The night air is brisk as I walk to Hagrid's hut, huddling further into my jacket as I rap on the door. I'm about to finally do my detention, and I was glad to see Hagrid would be taking charge of it instead of Filch or someone even worse. In my head, thoughts are only swirling around about two things—one being finally pranking again, and the other being the Yule Ball. I know it's silly, but I'm excited for the ball. Is this what happens to people who love someone? Yuck.

"'Ello, Venus," Hagrid says as the door flies open. I crane back to look at him and he smiles kindly, stepping outside of the small house to join me outside. "We'll be potting Mandrake seeds this evenin', unfortunately."

"Mandrakes?" I repeat, remembering one of my Herbology classes at Ilvermorny where we had to pot the screaming plants. "Do they scream as seeds?"

Hagrid chuckles and shakes his head. "I wish that were so, Venus, I really do."

**

That's how I end up in the Herbology greenhouse covered in skunk fumes.

Hagrid explains before we go in that when the seeds have yet to be planted, they tend to release a few gases as a natural reaction. He also says that has something to do with fertilizing the soil which makes them grow so fast, but I'm kind of more focused on the fact that seeds release gases. He warns me it smells, and he is right—it smells exactly like the skunks in North America, but ten times as strong. Even behind the protective goggles my eyes still water, and I use a Reaper—a small, hedgehog-like animal with spines that turn into cotton-like balls if you tame it—to protect my nostrils from the smell, but somehow it manages to waft in.

I hold the small, acorn-sized seed away from my face as it squirts out a dolloping of gas and turn to Hagrid with an unamused look on my face. "this is not fun, Hagrid," I tell him indignantly as I stuff the seed into the soft soil.

"Ah," he says with a shrug as he vaults a seed delicately into the pot, "it's not so bad if ye've got the right attitude."

I roll my eyes with a chuckle, turning back to the task at hand. Hagrid coughs a little, and while at first, I think it's due to the putrid gas, I realize it's to try and get my attention. "Yes, Hagrid?"

"I, uh... Well, I just wanted to say thank ye for helpin' Harry. I've known 'im since 'e was a little'un, ye see, and I know it's real nice to see he's doin' alright in this competition." Hagrid leans in conspiratorially and says, "I think Sirius Black is somewhere close by as well. Watchin' over Harry. I ain't seen 'im, but I think he's around. I know he'll appreciate all yer help too."

I nod, feigning a smile as my heart sinks into my stomach. I understand him being thankful for my help, but knowing Sirius is out there somewhere counting on me too?

Just as I think it's too much to handle, Hagrid leans closer and says, "to be honest, Venus, I think yer Remus is out there with Sirius too, watchin' over both you an' 'arry."

I freeze, looking up a little. "Y-you think so?"

"Listen, I may not look like I know much, but I know you were real upset when Remus up an' left last year. From what I could tell, I doubt he'd'a left like that if he had much of a choice. Plus, real late at night, out in the forest? You bet I hear some howlin' and barkin' alright."

I step back slightly, thinking it over. Am I really surprised? I guess I'm more relieved that Remus is okay, although I doubt he's much taking care of himself if he and Sirius are sticking around to look after Harry and I. His pressures as well as Sirius and Hagrid's are suffocating, but I'm calmed by the fact that Remus even wants to stress about me.

Almost as if reading my mind, Hagrid shakes his head. "Vee, I shouldn't've said my case the way I did. I only meant that I'm glad you an' Harry have each other is all. You've both got good heads on yer shoulders—but in different ways, so I guess I'm just 'appy yer balancin' each other out like this."

I nod, sighing a little. "I know what you mean, Hagrid. And thank you, truly. It can just feel like a lot to take on sometimes. Especially with the next challenge coming so soon."

"I've not been told what it'll be this time, what with me telling you about the dragons and all. All I know is that it's gonna be mighty difficult, in more ways than one. An' I wouldn't trust yer competitors, either. The only person you can trust in that competition as Harry, ya hear me?"

"What about Moody?" I reply, frowning.

