[CHAPTER ELEVEN]

SLUGHORN'S PARTY

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BY THE NEXT DAY, the whole school seemed to know that Harry Potter was taking Emily Poole to Slughorn's party.

"How did he ask you?" Kate asked, eyes shining with excitement as they sat at the Gryffindor breakfast table.

"I asked him, actually," Emily said, and Kate let out a laugh.

"Did you really?" she said, pausing for a moment from eating her cereal, before smiling proudly, "That's my girl,"

"Yes, although you should've seen the look on Romilda Vane's face," she replied mischievously.

"They're coming," Kate whispered, as she nudged Emily, who turned around to see Ron and Harry arriving at breakfast, closely tailed by Lavender and Parvati.

"I forgot how much this school talks," Harry said as he sat down, and Emily scoffed.

"Tell me about it," she said, "Caught one of the first years whispering to each other we had plans to drop out and elope together,"

Ron let out a peal of laughter as he sat down next to Harry, whose cheeks had turned a bright shade of red.

"That's ludicrous," he said, and Emily nodded.

Lavender pointedly went to sit between Harry and Ron, so that Harry and Emily had to shuffle further down the line, effectively squashing anybody sitting on Ron's left.

"I told her if she repeated that further, I'd hex her hair blue,"

Harry smiled at her and shook his head, "Would you really do that?"

"Of course not!" Emily said indignantly, "I'm not that mean,"

To her left, Kate let out a disbelieving laugh, and Emily smiled innocently. 

"Maybe just pink," she said, and Harry chuckled as he pulled a plate of eggs towards himself and started eating.

"Alright Ems, I think I'll head up to try and charm Trelawney into giving me a better grade for that ridiculous assignment on 'Penetrating the veiled mysteries of the future' " Kate said, the last part in an uncanny imitation of Trelawney's voice.

"I'll see you later though, yeah?" Emily asked, a touch anxiously, and Kate rolled her eyes. Kate had promised Emily to help do her hair, since she was rubbish at it.

"Yes yes," she said, before grabbing her bag and hurrying off.

"Hi, Parvati! Hi Emily!" came a new voice, as Hermione sat down opposite them, ignoring Ron and Lavender completely.

"Hi Hermione," Parvati said, a little surprised at her bubbly tone. Emily wasn't fooled, and she saw that the look in Hermione's eyes was dangerously sharp.

"Are you going to Slughorn's party tonight?" she asked, and while Emily nodded, a frown on her face because they had already discussed this, Parvati looked grim.

"No invite," said Parvati gloomily. "I'd love to go, though, it sounds like it's going to be really good...You're going, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm meeting Cormac at eight, and we're —"

There was a noise like a plunger being withdrawn from a blocked sink, and Ron surfaced.

Emily had to stop herself from letting out a laugh. This is what Hermione had meant with surprise.

Hermione acted as though she had not seen or heard anything. "— we're going up to the party together."

"Cormac McLaggen, you mean? Are you going out with him, then?" Parvati asked

"That's right," said Hermione sweetly, before letting out a very un-Herimone-ish giggle.

"Wow, you like your Quidditch players, don't you? First Krum, then McLaggen." Emily said in a sarcastic tone, giving Hermione a look over her cereal. Harry looked aghast, eyes sliding from Hermione, to Ron, to Emily, and then back to Hermione.

"I like really good Quidditch players," Hermione corrected her, still smiling. "Well, see you...Got to go and get ready for the party...".

"I'll come with you," Emily said, before turning to Harry, "I'll see you later? Eight?"

"See you then," he said with a slightly baffled smile, still in shock at Hermione's thinly veiled revenge.

As Hermione and Emily walked down the path in the great hall, Emily gave Hermione and unimpressed look.

"That was mean," she scolded her slightly, but couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"Thought he'd annoy Ron the most. Did you see the look on his face?" Hermione said with a mischievous smile, and when she caught Emily's eye they both started laughing as they exited the great hall.

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Harry Potter was more nervous than he had been when he had fought a dragon in his fourth year. As he stood in the hall of the sixth floor, waiting for Emily to make an appearance, he nervously chewed his fingernails and fiddled with the lapel of his dress robes.

"You'll ruin them," said a voice, and Harry whipped around to see Emily standing behind him, almost unrecognizable.

