Thank you all so much for 5k reads! I appreciate it so much and I hope you enjoy this chapter xo

As soon as Charlus and Euphemia returned to the tapestry room successfully, without being caught, the truth or dare game carried on in it's usual fashion in the order that Pomona had listed on her piece of spare parchment. Everyone seemed rather disappointed that nothing had actually happened between Charlus and Mia - not that the latter actually noticed the smirks and knowing looks the two got as they entered the tapestry room again after being gone for a good half an hour.

There was something else there, though, a sense of broken tension between Euphemia and Charlus and they actually were more at ease around each other and could be more of themselves because of the time they had spent together. They hadn't exactly spilled all their secrets to one another but, seeing as Mia had managed to trust Charlus enough to tell him dark stuff about her brother, he felt that there was more trust between them and like he had to uphold that secrecy and friendship that they had achieved.

Only Minerva noticed it though, she recognised that Charlus and Euphemia no longer had that awkward barrier between them anymore but no one knew how long it would last. The two were more on and off than a bloody light switch - or that was how Minerva put it (even though she had to take forever to explain exactly what a light switch was to all the purebloods present when she used this statement).

Everyone else was too fixated on seeing whether anything had actually happened between the two and Mia felt conscious that eyes were following her for a good five minutes before the game started up again. Apparently, whilst Charlus and Euphemia had been off gallivanting to the Astronomy Tower and back, Eugenia had had her turn and it had also been a dare but it obviously hadn't gone very well because Filius was performing some sort of healing charm on Eugenia's hand as she had cut herself whilst juggling the empty Butterbeer bottles. The cut looked rather nasty actually, to say it was only from a bottle and Pomona actually looked rather sick as Eugenia's bloody hand lay across her lap whilst Filius fixed it up carefully.

"It's my turn," Alastor announced, leaning back in the armchair that he had still claimed as his own, propping his feet up on Lyall who was curled up on the floor and simply gave him a dirty look.  "I'm tired now though," Charlus yawned, indicating that he couldn't be bothered playing anymore and Florean shot him an insulted glance before he chucked a Butterbeer bottle at him, which he successfully managed to catch before it hit him on the head. "The night is young, Charlus, darling!" Florean cried out, staggering atop of the table in the middle of the room and raising his bottle to the ceiling with a shaking hand before he chugged the contents. "You have the rest of your life to be a boring old sod, don't be a party pooper now," Alastor added and he and Florean both tugged Charlus up from where he had been lounging on the sofa next to Minnie and Mia.

"So...who's giving me a dare?" Alastor asked with a twinkle in his blue eyes as he struggled to keep the slightly drunk Florean upright whilst everyone else laughed at the three boys' antics in the middle. "There is definitely something in those Butterbeers - have you seen how smashed Florean is already?" Lyall muttered to Mia and she chuckled merrily, tucking a strand of her brown hair behind her ear as she brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs to get a little more comfy. "That's why I haven't touched mine," Euphemia told him in a whisper, showing him that she hadn't even taken a sip of her drink.

Lyall smiled warmly at her answer and shuffled across the floor to hitch himself up onto the sofa beside her to which Charlus narrowed his eyes at but didn't say anything as he was still in the centre of the room and everyone's eyes were drawn to him immediately if he attracted any attention and he didn't want anyone to jump to conclusions. Charlus, unlike Mia, had actually seen the knowing looks but he didn't know how he felt about it. "Okay....I dare you to kiss the hottest person in the room," Minnie challenged Alastor with a mischievous smile on her face whilst Alastor looked around with a mock thoughtful expression as if he was deciding who to kiss.

Al and Charlus seemed to meet each other's gazes and an unspoken message was passed between them, through the power of their eyes and something Alastor's eyes said seemed to relax Charlus as his body language became less tense and he was able to stand there with his hands casually placed in the pockets of his robes instead of clenched as they had been previous to that.

Eugenia was sat in between Filius and Pomona, her hand now fully healed but the blonde just couldn't be bothered moving so was now practically squashed between the two on the smaller sofa out of the two settees that the group had invested in for the room. Alastor shrugged and was about to step down from where he was stood when Florean puckered up his lips exaggeratedly and stuck his face in front of Alsstor, who simply pushed him away with a laugh by placing his hand on Florean's cheek and shoving his face to one side. The room erupted in laughter as Florean mock pouted and crossed his arms across his chest, "But I'm the hottest person in this room, Al!" he protested, sticking his bottom lip out and Alastor simply smirked and jumped down from the table. "Not up to my standards, sorry mate," he quipped and Florean let out a dramatic gasp, sinking to the floor in despair.

