Just Friends (Rory Campbell x Fem Reader)

Chapter 23: Stars

~Y/n~

"Have you ever actually been to a party?"

"Any real ones? Without screaming children and favor bags? No." It would be so much easier to just leave for Fred and George's birthday party if Rory hadn't been lounging about on the window seat and judging all my outfit choices. In the past ten minutes, he'd rejected everything I picked out, and we were already an hour late.

"I knew it was a bad idea to ask your opinion," I teased as I dumped clothes back into my trunk and closed the lid.

"It would be a worse idea to let you look like you've just come from Sunday school," he replied. "I mean, you're always beautiful, but it can't hurt to dress nice either, can it?"

"We're already late," I whine. I flop down on my bed, not caring that I'm still wearing a dress.

"They do say good things take time. Between the two of us, it's only natural that we should be late, wouldn't you agree?" I only respond with a sigh.

"New plan," Rory said as he got up from the window seat to open up my trunk. He pulls out a white undershirt, a pink flannel, and a pair of jeans and dumps them in my arms. I go to the bathroom to put them on, and he smiles as I model for him.

"See? Much better." He puts his arm around me as we walk out the door and down the stairs, finally on our way to the Gryffindor common room.

~Rory~

"Auspicious frog," I say to the painting on the wall to get us into the common room. The fat lady frowns, and so does Y/n.

"It's suspicious frog," she corrects me as the painting swings off the wall. Loud music and lights wash over us as she grabs my hand to walk directly into them. It takes a moment, but she and I find our way to Fred, George, and Luna near the back of the room. The full moon shone in through the window they stood in front of, like their own little spotlight in a stuffy room full of light and noise.

"You made it," George said with a smile. The only reason I knew one twin from the other was that George had a noticeable scar from his quidditch incident. We all greet each other, and I notice that someone's missing.

"Hey, where's Cora?" I ask.

"And Cedric?" Y/n adds.

"Cora couldn't come, she's got an exam in the morning," Fred explained. "Ceddy should be here, he said he was baking something." Within seconds of his statement, the door bangs open and Ced comes in with baskets of cookies in his arms. It's sort of funny to watch a bunch of Gryffindors descend on him and try to get their own cookies before he can even set them on the food table.

"They're still hot, you know," I hear him say as I walk over to take a few baskets off the top of his pile.

"Sod off, the lot of you," I shout at the others, and they start to walk away.

"Thanks, mate," he smiles. We arrange the rest of the baskets on the table, and Luna and the twins come over to us.

"Can I have one?" Luna asks upon seeing the cookies.

"I think it's only fair that Fred and George had the first ones," he answers, handing them cookies. He takes one for himself and hands more to the rest of us, then raises his own in the air as if he's making a toast. "To the Weasleys."

"To the Weasleys," the rest of us repeat, and I take a bite out of my cookie.

"These are so good," Y/n exclaims, her eyes wide. Luna nods in agreement.

"Don't eat too many," Ced warns as a girl pulls him towards the dance floor, and the twins follow. "Wouldn't want to spoil your dinner."

"Alright, mum," she said back with an eye roll. Luna finishes her cookie and grabs Y/n's hand to pull her to the dance floor as well, leaving me alone. I don't really dance and this room is a bit loud for my liking, so I take a few extra cookies and sit on a chair in the corner, watching everyone else. Halfway into my third cookie I started feeling dizzy, like the room was slowly spinning around me, and the edges of my vision were fuzzier than usual. All the colored lights seemed brighter and more vivid, and I felt much more relaxed than before.