(no subject)
Title: Come Together (7.5 of ~8) [NOW there's only one more to go. :D]
Author: corvidae9
Rating: R
Word Count: ~9100
Warnings: crackful premises, het/slash/fem, rampant bisexuality, snogging, free-flowing alcohol (what? It's a party!)
Summary: In which there is a raging anti-party (and several subsequent mini-anti-anti-parties) that together suspiciously resemble a raging party.
Author's Note: See Part I for full Summary/Notes! Questions/comments/interpretive dance, as always, welcome here. :D omg sooo sorry for taking so long with these last two parts. RL ate me alive, parsley and all. And not the fun way, either. D:
I - Saturday | II - Sunday | III - Monday | IV - Tuesday | 4.5 - Tuesday Night | V - Wednesday | VI - Thursday | VII - Friday afternoon | 7.5 - Friday Night | VIII - Saturday2
Friday Night
Neville had managed to exit Harry's room without incident, though watching him cross from the rumpled bed to the master bath in a t-shirt and boxers while scrubbing a hand through his hopelessly mussed hair really did pose a challenge to his Selfless Zen of Harry Potter. If Neville had slammed the door a little too unsteadily on the way out, and if he'd puffed a huge exhale after, it was all in the name of regaining said composure.
He didn't often, but Neville needed a drink.
Having jogged downstairs at that time only to be commandeered again, Neville had missed the opportunity to crack into the drinks and get an early start, but now that Ginny had dashed upstairs to get dressed and Hermione was probably greeting guests or hosing down reporters, he was safe. Making his way around by way of the kitchen, Neville walked into the sitting room nearest the food and drink set up with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, mate," said Neville, bumping Ron's elbow. "I'll take that." He took a glass off of the stack that Ron was setting down, helped himself to the beer and took a decent-sized swallow before he even registered that Draco was standing nearby arranging bottles of liquor.
"Err. Hello," said Neville sheepishly as he lowered the glass again. "Good to see you made it."
Ron arched an eyebrow in his trademark expressive confusion and cocked his head at Neville's glass. "Thirsty?"
"Weasley," drawled Draco, not losing an ounce of amusement from his expression. "After spending ten minutes assisting in the set up, even I can only imagine with a shudder the thirst for alcohol that a week in this madhouse might have caused."
"Piss off," said Ron, though he was almost smiling as he shook his head.
Neville looked from one to the other and wondered whether in the wake of Harry's faceplant in his lap and these two not at one another's throats that perhaps he might be imagining all or part of this day. He was however, spared having to answer himself as the front door opened in a spectacular rush of trumpeting fanfare and red and gold pyrotechnics that melted into sparkling ribbons and continued to spread outward over the hardwood floors.
"Never fear, good citizens!" cried one Weasley twin, striking an heroic pose in the doorway.
"The party is in fact, here." cried the other, joining the first in the doorway, waving and grinning into the crowd (small as it was at the moment), who for the most part, cheered as they dodged the fireworks.
"Oh, hell," said Ron with a sigh. "Here we go. Wards for the table, maybe?"
"Nah," said Neville. "Ginny left strict instructions. They're not allowed anywhere near the food or drinks unless they're actually eating and/or drinking."
"And just how is that enforceable?" said Draco, entirely dubious.
"She appealed to their better natures, since it's Harry's party and all?" Neville said, though from the tone of his voice, he didn't quite believe that either. Both Ron and Draco turned narrow eyes on him. "And apparently, she's got some sort of blackmail on them," he added as he grinned and took another drink.
"Reprobates, the lot of you," breathed Draco as each twin took a step and reached a hand back through the doorway. "What now?"
A giggling Susan Bones emerged into the room clutching one each of the twins' hands, dressed fit to kill with her cleavage alone and looking more smug than anyone had a right. Ron rolled his eyes and looked faintly ill. "Yeah she does."
###
The music seemed to grow a little louder, the crowd a little more upbeat even as it swelled in size, the door now in a constant state of flux. Every time it opened, faint, desperate cries of 'Do you have a comment?' or 'Why the Ministry boycott?' filtered in, usually followed by a threatening growl and sometimes a crack and then a hasty 'Reparo'. When Angelina and Oliver arrived, there was a general uproar in that they brought along a small group of players from both United and Tutshill along with them. Ginny in her cut and reconfigured Property of the Auror Corps shirt (formerly Ron's), too-short skirt and ripped tights, managed to barrel into them both before they even made it past the doorway.
Ron, however missed that particular bit of showmanship. He was sitting on the window ledge of the breakfast nook across from a similarly perched Draco Malfoy, relating the tale of the queen Boggart. Feet planted on the wooden bench seat, Ron used his empty glass as a convenient tool with which to gesture more emphatically, not that his facial expressions weren't conveying enough animation on their own. Draco looked appropriately horrified, through to his chagrin, Ron was hoping that it left room for a measure of 'suitably impressed'.
As it turned out, he was gratified enough when Draco burst into laughter as Ron described the wind-up polka-dot chihuahua and its subsequent demise.
"Exactly!" exclaimed Ron as he nudged Draco's foot with his own and resolved not to think about it any harder than he had to. He told himself firmly that he was sitting across the window seat from just another blond that he was looking to properly impress; they had no grudges and no history before having caught sight of him.
"Only a simpleton like you would find that hilarious enough to kill a Boggart Queen," said Draco between more laughter and another drink from his own glass, and Ron paused to examine him.
Maybe there was a little bit of a grudge still there.
"Oh and I suppose you would have made it a mirror, then? Photo of yourself?" asked Ron as sarcastically as he could manage, and all Draco did was laugh harder. And damn him-- it was infectious.
Maybe they needed the grudge to get by.
###
Severus stared at the same half-empty glass of firewhiskey still in hand round about eight o'clock, annoyed with himself that he couldn't quite bring himself to down the remainder and loosen his shirt; to get comfortable and have another two or three glasses this size and decide not to go anywhere until he absolutely had to.
The issue was that he truly did not want to go to the party and be anywhere near Potter or his cronies. He didn't care if the twin terrors made idiots of themselves, and he didn't care that there might in fact be one person he could get along with far from the main body of the ridiculous display.
The ensuing problem was that one of those statements had been completely untrue until he'd turned on Lupin. Purposefully and unsubtly because he'd been frustrated with himself, because he'd thought it the best course in order to hold on to his favorite fantasies. Unfortunately, the lingering effect was that even the best and previously most fulfilling of said fantasies didn't hold a candle to even the most pedestrian of time spent with the wolf. Even dinner became something he could manage to enjoy rather than see to.
As such, he had more than a few choice curses for the next time he saw Lupin, that much was certain. Fortunately, he had the perfect opportunity to deliver such. Carefully, he stood, set the half-full glass down on the side table, brushed down his clothes and drew his wand.
Severus was no fool Gryffindor, and therefore he might have to justify his actions some other way than 'manning up', but he was going to carry them out at any rate.
###
For once, Harry took the front stairs down. Personally, he could do without the grand entrance, but in his mind, it might be better if he made one and let everyone have their moment, and then maybe leave him to milling around in peace for the rest of the evening.
As he appeared around the top of the first landing, he held out hope of a quiet descent that lasted two steps down. Then there was a deafening roar of applauding, cheering and wolfwhistling that made him flush from throat to hairline. He rolled his eyes as he waved it off, muttering, "Oh hell. Come on, now," trying to sound nonchalant as he surreptitiously glanced over the crowd, looking for faces that were more than familiar-- everyone here was a friend that could be trusted, or a friend by extension, but there were only a handful that made him feel truly ok- made him feel home. He didn't see Ron or Hermione, no Ginny or even Draco either, but there were Luna and Neville, applauding and waving enthusiastically.
Luna called out, "Happy Day, Harry!" and as he made it to the bottom step, he tried to follow her voice only to be accosted on all sides by hugs and handshakes and winning grins. More than one hand strayed familiar in the crush, yet he wasn't able to really say that it hadn't been there once before. Overwhelming more than anything, Harry kept smiling and hugging, about on his last nerve not five feet from the staircase, cursing his own stupidity for agreeing to all this to begin with.
"Alright, back off, mates," said Neville from behind Harry.
"You'll love him to death," Luna added with an owlish blink. "The boy isn't as used to it as he ought to be, you know."
Her small hand slipped into the crook of his elbow and tugged him off to the corner where Percy was seated near Harry's cordoned-off armchair. Neville followed and Harry shook his head.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered.
"Not at all," said Luna. "You did a marvelous thing. You are a marvelous thing. People want to wish you well. Or at least, say they do. Especially your friends." She pushed him gently into his chair. "We'll just let it die down a little and then you'll be able to mingle with everyone else."
Harry laughed until he found himself with an unexpected lapful of giggling Mandy Brocklehurst. "Harry! Congratulations!" she exclaimed, planting a too-lingering and too-moist kiss on his cheek.
"Oh no," said Luna, reaching out for Mandy's elbow and tugging her back onto her feet. "I'm sorry. His lap is off-limits at the moment."
Harry snickered and dropped his chin into his hand. "She's right, I'm afraid," he agreed.
"Oh, well. Congratulations anyway," Mandy said, suddenly very interested in adjusting her hair. "But if you're interested, I wouldn't mind keeping you company. Again..."
Harry watched her walk away as she let the word trail off, more bemused than put out. "Thank you, Luna. Have you been assigned security detail?"
Luna laughed hysterically, so suddenly that Percy jumped and nearly dropped his drink before he relaxed again.
"Not at all," she said cheerfully. "I'm on friend duty."
Head thumping back against his chair, Harry looked up again as a drink landed in his hand. Neville grinned down. "What she said."
###
Remus was on the back step with Bill, companionably squirting moving incandescent reporters over the fence with Hermione's transfigured Super Soakers and occasionally sharing a laugh over the surprised yelps as the ice-cold water hit a target.
"You here to stay this time?" asked Remus during a lull in which the bobbing blobs of light seemed to back off.
"Nearly," answered Bill.
"Story of the last two years or so, mate," said Remus without accusation.
"Put my foot down this time. Five more weeks and I'm done," said Bill, adding under his breath as he lifted his beer in Kingsley's direction. "Don't mind saying I'll be a sorry bastard if I'm wrong."
Kingsley in turn flashed a rude gesture from his position at the side of the house and called out, "Make sure to have one for me, Remus."
Remus laughed, downed the remaining beer in his own glass and held it up. "You've got it, mate." He murmured to Bill, "On duty?"
"Damnably, yes," frowned Bill. "It was that or call in the kids."
Grimacing, Remus set his gun down on the porch. "That's dedication."
"No," Bill smirked. "He's just trying to get in my trousers with his selfless deeds."
"Did it work?" said Remus, all too amused and playing along.
"Aye, pretty much instantaneously," said Bill with a decisive nod.
Remus laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Smart man." He cocked his head toward the door and held up his glass in a silent declaration of intent to have his way with the beer. Opening the door onto a cacaphony of music and laughter worked well enough, but his progress was impeded when he crashed head on into Tonks immediately following.
"Hi Remus. Seen Gin?" she asked, her eyes scanning the back garden over his shoulder.
"Last I heard she was off looking for you," said Remus. "Bad show, losing her so soon."
Tonks narrowed her eyes and shoved him back a step. "Wanker. Help me."