Hagrid shrugs. "I dunno much about how good of a trainer he is for you two, but I just think he stinks of somethin' rotten. Wouldn't trust him as far as I can spit him."

"Uh, Hagrid, I think the phrase is 'wouldn't trust him as far as I can throw him.'"

"Not when yer half-giant and can throw a ball all the way across the Black Lake."

**

After a few more hours of potting the stinking seeds, my nerves surrounding the competition still haven't subsided. When I leave Hagrid, I burrow into my thick jacket and shiver despite the layers I'm wearing. I stop for a moment, peering through the thick underbrush into the murky forest beyond, and I wonder if Lupin is there. I almost whisper his name, but to be honest I don't know what else would come out of that forest if I was to call something out.

My skin bristles, and I look up abruptly as I begin to walk away. The forest looks the same, but the hairs on the back of my neck are raised and something in me says, something is there. The Kitsune is just under the surface, and I channel the energy into my mind, pushing it outwards. The Kitsune is not poised to fight—instead, I feel a sense of calm. My heart skips a beat. Is it... him?

I keep walking.

**

"Vee! We were about to start without you," Angie says as I walk into the Gryffindor common room. Everyone is there, crowded around the warm fire as they look up and greet me. I shrug off my jacket and tiptoe across the circle, settling in between Fred and Lee. I fist bump my brother as I sit down, Fred wrapping an arm around my shoulder and kissing my temple. When I spot the bottle of Firewhiskey in the middle of the crimson rug, though, I abandon my boyfriend and lunge for it—but Julian is lightning fast.

"Careful now, sunshine," Julian says, smirking. "I brought the booze to convince the prefects to let me stay a bit past curfew, so it's customary that I have the first sip."

"Fine," I say, raising my hands in defeat as I settle back into my original position. I slip my wand out from my sock and flick it quickly, making the lid of the bottle comes flying off and the smooth amber liquid float out into the air like there's no gravity. They form small bubbles of whiskey and I lean forward again, catching one in my mouth.

"No fair!" Julian pouts as everyone scrambles to grab one of the tiny bubbles. He flicks his wand and murmurs something and that makes all of the alcohol in the air evaporate instantly. "if you all won't let me take the first proper drink, no one drinks. Try me. I dare you."

Us being teenagers, we all fall silent and obey his orders—it's alcohol, and we find this very important. Harry, Hermione and Ron stand up, rolling their eyes.

"Good to see you all," Hermione says. "clearly this is not the kind of evening we should be having, especially when the three of us have Potions essays due on Tuesday."

We all say goodnight to the three of them as they leave, and Fred leans over to me. "How was your detention?" he whispers.

I shrug. "Hagrid was stressing me out at first about taking care of Harry, but that big old half giant actually somehow ended up making me feel better about it all."

"That's so good!" Fred exclaims. "I know how much you've been stressing about it all."

I nod, burrowing into him. "Mandrake seeds are stinky."

"I can tell," he replies as he sniffs my sweater. "Clothing pegs on your nose usually do the trick of keeping the smell out, but short of a bubble charm there's not much you can do about the smell getting into your clothes."

I hesitantly lift my shoulder to smell it, and sure enough—I stink. "Fred," I whine. "I don't want to go get changed. Too far!"

Fred smiles softly and shakes his head, rolling his eyes a little. "Oh, the things I do for you," he murmurs as his fingers go to the hem of his hoodie, lifting it off of his body in one swift motion to reveal a soft cotton t-shirt underneath.

I slide behind him quickly, Lee moving over to block my body from the rest of my friends (although let's face it, they've seen worse) as I lift my own putrid sweater off and slide on Fred's cozy yellow one. "Thank you, love," I say as I move back to my original spot, the nickname rolling off my tongue without much thought.

"'Love'?" Lee repeats, turning to look at me.

"Yes?" I respond, saying it as more of a question than as a statement. Lee and I haven't really talked much about where I'm at with Fred, so I really don't know what his reaction is going to be.

To my surprise, Lee just nods quietly and smiles. "Congratulations, you two. Seriously, I'm happy for you guys." Lee frowns. "Vee, you better not be pregnant."

