CHAPTER XXXV:
nothing like a gryffindor party

( September 1995 )

      THE GIRLS CHEERED AS THEY GOT A BALL IN ONE OF THE BRIGHT RED CUPS. Fred huffed before he gulped down the stinging liquid down his throat. The game had been on its second round since the boys won the first time. The second round had barely been going on for ten minutes but Ginger and Angelina had only needed to drink two cups of Firewhiskey each while the twins had taken four each by now leaving them with four left. But seeing as the girls lost the first round, both of them had each been extremely intoxicated by the alcohol that filled the red cups in front of them.

      "Balls back!" Lee called as the girls were handed the ping-pong balls back into their possession. The twins tilted their heads back groaning at the idea of them making them intake more alcohol in their systems but neither girl cared much for it. Both had been far too competitive to miss a shot on purpose for the sake of them feeling better.

Money, Money, Money by ABBA began to play in the background of their game which caused the girls to exclaim when the notes floated into their ears. They began dramatically singing along loudly as Ginger bounced a ball directly into another cup. George hit his fist on the table picking up the cup, his eyes remained on Ginger whose hands were roaming her exposed collarbones while singing with Angelina as he drank the substance.

It was now Angelina's turn to take a shot at the cups, her laughing and crescent eyes became a weakness for her as the ball narrowly missed one of their cups and bounced off of the table. "Finally!" Fred exclaimed at their failed attempt.

      George picked up the ball that had landed in the cup he had just drank from and angled himself up at the table. Ginger stared challenging him from across the table as he stared right back with a nee found boldness from the alcohol swimming through his system. The ball bounced on the table into the cup right in front of Ginger and she pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek as he smirked right at her.

      "Drink up, Moon."

      The drink slid down her throat bringing a stinging sensation in her esophagus as they continued their staring contest as she finished the drink. Fred's turn came and he shot a wink directly at Angelina who scoffed with a smile when his ball went into the cup in front of her.

      "Go on and drink, Angie," he nodded smugly as she drank the Firewhiskey holding up her middle finger at him.

      "Don't go getting cocky, Weasley. If I'm correct, you have fewer cups than we do, we're closer to victory than you'll ever be." She shrugged. Those around her laughed synching oooh's at her words.

      "Those are fighting words, Johnson," George pointed at her with his words.

      Ginger laughed, "fighting words that are true."

      Fred put a hand over his heart in false offense, "oh, Miss Lunette has a backbone, let's see how long that lasts." It was now George's turn to go again, he flicked his wrist and bounced the ball only for it to terribly miss and fall to the floor.

      "Looks like it's going to last longer than you thought, Weasley." Lee's eyebrows raised at her competitiveness while the twins and Angelina laughed with her.

      "Alright, it's time the girls go, and I don't think it's looking so great for you two," Lee mumbled the last bit to the twins before Fred shoved him away.

      It was now Ginger's turn to go since Angelina went last time, a drunken giggle left her as she shot the ball right into the cup in front of Fred. He rolled his eyes and gulped down the drink while she watched satisfied to turn his words against him. Then it was Angelina's turn, the boys only had one cup left and the girls had six left which made the match as good as gold for the girls earning a victory against the boys. All the players seemed to be equally intoxicated during the game but none of them had fallen unconscious which was a plus to it.

      "Alright, it's just one. Not a big deal, you've made the other ones just before this so you should be fine," Ginger spoke with her body swaying from the Firewhiskey in her system to Angelina as she readied herself and nodded to her words. She flicked her wrist outwards and they all watched as the ball seemed to bounce in slow motion on the table, up then down right into the last cup.

Screams from the girls erupted from their throats as they pumped their fists into the air and hugged each other for their victory. George watched with a sour expression while drinking the last cup of Firewhiskey as Super Freak by Rick James began playing loudly. Ginger gasped as the beat rang through her ears and her grin grew exponentially.

      Angelina pulled Ginger to the middle of the common room as the song continued on and they danced along to the beat of it that seemed to thump in her chest.

George watched the new sociable side of Ginger came to show through with the help of alcoholic beverages and would swear at that moment, when he saw her dancing having the time of her life, he fell even harder for her than ever before. George knew he had the worst crush for Ginger, he followed her like a lost puppy, always had an awestruck glint in his eye anytime he saw her, and he strung on to every word she spoke to him as if he would suffocate without them. But seeing over the course of a year, adding this night to it, he was convinced he would probably follow her to the ends of the Earth if it meant being in her company.

Say it was the alcohol in his system that seemed to be more apparent than the seventy percent of water his body held, or the lack of sleep he had tortured himself with, but there in that room, she was all he could think about and look at as her hands roamed all over herself. She had singlehandedly gained his full attention without even batting an eye.

"George, Fred, Lee! Come dance!" Ginger's voice beckoned him out of his thoughts. George took an extra shot of whiskey for nerves, even if his stomach was filled with mostly alcohol, and joined them in dancing along with  Lee and Fred.

      Ginger turned away from Angelina to face George, whose face had been burning tremendously from the liquor and his feelings for her and began dancing with him. Her arms made their way to hang over his muscular shoulders and his hands snaked to her waist as their warm bodies moved bouncily to the words of the music. Their heads nodded in synch as they sang along to the lyrics with indenting smiles on their sharp features, her head swung back, as did her weight, but he quickly supported her to make sure she wouldn't fall even though his balance wasn't all that steady either.

      They continued to be each other's dance partners dancing, jumping and singing along to songs like Come on Eileen, Tainted Love, and Heart of Glass.

Ginger stumbled into George's chest, "this is so much fun!" her words had begun to slur as the night went on from the intake of more intoxicants. George was no better as he had been drinking with her and he stumbled a few steps back trying to catch her.

      "What on Earth is going on in here?!"

      The very words that shook every partygoer to their core and back. Ginger's head snapped to the entrance, as did George's, Lee's, Angelina's, and Fred's. Though many people were blocking the view, they all knew they were in tremendous trouble if they were caught. And so Fred shouted the only thing he could think of for not just their group, but everyone around to follow.

"Run!"

NOTE. as long as my chapters take to write to get to over 1000 words they really dont take that long to read 🧍🏽‍♀️

QOTC. what kinds of scenes would you wanna see in the future for this book?

( i edited the question bc i know i wont know all the references )