Remus shoved back with one hand. "Fine. I'll make a circuit or t--"
There was a crack of Apparation just past the gate and a small commotion of lights headed in the general direction of such, though no one came through. To make matters worse, the inky artificial black of what was unmistakably Peruvian Darkness began edging over the fence in that direction. Tonks frowned and started forward, as did Kingsley and Bill, but Remus held his glass up and Transfigured it into a pair of weirdly glowing goggles.
"I can handle it," Remus said as he pulled them on and trotted to the gate, not giving them a chance to argue. "Stay back until I get it dispelled."
With the recently-developed goggles, he could see right through the artifical darkness, easily yanking open the gate and standing aside in one quick motion. When nothing came through, he poked his head around with extreme caution, wand drawn. He could see glowing reporters milling about confused, and a figure approaching at the center of the inky black that he recognized immediately. Brow furrowed, Remus held a hand up in Kingsley's direction, though he probably couldn't see Remus doing so. He edged out past the gate and further into the dark, wand still drawn in the slim case that he was wrong. Truthfully, he felt as though he might know that shape almost anywhere.
"Severus?" he hissed.
"Reporters, Lupin," Severus hissed back. "The place is crawling with them."
"Can't say I'm surprised," said Remus.
His head popped up as the nearest of the pack came closer, groping, hands out in front of his face, and calling shakily, "Who's there? Do you have a comment?"
"Remus?!" Kingsley called from inside the gate.
Severus brought his wand up, speaking formally in a clear dismissal, "Apologies for the distubance."
"Wait!" hissed Remus, pushing Severus' wand hand down, eyes darting back and forth before calling back to Kingsley, "It's clear. Just more reporters that are about to be dealt with."
The reporters within earshot scattered like rats and Bill said, "Care to dispel this shite, then, mate?"
"Good. Evening," said Severus, raising his wand again. Remus shook his head and grabbed hold of Severus' wrist.
"No, no, hold on," Remus growled, feeling like this situation was spiralling rapidly and ridiculously out of control. "Just come in."
"This was ill-advised at best," sneered Severus. "I should have known it some sort of media stunt."
"Hold on for what?!" called Tonks, sounding as though she were getting closer, likely because she was. "Sod it, I'm coming in."
Remus darted a look over his shoulder and said quickly, "I'm glad you came. It wasn't a media stunt. Hold on."
With that, he Disapparated, Severus in tow. Not five seconds later, he reappeared alone, and dispelled the Darkness quickly only to find Tonks, Bill and Kingsley staring at him in confusion.
"Reporters," he said lamely. "Trying to be sly."
Bill flashed a rude gesture in the direction of the nearest glowing lights. "Bastards." He tugged on Kingsley's elbow and began to retreat as Kingsley shot Tonks a look that said he knew something was off, but if Remus was behind it, he wasn't going to press the issue.
"Let's get back, shall we?" said Remus cheerfully, his eyes darting upward before settling on Tonks again. He pressed a guiding hand to her back as they went back through the back gate and shut it securely. "As I recall," said Remus making a beeline for the house and pushing Tonks forcibly along with him, "I was on a mission, so if you gentlemen will excuse me--"
Once inside the door, Tonks made a jerky little pulling-away movement and hopped forward a step before wheeling on Remus. "What was that about? And let me tell you, you're lucky I speak both Shacklebolt and Lupin because you are doing a right shitty job of covering whatever it is you're trying to cover."
Remus took her by the arms and leaned in, the look on his face a cross between shock and terror. "He came."
Eyebrows raised as far as they could go and wavering between the hot pink of her hair and a bright cherry red, Tonks' mouth dropped open. "Are you serious? The hell are you doing here?" She looked at Remus as though he might be hiding something on his person. "Where'd he go?"
"That is precisely why we need to talk," he said, releasing her except for an elbow and dragged her through the kitchen to the sitting room in order to raid the food and drink spread. He gathered two bottles of wine and a random plate of cheese and crackers, then pushed her back into the kitchen with his elbow. "I needed to appropriate your idea."
"My wh-- Oh. OH! Foul!" said Tonks, poking Remus in the chest. "Cheat!"
He shrugged apologetically as he made for the back stairs, heart thumping wildly in his chest. "I'm sorry. I'm further behind than you are."
Tonks stood hands on hips, peering at him hard for a moment longer before deflating a little and waving it off. "Too true. I'll figure it out."
Remus paused three stairs up and grinned. "Thank you."
"Keep moving, fool!" said Tonks with more than a trace of exasperation. "And take those goggles off."
Laughing, Remus turned and ran the rest of the way.
###
"Malfoy?"
Draco held up a hand as Tonks disappeared back out of the room. "Did you see that?"
Ron was well aware that there was a party raging in the main room, and that instead of mingling and possibly doing something about fixing his unfortunate state of not having had a decent shag in months, he was still sitting on the window ledge of the breakfast nook across from Draco Malfoy deeply entrenched in an in-depth discussion as to concrete reasons behind the Cannons' spectacularly bad luck and why the Arrows/United match the following Sunday was shaping up to be the one match of the season that absolutely could not be missed.
He'd given up trying to rationalize it. He'd even given up trying to make sense of it. Hell, he'd given up caring that Remus and Tonks were clearly in the middle of some sort of mischief.
"Yeah," said Ron, dismissing it with a shrug. "'Least they're not at each others' throats after last weekend."
"What happened last weekend?" said Draco with an air of lazy curiosity, and Ron turned to look at him as though he'd been speaking in a foreign language (which was not entirely out of the realm of possibility).
"They broke up," said Ron, adding with a concessionary nod, "Well, Officially. You hadn't heard?"
"Who would I have heard it from and why the devil would I care?" said Draco, his eyes still narrowed as the bit of overheard conversation nagged at him.
"Harry, for one. And you care now, don't you?"
"Mere curiosity," said Draco with a shrug. "It could be a useful bit of information." Feet where they were now on the wide sill, Draco nudged Ron's hip with his foot and held out his glass. "Speaking of useful."
Ron leveled a deadly glare at him.
Draco grinned and held the glass out insistently. "Try not to spit in it."
"I don't fetch and carry."
"Poor training in hospitality."
Ron's eyebrows crawled yet further and Draco rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Please."
With a grumbled swear, Ron took the glass and planted his feet solidly on the bench seat (a move that Hermione would go pretty shrill over if she'd caught it) before hopping gracefully onto the ground. He set his hand on the door and shot one last reproachful glance over his shoulder before went through it and set to refilling the glasses in hand. Wondering why the hell if he was so annoyed, he still could think of not much else more than tossing the ferrety git up against the side pane and--
"You're spilling."
"Huh?!" said Ron, turning from the wall he'd been staring through down to the overflowing beer glass in his hand. "Shite," he muttered, bending to take a sip from the offending glass to lower the liquid level. "Thanks."
"Distracted?" said Hermione, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet as she pulled a clean wine glass and served herself from a bottle of some sort of white that had been sitting in the tub of ice.
Ron eyed her up and down with half a smirk before turning to refill the second glass. "A bit. You?"
The woman actually giggled. "Maybe."
He couldn't help the requisite protective instinct and the usual twinge of jealousy. "Make sure Dean knows I'll break him in two if he acts like an arse, mate or not."
"Thank you, Ronald, I'll be sure to bring up that bit of cheerful conversation at my earliest opportunity," she tried to deadpan, but there was more of the giggling. Sodding hell. "Who are you fetch-and-carrying for, hmm?"
"Huh?!" he said again, causing the glass to spill over (again). "Oh! Just--"
"--being a gracious host," Draco said from the doorway, closing the last few steps to take possession of the drink nearest him. "And I do appreciate it."
Hermione's eyes went wide and Ron knew she was (valiantly) subduing an urge to clap a hand over her mouth. "Oh! Well, that is... very gracious of him," she said with an overly agreeable nod.
"Hermione..." warned Ron out of the corner of his mouth, beginning to feel exposed and self-conscious and as though his every thought was laid bare to her dissection.
"Very," agreed Draco, adjusting the drink in his hand and shifting subtly in Ron's direction.
"I have to! Go--" said Ron, not giving a damn about the oddities of inflection. "--because I promised I'd help out with security. Remember, Hermione?"
He didn't give her a chance to answer. Instead, he half-turned to Draco and pulled a small grin that looked more like a grimace, he was sure, eyes darting back to Hermione. "'Scuse me."
"Of course," Draco acknowledged with a careless nod, and Ron turned on his heel and beer in hand stalked past Hermione as though it were all her fault.
Ron didn't want to articulate what exactly comprised 'it' just now, not even to himself. As a result, he downed the majority of his beer in the trip through the large, loud, crowded sitting room and Banished the empty glass as he tossed open the front door wearing a look of pure murder for anyone foolhardy enough to try for a photo.
###
Harry drained the last of his second drink in quick succession while Neville and Luna were busy playing some alcohol-soaked variation of thumb wars. Percy had wandered back to see whether anyone needed help with the perimeter and without looking up from the latest round, Luna called up to Harry, "Did you need another, Harry, or is your lap open for business again?"
Neville coughed hard and lost the round, thereby forced to take a drink from the glass balanced in his other hand.
"Dunno about 'open for business'," said Harry, grinning though his eyes were shut. He then stood and didn't wobble at all as he brushed the front of his shirt. "But brave enough to make it across the room to get my own drink, I think."
"Excellent," said Luna, cocking her head at Neville and toward Harry's chair. "We'll save your seat."
"You don't have to do that, Luna," said Harry. "Just... y'know. Keep doing what you're doing."
"We can reach across!" she volunteered, adding as a happy exclamation, "Damn!" then "Yay!" immediately afterward as Neville won a round. Neville shook his head and took Harry's seat.
"Yeah-- she's right," said Neville as Luna took a drink. "We can reach."
Harry patted his shoulder. "Long as you're having a good time, I suppose"
"Don't worry about us," Neville said with a grin as Luna scooted her chair closer and held out her hand insistently. "We're fine."
###
Severus stood on the flat section of the roof of 12 Grimmauld Place among two overturned lawn chairs and a small table, arms tightly crossed and scowling, attempting to convince himself to draw his wand, Apparate home and forget this debacle had ever happened. For all he knew, the wretched Wolf had dumped him here as some sort of practical joke to see how long he would stand there. And never mind the 'please-- just give me a minute' delivered with such conviction as to appear--
The door to what was presumably the staircase banged open and Lupin appeared. It shouldn't have been so gratifying to see that he was visibly concerned as he scanned the area, or that he sighed in what appeared to be relief as he spotted Severus.
"Severus. Hello. I'm sorry about what happened down there," he managed, shifting a plate and two bottles into one hand while he secured the staircase door behind him. "We were as surprised as anyone when the bloody reporters arrived, but I suppose we really ought not have been, with it being Harry's party."
"No. Potter has a knack for garnering the attention he so thrives upon," grumbled Severus, peering more closely at Lupin as he approached. "What--"
To his credit, Lupin somehow suppressed the need to apologize for Potter, instead turning his attention to aiming his wand at the chairs and table and transfiguring the area to resemble a small sitting room. The chairs became a sofa set upon a rug, the table stretched longer, shrank low and suddenly bore candles in jars. He set things in hand down onto the table, tugged the ridiculous purple goggles off of the top of his head and transfigured them into two wine glasses.
"--are you doing, exactly?" said Severus. Not that it wasn't obvious. Save for the fact that it perhaps might not be. After all, this would generally be regarded a 'romantic setting' under any other circumstances.
"You know," said Lupin as he spelled the cork from a wine bottle and poured. "I've tended bar in Muggle pubs more than once, and there were times that I would have given my eyeteeth to be able to conjure clean glasses or charm up corks." He handed Severus a glass and held up his own. "I'm glad you came."