I'm taking a swig of Firewhiskey when he says this, and I immediately choke, staring wide-eyed at my grinning twin brother. He turns back to the group and I notice his smile fades quickly as he gazes out to the sofa across from us.

George motions for me to pass him the bottle, and I roll it across the rug to where he sits opposite me. Giving a thumbs up, he unscrews the bottle cap and takes a large swig, grimacing at the rough taste. When he rolls it back, Julian intercepts it swiftly, lifting the bottle to his lips. When he sees me roll my eyes, Julian arches a brow. "Oh, you wanted this?" he says, smirking.

I know he's about to drink the rest of the bottle, but before I can lunge across to protest the bottle is being pried from his fingers. Allie, from her spot next to her boyfriend, grins. "Babe, I would never let you finish this whole bottle," she says, taking a sip herself. "First, sharing is caring. Second, remember what happened when we went to the pub with the Quidditch team before you met my parents?"

Julian looks sheepish, so we egg Allie on to finish the story. "Alright, alright," Julian says, holding up a hand. "I vomited on Allie's mum's shoes and told her dad he looked like a piece of wet scrambled egg."

"It's true," Allie says solemnly.

"The story?" George chimes in.

"Or that your dad looks like a piece of wet scrambled egg?" Fred finishes, sending his twin into hysterics.

We all laugh along together and pass the bottle of Firewhiskey back and forth, discussing anything and everything. I haven't laughed this hard in a while; it almost makes me forget about Remus and Hagrid and the tournament altogether. I'm thankful, for the millionth time, for my friends. "Everyone's going to the Yule Ball, right?" I ask after a while. "I'm hearing rumours that me and the other champions have to do some kind of dance for everyone, and I can't do it without you all."

"I mean, everyone has to dance, right?" Allie asks. "Vee, do you not recall our wonderful ballroom dancing lessons with McGonagall?"

I chuckle. "No, of course I remember. The champions have to walk in and do a beginning dance while everyone watches is what I've heard."

"The champions—a-and their dates?" Fred asks, tugging at his collar.

"Oh yeah, now this I want to see," George says, rubbing his hands together. "Fred on a dance floor with everyone watching? Sign me up."

"You've got loads of confidence though, Fred" Allie responds. "With all your public pranks I'd think you have no problem."

"Pranks in public are no problem, but dancing is a whole other battle," Fred responds. "I swear, I've got two left feet!"

"I've got two right feet, Fred. We're set!" I exclaim.

Fred relaxes a little. "You won't be upset if I can't dance well?"

I shrug. "No, I'll just dance with Krum," I reply, making Fred's cheeks redden.

"You wouldn't dare," Fred hisses, only semi-joking.

I shake my head, kissing him on the cheek. "I would never."

"Have you got a dress yet, girls?" Angie asks Allie and me.

"No, I haven't," Allie says, and I nod in agreement.

"Why don't we all go shopping tomorrow and look for dresses?" I suggest, and the girls both clap their hands together.

Fred frowns. "Are there even any dress shops in Hogsmeade?" he asks.

"Who said anything about Hogsmeade?" I reply, raising a brow and smirking. Fred grins and wraps his arm back around my shoulders, kissing my temple softly.

We all huddle around the fire and talk a little longer, and I continue to take sips of the Firewhisky. After a while I'm pleasantly buzzed just like everyone else it's just past curfew when Julian stands up unsteadily, wide-eyed and worried. "Vee! I, uh, I gotta get back to Hufflepuff. You gotta come with me so we can use your whole 'I'm a 900-year-old fox that needs to run wild at night' card to get me past Filch!"

I roll my eyes and stand, brushing myself off. Glancing at the time, everyone begins to yawn one by one and we all collectively realize how tired we are after such a busy day. Angie and George leave first, saying goodnight to us as they both stumble up their staircases noisily. Besides Julian, Angie and George are probably the drunkest out of all of us, and while I'm definitely not the soberest I make a mental note to make sure Angie's alright when I go to bed tonight.

