Alexithymia

04

It was easy to wander the castle unbothered since the ball covered any noise I made while stumbling through the halls. I had to hide in alcoves a few times while couples sped past, making a bee-line to their rooms. Other than that, it was like enjoying a walk in the moonlight.

"Ahh, the mudblood." I giggled, leaning against the wall. A bottle of firewhiskey in one hand and my heels in the other. "What's wrong Herminnie?"

Hermione Granger was seated on the bottom steps of a staircase, hugging her knees. Her eyes were blurry and mascara ran down her face. Her nose was red and the ends of her beautiful, periwinkle dress were spread on the floor.

"Selwyn. Please, leave me alone." She sniffled. I had never seen Hermione cry and maybe I was just drunk, but leaving her alone was the last thing I wanted to do. So I ignored her.

"Mmm, you look waaaay too hot tonight to be this distressed. Who do I gotta jinx, Duke Wesel-ton or Vladdy Viktor? Hah? Did Mr.Krum-cious do sumthin to ya with his massiv-"

Her eyes went wide and she shook her head. "No, no, no. Viktor didn't do anything like that. He didn't do anything. Merlin, I don't even know him. The fact that you would even suggest something like that is completely inappropriate." She sputtered.

"Oh ho ho, flustered are we, Hermy?" I took another swing out of my bottle.

"My name is Hermione." She sighed and crossed her arms. Frankly, she looked uncomfortable with my presence. I would have noticed and left her alone if I were sober, but clearly I was not. Obviously she wasn't fond of me. I mean, I called her a mudblood like two minutes ago.

"You look lonely, Herminnie." I pushed myself off the wall and plopped down next to her, slightly sitting on her dress and not caring that mine would wrinkle even more.

Hermione's face scrunched. "You reek of alcohol."

I giggled. Again. Apparently Firewhiskey has that effect on me. "Thanks. Want some?"

I tipped the half-full bottle towards her. After a few moments of looking between me and the bottle, she gave in and took it from me.

"Hopefully I won't remember this conversation tomorrow." She muttered, taking a gulp.

"Hey, I heard that." I pouted, laying back on the stairs but then immediately sitting back up since that was the most uncomfortable position ever. "I happen to be a very fun person to talk to. Drunk me is the me that I aspire to be when I'm me sober."

Silence.

"Did that make sense?" I squinted at Hermione, who took another gracious sip before passing back the bottle.

"Not in the slightest."

We sat in a rather peaceful state. Neither of us talked as we passed the bottle back and forth. The faint music down the hall and around the corner was the only thing filling the silence. The yule ball was still in full swing, yet no one had come out to find us.

Within minutes, we had drained the remainder of the Firewhiskey. I could've sworn, Hermione looked disappointed. And buzzed,

"Worry not, my muddy buddy." I reached my arm into my clutch and pulled out a full, unopened bottle of Firewhiskey.

"Okay. No more slurs for tonight, but you sneaky, little minx," She gasped. "An undetectable extension charm. What else have you got in there, Selwyn?"

I leaned closer to her than I ever would have sober and whispered, "I have four more bottles."

"Merlin. How did you get all this alcohol anyways?"