Severus narrowed his eyes first at the glass and then at Lupin, decided it was a lost cause and finally held his glass up ever so slightly, tone more icy than he intended. "Thank you for the invitation. Such as it was."
Seemingly unperturbed, Lupin merely smiled again. "I'm afraid you were correct. It was in fact, ill-conceived at best."
Wineglass paused halfway to his mouth, Severus said, "Had I known the affair would be one such as this all said and done, however, I might have conceded earlier." Not to mention saved himself the time and trouble of having agonized over his part in this farce at all.
"Had I known an invitation to cocktails on a rooftop was what it would take," said Lupin after a brief pause. "I would have begun with that."
Severus took a larger drink than was strictly civilized as he allowed himself to accept that Lupin was indeed interested. In him. He could now continue with the plan to Apparate away and pretend this had never happened, or play along.
"Have a seat?" asked Lupin in a tone that could only be interpreted as 'hopeful', gesturing to the sofa.
There wasn't much of a pause before Severus sat carefully, adjusting his trousers and crossing one leg, ankle to knee. His drink hand hung off of the armrest as casually as he could manage.
"Muggle pubs?"
###
Ginny was genuinely pleased to see so many people she knew having a good time and so very glad to see her. She was also glad that her turn babysitting the front yard was over, because her next move was going to be all about finding Tonks and picking up that conversation.
In the front room she obliged Michael with an improptu dance for all of ten seconds, then excused herself and cut through the knots of people to make her way toward the kitchen. Her eyes were on the crowd-- after all, how difficult could spotting pink hair be?
"Hey Gin," said Harry, looking up from a conversation with Theo and Millicent of the Slytherin contingent that had arrived only a few minutes prior. "Having fun?"
Ginny sighed and crossed her arms. "Everything is brilliant."
Theo smirked. "Clearly." Millicent made no effort to hide a matching expression behind her drink.
Very nearly sulking, Ginny snapped, "I want my--"
"MTV?" murmured Tonks as she slipped her arms around Ginny's waist from behind.
Ginny grinned hugely and turned, oblivious to the quiet, surprised murmur around her. "Whatever that is. Geez, but you're hard to find."
"Look who's talking," said Tonks, nuzzling Ginny's cheek, arms tight around her. "Want to get out of here and talk?"
"Please and thank you right now," said Ginny, pressing a light kiss to the corner of Tonks' mouth. "I have plenty to say."
A buzz of laughter heralded Fred and George's arrival nearby. They slapped each other's backs when they caught sight of Ginny and Tonks, cracking huge, knowing grins and began to speak.
"Horses make good ice water!"
"And monitors really know how to toboggan!"
Initially nothing but annoyed at the interruption, Ginny raised an eyebrow in confusion once she heard what they'd said.
"Shoe butter coffee cake is a roach extravanza?" said one twin, looking at the other as though wondering about the tough crowd.
The other shrugged it off. "Lotion organizers in the toilet are made of carbon."
They both roared a laugh, and while everyone else around them seemed to find it hysterical, Ginny continued to stare.
"The hell have you two done this time?" she asked, distracted as Tonks laughed into her shoulder.
"Twee babies aren't shooting arrows!" said one, rolling his eyes.
"Oi!" said the other, exaggerating a look around. "Parlay rutabega Susie?"
Susan appeared behind them, hands on her hips. "Never call me 'Susie'," she growled.
"Rutabega Susie!!" they both shouted and proceeded to sidle up and bookend her, one tossing an arm around her shoulders and the other winding an arm around her waist.
"What happened to them, exactly?" asked Harry through a snicker.
None too impressed, Susan eyed one, then the other. "No idea. When we got here, they were fine. Few minutes ago, they started babbling like this. And apparently, they're either unaware they're doing it, or it's some sort of experiment."
"Socrates wept," said one philosophically. The other nodded.
"Shinier things have happened."
"It's sort of hot," said Susan. "In a freakishly disturbed sort of way."
"Bacon," the twins said simultaneously, drawing out the vowels with a wicked leer, and as a result, Tonks barked another laugh.
"Sanguine sock time!" said one, holding up his bottle.
"Apples are a tasty meat!" agreed the other, his hand dipping down to pinch Susan's arse.
Harry covered his mouth with a loose fist and laughed as Susan giggled and slapped at the twin's hand muttering, "I take it back."
"...Sure. Hey!" said Ginny tugged Tonks back a step. "You lads have fun with that. I've got places to be."
Susan made a half-hearted grab for Ginny's arm. "Help?"
"Help with what? They probably did it to themselves!" Ginny said.
"Cunt Muppet!" shouted a twin as a rallying cry, holding his bottle up with a huge grin, the other adding, "For the Win!" Everyone around them hoisted their drinks and repeated it back and Ginny shot a dirty look at Tonks for shouting along.
Theo turned to an equally non-plussed Millicent to ask what exactly a muppet was, and Susan tilted her head at Ginny in supplication.
Tonks was barely audible through the wheezing laughter that trailed off as Ginny pulled away. "Oi, no, no. Leave them. Harry can do it.... Harry?"
"Gone, bastard," muttered Ginny, cocking her head toward where Harry had been standing. "Ten minutes. If it's not fixed they'll have to run around shouting about cunt muppets for the rest of their natural lives and I won't be a bit bothered by it."
"Fine," said Tonks, trying to pout, though her trailing laughter kept it from being as potent as it might otherwise be. "Ten minutes, and then I'm making off with you."
"Hey," Ginny said. Tonks looked up and crashed directly into a warm, drawn-out kiss that was more than anything a promise of things to come.
Neither registered the twins' whistling and hooting while they somehow made the phrase "Muffins and Escargot" dirtier than it had any right to be.
###
Harry had slipped away from the scene with the twins, just then beginning to feel a bit of a buzz and thinking he might be about ready to brave the room and possibly even join the thumb-wrestling. Halfway back, he ran into Justin and Hannah who filled him in on their plans for their new office, in the process giving him the run down of Zacharias' progress in his quest to become one neverending shrug. Once he drew away from them, it was clear he'd need another drink and so he went back, refilled his glass and then managed to make it back to his seat with only minor interruption.
When he got there, Neville was still in his chair, chin in his hand watching Luna and Percy dance not far away and wearing a look of utter amusement.
"Hey," said Harry and Neville started, breaking into a grin and making to stand.
"Chair's safe, mate. Luna left me in charge of it, and I didn't argue. She's the Ravenclaw."
Harry snickered, but pushed back on Neville's shoulder. "No, stay there. I'll sit over th-- wait." He grinned and tapped the chair with his wand, and it expanded just enough so that one more person could sit in it if the occupants sat flush at the hip, and then did so.
"...Ok," Neville said, shifting as Harry fit himself into the chair.
"Alright? I could put it back?" said Harry, suddenly worried that he'd gone too far.
"No!" said Neville quickly. "I'm fine. Good. Great, even."
"Ok," Harry said, leaning back against the wing and bending his knee slightly to rest the outside against Neville's thigh, resting his drink on the armrest. "You could also get out there and... I don't know. Mingle. Lot of friends around."
"I'm fine. I'm having a good time watching, you know?" said Neville, visibly swallowing hard, though Harry was buzzed enough that it was just an opportunity to watch the bob of his Adam's apple.
"Yeah. I love a lot of these people, but they sort of freak me out," said Harry, with a small smile. "It's good that everyone's having a good time, though."
###
"Yeah," Neville repeated, worrying that his decision to break into the drinks earlier and more quickly than he otherwise might have may have been a bad idea, given he couldn't quite dispel the visual of a sleepy, rumpled Harry fresh from his equally rumpled bed. "Good time," he muttered, wondering how many times he could fit the same phrase into the conversation.
Harry snorted a laugh, then thumped Neville's arm as he took a drink. Neville shook his head and a thought occurred to him.
"You, err. Look... dunno. Refreshed. Like you're having a good time," he said to Harry, marvelling that this was indeed the case.
"Yeah?" said Harry with a crooked smile. "Maybe I am. I'll never admit to it."
"It's good. Lot of the time--" said Neville, then stopped himself and waved it off. "Never mind. It's good." That had to have made at least six repetitions of 'good' between them both.
"'Lot of the time' what?" said Harry suddenly curious.
Neville rubbed the back of his own neck. "Nah, it's nothing."
"Come on, what?" said Harry, bouncing his knee against Neville's leg insistently.
"It's just-- a lot of the time when you're out having fun lately, it's a little like you're not," said Neville with a shrug, followed by a nervous laugh, his face flushed and hot. "Ah, hell. Luna's rubbing off on me. Like I said, never mind." It didn't help that Harry didn't say anything immediately.
After another long second, Harry flopped back against the wing of the chair. "You know that new arrival at the House? The one that I spent this last week watching over?"
Neville didn't know what it had to do with his end of the conversation but he went along. "Yeah...?"
"Usual story. Old near-and-not-so-dear friends coming to call and finish up their business; no one to help her out or keep an eye out for her," It was Harry's turn to shrug. "Eh. It's stupid."
"No! It's not. Go on," said Neville as encouragingly as he could.
"It's just-- It makes me think that I would never have gotten anywhere on my own," He looked down and shrugged again, and Neville got the distinct impression this conversation would never have occurred without the magic of fermentation. "I guess I'm tired of doing what I do and ending up alone again these days. It doesn't matter that it seems like I'm not. I am." Harry huffed a laugh. "Alright. That doesn't make a damn bit of sense."
"Oh," said Neville, trying to keep his tongue from tying into knots. "No, it does."
Harry laughed again, looking a little embarrassed. "At least someone understood that."
Mandy swung past and grinned winningly, but she didn't manage a word past, "Hi," before Neville cut her off with a very real edge to his voice.
"No, Mandy. His lap definitely off-limits now."
###
Tonks went out to the back step to spend her ten minutes productively glaring at the glowing reporters and verifying that partygoers were who they said they were. She stepped out the door and found Charlie sitting on the top step with Pansy perched next to him, one knee slung over his.
"Wotcher, Chuck," she offered brightly, telling herself that she was not in fact about to be pounded for having unremitting filthy thoughts about his little sister. Mostly because he didn't yet have any way of knowing, not that that wouldn't change the moment he went inside. "Parkinson. How're things?"
He glared predictably at her, making it clear he was fondly considering homicide for the nickname, though Pansy's added glare was relatively new.
"Abysmal but for Charlie," sighed Pansy, standing gracefully.
"Not so bad, but about to be better," said Charlie on his feet as well, thumping Tonks on the shoulder as he opened the door. "Listen, thanks--"
"Oh no!" said Tonks, alarmed. "I'm only here for--"
Charlie and Pansy were gone and Tonks found herself alone on the porch, growling, "--ten bloody, sodding minutes," into thin air.
###
The roof was too quiet. Oh certainly the conversation had gone well at first. Remus had a lot of stories he had never really told anyone, but unfortunately, he preferred it that way. Maybe one day-- well. That was a lot of presumption. But as it stood, once he told his favorite pub story, there had been a lot of staring into wine glasses.
Thus, it was in everyone's best interest for Remus to keep their glasses filled. To have something interesting to look at, of course.
Thus, as he emptied the first bottle into Severus' glass, he found himself snickering, drawing a confused eyebrow from Severus.
"You know," said Remus as he opened the second bottle. "I am a terrible Gryffindor some days."