She wore a dress of a deep burgundy color that stopped at her knee, and seemed to graciously float around her. Her dark hair was down, which Harry had almost never seen before because she liked to wear it up, and her lips had been painted the same deep red as her dress. Her smile was more vibrant than ever.

"Your tie's crooked," she noticed, before going to stand level with him and straightening it, "There,"

Harry couldn't seem to keep his eyes off her, and finally he came out of his trance.

"I uh....I brought you a....well-" he cut himself off and handed her something hastily.

Emily looked down to see what it was, and smiled.

"A magnolia?" she asked with a laugh, and he smiled.

"I thought it would like nice in your hair, maybe, I don't know....I-"

"I'm sure it'll look lovely, Harry," she said, and she fixed the flower into her dark hair.

"Who told you I'd be wearing red?" she asked bemusedly as they walked down the corridor, and Harry seemed to blush.

"I got a message from Kate, somehow," he said, and she laughed.

"She's a hopeless romantic, you know,"

"I guessed,"

"Shall we?" Emily asked, and Harry nodded with a smile.

They walked down the hall in silence, passing the occasional gaggle of dressed up girls giggling and chatting.

Finally, when they arrived at the party, they were let in by a student dressed as a bellhop, who looked less than pleased to be there.

"Invitation?" he asked boredly, but something told Emily she could've walked through that door without one and he wouldn't have made an effort to stop her.

"Er– Right," Harry said, pulling one from his robes and showing the boy, who barely glanced at it or them before waving them through.

"He looked thrilled with his job," Emily whispered to Harry, who smiled as they walked into the study.

Whether it had been built that way, or because he had used magical trickery to make it so, Slughorn's office was much larger than the usual teacher's study. The ceiling and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson, and gold hangings, so that it looked as though they were all inside a vast tent. The room was crowded and stuffy and bathed in the red light cast by an ornate golden lamp dangling from the center of the ceiling in which real fairies were fluttering, each a brilliant speck of light. Loud singing accompanied by what sounded like mandolins issued from a distant corner; a haze of pipe smoke hung over several elderly warlocks deep in conversation, and a number of house-elves were negotiating their way squeakily through the forest of knees, obscured by the heavy silver platters of food they were bearing, so that they looked like little roving tables.

"Well," Emily said, a bit out of breath, "He certainly spared no expense,"

Harry hummed in agreement, before his face grimaced slightly when a booming voice sounded to their left.

"Harry, m'boy!" boomed Slughorn, and Harry gave Emily a desperate look. "Come in, come in, so many people I'd like you to meet!"

"Don't go anywhere," he said, a little nervously, and Emily smiled.

"Scared of Slughorn?" she mused, and he gave her a mocking face.

"No, but if I suffer, you have to suffer too," he said, and Emily raised her eyebrows.

"How romantic," she said with a snort. He held out his arm to her with a smile, and she took it, before they stepped towards Slughorn.

Harry spent the next half hour being introduced to person after person by Slughorn, and Emily stood at his side, wishing she had a fork to stab herself in the eye with. At last, when yet another person was being ushered in by Slughorn, Emily spotted Hermione at the far end of the room, disappearing behind a curtain, and she gave Harry's arm a sharp squeeze.

"Ow! Uh...Professor!" Harry said, interrupting his introduction, and Slughorn looked up rather startled, "I...uh...."

His words seemed to catch in his mouth under Slughorn's gaze, and Emily stepped in.

"Excuse us for second professor, but Harry promised me a dance earlier, and they've just started playing my favorite song," she said with a gracious smile, and Slughorn's expression turned to one of glee.

"Well of course m'boy, you must dance!" he boomed happily, giving Harry an almighty clap on the back which made him stumble and spill his drink all over the front of his robes, "It is a party after all,"

And with a last wink in their direction, he turned away to talk to a gaggle of rather serious-looking wizards smoking pipes.

As Emily pulled Harry along to the far corner of the room, he looked puzzled.

"I thought we were going to dance....?" He asked, trailing off as if the thought made him feel incredibly awkward.

"Maybe later," Emily, "But I've just seen Hermione,"

Finally, they reached the area Emily had spotted Hermione's familiar bushy brown curls.

"Hermione?" she asked the drape.

