the girl with all of the choices

s i x t y - o n e

4529 words

november ninth- the slug club

~ Addison ~

Last Saturday, while walking back from the Quidditch match, Professor Slughorn had invited Theo and me to a dinner party that was happening this afternoon. 

We said yes, of course, because we didn't want Slughorn to dislike us and consequently give us bad grades in his class. But from what I had heard, it didn't sound like Slughorn's parties were anything short of a good night.

Apparently, according to Fawn's parents, Professor Slughorn often would choose his favourite students and invite them to parties throughout the year. His groupings even had a name: The Slug Club. Mr and Mrs Stevens had been in it during their years at Hogwarts, which is why Fawn knew and could explain it to me.

She also mentioned that, at least at Slughorn's annual Christmas Party, getting pregnant was a rather common occurrence. It always baffled me how so many people managed to get pregnant while at Hogwarts. We literally had a magical form of birth control that could be used after sex and people still found ways to get pregnant. 

But today wasn't the Christmas Party, nor did I even know if there would be such a thing this year. It felt somewhat inappropriate, considering we were at war. Tonight was just a simple dinner party. Food and conversation. 

"What am I supposed to wear to this thing?" I asked Fawn as I tore through my dresser. 

"Go for something cute that you'd wear to a formal party," she said, waltzing out of our bathroom. "I mean, it is just a formal dinner party. I vote dress. What about you, Ains?"

Last week, Ainsley had gone to listen to Justin explain himself in regards to the fight last month. According to what she told us afterwards, he still firmly believed that Draco was a Death Eater. His evidence wasn't very solid, though, calling on his history as a bully and his prior comments about blood status, which were immediately invalidated by our relationship, and then pulling his family into the mix. He had the starting of a solid argument. The Malfoys were extremely rich, extremely influential, and had a history of involvement with You-Know-Who. Almost all of His followers were in the same boat, rich, influential Slytherins whose parents and cousins had fought with Him in the First War. But, that didn't automatically mean that Draco was one of them. Ainsley pointed this out repeatedly, acknowledging the flaws in his argument.

Nevertheless, Justin still insisted.

He also explained that the question of Draco's status was what prompted him to be hostile when Draco came over to talk to me. Justin didn't want me to be anywhere near someone who was associated with what he thought Draco was associated with, especially because of my blood status. He didn't trust my Slytherin. But the fight started purely because Draco was being an ass, egging him on and rubbing it in his face that he was my boyfriend, not Justin. 

But then Justin hit me, and Ainsley said he could barely talk about it. She asked why they should even continue to hear him out when he had hit me, and he burst into tears. He felt so immensely guilty. He hadn't been sleeping because he was so at war with himself, and he had been falling behind in all of his classes. 

Part of me felt bad, but then again he hit me. He did that to himself. He was the one who started everything that day. Sure, Draco had instigated a bit, but it was his fault. I wasn't going to forgive him just because I pitied him. 

Ainsley had been avoiding Justin since, not really seeing a reason to change her outlook on him. Fawn had been the same way, for the most part, her friendship with him having mostly deteriorated since he hit me. She said she understood the fighting, even if it was wrong, but that he crossed a line by touching me. The three of us had been hanging out with Matt whenever we were in a shared space. It was strange. It was just like old times, except Cedric wasn't here. Fawn and Ernie had still been spending time together on their own, except it had lessened in amount since the fight. Ernie was beyond upset at Justin for what he did, but he was still his best friend, and he couldn't leave him behind in such a state. Fawn understood, of course, but this meant that they had been spending less time together.