"Is there any other kind?" asked Severus, lifting his glass with a smirk that said he was not in any way kidding.
Remus shot him a dirty look while trying not to smile as he finally managed to refill his own glass. "Yes. Many."
"In your opinion," Severus said, baiting him further. "For what it's worth, among morons you tend to stand out as... less so. Lycanthropy notwithstanding."
"Thank you," deadpanned Remus. "I may swoon."
After a short sip, Severus spoke again. "Fine. What makes you a 'bad Gryffindor'?"
"I am being an absolute pansy, and have been when it comes to you for approximately twenty years now," said Remus without hesitation, staring out over the side of the roof, offhand as though he were discussing the weather.
"Excuse me?"
"Do you remember the night of your first Order meeting?"
Severus scowled. "Regrettably, the memory is as clear as a bell."
"James and Sirius were about fit to kill, Peter... well. It doesn't matter." It's not as though it was a genuine reaction, at any rate. "But I..." Remus rolled his eyes at himself, determined to go on. "I thought--"
"Lupin."
"--I thought it was an incredibly brave thing to have done," Remus said. "And I didn't speak to Sirius and James for a week after having told them so. Forcefully." Forcefully was one word for it. More to the point, he'd stopped Sirius from marching down and 'disposing of the 'Snivelly Git' himself' by way of a full-body bind around James' tackling arm.
"How very noble of you," muttered Severus, unimpressed.
"I'm trying to say that I've been fascinated by you for a long damn time," said Remus, beginning to be convinced that it had been a terrible idea, "and I never thought I stood a chance."
"In all fairness, you did not," Severus said, and Remus' chest constricted with the familiar feeling of having been made a fool of at his own hand. "Or for the most part... did not until recent events."
Slowly --God, too slowly-- feeling began to seep back into Remus' fingers. He finally turned to peer at Severus with the barest spark of renewed hope, and slid the slightest bit closer.
"How recent?"
###
The moment Tonks caught sight of Bill, she popped up and bolted, grabbing his face and kissing his cheek in passing. "Alright, be good, have fun, bye," she said, the 'bye' bitten off as she ran through the door, tore through the kitchen and the back int the sitting room, took a perfunctory look around and then found exactly what she'd been looking for.
Ginny looked up from where she was holding her wand on Fred and George and grinned. She muttered something to them and walked away, nothing so much as stalking toward Tonks heedless of people in her path. She didn't bother to stop until she was flush with Tonks, hitting her with nearly enough force to knock her over, thoughtfully sliding her arms over Tonks' shoulders and grinned. "Let's go."
There was no point in arguing. The party would be perfectly fine without them and if it wasn't there weren't more than enough people who could deal with it.
"Yes, please," said Tonks as her hand wound up through Ginny's bright hair.
###
"Is your best mate always completely stark raving mad?" asked Draco as he slid into the seat nearest Harry's.
Harry snorted a laugh as did Neville, attached as he was to Harry's side. He received an inquiring eyebrow from Draco, though Draco was able to display an uncommon amount of kindness in refraining from from further comment. Then again, it wasn't as though he were surprised. At all.
"You tell me," snickered Harry, who Draco knew for a fact was feeling pleasantly content and somewhat drunk, which was a gratifying thing to see. A little disappointing, since Draco had laid in a store of recreational potions in advance to counteract any sort of moping, melancholia, and any other conceivable maudlin thought he'd expected to pick up on from Harry on the day of The Anniversary. He had enough that he would have shared, but it was probably for the best this way.
"Fucking stark raving," grumbled Draco.
"Enjoying yourself, then?" asked Harry brightly.
"Potter, I will continue to despise you through the end of your days," said Draco over the top of his glass, though he couldn't quite keep down the hint of a smile.
"It's good to be consistent," said Neville with a nod as he drained his glass, beating Harry to the comeback and setting him to snickering.
Draco shut his eyes, shook his head once and exaggeratedly refocused on Neville. "When did you cease being worse than entirely useless?"
"Have I?" said Neville, tone wry. "I hadn't noticed."
"Long before you did, at any rate," said Harry, smacking the back of his hand lightly against Neville's stomach, though he was addressing Draco. "I saw him go out front, you know."
"It's useless. A fucking terrible idea," said Draco, leaning forward elbows to knees and speaking to Harry directly, not intending to be clear enough that anyone else could follow the thread of conversation.
"...Yeah. Probably," agreed Harry unhelpfully.
"I blame this on you. You and your entire idiotic House."
"On behalf of myself and my House, fuck you."
"Nothing good can come of this."
"Then we're used to that sort of thing."
Draco stared Harry down for a second longer and then hoisted himself to his feet. "You're not right," he said as he walked away. "None of you are."
Craning his head around the side of the chair, Harry called after him, "Wouldn't be the first time!"
Snarl inaudible over the music and noise, Draco lifted his chin impossibly higher and went out the front door.
###
"Huh," murmured Neville.
"What's that?" said Harry, peering at him.
"Ron and Draco?"
"Heard this morning."
"Makes sense, now."
Privately, Harry agreed. Ron's moods, the complex emotions that he'd picked up from Draco, the pisspoor attempts at avoiding the party by both sides all added up. "Now if they could just manage to live through it--" Harry snorted another laugh. "God help us all."
Luna chose just that moment to twirl past and set a drink in Neville's hand.
"And we can help each other in the meantime!" she grinned, flopping the armrest of the chair and leaning against Harry.
"Status report, Lieutenant?" said Harry, leaning too and affecting a deep, serious voice, not really expecting one.
"Aye sir," Luna said, sitting up back straight and beginning a recitation that left Harry and Neville snickering uncontrollably. "Weasley, female: MIA along with Tonks. Weasley, eldest: patrolling the perimeter along with Shacklebolt, subject to occasional very minor lapses in attention. Weasley, next eldest: serving as an armchair for Parkinson. Weasley, Woobie: hoping I'll go rescue him from back porch duty. Weasleys, double: still spouting occasional nonsense but for the most part trying to ensure that they make proper use of every possible innuendo for 'Bones'. Weasley second youngest: formerly on front porch duty, but about to be attacked by Malfoy. As General Granger is off snogging Thomas and unavailable to make this decision, I recommend we commandeer reinforcements. Also, Potter: smashed up against Longbottom, a move of which I highly approve."
Laughing, Neville reached across Harry and shoved her knee, which only served to remind her--
"Oh! Lupin: On the roof with Snape."
"What?" said both Harry and Neville in unison.
"Lovegood: merely giving the report," she said with a lopsided grin and a shrug. "Some things are inexplicable."
Neville looked faintly ill.
"Here," said Luna hopping down from her perch and grabbing for Neville's hand. "Twister will make you feel better."
###
Temporarily made brave, Draco had in fact set out on a mission.
Certainly, he realized that he was going to be sorry later. Perhaps in the morning. Perhaps even in about thirty seconds or so, give or take. At the time, however, it seemed the only thing left to be done. He shoved the front door open, stepped out onto the porch, caught sight of Ron sitting on the railing nearest the door and closed the distance between them in two long strides.
"Oh for fuck's sake," Draco growled.
Ron stood immediately. It was more a shift of his weight-- his feet were already on the ground since he was tall enough to actually reach. He opened his mouth, but didn't get a chance to say anything as one more step brought Draco directly into his personal space. His hands came up around the sides of Ron's face, more to keep him still than anything, and didn't stop moving forward even once he'd pushed Ron back against the railing.
"Bzuh?" Ron croaked, and Draco ignored the utter lack of erudition, choosing instead to crush his mouth to Ron's once, forcefully, and then again. He leaned in so hard and so far that Ron was forced to twist his fingers into the front of Draco's shirt to keep from toppling over the side. Flashbulbs went mad around them and though Draco would have happily throttled them all any other time, he couldn't be arsed to care. The sounds that Ron was making in the back of his throat goaded him on, the grip in his shirt, the obvious bulge in his trousers, at exactly the right height and angle such that all it took for Draco to get him to repeat the sounds from his throat with a simple, shallow roll of his hips-- all added up to his perfect willingness to be photographed in the act of doing so. With Ronald Weasley.
Any last shred of doubt was eradicated when he felt a foot hook around his calf, the action not only allowing him closer still, but pulling him in to make use of the available proximity. One of the hands on his chest sought to wrap itself around Draco's waist and down to follow the curve of his spine with total disregard for the public at large, and it was all Draco could do to shove back, grip more tightly; hold on and brace his knee against the railing to keep from falling right over the edge and landing in a tangled heap.
With Ronald Weasley.
The world made no sense. Apparently he had no problem with that.
###
"Right hand red!" shrieked Luna with glee and a pile of partygoers in varying states of intoxication landed in a collectively giggling heap. In an attempt to free himself from Mandy's clinging to his leg, Harry fell face-first onto Neville and laughed as it set off a domino effect and knocked everyone else over again.
"You know what?" said Harry once he was standing, as he tried unsuccessfully to push away yet another incarnation of his mysteriously ever-full glass. "You're right. I'm having fun."
"Again!" said Luna, sparking a hoot of laughter from the crowd as Percy tackled her sideways to a nearby chair and declared her 'under quarantine before she could cause mischief for anyone else'.
'Quarantine' looked suspiciously like a snog.
"Tha's brilliant," said Neville, distracted as he applauded and begged off another game. His eyes suddenly went wide when Harry slipped an arm around him.
"Is." Harry pointed with his drink hand, leaning in too close. "I'm gonna commandeer th' fucking stereo. Come with me."
"As though I'd miss that," said Neville as offhandedly as he could manage, and Harry laughed again, squeezed once and dragged him across the room.
###
The door of the flat banged open so hard, Remus was sure that the thing was about to fall off of its hinges, not that he much cared, given Severus was pinning him to the wall beside it, his mouth hot on Remus' throat, hands heavy and creeping up and under the back of his shirt. He was being inexorably drawn closer and Remus didn't care if it ever stopped. His hand flailed from Severus' shoulder and out to the door that he couldn't quite reach, a whimper escaping his lips as teeth met skin and gnawed; lord, he could barely breathe much less think.
"S-severus," Remus managed, "We should-- the door," but Severus paid no attention, his hips grinding against Remus and making him see colored stars in his field of vision. Growling, he shifted and rolled, pinning Severus in turn to the wall, shoulder poking over the edge of the doorframe. Without another pause, Remus grabbed Severus by the arms, pulled him away from the wall, moved him far enough over that this was no longer a problem and then slammed him up against it again. Wearing a devious, wolfish grin not two inches from Severus' face, he planted his hands over Severus' shoulders and kicked the door shut.
"Sorted," he panted with a distinctly michievous glint in his eye, sliding a hand up the side of Severus' throat, marvelling at how pliable he was willing to be, how he was willing to let Remus turn his face in order to murmur approval into his skin between nipping kisses to his jaw. "I am so glad you came." Remus dragged his tongue upward toward Severus' ear in order to add in a low murmur, "So, so glad--"
"...Friday..." breathed Severus, not entirely intelligible.
Remus nipped at his earlobe. "What's that?"
The fingers of Severus' hand dug into Remus' shoulderblade and he shifted up and away from the wall before falling back. "Rule-breaking friday--"
"In all fairness," grinned Remus as he nudged Severus back to look at him. "It might be Saturday, now--"
"I don't honestly give a damn," said Severus, freeing a hand and using it to pull Remus into a kiss that threatened to never end and somehow began a migration away from the wall and toward Remus' room.
