, before turning up her nose and going back to her reading.
"Sorry." The girls hissed, before giving each other amused glances. Madam Pince was always fun to mess around with, especially when reading.
"So, I was thinking about having a girl's night tomorrow evening. All us Gryffindors, talking and not worrying about school. We'll talk about wizard-bands, our enemies, etcetera. " She grinned, placing her chin in her hands.
"I think a girls night would be amazing! We can even smuggle in some food from the kitchens!" Belle added, leaning in. She could use a night to forget about school and professors.
"And how do you plan to get the food?" Lily asked, giving up on trying to finish the essay she was working on.
"Alice and Celestina, they'd help us." Alice Fortescue and Celestine Abbott were two Hufflepuff girls that had become good acquaintances with the Gryffindor girls. The Gryffindor girls had made friends with almost everyone in their year, except for the Slytherins. The Slytherins tended to separate themselves from anyone who wasn't pureblooded or associated themselves with non-purebloods.
"Okay, I'm okay with that." Lily sighed, but couldn't keep the smile off of her face. She too was just excited to talk to her friends.
"Nice! Tell Rosie, tomorrow night at eight-thirty, right after dinner, okay? Great." Eileen packed up her stuff and was gone in a flash, pushing past two boys walking into the library. Remus Lupin and James Potter. Both very popular and very troublesome. Lily and Belle had realized that James and Sirius were complete pranksters and mild gits, as they tended to roam the halls causing mischief. If they weren't pranking teachers, they were messing with students or plotting.
James immediately spotted the two girls but didn't point them out to Remus, instead opting to ignore them. The marauders, as the school nicknamed them, were very different to Lily, Belle, and Eileen. They broke the rules, the girls enforced them. They messed with teachers, the girls stayed after class to help them clean up. Completely different sides of completely different coins. Since the boat, they haven't had much interaction, and both groups were okay with that.
Lily let out a triumphant noise as she finished her essay.
"Okay," She cheered quietly, "Let's go, it's almost dinner and I fancy changing out of my robes before then." Lily stood, followed by Belle, who didn't want to get left behind. As they passed by James and Remus, who were looking up books for a Potions essay, Belle caught Remus's eye. She had figured out it was him who she bumped into on the train, but she forgave him. He was an anxious looking boy, who looked quite terrible all the time. He had scars lining his face and bags under his brown eyes. He was nice, however, as the two sat together in Transfiguration. As she caught his eye, he gave her a lopsided smirk and a half-wave. She waved back.
-- -- -- --
The plans were set. The girls were to all meet back at the dorm by 7:30, so they could go get the food. There were only four of them, so they could go easily undetected. When down by the kitchens, they would meet up with Alice and Celestina, who would open the kitchens for them, and then they would sneak back up to Gryffindor tower and enjoy their night of festivities.
The girls snuck out at around 7:45, due to Eileen arriving late, and managed to sneak all the way down to the kitchens, where the two Hufflepuffs were waiting for them. The two quickly granted them access and left, claiming they didn't want to get into trouble being out after curfew. The Gryffindors promised their names wouldn't be mentioned if they were caught, and entered the kitchens. The house elves immediately tended to the girls, loading their arms with food. They then left, and managed to sneak all the way back up without getting caught by Professors or Prefects.
"Is it just me, or was that way too easy?" Lily questioned nervously, looking around them as they all entered the portrait of the Fat Lady, who gave them inquisitive glances.
"I know, you would think there'd be more security around the castle at this time." Rosaline Domina, the last of the Gryffindor girls, panted, her blonde hair frizzy up around her head.
"Dinner's just ending," Belle checked the clock on the wall, "They probably expect everyone to be coming back right now."
"Then let's get this stuff up to the dorm before the herd files in." Eileen chuckled, before entering the room as well, the portrait swinging shut behind her. There was only four boys present in the common room, everyone else being at dinner. The girls tired not to make eye contact with them, but the boys took notice of the food and drink in the girls' arms.
"Where'd you all get that?" Sirius exclaimed, his eyes widening at the amount of food and drink the eleven year old girls had managed to carry all the way up the tower.
"Dinner." Eileen shrugged, hurrying past the group. Lily and Rosaline managed to do the same, but Sirius spoke up again. Belle, not wanting to be impolite, stopped at the stairs.
"Wait, wait- No one would've let you leave the Great Hall with all this crap." He pestered, motioning to all the food in Belle's arms.
"Well, they did." She shrugged. "Good night." Belle said.
"Night Belle." Remus called as the girl ascended the stairs.
"Night Belle." The boys mocked, shoving their friend who was just being polite.Remus rolled his eyes but laughed along with them.
"I see you escaped the grasp of those nitwits." Lily giggled, spotting Belle as she entered the dorm room, kicking the door shut behind her with her food.
"For now, I'm afraid we won't be able to have a food excursion again." Belle sighed, placing the food in the ever growing pile in the middle of the room."Don't think they really believed us."
"Shame." Eileen sighed, shaking her head.
"Why don't we just invite them next time?Then they'd have to keep quiet." Rose said, oblivious to the reason they were having this mini feast in the first place.
"That kinda ruins the point of a girl's night." Lily smirked, taking a seat on the floor. The rest of the girls followed, making a circle. Rose shrugged, taking a pastry.
"Whatever." Soon all the girls were in fits of laughter, Lily and Eileen nearly in tears. Once everyone had calmed down, they began to dig into the pastries they were given.
"What should we do first?" Eileen asked, her brown, wavy hair falling over her shoulder. Eileen was a pretty girl, with tan skin and doe-like eyes. She was tall for her age, but was also incredibly skinny. She often made the girls in her year feel incredibly shabby next to her.
"Eat." Rose cheered, taking a bite out of her pastry. The rest of the girls giggled, Belle falling back onto the floor. She was happy they got away with their plan.
"So, Belle, I didn't know you were friends with Remus."
"More like friendly acquaintances. I'm partners with him in Transfiguration."
"Is he as bad as his friends?"
"Not that I've seen, no. Which is why I'm okay with being friends with him."
"Who knows, maybe you two will end up married with a kid one day." Eileen's eyes went wide at Rose's suggestion, as did Lily's.
"Gross!" Belle pretended to gag, but begun laughing afterwards. "Boys are disgusting."
"Boys are weird." Lily grinned, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
"Total pigs." Eileen added, clinking her drink with Rose's.
"Animals." Rose said, mimicking dog ears. The girls all giggled, before it went quiet again while everyone ate.
"So, did any of you finish the Potions Essay?"
"Lily!"