No response. Just when Emily thought she must've been a figment of her bored imagination, the drape moved and Hermione face peeked from behind the corner.

"Well, don't just stand there!" she squeaked, grabbing Emily and Harry's forearms and pulling them behind the drape.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked with a puzzled expression, for Hermione looked distinctly disheveled, rather as though she had just fought her way out of a thicket of Devil's Snare.

"Oh, I've just escaped — I mean, I've just left Cormac," she said. "Under the mistletoe," she added in explanation, as Harry continued to look questioningly at her.

"Ugh, can't imagine what that must be like," Emily said with a grimace.

"Serves you right for coming with him," Harry told her severely, and Emily gave him a smack on the shoulder.

"Don't be so callous!" she chided him, "Ron's been an absolute tit lately,"

Harry opened his mouth to deliver an angry rebuke in defence of his best friend, but Hermione interrupted.

"You're right, I thought he'd annoy Ron most," said Hermione dispassionately. "I debated for a while about Zacharias Smith, but I thought, on the whole —"

"You considered Smith?" said Harry, revoked, and this time even Emily looked horrified.

"Hermione!" she said, shocked, and Hermione looked mildly ashamed.

"Yes, I did, and I'm starting to wish I'd chosen him, McLaggen makes Grawp look a gentleman. Let's go this way, we'll be able to see him coming, he's so tall..."

They ducked from behind the drape, making their way over to the other side of the room, scooping up goblets of mead on the way.

As they stood drinking, Harry drew closer to Hermione and said, "Let's get something straight. Are you planning to tell Ron that you interfered at Keeper tryouts?"

"Why would she?" Emily hummed, taking a sip of her mead, "Even Hermione wouldn't stoop that low,"

"You knew?!" Harry asked her, dumbfounded, and Hermione made an indignant squeak to her side.

"What do you mean, even me?"

"Of course, I knew," Emily said simply, "As much as I hate him, Cormac's an excellent Quidditch player, no way he'd have bunged that up without someone doing something to him. Confundus charm?"

Hermione still looked mildly indignant, but nodded.

"Yes I– What do you mean even I wouldn't stoop so low?"

Emily raised a single eyebrow. "If you considered Zacharias Smith, I'd consider that going pretty low,"

Hermione's cheeks turned a deep shade of scarlet.

"I didn't actually consider him," she muttered, but Emily knew better. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Or, in this case, a Hermione.

"Either way, I've got no plans to tell Ron anything about what might, or might not, have happened at Keeper tryouts," she said furiously to Harry

"Good," said Harry fervently. "Because he'll just fall apart again, and we'll lose the next match —"

"Quidditch!" said Hermione angrily. "Is that all boys care about? Cormac hasn't asked me one single question about myself, no, I've just been treated to 'A Hundred Great Saves Made by Cormac McLaggen' nonstop ever since we got here,"

"Hmm, it's a common theme," Emily agreed, and Harry turned to her.

"I–I've asked you plenty about you!" he sputtered, and Emily smiled at his embarrassment.

"Have you?" she mused, and for a second she enjoyed the way his cheeks turned a violent shade of scarlet as he tried to muster a response.

"Harry, I'm joking, don't wind your wand into a knot,"

"That's not funny," he said, but even Hermione smiled at his embarrassment.

"It is a little funny Harry– Oh god here he comes,"

She moved so fast it was as though she had Disapparated; one moment she was there, the next, she had squeezed between two guffawing witches and vanished.

Emily watched as McLaggen approached them. She made a small sound of disgust.

"Seen Hermione?" asked McLaggen, forcing his way through the throng.

"Can't say I have," Emily said dryly, and McLaggen regarded her haughtily.

"You two here together or something?" he asked, and Emily could feel herself getting angry. Harry must've noticed the change in her demeanor, because he put his hand on her arm.

"Yeah, listen, we're just headed out actually. Good luck finding Hermione," he said, before he pulled Emily with him into the crowd.

"Can't bloody stand him," Emily growled, and Harry nodded.

"He's a right pain," he agreed, before they stopped on the dancefloor.

"I thought you said we were leaving?" Emily asked him, bewildered.

"You owe me a dance first," he said with a mischievous smile, and Emily laughed.

"It appears I do,"