Hungry and raw and nerve endings on fire, Remus kissed back and seconded the sentiment with no further words.
Author: corvidae9
Rating: R
Word Count: ~9100
Warnings: crackful premises, het/slash/fem, rampant bisexuality, snogging, free-flowing alcohol (what? It's a party!)
Summary: In which there is a raging anti-party (and several subsequent mini-anti-anti-parties) that together suspiciously resemble a raging party.
Author's Note: See Part I for full Summary/Notes! Questions/comments/interpretive dance, as always, welcome here. :D omg sooo sorry for taking so long with these last two parts. RL ate me alive, parsley and all. And not the fun way, either. D:
I - Saturday | II - Sunday | III - Monday | IV - Tuesday | 4.5 - Tuesday Night | V - Wednesday | VI - Thursday | VII - Friday afternoon | 7.5 - Friday Night | VIII - Saturday2
Friday Night
Neville had managed to exit Harry's room without incident, though watching him cross from the rumpled bed to the master bath in a t-shirt and boxers while scrubbing a hand through his hopelessly mussed hair really did pose a challenge to his Selfless Zen of Harry Potter. If Neville had slammed the door a little too unsteadily on the way out, and if he'd puffed a huge exhale after, it was all in the name of regaining said composure.
He didn't often, but Neville needed a drink.
Having jogged downstairs at that time only to be commandeered again, Neville had missed the opportunity to crack into the drinks and get an early start, but now that Ginny had dashed upstairs to get dressed and Hermione was probably greeting guests or hosing down reporters, he was safe. Making his way around by way of the kitchen, Neville walked into the sitting room nearest the food and drink set up with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, mate," said Neville, bumping Ron's elbow. "I'll take that." He took a glass off of the stack that Ron was setting down, helped himself to the beer and took a decent-sized swallow before he even registered that Draco was standing nearby arranging bottles of liquor.
"Err. Hello," said Neville sheepishly as he lowered the glass again. "Good to see you made it."
Ron arched an eyebrow in his trademark expressive confusion and cocked his head at Neville's glass. "Thirsty?"
"Weasley," drawled Draco, not losing an ounce of amusement from his expression. "After spending ten minutes assisting in the set up, even I can only imagine with a shudder the thirst for alcohol that a week in this madhouse might have caused."
"Piss off," said Ron, though he was almost smiling as he shook his head.
Neville looked from one to the other and wondered whether in the wake of Harry's faceplant in his lap and these two not at one another's throats that perhaps he might be imagining all or part of this day. He was however, spared having to answer himself as the front door opened in a spectacular rush of trumpeting fanfare and red and gold pyrotechnics that melted into sparkling ribbons and continued to spread outward over the hardwood floors.
"Never fear, good citizens!" cried one Weasley twin, striking an heroic pose in the doorway.
"The party is in fact, here." cried the other, joining the first in the doorway, waving and grinning into the crowd (small as it was at the moment), who for the most part, cheered as they dodged the fireworks.
"Oh, hell," said Ron with a sigh. "Here we go. Wards for the table, maybe?"
"Nah," said Neville. "Ginny left strict instructions. They're not allowed anywhere near the food or drinks unless they're actually eating and/or drinking."
"And just how is that enforceable?" said Draco, entirely dubious.
"She appealed to their better natures, since it's Harry's party and all?" Neville said, though from the tone of his voice, he didn't quite believe that either. Both Ron and Draco turned narrow eyes on him. "And apparently, she's got some sort of blackmail on them," he added as he grinned and took another drink.
"Reprobates, the lot of you," breathed Draco as each twin took a step and reached a hand back through the doorway. "What now?"
A giggling Susan Bones emerged into the room clutching one each of the twins' hands, dressed fit to kill with her cleavage alone and looking more smug than anyone had a right. Ron rolled his eyes and looked faintly ill. "Yeah she does."
###
The music seemed to grow a little louder, the crowd a little more upbeat even as it swelled in size, the door now in a constant state of flux. Every time it opened, faint, desperate cries of 'Do you have a comment?' or 'Why the Ministry boycott?' filtered in, usually followed by a threatening growl and sometimes a crack and then a hasty 'Reparo'. When Angelina and Oliver arrived, there was a general uproar in that they brought along a small group of players from both United and Tutshill along with them. Ginny in her cut and reconfigured Property of the Auror Corps shirt (formerly Ron's), too-short skirt and ripped tights, managed to barrel into them both before they even made it past the doorway.
Ron, however missed that particular bit of showmanship. He was sitting on the window ledge of the breakfast nook across from a similarly perched Draco Malfoy, relating the tale of the queen Boggart. Feet planted on the wooden bench seat, Ron used his empty glass as a convenient tool with which to gesture more emphatically, not that his facial expressions weren't conveying enough animation on their own. Draco looked appropriately horrified, through to his chagrin, Ron was hoping that it left room for a measure of 'suitably impressed'.
As it turned out, he was gratified enough when Draco burst into laughter as Ron described the wind-up polka-dot chihuahua and its subsequent demise.
"Exactly!" exclaimed Ron as he nudged Draco's foot with his own and resolved not to think about it any harder than he had to. He told himself firmly that he was sitting across the window seat from just another blond that he was looking to properly impress; they had no grudges and no history before having caught sight of him.
"Only a simpleton like you would find that hilarious enough to kill a Boggart Queen," said Draco between more laughter and another drink from his own glass, and Ron paused to examine him.
Maybe there was a little bit of a grudge still there.
"Oh and I suppose you would have made it a mirror, then? Photo of yourself?" asked Ron as sarcastically as he could manage, and all Draco did was laugh harder. And damn him-- it was infectious.
Maybe they needed the grudge to get by.
###
Severus stared at the same half-empty glass of firewhiskey still in hand round about eight o'clock, annoyed with himself that he couldn't quite bring himself to down the remainder and loosen his shirt; to get comfortable and have another two or three glasses this size and decide not to go anywhere until he absolutely had to.
The issue was that he truly did not want to go to the party and be anywhere near Potter or his cronies. He didn't care if the twin terrors made idiots of themselves, and he didn't care that there might in fact be one person he could get along with far from the main body of the ridiculous display.
The ensuing problem was that one of those statements had been completely untrue until he'd turned on Lupin. Purposefully and unsubtly because he'd been frustrated with himself, because he'd thought it the best course in order to hold on to his favorite fantasies. Unfortunately, the lingering effect was that even the best and previously most fulfilling of said fantasies didn't hold a candle to even the most pedestrian of time spent with the wolf. Even dinner became something he could manage to enjoy rather than see to.
As such, he had more than a few choice curses for the next time he saw Lupin, that much was certain. Fortunately, he had the perfect opportunity to deliver such. Carefully, he stood, set the half-full glass down on the side table, brushed down his clothes and drew his wand.
Severus was no fool Gryffindor, and therefore he might have to justify his actions some other way than 'manning up', but he was going to carry them out at any rate.
###
For once, Harry took the front stairs down. Personally, he could do without the grand entrance, but in his mind, it might be better if he made one and let everyone have their moment, and then maybe leave him to milling around in peace for the rest of the evening.
As he appeared around the top of the first landing, he held out hope of a quiet descent that lasted two steps down. Then there was a deafening roar of applauding, cheering and wolfwhistling that made him flush from throat to hairline. He rolled his eyes as he waved it off, muttering, "Oh hell. Come on, now," trying to sound nonchalant as he surreptitiously glanced over the crowd, looking for faces that were more than familiar-- everyone here was a friend that could be trusted, or a friend by extension, but there were only a handful that made him feel truly ok- made him feel home. He didn't see Ron or Hermione, no Ginny or even Draco either, but there were Luna and Neville, applauding and waving enthusiastically.
Luna called out, "Happy Day, Harry!" and as he made it to the bottom step, he tried to follow her voice only to be accosted on all sides by hugs and handshakes and winning grins. More than one hand strayed familiar in the crush, yet he wasn't able to really say that it hadn't been there once before. Overwhelming more than anything, Harry kept smiling and hugging, about on his last nerve not five feet from the staircase, cursing his own stupidity for agreeing to all this to begin with.
"Alright, back off, mates," said Neville from behind Harry.
"You'll love him to death," Luna added with an owlish blink. "The boy isn't as used to it as he ought to be, you know."
Her small hand slipped into the crook of his elbow and tugged him off to the corner where Percy was seated near Harry's cordoned-off armchair. Neville followed and Harry shook his head.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered.
"Not at all," said Luna. "You did a marvelous thing. You are a marvelous thing. People want to wish you well. Or at least, say they do. Especially your friends." She pushed him gently into his chair. "We'll just let it die down a little and then you'll be able to mingle with everyone else."
Harry laughed until he found himself with an unexpected lapful of giggling Mandy Brocklehurst. "Harry! Congratulations!" she exclaimed, planting a too-lingering and too-moist kiss on his cheek.
"Oh no," said Luna, reaching out for Mandy's elbow and tugging her back onto her feet. "I'm sorry. His lap is off-limits at the moment."
Harry snickered and dropped his chin into his hand. "She's right, I'm afraid," he agreed.
"Oh, well. Congratulations anyway," Mandy said, suddenly very interested in adjusting her hair. "But if you're interested, I wouldn't mind keeping you company. Again..."
Harry watched her walk away as she let the word trail off, more bemused than put out. "Thank you, Luna. Have you been assigned security detail?"
Luna laughed hysterically, so suddenly that Percy jumped and nearly dropped his drink before he relaxed again.
"Not at all," she said cheerfully. "I'm on friend duty."
Head thumping back against his chair, Harry looked up again as a drink landed in his hand. Neville grinned down. "What she said."
###
Remus was on the back step with Bill, companionably squirting moving incandescent reporters over the fence with Hermione's transfigured Super Soakers and occasionally sharing a laugh over the surprised yelps as the ice-cold water hit a target.
"You here to stay this time?" asked Remus during a lull in which the bobbing blobs of light seemed to back off.
"Nearly," answered Bill.
"Story of the last two years or so, mate," said Remus without accusation.
"Put my foot down this time. Five more weeks and I'm done," said Bill, adding under his breath as he lifted his beer in Kingsley's direction. "Don't mind saying I'll be a sorry bastard if I'm wrong."
Kingsley in turn flashed a rude gesture from his position at the side of the house and called out, "Make sure to have one for me, Remus."
Remus laughed, downed the remaining beer in his own glass and held it up. "You've got it, mate." He murmured to Bill, "On duty?"
"Damnably, yes," frowned Bill. "It was that or call in the kids."
Grimacing, Remus set his gun down on the porch. "That's dedication."
"No," Bill smirked. "He's just trying to get in my trousers with his selfless deeds."
"Did it work?" said Remus, all too amused and playing along.
"Aye, pretty much instantaneously," said Bill with a decisive nod.
Remus laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Smart man." He cocked his head toward the door and held up his glass in a silent declaration of intent to have his way with the beer. Opening the door onto a cacaphony of music and laughter worked well enough, but his progress was impeded when he crashed head on into Tonks immediately following.
"Hi Remus. Seen Gin?" she asked, her eyes scanning the back garden over his shoulder.
"Last I heard she was off looking for you," said Remus. "Bad show, losing her so soon."
Tonks narrowed her eyes and shoved him back a step. "Wanker. Help me."
Remus shoved back with one hand. "Fine. I'll make a circuit or t--"
There was a crack of Apparation just past the gate and a small commotion of lights headed in the general direction of such, though no one came through. To make matters worse, the inky artificial black of what was unmistakably Peruvian Darkness began edging over the fence in that direction. Tonks frowned and started forward, as did Kingsley and Bill, but Remus held his glass up and Transfigured it into a pair of weirdly glowing goggles.
