Venom & Virtue

chapter 47

"Please come, it'll be fun," Violetta held a dress up against her body, assessing if it was the perfect one for the night ahead.

"I don't know, I think I'd rather stay in the dorms."

"No way, you've been staying in your room every night for the last week, you're coming to the party."

I sighed, staring up at her ceiling as she got changed into her outfit.

The seventh years had decided we were due another rave in the common room, apparently a good amount of them wanted to start doing more frequent escapades for their last term at Hogwarts.

Despite my protests to attending, I knew Violetta had a point.

I'd been keeping to myself a lot more than normal, not wanting to risk hanging out in the common room during the evenings incase Draco appeared unexpectedly.

The only time I'd deviated from my hibernation routine was last night, forcing myself to revisit Snape's office to complete my duties.

To my surprise, and relief, Draco hadn't bothered turning up.

It would've been frustrating, had it not been for the fact that the time before he hadn't bothered to assist in preparing the ingredients.

My workload was larger because of it, meaning I'd spent more hours holed up sorting the delivery, but it felt peaceful to spend an evening focused on quantities and cutting methods, rather than my real problems.

"Fine I'll come, hand me a dress," I replied defeatedly, waiting as she chucked me a skimpy garment before getting up to change.

She chatted excitedly as we did our hair and makeup, relaying how she'd broken one of her flying records in the morning.

I replied at the correct moments, making sure to use all the enthusiasm I could summon despite my dull mood.

Once we were finished, we exited her room, heading down the staircase until we landed in the thick of the party.

It was the same as usual, only appearing to be slightly more crowded than before. I guessed that a lot of students were keen to get in their final parties before exam revision really amped up, filling our schedules to the brim.

I'd asked Terence and Adrian a lot about what was involved with the NEWTs, but it hadn't helped ease my nerves, only intensifying the fact that I had no experience with the formalities.

"There's Tom," Violetta yelled, pulling me towards their group before I could stop her.

I glanced around quickly, surveying the room for Adrian or Terence, an opportunity for escape, but they were nowhere in sight, probably lost in the thick swell of bodies.

We arrived at the sofas to find three of the boys, Tom, Theo and Blaise, as well as their respective partners Cedric and Hermione.

Part of me was surprised to see that members from other houses had been invited, but I guessed that Theo and Blaise were officially beyond caring about Slytherin formalities.

I nodded in greeting to the couples, placing myself down next to Violetta as she conversed with Tom.

My gaze scanned around the room, hunting for the familiar flash of blonde hair, but it didn't materialise, everything hazy amongst the smoke.

Instead, Pansy slipped through a pack of girls, gliding over as she spotted me, a green cup in her hand.

"Hey," she glanced at the pairs around me, "having fun?"

"Loads," I replied, my tone sarcastic, "yourself?"

She shrugged, pulling a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of her mini skirt, "I'm going for a smoke, want to come?"