Venom & Virtue

chapter 27

"Pass them here," Adrian yelled over the music, grinning lazily as Theo handed him the bag of purple pills.

It was usual Friday night in the Slytherin common room, we'd ended up at another party those in the year above had organised.

Everyone had been excited at the prospect of entertainment for the evening, November was ticking by awfully slow with nothing to look forward to.

Just as the times before, Adrian, Terence and I were wedged onto a sofa next to Theo; Violetta, Blaise and Tom opposite whilst Draco remained reclined in the armchair.

Pansy was nowhere in sight, I'd only exchanged a brief nod with her early on in the party, a mutual recognition passing between us.

It was a strange, but not unwelcome place to be with the young witch.

Neither friends, nor rivals, but distant acquaintances who shared an understanding of one another.

Although, I had a sneaking suspicion that upon closer association, I could grow to like the girl a lot.

"This shit is fantastic!" Adrian exclaimed, eyeing the bag of pills that appeared to be several doses emptier.

"Oh wonderful, I look forward to helping you throw up in the toilet later," Terence grumbled, crossing their arms in a disgruntled manner.

Adrian nudged them in the ribs playfully, "don't worry, I'll hold your hair back at the next one."

"How generous," Terence remarked, their tone dry and sarcastic.

"Maybe if you're lucky he'll learn his lesson this time," I suggested.

"Chance would be a fine thing."

"Hey! I'm not that bad," Adrian interjected.

"Oh really? Well my shoes still reek of vomit from last time. I washed them three times Adrian, three," Terence held up the corresponding number of fingers, emphasising their point.

"Then try a fourth."

"Alright, alright, let's keep it friendly," I raised my hands in exasperation, silencing their argument.

"They were ugly anyway," Adrian mumbled, shutting up as I shot him a warning glare.

A familiar face came wandering over to us then, an empty glass bottle in their hand.

I recognised her as one of the girls who played in the beater position on the team, Millicent something.

"You guys want to join spin the bottle?" She glanced around the circle, an open offer.

"The muggle game?" Theo asked.

She nodded, looking at us expectantly.

I watched as Tom and Violetta exchanged quick glances before shaking their heads, soon followed by Blaise who seemed bored by the idea. Draco, of course, remained stoic in his chair, his gaze trained on nothing in particular. Theo refused too, taking another pill from the bag instead.

"We'll play," Adrian blurted, grabbing my hand and dragging me up before I could protest.

I glanced back at Terence, hoping for some assistance, but they just shrugged, continuing to sip on the contents of their cup.

Millicent nodded in satisfaction, leading us over to a group of 7, a mixture of boys and girls from both years.

I recognised only a few of them, Tracy Davis, Gregory Goyle and Marcus Flint standing out to me.

We all placed ourselves down onto the rug, sitting in a wobbled circle as Millicent set the bottle in the middle.

I frowned across at Adrian who had wedged himself between two of the players, nearly directly opposite me.