"I can handle it," Remus said as he pulled them on and trotted to the gate, not giving them a chance to argue. "Stay back until I get it dispelled."
With the recently-developed goggles, he could see right through the artifical darkness, easily yanking open the gate and standing aside in one quick motion. When nothing came through, he poked his head around with extreme caution, wand drawn. He could see glowing reporters milling about confused, and a figure approaching at the center of the inky black that he recognized immediately. Brow furrowed, Remus held a hand up in Kingsley's direction, though he probably couldn't see Remus doing so. He edged out past the gate and further into the dark, wand still drawn in the slim case that he was wrong. Truthfully, he felt as though he might know that shape almost anywhere.
"Severus?" he hissed.
"Reporters, Lupin," Severus hissed back. "The place is crawling with them."
"Can't say I'm surprised," said Remus.
His head popped up as the nearest of the pack came closer, groping, hands out in front of his face, and calling shakily, "Who's there? Do you have a comment?"
"Remus?!" Kingsley called from inside the gate.
Severus brought his wand up, speaking formally in a clear dismissal, "Apologies for the distubance."
"Wait!" hissed Remus, pushing Severus' wand hand down, eyes darting back and forth before calling back to Kingsley, "It's clear. Just more reporters that are about to be dealt with."
The reporters within earshot scattered like rats and Bill said, "Care to dispel this shite, then, mate?"
"Good. Evening," said Severus, raising his wand again. Remus shook his head and grabbed hold of Severus' wrist.
"No, no, hold on," Remus growled, feeling like this situation was spiralling rapidly and ridiculously out of control. "Just come in."
"This was ill-advised at best," sneered Severus. "I should have known it some sort of media stunt."
"Hold on for what?!" called Tonks, sounding as though she were getting closer, likely because she was. "Sod it, I'm coming in."
Remus darted a look over his shoulder and said quickly, "I'm glad you came. It wasn't a media stunt. Hold on."
With that, he Disapparated, Severus in tow. Not five seconds later, he reappeared alone, and dispelled the Darkness quickly only to find Tonks, Bill and Kingsley staring at him in confusion.
"Reporters," he said lamely. "Trying to be sly."
Bill flashed a rude gesture in the direction of the nearest glowing lights. "Bastards." He tugged on Kingsley's elbow and began to retreat as Kingsley shot Tonks a look that said he knew something was off, but if Remus was behind it, he wasn't going to press the issue.
"Let's get back, shall we?" said Remus cheerfully, his eyes darting upward before settling on Tonks again. He pressed a guiding hand to her back as they went back through the back gate and shut it securely. "As I recall," said Remus making a beeline for the house and pushing Tonks forcibly along with him, "I was on a mission, so if you gentlemen will excuse me--"
Once inside the door, Tonks made a jerky little pulling-away movement and hopped forward a step before wheeling on Remus. "What was that about? And let me tell you, you're lucky I speak both Shacklebolt and Lupin because you are doing a right shitty job of covering whatever it is you're trying to cover."
Remus took her by the arms and leaned in, the look on his face a cross between shock and terror. "He came."
Eyebrows raised as far as they could go and wavering between the hot pink of her hair and a bright cherry red, Tonks' mouth dropped open. "Are you serious? The hell are you doing here?" She looked at Remus as though he might be hiding something on his person. "Where'd he go?"
"That is precisely why we need to talk," he said, releasing her except for an elbow and dragged her through the kitchen to the sitting room in order to raid the food and drink spread. He gathered two bottles of wine and a random plate of cheese and crackers, then pushed her back into the kitchen with his elbow. "I needed to appropriate your idea."
"My wh-- Oh. OH! Foul!" said Tonks, poking Remus in the chest. "Cheat!"
He shrugged apologetically as he made for the back stairs, heart thumping wildly in his chest. "I'm sorry. I'm further behind than you are."
Tonks stood hands on hips, peering at him hard for a moment longer before deflating a little and waving it off. "Too true. I'll figure it out."
Remus paused three stairs up and grinned. "Thank you."
"Keep moving, fool!" said Tonks with more than a trace of exasperation. "And take those goggles off."
Laughing, Remus turned and ran the rest of the way.
###
"Malfoy?"
Draco held up a hand as Tonks disappeared back out of the room. "Did you see that?"
Ron was well aware that there was a party raging in the main room, and that instead of mingling and possibly doing something about fixing his unfortunate state of not having had a decent shag in months, he was still sitting on the window ledge of the breakfast nook across from Draco Malfoy deeply entrenched in an in-depth discussion as to concrete reasons behind the Cannons' spectacularly bad luck and why the Arrows/United match the following Sunday was shaping up to be the one match of the season that absolutely could not be missed.
He'd given up trying to rationalize it. He'd even given up trying to make sense of it. Hell, he'd given up caring that Remus and Tonks were clearly in the middle of some sort of mischief.
"Yeah," said Ron, dismissing it with a shrug. "'Least they're not at each others' throats after last weekend."
"What happened last weekend?" said Draco with an air of lazy curiosity, and Ron turned to look at him as though he'd been speaking in a foreign language (which was not entirely out of the realm of possibility).
"They broke up," said Ron, adding with a concessionary nod, "Well, Officially. You hadn't heard?"
"Who would I have heard it from and why the devil would I care?" said Draco, his eyes still narrowed as the bit of overheard conversation nagged at him.
"Harry, for one. And you care now, don't you?"
"Mere curiosity," said Draco with a shrug. "It could be a useful bit of information." Feet where they were now on the wide sill, Draco nudged Ron's hip with his foot and held out his glass. "Speaking of useful."
Ron leveled a deadly glare at him.
Draco grinned and held the glass out insistently. "Try not to spit in it."
"I don't fetch and carry."
"Poor training in hospitality."
Ron's eyebrows crawled yet further and Draco rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Please."
With a grumbled swear, Ron took the glass and planted his feet solidly on the bench seat (a move that Hermione would go pretty shrill over if she'd caught it) before hopping gracefully onto the ground. He set his hand on the door and shot one last reproachful glance over his shoulder before went through it and set to refilling the glasses in hand. Wondering why the hell if he was so annoyed, he still could think of not much else more than tossing the ferrety git up against the side pane and--
"You're spilling."
"Huh?!" said Ron, turning from the wall he'd been staring through down to the overflowing beer glass in his hand. "Shite," he muttered, bending to take a sip from the offending glass to lower the liquid level. "Thanks."
"Distracted?" said Hermione, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet as she pulled a clean wine glass and served herself from a bottle of some sort of white that had been sitting in the tub of ice.
Ron eyed her up and down with half a smirk before turning to refill the second glass. "A bit. You?"
The woman actually giggled. "Maybe."
He couldn't help the requisite protective instinct and the usual twinge of jealousy. "Make sure Dean knows I'll break him in two if he acts like an arse, mate or not."
"Thank you, Ronald, I'll be sure to bring up that bit of cheerful conversation at my earliest opportunity," she tried to deadpan, but there was more of the giggling. Sodding hell. "Who are you fetch-and-carrying for, hmm?"
"Huh?!" he said again, causing the glass to spill over (again). "Oh! Just--"
"--being a gracious host," Draco said from the doorway, closing the last few steps to take possession of the drink nearest him. "And I do appreciate it."
Hermione's eyes went wide and Ron knew she was (valiantly) subduing an urge to clap a hand over her mouth. "Oh! Well, that is... very gracious of him," she said with an overly agreeable nod.
"Hermione..." warned Ron out of the corner of his mouth, beginning to feel exposed and self-conscious and as though his every thought was laid bare to her dissection.
"Very," agreed Draco, adjusting the drink in his hand and shifting subtly in Ron's direction.
"I have to! Go--" said Ron, not giving a damn about the oddities of inflection. "--because I promised I'd help out with security. Remember, Hermione?"
He didn't give her a chance to answer. Instead, he half-turned to Draco and pulled a small grin that looked more like a grimace, he was sure, eyes darting back to Hermione. "'Scuse me."
"Of course," Draco acknowledged with a careless nod, and Ron turned on his heel and beer in hand stalked past Hermione as though it were all her fault.
Ron didn't want to articulate what exactly comprised 'it' just now, not even to himself. As a result, he downed the majority of his beer in the trip through the large, loud, crowded sitting room and Banished the empty glass as he tossed open the front door wearing a look of pure murder for anyone foolhardy enough to try for a photo.
###
Harry drained the last of his second drink in quick succession while Neville and Luna were busy playing some alcohol-soaked variation of thumb wars. Percy had wandered back to see whether anyone needed help with the perimeter and without looking up from the latest round, Luna called up to Harry, "Did you need another, Harry, or is your lap open for business again?"
Neville coughed hard and lost the round, thereby forced to take a drink from the glass balanced in his other hand.
"Dunno about 'open for business'," said Harry, grinning though his eyes were shut. He then stood and didn't wobble at all as he brushed the front of his shirt. "But brave enough to make it across the room to get my own drink, I think."
"Excellent," said Luna, cocking her head at Neville and toward Harry's chair. "We'll save your seat."
"You don't have to do that, Luna," said Harry. "Just... y'know. Keep doing what you're doing."
"We can reach across!" she volunteered, adding as a happy exclamation, "Damn!" then "Yay!" immediately afterward as Neville won a round. Neville shook his head and took Harry's seat.
"Yeah-- she's right," said Neville as Luna took a drink. "We can reach."
Harry patted his shoulder. "Long as you're having a good time, I suppose"
"Don't worry about us," Neville said with a grin as Luna scooted her chair closer and held out her hand insistently. "We're fine."
###
Severus stood on the flat section of the roof of 12 Grimmauld Place among two overturned lawn chairs and a small table, arms tightly crossed and scowling, attempting to convince himself to draw his wand, Apparate home and forget this debacle had ever happened. For all he knew, the wretched Wolf had dumped him here as some sort of practical joke to see how long he would stand there. And never mind the 'please-- just give me a minute' delivered with such conviction as to appear--
The door to what was presumably the staircase banged open and Lupin appeared. It shouldn't have been so gratifying to see that he was visibly concerned as he scanned the area, or that he sighed in what appeared to be relief as he spotted Severus.
"Severus. Hello. I'm sorry about what happened down there," he managed, shifting a plate and two bottles into one hand while he secured the staircase door behind him. "We were as surprised as anyone when the bloody reporters arrived, but I suppose we really ought not have been, with it being Harry's party."
"No. Potter has a knack for garnering the attention he so thrives upon," grumbled Severus, peering more closely at Lupin as he approached. "What--"
To his credit, Lupin somehow suppressed the need to apologize for Potter, instead turning his attention to aiming his wand at the chairs and table and transfiguring the area to resemble a small sitting room. The chairs became a sofa set upon a rug, the table stretched longer, shrank low and suddenly bore candles in jars. He set things in hand down onto the table, tugged the ridiculous purple goggles off of the top of his head and transfigured them into two wine glasses.
"--are you doing, exactly?" said Severus. Not that it wasn't obvious. Save for the fact that it perhaps might not be. After all, this would generally be regarded a 'romantic setting' under any other circumstances.
"You know," said Lupin as he spelled the cork from a wine bottle and poured. "I've tended bar in Muggle pubs more than once, and there were times that I would have given my eyeteeth to be able to conjure clean glasses or charm up corks." He handed Severus a glass and held up his own. "I'm glad you came."
