ELIXIR: A Harry Potter Fan Fiction

Thirty Five. The End of Term Feast.

"I'm gonna make an announcement," said Caiti. The common room was packed and the energy was high. Everyone was waiting on Sean's return, which, following a very brief time to get cleaned up, a lengthy and overly ceremonial Champions Dinner, and a slew of interviews and photo-ops, was proving hours in the making. As his sister, Caiti had only just escaped an hour ago. She and Marlowe had headed straight for the kitchens hoping that the third time really was the charm and that, maybe, finally, they could get this dang party right.

Caiti stood up on the sofa, but once she'd sunk into the cushions, she was still shorter than Marlowe. She threw her head back in frustration which made Marlowe laugh. "Shut up," she said, and she climbed up on the back of the couch which was probably a terrible idea, given her track record for staying upright in any sort of non-floor-like scenario.

Marlowe must have thought the same thing, because he stationed himself behind her, just in case.

"OKAY PEOPLE!" she yelled.

It was probably only because she and Sean shared parents that anyone bothered to listen to her. "HE SHOULD BE HERE IN TWENTY MINUTES SO GET READY!!! Also, we're having a pajama party," she said shrugging. "Because I'm his sister and I'm in charge. So... go change, and then get back down here pronto and you'll thank me later because we're gonna be up all night." She jumped down and Marlowe's hand shot out ready to catch her but she didn't need it.

"Oh ye of little faith," she said, raising her eyebrows.She made a second hop down from the cushions to the floor.

Marlowe rolled his eyes. "Pajama party, huh?"

"Yeah, just decided," she said. "Go change."

---

The party went on late into the night. There were images of Sean all over the wall, including one last return of the gigantic banner from the night he'd been elected champion, now amended to say "Triwizard Winner!" The spread of food had included chocolate eclairs, peppermint imps, and a large bowl of punch, but most of it had been picked over, so only a few snacky items remained.

Caiti had not spoken to Sean once the whole night. She and Marlowe had spent most of the party on the couch nearest the snacks watching Sean get shunted from person to person. Everyone wanted their turn to talk with him. Evelyn had been by his side for the first couple hours, but more recently she'd gotten pulled away by a group of girls who, by the looks of it, were pushing for every detail of hers and Sean's relationship. Caiti was amused to see that Evelyn seemed to be sort of enjoying all the attention.

Apparently sister and best friend meant nothing to anyone, because she and Marlowe had had considerably less attention. Caiti didn't really mind. She was content to sit with him and pretend like she wasn't eating her third plate of crisps because, technically, all of them had been Marlowe's.

She grabbed another crisp off the plate on his lap and said, "Third time's the charm, I guess."

"Hm?" he asked.

"We've been trying to plan this damn party for three tasks and it always went wrong."

"Yeah," said Marlowe. "Really wrong."

She grabbed another crisp. "Well... in the end we managed."

Caiti leaned into Marlowe and tipped her head onto his shoulder. Marlowe rubbed his hand up and down her arm a few times, coming to rest on her elbow.

"Remember the Amelia debacle?" she said, a little smirk growing on her lips.

"Which one?" said Marlowe.