Alastor swiftly walked across the room to the smaller sofa that Eugenia was sat on and grabbed her hand, pulling her up to her feet which made her wince in pain from the grip he had on her injured hand. "Ouch! Al, what the h-" Eugenia started to complain but was quickly cut off by the kiss that Alastor bestowed upon her, the two's lips connecting for just a few moments and Eugenia's eyes fluttered close in bliss just as Alastor pulled away and grinned at her. Wolf whistles ensued throughout the room as Alastor simply winked and sauntered casually back to his armchair as if it was nothing, only a dare (which it actually was but if Eugenia's blushing face was anything to go by then she had obviously taken it as more than a simple dare).

Filius clapped his hands together, a bright smile on his face as the small boy always loved romance and it made him happy to see the content smiles on both Alastor and Eugenia's faces. The truth or dare game carried on after the kiss in rather a tired and lazy fashion, silly truths were asked (such as Filius confessing that he did actually once get accidentally drunk as a child) and even sillier dares were ordered. This resulted in Florean walking around the room with a tie wrapped around his head and Lyall's robes tied around his waist, flapping around his ankles and dragging on the floor like a bride's dress; Pomona downing seven whole bottles of Butterbeer in seven minutes (Mia had no idea where the boys were getting it from but they kept them supplied with the sweet, sugary stuff all night) and Filius ended up climbing and crawling across all the furniture in the room with a lamp shade on his head, making sheep noises.

The night of laughter and fun ended in the group becoming very tired as the early hours of the morning started to creep in, bringing with it the slight sunlight rays that only the morning sunrise could have. By the time 4am in the morning came around, everyone but Florean was asleep - the Hufflepuff boy was indeed lying down as if he were attempting to sleep but obviously had had too much sugar and 'Butterbeer.' Minnie had actually worked out that the Butterbeer was spiked with drops of Firewhiskey though she didn't tell anyone as they were all having such a fun time even though everyone was unknowingly drunk, except Charlus and Alastor as they probably knew exactly what they were drinking as it was very likely the pranksters spiked the drinks themselves. Typical.

The group had all eventually dropped off into slumbers and accepted the jaws of sleep and were lying all over the room in various positions: Pomona and Filius were sleeping on either side of the small sofa, the two curling up with their knees drawn to their chests; Mia and Minnie were stretched across the entirety of the three seater sofa, side by side and covered by a few blankets that she had conjured to be in the room; Lyall was slumped on the floor, still in a seating position with his back leaning on the sofa, his head tilting back to rest on the leather. Eugenia lay not too far away from him, having made a cosy bed for herself on the fluffy rug in the middle of the room; Alastor was sprawled across the table in the middle with a few magazines underneath him to serve as a mattress whilst a blanket lay over him; Charlus had taken ownership of the squashy armchair that Alastor usually occupied and the boy looked extremely comfy.

As for Florean, the Hufflepuff had ended up sprawled rather near to the alcove that was placed just off to one side of the small, cosy room, near to the corridor that led to the exit. He was lay with his head upon a cushion with a bottle in his hand that leaked the drink's contents onto the carpet though the half asleep Florean didn't notice as he closed his eyes, trying to get to sleep.

Thoughts about what he was feeling regarding his gender preferences in relationships was starting to plague his mind as Florean had always grown up knowing that people were gay and could be gay but it was a shame that could not be accepted in the present society and Florean wasn't even sure whether he was or not anyway. He found the idea ridiculous, the boy had always heard about it but it was considered shameful and was completely and utterly against the law - so much that people even killed homosexuals for fun. Florean didn't want that for himself....he didn't even know what it meant to be gay in the 1950s - was there other things than gay? How was it that he liked girls as well as boys? Was that even normal? Was he even normal?

Who was he kidding? Of course he wasn't normal...Florean had known that he had always been exceptionally giddy and often 'camp' as his mother put it jokingly but it was just who he was, he liked who he was and he was pretty popular in his year so he must be doing something. But evidently Florean wasn't doing anything right because he was going against the law and God's word by liking girls and boys - something that hadn't even been heard of in 1950 as far as Florean knew.

These were the thoughts that had plagued Florean's thoughts at night for the past month or so but he had promised himself that he would keep it a secret but his cover had been blown just the day before when he foolishly let a comment slip about Damian's looks in front of Pomona. Not that she had actually cared, he had managed to cover it up thankfully but Florean would never forget the look of shock that had crossed his little blonde friend's face when he had said that.