Severus narrowed his eyes first at the glass and then at Lupin, decided it was a lost cause and finally held his glass up ever so slightly, tone more icy than he intended. "Thank you for the invitation. Such as it was."
Seemingly unperturbed, Lupin merely smiled again. "I'm afraid you were correct. It was in fact, ill-conceived at best."
Wineglass paused halfway to his mouth, Severus said, "Had I known the affair would be one such as this all said and done, however, I might have conceded earlier." Not to mention saved himself the time and trouble of having agonized over his part in this farce at all.
"Had I known an invitation to cocktails on a rooftop was what it would take," said Lupin after a brief pause. "I would have begun with that."
Severus took a larger drink than was strictly civilized as he allowed himself to accept that Lupin was indeed interested. In him. He could now continue with the plan to Apparate away and pretend this had never happened, or play along.
"Have a seat?" asked Lupin in a tone that could only be interpreted as 'hopeful', gesturing to the sofa.
There wasn't much of a pause before Severus sat carefully, adjusting his trousers and crossing one leg, ankle to knee. His drink hand hung off of the armrest as casually as he could manage.
"Muggle pubs?"
###
Ginny was genuinely pleased to see so many people she knew having a good time and so very glad to see her. She was also glad that her turn babysitting the front yard was over, because her next move was going to be all about finding Tonks and picking up that conversation.
In the front room she obliged Michael with an improptu dance for all of ten seconds, then excused herself and cut through the knots of people to make her way toward the kitchen. Her eyes were on the crowd-- after all, how difficult could spotting pink hair be?
"Hey Gin," said Harry, looking up from a conversation with Theo and Millicent of the Slytherin contingent that had arrived only a few minutes prior. "Having fun?"
Ginny sighed and crossed her arms. "Everything is brilliant."
Theo smirked. "Clearly." Millicent made no effort to hide a matching expression behind her drink.
Very nearly sulking, Ginny snapped, "I want my--"
"MTV?" murmured Tonks as she slipped her arms around Ginny's waist from behind.
Ginny grinned hugely and turned, oblivious to the quiet, surprised murmur around her. "Whatever that is. Geez, but you're hard to find."
"Look who's talking," said Tonks, nuzzling Ginny's cheek, arms tight around her. "Want to get out of here and talk?"
"Please and thank you right now," said Ginny, pressing a light kiss to the corner of Tonks' mouth. "I have plenty to say."
A buzz of laughter heralded Fred and George's arrival nearby. They slapped each other's backs when they caught sight of Ginny and Tonks, cracking huge, knowing grins and began to speak.
"Horses make good ice water!"
"And monitors really know how to toboggan!"
Initially nothing but annoyed at the interruption, Ginny raised an eyebrow in confusion once she heard what they'd said.
"Shoe butter coffee cake is a roach extravanza?" said one twin, looking at the other as though wondering about the tough crowd.
The other shrugged it off. "Lotion organizers in the toilet are made of carbon."
They both roared a laugh, and while everyone else around them seemed to find it hysterical, Ginny continued to stare.
"The hell have you two done this time?" she asked, distracted as Tonks laughed into her shoulder.
"Twee babies aren't shooting arrows!" said one, rolling his eyes.
"Oi!" said the other, exaggerating a look around. "Parlay rutabega Susie?"
Susan appeared behind them, hands on her hips. "Never call me 'Susie'," she growled.
"Rutabega Susie!!" they both shouted and proceeded to sidle up and bookend her, one tossing an arm around her shoulders and the other winding an arm around her waist.
"What happened to them, exactly?" asked Harry through a snicker.
None too impressed, Susan eyed one, then the other. "No idea. When we got here, they were fine. Few minutes ago, they started babbling like this. And apparently, they're either unaware they're doing it, or it's some sort of experiment."
"Socrates wept," said one philosophically. The other nodded.
"Shinier things have happened."
"It's sort of hot," said Susan. "In a freakishly disturbed sort of way."
"Bacon," the twins said simultaneously, drawing out the vowels with a wicked leer, and as a result, Tonks barked another laugh.
"Sanguine sock time!" said one, holding up his bottle.
"Apples are a tasty meat!" agreed the other, his hand dipping down to pinch Susan's arse.
Harry covered his mouth with a loose fist and laughed as Susan giggled and slapped at the twin's hand muttering, "I take it back."
"...Sure. Hey!" said Ginny tugged Tonks back a step. "You lads have fun with that. I've got places to be."
Susan made a half-hearted grab for Ginny's arm. "Help?"
"Help with what? They probably did it to themselves!" Ginny said.
"Cunt Muppet!" shouted a twin as a rallying cry, holding his bottle up with a huge grin, the other adding, "For the Win!" Everyone around them hoisted their drinks and repeated it back and Ginny shot a dirty look at Tonks for shouting along.
Theo turned to an equally non-plussed Millicent to ask what exactly a muppet was, and Susan tilted her head at Ginny in supplication.
Tonks was barely audible through the wheezing laughter that trailed off as Ginny pulled away. "Oi, no, no. Leave them. Harry can do it.... Harry?"
"Gone, bastard," muttered Ginny, cocking her head toward where Harry had been standing. "Ten minutes. If it's not fixed they'll have to run around shouting about cunt muppets for the rest of their natural lives and I won't be a bit bothered by it."
"Fine," said Tonks, trying to pout, though her trailing laughter kept it from being as potent as it might otherwise be. "Ten minutes, and then I'm making off with you."
"Hey," Ginny said. Tonks looked up and crashed directly into a warm, drawn-out kiss that was more than anything a promise of things to come.
Neither registered the twins' whistling and hooting while they somehow made the phrase "Muffins and Escargot" dirtier than it had any right to be.
###
Harry had slipped away from the scene with the twins, just then beginning to feel a bit of a buzz and thinking he might be about ready to brave the room and possibly even join the thumb-wrestling. Halfway back, he ran into Justin and Hannah who filled him in on their plans for their new office, in the process giving him the run down of Zacharias' progress in his quest to become one neverending shrug. Once he drew away from them, it was clear he'd need another drink and so he went back, refilled his glass and then managed to make it back to his seat with only minor interruption.
When he got there, Neville was still in his chair, chin in his hand watching Luna and Percy dance not far away and wearing a look of utter amusement.
"Hey," said Harry and Neville started, breaking into a grin and making to stand.
"Chair's safe, mate. Luna left me in charge of it, and I didn't argue. She's the Ravenclaw."
Harry snickered, but pushed back on Neville's shoulder. "No, stay there. I'll sit over th-- wait." He grinned and tapped the chair with his wand, and it expanded just enough so that one more person could sit in it if the occupants sat flush at the hip, and then did so.
"...Ok," Neville said, shifting as Harry fit himself into the chair.
"Alright? I could put it back?" said Harry, suddenly worried that he'd gone too far.
"No!" said Neville quickly. "I'm fine. Good. Great, even."
"Ok," Harry said, leaning back against the wing and bending his knee slightly to rest the outside against Neville's thigh, resting his drink on the armrest. "You could also get out there and... I don't know. Mingle. Lot of friends around."
"I'm fine. I'm having a good time watching, you know?" said Neville, visibly swallowing hard, though Harry was buzzed enough that it was just an opportunity to watch the bob of his Adam's apple.
"Yeah. I love a lot of these people, but they sort of freak me out," said Harry, with a small smile. "It's good that everyone's having a good time, though."
###
"Yeah," Neville repeated, worrying that his decision to break into the drinks earlier and more quickly than he otherwise might have may have been a bad idea, given he couldn't quite dispel the visual of a sleepy, rumpled Harry fresh from his equally rumpled bed. "Good time," he muttered, wondering how many times he could fit the same phrase into the conversation.
Harry snorted a laugh, then thumped Neville's arm as he took a drink. Neville shook his head and a thought occurred to him.
"You, err. Look... dunno. Refreshed. Like you're having a good time," he said to Harry, marvelling that this was indeed the case.
"Yeah?" said Harry with a crooked smile. "Maybe I am. I'll never admit to it."
"It's good. Lot of the time--" said Neville, then stopped himself and waved it off. "Never mind. It's good." That had to have made at least six repetitions of 'good' between them both.
"'Lot of the time' what?" said Harry suddenly curious.
Neville rubbed the back of his own neck. "Nah, it's nothing."
"Come on, what?" said Harry, bouncing his knee against Neville's leg insistently.
"It's just-- a lot of the time when you're out having fun lately, it's a little like you're not," said Neville with a shrug, followed by a nervous laugh, his face flushed and hot. "Ah, hell. Luna's rubbing off on me. Like I said, never mind." It didn't help that Harry didn't say anything immediately.
After another long second, Harry flopped back against the wing of the chair. "You know that new arrival at the House? The one that I spent this last week watching over?"
Neville didn't know what it had to do with his end of the conversation but he went along. "Yeah...?"
"Usual story. Old near-and-not-so-dear friends coming to call and finish up their business; no one to help her out or keep an eye out for her," It was Harry's turn to shrug. "Eh. It's stupid."
"No! It's not. Go on," said Neville as encouragingly as he could.
"It's just-- It makes me think that I would never have gotten anywhere on my own," He looked down and shrugged again, and Neville got the distinct impression this conversation would never have occurred without the magic of fermentation. "I guess I'm tired of doing what I do and ending up alone again these days. It doesn't matter that it seems like I'm not. I am." Harry huffed a laugh. "Alright. That doesn't make a damn bit of sense."
"Oh," said Neville, trying to keep his tongue from tying into knots. "No, it does."
Harry laughed again, looking a little embarrassed. "At least someone understood that."
Mandy swung past and grinned winningly, but she didn't manage a word past, "Hi," before Neville cut her off with a very real edge to his voice.
"No, Mandy. His lap definitely off-limits now."
###
Tonks went out to the back step to spend her ten minutes productively glaring at the glowing reporters and verifying that partygoers were who they said they were. She stepped out the door and found Charlie sitting on the top step with Pansy perched next to him, one knee slung over his.
"Wotcher, Chuck," she offered brightly, telling herself that she was not in fact about to be pounded for having unremitting filthy thoughts about his little sister. Mostly because he didn't yet have any way of knowing, not that that wouldn't change the moment he went inside. "Parkinson. How're things?"
He glared predictably at her, making it clear he was fondly considering homicide for the nickname, though Pansy's added glare was relatively new.
"Abysmal but for Charlie," sighed Pansy, standing gracefully.
"Not so bad, but about to be better," said Charlie on his feet as well, thumping Tonks on the shoulder as he opened the door. "Listen, thanks--"
"Oh no!" said Tonks, alarmed. "I'm only here for--"
Charlie and Pansy were gone and Tonks found herself alone on the porch, growling, "--ten bloody, sodding minutes," into thin air.
###
The roof was too quiet. Oh certainly the conversation had gone well at first. Remus had a lot of stories he had never really told anyone, but unfortunately, he preferred it that way. Maybe one day-- well. That was a lot of presumption. But as it stood, once he told his favorite pub story, there had been a lot of staring into wine glasses.
Thus, it was in everyone's best interest for Remus to keep their glasses filled. To have something interesting to look at, of course.
Thus, as he emptied the first bottle into Severus' glass, he found himself snickering, drawing a confused eyebrow from Severus.
"You know," said Remus as he opened the second bottle. "I am a terrible Gryffindor some days."
"Is there any other kind?" asked Severus, lifting his glass with a smirk that said he was not in any way kidding.
