SHADOWS OF SORROW [S.S]

4 - In the Shadow of Desire

Back in London Amaya never had the chance to attend any kind of party. It might have been due to her lack of friends or just her lack of lusting after adventures but this.. this was astounding. There were so many people, if she had to guess, approximately every student over the age of 16 was here. Maybe even some younger ones trying to sneak out some alcohol but not on Garrets and Natsai's watch. "Don't you dare Dorothy! Put that back and leave!" Amaya suppressed a laugh as Natty went after the student she saw sneaking around the table at the left side of the common room. She followed her and eyed all the bottles and cups. She never saw such a big variety of beverages in one spot except the supermarket. "Want something specific?" A Gryffindor behind the table looked at her while pouring a clear liquid into a plastic cup, seemingly mixing it with a kind of juice. She didn't have any clue what she was supposed to do. Was she to order something? Like in a restaurant? "Do you have a recommendation?" Without thinking twice the boy laughed and handed her the cup he just finished mixing. "Try this. You seem a little too sober if you ask me." She took whatever it was he prepared and nodded carefully, sniffing the mixture. It had a sour stinging smell to it. "What's your name?" His voice was not very clear due to the loud music, so she had to lean in a little. "Amaya. What's yours?" As he handed another student a cup and laughed at something they said into his ear, he eyed her again. "Mitchel. You're the new 7th year, aren't you?" She definitely had a reputation here. "Yeah." - "Nice to meet you. Who are you here with?" Before Amaya could answer, Natty made her way back to her, having to push some people out of her way because of all these bodies being so close to each other. It felt like a whole room just hugged each other. "Don't even try Mitchel. She's not interested." A slight eye roll was the only thing the bartender gave as an answer. "Calm down Onai, I was just making small talk." - "We both know what your small talk means. Last year's Hufflepuff party you were small talking 5 different people in one night." A smile appeared on Mitchel's face before he turned to another student at the table and getting them whatever they whispered in his ear.

"Sorry I had to enforce the guards around the common room. Some third years tried sneaking in." She linked arms with Amaya and let her eyes travel over the crowd. The Slytherin girl couldn't quite tell where the music was coming from as she followed Natty's eyes, but it didn't matter as long as it was good music, right? "Oh, there's Samantha. Let's go say hello." Her friend smiled at her before pulling Amaya through the crowd, navigating rather smoothly in contrast to her. On their way they passed some questionably dancing people, closer to each other than they probably should have been... Was this how parties in London and the human world went as well. People almost fucking each other on the dance floor? "There you are!" Samantha pulled Natty into a hug as they reached her in the middle of the crowd, both of them grinning at each other. "We've been waiting for you. Oh, and you brought the new one." The Ravenclaw girl smirked and Amaya couldn't help let her eyes travel her up and down before smiling at her. "Nice to meet you." - "Glad you made it as well. And you apparently already got a little something from Mitchel hm? Wicked." Samantha grinned before she got busy with her friends and dancing again. Amaya was unsure what exactly to do as she looked around. It was obvious she was supposed to dance but she felt safer watching the others first, observing how they moved, how they behaved and eyeing every face, looking for someone else she knew. Her hands brought the cup up to her lips to take a sip of the mysterious beverage Mitchel gave her and she had to be honest, it had a similar taste to the rum chocolate she sometimes snuck out of the office back in the orphanage. It wasn't bad but not enjoyable either even though that probably wasn't the purpose of drinking alcohol anyway. The taste didn't matter in such settings. It just had to show its effects.

"Come on dance. You're as stiff as a tree!" Natty grinned at her wildly, moving her body to the rhythm of the music, setting an example for her friend to follow. Maybe it was the heat that filled her stomach due to the alcohol, but Amaya laughed and tried to copy Natty as best as she could, making her friend join in on her laugh and taking her free hand to dance with her.