Turning over in the nest of blankets that he had settled around him, the dark blonde boy sighed and ran a hand over his eyes that were aching anyway from the lack of sleep and alcohol he had consumed. Florean was just so, so confused and he didn't know how he was going to manage the stress by himself but he would continue to smile and laugh his way through his days until he found the courage to confide in someone.

Florean was the entertainer of the group, he was one of the funniest in the year - Charlus and Alastor could pull as many pranks as they wanted to but Florean would forever be known as the clown, the funnier one of the three because everyone laughed at his quips, jokes and antics. But, if he became known as the half gay kid (for he was sure there wasn't a name for the messed up feelings he was experiencing inside), surely everyone would see him a different light. Surely everyone would see Florean as a different kind of funny, funny in the brain and they'd think of him as the clown because clowns were foolish and Florean was also foolish to be feeling like this.

What the heck am I going to do? I'm buried in trouble and not the good kind either... Florean thought to himself before he buried himself under some blankets and allowed the waves of sleep to wash over him and take him away the land of dreams, where he could no longer be plagued with disturbing thoughts regarding his sexuality.

~~~

Even though Florean had a peaceful sleep (for the hours of rest that he eventually managed to capture), not everyone in the tapestry room had a perfectly tranquil night. Euphemia woke several times from the recurring dream that always featured her being lost in a maze, finding Charlus and then being stuck in the middle of a raging ocean whilst two lifeboats advanced on her, both of them tugging her in their direction, leaving her torn on which lifeboat to pick. She was used to the dream, it had gone away for a few months but now it had come back to haunt her and she woke with a terrified gasp before bolting upright.

The sight of the ransacked room puzzled her at first, as she was so used to waking up from this particular dream and seeing the familiar dark green curtains that guarded her four poster bed. But now, she saw that she had been lying on the three seater sofa beside a sleeping Minnie with the rest of her friends scattered around the room in various sleeping positions and states of slumber. Discarded bottles of Butterbeer (that Mia reckoned definitely had something unusual in it as her head was now whirring) were placed around the room, on the windowsill, on the floor and Euphemia noted that one beside Florean had actually spilled out onto the carpet.

Sweeping her dark brown hair out of her face, Euphemia carefully swung her leg over the back of the couch and jumped down from the top, making a little thud with her feet that were thankfully not in her shoes as she had kicked them off the night before. Her black tights did cause her to slip slightly on the floor though and she had to grip the back of the sofa quickly to regain her balance so that she didn't fall down flat on her face as that would definitely wake up some of her friends and would not do any favours to her face either.

Mia smiled a little as she sighted her friends sleeping on the furniture and on the floor, laughing as she saw Alastor lying on the table but she covered her mouth to conceal the sound as it had seemed particularly loud in the silent morning atmosphere. She skipped gently over to the window and moved the heavy maroon curtain out of the way so that she could duck underneath and see out of the window. Euphemia blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to the white brightness outside but grinned again upon seeing the Hogwarts grounds just starting to wake up, the sun already up and warming the nature as a slight wind rippled the leaves on the trees and made them sway gently.

Mia honestly could've stayed there forever, she just loved absorbing the beauty of nature and Scotland was truly a beautiful destination for nature lovers' hearts to swell. However, she could tell by the daylight that she had better start getting ready to head down to breakfast and Euphemia could only do that if she was freshened up so she wanted to do that before anyone was walking around the corridors. It was okay for the majority of her friends, bar Pomona and Florean, they could easily sneak back their common rooms without running into too many people but in order for Mia to get to her dormitory she had to pass through the Entrance Hall and she certainly didn't want any early breakfasters to see her in her messy state.

Euphemia neatened herself up as best as she could, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes vigorously and smoothing her hair down as much as possible even though she could've easily sorted it out with her wand except for the fact that she didn't know any hair spells as she wasn't girly like that. That was more Eugenia's line of work. She retrieved her shoes from the end of the sofa that Minnie had now taken over completely and was mumbling in her sleep which caused Mia to giggle, making Lyall wake up at the sounds of her amusement, his eyes opening quickly and Euphemia cursed internally for not being more careful or quiet.

"Sorry," she whispered with an apologetic smile as she bent down near Eugenia's sleeping form to tie her shoelace on the shoe that she had managed to force onto her foot without making too much noise (Euphemia tended to lose her balance whenever she did that so it was a miracle that she had succeeded). "It's okay," Lyall smiled back and rubbed his eyes with a yawn, his arms reaching up into a tired stretch,