Remus shot him a dirty look while trying not to smile as he finally managed to refill his own glass. "Yes. Many."
"In your opinion," Severus said, baiting him further. "For what it's worth, among morons you tend to stand out as... less so. Lycanthropy notwithstanding."
"Thank you," deadpanned Remus. "I may swoon."
After a short sip, Severus spoke again. "Fine. What makes you a 'bad Gryffindor'?"
"I am being an absolute pansy, and have been when it comes to you for approximately twenty years now," said Remus without hesitation, staring out over the side of the roof, offhand as though he were discussing the weather.
"Excuse me?"
"Do you remember the night of your first Order meeting?"
Severus scowled. "Regrettably, the memory is as clear as a bell."
"James and Sirius were about fit to kill, Peter... well. It doesn't matter." It's not as though it was a genuine reaction, at any rate. "But I..." Remus rolled his eyes at himself, determined to go on. "I thought--"
"Lupin."
"--I thought it was an incredibly brave thing to have done," Remus said. "And I didn't speak to Sirius and James for a week after having told them so. Forcefully." Forcefully was one word for it. More to the point, he'd stopped Sirius from marching down and 'disposing of the 'Snivelly Git' himself' by way of a full-body bind around James' tackling arm.
"How very noble of you," muttered Severus, unimpressed.
"I'm trying to say that I've been fascinated by you for a long damn time," said Remus, beginning to be convinced that it had been a terrible idea, "and I never thought I stood a chance."
"In all fairness, you did not," Severus said, and Remus' chest constricted with the familiar feeling of having been made a fool of at his own hand. "Or for the most part... did not until recent events."
Slowly --God, too slowly-- feeling began to seep back into Remus' fingers. He finally turned to peer at Severus with the barest spark of renewed hope, and slid the slightest bit closer.
"How recent?"
###
The moment Tonks caught sight of Bill, she popped up and bolted, grabbing his face and kissing his cheek in passing. "Alright, be good, have fun, bye," she said, the 'bye' bitten off as she ran through the door, tore through the kitchen and the back int the sitting room, took a perfunctory look around and then found exactly what she'd been looking for.
Ginny looked up from where she was holding her wand on Fred and George and grinned. She muttered something to them and walked away, nothing so much as stalking toward Tonks heedless of people in her path. She didn't bother to stop until she was flush with Tonks, hitting her with nearly enough force to knock her over, thoughtfully sliding her arms over Tonks' shoulders and grinned. "Let's go."
There was no point in arguing. The party would be perfectly fine without them and if it wasn't there weren't more than enough people who could deal with it.
"Yes, please," said Tonks as her hand wound up through Ginny's bright hair.
###
"Is your best mate always completely stark raving mad?" asked Draco as he slid into the seat nearest Harry's.
Harry snorted a laugh as did Neville, attached as he was to Harry's side. He received an inquiring eyebrow from Draco, though Draco was able to display an uncommon amount of kindness in refraining from from further comment. Then again, it wasn't as though he were surprised. At all.
"You tell me," snickered Harry, who Draco knew for a fact was feeling pleasantly content and somewhat drunk, which was a gratifying thing to see. A little disappointing, since Draco had laid in a store of recreational potions in advance to counteract any sort of moping, melancholia, and any other conceivable maudlin thought he'd expected to pick up on from Harry on the day of The Anniversary. He had enough that he would have shared, but it was probably for the best this way.
"Fucking stark raving," grumbled Draco.
"Enjoying yourself, then?" asked Harry brightly.
"Potter, I will continue to despise you through the end of your days," said Draco over the top of his glass, though he couldn't quite keep down the hint of a smile.
"It's good to be consistent," said Neville with a nod as he drained his glass, beating Harry to the comeback and setting him to snickering.
Draco shut his eyes, shook his head once and exaggeratedly refocused on Neville. "When did you cease being worse than entirely useless?"
"Have I?" said Neville, tone wry. "I hadn't noticed."
"Long before you did, at any rate," said Harry, smacking the back of his hand lightly against Neville's stomach, though he was addressing Draco. "I saw him go out front, you know."
"It's useless. A fucking terrible idea," said Draco, leaning forward elbows to knees and speaking to Harry directly, not intending to be clear enough that anyone else could follow the thread of conversation.
"...Yeah. Probably," agreed Harry unhelpfully.
"I blame this on you. You and your entire idiotic House."
"On behalf of myself and my House, fuck you."
"Nothing good can come of this."
"Then we're used to that sort of thing."
Draco stared Harry down for a second longer and then hoisted himself to his feet. "You're not right," he said as he walked away. "None of you are."
Craning his head around the side of the chair, Harry called after him, "Wouldn't be the first time!"
Snarl inaudible over the music and noise, Draco lifted his chin impossibly higher and went out the front door.
###
"Huh," murmured Neville.
"What's that?" said Harry, peering at him.
"Ron and Draco?"
"Heard this morning."
"Makes sense, now."
Privately, Harry agreed. Ron's moods, the complex emotions that he'd picked up from Draco, the pisspoor attempts at avoiding the party by both sides all added up. "Now if they could just manage to live through it--" Harry snorted another laugh. "God help us all."
Luna chose just that moment to twirl past and set a drink in Neville's hand.
"And we can help each other in the meantime!" she grinned, flopping the armrest of the chair and leaning against Harry.
"Status report, Lieutenant?" said Harry, leaning too and affecting a deep, serious voice, not really expecting one.
"Aye sir," Luna said, sitting up back straight and beginning a recitation that left Harry and Neville snickering uncontrollably. "Weasley, female: MIA along with Tonks. Weasley, eldest: patrolling the perimeter along with Shacklebolt, subject to occasional very minor lapses in attention. Weasley, next eldest: serving as an armchair for Parkinson. Weasley, Woobie: hoping I'll go rescue him from back porch duty. Weasleys, double: still spouting occasional nonsense but for the most part trying to ensure that they make proper use of every possible innuendo for 'Bones'. Weasley second youngest: formerly on front porch duty, but about to be attacked by Malfoy. As General Granger is off snogging Thomas and unavailable to make this decision, I recommend we commandeer reinforcements. Also, Potter: smashed up against Longbottom, a move of which I highly approve."
Laughing, Neville reached across Harry and shoved her knee, which only served to remind her--
"Oh! Lupin: On the roof with Snape."
"What?" said both Harry and Neville in unison.
"Lovegood: merely giving the report," she said with a lopsided grin and a shrug. "Some things are inexplicable."
Neville looked faintly ill.
"Here," said Luna hopping down from her perch and grabbing for Neville's hand. "Twister will make you feel better."
###
Temporarily made brave, Draco had in fact set out on a mission.
Certainly, he realized that he was going to be sorry later. Perhaps in the morning. Perhaps even in about thirty seconds or so, give or take. At the time, however, it seemed the only thing left to be done. He shoved the front door open, stepped out onto the porch, caught sight of Ron sitting on the railing nearest the door and closed the distance between them in two long strides.
"Oh for fuck's sake," Draco growled.
Ron stood immediately. It was more a shift of his weight-- his feet were already on the ground since he was tall enough to actually reach. He opened his mouth, but didn't get a chance to say anything as one more step brought Draco directly into his personal space. His hands came up around the sides of Ron's face, more to keep him still than anything, and didn't stop moving forward even once he'd pushed Ron back against the railing.
"Bzuh?" Ron croaked, and Draco ignored the utter lack of erudition, choosing instead to crush his mouth to Ron's once, forcefully, and then again. He leaned in so hard and so far that Ron was forced to twist his fingers into the front of Draco's shirt to keep from toppling over the side. Flashbulbs went mad around them and though Draco would have happily throttled them all any other time, he couldn't be arsed to care. The sounds that Ron was making in the back of his throat goaded him on, the grip in his shirt, the obvious bulge in his trousers, at exactly the right height and angle such that all it took for Draco to get him to repeat the sounds from his throat with a simple, shallow roll of his hips-- all added up to his perfect willingness to be photographed in the act of doing so. With Ronald Weasley.
Any last shred of doubt was eradicated when he felt a foot hook around his calf, the action not only allowing him closer still, but pulling him in to make use of the available proximity. One of the hands on his chest sought to wrap itself around Draco's waist and down to follow the curve of his spine with total disregard for the public at large, and it was all Draco could do to shove back, grip more tightly; hold on and brace his knee against the railing to keep from falling right over the edge and landing in a tangled heap.
With Ronald Weasley.
The world made no sense. Apparently he had no problem with that.
###
"Right hand red!" shrieked Luna with glee and a pile of partygoers in varying states of intoxication landed in a collectively giggling heap. In an attempt to free himself from Mandy's clinging to his leg, Harry fell face-first onto Neville and laughed as it set off a domino effect and knocked everyone else over again.
"You know what?" said Harry once he was standing, as he tried unsuccessfully to push away yet another incarnation of his mysteriously ever-full glass. "You're right. I'm having fun."
"Again!" said Luna, sparking a hoot of laughter from the crowd as Percy tackled her sideways to a nearby chair and declared her 'under quarantine before she could cause mischief for anyone else'.
'Quarantine' looked suspiciously like a snog.
"Tha's brilliant," said Neville, distracted as he applauded and begged off another game. His eyes suddenly went wide when Harry slipped an arm around him.
"Is." Harry pointed with his drink hand, leaning in too close. "I'm gonna commandeer th' fucking stereo. Come with me."
"As though I'd miss that," said Neville as offhandedly as he could manage, and Harry laughed again, squeezed once and dragged him across the room.
###
The door of the flat banged open so hard, Remus was sure that the thing was about to fall off of its hinges, not that he much cared, given Severus was pinning him to the wall beside it, his mouth hot on Remus' throat, hands heavy and creeping up and under the back of his shirt. He was being inexorably drawn closer and Remus didn't care if it ever stopped. His hand flailed from Severus' shoulder and out to the door that he couldn't quite reach, a whimper escaping his lips as teeth met skin and gnawed; lord, he could barely breathe much less think.
"S-severus," Remus managed, "We should-- the door," but Severus paid no attention, his hips grinding against Remus and making him see colored stars in his field of vision. Growling, he shifted and rolled, pinning Severus in turn to the wall, shoulder poking over the edge of the doorframe. Without another pause, Remus grabbed Severus by the arms, pulled him away from the wall, moved him far enough over that this was no longer a problem and then slammed him up against it again. Wearing a devious, wolfish grin not two inches from Severus' face, he planted his hands over Severus' shoulders and kicked the door shut.
"Sorted," he panted with a distinctly michievous glint in his eye, sliding a hand up the side of Severus' throat, marvelling at how pliable he was willing to be, how he was willing to let Remus turn his face in order to murmur approval into his skin between nipping kisses to his jaw. "I am so glad you came." Remus dragged his tongue upward toward Severus' ear in order to add in a low murmur, "So, so glad--"
"...Friday..." breathed Severus, not entirely intelligible.
Remus nipped at his earlobe. "What's that?"
The fingers of Severus' hand dug into Remus' shoulderblade and he shifted up and away from the wall before falling back. "Rule-breaking friday--"
"In all fairness," grinned Remus as he nudged Severus back to look at him. "It might be Saturday, now--"
"I don't honestly give a damn," said Severus, freeing a hand and using it to pull Remus into a kiss that threatened to never end and somehow began a migration away from the wall and toward Remus' room.
Hungry and raw and nerve endings on fire, Remus kissed back and seconded the sentiment with no further words.