"Do you want to come on our probably disastrous adventure to get Julian to bed?" I ask Fred as he tidies up the sofa a little.

He chuckles softly, shaking his head. "As tempting as that is," he begins. "I've gotta take care of old Georgie. Plus, God knows I'm only trouble."

I nod. "That's what I love about you," I reply as I grab onto the collar of his shirt, pulling him down and placing a gentle kiss on his lips. "Shall I give you back your sweater then?"

"Keep it, Aphrodite. Yellow looks good on you," he says as he walks backwards towards the stairs. "You look like a goddess!"

Blushing, I turn away to see Julian, Allie and Lee all smirking at me. I scoff. "Leave me alone!" I exclaim, whacking Allie on the arm as I walk past.

"I figured you might need a hand getting this one in," Allie says as Julian wraps an arm around his girlfriend, grinning stupidly. "Lee's going to tag along as well, right Lee?"

Lee nods and I smile gratefully, pushing up my sleeves. "Let's get this lump back to Hufflepuff."

The journey is long because even though we're technically allowed to be out after dark because of my free pass, Julian is certainly not allowed to be as drunk as he is—I mean, he seems to be getting drunker the longer he's going without consuming any alcohol. We find our way easily enough, but Julian is proving to be quite the handful.

To be honest, I haven't ever seen Julian super drunk—if I have, I've been about as drunk or worse myself, so I've never minded too much. While I was pleasantly boozed up in the common room, I have no problem walking anywhere now; Julian on the other hand is struggling. The worst part is he probably could walk, he just keeps stopping to make Allie spin in a circle while he claps for her, yelling, "queen! Queen!"

However cute it is, it's not helpful.

Soon enough we're in sight of the kitchens—so close, yet so far. Julian is staring at Allie lovingly while she coaxes him a little, and Julian has one arm slumped over Lee. "See if Nimmy's in there, will you?" I ask Lee, taking over his position. "I hazard a guess this is the kind of drunk you feel in the morning, and he'll need a strong cure-all to get through the day."

Lee comes back a second later and tells us that Nimmy is whipping up a batch now, so we focus on getting Julian inside. He's just loud—one minute he wants to stare at and kiss Allie, professing his love as he bounces up and down happily, and another he wants to slump over like a piece of dead meat and sleep for days on end. When we get him into the kitchens, Nimmy has basically finished her potion and is pouring it into a vial carefully. She looks up when we come in, smiling softly at Julian who is grinning stupidly at Allie.

"Hello, Mr. Bainbridge," Nimmy says as she walks towards him. The other elves have disappeared, leaving only our small bright-eyed elf standing on a barrel to be of equal height to Julian. "How are you feeling?"

"Amazing, Nimmy!" Julian exclaims, brightening up. It's incredible, but somehow, he doesn't slur his words. He's simultaneously blackout drunk and completely sober. "Have you met my girlfriend?"

"Nimmy has, Mr. Bainbridge," Nimmy replies, waving a little at Allie as she lifts a glass of pumpkin juice to his lips.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Julian says, lolling his head to one side to look at Allie again. Pumpkin juice dribbles out the side of his mouth and Allie chuckles, wiping it off with the back of her hand.

"That's enough, Jules," Allie interjects, blushing a little as she tucks a strand of fiery hair behind her ear.

"No, no!" Nimmy exclaims as she hands Allie a cloth to wipe the pumpkin juice from Julian's mouth. "It's sweet. Well, Nimmy should be going. Here is Mr. Bainbridge's drink for the morning."

Nimmy says goodnight and leaves, and while we say goodbye to her Julian taps out the rhythm on the barrels to get into Hufflepuff. Lee and I wait outside as Allie walks him in, chuckling as Julian plays with strands of her hair. "They really are made for each other," Lee says as he watches them go, smiling a little.

I nod in agreement. We sit for a few more minutes until eventually Allie emerges, brushing herself off and laughing as she shakes her head. "That boy..." she says, trailing off.

Just as I lift my hand to my hair and I'm about to reply, Lee jumps. "What is it?"