"What time is it?" he asked in a hushed tone and Mia mouthed back that it was around half six to seven o clock in the morning. Lyall grimaced and got to his feet slowly, grabbing the sofa behind him to help him stagger upwards.

"Why are you going anyway?" Lyall asked curiously, furrowing his eyebrows which only made him look like a disgruntled chick, due to his blonde hair giving him the fluffy feather appearance. "I have to get back before anyone notices I'm gone. Besides, I don't really want to be walking through the Entrance Hall like this," she gestured to her crumpled uniform, messy hair and the tired expression that lingered on her face paired with blurry eyes and flushed cheeks from sleeping in a warm room very close to many people.

Lyall chuckled, "Nonsense, you still look effortlessly beau.....fine," he amended his sentence half way but Euphemia caught what he was going to say and felt a pang of second hand embarrassment for him. Lyall cheeks flushed pink and she felt bad for him but saved him the humiliation as she simply scoffed and bent down to tie her other shoelace. There was a moment of awkward silence as Mia fumbled with her lace before she stood up, sweeping her dark hair out of her face again and she gave him a quick hug, "Say good morning to the others for me, don't let them sleep in too much," Euphemia whispered cheerfully before she then walked down the dimly lit corridor that led to the first floor corridor.

Mia couldn't help but remember how sweet Charlus had been the night before when she had clutched at him in this very tunnel as she was alarmed by the sudden darkness they had been plunged in. She smiled as she was reminded how lovely and charming he had been instead of being the git that he usually was but then smacked herself on the forehead as she found herself thinking about that messy haired kid way too much.

Euphemia was still in a slight daze from her lack of sleep and burrowed feelings so she wasn't really paying attention to where she was going as she made her way out of the tapestry passageway, hearing the place lock behind her as she exited. She was just focused on getting to her dormitory before people started going to breakfast as she didn't want anyone to see her in this state so practically speed walked in order to get to the dungeons.

Once Mia had descended down the stairs that headed to the Slytherin common room, she sighed a little in relief as her surroundings were now rather dark and gloomy so no one would be able to see her coherently in the dimly lit dungeons. Seeing as she had let her guard down for a few moments, nothing could've prepared her for what was coming next for she collided with her beloved cousin, one she was entirely sick and terrified of seeing now. Druella.

"Why, hello Sleeping Beauty! I was wondering when you would wake from your century long sleep...feel better now? You were a bit scared before.." Druella greeted her with a malicious smirk plastered on her face and Euphemia nearly jumped out of her skin with fright as the older girl had taken her completely by surprise. Mia stayed entirely mute, pressing her back up against the walls of the dungeons and using the smooth black tiles to guide her down the corridor and away from Druella but her cousin wasn't going to let her go that easily.

Druella leapt forward with a swing of her long, dark high ponytail that nearly hit Euphemia and she gripped Mia's wrist with her hands, letting her nails dig into her cousin's skin through the Slytherin robes she donned. Druella stroked the green and silver fabric on Euphemia's arm and tutted, shaking her head with a mock sorrowful expression on her face, "You don't deserve to wear these house colours, Euphemia Black. Hell, you don't even deserve to be a Black after the things you've done to shame your family," she hissed.

"What do you mean?" Mia asked innocently, trying to act as if she didn't know what Druella was on about though she knew perfectly well what her cousin was insinuating and it sent a horrible shiver through her body. "You know exactly what I mean - fraternising with filth!" Druella hissed, her nails digging into Euphemia further and she leaned in so that they were practically nose to nose but, due to Druella's height, she towered over her scarily if she didn't bend down to Mia's level which she chose to do this time around to add to the threatening aspect.

Euphemia's blood boiled as Druella insulted her friends and a sudden strength surged through her body and she pushed Druella off her, though she didn't know what possessed her to do so. "Don't talk about them like that! You're the filth, not them!" Mia yelled at her older cousin and it wasn't until she saw Druella's face darken did the girl realise she had made a huge, terrible mistake.

"You have no idea how much trouble you've gotten yourself into, Euphemia. Trouble with a capital T," Druella spat at her, spinning on her heel with an ominous flick of her robes, the glint of a parchment envelope addressed to Cassiopeia Black catching Euphemia's eye at the last second as she leapt forward in terror. But it was too late - Druella had gone.

Just wanted to make it clear that bisexuality was not a known thing in the 1950s, especially in England - it is not me being ignorant. Also, anything said about LGBTQ+ here were general opinions of the time and Florean's thoughts mixed in one, none of it is my own personal opinion or views. I am completely supportive of everything and anything LGBTQ+ and if any closeted individual ever needs to talk - my dms are always open ❤️